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Jul. 10th, 2021 07:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunabee341. We are home! I am a genius, so we came home to a delightfully clean house (always clean house before you leave!), and I slept on crisp clean sheets, and I did not get up to pee even one single time!!
2. We have the most wonderful friends. We started the claim for Emma's laptop with Asurion before we left, and the packing materials arrived while we were gone, so they shipped it for us with the results that Asurion already has her laptop and is working to fix it, greatly allaying my fears that she won't get it back in time to take it with her to college.
3. Fiona is doing great, my dad is doing great, I am not having any terrible side effects from my new meds, Josh has his first dose of the new med in him, no poopacalypse was had, hooray!
4. Oh, y'all. This trip was emotionally rough. We haven't seen Josh's parents in two years, and his mother has deteriorated a great deal. She just says the same thing over and over again, and it was relatively easy for us to listen to the same story over and over again because we are guests and we get to leave, but Josh's dad has 100% checked out. He does all the chores and he does all the cooking and he's not mean to her, but he's completely disengaged from her. It hurts Josh to not only see how much his mother has deteriorated mentally but how distant his father is. It also became clear to me that the real reason she's not traveling is not really because of her colitis (which is genuine; she was hospitalized for it after all) but because of her memory issues. She's aware enough of them to know that she has them and that she can't travel with them by herself, so she couldn't go see her sister in the hospital, for example, because she'd have to drive to Tennessee by herself. And she's also aware enough of them that I believe she is embarrassed so that she didn't want to expose them to my family which is why she didn't come to my parents' a couple weeks ago or to Emma's graduation. I don't think she'll ever travel again. I am resolved to do a better job calling her and sending her letters and cards and having the girls send her drawings and etc.
The visit was also rough for me because there's zero regard for my celiac, and it's really hard not to let it hurt my feelings; his mom doesn't hurt my feelings because she literally can't do any better, but his dad is a different story.
5.executrix sends me the best books. I just finished a wonderful book of criticism she sent me.
Victorian Literature by Austin Wright
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I absolutely thoroughly enjoyed this. It's a collection of criticism published in 1960, most of it from the thirties and forties. Only a single woman is included (Virginia Woolf) which is a major flaw, but overall, the essays are very readable and illustrate early to mid-twentieth-century perspectives on Victorian literature. The essay by Lord Cecil David is utterly delightful and a must-read.
View all my reviews
For whatever reason, the review of Screwtape letters is borked when I try to import it here, so here's the C&P of the text: This is very cleverly done; it's never laugh out loud funny, but it's witty and amusing. Lewis also makes some very shrewd observations about human nature. It's eminently quotable. I would be deeply surprised if this is not an inspiration for Good Omens.
2. We have the most wonderful friends. We started the claim for Emma's laptop with Asurion before we left, and the packing materials arrived while we were gone, so they shipped it for us with the results that Asurion already has her laptop and is working to fix it, greatly allaying my fears that she won't get it back in time to take it with her to college.
3. Fiona is doing great, my dad is doing great, I am not having any terrible side effects from my new meds, Josh has his first dose of the new med in him, no poopacalypse was had, hooray!
4. Oh, y'all. This trip was emotionally rough. We haven't seen Josh's parents in two years, and his mother has deteriorated a great deal. She just says the same thing over and over again, and it was relatively easy for us to listen to the same story over and over again because we are guests and we get to leave, but Josh's dad has 100% checked out. He does all the chores and he does all the cooking and he's not mean to her, but he's completely disengaged from her. It hurts Josh to not only see how much his mother has deteriorated mentally but how distant his father is. It also became clear to me that the real reason she's not traveling is not really because of her colitis (which is genuine; she was hospitalized for it after all) but because of her memory issues. She's aware enough of them to know that she has them and that she can't travel with them by herself, so she couldn't go see her sister in the hospital, for example, because she'd have to drive to Tennessee by herself. And she's also aware enough of them that I believe she is embarrassed so that she didn't want to expose them to my family which is why she didn't come to my parents' a couple weeks ago or to Emma's graduation. I don't think she'll ever travel again. I am resolved to do a better job calling her and sending her letters and cards and having the girls send her drawings and etc.
