Tuesday, November 30, 2010

my kids

When daughter was a little girl I used to sing to her"Dulcinea" at bedtime, a song from the musical Man Of La Mancha ...... Yesterday I pulled it up on You Tube to see if I still remembered the words. While it was playing daughter said "I know that song! You used to sing it to me!" :O) My eyes teared up......it made me happy that she remembered.

I've finished wrapping the Christmas presents that I have..........I still need to get a handful of gifts, and a few gift cards.

Middle son closes on HIS first home today. It seems like the process took forever. But finally it will be done. I'm proud of him.
He started work at a car dealership a couple/3 years ago. His job was to keep snow off the cars,do oil changes, and to detail the cars after they'd been sold. He was a teen. After a couple months he decided he wanted to sell cars. He asked repeatedly month after month if they'd let him be a salesman. Finally they relented, I think just to pacify him, and not really thinking he'd do well. They told him they'd let him try it for a month or two, and then decide if he could stay in the position. He has consistently out sold the other guys....................and then last month he was promoted. He's now the boss to the guys who he had looked up to, and wanted so badly to work with..............and he's still going to school......chopping away at his degree a few classes at a time. So yeah, I'm pleased and proud.
Oldest son who has been gainfully employed since he was 16, and is one of the hardest working guys I know, and who was also recently promoted at his job, will be living with middle son and sharing living expenses. He is also helping with the down payment. They're best friends, and "share" many of the same friends. They work different shifts, which will leave them both with time alone and privacy. And since they're splitting living expenses they'll still be able to save money.
They both make me proud.
I've been lucky in hte kid department. (knock on wood)

Monday, November 29, 2010

today

Thanksgiving Day was a nice day.
Daughter and I wore our new cooking aprons and prepared most of the meal together.Boyfriend and sons teased us about the aprons which made it even more fun wearing them. Daughter was in a playful mood,as was I. It was a good spending the time with her.
 I think the traditional Thanksgiving day meal is gross. But I like preparing it for my family, especially with daughter at my side.....and I love being with my family. So yeah.....it was a really nice day.
Daughter now knows how to make mashed potatoes AND turkey.

Late Thanksgiving night I DID enjoy a cold turkey sandwich and pumpkin pie. Mr. Bojangles loved the turkey. We-Ping doesn't eat people food.

Daughter tried out for and made the coed, competition, cheer leading squad. it will mean practicing her regular 3 hour/ day practices, plus an additional 3 hours/day of practice for the coed squad.......not to mention 2 games/week that she will have to cheer................she knows she needs to focus on academics. All this cheering won't leave much time. Last night she told me she has decided to quit the competition squad. I think she made a good decision.......maybe a little late, but at least it's done.

Work is going okay I guess.
Chas inspires me to do better......to be the nurse I used to be. He always goes that extra mile for his patients and patients families. Always. I used to...........and then I burned out..............hopefully he never will...............so I've been trying to do better.......trying to go that extra mile.....to give a little more. At first it felt like you feel when you pretend to like someone that you really don't like. But then you really do start liking them. It kinda felt like that.......I really didn't want to do what I was doing. I was faking it..........but at some point it started to feel good some of the time.......and so I just keep doing it.....
I told Chas last night how he has inspired me. I didn't tell so that I'd get something in return. I just wanted him to know, you know? Life's short. I try to say what I think/feel. I don't want it all in a knot inside of me.......and if it's something nice........then why not say it?
So last night I told him how he has inspired me to do better.
He got really serious and told me how when he started work at our facility he thought he knew it all. After all, he came from the hospital setting, and had worked there most of his career. He said he figured he knew more than me............he went on to say how he was surprised when he found he was learning from me things he didn't know.......he more or less said he had to take his self off his high horse. Because he wants to learn. His sincerity was touching............I thought it was sweet of him to share with me. He didn't have to........I'm happy though that he did.

Today I payed bills. I also wrote the banker handling the loan on my condo. I think all the contracts(the condo offer and the locked in interest rate) end December 6th or maybe the 11th. I'm obviously not going to sell this place before then........
My house isn't so bad.
It's old, and needs TLC.......I can hang in there until the economy recovers.........and in the mean time I'll continue to do repairs/updates to this place...........and then maybe someday I'll sell it and live on a houseboat or in a barn.............we'll see.

I haven't wrapped any gifts, or put up my tree yet.
Hopefully I'll achieve those things these next three off days. I'm behind schedule and that makes me feel stressed.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

mashed potatoes

It's cold outside.
I had banking to do but didn't want to leave the house.
Boyfriend volunteered to do it for me. :O)
So he's at the bank as I type.
Daughter's in my bed listening to music, looking online at prom dresses.

