Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Sarah Palin is apparently my second or third cousin-in-law. Sort of.

Joel the Neff has revealed the likelihood that my late cousin Katie's son, who was adopted by her second husband, is a cousin of Todd Palin through his adoptive father. Joel didn't reveal all the connected leaves of the family tree so I don't have the relationship completely established in my mind. But I had wondered if the little boy I remembered from those days was related to the Alaska Palins. He and Joel spent a lot of time together as kids, though after Katie's death we lost some contact. Or at least I did, living in Colorado. My sister and her family were able to stay more connected. He did note that the Portland Palins were not planning to vote GOP.

It's been a hard week or so. Last week at this time, I noticed that my throat was getting a little scratchy, but it does that sometimes, so I didn't do much besides drink more water and suck a lozenge occasionally. But by Wednesday's band rehearsal, I realized I was in danger of losing my voice. And then my schnozz began to itch and drip a little, so I hauled out the cold/sinus meds so I could make it through the Pete Seeger meeting and singing.

By the next morning, it was clear that I was infectious, so I stayed away from the gym, stayed away from the Thursday night jam, popped the meds and hoped for the best. My neti pot became my best friend and helped stave off a worse cold, I think. But I wasn't feeling good.

And then my back began to hurt. Muscle spasms tend to hit me when I'm overworked and underloved, so I sighed, got out the heating pad and the back support stuff, and kept the spasms at bay with heat and pressure.

And then the company I was expecting on Saturday night late arrived several hours early, which took me totally by surprise and increased my sense of being overwhelmed. I'm an extrovert, but I do love my solitude and hate to give it up unexpectedly! But these are dear friends and I was glad to see them, even though surprised.

And then...canker sores, paper cuts, and a major coughing fit during the Sunday service (fortunately my guest colleague was preaching, not me), plus all the little surprises that arrive on Sunday morning before the service starts---the things that didn't get set up in advance, the new visitors who need to be welcomed, the RE stuff that can't be found, etc., etc., etc.

I think I'm out from under the worst of it today, though I woke up feeling sort of dragged out anyhow. I don't have anything too stressful to do today, so that's good, but I'm feeling the lack of exercise, since I haven't been to the gym for a week, and that's a downer. Also, the FS's father-in-law died suddenly several days ago, so his family is in turmoil and that's painful in a whole other way.

It also doesn't help that the world and national scene is so dismal right now. I find myself yelling at the newscasts and especially at the campaign blurbs which are so hateful and so inaccurate, many of them. Our local state ads for governor are awful, on both sides, and I've used the mute button on the remote over and over.

It did kind of help to learn that my colleagues, at least those seven or eight who communicated about the issue, did agree with me about Bill Sinkford's participation in the Fellowship of Reconciliation's meeting with the president of Iran. They spoke very eloquently and very positively about their support of his action. I felt like the lone ranger out there for awhile!

And this morning I learned that it's possible that my friend Gini Courter, UUA moderator, will be able to be our Building Dedication speaker next spring! That's a real upper!

13 comments:

Chalicechick said...

I'm not sure why you felt so alone one the issue looks like and has always looked like you had the UUA on your side all along at least in the since that several big whoop UUs from the Washington offince and UU-UNO accompanied Sinkford.

That was one of the reasons I didn't understand why you felt Sinkford was sticking his neck out. He seemed to have plenty of support from his peers.

I don't doubt that he doesn't care that a few people on the internet think his actions were counterproductive and potentially harmful. He certainly hasn't put out the statement Victoria called for and the press release still hides that the questions were pre-approved, praises Ahmadinejad's
"sincerity" and has the bitter-sounding dig on President Bush.

Aside from Philo's column, which I doubt is particularly well-read by those offline, there has been no sign that the people who criticized Sinkford weren't completely ignored.

To steal from Neal Gaiman, Victoria and I may have pointed out that the emporer has no clothes, but we're still us and Sinkford's still the emporer.

The thing about being related to Sarah Palin is weird. Of course, a lot of her relatives aren't voting for her.

CC

goodwolve said...

I think this is all because of your Palin connection. ;) Hang in there!

Chalicechick said...

Yeah, do get better. (That was supposed to be in the bottom of my post, but I left it out...)

CC

Joel Monka said...

The palin connection suggests a reason you've been so under the weather lately- are you eating enough moose?

Lilylou said...

Thanks, folks.

CC, I think I felt like the lone ranger because I was getting sick and hardly had anybody but critics responding to me, especially when it took so long for anyone on the chat to respond. And when two of my favorite and most coherent bloggers, you and Joel, are on the other side, it's a lonely place to be. I'm not great on conflict.

Jacqueline, will I be sick until she goes back to Alaska? I hope not!

Lilylou said...

Well, you just made my day, Joel! That's the whole problem. Gotta check and see if moose is on special at the local grocery. Thanks for a great laugh!

Anonymous said...

If it is any consolation, I discovered that I am distantly related to George W through his mother. I posted about that find here: https://serenityhome.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=18

I later found out there is also a connection through his father. I am sure that your connection with Sarah Palin won't tarnish your image in the least, I mean it isn't like you pal'd around with domestic terrorists when you were seven years old?

Feel better soon.

Lilylou said...

Serenity, I'd better check my old school pictures to see if I rubbed shoulders with anyone but my Baptist family's friends and associates! Thanks for a good laugh.

Joel said...

Jacqueline, will I be sick until she goes back to Alaska? I hope not!

Me too, especially since I'm hoping it will be at least eight years. Then, maybe she'll have the political capital for a White House run herself. :P

Dan said...

"...my late cousin Katie's son, who was adopted by her second husband, is a cousin of Todd Palin through his adoptive father."

What?

"...I don't have the relationship completely established in my mind."

No kidding?

Lol.

Lilylou said...

Do you blame me, Dan? I never was good at that stuff.

Joel Monka said...

Hey, if you're related to Governor Palin, you're also relater to Princess Diana and FDR! Check this out.

Lilylou said...

Wow, I'm really in tall cotton now! Thanks, Joel.