Weekend Withdrawals

Hey you.

I'm so sorry that this winter has already taken all the fun out of snow for you.  I'm sure it's annoying as hell by now. Hopefully it'll take a turn for the better soon....although all I see in the forecast is bad news.

I'm beat from a terrific weekend - far too much alcohol, not enough sleep, too much food, just the right amount of laughter.  We really did have fun, doing nothing in particular.  Friday night the kids stayed in and we barbecued steaks, followed by card games and .... ummm... yeah, I drank that much I can't remember what else. M and I dinked around Saturday at Marshalls and Target while the boys went to Jack's baseball camp and toured the fire district.  Saturday night we had a great dinner at Toscanos, but we were a little wiped out from the night before and didn't make it much past ten.  They took off early yesterday as D had to work, but we promised to not let so much time go by between visits.  I think we have a ballgame planned in March already and we're putting together a trip to Pullman to visit B&J later in the spring.  Good times.

Today was Monday.  Glad it's over.

I have a bunch of ironing to catch up on and spent too much time this afternoon trying to balance my bank book, since I'm so mathematically challenged.   I wanted to check in and say hello, though, and to say I'm sorry about the birthday weekend.  Was it horrible for J, too, or did the tension convention go over his head and he was allowed to celebrate well? Sucks for you.

This week there's not much on the books. This weekend is the dreaded Annual Fire Dept. Awards Banquet, which will be one of the Top Three Things I Don't Miss About Being Married to a Firefighter when J retires. God I hate it.  Alas, the good wife will be gracious, and at least I get to sit with E and L (our friends who were over for dinner a couple of weeks ago) since this will be their first year.  I've already coached L on how painful it is, so at least we'll get a good laugh or two, I'm hoping.  Mostly, the outfits that the young wives/girlfriends come up with are entertainment alone.

I hope your weekend to Boston goes off without a hitch...maybe the best you could hope for is that you get snowed in THERE and can't get home :)

Have a great week and stay warm,
Love you,
A

No More Snow!

Hey, Amanda.

Hope you had a great weekend. I can't wait to hear all about it...

Mine was so-so. Friday I found some great pajama pants on sale (alas, I had to retire the grey ones I bought with you in Costco 6 years ago?10 years ago? because the draw string came out) and had a bite to eat out, so that was a nice start, but Saturday I got a migraine and had the party that was as dreadful as I thought it would be, and I never really recovered from Saturday on Sunday. Actually, that's not true. I went grocery shopping and took myself out to lunch, and watched a movie on TV.

And today, I--like so many of us in these parts--am watching weather forecasts, trying to figure out if this next double header storm will result in 2 or 3 days off. But (brace yourself) I'm not even excited. I'm craving some continuity.  I want to be by my pool on the 4th of July, not in my un-air conditioned classroom giving final exams. Amanda, it's unbelievable out here; there's no place to put the snow. You can't see around corners, roofs are collapsing, and this next storm promises a foot of snow followed by ice. This time around I'm hoping for the best, that people remain safe and out of harm's way, not for what I like to call a two-fer.

I see snowflakes in Saturday's space on the extended forecast, but hope it's nothing...either way, I'm going to Boston. And I can't wait.

Looking forward to your weekend debrief.

Love you,
Barb

Trade Off

Okay, Amanda, there's nothing fun anymore about snow days you have to spend outside shoveling, waiting for the plow, wondering where the f**k we're going to put all the snow. While on the phone with you last night I said it wasn't doing much outside my house, but an hour away at my sisters they had a mess. In the middle of the night, I looked out the window and still didn't think I saw much happening. But somehow, sometime, I guess when I wasn't looking, a foot of snow fell. Another foot of snow fell. I mean really. Holy crap.

So no brunch, no mimosas, no pot of chili or soup today. But I am also happy to report that there were no bells signalling what I should do, no attitude problems, no unmotivated students, no copier jams, no insulting emails wrought with errors from my principal. I was happy to be shoveling snow. A touch pathetic I suppose.

One more day until the weekend, till the party I am dreading. I don't like my brother-in-law's family much, and I hate playing along with the farce, so really? I'd rather shovel snow or be in school than be there Saturday afternoon.

Have a great weekend slumber party! Love you,
Barb

Good Noise

Dear Barb

How's your uncle doing today? MRSA is ugly.  I hope it doesn't interfere too much with his healing process although I know that's a lot to expect.  Keep me posted.

