I'm not going home this weekend because Thanksgiving break is so close. My mom will have her first "easy" chemo on Wednesday. I am skipping my night class on Tuesday so I can be home in time to sleep and drive her the next morning. She has been driving herself, but the doctors are giving her benadryl during this session, because a lot of people are allergic to this drug. I think my dad is going to drop her off, and I will pick her up. I may go early, because I've gotten benadryl through an IV before and it messed me up really bad.... I was crying one minute for no reason, then I started laughing uncontrollably.... Well, I hope all goes well, and I'm glad that I'm not driving home in this weather.

This suicide on campus changes the air here.. Maybe next time we think someone needs help we should speak up..... I will be praying for her.....

Alright, I'll talk about the videos... So, I've been working on putting in the more drawing aspects. It's been going well, or at least that's what I think. I've gotten everything up to where I think it should be and I added more frames to the pink video so that it is equal in length to the black one. They are both about 30 seconds long, which is shorter than I'd like, but I will add some closing photos to bring them to a close, and I hope that will bring them closer to 45 seconds or 1 minute. Obviously, you will get to see them today, and after that I will try to post them to YouTube, so that everyone can monitor my progress.

This weekend I spent the whole time with my mom. I really wanted to get some homework done, I even brought my computer home, but my mom had other plans. The second I got home she starting making a list of things she wanted me to do. We spent all Saturday running errands from the new Kroger's by my house (it's the only grocery store within 30 miles of my house, and it just opened a week ago..) then we went to the mall, then to GFS for Christmas goodies in bulk, and then back home to wrap presents. On Sunday she had me clean her fish tank (I'm big on fish, I work at a fish store and I have 4 tanks total in between school and home). On top of all that I have a really bad cold, so I had to make sure that I washed my hand a lot and drank lots of tea. Even though I didn't get to do what I planned, I really enjoyed the weekend. My mom and I are becoming closer and closer. When I left she thanked me for staying with her, which is my families way of saying "I love you." We don't get emotional at my house, my parents rarely even kiss outside of their bedroom... Anyway I think she just wanted some company and I was there to support her.

To answer the question about whether I've involved my mom in the video process, that is a no. I feel like it would hurt her to see how much this hurts me. I will show it to her sometime, probably when she's done with chemo... Right now I have to be the strong one in the family and I don't feel like I can show them my weaknesses. This weekend I had to stand by my mom's side and tell her that she should eat the sandwich she made. Then when she finished half of it, I congratulated her and ate the other half myself. I am the parent right now, and I will be for at least another 3 months (probably longer, since she will still need plastic surgery after the chemo is other). to show the video to my mom would be like a parent crying in front of their children and I can't do that......

I realize that I need to post more, but I just don't seem to have anything to talk about. Today I'm going home to be with my mom. She had chemo today. She drove herself, so she should be home when I get there. My father went to Vegas with his friend for the weekend. He wanted to vote on an OSU game sometime this season. My mom was supposed to go with him, but since her chemo got pushed back she couldn't. I'm going home for the whole weekend because my mom doesn't like being home alone, and I wouldn't want her to be after chemo. Well, my weekend won't just be sitting at home... I am going to get my hair cut. I'm getting really sick of having long hair, so I'm going to cut it short again. Anyway I hope my weekend goes well.

This weekend I went home to visit my mom just for one night. She seemed in very good spirits. She does have MRSA again and is taking even more powerful antibiotics. She had to put of her chemo for a week, so now she's a week behind. If she is better, then Friday will be her last strong chemo treatment. I really hope she doesn't fall too much further behind... She has planned two cruises after her chemo is over. First my father and her are going on a nine day cruise, then a week later she and I are going on a cruise to Mexico during spring break. I really want to have that time to be alone with my mom. The last time I got time alone with her was when I was 16. We went to Germany for 2 weeks together and it was the first time that my mom and I were able to grow closer. I don't want to lose the opportunity to do that again....

Still no word on what type of infection my mom has... I did talk to her yesterday and she seemed in good spirits. She went to the doctor again and he cleaned up the area of the infection. My mom is working from home this week, because she "can't wear her fake boobs." Well, as long as she can work from home, then I guess it doesn't matter where she does her work (or what she's wearing or not wearing)...

So, I've learned that my mom is sick again.... She has some kind of infection again. Later on today she will get the results of her culture, and know exactly what type of infection it is. I really hope that it's not MRSA again... Last time they gave her antibiotics and it supposedly got better. This time though, she has had three chemo treatments and has no immune system.. Maybe I worry too much....

This weekend went well. I competed at a programming competition and we placed 31 out of 124. I really wish we had had time to finish one more problem, because we could have placed even higher. It was really fun though, I got to meet people from IBM and Google who were recruiting. Not that they would ever recruit me... They were really there for the people from Carnegie Mellon, who like always has the number 1 and 2 teams.... Well, I hope I haven't bored you with my talk about computers....