Homecoming Preparations

This is currently set friends-only so Andy doesn't accidentally see it early. Once he's safely home (or even just before I take off to pick him up at the airport, wherein he theoretically lands in 24 hours and 50 minutes) I'll set it public.

Anyway, today I spent cleaning off a bookshelf which he's been hinting about for a while. I just need to figure out where to put the many non-book items which were on it. Together with that and cleaning out under the kitchen sink and the cubes where we keep most of our storage bowls (our kitchen is very small and has virtually no cabinet space), the apartment is going to be cleaner than he remembered it. I may tidy up a few other odds and ends, depending upon how things go.

After dinner and before my walk I'll probably wrap this (ok, ok, I won't wrap the Widget) and during my walk I'll ponder where to put the other homecoming present. The astute may notice that this one already showed up in the bear gallery photos -- I'm a sneak. Anyway, ideas for presenting the bear so far are bring the bear to the airport to greet Andy, bring the bear but seat-belt it in Andy's seat, or leave the bear home, perhaps typing on Andy's computer. Votes or other ideas are welcome, since I won't really have to decide until tomorrow.

Later tonight I'll bake flop brownies. The thing is, the egg substitute I use works in most homemade recipes, but has about a 50/50 success rate in box mixes. Back when I was required to eat gluten so they could check and see if I was intolerant, one of the things I did was used up most of our boxed mixes. The brownies technically flopped, but Andy adores the way they turned our -- really really gooey. So instead of trying some experiment which might flop in a way he doesn't like as much, I'm going to use up the last brownie mix from the bunch I bought before my diabetes was diagnosed.

For dinner tomorrow I'm baking his favorite, buttermilk chicken. Most people ew when they hear the name, but everyone who's tried it loved it. Anyway, I credit it with helping me snag Andy. It's somewhat hostile for me, but I figure it's worth it, and we only have once or twice a year anyway. It goes wonderfully with rice, and between that, the salad, and the brownies, I should wash out any of the awful taste left by the airline(s) ;).

I decided not to get balloons this time because I don't want to be too predictable -- not that he doesn't figure out what I'm up to 96% of the time anyway. I don't think he'll be expecting the paperweight or the bear, and especially not that particular paperweight, which has special significance despite the fact we'd only seen it once before. He'll probably figure I'm doing something nice for dinner and will have baked goods, but hopefully it'll still be a pleasant surprise. I should get going now and work on housecleaning and baking and wrapping for now. And find out which feline just got into something.

Misplaced Relief

Anyone out there who has a living grandfather they care about should just get him to a safe spot and not let him out until this fscking month is over. Between sirushi and 9thmoon and my grandfather, it just seems like it's a bad month to be one. I got a phone call today, not quite as bad as Sirushi's, but bad enough: I'm not sure how they found out, but he's relapsed -- if he was ever truly in remission.

I'd finally managed to get our often-scattered and rarely-found-together family to commit to a traditional Christmas Eve dinner (held in October so people would be able to come). Now they'll probably all bow out saying that he'll be too sick from the chemo (substitute radiation for chemo and there's the excuse half of them gave when I first brought this up in February when he was diagnosed). And I remember what chemo was like on Grandma; he might not even be well enough to enjoy it or keep the food down. This was quite possibly the last chance for my younger cousins to witness and participate in the beautiful ceremony, and now who knows if it'll happen?

The worst part is that Grandpa wanted to do chemo just to be sure, and the doctor told him the cancer was completely gone, so he shouldn't put himself through it. Given how quickly he relapsed, it's quite possible that it was never really gone, and maybe doing the chemo would have eradicated it completely.

Grandpa walked me down the aisle for my wedding because my father couldn't be bothered to show up. I love him. He did not deserve this. I wish I wasn't so far away right now.

Day 5

So, after throwing that last temper tantrum I took my usual six-circuit walk. This time I definitely saw a firefly who was about a bright a yellow as they flash. Oddly enough I only saw the one, plus the various moths and gnats which are out on muggy NC nights. Someday I need to drive and see how far I'm walking in that hour. I know there's no way I'm doing a ten-minute mile, but hopefully I'm at least getting in two or three in 60 minutes.

Andy got himself into a little corner during paper presentations and spent much of the day MUSHing with me. It was almost as if he was just at school rather than in Texas. It's not so long now til he comes home -- twenty hours and forty-five minutes, if I'm doing the math correctly. Thena and Gail have missed him, as have I, and I'm sure they'll be relieved to see him come home.

I didn't get the baking done, but I do have some ambitious plans between now and when I drug myself to sleep at 0100. The biggest project is one I don't think Andy ever expected me to do at all, so it should be a good surprise. I also need to straighten up some, but it's not like other times when I've done no housework until the day he was returning. I've also showered and gotten dressed every day this week, which is also a change -- sometimes I've not gone outside the entire time. I wish I'd gotten more walks in, but at least I've done three in a row now. The hardest part is establishing the habit.

I'm cutting this short now in order both to have a chance at getting a dent in my project and also so it's still technically day 5 when I submit it. I don't know if my next post will be before or after he arrives, or even if one'll happen at all tomorrow. Time to get to work now, though.