Ha! I've slept through earthquakes! Once, as a kid, on my BIRTHDAY even. Takes a lot to wake me up, and I'm not a teenager anymore.

Sigh. Missed the connection. Next flight to Burbank doesn't leave until 1:25 Texas time and gets me into burbank at 2:35. That means my friend T who was kind enough to volunteer to pick me up from that airport and drive me out to LAX is now going to have to do so in the midst of rush hour. I doubt I'll get home home before 6 or 7 California time. I got up at 5 Florida time. I know this is a first world problem, but so exhausted and I just want to be home. It's already been 30 hours since I started this process, and I'm just tired of it. I have to get up and go to work tomorrow, and I still have 14 stupid CTY feedback emails to write (the site was down all day yesterday, so I haven't even been able to start them). I'm worried sick about Drew and his mom, which isn't helping.

I tried standing by on earlier flights directly to LAX, but apparently an LAX and San Diego flight were already canceled and the stanby list is epic.

Okay, enough whining. Done now.

{{{{{{ PIX }}}}}

I wish I could leave work and go hang with you at the airport. Stupid load-in :: kicks dirt :: I dunno DFW airport, but is there a corner you can curl up in with your bag and try to take a catnap?

And jeez that online class was nothing but a PITA this summer. Oy.

Whine away. That's what we are here for. (well, I shouldn't be here, should be working, but Windows partition needs to do virus scan, so... I'm waiting.... um. joy!)

You have earned your whine, Kristin. I didn't realize you started work so soon. Much -ma that you get home soon.

You have earned your whine, Kristin. I didn't realize you started work so soon. Much -ma that you get home soon.

This.

Thanks. Also hugs to eveyone else dealing with tough stuff, most recently sj and vw.

I've camped out at the front of the line at the gate for the last LAX flight I could catch before I'd have to run to get on the Burbank flight. A gate agent should be here in 15-20 minutes. I would love to avoid having to do airport musical chairs during rush hour if at all possible. I'm not getting my hopes up, though. Pretty sure it's fully booked.

To be clear, I don't officially start work until Wednesday. I'll be running the new faculty orientation Wednesday and Thursday and have regular faculty PD Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. The kids have orientation Wednesday and Thursday, and the first day of classes is next Friday. I need to go I'm tomorrow to at least start unpacking and setting up my new room so the new faculty know what it looks like. I also need to meet with my co-leader, Karen, about exactly how the orientation is gong to run. I haven't even thought about the fact that I've barely begun to think about the new course I'm teaching.

vw, you've gotten some really good advice, I hope this all resolves in your favor, and soon.

sj, ack. Hoping things work out for you and TCG, too. Not fair, everything at once.

Kristin, I'm sorry about the delays and frustrations. Worse when they seem to be piling up just when you're wanting to savor something pleasant.

Drew, what burrell said. My mom and dad had an absolute horror of going into care, so we cared for Dad at home for eight years. Mom sat with him during the day and fed him lunch and supper, I made his bed, undressed him, bathed him and put him to bed, DH got him up, changed his bed, laundered his clothes and bedclothes, bathed him, dressed him, made his breakfast and sat with him till Mom got up, late morning. He had Parkinsons and dementia, so it wasn't an easy time, but at least he was never combative.

Mom was relatively easy to care for, except for short lapses into dementia three or four times a year, when she would become combative. When we were unable to administer the treatment she needed because of this we started to realize that we were not helping her by allowing her to stay at home. And when she fell and was admitted to hospital, the doctors agreed she should go to skilled care. From there she went into resident care, and truthfully? She's much better looked after than we were able to manage at home, she has more interaction with more people, and she doesn't have a choice. They don't care if she's cranky or ill-mannered, they don't have the ingrained response of obeying your parent to prevent them from getting her to do as much as she's capable of doing, or following a course of treatment.

She's healthier, she's actually happier and more engaged than she was at home interacting with only family, and both the other residents and the staff know her and spoil her rotten. They don't get frustrated, they don't get upset, they don't feel guilty about her not taking her meds or doing her therapy because it's their job to make that happen, and they're not children she can boss around and cow by force of will (as I am, I'm afraid).

It was taking three of us to care for her, and we were failing. Home help--well, it wasn't, because it was her house and she was rude and bossy and intransigent. The facility has staff, supplies, and resources we just couldn't maintain at home. This has been better for us, true. But it's so much better for her.

This isn't meant to be mememe, only an example of things going right. I wish all of you the best resolution possible.

{{{Bitches}}}

travel~ma for Kristin

school~ma for vw

no more leaks~ma for sj

The plumber is here, hopefully fixing everything, and I finally remembered to eat something, which will hopefully combat my crankiness. With the ADs I'm back to forgetting I need to eat.

Okay, so, funny story from this weekend.

Em was taking a nap and I was flipping through channels and saw that one of my favorite movies, Midnight Run was on. So I'm wathing the movie, which, if you've seen it, you will know is full of some incredibly foul language.

I didn't hear Emeline get up or come downstairs until she was right there in the living room. She walks in just as Jimmy Serrano (Dennis Farina) is chewing out his two dumb henchmen over the phone.

The line is something like "You two stupid motherfuckers better get this right, or I'm getting on a fucking plane and I'll blowtorch the both of you."

Emeline turns to me, her eyes wide, her expression horribly scandalized and says:

"Daddy! That man just said 'stupid'!"