My ex-MIL and Jason's Grandmother, Veda Daniels, lost her battle with cancer last night. I appreciate the prayers and support that all of you have provided the past few months.
As you know, Jason has been my number one concern and I was not sure how the loss of his Grandmother would effect him. While he has been in a bit of a fog for most of this year and has had some ups and downs he has been doing as well as can be expected and then some. He was a bit off during football season and a couple of his grades have slipped a bit. My goal has been to be understanding, get him to open up, and keep everything as normal as possible. C's are still not acceptable, no matter what. But, I am also right in there helping him to improve them as well.
So, this morning he cried and I kept him home from school figuring he needed the day to deal and get his head straight. By 10:00 he was already bored. His Dad and Grandpa were busy running errands this morning, so I had told Jess we would come over in the afternoon and help with whatever they needed. I did the work I needed to do in the morning and Jason and I spent the rest of the day running a few errands and going through pictures. Jess was going to prepare the collage on poster board, so I volunteered Jason and I to create the collage. Jason was actually excited about it and was happy with it once we were done. Trifold and scrapbooking materials and we put together a really nice collage.
I have to admit that I started to notice a difference in Jason Thursday night when we were going over his math homework. He knew that she was going to pass any day and I think he had accepted it. He cried this morning and was excited by the evening. At this point he seems more relieved than anything else and I could not be happier about that. I think he sincerely saw how much pain she was in and knows that she is no longer suffering. He amazes me and has shown me how resilient and mature he really is being about all of this. I am very proud of him.
And then at 10:20 there was a breakdown and sobbing - poor baby. Strength for a 12 year old only goes so far.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Life update
I know I have not been out here much, but frankly I have just had so much going on.
Jason's football team is 3-5 with one more game and two practices left. However, basketball tryouts start two days after football ends. Baskeball should be interesting this year. As we step out of rec and into 7th grade basketball we will be dealing with a coach who has a history of being a jerk. He has been known to bench his best players and has made comments in remarks to the kids that he stated were not good enough to make the middle school football team.
If you have been following my rants at all you know that this a bone of contention and political heat over MS football vs Jr. Football. Those who play Jr Football choose to be there for specific reasons - more practice, more games, better coaching, better competition, Saturday games. Not because they weren't good enough. So, that gives you an idea of the type of person we are dealing with. Plus, he has a history of favortism as well. One of the othe moms thinks he just doesn't like kids. Fortunately, we will have an Assistant Coach that has been coaching this group of kids on and off for 4 years.
Work has been busy, but not fruitful, which has been discouraging. I am hoping that sales pick up in the last two months of the year, otherwise I am going to be in some trouble.
As far as I know, the medication for my Dad's mental issues is working. But, frankly I have this habit of separating myself from him everytime he comes out of some medical catastrophe. So, other than the fact that I have been busy, and they never make an attempt to get to any of Jason's football games, I haven't seen him since we put him in the hospital and I have only talked to him a handful of times.
Lastly, and sadly, Jess was given the news yesterday that they have cancelled any future appointments and chemo for his Mom. She was supposed to start chemo up again this week, but the doctor stated that they have extended everything as far as they can and anything at this point won't be helping. They have given her 1 - 5 weeks to live, which means that it is unlikely that she will make it to Thanksgiving. They have a hospice aide coming in this week to help in her last few weeks.
Jason is still over there 2 - 5 days a week and strangely enough I did mention to him earlier this week that the 9 months that she was given as a maximum was approaching. I am trying to help him prepare for this as much as I can, but Grandma doesn't want him to know that she only has a handful of weeks. I don't want to cut his time with her, but I stressed again that if he is uncomfortable at any point or just doesn't want to be there that he can call any of us and someone will come get him since Grandpa can't leave Grandma right now. She is just to the point now where she can't be left alone. I think he finally is to that point where he has seen things get progressively worse and is open to leaving and not feeling like he has to be strong for her all the time.
I have already told my boss that I am supposed to be out of town for 3 out of the next 5 weeks and as soon as this happens I will be immediately on my way home. It's hard explaining that this is my Ex-MIL, but she is Jason's second Mom and my backup. My job is to be there for Jason and help him through this while his Dad needs to take care of all of the arrangements. My boss has been supportive and even offered to take my appointments if I need to leave - we are coming up with an emergency plan :-)
It tears me up to know that at the age of 12 that my son is losing one of the closest people in his life. It has been a year of loss and throughout this year Ira and Jason will have both lost their Grandmas (both Grandmas for Ira). At least Jason has 2 left, but neither of the ones still left will fill the void that this one will leave behind for him, that I am sure of.
Jason's football team is 3-5 with one more game and two practices left. However, basketball tryouts start two days after football ends. Baskeball should be interesting this year. As we step out of rec and into 7th grade basketball we will be dealing with a coach who has a history of being a jerk. He has been known to bench his best players and has made comments in remarks to the kids that he stated were not good enough to make the middle school football team.
If you have been following my rants at all you know that this a bone of contention and political heat over MS football vs Jr. Football. Those who play Jr Football choose to be there for specific reasons - more practice, more games, better coaching, better competition, Saturday games. Not because they weren't good enough. So, that gives you an idea of the type of person we are dealing with. Plus, he has a history of favortism as well. One of the othe moms thinks he just doesn't like kids. Fortunately, we will have an Assistant Coach that has been coaching this group of kids on and off for 4 years.
Work has been busy, but not fruitful, which has been discouraging. I am hoping that sales pick up in the last two months of the year, otherwise I am going to be in some trouble.
As far as I know, the medication for my Dad's mental issues is working. But, frankly I have this habit of separating myself from him everytime he comes out of some medical catastrophe. So, other than the fact that I have been busy, and they never make an attempt to get to any of Jason's football games, I haven't seen him since we put him in the hospital and I have only talked to him a handful of times.
Lastly, and sadly, Jess was given the news yesterday that they have cancelled any future appointments and chemo for his Mom. She was supposed to start chemo up again this week, but the doctor stated that they have extended everything as far as they can and anything at this point won't be helping. They have given her 1 - 5 weeks to live, which means that it is unlikely that she will make it to Thanksgiving. They have a hospice aide coming in this week to help in her last few weeks.
Jason is still over there 2 - 5 days a week and strangely enough I did mention to him earlier this week that the 9 months that she was given as a maximum was approaching. I am trying to help him prepare for this as much as I can, but Grandma doesn't want him to know that she only has a handful of weeks. I don't want to cut his time with her, but I stressed again that if he is uncomfortable at any point or just doesn't want to be there that he can call any of us and someone will come get him since Grandpa can't leave Grandma right now. She is just to the point now where she can't be left alone. I think he finally is to that point where he has seen things get progressively worse and is open to leaving and not feeling like he has to be strong for her all the time.
I have already told my boss that I am supposed to be out of town for 3 out of the next 5 weeks and as soon as this happens I will be immediately on my way home. It's hard explaining that this is my Ex-MIL, but she is Jason's second Mom and my backup. My job is to be there for Jason and help him through this while his Dad needs to take care of all of the arrangements. My boss has been supportive and even offered to take my appointments if I need to leave - we are coming up with an emergency plan :-)
It tears me up to know that at the age of 12 that my son is losing one of the closest people in his life. It has been a year of loss and throughout this year Ira and Jason will have both lost their Grandmas (both Grandmas for Ira). At least Jason has 2 left, but neither of the ones still left will fill the void that this one will leave behind for him, that I am sure of.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Absent blogger
Mindless stream of thoughts....
Let's just say I have my hands full lately. Between the fall push, school starting for Jason, football, covering an extra part of a territory, and family drama. I just haven't had any time to blog or do much of anything else.
Football means 5 day a week practices in August and then games on Saturdays and 3 day a week practices in September and October. I just drove back from Chicago today, so we bailed on the school open house, but I had to go up there for at least a half hour meeting on the spring trip to DC. Which of course, I just found out about yesterday. This started as an 8th grade trip (actually it used to be a 7th grade trip to Toronto, but passport laws as they are today), but they are sending 7th and 8th grade this year. And, Jason wants me to chaperone. I really love to help out and am happy that he still wants me to be part of these events that will give him so many memories. I usually chaperone one field trip a year, but boy what a doozy (and pricey) of a trip. I actually went to DC with honor society in 8th grade, so I am excited that he gets to experience the adventure. The downside is that I plan on being in Seattle for ACRL March 12 - 14 and the DC trip is 16 - 19. I will be off a plane, have one day to do laundry (thank goodness for that day!!) and then we will be on a bus at 5 am the 16th. Should be interesting, but I am sure it will be a great time!
I have also been covering part of northern Illinois and Chicago, but thank goodness the regular rep is coming back at the end of the month. I have missed working in that area, but I have just been swamped and had no time to breathe. My boss actually left me a message today asking me to call him back. I left him a voice mail letting him know that I had been back in town for 45 minutes, was on my way to a football scrimmage, and had a meeting at 6:3o at the school. I mentioned I would be happy to talk to him after that, so he sent me an e-mail. He is a pretty smart guy :-)
Football is still a political mess, but at least we are working through it. I am co-managing the team and starting to think that was a mistake. I am used to doing everything and not trusting that anyone else will do anything (I know, minor control issues). So, I figure my counterpart goes to the practices and is basically plays the team mom, while I manage paperwork, rosters, lists, etc. The problem is that I send out the paperwork requests, schedule changes, what have you and make sure that the e-mail is also sent to her so that she knows what I am working on. Two days later she will call me or e-mail me that that called all of the parents for the same information that I e-mailed about, in a hurry, on my way out the door. If she was going to do it anyway, I wouldn't have bothered. I love the woman, but she is getting on my last nerve.
Come to find out Jess thinks that his Mom is not really in remission and she is just telling everyone that so that they won't push her on why she is not doing chemo. I think at this point, she has just accepted the inevitable and is trying not to add to the $100,000 of debt that they now have due to the cancer - that had now actually spread to her knees. The doctor told Jess that he has never seen this type of cancer ever go into remission and that the chemo just prolongs her life for a little while. She is supposed to go back in November, so hopefully we will know more then.
Lastly, my Stepmom and I had to put my Dad in the hospital last week for what we thought were hallucinations due to a new pain medication that is known to cause insomnia and hallucinations. He had already called the cops on people that were in his house that weren't really there. He was verbally vicious and threatened my stepmom to me over the phone. It was an empty threat and he hadn't been physical, but verbal threats were still enough to make me worry since he was not a sane state of mind. For his own safety and hers we did what we had to do. He drove himself to the hospital (because he wouldn't ride with us), signed the ER paperwork, and based on the triage nurse and doctore evaluation she and I had to admit him. Her signature, but both of our names are on the petition. We expected the drug to wear off after a couple of days and then, based on our research, he would snap out of it. Wrong, he woke up pissed, blocked all communication and blocked all information going to her or I. One week later and a judge has dicatated that he belongs in the hospital and the lines of communication are slowly opening up. I found out today that there have been no improvement and they are thinking that this is something more severe than a side effect. I am going to go to the hospital to see if he will see me tomorrow - cross your fingers, since he wouldn't return my phone call. Also, pray that I have the patience with him that I need and don't take his ramblings to heart. He just gets so nasty right now that I am thinking my Stepmom may be earning Sainthood. I need to just keep telling myself that he does understand reality and that he doesn't know what he is saying.
Let's just say I have my hands full lately. Between the fall push, school starting for Jason, football, covering an extra part of a territory, and family drama. I just haven't had any time to blog or do much of anything else.
Football means 5 day a week practices in August and then games on Saturdays and 3 day a week practices in September and October. I just drove back from Chicago today, so we bailed on the school open house, but I had to go up there for at least a half hour meeting on the spring trip to DC. Which of course, I just found out about yesterday. This started as an 8th grade trip (actually it used to be a 7th grade trip to Toronto, but passport laws as they are today), but they are sending 7th and 8th grade this year. And, Jason wants me to chaperone. I really love to help out and am happy that he still wants me to be part of these events that will give him so many memories. I usually chaperone one field trip a year, but boy what a doozy (and pricey) of a trip. I actually went to DC with honor society in 8th grade, so I am excited that he gets to experience the adventure. The downside is that I plan on being in Seattle for ACRL March 12 - 14 and the DC trip is 16 - 19. I will be off a plane, have one day to do laundry (thank goodness for that day!!) and then we will be on a bus at 5 am the 16th. Should be interesting, but I am sure it will be a great time!
I have also been covering part of northern Illinois and Chicago, but thank goodness the regular rep is coming back at the end of the month. I have missed working in that area, but I have just been swamped and had no time to breathe. My boss actually left me a message today asking me to call him back. I left him a voice mail letting him know that I had been back in town for 45 minutes, was on my way to a football scrimmage, and had a meeting at 6:3o at the school. I mentioned I would be happy to talk to him after that, so he sent me an e-mail. He is a pretty smart guy :-)
Football is still a political mess, but at least we are working through it. I am co-managing the team and starting to think that was a mistake. I am used to doing everything and not trusting that anyone else will do anything (I know, minor control issues). So, I figure my counterpart goes to the practices and is basically plays the team mom, while I manage paperwork, rosters, lists, etc. The problem is that I send out the paperwork requests, schedule changes, what have you and make sure that the e-mail is also sent to her so that she knows what I am working on. Two days later she will call me or e-mail me that that called all of the parents for the same information that I e-mailed about, in a hurry, on my way out the door. If she was going to do it anyway, I wouldn't have bothered. I love the woman, but she is getting on my last nerve.
Come to find out Jess thinks that his Mom is not really in remission and she is just telling everyone that so that they won't push her on why she is not doing chemo. I think at this point, she has just accepted the inevitable and is trying not to add to the $100,000 of debt that they now have due to the cancer - that had now actually spread to her knees. The doctor told Jess that he has never seen this type of cancer ever go into remission and that the chemo just prolongs her life for a little while. She is supposed to go back in November, so hopefully we will know more then.
