Archive for November, 2012

Goals Accomplished. Sort of.

I had ambitious plans for the past week of stay-cation. In review, my to-do list:

Goal:  Put books back onto new shelves in office room.
Accomplished and enjoyed. (Proving once again that I am just about 1 chromosome short of being OCD.)

Goal:  Move old office furniture to basement.
Not accomplished. Stuff was way too heavy and I am way too clutzy.

Goal:  Prevent self from being found dead and crumpled at foot of basement stairs beneath ginormous bookcase.
Accomplished!

Goal:  Work out every day.
Accomplished. (Except for the every day part.)

Goal:  Tidy up house.
Accomplished!

Goal:  Stay up late and sleep in a lot.
Accomplished!

Goal:  Buy wine.
Accomplished!

Goal:  Break open the new Abbott & Costello DVD set.
Accomplished!

Goal:  Tidy up the yard, put remaining porch furniture back into storage, clean gutters, hire someone to cut down trees.
Ahem. Um. There’s always next weekend? Or next spring?

Goal:  Take Goodwill pile to Goodwill.
Nope, it’s still in my basement. But the pile is decidedly bigger now.

Goal:  Get basement carpeted.
Nope.

Goal:  Take pile of clothes to dry cleaner; hem new pants.
Nope and nope.

Goal:  Update address book.
Made it to the Ks. Got bored.

Goal:  Clean out garage.
ha! Nope.

Goal:  Enjoy a 1:00 Steelers game.
Sh*t.

Goal:  Scratch off pile of saved up lottery tickets and win enough money to avoid going back to work ever again.
Half-accomplished.

Sigh. 

Doesn’t seem like I did much of what I thought I ought to. But, as my week off ends, I am relaxed and (trying hard to ignore the incessant chuckling and lip-smacking of the Back-to-Work Demons) feeling happy and destressified, which was my number 1 goal really. No airplane ride, no scenic drives, no souvenirs, no new vistas, but the house feels a bit more feng-shui-ish, there’s clean underwear in the drawer, there are new Abbott & Costello giggles in my head, and there’s still some wine left in the ‘fridge. It was a life-preserving week, and I think I’ll be okay.

Good night.

November 26, 2012 at 2:03 am 2 comments

Thankful in 2012

As Thanksgiving Day begins, I am reminded of grade school when we were asked to hang a picture on the wall and state for all to see what we were thankful for. That activity holds such simplicity:  the easy tasks of childhood as well as the true meaning of this holiday. Despite the attempts of retailers and advertisers to turn this day into one symbolic of gluttony and consumerism, in the hearts of most, this holiday remains, simply, a day to embrace family and friends, a day to relax, a day to be thankful.

Here is what I hang on the wall for 2012.

Although I did not like the number, I am thankful I had another Birthday.

I am thankful that I got to hang out with some wonderful people and refill the hug bank at a Schmidt Picnic in June.

I am thankful for my Aunt Ann who turned 90 this past week. And I am thankful for my new littlest cousin who arrived a couple of months ago.

I am thankful for my nephew Stephen, now a Marine, serving this great country.

I am thankful that I have a home, a car (with four new tires and a new alternator), and a job.

I remain thankful, every morning, for coffee. And I am thankful to have discovered the coffee cream frother!

I am thankful for cookies. And, likewise, thankful that I managed to get my old fat butt up and moving once again to do what all the experts say you can’t do:  Lose weight in your 40s. (Yes, you can.)

I am thankful that, for the first time since sometime in the 80s when I became eligible to get a credit card, I have no credit card debt.

I am thankful for books. And audio books.

I am thankful for some home renovations. And I am thankful that my construction friend did not laugh too hard when he discovered that my baseboard in the kitchen has been sitting there unpainted and unattached since his last visit to put in the kitchen floor about 7 years ago.

I am thankful that my neighbor, Flo, fooled the doctors yet again and made it home in time to hand out Halloween candy with me.

I am thankful for facebook and the connections it has strengthened and the reconnections it has made possible.

I am thankful for my friends who keep me busy, keep me centered, keep me laughing. Thank you for game nights. Thank you for liking the same sushi place I like. Thank you for taking me bowling. Thank you for your philosophical, brilliant, hilarious correspondence. Thank you for dinners and drinks.Thank you for commiserating. Thank you for putting up with me. Thank you for my sanity.

