12 hours to go...I'm packed. All I have to do is get up, shower, and put whatever I have to use in the morning into the travel bag into the suitcase. And then wait for Skip to pick me up. Okay, I do have to do the dishes in the morning when I get up...Don't feel like doing the dishes tonight. The only thing I wasn't able to do today is get Sophie in the shower. She'll just have to be dirty next week. I did my best. Her clothes are picked out for the week. Her lunches are packed. Her backpack is ready for Tuesday. I wrote a list of ingredients for her backpack so that nothing gets forgotten on Wednesday and Thursday. All laundry is done. I went to church. I went grocery shopping...in no way will this house run out of rice cakes or yogurt before I return. I straightened and cleaned every room, but the family room. I vacuumed...not that you could tell now.
All this might be worth it...if I meet my Tom Jones! Otherwise, not so much. Too stressful to leave my family and home.
~~~~~~~
2 hours, 40 minutes to go until I'm picked up for the airport. Dishes half done. Family Room straightened enough. Washed some blankets too. Drinking coffee. Just need to jump in shower after dishes. Grandma will be here at 9 a.m. to watch/get/take responsibility for my girls. (Sophie won't want to come home after spending so much time at Grandma's!) Weather clear here over to Vegas. It's 33 degrees in Vegas right now with a high of 53 expected at 3 p.m. Pretty much that's the weather for this week. I guess that's better than a real feel temperature of minus 14 degrees right now and a high in the 20s! I hope I packed right and enough.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
My Pop!
My Pop would have been 81 years old on Sunday! Happy Birthday to him! I still think of him so much. At times, I can feel his presence. I think he visits, not quite as often as he used to after he first died in 2000. I know that his angel's wing has kept Sophie and Hannah safe during so many close calls. At other times, like tonight, a memory hits me so hard that I cry from the overwhelming.
Ever week on the way down Jackson Road into Ann Arbor for music therapy, I glance over at the Old Farmer Grant's Greenhouse and Store. I usually say something to the girls about the great bread pudding that they had or all the Christmas ornaments I acquired there cheap when they were going out of business. They were old-time, classics left-over from another era, no cheap plastics, but solid, sturdy.
Tonight, it's gone. Not completely gone, but it's in the process of being torn down, must be either to make way for the boulevard expansion or the new housing/retail development going in. I knew that it wouldn't sit vacant there as a shrine to my childhood, but it just hit me. I didn't even need to close my eyes, which was good, since I was the driver.
I flashbacked to walking up and down the aisles. As my Daddy was chatting with one of the Grants or picking out a nice cut of meat, I'd be looking at the candy, cookies, muffins (orange...my favorite! never had another that good since!), or across the entranceway at all the treasures, the flowers and gifts. And oh, we had to go and look at the fountain on the east side of the small greenhouse at the front.
Tonight, I could feel being there, pushing the cart down the warm foods/bakery aisle under that low ceiling. I felt Dad behind me. I felt that warm, safe, security. I really needed that feeling tonight, that reminder of feeling taken care of. I miss that Old Man! My heart hurts.
Ever week on the way down Jackson Road into Ann Arbor for music therapy, I glance over at the Old Farmer Grant's Greenhouse and Store. I usually say something to the girls about the great bread pudding that they had or all the Christmas ornaments I acquired there cheap when they were going out of business. They were old-time, classics left-over from another era, no cheap plastics, but solid, sturdy.
Tonight, it's gone. Not completely gone, but it's in the process of being torn down, must be either to make way for the boulevard expansion or the new housing/retail development going in. I knew that it wouldn't sit vacant there as a shrine to my childhood, but it just hit me. I didn't even need to close my eyes, which was good, since I was the driver.
I flashbacked to walking up and down the aisles. As my Daddy was chatting with one of the Grants or picking out a nice cut of meat, I'd be looking at the candy, cookies, muffins (orange...my favorite! never had another that good since!), or across the entranceway at all the treasures, the flowers and gifts. And oh, we had to go and look at the fountain on the east side of the small greenhouse at the front.
