No school today --

it's Institute Day, where the teachers attend meetings and get all hyped up for the last five weeks of school.

So why am I awake? My body's been deciding that it actually likes getting up at five in the morning, and so I have been.

We stopped by Fazoli's on the way home last night. Mmmm. That was a rather lot of spaghetti. I didn't think I could finish it all. I must have been rather hungry, because it disappeared very quickly. There are still left-over breadsticks.

Wandering happily

Went with Votania to the office to pick up a package. The entire apartment complex knows she collapsed and went to the hospital, as the ambulance was there; everyone's inquiring as to what happened, and is she OK now. Stress, overwork, push self too hard, fall down go boom. *sigh*

Picked up Nephew from school. He was glad to see Mommy. Went to Votania's very-soon-to-be-former workplace; she picked up her check, had a chat with the Manager In Charge, and we departed Votania's former workplace after she put check in bank.

Tried to visit the Silver Dragon Druid guy; he wasn't home. Walked far too far to the bus stop (the closer one with the bench was blocked by construction). Votania got a glass of water and went to bed. Nephew got settled down with Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns (thank you, Darkside!), and I caught up on mail.

Now that Nephew's had lunch, I think I'm up for a nap too.

Housecleaning, naps, sensibility

Took a nice solid nap. Votania's instructed me that for the next little bit, I'm to be wearing pants. The pants, rather, as she's still recovering.

Cleaned cat box. Pfew! Should not have let that go for so long. Glad we have a cooperative cat who realizes what crises do to us, and that he should not shit on the floors in vengeance. Went through fridge, in search of the sandwich that Votania had, unbeknownst to me, already eaten the rest of. Cleared out the jar of nasty pickles, and the moldy cheese.

Red Sandlewood brings up the fact that when job stress is so extreme as to land people in hospitals, a lawyer might be a good idea.

*Snerk*

Some things just weren't meant to be taken quite so concretely. When they are, though... hysterical amusement follows, for those appreciating the comparison of religion as an abusive relationship.

Free at last?

Votania's hospitalization dragged up some old memories: the first time I almost lost a best friend. ( Long Story )

The realization that she could have died of this hit me hardest after Grandma had taken Nephew home with her, and taken Marx to drop off at his mom's house, and Neighbor had left to go home and get some sleep. I panicked and went into shock, and Darkside and iroshi took care of me. I wouldn't be doing so well if I hadn't had the horrible experience with Shawn to let me know that almost losing a friend can be so very much worse than a simple case of a seizure brought on by job stress.

Active pursuit:

Computer Cable Specialists 4802 N 16th St Phoenix, AZ (602) 604-8575
is what I'm looking at, jobwise.

So how do you hug an upset introvert?

votania says: Make a voodoo doll of her, and hug it.

Correction:

The freezer was not full. It merely looked full.

Now, with the addition of four pizzas and four cartons of Ben & Jerry's, it is full.

I recommend the speedy eating of ice-cream, as I need room to put the extra steaks in...

*snerk*

US Air Force on specific fowl and thruways

1337-speak normalized... and what the leet are going to have to do to keep up.

From /.:

One day, I'm going to log onto a quake server and see this:

EliteFellow: Ah-ha! My aiming skills are unmatched. I have such prowess it is as though I own you.

TricksterMan: Not so! Network latency has inhibited my natural reflexes!

EliteFellow: You deserved your comeuppance, you have been jealously guarding the Quadruple Damage for some time now without moving elsewhere!

I would be delighted...

New local catchphrase:

Voodoo hug

Housekeeping

Looking back at the week, I would initially say that I hadn't made any progress, spiritually speaking, at all: I've been too busy dealing with Real Life.

Then, thinking about it:

I can forcibly de-stress in the middle of a hospital with my roommate unconscious. I can forcibly de-stress others, with their permission, in the same situation.

Quietly casting a sigil in the middle of a crowded hospital cafeteria is easy. Now, to accomplish this without the 3x5 notecard...

I uncovered the emotions from Shawn's attempted suicide, finally. There is the crying, screaming, yelling, accusatory rage. There is the chilled wax mask of terrified bravery. Of the two, the wax mask is the most damaging. I will be consciously stripping it off when it pops up again. It's a useful tool; I shall have to apply the same feeling to places where it will be more useful.

Ticking Over

Viking dropped by. Showed of pics of his fiancée. She's cute. He waited very patiently until I was done updating Votania on the precise events of Monday, which, of course, she had no memory of until the bald guy nurse was shining my flashlight in her eyes.

Votania's family

Great-Aunt has been having heart troubles lately. Votania went in the hospital around the same time Great-Aunt came out. Taking shifts, Grandma quipped on Monday at Votania's still woozy and delirious bedside.

Votania's family only comes through and functions as a family when there's some death or near-death experience going on. It's incredibly surreal. I'm not sure which would be worse, a family that didn't come together at all for anything, or a family that only comes together in emergencies, and falls apart the rest of the time.

I'm suspecting that the intermittent reinforcement family is the worst, because if your family is a complete nothing, then you'll get used to the idea fairly soon, and come to expect nothing from them. However, if your family functions part of the time, stops functioning, then is pulled together suddenly, functions for a while, and then stops again, you never know what part of the cycle they're going to be in, or when the next strengthening emergency is going to occur.

In cases like that, I tend to suspect the family structure as gaining strength from pain, not keeping strength in spite of pain.