Holy Moly, It's Been a While!

I haven't posted anything since November 14th.

Anybody still out there?

Considering how utterly boring my life is (wake up, shower, go to work, work, go home, sleep, repeat), the past month has been a bit overwhelming.

I may have mentioned my new job.  Well, it's turning into more of a career than a job, not that I was looking for a career at age 53...  It's just requiring a lot more daily work; there's no sliding, no easy day, no day when I can just let things sit 'cause I'll have plenty of time to do it (whatever "it" is) tomorrow.  No, I work.  I work many more hours a day than I used to --- and I'm not particularly happy about it!

I planned on winning the MegaMillions jackpot so I could retire for Christmas.  What an awesome gift to myself THAT would have been!  But I didn't win.  Not even $10.  Nothing.  Nada.  Nil.  Zip.  Squat.  Zero.  Not even the cost of my ticket.

So I still have to work.  And if I wasn't charged with posting it all on SalesForce.com, I'd be okay with the workload.  But trying to incorporate all this additional detail-work, record-keeping, into my workflow?  Nope, not doing too well at it.  I'm really going to try to do better.  Actually, it's not an option.  I have to do better or get slapped on the wrist for it at my annual review.

And then there's my knee.  And my knee surgery.  And my wondering at the last minute, in the waiting room at the surgical center, if it was a good idea to go through with it.  (For the record, yes, yes it was!)  I'm in physical therapy twice a week right now, and I'm thinking I really will have to go to the gym a couple of times a week at least post-PT.  While for the most part I'm pain-free now, I have to work back up to my normal level of strength, and it does get stiff and tight really easily...

Have I mentioned holidays?  Thanksgiving, although I don't have to do much, just 5 lbs of mashed potatoes and a salad, is a big deal for me.  And Christmas?  If it's not moving, it gets decorated in my house.  I even have a hat for my husband, for when he stops long enough for me to plop it on his head!  I'm WAY behind in my decorating, what with (a) a late Thanksgiving, (b) my 35th high school reunion on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, (c) my surgery on 12/5, plus recovery, (d) PT 2 days a week, (e) my birthday, and (f) gift shopping for Christmas.

My living room/library looks like who did it and ran, to use a phrase I learned as a child, which as an adult makes no sense, but I use it anyway...  I have boxes and ornaments and the detritus of everyday living just strewn around the floor, the coffee table, the end tables, the chair and sofas, and the dining room table.  My kitchen is a wreck and needs a thorough straightening up post-holiday cooking, pre-Christmas Eve party, which pretty much means the afternoon of the 24th, before my shower, before my guests, but after my cooking.  And just 'cause we haven't been there in a month, we're going to the lake this weekend.

Anyone have another 24 hours in a day they can lend me for the next 5 days?

We have family to see, friends to see, places to go...  And not nearly enough time to do it all.  But that's part of the wonder of the holiday.  When it gets right down to it, I have a spare room or two I can throw things into and then I can shut the door and no one will know what's behind Door # Messy.  I'm off until January 6, so I have some time to sort of week through that stuff that doesn't get put away but gets hidden away, so hopefully I'll be the proud owner of a clean and organized home sometime over the next two weeks.  Maybe not in time for Christmas, but certainly by the time I go back to work.  And in all honesty, isn't that what we all want?  To come home from work to a neat and clean home?

My knee feels okay today, but my head is throbbing, like a sinus pressure throb.  J is sick with diarrhea and an upset stomach (yay), my mom was a bit under the weather, too - and they both got sick after my birthday dinner.  (NO, I didn't cook!  We went out together.)  We all had different entrees, but shared french fries and dipping sauces.  I never even had a twinge of not feeling well, so I don't know what it is...  What I DO know is he'd better get well quick and keep his germs to himself.  I have a party to prepare for!

I got a beautiful hand knitted/crocheted infinity cowl from my sister P - in the most beautiful shade of purple!  It arrived in time for my birthday, and today it's going to be 53 degrees, and it will be CLOSE TO 70 DEGREES by Sunday.  This is NJ, for crying out loud!  It's supposed to be cold.  Okay, it doesn't have to be Arctic-ly frigid, but 69 degrees???  Really?  And then 32 by Monday?  Yea, I'm going to be sick over the holidays, I just know it...  But as long as I make it through Christmas Day, I have a HUGE pile of books and some more lined up on my Kindle so I'm ready.  And cable is paid for...  Bring it on!  NOT!

Today's my last day in the office until January 6, so I'd better go.  Happy Holidays to you all, and I'll try to catch up with some holiday posts and photos in the next couple of weeks...

HO, HO, HO!!!

Do I Have an Accent?

They're right!!!  Take this quiz and let me know how you did!!!

http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have

What American accent do you have?

Your Result: The Northeast

 

Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island.  Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.

 

Philadelphia

 

The Inland North

 

The Midland

 

The South

 

Boston

 

The West

 

North Central

 

Not MIA, just IA...

Maybe that post title isn't very self-explanatory, so here you go...

Not Missing in Action, just in Action...

Meaning that things have just been topsy-turvy around here.  Lots has been going on - let me enlighten you.

WORK-RELATED:
My company has been laying people off for the past year or so, and while I've never really been nervous about my job, now I am.  And not so much about getting laid off, but more about not being able to do my new job...

I've always been a part of a department that sort of flew under the radar for the most part.  We brought in $20 million so I'm sure if we DIDN'T bring it in, we'd have been noticed, but for the most part, since we consistently made our numbers we sort of never drew attention to ourselves.  The irony is we were always ticked off that we were being treated as the "red-headed step-children," as my colleague would say. 

NOW, however, my job description has changed and I've been told I have to toot my own horn and the horn of my new department, that NOW we WANT attention brought to our division and I have to contribute to that.

My job has changed.  I'm now going to be specializing a particular subject category, focusing not on all the accounts in my geographical territory, but on a handful (25 or 30) key accounts that are supposed to be the focus of my attention and the attention of the company.  I have to grow their business, proactively expand our volume of sales with these customers, and make sure everyone knows what I'm doing, how I'm doing it and how successful I'm being.

HEALTH-RELATED:
I think I've mentioned the chronic bursitis in my hips.  I also have two knees (!), both with a torn meniscus and arthritis.  I have seen my GP, an orthopedist, an acupuncturist, a rheumatoid arthritis specialist, and most recently an orthopedic surgeon, the one who did hubby's shoulder surgery.

