The people of Boston are friendly but not forth coming with information. You have to really drag it out of them and of course know what questions to ask, which is of course a bigger issue with the hospital than daily life.
Yesterday was another perfect example. I called Saturday to find out when our Whole Foods delivery was going to arrive only to find out they don't deliver on weekends; she said she guessed she should have told me that (Oyeevey).
We didn't have enough food to make it two more days so Chris and I ventured to make the 1.3 mile car trip with my trusty shopping buddy Titus. The rest of the crew stayed with Auntie Susie. We hoped since it was Sunday morning driving would be easier. However, when I went to the front desk to get our parking validated she warned me today was move in day for the 12+ colleges in a stones throw of where we are, let the adventure begin!
We drove east today and amazingly found a street with lane markers. Okay that's a good sign. We managed to avoid the ramps that took us underground and onto the highway. However, what we didn't know is that roads have up to five names depending on what streets they are between and sometimes they only display the name to the right or left forgeting to mention the other, thus we of course missed our first turn. That's when I decided to ignore names and navigate by following the blue dot on our phone map program and just tell Chris which way to turn. Thankfully that was the only turn we missed and we were able to make a U-Turn. We parked in the spiral parking garage above Whole Foods and were quite proud of ourselves. We joked as we walked in that we were back to the mothership. Our joviality was short lived. The one thing we really needed was baby food for Amber and of course since this is in the middle of college central they DIDN'T HAVE ANY! Ugh!
We took a big breath, paid $5 for parking (you have to pay before returning to your car) and checked how to get to the other Whole Foods by Cambridge. An advantage of being in a big city is there was more than one. It was a going to be another 2 mile adventure, this time over the river but it had to be done, baby could not go without food.
This time I navigated by the blue dot alone, we weaved and dodged our way and made it without incident. Amazingly it actually had a real parking lot, a true novelty in Boston. This Whole Foods was bigger than our one at home and we found everything we needed and more. The key thing we had to keep reminding ourselves was that we had to carry everything from the parking garage, through the mall and up to our room, so not to buy too much. This store was designed for winter. As you entered the store you went up escalator and when you exited you drove under the store to pick up your groceries that came down a conveyor belt in buckets to load in your waiting car. Titus was fascinated with this process of course.
Now we had to find a way back to our room. With all the one ways it was not a simple as reversing course. We learned to stay on the Orange/bigger streets after making one wrong turn (that was thankfully recoverable) and made it back to the room. When we got there the parking garage was "FULL" but since we were staying at the Best Western we were let in and managed to find a spot, and brought the groceries up in one trip. Success!
As we drove around Boston today we realized we would acclemate to the strange roads and adapt to the big city in a few weeks. However, we would probably still avoid driving as much a possible, which seems to be what most people we've met do.
Its like our room here at the Best Western. When we first arrived I broke into tears. The room is very, very, old has a smell of feet, and the windows open to views of the buildings next door (making it like a cell). The "fully equiped kitchen" didn't include plates, spoons or most other basics, it did have someone's old sugar in a container which made the lack of a dishwasher tell us none of the dishes were safe to use till we scrubbed them. The head board in the bedroom broke at some point and rather than fix it they just put it in the closet. You have to rush to turn off the window air conditioners in the middle of the night when the trash men come to avoid sucking in all the exhaust fumes. Oh, and there are exposed cables and cords all over, great with little Amber around.
I say all this not to rant but to say that we've adapted. We bought soap, scubbers and plastic plates, bowls and silverware. We've learned how to cook only things we can boil or microwave. The refigerator is big enough for the volume of food the boys eat. The passthrough window from kitchen to living area is useful. The main room is very big and with some furniture rearranging gives everyone a lot of room to move and play. The DVD player and Water Filter System we brought with us both connected without problem. The solid wood doors allow Amber to take naps and us to the use the bathroom/shower without disturbing anyone sleeping. We've never heard our neighbors and thankfully we have none below us so we don't have to worry about bothering them.
Most importantly our bulding is next door to the hospital. We are thankful we don't have to commute by car or train to get to the hospital, it will be an even greater blessing when Jared is admitted tomorrow. We hope to stay here as long as Jared is in the hospital. Right now we'll have to move after the 14th but if all goes well he should be out of the hospital by then and we'll only have to commute to come to appointments.
It's not home but we've found a ways to make it work. Chris and I continue to be impressed at how great the boys attitudes have been this whole journey. Lance started emailing his friend Matthew and Titus askes when we are leaving but that's about it. Though the logistics may have been easier if we had not all come, the mental health of everyone would have been worse. Like Chris said at the being we are always better together and I am so thankful we are able to be. Having Auntie Susie hear has been a huge blessing as well, I already dread her leaving next Sunday but we will work that out together again too.
Later I'll post what we did the rest of the day :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment