To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.
~ Mohandas K. Gandhi
Which is why today...I planted.
Six potted planters and 8 different packages of seeds.
Soon...okay, so not that soon...but eventually, I will see some green.
And purple. And pink. And orange and yellow and red and I'm so excited!!!
The waiting is the hardest part.
Sigh.
But damn it felt good.
The soil and moss between my fingers.
The smell.
Good indeed.
Some girls want big, expensive, fancy cars, houses, clothes and jewelry...
Me?
I just want Daisy here, and my other dog here, a new cat (since none of the old cats would have been able to survive the trip-sniffle, sniffle-can't go there right now), plants and flowers and a beer every now and then to help me sleep.
Yeah. I'm a cheap date, broad, whathaveyou.
More randumbness:
So, the Ex requires the Nanny...I'll let you figure out why on your own.
TheRammerHammer and I do not...you know...because we're adults and attentive parents.
However, TheRammerHammer is obligated to pay half for the Nanny until the end of November and rather than leave the poor woman at the Ex's house when the kids are here, to be at the Ex's beck-and-call...just didn't seem very fair to the poor, sweet woman.
So she's here and she's not just a Nanny. She helps around the house as well. Doing dishes, laundry and cleaning.
I've never had the experience of having neither a maid nor a Nanny. So, she and I have a friendly, little, unspoken competition. Okay...I have one...I don't think she has a clue because she's just that innocent and sweet.
It doesn't feel right to have her do things...and specifically do things for me.
I'm here and even on my bad days, I'm perfectly capable of washing my dish or two.
On my good days...I'm perfectly capable of washing any/all of the dishes that TheRammerHammer, myself or the boys use.
I can throw loads of laundry in and hang them out to dry.
I can sweep and I can dust.
So the competition is that on my good days...TheRammerHammer or I make the meals for us all, and when the pots and pans and untinsels are left in the sink while we're eating, she sneaks out into the kitchen and washes them. So, I either clear the plates or ask TheRammerHammer and the boys to, bringing me the dishes so that I can wash them, and she doesn't have to.
If she throws a load of laundry in without me seeing, but I hear the machine running...I wait patiently and beat her to it, to hang them out to dry.
I know it sounds silly...but I know and have seen first hand what an unclean person the Ex is...so I know the Nanny works her fingers to the bone at the other apartment.
I feel a little bad that we'll be letting her go in November, leaving her to fend for herself 24/7 over there.
The upside of not having her here eventually though, is that .she'll stop putting things where she wants them or thinks they should go, after I've put them where I want them or think they should go for the third or fourth time.
Definitely not used to, nor do I think I would ever get used to, having that go on in my household! LOL.
Moving stuff...another hot topic:
They don't have traditional moving trucks here...no Hertz, no U-hauls, etc.
And very few people own trucks period.
Lot's of little SUV's...and locals with regular trucks that sit on the side of the road just waiting for people to pull over and hire them to move something...but that's not what this little bit is about.
When moving your belongings from one place to another here, you can pile gobs and gobs of said belongings out into the hallway and out in front of the apartment building itself and leave it all there, while you travel back and forth, for however long...and you don't have to worry at all, about anything being stolen or rummaged through. At all. People just respect what is their's and what isn't here. Amazing concept. One I don't think I've ever witnessed in my life until now.
An un-hot topic:
Who knew I shoulda packed my freakin'-frackin' long sleeve shirts when moving to the desert??
Not me.
Me? I packed short sleeve shirts, tank-tops and some pretty halter tops.
However, it's so freakin' hot outside that everyone here sets their air conditioning units to Arctic.
So, everywhere I go here...you know...in the desert...I freakin' freeze.
City life is taking some getting used to.
I miss the sound of the crickets (all of them in the distance, not just one under the bedroom window), the birds, the horses, the wind in the tree's, etc.
There are birds here, though not many...yet. I'm hoping my balcony garden and a well placed bird feeder will change that.
But they are building a city here. Yes...not just a couple of buildings here and there...a whole city...at once...at fast as possible.
They work 'round the clock here, three shifts.
Yes, there are some things they aren't permitted to do between certain sleeping hours, but they do what they can with the time they have...and it doesn't mean that some companies don't push the boundaries and try to get away with doing noisy things at all hours of the day and night.
Now, I hear the sound of cars, and banging, and trucks backing up, and sirens, etc.
I remember city life...I lived in Fort Lauderdale and Miami.
But in the Osmond's famous words...I'm a little bit country and a little big rock-n-roll.
It may take awhile, but I'll merge the two here, just like I have everywhere else.
For now...that beer to help me sleep would be very welcome tonight around 9pm, mmmkay?
Thankyouverymuch.
I've had a few emails about TV here and what's available.
The answer...anything and everything.
They have basic cable here and premium cable as well.
We have basic...lot's of channels from other countries, in each countries respective language.
What I find amusing is that (for us anyhoo) there are 3-4 American/english channels.
One in particular is called MBC...on it, at any given time, are American TV shows from CBS, NBC and ABC. Made me giggle when I first figured it out. All the 'rating rivalry' in the states for each individual channel and here...they're all on one channel.
As for the shows...the only thing I see missing is Soap-Opera's...with the exception of one, but I don't know the name of which one it is and haven't been able to catch the beginning to find out.
Otherwise...they've got Idol, Amazing Race, Without A Trace, Bones, House, Shark, Numbers, Las Vegas, and various others.
Basically, TheRammerHammer says the only restriction(s) they really put on American television here is anything with Homosexual overtones (so no Will & Grace, dang it) and shows with a lot of sexual overtones and/or almost nude/nude people on them (which is why I'm guessing there is no Survivor or Two And A Half Men...thank goodness for the internet and message boards as far as Survivor goes! TAAHM, I can also live with out Sean! LOL.)
The funny thing is, that there are plenty of gay men and lesbians here...they aren't overly affectionate in public, but then again, nobody really is. People hold hands, walk with arms around one another and kiss affectionately...just no going overboard...so one hopes (read: me) that they will eventually discover the funniness that is Will & Grace...and Jack & Karen.
Let's see what else...
I don't know what homosexuality and/or sexual content or lack there of, have to do with sourcream...but it's impossible to find here.
Although the search is not over and I'm not giving up, dagnabit.
Oh and lastyly...I spoke to soon!
I finished a difficult Soduko last night for the first time ever.
I just may frame that sucker, as it might not ever happen again!
Okay...that's it for now...time to walk a Moby...he's been a patient, patient puppy.
Hope everyone is well;)
Monday, June 2, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.
~ Anais Nin
And some of us, are made up of crazy.
Some of us...have our own little demons, carrying around bags full of crazy to sell.
Okay...to be more specific than "some of us"...I'm talking about me here.
As if you didn't know.
And then are people like TheRammerHammer.
Amazing.
Not only has he carried me to and from the vomit room/bedroom.
He's rubbed my back and arms and legs when the pills haven't helped the aching.
He's let me sleep, when I needed to sleep, no matter what the hour of day.