Regarding my hips - they hurt.  They hurt all the time.  I really don't want to be taking anti-inflammatories every day, and I really don't want to start with cortisone shots at age 52 (who knows how much shot-related deterioration I'll have in the next 30 years...).  But I'm not sure what else to do.  I've gone for therapy, taken yoga, done some stretching at the gym, and nothing has relieved the pain.  I seriously walk about 20 feet or so before I'm walking relatively normally, after I've been seated for a while and my hips have stiffened up.  I just called a radio doctor this weekend and he's recommended some alternative treatment.  I'm in enough pain to follow up on his website...

Regarding my knees - the surgeon said he'd recommend surgery on my left knee.  It's funny, I first had trouble with my right knee last December.  I'd gone shopping for the day and my knee hurt so much that I really thought, at the time, that I would have to call J to come and get me, that I wouldn't be able to drive home.  So I started seeing doctors about my right knee.  NOW it's my left one that's worse, and while the pain isn't as severe as the one day in December, it's constant.  I feel stiffness and pain, like a tight muscle or tendon, on the back of my knee, and it's constant.  Again, when I'm sitting, it takes me a long time to get up and walk.

So I made an appointment with another orthopedic surgeon, the one who just operated on our friend K.  K has had 20 years worth of trouble with his knees, and he was up and around within a week, actually up and around the next day, but functioning almost normally within a week, with painkillers only one day, and Advil for a few days.  I go on November 6.

FAMILY-RELATED:
Just worrying about a sister who's not as happy as she should be...  and hoping all my family stays healthy and safe...

We're waiting for a new great-nephew to be born.  October 18th was his due date, but apparently he's real comfy and in no hurry to be born, so if he doesn't decide to make an appearance on his own, R has to be in the hospital at 1:30am Friday morning and they'll induce.  I'm leaving for New Orleans Saturday morning so that's not great timing as far as I'm concerned.  On my last business trip I missed a family funeral.  It looks like I'm going to miss a baby this time around...

And my holiday resolution, which has to start being implemented NOW -- I HAVE to clean this house.  Thank goodness I have a lot of days off left to take this year so I'll do it and get the house ready for the holidays.  There won't be too much of that staying home and watching TV and eating bon-bons I'm so used to...

And just for fun, here are a few photos I've taken that you might enjoy...

This is Dobby who was originally named Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch) except that when my daughter called her, the dog would sit instead of come, thinking she was saying "Sit."

Took this photo at the lake this past weekend, with nothing but my iPhone.  Even I'm impressed with this picture...

This is the rocking horse hubby made for the nephew-to-be.  He made a cradle for our great niece and planned to make another but the kids freaked out and said the cradle was an heirloom and they were going to pass it along to each other as needed.  So J decided to make a rocking horse this time, even before we knew they were having a boy.

This is my new kitchen at the lake house - I don't have a photo (yet) of the backsplash up and grouted, but here's a shot of the new cabinets and counters and appliances, even though the counters are messy with tools and grout...

And another iPhone photo I love, the view from my office window, unfiltered.

We were at Sam's Club a few weekends ago, and we were walking to our car when we saw this, 2 dogs in the back of the SUV, no owner, no one in the car (and I checked)...  They were just hanging there, waiting for their people...

It's Been 12 Years

 They say you always remember where you were when...

I will never forget where I was, how I felt, what I thought, how I cried, on September 11, 2001.

I've seen so many posts about it this year, more I feel, than in past years.  Perhaps people are finally able to deal with it, speak about it.  I posted something in 2011, on the 10th anniversary of that awful day.  (In case you're interested, here's a link:  09/11/2011)

I still can't express how I felt, how lost, how hurt, how disbelieving, how horrified, how terrified I was.  They're just words.  And they're not big enough, important enough, strong enough to express it all.

So I'll just stop here with this:  I am praying again for strength and comfort and healing for all those touched by this tragedy, those who have lost loved ones, or even just acquaintances, those who are still suffering, those of us affected by this horrible loss.

Our new kitchen

Tearing out the old... My beautiful farmhouse sink cracked. I'm so disappointed...

Some of the cabinets in, some with doors, stove is not hooked up yet...

Putting that cabinet over the refrigerator was tough!

Working on gas pipes...

It took all day Saturday, but we're now ready for counters...

 

I'll look for curtains and "stuff" later: can't wait to put food away...

Bits & Pieces of My Days...

I'm doing a Day in the Life mini album later this month so if you're not an Instagram follower of mine, here are a few highlights...

I wore orange today. It was a gloomy rainy day but not when I looked in my mirror!

My work computer really needed a cleaning!  It took 3 hours!!

Reading on the train:  Hunting Eve, by Iris Johansen.

It's pretty quiet on the train - room to spread out...

I'm on the train now and it's hard to type so I'll sign off. More soon...

Surprise!

It's no surprise to me that I'm married to THE best guy in the world, but just in case you all weren't sure about it...  

Last Thursday was our 14th wedding anniversary. This is what we looked like the day we got married:

We had a bit of a tough year, with his surgery, his deciding whether to retire or not (he's not retiring!), lay-offs at my company which thankfully didn't affect me...

Guess he decided I deserved more than "just" flowers this year  (we never exchange anniversary gifts - we just go out to eat and he sends me flowers). 

This is what he got me this year:  OMG!!!

He's a wonderful husband!  Think I'll keep him for sure!!!

S Family Picnic

We had such a great time yesterday. We invited hubby's sister and her family up to the lake house for the day.  They say a  picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll shut up now and just post my pictures.

Yea, right, like I could ever post pictures without commentary...

The day started with J fishing my chair out of the lake. The wind must have blown it into the water overnight. And yes, he is *standing* in a paddle boat WITHOUT a life jacket...

Our nephew took baby E out with her mom (his sister) for a ride...

 

You can't tell here but I ran outside to take this photo and tripped over the chaise lounge, fell and bruised my left arm and left leg and just for giggles, hit my head on the chair. Yes, I have a lump and a red mark on my forehead, thanks for asking!

There was fishing.

There was dancing.

There was eating.  (This photo was taken when prepping for the party. Forgot to take a photo of the delicious food!)

