November, 2008

There are a lot of pictures for you in this entry. You are SO lucky !

Nov 7 (Fri) Another day, another candy wrapper telling me I didn’t win. I did, however check to see what the prize is. It’s a trip for me & 9 of my friends to a major league baseball game somewhere. At least it’s not a NASCAR thing.

My hair is washed with shampoo now rather than conditioner. I feel much better, & I don’t look like a homeless person.

Went to lunch today & ordered soup. I don’t care for chicken so I took the big pieces of chicken out so I just had noodles, vegetables & broth. I bit my tongue. Couldn’t get it to stop bleeding. How do you bite your tongue eating SOUP? It’s not like I was chewing. My teeth should have been in resting mode, not tongue-chomping mode. It still hurts. I got a small cup of ice at work & put my tongue in it every once in a while until it got too cold.

The jewelry store called today to tell me they can go down some more on the price of the 2 diamonds for my wedding ring. It’s still not down enough. Considering how much one of Alex’s college funds lost within the last couple of months, maybe I had better jump into “responsible mom mode” & do some prioritizing. Diamonds are going to have to wait a few more years. This is not the economic climate to worry about that. Alex will start college in only 3 years !

Nov 10 (Mon) We went to Lewis’s parents’ house today to visit with them & some old friends who were in visiting from NY. Went to brunch at Corte Bella then back to their house for a while.
Alex spent the night at a friend’s house on Fri. On Sat Lewis & Alex went to a hockey game with a friend. While they were at the game, Nancy came over for dinner. We had artichokes for an appetizer & German chocolate cake for dessert. What’s inbetween doesn’t really matter.

On Sun night Alex played tennis with a friend for a few hours. I will call the tennis instructor on Mon to sign him up again. His tournament is next Sat.

I think I have a scar on my tongue. It still hurts. I’ve never had that happen before. And with soup !

I have to go back to the dr. on Tuesday to have more of my skin cancer removed. There are a few more places. But it doesn’t hurt. The scar of the one that was done already isn’t even a horrible scar. It’s about 2 inches long, but it looks like it’s already faded. All of these places where I have the skin cancer are not places where the sun has ever seen, so I'm wondering how it happened.

I’m going to pick up my wedding ring & the other stuff at the jewelers from the jewelry store on Mon after work. Repairs are all done, except on my wedding ring.

I’m out of dried mangoes. I’m eating croutons again, but I would prefer the mangoes. Next time I go to Costco I’ll get some more. The croutons are tasting a little too salty. Maybe I’ll just put them away & open one of those depressing candy wrappers.

To my cousin Mickey – Did you finish all of the stuff you needed to do to become a patent attorney? Are you official now? I was wondering if General Motors will be affected by the economy. If so, you will be able to open up your own patent attorney office & start all over. But you’ve weathered all kinds of economies through over 25 yrs there.

I heard on CNN today when I went into the breakroom that DHL is closing their USA operations. All of those people losing their jobs !
I also got an email from a Thai restaurant we like that they have just closed the restaurant closest to us, but the other one is still open. Another restaurant (Pasta Pomodoro) just closed all of their restaurants, except 1, within the last 2 months. Another grilling place at Desert Ridge also closed. All within the last 2 or 3 months. Better not take all of my favorite restaurants away!
Nov 12 (Weds) You won’t believe this, but my tongue is still sore. I’ve never had a tongue bite last this long.

I picked up all of my stuff at the jewelers yesterday. I am wearing my wedding ring for the first time in several weeks. It’s flipping around on my finger. It’s really beautiful now that it’s clean.
Alex & his friend Brian played tennis last night for a few hours. Don’t they ever get tired?! His tournament is this Sat. Brian is also in the tournament.

When I woke up this morning I was lying on my left side & the princess was curled up against my tummy with her head on the comforter. She is such a sweetie.

Lewis made a nice spiral ham last night. I took some for lunch today.

Alex starts another session of tennis lessons tomorrow.

Nov 17 (Mon) I’ve got my dried mangoes back. I love them.

Had some friends over this wk-end & made a brisket using Dirk’s recipe. I thought it came out very well. We have lots left over to take for lunch.

Alex’s tennis tournament was Sat. He was not happy with the outcome. He was up against kids who had been playing for yrs & who take lessons twice a wk. He’s only been playing for a couple of months, yet he thought he should have been able to win. He wasn’t discouraged. He wants to keep trying. He even asked if we could get him a coach for twice a wk instead of once. We said - - NO. Does he know what any of this costs? I don’t think so, even though we’ve tried to make him aware of it. He’s wiped that part out of his brain. Last night after we cleaned up after dinner, he wanted to know if Lewis or I would play tennis with him.

We were exhausted from everything we did this wk-end & just wanted an hr or so of down time before bed. He was not happy about our responses. This is what happens when you only have 1 child. No siblings to do things with. Then we start feeling guilty.

Jack & Jonella came over yesterday for a while. It’s been too long since we’ve seen them. They want Alex to spend a night or 2 with them over his winter break. He loves spending time with them.

