Its 3:15am, and my mum appears to have finally been able to fall asleep.

I’ve been up for 37 hours straight already. I’ve been busy.

I have serious problems with insomnia, and as such my sleep schedule rotates so that occassionally I’m somewhat “nocturnal”. (Thankfully, I work from home and can afford to have that be the case.) Anyway, the past week has been a “nocturnal” week for me. I would wake in the afternoon, and go to sleep when most folks are getting up to go to work.

It was in the middle of this sleep pattern that I was told I would need to watch my brother’s two children (my 7-year-old niece and 5-year-old nephew) because my mother couldn’t watch them yesterday due to the fact that she was going in to have some major dental work done. (My mother doesn’t normally watch the kids, this week was just a special case that happened to coincide with some stuff she had going on.) No problemo.

I woke up at 2:30pm on Thursday afternoon, went about my usual business. Went to Hyjal Thursday night, and had every intention of going to bed after the raid because I knew I would need to be up by 9am Friday (yesterday) morning to watch the kids when my mother left for the dentist’s. Once the raid was over, I headed off to bed. I lay there for about 30 minutes, and then gave up. I wasn’t going to be able to get to sleep that “early” (it was around midnight). So, I got back up and went back about my usual routine.

9am eventually rolled around, I made my way downstairs to make sure the kids were up, had their breakfast, brushed their teeth, and saw my mother off. Copious amounts of coffee were imbibed. My morning was spent coloring and watching cartoons with the kids, teaching them some new words they didn’t know (and how to spell them) and getting some exercise outdoors.

By 11:30am, my mother had returned from the dentist–weary, sore, stitched, swelled, and bleeding. She was completely unable to speak, and I quickly made sure she had pen and paper handy to make her needs known. I looked over the “care instructions” provided by the dentist to make sure that I could make my mother’s recovery as smooth as possible, sent her off to bed, and called my father so he could pick up her prescriptions (penicillin and vicodin). I made lunch for the kids, and then went up to check to make sure my mum was settled in and as comfortable as she could be given the circumstances. (The poor dear was in tears from the pain.)

After lunch, the rest of my day (till about 10pm) was spent in a blur of supervising the kids, cleaning up the kitchen, helping make dinner and running up to check on my mum every 20 minutes or so. (As per her care instructions, she was to ice her jaw for 20 minutes, then spend 20 minutes sans ice, rinse and repeat, taking her penicillin and vicodin every 4 hours.) The kids had an afternoon snack, then we went outside for a bit of fresh air. Any downtime I had (read: any time the kids were settled inside and quiet) I spent running up and down the stairs fetching various things for mum. Ice packs needed to be changed, fresh (lukewarm) drinking water brought, pills administered, and once she was finally comfortable enough to contemplate food (7pm-ish) I ended up making two meals for her. The first was just plain chicken broth, which I figured would be tame enough to not hurt to eat, but it turned out she wasn’t able to effectively use a straw to drink the broth, had trouble drinking from cups anyway (which is what I brought the broth up in), and couldn’t use silverware because she was afraid she would accidentally hit her teeth and cause herself further pain. (All of which was completely understandable.) After hmm’ing and haw’ing over what else she could try, she suggested scrambled eggs, so I went back to the kitchen. She was able to eat the eggs (she swallowed the bits whole, using her fingers and tipping her head back), which was a relief (I was very concerned that she was taking medication on an empty stomach, and may have inadvertantly made herself sick–making things much, much worse).

The rest of my evening was spent making sure the kids were finishing up their dinner, getting into their PJs, brushing their teeth, cleaning up the kitchen from dinner stuff, and making sure the incoming adults (my father and brother) were also clear on my mum’s care needs. Checked on mum a bunch (every 20-30 minutes or so), hustled the kids off to bed, and then finally had a chance to sit and catch up on my emails and such.

Its now 3am, and I’m still up because my mum’s unable to sleep (due to discomfort) and someone needs to be available in case she needs something. I sleep like the dead (I’ve slept through earthquakes), so I know if I try to take a “cat nap”, if she comes to wake me because she needs something, she’ll never be able to wake me up, so I’ve been sitting in the living room watching tv (thankfully, Once Upon a Time in Mexico was on TBS earlier) while I go up periodically to check to see if she’s managed to get to sleep or if she needs anything. While she was able to eat the eggs, she didn’t eat a whole lot, so I’m mostly concerned that she’ll be up all night, get hungry, and end up taking her meds on an empty stomach or something.

