Playing Catch Up...

It's been a busy couple of weeks...  When last I posted, my cousins were coming in from Arizona.  Here's a photo of my cousin K, her husband P, and their beautiful granddaughter, A.  We had a lovely time at dinner - and it turns out A is a huge Harry Potter fan, too, so she had fun looking at the HP book J got me for Christmas... 

Our families live thousands of miles apart, and have for many, many years.  It's amazing to me how much can happen, how people you are related to can be so very different from you, can have different morals and ethics (NOT my lovely cousins in the above photo!), can live lives you wouldn't dream could be real...

Our 13th wedding anniversary was July 25th.  To celebrate this year, we decided to take a mini vacation to Lake George.  We visited the Historical Association, the library, etc.  We hadn't planned to stay more than two days, max - we booked a room for one night and thought we'd wing it for the second night.  We took a ride up 9N to Bolton Landing, walked around the downtown area, sent some photos home to daughter M, then started to drive up to Fort Ticonderoga.  We passed a gas station outside of Bolton Landing, and I suggested we get some gas but J didn't want to spend $4.69 a gallon.  So we continued up the road, and eventually found a visitor's center.  They said we had to turn around and go back to Bolton Landing for gas, continue the 10 miles up to Ticonderoga, or try to make our way out to Route 87 and find a gas station on the highway.

So we decided to head for 87 - the downhill part of 9N above Bolton Landing did a number on our brakes - they were hot, hot, hot AND our check engine light went on!  That clinched it - we decided to make our way home, rather than stay another night in NY state.  J didn't bring his code reader for the car, so we had to cross our fingers there was nothing seriously wrong with the car and head for NJ.  We stopped for gas, then for lunch, then got home in the late afternoon.  While I certainly wish our vacation had been longer, we had SUCH a great time!  Proof positive, in my humble opinion, that J COULD actually learn to enjoy retirement, if only he'd decide to actually retire!

Here are some photos from Lake George:

This was a beautiful hibiscus flower outside one of the tourist shops on Canada Street.  It was probably the most beautiful thing I saw in or around those stores - there were a lot of kitschy souveniers but not a lot of quality gift items, at least in my opinion.

This is the building in which the Historical Association is housed.  The curator told us that the reason there was scaffolding outside and windows boarded up is because a major hailstorm several months ago broke many of the windows and damaged the exterior.  They are now beginning the renovations.

This is one of the many artifacts we got to see, up close and personal.

We had just checked in and we were deciding where to go first.  I should have taken a photo of the back seat of our car:  there were probably 50 tourist maps and brochures we picked up in the rest stops on the Thruway...

We had coffee in this little coffee shop in Bolton Landing on Friday morning.  I had teased J the day before:  "So, do you think we'll run into anyone you know here in Lake George?"  We always do - we were in Las Vegas and ran into neighbors who lived near him when he was married the first time.  We ran into people in Atlantic City, on a cruise...  So we were just walking into this coffee shop when a woman and her child came out and started chatting with J.  I really thought it was just stranger-speak - you know, "Thanks for holding the door," etc.  Until I realized she was telling her son to "say hello to Mr. S."  He was a pre-K student this year; J said he saw either the mom or the dad 5 times a week when they were dropping their son off at school!  Go figure!

We stopped by the side of the road, on 9N, and I just snapped this photo.  GORGEOUS!

When we got back we picked some vegetables from our garden.  Last year we were amazed at the size of our cucumbers.  Well, 2012 has last year beat!  See?

We picked onions, tomatoes, basil, oregano, cucumbers - mmm...

You can see how overgrown the garden is in this shot - the tomato vines are through the railing and growing across the deck!

Lunch yesterday:  our tomatoes, our onions, our basil, our oregano, and some mozzarella and pomegranate balsamic from Saratoga Olive Oil Company in Saratoga, NY (we stopped for lunch on the way up).  We also bought dark chocolate balsamic (for me!) and fig balsamic for my sister-in-law.  Mmm...

Last night J helped me start hanging frames on the wall in the upstairs hallway.  Some of the frames are empty, and I have more frames to hang, and more to buy...  The gold frame will eventually be replaced with another white one - I want a new look.  I originally had mis-matched frames on this wall but I decided to make them all white this time around.  What do you think?

Well, that's it for now - it's almost 11:30pm and I have to go to work tomorrow, darn it...

Family tomorrow!

I'm very excited!  One of my cousins is coming to visit tomorrow with her husband and her granddaughter.

K is my first cousin on my dad's side.  She lives in Gilbert, AZ, and I haven't seen her since my cousin T died in May, 2008.  Before that, she flew out for my wedding in 1999.  I saw her in 1998 for her mom's funeral here in NJ; they had moved out to Colorado in the 1970s, after my grandfather died.

I don't see that side of the family very much, but in recent years, with email and Facebook and IMing and texting, it's so much easier to stay in touch.  We used to go to Granddaddy's house every Sunday; he lived in Bloomingdale, NJ, and I loved it there.  It was a small town.  And everything you thought you knew about a small town was true in Bloomingdale.

Yes, everyone knew each other.
Yes, it was safe.
Yes, we played outside whenever we were there, unless it was winter and cold outside.
Yes, we played on swings and walked around town and caught fireflies.
Yes, we picnicked under the giant shade tree.
Yes, Granddaddy hid candy in the newspaper for us every Sunday.
(And yes, Mom knew nothing about that until Todd's funeral when we talked about it!)
Yes, spending Sundays with my Dad's family made me feel loved and special and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Yes, I have lovely memories of my childhood and I wish everyone had the same...

I'll take some photos tomorrow.  I'm leaving an hour early today, and spending tomorrow morning cleaning and straightening the house for visitors, then shopping for food.  The family is coming over for dinner late in the afternoon.  Can't wait to update you all!!

2

I bought myself a new book, one I saw recommended on a few blogs that I read.  The name of the book is 2: How Will You Create Something Beautiful Together? written by Dan Zadra and Kobi Yamada.

The very first page touched my heart.  I'd like to share it with you, and those of you reading this?  Those of you whose hearts this will touch?  You know who you are...  You're welcome!


"From the time we are very small, we know that one plus one is two.  But when the right people come together, one plus one is actually more than two.  Much more.

We are not made to go through life alone.  Everything about us is designed to become stronger, happier, and more fulfilled when we have found our love, our partner, our matching puzzle piece.

The miracle is that sharing life actually makes life bigger.  The arithmetic is magic.  Real love always adds, it never subtracts.  With love, we double our joys, divide our worries, and multiply our possibilities for a life of meaning, romance and adventure.

Yes, life was meant to be shared.  It's not what we have in our life, but who we have in our life that counts.  If you have found love, you have been given life's greatest gift.  How will you celebrate it?  How will you use it to grow? 

How will you create something beautiful together?"


My 13th wedding anniversary is the 25th.  I remember when my nephew got married the year after we did, a friend of my SIL commented to me that I wasn't "the bride" anymore.  You know what?  I still feel like a newlywed!  Maybe it's because I was older when I got married (38) so I have a better appreciation of time and have experienced how it flies much faster when you're older.  13 years is NOT a long time, considering I'm going to be 52 on my next b'day; I've only been married for about 1/4 of my lifetime!

I can't wait to read the rest of this book!  And I'm going to make a concerted effort to be a better wife to my absolutely wonderful husband.  It's so easy to take unintended advantage.  We say "I love you" to each other several times a day:  every time we part, every time we talk on the phone before we hang up, sometimes for no apparent reason and out of the blue.  But I want to show it.  I want to show it in my actions.  I want others to see it when they see us together.  Especially during the summers:  he's home 1/2 the day, every day, while I'm at work, so while I am not on summer vacation like he is, it really is a vacation for me.  The laundry is done, he cooks dinner (or at least gets it ready so all I have to do is heat it up if I get home before him), he runs errands (the dry cleaner doesn't see me at all during July and August!), he takes my Mom where she needs to go during the day so she doesn't have to wait until I get home...  I could go on and on.

