Family
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Go Big Brown!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoFquax2F-k[/youtube] This video is of Secretariat, who won the Belmont Stakes, and the Triple Crown, in 1973. Even if you’re not into horse racing, this is an amazing horse race to watch. Watch him make all of the other horses look like they’re standing still, as he goes on to win one of the most difficult flat races for 3 year olds in record time (still unbeaten), and make it look EASY. The Triple Crown is within reach of Big Brown, but just because he’s won the first two races does not mean he’ll win today’s Belmont. 11 horses have won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and then failed to…
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Year of the
RatTurdWoke up 3 times last night. Twice by small earthquakes, then a phone call that said mom fell last night on the way back to bed from the bathroom, and hurt her neck. They’re sending her back to the hospital. Sigh. (And another grumpy thought…I haven’t even spoken to a single woman who could bring herself to vote for Hillary (besides a few family members) so what’s this stupid talk about Obama needs to heal rift with women? Idiot press. Most people I’ve talked to say, they’re so similar on the issues, they would vote either way. And then the campaign turned a lot of people off to her. So…
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13 Ways to Beat Stress
You will all be relieved to know that I’m doing much better lately. There is, of course, still worry, but I feel like I’m doing a bit better as far as the stress level goes. I had my first therapy session on Tuesday, and the therapist told me that she thinks I’m doing pretty well, and gave me a few tips to help me to cope. As a favor to any of my readers out there who might be stressed as well, I’ll make a Thursday 13 out of a combination of tips she had for me, and things I’m already doing, which she agreed would be helpful. Keep a…
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My Therapy
What if these last practically three months in hospitals and care facilities and confusion have taken too much of a toll on my mom? What if she’s too far gone down the road of depression, and no amount of encouragement, no words of love and support, no gifts or even medications, can bring her back to the point where she’s willing to fight the good fight, the fight that must be fought, and fought by her, to eat and move and get well again? What if she’s given up, without realizing that that’s what she’s done? And what if that struggle, that giving up by her mind and the not…
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Apparently, I’m Stressed
Seems like these last few months are taking their toll on me, and my mom’s latest setback has thrown my stress into full gear. She had a horrid reaction to the Prozac (duh), in that it made her paranoid. She thought she had been kidnapped, and that people were trying to kill her. That wouldn’t be horridly stressful, since I’ve seen this before (far too recently, with the Paxil), and I know the answer is to change the meds. Except that gosh, she hasn’t eaten more than a few bites of anything in a few months, and she isn’t motivated to get up and move like she needs to. Her…
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Weekend Wrap-Up
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbpzJRWz6rg[/youtube] Other than the stress related to my mom’s condition, this was a lovely weekend! Friday, Ted and his brother went out for a yummy dinner at Wente, while Maya and I had a nice evening doing some last minute birthday shopping and making plans for the birthday boy. Saturday, Ted’s parents invited everyone to their house, and we had a birthday BBQ for Ted. His mom is smart, and the majority of family functions are ‘pot luck’, meaning we all bring something, and no one has to cook or pay for everything. We feasted on pork ribs, lamb ribs, chicken, corn on the cob, fruit salad, the best potato…
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One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
(photo via wiccked’s flickr photostream) I spent much of yesterday in Carmichael, CA, up near Sacramento, getting mom discharged from the hospital, and admitted into another extended care facility. The doctor said she is much better, physically, but he diagnosed her with major depression. I wouldn’t disagree with that diagnosis, as it would explain a lot in the way of her not eating and not wanting to get up and move around. Also, she had realized before her surgery that she had been suffering from some depression, which I’m sure the trauma of surgery and the life altering changes she has experienced since then have only made worse. The doctor…
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Happy Birthday Sweetheart!
Today is Ted’s birthday, and I hope it’s a wonderful day, and a wonderful weekend. He’s starting the celebrations with dinner, Friday, with his brother Steve. Then on Saturday, a bbq party with the rest of the family, including his mom’s famous potato salad, and yummy cake (white cake with fresh strawberries in the middle, and whipped cream frosting. Yum). Sunday is a RUSH concert, which he sees whenever they come around, but the fact that they’re here for his birthday ROCKS. 🙂 So it should be a lovely birthday, and I hope he has a LOT of fun. Happy Birthday, Honey! Love, p.s. Yay to Guam, who is voting…
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Ugh.
My regular readers know that my mom has had health issues as of late. She had a heart attack in February, which landed her in the hospital, where she received heart bypass surgery (otherwise known as a ‘cabbage’, I hear). She spent some time in assisted living, getting strong enough to care for herself, to the point where she can move to California, and stay with her friend, Kate, regaining her strength. Well, she’s been doing ok, but not great. There was some misunderstanding between the cardiologist in Anchorage, and the doctor at the extended care facility, and she didn’t receive some of the heart medications she should have been…
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The “F” Word
This is a rerun of a post that I originally posted on May 10, 2006. It seemed a good post to rerun during this month of letters. 😉 Warning…this post contains SWEARING I lived in Fairbanks, Alaska, from the age of 4 until I was 9. It was the early 70’s, and it was much more a frontier society than we have down in the lower 48. I haven’t been back since, so I can’t speak to the modern sensibilities, but I digress. In Fairbanks, at that time, everyone swore. I mean, EVERYONE. At one point, we lived next door to a church, and it wasn’t unusual to hear people…
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Welcome Back to California, Mom, and Happy Birthday!
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Spring Photos
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Perhaps it’s time for an update?
There’s an update on my mom, here. 🙂
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Clean Plate Club
Are you a member of the ‘Clean Plate’ club? Were you raised to finish everything on your plate, lest starving children elsewhere go hungry? I understand parents wanting their children to fill up on healthy, nutritious food, rather than picking at their dinner and then chowing down on dessert. I also understand that food is expensive, takes work to prepare, and shouldn’t go to waste. But forcing your children to finish their food when they’re full isn’t the answer. I was reminded of this on my recent trip to Alaska. My mom was sitting in the hospital, faced with yucky meatloaf. I had gone down to the salad bar to…
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Now we are…TWELVE?
Really? How did that happen? How did my tiny little baby turn, seemingly overnight, into a lovely young woman? For some reason, this birthday seems more real than those in our past, like Maya is passing some cusp between childhood and adulthood. I do realize that she’s more than 1/2 way there, but it’s not really that. I guess this whole year has felt this way…what with middle school and so on. I see some of the girls, looking like women already. I see kids with phones and makeup, boyfriends and giggles, and all of the other trappings of teenager hood, and all I can think is, really? Already? And…