here we go!

i realized after posting this earlier that the journal doesn't have any setup - it begins in media res, so lots of folks could be thoroughly confused as to the runup.

on monday, november 17th, 2008, i received a call at work from my wife, who told me that i would be going to the ER with her upon my return home that evening. i had gone off the deep end and she no longer felt i was safe, either to myself or with her and the kids. i got home, fully confident that we would go to the ER, they would evaluate me, write me a prescription for some anti-depressants, sugest therpy and we'd be home before 9. instead, we spent hours in the ER, they drug tested me, ruled out any number of pathogens that might explain my behavior, consulted with a psychiatrist and then told me i needed to check myself into a, in-patient crisis treatment program in order to stabilize while under watch. huh. never saw that coming. but they were serious enough that i agreed, and the rest is in the book.

ok, to clarify the way this thing is going to work:

i will be transcribing essentially directly from my journal. the only edits will be to change whatever information i feel is necessary to protect any identities. any edits to add anything that is not in the original journal entry will only be added in situations where i think more information would clarify, solidify or just make things funnier or easier to understand. i'm a giver. whatever i might add, nothing will be removed, but that's a pretty safe bet - there's not much in here that i'd hide anyway at this point.

i will try to remember to stamp the title with the date and approximate time each entry was written. i didn't always record the time, hence 'approximate' . but at least the whole thing will be presented in chronological order. whoopideedoo. i'm going to rest for a bit (this has been a big day!), then get to typing. i'll give you all i can with each sitting, but i fear for tonight that won't be much.

and so it goes...