And when I've woke up at various mid-night hours/or been unable to sleep altogether...and cried (read that as sobbed like a little girl) about missing Daisy or my zoo or my friends and family...he's held me and listened and soothed me...even though it left him with vey little sleep and an early alarm for school the next day.
He's obliged my whims of what-kinda-sounds-like-it-might-taste-good run(s) to the grocery store...and not batted an eye, when I had a little bit and then immediately turned away for fear that even glancing at it, let alone taking another bite, might make me puke.
He's walked a Moby, fed a Moby and played with a Moby...whenever I've been in bed and unable to.
And most importantly...he's fed my soul and lightened the weight of my heart more in the past three weeks, than any man has ever done in my entire life.
I'm baffled and lucky and thankful that he's not only willing to put up with my brand of crazy, but wants to help exorcise my demons and help me work through things that realisitcally, I should have been able to work through myself in the past 39 years and most certainly would have been more fair to him, if I'd had.
The man, is truly amazing.
I love you RammerHammer.
Far more than I ever thought and/or felt possible.
Soooo....
The RammerHammer has been telling me to write and write and write, since he came back into my life last year...and I have...sporadically on my blog here.
I'm hoping to change that.
Here on my blog anyhoo.
I'm going to try to commit to a post-a-day.
Not much to do, now that things are somewhat settled finally, so it just might be doable!
I'll begin with a long-winded randomness, since there is a lot to catch up on.
Plus, I've just been scribbling random things down on little pieces of paper, here and there that I I knew I'd want to blog about but would forget if I didn't scribble them down.
Ready?
Good.
When the RammerHammer and his Ex (I'll come up with a nifty nick-name for her eventually) first split...they did things in a more unconventional way than is the norm.
Instead of them each getting a separate apartment and having the kids bounce back and forth...they got two apartments, one where the children would stay full time and one that they could bounce back and forth from on a weekly basis.
There was a study done in the UK that concluded this was a much better solution to benefit children of separation. With the upheavel of everything else that accompanies separation, a stable home environment, could only help. Not something to be done on a forever basis...but for the first 6 months or more. By that time, apparently, one or both spouses typically are involved with new significant others and the children are more used to the idea of living with each parent separately and it makes the adjustment of them switching back and forth instead of the parents an easier one.
I'd, personally, never heard of it when TheRammerHammer first told me about it, but it sounded like it made perfect sense.
I've since, read studies that both support and are against the theory.
For me... the proof is in the pudding.
The boys seem to be much better off than the children I've seen in the past dealing with a broken home, so to speak.
Anyhoo...we planned on the adults all going back and forth here until after the school year ended and when the boys and the Ex returned from the states in July...at which time we would establish the two separate households and the boys would begin coming back and forth instead.
Yeah. "Planned" was the key word.
That didn't happen.
A week after my arrival...the Ex decided that we should just get it done and over with and begin the process now.
Which meant three days of moving things back and forth from apartment to apartment.
Wait...let me rephrase that:
Which meant *TheRammerHammer and I*, moving things back and forth from apartment to apartment.
Because, ya see it was her week with the boys at the apartment she would be permanently living in now and even though the nanny is a live-in, she (the Ex) of course, was unable to participate.
Hence...TheRammerHammer worked his ass off and I doubled up on my meds for three days and did the same.
That...was the other things I was talking about in the previous post.
Much too long to get into and a simple explanation just wouldn't have cut it.
And I paid the price of laying in bed and wishing I would just fall asleep and not wake up for a week at the very least immediately following those three days.
But TheRammerHammer took very, very good care of me and I'm somewhat recovered now.
And it's our week with the boys, here at the new apartment and things are going smoothly thus far.
Everyone loves Moby. Well, almost everyone, but I'll get into that in a moment.
Suffice it to say that everyone in this apartment and on our floor, loves Moby and Moby loves all of them!
He especially loves the accumulative and copious amounts of foods that little boys tend to drop on accident/purpose.
And if I had to guess, I'd say that he also currently loves not having to compete with taller dogs when such food is dropped and/or thrown in the puppy's general direction! Not too mention the one-on-one attention that he's being utterly spolied by and with!
Now...I give you the goofy randomness:
Blowjob Bridge was re-christened. Did you expect that it wouldn't be? Silly!
And there is now what will be known as a "Double Fist Pump The Nuts Overpass" added to the map.
Thanks to the folks that work for the TSA, which I recently found out really stands for "Thousands Standing Around", two of my four suitcases were rummaged through whilest traveling and some of my things were mysteriously missing upon my arrival here.
TheRammerHammer...got quite the kick out of and imagined the perplexed looks on the TSA's faces, regarding some of the various things I brought with me here.
Things like...a box of important Christmas ornaments, some of my favorite cooking utensils, a can of baking powder (because all I could find here last December was baking soda), a bottle of Red Creek Marinade, my favorite pair of needle-nose pliars that I've owned since I moved out when I was 16, lot's of lingerie', three freezer bags of my meds, a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch, Hemostats to clean Moby's ears, a bag of IV fluids for dehydrated puppies and kitties I plan on rescuing here, some Cattle wormer (which incidentally is one of the things that was missing), my rooster and chicken salt & pepper shakers, Coco of course (although thanks to TheRammerHammer, it may have been pointless to bring him to the other side of the world!)...among others...
Yeah...it was probably the oddest assortment of things the TSA has seen in awhile.
Then again...maybe not.
Sounds like it would actually be an awesome and interesting blog...if anyone reading this happens to work for them...I'm just sayin' is all.
Next up: a recent late night conversation with TheRammerHammer ended with "Damn vertibrates are so inflexible!" Yeah...about made me pee my pants. I love this man and his humor is tailor fit to suit me just fine.
Back to everyone loves Moby.
This isn't entirely true.
Most of the locals...which consists of many, many nationalities...are actually very afraid of Moby.
They jump ten feet up and away, when the elevator doors open and they first realize he's present...and they really freak out when they jump ten feet straight up but there's no 'away' to jump to when they're in the elevator and we're waiting to get on!
They also cross to the other side of the street when we're on his daily walks.
It's quite comical.
Although I did get a woman from Bengladesh to actually pet him in the lobby the other morning.
The language barrier was an issue...but with some hand signs I was able to get her to understand that he just wanted to smell her and not bite her. Now she's in the lobby and wanting to pet him, everyday for his One O'clock walk.
This makes him not only a world traveler now...but also...a Good Will Em-Basset-or!!!
Oh yes.
Somewhere inside of yourself...you knew I would go there.
Thankfully...my brand of humor suits TheRammerHammer to a 'T' as well!
I can only imagine that if these people are scared of little, ol' Moby...okay, fine...a 43lb Basset Hound...they are going to be deathly afraid when the OzzyFozzyWalder arrives!
It's the desert here. Lot's of brown to look at.
I drool when I'm out on the balcony and I see the little garden balcony oasis's's's's around us, although there aren't that many.
