Crunchy Thoughts

The past two months at our household have actually been pretty tough ones. My mother has been quite sick and the hospital is beginning to know her about as well as the pediatrician’s office recognizes Lydia.

I’m sorry — I probably shouldn’t joke. It’s been very tough for my parents these last few weeks. It’s been tough for me not being sure what to do or now to help. But at least I’m in town — my sister lives two hours away and feels even more helpless.

Early on I made the decision not to write or otherwise make any online mention of this for the time being and it’s been hard. I made that decision out of respect for Mom and Dad — it’s primarily their row to hoe and I didn’t want to be the Child That Didn’t Shut Up On The Internet. Also, it’s not just my friends and such that read this website; theirs do, too. Sometimes I think more of their friends frequent here than mine.

I still had a cathartic need to write, though, and after some thinking and after Friday I realized there are parts of this that are mine and my sister’s row to hoe. She’s our mother, after all, and after having both become mothers ourselves within the past year we both need her now more than ever.

Unfortunately I think her own mother and father need her more and she’s going to leave us pretty soon.

I’m really not sure what else to say at the moment, so there it is.

Last week the awesome band Coldplay was in town performing at the Amphitheater (Verizon Wireless and their sponsorship can go walk off a cliff) and it seems like everyone but us went. In retrospect we wish we had gone but last week was a busy week.

One of Steven’s co-workers who attended the concert remarked to him later how he looks just like their drummer, one Will Champion. Steven tells me this so I promptly Google the guy and, by Jove, he kinda does!

Here’s Steven:

And here’s this drummer guy:

Maybe I should get Steven a skinny scarf for his birthday.

Steven, while on the phone dealing with a billing issue with Alagasco:

“So . . . you’re punishing us for being proactive?”

“I’m bring up the bill on the website . . . hold on, it’s a pretty crappy website . . .”

It is a crappy website, too. There are two separate log-ins — one for E-billing and one for My Account — each with their own Login I.D. and password. I think a big WTF is warranted here.

He’s still on the phone with them now. I believe the moral of this story is don’t sign up for their Budget Billing service because they don’t know what the hell they’re doing.