current status

It's been a while since I last posted, it's been fairly stressful for the last couple of weeks.

my grandmother has gone back into a nursing home. Her health continues to be bad, but the family has decided to just keep her comfortable, but that's not really where the stress has come from.

My mother has basically been demoted at work. It was an unexpected event. She went to a weekly meeting with her boss (a requirement for all the managers in that area) and was told that she wasn't doing the job the way her boss wanted it done; that in two weeks she would be moved into a different position, one that was not in management. Now, on the plus side this will give my mom more time to do the things she likes outside of work. No more middle of the night staffing calls, etc. I know that my mom does not have the strongest management skills around. She tends to treat her employees like they are her kids. Most of the time, this does not cause problems, but some people have taken advantage of her because of this habit. In her favor, she is probably one of the fairest managers in her area, but I guess fair doesn't count. There are 2 of the managers in that area who elect to divert attention from their own failings by undermining others and rather than bring issues to the attention of their contemporaries, they run to their boss.

I know there is nothing I can do about this, but I hate it that I can't fix this for my mother. I don't think the matter was handled well, or fairly. I guess we are lucky the boss at least waited until after my sister's wedding. My mom got the news on her 3rd day back at work after the wedding. and as angry as it makes me, I can't say anything to these people because I have to continue to deal with them in a support capacity.

Ahh well, at least I have Farcry to help relieve the stress. There is nothing like killing and being killed by friends, and then being able to laugh about it after.

my sister is now married...

finally, after many months of planning and stress, my sister is married. the ceremony was nice (and blessedly short) and the reception had good food and good friends.

and all for about $6000 dollars (except we told my dad it was only about $3000 - i really did not want to listen to him about how much was spent...)

for your enjoyment

my favorite dorothy parker poem...

Frustation

If I had a shiny gun,
I could have a world of fun
Speeding bullets through the brains
Of the folk who give me pains;

Or had I some poison gas,
I could make the moments pass
Bumping off a number of
People whom I do not love.

But I have no lethal weapon-
Thus does Fate our pleasure step on!
So they still are quick and well
Who should be, by rights, in hell.

no end in sight...

wedding plans are progressing, slowly...but progressing. everyone has a dress or tux except the parents of the bride (that is this weeks project). the photographer has been paid. the florist has been confirmed and a deposit paid. invitations will go out this week. just 3 more weeks and it will all be over. right now, the groom has poison ivy. hopefully, he will be fully recovered by the wedding, or it will be a lonely wedding night for him.

i do have plans for after the wedding i'm excited about. my niece and i are going to watch the Corpse Bride. that should be fun...

my grandmother is back in the hospital. this time the site from her hip surgery is infected. additionally, her doctor thinks she may have a clot in her calf and is bleeding somewhere else. she needs a blood transfusion. my mom is upset, which i understand, but keeps asking why do these things keep happening to my grandmother. my mother and several of my cousins have a different view of my grandmother than i do. she was very supportive of my cousins, always available to them. my sister and i did not have that same type of relationship with her. my mother remembers all the things my grandmother went through during her (my mother's) childhood (my grandfather was an alcoholic, and drank until my mother was 12). i remember the ways my grandmother would try to manipulate and guilt my mother into things.

i'm not saying that my grandmother deserves what has happened to her...just that the end of her life is no less complicated than the rest of her life...