So Wednesday AM, clear headed and determined, we surged forward. Now that we knew the aneurysm likely didn't present any immediate emergency, why spend the next week sitting around waiting for more tests when we could use that time to head back east, where we know we want any procedure to be performed?
To that end, we spent Wednesday confirming that we had an appointment with our desired surgeon for next week, and once so confirmed, we quickly decided to pack up our summer clothes and head home.
Aspen Elementary School has treated Lauren wonderfully from the start, and that continued on Thursday as they did everything in their power to make this transition as easy as possible. Today will be her final day, and we will be heading back to New Jersey sometime on Sunday.
Of course, that gives us only 48 hours or so to get the entire house prepared for a summer of vacancy, as well as get packed up for our trip. For me, this entails little more than shoving a bunch of shirts and pants into a hiking backpack. For Lauren, this could be a considerably larger project, as she still owns every article of clothing purchased since the seventh grade, and each piece plays a vital role in her wardrobe, regardless of season or climate.
To ease our 30-hour drive home, my brother-in-law Rob, seen here shortly before getting smoked by yours truly in the 2005 LBI 18-mile run, is flying out to share some of the driving burden. While this means the likely number of empty Monster bottles littering the floor of our car has just increased exponentially, I'm happy to have someone to listen to Howard Stern with, as Lauren still prefers that whole "talking" thing. That reminds me, when Lauren and I first drove cross-country, during August of 2006, I blogged about the keys to surviving such tight quarters with a spouse or loved one. Said advice can be found here, but is summarized below.
I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I think the answer is this. The problem with most marriages is communication. Too much communication. Lauren and I avoid it at all costs, and its proven to be quite effective in keeping us congenial.
Trust me, it works. So if all goes well, we should be pulling into the Garden State sometime on Tuesday, with a visit to the neurosurgeon planned for the end of the week. I think I heard somewhere that since we moved out west, New Jersey has managed to fix that nasty little "traffic" problem. That's true, right?
