getting ready

Friday, Kara's mother flies into town. Friday afternoon, she and I drive from the airport to RIT, where we will watch a non-graduation ceremony to celebrate Kara's impending graduation.

Saturday morning, Kara graduates at the actual graduation ceremony. Saturday evening, Kara, Kara's mother and I fly to NYC.

Sunday morning, Kara, Kara's mother, Kara's father, Kara's sister and I fly to Stuttgart Germany.

Thus begins long-awaited family vacation, touring southern Germany.

***

Tonight, I'm writing overly detailed house-sitting instructions for my brother and combing through my over-stuffred e-mail inbox. Replying to clients and friends, preparing them for my upcoming awayness. I have the feeling I'm giving them too much credit for the amount they will miss me.

After having awesome stuff pulled out of my belly button, it took a week to get back to work. It's taken another two weeks to mostly catch up on job work and general life work. Now, this trip is threatening to throw everything back into shambles. But I've paid all my bills throughg the middle of June. My brother is moving in while we're gone. My coworkers are ready to pick up where I leave off. So all that's left is to figure out how I'm going to fit 2 weeks worth of clothing into a carry-on. Yeah, we're packing tight.

***

Alias ends tonight. Forever. This will be a milestone in my marriage. Where can a couple ever find something they can share and love with such intense fervor again?

still not dead

Not dead. In fact, you might say I'm kickin it live in Windows 95. But don't actually say that. That would be ridiculous. I mean ... I don't say that. Ever.

Thanks to the Mileseseses for pointing their faithful readers over here this week. And thanks to the Mileseseses' faithful readers who followed directions and did what the Mileseseses told them to do and came here to check out et seq. Clearly, you are exceptional people. Clearly, you should be given prizes of great worth.

Unfortunately--due to the lack of blog posts since my surgery and the ensuing nightmare of catching up on life--I'm hemorraging readers. So, in a desperate attempt to make you think there's a reason to keep coming here every day, please enjoy these classic internet-flash-animation-type-cartoon-dealies. They never don't make me not frown. Quadruple negative.

Finally, based on personal experince, I offer this tip for your future Mother's Day reference: when you and your brother notice a lull in the Mother's Day dinner conversation, it is generally not a good solution to begin sharing stories about the intestinal disorder from which you both suffer. Nor is it appropriate to veer off into shared surgical and post-surgical experiences, especially when said stories involve methods and devices involved in collecting and disposing of various abdominal discharges, as well as the means of removing such collecting devices from the body once they have fulfilled their purpose. Rather, this would be an ideal time to give your mother her card or the beautiful hanging basket of flowers you bought her, or--failing those options--you should just ignore the silence and keep chewing. You and your brother can catch up on other business later. Like maybe over dessert. In the basement.

not dead.

Contrary to some reports, I am not dead.

Also, I am wondering: When a gall bladder goes bad, does it absorb happiness out of your body and turn it into tormenting gall stones? Because I have been noticeably happier since my gall bladder was sucked out my belly button and sent "away" (they won't tell me where). Suddenly, doing dishes is not such a bad chore, my job is kind of interesting again, and I don't feel compelled each morning to ram my car into everyone who doesn't give me a quarter of a mile of space. Oh, and Lost is suddenly a good show again.

Three weeks of sunshine and warm haven't hurt, either. My ricketts is clearing up, and the flowers have been stunning. Whatever caused my change of heart, I am grateful to be a little less troll-like.

There are some good stories about surgery and recovery. Highlights include a brown area ... with points, people pulling things--long things--out of my belly button, and adventures in anasthesia. But the stories need a lot of work to get them blog-worthy, so they'll be coming in dribs and drabs.

Have patience.

post surgical something or other

I have had about four false starts on writing a new blog post since my surgery last Friday. But concentrating on any one thing for more than a few minutes has been hard to do ever since a guy stuck a mask on my face and said "just breathe norma...."

So I'm feeling pressure to have something new up on the blog, but it's not an easy thing when after typing two sentences my brain wants to exert all of its powers to interpet the sound of the car that just drove by: what kind of car was it? how fast was it going? which way was it going? was it driven by a fat man who moved to town three years ago in order to look for his estranged daughter who left home eight years ago with her dog and the $500 she stole from the fat man's dresser drawer?

Yeah, stuff like that. It's a good thing I'm not back at work yet.