in a galaxy far, far away

Well, here I am in Arizona. Here is my week in a nut's hell:

1. Tuesday: Dad couldn't find me in the airport, walked around for almost an hour as I waited by the baggage claim (luggage did not appear for 45 minutes), then almost collapsed as he returned to the car.
   
2. Wednesday: I took Dad to the doctor, who said he had had a TIA (a sort of almost-stroke) and set him up to have his head examined (also his neck and heart).
   
3. Thursday: Mom left to attend a funeral in Montana. I would also like to attend this funeral, but I have to look after Dad, which is fine because my back probably couldn't take that much plane travel anyway.
   
4. Friday: I will take Dad to have his head examined. Also his neck.
   
5. Saturday: I will take Dad to some Republican meeting. Dad's friend wants him to attend because apparently these meetings have been overrun with immigrant-hating, gay-bashing maniacs, and she thinks Dad will provide a useful counterpoint (uh... right). I am desperately hoping I don't have to actually attend the meeting!!!!
   
6. Saturday, later: Mom returns from Montana and immediately five thousand people come over for a big party in my honor. Maybe nobody will notice if I don't go...
   
7. Sunday: I get to have breakfast with some dear friends from high school, yippee!! (Too bad Sunday--i.e., during church--was the ONLY TIME they could meet me! Aw, shucks!)
   
8. Monday: I go to Atlanta. (I haven't thought past that.)
   

Some other items of note:

• HOT: I forgot how hot it is here. At 10:30 this morning it was already over 100 degrees. Everyone here is used to it, so even indoors it's hotter than it is outdoors in Wisconsin (76 degrees in here right now, apparently). I am not used to it anymore.
  
• ELECTRONICS: Mom told me to take Dad to the store on the way home from the airport, and get him to get her a digital camera, photo printer, and misc accessories. Woo-hoo! Then we went to McDonald's.
  
• OLD: Some of the "old people" around here are really interesting. No, really. Of course some of them are also self-absorbed and boring. Gosh, just like regular folks!
  
• PHONE: Loopy just called me, so I will go now. She better have a good excuse for not calling me last night (she is telling me she couldn't find the phone... should I believe her? What do you think?)