Tuesday - Personal Day Off

Personal day off from work to attempt to deal with loose ends; doctors, hospital, social workers. Only somewhat sucessful.

Deal with a school matter with Dan, then drive with him to his therapist. I have a personal meeting before Dan goes in; updates. Honorable work; an ally.

Home to play with Miles, dinner, more phone calls, then some TV. It's been a long day.

No guitar.

Monday, Memorial Day

Home from work. Wake around 9:30. Shower, dress, breakfast. Miles returns from his sleepover, anxious to see Dan, who is still sleeping. Dan wakes up, Miles gets in the bath, I drive to the hospital to bring K a migraine perscription the hospital does not have. We talk for about a half hour.

Dan goes to play pool with friends, and Miles takes a nap. Unusual. I wake him to go to the town pool; it's about 93º. But, the pool is closed. We go out to lunch, then return home and cool off in my bedroom with the AC. Dan returns with Candie, our Nanny, and she joins us for burgers on the grill for dinner. It's cooled off some and it's a nice evening. Talk to Candie about K and what the family needs in the near future.

Later, I go out for a couple of drinks with MB and dump all that's been happening. Good to have a friend who listens well, and has good advice, too.

Home to some TV, the sleep.

No guitar today, again.

Sunday

A very full day.

Wake late, around 9:00. Make French Toast for breakfast.

Work with Miles on his book report. He dictates while I type. Good, fun work.

Then I prepare for a bike ride with Miles. Fill the tire, pack the car with helmets and water bottles, load the bikes onto the rack. We drive into town and begin around 1:00. First we go west to go over the bridge that's over the waterfall, then we turn around and ride into town, about 7 miles that's mostly flat or gently uphill. Miles does great for his first time, and I really didn't have to push him to go all the way into town. We stop for more water, then make a quick return to the car, now mostly downhill. A beautiful day, low 80's no wind. I hope we'll do this often this summer. I need the exercise too.

We return from the bike ride to a very disturbing phone call. I wake K and confront her with the information. I then arrange for Miles to sleep over at a friend's house and take K to the emergency room. After about 5 hours they eventually admit her.

I arrive home about 11:45, just after Dan, returning from the orchestra trip. We have a long talk, then get some sleep.

A long, rollercoaster day.

oh, no guitar today.

Saturday

Memorial Day weekend day 1.

Wake early and out to couples therapy. K is not feeling well, but well enough to then drive herself to a meeting. I return home to make breakfast for me and Miles. Then a bath and sitting.

I install Miles' air conditioner. He'll need it tonight. Today it's in the high 80's.

Miles and I go for a walk on the bike path. It's hot. He suggests tomorrow we ride our bikes in the opposite direction - a good idea.

Home to a quick lunch. Then out to see "Over the Hedge". The theater is empty, but a family chooses to sit right next to us. Odd. We move down to the next row. The movie was great fun. Great voices, animation, effects.

Home to cook dinner; duck on the grill (precooked), aspargus and onion rings. Delicious. A beautiful night.

Play guitar for an hour, then unwind with the TV. Nothing catches my attention, so lights out before 11:00.

A great day.

workday - Friday

Delivered 2 Verizon spots yesterday. Haven't posted in a few days; long days with revisions, clients stayed late Wednesday to expidite approval. I'm glad this week is over and a long weekend is ahead.

Sunday night, after a meeting, I went out for drinks with MB. Good talk, about the Lunlunta course, GC and the YGP . Cleared the air.

Moved my guitar and it's stand up to the bedroom. This way I can play it while relaxing, even with the TV on. Not really practice, but better than not touching it for a week.

Saturday

Wake early for couples therapy. Good session. Good ideas arise. We'll check with health insurance next week.

Drop K off at home and Dan and I do some shopping for tonight's Cub Scout campout in the backyard. Home to set up tents and prepare for dinner. It rains a little while we're setting up but then stops. The Den (6 boys and parents) arrive. They all setup their tents. I cook dinner (Burgers and Hotdogs on the grill) and it rains again; just a little sprinkle. That's it for the night; a clear, crisp evening. Dan presents fire safety to the boys and makes a fire in the firepit. We all gather around and cook S'mores and marshmallows. A great time. But, I'm sleeping inside, in my bed!!

workday - Friday

Getting closer to completion on this current Verizon project. Still a busy day; and a busy week ahead before delivery.

