I’m not sure that anyone missed me, but it has been four months since my last post. It has been four months of What the Fuck?? My usual anger and disgust for the ways of the world has been in overdrive lately. How much can one handle at a time? It seems like I am about to find out. My crazy babble is gonna get really crazy. It’s a good thing that I am a firm believer in “You do not know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice“.
What the Fuck?? This Was Supposed to be a Simple Upgrade
My extended absence began with a simple kitchen remodel. I work for a building supply distributor who handles kitchen materials. I get a pretty good employee discount and I had a typical 70s kitchen. Upgrading was a no brainer. I have saved my pennies and decided it was time. I have always talked about moving out of the expensive school district I live in once the kids graduate. With a newly upgraded kitchen, I would surely get my money back when I sell, and I would love to enjoy a new kitchen until then.
No matter how simple things seem, things are rarely ever simple. I tossed around the idea of saving money and doing the work myself with my boyfriend. He did the kitchen remodel on my rental property, and it came out beautiful. I saved a ton of money with his help, but it took almost two months for him to do it since he works a fulltime job. It is one thing when it is an unoccupied rental property and another when it is the home you are living in. So, I decided to hire a contractor.
Sounds like another no brainer, right? Well finding a contractor who actually shows up to give an estimate is a lot harder than it sounds. After weeks of trying to get anyone to show up and provide an estimate, I finally found someone. This was the beginning of a long and painful process. Long story short (don’t worry, there will be a more detailed post) …after the original layout didn’t work, additional material needed, many more delays in the additional material, subcontractors not showing up, I finally have a new kitchen. It only took four months and almost triple the price.
What the Fuck?? How was this Undiagnosed for Years??
My mother broke her ankle in 1981. No big deal. My mother broke her ankle in the same spot in 1997. A bit of a bigger deal as she now has rods and plates in her leg. She has been experiencing random swelling and numbness since shortly after the second break. All the doctors told her that was to be expected along with her unsteadiness walking. This all sounds reasonable; they are the doctors.
The last five years or so, her walking has been getting worse. She had her hip replaced as they told her she was compensating for her ankle and now she needs a new hip. My mother is not a small woman. She has weight loss surgery as they told her that her weight was a contributing factor to her decline in walking. She is on the schedule for a knee replacement as that is the most recent excuse that they are giving for her poor walking and now lack of balance.
As she is waiting for her knee replacement surgery, she keeps losing her balance and falling. She is numb to the point that when she falls, she is unable to get back up herself. My mother calls 911. The ambulance takes her to the hospital. This is not the first time this has happened. This is not the first time she is hospitalized due to a fall and lack of feeling in her legs. Finally, after years of struggle, they test her for MS. My mother is told that the amount and size of the lesions on her spine & brain stem, she has most likely had MS for 10+ years. This too requires much more detail than this post allows for. A follow up post will be coming soon.
What the Fuck?? Is There a Competition That I Do Not Know About??
As if my mother’s health issues are not enough, my father goes and finds himself going for several tests. Apparently, he has been struggling too, but being my mother’s primary care giver, chose to wait until he couldn’t wait any longer to get checked out. He kept everything to himself until he needed to go for testing and wouldn’t be able to drive himself.
I’m not sure how long he has been showing signs of liver conditions, but I took him for a liver biopsy last week. In addition to that, he has been going in for testing for his heart. They found some excessive narrowing of his arteries going to his legs. He has started a new regiment of pills while waiting his results from his recent tests.
My parents are not that terribly old. They should not be going through these types of illnesses, especially at the same time. Someone needs to tell them that there is no need to compete to see who can fall apart the quickest. I am not really sure how things are going to go with my father, so this too will have a follow up post with more details.
What the Fuck?? Graduation is Right Around the Corner
As if life is not chaotic enough right now, my oldest is in her senior year of high school. She is taking several weighted AP courses and participating in I do not know how many clubs on top of working and sports. This is her senior year. Everything she participates in is a big deal and the last opportunity to see her participate in each.
She has been going through almost daily breakdowns. Her schedule is out of control busy, and she just keeps adding more. It feels like she is trying to jam all four years of high school extra curriculums into her last year. So many things that she has wanted to do were unavailable to her in her sophomore and junior year due to the pandemic, this is her first chance to do them.
Even though it may seem at times that life is falling apart, time just keeps moving. She will be off to college soon and I will start this whole process over with the next kid before I know it. Hopefully, the next time around I will have the whole college application, financial aid, grants, and scholarships processes down pat. I need a college degree to figure all of this shit out! Once I do, I should start a how to blog about it because I couldn’t find anything that simplified it to my liking. Anyone know of one, drop the link in the comments, I am definitely interested!
What the Fuck?? That Asshole Gets a Parole Hearing Every Year??
The final Fuck You to the last four months was when I checked my mailbox two weeks ago. There it is a letter from the Crime Victims Advocate’s Office. I’m sure most of my readers know about my brother. If you do not, he was murdered 14 years ago. The asshole that killed him is up for parole…again.
Prior to going through this process personally, I had no idea that when an inmate hit their minimum sentence, they receive a parole hearing every year. Last year was the first he was up for parole. My mother and I spoke at the parole hearing in favor of keeping him in prison. Thankfully, he was not granted parole. But now every year, we get to do it again.
In my mother’s current condition, she will be unable to make the trip to Harrisburg. I will be flying solo on this one. If you think I have crazy babble on this blog, you should hear my long, drawn-out plight to keep this asshole in prison. This too will require a follow up post, probably several. My position on the whole criminal system is very opinionated and will need to be shared.
Crazy Babble or Just My Voice of Reason??
I enjoy sharing my thoughts. I enjoy conversation about my thoughts. It is OK if you do not agree with them. I still want to hear about why. Not only do I babble on to get things off of my chest and make myself feel better about all the crazy shit in life, but I babble on to find out if I am crazy or just sharing my voice of reason. Please let me know. Normally, I would remind you to check out the results of last month’s Worst on the First, but there wasn’t one. I would also normally tell you to check out November Worst on the First, but there will not be one of those either. Hopefully my four months of What the Fuck is over, and we can pick them back up in December.