Well... I'm packin' my AOL bags and moving to Blogger...
Feel free to check my new "digs"...
I'm not completely moved of course---I have lots and lots of boxes to pack, and I hope to be completey moved before AOL officially kicks my bunny butt out for good. I have until Halloween. How nice of them, huh?
If you haven't already, let me know your new Blogger addresses... This is mine:
http://coelhathoughts.blogspot.com/
I was reading a fellow blogger’s entry the other day, and the subject was music/songs that remind us of different people, places, etc.
There are a few songs that do remind of me of certain people and places.. Not good people or places...but..
For instance this morning when my husband’s alarm/radio went on, we woke up to Clearwater Revival. I don’t remember which song it was (they all sound the same to me), but whenever I do hear anything sung by Clearwater Revival it reminds me of my ex-husband, who LOVED Clearwater. It also reminds me of that hot afternoon, driving home from an anniversary party that was thrown by his best friend. I was driving because of course my ex-husband had a little too much to drink. He had his bare feet sticking out of the passenger side window singing along to Clearwater Revival. I was not amused, just thankful that it was a summer early evening, and I didn’t have to deal with nightfall on the dark narrow country roads I was driving.
I remember this day quite clearly because I had a sudden realization that day listening to Clearwater Revival Greatest Hits CD. I was thinking of the surprise 65th wedding anniversary party we had been to earlier. It was for his best friend’s parents who must have been well into their 80’s. It was a surprise anniversary party, and their kids went all out. They had a wedding ceremony at the church where they confirmed their wedding vows, and later a big reception at the nearby Portuguese hall. I remembered the looks on their faces-neither of them looking too excited and more annoyed than anything else. They did not look prepared for so much "excitement" they looked more like a pair of very tired deer caught in the headlights of a fast approaching pick up. Sure they smiled, but I think they were a little too stunned-and overwhelmed by the suprise. I then looked over to passenger side of my car and saw the husband rocking out, with his eyes half closed to Clearwater pretending to playing air guitar, with his feet stuck out of the window. Okay, I was grateful that at the he was the happy and dumb drunk at the moment, versus, the kicking the seats mean drunk. I suddenly realized that I was 30 years old. Damn-I felt old! Was I going to be celebrating my 65th wedding anniversary with this guy? Is this as good as it gets? I seriously didn’t think it was going to happen-and it hit me right there and then. It was a scary reality check that I didn’t really want to accept, but at the same time, strange as it may sound, it was almost a relief to know that it wasn’t going to last forever.
When I hear the song, Truly, Madly, Completely, by Savage Garden, I also think of my ex-husband-but not just him. I think of him and his Canadian, married girlfriend (courtesy of an AOL chat room) that he was cheating on me with. Okay, there were a few others, but this one is the one I really knew about. I know this was “their song” (excuse me while I hurl) because of the emails I found from this woman on my computer where she wrote the words of the lyrics to the song. This was confirmed by my own daughter, before the divorce, when Lizzy announced one day in the car that the song that was playing on the radio was “Dad & Espie’s song”. Lovely. I think Liz was like 10 years old. Isn’t that lovely that she should know about that, huh? Her dad didn’t bother to hide it from her. Apparently a complete cassette full of love ballads was sent to the ex, via the lovely Espie. At least I’m grateful to only know of this one song. Whenever I hear that song, I shut it off-it makes me sick and it makes me angry, but sometimes it makes me laugh. Why? I TRULY, MADLY, COMPLETELY know that Espie did me a big favor.
Don’t get me wrong. There are songs that I know that remind me of good people and good things. I will write about those later. When my alarm woke up this morning, the radio/alarm went off, and the first thing I heard was a man’s voice saying: “Millionaire”. I’m not kidding. It was a commercial for the California State Lottery, and I caught him ending his sentence with "millionaire." Sounds good, huh? Of course I bought a lottery ticket this morning! Bring it on!
Today is Tuesday—not much happening today…literally. I realize today is a Rosh Hashanah, but is that a good enough reason for the HOUSE to take TWO days off instead of working on this EMERGENCY crisis our country is facing? Don’t they want toget this settled? Isn’t it important?! How irresponsible! Damn. May be we ALL should take a few days off, and not pay our bills, and just let things “settle” for awhile. Seriously, let's all play golf!
It's Friday, and it's about time. That is all I'm going to say....
What is it about the month of September? It is 30 days; not as long as some months, but for some reason, it has to be the longest month of the year. It's been a busy, hectic, month.
Yesterday morning I read something disturbing, and sad. One of my best Avon customers is in jail. Lovely, huh? All I have to say is she was one of my favorite customers; she always paid her bill on time, and she was very sweet to me. I was just thinking about her earlier this week, wondering why I hadn't heard from her because she usually submits an order every other week with me. Now I know why. Large amounts of money is involved, and she did mention that she was having "a great summer"... hmm.. I guess large amounts of money would make any summer extra special, huh? Sad situation. You reap what you sow. How frustrating.
I can't sell to clients, and she may become one soon. Too bad because I could sell a lot of stuff to inmates in the jail. Do you realize that women actually take ink from magazines for eyeliner, shadow and lipstick?! Yep. It's always important for some to look their best. For hairspray, they use sugar and water. I am amazed how resourceful some of them can be. There are limited things one can take with them when they are doing time in the slammer. Makeup is not one of them, but some ladies actually go to the extremes and stick them up the "kazoo" (there are places up there-you know where) hoping they don't get found during the strip search. When I used to work for the jail office, I would come across some very interesting notes from some of the inmates to our staff:
"Help! The plastic bag with the cigarettes came out, but not the cigarettes!"
