more on the Kalamzoo visit, etc.

I was very tired last night while I was typing, so will finish up the story and add some details now...

I have not been the only one who has been sick with the fever/cold/sore throat thing. Steven has also been sick, and missed school on Friday. He went back to school today, and I haven't gotten any phone calls from school yet, so hopefully he is doing OK. I hated leaving him him on Friday, and it made me feel horrible. I was trapped between the needs of my two children, and the needs pulled me in two directions. But Dan reassured me that he was working nearby, and he would drop by the house frequently to check on the little man, so I did go with Bill. It turned out that Dan indeed did stop by several times, and kept a pretty close eye on him, so it was all right.

The weekend now seems to be a blur of sleepiness, but Bill did seem pleased by the campus and its facilities. They have a state of the art fitness center for the students, which made Bill really smile. The engineering school was state of the art. They are building a new chemistry building. And the food was good and fresh. One of the cafeterias has a sub sandwich shop, where they bake their own bread and make you a sandwich to order. Another lets you pick out the ingredients you want and then stir fries it up for you, like a Mongolian barbecue restaurant. So the food made Bill happy. A lot of the big classroom buildings also have little coffee and tea shops were they have snacks like bagels, along with hot beverages and smoothies. The campus itself is very hilly, so you would get a pretty decent workout just walking around between the dormitory and the class room buildings all day.

I got a good night's sleep last night and am actually feeling a bit better today. I will try to go in to work tonight, and hopefully my coworkers will not chase me (and my germs) away this time.

 

a new week begins; Kalamazoo/WMU visit

I have been sick lately. First came the tummy bug; then came the fever/bad cold/sore throat bug, which I have now had for about a week. I missed work on Thursday, and my coworkers begged me to leave tonight after a couple of hours, as they did not want my germs.

Nonetheless, I did manage to (somehow) get to Kalamazoo on Friday and Saturday with Bill. I mostly slept; he did nearly all of the driving (which is no hardship for a teenager!). On Friday we went on a campus tour of Western Michigan University and ate lunch in the cafeteria of one of the dorms. I can see why they included it in the tour; the food was actually good. We also headed out to the campus of the engineering school, which is three or so miles away from the main campus (frequent free busses connect the two campuses). There has been an engineering school at WMU for decades, but this campus is only three years old - all shiny and new and state of the art. The campus also has many high tech research facilities from a variety of companies, who give internships and summer jobs to the students. It is a win-win relationship for the companies and for the school.

After the day at Western, we checked into the hotel and I collapsed. After a long nap (greatly needed) we ate dinner (at the hotel, which tells you how tired I was - hotel restaurants are generally pretty bad  - luckily the one at the hotel where we stayed had good food!), I had a hot shower, and then I collapsed again. Luckily, Bill was tired and so was not in the mood to want to go explore the campus or the city.

On Saturday we ate breakfast, checked out of the hotel, and went to WMU for the Medallion Scholarship competition. The kids went off and wrote essays and then did group problem solving. They had informational meetings for the parents, then a hearty lunch buffet. We walked over to the Honors College and visited with those professors and advisors for awhile (if he goes to WMU, Bill would be enrolled in both the engineering school and the honors college). Bill then drove home and I crawled into bed.

The weekend went well, all things considered. Bill was happy to learn that one of the meal plans  includes up to 99 meals/week. As an honors student, he can live in a dorm with extended quiet hours and an emphasis on studying. Since he is anything but a partier, he likes that idea. He is also pleased that he can have his little truck on campus, for an annual parking fee. He seems to need to know that he can come home if he wishes to whenever he wishes to. That seems to be a security blanket of sorts for him.

So he has enjoyed his visits to Ball State, Northwestern, and Western Michigan Universities. Two of the three have offered him huge scholarships, and he has a decent chance of getting at least one of two smaller local scholarships as well. We are planning one more trip to Ball State in March, before the deadlines for making his final decision loom. I think it will be a difficult decision - he has been blessed with an embarrassment of riches in his offers.

