Friday in Austin

We got up early on Friday morning and went to Barton Springs, which is where Dean takes her morning swim. It's a place where a natural spring wells up and they've enclosed the stream bed to make a giant swimming pool. There's a constant flow of clean water running through it so there's no need to use any chemicals. It's a wonderful place to swim but that water is COLD. I can barely handle it on a hot day. Dean swims pretty much year-round in the early morning. Not for Donita.

But the reason I went there was to serenade the swimmers. Kind of silly since the pool is huge and people pretty much had their heads under water but it was still pretty fun. KC was there so I mostly sang for her. We chatted with a few people. It was pleasant.

After that Dean went to work and KC and I went out for breakfast. Then I came home and crashed. I slept good and hard until 1:00. Then I got up and did some homework. Dean came home at 3:30.

A friend of Greg's got us in at one of the venues. Another free event for us. The show was Dent May and his Magnificent Ukulele. It was a fun show. I bought his cd but he was really better live. After that we went to The Belmont and had drinks and listened to the bands. Then we went back to Dean's and lounged on the patio until the wee hours.

My back still hurts. It must be a little better since I can tolerate the pain without taking a T3. I'm going to tough it out so I can give my liver a break. We're leaving soon to go to a poster show. Gonna try to score some free stuff. Then I'll try my hand at busking. I'll for sure be taking a pain pill before I do that.

Ooh, it's pretty breezy right now. Hmmm...

I'm in Texas.

And having a great time. All except for one little glitch. I put my back out today. Spasm city. The rest of my trip may suck a bit. I'm hoping it'll be better tomorrow.

Today was the Million Musician March that began at the Capitol steps and went down to City Hall. They really shouldn't have called it that. When we first got there it was more like the Several Musician March. Eventually it swelled to a Smattering of Musicians March. Still, it was pretty cool. Very much a hippie scene. Dean had brought Nancy along. Nancy is her little tri-colored Chihuahua. She figured it would be good for Nancy to have the experience and it would get her some exercise. Nancy was a good girl.

We hung around and listened to the bands. I played along with some of them while I was standing around in the audience. After a while we sat on the grass. Dean suggested that I use the bathroom before we left for the walk. When I stood up I must have turned funny because I really wrenched my back. Man, it hurt like a mo-fo. As I walked to the rest room it was pretty clear that there was no way I was going to be able to go on that march. Dean called Greg and he picked us up. When we got back to Dean's I took a Tylenol with codeine. Throw in a couple of screwdrivers and I'm doin' ok.

Tonight Dean and Greg fixed a nice dinner. KC and Dean's next-door neighbors came over. So, that's today.

I got in very late on Wednesday night. Dean and I stayed up until 4:00 just having a good cackle. I played some songs for her. Man, Dean is the best audience I've ever had. It was really fun playing for her. At one point she jumped up and hugged and smooched me real hard. That was pretty funny. Dean is not usually that demonstrative.

On Thursday Dean, KC and I went to an exhibit called Birth of the Cool. It's all mid-century modern stuff. I'll take one of each, please. The exhibit was actually kind of small. We explored the rest of the museum and then went to The Belmont for drinks and to listen to whatever band was playing. The Belmont was one of the free venues. At the museum they gave us a coupon for one free appetizer at The Belmont. We were diggin' the free.

The bands were ok but we were hungry and thirsty and The Belmont serves good food. We enjoyed the scallops and the mussels but the calamari was the best that any of us had ever had. We were there for about an hour and a half. Then we walked down the street a little and listened to another (very loud) band. Then we came home. Dean roasted some chickens and grilled some veggies. We had this reeeeaaally good coconut cake for dessert. I made the mistake of buying a whole cake. I think I had cake with every meal until it ran out. There was no resisting it.

That's all I'll write for now. This post is long. I'm having a very good time. This trip was the exact right thing to do.

Me sicko

Man, being sick is a drag. Even if it's just a wimpy cold it still sucks. Right now my chest is congested and my head is completely clogged. It's pissing me off because I don't have time for this. I'm leaving for Texas on Wednesday and when I get back I'll be joining the flurry of funeral preparations. Family members are flying in. Lots of them. All I want to do right now is clean my house and I can't do it. After about five minutes of picking up I get completely worn out. Man, I hope this gets better tomorrow.

I'm not going to go back to work until after it's all over. I'll take a bit of a financial hit but it's not like I was really raking it in to begin with. Missing a few days won't make that much difference and I can make it up in April.

What I wouldn't give for one clear nostril.

Bye, Dad

Dad died yesterday. The long struggle is over.

On Saturday afternoon David called and said Dad's blood pressure had dropped significantly and he was unresponsive. He thought Dad would probably die within 72 hours. Man. Everything kind of shifted and my thoughts were all over the place. I had been working on the garage. Since there was no need to rush right over there I went back to what I was doing. I was the only one in town. Stacey and her family were in Orange County at Audra's game and Drew and his family were in San Diego for Tori's volleyball tournament. Then a little while later David called back. Dad's blood pressure had dropped again and he felt cold. He probably wouldn't last the night. It was time to get over there.

When I saw Dad it was quite a shock. He was not sleeping peacefully like you see in the movies. He looked like a breathing corpse. His head was pulled back. His mouth was wide open and his lips were curled up over his teeth. His eyes were half open, staring but with no life behind them and sunk deep in their sockets. His breathing was labored. He had lost 25 pounds in the last week, which was no surprise. He had pretty much stopped eating.

I closed his eyes but they popped right back open. That was one of the things we did with him all night long. We'd close his eyes so they wouldn't dry out. I doubt if it helped and I don't think he was feeling it. I sat down and talked to him for a little while, then I sang him some songs. I tried to think of some hymns but none came to mind. I went to the dining room and found an Armed Forces Hymnal. I took it back to his room and sang hymn after hymn for him. (Heh! There's a sentence.) I was surprised I could actually sing through tears.

Pretty soon Stacey poked her head around the curtain. She was also taken aback by Dad's appearance. She was concerned that B might find it too disturbing. There was no time to make a decision about it because Brendan came right in and sat down next to his Poppa and took his hand. He talked to him and closed his eyes for him. What a great kid.

Stacey and Scotty and I talked about what we need to do and who need to be contacted. I called Dede and Mindy to get the phone numbers of some of the people from church. I called Pastor Hewes. He got there about 40 minutes later. He talked to all of us for a little while and then sat down and talked to Dad. If Dad had been aware (and who's to say he wasn't) he would have loved what Pastor was saying to him. He hit all the right notes. He spoke to Dad in a way that none of us could. I really appreciated his visit. Scotty and B left a little after that.

Some of Dad's nurses came in to say goodbye. They all talked about how Dad would speak to them in Spanish, which was a bit of a surprise to us. We knew that Dad knew a smattering of Spanish but I guess it was more than we thought. They really liked him. The activity director and her daughter came to see him. She was really quite broken up. She hugged him and kissed him and called him Patron. I told her that I appreciated that she had that kind of relationship with him.

Stacey called John D and told him about Dad. He came right over. John's been a good friend of Stacey's and our family ever since junior high. He was one of the farm kids and had worked many days there. He loved Dad. Pretty soon Dede showed up and the four of us had a real nice time sharing farm stories. It was really wonderful. John left at around 11:30.

And then it was us three girls and Dad. The attendants came in and changed him and got him into a gown. We sat with him and talked and laughed and waited. Stacey was having trouble with allergies and was pretty uncomfortable. We decied that Stacey and I would go back to her house and get a little sleep and then come back to relieve Dede. Dad's breathing was stable and consistent and his blood pressure had come up a bit. It seemed like he could last for several more hours. Stacey and I left.

When I got to Stacey's I went to sleep pretty much right away. I found out in the morning that Dede had called at 4:30 and said that Dad had passed. She said he relaxed and his breathing slowed down. She had set him up with an iPod earlier in the evening and was playing Uncle Buddy's recordings of hymns for him. Dad took a few more breaths and that was it. We think it's pretty cool that Buddy's voice was the last one Dad heard.

I'll write more about the day later. I have to get ready for school.

I met people.

Tonight I went downtown to play music with Terry from uke circle. He plays with friends on Thursdays during Art Walk. They always play on the front steps of their church. This is the same church where I did those two shows. When I got there Terry was the only one there playing. He had invited a bunch of people and I was the only one who showed up. No big deal. Terry knows enough songs to be able to handle a show on his own and the scene was very informal. He and I goofed around for about an hour and a half, singing and playing for pretty much no one. There's not much Art Walk action on that corner. I considered this to be good practice for my upcoming busking adventure.

When I left I didn't really feel like going home. I remembered that they have open mike at Coffee Depot on Thursdays so I decided to see what was hoppin'. At least I could get a cup of coffee. When I got there it was pretty much the same as it was when Jeff and Bill and I went. Everyone in that room were all pretty young. It didn't look all that interesting to me so I got some coffee and sat down on one of the comfy sofas in the front room. A group of older guys (my age) were playing guitars. I was really enjoying listening to them. Then a guy came over and sat down on the sofa next to me. I mean, he sat on a different sofa that was next to the one I was sitting on. Almost immediately we started having a nice chat about music. He told me his band is playing at the Plaza on Saturday and gave me a flyer. Then another guy sat down on the sofa across from us. He was tuning an unusual looking tenor ukulele. Guy #1 (name's Jeff) and I started talking about ukes. Guy #2 (name's Tom) went to play with the guitar guys. I went out to the car and got my uke and book bag. Jeff and I continued with our conversation. Pretty soon Tom and one of the guitar guys came over and joined us. It was just a really nice conversation with a bunch of musicians I had never met before. That's unusual for me. I'm not shy about talking to people but usually I don't have all that much to contribute. This was different. I even sang a couple songs with Tom.

I stayed there until almost 11:30. I'll probably go see Jeff's band on Saturday. He also told me about some stuff that's happening on Friday night that I'm thinking of going to. I felt really good when I left the Coffee Depot. I'm not that good at meeting people and I felt really comfortable with those guys. They seemed to like me too.

