I am seemingly being uncharacteristically quiet while the government is engaging in lots of skulduggery. Trust me, I am NOT being quiet in person. I just don’t have time to write about it.
The girls (the 3-year-old and 4-month-old granddaughters) have been accompanying me and Mom to her various doctor and surgeon appointments. Everybody in the waiting rooms are always amazed at how patiently and happily the girls wait with us. We’re waiting on the scheduling of Mom’s next big surgery. This one will include a parotidectomy with possible facial paralysis on one side. Even though Mom’s a retired RN, I’m not sure if she actually heard the surgeon, or whether she blanked it out. I decided not to inquire or spell it out. Is that presumptuous of me? She is very fearful of surgery, but she absolutely has no chance of survival without it. In the meantime, she’s had her burial outfit freshly cleaned and is making her funeral preparations so that we won’t be bothered with it.
In the midst of infant milestones and recurrent cancer, daughter brought home a red doberman pup for the kids because, well, life.
The plates that I have spinning are coming crashing down. I found a sheep that had gotten wedged behind a gate and couldn’t get out that had apparently happened when we were away for a family celebration event over the weekend. Probably died of thirst and/or heat. Absolutely my fault for neglecting to count sheep because I’ve been focused on things like the baby, Mom, the toddler, the pup, daughter’s 18-year-old kitty who is now blind and deaf, the orphaned chicks whose Mommy and siblings were apparently eaten one night, and grandsons, homework, laundry, how to afford groceries for so many (make everything from scratch), etc. I’m neglecting my 3-year-old granddaughter to the care of inane cartoons far too often. My cleanliness standards have fallen into the slattern category. Hovel living is the life for me! What the heck, I can clean next year, right? Except baby will be crawling around eating the mystery objects on the floor in a couple months. Crap.
Daughter is likewise experiencing crashing plates of her own. She works eight hours a day, commutes two hours a day, and does two college classes at night with LOTS of homework. If she wasn’t so highly organized, she’d be a total wreck. While she has a grade of 100% in both classes (yeah, our family tends to be overly competitive), she’s stressed out about bills, homework, and grades. She will not be gladdening the hearts of retailers this Christmas season but, instead, is buying used items for the kids every payday. She and I both thought she could quickly finish her degree at night while the children were small but, alas, we overestimated my energy and didn’t account for Mom’s cancer recurring. After this term ends, she may not go back. I hate it for her that she’s missing so much time with her youngest, she feels that she needs to finish her degree to increase her earning capacity for her family, but I dunno. I know a lot of folks that have gone back to college to get their degree, or a different degree, in order to boost their earning capacity. All they got was the same old low-paying job that they had before, only now they have to pay back student loans with it along with all their other expenses.
Meanwhile, a relative that has a SIL that flies in and out of some strange places called to let us know his observations about Ebola gleaned from first-hand observation and with talking with other people whose work take them in and out of there as well. His conclusions are that (a) our government is lying to us (b) their governments are lying to everybody (c) a lot more people are dead and dying than the “official” count, and (d) they (federal government) have to know the truth and are deliberately trying to kill people because nobody can be that damn incompetent. His advice to family members? Stockpile food, clean water, etc. because in the event that this thing becomes widespread in any particular area, well, you know things could get ugly as towns set up their own quarantine zones.
Another relative that is a RN at a hospital in another state says that they haven’t really had much in the way of training and just the usual for protective gear, no matter what the CDC says about readiness. They aren’t ready now and will never be ready for Ebola. They don’t have the staff, gear, or isolation facilities. Only a complete idiot or Obama appointee (but I repeat myself) would think otherwise. Even the larger hospitals have cut their budgets in anticipation of Obamacare. The wards are understaffed. If you want a family member cared for in the hospital, you stay with them, and I fear it will only continue to worsen.
A1A South 