sick, Sick, SICK

Please leave me comments or emails telling me about your Christmas/New Year Holidays.

Please. I beg you.

I am presently sick. This is certainly not an unusual thing for me this time of year but also not something that I anticipate.

Just after I'd left a rather whiny Facebook status about how I don't like to "party all the time, party all the time, party all the time" I am on the road to missing THREE, count them, THREE parties.

Well. One wasn't a party, but a gathering of family to mourn the loss of a cousin who passed away tragically last week of a massive heart attack. So sad. So very very sad.

I also missed Son-in-law's surprise 30th birthday party. The surprise wasn't that he was turning 30, he knew that. But, Daughter planned a surprise party for him, and I do believe that he was surprised. I did not go, but stayed at home with the equally sick Kado. We cried a bit together, he and I.

Now today. Jonge turned four on New Year's Day. We plan to celebrate with a Spider Man themed party tonight. Thankfully, THGGM is extremely capable of putting on a party and doesn't consider domestic tasks to be beneath him (i just realized that, sometimes, i do). I'm going to see, if for nothing else but the sake of the four year old, if it will be possible to paint my face with 'artificial health' and attend the party anyway.

Oh, and just because life tends to work this way for me (insert a mournful sigh here) THGGM is ON VACATION this week.

Seriously. I AM a very hopeful person.

I hope I feel better tomorrow.

Now. Go ahead. Tell me about YOU!

She Prattles On

Famke was really fun today. In this video, she hears "The Wiggles" singing Friar Jacques from the den down the hallway, and takes her baby Jack to sing along with them.

All I've got is scattered thoughts today. What AM I saying? All I've had for a very long time are scattered thoughts.

Oh, well.

Yesterday I was able to spring my dad from his therapy stay at the nursing home. He was extremely happy to get out of there. He couldn't exactly tell me why, just that he didn't want to be there. I cannot blame him one bit. Twenty-six days is a long time to be away from home.

Of course, I think the main reason he wanted out is that he is a terribly private introverted person who likes to putter around doing stuff alone. That was not possible in the home.

I'm again perplexed, bothered, and bewildered with all of the changes and adjustments to his medication. On the notes from the nursing home there was a prescript listed that was all new to me, and one that he only needed varying amounts of if his BP was more than ___ or his HR more than ___ . Since I do not have a blood pressure cuff, I've had no clue what amount of this medication he is supposed to be on. Needless to say, I've been on the phone a lot lately (and, i had to completely rework this paragraph after i posted it. am i the only person who didn't know that if you use the SYMBOLS for 'less' or 'greater' than it will remove the content inbetween them? well. i did not. i do now though.)

I'm again reading "Keep a Quiet Heart" by Elizabeth Elliott. I know I've said this before, but I'm a boring person, which means I repeat myself without remorse - I always wonder if I should actually READ her books, or just smack myself on the head with them. I guess what I like so much about her, is that she said hard things, chose the harder paths, and yet lived humbly. I can listen to a woman like that.

Youngest Son left tonight for a looong road trip with his girlfriend's parents to watch his girlfriend/their daughter play basketball in Iowa. I'm reluctant to watch a weather report tonight. Soooo glad he is not driving there alone.

Tomorrow my nephew flies to Salzburg, Austria to present a philosophy paper at a conference at the university there. I soooo wish he wasn't flying there alone.

While people I know and love are doing interesting things, I am very content to stay home and watch "The Wiggles" with Jonge and Famke. I'm also thrilled that peanut butter sandwiches and an apple is their prefered lunch. It seems we also like the same toys and books.

Oh. And this is weird. Famke calls me 'grandma'. Of course, I AM her grandma, so that isn't the weird part. Jonge has called me Beppe since the day he could talk. Even THGGM calls me Beppe. NOBODY calls me grandma. This is really quite the mystery, as I refer to myself as Beppe. Hmm. The girl truly does have a mind of her own. Today, she was telling me a rather looong story, referring to me as 'grandma'. I looked at her and said, "What's my name?". She smiled and said, "JUUUDY!"

Let's see. One more thing. One day last week I truly thought the end had come for my dear old cat, Uncle Barb. He looked awful. When I carried him downstairs at night he paid no attention to the food I held. In the morning I heard none of the usual carrying on that has been his morning routine for years. When I went downstairs to check on him - HOURS after he would normally have made his presence known to both the living and the dead - he woke up and gave a hearty yawn. Presently, he is meowing his furry head off and DEMANDING that I feed him.

I have a list of important notes laying on my desk. They are written with brown crayon on ledger paper I found at the thrift store. Anyway.., the hand writing is good, but one would at least think I could come up with a pen.

So, now you've seen a glimpse of MY day, what was your's like? Do tell.