New Year's Eve

Both Bill and I are feeling better today. I took a bunch of benadryl last night and actually slept through the night, which was a very welcome thing. I have also rested most of the day, which seems to be just what my body needed. I still have the cold - but it is much better than what it has been. Right now I am sitting here typing with Max asleep on my feet. He is very warm, and my feet are glad.

We're about to cook dinner - a rice and chicken  breast baked dish that Dan loves, followed by homemade - from scratch - chocolate chip cookies.  I don't know if any of us will bother to stay up until midnight or not. Sleep is good.

Here are my resolutions for 2006:

1. Give the Hangar a lot of TLC. That is a book discussion board where I am a moderator. It's server was hugely hacked last summer, and participation has really dropped there as a result.

http://p210.ezboard.com/bahirashangar

2. Get my older son off to college as best as I can.

3. Be better about contacting my sisters.

4. Treat myself better (ie. yes -- it's time for that baseline mammogram among other things).

5. Do my best to find the time next year to finally try some authors I've been meaning to forever, such as Erikson and Bakker. I would say clear out my To Be Read pile, but that's way too much of a stretch. Maybe do my best to make a good sized dent into my To Be Read pile?

will you survive the zombies?

The Will You Survive The Zombies? Test
http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=7687762912937960204     Ash
You scored 85 Common Sense, 79 Bravado, and 14 Eaten To Death! Ey your 'Ash' from the Evil Dead/Army of Darkness series. This means you survived probebly by showing the deadites the power of your boomstick. Good job man, not anyone can survive zombies ya know?


My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 0% on Common Sense You scored higher than 99% on Bravado You scored higher than 99% on Eaten To Death

what kind of thief are you?

The Thief Type Test
http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=12876315253991750573     Prowler
You scored 79% Subtlety, 0% Leadership, and 71% Forethought! My personal congrats on choosing the path of subtlety, but you've got a long way to go. Just because you don't like working with others, doesn't mean you can make it on your own completely. Trust may be for the naive, but until you show enough independance, it's what you're going to have to do. That in mind, don't get too reliant on someone. The world is a mean and nasty place.

Ideal Targets: Houses, low to mid class.
Ideal Heists: Break and Enter, Buglary.
Movies: Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.

Please rate this well.


My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 62% on Subtlety You scored higher than 0% on Leadership You scored higher than 35% on Forethought

more college application stuff

Today is being spent on helping out Bill with various college application materials. It seems like these forms are never going to end.

He got the final touches on his latest (and hopefully last) batch of stuff for Northwestern this morning and Dan took them off to the post office. I really liked one of his long essays - it was about a mistake he made and how it has changed his life. He wrote about wrecking his truck on the freeway, and how he had been paying attention to the music rather than the road. He spoke of how he has learned that life is fragile and can be very easily lost in one abrupt moment.

So all of the regular admissions materials are out of here for the colleges he chose to apply to. But there are still plenty of forms left!

Still on the agenda:

* contacting Western Michigan University and saying "Yes! I want a chance to compete for the full ride scholarship! And while I'm at it, can I please tour your engineering school and sit in on a class?"

* filling out the in-depth application and writing the essay for Ball State University School of Architecture ~ and putting together his portfolio (I can help him that, printing out some of the photos he took in France and New York City last summer on our photo printer)

* filling out the forms to send to Ball State for a chance to compete for additional scholarships ~ they have offered him half off of his tuition for four years, these would be on top of that, up to a full ride

He is worn out and not feeling well today, so I sent him off for a nap, poor kid. I know how he feels, and as soon as he gets up, I'm going to go lie down for my nap!

another long holiday weekend begins!

Somehow I made it through work tonight, but it wasn't pretty. Not only from the nasty cold, but I am just exhausted, my left foot still has that bleeding crack (though it has started to heal a bit) which still hurts, and my whole body just aches. I am so glad that I now have a three day weekend for the New Year holiday!

