Let's try to catch up

Once I go for so long without posting it's hard to know how or where to begin again.

The sun continues to rise and set every day, indicating that the earth is still turning. I am still here.

There is no plan for this post. Looks like more stream-of-consciousness ahead, though hopefully a bit more coherent than the last stream-o'-consciousness mess I wrote.

Most recently I spent three days in training to be a Hospice volunteer. That was interesting and gave me something to do with my time. And I met some new people, though very superficially. I will go for a one-on-one interview with the volunteer coordinator next week to discuss in what capacity I will volunteer. For direct patient involvement I could work in our Hospice House or go to the homes of Hospice patients. For home visits, the volunteer mainly sits with the patient and is there for companionship, and/or respite for the (usually family member) regular caregiver for up to four hours. Those who do it say it's wonderful. I could also work in the thrift store or do miscellaneous clerical duties in the office. I prefer direct interaction with patients. I'm leaning toward working at the in-patient Hospice House facility. We shall see. Updates as the situation warrants or I get my ass in gear to tell you.

I'm sure you are eager to hear about Diva and Sproing. Things are limping merrily along. No, of course not "merry." There seem to be fewer outbursts between them. She's settling in fairly well. Complains of being bored. Looks bored. We suggest activities which she rejects. I am not her entertainment coordinator. Ya' know, I remember doing the same thing to my Mama. "I'm bored. There's nothing to do." and she'd say "why don't you vacuum the floors or clean up your room?" (She hates to vacuum. My room was almost always a mess.) I'd whine at her and not do anything she suggested. The very fact that she suggested it made me not want to do it. Though I continued to complain to her about being bored. Damn, adolescents are annoying.

The Sproing is troublesome. He got sent home from school twice this week. Or maybe it was once this week and once last week. For bad behavior, of course. Being disruptive, disrespectful, hitting another student ("but I didn't hit him very hard!"). And according to him it's never his fault. His version of events does not match the teacher's or principal's line. He claims they are lying. He's a pain in the ass. And oh, how he argues! "I'm not arguing!" It drains all my energy.

Went on a date with Superman Thursday evening. I drank beer. It was OK. There is an independent pizza place that recently opened downtown. They have a fire-heated stone/brick oven and a large selection of craft beers. That's the only place I get beer, because I generally don't like beer. I'm trying to develop a taste for it. I like parts of the beers. Some of the beers. It's complicated. Anyway, the pizza was delicious as always, and the one beer I had relaxed me ever so slightly. The company was fantastic.

Light is home now, supposedly looking for a job. She pounded the pavement for a couple of days, but isn't doing much now. Guess I should light a fire under her lazy ass. Twitch is over half way finished with his school term. He'll be home for a couple of weeks, then go back for his summer term. Not sure when that will happen.

Both Light and Twitch got cars last weekend. Superman took them to an auto auction not far from where Twitch lives. Light got a 2000 Ford Windstar. It's gray and dumpy, and the a/c doesn't work. It's not in good shape, but not too bad either. It's currently in the shop. We shall see. The one they got for Twitch was a very bad move. It's a 97 Malibu. It barely runs. When it does, it belches black smoke. They should not have gotten him a car in the first place. He doesn't even have his drivers license, and no job, so no income to pay for insurance, car repairs, or gas and such. Superman regrets the decision. Twitch is now trying to sell it, though I don't know how well that will work. I'm trying to stay out of it. I don't know anything.

I went to the public library and got On Death and Dying by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. It is a classic on the subject. She was a pioneer in modern treatment of terminal patients. I have wanted to read it for years. It was published a few years after I was born. Man oh man, is it ever dated! So much has improved since she did her initial research. She has written more recent books, but I haven't read those.

I finally finished a book this week. The Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit. It is a cute old children's story about "it," a psammead (made up creature, I think) who grants wishes to the children. Things always go wrong with the wishes. It isn't a particularly good or well-written story, but I read it completely because I am frustrated about the number of books I've started and not finished. So I finished that one, dammit. I don't know if I'll finish On Death and Dying, but that will be a conscious choice rather than laziness or whatever. It's such dated material and I can get the gist of her whole theory from any number of websites. I already know a lot of it anyway.

Last day of school for the kidlets is next Thursday, June 2nd. It's also C's birthday. I'm looking forward to C's birthday. I dread the younguns being out of school. I have a list of community resources for keeping them busy. There's a day camp on the other end of town that meets for about 6 hours every weekday throughout most of the summer, and entertains kids from age 9 or 10 to age 15. A lot of the summer day camp activities around here are for kids up to age 12, and both of my kids are 13. There are some interesting week long activities here and there. Some of this stuff is kinda pricey, but not too bad. The all summer thing is very reasonably priced, I think $40 per kid per week.

My butt is getting numb sitting here, so I'm gonna post this and go on.