I am pleased with the new medicine I am taking this female cycle. I got the prescription for it when I had my gyn exam. It is to cut down on the torrential bleeding, cramping, and back pain. So far it is working very well, and this period is the least painful I have had in years. That is definitely something to cheer about!

 

midweek

It's been a bit of a rough week so far. On Monday I either got a new cold, or the old cold (which I got just before Christmas and thought I was nearly rid of last week) started hitting me very hard again. My head in awash in a sea of mucus. Bill got the nasty vomiting thing on Monday and was miserable. The healthy diet with lots of vegetables did not agree with Dan, and he was unhappy enough about it that he has gone back to eating junk food. At least Steven is doing very well - the school district trainer is amazed at how quickly his knee has been bouncing back, and credits the long walk we took in Chicago (which I thought was a disaster at the time) for loosening things up and making for a quicker rehab for him. And yesterday the weather was funky and I got to drive home on icy roads, which really stressed me out.

Hopefully the weekend in Kalamazoo will go well. Bill will be competing for a Medallion Scholarship :

http://www.wmich.edu/finaid/Publication/scholarships/Freshmen.html

But, just as importantly, it will be nice just to spend some time with him. Because of my weird work schedule, and the schedule of the kids' school and athletics, we see very little of each other during the school year. I miss the children so much, I often forget that they miss me just as fiercely. It meant the world to Steven to have that afternoon exploring Chicago together: I think Bill will equally enjoy the time exploring Kalamazoo.

Well, it's off to the grocery store now. We are out of canned cat food, and the poor spoiled kitties cannot make do with just dry cat food! Also, we are having a group dinner at work tonight and I am assigned to bring a salad or two, which I must go pick up. And then off to work...

Dune chapters four & five

We have slowly been doing a group read of the classic science fiction novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Here is a dissection of two chapters.

Dune chapter 4

You have read that Muad'Dib had no playmates his own age on Caladan. The dangers were too great. But Muad'Dib did have wonderful companion-teachers. There was Gurnsey Halleck, the troubador warrior. You will sing some of Gurnsey's songs as you read along in this book. There was Thufir Hawat, the old Mentat Master of Assassins, who struck fear even into the heart of the old Padishah Emperor. There were Duncan Idaho, the Swordmaster of the Ginaz; Dr. Wellington Yueh, a name black in treachery but bright in knowledge; the Lady Jessica, who guided her son in the Bene Gesserit Way, and - of course - the Duke Leto, whose qualities as a father have long been overlooked.
~ from "A Child's History of Muad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan

In the fourth chapter we learn more of the inhospitable planet of Arrakis. We learn that the Atreides think that there are many more native inhabitants, the Fremen, than there is usually thought to be there. The Fremen hate the Harkonnen, and the Atreides hope to make an alliance with them. Paul mentions the prison planet of Salusa Secundus, which was once the Corrino homeworld before it was ecologically destroyed in an act of war. Paul thinks that Arrakis sounds even worse than the notorious prison planet...it sort of makes you wonder if the tough-as-nails peoples of those two worlds would make good soldiers, doesn;t it?

More importantly, we meet two of the top Atreides aides - Thufir Hawatt the Mentat and Gurnsey Halleck, a warrior. It is made clear that each would be willing to do almost anything to keep Paul safe. That in fact, they are completely and nearly obsessively loyal to House Atreides. Halleck lost a sister to the Harkonnen, and bears a terrible scar that he received in a slave pit on the Harkonnen home world.

Paul tries to talk to Thufir about the things the Rev. Mother said to him, especially about how she thinks his father is doomed. But he finds he cannot speak freely about his interactions and discussions with her. He can talk about some of it, but he realizes that she has put some sort of block on him...which in turn made me wonder yet again about the Bene Gesserit and the odd powers these "witches' seem to have over mind and body...

