My life, for what it's worth, part 2

This has not been the greatest week ever.  Business is booming, which is great, but that means I'm tired and working a lot.  The third partner is still working another job, so two of us are trying to do most everything.  We're kind of grouchy. I was really looking forward to having yesterday off, but when I checked my phone there'd been a call from my mom at 2:30 a.m.  Crap!  I called her right away, and my dad had tried to get up in the night and had fallen.  His skin is like tissue paper, so even though he fell on carpet he tore his skin and was bleeding all over the place.  She couldn't get him up.  Naturally she tried to call all the kids in town first, but no one heard their phone (I refuse to sleep with mine).  I would have told her to call 911 anyway. That's what she ended up doing, the paramedics came right away and got him back into bed, but he was bleeding so much they took him to the hospital.  The hospital bandaged him up...

It is hard to get back into the habit of writing.  But I'm going to keep doing it. My cold turned out to have the longest staying power of any cold I've ever had, I think.  After two weeks I'm still snuffling.  We have had snow, and cold, and record-breaking rain.  I went for a walk today for the first time in two weeks, it felt so good just to get outside! After the usual slow January, clients have started coming in at a brisk rate.  I have half a dozen folders stacked up waiting for me on Monday.  I have the feeling we're busier than usual for this time of year, which is nice. Emily has still not heard from Western, which is frustrating.  They will be registering for classes in another couple of weeks, and she needs to know where she should register.  If she registers at the community college where she's going this quarter, then I have to pay within seven days or they drop her, so I'm not super excited about rushing into that.  This m...

I never get sick.  Seriously, it's been years since I even had a cold.  So two weeks ago, when Emily got a cold, I didn't worry about it.  She snuffled and honked.  I went about my business.  Then I started noticing a tickle in my throat.  I still didn't worry, confident that my body would fight it off. Long story made short, if I'd just given up and gotten sick when she did, I'd be over it by now.  Instead I'm sitting here coughing, with a fever and plugged sinuses and a voice scratchy enough that people look at me with alarm when I talk.  Ugh.  I must remember not to be smug. Tax season is a terrible time to have a blurry brain. I was amused to get a call from someone at my former employer today, telling me she's giving someone my name.  This happens every few months.  They have a premium office that's supposed to take care of this kind of thing, but apparently they're not interested, so they send them to me.  It's a hu...

A year ago my dad turned 90.  He had just survived a long session in the hospital, and then two months in rehab, coming home right before Thanksgiving.  He was wheelchair bound, but other than that he was feeling pretty good.  We threw a big party for him and invited all his friends, it was quite a night. Since then, he's had a stroke that affected his ability to speak.  The man who made his living communicating and writing can't get more than two or three words out, on a good day.  Sometimes he can write on his whiteboard, more often he can't. We had a much smaller party for his birthday last night.  Only about half the family was there, but we had a good time.  I couldn't help looking back a year ago and feeling sad for the turn his life has taken. I was also so impressed with my daughter.  She and I were there for lunch a couple of weeks ago when the speech therapist came.  Emily watched what she did carefully, and now whenever she's...

Nobody in my family ever listens to me.  I give really good advice, and I almost always know what I'm talking about, but nobody listens. If I want them to listen to me, I have to get my brother to tell them. Here's an example.  A couple of years ago, my mom's oven started to go out.  It drove her crazy and ruined more than one meal.  I said, let's go get you a new one.  She fussed very hard because she only wanted white.  Black and stainless steel are ugly.  Grey would ruin everything.  It had to be white. White is not a color that's real popular right now.  The store I took her to only had one white oven, and it didn't have the little ridges on top to contain the mess if you spill.  She HAD to have white, and she HAD to have those ridges.  The very helpful salesman searched everything available anywhere, and what she wanted didn't exist. I took her home.  She continued to complain about the stove, but couldn't commit t...

I don't really have much interesting to write about, but I said I was going to keep writing and I'm gonna do it. Work is going well.  I have already had five new to me clients call for an appointment.  Lots of people appear to be moving up from California again.  Not sure how I feel about that. It continues to be super cold (for us).  Today it got up to 40 and I almost didn't need a coat.  There have been days when it never got above freezing.  I know the midwestern contingent is laughing at me, but that's really cold here. Tomorrow is a federal holiday, but no one here gets it off except Emily, and she is making plans to spend it with friends. And that's about all I've got.  I will get more interesting, I'm sure, but right now it's just about doing the writing.

When I was growing up, I had a best friend, her name was Monica.  We met in first grade, and have been close ever since.  Her brother, Mike, was my brother's best friend.  Our parents liked each other a lot.  Over the years growing up, they came on vacation with us sometimes.  I was invited to their big family gatherings and Monica was invited to ours.  I really considered her the sister I never had, and looked on her parents as my second parents. Eight years ago this week, her brother Mike had a massive heart attack, and he died eight years ago today.  I still think of him often, especially around this time of year.  And last night Monica and Mike's father passed away.  He has been in failing health for some time, and had recently been discharged from the hospital to the local rehab facility.  I visited him Wednesday and thought he looked awful, but he's rallied before. This is so sad.  It's a part of life, I know, and his pass...