I'm still laughing about your dinner last night...ultimate comfort food. I've been eating the same way for weeks now and my scale is definitely showing it. It's not even snowing here, for Pete's sake - it's like in the 50's and I'm eating like I'm locked in a log cabin in the woods of northern Maine. Something's gotta give here pretty soon.

M has a few friends over this evening and I'm enjoying the noise from my kitchen as they dig into my mac 'n cheese and sauteed vegetables. To think that a year ago, he wasn't even in my life.  To have my house full of this kind of life and activity now just makes me smile. How funny the way things turn around when you think all hope has run out.

Thanks for your comment on my piece about London.  Did you happen to catch my post on FB? It was just a link to it, but my dad's response was pretty sweet. Sometimes I wonder who he is and what he did with my real dad.

Anyway...I'm putting off getting my house put together for D&M's visit; I'm sure I'll leave it until the last minute Thursday night, but I'm going to at least attempt to get some details for Kim's second release party done so I won't have that hanging over my head too.  So I'll make this short and sign off with all good intentions of doing something productive when I turn off the computer.

Wish me luck with that.

Love you,
A

Extra Time

Good morning, Amanda.

When I read your reply to my email this morning I thought I may as well have written that short bit here, but oh well. My spelling lesson and dinner menu was for your entertainment only.

I went to bed early (when I had my second ocular migraine of the day) and was totally caught off guard this morning when I got a call about a school delay--just as my auto-brew started its morning spurt and gurgle! Arg. Oh well, I thought, may as well get up. During last night's evening news I had heard a dusting or inch might fall but that ended up as a couple of ill-timed inches that are proving dangerous on the roads, which are frozen after sub zero weather. (Did you hear about our negative double digit weather?) Anyway, now that's it's almost time for me to get moving, I wish I had left the coffee alone and stayed in bed.

Sounds like a good weekend (I love when I'm productive, too!), except for that awkward dinner thing with the new, drunk and boring half-brother. Yuck. I hate that sort of thing. And you go with your crock pot, girl! I assume you figured out you keep the cover on?... ;-)

Off I go, hoping for better news today than yesterday, and with my fingers crossed that I get through the day without a migraine.

Have a good one.
Love you,
Barb

PS I hate to talk so much about the weather but--sh*t--we are supposed to get another big storm Wednesday night into Thursday! This is really getting ridiculous. Anyway, I'll plan to write then if not sooner.

Woah...Sunday Night Already??

Hey, you.

I've been slacking a little, haven't I?  This weekend went by way too fast; I kept thinking Saturday night was Friday night, so today I kept thinking it was Saturday. Now it's almost Monday :(

I did get a lot done, though, if that counts for something.  I went to the gym, I cleaned my bathroom, I did all the laundry, went to Costco, and paid some bills.  Friday night, we hung out over at S&T's for a bit after dinner, then went out to dinner with them last night.  I don't know if I told you that T has a newfound half-brother who happens to live about a mile away from here, and they joined us for dinner.  They're kind of still discovering each other so it's cool on one had, weird on the other. The worst part is that J and I don't like them much, so dinner last night was a bit more of a chore than a party.  They're really boring. He's really loud and obnoxious, and drunk, in a boring way. Ugh.  Still, it was fun to go out for a bit and the bartender made a me a killer drink that I named after her.  I'll now have to perfect my Gini-tini, made with lychee (my fav), grapefruit juice and citrus vodka.  Yum!

Speaking of yum, this morning I woke up with some bizarre burst of energy that led me to put together a crockpot of beef stew before 10:00am.  I have to say, I'm not very good with making things up at all, so when I do create something, I'm always a little giddy.  Mind you, this wasn't anything fancy - a flank steak cubed up, carrots, onions, potatoes and a packet of Lipton's onion soup with some water - but really, I was nervous.  I didn't even know if you could use flank steak in stew.

Guess what? You can.  At the six hour mark or so, it was a little bland, so I threw in some salt, steak seasoning (dry) and Lawry's, and by the time I served myself up a big ole' bowl of it, with a crusty baguette, It. Was. Awesome.  I'm so proud of myself! I know, the Lipton's was a total cheat, but I'm good with that.

Now that my day is done, I have no more energy to finish the last load of laundry, and I'm really blase about the football games on. I wanted to curl up with my new book - One Day - that I already LOVE, but I'm also reading the manual for my new camera and playing around with that. I really, really, really don't want to go to work tomorrow. Friday afternoon's arrival of D & M from up north will keep me motivated through the week I suppose ;)

Back to work for you, tomorrow, too? You're probably glad to be done with the snow days by now.

Wishing you a good week and a fun party weekend with J and the fam.

