the good, the bad, and the ugly...

Wow.

This weekend was a high-to-low rollercoaster.  Dotted with meals involving turkey:  turkey sandwiches, turkey pot pie, turkey and mashed potatoes.

On Saturday morning, John and I went to a memorial service/brunch for our across-the-street neighbor of about 18 years.  He had been suffering from Alzheimer's for the past couple of years, living in an Alzheimer's Care Community.  It was truly a celebration of his life, and so was an uplifting experience for the most part. 

His daughter, Kitty, had recently recovered from a fight with Pancreatic Cancer (probably the deadliest cancer out there).  She was celebrating the fact that she had gone from a 5% chance of surviving for 5 years to an 85% chance of surviving 5 years.  She's a miracle!   We were happy to see all of the family, who live out of state.

NEXT...reading the newspaper, we read about a one-year-old boy who had drowned on Wednesday.  We immediately realized that it was the grandson of friends of ours.  How horrible!  Next Sunday is their annual Christmas Carol Party and we were planning on going.  Now, we're not sure that they will even have one.  The baby's funeral is on Saturday. 

Saturday night, we went out for Indian food (delicious!) and to see the movie, RENT.  Okay, so why was this movie a hit on Broadway for years and years?  It is about a bunch of friends that either:  have AIDS, are heroin addicts, refuse to get real jobs, totally diss anyone who actually is responsible and has a job, hate their parents (for no apparent reason) and on and on.  How do I identify with any of them? 

Sunday was somewhat better.  The kids were doing well when we made our Sunday morning phone calls.  My Mother-in-Law was in good spirits and was able to have good movement of her knee, when we went to visit her.   I finished reading Memoirs of a Geisha and restarted reading the newest Harry Potter.  John and Ross got the Christmas lights up and the house looks cheery and nice.

And now, I am headed into the kitchen to finish up the turkey soup...

Comments

[tinker]

What a humdinger of a rollercoaster ride....I can't think of anything sadder than losing a child/grandchild...Wonderful that your neighbor's daughter has reached that landmark...It's sad to lose a neighbor - I'm still sad about losing our little old couple we had across the street for so many years (even though the new family's been there for nearly 2 years, we still find ourselves referring to the house as "Bob & Grace's"). As for Rent, I've loved the opening song ever since I first heard it, but I only just saw the movie, this Sat., too, & I had very mixed emotions about it, myself. Though, as I told Bonnie, at the time it first debuted on Broadway (mid-80's), there was still a LOT of stigma about AIDS/HIV (not that it's all that great now - but there's a little more compassion now, than then)& at that time it was viewed as a disease that only affected gay men, so showing straight men & women with it, was something of an enlightened viewpoint...
Hollywood always seems to wait at least a decade too long to bring a topical Broadway hit to the screen & by the time everyone sees it, it's so dated - few can relate to it's topic/message & they wonder WHY it ends up flopping. Sorry, I've rambled on forever on your blog! My point was, I was both glad I finally saw that opening number, yet also letdown in many ways. Hope your week is a smoother ride than your weekend!

[Tonya]

Boy, a roller-coaster is right. Nice highs, but very sad lows. That really is something to survive pancreatic cancer. Isn't that what got Michael Landon? (In a very short period of time). Boy, good for her! I wish my hubby enjoyed doing Christmas lights. He just never has. So I make the most out of our tree -- it has a gazillion lights on it. (Well, almost).

[Margaret]

I haven't seen Rent, so I can't comment intelligently--but did you like Memoirs of a Geisha? You already know that I loved it. By the way, do you remember where we stayed last year in Portland for the MAC gymnastics meet? I am trying to find the same hotel, but can't remember the name of it to save my life. Gosh, getting old is fun!

[Arlene]

I'm so sorry to hear about the little boy. It's so sad and you know how your friends must ache.

Yay for Christmas lights. They make everything a bit cheerier, don't they?

[Stephanie]

I think I heard about that drowning in the news...so sad.
As for Rent, Jason and I saw the musical when it was in Portland several years ago. I remember mostly liking it, although, like you said, I didn't exactly connect with most of the characters.

And yay for Christmas lights!

[Elizabeth]

I've grown addicted to your banners and as they change, much like flipping he next page in a calendar! *smile*

So very, very sad for your friend's grandchild.

[Marilyn]

This was the first time in many years we didn't cook for just the two of us, so we did miss having leftovers. Wow, good news about your neighbor's daughter (my grandfather died of pancreatic cancer). Sorry to hear about the drowning--how sad. But yay for Xmas lights. We put our tree up on Sunday...it's a touch early for us...but I wanted it to keep me company while J is gone...he's coming to YOUR town for 10 days...flies up Thursday. Yay for PDX! Boo for me missing him. :(