Lastly, my Stepmom and I had to put my Dad in the hospital last week for what we thought were hallucinations due to a new pain medication that is known to cause insomnia and hallucinations. He had already called the cops on people that were in his house that weren't really there. He was verbally vicious and threatened my stepmom to me over the phone. It was an empty threat and he hadn't been physical, but verbal threats were still enough to make me worry since he was not a sane state of mind. For his own safety and hers we did what we had to do. He drove himself to the hospital (because he wouldn't ride with us), signed the ER paperwork, and based on the triage nurse and doctore evaluation she and I had to admit him. Her signature, but both of our names are on the petition. We expected the drug to wear off after a couple of days and then, based on our research, he would snap out of it. Wrong, he woke up pissed, blocked all communication and blocked all information going to her or I. One week later and a judge has dicatated that he belongs in the hospital and the lines of communication are slowly opening up. I found out today that there have been no improvement and they are thinking that this is something more severe than a side effect. I am going to go to the hospital to see if he will see me tomorrow - cross your fingers, since he wouldn't return my phone call. Also, pray that I have the patience with him that I need and don't take his ramblings to heart. He just gets so nasty right now that I am thinking my Stepmom may be earning Sainthood. I need to just keep telling myself that he does understand reality and that he doesn't know what he is saying.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
MIL news
Hey all, just wanted to let everyone know that I received the news yesterday that my Ex-Mother in Law is in remission. They are watching her closely and she needs to go back in three months for tests, but the news is good for now.
Thank you for all your prayers and support.
I will write more later.
Thank you for all your prayers and support.
I will write more later.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Hectic summer
The past two months I have painted 3 rooms, stripped the deck floor and restained it, and stained the picnic table. I have thrown a party for 65 people and I have blisters from raking the yard. I have refinanced one car in order to add another car (that I was not supposed to receive until next year) to my monthly finances. I hopefully have carpet being layed in the next few days and I still need to have my driveway resurfaced.
I have had a few customer appointments, gone to two football camps, 3 days of sales meetings, and ran Jason to speed and agility clinics throughout the month of July.
This is my last weekend before I start traveling again - Terre Haute, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Upper Peninsula, and Minneapolis all before the end of August. And, I am sure there will be more. It is also the last weekend before football practice starts - 5 days a week starting Monday.
Ira will be at a golf tournament all weekend and Jason will be with his Dad. If anyone is looking for me I will be at the beach. By myself. With a book and my raft for 1.
I have had a few customer appointments, gone to two football camps, 3 days of sales meetings, and ran Jason to speed and agility clinics throughout the month of July.
This is my last weekend before I start traveling again - Terre Haute, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Upper Peninsula, and Minneapolis all before the end of August. And, I am sure there will be more. It is also the last weekend before football practice starts - 5 days a week starting Monday.
Ira will be at a golf tournament all weekend and Jason will be with his Dad. If anyone is looking for me I will be at the beach. By myself. With a book and my raft for 1.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Vacation
I am back to work, but all in all my vacation was pretty nice. We didn't go anywhere specifically, but just stayed close to home.
Monday was Jason's birthday so we did what he wanted to do and that included 9 holes of golf and lunch at Chili's. He requested bbq chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans for dinner, but it started to rain and I didn't feel like grilling in the rain. So, we went to Aubree's for pizza. For his and Ira's birthday (Friday) I gave them both bright and shiny #11 Devin Thomas Redskins jerseys, and ironically enough, as soon as we walked into Aubree's Devin was standing right by the door. So, Jason now has an autographed #11 Redskins jersey.
Tuesday we just hung out and played an NFL trivia game - he won in double overtime.
Wednesday, I took Jason and his friend Chris to the water park. It was nice to hang out in the lazy river and get some sun. Wednesday afternoon Jason started speed and agility training, so it was an exhausting day for both of us.
Thursday morning the three of us golfed 18 holes of golf and I made Jason's birthday dinner that I didn't make for him on his birthday.
Friday as Ira's birthday so Jason and I celebrated it by going to see Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D - very cool BTW. For dinner that night Ira requested Blimpyburger, so it was greasy burgers for 5.
Saturday it was boating and tubing with friends - 4 adults and 10 kids, crazy and fun.
Aahh, Sunday, my last day off - painting, running to Stockbridge, and Hartland. Great fun - woo hoo :-)
Monday was Jason's birthday so we did what he wanted to do and that included 9 holes of golf and lunch at Chili's. He requested bbq chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans for dinner, but it started to rain and I didn't feel like grilling in the rain. So, we went to Aubree's for pizza. For his and Ira's birthday (Friday) I gave them both bright and shiny #11 Devin Thomas Redskins jerseys, and ironically enough, as soon as we walked into Aubree's Devin was standing right by the door. So, Jason now has an autographed #11 Redskins jersey.
Tuesday we just hung out and played an NFL trivia game - he won in double overtime.
Wednesday, I took Jason and his friend Chris to the water park. It was nice to hang out in the lazy river and get some sun. Wednesday afternoon Jason started speed and agility training, so it was an exhausting day for both of us.
Thursday morning the three of us golfed 18 holes of golf and I made Jason's birthday dinner that I didn't make for him on his birthday.
Friday as Ira's birthday so Jason and I celebrated it by going to see Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D - very cool BTW. For dinner that night Ira requested Blimpyburger, so it was greasy burgers for 5.
Saturday it was boating and tubing with friends - 4 adults and 10 kids, crazy and fun.
Aahh, Sunday, my last day off - painting, running to Stockbridge, and Hartland. Great fun - woo hoo :-)
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Revelations
I am the adult child of an alcoholic father and stepmother. I don't think this is news to anyone that knows me, or at least knows me well. My dad has been a drinker and smoker my whole life and my stepmom has been in my life since I was 11 and she was 24.
I could list out a long list of fabulous memories that this disease and addictions have left implanted on my brain. But, I won't. But, it is easy enough to understand why I don't smoke, do drugs, or drink heavily. I have seen enough of the negative results to never want to be in that situation, not put my son through what I had to go through.
As a teenager, I had a smart mouth on me - *shocker*, and got my face slapped a few times for calling my parents drunks, tearing up cigarettes, pouring pepper in beer, etc. The fact of the matter is that I wanted everything to just be fixed, I couldn't stand people I love killing themselves. At 16 I ran away and at 19 I moved out and bought a place with my now ex-husband.
Ok, so that is the summary of the backstory. Now, my dad has gone through rehab (didn't work), almost died from heart failure (at least quit smoking), and was pulled over and charged with a DWI (yep, that did it). He has been going to AA meetings for a year, he was not smoking (was), and has not been drinking (at least not around me). I know, as as adult and through alot of experience, that people with addictions cannot be forced to quit these addictions and change. You can only be supportive of them, but not the behavior, and just be there when they need you.
So, now my stepmom refuses to change. My dad asked her to quit drinking, and told her if she didn't that she might as well go buy him a carton of cigarettes. So, she went and bought him a carton. This absolutely shows a higher desire to not change, than respecting and loving the person that is asking you to change. Plus, he almost died from this crap. You would think she would want to keep him healthy and get herself healthy, but no, she is just too far deep. In fact, I remember her telling me when she was 26 or 27 that drinking and smoking were two of the only things she enjoyed and she wouldn't quit. It's sad that anyone would really think that at that age.
Now, my dad is at his wits end and can't stand to see her drunk all the time. So, he has even told me that he has started drinking because he can't deal with her. This, of course led to a couple hours of conversation on keeping himself healthy first, not falling into the old traps, and leaving the house if necessary to step away from the situation. The funny thing is that after years of dealing with this, I know you can't make anyone change in this situation and that they will hopefully change when they are ready. After all, it took him until he was 61. He actually doesn't understand this, yet that was HIM!!!
I have told him to look inside of him and to remember how he felt when people tried to make him change before he was ready. And to remember that rehab and almost dieing didn't work for him and that nobody is really sure what the right mix will be to make the switch.
I keep urging him to be strong, don't dictate, and be loving. Show her that he is worried about her. Besides the addictions, she is also having stomach issues and hardly eating. So, of course, I am urging that he tries to get her to a doctor to get her healthy and then address the addictions.
The end of it, she is not listening, he doesn't know how to handle it, and I am afraid he is going to just fall back into his issues in order to deal with her. And, how can I help? That I am not so sure of either. I actually suggested discussing this at his next AA meeting because I am sure there are people there that may be going through this same situation.
Knowing me, I am sure I will end up confronting her about it as well. Not that she hasn't been hearing this from me for more than 20 years and she is hearing it from my dad on a daily basis, but maybe it will take both of us showing that we are concerned - who knows. The fact is that you never know what is going on inside someones head who is so far into their disease that they are scared to get clean.
I could list out a long list of fabulous memories that this disease and addictions have left implanted on my brain. But, I won't. But, it is easy enough to understand why I don't smoke, do drugs, or drink heavily. I have seen enough of the negative results to never want to be in that situation, not put my son through what I had to go through.
As a teenager, I had a smart mouth on me - *shocker*, and got my face slapped a few times for calling my parents drunks, tearing up cigarettes, pouring pepper in beer, etc. The fact of the matter is that I wanted everything to just be fixed, I couldn't stand people I love killing themselves. At 16 I ran away and at 19 I moved out and bought a place with my now ex-husband.
Ok, so that is the summary of the backstory. Now, my dad has gone through rehab (didn't work), almost died from heart failure (at least quit smoking), and was pulled over and charged with a DWI (yep, that did it). He has been going to AA meetings for a year, he was not smoking (was), and has not been drinking (at least not around me). I know, as as adult and through alot of experience, that people with addictions cannot be forced to quit these addictions and change. You can only be supportive of them, but not the behavior, and just be there when they need you.
So, now my stepmom refuses to change. My dad asked her to quit drinking, and told her if she didn't that she might as well go buy him a carton of cigarettes. So, she went and bought him a carton. This absolutely shows a higher desire to not change, than respecting and loving the person that is asking you to change. Plus, he almost died from this crap. You would think she would want to keep him healthy and get herself healthy, but no, she is just too far deep. In fact, I remember her telling me when she was 26 or 27 that drinking and smoking were two of the only things she enjoyed and she wouldn't quit. It's sad that anyone would really think that at that age.
Now, my dad is at his wits end and can't stand to see her drunk all the time. So, he has even told me that he has started drinking because he can't deal with her. This, of course led to a couple hours of conversation on keeping himself healthy first, not falling into the old traps, and leaving the house if necessary to step away from the situation. The funny thing is that after years of dealing with this, I know you can't make anyone change in this situation and that they will hopefully change when they are ready. After all, it took him until he was 61. He actually doesn't understand this, yet that was HIM!!!
I have told him to look inside of him and to remember how he felt when people tried to make him change before he was ready. And to remember that rehab and almost dieing didn't work for him and that nobody is really sure what the right mix will be to make the switch.
I keep urging him to be strong, don't dictate, and be loving. Show her that he is worried about her. Besides the addictions, she is also having stomach issues and hardly eating. So, of course, I am urging that he tries to get her to a doctor to get her healthy and then address the addictions.
The end of it, she is not listening, he doesn't know how to handle it, and I am afraid he is going to just fall back into his issues in order to deal with her. And, how can I help? That I am not so sure of either. I actually suggested discussing this at his next AA meeting because I am sure there are people there that may be going through this same situation.
Knowing me, I am sure I will end up confronting her about it as well. Not that she hasn't been hearing this from me for more than 20 years and she is hearing it from my dad on a daily basis, but maybe it will take both of us showing that we are concerned - who knows. The fact is that you never know what is going on inside someones head who is so far into their disease that they are scared to get clean.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
7/4/08
It was a quiet July 4th until 10:00 anyway.
We technically didn't have the kids and we didn't have any company. So, for the first time in a couple of years Ira and I could just do what we wanted to do for July 4th.
Jason was only supposed to be here in the morning, so I got up and made french toast and bacon before he went off to spend the day with his dad. Since his dad will be working at the beer tent at the club on Saturday, they were supposed to spend the whole day together. I did not know my french toast would throw everything off so badly.
I made breakfast around 10 and Jason just called his Dad back to tell him he was going to eat here since I had made breakfast. Meanwhile, Jess decided that he and Janine (girlfriend) were going out for breakfast. Jason called him at 11 and was told that they would be back in a little bit, half hour at the most.
At 11:45, Ira and I rode our bikes down to the parade and Jason chose to stay at home. At 12:35 I get a text that Jason was where we normally sit to watch the parade, but Ira and I were in a different spot. Come to find out he had walked down to the parade because he had gotten tired of waiting for his dad.
After the parade, I had a very slow bike ride home, in order to keep up with my son who (for some reason I still don't understand) walked. It was after 1:00 before Jess and Janine finally came back and called Jason to see if he wanted to watch a movie with them. At this point, he's pissed and declines.
Ira and I went to the store to decide what we wanted for dinner, at least pretty sure it will only be us for dinner anyway. NY Strip, salad, grilled potatos, and strawberry shortcake for dessert.
Jason finally decides to ride his bike (novel idea) to his grandma's and ends up between there and with Jess for the rest of the night.
Ira and I then hung out, had dinner, and rode our bikes up to the fireworks. From there is was cannons, bombs, guns, explosives until midnight. Well, not really, but it sounded like we were in the middle of a war with all the fireworks going off in the area. But, it's July 4th, why not make a lot of noise to celebrate!!
