big week, at least emotionally

Yes, we're back in the states. And no, I haven't written much. Briefly, it wasn't hard coming back, though I acclimated a little more to the warmth while away than I realized, so I keep feeling knocked upside the head by being cold. Well, it's winter, and it is cold! Also, it's snowed several times since we returned; it's been a very white winter.

Some recent events:
. Jef Raskin died. This was reported all over the press -- Google, in fact, found hundreds of articles about it, and there was a nice obituary in the Times (New York) and the Globe (Boston). He was credited with being the "father of the Macintosh." He was also married to the daughter of my mother's first cousin, so I met him a few times, both socially and professionally, because he was interested in human factors and I sometimes hung out with that crowd. He was a sweet guy, very bright, fun and interesting, and only 61 when he died of pancreatic cancer.

. One of my mother's best friends from college has been diagnosed with an aggressive recurrence of cancer that he thought he'd beaten. Another sweet and very accomplished guy. My mother's lost a lot of friends in the last few years (after leading many charmed decades with few losses). I know this one will be hard.

. My stepfather has been in the hospital with pneumonia. While I will confess that I am neither cheering nor crying, it has been hard on my mother, and it's also spurred her to start making funeral arrangements, both for her and for him. He's been disabled since 1983, more than half their marriage, and in fairly bad shape for several years now. I realize that if this latest bout doesn't kill him, at the very least, it will weaken him further.

. Robert's been sick this week. I've never felt that it was life threatening, but it did seem to cause a near total shut down. Low energy, headaches, icky symptoms... and he's not used to being sick, so I think it was a surprise for him too. He seems to be on the mend. At least he has more energy, but he's not completely back to himself yet. I'm pleased at the general trend, though.

. And you may laugh, but the next part is hard because of what's happened in the past, mainly abuse (humiliating but not painful) around my face. I had to get my eyes examined this week because (a) my prescription has changed and (b) I smooshed my glasses in Costa Rica. So I went to the eye doctor. The little side benefit is that I got a cool new pair of glasses, and I realize that it was becoming physically painful and exhausting to read. Now it's noticeably not painful to read.

. And in the same week, I chipped a tooth, and the dentist felt that he needed to shore it up. So yesterday, I had a traumatic session in the dentist's chair. He's very sweet and very patient, which is good, because it's so hard to be there. Although I'm sure that I came across as a big ol' scaredy cat, I felt very brave for even admitting that the piece had come off my tooth in the first place.

With this list, no wonder I'm not that interested in doing much. Perhaps tomorrow I'll feel more inspired.