Midnight toiling

Looking west, Hotel Manitoba

and then some. I've been up late enough this past week to hear the crows start swawcking, the sky get light, and the stream of traffic on 12th ave approach bankfull stage.

I gotta get out of this 11am-5am work schedule. Making up for time lost these last 3 months dealing with and trying to heal, my rotator cuff. I can high-5 now (gently) and cut my own meat again- like a big girl. Yipee. On the plus side of these late nights, i do find the wee hours of the morn' oddly productive and I'm making steady progress on my thesis and my job.

I'm pretty damn dog tired though and flirting with sickness......either that or I got rice stuck up my nose the other day and my sinuses are staging a strike action. You wouldn't believe how many times I've inhaled rice while eating it.
Don't ask, I don't know how or why; it just happens.

I decided to try and flush my aching sinuses last night with a Neti Pot I haven't used since I lived in Knox-vegas. I learned that flushing your sinuses @ 2am when you don't have enough salt on hand is a bad, bad, idea. Regular tap water burns like hell; I really don't recommend it. Neither did the online instructions but I somehow missed that part.
I'll blame it on sleep deprivation.

And on that note, good night.

Georgia on my mind

My very adorable mother in 3rd or 4th grade

circa ~ 1951

I've always said I would have been nuts if I didn't have you to keep me laughing and I've always been proud of you (except for the brownie episode) and even that turned out ok. When you graduate you graduate - Don't put more pressure on yourself for no reason, remember - no one else even went to grad. school so be really proud of that. - my mom

I think being a bad mother is one of the worst offenses in this world. And sadly there seems to be a lot of 'em out there. I didn't grow up with much but I am pretty damn lucky to have a loving and selfless mom. She's seen more struggle than most. She taught me how to be tough, resourceful, and to make the best of situations. We've got some similarities but in general are incredibly different people. To me, she is very much a 1950's lady. I drove her nuts playing in puddles, bringing snakes home, and being naturally messy (i'm a bit more neat these days).

However, I respect and admire her most for her honesty and unconditional love. Like her, I am blunt and can't stand disingenuousness. Many times I've walked into the kitchen and asked "how does this look?" or told her some story and had her shake her head, asking aloud through laughter,..... "if i hadn't seen you born, i'd wonder if you were mine?.... i don't know where you get all this nae nae (meaning my eccentricities)". But she always follows it up with "but you're my nae nae and i love you". She's never tried to make me be anybody but myself and she's never made me feel like I was a failure, even when I knew I was letting her down.

Georgia Ann Scarlett, you kick ass.