and today

feeling some signs of improvement in the foot. i need to stay off of it, period. barb up working early in the day (i slept 'til 11), then came down to keep me company while we watched this miracle planet on the tivo. she was even nice enough to hang around while i watched the mariners drop another one. i still think felix hernandez is the shiznit, but this wasn't one of his more stellar outings. he got hit on a few times early in the game and they never really recovered. but he has composure to burn, not to mention a deadly curveball.

ah, well, at least the seahawks lost today, too. q: what is the difference between medical care in america and mike holmgren? a: medical care in america is sometimes worth what you have to pay for it.

watching rome while barb jets off to sheri's. sheri's job situation didn't take the bend in the right direction she'd hoped. she's still stuck working really unpredictable schedules, wants to bag out, is holding onto the house but figured mike would be there to help her pay for it. barb says sheri went out to mike's folks' house to take him some stuff back. mike and jon were still living there. on the way back out to the car mike tried to convince sheri to give it another go. poor man. there is a species of guy (my stepfather was one) who have only a very tenuous grasp of reality, though they do have a picture in their minds and they tend to dismiss evidence contrary to that picture out of hand. (President W is another.) mike is a kind, sweet man, he just needs to grow up. and i don't think sheri was able to help him with that.

i am so grateful to have a friend who loves me so much. and to be married to her. there is no total security, but what security there can be is all the way there.

i write my dad e-mail for the first time in a few weeks. mostly about the internship and the visitations with john and jose. when a few weeks go by without communiques i do what he does, i.e., worry. erma's been on and off unwell, sarah is holding on just barely, and my dad who should be enjoying retirement has to worry about them all. in this he teaches me, as he taught me in so many other ways. to be man, a mensch, a stand-up fellow, you gotta stick with those you love to the very end. And hope against hope that they learn to take care of themselves, and you all pitch in when you need to.