Ouch.
It's FRIDAY!!! Yipppee!!!
Tomorrow I'm going to San Francisco to get Lizzy's classes registered for when she starts her college courses. I'm thinking that may be we should take the train there instead. It shall be interesting... I think I'll bring my camera.
I need to decide where my son Andrew is going to take his confirmation classes for church. Yes, we are Catholic, and I want him to finish his religious sacraments-and he has finally agreed to do them-just can't decide whether to have them done near home, or near my mom's house. I'm also wondering whether or not to enroll Nicholas in kindergarten cathechism. Decisions..decisions...
I'm also trying to decide on my work schedule. I'm seriously thinking of getting my hours voluntarily cut 10 hours and work a 30 day week instead of a 40...
There is hope on the horizon that Lolly will be moving out of this office I share with him soon! YAY!!
I got 6 boxes of Avon Christmas stuff last night, and two are still sitting by my front door. I have to start thinking of basket ideas for the Christmas Boutique in November. Thanks Lisa Jo for the suggestion. I may put some on here for you guys to see, but I don't know if I can advertise it---I have to check for sure. I don't want to get cited and convicted and thrown in jail. I can't sell anything behind bars, and the people in there probably would want to buy my stuff, but they don't have money. I don't want any of them being caught with any Skin So Soft moisturizer, or Avon Slick Swirls stuck up their "kazoo" if you know what I mean.
Happy Monday, and Happy Autumn!
When I left home this morning, I could have sworn I saw blue skies, but as soon as I got to work, damn---it all vanished! It's cold, foggy and just plain "blah" looking. Oh well, it's Monday-it might as well look yucky today. I'm going to be stuck in this ugly building at work for most of the day, so let it rain even!
I'm hoping this week is better than the last-it was a very forgetful week, full of weird and silly things. Remember the dead frog? Well it seems that Lizzy did not run over it after all. It seems like it was actually "planted" there. Tania remembers seeing the bloody mess on the driveway before Lizzy actually came home from work. It's a miracle that she didn't run it over when she did come to work. Liz has seen these dead frogs before in front of people's homes. Apparently this is a group of younger people in the neighborhood that have a thing for frogs--they enjoy killing them for fun. They are Frog haters. Do they know that Lizzy is a Frog lover, or did someone just randomly leave the dead frog on our driveway? Anyway, Liz is grateful that she wasn't the one who ran the poor creature over. By the time I got home, what was left of the frog was gone. I'm guessing a cat or those big black crows that like to poop on my car took it away-you know the circle of life thing.
The animals around the neighborhood have been doing weird things lately. Yesterday we saw a squirrel run around in the backyard with a bone in his mouth. I'm hoping it was a chicken bone it found somewhere, and not something else. I've never seen a squirrel with a bone in it's mouth. Anyway, it saw me peering at him through my kitchen window, and then leaped onto one of the cypress trees like a flying squirrel. And then there are the black crows. I cannot stand those things. They are scary looking, and they enjoying nothing more than poop all over my car. They sit on the branches of the tree in the front yard, and I swear to you one day they actually followed me to my mother's house. I never used to see black crows in my mom's neighborhood before--never--even as a child, and there they were one morning on the street in front of my mother's home, just squaking at me as if they were mocking me.
"Hey mom, those birds! I've never seen them around here before!" exclaimed Andrew.
"They are after me Andrew. They enjoying pooping on my car."
Isn't there some ole' wive's tale out there that says if a bird poops on your car you are supposed to have tremendous amounts of good luck? Well, that is what prompted me to buy that lottery ticket. Well, I didn't win. (You probably guessed that already.) I didn't even get one number. Instead, the next day I left my purse at home and had to beg for money from my son for gas in my car, and had to spend the whole day without a purse-not fun.
In other news---I'm going to try and get a table at the Christmas Boutique at my church in November. It's going to be an Avon information booth, and I'll have a basket to raffle out, and sell some gift baskets that I'm going to fix up. You probably don't know this, but doing gift baskets for sale has always been an idea I've had for a very long time, so I'm actually a little excited about it. My sister-inlaw may be coming down, and she is going to help me "recruit" some new Avon ladies, or men.. Yes, there are men out there that sell Avon. Avon Men. Weird, I know.
I got this from Lyn over at: http://journals.aol.com/ukgal36/Britsblog/entries/2008/09/20/5-things/4611
who got it from Sharon over at:
http://journals.aol.com/tpiez4me/CoastalComfort/entries/2008/09/19/5-things/2042
The 5 List
5 things you collect
Bunnies--(stuffed, crystal, porceline..etc..everything but the real ones), perfume bottles, laundry, and yes children/teenagers...
5 things about your hair
Long-it needs a cut, thick, heavy--it gives me headaches sometimes, needs a new box of color, people say it's pretty.
5 things about your pets
We miss our cat, L.A.; had a pet chicken named Jenny in Portugal, but I think my aunt cooked it for dinner, had other family pets when I was younger, beloved doggies: Marco, Barney, and George the cat named after who else, Boy George.
Pictures I need to send, pencils, old mail, paper clips, coupons.
