As I prepare for Thanksgiving, I find I am having a role I *never* predicted for myself: Suzy Homemaker! I've washed several sets of curtains, cleared, cleaned and made the beds in 3 "new" bedrooms, washed comforters and quilts and tested new recipes.
And shopped for a lot of groceries. A lot. And I'm still waiting on the majority of my shopping for Tuesday.
It is looking like I will have between 25 and 30 for Thanksgiving dinner. Which may be stressful, but I do love it.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Feh!
Feh! this is a tremendously useful expression.
Especially today.
For a variety of reasons today was a FEH! day.
I woke up early because I was tossing and turning and worrying about a bunch of relatively petty stuff.
And, I really shouldn't toss and turn about petty stuff. I shouldn't. Because, it's petty and I really don't care. I don't.
Because, ever since my daughter's horrible car accident, I really don't care about the petty shit, and I know that most of it is petty shit.
Still.
I'm human and I have my days.
So, today, I was tossing and turning wondering if I was scammed by the guy who came to repair my oven. I am having somewhere between 23 and 30 people for dinner on Thursday because it is- well, Thanksgiving- and my oven has occasionally been turning itself off.
There is a long story here, but bottom line is that the oven apparently needs a $200 part which needs to be installed during a $100 service call- so a $300 bill to repair an oven that cost a bit over $500 brand new 4 years ago.
Feh!
Then, the theater troupe from which I have recently retired has been posting pictures of the lovely theater in which they are working.
They couldn't manage to find a lovely theater while I was directing!
Feh!
Yesterday, when I took my mom for her assessment at outpatient physical therapy, I dropped her off and went to the dealership to have a second key made for her car- and to get an oil change- over due- and I said to the girl how long will this take? because I have to pick up my mom- and she said, about half an hour. We'll call you when it's ready; you can wait in the lounge.
So I went to the lounge to wait. I had a book, so I wasn't too bothered when 45 minutes had passed. I wasn't too bothered after an hour had passed, because I had a book, and because my mom was busy with her assessment for physical therapy. After an hour and a half, though, I tracked down the girl who checked me in.
You said about half an hour, I said. It's been an hour and a half.
Oh! She said. Let me check- oh, it's been done for over an hour. I guess when I went to lunch I forgot to mention to them that you were waiting on site.
Feh!
Then, I had to email the CPA who has had the trust fund paperwork- from my mom's aunt- since the first week of April. I have only heard from him when I have emailed him. It is NOVEMBER!
Feh!
Then the oven guy calls. The part still hasn't arrived. He won't be coming today. Maybe Saturday. Maybe Monday.
Thanksgiving is THURSDAY!
Even though the sun is shining I'm having a gray day.
Feh! Feh! Feh!
Finally, I decide to indulge in some retail therapy. Although, can you really call it retail therapy if it is at Kmart and the grocery story and it is pretty much stuff on sale that you needed anyway?
Shortly after I returned home, the oven guy called and my husband answered to hear that the part is in - the guy will come tomorrow, Saturday-
The CPA returned my email and he says the packet was mailed 10 days ago. At least, that was the answer he got when he emailed one of his underlings.
Do we call this progress, or not?
Somehow, it will all be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
Especially today.
For a variety of reasons today was a FEH! day.
I woke up early because I was tossing and turning and worrying about a bunch of relatively petty stuff.
And, I really shouldn't toss and turn about petty stuff. I shouldn't. Because, it's petty and I really don't care. I don't.
Because, ever since my daughter's horrible car accident, I really don't care about the petty shit, and I know that most of it is petty shit.
Still.
I'm human and I have my days.
So, today, I was tossing and turning wondering if I was scammed by the guy who came to repair my oven. I am having somewhere between 23 and 30 people for dinner on Thursday because it is- well, Thanksgiving- and my oven has occasionally been turning itself off.
There is a long story here, but bottom line is that the oven apparently needs a $200 part which needs to be installed during a $100 service call- so a $300 bill to repair an oven that cost a bit over $500 brand new 4 years ago.
Feh!
Then, the theater troupe from which I have recently retired has been posting pictures of the lovely theater in which they are working.
They couldn't manage to find a lovely theater while I was directing!