My first speech.

Yesterday we gave speeches in class. It was an introductory speech. We were supposed to bring in an object that represents who we are and tie it into the speech. I chose my Fire Monkey icon.

Last week we did an exercise where everyone shared what their greatest public speaking fear was. On the list were forgetting, sweating, fidgeting, rambling, giggling. My item was speaking on a subject that I'm too emotionally invested in. The solution for that is to pick a safe subject.

Most of my speech had to do with my creativity and my humor. I did mention a little bit about having a dad with Alzheimer's and the loss of my husband, but I made sure those points were only briefly touched on. I was safe.

Then this girl, who was three people ahead of me, got up and gave her speech about her best friend who was killed in a car accident a couple years ago. She went on and on about how she doesn't know who she is without this person, about how she sometimes thinks she can just pick up the phone and call her and how she longed for another hug. She was the SADDEST GIRL IN THE WORLD.

After she sat down I started to tear up. I can't just be a little moved by something and shed a few tears and then move on. I sat at my desk and wept. I'm thinking, oh shit. Stop. Just stop. No good. After the next guy finished speaking I left the room. I went to the bathroom and worked like mad on pulling myself together. I know I still looked like a wreck when I went back to the room. And then it was my turn.

I had to open the speech by acknowledging the fact that Sad Girl's speech got to me. I did ok until I got to the part where I mentioned Jim. My throat closed up but I managed to fight through it. I felt like such a dope because the rest of the speech was about my sense of humor and playing the uke and writing songs. People did laugh at the funny parts but damn it, that girl fucked me up! Oh well, I think it went over ok.

Next time I'm going to demand to go first.

A quick one

I visited Dad yesterday. He was sound asleep when I got there and he stayed that way. Usually he catnaps and if I say hi to him he wakes up. This time he didn't. I got out the uke and played softly for him. After about 40 minutes I left. One thing I noticed-- Dad was very well-cushioned. Like, really well. Good thing somebody's listening.

Sometimes we get excited about stupid things.

I'm excited about my freshly painted shelves and cabinets. They are ready to receive tools, chemicals and other workshop supplies. Everything, (well, almost everything) is in place. It just needs to be all screwed together so it won't fall apart in an earthquake. This is going to make such a huge difference. All the tools will be in one place and I'll be able to eliminate about 10 boxes that are taking up space in the garage. There will be a place for the kind of art supplies that don't really belong in my studio. Things like mosaic tiles and bags of grout. Really, this is all I can think about right now. I'm giddy about my garage.

No one else would be impressed because it's still a huge mess. But at least now everything has a place to go. At least now it can be cleaned.

I'm also getting excited about my pergola project. I bought a pergola kit from Kmart last spring. The basic frame is ok but the cover that came with it blows off all the time. It looked good but didn't function well. I'm going to add some wooden cleats to the frame and cover one side and the top with trellis panels. I've been engineering it in my head and I think I have it worked out. I think it'll cost around $100 to retrofit the whole thing. Once it's done it should make a nice little patio. One thing I've been missing here is an outdoor hang out space. At the farm I had my fabulous front porch. This one won't have a view but it will be cozy. I'm looking forward to it.

Other projects I want to tackle this spring-

The hallway between the kitchen and the office- I want to finish taking off the wall paper, paint the walls, sand down one wall and paint a large rectangle with chalkboard paint, frame the rectangle, change the light fixture. This will be my message center.

The back bathroom- Take down the wall paper, paint the walls a latte color, ceiling a lighter shade, the vanity a darker shade. I need to repair the big hole in the wall where they took out the heater and replaced it with a sheet of cheap, wood paneling, install new floor and a new faucet. New window treatment, towel bars, toilet paper dispenser. I'm going to try to keep it all under $150.

My room- Take down the wall paper, paint, new light fixture, repair the furniture I got from Mindy, cut down my bed and re=upholster the headboard, assemble the bed, rework the curtains.

Kitchen- Finish the capiz shell window treatments, paint the walls.

That's enough for now.

Too bad if they're embarrassed.

I just got back from a crappy Dad visit. When I got there he was in the dining room. One of the attendants was trying to feed him. "C'mon, Mr. Lang, just take a bite..." Dad was yelling in pain. I stepped up and let her know that I'd try to feed him. He kept squirming around and crying out. I asked him several times what was hurting but he just can't answer questions like that anymore. I checked his legs. His right knee was jammed up against the rail. Against the CORNER of the rail. We're talkin' a sharp, 90 degree angle. His leg had a big red mark where the rail was pressing. I shoved a pillow between the rail and his knee and he quieted right down. I called one of the staff over to show her what had happened. She called the attendant over who had been trying to feed him. I told them that Dad must always be cushioned. If he's yelling in pain there's a good chance it's because he's pressed up against the rails. I was pretty pissed but I held it together. Oh yeah, and Dad was also soaking wet. I don't think that had just happened. And his mouth was so dry his lips were curled back. I got him some water and he took a big swig, swished it around in his mouth and then spit it out against the wall (Heh!).

Just then I heard an announcement. They were going to be having a meeting in the living room and all the families of the residents were invited. I had them take Dad back to his room so he could get cleaned up. I told them I'd try to feed him more of his dinner in there. While we were waiting for an attendant to lift him back into bed dad fell asleep. I went to the meeting.

There were about 8 family members there and three officious-looking men sitting at a table. They were touting the features and services of Airforce Village. A few people asked questions. I sat and listened. I wasn't sure at that point if I was going to say anything about the seemingly persistent problem of Dad's limbs pressing against hard metal. Then the head cheese said, "Are there any other questions or comments?" Ok, what the hell. I raised my hand.

I told them what had just happened in the dining room and that it had happened before. I told them we had talked to the caregivers and the head nurse about the problem. I told them if my dad is yelling in pain they need to investigate. Yes, he just might be in pain just because, but they have to at least try to find the cause. The officious panel turned into headlight-blinded deer. I told them that overall we've been satisfied with his care. I told them that the other places Dad had been couldn't seem to get his meds right so that his crazy behavior was under control. Airforce Village was doing a good job with that. They assured me that they'd take care of it, and I'm pretty sure they will. They looked like they reeeally wished they had moved on and not taken any more questions. Then they introduced a woman who was from a local mortuary who was going to talk about "pre-need". I said, "Ok, thanks, I'm going back to my dad" and left.

I went back to Dad's room just as the attendant was lifting him back into bed. He was slipping out of the sling! He was scared to death and yelling his head off. Cussing, too. A lot. She got him into bed before he fell out the bottom of the sling. Then a different attendant, the one in the dining room, came in to change him and get him ready for bed. As she was cleaning him up we both noticed that he had an angry-looking red patch on his back. I couldn't tell if it was a bed sore or diaper rash. She called for a nurse to come look at it but she didn't show up in the time I was there. After Dad was clean and settled I got out the uke and sang him a few songs before he fell asleep. Then I put the uke away and got a piece of paper and a pen. I made a sign the said- If Mr. Lang is yelling in pain please check his arms and legs to make sure they aren't pressed against the metal rails. Please make sure he is always cushioned. He moves around a lot and might lose his pillows. If he is in pain there's a good chance that he's pressed against the rail.

I also drew a picture of a leg pressed against a rail and drew wavy pain lines emanating from the knee. I wrote "ouch!" next to it. Then I tacked it to the wall where I was pretty sure they'd see it. Then I left.

So, fuck 'em if they were embarrassed. Too bad. I'm sure Dad isn't the only one who has to endure hours of pain because some dope didn't bother to check to see what was causing it. These people need some training on this issue. I'll also talk to Dede and have her tell them to give him some water. Just plain, unthickened water. He can handle it and he needs it. Letting him go all day with his mouth so dry he can't pull his lips over his teeth is just plain cruel and, I think, lazy on their part.

Ugh!

Tra-la-la!

I'm painting my garage. I can't do it all at once because there's so much stuff in there. I'm working on one section at a time. But, hey, progress! I went to Lowe's yesterday and bought paint. I found a gallon of pre-mixed paint on clearance for five bucks. I love getting deals like that. And it was almost the exact color I was thinking of anyway. I also bought a gallon of white ($7) to do the cabinets. It feels good to finally get started on pulling it all together.

Lio wants to hang out with me while I paint but I have to keep an eye on him. Or I should say I have to keep an eye on Lady. Lio really wants to make friends with the dogs but Lady keeps getting aggressive with him. A couple months ago when Lio got chomped I thought Boz was the one who did it. Now I'm pretty sure it was Lady. Today she really went after Lio. I chased her around the yard with a broom. It didn't seem to make much difference because she came back for more. Her days are numbered.

Tonight I'm going to play music with a new group of people. One of the guys in our uke circle is hosting a beer and music night at his house. Should be fun. I have to come up with a couple of songs to share.

But right now I'm going back out to the garage. I'm a paintin' fool.

Goodbye, Gracie

The hardest thing about having pets is when we have to let them go. When we got Gracie as an eight-week-old puppy one of the first things I said to her was, "You're going to put me through it someday." Today is that day. But I'm doing ok. It really was time to let her go. Her last six months weren't good ones.

She was a fun dog. One of the things that impressed me the most when she was a young dog was how gung-ho she was about everything. Whatever it was, Gracie wanted to participate. She even loved fireworks. She would fetch the biggest stick you could throw and if she was near water she would swim, like, forever.

Once, when we were at the river she got into searching for the big rocks that were underwater near the shore. She would dive down, grab a rock and then carry it up to the beach. Pretty soon she had a big pile of rocks. When we were setting up camp we were looking around for a rock to weigh down a tarp. Gracie walked right up and dropped a big rock perfectly on the corner right where we needed it.

One one trip, when Audra and Tori were little, we came up with this game where the girls would be on a float and grab onto Gracie's hair. Then we'd throw a ball as far as we could out into the water. Gracie swam out to the ball taking the girls for a ride. You just got the feeling that she really enjoyed it.

