Omigosh----I really need to think twice about this....

I have to admit,  I'm usually kind of a Scrooge or Grinch when it comes to Halloween.  I love answering the door and handing out candy,  but when it comes to getting an invitation to an adult Halloween costume party,  I break out in a cold sweat.   I've always hated the dressing up part----at least as an adult..  I think it's cuz I was never very creative in this department,  and my costumes would usually really suck.  I always enjoyed the huge college toga parties----it's hard to go wrong with a sheet.  Who wouldn't want to dress up like a Greek goddess?  And there's always the discussion as to what  (if anything)  should be worn underneath.  I'm not saying, but you can probably guess.   

Before................                                                                                    

 
                                                                                                                ........and after.


One year for Halloween,  my college roommate and I dressed as mummies.  We were so well-wrapped!  What the heck were we thinking?  Did we forget that when you drink copious amounts of a little beer you sometimes need to use the facilities?  Ugh....major problem.  Not enough forethought on that one.  The next year,  we went as bags of leaves.  Hello......did we not remember the fiasco of the prior year?  We were now ensconced in Hefty bags filled with leaves (and whatever might be lurking among the leaves).    They itched.    A lot.     Stupid idea.     We'd see all of these fabulous costumes down on State Street and wonder why we couldn't come up with something funny/cool/shocking.  It's difficult to imagine seeing anything down there though---there were wall-to-wall people .   (I'm thinking that I was dating someone at the time who got arrested......but the facts are a little fuzzy in my mind.  Don't even want to venture a guess as to what that was all about.  It was Madison in the early 80's.  Nuf said.).

I don't have a lot of memories of my costumes as a kid---I'm guessing most of then were of the ballerina variety---depending on the weather up north, sometimes necessitating a snowsuit thrown into the mix.  Try fitting a tutu over that!

But today,  something changed.  Mike forwarded me an invitation to a party,  and the more I thought about it,  the more excited I became.  Get this-----you have to dress like someone or something with your initials.

Little detour here......Just about the time I got the email,  I was dropping off a trunkful of stuff at Goodwill.  Decided to park and go into the store looking for some stuff for Jackson's Halloween costume.  I have never been to a Goodwill Store.  (I guess I should have thought about Goodwill when I was in college when I desperately needed ideas).   I felt so at home. It's all organized by color----just like my closet. lol !!!  I must say,  I had an absolute blast browsing. You wouldn't believe the stuff they have there.  (I've probably provided a half-dozen van-fulls in the past year,  but I didn't see anything that used to live in my house. That would have been a hoot!).  I did find a pair of pants for Jax---he's going to be a hippie.  They're striped and are pretty retro-looking,  but they're not bell-bottoms.  Maybe my sister-in-law can help me change that. (I found them in the women's section,  but don't tell Jackson!)  They will look awesome with his fringe vest,  tie-dye shirt,  round pink wire rim glasses and peace sign necklace.  I had to buy him a wig, as I don't think there were many buzz-cut hippies back then. I got 2 of them so he can choose----one is an  afro (those of you who knew Mike in college will probably remember his hair!) and a long-haired wig.  So it's his choice.

Ok,  enough about that and back to me and the party.  So my initials are JG,   or JLG if I want to really go overboard and use my middle initial too. Hmmmm......Judy Garland......Jane Goodall.......Jersey Girl.....or maybe Jersey-licious Girl!!!!  That's it----one of those famous-for-no-good-reason women on Jersey Shore---SNOOKI!!! .  I've never seen that show,  but I'll have to watch it before the party.   I found a slinky animal print halter dress at Party City.  And a wig.  But I'm definitely going to need a major-league push-up bra so my boobs are just beneath my chin.  Hoping I can pull this off.  What do you think?

When I talked to Mike about his costume,  he suggested Michael Grimm  ( you know, the guy with the hat on American Idol?).  Maybe I can talk him into piercing his ear (I've been known to do that before).  lol.  I suggested Mel Gibson.   That could be interesting.

 the next day......Saturday........

Ok,  so I'm still excited about the party. However,  I tried on the Snooki dress. The package said it fits up to a Size 12 dress.  Figured I'd be fine since I usually wear an 8.   OMIGOSH!!!!!  For one thing,  there is absolutely no room for a push-up bra.  Might have to use duct tape to hoist up the girls!  It is so tight....and short.  Not sure if I have the guts to wear it .  But..........the invitation said  "Prizes awarded for most clever,  most elaborate and the one it took the most nerve to wear."   Ok,  that just might be me.  I've got the shoes and the wig.  Maybe tomorrow I'll try it on for Mike & see what he thinks.  I guess with my wig on people wouldn't have to know that I'm his wife  (if he's embarrassed).

