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 |  January 2016 (30 Day Blogging Challenge) |
| LET THE GAMES BEGIN! |
| A big thank you to Cindy for choosing such an uplifting prompt for today. It's not even noon and my Monday is starting with one miserable call followed by one more miserable call followed by one more miserable call. This prompt has given me a better attitude. I love the expression "on top of the world" because it so perfectly describes this feeling of elevation, uplifted spirits and that feeling that nothing or no one can touch you or bring you down. When I'm on top of the world everyone knows it, I seem to emit joy and exuberance. My eyes sparkle, my shoulders push back and my smile cannot be hidden. And most obviously (maybe even annoying to some) I tend to speak, walk and move extremely quickly. As it is, I speak much faster than most people or so I am told. With two ears you should be able to listen twice as fast as I speak  . It's like my feet barely touch the ground and I am flying.I also want everyone around me to feel the same way. So this is the time I send flowers. I love flowers and send them as thank you, sympathy note, or bday but to send them for no reason at all really makes a statement. This is also the time I like to give unexpected gifts, those BEATS headphones my son wanted or a flavored olive oil for a neighbor or simply a package of funny cocktail napkins. The best is to make dinner for a friend. There is something satisfying about a home cooked meal. I am sure all this adds to my euphoria so its a rather circular experience. It's odd to think about what puts me in this stare. Of course my son is master so the littlest happiness in him or moment of pride for him sends me flying. But it can also be a sincere gesture or waking up feeling light or just seeing a sunny day. I wish I knew what really caused it because I would try to control it and have a Top of the World day weekly! |
| It was such a long day that I had no time to write. Quick timeline: 5 am - Wake up, check emails, pay online bills, make cookies 7 am - Find crew uniform for son, pack up for regatta 8 - 3:30 - Support team at Regatta. My son did an amazing job as coxie however his 4 boat came in 7 out of 16 and his 8 caught a crab so came in bottom 1/4. Hope regatta next week is better 4 - 6 grocery shop, laundry, prep for dinner 7 - 10 Go see Avengers - Loved it 10 - 11 prep for week go to bed Not much more time than that. |
| I hate to admit that I could tell many "caught in the act" stories. Not that I am devious or dishonest, no no. I would just say I sometimes make poor choices. One event immediately came to mind. Now I am going to share this story, however you are not allowed to pass judgement on me . I was not a promiscuous young lady nor was I malicious. So be kind and understanding while reading this.My father has a wonderful sense of humor and besides being an outstanding role model and protector, my dad was constantly kidding with us and playing practical jokes on us. This was especially true when he tried to help us understand a specific lesson. He did not like the fact that I choose to date multiple gentlemen at the same time. Getting to the point.... I really liked dating when I was a teenager. The problem was I couldn't understand why I should only date one at a time. Note I was young and it was a different time. It takes a great deal of energy and coordination to manage multiple boyfriends. Maybe I had those extra hours in the day that Emily has. Joe was tall, blond, athletically built and so attentive. Tim was a muscle head with a porsche; he was wild, dangerous and definitely not permanent. Tony was new, different and carefree. Each had their beautiful characteristics. Dad would love to answer the phone (this was before cell phones) and tell me Tim was on the phone. I would pick up stating how much I could wait to see him that night, only to hear I did not have a date with this guy because it was Joe not Tim. Oh did I scramble. My father would laugh his ass off and tell me one day I would learn. It was a Saturday night and I was supposed to go out with Joe. While TIm called and I really wanted to go out with him. As I was getting dressed, Tony called to meet him out. I called Joe stating I was too sick to go out (yes I lied - not proud of it), then told Tony I had other plans and couldn't meet him either. Dad was not happy. Tim picked me up at 9 - we had dinner and headed out to The Locker Room (a local bar). We enter the bar together, me holding onto him and both of us laughing. As we get to the bar and order a drink, we are really enjoying ourselves. I glance across the bar and there is Tony, staring at me. He sees me and shakes his head and turns away - needless to say I never heard from Tony again. I felt terrible when I suddenly there is a tap on my back. Its Joe. Oh we have quite the conversation and guess what? He will not be calling anytime