TheRammerHammer bought me some planter pots and seeds the other day...so soon, I'll have some green in our little sea of brown. I can't wait!!!
And speaking of balconies...I need some help from city folk.
Frugal city folk.
Very frugal city folk.
Most people send their dirty laundry to be cleaned.
I don't and probably never will.
They have washers here...but not dryers.
Dryers aren't necessary.
You simply hang stuff out on a laundry-hangy-thingy on the balcony and viola! Things are dry within the hour.
'Cause it's the desert and all.
Problem I'm having...even with the liquid Downy...things still turn out pretty stiff.
Too stiff to my liking.
There's only two things I like stiff. Cocks and Tails. Yes. Combined and separate.
Anyone with the soft(er) laundry secrets to spare?
(Crossing fingers!)
Suduko - Daisy taught me how to do this last December for my long flight here. I started doing the one in the local paper each day since my arrival, when I can't sleep at night but I want to be quiet so as not to wake TheRammerHammer. Figured it can only help keep my mind sharp right? Nope. I was wrong. They tend to make me feel more stupid. I've yet to not screw up and finish a difficult one and I absolutely hate when I screw up a super-easy one.
Oh and since I can't find the other paper with the longer scribbled list right now...I'll end with this little doosey:
The Ex gave their nanny...a devout catholic, 40 year old, uber-sweet Fillipino woman...a box of condoms... and then told her she needed to get a boyfriend. And not a new, un-opened box of condoms...a box that she (the Ex) and her boyfriend had bought prior to her going back on the pill. The reason, although she didn't say this part to the nanny...is so that when her (the Ex's) boyfriend A comes to spend the night, the nanny can have somewhere else to go after she puts the boys to bed.
Yeah...it might take a little time to come up with a really, really, really nifty nick-name for this twit.
Ooops. Did I just type that for real?
My bad. I think.
Hope everyone is well;)
~ Anais Nin
And some of us, are made up of crazy.
Some of us...have our own little demons, carrying around bags full of crazy to sell.
Okay...to be more specific than "some of us"...I'm talking about me here.
As if you didn't know.
And then are people like TheRammerHammer.
Amazing.
Not only has he carried me to and from the vomit room/bedroom.
He's rubbed my back and arms and legs when the pills haven't helped the aching.
He's let me sleep, when I needed to sleep, no matter what the hour of day.
And when I've woke up at various mid-night hours/or been unable to sleep altogether...and cried (read that as sobbed like a little girl) about missing Daisy or my zoo or my friends and family...he's held me and listened and soothed me...even though it left him with vey little sleep and an early alarm for school the next day.
He's obliged my whims of what-kinda-sounds-like-it-might-taste-good run(s) to the grocery store...and not batted an eye, when I had a little bit and then immediately turned away for fear that even glancing at it, let alone taking another bite, might make me puke.
He's walked a Moby, fed a Moby and played with a Moby...whenever I've been in bed and unable to.
And most importantly...he's fed my soul and lightened the weight of my heart more in the past three weeks, than any man has ever done in my entire life.
I'm baffled and lucky and thankful that he's not only willing to put up with my brand of crazy, but wants to help exorcise my demons and help me work through things that realisitcally, I should have been able to work through myself in the past 39 years and most certainly would have been more fair to him, if I'd had.
The man, is truly amazing.
I love you RammerHammer.
Far more than I ever thought and/or felt possible.
Soooo....
The RammerHammer has been telling me to write and write and write, since he came back into my life last year...and I have...sporadically on my blog here.
I'm hoping to change that.
Here on my blog anyhoo.
I'm going to try to commit to a post-a-day.
Not much to do, now that things are somewhat settled finally, so it just might be doable!
I'll begin with a long-winded randomness, since there is a lot to catch up on.
Plus, I've just been scribbling random things down on little pieces of paper, here and there that I I knew I'd want to blog about but would forget if I didn't scribble them down.
Ready?
Good.
When the RammerHammer and his Ex (I'll come up with a nifty nick-name for her eventually) first split...they did things in a more unconventional way than is the norm.
Instead of them each getting a separate apartment and having the kids bounce back and forth...they got two apartments, one where the children would stay full time and one that they could bounce back and forth from on a weekly basis.
There was a study done in the UK that concluded this was a much better solution to benefit children of separation. With the upheavel of everything else that accompanies separation, a stable home environment, could only help. Not something to be done on a forever basis...but for the first 6 months or more. By that time, apparently, one or both spouses typically are involved with new significant others and the children are more used to the idea of living with each parent separately and it makes the adjustment of them switching back and forth instead of the parents an easier one.
I'd, personally, never heard of it when TheRammerHammer first told me about it, but it sounded like it made perfect sense.
I've since, read studies that both support and are against the theory.
For me... the proof is in the pudding.
The boys seem to be much better off than the children I've seen in the past dealing with a broken home, so to speak.
Anyhoo...we planned on the adults all going back and forth here until after the school year ended and when the boys and the Ex returned from the states in July...at which time we would establish the two separate households and the boys would begin coming back and forth instead.
Yeah. "Planned" was the key word.
That didn't happen.
A week after my arrival...the Ex decided that we should just get it done and over with and begin the process now.
Which meant three days of moving things back and forth from apartment to apartment.
Wait...let me rephrase that:
Which meant *TheRammerHammer and I*, moving things back and forth from apartment to apartment.
Because, ya see it was her week with the boys at the apartment she would be permanently living in now and even though the nanny is a live-in, she (the Ex) of course, was unable to participate.
Hence...TheRammerHammer worked his ass off and I doubled up on my meds for three days and did the same.
That...was the other things I was talking about in the previous post.
Much too long to get into and a simple explanation just wouldn't have cut it.
And I paid the price of laying in bed and wishing I would just fall asleep and not wake up for a week at the very least immediately following those three days.
But TheRammerHammer took very, very good care of me and I'm somewhat recovered now.
And it's our week with the boys, here at the new apartment and things are going smoothly thus far.
Everyone loves Moby. Well, almost everyone, but I'll get into that in a moment.
Suffice it to say that everyone in this apartment and on our floor, loves Moby and Moby loves all of them!
He especially loves the accumulative and copious amounts of foods that little boys tend to drop on accident/purpose.
And if I had to guess, I'd say that he also currently loves not having to compete with taller dogs when such food is dropped and/or thrown in the puppy's general direction! Not too mention the one-on-one attention that he's being utterly spolied by and with!
Now...I give you the goofy randomness:
Blowjob Bridge was re-christened. Did you expect that it wouldn't be? Silly!
And there is now what will be known as a "Double Fist Pump The Nuts Overpass" added to the map.
Thanks to the folks that work for the TSA, which I recently found out really stands for "Thousands Standing Around", two of my four suitcases were rummaged through whilest traveling and some of my things were mysteriously missing upon my arrival here.
TheRammerHammer...got quite the kick out of and imagined the perplexed looks on the TSA's faces, regarding some of the various things I brought with me here.
