• 1Dec 09

  Busy November

  I had a busy month in Nov. On Nov 8th, I drove down to South Jersey to see my 89 yr old Uncle who was in the hospital having a pacemaker & defibulator implanted in his chest b/c of a massive, near fatal heartattack on Oct 1st. Despite his age, he was in excellent health, still played tennis & baseball & was at his gym, working out, the day before. He's also the nicest man on the planet. My Aunt & cousin flew out from CO also so we had mini family reunion. My 3 sisters met me in NJ too. We had a really nice day with everyone despite the circumstances. However, my bad luck with hotel stays continued that evening. I went to bed at 11:30 & a few mins later I heard a faint click, click sound & thought, "Is someone trying to get into my room?"! Then a few mins later the same thing & then finally a female voice saying "141". I then yelled out, "141 is occupied......and trying to sleep!". Then there were 3 knocks on my door & I jumped out of bed expecting to see her running down the hallway so I could get a description & report it to the front desk. Instead I see 3 girls 2 doors down, 1 girl in a black cocktail dress lying on the floor in a drunken stupor apparently. A man, in a tux, approached from behind, asked what happened, said he was with a wedding party but the offending girls were not with his group. I called down the hallway that I'd like an apology & one of the girls actually did. She had not been drinking & was covering for her idiot friend but I appreciated it. But after all that commotion I couldn't fall asleep & was up most of the night. I met my 5 family members the next morning for breakfast & told them my story. NO ONE had a good night sleep with all the drunken wedding partiers roaming the halls all night long! I said my goodbyes & then went the 2 miles to the house my mother, who was raised by her grandparents, grew up in & in which we stayed as children when we were visiting. My Uncle sold it in the 1990's. It is on the National Registry of Historic Homes so I wanted to take some pics. Too bad I couldn't see the inside again too! From there I drove the 4 hrs home.

  Then on 11/18 I got a call from my son. His car had broken down on his way to college. By 11am the repair shop told him that his head gasket was blown, it would cost $2500 & didn't recommend it be fixed. It was 03 Hyundai Elantra with 88k miles. I consulted with my husband & he agreed we shouldn't spend the money on it. But my son needed a car to get back & forth to college so that afternoon, he & I went car shopping. I LOVE car shopping! We decided to spend the $2500 on a down payment to a brand new car with a warranty. Hyundai has the best in the biz with 10yr/100k & a 60 mo bumper to bumper warranty so we decided to stick with a Hyundai for him. We looked at the Accent but they didn't even come with ABS brakes. I thought they were a life or death standard option on all cars! So they wouldn't work for us. The salesman started showing us used vehicles & only 1 was on option with a decent 60 mo warranty & only 740 miles on it. It was a red 09 Kia Spectra. We took it for a test drive, liked it alot, but wanted to do more comparison shopping. We went to the Kia dealership with our written quote on the used car & asked the salesman there, "Can you do better?" Yes he did. My son got a brand new 09 Kia Spectra in white with a full warranty for just $340 more than the used car. And the best part, my son got a loan all on his own-no cosigning needed from his parents. He had a 700 credit score for a 21 yr old. That's amazing! I'm as proud as when he took his 1st step instead now I'm bragging that he is FINALLY financially independent-yeah!! But now I have to adjust to the fact that he has a newer car than mine!! That doesn't seem right somehow! He earned it though!

  Then 11/22 was my 4 yr old nephew's birthday party. It's an hours drive to their house. That's my husband's brother's son so we got to spend the day with the other side of the family too. They have a 2 yr old daughter too. 2 little kids sure do make a whole lotta noise! I'm so glad I've been there, done that & I'm over it! Don't get me wrong, they are great kids but I'm glad to go home at the end of the day to my nice peaceful house!

  My daughter returned home from college on Wed, the 25th, with her new kitten, Fiona. She is an orange American Shorthair with the characteristic "swirl" on the side. Talk about a bundle of energy! I had to worry about things like her getting electrocuted by the big, old heavy duty outlet behind the stove or her walking on my countertops & kitchen table. I told my daughter she needs to break her of those habits. I was afraid to leave the Thanksgiving turkey unattended. My cat growled & hissed at her all day, everyday! No fights though. She is a sweet little thing & we did bond nicely during her stay here. They returned safely to college on Sunday.