Mom’s surprise birthday party is this coming Sun. I finally know what I’m getting her.

Nov 21 (Fri)
I stopped at Sports Authority a couple nights ago & got Alex one of those chin-up bars. Got home & found out it’s the wrong one. Took it back yesterday. Lewis found the right kind online so he’ll get him that one.

Lewis had poker last night, & Alex had tennis. I took that time to do a little shopping, which I hate to do, unless it’s online. But I got the gifts I was looking for. Some are for my mom’s birthday, some are for Christmas for a few people I work with.

Lewis cooked a whole turkey a couple days ago & got dinner ready for Alex & me for last night. The turkey was delicious. We’ll probably freeze most of it to take for lunch.

They changed our computer login procedure at work, so now I have to put in my password all the time. It used to be when the program timed out, I could just open it up again, but after so many minutes, it just closes itself. I have to fix this; It’s driving me crazy.

Had lunch with Lori a few days ago at the Elephant Bar. We had a nice time. I wish I could spend more time for lunch every day. While we were waiting for our meal, Lori untangled 2 of my shirts ! A true miracle worker. She told me they changed the age for a kid to get a driver’s permit. It’s now 15 & 6 months, not 15 & 7 months. She also gave me the name & number of a driving school. If Alex goes there it will affect our insurance rate for him; It won’t be as high.

This picture is Jonella, Lori & me.

I had several responses to my request for help on recycling prescription bottles. I feel much better now knowing they won't be wasted.

Did this ever happen to you? My index finger on my right hand is sore – on the top part, the underside of my fingernail area. It’s from using the scroll button on my mouse. Who ever thought that would happen? For all the years I’ve been using computers, why now?

Alex & 3 of his friends are spending the night at Chad’s again tonight. They’re all going to play tennis first & then go to Chad’s house to play ping pong. That’s Chad’s Christmas present – a new ping pong table. Sounds like those kids do some pretty nice partying. Then they’re playing a round of golf in the morning. Chad lives on the golf course so they can play anytime.
Sparky doesn’t seem herself lately. She seems like she’s not feeling good. Her normal personality (dogality?) is crazy & scampering. She’s sort of moping around. If she’s like this through the wk-end I’ll make an appointment at the vet.

Nov 24 (Mon) Yesterday was mom’s surprise 75th birthday at Cathy & Dennis’s house. She was really surprised. We invited all of her old friends who she sees about once or twice a yr for lunch – the whole gang she used to work with. Everyone had a nice time. We stayed at Cathy’s later than usual because of some football game. Lewis didn’t want to leave because the game was “almost over.” Ever notice how football games are ALWAYS “almost over.” Two minutes in football time is about 15 minutes to people in real life. They were watching the game in the media room on this huge screen on something called the RedZone TV (or something like that). It flips 8 football games on the screen at once & every time something is about to happen, it puts that game on full screen. It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. I sat in there for a few minutes talking to Alex or Michael. Seemed every time my eyes went back to the screen the teams were wearing different colors. It was snowing then it wasn’t snowing. Jeeezzzz. I couldn’t keep track of something like that. I had to leave the room. Could make me car sick.

Here are a few pictures from Mom's 75th birthday party.

Mom

Lewis

Me & Roxie (Cath's dog)

Cath, Dennis & Roxie

(Roxie is a Brussels Griffin)

Alex & me

My sisters & mom

I forgot my lunch this morning. I made a nice turkey meal last night & forgot to bring it. I also couldn’t find my car keys or house key, so I ended up driving the van to work this morning. It’s a good thing we have an extra car. I’m going home at lunch today to eat my turkey - - & maybe look for my keys again.

We went out with our chavarah on Sat. Went to Frank & Lupe’s for dinner with Patty & Eric & then to the theatre with all 8 of us. Saw “Capitol Steps.” It’s a political satire. We saw it a couple yrs ago. So funny! This one woman did an amazing Sarah Palin. The show changes periodically based on the political climate.

Because we were going out Sat night, I switched purses. Seems I always lose my keys when I switch purses.

Decided to go home for lunch because I had a nice lunch there waiting for me in the fridge. Then I took a 20 minute nap with Sparky curled up by me, then went back to work. When I was home I found my keys & took my own car to work.

Nov 25 (Tue) The parking lot at work today was about ¼ full. That’s unusual to see. Only around Thanksgiving & Christmas.

Nov 27 (Thurs) Thanksgiving at Cath & Dennis’s was very nice. Jane’s son, Roger joined us this year. He was visiting from CA. We had about 16 people. Adam will be leaving in Jan to go to NAU in Flagstaff. We’ll probably only see him during holidays then. I hate that. It’s difficult when the kids start moving away.

