Blue_Bird and Wander, I'm hoping that tomorrow is brighter for you both. And less irritation for you, sadveiledbride. Blue_Bird, I'm glad some self-care helped a bit. Wander, please let us know how your T & P appointments went.

Miguel'smom, I admire and thank you that you are working to help fund suicide hotline efforts. I'm sorry your mom misunderstood your effort, initially. I have not set up any fundraisers (other than one for a past NAMI Walk), but I do try to get the word out about how significant suicide issues are. I've written blog posts about it, but have also written letters to congressman, my senator, my county health official, and recently my potential presidential candidate of interest. This morning I saw Joe Biden talking to Chris Cuomo on CNN about how mental health issues should be addressed more (parity with other health issues, suicide awareness, etc.) I was very happy to see that, even though Biden (a likeable candidate) isn't my personal first choice.

I'm soooooooo happy to finally be home. Yesterday was pure hell because of our car breakdown and today was rough waiting at the car shop all morning through early afternoon, then having to make the 200 mile drive home. We couldn't believe that at one point we totally lost track of the directions and got lost...in our own state! I noticed that we were on some highway I was not familiar with. I was like "Honey, these exit names seem strange and Tom Tom is trying to get us off the highway. We were almost to Staten Island, NY before we managed to turn around. No offense to Staten Island, but that was NOT where we wanted to be.

This month has been so sad. About a month back we had finally accumulated enough money to start thinking about buying a nice new countertop for our kitchen. Then ***** started happening. We tragically lost our beloved pet parrot. I was devastated, and to add more pain to the injury, as I held the box containing his dead body on the way home from the animal hospital, on top was a bill for over $1,000 for the emergency care, blood tests, x-ray, and autopsy. Over $1,000 to take our beloved boy home without life. So we decided to go away for a mini-vacation. It had actually been planned before we knew of our bird boy's illness. The vacation was a break from hubby's work, but also an escape from seeing our bird boy's cage empty. We had a great time most days, but yesterday (in addition to standing in the sun for almost 5 hours waiting for a tow) equaled a $600 car repair bill, over $120 for an unplanned hotel night, and about $130 extra for restaurants we hadn't planned to go to. C'est la vie!

I'm glad my uncle's viewing is on Thursday instead of tomorrow. His funeral is Friday. What a stress! When we got home, there was a message from my dad worried if we made it back. I called him a little while ago, waking him up, but he was happy to know we were home. I'll call him again tomorrow.