I Couldn't Sleep at All Last Night (a post from Gail)

Here's another post from Gail. Now that she is a "contributor" on this site, she'll be able to post them herself.

Gail writes (on the LotsaHelpingHands site):

Here's another post that my techno buddy, Sara, is going to have to transfer to the other site (which I didn't even know was different from this one) - it's a good thing, for more reasons than one, that she's in charge of me!

Now, to the daily news. My schedule has been "working" at the office in the mornings until about 12:30 p.m. and then home for lunch and a nice long nap. I think this must be cutting into my sleep because the last few nights I have been waking up and then taking a very long time to go back down. If you haven't gotten a thank you from me - and there are many of you that I owe one to - please know that I have been writing them in my head (scary thought!) in the middle of the night. I will try to get pen to paper very soon because I want you all to know how much I appreciate EVERYTHING - too much, soooo much - thank you, thank you!

So, back to the day. After not much sleep, I was up and at-em and ready for the cognitive testing scheduled for this morning (April 14) at 9 a.m. I did some good "studying" on my Nintendo DS Lite during the night - pretty funny that Clif gave me that so long ago and that I like it and that the "games" were actually a great deal similar to what was placed in front of me today. The appointment got off to a late start - said they didn't get the page that I was there, but I gave them a pass this one time. The testing lasted about two hours and I felt silly to be so tired when it was all over. I just hope I made an "A."I came home and have stayed awake all afternoon in an attempt to be able to get some sleep tonight. Wish me luck.

Mainly, I have been answering e-mails - what in the world did we ever do without e-mail - oh, and cell phones - gotta have those, too.Tonight, Brian is coming for family time and pizza - always a distraction and always great to see him. We enjoyed him with Tiffany last night - what a daughter-in-law she is going to be. We are so happy to be getting to know her - just didn't plan for it to be this way. Braden, the Seattle son, arrives on Thursday night - can't wait to hug his neck and have him here. I'm not sure that he will be excited about my plans to clean out his room, but, hey, there's no time like the present, right! Maren, his cutie-pie GF, will be here the day after the surgery and we're happy about that, too. Yesterday, I received a goodie package with yummy treats from her from Harry and David - so sweet. We are sad because the plans were for us to leave in the morning to go visit in Seattle - and meet Maren's folks for the first time. At least we will have them here with us during this important time.

My poor Sara Kate worked so hard cooking and cleaning while she was here that she was sick by the time they left on Sunday. I feel terrible that she feels so terrible, but I'm counting on her getting well soon. I think she and Ryan - and, by the way, bless Ryan for tearing down the eyesore that was Fort Goodwin - wonderful, wonderful! - anyway, I think they will be back in Houston either late Sunday or Monday a.m. Winnie is coming, too, and that, for sure, will be something to take our minds off of things. My mother and sisters will arrive either Monday or Tuesday - not sure yet, but certainly so happy that they will be here for virtual hand-holding during all of this. My dad will probably come back after the deed is done - he's not a hospital kind of guy and, unfortunately, has spent his share of time in one this fall (doing well now!). I will be back in the office tomorrow with a few things on my list that must be accomplished this week before I'm out of here for a while. I love the calls, the contacts, the cards - I love it all - I love you all - you're the very best.

-xxxtheBrainiac