It was a rough week last week

It was surprisingly chilly out this morning. And when I say that, I mean it’s after noon right now and the weather says it’s still only in the mid-50s outside. Since it was in the 70s yesterday, I came to work without covering over most of my arms. Call me a thin-blooded Southerner all you like, but I wished I’d had a jacket. I’ll have to remember to wear one tomorrow.

Hurricane Sandy blew past us on Saturday without any troubles. We had a bit of wind, but nothing so much that it toppled anything. And we didn’t get any rain. Sunday was clear and sunny and beautiful. From what I can see on the weather, Luke and Krista are feeling her wrath today with lots and lots of rain. I hope you guys are all safe.

I don’t know if you heard this but there was an earthquake off British Columbia on Saturday sparking tsunami warnings for Hawai’i. I woke up on Sunday worried about a friend we have who just got transferred to the base out there and was very happy to see that the warnings were all unnecessary and the waves hitting the islands were minimal.

And yes, I did just spend three paragraphs talking about the weather because it really IS the most interesting thing on my mind right now.

In other news, I had a doctor’s appointment last Wednesday and I am in perfectly good health as far as my blood work is concerned. My good and bad cholesterol levels are in the ranges where they should be and my triglycerides are also back in the level where they should be. I attribute this mostly to the fish oil pills I’ve been taking. The only thing that’s negative on my charts is that I’m still seriously overweight. I’m actually rather impressed with myself – I’ve managed to keep my levels in check even though I’m about 100 pounds over my expected weight. Which isn’t to say that I don’t plan to lose the weight – I’m already working on that issue – just that I’m proud that I’m healthy even though I’m heavy.

Last week was actually a rough week, all things considered. I’ve been avoiding that recap by talking about the weather and my health, so here goes:

Justin got called for jury duty, so he drove with me to work on Monday so he could take the car up to Beaufort for that. I got a ride home with a coworker.

Tuesday, Justin didn’t have to go to jury duty, so I took the car. But we heard that my coworker’s wife, who had been struggling with illness for several weeks, was at home with hospice care and not expected to last long.

That evening Justin got word that the jury pull for Wednesday was cancelled and he wasn’t required to go back again – this was a relief because of my doctor appointment in the morning.

Wednesday, we got word that my coworker’s wife had passed away the previous evening. She was 38 years old, and left behind her husband and two daughters aged 6 and 8 years old.

I put out a card for the family and it was completely filled up by the end of the day. I went to Target after work to pick up another one.

Thursday was filled with more people coming up to my desk to sign the card and donate money toward the family to help with expenses.

By that evening, Justin started to not feel very well.

Friday, by the time I handed the card to the gentleman who was taking it to the funeral, both cards were completely filled up and there was more than $1300 donated toward the family.

And Justin was definitely not well. We went to lunch and Barnes and Noble to cheer me up, and then he slept for most of the afternoon.

Saturday was the funeral but I didn’t attend. I’m still not entirely sure if that was the right decision, but I would not have handled it at all well. And from the reports I got this morning, the church was filled to standing room only, which makes me feel good about the support that was shown by the people who know the family.

Things are improving. Justin is feeling better – I’m sure whatever he had was something he caught from someone at the jury pool. There are fewer people stopping by my desk for an update on the family of my coworker. And the weather is lovely, if chilly. It’s going to be a wonderful week.