Worked tonight. It was very quiet for most of the night, and then in the last hour, we got in some very sick patients, and all hell broke loose...it sometimes happens that way on weekends and holidays, and on holiday weekends like this one...

Pouring rain again...if this doesn't stop soon, we might lose some big trees, because the ground is so saturated with water...that's happened to a couple of our neighbor's trees, the weight of the wood brings the tree crashing down when the soil gets too wet for too long to hold the roots...ah, well, I will be in the desert in less than a month anyway. We shouldn't get near daily pouring rain there, though the last time we went out to the Rockies in the summer, we got a blizzard!

Bill is now a legal driver, and has an official permit. Last night he drove us up to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Tios, in Ypsilanti to celebrate. We also stopped off at the Jeep dealer just to look at the colors, and then stopped off at Target to buy Bill a wallet to carry his permit in, and get him some sunglasses for when he is driving. He very much enjoyed driving us around.

Today we had a quiet day at home. Bill drove down to Milan for a graduation party, Steven and I went out to lunch for a couple of hours, then we went back to the party and let Billy drive home.  Again, he seemed to enjoy driving a great deal.

I think he is quite good for a beginner. I am, as always, very proud of him.

Went out today to test drive some more vehicles. Test drove a Ford Escape. I liked the Jeep better, and the Jeep has a bit more cargo and leg room. Unlike the nice little dealer in Milan, this place was crowded with salespeople. Two were waiting for me in the parking lot, and three more in the showroom. The Jeep dealer handed me the keys and told me to "go have fun" and let me drive the little truck away all by myself. Even told me to go on some back roads so I could see how it handled in deep mud. These people let me test drive, but I had to take along the salesman, who regaled me with tales about how great the truck was. By the time I was done, I drove home and threw up all over the place in my driveway (couldn't quite make it inside the house to get to the bathroom). At least I earned another CD...but man, it was hard. I think I should be able to get a two CD set for that.!!!

I hate the lies. I hate the pressure. This guy at the Ford place was saying that we have to buy our truck by June 1 to get the incentives, and that sales were picking up and Ford would cancel the incentives. But the lot was so stuffed with new vehicles that there was virtually no room for customers to park (the Escapes were parked three deep in a row and he had to go through a bit of a hard time to get out the one I wanted to try, which was in the middle row) -- and they turned away an auto carrier filled with trucks while I was sitting there...

 

Haven't written in a few days. One of my friends lost his baby, and that has had me very down in spirit. To me losing a child is the worst thing that can happen to a human being. My heart goes out to my friend and his wife, and I cannot even begin to imagine the kind of pain they must be currently experiencing.

It actually hasn't rained yet today, after thunderstorms all night long. I stayed up and watched a couple of movies, because it was too noisy to sleep...saw Solaris and Spirited Away.

Got up early, took Billy into Saline for his driver's training class. Steven and I stopped at Tim Horton's for donuts after dropping him off. Yum!

Came home and did housework, then took Steven down to Monroe for a soccer game. The field was completely saturated with water. There were huge puddles, when the ball would land in one it would stop dead...the kids were soaked when the game was over...

Had our first barbecue of the spring tonight. Chicken, brats, a bunch of side dishes...

32 days until we leave for New Mexico...

Interesting day. Got up early and went into Milan. Test drove a Jeep Liberty ( earned one cd)...liked it, though Dan keeps saying he thinks they are too small. I thought it was great to be able to get in and out of parking spots in my test drive without having to worry about a huge rear end sticking out like in my car...

The Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler dealer in Milan is actually a nice place. No salespeople on staff. It is a third generation business, currently owned by the grandson of the founder, with his elderly father helping out. I didn't know that businesses like that still existed in Southeastern Michigan.

Next I headed into Ann Arbor to go to the doctor's office. I got there to find out that the lab closes for nearly two hours in the middle of the day every day so the employees can eat lunch. Of course, no one mentioned that to me on the phone yesterday ("Sure you can come in tomorrow! You don't need an appointment! Just come in anytime and go back to the lab!")...so I went out for lunch at a nearby Olive Garden, where I greatly enjoyed soup, salad, and breadsticks. Dan met me there to hear about my test drive (he knows how much I hate the entire process). While we were eating it got cloudier and cloudier outside. After eating, I went back to the doctor's office and had my blood drawn. It was starting to look pretty threatening out. I turned on the radio to the local jazz station in time to hear sirens. A severe thunderstorm warning for Washtenaw County had just been declared -- the storm was out in Chelsea and heading for Saline -- just like the ones last night.

