Well... it doesn't get much better than tonight. We were invited to a friend's house for games with another couple that we usually hang out with. It wasn't a friend's house, it was one they were house-sitting. And I wouldn't call this a "house", either. This house is 7500 square feet, and easily... easily over $1,000,000. The kitchen was entirely commercial grade, the TV room was obscene, the pool was great. They even had a trampoline in the back yard, flush with the ground. I don't think it was made for a 200-pound man doing butt-drops on it, though. :-) I hit bottom once; not a good feeling.
So yesterday was the day of doom for driving, and I thought it was going to be the story to top all stories. Not so. My friend, who works at a bank, was robbed a couple of weeks ago. Pretty scary experience for her, and I don't blame her one bit.
Anyway, a good time was had by all, and I got to test out the new windshield wipers on the way home... it's indeed monsoon season.
Friday, July 28
Thursday, July 27
Back in Tucson, this time for good...
...but it took a long time to get there. Oh, man.
Woke up this morning to a thunderstorm outside. I figured, OK, it's early, and it never storms in the morning.
It may never storm, but by the time we got on the road at 8:30, it was still raining.
At about 8:40, my windshield wipers started to fail. So now I am driving, with a deadline, in rush hour, with limited visibility. So far, so good.
We navigate the heavy traffic and get to the hospital with time to spare. Drop Michelle off at 9:30, and we're off to Tucson!
10:30 - We're at Casa Grande, and I'm starting to regret not getting the blades at least looked at. The rain had let up for a while, but is back to being a nuisance.
10:31 - Phone call from Michelle. They're having maintenance problems with the plane that's supposed to fly Stephen, so they have to change to a chopper. No big deal, except now she can't fly with him, so can I turn around and come get her please? I ask her to call my parents, but no dice: they don't want to bring her to Tucson. Can't blame them, really.
10:40 - Go to Wal-Mart in Casa Grande and get wiper blades.
10:41 - Install wiper blades.
10:41:01 - The rain has stopped falling for the day. Haven't seen a drop since, and it's 9 1/2 hours later. Ah well.. it's not like wiper blades are a bad investment. It's bound to rain again sometime this year, right?
12:05 Arrive back at the hospital, pick up Michelle, and we're off again.
2:30 Arrive in Tucson, drop Elizabeth off at the sitter's.
3:00 Arrive at the hospital after stopping by the house, unloading the car, getting the Internet turned back on (something about a past due bill...), throwing out all the food that had spoiled in the past three weeks, and turning the swamp cooler on, as it's 90 degrees in the house.
4:30 Leave the hospital after spending some quality time with the kiddo. We're all very tired at this point, as all three of us have had big days.
After the hospital, we went grocery shopping to replace the food we had pitched, and then picked up Elizabeth. We came home, cooked and ate dinner, and are getting ready to call it a night soon, after some slight unpacking (and a lot of dishes to do).
The boy is doing very very well... survived his flight, and the nurses at his new hospital are just as good as the ones from his old hospital. We like them, and we must admit, we like the fact that our drive there dropped from 45 minutes to about 10. Can't go wrong with that.
Pretty busy day, pretty busy day...
Woke up this morning to a thunderstorm outside. I figured, OK, it's early, and it never storms in the morning.
It may never storm, but by the time we got on the road at 8:30, it was still raining.
At about 8:40, my windshield wipers started to fail. So now I am driving, with a deadline, in rush hour, with limited visibility. So far, so good.
We navigate the heavy traffic and get to the hospital with time to spare. Drop Michelle off at 9:30, and we're off to Tucson!
10:30 - We're at Casa Grande, and I'm starting to regret not getting the blades at least looked at. The rain had let up for a while, but is back to being a nuisance.
10:31 - Phone call from Michelle. They're having maintenance problems with the plane that's supposed to fly Stephen, so they have to change to a chopper. No big deal, except now she can't fly with him, so can I turn around and come get her please? I ask her to call my parents, but no dice: they don't want to bring her to Tucson. Can't blame them, really.
10:40 - Go to Wal-Mart in Casa Grande and get wiper blades.
10:41 - Install wiper blades.
