Once more into the breach

Yep, it's late again. I'm doing well, though, because I have internet! My wireless connection went kaflooie mid-afternoon Tuesday. Superman spent many hours on the phone with tech support Wednesday to no avail. Alas, I am hooked to the router with a wire, and NOT in my nest!

This is my nest

I'm in the living room, where all sorts of people pass by. Only C and S and one of their friends is awake now, and they are talking in their bedroom. I'm alone at last with my computer and the internet!! I think I sha'n't show you a picture of my living room. It looks much worse than the bedroom right now. Oh, dear.

We seem to have acquired another one. Now our strays are taking in strays. C and S have a friend who is having a tough time with his mother right now. So this friend, Gary, is staying over sometimes. He spent almost every night here last week. He was here last night, I know. They told me he would be at his mother's tonight, but the boys are in there talking with someone, and I don't know if it's Gary or not. He's a nice guy, Gary. He has long black hair and a goatee. They told me his Grandma kicked him out of her house because he wouldn't cut his hair. Oy. I suspect there is more to the story than that. Nevertheless, trouble is a brewin' in his life. I haven't had a chance to have a good sit-down-tell-me-all-about-it talk with him yet.

Superman stayed home from work Wednesday. His legs hurt a lot when he woke up, and he had practically no energy. The dear man has a systemic herpes zoster infection and frequently has outbreaks of shingles. There is a herald spot that comes up on his lower back/hip area, and usually within a day he'll start getting very sore. Usually the pain goes up his back and around his torso, usually on one side. This time it has gone down his legs. He was in bed for a while this morning, but he discovered that if he got up and moved around the pain was less intense. So he puttered around the house until he was exhausted, then lay on the bed until the pain was too bad to lie still anymore. He was very tired by the end of the day. He's asleep now.

I'm planning to take another trip next week. Heading north this time. Details are still sketchy. I am looking forward to the drive! The first night out I think I'll be camping. In the mountains! Appalachia here I come! But I am ultimately destined for a large metropolitan area yet to be revealed.

C and S are in the kitchen now. Their friend has left. (It wasn't Gary) This is what they do. They stay up very late (often all night, in S's case). Sometime in the middle of the night they get hungry, go into the kitchen, and cook something. More often than not they leave a mess. So when the rest of the family, by which I mean Superman, get up in the morning the kitchen is a mess. This has been an ongoing source of stress in the household. I just reminded S to clean up after himself. We shall see.

I'm learning a lot by sitting here quietly, listening to the discussion in the kitchen. S just said that Gary was suspended from school today. (He attends the same [prison] school as Twitch) It seems the young man did not have his student ID hanging around his neck like a noose. He apparently has lost it. So they suspended him. S doesn't know the whole scoop. He thinks it's just for Thursday. But still. School is out for the summer in just 2 weeks. How big a deal is it that someone isn't wearing his ID? How big a deal should it be that someone isn't wearing his ID? I hate that school. I wish Twitch didn't have to go there.

Enough of this rambling. I'm going to bed. Soon. Really. I promise.

Alas

Where has the day gone? What have I done with myself all day? Is it enough?

I don't know why I do this. I have a perfectly good excuse to go to sleep. It is 2:30 in the morning. I have been awake for 19 hours now. The beloved husband is asleep beside me. My eyes are tired. My brain? Not so much. I am trying to solve the world's problems.

Bad things happen. Horrible people with evil in their hearts do wicked and despicable things to helpless innocents. These atrocities go unchecked, leaving in the wake a tide of broken, tortured souls. Is there a grander purpose? Does ultimate justice exist? Whether it does or not, what do we do in the meantime?

Water cannot be un-spilled. Fire cannot be un-started. Some things must run their natural course. Can we act? Are there solutions? Water can be removed, wiped up, dried. Fire can be extinguished. But that won't undo the original event. It won't prevent the damage, and often does not restore the affected elements to their previous condition.

Some things can be redone. But in life the opportunities for do-overs are limited. No, we must attend to the matters at hand with the hand we were dealt. Do what damage control is possible.

Where is the Phoenix who rises from the ashes? Where is healing? Where is justice? Where is peace?

busy being busy

We got Light all moved out of the dorm by 11:00 this morning. I slept there last night, but didn't get there until 2:30 a.m. I had a Pepsi as I left Greenwood, and I was still pretty awake when I got to the college. I fell asleep without too much trouble, though.

Light woke up before I did, but I was awake by 8:30. The dining hall was closed today so we couldn't get breakfast here. Light says we didn't miss anything. She may think that, but I missed my coffee!

We had a lovely lunch at Panera. I've never been there before. They don't have fancy places like that in Greenwood! It was good. Then we went to Michael's, the craft store. We don't have one of those in Greenwood, either. I kinda went a little crazy. Shhhh! Don't tell Superman!

Light and I are hanging around the student center now. We're going to meet up with one of her friends a little later and go to a concert here in town. They told me what/who/where, but I forget. I'll tell you about it tomorrow if it's memorable and notable enough. Anywho, after the conference we'll go to this friend's house. She and her partner live in town and are both students. They're close to my age, which as we all know is getting up toward old. Since it'll be fairly late when the concert is over we've been invited to spend the night with the friends. I'm looking forward to a bit of fun and socializing. I don't get out much.

Superman is fixing up Light's bedroom. He has rather a lot left to do. I think he's glad we're spending an extra night away from home to give him more time to do what needs to be done.