Things like...a box of important Christmas ornaments, some of my favorite cooking utensils, a can of baking powder (because all I could find here last December was baking soda), a bottle of Red Creek Marinade, my favorite pair of needle-nose pliars that I've owned since I moved out when I was 16, lot's of lingerie', three freezer bags of my meds, a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch, Hemostats to clean Moby's ears, a bag of IV fluids for dehydrated puppies and kitties I plan on rescuing here, some Cattle wormer (which incidentally is one of the things that was missing), my rooster and chicken salt & pepper shakers, Coco of course (although thanks to TheRammerHammer, it may have been pointless to bring him to the other side of the world!)...among others...
Yeah...it was probably the oddest assortment of things the TSA has seen in awhile.
Then again...maybe not.
Sounds like it would actually be an awesome and interesting blog...if anyone reading this happens to work for them...I'm just sayin' is all.
Next up: a recent late night conversation with TheRammerHammer ended with "Damn vertibrates are so inflexible!" Yeah...about made me pee my pants. I love this man and his humor is tailor fit to suit me just fine.
Back to everyone loves Moby.
This isn't entirely true.
Most of the locals...which consists of many, many nationalities...are actually very afraid of Moby.
They jump ten feet up and away, when the elevator doors open and they first realize he's present...and they really freak out when they jump ten feet straight up but there's no 'away' to jump to when they're in the elevator and we're waiting to get on!
They also cross to the other side of the street when we're on his daily walks.
It's quite comical.
Although I did get a woman from Bengladesh to actually pet him in the lobby the other morning.
The language barrier was an issue...but with some hand signs I was able to get her to understand that he just wanted to smell her and not bite her. Now she's in the lobby and wanting to pet him, everyday for his One O'clock walk.
This makes him not only a world traveler now...but also...a Good Will Em-Basset-or!!!
Oh yes.
Somewhere inside of yourself...you knew I would go there.
Thankfully...my brand of humor suits TheRammerHammer to a 'T' as well!
I can only imagine that if these people are scared of little, ol' Moby...okay, fine...a 43lb Basset Hound...they are going to be deathly afraid when the OzzyFozzyWalder arrives!
It's the desert here. Lot's of brown to look at.
I drool when I'm out on the balcony and I see the little garden balcony oasis's's's's around us, although there aren't that many.
TheRammerHammer bought me some planter pots and seeds the other day...so soon, I'll have some green in our little sea of brown. I can't wait!!!
And speaking of balconies...I need some help from city folk.
Frugal city folk.
Very frugal city folk.
Most people send their dirty laundry to be cleaned.
I don't and probably never will.
They have washers here...but not dryers.
Dryers aren't necessary.
You simply hang stuff out on a laundry-hangy-thingy on the balcony and viola! Things are dry within the hour.
'Cause it's the desert and all.
Problem I'm having...even with the liquid Downy...things still turn out pretty stiff.
Too stiff to my liking.
There's only two things I like stiff. Cocks and Tails. Yes. Combined and separate.
Anyone with the soft(er) laundry secrets to spare?
(Crossing fingers!)
Suduko - Daisy taught me how to do this last December for my long flight here. I started doing the one in the local paper each day since my arrival, when I can't sleep at night but I want to be quiet so as not to wake TheRammerHammer. Figured it can only help keep my mind sharp right? Nope. I was wrong. They tend to make me feel more stupid. I've yet to not screw up and finish a difficult one and I absolutely hate when I screw up a super-easy one.
Oh and since I can't find the other paper with the longer scribbled list right now...I'll end with this little doosey:
The Ex gave their nanny...a devout catholic, 40 year old, uber-sweet Fillipino woman...a box of condoms... and then told her she needed to get a boyfriend. And not a new, un-opened box of condoms...a box that she (the Ex) and her boyfriend had bought prior to her going back on the pill. The reason, although she didn't say this part to the nanny...is so that when her (the Ex's) boyfriend A comes to spend the night, the nanny can have somewhere else to go after she puts the boys to bed.
Yeah...it might take a little time to come up with a really, really, really nifty nick-name for this twit.
Ooops. Did I just type that for real?
My bad. I think.
Hope everyone is well;)
Thursday, May 29, 2008
The most successful people are those who are good at plan B.
~ James Yorke
Well...I wouldn't call me successful.
Just good at accepting Plan B's.
Because really, what other choice does one usually have.
Sorry it's taken so long.
Flight was horrible.
Supposed to leave Midwest at 5:30pm on the 14th.
Flight was late, didn't end up leaving until 8:30pm.
Hence my flight arrived 10 minutes after my connecting flight departed.
Was told United in Washington, where my layover was, would put me up in a free hotel for the night since the next flight overseas wasn't until 10:50pm on the 15th.
Of course, what they didn't know, was that the Annual National Police Memorial week was taking place, hence there were no available hotel rooms. Anywhere.
And seeing as how Murphy is my brudda from anudda mudda...
My cell phone was packed in my checked luggage and I couldn't call Marikay, who was there and had a nice, cozy hotel room dagnabit.
So myself, and another guy that was on all the same flights, along with other various travelers got to spend 24 hours at the airport.
Yippie-ki-ay.
A janitor had pity on us at some odd hour and told us that the chairs in the Chapel had no arm rests.
Yep. Me. In a chapel.
And lighting didn't strike.
Slept miserably on and off...but it was better than chairs with armrests.
And thankfully...my traveling friend, Ibraham, who was a 20 year old party animal...was the perfect gentleman.
He totally took good care of me.
Carried around my two 40lb carry-ons. Pushed my wheelchair. Went and got our food and drinks and refused to let me pay.
And finally...the next day around noon...when a hotel room finally opened, but United refused to pay for at that point, he wouldn't let me pay for that either...but willingly gave me the bed and took the couch so that we could catch some decent sleep before having to get back to the airport for our next flight.
We then had a layover in Qatar, his hometown, where I got to meet all of his family (whom I'd spoken on the phone with several times and whom I told had every reason to be very proud of their son!)...and then I almost missed my next connecting flight thanks to their hospitality...
Almost.
So...the jist of it is, a 16 hour flight...took 3 days.
Oy.
So, I'm here...and other things have been going on, and I'm exhausted and have a good day or two, but busy, busy with the other things (which I'll get into next post) and then I'm down for a day or two.
Still having HUGE trouble adjusting my sleep schedule, so that's not helping.
Thanking my lucky stars that Moby is here with me.
Again, sorry it took so long.
Back to bed.
Hope everyone is well;)
~ James Yorke
Well...I wouldn't call me successful.
Just good at accepting Plan B's.
Because really, what other choice does one usually have.
Sorry it's taken so long.
Flight was horrible.
Supposed to leave Midwest at 5:30pm on the 14th.
Flight was late, didn't end up leaving until 8:30pm.
Hence my flight arrived 10 minutes after my connecting flight departed.
Was told United in Washington, where my layover was, would put me up in a free hotel for the night since the next flight overseas wasn't until 10:50pm on the 15th.
