Monday Ramblings

I had 1 too many Cadbury Eggs this weekend. 
Not too many mind you, just 1 too many. 
How I love those eggs.
Mmmmm.....

When I was a kid my Easter basket was filled with Stefanelli's candy which was a local candy maker in my hometown who's chocolates were as close to European chocolates as I had ever had up to that point.  My basket was filled with an assortment of  chocolate bunnies, marshmellow chicks and black jelly beans.  Both of my mom's would go through the jelly bean bags and take out all the black ones for me and put them in a baggie and that was left in my Easter basket.  My sisters hated the black ones so it wasn't a big deal for them. 

One of my fondest memories about what was in my Easter basket is  driving my sister crazy with the chicks.  I would bite off the head of a yellow marshmellow chick and it would drive her up the wall wailing.  It grossed her out like it was a real chick. Think Ozzie Osbourn and his bat I guess.   It made me laugh so of course I would do it over and over again.  I started this like at age 8. I don't know why I find that funny but I do. It still creeps her out to see these marshmellow chicks and she's 51 yrs old.  

A couple of years ago when I was visiting my family up north for Easter I asked her about it.
I was holding one and I asked her if it was the eyes on the chicks that make her all creeped out.  Like real chicks they will follow you.  Which had my niece howling with laughter at this point.  My sister said some choice words and my father said, "hey hey we just got back from church and you're talking like this? what is wrong with you?"  Which of course ensures more laughter because we are old ladies now getting yelled at.  I again asked her if it was the chicks eyes as I brought it to my mouth to devour.  She just rolled her eyes at me and walked away. That made my niece and I crack up laughing again. I am so immature.

I finally finished the two walk in closets upstairs on the 3rd floor. 
(More photo's to follow this week) 
Man we have been keeping things that we didn't need to keep. 
I was so into the purge mode.  I figured if I haven't used this or that in 2 yrs it's outta here. 
We get calls quartly from some group or another asking for clothing or other things to donate. I thought we had rid ourselves of everything but apparently not. Some things just must be thrown away like old mattress covers etc.  Why do I keep them for heaven's sake? If they are not good enough to use then what makes me think I'll use them later?  I wash them and put them away in a zip bag for storage.  No need to keep them if you ask me.

My husband couldn't believe the stuff I was throwing out.  These 2 closets are both very good size walk in closets.  To not be able to enter these closets is wrong.  So now you can enter them and put your arms out and twirl without hitting anything. 
It felt so good to purge this way. 
I have a beautiful London Fog coat in there that is 4 sizes too small. 
Why do I keep it?  Why when it's time to donate to charity I can't give this up but I have no issues giving other items of clothing?  What is that saying about me?  When I began to gain this weight I put this upstairs in hopes that when they figured out why the weight came on and won't go away I'll wear it again - but will I?  This is the only piece of clothing in there that I have not purged and for the life of me I don't understand why I just can't throw it away. I know it's wrong yet I kept it.  It's a head scratcher for sure. 

Another rambling topic for today is that I am now in a planting stage. Tonight after work I hope to go to my favorite place to buy some flowers and mulch and get busy outside the front of my home. We have so much work to do on our patio that it will wait until late April early May.  Hopefully after the yellow haze is gone off the furniture and floor.  I hose it down and bam - it's all yellow from pollen the next day. So I have not put out the cushions or anything of yet.  I will wait.

Speaking of pollen - I am wheezy girl right now.  Yesterday we walked down a street that had all the cherry blossoms in their full glory it was magnificiant. It was a full block of them. (I know I could leave the burbs and go to the District to see them all in their glory as well but I didn't) 

Both Rick and I at the same time said, "Oh my God doesn't that smell wonderful?"  It smelled so sweet and it looked just as great.  But by the 3rd walk of the day with the dog I was feeling terrible.  I tried to fix that by having another Cadbury egg but that wasn't the cure but I had to find out for sure you know.  I have this head feeling like a basketball, sore throat, sinus burning, sneezing, wheezing, feeling terrible issue for awhile so I have to deal with it. But the blooming sure does look and smell wonderful no matter that I feel like crap while it's happening.

But you know what this weather does bring out for me? Kool-Aid. 
How I love Kool-Aid.  Red Kool Aid.  Not a fan of any other color unless it's Blue Raspberry.
Which is really a red color but for some reason they make it blue.  I have never seen a blue raspberry but I will drink this color. When I was a kid my mom had this strange idea that my sister and I could only have milk for a beverage.  No pop or soda, whatever you call it. 
My mom thought pop was horrible for us so we never had it in our home.  I drank milk unlike what a kid does today.  A snack?  with milk.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner, I had milk.  So in the summer she would allow us to have Kool-Aid every once in awhile.  It was pure sugar but for some reason that was okay for her. Now as an adult if I make it like the directions I find it too sweet so I think she may have only used 1/2 cup of sugar instead of the full cup. None the less that's a lot of sugar for someone who thought Pop was bad for you.  I just love red Kool-Aid and it makes my friends and hubby howl.  Yesterday I had a glass with some gin,  It was Black Cherry Kool-Aid.  I find this funny and don't know why my love of this silly drink.  I don't drink pop to this day.  So obviously my mom had something to do with this.  If I could only drink what I wanted it would be milk, water, wine, kool-aid  and gin.  Pretty basic but not necessarily good for me except the water.

Heres to Kool-Aid bringing in summer on my horizon.  Sure beats shoveling doesn't it?

Cherry Blossom's in D.C.around the Tidal Basin

Finally Friday

Thank you to everyone for all the good wishes for Izzy!

She came home last night.  She is moving slowly.  She is eating a very small bland diet.

We were to give the food they sent us home with--- just a wee bit every couple hours to see if she would continue to hold it down.  So far so good.  We had a family walk last evening but she wasn't her normal sprightly self but she did explore.  This morning she saw a bunny and normally that makes her want to run after it with me trailing behind but she just stopped and sat and then just watched it hop along.  This is her just staring at the bunny this morning.  Made me sad even though I was thrilled not to be running after the bunny.

She has gained a couple of the pounds she lost which is good.  She lost about 6lbs total.

