Love

Love to you.

Lucky

Last week started on a down note, as I still wasn't feeling well. I think my hormones are all over the place right now, and Tuesday I was up all night and feeling weak in the morning, so I called in sick to the school.

Later that morning, my Tax boss called and said they had an emergency in the office closest to me, and could I please come in and help out. I said I'd get ready and see how I felt. Well, I felt like the worst was over, so I called and told her I'd come in.

The office WAS busy. The second return I did was for an older couple who were SO nice. The wife kept asking me questions about my heritage, my family, everything. She asked what I did besides taxes, and I gave her my other card. Next thing I knew they were saying they'd like my help with that, too!

Suddenly, everything was looking up. But now that I have reason to think I might have enough sales to stay in my office, I know that I don't want to anymore.

I went to vote and picked up the Girl.

After I went home, my problem started back up again. I called my Mom for sympathy, and next thing I knew she was demanding that I go to the doctor NOW and demand that they find out what is causing this problem and fix it immediately!

So I called Kaiser who put me through to an Advice Nurse, who advised me to go to Urgent Care after 5:30. So I went to The Boy's game (they won) and afterward went to Kaiser while S stayed with the Girl. I waited 3 hours, and in the end never got to see anyone. The election results were coming in and a nice girl from I think Lithawania was talking with me about politics, etc. She was asking me what they meant by "the evangelical vote." She was really nice.

So at 10 pm they cleared everyone out, and I was sent home to hopefully live another day. Stupid problem.

Wednesday morning I threw up at 3:30am, and ended up calling in sick again. I remember times when I felt my family had forgotten about me, or didn't really care. For instance, I couldn't get anyone interested when I had to do an Amniocentisis 11 years ago .

Well, they made up for it in spades by bugging me now to resolve this health problem with Kaiser NOW! It's been a long time since I've lied to my parents to get them off my back, but I found myself just wanting it to end! I love it that they care about me, but sometimes they come on a little strong.

Thurs - I missed the Boy's game to take the Girl to practice. Went to Trader Joes, the library, and then took The Girl home. The Boy's team won - now they're going to playoffs.

Fri - Not too eventful. Finished taxes - printed out to take home.
Took The Girl to basketball practice.

Sat - 11am game in Camarillo - continued from rained out Sunday last week. Beat a Blue team 2-0. The Girl took a great shot on goal, but the goalie hit it away with one hand and The Girl looked amazed. She saved the day 2x on defense. Had Chinese food near home for late lunch. Started cleaning house for company on Sunday.

Basketball game that night - won 22-6, The Girl scored 8.

Sun - 8am game in Moorpark - a little closer than Camarillo. Beat another Blue team 2-0. First half going into sun, couldn't score. Second half The Girl passed to Mary who scored. Then Mary passed to The Girl who scored. Yay!

Two things happened in that game I'd never seen before. First, the ref gave The Girl a card - I thought it was a yellow card. Turned out it was a WHITE card - a warning before you get a yellow card! After the game was over, after the girls slapped hands and everything, one of our best players ran off saying "I've got to get to Mass!" Then the other team started complaining about the time, and the ref made us all come back onto the field and play 8 more minutes! Too bad one of our best players had already left! We still won anyway.

So next week we get to go to San Diego! Came home and finished cleaning house. I also finished the book, "Harm Done" by Ruth Rendell, which was pretty good.

The Boy came home and let us know he'd pierced both his ears the night before. A great way to get ready for playoffs, eh?

Our friends came for dinner, The Boy was at work, The Girl sleeping over a friend's. Clam chowder with wild rice, loaf of bread, 3 bottles of wine!

Yum.

So right now we're feeling so lucky. Both our kids are doing well, both their teams are going into playoffs. We have nice friends. My parents are giving me lots of attention.

How did I get so lucky?

Weekend update

It was an unusual weekend for me because I got sick. I don't think I get sick that often, so that must be why it bothered me so much.

Friday started out nicely enough. I found a mistake on a prior year tax return for a client, and got him a nice refund this year. Then I had a meeting with my new sales boss. I told him I already had a few transactions lined up for this year, which I thought would be good news. Instead, he told me that since they are a "professional" company, they could only keep salespeople that have 4 transactions minimum per year. So I should think about that.

Surprised, blurted out that this new "rule" would leave out nearly all the salespeople in the office, but he didn't care about that. He said something about having people who you know what they're going to do rather than people who you're not sure. It seems to me that they're working toward shutting down that office. So even tho moving away from this company has been on my mind for over a year now, it was an unwelcome conversation. It means I have to get my butt into gear in yet another direction.

Friday was also "Senior Recognition Night" for the basketball team. Before the game, they called each of the seniors up, and their families. We lined up under a large balloon arch, and they gave the mothers some flowers and the fathers a gift, spoke a little about the senior, and then we walked across the court.

It was a tough game, but the Boy played a lot and played well. Our team was down by 17 points, came back to nearly win, but ended up losing by 2 points. The Boy never looked more aggressive, blocking shots and getting lots of rebounds. I think that's the highest I've ever seen him jump!

