Divine Secrets of the Yiayia Caretaker

08:13 pm - Funeral information.

Please do come, especially to the wake.

Ethel Kourouvasilis, 1918-2006

Wake: Wednesday at Wujek-Calcuterra at Schoenherr & 16 Mile. 3-5pm and 6-9 pm. The Trisayion service (prayer service) is at 7pm.

Funeral: Thursday at 10 am at St. John Greek Orthodox Church, 16 Mile just west of Dodge Park.

12:24 am - A relaxing day!

Today was nice and relaxing, and halfway productive, even!

Mom and I tried to visit Ati's Jewelers to fix one of Yia's necklaces and take a look for a birthday gift, but they were closed. When I was there yesterday, though, Ati did say that Yia's ring is platinum, so it can be enlarged. Hooray!

The cement pouring is all finished--now it just needs about a week to dry.

John's home this weekend! I should get to see him tomorrow afternoon.

I hung out with Patti this afternoon--the first friend I've seen in ages! It was grand. :-) We enjoyed milkshakes and shopped together at the mall.

This evening, I inputted 299 books into my library at bibliophil.org! Sarcastic thanks to amandruaboylen. My page there is http://www.bibliophil.org/library/UserLibrary.php?v_UserName=Vasilikirebecca

05:47 pm - Yiayia

Things are going pretty well. This week, Yia's antidepressants kicked in and she's been happy. It's amazing. Before, she not only was depressed, but fixated on certain problems, which she'd repeat for hours. She was foggy-minded and crying. Now she's happy, and it's amazing! She's still upset at times, and complains about things she doesn't like (like her roommate, whom she thinks is a man... and insists on saying so in front of her! Poor Jane.. no one needs to hear that over and over. I'm reduced to insistant whispers in my pidgin Greek. "Yiayia! Min les afto! YINEKA EINAI! Min les, 'einai anthopos.' Exei aftia. AKOUEI!" Unfortunately, I don't know how to say, "Don't be so mean! You'll hurt her feelings, saying she looks like a man!") She's also mentally sharp again... or more so, at least.

So I'm off to see her as soon as I finish eating.

Current Mood: happy

05:35 pm - Givin' it away!

Here's the deal: We're cleaning out Yia's place. The (impossible) goal was to have that done by this week. Then a second giganto garage sale would be had with all the extra stuff.

Then there's today's surprise: Our garage floor and driveway are getting redone on Monday!

This means all the for-sale stuff from the garage must be gotten out of the garage and given to the Salvation Army or Goodwill, tomorrow, and everything else carted over to Dad's or the basement. And then back!

AHHH.

So here's where you come in. Want FREE good books? (The POP-UP book of Kubla Khan is somehow still here!) Free purses? Free clothes for skinny people? Come now. Give me a ring, or leave a comment.  Or if you wanted to help me out with carrying heavy things, that would be even better, but no pressure. :)

Mom's actually got an LJ now, so I'll be changing my name so I don't have to bother editing the security of all my old entries. I'll let you know when it happens. She's so cute!

As a postnote, I know this is a nearly-dead hope, but I really, really, really don't want to miss Jenna's wedding and the invite got lost with all the house-moving. If you have any idea how to contact her, toss me a line! :-( Next step is calling every Hobig in the phone book..

Current Mood: tired

08:55 pm - Library Trip!

DVDs!

• Friends


• Seinfeld


• Spike & Mike's Cutting Edge Classics


• Jesus Christ Superstar, old version

• Castle Waiting, Linda Medley


• A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories
  New York: The Big City
  Life on Another Planet, Will Eisner


• Clerks, Kevin Smith


• Jar of Fools, Jason Lutes


• Marked, Steven Ross.
  


• X-Men: Bizarre Love Triangle. I won't lie. The title makes me giggle like no other. Is this a Cyclops-Jean-Emma thing? That's my assumption.