Since she kept her food down from last night she is on medication this morning for the next 10 days.

We are both so thrilled to have her home but she still isn't her old self just yet. Heck she slept until 6am.  She never sleeps that late. Honestly that was kind of wonderful.

She also was not as thrilled to see me as she was to see Rick last night.  Rick picked her up last night and she wouldn't leave his side. Me on the other hand was just that mean woman who kept taking her to the hospital and to the doctors and leaving her there. She started to warm up to me only after Rick left for work this morning.  Basically she didn't have a choice.

Right now she is sleeping at my desk. 

I had to turn her bed upside down because she doesn't like the smell of the other side now. She got sick on it and I had to use the ole Spot Bot machine on it.  The cleaning solution is okay for dogs - first thing I looked into. And since the machine is made for pet spots it should be.  But she kept smelling it on the corner and she heaeded to another corner so I had to flip it. I'm not sure what that is about but I thought I better follow her lead on this one.  We don't need anything else to encourage vomiting.

After just over $2,600 we still don't know what made her ill.  Thankfully she had no major issues such as a twisted tummy or a blockage as they originally thought. They are assuming she ingested something bad for her.  Duh!  But I did get our vet to say that if she does get sick I could give her some Pepcid to calm her belly but to still call them.  Knowing that I can give her that helps me in some odd way. 

I am most thankful for Rick right now.  Honestly when he told me he wanted to get pet insurance just before we got Izzy I thought he was nuts.  Certifiably nuts.  But I never had a dog before so I went with it.  He kept telling me Labs have issues and we really could be forking over a lot of money if we don't.  So every month $29 is taken from our checking account and it is the best $29 dollars I spend every month I think.  It has paid for itself even before this incident. This bill  was a killer. We do have a $250 deductible and then they pay the other 80%.  That really helps!

Now to one of my other topics for today.  My damn Header here on my blog.

What. the. hell?  Suddenly my photo doesn't fit.  So I tried to change it by using another photo of my blooming tulips.  That didn't work.  All of the photo's appear blown up and even though I have chosen shrink to fit it won't.  I am so darn frustrated. Rick tried to help because he assumed I must be doing something wrong.  But it got to him too.  So I am shopping for a new template and to hell with this crap. I hate fighting with technology. 

There are days when my entry is all off and it is double spaced and I go into the HTML and fix it and it only fixes 1/2 of it.  The fact that they took spell check out of the post really fries my arse.  I can't spell for shit and now spell check is gone.  So as my frustration grows I am on the look out for something new.

I have contacted a fellow blogger who does some great illustrations.  I will be seeing if he can help me out by making something for me. You'll see it hopefully soon!  If I go this route I will leave all his info if someone else is interested.

Topic 3.

Why did the book Eat, Pray, Love go through the roof and make this rich spoiled woman more money?  If you loved this book I want to hear why.  Seriously I want to know what I am missing.  I have not even finished it and I am so tired of her spoiled, selfish, whiney ass that I want to scream.  If she is looking for spiritual enlightenment then she needs to let go of her selfish self.  Unless she changes drastically by the end of this book I don't see her learning a darn thing. Humility maybe a nice place to start. So please in all seriousness tell me why you loved this book and why the phenomenon of this book. 

Topic 4 -

Our weather here is icky.  We had winter and now it's 80 degrees. We never got spring.

I went from the heat on to air conditioning.  Although we both refuse to turn it on for the simple fact that it's April 2nd! This whole weekend is in the low 80's and all next week as well.

I love 4 seasons.  I wanted and was so looking forward to spring. The only thing about 83 degrees in March/April is at least the humidity isn't high right now. You can live without the A/C.   But I still wanted to bitch about it. :-) 

I would love to live where it's 65 - 75 all of time with some rainy grey days thrown in every once in awhile for a day to hunker down with a good book or movie.  But since those areas are all in California I'll never get to live there.  Hubby doesn't care for California.  He's an east coast guy and truth be told I'm an east coast gal.  So I bitch....tee hee

Topic 5-

My boys of summer!  It's that time of year.  Spring training is just about over.  Sunday night we play our dreaded rivals for the season opener.  I can't even say their names. But this person loves them......right T?  This game is on their turf.  My boys start slow every year so I don't see us winning, but a girl can dream.  So my Sunday night will be watching these guys.

With a little help from a couple of these

Happy Weekend Everybody. A big thank you to you all again for your well wishes.  I hope I can share with you that Izzy is back to normal and doing great very soon.

Update On Izzy

Izzy is still not home but she is doing better.
We are hoping to bring her home tonight.
We are awaiting a call from the doctor by 6pm

I will update with details when I can.
I got a few emails asking so wanted to let you know.

We seem to be on the upswing though - keeping positive.

My Baby

My 13 month old baby is sick.
It appears she is very sick and I am a mess. A puddle of a mess.
Rick and I both are.  This is not for the sqeamish so you have been warned do not read further if you are sqeamish..

The last couple of weeks she has been doing things that are very uncharacteristic for her.
She has been skittish around kids as well as some adults.  She is normally so dang friendly it's sickening.  The worse she would do is lick you to death.  If babies are crying in a stroller she wants to go over and calm them.  She did that to a woman at the corner of our block of what we all call the dog park.....it is not a dog park. It's an area of grass where all the neighborhood dogs gather to play, poo and pee.  Complete with the dog container for waste.
Anyway, this woman's baby was crying one afternoon and Izzy went over to her and licked her feet.  Then she put her face on the baby's leg and just looked at her and the baby stopped crying.  But as of 2 weeks ago she now retreats.

Then yesterday I could tell she wasn't feeling well.  She wasn't her normal self when out for a walk.  She didn't care to fetch or explore. 

She did her business and wanted to either sit on the stoop or come back inside. 

 She slept most of the day by my desk as she is sitting in the top photo. Then last night while Rick and I were eating dinner she didn't loiter around us hoping for food to drop as she is prone to do.  She was just laying by the coffee table and we began to discuss that something must be wrong with her.  As if on cue we heard the gagging reflex sound. But the time we got to her she had thrown up her whole dinner.  She went outside and laid in the sun on the patio. She then threw up again.

