Reflections

It's New Year's Eve, and both of my daughters are upstairs getting ready to go out.  Since Kitty is going, that means I have to go.  I don't mind.  She went out for the first time last New Year's Eve, and had a great time.  I hope she has a great time tonight as well.

I've been doing a lot of thinking this week since I was on vacation.  I'm not going to list any of the bad stuff that happened this year; and there was quite a bit of it!  I'm going to think about the good stuff that happened in the 4th quarter that made all the tough times worth the struggle.  When I go back to work on Tuesday, I'll have a new job in a new department that I'm looking forward to. I reconnected with someone that really made me very happy.  My good friend Diana at work got married!  I received a great work review so I'll be getting a raise AND bonus in February!  I got a surprise special achievement award deposited in my bank account right before Christmas, which really solidified the fact that I really turned things around this year.  And we are all healthy and relatively happy, so that's a good way to end the year.

I don't do resolutions any more; but I will adopt a couple of lifestyle changes in the new year.  And I hope to increase my book sales (tell your friends and famuly to buy them on Nook and Kindle!) and release another couple of books; plus edit Kitty's so she can get published too :-)

My tree is still up and beautiful; and I think I'll keep it until Brie's birthday in a couple of weeks.  It just makes me happy to see it.  And I'll still listen to a couple of Christmas CDs; especially since I just bought the Rudolph soundtrack.  Yep: it's still Christmas to me!

I have to close with a Marie story.  She went to North Carolina for the funeral of her older sister, my Aunt Doris.  She called me on Christmas night to see how my holiday was, and because neither my sister nor brother answered when she called them.  Nice to know I got the call by default!  But that's not the best part.  I called her Thursday late afternoon before my massage (more on that in another post) to see how the service was.  She said it was wonderful; then she asked how everyone else was, by name.  She followed that up with, "I can't believe that the whole time I've been down here no one has called me."  REALLY MARIE??  What had I done: just telepathically mind-melded with you??  Apparently my phone call didn't count, so I just said I was sorry and I'd see her when she got home.  Then I hung up and called my sister, telling her to call her mother!!  Gotta love my mother.

Looks like it's time for me to get ready.  Before I go, let me say that I wish you a very happy New Year.  I wish for you health, happiness and prosperity in 2012.  Be kinder than usual to others, because you don't know what kind of struggle they may be having.  And most of all: be happy!

Goodnight and God bless :o)

Christmas Blues

Now that Christmas is over, I have to admit to a little bit of melancholy.  Our tree was up right after Thanksgiving, but it feels like I haven't had enough time to enjoy it.  Christmas songs started playing on the radio several weeks ago, but it seems like they're over too quickly.  People have already tossed out their trees and stopped turning on their outdoor decorations.  It just makes me sad.

Plus I'm currently on vacation and had all kinds of plans, but I haven't done any of them yet.  I was going to the matinee, out to lunch, was going to re-arrange my room, catch up with a couple of old friends, finish my new book: but none of that has come to fruition either. 

Maybe it's because it's been such a long and tough year that I don't have the energy.  I haven't had a vacation all year except for a couple of days here and there.  Work was really stressful this year, but it's ended up being surprisingly good.  So maybe instead of feeling melancholy about the season being pretty much over: I should feel anticipation for what lies ahead.  I'm actually starting in a new department when I get back in the office.  New job, new duties: should be pretty interesting.  And I'll be so busy, I won't have time to dwell on how I miss Christmas...

Besides, it'll come back around next year.  And as Kitty would say: only 362 days left!

Christmas Time Is Here

I swore this wouldn't happen this year, but it did: only worse.  I did all of my Christmas shopping online, which was great.  But here it is Christmas Eve, and not only isn't any wrapping done, I haven't even opened the boxes!  So now that I'm sleepy, and it's going on 9:00, I have to lug all the boxes upstairs,open them and wrap.  Ugh!

But before I weep softly as I get out the rolls of wrapping paper, let me wish you a very Merry Christmas.  May your days be merry and bright.  May you feel God's blessings, and be with those you love.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

Peace.

It's The Thought That Counts

Ah Christmas: the season that proves it's better to give than receive.  And no one embodies this principle better than Kitty.

She loves to give presents, and she really got in the spirit of things this season.  She and Brie don't always get along 100% but they do love each other.  And this Christmas, for the first time, Kitty bought Brie's Christmas gifts first.  And she bought her 4!  They were very thoughtful gifts and 2 she was able to open already: her Yankees ornament is hanging on the Christmas tree and her Yankees stocking is up and ready to be filled.  The other 2 gifts: well I can't tell you that!  But they will be enjoyed just as much; and she knows her sister will get her something that she'll be very pleased with.

One item on Kitty's list that I really didn't think anyone was going to get for her was another limited edition Living Dead Doll: Elisa Day.  Last year she had received Frozen Charlotte, a very rare doll to add to her collection.  Trust me; she was lucky to get that considering how much it costs.  But I digress...

Getting back to Elisa Day: Kitty had seen her on eBay for $175.  I knew I didn't want to spend that kind of money on a doll, rare or not.  But then last week I started thinking: she'd really been a good girl and very helpful, so maybe I could go in with my sister on the doll.  So I went on eBay, but the doll she wanted wasn't there.  I checked Amazon: not there.  I actually emailed the manufacturer to see if they had one of the dolls, but they emailed me back the next day and said they were sorry, but it had been a limited edition and it was an older doll so they were completely sold out.  I felt bad about this, but went home and told Kitty that the company had contacted me and said there were no more Elisa Day dolls.  She was disappointed, but then said it was all right and went up to her room.

A little while later she came back downstairs and said, "I told the other dolls that Elisa Day wasn't coming until maybe the new year and they understood."  I said, "Honey, they don't have any more."  "Well mom Sadie called her and she said she'd be here after Christmas."  I said, "What cell plan did Sadie use, haha!"  She just looked at me and then went in the other room.  About half an hour later Brie came into the kitchen with a weird look on her face.  I said, "What's up with you?"  She said, "Mom, I just walked past Kitty's room and her door was open.  All of the dolls were standing on their platform except for Sadie. She was standing up in the middle of Kitty's bed with a cell phone beside her!"  I just laughed and replied, "Yeah, your sister said that Sadie called Elisa Day."  "Mom, that's just freaky!"  "No, it's just your sister.  Relax."

