Tableau Tuesday Weekend Wrap Up

So it was a nice long weekend for me. I took Monday off and disappeared for a couple of days with Corky - we'll get to that.

Friday
Did a bunch of grown-up things, like balancing my bank account and clearing my work e-mail from 684 messages in my inbox to ZERO. I handled all of them. ALL OF THEM. It took the entire day, but I did it. And it made me feel accomplished. I know I'm weird in that it made me anxious.

Saturday
Spent the day cleaning out all the old electronics, grocery shopping, shoe shopping, dropped the dogs at the kennel, had lunch and visited my folks. Also packed a bag.

Sunday
Slept in a bit, and decided to vacuum before leaving. The cat freaked out and bolted, but I wasn't sure if she went outside or somewhere in the house. We spent a couple of hours looking for her, and asked bff to check and see if she showed up at night (she didn't). And so, we headed out of town. This was the 5th anniversary of Corky's mother's death, and is always a difficult day for her whole family. We drove a couple of hours away and ended up in Guerneville for the night. We lunched and wandered the town. It is a cute place, and I could see living there, if it were on the coast... That seems to be my constant lament - I find all of these really great places, but they are not on the coast. We had an early dinner and retired to our penthouse where I debuted my purchases from Curvy Girl. The look on Corky's face was totally worth every cent I spent. We enjoyed our evening in, and spent plenty of time laughing our heads off. I love that we can break into giggle fits and make each other laugh.

Monday
Corky's birthday (also the birthday of both of my dogs). We had a delicious breakfast and hit the road. We decided to just meander our way home, stopping at the sparking cellars for champagne tasting, the Charles Schultz museum, and a casino before a 2 hour, traffic insane drive home. I found that: I enjoy a Riesling sparkling wine; Schultz was a very interesting person, and the museum was delightful, and I more than doubled my money at the casino. We stopped at a place featured on TV for a LATE lunch (only 5 hours after breakfast), and the food was phenomenal! In fact all of the food during our trip was so delicious. I feel like I need a cleanse diet afterward - or to start running marathons... The cat found her way home, and was none the worse for wear. I think she was just pissed off at me, and decided to hide out in a neighbor's yard all of Saturday. It was a really nice two days unplugged from reality.

Today is back to the multiple demands of my life. I hope you all have a fantastic week.

And now for some pictures!

Created with flickr slideshow.

Kep Yer Pecker Up

This saying has become my mantra this week. It hails from my friend's late father who said his every time his teen daughter was down. It always made her laugh, and she still lives by it. I have so many things going on in my life that I can barely catch a breath before the next wave washes over my head. Work reorg has left all of the minions anxious and back stabby. Parent group at middle school has had some relief this week, but still needs immediate attention for additional volunteers. The Boys have caught up on assignments, but need to still make up some work. And now my dad's declining health is stressing me out.

At least today's reason to celebrate is 14 months in a relationship with Corky, and we will be out of town for a couple of days soon. I am hoping that is a long enough break to relax and come back refreshed.

life

Today marks a year since Diane died. During that period of time, not much has changed and everything has. The biggest thing that has changed is my desire to pour my heart out to someone, to a friend. I have now started to question my ability to even be a friend to anyone. I miss Diane. I wish she were still with us. I want to tell her what has been going on. I want to talk to her for so long that every battery on every phone dies. We did that often - 2 cordless phones, with 3 hours of battery life each, and we would talk until they couldn't charge fast enough to get power before we had to switch. We laughed and laughed and laughed. Diane helped me to see the humor in every situation, even those where humor was difficult to find. She saw me through my most difficult times, my most sad and down self, and she ALWAYS was able to make me laugh. Even battling for her life, she laughed when she could have been angry and sad - and make no mistake, she was both. And she was tired; tired of all the shit that went with the fight, and tired of idiots, and tired of not being heard or seen, and not being fought for. STILL, STILL she laughed. We were really good for one another. I made it my mission to make her laugh about some weird absurdity of her situation, some Murphy's Law bit of life. I love Diane still, and I miss her horribly.

Monday Morning Weekend Wrap Up

A great, though hot ass weekend. Temps over 100 F all last week and through the weekend. House is not insulated, and no A/C. So fucking hot. So hot. Walking around naked hot. Laying about and doing nothing hot.