Because it was 7pm we called the vet before they left for the day to ask if there was anything we could give her to calm her stomach or perhaps stop the vomiting.  She said to bring her in immediately.  We did the mad dash to the vet's in grubby clothes and a baseball hat.
I'm sure we were a sight for sore eyes but our baby was sick and we both were in a panic.

As we are driving over Rick is reminded of when his little girl (who is 30) was sick and that hopeless feeling that is so overwhelming.  He said he feels the same right now.  I, never having had children could only imagine that feeling....until now!

They weighed Izzy and she had lost 1.5lbs. She had a full blood panel done all coming back as normal.  They did an X-ray and it didn't show anything. They gave her fluids via IV which makes a couple of humps on her upper back area that are strange looking. They also gave her some medication to stop the vomiting. There was some medication that really made her loopy and would make her sleepy. I don't recall now what that was for to be honest.
The vet gave us her cell phone number and said if she gets sick again to call her. Izzy may have to go to the 24hr hospital for monitoring.  I was scared beyond belief.  We were given some medications to administer if she kept food down beginning tomorrow.

We got home and Izzy just wanted to be loved and to lay down.  We laid on the floor with her and she fell asleep.  At bedtime we couldn't get her to go up the stairs to bed.  So I stayed downstairs.  Rick went upstairs and shortly thereafter came back down and said, "I can't sleep without my 2 girls with me."  So we all had a slumber party in the great room.

Then around midnight she got up and was actually walking like she was drunk to the door. We assumed she wanted to go out to go to the bathroom. But then she didn't seem to understand what to do once outside.  She finally peed and then just wanted to lay in the grass.   We got her back inside and she got as far as the first landing and just laid down.  We figured she just couldn't make it up the stairs. So we all settled into what was going to be our place to close our eyes for a few minutes.  We awoke about 20 minutes later to more vomiting. This time a bit pink which really scared the crap out of me because I assumed blood. She was sick twice.  We debated whether to call the doctor and while debating she fell back to sleep.  We decided to wait. She slept until 7:30a.m. which is unheard of around here. She is up at 5:30a every darn day.

This morning she seemed bright eyed and while a bit slow more normal than yesterday.  Her tail was waggling like crazy and when we went out to walk she was exploring. But she did have diarrhea now. We were told to call the doctor at 8am so we did.  She told us to feed her chicken and rice and not her normal food.  A very small amount. We were to see if it stays with her. Izzy was loving the food.  We thought everything was getting better.

Just a 1/2 hour later she came upstairs with me to work and she laid in her bed and fell asleep.  I was thinking, "Boy am I ever going to get a lot done today with her sleeping all day."
At just a little past 9am she began the gagging sound and as soon as I looked over at her she was vomiting again.  All just chicken and rice.  No blood and that was good. I happened to be on the phone with a customer at that  moment and wanted to just drop the phone and care for her.  This customer wouldn't stop talking for what seemed like forever.
I got her off the phone and took care of Izzy.  Off to the vet we went.

They kept her there - it's awfully quiet in this office today.
They are doing more tests.  They seem to think she has something lodged, a blockage. 
I don't know what it could be since I haven't seen her eat anything odd. 
But that doesn't mean anything I suppose.

I don't know how moms do this.  I think I know why I do not have children.  I would forever be a wreck.  I'm crying like an idiot and it's a chocolate Lab.  What the hell would I do with my children?

I did not want to leave her there. And when she turned around to look at me as if to say, "hey aren't you coming?" I about lost it right there. She ran back to me with her tail wagging and I hugged her and then got up and had to leave.

They didn't need to see what a big ole baby I am about my little baby.

Tuesday Ramblings

I read a good deal of blogs that are written by some fabulous women in Australia.

What I find funny is I read an entry and can sometimes assume what a certain word means by the context but to be sure I am copying and pasting into Google to find the definition. The newest one was just a name of a pain reliever. That made me laugh.
I needed that pain reliever after all the back and forth searching and reading.

It’s funny that we all speak English but the differences sometimes are huge.
I read an entry one day and I began to laugh because I had no idea what she was talking about. No translation for that anywhere. Her children are adorable so I enjoyed the photos and I just assumed it was a good story. I felt so incredibly dumb but honestly I come by these “moments” frequently as you know.

It takes me a bit longer to read and I do feel like an idiot. But I have to remember I’m learning something. If I get to go to Australia I will understand more than most American’s arriving for the first I suppose but that too is debatable. At least that is my story and I am sticking to it. Delusional works for me you see.

On a more somber note my Dad is getting old.
You’re saying to yourself, “No kidding Peg”
The last couple of calls he told me he was tired. I took it as he was working too much, needed to nap more, that type of thing. But then he added, he was ready. So I knew what he meant. He was tired and he was ready to throw in the towel. He was ready to die. What does one say when someone tells you this? I asked him why he keeps works at Wal-Mart as a greeter then. Why don’t you take it easy? Enjoy your grandkids, take a walk, read, and enjoy life. His response was “Oh I would be bored.”
I told him he deserved to be bored. But he doesn’t see it the same way.

I didn’t nag him, this is his life, a lesson that I wish he could have learned. So I listened as he told me he was ready. I can’t talk him out of it so I didn’t try. And as awful as it sounds I don’t want to talk him out of it. This is his life. I know when and if I am in that situation I wouldn’t want anyone telling me what the hell to do. I would be defiant and say it’s my life I can do what I wish. I just wish sometimes he wouldn’t share. It’s a horrible feeling. But then I have to take my feelings out of it. It’s not about me, it’s about him and his feelings. So I try to be an adult while talking to him and just listen. He’s telling me to prepare me I guess. We talked about the family. I told him I loved him and he did his signature hearty laugh and told me he loved me too.

I have had a crazy relationship with my father. But I love him. He drives me crazy. He can be so closed minded. His inability to see gray makes my head explode.
He is difficult. He was extremely tough on me as his oldest girl. He is chauvinistic and from another time. But he’s my father. He’s also funny, loving and very warm. He roots for the under dog and does unselfish acts of kindness anonymously. He has always given me grief for just about everything I have ever done in my life. He has told me my life was selfish and self consumed because I chose not to have children. But through it all I have always known I was loved. That was never debated.

