Appreciation

It's been some time since I've blogged anywhere. Not only am I finding it very hard to find the time to blog, but I just haven't wanted to do so. December has been a hard month. It started out with good people in the hospital and turned into a nightmare that has been overwhelming for everyone involved. My best friend since I was 5 years old lost her baby boy Wyatt on December 13th after he spent 33 wonderful weeks in his mother's womb. To make things even more dramatic for her family, her mom was in the hospital that weekend before with serious issues as well. In an odd twist, many other friends have been going to funerals all month. Even this month my mom experienced a double edged sword with a recent medical diagnosis. While we are happy she has a diagnosis, we are worried at the road she now must take. I can tell you that it makes me appreciate my Dano-Dano even at three in the morning during a crying fit. It makes me appreciate my friends and family. It makes me appreciate getting the chance to do things that many cannot do and that others take for granted.

Normally I'd use this time in my blog to vent, to share my feelings, and to get out of my head what ever it is that dwells there. But this time I'm not going to do so. I feel as though I will always remember the anger, sadness, guilt, lack of understanding, love for friends and family, and general hopelessness of this event for which I will eventually come to terms. Instead, I am going to end here to head over to Baby-Blog and write about a few things there. I will also leave here with the following poem. I read it shortly after my dad died and really liked it. It was read last night at Wyatt's memorial as well.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there, I did not die.

A Not-So-Funny Cat Pee Story

There are those that like cats and those that do not. I fall into a category very close to "hater". Cats are mean, they are vindictive, they care only of themselves; they are in fact much like myself. I imagine this to be the start of our inharmonious relationship! Despite my deep feeling of angst for the creatures that try to suck human's breath out at night, I associate with the "cat lovers" because they are at least animal people. One of these said "cat lovers" is my former blog crush Justin. In his Two Week notice blog post he shared a picture of his cats...



His commentary about cat pee along with this picture made me think of a story about cats and the work required to move them. The important lessons are thus:

-Cats should be moved in carriers

-Cats freak out to everything

-Cats really are mean

-Cat pee stings in fresh wounds

Here is the story...

Eva and I were about 17; old enough to drive, old enough to know better, young enough to still try stupid things! She was moving to a new house, I had offered to help her since it was hard to not help her considering our attachment at the hips!

We were transporting many of her belongings in her old red Ford Escort that had this tricky fuel switch. You see, after the whole Ford Pinto incident of the 70's, Ford installed fuel switches in all Fords whose tanks could be rear ended causing a massive explosion. Eva's car was special. Not only did her car have the switch, but every time we hit a road bump or pot hole hard enough, the fuel was switched off! So imagine if you will, cruising down pot holed Benton Avenue (in Granite City), to fall into one of the holes and then have the car simply stop! No fuel! So Eva would have to get out of the car, go to the back, do some magic (for I honestly have no idea what she had to do in order to get the switch back on), and then off we go again to the next pot hole!

After several moves of the belongings we came to the final items to be transported, the cats. Linus and Azzy were a couple of nutty cats to begin with. I didn't hate them, I in fact thought they were all right for cats. Everything changed after the big move.

We didn't have carriers. This is a huge part of the story. We did not have pet carriers!! We just put the cats in the car, to roam free, to kill me! Eva starts the car and pulls away; Azzy, hides inside the dashboard. I kid you not, the cat found a crevice for which she could squeeze and then she was inside the dashboard. I would have tried to sooth her but Linus was literally bouncing off every surface. I couldn't understand what was happening. Eva, seeing the error of her ways, drove faster to get this nightmare over with as soon as possible. Linus was everywhere, all at once; back-and-forth, side-to-side, demolishing everything in his path. It was then we hit a pot hole. I don't know if this is when I was nearly clawed to death or if it had already occurred but while Eva was magically repairing the car, Linus and I were fighting to the death.

The details are fuzzy, but somewhere in between being clawed nearly to death, Eva repairing the car, and finally arriving at the new place, Linus returned to his chaotic to-and-fro frenzy while leaking urine. Cat pee was everywhere! All over the windows, all over the car, all over me.

As time moves on I may forget some of the details, I may forget Linus' name, but I do not think I will ever forget the way cat pee stings in fresh cat scratches!


The word...
adorkable: Both dorky and adorable. A higher state of being all dorks strive towards. [I like to think I have reached this state]

...A Continuation...

