Visitors

Hmm...I've noticed something...it seems every time we have visitors due to arrive, hubby goes out of town the week before their arrival date. Now, I am sure it is not on purpose, since he does not set the date of the events he attends and the relatives don't contact us asking which dates they would like to come ( they contact us with the dates they are coming, and ask "is that OK?"); but it is an odd coincidence.
Our visitors are coming next weekend and hubby left today for his week long trip. This drives me crazy. I still have to work, but I also have to put the house into "visiting" status, which means: finally clearing those piles of papers that are on the tables, going through stacks of books, really noticing that Jman's toys have spread into every room and need to be picked up, getting new towels and sheets since ours have become rather worn since the last visit 3 years ago.
I also have to figure out where everyone will stay - instead of one at a time, the relatives come in groups. So father-in-law gets our bed (it's a sleep number one, so it will be good for his back), uncle gets the extra comfy futon (we bought it as an "extra bed for company"), cousin gets Jman's bed, and we sleep on the floor, which means finding an air mattress without a hole in it (seems that every time we bring out the mattress the day company visits, it has a hole - I'm testing it early this time).
Since they don't all come in at the same time on Friday (this includes hubby), I have to figure out how to pick them up and how to be home for the bus for Jman. There also happens to be a company luncheon that same day, partly being held in my honor, so I need to attend that too.
Plus I'll have to have a special dinner waiting for them...sigh...I'm tired just thinking about it all.

It will be nice to see everyone, I just hope I can relax long enough to enjoy seeing them!

Fall is here

Hooray! Fall has come to the central south of the US, which still means temps. in the low 90's but the air has dried out! Whoopee!!! We just spent the afternoon on a nice bike ride/run to the the park. I love this time of year (although I would like it better if our leaves changed colors). This is the time of year where I am most thankful for living here and for living in general. My mood perks up and I am impossibly cheerful - which tends to get on the nerves of some family members and coworkers..heheh.

Go-Karts

J-man and I went to race go-karts tonight; it was a blast. I wasn't sure how he would react - he does not like loud noises, and you have to admit that 5-10 lawnmower sized engines being raced does produce a bit of racket. Luckily, we were not on the adult track, but on the "junior" track. It was just 3 of us - the other person being one of my young co-workers who wanted an excuse to go to the race track.
J-man has never driven any vehicle before, so I was unsure as to if he would enjoy it. He went out of the starting block a little hesitantly, but got up his courage and maintained a steady speed for the whole race, getting stuck only once, and that time on a sharp turn. My co-worker and I raced around him and we could see the huge smile through the over-sized helmet he was wearing.
I'm glad I was able to be the "fun" parent tonight, that my son is still willing to share this kind of adventure with me.

Cancer

One of the events in my life that has thrown me for a loop is that my identical twin sister was just diagnosed with cervical cancer, and not the type caused by the HPV virus. It looks as though they will be able to treat it, but still...there are several reasons why this struck me hard, some selfish, some more obvious than others.
First, she is my sister, my twin. She is not allowed to get sick - I need her to stay alive so that if I need an organ transplant, I can have one of hers! Seriously, she's been through a lot and to have to go through this, it is not fair. Her medical insurance will not cover the surgery, since she has already exhausted it for the year due to other problems, so she will be in a financial bind, which, again, is not fair.
Second, she is a single mom with an almost-three-year-old. If something happens to her, I will have custody of him. How could I summarize her life for him? How would I ever be able to truly describe his mother? My point of view of our childhood is one of nemisises fighting each other - my memories are certainly slanted.
Plus, her son has a multitude of health problems, some of which they are still trying to get to the bottom of - would I be able to care for him sufficiently?
Third, she is my identical twin, we have the same genetic make-up and therefore suffer from the same ailments - is cancer in my near future too? True, this give me a "heads-up", but I'm not sure if I really can appreciate it. I think it's made me more paranoid than anything else - is that low grade fever I've had for the past week just a virus...or something else? My stress levels have increased, so I'm certainly not a pleasant person to be around, especially at work when dealing with one of my "smackazoid" co-workers. I recognize that I should not bring my personal problems to work with me, but I can't help it.
OK, enough self-pity for now. There are others who are not as lucky as we are, and do not have a support system to rely on. It's just tough to shake off the sadness.

Bad things come in threes

Sorry I have been negligent in my posting; my life has been preoccupied with a series of less-than-positive events. I may go into them at a later date, at this point I'm just trying to wrap my head around them.

One of the less serious ones is Jman's cholesterol. He had his yearly check-up, and my dear 9 year old's cholesterol levels are back through the roof. He has a history of high cholesterol but we had had them decreasing, and our hopes were that he would "grow out" of the bad cholesterol. Unfortunately, this is not true. His fasting Cholesterol levels: 211; TRI 66, LDL 139, HDL 59. Not good. Of course, the nurse spouts off about diet - but we've already changed our diets, eat leafy greens, fiberous foods, and lots of chicken. I'm at a loss as to why his levels increased this year. I don't want him on medication, but I also don't want him to have plaque-filled arteries as well.

Quote of the day

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.

- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross