It's...it's...it's AALLIIIVVVE!

Hey-hey, fiends and neighboos. I'm baaaahaack after all this time, wishing you a happy Halloweekend. Plus the hollowdays are just beginning, and as you all know, it's my favorite time to let loose some demons and create-ures that can't be discussed in polite company. Mainly 'cuz nobody really cares about my rants or if they do, would urge me to resume my medication.

One of the definitions assigned to the letter "mu" is change. Let me tell ya - Mu has seen some changes this past year. Ironic. I've tended to actively resist being dragged out of my comfort zone but life keeps throwing me these curve-balls, tho this one has been more of a boomerang. Let me explain...

I put my house up for sale in February. Frantically made long delayed repairs. Closed April 1. Turns out THAT was appropriate. Put stuff in storage. Moved in with Papa. I left my parental homestead in 1977, thinking I'd never be back. Well, BBOOOIINNGG! Pops developed back problems as well as DVT's (as opposed to DT's), or bloodclots, in his legs shortly before I moved back in. Here Ma's in the ole Alzheimers' home and he was all by himself. While I saw him nearly every day, I didn't realize that he needed much more help than I'd provided. Okay, so whatever passes for fate made sure I'd get a chance to pay back some bad karma. Fine. Stupid "fate". Stupid "karma". Whatever. BBOOIINNGG!! I am now a fifty-something child/mother caretaker whacked in the brain by a hypothetical boomerang, which by the way, sucks up all creativity on its goddam way out. Can't wait for the return trip...

Anyhoo. Pop's house was built in 1902 and last saw a broom when the builders threw it into their horse-drawn carriage and rode off. Honestly, Ma was never much of a housekeeper. Pa did his best, but the damn thing was just too overwhelming. Since I've been here, we've upgraded the wiring so there's more than one outlet in each room, put in a new furnace, had the ancient ducts cleaned for the first time ever (found many dead bodies - of the four-legged kind, fortunately), updated windows and coverings. Shoulda seen Pa's face when I mentioned blinds and valances. He thought I was going to board up the windows and put scales by the door. The backyard still needs some serious TLC - the only things growing there are two catch-all sheds and a couple of rotting lawn chairs. Summer this year was really, really hot for Colorado and windy. Much of the "soil" that hadn't seen movement since the dust-bowl era now resides comfortably in every nook and cranny inside this old place. Still so much to to. Funny - I sold MY house because I was tired of the cleaning and general up-keep. HAAHHRR! BBOOIINNGG!

Then there was the health scare my baby (22) boy went through. Docs first told him he had a brain tumor. Two months later, after prescription addiction, a 40-pound weight loss, panic attacks, and god-knows whatall, the doctors decided he did indeed, have a brain. Sans tumor. Did you know that relief can be as emotionally painful as worry? Son, I love you dearly, but please stop trying to use up all your nine lives before you're thirty, willya? I only have about half-a-life left myself.

The Zookeeper is incubating another addition to the menagerie. I am so sorry I haven't seen the family all year - another layer of icing on the karma-cake.

But I'm baaaahaack like a boomerang and shall do my best to post a REAL rant soon. This is my weekend for candy-eating, bad horror movie-watching, and reconnecting with my fan(s). As they say - TTYS,

Mu