Hello all.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

Answers

Did y'all see my man last night? (Well, I know that Al and MOC and H did, but that was kind of rhetorical.)

He was so good!

Poor Maryland. But damn, that Dunleavy kid is good.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

OK, I swear I just posted this and it didn't post.

The Chris A. was outta sight! The MOC kept saying "Al, he was Coast- to-COAST!" We were very impressed. He was so good!

In other news, I hate Duke. That is all.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

The thing with Chris A. is that if you never saw him inside of his office or the courtroom, all you'd know him as is the guy who wears these nasty jeans, one of his dozens of baseball caps, and Tevas with socks (winter only), and who sometimes falls asleep on Volkswagens.

The people he works with, though, tease him for being the guy who doesn't believe in casual Friday and who stalks the office with his head down and his brow furrowed, and who frequently shouts, "Gawd DAMMIT!" They all adore him, but at work, he's serious as all get out.

I've seen him in work mode - from the time he wakes up in the morning to the time he leaves for work, he becomes a different person - but it's just neat to see him do his thing - like the MOC said - coast-to coast.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

It was very cool. Coast-to-coast! might be my new saying.

Did y'all watch Temptation Island? Those people. Lawd.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

Well, damn, T. I missed the Amazing Coast-to-Coast Chris A. I had planned to tape it, too!

I did catch Will & Grace, which wasn't even that good. Also, I was busy trying to make my husband quit saying I was "stingy" and a "mooch", two things he's called me with gleeful abandon ever since he learned how much I hate those two words. Master V a little bitch, sometime.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

T - I thought you were leaving for Hawaii on that Monday. Are you leaving on Sunday?

Of COURSE Leigha will want to have a party at her house. She's dumb, remember?

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

What's up MATHletes? You're leavign my dry on a Friday?

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

Sorry - I had a meeting.

We're leaving on Sunday at noon. I sort of wish we had a later flight, though, because the Ritz in New Orleans is SWEET. They had a special about it on the travel channel, and everything. I'm all about the rose petal bath.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

I don't know why I had it in my mind that you were leaving on Monday.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

I just went to the headshrinker. Apparently, my grief is "right on target." What a relief. I'd hate to be grieving off schedule.

You know, I am not trying to bring y'all down, but I have to tell you, it's the weirdest thing ever. I have these moments, like the other night at the game where I will think two thoughts AT ONCE like "I can't wait to tell Daddy about such and such... oh, I can't tell him." And last night, we were watching the Maryland game, and the MOC asked me about the 1-and-1 rule and how exactly it works, and I reached for the phone to call Bill Lowe. I mean, that is a weird feeling. Then, I got so frustrated, I tried to find Mike's number to get the answer. So, Mike, when you get in, what exactly is the rule on shooting 1-and-1? When does a player do that instead of shooting 2?

It is so bizarre. I have no point of reference for that sort of thing, really, so it surprises me every time. The doctor says it's totally normal, however. I start a grief counseling group next Tuesday. I'm not really looking forward to it, but I know it's all part of getting on with my life.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

Al, I think that going to the counseling group is a really good idea. If anything, it will give you a point of reference - I think that knowing where other people are in their grief can be reassuring, in a way.

My old roommate (in Va-Hi, before I moved in with Chris) lost her father to ALS about three months before we moved in together. Her father was ill for 13 years, which is a long, long time to live with that disease, and while it was less sudden than your loss, her grief was unbearable. She refused to talk to anyone, though - she would say over and over that her people were strong mountain people (Appalachian) and that she would be fine on her own. I really believe, though, that she would have had an easier (if that's the right word) time if it if she had talked to someone about what was going on in her head and in her heart.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002