A few days later I called to speak to my step mom. She told me how my father was standing in front of a frying pan on the stove just staring. She came into the room and asked him what he was doing and he laughed and made some flippant joke. She asked him if he was going to start the hamburgers and quietly he said, “I don’t remember how”
Aah, that broke my heart. It has begun.

You’ve heard me bitch a million times about how I hate getting old. This is reason number 1. Everyone you love and/or care about around you is getting older and dying. Now granted when I was only 13 my mom died. I wasn’t old then and that was the exception. But of late I’ve gone to so many family funerals and it just sucks.

After my dad’s brother died 3 yrs ago I knew he would start to deteriorate because my Uncle Angelo was my Dad’s best buddy in the whole world. Without him I knew it would be a struggle for my father. Sadly I was right. The first 2 yrs he was still mourning. He saw my Uncle daily. He was not dealing well and when we asked him about it he would get angry and walk away. Even my step mom could never fill in the gap for my father. So off to Wal-Mart he went so he could “keep busy” as he says.

So the next time you hear Oprah tell you the 50’s are the best decade of your life.
Bitch slap her for me will ya?

Dad and my sister Jennifer @ Dad's 80th birthday

Lake House

We wanted a home on water for as long as well....forever.
Rick loves to fish and I love to be on, in, near, or by water in any way I can.

We used to rent a house on a lake every year. The last 3 years of renting a home at this lake we began to rent the same house each year for 2 weeks. 2 straight weeks sounds so spoiled and wonderful. It took us almost the whole 1st week to get to what we called “on Lake Time”. Lake time was slower and naps were involved. 
The pace was not specific and there were no clocks.
We traveled so much for work and our lives were always moving so quickly.
We always felt we had to be somewhere at a certain time.
That life was very scheduled and fast vs. Lake Time.
We found to just stop was more difficult for us for the first few days.
By the end of that 1st week we had finally slowed down and were on Lake Time and it was glorious.
But then it was time to go home and that wasn’t so glorious.
Because of that we decided to add a second week of true relaxation. 
That is how we came to finally decide on vacationing for 2 straight weeks.
It was a blessing that we appreciated and loved.

We would call and make our reservations every February 1st. Then one year I called at the end of January and the house was rented for the whole season. WHAT? We scrambled. We picked out 2 other homes – rented. There was nothing for the weeks of vacation that we both had gotten approval for from work. We were in a panic. The last attempt the realtor suggested we come down to the lake and see some homes, maybe we could just buy a vacation home there.
Yea, right lady was my thought. We don’t have that kind of money.

I made the huge mistake of telling Rick that she said we should come down.
He immediately said, “Why not what the hell else do we have to do on a cold February weekend?” I mentioned all the reasons why, like MONEY, 2 mortgages, 2 sets of utilities things like that.  But he said it would be fun. We’ve never been there outside of the tourist season etc. Let's just go for the weekend he said.  Okay he wore me down. We went.
On the drive down he told me we had gotten approval for X amount of money for a house. AH HA! So he’s been doing home work and not sharing with me and he got us approval already. I realized that he is serious about this. Oh no was my only thought.

This crazy ass realtor (aren’t they all though?) drove us to homes that were horrible. And she drove us there on these winding narrow roads at break neck speed. Rick sat up front with her and I was in the back holding on for dear life.

It was a very inflated realty market there in 2004. A dump was even outrageously expensive. But honestly it hasn't changed all that much today even in this economic climate.

The first house she brought us to was very small. A 2 bedroom for teeny tiny people. Everything felt small and low and just off kilter. I am only 5’2” so for me to feel tall you know it was off a bit. It had the oh so beautiful avocado colored shag carpeting in the KITCHEN! Dreadful house really. No real dock to speak of. Not one with a boat lift etc. The realtor kept telling us it already had a rental base. So if we wanted to rent it out we could pay the mortgage for the whole year. That idea started to appeal to us. But this house did not. Because when not renting we would be there and this house was way too dark, awful and uncomfortable. Not the feeling you want in your vacation home.

When we drove to the 2nd house. This house was beyond a fixer upper. I opened the double doors onto the deck and I was afraid I would fall 2 stories straight down. Inside were dogs and dog poop everywhere, on the floor on furniture. It was disgusting. It was frightening how bad this was. The kitchen was the size of my powder room in my home today. It was teeny tiny and Rick and I could not be in that kitchen together – we did not go anything further than the 1st floor it was that bad and oh so expensive. How could people live like this let alone show their home like this I wondered.  And the asking price was high.  I guess extra for all that poop. I would love to know who buys this type of home.  The land wasn’t that great or large so I was feeling quite depressed about this and once again thinking my husband was crazy.

As we are getting in the car we notice another realtor and a couple that we saw at the first house as well. Our realtor mentioned that they were on our heels. As we arrived at the 3rd home the realtor told me I would LOVE this one but she didn’t want me to see the inside until after we looked at the waterfront. She said if I went inside she thought I would only see the "pretty" and not look at the whole package.

So we walked down to the waterfront at the end of their back yard and we saw the issue. It was shallow here. Here in winter it was only 5 feet deep which meant it could be too shallow for a boat there in summer. So she was correct and we did not go into the house even though I really wanted to. The curb appeal on this house was nice as well so I imagine the inside to be so much better than the last 2. As we got into the car to head to the 4th house that damn couple was there again. The realtor said, “Let’s hurry because I think this one is the one and we need to get there before them.”

When we pulled up I hated the color of this house. It was a horrible brown/orange that was like a hunting camp not a lake house. But as we walked onto the porch and wrap around deck/porch it was sturdy. This was the first house built well.
We hadn’t seen that before on any of these tours.
We walked inside and the owners were older and very nice.
Like your grandparents. The house was extremely outdated but the rooms were a good size and it was in very good shape. Good Bones as they say.  There was a daylight basement with beautiful French doors out to the backyard and water.
But the basement was not finished. Ooh that gave us ideas.
Just concrete walls and we knew we could make this a wonderful lower level.
Rick and I walked to the dock. Sturdy, smaller than we would have liked but okay. It had a roof over the boat and it had a lift so our boat could be lifted out of the water if we did rent this or for the winter months.

