Reminiscing

Here's a post I started in September (!!), but never finished.  I think it says enough  as is ...

Yesterday I started back on my project of organizing all of my pictures... the non-digital ones. Needless to say, it's going to take me a while to complete. But while I was going through them, I had to take my time (of course) and smile, laugh, tear-up, or feel the heart strings being pulled at all of the sights and memories I don't take the time to look through often enough. The pictures of friends & family lost by time or death, of people still in my life that have been there so long, or just my own youthful image that still surprises me every time I see it.

How is it we loose touch with so many people that we once just couldn't live without?

Drum roll please.....

I started writing this on 10/20/2010... and I still feel the same way :)

So here we are... 9 hours and 5 minutes until I officially turn 40... 17 hours, 31 minutes and 40 seconds if you want to go by the time of my birth, lol.  And you know what?  I'm psyched to be turning 40!  Nutso, right?  People all over the world beg for their youth back and try to get it at any cost... skin creams, procedures, or just plain lying, lol.  I'm happy to say that I'm good with it all :)  Wonder if I'll have to change the name of my blog??  LOL

3...2...1...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! 

Holy crap, has it really been since September that I blogged?  I could say shame-shame on me, but the positive side of it shows that I had many activities to keep me too busy and enthralled to be blogging... lol, it sounded good right?  Yeah I'm just a slacker, but not 100%.  I seem to have about 5 posts that I started, saved and never revisited to finish!  I think I may just post them as is to get the thoughts into the universe :)

And honestly, that's it for tonight!  Just a short, sweet blurb to say I haven't forgotten you, dear blog page.  Just been wrapped up in the business of October, November & December.

Talk soon ;)

In a fleeting moment...

A coworker of mine stopped by this morning to use the fax and say hi, and we got to talking about a recent stray kitty the honey and I had taken in and finally found a home for. She had been someone that was interested, but unsure at the time. She was in the process of closing on a new house and already had way too much on her plate, never mind introducing a new furry baby into her life. And then she told me about Kylie...

About 2 weeks ago, her nephew found a young and very friendly kitten in the road. He was concerned that it would get hit or hurt (it walked up to anyone and anything), so he took it in and gave it a temporary home, with the excitement of giving it to his girlfriend after they got back from a long weekend at the beach. The girlfriend's parents (both of the kids still lived at home) were less than thrilled with the idea of having a new furry baby and offered a hearty "no way", so the kitten was offered to my coworker. She went over the their house (just a town away) to meet the kitten, thought she was "just the sweetest thing", and said she'd think about it.

The following morning, the local news headline read "Lee County man drowns at Panama City Beach". It was her nephew. He got caught in a riptide and was pulled under... while he girlfriend was watching from the beach. He was 26 years old. He had just begun figuring out 'who he was', had a good job, and had fallen in love. His name was Kyle.

The kitten he rescued? She lives with the girlfriend and her family. They named her Kylie.

Creaking floors and whispering ghosts

Hello Blog, how've you been? Me?? Pretty dang good (new word for me = dang). Getting closer to the edge though... 36 days, 20 hours, 16 minutes and 14 seconds to be exact. Summer was great and we got to see, touch and taste some fantastic experiences. Always a good thing.

So, here's September. Weather's still hotter than hot, sitting in the mid to high 90's... ug. I welcomed the month with an unwelcome business trip for the honey. Two days short of a week... alone... in this beautiful, but sometimes eerie house. Where the floors creak and the old walls and windows breath with the wind. Me. Alone. The one with the exorbitant imagination. Thoughts of the crazy neighbor to the right of us, memories of the break-in last summer, and a whole lotta violence in the community make my head spin to the point of whip-lash at every unexplained sound. Oh my. Momma needs a sleep aid, lol.

I started psyching myself up for (almost) a week's worth of evenings chillaxing in front of the computer with a glass of wine, editing & organizing photo's... it was just the time between Jay Leno and the morning news that I don't know how to deal with. So far, I've got 2 night's under my belt. One sans sleep and the other slightly restless, but leaving me with enough energy to muddle through 41 minutes on the treadmill this morning, lol. And it helps that I got my fav machine, located right in front of the TV tuned to ESPN. Rock on Sports Center. Hopefully each night gets better and before I know it the honey will be beside me again :)

Wish me luck, Blog. Talk to you soon...

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea...

What a rush the past 5 weeks have been. The Honey's youngest son has been with us for the summer. He just turned 7!! A super fun age... which really means nothing because I've never had a kid around full time. 7, 12, or 20... it's all new to me, lol.

