Thursday Wayne and I did some more work on HLA4. It’ll be earlier this year, and we haven’t heard anything from any of our usual cast. We thinking about either continuing on through HLA7 or ending with HLA4. We have an idea for another LARP should we end HLA with HLA4. It’s still too early in the process to make a decision.
Friday my leg was acting up a bit again. It caused me some discomfort on the commute to work and while limping around the building at work. On the way home I stopped in at KFC again and asked for a fish bowl. I had a different employee this time, and he wasn’t sure how to answer. So he went into the back and converesed with someone out of view. When he came back, he asked me to confirm that I wanted to substitute fish for popcorn chicken on a rice bowl. I confirmed that request, and he confirmed that he could make it happen. After I paid for it, he had to go tell the food preparer about the substitution, as apparently the computer system for KFC was unable to let him convey that. But that’s progress. Hopefully KFC will wise up and let the computer handle such requests next year.
After that, while heading uphill through the mountain preserve, my leg started acting up enough I ended up catching a bus the rest of the way. On the way home, Liz’s daughter got on the bus. It turns out that she was kicked out of the house some five months before, and now lives within a mile of me. She asked me for an update on LepreCon, but as I had just missed her mother’s convention’s meeting I wasn’t of much help.
Trollgod has started a new game on Trollhalla, Buffalo Castle Tag. I signed up for the game, then asked Khayd’haik to add some weapons to the Armoury for the game. He was able to add some, but not others. I was waiting to see if they’d be added before submitting my character stats and description. Once I saw that he’d added what he could, I decided I’d make my character once I was home and had access to my T&T7 rules.
But when I got home from watching Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero with my friends, I got a call from my maternal grandfather. My grandmother was back in the hospital and he needed me to call my mother. She’s long distance, and he’s never been willing to learn how to use the calling card. So, suffice it to say, my character had to wait.
Sunday, after hiking and having breakfast at Village Inn with our hiking group, my mother picked me up and we visited my grandparents at the hospital. She’d broken a bone between her ribs and shoulder, and it was likely that it was bone cancer. Afterwards, my mother joined me for mass. Father Joy presided, but Msgr. Mike gave the homily as the kick off for the Lenten Mission. The mission is on the mass, and he promised to explain the forest of the mass, not the trees of the mass (to abuse a common metaphor to summarize his explanation).
Once I got home, I rushed to make my Buffalo Castle Tag character by deadline. I posted it, but shortly thereafter Turn One was posted, and I wasn’t included. Apparently I’d been too late in posting my character statistics. I was disappointed, but it happens.
Monday morning I got up early so I could attend the Lenten Mission. Msgr. Mike presided over mass and afterwards gave a 45 minute talk. He paraleled the Exodus of the Israelites with the Exodus of Jesus. After that, he explained how the Jewish people relate their lives to the Exodus of the Israelites, while Christians are called to model their lives after the Exodus of Jesus. The mass is one of the ways we do so, with scriptures, homily, and Eucharist.
After the Lenten Mission I went to work. After work my mother told me that the cancer doctor had ordered some shots, which my grandmother demanded to have explained to her. The nurse was unable to explain them fully (as she wasn’t there when the doctor was), and promised to explain them once she had the order in hand. My grandmother was threatening not to take them if any of them was related to chemo (which she’d already stopped for her breast cancer).
A friend of mine had been out of town for the weekend, and I had wanted to welcome her back to town. So I called her right after that. Perhaps I shouldn’t have, as the words that came out of my mouth didn’t seem to match the ones in my head. I probably should have waited, but sometimes I get so stubborn. I set my mind towards doing something, and I’ll do it regardless of a change in curcumstances. Thursday I emailed her an appology and clarification.
Monday evening I stopped by Monte‘s on the way home so I could watch Heroes: The Best Show on Television. It continues to get better with each episode. I was so jazzed by the end of the episode, it was totally what I needed. Then, Trollgod gave me a call and told me that he’d made a Turn One addendum, and that I could participate in Buffalo Castle Tag. That, too, made my day. Two good things (even if they’re just fantasy, they’re good distractions) in the same evening went a long way towards bolstering my spirits.
I got home and submitted my Turn One response, then went to bed. I slept in, so by the time I got to church I’d already missed part of the Lenten Mission. So I left, deciding to catch the evening session. On the way home I dropped off my tunic at the drycleaners and went grocery shopping. Once home I paid some bills, weeded the yard, and did laundry.
