Well. It had to happen eventually. I was up all night, in shifts, puking my dinner up from 10 till about 1. The rest of the night was spent rehydrating in small doses to be sure it wouldn't kick the peristalsis in again. Of course the other end got into things as well, so it was just a rough night. I'm very shaky and thirsty still this morning. This is precisely why I keep ginger ale and 7-Up in the house always, but it was a hella long hike downstairs to fill up cups with that and ice chips at 2 a.m. Those stairs are steep, and I nearly threw up when I got back upstairs (both times--because I'm an idiot) because I was so out of breath.

I've restocked the G.A. and ice and I'm going back up to bed shortly. Zero stamina this morning--a quick shower and I was toast again, shaking and panting.

Wah wah wah, poor me.

Satisfaction

I'm so tired I can barely sit upright. In fact, I'm on the couch with the footrest up and leaning into the arm side at about a 30% angle.

Long day. Dentist, then 9 hours sitting in a hospital room waiting for a new baby to arrive.
He did.
He's adorbs*.
No one knows his name except his parents. I don't get it. Presumably we'll find out tomorrow.

I didn't do anything strenuous but I'm really freaking tired.
Perhaps it's because of the hellaciously weird and bad week full of bomb squad stories, internet infamy, FOIA, grand jury duty (we did about 25 cases yesterday and issued 20 or so subpoenas), and the usual Crazy Cat Lady tricks. Add to that a new baby, driving 2.5 hours in heavy street traffic today, picking up a CPAP (which meant an hour-long drive round-trip) Tuesday and trying to get use to having a tube and nozzle attached to my face at night. I felt much better yesterday morning--really awake for the first time in awhile--but last night didn't go as well. Bad dreams.

Sparky changed jobs this week too. He started the week vomiting, by midweek was totally up-in-the-air job-wise, and ended the week in a much better place all the way around. And that's after we saw him last Saturday.

Then there was the moth in the shower with me yesterday. {{shudder}} Which landed on my forehead which I then spotted in the mirror on the side of the shower and freaked me the fuck out completely.

I'm really really hoping tomorrow is boring.

*and he's in NICU tonight because they detected a mass in his torso after a non-routine ultrasound of his mom last week; otherwise he seems fine, however.

Blog Challenge

Guess what: I'm behind again. I do have a good excuse for missing yesterday, though: I was at work for 12 hours (8 for work, 1 for a meal break, 3 staffing the Scholastic Book Fair we host every year for a large local Christmas charity. So I got home last night at 9:30 and helped Beast take apart the TV area in the living room so I could take our Wii and accoutrements to work with me today. I was in bed by 10 or so, didn't sleep great, and was awake at 5:30 for Bible Study, then directly to work at 8.

So yesterday at some point I was suppose to Put [My Nonexistent] iPod on Shuffle and Write 10 Songs That Pop Up. Since I don't have an iPod, and I haven't used my MP3 player in several years, I'm just going to shuffle my Spotify Stars:

1. Ackee 1-2-3 -- The English Beat. I adore this song! It was played pretty much every time I had a radio show in college. I own the album and hadn't listened to it in a decade, at least not until I dug it up on Spotify.
2. Only You -- The Platters. Nothing like a little dreamboat teenaged slow-dance music....
3. So High -- John Legend. ...unless it's a sexy mature slow-jam.
4. Family -- TobyMac. From his latest album. I haven't heard this a million times, but the first time I heard it, it went right onto the starred list.
5. Ben (Akon Mix) -- Michael Jackson [and Akon]. This song makes me tear up, but this mix is less syrupy.
6. 928 Horn Jam -- Trombone Shorty. If you love trombones the way I love trombones, you'll love this song. Or, really, almost anything by Shorty.
7. White Rabbit -- Patti Smith. Yup, this is "that song" but not the Grace Slick version. Patti Smith has (had anyway) a really wonderful voice.
8. Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) -- Shakira. Yeah, just a silly, sing-along song...
9. Club Can't Handle Me -- Flo Rida feat. David Guetta. ...or two, though this is more of a brainless dance-along song.
10. Fuck You -- Cee Lo. Well, they did ask for ten, which I interpreted as the first ten that came up. ;-)

Today I was supposed to Bullet [My] Whole Day. I'll try to do it from memory.