Sirius-ly

I recently got a letter welcoming me to Sirius Satellite Radio. Apparently I get a free 3-month trial membership for buying my new car. I'm tickled pink with the fact that I can go from 0 to 80 in just seconds my new vehicle, but this is a little icing on the cake. But I've never subscribed before, so I'm looking to see what y'all listen to on satellite.

I'm perusing the listings and can see how I might enjoy this----Howard Stern (is he still funny?),  Eminem's Uncut Hip-Hop (I had better not tell the boys about this one---they only hear the bleeped-out versions of his songs, but I can listen, right?), oooh---40's Big Band (love it!!), Siriusly Sinatra (hey--I thought that I came up with Sirius-ly first), International Talk French Language (could this be a way to brush up on my French?), Playboy Radio (really---is there really such a thing? Off to check it out!), The Virus (irreverent and uncensored---I might like that).

So what do you enjoy listening to? Please feel free to leave me a comment below. I'm getting better at moving out of my comfort zone, so if there's something you enjoy, I'll give it a listen. And if I don't respond, it's probably because I got sucked into something and I'm out driving around and don't want to stop. Who knows where I'll end up one of these days?!

Somebody slapped that bulls-eye on my back again!

Why am I such a magnet for all things weird? Does this stuff ever happen to anyone else?

So here's the deal. I'm driving home from Pilates class (my first time back in 2 months!!!! Yea for me for finally dragging my butt out of the house and back to class after the trauma and drama that I've been dealing with) and I'm cruising through Greenway Station (an outdoor shopping area) when I see a huge tower of orange. I drive a little closer and see that it's a pyramid or tree-like structure made out of pumpkins. I thought "cool". I'll take a picture (now that I carry my camera everywhere). And they're real. Kind of interesting looking. So I'm about to pull over to park and this crazy scary-looking nice elderly woman jumps out at me (while I'm still driving) and starts waving her arms and knocking on my window. What the heck??? So I hit the brakes and cautiously roll down my window to see what she wants.

She starts yelling at me!! She said "I want to know where University Avenue is....and don't give me a bum steer cuz I've been driving around for 25 minutes......blah blah blah". I calmly interrupt and say "Ma'am, if you settle down for a moment I'll tell you, but you can't hear me when you're yelling at me". So here I am nervously glancing in my rear-view mirror looking for cars---see, I'm just stopped in the middle of a lane, and if someone hits my pretty new car, I'm not gonna be happy. So I very calmly explain how she can get there---less than a minute away. Not even sure if she thanked me, but I couldn't get my window up fast enough and drive away.

And of course, I forgot to take the damn picture.

Back to Normal---is there such a thing?

Who knew that this blogging thing would be a monthly event? In the beginning, I had planned to write whenever the mood struck me---thinking probably every couple of days.(My mouth runneth over on Facebook sometimes, so I thought this would be a good outlet for my ramblings). Obviously sometimes life gets in the way of our intentions. The following was written last week, prior to my mom's surgery. Thoughts came tumbling out of my head as I was getting into the shower one morning, so I did what any normal (and I'm using that term loosely) person would do----turned off the water, grabbed a pen and sat on the bed naked to write everything down before I forgot it. (This happens often, so I tend to have pens and paper scattered throughout the house in the event that an idea comes to me. For me, it's a use-it-or-lose-it kind of thing, so if it's not written down or left on a voice memo on my iPhone, there's a good chance that it will be forgotten in the next 10 minutes).

Is there ever really a time that's "back to normal" ? I've put various things on hold during my life recently (exercise, artistic endeavors, blogging, finding an organization to which I want to donate my time, etc.) thinking that I would resume them once life got back to normal (or as normal as things can possibly be in this household). For instance, after I had fully recovered from my pneumonia, once my mom got through her tests and possible surgery, etc. But you name it, and it's going on in someones life at any given time. I don't know of anyone who doesn't have something that they're dealing with, that they'd probably rather not be saddled with. But no matter how thinly you are spread, sometimes you just have to jump back in and do it.....regardless of whether it seems like the right time.