Gracie even had a pretty good sense of humor. She loved to growl when she played, like she was the biggest bad-ass dog in the world. You could pretend like you were going to take her ball or her tug and she would growl and bark like she was ready to take your hand off but she knew it was all part of the game and she really enjoyed it. Even the neighborhood kids in Santa Rosa would play with her like that. They knew she would never bite them. Brian K. would come over and play rough with her. Ooh, she loooved Brian.

Making the decision to put her down was a tough one. She was Jim's buddy. Letting Gracie go was like releasing another piece of Jim. I knew it needed to happen but it was hard to know when. Today she was really struggling and her eyes looked kind of sad. It was time.

She was a good girl.

Dickens and Dad

On Friday we had a birthday party for Dad at Airforce Village. He turned 80 yesterday. They had reserved the living room for us and even decorated it with balloons and a banner. The staff there sure do like him. When we arrived Dad was parked near the nurse's station. He was pretty sleepy and not very responsive, so I was a little worried he'd be zoned out for his party. But it didn't take long for him to come around. We wheeled him into the living room and had a quiet visit while we waited for everyone else to show up. Lindsay and Kyle, Paige and Gabe, and Chelsey and David were with me and Paige had brought Charlie. Dad really liked her and asked if he could hold her. Charlie was a little freaked out so she was a little squirmy, but I thought it was good that Dad was enjoying petting the puppy. Dad's three church ladies were the next to arrive. They really took good care of him during that time right after his driver's license was taken away. He was glad to see them.

Everyone else started to trickle in after that. Dede and Michael, Debbie and Bob, Drew's family, Stacey's family. The room really filled up. Dede had picked up Mexican food from Olivia's and Scotty brought margaritas. Dad's regular food tray arrived and we set it aside and gave him some refried beans and some cut up enchilada. He didn't eat much. We're wondering if his tongue hurts. It's really hard to get the inside of his mouth clean because he can't understand what you're trying to do. He'll open his mouth just a little bit and when you put something in he bites down. So, we think maybe all that build-up has caused an infection of some kind. He grimaces with every bite.

After dinner I got out the uke and sang some songs. Then Dede showed a video she had made from photos, old movie footage and some audio recordings of Dad. It was really beautiful. She did such a good job on it. Dad watched the whole thing and I know he enjoyed it.

After that we just had a nice, quiet visit. My kids left and then the church ladies. Scotty took the younger kids out so we could make our departure a more gentle transition. We were going to take Dad back to his room but his attendant was on her break and there was no one else to lift him back into his bed. He seemed like he was starting to get uncomfortable and every once in a while would moan or cry out in pain. We all stood around him trying to help him get comfortable and trying to figure out what was hurting him. It took a while for the attendant to come to take him back to his room. When she showed up we all left.

When I got home I took a shower and started working on my hair. Since I needed to be at the church pretty early I didn't want to take the chance that I'd run into problems trying to get my straight hair into a curly, Victorian updo. I had just finished setting it on hot rollers when the electricity went out. It was a crazy, stupid scene. I rolled my hair and then fed the dogs. You have to stand there while they eat or they'll fight. I had left the door to the sun room open so they knew they were being watched, and sat down at the computer. Then BAM, the lights went out, the computer shut down and the dogs IMMEDIATELY started fighting. Right after I broke that up the electricity came back on and all the smoke alarms went off. It was three minutes of chaos and stress. Then the power went out again. I made my way to the kitchen and found some matches and a candle. Chelsey and David were sleeping in the tv room. I wanted them to have some light in case they needed to get up so I put out a few of those battery operated, fake tea lights. I thought it looked pretty funny but at least it was a solution.

Saturday morning I got up and fixed my hair (turned out pretty good) and went to the church for a very long day of performing. Both shows went really well. I had three hours to kill in between shows so I got my uke out of the car and found a quiet room to hang out in. It rained the whole time on both days, which I'm sure kept people away. Our shows were full, though.

After that I went to Stacey's. Scotty grilled steaks and chicken and we had salad and leftover mexican food. David was there this time. We all had a good dinner and a nice visit. It was good to spend some more time with Debbie and Bob and look at their pictures.

Yesterday we only had one show in the afternoon. It was nice to spend some leisurely hours at home getting ready. Today I took out all the stitching that I had done on my costume and later I'll take it to the cleaners. You really can't tell that I had altered it in any way.

It's raining. A lot.

Costume luck

The show is this weekend. As of Tuesday I still didn't have a costume and I was getting worried. Jeff had told me to get in touch with Chuck A., who heads up the theater department at RCC. Duh! Of course! I have connections. I sent him an email when I was at work. Later we talked on the phone and he gave me lots of good leads. On Tuesday afternoon Paige and I drove to Cal State San Bernardino and rummaged around in the closets in the basement of their theater. We looked through several costume closets. Almost all of them were way too small, or they were wrong for my character. We found a good one at last. Man, I'm really happy with it. Twenty bucks to rent it!

It's a dark eggplant purple with black lace trim. It's the kind of Victorian style skirt that's flat in the front and BIG and bustley in the back. There's this half hoop skirt thing that you wear underneath which gives the dress its structure. The costume is actually too big for me. Last night I took it to Virginia's and she pinned it up (Thank you, Virginia!). Today at lunch I stitched it. It fits pretty good now. After the show I'll take out the stitching. The sleeves are a little weird and they're too short for my beefy arms. Yesterday I went to Goodwill and found a lace shrug that fits me and has the right kind of sleeves. More good luck. Tomorrow I'll finish doing all the alterations and repairs. I also need to make a headpiece of some kind. I'll just slap some sequins and feathers together.

Tonight was our last rehearsal. I wish I could have worn it for that. The skirt is very big in the back. I'm afraid I'm going to do a quick turn and take out a few tables. It would have been good to get in some practice with it.

I also have to figure out how I'm going to fix my hair. Hoo boy. Lots to do tomorrow. I haven't mentioned the little birthday celebration we're having for Dad. Debbie and Bob are flying in and we're going to have a party at Air Force Village. Dede and David are coming down. We're going to pick up some Mexican food from Olivia's and Stacey and Scotty are bringing Margaritas. Blood sugar be damned, Dad's getting a Margarita. It's his 80th birthday and probably his last. I don't really know how aware he is but he still knows us. He's going to be very glad to see Debbie. I hope he's perky tomorrow.

AND Lindsay's friends, Chelsey and David, will be here. I have to do some cleaning as well. I also have to go to Porter's to pick up my car. Dang! Anything else?

Thanks, Ken!

I was out in the garage working in spurts. I'd get some stuff done and then I'd sit and stare, stuck in overwhelm mode. Then Ken came walking up the driveway. We had talked the other night about him coming over to help me with stuff, but I didn't want to call him until I really needed him for stuff like heavy lifting and plumbing. But here he was. I had already mostly cleaned out one side of the garage. I was planning to paint the walls before assembling my shelves and workbench, but since my help was here we decided to get things started and I could paint around them. Ken and I hung a big, heavy cabinet and moved some shelves and the base cabinet for the workbench into place. That took up a big chunk of the afternoon. Then we worked a little on getting things cleaned up. We loaded up a lot of stuff into his truck to be taken to Second Time Around. That helped a lot.

I think he was a little taken aback by how much crapola I have. Really, I am working on it and several loads have already been taken to thrift stores or thrown away. But compared to him and Sherri, I'm Dad. Their house is the tidiest place I've ever seen and it's ALWAYS like that. They don't have any extra junk. NONE. I admire that.

Drew has the counter top for my set-up and he's bringing it by tomorrow. Having my work area put together is going to make such a difference. I'll have TOOLS. I think on Wednesday I'll go buy some paint and get started.

This feels good. I'm finally starting to take possession of the place. Thank you, Ken. You really helped move things forward today.

Jeez Louise

It looks like Hell exploded in my garage. But that's what progress looks like sometimes. I got a lot done. I decided I'll never be able to get everything out of the garage and store it someplace while I'm doing all that I want to do in there, so I'm doing it in halvesies. I'm going to get one side completely cleaned out and get it set up the way I want and then move stuff around and work on the other half. Today I demolished a useless cabinet and gained about twelve square feet of floor space. I consolidated several boxes and I now have a huge pile of stuff for Second Time Around. I also found a lot of tools.

I'm very dirty.

I'm getting all giddy about setting up my workshop area. It's going to make such a huge difference. Every time I try to do something around here I always spend way too much time trying to find the right tools and supplies. Often I get discouraged and give up. It's going to be great to be able to go out there and go straight to whatever I need. Such joy! How shall I bear it?

Gracie and Lady were driving me nuts out there. Gracie always wants to lay right where you're working. She was always like that (we called her Gracie underfoot) but now she's old and can barely walk and she's half blind and mostly deaf so once she's down it's hard to get her to move. And Lady makes me want to beat the shit out of her so she'll want to stay away from me. That is the most annoying dog in the world. Every time I turn my back she's nosing me in the leg. EVERY TIME! If I'm carrying something heavy she gets right in front of me and stops. She is also deaf so you can't yell at her to move. I'm always waving my arms at her to get her away from me. You can't kick her, she's too quick. You know how on those documentaries about Africa they always show the hyenas bugging the shit out of some poor animal that keeps trying to defend itself until it's completely worn out and just lays down and allows itself to be ripped apart? THAT'S what it's like to be working in the garage with Lady nearby. That's how it is anytime I'm trying to do work in the back yard. Paige and I hate her. I hope everyone won't think I'm the worst person in the world if I decide to take her to the pound. Because, I'm pretty sure that day is coming. She's also aggressive towards Lio and Charlie and even Gracie sometimes. She's just a big source of stress. Oh well.

Heh! Boz was the one who had the most sense today. He found a shady spot and took a snooze.

Ok, I have half an hour to goof off before show rehearsal.

Prepare to be smacked...

