Life Goes On

I received such an outpouring of love and understanding during my bereavement. I guess it's certainly one way to know who really cares about you. Even my new manager gave me a hug. How sweet! We haven't even known each other a month, yet. I was touched.

I took the youngest (Indy) to see the princesses and wouldn't you know? Front seats, baby. She was so overwhelmed by everything, she didn't say much at first. Soon, princesses and all matter of characters were gliding past and waving to her. I'll have to remember the seat and row for the next time we go to this venue for a show. It was pricey, but certainly worth it. I didn't bring the camera because I had no idea where the seats were, but I brought the binoculars. Didn't need those at all!

My mother calls every few days with a count down to Thanksgiving. It's really cute. She's asked me to try a new recipe (an Apple cake) if I don't destroy it, I'll post the recipe here. She's just happy to have anything in an apple form. The Babe told me her cousin said that my sister-in-law is bringing a pecan pie. I can feel the pounds on my hips already.

Speaking of hips, I think the exercise is what truly brought me out of my funk. It's amazing what a few endorphins can do for your sense of well-being. I'm not pushing boulders up a hill or weight training until I pass out, but the time I spend on the elliptical has done worlds of good.

Hubby and I got into a little tift about time. I'm just glad we didn't get to arguing during our time away. We had a lovely weekend up in the mountains with no kids. Ended up at a club where the Deadliest Ca.tch Tour was taking place. Underground hip-hop at it's best. The music was pretty good, but we had more fun people watching. Hubby commented on all the cougars and how one was scoping him out. An Asian gentleman was looking at me like gravy on a plate and he was standing right next to my hubby! Nice. People just don't care anymore. It was still fun, regardless.

We talked about going back up, maybe with the kids, at a later time (when it's warmer). Twenty-nine degrees and snow was a bit much. Yikes! The weather around here turned sharply cold, but now is warming up again. Wonder if the almanac was right? Are we in for a rough winter?

Another Passing in 2009

My grandmother passed away Monday morning. I'm still mourning and missing her, but the ache isn't nearly as painful as it was earlier this week. I just keep reminding myself how long a life she had (she was 90) and how much she accomplished.

She took care of me and my sister for a while, when my dad moved us from California to Tennessee. We stayed with her for 7 months. I will forever be grateful to her for that. When my mother worked those crazy long hours at a job she hated, my grandmother was there. Chasing after me about keeping my grades up (I was out of school for a while) and giving me advice about this or that. I'd follow her around in her hair shop when she'd have the occasional client. I'd watch her bake and help her see about my great-grandmother. I'd sit up and watch t.v. movies with her or relax on her front porch on the swing. So many memories.

I suppose my favorite is when my girlfriends and I went to Daytona for spring break. We stayed with her to help with expenses. While we were there, she shared an article about herself from the paper. Because of her enormous and beautiful garden, she got a headline in the lifestyles section. It was amazing. All those beautiful flowers! I'll never forget them or her.

Yesterday, as I was watching Sanf.ord and Son, I saw this segment and it tickled me so much, I had to add it here. For a week that hasn't be so great, this brought quite a bit of sunshine:





This evening, I'm taking Indy to see the Princesses on Ice. It will be the first public arena I've been too in several days. I think I'm okay and I know it will make her oh, so happy. Going on with life and creating new memories, I'm sure that's what my grandmother would have wanted.

Our Weather is Confused - But No Complaints

We hit 75 degrees, yesterday. Remember my "first day of snow" post on the last day of September? Amazing what can happen in one month. Our weather lady said, "You can wear your shorts today." We've had this unseasonable weather for the past few days, but I'm certainly not complaining. Hubby has used the opportunity to go ahead and put the Christmas lights on the roof (um, didn't he say he wasn't going to do a lot of lights this year? Yeah, he says it every year. I just don't even pay him any attention anymore when he says it) and get them ready for the day after Thanksgiving. That's when Christmas festivities start at our house, anyway. I do know of one person who has been listening to Christmas music since August. Sigh. What's nutty is that two of our "easy listening" stations, about two years ago, decided November 1 would be the day they'd start their "All Christmas music, all the time," campagins. I refuse to listen to those stations until after Thanksgiving as well.

