A Needed Respite

Long story short: last week was bad.  After about a week and a half of tests and care, the doctors gave my grandmother weeks to live.  She has left the hospital and is now in a nursing home for the next couple of weeks, and provided she gains her strength back (which is kind of hard considering she is having trouble eating due to stomach pains, probably due to the tumor), she will probably end up in hospice care for the remainder.  Yeah, fun times for my family.

Thus, this past weekend was very important to my mental and emotional stability.  Friday night, after visiting my grandmother in the hospital again, I served as judge for the Frederick County Academic Tournament (congratulations to the team from Linganore).  According to my old ATT advisor, Mr. Koepke, the math questions over the past few years had gotten a bit easy, and he said he noticed an up-tick in the difficulty level mid-season, i.e., when I started writing them.  So if he gets his way, this question-writing gig may last awhile.

But more importantly, for the first time since before the semester started, I saw some of my college friends.  A night out with Jon, Jess, Janice, Janice's friend Jess, Gina, Laura, and Nick was very helpful in taking my mind off family affairs.  So, I thank you seven for helping me out, whether you knew you were doing so or not.

Okay, one last push before spring break (and work on a presentation and a take-home exam).