Love you!
A

P.S. Your sushi plate was beautiful!

P.P.S. Spelling gem of the day: INFUSES.  As in, "I think we need to put more infuses on that program in the future."

Life is Good

Hey, A.


sushi craving: check!

Yay! I had sushi takeout tonight and have thus taken care of all my recent cravings, and my new Oprah magazine came in the mail today so I have new reading material for my next snow day....tomorrow. Can you believe it? We are bracing ourselves for yet another storm. Only 5-10 inches this time, but the majority will come down at the worst time possible time--between 3 and 10 am, so a snow day really is inevitable... Sushi, new mag, snow day? Yeah, life is really good. What the heck. I may as well enjoy them, right?

Last night, probably around the time you were headed out for family fun at the mall (love that!), I was getting home from dinner with C. It’s restaurant week in Hartford, so we tried a new place for a three-course, $20.11 dinner. It was delicious, and a nice night out.

My sister made a decision about the party and has actually stuck with it for 24 hours, so I am finally in finally the process of planning with W. In the end though, I think I’m going to make the executive decision and make us wait until the weekend after the party (skipping this weekend entirely as an option). Funny, for the first couple of years of this relationship I felt like I was always waiting, not seeing him enough, football widow, blah blah blah, and now I’m okay saying Let’s wait another couple of weeks.

Hope you had fun at the mall and enjoyed dinner at that Italian place you like ;-) and that the annoying sleaze you sit next to (love that too), or the moon, didn’t get you down today.

Have a good weekend!

Love,

B

Hump Day...Done

Thanks for sharing the flowers! Actually, I love that they are there amidst the normal chaos of life.  It reminds us that everything doesn't have to be perfect to elicit a smile.

I had one of those crazy busy days at work; my desk partner (co-worker? colleage? annoying sleaze I sit next to all day?) and I blamed it on the upcoming full moon.  Too many patients, and weird circumstances.  Like I had a foreign exchange student come in with foreign exchange student health insurance (yes, evidently, there is such a specific thing).  After - no lie - 40 minutes of taking all of her information (with the help of her host father) and being on the phone with umpteen different people trying to figure out how to bill it, it ended up that we couldn't bill it, but that they could pay the up front and get reimbursed.  At the 45 minute mark, when the waiting room was packed with half a dozen new patients waiting for me to finish with this guy, he says, "Oh, never mind.  I'll just take her to my doctor." Seriously.  Well I hope they give you the same run-around, buddy, and I hope it takes up the entire rest of your afternoon. And I hope she does have a concussion! Because then you'll be really screwed!


Anyhoo...

Tonight we're all headed to the mall - happy family outing - and dinner. J wants to exchange some golf shoes and I have a few things to pick up. We invited the kids with the dinner bribe, so we're going to Olive Garden.  You know, that Italian place we love. ;)

Because that's totally on Weight Watchers.

Love you,
A

Delay Today

Hey, A.

As I should have been able to figure out, we have a 2 hour delay today. All that freezing rain and rain we ended the day with yesterday refroze over night and it was an icy mess this morning. I'm splitting my time down the middle--one of those hours in bed, and one of those hours to have another cup of coffee and have a chance to write. I suppose I should save a few minutes of them to de-ice my car and drive more slowly than normal.

I totally forgot about Patch Adams; I loved that movie, too! I wonder if I'd watch more movies if I took a second look at some faves rather than trying to make my way through a Netflix list of movies that have been recommended or nominated for one award or another. I swear it takes 3 or 4 weeks before I watch a Netflix...and sometimes I send them back without ever watching. Maybe I'm just not a movie-watcher anymore. I'd rather flip channels and watch TV one hour or one-half hour at a time. Oh well.

The weekend of the 28th, your grown-up slumber party, sounds fun! I remember they were fun people, so easy to be around. And doing nothing this weekend, well that sounds nice too. I'll let you know how my weekend plans work themselves out after my sister, who is not in rehab, figures things out.

Have a good one.
B

PS I bought this simple bunch of flowers at TJs the other day. They've been making me happy, so I thought I'd share them with you too. (Too bad I didn't straighten out my chairs or move the box before I took the picture...)

Sleepy

Hey there, Barb.

You crack me up.  Yes, the Lord works in mysterious ways.  I will remind you of that in June. You will still probably get out before we do!

Sounds like a great weekend, actually.  Relaxing, anyway.  I do need to get your chili recipe from you one of these days. Not that I've been cooking much lately, I just like to have recipes around me in the event that I break out into a mad chef moment. Tonight I had book club so I had pizza, and I left the boys to their own devices.  Surprise...they went to Wendy's.  Poor things.