Friday rolls around and I'm at work.  The phone rings and it's Kitty. "Hi mom I need to tell you something. Everything's fine here at home; and I just ordered Elisa Day."  "What do you mean you ordered her?  There weren't any left!"  "Well, I went back on eBay this morning and there she was for only $125, brand new so I ordered her.  And I even got free shipping!"  "That's great Kitty!  It's what you wanted for Christmas."  That's what I said, but I was thinking 'wtf'?  There were NO dolls available.  But leave it to Ms. Kitty to have one magically appear back on eBay, and $50 cheaper!

And THEN she says, "But I have a little bad news.  Paying for her used up most of my Christmas money, so now I only have $5 to buy you a present.  But you know what?  There are some soda bottles around the house, so I can recycle them to have more money to buy your present."  Really Kitty?  I said, "That's okay, you getting Elisa Day is a good enough present for me."  "No mom there's something I really want to get for you, so I'll recycle the bottles to get  your gift; and then next week when I get paid again I'll buy Pumpkin her presents."

So...apparently this is how I rank on the present scale: her sister got her presents bought first, then she bought her own gift, next week Pumpkin gets paycheck gifts, but mom gets recycled bottle-money gifts!  Is that really the spirit of Christmas?  But I actually thought it was rather funny.  It never matters to me if I get presents or not; and it was a totally Kitty thing to say!

And you know what?  At the end of the day, no matter how much or little it costs, Kitty always gets something very thoughtful and appropriate for mom.  And I can't WAIT to see what I get this year! 😃

Specials

Now that we're in the height of the Christmas season, let's turn our attention to the televised Christmas specials.  I'm thinking about them tonight because I just finished watching the Alvin & the Chipmunks cartoon special.  It was very heartwarming and had a good message in it and the requisite Christmas miracles, but I'll tell you what: after 40+ years of those squeaky rodent voices, I'm pretty much over the Chipmunks.  Loved the story: hated the voices.  Next year I'll watch it on mute!

But now I want to reminisce with you about the Christmas specials I love the most, and the ones that you just can't catch anymore but I'm trying my best to collect them on DVD:

• The Night the Animals Talked - this one was about the barnyard animals in the stable where Jesus was born, and how one magical night they were able to talk.  But just as they were about to spread the news that our saviour was born, they lost the ability to speak. It was so sad, but they were happy that they'd had that gift if only for a little while.  It was special to me because it was about Jesus, and not Santa Claus.
•  The Wish That Changed Christmas - this was about a young girl who lived in an orphanage, and during the Christmas season she left to find a grandmother.  Heartwarming and of course in the end she did find a woman to be a grandmother to her.
• 12 Days of Christmas - Thank goodness I was able to find this on Amazon!  The daughter of the king is very picky when it comes to picking  a suitor, so Sir Carolboomer sends his page to steal her Christmas list so he can send her gifts that will make her want to marry him.  But the bumbling page steals the king's answers to his crossword puzzle and thinks these are the gifts the princess wants.  So each day he sends her the gifts from the "The 12 Days of Christmas Song", and hijinks ensue!
• The Town Santa Forgot a.k.a. Jeremy Creek - a spoiled, greedy little boy who is used to getting everything he wants sends a looooong list of toys to Santa.  Santa and his elves believe that the list must be for a little forgotten town called Jeremy Creek, and delivers all the toys to that town instead of the boy.  At first he's very upset and throws a tantrum, until he sees a news report about how the kids in the town are so happy to finally get toys from Santa.  Heartwarming and teaches kids it's better to give than receive.
• Mickey's Christmas Carol - need I say more?  It's Mickey Mouse!
• And my personal alltime favorite: Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol!  Yes I know people are always hating on him because he supposedly can't see and he runs into stuff, but I've seen him with his eyes open and he CAN see, whether his eyes are open or not!  But for some reason, this little animated film is my feel-good special each Christmas, even though it's so hard to find it on TV.  Sometimes you can find it on Boomerang, but just to be sure I bought the DVD a few years ago and torture my family every Christmas with it 😄

Next time, I'll let you know my LEAST favorite specials, and I know some of them will be the ones you love.  So stay tuned!

The Difference in "Christmas Miracles"

At this time of year, it seems like anything even the least bit out of the ordinary is deemed a "Christmas miracle", whether religious or not.  I've experienced a couple of them that I'm going to share with you...

The first one was in November.  Kitty was putting up the Christmas tree after Thanksgiving, and she told me that the programmable lights weren't working.  I'd had these lights for more years than I can remember, and I was heartbroken that we couldn't use them any more.  Over the years I had looked for them, but hadn't seen any.  So we went to Wal-Mart on Friday night and went to the holiday section.  There was an entire wall of lights, but I carefully read each package and there were no programmable lights to be found.  Kitty finally got a box of 300 blinking lights and put them in the cart.  Just as I was turning the cart around to leave, I glanced back at the shelf.  Lo and behold, there was ONE package of programmable lights, just sitting there amongst all the regular lights!  I couldn't believe it!  And instead of just 8 different settings, there are 14!  I snatched up the box to make sure it didn't just disappear, and I was sooo happy.  That was a miracle to me!

The second "miracle" happened just yesterday.  I had to go to K-Mart because it's the only place I know that sells Cajun chicken wing seasoning mix, and I was going to make Cajun wings for Schmoop-dog's birthday.  At the store, I went to the aisle where the seasoning should have been, and there was ONE package left, not even in it's own box but put in with another kind.  So it was obvious that I was meant to have this one pack for Schmoop's lunch.  But that's not the miracle.  Afterwards I decided to look for the soda aisle, and just happened to turn down a random aisle that ended up containing soup.  I used to eat a LOT of ramen noodles, specifically the chili flavor.  It was spicy and yummy and I'd add steak, or chicken, or pork, or whatever other leftover meat I had on hand, plus cheese, to make a delicious meal!  But as is usual with me, once I love something and say it out loud, the company can't wait to take it off the market and it's been gone for about a  year. That's what happened to my chili flavored ramen, or "hot ass oodie of noodie" as Brie called it. I even contacted the company, and they said they'd stopped selling it.

