Staying Home On Vacation

Last Sunday, Oct 25^th was supposedly my departure date for my Philippine vacation that I've been planning for a year now. For reasons beyond my control, I decided to cancel that trip. I know I have hurt the feelings and expectations of some of my closest friends and families but I had to decide to be with my mother during her knee surgery. Fortunately enough, my loved ones agreed on my decision and understood why I had to cancel that trip.

So here I am on the first two days of my two-week vacation. I decided to use my vacation days anyway because they were already approved by my supervisor. I originally requested three weeks off for the Philippines but I decided to use up two weeks and cancel the last week. I was thinking that I deserve to have some time off for myself because my work schedules until the end of this year will cover all the holidays. I'll be working on major holidays like Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. I'll be all hospital-bound, ready to save lives while the rest of the world is partying.

My mom's surgery was done and the huge task of physical therapy is just beginning. The physical rehabilitation would last at least six months depending on her improvement and how her body is coping. So far her Physical Therapist is quite impressed on her progress. According to the therapist, my mom was more flexible on her affected knee than he previously thought. Although my mom suffered intense pain and swelling a day after the surgery, she is doing better right now. She can now move around a little bit but we need to help her to prevent her from falling. She is now regularly taking aspirin to prevent blood clots which is the biggest risk for people who underwent surgeries on their extremities. She only takes her pain medication when there is pain and so far on the average she only takes one pill a day.

How will I spend the next two weeks off from my work? I intend to make these days as worthwhile as possible. By saying "staying home" it doesn't necessarily mean that I'll confine myself inside our house. I plan to go out around town or maybe to the next town nearest to Las Vegas. This way I could be physically away from home for a short period of time and could return home by the end of the day. My dad also took some off from his work so he can also watch over mother. I planned to watch Michael Jackson's movie "This Is It" which will open this week. I got tickets already for that show. Since its Halloween weekend, I planned to go out with some friends and have fun. I might also be doing some projects on my computer which I've been putting on hold for quite some time now. I think this is the right time to do all those unfinished jobs that I put aside long time ago. There are still places in Las Vegas that I haven't been to, so I planned to go there armed with my camera and video cam. I think some friends from California will be coming over next weekend and since I'm still off by then, I could be with them also and show them around. So far, this is my plan for the next weekend. I'm just trying to keep myself busy while trying to enjoy myself as well.