Updates

Another late one. Going to bed soon.

Today is the twentieth anniversary of my grandmother's death. I tried to stop at the cemetery after work today, but it was already far too dark to go in. The cemetery officially closes at sunset, which was at 4:36 PM locally. I didn't get there until after 5:00. By then the darkness was nearly full, and traffic was unusually heavy on Middle Road. I drove past the cemetery and saw the gate was still open. Our family plot (which I decorated for Christmas this past Sunday, incorporating real holly and holly berries along with the plastic greenery) is just inside the gate. Surely no one would object to me slipping in there for just a minute or two? But I was going too fast and could not safely make the turn into the entrance. I pulled into a housing development a hundred feet or so down the road, and waited a good five minutes until traffic allowed me to pull out. But I just drove past the entrance again, since it was clearly too late and too dark to safely enter or attempt to exit the cemetery. I silently said a prayer and promised to visit this weekend.

Third week of training is nearly over. We do an exercise each Friday at the start of class - an icebreaker / team-building / getting-to-know-you exercise. Each member of the class submits a song and artist to our instructor, who plays the first thirty seconds or so for the class. We then try to figure out the song, the artist, and - most importantly - who chose the song. In this way we get a sense of the diversity of tastes in the group, and also start to get a better understanding of each member of the class. So far my picks have been "Christmas at the Zoo" by Flaming Lips and "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure. For tomorrow I have three different choices in mind. We'll see which one I pick.

Thor is still maintaining. He's eating lots, but I don't know how much he's absorbing. We'll see if he's put on any weight when I take him to the vet Saturday morning. I'll be giving him his second hydration tomorrow night.