...by the cuteness.

Here's our Charlie.

Bounced back a little

I went to see Dad after I got off work. I got there just as they were lifting him out of bed to take him to dinner. He was yelling because he was in pain but he wasn't angry. As soon as he saw me he smiled and relaxed a little. I talked to him and rubbed his shoulders while they finished getting him into the lift. The used the lounge chair on wheels. He was in a good mood and pretty chatty. When they wheeled him out he saw one of his caregivers and yelled, "Hey, there's my girlfriend!" So, even though he's not as good as he was a few weeks ago he's still there and he's still Stan. It was nice to see him looking so good.

It took them a while to bring out his tray. While we were waiting I pulled out the uke and sang some songs. The longer we waited, the more subdued Dad became. He wasn't just dozing, he was slipping back into the fog. When his tray came it was hard to rouse him enough to feed him. His food is total mush now and they're giving him thickened liquids. I didn't have the heart to try to give him the thickened milk. At least the juice is kind of like runny jello. He refused to eat the meat mush but he was ok with the mashed potatoes. I don't know what the green stuff was. Probably peas. The whole time his face was screwed up into a disgusted grimace. He ate and drank very little. And most of the time he was really out of it.

After I gave up trying to feed him I sang him some songs without the ukulele. I was trying to come up with any song that he used to sing around the house. I kept trying to encourage him to sing with me. When I sang When I Grow Too Old To Dream he did hum along. Just barely, though. Even so, it was nice that he could hum along and I think he was happy that he could do it. It was hard to keep from choking up. After a while he was pretty unresponsive, so I left.

So, it's hard to say how much longer he'll be with us. When I saw him last week he truly looked like he was at death's door. Today he was much better but only for a little while. When they tested his blood sugar it was 219. Maybe the insulin shot caused him to zone out.

Anyway, we're still in this thing. After Dede's email I went through some emotional stuff. I could see I really wasn't ready for Dad to go, but now I think I am. It was such a struggle for him to eat. It looked like it hurt him to swallow. Even if he does have some good moments in his day the rest of it is spent in suffering. They take such good care of him there but in a way it seems cruel.

Oh well, we'll see.

Blogging from work

Hoo boy, things are dead around here. I've surfed the political blogs, bought a couple things on eBay and spent a little time on Chordie. I've taken two walks around the building. I've answered the phone three times. It's DEAD HERE.

So, I can sit here and think about what I want to do with my house. I've been working on window treatments for my kitchen and dining room. I bought three capiz shell curtains at Cost Plus and cut them apart. I also got some extras on eBay. I'm re-stringing them over the windows. I know it's hard to picture. The shells are brown, turquoise blue, sage green, periwinkle purple, deep red, and white and they come in three sizes. I'm stringing them on black crochet thread. So far I really like how they look. I'll top them off with a cornice covered with brown fabric and embellish with cowrie shells and black beads. Trust me, it's cute.

This will help me figure out what color I want to paint the kitchen. I bought some chalk board paint at Home Depot the other day. I'm going to make a big, black chalkboard in my hallway. One thing I've been missing in my house is a central message area. I think it'll be fun to have a huge one in the hall between the kitchen and office. I have a feeling it will be mostly used as a drawing surface, but maybe there will be some room left for phone messages and shopping lists.

I also want to finally get going on removing the rest of the wallpaper remnants from the walls. Ivy thinks it's great fun to jump up and claw the wallpaper in the kitchen. She doesn't know that she's actually helping the removal process. The wallpaper in three areas has been shredded. If I really wanted to keep it I'd be pissed. I don't think she'll want to scratch the walls once they're painted.

I brought home color chips for the other bathroom. I think I have that color picked out. Gotta remove the wallpaper in there, too. Too bad the tub and sink are in such bad shape. Painting the walls won't make the cruddy porcelain look better. Gotta repair the wall where the heater was removed and patched with a piece of cheap wood paneling. Come on, couldn't they have sprung for a pice of sheetrock?

That ought to do it for now. Oh yeah, the yards. They've gotten a bit out of control. I'm going to call Hector and have him just take care of it. Money well spent.

Nice day for an inauguration

Finally! The nightmare is over. I don't know what kind of president Obama will be. I think he might be a great one. But today I'm not worrying about that. I'm just so happy that we're through with that miserable failure of a human being we had to call President for the last eight years. What a glorious day.

Two years

Hard to believe. The whole thing still boggles my mind sometimes but it's getting better. It's funny, but my most vivid memories of Jim are of him as a teenager. His young, fresh face, his bushy hair, the blue brightness of his eyes. Man, we sure had fun back then.

Tuesday was the hardest day for me this week. I kept thinking two years ago today was the last day of my normal life. I remember so much of what I did that day. I met Stacey at the park where Audra was having softball practice. We went for a walk. I talked to Linda about painting a mural in her kitchen. Jim had a gig in the mountains that night but I didn't go because I didn't want to stay up that late. I figured I'd go to the next one.

The next day he told me what a great time he'd had. The band played really well and they had a great audience. He was having a happy day. He played some music, he puttered around and he gave me a nice massage because I was having some back trouble that day. After that he went out and sat at the computer and that's when he had his stroke.

The rest of this week was a series of distractions. I kept thinking about what I was doing at the hospital, about the support of all our friends, about the girls and Kyle and about Dad and how difficult he was to deal with. I thought about all of us in the room when we let Jim go. It felt so wrong because Jim didn't look sick, just asleep.

So yeah, it was a weird week. On Friday Jeff and Bill came over and we played music. That was great. We hadn't gotten together in a couple months and it felt really good to play with those guys again. On Saturday I went to Ken's. Jessica and Greg were there so I finally got to see little Gregory. Man, he's so tiny. It was nice to hold that little baby and sniff the top of his head. I had brought some marinated tri-tip and Ken grilled it up along with some chicken and squash. It was all so good. Afterward Ken and I played and sang in the living room. A very pleasant scene. Got a little weepy, too.

Today I went to First Congregational for a show rehearsal. Then I met Jeff and his mom at Community Care where our former pastor's wife is staying. She had a leg amputated a few months ago and she hasn't been doing very well. We went for a visit and to play and sing for them. It was a good visit and I think they appreciated the music.

On Saturday before I went to Ken's I went to see Dad. He looked pretty much the same as he did the last time I saw him. There's just not much of him left. His eyes were half open in a vacant stare, his mouth was hanging open with his upper lip curled back. He moved around a little but didn't give much indication that he knew I was there. I sang him a few songs. His nurse came in to test his blood sugar. She said she missed his humor. I asked her if he was like that because of the meds or is this the way he is now. She said this is it. This is what he is now.

Dede sent an email to all of us detailing what Dad's nurses have told them. We're looking at the end here. They'll do what they can to make him comfortable but now all we can do is wait. So much to think about. Feelings are all over the place. Oh man, here we go again.

Whew! It looks like we're gearing up for another marathon. When we get this behind us I hope we Lang sibs can do something awesome together. A river trip at least!

Late night fun at the emergency vet

Last night Charlie was running around the house like she usually does. You have to stop what you're doing to check up on her every few minutes. She had been at my feet while I was at the computer and then she ran into the tv room. Almost instantly I heard her gagging. I ran in there just as she was coming out, running and acting very distressed. She threw up a couple times and then settled down. Paige came home right then and we both gave her a going over. She seemed mostly fine except she would gag every once in a while and then sit and blink her eyes. That was a strange behavior. Paige thought it was her way of wincing.

We took her to the emergency vet. That's always an exercise in extreme waiting. Paige and Gabe and I sat for a long time in the waiting room and then in the examining room before the vet came in. We couldn't let Charlie down because her shots aren't complete yet. We had to hold her the whole time. Unhappy puppy! Her ears kept getting lower and lower.

When the vet came in and checked her over she couldn't find anything. She took Charlie to the back so she could sedate her and check her throat. Within a few minutes the vet tech came out and showed us what Charlie had swallowed. A threaded needle! Oy! We waited a bit longer for Charlie to wake up, paid the $200 vet bill and came home. Charlie gets to choke down some antibiotics for a few days.

I had already started on getting the floor cleaned up and now we're going to step up the effort. The vacuum cleaner has just been fixed (after getting its cord chewed by rabbits). Gracie swallowed a threaded needle a few years ago. That one worked it's way through her body and started to come out her side. Charlie wants to eat everything she sees so we need to get things picked up.

So glad it's the weekend.

Happy Birthday, Stacey!

I love you! Don't worry, I won't tell everyone how old you are.

Ah, the mid-week, non-milestone birthday. How do you celebrate? Stay home from work? Go out to dinner? B-b-boring.

Happy Boring Birthday. I hope your day is better than average. No, no, no, I hope it's wonderful! I'll be thinking about you as I'm cleaning my house.

Personalized plate

I wanted to get CURIOSO but it's taken. I tried to order CUR1OSO but they wouldn't let me have it because it's too close to curioso. I thought maybe I'd use the hand symbol and incorporate it into curioso like CURI(hand)S(hand) but it didn't look right. So, I'm messing around with the CA license plate website. The symbols are a heart, hand, star, and a plus sign. So far I have:

L(hand)RMIND- Left hand, right mind
RFT LFT- Right foot, left foot
(plus sign)TUDE- Positive attitude

We came up with some good ones the other night on our way to LA but they don't really apply to the specialness that is me. I'm open to suggestions. The limit is seven characters.

Bad memories

Last night I went to visit Dad. Usually he's in the dining room when I get there but he's been having some trouble lately so they had him in his room on an IV. He was really out of it, barely conscious. Right after I got there they brought him his dinner. I told the nurse that I would feed him. She said she hoped I'd have better luck getting some food into him than she did.

Pretty much all he did during dinner was stare at me blankly. I had to tell him to open his mouth, tell him to chew, tell him to swallow. Instead of sucking on the straw, he'd bite it. The only way I could get him to drink was to spoon it in. I found that that was the best way to stimulate him to swallow. He had only eaten a very little bit before he indicated he was through. I asked him if he wanted to hear some music. Barely a response there.

