Awesome. Lab results didn't show a UTI, but since I'm still having symptoms they put me on a new antibiotic targeted at that. In addition to the AB I'm already on for the sinus infection. Having just finished 5 days of prednisone. And now taking a probiotic to counter all of the antibiotics.

I don't feel shame for taking medicine when it's needed, but I'm getting really fucking sick of the pharmacy.

Oh major yuck, Dana. I hope that something kicks in properly. I think you should get an Rx that forbids early morning meetings.

Pretty much all pharmaceuticals disagree with me. It is a big deal whenever one is needed. Went through 5 before I could tolerate a pain killer after foot surgery. Mom never had to worry about me popping pills. In my 60+ years I know each time I was forced to take antibiotics because it was such an issue. Yuck.

Well fuck. Just over a year ago my dad's wife's cousin passed away after a long mentally debilitating decline. She was fairly young and one of my favorite relatives from that side of the family.

She had a son a bit older than Kelly who was always an odd duck. Nice enough, but very removed and kinda stick up the butt. Anyway, he OD'ed last night. Apparently he had been an addict for years, in and out of rehab, sober houses, and even jail (dui's). He was due to go back into jail in a couple of weeks. His dad found him dead this morning. I didn't know about the addiction or any of it until today but wasn't really surprised.

I am heartbroken for his father who just lost his wife and now this. I can't imagine how alone he has felt for the last few years between his wife's disease and his son's addiction. And now they are both gone.

I'm supposed to fly to CA in a couple of weeks for a family party for my mom's side of the family, but I may shift my trip to spend time with my dad. My brain is overloaded right now.

Edited for typos

Oh, man, Suzi, that is awful. Can't imagine what he must be going through.

So the dude I was supposed to meet up with last night was at a con and his phone died, so that one may still happen.

Dana, I hope the drugs put you right and the probiotics keep you feeling okay.

Hi Zen! Good to see your pixels. Glad you can get back to some kind of normalcy soon.

Lord, I'm tired. Vacation cannot come soon enough.

Well crap, I needed to finish a paper tonight and the brain has been swiss cheese, so I'm calling it a draw. I'm losing points right and left in this class already, but I can turn this in tomorrow without losing points. Just annoyed at myself more than anything. Stupid brain weasels.

Fuck mortality.

Suzi, How heartbreaking for your family.

Dana, I hope the meds cocktail helps your health turn the corner soon.

Sometimes it sucks being the practical rock.

Honestly as squeemish as I am, I'm surprised that I can do this sort of thing. But for friend's sake I'm thankful that I can.

Friend was weeping uncontrollably, almost hiccuping her words when she talked. She pointed to her chest and said it hurt. I told her when I lost Pachisi (my cat soul mate) my chest hurt so much I thought my heart was going to stop, that I was actually surprised to wake up the next morning. Then I told her the thing about grief being like boulder that is laid on our backs, it doesn't get smaller and lighter over time but we get stronger.

Hi Bitches!

Suzi, what a heartbreaking situation. I hope he is somehow able to find peace and comfort.

Sometimes it sucks being the practical rock.

It is my natural state of being. I am sometimes perceived as unfeeling because my practical rock side kicks in powerfully when needed. I've only lost it a very few times. Don't like it, and it doesn't help, so I avoid it.

I am on partial work strike. I worked 28 hours over the weekend fixing a work catastrophe while DH was off coaching a basketball tournament. I told him it is all on him for a couple days while I ignore the support emails and calls. GoT and Elementary time!

Ugh, I think I may be confusing the kid who OD'ed with another kid from that side of the family. I tried to FB stalk him and he doesn't have much of a presence there but the one picture that I think is him isn't the face I had matched with that name in my head. Which breaks my heart even more because if it is that other kid - he never pinged me as someone dealing with addiction. Which, I guess, is part of the larger issue with addiction - you never know who is struggling.

But now how do I ask my dad - hey, is THIS the cousin who died? His wife's family is HUGE and I don't see some of them very often, especially since I moved to Colorado, so it is completely possible I have names/faces crossed up. No matter who, the whole thing is heartbreaking, but I still want to have the right person in my head.

Tragedies keep happening. Wish Death could take another holiday for a while.

Suzi, that's so awful. The poor family.

I'll be really sad to lose any of my cats, but when Leo goes, it'll break my heart. I try not to think of the inevitable.

Sometimes it sucks being the practical rock.

I don't think of myself that way, in my everyday life I'm far from practical or rock-like. But in a crisis I'm the calm and focused one who fixes things. I don't know how I came to be that person.

In my family DH and his namesake son are super emotional in a crisis, while younger son and I are cool, calm, and focused on the fixing. DH gets with the fixing, but with non-stop exclamations of "OMG This Is The Worst Catastrophe In The World", which makes me crazier than the crisis itself.