Dune chapter 5:

YUEH (yu-e),Wellington (weling-tun), Stdrd 10,082-10,191; medical doctor of the Suk School (grd 10,092-10,112); md: Wanna marcus, B.G. )Stdrd 10,092-10,186?); chiefly noted as betrayer of Duke Leto Atreides. (Cf: Bibiliography, Appendix VII (Imperial Conditioning) and Betrayal, The.)
~from "Dictionary of Muad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan

Chapter five is a very short little chapter, which is important in that it shows who the betrayer of the Atreides is, and his motives in doing so.

Dr. Wellington Yueh is a physician, one who is considered so trustworthy he would be able to treat even members of the Imperial family. He is a graduate from a wekk known medical school, the Suk.

He is one of Paul's teachers, and comes to talk to Paul and tell him that he has assigned Paul some lessons for the crossing of interstellar space to Arrakis. He also talks to Paul about the Fremen, and answers some of Paul's questions about them.

He also gives Paul a gift of a precious old Orange Catholic Bible, designed to be used by space travellers - a priceless gift.

He also hates himself for what he knows he will do to the Atreides, and for his hypocracy in still pretending to be a loyal Atreides servant, and for the sheer waste of the loss of lives such as Paul's. It is clear that the betrayal has been brought about by the Harkonnen, whom Yueh passionately hates...the Harkonnen whom he hates as much as he loves his lost wife...

I've been thinking about this chapter in the back of my mind all day.

It is sheerly and horrifyingly evil the way the Harkonnens twist Yueh's love and concern for his wife into an instrument of betrayal.

That's just sick and wrong...to take what should be someone's strength, someone's goodness and turn it into a weapon of grief, death, and despair. To turn one deep loyalty into the destruction of another loyalty...

some book reviews

Well, I just woke up with a very sour stomach, and need to kill some time before the antacid kicks in...so I thought I would copy and paste and edit (a little bit) some of the book reviews  I have posted at Ahira's Hangar. That way I have a record of them should that discussion board ever be hacked again!

About a month ago I started reading The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. It was a pretty good read.

It begins telling the story of a teenaged diplomat's daughter who finds a mysterious book and papers about Dracula in her father's library.

When she asks about it, it turns out that the father's PhD dissertation adviser (and leading historian) had also once mysteriously received such a book and checked up on Dracula when he was young. He came to believe from his research in Turkey that Dracula still lived.

The father slowly tells the historian's story, as well as his own. In addition, the daughter begins her own research, leading to what could be called three generations of historians going through the dusty archives of Europe in three very different eras of the twentieth century hunting desperately for information on Dracula and his possible whereabouts. The three stories and time lines are very skillfully interwoven.

In a way this book does remind me a bit of Dan Simmons's excellent vampire novel, Children of the Night in the way the authors did a lot of research on the historical Dracula, and interweave the history with their stories - and both show that the real world Dracula was much worse and more terrifying than any vampire mythos.

Actually, this would be a great vampire book for people who do not care for standard vampire books. It is as much as a history quest as anything, and the tension slowly and masterfully builds.

Kostova's book is quite wonderful. She has elegant language and pacing, and skillfully interweaves the story of three generations of historians on the trail of Dracula, primarily through historical documents and interviews. However -- if you are looking for fast paced advanture or buckets of blood-- this is not the book for you! It interweaves the story of the Balkans for hundreds of years, from the time of Dracula to the time between the world wars, to the Soviet occupation, to the present day. Like Simmons, Kostova demonstrates the extreme monstrous qualities of the real life Dracula. Lots of history, well presented, well drawn main characters, elegantly told -- but again, might not be everyone's cup of tea.

Susanna Clarke ~ Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

I picked this book up a few months ago, due to its near universal praise and its various award nominations.

Unfortunately, it is the size of a doorstop or a cinder block (800 pages or thereabouts in hardcover) and I simply haven't had time to pick it up and start reading it.

I have decided that the time has come.   Tomorrow I will begin my journey through an alternate history of a Europe where magic is used during the Napoleanic Wars!