Of course, what they didn't know, was that the Annual National Police Memorial week was taking place, hence there were no available hotel rooms. Anywhere.
And seeing as how Murphy is my brudda from anudda mudda...
My cell phone was packed in my checked luggage and I couldn't call Marikay, who was there and had a nice, cozy hotel room dagnabit.
So myself, and another guy that was on all the same flights, along with other various travelers got to spend 24 hours at the airport.
Yippie-ki-ay.
A janitor had pity on us at some odd hour and told us that the chairs in the Chapel had no arm rests.
Yep. Me. In a chapel.
And lighting didn't strike.
Slept miserably on and off...but it was better than chairs with armrests.
And thankfully...my traveling friend, Ibraham, who was a 20 year old party animal...was the perfect gentleman.
He totally took good care of me.
Carried around my two 40lb carry-ons. Pushed my wheelchair. Went and got our food and drinks and refused to let me pay.
And finally...the next day around noon...when a hotel room finally opened, but United refused to pay for at that point, he wouldn't let me pay for that either...but willingly gave me the bed and took the couch so that we could catch some decent sleep before having to get back to the airport for our next flight.
We then had a layover in Qatar, his hometown, where I got to meet all of his family (whom I'd spoken on the phone with several times and whom I told had every reason to be very proud of their son!)...and then I almost missed my next connecting flight thanks to their hospitality...
Almost.
So...the jist of it is, a 16 hour flight...took 3 days.
Oy.
So, I'm here...and other things have been going on, and I'm exhausted and have a good day or two, but busy, busy with the other things (which I'll get into next post) and then I'm down for a day or two.
Still having HUGE trouble adjusting my sleep schedule, so that's not helping.
Thanking my lucky stars that Moby is here with me.
Again, sorry it took so long.
Back to bed.
Hope everyone is well;)
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
~Lao Tzu
This guy...
The one and only, RolyPolyMoby...probably begs to differ right about now.
He missed his connecting flight and spent the night in Jordan...
But he's there...and he's alive and well and probably very happy to be out of his kennel!
And TheRammerHammer is going to spoil him rotten until I arrive tomorrow night.
I think I've said something about Murphy's Law before, but just in case I haven't...
He and I must be twins, separated at birth.
I'll save the story for next time, but whatever could possibly go wrong while trying to get Moby overseas...went wrong.
I would have been lost, and crushed and mad as hell...without Marikay.
She saved the day several times that day!
Thank you so very, very much Marikay! Hope you are having a blast in DC...except during the sad parts of course!
Now...I must go through the house and just trash stuff without even looking at it.
I leave for the airport at 2pm. The house is quite empty. It echo's something fierce.
Very weird.
Too many thoughts to put into words right now.
I look forward to sitting on the plane for 16+ hours and doing nothing!
Thank you for all the good thoughts and well wishes!
Hope everyone is well;)
~Lao Tzu
This guy...
The one and only, RolyPolyMoby...probably begs to differ right about now.
He missed his connecting flight and spent the night in Jordan...
But he's there...and he's alive and well and probably very happy to be out of his kennel!
And TheRammerHammer is going to spoil him rotten until I arrive tomorrow night.
I think I've said something about Murphy's Law before, but just in case I haven't...
He and I must be twins, separated at birth.
I'll save the story for next time, but whatever could possibly go wrong while trying to get Moby overseas...went wrong.
I would have been lost, and crushed and mad as hell...without Marikay.
She saved the day several times that day!
Thank you so very, very much Marikay! Hope you are having a blast in DC...except during the sad parts of course!
Now...I must go through the house and just trash stuff without even looking at it.
I leave for the airport at 2pm. The house is quite empty. It echo's something fierce.
Very weird.
Too many thoughts to put into words right now.
I look forward to sitting on the plane for 16+ hours and doing nothing!
Thank you for all the good thoughts and well wishes!
Hope everyone is well;)
Friday, May 9, 2008
"Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction."
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Have I mentioned lately, how much I love TheRammerHammer???
Yeah.
Damn I love this man.
I have never felt so loved.
I've never had anyone go to so much trouble to and for me.
I still can't help but feel like I'm going to wake up any minute now.
It still hasn't really, really, really hit me that by this time next week, this house will be empty and I won't see Daisy on a daily basis and I will be living half-way around the world.
Blows my freakin' mind.
I'm excited and scared and happy and sad and it's all exhausting.
I do believe I will sleep almost 18 hours straight again on the flight.
Yesterday, I went to say goodbye to my Vet and all the staff there.
Wasn't easy. I have trusted them without fail, for many years now. It won't be easy to find that again, I know. Even if I was only moving elsewhere in the states...
Most vets are out for money, not for the health of animals.
I also went to pick up my last prescription from my Primary doctor.
That wasn't easy either.
Once I was done with chemo, and the cancer center wasn't making $3000-$4000 a pop off of me anymore and they moved on to the next person...my Primary was the one that returned all my calls, got me in and didn't make me wait a week or more for an appointment when I was bad and answered any/all questions I had. I loved my Primary. She was my age, young at heart but knowledgeable about all things medical (of course!). She took into consideration what I used to d for a living once and trusted my knowledge when I wanted to experiment with new drugs or try something different. She became more than my doctor and became my friend.
I cried like a little girl when I got back to the car.
But we'll keep in touch via email...and hopefully she will come visit someday!
Now...back to TheRammerHammer...
He gets things done. And I'm definitely not used to that!
So...hopefully...if all goes well...and at this point, it looks as if things are going to go smoothly...Moby will fly out this Monday.
He and I will be flying to Chicago in the morning.
Then we will have a Mini-Knottie-Lunch-Meeting with Marikay.
Then I will put him on his International flight and he'll be on his way.
The Arab Airline only has to abide by what the temperature will be at lift off here in the states.
Which won't be over 85 degrees.
The reason they aren't concerned with the temperature over sea's...is because they expect the owner of the animal to be there to pick the animal up when the plane arrives. Hence, no need to worry about the animal being anywhere 'hot' for too long.
He'll still be arriving at night and TheRammerHammer will be there to welcome him.
Granted.
This is like anything else in life...I know there is a chance that he won't survive this trip.
He could get so stressed, that he doesn't make it.
I spoke with TheRammerHammer about this the other day and what I would like to take place if this scenario should happen.
I think I'm typing it now, because I need to see it in writing, to kind of prepare or something.
Not that I will be prepared.
I dunno.
What I do know is that our bond is a solid bond and if I were to leave Moby behind, odds are that he would stop eating, drop weight too quickly and go into kidney failure.
So whether he goes or stays, is a risk to his health and well-being.
I would much rather risk him going (and going quickly) and not making it, then to go without him and hear of him suffering and having to be put down.
It sucks either way.
But I'm banking on and hoping that he will sleep, and make the trip just fine.
I am going to slightly sedate him...just enough to take the edge of anxiety off hopefully.
And that's it. That's the last I'm going to speak of such negativity and not give any more thought or energy to it.
