Jamie, I Hardly Knew Ye

 Here's the one thing I actually like about Facebook: it can connect you with people you might otherwise have never known. That's what happened with me and James Oliver Jr.

He actually found me after my sister Robin died. Not only was he once the family's paperboy, he went to school with Robin. Then in later years he was good friends with Clancy. But I never knew him.

Anyhoo, once we became FB friends, I'd scope out his page to see what he was like. He was a big guy, bald, long beard, loved heavy metal music and motorcycles, sang, played guitar, loved his job, camped and fished. Wow, I thought: he keeps busy! 

Jamie was a devoted family man. You know I had to go through his pictures! He loved his wife, their shared kids, and his little grandson. He had so many true friends and he  lived and loved life to the fullest.

And then the enemy showed up. Cancer. Need I say more? 

Jamie fought the good fight. I prayed for him, had my church pray for him and wanted so much for him to have more time. During this time, he never stopped smiling, never stopped loving, and continued to work at the job he loved so much. He was able to keep people up-to-date on how he was doing. And he would even take time out to message me, or read my blog, or like something of mine on FB. And at the end of the day: he didn't even know me! But that's how we got to be friends.

Clancy isn't on FB so I'd keep him apprised of Jamie's doings. And now I have to tell him that Jamie passed away. What a major bummer...We will go to his service next month.

I wish I'd had more time to get to know Jamie and his wife Kathy through more than just FB. But I love what I did get to know about them.

Here is Jamie. And by the way: I found out from Clancy that I'm the only one that called him Jamie, ha ha. Everyone else called him James or Jim. But Jamie didn't mind!

I'm pretty sure that my sister was in the receiving line when Jamie arrived in Heaven. My friend, you were well loved and will truly be missed. I'm a little envious of the people who really knew you in life, but I'm happy that I got to know a little piece of you.

Oh, and one more thing:

FUCK CANCER.

A Crazy Day in Football

 

We love football in my house. Brie’s favorite team is the Steelers, my favorite team is the Raiders and Kitty loves the Ravens (probably because her sister hates them). Regardless, Sundays are given over to watching whatever games are on, as usually ours aren’t televised unless they are either a) playing a New York team; or b) ahead in the rankings.

So yesterday we started out with the Packers playing the Bengals. And here’s where the craziness began. We had no skin in this game as we are not Packers fans (Aaron Rodgers: please lose the man-bun) nor are we Bengals fans (have we ever watched one of their games?) but this one was the lesser of two evils as no one wanted to watch the Dolphins-Bucs game (no one is a Brady fan).

Getting back to the Packers – Bengals: I’m not sure what was going on with their kickers, Was it windy? Was the field tilted? But both teams missed three: count’em, THREE, field goal attempts. In a row! The game actually went into OT and that is usually too stressful for me, but Brie wanted to watch and root for the Bengals. Packers had first ups, so to speak. And the goal was to just get close enough to score a field goal to win. The offensive line did their job, then here comes the kicker. He was 4 inches from the goal post and it went up: only to hit the goal post and bounce out. Zoink! For the 3^rd time that game! We were excited because now the Bengals just had to get in field goal position and kick a field goal. The offense did their part, they were a foot from the goal posts, the ball went up: and zoink: it hit the goal post and bounced out for the 3^rd time that game! The camera panned to the kicker and he and a few team mates were high fiving and jumping up and down. I was like, “He’s going to feel real dumb in a few seconds.” I was right: that mood changed when they realized it was no goal. I’m sure the coach had some choice words for when they went to the locker room! Then the Packers got the ball again and this time were able to make the goal. So Man-bun’s team won. I really dislike overtime!

The next game was the Giants – Cowboys game. We had to root for the Giants because Brie’s boyfriend loves the Giants. Well I don’t know how he felt about them after they lost to the Cowboys, but I digress. Sorry!

But back to crazy: the late game was the Bills – Chiefs game. We are women, so we root for the Chiefs because hellooo Mahomes and Kelce! Oh, and they’re a good team too. 😁Anyhoo, it wasn’t so much the game, per se, as what happened during the game. When halftime rolled around, a storm had blown in and they emptied the stadium (to the best of their ability) because it was torrential rain and lightning, I believe. So instead of the normal 12-minute half-time, it was an hour. So the commentators had a lot of time to fill. And what did they fill it with? Many showings of the Man-bun - Bengals field goal debacles. Zoink! But then they showed some other crazy stuff. Like the Lions new coach crying at his press conference because the Lions are 0-5 this season. And it’s a new quarterback trying to pull the team together. I felt so bad for him: that I have decided that once again I have to adopt the Detroit Lions until they start winning games consistently. I did it before when they couldn’t win a game to save their lives, and they came back stronger. So I’ll do it again!