J is making a rocking horse for our nephew's soon-to-be baby...  I'll post a photo when it's done. It's gorgeous!

I treated myself to this pair of Kate Spade earrings. I fell in love with them when I saw them online.

Well, break time is over. I'm off to clean my kitchen before we go to our daughter's home for a visit.  More later! 

UD Alumna

My nephew - well, actually, he's my first cousin's son so technically he's my first cousin, once removed.  I think.  Anyway, my nephew first cousin, once removed, is going to the University of Delaware!!!  Yay!  Just got this video from our alumni association so I thought I'd post it here...

Graduation Party & Volunteer Reading

On Sunday we went to my cousin's son's high school graduation party.  R will be attending my alma mater:  the University of Delaware!  GO, FIGHTIN' BLUE HENS!!!

Here are some pictures from the party, along with some commentary...

Here's the view from the hot tub end of the pool - yes, that's their shed.

This is the hot tub end of the pool.  Apparently cousin R and his son R built the deck and the pergola.

Dinner is served!  And it was delicious!  We had baked ziti (with vodka sauce, my favorite!), fried chicken, pierogi with fried onions and butter, caprese salad, meatballs, cole slaw, and that's all I took. There was more, but my plate was full!

This is the view from the waterfall side of the pool, looking toward their house.  That low addition on the right is their new great room/family room.  When they remodeled their kitchen, they blew out the wall between the kitchen and the dining room, made that one giant space, and added this room onto the house.

Hi there, it's a self portrait!  Not too smart to try to take it with the sun behind me, but it did give me some nifty lighting effects...

Here's hubby, post dinner, pre dessert.  Yes, he always looks stressed when he's relaxing!

Cousin R and his beautiful dog, Kallie.  Kallie is a Tibetan Terrier - not a terrier at all, and normally her hair is much longer, but they shaved her for the summer.  She's so well-behaved.  Apparently she won't go in the pool.  She's four years old.  The day after they brought Kallie home, R's wife was walking her around the pool on a leash, talking on her cell phone, telling everyone about their new puppy.  R almost choked laughing as he told me she walked the poor puppy right off the edge into the water, and Kallie's been scared of the pool ever since!  And before anyone gets all up in my face, he wasn't laughing at the poor pup, but he WAS laughing at his wife!

This photo was taken across the pool, toward the waterfall which you can just barely see on the right side of the picture.

Here's N and R, cousin R's two children (he's the soon-to-be-Blue-Hen; she's a UConn Husky), standing with my mom, their grandmother by proxy.  Their real grandmother on our side died before my cousin married his wife, so they asked my mom if the kids could call her Babci (grandmother).

And here's the family photo... Cousin R, his wife M, daughter N, my mom, their son R, me, and J.

And just 'cause I can't end it there, here's another story... I volunteer as a reader at my husband's school.  I've been doing it for eight years.  It's a program sponsored by my company.  Yesterday was my last day reading for this school year.  I brought them Munchkins and they made me some beautiful thank you cards (you can see them in the second photo below).  Miss G, the teacher, put a thank you sign up on her white board.  I got lots of hugs, and they told me I "was the best reader they ever had!" (I was about to let that go to my head until I remembered they're second grade so they've only had two readers before me... although there are two per class and we alternate weeks, so I guess I'm the best of six...)  I get so much from reading to them; I can only hope they get as much from me.  I try to share my love of reading, how much I get out of it, how easy it is, that you have only to practice to get better at it...  A couple of the students were eager to tell me that they'd been reading books since they last saw me, "books that aren't for school!"  That last photo is the group when they came to visit at our office last month.  Once a year, in May, they come to us and we read to them in their class groups in our cafeteria.  We give them apples and cookies, milk and juice and water.  They're always impressed and it's a mini field trip for them.

This is the class at my office building - that's my reading partner; we alternate weeks.  When she remembers to go...  Sorry, couldn't resist...

So Funny!

Found this on Dear Lizzy's blog...

How many times have I commented that I don't want J to "FIX" it, just listen, let me vent...

Bad Lip Reading

Here are a couple of fun minutes...  I love You Tube...  This appealed to me because I find myself watching people's lips all the time, trying to figure out what they're saying...

Oklahoma/F5

On Monday Moore, OK, was obliterated by an F5 tornado that "touched down" for 40 minutes.

40 minutes.  F5. 

I can't conceive of that violence being on the ground for 40 minutes.  (It will never be an EF5 in my mind - I'm too old to change now.)

The images are horrific.  Tornado?  Massive destruction?  Implosion?  There aren't any words to describe the devastation.  When someone says "it's like a war zone," yes, yes, it is...

24 people died.  Including, I believe, 9 children, 2 of whom were babies.  At least that's the last I heard.  Entire schools were demolished.  This morning there was a video taken during the storm.  At first it was completely black, with someone screaming in the background.  Then there was light, daylight, seen through walls that were no longer there.  A water fountain attached to a cinder block wall with the rest of the school surrounding it gone.  Children walking around, totally disoriented.

[I am stunned that I am writing a post using words like "obliterated," "violence," "horrific," "destruction," "devastation," "war zone."]

There were heart-warming images, too.  The older woman finding her dog on camera, crawling out from under the rubble.  The black puppy sitting, just sitting, waiting to be rescued.  Just sitting above the body of his deceased owner.  (I heard a story later that it might not have been his owner.  Either way, they found that person because the puppy wouldn't move.)  A neighbor running, full out, to the damaged school to see if the little boy who lived next door, his special little pal, was okay.  Their hug, once they saw each other, the way the little boy just jumped into the man's arms.  The woman whose neighbor helped find jewelry that belonged to the woman's grandmother in the remains of what was her house.

The stories, OMG, the stories.  The mother who covered her baby with her body and was killed saving her own child.  The man who held onto his daughter by her hair, refusing to let the wind take her.  The 22 people who sheltered in a bank vault and survived.

Interviews with Hurricane Sandy survivors show people saying that this tornado was worse than "what we went through."  Certainly it was, for some of us - I lost some food, was a bit cold for a few days.  But people on Breezy Point or the NJ shore, for instance, lost everything.  Those words I mentioned above?  They apply to the loss of homes on Breezy Point and the Shore during Hurricane Sandy.  But those victims were interviewed yesterday and they said the suffering from this tornado?  It was worse.  "We lost a lot.  Many homes were damaged.  But nothing like the all-out destruction of Moore, OK."