Today, we have a party to go to, and Jason will be going with us. As noted, in one of my last posts, he has been spending a lot more time at home and the story above has become day-to-day. Ira and I are starting to think there may be a bit of a Janine conspiracy going on and Jess just can't see it. But, I feel sorry for Jason, and I have tried to stay out of the middle of it. I have just told Jess that Jason just wants to spend time with him, but he has just been too busy for him, and the sad thing is that the busyness really isn't anything of any major consequence - it's just busyness. He only went to 2 baseball games, I have been the one with him at camps, Ira and I will be the ones running him to speed/agility clinics for the next two weeks and Jess is just too blind to see it.
Either he is going to wake up or Jason is going to keep pushing himself away from him, which is the one thing I fought hard to keep together when we divorced - breaks my heart!
We technically didn't have the kids and we didn't have any company. So, for the first time in a couple of years Ira and I could just do what we wanted to do for July 4th.
Jason was only supposed to be here in the morning, so I got up and made french toast and bacon before he went off to spend the day with his dad. Since his dad will be working at the beer tent at the club on Saturday, they were supposed to spend the whole day together. I did not know my french toast would throw everything off so badly.
I made breakfast around 10 and Jason just called his Dad back to tell him he was going to eat here since I had made breakfast. Meanwhile, Jess decided that he and Janine (girlfriend) were going out for breakfast. Jason called him at 11 and was told that they would be back in a little bit, half hour at the most.
At 11:45, Ira and I rode our bikes down to the parade and Jason chose to stay at home. At 12:35 I get a text that Jason was where we normally sit to watch the parade, but Ira and I were in a different spot. Come to find out he had walked down to the parade because he had gotten tired of waiting for his dad.
After the parade, I had a very slow bike ride home, in order to keep up with my son who (for some reason I still don't understand) walked. It was after 1:00 before Jess and Janine finally came back and called Jason to see if he wanted to watch a movie with them. At this point, he's pissed and declines.
Ira and I went to the store to decide what we wanted for dinner, at least pretty sure it will only be us for dinner anyway. NY Strip, salad, grilled potatos, and strawberry shortcake for dessert.
Jason finally decides to ride his bike (novel idea) to his grandma's and ends up between there and with Jess for the rest of the night.
Ira and I then hung out, had dinner, and rode our bikes up to the fireworks. From there is was cannons, bombs, guns, explosives until midnight. Well, not really, but it sounded like we were in the middle of a war with all the fireworks going off in the area. But, it's July 4th, why not make a lot of noise to celebrate!!
Today, we have a party to go to, and Jason will be going with us. As noted, in one of my last posts, he has been spending a lot more time at home and the story above has become day-to-day. Ira and I are starting to think there may be a bit of a Janine conspiracy going on and Jess just can't see it. But, I feel sorry for Jason, and I have tried to stay out of the middle of it. I have just told Jess that Jason just wants to spend time with him, but he has just been too busy for him, and the sad thing is that the busyness really isn't anything of any major consequence - it's just busyness. He only went to 2 baseball games, I have been the one with him at camps, Ira and I will be the ones running him to speed/agility clinics for the next two weeks and Jess is just too blind to see it.
Either he is going to wake up or Jason is going to keep pushing himself away from him, which is the one thing I fought hard to keep together when we divorced - breaks my heart!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Summer cookout
Summer is here! Baseball is over!!
So, in the past few weeks we have had 2 football camps, baseball games, a friend visit from out of state which led to hanging out with friends 2 weeks ago, a birthday party that we were supposed to go to a week ago, but Ira got sick, our own party this past weekend, another party on Saturday, 2 birthdays next week, 2 weeks of speed/agility/power training, and possibly a basketball camp. And - 1 week of vacation. Phew!!
Our party went great. It started with the first ring of the doorbell at 7:55 am which led to Ira paintballing with 5 kids for 4 hours while I finished setting up the yard. Patiently waiting for the second rain to stop, of course.
At 1 we picked up the kids and they had two hours to get cleaned up before the cookout.
After that I still had to go pick up the cake, since it wasn't ready early like I had hoped. When I came back there was mud on my carpet from a paintballer and 10 lbs of rock solid frozen burger (that was being dropped off when I left) on my counter. How am I supposed to make burgers and sloppy joes with frozen burger and now I have to go get the mud spots out of my carpet. Oh yeah, and I have one hour before more people start showing up. But, thank goodness that is where the drama ended and 6 lbs of burger went into a sink of water :-)
We had 60 people through our house until 3 am. There was redneck golf, kickball, water balloons, water buckets, hoses, and alot of wet kids. There was great food, good times, and lots of laughter. There was a even a dog fight (okay, so it was one more piece of drama) between Sasha and my parents dog, Rusty. I am pretty sure I will have scars from where I was bit due to that piece of excitement. We had a bonfire later at night, but since the kids had gone through approximately 6 12 packs of faygo, cookies, brownies, and cake, I decided to keep the smores stuff in the cupboard.
We went to bed around 3 and the 7 boys in my basement went to sleep between 3 and 4 am. The poor dog looked at me like I was crazy when I said let's go to bed and she had to climb the stairs. She is used to going to bed at 10 and she was exhausted.
I was up at 9:15 the next morning to start cleaning up the yard, deck, garage, and kitchen. I made the kids cinnamon rolls and they were having so much fun they were calling their parents to stay longer. I have to admit I was ready for an empty house by that point.
There was a pool party at 1 for the spring baseball and soccer teams that I opted out of, but Ira took Jason and Alison. At 1:30, after 2 weeks of planning, shopping, cooking, painting, cleaning, and socializing, I didn't have to do anything and I had a kid-free quiet house.
So, in the past few weeks we have had 2 football camps, baseball games, a friend visit from out of state which led to hanging out with friends 2 weeks ago, a birthday party that we were supposed to go to a week ago, but Ira got sick, our own party this past weekend, another party on Saturday, 2 birthdays next week, 2 weeks of speed/agility/power training, and possibly a basketball camp. And - 1 week of vacation. Phew!!
Our party went great. It started with the first ring of the doorbell at 7:55 am which led to Ira paintballing with 5 kids for 4 hours while I finished setting up the yard. Patiently waiting for the second rain to stop, of course.
At 1 we picked up the kids and they had two hours to get cleaned up before the cookout.
After that I still had to go pick up the cake, since it wasn't ready early like I had hoped. When I came back there was mud on my carpet from a paintballer and 10 lbs of rock solid frozen burger (that was being dropped off when I left) on my counter. How am I supposed to make burgers and sloppy joes with frozen burger and now I have to go get the mud spots out of my carpet. Oh yeah, and I have one hour before more people start showing up. But, thank goodness that is where the drama ended and 6 lbs of burger went into a sink of water :-)
We had 60 people through our house until 3 am. There was redneck golf, kickball, water balloons, water buckets, hoses, and alot of wet kids. There was great food, good times, and lots of laughter. There was a even a dog fight (okay, so it was one more piece of drama) between Sasha and my parents dog, Rusty. I am pretty sure I will have scars from where I was bit due to that piece of excitement. We had a bonfire later at night, but since the kids had gone through approximately 6 12 packs of faygo, cookies, brownies, and cake, I decided to keep the smores stuff in the cupboard.
We went to bed around 3 and the 7 boys in my basement went to sleep between 3 and 4 am. The poor dog looked at me like I was crazy when I said let's go to bed and she had to climb the stairs. She is used to going to bed at 10 and she was exhausted.
I was up at 9:15 the next morning to start cleaning up the yard, deck, garage, and kitchen. I made the kids cinnamon rolls and they were having so much fun they were calling their parents to stay longer. I have to admit I was ready for an empty house by that point.
There was a pool party at 1 for the spring baseball and soccer teams that I opted out of, but Ira took Jason and Alison. At 1:30, after 2 weeks of planning, shopping, cooking, painting, cleaning, and socializing, I didn't have to do anything and I had a kid-free quiet house.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Hair removal
A friend of mine posted this on myspace and it is soooo funny that I had to share.
(I don't have a clue as to who wrote this, but....WHAT A RIOT!)
All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy,painless removal - The Epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now...the wax.
Read on.........
My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully inmy mind for the next few hours:
'Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet.' So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom.
It was one of those 'cold wax' kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off.
No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out.(YA THINK!?!)
So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each otherstuck together.Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees.
('Cold wax,' yeah..right!) I lay the strip across my thigh.Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works!
OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all waywardbody hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire.
With my next wax strip I move north.After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Usingthe same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it *was* a long strip) I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!!
I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!!
Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip.CRAP! Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted. I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...must stay conscious.
Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal.I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has causedme so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel inthe glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip.
There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX???
Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see thehair. The hair that should be on the strip...it's not! I touch.I am touching wax.
I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down.
Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut!
I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself 'Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!' What can I do to melt the wax?
Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right??? *WRONG!!!!!!!*
I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax.
So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!!
I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter 'So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!'
There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactlywhere the wax is located, 'Are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?'
She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box.
YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night.
While we go through various solutions. I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor .Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hotwater and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!!
By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event.
My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and OH MY GOD!!!!!!!
The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. 'IT WORKS!! It works!!'
I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my griefand despair....THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT!
So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point.
Next week I'm going to try hair color...
(I don't have a clue as to who wrote this, but....WHAT A RIOT!)
All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy,painless removal - The Epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now...the wax.
Read on.........
My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully inmy mind for the next few hours:
'Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet.' So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom.
It was one of those 'cold wax' kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off.
No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out.(YA THINK!?!)
So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each otherstuck together.Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees.
('Cold wax,' yeah..right!) I lay the strip across my thigh.Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works!
OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all waywardbody hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire.
With my next wax strip I move north.After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Usingthe same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it *was* a long strip) I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!!
I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!!
Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip.CRAP! Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted. I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...must stay conscious.
Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal.I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has causedme so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel inthe glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip.
There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX???
Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see thehair. The hair that should be on the strip...it's not! I touch.I am touching wax.
I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down.
Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut!
I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself 'Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!' What can I do to melt the wax?
Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right??? *WRONG!!!!!!!*
I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax.
So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!!
I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter 'So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!'
There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactlywhere the wax is located, 'Are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?'
She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box.
YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night.
While we go through various solutions. I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor .Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hotwater and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!!
By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event.
My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and OH MY GOD!!!!!!!
The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. 'IT WORKS!! It works!!'
I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my griefand despair....THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT!
So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point.
Next week I'm going to try hair color...
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Motherhood
I was never a crier until my son was born, now it seems like the littlest things he does makes me cry or come close to it anyway. I still tear up when I think of how he almost knocked his preschool teacher of two years off the stage at preschool graduation. He had Miss Chrissy for two years and she was moving at the end of the school year. He literally ran across the stage and gave her the biggest hug when she called his name to get his certificate (diploma would be a stretch).
Jason and I have a great bond and he is the one person in my life that I love completely with 100% of me. Not that I don't love everyone else in my life (Ira, my Dad, etc), but with your kids it is different. The best part is that I have no doubt in my mind how much he knows I love him.
Now, this may have to do with the fact that we are not actually together 100% of the time. I generally travel three days a week and part of this is overnight. Plus, he has spent at 2 - 4 nights a week with his dad since he was 3. There are those occasions when he may be home for a week while I am home on vacation or if we go somewhere, but for the past two weeks he has spent one night with his Dad. This has mostly been due to illnesses. Grnadma has a cold and her immune system is already low. Jason had a small bug lat week. His Dad has been sick twice with two different things the past two weeks. And, there has been two football camps on top of that. So, he and I have been together pretty much since he got out of school on the 10th.
While some parents may find this unusual because they are with their kids all of the time, for Jason and I this is unusual. And by now we would be driving each other nuts. But, we don't seem to be, he has been wanting to go with me everywhere. At 12 - this is not a normal occurance for any boy. But, I will take it while I have it. He will be a full teenager before I know it and who knows where that may lead. I know I was a handful in those years :-)
Jason and I have a great bond and he is the one person in my life that I love completely with 100% of me. Not that I don't love everyone else in my life (Ira, my Dad, etc), but with your kids it is different. The best part is that I have no doubt in my mind how much he knows I love him.
Now, this may have to do with the fact that we are not actually together 100% of the time. I generally travel three days a week and part of this is overnight. Plus, he has spent at 2 - 4 nights a week with his dad since he was 3. There are those occasions when he may be home for a week while I am home on vacation or if we go somewhere, but for the past two weeks he has spent one night with his Dad. This has mostly been due to illnesses. Grnadma has a cold and her immune system is already low. Jason had a small bug lat week. His Dad has been sick twice with two different things the past two weeks. And, there has been two football camps on top of that. So, he and I have been together pretty much since he got out of school on the 10th.
While some parents may find this unusual because they are with their kids all of the time, for Jason and I this is unusual. And by now we would be driving each other nuts. But, we don't seem to be, he has been wanting to go with me everywhere. At 12 - this is not a normal occurance for any boy. But, I will take it while I have it. He will be a full teenager before I know it and who knows where that may lead. I know I was a handful in those years :-)
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Day by day
With my job, the summers tend to slow down for traveling. So, it's been a lot of baseball games and working from my home office. However, last week Jason had football camp at Grand Valley, so we stayed in Grandville for two nights. He was at camp all day and I was visiting with customers.
It was a actually a nice little non-vacation. Both nights we were there we went to see the West Michigan Whitecaps. They are the Tigers minor league team in Comstock Park. I have also taken Jason and Ira to see the Indianapolis Indians, but that game was rained out in the 3rd inning. I love the minor league games, they are action packed and family oriented. The first night we were in the 4th row behind 1st base. We were close to all of the action between innings and the first baseman even through Jason a ball from the 3rd out of the inning.
