9 posts tagged “family”
My 26 Yo daughter just came running into my room to tell me Russia is bombing Georgia, and we are under attack.
ROFLMAO
She needs to get out more.... I had to explain it was a country.... and even then she didn't believe me
Then she said they are talking of bombing the US capital... so I told her "well, that's one way to clean house"....
When she isn't making me insane I think she is here for my amusement
For when you are dealing with the recently unemployed ( my youngest daughter, who lives with me, lost her job last Wed):
1) When they ask you to
read what they have written and ask you to give them your opinion - they really
don't want your opinion, & if you allow them to trick you into
giving them one you do so at your own risk.
2) Get use to hearing the screeching words- ''It's easy for you to say "be calm", YOU have a job!'' You are going to hear it often...do not try to calm them down, they will hate you for it.
3) ANYTHING that goes wrong for the unemployed person is automatically going to be your fault, even if you had nothing to do with it....even if you were across town at the time - You will be needing body armor and freaking nerves of steel.
If there is a hell on earth, I know the address, because it's at my house. In fact, I am seriously considering running away from home. I cannot take this for long...
We are on a short vacation in Lincoln City Oregon.. Getting here was not uneventful, I got into a rumble with Budget Car Rental over their new policies so we wound up renting a car for the trip from Enterprise instead. I have been a Budget customer for years, I have used their trucks for every move I have done myself, so I was dismayed to discover they now require a credit check at the very moment you rent your vehicle. Knowing my run in with the IRS back in feb placed a blotch on my report I tried to find out in advance if it was going to stop me from renting a car, and they refused to do the credit check prior to opening the rental contract. I didn't want to find out on the day we were to leave that I could not rent a car so I went shopping, and found a better rate, a lower debit card hold amount, a free pickup and I got straight answers through Enterprise Car Rentals.
Our space ship for the trip:
We had dinner out last night at a very nice Mexican restaurant, we gathered sea shells, and driftwood this morning, hit the Outlet Mall this afternoon, and will do some tourist shopping at the beach shops tomorrow. We plan to go see Wall-E tomorrow night at a vintage theater here. So far the fog is staying off shore, so we should be able to see the city fireworks display from out the living room windows in the condo we rented. It is great to get away from Portland!
It took me until 5am to fall sleep, I woke cranky. Not sure yet if I am going to the storage locker this morning or tonight, probably tonight, haven't stepped outside yet but it is not currently as hot inside as it was yesterday at 10am. I'll make the decision on this by 11. Thankfully we are cooling off tomorrow a tad.
Ramie sent this software link to me in an email, it looks rather fun. If you draw at all it might interest you. If you love music you might also like it. It's a program called HighC, it allows you to draw music. I haven't played with it yet but I have downloaded it... I wonder what my suns will sound like.....
My brother is getting legally married to the love of his life on Tuesday, July 1 at 10 a.m.
I have to say that they are without a doubt the happiest, most devoted couple I know. They met in college in the 70s and have been loyal and dedicated to each other through sickness and health ever since. Greg is much better at the compromises needed to make a relationship last and get stronger than I have ever been. In fact I am pretty damn lousy at it. Theirs is a marriage that is long over due, in fact it is 30 years late. I can't be there in person, but I will be there in spirit. They have been one soul for over 30 years, an unbreakable spirit, without a single exception. To some people a marriage is just a piece of paper, to them it is so much more, it is a documentation of what they are to each other, a legal public acknowledgment that the past 30 years earned them rights other people take for granted. OMG, I guess this means their dogs will no longer be illegitimate. :)
There are people in my life, people who I care about who will never understand my joy for them, people who think the fact they are gay is wrong. In reality gay is what and who they are, ( not some separate issue, not some flaw to be corrected). I love both Greg and Dave, as they are... a loving couple who gives of themselves to others in need and to each other, always. I could not be prouder of them or happier for them.
That said, I need iced coffee.....
I am really struggling to function, so my pal Sherry came by and brought me another dose of B12, after 3 shots in the last 4 weeks my level has only climbed from 87 to 95...still well under normal. I am doing another shot this coming Saturday. Everything I find online says a level as low as mine should have started with a loading dose of one shot a day for 5 days...I hate HMO's and the way they do things...I need to be up and running, NOW, not dragging, numb and confused. Anyway I am taking this situation into my own hands, I don't have the patience to wait a year to get back to normal. I cannot function the way things are, not at all.