I did almost finish the Kristin Hannah book; I got close enough to the end that no one spoiled it for me, since I had predicted spot-on what would happen.  It didn't totally suck, but I won't read more of hers. I'm onto One Day by David Nichols now, a recommendation from LS, in England. ("I'm on holiday!") It has received great reviews and it's supposed to remind me of London.  I could do with a little of that.

Nothing much going on around here and no weekend plans coming up.  We're going to try to keep it low key this week as D&M (you met them up in Seattle that one summer- at Elliot's Fish House) are coming to stay the weekend on the 28th.  We haven't seen them since last spring, before J's sister got sick. They'll come down Friday night and we'll do dinner in with the family.  No big plans for Saturday day, but that night we're going to go out to our favorite wine bar for dinner.  It will be a great slumber party weekend and I'm very much looking forward to it.

It's late start Wednesday tomorrow so the boys are curled up on the couch watching Patch Adams - one of M's favorite movies.  He loves sharing things like that with JJ.  I, on the other hand, am about to hit the hay.  J's working late tonight, and I haven't been feeling great; all I want to do is sleep. I'm not sure if it's a physical health or a mental health thing...I have an appt with MC on Thursday to start up a few sessions again.  I'm not in high-function mode lately.

Maybe we need to have a conversation on the phone, but I thought there was some rehab going on these days, no? We're planning birthday parties?

Ok, fading fast.  Hope you have a good week; enjoy your time off!
Love you,
A

Wicked Winter

Well, Amanda,

I'm enjoying the crap out of these snow days now--we had another today, and it looks like we're getting another storm on Friday-- but we'll see how I'm feeling at the end of June. We were scheduled to be out early since we don't have February vacation, so it could be okay, but it is only mid-January. And if we get that storm Friday as predicted, it will be 4 snow days in two weeks, with months of winter yet to go. But I'm not going to worry about that now. Right now, I can't help but think The board of ed tooketh away my vacation, and the good lord taketh it back for me, one day at a time. So there! Who's in control now? Ha!

I enjoyed my extra-long weekend, partly because I knew (somehow) that it would be extended by bad weather and would be four days, not three, and partly because I changed things up. I went grocery shopping Friday after school so I had more time to hang out on Saturday (with Chinese takeout--finally!), and after doing my laundry Sunday morning, I went clothes shopping (great deals at L&T and Talbots!) instead of cooking (saved that for today) before the game. Yesterday I went out for a grown up lunch with my friend M and a friend of hers, and that was a real treat:  three courses, two glasses of wine, and two and half hours of conversation. Today I made chili and did a few projects, including a freezer purge, and now I'm relaxed and ready to go back to school tomorrow for the rest of the week--be it 2 or 3 days.

Other than that I'm trying to plan a weekend in Boston with W, this weekend or next, and if my hot mess sister could make a decision about when to have my nephew's 18th birthday and keep it, well then I could make those plans. Obviously I could miss the party, but I'd rather not. However, if she keeps changing her mind every other day, I'll be forced to make a decision separate from hers.

So that's my story. What's yours?

Love you,
Barb

Weekend Ahead

Good morning, Amanda.

It hardly seems worth the effort today to go to school since we've been off for two days (I've been off for three) and we have a three day weekend, but I suppose that'll make it easy once I get there.

I did get my nails done yesterday but didn't have that Chinese food or sushi I was craving. No worries: I've put that on my list for the weekend or next week sometime--maybe tomorrow after the gym and a house full of laundry. Ugh. Saturday and Sunday will be pretty typical for me: errands, laundry, gym, football (more football than usual this weekend because of playoffs); Monday I am going out with an old friend (from the Dr's office) for a grown-up lunch. Tonight I will usher in the weekend with steak for dinner. I've been staying away from red meat after overdosing on it over vacation, and today I'm ready for a sirloin.

So I'll be around. I'll probably sit down and write again this weekend, but would love to chat if you have the inkling and the time to maybe take a first glance at a calendar so we can start to plan your summer visit.

Happy Friday!
Love,
Barb

Woo Hoo!!

I did hear about your storm.  LUCKY!  It snowed for about two hours last night and was all gone by the time we woke up this morning.

Dinner was ok.  Too much to process right now.  But I had sushi for dinner so all is well :)

Enjoy your day off tomorrow and treat yourself to takeout, nails and maybe even something else fun.  Good things come in threes.

Love,
A

Snow Days--plural!

Hey there.

