I try to live my life according to certain rules. Most are spelled out clearly in my religious beliefs, but some I admittedly make up on my own.
One of my rules is that if I make an appointment with someone and end up waiting more than 25 minutes without an explanation...I leave.
I started to abide by that rule this afternoon at the dental office. I was on time for my appointment...there were no other patients visible, yet I waited...and waited.
I was only there to get my teeth cleaned.
I've become accustomed to waiting for doctors - and I might add for those faithful readers that this rule does not apply to Amy's surgeon, who has no concept of time or propriety...these are my rules not Amy's - but my rule does apply to dental hygienists, perhaps that's unfair but it's my rule.
I was walking out the door when a receptionist poked her head out from behind her glass enclosed sanctuary reminiscent of a scene from the Wizard of Oz, saying, "Oh my..Oh my! Someone will be with you soon!"
It worked. In mere seconds my very apologetic dental hygienist magically appeared.
On the upside, my teeth are now clean.
On the downside, I need a crown.
If you look into your crystal ball you'll see a Visa bill for 350 dollars in my future.
I mention rules only because yesterday we broke a few. Amy was untethered for the first time in months. No feed bag. No central line. No nothing.
We had to go to New Braunfels to drop off Lisa so she could head back to Baylor, and also to see a client of Amy's who has patiently waited for a computer issue to be resolved for the past month while Amy dealt with her medical situation. As a bonus, Tiffany agreed to meet us there.
Amy wasn't feeling real well, but while her brother and his wife were here she wanted to go to Gruene (pronounced Green for those of non-Germanic heritage), a quaint little town with shops and restaurants resting on the Guadalupe river. We knew we wouldn't be there for long, but we were all eager to get Amy out of the house.
We didn't behave.
It was wonderful.
We went to a fine restaurant just for potato salad and onion rings.
We made the waiter think we were escapees from a nut hatch.
Tiffany tried very hard to pretend she wasn't with us... and we laughed.
We laughed a lot.
Soon, Amy was in dire need of rest and we left....her pain was still very much present.
But so was this small memory.
We bent the rules, it caused some pain. It also caused some laughter.
In the end, I believe the scales will balance out in our favor.
