Yes, another meme

Just when you thought you were memed out! I warned you, I told you I was behind. This one is from Cup O'Books. I am to list 5 Random Things although it was spun to be about books and procrastination. Let's see...

1. Even though I am only listing one book in progress at a time over there on the sidebar there are usually at least 3 going at the same time. Sometimes a book is too big for my purse and I need to have one with me like ALL the time cuz you never know when you'll have 5 minutes to read and so the bigger book would be the nightstand book. I also usually have one at work that lives there and I read on lunch hour etc.

2. I'm not a finisher. I tend to start lots of projects and finish few. Once I put something down and move on to something else laziness takes over and stands between me a project one (or 32, whatever) and it takes a lot to push me back to it.

3. I am a hopeless romantic. Its my favorite genre in reading. I want everyone to be happy, get along, be in love and live happily ever after. I really really do!

4. In my lifetime I have lost hundreds of pounds. Ive read all the diets, know how to do them just don't have the motivation to stick with them and keep finding all those lost pounds and apparently some that others lost along the way too. ;)

5. I have decided to take the necessary steps to graduate from community college with my AA. I enrolled there in 1983 and still haven't graduated. I have fulfilled all of the class requirements and simply need to take a test. Next Friday I am signing up for the test. If I pass, I'm done. The object here is to graduate before 17 graduates from high school in the spring. Do you see the not finishing trend here. Anyway, I had decided, I told others and now it's out in writing n the net. I'm thinking I really need to do this now.

I won't tag anyone in particular but again if you want to share some of your randomness, please do so and TGIF!

Birthday MEME

I was also tagged for this meme by the mind wobbles. (how do I so easily loose control of my fonts??? i dunno)

We are supposed to look up our date of birth on Wikipedia and find 3 events, 2 births and 1 holiday that happened on that date.

My birthday is June 14th.


Events:
1777 - Stars and Stripes adopted by Congress as the Flag of the United States.
1900 - Hawaii becomes a United States territory.
1954 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law that places the words "under God" to the United States' Pledge of Allegiance.

Births:
1946 - Donald Trump, American businessman
1961 - Boy George, British singer (Culture Club)
1909 - Burl Ives, American musician (d. 1995)
1811 - Harriet Beecher Stowe, American author (d. 1896)

Yes, I can count. I realize that's 4 and I'm only supposed to list 3 but I just thought they were interesting names and I never would have pegged these four people to all be Gemini like me, would you?

Holiday:
Since I already knew and if I know then everyone should know that it's Flag Day. I looked for something else.
International Weblogger's Day – Celebration of the work of webloggers around the world

Now, there are other instructions cut, paste a list, delete, add a name yadda yadda but I'm going to be rebellious and not do them. So there! But the meme was fun. Most of you have probably already done it and if you did I probably read it. But if you didn't and ya wanna g'ahead and consider yourself tagged.

Memetime - The Joy that is...

There are lots of Memes (can I make that plural? it sounds weird) that I haven't done and need to get to. I've been tagged for a few that I haven't done. I've commented on blogs that I'll do it soon to just stay tuned and because (insert witty reason here) well, simply I haven't done them. So, I am committing to doing all the memes that I said I would do but not all today mind you. But I will.

So I will start with one from Pheasantly Fascinating because his was on my birthday, over a month ago and it seems simple. (did you see how my font just changed? why? idunno!)

The Joy that is ....these aren't in any particular order other than popped into my head in this order...

10. Sticking you hand in your pocket and finding money. Doesn't matter how much, a twenty or just one dollar bill; it's fun!

9. Clear skies. Day/night it doesn't matter to me just seeing that clear blue sky or the cloudless dark night. Pretty, calming, I like it.

8. Hugs. I like hugs. I don't think I'm too picky about these either they can be from my kids, hubby, other family and friends. I'd have to go waaaay back to find a hug I didn't like. Mostly I guess because now I choose who I'm around.

7. Cooking. OK, this one needs a caveat. I hate the have to throw a meal together quick because we're all hungry and have things to do and just need to eat for sustenance sake. But I LOVE spending the day/week/whatever planning the menu, looking for recipes, shopping for the fresh ingredients, cooking it all up and watching everyone enjoy it.

6. Dunkin Donuts coffee. I just loves my dunkin coffee. I had lots of it on the car trip we just did. YUMMMmmm.

5. Mail. Not junk mail, not bills but mail meant for me. Cards, catalogs, letters. Yep. a catalog with a cup of dunkin coffee..life is good.

4. Laughing. If you know me, you know I laugh loud often to tears sometimes loosing y ability to swallow and breath properly. But it feels so good to laugh and laughing with someone even better.

3. Reading. I like reading magazines, books and now blogs too. Time just evaporates when I'm reading. I get so caught up in it and travel to where ever I am reading about. I honestly sometimes feel like I've lived a thousand years through books.

2. People. I am a people person. I like being with people even annoying people (for short period of time) because later I will laugh about it (see #4). Everyone is interesting, everyone teaches me something, even if it's what not to do or say. That's not to say I don't get tired of some people and then I'll simply let them go and find another. There are lots of people out there so I have no shortage.

1. Finishing things. I like finishing things, it's empowering to think "I did that". Now, this is a problem for Gemini because we tend to start lots of things and finish few. Maybe that's why I like it so much when I finish something...

I did it! I finished the meme....I won't specifically tag anyone but it's your turn if ya wanna...

Catching up

I know you've missed me... LOL! Here's what's been happening...

* 14 turned 15! He got his Learner's Permit to drive. OMG, I have no little kids anymore. I'm really trying to deal with this.

* 14 (it was before his bday) went to a Beyonce concert. That was his bday present from us. He went with a friend, they had floor seats and had a good time. They said that she was amazing. She looked awesome! I'm glad they had a good time. They had funny stories about the people around them.

* I lost 2 hours and 11 minutes of my life never to be recouped seeing the movie "Knocked Up". Hubby and I saw it killing 3 hours for the concert to be over to pick up the boys. Hubby laughed, I didn't. OK, maybe I did a couple times but checked the time more than I laughed to see if it was almost over. Please don't waste your time.

* Hit the road with Hubby and 17 to go visit colleges. We went to Univ. of Central FL, Univ. of FL and FL State Univ. I was readily impressed with UCF, I think I was expecting a big community college and it surprised me. It's modern looking, bid campus, lots of things going on, the educational programs were impressive too. UF and FSU are all red brick buildings with gorgeous architecture. They look like what I'm used to seeing in a college. They were impressive too. I think he will end up applying to all 3 as well as others.

* We've also been sick in between all of this. That is everyone except 15 (see, I can adjust). Actually, 17 is going for more blood work today because he may have mono. GREAT!

* Finished reading "Men In Chains" by Virgina Reede. If you like romance novels, this is for you! I was about to say historical romance but it's not a true historical because its a fantasy world, I guess you might say Sci Fi historical. Anyway, it's an easy read and very entertaining. The 'romantic' scenes are very tame not over the top at all. I hadn't read one in a while and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

* Also read "Darcy's Story" by I don't remember who. It's Pride and Prejudice from Darcy's point of view. It was lovely, like reading the original again. She stayed true to the story line and just added his thoughts and little pieces that would fill in the blanks and reasonably explain why he behaves the way he does.

* Now I'm reading "The True Darcy Spirit" by Elizabeth Aston. No she didn't write Darcy's Story. This one is about Lady Catherine's granddaughter. Remember she had a sickly daughter Anne who she wanted Darcy to marry. Well, this is about Anne daughter, Cassandra.

* You may think this is a lot of Pride and Prejudice (my favorite book in the world) type reading. Well, I bought them at the same time at the bookstore, they were on sale, I left them in the car and so I read them on the trip.

