The Ugly, the Bad, and the Good

It was quite a rollercoaster of a week last week. Every week always has it's peaks and valleys, but it's been a while for me since those peaks and valleys swung so wide from the baseline. Without focusing too much on the particulars, I thought I'd share some of the highlights (or lowlights, depending on your point of view), subdivided into appropriate categories.

The Ugly:

Got a call at about 9:30pm from my dad on Wednesday night. He was in the hospital again. This time he was admitted because he had suffered a TIA, or "mini-stroke." It was horrible news, to be sure, but not altogher surprising either. After briefly chastising him on the phone for not taking very good care of himself, I went up to see him. Found out that immediate family could go to the hospital at any time, even after visiting hours, which is good to know, since I'm pretty sure this will not be the last time I will be visiting my dad in the hospital. Despite learning that a TIA could be a precursor to a more massive stroke, and the fact that my dad could only use half of his face, left feeling a little bit better as my dad's condition didn't appear to be too severe. At least he was in the hospital, so if things got worse they could be managed right away.

Although, I was mostly concerned about my dad, while I was on the phone with him prior to visiting him in the hospital, I learned that my brother's girlfriend's grandmother had fallen on the steps at the Capitol in Minnesota and hit her head. The fall had caused a hematoma, which they were able to successfully operate on. However, despite the successful surgery, she subsequently lapsed into a coma and is not expected to recover.

The Bad:

Spent all weekend doing yardwork. I hate yardwork. I find it tedious and boring. Luckily, my mom is a freakin' workhorse and she came over and did most of the work, with Megan and me batting cleanup. The worst part is, we bought the wrong house for someone who hates yardwork. Home improvement is a bitch, but once you're done with a project, you're done. Yardwork, it seems, is never done. Yippee. Plus I managed to get a nice sunburn on my neck.

On the plus side, though, our new leafblower/vacuum combo works like a charm. It's a little on the loud side, and I managed to clear out our neighbor's get together next door. My bad.

The Good:

It turns out my dad didn't have a stroke after all. What he actually had was Bell's Palsy, which as I understand it, is mostly likely caused by a viral infection affecting the cranial nerves and causing their paralysis. This is why, at first, it was thought that he had had a stroke. The good news is, it effects should only be temporary, and he should return to normal eventually, although no one can say for sure when or if that will happen. Still, according to those much more knowledgeable than myself, this is a much better thing to have than a stroke. My dad was released from the hospital on Friday, and for those hoping he might have turned over a new leaf, keep hoping. We went to dinner on Sunday night, and my dad ordered Peanut Butter Chicken. I'd almost give my dad some credit for getting his dish with steamed rice, except when ordering a dish that consists of chunks of batter-dipped, deep-fried chicken, topped with a sauce made out of peanut butter, why bother? The dish, while delicious, is not exactly what I would call "heart-healthy," nor would I recommend it for someone who is on cholesterol medication and blood-thinners. Or someone who just got out of the hospital. Twice. But, hey, I'm no doctor, so what do I know?

Our brand-spankin' new toilet was installed on Thursday. What should have been cause for an extended weekend's worth of celebration, was somewhat tempered by my dad being in the hospital. It came in quite handy on Saturday night, though, when, while watching a movie with Megan I felt the urge to use the facilities. Thanks to the miracle of modern plumbing, I was saved the hassle of having to walk all the way upstairs to relieve my bladder, and instead had to walk a mere 20 feet. After I finished, I held my breath, and flushed the toilet. Success! Whoever would have thought flushing toilet could lead to such elation?

Took in a couple of movies this weekend. As Megan was house-sitting on Friday night, I tagged along with Josh and Katie to see Inside Man. It was a pretty surreal experience, as a fight broke out among some pubescent boys hanging out in the Cinema Center parking lot. I might have easily forgotten the squabble, had I not heard one of the boys on his cell phone in the lobby afterwards saying he was going to shoot somebody. I'm sure that this all could have been prevented if we didn't teach evolution in schools, though, right Mr. DeLay? Anyhow, the movie was entertaining, if not great. Spike Lee does a fine job directing this caper piece, but it suffers by comparison to the last Lee movie I saw, 25th Hour, which I suppose is a bit unfair, as Inside Man is more of a popcorn movie. Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, and especially Denzel Washington are all terrific and the storyline definitely keeps you guessing. It's entertaining enough, and you could do a lot worse on a trip to the multiplex today, especially if you're in the mood for a good caper movie.

Saturday night, Megan and curled up on the couch to watch The Squid and the Whale. Again, I liked it fine, but it suffered a little from the hype (Academy Award Nomination for Best Screenplay) and the fact that I loved screenwriter/director Noah Baumbach's 1995 film Kicking and Screaming (not to be confused with the 2005 Will Ferrell debacle with the same name). The movie is a solid and heartfelt, if at sometimes disturbing, glimpse into Brooklyn family going through a divorce. Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels are both superb as the parents, who have such a wide range of good and bad qualities that you alternately like and then are disappointed by them, much like parents in real life. Their scenes are truly the best in the movie, as they feel the most 3 dimensional and real. Their two sons, played by Jesse Eisenberg and Noah Kline, are good as well, but seem a little less fully realized as characters. However, this might not be a fair complaint, as the movie seems to be fair amount about figuring out who you really are and who you really want to be, and as a child you're still figuring that all out. This is represented somewhat in the film, but as the movie kind of lacks a conclusion, it's kind of hard to decide if that was actually Baumbach's intent.

So, that was my week. Now that this one has started, I'm hoping for a little more stability. Which, after last week, should hopefully not be too hard.