Suzanne Calling

Okay, so I've never seen that movie (or any Brad Pitt movie, for that matter), but it seemed fitting. My personal rule of blogging about events is that I don't blog about things out of order. Like day three of the California trip ? It got screwed in a Blogger fiasco and I never reposted it because then the trip report would be OUT of order. (in reviewing to find that link, it looks like day four disappeared, too) That can't happen, right? Tonight, I'm getting over that. I've got blog fodder here, several days worth. I still need to blog about Sea World, because hey, you need to know about it. We've got some wineandfoodies stuff to do, too, but I'm going to blog about Monday before Saturday. I know, I live such a dangerous life. I have to say, it was Monday here, but still Sunday in California, but I'll count it in the Monday stuff. I got a call from Bawb at 2:10am. His lovely wife, Maria, gave birth to their son, Caleb, a mere 20 minutes pr...

Our new phones arrived a little while ago. You know I have no life when this is the highlight of my day. That said, now begins the fun of porting over my contact list. This is not easy when my old phone's display does not light up! Make life easier for me and call me, please?! There's about 8 numbers in there now, and I think those of you know who you are. Suffice to say, half of the contact list in the old phone probably won't make it to the new one. Oh and if you wanted to buy popcorn, but didn't get around to it-nows a good time to call me. We have to turn the second sheet in tonight.

I just finished writing an emotionally draining email and pressed the 'send' button. It has essentially put into words what I had done a while ago. I wrote off a friendship. I'd been hurt horribly by the one sided nature of this friendship. The other party did not know my true feelings, though. She had made it easy, by not communicating with me. Then I got an email that was obviously BCCed to me. I didn't even rate a personal email to tell me of her plans to attend an event here in Florida. That was the final straw, I had to put my feelings out there, to either invite her back into my life or write her off. I chose the latter. It's not an easy thing to do, to write off a friendship. Some people have as many friendships as there are seashells on a beach. I'm different, I can tell you each friend's birthday because I don't have so many. What I lack in quantity of friends has more than been made up in the quality of those friendships. What ultima...

Another day, another visit to the (NEW) offices for my doctor. Once again, I get a confirmation of the appointment with the ever important "Your doctor has MOVED since your last appointment" message. Each time I so wish it wasn't automated , so I could say "Oh, really? They change offices EVERY week?" It's almost like all those Clear Channel radio stations here in Tampa, the NEW Tampa Bay's best country US103.5, the NEW 107.3 the Eagle, the NEW 101.5 The Point. They've all been new since I moved here OVER THREE YEARS AGO! The radio stations don't have an excuse for calling themselves new for over three years, the doctor's office can be forgiven that the 2 month old building is not new to me. Nurse M had a death in the family, so my appointment was reshuffled to another member of the vascular team. The young lady checking me in says that I've never seen Dr. B (according to the records-which are wrong), so I get the patient medical h...

For weeks, Chef Jr has been so excited about Halloween's approach. He's like this every year, but this is the year that he's articulated just how much he LOVES Halloween. It's his favorite holiday because people give you candy. That's my boy. This year, he'll be a bad guy. He originally chose Draco Malfoy and was convinced that I'd bleach his hair for one night. I had people telling me it was a good idea, and that I could buzz his hair afterwards. I'm glad he changed his mind, because his hair is just beginning to show a wave once again-I was not thrilled with possibly cutting it shorter. He'll be Jango Fett, the bounty hunter seen in Star Wars, Episode 3. Gameboy, in a nod to what he's been told for years, will be Harry Potter. He looks like him, though the hair isn't quite that unruly for now. These costumes turn my thoughts to Halloween in years past . Our first flash of Chef Jr's stubbornness was when he was 2 years old. ...

Who wins, Mars or Venus? Found this quiz on another blog. Thanks, Mandy. Oh, my kids would laugh because you're Bill and Mandy-I just caught that! 1. Who is your man? ...... Ed 2. How long have you been married? ....... 10 years 3. How long dated? ...... We dated for 3 years, would have been married sooner if not for bozo the ex 4. How old is your man? ...... 43 5. Who eats more? ..... Him 6. Who said "I love you" first? ...... Him. 7. Who is taller? ...... Him, but only 2 inches. 8. Who sings better? ...... We'll both say 'me', so I guess this is a draw 9. Who is smarter? ....... I think he'll be mad at my answer, but he is darn smart. I'm smarter. :) 10. Whose temper is worse? ...... His. Definitely his. (though when I get mad, look out) 11. Who does the laundry? ...... He does more of it, but if we both worked the same amount of hours, it'd be 50/50. 12. Who takes out the garbage? ...... 75/25 in his favor 13. Who sleeps on the right side of...

