How to lose your mind in 7 days...

Upon arriving back home from my experience on Iowan version of Loony Toons, I found out my friend's dad was in the hospital after a heart attack. He was scheduled for surgury on Friday; so, when Friday arrived (I fianally had the day off), I baked a cake, packed the dog in the truck. I had to take him with; I couldn't leave him home alone all day. So we headed off to Lacrosse, which is about two hours away. Diana came with to keep me company -- and slept the whole way there. :P Am I that boring? Hmmmmmm...

We got there, and I got the directions wrong to her uncle's house, so I got lost and had to call her cousin for directions. We finally got to the house, and I got to meet the rest of my friend's family. They all look alike; its great. With the brothers (of which she has 5), they all look like the same heads on different bodies, with different hairstyles.

Her cousin taught me (or attempted to) teach me a hunting game on the X-Box -- I did okay on the first hunt, but on the second long hunt, I kept runnning into the mountain wall, and getting stuck in the brush. then, I was attacked by a cape buffalo (game was in Africa) and it was all over for me. Sad Day. Then Diana played (she laughed herself silly watching me, and did no better.

I left Monty in the truck, because there were already two dogs in the house and later, on, we went to take him for a walk... I didn't want to find any presents in my truck. Leaving him in the truck turned out to be a good idea, as Kate's sister in law brought her dog out with her when she went to have a cigarette. What the dog was, I can't say -- it looked like a living mop. With eyes. Anyway, precious pooch went bounding up to Monty, yapping its fluffy little head off; after sniffing each other frantically, someone snarled, and the Mophead ran off, yelping. Her sister in law did not like me from that point forth.

Oh well, they didn't really associate with the rest of the family, they were busy necking on the couch most of the time. Trying to make a point, one of the cousins spoke up to my friend's brother (we'll call him Bubba).

"Hey, Bubba, has your wife eaten yet?"
"Uhhhhh... yeah... why?" Bubba looks at his wife, who is grinning vampishly at him.
"Good, because the way she was hovering over you, I thought she looked a little hungry. Was worried there when she went for your neck..."

We were at the hospital when this happened, visiting her Dad, but when we returned (and I was taking Monty for another walk), the cousin came out and gleefully told us about the circus inside.

My friend's dad was doing okay, but he kept wanting to leave the hospital. He had things to do...

And it was his birthday. What a way to spend a birthday! When someone asked what he wanted, he said he wanted a beer, a ham sandwhich, and a cigarette -- and he wanted outta the hospital!!

I think that's a good sign -- he's getting back to his old self, so must be feeling better. :)

Oh, and we had fun getting to the hospital -- Five of us (six, including the dog), went -- and packed into my truck (I have extended cab). However, the dog had flatulence, and even with the windows rolled down, we were in desparate need of fresh air by the time we got to the hospital.

I fervently hoped that we wouldn't find anything *new* in the truck when we came out of the hospital. Luckily, Monty behaved. Being that her dad was in ICU, we were only there for about half an hour.

Kate calls me family -- we're pretty good friends, and her dad likes me alot -- so she marched in there and told the nurse we were all family. Now, with my red hair and pale skin, I could pass off for one of her sisters pretty easy, but my friend Diana was blessed with a lovely dark beauty that I always envied. She's Latino, and has jet black, shiny hair, and she definately is not pale and freckled.

The nurse stared at us for a few minutes and I had a wild urge to laugh, but of course I couldn't. I always want to laugh at innapropriate times -- I think its a curse. ICU is not the best place to start laughing.

life...

I was doubly glad I wasn't laughing as we headed to the waiting room though; we passed a family that was all crying -- a young kid had been in an accident and was only just holding on. Their grief was so -- palpable -- I could feel it, just walking past them.

I knew who ever was hurt, was hurt bad, cuz even the guys were crying. It's strange; going to visit someone you care about who is alive; and passing someone in the hallway who is greiving, because someone they love is fighting to live. Its hard to walk by, knowing there's nothing you can do, except pray; You want to do something -- Anything!

It's really amazing how precious life is. And how it can be gone just like that.

I want to make the best of mine, and live it to its fullest. It's too short to have regrets.

But it was good to walk out knowing her dad was okay, yet sad; for as we left, more people walked in, grieving for a life that clung tenaciously to the edge.