He had so much fun that he wanted to go back. The next night we bought lawn seats and sat in left field because that is where most of the foul balls go. This crowd was lame. They didn't get excited, they didn't cheer, they didn't even clap. So, since this night was not nearly as full as the night before we packed up our blanket and moved back to the section from the night before. At least, that sections gets into the game.
We came home on Friday and had baseball games Saturday and Sunday. Plus a friend of ours had been staying at our house since Thursday. So, Ira and I went out with him Friday night and we all went to dinner Saturday night. On top of that, I decided to finally start painting my house. We have lived there for 3 years and I have only painted 2 rooms. So, now I have paint for the living room (and hallway), kitchen, and Jason's room. I already have paint for Ira's kids room, so that just leaves the basement, upstairs bath, and our room. I am hoping to have the living room (3 walls have 1 coat on them) and kitchen done by the end of June (maybe Jason's room too) and the hallway and kids room done by the end of July.
So, that is all for now. I will try to write more over the next week.
It was a actually a nice little non-vacation. Both nights we were there we went to see the West Michigan Whitecaps. They are the Tigers minor league team in Comstock Park. I have also taken Jason and Ira to see the Indianapolis Indians, but that game was rained out in the 3rd inning. I love the minor league games, they are action packed and family oriented. The first night we were in the 4th row behind 1st base. We were close to all of the action between innings and the first baseman even through Jason a ball from the 3rd out of the inning.
He had so much fun that he wanted to go back. The next night we bought lawn seats and sat in left field because that is where most of the foul balls go. This crowd was lame. They didn't get excited, they didn't cheer, they didn't even clap. So, since this night was not nearly as full as the night before we packed up our blanket and moved back to the section from the night before. At least, that sections gets into the game.
We came home on Friday and had baseball games Saturday and Sunday. Plus a friend of ours had been staying at our house since Thursday. So, Ira and I went out with him Friday night and we all went to dinner Saturday night. On top of that, I decided to finally start painting my house. We have lived there for 3 years and I have only painted 2 rooms. So, now I have paint for the living room (and hallway), kitchen, and Jason's room. I already have paint for Ira's kids room, so that just leaves the basement, upstairs bath, and our room. I am hoping to have the living room (3 walls have 1 coat on them) and kitchen done by the end of June (maybe Jason's room too) and the hallway and kids room done by the end of July.
So, that is all for now. I will try to write more over the next week.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Memorial Day Weekend 08
My weekend was exhausting, but fun. I will say that by Sunday night, Ira and I had lost the ability and desire to socialize. While I did actually work Friday, the events started Thursday night.
Friday night was a birthday party to which I ate greasy food and had a drink in between 3 beers. Needless to say, it is Wednesday and my stomach is still not quite right.
I drove like a maniac (okay, maybe not quite a maniac) to get back home for Jason's baseball game. And, then we had to go pick up the dog. Her name is Sasha and she is one of two Australian Cattle Dog sisters that my ex adopted a couple of years ago as puppies. Her sister, Megan, went to another family a few months ago due to the fact that both dogs together was complete chaos. Due to my Ex-MIL's illness, taking care of the dog became more of a chore than she could really handle and my Ex-FIL wanted to deal with. Since my ex is practically living with his girlfriend, who happens to be allergic, he can no longer really pick up the slack and in reality, Sasha is more Jason's than anyone else's. So, I could not live with myself if I didn't at least try to take her in since he is already losing his Grandmother. I just can't pile the dog on too.
We have not had a dog up to this point, because of my two adorable cats. One of which thinks he is God and does not like any other animals. I think he tolerates the smaller cat because she is smaller and he can beat her up. Hence, our now blustering household of animal stress. I did the swap rooms so that they can get used to each other's scent tactic. I have even done one-on-one screen therapy (I have the scratch to prove that one). After needing to dig one cat out of behind the furnace twice and lock the dog up so I can get the other cat out of my bedroom without Sasha chasing he back into it, I think we are starting to make progress. Well, kinda. The dog stays outside most of the day and the cats have found refuge in the basement. I think they are even forming an alliance since they both hate and are scared to death of the dog. We're almost to a week, so we will see how it goes from here.
Friday night was a birthday party to which I ate greasy food and had a drink in between 3 beers. Needless to say, it is Wednesday and my stomach is still not quite right.
Saturday was a fun day with an old friend I haven't seen since he graduated high school in 1990. We went to his and his wife's house and hung out, grilled, played horseshoes, and pool. I think everyone had a good time. You just never know how those reunions will work out after 20 years, but I can honestly say that it went really well and it was nice to get back in touch. However, by the end of the night I was so drained and fighting a headache (probably still from the night before) that I took a Tylenol PM and just crashed.
Sunday morning was church, followed by a wedding in the afternoon. After we ate at the reception Ira and I both stopped talking to anyone. We were even invited to a bonfire afterwards, but just went straight home and vegged for the rest of the night.
Monday was "we will not accept any invitations and not leave the house day." We both had stuff to do around the house, but it was so hot that Ira decided not to mow the lawn. However, it was perfect steamcleaning weather (still trying to get the stains out of my carpet from my cat who had a blatter infection), the carpets were dry in no time. We did actually leave the house since I did promise Jason we would try to go to the movies to see Indiana Jones.
I am glad that our social calendar was active, but it did feel like our weekend flew by way too fast. I am home the next couple of weeks though, so I am sure I have time to recupe.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Humbly appreciative
I just want to give a big thank to you to all of the love you guys have shown concerning my ex-MIL's battle with cancer. I am humbled and appreciative by the support, donations, and prayers. I hope that I am granted with a situation, albeit positive, that I am able to repay all of your genorosity.
xoxo
xoxo
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Charity Garage Sale
Last Friday, the Biopsy and MRI results showed that my ex Mother-in-Law does not have lung cancer, but low cell cancer. This is a very aggressive cancer and they have found cancerous cells in her liver, lungs, spine, neck. throat, and brain. If she did nothing the doctors gave her a month to live. She has opted for chemo and radiation and even with that the doctors are saying probably no more than 9 months.
I do have the charity garage sale information to pass along for anyone that would like to contribute items or contribute by shopping.
May 16 - 18
8935 Hamburg Rd
Brighton, MI
For my PQ family that reads this, I will be near the office on Thursday and can stop by to pick up anything you would like to donate.
I do have the charity garage sale information to pass along for anyone that would like to contribute items or contribute by shopping.
May 16 - 18
8935 Hamburg Rd
Brighton, MI
For my PQ family that reads this, I will be near the office on Thursday and can stop by to pick up anything you would like to donate.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Day of bad news
My one piece of good news - my new dishwasher was delivered - yeah!
At 6:30 AM we found out that Ira's Gran Gran passed away overnight. She has been deteriorating the past couple of weeks. So, we had kinda been waiting, but it is still sad to see her go. I will personally miss her as she was the one person on Ira's Mom's side of the family that I could relate to.
Since the day was starting poorly and since we were also waiting to see if my ex Mother-in-Law's (and basically Jason's second Mom) test results came in yesterday like expected, I figured I would call Jess (my ex-husband) to get the scoop and really screw up my day before 8 AM. Yes, they came in, but they were not able to diagnose lung cancer, just that she had blockage in her lungs and was now coughing up blood. Well, by 3:30 and after seeing another specialist they did confirm that it is in fact lung cancer. We will not know the severity until after the biopsy - so keep her in your prayers.
In the meantime, she has very limited medical insurance and many of the tests have not been covered. Plus, it sounds like any hospital stays will not be covered. So, there will be a charity garage sale in mid-May to help raise money for the medical bills. If anyone is interested in contributing goods or shopping, please let me know and I will get more details as they become available.
This weekend will be saying goodbye to Gran Gran and the near future will be trying to make Jason's Grandmother as comfortable as possible.
Keep thinking positive thoughts for us.
At 6:30 AM we found out that Ira's Gran Gran passed away overnight. She has been deteriorating the past couple of weeks. So, we had kinda been waiting, but it is still sad to see her go. I will personally miss her as she was the one person on Ira's Mom's side of the family that I could relate to.
Since the day was starting poorly and since we were also waiting to see if my ex Mother-in-Law's (and basically Jason's second Mom) test results came in yesterday like expected, I figured I would call Jess (my ex-husband) to get the scoop and really screw up my day before 8 AM. Yes, they came in, but they were not able to diagnose lung cancer, just that she had blockage in her lungs and was now coughing up blood. Well, by 3:30 and after seeing another specialist they did confirm that it is in fact lung cancer. We will not know the severity until after the biopsy - so keep her in your prayers.
In the meantime, she has very limited medical insurance and many of the tests have not been covered. Plus, it sounds like any hospital stays will not be covered. So, there will be a charity garage sale in mid-May to help raise money for the medical bills. If anyone is interested in contributing goods or shopping, please let me know and I will get more details as they become available.
This weekend will be saying goodbye to Gran Gran and the near future will be trying to make Jason's Grandmother as comfortable as possible.
Keep thinking positive thoughts for us.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Draft day - repost of the MSU/Purdue blog
Today Devin Thomas was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the 2nd round. Which means I now officially have a connection to the NFL. I am very happy for Devin and only want to see him play and succeed. In celebration to that I have reposted the MSU/Purdue blog from November.
MSU vs. Purdue
This picture was in the Free Press yesterday, my son is the little blonde boy on the left and my boyfriend is the tall guy in the gray sweatshirt behind my son. So, at the age of 11, Jason has made his newspaper debut.
They went the MSU game in Purdue on Saturday. Now, while Ira and I are Michigan fans, Ira's cousin Devin #5 is the starting WR at MSU and my son has been completely converted to an MSU fan. And if he wasn't before Saturday, he is now. The game in Purdue was the first time he has gone to a college football game. Plus, he is an avid football fan (gee, I wonder where he gets that from) and he knows all of the players on the MSU roster. On top of that, this kid loves autographs.
So, with all of that in mind, Ira can hardly get Jason to get up and go to the bathroom during the game because he doesn't want to take the chance of missing a thing. With the sharpie in his pocket he was able to meet the entire team after the game and his jersey is packed with signatures. Devin signed the #5 in front and Javon Ringer #23 signed the #5 on the back. The rest of the back of his jersey is filled with black squiggles - Davis, Hoyer, Saint-Dic, etc. Needless to say, he wore the jersey and took the newspaper into school today.
After the day was through he ended up throwing up and came home with a headache. I am guessing it was due to all of the excitement and lack of food (he just wouldn't eat). Unfortunately, there was only two tickets so I didn't get to see all of the excitement, but it fills my heart to know that Saturday will probably be remembered as one of my son's best days ever.
Initially Posted by Shay at 1:02 PM on 11/12/2007
MSU vs. Purdue
This picture was in the Free Press yesterday, my son is the little blonde boy on the left and my boyfriend is the tall guy in the gray sweatshirt behind my son. So, at the age of 11, Jason has made his newspaper debut.
They went the MSU game in Purdue on Saturday. Now, while Ira and I are Michigan fans, Ira's cousin Devin #5 is the starting WR at MSU and my son has been completely converted to an MSU fan. And if he wasn't before Saturday, he is now. The game in Purdue was the first time he has gone to a college football game. Plus, he is an avid football fan (gee, I wonder where he gets that from) and he knows all of the players on the MSU roster. On top of that, this kid loves autographs.
So, with all of that in mind, Ira can hardly get Jason to get up and go to the bathroom during the game because he doesn't want to take the chance of missing a thing. With the sharpie in his pocket he was able to meet the entire team after the game and his jersey is packed with signatures. Devin signed the #5 in front and Javon Ringer #23 signed the #5 on the back. The rest of the back of his jersey is filled with black squiggles - Davis, Hoyer, Saint-Dic, etc. Needless to say, he wore the jersey and took the newspaper into school today.
After the day was through he ended up throwing up and came home with a headache. I am guessing it was due to all of the excitement and lack of food (he just wouldn't eat). Unfortunately, there was only two tickets so I didn't get to see all of the excitement, but it fills my heart to know that Saturday will probably be remembered as one of my son's best days ever.
Initially Posted by Shay at 1:02 PM on 11/12/2007
Saturday, April 19, 2008
My Crazy Life
Sorry I haven't blogged much lately, I have been crazy lately. Back to work after vacation, Jason's baseball season is gearing up, and bowling is gearing down for all of us. On top of that everything is breaking down again - so, it's been a lot of shopping and spending - fax/printer, dishwasher, and riding lawnmower to name a few things that have completley quit and needed to be replaced in the past week. Okay, the lawnmower quit just before the end of summer, but I waited as long as I could before I needed to buy a new one :-)
Fortunately my homeowner's policy kicks in at the end of the month so that we can get the garage door opener and kitchen ceiling fan/light fixed.
So, I am still alive and just really busy. I will write more soon.
Fortunately my homeowner's policy kicks in at the end of the month so that we can get the garage door opener and kitchen ceiling fan/light fixed.
So, I am still alive and just really busy. I will write more soon.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Our trip to the Grand Canyon
It's a long one....
Jason and I started off with a good vacation. We golfed, we hung out at the pool, we went for a couple of drives. Nice and relaxing. And then...we went to Tombstone and all of the reason that my Mother and Stepfather drove me crazy came back like a ton of bricks.
For some reason they don't bother me apart, but when you put them together you may as well send me straight to the loony bin. My Mom had to work until 8:00 at night two days while we were there, which was fine, but that only left us one night to really do anything and that night happened to be their wedding anniversary. So, I offered to take them to dinner in Tombstone since it was going to be our only chance to get out there. First, at this time of the year by 5:30/6:00 most of the shops are closed and none of the activities are going on. So, we went into a couple of shops and had dinner. My Mom and Tom (my stepdad) complained about one thing of another the whole way there and back. Tom is a bit worse than my Mom, but my Mom feeds off of it. The funny thing was that everything that they talked about didn't even effect them...a response to the school system issues, some family who has one son that is gay and one that is in jail, Arab's, Mexicans. Seriously, how can somebody be happy with that much negativity running through their body?