5 things you love to eat in summer
watermelon, barbecue hamburgers, hot dogs, ice cream, & macaroni/potato salads
Your turn
This morning, getting the car loaded for work, I found a ghastly sight on the drive way - a dead frog near the rear end tire. Apparently my daughter ran over it in mid leap last night. Eeeeww.. It was disgusting!!! There is a big gash in the garden hose in front of the house, so I couldn't spray it down, and move it into the dirt, so I had to scrape it off the cement with a broom. It was a terrible, bloody mess!
I went inside to get my son out from his room, and happened to mention the casualty to Lizzy. She screamed, and felt so badly.
Lizzy is a frog lover. She actually enjoys going to the neighborhood park with her friends at night just to look for frogs. Apparently the frogs come out at night, and they are very cute to look at. She has even showed me pictures of the little frogs that she and her friends have seen. Well, I don't know what this frog was doing all the way at our house.
"The frog should have stayed home in his pond!" Nicholas exclaimed, as he watched mom sweep the poor creatures remains into the dirt.
With all the distractions of sweeping frog guts off my driveway, I got so frazzled that I actually forgot my purse in the garage. I didn't realize this until I got to my son's school, and by that time, it was much too late to drive back. So, here I am, without a purse, feeling really off balanced, and almost naked. Of course, I had no money, with little gas in my car, so I had to borrow $20 from my son. Wait, he owed me $20....okay, it all worked out, but still-it's so annoying not having a purse all day, plus, I'm driving illegally without my license to boot. I feel such the criminal today!
See, this is what happens - yesterday I mentioned some selfish things I would do if I were to become a millionaire, and today I have NO MONEY. $10 for gas, $5 for lunch, $5 for my son's lunch. I have only one dollar in change in my pocket at the moment. Lovely, huh? Looks like God is trying to tell me something, hey? I still have my lottery ticket in my desk...who knows, perhaps I'm going to be a winner tonight. May be the dead "Kermit" on my driveway is a sign of some kind.
In other news, I discovered that McD's is giving away Wizard of Oz figurines in their happy meals!! HURRAH!!! And there is a Lolly Boy figurine!! HURRAH!!! Guess who is going to have one in her office?! Now I'll have to Lolly's around my desk!!
Today I bought myself a lottery ticket, so I can win millions of dollars, and quit my job, so I can afford to write a book, and dig a hole in the back yard, so I can dip my feet in the “cement pond” any time I feel like it…
Wish me luck.
Seriously, if you won millions, what would you do?
Well, I couldn’t do anything too crazy, because I have kids. I can’t go off and travel all year long or anything, because they need to be in school. Kids keep you from doing fun and adventurous, or dangerous things—they keep you grounded-sometimes too much so. Oh, and yeah, they all need to go to college. There goes all the money!
Sigh.
But, seriously, I would welcome any amount of money. Instead of buying my Rice Crispy treat that I usually buy at the gas station, I bought a lottery ticket. I’ve invested a whole ONE dollar to the possibly millions someone will win. That someone could be me.. Who knows? I’ll keep you posted. If you don’t hear from me, anytime soon, (ha ha ha) I probably won. Chances are you will hear from me though.
A Winkie
In other news, I heard on the radio some interesting trivia on the movie the Wizard of Oz. The Wicked Witches’ soldiers were called the “Winkies”. I did not know they had names. You remember how they marched around, chanting in that very low and haunting march, that sounded like: Oh E Oh…Oh ee? Well, what they are really saying is: “How we loathe the old one.” (Referring to the witch.) Apparently, if you play the Pink Floyd version of Dark Side of The Moon, right after the 3rd roar of the Lion that appears right before the film, the song coincides with the film. I’ve never tried it, but always wanted to. Have anyone of you done this? I would love to see it at a theatre. I’ve seen the Wizard of Oz a number of times, and I think it would be interesting to see it.
Which brings to mind… Lolly the department munchkin is in a meeting at the moment. Thank God. I do still have my Wizard of Oz calendar. As soon as he is gone, I’ll hang up the munchkin picture for those who will miss him.
Love happens; even behind bars.
One of the clients here got married in the courtroom, just after he got sentenced to three years state prison. Before they hauled the guy away, he serenaded the love of his life with his own rendition of “Endless Love” (who could forget that beautiful song sung by Diana Ross & Lionel Ritchie?). Afterwards, the newlyweds kissed…and kissed. They had a full bloom "make out" session in a crowded courtroom. Apparently tongues were involved, and it made the audience in attendance cringe. Nothing like a kiss from a toothless meth user, hey?
Oh well, love does happen…it’s everywhere-isn’t that the sweetest news you have ever heard today? I hope you hear better—I really do.
I learned something last night. I learned to never drop off Avon brochures after night fall. Those sensor patio and deck lights scare the hell out of me! Here I am, enjoying a night walk in the early evening, dropping off these extra Avon brochures I need to give out, and as I meekly approach each door, as quietly as possible, in order not to draw attention to my presence, bam-there goes the lights! Suddenly I feel like a thief in the night! Surprised by the light, I throw the brochure at the door matt, and run off. Anyone hearing or seeing this would presume I’m some sort of thief! I was just so ready for someone to run out of the door or yell out of their window, “Who goes there?!” And there I would be, holding up a brochure explaining to them that I’m just a harmless Avon lady trying to make an extra buck or two.. It didn’t happen, but I don’t think I’m going to do that anymore.