In hindsight, I think I did alright with my new role of full-time summer Stepmom... but while it was happening, lol... oh there was some learning to be had. I found out where my real threshold for patience is and I am still very surprised to know how much I can tolerate... and if you know me at all, you get this. Now don't get me wrong, this kid is certainly no monster (actually he's very sweet), but he is seven... and I'm normally kid-free, and get to come home to a neat house , drink a glass of wine and have something other than Sponge Bob on the TV. (Can I tell you how much I hated that theme song? Can I also tell you how pissed I am that now I hum it and enjoy screaming SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS! Yeah, nice). I've learned that yes, he did hear me all three times and decided to ignore me because the TV (or Legos, etc) are more interesting and no, he can't put the hand towel back neatly and will always leave the bath rug looking like a race car just took off on it, all bunched against the cabinet (how the hell...??), and sometimes there's even a special gift left in the toilet due to a forgotten flush rule.

But then there's all of the other stuff... the infectious giggling, the random intelligent informational comments, the Spanish accent, the Publix buddy who drives a big plastic car shopping cart like no other and reads/crosses off from the shopping list for me, the way he's done so well remembering 'chores' (laundry in the hamper, trash in the barrel, feeding the cat dinner, setting the table), the pre-pajama naked streaking (LMFAO), the way he calls me by my full name with no pause between the first & last name (has ever since he started seeing it pop up on his dad's iPhone, lol)... and the way he gets excited when I pick him up from daycare and tells his teacher/friends "My mom's here!"

And the stuff kids say. How do you answer "Why do the brown people work back there?" while he's pointing at the deli counter that just happens to have all black employees that day and you're waiting for lunch meat or "Why did you buy a Lego eating cat?" after having told him to make sure he picks up Lego's when he drops them so the cat doesn't get them, lol. And we can't forget the question posed to a friend of "How old are you?", she answers 48... and his reply is "You're the same age as Obama".... OMG, how the hell would he know or care about that?? lol.

Trying to keep my biased opinion under control, I have got to say he's about the smartest little boy I have ever met... seriously. His reading level is off the charts, his comprehension is amazing, and his hunger to learn is awesome. The Honey, myself and his daycare teachers are all excited to find out what it is he does with his life... who he becomes. We all think it will something great :)

Which brings me to this week... the last week of his 6 week visit. At the beginning, I was happy to have him here, but guiltily looked forward to having 'my' time back, and our lives, house & schedule back to normal. But now I'm dreading this weekend's arrival. I'm afraid of the big giant gaping hole that his absence will create and the sadness that we'll be left with while we try to get back to what I thought was 'normal life' without him here. Sure, I miss being selfish with my time, having the house to ourselves, and having it just be us... but now 'us' has kind of morphed into a threesome. Something I didn't truly expect. I knew that I'd become attached (how can you not?), but not like this. And knowing that I won't get to see him again until next summer is breaking my heart. A little background, his stepdad currently holds a position for his company outside of the country, so traveling is limited to once a year for a while... no every other weekends or alternating holidays.

Who's going to shop with me? Who's going to keep me company in the car? Who's going to sleep in the Spider-man room? Who's going to beg us to go swim in the pool after work every day and do count-down Star Wars cannon balls? Who's going to watch Sponge Bob and leave Lego's all over the coffee table? Who's going to ask for Lucky Charms after daycare? Who am I supposed to pick-up at daycare now? And what the hell am I supposed to fill my time doing... the 'precious' time I craved to have back so badly 5 weeks ago?

So for the next few days, I'll act like everything is wonderful and enjoy him while I have him. And when we leave for Tampa to visit Nana for a bit, I'll be excited for him to be seeing more family before he leaves. I've got it all worked out up to Saturday. How in the hell am I supposed to look at that face at the airport and say goodbye without crying?

If someone could answer that for me, I'd be really appreciative... and very surprised.

Sincerely,
Maryannrogers

FYI... Tofurkey??...

... tastes like ass. Just saying.

Being someone whose sandwich selections are limited, I'm all about trying something new. Hmm, sliced tofurky... worth a shot right?

I can't even explain what it tastes like. I've never tasted anything like it - good or bad. It's a non-food; like cardboard or chair. I had even used it in a delicious stack of wheat bread, spinach, banana peppers & creamy horseradish sauce... bleck. It was how I'd imagine spongy, cold cork board would taste.

Yeah, I'm good with veggies.