Super Happy Fun Day

It’s a mixed day. First, the good stuff.

Caitlin finally has her augmentative communication device at school. With some work, Caitlin should soon have some new avenues for communication. It’s pretty exciting. The specialist that the district hired is a friend from LINC, so it was a very pleasant training. Caitlin’s two speech therapists are meeting on Saturday to further discuss the programming. It’s been a long wait with some bumps in the road, but we’re finally here.

The conference planning seems to be under control. That’s a happy thing.

Torchwood Season 1 should be arriving any day now, giving Lynne and me hours of cheestasic entertainment.

Now, the bad. My grandmother has been moved out of ICU, but they’ve discovered an abdominal aortic aneurysm. The doctors also think that there are further problems. I’m getting all of this through the family telephone game, so the details are hazy.

My thoughts go out to Heath Ledger and his loved ones. I understand he was young and a star actor, but I wish the press would move on to something else other than baseless speculation about how he died. I know, how about they talk about the 5.4 million non-famous human beings who have died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1998 due to conflict, malnutrition, and disease (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/01/23/congo/index.html).

Do You Realize?

I’m fairly exhausted today. Yesterday was supposed to be a relaxing day off with the family. No dice. Here is a quick list of things that sucked yesterday:

1- My daughter spent Sunday night vomiting. The details are over in Lynne’s blog. Luckily, Caitlin was well for the rest of the day. This morning she was a bit out of it, but otherwise fine.

2- I went to the dentist, got my teeth cleaned, and they found two small cavities. Not a big deal in the grand scheme.

3- I spent much of my day on the phone doing conference planning. The pressure is increasing with some deadlines approaching.

4- My grandmother went to the ER and was admitted to the ICU. This is hitting harder than I expected. I am very close to my grandparents. They were a large part of what was stable in my childhood. For the past couple of years, my grandmother has been suffering from dementia/Alzheimer’s. She just turned 80, she had a major heart attack a few years ago, and we’ve been expecting health problems since she’s barely eating.

Yesterday, her face was swollen and my family took her to the hospital. They’re still running tests, but she was dehydrated and suffering from a serious bladder infection. Now I’m just waiting for phone updates. She will probably be fine, but it just feels like we’re entering that stage of rapid decline.


Otherwise, thing are well. The work on the gutters has begun, Caitlin should be getting her assistive communication device this week, and Torchwood was good. With some luck, I might even get some more writing done.

I'm Resting

It’s been a while since I blogged, but not for bad reasons. I have actually been taking a break. I can’t remember the last time that Lynne, Caitlin, and I did this. We’ve just been luxuriating at home, watching TV, listening to music, and reading. I’m beginning to feel recharged.

Christmas was nice. The family got together in low-key fashion. Prezzies were exchanged, and all was well in the world.

Boxing day was spent with our friends Eric and Stephanie enjoying Bond films and the RiffTrax http://www.rifftrax.com/ version of Glitter. Much fun was had.

Fluid Links work was busy with many discussions between the writers and editor. I’ve also been doing a serious rethink of the last third of the novel. I think that I have fixed some problems, and I now have a solid outline for the last four chapters.

The Bears played well today, not that it matters.

The Cubs first spring training game is February 29.

Go Cubs!!!

Fukudome Fever, Catch It!!!

Just Finished Reading: Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
Currently Reading: Dragon Champion by E. E. Knight