I am actually looking forward to it ~ I have been told by various people that this is a book to savor and slowly enjoy.

***

Well, I read the first few chapters this morning and so far I am very pleased. It is set in Napoleanic War/Regency Era Britain, and the author writes as if she is working within that time period.

She is charming and witty, and it is filled with footnotes filled with all sorts of interesting little side stories.

It might be a difficult read if you are not used to the language used in that era, but as a long-time Jane Austen fan, I am completely delighted.

I feel very lucky - two unusual and first rate fantasy books in a row for me now, between this and the last one I read (Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian which I started a thread for down in the horror forum).

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is just plain charming. Though it does help if you have a familiarity with the manners, cultural mores, and important historical figures of Regency Era England...or just familiarity with the sort of language in use then, with Jane Austen being the foremost example.

To get to the meat of the discussion -- I tracked down The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell due to the recommendation by Taras.

I have not finished it yet, but so far it is a wonderful book, though I have a feeling it might be emotionally devastating before Russell will be finished with her story.

It tells the story of a Jesuit priest, from two intertwined time lines. In one, he is man who has survived some terrible thing (not yet known what) and is broken both mentally and physically. He is a seemingly ruined man, being cared for by his fellow Jesuits in Rome. In the other, he is an intelligent, caring, and good man, and we see him before whatever terrible thing has happened to him.

The mystery is, of course, how such a good and devoted person can be so broken, and how he could come to do the criminal acts attributed to him.

All that has beenmade clear so far is that what ever terrible thing that broke him took place on another world, inhabited by nonhuman intelligent beings, when he went there as a part of a Jesuit scientific mission of exploration. It is made clear that he is a linguist of great skill, who knows many languages, and who has a gift for learning new languages quickly. I would presume to guess that is part of why he was chosen for that mission?

Taras mentioned the two intelligent species...I do not want to get too spoilery but they are very different from each other and from humans. One seems to have originated as a vegetarian herd species. The other started out as carnivores. I think that this ties them both to cultures we as humans have a hard time getting a handle on...

R. Scott Bakker -The Prince of Nothing Series

Well, I have heard an awful lot of good things about this writer and have finally begun reading the first book in his Prince of Nothing trilogy, called The Darkness That Comes Before.

The opening prologue was certainly gripping, and Kelhus shows great promise of being a very interesting character, though perhaps not a particularly sympathetic one.

I am now bogged down a bit, as the author just begins showing us how interesting Kelhus might be, then abruptly changes locations and cast of characters to what looks like a Prophet-led religious war. So far this part has not caught my fancy, though I will patiently wait until he ties it back into Kelhus and his story line.

Bakker certainly shows great promise as a writer. He has a very nice way with words.

***

Well, I actually had some reading time this morning, and it is now official. Halfway through the first book, Bakker has me seriously hooked.

He is quite a gifted writer, and I can see why he is sometimes compared to Herbert, as both writers use a large number of factions jostling for power in an Imperial setting, as well as religion as a force in society. I can also see why Syl compares him to Zindell, as he has a very elegant writing style, and includes both religion and philosophy in the story, and he brings it in through the characters' thoughts and experiences. Like Zindell, he can very brutal to the characters when the story calls for it.

So far its great stuff. And you guys say it gets even better in the second book????

***
Well, yesterday I ended having the flu and was throwing up a lot. One benefit of that was a nice big block of reading time.

I finished the second book Warrior Prophet.(I had posted this after finishing the first book as well, obviously). It really was, as claimed, better than book one. Since it began with most of the main characters together, there was not all of the set-up needed as there was in the first book, so the second book flowed much more smoothly.

I have been so impressed by Bakker I have started googling around a bit for some background on him. He lives only a couple of hours from me, over in London, Ontario. That makes me wonder if Shakespeare is one of his influences, as there is a wonderful Shakespeare festival near London in a little town called Startford, where the theater is world class. I know he credits Tolkien and Herbert, but I cannot help but wonder about Shakespeare as well.