The visit was also rough for me because there's zero regard for my celiac, and it's really hard not to let it hurt my feelings; his mom doesn't hurt my feelings because she literally can't do any better, but his dad is a different story.
5.
executrix sends me the best books. I just finished a wonderful book of criticism she sent me.Victorian Literature by Austin WrightMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I absolutely thoroughly enjoyed this. It's a collection of criticism published in 1960, most of it from the thirties and forties. Only a single woman is included (Virginia Woolf) which is a major flaw, but overall, the essays are very readable and illustrate early to mid-twentieth-century perspectives on Victorian literature. The essay by Lord Cecil David is utterly delightful and a must-read.
View all my reviews
For whatever reason, the review of Screwtape letters is borked when I try to import it here, so here's the C&P of the text: This is very cleverly done; it's never laugh out loud funny, but it's witty and amusing. Lewis also makes some very shrewd observations about human nature. It's eminently quotable. I would be deeply surprised if this is not an inspiration for Good Omens.
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Date: 2021-07-10 11:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2021-07-10 02:09 pm (UTC)I'm glad that Emma's computer is getting fixed as we speak.
So pleased you're all doing well and there was no poopacalypse.
That's too bad about your m-i-l. Sounds like my aunt. It'll be nice for her to get calls and cards and drawings.
Ugh that your celiac isn't taken into account when you visit there. It's really not that difficult. It totally sucks, but if you visit again, maybe you can take some GF options and "offer" to cook some evenings just so there's something you can safely eat. I mean, even steak, veggie and potato is GF! *shakes head* It frustrates me when people don't take Pip's needs into account, and I'm now transferring that to you, lol!
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Date: 2021-07-10 02:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2021-07-10 03:06 pm (UTC)It really sucks, but it is what it is, I guess. I loved that she visited here a couple weeks ago, and I am so, so glad I got to see her, even if she won't remember the visit at all.
It's so hard to be a caretaker - may his dad needs to set up some respite care and take a little time for himself.
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Date: 2021-07-10 03:15 pm (UTC)I agree 100% with tabaqui about respite care. It might also be possible to get an escort to drive your mom to see people she wants to see (however frustrating for both parties) and make sure she doesn't get lost and does get meals at reasonable times. I'm really surprised nobody has started a "Driving Miss Daisy" service that uses older peoples' own cars to get them from home to Point A and Point B.
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Date: 2021-07-10 05:40 pm (UTC)But I'm so sorry to hear about J's parents. I can't imagine how hard that must be, witnessing their decline.
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Date: 2021-07-10 11:10 pm (UTC)It's great to have good friends. Hopefully, Emma will get her laptop soon!
I'm so glad Fiona is doing well, in fact, that your whole family is! That's great!
I'm so sorry the visit was rough on you. It's hard seeing a parent decline in front of you, I can't imagine how being away and coming back to that would be. So much more difficult because to you, it's sudden. I'm sure the letters and cards you send to her mean a lot, because she can read them over and over again and they'll always be new to her.
Has Josh's Dad thought of getting some sort of helper, as I have? They would help him with the chores and things and might give him some sort of rest once in a while.
Hope your tummy is okay!
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Date: 2021-07-11 12:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2021-07-11 12:41 am (UTC)I am a genius, so we came home to a delightfully clean house (always clean house before you leave!), and I slept on crisp clean sheets, and I did not get up to pee even one single time!!
That is, indeed, true genius!
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Date: 2021-07-11 02:14 am (UTC)*hugs*
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Date: 2021-07-11 02:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2021-07-11 09:12 pm (UTC)Sorry about your MIL. We're beginning to see it with both my mother and MIL and it hurts a lot to watch them start to disappear.
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Date: 2021-07-14 06:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
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