So I raced home. By the time I got to the intersection of Moon and Michigan, the sky was unreal. There was a rapidly advancing line of horrifying darkness, all roiled and hideous...raced even faster. Then the wind caught me at Moon and Willis. It was whipping about the trees, and so many leaves and small branches were coming down it was very hard to see to drive. As I pulled into our driveway and got out of the car the hail started. As soon as I ran into the house the power died. All you could hear was the drumming of the hail onto the house, and the roaring of the wind. That dark sky was overhead...I was sure there would be a tornado...and the kids were due to get out of school in just a few minutes...

So of course, you worry. Will the schools have the sense to keep the kids inside? They won't really have them walk home/get on the busses in this, will they? And then, when so much time goes by after the normal arrival time, and there is no sign of the bus, you worry about that...but the storm receded, and the children got home about half an hour late, merrily scooping up handfuls of hail, all happy because it is Friday...in Milan the sirens had gone off, and there had been a tornado warning, so they kept the children late at school, until they could safely walk home/get on the busses...and the power just came back up, about six hours later...so all is well, though we lost a lot of big branches from the trees, and most of my flowers have been stripped of their petals...at one point it looked like it had been snowing because of all of the hail on the ground...

Did we ever have a horrible storm last night! The tornado sirens went off in Ann Arbor just as I was leaving work...driving home was so odd. It was like driving through one of those electricity balls they have in science centers. There was no rain, or wind at all. But there was nonstop lightning in all directions...I had forgotten my cell phone (of all days!) so couldn't call home and tell Dan to get the kids into the basement, so drove home at about 80MPH, ran into the house just as the rain started, and dragged everyone out of bed and down to the basement...the super cell that caused the tornado warning had been in Chelsea and heading in a straight line towards Saline at 70MPH. Given the storm that hit last night, I think the edge of it brushed us. Wild stuff. They even set off the sirens at the jail in an attempt to warn people to stay indoors...

This morning started out sunny, but now looks like its getting cloudy. I think I shall have to shut the windows before I leave to go on my test drives & MD office visit...more wild storms are due in tonight...right now they are over somewhere on the other side of Lake Michigan...

Last night was a pretty good night at work. Spirits are up with the temporary victory over the weird schedule changes. One of my coworkers brought in a great homecooked dinner, which was wonderful!

The doctor's office called today. I have to go in tomorrow and get more blood drawn. They want to do some more blood tests over the tick bite. Sigh. Hopefully this will be the last round.

If no one is sick tomorrow I will be test driving cars. I hate dealing with car sales people, so have promised myself a new classical CD for each model I drive. Maybe that way I can tune the sales people out with a little burst of music greed.  I am also going to the smaller dealers in Milan and Saline rather than the huge places in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. That might make things better. Maybe I can even pick up some of those great pasties at the deli in Saline while I am there.

Well, we've sort of been passing around the headache/fever thing the past few days...everyone seems to be getting better, though, which is GREAT!I still haven't had a chance to test drive any cars. Soon, very soon! Must be soon! They are even offering 0% financing on a couple of models I am interested in, so I must get going on this very soon!

Bill has been doing his driver's training. The weather has been pretty stormy lately, and for his first lesson behind the wheel he got to hydroplane all over the wet road.

The midnight shift rose up in revolt against the changes in their schedule. They have won at least a two week reprieve! YAY!!!

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Today both of my babies are home sick from school. I hate it so much when either one gets sick. I always wish it could be me instead.  To have them both be sick is just .

I am so glad my work week is over. My boss  has made many more people upset lately by needlessly messing around with their work schedules. A lot of unhappy friends.  I am just sort of quietly waiting to see what he will do with me, and wondering what sort of awful thing it will be.

Dan surprised me yesterday by coming home as I was getting ready for work. he had a bad headache , so I had to give him some medicine and a big drink of water...he called me at work to tell me that when he picked up Bill from driver's training, Bill was sick with a fever and a sore throat. Poor kid is still not feeling well today, missed school...I am hoping he is feeling better tomorrow. He has his first chance to go out driving on the road with his instructor tomorrow -- not to mention a late soccer game, under the lights...

If I can, I will go to the post office and test drive jeeps tomorrow. If Bill is home sick, though, here I will be...on Saturday Steven plays his game i nthe morning, and then, if the weather is good, I will plant flowers all day. And maybe test drive a couple of small Ford SUV's.

