Mishy ramblings

Unloaded a beautiful glaze load the other day....getting ready to put more pieces into the gas kiln and glaze fire...things were kind of backed up (propane folks wanted their money before they'd give me more gas...finally paid them)... and WOW what a gorgeous firing...always nice when that happens. Too bad nothing in there was mine. Happy customers are always good though, so it's okay. Am working on a few things now, so next couple loads will have some of my stuff in them.

My life has been kind of crazier than usual here, Brandy has heard some of what's gone on with me, but I haven't really shared much of the 'big stuff' here... It was really big stuff....and I wasn't really able to sort it all out in my mind as it was happening, still having some trouble with figuring it all out but got a bit of perspective with time and changes and decided it's damn time to start blogging about it.

Not quite sure where to start...but I guess I'll begin with early June...right before I went to China. I got a message from this guy, via Yahoo personals...he wanted to say hi, but couldn't send his profile (under review, he had a pic where he was flipping the camera off and they censored that)..I guess I didn't reply (had gotten SO many replies to my ad), but he saw I was online on yahoo messenger and private-messaged me. He has it all archived and has remembered the exchange in detail but I only vaguely remember the gist. Apparently I was 'busy' when he first PM'd and didn't respond very warmly so he was about to move on...but then I asked him to stick around and chat and warmed up some... He was really friendly and sweet and not-challenging or 'piggish'...I liked him. We talked music (he is a musician and works in the concert biz), and I sang, via yahoo messenger...for him (this works EVERY time...guys cannot resist a song...LOL) .

Turns out he is a concert rigger, has done it for 33 yrs and knows lots of big name artists, has worked with them ALL. This is a tough job, climbing waaaaay up high on four inch wide beams and pulling up motors to hang large heavy objects such as lights and sound equipment, or apparatus for elaborate stage tricks... in a safe manner. He is proud of his work and is considered one of the top ten in the biz. I went to China, and we typed on Yahoo more, and he left me messages on my phone voice mail. Upon my return home for the two weeks I was back before going to Omaha... he invited me out to see the No Doubt/Blink 182 concert, which coincidentally, I was able to take him up on (it was class night but no students signed up). I got to meet him and go backstage and stand just stage right watching the performance and it was awesome. We also walked around back in catering and outside, talking and getting to know one another.

I really liked him a lot, from the beginning...and when we met in person he was very respectful and attentive, but not clingy or demanding... he is a Leo, born July 31, and has the noble, loyal nature of the king of beasts. Self confident, independent...so...I saw him again...and we clicked...and spent more time together...I went to Omaha, we talked on the phone and on yahoo every day, several times...upon return to Phoenix, I wanted to spend as much time as I could with him...yikes! He felt the same, and was spending some nights here...by then.

The most confusing part of all this happened in late July. He was here, on July 21 and sort of 'fell asleep'...or at least that was kind of what it looked like to me, that or a seizure...I called the paramedics, it just seemed really serious to me...they arrived and told us that it might have been a heart attack, he had some uneven heartbeat rhythm and they were not able to tell for sure. They said if it were THEM, they'd go into the hospital for sure...but he was able to muster up enough energy to refuse and to sit up, and move around some...they couldn't force him, so they left.

I decided, after a short time, to call his buddies, to get THEM to force him to go in, when I couldn't talk him into it after they left and he was obviously getting worse. Two of his buddies came over here and finally got him to go into John C. Lincoln, near my place...he was BARELY able to walk and in horrendous pain by then, saying it was a pinched nerve and holding the back of his neck. John C. Lincoln did a ctscan and found bleeding on the brain, they gave him morphine and flew him to Barrow's Neurological Institute in a helicopter...that evening. On July 23, they did a seven hour surgery for the bleed, and clipped a large aneurysm behind and above his right ear and discovered a small stroke (the kind that is a hole in the vein).

I visited him in John C Lincoln ER and again at Barrow's, every day...while he was there, compelled to be with him, and sing to him...played music on a cd player... He responded to the surgery amazingly...I spoke with the surgeon after the surgery, and he seemed pretty confident that he can expect full recovery. Considering his recovery so far, I would have to say it is possible. He was in Barrow's for five weeks, he is now out of the hospital for three weeks...and is walking, talking and behaving pretty much like he did before, with challenges such as pain from stiff muscles that locked up from too much bedrest (five weeks in bed), and headaches (no shit, the mother of all headaches!), a bit of short term memory loss, dizziness and balance problems but really not too much of that, and he is on bigtime high blood pressure meds and vicodin for pain, so the dizziness and balance may just be from the meds (memory loss too...who knows).... He is an amazing man, strength of will and strength of body...wow...and his heart is made of gold, despite a pretty rough exterior... He and I talked a lot, in the hospital, and he has been staying with me, since he was released...and has really talked at length with me, about his childhood and his life-view. Obviously...I am intrigued, impressed and in love....sigh...

This is getting too long so I am going to post it now and continue in another....