I'm Back

O.K., so I haven't blogged in a while. Nine months to be exact. Not sure why. I really enjoy it, but the past 8 months or so I've had a major lack of motivation. I'm going to try to be a better blogger. So here's a condensed version of last July - September:

July - I finally did finish painting the laundry room. Don't know why small rooms seem to take longer to paint than larger rooms, but this was an ongoing project for quite a while.

August - Back to school for a full week of staff development. Then, on the third day of school, got rear-ended, by another car traveling at high speed, while waiting to turn left onto the street where my school is located. My vehicle totaled (paid off two months before), severe whiplash, now terrified to turn left without a left turn lane. And the other driver had no insurance. What a fab way to start the school year!

September - Spent too much on gas because of taking the long way to my destinations in order to avoid left turns. Dealing with our insurance company and the car rental place. Not sleeping... flashbacks of that car speeding toward me in my rearview mirror. And then came Ike, the storm of storms, arriving on what would have been Jeremy's 34th birthday. Son, Angelq, and Sweet Baby Girl decided to shelter in place rather than coming north to our house. At 6:30 in the morning I get a text message from Son asking if I am awake. I text, "Yes," and he immediately calls me to say that they have all been in the closet under the stairs without power since 1:00 AM, and that they are regretting the decision to stay at home. I look at the radar on the Houston station and see that the huge storm is only about halfway past them. Talk about feeling helpless! All I could do was keep them informed of what was being said on TV regarding the storm. Many homes in their area were damaged by falling trees which they could hear breaking all night, but, thankfully, theirs' was spared. They were without power for 3 days. I imagine next time a hurricane heads their way, we may see them here a couple of days before (and that would suit me just fine).

Ok, so maybe I'm beginning to see why I lost my motivation for blogging. August and September were definitely not the highlights of my life. And then came October. More about that next time...

OMG!!!

OK, so they just delivered my new high efficiency, ridiculously expensive, cleaning and drying wonders, and the users' manual resembles the one that came with my cell phone. OH MY GOD!! Because we've been without a washer for two weeks and are buried under a mountain of delightfully stinky clothes, I dared to put a load in without reading the manual and then discovered that ordinary laundry detergent is no longer acceptable. Oh no. Now one must use "HE" detergent for high efficiency washers. Oh, and FYI, I'm STILL painting. More details later...

Laundry Room Paint Job Update

I know everyone has been eagerly waiting for the pictures of the finished laundry room, but, you see, I got started, and it's about half done, but Rosie needed some cuddle time, (yeah, that's it), and then I needed to shred some credit card offers, and then.... I needed to do 30 minutes on the elliptical (now you KNOW I'm procrastinating). So I'm not done, OK? I still plan to finish by Sunday, but clearly I work better under pressure, and the pressure's not high enough yet.

Rosie's an Itchy Dog

So I've written about our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Rosie. Well, Rosie is the itchiest dog I've ever seen. The vet is pretty impressed with her itchiness too. After the third round of staph aureus colonization all over her body arising from her scratching and getting her skin all irritated, our awesome vet sent us to a veterinary dermatologist at Texas A&M Vet School to see what was going on with Miss Rosie. Well, after extensive allergy skin testing, it was determined that she is allergic to a bunch of airborne allergans including oak, mulberry, assorted grasses and molds, and (get this) cats, which we have two of. So now we are in the beginning stages of allergy injections which she will have to have every three weeks for the rest of her life. The protocol has me giving her two injections every other day gradually working up to once a week, then once every two weeks, until finally we get to once every three weeks. Every time I give her an injection there is a slight chance that she will have a bad reaction, even anaphalaxis (scary). So now in addition to giving Molly, our diabetic cat, two injections a day, I'm giving Rosie two every other day. If you had told me years ago I would be so besotted with my cat and dog that I would be willing to do this, I would have called you crazy. Yet, here I am. Am I crazy? Some will say so. But only those who have never had a special relationship with one of our little furry friends. True pet lovers will understand. And besides, I'm not the only one who loves Rosie. Sweet Baby Girl thinks she's the best and especially loves to use her as a pillow. Rosie is a lucky dog, but her people are lucky too. She brings a lot of love to our lives.

