Gonzai Gallery

That's been my day. I'm not sure how or when, but my back was killing me this morning, especially my lower back, which isn't what usually bugs me. It got worse and worse at work, so much so that I left early, which is something I just don't do. But I could barely walk or sit up and that point, and driving hurt even worse. So naturally I left my 'Mom' folder at the office, the day we met with the lawyer.

The elder care portion of the program was fine - we all agreed on what we want to do and how to do it. Then came the fun part - deciding what happens with the house. The attorney started listing all the different options and the financial and tax implications of each, Mom had no idea what was going on, I didn't follow much and even my brother started asking 'Huh?' And naturally, he likes the options where I can live in the house, but he gets to tell me HOW I live in the house. Lovely. He's fixated on the idea of me living in a condo instead, because he's convinced I couldn't possibly be capable of living in a house. Can I afford a mortgage? No, but that's a moot point as the house will be paid off. Can I handle the other aspects of homeownership? I think so. But he doesn't believe it. Feh. Anyway, we had to stop the meeting due to time, now we're resuming in two weeks to keep talking house. (The rest of it will be done and ready for signature in two weeks.)

Then I came home and...found CJ had figured out how to get at my clothes from inside the crate. So I had to find some way to block off the sides of the crate, which wasn't what my back was up for, so I'm hurting all over again now. Enough already. I'm going to bed.

The meeting with the geriatric care manager went pretty well, phew. The dogs behaved, my brother wasn't a jerk and my mother managed to hang in there. But we seem to have some direction for the future, and I have a laundry list of things to do next week. The one thing I did come away with is that my brother will not make an issue of the house and even agreed with me that we should just pay off the balance of the mortgage. I may live through this after all.

Hurricane-proofed the office yesterday, and finished prepping the house today. Also managed to get Mom over to the MVA for registration renewal (she lost the stickers), went to the gym, and went to Borders, probably for the last time. It was packed, and the line to checkout stretched to the back of the store. No games left, not much by way of books or CDs, but most of the DVDs I wanted were still there. Now we're holed up and watching television/using the internet while we still can.

Why didn't anyone tell me Dr Who was back today? I thought it was coming back in the fall, not August.

Been busy today - went to the gym, trimmed Roxie's nails and gave her a bath, continued the cleaning project in my bedroom (including hauling a half dozen heavy crates down the stairs), took out a ton of trash, and vacuumed the entire upstairs. The hands, knees and shoulders are already achy breaky and I hate to think what it'll be like tomorrow. Meanwhile, I took the Mazda to the garage for an oil change...and got hit with an $1,100 shock and strut job. Which left me begging Mom for money, since that bill is oh, about 10% of my annual take home pay. The only bright side is the new stuff is lifetime-guaranteed, so I don't have to fork over $700 for struts again. But right now, ouch. 

And I've noticed I've barely posted at all October. Then again, I haven't gotten many comments, either. Maybe we're all blecch lately. I should get to do some fun stuff this weekend though - a gaming session that's normally on Friday nights (when I'm too tired to drive much less play) is instead having an all day session on Saturday. New and different people. Cool. On Sunday, my dream house is open...and I'm actually free to go to it, as there's no gaming or Ravens game. And Sunday night we're going to Mike's to hold the fort while the boys trick or treat. So, some signs of life after all.

So far so good. Other than Roxie not letting me sleep, I have managed to prevent disaster from befalling the house with Mom gone. Laundry done, dishes done, trash out, dining room clean for a change, went to the bank, spent 3 hours with Mom, including an hour of being lectured by her PT about what she can and can't do, hit the craft store and glued a bunch of ornaments. It's TV time. Although the craft thing isn't at best - Michaels has few of the ornaments I use and they're the only ones who make them, plus they've decided to stop carrying the DecoColor pens which I absolutely depend upon. Making ornaments will be tough without the pens and impossible without the ornaments. Yikes.