Amazing.  Simply amazing.  It restores my faith in mankind, that even those people who have every right to feel sorry for themselves can recognize that others are worse off, can sympathize, empathize, can help, can recognize the scale of the destruction...

I'm making a donation to the Red Cross.  Are you?

RIP Zach Sobiech

This wonderful young man died Monday after a bout with cancer.  He learned in 18 short years what I sincerely hope I learn in my lifetime, that we need to live life to the fullest, with joy and love and an appreciation for all we've been given.

Rest in peace, Zach Sobiech.

New Floor Update

I realized when I was responding to a post on Young House Love that I'd never posted a photo of the new floor at the lake house.  So how could I point them to a photo if I never posted one?  So here you go, photos of before, during and after.  And yes, hubby did much of this with a bum arm, prior to surgery...

Keep in mind we only took these photos for ourselves, not for publication, so don't count on any white balancing, cleaning up of clutter in the background, or consistent points of view...

 

 

I'll have to take photos this weekend when we tear out the kitchen island that is at the opposite end of the room in this last photo, to your left if you're standing where I was when I took the photo.  The floor will be extended into the kitchen then all the new cabinets and appliances will be installed.  Then I'll have to take some more photos!

Miami, Part 1

I got to Miami Sunday night, to the hotel at about 9:35. Asked the front desk dude if there was a restaurant open at that hour and he assured me that, yes, there was. Would I like him to make a reservation for me for, say, twenty minutes from now?  For some tapas and a glass of wine, perhaps?

Sure, I responded, as long as I could wear my pajamas to the restaurant.

Okay, so that wasn't the best picture to put in his head 'cause he VERY quickly suggested room service.

I called room service and they said it was a hour wait, but since I had no plans to go anywhere or do anything other than plop in front of the TV, that was fine. 

I ordered my chicken enchiladas and a large coke. Proof positive I didn't really read the menu very carefully?  It was delivered in 20 minutes (I picked the right thing!) and I took a huge bite.

It was FULL of jalapeños!  Thought I'd be a Tums customer for sure that night but it didn't bother me at all!  Of course the "large" coke was one of those new small bottles, the ones you can drink 10 of if you're not in NYC (Mr. Bloomberg is not my friend!).  I was still thirsty when I was finished but at least I wasn't hungry anymore!

More Miami excitement to come in the next installment!

Sunday Is Mother's Day

I know you're all going to say, "MY mom is the best," but the only other two people on this planet who are allowed to say this are my sisters!

Our mom IS the best.  THE best.  The BEST.  THE BEST.

My mom hasn't had an easy life.  Let's just recap it (very briefly):

She was born in Poland.

She left Poland at the start of WWII to go to Siberia.

She left Siberia, traveled through Iran and Iraq, and left for Africa from the port of Pahlavi.

Went to East Africa, Mombasa, to be exact.  She was then relocated by train and trucks to Nairobi, then to camp in Koja, Kenya.

They were relocated again, to Masindi in Western Uganda, and then to England by way of Egypt.  She traveled by boat, went through the Suez Canal, through the Mediterranean Sea, throught the Strait of Gibraltar, and up to Liverpool, England.

She lived near Newton Abbot in Devonshire (now Devon), in England.  She attended high school and college in England, then relocated again.  She traveled by boat on the second Mauretania in 1952, to New York City, and eventually to NJ, where she met Daddy and the rest is MY history...

She is without a doubt the strongest woman I know.  She has survived WWII, living in camps an surviving on potatoes, the loss of her home, the deaths of her sister, parents and husband.  She has struggled with many surgeries, survived bladder cancer, suffered much physical pain, with not one complaint.

I have always said that if I could be half the woman she is, half the mother she is, I'd consider myself a total success.

Mommy, thank you.  Thanks for teaching me right from wrong.  Thanks for showing me what a good, strong, loving marriage is.  Thanks for showing me, by example, what a good, strong, loving woman is.

You are an incredible mom, and am proud of you.  I love you. 

And that awesome news you just gave me?  That you're cancer-free again? 

YAY!!!

Lip Sync-Off with John Krasinski

OMG!!!
Found this on Stephanie Howell's blog.  Thanks, Stephanie!  Laughed until I cried!!!

Cleveland Horror

On Monday, May 6, three women were rescued from 10 years in captivity in a house in Cleveland.  Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight were kidnapped by Ariel Castro in the 2000s, kept in the basement and later in separate rooms in the house, tied up and chained.

He raped them, impregnated them, starved and punched them to force miscarriages, for all but one child from one of the women, Amanda Berry.

He's on suicide watch.  I have mixed feelings.  He deserves the death penalty but suicide seems an easy way out for him.  Perhaps life in prison where he'll most likely be murdered?

I don't think it's right to wish him death, but I can't help but think of the 10 years, MORE than 10 years, these girls and their families have been suffering.  His obvious mental illness is no excuse for what he did.  It might explain it, but it doesn't excuse it.

And his two brothers, in and out of that house all the time over the past ten years?  They knew nothing?  So far police have released them and not charged them.  And his mom, living two blocks away?  Really?  No idea?

THIS is why I always want to know my sisters or my mom or my daughter or my son or my husband is home safe, at school safe, wherever they are.  THIS is why I have no problem "checking in" with my mom so she knows I'm home, safe and sound.  THIS really could happen to just about anyone, anytime, anywhere.  There are a lot of crazy people in this world, just walking around, appearing normal...

Random Bits

Some random photos from the past month... I haven't been here, so I thought, not all of you are on Instagram so these little pieces of my rather boring life, well, you haven't been bored by them yet!

 

So here you go...

 

I got my hair cut.  It looked so silky and full of movement and body.  It has not looked like this since the day the stylist did it.  I love the randomness of the colors, I like the chunkiness...  Too bad I'll never see it this way again.



 



The lake is looking rather beautiful...   The water is up, the sun was out...  Was.  It rained all day today.  Three inches of rain overnight and into this morning...