Bakker must be every bit as intelligent as his writings indicate, as he is working on a doctoral degreee in philosophy and he apparently studies ancient languages.

I thought this was a good interview about him and about the inspiration for his world:
www.sfsite.com/10a/sb185.htm

There is also a discussion board for his work at:
www.princeofnothing.com/

a love supreme

I was feeling better today. I was able to keep down a bit bread and water this morning, and a bit more bread and juice for lunch, so we went on to the concert.

What do you get when you combine fourteen of the world's best jazz musicians, one of the all-time classic pieces of jazz music, and an enthusiastic crowd of thousands? You get the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra playing John Coltrane's A Love Supreme in Ann Arbor, along with a first half of the program playing songs in tribute to Detroit jazz musicians.

It was a wonderful night to be a jazz fan! The performance was just fantastic.

After the concert, we walked to a little deli near Hill Auditorium called Cosi, and had hot chai and hot apple cider, along with a tray of fresh fruit, warm pita bread, and brei cheese; then when we were still hungry a try of cucumber slices, warm pita triangles, and hummus. It was all healthy and quite good, and so far my stomach is happy with it.

When we got home, I talked to Bill about his cap, gown, and graduation announcement order, filled out the forms, and wrote the check. I guess the time is getting close to his graduation...January is nearly gone, and he will be done with school in may and will graduate the first weekend of June...

Back to work tomorrow...four nights, then off to Kalamazoo for the weekend...

a sunny Saturday spent throwing up (yuck!)

Well, the big snow storm passed to the north of us. We got many hours of heavy rain, but only a dusting of snow. I am very happy we went to Evanston last weekend, when the weather was lovely. Evanston reportedly got a huge snowfall last night...but today was chilly but beautiful here. The sun was out for most of the afternoon, and that was most welcome!

I did not go to either of today's wrestling tournaments. I was told that the trainer cleared Steven at the last moment this morning, and he had three matches that he won with pins. I was told that Bill wrestled very well, including a very tough win in overtime.

I spent the day throwing up. It has been going around the high school wrestling team, so one of the kids probably carried the germs home to me (though I am very happy neither of them has had it). But having the house to myself gave me a chance to get a lot of housework done, even though I spent part of the time leaning over garbage cans. So it was OK.

I also finally found the time to finish my Mahler quest, with the Fourth Symphony, which was quite beautiful - and also his Tenth, unfinished Symphony. I truly enjoy all of Mahler's symphonies, but my heart is especially taken by his Fifth, First, Second, Sixth, and Ninth. I also really like the lovely first movement to the Eighth. Perhaps I do not have quite enough patience for his slower and more melodic efforts, as most of my favorites are his more passionate and fiery ones. Given time, perhaps I will grow into the more quiet and thoughtful works.

Right now, I am only hoping my stomach calms down in time for tomorrow afternoon's jazz concert. It is something I am very much looking forward to.

busy busy busy

It was another very busy week at work. Our patient census is very high, and some of the patients are extremely sick and need a lot of extra care. In addition, we are in the process of changing over narcotic dispensing machines from those made by Pyxis to those made by Omni-Cell. So we are having to help get the new machines ready to go to the clinics and nursing units and learn the new technology. It was a rough week, but most of us are doing OK. One of my coworkers seems stressed out to the point of possibly having problems, but I think she will be fine, too, once things calm down a bit with the new machines.

It was a busy day today, as well. I took Steven to Mott Children's Hospital for his last check up for his head injury he got wrestling right before Christmas. He is doing just fine.

After I took him back to school, I ran into town. I had to go to the post office, as the price of stamps went up and we did not have any of the new ones. I saw Dan's truck parked across the street from the post office, so went over and found him working on a roof. I checked on him (he has not been feeling well the last few days, went to the doctor yesterday, and will have to go get another butt scoping to see if the polyps in his colon are what is causing all of his abdominal pain). He was doing OK this afternoon, and all of this will give me a good excuse to feed him more vegetables and whole grains.