soon either. Now I am embarrassed and miserable. I run to the rest room and on my way back I see Tim kissing his ex- girlfriend. Karma? When I got home I told my dad. Although he could have said I told you so, he preferred to hug me and tell me just to be sure I remember this feeling and how it hurts. I spent the next few weekends away from the phone. I apologized to both guys and have NEVER played that game again. Not very flattering but I learned my lesson! Other News Last night, I roughed it with high heels and a cast. It was a terrific fundraiser and we had a blast. One problem: As I was standing next to one of our guests, left foot on heel and right foot cast resting on the shoe of my friend, in walks my doctor. She gave me the look and said she was thrilled to see I had taken her advice seriously by keeping off the foot and elevating it. Yikes. Caught again  |
| There are those days where the colors of my rainbow are shades of grey and those days make me think about quitting the so called rat race and just hanging on a beach some where! However I would like to focus my response on those who just can't quit spewing garbage from their mouths. The verbal regurgitation that seems to be on a water wheel refusing to stop. It sounds harsh but I am sure you have all experienced this with one person or another. It's when you really just can't get the person to stop talking and rather than listening to what they are saying, you are concentrating on how to get the closest napkin into this person's mouth ASAP. It starts with situational awareness, knowing your surroundings and getting a take on the conversation. To assess the environment or the situation and make your next step based on that assessment normally happens pretty quickly, but it is essential. Let me present an example. I recently hosted a get together which consisted of about 10 women. One person, let's call her Sally, was slightly out of her element and she was going off on a very personal problem that was making the group uncomfortable. One woman left the room, several were squirming in their seats. I jumped in to try to change the subject and Sally just didn't take the obvious hint but continued her rant in greater detail. Three more people left the room. All eyes examining the carpets or ceiling, but no one looking at the Sally. FInally, I ask her to stop. I said "Sally you need to stop talking right now. This is completely inappropriate and we are very uncomfortable so either stop talking about it or leave". I little blunt but come on. I apologized for the rudeness but felt being rude was better than my other options: beating her with the guitar next to me, shoving one of my throw pillows into her mouth, setting her hair on fire or handing out ear plugs to the other guests. Maybe I am just not as patient as some, but I am confident in my situational awareness. Even if you are not, you should be able to take a hint and close the mouth. Sorry if I sound a bit annoyed but this seems to be happening quit frequently lately. Should I create a public service announcement? Foot Status For those of you not in the know, I broke my foot a few weeks ago and it has not be fun. The lucky April bloggers were able to experience my bitching in full glory, until I promised I would stop. I have a fund raiser to attend tonight and I really want to look good. I added a leg warmer to the cast and put on one of my favorite pair of i mean individual heel. Do you think I can pull this off, assuming of course that I will not tip over? ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Don't you think the other leg looks swollen as well? So gross! Ok one last bitch - I HATE THE DAMN CAST AND THE IMMOBILITY.  Should be removed next Wednesday. FIngers crossed |
| As Earl and his loss were on my mind, I couldn't help thinking about how we manage to cope with adversity, to pick ourselves up and to keep moving on. We have all had difficult situations some more sorrowful than others and we have all developed some way of dealing with the emotional toll. For me, I have found a few techniques to help through a difficult time. First I surround myself with the people who are most important to me. That could be my son, husband, parents, family or friends. I find comfort and safety in a circle of loved ones. I don't need to be on and I don't need to be anything other than what I am feeling at that time. I allow myself to cry or to scream or to mope. I think it takes time to heal and you need to give yourself that time. Feeling sorry for yourself is understandable and the need to isolate and think helps me deal with whatever I need to get through. This could last a few hours or a few weeks. When my mother-in-law passed I was inconsolable and still have difficulty discussing it. It was months before I could move on. Once I finish the self indulgence, I push myself to laugh. Find something humorous or something that would usually make me smile. It is difficult to search out humor when you are feeling badly so let your support group know that you need a laugh or at least a smile. In my experience every family or group of friends has someone who plays the clown. Find that person and let him make you laugh. Then I start a new project. It could simply be a new book or as elaborate as redecorating a room. It helps. It takes your mind of your difficulty and lets your subconscious deal with it for awhile. And throughout the entire time, I write. I write whatever I feel. No one needs to read it and it does not have to mean anything more than a way for you to cope and move on. |