10:41:01 - The rain has stopped falling for the day. Haven't seen a drop since, and it's 9 1/2 hours later. Ah well.. it's not like wiper blades are a bad investment. It's bound to rain again sometime this year, right?
12:05 Arrive back at the hospital, pick up Michelle, and we're off again.
2:30 Arrive in Tucson, drop Elizabeth off at the sitter's.
3:00 Arrive at the hospital after stopping by the house, unloading the car, getting the Internet turned back on (something about a past due bill...), throwing out all the food that had spoiled in the past three weeks, and turning the swamp cooler on, as it's 90 degrees in the house.
4:30 Leave the hospital after spending some quality time with the kiddo. We're all very tired at this point, as all three of us have had big days.
After the hospital, we went grocery shopping to replace the food we had pitched, and then picked up Elizabeth. We came home, cooked and ate dinner, and are getting ready to call it a night soon, after some slight unpacking (and a lot of dishes to do).
The boy is doing very very well... survived his flight, and the nurses at his new hospital are just as good as the ones from his old hospital. We like them, and we must admit, we like the fact that our drive there dropped from 45 minutes to about 10. Can't go wrong with that.
Pretty busy day, pretty busy day...
Tuesday, July 25
It's Monsoon Time!!
FINALLY after watching news reports for the past ten days about the EVIL monsoons and how they were raining watery doom upon the greater Phoenix area... FINALLY after enduring ten days of one hundred and ten degree temperatures... FINALLY tonight it is storming outside, the likes of which I haven't seen since the latest "Anderson Cooper is Here" special report on CNN. Heavy winds, heavy rain, and lots of thunder and lightning.
As soon as it hit, I went outside to help Dick shore up the house (i.e. shut all the windows), and then went out to the carport to observe the storm firsthand. The rain was falling so hard it was like there was a curtain of water falling from the front of the carport. I sequestered myself just beyond the splash zone and started shooting pictures... we'll have to wait until the storm dies down to see how they came out, as the picture transfer software is on Mom's computer, and since that's plugged into the wall, she doesn't want that on. I'm really grateful for the laptop, and I'm extremely grateful that I was able to get the sound working on the laptop, as I'm sitting in here listening to some good music while typing. I feel like a king right now.
Downloaded some music today -- picked up some Husker Du on the recommendation of a friend -- and holy cow, is it awesome. I also grabbed a Stone Roses song that I've been wanting to listen to for a while, and also an album by an Italian group called Finley. They're pretty good -- they sing in English as well as Italian. They're Italian stuff tends to be heavier and darker, and their English stuff pretty poppy. I burned a CD of them for the ride to the hospital tomorrow.
I'm starting to think -- especially after listening to the Finley -- that I should really focus on writing to my strengths, and there's probably a market out there for rock songs that are written around a bass line with piano/keyboards. Heck, I can do that.
Can't forget about the Stephen visit today -- Mom drove, so Michelle and I got to sleep during the ride up. We had a really quality visit, and the doctor says we should be able to transfer him to Tucson either Thursday or Friday, which will be great. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but we are really looking forward to a return to normalcy, and getting back to our own house will help that out very, very much.
I'll try to get pictures of the monsoon up later... hopefully I got at least one or two that turned out OK.
As soon as it hit, I went outside to help Dick shore up the house (i.e. shut all the windows), and then went out to the carport to observe the storm firsthand. The rain was falling so hard it was like there was a curtain of water falling from the front of the carport. I sequestered myself just beyond the splash zone and started shooting pictures... we'll have to wait until the storm dies down to see how they came out, as the picture transfer software is on Mom's computer, and since that's plugged into the wall, she doesn't want that on. I'm really grateful for the laptop, and I'm extremely grateful that I was able to get the sound working on the laptop, as I'm sitting in here listening to some good music while typing. I feel like a king right now.
Downloaded some music today -- picked up some Husker Du on the recommendation of a friend -- and holy cow, is it awesome. I also grabbed a Stone Roses song that I've been wanting to listen to for a while, and also an album by an Italian group called Finley. They're pretty good -- they sing in English as well as Italian. They're Italian stuff tends to be heavier and darker, and their English stuff pretty poppy. I burned a CD of them for the ride to the hospital tomorrow.
