Lent is over, it’s Bright Week, and I am back to blogging. (OK… some of you may have noticed that I cheated a little bit by changing the YouTube video on my time off page.) I have been meaning to write this post for a few days, but work and homework have been crazy. There will be 7 +/- blurbs, so I am counting this as my Quick Takes.
If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… about how weirdly calm I am about Grandma’s passing. It might be because I wasn’t the one cleaning out her room at the assisted living facility and her bedroom back at her house. My mom and her siblings have been dealing with all of this, and I have been figuring out burial service things. We got her ashes back around March 11 (she was supposed to be cremated on March 6… which was Ash Wednesday — because I am a horrible human being, I actually found humor in that), and part of them will be interred at my church in Mount Vernon. My uncle is making a plain cedar box for that, and I am glad to have that figured out so that biodegradable cremation urns stop being in my ads on Reddit. In the meantime, I am incredibly thankful for my church and how they jumped in to support us after her passing. They sent food home with me on Shrove Tuesday, sent emails and cards with condolences for our family, and I got hugged within an inch of my life on Shrove Tuesday.
If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… we got a last-minute appointment with a psychiatrist at the Autism Center. Daniel was badly-behaved (which is actually a benefit in this case) and the psych made the comment that until we improve his nutrition, none of the other meds he could prescribe would be of any benefit. So… he changed Daniel from his Adderall XR (which is also used as an appetite suppressant) to Concerta, and we’re titrating up on it. So far, the only change has been that kiddo is not sleeping well and is having what seems to be a worse time in the evenings until his evening meds kick in. He’s also waking up in the middle of the night or at 6 a.m., which is not making my life wonderful. We start the next highest dose this weekend, and I am praying like hell that it helps. Please send Starbucks.
If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… my iron is back to normal (thank you, weekly bloodwork and a boatload of iron pills), but my clotting factors are funky. Shark Week (a.k.a. my period) hit me like a ton of bricks in March… and also happened during finals of course. An appointment was made with my ob/gyn to talk about a hysterectomy… and I missed it today because my body decided that tachycardia sounded like a good plan this morning. So… I get to wait until June to see her… which happens to be on the day I graduate and Daniel is off school. This month’s Shark Week happened during Holy Week, and it was not quite as bad as March, but still crappy. I see Hematology next Friday. Woo.
If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… that this quarter started on April 9th and is kicking my butt. I am the only tutor in my department and I can’t work enough hours to meet all the need that exists at the moment because this is the quarter everyone seems to be taking QuickBooks. The book they’re using for it is crappy (I had it last year), and it’s especially crappy for my English language learners who are having to figure it out in their second or third language. I had to close my one-on-one schedule this week, and I’m still getting requests for tutoring that I’m having to turn away. (I also have a couple students who I have had to tell that I will help them once they stop mouthing off at me or trying to have an existential argument about the class material.) Additionally, my Document Production class is hateful at the moment. We are docked 10% of our grade per mistake on every assignment, and we don’t know from week to week if we’re going to get any of those points back because the website isn’t fabulous on correcting formatting. I’m sure it will be better next week as I know now where my mistakes are coming from and can avoid them, but it is stressing me out right now.
If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… that I finally joined Phi Theta Kappa (my school’s honor society that I was invited to join in September 2017) in March. I’m going to have my induction ceremony in the next few weeks and I might have a lovely stole along with my honor cords when I graduate.
If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… about Daniel’s sedated ABR on March 29 with the audiologist we like and our amazing anesthesiologist from his g-tube placement last August. It turns out that our favorite audiologist got an almost perfect result last July, and she adjusted his hearing aids accordingly after the procedure.
If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… that the Lenten devotional booklet I put together for my church was highly complimented, and that having it go out over email turned out to be one of the best moves as it was easier for people to access. The project was actually a blessing as I was putting the finishing touches on it while Grandma was dying, and it gave me something into which I could pour my nervous energy.
If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… that the French version of the Hail Mary sung by French Catholics outside of Notre Dame got stuck in my head. I largely avoided watching footage of it burning because I couldn’t deal with the sadness. (Also… what the actual [expletive], 45?!?!? Suggesting that French firefighters use an air tanker on the cathedral and that they should get on it is not an appropriate sentiment for a world leader to suggest while the symbol of a country’s faith is burning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… about the insight I had on Maundy Thursday about Jesus praying in the garden and how it means that God understands and is with me in those liminal times when I am scared about what is coming next. Seriously, it was amazing for my faith as was Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, where I got verklempt during the reading about the Pieta.
Last thing: Rachel Held Evans, my favorite author, is currently in a medically-induced coma while doctors try to figure out why her brain is experiencing constant seizures. She ended up in the hospital with a combination of flu and a UTI, and she had a severe allergic reaction to her antibiotics. This is distressing me greatly because she is very much me with a southern accent, and her books have been part of what kept my faith going for the last ten years as I dealt with times where I would go to church and want to be anywhere else but there. (This thankfully changed when I got away from Jon’s churches and went back to the Episcopal Church.) Updates on her health are here and a GoFundMe for her medical expenses here. Please keep her, her husband Dan, and their two kids in your prayers.
For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.