* Since you are curious about my cleaning and organize (ROTFLMAO), I have cleaned out and organized my Utility closet. It's a closet in the kitchen that houses the Washer and Dryer. It has 2 shelves that with the aid of the shelf organizers I turned into 3 shelves and stored and stacked all kinds of big bulky kitchen stuff that only gets used once in a blue moon and thereby emptied a whole shelf in another cabinet! I don't know what's going in there yet but I'll get to it for sure.

* Next, I am cleaning out games. They kids have some old games they don't want and I have cleared a spot on the top of my closet for the adult games I want to keep. That is the project for this week.

Can't think of anything else right now. Although it feels like I have been busier than that.

Moaning Meme

We all do it. We all *itch and moan and complain about things. So, here are my pet peeves...

List 4 things that should go into room 101 and be removed from the face of the earth:

1. Entertainment news shows- Isn’t that an oxymoron! Either entertain me or give me news. How the entertainers entertain themselves is NOT news!
2. Frivolous law suits that lead to warnings like: WARNING: Remove before operating vehicle on my car sun shade. For Pete’s sake people – THINK!
3. The freeze frame interruptions that many of the TV stations are doing now to talk about other upcoming shows, or when you are watching a show and a character from another comes waltzing across the bottom of your screen advertising the other show or when they just put a banner across the screen or their logo on the corner. THIS IS NOT HOW THE PRODUCER SHOT THE SHOW/MOVIE; let me watch this then maybe I’ll watch that.
4. TV shows/hosts/guests/analysts that tell me how someone should have reacted or what someone should have done or what they were thinking. What does Geraldo/O’Reilly or their guests etc know about what someone was thinking when they did something!? They have NEVER spoken to the person, they don’t KNOW the person and yet they know what they were thinking, how they should react and by their reaction what they were thinking and what they did. They surely don’t know spit about how I would react to something! Why should we believe it when they talk about someone else? Isn’t it just gossip?!

I need to take some deep breaths now before I go on….

3 things people do that make you want to shake them violently:
OMG, this is easy…only 3 hmmm…maybe not so easy…

1. Tell me I can't or you can't- Who the bleep are you tell to anyone that we can't do something?! You are not the boss of me!
2. Let me see their underwear- See the word UNDER? It’s an undergarment and by definition goes UNDER your clothes and should NOT stick out or show through! Unfortunately, this now applies to men and women.
3. Give poor Customer Service- again, let’s define…your job is Customer Service, I am the customer and you are the servicer, make me happy. Simple.

Taking a deep cleansing breath…in…out….in…out…in…out

2 things you find yourself moaning about:

1. Work; I need to win the lotto and pay off my mortgage that way my hobbies can become my life ;) sigh;)
2. My weight; I need to shed gajillions of pounds effortlessly and overnight ;) sigh ;)

1 thing the above answers tell you about yourself:
1. It’s ALL about me baby! But I knew that ;)

If you want to tell me your pet peeves, go for it!

Take the Book Quiz

I've done this quiz before but I don't remember what book I was so I saw this over on Bookworms' blog and stole it. Hmmm...I think parts of this description really fit me, at least today.

You're The Sound and the Fury!

by William Faulkner

Strong-willed but deeply confused, you are trying to come to grips
with a major crisis in your life. You can see many different perspectives on the issue,
but you're mostly overwhelmed with despair at what you've lost. People often have a hard
time understanding you, but they have some vague sense that you must be brilliant
anyway. Ultimately, you signify nothing.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Weekend stuffs

I didn't do too much because my nose wasn't working right. I'm all congested and wasn't feeling too well. Of course, that didn't stop me from going to some friends house after dinner Friday to meet their parents that were here from out of town. We went late and played poker while we waited for 14 to call us to pick him up from a party. A nice easy night with good company. While I was there my friend gave me this lovely orange tea that I can't wait to buy and it's available at our local grocery store. It was yummy and made me feel good. She even gave me an extra tea bag to take home and have for breakfast. Yum.

Saturday, I napped, we went to BJs to do some groceries, I napped, and we did a couple of loads of laundry and I napped, and then fixed dinner and I napped. By the time the same friends came over to our house after dinner I was feeling much better and we played more games.

Sunday, we all slept until 11:00 AMAZING! I made waffles fro breakfast. We watched our Netflix movie "Cocaine Cowboys" a documentary about the cocaine trafficking in Miami in the late 70's and '80's. It was very well done. We watched it with 17 who was impressed because obviously hubby growing up here was very familiar with the headlines that they were referring to. I think he was impressed because to him it was like ancient history and to his father it was memory. Then I napped while the last load of laundry was washed. Them we watch "Hidalgo" which we had recorded quite sometime ago. I enjoyed it but I think I may have dozed in and out. I was under the influence of OTC cold meds.

Hubby was a bit more active than I was, while I was napping he was cleaning the pool and chauffeuring 14 to his weekend stuff. He was quite useful this weekend! Yeah, for me!

So, a lazy congested head weekend makes for a lazy congested head Monday. My main source of nutrition today is tea, Halls cough drops and soup.

Movie

I saw Volver last night. I thought it was awesome!

Now, I didn't tell hubby that it was a foreign film I only told him that it was a Penelope Cruz movie so that he was willing to watch. Of course when he heard the Spanish and saw subtitles, Johnny on the Spot that he is, quickly asked, "What's wrong with it? Why is it like that?" and "Oh God" was his reaction when he realized it was supposed to be that way. Honestly, I didn't think it would be a big deal, for goodness sake we do speak the language! It's not like it was in Chinese!

I thought the movie was fabulous! The acting - fabulous, the female characters - fabulous, the plot - fabulous, visually- fabulous. Do you see a pattern here? The strong topic was to be expected and not surprising but I think stupendously weaved into a circular plot line. The male characters were merely there to help explain or define the women; they were strictly supporting roles. I loved all the work in opposites in the movie. Part of the story is set in a coastal town that has either stifling heat or crazy wind, the town folk, slow paced, referred to as gossipy and crazy with only one helpful neighbor. Another part was in the city where you see everyone bustling like crazy people trying to live life but many neighbors helpful. 3 sets of sisters are the main characters: Raimunda (Penelope) and her sister Sole who were raised apart by 2 sisters, Tia and their mom, and the helpful country neighbor who's alone and searching for her mother and her sister who is a TV star. Each set of sisters have oppositional characteristics that are quickly brought to light form their livelihoods, to their outlooks and temperament. The camera shots were very interesting and beautifully foreshadowed and made the movie look real not glitzy or stylised at all which enhanced women's roles because they are all such real looking women dealing with real life and their.

Hubby and I disagreed on a vital point in the movie which I don't want to mention to not spoil it for others. But his review was: Penelope was great to watch.

See this movie as soon as you can.

I did other stuff...

Well, we knew I wasn't going to do those things I listed yesterday BUT I put away some loose pictures that I had out back into their original photo albums. And I copied a couple of them so that I could scrap with them. But I did bring in the Confirmation certificate to copy! Yes I realize that I said I would bring the diplomas too but well, something is something.

I will call the Microwave repairman again today. And correction on yesterday it's to replace the cover of the fan that fell off not the fax that fell off.

Other news...

14 is going to the Beyonce concert with a buddy of his. Well, he'll be 15 by then. Anyway, it's kinda far so we have to drive them up there then we'll hang out at Sawgrass Mills. It's a big Outlet mall that's across the street. The last time we did this for 17, the mall actually closes before the concert is out and then hubby took a nap in the car and I read. I don't know yet if I'm going with hubby or if I'm going to accompany the other mom. I haven't hung out with her in a long time so it would be nice. We'll see.