I have no plans for that holiday other than resting and spending time with my family. Well, and cooking and eating good food, and doing the normal housework. If I feel a lot better perhaps going to the book store to redeem my gift card...but at this point, that seems like a long shot. If only I could not feel so tired and so completely down...

Tonight when I let Max out for his bedtime pee, I heard a pack of coyotes off in the distance. It's been awhile since a pack has come through our neighborhood. I hurried Max back in, as I have heard coyotes will sometimes attack dogs, and Max would certainly be a very vulnerable target due to his advanced age. Their singing is certainly beautiful, though.

I got a lot of CD's in the mail today. I must have missed a response card to the jazz club, because I got a CD from them.  It is by a group I have never heard of called Down to the Bone and is called Spread Love Like Wildfire. Though, of course, being ignorant of this ensemble, I might have those names reversed.  From Amazon I got three classical CD's. I have been slowly edging into modern classical music and these are all 20'th or 21'st century pieces ~ two symphonies and an orchestral suite by a local composer on William Bolcom by the Louisville Orchestra ~ and a couple of Naxos recordings ~ William Bolcom Songs and Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony.

So between my new tunes and the massive but completely delightful novel I am currently reading (Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell) I should have plenty of quiet things to occupy myself while I try to rest and beat this cold off.

Well, it's off for a hot soothing shower, more foot scraping and creaming for the bleeding cracks, and some herbal tea. Hopefully I can get a good night's sleep tonight. If so, hopefully my outlook on life will be a lot more cheerful tomorrow!

Led Zeppelin's Fool in the Rain:

(jones/page/plant)

Well there’s a light in your eye that keeps shining
Like a star that can’t wait for the night
I hate to think I’ve been blinded baby
Why can’t I see you tonight?

And the warmth of your smile starts a-burnin’
And the thrill of your touch gives me fright
And I’m shaking so much, really yearning
Why don’t you show up, make it all right?
Yeah, it’s all right.

And if you promised you’d love so completely
And you said you would always be true
You swore that you would never leave me, baby:
What ever happened to you?

And you thought it was only in movies
As you wish all your dreams would come true
It ain’t the first time believe me, baby
I’m standin here feeling blue
Yeah I’m blue

Now I will stand in the rain on the corner
I’ll watch the people go shuffling downtown
Another ten minutes no longer
And then I’m turning around

The clock on the wall’s moving slower
My heart it sinks to the ground
And the storm that I thought would blow over
Clouds the light of the love that I found

Now my body is starting to quiver
And the palms of my hands getting wet
I’ve got no reason to doubt you baby,
It’s all a terrible mess

I’ll run in the rain till I’m breathless
When I’m breathless I’ll run till I drop, hey
The thoughts of a fool’s kind of careless
I’m just a fool waiting on the wrong block, oh yeah
Light of the love that I found...

U2's Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses

You're dangerous 'cause you're honest
You're dangerous, you don't know what you want
Well you left my heart empty as a vacant lot
For any spirit to haunt

Hey hey sha la la
Hey hey

You're an accident waiting to happen
You're a piece of glass left in a beach
Well, you tell me things I know you're not supposed to
Then you leave me just out of reach

Hey hey sha la la
Hey hey sha la la

Who's gonna ride your wild horses?
Who's gonna drown in your blue sea?
Who's gonna ride your wild horses?
Who's gonna fall at the foot of thee?

Well you stole it 'cause I needed the cash
And you killed it 'cause I wanted revenge
Well you lied to me 'cause I asked you to
Baby, can we still be friends?

Hey hey sha la la
Hey hey sha la la

Who's gonna ride your wild horses?
Who's gonna drown in your blue sea?
Who's gonna ride your wild horses?
Who's gonna fall at the foot of thee?

Oh, the deeper I spin
Oh, the hunter will sin for your ivory skin
Took a drive in the dirty rain
To a place where the wind calls your name
Under the trees the river laughing at you and me
Hallelujah, heavens white rose
The doors you open
I just can't close

Don't turn around, don't turn around again
Don't turn around, your gypsy heart
Don't turn around, don't turn around again
Don't turn around, and don't look back
Come on now love, don't you look back!