Heard the pack of coyotes again last night. It sounded like they were a block or so away, by the little lake over on Crane Road. Perhaps a pack has moved into the area and we are in their territory.

There has been an offer on my parents's house. Perhaps all of that hard work will provide dividends. Hopefully probate will work out and it can be sold relatively quickly, or at least, before my sister has to pay the property taxes on it.

It's amazing the difference that a couple of days of the cream and antibiotics have made. I feel almost human again. But I should be paying the bills right now, and am procrastinating, so off I go.

 

Since I've been spending a lot of time in bed the last 3-4 days, I have been reading the first books of David Zindell's The Ea Cycle...entitled The Lightstone book One, The Ninth Kingdom, The Lightstone book Two, The Silver Sword, and Lord of Lies. The series is not finished yet, and I had to order it from England upon a friend's recommendation. There are some beautiful passages of writing. I especially liked this one, so am sharing it. There might be others in the next few days if I have the energy to type them in...this one is from the first Lightstone book.

I ran into this passage today while reading David Zindell's The Lightstone Book One: the Ninth Kingdom...thought it was interesting, and made me start to think about emotions:
____________________________________________________
"You're in love, my friend," he quietly said to me."At last in love."
His words caught me by surprise. The truth often does. It is astonishing how we can deny such things even when it is in our eyes and hearts. "You think I'm in love?" I said stupidly. "With Atara?"
"No, with your packhorse, whom you've been watching all morning." He shook his head at my doltishness.
"But I thought it was you who loved her."
"I? But what made you think that?"
"Well, she's a woman, isn't she?"
"Ah, a woman she is. And I'm a man. So what? A stallion smells a mare in heat, and its inevitable that the inevitable will happen. But love, Val?"
"Well, she's a beautiful woman."
"Beautiful, yes. So is a star. Can you touch one? Can you wrap your arms around such a cold fire and clasp it to your heart?"
"I don't know," I said. "If you can't, why should you think I can?"
"Because you are different from me," he said simply. "You were born to worship such impossible lights."
He went on to say that the very feature I loved most about Atara unnerved him completely. "The truth is, my friend, I can't bear looking at her damn eyes. Too blue, too bright - a woman's eyes should flow into mine like coffee, not dazzle me like diamonds."
I looked down at the two diamonds of my knight's ring but couldn't find anything to say.
"She loves you, you know," he suddenly told me.
"Did she say that?"
"Ah, no, not exactly. In fact, she denied it. But that's denying the sun."
"You see," I said. "She couldn't possibly love me. No one could love another so soon."
"You think not? When you were born, did you need more than a moment to love the world?"
"That's different," I said.
"No, my friend, it's not. Love is. Sometimes I think it's the only thing in the world that really is. And when a man and a woman meet, either they open themselves to this heavenly fire, or they do not."
Again I looked at the stones of my ring shining in the bright morning light like two stars.
"Aren't you aware of the way Atara listens to you when you speak of even little things?" Maram asked. "When you walk into a clearing, don't you see the way her eyes light up as if you were the sun?"
"No. no," I murmured, "it's not possible."
"It is possible, damn it! She told me she was drawn to your kindness and that wild thing in your heart you always try to hide. She was really just saying that she loved you."
"No, it's not possible," I said again.
"Listen my friend, and listen well!" Here Maram grasped my arm as if his fingers might convince me of what his words could not. "You should tell her that you love her. Then ask her to marry you before it is too late."
"You say that?" I couldn't believe what I had heard. "How many women have you asked to marry you then?"
"Listen," he said again. 'I may spend the rest of my life looking for the woman who was meant for me. But you, by rare good chance and the grace of the One - you've found the woman who was meant for you."

 

Woke up today with a fever. Called the doctor to make an appointment, then called in sick to work. Went to the doctor this afternoon. First the PA looked at me. Then she brought in a doctor. Then the doctor brought in the medical students. Since we don't have tick infestations in this area, they were all very excited to see a patient with something they had never seen before, except in a textbook. I got to have blood drawn out of both arms to check for Lyme Disease and other things. I will be taking doxycycline for the next 21 days to fight the infection, and have triamcinolone cream to put on the bite to help defeat the inflamation. All I want to do it take a nice, long nap, but the kids are very happily (and noisily) playing, so I will be up for awhile. Listening to them makes me happy, even though I am sick...

