Can't Take Us Anywhere

Jamie and I got kicked out of the library on Saturday for being too loud.  Lemme explain.

Jamie and I have a reputation for being loud. Individually. Collectively. We make a lot of noise. Said noise generally consists of laughing and/or hilariously ridiculous conversation.  I think we always new this about ourselves, but in light of Jamie's accident and the fact that we've been holed up in hospitals the last three months, this facet of our relationship had taken a back seat.  Well ladies and gentlemen, never fear! The draught is over! Noise is back! And it's awesome!!  What brought about the noise this week, you ask? A library, of course! Curious? Of course you are.

So Jamie had another "community outing" this week through recreational therapy.  She had said earlier in the week that she wanted to go to the bookstore, then changed her mind to the library.  When asked who she wanted to accompany her on her outing, she first said AC, and then Mom, and then Lailah.  I will pretend that she really meant me, but had to save the best for last. The only AC we know lives in Kaz, so he couldn't go, and the rec therapist said that Kathy deferred to me because she is there everyday and wanted Jamie to have fun.  I don't know if this is true, or if she was just being nice because I practically begged last week to go on the next community outing, but I digress. 

When we started our little adventure, Jamie was just in a so-so mood.  She wasn't uncooperative, but she was just very subdued and quiet (although she did keep referring to our outing as an "excursion", which made it sound much more exotic and exciting than a trip to the Campbell library). I would ask her questions, and she would just respond with one word answers and wasn't very excited.  We got to the library and Jamie's therapist went to get the wheelchair out of the trunk (J can ride in normal cars because she can get in/out of wheelchair so easily) and Jamie did not want to wait, so she popped right out of the car and was standing next to it.  Although J is definitely strong enough to stand on her own, her balance can sometimes be a little sketchy, so I got to be her safety belt while waiting for her chair.  So we just stood there, me hugging her around her waste, her looking down at me, me looking up at her. We stared at each other for a second and then just started giggling.  I said "Jamie, you're a whole head taller than me!" To which she responded, "I know, you're short. I'm a head taller than you." We then commenced to giggle about a lady who walked by and was staring at us, eventhough she was the one wearing a fuscia straw hat and HUGE sunglasses in the overcast afternoon. 

Jamie's therapist brought her wheelchair over and she sat down, then had to get back up because the seatbelt was stuck underneath.  So we do our "safety-hug" again, and Jamie looks down at me and says "We're going to get good at this!" We had a good laugh about that, too.  Once we got the seat belt situation sorted out, we made our way to the library.  We had two choices of entrances - a ramp up to part of the library or a ramp down to another part. We picked the ramp down (we being Kristina the therapist because she was pushing Jamie's chair...okay not really.  The down option led to the regular adult sections, and the ramp up led to certain death, er I mean the teen and kids sections). 

So we get inside the library, aka dungeon o' books, and start giving Jamie some choices as to what section she wants to go to.  She picked non-fiction, which was convenient because it was nearby! we parked in front of the new non-fiction section and started going through the books.  Kristina and I would have Jamie read the title, and then we would talk about what we thought the book was about, who we thought would like it, and see where the conversation went.  We had so much fun! We even smelled the pages of one paperback.  :)  A lot of the books were political in nature, so we talked about politics and if people in our lives were conservative, moderate or liberal.  She was telling a story about one of her friends (don't know who) and she said "She's more liberal. Her politics are more like that guy's" (said while pointing to a picture of Obama).

When asked about the politics of her family members, here's what she had to say:

Parents - Jamie Answer: "Christian and Conservative."
Lailah - Jamie Answer: "In the middle, like me."
Ryan - Jamie Answer: "Whatever my dad says."

Couldn't have said it better myself, Jam.  While talking about family politics, Jamie told Kristina that she and Ryan are related, but that she and I are blood. hehe.

Do you remember that I have yet to tell you about how we got kicked out for being too loud? Okay, okay, I give.  So we were in the library for about 45 minutes, just reading titles, chatting and doing LOTS of giggling.  A few people had come over in our general direction, but we didn't really notice anybody trying to look at the books we were looking at.  All of a sudden, a library employee comes over to give us the following speech:

"So, you ladies are out here kind of in the wide open, and doing quite a bit of talking.  You're being pretty loud, so we want to make sure you're not bothering any other patrons.  You're also blocking all these books and other people can't get to them.  You're welcome to go over there, its a bit more secluded.  Or you can go up to the teen section, you might enjoy that better."

Okay, not word for word because I a) did not record her little speech and b) am getting older every day and forgetting more and more.  At any rate, we immediately started cracking up after she left.  Probably not the intended reaction.  Since we had been there for a while, and we wanted to end the outing on a good note, we booked it out.  Pun intended.  When we got back to the car, someone (Kristina) started singing "Do a little dance..." and then Jamie said "don't forget your love" and then we all started singing the real song, which tickled Jamie, considering Kristina and I were also dancing like crazy people in the parking lot.  After she and I sang and danced around, Jamie serenaded us from her seat in the car, complete with Jamie-car-dancing.  So everytime you hear or sing "Do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight, get down tonight", think of our Jamie girl, jammin out in the car, seat dancing and all. 

When we got back to her room at the hospital, jamie was pretty pooped and ready for a nap.  When we were saying our goodbyes, Jamie told me to come back soon, and that she wished I lived right next to her.  It took ALL my strength to leave her room after that comment! I thought I was going to melt into a little puddle!! We had such a lovely day.  Jamie was in such a good mood.  Some of her stories were crazy, some were very coherent, and some were just silly.  I'll take it all!

In kind of business news, Jamie has been doing really well eating on her own.  She has not needed supplement from the PEG tube in about 2 weeks, so we are expecting it to come out hopefully sometime this week.  This will be just one more step towards Jamie's independence and recovery.  No decisions have been made as far as where Jamie will go next, but we do know that it will be a transitional residence facility.  We have heard great things about alot of these programs, and are pretty confident that more time with access to intensive therapies is the best thing for our girl.  Please continue to pray for the decision and that God will make his preference clear!

Thank you all for your continued support, Jamie has such an amazing network of friends and family! love you guys!