I got out the uke and sang him a couple of songs. Every once in a while he'd grimace like he was in pain. At one point his face froze, forehead tight, mouth wide open. I put down the uke and tried to get him to relax, hoping that would help ease the pain. I stroked his hair and his forehead. I rubbed his legs. I asked him what was hurting but he couldn't answer me. Then I noticed that his knee was pressed up against the rail of his bed. I felt myself starting to get very upset. Hold it together, Donita. Do your crying in the parking lot.

We're coming up on the second anniversary of Jim's death. I've been feeling antsy about it and I'll be glad to get past it. On the day he had his stroke I held it together. Like a champ. I held it together when the paramedics took him away. I held it together in the ER. I held it together when they showed Ken and me the scan of Jim's head that showed the huge area of bleed in his brain. And I held i together when they kept saying, "Not a good outcome." I held it together when Jim's brain started to swell and he went into distress and they had to sedate him.

And then I noticed that the skin on his leg had a dent in it from being pressed up against the rail of the gurney. Jim was a big guy. There was no extra room for him to spread out even a little. I went all over that ER looking for anything that could cushion his arms and legs. It was busy that night and I had a hard time getting anyone to slow down enough to help me. I'm sure their workdays are filled with dealing with worried and demanding family members, so they are expert at ignoring and rushing by. I understood that. But damn it, I needed pillows. I finally found someone who showed me where they kept them. I want back to Jim's room and tried to lift his legs so I could stuff the pillows in. And that's when I couldn't hold it together any longer. All I wanted to do was make him comfortable and I was having a hard time doing it. He was already sedated and was certainly in no pain, but I couldn't stand to have him pressed up against those rails. It was a desperate moment for me. I just had to stuff those pillows in.

So last night when I saw Dad's knee pressed against the rail it all came rushing back. His leg could have been that way for hours. He could have been laying there with his face frozen in pain FOR HOURS. I got the pillow from the empty bed next to him and tried to lift his leg to stuff it in. But Dad is so stiff now. Moving his limbs hurts him. I couldn't left his leg high enough before he started to gasp. I found a folded up hospital gown and put that under his knee. He relaxed pretty much right away. I talked to him a little more before he drifted off to sleep. I gathered up my things and left. On my way out I stopped by the nurses station and told them to please make sure he didn't have his arms or legs jammed against the rails of his bed. I asked the nurse to please tell anyone that attends him to make sure he's cushioned and comfortable before they leave him. The nurse nodded and looked at me blankly and said she'd pass it along. Maybe she will. I'm sure her day is also filled with demanding people. My tears started as soon as I turned away from the nurses desk.

During the drive home it was all I could think about. I hope Dad dies soon. Seeing his face last night, the blank stare, the look of pain. Really, he just needs to go. This is no life.

Did ja feel it?

Listed at first as a 5.0, later downgraded to a 4.5. Yeah, ok, still big enough to get my heart pounding. And just now there was a 3.3 aftershock. Man, I love USGS. You can get instant info on earthquakes.

Hoo boy

Today I was informed that I'll bump up against my part-time hours limit sometime in April. That means once I hit 950 hours I can't work until July 1st. I can try to stretch it out but however I choose to do it I'll be bringing in less money. My already meager paycheck is about to get meagerer. I need to figure out how I want to manage this.

I could cut my hours back and take an extra class this spring. I could try to get a second job. That might be hard in this economy but it's worth a try. I've been putting off getting some eBay sales going. If I get that rolling it would be a double plus. I'd make some money and get some crap cleared out of my house, garage and yard. I can take some time off and work on my house. I'm already planning a trip to Texas in March. I have enough credit card points to buy a plane ticket.

Bleah. I can't allow myself to get too stressed over this. It will mean I'll have to dip into the retirement fund again sooner than planned. I hate doing that. Anyway, who knows? I might be able to land one of those full-time positions that occasionally open up at RCC.

So, just keep going. Right foot, left foot, etc.

Lio got chomped yesterday and I'm pretty sure it was Bozzie who did the chomping. I didn't see Lio after I got home from work and it took a while to find him. When I picked him up he cried out in pain. He's been gorging himself on anything he can find to eat so I was afraid he had pulled a Marty. When Marty was fairly young he gorged himself on dog food and got his intestines good and blocked. That was a BIG vet bill. After some fussing I got Lio into the house. I gently prodded his belly but it didn't seem to bother him. Then I saw two spots on his rear end that looked like dried blood. When I touched it he cringed and whimpered. He wouldn't let me do much exploring but it didn't look serious. The bite is on a fleshy (fat) part of his leg. I brought litter box back in and kept him inside last night. I checked on him several times and today he seems fine.

He's been getting pretty comfortable with the dogs lately. Boz has turned into a real jerk. Well, more of a jerk than he always was. I'm pretty sure Lio was being friendly and Boz decided to get grumpy and lash out. I've seen him do it before. Hopefully, Lio will heed the warning and stay out of the back yard.

Sheesh. Boz is my youngest and healthiest dog so he's the one I'll be stuck with after Gracie and Lady are gone. Think his behavior will improve when he has no more dog competition? Yeah, I didn't think so either.

The good news is Ivy and Lio seem to have figured out how to use the cat door.

Well, I'm off to weight loss class. Did I lose 40 pounds?

Update: 38 pounds. Dinner was a little salty last night. That has to be it.

Oh my God, I got an A in History

Un-freakin'-believable. I couldn't have done that well on the final. This teacher is GENEROUS.

I'm floored.

Vacation over

Back to work tomorrow. I was off almost two weeks.

I didn't get as much done as I wanted, but I'm satisfied that the purge has officially begun in earnest. I'm beginning to see progress. This weekend all of Lindsay's stuff will be moved out. Well, not all of her stuff. I'll be storing some of it for her. But at least I'll get the living room back. And I'll be able to use her bedroom for storage.

The kittens are learning how to be outdoor cats. Ivy doesn't like it one little bit. Lio has made friends with Zoey and Marty. He's doing very well but he doesn't like using the cat door. I have two litter boxes outside. So far, I haven't found any accidents in the house.

I went to Kaiser tonight so I could weigh myself and find out how I did over the holidays. After all my indulging and slacking off I still managed to lose half a pound. I'll bet I can take off some more by Wednesday's weigh-in. I went up Mt. Rubidoux this afternoon and I zoomed. I'm going again tomorrow with Jeff.

So, things are moving towards the positive right now. If I had a bit more money it would all be just about perfect.

Boom, boom, boom

It's still sounding off. Happy New Year, everyone.

Charlie and Lio went with me out to the front yard. Charlie was a little concerned about the noise but she was more interested in chasing Lio. Lio acted like he was annoyed but he kept coming back for more. I had a pleasant few minutes outside with a couple of animal buddies. I got a little wistful and teary thinking about what has been and what may be coming. Good stuff this year, ok?

Resolutions?

1. Pull this house together. The garage, too.
2. Related to that- Purge! Get rid of stuff. I took a load to Second Time Around today and it felt gooood.
3. Keep losing weight and improving my health.
4. Do a better job of handling my life.
5. Write some more songs.

That's all I can think of right now.

Congratulations, Jess and Greg!

Jessica had her baby boy today. Everything went well. Congratulations to Ken and Sherri.

No party tonight. We'll get together over there tomorrow. I'll get all the stats and details.

PITA

I seem to have lost my cell phone charger. Since I don't have a car charger for it I'm without a cell phone for a while. If you want to get ahold of me you'll have to call my land line.

That is all.

Update- Found it.

I'm messing with settings

This is probably going to change. I'm leaving it this way for now because I'm tired of sitting here.

I'm home.

Feeling a little...meh. There's so much here that needs to be done. I'll start on it tomorrow. First order of business- deal with the fridge.

I had a very nice time at Dede's. Did some shopping, walked three miles down a lovely nature trail, had an awesome dinner (not the pork chop), and hung out with some really cool people (my sibs and spouses and kids).

Yeah, I feel poopy. All I want to do is clean this house. Gotta deal with the fridge. I need to get my car fixed. Pay the bills.

Lio is getting too fat. It's kind of hard to deal with that because Ivy is a light eater. I'll wait until they're both hungry, fill their bowls, wait about 10 or 15 minutes and then take the food away. That's not working very well right now because we have Kyle's cats and they have their own food bowls, which I'm sure Lio raids. Anyway, it's something else I have to deal with. Once the Carrozza cats are gone I'm installing that cat door and limiting the food. Lio is a pudge.

Paige is getting a Corgi puppy, like, soon. She knows I'm not real happy about that. We're not puppy-ready. So, ok, we'll jump into action and do the best we can.

Oh dear, what about that cat door?

I bought a new microwave. Yay. Actually, that's a very good thing. You should see my old microwave. The paint has been peeling off from the inside, which has caused it to rust, which made it impossible to clean, which was depressing to look at.

So yeah, meh. I'm glad Christmas is over. I'm glad I have so much time off so I can get some things done around here. After the first of the year I'm pulling some money out of the retirement fund so I can pay off some big items and handle some repairs. We're all looking forward to having 2009 be a very good year. Really. I mean, come ON!

2003- Jim loses his job. We move down here. Dad seems to be losing it and we don't know why.
2004 through 2006- We know why Dad was losing it and now we're all in AD caregiver mode, which sucks.
2007- We lose Jim and Dad becomes reeeally difficult. We work on getting the farm ready to sell.
2008- Dad has a stroke, goes completely bonkers, we spend many nights in the hospital dealing with him. We finally get him settled. Mindy's sister dies suddenly, a couple months later she loses her mom. Mindy and Drew inherit 2 houses full of stuff and several special-needs animals. Drew is also dealing with his own set of health problems. Bro-in-law Bob is also having health issues.

