Doing better

I must be in a better frame of mind. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe it's the double-height air mattress. Maybe it's the coffee pot. Maybe - just maybe - it's all of the above.

I got Isaiah and I a hotel for Sunday night in Seattle. I thought about going back to LaQuinta, since I know that is close to the airport. But, I wasn't in the mood to spend $109 plus taxes and fees for a place to sleep, so I went to hotels.com and to Priceline. I ended up offering $65 for a three-star hotel and my price was accepted. I decided that I'd try three stars first and if that was declined, I'd switch to 2.5 stars. I didn't want to spend any more than $65 before taxes and fees and the cheaper hotels on hotels.com site did not seem to be in any decent areas or they had bad reviews. Since I'd be by myself with Isaiah, I wanted to find something a bit safer. The Hilton Airport and Convention Center accepted my bid (their published rate for that night is $179). I was amazed! But, I am sure we will enjoy the conveniences of that hotel and being so close to the airport.

We need to be at the airport no later than 9:00 am and since it is about an hour drive (with no traffic), I didn't want to fight inbound traffic on Monday morning. Plus, I figured we could go into Seattle early enough on Sunday to either go to the aquarium or to the zoo. If Shaun and Jenny don't feel like going with us, then we'll just have to say good-bye early and go off by ourselves. I hope they do come because it will be more fun to have other adults there. I asked about them getting a hotel room, too but I think they'll probably head back home in the late afternoon or so. Not sure what rush hour will be like but that's OK.

The weather has also cooled down so sleeping is much more comfortable and the days are more tolerable. It's been misting rain a bit today and is very nice. I wanted to take Isaiah swimming but I think that it's too cool for that. He turned blue the other day when it was hot so I'm sure that today would be a bit much on his system. We will get out and do something though. Just not sure what. I took him to the local mall yesterday to the arcade and then went to Penney's to get him a jacket. Being from the Kansas heat, we did not expect to need a jacket so we didn't pack either of us one. I will be OK on the dock but I know that he will get cold.

I took Isaiah to GameStop the other day and let him pick out a new game for his Nintendo DS. He's been very good about entertaining himself. Amy sent him some activity books but Alexander wants to be right with him and imitating everything he does, so we haven't gotten them out.

Ron said that Keith has spent every night with him except one, so that is good. Keith has changed his foot dressing, brought in the mail, and taken out the trash. He also took Ron to the grocery store, so that was another good thing. I'm sure they both enjoyed having more food in the house. LOL, Ron said his stash of food did go down faster than expected since he was feeding another boy - a healthy eater at that. Keith likes to cook so I'm sure he's taking very good care of his dad.

I will be glad to see my big boy on Friday and will be glad to see my other boys next week. Ron sounds like he's in better spirits and, since Keith is with him, is not as lonely. He knows that he'll have someone with him every night. It's nice that Keith is willing to put his social life on hold for 10 days to stay with his dad. We appreciate it.

Isaiah is looking forward to seeing his mom. This is the longest he's been away from her since 2005, when he came to live with us while she finished her tour in the Navy. I had him for three months from the end of December 2005 until the end of March 2006. He was much younger then and not as verbal, so he didn't realize that he was missing her then. Or, maybe he did and just internalized it. Who knows...