more good interview ~ma out there for ya, Hil.

I'm awake b/c B called thinking he'd get my voicemail and we talked for about 45 min

Whooo! When is he coming down to New Orleans as part of the mass migration?

Working on it, Nora. He did ask me "When are we going to New Orleans again?"

Wallybee's parents are heading back to China in about a week and a half. On Saturday we're having Ryan's first birthday party. We're giving them one of those photo frames with a central photo, and a ring of twelve spaces surrounding it for monthly photos. Here are the photos we've selected, Ryan's first year:

When we first met: [link]
May: [link]
June: [link]
July: [link]
August: [link]
September: [link]
October: [link]
November: [link]
December: [link]
January: [link]
February: [link]
March: [link]

We don't yet have his 1-year old photo. This is what we have holding its place: [link]

Ryan has become cuter every month despite being impossibly cute to start with!

Ryan has become cuter every month despite being impossibly cute to start with!

It feels simultaneously astonishing and inevitable.

The worst I've seen have all worked at hospitals.

The nurses at my doctor's office will confirm this. (When I showed the phlebotomist there my bruises from the shitty IV placements, she just shook her head and muttered something about "those hospital nurses." Which is a group that includes my mother, so I supposed I should take offense at the generalization, but seriously, my ENTIRE ARM was black and blue.)

I'm concerned that my brother may be losing it or something. He's convinced that his dog is sick and I don't think there is anything wrong with her besides that she is thirteen. But when he met her she was ten so it isn't even that much of a Sunrise, Sunset thing. He's lost his shit with this whole recession thing(which I understand) but compared to many he is actually lucky but he's not coping well at all. I'd like to help, but he won't listen to me, and honestly? He's so gloomy and dire 24-7 that I am beginning to dread the sight of him.

But when I've gone to actual blood drives, it's been great. Maybe the mobile Red Cross people are better than the ones in the building.

I feel so well taken care of, that my friend found a drive so close to my house...and NOT in a medical environment. The 'hospital smell' alone can be a problem.

Thanks for the encouragement Beth. Blood is, indeed, life. Focusing on the giving aspect...rather than what is being taken from me...is really helping.

Seska, sponsorship is a great idea! If I make it through this in such a way that I can do it again, I'll definitely do it.

Working on it, Nora. He did ask me "When are we going to New Orleans again?"

keep me posted.