Who's gonna ride your wild horses?
Who's gonna drown in your blue sea?
Who's gonna taste your salt water kisses?
Who's gonna take the place of me?

Who's gonna ride your wild horses?
Who's gonna tame the heart of thee?

Who's Bargain

I'd gladly lose me to find you
I'd gladly give up all I had
To find you I'd suffer anything and be glad

I'd pay any price just to get you
I'd work all my life and I will
To win you I'd stand naked, stoned and stabbed

I'd call that a bargain
The best I ever had
The best I ever had

I'd gladly lose me to find you
I'd gladly give up all I got
To catch you I'm gonna run and never stop

I'd pay any price just to win you
Surrender my good life for bad
To find you I'm gonna drown an unsung man

I'd call that a bargain
The best I ever had
The best I ever had

I sit looking 'round
I look at my face in the the mirror
I know I'm worth nothing without you
In life one and one don't make two
One and one make one
And I'm looking for that free ride to me
I'm looking for you

I'd gladly lose me to find you
I'd gladly give up all I got
To catch you I'm gonna run and never stop

I'd pay any price just to win you
Surrender my good life for bad
To find you I'm gonna drown an unsung man

I'd call that a bargain
The best I ever had
The best I ever had

nearly the New Year

Well, I made it through work last night. Once again it was a struggle, but I did it. One more night to go and then I can get some rest and hopefully shake off this vile cold.

Bill is off at a varsity wrestling tournament in Trenton today. Despite having to work tonight, I was still thinking of heading over there to watch part of it, but I am just too worn out. At least his father can be with him today. I will have to call in a few minutes and find out how things are going.

Steven and I have the house to ourselves this morning. We have gotten into the secret stash of Panera three cheese bread and are eating toast and drinking hot chocolate. And snuggling with the cats a lot.

It rained so much yesterday that the snow is nearly gone. But it is supposed to get colder and snow again on New Year's Eve, so you have all of those drunken revelers out driving around in fresh snow. I'm really glad I can be snug and warm at home this year!

thunderslush

Well, the weather has been very odd this winter. It was very cold and snowy between Thanksgiving and Christmas; much more so than is normal. Since Christmas it has been above freezing everyday, and raining some days; but there was so much snow from before there is still snow on the ground, even though it has been above freezing during the day for about a week now. Today we are having a thunderslush storm. I had been listening to some classical music, and at first thought the thunder was part of the music. The I realized it really was thunder. Weird.

The cold continues, though cleaning out the cat litter box seems to have loosened up my sinuses. I will have to remember that for future colds!  A continually running nose is icky, but still better than your head being completely stuffed up for days!

Dan and the boys are off at the high school today helping to run a junior varsity wrestling tournament.  I got a book store gift card for Christmas and had thought of slipping out early and going to the book store before work today. But I am still pretty sick, and decided it is probably not a good idea to be running around out in the icy cold rain/slush if I do not have to.

Two more nights of work. I can do this. I can make it through! And then I can get some good rest during the New Year weekend. Since I am anything but a partier, the only thing I wish to do on New Year's Eve is to relax at home with my family. Well, maybe go out for a good lunch, long before most of the drunken revelers get out on the roads.

even grouchier

Man, getting through work was difficult tonight. I was so glad to come home and get a hot shower. Bed will be good, too, other than the fact that my asthma started kicking in last night because of my cold and when I lie down the rattling and whistling noises of my breathing keeps me awake. It's easier to breathe sitting up.

Ah well. Colds are a part of life.

As are cracking and bleeding feet in the winter, which began early for me this year. After my shower I gave my feet a good going over with some pumice, then rubbed on special foot cream. Maybe I can get the cracking under control in a few days.

Only two more nights of work to get through...only two. I can do this. Somehow.

In the meantime I will think of happy things like mountains and hummingbirds and chocolate and the way dogs grin at you when they are happy.