So, that's five years of crapola. I'm not forgetting the good things that have happened. I'm very happy with my job and I love my house, as challenging as it is sometimes. My girls are healthy, happy people. I'm losing weight and starting to look pretty damn good. And hey, we're getting a new president! God bless us everyone.

And now I'm going to go clean some litter boxes.

Going to Dede's tomorrow

Tonight I'm packing. Earlier I went to see Dad. I had talked to Stacey this morning and she said her family and Drew's family all went to see him. She said he was not having a good day. The phone sound was muffled so I had a hard time understanding her. I'll get the details tomorrow. I had planned to see him at around dinner time. Usually he's pretty good then. Stacey said it seemed like maybe he was sick. When I got there he was in bed asleep. I sat with him for a while and then he woke up. I played a couple songs for him and then one of the staff came in to take him to dinner. She had to use a lift to get him out of bed. They always have to use the lift now. When she rolled him over to get the sling under him he yelled out in pain. He's gotten so stiff that if you try to put him in a different position it hurts him. I took his hands and talked to him and tried to get him to relax. He was really tensed up and I'm sure it made the pain worse. I tried to speak to him in the most soothing way I could and it seemed to help. Once he was in the wheelchair he was fine.

When we got to the dining room he was moaning and shivering. I went back to his room for a blanket and his hat. Once I got him comfortable he just sat there dozing. When his dinner came he perked up a bit. He actually ate quite a lot. Then I got out the uke and sang Christmas songs for him. For the first time since I've been going there he didn't sing along. He just sat there staring. He was alert but he just wasn't relating to me or anyone else. Usually he sings and jokes around. So, something is going on.

I came home and started packing for SLO. I was doing some laundry and I noticed an extra noise. The refrigerator was humming a little louder than usual. Then it stopped. Um, ok. I resumed packing. About an hour later I heard a very loud noise coming from the kitchen. The fridge sounded like it was ready to explode! I pulled it away from the wall and unplugged it. Crapola. Something else that needs fixing. But I'm not dealing with it until I get back. I called Paige and told her to buy some ice and put it in that new roasting pan and put it on a high shelf in the fridge. That ought to hold it until I get back on Sunday. It might just need a good cleaning. I'll try that first. Puh!

Gotta go to bed soon. We're all caravaning tomorrow morning. Early.

Merry Christmas, everybody.

It's different this year, isn't it?

Today I went to the maul, I mean the mall, to try to finish up my shopping. Not that I did all that much this year, I just wanted to see if I could find something cool and fun. I left there empty-handed. Man, I hate that Christmas consumer shit. When you've got people getting trampled to death at WalMart it's time to step back and take a good, hard look. We Americans have gotten pretty stupid about this in the last few years.

Usually by Christmas Eve the stores have been pretty much picked over. Not so this year. The stores were full of merchandise. Lots of good sales and discounts galore but I wasn't inspired. Except for one of Lindsay's college loans I'm debt free and I want to keep it that way. All the gifts we exchanged tonight were small and modestly priced. Going crazy with the spending is just plain stupid.

I left the mall and went across the street. I needed a roasting pan so I could make the brisket I'm taking up to SLO. I found a pretty good one for $19.99 with a $10 rebate. Now, THAT'S something to get excited about.

This evening we all went to Ken and Sherri's for their open house. They had set out a very nice spread and we all enjoyed a good, light dinner. It was perfect. It was nice visiting with everyone. Then we came home and opened our gifts. Paige had made mint brownies and gingerbread. We had that with sparkling apple cider.

Really, for being a crappy, low-budget Christmas it was really very nice. I had a good time with my girls and their guys. We all enjoyed watching the kitties on their various treks through the living room. I'm interested to see what they do to the tree in the next week.

Oh yeah, the tree. I haven't written about that yet. When I was in Borders the other night they had this 6 foot, HOT pink tinsel Christmas tree on sale for 75% off. When you see a hot pink tinsel tree for twenty bucks you just can't pass it up. I brought it home and Paige and Gabe set it up in the living room. We made some paper ornaments for it and covered it with multi-colored lights. I added some black maribou garland. The whole thing is pretty cat-friendly. There's nothing on this tree that they can hurt, unless someone decides that chewing on the light cord is a good idea. I watched Lio actually leap into the middle trying to get one of the Japanese paper balls I had placed deep within the branches.

I'm nicely tired. I have to get up early to take Lindsay and Kyle to the airport. I guess I'll go to bed.

Oh, oh, oh!

If the Soweto Gospel Choir ever comes to your town, or anywhere near your town, or someplace not near your town, GO SEE THEM. Moley de Holy.
Jeff and I went to their concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall last night. The show was sold out but there were enough cancellations to get us in the door. It was kind of expensive but like Jeff said, "They gotta feed the mouse." I'm sure another venue would be less costly. But I'd say it was worth every penny. This is a show that sticks with you.

Bright costumes, amazing African dancing and harmonies that carried you places you've never been before. Many of the songs they did were quite familiar, but were arranged in a way that was so different and new. Normally, when I hear a song that I know I'll kind of hum along, but last night all I wanted to do was listen and learn. Jeff was wondering how they came up with those harmonies. I had that same thought, but at the same time I felt like there was no other way it could have been done. Their performance of Amazing Grace was stunning.

They ended the show with several Christmas carols. It was such a pleasure to hear those songs with an African gospel twist. Especially Silent Night, which was haunting and beautiful, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, which was just plain fun.

Feeling a little dancey today.

Luncheon entertainment

It felt a little strange but I think everyone enjoyed it. Today I went to a nice barbeque place in Corona to be the entertainment for the Health Services Christmas party. It felt strange because that was my only reason for being there. I didn't really know anyone, except for the director. Dr. Deb showed up but she couldn't stay long. I had the tri-tip with coleslaw and it was quite good. it was all very pleasant and everyone was really nice. After we finished eating I got my stuff out and led everyone in a sing-along. This time it went much better than the thrown together sing-along I did for that luncheon a couple weeks ago. After that I sang the Middle-aged Woman song. Everyone enjoyed it. After that I packed up and left. It didn't feel right for me to stay while they did their gift exchange.

I did some Christmas shopping and then went to Costco. Gonna make a brisket to take to Dede's. Man, I didn't expect this to take all day. I'm glad I'm home. Time to jammy up and relax.

I'm feeling blobby

I'm going up the Rube. I haven't been up there in over two months.

Later...

Ah, that was good. Just as I was finishing the walk Jeff pulled up. I guess I should have called him but I figured he'd be busy. Oh well.

Tonight I am dyeing. I get almost all of my clothes on eBay these days and most of it is silk. Sometimes the color isn't quite right, either because the actual piece didn't match the photo, or sometimes price is right even if the color isn't something I like. Silk takes dye really well so it's not a problem. I had seven pieces that needed a color adjustment and since I'm running out of clothes I figured I'd better dye them and add them to the mix. It's a bit of a project but once it's done, it's done. And it's like getting free clothes!

Kyle and Lindsay were visiting this weekend. Kyle always brings his cats and usually they all get along ok. Ink is kinda bitchy, tho. She and Ivy get into some scraps and today she took a swat at Ivy and caught her in the eye. I saw her sitting in the tv room looking kind of stunned with one eye shut and tearing. It stopped after a while and she was able to open it. She'll probably be ok but I'm going to keep checking on her. I don't want it to get infected. Poor Ivy! I'm hoping she'll learn to stay away from Inky. Ink and Spiral will be here for a week while Kyle and Lindsay are in New York. Ivy might need goggles.

Kitty drama.

Working on songs

I want my Christmas song book to be a lean, mean, fightin' machine. At the luncheon the other day I had a hard time with some of the songs- Print too small, wrong key, wrong chords, unfamiliar arrangements. I got every third song right. I didn't like having it all be so schlocky. But it was thrown together at the last minute so I'm willing to forgive myself. But I want it all to be right for the next two parties. We have ours on the 19th and the Health Services party is on the 22nd.

I've added some songs to the book plus a table of contents page. I'm going through them one by one making sure they're right. I'm practicing tricky chord changes.

But I need to stop now because m eyeballs are tired and I have to get up early and go to work. Got the Twelve Days of Christmas stuck in my head.

Furniture everywhere

Today Drew and I moved furniture. They're clearing out Mindy's mom's house in preparation for their estate sale. So much stuff. Good stuff, too. Lindsay and Kyle are getting a lot of it. When they settle into their own apartment it'll be completely furnished. I took a bedroom set (mid-cent-mod) and two end tables and the coffee table from the living room. These are really beautiful pieces. Dorothy and Norman (Mindy's parents) bought quality. And right now every bit of it is in my living room and family room. We need to store everything here until Lindsay and Kyle can take it. I need to get Paige to clean her room so we can move in my two dressers. I think I'll put the bedroom set in my room. Haven't decided yet. Anyway, there's lots of cleaning and moving to be done. I also need to do some minor repairs.

So, once again it looks like I just moved in.

Visit with Dad

After work on Friday I went to see Dad. They had him on one of those lounge chair things so he could lay stretched out. He's been getting frozen into a sitting position from being in a wheelchair so much. They've decided against doing much physical therapy with him because it hurts him and you can't get him to understand why he's being tortured in this way. It's too upsetting for him. Putting him in a lounge chair is a more gentle way of stretching him.

He was in his usual place near the nurses station. He yells and whistles at everyone who walks by. It's not angry yelling, he's just trying to be sociable. I got there just before dinner time so it wasn't long before they wheeled him in. There was a woman sitting in Mr. Hammond's usual place. When they put Dad at the table she said, "Could you please turn him around so I can see his handsome face?" Woo-hoo! Dad's still got it! I positioned him as best I could and she seemed satisfied. We chatted for a little while and then they moved her to a different table. Here comes Mr. Hammond!

They brought Dad his dinner and I managed to get most of it into him. For the first time since Dad moved to this place I got a little weepy being with him. As I fed him I was thinking about the man he used to be. Even though he was hard to love at times, he always was enthusiastic about life. Even though I thought he had some WRONG ideas about how the world should work, he was a very intelligent and talented man. He was also proud and independent. If he could somehow step outside of himself now he'd be horrified to see what he's become. I felt sad for what has been lost.

