A New Year's Blessing

I have always enjoyed Irish blessings but this one may be my new favorite. At any rate, this is what I wish for all of you in 2007.

May the light always find you on a dreary day.
When you need to be home, may you find your way.
May you always have courage to take a chance
And never find frogs in your underpants.

Cindi's New Year's Resolutions

In 2007, I resolve to:

*Go to the gym at least three times a week
*Drink more water and less pop
*Stop taking Mike for granted
*Go to church every week
*Answer emails in a more timely fashion
*Do one load of laundry every week day AND fold it AND put it away, as opposed to doing it and leaving it sit in a basket so that it gets wrinkled
*Dedicate at least two hours each day to studying
*Go out to eat no more than one time per week
*Eat fast food no more than once per month
*Go to the library more and the book store less
*Knit everyone in my family something for next Christmas (oh, stop whining, we'll give you other stuff too) ;)
*Learn to crochet
*Write in my journal three times a week
*Be more positive in my blog entries
*Blog at least three times a week
*Try not to nag as much (shut up, Dad)

I expect to see your resolutions, too! That's what comments are for. '

And, in the new year -
May your days be gold in the rays of the sun;
May your nights be silver in the light of the moon;
May Jesus welcome you when life is done;
But, God willing, may it not be soon;
May breezes brush soft against your face;
May shamrocks and roses line your way;
May you be bathed in God's bounteous grace;
And may you be given that for which you pray.
-a Blessing for Friends by Andrew M. Greeley

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Random News

Apparently, I am not blogging enough to satisfy my dad, who has mentioned no less than three times that I need to write another entry. Apparently Tiffany Ford's not enough for my old man, I gotta write something new. I'm gonna get him a blog so that I can email him and be like, "Yo! You need to update your blog." As it so happens, I was ready to update anyways, so he had nothing to do with it. Ha!

But anyways, it's New Year's Eve and I'm preparing my list of New Year's Resolutions, which I will be posting later (you hope).

I've also registered for my classes at Loyola University. The prestigious Loyola University. That's what I told Mike he's supposed to say when he tells people where I'm going to school. When I was working at the bank in Michigan, eons ago, I had a cubicle across the aisle from a man named Paul Maran. He was a salesman for the warehouse lending department with which I was a funding coordinator. Every work day, I would find myself listening to him on the phone with clients while I completed paperwork and approved mortgages. I am not exaggerating when I say that he told every one about how his daughter was moving to New York so she could go to Columbia. "My daughter's been accepted to the prestigious Columbia University." I don't know how many times I heard that but it got to be a running joke with Mike and I - especially after Mike came to meet me for lunch one day and heard him saying it. It's been long enough that I'm not sure exactly how he sounded but in my head he sounds a lot like Woody Allen.

Last night, I took Mike out on a date night. He sort of giggled and acted like the whole thing was a little silly - until I told him he could pick any restaurant he wanted and that I was taking him to see the David Mamet play, "American Buffalo" at a small theater on the Northside. I also bought him a present to give in lieu of flowers, which I knew wouldn't do much for him. He'd be like, "Oh...flowers. Huh." The play was really good. We sat in the front row and were close enough to be nicked by flying debris. One of the characters has...uh...anger management issues and likes to kick, hit and throw things. A couple of the times he'd grab something and start smashing things with it and occasionally shrapnel was ejected into the audience. One of the reviews I read said something about the actor who plays "Teach" - that he was so convincing that the audience members were afraid of him. I'm telling you what - I was ready to get up and move back a couple of rows. I also go a bit of random spit on me when another character was being beaten on the stage right in front of me. It sounds gross but it was actually just really cool to me. Mike has joined the program and seems to think the occasional "Date Night" is a good idea. Although whenever he says it, he sings it. "Daaaaaaaate Niiiiiiiiiiiiiight."

Mike and I went to eat at Clara's today. Cheap breakfast and the best hash browns in the city of Chicago. Yummy.

Our plans for New Year's Eve are still in limbo a bit. We had talked about going down to Navy Pier where there'll be midnight fireworks but then Jason and Sarah called and invited us out to the 'burbs to hang out with them at Jason's mom's place. I would love to hang out with Sarah but the midnight fireworks sounded really fun to me. I've become a true Chicago snob. The 'burbs? Who wants to go to the 'burbs? C'mon!

I've also been a little bummed out about my upcoming birthday. Not because I'll be turning 30. Well, maybe a little because I'll be turning 30 - but mostly because my plans to take a celebratory trip have been squelched by the city of Chicago. Did you know that it takes a year before you get any vacation or personal time after you're hired. Geez. My mom's not here to throw me a party and I'm fairly certain my dad's not gonna do it. I always get included by the Kurczewski side of the family when they throw a party for Mike, which is super nice, but it's always after my actual birthday and this year (who knows why) I feel like I HAVE to do something either the day of or before. I can't turn 30 without some sort of fanfare. I think that the anticipation of celebrating it has kept me from being depressed about it and now that there's no trip or getaway, I'm on the verge of being sad about it. On the plus side, I have two and a half months to think of some way to greet my 30th year properly. I just can't think of anywhere that's close enough and cost effective enough to go for just a weekend. And I think it's probably tacky to throw yourself a party. Mike's always accusing me of trying to get people to give me presents - he'd probably have a seizure if I said I was going to throw myself a birthday party. You can all do me a big favor by starting to suggest things Mike can do/buy/take me to that will make my 30th memorable. He'll be grateful for the help.

Other than that, I can't think of too much that's new. Mike installed my Brita water faucet last night and it was oddly anti-climactic - after demanding that someone buy it for me for two years, the reality has been a bit of a disappointment. On the other hand, I always have water in the house, so it'll save a ton of money and be super convenient. I guess it was just so much fun complaining about not having it that the reality of actually having it can't compete. I'm so complicated. :D Mike calls it high-maintenance. Pfft. Whatever.

Oh - and my dad's birthday is tomorrow. Make sure you drop him an email to wish him a happy 70th birthday. Ha! (Take that, old man.) ;)

Happy New Year's!

Birthday Mania!

Happy birthday to my friend, Allyson from The Sweatshop of Love. She teaches me to knit and we entertain each other. She's a younger, as-cute-as-me-in-some-cultures-maybe-cuter version of me, I swear! I went to her house for a knitting class and it was like she'd stolen my bookshelves. She is the only other person on earth (that I know of) who owns a copy of Harold Bloom's Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. She turns 23. When I thought about that, I nearly went online and ordered a bottle of Geratol. Anyway, Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to you

Today is Tiffany Ford's birthday. Who is Tiffany Ford, you ask? Well, back when I was in junior high, you were only as cool as the height of your bangs. The higher your bangs, the cooler you were. High bangs didn't necessarily guarantee popularity...but they were cool. A status symbol. Tiffany Ford had the highest bangs I have ever seen - to date, in fact. She had grown her bangs out to where, if they'd hung down, they would have rivaled a "Smells Like Teen Spirit"-video Kurt Cobain. But she didn't let them hang down. She somehow got them to defy the very laws of gravity and stand up as straight as a Buckingham Palace guard for several inches before the ends...the very tips...curled over into a gracefully arched curl. Gradually, her bangs feathered down into a brown cascade until it joined the rest of her hair on the side. In the years since, it still remains a feat I have never seen duplicated. Her hairspray costs must have been outrageous!

Why do I remember it's her birthday? Geez, I dunno. I just took a look at the date on my earlier post and that was the first thing that popped into my head. "Oh, today is Tiffany Ford's birthday." I haven't seen her in at least 11 years. It's funny the random facts our brains remember.

So, anyway, happy birthday, Tiffany Ford - wherever you may be.

The Kurczewski's First Annual Holiday Extravaganza

My extravaganza is no more - we extravaganza'd it up last night and it was quite pleasant, I must say. Everyone chatted, ate, drank and was merry. My friend Sarah's 15 month old daughter, Lyric, entertained us all with her baby sign language, animal noises and general cuteness. My niece, Bailey (the pug), wound her way through the throng and into the hearts of everyone who attended with her puppy snorts and stub tail wiggles. AND, Mike's friend Jason managed to stay sober until the party had mostly broken up. When people began to make their way out, the guys made their way into the spare room for some poker at which point Jason managed (over a period of time) to down most of a bottle of whiskey. But that's a story for another post.

The dim point in the evening was when my dad rang my cell phone to tell me that my mom's big sister, my aunt Kathryn, died last night. Kathryn had recently found out she had cancer but we definitely had no idea this was coming. I'm still not even sure what happened. I was worried about my Uncle Mike because with her death, it made his second sister to die within three and a half months. I honestly don't know how I'm feeling right now. Aunt Kathryn always lived far away from us. I talked to her on the phone a lot, always got cards from her and exchanged letters but only ever saw her face to face a handful of times. I'm so sad because she was family and she was always very good to me. I'm sad because her family has lost her - and I can remember only too well what the first few days feel like after losing your parent. I'm sad because my uncles Mike and John have lost another sister. But I'm also happy. I'm so happy because now my mother has what she always wished for - a chance to spend time with her big sister. I'm happy because she's with Mom, Matt, her parents and her son Kurt. I'm happy because she's beyond pain now and how could I ever wish her back to this earth to deal with cancer treatments and cataract surgeries?

I guess I can only leave you with my mom's saying aka my (not-so-new-now) personal mantra from Dr. Seuss. Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.

Eva Kathryn Parker Doerr
2/27/1937 - 12/16/2006

I just can't have nice things

Today I fried my cell phone. When I realized I'd ruined it, I cried and I cried and I cried. Mike couldn't figure out what I was so upset about. Then I called my dad, hysterical, scaring the crap out of him. I'm sure he had pictured me with broken bones or being arrested. On top of the fact that it will cost in the neighborhood of $450 to replace, I have ruined the last present my mother gave me before she shuffled forth the mortal coil. It also had pictures on it of the last time I saw my mom. When my mom gave me this phone(the last days we spent together before she died), she told me, "When I die and there's not much for you to inherit, I want you to remember that I gave you things while I was living." And now I've ruined it.