 

bad cold; grouchy

Well, last night I had hoped to stay cacooned in bed, all warm and surrounded by music. But when Dan came home he dragged me out. In a way, I am glad. The restaurant where we had dinner, Los Tres Amigos, was charming and had good food. And a long soak at the hot tub gardens is always welcome, even though your face feels so cold in the open freezing air while your body is in the hot water.

But today I am a lot sicker. I would call in sick to work, but no one would believe that I am sick since I just had a four day weekend.

Ah well. Winter and bad colds go hand in hand in this climate. And I only have to work three nights and then I can have another weekend. Maybe I will feel better by New Year.

Boxing Day

This morning I took Steven to Mott Children's Hospital for his first of two checkups after his head injury from wrestling two Saturdays ago. The outpatient clinics were all closed because of the holiday, so the place was nearly a ghost town in comparison to its usual mobbed and busy self. Even though the clinics were closed, they saw him because when he was in the emergency room they enrolled him in a study about children with concussions, and since it is a study, they bend over backwards to accommodate peoples' schedules.

Afterwards we went out to a late breakfast. We had intended to go to a restaurant right near the hospital which serves great food, but it was closed, so we went to Panera Bread and got hot chocolate and pastries.

I then took him to Ypsilanti for an overnight visit with his best friend.

My cold continues lingering on. I have a headache, so I am taking advantage of having a day off from work and I just took a hot shower (I let the hot water run on my head, which sometimes helps) and am about to lie down and listen to Mahler's Seventh Symphony. After the music I may take a nap or continue reading Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian. We'll see how my head is feeling.

There are so many leftovers from the big dinners the last two nights, I do not have to worry about feeding anyone tonight. Dan and Bill can just help themselves to whatever they wish. I can just rest, which will be very nice.

Christmas weekend

Despite Steven and Dan and I all having bad colds, we are having a very pleasant holiday weekend. We're all taking a lot of naps, which is probably keeping the colds from getting a lot worse.

Bill got another great scholarship offer in the mail on Friday - a near full scholarship from Eastern Michigan. So he will have an even harder choice come spring, with three spectacular scholarship offers from three universities.

Yesterday was Christmas Eve, and we had a pleasant day at home, listening to holiday carols, watching holiday movies like A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott and Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life. We cooked a great dinner of favorite foods (green salad, black eyed peas, garlic-Cheddar shredded potatoes, corn bread, and bratwurst). We had peppermint ice cream and Oreo cheesecake for dessert. The kids each opened one gift to celebrate the very rare occasion of me being home on Christmas Eve night.

Today we opened our gifts (Bill loves his Real Madrid soccer jersey)  and ate breakfast. We took the dog for a long walk in the icy drizzle. We gave the cats their catnip toys and played with them.

For dinner tonight:

green salad

beef pot roast with baby carrots and potatoes and with cherries

homemade biscuits

cornbread

homemade macaroni & cheese

Garlic & Cheddar shredded potatoes and black eyed peas (left overs from last night, but who cares)

cherry pie

blueberry pie

In addition, being in the mood to bake, I will probably make some gingerbread and some chocolate  chip cookies.

Tomorrow I have an extra day off. I will take Steven to Mott Children's Hospital in the morning for his follow-up visit for his head injury. Then I will take him out to eat at a nice restaurant with wonderful homemade bread called Angelo's, which is right near the hospital. In the afternoon we hope to go see The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

holiday potluck; naughty cats

When we moved to this house, Dan banished the pets to the lower story at night. Since Steven and I both have allergies and asthma, and Bill has a light tendency towards the same, the doctors did not want us sleeping with our cats cuddled up next to our heads and in our armpits (the favorite sleeping positions of all three cats!). The dog cannot climb into the bed, but he would sleep right next to it on a big dog cushion. So Dan put his foot down, and our babies sleep downstairs.

When Steven and I went to the grocery store the other day, we got the Christmas presents for the cats. We got them these really cool cat bed/cloth tunnels with built in zipped pockets to fill with catnip.