  Thanksgiving Day was a nice, relaxed family day with our only guest being my son's friend whose parents were in NC. I invited him b/c no one should be alone on Thanksgiving Day. We enoyed a nice big meal, the Macys Parade & the football games. My son left with a 2 gal storage bag filled with all the leftover dark meat, steaks & chicken kabobs. He also got a complete pumpkin pie & he raided my cabinets & took cereal, bread, soups & snack cakes! He made out quite well. I went shopping the next day anyway. I wouldn't miss the Black Friday sales! Thanksgiving would have been perfect if the Giants had managed to win their game that night. Instead they played miserably & had an embarrassing defeat. They better beat the dreaded Cowboys on Sunday or I might never recover! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Love to everyone out there!

  • Posted Dec 1, 2009 1:54 pm PT
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• 21Oct 09

  Small Fire

  I knew I was forgetting something in my last blog. I don't know how I could foget to mention the small fire I had on Oct 9th. I have a heavy duty extension cord in the outlet behind my livingroom couch. I plug my vacuum into it b/c I can conveniently reach all areas from that outlet. I called my son on the phone & told him to call me back on my cell phone b/c I was on my way to see him. Before I left the house, I decided to vacuum. I have a very fluffy cat! I finished vacuuming & was heading for the door when the phone rang. It was my son calling me back. Within 1 min of his call, I heard snap, crackle & then immediate flames underneath my couch! I yelled, "The couch is on fire!", threw down the phone, unplugged the vacuum, ran to the kitchen, got 2 glasses of water, opened up the recliner & threw the water directly onto the flames! Nothing happened! The flames were still there melting the fabric & rug underneath. I pulled the couch forward b/c I was going to try to flip it onto it's back so that I could get directly to the flames. This is a huge recliner couch with an all metal frame & a monster to move! The room was filling with smoke & I could taste the chemicals in the back of my throat. I used my adrenaline strength to pull the couch forward. Doing so somehow, miraculously, smothered the flames & put the fire out. I still turned the couch on it's back & soaked the entire underneath & arm of the chair with water so it wouldn't reignite. The whole thing took maybe 2 minutes but they were some of the longest minutes of my life! If I wasn't able to get those flames out & soon, the whole house would have gone up. If my son hadn't called me back when he did, I would have been out the door, the couch would have gone up & then the entrie house with my poor cat inside. My son stayed on the line & was ready to call the fire dept or ambulance if I keeled over with a heart attack! He calmed me down when it was all over. I told him I was going to stay home so that I could make sure the couch didn't reignite & told him to call me in the morning. Which he did to make sure I didn't die in a fire while I slept! That's the closet I've ever come to burning my house down. I don't recommend it! But all is well, even the couch survived with damage only to the underneath. I was very lucky. Love to all out there!

  • Posted Oct 21, 2009 2:41 pm PT
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• 14Oct 09

  Longtime Update

  Hi Everyone! I've had a pretty busy summer. I visited with my 3 sisters in both July & August. In July, sis #2 had her annual "Girls Party". It was on 7/11 & it was chilly, overcast & VERY windy!! Despite the weather we all had a fabulous time. There were 12 of us. We had a grab bag gift giving party just for the fun of it. I recorded it all & the DVD has made the rounds for everyone to see & I have made lots of copies upon request. Everyone & their families enjoyed watching our antics! 12 partying women can make alot of noise!