• Black Hole, Charles Burns. I've never heard of this one before. It's a hefty book and the blurb says that it's set in the 70s and is about a teen plague.


• Yossel: April 19, 1943, Joe Kubert.

Current Mood: tired

03:42 pm - Back in Kalamazoo and news from Greece

Edit: Stupid computer with its incorrect time/date setting. This was from Tuesday.

I'm currently up in Kalamazoo until Thursday; this afternoon is the wake, tomorrow is the funeral, and Thursday is me visiting all the WMU offices that I was too busy sleeping in today and yesterday to visit. I'm really, really glad to be up here, and I've very glad to be able to be with Michelle's family. There's not so much I can do to help, but playing with her nieces is fun and gives the other adults a chance to relax a little more, so that's my general occupation when I'm up in Vicksburg.

I lost 8 pounds last week during the whole Yiayia fiascos. On Sunday I tried to take Yia out of Fraser Villas, but the nurses said that residents on Medicaid aren't allowed to leave because "If they're well enough to go to church, they're not sick enough to need our care." Nouna said that it was pretty much malarky, and that I should be allowed to take her out after undergoing a 4-hour training session like those she used to give at the hospital. Yia was crushed, so as soon as I get back home, I'm going to inquire about that.

Dad left for Greece on Sunday; I dropped him off at the airport on the way up here. He just gave me a ring to let me know that he's at Papou Elias's house in the village (my papou's brother) and that Papou Elias just died. He's been sick for a while and worn out taking care of his wife (come to think of it, I've always called her Yiayia... what is her name?), but it was basically straight-up old age. I was at Andy's when he called and got disconnected before I could ask anything else.

Current Mood: exanimate

01:20 am - Joining and passing.

My greatest congratulations to rubyandalusia on her engagement this week! I am so happy for you, Elenaki mou and Daniel! You should anticipate many more squeally happy phone calls :-)



Today, my koumbara Michelle)'s Dad passed away around 4:00pm. It was very unexpected; he had a sudden heart attack. Annie's driving up tonight, Steve's leaving tomorrow morning, and I'm heading up to Kalamazoo tomorrow afternoon to do whatever I can, which will be nothing but to be there and to hug my Michelle a lot.

You know, I first met Mr. Smith at Michelle's grandfather's funeral. It was the fall after we'd first met, I think, and it must've still been summer because we wore light skirts. I was a little nervous to meet my friend's family, but I looked into the car--which was FULL of people!--and this big guy was at the steering wheel. He wasn't fat, just BIG! A very tall man, especially to me. He thanked me for coming and was very sweet, and then the whole way there made jokes. When I met Mr and Mrs. Smith again for Michelle's wedding rehearsal, he remembered me and I felt like a million dollars! I was worried about recognizing them, but there was no question about it: he has a distinct huge cowboy smile.

Current Mood: sad

02:03 am - First visit

I went to see Yiayia today around 4pm, after dropping Mom off at the car dealership to have her car fixed.  I'd planned to stay 2 or 3 hours, but only stayed until 5:00 because I couldn't handle it. Yiayia spent the whole time crying. She doesn't know when or where anything's going on, she says. No one talks to her. She could sit on that sofa the entire day and no one would know or come looking. She doesn't know  "a single soul." She just wishes she could die.  Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. We even went for a walk, and she cried as we walked. All that, over and over for an hour.

BUT

Mom went at around 8pm, and Yia was apparently very happy and laughing a lot.

So I don't know what's up, but I'm very glad she's not constantly weeping.

In my personal life, I haven't gotten a chance to read a lot lately. Every night before going to sleep, I reread part of a Jean Auel book. I started with Plains of Passage and now I'm in Stones of ...whatever the latest one is called. They're just very calming; I can always fall asleep after a chapter or two.

