Still kicking

I haven't been this sick in a long time.

Way back when Monkey Man was almost two, I got strep throat. Fever of 103 and over for about five days. I was barely able to get to the bathroom and back and stayed in bed the entire time. But when it was over, it was over.

This time, it's like this horrible congestion and hacking cough that has made me wonder what miracle has kept me from breaking a rib. And I can't sleep, which you know totally helps the healing process.

This winter has kicked my ass. This is my third round of antibiotics since February and I'm wondering if they're even doing any good. I'm shacking up in the guest room for now since it's cool, quiet, and I don't wake anyone up with my tossing, turning, hacking and wheezing. I'm thoughtful that way.

*****

On a good note, I came home today to find that the tile people came today (a day early!) and grouted the floor. It looks awesome. They will be back tomorrow to touch up a few areas and then they will be out of my life forever. I've never been so happy to break up with someone.

Then there's the shower. New gaskets and such have been ordered and they will come sometime next week. Then the painter comes next Friday.

And then we might, MIGHT be done. The anticipation is almost killing me.

*****

On Monday night, I called my parents house to find my dad home alone. It's very rare that I get to talk to him for longer than two seconds so we had a nice conversation without my mother interjecting her opinion constantly.

The big news in their neck of the woods is that they saw some people out measuring the lot behind theirs last week.

The backstory here is that my parents live on part of what was my mother's homeplace. My grandfather was a tobacco farmer, and when he passed away all of his daughters (including my mom) inherited the farm. They held onto it for about ten years and then decided to divide it up into parcels and sell it at auction. I remember it well because we were about a year from moving back here from New Jersey and my parents had decided to buy the lot between their house and my aunt's house so that no one could buy it and build there...it was a huge scandal at the time because my parents, The Carpetbaggers, paid something like $14,000 for this one-acre lot which of course no one in that area had ever heard of such a thing. Damn those carpetbaggers!

Anyhow, at that time there was an odd two-acre pie-shaped lot located directly behind my parents' house that runs from the back corner of their lot, up along side the lot they bought, and then to my aunt's house before it ends at the side road. And it was purchased by a church with an African-American congregation with plans to build themselves a beautiful church.

Well, that was over 20 years ago and they've never been able to build anything. Last year they had someone come out and dig a well, the well digger got down 60 feet and the church ran out of money so they had to quit with no water. So to have these two people - white people - out there measuring things the other day got the neighbor all in an uproar.

The Redneck Asshole that lives on the other side of the lot came pounding on my parents' door the other night. He told my dad that he had been out there to talk to those two "white fellers" and that they told him they were an engineer and architect out there looking at the lot to see what they could design for the church. Redneck Asshole told my dad that he wanted to rally all of the other neighbors to go up to the county seat and protest the church being built there.

"I don't know why you would want to do that," my dad said. "I think it would be nice to have a church there."

"Well," said Redneck Asshole, "I don't know that we want people like that building one of their churches there."

So my dad excused himself and shut the door.

"In all truth," my dad told me, "I'd rather have them build a church there than end up with a big redneck like him moving in back there."

See why I love my dad?

Anyhow, it will be interesting to see what happens. In my own semi-professional opinion, I don't think the lot is big enough to build a church that would have enough occupancy, required parking spaces, utility easements, etc. But we'll see.

*****

Off to rest. Joey is off at some bullshit business dinner (gee, thanks hon for all the advanced notice since I was feeling all chipper and everything) so I better wrangle Monkey Man into the tub before I'm too tired.