I'm starting to think -- especially after listening to the Finley -- that I should really focus on writing to my strengths, and there's probably a market out there for rock songs that are written around a bass line with piano/keyboards. Heck, I can do that.
Can't forget about the Stephen visit today -- Mom drove, so Michelle and I got to sleep during the ride up. We had a really quality visit, and the doctor says we should be able to transfer him to Tucson either Thursday or Friday, which will be great. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but we are really looking forward to a return to normalcy, and getting back to our own house will help that out very, very much.
I'll try to get pictures of the monsoon up later... hopefully I got at least one or two that turned out OK.
Monday, July 24
Life thoughts
No, this isn't another post on the miracle/mystery/beauty of life brought about by visiting my son in the hospital, but rather an interesting line of thought I've been pursuing over the past couple of days.
I've always believed that with God, there are to "grey areas" in life... everything is black and white, you're either following Him, or you're not. I've had some experiences with scripture recently to support this idea.
What I've determined is that everything in life is a "yes or no" question. When we pass to the other side of the veil, and we are questioned by our Savior as to the quality of our life, it's not going to be questions like "What callings have you held?", "How many children did you have?", or "How much money did you make?", but rather questions like "Did you magnify the callings you were given?", "Did you raise a righteous family/Were you a righteous and worthy parent/spouse?", or "Did you keep a responsible stewardship over that which was assigned to you?" Our status in the Lord's Kingdom depends on if we can answer these "yes or no" questions, not to which degrees we can answer them. I'm also sure that one of the questions will be "Did you serve the Lord to the best of your abilities?"
President Spencer W. Kimball (I think) said something about two questions that the Lord would ask us, and if I recall correctly, I think they were both "yes or no" type questions.
Anyway, I was thinking that that's all our life boils down to: a series of "yes or no" questions. If we live our lives so that we keep these questions in mind, it will be a lot easier. And more importantly, if we choose early on our answers to these "yes or no" questions, it makes everything that much easier in the long run.
This needs to be more organized and I need to pull some references from the scriptures to support what I've been thinking, but I honestly think I'm on to something here.
I've always believed that with God, there are to "grey areas" in life... everything is black and white, you're either following Him, or you're not. I've had some experiences with scripture recently to support this idea.
What I've determined is that everything in life is a "yes or no" question. When we pass to the other side of the veil, and we are questioned by our Savior as to the quality of our life, it's not going to be questions like "What callings have you held?", "How many children did you have?", or "How much money did you make?", but rather questions like "Did you magnify the callings you were given?", "Did you raise a righteous family/Were you a righteous and worthy parent/spouse?", or "Did you keep a responsible stewardship over that which was assigned to you?" Our status in the Lord's Kingdom depends on if we can answer these "yes or no" questions, not to which degrees we can answer them. I'm also sure that one of the questions will be "Did you serve the Lord to the best of your abilities?"
President Spencer W. Kimball (I think) said something about two questions that the Lord would ask us, and if I recall correctly, I think they were both "yes or no" type questions.
Anyway, I was thinking that that's all our life boils down to: a series of "yes or no" questions. If we live our lives so that we keep these questions in mind, it will be a lot easier. And more importantly, if we choose early on our answers to these "yes or no" questions, it makes everything that much easier in the long run.
This needs to be more organized and I need to pull some references from the scriptures to support what I've been thinking, but I honestly think I'm on to something here.
A certain disconnect
There's been a certain disconnect for me over the past week and a half or so. I usually define my days by what tasks I have to perform at work, or what baseball games are on, or what activities I have to do that evening (usually church-related). Ever since I've come up to Phoenix, I've completely lost track of the days. With Michelle being a bit under the weather yesterday, we didn't even get to go to church, so that disconnect was there again. I'm pretty sure today is Monday, and I even managed to guess correctly without even looking! Given everything that's happened recently, I'm pretty proud of that accomplishment...