And all I do is live the easy life for two months, then hate having to do any of that stuff the other 10 months of the year!  Here's my July resolution:  To read this book, take it to heart, make a real noticeable effort to "create something beautiful together."

We'll see how I do...

Health Update - Don't Get Scared!

Although admittedly, I did, for a moment or two...

It all started last Friday night.  We decided the day before we were going to go to the Olive Garden for dinner.  So we spent a lovely day on the dock and on the water - the weather was gorgeous, hot and sunny, but not humid enough to keep me inside all day...  We ran into a teacher friend of J's who happens to live in the area so we were standing and chatting with her, waiting for our little seating buzzer to light and and vibrate.

All of a sudden I noticed a C-shaped I-don't-know-what, at the perifery of my vision in my left eye.  I blinked, thinking it would disappear.  It didn't.  The only way I can describe it is to say it was a "C" made out of alternating triangles.  Eventually I read someone else's description of it as zig-zag and that might be more accurate, but it was flashing a bit, like the flashing lights you supposedly see when your retina is detaching.  (I read way too much on the Internet!  PLUS I have a best friend whose retina was detached in an accident years ago...)

It lasted about 20/25 minutes then disappeared entirely.  No lasting effects, no vision impairment, no headache.  J and I talked about it and agreed that I'd better call the eye doctor.  So I did, at 6:10pm.  They closed already so I called their "emergency number"/answering service.  "Emergency number," my eye!  (No pun intended!)

The lady was very nice, and she asked me if it was an emergency.  Now, granted, I did say I hadn't beein in a car accident and there was no head trauma of any kind, so technically it wasn't a rush-to-the-hospital-and-save-my-vision kind of emergency, but it was MY EYES, PEOPLE!

And I waited.  And waited some more.  And when I hadn't gotten a call the next morning, I called the office because the answering service told me they were open Saturday from 8am-12noon.  But the machine came on at 8:15/8:30-ish, referring patients to the answering service.  So I called them.  Again.

And THAT very nice lady told me that my message read "customer claims no emergency" and that the doctor would be getting my message on Monday, at 8:30am.  And if they didn't answer their phones, they must be closed.  "A lot of our clients forgot to tell us they were closing on July 4th, through the weekend, so that's what must have happened with them."

I explained (calmly) that I hadn't exactly said it wasn't an emergency, but I guess I sort of did - she doesn't apparently read mild panic about MY EYES as an emergency - she just heard the words "no car accident" and "no head trauma."

So I waited until they called me Monday (at 9:30am, btw).  The receptionist kindly rushed me in as an emergency patient at 1pm yesterday, so I left work and went home at lunchtime.

I thought I might have to wait a while but I didn't; they took me almost immediately.  They gave me drops, checked my eye pressure, then told me to wait 15-20 minutes for the drop in my left eye to work.  The doctor came in, did a pretty thorough examination with multiple light sources and magnifiers.

Thankfully he said my pressure was good, my optic nerve and blood vessels all looked fine, my retina was NOT detached (not even close!).  Then he suggested I go see my GP to eliminate the possibility of a TIA or mini-stroke.

BOOM.

That was the shoe dropping.

A mini-stroke?  A TIA?  Are you kidding me?!  THEN just to be sure I was paying attention, he tossed around words like neurological consult, brain tumor, preventative, etc.

Just for the record, folks, after that initial "WHAT?!?" I knew this was just a matter of eliminating other reasons for a most-likely one-time occurence that he had no explanation for.  Dr. Internet led me to the ocular migraine diagnosis on my own, along with confirmation of that from a friend we had dinner with on Saturday night who suffers from the same thing, but with the accompanying migraine headache.  The note my eye doctor wrote for my GP reads as follows:

- One episode of unexplained visual phenomenon
- Suggests ocular migraine/vs. TIA
- check clotting abnormality
- Carotid/Doppler only if you feel patient is at risk for TIA
- Neuro consult

1.  I had a clotting test done years ago when a blood center employee told me I had thick blood because it took her 2 HOURS to get one pint of blood from me when I was donating.  I was fine.  I don't have thick blood or a clotting problem.
2.  There's no history of TIAs or strokes in my family, a couple of heart attacks, and some high blood pressure, but not enough to worry me at all.

So tomorrow I'm going to my GP for a physical.  And I'm going to ask her to give me the works; I haven't had a complete physical in a few years, so maybe this is just God's way of making sure I know I'm okay.

I did try the ole "ocular migraines are stress-induced so I have to retire" thing, but J didn't fall for it.

Darn, he's smarter than I like sometimes!!!

I'll keep you all posted!

50 Shades of You're Kidding Me!!!

Okay, I've read them.  All three of them.  On my Kindle.  [So not only did I hate the books, I hated the reading experience, too, but I'm not here to harp on the Kindle - if you're reading my blog, you already know how I feel about books vs. e-books.]

Do you know how I feel about the latest go-round of "Mommy Porn"???  Do you want to know?

I was raised in a good Roman Catholic family, no nudity, no drugs, no sex and rock and roll (at least not until I went to college!  Rock and roll, Mom!  I'm talking about rock and roll!).

But I'm not a prude.  I'm a baby boomer, too young to have been a feminist warrior, but old enough to have seen a WHOLE bunch of changes in the way women have been and are being treated in this big world.  I can accept that what goes on in your room is your business, not mine, as long as there are no children being hurt.

My very first job interview out of college with with L-hman Brothers (pick a vowel, any vowel, but especially an "e"!) and I didn't get the job because I was young and probably going to get pregnant soon and leave them in the lurch.  I wasn't savvy enough to call him on his comments, but I was quick enough to ask why the person they were replacing had left:  sure enough, she had gotten pregnant.  It was an entry level office position and I explained that despite my College Degree and my obvious Overqualification for the Job, I also had College Loans that had to be paid off so I was really looking to start working right away and I promised I wouldn't get pregant for several years.  No dice, no job.  Of course, it was an easy promise:  hubby-to-be wouldn't be in the picture for 8 more years...

But nowhere, not ever, in all my 50 years, has ANY man asked me to be submissive to him in any way.  Not in a job, not in a marriage, not in a relationship, and not in a sexual relationship.  And I RESENT the "heroine" (and I use THAT term loosely!) being presented as a 22-year-old college graduate who actually STRUGGLES with the decision:  should I sign that contract, agreeing to be his sexual toy to do with whatever he wants, whether it hurts me or not?  Should I agree to call him "Sir" and never, ever look him in the eye when we're in his playroom?  Should I really agree to KNEEL before him, waiting for him to deign to mistreat me, looking only at his SHOES?!?!

REALLY?????????????????????

It's 2012, people!  I am SO offended by the whole idea that a young girl today would even CONSIDER this!  And not because the sex bothered me.  I read sexy romances all the time.  It's a writing style that sometimes adds to the story and sometimes IS all there is in the story.  Again, whatever floats your boat if it's not illegal is your business. 

You've already heard my rants about Twilight, I'm sure, how a series of books targeted at tweens should NOT, in my humble opinion, include a 16-year-old main character who struggles with how UNworthy she is to be with the hero:  "I'm too fat/skinny, not smart/pretty enough; he's so much handsomer and smarter than me..."  BLEGGGHHH.  I get it:  I know tween girls, the target audience, struggle with self-esteem.  I know that they would feel some connection with a main character who feels not quite good enough, but she should overcome, she should shake off the self-esteem issues, learn and believe that she IS GOOD ENOUGH IF NOT BETTER than that sparkly vampire!  Ugh.

Okay, 'nough ranting. 

