10-29-07

This is my grandmother (my dad's mom). She died on Monday (10/29). I'm not really even sure how old she is. This pic is of her this summer. It was our last visit, and one of the best ones. For the most part she hasn't spoken much over the years - but this summer she did. I couldn't understand most of what she said, but she was still verbalizing. I know that she is in a better place and will be much better taken care of than she was at the nursing home. She hasn't known who I am for some time. It's been a while since she didn't really know who dad was. She had Alzheimer's. It's a very sad disease to see a family member go through. When my grandmother was young she was a teacher, like many women in that day and age. She also lived on a farm and raised 5 kids. She was always kind and her house always had a certain smell. We always slept on the 'davenport', also known as a hide-a-bed, or an explode-a-couch. She would make a lot of food, it wasn't always very good, but we ate it anyway. She made excellent lefse, a highlight of going to South Dakota for Christmas every year.

I'm not going to be able to go to the funeral. It was a very hard decision to make, but in end, I think it is the safest one. I am a bit torn up about not going, but I'm sure with time it'll be okay. She was the last of my living grandparents.

Boo!

Halloween


Adult trick or treating! Not really, but last night a few good friends and I got dressed up and went out. We went to a variety show put on by Spiceoflife productions (owned by friends of Mary's). The variety show is called a Donkey Show. They usually have all kinds of different acts and several live bands. It's cheap entertainment and always a really good time. And they do 'theme nights' in which you can dress up!

There's always an interesting act. Last night's interesting act was Human Art, titled 'Night Life Jones'. This art was a guy who was naked, except for a jock strap and had barbed wire coiled all around his body. It was real barbed wire. He wanted women to beat him with bats covered in sand paper. Sober, I can comprehend the psyche and it's need for pain and know that some take it to a very extreme level. But the beer must have got to me, because I couldn't handle it. I couldn't not watch it either. The more I thought about the disorders that go with this kind of behavior and the possible reasoning behind it, the more outraged I was. And then, I started thinking about what kind of people would actually take the bat and hit him?! Who is sicker? It really tripped me out and knocked my buzz off. I was not right for the rest of the night.

Here's some more fun pics - captions underneath!


I put on fake eyelashes for the first time.


My good friend, Pat, showing off his costume.


My bestest, Mary, the beer goddess!


Mary's husband, Cris, was a satan worshiping priest.


I like this one.


funny pic of Mary and Cris. They were in the costume competition. A killer bee won.

There's more where those came from! Hope everyone has a safe, but fun Halloween!

3 day weekend, sorta

Well, I got the day off today. Very nice. I slept in. The only reason I got the day off was because we had parent/teacher conferences this week. On Wednesday I had to teach a full day then stay at my school until 8pm doing conferences. On Thursday we had to be there from 8-8. Such long friggin' days. I did, however, get a lot accomplished. I was very productive. I am proud (but not) to say that this Quarter was the first quarter that I have ever gotten my progress reports out on time. They were so 'on time' that I could just hand them to their parent.

So I have today off. I'm doing laundry, cleaning the house and catching up on weekly chores. I do have to work tonight and then tomorrow at the salon. But I'm not going to let it ruin my 3 day weekend. So what if I have to work a full day and a half of hours at my second job over the weekend that I have off from my real job. (smell the sarcasm)

I went back to the dr. on Monday. I had lots of trouble breathing this last weekend. I was outside a lot and the air in my house is somewhat damp from the horrendous amounts of rain we've had. (I'm done with the rain). So I got another steroid pack and an inhaler. The doc also said that the rash on my stomach might be linked to these problems. I guess asthma and eczema go hand in hand. Regardless, the steroids clear everything up and the inhaler will help if I have any more probs breathing at night. Another interesting thing is that he had seen other people with the breathing at night problems recently. So there's something going on in the air. He also said all this will stop once it freezes. Well, freeze already!

I just got a surprise visit from the Jehovah's Witness! Weird. They left me some literature. I could go on a mile long view of advertising and religion right here, but I'm not going to. I have other things to do with my time today. Anyway, they were very nice, but I'm glad that I had to hold back my dog and I had my glasses on with wet hair today. The visit was short and sweet.

Happy weekend to everyone! I don't have much going on this weekend, have to wait for payday next Wednesday to do anything.

For the teachers....

It's Fall

Although the weather doesn't necessarily feel that way. I got a pumpkin today, so now I feel like it's actually fall and Halloween is coming. I've been so overloaded today. I feel like I need less on my plate or things just need to slow down. What's funny - is life isn't even near as crazy or busy as it was when I was in grad school. Maybe it's just me getting older.

Here's some fun pics of our pumpkin adventure. I went with college friends, Celinda and Brian. We had a great day. We also went to the Renaissance festival as well. It was my second time this year - but still fun. There was a lot of people watching today, because there was a lot of people there (last day of the festival).

Enjoy.

update

I felt the need to let those of you who read this know that I will once again be going back to the doctor. The dotty rash on my legs is going away, but I have a rash on my stomach now. It's an itchy one, but looks way different than the one on my legs. I really hope that someday I actually figure out what is wrong with me. It's been almost 2 months that I've been dealing with this now. I'm getting REALLY tired of it. My rational grounding is slipping and there are moments of emotional weakness. I'm not a crier, so this is hard for me.

I'll let you know once I go back to the dermatologist (so not happy to spend another $30, plus whatever it will be in prescriptions again).

sigh....