I enjoyed my brief visit from Randy. Though, it definitely was brief!
After work on Friday night, Randy and I hosted a small party (well, mostly a fairly large group of friends) to decorate our Christmas. When I got home from work, Randy surprised me by placing lights on the bushes in front of the house. Awwww.
The party went well, the tree decorating was a success and with the combination of my ornaments, Randy’s ornaments, and ornaments brought by guests, the tree appears fuller than it’s ever been. Randy didn’t get to enjoy any of it very long because we went to bed straight after the party and he woke up 4 hours later to catch a flight to Japan.
On Saturday, I did a bit of Christmas shopping then attended yet another holiday party with my friend, Jeff. I didn’t know many people at this party so I was thankful that at least a handful of friends (Fred, Matt, Luis) were there as well. It sucks being shy.
I tried to go to the gym on Sunday but some sort of fire or flood caused damage to the building (I arrived to find fire trucks and water all over the floors and surrounding sidewalk) so I went home and wrapped gifts instead.
This upcoming weekend looks quite busy (poor Randy will be exhausted AND jetlagged), but we’re seeing a play on Friday and have parties on both Saturday and Sunday.
Tis the season, indeed!
December 3rd, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 5 Comments
He’s back…for another 19 hours or so, at least. I picked Randy up from the airport yesterday afternoon. We did some food shopping for a little get-together we’re having at our place tonight (friends over to help decorate the tree) and then stayed home the rest of the evening. In fact, we did everything I blogged about yesterday (he cooked dinner, we laid on the sofa catching up on shows on the DVR, and we spooned).
All in all, a great day!
Oh, and another reunion has taken place! My brother told me that my sister-in-law’s tracheotomy was a complete success and she’s been released from the hospital in Boston and transfered to a rehab hospital out in their neck of the woods (western Massachusetts). He said she looks great, too, so now their kids can actually see their mother for the first time in over a month. Life is good.
November 30th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments
Absence does make the heart grow fonder.
I’m ashamed to say this because it’s so, well…gay…but I miss Randy. He’s only been home less than 24 hours in the last 10 days. He returns this afternoon but is gone again Saturday morning (just 36 hours later). This will be the pattern until Christmas. Normally I think him traveling is helpful (gives us each much-needed and well-deserved space).
Although I was missing him around Thanksgiving, too, it wasn’t as noticeable since I was on the Cape spending the holiday with my family for most of it. But this trip it’s begun to kick in a bit more. This trip I’m realizing how much I enjoy his company. I miss the mundane things like cuddling up on the sofa every night watching shows we recorded on DVR. I miss spooning. I miss home cooked meals (I’m being honest here).
I’m really gay, aren’t I?
November 29th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 6 Comments
YUMMY! I got together with my friend, Jen, last night. I’d not seen her since either August or September…back in the days when I was a city-dweller. She worked in downtown Boston so we’d get together fairly regularly and have dinner in my old neighborhood: the North End.
Over the years, the meals were always a mix of good and bad, but the company was always stellar.
Anyway, after settling into my new home in the ‘Ville, we finally got together again last night. I should also add that she’s essentially now shacking up wither her boyfriend in the other side of Somerville so it should be pretty easy for us to start getting together regularly again.
Instead of heading out to eat, she offered to cook the same meal I usually ordered at the restaurants in the North End: chicken, broccoli, and ziti. You see, it was my goal to order it in all of the North End restaurants that offer it (and being an Italian neighborhood it was on many, many menus) and find out which place had the best.
Last night I discovered the best just might not be in the North End. Jen’s CB&Z was quite tasty and filling (yay – leftovers for lunch today).
November 28th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: Comments Off on If I Can’t Live in the North End Anymore – Bring the North End to Me!
The whole holiday season is typically a blur for me. I begin listening to Christmas music on November first and whatever goes on between then and New Year’s doesn’t really matter.
Usually.
Last night I wrote out my Christmas cards to friends and family and realized that it’s not even December yet. I typically send out my cards the week after Thanksgiving so I’m technically on schedule. But it seems a bit absurd to send out Christmas cards when a) I woke up to 64 degrees and b) it’s still November!
Oh well, I’m still in the holiday spirit. I’m going to start decorating this week, I’ve begun shopping, and it might snow on Monday!
November 27th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 1 Comment
That was about all that Randy and I were able to say to each other during his brief return home. He arrived less than 24 hours and is already off on his next trip (Nashville).
We actually did get a bit of reunion time. At least enough to catch up on some of what was saved on the DVR, go pick up some groceries and Christmas gifts, and visit our friends, Ben and Sandy, for dinner.
But otherwise, he’s gone again until Thursday…then off again Saturday for Japan.
I did manage to have fun the rest of the weekend, though. Thanksgiving on the Cape was drama free. I returned to Boston on Friday and got together with some friends to watch the Village People movie: Can’t Stop the Music.
