Sunday, March 21, 2010

Sleepless in Seattle

This past week was my Spring Break. A week off from waking up early, a week off from the guilty feeling that I should be studying every time I turn on the TV, a week off from clinical, a week off from listening to lectures that I really don't want to be listening to.
At the beginning of my Spring Break, Sunday night, I made a list of things to get done.
  1. study for med-surg!!!! (nope)
  2. complete assignment #4 for ethics (1/2 way nope)
  3. work on blog for N322 (nope)
  4. finish Monique and the Mango Rains (nope)
I had also been planning a fun 3 day trip to visit my sister Jamie in Seattle. I had visions of playing games late into the night, buying loads of cute clothes, walking in the park with Jake every day...it was going to be a relaxing trip to Seattle to see Jamie.
But it wasn't to be.
We arrived in Seattle Tuesday evening. Jake was happy as a lark, exploring Jamie's apartment, flirting with her roommate, just being his happy silly self. Then bedtime came. That kid would NOT go to sleep. There was weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth...and then there was Jake. He SCREAMED. and SCREAMED. Eventually, in the wee hours of the morning, he fell asleep laying on my chest. He tossed and turned all night while laying on top of me, waking up every 30 minutes or so to let out a cry.
The next day was spent recovering...we did manage a walk in the park but it ended with Jake falling in a puddle in front of a large group of people who probably thought I was a terrible mother. And we did have pizza with Jamie and her boyfriend Mikey...it was good pizza. That night we were able to go to my Uncle's house nearby in Everett. They were out of town, and I thought I would have better luck letting Jake cry it out because we weren't in an apartment and I wouldn't have to worry about angry neighbors. We arrived to my Uncle's house just in time for bed. Great, we can put Jake to bed and spend the rest of the night watching The Office dvds. After a couple attempts involving lots of screaming, Jake fell asleep in his port-o-crib. Jamie and I watched the Office for a few hours, ate some popcorn, and crawled in to bed exhausted. Minutes after I pulled up the covers, I heard an all too familiar sound. It was the type of screaming I knew wouldn't end in sleep. Jamie went and got Jake, brought him to me, and we spent the night the same way we spent the one before.
Thursday we spent time with the kids Jamie babysits, did a little shopping, and ate at the best burger joint I know of...Dick's. At 4:30 we hi-tailed it out of there, leaving a day early and hitching a ride with my Dad on his way back home from his week of work in Kirkland.
We got home Thursday night and I handed Jake over to Britton, so exhausted I couldn't even stay up to watch the new Office. I spent this weekend recovering from the trip and doing absolutely nothing.
Better luck next year, eh?

3 comments:

ailinh said...

Wow. What. A. Break! I guess you can't ever have thee perfect vacation without something unwanted to happen, right? Anyway, glad you got to get away and enjoy some time though. =)

Nate and Erin Russell said...

Ugh. I know the feeling. We just spend the weekend with my parents in Phoenix in the SAME HOTEL ROOM. I'm a terrible mother cuz I just fell asleep while Rach was watching Ice Age 3 on my iPod until she eventually fell asleep. Good thing my parents were too busy snoring to hear anything... I guess part of parenthood is no longer getting a vacation, unless you don't take the kids, which hardly ever happens.

Jennifer said...

Oh, Lisa, I'm so sorry. I cannot tell you how many trips like that I endured when my kids were little. I promise it gets better! We just went to Utah and I almost felt guilty b/c I barely saw my kids for four (glorious) days--they can pretty much take care of themselves. Hang in there! I've found that a really bad trip (or day) is usually followed by a really good one. Sounds trite, but I swear it's true.