| My sympathies to you Earl and your family. Nothing can compare to the tears you are shedding now and I hope that whatever you are reading tonight will bring a small smile to your face. Daily I vacillate between smiles and tears, so choosing an appropriate experience was tough today, I thought about the stress of a busy work day and remembered a day of Smiles and Tears and Smiles again. Several years ago I traveled weekly with my company. I would leave Buffalo Tuesday morning on a 6 am flight to Detroit, spend time Minneapolis, Chicago and then back to Detroit before returning to Buffalo on the 4:50 pm flight Friday night. I did this for about 3 years. The time I am referring to was marked by receiving the green light on a major consulting project. This sales process had lasted months and took a great deal of effort but the payout was about $1.3 million. As you can imagine I was thrilled that it closed. The answer came about 15 minutes before I left for Detroit Metro Airport. I was all smiles. I relished in my accomplishment and called everyone to present the good news. I had no idea the rest of the night would be horrific. It started when I returned the rental car and took the shuttle to the terminal. Once I entered the terminal, I noticed I left my briefcase on the shuttle. Talk about a nightmare. Had to call the car rental, get transferred to about 4 different people until finally I just checked every shuttle as it dropped off. Briefcase found. That was time consuming and I am one of those last minute travelers. I rush through security checking the monitor as I run. By the way, I always wore high heels, a dark suit with a fitted skirt, crisp white blouse with french cuffs and carried a purse and a briefcase lugging a carryon behind me. Racing to the gate was not easy. As I get there somewhat out of breath, I see the flight has been delayed. Fine, I will have a cup of coffee and take a breather. I was a bit concerned because that night I was going from the airport directly to an office celebration for my husband. My cocktail dress and accessories were in the car parked in the Buffalo long term lot. I had planned to change while driving to the venue. Anyway, the flight changes gates and is scheduled for 1 1/2 later. I proceed to that gate, call my hubby to say I will be there closer to dessert but will see him as soon as I can. At the new gate I hear that all Northwest flights leaving are grounded due to tornadoes. No way is this happening to me. I immediately start dialing other airlines thinking Northwest is just being overly cautious and that another airline will be more adventurous. Guess what? It doesn't work that way. Call the hubby and tell him I will miss his big honor. I am pissed to say the least. Grounded. For the next several hours, I am glued to the monitors chasing flights to Buffalo or Rochester (as I can rent a car and drive to Buffalo). I run from one gate to the next as the flights get rescheduled and then changed and then rescheduled and then changed again. The crowds are overwhelming, no one is happy and a thin fog of body odor seems to be covering the air. By now I have switched from coffee to martinis. Finally it is 12:40 am and we are boarding the plane to Buffalo. I was a frequent flyer so I flew first class. I am standing next to my suitcase, in the midst of several disgruntled passengers, waiting to board my pane. All of a sudden this little old lady comes barrelling through the crowd pushing her way to the front of the line. In her rush she pushes into me and hits me just right so that I fall directly over my suitcase. Legs in the air. Skirt ripped. Facial expression total shock. I am so flabbergasted that I stay like that for what felt like 10 minutes - of course it was only a few minutes. Oh I gave quite the show on my back as you can imagine. A few gentlemen came to help me up. Needless to say the tears were plentiful. Finally I boarded the plane, the ride to Buffalo was uneventful. So much for those tornadoes. I landed, left the airport and drove home. It was almost 2:30 am when I opened the door to my house and running toward me was my little toddler. He woke up and my husband let him stay up to say goodnight to his mommie and give me hug. Talk about some smiles. |
