Week 26

Last week was pretty uneventful, which was a blessing.

Michaela continued her school work. She and Mike are finding their groove. It was funny, because she complained about having three 45-minute Zoom sessions on Thursday. Now, that’s a lot for her because Zoom sessions aren’t a big part of Watson Homeschool Academy, but I reminded her that if she’d stayed at her normal school, she’d be doing that every day.

Mike had several shoots last week and booked a big gig at the end of next month to do a shoot in North Carolina. It’s interesting to see how his business continues to change in a COVID world. Events aren’t coming back any time soon, so people are having to come up with other things. Sure, there are lots of recorded Zooms, but some folks are being smart enough to create well-done, strategic videos.

I continue to try to juggle work and helping with my mom. Last week was stressful. We changed a bunch of my mom’s meds on Tuesday, then Wednesday was really bad. Thursday we added back the medicines we took away and added a strong opioid pain killer. My mom’s in pain and becoming more overwhelmed cognitively. On Tuesday, I asked the hospice nurse how much longer she thought my mom has; she said two weeks. (Which, if that’s true, will be three months since my mom was given the terminal diagnosis and given three months to live.)

Tomorrow is my birthday, and I’ve been super emotional about it in the last week or so. First, I wasn’t sure if she was going to make it to my birthday. Then I realized she would, but it’s very strange to know this is the last birthday of mine she’ll be alive for. I would prefer to skip my birthday this year and just plow forward; I don’t feel much like celebrating. But Michaela, being the 10-year-old that is is, doesn’t understand that, so I’ve been preparing to paste a smile on my face and hide my tears.

I have to say, though, I do have a lot to be happy about. I have a job, a family that loves me, health insurance, etc. And I have the best friends. One friend sent gourmet chai tea latte concentrate, my favorite, and a beautiful chai mug. Another friend surprised my today by coming to my house and bringing the most delicious homemade chai-spiced cupcakes with chai-spiced buttercream. Another friend had hundreds of dollars’ worth of Olive Garden delivered to my house for dinner tonight. Someone else brought me a basket full of happy, relaxing treats (a coloring book, novel, lotions). And even outside of my birthday, I’ve had so many people check in regularly, offer to bring meals, listen to me vent, etc.

Oh, and Mike and Michaela got me what Mike described as a “social justice warrior t-shirt collection” for my birthday. So next time you see me, I may be sporting a “Make racism wrong again” or “Black lives matter” shirt. #Resist!