More of those update thingies

Christmas, part one: My cousin has three stairs into her house, not two as I thought, and they are quite a bit steeper than I recalled them being. We would have had a difficult time getting Mom into the house, and once she was a little tired it would have been impossible to get her out. Mom was mollified about not going to Christmas with the promise that my cousin and aunt would visit her in the week between Christmas and New Year's. They came over on Thursday to visit and bring gifts, which was the first and worst day of Mom's bout with the flu. Joy.

Christmas, part two: We ended up not going to John's sister's on Christmas Eve because her husband came down with the flu and spent part of the day in Urgent Care with a fever of 104. John and I took Mom out for Chinese instead, and we went over to Lisa and Andy's yesterday instead (Mom still has the flu, so she did not join us).

All the gifts went over well, but I got burned by the present we gave Hanna-- she wanted a camera, and I found a cute little pink digital camera for her. She proceeded to take about fifty pictures until her father refused to download the last batch and free up space on the camera (it's little and doesn't hold very much), many of which were of me. I despise having my picture taken. But it was cute how excited she was about it.

Mom's health, overall:: Obviously, the flu is not helping matters. However, after tearing apart all her test results, her doctor has discovered the reason why she is so tired and why her legs continue to be swollen: she has a hole in her heart. It's a condition that ER doctors wouldn't look for, because it's not found in adults, only in small children whose hearts have not developed properly. The fix is an outpatient surgery (though knowing Mom, I fully expect complications that require her to be admitted for a day or two), just a nick in the groin and up the vein. However, the appointment we were supposed to have with the surgeon to discuss and schedule the procedure had to be canceled due to Mom's flu outbreak. I'm figuring next week for the replacement appointment, but until Mom is substantially better we're not even going to try to schedule it.

More of those update thingies

Christmas, part one: My cousin has three stairs into her house, not two as I thought, and they are quite a bit steeper than I recalled them being. We would have had a difficult time getting Mom into the house, and once she was a little tired it would have been impossible to get her out. Mom was mollified about not going to Christmas with the promise that my cousin and aunt would visit her in the week between Christmas and New Year's. They came over on Thursday to visit and bring gifts, which was the first and worst day of Mom's bout with the flu. Joy.

Christmas, part two: We ended up not going to John's sister's on Christmas Eve because her husband came down with the flu and spent part of the day in Urgent Care with a fever of 104. John and I took Mom out for Chinese instead, and we went over to Lisa and Andy's yesterday instead (Mom still has the flu, so she did not join us).

All the gifts went over well, but I got burned by the present we gave Hanna-- she wanted a camera, and I found a cute little pink digital camera for her. She proceeded to take about fifty pictures until her father refused to download the last batch and free up space on the camera (it's little and doesn't hold very much), many of which were of me. I despise having my picture taken. But it was cute how excited she was about it.

Mom's health, overall:: Obviously, the flu is not helping matters. However, after tearing apart all her test results, her doctor has discovered the reason why she is so tired and why her legs continue to be swollen: she has a hole in her heart. It's a condition that ER doctors wouldn't look for, because it's not found in adults, only in small children whose hearts have not developed properly. The fix is an outpatient surgery (though knowing Mom, I fully expect complications that require her to be admitted for a day or two), just a nick in the groin and up the vein. However, the appointment we were supposed to have with the surgeon to discuss and schedule the procedure had to be canceled due to Mom's flu outbreak. I'm figuring next week for the replacement appointment, but until Mom is substantially better we're not even going to try to schedule it.

2007 wrap-up

I am glad to see this year end.

2007 was not the worst year of my life (1998 takes that dubious honor, when we had both my grandparents to care for, and they lived in our house so there was no such thing as escape), but it definitely comes in second place.

However, I've spent more than enough time whining about how horrible things are and how life sucks. No year is entirely bad-- even the 1st place winner 1998 had a silver lining in the form of the birth of my nephew Nikolaus. 2007 saw a number of positive things:

* In 2007, I learned that my husband is even more phenomenally awesome than I previously suspected. I knew he was a kind and caring guy, but the sheer depth of his love and support has been amazing, and far above and beyond the call of duty. I would have still thought he was fantastic if he had only done half of the things he has done to help me get through this period of life. He is easily the best thing that ever happened to me.

* In 2007, I learned that my friends are also amazing. The outpouring of support, the offers of help and shoulders to cry on and kind ears as I rant and rave have been overwhelming. If I were to accept every offer to take me out and get me drunk, I'd have to join AA afterwards. People have driven me around, run errands for me, filed or filled out paperwork for me, taken over my jobs in the office to give me a bit of a break, shown up to move furniture, and generally formed a huge and wonderful support network to keep me sane, or at least sane-ish. Never before have I felt so thoroughly and completely loved.

I feel I must make an exception for Kevin here, as he has strong opinions on the use of the word "love" outside of romantic relationships. In his case, never before have I felt so thoroughly and completely well-liked. (It just doesn't have the same ring to it, but after everything he has done for me, the least I can do is respect his preferences.)

* In 2007, I learned to value my time. Previously, the idea of doing something that took 4 hours was nothing to me if it saved me $20. Now, I understand that I can only do so much, and it's worth paying a little extra to take something off my shoulders.