I read 50 Shades of Gray, #1, #2, and #3.  I despised the girl, the main character, throughout the whole book.  Believe it or not, by the end of book 3, I actually came to like Christian Gray, self-admitted "50 shades of f-cked up" hero that he is, because HIS character developed.  He learned from his feelings and his relationship that love is more important than sex, that love and caring and a relationship don't need the bells and whistles, the shock and awe of his Dominant/Submissive scenario.  He grew up, folks, but I never felt like she did.

THAT'S what I disliked most about the books.  Oops, someone has to borrow my soapbox now...  Later!

Finally!

I've been back to the gym twice, last week.

I've attended two yoga classes.

J and I have gone on three neighborhood walks.  The first one was not long, just around our 3 blocks.  The second one was about 5 blocks, just one block over for a different view.  THEN we walked from our house to Alwood Road, down that mother of a hill (!), back to our street, and up to our house, a grand total of about 2.14 miles.  Anyone that lives in our area knows the Allwood Road hill - I really did walk up it once, and thought I was going to die, so downhill on foot is all I'll even consider at my advanced age...

Then we slacked off all weekend, and putzed around on the rowboat on Saturday, tanning ourselves and relaxing.  We drove home, showered, then we walked around the old car show at Whiskey Cafe for 2 hours.  Boy, do I love that!  I really don't need to do it every day, but it's a lot of fun every week or two.  The music is great, straight out of the 50s, and the cars are awesome.  J laughs at me because I get mad when there's a car there from the late 70s, early 80s, because "How can a car manufactured when I learned how to drive be a classic???"  "Because that's way more than 25 years ago, Krys!"

And today I had a salad for lunch.  I actually bought too much; I couldn't finish it even after picking at it at my desk for 2 hours!  I'm going to try to move more and eat well, to use the name of an online health class I'm signed up for but not actively participating in right now!  But I'm going to try to play catch up over the next couple of weeks.  I guess I found my mojo!

Yesterday we went to our family picnic at C&A's house in Caldwell.  I'll post pictures in a day or two; I only took a couple with my phone.  They have an old Tudor-style home with a beautiful pool in the backyard.  It's a steep lot, so you walk downstairs to the pool...  If you follow me on Instagram, I posted a picture on Saturday...  They had the obligatory hot dogs and cheeseburgers, sausage and peppers, penne and broccoli, ziti, sesame chicken, green bean salad, two different pasta salads, and a bowl of AH-YIVS, or olives unless you're my 2-year-old niece...  Mmm, I like olives!  For dessert, each family had to bring something:  peach cobbler, pineapple upside down cake, chocolate balls (don't ask: they were crushed and moist oreo balls covered in milk chocolate!), watermelon, cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies, sugar wafers, chocolate cherry cake, sugar cookies, chocolate marble cake, and some other things I didn't even look at...

We were sitting there chatting, the aunts and cousins and me, and niece C came up with a "project" for J.  Apparently someone noticed that when you were standing in the pool and you used the metal handrail, you felt a tingling/electrical current!  I stepped into the pool, with one leg, held onto that same rail, and felt nothing.  But they shut off the breaker to everything at the pool, and an electrician will be summoned tout de suite!

I'm a bit of a braggart when it comes to my baby grand-niece, in case you hadn't noticed, but I found out from her mommy that when her daddy went to the dentist the other day, the hygienist told him how much I bragged about little E!  I hope her daddy didn't think I was stealing his thunder!  She's just so adorable and I love her so much!  If DSD M has a baby, I'm going to be in major trouble!  I'll be sharing that grand-baby with the world!!!!  You'll probably get sick of hearing about him/her!!

This morning we had one of the WORST thunderstorms we've had in a long time.  I got soaked just running out to the car, decided en route to the train station there was no way I was standing on an open platform in that storm, and drove myself to work.  So that will be another week paying daily rates; you save on a week, but not enough to buy the week's pass for 4 days...  Next week I'll be able to take advantage of the monthly pass.  When I got to work, my clothes were still wet from getting in the car, but by mid-morning, after freezing in the A/C for a couple of hours, I was dry again.  It's a good thing I keep a fleece shawl in my office...  I was huddling under that for 2 hours or so!

My sister in that western state had a bit of a scare this morning.  A Rottweiler that was loose wherever she was walking her dogs attacked them.  Her Samoyed Miko was actually hurt, but thank goodness, it wasn't too serious.   A HUGER thank goodness it didn't attack HER!  She's waiting now to speak with Animal Control, and I hope she pursues the owner paying for the emergency room costs.  With the town involved, I would hope it would be easier to get some money from them!  I'm not a particularly lawsuit-happy citizen, but when someone is responsible for damage to your property or a family member, they have to pay!  Somehow...

I went to Kohl's yesterday and bought three summer blouses, spent $60 and got $10 back in Kohl's cash, so I'll have a bit more shopping to do next week!  Here are the blouses I bought: 
in white:
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/womens/tops_shirts/tops/PRD~1023533/Croft+and+Barrow+Macrame+Tank.jsp
the blue floral:
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/womens/tops_shirts/tops/PRD~1114567/LC+Lauren+Conrad+Floral+Tank.jsp
in blue:
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/womens/tops_shirts/tops/PRD~1057402/ELLE+Scroll+DipDye+Crinkle+Tank.jsp

I'm wearing the white blouse today, with a pair of khaki cargo capris.  I wore the blue floral top yesterday for the picnic with a pair of short white capris made out of a linen-y type fabric with drawstring details at the knees.  And I can't wait to wear the other crinkle blue top!

Well, my blogging break is over so I'd better get back to work!

Bullying

By now you've probably all heard the story about Karen Klein, the bus matron in Greece, NY, who was bullied and abused by a group of middleschoolers on the school bus a few days ago.

I watched the 10 minute video.  I was physically sick about 3 minutes into it, and crying soon after that.   I had to force myself to watch the whole thing, and I know a lot of people who were unable to do so.

But bullying is important to me.  Or should I say, ANTI-bullying is important to me.  I always said when I retired I wanted to do something with a literacy foundation or a library or something like that.  But I think I've found a new cause.

I'm not linking to the video here, it's that disturbing to me.  If you want to see it, it's easy enough to find.  I donated to Indiegogo, to the vacation fund someone started for her.  I'm happy to see it's more of a retirement fund at this point:  at this exact moment in time, it's at $466,201.  The goal was $5000.

I'd like to thank everyone who donated:  you don't know me, but thank you from the bottom of my heart for finding a few dollars to share with this woman.  She's 68 years old, still working to make ends meet.  That measly $15,000 she makes as a bus matron helps, I'm sure, but there's not enough money in the world that she should have to take that abuse from a handful of monster children. 

And yes, I blame the parents.

Sure, kids + a pack mentality = trouble, = cruel kids.  We all have heard it before:  kids are cruel.  But you know what?  I know a boatload of them who are NOT.  My sisters and I are not.  My kids are not.  My cousin and his kids are not.  My family members are not.  My neighborhood children are not.  The majority of the kids I've met volunteering in a local school for the past 7 years are not. 

Sure, there are a few.  But they're squashed down the minute we hear anything remotely cruel:  "Apologize to XYZ, we don't talk that way in this classroom."  "You owe so-and-so an apology - that was mean and we don't behave like that."  And then we talk about whatever issue it was that caused the cruelty:  someone is short, different, blonde, poor, foreign, etc., etc.  And 99 times out of a hundred, the kids learn tolerance and acceptance and kindness.

These little monsters who behaved so terribly on that bus were not taught to respect their elders.  If they had been, pack mentality or not, they would not have done what they did.  You've seen it:  if a child is uncomfortable with what's going on, they shut down, back away, or simply don't participate.  They might not have the strength to stand against the bullies, but they don't play along.  These kids enjoyed it.  It was FUN to call her "fat a$$," or "stupid" or "sweaty" or comment that she probably doesn't have a family because they all killed themselved to get away from her.  Oh yea, you mother-trucker?  Did you happen to hear later, after you opened your cruel little mouth, that Karen lost a son to suicide years ago?   Feel better now?

