(no subject)
Detailing the year month by month is a far cry from the detailed philosophizing I used to do- but it's about the extent of what I do anymore. I don't even have a regular hard-copy journal anymore. I have my old ones, and there is one that I use on rare occassions, but it's not kept with any regularity. It's something I always feel I should do, lest the experiences of my life become lost to even myself, but while it was natural at one point- and I was driven to do it, I've become nearly as quiet on paper as I have in the spoken word, but if I'm keeping even a sparse record, it's better than a non-record.
There was more to the end of March than I had expected. Nathan's family came down to KC for a weekend vacation on the 23 & 24th (the 24th being Palm Sunday.) I had Judas to play on Sunday, so we got together on the 23rd for Dinner at the Cheesecake factory. His girls are so big. I remember that Taylor was upset. She didn't say much- and Nathan explained that she had been at a slumber party a couple nights prior and hadn't quite recovered from the sleeplessness of the situation. I didn't actually see her at first and didn't realize she was there. She was kind of scared and hiding behind Jenny, crying. We are near strangers, to be accurate. Not by choice, but I remember her best as a little bitty kid just learning that animals were where meat came from and streaking through the house giggling. According to my mom, she's always talked a lot about death. Assuming that a picture showing women and kids on the beach didn't show the dads because they must be dead, and worrying about who would take care of her if she died before Jenny did. Before Jenny really came up with an answer for her (they're not at all religious) Taylor decided that she would just play with their departed dog (whose name I can't remember,) until Jenny got there. But Taylor also seemed kind of independently spiritual, despite the lack of any religious upbringing. When we were there for Thanksgiving a few years ago, when I was asking the girls what they were Thankful for, Taylor (entirely unprompted) said she was Thankful for God. She's a very dramatic girl. I think the teen years are gonna be tough. Callie was quite a bit more social, telling me about what she was doing in girl scouts. They had a tea party, and learned all about upscale dining. She told me what fork was for what and how to place my napkin. It's rare that I eat in a place fancy enough that they give you different forks for different courses, but I suppose the lesson was a good refresher, as well as a chance to let my niece show off her newfound dining knowledge. Her teen years are going to be a few years after Taylor starts, but if this is a holding pattern, she will probably be a little more relaxed. Which will probably be a relief to her exhausted parents. It was good that we got together when we did, because we might not have been able to get together the next morning. A number of highways were closed because a huge snowstorm blew in. It was snowing as we drove home (or more accurately, to the farm- because Emily had a board and train.) Big, fat flakes that stick together as they find each other on the way down, packing on their own to make roads quickly impassable. We booked it out of there, having taken Caity's Honda. Originally, our plan was to take the truck, but it's wipers were shredded, and my car was in desperate need of new tires. Bad for a snowstorm, to say the least. We were told when we bought the Volvo that it handled poorly on snow and ice. So while Caity's Honda wasn't built for that kind of weather any more than my Honda was, it became the vehicle of choice for our trip. The next morning I think we did end up taking the truck in to church, but I clearly remember getting the Honda stuck in the snow on the road outside the farm. I think that was later in the day, though. We went to Orscheln for something. I remember we got a dog scooper there, and I ended up kind of digging the snow out from around the tires with it. We did a lot of rocking back and forth and eventually got help from a plow driver that had passed us once on one side of the road, and was on his way back doing the side we were stuck on. He helped me push from the front while Emily drove in reverse and pulled onto the side he had plowed. We had called Emily's dad about a half hour prior to that (we were at the end of his driveway,) and once the plow driver got us out, he came down the driveway. Surprise. It's one of those things you just don't ask about.
The snow was quick to melt, making a soggy mess for April. And in the background of February and March there had been kind of a buzz brewing in the news. Some 'important' people had died misusing prescription painkillers, and some people had been getting them and selling them illegally, so there was some legislation passing, which required me to meet with my Doctor. I had to review all this material about how dangerous my painkillers were, though the cases they detailed about people dying from them were people that took 5 or 6 and chased them with a gin and tonic. The article indicated this was kind of a common scenario. Who knows? Maybe it is- but most medicines are dangerous if not taken as directed. It seems unfair to roll out the red tape for everybody just because some businessman gets bored and takes half a dozen with his nightcap. The case only started getting press when people from the upper eschalons started knocking themselves off. This has been going on in the underclasses for years and no one cared. But that's a different rant altogether. I read the material and signed that I read it, and signed a form submitting to drug tests at the discretion of my doctor to prove that the drug I was prescribed but no others were in my system, as well as a form detailing that I understood I would no longer be able to call the prescription refill in to the pharmacy, but would have to go to the doctor to get a paper script, take that to the pharmacy, and then go home and come back when the pharmacy filled it. Big pain. I did that once, but there must have been an outcry about it, because by the time I had to call my doctor for the second refill, the legislation had been repealed. I could just call the pharmacy. It was in April that the Willow Domestic Violence Center divorced itself from CourtWatch. CourtWatch had a board consisting of a number of different agencies, but it targeted domestic crimes, and violent crimes of a domestic nature. They divorced themselves from it because they said they just didn't have the time. Realistically, the program doesn't do much for the people the other agencies serve, so I have a feeling it's going to dissolve upcoming. But while the Willow holds all the stats in their system, no one knows how to find them since Peggy left and they dismissed me. I tried to explain how, but while retrieving them was relatively simple, apparently they just couldn't get it.
