Family, Frustrations, Friends, and Good Times

This morning, I received a phone call from my advisor asking me to step in and try to do some emergency work for our project. An hour later after I'm right in the middle of finishing up, there's an email to me saying that she's giving the project to some one else on our team. Anyway, I've just wasted my time, and I'm annoyed that they did that over email instead of the other guy just calling me - which my advisor still says she wants me to talk to him. I already left him a message. Anyway, whine whine. Okay, I'm done.

Yesterday, dad called me to let me know that he thinks Mom is constipated again and is going to have her medication upped from a stool softner to a stool softener with a laxative. Also, he can't be bothered to bring Mom the danactive yogurt that I would get for Mom to help regulate her and told me that even when he was bringing it, he would bring NOT her favorite flavor because he could get the other easier. He kept saying, "Well the laxative will do the trick. That's what worked for [our aunt who my dad was caretaking for years ago]." I wanted to scream at him that Mom is not our aunt. I was trying to be understanding of his situation of having plenty to take care of with Mom anyway, but it just frustrates me that he wouldn't be willing to just talk about other possibilities - especially since he's so normally anti-anything mainstream medicine, and now he won't even consider anything BUT that. Like how about we get her on a fiber suplement and keep up the yogurt and push the ALF to feed her food that she digests better.

Today, I spoke with my sister about it, who claimed that she had off loaded the buying of the yogurt on to Dad because money is so tight for them right now because my Dad won't give them any money and they're not working. I'm so not getting into the middle of this fight between my sister and my Dad, but I pointed out to my sister that the yogurt isn't very expensive. I told her if that's really the issue, then I'll send her a check for $20 every month so that Mom can get her yogurt. Ridiculous! My sister, of course, declined - its not the money that she's thinking about now but this dance that she is doing with my father.

On a funny note though, my sister complained that my father told both my sister and her husband that he wishes that his daughter married doctors.
Me: But Dad hates doctors.
Sister: Well not medical doctors, but someone with a PhD.

So, this is a direct reference to Jerry! My dad told my sister that he likes my boyfriend better than her husband I guess. It is WAY obnoxious of my father. But, it cracks me up because my father has liked NO ONE that I've ever dated before, he's never even met Jerry, I'm not married or anywhere near it which Dad used to make a big deal about, and my sister is the one following the path Dad set out for us while I'm the one doing my own thing. I think that it also demonstrates some respect for me working on my PhD.

So how are things going with Jerry? Pretty good, I'd say. I still find myself at moments feeling insecure and thinking that maybe he doesn't really like me. Then, I try to step back and breathe a bit and pull away my sense of self from his affection. Anyway, things are going well. He keeps me pretty busy because I see him almost every day - either we meet up for dinner or to just hang out at the end of the day.

My conference is coming up, and I'm still nervous about it. My ex-girlfriend offered for me to stay in a room with her and a few others, but I think its a bad idea, and it sounds like only SHE would want me there but that I'd be crowding the room. Anyway, I'm going to stick to being on my own. I joked with Jerry about what a bad idea it would be. I think that I need to sit down and have a talk with her at some point about how I really want to give this thing with Jerry a shot and that means that I can't pursue anything with her and don't even feel comfortable flirting.