I then stopped off at the bakery to see if they had any of their delicious cheese bread. They did not have cheese bread, but they did have salt rising bread and whole wheat bread, so I got a loaf of both.

After that the grocery store. I got a lot of breakfast foods so we can eat a huge breakfast on Sunday, as we so like to do. I got maple sausage links, brown eggs, lots of cheese and other stuff like mushrooms for omelets, canned biscuits, bagels and low fat cream cheese, precut hash browns, grits, and cottage cheese. We shall feast!

I also have a huge craving right now for vegetable soup, so I got the stuff to make a big crock pot full. I got a few cans of chicken broth for the base of the soup, and a can of sweet corn kernels and of white Italian kidney beans. I also threw in a couple of handfuls of dried whole wheat rotini noodles. Everything else will be fresh (I have them steaming now, and will add them to the chicken broth when they are cooked) - Yukon gold potatoes, baby carrots, celery, broccoli, green onion, fresh cloves of garlic, cauliflower, and asparagus. Yummy! So far the only seasoning I have added is black pepper. I am waiting to see how much flavor the onions and fresh garlic will add before I get too crazy with spices.

I also got stuff to make a huge bowl of green salad for tonight's dinner, and some stuff to take to the wrestling tournaments tomorrow (clementines and sports drinks).

Tomorrow Bill will be at a varsity tournament in Chelsea and Steven at a middle school tournament in Dexter. Provided we do no get too much snow tonight, of course. We could get as much as 6-8 inches, in which case one or both tournaments might be cancelled if the roads get bad. The recent death of that fire fighter who was responding to the traffic accident on I-94 in the ice storm two Saturdays ago is haunting everyone in this area. She was so young, and very recently married. Such a tragedy...

I will have another vacation day on Sunday, as we have tickets to go see the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra perform Johnny Coltrane's jazz symphony A Love Supreme that afternoon. We will probably go out to eat a nice dinner as well. Something interesting and spicy would be welcome. Perhaps Thai, Indian, or Ethiopian would be very good.

 

what a difference a day makes

Yesterday was as beautiful a winter day as I have ever seen. It was warm enough to wear a jacket rather than a coat. The sun was shining on Lake Michigan and on the tall buildings of the Chicago skyline. Today was cloudy, rainy, and chilly, and it was nearly a white-out from the heavy snowfall as I was driving home from work.

What a difference a day makes!

Got a lot done today, though. Lots of laundry, and I went through a dresser and took out all of the clothes no one wears very often to donate to charity. They are out in the Jeep awaiting an opportunity in the next day or so to drop them off.

Dan brought the dog home from the kennel, and he is exhausted. We always pay extra money so Max can have plenty of supervised play time with other dogs. He loves it, but it tires the poor dear old doggy out.

a visit to Evanston

Well, we got home from Illinois a few minutes ago. It was a pretty good couple of days.

We got on the road in the middle of the afternoon on Sunday. Dan was not feeling well, and we got off to a pretty slow start, made slower for having to go get Dan's blood pressure pills refilled since he was out and had forgotten to. We also went out to a very late breakfast.

But the drive went smoothly. It is the first time in my life I have driven through Chicago, or even by Chicago on my way further west and did not run into a parking lot on the freeways of northern Indiana. The roads were clear and fine, and the weather was perfect, and we made record time up to Evanston.

In fact, a couple of cool things happened on the way. The first was seeing a very strange sight in the sky in western Michigan, right near the Lake. A cloud of an interesting shape had turned into a prism in the sky. It must have had a lot of ice crystals and the sun was shining on it just right, or perhaps there was a reflection of some sort from Lake Michigan. The cloud was glowing with all of the colors of the rainbow. It was so beautiful.

The other interesting thing was driving right by the football stadium in Chicago right in the middle of da Bears playing in their playoff game. We were listening to the game on the radio, and just as we were passing by the stadium, da Bears did something right, and you could see all of the fans standing up and getting wild.