Although, I admit that I probably won't sleep until I know he's there safely.
Oy.
Next on the agenda:
This is what I spent 9 hours doing yesterday:
Used to roughly take me 3-4 hours to make one but my hands are so bad, it took 9 freakin' hours.
The rescue is having a ten year Birthday Celebration a couple of days after I leave. D, one of my closest friends and who is also in the resuce, knows that I always make photo albums for weddings/baby showers and asked if I could make a guest book for people to sign the day of the celebration. We're expecting well over 500 people, having sent out over 1000 invitations to anyone/everyone that has ever adopted an animal from us. There are plenty of volunteers that will also be there, as well as local radio stations and news stations. We've got a huge BBQ planned, a Bouncy Room for kids, kid games, raffles with lot's of prizes, and several area businesses that will be there to donate for the sake of getting in on the free publicity.
C, the gal that started the rescue is currently going through a rough time with some family health issues and I figured I could make a guest book/photo album combo and once the event is over with, the rescue can put pictures from it behind the guestbook pages and present it to C.
It was 9 looooonnnngggg hours... but it was totally worth it.
It will be the last thing I officially get to do for the rescue here.
Sob.
And that I got to do it for C, was the icing on the cake.
C is an incredible, incredible woman.
I've often said that when I grow up, I wanna be just like her.
Plus...it forced me to sit down for 9 hours and not run around here, like a chicken with my head cut off.
No packing, no planning, no worrying.
It was a nice break.
That's it for now...back to the packing, planning and worrying. lol.
Hope everyone is well;)
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Have I mentioned lately, how much I love TheRammerHammer???
Yeah.
Damn I love this man.
I have never felt so loved.
I've never had anyone go to so much trouble to and for me.
I still can't help but feel like I'm going to wake up any minute now.
It still hasn't really, really, really hit me that by this time next week, this house will be empty and I won't see Daisy on a daily basis and I will be living half-way around the world.
Blows my freakin' mind.
I'm excited and scared and happy and sad and it's all exhausting.
I do believe I will sleep almost 18 hours straight again on the flight.
Yesterday, I went to say goodbye to my Vet and all the staff there.
Wasn't easy. I have trusted them without fail, for many years now. It won't be easy to find that again, I know. Even if I was only moving elsewhere in the states...
Most vets are out for money, not for the health of animals.
I also went to pick up my last prescription from my Primary doctor.
That wasn't easy either.
Once I was done with chemo, and the cancer center wasn't making $3000-$4000 a pop off of me anymore and they moved on to the next person...my Primary was the one that returned all my calls, got me in and didn't make me wait a week or more for an appointment when I was bad and answered any/all questions I had. I loved my Primary. She was my age, young at heart but knowledgeable about all things medical (of course!). She took into consideration what I used to d for a living once and trusted my knowledge when I wanted to experiment with new drugs or try something different. She became more than my doctor and became my friend.
I cried like a little girl when I got back to the car.
But we'll keep in touch via email...and hopefully she will come visit someday!
Now...back to TheRammerHammer...
He gets things done. And I'm definitely not used to that!
So...hopefully...if all goes well...and at this point, it looks as if things are going to go smoothly...Moby will fly out this Monday.
He and I will be flying to Chicago in the morning.
Then we will have a Mini-Knottie-Lunch-Meeting with Marikay.
Then I will put him on his International flight and he'll be on his way.
The Arab Airline only has to abide by what the temperature will be at lift off here in the states.
Which won't be over 85 degrees.
The reason they aren't concerned with the temperature over sea's...is because they expect the owner of the animal to be there to pick the animal up when the plane arrives. Hence, no need to worry about the animal being anywhere 'hot' for too long.
He'll still be arriving at night and TheRammerHammer will be there to welcome him.
Granted.
This is like anything else in life...I know there is a chance that he won't survive this trip.
He could get so stressed, that he doesn't make it.
I spoke with TheRammerHammer about this the other day and what I would like to take place if this scenario should happen.
I think I'm typing it now, because I need to see it in writing, to kind of prepare or something.
Not that I will be prepared.
I dunno.
What I do know is that our bond is a solid bond and if I were to leave Moby behind, odds are that he would stop eating, drop weight too quickly and go into kidney failure.
So whether he goes or stays, is a risk to his health and well-being.
I would much rather risk him going (and going quickly) and not making it, then to go without him and hear of him suffering and having to be put down.
It sucks either way.
But I'm banking on and hoping that he will sleep, and make the trip just fine.
I am going to slightly sedate him...just enough to take the edge of anxiety off hopefully.
And that's it. That's the last I'm going to speak of such negativity and not give any more thought or energy to it.
Although, I admit that I probably won't sleep until I know he's there safely.
Oy.
Next on the agenda:
This is what I spent 9 hours doing yesterday:
Used to roughly take me 3-4 hours to make one but my hands are so bad, it took 9 freakin' hours.
The rescue is having a ten year Birthday Celebration a couple of days after I leave. D, one of my closest friends and who is also in the resuce, knows that I always make photo albums for weddings/baby showers and asked if I could make a guest book for people to sign the day of the celebration. We're expecting well over 500 people, having sent out over 1000 invitations to anyone/everyone that has ever adopted an animal from us. There are plenty of volunteers that will also be there, as well as local radio stations and news stations. We've got a huge BBQ planned, a Bouncy Room for kids, kid games, raffles with lot's of prizes, and several area businesses that will be there to donate for the sake of getting in on the free publicity.
C, the gal that started the rescue is currently going through a rough time with some family health issues and I figured I could make a guest book/photo album combo and once the event is over with, the rescue can put pictures from it behind the guestbook pages and present it to C.
It was 9 looooonnnngggg hours... but it was totally worth it.
It will be the last thing I officially get to do for the rescue here.
Sob.
And that I got to do it for C, was the icing on the cake.
C is an incredible, incredible woman.
I've often said that when I grow up, I wanna be just like her.
Plus...it forced me to sit down for 9 hours and not run around here, like a chicken with my head cut off.
No packing, no planning, no worrying.
It was a nice break.
That's it for now...back to the packing, planning and worrying. lol.
Hope everyone is well;)
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
"The mode by which the inevitable comes to pass is effort."
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
They didn't let Moby fly yesterday.
After being passed from person to person to person, again and again and again...as in I seriously have a notebook paper with 37 different Delta phone numbers on it...I told the last woman I spoke with last week that although my issue was getting passed on so much, everyone I had spoken with thus far was being wonderful and kind. Everyone felt badly that they couldn't answer my question or help and had to give me yet another number.
Yeah. I'll be calling Delta back today because of the unprofessional, snarky, snotty bitch that I dealt with yesterday, whom, incidentally, I hope gets the worse case of butt-rash in the history of butt-rashes EVER.
E.V.E.R.
Needless to say, once we got back home and I asked my friends to leave...I was a blubbering mess.
Sometimes I think I must ask for far too much in life to have things like this happen.