Every child in the school made a get well card for hubby.  700+ cards arrived in a box.  I cried reading some of them.  The kids were told to just tell Mr. S. what they missed about him, or wish him well, or just write "Get Well Soon."  Some of them really took the instructions to heart.  Once kid wrote "You're like a grandfather to me!"  Another wrote, "You've been a part of my life as long as I can remember, since I was a baby."  Another wrote about how he's taught her grandma, and her mom, and her older brother, and "Now you're teaching me!"  Several mentioned that they missed him at the front door, saying, "Good Morning!"  And many of them quoted his "It's another day in Paradise" line.  Balled my eyes out, I did...

My first attempt at sushi.  Yes, I'm 52.  And proud that I've been right all along.  Not a fan of sushi.  Now I can say, "Been there, done that, won't do it again."

This little stuffed whatever it is has been propped on this cubicle wall for over a month.  I must have walked past it 200 times before I noticed the backside, courtesy of our digital manager...  Laughed out loud...

Bought this knob plate and key on Open Sky.  I've had it for about three or four years.  Finally found a place to put it, in the upstairs bathroom.  I toss my damp face cloth on it - love the look of it...

I'm really going to try to write more regularly, but today I only had time for a couple of photos and a couple of lines... 

A New Schedule

I'm so worried that when J goes back to school, I'm going to have to pick up the slack around the house.

He's been one-armed for eight weeks now, but still doing the laundry, the vaccuuming, the dusting, and the cooking with that one functional arm.

I thought I was spoiled before, but now that he's been doing it all around the house (heaven forbid he be bored for a minute!), I'm scared to death I'm going to have to cook dinner again...

Quite honestly, I'm okay with doing the dishes every day.

(Google Image)

Especially when it's all I have to do every day.

(And yes, I realize we're only two people and we use paper plates a lot, but two forks, two knives and two glasses just don't a dramatic photo make!)

Bring Your Child to Work Day

Now, this doesn't work for me.  My kids (steps that they are) are 34-almost-35 and 33, respectively.  Pretty soon I'll be retired and they can bring their old parents to work with them on Bring Your Old Parents to Work Day!

But today, one of my colleagues brought his son and his nephew in for our Bring Your Child to Work Day.  And after the morning breakfast, and after the tour "to places people who work here aren't allowed to go to," the boys have some time to kill so they're sitting in the hotel cubby next to mine.  (We call empty cubbies "hotel" spaces and colleagues visiting from other offices are assigned one when they come to HQ...

They're in the 9 and 11 year old range.  Cute as buttons, they are!

AND THEY TOLD ME I DON'T LOOK 52.  I LOOK 31!  AND I EVEN LOOK THE SIZE OF 31!!!

I told their dad/uncle to give them double desserts today!!!

50 Shades of Chicken (Random House)

Wait, ANOTHER video that made me laugh out loud, although admittedly I'm so glad I had earphones on, and this didn't play out loud in my office....

To those of you who have read or heard about the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy (yea, those books!) AND who love to cook, enjoy!

Kristen Bell's Sloth Meltdown

I SO needed a chuckle this morning.  I didn't know I needed to see this particular video again, but once I did, it was EXACTLY what I needed!  Watch this - I can't help but like Kristen Bell just for this video...



And then, a follow up...

Dove Real Beauty Sketches

Take three minutes from your day and watch this video.  It's so true, that we are our own worst enemy.  I have learned, over the past twenty years or so, to give myself a break, to appreciate what I am and what I have rather than to beat myself up for being too heavy or not pretty enough.  This experiment, sponsored by Dove  Real Beauty, says it all - we are toughest on ourselves and we really don't see ourselves as others see us.

http://youtu.be/XpaOjMXyJGk

They Got Their Man!

Boston law enforcement, along with the FBI, ATF, State Troopers and National Guard caught Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev (19) hiding in a boat in Watertown. His brother Tamerlane (26) was shot early this morning during a wild chase. His brother ran over him when he continued to try to escape.

Congratulations to Boston law enforcement, FBI, ATF and State Troopers on getting their man!

I'm so happy tonight.

The Boston Marathon 04/15/13

I should have posted this yesterday but I was glued to the television screen when I wasn't listening to the radio.

Someone, we don't yet know who is responsible, set off two bombs (three were planned but one didn't go off and was defused).  They killed three people (so far) - one was an 8-year old.  Over 130 people were injured, at least 15 or so critically.  More people might still die.

I just don't understand it.  Where do people learn to have such little regard for human life?  Where do people learn to not just hurt other people, but KILL them?  I know they're sick.  I know there's the proverbial screw loose.  But I know plenty of sick and screwy people who wouldn't KILL someone. 

I wonder sometimes, when I'm thanking God for all those young Americans who are at war, fighting for my liberty, for my country, for ME.  I wonder how they'll struggle and suffer after they are forced to kill someone.  For ME.  And I thank them, each and every one of them.

But this person, or persons, who did this?  They're not suffering.  They're not going to live with the guilt.  They're never going to take a split second to care about any of the families they've destroyed.  This person who decided one day that it would be a good idea to make a bomb, or two or three, thought about it long and hard and decided that the Boston Marathon would be a good place to detonate them and hurt hundreds, if not more, innocent people?  People who were running.  People who were watching.  People who were outside enjoying a nice sunny day.

That person, or persons - YOU SUCK.  YOU ARE HEARTLESS.  I know you're someone's son or daughter, someone's brother or sister, someone's mom or dad.  But you are a HORRIFIC, TERRIBLE excuse for a human being.  This thing you did?  In my humble opinion, it WAY overshadows whatever you might be to or for someone else.  I don't care how great a husband you might be, or how awesome a mom you are, or what a caring child you might be for your aging parents.  YOU ARE A SON OF A BITCH and I hope you are found, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and subjected to the absolute maximum penalty.

And an eye for an eye?  Yea, I'm okay with that.

IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU

I'm not gay.  But I do believe in equality.  I do believe God loves us all, each and every one of us, regardless of our sexual orientation - or our hair color, or our weight, or our religion, or our gender, or our race...

If a child of mine came to me one day and said he or she was gay, I'd be both loving and supportive, and devastated.  NOT because being gay is wrong or sick or anything like that, but because it's 2013 and people are still torturing and bullying and disowning and hurting their loved ones because they're gay.

I do support gay marriage.  And I'll be seeing this movie in its entirety when it is released.

http://youtu.be/pR9gyloyOjM

Lightening my life...