I was taken to a very nice brunch early this afternoon at the Campfire restaurant in Milan, for Mother's Day --  the food was great and plentiful, and I enjoyed it a great deal. I also got to experience Bill's second driving lesson in a big, empty parking lot. He did quite well, other than having to learn to slow down when making sharp turns! He starts his driver's training next week, and will hopefully have his learner's permit by the time we leave for New Mexico. The we will have three drivers in our car, which will be very good on such a long trip! We also went to Sam's Club to check on all of the Wal-Mart gift certificates we found in Dad's house. I had given them many over the years, as that is the only national chain store there, and that way they could buy anything from groceries to things they needed for their house. They all had only a few dollars on them, which pleased me greatly, as I now know that they had at least used them.

The tick bite is worse again today. It is now a bright red puffy area about the size of my entire hand surrounding the scabs from the bite. It is hot to the touch. The painful itching is driving me up the wall. I showed it to the two pharmacists I was working with tonight, and they both said I need to go to the doctor tomorrow, as soon as I can get in to the office. They said it looks inflamed and infected, and that the doctor will probably have to open it up to get out the pus and whatever tick parts are still in there. Sounds like I will have an interesting day tomorrow...

Steven wasn't feeling well, but played soccer this morning. He isn't running a fever now, but you can tell he is a bit tired and run down. Bill played soccer tonight under the lights. He had a couple of good shots on goal and took out the opposing goalie. The guy sitting next to us said "Well ,that's the wrestler. Great hit!"  In his gane, Steven took out a much larger kid, who flipped in the air. Who says soccer is a tame sport?

I sort of took a day off and did quiet things like read and rest. The stupid tick bite I got in Arkansas is driving me nuts. It has a hurty itch, and its all I can do not to claw at it. The kids told me there is an area the size of the palm of Billy's hand that is red and angry looking surrounding the scabs. Sounds like its time to go to the doctor.

Tomorow is Mother's Day. So Happy Mother's Day out there to all mothers, sisters, and daughters.

Well, I certainly had good intentions of going car shopping today. But the middle school called and I had to go get Stevie. He was running a high fever. So I spent most of the day sitting on the couch, holding a sick and sleepy little boy in my lap. Watched some dvds while he was sleeping in his room...Down with Love and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. He was supposed to play soccer first thing in the morning down in Bedford, and it is our turn to bring treats...now I'm not sure what is going to happen with that...

Gave Jim his fireworks last night. His whole face lit up like a little kid on Christmas morning. He told me a great story about how when his nephew got married, they took pictures out in the parking lot after the recpetion with a bunch of fireworks. They had a big spinning one, like the one I got for him. It set a telephone poll on fire and they shook up their beers to try to spray on it to put the fire out.

Last night they had a meeting at the high school to announce the new wrestling coach. They hired the coach from the middle school of one of the premier wrestling programs in the state, from Dundee. Hopefully things will settle down now...

Two nights ago at about this time, the Red Wings were eliminated in the playoffs. Yzerman had been injured, and without the Good Captain, the team just wasn't able to rally. Its too bad -- he deserved better from his teammates. But, as a result, the ER was packed with patients getting banana bags last night...

Two nights ago, when I got home from work I took Max outside for his bedtime "business". It was a full moon, and I heard a coyote howling. At first I thought it might be a kid playing a prank, but then the rest of the pack joined in. I have seen and heard them out west before, but never around here -- though my friend Jim who lives out in Chelsea says he sees them all of the time out there.

Something must have gotten the robin eggs. When we got home from Arkansas, the nest was empty and deserted. Saddened us all.

I am so glad to be home. The last couple of hours of my shift I was getting shooting pains in my head. Yes, its allergy season in the Midwest again. Steven told me that he can't wait to get out to New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona so we can get away from the worst of the pollen. Or, at least, we are not allergic to the pollens they have in that part of the country. And we all love the mountains.

Friday I will have to spend the whole day car shopping...hopefully I can find a gently used vehicle that I really like.

TWO

When we come together, my awareness of the world fades away
There is your strong body against mine
Your arms enveloping me in protective warmth
Your heart beating against my cheek
Your eyes shining with masculine heat
Your hands against my back
And when our lips finally meet
Intermingled with your hot sweet breath
There is a dream of distant spring

At home alone...Dan is at work, kids are at school...Max is bugging me for a walk. I am sort of tired...worked last night, then stayed up to 3AM uploading pictures into my on-line albums over at webshots. To see them, just go to webshots, click on community, and search for my email address. I need to get some breakfast and some tea, then will probably feel a lot better. Not to mention taking Max out for his walk.It's still chilly, but the rain that lasted most of the weekend is over, and the sun is out.

