Say Yes! to Michigan

Does anyone else remember that stupid advertising slogan Michigan used to have? "Say yes! to Michigan. Say yes, yes, yes!" Somebody had fun with that one.

Speaking of yes, yes, yes, Eric's cousin's daughter got married last night, which is why I happen to be in Michigan. It was a very nice ceremony, and remarkably short. They looked happy and excited. The reception was held at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, which was pretty cool. http://www.meijergardens.org/

Eric was happy to see cousins that he grew up with until he moved to Wisconsin at age 12. It was fun for me to put faces and personalities with names. I'd met the bride and her family, but that was it.

Today there is a brunch. If my family ever gets out of bed, we'll go.

It's weird being in the Eastern time zone. People don't start their day until later. It makes me a little batty. I lie in bed at home, waiting for the world to begin, and here I have to do the same thing since they don't do anything until later. We're only barely into the Eastern time zone, so even though it's 8 a.m., it's hardly showing any light outside. I suppose that's why they don't get up.

There is a Krispy Kreme a few blocks from here. Kelsey is itching to go. We don't have a Krispy Kreme where we live. My sister used to have one in her town, but theirs closed, and I haven't been back to see her since!

I wanted to go to the Gerald R. Ford Museum here in Grand Rapids, but they've closed it until the end of next week. Well, the lobby is open, but none of the exhibits are open. Whoopdeedoo – a lobby. The library is in Ann Arbor and is also closed except for the lobby, where you can sign a guest book. I think I'll pass.

We spent yesterday driving around Grand Rapids and East Grand Rapids, looking at stuff from Eric's youth. Eric grew up in East Grand Rapids, and there is quite a difference between plain Grand Rapids and East Grand Rapids. His back yard abutted Dick Ford's. Pretty hoity toity area. The only way we'd ever afford to live in such a place is if we won the lottery.

It really shows how differently Eric and I grew up. It's a wonder we can stand each other.

On The First Day of Christmas...

Christmas eve: We finished our shopping, picked up the house a bit, and brought my mom over for the night. She likes to spend the night so she's here to watch the kids open their presents in the morning. It was shaping up to be a pretty quiet Christmas. My sister stopped by with her husband and their son for a little while. Another nephew and his female friend came by. Very nice to be with family. We had a late dinner of homemade pizza, lit some candles, and had a little settle-down time before putting the kids to bed.

I wrapped presents, and made Christmas come. I fell asleep sometime after midnight.

Sometime after 1, I woke up. I heard a yowling. I heard a yelping.

"Amy! Oh, Amy! Come!"

Eric and I jumped out of bed and up the stairs. My mom was shuffling frantically back to bed, gasping and asking for an aspirin. She flopped down onto my bed, holding her chest, saying, "I think this is what it feels like to have a heart attack." Gasp, pant, howl.

Eric is very good at settling people down. He speaks so calmly and nicely.

I called 911, hoping that the ambulance wouldn't arrive before we got our pants on. We did get our pants on. Well, not my mom. She doesn't care, especially while clutching her chest and making use of a bucket.

It made for a bit of excitement in the night. Our neighbor Millie came down to check on us and offered to stay with the kids while we went to the hospital.

Kelsey got up, but Kayleigh slept through the sirens, the EMT's radio going off repeatedly at about 200 decibels, the howling, the three strange men in the house.

I sent Millie home, put Kelsey to bed with Eric, and followed my mom to the hospital. The security guy at the hospital wondered if I knew what I was talking about when I said my mom had just been brought in by ambulance. Apparently they're not accustomed to women being taken to the VA.

Anyway, they're not sure if it was a heart attack or not. It may have been the congestive heart failure having a big holiday fart. We'll know more today. Since it was Christmas and the VA is a government facility, it was a skeleton crew and not much diagnosis went on. They worked to get her blood pressure down and the fluid out of her legs, feet, and lungs. She's had a hard time getting doctors to do anything about the fluid in her legs, but this experience seems to have gotten their attention.

I was a little dismayed to hear my mom say she didn't want to be resuscitated should the need arise. I already knew that, but in a moment of a possible heart attack, it really sucks to hear it aloud. "I just want to die," she said.

So, it made for a tired Christmas somewhat less full of cheer and peace than I was anticipating. My mom was in pretty good spirits considering what she'd been through and spending Christmas in a hospital.

Like she always says, you just never know what the next day will bring.

Semester's Over!

Ah, I fixed my age. Somehow, in switching to beta, my year of birth was put at 1756. So, I'm back to being 36, a double adult.

You may have noticed I changed my profile....

My semester is done. Phew! It's a load off the shoulders. Just in time, too. Kelsey has started sucking her thumb and holding her ear again. Regression is sad. It's been tense and lonely around here, it would seem. So, I'll be adjusting the way things work around here. And Eric will be home every evening next semester, which is nice.

So, I feel long rambles coming and I don't have time. L8R.

250 years old? Me?

Wow. So, I'm looking over my blog.

When I logged on yesterday, I decided to switch to the new beta version of Blogger. Mistake.

Today I checked my profile. I'm apparently 250 years old. No wonder I'm so uninspired. All the links on "favorite" crap are no longer links. And it's really jarring to go from that blue to a tan background when I look at my profile. There's no going back to the old version now that I agreed to the beta. Silly me. I should have known better. Especially after 250 years of experience in this world.

Tampon craft credit

I neglected to acknowledge Kath in sending me the link for tampon crafts. Thank you, Kath. You're a bloody good friend.

Almost Done

School

The semester is almost over. Phew! I just have to study for my final, take it, and write an essay by Sunday night. The final has four parts. The first part is 25 T/F, MC, matching, and fill-in-the-blank questions for 50 points. I get half an hour. The other three parts are essay questions. I get half an hour per question. Two are worth 30 points, the other is worth 40. If I get a zero on the exam, I have a BC in the class. I don't think I could handle a BC.


Paper

So, the printer screwed up our paper. I showed up at school, and the issue wasn't there. Except I saw a few copies on the table.

I said, "Is it here?" Mikk and Lauri chuckled and muttered.

Mikk handed me our "special insert" and said, "See how long it takes you."

So I looked. I opened it, and there, on page 2, was page 5.

"Oh, nice," I said.

"The fastest yet!" said Mikk.

Our designer about squeezed a peach pit out her butt. She was worried it was her fault. But it wasn't. She pissed and moaned about that insert like you wouldn't believe, and then to have it show up wrong – oh, I wish I'd been there. Well, I'm glad I wasn't, really. Scary, scary.


New Style & Links

So, what do you think of blue? It's very blue. I don't know how well I like it. But I have links now. I'll be adding more later. Let me know if you want to be on the link list.