The couple chatted with Rick and of course loved him. That is how we got this house.  My charming husband.  They even admitted that to our realtor. They were from NJ but originally from this small coal mining town in central PA that Rick was from. They bonded over people they both knew and places they both visited. Rick complimented the older man on his workmanship on the house and that made the old man sit up straighter and just beam.

We left there and knew this was the house. We made an offer when we got back to the realtor’s office. We went back and forth a few times and then the house was ours. They were so happy with Rick and thought we would take such good care of "their" home we got this really for a steal.

So now we had a house on a lake and I went into panic mode. Yes we could afford it but what about the inside – all the updates, all the furniture needed. Oh brother I was feeling overwhelmed.

So this brown house became our new vacation home. Oh how I hated this color.
But we decided we would rent it out and we would need to get busy on the inside first so we could get some $$$$. We pretty much changed all we could in the short amount of time possible. We got it in March and began renting it by June 1.

We could only go there on weekends so this was a lot of work in a short period of time.
We painted everything. It was so dark in there and all the trim was a very dark brown. The ceiling was brown the floors were brown - brownapoolza. 
Paint and primer became my friend.
It was a summer lake home and I wanted it to be bright and light.

That daylight basement that was nothing was now made into a game room, bar area, tv area, 1 bedroom, 1 bath and a laundry room. We screened in the area off the master bedroom for a great place for naps in a summer rain storm.  We painted everything even the kitchen cabinets. They were very late 70’s(although built in the 80’s) like the Brady Bunch.
It was not done with the finest of furniture and accessories but it was to be rented and I knew that people would be throwing wet towels on dressers etc so why buy nice furniture? IKEA, Costco and Target became my 3 places for the lake house. It was bright,clean, fun, effecient home.  All one could ask for.

This is what it looked like from the lake.
Isn’t that color horrendous? More like a hunting camp vs. a lake home to me.

This is what it looks like now after we painted it.

Yep Rick and I painted this ourselves. We did all the work here ourselves. That is my only talent sadly enough.
We rented it for several years. It was difficult to say the least. Yes it paid the mortgage but I found it painful in oh so many ways.  People don’t treat your home well. People are pigs.  And they stole the darnest things.  People took bowls, measuring utensils, skewers for grilling, glasses games, puzzles etc. I couldn't believe it. Some I would attribute to being thrown out by accident.  Somethings were obviously stolen.

The last straw came in 2007. A family knew they could not check in on Saturday before 3pm yet they did. The cleaning people were still there and told them they couldn’t come in until 3p. They told the cleaning crew that they were told by Peggy that it would be okay.

Now the cleaning company knew that in order to arrive before check in time the family needed to have a letter from me stating they could come early. They had to show the cleaning crew this letter. I also would advise the cleaning company/property service in advance of anyone arriving early so they could make arrangements to have it cleaned by the time they got there. Neither was done. So these “lovely” people just committed lie number 1.

The cleaning crew called me when they left to tell me that they couldn’t clean well because the family came in and the little boy was a brat and climbing all over their vacuums and bothering them so they finally just left. I told them I would take care of this and that it was okay for them to just leave.

The following day, Sunday morning, Rick and I were enjoying our morning coffee and reading the Washington Post when the phone rang. Normally at that hour it’s someone who has read our ad in the Post to rent our home so we figured it was an inquiry.
Rick answered and the person on the other end said, “My name is Attorney Dickhead (name changed so he doesn’t sue me) and my clients are at your home at Smith Mountain Lake. You better hope you have insurance.”

Rick asked, “What are you referring to sir?”

Attorney Dickhead said, “There has been an accident at your home. Do not call my clients we’ll be in touch” and Dickhead hung up.

So we were frantic. What kind of accident? Is everyone okay? We have insurance to pay for this type of thing why wouldn’t they call us? We leave them all that information in their welcome packet as well as being posted at our home. (all over I might add)
So we called our neighbors to ask if the house was still standing. They said yes.
Whew, okay check that off the list.

I called the property service next and asked if she would go over to the house because it states in the lease they signed that we have the right to come by the house whenever we like if they don’t respond. They were not answering our phone calls at this point. Another charge too for us because this is a Sunday.

Two hours later the owner of the property service went over to the house to find only the wife and children there. They had some luggage by the door. She asked to go in and the wife said, her husband would be very upset because she isn’t suppose to speak to anyone.
Our property service agent said the woman seem frightened but then let her in when she told her she had the right to be there. The woman at our home said that her son fell off our fireplace while hanging from the mantle and broke his leg. Mantle? He was hanging from the mantle?

The young boy of 5 was sitting on a chair with his leg up on an ottoman.
No cast but he looked upset like he had been crying.
The property service agent took photo’s of the damage to our home and then asked if they were leaving as she walked by their luggage.
The woman said. “We’re not sure yet. “

Property Service – “Well you do know that it states in your lease that if you have to leave to call the homeowners to let them know. If you don’t you will forfeit your weekly rental rate.”

“Well I am not sure what my husband will allow us to do”

Which is a strange statement to make don’t you think?

So now we didn’t know if they ever left or not.
We both took off work on the next Tuesday to meet with our insurance agent.
We got there and saw the damage to our fireplace, all items on the mantle, the floor etc. No big deal really. It was all just stuff.  I asked the agent if they had heard anything from their attorney and he said no. We didn’t know what had happened. As far as we can tell the kid climbed up the hearth (13 inches high) and jumped up to grab hold of the mantle. The mahogany mantle is just over 100lbs. It sits atop bricks. It is not secured down. 
According to the insurance company and the home inspection they said it wasn’t necessary due to its weight. It was something we looked into prior to renting.
Apparently this 5 year old jumped up and hung from it causing it to tip towards him like a see saw. All things on the mantle came tumbling down and the mantle fell onto the corner of the hearth and broke a couple of bricks as well as damaging the mantle.
Where the kid landed in all of this is anyone’s guess.