Feh!
Yesterday, when I took my mom for her assessment at outpatient physical therapy, I dropped her off and went to the dealership to have a second key made for her car- and to get an oil change- over due- and I said to the girl how long will this take? because I have to pick up my mom- and she said, about half an hour. We'll call you when it's ready; you can wait in the lounge.
So I went to the lounge to wait. I had a book, so I wasn't too bothered when 45 minutes had passed. I wasn't too bothered after an hour had passed, because I had a book, and because my mom was busy with her assessment for physical therapy. After an hour and a half, though, I tracked down the girl who checked me in.
You said about half an hour, I said. It's been an hour and a half.
Oh! She said. Let me check- oh, it's been done for over an hour. I guess when I went to lunch I forgot to mention to them that you were waiting on site.
Feh!
Then, I had to email the CPA who has had the trust fund paperwork- from my mom's aunt- since the first week of April. I have only heard from him when I have emailed him. It is NOVEMBER!
Feh!
Then the oven guy calls. The part still hasn't arrived. He won't be coming today. Maybe Saturday. Maybe Monday.
Thanksgiving is THURSDAY!
Even though the sun is shining I'm having a gray day.
Feh! Feh! Feh!
Finally, I decide to indulge in some retail therapy. Although, can you really call it retail therapy if it is at Kmart and the grocery story and it is pretty much stuff on sale that you needed anyway?
Shortly after I returned home, the oven guy called and my husband answered to hear that the part is in - the guy will come tomorrow, Saturday-
The CPA returned my email and he says the packet was mailed 10 days ago. At least, that was the answer he got when he emailed one of his underlings.
Do we call this progress, or not?
Somehow, it will all be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
I highly recommend...
I should become a professional recommendation writer.
Although, I suppose, if people were to pay me for it, my recommendations might become suspect.
Yesterday, I wrote a recommendation for one of my connections on LinkedIn (I'm on LinkedIn- check out my profile!).
Within minutes, I received this reply:
Lisa, this is a very strong recommendation. It is greatly appreciated in this current era of diminished funding opportunities and budgets for many of the folk who hire us. Thank you!
Hey hey! It's nice to be appreciated.
In fact, I have written dozens of letters of recommendation, and almost always with excellent results for those I recommend.
I've written letters that were instrumental in achieving college admissions, scholarships, grants, jobs, internships.
I am always honest and positive. Most of the time, this is not difficult- I hang out with talented, intelligent people of integrity. Once in a while, though, I am asked to write a letter that requires some deliberation to accomplish a positive recommendation that is also honest.
Only once have I not written the letter requested. The request was made when I was so busy- with legitimate, consuming medical issues for my mom- that it was weeks before I was able to respond. When I explained the circumstances, she wrote, oh! I would not have asked if I had known you were so busy!
So I allowed that to take me off the hook.
I still don't know how I will graciously decline to write letters in future.
Meanwhile, I have another letter of rec to write today!
Although, I suppose, if people were to pay me for it, my recommendations might become suspect.
Yesterday, I wrote a recommendation for one of my connections on LinkedIn (I'm on LinkedIn- check out my profile!).
Within minutes, I received this reply:
Lisa, this is a very strong recommendation. It is greatly appreciated in this current era of diminished funding opportunities and budgets for many of the folk who hire us. Thank you!
Hey hey! It's nice to be appreciated.
In fact, I have written dozens of letters of recommendation, and almost always with excellent results for those I recommend.
I've written letters that were instrumental in achieving college admissions, scholarships, grants, jobs, internships.
I am always honest and positive. Most of the time, this is not difficult- I hang out with talented, intelligent people of integrity. Once in a while, though, I am asked to write a letter that requires some deliberation to accomplish a positive recommendation that is also honest.
Only once have I not written the letter requested. The request was made when I was so busy- with legitimate, consuming medical issues for my mom- that it was weeks before I was able to respond. When I explained the circumstances, she wrote, oh! I would not have asked if I had known you were so busy!
So I allowed that to take me off the hook.
I still don't know how I will graciously decline to write letters in future.