After my doctor's appointment on Friday, we loaded up the Jeep and headed down the road for our first camping trip with our new cub scout pack. This new pack camps every month except December, which the menfolk are all very happy about, Ed probably the happiest. Camping with my leg is always an interesting experience, and this trip was no exception, but we'll get to that later. The campsite was less than an hour from our house in the still rural part of our county. It was not wilderness camping, in that we had bathrooms and showers available. We didn't have cushy amenities, either, so it was somewhere between the Lakeland speedway and Fort Wilderness trips of last year. Thunderstorms rolled through at home prior to our departure, which made me glad that we didn't rush down there. We got there around 5pm and could not find the campsite within the park. We found the RVs, then we tried another area and found a Blazer stuck in some sugar sand (later found out it was o...

Okay, there will be several posts in a short period of time to make up for the dearth of entries this past week. Friday, I had a follow up with Nurse M. Only she's out of town with a family emergency. I got one of the new residents instead. Nice doctor. He looked at the wound and seemed perplexed, and Nurse D and I had to tell him that this looked really good! We should have had pictures from back in December in the file to show him. Alas, there were the ones from I think April, where I still had two wounds. He put another Oasis on it, and we decided (well, really Nurse D did) that I would not be wrapped again, so as to prevent this: Nice ripples on the leg, don't you think? This is what is the bane of an RSD sufferer's existence. Nurse D knows that the odds are great that a boot will accordian and do this to me. Then it presses on the three nerves on the top of the foot (the deep peroneal, the medial dorsal cutaneous, and the intermediate dorsal cutaneous) and causes mo...

Today would have been my Mom's 76th birthday. Above is a picture taken about a year before she passed away, by a friend of hers from the Village. It was rare to see her without a smile on her face and that was the comment he made with the email this came in. Two years have passed, but not a day goes by that I don't think of picking up the phone or getting in the car and heading over to visit. They say each sibling gets a different parent and I would agree with that. Of the eight of us, my life mirrored my mom's in several ways. The older I got, the more in tune I became with my mom, because life had dealt us some of the same experiences. It was flattering that when I moved down here, she was disappointed that I wasn't looking for a house in St. Pete. Do you ever say "Oh my God, I'm becoming/sound like my mother?" Most women say it as if this is a bad thing. Me? I revel in it, even before she passed away. I say hello the same way and get the sa...

After closing the bar (yippee!) on Saturday night, you would think that I’d be tired and ready for sleep soon after arriving back at Donna’s place. Nope, I ended up staying awake until 4am. She, on the other hand, was quite tipsy after three drinks and retired to bed soon after coming home. Donna woke me up at 10am, the time we originally planned to depart for the shuttle to the Jags game. Oops! While she ran for some coffee, I got ready and off to the shuttle we went. The stadium apparently has extremely limited parking. So, JTA (Jax Transit Authority) has shuttles to the stadium for ten bucks a head. When you consider that parking is 20 bucks and there was no guarantee that we’d find handicapped spots, it made more sense. Once we got off the shuttle, it made even more sense. What a madhouse! The last football game I attended was in 1986. Ed, the ex and I all worked for Hess gas stations and Leon Hess, in an unusual bit of generosity, gave each of the sur...

The rest of the journey via train went well. Unlike Ed, I enjoy that mode of travel. Friday night, we went and got dinner at a local Greek restaurant. Since I tend to talk about local joints and food, Donna was of the mind that I wasn't interested in eating at a chain restaurant. I'm happy either way, and the ultimate choice of Greek was a good one. I had a dish I've never had before, similar to moussaka, but without the potato. Delish! Saturday morning, it was over to the salon for Donna's day of pampering. She got a very cute new haircut and color, then we both had our nails done. (Dark plum for me and a coral-y pink for her) Then lunch, vegging and leftovers for dinner. Our evening plans consisted of visiting friends of hers that just opened a new bar, with the restaurant portion opening next month. Sharky's Place is just south of Jax (over the damn bridge) in Orange Park. We head over and I get to meet Susan and Tony, friends of Donna's for a long ...