Here’s a secret. You CAN stop the music. Nay, you SHOULD stop the music.
You should also rewind the YMCA scene multiple times. Trust me.
November 26th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: Comments Off on You Say Good-bye, and I Say Hello (hello, hello)
I lost at Scrabble.
Deano came over last night for what has become our Tuesday night ritual: Scrabble and dinner (then more Scrabble). Things started off well enough: I won the first game by about 37 points.
But things took a turn for the worst in the second game with just his first word: “hoopers.” Apparently, a hooper is a person who makes baskets. Who knew? Anyway, not only did the “s” in hoopers connect to another 7-letter word, but “hoopers” also used all of his letters, resulting in a 50-point bonus. He may even have finagled a double word score in there, too because this one word gave him 79 points.
For me, that wasn’t a good start to the game. In the end, he managed to beat me by 13 points. I was able to close the gap slightly, but just not enough to be victorious. Congratulations, Deano – you’ve ruined Scrabble night.
I think our Tuesday night Scrabble ritual is over now. I shall never play again.
November 21st, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 6 Comments
Randy left for one of his many upcoming trips this morning. He traveled a lot the first two weeks we lived together, but aside from our trip to Buenos Aires, he’s done no travel in the past month. That all changed this morning. He’s in Virginia for the next 6 days. He returns Sunday then flies out Monday to Nashville. He returns on Thursday, then flies out Saturday for Japan. He returns on Thursday then flies somewhere the following Monday (I forget….Texas? California? Minneapolis?). Then he flies to Albuquerque the next Monday and returns on Thursday. On Sunday we head to the Cape for Christmas and on Tuesday we head to California.
Then then it’s 2008.
On the plus side, the trip to Japan alone gives him enough frequent flyer miles for a free domestic trip. And at least with him not being around I don’t have to worry about somebody rifling through bags of Christmas gifts to see what he got.
November 20th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments
I saw my first flakes of snow this morning. By no means was there a storm. Hell, you could see blue sky in spots. But falling from the sky were those itsy-bitsy, tiny snow flakes you often see on dry cool days in the winter. Now it officially feels like the holiday season (despite the fact that Thanksgiving Day is expected to reach the upper 50’s).
Overall, the previous weekend wasn’t so bad. We got together with friends on both Friday night and Sunday afternoon. Randy also joined me at the hospital on Saturday. We minded my niece and nephew while my brother went in to meet the doctors. It was decided that Heidi (sister-in-law) will have a tracheotomy some time this week. Along with that surgery, she’ll then have 3-6 weeks of physical therapy. At this rate, it’ll be a Christmas miracle if she is actually home by Christmas (but what a great gift that would be for all involved).
I never got around to seeing Heidi while at the hospital. In fact, neither did my niece and nephew. My brother barely saw her himself…mostly long enough for them to un-sedate her long enough to get her consent to perform the tracheotomy. In essence, she’s been a vegetable for the past two weeks. During that time, she’s also managed to develop a swollen black eye and, scariest of all, MRSI (Methicillin-Resistant Staph Infection) in her lungs. I’ve been reading/hearing a lot about MRSI in recent months and it’s incredibly disconcerting to say the least.
But my brother seemed optimistic that the infection will go away, the tracheotomy will be a success, and that Heidi will be at a rehab facility in a week or two.
November 19th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: Comments Off on Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!
You may recall the week before I left for Buenos Aires that my sister-in-law returned to the hospital with new infections. Well, she’s still there 2+ weeks later and with minimal improvement. In fact, my brother informed me this week that things were rather touch-n-go with her while I was on vacation.
After the surgery her lungs filled with fluid and she began vomiting blood. While I was away, they put her on a ventilator – which is where she still is today. She’s being drugged to the point of perpetual unconciousness, though she has shown signs of improvement with her lungs.
Unfortunately, they’re now having trouble removing her from the ventilator. I guess you don’t want a person on a ventilator for more than two weeks or they can become dependent upon it for survival. But every time they’ve tried removing it her pulse/heart races dangerously (anxiety because she’s afraid of what could happen if it’s pulled out). They’ve been trying to mix the right amount of anxiety medications (without overdosing) but they’re having no luck. Yesterday they proposed performing a tracheotomy.
UGH – my poor brother. While he was telling me this, the school nurse called him: my niece contracted head lice from another student and my nephew developed an allergic reaction on his face (a result of some latex that was being used in an art class project).
Anyway, I guess I haven’t blogged about any of this this week because I kept hoping that by not mentioning it, things would get better. I mean, ignorance is bliss, right? Apparently not.
The hospital is putting my brother up at a hotel tomorrow night so he’s coming in to meet with her doctor to decide what to do (regarding the ventilator and tracheotomy). I’ll be meeting him at the hospital to babysit the kids while he’s with the doctor. I’m not sure what happens after that.
I don’t think anybody does.
November 16th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 5 Comments