I can just see the headline: Woman wanted for questioning. Last seen throwing bags of brochures at people's doors after hours. Last seen wearing grey sweats and bunny slippers...
Today I was early to pick up my son from school, so I left some more brochures in the neighborhood again. All this walking is good—I’m seeing some benefits to it. Nicholas goes to school on a hill, and the parking lot is only for teachers, and drop off. He is too young to be dropped off, so I have to park my car across the street in a residential area, and we have to walk to school, up the hill to the playground where his classroom is. I’m noticing my pants are getting loose! This is good. With Halloween coming, and all those “fun size” temptations of candy circulating around all the grocery store markets, I will need the exercise.
It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything. I still share my office with Lolly. Woe is me. I havepromised to be a character witness for a woman who has him as a supervisor. If she should succumb to her evil plan to do away with the little munchkin, I’ll give her a good word in court. That’s if I don’t beat her to the evil deed. I’ve been reassured that he will be gone soon, but it won’t be soon enough. I cannot believe this guy is a newlywed. How in the hell did he trick someone into marrying him is almost frightening to comprehend. Did he drug her or what? Oh well, love is blind. Curious...and more curious indeed!
Sharing a surreal moment…
Every morning, I walk my youngest to his kindergarten class, at the same elementary school that I attended years ago. My two other children attended kindergarten at different schools closer to my home, but this one is going to the school within my mother’s district. For the first time, in many, many years, I am walking on the asphalt, and walking up and down the stairs of my old elementary school. It’s kind of surreal, especially when I realize how very small the once HUGE playground I used to play in really is. The stairs are not nearly as many as I remember. It’s surreal to walk down to my car and notice an old classmate that I knew from my own kindergarten class who just dropped off her kids. We share some small talk, we had spoken last at the high school reunion we went to. It gets even weirder when I am crossing the street with this classmate, when our former 2nd grade teacher pulls up to the crosswalk. “Hello, Mrs. Crews!” It was an Alice and Wonderland moment-all that was missing was the White Rabbit creeping out of the old turtle bar structure that is still sitting in the kindergarten playground. Oh, and I did mention that my old kindergarten teacher of 37 years ago is STILL there?
Suddenly I’m taken back in time, and I’m wearing my red corduroy jumper, and white tights that cling to my very chubby legs. I’m sitting on the bench watching the other girls play hopscotch, staring at my shoelaces that are left untied. Should I attempt to tie them again, or should I hide my feet so no one will notice? Too bad they didn’t invent Velcro yet. Not to worry, here comes my old friend, Linda Van Loon to the rescue! She’ll tie my shoes and ask me to play jump rope. I used to hate that skinny, blonde girl so much. She would stick her tongue at me on the school bus, until one day her mom called my mom to arrange a play date together. Who would have known we would be best friends? I was amazed by her huge sand box full of her mom’s old pots and pans in her backyard, andhow her mom let her draw and write all over her bedroom walls-something my mom would NEVER let me do in a million years. I used to share my Ding Dongs and Hostess Cup Cakes with her at lunch. Yes, my mom liked me fat and happy for some reason, and Linda was as skinny as a stick. She was like a bone with some short blonde hair sticking out of the top, so naturally, I would give her my Ding Dongs out of pity. My mom would have Moon Pies and milk waiting for me when I got home, so I wasn’t worried.
To this day, I refuse to buy Ding Dongs and Hostess Cupcakes and put them in my kid’s lunch. It’s NEVER going to happen, although I did catch a glimpse of those Moon Pies at the market the other day, and I won’t lie to you when I say I was very tempted to buy a box.
I've posted this entry before, but Smilebox did some really funky things to the set up of my journal...
Let's try this again..
What a busy weekend! We had a beach barbecue birthday party for Lizzy yesterday, and today was pretty much a day to just get some rest.
I had some crazy dreams last night. In one dream my home was being burglarized! A guy was coming out of one of the upstairs bathrooms with a VCR under his arm! No, I don't have any electronics in any of my bathrooms. It was very strange and weird-and it made me laugh out loud. I lived in a bigger house, on a big hill, but the insides of my house all looked the same. I was yelling desperately out of the front door that I was being robbed to passerbys in the neighborhood, but they just all smiled, and waved towards me.
Hmm.. Kind of reminds me of the time when my condo was full of smoke from burning, melting, baby bottle nipples! Although there were 3 fire engines on their way to my condo duplex, not one neighbor bothered to knock on my door to see whether I or my two young children were still alive. Lovely, huh? Yeah, the Jehovah Witness people who lived upstairs, were okay sending their friends over from downstairs to my home to convert me, but not willing to come and see if we were breathing. That always kind of disturbed me. They did live above me---didn't they kind of worry if they were in danger? Oh well, that is in the past.. I do wish I had a picture of the fireman's face when I showed him the melted baby bottle nipples..
Okay, I'm thinking that it is getting too late... I'm talking in tangents about unrelated things. I hope you all have a great new week ahead!
Here is the slideshow I was working on the weekend. If I wasn't for my sister-inlaw Becky, there wouldn't have been ANY pictures of me in this. I was taking a lot of pictures you see.
