Tuesday 31st October 2006

Still reliving the horror of last nights dinner ! I was so close to phoning Marc and asking him to take me to Hospital. How could I be so stupid. Al sounded annoyed at me on the phone last night too. I won't do that again in a hurry.
I slept fairly well over night. I was so scared of not being able to catch the flight home, through my own stupidity.... anyway. We were up at 5.30am. I decided there was not that much that needed to be done so the extra 1/2 hour in bed would be ok. Ellen was dead to the world !! She is not a morning person !! lol
My tummy was so sore that I had to open up my case and get a zantac out. I managed to squeeze my nightie and makeup back into the case too before closing it and locking it !! How it all went in I will never know !!
I was washed, dressed, got my make up on and had 1/2 a yoghurt to eat. I felt much better. I took zantac and paracetamol, the latter was a precautionary measure for the journey although I really did not need them. I drank my first 500ml of water too !! We waited on the taxi from 6.10am out the front of the hotel. She was late and did not arrive until 6.40am but it was ok. She had us at the airport by 8.20am
I called Al to let him know we were at the airport. He was still sleeping and Rachel answered the phone !!
We checked in - my case weighed 19.1kg, and Ellens was 18.9kg !! Most our cases were weighed down with chocolate !! lol She had my bag as her hand luggage too which was seriously heavy but she managed to sneek it on without anyone questioning it ! The wait in the gate was unbearable because the plane was delayed and the room was bunged. I sent a few texts to Al, Digger, Barbra, Jo and Lorraine, just to let them know I was on my way home. Al didn't sound very excited but Barbra said that he was when she saw him with the kids at the fireworks last night, and that he was looking forward to seeing me again. I was tearful all morning really, just so relieved to be going home, and on the other side of this frightening week. Time was dragging and it was not fair. We finally got on the plane and I got the window seat. Another delay in taking off. I was so annoyed !! When we finally taxi'd to the end of the runway, and the pilot floored it to take off, I had tears of joy rolling down my face !! Sad muppet. The flight home was beautiful. Fairly clear skies all the way, we flew along the English Channel and I could see the coastline of England all the way round to Kent. Then we turned at the Channel Islands and up via Bristol I guess and then across to Dublin via Liverpool. The sky line was just magnificent. The flight was very bumpy, it was windy up there !! Soon enough we were coming down, and Dublin was in sight. I wondered if Al was looking up and seeing my plane arriving.
We landed and my heart was going like the clappers. I was so excited. We got off the plane as soon as we could and made our way through the gate and then the hike to baggage reclaim. My mobile rang and there were a couple of texts from Al saying he was waiting on us. We got our bags and finally got to the arrival hall. We had to go up to the departures area so he could meet us there in the car. I text him to let him know we were there, and within moments I saw the car and he was there. OMG, it was so fantastic to see him. I flung my arms around him and kissed him. Police were trying to move us on, but I just needed to hold him and let him know how happy I was to be back with him again. What a long week it had been.
Then there was another surprise ! Rachel was lying down on the floor in the back of the car hiding.... suddenly she jumped up and 'surprise ' !! Seeing her little face was magic too. She had really wanted to see me, and had been really good for her Daddy all the way there too. She was as good as gold on the way home too.
The journey home was uneventful. We chatted and talked about the operation and my terrible experience last night.
When we got home, Aidan gave me a big hug, but Michael was a little stand offish to begin with. He soon came round though and came over and gave me a huge hug. It was what I needed ! My little angels back with me again. I gave them their presents, and Frances left because she wanted to get to her Bingo night out.
After the hussle and bustle of the day, it was nice to get the kids settled and to bed and finally spend some time with Al. We talked about the operation day. He said that he was beside himself with worry because he had expected to hear from Ellen sooner and when the hours were ticking past, he was working out all the different scenarios in his head.... how to tell the kids that their mother was dead.... If something awful had happened to me then how would Ellen call him and tell him... where would she find the words to say what had happened ? He was thinking the worst all day, until he heard my voice and then he was ok. Poor darling.
I apologised to him over and over for putting him through that. There was nothing Ellen could do to let him know earlier what was going on though, I was not at the ward so what could she tell him ? Anyway... I was here, home and ok. Those memories could be packed away and forgotten about because they were worse case scenarios that never actually happened. We fell into bed, exhausted tonight..... you don't need to know any more detail than that !!! lol