So much to do, so little time. This isn't letting me put a title for this entry! Start frustration! Moving on, tonight I will draft the blog entry of the books I've read. I will Dust (yeah, right). I will enter important dates in the new agenda I bought. I will answer emails. I will put together a package of stuff for someone at hubby's office for a Pampered Chef Bridal Shower. Yeah, I sell Pampered Chef products (read: its the part time job I have been NOT doing). Tonight I will gather the Confirmation Certificates and 8th grade diplomas of my kids to copy them at the office in a reduced size to use them in the scrapbooks. I was talking to someone at the store on my lunch hour and they suggested this and I think it's too cute! Can't wait.

Now, in reality I probably won't do much of any of that but I did call the microwave repairman today to ask about replacing the cover to the fax that fell off. Woo Hoo. I did something on the long list of things to do. I'm so proud of me. I also had a 40% off coupon and so I went and bought more scrapbook paper.

Guess who I saw?!

OK, I've never mentioned her before but anyway, so you can't really guess.

I was at JoAnn Fabrics scoping out the scrapbook papers that were on sale and these women were talking really loud (fine, I was eavesdropping- but only because they were talking about scraping and I need to learn) and then I suddenly thought I recognized the voice. When I turned around it was someone I worked with a lifetime ago! We haven't seen each other in years it was like 5 jobs ago and yet we caught up in 60 seconds and felt like we hadn't missed a beat. We exchanged numbers and vowed to get together soon and keep in better touch. I hope we do, I'm not good at that stuff.

AND today I'm going to get together with another friend (fine, former boss AND friend- why do you insist I be so technical?) who I haven't seen in months. Since, early December I think. She's an avid scrapper, like a professional and I'm going to show her what I've done but it's like a preschooler showing a Nobel laureate their schoolwork. But whatever, I'm so happy with what I'm doing I'm showing it anyone who will look.

I'm really looking forward to seeing her and gossiping catching up on things . We don't have any set plans other than the time that she's picking me up. Can't wait!

Lost track...

I haven't been reviewing or chatting about the books I read and I've lost track of what I've read this year. So, this week I'm going to think back and try to write a short review on each book. This way at the end of the year I can feel all accomplished and wonderful about myself and all that I have read. Stay tuned. The goal is to have this done over the weekend.

I wonder if I can remember them all, they say short term memory is the first to go!
Take Big Bites, A Raisin in the Sun, Bel Canto, Eat Love Pray...see, I'm already stuck! and I know I've read way more than that! Heck that was just in the past month. oh no, this is going to be hard! Maybe if I go stare at my book case and sundry book piles....

(added later) I remembered another one: My Sister's Keeper

TGIF!!! MEMEtime

A One Word Answers Meme! How easy is that? ok, you might feel like you are at a shrinks office doing one of those word response test thingys but no one will be grading this. It's all for fun! PROMISE!

RULES: you can only use ONE word to answer these. There is no explanation to the question, answer based on how you interpret the question. Have fun!

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Relationship? Yep
3. Your hair? Brown
4. Work? Ugh
5. Your sister(s)? in-law
6. Your favorite thing?
7. Your dream last night? Evacuating
8. Your favorite drink? Wine
9. Your dream car? Jaguar
10. The room you're in? Office
11. Your shoes? Comfy
12. Your fears? Alone
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? Retired
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? Family
15. What are you not good at? Math
16. Muffin? Honey?
17. Wish list item? Lottery
18. Where did you grow up? Virgina
19. The last thing you did? Work
20. What are you wearing? Clothes
21. What are you not wearing? Rings
22. Your pet? Max
23. Your computer? Slow
24. Your life? Unfulfilled
25. Your mood? Better
26. Missing? Mom
27. What are you thinking about? Meme
28. Your car? Pontiac
29. Your kitchen? Out-dated
30. Your summer? Working
31. Your favorite color? Purple
32. Last time you laughed? Today
33. Last time you cried? Yesterday
34. School? study
35. Love? alot

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

What day is today?

Houston, we have a problem. I thought today was Thursday and well, it's not.

Last night as we were getting for bed and my mind was running through the next days events I told hubby to remember that he was on his own tomorrow with the boys for dinner, I have Game Night! He sleepily (he had just laid down and was half asleep but that's a whole other blog!) replied 'I thought that was on Thursday'. Yeah. Well, tomorrow's only Wednesday. Dang!

And I woke up this morning thinking (ergo problem: thinking before caffeine intake) again it was Thursday! Dang! Do you think I am looking forward to Game Night?

Now, some of you may be asking what is Game night and how old am I. Well, I'm 42 and yes, I play games; board games, card games with my girlfriends. We get together every so often and play for a few hours, eat and drink and hang out together. It's fabulous. Invariably we laugh! Extremely therapeutic! If you don't do it, you should. Start a game night. Have some fun! I think tonight, I mean tomorrow we are playing charades. It should be a hoot and a half!

Stress

What do you do when you are stressed? I do all sorts of things.

First and foremost, I eat. I am very good at that. This week I have gone through an entire bag of Jolly Ranchers hard candies. I even ate the grape ones and I don't like the grape ones.
I'm not talking the little rolls you impulse buy at the grocery checkout. I'm talking the big momma bag they sell in the candy aisle.

I also make lists. I make lists of things to do, things to get, things I want to read whatever, lists.
Another stress buster for me is cleaning, I shouldn't call it cleaning, it more like spring cleaning -even if it's not spring. You know, empty something out, go through the stuff, give stuff away, throw stuff out and organize back to where it was.

And then last but not least I start a new project. Well, I have done all those things the past 2 weeks. I have been bogged down with all of the above. My project du jour is organizing 7 years worth of photos and storing all of the assorted school and sports photos I have purchased over the past 12 (OMG-12!) years of my children.

My entire dinning room (chosen because of the ample surfaces available to cover) has been taken over by stacks of pictures. Loose pictures, envelopes of pictures and boxes of pictures. The sorting began. First just divvying them up by year and then getting the year in order. Then buying photo albums to start storing them. And that led me to my other new project; scrapbooking. Note: If you are easily addicted to things, do not start or even think about scrapbooking.

You will hear so much more about scrapbooking, I may have to consider changing the name of my blog to Gimme Scrap! LOL!

Rockin Girl Blog Tag

Oh my gosh! I was so excited that I got the badge thingy to appear, I forgot to tag people. Ok, now this will be a chore to make the links but I'll try.

The rules are: "If you get tagged, grab the pretty badge up top (because you deserve it!) and then list five women bloggers who are TOTALLY ROCKIN’."I have a lot more than five I can tag, but I didn't want to repeat someone already tagged by Sari, and I try to follow the rules! ;)

I'm tagging the following Rockin' Girl bloggers:

• Classical Bookworm
• Rocks In My Dryer
• Making Things Up
• Sunshine State of Mind
• Blog, Blah, Blah

Well , the fonts are wierd and I just don't have the patience to keep messing with it. I need to be satisfied for now that they are tagged! Ok, now I need to go tell them that I tagged them. Geesh, this is a lot of work.

ROCK ON GIRLS!

OMG- I DO ROCK!

I DID IT! I DID IT! Sorry, was I yelling? But LOOK! I DID IT!

Ok, last night my girlfriend, who tagged me as a Rockin' Girl Blogger, called me to berate try to explain to me how to add that lovely button you see there because well, read previous post and you'll know. I tried again. I still couldn't do it! I didn't call her back because she would only try to berate help me some more and I wasn't in the mood. So, I got to work early this morning and gave it another try. I have also been trying to add a picture of the book I am reading on the sidebar- yeah- well, that's not happening either.

So, now it's lunch time and since I'm determined to get this, I tried again and yaowsa! it worked. I am so proud of myself!

Now, I can actually tag some others and maybe I'll learn to add pictures to my sidebar eventually.

Woo hoo! I'm rockin' now!