Vegas was fun, but the little getaway had a very S L O W start. You see, due to weather conditions, (lightning storm) our little commuter plane (the smallest plane I've ever been on--you could actually see the pilot from your seat) had to make a stop in Fresno, California. So, what should have been only a 1 hour and 15 minute flight, ended up being a 5 hour flight--not fun.
But we got there anyway, and we did have a very nice time. My husband got to see his brother for the first time in many years, and I even got to meet him for the first time. It was a nice visit, but too short of a vacation; but alas-aren't they all?!
Wherever we went, we saw advertisements for Donny & Marie... Their toothy smile is plastered all over the Flamingo. I was very impressed by the Flamingo--nice pool, and the best margaritas on Earth--of course they were a bit pricey. $10 each, but, man...so yummy!! Elton John is still preforming there, and hopefully will still be there next year. (I'm making plans for my daughter's 21st birthday.) Cher and Bette Milder is also there right now as well. Didn't see any shows--no time to, but may be next time!
Twenty years ago, life was different.
I was 22, and ready to give birth to a little baby girl.
No matter how many times you hear the phrase: "Once you have a baby, your whole life changes." You don't really comprehend it until you experience it first hand. It's an unexplainable fact, that no one, but you can understand. Your first instinct is to protect your child from all the ugliness in the world. Unfortunately, you can't protect them from all of it, but you do your best. Having a baby will not save a marriage. You make the best of things, you shield them as much as you can. You hope they don't sense that something is wrong at home, but they know.
I will never forget the 8 year old girl holding her suitcase of belongings at the doorway. Never again.
Seems like yesterday when I was in the car with my parents on the way to JCPenney in search of a basinet. I was due to give birth in 2 days, and there I was wearing my acid wash, oversized denim jumper, and size 10 slip on espadrilles. Yes, I was so huge, my feet were so swollen they were actually coming out of my shoes! It was that day I decided on the full name of my daughter: Elizabeth Rose I didn't realize it was Queen Elizabeth's name--it just worked out that way. My grandmother's name was Rose, and I liked the sound of it. It was either Elizabeth or Jennifer (after my beloved pet chicken), so I picked Elizabeth. Her father liked it too, so that was that.
So with the help of Erik Estrada (yes, can't forget him), 20 years ago, on her due date, I gave birth to a beautiful, curly haired, brown eyed little girl named Elizabeth Rose. God had answered my prayers when I saw the dark spirals of hair growing on her scalp. As soon as she was given to me for the first time, wrapped in the hospital blanket, I noticed how she began to survey her surroundings. She was wide awake, and she looked right at me. It was as though we had met again for the first time after years and years of knowing eachother before. Her eyes went about the room, curiously looking around, expecting life around her to finally happen.
That baby has not changed much since then. She is a bag of energy, a pillar of strength, courageous and determined, self-confident and beautiful. People stop and listen when she speaks--she makes things happen-never made to be a victim-never. She is everything I wish I was more of...
Happy Birthday Elizabeth---I'm so glad you were born. I've been very blessed to be in your company.
I'm back...
I'm tired though...no time to blog.. Will write more tomorrow...
Vegas was hot and fun, but much too short of a visit..... It was great to finally meet my husband's brother, Sam and his girlfriend. Again, too short of a visit. Will write about it more later..with pictures...
Right now I have a splitting headache, and I'm VERY tired.
First day of kindergarten for Nicholas--no tears! Just a huge smile, and a hug and kiss goodbye.
First day back to work after vacation...urg.. Piles of boxes to sift through, and a 2 hour wait just to get my computer running. Lolly luring about, and annoying as ever... My new office is nicer, but hot! No air circulation. I got a fan-and I felt better, but head started to hurt-not even Advil or chocolate could cure it.
I got home..tired. It's so hot over here--Northern California is experiencing a little heat wave at the moment. It's too hot to cook, and luckily, mom fed the kids, and the older ones made their own.
Relaxed in front of the T.V. and watched Big Brother. Poor Michelle (my Portuguese player) got kicked out..oh well.
Guess who else is Portuguese, from the Azores? Meredith Vieira. I knew she was, but on Monday I saw the today show and saw the following:
http://www.beloblog.com/ProJo_Blogs/shenews/2008/08/meredith-vieira.html
Although her family is not from the same island, it is amazing how so many people come out of these small 9 islands in the Atlantic--spread across the world. Very sweet, and surreal.
Okay.. I'm beat.
Goodnight good people of Jland.
Well, the end of summer is finally upon us.. I'm heading for Vegas tomorrow, and the kids start school the middle of this week; why they don't start after Labor Day is beynod me. Yes, I'm not ready yet for school!
I went to the beach with my oldest and my youngest, and my mom on Friday..
Saturday was spent at the mall to do back to school shopping...the place was packed..
Today was spent grocery shopping for the kids, and a party at my brother's house..
I am packed, but there are still some things to get done before the trip... Who knows, may be I'll find Elvis.
I'm looking forward to some peace and quiet, and possibly some some fun? The kids will be staying at home-so I will try not to worry too much, but of course I'll be checking up on them throughout the trip. I hope to take some pictures... I will share them with you later.
Take care good people of Jland!
I got this in an email from my cousin, the Rabbit, aka: Coelho. It made me want to cry... It's sooo cute, and amazing at the same time.
Get out of my way… Julie is on a rampage!
Yes, today I’m on a rampage. I got a few things done that I’ve been meaning to accomplish, and it’s done.