We also spent part of the afternoon, yesterday, putting chicken wire around the bottom of our fence where, El Stupido (Hercules, my Chihuahua) has escaped a couple of times. "Why are you running away from free room and board, you dumb dog? Don't you know that's how you ended up at the animal shelter in the first place.?" (He was two pounds lighter than he is now, making him only two pounds when we adopted him). Right now, he's looking at me with that, "Play with me, please," expression he often has. Wow. What a little con-artist.

Hubby also purchased flower bulbs (Narcissus) to plant for next year, he'll be pulling up the rest of the solar lights from spring and filling in some areas in the back yard. So ambitious! I reminded him that these are his days off and he is allowed to enjoy them and relax a little bit. He never stops, that one.

My daughter has to read the scripture for our devotional on Sunday at the "special " afternoon service. That means, no 8:00 am service this week but we'll head down at 2:30 instead. I'm such an early bird that this will seem downright unnatural to me; however, I don't want to do multiple services and I don't want my kids missing out on their naps (Ugh! They are completely unbearable when they do). The multiple service issue is my own. Growing up with a father who pastored a church, I spent many a Sunday in services all day long. I don't have a problem with service, but two, three sometimes four in one day is too much for anyone.

My niece and nephew are coming over today. They are sleeping over and watching scary movies with the babe. It's great that they get to spend time together, but I am selfish. It seems we end up with them more then ours end up at their house. I know that their mother is basically a single-mom working all the time, just to keep a roof over their heads but it would be so nice if we had the luxury of a trusting care-giver for our kids, whenever we needed one. Yes. I am very selfish. I still can't help feeling like, "When do we get that opportunity?" I wish the babe's friends' parents weren't so flaky.

Speaking of the babe, she is getting so excited about New Mo.on. Hubby and I are trying to figure out how to find a babysitter for Indy, so that we can take the Babe (yeah...all of a sudden he wants to go, too. It went from, "Oh, I'll be fine watching it on video," to "How do you think we can take the Babe to see the movie?" He cracks me up).

Hello, November

Did you know that it's Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month? I was unaware until a few moments ago. I don't think I've ever posted about how much that disease scares me; more than cancer, heart disease and even a stroke. My memories are who I am. The people I know and love, the places I've been, the ideas I've dreamed about. I can't imagine having all of that slowly siphoned away. To wake up some days and know who my children are, and others not remembering their names. My feeling is, I can be doped on morphine or whatever for pain as long as I know who I am. I support research and donate whenever I can and I truly hope that no one in my family experiences this (or any other) wretched disease.

It will be a good day today, despite the sour note I sort of started on. I believe this to be true. It's been oh, so busy. October was nuts, but lots of fun. The girls participated in so many wonderful activities and I was happy to play taxi. It's truly about broadening their childhoods and building their memories. Indy will be going to see the princesses next week. She has no idea, but the babe is having a hard time holding her tongue. She's not jealous, thankfully. I did have to remind her, though, that I did all of these sorts of things with her when she was little. Now, it's Indy's turn. The babe got to see a Chor.us Line in September, after all and will hopefully get to see the stage version of A Christmas Sto.ry in December.

Hubby and I are getting away next week, too. He keeps talking about the "plans" he's made without talking about them. I have no idea what we're doing, but I hope it involves a hot tub. Woohoo! I think the last time we went away together overnight, just the two of us, was a few years ago. So sad that it only comes in spurts but it's hard finding care for our kids and they're at such different ages.

We went to Vegas and stayed at the Orleans. I believe Indy was just a toddler. The pictures show a lot of baby weight on me, so I don't believe she could have been that old. We were lucky my mother even agreed to care for both of them. I had no idea we were going. Hubby just told me what days to take off and that he was making arrangements for the kids. Early one morning, we dropped them off and headed out. I love car trips with him. We have the best time. You really don't know someone until you've spent hours and hours with him/her in a car.

