End of an Era

Tonight, Sam and I will be watching the final episode of "Monk" together.

In a lot of ways, this has been the perfect show for Sam. It's introduced him to some "mature" (for lack of a better word) concepts and while it's been done with seriousness and tension at the appropriate (again, for lack of a better word) times, it's also been with some humor.

I also think that there are things about the character that Sam, sometimes consciously, sometimes not, relates to. And I think that's been an important part of the show - for both of us. It's given us small, but sometimes important, things to talk about.

Tonight, we'll watch the show one last time and at some point, I'll listen to Sam say, perhaps for the last time, "Oh, come on Monk! You don't need to worry about that!" And I'll think about how long and hard it's been for Sam to learn something like that.

Tonight, Sam and I will sit and have some popcorn, and we'll again share that time together. And then we'll probably spend the rest of the week wondering where we'll go from here.

Right now, I have no idea what we'll go onto next, but one way or another, we'll come up with something. I know it's not going to be quite the same. But that's ok. We'll still have that popcorn.

***
 Epilogue...
 

Ghosts

Several times over the last couple of months, my job has dictated that I drive to an area not far from where the family would go on vacation many times over many years. It was a long drive back then and an even longer drive now. The distance hasn't changed, and the reality is that because this is "off season," the traffic isn't backed up - so if anything, it's actually less time now than it was back then.

It just feels longer.

 What makes it feel longer is the same thing that makes visiting not only less enjoyable, but downright depressing. It's the fact that I'm not hearing the chatter - excited or otherwise, of the kids sitting or even snoozing in the seats behind me.

Today, I got to where I needed to be a little early and I briefly toyed with the idea of driving a few towns over, to where we used to vacation, just to... I'm not sure why. But I decided against it. It wouldn't be the same. In fact, it would be the opposite of the same.

These memories are fond when I'm sitting at home, and even more so when we're sharing them together. But being back here, alone... well, that's a little bit different.

My Weakly Update

I'm getting there, I'm getting there...

I continue to slog through the various things on my agenda, slowly. The IEP meeting, if not the report, is behind us for now. We'll see what gets written up and where we go from there. Before that, I also managed to apply for some assistance for Sam - a multiple page application that was due about three days after I received it. We'll see what happens with that.

I'm ALMOST done with everyone's taxes. Only Jake's still have too be filed. I'll wait until next weekend and go through them with him before I send those along. Are any of them right? Who knows. I think some of them might be. Maybe. In spots. Maybe. But the important thing is, they're almost done!

Then it will be onto my operations. The first, for my knee, I have reluctantly scheduled for later in April. We'll get through that one and then schedule the next.

So, I'm making progress. Slowly, slowly...

Another Snow Day

Today will be a day off, of sorts. The Winter Storm Watch they issued the other day rapidly segued past a Winter Storm Warning into what is now a Blizzard Warning. What this means exactly, I don't know - beyond the fact that it means we're expected to get a ton of snow. Even with the warnings, I feel ill prepared for this storm.

Back when it was a Storm Watch, there was a possibility that we would get maybe three to five inches of snow. When this shot into a Warning, the "possibility" turned into an "expected" amount of eight to twelve inches. Apparently, as of last night and this morning, the path of the storm has shifted somewhat into this Blizzard Warning and they are now predicting twelve to eighteen inches of snow, with "pockets" getting upwards of twenty-four inches. I fully expect one of those pockets to be directly above my house.

I had to go out for a few minutes early this morning, a mile or so down the main road, to drop the car off at the mechanic's. It was just after six and already the road was slippery. Most of the businesses along the way were closed. Most of the ones that would normally be open this early in the morning had their lights off. Most of them, but not all of them.

On the way back. I got bread and eggs at the local so-called convenience store. With this unplanned day off, I figured I would make Sam some French toast for his breakfast. He's on his Spring Break this week, so we'll spend this unplanned day off, together.

The only other business I saw open this morning was one of the town's several donut shops. There it is in the picture above - past my wind battered wind chimes, over the fence and above the roofs of my neighbor's cars. This picture was taken this morning from my wind battered front porch, at a little after six.

This morning, the donut shop was doing their usual brisk business. They always seem to be busy but for whatever reason, they're one of those places that seems to be even busier when there is an oncoming storm. Same with the town's plethora of liquor stores. They're always jammed the night before - as they were when I drove by last night. Liquor and donuts - I guess that's all you need to get you through a storm.

Like usual, I, having neither, am once again ill prepared for this storm.

Today's Update

One doctor's appointment down - which, as I expected is leading to another appointment. Scheduling that appointment is going to have to wait until after I have the followup with the other doctor, next Tuesday. If that goes as I suspect it will, that appointment will also lead to a followup - at which point I'll have to figure out, a) which one of the appointments can be scheduled first, and b) what is the expected recovery time for each - so that I can try to figure out how or if one of them might impact the other.

In other news, tomorrow is I.E.P. day. And that's all I want to say about that.

Up and Coming

Things may be even spottier around here than usual for the next couple of weeks or so. Over the last two or three weeks, I've gone through two MRI's and a CT scan, along with the two different appointments that sent me there. Now it's onto the two different follow-ups from each of the original appointments which sent me there, and then,, presumably, to wherever they may send me as a result of those appointments.

One of the follow-ups is this coming week, the other is the week following.

In between those two appointments, I have Sam's annual IEP meeting (which I've mentioned at least here, here, and here - and many other places of which I'm too lazy to go back and look for.)

And, somewhere in between all of those, I need to start doing taxes - which as everybody knows, is one of my most favorite things.

So, I apologize in advance if things seem quiet around here (or should I say "quieter".) It's not for lack of interest - certainly not a lack of interest in you. But these things tend to sap my focus and energy.

Then again, maybe it will be no different than it always is.

At the Movies

Here’s a really good review of the Billy Jack movies - because I know you’ve been looking for one.

These movies came out around the time I was in high school- at least, that’s when I first became aware of them. I’m not even sure of how many of these I saw.  I'm thinking maybe only one.

I also don’t remember particularly liking these movies, but then again, I don't think I particularly disliked them, either. I think the problem for me was that I didn't find them all that entertaining and I wasn’t all that interested in them, even though I felt like I should be.

I think this was largely due to the fact that I had a friend who was obsessed with Billy Jack - so I figured there must be something there. But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't see it. I distinctly remember watching one of these, concentrating and squinting really hard at the screen - straining, like I was physically trying to suck in some mysterious invisible information, information that I just couldn't find. I was never successful.

Still, the movie(s) I saw were not without some kind of bizarre charm - if that's the right word for it. At least, that's how I remember it through the haze of all of these years. This article seems to confirm that. For me, at least.