Back Home Again!

Making it home never felt so good.  We left BJ’s house at 7:30 this morning and drove nearly straight through, but didn’t get home until 3pm.  A few thrift stores got in our way.  Also, the cloud cover that blocked the view of all the mountains on our way south on Monday, was no longer there, so the blue sky provided far too many photo opportunities.  And the sheep in the road didn’t exactly get out of our way enough to even go the speed limit, so the drive home was more of the leisurely kind.

We managed to find the mother of all thrift stores in Norway – more like a warehouse/super center thrift store – and just an hour south from where we live!  They had everything (except the electronic appliances I need, of course), but the aisle and aisles of Norwegian hand made treasures was more than a person could take.  I could have spent all day in there, but we were on a schedule, so I had to speed shop again, which I hate, but it still produced some great finds.

The biggest challenge of the day was Kory’s wrist.  He overused it painting stain on our deck a few days ago so he was taking it easy and didn’t drive at all on Monday when we left.  I drove all yesterday, too, but by the afternoon, I insisted he drive because I was about as exhausted as a person can be and knowing we were backtracking on some of the harrowing roads we’d been on earlier, I was sure I’d have a heart attack if I had to do them all over again.  It might have been good for my nerves, but it was a big mistake for his arthritic wrist.  Even just the motion for him to shift the car into gear was enough to set his wrist aflame.  It was about 3 times the normal size and horribly disfigured looking by day’s end.  He was writhing in pain all day and there was nothing I could do about it.

Once we got home, he sat on the couch and just cried.  I told him to call his cousin Dr. Odd, but there was no answer.  When Odd called back I told him there was a problem with Kory (he thought it was his heart!) and I didn’t know what to do.  I told him about his wrist and that he can’t even move, he’s so paralyzed by the pain, so he told me to get him to the ER right away.

The only problem with that plan was, we got home at three and were expecting dinner guests at six.  I thought we’d be home last night so the house being a mess was an added bonus, plus I had to go buy the groceries and make a dinner in a short timespan.  Odd said I should just drop Kory off at the ER and go back when he was done.  In America, that would be six hours later, but in Norway, he called me back within an hour.

In that hour, Kaleb had gone into the woods and picked nearly two pounds of blueberries so I could make a pie, Amanda made a salad and I prepped all the other food and set the table.  Kaleb got the new BBQ grill going and I put some chicken on the Barbie and no one was the wiser that we’d been a crazed household for the last few hours before anyone showed up.  Actually, I retrieved Kory from the hospital and was walking in the building just as our other guests arrived, so it all worked out perfectly.

The ER doc just gave Kory some anti-inflammatory drugs that, even after six hours, haven’t done a thing to reduce his pain.  They took a blood sample to see if he had an infection or a high level of uric acid in his system, which he didn’t have either so they just said there’s not much to do other than wait and let the swelling subside. 

We had a lovely dinner, in honor of Amanda, as we invited her brother’s friends from Seattle here for dinner.  They both married Norwegian women and now have children, so it was quite the Seattle night tonight.  It didn’t go too late because they do have small children, so afterwards we went over to see Dr. Odd and get his second opinion about Kory’s wrist.  All he said was to wrap it (which his wife, Turid, did) and not to move it at all for 2 weeks.  No driving the car, no nothing – total immobility.  So I guess next week’s car trip to Sweden will be interesting with me behind the wheel the whole way.  At least they have better roads in Sweden.

So today wasn’t exactly as we’d planned either, but it all worked out fine and even in the midst of a new storm, I kept my calm, made a good dinner and entertained a houseful of people.  Sometimes, I even amaze myself.