We checked into the hotel in Evanston, then walked a couple of blocks for pizza. It was very good pizza, and one of the ingredients we got on it was fresh garlic, which is probably my favorite pizza topping of all time. Yum!

This morning we slept in late then went out for bagels and juice for breakfast. We then walked around Northwestern University for awhile. When Bill's tours and interviews got close in time, Stevie and I split off. Dan and Bill stayed at Northwestern, and Steven and I went down to Chicago for the afternoon on the train.

We rode a CTA train down to the Loop, where we got off in the Theater District, and got lunch at a hog dog place that had been recommended to us.  I am not a hot dog eater, but I munched on fries while Steven greatly enjoyed his hot dogs.

It was such a glorious and sunny winter day we then made the mistake of walking all of the way to the Field Museum. About the time we got to Grant Park, Steven's knee was really bothering him, but by then we were so close it seemed silly to take a taxi the rest of the way...

We rested a lot on benches during the walk, but that was no hardship on such a sunny day! And Chicago Harbor and Lake Michigan are always lovely!

At the Field Museum we looked at a lot of the stuffed and mounted animals, including the man-eating lions. But the main reason we went there was to see a special exhibit with all sorts of artifacts from Pompeii.

It was a very interesting exhibit, though it also made me sad. Some of the bodies they found had run to the beaches and boat docks hoping to be rescued. They took their jewelry and coins and even their silverware with them. And, of course, the rescue did not come. It made me think of hurricane Katrina...

The artifacts included casts of the dead, and even a dog that had been killed. There were furnishings (even a safe, and a bathtub), A doctor had been killed, and they had his instruments and the cases for the instruments. There were pieces of art, and copies of wall murals. There was a lot of jewelry. I was surprised at the frequency of snakes in the rings and bracelets. I associate snakes with various goddess cults in Greece, but not so much in Rome.

After the museum closed, Dan and Bill came to get us in the Jeep, and we drove on home. It sounds as if they had a great day touring Northwestern. Bill even got a chance to talk with the dean of the college of engineering, and she asked him to email her this week so she could talk to the admissions office about him. I take that as a good sign? He was pretty upbeat about Northwestern, but wants to wait to see what happens with all of his scholarship offers, and to see if he is admitted to Ball State's Architecture School before he makes up his mind about anything.

If he does end up going to Northwestern, I foresee myself taking a lot of train rides in the future...its definitely the easiest way to get up there by myself. And I would probably be by myself for most of the trips with Steven being in high school next year and doing two sports like his brother did...

The drive home was the second drive through northern Indiana in my life where the freeways did not resemble a parking lot. The drive was quick and went well, and we followed a huge full moon all of the way home.

a sunny Saturday in a stinky gym

Today was a glorious day, the second one this week. It was unseasonably warm, and very sunny. You could go outside in a jacket rather than a heavy coat! So, of course, we were at a wrestling tournament all day.

Bill did not wrestle, he was given a day off, and a senior at the same weight who has missed most of the year with an injury was allowed to wrestle in his place, which is both fair and right. All seniors who have put four years into the program should get mat time and this was a day for the other kid to get a chance to shine. The coach did have Bill dress in uniform, and made him one of the captains for the day, which I thought sent a strong message to Bill and to the other kids about how Bill is a team player who puts the team before himself.

After the tournament we went with two of the other wrestlers and their parents to a very good Chinese restaurant in Canton which has wonderful and spicy food. We all had dinner, and had a very pleasant time indeed.

We are pretty much packed and ready to go to Evanston in the morning. I think it will be a good couple of days.

Trying to keep my resolutions

Well, I only had a few simple New Year's Resolutions this year. I figure if I can keep them simple and few, it might be easier keeping them.

