Category Archives: Family Stuff

My Aunt

I’m here on the plane, just left PDX and on the way to Minneapolis for my connecting flight.  This isn’t how I had my weekend planned.  I spent yesterday packing and then trying to get as much work done as I could.  I found a dress for the funeral, I’m missing the wake today, but I didn’t have the needed slip or basic black heels.  My other heels got messed up from leaking sunscreen on the way by from Curacao.  So I had to spend time on getting those items.  I haven’t worn a slip in about 20yrs….don’t normally wear outfits that need them.

The only good thing about the load of stuff that I needed to do is that it keep my mind off of everything else.  I know that I’m going to be emotional wreck tomorrow.  So I’m trying to think of everything but.

I’m thankfully that my husband had been very supportive and there for me during this.  Been a big help for my focus.

My Aunt Evelyne was my paternal grandma’s sister.  When we moved to Indiana and I was driving, I would rarely find her at her house.  She was always traveling and volunteering, living life to the fullest.  When I did catch her, talk was about my studies and what I was going to do with it (my grandmother was the same on that…education was the most important thing) and my aunt would express how proud she was about her kids and their education.  And don’t forget basketball, she loved it and the Bulls.  Her husband use to play basketball back in HS and that is where she developed her love for it.

My aunt was a pistol and disagreed with my grandmother frequently…….lol  It was kind of funny, because they were so similar in their personalities…. BUT you never mentioned that to either of them….lol  Makes me wonder how my uncle and grandfather dealt with it.  They were best friends through HS and ended up marrying sisters that had their disagreements.  But my aunt was more down to earth then grandma.  I loved my grandma and really miss her, but she would put on “airs”.  Which she got from her mother and which my aunt rejected.

When I moved to Florida, I had more time and I would make up letters to send her of my blog entries.  I would increase the font to make it easier for her read, so it would be several pages long and I would have to send it in a packet envelope.  She loved them.  Recently I have been sending out holiday letters, so I know that she enjoyed those.  When visiting parks and new spots, I would send her postcards just to let her know that I was thinking of her.  She would try and send little notes on cards.  But I would tell her not to worry about it; she was having difficulty with writing and difficulty with her sight.  So I really enjoyed the notes and cards, but didn’t want her to struggle with it.  I just wanted her to know that she was in my thoughts.

Right after we moved to Florida we got hit with hurricanes and she called down to check on me.  =)

I won’t be getting into Indy until about 10pm, then an hour drive to my folks.  The funeral is at 9am in NW Indiana….so I’ll be getting up around 6am for the 2 hour drive.  I was stressing length of the drive, getting there in time and lack of sleep, but feel better because dad reminded me that they are an hour behind them.  So I can sleep in 30 more minutes and don’t rush as much.  But unfortunately I will be hitting rush hour around Lafayette and Crown Point.

I just joined facebook about 2 weeks ago, just so people from HS/college wanted to find me that they could…pretty much the same reason why I have a myspace…..well, I’ve heard from more people in the last 2 weeks then I have from having a myspace for the last 4-5yrs.  One of my old friends from HS wants to meet tomorrow since I’ll be in town.  I left her a message and my number.  =)

We are currently over the range in Montana….gorgeous.  I never get tired of the mountains.  With spending the first 7yrs of my life near mountains in Germany and the 4 yrs in Alaska, 5 yrs later….the mountains have always had my heart.

I had a bunch of work todo last night.  It was all the work that I was planning on doing Friday but didn’t get to.  A friend hit us up to see if we wanted to meet him for lunch and business and it has been awhile, so we decided to head into PDX.  We didn’t get to leave as early as we wanted because we had to have a business meeting.  It took longer than expected, but I think it went well and was very useful.

Due to getting into PDX later than planned we stayed even later since we didn’t want to get stuck in the Friday rush hour…yuck.  Makes a 25 min drive last 60+minutes.  But it was all good, got to hang with some of our friends.

I got some work done Friday night….but I didn’t have the needed focus.  So I was planning on spending Saturday on it and get a walk in.  Well, obviously that didn’t happen.  =(

I get back on Wednesday.  I was thinking of getting back on Tuesday, but we were worried about 3 days of constant travel would do to me.  Unfortunately, that only gives me 2 days at the gym.  =(  I was doing so good and was hoping to break my plateau, even though my drinks and meals where horrible on calories Friday.  You have to be constant if you want to achieve anything and that is what didn’t help me for Dec & Jan.   Maybe my constant traveling will help on the calories.

Well, my battery is about to die and I’m yawning.  Hopefully my layover is long enough to post this.

Unexpected Trip

Just heard from my mom this morning, my Great Aunt Evelyn died yesterday at the age of 92.  She was one of my favorites, so feisty, lived life to the fullest while she could, volunteered everywhere and was nice to everyone and you didn’t dare tell her this, but had some of the same traits of her sister, my grandma Curtis.

I’m flying out to Indy tomorrow, 300 compared to the 700-800 to fly into Chicago.  Funeral is Monday in Crown Point and I fly back on Wedesday.

Tweets for Jan 15th

08:43 It got windy as heck last night, totally forgot the water bottles we had outside waiting for pick up…..oops

10:42 Did much better today at the gym and I sure didn’t feel like I was going to at the beginning, I just wanted to go back to bed.

12:06 Feel better now that I got lunch in me, need to hit the shower…I have a ton of work waiting for me…icks.