| Please wait while you're redirected Like Earl, I seem to get this message whenever I am in a hurry to complete an online activity. I don't want to be redirected. I want the page to load and the site to work. Why is this message even relevant? Shouldn't our technology advances have already eliminated any time delays allowing users to see this message? Is it too much to ask that I have immediate response time? I can almost deal with it while using the phone. It is reasonable to expect a call to be transferred / redirected and for that transfer / redirection to take some time. Although I must say there is little I despise more than the trip through voice mail hell..."please listen to all the options as they have recently been changed, press 1 for menu, do you know your party's extension, please dial #4 for a directory, sorry that name does not exist try again, sorry that name does not exist try again, welcome to hell we will keep you here waiting for the next half hour and then disconnect with a lovely goodbye. I may have went off a little there, sorry. The most annoying redirection is when you are waiting in a line. You go to the DMV (for those of you not familiar that is the Department of Motor Vehicles and if you drive in NY state you will have to visit it and you will then know what it is like to be a mouse lost in a trap) and you start in one line only to be told it is the wrong line and you need to go to a different line which has about a billion more people ahead of you. Happens at the grocery store as well. Standing behind a few people you wait and wait only to get to that coveted "Next please" position but be told by the cashier that she is closed. Didn't you see that little sign on the bottom of the counter behind the magazine rack? I have found a good use for "Please wait while you're redirected". A friend of mine is the master of redirection. If he is involved in a conversation that does not resonate with him, he changes the subject. If we are looking for a restaurant and he prefers to do something else, he changes the focus. Yes he is very good. So when he makes his first move, his first statement to steer us elsewhere, I interrupt and state to the group "Please wait while you're redirected". Laughs all around. |
| I appreciate the opportunity to blog about this blogging challenge because of course I have something to say. First, I am so proud of myself for finishing it. Everyone is busy and there were many times I thought the easier route of throwing in the towel would prevail. But here I am at the finish line and I owe a debt of thanks to my fellow bloggers for motivated me to continue on. I have the utmost respect for this group. They were so respectful to create and present their very best that I could not work as hard. As for administration, Thundersbeard and team did an incredible job choosing interesting prompts, responding in comments and keeping us motivated. I looked forward to those daily emailed prompts. No problems, no issues, no concerns, just a delightful blogging experience. Thank you for this experience. I don't have any suggestions for improvements, unless of course you could find a way to add a few more hours to my day so I could have more time to devote to this challenge. The best part of this challenge were my fellow bloggers. It amazed me how consistently they produced honest, well written and upbeat entries. They provided thoughtful comments and so much laughter! Each had their own style. Regularly I felt as if I wanted to read more and I wanted to know each person better. I wasn't expecting to make online friends through this experience, but that did happen and I am thrilled that it did. I look forward to Earl's unofficial challenge THANK YOU ALL! |
| I am late, late late. What a terrific week of reading. I enjoyed everyone's blogs yet again, but am too late to do a solid recap so hear are some quick memories: Cindy's recount of her traumatic experiences was so enthralling and as you know I was completely connected. Cindy teaches in every entry and always always makes me feel hopeful. Prosperous and Earl's fairy tale entries resonated with me. Loved that Earl's first experience was as an adult and that Prosperous kissed a bunch of frogs. Vipulya, Star and Big Bad seem to continually leave me with something to consider during the week. Cindy's recount of her traumatic experiences was so enthralling and as you know I was completely connected. Cindy teaches in every entry and always always makes me feel hopeful. FIveSixer's serial was awesome. Did not expect the jail ending. He made me feel I was there. I think I get so much out of Fivesixer's entries because he has this way of bringing you into all of it. I feel like I am there with him. Brother's serial was in my view the best. I always look forward to reading his entries but this was a real story. The subject matter chosen was right on, the way it was written kept me on the edge of my seat. Any way we could all meet for coffee? Or you could come to my place for a party? This has been a so much fun for me! |
