bullets of bumpiness....

So much to say, so little time:

-- The whole Whitney Houston thing threw me for a loop in ways that sound completely crazy. all y'all know how I love a scandalous celeb story, but the Whitney thing was the complete opposite. You know how I always mock those who "feel" these kind of things? Well, I was ripe for the mocking. Why? I dunno. It's not like I started each day listening to the fucking Bodyguard or anything. However, you know how I love a reformed-junkie story. And, back in 1985, I bought into the whole Clive Davis image of Whitney. As I have said, I discovered our Whitney just a little ahead of the rest of the world, which gave me bragging rights, and in my 15 year old naivete, I just pictured her as a beautiful girl with a beautiful voice, who spent her free time praising Jesus with her Mama and cousin Dionne. Little did I realize that Dionne was fucking with psychics and smoking the chronic. In my mind, Whitney just wanted to dance with somebody. Anyway, even after all the Bobby Brown shit, I wanted a happy ending for her. It didn't happen. And when she died, I just thought "what a fucking WASTE". Anyway, the way she died wigged me out. It sounds nuts to even type this, but the whole thing disturbed me more than it should have.

-- So right after that, we decided to get the hell outta Dodge and we went to Edmonton for 5 days. We went to the World Waterpark Twice, Galaxyland once, and shopped like mofos, and had a great time. When I did the math, we probably could have gone to fucking Mexico for the money we spent in Edmonton, but it was well worth it. I got to throw some money down at Aeropostle and Volcom, the Mrs. got to go to Ikea, and the kids got to unwind, so it was win-win.

-- And then... and then...... I've been trying to formulate blog posts about this for the past three weeks, but haven't been able to. However, unless I just spit it out now, I never will. Perhaps I should have done it when it was raw, but whatever. Anyway.... 3 weeks ago yesterday... I found my wonderful, awesome, crazily amazing neighbour.... dead. Long story short. My next door neighbour, a man who I will call... hmmm... "Calvin"..... a Korean war vet... .the pretty much NICEST man I've ever met..... died. "Calvin", who has had a health scare about 2 years ago, when he had a "brain bleed", has been living on borrowed time. Rachel and I both commented on how good he was lately - after his "brain bleed", he was a little fuzzy on things, but lately? Sharp as a tack. And his wife was out of town, teaching a sewing class. I can't remember when I last saw her. But I know I saw Calvin 3 weeks ago Sunday. We came home at about 3:30 that day, and we saw him open the door for "Lucy", the pastor of his church. Rachel commented that Calvin looked tired. Fast forward to the next day. We both come home for lunch, and I notice that there is mail in Calvin's mailbox, and his storm door is, for some reason, swinging open. Fast forward to after work. I ask Rachel if she has seen "Calvin" and she says no, but the door open thing is weird. Long story short, we watch his house throughout the night, and she wonders if we should bring a cake or something to him just to see if he's ok. I say that I am sure that his wife must call him daily. However, that night, I wake up in the night, and end up pacing at 2:00 am, walking in my livingroom, for no reason, and my dogs, in the garage, are freaking out, and I keep thinking that something is off. In the morning, as Rachel goes to work, she first looks to see if his door is closed. ANYWAY. That Tues., at 3:10, I go to pick up my kids from school, and decide to just quit work early and go home. WELL. at about 3:40 I see this odd number calling me, and it's Calvin's wife of 49 years, "Peggy", saying "have you seen Calvin? Our son has been calling and getting no answer." So long story short, I go on her command, grab their spare key from the hiding spot, and go in the house, with her on the phone, and discover his bleeding, lifeless body on their kitchen floor. With HER ON THE PHONE.

And that was just the beginning. I will finish this later. But let me say this: hang on, it's a bumpy ride.....