Snail mail

[thrihyrne]

Got home after my sonogram thingie (which was fine- and seeing as how I had never even felt whatever it was that my doctor had, I'm sure that the radiologists will look at the scans and say, "Why was she sent over here?") to discover that I had not one, but two letters, and both from my friends in fandom! *grins in delight at llembas and edrys*. I used to get heaps of mail, and I still write letters a lot. As my stepson said, I write more than anybody he knows. Some of it is email, I know, but also my list of close friends has been whittled down over time. This hit home in an odd way when I was at the hospital yesterday, checking in (a rather long process that I hadn't counted on, and I was actually sitting on my hands to keep from tapping them on the chair because I just knew I would be late for my appointment) and she asked for a second person to contact in case of an emergency. I sat there, racking my brain. I could have listed my friend Amy, but she screens her calls. I would have put my friend and former coworker Rhonda, but now she's in South Carolina. I ended up listing my husband's ex-wife. Certainly if anything ever went horribly wrong and they couldn't get ahold of my S.O., if they called her, she would be able to get in touch with him. The person signing me in gave me a bit of an odd look, but there you go. If she and my S.O. went to lunch and were hit by a truck and they both were killed, I would have custody of my stepchildren, not her husband. Now we're even, I guess. They also asked about wills, and I still don't have one. I need to do that.

Back to mail- THANK YOU both! Jen, I gushed to Emma and Sam about your letter, because it was such a joy to sit on the couch and read it, just regular handwriting on regular paper, and mine to read again and again if I choose. I asked Emma if she was going to write to her new boyfriend over the summer break (who is 2 years her junior, and a HUGE scandal among the other 7th graders) and she gave me a look of WTF? Though I'm sure that's not what she was actually thinking. "We talk on the phone. And I'll email him," she replied. She is appreciative that I don't judge her for dating down, or whatever that is. We had a long discussion last night while I was scratching her back about how she can talk more easily with me, and I acknowledged it's probably because I'm her stepmom, not her mom, and I had that same kind of easy intimacy with my stepfather (and still do) because he *wasn't* my actual biological parent. I knew that anything I told him would probably go straight to my mom, but maybe it didn't. Is there a Happy Stepparent's Day holiday? I'm sure there are some terrible ones out there, but I must say that I have been doubly blessed with my stepfather, Fritz, and stepmother, Jan. Could not be kinder, more understanding people in the world. It's a crapshoot with ones own genetics anyway- I have been dealt more good cards than I deserve.

That being said, I got all upset and self-depricating last night and we're coming up on a rather unpleasant anniversay of sorts, and I called fungus_files on her cell phone, though it took me talking to about 4 different phone experts to figure out which numbers to call since she's in Australia. Now I'm just embarassed. But I went through my list of who I could talk to since I was really upset, and immediately marked off my mother, sister, and Amy, who is out of town. Thankfully T. wasn't weirded out (I left two messages, because I had to hear her voice just one more time), and is very tolerant of me. I debated flying up to NJ that night to be with my mom, but there weren't any flights on Southwest. Then I looked up flying to Baltimore, MD to see John or my sister in law, but same story. In the end, we all had a good evening watching "The Triplets of Belleville" and me falling asleep in Emma's bed.

What was normal life, again? I think I missed that part.

p.s. I've just edited this post 4 times but the LJ-Mac thing isn't accepting them. Sorry I'm rambly. Also wanted to mention that I bought a pair of inline skates for $5 and an ultra cool dragon stained glass thing from our next door neighbors' yardsale. The dragon now hangs in the kitchen window. Fun to look at while washing dishes.

Comments

[cim-halfling.livejournal.com]

Hi, Thev! Was thinking of you a bit today. Hope you are hanging in there. Fondly, Cim