RELENTLESS . . .

Boob pain's back.

Same boob. Same pain.

I swear, if they send me for another ultrasound, I'm going to Flip. Out.
That ultrasound goop is soooo nasty.

***

I FORGET . . .

Sometimes, I forget that my parents are people too. For almost thirty years now, they have been my demi-gods: people who could do no wrong in mine eyes; people who accomplished so much from so little; people who live lives of seemingly impenetrable integrity and honesty and faithfulness; people whose strength and capabilities are untouchable.

So it always surprises me just a little bit when I discover they need help, when I find out they are in pain, when I hear they are preoccupied and don't know what to do. And I am dismayed to look inside myself and see that I am ill-equipped to help them, to hear the words of comfort coming from my mouth, and to feel disgusted at how trite I sound.

There are others to whom I can guide them, others more qualified and able than I. And as always, we turn to our God. But still ... to feel that I am sitting idly by fills my stomach with a weight the size of that boulder that rolled down a California mountainside and planted itself in the middle of the freeway during the winter storms. (That boulder was very, very large, by the way.) For all that my parents have done for me ... and now I can't lift a finger to help them just a little bit ... I feel like an emotional quadriplegic.

***

READ NOW, KNIT LATER . . .

Life is cyclical, and so is my reading list. Two and a half years of non-fiction has given way to a return to fiction. The key, my friends, is finding good fiction, and that is, sadly, much harder than it seems it should be. Recently discovered treasures:

"The Da Vinci Code," by Dan Brown
"Angels & Demons," by Dan Brown
"The Simple Truth," by David Baldacci
"The Queen's Fool," by Philippa Gregory
"The Birth of Venus," by Sarah Dunant

But fiction only lasts so long, so in the non-fictional batter's box:

"Eating My Words: An Appetite for Life," by Mimi Sheraton
"Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise," by Ruth Reichl
"Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation," by Lynne Truss
"Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking," by Malcolm Gladwell
"Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books," by Azar Nafisi