Our deductible was $4.00 more than the cost of replacement and repair. But we didn’t know what these people were going to do because they would not respond to us. In the mean time the insurance company took their photo’s, talked to us, the property management company, their cleaning crew etc. and we all waited for Attorney Dickhead or someone from this family to contact us.

Oh they sure did. They wanted tons of money. This went on for 1 year.
And during that time all I could think of was how simple this would be if their child had fallen on our property and they had just called us. We would have told them to not worry about the house, get him to the hospital. We have insurance for that and send us the bills. We would have worked with them. But to just call and say, “hope you have insurance” is pretty damn sleazy to me. Our insurance would have paid for his medical bills and we would have returned his money for the week even though legally we didn’t have to. Rick and I aren’t bad people. We would have felt horrible about them losing their vacation as well as the child being hurt. But now we were angry and honestly even hurt.

As this dragged on the insurance company would tell me they were thinking of just settling. I was so angry. These people did everything wrong and we had to settle and have our rates go up?  Their kid was hanging from a fireplace mantle. If this kid hung from the ceiling fan we would still be at fault? What the hell is wrong with this picture? They knew from their signature on the lease that they had to call us and they choose not to do what was right.
But the insurance company didn’t agree with me. They gave them $35,000 for the inconvenience, paid all his medical bills, surgeries and refunded him the weeks worth of rent.

After that we stopped renting.
We didn’t care if this was a financial stretch we couldn’t go through this crap again.
And now here we are having had such a bad year in business that we are contemplating renting out our home again. I so don’t want to. But I also don’t want to lose our home or have to sell either. Even in today's lower market we could never afford a home like this again.  The costs have gone through the roof down there and even during the down turn in the economy.  The cost of this home today would have been out of our reach back in 2004.

We have a few more weeks to discuss this and in 2 weeks we’ll be going down there for some spring cleanup and hopefully some relaxation. I know Rick will be doing some spring bass fishing and that will make him really not want to have to rent this to others.
But you have to do what you have to do. Here’s to winning the lottery right?

Our blood pressure lowers as soon as we get there. Oh the house isn’t ever going to be in architectural digest. Our Golden Pond so to speak.....It’s just a little slice of slower life on water that brings us both such joy. ….All 3 of us. 

Beautiful Story.

Enjoy this beautiful story.

I can barely type through the tears.  Yes, it's long but it is a beautiful family story.
Now go hug your loved ones!

Boring Can Be Good

I want to be bored.
I want to have nothing to do.
No where to go.
Nada.

I want to sit in my chaise with the sun on my face and read a book.  No one needs to go for a walk.  No one making me talk to customers or answer phones.  Nothing needs laundered, painted, swept, cleaned, or cooked.  Just a day of nothing.

When you're a kid being bored is the most horrible thought.
Now I long to be bored.  Although truth be told I can't imagine ever being bored.
I like doing nothing. I love to lay in my hammock at the lake and read, fall asleep or stare at the sky and tree tops. That isn't boring to me. To me that is just something to do.

I was talking to the spousal unit last night about how everything I hated as a kid I love now.  I never wanted to nap.  I long to be able to nap now.  I never wanted to bathe.  I love to have a long hot shower. I hated to be bored. I now long for a day of pure boredom if there is such a thing. I always wanted to talk on the phone, now I let it go to voicemail because after dealing with customers on the phone all day the last thing I want is to talk at night. I loved to go out all the time.  Today I would prefer to stay home with friends.  Is this a big sign of getting old or is it matruity?  Is there a difference?

The only thing that I loved as a child that I still love today is books.  I am so behind in my reading.  I am just getting to Eat, Pray, Love which everyone else in the world read a few years ago.  Hubby bought me a gift card for books for my birthday and I finally picked out my 3 and they arrived yesterday.  I am dreaming of being able to sit and read without interruption this weekend.  I don't think it will happen but I am sure going to try.

We are planning on getting to our lake home in 2 weeks.  It's been all closed up since Thanksgiving. And that too means work. Opening up the house that has been vacant for the winter. The cleaning inside.  The yard maintenance.  The deck needs restaining. The mulch.  You know...work, work, work.  We made a pact last night that we would go down there for a couple of days and  1-1/2  days of work and the last 1 1/2 of enjoyment and whatever that means to us.  We decided that this year we weren't going to feel like we had to get it all done at once. After last years fiasco of company from hell all season long we are learning to say NO when people invite themselves and we are not inviting anyone other than those we look forward to coming....those standard yearly folks who come the same time each year.  No more entertaining all summer long and working instead of enjoying.  We are going to enjoy this place for as long as we have it.  With the business being slower this year, who knows we may have to sell our piece of nirvana. So we decided that we are going to seriously carve out the time we can to simply enjoy and all that means to us.

In the mean time I have to work today, grocery shop, mop floors, and do laundry to name a few.  But I'm going to be dreaming of boredom.  It's a land I so want to visit.

Thursday Thoughts

Why are people more upset about health reform than war? We went to Iraq, we lost thousands of innocent young men and women for no damn good reason. We knew Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 or weapons of mass destruction but we invaded and killed innocent Americans and Iraqi’s anyway. Do you even hear much about Iraq anymore? Where were the protestors then in droves? When a woman would protest they would say she was nuts. But health care for me and you is something to protest, harm or worth kill living people for and throwing rocks into windows? It makes no sense to me at all.  Why is the right always so violent? I don’t understand it.

If you want to find Saddam sign him up for AARP. AARP finds me no matter where I move and I don’t ever notify them of my moves.  I think they should be on the case.

I am gritting my teeth so badly that I am getting severe ear and neck pain. I have broken 2 of my mouth guards and they are so expensive. I bought a cheap one from the pharmacy and that one isn’t stopping anything. What next? Of course the dentist wants me to have another one made. I wish I could just stop grinding. I don’t know why it started and why it won’t go away. It’s painful as hell. Has anyone out there ever able to just stop this?

My husband has a thing about texting and driving. He feels the same about talking on the phone but texting makes his blood boil. Because he is on the road all day he has a lot more experience with this than me. He is always telling me how people come into his lane and he has to honk and “wake them up” He also is in a work van so he sits higher and can see what they are doing. He told me about this girl texting and “driving” with her knee. Amazing. He has been run off the road more times than he can count.