• I guess technically that waking up at 2 means that's part of today, right. Dreaming about badly needing to pee means waking up on the run to the bathroom. Then Beast is (oddly) a little snorey. And I just can't get settled, so I come downstairs and work on a kakuro, till I get a little more sleepy.
• The alarm goes off at 5:30--ugh! One snooze...
• ...and I hit the snooze again and then slug my pillow in an attempt to push myself out of bed. After a couple of minutes, I turn off the alarm, and plod to the bathroom.
• Shower, hair, clothes, earrings, meds, find the other flip-flop
• Downstairs: look for phone, look for work keys, remember they're in the car, grab Wii bag.
• Plug phone into car charger, make sure I have my wallet, turn on the CD player for more Cry, the Beloved Country, pull out of the driveway at 6:20
• Hit the restaurant, get settled, order breakfast, and spend an hour untangling Luke 7:36-50 while eating and drinking two glasses of diet Coke
• Pay, head back to the car, drive to work, arriving at about 8:05
• Prep two book orders, and one media order and send those in. Listen to a coworker rabbit on and try to ignore her or at least not get riled.
• Firefight various things, including random emails.
• Find out that our local self-appointed Community News Dude has reported the Book Fair to the Fire Marshall for blocking the exit of the library. Because why say something to us when he was here Monday when the book fair was set up? He's a tiny little dick with a Jesus complex.
• Realize my throat is killing me, and my back/shoulders are sore as hell.
• Whinge via IM with Beast about above.
• Catalog all the demand stuff that magically appears on my desk, and a few other things.
• Stand around while our IT guy upgrades my Adobe license
• Take two Tylenol.
• Do an hour penance, er, yeah, in the children's room.
• Lunch with Beast at 6 Balls.
• Back to work, feeling less crappy.
• Kill off some order records that Baker&Taylor has cancelled.
• Put away the review journals I was using yesterday.
• Find out if we are keeping the second large-type copy of a Nora Roberts book (cheaper to keep than return at this point).
• Start watching the weather radar.
• Go through the July Bookletters titles to see what we own. Separate the ones we don't have and order them {SHIT--I just realized I only ordered part of them...dammit!!} after confirming with the woman who usually does those orders that she's ok with me doing it. Which is why I screwed up: I've never done one of them, and I was too excited to do it right. :-\
• Crawl into the online weather radar and start panicking about the drive home from work. Also commence worrying that Sparky may also have scary weather--this is one BIG-FUCKING-STORM--and text him.
• I'm sure there were some other random things I did over the course of the day at work, but in the end I left at 5:40 to beat the weather home.
• Once I arrive, I join Beast in the basement, till we both start dozing off to the dulcet tones of The Weather Channel and the weather has cleared.
• Upstairs. Facebook. Dinner. TV.
• Round Two of the storm whizzes through in 10 minutes, with hurricane-level winds and horizontal rain, and some hail before leaving us in its wake.
• I'm going to bed soon, even though it is currently 8:15. I'm way zonked.

A hurricane in a pear tree.
Five minutes earlier, there was no wind, no rain, and bright skies.
Five minutes later, there was a nice breeze, no rain, and brightening skies.

My day, or An attempt to stay awake at work

9:10 No blowers = silence in the workroom. I can hear just how loud I type now
9:15 I warn Miss M that I may not make it all day--I'm well past tired today, for no particularly good reason
9:35 Book I'm cataloging right now: I'd listen to my parents if they'd just shut up : what to say and not say when parenting teens
9:45 Why did we get three copies of Betty Bunny...? No clue: we only ordered one. Clearly the picker-machine expected a fatter book
10:15 One shelf of books cataloged
10:30 Rick Riordan books are in J but audiobooks are in YA ... because the former children's librarian moved the books but never got around to the audiobooks
10:50 One new nonfiction order added to the catalog and our On Order list. In the process of downloading the files, I end up knocking someone else off B&T three times. :-P
12:45 Done with lunch (Taco Bell, yum!), wondering what to do for 10 minutes before I go for my two-hour stint in the children's room
12:55 Book Clubber brings me a bunch of weird-record books to clean up. Oddly, two of them were fine when I checked what she said was wrong, but her one note is awesome: "alien language hijacked record :)" -- the title read How 246    0 {226 Tía Lola Saved the Summer
1:00 As a result of those notes from B.C., I start my time in the children's room by repairing and updating all the Erin Hunter series books. There are 10 "legal" series by that author, some of which are series-within-series
2:00 Finally done! Had several reference questions during the course of things, but still...this was (is?) a mess, and I didn't even get into the manga series!
2:09 The sun comes out! For about 11 minutes...
2:40 There are two brothers and a mom who just left who have been very entertaining to watch. The little guy is ADORABLE, and the older boy is a sweetie. Mom looks tired ;-)
3:25 Right, ok, I'm so freakin' tired I'm going home for a nap

My schedule for the next few days. Precious little sleep on this list. Yes, I know I'm double-, triple- and at one point sextuple-booked. Wish me luck!