When I came home last night from work, someone had left the door open between the upstairs and the downstairs. Let's just say that the kitties approve of their gifts.  Much cat herding in the middle of the night followed. Now every time that door opens, there is at least one furry orange body flying through it, making a bee line to the Christmas tree.  The kitties are a hoot, and I cannot wait to be able to officially give them their holiday gifts.

Only one more night at work and I will be free as a bird for four lovely days!

Tonight I went to a holiday potluck and gift exchange with a bunch of friends. We all ate way too much food and had a lot of fun. One of the ladies brought in a wonderful spinach dish, another some awesome homemade cream of broccoli soup, and there were other wonderful homemade dishes as well. Food is soooo good when you don't have to cook it yourself!

Made great strides today in getting the gifts wrapped. It helps when the kids are both here to keep each other company. Another hour or so should do it. And then I only have to make one more grocery store trip before the holiday and everything should be all set and all happy!!!!

John Lennon's Free As A Bird:

Free as a bird, it's the next best thing to be. Free as a bird.

Home, home and dry, like a homing bird I'll fly as a bird on wings.

Whatever happened to, the life that we once knew?

Can we really live without each other?

Where did we lose the touch that seemed to mean so much?

It always made me feel so...

Free as a bird, like the next best thing to be. Free as a bird.

Home, home and dry, like a homing bird I'll fly as a bird on wings.

Whatever happened to, the life that we once knew? Always made me feel so free.

Free as a bird. It's the next best thing to be.

Free as a bird, free as a bird, free as a bird.

the cloudbane returns

I woke up this morning and immediately wondered ~ why is my back so sore? I had not had to do any heavy lifting at work last night, and it is not that time of month, so there seemed to be no reason. Then I remembered having to carry to dog last night. I had let him out to pee when I got home, and it was very clear and very cold (at least twenty degrees below freezing), and walking through that high snow hurt his poor elderly feet and legs. He stopped in the middle of the backyard and looked miserable and shifted his feet and shivered. I couldn't bear to see him like that, so I went down and picked him up and carried him into the house. I haven't carried him since he was a puppy, twelve years ago. He has trouble getting in and out of the truck when we go camping due to his stiff old joints, but Bill picks him up to help him then. He's a good sized dog, a black lab, and he was excited and happy to be picked up and carried so he was all wiggly and wagging. So there is a good reason for my back to be sore. Dan scolded me for carrying him, but I really couldn't stand to see my Max Dog feeling miserable like that. So I know I will do it again if I see him like that again.

The cloudbane has once again covered the land, so hopefully temperatures will rise a bit. Sometimes in the winter we will not see the sun for weeks at a time because of the heavy cloud cover. The temperatures would probably be un livable a lot of the time for a lot of people if not for that cloud cover. But at the same time the lack of sunshine actually causes a special form of depression called Seasonal Mood Disorder (or something like that). So the sunshine was welcome yesterday, though the clear skies made things super cold last night.

Dan is still sick with that bad cold, but at least he was able to sleep in a bed last night rather than a chair. Steven has a headache, but it seems to be a mild one that goes along with his stuffy nose, nothing concussion related that we have to take him in to the emergency room for. Bill has his make-up dual wrestling meet tonight so is restless, like a cat pacing around the house, getting ready to physically unleash himself. I am getting ready to go to work, having recently gotten back from grocery shopping.

I got a very yummy looking Oreo cheesecake to take to the potluck party tomorrow.

Three work nights left until my Christmas mini-break. You would think it would be quiet, but last night was very busy. The patient census had been a bit down, but yesterday the urgent care clinic and emergency room went nuts and we admitted something like twenty patients.

good news comes in large envelopes!

I haven't been paying much attention to the mail over the last two weeks with everyone taking turns being sick and I have boxes and envelopes and bags piled all over my desk.

Luckily, Bill checked the mail today. He got lots of good news in two huge envelopes.