I did get one package into the mail yesterday, and the Tribal Sun collage is going out by Friday, with an extra special sorry for the delay gift included. I had the bonus gift that goes with it nearly done 2 weeks ago and went to press it and fried it with the iron when I got distracted, so I had to start it over. I sobbed for hours, this is not like me at all. I am not committing to doing anything else until I feel better. Did I mention I crock-potted chicken breasts for 2 days before I remembered I even had it cooking? I have reminders set in my phone to remind me to eat, lately Viola, my 83 year old Alzheimer's client is more on track than I am, she finds it funny. I do NOT.
If I could just get my brain and energy back life would be good, I am really tired of being tired all the time... off the chart fatigue with an almost semi-dementia. It's been maddening. I now know I am not going to age gracefully, when my mind goes for real I have decided I am just checking out.... I hope I remember when the time comes.
The other major dumb thing I did was, I am in this group on yahoo, we make themed 13"x13" art quilts on a schedule, somehow I got the schedule muddled in my brain and got well into the one for coffee before I realized I was suppose to be doing the sun theme....argh!!!!!!!!!!!!! On the plus side, I am well ahead of schedule for the coffee one that is due in August.
I wonder if I am even safe to be driving the way my brain is not working these days... I am keeping my jaunts close to home, but we are suppose to go to the coast with Sherry for July 4th, and I am suppose to drive.... Karina may need to co-pilot, that's a scary thought.....
I got some really great bargains by buying used, what I bought is listed below,(if you are interested in any of them, you can click the name of the book to get to it on amazon):
Hardanger Embroidery
Doodle Stitching: Fresh & Fun Embroidery for Beginners
Time to Quilt: Fun Quilts and Retreat Ideas for 1 or 101 (That Patchwork Place)
The Art of Bead Embroidery: Techniques, Designs & Inspirations
Wearable Art: Innovations (A Studio/Penguin book)
All this for $53.03, I think I did good. Of course it barely dents my wish list, but it did take it down by a page. Yay!
Vi and I took a ride yesterday, in route home we were driving down Powell and passed an "exotic dancer" place, the sign out front said "free prime rib dinner" and that caught Vi's eye. Vi was questioning how they could give away prime rib dinners, so I suggested maybe the cover charge included the cost of it. She started laughing, uncontrollably... and without blinking she said, "oh Andee, that is just silly why would anyone going into a place like that want anything covered?" We laughed all the way to her house... she amuses me no end. The things she comes up with just slay me....
I pulled a great one on Keegan on my birthday... he was bugging me to go shopping, I was too tired and he would not let up so I held a small flashlight to his ear and he asked me what I was doing.... I said "Look at that! The light goes right through your head and out the other side, obviously your head is empty and that is why you will not listen to me". He called me a liar, grabbed the flashlight and held it to his own ear, but tilted his head to see if the light indeed came out the other side and showed up on his little cookstove his uncle Pat bought him to play chef on... when he saw no light he proclaimed me a naughty grandmother. Straight faced I told him his head was not tilted enough for him to see the light coming through but I had seen it.... ( I figure any time I can get him to act dumb twice in a row is more fun for me so I stuck to my story). Of course he tried it again but this time a car was going by outside at just the right time, and the headlights reflected on his stove as he was doing it... his eyes got REALLY big and he ran to his mom crying because his brain was missing...... I am a MEAN GRANDMA. Karina lectured me accordingly... I gotta say it was my best gift of the day though.
And they need your help, please donate today ..... this is important. My family is joining the MS Walk 2008 tomorrow in Portland and we need your help.
My grandson Keegan's pledge page is here:
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=4640256&pg=personal&fr_id=8131
My daughter Karina's is here:
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=4652035&pg=personal&fr_id=8131
Minimum donation that can done from the Walk pledge site is $5.00, less than the cost of a meal at McDonalds.... I am just asking you to skip one fast food stop, save yourself a ton of calories and help the NMSS keep people with MS moving.
I care for people with MS, my oldest daughter was diagnosed in 2003.... trust me, it changes lives. The National MS Society helps people get access to care, they loan out durable medical equipment, they arrange respite care for families overwhelmed , they offer free yoga classes and support groups, they educate, they advocate and lobby for research grants, in other words they do what they promise to do. They need your financial support to make it all happen. Thanks! My daughter thanks you too.
To
bring everyone up to speed... my brother-in-law Dave had a stroke...
mid 50's, no warning, lives an extremely healthy life and had no major
health issues that he knew of. He threw a clot, causing a major stroke.
