i hit a wall yesterday. justin wore me out. there’s some sort of drug interaction going on. he calls it “academititis” insofar as he says that he has been trained to keep talking for a full hour for classes so he is unable to help himself except by talking in one hour chunks. yesterday, in a moment of unbelievable cruelty, i said i had stage four cancer and that my sons had been dead for three weeks. just to get him to stop talking for a minute. i really feel like a jerk for doing that. and besides, it didn’t work.
finally i told him to be quiet for five minutes and let me talk. i did. and then he got furious because i was talking about emotional issues. so we agreed that he would stay quiet for five minutes if i chose a topic that was of suitable academic interest. i chose the tudor regime. catherine of aragon, the seymour brothers being beheaded, lady jane grey–i lasted three minutes. but to his credit he stayed pretty quiet. he asked one question about the chronology of anne boelyn’s beheading and jane seymour’s engagement announcement.
casey (oh, gosh, facebook friend #31) came into town and we are both worried about justin. i am surprised at how patient she is with him, how wonderful she manages him, and how much real affection i feel for her.
last night and this morning i got a lot of encouraging messages saying keep going. . . i am reminded that my facebook friend william clark, who has been dead for quite some time, undertook a road trip with merriweather lewis. and he didn’t know what all stuff he was going to face and overcome. and i need to buck up because one day this year i’m going to be kidnapped by pirates while jetskiing from korea (to see john choie) to the phillipines (to see mark bitango rosario and his family). i can’t be a crybaby now.
arlynnpresser 
February 5th, 2011 at 9:58 pm
Arlynn, Remember, we cannot pick our parents. Patience is a virture, and when that doesn’t work, medicate. Or take a deep breath, run outside, scream, sing, eat, laugh about the absurdity of it all, and know that friends are the family you give yourself.
Hang in there. You are not the only one who had/has a “difficult” father!
xo,
Janet
February 5th, 2011 at 10:21 pm
my sister casey turns out to be the perfect galpal! she’s figured out that a movie is very soothing. i’m so amazed and impressed by her. and i didn’t really know her all that well before. . ..
and janet, i still remember how you pulled me out of a desperate situation. i just have to remember to not be a crybaby!!! kisses!
February 6th, 2011 at 2:53 am
keep going arlynn you can do it life is to short stay awake for it in my caribou voice
February 6th, 2011 at 6:07 am
you make me wake up in the morning and you do so much—i completely look up to you!!! and i want pink highlights!!!