Went shopping for myself today! I was looking for a new pair of sandals, since my old pair snapped a strap on Sunday and one of my sneakers is in Kalamazoo. I definitely need to find a pair of flats before moving out more boxes. I wasn't lucky, but did find the cutest above-knee 'colorblock' skirt at Target. I haven't worn a short (or even shortish) skirt in ages. I love it. It's large, but I think I can fix that with a few hooks and eyes.

So now I'm eating some Black-and-tan ice cream and soon I'll head upstairs to go to sleep. Dentist appointment tomorrow at 10:50, and dress shopping with Leslie in the afternoon!

08:31 pm - Day 1 at Fraser Villa over.

Does anyone have empty boxes we could have for packing up Yiayia's things? I'm going to hit up St. John's tomorrow and maybe Kmart after that, but just in case.

Yia's all moved in. She's very, very confused in her mind and in her actions. It's a sharp decline from a week ago, but we're sure it's largely from the shock of being first in the hospital and then in the home, and that as she adjusts, she'll recover most of what she had. It was, nevertheless, very difficult to see her. She bombed the 5-question test that she'd passed before: the day of the week, date, month, year, and president. She hadn't known the president  for a while, but that wasn't any shock; it's because it makes no difference to her. Today, though, she thought the season was autumn.

John's coming home this weekend. Thank goodness! He arrives tomorrow (if tomorrow's Friday) and leaves Sunday morning.

I would really just like to go out and relax.

Current Mood: okay

11:41 am - Yiayia's moving out!

Got a phone call at 9:45--Yiayia's getting out of the hospital! Mom's over there now and I just finished showering and (finally) moving everything out of my car. If you're in the area and want to help with lifting small furniture and things down the stairs of her apartment house, give me a call at 883-2096. Your help will be appreciated.

I'm so glad she's out of the hospital, but apprehensive about how she'll take what's to come. Things will all work out in the end, though.

08:24 pm - Still in the hospital; tomorrow's schedule

I'm wiped. I definitely need to get some better support; my back is killing me. Maybe after everything else tomorrow, I could go shopping?

Tomorrow:
7:30: Pick up mom from the car dealership. Drop by the hospital and put Yiayia's hearing aid in so the nurses won't scare her.
10:00: massive cavity fixings
12:00: drive Pat to the airport
2:30: drive Mom to the dentist and back
After that: visit Yiayia

I still need to do school things, like scheduling and audits and housing.

Yiayia is doing fine. She's still in the hospital, and they still aren't sure what happened. She's going to be released directly into the nursing home for rehabilitation. She'll be able to visit the apartment again (since we're keeping it for another month), but she won't be living there again. Carol, the church secretary, and Mrs. May from the apartment complex visited, and Yiayia really perked up then.  She was pretty clear today up until around 5:30, when she became very confused and despondent. It was extremely sudden.

Now I'm going over to Yia's. I'm going to microwave myself something, eat while reading a book, and then start throwing out expired medicine. Feel welcome to call me. :)

Current Mood: tired

06:01 pm - Yiayia in the hospital again

We tried to toss Yia's old church shoes (the ones with the holes in them that were also too small for her feet) yesterday. I put them under some papers. She wore the orthopedic shoes last week, so I thought she might do the same. Yesterday she also had a more pronounced facial droop on the right side. She cried a lot whenever anything went wrong, like dropping a napkin, and would start apologizing and then move into "I never want to hurt you; I never wanted to hurt you." I'd convince her that she hadn't for a while, but she'd forget and be sad again. It was a rough day. I left her for a while to drive out to Stoukas's on 9 Mile to get some feta, filo dough, and Loux,; then I went to Borders on Kercheval, where Trevor took a 10-minute break and destressed me majorly, and picked up a book on elder caretaking.