Computer Illiterate

I AM SO COMPUTER ILLITERATE!!!! I am trying to put a button here but I can't I realyl can't I've been trying. I got tagged a Rockin' girl blog and right now it just ain't rockin! I am going to give up now because I am very frustrated. I have spend most of my lunch hour trying to do this. Go ahead- Laugh!
If you click of this here gobbledygook it will take you to another page and show you the lovely button that is supposed to be on my actual blog. AWHhh! Gimme a break and gimme patience!


http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/5075/319923376170426/269/z/238224/gse_multipart31133.jpg

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today is my brother's birthday. He's turning 40 today.

WOW! That makes me feel old because he's my baby brother! I wish we lived closer and I could see him today to give him a great big hug but he's in Chicago. He's done good. He's married with a beautiful 5 year old daughter. In the past year they sold their townhouse and bought a house. It was great when he came down for a visit and I love going up to see them.

To think of all the mischief we got into as kids ( a lifetime ago) and to see him now being the responsible adult; wow, it just boggles the mind. I love him more than he'll ever know and I miss not having him near.

Happy Birthday to my baby brother!
If I was any good at posting pictures I would. Someday...

Bad Blogger

I've been a bad blogger. I didn't go anywhere. I just got lost in life and haven't blogged. I'm sure that my many (read 2) readers have given up on me. Oh, well. C'est la vie! I have lots of catching up to do and will work on that toute suite!

I have a bunch of memes to do and things to blog about. It was my birthday, yes I am a year wiser (BWAhaaahahahah!) I ran into an long time lost touch with friend. I started scrapbooking. GM has been in and out of the hospital refusing my help and declared that I am the devil incarnate. 17 pierced his ear. 14 has started cross-country training. I lost my agenda and that means I lost #s, birthday/anniversary info, lots of stuff and we will get to all of that I promise.

First mid-year resolution. I will be a better blogger. Stay tuned :)

Notes on caffeine

Last night I met with some girlfriends for coffee which is always a pleasant event. This time however, we started chatting and I didn't buy my coffee right away. Eventually I bought my Venti Latte (fully caffeinated) and drank the whole thing. I was up until 2 in the morning watching "The Starter Wife" and tossed and turned all night plus had to keep getting up to go to the bathroom. Today I feel hung over. Having a venti caffinated drink later than usual...stupid, stupid, stupid. Sometimes I need protection from my own self! It's gonna be a long day!

Memorial Day Weekend

I had a fabulous weekend. Did lots of nothing and bits of things to make it a mostly relaxing productive weekend.

* GM was back in the hospital and didn't let me be with her. I realize that sounds wrong but it's true. Her blood pressure and heart rate would spike when I was there and she actually told to the Dr. to tell me to leave. When I called on Sat morning to see how she was doing and see if she wanted me to take her anything when I went to visit, she told the nurse that she didn't want me to come. Then she calls and leaves me messages telling me that she has been abandoned and no one goes to see her. They adjusted her meds and sent her home on Monday.

* Laundry day! Did too many loads! Did some maintenance cleaning to keep the house presentable. You can still visit just don't go to the bedrooms. Sat. was MIL bday and she was in the keys with my SIL who was camping in her RV for the weekend. Hubby and I drove down in the afternoon to join them for dinner. We went to a VERY nice restaurant and had fabulous food and a really nice time. We decided that we have to go back to the restaurant a ton of times because the menu had over 70 entrees to choose from. Needless to say I could not choose and the waitress did so for me. I almost forgot! I got my haircut. I basically told her I want it off my shoulder, you decide from there. Do whatever you want. It came out really cute. I'm happy. Maintenance free!

* Sunday's highlight was hanging out at a friends house after dinner with 3 other couples learning to play Poker. What fun! We all started by putting $5 in the pot to play, me and someone else ended up going in another $5 but it was lots of fun! We had a really good time and now I know how to play poker. Of course, I need my cheat sheet of what beats what but then I'm good.

* Monday I didn't leave the house! I did light cleaning and heavy organizing. I cleaned out the bottom cabinet in my bathroom and got rid of many expired meds and just organized the whole thing. You can find whatever you want there now! I also cleared off my night stand. I threw away a few things (ok, mostly old catalogs) and separated a few books to give to others to read and then re-stacked my 'to be read' piles. But at least it's dust free now and looks neater. I put away a bunch of photo albums that had been pulled out and never out back where they belong. As I did that I pulled out two photos that I will be using to place an 'ad' in the Media Guide for the school football team for 17. Next weekend I will work on the ad. Hubby was working in the office and made a dent in there. The shelves are clean and reorganized too. After dinner the boys watched the Netflix movie with us "Man of the Year" with Robin Williams. We all liked it. We laughed together. It was nice.

The boys were studying for finals all weekend so the whole weekend was interspersed with "quiz me on this!" which was fine. Forced hubby and I to take breaks and sit for a while.

A Book Meme

Ok, so sue me; I stole this from fellow bloggers! Now, I'm not great with names and I'm not going to look anything up to verify it so, here goes...
If you choose to do (read: steal) the meme too, tell me in the comments so I can check out your answers on your blog.

A book that made you cry: "Bridges of Madison County" by ?? (the movie was horrible vs. the book)
A book that scared you: I don't read scary books...
A book that made you laugh: "Holidays on Ice" by David Sedaris
A book that disgusted you: ??? I guess I've blocked them out.
A book you loved in elementary school: "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White
A book you loved in junior high: Jane Eyre by Bronte
A book you loved in high school: "Rebecca" by Daphne Du Maurier
A book you hated in high school: "Moby Dick"
A book you loved in college: Didn't go to college but in this time frame I was reading trashy romance! and not so trashy Mary Stewart historical romances. Perfect for a single girl, living on her own, looking for love! ;)
A book that challenged your identity: "Dance of the Dissident Daughter" by Sue Monk Kidd
A series that you love: Now, Harry Potter; then "Little House"
Your favorite horror book: Frankenstein by Mary Shelly (I think)
Your favorite science fiction book: "Fahrenheit 451" by Bradbury
Your favorite fantasy book: Harry Potter series
Your favorite mystery book: "The DaVinci Code" by Brown
Your favorite graphic novel: Don't think I've read any, if I did they made no impression
Your favorite biography: Haven't read many as an adult but I enjoyed "ME" by Katherine Hepburn with I just finished
Your favorite "coming-of-age" book: "Are you there God, It's Me Margaret" by Judy Blume
Your favorite classic: "Pride and Prejudice"
Your favorite romance book: Then, "Mrs. Mike" by Freedman now, "Pride & Prejudice" the perfect love story! I love Darcy!
Favorite kids book: How kiddy? For little kids I love "Goodnight Moon", then "Charlotte's Web"
Favorite cookbook: I love cookbooks! Don't have a favorite! Lately, referring more to "Comida Criolla" only because I am trying to learn to cook Cuban food.
Your favorite book not on this list: "The Shadow of the Wind" by CArlos Ruiz Zafon and "The Poisonwood Bible" by Kingsovler

This was hard. I had to think. I could barely remember what books I read in high school. That's sad, I mean it was just the other day. Oh, well. So, many good books out there! Now, I am reading " Bel Canto" by Ann Patchet. So far, so good.

Weekend stuffs

Randomness from the weekend...

* Finally saw my dad! Remember that I hadn't seen him since Christmas and he doesn't live that far away to justify it. I invited him over for dinner on Saturday and a couple of other friends I hadn't seen in a while. It was nice. I made Ropa Vieja for the second time- I've got it now. I think a good time was had by all. I certainly enjoyed myself. I love cooking for people!

* Went to an Indonesian restaurant with some girlfriends. YUMMY! I ordered this traditional rice dish. It was a scoop of rice in the middle and assorted scoops around it like a yummy chicken in coconut sauce, egg with curry, shredded beef, green beans and something else. It was all good. Others ordered the duck which I will get next time or maybe I'll get the fish. It was all good!

