thismightwork:

3

1. My Friday the 13th consisted of my dad having a minor stroke. I had to call 911 for an ambulance and have now been at the hospital for roughly 21 hours. My dad is stable and doing much better now. But that was some scary shit. Currently we’re waiting for the neurologist to come by on rounds and sign off on his discharge. I really hope that’s soon because both he and I are exhausted.

2. For anyone who is new to following me and hasn’t read about the saga before, my dad had a minor stroke 7 years ago. He was 80 at the time, and healthy as a horse. In the intervening years, his physical and cognitive abilities have slowly deteriorated, but he’s still pretty independent and doesn’t require constant care. I moved my parents in with me to make things easier - both for me to help them and for them to be helped. I tag posts “family over everything” sometimes, and this is what I mean. It’s not an ideal situation for a single guy in his early 40s to have his folks living with him, but it’s also not something I thought twice about. You just do these things for family, no questions asked.

3. My sister and 4 year old nephew took my mom to Chicago on Thursday to surprise my aunt for her bday. So of course this all happened the next day. I’m fortunate that my brother is around. He dropped everything at work and came to the hospital yesterday, and has been really helpful. Again, if you’ve not followed along here for very long, my brother being dependable is a fairly recent occurrence.

TL;DR: I’m tired, very tired. But I’m doing what needs to be done. Any positive thoughts sent my dad’s way are appreciated.

26 hours later, we are home.

3

1. My Friday the 13th consisted of my dad having a minor stroke. I had to call 911 for an ambulance and have now been at the hospital for roughly 21 hours. My dad is stable and doing much better now. But that was some scary shit. Currently we’re waiting for the neurologist to come by on rounds and sign off on his discharge. I really hope that’s soon because both he and I are exhausted.

2. For anyone who is new to following me and hasn’t read about the saga before, my dad had a minor stroke 7 years ago. He was 80 at the time, and healthy as a horse. In the intervening years, his physical and cognitive abilities have slowly deteriorated, but he’s still pretty independent and doesn’t require constant care. I moved my parents in with me to make things easier - both for me to help them and for them to be helped. I tag posts “family over everything” sometimes, and this is what I mean. It’s not an ideal situation for a single guy in his early 40s to have his folks living with him, but it’s also not something I thought twice about. You just do these things for family, no questions asked.

3. My sister and 4 year old nephew took my mom to Chicago on Thursday to surprise my aunt for her bday. So of course this all happened the next day. I’m fortunate that my brother is around. He dropped everything at work and came to the hospital yesterday, and has been really helpful. Again, if you’ve not followed along here for very long, my brother being dependable is a fairly recent occurrence.

TL;DR: I’m tired, very tired. But I’m doing what needs to be done. Any positive thoughts sent my dad’s way are appreciated.

30-minute meetings ballooning into 2-hour meetings are much easier to tolerate since I started working from home.

I forgot how much more 4 year olds enjoy playing in the dirt than playing baseball.

Work to-do list for the week is done, barring last-minute requests from others. It’s my last 5-day week of work (holiday-shortened week next week, 4-day weeks start after that).

This job, as I’ve said many times now, is the best one I’ve ever had.

I did not clean bathrooms today. I cleaned out the garage instead, and then fixed my bike. 85 and sunny out, way too nice to be inside.

Now I’m chilling on the deck, looking up at this behemoth of an oak tree in the backyard. Pretty nice Saturday.

Got three projects off my plate this morning (for the time being, the stuff I work on moves in phases), and have nothing left on the week’s to-do list. Next week is looking pretty light due in part to vacations on my team, so I’m looking at a mostly stellar end to May work-wise.

We also just all got raises! And in June we transition to a 4-day work week! And I work from home! This job continues to get better and better and I’m trying not to allow my pessimistic nature to take over in regards to all this good fortune!

I underestimated how much an hour of tee ball with a bunch of 4 year olds can improve your mood.