How do you feel today?

[Cagliostro]

I called in to work today due to either a stomach virus or food poisoning. After throwing up and other stuff every 30 minutes last night I laid in the bed alternately watching t.v. and dozing off until 2:00 this afternoon. I feel like shit.

Your smiley suggests otherwise.

[Loredoctor]

I don't get it. A co-worker's son - he's twenty years of age - has contracted Hodgkin's Disease. The cancer is in his bone marrow now, and it's very serious. He may not survive. So, my co-worker has called in to say she will probably not be coming to work again, as she has to look after her son. What angers me is that she has a daughter who has to be looked after almost constantly due to being mentally retarded.

My friend, the co-worker, is a good woman. I can't understand why this has to happen to her. Why is it that sometimes the universe is so cruel? I have difficulty believing in a loving God when things like this happen.

Right now, I am so happy and content, and torn that my friend is suffering. I feel so lucky, yet here is my friend who is suffering. I don't get why the universe works this way. Or maybe, the idea of asking that question is irrational.

Sorry, for my rant.

[danlo]

Hate to bring out the 'everychild is a village' card but things like this should inspire us to work harder so we can donate more money to help find cures. Perhaps we (all of us) should extend ourselves to these people in need by offering to help with buying their groceries, helping them out with a large home project or a drive to the hospital. I know, in many cases, it's not that easy...I understand how you feel.

[Loredoctor]

Hate to bring out the 'everychild is a village' card but things like this should inspire us to work harder so we can donate more money to help find cures. Perhaps we (all of us) should extend ourselves to these people in need by offering to help with buying their groceries, helping them out with a large home project or a drive to the hospital. I know, in many cases, it's not that easy...I understand how you feel.

danlo, that was well said. Thank you for your response.

[Cameraman Jenn]

Lore, that sucks. Life can be very unfair and some people's journey much more painful than others.

[Cagliostro]

Seems every now and again, everything conspires against us and all we can do is shake our fists at the heavens and shout "stop it!" The past couple years have been working out like that for me, and I'm trying to wrestle my life back into pleasing me again. But so much is out of our control. I guess if there is some design behind it, then we go through these times to make us appreciate the good times. If this is the case, and life balances back out, then your friend will be enjoying some really good times in the future. But, Lore, I'm sorry she has to go through what she has to go through now.

[MsMary]

Lore, I have also been in the position of watching bad things happen to good people and wondering why. It sucks.

SBG, what you have sounds similar to what my hubby had yesterday. He is feeling better. Hope you will be soon, also.

[danlo]

Really, and here I am being scared to death about spraying my daughter's late night "accident" out of the sheets. Well I'm off *holds nose*...

[Cagliostro]

As I said before, and probably in another thread, it's all about perspective.

[Ki]

i'm sorry about your friend, LM. that's terribly sad.

[Wyldewode]

Right now, I am so happy and content, and torn that my friend is suffering. I feel so lucky, yet here is my friend who is suffering. I don't get why the universe works this way. Or maybe, the idea of asking that question is irrational.

Sorry, for my rant.

You have every right to feel this way, so don't apologize for it. And equally, there have been many times when I have been feeling great when my friends were feeling low and things were bad. And I wished that there was something I could do. But all that I can do is stand with my friend, offer him/her support, love, a sympathetic ear, and maybe a shoulder to cry on. I offer the only thing that will be constant no matter what the turn of circumstances: myself. I really believe that the exchange of our authentic selves--termed as the words friendship, or love, or compassion--may be the most real and important things in the universe.

Ah. . . I feel as though words fail me. But I hope that you understand what I'm trying to say nonetheless.

[MsMary]

I feel overtired today, cause I went to bed too late and slept badly. Part of the reason I slept badly is because I am worrying about a course I need to take for work. It's a re-certification that I am required to have, and I inadvertently missed the class scheduled at my workplace. The next scheduled class at my workplace is after my certification expires. So I have to find an outside class which is (a) expensive and (b) surprisingly hard to find, considering that this is a certification required of all nurses who work with newborn babies.

One place I spoke to told me the course at their hospital is $150 for non-employees. This is all the more galling because if I had taken it at my own workplace, not only would it have been free, but I would have been paid my usual salary to take it.

*frustrated*

[Wyldewode]

I feel heartsick. I just found out that a friend of mine died earlier this week. We had fallen out of touch recently, and it had been about 3 months since I'd heard from him. I wish I would have made more of an effort to stay in touch.

[aliantha]

Poor Lyr! And Lore, too.

MsMary -- yeah, I hate it when I do something stupid and it comes back to bite me in the butt.

[MsMary]

So sad, Wyldewolde.

Ali - I wouldn't exactly say I did something stupid. I was just unaware that a course needed by so many nurses is offered so infrequently.
And I keep getting possible "positive" answers about a class and then getting told "I'll have to get back to you."

[Cameraman Jenn]

Big Hugs to everyone with sadness.

I feel good. I just crank called Lucimay and asked her if she had anything in suction cup soles that would enable a person to hang from the ceiling and pounce on another person when entering the room. She managed to tell me no and ask if there was anything else she could help me with and without laughing I managed to ask her, well then do you have anything in spring loaded so I can jump over people on the sidewalk? then we couldn't carry it on any more.

[MsMary]

You two are a riot.

[Cameraman Jenn]

You should hear us when we have entire conversations in Kentucky backwoods speak. Oh, and I would be happy to crank call others too, just pm me your work phone number...

[MsMary]

I would be in so much trouble if you crank called me at work.

But you could crank call me at home.

[emotional leper]

I feel undercooked.