By the time we returned to our hotel I was not sure how I was going to survive the 12 hours round trip to the Grand Canyon. I am a pretty positive person and just do not like to be around that much negativity, let alone for such a long length of time.
That Wednesday Jason and I played golf and then went with Tom to the Pima Air Museum and the Boneyard at MARG (plane restoration and scraping). On the way back, Tom started on me about my sister and how all she wanted was my love. BTW - bad topic with me. I very directly explained to him that I have never turned my sister away but, that I gave up trying a very long time ago and that she knows that anything at this point is 100% up to her, but that she has never made an effort. He went on about his relationship with his brother and how one of them will eventually die and it will be sad if they don't fix everything before then. Well, then maybe he should concentrate on his relationship with his brother because I have not had anything to do with my sister for so long that metaphorically she is already dead to me. Jason and I had dinner by ourselves after that.
Thursday morning came and it was time to head to the Grand Canyon. Jason and I had my laptop, 7 movies, 2 mp3/ipod, puzzle books, and book for each of us. For the 6 hours up, there was some kind of headphones in our ears for the majority of the trip, just to block them out. Let me give you a synopsis...
Jason and I started off with a good vacation. We golfed, we hung out at the pool, we went for a couple of drives. Nice and relaxing. And then...we went to Tombstone and all of the reason that my Mother and Stepfather drove me crazy came back like a ton of bricks.
For some reason they don't bother me apart, but when you put them together you may as well send me straight to the loony bin. My Mom had to work until 8:00 at night two days while we were there, which was fine, but that only left us one night to really do anything and that night happened to be their wedding anniversary. So, I offered to take them to dinner in Tombstone since it was going to be our only chance to get out there. First, at this time of the year by 5:30/6:00 most of the shops are closed and none of the activities are going on. So, we went into a couple of shops and had dinner. My Mom and Tom (my stepdad) complained about one thing of another the whole way there and back. Tom is a bit worse than my Mom, but my Mom feeds off of it. The funny thing was that everything that they talked about didn't even effect them...a response to the school system issues, some family who has one son that is gay and one that is in jail, Arab's, Mexicans. Seriously, how can somebody be happy with that much negativity running through their body?
By the time we returned to our hotel I was not sure how I was going to survive the 12 hours round trip to the Grand Canyon. I am a pretty positive person and just do not like to be around that much negativity, let alone for such a long length of time.
That Wednesday Jason and I played golf and then went with Tom to the Pima Air Museum and the Boneyard at MARG (plane restoration and scraping). On the way back, Tom started on me about my sister and how all she wanted was my love. BTW - bad topic with me. I very directly explained to him that I have never turned my sister away but, that I gave up trying a very long time ago and that she knows that anything at this point is 100% up to her, but that she has never made an effort. He went on about his relationship with his brother and how one of them will eventually die and it will be sad if they don't fix everything before then. Well, then maybe he should concentrate on his relationship with his brother because I have not had anything to do with my sister for so long that metaphorically she is already dead to me. Jason and I had dinner by ourselves after that.
Thursday morning came and it was time to head to the Grand Canyon. Jason and I had my laptop, 7 movies, 2 mp3/ipod, puzzle books, and book for each of us. For the 6 hours up, there was some kind of headphones in our ears for the majority of the trip, just to block them out. Let me give you a synopsis...
- they brought their dog
- after much debate we had BK for lunch
- tom turns into the wrong driveway because he couldn't see the big sign that said Burger King the next driveway up and of course, he complained about us sending him to the wrong place
- We had to eat on the patio because of the dog
- after 4 whopper jr's, 1 large chocloate shake, and fries we are back on the road. Oh, and that is just for my Mom, Tom, and the dog.
- tom puts his elbow into my laptop for the 10th time, easy to do since it is mostly in the back seat
- my mom keeps trying to talk to us like we can hear her.
- once we pull the headphones out, it sounded like this....arby's, snow, there's some water, gas station, no, I don't care about your sale (responding to the commercial on the radio) - seriously do you two ever stop talking? Do you need to read every sign, point out the obvious, and respond to the commercials.
Ah, we are out of the car and I decided halfway through that we would not be sharing a hotel room together. One - based on the reviews, the pet rooms were not great, two - we needed some space, and three - Jason and I had pretty much been sticking to a MI schedule and been asleep around 9 or 9:30 and I didn't want to make it uncomforatable because of that.
So, after we changed clothes and put on our tennis shoes Jason and I are ready to go. It's not even 4:00, we still have plenty of daylight and get some sightseeing done. WRONG! First, we went to their room and asked if they are ready to go, my Mom says, "where the restuarant?" Are you serious - how the heck are you guys hungry after your feast at BK a couple of hours ago? No Mom, not the restuarant, Grand Canyon. Well, she is tired and Tom is going to take a shower. O.K. So, Jason and I walk to to the visitor's center and watch the Grand Canyon movie at the IMAX theatre. Very cool - it gave us some history, took us on an airplane ride, and a rafting ride. After that, we shopped around for a bit and checked out some tour packages. Since we were not going to have time for any tours, we made the decision that we would come back in a couple of years and bring Ira. This would just be our mini-trip.
After that we headed back to our room for a few minutes and then decided we were ready for dinner, which we were going to have with Mom and Tom. Wrong again! They can't leave the dog in the hotel room or the truck. So, they are going to order pizza. We weren't exactly up for pizza and a bit disappointed that they kept changing plans on us that we went to dinner by ourselves. Even Jason at this point is mad and commenting how they keep bailing on us.
The plan the next morning was to meet at 7 to head over to grand canyon because Tom wanted to head back by 11 or 12. Yep - 12 hour trip for 4 hours of sightseeing. Yippee!!
Jason and I took showers the night before so that we could just get up and go the next morning. We were up around 6 and after getting around went to have breakfast. After eating breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express in Benson all week, which is great, we were a little disappointed with the continental breakfast at the Red Feather Lodge. So, we walked across the street to McDonald's ($4.00 for a sausage mcmuffin with egg!! Welcome tourists - hee hee), ate, and made it to Mom and Tom's room by 7:05.
They are not packed and Mom is over at the continental breakfast getting plates for both of them. So, they haven't eaten yet either. Plan change - 7:30. Jason helps my Mom take two big plates of food back to her room and the time changes again to 7:45.
Well, the visitor center does not even open until 8. It would have been helpful if Jason and I would have paid attention to that the night before.
We finally make it to the park and agree to go around the South Rim. Stop, take pictures, get back in the truck. That is pretty much the theme for the next 3.5 hours. It was beautiful and while I couldn't find a complaint in the world, the two in the front seat didn't stop complaining about one thing or another.
When it came to stop 2, I think, there is about 10 foot of rock behind the small walls at the outlook. So, Jason and I are standing up on the wall, sitting on it, and taking pictures. As soon as I get done taking Jason's picture Tom is yelling at Jason to get off of the wall. Strike 2 - if my son is doing something wrong and needs to be yelled at, then fine. However, with 10 foot of rock behind him and the fact that I am taking his picture, and I, being his Mom, am standing right there. Yelling at him was not the smartest thing to do and may be the quickest way to piss me off, but it opened up so fun for Jason and I.
When we got to the grand view site there are hiking trails going down into the canyon. Jason and I were standing on platforms, going down the trails, having fun with it and taking some great pics. However, this bothered Tom so bad that he had to keep going back to the truck. My Mom said that we would have to forgive him, that it just bothers him to see us out there like that. Trust me, Jason and I both have height issues and neither one of us would push it past what we were comfortable with. But, neither one of us had any issues with the heights all morning. So, since we knew it would bother Tom and I was already not happy with him, we looked for every hill, rock, platform that we could get to. And, soon after that Tom's leg was bothering him and he just started staying in the truck. Was it really his leg??? I don't know. I know what we did was bad, but at this point we had to find a way to shake this trip up.
The trip back to Benson was an exact duplicate of the trip there. So much so that I decided to get Tom a set of postive thinking CD's for his birthday. I just don't know how there is really any happiness when you complain about absolutely everything. Not only does it have to be eating him up inside, but it bothers everyone around him - trust me on that. By the time Jason and I got to the airport the next morning I don't think we could run in fast enough. Home sweet home.
On a side note, I apologized to Jason for seeing the crazy side of this set of grandparents. Frankly, I lived with my Dad after they divorced when I was 10, except for one year. I was 16/17 and the summer I was 17 I had my foot operated on and my sister tried to commit suicide. After they put my sister in the mental hospital (she spent time in 2) my Mom became psychotic. She would not let me out of the house and disconnected every phone in the house except the one in her room. After my Dad tried to call for the hundredth time I finally had enough room to hop on one leg to get to the phone and yell for help. My Dad showed up with the police, but they couldn't take me. What they did do was get an emergency court hearing to get me out of there. What I didn't tell Jason is that after the court hearing and a weekend away I came back to a message left at my future in-law's house that my stuff would be in the driveway. Sure enough, she threw all of my belongings in her driveway, including my waterbed frame.
I didn't talk to her for more that a year after that. She didn't even come to my high school graduation, she just dropped my sister off and left. My sister called me down to the hospital after my Aunt (my Mom's closest siter) committed suicide. We at least started to talk after that, and honestly I don't even think about that whole ordeal all that much until I see the crazy, undependable side come out like I did this week.
I told Jason that is why I chose alcohol and smoking (my Dad and Stepmom, who I actually refer to as my parents) over crazy. Jason said that he would have done the same thing.
Sorry about the length, but I think I just needed to download everything out of me :-)
Sunday, April 6, 2008
More AZ pics...
I will blog later about the Grand Canyon and our AZ vacation. But, frankly I am not up to it today. So enjoy the pics for now....
To see them all go to ...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7kwfg1b.8ju01vsz&x=1&y=wtgeic&localeid=en_US
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Arizona vacation - day 2
Yesterday, Jason and I went golfing with my Stepdad. We had actually golfed 18 holes by 11:00, which is pretty good. Jason actually wanted to go back in the afternoon and today. So, we have a tee time to golf 9 holes Wednesday afternoon before we go to the boneyard in Tucson.
We had lunch and came back to the hotel to hang out at the pool. After a lack of sun for so many months and the winds here that helped hide the heat, we are both a little pink.
In the afternoon we decided to go for a ride and headed to the outlet mall in Tucson. We had fun and spent no money - a successful shopping trip :-)
Here are some pics we took yesterday....
We had lunch and came back to the hotel to hang out at the pool. After a lack of sun for so many months and the winds here that helped hide the heat, we are both a little pink.
In the afternoon we decided to go for a ride and headed to the outlet mall in Tucson. We had fun and spent no money - a successful shopping trip :-)
Here are some pics we took yesterday....
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Vacationing in Arizona - day 1
Jason and I are relaxing from our flight before going to a cookout with my Mom and Stepdad. Out flights were smoothe and uneventful. We flew first class from Detroit to Dallas, so Jason has now had his first taste of flying first class and immediately asked if we could also do that on the flight back - we will have to see on that one.
The weather is beautiful - sunny and warm. I will keep the blog posted throughout the week. Sounds like golf tomorrow morning :-)
The weather is beautiful - sunny and warm. I will keep the blog posted throughout the week. Sounds like golf tomorrow morning :-)
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Time...
45 minutes since I turned 35
4 days until I fly to Arizona for vacation
1 month until the NFL draft
3 months and 11 days until Jason turns 12
3 months and 15 days until Ira turns 39 (1 more year to the big 40)
9 months until Christmas
:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)
4 days until I fly to Arizona for vacation
1 month until the NFL draft
3 months and 11 days until Jason turns 12
3 months and 15 days until Ira turns 39 (1 more year to the big 40)
9 months until Christmas
:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Tales from Bloomington
Generally my travels are pretty uneventful, one town to the next, one hotel to the next, one library to the next. However, the last two days have had a strange amount of obscure happenings. Tuesday went pretty smoothe - drove to Richmond, lunch with 2 librarians and a meeting with two more librarians.
Wednesday is where the miscellaneous bad luck started. Nothing major really, just minor little frustrating inconveniences. First of all it had not stopped raining since Tuesday. Secondly, I got lost on my 15 minute trip to IU. I missed my turn and just had myself completely turned around in the rain. I have been to IU dozens of time and can generally get around without a second thought, but my foggy brain just could not comprehend which direction I was supposed to be going in. In this mess, I almost cut somebody off on top of that. But, I made it to the library and even found a close parking spot. On the way in the door, my shoe got stuck in the grate at the bottom of the outside set of the library doors - damnit!
After a valuable meeting, I head back to my hotel for a couple of hours before my next appointment and get frickinig lost on my way back to the hotel - how the heck did that happen?!? But, the good news is that I kinda knew where I was at and actually ended up a little south of where I normally go and found other dining options while I was out. Bonus!
The second appointment went without a hitch, but the third appointment my stupid shoe got stuck in the door again. AGAIN!! I was so tired by the time I got back to my room, I didn't want to go back out in the rain to find dinner. So, I wandered across the street with my book and had catfish, a sweet potato, and a massive margarita - ahhh, life was looking better. I met an older gentleman (also from MI) who works for a company that owns funeral homes and cemetaries. I was very intrigued by this and had lots of questions after my margarita. And in my buzzed state went back to my hotel room and back to work hoping that tomorrow would be better.
