Wow ... what an odd Spring Break.
I shoulda known something was up when Dad called about a month ago and asked EXACTLY when my Spring Break started, and just how long it was going to last.
Since Spring Break started about 3:30 on Friday the 18th, things have been, well, typical, for me, I guess.
Friday night I passed out from sheer exhaustion.
Saturday, I went out to the country. (Where I took some of those pictures on the "Show Me Your Country" thread!!)
Sunday, I came to my parents' house to take Dad to meet my brother.
Monday, my brother had surgery to repair a shoulder.
Tuesday, Dad had a meeting with the doctor that was going to work on him.
Tuesday night, I got a call from a friend of mine that told me she had a job opening for me, and if I was interested, I needed to apply, and she wouldn't promote the position heavily outside the school. The job would be about half a step down from what I'm doing, which means more time programming, and less responsibility. AND it's about 7.5 miles away from my city house, as opposed to 75 miles away, like my current job. The pay is a little less than what I'm making now, but with the increase in gas prices, there shouldn't be too many adjustments to be made. Yet.
Wednesday, Dad had surgery on his heart. He's an ultimate over-achiever. He's got too many impulses firing in his heart, so it's continually out of rythm. He went in about two years ago, and they stopped his heart and shocked it back in rythm, and it seemed to work for a while. But his last checkup, about two months ago, showed that it was beating all wacky again. So they could either up his medication, or have this procedure performed. It turns out that the risks and side-effects from this procedure are actually considerably less than just upping his medication. So what they did on Wednesday was to burn out a bunch of the extra impulses in his heart. ("Minor surgery" my butt!!!!) Anyway, the operation took about two hours longer than they expected, and they found the left side of his heart to be a little larger than what they expected. But other than that, things seem to have gone great!!
Thursday I stopped by to talk to my pastor about the new job opportunity. I think I'm more confused now than ever. But it's nice to know a preacher is human. He said a not nice word while telling me of a conversation between him and his best friend. He said it was okay ... preachers could talk that way to each other.
From there, I headed out to the Antique Rose Emporium. It's a wonderful place with all kinds of displays of roses and plants. It's also got a great reputation for being quiet, and a lot of people go out there simply for some peace and quiet and to do some meditation. So I headed out there and did a lot of praying. Then wound up buying a Graham Thomas TeaTime rose bush for Grandmother (her maiden name is "Graham"). I also picked up a Lady Lavender rose bush for me - I LOVE lavender roses. I also found a Green Rose bush. It's a bit different, but when the roses begin to "fade," they change from green to a dark copper, and my boss says it's absolutely gorgeous!! So I was happy to find one. And the scent of that rose it a bit unusual ... sort of like a muted cracked black pepper scent.
After that, I talked to my brother (he was doing great ... just pissed that he couldn't do anything), Mom (she was happy to find a track to walk around ... Dad and David were wearing her out), and Dad. Turns out Dad started running a fever on Thursday. The doctor thinks it's because he was under for longer than what they expected.
Friday (today), I got a call from Mom. The doctor was supposed to come by and release Dad at 10:00 or so this morning. They're BOTH anxious to get home. Then I ran Grandmother to the grocery stores and post office. I dug up a tree stump. And I bugged the dogs.
This wasn't exactly the way I had my Spring Break envisioned a month ago.
But I've been able to spend it with Grandmother, and that's nothing unusual. However, when Mom and Dad get home, I think I'm gonna head back to MY house in Bryan for today, then load up and go to the country tomorrow.
I need to work on the old clunker computer I have. I ordered new memory for it on Monday, installed it on Tuesday here at my parents, and loaded SuSE Linux on it about three times to resolve a couple of issues. Still can't get the blasted thing to recognize my zip drive, but it DOES recognize my jump drive, so the zip drive may be unnecessary.
Y'know ... I've had a pretty good Spring Break.
How 'bout you?
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