Earlier this afternoon, there was a tornado watch and a severe thunderstorm warning that moved across downtown Chicago. Apparently there were 80 mph winds wreaking havoc in the city, and so security for my building declared a state of emergency, and we were all forced to go huddle in the central hallways, away from the outside windows. It was like tornado drills in elementary school, where you huddle under your desk with a book over the back of your head. Fun.
I am heartily tired of the rain-rain-rain we've been getting. My head is going to pop like a melon if we don't get some decent sunshiney weather soon.
Things with the family are not so great, either. My sister and I have reconciled, and that's great....but my brother is not so hot at the moment. He's hit some legal troubles, and I'm not sure that there is a solution that doesn't involve money nobody in the family has to spare. I honestly believe he's innocent and wrongfully accused - possibly out of vindictive malice (the timing, as he's going through a not-so-neat divorce, just seems remarkably convenient). On the other hand, my brother's no saint, and I've put many things past him that he's turned out to have done and then some. So, I really don't know.
The worst part is the fallout with his kids. My neices, especially the oldest, are old enough to remember this ordeal, and if it doesn't go his way, he runs a serious risk of not being able to see them regularly or be really involved in their lives at all. That's a sobering thought....as is the apparent threat by his (soon to be) former mother-in-law to sue for custody of the kids. She seems nice enough, but she's a bible-thumper and I don't like that. She's the one whose cherished reverend basically told my brother that if he didn't take Jesus as his personal savior, he wouldn't get to see my nephew in heaven. This would seem sort of cruel any other day, but I felt it was in particularly poor taste at the fucking funeral.
Additionally, it seems that my sister has been fired because she was pregnant. They are hiding it behind other things (her attendance record, her medical history -??), so she likely won't sue them or anything....but damn. It's just wrong, and it puts her in a bit of a rough place for having a baby, just when she most wants to be stable and safe and not worried about every penny. Ugh.
In less weighty news, I hacked my hair off. I've discovered that I don't have the patience for long hair anymore. So, Monday, when I got home from a weekend spent drinking beer and eating roast pig, I got out the scissors and chopped it off. It's interesting, because I didn't even flinch or regret it for one instant. The scissors went "snip snip," the hair came off, and I'm back to sort of chin length wispy layers of flippy choppy goodness. I love it. I missed it. I'm glad I hacked it off!
Recent entries...
27 December 2007: 2007: Finis.
17 December 2007: A ruse, a rant, and a poem. It's short.
11 December 2007: Music & falling....story of my life.
08 December 2007: Briefly...ish.
29 November 2007: A poem, a rant, a lesson.