18:56 Should be working, but my mind is swimming. Going to put laundry away to distract my mind

Kitty Update & Life

This sucks, the Colt lost.  Harold and I were discussing it…..we like a good rivalry, don’t expect to win all the time, enjoy a good game regardless of the outcome and we have a Super Bowl….what bothers us is losing to someone with an arrogant attitude such as Rivers.  If it was someone who had better sportsmanship it won’t be that big of deal.  But his attitude stinks.  It stung when we lost to the Pats, but Brady has good sportsmanship and it always a pleasure to watch someone like him, Brees or Manning that are good at their game yet know how to be a team player and have the drive and spirit.  They carry themselves with class and integrity, like Dungy.

Well, what has been going on…..we have sucked and have not gone to the gym since Dec 18th.  The week of Xmas we were snowed in, this week we were totally unmotivated and the fact that we were not able to go for 2 of the mornings due to Alexis made it seem like it was waste.  It looks like I still lost weight, but I think it was muscle mass.  =(

So we are hitting the gym hard and getting back to work Monday.  This week is going to be tough as hell.  We need to eat more veggies and healthier, but we suck on trying to figure out things that we like that are different.  We are really basic meat & potato people so it hard to come up with something different…..we are so bored with we what eat, which doesn’t help.

Now the kitty update.  For those who missed Harold’s post a few weeks ago, Alexis (our 14yr) was diagnosed with hyperactive thyroid.  She had to go into a specialized vet for a radioactive iodine treatment.  We dropped her off on Tuesday morning and picked her up on Friday.  Now we were going to keep her in the spare room for the next 2 weeks, because she and her waste are radioactive.  But when we tried that, she was crying so loud and so much that there was no way we could do that.

Luckily she isn’t much of lap cat and doesn’t cuddle with the other cats, so she is fine for being loose.  We can only really be in close direct contact with her for about an hour a day.  But it was the waste issue that was the big issue.

We have multiple cats and you can’t just throw the litter out with Alexis’ waste.  If we were to stick with the regular clay, I would need to change it twice a day, double bag it, and then keep for 5 weeks before we could throw it out because it would be too radioactive and garbage men carry geiger counters.  So after 5 weeks it is safe to toss.

The other option is to use scoopable, clumping, natural and flushable litter and clean the litters out twice a day.  I knew it was going to be a pain cleaning up after one cat like that but 4?  I really don’t have choice.  Alexis HATES being locked up in the spare room and there is no way we can store that much litter for 5 weeks…that would be a couple 100 pounds.  It is bad enough that I have to wear gloves when doing the litter then needing to double bag it and store it for 5 weeks before throwing away.

Now what is going on with Reggie (our 13yr old), for those who don’t know was diagnosed with a nasal tumor in Feb ’08 and it is inoperable.  =(  The vet said we will know when it is time and after losing our oldest 2 in ’04 & ’06, I don’t doubt it.  Said he has seen cats live up to 2yrs with a tumor.   Right now Reggie’s attitude it the same grouchiness as usual……we spoil the hell out of him with treats and is waiting for us at the  stairs expecting us to go to the kitchen 1st thing in the morning.  We baby him and let him have our laps when demanded.

What makes it so hard is that he sneezes a lot and it is blood and mucus and you can see that the tumor is slowly effecting his right eye.  His right eye has always watered a lot and now we know why.  But a few days ago, we think he got an infection in his tear duct and when he sneezed he had blood around his eye.  =(  That so stressed me out,  I wanted to cry every time I looked at him.  We think he may gotten the infection out, because his eye is looking much better.  But for a few days it looked like he had been in a car accident.  With Alexis at the vet during that time…..I just wanted to lose it.

The kittens, Drew & Sakura, are a great for getting my mind off of the negatives.  The ornery little buggers.

Well I worked hard on the 30th and most of the 31st getting payroll prep going.   Then I said screw it.  I forced myself to stop work and chill out.  We have signed up for NetFlixs and have decided to try My Name is Earl…..which is better then I thought it would be.  So we watch the 1st dvds of that and then watch them replay the NY countdown at our midnight.  Then we cuddled in bed and watched some more.

For New Years, I knew I was going to need to ton of work with payroll….but I wasn’t rushing into it.  I took my time and didn’t start it until around 1pm.  I was disappointed with the games on…..extremely disappointed that Penn St didn’t actually do very well at the Rose Bowl and I was looking forward to that game.  The Utah/’Bama game was actually a good game and I’m not a fan of either of them.  But I do enjoy a good show of sport talent.

Friday was pretty much nothing but work.  Not only do I have end of the month things to do, I have end of the year stuff when it comes to organizing files.  I got most of it done and settled.  Now I need to work on some cleaning…..ie, vacuuming….tomorrow.  It won’t be so bad, but the cats tear up the tall cat tree that we have.  Better that then our furniture.  =)  But it leaves the cat tree carpet every where and makes the floor look trashy.  =(  I don’t like that.

Today, did some work, watch the game and was bum and took a nap. =)  Oh yeah, worked on some laundry….which I’m going to go finish now.

2008 Dec 013

Alexis

If you want to watch Alexis go here : http://vdic.com/owners/owners_radioiodine_catcam.asp

Cam 4 seems to be the best one.  But it has been frozen since this evening.  I hope that they have it fixed tomorrow.