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20
9:00am - 12:00pm    2012 ALA Midwinter Unconference Dallas Convention Center D165

10:30am - 12:00pm    OCLC Enhance Sharing Session registered Dallas Convention Center A306

11:00am - 12:00pm    Collection Management in Public Libraries Discussion Group Dallas Convention Center A304
LUNCH
1:30pm - 3:00pm    Bibliographic Control: A Meeting Between Educators and Practitioners Dallas Convention Center C146

2:00pm - 5:00pm    IUG Meeting received invite Omni Dallas Hotel Cedars Room

2:30pm - 4:00pm    Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) Program Training Dallas Convention Center A306

5:30pm - 7:30pm    Exhibits Opening Reception. Exhibit Hall

7:30pm - 9:30pm    Backstage Library Works Reception ([Beast] invited too)  Omni Dallas Hotel West End Ballroom (5th floor)

SATURDAY, JANUARY 21
7:00am - 10:00am    OCLC Dewey Update Breakfast and ALCTS Public Libraries Technical Services Interest Group Meeting registered -- received invite to PLTSIG which should start about 8:30 Omni Dallas Hotel Greenville Avenue

8:00am - 10:00am    Copy Cataloging Interest Group Dallas Convention Center D227

10:30am - 12:00pm    Cataloging Norms Interest Group Dallas Convention Center D223

10:30am - 12:00pm    Interlibrary Loan Discussion Group Omni Dallas Hotel Trinity 3

10:30am - 12:00pm    Library of Congress Update Forum Dallas Convention Center D171

10:30am - 12:00pm    Role of the Professional Librarian in Technical Services received invite Dallas Convention Center D174
LUNCH
1:00pm - 1:25pm Midwest Tape Booth #1239 Exhibit Hall

1:30pm - 3:30pm    Catalog Management Interest Group  Dallas Convention Center D227

1:30pm - 3:30pm    Collection Development Issues for the Practitioner Interest Group Dallas Convention Center D222

1:30pm - 3:30pm    Hot Topics Discussion Forum (RUSA MARS) Dallas Convention Center D223

3:30pm - 5:30pm    Do I Own these E-books or Not?: The Adventures of Jo Budler, Kansas State Librarian Dallas Convention Center C146

4:00pm - 5:30pm    Catalog Form and Function Interest Group Dallas Convention Center D227

4:00pm - 5:30pm    Faceted Subject Access Interest Group Dallas Convention Center D222

4:00pm - 5:30pm    Hot Topics Discussion Group (RUSA STARS) Omni Dallas Hotel Trinity 3

4:00pm - 5:30pm    Progressive Librarians Guild Meeting received invite Dallas Convention Center D170

4:00pm - 5:30pm    Standards Interest Group Dallas Convention Center D226

4:00pm - 6:00pm    MARC Formats Interest Group Dallas Convention Center C149

5:30pm - 9:00pm    Meetup w [my brother & his family for dinner]

SUNDAY, JANUARY 22
7:00am - 8:00am    OCLC Update Breakfast Roundtable topic: Cataloging & Collection Development Omni Dallas Hotel Dallas EFG

8:00am - 10:00am    Public Libraries Technology Interest Group Dallas Convention Center D222

8:00am - 12:00pm    CONSER / BIBCO / SACO-at-Large Dallas Convention Center C141

10:00am - 11:00am    Auditorium Speaker - John Green Dallas Convention Center Theater

10:30am - 12:00pm    Automated Acquisitions / In Process Control Systems Interest Group Omni Dallas Hotel Cedars Room

10:30am - 12:00pm    Cataloging and Classification Research Interest Group Dallas Convention Center A306

10:30am - 12:00pm    Collection Development Planning & Assessment Committee Meeting (RUSA CODES) Dallas Convention Center A112

10:30am - 12:00pm    National Libraries RDA Forum Dallas Convention Center D227

10:30am - 12:00pm    Technical Services Discussion Group Sheraton Dallas Hotel Trinity 4

12:30pm - 1:00pm    ALA Masters Series: World Book Night Dallas Convention Center A2
LUNCH
1:30pm - 3:30pm    Best Fiction for Young Adults Teen Session (YALSA) Dallas Convention Center C147/154

1:30pm - 3:30pm    RDA Update Forum Dallas Convention Center C146

1:30pm - 5:30pm    Authority Control Interest Group Dallas Convention Center A201/202

4:00pm - 5:30pm    ALCTS Creative Ideas in Technical Services Interest Group received invite Dallas Convention Center D220

4:00pm - 5:30pm    Discussion Forum: Answering the Young Adult Reference Question – Making Connections that Matter (RUSA RSS / YALSA) Dallas Convention Center A304

4:00pm - 5:30pm    PCC Participants' Meeting and Open Program Dallas Convention Center C155