We could have lived at the Orleans! Everything was there; food, entertainment and therapy (spas). We rode all the coasters at the top of the Stratosphere (Lord, never again!), walked the strip, visited In 'N Ou.t Burger as often as we could, and drank the sweet nectar of life (Mai Tai's are usually my choice, but I think I had more strawberry daiquiris than anything on this trip).

Since we only have one day, I won't get my hopes up for a repeat of our Vegas excursion, but I'll always have those memories (and those dreadful pictures of me screaming my head off on the Big Shot).

I'm looking forward to the holidays and all that comes with them. The girls have already mentioned baking and other mother-daughter bonding activities. I save all that for this time of year, since it's the time I usually use those vacation days I've saved up. I just hope I'll be able to again this year. With a new manager, you just never know.

Well, it's that time to dig in and work, work, work.

(Oh, and my nostalgia moment below. I loved Troop. When Hubby and I married years after they were popular, he told me he and his friends would choreograph dances, using their moves, for parties. Remember when people danced rather than just moved around aimlessly? I listened to the song below, along with My Heart, That's My Attitude, All I Do and I'm Not Souped over and over again.)

Back and Missing My Friends

My trip home was too much fun! I basically lived the single life with my best friend for four, fun-filled days. Now, when I say single, I'm not talking about bar-hopping and running around like some crazed woman. I'm talking about going where I want to go, when I want to go whenever I want to go. I'm saying that I didn't have to put anyone into a booster or car seat, buckle them up and make sure the strap wasn't too tight. I didn't have to wait for kiddlings to finally get out of the car, only to realize they left some scrap of clothing or (heaven forbid) their shoes.

I could also go into places and not worry about hands touching and picking up everything. I could spend time browsing and not worry about brattiness ("Don't touch me!" "She's not listening, mom!" "Why can't we go there?" "I'm hungry!") I missed my girls, but I didn't miss all of this.

I arrived in Nashville, the Friday before last, at around 10:30pm. I picked up my car (a Hyundai Elantra in grey) and drove over to the hotel. Once I checked in, I discovered that I had two, double beds instead of the single King I thought I was going to get. Sweet! I called my friend and told her to bring a bag. Slumber party! When she arrived, we went to pick up a late dinner, came back to the room and talked, talked, talked. The next day, she had to get her hair done. I worked out while she was gone, talked to my dad, and arranged a lunch with my sorority sister. At lunch, my soror, my best friend and I talked, and talked and talked for nearly three hours. I'm sure the wait-staff was ready for us to go.

We hit nearly every hair shop where I spent way too much money. For that Saturday evening? Bowling and Captain D's for dinner. Sunday, it was off to her church for morning service. We left and went to IHOP, where we connected with my dad. He was nearly 45 minutes late (CP time for real!) and then he wouldn't let us leave. Two hours later and lots of rain, we headed back to the room to recuperate. Later, we went back out for dinner and watched "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" on my computer. We were planning on going to a haunted house, but we didn't want to stand in the rain.

Monday, we went to my high school friend's, daughter's junior high to speak for their college week. It was a lot of fun and they asked a lot of very intelligent questions (for the most part). It's junior high, after all. Afterwards, we kidnapped my friend and had lunch at Long John Silvers. Then, it was time to see Zombieland. Awesome! I haven't had that much fun at a movie in a long time. We were the only ones in the theater, talking loud and cracking jokes. It was the best! (I went to see it again with hubby two days later). There are so many great one-liners. We're still quoting them, ever chance we get.

We went to the mall for slurpees and strolled through our childhood hang out, now nearly deserted (due to our lovely economic climate). Her hubby was eager to have her back, so we took her home around five. For Monday night? BB King's House of Blues. Oh, yeah. It was the perfect end to a fantastic trip. We saw the Stacy Mitchhart band and turned into groupies for the evening, grabbing autographs and buying CDs. I love live music and I really hate that I don't get enough of it at home. That's gotta change.