One of the nurses I work with is from Jamaica, I think.
The other day before she left work, and while she was telling us good-bye and to have a nice Thanksgiving......she asked me if I knew how to make mashed potatoes. It kinda made me laugh until I remembered she came from another country. Maybe they don't eat mashed potatoes there? So I told her how to make them.................and then on my way home from work, I stopped at a friends of daughter to pick up daughter. On the drive home I asked daughter "Do you know how to make mashed potatoes?"
Daughter: No.
Me: Seriously?
Daughter: yes.
Me:Wanna help me prepare Thanksgiving dinner? I'll teach you.
Daughter: (painful like grunt)
Me: It will be fun.
Daughter:
Me: Okay?
Daughter:okay.
Me: :O)
So I'm looking forward to it.
She'll end up having fun with me. She just doesn't know it yet.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

tuesday

Texas Town, Courts Fail Cheerleader --FanHouse
I read this article and felt outrage, sad, and discouraged. It made me sick to my stomach.
Billy, THIS IS WHATS WRONG WITH AMERICA!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

thankful thursday

i'm thankful.....

thAT my work day is over

even though i forgot to buy toilet paper.....i have paper towels for plan B

my work friend, chas, walks me to my car every night after work so that i don't have to walk alone in the dark

mr bojangles lays by me/ on me each night until i fall asleep.

for music.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

tuesday

There's a telemarketer for US Pharmacy that's been calling my house for almost a year. They call daily. Some of the time, and more often than not, they call 3 times a day. They call as late as 10 p.m. I've repeatedly asked them to stop calling. I've even screamed at them....... But they continue to call. Their number on my caller ID changes from call to call ...........I've tried calling them back. None of the numbers they leave on my caller ID are workable numbers............and when I look them up online, those numbers don't work either.
Then I remembered the National Do Not Call List.
I added my number to the list a few days ago. It says it might take up to a month for the calls to stop. But I think they've already stopped. I haven't had one call from US Pharmacy since I added my number. So, Yay! (Middle finger to you US Pharmacy!)

l"ll spare all the details except to say that daughter and I were at the supper table this evening. I'd already had supper, but sat with her when she got home from cheerleading practice so that she didn't have to eat dinner alone.She brought up her weekend with the cheerleading squad that was spent at an indoor water park at a hotel.....................it gave her some time away from home, and time to hear stories from coaches and other girls about their mothers.
So this evening at the supper table she apologized to me, and took responsibility for her attitude this past couple of weeks.( It's been bad.) She tried to explain it best as she could & without making excuses. It was good to talk.
I felt so relieved, and proud of her.
She's a neat person, for real.
I love her so much.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Sunday.......but it's really my Friday.


Hat for a queen.......red birds for the tree, and Mr. Bojangles showing his maternal side..........cause I made him.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Thursday, November 11, 2010

class pictures and stuff

The realtor just called. Someones coming to look at the house tomorrow. I've kinda decided I didn't really want to sell..........kinda.............but anyway they're coming to have a look.

I made chicken and dumplings for supper. It's my oldest sons favorite. Mostly I made them for him.........also made some macadamion nut cookies. They were delicious.



















I got back some of the pictures taken for daughters Senior class picture. There's only a couple that I really like.

Thursday

Mr. Bojangles didn't come home last night.
He always comes home by 9:30PM. Not last night. I worried the neighborhood serial cat killer had harmed him. Not SO though..........
He came home this morning.
He's sleeping on a pillow on the floor next to me.
I told him he's grounded.
I let him outside because I think being in the house all of the time
makes him feel caged. Cats are hunters. I want him to be able to do what comes naturally for him.
If I didn't love him I wouldn't let him out, but I do.

Daughter is mad at me because she has to be home by 7 P.M. on weekdays. Allowing her to be out till 7 p.m. on school nights goes against what I feel is the right thing to do. I really feel like she shouldn't even be out during the week, especially on school nights, unless there's a specific event she needs to attend. I'm trying to compromise though because I know I can be over protective, and because I still see a little girl some of the time when I look at her. It confuses me on what I should and should not allow her to do.

My father-in-law was a Paratrooper in the Korean war. He was also a nice man. Early on in my marriage, on Friday nights, when my mother-in-law would be out playing Bingo, and my husband would be out with his friends.......my father-in-law, me, and my oldest son who was just a baby, would spend Friday evenings together. We'd cook dinner and just kind of hang out at my in laws house. At first it was kinda weird because I was so painfully shy....especially around people I didn't know. But we settled into a routine of meeting on Fridays ....................we had many many conversations......got to know each other.....& for that I am grateful.........
 He was diagnosed with cancer just before my second son was born..............and then spent seven years fighting the big fight.It was brutal for him what he had to go through............ Second son lifted his spirit. Just looking at second son made him chuckle.
 Before he died he scribbled me a note telling me he was proud of my family and asked me to continue to take good care of them. It was dated the day before he died.
He was buried in his military outfit..... his casket was lined with his parachute........Taps was played ....there was a gun salute.......&......a flag was folded and given to my son................Pops would have been proud.
So today I'll do something to honor him. Not sure yet what that will be.......