Don't know if it made your news, but we got dumped on in these parts overnight and today. Crazy amounts of snow. We pretty much got 2 feet of snow in one storm--in one day in fact. Needless to say, we had a snow day today; most of the state did. In fact, some school districts have already called tomorrow off--mine included. I'm as shocked (the supe always waits till last minute) as I am happy. Yesterday was a long day (after her appointments, D ended up needing some IV fluids and anti-nausea meds) so today was a treat...Today I spent two hours shoveling out my car and some neighbors' cars, so tomorrow I'm sure I'll enjoy having time to sit around slathered with IcyHot. How pathetic. (But hey, cardio is my thing; I do nothing with weights.)

Actually it would be nice to get out for a while tomorrow afternoon, maybe get my nails done--I'm soooo overdue--and get some take-out. I've been craving Chinese and sushi and I'm just about souped out. Hu. I do believe I have a plan.

I hope dinner with your brother is going well and that you didn't get ambushed.

Love,
Barb

Resisting Rest

Hey, Barb.

Though I'd rather be taking a nap (until, say, tomorrow) I've decided to be semi-productive instead.  I woke up in a horrible mood this morning, which was later explained by the onslaught of yet another cold in full force by noon.  But I have a dinner date with the crazy brother tonight, so I'm trying not to crash. If I do, I'll surely never get up to go out again.  And who knows when I might actually get to see him if I don't go tonight?  I am just hoping that he doesn't blindside me by bringing the crazy wife along.  We'll see.

Pretty dull around here this week.  It's been snowing/raining and generally just ugly outside, which I'm sure isn't helping with my mental state.  We finally got all the decorations down and the house back to normal, but C's room still looks like a bomb went off in there. I have several purchases to return, including some online, which is a big pain in the butt. And a bunch of other junk that doesn't have a real home - stuff I jam into C's closet and forget about. This year, of course (like the past 14 years I've lived here) I am determined to create homes for everything and make her closet useful.  Uh huh.  I'll let you know how that goes.

I was kind of hoping for a quiet weekend, but it's not turning out that way.  I told you I got a new camera for Christmas...? A real one, a digital SLR, and it's beautiful!!  In addition, John signed me up for this two- day photography class, the first of which is Saturday morning. I'm very much looking forward to that, but then one of J's friends (and wife) from work is coming for dinner on Saturday night - I like them and all, but I'm kind of burned out on entertaining.  Not to mention this girl at work invited me to her son's birthday party that afternoon....don't know if I'll go to that too.

Sunday, of course, is the next big game, so I'm saying no to any and all plans and invites.

Ok, must go package up some boxes and attempt to make a small dent in C's room.  I hope your day with C went well yesterday and that she's feeling better. My prayers and with you - all of you - you know that.

Love you,
A

Comfort Me with....Oatmeal

Dear Amanda,

How pretty! Was there a sauce that you sautéed those in a bit before or mixed them in (olive oil, salt and pepper?) before stuffing and baking? I love acorn squash. Stephanie's on Newbury hollows them out a bit more and bakes their shepherd's pie in acorn squash. Talk about comfort food! It's my favorite thing to order in fall and winter--just delicious.

I have a little extra time for comfort food myself this morning--so I'm enjoying some real oatmeal. (It's my new, I'm afraid of high cholesterol thing. I make it stove top, sweeten with a little honey and throw in some craisins and it's hearty and delicious. Makes the packages seem like sawdust.) I have the time because a little later this morning I am taking D to an appointment to see her oncologist and I took the day off. I could have gone in for a couple of hours and then rushed over to get her, but she lives an hour and 15 minutes from school (at which point we still have an hour to travel) and only 45 minutes from me. In the meantime you can never really leave the building when you want; once you're there it swallows you somehow and honestly I don't want to show up to D's frazzled. She needs peaceful and positive energy; she doesn't need me after a few hours at school. probably running late. So I took the time yesterday afternoon to leave lesson plans and get my ducks in a row, and I called in today. This morning I'm having breakfast, writing, enjoying some oatmeal. I'll meditate a little and affirm and put on a smile before I pick her up later.

I haven't seen her in a couple of weeks, since Christmas, since she beagn her new treatment in earnest, but I have spoken to her and know she is not doing well. She is very sick from it--constantly nauseous, throwing up, unable to eat. She wants to talk about dosage changes or different treatment today and needs me to ask the right questions and remember the answers for...Unfortunately, I'm not sure there's another clinical trial for her, so we might not get desired answers. Hence the need to do a little meditating and affirming first.