When I got over there around 9:45 this morning, she was furious about her shoes. I won't deny, I felt like shit. My emotions go back and forth. One hand, her shoes were so horrible for her feet that her doctor was appalled; she wasn't supposed to wear them at all, ever. Other hand, doesn't she have the right to say, "The hell with it, I'm falling apart anyways, and I'm going to do it in these shoes." She was angry and yelling at me for the first time ever. She wasn't going to go to church, she cursed, she said all sorts of things. I went back into the closet, dug the holey shoes out, looked around and found some new pairs of naturalizers and brought them out. I lied, saying that when cleaning yesterday, I'd put them all on the shoerack. Eventually she took her medicine (which she didn't want), and we left. She was mad the whole way there, but eventually believed my lie. How do I feel about this?

I think Fr. Serelis was serving at church today, but I didn't get close enough to figure it out. We arrived around 10:30. After a while, Yia said something about sitting, so I told her to sit and asked how she was doing. "I'm fine." A few minutes later I thought I noticed her right hand grasping at my skirt, so I sat with her. This must've been some time around Communion? She said she was okay again, so I just sat there diagonally and kept an eye. Her eyes stopped tracking me and she slumped to her right side. The lady behind us had been keeping an eye on her as well, and grabbed her shoulders so she wouldn't hit the pew. I said her name a few times, saw that she was gone, and began looking around. I'd left everything in the car, since I haven't moved my purse over to mom's house yet and didn't want to carry in the GEAR-UP messenger bag. I saw Nick Souris, asked him for his cell phone. I was crying. He gave it to me; I tried to dial 911 but pressed 0 instead and gave up, shoving it back at him and asking him to dial 911. Mary understood what I was saying and repeated it to him.

Someone grabbed Dr Terry Bowers and also Leslie, who'd apparently been two rows ahead of us. He began examining Yia. I'm not really sure what went on there. Les hugged me and went to find a wheelchair or a computer chair so we could get Yiayia out of the church itself. Yia couldn't blink her right eye; it bugged open. She couldn't squeeze with her right hand at all. Liz Karamihas found the wheelchair, and Yia was wheeled out of church. It was all fairly quiet; I'm not sure if people in the front knew that anything was going on.

The EMS came and did their thing. They said they'd be going to Troy Beaumont, so Les and I headed over there, but instead they went to St. Joe's on 19 Mile.

We eventually made it to St. Joe's and Les and I asked for Yia, IDed ourselves as her granddaughters, and spelled her name in unison. :-) I'm so indescribably glad Les was there. The man at the desk asked, "Is one of you Becky?" "YES!" "Head straight through that door and turn right." We headed over through the door, to be greated by the nurse at the desk asking, "Becky?" "YES!!"
So Yia must have made her wishes known. :)

We don't know yet what's going on. She's okay for now, but staying in the hospital for at least a day. Her high-school friend Pat is here and cooking quiche right now, and things are going to work out, one way or another.

I think a break would be nice for me.

09:42 pm - Excavations.

Going through the drawers and trunks is a hoot. Why did Papou have gold "State of Texas" cuff links?

I found a 5-page letter from Papou to Yiayia while he was stationed in Japan.

Current Mood: exhausted

01:21 am - Bawlin' at the doctors.

I absolutely lost it at the doctor's office this morning. Mom sent me in to Dr. Reddy's to pick up Yia's bloodwork and her chest x-rays for Fraser Villas to evaluate. Mom had talked to Dr. Reddy and okayed the picking of of everything, but the doctor wasn't in the office at the time, so the receptionist didn't know what was going on. When I told her that Yiayia wasn't able to walk into the office to pick the papers up herself (fib), she said Yia had to call in and give permission for me to pick up the papers. Which is great procedure and I do appreciate the security. But.

I spent 10 minutes in the hallway on the phone with Yiayia, going over the information.
Me: "I am at YOUR DOCTOR'S OFFICE."
Yiayia: "You're at my doctor's."
Me: "I need to pick up some PAPERS."
Yiayia: "Papers."
Me: "The doctor needs to know that it's okay with you!" or "TELL THE LADY THAT I CAN PICK UP THE PAPERS! I'LL GIVE HER THE PHONE!"
Yiayia: "I don't understand.. Come over here, honey, and tell me." and (irritatedly) "Okay. Okay. Do whatever you want. Just come over here and tell me."