Saturday, July 22
Weekend Update
Hey, look at me! I've got the laptop up and running, and I also have a wireless Internet connection, so while the rest of the family is watching a boring design show on HGTV, I get to sit here and surf the web. Rock on!
Went and visited Stephen again today. It's what we do every day, and I'm glad that we are getting time to do that. He got to meet his big sister yesterday, even though he was asleep for most of the visit. Today was just Michelle and myself, and we had a blast. Michelle got to make up for yesterday by holding him the entire visit, as she was taking care of Elizabeth, who was getting very jealous of her daddy holding a new baby. It will definitely be interesting to see how those two get along when we finally get to bring him home.
I've been doing a lot of work on the novel again... I've completely changed the idea, and have been able to get some characters created, and a bit of an outline together. I spent a couple of hours today doing research online on writing detective fiction, and I'm looking forward -- now that the Internet is working from the living room -- to spend some quality time writing.
I tell you -- between the visit to Ikea today (had to pick up a new stuffed bear for Elizabeth) and these design shows, I am really glad I don't need a lot to get by in life. Very spartan, modern, minimalist. One day, when I'm able to actually assemble a house how I want it, that's how I'm going to go. It's really the only way.
Went and visited Stephen again today. It's what we do every day, and I'm glad that we are getting time to do that. He got to meet his big sister yesterday, even though he was asleep for most of the visit. Today was just Michelle and myself, and we had a blast. Michelle got to make up for yesterday by holding him the entire visit, as she was taking care of Elizabeth, who was getting very jealous of her daddy holding a new baby. It will definitely be interesting to see how those two get along when we finally get to bring him home.
I've been doing a lot of work on the novel again... I've completely changed the idea, and have been able to get some characters created, and a bit of an outline together. I spent a couple of hours today doing research online on writing detective fiction, and I'm looking forward -- now that the Internet is working from the living room -- to spend some quality time writing.
I tell you -- between the visit to Ikea today (had to pick up a new stuffed bear for Elizabeth) and these design shows, I am really glad I don't need a lot to get by in life. Very spartan, modern, minimalist. One day, when I'm able to actually assemble a house how I want it, that's how I'm going to go. It's really the only way.
Tuesday, July 18
RMI #15 - getting caught up
Home for the evening in Tucson, and I thought I would take some of my downtime and do what I do best... write.
You know it's been a long time since you started something when the feed on the site says, "Two Months Ago, Pronoia wrote..." and then the title of the article appears: Listen to the whispers of your possessions (Exercise #15).
This is something that I'm very keen on. I have long thought of myself as someone who does not have a lot of possessions, nor do I need a lot of possessions. I enjoy going through my life, leaving what I call a "small footprint" behind. I don't take up much space, I just go through and try to get the most accomplished and the most good done for myself, my family, and other people as possible.
Occasionally my possessions will tell me "You are not using me as much as you can be," or similarly "You are not using me as much as you thought you would." At this point, I start evaluating: is this something I currently use, is this something I am going to use in the future, or more likely, is this something I bought on a whim a long time ago with some grandiose design or mildly unreachable goal in mind, and should I refocus on that goal or cut said possession loose?
I'll admit that there is nothing really screaming at me right now to do anything about... the only exception I can think of would be my guitar, which occasionally tells me that I'm not being creative enough, yet sometimes I just haven't felt that fire. I think my life is pared down enough to the point where I feel the voices of my inner creativity calling me more than the voices of any individual possessions I have. And I think that's a good thing.
You know it's been a long time since you started something when the feed on the site says, "Two Months Ago, Pronoia wrote..." and then the title of the article appears: Listen to the whispers of your possessions (Exercise #15).
This is something that I'm very keen on. I have long thought of myself as someone who does not have a lot of possessions, nor do I need a lot of possessions. I enjoy going through my life, leaving what I call a "small footprint" behind. I don't take up much space, I just go through and try to get the most accomplished and the most good done for myself, my family, and other people as possible.
Occasionally my possessions will tell me "You are not using me as much as you can be," or similarly "You are not using me as much as you thought you would." At this point, I start evaluating: is this something I currently use, is this something I am going to use in the future, or more likely, is this something I bought on a whim a long time ago with some grandiose design or mildly unreachable goal in mind, and should I refocus on that goal or cut said possession loose?
