Back, busy... and bad news

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Right, I'm back from ICON (Facebook page here) - had a fabulous time, met some fabulous people, saw some fabulous things and played some fabulous games. I can promise you'll be receiving a detailed report-back on this blog in the coming days.

However, I have to apologise now for potentially irregular updates over the coming 4 days, as well as a delay of the next Girlz 'N' Games web comic (#48) until next week sometime. Sorry.

Apart from the need to catch up with some movie viewing (Bruno, The Proposal and Transformers 2, as well as Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince SQUEEE!) for reviewing purposes there's also my paid 8-to-5 writing gig to consider. Not only is there the issue of catching up with 2 days of missed work; but apparently my boss is away sometime this week, leaving me the head of the copy department. *Gulps down Urbanol capsule...*

More dramatically, in my personal life I returned home to very bad news. My 79 year old grandmother collapsed on Saturday, having suffered a large stroke. My parents only informed me of this once I landed back in Durban yesterday (Monday), as they did not want to spoil my weekend away.

The coming days and weeks will be significant in terms of determining the degree of rehabilitation and assistance she will need to regain some control of her life - the right side of her body has been badly affected, and she seems to have lost complete use of her right arm.

I saw my gran twice yesterday and both times she was sleeping deeply. She did however briefly open one eye in the evening and slur a "hello" through the good side of her mouth. This was actually a lot more emotionally devastating for me than just seeing her lie there quietly in that hospital bed. Especially since my gran isn't one of those physically distant "See you only at Christmas and family gatherings" grandmothers. She has lived with us practically my entire life and IS a big part of my daily life. I can barely imagine the fear (and probably shame) this proud woman must be experiencing in her lucid moments, trapped in that damaged body, utterly dependent on others. I feel scared and uncomfortable looking at her, which in turn fills me with complete disgust at myself and my reaction.

I know it's selfish at this point to make this about me, but fuck, I am NOT enjoying 2009! These past few months have been one emotional scourging after another.

Anyway, back to happier things... Here's a little visual teaser for my ICON 2009 report-back:

Comments

Gareth said…
Sorry to hear about your gran Noelle, my grandfather suffered through a major stroke, I know how difficult it can be for both the sufferer and everyone in their family.

Changing topic....rawr, those geekettes look good enough to eat.
11:55 AM
Pfangirl said…
Thanks for the comment. Yeah, we all have some serious adjusting to do to deal with this terrible situation.

As for the geekettes, it's a lucky thing I was a girl with a camera. Apparently they were much less keen to pose for odd "stalker looking" guys.
10:29 AM
MJenks said…
I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother. Your 2009 is shaping up like my 2004, which, after the son was born, went downhill fast for me.

Here's to hoping things get better soon.
4:14 PM
Pfangirl said…
Thanks MJenks. I hope things get better as well. I suppose at some point everyone has a year, or years, in their lives that just blow!
8:10 AM
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