And then they told this story about how someone had leaked footage of the Jaguars coach getting a lap dance from some young twenty-something woman. I wanted to see the footage of his wife throat punching him, but no one had that! Now comes the press conference where he apologizes to everyone for his lapse in judgment. Mm hmm…wonder how many of those he’s had over the years.

But the craziest story they told was from info from the Bills locker room. They were upset because their visitor locker room was so small and hot, they had to periodically go out into the hallway for air. They were also upset because there was too much peanut butter, and not enough jelly on the sandwiches they were given. They said it was like 70% peanut butter and only 30% jelly. AND there was no almond butter!! Talk about a bunch of divas with first-world problems! Be thankful you had something to eat that included protein. However, the good news was the oranges were “fire”. 😒Then the commentators were wondering what, exactly, was the correct peanut butter to jelly ratio on a sandwich. Seriously: I can’t make this stuff up!

There you have it. Crazy! The Colts – Ravens play tonight. Go Ravens! I can’t wait to see if any craziness ensues for these teams! But if any does: it will be hard to beat yesterday.

On a side note: can you believe that the Cardinals are the only undefeated team in the NFL? The Jaguars are also 0-5, lap dances notwithstanding. It’s going to be a very interesting season!

Squinky in the Morning

 So...right now I have quite a bit going on. Nothing bad, but also nothing I've talked about yet. And it's something that keeps me up at night, but not in a bad way.

Brie also has a couple of things going on. Something she wants to talk about all the time. That's the difference between her and I: I keep it internal, while she lets it all out.

Anyhoo, her situation has her a little tense. I try to help, but there's only so much I can do. And then she gets squinky and frustrated and then we might have words or stop speaking altogether because she's mad at me. Squinky!.

This morning was a squinky time. We were getting ready for work, and I didn't have any fruit. Then I remembered I had  a few frozen grapes in the freezer. I would take them! So I got a Ziploc bag, opened the freezer, took out the bowl only to discover there were only six grapes in there. Oh well: better than nothing and I'd go to the store later.

Then I heard Brie from the dining room. "I don't have anything for snack today. Hey, what are you doing?" She came into the kitchen. "I'm packing up the last of the grapes." "But I didn't have any!" "Brie, these grapes have been here for four days, you knew they were here and there are only six." "Oh great: now I have nothing!" (even though I had told her last night that we had apple slices. But I digress...)

Inside, I knew the issue wasn't the grapes. But I stupidly said, "Then you take them." "No you already have them. I'll just have nothing." "Brie, there are only six but please take them." "No!" and she headed out of the kitchen.

I went after her, Ziploc bag in hand. "Just take them!" "No!" We got to the living room and I threw them into her workbag. "Just take them!" She took them out. "No just forget it!"  She put the bag back in my hand, and I was well over it by now. "Fine!" I mustered up my dignity, turned and went to step smartly away.

However, in my midst of righteous indignation, I failed to notice the Puffs tissue box on the floor. I smartly stepped on it, went to walk, didn't realize it was stuck to my foot, the slippery box slid on the floor, I did a turn, started to fall, reached for the small gray chair by my couch, only got part of it, did another pirouette and landed sideways on part of the chair.

How Brie kept from howling with laughter at this, I have no idea. "Are you okay?" she asked. As I got up and felt the pain in my left knee I said, "Yes I'm fine." "Enjoy your grapes." And she left after saying a half-hearted "love you".

So as I hobbled around, gathering up my purse, work bag and Rocky Mountain tumbler, I decided two things. 1) Brie is a hater when she's squinky; and 2) the next time she wants frozen grapes she can make them herself!

By the way: here's what we do with the grapes to make them fight-over worthy:

Wash the grapes. Pat them dry. Put them in a bowl. Sprinkle your favorite flavor of dry Jello over them. Roll them around so they're covered. Throw them in the freezer for an hour or two. Delicious!! Enjoy!