Driving down the street yesterday, I saw a tiny, old-fashioned church set amongst the most beautiful trees in various shades of red, orange and gold. I said to myself "what a striking picture that would be." (and trust me, I actually said that out loud to myself, as there was no one else in the car). I had my camera (I've learned to always have it with me----you wouldn't believe some of the missed photo opps) but did I stop and take the picture? No--I had other places to be (ok, getting my nails done isn't really a good excuse). I think today will be the day. And I think it's worth sharing because it's so beautiful.

DISCLAIMER -- I used to fancy myself as a good photographer, but in reality, I suck. I've surrendered my Canon Digital Rebel to Mike for all of the ski jumping photos (after coveting this for months a couple of years ago, then receiving it for Christmas). In reality, what I envision just doesn't turn out like said vision. Maybe some classes would help. Oh yeah, I did take a basic class on how to use my Rebel, but for goodness sake, even that was too advanced. And as for reading manuals.....it's probably just not going to happen. Anyway, back to the disclaimer.....the pictures that I include in my blog posts will not be good, but hopefully they will get my point (if there is one) across.

You kind of get the idea, don't you? It was so stunningly beautiful in person. I didn't even feel stupid when I had to find a spot to park my car, then jog through the intersection dodging cars, trying to find the perfect vantage point. Wish I could Photo Shop out the traffic lights, but that would probably require me to be somewhat adept at that kind of thing. Or at least require that I read a manual, so never mind. Just squint and try to imagine how pretty and idyllic this must have been.

That's just a little example of what I mean. I need to try to live more in the moment. And on the way home to Madison, after my mom was comfortably recovering from her surgery, I found numerous opportunities. But I realized that I should only stop to take a picture if it can be done safely, without the possibility of being hit by a car speeding past me at 87 mph, or causing a chain-reaction crash when I try to pull over onto that non-existent shoulder. I wanted to stop to take a picture near Beaver Dam of at least 1000 ducks in a pond--- all facing the same direction (did you ever notice that cows do that too?), the big field of llamas, and the Adult Superstore out in the middle of nowhere. I did, however, drive past, then turn around to go back and take this shot, just outside of Two Rivers.

People in this neck of the woods have been known to to put various "lawn ornaments" in their yards. Sometimes it's a toilet or a bathtub (seriously!!!!!) with a plastic Virgin Mary (I kid you not!). Click on this link to check out a picture of one:  http://www.answers.com/topic/bathtub-madonna
But this picture that I took is one of the larger, more unusual ones (for Wisconsin anyway). I drove past this house several weeks ago when I was up by my mom. This time, I was determined to get a picture. See? It's a start for me.

In the past week, I learned of the deaths of two high school classmates, their lives both taken way too soon by cancer. Life is short; life is fragile. I realize that I need to sometimes pry myself off of the sidelines or out of my car with camera in-hand, and be a part of the action while I can. Here's hoping that you do the same.

 *** I know that in the past, some have been unable to add comments to a post. Please let me know if this is still an issue. I have adjusted some of the settings, but if there are still difficulties, I may have to read the manual. ***   

Roller coasters and The Game of Life

It's been a month since my last post, and I have so much stuff rambling around in my head, I don't even know where to start. Not to mention all of the pictures that I have taken for various posts, but that will have to wait.

Ok, how about this---I love roller coasters.  I love the thrill, the adrenaline rush, the feeling of fear when you go on one that you've never been on before. You kind of know what it's going to be like, but if you're like me, you like the element of surprise. That is my kind of fun. But recently, I've been on another kind of roller coaster ride. And the name of this one is Life. It has left me dizzy, light-headed and sometimes feeling like I want to hurl. And unfortunately, there's no stopping in mid-ride. But once it's over, you stumble off, feeling stronger for the experience and ready to move on....and maybe even do it again.

In a nutshell, when I came back from my solo vacation in California, I brought home a nasty little virus. I'm pretty sure it snuck right into my suitcase next to the collection of 3-ounce bottles holding my favorite lotions and potions. My first doctor visit revealed no sign of really anything amiss, despite the fact that I felt like I had been hit by a truck. So I was sent home to rest and drink lots of fluids. Fortunately for me, I was really good at this, as I got an unbelievable amount of rest---something like 57 hours in the 3 days days leading up to when I could finally haul my butt out of bed to visit the doctor. So I did a lot more of the same. I'll spare you the details, but it was absolutely no fun. Every inch of my body ached from spending so much time in bed. A chest x-ray several days later revealed the pneumonia, so at least this crappy thing I had had a name. Never had it before, never want it again.