5:00pm - 6:30pm    Midwinter Book and Media Awards Reception Fairmont Dallas Hotel Oak Room

MONDAY, JANUARY 23
7:30am - 9:00am    ALA Youth Media Awards Dallas Convention Center Theater

8:00am - 10:00am    Heads of Cataloging Departments Interest Group Dallas Convention Center D171

8:00am - 10:00am    OCLC Creating Cataloging Efficiencies that Make a Difference received invite Dallas Convention Center D162/164

10:30am - 12:00pm    Forum (ALCTS): Author Steve Berry keynotes Preservation Week 2012 Kick Off Dallas Convention Center A201/202
LUNCH
1:30pm - 3:30pm    Collection Management in Public Libraries Interest Group Dallas Convention Center D172

1:30pm - 3:30pm    Continuing Resources Cataloging Forum Dallas Convention Center D168

2:00pm - 3:00pm    Exhibits Closing & Wrap Up Rev Up Celebration with Lisa Loeb Dallas Convention Center Theater

RV capitol of the U.S.

That's where we're spending the night on our way to the funeral and burial of FIL which is happening on Sunday. This is a place we stop frequently. Beast actually has a work colleague and customers here, so he's far too familiar with the town. Actually, I am too--as we left to find dinner, I realized that I remember walking from the hotel next door to a now-nonexistent grocery store next door.

Beast is uploading slides onto his computer for a slide-show to play at the funeral home on Sunday.

I'm about as close to asleep as someone can be and still have her eyes open. Maybe I should go jammie-up and wash my face and teeth so I can safely drop off. Unfortunately, the headache I had all day, the headache which finally disappeared about 2 hours into today's drive, seems to be on its way back. Sigh. Gotta be tension, but I can't remember a day when I've had a full-day headache.

So you can sorta see why I'm not blogging much if this is the content that might be the norm.

So, here's the deal:

Beast has had two more shots in his spine since he left the hospital. He started physical therapy, finally, last week as he was starting to feel a little better.

Then, last Friday, his dad was sent from his regular dialysis appointment to the ER because he just "wasn't right." He has continued to be "not right" in spite of doctors trying everything they can think of to figure out what has gone wrong. He's had dialysis three times since admission, they've weaned him off all meds that could be making him tired, and they gave him IV steroids to keep pulmonary issues at bay. Except, yeah, he doesn't tolerate IV steroids; they make him hallucinate. So, he's been  completely flaked out for the last couple of days, leading to a distinct lack of appetite today. This is really not like him, to say the least. He is fading.

Beast has medical power of attorney, so if FIL is really unable to make decisions for himself, Beast has to. He's already refused--twice--to have him intubated as that is something FIL has repeatedly said he doesn't want. So, yeah, Beast is ...rough.

Beast's back has gotten substantially worse as the days have gone by, so that tonight he's in the most pain he's been in since the hospital, I think. Some of that can probably be attributed to the stress of the past five days, but he's also been sitting in bad-for-his-back furniture at the hospital, standing on his feet too much, pushing himself. Because this is just exactly the way he rolls. And much of what is going on can really ONLY be done by him.

And my job...omg, so awful. Two professional staff members have given notice in the past 9 weeks; they happen to be the youngest librarians in the building. OK, no, they don't "just happen to be" anything; they couldn't work with our boss, who is truly unworkable-with in many ways.  There is a mutiny afoot as a result. Even I, who haven't had nearly the number of issues with her that other people have (for me, she's mostly just pesky, like that fly that won't stop buzzing around your head for hours), went in and told her I was really, really angry about not being asked about picking up extra hours; I've only been asking for full-time for 5 fuckin' years! She is not professional about her job, either. But, I'm leery; I know how easily things could be worse. So, a little of the ol' rock <--> hard place for me.

Did I mention the last ten days has been the worst allergy season I've been through in the past several years? I feel like warmed-over shit, tired from all the Benadryl and Zyrtec I'm downing to keep me from tearing my throat out. It doesn't help that I'm not sleeping well because of all the other shit going on. At least the Benadryl at bedtime knocks me right out for the night. Last night is typical of the nights I don't do that: slept 11-3, rolled around for another 90 minutes pretending to sleep, gave up at 4:45 and did a crossword until it was time to get up at 5:30. At least I'm not bugging Beast; he can't lie flat, so he's sleeping in the recliner in the living room.

This is why I'm offline. I've dug out the old CD for The Sims and I'm playing that again, as escape. Gah.

THANK GOD Sparky isn't around for this. He is blissfully unaware of how dire things are back at home. Which is just fine.

Peregrinations

As promised, here's the program for the next few weeks for us.

