Peruvian Nights and Jamaican Days

WHERE ME AT?

I'd like to start this post by apologizing to those of you I haven't contacted in awhile. It's not for a lack of wanting to. Things come up, time slips away, and so on - you know how it goes. I have been thinking of you, it's just that...

Early this month, my grandpa, who was in the hospital recovering from surgery, had a severe stroke. I heard about it at about 10 pm on a Tuesday night. The doctors didn't give him much of a shot of recovering. I packed my stuff, and set off into the night. I made it to the hospital the next morning, after a brief stop at my mom's, who rode with me the rest of the way (total, about a 7 hour trip). I was determined to see him, even though it meant missing deadlines and meetings I had at work. When we arrived, he opened his eyes, and I think saw us. But, he was more or less unresponsive. I stayed with him for several days - mostly just watching him, holding his hand, or doing some of the caretaking things the nurses weren't doing a very good job with. Occasionally, he would squeeze my hand when I asked him to, so I think he knew I was there. By Friday evening, there hadn't been any real change in his condition, so I decided to go home for a day or two. I got regular reports for the next few days, and it seemed like there was little change. On February 11th, sometime mid-afternoon, he passed away. His death was 5 months to the day after my grandma's death, and, interestingly, it was on my grandma's birthday.

Those of you who know me well know that I was pretty close to these grandparents. I could say alot about them - how I had so many things in common with them, how I enjoyed having whiskey toddies with my grandpa, how great it was to get to know a different side of them as I became an adult... I'll just say that I will miss them both an awful lot.

So..that happened. And then:

My mom has been seeing this guy for awhile now. I knew about it, but she had never said anything about it to me directly - just that she had a "friend" from work. So my mom calls last night, and asks if I'm tired of getting bad news from her (Grandma, Grandpa, my brother-in-law's alcoholism, etc..), and I say "yes." So she tells me that she got engaged. I said, "I'll be damned," because how else are you really supposed to react? It's pretty weird. I've been pestering my mom to come visit us for months, but now I'm afraid she will bring her fiance (it's so weird saying that). That's just plain creepy. I havent met the guy yet and I'm not sure I want to. I'm at a loss as far as how to react to it, but I have decided this:

If she does visit, and she brings her...brings this dude..they will not be allowed to sleep in the same bedroom. It will be the same rule that applied to Jen and I at my parents house before we were married. How about them apples?

That about brings us up to date. Who needs a drink?

I know the rest of you all have things going on too, so I apologize for the fact that I've been so lame about keeping in touch.

I think that's all I have. Oh, wait...X Out of Wonderland is excellent, and you should all read it.

I'll leave you with one question to ponder:

In all of the world, in all of history, in all of everything we understand that has, does, or will exist, has there ever been anything more nauseating than Drew Barrymore?

-m