It's like this...

Finally saw my doc today. MRI scheduled for tomorrow morning and seeing the surgeon on Tuesday. She thinks I have torn my meniscus and tried to give me an Rx for a scooter so I would stay off of it. I told her thanks but no thanks. The only good thing about this is that I've learned to spell meniscus.

I gathered the kids around me last night at the dinner table. I'd splurged and bought some fresh strawberries, some delicious clementines and some green grapes to make a fruit salad to go with the pasta and broccoli. After Stephanie said the blessing on the food, I told them how glad I was that we were all together. "Thanks for sitting down tonight all together, I just wanted to..." I was interrupted by Ashley Rose. "Dad lost his job again, didn't he?" "What? No! He's fine. He's still got his job" "You always sit us down like this and start talking like that when he's gotten laid off" "I do?" "You do" "Well, Daddy's job is fine---and even if it weren't fine, WE'D be fine. Ok?" They all shrugged and continued eating. Of course this morning Boeing announced another ten thousand layoffs coming. I might have to sit them down in the near future and give them that talk, but I surely hop...

It's Hope Day Five! Now that I've got that out of the way, it's also Saturday. I've not accomplished much today except showering, coloring my hair and leaving a voice mail for my renters that haven't paid their rent this month. Ugh. I dread driving down there and talking to them about it. I truly do. So instead, for now, I'll share this youtube vid of a remarkable experience that some London rail travelers experienced last week. It's an advert, but it's so cool I had to share it. If you look closely, you can see Vicus and Tom doing the boogie-woogie there.

The good folks at Comedy Central bring this to you. Get your shoes ready. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M - Th 11p / 10c Changefest '09 - Obama's Inaugural Speech Barack Obama Interview John McCain Interview Sarah Palin Video Funny Election Video

I won't be posting any more nice stories about my father. He was shown last night's post by my sister on her big screen and was upset with me. So, that's it.

My father lived alone for six years after my mother passed on. He had his two dogs and his two cats, but essentially lived alone without another human being to have meals with every day. There was no one here to say goodnight to him in the evening and good morning when the day began. My sister and I did our best to say goodnight and good morning to him via telephone---but it's not the same. We moved here in August when Lance got a job transfer. It's been an adjustment for all of us and hopefully the good of the situation outweighs the bad. Since our oldest daughter returned from college, we've been a little stretched for room so our youngest sleeps in our room on the floor next to our bed. Each evening as Papa is getting ready for bed, and if Ashley is still awake on the floor, he gives her the nightly tickle. It can be short, it can be long but it's always full of giggles and laughter and joy. I'm grateful that my baby girl will take this sweet memory with h...

The day was glorious. That big yellow orb that emits warmth was actually visible so my girls and I went down to the waterfront and had some fun, topping it off with some seafood at Ivars. It was a lovely day....

Many years ago, my mother had some beautiful wool carpeting laid on the stairs and the large landing up stairs in her home. It was a gorgeous, as well as sturdy carpeting. It's still there today. A little more worn, with some cat-inflicted damage on the stairs but still quite serviceable. This evening it was defiled in a horrific manner. I haven't been feeling well since yesterday. Due to this I've been staying close to bed and in fact spent most of it laying down and resting today. This evening I got a phone call from my sister to discuss both a wedding shower and a baby shower that we've been invited to this month. As we were talking, I rose from my bed and went out to the landing. As I stood there, my nose was assaulted. Did I say my nose? It was more than that. At first whiff I merely thought someone had passed some gas. Awful, terrible, wretched gas, but simply gas nonetheless. On my second inhalation the hair in my nose was vaporized and tears welled up in...

I broke down and called the doc today and discovered that they don't work on Wednesdays! They don't work on Saturdays either. Niiiice. So I will call them tomorrow. I've reached a level of unacceptable pain here. So of course I went roller skating tonight. Ok, I didn't actually skate. I watched. Ally, Ash and Steph strapped on skates and went for it. Ally and Steph did fine---Ash never made it off the carpet. I knew it wasn't a good idea to do this but she was insistent because all her friends were going to be there. We left about fifteen minutes before the session ended, after she took her third or fourth bad fall, this time smacking her head pretty hard. She's also sporting several spectacular bruises and one gnarly rug burn on her elbow. I'll give her props for going for it and giving it her best shot. After we got home tonight I gave her ice to put on her shoulder and we talked for a bit. She's frustrated about her inability to skate. I didn...