Wrong! Breackfast - I ate part of my cinnamon roll, a couple of bits of my cereal and they dumped half of my cereal and milk on top of my roll. Granted I only had 5 minutes to eat anyway. So, I cleaned it up and got a new cinnamon roll. I grabbed a yogurt and threw it in my bag for after my meeting. The highight was that it had at least stopped raining and the sun was out. My appointment went great and I headed out of Bloomington and up to Muncie for an afternoon appointment on my way home. I started fussing with my ipod somewhere along 465 and literally missed my exit to I69 Now this wasn't I saw it and couldn't get over, this was I saw 465 West(I was going North) and there was a familiar apartment complex that I should not be driving by. Crap!! I overshot it by 10 miles, now how did that happen!?! So, I got to Muncie and stopped at McDonald's for lunch. First, no shamrock shakes. They had egg nog shakes into March and they can't keep shamrock shakes three days after St. Patrick's Day? So, I order an iced tea. They are out of iced tea in front, so I go back to the counter to ask for some from the dispenser at the drive thru window. Of course, they don't put a lid on it. So, I go back to the drink counter to put a lid on it - poorly! When I picked up the drink I spilled half of the drink. I cleaned up the counter, but figured they can mop up the floor and I was not going back to the counter for more iced tea. I just wanted out of there at this point.
After my smoothe appointment, I risked a blizzard at DQ on my way out of town, since I didn't get to have the shamrock shake with lunch. Just hoping I did not spill it. Other than waiting 15 minutes behind two cars, I finally ate my first food of the day without some kind of issue.
I must have seen 15 - 20 cops between Bloomington and home, but no tickets and a pretty uneventful trip home from Muncie.
Like I said there wasn't anything major, but it was enough for me to want the week to end and just get the heck home. Luckily, next week is a shorter travel week and vacation is the week after that.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Spring Break
2 weeks until Jason and I leave for Arizona from Spring Break. It has been low to mid 70's during the day which is still warmer than Michigan.
We are going there to visit my Mom and Stepdad and while we are there we are planning to visit Bisbee, Tombstone, and the Grand Canyon. While I have been to Tombstone and Grand Canyon already this should be a great experience for Jason. Frankly, I am just looking forward to getting away, relaxing, and maybe playing a little golf. Here are some pics of where we will be going...
Benson, AZ
Tombstone, AZ
Grand Canyon
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Athletic Supporter
Yes, the name of the title was on purpose.
My son Jason is 11 and has played some sport pretty consistently since he was 4. He started with coach pitch baseball when he was 4, soccer for 6 years (travel for 3), 4 years of basketball, 2 years of a bowling league, 1 year of football, and this spring we are going back to baseball. I can probably count on one hand all of the games I have missed and I travel three days a week. I managed his travel soccer team for 3 years and I will co-manage his football team this year. Ira has been his assistant coach for various basketball teams and his football team. We have literally become friends with the majority of his coaches because we become so involved.
Ask me about stats, weight, milestones, and I can list them off. So, yes, we are probably a little more involved than most parents. I don't expect all parents to take the same amount of interest that we have. But, more than some of the activity that I see.
I honestly think that besides feeling a need to be involved, I am a product of a lack of parent interest. My Mom will tell you how she was at all of my activities and frankly I remember her being involved when I was little with brownies, but I do not remember her at a softball game, any basketball or football games that I cheered at, any cheerleading competitions, band concerts, and frankly she wasn't even at my high school graduation. My Stepmom and Dad did go to my softball games because I was too young to get there myself. But after 6th grade, that was the end of that. However, they were at my plays, concerts, awards ceremonies, and my graduation. Parents nights - my Stepmom walked me out once, my Mom was late once and then immediately left, and my Dad never attended. So, I usually walked with the coach.
If you can't tell, this was a pretty big missing piece in my life and I refuse to not be there for my kid whether he is bowling, playing basketball, or trying to tackle guys three times his size. Now, don't think that I do not know my limits and that he knows that if there is anything he would prefer I don't attend than I understand that as well. Afterall he is getting to that age where he isn't going to want Mom around all the time. But, he is still happy to have me there.
So, based on all of this, I still see these parents that consistently drop their kids off and make a point to not be involved. I know that some parents have obligations that prevent this, but most do not. And, frankly, if I can make the amount of activites that I do with my schedule, I tend to have a little less understanding for those that drop their kids off and then go home to take a nap.
We are having a bit of a political war between our community junior football varisty team and our school middle school football team because they cover the same 7th and 8th grade boys. I won't go into exactly how nasty this has become and how it is effecting our boys, but what I can say is that, in my opinion, it comes down to a couple of major things - money, time, and coaching.
So far we don't know who the school coaches are and I do know that we were happy with the varsity coaches last year (my son played a year early), I also know that Jr. Football is over $200 (compared to over $1000 in soccer fees and travel costs, I have no problem with that) vs. $50 for the school, and I do know that the games are on Saturday with Jr. Football vs. 4:30 on Thursday for the school. I can understand that people may have an issue with the money, maybe they don't like the coaches, and one day is better than the other. Frankly, those are the only three variables that should be evaluated. If none of them make a difference, then you look at what friend is playing where.
So, Jason likes the coaches, I don't care about the $50 vs. $230, but what I do care about is the 4:30 on Thursday - home or 2 hours away. I have a fairly flexible schedule and I would not make all of the games. As far as Jason's dad, he wouldn't be at any and I doubt Ira would make many either.
All in all, I would pay $1000 a season vs. $50 if it made a difference on whether I was able to see my son play any sport or not. I will hopefully always be my son's biggest athletic supporter :-)
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
One Word
I am not feeling very creative today, so I thought I would follow Mary's lead on this one...
You.
Can.
Type.
Only.
One.
Word.
1. Where is your cell phone? credenza
2.Your significant other? Ira
3. Your hair? blowdried
4. Your mother? supportive
5. Your father? addicted
6. Your favorite thing? peace
7. Your dream last night? selfish
8. Your favorite drink? frappaccino
9. Your dream/goal? happy
10. The room you're in? office
11. Your ex? opinionated
12. Your fear? loneliness
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? successful
14. Where were you last night? home
15. What you're not? stupid
16. Muffins? blueberry
17. One of your wish list items? motorcycle
18. Where you grew up? WhitmoreLake
19. The last thing you did? ate
20. What are you wearing? jeans
21. Your TV? everchanging
22. Your pets? cats
23. Your computer? life
24. Your life? great
25. Your mood? optimistic
26. Missing someone? friends
27 Your car? Red
28. Something you're not wearing? glasses
29 Favorite Store? Kohl's
30. Your summer? warm
31. Like someone? yes
32. Your favorite color? red
33. When is the last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? pre-Christmas
35. Who will/would re-post this? dunno
You.
Can.
Type.
Only.
One.
Word.
1. Where is your cell phone? credenza
2.Your significant other? Ira
3. Your hair? blowdried
4. Your mother? supportive
5. Your father? addicted
6. Your favorite thing? peace
7. Your dream last night? selfish
8. Your favorite drink? frappaccino
9. Your dream/goal? happy
10. The room you're in? office
11. Your ex? opinionated
12. Your fear? loneliness
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? successful
14. Where were you last night? home
15. What you're not? stupid
16. Muffins? blueberry
17. One of your wish list items? motorcycle
18. Where you grew up? WhitmoreLake
19. The last thing you did? ate
20. What are you wearing? jeans
21. Your TV? everchanging
22. Your pets? cats
23. Your computer? life
24. Your life? great
25. Your mood? optimistic
26. Missing someone? friends
27 Your car? Red
28. Something you're not wearing? glasses
29 Favorite Store? Kohl's
30. Your summer? warm
31. Like someone? yes
32. Your favorite color? red
33. When is the last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? pre-Christmas
35. Who will/would re-post this? dunno
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Bowling Etiquette
Ira and I went out for a monthly date last night. See my review for dinner at http://monthlycritic.blogspot.com/. And, we decided to go bowling after dinner.
Now, let me start with the fact that this was not our regular bowling alley and since we are league bowlers there is a little less patience on people following the general bowling etiquette rules. Well, at least for me anyway.
So, we went to Ypsi-Arbor Lanes which has the old wood floors and I am pretty sure they are using the initial scoring progam that came out 15 years ago - can you say analog or DOS?!? I think they may have been better off leaving in the transperency lights and scoring papers and promoting it as old-fashioned bowling.
We went down to our lane and before we were even to our third frame we had a group of people (at least 5) on the lane to the left of us. I am pretty sure not one of these people had bowled before and kept walking up and throwing their ball at the same time we would be on our approach - I absolutely HATE this! This is like pulling your golf cart onto the green, it's just something you do not do. Plus, one of the girls stood on the wood portion of the floor between where they were bowling and we were bowling the whole entire time. By the middle of the second game, I was trying to figure out how exactly I could trip one of them that decided to bowl the same time as me. Not to worry, nobody was hurt, frankly because I could not figure out how to do that incospicuously.
Oddly enough, the 3 people that were put on the other side of this group also did not wait for people on the side of them to bowl. Either that or they just gave up on the rude group and decided to bowl and ignore them. Sorry, but it is too much of a distraction for me to ignore them.
I had also remembered a group teenage girls doing at our regular bowling alley who didn't seem to know that you are supposed to take turns with the people on each side of you. So, I have decided to do a public service announcement....
Bowling Etiquette
1. Do not bowl when someone on either side of you is standing on the floor, approaching, or bowling their ball.
2. You can walk up to get ready for your approach, once that person has started their approach. But, do not throw your ball until they have completed their turn.
3. When you have completed your turn, walk back to the non-bowling area. You can walk backwards in order to see how you score, but make sure you are moving.
4. Do not stand on the floor unless your are bowling. Sit your ass down or stand at least 3 feet away from the bowling area.
5. Do not wear street shows on the floor.
6. Do not drink or eat in the bowling area. That is why there are tables and chairs away from the bowling area.
That is pretty much it - pretty simple. The bowling alleys seem to have signs posted for 5 and 6, but they really need to have a sign posted at each lane with all 6 rules. If you are too young, too foriegn, or too stupid to read the signs and cannot follow the rules than please take up a non-social sport that will not get your ass tripped up the lane when you try to do synchromized bowling.
Now, let me start with the fact that this was not our regular bowling alley and since we are league bowlers there is a little less patience on people following the general bowling etiquette rules. Well, at least for me anyway.
So, we went to Ypsi-Arbor Lanes which has the old wood floors and I am pretty sure they are using the initial scoring progam that came out 15 years ago - can you say analog or DOS?!? I think they may have been better off leaving in the transperency lights and scoring papers and promoting it as old-fashioned bowling.
We went down to our lane and before we were even to our third frame we had a group of people (at least 5) on the lane to the left of us. I am pretty sure not one of these people had bowled before and kept walking up and throwing their ball at the same time we would be on our approach - I absolutely HATE this! This is like pulling your golf cart onto the green, it's just something you do not do. Plus, one of the girls stood on the wood portion of the floor between where they were bowling and we were bowling the whole entire time. By the middle of the second game, I was trying to figure out how exactly I could trip one of them that decided to bowl the same time as me. Not to worry, nobody was hurt, frankly because I could not figure out how to do that incospicuously.
Oddly enough, the 3 people that were put on the other side of this group also did not wait for people on the side of them to bowl. Either that or they just gave up on the rude group and decided to bowl and ignore them. Sorry, but it is too much of a distraction for me to ignore them.
I had also remembered a group teenage girls doing at our regular bowling alley who didn't seem to know that you are supposed to take turns with the people on each side of you. So, I have decided to do a public service announcement....
Bowling Etiquette
1. Do not bowl when someone on either side of you is standing on the floor, approaching, or bowling their ball.
2. You can walk up to get ready for your approach, once that person has started their approach. But, do not throw your ball until they have completed their turn.
3. When you have completed your turn, walk back to the non-bowling area. You can walk backwards in order to see how you score, but make sure you are moving.
4. Do not stand on the floor unless your are bowling. Sit your ass down or stand at least 3 feet away from the bowling area.
5. Do not wear street shows on the floor.
6. Do not drink or eat in the bowling area. That is why there are tables and chairs away from the bowling area.
That is pretty much it - pretty simple. The bowling alleys seem to have signs posted for 5 and 6, but they really need to have a sign posted at each lane with all 6 rules. If you are too young, too foriegn, or too stupid to read the signs and cannot follow the rules than please take up a non-social sport that will not get your ass tripped up the lane when you try to do synchromized bowling.
Friday, February 22, 2008
2008
Sorry I have been so scarce lately, work has been crazy hectic.
The other portion of my time seem to be firefighting various issues in my life that I sincerely hope will be coming to an end soon.
Jan 1 - car gets wrecked. I was out of a car for almost two weeks and $500 in deductible.
I was really hoping everything would stop there, but no.
Two weeks ago the chip in my window decided to spread. It has been there for a year with no problems, but I think the cold weather finally got to it. I have not had this fixed yet, though based on the price quotes I received, that will cost $200 - $300 to replace.
Throughout my travels that week, my brakes started pulsing when I would slow down at high speeds, like exiting the expressway. On Thursday of that week, after returning from Fort Wayne my passenger rear door would not close.
Grand total $550 to get me door to close and my brakes fixed.
Last week I was back on the road and driving through a snow storm and I am literally scared to death that anything else will happen to my car to cost me more money. Aha, come to find out, it will not be my car the next time. After noticing a shift in our water pressure, not to mention the obnoxious noise coming from our pump in the basement, our well pump has decided to go out. While we are still okay for now, but that will need to be replaced very soon. The quote on that? You guessed it, another $500. Fortunately, we know a couple of plumbers and will probably be able to get it replaced for $200 - $250.
Lastly, a credit card that was supposed to be settled almost 2 years ago has cropped back up and this 3rd party company who supposedly bought my debt that wasn't supposed to exist now wants $3,000. Do you know how hard it is to research an account that you thought you settled and closed 2 years ago? It is crazy difficult, I have no documentation and only 12 digits of the account from my credit history report. I have been transferred and put on hold so many times that I can't see straight.
