Whiney Whiney

Weather: 28 degrees (feels like 28); mostly cloudy, very icy, snow's-a-comin'
Mood: OK
Hair: Blown out but otherwise a wreck
Listening to: the blowers
You've been warned!
_____________________

Things that suck right now:

1. I have to fly to Colorado, in the winter. To help my sister Marie clean out my mom’s apartment. Which, by necessity, involves being around my brother-in-law, Jan.
   a) I hate flying in the winter. Especially for wretched reasons, and when I’m on my own. At least I don’t have to fly over the mountains; I found a flight through Dallas. The leg from Dallas to the Western slope is on a bigger plane, too. The flight home is direct. And the cost was less than $270. Still, I’ve got a giant knot in my stomach over the flying part of this... Me, the girl who loves to travel. Yeah.
   
   
   b) My mother has the first of everything she ever owned. And all the replacements she’s purchased because she couldn’t find the first. My dad died 10 years ago; she hasn’t touched anything in his desk. There are at least 40 boxes of slides in one closet.… Need I continue? And she wants to be there while we sort. Maybe I’ll take Sartre to read during my 20 minutes of daily down-time there….
   
   
   c) Two weeks before I leave and already I’m beyond annoyed at Jan. Imagine what being in the house with him will be like. God, grant me patience!
   
   
2. My other sister Jean has Parkinson’s. She’s nearly impossible to understand on the phone. I don’t know how long she’s going to be even remotely functional, especially now that she’s started taking Eldopa (or however it’s spelled). I don’t see her outliving Mom.


3. My brother Del is trying to hold his marriage to an alcoholic together.


4. My oldest niece Elizabeth is even more impatient than I am, in her case specifically about men. She doesn’t even give them more than one meeting over coffee before she throws them back into the pond.


5. Good friends are dealing with a kid with RAD. See entry last month. (I'm not linking; just deal). It is absolutely the most terrifying thing to read about and see in kids. Unexplainably awful. Kicker: this is our godson.


6. The Beast is traveling this month. In and of itself that doesn’t suck. But it’s just one more thing to worry about. He’ll be in Texas the week before I fly through on my trip. How dumb is that??


7. Three friends are dealing with their kids (all under 25) expecting kids outside of marriage:
   a) B. moved with her boyfriend to Texas last fall because he’s wanted in this state, among others. As in, wanted by the police. In November, she came home pregnant on the bus after her mom wired her $50. He was hitting her. Shocked? Not so much, really.
   
   
   b) A., a former babysitter of ours, got married last month to a guy six years older than her 18 years. They are living with his folks, devout Pentecostals, while he prepares for the ministry. No college necessary, he just wants to be a minister. O-o-o-ka-a-a-yy.
   And this is the girl who refused to be confirmed with her class at our church because she didn't believe in God, for which I really admired her for having principles and not lying. Now, see what happens when you think with your hormones??
   
   
   c) T. is living with his girlfriend in a townhouse, along with 2 of her friends. They are engaged, but won’t get married till after the baby is born in February.
   
   
   Sparky's 11, nearly 12. I'm buying him a case of condoms. And teaching him how and when to use them.


8. One of my favorite coworkers’ husband had a stroke (he’s 35ish) last week. He had a seizure last spring. He’s always had anxiety problems, along with OCD among other “head” issues. They’ve now--finally--diagnosed a hole in his heart. He needs immediate surgery. They have no insurance.


9. Tsunami. ‘Nuff said. At least the child we sponsor in India is safe; we got a letter yesterday saying that the town he lives in is far inland and north. Still, 150,000 dead is beyond imagining.


10. It’s winter. I hate winter. Three months, or more, of gray skies and cold weather. Three months of holding myself away from “any minute I’m going to cry”—even in good years. Three months of trying to get to spring. Three months of driving The Beast and Sparky insane with my erratic emotions. Three months of being glad I don’t have access to guns.

{Edited: Oddly enough, there's a lot of Texas mixed up in this: 1a, 3, 6, 7a, 7b. If it weren't so damn serious, I'd make a joke.}