What a long, strange week its been.

This has been the week from hell. On Sunday, my BIL was diagnosed with MS. He'd gone to the eye doctor with blurred vision; turns out his optical nerve was inflamed. An MRI revealed that he had MS - he is 30 years old, and my DH's youngest brother. Everyone is shocked and devestated. Over the last several years, he had other symptoms (digestive problems, numbness in his hands that he was told was carpal tunnel). All of these things were just symptoms of MS, but no one knew - I mean, no one's going to give you an MRI because you have carpal tunnel, you know? At any rate, he seems to have a pretty positive outlook; he should -- so long as he makes some lifestyle changes and takes his meds like the doctors tell him, he should be able to manage his disease.

Sunday night, one of DH's cats is acting strange. Sick, even. He's sitting on the floor, crying...won't eat, and his back legs kept collapsing. Not a good sign. DH took him to the all night vet center. Twenty four hours and twelve hundred dollars later, we find that he has a tumor in his stomach, spots on his liver that are probably malignant...all in all, he's 16 years old, and it appears as though his time is up. DH brought him home to die, he just couldn't put him down. I don't necessarily agree with his decision, but I've been in his shoes before, its not my place to tell him how to handle his own grief. So far, Rascal has been OK...slow-moving, but OK. He's still eating, but you can tell that his time is coming. I'm terrified of walking up to our bedroom someday soon and finding a dead cat.

Of the three cats we own, Rascal is the last one we would have thought would go first. Of the three boys my MIL gave birth to, my BIL was the last one anyone would have thought would get sick. You just never know about things.

We're taking the girls to a birthday party tomorrow; I'm pretty excited about it. I went shopping for a gift the other day and had a Barbie doll in my hand. She was really pretty, but she was one of those "cool fashion" Barbies...and I noticed that she had a diamond in her belly button. For the first time I thought how I would feel if someone bought my girls a Barbie with a diamond in her belly button. Instead, I opted for a Barbie with a cute little peasant top and skirt.

I read an article that I believe originated in the Washington post about women of my generation who are still, to this day, obsessed with certain leading men in 80's movies. There are the women who obsess over Jake Ryan (the hunk from the John Hughes movie "Sixteen Candles"), and even more prevalent are the women who are obsessed with Lloyd Dobler (from "Say Anything"). I'll admit to a Lloyd obsession. To this day, I still think about that scene when he stands outside of Ione Skye's window, playing "In Your Eyes" on his boombox. Watching John Cusack, with that look on his face that's a combination of defiance, pride, sadness, and desperation...jeez. It still makes my heart go pitter-patter, and you can talk shit about me all you want. But its true what they say - in the 80's, a move like that would be considered romantic. Today, a move like that warrants a restraining order.

Here's the Friday Feast: Let's hope this weekend is better than last!


Appetizer
How many pillows and blankets do you sleep with? - 2 pillows, one blanket.
Soup
What are you currently "addicted" to? Besides scrapbooking? "Rollergirls" on A&E.
Salad
If you could make a small change to your current routine or schedule that would make you just a little bit happier, what would it be? - More time for sleep!
Main Course
Which adjective do you find yourself using often? - TIRED.
Dessert
Have you ever picked up a hitchhiker? - Hell no.