A father of one of those boys went to apologize to her.  At least that's what I saw on Anderson Cooper's AC360.  Where was his son???  I didn't see HIM there apologizing!   [If he was there and the clip didn't show it, I apologize.]  And when AC asked Karen if she accepted the boys' apologies, she said she hadn't gotten any yet.  Statements read by Anderson Cooper??  Really?  THAT is supposed to make me believe you feel some remorse, you little animals??

I am HORRIFIED at their behavior.  They have not ever suffered any serious consequences for bad behavior; I'd be willing to bet that same $50 I donated to Karen that they haven't.  I'm supposed to believe they've never behaved this way before?  Really? 

Guess what, I'm not that stupid.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox and ending my rant now - but I vow now and forever to fight bullying wherever I see it.  It's always been something I stand against, and I am comfortable saying I fight it when I see it, but this situation has simply strengthened my resolve.

Surprise! I'm not thin!

So several months ago I found the wild and wily ways of a brunette bombshell.  Yesterday Meg posted a post (?) entitled "perfect bodies, cellulite, and a little rebellion."

Thank you, Meg.  Thank you for doing what you do so well - writing what I'm thinking, even though you don't know me and I don't know you.  You captured it to perfection: 

"i don't have a perfect body.

i have cellulite; i will always have cellulite....

my body isn't perfect. i have cellulite and fleshy hips and more moles than a person can count....

but holy hell if i don't love this body of mine....

and certainly there are mornings i wish i knew what it was to be blond with thinner hips and perkier boobs....

i lost years of my life to wanting to lose weight.

and then, not too terribely long ago, i realized that the desire to change my body was the least interesting thing about me.

(that desire is in fact the least interesting thing about every woman i know).

you see, i think to love our bodies in a world or a society or whatever-you-want-to-call-it that tells us we shouldn't is a powerful act of rebellion--an even greater act of love.

i want to know what it is to live to in a world, where we, as women, say enough. enough of this nonsense. and okay, so we're not there yet, i know that. but at least let me add my voice to my betters and my peers who have gone before me and said, there's more to life than this, and so i love my body just as it is."

The thing is, I'm 51.  51-and-a-half, yesterday, to be exact.  And Meg?  She's NOT 51.  She's MUCH younger.  And she's come to this epiphany so much earlier in her life, and that's the AWESOME part of it - she'll have a much happier, more balanced life because of it. 

It took me a LONG time to realize I'm not my body.  Sure, I could lose few pounds.  Can't we all?  I could probably lose 20-30 and still be completely healthy, not too skinny, and just fine. 

But if I don't?

So.What.

You know what people need to realize?  That our husbands love us.  The us we are now, not the us we'll be in 30 pounds.  Our families and friends love us, the us we are now, not the us we'll be in 30 pounds.  And we have to learn to love us, the us we are now, not the us we'll be in 30 pounds.  They love and we need to learn to love the PEOPLE we are, not the weight we are.

And I'm getting there.  Yes, I'm still a WW member, I still hope to lose a few pounds sooner rather than later.  But I am SO DARNED PROUD that I went for a walk with my husband yesterday, only a 1/2 mile walk around our neighborhood, but we went for a walk.  THEN I went to the gym.  The gym I'm paying for each month but not using.  And I went inside!!!  I didn't just drive by on the way to Dunkin' Donuts for a Lite Iced Caramel Latte.  And I rode the stationary bike, I rode it for 4-and-a-half miles!  Okay, 10 minutes at no incline, 10 minutes at a incline of 2, and 10 minutes at no incline again.  But I rode it.

Slow and steady does the job.  Eventually I'll be back at a steeper incline, at a faster rate (although I'll always be walking, not running).  And eventually I'll even use the machines to work my upper body, those spaghetti arms (they're floppy like cooked spaghetti, NOT thin and firm like uncooked spaghetti!)...

But you know what?  I'll never be skinny.  I'll never be a size zero.  (Which, btw, as long as we're talking here, IS.NOT.A.REAL.SIZE.  It was invented a few years ago, and as far as I'm concerned, just means I'm really wearing a 10 or 12, NOT a 12 or 14!  It forced me to add 2 more sizes onto my "real" size.  Tell me THAT doesn't suck the big one!)

And that's okay.  It's okay not to be pin-thin.  It's okay to have a bit of a big butt, a stomach that's not quite as flat as I'd like it to be (and btw, Dr. K., NOT cool to tell me I can't blame my tummy on those fibroids I'm sporting!  I've used that excuse for a while and no one called me on it!), boobs that aren't quite as perky as I'd like them to be (hubby says they're perfect for my body!  So there!), flabby arms and thighs...  It's okay.

Meg, LOVE your blog, and thanks for putting it all out there, that it's okay to have cellulite, and that the greatest achievement we could hope for would be to love our bodies as they are, not to lose those 30 pounds!  If only all of us could see it your way!!!

$24 for 8 different meals!

I'm a huge fan of John and Sherry at Young House Love and Young House Life.

They live in Richmond, VA, and these past couple of weekends they've been going to local events.  This weekend was the Broad Appetit street fair where you could sample the specialties from some 60 local restaurants:  $3 per sample plate; I guess it's like an outdoor tapas restaurant!

For $24 they had a wonderful selection of food, including what I'm sure would have been my favorites, seared scallops and shrimp and quinoa.  Take a look!

http://life.younghouselove.com/2012/06/broad-appetit/

Why my blog is subtitled "it's not much, but it's all I've got!!!"

Two or three jobs ago, I was working for a privately owned company.  I could spend hours and hours and many, many blog pages telling you about the characters who worked there.  [If I was ever interested in writing a book...  my goodness, it would be a bestseller for sure!] 

There was a day when there was a very severe snowstorm, so severe, in fact, that 40' tractor trailers were spinning out on the road in front of our office.  When I saw that, I left early to go home.

Early = 4pm.

Instead of 5pm.

I'm not talking about noon, or immediately after I got to work, people!  I'm talking 4pm.

I was called into the vice president's office the next day; he also happened to share the same last name as the owner of the company.  He was the owner's son.  I was called in and he sat there, behind his desk, and told me that he had spoken to F, the owner's secretary, and he told me SHE was authorizing the payroll department to dock my pay an hour for leaving early the day before.

I was a salaried employee.

To this day, I can feel the heat rise in my face, burning my ears.  But rather than tell him to F off, I very calmly, although my voice was shaking, told him he could do whatever he wanted.  He could okay the paycut, but "I had a life, it wasn't much, but it was the only one I had," and I wasn't risking it to stay another hour at work during a snowstorm when tractor trailers were spinning their wheels in front of the building...  I reminded him that I was salaried, that when I worked extra hours or didn't take a lunch, I was NOT compensated, and that I'd be happy to change over to an hourly employee if he or F would prefer to pay me for the hours I worked.

He knew he was wrong.  He knew F was wrong.  He simply placated me, though, saying he understood my position but it really wasn't fair to pay me for time I wasn't working.

I reminded him again of the definition of a salaried employee, excused myself, and went back to my office where I didn't do a lick of work for the rest of the day (but got paid as if I did), created all sorts of new and anatomically impossible curse words, and complained to all in the vicinity about F, who thought the boss' money was hers to manage because...  Oops, I'm not going there...

Suffice it to say that I was NOT docked an hour.  He decided he had a pair and stood up to the secretary. 

But I never forgot my comeback:  "I have a life, M.  It may not be much to you, but it's all I've got!"

