End of the week...

We went to a birthday party last night, our caterer friends...and wouldn't you know, they had tons of food!! Really great food! The theme was 50's, so we put on our best cuffed jeans; I wore a cute pink sweater with a scarf, curled my hair, pink lipstick. No, Glen didn't wear lipstick, but he did slick his hair back. Everyone there was about our age or older. Era music, and because it was Dave's Diner, diner type fare! Hot dogs, hamburgers, onion rings, french fries, cole slaw, Spam appetizers (I kid you not), some kind of pasteurized cheese on celery sticks. For dessert, root beer floats and hot fudge sundaes. Dang, I ate a lot! Lots to drink too...I only had 1 beer because I was going to a baby shower today and I didn't want to be all hung over or dragging ass.

The baby shower today was great..most of my cousins were there. We don't see each other that often but when we do, it is so much fun! We laugh until our sides hurt, seriously! It was a surprise baby shower for my godson's wife. She thought the party was a sex toy party, and was really excited about buying some stuff. If you ask me, she has no problem in that department - this is her 5th child!! We played the standard baby shower games; plenty of food and drink (dang, do I drink a lot?). I had a couple of beers, little 7 oz Bud Lights...I had never seen them that small.

I start the fitness challenge tomorrow...working out every single day in December. Must be 2 miles per day or 30 minutes. I also plan to watch my carb intake, oh, and alcohol intake! My goal is to lose 7 lbs, and if I don't lose, at least maintain. Its a lofty goal because when I work out regularly, I tend to gain pounds. The grand prize is feeling great, wearing clothes that fits right, and feel healthy.

I went to DSW today determined to find the right pair of boots. I tried on at least 8 pair...none "felt" right. There are 2 pair that I am seriously considering, but I'll have to sleep on it, then decide. I didn't even buy a single pair of shoes! I just cleaned out my closet and got rid of 8 pairs of shoes that I don't wear - if I haven't worn them in a year, they are gone. I even found some heels that have never been worn! I kept those, I'll wear them some day.

Talk soon...

Update on biker...

I forgot to say what happened to the bikers in my previous post. One cyclist was critically injured with life threatening injuries. He has had 2 surgeries to relieve swelling of the brain, and is in a medically induced coma. The other 9 injured cyclists have either been treated and released and/or do not have life threatening injuries. The thing is, traffic is stopped at all intersections, and on many main thoroughfares, traffic is diverted to protect the integrity of the race. We, the morotists know this, it is broadcast, advertised, weeks in advance of the race. This guy made a left hand turn in front of the bike path that had been cordoned off. I am really surprised that there wasn't any police presence at this particular intersection, but that doesn't make his left hand turn any less "legal". Now he may claim he's old (which he is), and maybe even a bit senile (he knew enough to wipe down his car & turn himself in), and that "he didn't know what he was doing" he shouldn't have been driving. Period!

TDay & bikes...

Thanksgiving Day was cold and rainy. The sun peeked out in the afternoon, but by the time I was getting ready to leave to my sister's house, the rain had started again, hard. Glen went into work that morning at 4 am! His company is upgrading their computer network, all new hardware and software, so he's the appointed-by-default administrator (no one else wanted to, could?). He got home about 10 am, frustrated because his attempts to do what he wanted to do were futile. Right before we were going to leave, he said he felt like he was going to pass out. I took his blood pressure, it was 186/92, pulse was 81! Needless to say, he didn't go with me to my sister's house. I had to go, as I prepared the ham, pies, stuffing, yams, half the dinner almost! Dinner was yummy, lots of food, but because Glen wasn't there, I felt kinda half there. I called him several times to see how he was feeling, and after an episode like he had, he felt weak. We both had to work yesterday. We both got out early, and had leftovers for dinner. I had a headache since the day before, that was now full fledged pounding!

Kohl's opened their doors on Friday morning at 4 am. One of the malls, opened at midnight! That is just crazy! The ads have shown some really great discounts, but there is something about crowds that makes me feel anxious. As it is, traffic has been horrendous. I may go out today for a bit, early, to test the waters or just to look :) I want a pair of boots. I don't know if I'd wear them, but I think they look cool. Everyone at work has a pair, my sister's both do too. So, do I want a pair because I would wear them, or do I want them because everyone else has them?? I'm in AZ, it doesn't get that cold here, and most of the boots around here are cowboy-ish - I do have a pair of those, and I've never worn those! Just thinking outloud...