May was mostly just a bunch of weather jerking back and forth, but a groomsmen at my own wedding got unexpectedly married in Vegas, and at the end Emily and I did get to see Al and Mary Huneke, which was kind of the highlight.
June? Turns out there's another Christian Anarchist at my church. And a parent and I took the Youth Group to a baseball game. I took the boys on the way there. The one up front just passed out. Apparently the two in back were awake, texting the girls and feeling awkward about the lack of conversations. I'd made a couple attempts, but no one rolled the ball, so I just let it go. At the game, I generally try to avoid being overtly offensive without good reason or a chance to explain my actions, but I also try to follow the model of Daniel, and refuse to position myself in reverence to the national totem as prescribed in the law whenever the music plays that requires it. I hid in the bathroom during the Star Spangled Banner. I think trying to have that conversation with the Youth would get me pulled from the program. Though it may be one to have in Sunday School if Daniel comes up in the lectionary. On the back I had the girls and a younger fellow- incoming middle school. 2 of the boys lived in the same neighborhood, so they were just going to go home. The other parents I was meeting at the church. They were a more talkative group. Talking about movies, and books, and games. I think next time if we can mix a couple girls in with the boys and avoid splitting them up by gender we can probably keep some conversation going. I got Caitlin a Bar Mitzvah card for her birthday. She saw the humor in it.
Also in June- Daniel and Gabi came back from Washington. Though they won't be really settled until the job hunt is over. Where they work will determine where they live.
And here we are in July. The weather's been alternating between steamy and sticky, and I've been alternating between fever and barfing. I'm hoping to be in top shape by the end of tonight, because I have a remicade appointment tomorrow morning, which I sorely need, as I have been in heavy amounts of pain lately.
Kylie got her dental yesterday, and is just now recovering from the Anesthesia. All last night she was gorpy and feeling vulnerable. I know this because if I left the room for more than a few seconds she followed me. She even followed me to the bathroom. I suppose it's for the best that I wasn't well enough to go to the council meeting. She really needed me home. She's running in her sleep now.
Or having a seizure.
Maybe August will pick up.
-Claven
There was more to the end of March than I had expected. Nathan's family came down to KC for a weekend vacation on the 23 & 24th (the 24th being Palm Sunday.) I had Judas to play on Sunday, so we got together on the 23rd for Dinner at the Cheesecake factory. His girls are so big. I remember that Taylor was upset. She didn't say much- and Nathan explained that she had been at a slumber party a couple nights prior and hadn't quite recovered from the sleeplessness of the situation. I didn't actually see her at first and didn't realize she was there. She was kind of scared and hiding behind Jenny, crying. We are near strangers, to be accurate. Not by choice, but I remember her best as a little bitty kid just learning that animals were where meat came from and streaking through the house giggling. According to my mom, she's always talked a lot about death. Assuming that a picture showing women and kids on the beach didn't show the dads because they must be dead, and worrying about who would take care of her if she died before Jenny did. Before Jenny really came up with an answer for her (they're not at all religious) Taylor decided that she would just play with their departed dog (whose name I can't remember,) until Jenny got there. But Taylor also seemed kind of independently spiritual, despite the lack of any religious upbringing. When we were there for Thanksgiving a few years ago, when I was asking the girls what they were Thankful for, Taylor (entirely unprompted) said she was Thankful for God. She's a very dramatic girl. I think the teen years are gonna be tough. Callie was quite a bit more social, telling me about what she was doing in girl scouts. They had a tea party, and learned all about upscale dining. She told me what fork was for what and how to place my napkin. It's rare that I eat in a place fancy enough that they give you different forks for different courses, but I suppose the lesson was a good refresher, as well as a chance to let my niece show off her newfound dining knowledge. Her teen years are going to be a few years after Taylor starts, but if this is a holding pattern, she will probably be a little more relaxed. Which will probably be a relief to her exhausted parents. It was good that we got together when we did, because we might not have been able to get together the next morning. A number of highways were closed because a huge snowstorm blew in. It was snowing as we drove home (or more accurately, to the farm- because Emily had a board and train.) Big, fat flakes that stick together as they find each other on the way down, packing on their own to make roads quickly impassable. We booked it out of there, having taken Caity's Honda. Originally, our plan was to take the truck, but it's wipers were shredded, and my car was in desperate need of new tires. Bad for a snowstorm, to say the least. We were told when we bought the Volvo that it handled poorly on snow and ice. So while Caity's Honda wasn't built for that kind of weather any more than my Honda was, it became the vehicle of choice for our trip. The next morning I think we did end up taking the truck in to church, but I clearly remember getting the Honda stuck in the snow on the road outside the farm. I think that was later in the day, though. We went to Orscheln for something. I remember we got a dog scooper there, and I ended up kind of digging the snow out from around the tires with it. We did a lot of rocking back and forth and eventually got help from a plow driver that had passed us once on one side of the road, and was on his way back doing the side we were stuck on. He helped me push from the front while Emily drove in reverse and pulled onto the side he had plowed. We had called Emily's dad about a half hour prior to that (we were at the end of his driveway,) and once the plow driver got us out, he came down the driveway. Surprise. It's one of those things you just don't ask about.
