laptop confessional

So, here it is, late at night once again. The rest of the family went to bed very early. So I watched "A Chorus Line," and enjoyed shaking my head at the hairstyles of the late eighties. And those super-high-cut leotards that made every woman look as thought she'd had her hips removed, and her crotch elongated. Of course, the story is good too -- and the rest of it. I had to learn "One" in high school choir, as I recall. "Singular sensation, every little step she takes."

My mother-in-law is in the hospital -- she has had a stroke, or several of them, we don't know. We just found out today, though she was admitted on Friday -- the reasons no one was called before today are a little obscure, but it's another issue. I spoke with her on the phone for a few minutes, and her speach is slurred. She complained about not being able to write, but indicated that her large motor skills were intact. They have her on fairly strong sedation, and she hallucinates a little. She also thinks she'll go home tomorrow, though we know that's not the case -- she has two days of tests ahead of her at least, and we won't know until after that what course they'll prescribe. She seemed lucid when I spoke with her, by and large. R. is of course pretty upset, but we got the call late enough this afternoon that there wasn't any point in driving east -- she slept all day yesterday, according to her sister, and she sounded quite tired when we spoke. We'll check on her schedule tomorrow and try to pick a time that works for her. She realized earlier today that no one had called her kids -- she must have asked her husband if he had done it, and she made me promise not to get mad at him for neglecting it. So it was her sister that phoned us. We'll have to find out how R's stepdad is handling things while she is hospitalized -- he knows how to clean, but not so much how to cook. We might need to tend to him a bit.

She's been ill before -- eight years ago her kidneys nearly failed due to chemical damage, caused by ibuprofen overdose. She's too heavy, smokes a little, takes many medications. This may or may not effect some change in her habits -- she isn't all that interested in self-care.

I myself want neither to think nor to sleep. And I don't have anything in the house to treat that particular malady. Except movies, like "A Chorus Line." The reasons are varied, and not restricted to Carole's condition. More later.