Anyhoo, as I went down the soup aisle, I glanced at the ramen section.  And what to my wondering eyes should appear, but an entire box of "hot ass oodie of noodie"!  I was so excited that I bought 12 packs!  Another miracle for me!!!

Now let me tell you about my sister's Christmas miracle.  A couple of years ago she'd wanted a particular new car.  I'm not going to go into the details, but let's just say that she got rooked on the deal and has been very unhappy ever since.  Recently she received a letter from the dealership saying that they were now under new management, ownership and had cleaned house.  Would she come back and talk to them so they could maybe make amends to her?  She didn't want to, but made an appointment to go see them today and of course she had me go with her.

We got there, talked to a gentleman named Dave, and 2 hours later they not only lowered her interest rate: but they also paid off the remaining balance on her current vehicle, gave her a totally clean and loaded 2009 Murano, and she didn't have to pay a dime out of pocket OR get the other car's balance added on!  Seriously???  She was a very happy camper, to say the least.  And I wasn't too jealous because she let me drive it home :o)  So when I'm ready in a couple of years for a different vehicle I'm going straight to Dave!

So that's the difference in Christmas miracles: if you wish big, there's a good chance you'll end up with something better than hot ass oodie of noodie!  Which I plan to have the next time I have some leftover steak or prime rib to put in it.  Yum!

It's Been A Long Time

Yes, I've been missing from my blog for a couple of months.  Seems like I let a little "bad press" get me down.  I'm not going to get into it, so let's just say that someone took some posts out of context and out of timeframe; and instead of coming to me about it: they chose to give misinformation about the posts to some people.  Long story short: anything that I write that you don't like: don't read it.  And if you have any questions about anything: just ask me.  I'll be happy to set you straight.

Now we'll move on...

Speaking of a long time, I was shocked to get an email from Topher last week.  I hadn't heard from him in 2 years, so you can imagine what I thought.  I had been so worried that I had called his father in Vermont just to make sure he was still...around.  It was so good to talk to Bill, and he assured me that his son was still in the area, working and doing okay.  I believed him; but it was just very reassuring to hear from the man himself.  Of course, Topher said he was still waiting for life to be over, so does that really count as being okay???

It's sad when there are so many good things in life, but because of a chemical imbalance and being on medication, you can't enjoy it.  He's such a good man but he has chosen to give up.  He promised that he'd never attempt suicide again, but now he just goes to work and goes home, getting no joy out of anything.  Such a waste for a person who used to have the strongest life force of anyone I knew.

So I will keep my friend Topher in my prayers.  I'll hope that he's able to find even a modicum of joy, especially during this time of the year.  And I'll pray for all of my other friends as well, because this can be a really tough time of year.

A little somber for my first post in so long, but I promise they will lighten up!

Till next time...

School Daze

The theme for yesterday’s Toastmaster’s meeting, since it was the first day of school for most kids, was “School Memories: first day, kids, etc.”   This got me thinking about some things I remember very vividly from when I was a kid.

When I was in elementary school, there was this boy in my class named Philip.  We were very good friends until the day he turned his eyelids inside out.  Horrified, that put an end to our friendship.  To this day, I still think that turning your eyelids inside out is disgusting.  So naturally Kitty knows how to do it!  But thankfully she only does that to scare her sister J

When I entered Junior High (“middle school” hadn’t been invented yet!) I knew it was going to be awesome, because there were 4 different elementary schools in our area, and 7^th grade was where they all came together.  We got to meet kids from the other different schools, you could reinvent yourself and you finally got to go to different classes throughout the day.  Yes it was a little hairy at first with making sure your locker would open, and timing yourself so you’d have time to get from locker to classroom.  But all in all it was definitely to my liking.  Especially seeing all the cute boys from the other schools J

Junior High also introduced me to the school dances.  I have been a dancer ever since I was a toddler.  I had been hearing about the dances from my older brothers.  And now I was going to be able to take part in them!  Or so I thought…my parents had no intention of letting their sheltered daughter go to any school dances.  Good thing I perfected the art of making up a different story to tell them, so I could sneak to the dances instead.  Sorry Marie!  And to this day, I still remember the Friday night dance, where the guy I liked, danced to “Superstar” by the Carpenters with another girl. I was heartbroken!  That song still gives me a pang of bitter-sweetness when I hear it on the radio.

On the first day of my freshman year, I remember how excited I was because for the first time I got to pick out my own clothes.  In 8^th grade, on the first day I remember Marie made me wear this dress that had a brown plaid faux scarf around the neck, the dress’s torso was solid brown, and the skirt was pleated brown plaid that matched the scarf.   This was what my friends were used to seeing me wear.  But the first day of 9^th grade: I was wearing the groovy outfit I picked out myself.  It was a 2-piece set: the top had a purple paisley collar, the short sleeves were the same print, the rest of the top was black, and the skirt was the same purple, white and black polyester print.  Whoo hoo!  You couldn’t tell me anything in this short-skirted outfit.  My friends were so amazed when they saw me, and I was very pleased by their reactions.  And it’s a good thing I picked out my own outfit because we got some new students who transferred from the Catholic school.  St. Michael’s only went up to 8^th grade, so as freshmen some of the kids came to Junior High instead of going across the bridge to St. Mary’s.  And St. Mary’s loss was our gain because those boys were c-u-t-e!  I loved my freshman year!

The best part about high school?  The Glen Lake Casino!  I was 16 when I was a senior, I didn’t have a fake ID, but I never got proofed and my friends and I were there pretty much every weekend.  Hey Marie: that was even better than a school dance! 

