Kayaking Adventure
The kayaking trip was a truly WONDERFUL adventure that we both enjoyed immensely. We arrived at the river about 10 am and were able to get in them without mishap or getting wet. We rowed for about an hour looking for the opening of the river going south but didn’t have any luck so we turned around and rowed another hour back. What was funny was on the way back we found the opening of the river going south which was maybe 10 minutes from where we started. We both laughed at ourselves over this ;-) Dad almost tipped himself over once pulling up some umbilical looking plants and then forgot them on the dock… that was funny too ;-)
We can’t wait til the next opportunity to do this again and this time we will paddle down the actual canoe trail now that we know what we are doing. We are even talking about camping out at the Blackwater State Park when we go next time… Dad’s idea… can you believe it? ;-)
Yes, a WONDERFUL time was had by both of us.
8 MAY 2001
Jonathan had his surgery today and it went well; however, they are keeping him overnight due to the immense pain that he is in. They have him on a morphine drip trying to keep him as comfortable as possible. The surgery itself took almost 3 hours then it was another 2 hours in recovery. The doctor successfully created a new ACL though and he should be back to normal in 8 months. He starts physical therapy tomorrow. The doctor also specifically said absolutely NO FIGHTING until after the 8th month point… too bad he didn't say no fighting ever again. Oh yeah, and the doctor also said that he has degenerative arthritis in his knee so more than likely he will always have some kind of problem/pain to live with ;-(
Amanda, his girlfriend, is watching over him right now so that I could come home and get a few things done so I better get busy…
13 MAY 2001
It's been quite a week and I couldn't have made it through it if it hadn't been for Amanda helping me out. Thank you Amanda!! Jonathan is slowly healing... he's not in too much pain; however, whenever he gets up to walk it hurts pretty bad for a little while. My heart and soul goes out to him.
On the up side, I finished my public speaking course and with that I've finally earned an Associate's Degree. I'm very pleased with myself to say the least.
Next weekend is Iva's law school graduation and a family reunion of sorts... meaning everyone will be there except for Dad. It should be great!! I'll let you know the details upon my return.
27 MAY 2001
The Wash DC trip was wonderful. Mom was even on her best behavior so it wasn’t stressful for me in the least. We even got misdirected after leaving the airport which was a little irritating but finally just laughed it off as an adventure. We finally found the motel and realized I had made a poor choice but the price was right compared to others so we stayed anyway. After we got settled we decided that the best thing to do was to venture off to see if we could find the restaurant where we were to meet everyone at 7:30 pm… this was at 4 pm and it was a good thing to do since it took nearly an hour to find our way. We retraced our path and found the motel again, changed clothes, and ventured off again to the restaurant. It was a great reunion of Smith’s… Mike and Carla, Steve and Martine, Bob, Iva and three friends of her’s, and Mom and I. Dinner was a 4 hour affair with lots of catching up going on, jokes, and plenty of laughter. I was a little subdued as normal when I’m around a bunch of people, but I had a great time anyhow.
By the time we got back to the motel and settled down it was nearly 2 AM which meant that I had been up for nearly 23 hours. Bob was camping out on our floor which made me feel more safe, but I was exhausted to say the least and every little noise made me wake up as I noisily caught my breath. I was so delirious from lack of sleep that at one point when Bob had come back in from smoking a cigarette I nearly screamed. I did finally get about 5 hours sleep before having to wake up and face the world again and another long day. The graduation was at 1 pm with the reception starting at 4 pm. We got there an hour early which was a good thing as it started raining and the crowds starting swarming in the arena. We saved seats for everyone so we could all sit together but had trouble finding Steve and Martine. It was nearly over by the time they caught up with us, but at least for a little while we were all together rooting our sister on. She was so happy that we were all there for her… she wished my Dad could have been there too… we all did. But I understood why he didn’t want to and that’s okay. I felt out of sorts at times myself… especially at dinner… and knew he would have been too. Actually he would have probably fallen asleep ;-)
The reception in honor of Iva was held at Renee’s house. Renee is like a surrogate mother to Iva. Very wonderful loving person. We stayed there for about 4 hours while lots of people came by to congratulate Iva… There was lots of food, spirits, and laughter. It was also a great time to catch up even more among the siblings. I didn’t get to talk to Steve and Martine much but we all knew that I’d be seeing them again soon under quieter circumstances more conducive to conversation. Mom and a wonderful time being there chatting with everyone and again she was on her best behavior so a nice time was had by all.
The graduates... Kimmy and Iva
Here's a picture of Iva, Mom, Me, and Bob
Iva and her mentor...Steve
