- WELP. THIS IS A BIG ONE.
- Saturday involved practicing ukulele and other music, rewatching old Polos, and working on my blog. I updated some sites and got some help from Steve configuring my microphone and IT WORKS! Called my mom and found out she wasn't doing well again, though she had been somewhat improved earlier in the week. So I made plans to go visit her the next day. Practiced my ukulele more.
- Sunday I made my karaoke recording, which I was very proud of because I had to learn a very fast Spanish song to perform it, and then I trekked over to Mom's. I took out her trash, did her laundry, and washed her dishes as I have been since she got so ill. And also at her request I made some rice and we sat around eating it together. She yelled at me for moving too fast and offered to pay me to sit down, haha. We watched some TV while waiting for the laundry, and then I went home and practiced ukulele some more.
- Monday I got through three letters, but the July 4th holiday had bumped the due date to Wednesday instead of the usual Monday, so I just did the editing. Also sent some letters out to bother subconsultants. Then my mom's roommate called and said my mom had collapsed and he got her to agree to go to the hospital in an ambulance. Doctors began to call me throughout the day and told me she would be admitted and she was in very bad condition. I relayed the news to my sisters. Given the pretty grim prognosis, my sisters began looking at whether they should fly out to see her. In the evening I played some games with my friends (I had to run the game night since Meg was out of town). Then my sister Patricia called and told me her travel plans and we caught up.
- Tuesday I had planned to spend the holiday cleaning my mom's room up for whenever she got out of the hospital, but I was awakened by a very early phone call from the hospital saying my mother was in ICU and she had been diagnosed with end stage liver failure. Since it was a holiday, I didn't have to work, so I decided to spend the day at the hospital with her. Before I could get out I got several more calls from social workers and other medical people discussing Mom's living will. I gave them her wishes. I took a Lyft car and found my way to my mother's room. She was not conscious or responsive at all, but I was happy to see her nurses were very gentle and were taking good care of her. They were realistic with me about her prognosis and told me she most likely would not be going home. I exchanged messages with my sisters about the situation and coordinated with them about travel plans, and spent the day sitting beside Mom, singing to her and talking to her. While I was there a chest X-ray also came back saying she had COPD. Jeaux went grocery shopping for me to help me prepare for my sisters' stay. I chatted with Meg on the phone about the Mom situation and watched some distant fireworks.
- Wednesday at the crack of dawn I got a warning call from the hospital telling me they were losing her and there was nothing they could do. I said my sisters were on their way but they assured me it was too late. I got another call about half an hour later and they told me my mother had passed away. So . . . RIP Mom, September 12, 1954 – July 5, 2023.
- Obviously I couldn't go back to bed so I called my sister Lindsay and told her the news. Then I logged on to tell my workplace that I would be needing to take bereavement leave. (I also sent out two letters because they were due.) I was granted the leave. Then my other sister Patricia, who had been in the air when Mom passed, texted me saying she was already in a taxi, so I didn't want to call her and tell her in that situation. When she got to my door I told her Mom was gone. We made some initial plans, had coffee and breakfast, and later went to the hospital together to pick up our mom's things. We did some initial research as well about cremation and what we could do with her ashes.
- In the afternoon our other sister Lindsay got in and we decided to make arrangements to share a meal our mom would have liked--Italian food from Mandola's. We called our dad and told him the news and he said he'd like to see us, so we tentatively planned for Saturday. Then we got our food, hung out, and talked about our mother and looked at photos.
- Thursday we had a leisurely morning together, with one sister in the guestroom and one sister on the couch. We all went to a cremation appointment together and arranged for our mom's cremation, and then we got some donuts and snacks. After, we picked up some gifts for our mom's roommate and went to her house to tell him. We thanked him for helping her so much in her difficult years, and we went through some of her things. We found some boxes we took back to my house together so we could look through them, and some of her personal belongings and important papers we need to preserve. The rental car Lindsay got had a problem but my mom's roommate helped us. Then Patricia and Lindsay made eggs and French toast for dinner and we chatted and worked on our mother's obituary late into the night. I added some photos to her memorial page, staying up way too late.
- Friday we reached out to Mom's sisters to tell them she was gone, but we didn't get any replies yet. My sister Patricia's friend Amber came over (and later Amber's mom), and we enjoyed some fruit and some beans and rice and salad and stuff. We spent some time hanging out and then after they left we looked at some of my plants in the back yard and made some dinner (this time Chik patties and tater tots). I worked on my webcomic and posted it. Then we went through the first box of stuff we'd brought from Mom's house and found a lot of our old childhood papers. I started feeling really tired before everyone else and took a nap on the couch before going to bed.
Articles, Interviews, Mentions:
- Not really about me, but I am mentioned in my mother's obituary. (There is also a fundraiser, but we're not raising for any goal. My mom just liked to donate to St. Jude's.)
New Reviews:
- Han gave The Invisible Orientation a five-star review on Amazon.
- An unnamed Amazon Customer gave The Invisible Orientation a five-star review on Amazon.
- Weight stuff: The high weight is lower but the low weight is the same. I'm not watching anything right now and it seems obvious why! With all this food people have brought, I'll just be eating what's here. High weight: 120.8 Low weight: 119.7.
- Nutrition stuff: I've had a lot of relatively easy food this week, and have still managed to have some vegetables and fruit here and there. I think I've been low on protein. I haven't checked. Still consistently taking the vitamins.
- Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Thursday at 10,028 steps, and my high day was Tuesday at 13,076 steps.
Books Read:
- Finished Reading: None.
- Currently Reading: Be Gay, Do Comics by Matt Bors. I'm on page 52.
This week's karaoke song is "Aserejé" by Las Ketchup.
Stuff drawn:
Videos Made:
None.
New photos:
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| New microphone! |
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| With my sisters after Mom died |
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| Sisters both wearing Steven Universe shirts |
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| Looking through Mom's stuff |
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| Mom's last cigarette |
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| Patricia and Lindsay cooking breakfast for dinner |
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| Linds holding Foxy, Amber's doggie |
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| Amber giving Patricia a massage |
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| Sorting through old boxes |
Social Media Counts:
YouTube subscribers: 5,439 for swankivy (lost 1), 678 for JulieSondra (lost 1), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 181 for Not-So-Giant Women (1 new), 72 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 864 for swankivy (lost 2), 3,894 for JulieSondra (43 new). Facebook: 296 friends for swankivy (no change), 646 likes for JulieSondra (2 new), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 240 likes for So You Write (no change), 94 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (lost 1). Tumblr followers: 2,433 (lost 2). Instagram followers: 256 (lost 1).
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