I know I shouldn't complain...and really, in my head, I'm not complaining.
It's more like confusion, talking out loud.
One dog.
That's it.
One dog.
That's all I wanted to bring with me right now.
Daisy isn't coming, so I just wanted to bring one of my dang dogs over with me, to love on.
I'm baffled that this is and has become so difficult.
And very, very sad.
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
They didn't let Moby fly yesterday.
After being passed from person to person to person, again and again and again...as in I seriously have a notebook paper with 37 different Delta phone numbers on it...I told the last woman I spoke with last week that although my issue was getting passed on so much, everyone I had spoken with thus far was being wonderful and kind. Everyone felt badly that they couldn't answer my question or help and had to give me yet another number.
Yeah. I'll be calling Delta back today because of the unprofessional, snarky, snotty bitch that I dealt with yesterday, whom, incidentally, I hope gets the worse case of butt-rash in the history of butt-rashes EVER.
E.V.E.R.
Needless to say, once we got back home and I asked my friends to leave...I was a blubbering mess.
Sometimes I think I must ask for far too much in life to have things like this happen.
I know I shouldn't complain...and really, in my head, I'm not complaining.
It's more like confusion, talking out loud.
One dog.
That's it.
One dog.
That's all I wanted to bring with me right now.
Daisy isn't coming, so I just wanted to bring one of my dang dogs over with me, to love on.
I'm baffled that this is and has become so difficult.
And very, very sad.
Monday, May 5, 2008
"Anxiety is the space between the "now" and the "then."
~ Richard Abell
"Love and desire are the spirit's wings to great deeds."
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(The purpose of two quotes today, will be explained below.)
The only in-between thing I like in life right now, is Fluffer-nutter sandwiches.
Had a big garage sale this weekend. Man, you just don't realize how much crap you've collected over the years until you have to lug it all in and out each freakin' day.
Not to mention, I'm used to going to garage sales and haggling...not having one.
It's not near as much fun. At all.
Especially when you sell your beloved 19-whoknowswhat Pee-Wee Herman Schwinn.
I've done the Beach Cruisers in Florida and the Mountain Bikes up here.
But nothing... nothing compared to my Schwinn.
I loved my Schwinn.
I bought it for $2 at a garage sale years ago.
It had it's original paint job.
It also had it's original seat. Which wasn't comfortable, by any stretch of the imagination.
But I loved my Schwinn.
I will miss my Schwinn dearly.
But it went to a good home. Someone that will appreciate it...and that makes me happy.
I heart people that heart Schwinn's.
Plus, I profited from my $2 original investment.
Didn't do too bad, sale wise. Made enough so Daisy can get her School Yearbook and a little extra.
I'm a sucker though...I can't let little kids come to my garage sale and walk away empty handed, and I don't want to put the parents, whose current financial status I do not know, in an uncomfortable position, so any wee-one that comes to a garage sale of mine, gets to pick any free toy they want. Children never cease to amaze me. Most of them picked a stuffed animal, and not at the coaxing of their parent either, over the video games and board games and other such toys.
Plus...I had a very young couple come the first day, with their 10 month old baby and the Mom proudly announced how happy she was with the assortment of stuff I had out, because they had just gotten their very first house to rent and all they had was a bed, a crib and a can of paint.
Hence, my Good Deed For Little Warrior! (See below!)
They took home whatever they wanted, at no cost.
And they were good people. They could have hogged and taken much more than they needed...hell they could have taken lot's of stuff and then had their own sale...but they didn't.
They took my dinette, some dishes, pots and pans, some paintings and toys for the baby.
Right before they left, she asked me why I had done it and I told her the story of Little Warrior and asked that pay it forward. She said she would...and I believed her.
I couldn't help but be excited for them. I remember that young-and-just-starting-out-feeling!
All the left-overs, got donated to the people that lost everything in the recent tornado's here.
Speaking of which, we're fine H! Came damn near too close for comfort though!
The town on one side of us, got it pretty bad...then it hopped back up over us and came back down, stronger, to the other side of us.
The Arby's up the street is completely demolished.
Woe is me.
I loved Arby's french fries. They were spiced up a bit and I could actually taste them.
Ahhhh...well...what can ya do?!?
Once the siren's started blaring, I could help but sit in the hallway with Daisy and the animals that are still here and think..."Okay, we've lived here, in this house, for 7 years now...with no basement...nowhere to run and take serious cover during tornado's...and we've been lucky. Very lucky. They always seem to diminish right before our town, or move just north or south of us and pass right on by. In less than 13 days, I will be gone and Daisy will be safely living in a finished basement...hence a freakin'-frackin tornado hitting my neighborhood/house...well...that would have just pissed me right off!"
Anyhoo...so yeah...it's been a crazy, emotional week/weekend.
Finally done sifting through everything.
Seeing all my neighbors come and go at the sale got me to thinking about saying goodbye to everyone next week and what I want to say to people.
I know I won't be saying goodbye forever, but still.
I realized that some of the people, I'm gonna have to chicken-peck a little letter too, because if I start to speak, I'll just cry and won't be able to get out what I wanna say.
So yeah, I've been a blubbering mess.
Especially today.
Moby is supposed to leave today. So that has me really on edge.
Nothing has really been resolved as far as his traveling is concerned.
We have to drive him all the way out to the airport this afternoon and they will decide then and there, as to whether or not they will allow him to travel.
Bastards.
Don't they know I HATE THE IN-BETWEEN TIME??
I'm a planner. I have to know things dagnabit!
Next up: I lost something very, very, very, very, very important and precious to me last July, that belonged to my Nana and it's seriously weighed on my mind every, single day since then. I actually didn't know if I'd lost it completely, or if I'd tucked it away somewhere safe and then couldn't remember where that place was...or if I dreamed that I'd tucked it away somewhere safe, etc. Freakin' medicines.
Every single day, since the day we realized it was time to move on from this place, I have woken up and whispered to my Nana's soul, "Please Nana, don't let me leave this house for good without finding it. Please." I know. I'm crazy that way...comes with the brand.
Good news is...I found it!
And I'm relieved and thrilled and happy and a little more at peace now.
Lastly, I'm going to provide another link (The Journey: What You Can Do) to Lizard Eater's blog and copy/paste a post of hers below, (for all two of you! LOL), just in case the link doesn't work for someone else along the way.
It's a brilliant, brilliant idea.
Just think of the goodness YOU can spread if you make this a daily practice, instead of just a one-time-thing!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday, May 03, 2008
What You Can Do
Thank you for all of the prayers and the requests to help. Please don't think I've been avoiding the latter, or blowing off the offers of beads, cookies, anything. I am humbled by your offers and have been giving some serious thought to what we need.
You know what I need?
A way to explain to LW when she's older that even though I empathically do NOT believe this happened for a reason ... short of finding the cure for all cancer, there could not be a reason that would justify this happening to her ... even though this didn't happen for a reason, good still sprang from it. As good can spring from heartbreaking situations.