We had a huge bike race here last weekend, El Tour de Tucson. There were over 8,000 riders traversing a course around the city. The longest event was a 109 mile loop, traffic is stopped, diverted, tempers flare, but it pumps a lot of money into our tourist industry at a time when it is especially needed. There was an incident where an "elderly" man turned in front of a pack of riders, and 10 cyclists struck his vehicle. It was reported that the man got out of his car, checked the damage to his car, got back in and drove off!! Can you believe that?? It wasn't until Monday evening that this man turned himself in via his attorney, and is cooperating with the investigation. He is 91 years old!! After searching his house, and vehicle, they found paper towels, and rags where he had wiped down his car, with blood and tissue matter, damage to the right side of his car, a broken headlight. Its been reported that the county attorney's office doesn't know if charges will be filed!! WHAT?? Now, I can only go by what is being reported by the news stations, and what I read in the newspaper, but why would he not be charged? Because he is old?? The lawyer who is representing him is very expensive, has a reputation for defending "guilty" people, and getting them off! This has so outraged the biking community, which is quite strong here. Would there be any doubt about filing charges if the person was 31 years old? Probably not. My friend Alana's husband finished the race in 107th place with a time of 4:38:38! Whoo hoo...

Talk soon...

Hugs and pie...

The football game last weekend was disappointing...not only could we have won, we should have. Plenty of opportunities we just didn't capitalize on - lost by 2 in the last 4 seconds of the game. We were already on our way to Village Inn for some pie by the time the game ended. The highlight of the game though was the start. It was Davis Monthan AFB day - DMAFB is the local military installation, and also one of the largest employers in southern Arizona. They introduced several men and women who had completed several tours in Irag, Afghanastan, and even humanitarian efforts in South America. It is quite moving to know these people have put themselves in harms way time and time again so that we may enjoy our freedom. The Star Spangled Banner always chokes me up, always has. I've noticed that many more people are actually singing along. At the end of the song, four A-10's did a fly-by...quite emotional. So, I'm a sentimental fool!

My 4 year old granddaughter attends a pre-school for 3 hours a day. Ailani has become quite the social butterfly in the past year or so. For the first 3 years of her life, she hardly said 2 words when she'd visit and seemed to be attached at the hip to her mom or dad. Then Erika became pregnant with Sophia and stayed home with Ailani for 7 months. She blossomed almost overnight. She is quite the talker now! Well, last week, she got in trouble at school because she was hugging a boy - like all the time! I don't know if the teacher just pointed it out to Carlos and Erika or if the little boy complained or maybe his parents. In any case, Carlos and Erika had to have the talk with her about hugging. She didn't get grounded or anything like that, but it was hard for her to understand why she couldn't hug anymore. When asked why she was hugging, she said, "because he's my friend and I like him". Innocence - what other reason could there be?!

My mom is just biding her time until the surgery next week. She is in so much pain. I went over on Sunday, manicured her hands, fresh coated her fingernails, and she was happy. When I asked her if there was anything I could do for her in terms of chores, she said no. I called her Monday morning to see how she was feeling, and she was changing the bed sheets! Oy vey.

I have so much baking to do for Thursday. I'm sure tomorrow night I'll be doing most of it. Haven't done this for a very long time. I'm not a spring chicken anymore! My mom bought the pumpkin pies from Schwann's last year. Its one of those frozen food trucks that still make deliveries. I don't eat pumpkin pie all year because I save it for Thanksgiving. I had a smidge of a taste last year, and I tossed the rest. This year, I'm baking them myself!

Talk soon...

Make the most of the weekend...

Thanks for all your kind comments about the layoffs. It seems every day some company here or there is laying off tons of people. If so many companies are laying off, where are the laid off people supposed to get jobs?? Due to the high number of people applying for unemployment benefits, unemployment checks are lagging about month. Bills still need to be paid, families still need to eat...its just so sad. Even though I survived this round, if business doesn't pick up, and the projection for Dec-March, our high season, is not looking favorable at all, further cuts will probably be necessary.

I finished reading The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kaled Hosseini. Both excellent reads. I also finished Sunday at Tiffany's by James Patterson - hmmm, the jury's still out on that one. The premise was ok, an imaginary friend to a child, then returns when she is an adult. Is he an angel, a spirit? It was a quick read, and once I started, I finished. I have way too many books that I've started and haven't finished reading! I have vowed ( well, maybe not really VOWED, as in promised), not to return to the bookstore until I read the majority of the books I currently have. Hey, it keeps me off of QVC and HSN. (BTW, honey I am expecting a couple of boxes from QVC! I was between books)

We were supposed to get together, Alana, Alisha and myself for dinner last night at Alisha's. She made a delicious dinner of salmon, green beans, au gratin potatoes, salad, a variety of desserts and a nice pinot noir. Turns out Alana didn't make it because she "forgot" she was riding in the El Tour de Tucson's bike race today. How do you forget that?? After Alisha went through all the trouble of shopping and cooking, then just say, "sorry, I can't make it because..." She should have said up front that she only wanted to do drinks, which we don't normally do because we have to eat something anyway! Anywho, after dinner we were both kinda buzzing so we went to sit in the hot tub for about 40 minutes. Very relaxing! There was steam rising off the water...we went back and had coffee and dessert! It was an early night, I got home about 9:30 pm or so.

