Wow, Universe. Really?

Remember that weird luck thing I have?
The one where the universe says, "Oh, you poor dear. Look at all that crap that landed on you. Here, have a cookie."

In the midst of all the arranging that needed to happen so I could go out of town, I got a call from my S.O.

There is news. He is released from his current facility in late June. He is to go to a rehabilitation facility southwest of St. Louis at that time, until his final release date in September.

As for how he was going to get from where he is now (Louisiana) to that facility... well, there were questions.

It turns out that one of the options is to have someone pick him up.

I'm someone.

I GET TO PICK HIM UP AT THE END OF JUNE AND TAKE HIM ON A 14 HOUR ROAD TRIP, JUST THE TWO OF US.

(cue the dancing)

That news cheered me up considerably, and I had already been discussing the dates with the other instructor at my job so that I could take that Monday off. I plan to drive down partway on Sunday, spend the night in a cheap motel, then drive the rest of the way down on Monday and spend the night in town.
On Tuesday I'd pick him up, then head straight back home.
Cue the OMG dance. I may take a week of vacation to do this. We'll see.
I might take up a collection instead. I had to burn one of my weeks for the current family emergency.

Gone

Just a note that I'm out of town until Sunday night.

No, the house isn't empty. (I've had people say, "Don't post online that you're out of town! Someone could rob you!" Dude. Someone could burgle my house any day of the week. Plus, who reads LJ anymore anyway?)

What I do want to have out there is that I'm on the road. So if you are looking for someone to go see a movie with or pick up some sushi/thai/ranoush with, it's not me. I'm going to be a few states away, sorry.

As it happens, I was able to get the rest of the week off (through Sunday) because there aren't any events until next week. I wasn't covering any shifts on my own, so it was going to cause the least amount of family drama for me to leave now.

And to be honest, standing around looking at quilts and hand crafts was likely to make me teary-eyed randomly and my boss is supremely insensitive.
Like, really insensitive. For someone who has tattoos on her leg for every family member that she's lost (and she'll yammer on about it with anyone if they ask) she's weirdly callous when someone else is grieving.
Another coworker's husband turned up with cancer a few years ago. It was pancreatic cancer, and it devoured him quickly. I think it was about eight months, and then he was gone. Toward the end, she took a leave of absence because he needed her.

Because that's what you *do*.

Apparently my boss texted her about once a week with "Is he dead yet? When can I put you back on the schedule?" or something similar.

When my uncle died, and I took a day off for the funeral, I was completely devastated. I was *wrecked* that day, and when I woke up the next day after having cried myself to sleep, my face was swollen severely. I also realized that I wasn't ready to return to work, so I called in. My boss said, "Listen, you should go see a doctor if you're going to be sick like this all the time."

In the first place, I have IBS and severe back issues. So if I call in, it's not because I'm playing hooky. It's because for some reason I don't feel that I can do the work that day. Maybe it's because my butt won't let me out of the bathroom, or I was up all night dumping liquid fire into the toilet and am exhausted and hugely sore.
Or maybe my back has seized and I can't really get up without whimpering and hanging on to things in order to walk.
And I hadn't called in at that point in at least a month.

So when she told me that, I snapped. I went into the "intense" voice (you know the one) and told her that I was FUCKING GRIEVING and that she should not be giving me crap about the bereavement leave I was taking. Check the handbook, bitch; this is a real thing.

And she was really "whatever" about it.


So yeah, I was not in a mood to be at work in a fragile state, with her asking nosy questions or making me do things that would upset me, or saying insensitive things about my situation.


Next week, we're hosting the Embroidery FX certification workshop, the one that costs a grand and goes for 4 days. I'm a huge part of that one, so I can't bail on them.

And naturally, Sally's daughter has scheduled her "Celebration of Nana's life" event for next weekend.
Too bad; I'm coming up now for my own sense of closure.
I'm bringing my mom and stepdad.

Here we come.