Well, I feel like Frank and I have been sprinting since last Saturday night. In addition to going to the hospital to see Dad, we have been trying to help Mom manage their business. I just sorted through all of Dad’s numerous spreadsheets to put together end of month billing. I have to say, even though I love excel, I found that I didn’t know 1/2 as much as he does. Some of the formulas were amazing! And the sheer number of sheets he can put into a single workbook – it’s a work of art! He is the Excel Picasso.

Unfortunately, the great artists of the world can be tricky, if not impossible to replicate. After several failed attempts to figure out what he was doing, I finally figured it out. My dad’s excel was complicated to look at, but once I spent some time with it, it was amazing in its simplicity.

Anyway, I feel a tremendous amount of accomplishment with getting his billing squared away because at some points, I felt like it was going to be darn near impossible. To reward myself, I went for a nice 3 mile-ish run.

My parents live in the same neighborhood that I grew up in. I like running through the neighborhood because it helps me remember things and it puts things into perspective. I used to think the houses were so big and that the neighborhood was so expansive, but now that I’m older, the houses seem normal and the neighborhood is not that big.

I went down the old bike path and came upon an area of the path where a creek that winds through the neighborhood empties into two small ponds on either side of the path. A lot of plants are filling in the water, but it still resembled one of our favorite places to hang out. Sometimes we would create make-shift fishing poles and try to fish with cheese. I remember JP, our neighbor, sitting on the concrete tunnel that connected the two ponds under the path. He would usually have a can of coke and he looked as though he hadn’t been properly bathed in at least 1 week. Wiping one arm under his perpetually runny nose, he would pull some hot dog bits out of his pocket and put it on his hook. Caitlin and I saw JP at our favorite bar a few months ago and he has grown up, but not much has changed (well, I don’t think he had a hotdog in his pocket).

Anyway, it’s interesting to be back home for this long of a time.

Update on Dad: They moved him to a rehab facility and I think he is happy to be out of the hospital. Now the hard work begins. Please continue praying for my dad, especially for his attitude.