I'll admit that there is nothing really screaming at me right now to do anything about... the only exception I can think of would be my guitar, which occasionally tells me that I'm not being creative enough, yet sometimes I just haven't felt that fire. I think my life is pared down enough to the point where I feel the voices of my inner creativity calling me more than the voices of any individual possessions I have. And I think that's a good thing.
Monday, July 17
Random Thoughts on a Lonely Monday Night
Michelle and I are both home from the hospital, and after having had to run to the pharmacy for supplies for Michelle, I find myself "out of a job" again. Michelle is resting comfortably on the couch, my parents are watching TV, and Elizabeth is sleeping. I, therefore, have nothing to do, and no role to fill currently. So, I'm typing on the compuer. This is going to be a lot more stream-of-consciousness than I am used to.
I am wearing hospital bracelets on my left wrist, both of which provide me with full, unrestricted access to my child at my whim. If you've read the blog earlier, you know that on May 15, I stopped wearing a watch completely. For the past few days now, I'm finding myself randomly looking down at my wrist, expecting it to tell me something other than coded data about my son, known on my wrist as "Boy Calabresi". It's annoying, as I seem to have developed a nervous tic with glancing at my wrist frequently, yet knowing there's nothing there. I wonder if it's the same thing as randomly checking the refrigerator when one is hungry, although there is obviously nothing materializing behind the door.
I found myself thinking a lot recently about my need for personal time on a daily basis, and I hope that my family can understand that I need some time every day to just be with myself. It's not that I don't want to spend time with them -- although sitting in front of the television watching what passes for "situation comedy" does not appeal to me in the least -- but rather a need to just go off and be alone for a while. I'm glad that that is being respected so far, especially after a week of not really taking any time for myself at all.
I'm still gathering ideas for characters for a story... there's a person sitting in my head now, and has been for a while, that is aching to get out and be put on paper. I'm not sure how well I know this person yet, or even how he's going to be in the long run, but I know some aspects of him, and he seems to be a generally good guy. I'm going to spend some time tomorrow getting to know him, I think, and then see what I can put down about him.
One of the things I'm looking forward to about getting a laptop is combining my alone, my creative time with time spent with my family. I can sit in front of the TV and tune it out while physically being in the same room as my family, yet be focused on getting ideas down and meeting new people at the same time. I do see myself as a writer... a writer of music, a writer of words... it's definitely an artistic side of me that I do love exploring...
I am so looking forward to a decent shower and shave tomorrow morning. There are a couple of telephone calls that I need to make, and some errands that need need need to be run first thing in the morning, before anything else, even before going to the hospital. I'm thinking we should start brown-bagging our lunch from here, and using our funds wisely, namely, for gasoline. The funds that were collected from my co-workers were magical and timely, and lasted just until Michelle's hospital stay ended. I ate very little, too!
I had come up with an alternate title for my blog, since "A Year In the Life" isn't going to cut it, as I have officially decided to keep this going beyond one year. However, I have forgotten it. Here's hoping that I will be able to creatively pursue this and remember my original title.
Hope everything is going well on the home front. I am expecting a package from Germany, and do not want that to stall at the post office. I may have to return to Tucson sooner than expected, if anything just to get some supplies. Plus, returning to Tucson will break the monotony for me, and allow me to feel more in my element by helping others out. Although, to be honest, the drive is going to KILL me. Especially with how hot it has been up here, and in the States overall. The weather report just came on the television today, and the high temperature today was a whopping 111ºF. Pretty hot day, pretty hot day...
I am wearing hospital bracelets on my left wrist, both of which provide me with full, unrestricted access to my child at my whim. If you've read the blog earlier, you know that on May 15, I stopped wearing a watch completely. For the past few days now, I'm finding myself randomly looking down at my wrist, expecting it to tell me something other than coded data about my son, known on my wrist as "Boy Calabresi". It's annoying, as I seem to have developed a nervous tic with glancing at my wrist frequently, yet knowing there's nothing there. I wonder if it's the same thing as randomly checking the refrigerator when one is hungry, although there is obviously nothing materializing behind the door.
