You would not believe what our Christmas Day was like!!

We have never had a Christmas like this! We were scheduled for Christmas Brunch at The Chateau at San Marcos with Virginia, which we went to and it was very nice. We were then to take a boat ride around the San Diego Harbour from 3:00 pm to 5:pm. We had told, both V and her friend, Dorothea, that we needed to leave for our 2 hour cruise on San Diego Harbour by 1:30 pm. It is not easy getting 2 very old ladies out the door. We finally left at 2:00 pm. We had to be on board the boat in San Diego by 2:45pm It was going to be a close shave. As we left the Chateau we heard a funny noise, but could not determine what it was. It sounded like a flapping noise coming from outside. Anyway it stopped, we carried on at high speed and arrived at the Hornblower ticket booth at 2:45, only to find out that it was the wrong Hornblower booth. There was another one about a mile up the road. Well, 2 very old ladies had already been disgorged from the car, along with bags, walker and whatever. So I took off at a run along the harbour front toward the other ticket booth. Michael had parked the car and so he helped V and D  by putting D onto the seat of her walker and pushing her along. I managed to get one of those bicycle cabs and jumped, on parted with $10 and got the rider to take me along to the other booth. The lady there said she would try and hold the boat while I tried to get everyone there quickly. So I commandeered the bicycle cab driver to go back and pick them up, which he did and, WHEW, we got onto the boat which had been delayed waiting for us.

V and D parked themselves on a bench on the second deck, which was as high as they could go with their bad knees and lack of oomph. I bought them each a bottle of water and went up onto the top deck to watch the passing scenery. After about 15 minutes I decided to go and see if there was anything I could get for them. They were no where to be found. Michael and I spent the next 40 minutes combing the boat, but still could not find them. We looked in washrooms, lounges, even went into the dining room and the auditorium. Still no sign of them. It was not a big vessel, only 3 decks. I eventually spoke to a member of staff who agreed to assist in the search. By now I had the 2 of them falling overboard and floating off into the sunset! The staff member eventually found the two of them sitting blissfully in a closed area. A lounge that is used only occasionally. I was so relieved as I did not know how I was going to explain to my sister or the authorities how 2 old ladies fell off a harbour cruise!!

We enjoyed the second half of the cruise, watching the sun sink into the west and the lights of San Diego starting to come on. Michael got off the boat first, to go and get the car and meet us back at the terminal. While V was getting off the boat, she bumped her arm on the corner of the stairwell and tore a chunk of skin off her right elbow. We stopped the bleeding with paper towel and disembarked.

We waited, and waited, and waited at the dock. I stood up on the side of the road like a lady of the night, looking out for the car. Eventually I gathered my 2 wards up and suggested we start to walk slowly over to where the car was parked, about a mile away. As we were going along the harbour front, V noticed Michael walking toward us.

Michael has arrived at the car, reversed out of the parking lot and realized that one of the tires was flat (remember the flapping noise?), so he parked again and walked the mile back to let us know. V has AAA so she said that she would call them and they would come put the spare on. Problem was that my cell phone battery was flat and V had forgotten hers at home. We found another of those bicycle cabs and asked the driver if we could borrow his cell to call AAA. Michael went back to wait at the car. We got through to AAA and after the 3rd try to get hold of someone who knew what to do and where to send the repair truck, we decided to take the bicycle cab back to the car.

V was unable climb into the cab, so the driver moved it over to the curb so that she would have a step up. Remember those weak knees? Well, V tried to get into the cab and lost her balance and fell straight backwards. I just heard a sickening crack as her head landed on the sidewalk. Now a crowd started gathering and two of the young people in the crowd came over and helped V up to her feet. I felt her head and there was a lump the size of a grapefruit on the caput. She was assisted into the cab but she complained of a pain in her right hip. Oh dear. Having parted with more money, we got back to the car at about the same time as the AAA truck arrived. I got the 2 old dears into the car while the mechanic got the front tire changed and eventually we were on our way. We got home without further incident. V called her hospice emergency number and reported the fall. Some one will be in to see her in the morning. I checked her over and found 3 very nasty abrasions on her right arm and one on her left arm, which I dressed and bandaged up. Her hip is painful but she is able to walk and there was no bruising, so I guess no fracture which was my fear.

What will tomorrow bring? I wonder! Life with a 91 year old is never dull.