Home

We are there, after 3000 miles of road under our wheels, and richer in furniture and 'stuff' from Mom's estate. I have things to deliver to the nephews up the road.  We have yet another piece of the "set" my dad made--this makes #4--and a cedar chest.  Those are the big things that are (probably) staying here, along with some (more) photos and papers and odds and ends.

The highlights (and a few lowlights) of the trip:

• I can strike Kansas from my list of "states I have never visited", and I'm pretty glad of that, though there was a great steak place in Salina....
• The Best Ever tortilla chips at a restaurant in Colorado Springs, along with what Beast describes as The Best Margarita Ever. The chips were so good we asked for a takeout order and snacked on them in the car the rest of the trip.
• Unfortunately, something else at that meal did not set well in my G.I. tract, so I spent that night inspecting porcelain rather more closely than I normally would do in a hotel room. I think I'm off rice and beans for quite awhile as a result. [We are pretty sure, however, that it was the sopapillas, since that's the only thing I ate that Beast didn't eat--and he had no problems at all.]
• The Beaumont in Ouray, as mentioned in the previous post. Stunning setting, but lacking couple of minor conveniences. However, the spa and massage, and the balcony martini bar all more than made up for the excruciatingly slow internet and inefficient breakfast service. I wish my dad had lived long enough to see the inside of this place....
• I want to live in Ouray...but only part of the year.
• The drive from Ouray to Ogallala is L - O - N - G, even if you sleep 3/4 of the way. And losing electricity and then hot water at the hotel is a sucky way to end a day like that. We never did get a hot shower there.  And the 'cuisine' we chose was less-than-fab as well.  Oh well.
• The only bad weather we had was unbelievable heat in Ogallala (over 100 when we pulled up in front of the hotel) and the big storm overnight in Des Moines last night, which I slept through.
• We saw a doe and her fawn in my sister's backyard. Just passing through. 
• I only broke one fingernail all week, and managed not to chew on any of them!  Woo hoo!
• The sandals I wore ... I never want to wear them again. I love them, but I'm really tired of them.
• I shouldn't check work email on the road. I just get cranky.
• I am no longer able to run around at high elevations without stopping every 3 minutes to breathe, i.e. pant. So ... outta ... shape ...! Crazy! Sux.
• Three vodka-tonics plus a Lemon Drop is probably too much alcohol for me in the 4 hours prior to bedtime. Especially at 8000 feet elevation.
• It has rained a LOT this spring in the Midwest! Everything was green and wet, rivers were overflowing and crops were flooded in some fields. Even Colorado was green(ish).

Having now taken a bath and finally started to wind down for the day (almost 10 hours after we arrived home), I think I'm going to head to bed.

A good trip, all in all. Single best thing: Beast's back was not injured this time, and he feels fine tonight.

Hospital trip averted

The phone rang at 1:45 this morning. It was the assisted-living place where FIL lives letting us know that when they checked on him, he was (my term) wack-a-doodle. Upon checking his blood sugar, it was 40 ("normal" for healthy people is supposed to be 100-120). The call was to tell us that and that they had called for an ambulance to come take him to the hospital.

Beast is out of town dealing with family stuff, so I debated and eventually called him. They had NOT phoned him so I woke him up (boo!) and we decided that I didn't need to go to the hospital.

That turned out to be a good thing because while we were talking they called his cell and told him that FIL was not going to the hospital; the EMTs had boosted his sugar and he was talking and refusing the hospital stay.

So, all good. Then he called my cell to reiterate that he was fine. So, I finally got back to sleep sometime around 4.

And woke up again at 7:30.

But I don't have anything huge to do today, which is lovely.

The more things change

...the more they stay the same.

We now have zero exchange students at our house. Picture Beast and me with our jaws on the floor and our hands thrown up in the air: WHAT!THE!FUCK! Yesterday's email from Sparky's German teacher reads, in part: "Despite your saying you do not need a break; the German teachers would still give you a rest. ... C[...] says she would be OK with moving to another family. She says you have been great hosts and should not infer anything in our moving her at this time. Mrs. P[...] had offered to place another student Tuesday when we all learned the Germans could not return to Germany. C[...] would be staying with Julia .... Also, perhaps with the disappointment of not returning home, being with another classmate is good idea psychologically."

I actually totally get that last bit, so I was somewhat mollified after I read this. And, to be honest, it was quite lovely to come home from the conference last night and have the house to myself (Sparky was at a study group) and not have to worry about anyone needing a ride or help finding something to eat or do here.

In other news, on the train home last night one of the women with whom I was traveling discovered that she had misplaced her wallet. She got off at the next station and called back to the city ticket office--the last place she knew she had it with her--to see if someone had turned it in. She also called her husband who checked online and found that someone had already used the credit card, within just a few minutes of the wallet being left! Sigh. So, obviously she's not getting it back.