Oh, how I miss those days sometimes!  But at least I’ve got plenty of good memories.  So kids: enjoy the school year and make some great memories of your own.   And parents: if you don’t want your kids to attend school dances, just be a chaperone.  That’ll take all the fun out of it for them! And if you don't believe me: just ask Brie! J

A Bad Mother

Brie and I had quite the day yesterday: a bit of nasty text-o-gramming back and forth over a situation that had her mad at me.  We resolved it by the time I had to pick her up from work (her car's in the shop, one of the issues) but that got me thinking about another time when we were less than happy with each other.  That time was when she decided she was going to move to Washington state with her boyfriend a few years ago.  From that, came what's written below:

LETTING GO

When I was younger and thought I ruled the world, my mother put the mother curse on me.  You know what that is: your mother tells you that she hopes you have a child just like you some day.  Well, this actually came true because I do have a chip off the old block. 

A bombshell was dropped on me recently: I'm a bad mother.  I know it comes as quite a shock, especially since I have always considered myself to be an exceptional mother.  But it has been brought to my attention that I am controlling; hypocritical, and think I know everything.

So who made this grand pronouncement?  My 22-year-old daughter Brie came to this conclusion.  She announced that she was moving to Washington State with her boyfriend, and I told her she'd have to get through me first.  I guess that was the controlling part.

Granted, she's an adult and of course I can't keep her here with me forever, but to have her 3000 miles away?  That isn't sitting too well with me.  This isn't going to be the smartest move she's ever made.  That's the I-think-I-know-everything part.

The funny thing about this is: she may be right, at least about the hypocrite part. You see, I left home when I was 19.   But of course that was different: I had 2 years of college under my belt, had been working for a few years and had a stash of cash when I left.  And of course I knew everything about the world.  It's not the same with my daughter; thanks to the sheltered life she's led with her single, over-protective mother.

We had a big argument about this supposed move, and stopped speaking to each other.  That gave me plenty of time to think about what a bad mother is, at least in her eyes.  So here's what's on my list:

• A bad mother takes her 4 1/2 year old and 1 month old and removes them from an abusive situation
• A bad mother makes sure that the only babysitters her daughters have are trusted family members, like their grandmother and aunt.
• A bad mother tailors her work hours so she can attend any school function her children are involved in, be it chorus, orchestra, band, field day, or moving up day (to name a few).
• A bad mother leaves a cushy job she really enjoys, so she can take a more flexible one to accommodate the testing and meetings required for her young autistic child.
• Whether a bad mother is working full time, part time, or not at all, she makes sure her children notice no difference in their standard of living
• Even though a bad mother gets lonely for "adult company", she would never move anyone into the home because that wouldn't set a good example for her daughters.
• A bad mother raises girls who don't smoke, drink, do drugs, and have something special to give their husbands on their wedding night.
• A bad mother spends money that she doesn't have so that her daughters can have the prom dresses of their dreams.
• A bad mother cries herself to sleep at night worrying about her children: praying for their safety and well being.
• A bad mother solves all of her children's problems and fights their battles because that's how a tigress takes care of her cubs.
• A bad mother, when she sees her child standing on a train track with a speeding locomotive heading for her, pushes the child out of the way and lets the train hit her (figuratively, not literally!).

With that in mind, I had to figure out what a good mother is:

• A good mother knows when her job is done, and knows when to let go.

That's it.  Whether I want to admit it or not, whether I like it or not, my daughter is a grown woman and I have to let go.  It won't be easy: I'll be kicking and screaming the whole time.  But I am letting go.  I'm going to let her make her own mistakes, and choices, and be her own person, without me trying to make things perfect for her.

She's leaving on March 28, to be her own person and to finally get out from under her mother's shadow.  She may not be leaving under the exact same circumstances that I did, but that's her choice.  After all, she has a mind of her own.  And if I raised her correctly, she'll be able to make wiser choices in her future.

If there's one thing I need for her to know, it's that although I'm letting go of her physically, I'll never let her go in my heart.  Because no matter how grown she is, or where she is: she's still my little girl.

And by the way: I've already put the mother curse on her. J

P.S.  Thankfully, as you know, she moved back 5 years later just like I had done in my past: chewed up, spit out but ready to rise from the ashes.  Yes: she is a chip off the old block.  Well, not that old  😉

Angels Among Us

I’m usually an every Sunday church goer, but this past Sunday I decided to do church at home.  For me this means I listen to the sermon from the Moody Church in Chicago, IL from 11 until noon.  I really like Pastor Erwin Lutzer; so I knew I’d get a little something out of whatever his sermon would be about.

This week’s message was about angels.  Not just what they are doing in Heaven; but also what their characteristics are and how they manifest themselves to humans. 

As I’m listening to the sermon it got me thinking: have I or other family members had encounters with angels?  The answer to that is yes, and on many occasions.  Some visits were much more vivid than others, but ultimately it turned out that the only explanation for what happened is that there was angel intervention.

For me, the encounter that always comes first to mind is when I was in the hospital having Brie.  I didn’t realize I had an infection at the time, so when I gave birth they took her to neonatal for observation and I couldn’t see her.  I had to stay in the hospital for almost a week trying to get rid of the infection; and of course I was worried about the baby.  I had an IV in my arm but it hadn’t been put in right and my arm and hand started to swell.  By the second day it hurt and I kept asking the nurses to remove it or put it in again but they wouldn’t.  That night after 11 o’clock a woman came to my room. She was dressed in scrubs, a lab coat and had a stethoscope around her neck. She had brown-rimmed glasses and long dark brown hair. She introduced herself as Dr. Katherine and said she was there to check on me.  I asked her if she could tell a nurse to do something about my IV; and she said she’d do it. So she took out the IV and replaced it; and very soon the swelling began to go down.  We chatted a bit and I told her I was a little worried about my baby, because I couldn’t see her due to the infection.  She volunteered to go to neonatal to check on her.  When she came back she said the baby would be fine, and hopefully I’d be able to see her in a day or two.  She stayed with me for about an hour; and then left.  The next night, she showed up again.  She checked on Brie, and then stayed in my room to watch a movie with me. It was “Brother Rat”, a really old (1938!) movie about recruits on a military base.  After the movie she left.  Dr. Katherine came to my room every night while I was there; and on the night I told her I’d be leaving the next day she said that she was going to start her vacation the next day. I thanked her for all of her visits to me and Brie, and wished her a wonderful vacation.  The next day, when I was getting ready to leave with my baby, I stopped by the nurses’ station to leave a note for Dr. Katherine.  But when I asked for her, no one knew who I was talking about.  I described her, told them how she’d changed my IV and was starting her vacation but they said there was no one by that name employed as a doctor there.  After I thought about it, I figured there were only a couple of options as to who she was: either someone escaped from the mental ward, or an angel.  I’m pretty sure she was the latter.