Last Thursday he was on a 5 lane highway and this young woman with an empty baby seat in the back was weaving all over the road. Before he was next to her he thought maybe she was drunk. Then when he was on the left of her he saw her on the phone texting. As they were going down the highway she came into his lane and he couldn’t go into the lane to the left of him because he would hit that person. He honked and she was oblivious. She was weaving all over the place. This continued into our development where she ran a stop sign. Now she was just using the phone as a phone. He was now behind her. He saw her pull into her driveway and he pulled up in front of her house and put his window down. When she got out of her car she had the phone attached to her ear. He said to her as she looked his way, “Ma’am you almost killed yourself and others on the highway you might consider not talking or texting on the phone while you are driving.” She gave him the finger and got back in her car and he noticed she was following him home. He got out of his van and came into the house as she drove by still on the phone and flipping him off. He came in and told me about this. I asked, “When you spoke to her were you yelling? And honestly do you think anyone is going to listen to a random guy?” Knowing that he isn’t like that but if he were really pissed off he may have yelled. He said, “No I was just trying to make her see that she shouldn’t be texting & talking on the damn phone. I don’t understand why people think they can multi task while driving. And honestly it’s a good thing that baby seat in her car was empty.”

I was making dinner and there was a knock on our door. Rick got it. It was the sheriff department. A man and a woman came into our home and asked Rick if he was harassing a young woman on such and such a street. She thought you were following her home. Stalking her per se. Rick explained what had happened and yes he was behind her when she turned into our development but that is because I live here too. She followed me here so she knows that. The sheriff stated that the woman didn’t know he lived here and told the sheriff that Rick had followed her to her house and when the sheriff asked about this man she told him the company name on the van. The sheriff said we found your home from the name on the van. So Rick explains what he believes happens which is the opposite of this woman’s version. She denied being on the phone or texting. Which of course Rick explains that he wouldn’t give a shit about this young woman if she hadn’t been on the phone and weaving in and out of traffic. The end result was the sheriffs leaving and nothing being done except making Rick angrier.

I told him to just leave people alone. They suck. This was partly his fault too and to let it go and leave people the hell alone. You can’t make them listen. They think they will never hurt anyone while texting or talking on the phone. You can’t change it and you talking to this woman in any way was just damn foolish. Then what happens yesterday? A woman on her phone texting rolled into Rick’s van at the gas pump at only 5 mph while he was standing there filling up his van. It was enough to move his van forward. She had kids in the car. Being the smart ass person he is when she gets out and asks if there was damage he says, “Oh yea” looking at her car. She stopped texting for a whole second to look. She said, “there doesn’t seem to be any” He said, “I know I just wanted to see if you’d stop texting for a minute.” He can be such an ass. I get why this frustrates him but I wouldn’t waste my time on these dumb asses. Nothing will make them stop. But he must stop this foolishness of trying to change them.

Traveling Work Fun

Yesterday’s entry got me thinking of some of the magical moments I have had while traveling for work. There were cities I would go to and think, Boy I wish Rick was here to see this. I would call and tell him what beautiful vistas I was seeing or how great the locals were and wishing he was here with me sharing it all. That was the hardest part. Because as much fun as I had I always wished he was there to share in the fun with me.

I was in Manhattan to close on this contract I had been working on for months. I finally got the signatures & the handshakes and it was a done deal. I was walking back to my hotel on cloud 9. This was a biggie and I did it. I was also thinking that instead of having room service and watching TV I would go out and have a nice meal to celebrate.

I wasn’t leaving until morning and I was giving myself permission to not sit in my room working on the laptop while eating another damn hotel chicken Caesar salad.
I went back to my hotel and got changed. I began to walk to this restaurant I had seen earlier. When I got to the door I saw the sign that said they were closed for renovations.

I was bummed because once I saw that place all I could do was think about having a steak and a glass of wine. So I began to walk and now I am really hungry. I came to this corner where there was a diner so I figured what the hell. A diner was still better than room service. I went inside the diner and there was this small fragile-looking woman standing in front of me like she was the hostess. She was a stereotype with a cigarette hanging out of the side of her mouth and it went up and down as she spoke, “You with the AFL CIO party?” Her voice was so raspy and harsh.

“No, I’m not” I answered.
She said, “Okay then just sit ova there.”
She pointed to this booth towards the back but alongside the windows.
I took a seat and thought well this is great for people watching. I was right on the corner of Broadway so I had a great view. Someone came over and took my drink order. I was shocked I could get a cocktail in a diner but I was thrilled as well. Then a woman walks in that was tall and blonde. I noticed that the Raspy One asks her the same question and the blonde answers the same as me. Raspy One tells her to sit down in the booth in front of me.

The blonde keeps turning around and talking to me.
“How does she keep that cigarette from falling when she’s talking?”
“I know, I couldn’t stop starring at that. It’s like, Look Ma no hands.”
“Do you think there is actually an AFL- CIO party here?”
“They probably just don’t want a lawsuit because who knows what is going on here!"
Finally, I say, “Are you eating alone or meeting someone?”
She says she is eating alone so I suggest she join me.

We introduce one another and the blonde one’s name is Sue.
Sue tells me that she just moved to town.
“Where did you come from?” I asked.

“I lived in Northern Virginia”

I say, “Hey I live there now”

“Why are you in NY?”

“I’m a lawyer and I worked in (insert name of famous Politian) and when he left his position in D.C. I no longer had a job.”

“So what made you move here?”

“I got a GREAT job and my fiancé is working in Connecticut so this is closer. Today is my birthday and I was sitting in my new apartment surrounded by boxes and I just kept thinking, I’m in the greatest city in the world and I’m unpacking on my birthday. So I decided to go see a show and get out even if I was celebrating alone. Hey, why don’t you join me?”

“Well I don’t know that I can get a ticket let alone sit with you.”

“Let’s go give it a shot after we eat.”

“Sure why not!”

“What show are you seeing?”

“Chicago.”