Friday
Corky had the day off, and I worked in the morning, then volunteered in the afternoon to tie dye field trip shirts at the elementary school my kids no longer attend. It was the first time I'd been back since June, and when I entered the office to sign in, they applauded and cheered me. The principal came out and hugged me, and it made me feel so very appreciated. I didn't need to be there, as the current art teachers are really on the ball about it, but it was more of a moral support thing. Of course, we were outside in the blazing heat, but the shirts loo amazing, as I knew they would, as they always do. After school, Corky's roommate took us to an early dinner to thank us for driving her around while her car was in the shop for a week, and picking the car up while she was at work. We had humongous salads, and I was so tired and full of ruffage that I needed a nap. Got up and showered and headed out dancing - when it was 7:30 and still over 90 F. Met up with some friends, met new ones and had fun until the EDM was too much for us and we were starving. Went to a late dinner with my first BF, and his partner. A fun but late night.

Saturday
Woke up at 6:30 for a bathroom break, then asleep again until 9. Spent time lounging in bed with Corky, had breakfast and shower and Corky left for work. I fell back asleep on the sofa for about an hour and then did laundry and ate lunch. Spent the rest of the day reading, taking cool showers and sweating. Was not motivated to do much of anything because it was still so fucking hot. Wandered my house half naked, wrote a bit, ate crappy foods, and laid about. Spent time thinning about Corky and how much I love her. Exhausted, and nearly napped again once the temperature dropped to purgatory. I did get through another lesson and some weak skills practice in Italian, so that is an actual accomplishment.

Sunday


Woke up earlier than usual and headed to buy a couple of birthday cards before joining friends on a trip to Curvy Girl. Found some really cool stuff that Corky will probably love, if she doesn't suffer a stroke first. ;-).  Stopped for lunch on the way home and picked up The Boys and Corky, made a salad and Headed to my folks' for my oldest Nephew's birthday dinner. We all went around the table talking about how much we love him and we cried (of course). Had a great dinner and lemon cake and headed home to my oven of a house. Helped The Youngest finish his homework, everyone showered, and we all went to bed.

I hope you all have an enjoyable week, and I really hope the heat wave breaks soon...

Sadness and Stress

It's that time of year. This is September, and soon will mark the one year anniversary of my dear friend's death. She is never far from my mind, but I really long to hear her laugh, and share stories of our sons. I flat out miss her. Terribly. Today I just let loose and cried. Sadness was the prevalent emotion, but the stress of my current financial situation added to the mix. September also marks the beginning of school and the hemorrhaging of my bank account for school registration and supplies. It is only going to get more expensive too. I am stressing about college already. I am so glad Corky was here. I just needed her to hold me while I cried. I needed the comfort of her arms, and her gentle touch and soothing words.

Monday Morning Weekend Wrap Up

Another insanely busy weekend, but I did also get a bit of down time, so that's good, right?

Friday
Went for a morning walk with bff and checked out a home for sale across the street from her and Corky. Ran into an old friend of the exes dad, who has the listing. He's a really nice guy and it was nice running into him after all these years. Bought a used gas powered lawn mower and drove with Corky and bff to pick it up. Picked up The Boys at school, and was asked a bunch of questions about PFC (of which I am a Co-President). Let The Boys take the afternoon / evening off from homework and went to a PFC budget meeting during dinner time while The Boys had leftovers. Started laundry and read until bed time.

Saturday
Spent the first 4 hours of the day doing yard work. Mixed and sprayed some weed killer in the front, and weed whacked the back. Wanted to use the mower, but the weeds were over a foot high, and thick. I did find a 2 foot square patch of soft grass amidst the dead weeds. I also really jacked up my back. I drank about a gallon of water and took some anti-inflammatory medication. Corky came by after work, and made me a lunch while I showered. I gave The Boys a choice of doing homework or helping in the yard and they picked homework, which was nearly complete. Corky left to shower and change, and we all had dinner together, followed by frozen yogurt. We also went to the aquarium supply and picked up more fish for The Oldest's 10 gallon fresh water tank. Corky asked if we could have a nice big aquarium when we buy a house, and I said, of course.

Sunday
More laundry and had The Boys finish homework and do their chores. I balanced my checking account and went to a friend's for a demo of her arbonne sales pitch. Ended up with some samples, and I'll see if I can maintain a 7 step regimen (when my current is only 2 steps)... Went grocery shopping and made dinner for the 4 of us. Everyone enjoyed the food, so that makes me happy. My shoulder has a HUGE knot from the weed whacking, and there is a weird bruise on my foot from a flying rock, but otherwise I am unscathed. Early to bed to rest up for the week.

I hope you all have an enjoyable week!