Tonight, I could feel being there, pushing the cart down the warm foods/bakery aisle under that low ceiling. I felt Dad behind me. I felt that warm, safe, security. I really needed that feeling tonight, that reminder of feeling taken care of. I miss that Old Man! My heart hurts.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
I am the Queen!
Be careful what you say for what you say may be misinterpreted.
Today, I jokingly called myself the Queen!
Bad day to go to the dentist...I need two crowns (crowns...Queen...get it?) and a filling. Ugh!
However, I did make it through the cleaning and the check-up without a flashback to the ERCP I had 2 years ago where the anesthesia wore off 5 or 6 times. Bravo for me!
Perception is everything. I wasn't feeling too great about this news, but then in the next room was Shauna, Sophie's aide who was hit by a drunken semi-truck driver. Injuries resulted in her losing the bottom portion of both legs. Hmm...a couple of replaceable teeth not so tough to deal, huh?
Perception is everything. I got a call from Anastasia. Her hubby had surgery last week; they removed a golf-ball-sized tumor, two feet of intestine and his appendix. Now, he's being moved to a private room, because he has an infection and pancreatitis. His previous health issues: last year, he had testicular cancer. The year before was the horrific car accident while they were on vacation, and he took the brunt of the impact sustaining major injuries. The year before, neck surgery where they fused some vertebrae together. Hmm...a couple of hours of discomfort not so tough to deal, huh?
Perception is everything? Sophie said Mama tonight. Hannah wrote a wonderful poem as we shared laughter...real heartfelt laughter. My Mother is feeling good enough after her hip surgery to watch my kids after school and when I take a 5-day business trip. My Sister called me tonight, and I felt love! Maybe I don't have a spouse right now, but I have a wonderful family of children, parent, siblings, and friends.
I am the Queen!
Today, I jokingly called myself the Queen!
Bad day to go to the dentist...I need two crowns (crowns...Queen...get it?) and a filling. Ugh!
However, I did make it through the cleaning and the check-up without a flashback to the ERCP I had 2 years ago where the anesthesia wore off 5 or 6 times. Bravo for me!
Perception is everything. I wasn't feeling too great about this news, but then in the next room was Shauna, Sophie's aide who was hit by a drunken semi-truck driver. Injuries resulted in her losing the bottom portion of both legs. Hmm...a couple of replaceable teeth not so tough to deal, huh?
Perception is everything. I got a call from Anastasia. Her hubby had surgery last week; they removed a golf-ball-sized tumor, two feet of intestine and his appendix. Now, he's being moved to a private room, because he has an infection and pancreatitis. His previous health issues: last year, he had testicular cancer. The year before was the horrific car accident while they were on vacation, and he took the brunt of the impact sustaining major injuries. The year before, neck surgery where they fused some vertebrae together. Hmm...a couple of hours of discomfort not so tough to deal, huh?
Perception is everything? Sophie said Mama tonight. Hannah wrote a wonderful poem as we shared laughter...real heartfelt laughter. My Mother is feeling good enough after her hip surgery to watch my kids after school and when I take a 5-day business trip. My Sister called me tonight, and I felt love! Maybe I don't have a spouse right now, but I have a wonderful family of children, parent, siblings, and friends.
I am the Queen!
Hannah's Narrative Poem
Hannah needed to write a narrative poem for English class - due tomorrow. I'm so proud of her! Here it is...(If you'd like an oral rendition, I'd be happy to give a reading as her proxy.)
Mother is on the phone.
Grandmother is there.
Mother is crying.
The girl is where?
The girl is upstairs
In her parents’ room.
Grandmother finds the girl.
In a sad gloom.
The girl wants her blanket.
She tells her Grandmother.
Grandmother says to wait.
Not to bother.
Grandmother doesn’t understand.
The girl was just making it up
To go and see her Mother.
Just to see what’s up.