When I was little and I'd break something, my mom would angrily tell me, "You just can't take care of things!" It was meant to sting and it always did. I still am most chastised when someone accuses me of being careless with things. But she was right. I was terrible about remembering where I put things and/or putting them back where they belong. To this day I generally don't buy myself really expensive things because I am too absent minded. When I realized what I'd done, I kept thinking, "You're so stupid! You can't take care of anything!"

I'm so upset about this and it's JUST a phone. Mike keeps telling me that. My dad told me that it could have happened to anyone and does on a regular basis. I keep trying to tell myself that but it feels like this just spotlights all of my faults. It's as if I've proven that my mother was right all those years ago and I can't stop letting her down even when she's dead. I just can't take care of things.

I'm hoping sleep and a new day will bring some clarity to my brain and I'll stop beating myself up over this but right now I feel as bad about this as I ever felt about anything I ever broke when I was young.

Why can't I just get a grip?

Cry Baby Cry

I spent most of the day today in tears because I missed my mom so much.

Then I went to the City of Hammond's Christmas party with Mike and had a really great time chatting with everybody again. We got invited to a wedding in Mexico in a few months - and it will be SO cool if we can go. Just jet down for a weekend since we won't have actual vacation. Hopefully the airfare won't be too expensive and we can think about going.

Upon getting home I found a package from my dad sitting on my porch. Included were three packages of chocolate from Maxwell's...which is a holiday tradition story for another day. Also in the package was the ornament with my mom's name on it from the candlelight ceremony at the funeral home that held her memorial service.

And now I'm sniffling again.

"I'm grieving...it's a process. " - Billy Crystal in Analyze That

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

I want this guy's cd for Christmas. His name is Jake Shimabukuro and I love his version of George Harrison's song. I adore it. Really.



If it won't come up for you here, you can also view it here.

If I had a million dollars...

For all you Secret Santas and Sandy Claus out there, I wanted you to know that I updated my amazon.com wishlist.

My 15 Minutes

I'm famous! The knitting class I take was featured in a magazine article and I'm mentioned by name!

"I'm in print!"

Here's the link to the online version of the magazine. I am mentioned very briefly as is my mother-in-law. Hee hee. Luckily I didn't say anything bad.

I was fairly excited to find out that my name was in the article but when I saw it my first reaction was, "Oh hell, she put my age in there!"

Confession -

Ok. I have to confess to something that I'm sort of embarrassed about. I love that "Celebrity Paranormal" show on VH1. I've always sensed that this was something that would invite ridicule if I mentioned it out loud. I mean, Mike makes fun of me about it but that's nothing new. He often makes fun of my viewing choices. I'm always dragging Mike on these ghost tours and whatnot when we go on vacation. I've never seen a ghost nor do I feel like I'm somehow 'sensitive' to paranormal activity or anything (I hate when we get a "medium" on the tour with us who swears she feels something everywhere we go)...I just like having the heebie jeebies scared out of me. I like ghost stories and that's basically what ghost tours are all about. They take you to different places and tell you the ghost stories that go along with the area.

But anyway, I'm rambing again. Celebrity Paranormal reminds me of that MTV show "Fear" back in the 90's where they'd send college kids to haunted places and have them do scary crap - if they could stay the whole night they won $5000. Remember that show? I was only in high school myself and I loved that show. I was crushed when they took it off the air. I continued to tivo and watch Celebrity Paranormal despite my inclination to believe that this is something I should be embarrassed about. Today though, in a moment of boredom, I happened upon the vh1 website dedicated to the show and saw the snippet of the message board it includes. This is where you can discuss the "scary moments" or the caliber of the C List celebrities on that week's episode. Everyone on that message board was clearly about 14 years old. I am most likely the only CP fan over the age of 15.

Now that's embarrassing.

The Official Word...

The City of Chicago called me today with good news. I officially have the job and my start date is scheduled to be December 16th. The 16th is a Saturday so I'm not sure if that was a mistake or not. The official letter should be coming in the mail soon.

Places I didn't even know about...

That's how badly I hurt right now. I hurt in places I didn't even know I had. Mike and I have started "gung ho" mode on the old work-out regime. I was like, "Let's WALK to the Y." Yeah. Brilliant idea. It's about a 2 mile walk roundtrip which seemed like an adventure at the time. Now it just seems like a mistake. Plus we didn't eat before we went and on the way home, I nearly tackled the neighbor's yappy, fluffy dog and chewed on it.

On the plus side, I got a good laugh from Mike's antics today. He was trying on a new workout outfit he'd bought at Kohl's awhile back and asked me if his shirt was too tight because it felt really constrictive. The shirt was made of that form fitting, spandexy material and I told him that it was supposed to look like that and hug his body. He had to go upstairs to look for himself because, like always, we can't just take my word on anything. He came back down and said, "I really like this. I feel like Superman." It's still funny to me - I snorted just now when I typed it.

If you need me tomorrow, I'll be the one in bed with the covers over my head - covered in heating pads.

This year, I am thankful for:

Spending Thanksgiving with my dad.
My big brother almost remembering my birthday.
Having great nephews - Caleb and Dex aka "Frank".
In-laws, niece-pugs and nephew-cats.
Fat cats and kittens that jump.
New apartments.
Friends.
Having 29 years with my mom.
Mike falling asleep spooning me and snoring a little in my ear.
Knitting classes.
Drs. Carlson and Lazar.
Ex-landlords who help you paint your new place.
Blue Cheese.
Evites.
Rugrat rootbeer.
Sisters - biological and otherwise.
Vitka's jokes.
Mike's sweetness.
Chocolate chip shakes.
Memories.
Captain Underpants in the Thanksgiving parade.
God.
Every hug I ever got from my mom.
Being able to say, "I'm in my 20's."
Mike's laughter.
Mike.
Mike.
Mike.
Did I mention Mike?
Funnel cake.
Dachshunds.
Democrats controlling Congress.
Cat snuggles.
Puppy kisses.
Family.
Life.
Love in all its forms.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

Oops...

I just published a post I wrote a few days ago but hit "save as draft" instead of "publish." Check it out for a story about a trip I took with my dad a couple of weeks ago.

Outrageous!

This made me feel sick to my stomach.

Bobbi and her "freedom march"

I was looking through my emails today and found this one. It's from my mom describing an experience she had with her hamster and it makes me laugh. She could never go into a pet store without buying something and then she'd be mad because it was such a pain to take care of. She always took really good care of her animals...she just hated having to do it sometimes. Bobbi is a black dwarf hamster who still resides with my dad...miraculously still alive as we'd forgotten about her for at least a week after my mom died. Polly refers to "Neopolitan," a guinea pig who left this Earth some months before my mom. We had Boris and Polly and for awhile we would occasionally have baby guinea pigs to give away. After Boris died, my mom would refer to her as "The widow Polly." But I'm getting off track. Anyways, this is an email I got from my mom right before Mike and I got married. It's very typical "mom" humor and I thought I'd share.


Subject: Bobbi and her "freedom march"
From: Linda H. to me, Jeffrey, Robin, JOHN
Date: Apr 13 (2006)

Bobbi the hamster and I have had quite an afternoon.
I asked your Dad(Charles) to change Polly's cage
several days ago. but he hadn't had time time or
inclination to do it. Soo... I decided to do it.
Bobbi's cage in on top of Polly's. So I looked for
Bobbi and nowhere did I see her. I moved bedding,etc
and still didn't see her. Any way I foung her wedged
in the tube between the upper floor and the lower
level wedged with bedding. So I think she has
smothered herself. She was on the wheel last night so
this is not a event of long duration. I took the cage
and emptied it but the tube was still plugged. So I
banged the tube on the side of the trash several times
and finally all fell out. Bobbi perks right up and
starts running around the trash can. I pick her up
and put her back in her cage and put bedding etc. in
to get her fixed up....silently cursing my luck that
she is still breathing. I sat and watched her for a
minute because she is very happy to be "free at last,
thank God, I'm free at last." I had put the top back
on the cage and she is briskly. or confused like as it
turns out, climbing up and down the tube. I think it
is because she is remembering her horrible experience.
Then she goes up the tube and falls out into the
cage. I had put the top on backwards and the upper
level is on the wrong side. So we are now straighened
up and all is well. I have sat here and giggled at
our little problem and just wanted to share with
someone. P.S. Bobbi did not appear amused. But she is
happy to be "free".

Three posts in one day...this is INSANE!!!

I know! What the heck, right? But I'm bored. BOOOOOOOOOOORED. Mike went over to our former upstairs neighbor's house...or the FUN house, if you will. I wasn't feeling like sitting around watching them drink beer and watch the Michigan-Ohio State game, so I stayed behind.

I thought I'd give you a run down of the trip I took with my dad last week. It was lots of fun. Mike and I rolled into Iowa late and Dad and I were up and going early because we had to make the bus at 9 AM. The trip was something his company does every year. The have a "Silver Circle" club consisting of anyone who's worked for them for 25 years or more. My dad will have 31 years in February...on the day he officially retires. (My dad also refers to this as "The Old Farts" club.) But don't tell, ok? Shhhhhh! Aaaaaaanyway, every year, the company pays for a trip for the group. This year they took them up to Dubuque, IA for gambling, drinking and other debauchery. Ok, I made the debauchery part up. But there was gambling and drinking.

We drove up to Dubuque on two big charter buses. Believe me, I was relieved it wasn't a school bus. I had nightmares about all the trips we took when I was in school. On the ride up, they played games. Since part of the trip was at a casino, they were giving away cash prizes. I won all three of the real games. They had a word scramble, a trivia game and a find-a-word puzzle. The word scamble was up first and it had words that were found in a casino. Please. I'm married to Mike "Blackjack" Kurczewski and I've spent enough time with Fred (his dad) to know my way around the lingo, ok? This is an example of actual conversations we've had at my house:

Mike: Guess where my parents are going for their vacation this year!

