A Roll in the Universe

Finally. I know I have a lot to say and yet finding the energy to say it hasn't been easy. It's because it's all so emotional for me and there's so much, I have to think about organizing my thoughts. What follows is obviously from my point of view. Just want to make sure you keep that in mind. The Arrival My mother came to visit on the 19th. She came to visit her mother who's been in the hospital (see Sept 18 blog ) as well as me. Grandma said to me earlier this summer, "I'm going to ask you something and I hope you don't get upset." She wanted to know if I minded her inviting Mom over from the States. I didn't. But the fact that Grandma asked in that manner should clue you in as to how things are in my so-called family. Grandma didn't get around to calling her daughter herself. Once again, she fell and ended up in the hospital. I e-mailed my mother and relayed the request. My feelings have been mixed: A part of me was loo...

Woke up this morning to the news that it is Chile's Independence Day. Which instantly took me back a year , to a nurse I spoke to outside Grandma's room at the nursing home. What a year! Grandma hasn't been home much. She was in the nursing home for her birthday (the 22nd) last year because she'd broken her arm. That was the longest stay, ever. She's fallen three times this year, and had a couple of infections, so she's seen the inside of the ER and the hospital a lot, too. So have I. And we are back again. I never worry once she's in the hospital. They take good care of her at Haukeland Sykehus , the region's main hospital (and when it was new in 1978, Northern Europe's largest). Not once have I met an uncooperative nurse. It's the nurses I talk to about Grandma's condition. The only doctor I've spoken was the guy who read Grandma's X-rays last year and the cheerful young doctor at the ER. I've never spoken to the doc...

Så har jeg gjort det. Deltatt på en tegneseriemesse, nærmere bestemt Raptus . Dette har jeg gjort, men ikke fordi jeg er spesielt tegneserieinteressert (selv om jeg kjøper flere humorblad hver måned). Jeg dro ene og alene for å treffe en tegner som jeg har korrespondert med via e-post siden han brukte meg i en av adventskalendervitsene sine. Så nå har jeg dykket inn i en verden som jeg hittil bare har hørt om: Verden av samlere, av fans av tegnere, av folk som står villig i lang, ordnet kø for å få en lite tegning av f.eks. Will Eisner eller Dan Piraro (to av årets gjestetegnere). Alle som har bidratt til bladene "Rocky" og "Gorilla" fikk lange køer av fans foran sine "tegnebord". Etter en del SMS-er med min tegneserietegnende e-postvenn, Knut A. G. Hauge , fant jeg i hvert fall rommet. Så fant jeg stativet med alle Mille-kortene. Da spurte jeg damen ved bordet der hvor mannen bak ko...

It's worrisome, having an elderly and sick relative. I'm my grandmother's only relative here in Norway, and I speak the language (she never learned to), so the nurses talk to me. And I have to be the sensible one. Wednesday evening, a nurse called from the hospital, wanting to talk to me about Grandma's condition. By now, Grandma's been in and out of the hospital and the nursing home enough for both her and I to know what's what. It's not all great. I also didn't like discussing my grandmother's condition without her present. Not an issue like placing her in a nursing home. So I asked if I couldn't talk to someone at the hospital during my visit the following evening (yesterday). Reluctantly, the woman agreed. So, while waiting for the bus yesterday, my mind was racing, trying to figure out what decision exactly I should make on my grandmother's behalf. She wants to stay in her own home, however infirm she gets. ("Infirm",...

It may very well be that Mercury Rx in Virgo may very well have something to do wiht general energy levels. But I'm wondering that only because both a friend of mine and I have been feeling tired earlier in the evening this week. To any clutterbugs out there, FlyLady works! But she's not kidding about the baby steps. I finally gave up and started doing exactly what FlyLady herself did: Nothing but shining the kitchen sink. Basically, not so much shining as doing the dishes every evening. I have been able to that, with only a couple of missed evenings, since August 18th. No more piles of dishes in the sink. And I've noticed the same effect that FlyLady noticed: It made me want to clean off the counter next to the sink. I've wiped down the stove a bit more often than before. I felt like wiping down the cupboard doors. I finally pitched a lot of plastic containers, washed and stacked on my counter for months, in the recycling bin. Other benefits: I remember to take ...

Sometimes I wonder if I suffer from ADD/ADHD or something. I am amazed at how easily I can be distracted. I never could work slow and steady. I always look forward to the break or variety. One symptom (of many) of ADD is an inability to start (and complete) a project on time – like housework. Or constantly showing up late for work (I've been doing that since I started working.) And I do have to get my guest room in order since my mother is coming to visit later this month. After years of being where the clean laundry and miscellaneous stuff I don't know where to put is dumped, it's time to put everything away and uncover the bed and turn the room back into its original charming self. And this'll take time and effort, so trying to get my blog archives, etc., together just isn't a priority right now. Hope you don't mind.