I started my day with a heart attack....

Well, not a *real* heart attack, but...

This morning when I got up there was a message from my mother at work, asking me to please call her because my brother, who is currently visiting in China, had a "major problem" and she needed me to do some hunting on the internet to try to help him.

Major problem?! My little brother is in a foreign country with a major problem?

My mind immediately thought of some movie I once saw with some college age girls traveling in Asia, getting framed for drug smuggling, and ending up in some Singaporean prison camp, suffering for years with no hope of getting free.

I called my mom at work but she is a nurse and was busy with a patient. So, I had a good half hour more to fret and pray for my brother. I envisioned myself posting an SOS here on my blog, beseeching anyone with any ties to the US Embassy in China to please contact me to help set my poor brother free from his mistaken enprisonment.

Finally I called my mom back because I couldn't stand the stress of waiting for her to call me.
Me: "Hi mom, what's going on?"
Mom: "Hi honey. I already took care of it. Everything is fine now."
Me: "Well, what was going on?"
Mom: "Oh, his computer crashed and he didn't have any numbers for tech support."
Me: "His computer? Oh jeez..... I thought he was in prison or something!"
Mom: "In prison? I told you it was a computer problem, didn't I?"
Me: "No, you just said 'major problem' and I was really worried about him."
Mom: "Oops. Sorry. Just the computer."

Actually, my brother's computer is pretty darn important. He's a musician and he performs all over China while he's there (and in Massachusetts when he's not) and his very cool Mac Laptop is an essential part of his act, playing lots of different sounds and mixes for his shows. So, no doubt a computer crash would be a major problem......thankfully not the kind I was worried about.

Other news includes my son Sullen getting a straight-A report card in the mail today. My kid rocks!

The Firecrapper and I are going out on a Hot Date tonite. Actually, I have no idea if it'll be hot, or even what we're doing. But, we've got a babysitter lined up, and we're getting out of the house. Hot enough for me!