...to finish where I left off yesterday, poor Dave and Eric are trying to figure out who would change the locks while they were both away and also clean the backyard. Come to find out, there was a house down the street that had been foreclosed. The bank sent someone out to change the locks on the house and clean the debris from the backyard. Mistakenly, they got the wrong house. I find that stories like these only happen to people I know some how.

SO, what is your crazy story??!!??

Also, Kelly's mom, the lovely Ms. Tina Fisher, is totally up on her evil paybacks by knowing what an upper-decker happens to be. So for those of you that do not know, an upper-decker is when someone takes the lid off the tank of the toilet, does their business (a nasty number two), and puts the lid back! It's weird and evil!

Today was a long rough day of meetings that resulted in yet more bad note taking!



Favor time, I have a social media acquaintance, that for the purpose of this blog I am claiming as a friend, who has a poll on his site. It's a simple single question that I hope you will take the 30 seconds to go answer. It does me a favor and it does him a favor, and he is good people! So, go here, and thank you! If you have already done so, thank you so very much for being awesome!

Now, lastly I want to say thank you to Steph(aka Ironstef), Amanda, Mike C., Sharline, and Tina F. It is very rewarding when people comment on things I have written. It means you read! So thanks for checking my stuff out, I check your stuff out too! [Ed. Note, that sounds wrong...]

I'll have to give you today's word tomorrow!

The Surreal Week Is Finally Over

Friday night I had the pleasure of spending my evening with my good friend Mike. He made me dinner (tomato sauce with pasta and garlic bread per my request); and then we watched TV (some cooking shows, drinky crow, others). I also finally got to pick up my birthday present from him which is a certificate to a demo cooking show at Kitchen Conservatory.

I thank him dearly because he really went out of his way for me, and he had to deal with me in a mood he probably had not anticipated. So thanks.

Saturday night I had the pleasure of celebrating two very belated birthdays (Sharline and Eva) and one less belated birthday (James). It was hot outside, but fun none the less. I hope everyone, especially Sharline, enjoyed the evening!

Later that evening I spent some time online talking to James and going over some social media stuff, which was fun! So thanks for that James!

Sunday I had the pleasure of hanging out with Eva going to the Loop, eating at the Noodle Co., shopping around odd stores, buying a crazy CD and picking up some random gifts. We also went to Whole Foods for the first time, and that store is A-MA-ZING! I loved it!

So here it is, Sunday night, and I'm just happy the last week is over. Deaths: Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Sky Saxon, Bob Bogle, Billy Mays, beloved pooch Queens, and my Zune. I had my first real concussion (caused by my own stupidity). I purchased maps for the TomTom, UK and Ireland, so that I may geocach and find my way around! I sewed patches on my travel bag.

I see that my friend Shane has gone to Donegal for trip, I hope he has fun. Perhaps one day, when I can get around to it, we'll get to talk. I'll be sure to keep him in my prayers/thoughts.

I should head to bed now, so I'll speak/write again tomorrow. Here's to not texting when we shouldn't!

I would love to have this: Drinky Crow

Sleepy Thank You's

Yesterday was a fairly decent day. I was tired all day, not surprising since I'm not sleeping well. Yet again, I didn't sleep well, although last night wasn't about having a bad dream. My legs were agitated, leading me to confirm my belief that I have Restless Leg Syndrome. I lay down to sleep and my legs are just annoyed; so they ached, fidgeted, and kept me awake. My mind is all over the place too. I figure that eventually I will be so tired that I will just crash into the bed and sleep for 24 hours. I'm at least hoping for something like that! I really do want to sleep!

Tonight I have an eye appointment. I came into work early to leave early. I like doing this for a couple of reasons; 1) I get to save some PTO, 2) I get a lot more work done when it's this quiet around me! So I am sure you are wondering why I am blogging when I have other things I should be doing! It's a valid point, I should be working, but I AM multi-tasking. While I wait for my program to load, run an analysis, etc., I write. Thankfully I have Auto Draft Save! What appears to usually be a 15-30 minute written blog is usually over a course of a couple hours!

Anyway, so I have a few thanks and shout outs today.

I wanted to say thank you to Kelly G. for reading my blogs yesterday. Well, I don't know what, or even how many she read, but I know she at least read one blog, she left a comment. That counts, so thanks!

Thanks again to Kelly G., an accomplished English teacher, for choosing not to comment on my "run-on-sentence" style of writing!

I want to say thank you to Chris for shutting the window because the damned frogs that are breeding in the pool are loud jerks that are inconsiderate, and to think I feel compelled to save them! (Well, yea, I still feel compelled to create a loving eco-system for them in the back yard so they'll stay out of the damned pool)!