My mom is going to have knee replacement surgery on 12/3. I mentioned a while back that her doctor wasn't taking her pain seriously, and this last time she went to the doctor, he did an x-ray and said, "you have bone rubbing on bone, you must be in pain". No shit, Sherlock! She had the other knee replaced 4 years ago, and now 4 years later, after the chronic pain she's been in, it has taken a toll on her. She will get 6 weeks of physical therapy. She isn't very good about following through on her own, though. She thinks that by getting on the bike and twirling the pedals a couple of times, voila, she's worked out. We are just praying for a successful and speedy recovery!

There are 2 football games left - tonight Oregon State, and 12/6 ASU. It has been a great season, maybe not in terms of wins, but the team has evolved in the last couple of years, that they have a decent record. Maybe even bowl bound...a small bowl, but we haven't been in bowl contention for a long, long time! We'll tailgate with our friends first, have a drink or 4, then go to the game. Glen is going with me, and he will be carrying the gear. It'll be chilly tonight, so extra woolies are in order! Go Cats!

I got a haircut yesterday, and yes it looks different from my normal do, and Glen didn't notice. I pointed it out to him this morning, "oh yeah, you did, it looks nice". Sure, I just woke up! That kind of nice? I wonder if I shaved my head, he'd notice??

Talk soon...

Checking in...

As of my last post, the company I work for has layed off 75 people! I was not one of them, but I still feel so bad for many of my friends that left. This company has never had to lay off before, other than after 9/11, but even then they re-organized, and were able to place people in other positions instead of laying them off, unless they were under performers. The dust settled last week, the last batch left last Friday. We had a company wide meeting on Tuesday, and it was so hard to watch the founder address us. He said that he has always thought of us, the employees, as a family, his kids, and for a parent to have to make the tough decisions as the business had to do, was one of the hardest things he's done. His voice cracked right then...I thought I was going to lose it too! This man is truly a gem...he knows names, knows what everyone does, and truly cares. He and his wife founded the business almost 30 years ago, and now is grooming his granddaughter and her husband to take over, eventually. There are employees that have been there since day 1. I have spoken to very few people working there that don't thoroughly enjoy what they do. There are also other changes, such as the lunches we have available. A daily entree, with two sides was $2.75, and you could always substitute the entree with a different one if you didn't like the offering. Starting today, there is a daily special, two entrees, for $5.25, which really is still a bargain. This food is organic, healthy, and because we are in a fairly remote location, going off property to find a fast food place, plus the $$ for gas, and getting back in 1 hour is highly unlikely...and stressful! The company was subsidizing much of the cost of the food, and now they just can't. The savings also helps to keep our insurance premiums down.

I went to a lecture on Tuesday evening that was interesting and provided much food for thought. The name was: Self Awareness: An extraordinary journey based on Heuristics. A couple of quotes struck me:

"Each of us has an image of what we think we are or what we should be, and that image, that picture, entirely prevents us from seeing ourselves as we actually are" - Krishnamurti

"You dissolve discord, heal pain, dispel unconsciousness - without doing anything - simply by being and holding that frequency of intense presence" - Eckhart Tolle from the Power of Now

I have found that much of who I was, was what others wanted me to be. I was not myself, my true self for so many years. I went from my parents home as a daughter, to being a wife and mother at 18 years old! I never had time to find out who I was, so I became the notion of what everyone else thought I should be. Just in the last 10 years, have I become more myself, more aware of my feelings, by just observing myself. What things bother me, which ones don't, by just being aware of it. I've noticed that when I should get mad, I don't. I tend to choose my words carefully, trying not to hurt, as words so often do. I also realize that I am so very blessed. I journal a lot, which helps to put my thoughts in front of me so that I can re-read what I wrote. There are times that I cannot read the pain I've experienced. By not observing it, how have I learned from it?? Life...a work in progress.

I went to another lecture today...Mantras & Malas. Very interesting. The presenter gave us some mantras, their meanings, and just said try them. There will be one that fits your need. The ones we went over today were in sanskrit, but you can have a mantra in any language. She also had some samples of malas, beads, much like a rosary, but these have 108 beads, based on the Hindu tradition. It is kind of like a rosary, which has 54 beads (double 54=108!). Not that I can explain it all, but it was so very interesting. Oh, I also did a yoga class yesterday.

