Little Bit of This, Little Bit of That

A few days off, a long weekend, school ended for Boychild, we saw my Baby Sister, we hit up the farmer's market, we went to see the last installment of the Shrek saga, and we planted some green stuff.

Then came the drama. Boychild went into his room to put something away, and called us in. His gargantuan, ancient goldfish has finally - finally - had the sense to swim to that celestial fishbowl in the sky.

This made Boychild nearly hysterical. Too hysterical to repeat most of the prayer I fed him as he knelt over the "burial site" (aka "toilet"); he managed a few words here and there, and the rest of it was, "What she said." Then came some kitchen-chair sitting, head bowed and tears flowing, and the occasional head rested on my hip when I came close enough while clearing up for dinner.

I had no idea he was quite so attached to a twelve-cent, seven-year-old, six-inch goldfish that had a murderous streak when it came to other aquatic beings. Apparently, however, this was an event for which - while aware it was coming - he simply wasn't prepared.

Luckily, he calmed down and giggled when I, being the unsympathetic wretch I am, made a joke about zombie fish biting my ass when I go to the bathroom next. We now have an appointment with the boychild to visit the pet store tomorrow evening and collect more fish.

Although this time, I think we'll skip goldfish - twelve-cent or otherwise - and try something else.

Sad News: I walked in to work this morning, ten minutes late due to driving conditions, to find the entire floor gathered and looking unhappy in the hallway. Some people had coats on and were leaving, others had tear-stained faces, others were saddened, but not cryingly so. Turns out Lynnette, one of my coworkers, just lost her youngest daughter either last night or this morning. Her daughter was 17 years old, and no one knows what happened yet.

Lynnette has no family here at all. She is single, has no significant other and her oldest daughter is in Italy for school right now. Several of the people who were leaving when I got here were going to be with Lynnette - which is good.

Please pray for Lynnette. She needs it so much right now.

More Sad News: Kimberly (my old boss, and the lady I rode in to work with for most of last year) - her dad was taken into the hospital on Monday; her mom found him in their basement, delirious and unable to figure out where he was or how long he'd been there. He has pneumonia. This is on top of his Parkinson's, which is getting very rapidly worse as the weeks go by. He was getting better yesterday, but has had some kind of episode and is now strapped to the hospital bed and telling anybody who will listen that he's being beaten, that he wants to talk to people who don't exist, all sorts of weird things. They have no idea what's going on, and Kimberly is just about beside herself with worry. Please pray for her, too.

And Some Glad News: I have another nephew! Born via C-section at 10:55 Mountain Standard Time last night, Xavier Raymond Gary Bilyk weighed 3 pounds, 13 ounces and was 16 inches long. He's about seven weeks early; he'll be in NICU for a while, but that's to be expected, I suppose. Both mom and baby are doing well, per mom.

She's gone. About twenty minutes ago, thank you, Lord.

True to form, she waited till everyone had gone home to shower and eat a meal. *rolls eyes*

But anyway, it's over. Thanks, all, for letting me vent today. I may have to do it more over the next week, but at least she's not just lingering anymore.

Just letting you know.

Dad, Dean and Kate left the hospital yesterday evening to get a bit of rest, but two hours later, the nurses called them back. No one expected Grandma to last the night.

I talked to Dad an hour ago, and she's still with us. Unresponsive, but her body won't let her go.

If you pray, please pray for release for her. She's been unwilling to live for several years now, but her body just keeps chugging along, dragging her with it kicking and screaming. Or rather, her body's kicking and screaming, but her spirit is just too weary to give a shit. I don't believe she has any intention of waking up, if she's even there now.

A hospice room became available about two hours ago, but when I spoke to Dad an hour ago, they hadn't moved her yet. We'll see how it goes.

I'll keep you updated.