It's Friday evening, and I’m currently sitting in a club car on an Amtrak train, en route to Donna’s. For roughly what I’d pay in gas and about an hour and a half’s extra travel time, I’ll arrive in Jacksonville relaxed and ready for the weekend ahead. Taking the train is probably one of my favorite forms of travel. It’s decidedly more laid back, and you aren’t looked upon unfavorably if you wander the train(like the evil death stares you get from flight attendants when you do all that you can to prevent a repeat DVT by walking the cabin). Check in is only a half hour before departure, unlike the two hours the TSA now recommends for air travel. Without fail, all of my trips on Amtrak has netted friendly staff and congenial traveling companions. Your mileage may vary (ask Ed). Even better, if I want to write (like now), I can find a plug for the laptop and feed the urge to write. Though I notice that the laptop is starting to show wear and tear from being drag...

That last blog entry has surpassed my previous posting record in a year. Those of you who complain I don't write enough, ahem, I still have 11 weeks to go. You may now resume your regularly scheduled surfing...

Monday morning, I had another appointment with my Nurse Practitioner to check the Oasis and re wrap my leg. We got the kids off to school and hightailed it across to Tampa, arriving five minutes before my scheduled appointment time. (small miracle, given the unpredictable Tampa traffic patterns) First, a little info about the reception staff at the Physician's group. I am a familiar face to them now, since I have been there at least once a week since December. Most of the ladies are pleasant, including the receptionist formerly known as the grumpy battle axe (rfkatgba), who is now positively chipper when checking me in. (I think that wonderful week where I was there FIVE times won her over). All but one of these ladies have been there at least the three years that I've been a patient with the practice. There is one young lady who started there about three months ago who treats patients as an interruption of her day. Even those who are cordial and polite get the "I ...

I've been blogging for two years now, and one of the things I mentioned early on was the comment that was made on a message board I belong to. It countered the "should we have more kids?" debate with another question. "If you look around the dinner table, is somebody missing?" I've posed that to friends since I've heard it. I find my table is just fine. If it wasn't, I'd be in trouble, because the shop is closed. I know that question was, in part, what motivated Joyce and Tim to have their adorable Princess A last November. Some colleagues have shared this question with others, to varying degrees of additions to families. Well, another friend has decided that there is someone missing. However, her path is a little different. She's a single mom of two adorable boys and longs for a girl. She's using the magic of AI and a donor to hopefully bring a little more estrogen into the household. This same donor was responsible for her ad...

We have two boys. When Chef Jr made his appearance in the world, I thought I'd never experience helping my child sell cookies each winter. I was shown a different path. He wanted to join Cub Scouts and loves being one. Girl Scouts sell cookies, and they are known for it. Cub Scouts sell POPCORN. Boy, do they sell popcorn! Chef Jr embraced the 'show and sell' events we participated in last year. This is where the pack sets up a table outside a local business (when allowed). The scouts ask the patrons entering or exiting if they'd like to buy popcorn to support scouting. Chef Jr showed us that he is a natural salesperson. One of these events was at a Cracker Barrel. He approached a man and gave a very convincing sales pitch, who came up and introduced himself to be the owner of the nearby RV dealership. He told me he would love to have Chef Jr. on his sales team! (oh and he bought the caramel corn). As we are in a digital age, the boys now get a code for th...

I got the answer I was hoping for from Nassau Community today. They have decided to allow me to complete my last six credits via CLEP exams! Woohoo! The last two requirements are math and social science. The courses I've chosen are Algebra and American Government. I'm not too worried about reviewing the government materials, but I'm not sure how much material the Algebra exam covers. It's funny, most people thought algebra was a waste, but I found it useful. I still calculate percentages on a daily basis(is over of = x over 100) AND I could figure out my mortgage payment by using P=IRT. SohCahToa is the one area where I think I need a refresher. Ms. Donnelly, remember how you were flabbergasted at my 96 on the Math regents? Let's see if I can do that on the college level and get this degree!

who complain I don't write often enough! November is National Blog Posting Month, inspired by National Novel Writing Month. I had a momentary lapse of reason and decided to join NaBloPoMo . Mark your calendars, a post a day for a month. Can you stand it?

Today was my first visit to nurse M since going out on disability. It was neat to see the new office building the professional offices were moved to. (Note to USF: everything is very BLAH, let them put up some touches of personality) M looked at my wound and wondered if it'd been getting any better. It's not infected and I'm able to debride it fairly easily, though this week has been a bear in the RSD department. I've been experiencing a ton of constant stinging and episodes of sharp stabbing pains. Lots of fun. Last night, we took a dip in the gulf (blog entry to appear later), and I decided not to put a new dressing on the leg if it was only going to be taken off today. As a result, it scabbed up. M was wondering if the wound bed was healthy enough for a new treatment, a skin graft dressing. It was my opinion that it was fine underneath. She got a bath out for me to soak, and while I waited (Ed with me today), I commented to him that I felt like I was getting ...