The Snowman
This, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfiqrkV_ZqI, is fantastic. Absolutely brilliant.
Well, since I'm here, I may as well do a wee bit of an update. Things in Atlanta are pretty much exceedingly dull. Pretty much everyone I know around here is useless, but oh well, what ya gonna do. The kids at work are great. I love them. One of them, though, is in the hospital with a 60% chance of survival. He had to have a bone marrow transplant last week. I love him more than most of the others - he's one of my two favourites. He's only just turned 2, and he is absolutely adorable. So so smart. He just looks at you with his big brown eyes, and you know that he knows exactly what's going on in any given situation. He loves Elmo and trucks and the colour red. When he's well, he loves to be picked up and spun around. He's got the second biggest vocabulary in the house, and in the past few weeks, he's really started to master grammar, too. He's been saying whole phrases, not just single words - "putting the fork in the water," and "men in the manhole". He's been through so much in his short life, but he's one of the most cheerful, easy going toddlers you'll ever meet. I'm trying not to think about it too much, but I worry about him a lot. Constantly these days. If he doesn't make it, I will be absolutely devastated. It doesn't bear thinking of. I've been to see him a few times this week, and he's pretty pitiful. He was our second biggest talker at work, and in the 12 hours that I've spent with him over the past week, he hasn't said a word. He just wants to be held, and he likes having his back scratched and his feet rubbed (haha, rotten little prince, he knows he has us all wrapped around his little fingers). Still, of all the children at the house, he's the one who can beat this. I've been doing a lot of thinking of other things, because if I ponder his situation too closely, I cry. He can't die. He just can't. He's going to be part of that 60% who live. I really want to go see him again, like right now, but I seem to be sick myself, and as his immune system is pretty much at 0 right now, I can't go near him until I'm better. So if any of y'all are praying types or positive thinking people or good vibe senders or whatever it is you do, take a minute to pull for this kid. He has so much courage, and it blows my mind. I visited him a few times when he was in the hospital the last time, and he got stuck for IVs and such *constantly*, and he hated it, so he cried when they had to start an IV, but then you could just see him pulling himself together and calming himself down. He's fucking two years old. It breaks my heart.
The other kids at work are a hoot. I've just finished taking an 8 week silver jewelry class, since I loved the one that I took in Edinburgh, and every week, I bring in my current project to show our oldest kids. They get such a kick out of it. Each week, I explain to our 4 year old what I'm working on and what I've just done to it and what I'm going to do next week. He asks me every day now if I've brought my most recent project, so I've had to start carrying it in my wallet (it's not quite finished), so that he can see it. He just likes to hold it. He's like a crow, really, but what kid isn't? They all like sparkly things. So I went and bought some big washers at Home Depot, and I'm going to see if I can polish them up and hammer basic designs (like initials) into them, and then give them to the big kids. At 17 cents a piece, it won't matter if they're lost.
So that's pretty much my life these days - work and hanging out after work with my tiny friends. I really need to find some friends my own age, but I'm not sure how likely it is that that will happen. Atlanta and I just don't click. Never have. Which is a shame, because objectively, I can see that it's a great city. Lots to do, lots of opportunities. But something just isn't right. I don't know. I'm already planning my next escape.
I've pretty much decided to go to nursing school, so right now I'm working on getting enrolled at a local community college to take all the prereqs for that. Hopefully I'll be able to start that in the fall of '08 (or sooner!), assuming I don't change my plans again. Which means that I will quit my job at the beginning of that year and bugger off to Australia and New Zealand on a BUNAC work visa. After I graduate from nursing school, I will work in the States for 6-12 mos and then apply for a visa either Down Under somewhere or in Scotland. At some point, I will need to find an Australian husband with British parents, because then I will be able to live freely in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Europe, and the US. See, I have it all planned out. So if any of you know any Aussies with British parents, do let me know. Anyway, that's the plan. The plan, of course, is subject to change and likely will. You've heard my plans before.
Aaaand, that's all. Phew, an update! Now I'm going to bed, because I'm sickly, and I might even call in sick to work tomorrow.
