12 32 pm pst   [ a swirl of emotions ]

I fell back asleep after Matthew went to work, but when the phone rang, a jolt of panic and adrenaline sent me out of bed and running towards the phone. I feared it was news about my grandfather. Instead, it was the building manager addressing the note I had included with this month's rent check. "Would it be possible to speak with you or the owner about lowering our rent to reflect current market value."

I had done some reconnaissance work and discovered that the empty apartment in our building is listed for $100 a month less than what we pay. The manager said that our rent could be lowered when our lease is up, which is in July. She then called back a minute later to tell me that there are people in the building paying $100 per month more than us. She said she thought this would "make me feel better." It makes me feel that she has a very different perception of people than I do.

I don't know if I slept well last night, but I went to bed mad. After writing my pissy entry, I got ready for bed (Matthew was already snoring on the couch). I was thinking about the e-mail from the guy who was offended by the term PornEaster. He felt that I shouldn't "mock" a holiday which represents "the very core of Christianity." I took that to heart when I apologized. I didn't intentionally want to offend anyone by blowing off the religious importance of their holiday. We were actually mostly making fun of the commercial aspects of the holiday, since Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies have little to do with resurrection. But then this guy went on to suggest that we should have called the event "porn-passover". That's where you lost me buddy. If you were so offended by making light of a deeply religious holiday, why would you suggest I make light of a different deeply religious holiday (one that was of deep religious significance to Jesus himself)?

I can't stand when people are all about standing up for their own niche and no one else. For example, one of my co-workers was going off on marginalized people, and by that she meant only one thing: non-whites. She didn't mean women, Jews and others persecuted for their religious belief, non-heterosexuals, poor people, or (the mother of all minorities) disabled people. Most of these groups didn't even enter into her realm of thought. It amazed me. Oh, and I refer to disabled people as the most outstanding minority group because it is the largest minority group (in this country and in the world) and it is the only minority group which any person may join at any time.

In unrelated news (now that I've stepped off my ridiculous soapbox), my grandfather is having quintuple bypass surgery tomorrow. I, or Matthew and I, will probably be flying out to see him within the next month.

...

I just called my grampa and he was in good spirits. My cousin told me gramps would be in surgery tomorrow from 7 30 am - 2 o'clock pm. He also told me I should be honored because Gramps pretends to be asleep for most people who call. I know Gramps is doing well because he was feisty and making all sorts of inappropriate jokes, which is the norm for him. If anyone was ever genetically programmed to use humor as a way of coping with things, it would be me. Between my mom's family and my dad's...

11 25 pm pst   [ a swirl of emotions II ]

A friend is in town from New York for his grandfather's funeral. I'm sure you can imagine how that makes me feel.

I am really excited about the soiree occurring on Friday. The only bummer is that Matthew will be leaving for a week long business trip to Vegas on Friday. Friday and all of next week will be full days at work (9 or 10 30 to 6 30) so I will have to rely on the kids to wear me out while Matthew is out of town.