First of all I had an issue with a pharmacy in town. My mother had purchased a neck brace from this certain pharmacy, and she paid for it. I was there. I helped her write the check because she couldn’t move her head. We were told by the mousey little woman with the British accent at the cash register that she would be reimbursed once her insurance “verified, or approved” it. Okay, whatever—insurance stuff still confuses me. A few weeks later we get something in the mail from her insurance stating that is was approved. I bring it over to the pharmacy, and the mousey woman gave me something to fill out for my mother for her to get reimbursed. I filled it out, handed it over to the lady, expecting to get cash in return. Instead, the mousey woman with the tiny British accent informs me that she’ll get reimbursed soon.
Well, a month and a half goes by, and I go to the pharmacy again for another reason, but I decide to stop and inquire about my mother’s refund that she had yet to receive. The mousey lady of course was gone. Everyone knew who the mousey lady was (she is the only one there with the accent) but no one could tell me where she was, or if she was going to return. It was if the tiny little woman with the accent had vanished in thin air. (Perhaps with large sums of money?!) I explain to another woman what I was inquiring, and I am then informed that my mother didn’t pay it, her insurance did. What? Yes, her insurance paid for it, because “that is what our system says.” Of course I don’t have a receipt, and I don’t have a cancelled check for the purchase handy to prove she did pay it, so I’m standing there with a blank look on my face, being looked at as a person who is trying to swindle the pharmacy a lousy $33.
Well, my mother finds a copy of the check in question, and of course I put it under the seat of my car, with good intentions to clear the matter, but naturally I “forget” about it for awhile. I’ve been meaning to go to the pharmacy, but I always find better things to do. Just the thought of going there, with those ladies again, to try and resolve the problem, after being looked at as someone who was trying to swindle $33 did not sound very appealing. Well, today, was D day. In the mail was a bill from this said pharmacy, demanding payment for the “remainder of the cost of the neck brace that insurance didn’t pay”. Yes, I was a little mad.
Okay, it was a lousy $4.50… But still.. How dare they ask for more money from my mother! I was THRILLED to find the cancelled check STILL under the seat of my car, where it had been sitting for the last 2 months!
I called the pharmacy, and instead of wasting my time going there, I faxed them the cancelled check with a letter. It wasn’t a nice letter; but it wasn’t mean either. I simply told them that they needed to check up on their policies with clients-especially older people who may not have someone overseeing what is going on to clear up their accounting errors. Good Lord! If that check for $33 isn’t in my mom’s mailbox by the end of next month there will be hell to pay!! It’s not the amount of the money---it’s the principle!
In other news, earlier this week, I picked up my son and his friend at the train station in town. It was the first time he had ever been on a train, and it was the first time I ever had to pick him up at a station. Well, apparently I was waiting at the wrong place, and almost got locked out by this official looking girl holding keys. As soon as I realized I may have been in the wrong area, I got up and motioned her to open the door and let me out. You have to realize, that I thought I was being locked up in the station. By the look on her face, it didn’t look like she was going to open the door. I kind of freaked. All I saw where tracks! (Along with some really questionable looking people sitting on the bench that I definitely did not want to get to know) Well, she gave me a crazy look and finally opened the glass doors to let me out. As I explained to her that I was waiting for a train coming from the San Francisco area, she completely blew me off, and told me that there were no more arrivals that night, and the only arrival was a bus coming from Stockton.
Oh how I hate being lied to. If there is one thing I hate more-it’s being lied to. Was I at the wrong station?! I didn’t think so.
Well, I leave the station, and of course my cell phone is dead, so I’m looking for change, so I’m searching for a pay phone, and then I notice all these cars picking up people. Hmm… She said, “no arrivals” didn’t she? Sure enough I walk around the building and there sitting on the bench is Andrew and his friend. They had just gotten off the train.
That girl working in the station was very lucky she had locked the doors already. I was ready to march in there and give her a piece of my mind. She should know NEVER to lie to a mother about the whereabouts of her children. I could have easily driven off to another station and left two 14 year olds at the station in the middle of the night. Well, I wrote a complaint letter instead. I hope when word gets to her supervisor she will know NEVER to do that again.
Urrrr….
Oh, and then there is LOLLY. I do not like this person. While cleaning my future desk, he made a comment that I may not keep the desk because it was purchased for position of a higher rank. Excuse me?! Yes, it’s nice modular furniture, but it isn’t made of gold. True, I’m not an “analyst” of any sort, or an over paid, “county executive” in fact I’m one of those “lowly, disposable records clerks”. Should I keep the storage boxes and make myself a desk?! He was so rude, that I thought he was joking at first, but then I realized that he was just being his natural, condescending jerk self. I almost threw my antibacterial tub of wipes at his little head, but I contained myself, and I looked at him, and told him quite frankly that I had to work somewhere, and it was a decision made by the Chief-it wasn’t my idea, it was his superior’s idea. Well, that didn’t sit well with Lolly, and he marched into my supervisor’s office. I don’t know what was said, but my supervisor put him straight, and he ended up coming out of the office like a doggie with his tail between his legs, being overly nice towards my direction. I do not like that evil little man—not at the least, and I’m not alone on that one.
Is it just me, or do you see the resemblance as well?
Oh well... I just realized yesterday that next week I'll be in Vegas! Whoohooo!!!
