My 2007

[medication881]

So it's good to be back. I've been away for a while and I thought I would fill you in on what's been going on since I've been away:

New Year's Eve 2006: I'm smoking on my porch and I flick the butt toward my driveway, and of course it hits my windshield and rolls down to the wiper. So I rush down the steps to get it off before the plastic melts and I trip on the second to last step and land HARD on the sidewalk. I took a nice chunk of skin off my right forearm and elbow and cut my palm on the left. My whole body hurt for 2 days! At about the same time, I caught a stomach virus and spent alot of time in the bathroom, if you know what I mean.

In February, my 15 year old daughter Jillian and her friend decide to take the wife's minivan for a ride(Jill's friend has a license). While making a u-turn, the friend backs into the corner of a trailer, denting the back liftgate and shattering the glass. they also did $600 in damage to the trailer, and my deductible to fix the van was $500. It would be a gross understatement to say that I was a little pissed.

Also in February, I go to the doctor because I keep feeling lightheaded and almost faint at work several times. I am diagnosed with high blood pressure. The initial measurement was 155 over 105, and the nurse asked, "So how long have you had high blood pressure?" and I answered, "Since just now!" I'm on Lisinopril for it and I'm feeling fine, thank you very much! Gotta lose about 25 pounds though...

March 15th: I find out the call center I work in as a Unit Manager is closing and moving operations to our Baltimore facility. The final day is September 28th. (more on this in a minute)

Late March: My wife gives one of her kidneys to her brother Mike. The operation takes place in Livingston, NJ, and she is gone for 2 weeks and takes several more weeks to recover fully(her brother is doing fine).

April: A bout with walking pneumonia for 2 weeks. Boy, that was fun!


May 13th: My 31 year old brother in law Mark (we call him Marko) was driving drunk to a friend's house at about 3am and hit a train that was crossing the road at 60 mph. His car is destroyed, he has to be airlifted to SLU medical in St. Louis, and barely survives. He broke his jaw and cheekbones, suffered a serious brain injury (he opened his eyes 3 days ago but is still very out of it) which required removal of a portion of his skull to relieve pressure, and his left elbow was sheared off along with an inch or so of bone on either side of it. Just torn out of his arm. They will be putting a plastic elbow and rods in there in a couple of weeks. Marko and I are very close and we just went to a Cardinals game together the previous Monday and had a great time. At one point a tried to sneak out a fart and it echoed off the plastic of the seat and we cracked up for about 5 minutes. Good times. I am so worried about him.

This week: I apply for a position in our Corporate location in Atlanta. I do well on the first phone interview, second is on Tuesday. It's doing QA work on new credit card terminals and software applications. The money is very good, but I dread relocating to a new city (Atlanta is beautiful by the way. I'm talking mainly about the northern suburbs though...Woodstock, Acworth, etc), especially with Marko in the hospital. May not have to move for another 2-3 months though, if I get the job that is.

So! As you can see, it's been a super busy and crazy year so far, and it's not even June yet! but I wanted to just check in with all my friends here and let you know that I'm still hangin' in there. I'll be around more often now that I have this new PC in my basement office. No more fighting the kids for it and I can download porn too. I'm just saying I could if I wanted to...

Have a Happy Memorial Day!
-Pat