Now I’m just biding my time until the “morning shift”, when one of the other adults can take over. That’ll likely be around 8am or so. I really hope she manages to get at least a little sleep tonight. Its been a really long and traumatic day for her.

Normally I wouldn’t bother publishing this kind of stuff, except that I kind of feel like an asshole for not posting much on THM this week, and this at least provides some explanation for that. Normally, I would’ve just brought my laptop downstairs and tried to work while watching the kids, but they’re 7 and 5. They’re way too busy for me to actually get any work done.

I did at least get somewhat caught up on my email after dinner, though, so I guess that’s something, right?

I’ve been on hold with the IRS for about 45 minutes now. I’m calling because I still haven’t gotten my federal tax return (or stimulus check) yet, and I filed back in March.

The classical music they play when you’re on hold is an improvement over the elevator music, but it’s WAY too loud.

My driver’s side door now has trash bags duct taped over it. Why? The window fell off the track and down into the door. I haven’t had a chance to tear the door apart and fix it yet, so I taped it over for now to keep the rain out. I feel so pimp!

Update: just got off the phone with the IRS, they said they never got my return. GREAT!

I’ve gotten exactly 4.5 hours sleep in two days. I feel like the walking dead.

Night before last, I had a (at this point, predictable) bout of insomnia. I got about 1.5 hours sleep before having to go about my day. Rather than take a nap in the afternoon once my daily responsibilities had been met, though, I decided to stay up until a more normal/reasonable bed time last night to ensure that I would sleep through the night. So, 11pm rolled around and I went “night-night”. At 2am on the dot, my eyes popped open and refused to close again.

I’ve managed to get throught the 100-some-odd RSS items sitting in my reader, and the few emails waiting for me in my inbox. Now would normally be the time that I would start drafting an article for THM, but I just can’t muster the enthusiasm at the moment. Not to mention the fact that I appear to be almost completely incapable on focusing on any one thing long enough to actually feel productive. Unfortunately, having already missed a few posts last week, I can’t shirk posting for today, so I’m trying to think of some “light reading” to post. (I invariably feel like an asshole if I don’t post something of some substance at least a couple times a week, and “fluff” posts irritate the crap out of me…)

I’ve actually got a few post ideas on my “To Do” list, but unfortunately all of them require some thought, care and research to properly address, which doesn’t appear to be something I’m capable of today.

I’m thinking this is going to be a shitty day…

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend! I’ve been AFK since the afternoon of the 2nd and have a lot to catch up on!

My holiday weekend started on the 3rd, when Zach and I went to downtown Burlington (as has become the annual tradition) to stake out a spot at Breakwaters for the fireworks. We got downtown around 2pm, and it started to rain cats and dogs, and even chickens. We sheltered in Breakwaters’ foyer until it abated enough for them to wipe off the tables on the waterfront, and we grabbed our usual seat up front. Most of the day was cold, windy, rainy and miserable (unlike past years where it’s been habitually sunny and gorgeous). The real saving grace was the live band they had playing until the fireworks started. The band was great! They played a mix of covers and original tunes, and were generally just very fun to watch. The band is called Audio Journal, and I suggest fans of classic rock check them out! (They played “Rebel Yell”, and thus, won my heart.) Also, Bailey’s & Coffee FTW.

Anyway, the fireworks were great once they started. After the fireworks, Zach and I went to Finnegan’s Pub with a couple friends for more drinks and some billiards, and then went home.

On the 4th, we did a fair amount of traveling. We stopped by a BBQ a friend was having to say hello while they were in town for the weekend (visiting from California), and then headed up to my parents’ lake house.

I got us lost on the way (I’m used to traveling to the lake house from Barre, as opposed to Essex Junction) because I missed a turn. (We were laughing at some people on the side of the road–long story–and completely forgot to watch for our turn, and missed it completely. And didn’t notice until 30 minutes later: “Hey, weren’t we supposed to turn somewhere?”) Anyway, thankfully all roads in Vermont go to basically the same place if you stay on them long enough, and we made it to the lake house without incident–just late. (What should have been an hour and a half trip became a two and a half hour trip, heh.)