Again, the girl said
She wanted her blanket;
That Grandmother could stay there,
And the girl would go and get it.
Grandma went instead.
And the girl followed.
Where she learned
Her Dad is dead.
Not really dead,
But only gone.
No longer coming home,
But out with Dawn.
Years passed
and time flew.
Life is better!
Who knew?
And the really funny thing is...when she was in the middle of the 7th stanza, she was trying to think of something that rhymed with gone. So, we started rhyming, and she said, Dawn. I burst out laughing. Dawn really is the name of the proverbial other woman! I am still laughing!
Mother is on the phone.
Grandmother is there.
Mother is crying.
The girl is where?
The girl is upstairs
In her parents’ room.
Grandmother finds the girl.
In a sad gloom.
The girl wants her blanket.
She tells her Grandmother.
Grandmother says to wait.
Not to bother.
Grandmother doesn’t understand.
The girl was just making it up
To go and see her Mother.
Just to see what’s up.
Again, the girl said
She wanted her blanket;
That Grandmother could stay there,
And the girl would go and get it.
Grandma went instead.
And the girl followed.
Where she learned
Her Dad is dead.
Not really dead,
But only gone.
No longer coming home,
But out with Dawn.
Years passed
and time flew.
Life is better!
Who knew?
And the really funny thing is...when she was in the middle of the 7th stanza, she was trying to think of something that rhymed with gone. So, we started rhyming, and she said, Dawn. I burst out laughing. Dawn really is the name of the proverbial other woman! I am still laughing!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
No ruffling these curtains!
Here are the infamous curtains in Hannah's room...
Men do change, and change comes like a little wind that ruffles the curtains at dawn...
~ John Steinbeck
Leif Garrett and David Cassidy to Zac Efron and the Jonas Brothers
I was madly in love with that bad boy Leif Garrett. I saw him perform (sing, that is) at the Jackson County Fair. I swear that I swooned. Those tight black, leather pants! Leif probably caused me to like that type of guy. Of course, I think he's in bad shape now. If only he would have noticed me, I would have saved him from those addictions. He would have been obsessed with me!
And then there's David Cassidy. I still like him...his music is on my ipod. The nice boy next door type, sweet, good hair, again with the tight pants.
Flash forward 30 years to mini-Me, and her walls are full of nice boy next door types Zac as Troy Bolton and Link Larkin and himself. Her walls are also full of the Kids of the Future, woah, oh...Nick, Joe, and the other one.
(I admit that I added both Zac and the Jonas Brothers to my ipod. I should probably download Leif Garrett just to round out the teeny-bopper craze idols. hehe)
Anyway, here is proof positive of the walls (btw, they are supposed to be blue):
And then there's David Cassidy. I still like him...his music is on my ipod. The nice boy next door type, sweet, good hair, again with the tight pants.
Flash forward 30 years to mini-Me, and her walls are full of nice boy next door types Zac as Troy Bolton and Link Larkin and himself. Her walls are also full of the Kids of the Future, woah, oh...Nick, Joe, and the other one.
(I admit that I added both Zac and the Jonas Brothers to my ipod. I should probably download Leif Garrett just to round out the teeny-bopper craze idols. hehe)
Anyway, here is proof positive of the walls (btw, they are supposed to be blue):
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Odes to Snow
Mary had a lot of snow, a lot of snow, a lot of snow.
Mary had a lot of snow, and it weighed more than a sheep.
~~~
Snow, Snow, go away.
Come again another day.
Little Mary can't move after shovelling the whole freaking driveway.
~~~
Light and fluffy,
White and puffy.
Snow enough-y.
Driveway ruffy.
Shovel tuffy.
Mary huffy.
Mary had a lot of snow, and it weighed more than a sheep.
~~~
Snow, Snow, go away.
Come again another day.
Little Mary can't move after shovelling the whole freaking driveway.
~~~
Light and fluffy,
White and puffy.
Snow enough-y.
Driveway ruffy.
Shovel tuffy.
Mary huffy.
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