After Dad was finished eating I got out the uke and song books. At first I sang Christmas songs with him. Mr. Hammond had been quiet until then but now he began to sing along. He said, "Hey, you're pretty good on that thing. You have a beautiful voice." I said, "Thanks, Mr. Hammond. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop." We sang some more songs and then I packed up to go. Again, Mr. Hammond complimented me on my singing but he never made any boobie comments. When I left I told him it had been a pleasure being with him. I guess his meds were in balance that night.

It was a good, long visit. Again, the staff kept telling me how much they love him.- "Oh, your dad is such a flirt!" "Oh he's so funny!" "Your dad is my favorite!" Heh! Give the folks at Raincross Village a call and tell them that!

I'm Mary Poppins

Yesterday was kind of fun.

On Wednesday after weight loss class I stopped by Big Lots and bought $80 worth of Christmas lights and a small fake tree. Years ago Jim and I built these big star frames that we covered with lights. They look really cool and you don't have to climb up and down a ladder all damn day to put up Christmas lights. You just plug in six stars and the place looks great. But you do have to replace the lights every five years or so. So, I bought a ton of lights and a little tree to put up at work. When I got home I just left everything in the car.

On thursday I loaded up a bunch of decorations that I had bought at the after Christmas sale at Beverly's (75% off!) and took it all to work. Since I'm not doing much decorating at home (kittens!) I got my ya-yas out making the front office look cheery. It looked very pretty. Just as I was finishing I heard Tanya and Patti down the hall setting up tables and chairs and talking about how to make it all fit. Huh?

Now, I work in a great office with wonderful people. Communication isn't one of our strong points. Sometimes I'm seriously out of the loop. I found out that they were going to be having meetings on our office for a couple of days with a big dinner that night and a luncheon the next day. They needed to set up tables and chairs and somehow make it all look special and pretty. I heard Tanya say, "Too bad we don't have some lights." Lights? Did someone say lights?

I went out to my car and brought in the big bag of lights I had just bought. I also brought in some decorations I had decided not to use in the front office. Patti said, "Wow, it's like she's got a Mary Poppins bag!" I spent the rest of the day decorating the eating area. I hung three huge glitter balls from the ceiling, one over each table. Then I ran a string of lights to each one and bunched up the excess to look like chandeliers over each ball. Then I draped gold ribbon on each one so it went from the ceiling and cascaded down over the balls like gold tendrils. For being such a simple thing the effect was actually pretty stunning. Once Food Services got there and added the table cloths the whole place looked really nice.

Yesterday we had our luncheon. I spent the morning getting songs off the web and putting them into a song book. I designed a cover on Publisher and made 23 songbooks with red and green covers. I spent some time on Chordie getting songs into the right keys and printed them out for my own songbook. After lunch we had a big sing along with me on ukulele. I had also brought my big bag of rhythm instruments (another Mary Poppins comment from Patti) and passed them out to everyone. Har! Those administrators played like kindergartners. It was quite a hoot.

Then Monica suggested that I sing a couple of my songs. I sang Middle-aged Woman. It killed. They were laughing and cheering so much at the end I couldn't finish the song! Then I sang Bosom. At first they didn't quite know how to react to it but as it went along they started to enjoy it more. At the end people were laughing. I think it actually made the men kind of uncomfortable. We finished the party with Silent Night.

Afterward, one of the women from Health Services came up to me and said they want me to come to their Christmas party and entertain. Seriously! I'm going to go to their party on the 22nd and do exactly the same thing!

It feels a little weird that the luncheon turned into the Doni Show, but people seemed to enjoy it and Dr. Debbie was pleased, so I guess it was ok. And hey, I got a gig!

Music and stuff

Last night Jeff and Bill came over for ukeing. We went through the Jumpin' Jim's Christmas song book. We've decided that Jumpin' Jim must have a high, girly voice because all the songs are in a key that's hard for us to sing in. We spent a lot of time transposing last night. I'm glad that the three of us have basically the same range. I know that if a song is in a key that's comfortable for me it's good for the boys, too.

So, it wasn't a satisfying and productive session but it was a good start. I'm going to see if I can find better arrangements of those songs online. I want to get some good holiday song books going so they'll be ready to go every year.

Jeff and I walked before Bill came over. Hoo boy, it was good. My exercising has been inconsistent since starting that Kaiser program. They start you off at 20 minutes a day because the calorie intake is so low. We're up to 30 minutes now. I just can't get into that. I want to go hard and strong and get those endorphins flowing. Usually when I come down from Mt. Rubidoux I'm totally blissed out on brain juice. I love that.

But, boy oh boy, I was stiff and sore after that walk. Gotta do more.

Tonight is open mike. We're going to do a couple of Kyle's songs. The last time Lindsay and Kyle and I performed at open mike together was two years ago and Jim was with us. Little did we know.

Today I'm going to get started on that kitchen cabinet.

I added a link to the Weight Loss Blog →

A good Thanksgiving

Low key and enjoyable. Both of them.

Yesterday we were at Ken and Sherri's. The meal was delicious and the turkey was perfect. After dinner we played this game that's this electronic thingy that shows a word that you have to get your team mates to guess before the timer runs out. We play this game at almost every family gathering at Ken's. It's a silly thing that's pretty fun.

Today we had brunch at Stacey and Scotty's. Oh man, it was good. Scotty bought a new waffle maker so we had Belgian waffles with fruit. We had an omelette station at the stove. There were bowls of different kinds of veggies and some different cheeses. Everyone made their own omelettes. Tres delish. Breakfast meats were also served. NONE of this was on my diet. Too many calories were consumed. So, ok, I'll be good tomorrow. We had Paige's pumpkin pies for dessert.

We hung out for a while and then Drew, Mindy, Dede, David and I went to see Dad. Mindy and I bundled him up and took him out to the patio. We talked and sang songs. I uked. it was a nice, long visit. After Drew and Mindy left we took Dad inside and had him listen to Dede's iPod for a while. Dad really enjoys singing along. He can't keep up with the words but he can dum-de-dum on the melodies. Then Dede and I wheeled him into dinner and fed him a few bites.

He was pretty confused and spacey. He was like that the last time I visited. You can never be sure why. The Alzheimer's is surely progressing, though.

Ukes tomorrow night.

Crap, crap, crappety crap!

I have another leak! This one's in the back yard on the sprinkler valve manifold. Dammit! I have a big puddle right up against the house. I'm just gonna have to learn how to do plumbing. My alternatives are to bug my brother every five minutes or hire a plumber every five minutes. I might be able to handle this one. The pipes are pvc. I also have a broken sprinkler head out front. I think those pipes are metal. I wouldn't trust myself to try to fix that one. Damn, it's always something.

The bunny cage is 97% finished. I just have to attach the hinges for the roof lid thingy. I also have to cut a rectangle in the wire for the feeding tray and add a latch for the door. After that, the bunnies can inhabit. It might be dark by the time I get home tomorrow so I'll finish it on Wednesday for sure.

Man, my hands are all torn up from handling that wire. Owie.

Back to the bunny cage.

I didn't work on it yesterday. I needed to pull this house together. Every time I drag some boxes in and go through them it seems like the whole house explodes. I have to remind myself it's a good thing. Stuff gets put away eventually and a lot it gets taken to Second Time Around. I love loading up the car with discards. Anyway, I hadn't cleaned up after the last explosion and I was having company last night. Jeff came over and we uked.

Hoo boy, don't take too close a look at this cage when it's done. It's not what you could call an elegant structure. Many of the boards are a bit warped and I wasn't completely accurate with the measuring. But it'll keep the bunnies in and other critters out. They'll have lots of room to frolic, which is what I really wanted. I felt so sorry for them in that small cage.

The frame is done and I've started putting up the wire. I had to stop because it was getting dark. Really, I could have gone on all night. I ought to be able to finish it tomorrow. All we'll need to do is fill the base with dirt.

My next project will also be a free one. I brought over a small cupboard from the farm. I'm going to use it as a microwave/toaster oven stand. I need to extend the top and one side. Easy. I already have lots of plywood. This will free up some counter space and provide storage for cookie sheets and pots.

Last night was fun. Bill is sick so it was just Jeff and me. We worked on some songs that have lots of jazzy chords. That stuff is fun to play on uke. Man, it's been a long time since we last got together here for uke-ing. Things got busy last summer and our fall schedules don't match up. It'll work out better once this semester is over. Jeff and I haven't been walking together either. While I'm on this weight loss program I'm not supposed to exercise more than thirty minutes at a time. I miss Mt. Rubidoux. Oh well, soon.

Ugh! I'm hungry.

Radicals, we

RCC is doing The Laramie Project. Today they found out that the Westboro Baptist Church (not really a baptist church) was planning to show up and picket the play. That set off a firestorm of emails throughout the RCC system. I'm sure the local tubes were alive with Westboro buzz. A counter demonstration was quickly planned. After work I headed over to the Riverside campus. On the way I called Scotty and Bill. They both were planning to be there.

The emails said that the Phelps family was going to show up at 7 and picket for an hour. I got there at around 5. The organizers wanted everyone to show up early so there would be a lot of people there when the wacko haters showed up. At first everyone was milling about near the quad, which was where The Laramie Project was playing. After a while we were told we had to move to the Free Speech area across from Landis Auditorium. They said the Westboro Baptist people would be escorted to where we were gathered.

It was pretty cool. Lots of young hippie types, both gay and straight, with lots of signs. The smell of Sharpie ink was in the air. The mood was light. As we were talking several of the kids would come up and ask me what The Laramie Project was or they'd ask about the Phelps family. Like I was the expert of my immediate area. Then a high ranking RCC lesbian got up in front of the crowd and gave us instructions on how to behave when the Westboro people showed up. We were asked to be completely silent and let all the hate come from them, not us. There were some grumbling murmurs from some of the people, but most agreed it would be better to keep things peaceful. Somewhere in all this Scotty and Bill showed up. Scotty was planning to take B to the play. I lost track of him about an hour before the show started. I'll find out later if they saw the show.

