Wednesday, January 23, 2008

bad day

Well, let's see...

* younger son still having bad headaches more than a month after his concussion (in a wrestling match)

* went into a ditch for the first time today (thank God for four wheel drive) - even if the ditch was on my own property

* work was indescribably busy

* my favorite actor - Heath Ledger - only 28 years old, the father of a darling two year old daughter - by far the best and most talented actor of his generation - was found dead

The latter was a shock. And a tragedy for his friends, family, and most especially that little daughter. What a sad and horrible thing that someone so young and so gifted passed away.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

snowy day

Steven got another bad headache at school today, so I went to pick him up. We were in the middle of getting some snow - very wet and slippery snow - and when turning into our driveway on the way back, the Jeep skidded off the driveway and into what we call the Pit of Doom, and into the huge forsythia bush. Thank God for four wheel drive. I engaged the four wheel drive and was able to back right out into the road. Then get back up the steep hill on our driveway and get up to the house.

I do not want to leave Steven alone - he looks like hell warmed over - so will be going into work a little late, once Dan gets home from his work.

Steven's appointment with the neurologist will be in the first week of February.

down times

The last three weeks have been sort of down times.

Everytime we think that Steven is over his concussion, he gets another headache and we have to pick him up from school. Dan took him to the family practitioner this morning, and now we have to take him to a neurologist. So that has had us worried.

The anniversary of my father's death came and went, and that makes me think about how screwed up his life was, and that has made me very sad. Poor man spent more than fifty years being abused in a terrible marriage that he could never leave. Never let is be said that men abuse women but that women do not abuse men. Women are every bit as capable of cruelty and harm as men are.

And of course, all of that makes me remember the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse I received from my mother when I was a child.

How many lives did that woman wreck??????

And I have been thinking about Mr. Grinch, and how I ended up losing not only a beloved friend, but also any and all respect and trust I had for him. Ah, the long lasting damage secrets, lies, insults, and cruelty can do. Especially coming from someone you adore. The anniversary of all of that badness starting has recently come and gone as well. I mourn not only the relationship, but the good impression and feelings I had for someone I once thought was wonderful and once thought was a friend.

And we have all been sick, too. there is this awful thing going around Ann Arbor/Detroit (and, as it turns out, Muncie/Indianapolis, too!) where your  whole body aches like you have been beaten and your head and chest fill up with very nasty thick mucous about the same consistency of 2% viscous lidocaine. So you can't cough it up, and it makes your head ache and ache and ache. Nasty nasty nasty germ.

Bill came home for Martin Luther King Day weekend, and he has decided to transfer to a local university for next year and live at home. I have mixed feelings about this, and perhaps will find it within myself to talk about them tomorrow.

I had to put in my vacation requests for the whole next year, and maybe I can bring myself to talk about that, as well.

And, as is so often the case these days, I came home tonight to a huge poop and pee mess from the elderly dog to clean up. Nothing like turds all over the floor to make a bad blue day even worse.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

last of 2007; first of 2008

last book I read in 2007:
Brian Ruckley's Winterbirth (epic military fantasy in a Scotland inspired setting)

first book in 2008:
Tobias Buckell's Ragamuffin; space opera with an AfroCarribean accent

first/last tv: weather channel (big snow storm coming through)

last meal: homemade vegetable soup and bread
first meal: middle of the night snack of hot toasted pita bread with hummus

New Year's

Had a quiet day at home with the kids, and Later with Dan (after he got home from snow removal). We watched the big hockey game from Buffalo - which was a hoot! - and the UM football team winning their bowl game down in Florida. That was really sweet!

We snacked all day. We had a cheese salsa, a fruit and hot pepper salsa, and Dan made some guacamole. We had sub sandwiches, and some slices of gourmet cheese.

Peaceful day at home to start out another year.

That night we got another inch of snow, after the foot the previous night.

Today is just super cold - it is down around zero. But - with this being Michigan - the weekend will be well above freezing, and it is supposed to rain!

 

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

lunch with old friends; New Year's; big snow storm

On Sunday afternoon Dan and I went down to Dundee before I had to head in to work. We met my dear friend John and his wife Barb and some other friends for lunch. John transferred out to the hospital in Los Vegas two Junes past. We have all missed him tremendously since then. He is a wonderful human being. It was so good seeing him and Barb again.

Poor man came back to Toledo in time for the last big snow storm a couple of weekends ago, and now he is back for this one, too!

As is often the case, I was scheduled to work on New Year's Eve. Since we are anything but partyers, that is actually quite fine. This year, though, we are having a big snow storm. We could get about a foot of snow before all is said and done. Between the holiday drunks and the snow I did not feel comfortable driving, so Dan was kind enough to drive me to work and come pick me up at midnight. Man, was it ever snowing hard! You could barely see well enough to drive. It was coming down about an inch an hour. The roads, of course, completely sucked. But we made it home safely. Took about an hour to get the 15 or so miles home, but we are here safe and sound.

The snow is beautiful beyond comprehension. I hope to take a walk tomorrow and just soak in all of the loveliness. I will be off from work for the holiday, but poor Dan, who had hoped to be off, will now have to put in many backbreaking hours of snow removal.