Back in the saddle again...

OK, again, I dropped the blog ball... It's been over a year since I've blogged, but I've decided that I would like to start again. Perhaps the best way would be a recap of the past year.

Where to start...

Let's start with November '05, since nothing interesting happened between my nephew was born and then.

A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving my Dad told me he had pancreatic cancer, but that it was small and easily fixed with surgery. (He likes to downplay things so that people don't fuss or worry.) Anyway, the doctor told him that the cancer was small and that if he didn't do anything he would have 10 years before it ever became a problem. The best course of action would be for them to just cut it out. The surgery was scheduled for December 16, 2005.

The week of Thanksgiving, I finally got a job. I work in the aviation field, dealing with customer service, customer accounts, inside/outside sales, business expos, marketing, etc. It's a small company right now so I do many different things there. But I like the people, for the most part... we'll get into the gory details later.

Thanksgiving came and went without any consequence and before anyone knew it was the weekend before my father’s surgery. He and I played 9 holes of golf the day before; his doctor said he wouldn't be able to do much physical activity for a while after the surgery. It was freezing, raining, and the last memory I have of him post-op.

The surgery went well and he was recovering wonderfully, he was released from the hospital on December 19th and I returned to work. I went home the following weekend for Christmas to visit him and my mom. He cooked Christmas dinner; this is the last memory I have of him healthy.

I visited my parents the next weekend, New Year's weekend, and he was different. Tired all the time, out of breath, lethargic, swelling in the legs... we called the doctor but she said that it was normal. That he had just pushed himself too hard and it was catching up with him. She said he would be fine.

I drove back to my apartment (4hrs away) to get ready for a New Years Eve party. I was so excited because this guy I liked would be there and I could finally make my move on him. I had the perfect outfit... everything was going great. He showed up to the party and we flirted. Then disaster, another girl started in with the flirting and I found myself in competition. Well, I'm not as aggressive as others, nor was I sure of his intentions. After all I was the only singer girl there... until this other girl showed up. The second this other girl started flirting; he switched his attention from me to her. So I said screw it... He went home with her that night. And I certain that it wouldn't work out for them (it didn't they lasted all of 2 weeks).

Well, depressed and certain of my perpetual single status, I returned to my apartment to sleep. New Years Day I could be found frantically cleaning my apartment. I called my mom around noon to check in on my dad, she says he's the same... upstairs sleeping in the sitting room, he doesn't have enough energy to get on the bed. I'm worried, but my Aunt, who's a nurse practitioner, said that she thinks he's ok, that his pulse is normal and other medical stuff.

Later that day, around 10pm, my cousin calls. She's wants to come over. I say ok, but she'll have to make it quick because I have to go to bed because I have work the next morning 6AM!!). Anyway, she comes over. Her mom just called her, my mom called her mom. My mom wanted her mom to break the news, but I guess her mom was too busy, or maybe she felt it wasn't necessary to drive the hour it would take to get from her home to mine when she could save the time by sending her daughter, who only lives 10 minutes from me. But I digress... My dad died. My mom had called 911 to take him to the hospital because she wanted a second opinion. There hadn't been any change in his condition and she told them it wasn't an emergency, but that she could get him there herself. They sent over an ambulance, who loaded him up. He died in the ambulance... his heart just stopped. It took several months to find out what happened, but apparently he had blood clots in his lungs, that broke off and went to his heart. For several days, he was dying and we didn't know it. My mom had followed the ambulance to the hospital, none the wiser, and was informed upon arrival that he had died on the way... My dad was 56 years old, healthy and strong, a retired Air Force Colonel. He seemed invincible... We buried him 4 days later.

That was 8 months ago. Since then, I've bought a new car (a slate blue Toyota Highlander) and am thinking about moving in the next year or two. My mom is doing ok; she's back at work and will be moving to Cincinnati in three years, after she retires. Most things are haven’t changed, I still work at the same place and I still live in the same place. I drive to my mom's every other weekend to visit. I make sure her bills are paid, I'll take her grocery shopping, gas up her cars, and do other errands for her and with her, that dad use to do. She's never lived alone before, but she’s coping... Yeah, life is moving forward... I still cry at night, sometimes, when I'm alone. But it's less now than what it was.

Anyway... that's all I've got for now... stay tuned for the next installment, it'll be less depressing, you'll learn all about my work woes and hear some amusing anecdotes (at least I hope your amused...) Ta!