I am thankful every single day of my life for my wonderful, weird, dear, and loving family who have made this year so much fuller and so much funnier. I am thankful for Mother-Daughter weekend. I am thankful for Wicked Weekend. I am thankful you had my house key. I am thankful for gorgeous room design support (and that you are feeling better). I am thankful for Overnight Fun Nights and kind of amazed that you still like to hang out with me. I am thankful for recipe tips, home tips, life tips, and that you are there when I call. I am blessed to be a part of this crew. I love you.

And, last but not least, I am exceptionally, happily, guiltily, giggly thankful that my sister-in-law and brother are doing all the work and all the cooking as our dinner hosts this year while I had time to sleep in and post to my blog while sipping coffee.

November 22, 2012 at 4:36 am Leave a comment

Ring a Ding Ding

Last week, due to a rattle in the car engine of my Sebring, I took it to the mechanic. He wasn’t 100% sure what the problem was but suspected the alternator. After doing some checking, he had discovered that Chrysler had seen a similar problem in their mini-vans, and the Sebring has the same alternator/same design as the Chrysler mini-van.

With fingers crossed a bit, we decided to replace the alternator.

And, so, with an appointment for this coming Friday and the car deemed likely drive-able, I began my Monday morning commute. November in Pittsburgh and it’s blue sky-sunshine gorgeous. I was clean, dressed, and on time. Traffic was light, and I had just emerged from the g.d.-stop-start-I-hate-to-drive part of my commute into the easy-breezy-I-love-to-drive part of my commute. I relaxed, I accelerated.

And it all went bat shit.

Every light on the dash came on and a bell ding-dinged, and the speedometer started bouncing like a windshield wiper. Then the speedometer flapped to zero and every light on the dash went out and the car lurched. And my heart flew up and over the first hill of a very high roller coaster.

Eyes darting for a place to pull over, brain squealing There’s no place to pull over!, it registered:   I’m still moving. I, uh, didn’t stall. Speedometer’s on zero and the dash lights are all out, but I’m moving.

And so I drove. And it settled down. The dash lights came back on. The speedometer bounced back up and stayed there.

Yes, truly, I did consider pulling over and perhaps I should have. But I was running pretty smooth. And it isn’t easy to pull over on the highway. And I was only about 20 minutes from the mechanic’s. And, if it was the alternator, I’d likely be okay if I kept her moving. And so I drove. And it happened again. Ding! Ding! Ding! Speedometer bouncing. Lights out. Car lurch. Roller coaster without the wheeeeee!

And again. And again. And again. I lost count after 20. But, hand hovering over the hazard light button, constantly on the lookout for a spot to pull over, I drove. And, each ding-ding-bounce-lurch-crap!, I was one more minute, one more mile, one more “I might make it” closer to the mechanic’s driveway. Murmuring sweet encouragement to the car, I drove. Trusting to the guardian angel clip from my Aunt Theresa, I drove. Off-the-exit, almost-there, c’mon-baby-c’mon-baby-c’mon you beautiful beautiful ba-by . . .

I made it.

Involuntarily quivering from neck to knees, fighting off the oh-no-girl-don’t-you-dare wet-blinkies, I looked at the mechanic, exhaled, laughed, and said, “It’s been a wild ride. I’m leaving her here.”

Now, the silver lining of this tale is that the lights-ding-bounce-lurch craziness confirmed for him that it was indeed an alternator problem. And he told me again about the Chrysler mini-vans, rolling his eyes, he said, “They tell me there’s no issue with the Sebring, but the Chrysler mini-van has this issue, and the Chrysler mini-van has the same alternator design as the Sebring . . . ”

So, it’s fixable. And the very nearby Enterprise Rent-a-Car, despite it being Monday, their busiest day, does have a vehicle left for me to rent. My adrenalin shifts into neutral as the nice Enterprise lady grabs a clipboard, comes around the counter, and says, “It’s right out front!”

And indeed it was. There, ready to roll, recently washed, engine running, sat my rent-a-car:   a Chrysler mini-van.

November 12, 2012 at 5:06 am Leave a comment