Unfortunately, because of this trip, Nicholas will be missing his first day of kindergarten. I arrive on the day he starts. My daughter was going to take him, but I'm not quite sure how he is going to behave starting a new school without me being there. We are going to pretend that his first day of school starts next week on Thursday, instead of Wednesday. Would be pretty bad if I wrote in his baby book: "Mommy wasn't able to take you to your first day of kindergarten, because she was gambling in Vegas with Dad." Lovely, huh? So, we are going to start a day late. No biggie. My other kids have started school much later.
I will never forget the day my oldest started kindergarten. Poor girl started a week late, and had a broken arm as a souvenir from her trip to the Azores. There she was in a strange classroom, with kids she had never met before, with a woman (teacher) who would take Mommy's place for the next 4 1/2 hours. My two older children never went to preschool, so the adjustment was a little harder for them. I will never forget my daughter's face, as her teacher, Ms. Welcher held her tight from her chair, while poor Lizzy was waving her cast in the air exclaiming, "Mommy! Don't go...Mommy!!"
Kindergarten teachers are special people. I absolutely loved my kindergarten teacher, and I still remember her name. Miss Maxwell. She used to call me her "lost lamb" because I was constantly following her around the classroom-I was terribly shy in school. I must have annoyed the hell out of her. She was the prettiest woman I knew (except for my mom of course). She worked with another teacher, Ms. Willett. Imagine my surprise when I got the letter from my son's school with Nicholas' assigned teacher. Underneath her name was Ms. Willett. I cannot believe this woman STILL teaches kindergarten. My God.. She must be pushing 65 already.. Now I'm curious to see if she is the same woman.
I'm bored to death here at work. I just packed another box of bunny rabbits I had displayed in my office. I'm unsure if I should take them home with me, or display them in my new office across the hall. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Lolly man is moving any time soon, and it's going to be so annoying sharing an office with him. Oh well...what can you do. Perhaps the bunny rabbits will keep him away from me. He'll be so creeped out by them, that he will stay away, and leave me alone. I still have that Wizard of Oz calendar. I can cut out the pictures and hang them on his door..
Andrew, my nephew Brett, and my cousin Tania were not the only ones graduating this year. These were taken yesterday:
I present to you, Nicholas, preschool graduate, 2008:
Posing before the ceremony.
Walking to his diploma..
With diploma taking his seat...
My "baby" is growing up!
I'm so happy. I finally converted a big ole' video! I can't take credit for filming the video though.. This was taken by Lizzy--it's her and Matt & Andrew on the teacup ride in Disneyland, or should I say, Dizzyland.
Dee and I learned some Lolly trivia this morning... Thought I would share it with you.
Lolly was one of the first to experience the Pirates Of The Carribean Ride at the Disneyland Park, in fact he was 5th in line.
That was back in 1967. Apparently, the ride did not go well. It stopped in the middle of the ride, and they had to get off of it. It stopped here:
I was a one year old. Damn.. I never went to Disneyland when I was young. I had to wait until I was 20! Gee.. BUT, they have since remodeled it, and it's better, because now it features Johnny Depp!
Looks alot like him in the picture, but in close up, it doesn't give Johnny justice in my opinion. (I got this picture from Google..it isn't mine. You aren't supposed to take pictures on the ride, but of course everyone in my boat was when I went on.)
Oh and another thing.. Never send out Lolly out to buy towels. Apparently, his mom sent him out to buy some towels at the Macy's white flower day sale, and he had to literally snatch towels from UNDERNEATH a Vietamese man who decided to throw himself on top of a rack of towels to save them all for his wife who was shopping for flannel sheets.
"He kept on saying, "mine! mine!" but I didn't care. My mom needed towels, and I wasn't leaving the store without a dozen of them!"
What a good son.
I think Lolly is trying to impress us girls. What do you think?
Don't let the title mislead you.
Mind you, I LOVE taking walks on the beach--relaxing, looking at the ocean, enjoying the smell and the beauty of it, walking in the waves...what is there not to love, right?
Well, today my youngest had a field trip at the beach. I decided to go and join him at the beach for lunch, and then drive him home to my mom's house for the rest of the afternoon. I had it all planned, and I even stopped to get a sandwich so I could eat mine with us at the seashore. I got to the beach, and found a nice parking spot, and went out looking for him.
There weren't that many people at the beach, but there were a lot of kids. I scanned the beach, and couldn't see anyone from his class or any of his teachers. Alarm bells sounded off in my head at that point. Maybe I was at the wrong beach? I decided to a walk on the sand anyway. I walked...and walked... (Walking on the sand counts as double walking in my opinion.) But, no sign of anyone. I walked back to my car, holding my lunch bag-egg salad sandwich and my Snapple, and decided to scan the beach next door.
Of course the other beach next door was busier than the first, and there were no parking spaces, but I found one in front of a house farther down in residential side of the beach, which meant more walking from there to the sand. I scanned the area again. No time to look at the ocean, or enjoy the scenery, no, I was scanning for children. I must have looked like a lunatic or something--I hope nobody thought I was out to steal a child or something. Feeling defeated, and pretty stupid, I headed back to the car and made a phone call to the Preschool, who informed me that they were indeed at the first beach I was at the first time.