I finally told her I would call Mom. I hung up, went outside, called Mom, and started crying. Mom took care of things. I'd forgotten that she had power of attorney, or hadn't realized that it would help in this case. In any case, about 15 minutes later, the files were ready. Of course, Mom noticed the x-ray reports were missing and had to go back for them later...

Other than that, I've been pretty good with this. I haven't cried with Yiayia, I didn't cry at the nursing home, and I don't cry when Mom and I have our nightly commiseration sessions. This once isn't that bad.

02:32 pm - Yiayia? Angry? Hahahahaha.

Just got back from Yiayia's. She's mad. "I'm not mad at you," she reassures me. She thinks Mom tricked her and went behind her back to get her into the Assisted Living, which is partly valid and partly not. We've been telling her all year that it was going to happen, but it wasn't a daily theme, and she wasn't involved in the process of picking it out. Looking back, that is what I might do differently. I don't know.

So she was mad and showed it today :-) which did make me smile, because Yiayia is rarely this fiesty and assertive. "Good for you!" I want to say. "There's no reason for you to be cheerful about this!" The Fraser Villas lady came over and gave her an assessment, which didn't go as well as it could have because one of the hearing aids wasn't in correctly. Yia knew the month, but not the day (neither did I, though!) nor the president, which.. doesn't really bother me, as it's not one of those things that affects her life, really. Especially since she doesn't take the paper or watch tv anymore. FV lady said that there's no reason for her to be on the second (locked) floor, which is for "wandering risks." I'm glad. I did NOT want her anywhere near it.

Our old aim-for date was August, but now it looks like we might have to move in in a week. A WEEK. It seems much too quick for me. Much too quick. Maybe I just feel that it is too quick for me. Yia would like to wait. She keeps saying that we could just wait two months and we wouldn't have to worry about her. Ljubica kept making her laugh every few minutes. Thank goodness for Ljubica.

I walked downstairs and told Mrs. May on the first floor about Yia's upcoming move, and we chatted. At one point she held my face and said, "Yiayia's going to Papouli soon." I felt so angry. I just can't handle thinking about her death right now when thinking about her feelings and move is hard enough.

Yiayia told me she wants me to take all of the jewelry, photo albums, and precious, precious jars of coins now. Thea Tess, Mom and I will talk things out later, after she dies, since I'm definitely not going to deny them their mothers' things and their childhood photographs just because I'm her "baby."

Which is why I'm sitting on the bed looking through the 5 huge photo albums which I could fit in my GEAR UP bag, and later going back for more things. I'll store things in my spare hope chest. It seems like an appropriate place.

I'm sitting in John's old room with Sunni, and Yia's bird Vasili is downstairs (we're washing his cage tonight). The birds are chirping back and forth to each other, and Sunni is so confused about being able to hear another bird chirping back!

I don't think I'll even bother calling back Borders. I wanted to have gas money and to not be such a leech, but I can't handle anything else right now, and Mom wants me available 24/7

I'm going to chill until 6, when I head back over to Yiayia's.
This is my reminder to call Dad tonight!

Current Mood: okay

02:00 am - Telling Yiayia about the move

Today we told Yiayia that she'll be moving into an assisted living place. She didn't cry. I didn't either.

It never feels good to lose your home. It can't feel good to be counting down the days, either. After Mom left, she said that she guessed she might as well start praying to die. It's hard.

I stayed after Mom left, and she began to talk a little more. She talked about how Thea Antonia was all alone in the nursing homes she was in, and how no one ever visited her. She talked about wishing she had gone at the same time as Papou. I could see the tears she was holding back, and the desperation, and the knowledge that this is the end of her life. It was so depressing; when I try to write or talk about it, it still feels like I'm treating it too jovially. My words don't convey the horrible sadness and comprehension that was there.