Cindi: Somewhere with a casino?

Mike: Besides that.

I don't want to give the impression that they're gambling addicts, though. They're very responsible...they just love the casino. I don't get it, myself. My mom got it. All you had to do was suggest a trip down to "the boat" and her eyes'd light up. She got Mike hooked on those stupid scratch off tickets! She'd spend $10 on scratchers and be all excited because she won $2. I'd be like, "But you paid $10 to get $2 back! You lost $8!" and she'd say, "Well, I coulda lost $10." It's hard to argue with that...but it never quite made sense to me.

Back to my story...I was easily the winner of the casino word scramble game. I let my dad pick an envelope for me and I got $10. There was one $20 bill, several $10s and several $5s...so I was happy with $10. Then they played a "game" where they called out an every day item you'd have in your pocket, purse or wallet and then give a prize to whoever showed it first. I did not participate in this game. First of all, I thought it was dumb. Not my kind of thing at all. Secondly, my bag was put away in the overhead compartment and I was too lazy to get up and get it down. Then they played Turkey Trivia with all sorts of Thanksgiving facts. I won this game but they wouldn't let me get another envelope. The lady said, "You already won!" and I was like, "And?" I had the most answers correct with 14 - so I still won...prize or no prize. :D Then they played more of the "show me the item - win a prize" game. Again...I did not participate. This time I refused to participate not only for the above reasons but also because I was boycotting the "can't win twice" rule. The last game of the night was the Thanksgiving 'find a word' puzzle. I considered refraining from this game also but the lady was like, "And for this game, the prize will be an umbrella so anyone can win, even if you've won before." My competitive nature wouldn't allow me to not play then. There were 39 words to find on the puzzle. I have adopted a strategic search and destroy strategy and managed to find all the words quickly. To avoid any further complications, I gave the paper to my dad and told him to put his hand up. I knew she'd said anybody could win but I wasn't taking any chances. The lady was mildly surprised that anyone had found all the words and said she was giving prizes to first and second place. With all the words, my partner in crime and I easily took first place. The closest runner up was a lady in the back who had 22 words. I was absurdly proud of how badly I'd kicked ass...then I thought about it and realized that my big accomplishment was beating a bunch of sexagenarians who probably need bifocals to see the words on the page. I felt a little foolish for a minute...but then I thought about how it was raining outside and _I_ had won an umbrella for first place and I leaned back and smirked at them all. Ha! Losahs! As a friend of mine used to say (in junior high) '|_osah |_osah, \/\/anna be a \/\/innah.' There are hand gestures that go with that but I'll have to demonstrate those at a later date.

After arrival, we unloaded at a casino and ate at their buffet. It was adequate and I had a great discussion with one of the ladies about how Mike is going to step aside when Johnny Depp leaves the supermodel he's got two kids with and realizes we're meant to be together.

Then it was off to the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. Three words. Cool. as. Hell. It was! Truly. They had huge catfish and other weird looking critters, a lot of great stuff about the boats that used to travel down the river, an exhibit where you simulate driving a barge and a pretty decent gift shop! I took pictures for Mike and bought him a shirt that says, "What happens on the river, stays on the river" with a skull and cross-rowboat oars. He likes it.

Then we went back to the casino to wait for about an hour until it was time to head to the dinner theater where we were scheduled to eat and see a play that night. I decided to take $30 into the casino and play some blackjack to kill the time. I figured it would take me 10 minutes to lose it but I thought, "what the heck...it's only $30." 40 minutes later, I walked out with $60. Not a big win but still cool. I got to say "I doubled my money." for the rest of the night.

The play that night was a comedy called "The Regifters" about three couples who 'regift' a present and then find out that it was worth a lot of money. One gives it to another and so on down the line. It was quite witty with an often wicked bent. It was weird listening to sexual innuendos from onstage while sitting next to my dad, though. Kinda creepy. I will give you a recap of my father's favorite part. One of the couples are onstage when the wife sneezes. They've been fighting and don't appear to get along that well on an every day basis either. Anyway, the husband says, "God bless you." and the wife starts to tell him off because saying "God bless you" is an old and stupid custom with no basis in society today (basically). She tells him not to say it any more. A few minutes later, she sneezes again and her husband says, "God damn you to Hell" in place of "God Bless You." Probably much funnier when you're in the moment.

On the way home, they put on "The Rookie" - our bus had a dvd player and small tvs every few seats coming down from the ceiling. "The Rookie" is that Dennis Quaid movie about the chemistry teacher who promises his team if they win their division he'll try out for the major leagues again. At the beginning, I was like, "Kill me now." Buuuut, it was too dark to read or knit and I ended up watching the tv rather than staring out the window into the Iowa darkness. By the end, I'm having a conversation in my head with myself,:

"Oh, I hope they let him play in the big leagues."

"You are such a sap."

"This is a movie - it's Disney, they've got to let him play in the majors, right?"

"Shut up! You're making me sick!"

"Look! He's gonna play! He's gonna play!"

"Ugh."

Anyway, the trip all in all was a big success. I had a good time, ate good food, took pictures, bought presents for my husband and actually came home with a few dollars more than I'd left with!

Joy.

Mike's Big Announcement!

Drumroll please...ehem...ehem...

My big announcement is that last week I was contacted by the City of Chicago for a position with their Health Department. I'm still waiting for my mountain of paperwork to go through and be processed but I hope to hear something definite very soon. I was also told that my probable start date would be December 1st.

Lazy days

Well, it's 11 in the morning and Mike and I just managed to wake up and get ourselves out of our toasty bed. Mike is currently in the kitchen making breakfast like a good wif...err...husband. ;) I've been the one who cooks a majority of the time but here lately Mike has been exploring his culinary side and I'm here to say, I LIKE it! Ok, mostly I like not having to cook all the time - it's fun for awhile but then it gets old. I still cook dinner most nights - the long drive from Indiana puts him home around 6pm lately and if he cooks after he gets home it's really late before he eats. I don't mind. I've been having fun broadening my own cooking horizons lately. I used to never do meat - other than loose ground beef or bacon. I didn't eat other kinds of meat and I didn't know how to cook it. Plus the thought of touching raw meat just kinda grossed me out. The either the death of my mom or my approaching birthday (I'll be 25 again, btw) - made me stop and think, "Hey, you're an adult now! Get over it!" I still have not been able to stick my hand under the skin of a roasting chicken to season it...I know it's dead and can't feel it but I watched one of the cooking shows do it and it made me want to gag. BUUUUUUUT, I have been buying meat in bulk and putting it into baggies to freeze for later use. Am I rambling? I think I'm rambling...what was I talking about? Oh, yeah. Mike cooking.

The other night, Mike and I tag teamed to cook up a delish Chicken Caesar salad...after which he told his mom that, "Cindi helped me make it." I cut the lettuce, I covered it in dressing, garlic and parmesan cheese and I seasoned the chicken and started grilling it. Mike took over once it had started cooking and then I chopped up the grilled chicken and added it to my be-ee-ay-uuutiful salad creation. Yes, I know...my life is boring. Get over it. ;)

What else is new...well, there's still Mike's news which he has yet to announce. He's going to have to blog about it sometime - I just can't get him to do it.

The other day Mike made fun of me for printing out a poem called "as freedom is a breakfastfood" by e.e. cummings but I still hold that it is a great poem. It's one I like a lot. I've decided to "decorate" the bedroom with poetry. It's such an odd shape with a low ceiling, so it's hard to find things to put on the walls. I'm going to print out poems on different colored paper and put them up around the room to brighten it up a little bit. Maybe print out some pictures - I'm fairly excited about it. The best part being that if it looks bad, I can always just take it off! Low cost, low maintenance - no worries.

Anywho, must dash! My hashbrowns, bacon and toast smell done!

Catching up with Earl

I've been watching the episodes of My Name is Earl that I tivo'd and I swear, when Earl, Randy and Joy started sing 'Convoy' through their walky-talkies and then made their mean neighbor do the hokey-pokey when she thought that they were God speaking to her through her hearing aid...I nearly wet my pants.

"Puteth thy left foot in....Puteth thy left foot out...Puteth thy left foot in and shaketh it all about..."

How can you not love this show?

Today I was bored and decided to walk up to Roscoe St. and go to a thrift shop we visited a couple of week's ago when Mike's sister and brother-in-law were visiting. I showered and got all "de-stink"-afied and then realized I couldn't leave the house today until Mike got home because we have only one set of door keys. Yes, I know we moved in a month ago - but for some reason, we have the "KEY THAT CAN NOT BE SUCCESSFULLY DUPLICATED." (cue fanfare) We have had this key cut at Home Depot three times, only to come home and find that the new key won't turn the front door lock. Finally Mike went to Menard's and they successfully made a copy - but that key is with my friend Leigh who comes over and checks on the cats while we're out of town visiting the fam. Soooooo...the first order of business today when Mike got home was to head to Menard's and have a key cut for me so that Mike is no longer the Keymaster...which I guess would make me the Gate Keeper? Well, whoever I am, I have keys now! Huzzah!

We're still waiting for Mike to break his big news online but if you're too antsy to wait for the lazy slug to blog, you can find a hint on Dec. 1 of our Google Calendar.

Did you know #2 - Mike (from Kelly)

This did you know has been submitted by Kelly - (see comments on Did you know #1)

Did you know that mike used to use a turkey baster as a microphone (i think that's the utensil it was) and he called it his "do da"?

**Update**

Mike has added that the song he used to sing into his "do da" was 'Macho Man' by the Village People.