Yes, it's time to ice the knee again. I'm not quite sure what I did to it or if I did anything at all. All I know is that it's not right. There is pain, yes mighty pain. It wakes me at night and makes me wince and nearly cry. So of course I'm putting off going to the doctor to see if icing it, taking anti-inflammatories and pain pills will magically resolve whatever it is that's wrong in there. Meanwhile I've been racing around interpreting for teachers and parents and loving it. I'll be starting four more Spanish classes at two different schools and am about to start reading our book club's new book. "La Sombra del Viento" Next week I'll concentrate on leaping over tall buildings in a single bound and finding a cure for stupidity. Oh, and rudeness. I can't abide rude people---especially when their rudeness is aimed in my direction. Those people need curing and perhaps a good spanking or two.

Just got the news that Boeing is going to lay off 4,500 workers. Initial layoff notices go out on February 20th. Not that, you know, it's a big thing. Piece of cake. We've been down this road before. It's a lovely drive. Plenty of potholes, dead ends and most of the bridges are out but isn't that way of things? You just have to learn to navigate around the obstacles and make sure you stop to notice the scenery. It can still be beautiful.

First I wished for snow and we were innundated with the white stuff. It was horrible. Then I wished for it to rain and this is what is happening here now... My friend has now informed me that I should use my powers for good and not for evil. Who knew? After we dropped the kids off at school this morning, Lance and I went to take some pictures of the flood. Horrible, awful and all kinds of bad. That's not a lake behind Lance. Well, I mean it is now , but it's not supposed to be a lake. We came across a car in the middle of a flooded road. It's lights were on and we couldn't get close enough to see if there was someone in the car. We didn't have any cell reception where we were so we left to see if we could get help and as we were leaving the police came. The road is just...gone. Picnic table under water at Cottage Lake We drove through some high water on a few roads but nothing that would have put us in danger. We know better. Well, for the most part.

I do, truly. Mondays are a new start. A new beginning. Back on schedule and back in the saddle. The saddle was almost yanked out from under me today by the snowfall all night, but thankfully it turned to rain this morning. School was an hour and a half late--which wasn't too bad. The roads were all right but as I slushed through the track at Meridian Park, I realized that walking wasn't a good idea. My feet were soaking wet and I kept slipping in the mush. Ugh. I managed to go twice around then called it quits. My first Spanish class of the day was smile-worthy. The children were thrilled to be back and they chattered about their Christmas vacation and the fun they had in the snow. I realized as I listened to them how attached to them I've become. They light up my day. One little red-headed boy is exuberant. His smiles are infectious. I'm grateful this job has landed in my lap. One more good thing--they called me about Ash's MRI. There has been no more ...

Oh yes. Again. Apparently Mother Nature has a sense of humor. It's snowing. Hard. Falling flakes of white making it look as though the entire world has been sifted over with powdered sugar. See? I just took this picture a few minutes ago as Lance and I walked the dogs. The canines didn't appear to mind the cold wet stuff falling on them---we did. See, the reason I think Mother Nature has a sense of humor is because tomorrow the children are supposed to go back to school. I'm supposed to go back to work. After three weeks off, it's time for them to go back and for me to go back. Now, it's all in jeopardy. This is me being not amused.

We were wild and crazy last night as we rang in the new year at home. The Boy and The Girl were out and about---we stayed home because we are just that daring and wild. We ate things that were bad for our cholesterol, our arteries and probably our brain cells. The girls fell asleep before the stroke of midnight. I barely managed to hang on and then the only reason we knew it was the new year was the noise and racket from our neighbors. Fireworks, air horns, clanking pots and pans and the barking of our dog. Hubby and I said happy new year to each other, kissed and then I passed out asleep. In our defense, we'd had to get up quite early yesterday to be at Children's Hospital for Ash's MRI, so we were functioning on little sleep. Also, we're kind of old.