Sorry, no pictures this time. But lots of news:
Mon (Jan 5, 2009) Incredible ! Going to work this morning was actually interesting. There was fog all over the place. Fog! In Scottsdale. First of all, I was sitting in the car waiting for Alex to finish putting his contacts in & then come out to the car. When he did, I noticed he was only wearing a t-shirt & jeans. I told him he should go get a sweatshirt. He said he wouldn’t need one. I said, “Okay, Alex. Natural consequences.” He assured me he’d be okay. When we got to the bus stop he asked me if I could stay until the bus came so he could stay in the car. That was fine, but I know he’ll be pretty cold today going from class to class. I believe in the natural consequences theory more than Lewis does. Before Alex got out of the car he said, “I guess I should have put a sweatshirt on.” But by then it was too late to go home to get it. It was 45 degrees. Coldest it’s been all winter.
Driving to work I started noticing fog. As I got closer to my office, which is surrounded by acres of empty desert, it became more dense. When I exited the freeway, which is less than 1/8th of a mile from my office, I couldn’t even see the building. I parked my car & couldn’t see the building from where I parked. I know I’m always complaining about how far I have to walk from the parking lot to my office, but where I parked this morning was about half the length of a football field. That’s about 50 yards, right? When I got inside, I opened my blinds & could see NOTHING. NOTHING! There is a volleyball court just below my window & I couldn’t even see that. It’s 3 floors down. Really cool! Any weather in Phoenix/Scottsdale that is NOT sunshine is a big novelty & quite noteworthy. It’s been rainy & damp the last couple of days, & that’s been really cool. Just open the blinds & sit there with a cup of tea & a good book. In Lewis & Alex’s case yesterday, a good football game on tv.
Sparky went to the beauty shop yesterday. She is very pretty now. They put 2 pink ribbons in her hair which she proceeded to rip out as soon as she got home, but not before I took some pictures of her. She doesn’t like ribbons, so she rolls around on the carpet & paws at them. Only takes her about 60 seconds & they’re gone. She doesn’t like going to the beauty shop. Once we get to the door to go in, she just sits herself down & won’t budge. I have to pick her up to take her the rest of the way. She always has her blanket with her when she goes there so she doesn’t feel lonely. But when I go to pick her up, she prances out the door, head held high & right to the car. She knows how pretty she is.
Turduken - - Lewis has been interested in trying this weird thing called turduken. It’s a whole chicken stuffed inside a whole duck which is then stuffed inside a whole turkey. Very very strange. It’s called turduken. I don’t even like the name of it. It sounds like something you would do to fix a car. I told Lewis I didn’t want to try it. I don’t like duck anyway. He made it for himself. It made the house stink. I had candles burning all day to get rid of that greasy duck smell. He said it tasted okay but he didn’t seem terribly thrilled. I think that’s a gross thing to do to a good turkey. I’m just thankful the great rice shortage of ’08 is over & Lewis can move on to something new.
He made us eggplant parm. yesterday for lunch. That was pretty good. I don’t like eggplant, but it was covered with enough stuff that it was okay.
I had a chance yesterday to work on my bar mitzvah book. I keep saying it’s finished, but I keep working on it. It’s finished in the respect that all of the words are down on paper (or in the computer), but it still needs work because I keep moving things around.
Tues (1/6/09) The Tournament Players Club is getting ready for the Phoenix Open (or the FBR Open, as it’s now called). The bleachers are up & the white tents are mostly up. I drive past it every morning. Within the next couple of wks they will have the streets blocked off to accommodate traffic in 1 lane each way, so I will take a different route to work. This happens every yr. A wk prior to the Open, the Barrett Jackson car auction will hinder my drive on the same road, only closer to our house. This means I will have to leave about 10 minutes earlier every morning. I don’t like that. I leave early enough as it is.
Cathy’s husband, Dennis has had a tent there (at the Phx Open) for several years. (FedEx). He didn’t know if they were doing it again this yr or not. Seems everyone is cutting down on everything.
Alex told me last night that he was pretty cold yesterday. I guess so. The high was 56 degrees. This morning when he came out to the car he was wearing his sweatshirt. When I dropped him off at the bus stop, I noticed 3 boys wearing shorts & sweatshirts. Their legs will probably freeze today. It’s supposed to get up to 56 again today. That’s a pretty cold “high.”
Weds (1/7/09) Our soon-to-be-former first lady just spent $485 thousand on gold-rimmed china for the white house. What the . . . . ??? I couldn’t read the article because I wasn’t able to access the video for some reason. Under the headline it said, “Who pays for it?” That’s what I wanted to know, but I wasn’t able to open it. I just hope it’s not us. Maybe it’s a gift to the new administration from the Bush family. Yeah, that’s it. I think it is obscene that someone would spend half a million on dinnerware. Is there anyone who isn’t offended by that? Consider the state our country is in & then think about spending a half a mill on dishes. Looks to me like our priorities are a little askew. I don’t want to get started on my soap box, so I’ll just move on. Oh, & by the way, if the White House really “needed” new dishes, why doesn’t Michelle Obama get to pick them out? Never mind.