On top of $2500 for property taxes, $250 to get my income taxes prepared, and another $200 that I still need to pay for my re-finance closing I am feeling broke and beat up.
Okay, God I get it. Can I please get a break and some big sales to to replenish my savings account now? Sheesh!!!
The other portion of my time seem to be firefighting various issues in my life that I sincerely hope will be coming to an end soon.
Jan 1 - car gets wrecked. I was out of a car for almost two weeks and $500 in deductible.
I was really hoping everything would stop there, but no.
Two weeks ago the chip in my window decided to spread. It has been there for a year with no problems, but I think the cold weather finally got to it. I have not had this fixed yet, though based on the price quotes I received, that will cost $200 - $300 to replace.
Throughout my travels that week, my brakes started pulsing when I would slow down at high speeds, like exiting the expressway. On Thursday of that week, after returning from Fort Wayne my passenger rear door would not close.
Grand total $550 to get me door to close and my brakes fixed.
Last week I was back on the road and driving through a snow storm and I am literally scared to death that anything else will happen to my car to cost me more money. Aha, come to find out, it will not be my car the next time. After noticing a shift in our water pressure, not to mention the obnoxious noise coming from our pump in the basement, our well pump has decided to go out. While we are still okay for now, but that will need to be replaced very soon. The quote on that? You guessed it, another $500. Fortunately, we know a couple of plumbers and will probably be able to get it replaced for $200 - $250.
Lastly, a credit card that was supposed to be settled almost 2 years ago has cropped back up and this 3rd party company who supposedly bought my debt that wasn't supposed to exist now wants $3,000. Do you know how hard it is to research an account that you thought you settled and closed 2 years ago? It is crazy difficult, I have no documentation and only 12 digits of the account from my credit history report. I have been transferred and put on hold so many times that I can't see straight.
On top of $2500 for property taxes, $250 to get my income taxes prepared, and another $200 that I still need to pay for my re-finance closing I am feeling broke and beat up.
Okay, God I get it. Can I please get a break and some big sales to to replenish my savings account now? Sheesh!!!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Back to normal and back on the road
Finally, I feel back to normal today. I was seriously worried that I was going to need to cancel my whole week and stay home, but fortuantely I woke up this morning and felt good.
I am back on the road and currently nestled in Gas City, Indiana. Driving down it was fog off and on due to the warm temperatures. Even at 8:40 PM it is still 42 degrees and supposed to reach the mid - high 50's tomorrow. However, this has also brought major thunderstorms (the radar is bright red, yellow, and green) and a tornado watch until 2 AM. I can't tell you how not excited I am to be in a hotel during a tornado watch, not thrilled at all.
Tomorrow I will continue to take myself north up the east side of Indiana until I am back home on Thursday night just in time to catch Jason's basketball game.
I am back on the road and currently nestled in Gas City, Indiana. Driving down it was fog off and on due to the warm temperatures. Even at 8:40 PM it is still 42 degrees and supposed to reach the mid - high 50's tomorrow. However, this has also brought major thunderstorms (the radar is bright red, yellow, and green) and a tornado watch until 2 AM. I can't tell you how not excited I am to be in a hotel during a tornado watch, not thrilled at all.
Tomorrow I will continue to take myself north up the east side of Indiana until I am back home on Thursday night just in time to catch Jason's basketball game.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Hate being sick!!!
I returned from Vegas on Monday night feeling fine. Tuesday night I came down with a fever and those flu-like pins and needle feeling all over my body. I took Theraflu and slept 13 hours - 1 great benefit of working from home!! That broke the fever, thank God! However, it is Saturday and the pins and needles still reside in my scalp and back. I can't stop blowing my nose, coughing, or sneezing. With the exception on Thursday night, I have been sleeping between 11 - 13 hours a night and still took a two hour nap this afternoon and yesterday during lunch.
We have even postponed our monthly dinner tonight. Why pay $50 for a meal that I am supposed to review if I am not throughly going to enjoy it.
I am supposed to start traveling again on Tuesday, I am really hope this crud goes away by then.
We have even postponed our monthly dinner tonight. Why pay $50 for a meal that I am supposed to review if I am not throughly going to enjoy it.
I am supposed to start traveling again on Tuesday, I am really hope this crud goes away by then.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Good Manners = Great Rewards
I had some errands to run Wednesday night after being gone so much the last 3 weeks. So, Jason and I stopped at TGIFridays for a quick dinner. As we are walking into the restaurant there is another couple behind us. I walked in first and Jason held the door open for the couple behind us. I will also mention that I actually got a "bless you" out of him earlier that day too. Both of these things are pretty rare without some prompting, and trust me we all prompt him alot on his manners.
On to the rest of my story...we had a nice dinner and at the end of dinner I handed the waitress my Gold Points reward card to go with my bill. Another waitress brought back my card with a receipt with just my points on it and said, "your food is all taken care of."
Uh, back up, I'm confused. First of all this receipt says $50.04, giving me 50 points - our bill should have been $20 maybe, at the most. And, what do you mean our food is taken care of. So, I pulled our waitress over and asked about the $50 and the fact that I don't have a bill to pay for. The other waitress comes running over to clear everything up as well - another person paid our bill and used my rewards card to give us all the points as well. They chose to remain anonymous and I didn't get a reason why. I told the waitress to please thank them for me if they were still there and we left.
Well, on top of me already being sick (fighting fever and cough) and the whole bill confusion, I left my cell phone on the table. By the time I returned home and realized this, I started freaking out. I ran right back up to the restaurant to hopefully (praying the whole way) retrieve my phone. Sure enough, the waitstaff had kept it for me and had commented that they were going to try to call somebody, but couldn't figure out how. Well, no, not with all the security measures that the company has in place on our phones. All I cared about was that I had my lifeline back and didn't need to deal with telling the tech department that I lost my phone.
While I was there, the waitress was willing to share with me the whole story about my bill since the people who had paid for it had left. Apparently, it was the couple that walked in behind us. They thought it was great that Jason held the door open for them and paid our bill for us. How sweet is that?!?
If you are having any issues with getting your kids to show good manners, tell them the story. I am really hoping that Jason will have a change of heart now and at least start holiding the door open for everyone :-)
On to the rest of my story...we had a nice dinner and at the end of dinner I handed the waitress my Gold Points reward card to go with my bill. Another waitress brought back my card with a receipt with just my points on it and said, "your food is all taken care of."
Uh, back up, I'm confused. First of all this receipt says $50.04, giving me 50 points - our bill should have been $20 maybe, at the most. And, what do you mean our food is taken care of. So, I pulled our waitress over and asked about the $50 and the fact that I don't have a bill to pay for. The other waitress comes running over to clear everything up as well - another person paid our bill and used my rewards card to give us all the points as well. They chose to remain anonymous and I didn't get a reason why. I told the waitress to please thank them for me if they were still there and we left.
Well, on top of me already being sick (fighting fever and cough) and the whole bill confusion, I left my cell phone on the table. By the time I returned home and realized this, I started freaking out. I ran right back up to the restaurant to hopefully (praying the whole way) retrieve my phone. Sure enough, the waitstaff had kept it for me and had commented that they were going to try to call somebody, but couldn't figure out how. Well, no, not with all the security measures that the company has in place on our phones. All I cared about was that I had my lifeline back and didn't need to deal with telling the tech department that I lost my phone.
While I was there, the waitress was willing to share with me the whole story about my bill since the people who had paid for it had left. Apparently, it was the couple that walked in behind us. They thought it was great that Jason held the door open for them and paid our bill for us. How sweet is that?!?
If you are having any issues with getting your kids to show good manners, tell them the story. I am really hoping that Jason will have a change of heart now and at least start holiding the door open for everyone :-)
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Vegas - Post-Meeting
The sales meeting was fun and educational. It was great to just hang out with friends and re-connect with people I have not seen in awhile (and some of them that I hadn't see in a week since Philly).
Ira flew into Vegas the last day of the sales meeting and we were able to hangout until we flew home on Monday. First we started off with the Monte Carlo fire which we could see from the expressway between Red Rock and Excalibur. And, of course as soon as we startd walking towards our elevators we get attacked by one of the timeshare reps. Did we want to save money on a show - sure. We had already planned on going to one anyway. On the way over to the desk I told Ira this is all on you, but I do not want to go to any presentation. Yeah, right! I am not sure how many times he said sorry in our 4 hour presentation, but we didn't have anything planned anyway and I did get tickets to Tournament of Kings and Mamma Mia, as well as $75 in gaming credit for $140. That would have been over $400 by the way, so I guess it was worth some of our time. We went to dinner that night and had two large drinks at Dick's Last Resort. Due to Ira only being on his second night in Vegas (and not feeling well) plus me being exhausted from the week at the sales meeting we went to bed early.
The next day it was shopping, gambling, walking, a yard of margarita (and a nap immediately after) and dinner with the Tournament of the Kings. At this point I was down $200 to the roulette table and not particularly thrilled about that. So, I put $20 in the penny slot machine and after 2 bonus rounds - bam, $100 back in my pocket.
Sunday it was the gondola ride at the Venetian, lots of walking, a hurricane each, some dinner at House of Blues, and off to Mamma Mia. Stupid me had the times confused from the show the night before and we showed up half an hour late. Crap!!! The usher looked at the ticket and said you are late, I'm sorry that means we will need to sit you closer - YES!!! We initially had center stage tickets in the back section. While we were not in the front row, we were in the front section, just left of center stage. The show was great and we didn't feel like we missed anything at all. Mamma Mia is actually going to be at Fisher Theatre the first week of February, so if you are looking for a fun night out, I highly recommend it. After the show, we had a drink at Dick's Last Resort and off for our last bit of gambling. While Ira was doing well at roulette, I was back down another $40. So, some last love to my penny slot machine and another $60 - Thank goodness for Cash Inferno!!!
When all was said and done I was still down $250, but that happens with gambling and over 8 days that probably isn't too bad.
Breakfast for the last day had been on my mind for 2 days. The mexican restaurant that we had the yard margaritas from serves breakfast until 11 am and I had my mind set on huevos rancheros and a bloody mary for the last day. Especially since I had to be up at 8 for a conference call. And let me tell you, it was worth the wait. Ira and I both cleaned our plates and would have taken more if they offered it.
After breakfast it was off to the airport and a smoothe flight home. Good times!
Ira flew into Vegas the last day of the sales meeting and we were able to hangout until we flew home on Monday. First we started off with the Monte Carlo fire which we could see from the expressway between Red Rock and Excalibur. And, of course as soon as we startd walking towards our elevators we get attacked by one of the timeshare reps. Did we want to save money on a show - sure. We had already planned on going to one anyway. On the way over to the desk I told Ira this is all on you, but I do not want to go to any presentation. Yeah, right! I am not sure how many times he said sorry in our 4 hour presentation, but we didn't have anything planned anyway and I did get tickets to Tournament of Kings and Mamma Mia, as well as $75 in gaming credit for $140. That would have been over $400 by the way, so I guess it was worth some of our time. We went to dinner that night and had two large drinks at Dick's Last Resort. Due to Ira only being on his second night in Vegas (and not feeling well) plus me being exhausted from the week at the sales meeting we went to bed early.
The next day it was shopping, gambling, walking, a yard of margarita (and a nap immediately after) and dinner with the Tournament of the Kings. At this point I was down $200 to the roulette table and not particularly thrilled about that. So, I put $20 in the penny slot machine and after 2 bonus rounds - bam, $100 back in my pocket.
Sunday it was the gondola ride at the Venetian, lots of walking, a hurricane each, some dinner at House of Blues, and off to Mamma Mia. Stupid me had the times confused from the show the night before and we showed up half an hour late. Crap!!! The usher looked at the ticket and said you are late, I'm sorry that means we will need to sit you closer - YES!!! We initially had center stage tickets in the back section. While we were not in the front row, we were in the front section, just left of center stage. The show was great and we didn't feel like we missed anything at all. Mamma Mia is actually going to be at Fisher Theatre the first week of February, so if you are looking for a fun night out, I highly recommend it. After the show, we had a drink at Dick's Last Resort and off for our last bit of gambling. While Ira was doing well at roulette, I was back down another $40. So, some last love to my penny slot machine and another $60 - Thank goodness for Cash Inferno!!!
When all was said and done I was still down $250, but that happens with gambling and over 8 days that probably isn't too bad.
Breakfast for the last day had been on my mind for 2 days. The mexican restaurant that we had the yard margaritas from serves breakfast until 11 am and I had my mind set on huevos rancheros and a bloody mary for the last day. Especially since I had to be up at 8 for a conference call. And let me tell you, it was worth the wait. Ira and I both cleaned our plates and would have taken more if they offered it.
After breakfast it was off to the airport and a smoothe flight home. Good times!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Vegas Chronicles
Day 6 of Las Vegas - 2 more nights to go. The biggest news (and all over CNN too) was watching the Monte Carlo burn. We are staying two hotels down and happen to be on the expressway from Red Rock to the strip shortly after it caught fire. On a positive note, our timing couldn't have been much better, we happen to get to the strip just when they started shutting down the surrounding roads, so we were still able to get into our hotel without much of a problem.
Since I am on day 6, my internal clock has pretty much adjusted to Vegas time. However, it is 11 and I am watching Ira sleep in his clothes, because he wanted to stay awake and not go to bed early two nights in a row. Ahhh - great :-) I have given up and put on my jammies.
More after we get back.....
Since I am on day 6, my internal clock has pretty much adjusted to Vegas time. However, it is 11 and I am watching Ira sleep in his clothes, because he wanted to stay awake and not go to bed early two nights in a row. Ahhh - great :-) I have given up and put on my jammies.
