Last Time, First Time

I headed into this weekend knowing that it was going to be a long one. Earlier in the week I had to make the decision regarding where I would be going and what I would be able to get done. In the end, there were a couple of things that required my attention and so my long Saturday began with me staggering out of bed around 6:30.

The first stop of the morning was at the lodge where I had to ensure that the Red Cross had enough time to set up for the Blood Drive which was scheduled to begin at 10. For those of you unfamiliar with the logistics, they usually begin unloading the truck between 8 and 830 in the morning. Thankfully the traffic was light so my slightly late departure had me arrive just as the truck was pulling up alongside the building.

I stayed at the lodge through most of the set up and left for my second commitment about an hour before donors were supposed to begin showing up. It was time to backtrack a bit and take care of some final things at my mother-in-law’s house. My wife and I arrived at about the same time and double checked what had to be moved out. Once my brother-in-law pulled up, the moving went quickly (the 4 larger items were much lighter than expected) and we were soon headed back to our house to unload everything.

Fortunately, the only items that my wife decided to take from the house are ones that have a practical use and that we were going to pick up at some point in the future anyway. Because of this, we had plenty of room and knew exactly where everything had to go. After offering a little compensation to my brother-in-law for his help, my wife and I took a few minutes to relax and plan the rest of the afternoon.

My wife and I agreed that she would join me in Ardmore giving me a bit of a head start so that he could take care of our son before leaving and so they didn’t have to spend too much time at the event. With our plans in place, I got back in the car and headed off to the lodge for the remainder of the blood drive. After a quick retrieval of the mail, I walked back through the doors and checked on the donor progress… the turnout wasn’t bad for a last minute arrangement and it soon got a little better as a brother walked into the hall and signed up.

While we were catching up on things, my wife arrived and seeing others laying on the tables decided, for the first time, to donate. Of course we had to double check first but given that she was well beyond the 6 week waiting period, she walked up and registered to donate. As it turns out, she was perfectly fine and somewhat surprised at how easy the whole process was from beginning to end.

So it was an interesting and busy day that came to an end with the lodge once again having been cleared out and my wife and I enjoying the weather by taking our son for a walk along Lancaster Avenue. And after a quick dinner with my parents at a local restaurant, we headed back home a little tired but having gotten a fair amount accomplished during the day. We all slept quite well last night and looked forward to a mostly open schedule for the rest of the weekend