My original plans to get my boxes of Christmas decorations back in the basement now that they're full again can wait until tomorrow I guess. They are predicting a storm with 100% certainty. Looks like the 10-16 inches of snow will leave me with plenty of time to finish house stuff tomorrow. Today my focus is elsewhere.

Sorry about your Ducks...fun while it lasted though, no?

Have a good day.
Love you,
Barb

Comfort Food

Lost the game...barely...

but had this for dinner:

baked acron squash stuffed with sauteed mushrooms and red onions.

Yum!

Procrastination Hits Destination

Yay for you! I wish were as motivated. I went twice this week and my goal was four days. So maybe I'll go this afternoon; for now I must get the house cleaned for wine club tonight.  This wouldn't be such a daunting task if it weren't for the fact that nearly ALL of our Christmas decorations are still up (inside and out!) and taking all that down precludes any actual cleaning. I could have done a little bit each day this week and had nothing left but a toilet to clean today, but I never got my act together after getting home at 5:30 every night.

I could have gotten a jump start yesterday, since I was off at 2:00, but S was in a funk and we needed a little girl time.  We opened a bottle of wine at 4:30...just the two of us. Imagine: At 10:15 - after bottle #3, three pizzas, a hockey uniform fashion show from JJ and A, much laughter and some crying - S & T, A, K& R went home, and J and I crawled into bed, exhausted.  Oh my goodness! How'd that happen?

Worth it, even if I have to do all of this today.  After all...there's a big game in the middle of my cleaning spree and who knows? Even with Pouty McPoutster Hasselbeck getting his Glory Days moment on the field, it might be a magical day!

Love,
A

Today is the Day...

I will get back to the gym, Amanda. After my coffee and writing this post, I am going upstairs and getting ready. I’ll brush my teeth, put hair in a ponytail, take off yesterdays’ makeup, and get dressed to work out. Then I’ll go hit the treadmill, as I did for about 65 Saturdays and/or Sundays before I got out of the habit about a month ago. And tomorrow after my coffee I’ll do it again. And then, if I come up with five consecutive excuses again—as I did last week (Thursday I had to pick up my surprise at UPS, yesterday I had an early release for snow…yeah, the lamest of them all, especially since it didn’t start snowing until much later in the evening)—I’ll at least have gotten the equivalent of 3 or 4 20-minute workouts in.

I don’t know how I got how I got out of the habit, except to guess that while I began missing occasional workouts this fall I found I was still losing weight, so I justified missing more workouts, and then suddenly it was Christmas time and I was super busy and the entire month of December I didn’t step foot in the gym. Truth be told, November wasn’t a stellar month either. But I know I need to go. However accepting and at peace I am with my overweight body and pleased I am with my ability to dress myself in flattering outfits, the truth is I am 45. And overweight. And I eat red meat. And I am avoiding having blood work done. So my hiatus from the gym ends this morning.

Allrighty then, while I’m fired up, having just finished my own pep talk, I ought to go. Thanks for listening! And thanks again for my fun surprise. I promise to get yours in the mail soon.

Call me later if you feel like it. I’ll be home taking down my tree.

Love you,
Barb

PS Go Seahawks!

Excuses, Excuses

Hey there, Amanda.

My excuse for not going to the gym yesterday was that I had a terrible headache at school. Not a migraine, but it felt like someone was trying to pull the eyes through the back of my head. Maybe tension? I didn't have to teach the last period of the day, so I came home early, but not before I had a little GI issue before leaving the building, and then a couple more times once I was home and resting. So I can't really be expected to get on a treadmill when I had random and unpredictable diarrhea, could I?...I don't know what the issue is, but I'll get to the gym. I will.

I hope you've gotten back some peace of mind after discovering mice in the pantry. [shivers] I had droppings on my kitchen counter last year and freaked out when I then found packages ripped open in my food cupboards. I actually took a day off to bleach my kitchen and go to Home Depot for mouse traps; I lived in terror for weeks to follow. That is, I feel your pain. Good luck.

Time to refill my coffee and take it upstairs where my blow dryer awaits...Hope you have a good day.

Love,
Barb

Is it Bedtime Yet?

Long day today. I won't start spewing complaints, but this guy I work with really makes me crazy and it's very hard to sit next to him for even five hours.  Let me just say that he's my age, twice divorced, wears Dockers and a Members Only jacket, too much cologne, and flirts with all the skanky single mom patients.  Eew.

Anyway, I went from there to my other job and that lasted forever. I hit a WW meeting on the way home and was excited to get here and get some cleaning done.  What I didn't plan on was cleaning out my entire pantry, due to J's discovery of mice.  Makes my skin crawl....