I wanted to see about visiting my grandmother, but couldn’t get ahold of anyone. Eventually, my mother was off work and I called her. She seemed surprised that I hadn’t read her email on the matter. I’m always telling people to call me and leave a message rather than email. I get to phone messages the same day, emails within a few weeks. I tell people this all the time, yet no one listens. It is very frustrating. My mother and I just went over this last month. It turned out that my grandmother was moved to the cancer ward and that she was talking about how we’d all missed her when she’s gone.
Eventually, it was time to go to the Lenten Mission. After the Lenten Mission mass, Msgr. Mike refreshed us on what he’d covered the day before, before launching into the main portion of the mission. The mass begins with asking for forgiveness, continues with blueprints for our lives, and culminates with gathering together as a community at the altar. The scriptures are our blueprints on how to live life. We read those blueprints before we come to the altar with our own individual crosses, which we offer up to the Lord. Jesus was/is offered up on our behalf, just as the Jewish priests offered up holocausts to the Lord. Msgr. Mike also mentioned that the priesthood is allowed to share in the sacredness of others’ crosses. I found that very profound.
Wednesday morning I got up early for the Lenten Mission again. This time, Fr. Gene precided over the mass. After mass he thanked Msgr. Mike for giving the mission, as he normally sees twelve people left by the third day of the mission. This time, Father claimed, the assembly grew each day of the mission. Msgr. Mike then launched into the mission, which he promised would be different than the previous two days. Jesus emptied Himself of everything (including His divinity) and filled Himself with God’s will. That was why Satan tempted Him to use His divinity, that was how He was able to experience doubt on the cross, that was how He has left us an example of how to live our lives, and that is how He is able to identify with and share with us in our humanity. We are called to follow that example, imperfect as we are, to empty ourselves and fill ourselves with the will of God. Baptism begins that, but being imperfect we need to periodically reempty ourselves and refill ourselves with God’s will, which the mass gives us, especially in the Eucharist.
After the mission was a social with coffee and doughnuts. They didn’t have any beverage other than coffee, so I took a cup and regretted it the rest of the day. Gross. Gross. Gross. I couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth the rest of the day. I’m done with coffee for the next decade. At least the maple longjohn was good. Fr. Gene invited me to join him at “the problem children” table. One of the ladies at the table will be celebrating her 50th wedding anniversary a week from today, and she was talking about the sausages that were going to be catered at the big party she was planning. Father was trying to talk her into using sardines instead, but she wasn’t going to hear any of it. Msrg. Mike was going from table to table, and he commented that “the problem children” hadn’t learned the message of the mission yet. I’d have to agree.
Eventually, I had to head to work. After work, I heard from my mother that her mom had been moved out of the hospital and into a neighboring building. That building allows people to wear street clothing, accept a greater number of visitors, et cetera, and she is being wheeled over to the hospital for various tests and treatments as they come up. Unfortunately, Medicare will only cover the first 21 days, so if she needs more (like the professionals suspect), she’s hosed. Tonight they were discussing their options again, and it looks like she’ll go home after 21 days if she’s not discharged earlier.
Thursday I enjoyed sleeping in to my normal weekday time before heading to work. After work Debbie was kind enough to listen to me discuss my grandmother’s situation. Right after she had made me feel better about the situation, I got the update call from my mother. I guess my grandmother had received a couple of radiation treatments that day and afterwards was belligerant, making my mother and grandfather very concerned.
After that, I headed to our TFLAS meeting, where we worked on updating our Cast Database. We’ve quit using Microsoft Excel and have switched to Google Docs & Spreadsheets, which makes it much easier for Wayne and I to update without worry for duplicate effort.
This morning it took me two hours to get to work, as my chain kept hoping off of gears. I had the same trouble getting home, plus I had an injured hand. While I was at work, one of my grandparents’ friends came in for an Arizona flag. She was rather worried for my grandmother, and wanted to chat that up a bit before she switched to her purpose for arriving at the store. After work, I was given the great news that my grandmother was in better spirits. She was even doing well enough to talk to me.
And that’s my week in review.
Just in time for SM3:
| You Are Spider-Man |
 And that kind of makes up for the whole creepy spider thing. |
“Challenges are what makes life interesting, overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” ~ Joshua J. Marine
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