Parting

Parting – by Charlotte Bronte

THERE'S no use in weeping,
Though we are condemned to part:
There's such a thing as keeping
A remembrance in one's heart:

There's such a thing as dwelling
On the thought ourselves have nurs'd,
And with scorn and courage telling
The world to do its worst.

We'll not let its follies grieve us,
We'll just take them as they come;
And then every day will leave us
A merry laugh for home.

When we've left each friend and brother,
When we're parted wide and far,
We will think of one another,
As even better than we are.

Every glorious sight above us,
Every pleasant sight beneath,
We'll connect with those that love us,
Whom we truly love till death !

In the evening, when we're sitting
By the fire perchance alone,
Then shall heart with warm heart meeting,
Give responsive tone for tone.

We can burst the bonds which chain us,
Which cold human hands have wrought,
And where none shall dare restrain us
We can meet again, in thought.

So there's no use in weeping,
Bear a cheerful spirit still;
Never doubt that Fate is keeping
Future good for present ill!

Sweet Sorrow

Well, I imagine this will be the last post from me for a few days. After I finish, I'm going to take down the computer, tie up all of the cords and clean the desk. Bags are packed - except for those odds and ends that always seem to pop up last minute. The bathroom is immaculate. You could eat off of the floor in there. In fact, my cookies are slightly frosted because I'm actually leaving this place cleaner than I found it. I'm trying to combat that by repeating the mantra, "Do unto others....do unto others...." I hope Andrew (the man who is moving out of our new place tomorrow) is saying the same thing. If I get there and find out that I have to clean that bathroom, too...well, I'm probably going to show off the vocabulary I learned while growing up with brothers. Andrew is a bachelor and while his house was quite clean for a single man...well, the bathroom was something out of my nightmares. I hate cleaning bathrooms and though I will put off cleaning the bathtub for as long as possible, my bathroom is never that dirty. Besides, I can deal with my own cleaning issues...but the idea of standing in someone else's shower funk? Ugh. I just threw up in the back of my mouth a little bit.

So tomorrow we'll be out of here. We're so happy. Mike's positively giddy. And it's hard not to be giddy when Mike is. We're polar opposites on this. I was really excited at the outset and have steadily gotten sick of packing and calling to rearrange everything. Mike was really dreading the whole moving process but as it has gotten closer, he's thrown himself headlong into the project. Which is just as well, because I've been less and less help as it has gotten closer.

Well, dear reader(s)...all four of you...you probably won't hear from me (electronically anyways) until we get our internet hooked up on Tuesday. (High speed! YaY!) I know that it's only a couple of days but three days without television and internet feels like I'm being deported to Siberia.


Back soon!

Still.

Still Packing. Still finding weird stuff in the closets.

An Unusual [for us anyway] (Non) Conversation

Mike: I thought if we got done with everything today you could take me to a movie.

Cindi: (opens mouth to speak)

Mike: I guess we could save some money and stay home and watch Weeds.

Cindi: (opens mouth to speak)

Mike: Actually, I think that's what I'd rather do.

Cindi: (opens mouth to speak)

Mike: That's a really good idea. Thanks, pea.

Cindi: (looks confused) uh...sure. You're welcome.

T-27 Hours

So the moving process is nearing a crescendo. Mike was up until 5 AM this morning packing up pretty much everything that hadn't been packed already. (I was in bed by 2...he's insane!) We still have to pack up our clothes but that's about the only thing that hasn't been boxed and labelled. We're going to do the clothes this afternoon, so we're hoping to be ready way ahead of "Zero Hour" - which is approximately 3 PM tomorrow when the moving men are to arrive. Once I'm done finishing some last minute business on the internet, the computer'll be packed up and put away, too.

That leaves us with the last minute cleaning. Dang. That means I have to clean the bathtub today. Dang. I was thinking today...our moving company costs $92 an hour. $92. An. Hour. For that kind of money, they should box up my things, move my stuff, clean my old apartment and give me a massage to relieve the tension headache I've got from all of this moving stress.

That thought led me to this one...I wonder if we'll have cute moving men. Somehow the whole thing would seem less like a rip off if I've got some eye candy to look at. As opposed to the big, hairy guy whose shirt doesn't quite cover his belly. I've never used a moving company before...so many unknowns. Then I thought...what if we have a moving woman. That'd be awesome! Girl Power! Then I thought - no, no. No moving women. Mike is too much of a gentleman to let a girl lug our big 'ol couch up three flights of stairs and I'm not paying $92 an hour for him to help carry it upstairs.

Then I remembered the curse words that he said when we were moving the furniture into the house with my Dad's help and I realized we're probably alright no matter who they send.

Crabby

I'm in an incredibly bad mood tonight and trying not to be. Why am I in a bad mood? Well - mostly because we're moving and it's stressing me out. We move out on Sunday and we're only about half packed. I know that tomorrow night and Saturday are going to stink. We'll be spending the whole weekend boxing up the rest of the stuff.

Half of my stuff is in boxes - but apparently the half that I need to use. I have a headache but in order to take care of it, I'm going to have to root through the box containing the contents of our medicine cabinet. Fun.

Moving isn't all bad, I guess. I have come across some more pictures that I haven't seen in a long time - like these of baby and medium sized Furio.

Look at how young I am here. I'm so cute! And Furio's not bad either. He's probably looking at these and thinking, "Look how thin I am."

Oh...and this one may be my favorite. When I get a chance, I'll take his picture with this toy (which he still plays with) so you can see what a huge difference the past few years has made.

I also have homework to do and lesson plans to put together. Bah! Life is so complicated.

Tag and Release

Mike and I stopped at the pet supply store today to look for soft carriers for our cats. With the upcoming move, we realized that we need to be able to move both of them at the same time. We've always tried to be responsible cat parents and when we saw the machine that would engrave tags while we waited, we decided that we should definitely invest in tags for our kitties. Our cats don't go outside but every once in awhile, they make a break for it. I don't know what they think they'll find out there, but they seem to want to find out.

We figured that we'd find a little resistance to the new collar and tags. I expected Furio to throw a hissy and he certainly did. I doubled up laughing while he rolled around on the floor and stuck his butt in the air while desperately trying to get the collar and tag in his mouth. However, after his first desperate attempts to dislodge it, Furman adjusted well to his new collar and tag - other than being angry with us for having the nerve to force him to suffer through the indignity of wearing a collar. Mike picked out a Harley Davidson collar for him. I've never thought of Furio as a Harley Davidson cat. He's much more of a Calvin Klein, DKNY, Gucci, Prada-type cat. Unfortunately, none of these choices were available at "Pet Supples Plus."

Meme, on the other hand, is being driven crazy by this new dangly thing that she desperately wants to gnaw on but can't get into her mouth. She goes for awhile without incident and then you'll hear "jingle, jingle, jingle" from the other room while she contorts her body in an attempt to reach it.

They're not reacting well to the packing up of our belongings either. They get more tense with every box of possessions that gets moved out of the house and into the storage room to await the moving men this weekend. It should be an interesting weekend...for all four of us.

MMMMM....breakfast

Don't Tell!

Shhh! Don't tell my teacher, but I've been getting some help filling out this take home test.

Charlie's Revenge

Once upon a time, when I was about 18 months old, my dad was playing with me for a bit before he went off to his job as a guard at the factory where he worked until he retired. Long story short, moments before he had to leave in order to make it to work on time, I peed on his leg. Naturally, my mother found this very amusing and gleefully retold the story until I was well into my twenties.

Last night, 29 years later, Charlie had his revenge. I was on the snowmobile ride with Lyric sitting on my lap. Sometime during the ride, we had some sort of pull-ups malfunction.

Lyric peed on my leg.

My Thankful Thursday

I've decided to take a page out of my Aunt Linda's book and have my own Thankful Thursday today. So, you will see a list of things that I am most thankful for today:

thrift stores with a good book selection
my family - both sides
kitty kisses
my friend, Vitka, who's always there when I need her
my friend, Rachael, who makes me laugh
furry bed companions who keep me warm
ibuprofen and sinus medicine
weiner dogs
God
70 degree days
Mike, who drives me where I need to go even when he doesn't want to (I'd be extra thankful if he'd do it without whining but I'll take what I can get. :D)
season hockey tickets!!!! YaY! Go Blackhawks! (Mike and my first game is tonight!)

Dave and Buster's or Bust!

Mike and I went with Sarah and Lyric to Dave and Buster's today to have a night out to celebrate Lyric's 2nd birthday which was last week! I thought I'd share a few of the pictures we took.


Playing Skeeball with Uncle Mike...

Lyric and Uncle Mike riding the snowmobile ride. She loved this one. Every time it was over, she'd say "Again! Again!" She rode it with all three of us more than once.

Lyric and Mom driving the speed boat. Lyric's a crazy driver...always trying to drive the boat on land.

Between us, we'd won 2100 tickets! This is all the stuff Lyric went home with. As you can see, she has a pink Hello, Kitty bracelet, a Princess wallet, a Princess diary, some temporary tattoos, a yellow bear, a pink bear (which she gave to Aunt Sassy aka Me), and a pint glass that she gave to Uncle Mike. As you can tell, it's the end of the night - about 9:30 PM and she's ready to pack it in. She had so much fun, though. We had to pass through the game room on our way to the bathroom and while she was eating, she'd say, "Gameth! Gameth!" and wiggle. She and Mike were done eating really quickly and Uncle Mike took her to play some games while her mom and I finished eating.

I don't know if it's because she doesn't see her Dad as much right now (they split up, tried to reconcile and it looks like they may be splitting again), but she was attached to the hip with Mike. When he went to the washroom, she hollered after him, "Mike! Mike! Mike!" At the end of the night, he went to get the car and picked us up at the door and while he was gone, she said, "Mike! Mike!" and cried until he drove up. Then, I don't think she realized he was driving, because she turned in her seat, looked out the back window and yelled, "No! No! Mike! Mike!" I think she thought we were leaving him behind. When we showed her that he was driving the car, she calmed down and went to sleep on the way home. I'm betting she sleeps good tonight.

Stories From a Move

I went through my "under the bed" storage container today to see if there was anything in there that I was willing to part with as it was so full that I am on the verge of having to invest in another one. Alas, most of the stuff stays as it is things I am sentimental about. I'm thinking of putting together a book with all of the birthday/Christmas cards Mike and I have received.

There's every love letter that Mike ever wrote me in there. And I found out (when he moved in) that he'd saved every love letter that I ever wrote to him, too. So basically, our entire written relationship exists in that container.

Lots of pictures, our wedding invitations, funeral cards, a picture drawn for us by Big Boy JO-ey and even, believe it or not, our old license plates from Michigan and Indiana. Don't ask - I'm not sure myself.

Here, you'll see a few of my favorite "Oh I forgot I had that" things.

First up, Carter's birth announcement. Of course, pudgy little Carter was very cute, but I thought Cole was about the most adorable thing I'd ever seen in this picture.


Second, the autograph that Mike got me from Federico Castellucci of Sopranos fame. He was appearing at a mall (I think) in Michigan but I was living in Iowa at that time. Mike (and I believe my brother-in-law, Scott) went to see him. Instead of getting it for himself, Mike (,also a huge Sopranos fan,) asked him to make it out to me. I still get all warm and fuzzy when I think about Mike giving up his autograph for me. #459 on the 'Reasons I Love Mike' list - Got me Furio's autograph. (And, yes - this would be my cat's namesake).

And here you see Mike with the other Furio - as a baby. Man, wasn't he a cute one.

Lastly, Mike's and my first "relationship" picture together. Taken in August, 1997, we would have both been 20. We look so young!

Mike, Only 98 Days Until Christmas

I must have this.

Another Post About My Cats

So, we have returned from our weekend trip to Iowa and I haven't been able to shake my furry shadows.

I have been lying in the guest bed reading a book and, as you can see, I have had company. But it doesn't end there. They've followed me around the kitchen, bathroom, living room and have been rubbing on my legs while I sit here typing on the computer.

Meme is just happy to see us. Furio, however, is torn between being glad to see us and being really, really mad at us for leaving him for the second time in four weeks. He has to sit right by me but he doesn't want to be touched or snuggled. That's my punishment, I suppose. I'm sure he believes me in agony at not being allowed to pet and scratch him. Cats are so funny.

"Beware of people who dislike cats." - Irish proverb

Exhibit A

Back Row: Mom, Uncle Mike, Me

Front Row: Grandpa Parker, Jeff

I've decided that the Parker genes must be dominant. Definitely some similarities here.

Baby Picture Saturday

I like to tease Mike about this picture. He liked to hammer nails - so his dad went out and put a bunch of nails in a board. This, apparently, kept Mike entertained for some time. Very cute.

When I was a senior in high school, we had to bring a baby picture of ourselves to class. Then they put them on a poster and we had to guess which picture went with which person. Everybody got mine right! I was really irritated and I asked my friend, Tina, how it was possible that everybody knew which one was mine. "Well," she said, "You haven't changed." I guess she was probably right. My face hasn't changed much over the years. Not only that but I got the Parker features from my mom's side of the family. As Mom used to say, "We're all cheeks and teeth."

Lullaby

Lullaby For The Cat

by Elizabeth Bishop

Minnow, go to sleep and dream,
Close your great big eyes;
Round your bed Events prepare
The pleasantest surprise.

Darling Minnow, drop that frown,
Just cooperate,
Not a kitten shall be drowned
In the Marxist State.

Joy and Love will both be yours,
Minnow, don't be glum.
Happy days are coming soon—
Sleep, and let them come...

The Lifeguard

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A Piece of Advice

I've been missing my mom really bad the last few days. There's no special reason - no upcoming anniversary or event that should necessarily trigger the sadness. Perhaps packing for our upcoming move is reminding me that life is moving on without her in a way that I didn't think was possible when she died. Whatever the reason, I've been pining for her the last week or so.

Today in the mail, I got 2 $.01 books that I ordered from amazon, both by the same author. The first is called Motherless Daughters and the second is Letters from Motherless Daughters - both put together by Hope Edelman. They are suggested reading from the online grief email group I belong to. As I was reading through Letters from Motherless Daughters this afternoon, I was surprised by the number of women who'd written of regrets they had about not telling their mothers that they loved them enough. I realized that I was extremely blessed because not one time did this regret cross my mind. Ever since I went away to college, I never talked to my mother without telling her that I loved her. Never.

Which brings me to the advice promised in the title. It's something I've said before but it's worth repeating. Say, "I love you." Say it as often as you can, to as many loved ones as you can. As awful as it was losing my mother, I can't imagine how I'd feel if I felt that I hadn't said "I love you" enough. I know from experience that sometimes you don't have any warning when bad things are going to happen. This is one regret that very glad I live without.

“Spread love everywhere you go: First of all in your own house... let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness.” -Mother Theresa

A Quote for Today

“I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much.” - Mother Theresa of Calcutta

A Phone Conversation Which Amused Me Today

Mike: I just called to remind you that I have a doctor's appointment today.

Cindi: Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten. 6:30, right?

Mike: Right. We're going to see if the B-12 shots have helped and whether or not I've lost any weight like he wants me to.

Cindi: Oh. Ok. What time will you be home?

Mike: Probably about 7:30, I guess. I think I'm going to go grocery shopping afterwards.

Cindi: Oh, good idea. I'll go with you.

Mike: I think I'm going to go to Jewel today instead of Dominick's. When I was there the other day, I saw a few things I was interested in but I didn't want to bring home a bunch of groceries.

Cindi: Really...what stuff was that?

Mike: (long pause) Ice cream bars.

I can't take her anywhere...

Here's your weekend update of all things Mike and Cindi. Friday night after work we went to Carson's for the usual. Ribs for me and a chicken salad for Cindi. Cindi was about to give her order when our waitress said, "Let me guess, chicken cobb salad- chicken on the side." I snickered and after she left Cindi said, "She's definitely getting a good tip for that." After dinner, we went to see Superbad which was extremely hilarious.

Saturday I watched MSU beat Bowling Green and Michigan lose to Oregon while Cindi was at school for a double session of class since there was no class last weekend. My stomach was upset most of the day and I ate two slices of Chicago-syle pizza for lunch. Nevertheless, Cindi and I had planned to go to Fogo de Chao after I picked her up from class. I dropped Cindi at the door and proceeded to find a parking spot. Normally, the service at the restaurant is second to none, so I was slightly perturbed when I got to my seat and had to wait several minutes before having my drink order taken. My mood definitely lightened when Cindi asked one of the servers for some bleu cheese dressing which, sadly, is not a standard part of their magnificent salad bar. The last time we were at Fogo was for my birthday in March, but the server also said that he remembered us and approximately where we were seated, no doubt from what I refer to as "the bleu cheese incident." Here is my recollection of the events as they happened:

Cindi (looking upset): I can't believe that they don't have bleu cheese at the salad bar anymore.
Mike: That's weird, I wonder why they took it off. We should have come here more often. I'll ask the server here what he can do.
Cindi: No that's okay don't worry about it.
Mike: Well what are you going to do with your salad then?
Cindi: I'll be okay. I'll just eat something later.
Server/Gaucho: Is everything ok here? Is there anything I can get for you?
Cindi: We're fine, thank you.
Mike: Yes, could you tell me why bleu cheese isn't offered at the salad bar anymore?
Server: I'm not sure, but I will ask the chef to make some up for you. (He leaves.)
Mike (getting upset): Why didn't you just tell him what you wanted? He can't read your mind, you know.
Cindi: I don't know. I just didn't want to be a pain.
Mike: Look, you paid $20 just for the salad bar. You should at least be able to get the kind of dressing you want for that kind of money.

I laughed heartily and teased Cindi after the server said that he remembered us. This was twice in two days. I guess that we are just really memorable. Cindi and I both enjoyed our meal and decided to head home since we were both stuffed and Cindi had some homework to do.

I got home and was feeling a bit restless, so I decided to call Sergio, who I haven't hung out with in a couple weeks. I got his voicemail, so I looked on the Chicago Reader to find out who was playing tonight and saw that one of my favorite singers, William Elliott Whitmore, just happened to be in town tonight to headline at The Note in Wicker Park. As I was online, Sergio called back and asked what I was doing tonight. I told him that I had planned to see a show at The Note and I heard Sergio talking to someone at his bar. He said, "Is it William...Elliott...Whitmore?" I asked him how he knew and he said that Val from our kickball team was going to the show. So I met them both at Whirlaway and we went to the show together. The show was excellent in spite of how hot and crowded it was in the club. The opening acts were both very good and then WEW came onstage. Several shots of whiskey were waiting for him and Val bought one and had people in front of us pass it up to him. He ran through a bunch of great songs and played for about an hour. Val and I had both seen him several times. Sergio hadn't, but was definitely impressed with his voice. After the show, we stayed up front to talk to Will because Val wanted to get a picture with him. I'm not sure why, but she asked him several times to get a picture but he declined. I ended up driving Sergio, Val and two people she had met back to Whirlaway.

Sergio and I decided against our better judgment to meet his friend who was mc-ing the karaoke night at a bar called Loafer's in Lincoln Square. When the closest thing that Sergio could get for a draft beer was a pitcher of Michelob, we should have known better. We both tried our best to swallow down that horrendous brew. We heard some even worse karaoke and decided to take off when one of the bar patron's was giving Sergio's friend a hard time for something or other.
We stopped at a 24 hour diner to get some food for carryout and Sergio apologized profusely for stopping there. I laughed it off and reminded him that we would have never heard the world's worst version of Living on a Prayer if we hadn't been there. We got our food and I dropped off Sergio, wolfed down my BLT with light mayo, and faceplanted into bed at about 3:30am.

Sunday wasn't as exciting. Cindi wasn't feeling well and Furio and I slept in until about 1pm. Watched some football and back episodes of Ice Road Truckers and went for a long walk.

Baby Odie Pictures

I found a couple of old pictures of Otis, who is much bigger now. He's the father of the puppies that we're always talking about. Pretty cute, huh?

I'm not sure why I'm so serious in this picture.

Dustin Pictures

I got these pictures of my "little" cousin, Dustin a couple of weeks ago and keep forgetting to post them. Hard to believe that I used to change his diapers. He used to call me "Aunt Mama." Sheesh. Makes me feel old.

Lazy Days

I wish I could be doing this today.

Secretly She Likes It

Because she lost a bet with her boss, Laurie had to wear a White Sox shirt to the Tigers game and take pictures proving that she'd done it. "Had to," Laurie? "Had to?" Or do you secretly love Scott Podsednik and his team? Yeah...we know you do. Hee hee.





P.S. Can someone explain to me how it is that I can remember a name like Podsednik (especially since if I'm a fan of any team, it's the Cubbies)
...and I can't remember Charmander's name to save my life?

Weird.