  I missed Albany's Alive @ Five Irish Concert this summer since I was away. I did manage to find out about the Irish 2000 Festival just days before it began. It moved from the fairgrounds close to my home to fairgrounds that were 64 miles away. I decided to go anyway & made a reservation at a nearby motel. I hated the new location. There was a long line up a steep hill, I drive a 5 speed Jaguar, and then NO parking once you arrived at the top! The nearest parking space was 1.5 miles away from the Main Gate! I ended up parking in an old man's driveway for $5 and I had to leave my keys with him too! That made me apprehensive, it is a Jag, afterall, but he wasn't going to steal it from his own front yard! So that worked out. Once inside the gates, I had a wonderful time listening to the music & watching the dancing. I loved one of the songs, named after 1 of my sisters, so I bought the CD. I said I must be getting old when I start buying Irish Folk music! Then I went back to my little motel room. Right next door were 2 20's guys drinking beer on the porch. By 10pm, they were finally quiet. I thought great as long as they don't reappear in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, they did. At 3:13am to be exact. Along with a bunch of their drunken buddies too! Apparently, it was a bachelor party celebration. They were loud & obnoxious for 45 mins. After they left at 4am, other people were coming & going, a taxi right in front of my door, up & down the stairs on the other side of my room & then walking around over me. I got 3 hrs sleep & RAN out of there at 7am. I could get home & take a nice long nap before my football game started. It was a disaster! I'm so used to my isolated lifestyle I couldn't take all the commotion!

  My next adventure was to go to the Parade of Homes in Sept. There were 15 newly built houses throughout the region that are professionally decorated too. Each house is built by a different builder & ranged in price from $130K to $1.3 million. I only got to 6 houses the 1st day. My GPS wasn't very helpful since most houses were in brand new communities & therefore not on any mapping system yet. I stayed in a hotel overnight this time & had a much better night. There was a little yippy dog at the end of the hall but I didn't hear it late at night. The next day I finished touring the remaining 9 homes. I enjoy doing that very much! That is one of my hobbies!

  I'm planning another trip to South Jersey in a few weeks. My 89 yr old Uncle had a massive heart attack on Oct 1st & his sister is flying out from Colorado to see him. She'd like to see my sisters & I too while she is visiting the East Coast. My Uncle is the nicest man ever to live on the planet, really!, so I'd like to see him before he passes. Our closest cousins are his 2 daughters that we just love too & would enjoy spending time with. I haven't seen my Aunt or cousin from CO since 1999 either. So my sisters & I are trying to coordinate plans that work for all of us.

  My daughter went back to college on Aug. 30th. She will be coming home this Friday for the weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing her again. She is no longer staying in the dorms & instead is living in a rented 4 bdrm/2ba condo with 2 friends she made last year. Her boy friends are directly across the hall. It is a brand new bldg so they are the 1st to occupy it. All nice, new & clean. The condo has a media room, computer room & general store. She only needs to leave to go to classes. Since they are in an apt & not a dorm, they have adopted an orange female kitten named Fiona! I've had cats for nearly 30 yrs but they were all abandoned cats that just showed up at my door & refused to leave until I gave in & took them in. So I've never had the pleasure of a tiny kitten. I'm looking forward to having the little kitten here too. I hope my cat will survive the invasion of her space!

  My son is back in college too. This is his senior year which I'm thrilled about until he tells me that he is going to do another semester next year to complete his internship-ugh! He's also been given a leave of absence from his job at Wal-Mart so he can concentrate on his grades. He's also thinking about moving to Albany & rooming with his closet friends but he'd still have to commute to college all winter long. He lives right across the road from the college now & just 1 mile from work so I don't have to worry about him driving. I'd like him to stay where he is b/c I stop by his apt every week & I know I'd see him less if he moved further away. He's 21 yrs old now so he's going to do what he wants. He still listens to the advice I give him but ultimately he makes his own decisions. He broke up with his girlfriend of 16 months in June. He now has a new girlfriend. She lives in Albany so that is coloring his decision too. I haven't met her yet since she isn't local & spending time at his apt. All of his girlfriends have eerily looked alike! He definitely has a "type"! I expect that I'll like her too!

  What about my husband you ask?! He's a workaholic. He is a plant engineer. When he's home he likes to build & invent things. He is always tinkering with some new project. He is a genius & naturally born electrican. He's the smartest person I've ever met. He sometimes gets frustrated with the people from work b/c everything he does comes so easily to him he can't understand why others don't understand it too. I have to remind him that they aren't dumb, he's just too smart! His intelligence & work ethic has provided a very nice life for us. We don't argue much. How can you win an argument with someone who literally does know everything?! Besides, we agree on just about everything. Politics, religion, how we raised the kids etc. We've been married for 29 years & happily so we must be doing something right! So that's my update. I'm probably forgetting something important but I'll end as always: Love to all out there!

  • Posted Oct 14, 2009 3:00 pm PT
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