* Took 14 shopping with hubby. @&%#^*#%&$% He may not be label conscious but he didn't like this because it looked faded, he didn't like that because of the button, he didn't like ANY shirts if they had a stripe; only solid colors for him and only certain shades of certain colors. OMG! WAAAaay too complicated. Don't know how often I will do that.

* I cleaned. My house is presentable. I mean we dusted EVERYTHING and cleared off EVERY surface (ok, except one) That's a rarity. Just don't go into the bedrooms and there won't be any bloodshed.

*GM is back in the hospital. Her PTI levels were super high. This is because she is taking blood thinners and her weekly blood work came back abnormal so they sent her to the hospital and are monitoring her to see that it goes down. Today she is hallucinating again, insisting that some man came and took her out and dumped her in the hallway. She wants me to go see her without driving! When I go she gets furious that I am there and when I'm not there she calls me to say that I have abandoned her. Hopefully, the levels will normalize and she will go home soon.

* I saw the movie Dreamgirls on Friday. I loved it but I love most musicals. I thought Jennifer Hudson was awesome!

* I finished my book, well I won't go into that here because I 'll write a little review later.

* Laundry did enough laundry to last me a lifetime. The loads seemed to never end! Granted when I started the hampers were overflowing. But now every hamper is empty, all the throw rugs were washed, all the towels, all the sheets were done and changed. Everything is washed at least for 24 hours.

It was a very productive weekend.

A slow week...

After last week being so busy, I was grateful for no scheduled events this week. I have been catching up on laundry and doing all sorts of cleaning and organizing at home. My list of things to do is like 3 pages long.

Now, I said scheduled events because of course there's life, getting in the way again.

GM is fed up with her ALF and wants to live on her own! I'm trying to ignore her but apparently she is enlisting the help of others to find her an efficiency. I am in denial and steadfastly trying to not address the issue.

17 fractured his nose. That sounds better than broke his nose, right? So, trip to the emergency room on Wed night to get it x-rayed and everything. Of course, this is the end of the world because he has THE spring game next Thursday and God forbid if he has to miss a practice. So behind his back, like any good mom, I emailed his coach and told him not to let him practice. he was surprised, he didn't know 17 had even been hit in the face. Well, duh, if he tells the adults then they won't let him do what he wants.

So much for a boring week. I'd really like just one. You know to see what it's like.

Becoming a mom

When I told my grandfather I was pregnant +17 years ago, he sat smoking his cigar staring into space. My GM thought he hadn't heard and yelled at him "Did you hear her?! She said that they are going to have a baby!" He dramatically took the cigar out of his mouth slowly bringing it down and sighing as he exhaled he said, "You will never sleep well another day in your life." My GM was horrified at the comment and berated him, telling him you are supposed to congratulate the person not tell them something like that. But grandfather said, I have never lied to her before and I won't now. If she's happy that's fine, I'm happy but it's the truth she won't sleep again. Someone has to tell her.

He was right. I don't think I have ever slept as soundly again but I'm happy being a mom and would never have traded it for anything in the world.

SO, Happy Mother's Day to me and to all the others out there.

Week O' Culture

WOW, this was a packed week. But isn't it always that way? It's either feast or famine.
Starting with last Sunday I went to see The Lion King then Tuesday I went to the opera to see Anna Karenina, then Wednesday was the Athletic banquet for my sons' high school, then Thursday I went to the Botanical Gardens to see the Chihuly exhibit!

So, today Friday I'm tired!

I'm going home to put my feet up! yeah, right, that's wishful thinking. I'm sure the family will have me chauffeuring someone somewhere. But that's a good thing, I realize they have a life too!

Mom

I left home when I was 18 and when I was 22 my mother passed away. Since we had lived apart, her in VA and me in FL for years, I was used to her not being right there all the time. But people always commented to me how I would call in an instant to tell her about something, and that was before cell phones. They would say "but that's long distance!" but it didn't matter to me or her. When I was short on cash, I'd even call collect, she never thought it was an emergency, she new it was just whatever.

It took me years to get over that. There were many times when I would pick up the phone to dial her number and then realize that she's not there. I still make the mental calls and talk to her on a regular basis. I act like she's still there and I wholeheartedly believe that she IS around. Naturally, I miss our conversations and sharing my children with her. She always looked forward to being a grandma. Many times I can play both sides of the conversation in my head. Maybe all this sounds nuts but it's working for me.

Today is the 20th Anniversary of her passing. Love ya mom! Wish you were here.

Musicals

Do you like musicals? I love musicals. I don't think I have seen one that I didn't like (OK, sue me, I'm not in love with CATS but I didn't hate it.)

So, Saturday I saw Evita, the movie with Madonna and Antonio Banderas- FABULOUS! LOVED IT!

Sunday I went to see The Lion King. It was the family Christmas present. Yes, I dragged 17 and 14; all four of us went with a friend of mine. The production was beautiful. What genius came up with the costuming of the animals, I don't know but WOW. The music was great. The production, the colors, the everything! I loved it and am so I glad we went.

Now, the boys...Hubby liked it. OK, the actual quote is "It wasn't bad." All three of them thought the second half was slow. 17 says he thinks he actually dozed for a few minutes. There was a scene with a bit of dancing (ballet/modern) and no singing at all and there were more ballads than in the first half. Hubby didn't like the Rafiki character (I think because she sang a lot in "African" and was obviously not understood by anyone) his favorite characters were Pumba and Timon. 14 was the most vocally against being dragged to the event but he thought the 'animals' were cool, at first he didn't realize they were all people with headdresses etc on. So, that impressed him. 17 didn't protest (knowing it was useless) basically just said the slow songs were too long, the rest was OK.

I drag my family once in a while to these types of events because well, I think I'm supposed to. It's not all about sports ya know! We've gone to the ballet, assorted plays and musicals and museums. I haven't taken them to the opera...hmmm....

Wednesdays

Do you like Wednesdays? I don't. They are right after Monday on the yucky days list. It's not like anything horrible ever happened to me on a Wed but nothing really noteworthy ever happened on Wed either plus the whole middle of the week thing. You know the "over the hump day" stigma of Wednesday. They are just blah. Until a few weeks ago...

Two weeks ago today...it was a friend's birthday, my MIL was operated and successfully had a mass removed from her lung (which has since been tested and was negative!) and 17 ran and placed in the 4x400 District Track meet and his school actually won the District Meet and so they move on to Regionals. It was a good day not blah at all definitely noteworthy.

Lots of other things have been going on but I will blog about them later...tons of work...but had to blog to get back in the swing of things here...it had been too long.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

God Bless VaTech!

I don't understand it.
I can't imagine being those students, the families, the friends, the faculty....
I pray for them even though I don't understand.

I spend many vacations in Blacksburg as a little kid. My father and grandmother attended Continuing Education classes at VaTech. and we would stay the week. It was a treat for us, a little college town where my brother and I were 'free to roam because it was safe.' I don't understand any of this.

I pray for all of them.
May God bless them.

Surgery

The biggest thing happening right now is my mother-in-law's surgery. Wednesday she is going in the hospital for surgery to remove a a mass and a piece of her lung, they will test it on the spot if it's benign, then they sew her up and that's it. If it's malignant, then they will remove a little more lung to be sure "they got it all" and then we'll see - I guess. She will be in the hospital for 4 or 5 days. She is the primary caregiver for her mom that lives with them. Her brother (against his wife's wishes) will be picking her up the night before the surgery. It's a difficult situation but he needs to impress upon his wife that it's his mom too! and he needs to step up and help out. For goodness sake it's not like she's going on a 3-month cruise around the world! But I digress.
Back to Wednesday, hubby is taking the day off from work to be at the hospital with his parents, the boys conveniently get out of school early that day and want me to take them to the hospital after school.