He was admitted to the engineering school at Western Michigan University. They have offered him a scholarship at a rate of $4000/year, which would cover about 2/3 of his tuition, and invited him to come to campus in late January to compete for a scholarship for $10,000/year, which would nearly cover all of his school costs (tuition. room, and board) for his undergraduate degree. He would have to come up with pizza money...

AND

He was admitted to Ball State University. They admitted him to their Honors College, offered to waive the freshman composition requirement because he scored so well on his college boards (ACT), and offered him a presidential scholarship for half off his tuition for four years! That will save him thousands of dollars.

So kiddo will have some very big -- and very happy and good -- decisions to make this spring.

I am so proud of him. He wants to study both architecture and civil engineering, and design buildings and other structures that can better withstand natural disasters. He would like to combine architecture, engineering, and the new high tech nano stuff into making life and the world  better.

No one could ever ask for a finer son than Bill.

glitter snow

This morning the sun is shining all bright and beautiful. Yet somehow, though there are very few clouds, it is still snowing, very lightly, with tiny tiny little flakes. The snowflakes are shining in the sunshine like silver glitter. It is so lovely it is beyond words.

Steven says his neck is better today, but he might just be saying that in hopes of avoiding more of the icy hot cream, which he does not like. Bill is off at wrestling practice. Tomorrow they have a make-up dual meet for the one that got snowed out last Thursday. Dan is off at work.

I have spent the morning listening to music, reading Bad Girl Creek, and looking out the window at the glitter snow.

There are only four more nights of work, before I actually get a little break for Christmas. Getting time off at the holidays is a great rarity, and I am very happy to get one this year.

one more page of quizzes

9 LASTS
Last cigarette: never 
Last alcoholic beverage: a glass of wine sometime last month
Last kiss: unknown (define kiss)
Last movie seen: Miracle on 34th Street
Last phone call: yesterday, to the doctor from my cell phone
Last cd played: Beethoven piano concertos
Last bubble bath: unknown, but I need one!
Last time you cried: yesterday when my son got hurt 
Last date: Friday night; went to a Detroit Symphony Orchestra concert and then a late dinner at Pegasus Taverna in Greektown

8 HAVE YOU EVERS
Have you ever dated one of your best friends: yes
Have you ever skinny dipped: yes
Have you ever kissed somebody and regretted it: no
Have you ever fallen in love: once
Have you ever lost someone you loved: yes
Have you ever been depressed: yes
Have you ever woken up and not known where you were: no

7 PLACES YOU'VE BEEN TO
1. Grand Canyon
2. Canyon de Chelly
3. Rocky Mountain National Park
4. Zion National Park
5. Bryce Canyon National Park
6. Arches & Canyonlands National Parks
7. Disney World

6 THINGS YOU'VE DONE TODAY.
1. filled bird feeders
2. washed dishes
3. comforted a hurt child
4. laundry (wash, dry, sort)
5. went to work
6. drove home in light snow in the middle of the night

5 FAVORITE THINGS (IN NO ORDER).
1. my children
2. my friends
3. chocolate
4. books
5. music

4 PEOPLE YOU CAN TELL ANYTHING TO.
1. my older son
2. my friend Eric
3. my friend Jim
4. my friend Angela

3 WISHES.
1. that my children are happy
2. that my children are healthy
3. that no child will ever be hungry in this world again

2 THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE.
1. visit Yellowstone & the Tetons
2. see wild horses running free

1 THING YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT
1. music

silly personality quiz

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Your Personality Is Artisan (SP)

You are both grounded and flexible. You adapt well to new situations.
You are playful and free spirited - but you are also dependable and never flaky.

You don't do well in conservative, stuffy situations.
It's probably very hard for you to keep a normal job or stay in school.

You are always up for fun and adventure. Most people are too boring for you.
You take risks and bend the rules. And if things don't work out, you chock it up to life experience.

In love, you tend to take things quickly - but you have a huge problem with commitment.

At work, you need to make your own rules. You're best suited to be an entrepreneur.