Okay, I don’t love musicals but what the heck.
We ate our dinner, shared a piece of cheesecake to celebrate her birthday, and off to the theatre we went. I don’t recall the name of the theatre but it was just across the street.
We went up to the box office and she told them she wanted to see if I could be seated near if not next to her. The man looked at her ticket and said he would check. In the meantime I am paying for my ticket and I said, “Hey it’s Sue’s birthday and you can’t let her not have what she wants on her birthday now can you?”

“You’re in the balcony and it’s not a full house tonight so you both can sit next to one another. Happy Birthday, Sue!”

Everyone that was behind him in that window was saying happy birthday and all were being so nice, fun and friendly. Pictures were taken etc.  So we head up to the balcony for our seats. We get seated and realize we should probably use the restroom before the show starts. When we come back we decide since it’s not full up here why not sit down in front here in the balcony. So we moved down front. Then a young man who we saw earlier who was standing behind the man at the ticket window came up to us. He said, “Hey you guys moved….”

He went on and on. Finally, I said, “Were you looking for us just to yell at us?”
He laughed and said, “Oh no I wanted Sue to have this.” And he handed her a CD of the musical we were about to see and it was signed by the cast for her birthday.

He said, “Now don’t you two dare move again okay?”

“Okay,” we said in unison. What was that about we wondered?

This was in 2000 when the lead was played by Bebe Neuwirth (who you may know from Fraiser/Cheers) The show was GREAT. I was hooked. (ok still prefer non-musicals but this was very good)

After the show the theatre lights came on because it was Broadway Theatre Aids Week or something along those lines.
They were auctioning off things from the show. The first bid was on a hat and the starting bid was $400.00. I looked at Sue and said, “This is so out of my league” and we laughed. Although we couldn’t bid it sure was fun to watch.

Just as we were thinking it was all over the cast all lined up and said they had one more thing to do and they asked the audience to join them. The house lights went down and then a spotlight came on Sue. YES, Sue sitting next to me as Bebe says, “It’s Sue’s birthday today everybody, let’s sing her a tune.” And the cast and audience sang Happy Birthday to Sue while the spotlight was on her. She was scarlet red. She looked at me and said, “Did you do this?”

“Yea, Sue me and Bebe are old friends. C’mon!”

After we all sang she got applause and the lights came on.
Now as we grab our coats and begin to leave the theatre we are chatting about how we can’t believe that just happened. People are all crowding around us to say happy birthday to Sue. As we get downstairs more well wishers and pats on the back. It really was fun.

We get out to the street and she says, “Can you believe a few hours ago I was feeling sorry for myself all alone in my apartment and then I meet you and then this show and all this fuss? Wow I don’t think I’ll forget this birthday for a while.”

“You? I will never have a birthday to compare!”

We each had to get up early the next day. She had meetings and I had a train to catch at 6am. So we gave each other a hug and said our goodbyes.

I got back to my hotel and called Rick. I woke him up. I was so excited about what a great night I had but he asked if I could be as excited later tomorrow. I understood it was around midnight after all.

So there is another one of those things that just would happen when I would be on the road and met great people and the fun that would ensue. I had so many great nights in NYC while working. Even during a blackout and having to climb 27 flights of stairs in a hotel stairwell with luggage in heels in humid August heat ended up being a helluva good 24 hrs. Started out scary and ended up fun.

Sadly there were days that weren’t much fun for me and hundreds of others like 9/11. Thankfully I am here to tell you all the good ones.

Me & Ziggy

I had just moved to a new city for my new job and the year was early 1987.

I was so excited about this step in my career.

First and foremost I was out of my hometown. 
A dream I have had since the age of 8.

Second, I was now doing what I had worked my butt off to do.

This was the next step I was working towards for a few years and in all honesty, I gave myself 3 years to achieve it and it took me 5 years. 

But that did make me appreciate it all even more.

I was doing work I loved and I was getting paid handsomely for it.

I was told of my territory for my job. I rented a new apartment smack dab in the middle of this territory. I had to report to an office on the west side every Monday. (I lived on the east side) 
The rest of the time I was in my territory. I made my own hours and I knew what had to be accomplished and went out and did it. My boss was in Chicago and I lived in Ohio. 
For a person who loves to work alone, this was great.

I was given a box of customers that was to be my territory. 
I was not even given a map.

So the first thing I did was get a few maps.
This was before GPS’s, mapquest, laptops, cell phones, and all other forms of today’s technology that would have helped me so much.
Those that had those big bulky car phones were rich people in my eyes.
Thinking about that now is rather funny. Everyone has a cell these days and it’s hard to imagine life without cells, laptops, GPS’s, the internet, etc. 

I met my new co-worker at the office on my first Monday. 
She had the west side and SW side of the city and I had everything east and SE of the city. We split downtown. 
On Mondays at the office, it was great to have a friend with who I could discuss issues encountered with the travel or the clients, etc. 
It was someone to bounce ideas off of since both of us worked alone. 
And the other great thing about Mondays was that after work we went over to a neighborhood bar and would have some drinks and nachos or a real dinner and just hang out. 
We were both new to this city so it was great fun for us both.

One evening the place we normally went to was being remodeled so we went somewhere else near Joan’s home. We had a ball. 
We sat at the bar and had a few drinks and then we had some appetizers. The bartender was a chatty guy and before you know it we were all laughing and telling stories and having a great time. 
There was a man a few stools down who smiled at me and then asked the bartender for a piece of paper. He began to draw but something made me look away and conversations continued to flow with everyone.

The Drawing Man walked down the bar to me and introduced himself as Tom Wilson. He handed me the paper and said, “I’ve been watching you talk and you are very animated I had to do this.” 
I looked down and it was Ziggy talking to me, THAT TOM WILSON. 
I thanked him and gave him a hug and bought him a drink. 
He moved on down the bar to chat with Joan, me, and the bartender. We had a wonderful night. We ended up closing that bar and we 4 stayed. There was a baby grand piano there and someone played and people sang.  It really was a great night that I won't ever forget.

I found that paper in a frame when going through those old photo’s and I am not sure you can read it all here but this is what he gave me. 

I had so many great evenings, moments, and experiences when I traveled with total strangers. I miss it so much. I hate to travel these days because as we all know it’s so much more stressful and different. 
But I always love it when I get there.