I am putting together a basket of things to cheer her up. I'm thinking....a couple of magazines in Spanish, a couple of books, some hand lotion, and maybe a couple of pictures to put on the "nightstand" in the room. I couldn't think of anything else, I still have tomorrow to work on it. I'll buy the lotion on my way home from work, I already bought the books and magazines and will put the basket together tonight and see how it looks.

Me, Myself and I

We had the house to ourselves on Saturday morning. Technically I was stranded at home with no car. 17 had practice and hubby and 14 went to the Hurricane Spring game.

So, I set the TV to watch some old movies, I don't know if it was TNT or TBS or AMC but someone was running a Shirley Temple marathon. Fine, non-thinking movies. I would have preferred Doris Day because at least I chuckle once in a while but fine.

Then I set to baking and cooking. I made a Red Velvet Cake. I hadn't had that since I was a kid and a few weeks (read months) ago there was an article in the paper. Apparently it's back in fashion and they had a recipe for the one from the Waldorf Astoria. My co-worker who showed me the article instantly gave it to me when I said WOW, I'd love to make that. So, I finally did. It came out really good! It's a two layer cake, with a hint of chocolate, red (duh) with an AMAZING frosting made of cream cheese, marscapone cheese, whipping cream and confectioner's sugar - DELISH! Of course, I brought about a quarter of the cake to the office and everyone noshed on it all day.

I also made mini-loaves of banana bread because I had lots of overripe bananas. For this I also tried a new recipe that calls to make a banana cream prior to adding the dry ingredients. That came out very nice too.

I also made one heck of a marinade for a roast for dinner. I probably won't ever be able to duplicate it because it was just a mix of things that struck my fancy when I searched the cupboard and fridge. But the roast was a hit with the family. It was fall apart with a fork soft and had soooo much flavor. I did all of that with Shirley tapping in the background. Lovely!

By the time the boys came home I was taking out the banana bread and the cake was cooling waiting to be frosted. They changed the channel to watch the Masters Tournament, started bringing out piles of laundry that they needed for that night and the next day, the phones (their cell phones) started ringing with their friends making plans, requests for gas money etc. Oh, well it was a relaxing morning.

Easter

This is the first Easter in forever that we didn't go to mass. We haven't been going lately and we thought it would be hypocritical to show up on Easter not having gone in so long plus Easter is a terrible day to go to mass because all those people who never go decide to go on that day and Palm Sunday and Christmas. So, we slept in.

Easter was different this year. I didn't dye eggs with any kids, I didn't make baskets, I didn't bake, I didn't cook, I didn't put together little gifts for the nephews and cousins but just wrapped in cellophane no baskets this year. I didn't stuff plastic Easter eggs with candy, or hide them. 14 did help hide them and kept walking around the yard yelling "I see some eggs over here!" and all the kids would come charging over.

I just showed up with my family and a dozen bagels, cream cheese, champagne (for mimosas) and supplies for a chocolate fountain - all store bought. That's what I was asked to bring and I followed instructions. :) Odd for me :)

We spent it with my husband's extended family. It was at his aunt's house. There was quite a turn out. Let's see at least 35 people ranging in age from 3-83. My boys are too big for Easter, I miss that. I like doing the crafts and activities for each holiday but I guess that's over now. I'll have to recruit others. One young cousin who's 9, commented that she's never dyed real eggs. Her mom has never done that and doesn't know how (yes, she could read the directions but whatever!) So, we have a date for next Easter to dye real eggs. I hope she still wants to next year, that will be nice.

Lately, I'm thinking that the holidays are for the young who enjoy them and the old to remember when they were young and I'm in this in between stage. It's like another version of adolescence. I guess this is mid-life. WOW, that sounds terrible.

It was nice seeing everyone, it had been a while.

NCAA Tournament

Well, it's over and I've got KP duty.

Hubby and I had a bet on whoever did better had to do the dishes for a week. That would be me. See usually, I cook and he cleans it up. The boys were joking at dinner that this would be the last homemade meal for a week because now that I had to clean up after myself we'd have drive-thru for a week. HAHAHA They are such smarty pants! I wouldn't do that! Honest!

I think I did pretty well, considering I had 3 out of the four teams in the final four. I had Georgetown winning it all and alas they didn't make it past the final four. Oh, well! It was fun doing the brackets with them. Maybe I'll do again next year.

But for now, I will be stopping at the grocery store on the way home to buy some paper plates and plastic cups! LOL!

Who's in your front row?

A friend sent this to me and I liked it!

Everyone Can't Be in Your FRONT ROW.

Life is a theater so invite your audiences carefully. Not everyone is holy enough and healthy enough to have a FRONT ROW seat in our lives. There are some people in your life that need to be loved from a distance. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you let go, or at least minimize your time with draining, negative, incompatible, not-going-anywhere relationships, friendships, fellowships, and family!

Everyone Can't Be in Your FRONT ROW.

Observe the relationships around you. Pay attention to: Which ones lift and which ones lean? Which ones encourage and which ones discourage? Which ones are on a path of growth uphill and which ones are just going downhill? When you leave certain people, do you feel better or feel worse? Which ones always have drama or don't really understand, know and appreciate you and the gift that lies within you?

Everyone Can't Be in Your FRONT ROW.

The more you seek God and the things of God, the more you seek quality, the more you seek not just the hand of God but the face of God, the more you seek things honorable, the more you seek growth, peace of mind, love and truth around you, the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the FRONT ROW and who should be moved to the BALCONY of your life.

Everyone Can't Be in Your FRONT ROW.

You cannot change the people around you...but you can change the people you are around! Ask God for wisdom and discernment and choose wisely the people who sit in the FRONT ROW of your life. Remember that FRONT ROW seats are for special and deserving people and those who sit in Your FRONT ROW should be chosen carefully.

Everyone Cannot Be in Your FRONT ROW!

Sometimes I think I need to be more selective on who I give tickets to and where their seats are located. I tend to leave the door open and its a free for all. Sometimes that's fun but not always. HMmm.

Yummy AND good for me!

Ok, I couldn't find a picture of it anywhere online but you have to run to the grocery store and get this. Cookies made by Kashi. Not the crackers, not even the soft chewy crackers they have. It was their snack brand TLC and it was a fabulous Kashi oatmeal type cookie. It was excellent! It was chewy, fresh, had cranberries and was soooo good. Everyone here at the office loved it. One cookie is 130 calories and was low in sodium and 0 trans fat and I don't remember what all but it's really a healthy good snack. I'm really upset that I didn't even find a picture on the Kashi website. This is so new they haven't even updated their site. Shame on them. But it was ooooo sooooo good. Go try it!

Less than a week

It feels like I haven't blogged in forever but it was only last Friday. So, what been going on? This...

17 is all full of himself because he came in first place in the open 400 at his track meet last Saturday and his name was in the paper. Naturally, we now have 4 copies to keep for posterity. Hubby and 14 followed Tiger Woods for 2 days at a Golf Tournament. That was hubby's bday present (the tickets). His birthday was Monday. We did not celebrate in any traditional way. He doesn't like celebrating birthdays. He's got a big hang up about getting old. I really don't like the care that GM is getting at the nursing center she's at but hopefully it won't be for long. Apparently, she can already stand up with the walker under her own power. WOOHOO! MIL had her biopsy yesterday. We hope to have the results by tomorrow. She felt pretty beat up yesterday. There were some minor complications but it was all controlled and seems to have gone well. She's home with her hubby taking care of her for a couple of days.

Tomorrow we take off for Winter Park. No it's not a vacation. It's a trek after your kids because the track meet is there and well that's what you do. Drive 3 hours, to stay in a motel with too many teens, to sit all day in the heat and sun of Florida to watch your son run the last event of the meet and drive back 3 hours. I hope he does well and I hope the school wins the meet. Originally, 14 wanted to go because he's just a sports fan of every type but now he found out that the party of the year is on Friday and you know how it is at that age. If you miss THE party then you will have no hope of living a fruitful life. So, I'm making arrangements and coordinating for him to stay with friends who also have a son who will most likely be going to this must attend party.