I wore new shoes to work today. They are beautiful. They don’t hurt & they fit right. I’m very happy about this new turn of events in my shoe saga. Aren’t you, Shannon?
Meeting Martha for dinner tonight. Martha made a shoo fly pie for me. As long as I’ve known her (40 years !) shoo fly pie has been one of her family’s favorites. And they always share with me ! Lewis is going to make tacos for dinner tonight. There may be some left for me to take to lunch tomorrow.
I just looked at that last paragraph & realized that I have known Martha for 40 years. That’s a long time to be friends with someone. Especially someone who would put up with my weirdness for that long. She knows the real me & loves me anyway. Now that’s a true friend. Martha was one of my maids of honor. She has always been there for me. From grade school on. Martha has the cutest little white dog name Tsunami. Just a little baby doll!
I did it. I called my hair stylist & begged her to fix my hair. I now know why I haven’t kept it my original color for 35 years. It’s ugly. Raven black. It looks good on Cath. It looked good on Dad. It does NOT look good on me. I have an appointment for Thurs to have it lightened up. I guess I was just born with really ugly hair. It’s thick & it’s shiny, but the color sucks.
Just heard that the play “Hair” will be in Phx in a few wks to celebrate the 40th anniversary. I can’t believe it’s been 40 years. Some great music came out of that. Ah, the age of Aquarius ! I can almost smell the incense.
Alex told me that “24” is coming back on soon. We’ve never seen it on tv. Only on DVDs. So we’re going to record it & then watch it later to fast-forward past the commercials. The commercials on that show are about 4 ½ minutes long each. That is way too long. Also, “Lost” is starting in 3 wks. Too much fun. We record that too. Sponsors would hate us.
I’ve been working on setting up all of my manager’s meetings for the year. There are 25 people in one group that she will meet with individually & 80 people in another group that she will meet with individually. I have to set them all up in eastern time since her office is in Florida. I have to take into account when Daylight Saving Time ends & begins & make adjustments. My head is hurting. Some of these will be standard monthly meetings. Everyone is in a different time zone & they’re telling me what time they want their meetings to be in different time zones. I’m so tired of looking at calendars & reserving meeting rooms & figuring out times.
Mon (1/12/09) We went to a bar mitzvah Sat. The bar mitzvah boy, Josh, is in our chavarah. Lots of fun. Lots of good food & dancing. A nice time spent with good friends. (Shannon had on some really great boots at the bar mitzvah).
Last Thurs I had my hair highlighted. Since it’s so dark & ugly, something had to be done. It looks okay now.
We went to Lewis’s parents’ yesterday. Sparky went with us this time. We hate leaving her home if we don’t have to. After lunch, Lewis, Alex & Sam went to play miniature golf while Sevilan & Sparky & I stayed home & sat on the double chaise in the sun.
Tue (1/13/09) Well, well, well…….My candy wrapper is telling me I won something. Can you believe it! It’s not a trip to some baseball game. It’s something having to do with “American Idol” which I have never watched in my life or paid any attention to. Looks like it’s a hat. An “American Idol” hat. Great. That’s about as good as a NASCAR prize ! I’m throwing this wrapper away like the rest. Why can’t I win money?
“24” started up on Sun night. We recorded it & watched it last night. Just as good as ever.
Mon (1/19/09) Jonathan would have been 26 yrs old today. I will probably run over to the cemetery at lunch today. I remember 26 yrs ago today, sitting in the waiting room at the hospital. He was very stubborn & would not be born on our time schedule. I was at work that day & left work twice to go back to the hospital, waiting for his arrival. He was the first grandchild in the family.
How ‘bout those Cardinals yesterday? They will play the Steelers – my cousin, Mickey’s team at Super Bowl. Yesterday during the game, Sparky & I sat out in the sun on the patio while Lewis & Alex watched the game in the family room. I heard lots of screaming going on in there. It was the good kind of screaming. They were very happy boys. Now they will have to get their “Championship” t-shirts.
We left on Thurs (1/15) to go to L.A. to meet with the surgeon who will be doing Alex’s back. Funny thing is - - he is no longer there & the staff neglected to let us know that until we got there. I called 3 days prior to leaving just to confirm everything. Yep, all confirmed. Everything okay. Looking forward to seeing us. Uh, yeah. The worst part is that Alex’s back has gotten worse & there is more of an urgency to the surgery now. We have checked out Barrow Neurological Center for the past couple of days & nights (online) & have come up with 3 surgeons who we will talk with. Lewis & Alex are home today (Martin Luther King, Jr Day), so Lewis will make some calls to try to set up some appointments. This has to happen as quickly as we can get him in. The more he grows, the less of a correction is possible. And I have a feeling he is not finished growing.