And I thought it summarized my blog rather well.  I will never have hundreds or thousands of readers, but I have you guys and while I might never be the most interesting blog you read, you'll be reading what really goes on in my little ole' life, no holds barred.  Admittedly it's rather boring most of the time.  We don't travel a lot.  We are not fighters.  We don't do anything real exciting most of the time.  It's usually just breakfast, work, lunch, work, dinner, tv, sleep.  And then start all over.

But I'm really happy in my life.  I have family and friends who love me.  I have a job I like (even though I'm playing the lottery and hope to win and retire early!).  I read a lot, watch TV and scrap, and that occupies my free time.  We are blessed enough to have a vacation home which is why we don't go away very much.  I live in a safe and boring neighborhood, but we like it.  It reminds us of when we grew up, when we knew all the neighbors and the neighbors knew us.

My stories aren't edge-of-your-seat-exciting, but they're my stories, and they're my real life.  Not much, maybe, but it's all I've got!!!

I don't want to KILL them, exactly...

... especially since I do have one.  Admittedly I have tried reading on my Kindle Fire, but as my dear readers know, I'm not particularly enthralled.  Perhaps I would have liked it better if the e-reader I got was readable in the sun, but I knew it wasn't when I got it so I can't make that the reason I hate it.  Because I don't really hate it; I just don't like it for reading books.  No new news there...

I am a HUGE fan of the Hay Literary Festival in Hay-on-Wye, I believe the town is called...  It's a small town on the Wales border.  It hasn't been around for hundreds of years, the festival, I mean, but it's made a great name for itself.  I was sorry to run across this article today where a few booksellers are calling for a ban on Kindles at the Festival.

A)  I H.A.T.E. that 5 of the 30 or so book indies in the town have closed over the past year.
B)  Apple's iBookstore has signed on as a Festival partner for the Hay Literary Festival 2012.  If you were so anti e-reader or e-books, you should have said no to Apple.
C)  I really do believe that anything that makes people read, and enjoy reading, can't be all bad (Kindles, Goosebumps books, Sweet Valley High books, etc., etc.).
D)  Someone in the article mentioned that people attending the Festival are buying books in all formats, including the not-available-in-e-reader-format rare, second-hand books. 

THEY'RE READING, PEOPLE!  How bad can it be???

Just give us the option to read REAL books, don't take them away!  That's all I ask!!!

New Orleans

Once or twice a year, hubby has to go on a business trip.  I love it when I get to be the "plus 1."  This time we got to go to New Orleans for 3 (full) days.  I've been before, on business myself, but I wasn't able to do any sightseeing then, unless you count touring the Convention Center from one end to the other...

This time I got to be a tourist for the entire trip!  Rather than try to caption each photo, let me just tell you what we did and then just post some pictures.

We flew down on a Wednesday night, and flew home early Sunday morning (and I mean early - our return flight was at 6:24am!).  On Thursday morning we walked Bourbon Street and Canal Street, looking for a local place to have breakfast before J's 10:30 meeting.  They were cleaning Bourbon Street, hosing the streets down.  We saw the Harley store (closed), some girly bars (also closed), and J met some drunk people at 8:30am.  They came up to us (I'm a firm believer in not meeting anyone's eyes and then you can just keep moving, but hubby is much more polite than I am to strangers) with beers in brown paper bags, either "already" drunk or "still" drunk.  The man fist-pumped J and wished God's blessings on us both...  At least they were nice, religious drunks...

He went to his first meeting and I went to the pool.  I got some nice color while we were away (color I improved upon this past weekend!).   He went to another meeting or two after registration, then we walked Canal Street again.  At around 3pm we were STARVING, so we popped into Serio's.  I asked the girl what was good and she said they beat Bobby Flay in a throwdown in 2007 so I tried their winning muffaletta - mm, good!!!  Then as a group we went to dinner at the Palace Cafe.  I had their Barbecued Shrimp starter and the Shrimp Tchefuncte for an entree.  It's shrimp in a Creole meuniére sauce with green onions, roasted mushrooms and popcorn rice. I'm not a drinker but when I'm not buying I usually order a mojito - it didn't disappoint.  I also had a Sailor Coffee with my Bananas Foster dessert:  Malibu Rum, Amaretto Disaronno, Kahlua, Community Coffee and whipped cream.  Yes, it was as good as it sounds!

On Friday, we took the St. Charles Trolley to the Garden District and walked around, looking at all the beautiful New Orleans homes.  We got back on the Trolley and rode to the end, past Tulane and Loyola, both of which were graduating that day.  I was amazed that they were literally right next to each other, on the same block, even!!!  Later we walked over to the Mississippi River, and the Riverwalk Mall.  The river I had seen before, and again, my impression was that it was not as big as I thought it would be.  For some reason I've spent the last 50+ years thinking it would be too big to see across, and maybe it is in spots, but there, where we were, nope, you could see clear across to the other side, and if you squinted hard, you could even read the signs on the buildings across the way...  We took one of our obligatory self-portraits at arm's length; this one didn't come out very well, but at least we have one from N'Awlins, y'all...  We ate at the Commerce Restaurant for lunch:  I had a delicious shrimp po'boy and J had a T-Chicken po'boy - a delicious piece of chicken breast with swiss cheese, mushrooms, onions and a wonderful gravy of some kind.  [I left my visor there, dang it!]  We had all agreed to go to dinner together again that night.  I sort of wish we hadn't (hindsight is, after all, 50-50).  Two of our party were not too steady on their feet, completely unrelated to imbibing extreme quantities of alcohol: one fell and broke her ankle and the other is simply older and not too able to walk long distances.  G was in her own lightweight wheelchair and M rented one of those electric/battery scooters from the hotel.  They  had to take the freight elevator up to the second floor for dinner at Olivier's.  Let's just say that I don't think it was an accident that the A/C system tried to freeze us out the door all dinner.  M's husband didn't like where she parked her scooter so he hopped on and decided to reposition it.  He did.  But not until after he knocked into our table, knocked over a chair, backed into another table and knocked over the flower arrangement, then after M yelled at him to "Just park the damn thing," he happened to bump into that same table again, and the waitress at that point ran over and just removed the flower arrangement from the table entirely.  It wasn't on our table, fair readers, it was on a table 6' away from ours...  The food was good:  I had some off-the-menu special appetizer with eggplant and some other seafood something or another, and their EXCELLENT crab ravioli for an entree.  My only complaint?  I wanted more!  I had some pecan pie for dessert - yea, it's better in New Orleans.

We walked down Decatur Street, to the St. Louis Cathedral.  Apparently there are a lot of street vendors there during the day but at night, after 11pm, when we got there, it's just a quiet, dark pedestrian walkway.  You can see the cathedral all lit up, but it's locked at night.  Some of the other +1s went to Mass there for Ascension Thursday but never bothered to invite G or me along...  That's alright, she's my friend; they're just traveling acquaintances.  THEN we walked along some dark, creepy side street until we got to Bourbon Street and hubby got his wish:  he got to SEE Bourbon Street in all its (not) glory.  We walk hand in hand most times, and he's learned over the years that when I squeeze his hand, there's usually something I want him to see and he's gotten pretty good at picking those things out without verbal explanation or pointing on my part.  But this time, he didn't see anything I pointed out:  he missed the girl with no pants, he missed the young man trying to pick up the other young man, he missed the two men dressed as women (and they were quite pretty, I must say!)...  When we got out of the crowd and I asked him what he thought of those three sights, he was amazed he had missed them but confessed he was a bit obsessed with watching where he put his feet so he didn't step into pee or vomit...  Okay, I forgive him for not paying attention to me...  And he admitted, too, that now that he's "been there, done that," he never has to experience Bourbon Street again.

