Update.

Still here. Still not running. I thought I’d be able to fit my workouts in before I left for work, but boy was I wrong. I leave at around 8:45 p.m. and get home sometime after 5 a.m. At first I tried going right to bed when I got home, but I’d have to get up at 9:00 to feed the animals because my sister was working. So I’d get very little sleep and when I tried taking a nap in the afternoon, there was way too much going on. Neighbors running chainsaws, cats making noise, Curly Joe had to go out again, etc. So I haven’t been working out. I’ve lost some weight though (2 lbs); I guess being too busy to eat really pays off.

This past week was really incredibly stressful. My sister flew back to Chicago on Friday because she got the call that her mother-in-law was in the end stages of cancer and fading fast. She’d been in a coma for three days and when she woke up, all she did was ask for my sister. I went in to work Thursday night, intending to ask if I could leave early to drive my sister to the airport (which I work near), but when I went in to talk to my supervisor, I was appalled to find myself bawling my eyes out. J isn’t my mother-in-law, and I certainly don’t know her as well as my sister does, but she is a wonderful woman, and I hate that this had to happen to her and her family. My supervisor was incredibly understanding and told me to just head home. I was so grateful. I went home and stayed up with my sister, who was a wreck. I got about 20 minutes of sleep and then got up to drive her to the airport at around 5:30. Dropped her off, came home and stayed up long enough to feed the animals and let the dogs out at 9:00, then went to bed and slept until 6:30.

My sister is staying with her mother-in-law until the end, which the doctors say won’t be too long now. A couple of days more, I guess. J sleeps most of the time, but she woke up a few times and knows my sister is there. I am here alone, taking care of the animals and struggling to adjust to a hectic new job and trying to change into a night person after over 20 years of being a morning person. Saturday, I was so happy to have survived the week, I dropped off three rolls of film, went to the library, checked out some books and sat on a bench in the sun and read for an hour and a half. I was just so grateful to be out in the fresh air and feel the warm sun on my face. Winter is coming and there won’t be many more days like that.

I’ve got Wednesday off this week. I’m going to try and get my hair cut on Thursday (before work) and Friday (before work) I’ve got to take Curly Joe for a recheck with the doctor at NWVS. I work Saturday night, too (which is why I have Wednesday off). I’m kind of worried because I think Curly Joe may have a hernia. My sister says it’s nothing to worry about as long as he’s still pooping, but I’m going to ask the doctor about it on Friday. If he has to have another surgery, so be it, but that might be the end of me. I honestly can’t handle anymore stress.

I brought the dogs up to my mom's this evening to visit while I made dumpling stew. I also did laundry and took a shower. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do when we grow up? Mooch off our parents?

There is one good thing, though. I got a book in the mail: Slap Shot Original: The Man, The Foil, The Legend, by Dave Hanson. Totally forgot I’d pre-ordered it. I look forward to reading it on my lunch break. Now all we need is a book from the Carlson brothers, and I’ll be happy.

So that’s the news for now. I’m not doing very well these days. Nothing to do but keep on keeping on, right?