One of them was to take better care of myself. So today I forced myself to go into the doctor for my female exam. I hate it, so kept putting it off again and again. I had not realized that it has been for nine years, but...at least everything looked healthy, according to the doctor. They sure pulled a lot of blood, though, as they wanted to run all sorts of blood tests since its been so long since I had a physical. They even wanted a red cell blood count because of my bad periods, to make sure that I am not anemic from all of the blood loss. I was at the doctor's office for 2.5 hours. What a pain. But it is over now. I even got referrals for the base line mammogram and to visit a dietician for weight loss. Since I got home so late, I will make those phone calls next week. I have also put off getting an eye exam for many years since my insurance does not cover any of it and glasses are so bloody expensive. But now that we are out of debt, I guess I had better take care of that, too. Another phone call to make next week.

I have definitely been doing all I can to get my son off to college. I am looking forward to Sunday and traveling to Evanston. And traveling to Kalamazoo with him for the last weekend of the month.

In my first step to be better about communicating with my sisters, I sat down and ordered all of them beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day. I will send them a card and pictures for that, too, as the time gets closer.

And I have been giving Danlo's Internet discussion board, Ahira's Hangar, as much time and attention as I can.

Best of all, focusing on this stuff is keeping my mind off of my troubles.

And now it is time to take a nap before cooking some dinner.

mythological profile test

Unicorn

 

The unicorn is a legendary animal. It is usually portrayed as a slender, white horse with a spiraling horn on its forehead, although its appearance and behavior differs, depending on the location. In the west it was usually considered wild and untamable, while in the Orient it was peaceful, meek and thought to be the bringer of good luck. There it is usually depicted as a goat-like creature, with cloven hooves and a beard. In Japan it is called Kirin, and in China Ki-lin. The word "unicorn" is based on the Hebrew word re'em ("horned animal"), in early versions of the Old Testament translated as "monokeros", meaning "one horn", which became "unicorn" in English. The creature is possibly based on the rhinoceros or the narwhal, a marine creature with one horn.

The Mythological Profile Test
http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=2433319677885706722

a long weekend begins

Made it through an extremely busy and unpleasant week at work. I am glad this work week is now one for the history books. What a stinker it was! We had pretty much every impatient bed filled all week, and we have some horribly sick patients. 

One of the two Internet discussion boards I sometimes go was horribly hacked today. I would probably be a lot more panicked, but the same thing happened at the other board where  I am a moderator last summer. That board was badly hurt, but is surviving. I am sure that this one, as it is a lot busier and has a lot more members, will end up being just fine. It's still a pain, though. I've never understood how and why some people can get their jollies by messing up other peoples' work and fun.

Steven hurt his knee at wrestling practice. It wasn't even at a high school practice (he works out with the high school these days as much as, if not more than, the middle school) - it was at a middle school practice. He went to the doctor today and they think he'll be fine in a couple of weeks as long as he does the rehab exercises they prescribed for him. So starting on Tuesday he will do those exercises under the eye of the high school athletic trainer every day.

Bill is in the middle of his final exams, and will be done with them tomorrow.

The kids have a half day of school tomorrow, and I know that will make them both very happy.

Steven will obviously not wrestle now on Saturday, but Bill will have a varsity team tournament. I will drag myself there as early in the morning as I can stand to, to watch as much of it as I can. Dan will be at the middle school scrimmage. I will probably let Steven stay at home that morning, since the high school tournament is in a neighboring town and I can get home quickly if I am needed.

Tomorrow I will have a doctor's appointment. It is time for the dreaded pap & pelvic, which I have been putting off, as I hate it so much. I know they will also schedule me for the dreaded base line mammogram, too. Also no fun.

Sunday should be good, though. I am looking forward to visiting Evanston. I had signed Bill up to tour Northwestern with three other people on Monday, but with Steven's bad knee, now I might catch the train down to Chicago with Steven. We can take cabs around once we get down there, and he won't have to do so much walking or try to stay up with a group. Steven and I can very happily spend most of a day in this one block of Michigan Avenue that has a great big book store and a gourmet chocolate shop.