On Saturday we rode the Canal Street Trolley to the other end and visited St. Patrick's Cemetery #1 and #2.  By the time we got there and walked around the cemeteries, it was too late to visit the Katrina Memorial located in the Catholic Charities cemetery.  But we said a quick prayer outside the gates.  The last time I was in New Orleans I saw buildings with the large Xs on them, indicating they'd been searched for survivors post-Katrina.  It was disturbing, to say the least.  We couldn't see any of those same buildings en route from the airport because for both arrival and departure, it was too dark.

We managed to eat beignets at Cafe du Monde while we were in town (mmm!) but I didn't like their coffee the last time, so we just got a juice.  We walked along the river, watched a freight train go by (lost count of the number of cars), went into Harrah's where I lost $20, then won $33, and went home only $7 poorer than when I walked in the place.  I'm a slots-lover; I wish I could play on a machine just for the sake of playing, not to try and win any money.  I'd even be willing to pay a flat $5 fee to sit at the machine for a few hours, "winning" or "losing" nothing...  (Yea, J thinks I'm nuts, too!)

We walked and walked and walked, post-casino and post-beignets, and finally wound up eating at The Pearl for an early dinner (early being around 6pm, which is normal for us, but early compared to 7pm and 8pm the other two nights we were there!).  I thought The Pearl was a more expensive restaurant and it's famous for its oysters...  Anyone reading this remember that hubby is NOT a seafood fan?  But he was adamant, for some unknown-to-me reason, that we eat in this place.  Perhaps because after walking literally miles looking for an open restaurant that was not expensive and not on Bourbon Street, we would have eaten almost anything, almost anywhere.  I was ready to go into the nearest Subway but he would have none of that!  It turns out we had a decent meal at The Pearl:  I had another shrimp po'boy (not as good as the one at the Commerce Restaurant, but had I had this one first, I'd have been perfectly satisfied with it!) and hubby had some chicken/sausage jambalaya.  While we were sitting there, the only other two customers left, and a pair of women came in to share a couple of appetizers.  Oh, and a woman and her mom came in and asked the bartender if they could buy two limes.  [cricket sounds]  Yes, limes.  I expressed my disbelief with an almost audible "Did they ask to buy two limes?" and J said, quietly, "Yes, they did."  (Glad to hear my ears were still working just fine.)  I admitted then, and I admit now, that I would never have thought to walk into a restaurant, a sit-down restaurant, even if it did have a bar area, and ask to buy limes.  And I guess it was an odd thing even for that bartender because he had to ask the owner, who came out, looked at the woman and her mom, and charged them $3.00 for two limes.  Which bowled me right over and eventually even hubby was surprised.  He had no idea that the last time I bought a lime it cost me $.25...

We went back to the hotel room and packed almost everything we had brought, I called for a 3am wake-up call, and then we relaxed on the bed and watched some TV.  He thought it was funny that I slept in my travel clothes (yoga pants, a loose blue/white striped top, and my LA Lakers sweat jacket - nope, not a Lakers fan; it was free and it's REALLY comfy!).  We were able to fall asleep around 11pm-ish and surprisingly, I was not dead to the world when they called to wake us up.  I managed to bring home everything I brought with me (except for my visor, dang it!), and except for a blood blister on my right pinkie finger where I caught it in my suitcase that morning (4am for a cab is early!!!), it was a rather uneventful trip - no injuries, no missed planes, no wild cab rides, nothing that might make for a more exciting but less happy trip!!

And now, without further ado, here are the photos...

Bookstores: Where You Find What You Weren't Looking For

I haven't posted a quote from Shelf Awareness in a very long time:  here you go, one from today's issue, Thursday, May 31, 2012, Volume 2, Issue 1750

"As I've often said, you can shop online and find whatever you're looking for, but bookstores are where you find what you weren't looking for."

--Princeton economics professor, New York Times columnist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman in a q&a with Wired, in which he talks at length about his love for science fiction.

I agree with BO this one time...

Anyone who knows me knows I am NOT a fan of our current President.  But in the interests of historical accuracy, I must say that I am happy he has come out in favor of gay marriage.  I actually AGREE with him on this issue.

I know not all of you will agree with me or BO, and I'm not posting this to spark any discussion or controversy, but I've thought long and hard about this issue and thought I might just put my thoughts into words here on my blog.

Sometimes I wonder how much my opinions are influenced by the metropolitan area in which I live, what I'm exposed to each and every day.  Certainly living in the NYC area, even though I was raised in and still live in a suburban neighborhood, certainly that must make me a bit more aware, perhaps, of different lifestyles, different people, different traditions. 

But I was raised in a conservative, faith-filled home, a home filled with love and respect.  It's what I grew up wanting for my own:  a husband, children, a family.  My parents were old-fashioned and traditional.  My mom still is.  I wish my dad were still alive so I could talk with him about all of these issues.  I have a funny feeling he would be much more open-minded than many might expect.  I had a very traditional upbringing in many ways, and in others, my parents were way ahead of their time:  for instance, it was never even an option that we would not go to college.  We were raised to respect our elders.  (Any since we're being honest here, I am now officially one of those elders I had to respect when I was a kid!)

What I wish for each and every one of my children, my nieces and nephews, my friends and their children, is that they find a person they love, who loves them right back at the same time, who makes them happy, who values their love.  I hope they find their own version of MY husband.  And if that person happens to be of the same sex, so what?  I want my children, my family, my friends, to be HAPPY. 

I don't understand why anyone thinks they have the right to prevent someone from finding that love.  It's rare in this world, and if you find it, grab it with both arms and hold on tight.  It's so worth it. 

We fought long and hard in this country to eliminate slavery, to give women the right to vote.  It's been and will continue to be a long hard road to reach that point when gay marriage is, in general, okay with the rest of the world.  I'm hoping that day comes sooner rather than later.

Separation of church and state?  Did I imagine those words?  Sure, that means that despite what the "law" says, the church doesn't have to agree (and the reverse is true as well).  We see plenty of those issues floating around (are any of you Roman Catholics on birth control?).  Why then can I not get married in my church without a marriage license from my city government?  My sister got married by the mayor.  She was no less married than I am, except in the eyes of her church.  Then why did I need a marriage license?  Marriage?  Civil union?  To me, they are one and the same.  There are a lot of people who aren't strong and faithful believers.  But they get married, they buy that marriage license and perhaps a mayor performs the ceremony, or a justice of the peace.  There are many faithful getting married, and instead of just getting married one weekend by their priest or minister, they have to take a day off from work and apply for a marriage licence.  I know I'm ranting about this, but this just makes no sense to me.  Why is my sister's marriage a marriage, MY marriage is a marriage, but if her husband had been a woman, that would not be "allowed" by some people our there.  It would not be a marriage.

Oh yeah???  It would be civil.  It would be a union.  It would be a marriage. 

I don't believe we can define marriage as only between a man and a woman.  I just can't wrap my head around that.  And I don't have some earth-shattering sentence with which to wrap up this post, so...

I will vote to "allow" gay marriage, on any state or federal ballot.  I can't be responsible for yanking that chance for happiness out of the grasp of anyone.

OMG - What a bathroom!

I was reading Pioneer Woman's S.O.S. post today and someone referenced this bathroom -
Wowza!!!

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/04/a-bathroom-situated-atop-a-15-story-elevator-shaft/

RIP Maurice Sendak

I'm not a fan, but even I can't deny what an impact this man and his work has had on children's literature.

Rest in peace, Mr. Sendak.  You were a great talent and brought lots of reading joy to so many.

On my soapbox...

... but I promise it will be for only a moment or two...

I follow several blogs.  I found the wild and wily ways of a brunette bombshell when she was linked to somewhere else.  And I started to read her.  So wise for someone so young...  But recently I've been trying to cut back on the blogs I follow and I thought perhaps her blog might be one I drop.  I didn't drop it yet, though, and today, I'm SO glad I didn't. 