Most of the parents were going out after the game, and I had planned to go too. But I'd started getting sick on Friday, and I just didn't feel up to it. Mostly I was just coughing, but it was a bad cough that had me worried and wiped me out. Plus, it was already almost 10pm, and the Girl had to get to bed as her soccer team had a game the next day. So I stayed home with her, and K represented me at the restaurant, where they all had a nice time. He got home pretty late.

I had really wanted to go, as we've known these other senior parents about 7 years now and it's all coming to a close. So you know how bad I was feeling to miss it.

I took a Mucinex to help my cough, but I think that's what kept me up all night. Although I MUST have slept some, I felt like I wasn't sleeping all night, and I looked at the clock almost every hour. So if you have a stuffy head in the daytime, take Mucinex. If you have a cough or need to sleep, maybe take something else.

Saturday was The Girl Show. We had to leave at 7:15 to be in Camarillo by 8:30 am for the State Cup playoffs. It was a really nice day, but a little chilly. Camarillo seems like a nice agricultural town by the ocean, and I wouldn't mind living there.

And I never say that! It's hard to beat where I already live, at least weatherwise.

The first game was at 9:30, and the girls won 1-0 against a blue/white team.

Between games, we all went to Carrows to eat. Then, K and I napped in the car. I spread out in the back seat, and K put down the back of his seat. I even heard him snoring! We've never done that before. I was really quite a baby about being sick.

The second game was against one of the teams that beat our team in the League Cup. I think because of this loss, people were writing in some local forum that our team just wasn't that good! This other team started out strong and spent too much time down by our goal, so I was worried. But our team played tougher, I guess, because after awhile most of the time was spent near THEIR goal, and we ended up winning 3-0. The Girl even got put forward for a few minutes and got an assist!

Ahh, sweet revenge.

Later that evening, the Girl had a basketball game. She played 3 games in one day! Her team won easily, 30-14. In fact, they've got 4 good shooters on her team, and the most any other team has is 2. So I'm a little afraid that they're going to cream the other teams in this little league, except that at this age everyone's shooting is very inconsistent. The Girl scored 6 points, down from 10 the previous 2 weekends.

Sunday morning we woke up and it was raining again. I checked our email, and sure enough, the day's soccer was canceled. I was feeling a bit better, but still a bit sluggish. We let the Girl sleep late, K went to church, and I started laundry. Around lunchtime, the Girl and I ran out to get a few things at Target. Then home to watch the Superbowl. We relaxed in front of the TV, and I made yet another hat. The game turned out to be very exciting, and a lot of the commercials were pretty funny.

I finished reading Julia Child's "My Life in France." It was a fun and interesting book, but the end was sad. It was a nice, relaxing day, and a really good game. A nice way to end the week.

Crafty

Over the Thanksgiving holidays, I decided to get crafty with some pill boxes I have. I take medicine whenever I get migranes (2x/month or so), and it comes in these sturdy containers.

I get three a month, and I always save them because it seems such a shame to throw them away. Part of me wonders why these pills need such special containers to keep them from being crushed. Anyway, I've been looking for a way to recycle them.

So, taking a break from cooking over the holidays and feeling entitled to work on a project, I took my small suitcase full of collage materials and sat down with K to watch DVDs of last season's Friday Night Lights.

As I watched I'd also pick out a paper I liked, tear and mold it to fit, then glue it onto the pill box and let it dry. Later I came back and added embellishments to my heart's content. I really enjoyed it and I think they turned out pretty cute. I don't know what you could use them for besides money or pills - they're slightly too small for business or credit cards :-(

Maybe I'll try to sell them. If it works, I'll make more.

What do you think?

Then before Christmas, I went to the library and found a book called "Crochet Patterns for Dummies." I don't really think I'm a dummy, but I'd like to find a few simple patterns I could make. Well, I started with a hat, and soon I was crocheting round and round making the hat bigger all the time.

K came home and told me about a problem at work. He went on and on and finally stopped. I said, "I'm sorry to hear that, honey. But how do you like my hat?"

He laughed and that cheered him up.

I enjoyed it at first, then I got more critical about the outcome of the hat. With a scarf, it isn't so easy to see something that doesn't look right. But a hat is on the head, and it's obvious if the seam looks funny or there's a hole here and there.

A few of the hats turned out huge. HUGE!! Some nights I've sighed and thrown my yarn down. K asks, "What's wrong?"

And I answer, "Stupid HAT!"

So I played around with the patterns and decided that I like hats that just crochet around and around, so that way you're not left with an ugly seam.

Boy Trouble

I gotta boy,
got boy trouble
-Bananarama


I'm officially mad at all the men in my life right now.

First, my dad asked if I'd sent an email I discussed with him. I value his idea, I really do. I meant to send it, I just ran out of time. If you don't believe me, I could make a list of OTHER things I forgot to do too! But he gave me a hard time, saying he knew I wouldn't send it, I don't have the guts. OK, whatever. If anything, when it comes to confronting people, I've got more guts than sense. He said nothing will ever change if I don't send it, despite the fact I'd just told him that the Boy got into the last game and played a lot. A lot! Maybe more than half the game!