Light and I have had a very pleasant day together. We don't do this often. I haven't been online at all today until now, so aside from a little bit of bloggirium tremens, I'm having a wonderful day.

There will of course be further reports as opportunity presents.

Here and There

I actually did some living today! I didn't just blog. That means I didn't get to visit my daily blogs, and I'm feeling somewhat disconnected from my community of choice. Nevertheless, I did good things today. I slept some, since I was up way too late last night, I transported my kids to school, got some nails and screws for Superman so he can finish the project (I'll tell you all about it next week!) he's been working on. Diva had an appointment with her counselor, so I took her there after school. We needed a few more things from the grocery, of course, so I did that.

I also, and most significantly, worked on a project; a gift I'm making for a friend of mine. And I got it finished!! This has been an issue with me recently. I've always been bad about finishing projects, but recently it's gotten worse. There are some psychological issues involved, but I don't know what. Anyway, I got this one DONE! I need to look up the address, finish addressing the envelope, write a brief note (we all know how well I do "brief"!!) and it'll be ready for the post office.

Then I will drive to the college town where Light matriculates. Today was her final final, and she has to be completely out of the dorm by noon tomorrow. Her roommate left this afternoon, so I'm going up tonight and will sleep in the roommate's bed. I will be there in the morning and we can pack up the rest of her stuff. There are a few other things on the calendar for the afternoon and evening. More of that "living" stuff. I'll tell you about it when I next have a chance. But now I need to finish up here, finish packing a few things, and get on the road.

So I'll be living a real life instead of being hooked up to this computer on Friday. Mayhaps I'll have more interesting things to tell you after that!

Spam

The nature and quality of my spam is changing. I haven't had an offer to enlarge my penis in well over a week. I am, however, being invited to tell naked women what to do while I watch in high quality video streaming. I also have been given a chance to earn a psychology degree, join a class action law suit, and invest money in questionable schemes.

Is this the kind of opportunity we take for granted in this society?

Quote for the day

My greatest skill has been to want but little.
-Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)

It's a blog thing

Superman just showed me this comic strip. I had to share it here. I wonder how many other bloggers will post it?
Click the link. It shows a better shot of the strip. I can't get the image any larger without too much distortion. Besides, it's a copyrighted strip and should be viewed on the original site anyway.

Hodge Podge

• We appear to have survived Mother's Day. I didn't call my mother, actually, although I did talk to her the day before (if it wasn't the day before that). Perhaps I should call her.
  The kids around here did well. Twitch got me a funny card, Diva found a blank card in some of my stationery and wrote a sweet note on it. Diva also brought me a handful of rose blooms (no stem to speak of- she picked them off of the volunteer rosebush along our fence.) and also baked a chocolate cake for me. She really enjoyed all that, and I did too because she is so honest and sweet about it. Sproing briefly told me "happy Mother's Day" and gave me a hug, then bounced out of the room to do whatever it is he does. I didn't hear from Light at all, but had visited her on Friday anyway, so I'm fine with that. She often tells me how much she appreciates me, so I don't need to hear it from her on the one "special" day. Phooey on "special days." I didn't hear peep one from S and C. Am I pissed? No, not really. Maybe a little sad, but not mad.
• I saw my therapist today. Between her being out of the office for one thing and another, and me being out of town, it has been almost 6 weeks since I last saw her. We really need to not go that far between sessions! It was a good session. I see her again next week. The week after that, though, her daughter is getting married, so she's out of the office again. Eh. We'll get me scheduled in there somewhere.
• My allergies are annoying me. I don't know what is blooming, but whatever it is, I'm allergic to it. Every time I'm outside for any length of time my eyes get itchy. I tried to wear my contact lenses today, but I had to take them out this evening when my left eye got too irritated. After half an hour my eye finally stopped itching. Ugh.
• Sproing had his final visit with the child psychiatrist this afternoon. She is moving away next month. She's been great ever since we started having issues with Twitch about 4 years ago. Twitch, Diva, and Sproing all see her. She's the only child psychiatrist in town. Oy. Diva sees her in 2 weeks. Diva and Sproing will continue to see counselors in the office. Twitch really needs to be under the care of a doctor because of the combination of conditions from which he suffers. At this point, though, he doesn't need regular therapy sessions. My stars but how that boy has improved over the last 2 years!!
  
• I'm feeling blue again. An overwhelming wave of sadness washed over me this afternoon on the way home from Sproing's doctor's office. Maybe the stress of parenting three difficult children is weighing on me. Maybe I'm just tired. Hormones probably play a part somewhere, somehow. I dread the summer heat, we are seeing warmer temperatures now. It's time. Whatever the combination of causes, I'm feeling sad and tired. I'll try not to whine too much.
  
• I fixed supper tonight. Superman cooks more often than I do anymore, but now that I'm not working, I know I should take on more of that responsibility. I told him when he got home that supper was in the oven, and he was thrilled. That made me feel good. We all sat down together at the table to eat (not C and S, but the other three) and it was miserable. Diva was pouting and slouching over her plate. Twitch was in a foul mood. Sproing was whining about not being hungry, though I knew he was and that he needs to eat. And each one of the ungrateful wretches complained about the food. Superman liked it. He is wonderful. The rest of them can go jump in a lake.
  

Suggestive pose

I'm having fun surfing for images this evening. There are lots of interesting pictures on the interweb!

Not today!!