general stuff

First off, I've turned on the little gadget that makes you prove you're a human and not a comment spammer. Sorry, that adds an extra step, but I have to keep the swine out somehow. If I get enough complaints (say, 2) I'll turn it back off.

The Tuesday after a long weekend... Somehow, three days of getting to sleep in is significantly different from two days, and the adjustment to normal routine is harder. I know that it's gnerally healthier if you get up at the same time every day, but no way. You couldn't get me out of bed with a catapult at 7, unless there was a really good reason. Unless somebody has to be somewhere by 8:00, essentially.

I found out my brother's in Mississippi. I hope he calls while I'm in Port Townsend, it'd be nice to touch base and hear a bit more about what he's doing.

A Good News is that some friends of mine who have been trying to have a baby forever, have got one to adopt. Very, very good news, even if it means they did have to fly to the States on very short notice. I'm enormously happy for them. They have loads of friends with kids, so they'll have all the baby gear they need, but that was true for my secondborn as well, with an older brother and two cousins to pass down their tiny little garments. Still, I was pleased to get the hat and rattle from a friend here in Munich - it's nice to be thought of. So I'm going to make the new baby a sweater, and hope I don't botch up the neckline, like I usually do. That's the pattern there, on the right. An antidote to pastel poisoning.

So I'm going to America! For two whole weeks! I plan to watch a lot of TV, so what shows should I see? Nothing too serial, if you don't mind, I can only stay for two weeks and I don't want to be in a swivet about what happens next on a show I won't be able to watch again. Other than that, though, any recommendations are welcome.

Mom-update. Well, I called last Saturday and the news wasn't super, so I figured I'd wait until after Monday's call to report. It's still not super. Last week they reduced the dosage on her Methadone, and she was more alert, but after a few days it wasn't controlling the pain, so they increased the dosage and she went groggy again. Saturday night she had chest pains and trouble breathing, so Jerry took her into the hospital and they ran a buncha tests. Everything checked out, so they concluded it was probably anxiety. Anxiety would certainly be understandable, under the circumstances. Anyway, they're fiddling with the dosage again, she was hard to understand on the phone last night but sounded a bit more chipper. Nobody knows what's going to happen, but last night she seemed to be measuring the rest of her life in months, rather than years. But last week she was saying she thinks she'll be fine, so... well, as I say, nobody knows.