That’s an angel that was seen, but there is one that I didn’t see.  When Kitty was maybe 5 years old, she and her sister wanted homemade French fries for dinner.  Since I was watching something on TV, I decided that I would peel the potatoes in the living room so I wouldn’t miss any of my show.  After peeling the potatoes, I stood up to go into the kitchen.  At that moment, Kitty came running up to me to give me hug.  I had the knife pointing out and as God is my witness, she ran right into the knife and it went in her eye as she collided with me.  I was terrified, she was pressed against me screaming and I was afraid to move my hand for fear her eyeball would be impaled on the knife.  But I finally slowly moved back and took out the knife: and lo and behold there was nothing on it.  I made her move her hand from her face and there was no sign of the knife having touched any part of her.  I told her she was all right and she stopped screaming, and was fine!  Lesson learned from that unseen angel: NEVER have a knife around children!  And I never peel anything anywhere but at the kitchen table.

A couple of years ago, Brie was crossing the street and she was hit by a taxi.  When the police arrived and parked in the lot across the street, the officer told her friend that Brie would have to come over to the squad car for him to take her information.  Her friend helped her up so she could hobble across the street, but suddenly a gentleman came up to her, said his name was Mark, picked her up and carried her across the street: setting her down by the squad car.  She said she had noticed him earlier, but afterwards when she looked for him he was gone.  She had never seen him before, and hasn’t seen him since.  So I’m thinking that was one of her angels.

Pastor Lutzer mentioned that angels often take the form of something familiar, so we are comfortable with them.  This made me think of my father.  I sometimes have dreams, or ‘visits’ from him, and he’s always dressed in his navy blue suit and his gold-rimmed spectacles.  As I listened to the sermon though, I started to think that maybe I wasn’t being ‘visited’ by my father: but by an angel taking a familiar form.  In some of these visits, my ‘father’ gives me a word to pass along to someone specific to keep them from harm.  In a couple of instances, I was told of a bad situation that was occurring that I hadn’t known anything about, and it was true and needed to be taken care of.  Since it says in the Bible that there are no tears in Heaven, I believe that my father wouldn’t be able to see what is going on here because some things would definitely make him sad.  That’s another reason for me to now believe that it’s an angel, and not Daddy Clank I see.

These are just a very few examples of the angels that are in my family’s lives.  I bet if you think about it: you can come up with a few examples of your own.  Maybe something unexplained happened, you crossed paths with a stranger and it felt comfortable; or you were miraculously saved in a dangerous situation that defied explanation.  Maybe the explanation is: you were touched by an angel.  I know that I have been...

Timing is Everything

Both of the girls were working yesterday, so I thought it would be a great time to sneak off to Wal-Mart after work.  Usually there is no issue with going to that store, but my reason for going was to purchase some romance novels.  I have been forbidden by my daughters to buy any more romance novels, because I currently have around 40 that I haven't read yet!  I love Harlequin SuperRomance books, and also the Silhouetter Special Edition books.  But as you can imagine: I don't have the time to read like I used to so they are kind of piling up.  However, I don't want to miss out on any of the sequels, so each month I now have to sneak to Wal-Mart, buy them and then hide them when I get home.

But the gist of this entry isn't about the books.  It's about what happened while I was at Wal-Mart.  I went into the store and headed right for the book section.  I read the descriptions on all 12 books and decided I only needed 4 of them.  As I was heading toward a register, I decided to detour to the soup aisle just in case they had brought back the "hot-ass oodie of noodie" (more on this in another entry!) which of course they hadn't.  I did notice a brand I wasn't aware of, Hanover, and decided to try a can of their Chicken Pot Pie soup.   I didn't want to have that for dinner, so I also went to the frozen food section to get a TV dinner.  I picked up something really good by Boston Market; and since I was already in the frozen section I also got a box of Magnum dark chocolate ice cream bars (dark Belgian chocolate over vanilla bean ice cream).  Now that my hands were full (didn't think I'd need a basket!) I now headed for the cash registers.

This is where I had to make a judgment call.  Wal-Mart is always packed, and I wanted to get out of there as expeditiously as possible. So I went to one of the "speedy checkout" lines, for 20 items or less.  I figured this would be a good bet, since there were only 2 people ahead of me.  

I turned my head slightly, and  noticed a man had gotten into line behind me with only 1 item.  I figured it wouldnt' take me too long since mine would scan quickly, so I didn't think I needed to let him go ahead of me.

There were 2 people ahead of me, so of course that meant the cashier slowed down to a snail's pace.  No matter what short line I get in, it's guaranteed to hit a snag and move at a snail's pace.  The gentleman behind me said, "How long do you think this wil take?"  I said, "I'm not sure, but  I can guarantee it's not going to be a speedy checkout."  He laughed, and I turned to get a better look at him.

My my: what a handsome man he was!  He was taller than me (highly unusual!), had a head full of salt and pepper hair, hazel eyes, a great smile, nice teeth, fresh cinna-minty breath, was in good shape and appeared to be my age.  This NEVER happened in Wal-Mart!

Needless to say, I was intrigued.  So we began to converse, trading witty repartee and sending off those "hmm, interesting" vibes.  He seemed to have the same kind of sense of humor that I do, and I was really enjoying the conversation as he talked a bit about himself, and discussed how long we'd have to be in line, and different topics.  Man, I had hit the jackpot!