I'm in a cooking rut. I'm so tired of making the same thing all the time. The people I feed are very picky! I'm getting to the point where I want to just throw them a bag of chips and make whatever I want for me! I will probably take a cookbook(s) with me to read over on the drive and come up with a few new menus. I did buy zucchini this week with the intention of making zucchini muffins.

I'm Back, and not much has changed

Granted I wasn't gone long but...

You're dying to hear about Houston but I didn't see much. The beep beep Intercontinental Airport is very nice. The client's office that we went to was very nice too. The presentation went well enough I think. Those who weren't falling asleep I think understood what I said. I have spoken to GM everyday and this morning she's all WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? I told you I went to Houston, I spoke to you yesterday from there. WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS TRAVELLING! THE FOOD HERE IS HORRIBLE AND THE THERAPY PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. So, I now that she's feeling much better because she's yelling at me. The kids are counting down the days to Spring Break. They are planning to go to the beach as much as they can. How nice to be young! SIL and BIL are leaving for the Smokies in her RV Saturday for a week. I have to remember to call her before she leaves. I hope they have a great time. Of course, that reminds me that I haven't spoken to my brother in a while, I need to call him too.

My face is a mess, it's all red and swollen and looks like I'm having a allergic reaction to something. 'Cept I haven't used anything new or different other than Houston water. Someone told me that this could be hormonal and be related to peri-menopause. GREAT! It's itchy, I've been like this all day and now my neck it starting to itch too! Can't wait to get home and take a Benadryl. Maybe I should see a dermatologist.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Maybe something exciting will happen to blog about for Monday... :)

Leaving on a jet plane

I am taking off today for Houston on business. I have to make a presentation for a client and I'm only gone over night but I LOVE going away to anywhere.

Granted there's lots of stuff happening now but when the plane is taking off I feel exhilarated, full of possibility. It takes the mundane out of life.

My co-worker is teasing me about my luggage. I packed the smallest suitcase I have on wheels (cuz I don't want to carry anything more than my purse) and it's more than half empty, like I said it's overnight. Plus having the small carry-on suitcase makes me feel more like I'm really going away not just spending the night at some one's place. I don't care how much he teases, I'm going away.

Tonight I will watch what I want on TV. I will have sole use and possession of the remote control. I will do this in a king size bed in a room with the temperature set (and adjusted upon my whim to accommodate my peri-menopausal states) while I read my book. DIVINE! I can't wait!

Odds n' ends

GM refused to be transferred to a rehab center that would allow her to remain on cardiac monitors but consented to surgery for a pacemaker which the Drs. deem necessary if she won't be monitored. They evaluated her as competent and coherent to make her own informed health decisions, so, she was operated on Friday. She came through it with flying colors and was hitting on the surgeon in recovery. Today she asked me when they were taking this pace thing off of her. Yeah, sure docs, she understands what's going on...

March Madness. I was off to a phenomenal start as far as I was concerned and was beating both hubby and 14 much to their chagrin. Two rounds later I am loosing, shocker I know. But I'm not out of it yet! Georgetown is still in it and I have them winning it all. Hubby and I bet that the winner doesn't do dishes for a week. Go Hoyas! :)

We did our taxes over the weekend..no comment other than we lost a child deduction because 17 is well, 17. This country is so confused as to when a child becomes an adult! Really, they should coordinate their collective thoughts and let you keep deducting for the child until the child is considered an adult on all fronts!

I haven't seen my extended family for months! Heck I haven't seen my dad since last year! And my friends, if I have bumped into them at random events or seen them as they pick up 14 to get him to something because I can't . This has to stop but right now I can't see the forest between the trees or is that the trees in the forest, not that doesn't make sense...oh, you know what I mean!

My house looks like let's just say it looks like a place you don't want to visit much less live in. If you need clean clothes please get it from a pile on the coffee table. If you need anything else, keep looking.

Hubby and I are still pretending that we are not sick. We are popping cough drops like candy and over the counter cold meds religiously every 4-6 hours. The boys are fine but if 17 sprays me again with the Lysol, I'm gonna smack him! I realize that it was an accident, he didn't know I was coming down the hallway because he couldn't hear my hacking cough over all his spraying but for Pete's sake gimme a break!

That's all for now, more fascinating happenings later....

March Madness & Laughter

I really don't do sports on my blog and normally I would label myself as a Football Widow BUT this is just too BIG to ignore. In my house ther are currently only two topics of conversation: March Madness and NFL Free Agency. I have begged for even one day (read: night) without sports discussed in the house but alas I think I should just give up March altogether. With that being said...I have jumped on the band wagon! I'm sitting in the middle of the wagon pickin' on my fiddle!

14 has entered hubby's office pool and is completing NCAA brackets (yes, I realize its gambling; I'm ignoring that, please play along) and I am completing brackets too! What!? you say, has she finally gone mad? My answer to you is, probably. But in an effort to bond with my children and hubby and have something to be interested in with them for the next few weeks, I have completed my selections for who is going to advance in each round of the tournament and eventually win. I did not enter the office pool, I'm just doing it for fun - against the boys at home.

The first laughs came when I asked them to tell me where some of the coaches that I had heard of were coaching now, like Bobby Knight and Paterno. 14 almost choked on his dinner because Paterno is a football coach not a basketball coach; he suggested that I just ask what colors the uniforms were and pick my favorites. Smarta$$! After much prodding I find out the coach's name if Patino, tomayto tomato...I was close. Gimme a break!
So, can you imagine the look on 14s face if I pick more winners than he does?! LOL :) I'll let you know how I do.

Meme about books!

I stole this from a friend who stole it from .... you know how that works....

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback? Paperback
Bookstores: Online or brick and mortar? Brick and mortar
Barnes & Noble or Borders? Barnes and Noble
Bookmark or dog-ear? Either. If I have a bookmark I'll use it.
Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random? Random
Keep, throw away, or sell? pass it on and tell them to keep passing it on
Keep dust jacket or toss it? Keep it
Read with dust jacket or remove it? Remove it
Short story or novel? I like both but I read more novels
Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)? Both Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? Harry Potter
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? When tired or lunch hour is over, over Dr. calls me in, or get to the front of the line....
"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"? Once upon a time
Buy or Borrow? I am borrowing more and buying less.
New or used? Used, although I love the creaks, feel and smell of opening a new book.
Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse? Mostly browse, then recommendations from friends, then reviews
Tidy ending or cliffhanger? Tidy ending
Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading? Anytime, I love curling up with a book and a cup of coffee anytime!
Stand-alone or series? Both
Favorite series? The Ya-Ya's were really good, love the Harry Potters that I've read, and as a kid I read the Little House series and loved having the same characters for so long. I tend to miss characters when I finish a good book and continue thinking and wondering about them and how they are doing.
Favorite children's book? "Are you there God, It's me Margaret" by Judy Blume
Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? "Mrs. Mike" by I don't remember, it a husband and wife team...starts with B...maybe
Favorite books read last year? "The Year of Pleasures" by Elizabeth Berg
Favorite books of all time? Too many to list. Off the top of my head "The Shadow of the Wind", "Divine Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood", "Pride and Prejudice", "Rebecca", " The Poisonwood Bible"
Least favorite book you finished last year? I don't remember. But ever..."The Chamber" by John Grisham...It was interminable!!!!
What are you reading right now? "My Sister's Keeper" by Picoult (maybe?)
What are you reading next? I don't know the stacks are pretty tall but I'm thinking maybe Shakespeare...I never read "Romeo and Juliet"

Sick update

GM may be moving out of ICU today. She is schedule to go to the Telemetry (sp?) ward. She's off antibiotics, she's still having heart issues, thus telemetry but mostly she's being nice! Now, for most people that's not newsworthy but for MY GM that's the stuff history is made of. She is actually being a good patient, taking her meds orally, willing to do the respiratory therapy - you know the breathe into the tube thingy a bunch of times. She's being nice! I think they must have done a transplant or major transfusion without my permission. It's not just me... B, the lady who manages the ALF where she lives went to see her yesterday and left me this voice mail "..they transformed your GM, I hope it's long term..."