Well, since I'm here, I may as well do a wee bit of an update. Things in Atlanta are pretty much exceedingly dull. Pretty much everyone I know around here is useless, but oh well, what ya gonna do. The kids at work are great. I love them. One of them, though, is in the hospital with a 60% chance of survival. He had to have a bone marrow transplant last week. I love him more than most of the others - he's one of my two favourites. He's only just turned 2, and he is absolutely adorable. So so smart. He just looks at you with his big brown eyes, and you know that he knows exactly what's going on in any given situation. He loves Elmo and trucks and the colour red. When he's well, he loves to be picked up and spun around. He's got the second biggest vocabulary in the house, and in the past few weeks, he's really started to master grammar, too. He's been saying whole phrases, not just single words - "putting the fork in the water," and "men in the manhole". He's been through so much in his short life, but he's one of the most cheerful, easy going toddlers you'll ever meet. I'm trying not to think about it too much, but I worry about him a lot. Constantly these days. If he doesn't make it, I will be absolutely devastated. It doesn't bear thinking of. I've been to see him a few times this week, and he's pretty pitiful. He was our second biggest talker at work, and in the 12 hours that I've spent with him over the past week, he hasn't said a word. He just wants to be held, and he likes having his back scratched and his feet rubbed (haha, rotten little prince, he knows he has us all wrapped around his little fingers). Still, of all the children at the house, he's the one who can beat this. I've been doing a lot of thinking of other things, because if I ponder his situation too closely, I cry. He can't die. He just can't. He's going to be part of that 60% who live. I really want to go see him again, like right now, but I seem to be sick myself, and as his immune system is pretty much at 0 right now, I can't go near him until I'm better. So if any of y'all are praying types or positive thinking people or good vibe senders or whatever it is you do, take a minute to pull for this kid. He has so much courage, and it blows my mind. I visited him a few times when he was in the hospital the last time, and he got stuck for IVs and such *constantly*, and he hated it, so he cried when they had to start an IV, but then you could just see him pulling himself together and calming himself down. He's fucking two years old. It breaks my heart.
The other kids at work are a hoot. I've just finished taking an 8 week silver jewelry class, since I loved the one that I took in Edinburgh, and every week, I bring in my current project to show our oldest kids. They get such a kick out of it. Each week, I explain to our 4 year old what I'm working on and what I've just done to it and what I'm going to do next week. He asks me every day now if I've brought my most recent project, so I've had to start carrying it in my wallet (it's not quite finished), so that he can see it. He just likes to hold it. He's like a crow, really, but what kid isn't? They all like sparkly things. So I went and bought some big washers at Home Depot, and I'm going to see if I can polish them up and hammer basic designs (like initials) into them, and then give them to the big kids. At 17 cents a piece, it won't matter if they're lost.
So that's pretty much my life these days - work and hanging out after work with my tiny friends. I really need to find some friends my own age, but I'm not sure how likely it is that that will happen. Atlanta and I just don't click. Never have. Which is a shame, because objectively, I can see that it's a great city. Lots to do, lots of opportunities. But something just isn't right. I don't know. I'm already planning my next escape.
I've pretty much decided to go to nursing school, so right now I'm working on getting enrolled at a local community college to take all the prereqs for that. Hopefully I'll be able to start that in the fall of '08 (or sooner!), assuming I don't change my plans again. Which means that I will quit my job at the beginning of that year and bugger off to Australia and New Zealand on a BUNAC work visa. After I graduate from nursing school, I will work in the States for 6-12 mos and then apply for a visa either Down Under somewhere or in Scotland. At some point, I will need to find an Australian husband with British parents, because then I will be able to live freely in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Europe, and the US. See, I have it all planned out. So if any of you know any Aussies with British parents, do let me know. Anyway, that's the plan. The plan, of course, is subject to change and likely will. You've heard my plans before.
Aaaand, that's all. Phew, an update! Now I'm going to bed, because I'm sickly, and I might even call in sick to work tomorrow.