4 posts tagged “family”

I got a scary phone call earlier today.  My mom was in a car accident.

Fortunately she's not dead, but she cracked her hip on each side.  My youngest brother, Ronnie, was at home at the time hanging out with a friend so he wasn't involved, which is the good news in all this.  His friend's mom is watching him in case Mom has to stay at the hospital when school starts next week, so things are pretty much all taken care of.

It's things like this that make you realize physical space.  I'm in Pittsburgh, Mom, Ronnie and my grandparents are in Southwestern New York, and Chris is in Canada.  The geographical distance between us isn't a big deal, normally.  I talk with Mom usually a few times a week, just to chat.  I e-mail, IM and call Chris, and I even talk to my grandparents at least once a week.  They don't seem that far away because I can just switch on Skype and see them if they're on.  It's not uncommon for us to call or leave a voicemail saying, "Hey, get on-line!  I've got to show you something."

But right now I feel very far away, and it's not fun.

C'mon, you know you laughed at the title. ^__^

But yes, busy it was with relatives visiting us and us visiting relatives.  But we had fun, played the Wii a lot, and ate scrummy food.  I didn't do much chainmaile, but I think I've finally gotten my rubber ring hankering out of my system and I can get back to the scales.
But as luck would have it my mom was cool with my altar (even asking questions and whatnot) and everyone had fun, as you can see. ^_^

Haha!  I've gotten pretty far, I think.  The family should be arriving around two-ish (minus dog - they found a sitter), and the chainmaile is stackable, so that won't be a problem, either.  Dishes are in the washer, and will be put away once they are done!  WHOO!  "Batman Begins" is currently playing in the background (great movie) and soon I hope to sit down and actually watch it.  Yesterday, after the cleaning bonanza we ordered some Chinese, ate said Chinese, then prompty passed out for a nap.  I staggered out of bed around 11-ish, and spent the evening talking to frinds, amusing myself with the internet, and then watching Rat Race while making some gay pride powerbands.  I went to bed a bit after 5 AM, then woke up around 8ish and got up to clean some more.
I am one of those fortunate individuals who don't need much sleep at all.  Apparently something like 5% of the population needs either hours more or less than your average 7-8 hours of sleep.  I feel all groggy if I get more than 6 hours - 5 is just right for me.  My poor husband, on the other hand, needs about 10 hours to feel energized, and if he can take an afternoon nap, all the better!  I do feel kinda bad.  I typically wake up hours before him, and he wants to get up at a reasonable time, but I know if I wake him up at a reasonable hour he'll be all tired and napish the rest of the day, so I don't unless he asks me to.
Anyways, I hope later on to work on some different weaves with the rubber rings, like Interwoven Euro 4-in-1.  I want to make some more powerbands to put up, though.  I'll be sure to post with what I get up on Etsy later on.  If you don't hear from me for a few days, just know it's because I'm hanging out with the family and having myself a good time. ^_^
Although there is a problem with said family coming to visit.  I am a pagan, but my mom is not.  She's actually become a church-goer these past few months, something she never bothered with when I was growing up.  I am a pagan because I honestly believe that all religions, when you get right down to it, are the same.  They all say "Believe in the Almighty/Almighties (whatever you want to call them/it) and don't be a jerk.  If you do these simple things, you will be rewarded in the next life."  That's really it.  I've read so many religious texts, in several languages, and they really start to run together and get confused in my head, like a series of books written by the same author, or the episodes of a TV series.
Anyway, she might know, but I've never come out and said it, and she's never asked, although she did once tell me she was afraid I would go to Hell.  My response was that no kind and loving god would send a good person to Hell.  I refused to believe that God would send so many nice people to Hell for calling God by a different name or referring to God in different numbers, genders, or worshipping in different ways.
The first thing you see upon entering our apartment is an altar with a Shinto-style kamidama shrine with a chainmaile pentacle hanging over it.  I wear crosses - Hell, I've got one tattooed on my left leg - and crecent moons, and stars with varying numbers of points.  I just like to pick and choose what works for me, which I don't think is a smite-worthy offence.  It certainly hasn't hurt! ^_^
Well, we'll just have to see how it goes.  I'm not going to take it down, but I've been silently rehearsing what I'm going to say if anyone asks about it.  Maybe Mom will ignore it, but who knows?
Well, I'm going to do some chainmaile and watch a movie.  It'll help calm my nerves.
Although lighting some candles and asking the ancestors (which include her parents) for help certainly won't hurt, either.

Later!
Crazed

    GAAAAHHHHH!
    My mom, my step-dad, and my youngest brother (and also possibly my dog) will be visiting us tomorrow, so I need to clean.
    Now, I love my mom, but she is a Virgo with mild OCD (she has a dog and children, so she can't be that bad), so with her coming over I have an overwhelming urge to not only clean the place so she won't do it herself, but to impress her and say, "Look!  Your daughter has some domestic skills!  You have not failed!"  I can't cook, I have trouble with laundry, and even some aspects of cleaning are totally lost on me, like dusting.  But, having grown up with someone who will unfold all the laundry you just folded so that she can fold it herself to make sure it's done "right", I did learn a thing or two about cleaning.
    So, no chainmaile picture today.  I didn't do much, anyway.  Got a few rows
 of scalemaile put on the shirt, got a simple necklace done and another one started, and learned a nifty new weave called Dragonscale.  I also put some of yesterday's bracelets up on Etsy, which always takes a minute.  I did the laundry, the dishes, and kind of cleaned the kitchen, so there was much stuffs to be done.  The movies on the side there (I'm loving this "media strip" thingie) were what I watched yesterday.  Well, "watched" isn't the right word, really, but you get the idea.
    The other big thing about my family visting is that they've not just visiting for the day...  They are spending the night.  You see, I'm from a small town in southwest New York called Portville, which is a tiny, tiny place I doubt many have heard of.   I'm half Seneca, which is the local tribe, and some people have at least heard of the Salamanca Reservation, so if you know where that is, Portville isn't far from it.  My mom works on the Rez, actually.  Anyway, my point is that driving from there to Pittsburgh is no small thing.  It's a 4 hour long drive, and imagine doing that in a pickup with a 10-year-old and a large dog in the back seat.  No WAY are they going to do that twice in one day.  They're coming down to bring us some furniture that won't fit in our trusty Subaru Outback.  The fact that they've visiting at all kind of surprises me, because the only times they've visited were for my graduations, and our wedding.
    To add to the craziness is the fact that we moved here a month ago and there's still a ton of boxes everywhere that haven't been unpacked.  The extra bedroom upstairs is full of boxes and bins, and that's the only place I can put them! 0_o So I either have to unpack some of those, or play a new and exciting version of Jenga Meets Tetris to make everything get out of the way.  This brings us to...