The snow was quick to melt, making a soggy mess for April. And in the background of February and March there had been kind of a buzz brewing in the news. Some 'important' people had died misusing prescription painkillers, and some people had been getting them and selling them illegally, so there was some legislation passing, which required me to meet with my Doctor. I had to review all this material about how dangerous my painkillers were, though the cases they detailed about people dying from them were people that took 5 or 6 and chased them with a gin and tonic. The article indicated this was kind of a common scenario. Who knows? Maybe it is- but most medicines are dangerous if not taken as directed. It seems unfair to roll out the red tape for everybody just because some businessman gets bored and takes half a dozen with his nightcap. The case only started getting press when people from the upper eschalons started knocking themselves off. This has been going on in the underclasses for years and no one cared. But that's a different rant altogether. I read the material and signed that I read it, and signed a form submitting to drug tests at the discretion of my doctor to prove that the drug I was prescribed but no others were in my system, as well as a form detailing that I understood I would no longer be able to call the prescription refill in to the pharmacy, but would have to go to the doctor to get a paper script, take that to the pharmacy, and then go home and come back when the pharmacy filled it. Big pain. I did that once, but there must have been an outcry about it, because by the time I had to call my doctor for the second refill, the legislation had been repealed. I could just call the pharmacy. It was in April that the Willow Domestic Violence Center divorced itself from CourtWatch. CourtWatch had a board consisting of a number of different agencies, but it targeted domestic crimes, and violent crimes of a domestic nature. They divorced themselves from it because they said they just didn't have the time. Realistically, the program doesn't do much for the people the other agencies serve, so I have a feeling it's going to dissolve upcoming. But while the Willow holds all the stats in their system, no one knows how to find them since Peggy left and they dismissed me. I tried to explain how, but while retrieving them was relatively simple, apparently they just couldn't get it.
May was mostly just a bunch of weather jerking back and forth, but a groomsmen at my own wedding got unexpectedly married in Vegas, and at the end Emily and I did get to see Al and Mary Huneke, which was kind of the highlight.
June? Turns out there's another Christian Anarchist at my church. And a parent and I took the Youth Group to a baseball game. I took the boys on the way there. The one up front just passed out. Apparently the two in back were awake, texting the girls and feeling awkward about the lack of conversations. I'd made a couple attempts, but no one rolled the ball, so I just let it go. At the game, I generally try to avoid being overtly offensive without good reason or a chance to explain my actions, but I also try to follow the model of Daniel, and refuse to position myself in reverence to the national totem as prescribed in the law whenever the music plays that requires it. I hid in the bathroom during the Star Spangled Banner. I think trying to have that conversation with the Youth would get me pulled from the program. Though it may be one to have in Sunday School if Daniel comes up in the lectionary. On the back I had the girls and a younger fellow- incoming middle school. 2 of the boys lived in the same neighborhood, so they were just going to go home. The other parents I was meeting at the church. They were a more talkative group. Talking about movies, and books, and games. I think next time if we can mix a couple girls in with the boys and avoid splitting them up by gender we can probably keep some conversation going. I got Caitlin a Bar Mitzvah card for her birthday. She saw the humor in it.
Also in June- Daniel and Gabi came back from Washington. Though they won't be really settled until the job hunt is over. Where they work will determine where they live.
And here we are in July. The weather's been alternating between steamy and sticky, and I've been alternating between fever and barfing. I'm hoping to be in top shape by the end of tonight, because I have a remicade appointment tomorrow morning, which I sorely need, as I have been in heavy amounts of pain lately.
Kylie got her dental yesterday, and is just now recovering from the Anesthesia. All last night she was gorpy and feeling vulnerable. I know this because if I left the room for more than a few seconds she followed me. She even followed me to the bathroom. I suppose it's for the best that I wasn't well enough to go to the council meeting. She really needed me home. She's running in her sleep now.
Or having a seizure.
Maybe August will pick up.
-Claven