Minor Illness/Jackson Update/Upcoming Plans

With the number of doctors in my immediate, extended, and pseudofamily, I seldom visit a doctor's office, but, unfortunately, that's precisely where I am right now. I'm not in the waiting room, at least. I feel compassion for those who are less connected in a medical sense than I. Physicians' waiting rooms are a virtual smorgasbord of pathogens. I'm going to suggest to my Uncle Steve that he invest in  pagers similar to those used by Olive Garden and other restaurants, which would give patients (or their parents' in the my Uncle Steve's case, as he's a pediatrician) the option of waiting in their cars if they wanted to avoid becoming sicker than they already are. i understand that it wouldn't necessarily be fun to wait in a car with a two-year-old, but it might still be preferable to the alternative.

I developed a gastric ailment almost immediately upon returning home from Utah. .My parents feel reasonably strongly about giving garden variety ailments time to remedy themselves and about not over-medicating me or my brother just because they can.  I've been existing on 7-Up with just the bare minimum of Ondansetron, but my temperature is high enough that my mom wanted me to be seen by my physician of record, who is my Uncle Steve. I begged my mom to wait until tonight and take me to uncle steve's house, but she said that he doesn't want to diagnose and treat patients in his time off any more than does the next physician. While there may be truth in her words, what is the point of my being Uncle Steve's favorite niece if I can't even seek after-hours medical treatment? It's now a moot point, because i'm sitting in my uncle's private office waiting for him to come in, do his best Benny Hinn impersonation, and make me well again. I'm even using his office computer to type this entry.

The latest turn in the surreal world of the Jacksons is that T.J. Jackson and Katherine Jackson will petition the court for joint custody of Prince, Paris, and Blanket. This seems like a most satisfactory arrangement for all directly involved. A judge has ordered an investigation of the welfare of the children in the form of interviews that will take place at school, A report of the findings of the investigation will be accessible only to the judge. This, too, while routine,  Dysfunction in one form or another exists in most of our extended families. The inclusion of extended families in all out lives can be a great benefit and blessing, yet it's tricky to be much a part of a large and diverse family without being bogged down by the drama and dysfunction. i genuinely hope Prince, Paris, and Blanket will find that often-elusive balance.

And speaking of extended families -- dysfunctional or otherwise -- my brother and I have been invited to travel a short distance  to Santa Catalina Island with Jared's extended family. Jared's grandparents, all of his dad's siblings, and all of their wives and children will be on the trip. fared and his cousin alyssa are the only two older teens in the family, and the grandparents invited my brother and me to make the trip more fun for Jared and his cousin Alyssa.  The plan is for a Monday morning departure, with a return to the mainland Wednesday afternoon. it sounds short, but there's not all that much to do in Catalina, anyway. Two days should be about right. The trip is one of the reasons I agreed to a doctor's office visit. I don't want this pseudoillness to get in the way of my alleged frivolity.

On a totally unrelated note, a  well-known British tweeter recently tweeted: "Americans, this mitt person is some of American Borat: right?" Too perfect.