Gratitude

Today I am grateful for:

My foot not being broken, but suffering from tendinitis instead.
Corky being her adorable self, and the way she thanks me ;-)
My Sons and how they are growing into wonderful men. I am proud to be their mom.
My Sister, even though I don't talk to her often enough, I love and appreciate how she is there for me.
New High School drivers, reminding me why I am glad I even lived through those years.
Apologies from old nemesis.
Spending the entire day at home because I have generous and caring friends who drive my kids to school, and they are old and wise enough to walk home.
Being able to listen to a diverse range of music of which the kids these days are fond.
My cat.
The Dogs and their protective nature.
My job.
My continuing good health.

Tableau Tuesday - on Wednesday

I have a feeling this entire week will have me a day behind... All shot over the last week, including the first day of school, Scottish Games and Lawrence Hall of Science.

Created with flickr slideshow.

And the videos from Berkeley:






I hope you all have a good rest of your week.

Tuesday Morning Holiday Weekend Wrap Up

Well this was a long weekend in the states with many people leaving town for the last hurrah of Summer. Not me. I stayed in town and enjoyed my extra day off of work.

Friday
Celebrated two friends and their new jobs starting next week. Met with the principal of the middle school to discuss next week's back-to-school night, this year's budget and the first PFC meeting. Spent the evening in with Corky for leftover pizza dinner and a movie followed by dessert and coffee out, where I teasingly stated we'd still be doing so in our nineties, but my elderly voice has a southern accent - weird...

Saturday
I woke up earlier than planned and ended up spending time with The Cat, because I just don't get enough time with her. I was really relaxed and it had relieved my stress. It was meditative and a great beginning to my day. Lazed about for a bit, then shopping and drug store. Came home and made a roasted corn salad and guacamole for a party, only to find out there would already be a corn salad - harumph. Took the guac with us, and Corky made some killer appetizers consisting of half of a cotton candy grape and a small chunk of sharp cheddar speared with a toothpick. The party was at my first boyfriend's, and was LGBT all the way, which was really nice. The other female couple included a woman I have not seen for about 30 years, who I felt did a horrible thing to me in HS, causing me much torment throughout my younger years. She brought an "I'm sorry" bouquet, which was hysterically funny and all because my dear friend told her I still carried it with me... It was a great evening, and also included my helping an elderly dementia patient (and mother of one of our friends) put her bra on facing the correct way... She was grateful, even though she couldn't remember my name, nor how to put it on correctly, nor why were were even in the bathroom to begin with. Corky had fun, and as usual, there was WAY TOO MUCH food. Really. WAY TOO MUCH. It looked like a couple of the single guys were fond of each other, which was very sweet to see, and I hope it works out well for them. They are both such sweet men, and deserve all the happiness in the world.

Sunday
Corky had to work in the morning, but left early. I met her at my folks' and we headed to the 149th Scottish Gathering and Games, hosted by the Caledonian Club of San Francisco. She had never been to the games, and I've always enjoyed them. We watched the heavy games, some of the Pipe & Drum bands, and wandered the clan tents and commercial buildings. We stopped to listen to Celtica for a bit and she had a meat pie, wile I had fries (chips). By the time we got to the Scottish food vendor, they were out of IrnBru, and Malteasers, much to my disappointment. We didn't see any shirts either of us could live without, I didn't want to spend a small fortune on skirts and bodice, and all of my clan's scarfs, key chains, etc. were sold out. We ended the games with the mass bands on the track - over 600 musicians, including the 1st regiment Marine Corps band, and the Scottish Battalion pipe band. Corky teared up at Auld Lang Syne, while I wept at Amazing Graze. We ran into the ex, his gf, and several of their friends (whom I have known since High School). They left The Oldest in charge of the other 3 kids while they were at the games, claiming it was too expensive to bring them... The Oldest has a cold and called me later. We had dinner at a Mexican place we like, picked up Corky's car, and headed home.

Monday
Slept in, laundry and picked up some stuff for the house. Ran into Corky and her roommate while running around, and The Boys didn't get home until after 11:30. I'd wanted to get out of town with them, but the day was already half over, and we wouldn't get home at a decent time, or be able to spend enough time wherever we went, so we stuck closer to home than normal. We ended up at Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, and it was just as hot there as at home, although we were hoping for a cooler locale. We visited Corky at work on the way home and picked up food for dinner. Home and I worked with The Youngest on spelling for his test Tuesday, and finished laundry. The heat made us all lethargic, so we laid low trying to stay coolish.

Pics coming tomorrow, good week to all!