She began to tell me about the objects in her china cabinet out of the blue, and we moved from there to the storage closet. We (I) cleaned out underneath and on top of the dresser. Jars and jars and jars and JARS of loose change. "Becky, you make sure, when they're going through this, that they (Mom and Thea Tess) don't spend this. It's worth something." Four serving dishes, still in their boxes, waiting since the 80s to be given as gifts to some young bride and groom. A tintype-style photo of Johnny from I-don't-know-where. Two bottles of holy water, one plastic, and one from when we used glass.

From the top of the dresser, I threw away 4 bottles of expired Robitussin, along with eyedrops, tylenol, tape that had lost its stick from age, and aerosol deoderant from the early- to mid-90s. Inside the dresser lid, we found all the papers from her father's death and burial, along with her parents' marriage certificate. "Becky, make SURE they don't throw this out."

I left at 9:30pm. We go back tomorrow morning at 10am to meet with her and a lady from the assisted living.

11:17 pm - AARRRRGH

There was a grape juice explosion today. Pouring myself a cup whenthe top came off the pitcher. Arrrgh!!

What can I do about grape juice under my spacebar? it's driving me crazy.Maybe I can add the spacebar function to another key?

Current Mood: irritated

01:34 am - Library trips!

Somehow, I've gone to the library 3 or 4 times since school ended, read many captivating books, and didn't record any of them.

I enjoyed Naughts and Crosses's dealing with racism and class struggles between the naughts and crosses. It really did not go where I thought it would in many places, and sometimes it seemed that if a character could make the wrong choice, it would. Dilemnas!

I just finished 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style, by Matt Madden. I'm really happy that I picked it up, since the title isn't one that would typically draw me in. It was fantastic. Madden begins with a one-page eight-panel story in which he closes his laptop, walks downstairs, answers the question "What time is it?", opens the refridgerator, and asks, "What the hell was I looking for, anyway?!" He repeats 98 times in different narrative and illustrative styles, such as monologue, voyeur, flashback, multiple narrators, outer space, and actor's studio. Fantastic.

I'd also read through Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Phyllis Reynold Naylor's latest Alice book, and other things which I have unfortunately forgotten. Mail Order Bride was somewhat depressing, but drew me in.

Today's trip:
Fiction

• Looking for Alaska, John Green
• a few tpb's of Powers. I love Powers.

• The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, Simon Winchester. "The compilation of the OED, begun in 1857, was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee [...] discovered that one man, Dr. W.C. Minor, had submitted more than ten thousand. When the committee insisted on hojnoring him, a shocking truth came to light: Dr. Minor [...]was also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane."
• The Grouchy Grammarian: A How-Not-To Guide for the 47 Most Common Mistakes in English Made by Journalists, Broadcasters, and Others Who Should Know Better, Thomas Parrish.
• Twilight Children, Torey Hayden
• Katie.com. I know, my eyes are rolling too.
• Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting it Right, Bill Bryson. I enjoyed Mother Tongue and Made in America immensely, so I have high hopes.
• Graphic Novels: Stories to Change Your Life. Unlike some of the other books on graphic novels that I've seen, this one has a two-page spread, at least, of every book it discusses. Although reading about all these books that I'll never see is a massive tease, I like it.

• Rent. Never seen it and don't know the plot, hopefully I can watch it while I fold and hang clothes for the garage sale.
• The Kumars at No. 42. Here's the box blurb: "Meet the Kumars at No. 42, a fictional immigrant family who have bulldozed their back yard so they can build a studio on the back of their house and indulge their spoiled son Sanjeev, who fancies himself a celebrity talk show host." Definitely a watch-with-Mom movie!
  