Which coheres with the status of my bag. The Lost & Found woman said that sometimes it takes a little while for things to make their way back to her, so I should check in again today and next week, but realistically...I'm out a nice half-pack, a curling iron, a flashlight, and some charger cables. Some other stuff too, but nothing really horrible or irreplaceable. Well, except perhaps my notes from the first day of the conference. I've made a list of what I can remember having packed in there so I can hit the stores and replace what I need this weekend.

* * *

OK, Sparky has headed off to school and I swapped hours today at work so I don't have to leave until noon. I'm going back to bed. I almost fell asleep in the middle of CSI:NY last night and ended up going to bed at 9:45. Still feel like I could sleep a month, but I keep waking up with thoughts of "Oh, yeah, _____ was in the bag too!" or "I need to make sure the girls...oh, never mind" or "I need to figure out what we're doing for _________" etc. Time to revert back to having nothing scheduled every hour of the day!

We have a fridge full of food too, so I don't even have to cook for awhile! Yay!

What.A.Day.

• Boring Bible Study text this morning. The pastor even said so. lol


• Technology issues leading to a cretinously slow database at work.


• The mere thought of vomit on surfaces at work.


• Laughing with E. for 10 minutes over a book of tongue-twisters, followed by mooning with her over an adorable book of poems "by" dogs. I love our children's librarian.


• Too much processed sugar in one afternoon.


• 14 straight hours away from the house.


• Email from church about a 12-year-old in our community who has an inoperable brain tumor which sprung a leak in her head. She's (back) in the hospital, in pain but improving. Terrifying and very sad.


• Email from The Boss at 1:30 p.m.: "I need some statistics for your report, which I have to present to the Board tonight."


• Registration forms I've been requesting for two months (and worrying about for another month before that) which arrived last week...are due on Monday. Next Monday, 2/8. Ten days to collect everyone's info. Nice organization, PCUSA. Real *$%@!ing nice.


• I'm not a fan of sloppy joes. Just sayin'.


• People who can't read music...in a choir. The are nice people. They can't read music. O.M.G.


• The most boring part EVER assigned to me in that choir. Seriously: I play in 8 out of about 40 measures, maybe 10 notes total.


• Worry over FIL's complete lack of energy after his last three dialysis visits. Not to mention his laryngitis. And his toe.


• Beast had a crappy sales call today. And he's far from home and feeling a little out of things.


• Email from a friend whose life is so tragic. According to her. Well, you made your own bed, Ms. L--now you're lying in it. We all have to lie in our own sh**, you aren't so special. Lots of people have it worse off, and most of us have at least as much going on...but no, YOURS is so much worse. Because it's yours. Yeah. F**k you and the horse you rode in on. I have no tolerance anymore.


• This was Sparky's birthday. Not that you'd be able to notice, since he was up at 6:45, off to school, then church (study group and dinner) and then back to school for ACT class. He just went up to bed...10 p.m. Happy 17th, Baby Boy! {eyeroll}


• Blackberry Stoli + tonic + lime = To Die For

I'm taking a mental health day tomorrow. I wish I could do the same for about 6 other people who need the same thing and can't actually do it. But I'm seeing a friend. A real friend. Someone I don't think "f**k you" thoughts about. Ever. Yay.

Oooh, and Beast comes home tomorrow, too. More yay!

Science Experiment

We had a little unintentional science project this weekend in Beast's car. He parked at the airport while he was gone earlier in the week. When he returned to the car late last night and opened the trunk to put his bags in, he discovered that it had indeed been cold.

The 12-pack of Diet Dr. Pepper we bought over the weekend had frozen. One can did not maintain its structural integrity; both the top & bottom sections of the can had blown out the sides of the box they were in. The bottom, being closer to one side of the car, just stopped, but the top flew across the trunk and ricocheted around before coming to a rest. It left a trail of frozen diet pop on three of the six sides of the trunk.

Fortunately, the temperatures never warmed up to anything approaching freezing, so cleanup was fairly simple, even in an airport parking lot at 12:30 a.m.

But I was VERY confused this morning when I came downstairs and found the remains of the box in the kitchen sink along with the unopened cans, two of which were still partially frozen. Cuz, yeah, I'm a sucky wife: I don't stay up till The Husband arrives home.

**************************

On a slightly different note: yeah, thanks, School District Lamebrains for the call at 5freaking30 this morning telling us we don't need to wake the kid up for school. Cuz, see, yeah: you just WOKE US ALL UP!

Long Day

I left at 8:45 this morning for church. From church I went straight to work with my lunch in hand. Cataloged for two hours, worked the Sunday reference desk for three hours, stayed after and worked on monthly stats, went to the Dollar Store for snacks and drinks and then to the grocery store for a chicken-salad sandwich for me, and then headed back to church for the youth group meeting. I was home by 8:20, I think.