| The Outcome At first it felt like bubbles bursting whenever the pace maker charged my heart. Quarterly check ups showed that the device was controlling 9% of my heartbeats. Incredibly I learned that my heart normally runs at 90 beats per minute, which is higher than normal. When it drops suddenly to 60, the pacemaker kicks in because the next drop is 0. I rarely feel it anymore, maybe once or twice a week at the most. It’s been 8 years and I have not passed out or fainted at all. It is a bit of an inconvenience, although well worth it. Once a quarter I log into a machine at home, place the mouse over the device and send info over the phone lines. Once a year I go to the Telemetry lab for a face-to-face appointment with a technician. It’s incredible what the results can tell. For example I was playing competitive tennis on Tues and Thurs at 10 and then again on Sat at 7 am. The technician had read my results and said that my heart rate was high on Tues.Thurs around 10:15 and on Sat around 7:15. I don’t really know how I feel about being so monitored that a simple report will show my heart rate. You can tell a great deal about what someone is doing by keeping this info. There are a few challenges being a pace maker recipient. One thing I need to stay away from magnets. Not really a big deal as I haven’t played with magnets since I was kid. I also need to stay out of MRI machines. I had hurt my knee at tennis and went to an Orthopedic guy. He though I tore my meniscus or something sounding like that and prescribed an MRI to be sure. When I mentioned that I had a pace maker, he said “Well than let’s refrain from doing the MRI so you don’t spontaneously combust”. He went on to say that the MRI could heat the device to burning levels. Ohhh I definitely do not want that. The biggest challenge is airport security. I can no longer go through the scanning devices and therefore need a pat down. You would think I would be used to it by now but I really hate it. I have to tell the security guard that I have a pace maker. I have a card to prove it but I have never been asked to show it. At that point, they need to call a female attendant. The guards actual scream across the room to notify someone is never discrete and I wind up being a conspicuous traveler. It’s the same each time…where are your bags, face your bags and stand with your arms up and your legs spread. I am always asked if I want a private screening. Who really cares if people see me getting the pat down? Even I am not that vain. After the guard checks everything, I have to sit down and show her the bottom of my feet. Because that idiot terrorist tried to ignite a bomb with his shoe, we all have to be subject to foot inspection. Finally I am released and begin the redress at the end of the conveyor belt. The jokes re: my pacemaker are non-stop: My Brother to me: “Can’t say I am surprised Tin Man, I always knew you were missing a heart’ Co-workers: “Hey Bon can we get you to turn that thing down, you are moving too fast for us today” Husband: “Let’s see what we could do tonight so your heart rate results make the technician blush” You wouldn’t believe the number of people who ask to touch it. Can you imagine being at a party and having someone stare at your chest and reach out to touch it? It’s worse than being pregnant. And NO you may not fondle my hardware. The battery life of a pacemaker is expected to last 8 years. This year I may need to have surgery to replace the battery. They say because I am fairly young my body responds quickly and to less voltage so I may be able to last another year or two on this battery. Let’s hope so because I do not relish the thought of going under again and would prefer to post pone it for as long as possible. When I consider how much this thing has helped me I really cannot complain about the slight inconveniences. I am happy that I passed out at yoga and received the treatment I needed. Lucky, lucky me. SIde note - this is not my favorite part of the challenge and I feel my writing is a bit boring but I am very happy it's finished. In other news....my twin sister came to Buffalo for the weekend. She was to help me with the craziness I have planned. She gets off the plane Thursday with a limp; blew out her knee that morning. When we walk together it looks like some sick three legged race. Who's helping whom? Last night to cheer me up for missing my Vegas trip, all my siblings came over, made dinner and we cocktailed. My brother is still here asleep on the couch. Tonight I have 12 girls from high school coming over to my place for a sort of reunion. I haven't seen most of them since high school. Should have some terrific laughs tonight! As for the foot, still broken, ugly and inconvenient. The count down to cast removal has started...looking forward to May 7th! |
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