• Doogie Howser again, of course. It cracks me up. Latest episode: Doogie has to give his girlfriend a pelvic exam. Ruh roh!
• Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey. Thank you, whoever is in charge of choosing the new dvds. Thank you!
• Annie. The edition we grew up with, with Carol Burnett, thank you.
• Seinfeld, Simpsons, etc.

04:45 pm - Moving me, moving Yiayia, moving boxes of books.

There is a lot to say, but very little time to say it in!

Found out on Fridayish that Dad is moving and that the house will be open for viewing starting today at 6pm. Time to clean out everything!

Mom and I visited two assisted living centers today. One was very fake-looking, but had the most gorgeous room set-up--a long, wide hallway with the kitchen in it and the bathroom adjoining, anding in a gorgeous hexagonal room with a huge window. I'm in love with it for myself. However, the other place had a kind, helpful staff, residents walking around and interacting, a happy air, and pretty much all the stuff that was on our checklist. Although they kept saying how they took residents on outings... "Where?" "Dairy Queen!" "My grandmother is diabetic..." "Oh..." But what can you do. It's close to home. We should be moving her soon.

Mom and I are holding a garage sale sometime this week, and I am selling my books. Not just my crappy books--no, my awesome books. The childrens' books I have that I don't think will last until whenever John or I have kids, the sci-fi/fantasy that I could check out of the library instead of carrying with me, nearly everything! Also a variety of clothes that don't fit me.

Give me a ring if you want to hang out at my exciting garage sale. It is bound to be a very slow blast. I really don't think you want to pass up the opportunity to own your own POP-UP book of "Kubla Khan."

Current Mood: happy

02:41 am

I've been too wiped to update, which is funny considering the up-till-3, sleep-till-noon schedule I've been on.  I've even skipped recording 3 library trips with excellent books.. shame, shame.

Home has had its ups and downs.
Negative things

• Yia's still stooped over. Forgets a lot, doesn't know which ear her hearing aids go into and twisted the right one into going into her left ear... which is like making your underwear a sock; it just does not work out.
• Mom and I are thinking she had a stroke on Wednesday. Wednesday morning, when Mom took Yia to the dentist, she was speaking normally, but by the time I saw her (5:00? 8:00?) she was slurring majorly, and still is. It gets to me a little more than the other things, because now she constantly sounds just like she did right before her heart attack, and it's not her voice. It's my yiayia's voice all pinched up and twisted.
• Dad's on me about losing weight and finding a job.
• Missing Andrew so, so much.
  
• Library staff here doesn't know me. I'm hoping Sandy didn't get transferred; she's the only person who I remember from back at the Macomb County Library, when I volunteered there. I think Mary must've retired by now; she looked about as old as Yiayia, and I haven't seen her in a good 7+ years.
       I actually got scolded for forgetting my card this week. Not because I forgot it, but because I also once forgot it one year ago. Imagine! Visiting the library roughly once a week and forgetting your card once a year! Sound the alarms! According to the librarian, if I ever forget it again, my card'll be cancelled, but that seems pretty bogus to me. Ever?
  

• I'm home with my family! Dad and I...sit. Mom and I giggle a lot, have serious talks about yia and my future, and Greek dance in the backyard. I'm there for Yia, pretty much.
  
• I'm home with friends! I've hung out with Trevor 300% more already than in the past few years. It has been wonderful!
• I'm checking out really good books, and I have the time and motivation to get through all of them!
• The CMPL has an amazing dvd collection! They've definitely restocked since all the thefts last year, and it is gorgeous! Everything else is smaller than KPL (well, graphic novel collection is bigger, but aside from Powers, I wouldn't choose it), but the dvds are pretty great.  I've been checking out a movie every couple nights to watch with Yiayia, so she can practice holding her head up, and also just chillax.
• The weather is lovely.
• Thank you notes make me smile!
• Potential job!
• Thinking carefully about the future.
• Sharing books with Mom (currently: Jack Gantos and Amy Tan). Why aren't I an English major?