Friday 9-22-06

Well, Friday morning I was in San Pedro and got up and went for a walk with my mom. It was really nice down by the cliffs and it felt good to move around a bit. We chatted about all the recent events and even gossiped a bit. This was another instance, which like eagerly visiting my wife for lunch, had a definite house husband flavor. I am finding that the house husband life is not so bad. Lets get Eva her MBA asap so that maybe we can keep this going after the disease. For all you work people, don't worry I wouldn't really be able to live with myself as a house husband at 25. Plus if you keep me on the prednisone, I wouldn't be surprised if I were able to go on 4 hours of sleep each night and work 75 hours a week.

I spent most of the day taking care of random things in SP. Computer stuff, feeding myself,etc. and then went out to Seal Beach to visit my Grandmother. She has been recovering from a little diverticulitis/ abscess and is doing really well. She has plenty of strength to complain so I know that she is going to be just fine. She doesn't really complain that much, it has just been a little hard trying to build up her confidence to do the things she did before the hospital stay. Understandably, she was a little weak after the hospital stay and the strength has been slow to return. The family has been joking that we were competing for attention over the last few weeks. Hopefully this has gotten her the notice she was looking for and hopefully next time she can call from her house instead of the hospital if she wants some company. I give her a hard time but really my Grandmother and I really are kindred spirits (literally and figuratively) and are very close.

Apparently, we have something of a little celebrity in the extended family right now. I spoke to my great aunt Zel (my grandmother's sister) on Friday evening and got the scoop. It all started with some chickens. Zel's daughter Betty and her husband David live outside of Portland and had some neighbors with a small chicken coop and about 5 birds. They moved out and the new neighbor, I guess in an effort to take full advantage of everything on the property, decided that 20 chickens would be fine in the same coop. He also decided to add a rooster. Because the coop was pretty packed, or maybe because the ladies just wouldn't have him, the rooster seems to reside in the tree outside David's window. I do not know much about roosters but this guy reportedly does not limit his crowing to the break of dawn. I guess he is maybe just anticipating dawn and so he ends up just crowing all night, much to the chagrin of the humans next door. David has recorded the rooster and repeatedly called the animal authorities as well as the police. He is also anxiously awaiting the day that the rooster falls out of the tree onto his side of the yard (just think Rocky with an older gentleman and a shovel). Well we do live in a democracy, and when all else fails, its time to go to the city council. He made his case, played the tape, and was even interviewed by the local news team who was on the scene (for another story, I would hope). I guess that the segment ended up making the cut and he was all over the airwaves that night. The next day, people from her retirement home would come up to Zel and mention that they had seen her son-in-law on the news the night before. My favorite recount was of the retirement home bus driver flapping his arms a la the chicken dance as Zel was walking up to the bus. Nothing like a little local color story to liven up the nightly news. I think the buzz has died down a bit but it was certainly an exciting little run. No word yet on the final fate of the rooster. I am guessing his days are numbered.

-TN