140 minutes over?

Ouch.

Thanksgiving was pretty dysfunctional.

We ate at Ruby Tuesdays, though, so I got to have some excellent food.

I visited my Mom at the hospital this past weekend. And since yesterday, I've felt run down. I'm in a good mood. Just tired.

I think my body is fighting one of the hospital's super bugs.

I will be consuming a truly prodigious quantity of Vitamin C today!

Well, I spent a couple days caring for my Mom.

It was pretty bad. They gave her a dangerous amount of pain medication, and when they saw nothing seriously wrong with her spine they discharged her. I'm not sure what all they gave her, but she had two trandermal patches that each delivered 100 mcg/h of Fentanyl on her body.

My Mom wasn't able to stand. She wasn't able to form coherent sentences. She could only mutter incoherently and scream in pain. I spent a hellish 24 hours caring for her.

She's at a different hospital now. They're weaning her off the pain medication, and she's getting physical therapy.

She was able to form coherent (coherent for Mom, at least) sentences today, and she even took a couple steps.

Small steps forward.

Next up, I thought I'd post my pictures of comic pros.

( Enter My Parlor, Said the Spider to the Fly )

My Mom is still in the hospital. I've come back to my place to finish prep for Dragon Con.

She went into the hospital because her back was hurting. She's been in the hospital since Sunday morning, yet it wasn't until Tuesday morning that they ran a test on her spine.

This wasn't malpractice. It wasn't incompetence. My Mom wouldn't tell them that her back hurt. She kept saying that her hips hurt. Since she's had most of her intestines removed (a blocked blood vessel caused most of her intestines to die-since 2004 she's had 18 inches of intestine left), they spent the first two days running tests on her intestines and the surrounding organs. They didn't really find anything wrong. Nothing that explained her excruciating pain.

I asked Mom to tell the doctors that her back hurt. She refused. I told Dad. He asked her, and still she refused. So Dad contacted her main Doctor and they x-rayed her back. She apparently has some sort of arthritis. Unfortunately, neither of my parents understood what the Doctor was saying.

I really should just talk to the doctors directly. Sometimes, it would make things simpler. I speak pretty decent Dad. I even speak a little Mom.

Mom's been....unusually Mom-ish. She's never been a patient woman, and the pain has made her more impatient than usual. I like to think that I helped her to communicate her needs more effectively. I'd hate to think how long it would have taken them to run tests on her spine if I hadn't been there. Dad's been too busy to see her since he dropped her off Sunday.

I got a call earlier from my Mom.

She's hurt her back, and asked me to stay over at her house the next few days.

She has no internet access, though, so I could be offline until after Dragon Con.

You stay classy, the Internet.

My Mom bought a Motorola RAZR a few months ago. She's loving it in spite of her technophobia.

I've tried showing her how to actually use it. so far, I've taught her to use the camera, how to check to see who called (and when). I've programmed her numbers into her contacts list, so the names of people pop up when they call.

Well, yesterday she decided to show me a new feature.

"I don't need to use the buttons. It's a touch screen."

She then proceeds to push in the very thin, very delicate screen of her RAZR.

"That's not doing anything, Mom."

"Yes it is. See?"

She then proceeds to push in the very thin, very delicate screen of her RAZR. Sure enough, she's right and I'm wrong. There are circular distortions on the screen around my Mom's finger as she touches the screen.

This went on for a few minutes until I gently convinced her that she was very close to damaging her RAZR.

No harm done. Much amusement was had by me.

Here endeth the story.

My parents have a broken clock that's been hanging in their living room for years. I don't remember when it stopped working, but it could easily have been a decade ago.

So I took it and found a clock repair shop that's going to fix it.

I was pleasantly surprised about the price. The repair job is about half the price I expected.

In about two weeks, it should be finished. The store will even clean it.

I truly and deeply love my Mother's mashed potatoes.

I spent the weekend at my parent's house.

I felt kinda like I was in the tv show Arrested Development.

I hope to GOD that I'm Michael, rather than GOB.

I spent the weekend at my parent's house. Did a lot of gardening, and managed to get a lot accomplished. Moved some concrete steps out back, as well. Just generally had a very DIY weekend.

I even helped my Dad's cousin learn how to use his new digital camera. I was feeling unusually energetic.

Now, to get some sleep tonight.

I got to swim a lot this weekend. Which is good. I love swimming.

Spent a bit over 5 hours outside yesterday. Mostly swimming. Even put on sunscreen a couple times. Still managed to get a mild sunburn on my shoulders. Looks like I should have put it on once or twice more.

Swimming and home-cooked meals = very, very good.

I shall be visiting my parents for Mother's Day Weekend.

It's too bad, but I don't think it will be warm enough for me to use the swimming pool.

I made out like a bandit on Christmas.....a bandit that got away with a lot of clothing. Which isn't so bad. I mostly got practical gifts, like a new wallet, socks, etc.