With others, you are animated and physical. You prefer doing something with friends to just hanging out.

As far as your looks go, you tend to be buff and in good shape. Your spend more time on your body than your clothes.

On weekends, you need to keep active. From cooking up a storm to running a 5K, you wear yourself out.

naughty or nice quiz

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You Were Nice This Year! You're an uber-perfect person who is on the top of Santa's list.
You probably didn't even *think* any naughty thoughts this year.
Unless you're a Mormon, you've probably been a little too good.
Is that extra candy cane worth being a sweetheart for 365 days straight?

how are you in love quiz

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How You Are In Love You take a while to fall in love with someone. Trust takes time.

You tend to take more than give in relationships.

You tend to get very attached when you're with someone. You want to see your love all the time.

You love your partner unconditionally and don't try to make them change.

You stay in love for a long time, even if you aren't loved back. When you fall, you fall hard.

keys to your heart quiz

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The Keys to Your Heart You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free.

In love, you feel the most alive when things are straight-forward, and you're told that you're loved.

You'd like to your lover to think you are stylish and alluring.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was ruthless, cold-blooded, and sarcastic.

Your ideal relationship is open. Both of you can talk about everything... no secrets.

Your risk of cheating is 100%. You are not suited for a monogamous relationship.

You think of marriage something you've always wanted... though you haven't really thought about it.

In this moment, you think of love as something you don't need. You just feel like flirting around and playing right now.

sigh

Well, Steven' s headache is better today, but he has a very sore neck. I have been giving him naproxen and rubbing icy hot cream on his neck.

Bill went to the high school today to check his weight and run and swim a bit. It's the first time he's been there since he got so sick last week. The head wrestling coach likes to open up the swimming pool for the wrestlers on Sundays. There is no formal practice, but stretching out in the water often helps the kids feel better if they are especially sore, and the coach is a very strong believer in water therapy for getting over injuries. So it is an optional thing, and Bill went in this week. He said running a bit on the inside track and stretching in the pool did help his lungs feel a lot better.

Dan is still not feeling well. He slept propped up on the couch again last night. Sitting up helps his lungs feel better from all of the sinus drainage. Today he had to go out with a special winter tool called a snow hoe. He had to get some of the snow off of the roof of the house because the snow was forming ice dams in the gutters. I keep hoping he feels better, its been over a week now for his bad cold.

I've been listening to a lot of Beethoven and Frank Sinatra today, and have been reading one of my favorite "comfort" books, a novel by JoAnn  Mapson called Bad Girl Creek. Did dishes and housework and laundry.  At least work is very quiet tonight, and we're not supposed to get anymore bad winter storms until Christmas weekend.

the other side of the coin

In the great pattern of life, or at least of my life, any joy is always counterbalanced with pain. Any happiness or lightness of spirit with sorrow and concern and worry. Those are opposite sides of the same coin, and to receive one, you will also get the other.

Following the joy of the Ode to Joy, and a pleasant late dinner and evening spent in a charming area of Detroit known as Greektown, and Bill getting his first university admissions acceptance letter all yesterday there just had to be something rotten to follow.

It followed today when Steven got his second concussion in less than a year from wrestling at today's tournament in Montrose. It seems to be a mild one (the doctors did not want to give his brain yet another MRI within the course of one year, so are going by symptoms). Hopefully he will make a full recovery in time for school to start again in two weeks.

Ah my son, my son, my son.

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods

Joy! Glad joy!

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,

Daughter of Elysium,

We approach fire-drunk,

Heavenly one, your shrine.

Your magic reunites

What custom sternly divides

All people become brothers

Where your gentle wing alights.

 

Tonight a dream of decades came true for me. I got to hear Beethoven's Ninth Symphony live in concert. To me it is the ultimate piece of music - so uplifting, so magnificent - if mankind ever needs to justify its existence as a species we only need play that music, and our great potential will be shown.

Be embraced, you millions!

This kiss for the whole world!