My brother, his girlfriend, and both their sets of kids were also at the lake house for the weekend. We all had a pretty good time, despite the fact that I spent the entire weekend alternately fighting off allergies or yappy children. We made S’mores, lounged in hammocks, played badmitton and lawn darts, all that fun stuff.

My dad forgot to register the jet ski… so… yeah, that was out. (I was disappointed, to say the least. But, he felt really bad about it…) Apparently he’ll be registering it this week so its ready for this weekend, lol. Thanks, Dad!

Sunday afternoon, we made the drive back to civilization. There was a lot of sleeping. Then yesterday I spent some time playing taxi, and today it seems like things are finally back to normal! Time to catch up on RSS, THM, and all that good stuff!

Hope everyone else enjoyed their weekend!

Add another file to the “lifetime firsts” folder. While raiding Tempest Keep with my guild Sunday night, I had a mild heart attack while in the middle of the Solarian fight. While the attack was actually extremely mild, it was still rather jarring, unsettling, and… painful.

Although, apparently not so uncomfortable as to provent me from finishing the run, downing Solarian, and getting some new bracers…

Hunter T5 shoulders dropped off Void Reaver, but I wasn’t high enough on Suicide Kings to get them.

After taking a couple days to rest and relax, I’m feeling pretty good again. Although, I’m a little swamped with work. I had meant to publish an article yesterday on THM about Ferocious Inspiration, Trueshot Aura and Expose Weakness, but never quite got around to it, so I’ll be posting that today instead.

I’ll likely try to get some more of this week’s articles done today, if I have time before I have to go pick Zach up from work.

Also, hang nail on my right thumb hurts. Boo.

Sat in MediaWiki’s help IRC chat for about 30 minutes today, and got no help whatsoever. I posted the same question multiple times and never received a response, though other folks in the channel seemed to get help just fine. Uhhh… wtf?

As if the complicated nature of setting up their software wasn’t bad enough, apparently you don’t get help for it in their channel specifically for getting help, either.

This type of shit makes me seriously reconsider using their software, or recommending it to others. It would’ve been less hassle to just set up static .php or .html pages myself than have to sift through the bullshit with MediaWiki. Which, correct me if I’m wrong, I though was the whole point of MediaWiki (and similar software) in the first place–that it should be easier than setting up static pages?

Ugh. Sucktastic. Thanks a bunch, MediaWiki. /barf

A quick post this morning on THM: a poll asking folks which class they would choose if they could have an instant-70. I may do a larger post later this afternoon, I might not.

In other news… Woopra has been acting funny for the past couple days. I love Twitter. I got the new ProBlogger book–and love it! And now I’m waiting for 8am to roll around so I can watch my usual morning shows: The Nanny, Frasier and Will & Grace.

Its only 10:30 and I’ve already accomplished the big things I wanted to do today. I’ve checked my emails, my various RSS feeds, and posted a relatively large article on THM about using WoWHead and CharDev to get the best possible upgrades for your character (with extensive use of screenshots).

Now I get to sit back, relax, watch some tv and chat with friends before I have to go pick up my boyfriend from work at 1:30.

I should probably throw some laundry in, but I hate doing laundry. I also need to think about what I’m going to do for lunch today. I’m starved.

On my morning commute, I saw a young buck sprint across the interstate. Everyone headed in my direction (southbound) managed to miss him, but unfortunately he was not so lucky once he’d crossed the median between the southbound and northbound lanes. As I continued on, I looked back to see how he’d fared. Not well. I saw the poor thing hit by an SUV in the passing lane. I didn’t have time to see if he’d just been grazed, or worse, but my hopes are not high–what I saw did not instill confidence that he’d be walking away from the incident.

Poor thing.

They really should do something to prevent animals from getting hurt by passing vehicles on the interstate. I’m seeing more and more fuzzy corpses on the side of the road, and it’s not good. Of course, drivers should also be more aware of their surroundings to help prevent such incidents, but honestly… what’s the likelihood of that? With each passing day, I become more and more convinced that there are a lot of people on the road that should not be.