MIL. Her surgery was cancelled! This poor woman has been fretting about this surgery for over 6 months and they cancelled it again. She is FREaking out. They found a spot on her chest xray that warranted further testing, so she had more tests that lead to a PET scan. They have decided to go the biopsy route now and are scheduling for next week. MEANWHILE back at her uterus, the PET scan concluded that the cysts etc there are benign and just need to be removed for removals sake. OK, HELLO! why didn't we do this 6 months ago! Instead they have one Dr. say it can't wait until after the holidays and then it gets cancelled twice and 6 months later she gets told it's a nonevent! She is so fried! She spent the entire weekend in tears. I call and listen but I don't think it helps much.

The chiropractor told 17 that his hip is getting better. He's been going to weekly treatments in the hopes that he would not have to undergo surgery. We are told that his muscles are too strong fro his bones. - I'll give you a sec to read that again. Because of that the muscles can pull off the bone and take chips with it and that's what happened to his left hip joint. He had an xray and they have determined that with this therapy he getting that it would stimulate growth and repair itself. It seems to be working- at least for now. It's something he has to watch.

I did not go to work yesterday because my head weighed like 562 pounds all by itself. I could barely lift it to drag myself to the bathroom. Apparently, sleeping reduces head weight because today not only can I lift it but most of it's parts are working ;)

I've gotten updates on other friends who have been sick and have other friends and family that have assorted things. Many of the updates have been good. There are a couple I haven't heard from. I need to send a card. I love sending cards. I think it cheers people up. It cheers me up.

Sick

I'm sick. It's not that bad...if I don't breathe too much I won't cough....if I don't cough my ears aren't ringing...if I don't move my head too much or open my eyes in the light my head doesn't hurt.
Obviously, didn't go see grandma today; they'd probably admit me. I can hear her witching and moaning about it from here, she'd doing much better.
More some other time.

My tough old lady

Two day ago the doctors were making me decide whether to insert a feeding tube for my GM. After a day fraught with thought and prayer I decided no, I honestly don't think she would want that. So, they tried to reduce her sedatives so that she could swallow and eat something. I was able to get her to drink one of those fortified milk drinks, Ensure.

This morning, she is awake and alert! Arguing with the tech from respiratory that she doesn't need an aerosol, she NEEDS BREAKFAST! Arguing with the nurse that she must bring her a phone and her purse IMMEDIATELY so she can call her Dr because they are trying to kill her here... Enter me.... Good Morning! You're awake! GM: Of course I'm awake they are trying to kill me. Did you bring me breakfast!?

I fed her scrambled eggs, grits and an Ensure. She ate it all. She argued with me about her illness because she has no lung problems because she never inhaled in the +65 years she's smoked, she has no kidney stone because she's never had them before she just needs a laxative, she has no heart problems she's just upset that we are keeping her here unnecessarily, she has no blood pressure problems she just needs her grapefruit juice. Why did I bring her here and why won't I let Pacito (a Dr. she knows- who's probably retired by now) see her. The fool idiot that came to see her this morning is NOT her Dr. I tell her he's stuck with him, Olivia (the nurse) and me until she gets out of here. Poor Olivia, she's trying to be cheerful, she comes in delighted - Finally, you are awake, I can talk to you. GM: Why should I talk to you, you are poisoning me with all these fool things, get me my Dr!

And to think that 3 days ago they were telling me it was touch and go. She's a tough one but we always knew that. I tell her to be nice to Olivia that she's been taking care of her all week. She answers, I don't have to be nice to anyone, especially people who are trying to kill me.
Gimme patience :)

Grandmother

My grandmother is in the hopital. Intensive Care to be precise. She didn't sleep Friday night complaining of abdominal pain and presummed that it was because she hadn't had a BM in a few days. So, Saturday morning it was off to the hospital. Her vitals were all over the place and the blood work came back with very elevated white count indicating a severe infection. After a few more tests it's discovered that aside from severe constipation, she has a kidney stone. The infection from the kidney stone is so severe that it has passed to her blood stream and she is septic. On top of that she has pneumonia in both lungs.

It's been three days now and they want to do a procedure to try and remove the kidney stone but radiology won't touch her until she is more stable, they will try again tomorrow.

She's a tough one and needs to be kept sedated because otherwise she will refuse treatment, remove IVs, and monitors etc. because she knows better than the doctors. I have always teased her and asked her what street corner she got her medical degree at. When the ER Dr. told her she probably has emphyzema she made him a bet that she didn't. She kept telling him that she didn't have anything, she only had to go to the bathroom. He went along with her and asked her what she wanted to bet, she bet him a Whopper with cheese. When he came back later and told her that she owed him a Whopper with cheese no onions. She told him to check his records again that he was wrong all she needed was a laxative and her bathroom at home, he was to release her IMMEDIATELY!

Well, we need to take this one day at a time.

Valentine's Day!

It's Valentine's Day!

I already gave all of my men a card that they found next to their breakfast this morning. I have gifts for each of them that they will find on their pillows when they get home. And I'm fixing a special dinner -something that all 3 of them like (a rarity- in itself)- boliche, white rice, platanos maduros, tomato & cucumber salad and for dessert sugar cookies for 14 and chocolate covered strawberries for the rest of us.

I also sent a card to my nephews and to my niece. I will also call my dad around lunch time because he's probably sleeping now.

This morning here at the office I got on the elevator with a guy dressed in a big heart costume. You know stuffed looking like a read heart M&M, he had a bunch of balloons in his hand and was going to deliver a singing telegram to someone on the 4th floor. Too much fun!

So smile at someone, hug someone, let them know you care.
HAPPY VALENTINE"S DAY!!

Walking out....

I've walked out of restaurants because of poor service, I have left stores because of poor service, not gone back to stores because I recieved bad service. But yesterday was a first, I walked out of an opera. Have you ever? It was just tooo hard. It was Puccini's Manon Lescaut. That may not mean anything to many but anyways...

Granted my seat isn't fantabuous. It's the last row in the top tier yeah- nosebleed seats. There's a little computer thingy in front of me that let's me read a synopsis of the story and read a translation of the singing during the performance because my seat is so high I can't see the translation of the screen above the stage due to a cieling overhang. So, start with the computer thingy wasn't there. I had to read the synopsis in the playbill. The story was confusing. The men's names were too similar, I couldn't follow along. Maybe there was a typo, I dunno. Ok, so I'll just watch and enjoy. NOT. The first performer, who I am sure sings perfectly well, they are professionals after all, we couldn't hear him, like he wasn't projecting enough. At first I thought the music was maybe too much and overpowering him but we coulld hear the next guy. Whatever, it's not like I'm fluent in Italian and can understand what is happening. But I can usuallu catch enough words to piece the story together along with glancing at my translator thingy. But not yesterday! The woman didn't impress me either. Then there were such drastic costume changes with each act, I couldn't even recognize the different men (remember I sit to far to actually see their faces). After three acts, it was just too much. I knew that she was going to die, so, really enough was enough. We left. Outside I asked an usher out of curiosity if she knew how long the last act was. 22 minutes she said, 22 minutes of dieing. I'm glad we left. Maybe I just wasn't mentally in the mood. Gimme patience!
Later I found out that it had gotten bad reviews, so maybe it wasn't me after all.

Next opera....La Sonnambula...next Sunday...hopefully better than yesterday.