Did you know #1 - Cindi

Did you know that when I was about four, my Granny inadvertently terrorized me for over a month? My mom had just had my little brother, Matt and I was really curious about babies. I'm sure I was asking her some questions that I wasn't old enough to have answered about where babies come from. So, to answer me, she simply said that God knows when you're ready to have a baby and gives the mommy one in her belly. This is actually probably a fairly decent answer for a four year old but (to me anyway) she made it sound like it just happened to people indiscriminately. One day, you woke up pregnant! I was terrified! Every night for at least a month when I prayed, I would say, "And God, please don't give me a baby. I'm just a little girl." Then finally, I decided I'd made my point and I could let down my guard.

So, just a note - if you're going to try a similar approach someday, you might want to be just a bit more specific.

A new addition

If you're looking, you'll see that we've added a link to our Google calendar on the sidebar. I just got started, so it only has about 2 things on it, but I've decided to get a family calendar going to try and keep us up to date organizational wise and hopefully it'll help everyone keep up with us. Not that we're all that exciting or anything...you know, whatever. :D

I'm also instituting a two new features of this blog called, "Remember that time when..." and/or "Did you know...?" If you have a story to contribute or a request for a story that you want us to tell, just drop us an email.

Mike has news but I don't want to steal his thunder. I'm trying to get him to blog about it himself. C'mon, Mike! Get it together, man!

Another good quote - (while you wait)

Grief. The pain now is part of the happiness then. That's the deal. -C.S. Lewis

Dammit!

I just wrote a post only to have my computer "tewt" and lose it. I am too irritated to recreate it at this time. Stay tuned for more info.

I love Shakespeare

Sonnet 1

From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty's rose might never die,
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heir might bear his memory:
But thou contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed'st thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance lies,
Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel:
Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament,
And only herald to the gaudy spring,
Within thine own bud buriest thy content,
And, tender churl, mak'st waste in niggarding:
Pity the world, or else this glutton be,
To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee.

Why get out of bed in the morning?

My mom's big sister, my aunt Kathryn, found out yesterday that she has lung cancer. I know no further information and am praying for an early detection etc. Apparently our family has not suffered enough.

Words to live by

I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. ~Gilda Radner

A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

My aunt Kathryn is in the hospital. I'm still not exactly sure what's up on that front - something about walking pneumonia, I believe. I'm hoping for good results because when my dad called to tell me, they had moved her out of the ICU and into a regular hospital bed.

My dad's good friend from his Vietnam days, Marvin, was sent home from the hospital today. When he first said this I thought it was good news but it turns out that he is dying and he wanted to die at home, so they released him. Dad said that they told them he only had another 24 hours or so left. I didn't ever meet Marvin but I have heard stories about him since I was little and I know that my dad is probably feeling pretty down, so send warm fuzzies his way, will ya?

I got an email today that a friend of a friend lost his dad on Halloween. I don't really know the friend of a friend and I don't know his dad at all but the news hit close to home and I really feel bad for the family.

Just a weird thing I found out today - that quote that I found on my mom's locker. My personal mantra, if you will..."Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." I always knew she didn't think it up herself and that it came from somewhere...but today I found out who said it. Dr. Seuss. Who knew?

Peace!

Dating really sucks

I got this off one of the other blogs that I read semi-regularly. This guy really makes me appreciate Mike.

Are the stars out tonight?

If I had to pin down one thing that I miss about not living in Iowa, I would have to say it would be the stars. On a clear night, you can see eternity. You don't get skies like that in Chicago. Even when it's clear, there is a big city haze that prevents you from seeing the pinpoints of light. When I was a kid, I used to lay in the yard and look up at the night sky. Life seems so much simpler under an Iowa sky. When I couldn't sleep last night, I lay down on the grass in the yard, looked up at that clear star-filled sky and listened to my MP3 player - contemplating the universe unfolded before me and my place within it.

My friend Amy's mom tells a story about her parents which I always think about now when I'm star-gazing. Wanda lost both of her parents within four months of each other in late 2003/early 2004. Her mom had cancer and it slowly killed her. Then just after the new year, her father went to Iowa City for a doctor's appointment and had a massive heart attack in the waiting room. Wanda says that as she was driving home following her mom's death, she noticed an especially bright star which she thought seemed to follow her home. She saw this star out in the night sky every night. A few days after her father's death, she noticed a second especially bright star in a separate part of the sky. Every night for the next few months, she says, she watched those stars get closer and closer together in the night sky until finally they sat in the sky side by side where she still sees them. Her father had found her mother and they now sit together in that night sky forever.

Do I believe that Matt and my mom have become stars in the night sky? Not really - but I think it's a great story and one that brings a lot of comfort to Amy's mom where nothing else did. I will say this, though. As I lay there in the grass, staring up at a sky overflowing with those beautiful gaseous bodies, the song "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley came through my headphones. If you haven't heard that song, check it out. A hauntingly, sad and beautiful melody. Anyway, this song came through on my headphones and I felt so peaceful. I haven't felt truly good and at peace in over seven weeks. I didn't feel alone. It was as if those stars truly were shining souls surrounding me. I revelled in that feeling for as long as it lasted and for those minutes it was as if the last few weeks had never happened.

Whether people go to a place called Heaven or merely take their spot among the other heavenly bodies, one thing is clear to me. Everything is better under an Iowa sky.

She Is Gone

She is Gone

You can shed tears that she is gone
Or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see her
Or you can be full of the love that you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember her and only that she is gone
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back,
Or you can do what she would want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

David Harkins

Here we go again

And here we are - after 2 am and I'm awake. I'm so tired of insomnia. It's not the same insomnia that I had right after my mom died. That was relentless. I dreaded bedtime because that was when the full weight of everything would hit me and leave me feeling like someone had ripped out several of my vital organs with a dull spoon. Everything hurt then. My chest ached, my stomach hurt from the nausea that never ended, my eyes burned and my nose was sore, dry and flaky from crying, my head hurt from the stress and thinking too much and all of my muscles screamed from the tension that never left my body. In the six weeks since her death, I've learned to get through the day little by little. At first, I was literally taking everything minute by minute. Gradually, I could get through a few hours without breaking down and I've gotten to the point where I can almost go a whole day without freaking out and blubbering all over myself. I haven't done it yet, though. If the meltdown occurs early-ish in the day, I can go to bed in my own bedroom. If not, I've learned to lay down in the other room until it passes so that I don't keep Mike up. Sometimes I fall asleep in the spare room watching tv and don't crawl into my own bed until early the next morning.

A day or two ago, someone told me that they knew "exactly how I felt" because her aunt had died. Now I do not doubt anyone's sincerity in grief but it was only due to sheer willpower that I didn't rip her eyeballs out and scream at her, "YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW I FEEL SO SHUT THE HELL UP!" Don't ever say that to me until your mom suddenly drops dead - then we'll talk. Have I mentioned that I've sliding into the "Anger" stage of grief? Big surprise, huh? I still spend a lot of my time in the denial phase - it's easier to handle. The "let's pretend Mom's on vacation" stage. Some days I feel like I hate everyone in the whole world who still has two living parents. I'm full of angst - perhaps I'll start listening to Avril Lavigne. Feh.

Well, Meme is curled up in a fuzzy little cat ball on the spare bed. I think I will join her and try to ride out this sleeplessness.

Maybe when I wake up I will feel more like relating the happenings of the last few days rather than spouting more drivel. Don't like my drivel? Too bad, suck it up...or hug it out, bitch - whichever's easier. Ha!

Peace!

Uh, yeah-

I got a firm talking to today. Apparently, according to my husband, my previous post was obnoxious and out of line. So...I have been ordered to issue a previously written statement as follows: (Ahem)

To anyone who was unaware that I was KIDDING when I said that I would not allow you in my home unless you bring me a present -

First of all, lighten up. Hee. (Mike didn't tell me to say that, that's my own addition). Secondly, I apologize if I sounded "obnoxious" and "money hungry." It was not my intention, I assure you. It was after 1 AM and we had been driving home from Michigan, I was tired and goofy and I was simply fooling around. I will be happy to allow you to enter my household without bringing me anything! Unless I don't know you and you're a stalker - I'm afraid that's a dealbreaker. In fact, Mike has forbidden me from accepting any gifts that people attempt to force upon me. Yeah - like that's gonna happen. ;) But I'm getting off point. Please accept my apologies for my apparent "uncool" sense of humor.

Peace!

Melrose Place - the next generation

We got a call on the machine while we were visiting Michigan this weekend. We've got the place on Melrose and we're a go for move-in. Huzzah!

The par-tay is on. We expect gifts of an extra-fine caliber. You will not be admitted on our new premises if you bear a less than stellar addition to our household. Oh, and by the way, people - I'm still holding out for a Brita Water faucet filter thing. Don't be cheap! Heh. If I don't get one soon, I will be forced to buy it myself (totally unacceptable, by the way) but I will do so if absolutely necessary. Of course then I will hunt you all down and slap each and every one of you upside the head with it. I (probably) know where you live. Let's face it, I think about a quarter of my readership died with my mom - so it's not hard to track down the other three. You know who you are.

Wow - I REALLY need to go to bed. I'm starting to get slap happy and goofy. I'll post more later (if you're lucky) - I just wanted to spread good news for once!

Peace!

Third times a charm?

Apparently Mike and I are cursed. Every time we find a place we really like (And we LOVED that place) something happens to make it not so perfect anymore. We put down a refundable deposit and made arrangements to talk to the realtor about meeting the landlord. We call the realtor on Monday as discussed and all is going as planned when the realtor drops a line in about how he made a mistake when he had first talked to us. It turns out the apartment is more expensive than he told us. A good chunk of change more. But, he said, he was going to talk to the landlord and see what he could work out. Mike and I discussed it and we both know that even if the landlord agrees to charge us what the realtor quoted to us - the first time we had to renew our lease he'd be jacking that rent up to what he was asking originally. Since the price we were quoted was at the top of our price range (actually $50 more than the max we had agreed on) adding more rent makes it way more than we want to spend.

BUUUUUUUUUT, we have found another place we like and we're hoping nothing happens to screw this one up. Nice neighborhood, has an upstairs and a downstairs, lots of storage space...I'm almost afraid to hope. Everybody cross your fingers for us.

Peace!

New address!

We've done it! We found an apartment that we like and that has the requirements that we want. We put some money down to hold the apartment until the landlord gets back into the city, early next week. We have a "to be scheduled" meeting with him when he returns. It's then that we'll be in negotiations - the tenant JUST moved out and the apartment hasn't been cleaned etc. I want the place scrubbed down really good and a few things fixed up before we agree to take it. The house is on the corner of Iowa street which I'll consider my own little piece of home in the city. Anyways, we've put down a refundable deposit to hold the place for us but the deal isn't done yet. Cross your fingers that all goes well with the negotiations and we'll keep you informed.

Oh, yeah -

City Colleges of Chicago called my references today, asking about me because they were "considering me for a position." I think the fact that they called my references is a good sign! Cross your fingers.

Moving on...

WE'RE MOVING. I'm a little nervous. We put in our notice to Matthew that we'll be moving out of the apartment on or before November 1st...and we haven't found an apartment to move into yet. Let me explain. The appeal for my unemployment came through and the original decision (to deny benefits) was overturned. So Mike and I came into a chunk of change - most of a summer's worth of unemployment that I didn't cash before. Not that it's a billion dollars but it's a nice nest egg. We had talked about moving but nothing really serious. Mike, being Mike, likes to look at apartments - even though we weren't really planning on moving right away. The next thing you know, we're looking at places. Then last night we saw a gorgeous place that we loved. A 2 bedroom apartment in Ukrainian Village with hardwood floors, high ceilings, storage in the basement...and a picture of Pope John Paul II in the hallway. We loved this place. I wanted to tell the guy that night that we'd take it but Mike wanted to look at the other places that we had appointments to see. But we made the decision that we were definitely going to move. Our lease is up and we have just outgrown the apartment we're in currently. It's a cute apartment and I adore Matthew - but we're tripping over our stuff and each other and if we re-sign the lease then we're there for at least another 6 months and we might end up divorced if we have to fight about the state of the apartment for 6 more months. :D We have no storage area and we have books and papers and CDs that are spilling out of every available area. Mike, being raised in the clean and orderly Kurczewski household is driven INSANE by this. Me, being raised in the clean but much less orderly Harris household, finds this a minor annoyance but Mike's complaining DOES drive me insane. Every day we have a conversation that is some variant on the following:

Mike: We need to clean up this apartment. There's all this stuff all over the place and it looks so cluttered in here.

Me: Where will we put this stuff? I like it to look nice in here too but there's just no place to put it.

Mike: I don't know - just figure it out. This is driving me crazy.

Me: You're driving ME crazy.

Mike: Yeah? We'll you're ugly. (Ok, ok...he doesn't really say that. Hee hee. )

But the conversation does deteriorate from there until I end up saying something like, "You're such a pain in my ass, Kurczewski."

On a side note, this conversation is making me miss my mom. The part where I accuse Mike of being a pain in the butt is where (if my parents were present) my dad would pipe up and say, "You don't have to take that from her, Mike." To which my mom would say, "You better watch it, old man, you're skating on thin ice" - as she drew herself up to her full height of 5'4 and looked him square in the...chin. But I digress -

I had pretty much set my heart on this place we looked at last night. My dad gave us enough money to cover the first month's rent and a full month's rent for security deposit - so we wouldn't have to dip into our savings at all to secure and rent a new apartment. (How could you not love my dad - not that money is the only reason I love him but y'know, money never makes anybody LESS loveable, right? *winkwink* I kid, I kid!) Mike called the lady today with a list of our questions and whatnot. Her son showed us the apartment last night and said that they usually ask for a month's rent for security. He said that they're considering putting a washer and dryer in the basement and that the fact that we're moving in on Nov. 1st probably wouldn't be a problem. Well, it turns out that his mom isn't quite as laid back as he is. Mike says she's very nice but firm. Turns out, she's not really going to put in a washer and dryer. Everybody uses the laundromat on the corner. I'm not crazy about the idea of schlepping the laundry down the street - but it's not a deal breaker. She has people looking at the apartment this weekend and if they want it before Nov. 1st, they'd get priority. Reasonable, I guess - business is business. The thing that is a deal breaker for me is the fact that she wants two months rent as a security deposit. That's crazy - I've never heard of anybody wanting so much money to move in. So we're looking at other places tonight - maybe we'll find the "perfect" place in the next few days - but I was majorly disappointed.

When it rains....

What the heck is going on! Three months - nothing. Nobody seems interested in my stupendous, fabulous job skills. All of a sudden, I've hit the lottery. Not that I'm complaining...it's just weird!

Today I had an interview with the City Colleges of Chicago. It went alright. I can never tell if I've impressed them. Every time I think I've made my mark and they like me, they never call. But I had an interview, I like the job that is open and I'm hoping.

I have another interview on Monday with a law firm. It's just an average everyday clerical job but it's got a decent salary, which is what I'm looking for. Plus I think there's a good chance that if I get this job, I can work my way into the researching side of the practice, which is where I'd like to be.

THEN, I got letter of interest from another law firm today. This job is on the research side of the firm and I REALLY want them to write me back and ask me for an interview. We'll see. :D

On my way home from my interview today, I got sick. When it's too warm on the bus/train, I get motion sick and I'm pretty sure that's what's going on here. I managed to hold in the "ick" until I got off the bus. I started to walk up the block to my house and threw up. Then I walked a few more steps and threw up again. One more time a little further up the block and I was home. I tried to be discreet about it and I tried to aim off of the sidewalk. Anyways, I got home and hung up my new power suit, which is bee-ee-ay-you-teeful. Then I laid down and I feel a lot better now. BUUUUUUUUUT, I'm afraid that I've caught a touch of a flu bug and I'm afraid to do too much. (Nobody get their hopes up, I'm not pregnant.)

Anyway, I think I'm going to take a nap and try to feel 100% before the end of the day.

Peace!

My daily ePrayer for today

Guide Me Through These Dark Days
O Lord, I am torn up with grief. I know you are there, but I cannot see pastmy sorrow and tears. Be with me, Lord, and do not take my unhappiness to heart. Rather, work within me to guide me through these dark days and bring your light to my life, so that I may see your goodness, even in my mourning.

A surprise

I got this link today in an advertisement email. It was dated September 2, the day of my mother's funeral. Click below to see.

My surprise>

Memories

The following is the text of a tribute given at my mother's funeral. It was presented by Melissa, the evening clerk for the department with which my mom was employed. This is her voice and not my own...

Nursing Memories of Linda Harris

Let us celebrate the nursing life of Linda Harris. It's my honor to share with you our memories as Linda's co-workers. Mary though of this good idea of creating this memory book for the family. Many of you had some 20 plus years with Linda. The memory book has so many kind words and funny stories that I've attempted to put together all we wrote. GRMC will miss this EXCEL employee. Most co-workers say she was caring, private, witty, a nursing resource, independent and loved her family and dogs. Linda loved nursing even though it has changed throughout the years and she continued working her profession to the end of her life. Her nursing knowledge helped each one of us in day surgery, ED, day hospital, PCU and 4West. Sherry Boeding and Kathy Thompson say she was known as a great resource RN starting on 4West and ending in day surgery.

One consistent trait shared throughout the memory book is Linda's dry send of humor. All of us have funny stories and we'd be here all day telling them so I'll spare us that and try to hit some highlights. Let us begin with 4West stories. Linda Anderson shares, "We both worked the same weekends on 4West and this one particular Sunday we were getting this very large lady off the commode. Somehow when we were trying to lift her up, the bedpan dropped to the floor and the lady's rear end sunk down in the commode and she was stuck. The harder we tried to lift her our to no avail, the funnier the situation became. The patient was not hurt, just stuck and every time we looked at each other, we could hardly contain ourselves - all the while trying to act professional and not have the patient catch on to how funny the situation had become to us, which was very difficult considering by then we had tears streaming down our faces. Finally, a big weight lifter CNA came to the rescue and lifted the patient out of the commode and put her back to bed. He didn't think the incident was that funny and looked at us like we'd lost our minds."

And here is another 4West story from Jacinta, "I had a patient who had a huge mess and it was so bad that I called the UCC [the front desk clerk] and said, "I need help stat!" The person responded, "Yeah, good luck getting some." I was so mad that I went out there to see who had said that to me and it was Linda with that grin, laughing."

One of my favorite 4West stories is this, "Linda was working the night shift with a nurse who changed the assignments. This nurse would take the very easy patients, like the comatose ones and those who slept the entire shift. Linda would end up running all night while this nurse sat there at the nurses station. One night, Linda had enough and as she was running room to room, she "revived" on of the comatose patients [she ducked into his room and hit his call light] and suddenly the call light was going off all night long. The lazy nurse didn't sit that night. To Linda's knowledge the nurse never did know how the comatose patient could use his call light."

Yes, Linda was ornery and borderline wicked sometimes with her sense of humor but she didn't mean any harm. So, if you're this nurse, please keep this in mind. Linda was conscientious and hopeful that her comments weren't hurtful. Many nurses understood Linda. Sandy Galt says she was often on the receiving end of Linda's sense of humor and loved it anyway.

Three years ago when I started working as the day surgery evening unit cler, Linda and Sherry Murphy were the evening nurses I worked with the most. Those two were quite a team. One busy night, a patient down the hall needed help. Linda started running and fell and then Sherry ran to help and tripped. PACU nurses came over hearing all the commotion and didn't know who needed the help - Linda, Sherry or a patient. Later, when things settled down, we looked at each other, laughed and drank a Diet Pepsi.

Sue Wilson remembers Linda as an avid Diet Pepsi drinker who loved sweets. I don't recall her sharing sweets, but Linda shared her DP drinks with others, even when she drank someone else's instead. Those of use who drank DP knew that if Linda made a mistake, she always bought another one to replace the one she drank. Often she would buy one just to be giving one to those sharing the addiction. She believed in giving.

The DeHague family has followed Linda from 4West to Day Surgery. Cindy DeHague was a clerk with Linda on 4West and Amanda as a nurse and then Bryon as a Day Surgery nurse and then, of course, Ryan as a transporter. Amanda recalls ten years ago, "Charlie and Linda let me borrow a cradle that Charlie had made for my daughter Ariana who is now 10. Also, I picked up a shift for Linda in day surgery. Linda and Cindi gave me a heart necklace and lotion for doing this." Linda expressed her thanks to this family and others.

Cindy [DeHague] says that her son, Bryon, found Linda as a mentor and friend. When Linda was off work recovering from surgery, Bryon picked up extra shifts, and Linda appreciated his support. When she returned to work, Linda exchanged her day shift hours with Bryon so that he could spend time with his family. Because family was important to her, she understood other co-workers who wanted to be with their families. She would tell other nurses to go home, especially if they had an activity involving their families. Linda offered her help with co-workers, even if it involved other duties not her own. She tore down charts, answered the phone, wheeled patients out, helped the liaison and always gave money toward gifts and donations. She believed that when you receive, you give. She believed in teamwork. Angela knows that Linda was a big team player in the unit and says she will miss her dearly.

Doctors even found Linda as a good nurse and an enjoyable colleague to work with. Kay Mullahy said that Linda loved to work with Dr. Vincent and that he was nice to her. Dr. Williams wrote that he used to talk with Linda about Indiana basketball, even though she liked the Hawkeyes. Dr. Carlson was her personal physician and says she was a kind, generous and quiet person, who never got over her son's death. Dr. Niehaus was called "Saint Michael" by Linda, even though even he knows that's not true.

Linda cared about the patients but found some people frustrating to care for, the ones who whined a lot and complained no matter what she did for them and those who craved constant attention. Very few knew that she felt this way, because she behaved professionally and made nursing a priority. Linda didn't complain about her own health and would not talk about her own pain. She took care of others without complaining even towards the very end of her life.

About a month ago, we were talking about how to accept people for who they are and how sometimes it's difficult to tolerate certain people. Linda came up with the most profound statement. I put this on my refrigerator.

"There are three types of people in the world:
1. People who make things happen
2. People who watch things happen, and
3. People who as, 'What the hell just happened?'"

Linda shared her feelings and thought about her family and dogs. She loved all of you, Charlie, Cindi, Jeff and yes, you, Caleb. Most nurses who bonded with Linda express that they know how much she loves Charlie. All of us know that Charlie is a good man. Kay said that when Linda came home with a dining room set, Charlie's co-workers couldn't believe she didn't ask his input. Charlie said, "She works hard. She makes money." Also, Linda volunteered her family members to help us. No matter if it was transporting a Christmas tree or helping with directions in Chicago, she offered help. She was very excited about Cindi getting married to Mike, but she wished he had a different last name, one she could remember and spell better. She talked about her dogs almost daily. All of us know that Linda never got over the loss of Matt and would at times grieve the loss quietly.

Yes, Linda had on her locker for all staff to read, "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened!" And now, this is the difficult part for all of us. We must somehow go on and smile because it happened, that we had the opportunity to work with this kind, funny and caring co-worker and friend. We have lost our evening nurse and friend, but we are so happy that we got to know her and spent so much time with a great nurse. So let's, "smile because it happened."

A postponement

Well, the "walk every day" regime has been postponed a day or two because I'm still in the grip of this wicked cold. I might try walking around a block or something but anything further than that and I'm coughing like a 3 pack a day smoker.

Wicked...that's such a fun word to me thanks to Good Will Hunting. "My boy's wicked smaht."

What else? Oh yeah...I had my appeals hearing with the unemployment office today. It was quite a shock to me since I hadn't known I was HAVING a hearing today - luckily it was by telephone and I was able to conduct it while wearing my pajamas. It was supposed to be at 11:30 but the guy called and asked if I'd like to have it early and I was starting to freak out because I thought I had to be downtown. The guy told me that it was a phone hearing (which I never heard of before) and I felt like an idiot for a minute. Anyway, the guy was quite affiable and the interview was quick. He went over the job search list I had and asked me if I had any restrictions that would limit my ability to look for work. I didn't. He'll make a decision today and mail out the decision tomorrow. So I'll know something in a day or two, theoretically.

The reason that this has been such a trial is because my employer called the state of IL and told them that I was attempting to defraud them. LIARS!!! They said that they had offered me classes and I refused to work and instead applied for unemployment. Mike and I talked about it and have decided that I will not be signing a contract to teach with them again. I am instead devoting myself to finding a full-time job asap. It was a tough decision. Well, it was and it wasn't. After they pulled this stunt (which could have gotten me in REALLY big trouble - In the extreme, I could have actually gone to jail if the state had decided to pursue it criminally) the last place I wanted to be was back working for them. But I had to be a grown up and think about paying bills. Luckily I have Mike, whose income pays our rent, utilities etc. Also luckily because he was so outraged on my behalf that he flat out refused to consider me going back to work for them. The fact is, I haven't been happy there for some time. I was hoping to find another job anyway. If I sign a contract with them, I'm stuck with them for another year. They don't pay well for the amount of work that is required of me, I've been physically threatened by students and have noticed the lack of administrative support when I try and set rules in my classroom. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. We'll be skating the thin edge for awhile - but we've got some savings and I'm going to be working my butt off to find a job. If I send out a hundred applications then surely one of them has to pay off, right? I hope so. Wish me luck!

Peace!

Sad, but true

The Broken Chain

We little knew that morning that God was going to call your name,
In life we loved you dearly,in death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you, you did not go alone.
For part of us went with you, the day God called you home.
You left us peaceful memories, your love is still our guide,
And though we cannot see you, you are always at our side.
Our family chain is broken, and nothing seems the same,
But as God calls us one by one, the chain will link again.

--Author Unknown--

Chuck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century!

I have news! My dad has email. It's been a bit of a struggle trying to remember how to log onto the internet, connect to his email account, log in and send mail but he's almost got it down pat now. The biggest problem came in the form that the internet dialup has a different login and password from email. I am soliciting people to keep in touch with my dad via email and if you'd like to have his email address, just drop me an email and I will be happy to provide it to you. I draw the line at posting it to the internet population at large.

I thought about throwing something in here about my dad, internet bimbos and him being "newly single"...but I ultimately decided that people wouldn't get my sense of humor and I'd come off sounding heartless. Our sense of humor is one thing that my mom and I had in common - very irreverent. Right after she died, we were discussing something in a crowd and it turned out that the date of the funeral was going to conflict with something or cause us difficulty in some way. I said, "Oh, way to go, Mom." My family got it - my dad, Jeff and Robin snickered but other people just looked shocked. I kinda bit my tongue but ultimately I decided that my mom woulda got the joke so I didn't care if it shocked everybody else. She'd want us to go on as we did before. Anybody who came in at the last ten minutes of my mom's visitation would have been in for a shock. Caleb, Jeff, Robin, Tracy, Mike and I were taking pictures of each other and fooling around with my camera-phone. By this time everybody'd been and gone and we were at the very end of the evening. Caleb wanted me to take his picture with the pillow he'd made for my mom which was propped against the wooden box that held the box with her ashes. He started to move the box and only the top part moved - it came away from the base a little bit and I automatically said (gently but quite alarmed), "Oh, Caleb! Don't move that! You'll spill Grandma." I looked at Jeff. He looked at me and the whole bunch of us started to laugh. We laughed so hard we were holding our sides and Jeff made the joke that if that happened we could change the words of "Grandma Got Runover By a Reindeer" to "Grandma Got Sucked Up in a Hoover." My mom would have loved it.

In other news, Mike barely survived through the day today after he attempted to "mute" me with the remote control.

Caleb competed in a tractor pull in Missouri this weekend and...ahem...he took third place. Not bad for his first time out, thankyouverramuch. And save the hillbilly-tractor-pull jokes for someone who isn't proud of it, k? ;) If you would like to send him congratulations, I will also be happy to provide you with his email address. I think those are the only emails I'm willing to give out, though...let me think about that....uh....yeah, definitely.

Also, I owe everybody a HUGE apology - thanks to Mike's mom for tell me! It turns out that somehow because I've been getting a lot of, like, spam comments, blogger set it so that I have to ok any comments that people make. I had a whole slew of them! Who knew. Also, I would like to know if the poster of the "Sandy's 3 1/2 years younger than me. Guess who?" comment is Mike's Auntie Bren. If not, then it's my mom. She and Mike's aunt were born one day apart. Please continue to comment. Reading the comments is half the fun. Oh, but - please, please, please...put your name on your comment somewhere. If you can't change anonymous to read your name, then just sign it. My head hurts from trying to figure out who all the "anonymous"es are.

I had a follow up doctor's appointment today. Mike's boss is an MD and he agreed to see me. He continued my anti-depressant prescription and changed my antibiotic because the one I had wasn't working. He said he could see evidence of drainage and some fluid in my ear. I was all smiley thinking all would be well. Then the nurse came in with my prescription, a sample pack with my anti-biotic in it...and a hypodermic needle. I'm glad Mike was there because I couldn't stop staring at the needle long enough to pay attention. I kept thinking, "Please don't let that be for me." And she said, "And I'm going to give you a shot of (whatever the drug was) which will help with your drainage and allergies." This is the first I've heard of allergies...apparently the doc thinks my chronic sinus problems are partly allergies. Anyways, I'm already semi-freaking out about the shot when she said, "You'll have to get down, I'm going to put this in your hip." GET THE HELL OUT OF TOWN! Not only a shot but a shot in the BUTT! I seriously looked at her and said, "Heeeeeeeeeeell, no." But then I got down and she gave me the shot and it wasn't HORRIBLE although it hurt. Pain is not my friend. And for being such a good girl, Mike bought me a video game. It was a clearance game...he'd only promised me a CD and this was actually cheaper. It's a pirate game where I search for treasure and kill monkeys. Why monkeys? No idea...it's odd, I know. Anyway, after all this Anglo-Needle Torture (As opposed to Chinese Water Torture, get it?), the nurse tells me that they want to see me in a month and to make sure I fast because THEY WILL BE DRAWING BLOOD.


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know that I need to do this because I want to take care of myself and getting a sort of base-reading on where I'm at is a good idea but I'm like, "Who is this mad man?! Can't you at least buy me dinner first? Geez." I'm also worried that in a month he'll tell me I'm diabetic. Now I have no real reason to believe this will be true except that it's on both sides of my family and I've always figured it's just a matter of time. I'm not having any symptoms that seem to indicate that I have out of control blood sugars or anything and so I could totally be worrying for nothing. Anyway, I've already made several lifestyle adjustments. Positive ones. No more soda, little to no fried foods, no potato chips (my big weakness) and I've started eating these Quaker Ricecake snacks and adding carrot sticks to my diet. The Rice snacks do taste a bit strange but I can handle it. Also, Mike and I are on the cusp of a new "take a walk every night" exercise regime. It starts Monday when I have (hopefully) gotten rid of this cold. We'll start with a set distance and add a block or two every other night. So really, being a diabetic wouldn't be the end of the world. I guess I'm just worried about trying to work in another big life change.

I do tend to ramble, don't I? I'm going to wrap this up and go and give my husband a big Ranch flavored Quaker Rice Snack kiss. He'll love that. Almost as good as blue cheese kisses or peanut butter kisses. Anyway, COMMENT, COMMENT, COMMENT and I'll try and get the Polish Wonder here to do a posting of his own.

Peace!

Where have all the readers gone?

Does anybody read this anymore? I haven't had a comment in, like, 2 months! Echo....echo....echo....

No matter. I will continue to dispense the facts regardless.

I talked to my dad today. It turns out that in January he can retire if he wants to. He'll receive widower benefits from social security and he can draw from his pension at work. He'll actually make more money this way than he would working. The only drawback being that he'll be without health insurance until medicare kicks in when he's 65. He'll be eligible for greatly discounted medical care at the VA hospital in Iowa City, though. He's thinking about it. I told him to talk to Mike's dad. He's retired and might be able to offer insight.

To top off an awful couple of weeks, I've got a cold. I'm on anti-biotics to get rid of a sinus infection and have somehow caught a cold. I'm achy, stuffed up, coughing and have a killer sore throat. I've also discovered that chamomile tea is a foul, foul beverage.

Mike's got two interviews today and one next week. Cross your fingers and send happy thoughts our way. It'd be great if he could get one of these jobs. It'd be nice if I could get an interview or two also...but one thing at a time.

I'm taking a nap. Behave!

Eastbound and Down

Tomorrow's (actually today now) the day - we head back to Chicago. Back to reality. Back to the real world. Despite how hard it's been to be in this house without my mother, it's going to be worse to go back to Chicago. It's easy to be surrounded by family and friends when in times of trouble - much less easy to be back a reality where few people care much about you. Oh I have friends - friends with lives who won't be able to take time off of work to sit around and mope with me. Mike will have to go back to work and won't be around to "just be there" for me. He doesn't say much but his presence is comforting. Not talking but enduring the scrutiny of hundreds of cousins and friends who hadn't yet met him...along with the lustful glances of my 85 year old Aunt Anna Margaret (my Granny's baby sister) who mentioned, very vehemently, what a handsome husband I had. Then she blushed when she realized that Mike was heading our direction and made me promise not to tell him that she'd said that.

I feel like my family has endured our fair share of grief in the last few years. It's hard to remember that everything happens for a reason in times like these. When Matt died I didn't think I could feel worse. As I sat on the couch in the front row at my mother's funeral and listened to my father sob next to me, I realized that there may be one person in the room who felt worse than I did. I vowed at that moment that it would not be Mike and my children sitting there in thirty years. One of the last things my mom said to me before I left Iowa the last time we visited was that she wished she'd started living healthier thirty years ago so that maybe she wouldn't have had to endure her heart attack and recovery - not to mention the fact that her heart was now so weak. I've made a plan consisting of three things that I am going to do within the next year.

1> Get a job. I can't really do 2 and 3 without a job as they take money that we do not currently possess.

2> Lose weight. I am setting a minimum goal of 50 pounds. I hope to lose more but at a minimum, I want to lose a pound a week. I can adjust what I eat fairly easily but my intentions to join the Y have been derailed by East-West University and the State of Illinois. That is what I'm going to do the minute I have the money. Spending money to be affiliated with an association is a guarantee that Mike will force me out of the house and onto the treadmill. Not to mention that Mike wants to get back in shape as badly as I do. We're going to do what we can without a gym membership but there's only so many places you can walk and certain hours that you can walk when you live in a big city - especially when your neighborhood borders more questionable neighborhoods.

3> Get pregnant. Not give birth - I'm not in a huge hurry for this one. Mike and I have been discussing kids and the death of my mom has made me realize that I'm not getting any younger. As I said, I'm not in a super rush. I want some time to prepare a nest egg and get healthier and get my body readier to be pregnant. My goal is to be pregnant by the end of August next year. Will this happen? Dunno - I'm not really in control of that...but I'm working on it.

I had better get to bed - it'll be a long drive tomorrow.

Goodnight.

Today

Today is my mother's funeral. In her honor, I would ask today that if your parents are living, you give them a call and tell them how much you appreciate them. If you are a parent, call your child/ren. Make good use of the opportunity that you have because I wish I had the same.

And in honor of my mother, I would like to take this opportunity to say to Mike's family, my family and my beautiful friends...."I love you."

I'm grieving...it's a process

Well here we are again in the middle of the night - seeking sleep but not finding it. I did manage to get a bit of sleep last night...mostly because I took a hefty dose of Xanax. I try to stay at about .25 - .50 mg but it has only been helping me sleep about 4 hours a night and I'm always afraid to take more at 4 in the morning because I don't really want to sleep all day. Last night I doubled the dose and took a whole mg. I slept almost all night. I'm still exhausted and I look like hell with dark circles and the whole bit. I guess considering that before last night I slept a maximum of 4 hours, I feel pretty good.

I've said this before, but it bears repeating. When I was about three years old, I was in Spurgeon's department store with my mother and we got separated. Being three, I was sure that I was never going to see my mother again and I was in a state of panic until a nice lady took me to the customer service desk where they paged overhead for "Lucinda's mother to please come to the service desk." That is the same feeling I've had for the past four days. This panicky, little kid-like fear never leaves me. This time, though, there is no service desk to page her.

There is a line that has been running through my head all day. It is from the Edna St. Vincent Millay poem that I posted on the blog a couple of months ago to commemorate the anniversary of Matt's death. "More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world."

Tonight we taught my dad how to play Mike's Grandpa's dicey game.

Today Chaplain Randy from the hospital where my mom works stopped out to see us. He's so wonderful - I've always really liked him but saying nice things about my mom always earns extra brownie points. He brought us this really pretty wooden keepsake box and a book with poetry, pictures and advice on how to work your way through the grieving process. In the book was this poem by Robert Browning which I really like:

I walked a mile with Pleasure;

She chattered all the way.

But left me none the wiser

For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow

And ne'er a word said she;

But, oh the things I learned from her

When Sorrow walked with me.

The cards started coming in today. We got some from friends, one from her doctor's office and one from her former insurance agent. That's the beauty of small, closely-knit communities, I guess. Everybody remembers you.

We met with the lady who will be conducting Mom's memorial service. She wanted to speak with us and "get to know" Mom a little bit. She asked me why she was a good Mom. What made her a good Mom? I couldn't answer. How do you sum up something so large into a few words? She was my everything. She loved me more than anyone in this world will EVER love me. She gave me life and until last Friday I had never known a world without her. I told the reverend that I will think about it and try to put it into words. I started to write down things I remember about my mom into a small notebook that I'm carrying around with me. I was doing alright and then writing "I always had to save the pecans in the mixed nut container for her. She told me that her mom always got the pecans when she was growing up, she will get all the pecans while I am growing up and then when I have kids I can make them give me the pecans" made me cry.

I went and visited my brother's memorial marker today. I was feeling low and very alone. I can't say I miraculously felt better or anything but I did manage to remind myself that Matt was there to meet her when she died and he's probably got the best spots scoped out for her already.

My mom had a saying taped to the front of her locker at work and I've decided to adopt it as my personal mantra. Whenever I get down and feel sorry for myself, I'll say, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

Yesterday I went down to the hospital where my mom works to clean out her locker and talk with everybody. I saw tons of people and it took me all day to get done and out of the building. When I expressed how much I'll miss seeing my mom to her friend and co-worker, Sandy (who has worked with her forEVER), she touched my face and said, "Whenever you miss your mom's face, look in the mirror and there it is."

Tomorrow Mike and I are going to have lunch with my mom's long-time best friend, a woman she always referred to as "Marvelous Martha" Schumacher. I'm rather looking forward to it.

I know this is sort of a spastic post - all over the place...but that's how my thought processes are working right now. Wanna fight about it? Didn't think so.

I'm going to try and sleep now - wish me luck.

Arrangements...

As most of you probably know but some of you may not, my mother died unexpectedly on Friday, August 25th. I wanted to let everyone know about the funeral arrangements that we've made. I also want to take this opportunity to send my heartfelt thanks to everyone for their thoughts, calls and prayers.

As per my mother's wishes, she has been cremated. Her ashes will be combined with my baby brother's. When my father passes, his ashes will be added and we will scatter them so that they may remain together forever.

There will be a visitation to honor my mother's memory on Friday, September 1, 2006. The funeral home will be open from 9AM until 8PM and the family will be receiving visitors from 6PM until 8PM. There will be additional visitation time from 10AM until 11AM on Saturday, September 2, 2006. There will be a memorial service on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 11AM. Following the service, there will be an on-site luncheon. A memorial has been established in her name.

The visitation and memorial service will be held at:

Elliott Chapel
One Redbud Lane
New London, Iowa 52645
319-367-5211

If you want an address and/or phone number for myself, my father or my brother, Jeff, you may respond in the comments, give me an email or call my cell phone if you have the number.

Insomnia

I'm sitting here at my mother's computer and it's 3:30 in the morning. I can't sleep. I feel like I'll never sleep again. I keep looking over at the couch because ordinarily, if I was sitting here on the computer in the middle of the night, she'd be asleep on the couch by the window with a couple of her dogs.

I do pretty good for awhile and then I fall apart for a little bit. I've cried so much that at one point, I couldn't produce tears anymore. I sat there with my face scrunched up, making crying noises but producing no waterworks.

Poor Mike has had the worst of it. He's been very solid and stoic thusfar and I know he feels so bad for me. He was with me when I found out she had died. He followed me around when I decided that I couldn't be in the house anymore and he was the one who held me while I literally screamed at him, "No! I can't go through this again! This isn't happening! I want my mom! Make it stop! I WANT MY MOM!"

The worst bit tonight was when I was looking through some pictures that my mom has tucked away in one of her desk drawers. There are so many cute pictures of us as kids, my cousins, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. It was fun. I was laughing at this picture of my mom holding my baby brother...and he really was a baby at this point, maybe a year old. In the picture she's grinning, bent over partway with Matty in her arms while he giggles and grabs ahold of her father (my grandpa Parker's) hair. My grandpa has this really funny look on his face. It's a great picture. Then, even as I laughed at it, I suddenly had this bone-chilling thought. "Everyone in this picture is dead." My laughter died and I was suddenly bawling like a two year old again.

I thought to myself today, "Y'know, people go through this every day." I mean, I'm certainly not the only person in the world to lose a parent. Not even the only one to lose one on Friday. People deal with this every day but, Oh dear God, I don't know how they survive. I mean, I know I will. As my mother always says, "Remember, 'This too, shall pass.'" And so it will.

But who's going to help me solve all my problems? Who's going to buy useless little trinkets and give them to me when I visit? Who's going to buy me Angel Cheeks figurines and Willow Tree Angels that I've run out of room for? Who's going to listen to me complain, give me advice and always say, "You know, Lucinda, these things have a way of working themselves out."? Who?

I'm so lost.

An update

Mike and I have arrived at my parents' house. We're scheduled to meet with the funeral director tomorrow to make arrangements. I'll keep you updated as well as I can.

Thanks to everyone who is sending well wishes and prayers our way. I'm not ashamed to tell you that we need them right now. We're holding it together as best as we can here but everywhere around are things to remind us what we have lost.

Originally we had thought that Mom was at home when she started having trouble and drove herself to the hospital. She drove to the hospital, parked her car, locked it and went into the emergency room. Once in the lobby, she lost consciousness and collapsed. The staff were unable to revive her. She never regained consciousness and died shortly thereafter. The staff tried to call my dad, who was at work, and were unable to reach him. They then called my mom's brother, my uncle Mike. He drove into Mt. Pleasant and had them get my dad. Uncle Mike told him that my mom was gone.

It turned out that she never made it home after work. My mom worked her shift at the hospital and started to come home. When she started having trouble, she turned back around and drove back to the hospital. This answered any lingering questions about why she'd driven herself to the hospital instead of calling an ambulance. We figured this out when my dad and my uncle drove down to the hospital to pick up her car. She always had something to eat waiting for my dad when he got home from work. When my dad got into her car to drive it home, there was a styrofoam container on the passenger seat. He opened it and found food that she was bringing home for him. If she'd made it home, she'd have taken the food inside.

Funeral arrangements will be made through Elliot Chapel in New London, Iowa. We're thinking a weekend service so that her co-workers will have the option to attend but nothing is set yet. I'll post more when we solidify arrangements.

If you're a church goer, light a candle for my mom. We miss her.

Agony

I'm sorry to inform you that my mother, Linda Eileen Harris, died yesterday. I wish I had more to say right now, but I'm still reeling from the shock. I've only known that she's been gone for a couple of hours and I'm heartsick.

I do not know much at this point. Arrangements will be made and I'll try to keep everyone updated on what is going on. I only know that I feel like my world is ending. I hurt so much but I'm trying to hold it together because I know she is with my brother right now and that she's so happy to see him. I want to rejoice in that knowledge but all I can think is, "Oh, God...what will I ever do without her?"

Meet Harley

Harley stayed with us for two weeks. She made Furio and Meme absolutely crazy. More Meme than Furio, actually. She's not a cat cat...if you know what I mean. Every time one of my cats would get within five feet of her, she would hiss and spit and raise a commotion. For the first few days, Meadow tried SO hard to be her friend. She pestered her to absolutely no end. Then one day, Harley was sitting on the bed with me and Meadow was in the doorway between the kitchen and bedroom just sort of daydreaming. Harley meowed to get Meme's attention and when Meme looked up at her, Harley crawled up into my lap and rolled over on her back...just totally hamming it up. From that moment, IT...WAS...ON. Meme went from, "Hey, another cat! Please be my friend." to "I hate that bitch and she hate me." Poor Furio had no idea what was going on. He didn't want to be anybody's friend and he didn't pester anybody but every time he went to the water dish, there was drama. Now he is way bigger than Meme and quite a bit bigger than Harley but he's the biggest chicken I've ever seen. He'd back down every time Harley even looked at him mean. Whenever you'd hear the hissing and growling and spitting that indicated Meme and Harley had inadvertently crossed each others' paths, he'd have to see what was going on...but you'd only see his eyeballs or the tips of his ears as he peeked out from behind something. No way was he getting inbetween those two. Ahh...good times.

Anyway, Harley stayed at our house while we were out searching for her owners. My friend, Leigh, had found her outside of her house and asked if we could watch her for a couple of days. We put up posters all over the neighborhood and put up ads on the internet. I called every no-kill shelter in the Chicagoland area but no one would take her. The Treehouse Animal Foundation called back and asked a bunch of questions stating that they might have room for her and that someone would call me back. Yeah...right. VERY
UNPROFESSIONAL. I'm still mad about that. At the time we thought she might be in pain because it looked like she might have a hip injury. As we had her longer, we realized it was an old injury that hadn't healed quite right. But, anyway, I'm still really mad that they didn't have the courtesy to call me back and tell me that they didn't have room for her. At least the other places told me that they didn't have room for her and suggested other places to try. Yeesh.

Anyways, moving on...after two weeks we were afraid that she'd just been abandoned. We were sure she wasn't a "professional" street cat. She was completely de-clawed, was super friendly with people and would only eat canned cat food. She'd obviously been well taken care of. Leigh began making plans to take Cat (as I called her at that time...original, I know. What do you want? She answered to it and she really liked it when I sang that "Cat Ballou" song to her.) into her apartment and introduce her to her multitude of cats. Then at nearly midnight on a Saturday night, we got a message on our answering machine. Someone said she thought she knew Cat. It turns out that Cat aka Harley's parents had been in Thailand! They'd gotten home on that Saturday and had asked their friend Amanda if she had seen Harley, who had apparently gotten out when their pet sitter was there to feed them. Amanda had seen our signs but hadn't realized Harley was missing. The next day, Ravital and Pete (Harley's parents) called us and came over to pick her up. One big happy ending. Cue the sappy music.

A funny sidenote...the entire time Harley was staying with us, Mike complained about having an extra cat in the house. Extra food to buy, extra litterbox to change - cat animosity....cat girls gone wild? Whaaaaat? When I would mention doing something, like putting adoption feelers out in Iowa and/or Michigan, Mike would kinda pout and say things like, "I just don't feel like this should be our responsibility." Meaning transporting said cat out of state and calling all these shelters etc. Nevermind that this cat friggin' loved him. She was all about Mike and he would lay in bed with her talking baby talk. (But then the next morning, he'd be like, "Did you call Leigh? When is she going to come and get her?") He's such an enigma. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAnyway, Ravital and Pete came to pick her up and they gushed and made a big deal about thanking us for taking care of her. They brought us chocolates from Thailand and offered us free massages (they're both massage therapists...can you say 'jackpot'?) They kept thanking us and Mike said, "Oh, no problem. We loved having her."

What...the...?

I wanted to turn around and be like, "You lying bitch!" But I just smiled and went along.

Anyways, today is August 16th and as such, I must (it is required by law) wish Happy Birthday!!! to both my big brother, Jeffrey and my mother-in-law, Sandy (Mike's mom in case you're confused.) Holla back, yo!

P.S. Next time you see him, ask Mike how old his mom is. He has no friggin' clue. Actually he might now, because I told him. How sad is THAT! Geez.

How old are they you ask? Well, I'm not telling. But I'll give you some hints - you see if you can figure it out.

Memorable Events from the year Mike's mom was born:
Ronald Reagan married Nancy Davis. Sun Records in Memphis began releasing records. Hemingway published, "The Old Man and the Sea." The Detroit RedWings swept the Montreal Canadians to win the Stanley Cup. The Polish Constitution was adopted. Other notable births in this year: Christopher Reeve, Mr. Potato Head, Dan Akroyd, Jimmy Connors, Patrick Swayze and PeeWee Herman.

Memorable Events from the year my brother was born:
The Beatles movie, "Let It Be" premiers in the US. "Four dead in Ohio" as the National Guard kills four people at Kent State. Peter Queen quit Fleetwood Mac to join a religious cult. The voting age is lowered to 18. Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix both die from drug overdoses within a couple of weeks of each other - both are only 27. John Wayne wins an Oscar. Earth Day is celebrated for the first time. Other notable births in this year: Andre Agassi, Uma Thurman, Secreteriat (the horse that won the Triple Crown), Malcolm Jamal Warner, River Phoenix and Kelly Ripa.

Figure them out yet?