Meanwhile, Beast went to the hospital to check on his dad, came home and worked outside for a few hours, came to the youth group meeting, left early to go back to the hospital one last time, and came home.

There were two voicemails on our home phone today from a friend of my sister Jean's. While Jean and Reg were here visiting last week, Friend drove in from her home about 90 minutes away and spent the day with them. She called one more time before they left. She's an odd woman, but whenever Jean is in the area, they get together and chat, and I guess she has visited them at their home too. Whatever. Circumstances being what they have been, I don't think she's done more than meet Beast once. He barely knows her, and certainly would neither recognize her name nor her face if he came across them.

The first call this morning was clocked in at 8:56. She wants to know what's going on with Jean. (She is in the hospital in Colorado near Marie because she wasn't breathing well: they discovered pneumonia, anemia, and a general inability to suck in enough oxygen at 8,000 feet above sea level.) "Now!" is all over Friend's voice in the message. She called back at 2:39 this afternoon and left another "CALL ME!!" message. I didn't notice when I got home that we had voicemail--we rarely have anything interesting on it, so I usually don't bother to look. Beast found the second message when he came home at 9:10, which reminded him to tell me about the first one.

I do not call people after 9 p.m. except in pretty dire circumstances. So she'll wait.

However, she has now become Class A Bitch in my book. Dude, you ARE NOT A FAMILY MEMBER. F**k the f**kety-f**k OFF! And do not...do NOT tell me what to do. Reg has Skype; Friend has Skype. They worked that all out last week. If he (or Jean) wanted her to know the details, he'd've Skyped her. Or she could Skype him and ask for details.

I hate being a go-between. HATE. IT. I did this when Ellen died with everyone in my family for about a year and then pulled the plug. You got something to say, say it to the person who needs to hear it. You got a question to ask someone, ask them. Not me. I'm out of this. And so...yeah, I'll call Friend and tell her nothing and that I will be away from ALL PHONE CONTACT EXCEPT EMERGENCIES for the rest of the week. I will do that. Tomorrow.

Oh, wait: her voicemail isn't set up on her cell so I can't leave a message.

* * * * * * * *

Any patience I might have had for humankind earlier today has evaporated. And I think I'm getting sick. Which is all because other people infected me. STUPID PEOPLE!

Who knew?

I can do a full day's work after barely three hours of sleep, including 6 full hours standing and working with the public. Actually I arrived at work today with my Chicken Caesar salad for lunch at 7:30 a.m. and left at 5:30 p.m. An hour for lunch in there, that makes 9 hours' worth of work. I duly noted the extra hour for a day earlier this week where I only worked 7 hours.

[Hey, I had a 6:30 meeting and it didn't make sense to go home and then leave right away again.]

Anyway. I didn't commit violence against anyone, I was friendly and perky to everyone, even the idiot "Someone is Hacking My Email" guy. Every time he is in the building, Someone is Hacking His [Email][Internet Login][...brain]. People wouldn't freakin' leave at the end of the day, but beyond that it was a decent day, in spite of having the schedule completely messed up due to too many people mixing it up. Honestly. One person writes the schedule. Period. And if you can't work a Saturday, find a sub or be killed upon your return next week. Don't tell me the Schedule Person is supposed to do so. Be a grown-up.

So, I'm so tired I'm barely even hungry. What the heck? And on that note, I'm hitting the sheets.

Oh, and my eyes are shot again. Maybe I need to try sleeping. Oh, hey, snap...

O.M.G.I.S.T.!

Oh
My
God
I'm
So
Tired !

Split shifts suck.

That's all, really. I'm beat, so I'm off to bath and bed ASAP so I can be awake again when I leave for Bible Study in 8 hours.

Weekend Busy-ness

Friday:

• Clean up the house (tidy, dust, hide crap, vacuum/mop floors, do dishes, etc.)
• Grocery shop
• Meet extended family for dinner 45 minutes from home (good food, but VERY noisy, and no shades on the windows with sun glaring in)
• Attend h.s. football game near (sorta) dinner site (they lost 47-7, and the cheerleaders did it again, this time using the same cheer as mentioned in the previous post, but this time they did it during the prep time for a kickoff...no quarterback on the field, idiots)
• Shift belongings of one set of family members from local rellies to our car
• Drive home trying to stay awake and make coherent conversation
• Make yet MORE semi-coherent conversation till we all dropped from exhaustion at midnight

Saturday:

• Find out that the U2 show is not sold out, really; also it costs $45 to park near the concert venue
• R & B decide to go to the concert with us
• Use Google maps to find restaurant sort of near venue; contact the rest of the people we're going to with and set meet-up time of 4:30 at restaurant
• Leave for concert (which starts at 7) around 2:30.
• Stop at Beast's dad's to drop off this week's meds and clean laundry
• Stop at bank for money
• Get slowed down by traffic
• Receive first call from Katherine at 4:30; they are at restaurant. She is not happy that we'll be late, but so is Alan's brother-in-law
• Arrive at parking lot and use the porta-potty. Receive second call from Katherine informing us that Alan's bro is there (we are now officially 30 minutes late for the meet-up time at the restaurant)
• Start walking. There is no direct way to the restaurant, so we have a tour of much of the lakefront as we truck through the early arrivals for the concert.
• Katherine calls again at about 5:20. I can barely speak we are walking so fast. "We're on our way, moving as fast as we can!" She responds, "It's VERY busy here!"
• Finally, at 5:30 we call--still not at restaurant--and ask if it's really likely that we'll get fed and back out in time for a 7:00 show including a the 40-minute walk back to the venue. No. Katherine, Alan and S meet us and we find a Jimmy John's instead; they run out of bread as we reach the counter to order
• Every restaurant we pass is jammed, so we throw in the towel and go back to the stadium to eat, arriving at about 6:30. Massive money is spent buying hot dogs and brats
• We find our seats
• The stage is weird, massive and looks like the Press Your Luck stage-set
• Snow Patrol takes the stage at 7. VERY good
• Beast goes and buys a pretzel, a hat, a T, and a program
• Alan goes and buys coffee for Katherine
• After an hour, U2 takes the stage. Aside from some sound/balance issues, they are excellent for 2+ hours. I love these guys
• Push out of stadium and stream toward parking lot
• Finally get to the highway home at about 12:15

Sunday:

• Arrive home after an hour of driving through massive fogbanks
• Sparky goes immediately to bed but the rest of us have a short discussion about the concert
• Bed around 3 a.m.
• I'm up by 8
• James arrives at 12:30
• I cook tacos
• We have a wonderfully relaxed afternoon watching football, talking, eating, and hanging out
• James leaves
• The rest of us head to church for our youth group meeting
• ...which goes pretty well
• Home again: Beast watches Packers/Bears game, Sparky goes to bed, the rest of us stay in the kitchen talking till halftime
• B & R head to bed; I head to bed; everyone is beyond exhausted; even Beast comes to bed relatively early

Monday:

• I'm up at 6:30
• Sparky leaves for school at 7:30
• I leave to volunteer at his school library at about 7:50
• Return home at 9:30
• We pack everyone into the car--again--and drive to the Middle-Sized City to the Northeast to drop R & B at bus station (easier than driving back down to GIANT City Directly to the East)
• Drive back in time for Beast to drop me off for a massage at 2
• Beast picks me up and we go to Sparky's JV football game (they lose again)
• We go to dinner
• ...and come home to a normal house

We have massive stuff to do this week too, but at least there are a few days before the next round of company arrives. And they won't stay with us, so the house doesn't have to get cleaned again for awhile. Thank God.

Morality Play at Midnight

(which sounds like one of those paperback mysteries that generally rely on puns or onomatopoeia to attract readers, like a light attracts bugs)

A couple of nights ago I woke up with cold feet--welcome to the North!--and eventually staggered out of bed to the closet to grab a pair of socks. I grabbed blindly, and heard a pair slide off the shelf onto the floor. {shrug--sigh--oh, well} When I got back to bed, they turned out to be the only pair of socks I own with toes. Did I stagger back to the closet? Nope. I sat there figuring out which foot matched which sock and slotted my toes in. And then I keeled over and went back to sleep. My clearest thought was the fear that I'd rip off my anklet when I toed off the socks later.

• Moral #1: Put the winter socks away. Better idea, in fact, is to put the CHRISTMAS winter socks away well before July. There are boxes in which the socks are supposed to live, but there are always socks stacked on top of the half-full boxes.
  
  
• Moral #2: Grope more carefully. The socks that fell (thinnish trouser socks) were better-suited to summer cold feet than the ones I returned to bed with.
  
  
• Moral #3: Rather than going to the closet...in fact, rather than getting out of bed at all...reach into the nightstand (top drawer, in front) and snag a pair of footies that I keep there for this very purpose! These would also have caused me no worries in the anklet-ripping-off department.
  
  
• Moral #4: Rather than going to the closet, turn off the overhead fan. Which the eye doctor told me not to have on at night. Which was the reason there was a chilly breeze blowing on my feet on an already-chilly night.

Mind you, I thought of NONE of these at 2 a.m. or even the next day. It was finding the trouser socks in the laundry basket yesterday that caused me to rethink my brain damage.