Day Six

The last day. Today, I helped lay more tile, as well as clean the house. I got to sleep in a bit, seeing as it was my birthday today, but I still had to do work. Fortunately, it was a short work day, and I left for dinner at my friend Elaine's house with her and a couple of our mutual friends. All in all, a pleasant evening.

Actually, I'm excited because Adam and Erika are coming up in January to visit and attend my birthday bash. I'm stoked about that.

Tomorrow, it's back home to Boston. It's been a long week.

Day Five

A modern miracle happened this evening. My family had dinner together. Not just me, my brothers, and my mom, but my dad, as well. In my presence, he hasn't set foot in this house in more than 17 years, but tonight we all had Christmas Eve dinner together. My mom's condition was causal to this wonderful event. Simple talk at the table and plenty to eat. So strange how this could all happen.

Day Four

Terrible news today. My mom has end stage cancer. The doctors say that she has 3-6 months left to her. I wish I could say I was desolate, but I'm not. I feel a mixture of relief and anguish, and I guess that's only natural. I realize that cancer is a very painful disease, and in that sense, I'm glad that she doesn't have much left to her, as I don't want her to suffer long. I guess all that we can do now is to make her as comfortable as possible.

Before, I held out hope that, somehow, her condition would be able to improve, and that the cancer she did have was one that could be relatively easily cured. But now, all that's changed. I've lost hope for her return to health, and now, I've got to start to come to grips with the future: life without my mom. And, with that, what happens to our family when we've lost our core?

Day Three

Lots o'fun today. This morning was pretty good, actually. I woke up early (not that I didn't wake up at 4 to help my mom) and went off to the gym. Had a pretty good workout. After that, my brother and I did some housework, tearing up old flooring in preparation for placing new flooring for the bathroom and the family room. Now, I'm beat and headed off for some much needed rest.

Only three days to go.

Day Two

After the shock of Day One, Day Two wasn't bad at all. It was pretty much the same as Day One, though I'm a little more psychologically prepared for it all. *Sigh*. I've got to pull up some carpeting in the family room now.

Today is a day of mourning, as at least 20 troops and civilians were killed today in a rocket or mortar attack in Mosul. We must prevail here to bring a stable democratic goverment in Iraq. Any other result will be a cruel blow against the Western world from fundamentalist Islam.

Day One

I just returned home again for the Christmas holidays, and already, I feel like I've been here a whole week. We still don't know much about my mom's cancer, and this week, she's going to be undertaking another battery of tests.

It's difficult taking care of my mom. She's become like a child again, constantly demanding attention in a very impetuous way. It's maddening. But, we all must try to grin and bear it and take care of her as best as possible, because she's our mother, and that's what sons do.

But in other news, Right Wing News has put up their 2004 edition of The Twenty Most Annoying Liberals in the United States. It's a good list, including such luminaries as Ted Rall and, of course, Michael Moore, although Andrew Sullivan definitely does not deserve to be on the list. There are other kinds of conservatives besides the religious ones, folks.

To alcohol!

Just had a kid come in trying to buy a Bud. Carded him, and he's 20 with one month to go. No sale. Usually, I don't check ID, but this kid looked young, and I called him on it. First time that's happened. Nice.

Both parties Friday evening were pretty good. The company party was fine. The buffet was good, and I got to go up twice. I also had plenty of appetizers and cheesecake. Nice. I didn't get to talk to Lynne at all at Rachel's party. In fact, most of the night, I talked to Kristen's friends. I also had an incredibly bad time remembering the name of a girl I was introduced to twice at this party. Man, was I out of it. The place was packed shoulder-to-shoulder for about 1/2 an hour to an hour. I didn't stay long, as Steve was my ride home, and he wanted to bug out. That's ok, though, as I was feeling low key.

Melinda's party was fun. There were plenty of people there; some were incredibly attractive. Mel's roommate is definitely one of the sexiest girls I've ever met. I don't know how old she is, but I think that she's still under 21. Too bad. Laura's friend from home was there. She's definitely attractive, and she has a wonderful personality. She's a cool cat, and definitely friend material. It was a great time. There was much Twister playing and Spin the Bottle playing. And plenty of food. Besides the stuff that was already there, one of the guests owned a Chinese restaurant in East Boston, so he got some people to bring several Pu Pu platters, which I gleefully consumed. There were also some Chinese cooks in the car, and I spoke to them for a little while, drunk, of course. I didn't get home until 3 in the morning. All in all, a great time.