So, I head back to the first beach, and wouldn't you know, the first kid I see is Nicholas in his red sweater sitting with the rest of the group, in plain sight. Apparently during the time I had arrived the first time, the group decided to visit a cave. Lovely. So, I got to spend the last 10 minutes of the field trip, with Nicholas crying over a cut on his ankle (he apparently fell off a rock near the lighthouse), and he wasn't crying UNTIL he saw that I was there, naturally so... I managed to swallow half of my sandwich, and then it was time to head for home. Of course, the teacher didn't bring his booster seat (her truck had one built into it) and I had to follow her all the way back to the preschool to retrieve it.
Pheww...
I finally got Nicholas back to my mom's house, and raced back to work, and then suddenly I noticed the front of my legs were covered with sand. How office appropriate! I look like one of the clients in the lobby right about now. I cleaned off my legs, and got the sand out of my loafers, and I'm not kidding, the garbage can has about an inch of sand in it right now. I hope there isn't sand in my hair.
Oh well, at least I have my hair brush and some Skin So Soft cream at hand. I decided to do good on my Avon pimping, and went across the street to the county building and left more brouchures in the cafeteria. I felt chipper, so I decided to climb the 5 flights of stairs to my friend Maria's office. Damn.. 5 flights is a lot of stairs. It will either keep you healthy, or kill you. With that from this morning, and all the walking this afternoon, I'm ready to sit in a jacuzzi. Too bad I don't have one, huh?
Nicholas is dancing in line to get on a ride on one of the Bug's Life rides at California Adventure. You should have seen him in line waiting on Space Mountain ride. He was so excited. He kept on saying, "I'm so lucky! I'm going into space!" Well, he wasn't afraid UNTIL we got on the ride. I think he hid his head under my arm during the complete duration. When the ride ended, I looked down at him, and his eyes were still closed tight, and then he gave out a big breath of relief. Poor guy.. I felt guilty, but no tears, just a stern comment from him to me. "Mommy. I don't like that ride." Okay.
Anyway, it's Wednesday, mid-week. It started in a crazy way...
Nicholas slept in our bed last night, and obviously he did not go to the bathroom before bed like he said he had. There is nothing worse than waking up in wet, cold sheets. Lovely. Then, as I was getting ready to get out of the door, I noticed my daughter's bedroom door was open. I looked inside, and I saw Tania, but no Lizzy.. Hmm.. Her cell phone was in her room, her purse was in her room... I looked downstairs to see if she had fallen asleep on the couch.. Nope, she wasn't there. Now I was getting worried. I checked the drive way to see if the car was there. Yes, the car was there. I called my husband at work (good thing he didn't answer or he would think I was crazy.) Hmm.. Finally, I checked Nicholas' room, and sure enough, there was sleeping beauty in his bed. Sigh of relief. I don't know why I didn't check earlier.
Out the door, and at work, this tall, and very thin odd looking-woman, wearing a raincoat almost walks into me as I walk back to my office from the gas station with my coffee. She has very short, short hair, dark sunglasses and a big ole' blue tooth attached to the side of her head. I swear, she looked like a robot. All she needed was a big rifle or gun under her arm and she could have passed as a female version of the Terminator!
Scary. Speaking of Arnold, I learned some information about his wife, Maria through a co-worker of mine. This co-worker is a retired speech writer for no other than the Kennedys. Yeah, the Kennedys--America's royal family. He told me that poor Maria was teased quite a bit as a child, because she was very, very chubby. She lost her baby fat only when she got involved in sports, during her teenage years. Okay, if you look at Maria today, she looks more like Skelatora to me. My co-worker told me to look at her ankles the next time I happen to come across a picture of her. Okay, I shall...now I'm curious.
At work, I and my co-worker Dee have been working on the move. Yes, the move to across the hall. She is going to take my working space, and I am going to work near that guy, I refer to as Lolly. Remember him? He eventually is going to move, but not soon enough for me. He said something to me and Dee that just made me want to hurl. We were off cleaning out old file folders, and I found a file folder that I particularly liked and wanted to keep, and I was pretty happy about it. He said something to the effect that "it doesn't take too much to make you happy," and this is true...so I replied, "Sure, I like the simple things in life."
He responded: "Me too, that's why I settled and married my simple wife."
After he said that, I cringed. I looked at Dee, she cringed, and I don't know what I said after that-but that comment really was uncalled for. Did he really thing that would be funny? Imagine what his wife would feel if she heard him say something like that. What an awful thing to say about your newlywed bride! He has said other things in the past that have made my skin crawl. He has said things in the past like, "This country needs to go back to 1950's." or, "Single moms are the problem..." I am not looking forward to sharing an office with this Lollyman.
Now, can you really blame me?
The above slide show is from California Adventure Park... It's an amusement park belonging to Disney, right across from Disneyland. If you get a hopper ticket, you can go to both all day long.. The park is modeled entirely on places of interest in California. There is the farm part, the Hollywood part, the rocky mountains part..etc..etc... The rides include Bugs Life (which Nicholas really had fun, and wet in), and the old fashioned rollercoaster boardwalk part, which looks a lot like the rollercoaster of my hometown, of Santa Cruz... There aren't many rides, but it's a fun place.
Above is a small slide show of Santa Monica, California. A beautiful place near Venice.. I would definitely like to go back there again!
Okay, that's the last entry I will do today... I have catch up work to do at work, and a lot of entries to read from my Jland friends. Sorry I wasn't able to read them all this weekend. I've been as busy as a bee lately!
