This past weekend we had to scrape up some money to head to Rhode Island to visit my husband's sister. The trip was originally planned to be a birthday celebration for his sister and her husband, who have their birthdays 2 days apart-however, once we got there her husband informed us she was in the hospital in Providence.
We hurried to the hospital and found her still in the Emergency Room, her husband stayed behind to greet guests for the party, but his heart really wasn't in it as he was so worried about her. Two of their adult sons were with her, the other two stayed behind to help their father and their aunts greet the guests. It was a BBQ, so although it was chilly for this time of year, it was at least easy to cook, and they kept the party outside.
Apparently my sister in law had been bleeding from the nose for the past 4 years, and it was always around this time of year, so assumed it was seasonal type allergies or sensitivity to the heat/cold climate changes. Last year she'd gone to the ER to have her nose cauterized, and it seemed to help. This past Thursday, a week ago today, she had the same thing done-but it only made the bleeding worse. After a rough Friday night, she headed back to the ER at RI Hospital Saturday morning to have the cotton packing taken out but she was still bleeding, swollen on one side of her face, and very weak from all the overnight bleeding.
Today, she remains in the hospital-and is getting stronger and feeling better. Before we left on Monday, I'd asked the doctors what was up. Apparently, they feel as though she had shut down her pituitary glad, and it could have been as long as 19 years ago when her last son was born in Guatemala and she abruptly stopped having periods after a very difficult birth in which she almost died. Her hormones were non-existent in some cases, so now she is working with endocrinologists to find the right combination of synthetically made hormones to work for her.
In the meantime, while we enjoyed the party as best as we could-we did get to eat a few of the local food items as well. One place we ate at that is super affordable was Don Nacho's Taco Stand. He originally started years ago, selling tacos (and beer!) from his house on Sunday mornings, but within the last couple of years had saved up enough money to get his taco cart and got a great location on a busy street. He is open 7 days a week, 10 am to 12 midnight. The nachos pictured above cost $6 and the tacos are $1.20 each, both have carne asada (BBQ steak) and are done in the traditional Mexican fashion, with cilantro, onion and limes on the side that you can squeeze the juice over the meat... so yummy! The nachos also had lettuce, and crema Mexicana (like sour cream) and a few slices of avocado too. We drove by his stand several times during our stay and he was busy day and night, and after tasting his tacos (after years of not having them!) I can see why!
All in all, it was a pretty good trip. I stayed away from the flea markets and other places I love to shop as money is tight right now since I'm laid off-and we were lucky enough to be able to stay at my sister-in-laws-now we are just waiting for my sister in law to be able to come home and of course, feel better.
Do you have any yummy restaurants in your area? (We have a couple, but I also like to visit new ones when I am away from home.) I'm not a person who is into "luxury" type restaurants, I feel totally uncomfortable in them and prefer the food from the street vendor rather than the four star restaurant-I think it'd be the same even if money wasn't an issue lol.
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