This was a challenging and stressful week. Had I not been the prepared type, we could have had budget blow-outs all over the place to add to our stress. Can I say, that everyone thinks these things won't happen to them....until they do.
Here's what happened.
The Diva Child-Woman is in her final year of schooling. Actually her final 50 days of schooling. Like, ever. She has assessments up to her ears, and then some. Our life revolves around getting her through the next 50 days, whilst also supporting her while she prepares for 5 different auditions for her longed for Performing Arts Tertiary Entry. It's a madhouse I tell you.
We started the week with a call saying Mother-in-Law had been hospitalised. She lives three hours away. Husband decided he would visit her while The Diva studied for her upcoming Maths and Chemistry exams in the ensuing days. Mother-in-Law stabilised but at the age of 86, her recovery is slow.
Monday went okay, except that The Diva had a nasty encounter with her very own Bully, someone who has haunted and taunted her for nigh on fifteen years now. She was understandably distressed.
Tuesday she wasn't feeling so well, but went to school anyway, not wanting to miss a vital Dance assessment. The Dance assessment was postponed as virtually nobody else in the class was prepared except her. This was unfortunate due to What Happened Next.
Meanwhile, as part of my normal weekly routine, I was baking little fruit cakes for snacks and lunches, poaching chicken breast to sear quickly and sit atop a planned risotto for later in the week...
...topping up the pantry staples like noodles and spices for soups, because the weather here still cannot decide if it's Winter or Spring...
...making crepes for later in the week...
...using some milk that was near it's use-by date to make fresh ricotta, snipping some fresh herbs into it...
....and making Pumpkin Soup in the slow cooker.
I shopped at my favourite fruit market, and filled the refrigerator with fresh fruit and vegetables, cheeses, and little cornichons, to make for some easy lunches for Husband and I...
...and looked forward to the week ahead, with The Diva getting some all important exams out of the way, and being on the downhill run to finishing school.
Well.
Here's What Happened Next.
On Tuesday night, she woke at 1am, pale and clammy, complaining of severe abdominal pain, and nausea. Vomiting episodes ensued, and a decision was made to take her to the hospital.
She was quickly assessed, and within three hours, was diagnosed with Appendicitis, and we were advised that she would be prepped for surgery. That was at 4am.
By 4pm, she had been moved three times to different wards, and was still awaiting surgery. More urgent cases were taking her place in the queue each time, and whilst with appropriate care, her symptoms had subsided, she and we, were exhausted having only had three hours sleep the night before, and she was hungry, and could not eat due to the impending surgery.
What to do?
Well you know, being prepared helps.
Husband was despatched to home turf, to collect the bag we have packed for such emergencies, and it was just under a year ago, that I mentioned such emergencies here at A Tray of Bliss, in this post here. Little was I to know that The Diva would need her bag, before I would need mine! Again, thanks to preparedness, she had all she needed in one small bag, sitting on a shelf in the garage.
While he was there, he was able to pack two small fruit cakes for him and I, and grabbed two of the readymade salad jars, that were sitting in the refrigerator for the lunch we'd missed that day. I didn't photograph them as I didn't think I'd be blogging but they looked like this....
...and I used this recipe here to make them...thanks to Cinnamon, Spice and Everything nice for the recipe, and for this image.
On our way out of the hospital later that evening, we passed a vending machine containing very similar salads-in-a-jar (yes, really...a vending machine!), priced at $16.95 each! As we were eating at the hospital for two days straight, our salad jars alone saved us over $100. Fruit cakes and other snacks and thermoses of tea sourced from home, saved us at least another $100.
The blankets I keep in my car boot, came in handy....
....keeping us warm in the Emergency Room and later in the ward.
The cookies you see at the top of my post? Well they were portioned into cellophane candy bags, and gifted to the wardsmen and nursing staff who cared for our daughter, and for my Mother-in-Law at a different hospital. These people deserve thanks too.
And my bottles of water, mints, and multiple use power bank for recharging our phones, came in mighty handy as well. I keep those in the boot of my car at all times, as a year or two ago, we had such a terrible storm here, that traffic was at a standstill for nearly 7 hours.
You see, mostly we all think of Preparedness as being prepared for financial emergencies, or natural disasters. But here was a simple illness in the family, where being prepared led to calmer Mum and Dad, calmer ill and incapacitated teen, calmer ill Mother-in-Law, and little financial stress other than what we had to pay for parking, which whilst outrageous (that's a whole other topic!), was not financially crippling.
So, yes, being prepared saved me BIG time this week.
How was your week?
...Mimi...
