2005-03-13 - 5:51 p.m.

I had a nice weekend with Westely putting the finishing touches on our bedroom that he painted over the past few weeks. We have been back in this house in VA for a year now and it STILL is not all painted! We have the dining room and one more stairwell to go and then we are finally finished! It feels like the house project will never end.

We set up our bed (FINALLY!) WE have been sleeping on the matress on the floor for the past year as Westley insisted he wasn't going to bring up the bed itself and the box spring until the room was finally painted. In fact that's how we fixed each room of the house- we'd finish painting before moving furniture back in. So we all slept in a few rooms at first, with makeshift beds until each room was completed.

I forgot what a nice cherry bed we have! Its been a few years since we've used it. The room really looks pretty with the new paint and pictures all hung. We enjoyed hanging up some prints and maps that we bought but have never hung. There is a cool map we found in Stockholm in a map specialty shop from the 1700s of the US, and another old one of New York and another old one of VA. They are pretty neat.

In picking what to hang over the fireplace I was disappointed that Westely wouldn't go for this beautiful print of cherries which we also bought in Sweden. Its just so beautiful, and there is a cross section of the fruit as well, which I think is not only beautiful, but in a bedroom would be appropriate as it has that subtle (yes really!) hint of being erotic.... because you have to really look at the print and think about it. I found it both tastful, beautiful, and yes a bit sexy as well as funny once one did look at the print carefully.

Westly the non artistic engineer didn't get it AL ALL... and said "Why would you want that in the bedroom? I bought that for the kitchen to go with the other fruit prints"
So my vote for it was vetoed, and I agreed to go ahead with a map- temporarily as we agreed we'll eventually shop and get something more suitable. After our joint decision making I THEN told Westley he missed out on the erotic symbolism of the other print....
and he said in response "But this is for my home"
And I said "EXACTLY- THAT'S PRECISCELY THE POINT! HOME in the bedroom with your wife is where there SHOULD be something erotic!"

MEN.....

Anyway, I thought it was all very humorous.

Off to mass now- going a few minutes late! The girls are all in the car ready to go and I have a bottle warming as I took a couple minutes to write.

We were trying to go to the 12:30 afternoon when my mom called to tell my Dad is in the hospital. He is apparently OK but they are testing for a possible stroke. The Dr said he had a stroke waiting to happen and my Mom indicated he felt weak and naseous but he sat to rest and then the paramedics came and found his blood pressure was dropping. She claims he is OK and they got him to the hospital before anything serious happened.

This however is from my mother who I think ALWAYS downplays everything. When she called and said "I won't keep you long"
I KNEW she was about to say he was in the hospital!... then she said "He's in "Palm Beach Gardens Memorial Hospital"
and I said hold on I'll get a pen to write this down

As I set the phone dowm Westley asked, "What is it?"
and I said "My Dad's in the hospital. Its a stroke. Well actually my mom didn't say yet-and I don't know how I know, but I know its a stroke. When she called I knew she was going to say he's in the hospital before she said it"

Another one of those moments.

So we'll see if he is indeed OK, or if he actually had a stroke like I thought.
It felt silly to even type that last line.

OK- this feels more honest: We'll wait for the results to see how bad it was.

MY MOM THINKS She's waiting to see if he had one. I somehow KNOW he had a stroke and that a LARGER debilitating one was headed off.

He is in his seventies. So its to be expected that these things do happen as people age-- but nonetheless, I do think it important that after home tonight I research the affects of alcohol and cholestoral in relation to a stroke.
I did talk to my one brother about Dad's wine intake and posed that question of WHAT MAKES AN ALCOHOLIC?

Maybe I should mention the concerns in relation to Dad's health to my brother who lives with mom and dad. I think he'll be receptive and maybe in a position to converse about it w/ Mom without giving her a heart attack!

Ironically my bro that lives with my parents, depite being the only one in the family with a bonafide mental illness- (Social Anxiety Disorder), is also the only one who is ever receptive to listening to me talk about the difficult things the rest of my family can't handle admitting! (Like saying he has a mental illness..... my parents almost freaked... whereas he actually agreed and was receptive....Well the other brothers also now acknowledge that.)

Anyway, Going to mass to pray for Dad.

Cheapskate Westley said order flowers or he can do it if I am busy. He also asked what hospital he is in as he goes to FL on business and can go anytime. He said call if I need him to get home so I can go to FL. I just dropped him off at the airport for work- (WHy the girls are all in the car already! They fell asleep.)

Well- off to the "ROCK AND ROLL TEEN MASS" Momma Mia... its toddler heaven... and a nightmare for me. Imagine overstimulated toddlers dancing the aisles in Church.

We missed the 12:30 once before and I
Caught this mass.

At least this time the girls all have napped, and were well fed right before we left to drop Daddy off.
But I am not rushing as the whole hour with them at this mass WAS JUST TOO MUCH For me !
My aim is to arrive in time for the Gospel and the Homily.... and reduce the hour to the amount of time I can manage to get three little girls to wiggle IN THE SEATS instead of taking off on me in vivacious dance because THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH IT WHEN MY HANDS ARE FULL WITH THE BABY!

I have to say, Raitlin is becoming the little local celebrity. Everyone knows her wherever we go. Unfortunately it's that infamous kind of known: They remember her dancing in the aisle at church, or bowling over the other poor two year olds who are not hyper and understand respecting personal space,and the notion of RULES such as SIT DOWN, as she CRASHES through the crowd at story hour to exhuberantly jump up and down in front of the librarian shouting "I HAVE THAT BOOK AT HOME!!!"

REmoving her from the story hour never seems to be much of a deterrant....

And I can't remove her from church as that would be a reward!
Ahhh.....

Off for what I hope is an INSPIRING remainder of mass.

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