So I decided since he wasn't wearing a wedding ring, I needed to be bold and give him my number.  Just as I was mustering up the bravado, his cell phone rang.  He excused himself to answer it, and I was waiting for him to hang up.  But wouldn't you know it: now the cashier wakes up and it's my turn to cash out.  I tried to pay as slowly as I could, since he was still on the phone, but I didn't want to hold up the line.  But I walked slowly to my car in case he came out: nothing. I went to my car and sat there for a couple of minutes: still nothing!  Finally I realized how foolish I was being. If he'd been interested he would have asked me for my number.  So I put the car in gear, pulled out and started driving past the store.  Now  he comes out, but he's still on the phone!  So I took that as a sign that it wasn't meant to be, and headed home.

As I was driving I wished I had a business card I could have given him.  That was a relatively safe way of putting myself out there, but I had put off making up any business cards because I'm...lazy!  So an opportunity to make a new acquaintance slipped through my fingers.

I went home, put my stuff away and then got on the computer. I hadn't been up there in a couple of days, so I had email galore.  And wouldn't you know it: there was an email from Staples, with a coupon for 100 free business cards.  Seriously???  If I had opened my email a couple of days ago, I would have HAD a business card to give to Mr. Hottie!  Well that just proves that timing is everything.

So after work today guess where I'm heading?  That's right: to Staples!  Maybe it's God's way of saying "I'm giving you a second chance and I'll put Mr. Hottie in your periphery again".  Well, that's what I hope God is saying.  Stay tuned!!

Give Me a Beat!

Kitty, my creative, mysterious child, has developed a new interest.  For the past few months, she has been making "videos" and posting them on YouTube.  Of course these videos don't feature her: they feature her Living Dead Dolls!

When she first said she was going to make a video, I was wondering how she was going to do it.  I don't know how to make videos using inanimate objects.  But I never should have doubted the industrious Kitty, who unbeknownst to me had been studying making videos in her program.  Why am I always the last to know these things? 

Anyway, when Kitty makes announcements of what she's going to do, I say "Okay" and wait to see what happens; or if it happens.  So one Saturday morning while I was getting my hair done, Kitty called and said, "Guess what?  My video's finished."  I said, "What??"  and she said, "Yep, I got up at midnight and worked on it from midnight until 4 this morning to finish it.  You can see it when you get home."

So of course instead of running my errands after my hair appointment, I had to hurry home to see exactly what this video consisted of.  Kitty had her computer downstairs and I eagerly pulled up a chair and she started it for me.

It was entitled "Slumber Party Massacre".  It featured not only some Living Dead Dolls, but also some Sailor Moon dolls as well!  She had sound effects, music, and used different photos she had taken.  It was a hoot!  I felt sorry for the Sailor Moon dolls because they met with various...untimely ends, but it was really cute and creative.  Go Kitty!  I loved it :o)  And she was so proud of herself.

But when her sister watched it, she thought it was scary.  Or maybe she just thought it was scary that Kitty had her dolls roaming around the house after everyone had gone to bed!  Brie's a little freaked out by the dolls, but I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't do any harm to her.  :p  But she did admit that her sister had talent.

Kitty is now up to...7 videos I believe.  And 4 are actual music videos!  My favorite is her take on Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love", featuring Lou Sapphire.  I'm a big fan of his, haha!  So cute.  She also did one for Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name"; Toni Basil's "Hey Mickey" and her latest one is "Nasty" by Janet Jackson.  I love them all!  It takes a long time to do them, because she has to take loads of pictures as she moves the dolls in unison and in synch, times the photos with the music and produces a finished product. 

So I can't wait to see what else she comes up with.  My goal is to somehow get Ellen DeGeneres to see them, then have Kitty on her show.  That would be awesome, and Kitty could finally get the trip to California that she wants.

So stay tuned!  And check out the videos on YouTube: kaiennasunshine5000.  I guarantee you'll be amazed :o)

U Can't See Me

I have known for a long time that I have a superpower.  I wish I had more control over it, but unfortunately it only occurs periodically: and that’s when I’m in my car.  You see, when I’m in my car, I’m invisible. I know this is true, because if people could see me, then they wouldn’t be doing/saying/wearing what they are while I’m in my car.

For instance, late Friday afternoon I took Kitty to Blockbuster because she just had to have a DVD.  Yes I know she’s the only person who still goes to the actual store, but I digress.  Anyhoo, I opted to stay in the air-conditioned car because it was still almost 90 degrees and I had the air on.  As I’m sitting there, idly watching the world go by, this car pulled in ahead of me.  I watched as a couple got out, and great googly-moogly: let me tell you what I saw.  A woman got out of the driver side.  She was wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts.  Neither article of clothing would have been bad, if she had either a) realized she had big boobs; b) realized said boobs needed to be in a bra; c) worn underwear; and d) realized said missing underwear would have aided in keeping said knit shorts out of her butt.  Fortunately, the man she was with fared better than she did.  Although you could tell that the waistband of his shorts was under his belly, at least it appeared that he was wearing underwear and surprisingly didn’t have moobs.

Even though I wasn’t too happy with what I saw, it’s not the worst thing I’ve seen while sitting invisibly in a vehicle.  One time I was on the highway in a truck, which sat very high up.  I looked out the window and saw a man – let’s just say he was REALLY enjoying his afternoon commute ALONE.  Seriously???  Both hands on the wheel buddy!  And I mean the STEERING wheel!

When we lived at 441, I had grown to hate going into the house, because there was such a bad vibe about that place.  So I would sit in the car in the parking area in the back and read, or just collect my thoughts before sucking it up to go inside.  As I was sitting there one day, I noticed the next door neighbor and a new “friend” christening his new motorcycle.  It’s not like you can roll down the window and yell “Get a room!” because then they know you’re there and will end up not liking you.  The best bet was for me to just avert my eyes and try to hum loudly to drown out any other sounds emanating from between the bushes.  And those sounds were NOT melodic!