Home on time. Dan is at a sleep-over. Have dinner while talking to Miles. Get in an hour of guitar (finally). Mostly play, some slide work. Glad the workweek is over.

workday - Thursday

Another busy day at work. Much progress on the current Verizon project.

Home on time. After K comes home from a meeting we have a long conversation. Maybe even an argument. I hope some understanding and compassion will come out of it. We'll see.

Dan passed out watch movie on his computer. I get him under the covers and turn off his electronics. Second night this week he went to sleep early.

Again, no guitar today.

workday -Wednesday

Wake early and in to my weekly therapy session at 8:00. Good work, considering all that is going on at home.

K got an appointment with the neurologist today, but he will not do the Botox treatment until this current migraine is broken. He scheduled her for it for next Friday and gave her another IV. Small improvement, but not much. Dan drove her today, waited for her for 5 hours, and drove her home. He took his homework with him and got it done in the waiting room. He is a rock, but this shouldn't be his burden; at 16 he should be occupied with other things, not taking care of his mother.

Busy, full day at work. Now that we have direction, we can move forward rapidly. Left work 1/2 hour late, though.

Home at 9:00. Dan and I go out for a fast food dinner. Talk ing about today's events, he gets protective and agumentative, and I snap at him. Not my intention, but we're all feeling the stress. We talk it out and eventually we end up laughing and salvage our time together.

Back home to say goodnight to Miles. It's been a long day , again no guitar today.


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workday - Tuesday

Making progress today on the spot; phone composites, screens, titles, conforms. Glad to be productive, compared to last week.

K was feeling very bad, and went to the ER. After some IVs she was feeling a little better, but not so much. Dan and his friend picked her up and brought her home. Hopefully her neurologist will be able to see her soon (her next appointment is in June) to preform the next Botox treatment; which helped the last time, but wore off quicker than they had hoped.

Home on time to deal with getting Miles to bed, then helped K get settled when they arrived. Dan was exhausted and passed out in the playroom watching TV. I help him to bed, then I go to bed. I'm physically and emotionally drained. No guitar today.


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Still testing

Posted my first journal entry here yesterday. Have to spend some time getting used to the interface. It's like getting familiar with a new home. Learning where the nuts and bolts are. So far so good.

Finally had a session with the clients yesterday. It seems we made ssome good assumptions and are moving forward. Now, with more specific direction, we'll make progress. Now tthe plan is to avoid working this weekend.

Spent most of the afternoon at a film-to-tape transfer session with the clients. My presence there is mainly to look after my interests; make sure they do things technically correct and don't skim over details. It was good to get out of the office for 3 hours, and I went straight home when the session was over.

Home on time. The boys both had good recent test scores to show me. Proud dad here. Leftover Chinese food for dinner. Then 45 minutes of guitar; right hand warmup, 1st primary between 2 strings, 24 variations. Slide review. And, of course, play.

K arrives home from her meeting. She's still feeling sick; it's been almost a week. Tomorrow she'll try to see her neurologist. A good talk.

In bed by 10:30. lightts out at 10:45.


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First post

Sunday, May 14, 2006

A very fun weekend with the boys; K away for Mother's Day at her Mom's in Mass. Saturday we went out for Pizza for lunch, then to the driving range and shared a jumbo bucket of balls. I haven't done this for a long time and was surprised how well I did. Then we went home and dropped Miles off and Dan drove to a friend's birthday party. Miles and I had burgers on the grill outside for dinner. A nice day, broken clouds and sun. Played guitar for about an hour while Miles watched a James Bond movie.

Sunday, Dan's choice was to go to church. This surprised me, and I was happy to go. Then straight to Yankee Stadium for Mile's first major league baseball game. A cloudy, chilly day, with some misty sprinkles, but not too bad. The seats were in the upper deck, between third base and home, they were just fine. We had a great time, even though the Yankees lost, 6-1.

Took us a long time to exit thee parking garage, but once we did traffic was OK. Home to Chinese food for dinner, we then call K and wish her a happy Mother's Day and fill her in on the day. She'll be home tomorrow.

Another hour of guitar; calisthenics, arpeggios, slide review, and, of course, play. Have a few bubbling ideas, variations on the new riff. I hope to have some time next weekend with looper to take this further.

Watch "The Sopranos" and "Big Love", then to bed. Again, a good weekend.


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