At the risk of sounding like a lifetime movie or a book by Mitch Albom ... I want to give her a book of good deeds done in her name.
So, my friends ... you asked, here's my answer.
Do a good deed, one you wouldn't ordinarily do. Give a banana to the homeless guy, take a Starbucks gift card to a nurse and ask her to give it to a Mom or Dad who really needs it. Mow someone's lawn.
And then tell me about it.
You can post it here, or post it on your blog and send me the link. Or email it to lizardeater at gmail dot com.
I'll compile all those and get a book printed.
And when she's old enough to ask, "Why?" I'll explain that there is no why. But that good things can still result. And that there were a whole bunch of people sending her love, and the way they showed that love was through action.
Posted by Lizard Eater at 9:41am
Hope everyone is well:)
~ Richard Abell
"Love and desire are the spirit's wings to great deeds."
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(The purpose of two quotes today, will be explained below.)
The only in-between thing I like in life right now, is Fluffer-nutter sandwiches.
Had a big garage sale this weekend. Man, you just don't realize how much crap you've collected over the years until you have to lug it all in and out each freakin' day.
Not to mention, I'm used to going to garage sales and haggling...not having one.
It's not near as much fun. At all.
Especially when you sell your beloved 19-whoknowswhat Pee-Wee Herman Schwinn.
I've done the Beach Cruisers in Florida and the Mountain Bikes up here.
But nothing... nothing compared to my Schwinn.
I loved my Schwinn.
I bought it for $2 at a garage sale years ago.
It had it's original paint job.
It also had it's original seat. Which wasn't comfortable, by any stretch of the imagination.
But I loved my Schwinn.
I will miss my Schwinn dearly.
But it went to a good home. Someone that will appreciate it...and that makes me happy.
I heart people that heart Schwinn's.
Plus, I profited from my $2 original investment.
Didn't do too bad, sale wise. Made enough so Daisy can get her School Yearbook and a little extra.
I'm a sucker though...I can't let little kids come to my garage sale and walk away empty handed, and I don't want to put the parents, whose current financial status I do not know, in an uncomfortable position, so any wee-one that comes to a garage sale of mine, gets to pick any free toy they want. Children never cease to amaze me. Most of them picked a stuffed animal, and not at the coaxing of their parent either, over the video games and board games and other such toys.
Plus...I had a very young couple come the first day, with their 10 month old baby and the Mom proudly announced how happy she was with the assortment of stuff I had out, because they had just gotten their very first house to rent and all they had was a bed, a crib and a can of paint.
Hence, my Good Deed For Little Warrior! (See below!)
They took home whatever they wanted, at no cost.
And they were good people. They could have hogged and taken much more than they needed...hell they could have taken lot's of stuff and then had their own sale...but they didn't.
They took my dinette, some dishes, pots and pans, some paintings and toys for the baby.
Right before they left, she asked me why I had done it and I told her the story of Little Warrior and asked that pay it forward. She said she would...and I believed her.
I couldn't help but be excited for them. I remember that young-and-just-starting-out-feeling!
All the left-overs, got donated to the people that lost everything in the recent tornado's here.
Speaking of which, we're fine H! Came damn near too close for comfort though!
The town on one side of us, got it pretty bad...then it hopped back up over us and came back down, stronger, to the other side of us.
The Arby's up the street is completely demolished.
Woe is me.
I loved Arby's french fries. They were spiced up a bit and I could actually taste them.
Ahhhh...well...what can ya do?!?
Once the siren's started blaring, I could help but sit in the hallway with Daisy and the animals that are still here and think..."Okay, we've lived here, in this house, for 7 years now...with no basement...nowhere to run and take serious cover during tornado's...and we've been lucky. Very lucky. They always seem to diminish right before our town, or move just north or south of us and pass right on by. In less than 13 days, I will be gone and Daisy will be safely living in a finished basement...hence a freakin'-frackin tornado hitting my neighborhood/house...well...that would have just pissed me right off!"
Anyhoo...so yeah...it's been a crazy, emotional week/weekend.
Finally done sifting through everything.
Seeing all my neighbors come and go at the sale got me to thinking about saying goodbye to everyone next week and what I want to say to people.
I know I won't be saying goodbye forever, but still.
I realized that some of the people, I'm gonna have to chicken-peck a little letter too, because if I start to speak, I'll just cry and won't be able to get out what I wanna say.
So yeah, I've been a blubbering mess.
Especially today.
Moby is supposed to leave today. So that has me really on edge.
Nothing has really been resolved as far as his traveling is concerned.
We have to drive him all the way out to the airport this afternoon and they will decide then and there, as to whether or not they will allow him to travel.
Bastards.
Don't they know I HATE THE IN-BETWEEN TIME??
I'm a planner. I have to know things dagnabit!
Next up: I lost something very, very, very, very, very important and precious to me last July, that belonged to my Nana and it's seriously weighed on my mind every, single day since then. I actually didn't know if I'd lost it completely, or if I'd tucked it away somewhere safe and then couldn't remember where that place was...or if I dreamed that I'd tucked it away somewhere safe, etc. Freakin' medicines.
Every single day, since the day we realized it was time to move on from this place, I have woken up and whispered to my Nana's soul, "Please Nana, don't let me leave this house for good without finding it. Please." I know. I'm crazy that way...comes with the brand.
Good news is...I found it!
And I'm relieved and thrilled and happy and a little more at peace now.
Lastly, I'm going to provide another link (The Journey: What You Can Do) to Lizard Eater's blog and copy/paste a post of hers below, (for all two of you! LOL), just in case the link doesn't work for someone else along the way.
It's a brilliant, brilliant idea.
Just think of the goodness YOU can spread if you make this a daily practice, instead of just a one-time-thing!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday, May 03, 2008
What You Can Do
Thank you for all of the prayers and the requests to help. Please don't think I've been avoiding the latter, or blowing off the offers of beads, cookies, anything. I am humbled by your offers and have been giving some serious thought to what we need.
You know what I need?
A way to explain to LW when she's older that even though I empathically do NOT believe this happened for a reason ... short of finding the cure for all cancer, there could not be a reason that would justify this happening to her ... even though this didn't happen for a reason, good still sprang from it. As good can spring from heartbreaking situations.
At the risk of sounding like a lifetime movie or a book by Mitch Albom ... I want to give her a book of good deeds done in her name.
So, my friends ... you asked, here's my answer.
Do a good deed, one you wouldn't ordinarily do. Give a banana to the homeless guy, take a Starbucks gift card to a nurse and ask her to give it to a Mom or Dad who really needs it. Mow someone's lawn.
And then tell me about it.
You can post it here, or post it on your blog and send me the link. Or email it to lizardeater at gmail dot com.
I'll compile all those and get a book printed.
And when she's old enough to ask, "Why?" I'll explain that there is no why. But that good things can still result. And that there were a whole bunch of people sending her love, and the way they showed that love was through action.
Posted by Lizard Eater at 9:41am
Hope everyone is well:)
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