Yesterday went pretty well - the new location is a huge, spankin' new house and the host went above and beyond. We all had a grand time (esp. the Stone Age group, we're havin' behbehs here) and I got in quality time with the home guinea pigs, Oreo & S'Mores. Poor things were scared to death of all the people there. Little comment at the crab feast according to Mom, but apparently the kids were in full swarm, all 41 of them. Yikes.

Today, the stereo apparently called it a career. The audio cut in and out of its own accord constantly. Some years ago I bought Mom a $300 Crosley stereo, which she never figured out how to work and thus it was banished to the basement. Seems to be working to me, so I tried to swap it out with the cranky one. But the only plug is behind a 500lb dresser, and the composite backboard got pulled out of the back of the dresser, so there's even less space behind the dresser. I unplugged the old one but managed to get my elbow caught in the process. After a lot of pulling I finally got my arm loose, but then had to plug in the new stereo. I loaded a lot of grease on my arm this time, but it didn't help much - got stuck again. Five minutes of squirming later I had it plugged in and my arm loose, but my arm is raw, bloody in spots and badly bruised. I hope I never have to do THAT again. Went and got my own crabs (best prices I've seen in years on them) and I'm taking a break now. Wonder what my arm will look like tomorrow.

No, not the one in Boston. The one in my driveway. Someone broke into the van yesterday afternoon, while Mom was at lunch. It's not clear whether the intent was to steal the van itself (there's been quite a few Caravans/Voyagers stolen in my area) or to steal the contents. Either way the break-in failed, the contents of the center console were tossed about but otherwise nothing missing or disturbed. Probably wouldn't have noticed the break-in at all except they left the drivers door open, which makes me think they were interrupted before they could do whatever it was they intended. Fortunately the door wasn't open long enough to kill the battery. Rather ballsy to try it in broad daylight, opposite an open business with a lot of people traffic (I'm suspecting someone going in or out of there spooked the miscreants.) Will be filing an incident report later, just trying to figure out a time I'll be home to meet the cops.

Oh, and it turns out the thermostat is broken and that's why the furnace is spewing heat instead of AC. Last night was no fun. Supposed to be fixed by the time I get home.

Now that the house is semi-normal, a collection of thoughts from the past week, none of which really warrant a full post at this point:

Remaking Death At a Funeral. Very mixed feelings on this. First rate cast and it can't not be funny with that cast, but there was nothing wrong with the original film. The original was made of awesome.

Fox changed its mind about an American Torchwood, fortunately. What the heck is the problem with Americans that everything must be dumbed-down and given a hefty helping of bland before they'll consider watching it? The original is the thing, people.

Speaking of dumbed down, I'm thinking I must *cough* this week's South Park, even though I never watch it anymore, just to honk off the radical Muslims, the censors and Viacom.

This week's Justified: way funnier than the previous eps. I love, love, love Raylan's boss. And what I line: "Would you like to see my art collection?" "I'd rather shove my dick in a blender."

Good lines: from Mose Allison's 'My Brain': "My brain is getting pounded/pretty soon it's going to be confounded." That will be me at Games Day tomorrow. My brain has been pounded, tomorrow it will be confounded.

The YMCA still hasn't sent me a refund for the payment they erroneously took out of my account. And my primary physician will not return my calls. And Jeff's birthday is Monday, but his birthday present still hasn't been delivered. Oh, the small annoyances that make the big ones (the house & Mom) that much more aggravating.

Woke up several times last night. Was booted from the house just after 7am by the floor guys. Mom & I were supposed to eat breakfast together at Denny's, but she left without me. Fortunately I happened to see her in Burger King's parking lot and retrieved her. Neither dog is at all happy, and CJ only just now got quiet. My shoulder is absolutely killing me and I can't move my arm forward. Try getting your seat belt on like that. Oh yeah, and my cell phone remains utterly convinced I 'just' received a voice mail message. I've 'just' received one every 10-15 minutes for over 24 hours now. There is no message. I pulled the battery out of the damn thing, T-Mobile disconnected my voice mail and it's still playing 'Shave & a Haircut' every 10 minutes. And because of the flooring situation, I have to be available and thus can't just turn the damn thing off. And I don't know why, but I can't stop thinking today is Thursday.

Other than that, things are great :p