I need to fit in some serious car shopping this week. I had dropped off my car at the garage before going to Arkansas, as it is 10 years old and has 140,000 miles on it, with original brakes, exhaust, etc. Well ,the estimate for needed repairs came in at $5,000, so I am now looking for a new or gently used vehicle...after driving the little truck back, I can really feel the mushiness of the brakes in my car!

I also need to find a kennel for Max to stay at when we got out to New Mexico. I have already arranged for the cats to be boarded at the vet's, but the vet doesn't board dogs...and that will be it to get ready for the trip other than packing and turning off the mail and newspaper. According to my friend John, it is less than 60 days now to the trip. He keeps a daily countdown on his computer desktop. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!

Last Thursday we left on our trip. We were supposed to leave in the early morning so we could have some time for the kids to swim at the hotel, and maybe go for a drive/walk around a great big lake in southern Illinois we always see from the freeway that looks very pretty (Rend Lake). But, as usual, Dan had a bunch of last second crises with his business, and we ended up leaving late afternoon. We always do this. I have warned him that this cannot happen on our next trip, because we have tickets to a baseball game in St. Louis that starts at 7PM.

We got to the hotel pretty late and tried to sleep. But there was a screaming couple with a little baby in a nearby room, so we sure didn't get much sleep. Since I had only gotten about three hours the night before, this was not a good thing.

We stopped off at a local landmark called Boomland in Missouri for gas (they had the cheapest gas I have seen anywhere in months) and ice cream. It was a fun place. Not just fireworks, but room after room of all sorts of stuff for sale...the kids added to their Beanie Baby collection.

We got to Arkansas late afternoon. It was raining cats and dogs. My oldest sister and the realtor were at the house when we dropped in, so we stayed for awhile and cleaned. My third sister and her husband arrived with pizzas, and that made a nice dinner. Then we drove throug hthe pouring rain to our rental condo in Mountain Home. It was very nice, at a place called Teal Point Resort. It had two bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, a huge fireplace, a fully equipped kitchen, cable tv....it was on a huge, huge lake well known for its fishing, called Lake Norfork. Unfortunately, there were thunderstorms all night long, and again, we got very little sleep.

In the morning we went out in the cold, pouring rain in search of breakfast. We found a little diner not too far from the condos. It was called Brenda's Country Kitchen. We had the only out of state plates in the lot, and when we walked in the door everyone turned around and stared at us as if we were vampires or something! The food was simple, but well prepared and quite tasty.

We spent the day cleaning the house.All three of my sisters and my brothers-in-law were there. Thank God my brothers-in-law took care of the chicken that had been there for four months without the benefit of refrigeration.

That night we all met for dinner at a buffet in Mountain home. The dinner was pleasant and it was nice seeing everyone.

In the morning we all went to services at Dad's church, the Church of Christ in Agnos. The people there were very friendly, very nice. After services two of my sisters and their husbands headed home. The rain had finally stoppped. The weather channel said there has been 12 inches in 48 hours. Everything was trying to flood. And this is where my little letter a couple of entries down begins, with Steven's adventure with the doggies...

The drive back seemed to take forever, as Dan and I could not help each other taking turns driving. He had the big truck and u-haul, I had the small truck. The main road in Arkansas had been completely blocked by a bad accident, so we had to take little country roads for quite a way to get around it. We stopped at Boomland for gas, dinner, and to buy fireworks for my friend Jim. They carry the biggest fireworks you can legally have without a special permit there. We got some smaller (much smaller) ones for ourselves, as well. We stopped for the night in Mount Vernon, Illinois, again. We made it home the following day, despite a bad accident involoving three large trucks on the Indiana Turnpike. They had both lanes closed and the police were directing everyone over to the shoulder. But we made it home, and boy, were we glad to get here!

Max came with us for the trip. He is getting old and stiff, poor doggy. He had trouble climbing in and out of the big Ram. I found it very touching when Bill started picking him up and lifting him in and out of the backseat. Bill was only in kndergarten when we got Max, and now he is nearly a junior in high school. For a few years, Max, at 70-80 pounds, outweighed Bill. Now Bill can just pick him up as gently as if Max were a tiny puppy instead of a big black lab.