Archive for January, 2009
January 29, 2009 at 4:10 pm · Filed under books, family
Latest update: My dad was supposed to go home from the hospital yesterday, but he developed a fever and had to stay another day. They didn’t find anything seriously wrong with his heart or arteries. My mom remembered a friend of hers had chest pain before having gallbladder surgery. So she asked the doctor if he thought my dad’s gallbladder should be tested.
That’s what’s going on today. I also had my hair cut. I’m trying to decide if it’s short enough. (I do like it, though.)
Also, I’m all about the zombies today: read this and imagine seeing that during your morning commute. Also, check out this soon-to-be-released book. Awesome.
January 26, 2009 at 8:27 pm · Filed under family
My mom called me this evening to fill me in on what’s been happening the past 48 hours. Yesterday, my dad had major angina pain—which freaked the heck out of him because he has already had two heart attacks. (The last one was something like 17 years ago. He’ll be 81 in March.) At first, he thought it was indigestion. When it worsened, my mom insisted on taking him to urgent care. The first clinic they went to was closed, so they headed to the next closest clinic. As the staff was whisking him inside, getting nitroglycerin, etc., they asked my mom why she didn’t go to the emergency room.
Same reason she didn’t call 911. It didn’t occur to her. She was in trying-not-to-panic mode.
Anyway, they sent for an ambulance to take him to the hospital. Funny enough, the hospital my mom would have chosen if she’d been thinking more clearly wouldn’t have been able to take him. Their emergency room was overflowing. He ended up at a different hospital, where he was given immediate attention. Serendipity.
So he’s been having tests, getting medication for the pain, and being constantly monitored. Coincidentally, the doctor is the same one who did both his angioplasties many years ago. Everyone seems to agree he’s in great shape for his age, and it appears he didn’t have a full-blown heart attack.
Tomorrow he’s getting an angiogram. They’ll be prepared to do surgery if necessary. I made my mom promise to call me as soon as she knew something, because I didn’t find out any of this until about an hour ago. She’s keeping up a good front, making jokes about having to take out the garbage tonight and so forth. (Same as I would do, actually.) I talked to my dad a few minutes ago. He said not to be worried, but I told him of course I’m worried. I feel optimistic, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be anxious. And a little shell shocked.
The universe seems to be taking care of things pretty well so far, but any positive vibes you can send our way are much appreciated.
January 25, 2009 at 7:14 pm · Filed under moon (rachel), peter, tv
We finally convinced Peter to work on his German dialog, which is 60% of his final. (Tomorrow is the last day of finals, which were pushed back a few days due to dangerous windchills, school cancellation, blah blah blah.) Moon is helping him, because of course hers is done, despite the fact that she would have an A in the class even if she skipped the final. Because that’s how she rolls.
Anyway, I thought I’d remove myself from the situation because I know if I’m sitting there I will interject unwanted comments, and my deep desire for Peter to pass his classes will emit desperation rays and distract everyone from the task at hand.
This has been a busy weekend. Moon and Pete had master class at Good ‘n Loud yesterday, which was a wild ride of difficult music including Rush’s YYZ. (For some reason, my mind shuts down when I speak that song title. I’ve called it XYZ, XYY and XXY. Hey, there aren’t any lyrics, so it could be about chromosome abnormalities.)
I’ve been knitting as usual and have already finished some new projects. Now I’m back to working on my Cassidy. The back and front panels are done, and I’ve started the first sleeve. At this rate, I won’t finish until spring, but that might be okay. The yarn is kind of an in-between weight.
In other news, I convinced the family to get AT&T U-verse, which means we have (1) DVR, and (2) way more channels than ever before. The DVR thing is way, way better than having to use videotape. And it’s been a culture shock getting used to watching quality programming such as The Colbert Report whenever we’d like. Remember when I eschewed television as opiate for the masses? And was proud that I’d never seen an episode of Friends? Yeah. I kind of think TV is awesome now.
January 20, 2009 at 9:05 am · Filed under blather
Cute kids’ letters to Obama.
A charming poem from Dallas Clayton.
Having lots of fun with this.
January 8, 2009 at 7:06 pm · Filed under animals
This is why I want a Pom.
(No offense, Foxxi – I love you, but someday I hope to have a dog I can pet fearlessly. You are definitely Moon’s doggy.)
January 6, 2009 at 2:25 pm · Filed under blather
Obstacles are a natural part of life, just as boulders are a natural part of the course of a river. The river does not complain or get depressed because there are boulders in its path. — The *I Ching.*
January 2, 2009 at 4:51 pm · Filed under tv
We’re all doing much better, thanks. Also, as of last night the kids and I are completely caught up with Lost. Which means we can watch new episodes with everyone else, yay. My mind is still kind of reeling from the finale, but fortunately there are some cool and helpful special features on the DVD set. (A collection of the flash-forwards in order, for one.)
I haven’t been back to the pool yet, but I’m thinking about going tomorrow. One must be sure to be virus-free before sharing fluid space with others.
January 1, 2009 at 11:04 am · Filed under family
Christmas was great, but since then we’ve been wrestling with an unwanted visitor. Namely, the stomach flu. It’s been like the movie Alien around here. Who will be next? Which ensign will be found with his innards eviscerated?
First, it was Moon. We came home from our post-Xmas/gramma’s birthday celebration from my parents’ house. The dinner theme was Casseroles! so Moon was complaining that the food was giving her an upset stomach. She put on her brand-new PJs (from gramma, featuring a penguin that lights up when you move, which is actually cute and fun) and we started watching some Lost Season 4 (one of my presents).
A bit later, she ran to the bathroom and started puking so violently I couldn’t believe it was all coming from her. Basically, the puking kept going on and on until the runs kicked in. And chills, she also had chills. At one point she decided to just lie down on the bathroom floor to rest.
But her penguin PJs were certainly cheery, lighting up with her every move!
She was much better by Monday night. At that point, my stomach started doing strange things and I interpreted it as “hunger” when I should have been thinking “possession by evil viral spawn.” So I had a bowl of — wait for it! — leftover split pea soup. With wasabe peas and some Christmas cookies.
A few hours later, it was like a scene from The Exorcist in slo-mo. Needless to say, I was up all night with chills, cramps and vomiting. Like Moon, I attempted to sleep on the bathroom floor.
In the morning, my body started ejecting from the other end. This went on and on. So on New Year’s Eve, I’m weak and still ejecting a bit. Moon is much better. We’re thinking about playing games and having family fun. Except… Pete is sitting in the kitchen, doubled over, with his forehead on the table.
Another man down! About an hour later, Peter is crabby, crampy and testy. On the up side, neither of them had eaten any dinner. Peter had skipped lunch. So at least they hadn’t been eating split pea soup.
I just made a run to the store for some more popsicles and chicken & rice soup. Par-tayy! Happy New Year, and with a start like this, the end of 2009 ought to be awesome.