So we ordered in teriyaki (great start to WW, eh?) and now I'm trying to get some bills and stuff done before I hit the sack early tonight.

I think I'll read the Kristen Hannah then think about quitting my book club.  I agree, life's too short to read books we don't like.

More tomorrow when (hopefully) I don't come home to resident rodents.

Love you,
A

Books, etc.

Hey, A,

Yesterday my excuse for not going to the gym was the fact that it was my first day back at work. As in: that was accomplishment enough for the 3rd day of January; I deserved to go home and rest. Today my excuse was not getting to leave school until after 3:30. Clearly, the gym would have been swarming with those newly installed members whose New Year's resolutions gave me a serious pain in the ass last year when I was already a regular. One day soon, one day this week I hope, I will stop making excuses. I still have several days left to get 2 or 3 workouts in this week. Right? Right!

Bummer on being assigned a "tear-jerker." One of the reasons I have never joined a book club is that I'm far too passive aggressive; I hate being told to do anything. The other is I'm a book snob. And proud of it. So you can imagine how I’d react to being asked to read Nicolas Sparks. Although I finally gave in and read it, it will always be a favorite quote when the doctor-author I worked with in Boston called The Bridges of Madison County "masturbation fodder for Midwestern housewives." No Kristen Hannah for me….But I did just start reading a new Elizabeth Berg book. You know I really like her and her writing, and I have always found her easy to read. Her newest book, The Last Time I Saw You, does not disappoint. Each chapter is told by a different classmate getting ready for a 40th high school reunion. I've gotten a hundred pages in two days of reading...and I can't wait for the reunion! I’m hoping they get there tonight.

Reading more is on one of my lists, too, though I loathe to call them resolutions. I find it easier to say reading is one of the things I’d like to do more of this year. I seem always to read 20 books in the summer and only 1 or 2 others the rest of the year, and that’s just foolish. Or lazy. Maybe both. So I say skip the tear jerker. Get a better book and read, my friend. I dare say reading is a better place to put our energies and interests in other peoples’ lives than smack dab in the middle of our respective siblings’ dramas and craziness.

On that note I will sign off so I get a few things done before getting back to the reunion. I’d love to talk about your summer visit; let’s put it on our list of things to talk about when we next talk.

Hope your week is going well.
Love you!
B

Resolutions up the Wazoo

Hi, Barb.

First off, you know my thoughts and prayers are with W this week as he waits for the answer on this job.  My fingers are super crossed.

I think you tried to call me yesterday (Sunday) afternoon? I was at the mall and my bluetooth wouldn't connect, at which point I lost the call. I waited until I got home to call back, but then the game was on, and well...you know.  JJ and J were there - at the Seahawks game - JJ's first NFL game.  And what a great one!! Cousin K from Mississippi fb'ed him this morning to say that she was glad we won, but to know that we're going to get a "good old fashioned southern a**-whoopin' next weekend."  Probably true, but it sure was fun to get this far! And of course, JJ had a blast at the stadium. In fact, they both did, and they decided we must go to a game or two next season because they thought I'd like it :)  Guess I better brush up on my copy of Football for Idiots.

Speaking of reading, have you read any Kristen Hannah? Our book club chose one of her books for this month and I'm sort of bummed. She hasn't appealed to me thus far; I swear, every review I've read uses the word "tearjerker", and as you know, I'm seriously anti-Nicholas Sparks. She's a local author, which is cool, and I love my group and the visiting part of it. I just feel like we've gotten away from the task of reading, and especially from reading really good stuff.  Now I just want to drop out altogether, but I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or seem snobbish. Maybe I should just read this and worry about it later. We did get to read The Help, after all. I brought this up because one of my NY resolutions is to read more this year.  Not just novels, but more of everything - the paper, blogs - I've really slacked off in the past couple of years.  (Maybe if I didn't watch so much crime drama....oh, never mind.  I got all five seasons of Criminal Minds on DVD for Christmas!)

I also went to the gym this morning, to begin another resolution.  I am mentally working my way through the crash diet mentality and attempting to look at weight loss as a life change now, instead of a way to get into smaller jeans.  Of course I have a couple of goal dates on the horizon, but I'm trying not to focus on that.