I failed to mention that pneumonia is the gift that keeps on giving. When my dear friend Susanne, her 3 daughters and I went out for lunch in Los Gatos during my CA vacation, one of the twins was out of sorts. Very unusual for her. The day I left, she was diagnosed with pneumonia. That explained everything. Within days Susanne had it, and the same day that I was diagnosed, her husband Tony and 2 other daughters were also diagnosed with pneumonia. It's a good thing that they are such good friends, as I loved every moment I spent with them. If you're going to get a nasty virus, it's better when it's from friends, right?

So I'm a couple of weeks into my recovery (I had no idea that I was going to sleep the month away!), and we're at a friend's 40th surprise birthday party. I got a call from my mom's neighbor, indicating that something was very wrong, and I needed to get up there. So we head back home where I throw together a few things in a suitcase and start the drive to Two Rivers. To keep myself distracted, I sang the entire way. Loud and most likely off-key. Usher, Rihanna & Eminem, b.o.b, you name it & I sang it. It was a good thing that I was alone, as no one needs to be subjected to that kind of torture without just cause. The next morning we went from the clinic, to the ER, to the hospital to be admitted. After every test imaginable, they determined that she had a stroke. Thankfully it was mild, and she has regained most of her strength in her arm and hand. So once she was settled back home, I came back to Madison. And relapsed. Don't think my body was ready to go without sleep and proper nourishment. Turns out an apple and 8 cups of coffee per day doesn't keep the doctor away. Who knew? So back to bed for me. What a ridiculous waste of time.

I've gradually gotten back to a reasonably healthy state, with another recent trip to take my mom to Green Bay for a surgical consult. I'm not sure if it's the 3-hour drive or the time spent in hospitals that totally wears me out. Or perhaps it's the weird role-reversal, with me looking after my mom. I'll make another trip in two weeks when she goes in for surgery. Looking forward to both of us coming home healthy.

Bedrest-----who knew I could be so miserable being a total slug?

It's funny how your perspective changes when you're actually walking in someone else's shoes. I used to envy people who were stuck in bed for more than a day or so. Like when a pregnant woman is on bed rest.....how sweet would that be? (No flames please---I really didn't know). I thought that there would be time to nap, time to watch mindless tv shows, time to choose from the long reading list that has been accumulating.

I was SO WRONG! Omigosh, what an idiot I've been all this time. I offer my apologies right now for my ignorance.

Saturday morning I woke up all excited to go to the karate demonstration at the Good Neighbor Festival in Middleton. Hunter had rehearsed with the other participants on Friday night, and things were looking really good. I especially love the weapons demonstrations and the extreme martial arts maneuvers. Flips and twists and spins, oh my. So I roll out of bed and think "What? What is this? My head is throbbing, my entire body aches from my hair to the pretty pink polish on my toes, my throat was sore and I had this cough that sounded like it came from a Neanderthal. What the heck?"  I was perfectly healthy on Friday night when I crawled into bed.

Ok, so maybe coffee will help. First sip.......OMIGOD!!!! It burned. My throat felt like someone had rubbed it with sandpaper. Back to bed for me----I still had a couple of hours before I needed to get ready. So I slept. And slept. And slept and slept and slept. I slept all day and all night. Then I woke up Sunday morning yawning and exhausted. How could this be? You'd think it would actually feel good to get all of that sleep. I figured that my body must really need it if I could fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

Much to my despair, Sunday was a carbon copy of Saturday in terms of how I felt, but instead of being able to sleep, I kept changing positions trying to get comfortable. I needed the least amount of skin possible to touch the mattress. I hurt everywhere.  Think by late morning I had pumped myself up enough to shower and head out to look for a new washer & dryer (see prior post). Kept a water bottle with me, as every time I felt like I would pass out, I took a sip. Got the dang things ordered and am anxiously awaiting Thursday delivery & Friday install.