When we were at the hospital on Fri. they weighed & measured Alex. He is 135 pounds now & about 5’10”. He weighs more now at age 15 than I weighed when I met his dad 23 yrs ago. I’ll never see that weight again !
We watched a couple of movies this wk-end. “Mirrors” with Kiefer Sutherland. Not worth it. We also watched “The X Files” movie. We used to be big “X Files” fans when it was on TV. But the movies haven’t measured up. Just that Scully & Mulder finally had a romantic tryst - - something I’ve always been waiting for.
We’ve been really upset from the trip to L.A. I think it’s affected my already fragile mind. I was trying to clean up around the house yesterday & it kept not looking like anything was happening. I’d take a bunch of stuff from the dining room table & put it in a pile to take into the bedroom. Then I’d put more stuff in a pile to put at my desk. I’d move those things to where they belonged & come back out to the dining room & more stuff was there. I couldn’t gather my thoughts or my failing organizational skills. I just kept looking around at everything & thinking, I need to take a nap.
When we arrived at the airport, the car service wasn’t there waiting for us. I called & was told he was there but he couldn’t park so they kept making him drive around. That only took about another 20 minutes. Not too bad. He took us to the hotel, which was just 15 minutes away. The flight from Phx isn’t long – maybe a little over an hr, but for some reason we were all tired. I had taken Sparky to her hotel earlier in the day. She would only be there 1 night. I signed her up for 4 hrs of group play. They called it doggie day care. She had a blast. She got a great report card. She had a larger room too but it didn’t have a tv with “Animal Planet.” No princess suite this time since it was just 1 night. She had her quiet time.
When we got to the hotel, it was a nice little suite with a kitchen & refrigerator. One big bed & a pull-out couch. Lewis pulled the couch out & found it didn’t have any sheets on. We called housekeeping & asked them to come up & bring sheets. She asked if we wanted them to put the sheets on or if we could do it. We said it would be preferable if the housekeeping department would do it. They said they don’t do that. This was a Marriott Residence Inn. They told us they are not a full service hotel so we have to put our own sheets on. We didn’t know it was not a full service hotel. Lewis was not happy about that. Neither was I, but we did it. Then Alex slept out there & we took the bed. I’ve never been to a hotel where I have to put my own sheets on the hide-a-bed. What exactly is a hotel that is not full service?
Saturday night was Alex’s basketball game. They’re looking pretty good now. He practices in the driveway a lot.
Sunday morning I got up early to feed the princess. She wakes up very early sometimes when she’s hungry & starts licking my face, so I have no choice. As I was putting food in her bowl, I knocked a glass off the counter onto the floor. It was one of the glasses that shatters into zillions of pieces - - not just a couple of nice big chunks to pick up. I spent an hour getting it all up. Cut my hand twice. Lewis came home from tennis & stepped on more glass. I could have sworn I got it all up. Had to work on it some more.
Sunday afternoon Lewis & I went to the Carefree Arts Fair. (in Carefree, of course). It was the perfect day for it. Gorgeous weather. Tons of booths. We saw some really wonderful pieces. And of course there was that freshly made lemonade. I’m going to be changing the colors in our bedroom & get rid of the stupid pictures we have over our bed which are very 80’s. I saw a beautiful dychroic glass piece that would look perfect there. The colors were perfect too. My husband did not agree to spending any money at this point in time. I kept the artist’s flier. We considered taking Sparky with us, but her little feet would start burning on the pavement after a while, so she stayed home with her brother who absolutely hates to be seen in public with his parents. And there is no way we could convince him to come to the arts fair with us. He just kind of laughed when we asked him.
Lewis made orange chicken & buffalo chicken last night. It was pretty good. He really is a good cook. For lunch he made us hot Italian subs on that good crunchy bread.
After the movie last night I decided to try the dreaded treadmill again. I promised Alex I would start using it. He asked me if I would do it for at least 10 minutes 3 nights a wk. I agreed to that. Last night I did my 10 minutes at 1.7 mph. When I was finished I realized I get more winded walking from my car to my office, so I will up the speed tomorrow. Alex came in last night when I was on the treadmill & asked if I wanted him to go get my iPod for me. I said no. He asked if he could turn the tv on for me. I said, “No thanks. I just want to focus for now.” He said, “Focus? It’s walking. Right foot, left foot.” For some reason that made me laugh a lot. I guess it was the way he looked at me when he said it. He's really got a very cute smile.
Sparky hasn’t been very sparky lately. She won’t eat either. She was fine when we first brought her home, but yesterday & today she has been very mopey. Lewis took her to the vet today & had all kinds of blood work done. We should know by tomorrow what’s going on with her. When I took my bath this morning, she didn’t get off the bed. She usually lays on my robe on the floor while I’m in the bathtub. She’s never NOT with me.
It’s been about 79 degrees. I think that was the high today. It’s beautiful outside. I should take Sparks for a walk. She loves that.
Better go now.
Hugs,
Candace