I Must Be Crazy

I have been painting the interior of my house for the past 9 years! No, really... 9 years! Being a public educator, I do most of the painting during the summer while I have "time off." Yeah, right. Time off. I always try to cram so many home projects into the summer that I end up more worn out at the end of the summer than I was as the beginning. It's just that during the school year I arrive home each day totally used up, nothing left, zip, nada, I'm toast. Unless you are involved in education, you may think I'm just whining, but it truly is an exhausting profession. But I digress... anyway, I had made up my mind that this year I would skip the painting over the summer, but wouldn't you know, I just couldn't stick with that plan. Youngest Son is moving into his first apartment without a roommate and needs a washer and dryer. So, being the excellent parents that we are, we're giving him our old ones so that we may get a new set of EnergyStar, high efficiency, outrageously expensive cleaning and drying wonders. Well, if we're going to be moving the old ones out, and new ones in, I have a not-to-be-missed opportunity to repaint the laundry room. Oh goody, goody! My fingers are just itching to get ahold of that paintbrush! NOT! But it really needs it, being the main entry point to the house. We do have a lovely front door with a beautiful foyer, but, for some reason, everyone, except for the occasional stranger, comes to the back door. I know they say back door friends are the best, but, geez... not when the floor is covered with sorted dirty laundry!

So, OK, I'm painting the laundry room, and my goal is to have it done by Sunday. Normally, I would paint for hours each day and get it done in a couple of days, but I've decided to take it easy this time. I'll keep you posted on how that plan goes. I should have taken a "before' picture so you could see the amazing transformation, but, alas, I didn't think of it until I had already started. So you'll just have to be content seeing the finished product. I just know you're waiting with bated breath. Lordy, could my life BE any more exciting?!?

A Special July 4th

Yesterday Poppy (husband) and I went to Angelq's and Son's house for the 4th. Since that horrible July 4th 15 years ago, we no longer celebrate the holiday. That's been an additional loss. I used to love the 4th, always attending local fireworks displays and looking forward to good barbecue and peach cobbler shared with friends or family. Since then, July 4th has been a day to dread, a day to somehow get through, and then go to bed as early as possible so it will be over. So when Son asked us to come babysit while he and Angelq went to a party, I said, "Sure." We're always happy to get to spend time with our adorable Sweet Baby Girl. It turned out there was a neighborhood 4th of July Parade yesterday morning so we put Rosie in the car and headed down early to witness the fun. Angelq had done an outstanding job of decorating Sweet Baby Girl's wagon, and I had run across the perfect little dress for the occasion. She was without a doubt the cutest kid in the best-decorated wagon! See for yourself...


Didn't I tell you? Absolutely precious!









And she was equally precious when she got out to push the wagon...


It was a good day. The first good 4th of July in a long, long time. Thank you Son and Angelq and Sweet Baby Girl. I love you.

I Should Have Said "No"

I grew up with a fearful mother. "Don't run too much.... you'll hurt your heart!" (Can you believe that?) "No, you can't put her in the top group at school. It might be too hard for her." "You don't get on the highway on a holiday. It's too dangerous with all of the drunks on the road." So when our oldest asked to go out of town to an equestrian competition with his girlfriend on July 4th, I was determined NOT to be my mother. After being told that they would be riding in her mom's Suburban with her mom driving, and because he was 18, I said, "Sure, go ahead." And that evening, while enjoying a bowl of fresh peach cobbler on the patio with friends, we got the call that he had been in an accident. And he never came home.

That was fifteen years ago, yet, in many ways, just yesterday. Sometimes the pain is still so overwhelming that I feel I can't bear it another minute, yet somehow I do. There is no other alternative. But... I should have said, "No."