Saturday's blog post, in my humble opinion, is one of her best.  It's about a subject near and dear to my heart:  self-esteem in young women/people.  Please take a few minutes to listen to Jean Kilbourne speak about how the media helps ruin the self-esteem of young women, how it affects our perceptions of ourselves, our lives, our potential...

http://or-so-i-feel.blogspot.com/2012/04/women-in-advertising.html


I'm 51, and at 51, I'm beautiful.  Not drop dead gorgeous, no one is going to plaster me up on the side of a building in a bikini, but I am a beautiful woman. 

I am thin, but my husband loves me.  Me.  The me I AM, not the me I'd be if I lost 20 pounds. 

The kids in school, those little second-graders I read to every other week?  They love it when I come in, not because I'm pretty or wearing the latest and trendiest clothes, but because I'm there for them, to read to them, to pay attention to them, to listen to them, and that's a gift they don't all get from a lot of people.

I am smart, not as smart as I was when I was younger and really using the brain God gave me to think and learn, but I am a pretty smart person.

I do a good job at work, always have, always will, and I take pride in the fact that I will always be able to get a good recommendation because I always do my best.

Sure, I wish my hair was thicker and longer and fuller, but you do the best with what you've got.

I finally learned how to apply eyeliner on a YouTube video about 5 months ago.  Yes, at 50.  (And I must have been doing it SO wrong for so many years - the day I put it on the new way, several people commented that my makeup looked nice that day!)  Just an example that you can learn at any time.

I am violently opposed to the Twilight saga, not because I'm anti-vampire, or anti-young love, or any nonsense like that.  And I admit I've only read the first one and not seen any of the movies.  But any book that has the heroine feel that she's not pretty enough or smart enough or sparkly enough for the hero?  That book is NOT winding up on my shelf'o'favorites!  Those books are targeted to tweens, according to what I've heard, an age when the LAST thing they need to read about is LOW self-esteem.  They should be taught, in school, in books, in movies and TV shows, that they ARE worthy, they ARE beautiful, they ARE good enough, that there are people who love them AS THEY ARE, not as they might be if they were 10, 20 or 100 pounds thinner, if their hair was highlighted, if they wore thongs that show instead of granny panties that don't.

Thanks, Meg Fee from the wild and wily ways of a brunette bombshell, thanks for introducing me to that video clip of Ms. Kilbourne.  I'll be doing all I can to support this cause, any way I can.

WeStopHate.org

Take a few moments and visit this young girl's YouTube channel or her website (links are at the bottom of this post).

Emily-Anne Rigal created this movement after she suffered from bullying in one school, moved to another and found both friends and her self-esteem.  She believes that self-esteem is the key to dealing with bullying, and I agree.

As long as you believe you are worthy, you can survive bullying.  And you are.  Each and every one of you is a valuable - and valued - human being, with lots to offer, with lots to love.

I'm making a donation and getting a wristband or two - Emily, my check is in the mail!

Why don't YOU, dear reader, do something to help stop bullying?

http://www.youtube.com/user/WeStopHate
http://westophate.org/

Chauffer or Housekeeper?

Yea, I spent some money on lottery tickets when the MegaMillions prize was $640MILLION!  We play at work, four of us, and even when it's PowerBall and nowhere near $640MILLION, we toss around ideas about what we'd do if we won...

One woman said we can't just quit, that we have to come in and quit all together.  No, we don't, but we will, until we each get our share, THEN, ladies and germs, I'M SO OUTTA HERE!  The other three of us are ready to quit now, but can't, but since she's the one that walks to get the tickets...

I don't want to win $640MILLION.  I just want to take home about $5million, $2million, enough to share with my sisters and my mom, and my kids, with the rest there to ensure hubby and I don't have to eat catfood during our retirement.  Enough so that if our friends call and say, "Hey, last minute cruise tickets, $500 each for 7 days to Bermuda, wanna go?" we can say, "Hell, yea, count us in!" without worrying if we'll be able to pay the taxes on the house next quarter.

The other day someone asked me if I'd rather have a chauffer or a housekeeper.

H.O.U.S.E.K.E.E.P.E.R.

ALL THE WAY!!!

I like to drive.  I wouldn't want someone to drive me around.  I wouldn't even get a new car until I needed one; I love my 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe!

But I hate housework.  I hate laundry.  I hate scrubbing the tub.  In fact, the other day, when I was working from home and when I do, I still got up before 6am to shower and dress.  I went to Starbucks and bought myself a caramel macchiato and a slice of banana walnut bread.  Then I went home and went to work.  I went to the doctor in the middle of the day (the reason I was working from home) and came home after lunch.  I made myself a sandwich, ate while I checked emails, then went upstairs to use the potty.  In the afternoon we get a lot of sun in the main bathroom, and I noticed I'd forgotten to pull the shower curtain closed.  I walked over there to close it and happened to look down.

How can a tub/shower get so darned dirty when you're using soap and water in it twice a day?!?!?  So down on my hands and knees I go, scrubbing soap scum and me scum off the tub, cursing the whole time:  "Sure, $17 in lottery tickets isn't enough to win!  The first thing I'd do is get a housekeeper!  I hate scrubbing the tub; I'd rather clean the toilet!  This sucks!"  Interspersed with words I say out loud but won't type on my blog because they're not nice words...

Oh, by the way, don't ask me to choose between a housekeeper and a chef, 'cause then I'd have to win more money so I could have both, because the closest I am to a cook is my maiden name.

Cook.

Good luck if you're playing, and YAY!!! if you win!!!  (Are we related?!?  Or bestest friends?!?)

Who knew???

Not me.  I didn't know that Tuesday April 10 was National Siblings Day.  Now that I know...

I'd like to take a moment to introduce you to my two (and a half!) wonderful siblings.

P

The older of my 2 younger sisters is about 5 years younger than me but about 25 years more active!   She hikes, she walks, she does yoga and other exercises at home.  She's also still wearing the same size she was wearing years ago, 8/10, or medium - which is officially 1/2 as large as my 14/16, or large/extra large. 

Her hair is curly from the root to the tip, and as you know, the grass is always greener:  I want her curly hair and she's always telling me I wouldn't want it if I had it! 

She is a scientist, probably one of the two smartest people I know in this world, and probably the ONLY one I can say went to school straight through to her PhD and got a job in her field and stayed in her field to this day! 

One of my favorite childhood memories of her was the day my parents brought her home from the hospital.  It's such a vivid memory.  My mom has a metal serving cart that happened to be outside the side door that day, with a yellow cotton skirt covering the lower shelves.  I was in the kitchen and could see them carry her in the side door.  It was a beautiful June day, warm and so very sunny, and my baby sister had curly red hair!!!  (It's not red anymore, but it sure was the day she came home, especially in that sunlight!) 

She has had a grand total of 5 cats and 3 dogs over the years (and there are still 2 dogs and 2 cats in her family today!).  [Correct me if I missed a cat here or there, P!]  She has the biggest heart I know and actually rescued her most recent cat from the jaws of a dog, at great potential risk to her own self! 

She has traveled quite a bit, both in Central America and in Europe.  She spent a semester in Cambridge University.  That's right, in England.  (Told you she was smart!) 

She cooks really healthy food for herself (yet another way we have nothing in common) and at the complete, far opposite side of the food spectrum, actually LIKES tofu.  (Don't even TRY the ole "it takes on the taste of whatever you cook it with" 'cause I've tried it and I DON'T like it!) 

She has a memory like an elephant, never forgets a thing!  She is the best of all of us at remembering to send cards for holidays and birthdays, but I feel so much better that this year, she had to email my hubby for his birthday - time got away from her and she forgot to send a card.  She's human!!!  Yay!!! 

I'm so very proud of her and I love her so very much.