More after we get back.....
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Philly
Finally home from Philadelphia. I took two Tylenol PM last night and just collapsed.
All in all the exhibit hall traffic was a bit slow. Seemed like it would have been busier since we announced a slew of new collections, but we were talking more to each other just so that we would look busy. I prefer to stay busy doing demos, setting up trials, and talking to customers.
Nothing really exciting happened, worked in the booth, had some nice customer meetings and meals. The customer appreciation dinner was very nice and the location was very spacious. Everyone had the chance to sign a book that signified signing the Constitution. All of this was set up in a room in order to give you the feeling of recreating this historic event with bronze statues.
I did get to have a genuine Philly Cheese Steak and I did get to see the Liberty Bell. So, the tourist stuff has been completed :0)
It was fun to see everyone that I haven't seen in a few months, while having a couple of beers and watching the football playoffs. Although, I am not happy that the Cowboys lost.
5 days until Vegas!
All in all the exhibit hall traffic was a bit slow. Seemed like it would have been busier since we announced a slew of new collections, but we were talking more to each other just so that we would look busy. I prefer to stay busy doing demos, setting up trials, and talking to customers.
Nothing really exciting happened, worked in the booth, had some nice customer meetings and meals. The customer appreciation dinner was very nice and the location was very spacious. Everyone had the chance to sign a book that signified signing the Constitution. All of this was set up in a room in order to give you the feeling of recreating this historic event with bronze statues.
I did get to have a genuine Philly Cheese Steak and I did get to see the Liberty Bell. So, the tourist stuff has been completed :0)
It was fun to see everyone that I haven't seen in a few months, while having a couple of beers and watching the football playoffs. Although, I am not happy that the Cowboys lost.
5 days until Vegas!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Addictions
Ira and I were having an interesting conversation on addictions and it got me thinking....
Basically, our discussion was centered on my family this time. My Dad's side of the family and I mean everyone that was in his immediate family that I ever knew had an addiction of some sort - alcohol, drugs, and gambling. And, to top it off they all smoked at some point too. So, those of you who know me well are asking how did I escape this? Honestly, I don't know that I exactly escaped.
Given that I am not a psychologist, my opinion is not an eduacted one, just a lifelong one. I honestly believe that addictive personalities can be and are hereditary given certain genes. Obviously, when you look at one family and out of 6 people only 1 has not shown any signs of a major addiction, that is a hereditary case of addictive personalities.
Not to sound like the goody two-shoes that I have always been labeled in my family, but I have never smoked regularly (maybe a couple of drags at the bar), never been addicted to drugs, am a social drinker, and have no desire to "need" to gamble (enjoy it, but I have my limit and I can walk through a casino and not spend a nickle). Does this mean, I missed the gene? Probably not. My biggest fault (well, the biggest one that could carry an addictive label anyway) - I love to spend money. I literally need to just stay out of stores sometimes so that I will not browse the racks when I know I don't need anything. Is it an addicition, I don't think so - I don't need to go shopping and I don't need to spend money. I personally think that we all have momentary addictions - a new relationship, you just can't stop thinking about the other person, a new car - you want to drive it all the time or at least sit in it and figure out all the gadgets, a new cell phone that you can't leave alone, a new house you don't want to leave. And then we have unintended habits - eating out all the time or shopping are probably my biggest two. Fortunately, all of those things are usually broken given a short hiatus or whenever you get comfortable with the new item, relationships included.
So, how have I stayed away from all the major bad stuff? I grew up watching what it did to my family. I saw all the bad stuff, I never really saw the positive sides of any of the addictions. Some people are drawn to these addictions because they don't know anything else or they want to be like their older siblings, relatives, or parents.
I experienced the fights to the emergency rooms over gashed faces, cracked heads, bottomed-out blood pressure, and drunk decisions to go to rehab (that I held him to). I dealt with the broken furniture and smoke filled rooms. I saw the loss of property, dignity, bodily control (and fluids), and a general loss of self-importance. Why the hell would I want anything to do with that?
So, I did the opposite, I resented it and I lost respect for everyone involved in it. I did not stop loving anyone, but I literally lost respect for every member of the family I loved most. I chose to step up and be the first one to get a college degree, I had a drive to make something out of my life, and I wanted to be better than what I was spawned from. However, I also know that that addictive personality is in me somewhere and I am very conscience of the decisions I make.
Has it been an easy path - no. Has it been worth it, looking back - you bet! I am happy with my life and honestly, I thank my severly dysfunctional family for having their addictions because while I have had to deal or observe more than most kids (or even adults), it made me a better person and while I still don't understand it all the time, I understand that I can't fix it. I can support it when they ready for help and I can be there when they fall, but I cannot fix it.
Now, if I get addicted to saving and investing money and getting to the gym more frequently (like I used to) then those are two things that would be worth getting addicted to.
Basically, our discussion was centered on my family this time. My Dad's side of the family and I mean everyone that was in his immediate family that I ever knew had an addiction of some sort - alcohol, drugs, and gambling. And, to top it off they all smoked at some point too. So, those of you who know me well are asking how did I escape this? Honestly, I don't know that I exactly escaped.
Given that I am not a psychologist, my opinion is not an eduacted one, just a lifelong one. I honestly believe that addictive personalities can be and are hereditary given certain genes. Obviously, when you look at one family and out of 6 people only 1 has not shown any signs of a major addiction, that is a hereditary case of addictive personalities.
Not to sound like the goody two-shoes that I have always been labeled in my family, but I have never smoked regularly (maybe a couple of drags at the bar), never been addicted to drugs, am a social drinker, and have no desire to "need" to gamble (enjoy it, but I have my limit and I can walk through a casino and not spend a nickle). Does this mean, I missed the gene? Probably not. My biggest fault (well, the biggest one that could carry an addictive label anyway) - I love to spend money. I literally need to just stay out of stores sometimes so that I will not browse the racks when I know I don't need anything. Is it an addicition, I don't think so - I don't need to go shopping and I don't need to spend money. I personally think that we all have momentary addictions - a new relationship, you just can't stop thinking about the other person, a new car - you want to drive it all the time or at least sit in it and figure out all the gadgets, a new cell phone that you can't leave alone, a new house you don't want to leave. And then we have unintended habits - eating out all the time or shopping are probably my biggest two. Fortunately, all of those things are usually broken given a short hiatus or whenever you get comfortable with the new item, relationships included.
So, how have I stayed away from all the major bad stuff? I grew up watching what it did to my family. I saw all the bad stuff, I never really saw the positive sides of any of the addictions. Some people are drawn to these addictions because they don't know anything else or they want to be like their older siblings, relatives, or parents.
I experienced the fights to the emergency rooms over gashed faces, cracked heads, bottomed-out blood pressure, and drunk decisions to go to rehab (that I held him to). I dealt with the broken furniture and smoke filled rooms. I saw the loss of property, dignity, bodily control (and fluids), and a general loss of self-importance. Why the hell would I want anything to do with that?
So, I did the opposite, I resented it and I lost respect for everyone involved in it. I did not stop loving anyone, but I literally lost respect for every member of the family I loved most. I chose to step up and be the first one to get a college degree, I had a drive to make something out of my life, and I wanted to be better than what I was spawned from. However, I also know that that addictive personality is in me somewhere and I am very conscience of the decisions I make.
Has it been an easy path - no. Has it been worth it, looking back - you bet! I am happy with my life and honestly, I thank my severly dysfunctional family for having their addictions because while I have had to deal or observe more than most kids (or even adults), it made me a better person and while I still don't understand it all the time, I understand that I can't fix it. I can support it when they ready for help and I can be there when they fall, but I cannot fix it.
Now, if I get addicted to saving and investing money and getting to the gym more frequently (like I used to) then those are two things that would be worth getting addicted to.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Back to work
Well, it has been a relaxing 2 weeks of vacation, but now it is back to work.
I have slept, played games online, steamcleaned my living room, and read. I even set up a myspace page. I am completely justifiying the relaxing it with all the travling I am doing this month. I leave for Philadephia on Thursday and come back home Monday night. I get my car back Tuesday - yeah!!! 5 days home and then off to Vegas for 9 days (5 days work, 4 days personal). By the time I get back, I have 4 days to close out January.
Sure, I probably should have done some painting, but instead I enjoyed my lazy vacation. I can always paint on the weekends, starting in February :-)
I have slept, played games online, steamcleaned my living room, and read. I even set up a myspace page. I am completely justifiying the relaxing it with all the travling I am doing this month. I leave for Philadephia on Thursday and come back home Monday night. I get my car back Tuesday - yeah!!! 5 days home and then off to Vegas for 9 days (5 days work, 4 days personal). By the time I get back, I have 4 days to close out January.
Sure, I probably should have done some painting, but instead I enjoyed my lazy vacation. I can always paint on the weekends, starting in February :-)
Friday, January 4, 2008
Traditions, marriage, and babies
This will be an opinionated post and in no way does not mean that I don't understand that accidents happen and people have rights to make their own choices. However, it does make me ask what happened to old-fashioned family values....
Ira's cousin's girlfriend is pregnant and due to have the baby any day now. Of course, he is 22 and has a whole life of possibilities which of course, makes me ask the question, was this a child-support set up or is this love that will eventually turn into marriage and a lifetime together? I am really hoping for the latter.
Yes, I know it's a very jaded question, but while out of 3 of our kids (me 1, Ira 2) two were out of previous marriages and one was a self-centered pregnancy invoked for child-support purposes and based on manipulation and lies - so, yes I am jaded. I could do another complete post on our child-support system.
Back, to my point. A friend of mine has 3 kids out of wedlock - 2 different dads, 1 unplanned, 2 planned. My cousin has 3 kids out of marriage - 2 different moms, 1 unplanned, 2 planned. I have at least one Aunt with one child out of wedlock and she has never really been in a relationship with the father. I am sure there are more on my side of the family, after all my Mom had 12 brothers and sisters that have kids - that is alot of people to not have more kids out of wedlock. But, everyone else I can think of in my family has followed traditional values - marriage and then kids.
Ira's family seems to have an epidemic of kids out of wedlock and everyone seems okay with it. I guess when it happens this much, it just becomes part of the norm. But, I just don't get it, when did it become so acceptable to raise your kids to think it is okay to have kids out of marriage. One of his cousins actually had 3 before she married the father. I think it's great that the kids are being raised with both parents, but how easily could that have gone in another direction.
Now, this is not an attack towards his family at all, it is stictly a personal example of something that is happening all around us. How do people legitimately think it is just okay to get pregnant and have a kid when you are not even at a place in your relationship to commit to marriage with each other?
I know this is not something that just started, my Mom's oldest sister was born out of wedlock and family gossip states that she didn't even tell my Grandfather about her daughter until after he married her. In fact Ira's Mom was even born out of wedlock and later adopted by her stepdad. So, this has been happening longer than we have even thought about it. But, what were the percentages in the 1800's, 1920's, 1950's, etc, and what are they now. Back then, I am guessing more were unplanned and of course, then the decision is to have the baby and do the best you can. Now, it just seems more acceptable to consciencely decide on the pregnancies and babies without the marriage.
Again, I know this will touch a nerve with some people and I am not out to offend anyone, but I just completely don't understand when our society decided it is now okay and acceptable to decide to get pregnant and bring children into this world as if you were already divorced or to see if the child rearing would work before deciding to get married.
Ira's cousin's girlfriend is pregnant and due to have the baby any day now. Of course, he is 22 and has a whole life of possibilities which of course, makes me ask the question, was this a child-support set up or is this love that will eventually turn into marriage and a lifetime together? I am really hoping for the latter.
Yes, I know it's a very jaded question, but while out of 3 of our kids (me 1, Ira 2) two were out of previous marriages and one was a self-centered pregnancy invoked for child-support purposes and based on manipulation and lies - so, yes I am jaded. I could do another complete post on our child-support system.
Back, to my point. A friend of mine has 3 kids out of wedlock - 2 different dads, 1 unplanned, 2 planned. My cousin has 3 kids out of marriage - 2 different moms, 1 unplanned, 2 planned. I have at least one Aunt with one child out of wedlock and she has never really been in a relationship with the father. I am sure there are more on my side of the family, after all my Mom had 12 brothers and sisters that have kids - that is alot of people to not have more kids out of wedlock. But, everyone else I can think of in my family has followed traditional values - marriage and then kids.
Ira's family seems to have an epidemic of kids out of wedlock and everyone seems okay with it. I guess when it happens this much, it just becomes part of the norm. But, I just don't get it, when did it become so acceptable to raise your kids to think it is okay to have kids out of marriage. One of his cousins actually had 3 before she married the father. I think it's great that the kids are being raised with both parents, but how easily could that have gone in another direction.
Now, this is not an attack towards his family at all, it is stictly a personal example of something that is happening all around us. How do people legitimately think it is just okay to get pregnant and have a kid when you are not even at a place in your relationship to commit to marriage with each other?
I know this is not something that just started, my Mom's oldest sister was born out of wedlock and family gossip states that she didn't even tell my Grandfather about her daughter until after he married her. In fact Ira's Mom was even born out of wedlock and later adopted by her stepdad. So, this has been happening longer than we have even thought about it. But, what were the percentages in the 1800's, 1920's, 1950's, etc, and what are they now. Back then, I am guessing more were unplanned and of course, then the decision is to have the baby and do the best you can. Now, it just seems more acceptable to consciencely decide on the pregnancies and babies without the marriage.
Again, I know this will touch a nerve with some people and I am not out to offend anyone, but I just completely don't understand when our society decided it is now okay and acceptable to decide to get pregnant and bring children into this world as if you were already divorced or to see if the child rearing would work before deciding to get married.
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