Sunday ~~ June 22, 2014 ~~ Do you know what a whirlwind weekend can do...
Posted 06-22-2014 at 11:02 PM by CSD610
Do you really know what a whirlwind weekend can do to one's sleeping patterns?
Cripes, I don't sleep well as it is most of the time and weekends like this just make the whole sleep issue worse. I really am not complaining even though it appears that I am. It is just the making things worse part that I fuss about not the loss of sleep which I am actually sort of used to.
So the weekend started basically Thursday evening when I had insomnia and I was literally awake all night long. Even though I knew I had to be up, showered, dressed, packed and ready to leave the house no later than 6:45am Friday morning. I was awake all night and finally was able to lay down at 6:00am which of course threw us behind schedule an entire hour. Thankfully our first appointment of the day was very understanding and we still got the appointment done.
Then we left there and headed home to go a baseball game in St Louis. We had to be at our daughter's home by 3:00pm and we actually made it by 3:15pm. Luckily her husband was running late and did not arrive until 3:30pm so us being late was not an issue. Then we got into our vehicle and headed to the metro link station several towns away, parked and got our tickets for the metro link. We watched 3 trains leave while we were walking up to the platform then let one train leave after we got our tickets because we thought it was not going where we needed to go. It was 3/4 empty and we were wrong. It was going where we needed to go and would have been a much more pleasant ride than the train we took. It was absolutely full to the brim, standing room only, hot, noisy and running behind schedule.
The train ride is a wee bit over 30 minutes which is great. If one was driving it would take 30 minutes just to get merged onto the main interstate so the time frame is not an issue. We get to our destination which is Busch Stadium and I have to go to the Will Call window to get our printed tickets. This is great, when we came up out of the train station the will call window was directly across the street from where we were.
Then the gate we needed to enter was to the right of that window, this was perfect.
Now, the will call window, what a wonderful service. You can go online or call the stadium, reserve the tickets, pay for them and go the day of the game and get them printed. So easy, so quick, so convenient until.........
you get there and some yutz in front of you needs standing room only tickets. Generally not an issue however, he was making it an issue. Now keep in mind my husband, daughter, son in law and grandsons are already in line waiting for me to bring them tickets. They are already in line because it is Bob Gibson Jersey night and we would like to get a Jersey, not that it is the most important part of the evening but it would be nice.
So the conversation goes like this:
Mr. Standing room only tickets:
I need standing room only tickets
Ticket Representative: I can help you in one hour when the standing room only tickets go on sale. Please step aside so I can help the next customer.
MSROT: but I nnnnnneeeeeeeeeedddd those tickets now because if I don't have those tickets then we won't aaaaallllllllll be able to get into the stadium.
TR: I can help you in one hour when the standing room only tickets go on sale. Please step aside so I can help the next customer.
MSROT: but, if I don't get those tickets now I can't add them to the 2 tickets I bought already and we can't be togeeettthhhhhhhheeeeeeeeerrr.
TR: I can help you in one hour when the standing room only tickets go on sale.
STEP ASIDE so I can help the next customer.
MSROT: mumblemumblegrumblewhinewah
So finally he steps aside and I hand her my card, sign the paper, get my tickets and I am trying to rush through this huge crowd of bodies to find my family.
I HATE CROWDS!!!!!!!!!!!
They had stepped out of line because the line was moving so quickly and believe it or not the people they were in front of in line let us back in line. That was so gracious of them to do that. So we got inside the stadium we got the Bob Gibson Jerseys and are headed to our seats.
Five ramps up later I am about to pass out.
I got overheated and had to stop. The rest of the family went ahead a bit and our grandsons came back to get me. One took one hand, one took the other hand and helped me up the ramp. We finally found our seats, got settled in then the games began and I don't mean the baseball game. Every 5 minutes we had to stand up to let the people down the row out of the seating area so they could go to the concessions. We like aisle seats which sometimes is unfortunate but easier to get out of and move when someone needs out.
This was before the game had even started so I could not imagine what the rest of the evening was going to be like. Then there was about an hour rain delay which actually gave us a break from all the in and out.
We stayed in our seats because we were not getting wet and the rest of the aisle went up to the concession area which is under the upper deck seating.
Some people actually left when the rain delay started but there was no way we were leaving. Those tickets were expensive, the seats were great, we wanted to spend the evening with our kids and rain or not we were staying unless they called the game.
Finally the game started, those who were left settled in and from about 8:30pm until around 11:00pm we watched the St Louis Cardinals get beat by the Philadelphia Phillies. We are Cardinals fans but the Phillies played a very good game and the entire point of being there was to share our love of baseball and our kids. So the game winner was not even important.
After we finally got out of the stadium, back to the train, on the train, back to our station, in the vehicle, back home and hit the futon at our kids house I am certain I was asleep before my body actually touched the futon.