Tuesday was a bit depressing. We picked up breakfast and turned in my car. After which, we hung out at Opry Mills and then had lunch. Then, off to the airport to come home. It's always so hard to leave. My best friend said it best when she described our friendship; "The longer we remain friends, the more we appreciate each other...the harder it is to separate." Ugh! If only I could beam them here when I need them.

So, I don't go again until 2011. She wants to try the skiing thing the next time she's here (2010). I'll be pricing that out, along with hospital stays for when limbs are broken. I told her, "Only the bunny slopes for me!" I just don't want to meet my end tumbling down a mountain, you know?

The Pig Flu Tangos Around the Office

So, one of my new co-workers is home fighting the hog ailment. She has the same symptoms I did and informed us that her parents are recovering from the same. They were actually tested for pig's disease and so...there you have it! Truly, the media does a number on us. We've been hearing about this thing for months. They'd have us believe it's a revisit of the bubonic plague, but it's just a nasty, pain-in-the-ass flu. Do what you're supposed to do when you get sick and you're golden! Be an idiot and run around in a T-shirt in 39 degree temps (our temperature yesterday, if you can believe that) and risk the inevitable.

My new spot in the office totally sucks. I'm right by the door which leads to the restrooms. Major "in and out" action all freakin' day. It's only four months, I keep telling myself, but it's little comfort. Only ten feet away is the blasted break room door. We're also now located on the floor with marketing and our enrollment counselors, many of whom are college age (or very close to it). They chatter incessantly and talk about the most inane things. Was I ever like that? Ugh! We try and keep the door closed but, inevitably, some wise ass opens it up and then we have to hear about the gay-love that isn't happening frequently enough in the bedroom or the too-high gas or how black men are the best lovers (which is true, but why do I have to hear it at work?).

The weather was crazy, yesterday. Wednesday, we ended with a high of 86 degrees. It seemed like we were going into an Indian summer, then an Arctic blast hit us from the northwest, sending our temps into the 30s. The thirties! By yesterday afternoon, the mountains were covered in a blanket of snow. I could no longer see the beautiful reds, oranges and golds of fall. I hope this early freeze doesn't kill them all. Those colors are the best part of fall.

(The picture was taken in my yard, yesterday. It's of the mountains directly east of my house).

The Flu

That's what the doc said I had. The flu. My flu came with a cough (still coughing a bit). No flu I've ever had came with a cough. The guy at the emergency room, who examined my daughter earlier this year, said that the cough was the "different"symptom with H1N1. So, did I have it? Pig flu? Could it be? I'm being a good girl, laying off the strenuous exercise, drinking my juice, resting. I've sucked on about a thousand cough drops, but things are improving. In fact, I've felt better today than I've felt in a bit, aside from the sore throat.

It all began Thursday, September 24th. I went home with my throat feeling like it was going to close up. I initially thought it was something I ate and I was having some sort of reaction. I took some benadryl and called it good. The next day, aside from the lingering benadryl effects, I felt okay. I worked without trouble but by 2:30pm, things started to go south. I felt like stir-fried crap and it only got worse. I took some meds then went to see A Chorus Line with my mom, sister and daughter. It was great, but I sneezed through a big portion of it.

Saturday, I stayed around the house. I left only to pick up juice and lunch for my hubby and his friend (who, thankfully, installed our new water heater and dish washer). I rested and played The Price is Right (I'm really loving that game).

Sunday, was a bit better. I was on Sudafed and cough drops. Same with Monday, but the afternoon was hard (probably because the air conditioning went out and it was hot as hell in our offices). That never helps with the healing process.

I went to the doctor, thinking I may have strep when the sore throat came on with a vengeance this morning. The good news was that I was feeling more like myself. He checked me out; no swollen glands, chest sounded good, no fever, lungs clear and a negative on the strep test. I'll just keep being a good girl and get better. Wonder if one of my snotty-nosed kids or their friends gave this to me? Well, maybe now I'm immune.