And speaking of goal dates, we have to talk about my visit this summer.  Now that I have a job, I have to maneuver carefully my days off.  For one, I am committed to a few days in CA with my parents in July, since my cousin is allegedly throwing a huge family reunion party at their house on the 4th.  Then, I had hoped to take a long weekend to meet up with my high school girlfriends in the spring, but that might dissolve.  Sooooo... we should maybe start throwing around some dates so I can plan a little.  I hardly get any time off, being so new, but I may be able to work out some flex hours with my job share partner by the end of the summer.  I guess what I'm thinking is that I may not be able to spend a leisurely week in Connecticut, but a few days around a weekend would be more likely.   Oh, that and I'm pretty sure we're going to try to get out to New York at some point this year, although that might be something I can put together with a visit to you?  Let's keep it on the table.

Ok, must go over to write elsewhere. That's another resolution, to write more.  Read, write, get healthy. When am I supposed to watch my DVDs???

Love you,
A

PS. How is the family drama?

Back to Work

Happy New Year to you, too, Amanda. I mean really: 2011? Oh my goodness, how'd that happen?

I had a great vacation. I appreciated the three days of Christmas celebrations with my family, loved getting Mother Nature's instructions to stay put during our snow storm, and--heeding her warning--took advantage of that alone time to myself, spending some of it in the kitchen. I had my parents over for dinner the next night, and then W came to visit. We had a couple of really nice days together. (Talk about "oh my goodness, how'd that happen?"; things are different for us these days. Different, but good. More on that in a phone call when we can catch up.) And then I had a little more along time, “re-entry” I call it, before going back to work today.

Sounds like you had a nice New Year’s Eve celebration. I love that JJ dancing with J means so much to you, and I love having now something to refer to when you experience self-doubt about parenting (although I have to say it doesn’t happen nearly as much as when M was a kid). No, Amanda, I can say. How can you for a minute think that? Remember that New Year’s Eve when…

I was ready for bed at 7 (honestly), but now that it’s 10 I know I’m catching a second wind and Cannot. Let. That. Happen. Will be screwed tomorrow.

So off to bed. Just wanted to respond to your last post, and try to get us into a better habit of writing without long lapses.

Love you,
Barb

PS Before W headed down he had an interview that went well, and my fingers are crossed that any day now he will hear that he is the one of three finalists they'd like to offer the job....It's been so long, he's been so stressed, I really, really wish this for him. Please, send a prayer his way. He needs this for the New Year. Thanks.

Happy New Year

Hey, Barb.

Not sure if you're coming home today or tomorrow, but I know it will be hard to bring your vacation to a close. Hopefully you'll have some quality re-entry time before heading back to school. How was your trip to Boston?  I'm sort of jealous that you spent New Year's Eve there.  That takes me back a few years :)

We had a very fun night at our standard neighborhood party.  This year, our friends B&P hosted and it was very low key.  Gone are the days of rented costumes for elaborately themed galas...we're all so proud of ourselves just to stay awake until midnight anymore.  CK and I made a plan the day before that we weren't going to get trashed - for once - and we put together a huge potluck dinner to have beforehand. In the end, our dinner party kind of fizzled out and it was just the five of us - she and JK, JJ, J and me.  Everyone else bailed on us, but it was nice anyway.  We stuffed ourselves with spaghetti and salad in an effort to soak up the alcohol, which worked.  We also did the one drink - one water thing.  Other than peeing every half hour or so, that was a great idea too.  By two in the morning, for the first time in as long as I can remember, I walked home, instead of stumbled.  I texted my kids and didn't send jumbled up messages that made no sense.  I cleaned up my kitchen when I got home, and best of all, I woke up this morning feeling awesome.  Yay for me! That was a huge coup.

The kids came down before midnight, like they always do, but this year it was just JJ, JK and S&T's kids.  (M is in Idaho on a road trip with a friend).  All the other kids are old enough now to actually party with us.  I was watching all these young adults partying it up with their parents and thinking how awesome it is that we are so close; we are fun enough that our kids want to hang out with us on New Year's Eve, and I feel like we've all done something right in raising them.  When JJ showed up, I had this wistful moment, thinking that before I know it, he'll be there too, partying with us.  And then I look over at him, and he's dancing and singing at the top of his lungs....with his dad.  I almost cried.  He's almost there...in a heartbeat, he'll be allowed to stay all night. So I jumped in and danced up a storm with him to Katy Perry's California Gurlz, then kissed him goodnight before he and the others headed back to the kid zone (my house).  I wish I could freeze that moment in time.

Today, I think, I should put away the Christmas decor.  Although, as energetic and not hungover as I am, I'm still not too motivated to take on that task.  There is tomorrow, after all.  This three day weekend rocks.

I hope you had a wonderful New Year's celebration too, and that you enjoy the rest of your vacation.

Love you,
A