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

this N that

We had an open house this past Sunday.
Zero lookers came to look.

While the realtor sat in my house for 2 hours, I took daughter to have her Senior class photos taken. I thought it would take 20 minutes tops.Right?
The photographer took us to 3 parks, the school yard, and to a city street. It took 4 hours. (good God!)
After pictures, daughter and I went out for a late lunch/early supper...................and then came home, snuggled together on the couch and watched a funny movie. It was a rare moment that I got to spend one on one time with her......I didn't want it to end.

I had Chinese for supper tonight.
My fortune in the fortune cookie said " Good news will come to you by mail." We'll see!

One of my very first patients didn't have a nose. She lost it to cancer.
I wasn't warned by any of the staff.
Nurses are a mean bunch.
I walked inot her room, and there she was, without a nose. My first instinct was to run. Her appearance frightened me at first look.
I've had a sore in my nose for a few months. It's right on the side of the tip of the septum.
I'm worried that I'll end up nose less like my patient.  :(

We had fun today at work.
We made up our own version of the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" using diseases and different drugs in the song..................guess you had to be there........it was a funny song. We crack ourselves up.....

I have errands to run tomorrow........I plan on getting them out of the way early in the day....................and then I'm coming home to start my Christmas wrapping........

Friday, November 05, 2010

vindicated

  a person who pointed the finger at me a few weeks back  for something I did not do was busted   today for the very thing she accused me of doing.
I felt vindicated.
It was a great feeling...............but.......................
I wonder if  it would have felt better if I could have, at the very least. told her to go fuck her self. It's what I wanted to do.

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Thankful Thursday

So tomorrow I only have to work an eight hour day since our work hours have been cut. Then I'm off work Saturday and Sunday. It will be nice to get out of there early on a Friday even though it screws with my budget.

After work tomorrow I'm going to lower my living room curtain rods. They're about 5 inches too high. It's been bothering me for around 16  years. :O) It's time to take action.........better late than never?

The realtor's having an open house here Sunday. SO I'll probably spend Saturday cleaning. I signed the amendment to my contract this week lowering my asking price. (I might be repeating myself.)

TODAY I'm grateful for my children, boyfriend, Mr. Bojangles, We-Ping, and my work friend Peggy. I love all of them.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

tuesday

I voted today.
I kind of didn't want to because it all feels so hopeless.
But then I thought about the members of the board
of education for daughters school................and how badly I want them out of office.
So that was my motivation for voting.

After we voted, boyfriend and I went to the local hole in the wall, breakfast diner for breakfast. It was packed with voters. I had fun listening to the talk/buzz about the election.

After breakfast we did a little more Christmas shopping, grocery shopping, and I bought our Thanksgiving turkey. I also got 2 cute Christmas aprons for daughter and I to wear when we bake Christmas cookies. I know that when I showed them to her she was thinking "OMG".........but when I'm dead and gone she'll remember us wearing those silly things & hopefully having fun as we make cookies. And maybe she'll be greatful for the memory. I got her a Santa hat that has a built in crown. I thought it was fitting for a Homecoming queen. :O)

We drove past our condo today.
I just wanted to see it again.
It's still there, hasn't changed.
I love it but I'm having second thoughts about it. I'm back and forth in my head
about selling my house. I'll figure it out.

Monday, November 01, 2010

off day

This past Friday was Senior night.
The Senior band members, cheerleaders, and football players were introduced at the football game and their plans for the future were read allowed as they were escorted across the football field by their parents. Boyfriend, ex husband and I escorted daughter. My sons were there to watch and to catch up with old teachers, coaches, and friends.
Daughters poster board was a big hit. There was so many pictures I wanted to share. I'm proud of her.
It was a nice night all in all.........even though we lost the game. But the win wasn't an easy one. We fought hard, and played well.

I'm off for the next three days.
Today I need to get with the realtor to sign a new contract. We're going to knock five thousand off our asking price. Maybe it will help.
I missed trick or treat last night. I was working. I like handing out the candy and taking the opportunity to say hello to all the neighbors.

Last night at work the husband to one of my patients asked me out to dinner. I was taken back......my first thought was "your wife is struggling in a hospital bed, and your asking another woman out for dinner?"  Then I worried that since we were right outside her room she might be hearing the conversation.....and I even felt a little bad for him because I know he's going through a difficult time.
I'm not the best when it comes to this sort of thing.
I get nervous and tongue tied. (I'm such a dork)
So as I'm declining married mans invitation in my tongue tied, round the bout way,trying to be polite, trying not to hurt anyones feelings,.......my work friend Chas overheard what was going on.....he came out and made light of the situation "saving me" from the whole mess.
I kinda wish he would have stayed out of it.
I wanted to deal with it in my own dorky way. I didn't need for him to save me.