C

C is my baby sister and will always be my "baby" sister.  In fact, whenever anyone asks me how old she is, I have to do the math.  It's IMPOSSIBLE that my baby sister could be "that old."  (Don't take that the wrong way, C!)

When I think of my earliest memories of her, they include not really seeing her when she came home from the hospital because she was a preemie and they had to keep her away from her germy older sisters until she was strong enough.  So we had long, heavy, floor to ceiling drapes covering the doorways to keep us (and our germs) away from her. 

And another one of those vivid, Polaroid moments is her platinum blonde, pageboy haircut.  She had Marilyn Monroe blonde hair!!!  She doesn't have that hair color anymore either, but she had beautiful silky, thick medium brown hair.  The grass is always greener, remember? 

She is smart as a whip, too, but has the added bonus of being an artist, too.  She has created some beautiful canvases, and there are two that especially stand out:  one of our childhood dog, and another of Jesus.  She was offered a gallery show but that never happened.  I really wish she'd take up her brushes again:  [HEY, C - I'm trying all sorts of art journaling myself.  Why not come up to the lake one day with me and E and we can art together!!!] 

She had my nephew in 1990 and my niece in 1992 and they are the two best gifts I've ever gotten.  I love them so much, and they just wouldn't be the gorgeous, smart 20-somethings they are today without their mom. 

She did some freelance work for my company many years ago and then came on board as an in-house employee.  Those were my favorite work years, actually spending time with her every day.  I never felt closer to her.  I look back at those days so fondly, wishing we were STILL working together. 

She went through a painful divorce and I hope I was there for her like I wanted to be.  She is in a relationship now and if she's happy, I'm happy!  I like T and they bought a beautiful home a couple of years ago - I'm happy for her. 

I'm so very proud of her and I love her so very much.

R

R is actually my cousin but we grew up so close that I try to find cousin/brother cards for him for each holiday.  Not surprisingly there aren't a lot of cards with a sentiment that reads, "Thanks for being the best cousin/almost-brother on earth!"  He is fodder for a lot of stories, though, as evidenced here...

His mom and my mom were sisters (2 of 3, just like me and mine!) and my Cioci E and my Babci came over almost every night during the week to have tea with mom, and R would always tag along.  I remember so clearly having to go to bed at 8:30/9:00pm but HE could watch Family on TV, or Starsky and Hutch.  That wasn't right - he was YOUNGER than me!  Why was HE allowed???

My strongest visual memory of him?  Platinum blonde surfer hair, and a week or two at his Seaside Heights beach house every summer.  (Loved his outside shower!)  There was the day he decided we should cross the street and swing on the swing on his neighbor's front lawn.  We heard our moms calling us for lunch (soup, I believe) and ran across the street.  We got caught.  Our punishment for crossing the street alone at 6 years old?  Kneeling on dried beans in the corner behind the front door and getting spanked with my aunt's black patent leather belt.  I don't think I crossed the street alone again until I was 16!

Then there's my 8th grade birthday, when we were waiting for him and my aunt and my grandmother to come over for birthday cake, and they never showed up 'cause he had to go and break his leg playing basketball.  His timing sucked. 

He was a sleepwalker.  We were at the beach and he woke up out of a sound sleep, picked up a baseball bat and headed for the back door.  He peeked out the door, saw all was well, went back to his room, put down the bat and hopped back into bed to sleep the rest of the night away. 

And my scar...  Dad left for work and told us not to go into the garage.  R had to go into the garage.  So I followed him in, kicked him out, and slammed the door, staying on the inside.  He stood outside the door, mugging for the cameras (!), and I got mad and punched him in the face.  Through the glass window.  I can still remember him running into the house, crying that a couple measly pieces of glass hit him in the face and "Krys punched me through the window!"  (You little crybaby, you!)  I was dripping blood behind him and wound up with 6 stitches and a scar on my right hand, but all you'll ever hear from him is that the nurses had to use tape to pull the glass out of his forehead and it hurt...  Waa, waa, waa.  He got a lollipop, and me, the girl with stitches, didn't. 

He dated a girl named P who I REALLY didn't like; she was a drinker and turned him into a drinker, too.  My favorite memory was the day he told me they broke up and I said, "Good, now I can tell you I never liked her." 

He married M and they've given me another smart, beautiful/handsome niece and nephew.  Love you guys, too!

Happy Siblings Day to my sisters and my "cousin/brother"!!  I love you all!!!

Twas the week before Easter...

Hubby's school was closed the week BEFORE Easter.  Guess the Board saved themselves having to give the teachers an extra day off by not having to give them Good Friday PLUS a holiday week...

Anyway, I took off the Monday and the Thursday and Friday of last week.  Thought I'd post a few photos from the week and insert the stories (you know there are stories!!!)...

I have no story about Shemar Moore other than to say he is probably the best looking man on television, in my humble opinion...  Now remember, Clint doesn't have a regular show these days...

My sister's dog Duncan is on the right, with the blue leash.  She just got his mom, Beanie, last weekend.  The breeder gave her up because she had a bad last litter and hemmorhaged badly and isn't show quality anymore.  Sounds a bit harsh, but sister is happy to have another doggie around the house!

On Holy Saturday, Mom and Little Sister C and I met at church, St. Valentine's in Bloomfield.  They had a Food Blessing, a lovely tradition we've been participating in all my life.  You bring your food for Easter dinner, or a representation of what you'll be eating, and you get it blessed by the priest.  We brought eggs, ham, kielbase, butter, salt/pepper, wine, candy for the baby's basket, holy water, etc.  It's nice to see newer, younger members of the church come with their baskets, decorated with doilies and napkins and flowers and herbs, not just the older Polish ladies who are left...

We've both been noticing our memories aren't what they used to be so we stopped in The Vitamin Shoppe to see what they had to say.  They suggested after Jack finishes his current bottle of Focus Factor, that he try some Acetyl-L-Carnitine (?), 500mg.  So that's the plan...

I spent Holy Thursday coloring my eggs.  I read the instructions and paid attention to them.  Left the eggs in the food coloring for the full 5 minutes, and was pleased with the colors this year.  Instead of weak, blah colors, they were deeper and who knew?  5 minutes dying time and the colors are better than if you pull them out in 2 or 3 minutes.

I went to get my hair cut AND I got new glasses, all in the same week.  Purple glasses, with green fading to yellow on the temple bar corners.  Love purple!

This is my new favorite shampoo/conditioner duo, Yucca Root Shampooing Cream and Conditioning Cream, by Nick Chavez.  It really makes my highlighted hair healthy and shiny and full.

Here's my new haircut...  I really liked the highlighting she did, and that was weeks ago.  She got real close; I have almost no roots showing!!!  (Pardon the double chin - NOT the most flattering pose!!!)

Here are some forsythia bushes on the road leading to our lake house.  I love this road in early spring, with these bushes flowering, and in fall, when the leaves on the trees have turned brilliant red and orange and yellow, but haven't fallen to the ground yet...

Here's my new Tom Bihn bag.  Expensive, yes.  But apparently it will last forever!  I like the idea of forever :-D

It Gets Better at Brigham Young University

I can't pretend to "understand" being gay because I'm not. 
I can't understand it any more than my gay friends can understand being heterosexual.
My worries and fears about friends or family who are or might be gay have nothing to do with "you shouldn't be" or "how can you be."
My worries and fears about friends or family who are or might be gay are solely and completely based on the bias and prejudice they will face in their lives.  It's not "okay" yet, people still "notice."  I love my family and friends, and I don't want them to feel unloved, not good enough, not accepted, not by anyone.
Until people don't "notice," they can look at you, point in your direction, they can notice. 
Or they can think they can.
I pray for each and every one of you, even those of you I don't know personally:  be yourselves and be strong.
Please take 9 minutes to watch this video.
It.Will.Get.Better.