Nov 28 (Fri) Against his better judgment, Lewis decided to wake me at 9:00 am on the day after Thanksgiving. I asked him why he was home because he always goes out REALLY early the day after Thanksgiving for the sales – like around 4:00-ish. No kidding. I hate the sales. I prefer doing my shopping online. He told me he decided to try something different this year – He shopped online. Lewis NEVER shops online. Unless it’s eBay or Amazon or Fender Guitars or a sports memorabilia site. This was a major breakthrough for him - - joining this century & all. But that wasn’t enough for him. He was reading the paper & found a place that had sheets on sale. He asked me if I wanted to go. We didn’t really need sheets, but the price was good for that thread count. I said I’d get up if we could go for breakfast at this place I like that has French toast with strawberries & bananas with NO cinnamon in the French toast. You don’t find French toast like that anyplace else. Everyone else puts cinnamon in their French toast. So that’s what we did. We ended up with 6 sets of sheets. Two for our bed, 2 for Alex’s bed & 2 for the beds in the extra bedroom, as well as some extra pillowcases. Great prices. But then Lewis had to go to some electronics stores too. I knew he couldn’t just do it online. He loves that day-after-a-holiday sales energy. I had my book with me so I could wait in the car & read while he & Alex scoured the rest of the area for sales.

Nov 29 (Sat) Mom & I went to Martha’s to see all of her new house additions. Martha is so project-oriented. She has an entire room just for painting projects. Then we went to lunch.

Got home & wrapped all of the presents I bought for people at my office as well as some of the baby gifts for Tarah’s shower.

Alex spent Sat night at Samantha & Michael’s house. Lewis gave Michael a good bottle of tequila because he is a tequila guy. He loved it. Said it’s sipping tequila, not margarita tequila. On Sun afternoon Lewis, Sparky & I went to pick up Alex. Sparky finally got to meet her new cousin, Michael. She was very inquisitive in their house & had to go through every room, sniffing.

When we got home, Alex reviewed his homework. We watched a couple of episodes of “24” & then had dinner. We’re almost caught up on “24.”

Well, I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving - - a nice November. The year moves on quickly.

Dec 3 (Weds)
Another morning of driving to work with “Light My Fire” on. Sometimes I get chills when I hear certain songs – or even particular portions of certain songs. “Light My Fire” is one of those songs. When Ray Manzarek is featured on his crazy keyboard before it goes into Robbie. “Spooky” by the Classics IV is also one of those songs. There are others, but those are the 2 that come to mind now. So I’m thinking, maybe when I feel a hot flash coming on, I should just put one of those songs on. Better yet, since they are on my iPod, I can have it paused at that particular “chills portion” so when I need to play it, I will hit the pause button again. When my hot flash is just starting, I will play that portion of a song that gives me chills. This should be an interesting experiment.

Dec 3 & I still don’t have to use the car heater on the way to work in the morning. Even when I take Sparky out in the morning it’s not cold enough for me to need a sweater. Sometimes in the evening we open the family room door for fresh air. We don’t get to do that very often. It’s usually way too hot.

We drew names for who we get gifts for at Christmas in my family. I got Brandon & I’m already finished. Alex got his Aunt Terri. He has been so diligent in trying to find something she would like. When he’s been out shopping with his dad, he’s called me several times to ask me if I think Aunt Terri would like this, or if she’s seen a certain movie, etc. I’m very proud of the way he’s handling this. We’ve always gotten gifts for him to give to someone. (His friends’ birthdays, etc.), but he seems to be taking this very seriously. Said he didn’t just want to get her a gift card because he wanted to get her something more special. Do I have a great kid or what !

Dec 5 (Fri) Lewis had poker last night & Alex had tennis. I think the next poker game is at our house.

So how about that O.J. verdict !

We’re going to dinner with Rosalie & Henry tomorrow & their son is coming over to hang out with Alex..

Alex has told us he wants to learn mixed martial arts once his back is healed. I’ve been checking into it. Someone at my office has been doing it for 5 years so he gave me a good run-down. We’ll just have to see how his back heals after this summer.

Dec 7 (Sun) Had a nice dinner with Rosalie & Henry last night at Jalapeno’s. Time goes too fast when we’re with them. Seems we never have enough time to chat.

Lewis played tennis this morning although it looked like it was going to rain. It didn’t. I got out of bed around noon & folded some laundry then continued reading my book “What a Coincidence!” Really a good book.

When Lewis got home from tennis he said he found a huge scorpion walking across the bathroom floor. Said it was about the size of Sparky. It’s really too cold for scorpions now. Wonder where this one came from. He told me he noticed my back tire was almost flat so he put air in it.

Lewis & Alex are now in the family room watching some football game. While that is going on, Alex has his laptop on the couch so he can check his fantasy football guys while the game is going on. This is too much. That kid is certainly Sam Sturniolo's grandson!

Alex’s basketball coach called today to give us practice days & times. We’ll get more details on games later this wk.

Sparky is sleeping behind me on the couch. She is snoring. She has seasonal allergies.

Dad’s birthday is Tues. I’ll probably go to the cemetery at lunch.

Here we are into Dec. Better post this.

Hugs,
Candace