I did get a couple books. One was on photography. The other was a Rachel Ray cookbook. DVD-wise, I got Red Dwarf series 5 and Superman: the Motion Picture. I also got a photography portfolio.

For Christmas '04, I bought my parents a combination VCR/DVD Player. Unfortunately, my parents are technophobes so they never got around to actually playing any DVDs. So I got my Dad Saturday Night Fever on dvd this year (he really, really, really likes the movie). I tried to be as clear as possible as I showed them how to use the dvd player. After the movie was over, my Mom asked me in an anxious voice, "How do you rewind the dvd?"

I sent out a massive number of Christmas Cards this year. Well, massive for me means about 25. It was fun, too. It was a great opportunity to tell people that I cared about them.

I wanted to wish a Happy Mother's Day to everyone, but most especially to the mothers (I'm looking at you, Christina).

I got a garbled message on my answering machine last night. Something about my taxes, and it was from my Mom. So I decided to call her the next day (i.e., today). She took the initiative and called me at about 8 am. I was asleep, but picked up the phone. Here's a portion of the conversation.

Mom: "You didn't call me back yesterday."
Rag: "I know. That's why I called you today."
Mom: "I called you today."
Rag: "You just woke me up. I'm very confused."

I think Sleepy Rag is craftier than Awake Rag, and it scares me.

My Dad's accountant does my taxes. My Dad waits until the last minute. My Dad lost my W-2 forms. I'm faxing him scans. It would be nice if Mom and Dad would get to the point in their answering machine messages.

In spite of its many glaring shortcomings, both current and historical, I find the Catholic Church fascinating. And though appearances can be deceiving, Pope John Paul II seemed like a nice guy. So I'd just like to say goodbye to Karol Jozef Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II.

Neil Young had an aneurysm last week, and is apparently on the road to recovery. I am quite happy that he's improving. I dig the song "Heart of Gold."

I picked up a book two Sundays ago on organizing one's life. Paid $15 for it, and read it within a couple days. I've been applying the techniques mentioned in the book (losing my wallet helped motivate me). I've found a couple opportunities in my piles where I could earn a total of $100 (by opening new, free checking accounts at other banks). So I figure I could potentially make an $85 profit off that book. Go me!

I watched Sin City Saturday night. Ultra-violent fun. I've heard it described as the most faithful comic book adaptation of all time, and I can believe it.

Christmas was a lot better than I expected. My family was about the same as usual. My Mom's health problems continue. She's gotten better, which means that she has enough energy to throw fits (which was what she does when she has enough energy). My Dad put her back in the hospital yesterday. I suspect that he did this to get some peace & quiet. I got to spend some time with my older half-brother. Had a heart-to-heart. Found out some stuff he had to deal with growing up. And I got to see what he's done with his home. I grew up a slob. The rest of my family are slobs. My half-brother's house is simply gorgeous. It left me feeling inspired.

I got some nice presents. I gave some great presents. I know it's a bit silly, but it makes me feel good to give things to people I care about. I took a perverse glee when my Mom saw that I had bought her & Dad a combination VCR/DVD Player. She had a look of horror and wanted to know how much it cost. Fun times.

I've read 104 books this year. I've also gone through all my spanish cards. I'm reviewing them right now. I have a pretty decent working vocabulary. I can pick out a lot of the words that are spoken on Telemundo. I drug my feet for the longest time on this project simply because I didn't have a concrete goal besides "fluency". Live & learn.

I'm working on my New Year's Resolutions/Plans. I'm feeling ambitious.

I went to Naples, Florida. Which means I needn't fear being shot in the foot by a certain person *glares at Andrea*

It was nice to be at the beach. It's been years since I've been able to swim in the ocean. I also got to see my younger brother in the drug rehab program. He's doing well. Better than I've ever seen him, really.

I got to sail on a 39-foot yacht. The couple who owned it were phenomenally nice people. Got to see dolphins. Very cool.

I had some good meals. Ate at an English Pub. Had a wonderful Chicken A La King. Ate some good pizza at a local pizza place. Saw some weird combo restaurants (like Italian Food & Sushi).

Dad wanted to drive back to his house in one shot. So we left Naples at 5:30 am and made it back to Eastern Kentucky by 11 pm. That was an exhausting drive. We took turns, though he did most of the driving.

Friday and Saturday I was busy playing nurse/maid to my Mom. She decided to leave the hospital a week early. I'm not sure if she'll be able to stay out though. She's barely eating, and the insurance won't cover a home IV. So I'm a bit worried.

I've read about 87 books this year. Only 13 more to go!!!

Today is my Dad's 64th Birthday!

I called him today. He got his card yesterday, which pleases me mightily. I tried to time it so that it would show up today. Yesterday is just as well.

I think I'll put together a Beatlecentric cd for him. "When I'm 64" seems an appropriate song to include....