It just got me because he was trying to be mean and cranky, and he hadn't done that with me in a long, long time. Maybe 20 years. I blew it off, but it better not turn into a regular thing with him...

Then an old friend asked K to come visit him in Santa Monica. As I mentioned before, K works nearly every day now, so I was looking forward to having a Sunday together. I asked if our friend couldn't come here, after all, K has been driving around SO MUCH! K went to play basketball, and the Girl and I went to JoAnne's Fabrics. Later, at home, K called and said he'd tried to reach me after the game on my cell. When I didn't answer, he assumed we were still shopping, and went ahead and drove to Santa Monica.

That was SO like him, to fabricate a misunderstanding so that he could do whatever he wanted. I feel like I'm understanding about his being gone all the time for his job. I was even understanding about his playing basketball. But I drew the line at Santa Monica, and he didn't care. He did what he wanted.

It's strange how I can go from being so happy with him for so long. Then he does something like this, and I can't believe how my emotions turn it all around. Every time he doesn't put my feelings first, it's like the first time all over again except it's worse from the memories of all the other times he put his friends first.

He came home in the evening "to spend time with me." But by then I was seriously pissed, and wanted nothing to do with him.

Then all afternoon the Boy had been upstairs with with his friend and girlfriend. The dishwasher was on, so I couldn't hear them that well. Later I went upstairs and everyone was gone! He didn't even say goodbye to me! Nobody did!

So now I'm mad at him too.

Grrrr....

Crazy Night

These last couple of days have definitly been crazy. Last night the Falcons played Pasadena. K was taking the Girl to a Father-Daughter dance at her school, so I drove there with S, the Boy's girlfriend. Right before we left, K came to the van to get his phone out of the glove compartment. Then, the door to the glove compartment wouldn't close! That happened in our old Previa too, so wehen we got there, I used the key to see if I could lock the glove compartment closed. I turned the key back and forth, but it wouldn't work. Next thing I knew, the key broke off! In the lock! What the....???

I stuck the key into the ignition, but it would no longer start the car. I called K, who was just walking into the dance.

K - Hi, what's up?
Me - The key broke off!
Silence
Me - I was trying to shut the door to the glove compartment, and the key just broke!
Silence
Me - Hello? Hello? Did you hear me?
Silence
K - Yeah, (pause) I heard you.

Well, I couldn't very well tell him to leave the dance and come get us in an hour, so I told him I'd try to find a ride home. Huh. Stuck in Pasadena with my son's girlfriend. Luckily, I found our neighbor down the street, who was there watching her daughter's game. The varsity girls won by one point in overtime.

The varsity boys had previously lost the last game (at home) to Pasadena by only a few points, so we were hoping for a victorious rematch. Pasadena is the toughest team in our league, altho their recent 37-game winning streak was recently ended by lowly Burbank. One of our starters had gotten into trouble, so a Senior that played last game (when the Boy didn't play at all) was going to start.

The game started out badly, and the starters didn't look very good. The senior that got to start didn't start well at all. They quickly got behind by about 10 points. One of the "best" players on the team had his father there visiting to see the game. He works in another state and isn't getting to see much of his son, who has been a promising player for so long, play in his senior year.

But he was visiting last night, and his son never looked so bad. He was overconfident twice bringing up the ball, and twice had it stripped from him. Plus the opposing player dunked the ball while he was getting up from the floor.

Other guys were out there really trying, but they still couldn't seem to get a rebound or keep Pasadena from going to the hoop.

The Boy had once had a scoring high on this team (28 pts!), so maybe that's why he got to play a pretty long time in this game, but they ended up losing by 18 points. My Boy didn't make many mistakes, and he played pretty well against them. They had him guarding Pasadena's biggest, tallest player! Plus he took it inside a few times and got most of his free throws. So I felt badly for everyone last night, except maybe my Boy.

Then we got a ride home, and arrived home just as K and the Girl were getting home from the dance. I asked S to stay and watch the Girl and pick up the Boy, as we had to ride back to Pasadena to get the van. I'd forgotten that K leaves a lot of his team's equipment (jerseys!) in the back, and I'd been afraid to lock the door since I didn't have a key. The high school isn't in a bad part of town, but I was worried just the same.

Luckily, his gear and the van were still there when we got there, so we drove home without any problem.

We got home and settled in in front of the TV. Then S got a call from her family that her father might be having a heart attack, and she ran out to go to the hospital.

It turned out later that he was OK, but still, what a crazy night!

Blindsided

Since K could see (on tape) that the Boy was playing well, and since everyone was telling him how well the Boy was playing, K decided to take the day off. It's the Boy's senior year, and K can hardly go to any of the games due to work, so he was excited to get to see the Boy play.

Except he didn't play. At all. Not one single second.

The Boy wasn't upset, he just doesn't understand it. I don't think any of the players do.

But K was upset. That's all he could talk about all night after that. Why, why, why.

Why?