I signed up for a December fitness challenge at work. The rule is that you must work out everyday in December! The exercise can be of your choice, and must be at least 30 minutes or 2 miles per day. Totally do-able huh?? There is no prize other than the satisfaction that no weight was gained (if you balance your caloric intake and not pig out!) in the most festive, food filled month of the year! I know I can do it, but will I? I simply must now, it is out there.

Talk soon...

What a week!

My, what a week it has been! First, the election and all the hoopla surrounding that! I started watching SNL Election Bash on Monday, but fell asleep halfway through. It was funny, but I was tired. Tuesday's election, results, and ultimate ending...well, I'm glad its over, now we can get to the business of running the country! Whoever you voted for, I'm just glad you did. Actually, many of us did, and that makes me proud that we exercised our right to do so. The passion of this country has been ignited and I just hope that we can continue to care. Apathy is ugly.

The beginning of the week also marked lay-offs at work. Fifty were marked to go, then the number was upped to 65, there may still be additional if business doesn't pick up. No one from my floor, but downstairs, 2 Project Managers were let go. They didn't see it coming. Ironically, one of the project managers responsibilities now shifts to my director and myself. Details that we never worried about now fall in our lap. I left early on Wednesday with a stomach ache, stress, I'm sure. I wondered, "am I next"? I asked my director, and she said no. Huge sigh of relief, but there were so many others who weren't so lucky. I feel so badly for them. Many of them are single parents. Where are they to find jobs in this depressed economy, and when so many other employers are laying off??? Sad.

Friday night, Glen and I went to the Firefighters Chili Cook-off. All the stations around town gather for an annual chili competition! They have decorated booths with themes running from viking ships, rockets, dragon heads...they get quite creative! I saw a KISS booth this year that was new...the guys were dressed like KISS...they looked pretty real, the hair, platform shoes, and make up...I saw people taking pics with the guys, and there were lots of tongues sticking out! Live music on a stage, people dancing, etc. You get a cup of chili for $1, but they also have nachos, chili dogs, quesadillas, oh and of course, beer & wine! It runs from 10 am to 10 pm, usually the first Friday of November. Its a fund raiser to benefit charities the firefighters support! We usually buy $20 of tickets, and since we don't eat all $20 worth, so we usually find a family hanging around and give them what we have left of our tickets. Why not, they get used!

This morning I started my holiday shopping! Ugh! JC Penney's opened at 6 am, I got there at 7 am, and I was home by 9:30 am. They had a 60-75% off sale! Love me a good sale. Most of the grandkids are done. I get them mostly clothes. I am not the toy nana, and they know that. I'll probably still get them some books each, and I'm done! I picked up a couple of things for myself, too. But I didn't get any shoes! Hmm, now that's just wrong. I may go back...

Glen's birthday is Monday, so we'll go out to dinner today. Glen is a steak and potato guy for sure so we are visiting Lil' Abner's. They serve a 32 ounce porterhouse steak that is HUGE, so big that it comes on its own plate, by itself! Dinner comes with all the fixin's, too! I simply do not eat that much...don't know what I'll have. I wonder if they serve salad :) We'll go out to dinner with Glen's sister and husband tomorrow, Olive Garden.

Talk soon...

Random happenings...

Last week was pretty uneventful, although I did manage to get a 45 minute walk in 5 of the last 7 days. Alisha and I walk right after work and because we are losing daylight daily, we have to kick it up a notch or two to finish the walk before dark! Halloween evening I got out of work about 1/2 hour early, so we started earlier, and went for a full 60 minutes. I feel like I've gained weight, but the scale hasn't moved up (or down, unfortunately).

Anthony (grandchild #3) turns 6 at the end of the end of the month, but we had his birthday party yesterday at the park. The end of November is too cold to have an outdoor party. It was a rather warm day, and as usual, the event organizer (Anthony's mom) was unorganized. The invite said 12 pm, and when I left at 3 pm, they hadn't even started serving the food! They still had a pinata, cake and presents to open. The sun begins to set about 5:45 pm.

On Saturday evening, we went out to dinner with some friends. Actually, they are our caterer pals, whose tailgate parties we go to before the football games. We've been wanting to get together socially for a while now, and we were finally able to when we were all available. We went to Carrabba's, an Italian restaurant, and enjoyed a nice leisurely dinner.

I finished reading The Choice, by Nicholas Sparks, and now am almost done reading, Make Him Look Good, by Alysa Valdes-Rodriguez. One of the girls at work lent me The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, so I guess a trip to the bookstore is not yet in my future.

I have a roast in the crock pot for dinner, and it is starting to smell delish! We'll have some asparagus, and maybe some garlic mashed potatoes! Mmmm, that sounds good!

Thats it for life in my little corner of the world...quiet and content. Talk soon...