The next part of the whirlwind started very early Saturday morning. We had to get up, shower, dress and be out of the door by 7:00am to drive to meet my Mother at the Cathedral for Mass with the Bishop and the Presentation of the Woman of Distinction Award that my Mother won.
We actually made it 15 minutes early, got parked, got inside, got through Mass and the presentation. Then we headed across town to the reception area where there was a luncheon for all the recipients and their families. We sat down and had lunch, met a few of my Mother's friends, was able to visit, get a few photos then we had to head home because we had plans for this afternoon at home.
I was able to get as far as Peoria before I absolutely shut down and could not drive another 10th of a mile. My eyes were closing and I was absolutely mentally and physically exhausted. Then it started raining so hard I could not see to drive and then the hail started. That was all it took to put me over the edge and I stopped in Peoria. The first gasoline station/convenience store I saw I pulled into. They were closed, yes, the middle of a Saturday and they were closed.
The storm had knocked out their electricity and they were closed. The manager was kind enough to allow me inside to use the restroom and brush my teeth though so I was happy.
We considered getting a hotel room in Peoria however, by the time the room actually got cooled off enough to be able to get some good sleep we would have been able to be home. In light of that I gave in and allowed my Husband to drive the rest of the way home. He is not supposed to be driving yet with his now repaired broken arm. He just got stitches out Wednesday and Physical Therapy has started but he is so far from being able to properly use his arm and he has a splint. He also cannot grip well with his left hand so no driving a vehicle for a while yet. He has however been cleared to drive the riding lawn mower..
Anyway, we got home, fed the critters, gave the cats their pets since we had been gone for two days and we all took a very nice long nap.
Suffice to say the loss of sleep is not a big deal when the end result is spending time with our grandsons, daughter and son in law, going to the baseball game, seeing my Mother, Brother and one of my nieces, watching my Mother get an award she very much deserves and finishing the weekend taking our friends who took care of our cats while we were gone to lunch at Long Horn Steakhouse this afternoon.
We got to spend time this weekend with 8 of our favorite humans and it was worth every wink of lost sleep.
I know this is long and I am sorry for that but sometimes you just can't tell a short story no matter how hard you try.
So I will leave you with this:
When it comes to whirlwinds the best ones are planned to be short, sweet and to the point and end up being completely thrown off time wise involving those you love.
I wish you restful sleep and peaceful dreams when it is time for you to wander your timbers of slumber.
Cripes, I don't sleep well as it is most of the time and weekends like this just make the whole sleep issue worse. I really am not complaining even though it appears that I am. It is just the making things worse part that I fuss about not the loss of sleep which I am actually sort of used to.
So the weekend started basically Thursday evening when I had insomnia and I was literally awake all night long. Even though I knew I had to be up, showered, dressed, packed and ready to leave the house no later than 6:45am Friday morning. I was awake all night and finally was able to lay down at 6:00am which of course threw us behind schedule an entire hour. Thankfully our first appointment of the day was very understanding and we still got the appointment done.
Then we left there and headed home to go a baseball game in St Louis. We had to be at our daughter's home by 3:00pm and we actually made it by 3:15pm. Luckily her husband was running late and did not arrive until 3:30pm so us being late was not an issue. Then we got into our vehicle and headed to the metro link station several towns away, parked and got our tickets for the metro link. We watched 3 trains leave while we were walking up to the platform then let one train leave after we got our tickets because we thought it was not going where we needed to go. It was 3/4 empty and we were wrong. It was going where we needed to go and would have been a much more pleasant ride than the train we took. It was absolutely full to the brim, standing room only, hot, noisy and running behind schedule.
The train ride is a wee bit over 30 minutes which is great. If one was driving it would take 30 minutes just to get merged onto the main interstate so the time frame is not an issue. We get to our destination which is Busch Stadium and I have to go to the Will Call window to get our printed tickets. This is great, when we came up out of the train station the will call window was directly across the street from where we were.
Then the gate we needed to enter was to the right of that window, this was perfect.
Now, the will call window, what a wonderful service. You can go online or call the stadium, reserve the tickets, pay for them and go the day of the game and get them printed. So easy, so quick, so convenient until.........
you get there and some yutz in front of you needs standing room only tickets. Generally not an issue however, he was making it an issue. Now keep in mind my husband, daughter, son in law and grandsons are already in line waiting for me to bring them tickets. They are already in line because it is Bob Gibson Jersey night and we would like to get a Jersey, not that it is the most important part of the evening but it would be nice.
So the conversation goes like this:
Mr. Standing room only tickets:
I need standing room only tickets
Ticket Representative: I can help you in one hour when the standing room only tickets go on sale. Please step aside so I can help the next customer.
