something's screwy in the land of sweet potatoes, pigs, and karate. yesterday i got a call from my mom. her brother called her to tell her that the pacemaker is the only thing keeping their mother alive. it will expire soon and they're not going to put in another one. he's going to let her die out. she has about 6 months to live. as you can imagine, my mom isn't very happy about this. she spoke with her sister, who said their mother is not as sickly and helpless as their brother is making her out to be. she can eat on her own and the pacemaker is not the only thing keeping her alive. yet, she's lived a long life and it's alright if she passes on naturally this year. she can't speak anymore, after all.

whatever may be actually going on, someone definitely needs to get checked out, whether it's my grandmother or my uncle. my mom thinks that my uncle may be sick in the head again, but we really should look into my grandmother's health and the pacemaker issue. she wants me to go with her to japan this month, possibly even early next month. i told her i would have to check in with work as to possible dates and length of time. i didn't tell her that i don't have a passport anymore! i sent it in for renewal about 2 weeks ago. i jumped the gun to renew it 1 year early because i didn't want to have to worry about it. (if i want to do any sort of work abroad program, i will need to get it renewed due to their passport validity date requirements.) i thought i'm not going anywhere and these things can take time, so why not send it in now. mistake! the passport website says it takes about 6 weeks. i don't have 6 weeks so i called their office and paid $60 for them to rush it down to 3 business days.