I also got to see a few drug sales go down while in my Taurus.  After all, there were at least 2 drug dealers also living at 441 during any given time.  6 apartments in that place and during my entire tenancy there were always drug dealers living there that the landlord didn’t do anything about.  Or I’d see “Mr. Swastika”, as I dubbed one of the neighbors due to the fact he never wore a shirt and had a big swastika tattoo on his chest, sitting out in the back with his cronies, smoking pot and drinking beer.  He’s the same guy that had a sign on his door that read, “Both me and my wife are on probation, so no alcohol or drugs are allowed inside.”  Guess that’s why he was outside!

But I wish I had Harry Potter’s cloak of invisibility so I could really be invisible sometimes though.  What a rush that would be!  So instead of seeing random people that look like they’re from the people of Wal-Mart website, I can be selective with what I want to see.  Wow, I can think of lots of places, and people, I'd like to see while wearing that cloak.  Hmm, I’ll have to work on that J

 

Chew On This

Her Majesty Ms. Kitty doesn’t drive.  She says she’s afraid of getting in an accident, which is smart on her part.  This means that I run errands for her.  I usually don’t mind because I can stop by the grocery store on my way home from work.  But one night it’s like 9:00, and she decides that she wants Lucky Charms cereal.  Wait: not wants, NEEDS Lucky Charms.  For dessert.  Or a bedtime snack.  Or something else totally unrelated to breakfast.  And when Kitty sets her mind on something, you’d better take care of it or prepare to be harassed beyond human endurance!  Like she’s harassing me now.  About her manuscript.  That I’m supposed to be editing.  But instead I'm writing this blog entry…

Anyhoo, as I was on my way to my local Hannaford muttering under my breath about ungrateful children with a sense of entitlement, I started wondering: whose idea was it to put marshmallows in cereal?  Regardless of whom it was let me tell you: it was a bad idea.  The reasons should be obvious.  First of all, any cereal that would have marshmallows in it already has too much sugar.  Second, the marshmallows taste fake and they squeak between your teeth. That’s just annoying.  They’re generally hard, like they’re stale already, and even if the milk does soften them up a bit, they just turn slimy and still squeak: plus now your milk is a funky color like you had a bowl of Kaboom cereal.  That may be fun for kids; but not for adults that are kids at heart and like a sweetened cereal every now and again instead of bran flakes with flaxseed!

While I’m thinking of marshmallows, why is it that when you make your own rice krispies treats they’re wonderfully gooey and delicious, but when you buy them pre-packaged they’re hard and cut up your mouth?  Is the secret ingredient tiny shards of razor blades?  Sometimes I don’t have the time or the inclination to make them so I’ll buy a couple; but it’s like inviting cuts and wounds into your mouth.   Maybe that’s the price of being lazy.  And that kind of dims the enjoyment of eating the marshmallow treat, or anything else for the next day or two.

Don’t get me wrong because I love marshmallows, but what’s the real premise behind marshmallow peeps?  Marshmallows covered with granulated sugar? I like the animal shapes but can’t stand that sugar crunching between my teeth.  But then again, maybe as an adult I shouldn’t be eating them.  I have several friends that still like them, which defies explanation; and they say they taste better stale.  Mmm, hardened marshmallow with crunchy sugar: what a treat!  Who can resist a piece of heaven like that?

You know what I think?  If someone is so hot for sugar, which is basically all that peeps are, pixy Stix would be the way to go.  I shouldn’t admit this but I absolutely love them, much to the chagrin of my friends.  Colored sugar: yum!  And before you ask: the reason why I don’t mind pixy Stix sugar as opposed to marshmallow peep sugar is because I don’t chew the pixy Stix; I just let them dissolve in my mouth for a delightfully legal (sugar) buzz.  Delicious!

And if you pour pixy Stix into your hand it looks like kool-aid, which I enjoy as a refreshing summertime drink.  However, just because they look like Kool-Aid, you can’t add pixy Stix to water for a refreshing beverage.  First you wouldn’t have enough pixy Stix sugar to make a sweetened beverage.  Second, it would be more expensive to buy a hundred pixy Stix for a pitcher of beverage, when you can buy a packet of kool-aid for 25 cents and sweeten to your own taste; or an entire canister for less than $3.00.  In these tough economic times, we need to err on the side of monetary caution.

You may be wondering:  what’s the difference between kool-aid and the poor-man’s imitation stuff, besides the name and price?   Nothing that I can taste.  Sweet colored water is sweet colored water, in my book.  I shouldn’t be drinking it but sometimes my inner child still wins!  Plus, you can freeze some for ice cubes for double the fun!

But why is it that ice cubes, when they melt, don’t make your glass overflow?  I’m sure Her Majesty Ms. Kitty, or Queen Huff ‘N Puff as her sister calls her, could answer that one, but I don’t want her to know that there’s another science question her mother isn’t smart enough to answer.

Getting back to my shopping trip:  when I returned home from Hannaford, Kitty was in her bedroom.  I put the cereal on the table and went to tell her it was there.  I opened her room door, and she was asleep!  Are you kidding me?  I made that trip to Hannaford for nothing…

Defeated, or outsmarted, depending on how you look at it, I went into the kitchen, got out the milk and a bowl, and poured myself some Lucky Charms.  As I sat there chewing and stewing and squeaking I couldn’t help wondering: why would anyone want cereal with marshmallows in it?

Welcome to my Mood

If I had a boat I would sail into

the Sea of Forgetfulness.

When I’m midway across I’ll drop anchor

and wait for sunset.

As the last vestiges of color sink below

the horizon.

I’ll release my memories of you,

one by one,

into the onyx depths.

Each smile, each kiss, each touch

will disappear as though Merlin’s

Wand was brandished in air.

Each word, broken promise and betrayal

is erased as the night closes in

on me, aboard my vessel.

When the last ripple is stilled I

wait for dawn to be sure

nothing rises to the surface.

Then instead of going back

I sail forward:

away from the Sea of Forgetfulness,

away from who I was with you

and into the blank slate of tomorrow.