***Pictures will definitely accompany my post later in the week when I have 13 loads of laundry piled up. No pictures today of me, as nobody would want to see that! This is supposed to be funny, not scary.***

Surely I would feel better on Monday, but no such luck. Woke up at 5 am, then promptly fell back asleep until 8:30.....right when my doc's office started answering calls. I was lucky enough to get in for a 10:30 appointment. Is there anything worse than noisy children in a waiting room when you're sick and your head feels like it's about to spew lava? Someone take them over to peds, before I do it myself. Ah, here comes the nurse & she leads me into a room. Checks vitals & I let out a yell when she uses a blood pressure cuff. My skin hurts, my muscles hurt. Ouch. Doc comes in and determines that she doesn't know what's wrong with me. Are you kidding??? Probably not influenza, most likely not pneumonia, did a strep test and we're awaiting results.....sent me on my way saying that it probably viral and that I need lots of fluids and rest. What have I been doing for the past couple of days? Sleeping, sipping and peeing. That's it. I want to be able to breathe, walk and talk without every inch of me hurting. Please give me something (yes, I understand the placebo effect and I'm good with that). But no, rest and fluids. I'm trying to be patient, but this is the third day. There is absolutely nothing enjoyable about lazing in bed when my head hurts too much to read, and there is nothing good on TV. My saving grace was Food Network and HGTV, but even that got old after awhile.

Back to bed I go once again. I'm guessing that once I'm more lucid, I'm going to read this post and wonder who wrote it. I've only had a low-grade fever----is that enough to make me delirious & delusional? I know I will feel better tomorrow. I know the power of positive thinking and how there might be a 2 or 3 day delay with my positive thoughts being destroyed by a virus. lol--that's my theory. So it's back to rest, fluids and many trips to the loo.

The Curse of Friday-----fact or fiction?

I honestly don't think it's just me. Crappy things always seem to happen on Friday. Usually, but not limited to late in the day.

One time, when we lived in Texas, the air-conditioning stopped working. Lucky for us, it was one of those lovely summer days that only peaked at 107 degrees. It's not like you can open the windows to get some air. So you call the A/C guy and beg nicely ask him to come out on a Friday night, knowing that he will miss his son's football game, but promising to fund his kid's college education if he would just bring some relief in the form of cold, cold air. Or another time in Wisconsin, when it was mid-winter and a balmy minus 30 degrees with the wind chill and one of the furnaces just quit. Right then and there. Again, a plea for help. At double-time, of course. The price we're willing to pay for comfort. Call me a wimp--I don't care.

Here's a good one that I'm certain most of us have experienced. If you haven't already,  you will. Trust me.  Something happens to your kid. Not horrible, not with lots of blood (ok, so there's a little blood), no protruding bones....you get the idea. But something just isn't right. Maybe a rash that didn't look like that yesterday, or a split lip which was severed by a tooth (which isn't really all that loose). The kind of thing that you're on the fence about jumping in the car and heading to Urgent Care for. (And you know that if you choose not to go to Urgent Care, you will be on the top of the list for "Bad Parent of the Year Award"). The latter did happen to us (yes, on a Friday night) and after a heated battle much debate about whether the injury necessitated Urgent Care, I drove Hunter to the nearest facility. Urgent Care. Now wouldn't that imply that they're there when you need them? When you have something kind of important that you need medical help with? Ummm, no. They were closed and it was 8 pm. On a Friday. There was a complete idiot  lovely gentleman vacuuming the lobby who wouldn't even acknowledge me when I was pounding on the door. Now what? Head to the ER? Hmmm, what to do. In the end, it all worked out just fine. I brought him home, the lip healed, the tooth was fine. We were lucky.

This morning---yes, Friday---our washing machine didn't work. It was making all of the necessary sounds, without one crucial element. Water. So I'm on the phone to Maytag. We're trying to diagnose the problem, and I was left with a number of options. Unplug it, then plug it back in. Ok, this didn't work. Flip the breaker....umm, where is that???? (just kidding, I really do know). Replace the hoses, which I just picked up at Menards. They're nice---they're blue and red. I would have preferred other colors, but they seemed to be out. (a little attempt at humor here). It should be noted that I have friends who would jump right in and tackle this job. They're the same ones who actually mow their own lawns and change their own light bulbs. But will I attempt this feat? Heck no. I wouldn't have a clue. I've perfected my damsel in distress role. I'll wait for Mike. By the time he gets home from work, picks up Jackson from football, and actually has a moment to look at it, he'll most likely find that this wasn't the problem after all, And then the plumber will be on double-time. Not sure why I go into panic-mode not being able to do laundry. We have plenty of clothes (save for Jackson's 2 pair of underwear). We should be fine.

Happy Friday everyone!