two-month hiatus? ha!

I'm wondering when that two-month break I have off from work is going to start. For serious. I worked 2 days last week and 2 this week. I was supposed to be in today, too, but I'm home cleaning instead. My dad's coming to town for the first time since I've lived in Chicago, and I spent my cleaning day (read: yesterday) catching up on much(!)-needed rest. In the past couple of weeks, I've worked too often, seen the Indigo Girls and James Taylor (his show was in the rain), hung out with Merdie, bought a wedding dress, gone with Anne to buy her wedding dress, gone with Merdie to buy her attendant's dress, and probably done a bunch of other things I can't remember anymore. Upcoming events include: Dad's visit, camping with Jandyle's family, MBJ's wedding events (I'm in the wedding), a workshop at work on technology and teaching writing, Alison Krause and Robert Plant in concert, going with Merdie to get her birthday tattoo, and stuff associated with my grandfather's health. That ought to get its own paragraph, frankly.

So here goes. My grandfather (Opi, after Opa, which is German for grandfather) gets chronic pancreatitis, which you usually only see in people who are heavy drinkers. He doesn't happen to be one of those, not in the slightest. After several bouts of it that were primarily treated with antibiotics (I'm guessing) and lots of pain meds, he saw a specialist, who diagnosed a benign tumor on his pancreas, that clogs the pancreas with secretions. This is pretty serious, as the tumor could become cancerous. Serious, also, is the treatment for this condition, which is called the Whipple Procedure. It's an 8-hour surgery to remove parts of the pancreas, stomach, small intestine, and gall bladder. This is one of those get-it-right-or-your-patient-is-fucked sort of surgeries, so he's naturally going to see a top-notch doc. Consult is next week, surgery TBD. Right now, I'm just concentrating on the part where we finally know what's causing his health problems.

In other, happier news, I'm crocheting like mad. I made a cute drawstring backpack, and I'm working on a cardigan sweater. This is the first time I've crocheted into the summer months, and I'm still diggin' it.

Alrighty, back to cleaning. I've had a long enough break, and I can no longer put off the sweeping.