Soothing the Savage Beasts

This might sound odd (have you met me?) but every night before bed and every morning before I leave for work I turn the living room TV on for the pets.  I just think that they need a little noise or something to keep them company during the night.  Sure they should be sleeping but still: I believe that they like it.  After all, I like having the radio on all night so I wake up to sound.  Why shouldn’t they?  And if we are all leaving for the day, this way they still have human sounds or something to keep them company.

Of course there has to be an issue with this, because depending on who is the last one to bed or the last one out the door in the morning, the channel can be changed by someone else.  We didn’t used to have this problem, because we’d set the TV on “Soundscapes”, soothing New-Age music and nature sounds.  What cat or little dog wouldn’t like that?

But after a while, when Kitty started putting it on that channel all the time when she was home: well, this really started to grate on my nerves.  It made me feel lazy and sleepy.  So then I’d put it on the Easy Listening channel, which was light and mild but wouldn’t put the pets into a catatonic state.

This worked for a while, but then Brie decided the pets needed something to perk them up.  So that meant: the hip-hop channel!  No worries about any sleeping during this!  She wouldn’t do it at night, but when she’d leave the house so the pets could “cat daddy”, apparently.  But this drove Kitty nuts so she’d scowl and put it back on Soundscapes.

I really love old-school jazz, like Cannonball Adderly, John Coltrane, Art Tatum and Billy Strayhorn.  On the weekends I get to listen to a lot of this jazz, so I started leaving the TV on the Real Jazz station so the pets could listen to what I’d be listening to in my room.  The girls respected this so I figured I had won; then Sunday mornings before church I’d turn to the Daystar channel so the pets could have some religion.  (Lord knows they need Jesus.)  Or if I was doing “church at home”, I’d turn the radio on to the Moody Bible station so we could listen live to the services at the Moody Bible Church in Chicago.  I really think they like when I do that because I’ll sit in the living room with them, and they’d gather around (Pumpkin with the place of honor in my lap, of course) so we could enjoy what Erwin Lutzer was preaching about.  The bonus was that the girls would usually still be in bed so it was just me and my furry friends.

Both girls do not like if I leave the TV on TNT in the morning when “Charmed” is on.  I just love that show, or at least the first 2 seasons when Shannon Doherty was up there.  I still watch the reruns if I’m home.  But they don’t think the pets should watch a show that has witches in it, so as soon as someone else gets up they immediately turn it.

This morning I happened to turn to Classic VH1.  One of my favorite old videos, “Dude Looks Like a Lady” was on. I just love Aerosmith!  Especially Joe Perry: the best thighs in rock!  After that they showed KISS’s classic “Rock ‘N Roll All Night” and hey: who doesn’t still drool over Paul Stanley??  So that was the channel I left it on for the pets to enjoy.  Sure it’s unusual for videos nowadays to actually be playing on a music channel, so I thought it would be good for the pets to see and enjoy the same videos I enjoyed in the 80’s and early 90s J.

Now that I think of it, I wonder why we go to so much trouble to make sure the pets have human sounds.  They sleep upstairs anyway!  It’s just another example of how we try to humanize our pets.  As if they don’t already think they’re people…

Thursday

Even though it’s Thursday, today is my Friday.  I have tomorrow off from work.  The reason for this is…wait for it…July 1^st is the beginning of Kitty-pa-looza!  That’s right: Kitty’s birthday is Sunday, so of course we will be celebrating it all weekend long!

I was told that Kitty-pa-looza is my fault.  You know us single mothers: have to go above and beyond for the kids!  When I worked at the oldies radio station, every summer they would put on "Summer Jam" on West Mountain on July 3rd.  There would be music groups from the 60s and 70s; and as an employee of course I had back stage access, etc. with my girls.  There would be upwards of 30,000 people there; and each time we went I would tie balloons to Kitty's wrists since July 3rd is her birthday; and after the groups performed there would be fireworks!  So naturally as a little girl Kitty always thought that "Summer Jam" was her birthday party.  Trust me: I was very sad when they stopped doing Summer Jam and I left the radio station because then I had to throw the birthday parties!  But those are great memories, because what other child could boast 30,000 people at her birthday party???

So what exactly will Kitty-pa-looza encompass this year?  A whole host of things that make me tired just to think of them.  But here is what’s on the agenda for 2011 (schedule subject to change):

·         Friday:

o   Hair appointments for all!

o   A trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop where Kitty and Brie will build their own stuffed animals.  No bears for them: a monkey for Brie and a special edition lamb for Kitty, which she has already named Lady Baa Baa.

o   A trip to BSW for trendy eye shadows for Kitty.

o   Visiting our favorite Popeye’s restaurant for Wicked Chicken and biscuits

o   Going to see “Mr. Popper’s Penguins”.  Remember: Brie is 30 and Kitty will be 26.

·         Saturday:

o   Shopping for Kitty

o   Getting her fishing license (she loves to fish; I love to read while she’s fishing).

o   Kitty’s birthday dinner with family friends at Siam Thai Sushi (I will NOT be eating sushi, but I love their crab Rangoon’s, steamed dumplings and shrimp on a stick).

o   Home for cake #1

·         Sunday:

o   Pick up Kitty’s real cake at Price Chopper.  Hawaiian theme and coconut (to ensure that I won’t be able to eat any 😒)

o   Lisa J’s annual party at Glen Lake, always including the best pork EVER, all the food you can possibly eat and real professional fireworks to rival those of the Great Escape.  We are using this as Kitty’s party (thanks Lisa & Tim!) and all we’ll need to bring is Kitty’s cake and the best pasta salad around.

·         Monday (the 4^th):

o   Sleep?  No?  Then the family barbecue at my house.  There won’t be any cake left from Lisa’s, so I’ll do a cheesecake/chocolate mousse pie.  (Apparently I will have to rest when I return to work on Tuesday.)

If I have any money left after Kitty-pa-looza, it will be the first time.  But you know what: I don’t even care! It’s Kitty’s birthday weekend!  When Kitty’s happy: everybody’s happy!  And isn’t that what it’s all about?  Whoo hoo!!

Hope you have a safe and happy 4^th of July 🎆