Thanks to Eva who made an awesome invitation for my birthday party...thanks for throwing me a party! Thanks for making such a cute invitation for my party! Thanks for letting me dress up in ultra-sweet 50's clothes and bowling shoes! Despite how I may act, I am looking forward to it! (If you didn't get an invite and want one, write me)!

A shout out to Sharline who is passing exams at a spectacular rate and doing well with her new job. I am very excited for you!

Thanks to Holly for responding to my blog. Glad to know you are getting through the paper stacks. Hang in there!

Thanks to Shane for playing some great tunes for me, I always appreciate it! I am very glad to see you are figuring out this blog thing even if you still have no idea what purpose it serves!

Thanks to Mike C. for ... wait, have you been nice to me at all this week? Just kidding doll! Thank you for checking out the HOK Life blog, and looking at my bio! I love writing, and getting to write for work is a lot of fun. Especially when they let me be me (read the bio)!

Thanks to Seth for saying that the short 1.6 mile bike ride from my house to the bus station is considered riding my bike to work; therefore allowing me to participate in National Bike Month!

Happy Birthday Clint!

So, for those of you reading, I hope you will at least leave a comment to let me know you read. It's nice to know who is out there and to know how you are doing! So Chris, Drew, Becky, Maureen, Eva, Sharline, Kelly G., Mike C., Holly, Skweak, Shane, Jason, Amanda, Sara, Dusty, Rancid... thanks for reading; be sure to comment or send me a message so I know what you are up to or at least let me know that you are okay! You should know by now that I am a worrier!

Word of the day-
no diggity: No doubt; for sure.

Borders and BBB

This weekend was good. Friday the 13th was a good day for me. My buddy Shane called me (from Ireland, because that's where he's at). I've made it my goal to prove there is something he does NOT know about The Clash. I bought a book and will read for the most minute of details to catch him, although he's likely to know the answer anyway. After I talked to him on the phone, Chris and I went out to eat, at Denny's! It was super tasty, and there is nothing like breakfast for dinner! Mmmmmm!

Saturday was Valentines Day, and Chris and I didn't really celebrate it. Instead we took the dogs for a car ride. I mean, V-day is about spending time with the one(s) you really love right? So I stayed in bed late snuggling with the dogs, and then we took them for a ride. Chris and I ate at Jack In the Box. I tried the new teriyaki chicken bowl which is delicious! Then we drove over to Clayton to check out the Mini of St. Louis showrooms. I got to sit in the mini's which are super cool! I totally want one! It was great looking, but eh, I have no money for buying a car! So then we went over to Sharline's house to let the dogs see grandma, and to see her new puppy Pearl. She's a mini-dachshund. Super cute. Bella loved her and just wanted to play, but Bella is a little big for her!

Sunday was run of the mill. We cleaned all morning, but the bedroom smells so good, and looks great! I'm sure the dogs will spend today working hard at stinking it back up! Chris cleaned the bathroom while I cleaned up all of my unopened mail and did laundry. After all of that was done, I went to Borders to buy my Clash book; where I ended up buying a birthday present for Grace and a 'Learn French in 3 Months' thingy. Turns out the thing I got Grace is something she already has, but that's okay, I can get her something else that's super cool! Anyway after Borders I ran over to the BBB (Bed Bath and Beyond) to get a shelf to put in the shower and a fogless mirror. At the BBB, they had the Shamwow! So I bought Shamwow! I am sure to let you know how awesome it is!

Anyway, in order to get work done, I should move on, so here are the words of the day and weekend:

L bomb: When someone unexpectedly tells you that they love you. It usually comes out of the blue when you least expect it and are not prepared to respond. In Use:
Dude 1: Dude! Shannon totally dropped the L bomb on me last night!
Dude 2: What did you do?
Dude 1: I said "I love you too".

jackass of all trades: a person who is exceptionally bad at everything.
In use: Stefan is a dork. Give him anything to do and he'll screw it up. He's a Jackass of all trades.

Even Longer Weekend

This past weekend was even longer than the one before. My dogs are healing well from their surgeries. Riley's eyes are looking beautiful, and Bella acts as though nothing has changed.

Chris had lithotripsy done on Friday, and is feeling much better. He went to work today, so he is Iza's problem now. LOL, I mean that lovingly!

Now that this is over, we have S's surgery today, and E's tomorrow. I have my exam in two weeks and after that I will be close to the top of the hill whose valley I have fallen into! Momentary lapses of Zen deep breathing will float me to the top!