So much has happened since my last post: the holidays and all their excitement, of course, but also I bought a house. I've spent the past week painting the inside (there were some crazy colors...) and acquiring things to put inside it (such as appliances, furniture, etc...) Tomorrow is my last free day before I have to go back to work, so it'll likely be busy. I haven't moved any of my stuff over yet. I was planning on doing it tomorrow, but I'm starting to hink that maybe I should just gradually move stuff over instead of everything at once. We'll see happens after I finish up the painting.

I think this may be my last post for a while. I don't have the time to post any more, and even when I do, very few of my friends ever read Xanga anymore. I may pick it up again later, or I may move on to another blog for a fresh start. Time will tell what I decide to do. Until then, it's been good knowing you, Xanga!

I went with my mom tonight to visit my dad again. He's gotten better - he ate all of his food today and kept it down. But at the same time, he's still taking a long time to recover. He's going to need a wheelchair and a walker, and a few other handicapped accessories once he gets out of the hospital. Let me be the first to say that neither this house, not his life is handicapped accessible. His bathroom is tiny. Rooms require stepping up or down to enter or leave. The dog [his only source of fun] has been taught by him to be hyper and jump on people. [I told him this is a bad idea, but of course I'm just ruining his fun.] This is going to be hard. My dad won't be able to drive for at least a few months, and of course all yard work is right out. I doubt my brother will help with much, if anything - I see him maybe once every two months. This is going to be quite hard.

Earlier this week I had an opportunity to buy an good house in a great neighborhood for a very very low price. I'd been talking to a friend about living together and we're both pretty much in the same situation: post college and way too old to be living with our parents. The only problem was that since this house was such a great deal, it was going to go fast, and was basically a "now or never" deal. I'd thought [and prayed] about it for a few days until it came to the point where I had to make a bid on it or let it go. I was completely neutral and could have gone either way. I really wanted to do it, but I figured I probably need to stay at home for my parents. I asked the potential roommate [who was also sort of neutral due to his own personal issues] if he was in or out, and then prayed that  his answer would be what God wanted me to do. I got a text back saying "I want to, but now is just bad timing". So I let the house go.  I think that was the right thing to do, and I'm so glad that God is watching out for me.

Hopefully my dad will start to recover at a better pace than he has so far and won't be "out of commission" for as long as he thinks he will. Also, I hope that he'll get over any sort of "I want to be able to brag about how bad I'm doing so people will give me attention" attitude he may have. I'm not saying that he's like that for sure, but it sure seems like it sometimes.

Thanks for the prayers... and don't stop!

He had surgery for his back on Tuesday, and was supposed to come home the next day. Well he wasn't doing well at all when we went up to visit him, partially because he's so fat [he could seriously lose about 70 pounds], and partially because he had a negative reaction to the pain medicine they were giving him. He seemed healthier tonight than he was Tuesday, but also a lot more miserable. I understand that being stuck in a hospital bed with stiches in one's back and tubes in unspeakable places can put anyone in a bad mood, but it should also give that person the motivation to try to get better and get out of there. I get depressed just seenig him there. He's got no drive to help himself get better... He keeps his eyes closed and just lays in the bed, only opening them if he really wants to see something. All he talks about is how he's uncomfortable, and honestly he has no interests other than TV, so his level of comfort dominates all forced conversation.

As long as I can remember my mom [who is blind] has done everything she can for him. She cooks all of his food and brings it to him. She answers the phones. She answers the door if there is a visitor. She walks the dog in the yard. Anything he tells her [not asks, mind you] she does. Now that he's in the hospital, he's making the nurses do everything for him... except that they talk back and and resist as long as he can because they know that he needs to do things himself if he is going to recover. Tonight he wanted to turn over in his bed, and he's too weak to do it himself [also depresses me, but another reason why he should have been losing weight] so he paged the nurse. No one came, so he paged again. 10 minutes later, he paged again. Finally after a total of about maybe 15 minutes someone came in to help him. My mom [she doesn't know any better] was complaining with him that it shouldn't take that long and that it was a sign that they need more nurses there. I think they didn't come on purpose because he needs to turn over himself. I don't think he got it.

The doctor [whom no one has seen since the surgery] is trying to get him into in-patient physical therapy. That will keep him in the hospital for a few more days [after the 3-day weekend, I imagine]. Truth be told, I'd rather him be there than at home. My mom won't be able to handle him in this state, and when he gets frustrated he yells. It would not be a good situation. Maybe if he has to stay there for a while he'll finally get sick of being stationary all day doing nothing but watching TV. I don't know.. I just hope he gets better soon.

My mom starts her radiation treatment next week. Hopefully that won't have any negative effects on her. I don't know if I'd be able to take care of both of them. Heh, maybe I can't find a good house to buy for a reason...

Please keep them [and me] in your prayers over the next few weeks.