Meanwhile, I have another letter of rec to write today!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
sigh
My mom is watching the F'ed up news. I don't think that this particular "news" program should be allowed to call itself "news".
Anyway.
My mom used to be a liberal. Not anymore.
Anyway.
A conversation: the "news" was reporting on the questions being raised by people taking guns from one state to another, considering that different states have different laws about how guns are issued or licensed.
Well, she said, the Constitution gives us the right to bear arms.
I said, there are a variety of opinions on exactly what that means.
I don't like, she said, when they want to change the Constitution. I get nervous when they want to change it- It has worked so well for so long.
I say, It's worked so well for so long because it was DESIGNED to be flexible and be able to change with changing conditions. And I like some of the changes. I like being able to vote- even though I am a woman.
I say, it was almost immediately changed- amended- after it was written. The Bill of Rights lists the first amendments to the Constitution. The right to free speech. The freedom of religion.
In fact, the right to bear arms- is an amendment.
- She did get quiet, for a moment.
Anyway.
My mom used to be a liberal. Not anymore.
Anyway.
A conversation: the "news" was reporting on the questions being raised by people taking guns from one state to another, considering that different states have different laws about how guns are issued or licensed.
Well, she said, the Constitution gives us the right to bear arms.
I said, there are a variety of opinions on exactly what that means.
I don't like, she said, when they want to change the Constitution. I get nervous when they want to change it- It has worked so well for so long.
I say, It's worked so well for so long because it was DESIGNED to be flexible and be able to change with changing conditions. And I like some of the changes. I like being able to vote- even though I am a woman.
I say, it was almost immediately changed- amended- after it was written. The Bill of Rights lists the first amendments to the Constitution. The right to free speech. The freedom of religion.
In fact, the right to bear arms- is an amendment.
- She did get quiet, for a moment.
write shit
I have told myself, I have told friends, I have told students: WRITE!
It doesn't have to be good. "Not good," even "bad," can be fixed, improved, revised.
You know what CAN NOT be revised? A blank page.
So I have decided to write here, at least a little, if not a lot, every day.
If I have to, I'll write shit.
Because you know what?
Shit is great fertilizer. Seeds grow great in shit.
No shit.
It doesn't have to be good. "Not good," even "bad," can be fixed, improved, revised.
You know what CAN NOT be revised? A blank page.
So I have decided to write here, at least a little, if not a lot, every day.
If I have to, I'll write shit.
Because you know what?
Shit is great fertilizer. Seeds grow great in shit.
No shit.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Sex with my mother*
To all my children, friends, and past and potential future therapists: I am not now, nor have I ever been, having sex with my mother.
Or even having fantasies of having sex with my mother.
No, instead, I am talking about the challenges and inconveniences of having sex, with my mother now living in our house.
( at this point, I assume, almost everyone will stop reading: my children, because LA LA LA TOO MUCH INFORMATION and all others because, well, it is husband - wife sex we are talking about now, which is universally considered uninteresting except to those participating)
Said inconveniences include:
1. Inhibitions about making noise.
2. No afternoon adventures.
3. Only bed and bath- no beyond (talking locations, here, people).
This was not something I'd really considered before bringing my mom into our home. And, if my husband and I had thought about it, we still would have made the same decision.
But.
There are times and moments when I get a bit nostalgic for spontaneous passion.
Okay, kids, you can uncover your ears now.
* This blog title was a stab at tabloid-style blogging. What do you think?
Or even having fantasies of having sex with my mother.
No, instead, I am talking about the challenges and inconveniences of having sex, with my mother now living in our house.
( at this point, I assume, almost everyone will stop reading: my children, because LA LA LA TOO MUCH INFORMATION and all others because, well, it is husband - wife sex we are talking about now, which is universally considered uninteresting except to those participating)
Said inconveniences include:
1. Inhibitions about making noise.
2. No afternoon adventures.
3. Only bed and bath- no beyond (talking locations, here, people).
This was not something I'd really considered before bringing my mom into our home. And, if my husband and I had thought about it, we still would have made the same decision.
But.
There are times and moments when I get a bit nostalgic for spontaneous passion.
Okay, kids, you can uncover your ears now.
* This blog title was a stab at tabloid-style blogging. What do you think?
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