I found myself thinking a lot recently about my need for personal time on a daily basis, and I hope that my family can understand that I need some time every day to just be with myself. It's not that I don't want to spend time with them -- although sitting in front of the television watching what passes for "situation comedy" does not appeal to me in the least -- but rather a need to just go off and be alone for a while. I'm glad that that is being respected so far, especially after a week of not really taking any time for myself at all.
I'm still gathering ideas for characters for a story... there's a person sitting in my head now, and has been for a while, that is aching to get out and be put on paper. I'm not sure how well I know this person yet, or even how he's going to be in the long run, but I know some aspects of him, and he seems to be a generally good guy. I'm going to spend some time tomorrow getting to know him, I think, and then see what I can put down about him.
One of the things I'm looking forward to about getting a laptop is combining my alone, my creative time with time spent with my family. I can sit in front of the TV and tune it out while physically being in the same room as my family, yet be focused on getting ideas down and meeting new people at the same time. I do see myself as a writer... a writer of music, a writer of words... it's definitely an artistic side of me that I do love exploring...
I am so looking forward to a decent shower and shave tomorrow morning. There are a couple of telephone calls that I need to make, and some errands that need need need to be run first thing in the morning, before anything else, even before going to the hospital. I'm thinking we should start brown-bagging our lunch from here, and using our funds wisely, namely, for gasoline. The funds that were collected from my co-workers were magical and timely, and lasted just until Michelle's hospital stay ended. I ate very little, too!
I had come up with an alternate title for my blog, since "A Year In the Life" isn't going to cut it, as I have officially decided to keep this going beyond one year. However, I have forgotten it. Here's hoping that I will be able to creatively pursue this and remember my original title.
Hope everything is going well on the home front. I am expecting a package from Germany, and do not want that to stall at the post office. I may have to return to Tucson sooner than expected, if anything just to get some supplies. Plus, returning to Tucson will break the monotony for me, and allow me to feel more in my element by helping others out. Although, to be honest, the drive is going to KILL me. Especially with how hot it has been up here, and in the States overall. The weather report just came on the television today, and the high temperature today was a whopping 111ºF. Pretty hot day, pretty hot day...
Update from the hospital
Turns out the hospital computer room is closed on the weekends, so I have been shut in here with Michelle for the past couple of days with no way to contact people. But, other than that (and the crushing loss the Diamondbacks suffered last night) it's been a good weekend. We visited Stephen a few times and Michelle even found the strength to walk down to the NICU. Michelle gets her staples out today and even gets to go home later this afternoon! This is a wonderful development, and we are all looking forward to some semblance of normalcy returning to our lives. Michelle won't be able to lift heavy weights or drive a car for a few weeks, but that's what I'm for, right?
Stephen is doing very, very well... he's as happy as a clam and has some wonderful nurses taking care of him. Both Michelle and I took a lot of time yesterday to hold him and just rock him for a little bit, and today he's getting a bath, which Michelle wants to be present for.
All in all, it's been a great weekend with much progress made by all involved. I won't miss sleeping on the cot in the hospital room, either! Or the hospital food, or the limited selection of channels on the television, or no internet, or... but I'm not complaining. :-)
Stephen is doing very, very well... he's as happy as a clam and has some wonderful nurses taking care of him. Both Michelle and I took a lot of time yesterday to hold him and just rock him for a little bit, and today he's getting a bath, which Michelle wants to be present for.
All in all, it's been a great weekend with much progress made by all involved. I won't miss sleeping on the cot in the hospital room, either! Or the hospital food, or the limited selection of channels on the television, or no internet, or... but I'm not complaining. :-)
Saturday, July 15
Picture of Stephen
Here he is! He was doing better yesterday, had the C-pap removed and that was replaced by a pacifier roughly the size of his face. Mom, Dad, and Grandma all got to hold him.
The network at Mom's is wonko this morning. I'm going to end this quickly and not push my luck. Hopefully I'll be able to update at the hospital this weekend; I don't know the hours of the computer lab there on weekends.
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