I simply have too much.  I'm not complaining, per se, but I'm feeling bogged down with all the "stuff" I own, and I want to simplify.

I am so very blessed.  We are far from wealthy but we really don't actively worry about where our next meal is coming from, or if we can afford to put gas in the car, or if I want to buy an extra magazine in the grocery store...  Since J's retirement is looming on the horizon, we've been talking a lot more about how we spend, what we buy, what we need, what we want, how we'll live, where we'll live...

But when I walk into my house, into my room, into my spare room, when I go into my closets, I just feel as though there's too much stuff in my house.  I simply have wasted too much of my money in the past buying things, things I don't need, things I just wanted, and now I feel the need to just unburden myself.

I've always donated clothes and miscellaneous household stuff to the Vietnam Veterans of America, or to the Lupus Foundation.  I've decided that I'm going to put together a selection of work clothes I don't wear too much and contact a woman's shelter to donate them:  there are so many women escaping abusive husbands, women who need a helping hand to move up in the world, and perhaps my work clothes will be just what they need to wear on that special interview. 

I have so many extra scrapping things; I've been donating them to my scrapping group.  But now I'm going to put together some small activity kits and bring them to the hospital and donate them to the pediatric ward.  Perhaps there are a few children who can use a distraction while they're in the hospital for treatment, or while they're recovering...

I was so enlightened by the sheer amount of food I had to throw away after Hurricane Sandy.  I just go to Shop Rite, and I buy what catches my eye.  I never worry about a food budget, or if I should or could buy those chips/cookies/sodas, etc.  I vowed to not buy too much anymore, not more than I can realistically use.  I promised not to overstock my refrigerator and freezer.  FAIL!  I'll have to take a picture of the inside of my fridge/freezer and add it to this post tonight...  We are cooking more, and eating out less, since J is pretty much homebound since his surgery, but I still have so much I really don't need to store.  So I'll be putting together some dried goods and bringing it to the church this weekend.  We have a food box in the vestibule where you can donate foodstuff, and members can help themselves to what's there.  There are quite a few elderly parishioners and some lower income families in the parish, so there are some more people I can help.

I haven't done any of this yet this week, but my heart already feels lighter!

What You Would Find in My Purse

This post needs no further explanation.  Feel free to play along...

1. wallet
2. phone
3. checkbook register
4. coupons
5. mini makeup bag (lip gloss, Tums, Boroleum ointment, lipstick, eye drops, mini perfume atomizer sample, Advil Cold & Sinus capsules, eyeglass cloth, tabletop purse holder, Dayquil geltabs, Tagamet, bandaid)
6. recently paid bills, separated into an envelope for me, and an envelope for hubby
7. business card holder with club cards, gift cards, membership cards
8. reading glasses
9. sunglasses
10. mini hairspray
11. rosary beads
12. receipts
13. comb
14. 2 pens
15. house and car keys
16. whatever book I'm currently reading, and on odd days,
17. my Kindle

Quirks and Pet Peeves

We all have them.  But I've recently discovered that one pet peeve of mine just tops 'em all. 

Without going into graphic detail, I just have one suggestion:  when you use a public restroom, TURN AROUND before you walk through the stall door and leave whatever it is you leave behind...  NO ONE else wants to see what you left behind. 

This has been a public service announcement.

And quirks?  Lord knows I have a few!  So just so you don't think I'm perfect, here are a few of mine, in no particular order:

1. If I have to remember something the next day, I "write" it on my forehead in reverse writing so it would be readable in a mirror, remembering to "wipe" the board "clean" between words.  It hasn't failed me yet.  (No, I'm not nuts, I swear!)
2. I toss my bag, my coat, my scarf and gloves on the nearest chair or sofa when I walk in the house and they can stay there for days.  (I walk through the foyer and right past a coat closet to get into the house.)
3. I make my bed every single day, without fail, but I can go weeks with clothes piled on the chest at teh foot of the bed.
4. I can't go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink but I can go weeks without dusting.
5. I pay for my Weight Watchers membership every month but haven't been to a meeting in I don't know how long.
6. See #8 but replace "WW" with "gym" and "meeting" with "the gym."
7. I am newly addicted to meringue cookies.
8. I am very competitive and HATE to lose at board games, Words with Friends, or any other game.  This is why it's best I play Bejeweled against myself rather than against others.
9. I am addicted to my smartphone, despite denying it every time my husband accuses me of it.
10. I don't care if the inside of my car is messy.

I have many, many more, but since I'm writing this at work because I don't feel like working, I'll stop at 10.

A Day in the Life of the Patient...

If it were up to me, a man would have to disclose the type of patient he is (read:  IMpatient!) before marriage.  NOT that I would trade my guy in for anyone, but really?  He's SO bored during this recovery period that I'm being slowly driven insane.  The only thing getting me through this is knowing this is my purgatory:  I'm going straight up to heaven when it's my turn!!!

Here's his typical day:
1. Get up after I shower, around 6:15am.
2. Complain that even with Advil PM or ZZZQuil, he didn't sleep through the night.
3. Forget entirely that he hasn't slept past 5am in YEARS!  Even without his surgery...
4. Go downstairs and have a bowl of cereal while listening to one of the Harry Potter audio books.
5. Kiss his loving wife goodbye and wish her a good day at work.
6. Pace around the house as many time as he can while waiting for the PT person to pick him up for therapy.
7. To keep from being bored, he vacuums.
8. Every day.
9. We don't have a pet or a child.  Every day?!?!?
10. Call his loving wife at work when he gets home from PT so she knows he's home safe and sound.
11. Eat a bowl of ramen noodles for lunch.
12. Disregard all the good FOOD in the refrigerator and choose ramen noodles.
13. On a good day, answer the phone and if he's lucky it's his sister or his friend and not a telemarketer.
14. Go on the computer and search Craigslist for free stuff, watch YouTube videos about repairing snowblowers or carburetors or search Google for "work at home opportunities."
15. On a bad day, sign up for "more info" and generate loads of spam emails into our home email address.
16. Walk the 1+ miles to the train station even when it's frigid outside to meet his loving wife at the train station.
17. Stand outside the car and wait for her in the cold even though he has a key on his key chain.
18. Kiss her hello when she gets off the train.
19. Remove clothes from the dryer and start dinner.
20. Insist on heating up dinner because he can.  He's not an invalid.
21. Complain that he's been bored all day and doesn't his loving wife have anything for him to do?
22. Complain that all his loving wife's suggestions aren't what he wants to do.
23. Watch some TV at night, then drink his Sleepytime Tea and take his ZZZQuil and sleep.
24. Repeat.
25. His loving wife will deny this post if any of you mention it to him.

