Update
I guess you can say its been a long time since you’ve blogged if you can’t remember your username and password. Oops.
I’ve been very busy with traveling, Nate, writing, and life in general.
Nate and I went to the October Sky Festival in Coalwood. It was a beautiful day, just gorgeous. I’ve struck up a friendship with one of the other Rocket Boys. He works across the mountain from where I live. He’s cool.
I have not seen Adonis since that day after work.
I’m still dealing with this whole thing with Jeff.
I’ve been writing and reading a whole bunch. I met author Josh Weil at the WV Book Festival. His new book, “The New Valley” is out. It’s a collection of novellas, which is very exciting for me, since I love to write them. It was very good. I suggest it. Plus, he’s really cute and wrote something sweet in my book.
I’ve read, “Brokeback Mountain,” “The Reader,” “The Road,” (MUST READ – AMAZING), and about 10 of the 49 short stories of Ernest Hemingway. My favorite so far is, “The Short Happy Life of Francis MacComber.” I think that’s how it’s spelled. I have several others on my list by Alice Hoffman, Jim Harrison, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I’m also reading, “When Miners March,” by William C. Blizzard. It’s about the Redneck Army that marched to Logan in 1921 to attempt to unionize the coalfields. When I talk to my guests at the restaurant I tell them what I’m reading and most have a book they like to suggest.
And Nate, don’t get me started on that gangly 13-year-old of mine. Having to kick his ass over school, but he’s picked up the ball and I’m already seeing big improvements in his grades, or rather, just not as many zeros. He had the croup and was out for four days. His 8th grade class has about 160 students and about 100 were out the same week he was with either flu or croup and it just keeps going around.
T-Bird’s eldest had swine flu and both Nate and I were exposed but dodged it for the time being. Amazingly, so did everyone else in the family so far. T-Bird is in the hospital right now. She had surgery on her hernia again. It was really, really bad. The doctor had to work about 3 hours to get her put back together the way she should be, then he put her ass in the hospital. She’ s been there since Monday and boy is she pissed!
Her sister is getting ready to take back custody of her nephews, after 2 1/2 years, and of course she’s up in arms about that. I told her that what is going to happen is going to happen, to move on and take care of HERSELF. That means, among other things, to lose weight. I know, easy for me to say. No, not always easy for me to say. Since her ongoing medical problems are a direct result of her weight and how she carries it and she did lose 40 pounds but then gained it all back and then some and wants to blame everyone for her problems but herself, I have an issue with that.
If she just said, “I should have stuck to not drinking soda and getting up and moving around a bit more,” then okay. But, blaming your doctor because you didn’t follow her instructions? Unacceptable. Here’s the thing, if she drinks 4-6 Mountain Dewdrops a day and every time I see her she’s sitting on her butt… well. I’m past the point of being able to garner sympathy when she blames someone else for her problems.
I’ve offered to walk with her after I get off work, since I’m either at her house picking Nate up or driving by her house every day. I know its easier to exercise, especially when you don’t like it, with someone else. I got off my routine when Nate was sick so I have to make myself make time to do extra exercise to prepare for the marathon in April. I drop Nate at school, then go to work an hour early, and since I work on a hill, I walk down the hill and back up The Sunrise Carriage Trail, which is an access road that William MacCorkle used to bring building supplies up the mountain to build his mansion, Sunrise or The MacCorkle Mansion, now on the register of historic places. Its awesome. I’ll take some pictures.
Anyway, T-Bird’s response to me was, “Uh, *snort* NO!” So.
That’s about it from this end. Sorry I haven’t been around to visit. I try to follow everyone I can on Facebook and I do drop into Blogland and root around a bit, just been busy takin’ care of business and such.
Anything Goes 
kenju said,
October 22, 2009 at 10:07 am
It’s really too bad that she will not exercise with you.
Did I tell you that I have furniture from Sunrise? Back in the 60’s, they auctioned off all but a few rooms of McCorkle’s original furniture. Mom and Dad bought a bedroom suite, and 2 of those 3 pieces are my treasures. I sold the bed years ago, and now I wish I hadn’t!
tinyhands said,
October 22, 2009 at 10:51 am
I finally read ‘The Road’ last month in anticipation of the movie. I really enjoyed it and finished it in record time, but I cannot say exactly what it is that I liked about it. Perhaps because it was so vivid and descriptive that it was like watching the movie in my head. Dunno.
Vince said,
October 22, 2009 at 4:02 pm
You ain’t the only one with no time for blogland.
Haven’t had a chance to read much other than text books. Looking forward to semester break where I can enjoy some fine literature.
Jammie J. said,
October 23, 2009 at 3:13 am
You have been busy, busy, busy… it’s always good to catch up with you. Love that you’re reading and love how you get suggestions (from your customers). I can’t believe how much you seem to love that job! 🙂
Exercising is hard to make commitment. It’s so much easier to not do it. But it’s just so important to the health and well-being and life quality. Amazing how 30 minutes a day and food/drink choices can keep a person out of the hospital for herniated disks and other things.
Of course, then there’s my cousin-in-law who tried to behead himself by driving a snow mobile under a tree last January at top speed and his helmet ended up 25′ from where the rest of him did. 3 months of physical therapy and fear of paralyzation (he’s mostly recovered now), goes to the theory of exceptions to every rule, I guess. hehe
xo
Brighton said,
October 25, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Take care of yourself- that’s #1 priority.
We can wait : )
PandoraWilde said,
October 27, 2009 at 4:01 pm
I hear you on exercise–since the complication after my thyroid surgery involved depriving my body of calcium, I’ve taken up walking because I’ll be dipped in shit if I’ll be in a wheelchair before I’m 50 due to osteoporosis and load-bearing exercise helps with that a lot. But you have to take some responsibility for yourself–a doctor can’t hand you everything, and most won’t hand you anything because they’re shit to start with (but you know how I feel about most doctors) so you have to be your own advocate and your own best caregiver.
On H1N1–they’re closing schools right and left up here because attendance between students and teachers is under 50%–last night the middle school in our town was closed, and I expect the high school to follow in a week or less. Two more districts went down as of today, one’s been closed since early last week and I doubt we’re out of the woods yet (like we ever are in Wisconsin, since there’s woods all over hell here–but the deer hunting is stellar!). Keep on the Vitamin C, Zinc and if you catch anything add Echinacea and Goldenseal for a week–it worked when I got the crud 2 weeks ago.
Other than that, take care of YOU while you take care of everything else–and hang in there, hon.