MSROT: but I nnnnnneeeeeeeeeedddd those tickets now because if I don't have those tickets then we won't aaaaallllllllll be able to get into the stadium.
TR: I can help you in one hour when the standing room only tickets go on sale. Please step aside so I can help the next customer.
MSROT: but, if I don't get those tickets now I can't add them to the 2 tickets I bought already and we can't be togeeettthhhhhhhheeeeeeeeerrr.
TR: I can help you in one hour when the standing room only tickets go on sale.
STEP ASIDE so I can help the next customer.
MSROT: mumblemumblegrumblewhinewah
So finally he steps aside and I hand her my card, sign the paper, get my tickets and I am trying to rush through this huge crowd of bodies to find my family.
I HATE CROWDS!!!!!!!!!!!
They had stepped out of line because the line was moving so quickly and believe it or not the people they were in front of in line let us back in line. That was so gracious of them to do that. So we got inside the stadium we got the Bob Gibson Jerseys and are headed to our seats.
Five ramps up later I am about to pass out.
I got overheated and had to stop. The rest of the family went ahead a bit and our grandsons came back to get me. One took one hand, one took the other hand and helped me up the ramp. We finally found our seats, got settled in then the games began and I don't mean the baseball game. Every 5 minutes we had to stand up to let the people down the row out of the seating area so they could go to the concessions. We like aisle seats which sometimes is unfortunate but easier to get out of and move when someone needs out.
This was before the game had even started so I could not imagine what the rest of the evening was going to be like. Then there was about an hour rain delay which actually gave us a break from all the in and out.
We stayed in our seats because we were not getting wet and the rest of the aisle went up to the concession area which is under the upper deck seating.
Some people actually left when the rain delay started but there was no way we were leaving. Those tickets were expensive, the seats were great, we wanted to spend the evening with our kids and rain or not we were staying unless they called the game.
Finally the game started, those who were left settled in and from about 8:30pm until around 11:00pm we watched the St Louis Cardinals get beat by the Philadelphia Phillies. We are Cardinals fans but the Phillies played a very good game and the entire point of being there was to share our love of baseball and our kids. So the game winner was not even important.
After we finally got out of the stadium, back to the train, on the train, back to our station, in the vehicle, back home and hit the futon at our kids house I am certain I was asleep before my body actually touched the futon.
The next part of the whirlwind started very early Saturday morning. We had to get up, shower, dress and be out of the door by 7:00am to drive to meet my Mother at the Cathedral for Mass with the Bishop and the Presentation of the Woman of Distinction Award that my Mother won.
We actually made it 15 minutes early, got parked, got inside, got through Mass and the presentation. Then we headed across town to the reception area where there was a luncheon for all the recipients and their families. We sat down and had lunch, met a few of my Mother's friends, was able to visit, get a few photos then we had to head home because we had plans for this afternoon at home.
I was able to get as far as Peoria before I absolutely shut down and could not drive another 10th of a mile. My eyes were closing and I was absolutely mentally and physically exhausted. Then it started raining so hard I could not see to drive and then the hail started. That was all it took to put me over the edge and I stopped in Peoria. The first gasoline station/convenience store I saw I pulled into. They were closed, yes, the middle of a Saturday and they were closed.
The storm had knocked out their electricity and they were closed. The manager was kind enough to allow me inside to use the restroom and brush my teeth though so I was happy.
We considered getting a hotel room in Peoria however, by the time the room actually got cooled off enough to be able to get some good sleep we would have been able to be home. In light of that I gave in and allowed my Husband to drive the rest of the way home. He is not supposed to be driving yet with his now repaired broken arm. He just got stitches out Wednesday and Physical Therapy has started but he is so far from being able to properly use his arm and he has a splint. He also cannot grip well with his left hand so no driving a vehicle for a while yet. He has however been cleared to drive the riding lawn mower..
Anyway, we got home, fed the critters, gave the cats their pets since we had been gone for two days and we all took a very nice long nap.
Suffice to say the loss of sleep is not a big deal when the end result is spending time with our grandsons, daughter and son in law, going to the baseball game, seeing my Mother, Brother and one of my nieces, watching my Mother get an award she very much deserves and finishing the weekend taking our friends who took care of our cats while we were gone to lunch at Long Horn Steakhouse this afternoon.
We got to spend time this weekend with 8 of our favorite humans and it was worth every wink of lost sleep.
I know this is long and I am sorry for that but sometimes you just can't tell a short story no matter how hard you try.
So I will leave you with this:
When it comes to whirlwinds the best ones are planned to be short, sweet and to the point and end up being completely thrown off time wise involving those you love.
I wish you restful sleep and peaceful dreams when it is time for you to wander your timbers of slumber.
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