Well, it was a fine gathering of a large group of friendly people but in the end not much happened. We heard that the Westboro people got stuck in traffic and couldn't make it to RCC. I wasn't that surprised. I've heard that before, that sometimes they just don't show up. I think it's possible they may have gotten wind of how large the crowd was (I'm guessing 350) and decided against it. I hung out with the Odiens for another half an hour. Liam had run home and grabbed a guitar. We sang a couple songs and then split.

So hey, we won! The play opened without the Phelps family getting their two cents in, and people had a generally good time hanging around in the dark. It was just a little bit of a disappointment, though. We were so ready for them.

Progress

Progress can be slow. I didn't get as far as I would have liked. I had to go to Home Depot and spend $8 on bolts, washers and nuts. Gotta go back for more. But it's coming together. Boy, my hands sure are dinged up. Paige helped me a little today.

I think it's going to turn out ok but it won't be exactly plumb and square. It's going to take a lot of dirt to fill the bottom box but I have a plan for that. Along the far side of my house the ground slopes towards the foundation. Poor yard drainage is one of the issues of this house. I'll be taking dirt from that area and moving it to the bottom of the bunny cage. I'll shape the ground into a nice, shallow trench so that side of the yard can drain. Good stuff.

It looks like we've got new neighbors to the back. They were playing mariachi music yesterday and the two, big, obnoxious dogs that were there are gone. Those dogs worried me a little. The fence isn't very high along the back of the yard. If those dogs ever got sufficiently inspired they could've climbed over it. Of course, Boz was no help. He'd get into barking matches with them every once in a while. Working on the cage has been much more pleasant without them.

I got a new cell phone. It has a QWERTY keyboard and teeny, tiny buttons. I can text, but I can't see. Progress.

Bunny cage!

Finally! I got a good start on it today. I gathered my materials and tools, put my hair up, grabbed my iPod, hat and sunglasses and got to work. I measured and cut and drilled and screwed (actual screws) until it got too hot and sunny. Then I came in, had lunch, and watched tv until the back yard got shady again. I went back out and worked until my back started to squawk. I'm pleased with my progress so far.

I have the basic box built. Tomorrow, I'll go to Drew's and get the wire for the sides and to line the bottom so the bunnies can't dig out. I can re-use some of the parts from the old cage. What's great about this is it's going to be almost free. I bought one piece of wood for $15 and I'll need about $10 worth of screws. Everything else I already had.

I'm very happy about this. I couldn't work on it last summer because it was so hot. I hated that the bunnies had to live in their small cage. We'd let them out every once in a while so they could frolic but it never seemed like it was enough. Right now they have a bit more room because Paige attached a puppy playpen that I borrowed from Mindy to their cage. But that's not very secure and I worry about them getting out. I'll be so happy when this is done. The rest of it ought to go pretty quick. I'm on a roll.

My back hurts!

Happy Birthday, Dede! Happy Birthday, Aaron!

Sorry this is posting so late. I hope you did something fun and ate something delicious. In your honor I put a candle in my diet shake.

No I didn't.

Tonight I fired up the heater for the first time since shutting it off for the summer. I didn't know what to do! I've never had central air. Do I light something? Will I blow myself to smithereens? Nope. Just turn the sucker on. I did change the filter. I at least knew to do that much.

I'm taking Ivy to the vet tomorrow morning to get fixed. Once she's healed both kittens can start going outside. Yay! No more litter box. I hope they'll do ok. It's always a little nerve wracking training kittens to survive outdoors. Lio is doing well so far. He looooves being outside. I just want him to understand that cars and neighbor dogs are dangerous. And jeez, we have coyotes living nearby! I can hear them howling at night. Gotta install a cat door so they can escape danger (the cats, not the coyotes).

I've been enjoying having hot water without leaks and knocks. That was a big source of stress. Next I need to explore the leak in the other bathroom. I'm not quite as stressed about that one. Heh! We'll see how that goes when I open things up and have a look. Bill, thanks for the plumber recommendation.

Good night.

AAAIIEEEEE!!!!!!

We lost water pressure. I opened the water heater closet and heard water rushing. I got a mirror and looked behind the water heater. One of the soldered joints that the plumber made was squirting water up in the air. Shit!

I called the plumbing company and told the guy what was happening. Snarky little bastard asked me how I knew it was their fix if the water heater was in front of it. He said since they didn't install the water heater they couldn't touch it. He also told me they wouldn't be able to come out until tomorrow. He said they didn't go out on call backs on the weekend. He told me several things that didn't fuckin' fly with me. Stuff like it's going to take him and another guy three hours to reinstall the water heater. We had quite a little argument. He finally agreed to have someone come out today but I'd have to get the water heater out. When I called him back and told him we had it out he said he'd have someone here in about three hours. Grrr....

So, here I sit. My water heater sits in the hall. How much you wanna bet the plumber doesn't show up this afternoon?

Hallelujah! (and Happy Birthday, Mindy!!!)

Hot water, baby!

I got as far as I could but in the end I had to call Drew. Fortunately, it didn't take too long and it was good to be comforted by his cempetenceness. (Heh! Spell check didn't like that one.) The water heater is in the closet, all shiny new, happily humming and doing it's job. No knocking. No leaking. God's in His heaven, all's right with the world. Well, not the whole world. Mainly just my water heater closet. And it's guaranteed for nine years.

What's next? I need to batten down the hatches and get ready for winter. I already did a LOT of yard work today. Barely made a dent in that job. Tomorrow it will be cooler so it'll be easier to work. I need to clean up the sun room. It's gotten a bit out of hand. The roof leaks in there so I need to arrange the stuff that's being stored and cover it. I really should clean the gutters and sweep off the roof where the trees are up against the house. Need a cooler day for that job.

Bunny cage. It was way too hot last summer to work on that. I want to redo that pergola I bought last spring. The canvas cover just doesn't work very well. It's always getting blown out of place. I'm going to get four panels of plastic trellis and affix them to the top and one side. I know plastic doesn't look that great but I don't want to put too much weight on the frame. I can paint it to match. I'll make curtains out of drop cloth for the ends and keep the other side open. It'll be shady, private and a pleasant place to sit and have coffee.

I want to plant my succulents in the planting bed out front. Gotta get the broken sprinkler fixed. It would be great to get my unwanted bushes removed but that'll have to wait until spring. Got more crap to haul away.

That oughta do it for now.

Happy Birthday, Mindy! Thank you for letting me borrow Drew this afternoon.

Hallelujah

One more push

To get the water heater done. Well, maybe two. Home repair is almost never easy.

I bought the water heater last night. The installation kit isn't quite right. Gotta take that one back. I bought a different one at Home Depot. That one's not right either. A kit won't do. I have to buy individual pieces. At least I think I'm on the right track now. But I'm not working on it tonight. I need a break from all this stress.

The water heater is only one of my issues. Gracie just isn't doing well and I think I need to have her put down soon. She's almost 14, which is pretty old for a large breed dog. Her hair isn't growing back as much as I'd like. The weather is turning cold but she doesn't want to sleep in the house if the other dogs are outside. And then there's Lady, who drives us all nuts.

I just read a news story about a crazy asshole who beat a six-month-old puppy to death. The puppy belonged to a friend of a friend. The story made me very angry.

I'm very happy that Obama won but I've got to stop reading the political stuff for a while. The death eaters are plotting their revenge.

So, tonight I could go to a show in LA, but I'm not sure I want to drive home late at night by myself. I have to think about it some more. Or, I could go see Annie, Get Your Gun, which is the show Bill is in right now. I was planning to do that tomorrow night. Decisions, decisions.

What a night

Well, that was fun. I met up with Bill at Back To The Grind. They had a wide screen tv up front, laptops on every table and a nosh buffet. Darren, the owner, invited us upstairs to the VIP lounge for champagne and cocktails and good conversation. Every once in a while people would let out a cheer, we couldn't always tell why. Then when the California polls closed everyone really got excited. It seemed like it took less than five minutes for the whole thing to be confirmed. Obama had won. Truly amazing. Big cheer there.

Champagne was passed around. I also had some tequila. I hadn't had a drop of alcohol since starting this diet. I was nicely toasted. Hugging commenced. I was glad that Bill was there. Chuck showed up too.

McCain gave his concession speech. Bill said it was classy but I didn't listen to it much. I'm not ready to forgive. That was one ugly campaign. But hey, I'm not his target audience. People in the BTTG crowd were respectful and many people cheered when he said nice things. I do appreciate that.

And then Obama spoke. I went to the balcony rail and watched the whole scene- Obama on the big tv and the crowd below. It was kind of surreal. And boy, I could not stop crying. I waited eight years for this.

Too bad about Prop 8. Some changes take longer.

Plumbing update- I am woman, hear me roar, for I have built a water heater floor. After the plumber left I could see that there was no way a new water heater was going to be installed unless the floor in the closet was replaced. It was completely rotten from years of leaks. It totally caved in. This morning I rebuilt it using 2X4s and 3/4 inch plywood. That sucker could hold three water heaters. I banged it together with wood and screws that I already had. One of the pieces of plywood was from one of Jim's Hammond organs.

I went shopping for water heaters (after going to the tire store and spending $400. Sheesh!) at Lowe's and Home Depot. I'm going to go back to Lowe's tomorrow and get one. So, this whole water heater/shower valve thing will end up costing about $1,000. That's if I'm lucky. We're not out of the woods yet. When I got home I looked at the work the plumber did yesterday. One of the joints appears to be leaking. I'm so glad I didn't get Sears to install a new water heater right away! The plumber is coming back tomorrow morning. I'll be at work but Paige will be here.

One step at a time.