Surgery Update

Jack had his shoulder surgery Monday.  We got home at about 6:30pm.  I started him on the pain pills right away, based on all the warnings from friends, family, acquaintances and the doctor that the pain would be bad. 

They called the next day and brought him in for physical therapy on Tuesday.  Which was fine.  Because the nerve block had not warn off yet.

But it did, later that evening, and it was bad.  He's a strong man, but this brought him to his knees.  At 2:30am he finally asked me to call the emergency number and the covering doctor told me to double his pain medication and add 4 Advil every 8 hours as an anti-inflammatory.  Since Jack made a big deal with the doctor that he didn't want Vicodin, so he was given Nucynta, which is usually used for patients with a sensitivity to Vicodin.  Once the double pills kicked in, it was like someone took a hundred pounds off him...

We changed the dressings yesterday and again today.  5 incisions, 10 stitches, total.  1 big bruise.  Yesterday he wanted to take a shower, so we covered the incision site, he took his sling off - and was shocked to find that he couldn't hold the weight of his arm up on his own!  I got my old sling out and he wore it in the shower.  You always feel so much better once you shower...  He said today's therapy session was a bit more intense, that his shoulder is moving better than they expected.  Not well, mind you, but it's moving which is a good thing.

And then there's the snow.  It snowed, about a good 5 inches.  Light and fluffy, thank goodness, because I had to clean off the car and shovel around it so we could get to the gym.  Danny, our neighbor, shoveled our sidewalk, a path up our driveway and our steps early this morning.  When I went out to clean off the car and the path to the car so Jack could get out there safely, he came out yelling for me to get back in the house, that he'd take care of it, he told me he would...  I explained he could happily do the rest, that I was just getting Jack out the door to go to therapy.  Then he said I should have called him and he'd have cleaned off my car...

It's nice to see people help Jack once in a while; he's always the one doing for others, it's ingrained in him.

Tonight I'm going to suggest we play a game, watch a movie, do something together that is interactive and will hopefully keep his attention - he's so bored and depressed.  And being laid up is so hard for him.  T came over yesterday for a couple of hours and he got so tired but he didn't want to tell T to leave...  So then he felt tired and cranky... 

I'm working from home today. It's so inconvenient to not be able to ALT TAB between windows; my database opens on a separate desktop so I can't use that shortcut. I can ALT TAB to the database from my desktop, but once in there, I have to minimize the windows to get back out to my laptop desktop. AND, to make it worse, the ENTER button in the numbers panel doesn't work - I have to use the ENTER button in the alpha panel. Everything is ISBN driven so it's a pain to have to remember to go to the alpha keyboard to enter any field entry. If I don't I'm erroring out all the time.

I'm going back to work Monday, but I'm going to talk with my manager about working from home a day or two a week for a few weeks - I know it's going to be a fight at my end, with Jack, but he's not one to entertain himself with TV or a book, like me.  He needs to be DOING and right now there's no DOING...

Will post more soon...

Why????

We were doing so well! 

We were working with CompServices on his workman's comp claim and THEY.WERE.WONDERFUL.

And he came home yesterday with a notice the Board is switching to some other workman's comp company and what do we do now with a claim started with CompServices and the surgery is MONDAY and he's going to get prescriptions and should we use the old card and I'm NOT waiting to fill them until we get a new card from the new company because the doctor already warned us he'd be in more pain than before the surgery and what if these new companies aren't as easy to work with?

Yea, I planned to keep going but even I ran out of breath reading it.

I HOPE, HOPE, HOPE existing claims stay with the covering agency.

Please keep whatever you can cross, crossed.

What If I Change My Mind...

Think his head will explode if I decide against my distressed off-white cabinets to come and order this kitchen???  (P.S. The answer is a resounding YES!)

Contemporary Kitchen design by Charleston General Contractor Phillip W Smith General Contractor, Inc.

53 Jokes in 4 Minutes, by Hank Green

Here's 4 minutes you'll never get back, but it's worth it this time!  (Not like The Wicker Man, which is 1 hour and 28 minutes I'll never get back but it seemed like 4 hours...)

This was fun!  Thanks, Dooce, for finding it!

http://laughingsquid.com/53-terrible-jokes-told-in-4-minutes-by-hank-green/

And just for $hits and giggles, here are (drum roll, please) "Goats Yelling Like Humans."  And yes, I did watch all 2 minutes and 4 seconds (they went really fast!!!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpccpglnNf0&feature=player_embedded

Bullying

If you have 7-1/2 minutes, PLEASE listen to the video that Cathy Zielske posted on her blog.
If you've been bullied, PLEASE listen to the video that Cathy Zielske posted on her blog.
If you've bullied someone, PLEASE listen to the video that Cathy Zielske posted on her blog.

http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/my_weblog/2013/02/instead-of-project-life-today-would-you-watch-this.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fcathyzielske%2Fmy_weblog+%28Bits%26Pieces%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

I am passionately involved in supporting anti-bullying and teaching children not to bully.  The funny thing is I never felt bullied growing up.  I never really thought about it.  J thinks it's because I went to Catholic school for 12 years, but I think it's simpler than that.  There were bullies then, but they weren't bullies like bullies are today.  There were a couple of mean kids in school.  That's it.  I'm sure there were kids back then that today would say they were bullied, but it's true when I say times were different then.

A couple of years ago there was a Facebook thing going around, asking if "you were a nerd when you were in school."  My response was, and I thought I was being funny, was, "I never thought I was a nerd, but you'll have to ask the kids I went to school with."  (Sorry about that dangling preposition!)  Imagine my shock and horror when a girl I was friendly with in high school responded with this (paraphrased) reply:  "Krys, of course you were a nerd, but look at the people you hung out with:  we were all nerds!"