He is paralyzed on his right side, and cannot speak. He works for Adobe
Software so his employment has always been very mental, reclaiming
everything that he can is vital, the window for doing so is limited. Of
course his frustration and depression levels are through the roof. His
therapist said his extensive therapy would include PT, speech therapy,
plus intense visual, sensory and tactile stimulation. He has a rough
road ahead of him. I immediately thought of art, and the healing
potential of it. I also thought of fiber and fabric, because you cannot
get more tactile or stimulating that that in my book. I have to say
here that Dave is the most loving, kind, sweet man you would ever meet,
he has always done for others who needed help and now I want to help
him all that I can, but I have limits on what I can accomplish alone.
Knowing
my limits means I have also asked not only close friends, but also
total strangers in yahoo groups I am a member of, and any artists who
stumble onto my blog to please send any small art pieces they have
laying around doing nothing to be used in his therapy and to help cheer
him up (he loves textiles and fiber and art made from them, he is a
collector of ATCs, he adores funky multimedia art, collages and
assemblages). Things like this can provide great visual and tactile
stimulation. We want to stimulate his brain so he can reclaim as much
of his pre-stroke life as we can. It does not have to be a huge effort
for anyone to do something special but special is nice if you want to
take it to the next level. I want to surround him with color, texture
and hope. Art heals, and I know if you get artists working together we
can prove that it does.So if you do miniature paintings, small water color pieces, fiber art cards, ATCs, make funky pocket shrines, small whimsical assemblages or art dolls, or anything that can used in his therapy, things he can keep in a small rehab room, I want your help... I am asking you to add to the effort....and I am asking you to ask your friends to help out too. Please share this call for art with everyone you know, no matter where they live. For a little bit of effort, and very little postage we can all help Dave... and encourage him at the same time.
Most of us never know if the world notices we are here or that we struggle. I want Dave to know lots of people are pulling for him to recover by sending small pieces of artistic stimulation to help encourage his recovery efforts. Those who send art, please be sure your return address is on it, Dave may not be able to thank you himself for awhile, but if he can't someone will send you a thank you and acknowledgment so you know your art contribution got to him okay.
My personal thanks in advance to all of you who decide you are willing to take time out for a total stranger, who care enough to send him art stimulation and well wishes for a speedy recovery.
Dave's mailing info for at least the next 2 months is:
David Valiulis
Room 933
c/o Palomar Medical Center
555 East Valley Parkway
Escondido, CA 92025
Can you even imagine what it would be like to wake one day unable to do what you have always done, without warning.... and unable to say what you want to say? I can't...
Please help me fill Dave's room with art, encouragement and hope! (And spread the word).... I want to make his therapist speechless....
EDIT:
Virginia Spiegel just emailed me and she is very kindly asking those on her Fiber Art For Cure list (http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACS/FAQ.html
) to help out. Virginia has raised a ton of money for cancer research
with the help of fiber artists worldwide donating their work to her
auctions and art sales. Her Collage Mania II sale (http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/CollageManiaDetails.html
) is the one I am donating my sun face collages to. So a HUGE thank you
to Virginia....and if you love collages you want to watch her sale,
every piece is a fine art bargain at only $40.
Keegan was especially cute this morning, he was in his Kindergarten Gangster mode.... trust me, it's not easy coming across like a tough guy when you have Sponge Bob Squarepants on your hat....
Marginally employed suddenly, with my only remaining agency client going into a nursing home today.... and this not being a day I work Viola, I am spring cleaning early. This is my try to-do list for today:
1)Clean my room, and organize it by getting Keegan and Karina clothes that have been tossed in there, into boxes and into storage or donated.
2) Get the desk that is sitting in the kitchen, into my room and the drawers filled with stuff I use. Mark it for the conversion to a sewing table.
3)Clean and organize the kitchen, get the new "Breadmaker's Hearth" countertop oven in place and hooked up, ready to use.
4) Run a load of crap to storage before it closes at 8 tonight.... or at least get a load into the car to be taken to storage tomorrow.
5) Get dinner started in the crockpot before doing any of this...
6) Drop Jan time card into the mailbox so I get paid on time for a change.
7) Fine tune my resume and get it sent out to the 3 jobs I found on craigslist
This is enough for today, I am still not operating at 100% power since the bronchial Pneumonia battle that started in December.
Wish me luck