* In 2007, I became more sure of my ethics and my spirituality. While I will not go into details on that on the grounds that I do not wish to spend any time arguing with people over whether or not my beliefs are "right", there were times this year when I had to do things that I really did not want to do, and ultimately what got me through it was my core beliefs in what the right way to treat others is. Nothing in that is new; it's all been a part of me for decades. But this year, I had to examine it more closely and give it names and labels, and overall I feel I am stronger for it.

* On a related note, in 2007 I realized just how much more I value people over things. This has been driven home by the piles of boxes and bags and general Stuff currently occupying my basement-- things that my mother placed enough value on to keep, but not necessarily enough value on to keep sorted, clean, and well-maintained. It has made me take a hard look at my own collection of Things, and I was surprised to find how many of those Things I was holding onto because it reminded me of Someone. Whether it's treasured belongings of family members who have passed on or mementos of old friendships or crafts that were started because they'd make a great gift for another person or books that I've read and will never re-read but I keep because I'd love to loan them to someone and have them enjoy the book as much as I did... much of my possessions are about other people. In some cases that's good, but for quite a few of those items I'm hanging on to the item INSTEAD of the person, and that's just silly. Instead of hanging on to a particular craft project that I take no enjoyment in doing but want to give the finished item to So-and-So, it would be better to simply toss the craft project in the trash can and go spend time with So-and-So.

If you are a reader, don't be surprised if you get a Care Package from me containing a book or three. There's no point in having them collect dust on a shelf. All I ask is that when you're done, you pass the book(s) on to someone else who will enjoy them. And it'd be nice if you sent me your address (try alrobins @ gmail . com) so that the books don't come back to me. Feel free to point out your favorite genres, and don't assume that you shouldn't send me your address just because I've never actually met you.

2007 wrap-up

I am glad to see this year end.

2007 was not the worst year of my life (1998 takes that dubious honor, when we had both my grandparents to care for, and they lived in our house so there was no such thing as escape), but it definitely comes in second place.

However, I've spent more than enough time whining about how horrible things are and how life sucks. No year is entirely bad-- even the 1st place winner 1998 had a silver lining in the form of the birth of my nephew Nikolaus. 2007 saw a number of positive things:

* In 2007, I learned that my husband is even more phenomenally awesome than I previously suspected. I knew he was a kind and caring guy, but the sheer depth of his love and support has been amazing, and far above and beyond the call of duty. I would have still thought he was fantastic if he had only done half of the things he has done to help me get through this period of life. He is easily the best thing that ever happened to me.

* In 2007, I learned that my friends are also amazing. The outpouring of support, the offers of help and shoulders to cry on and kind ears as I rant and rave have been overwhelming. If I were to accept every offer to take me out and get me drunk, I'd have to join AA afterwards. People have driven me around, run errands for me, filed or filled out paperwork for me, taken over my jobs in the office to give me a bit of a break, shown up to move furniture, and generally formed a huge and wonderful support network to keep me sane, or at least sane-ish. Never before have I felt so thoroughly and completely loved.

I feel I must make an exception for Kevin here, as he has strong opinions on the use of the word "love" outside of romantic relationships. In his case, never before have I felt so thoroughly and completely well-liked. (It just doesn't have the same ring to it, but after everything he has done for me, the least I can do is respect his preferences.)

* In 2007, I learned to value my time. Previously, the idea of doing something that took 4 hours was nothing to me if it saved me $20. Now, I understand that I can only do so much, and it's worth paying a little extra to take something off my shoulders.

* In 2007, I became more sure of my ethics and my spirituality. While I will not go into details on that on the grounds that I do not wish to spend any time arguing with people over whether or not my beliefs are "right", there were times this year when I had to do things that I really did not want to do, and ultimately what got me through it was my core beliefs in what the right way to treat others is. Nothing in that is new; it's all been a part of me for decades. But this year, I had to examine it more closely and give it names and labels, and overall I feel I am stronger for it.

* On a related note, in 2007 I realized just how much more I value people over things. This has been driven home by the piles of boxes and bags and general Stuff currently occupying my basement-- things that my mother placed enough value on to keep, but not necessarily enough value on to keep sorted, clean, and well-maintained. It has made me take a hard look at my own collection of Things, and I was surprised to find how many of those Things I was holding onto because it reminded me of Someone. Whether it's treasured belongings of family members who have passed on or mementos of old friendships or crafts that were started because they'd make a great gift for another person or books that I've read and will never re-read but I keep because I'd love to loan them to someone and have them enjoy the book as much as I did... much of my possessions are about other people. In some cases that's good, but for quite a few of those items I'm hanging on to the item INSTEAD of the person, and that's just silly. Instead of hanging on to a particular craft project that I take no enjoyment in doing but want to give the finished item to So-and-So, it would be better to simply toss the craft project in the trash can and go spend time with So-and-So.

If you are a reader, don't be surprised if you get a Care Package from me containing a book or three. There's no point in having them collect dust on a shelf. All I ask is that when you're done, you pass the book(s) on to someone else who will enjoy them. And it'd be nice if you sent me your address (try alrobins @ gmail . com) so that the books don't come back to me. Feel free to point out your favorite genres, and don't assume that you shouldn't send me your address just because I've never actually met you.