I have been extremely stressed lately. Clifford, the 87-year-old uncle of my husband whom I’ve been staying home watching since last April, has gotten worse. He’s much more confused, weaker, and sleeps much more than he was. When he’s awake he asks the same questions over-and-over and tells me the most random anecdotes. I worry that he is turning a corner in his dementia and while I used to think he had maybe 10 more years, I’d now be surprised if he lives another 3-4.

My oldest daughter moved home before Christmas and hasn’t yet found a job (though she had an interview at a veterinarian’s), nor is she yet studying for grad school which she’ll need money to pay for. She’s got a B.S. in Ecology and would be a good lab tech, but there aren’t a lot of positions out there right now. She’s mostly playing video games.

Her ex-boyfriend/best friend (our honorary son) has lost his job and therefore his apartment and tried to join the Navy and they won’t take him until January of next year, so he is moving home to Detroit where he has family, but in the meantime until he can get the funds to move up there he is staying here as well, also playing video games. He’s moved all his worldly possessions here for us to store for him.

My husband is the executor for his mother’s estates, which entails going to Augusta fairly regularly to take care of things. What could not be sold or distributed amongst other family members is now in our house.

Our house is very small. It’s a tiny 1950s ranch house with 1.5 baths and a basement. With the six people and four cats, we’re all on top of each other.

Every day I am making my bed, because it is the only place in the house that is tidy and ordered. I am extremely stressed and feel angry almost all the time. I’ve gained ten pounds and am yelling at my poor husband a lot. I’m trying very hard to eat healthy lowfat vegan foods and exercise whenever I can get a break from Clifford, but it isn’t always working out.

And now I find that my podcast feed isn’t working on iTunes, and I can’t figure out why. Not that I’ve been podcasting lately. It’s so hard when I can’t get time to compose my thoughts and record.

It’s a great day for America!

Here’s the ad from American Humanist. I don’t know. While I like the sentiment that Barack Obama’s mother raised him to be a decent human being in a secular household, Obama himself is a Christian, whether that is for political expediency or for a true religious inclination. It seems like crass opportunism on American Humanist’s part and indeed, even a tenuous relationship with an atheist organization may come back to bite Obama in his re-election campaign.

Model builder Gary McIntire puts the finishing touches on a Lego presidential inauguration scene on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 at Legoland California in Carlsbad, Calif. The scene was built to celebrate President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Sandy Huffaker)

Historic scene depicting President-elect Barack Obama taking the presidential oath of office on the steps of the Capitol in Miniland Washington DC, in Legoland park in Carlsbad, California, January 16, 2009. (VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images)
These two images came from www.boston.com.

I’m very excited about the new administration coming in tomorrow. I’m hoping they are able to fix the mess in which the last administration buried us.

I’m supposed to help out at my youngest daughter’s school tomorrow as they are having a celebration and are taking a field trip to a daycare center to teach the little kids about American government. She’s supposed to bring food from Maine and Vermont. I better go to the grocery store. She also wants to dye her hair red and blue and paint her face white, but she’s playing Bully on the Wii.

James Bamford talks about foreign companies spying on Americans for NSA. This is very frightening.

Ha!

Here’s the original Steve Colbert interview with Lawrence Lessig, Author of Remix.

This woman has massive talent. I am very impressed.

By Qualia Soup and Theramin Trees