Live-blogging from the Somerset Hospital...

I'm blogging right now from the outpatient surgery waiting room at the Somerset Medical Center in NJ - my dad had exploratory sinus surgery scheduled for today. Since I'm up visiting them, and since my brother had to work, my mom asked if I'd take them - my mom doesn't like to drive. So I woke up at 5:30 this morning, drove them here, went through all the check-in/pre-surgery stuff with them, and finally got to the waiting room where I could crack open the macbook - luckily, the medical center has free public wi-fi (and doesn't seem to have much blocked in terms of ports, either).

Odd tech note - when they were doing the pre-surgery stuff, I noticed that the medical systems they use are running off Citrix - it's been reskinned, but you could tell it was the Citrix metaframe presentation server.

Being home this Christmas has been weird - both my parents have been sick, which has made it less fun. They are also getting noticeably older, which is one of those things you don't want to think about. I've been trying to pitch in - I went grocery shopping for the 'rents, my mom giving me a giant stack of coupons before I left. I was kind of annoyed by the length of the list and pile of coupons, but then I started thinking about how much they've done for me - the whole raising me and putting me through college stuff - and felt bad about feeling annoyed.

Part of me is kind of guilty that I moved away - I made no secret while in college that I didn't want to move back in with them. I ended up having to for a few months, but then I was out, back in Maryland, and that's where I've stayed. My brother lives nearby - he lived at home for years, and then bought a condo about 20 minutes away. He's been helping them out a lot, shoveling snow, cutting the lawn, ect. I feel bad that I'm not around to help them.

On the other hand, being home has kind of stressed me out a little. I'm not used to having to answer to anyone, having to work around schedules, be told when to eat, just not used to living in a house with other people in general. I'm looking forward to certain aspects of going back to Baltimore, and not just because I miss my cat - it's where I live now, it's where my stuff is, and it's where I'm used to being. I have more freedom and more personal space there, and I miss that.

One thing I'm thinking is that I probably should visit NJ more - I usually only come up on holidays, which ends up being about 4 times a year. I'm reluctant to take time off from work - I generally don't, and management is still complaining that they want employees to do more - which means I pretty much need to choose between my family and my job, which are pretty much the two most important things in my life.