Turns out the my grandmother on my mother’s side had a heart attack Thanksgiving evening, and possibly a mild stroke. My Uncle, (Her eldest son) is up there now and tending to her. I seems to be fairly serious, but stable now. She’s in good hands… I hope that Ted hangs in there. She’s of hardy stock, but really getting up there in age. Hopefully, she’ll be in good enough health to move back to Florida soon, where things are a little easier on seniors.
Brother came by today and picked up a bunch of his stuff (though not all of it). Maybe the fact that we got into the start of an argument last night got through to him? Hard to say, but he was fairly cowed and quiet… He brought the Mother over with him, to help cart his stuff. He was good enough to call first before coming over and was polite enough about this and that. I worry about his cognitive skills… even though its the first time in an age that he’s shown up at my house without a beer in his hand, or smelling of the stuff, his body language and actual speech patterns were still mildly erratic. I wonder if he’s on something, or if he’s a little damaged from past abuses, or was just nervous about dealing with me? Hard to say, but hopefully it’s repairable, whatever it is. We did talk civilly about him selling his guitar on eBay.. I suggested that he try to sell it locally, first, just to make things go more swiftly, and to spare him the trouble of figuring out how to ship a guitar. If he does decide to go the eBay route, I’ll certainly help him with his wording and posting it under his own account.
As for some good news, I’m down to my last notch on my belt… I’ll have to buy a new one, soon.. probably along with a couple pairs of better-fit pants.
The Disinfopedia – a collaborative project to produce a directory of public relations firms, think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts that work to influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of corporations, governments and special interests.
The store offered to put the DVD player on lay-away for her.
Stickels with Orange City police said there would not be criminal charges for the trampling. “It gets like that around the holidays,” he said. “People get fierce.”
Ah, the holiday spirit. it misses some folks entirely.
An outing to a shopping center ended with a shock for 13-year-old Joakim Osland. A fjoesnisse, a kind of elf that traditionally occupies barns and wears a red cap associated with Christmas and Santa Claus, became frighteningly furious when Joakim tried to pet his hen, newspaper Firda reports.
to smurfs 
… at least until I can figure some other little one to put there. candy canes, perhaps?