Brothers, beyond the star-canopy

Must a loving Father dwell.

Do you bow down, you millions?

Do you sense the Creator, world?

Seek Him beyond the star-canopy!

Beyond the stars must He dwell.

The concert was at the beautiful Orchestra Hall in Detroit, with its lovely French inspired artwork (Detroit was originally a French city, after all, and Michigan was once a part of New France). It was given by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the baton of guest conductor Rafael Fruhback de Burgos. Also performing was a group from Ann Arbor, the University Music Society Chorus, along with soloists named Maesha Brueggergosman (soprano), Robynne Redmon (mezzo-soparano), Marcus Haddock (tenor), and Eric Owens (bass).

The evening started with  a Beethoven piece I had never heard before, called Overture to King Stephen, Opus 117. It was immediately apparent why they began the evening with that short piece - it has a recurrent theme in it that approaches the famous Ode to Joy theme. It is almost as if the composer was approaching that famous theme years earlier in this little theater piece.

And the Ninth -- ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Glorious. Perfect. Beyond words. When the bass singer started his solo, the whole audience breathed ahhhhhhhhh from pleasure to hear his voice.

When everyone left at the end of the evening, so many people walked to the parking structure whistling, humming, or singing the Ode to Joy theme...no one wanted to leave. We would have all sat there seriously happy to have heard it again and again as long as the musicians and singers would have been willing to perform. We gave such a long standing ovation, the theater pretty much kicked us out at the end. They finally turned up the lights in an effort to make us shut up and stop cheering and leave for the evening 

Glorious. Perfect. Wonderful.

Be embraced ye millions!

This kiss for the whole world!

Brothers, beyond the star-canopy

Must a loving Father dwell.

Be embraced,

This kiss for the whole world!

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods

Daughter of Elysium,

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods

another white knuckle drive; end of the week

Last night Dan got woke up about the time I got home. The sinus drainage and his cold woke him up, and he felt better sitting up than lying down, so I stayed up as long as I could to keep him company and make him hot drinks like hot apple cider. I got to bed about 3AM or so. Then I got back up at 6AM to keep a watch on poor Bill, who was running that high fever. So I was pretty tired today and had a rough night at work because of it. I have no ambitions tonight other than taking a hot shower and sleeping for as many hours as I can.

We got a bunch of snow. It is beautiful beyond description on the pines and on the bare deciduous trees. The piles on the edges of the drive at work are taller than me, they are about waist high here at the edges of the driveway at home. Pretty deep for this early in the winter. Awful to drive in. But it is so lovely to look at! Both breathtakingly beautiful and potentially dangerous, like a tall and handsome man with distinguished silvered hair and bright blue eyes...

The drive home tonight was another white knuckle drive. The roads were so shiny you couldn't tell until you stepped on your brakes if it was water on the road or ice. It was ice on the bridges, and the morning commute might be bad.

I am so glad to not have to work tomorrow. I need some sleep. I hope with all my heart that my poor sick ones will feel better, too.

big snowstorm; sick child

Bill now has the cold/sore throat thing and he's quite sick, as Steven was this time last week. Poor kid is cooking with a fever, has a bad headache, and his throat is so sore he won't even try to eat anything other than cold and soft things like little nuggets of cheese and ice cream. He has been sleeping on the couch, as he feels better propped up. I got up at 6AM to sit in the living room with him, so I'm running on just a couple of hours of sleep right now. But he's feeling a bit better now, all wrapped up in blankets and watching Charlie Brown Christmas on video. It's snowing so hard today that the satellite dish isn't picking up a good signal so we're watching videos.

It really is snowing hard today, we're supposed to get several inches of snow by nightfall. The people passing by on the road are moving extremely slowly. It's one of those days where you sit and wonder if you should leave for work two hours early or three hours early so as to be sure to making it in on time! If I didn't work in a hospital, I wouldn't go at all, with Bill being so sick.

The snow is lovely, though. And only one more day of school and I can have my children at home with me during the day for two weeks!