I was - and I'm almost ashamed to admit it - so hurt!  I was a bookworm, sure.  I was one of the studious kids, I admit it.  But a nerd?????  No way!  In that short, 20-word sentence, it was if someone pulled me totally off balance, knocked me off my feet, stabbed me in the heart, rewrote history!  (No one ever said I wasn't dramatic!)

There is no valid reason to bully anyone, not a single person.  Everyone deserves to be and should be treated with respect.  Each and every person on this earth is valuable.  Race, color, religion, sexual orientation, hair color, height, weight - all "reasons" people have been bullied.  In fact, people have been bullied for no good reason.  Many times the bullier is the reason for the bullying, his or her insecurities, lack of self-worth and lack of self-esteem.   It's not a good reason, but it's a reason.

We should all take it upon ourselves to fight this battle against bullying.

Surgery Is Scheduled

So on March 4, J will have his shoulder surgery.  It's confirmed:  2 torn tendons and a rotator cuff tear.  The doctor promised he'd try to get J back to pre-work-injury health but that if he'd come when he first hurt his shoulder (and I quote:  "15 or 20 years ago"), he could have gotten the shoulder back the way it was in J's 20s!!!  J said he doesn't remember hurting that shoulder, but the doctor said there was quite a bit of atrophied muscle so it's obvious he did, and then powered through it, ignoring the injury and the pain.  That was the first time we met the doctor and he pegged J but good!!!

I was so afraid that since it was a workman's comp event we'd be sent to the doctors from hell, that we'd be sucked into the black hole of red tape and paperwork that would never be resolved because we all know government workers just take home a paycheck and don't care about their work...  (FYI:  That was a JOKE, people!  Although I admit to fear that working with the comp people would be problematic at best.  We've all had insurance fiascos, I'm sure...)

But, OMG, the people we had to work with at the comp office, along with the doctor's office staff, were absolutely phenomenal!  They responded to voice messages, they got things done, the comp people even had to get the doctor's surgical center approved as a venue so they could pay for the surgery, and they did it all!  We're dealing with CompServices, Inc.  They handle workman's comp claims in NJ and in PA.  I guess the government has farmed the work out to third party handlers and they have been wonderful.

The doctor told J that if we didn't like him now, because of his recommendation for surgery, we'd probably really hate him post-surgery.  The pain he's going through now is apparently nothing compared to the suffering after the operation.  He said if J is in the 40% of his patients who don't feel immediate relief, and there's a chance of that since there's so much damage in the joint, we'd be calling him demanding another MRI "because there's no way that [he] fixed the shoulder because [J] is in worse shape than before the surgery..."  He told us up front he's going to refuse another MRI, IF of course the surgery goes the way he feels it will, because it might take two months to see/feel any improvement.  Ouch.

Then the bad news.  And yes, SURGERY was NOT the bad news.  The BAD news was that J could be out of work, according to the surgeon, 9-12 weeks.  Completely unacceptable to my husband.  The doctor agreed that if his recovery and PT went well, that he'd consider 6-9 weeks, with a return to light duty.  You know, where you TEACH the kids to do a jumping jack, but you don't do it yourself.  Yeah, like that will ever happen...  But he made a point of telling J that doing the PT was good, that doing a little more at home, as advised by the therapist AND the doctor, was okay, too, but that OVERdoing it was NOT.  We had to explain that to my thick-headed husband a couple of times...  (Just kidding, J - love you!)

I'm going to take the day of surgery off, and the day after as well, and I'm planning to work from home the rest of that week.  J thinks that's overkill and I should go back to work the day after the operation.  (Don't know why he didn't tell me to go in after the surgery...)  I'm leaving it all up in the air for now, but have told my manager my plans and he's okay with them.

We've been warned by many that laying down will be impossible for him so we're borrowing recliners from our niece.  We were going to get them tomorrow, but we're waiting until next week now, because she's sick (and her husband is, too) and we can't take a chance that he picks up something.  It's bad enough he spends 7-1/2 hours a day with KIDS and their germs...

Keep your fingers crossed for the surgery and for my his recovery.  Thanks!!!

Not Too Happy with Home Depot Today...

SO, we went to Home Depot and surprise, I'm getting the cabinet style I wanted!  Off white, traditional with a twist of modern, and a hazelnut glaze to add a little distressed look to the finish.

C was our designer.  Not that he had too hard a job:  there really is only one place to put the refrigerator and that's what's been holding us up all these years, trying to imagine another option...  Nope, no other option available.  But he DID get me a stove on the wall, not in the island, so I'm happy about that!

He explained that Home Depot does their own measuring now, and that we'd have to pay $99 for the measuring, but it would be credited to the cabinet purchase down the road.  We explained the house was not here in town, but up at the lake, at our weekend home and he said, "No problem!  We go all over NJ!"

Yea, sure you do...  So Steve called us and it turns out Steve doesn't go past Dover.  So he referred us to Pablo and Pablo doesn't work weekends.  He works 15-hour days and apparently deserves his weekends to himself.  Well, Pablo, Home Depot told us there's no problem getting the measurements done on Saturday, but that of course, those appointments go fast so we might have to wait a couple of weeks.

WHICH we were prepared to wait for anyway 'cause hubby dearest is having his shoulder surgery done on March 4.  He won't be installing cabinets any time soon...  But Pablo was a bit nasty and for the absolute FIRST TIME IN 23 YEARS, I heard my husband get snippy on the phone with the guy:  he sounded JUST LIKE I WOULD HAVE!  I'm so proud!

So Pablo starts backpedaling when J complains that we're getting the run around, the HD said we could get a weekend appointment at some point, that he's the SECOND person we have spoken with and if he's unwilling to do his job, we'll go back to HD and just get our money back and take our $15000 kitchen somewhere else...  All of a sudden he can come on Sunday - get this:  "on my own time, at 6:30am."

FIRST of all, Pablo, you're getting paid for your time.  You're not doing this out of the kindness (ha!) of your heart!  And SECOND, 6:30am?  Really?  You'd better be there at 6:30am or you'll be subject to the wrath of Krys since she's going to have to get up at around 5:45am on a Sunday, on a Sunday in the middle of a long weekend!  If the phone rings with some nonsense about "I can't find your street, it's not on Mapquest," ALL BETS ARE OFF, PEOPLE!  Pablo is in for some trouble!  (After he accurately measures my kitchen, of course...)