This Year Can't Get Any Worse

I was really really really hoping to give you all good news, but my beloved Grandma aka Shortstuff passed away last Wednesday morning early. I knew she doesn't doing well when I left Tuesday night (around 1:00 a.m., so I guess it was really Wednesday morning), but I wasn't expecting the phone call from the YS around 3:35 a.m. saying that Grandma was going...her breathing was shallow. Not even five minutes later, she called me to say that Grandma was gone.

The rest of the week is pretty much a blur of family, funeral home, airport, church, cemetery and condo (Grandma's). I'm exhausted and beyond sad.

Thank you for all your prayers and hugs and good thoughts. They meant the world to me.

My Beloved Grandma

Dear Friends,

I honestly had meant to be a more consistent blogger, but life keeps getting in the way. On February 22nd, we had a massive snowstorm here in the metropolitan Detroit area. The snow was super wet and heavy. And we all know what that means. A former co-worker (who took the buyout 2-3 years ago, but was working for a supplier) dropped dead of a heart attack. I had just seen him at the end of January at our Haitian Earthquake Relief Bake Sale and Craft Show. He had thrown $20 into the jar and took a scarf that I had made. I got the phone call Tuesday morning and I heard what Charles said but it wasn't computing, so I made him repeat everything. I couldn't deal with it so soon after Ed, so I made him go to our resident from that supplier and verify (he had gotten a phone call from a former supplier who was in Texas, of all places, so I was hoping he got his wires crossed or something). Harry verified it and I just put my head down on my desk and sobbed. My two cube-mates were quite taken aback and just gave me a hug.

Once again, I had a sympathy card at my desk and was collecting money for flowers and his 12-year-old daughter's education. Jim was truly one of the good guys – just like Ed – it seems so unfair. I can name three people off the top of my head who have proven by actions that they don't give a rat's ass about their children and they're still walking around while Ed & Jim who loved their children, as a father should, are now gone.

Turned out that Jim had stayed home from work that day because his daughter didn't have school and his wife had something going on at work that she couldn't miss. And even though they owned a snow blower, Jim decided to shovel. He had finished his property and was helping a neighbor lady. They had actually finished and the neighbor was putting the shovels away when she turned around and Jim was on the ground. At the funeral, there was a lady sitting in the third pew who just lost in when the priest talked about how Jim was always helping someone, whether it was his parents, siblings or the neighbors. I felt so sorry for her.

I was writing up something about Jim when I could do it without crying (still can't, for the record), but then last Monday (March 15th), I got a phone call from my Mom at work around 7:00 a.m. She was crying and could barely talk, but she said that Grandma was in the hospital (she had gone in Saturday) and was in respiratory distress and had signed a DNR (do not resuscitate). Now, I know Grandma's 91, but to me she's not old. She's still cute as a button and none of the nurses or hospital staff believed she was 91 and all commented on how beautiful her skin is (she swears by Estee Lauder).

You guys all know how much I love my Grandma as I wrote an entire post about her a few years ago. So, I called my boss in tears and he could barely understand me as I told him that I was heading to the hospital. By the time I got there, she was doing much better, although she was on a BiPap machine. It's similar to a C-Pap machine that people who have sleep apnea wear at night. There's a mask that sucks to her face and blows oxygen into her nose and mouth. Turns out that she had had a respiratory distress episode on Saturday morning (which is how she ended up in the hospital) and then again Sunday morning. The decision was made that she wear the BiPap machine at night since that's when her breathing is the worst.

Oh yeah, Grandma's problem is that she can't breathe properly because due to her osteoporosis she's lost a good 8" in height which leaves that much less room in her chest cavity for all her organs, and her lungs can't fully inflate. Essentially, as the doctor told us that morning, there is nothing they can do to cure her, all they can do is treat the symptoms. He suggested that we talk to the palliative care nurse. She came by a bit later and talked to Grandma, asking what Grandma's goals were. Grandma said, "I'm not ready to leave these people yet."

She spent most of the day telling us to go to work. We told her that work was getting along fine without us. Then when evening came she tried to tell us to go home. We out-voted her on that one.

By Wednesday, however, she was planning her funeral and had told the same nurse that she was tired and ready to go. Thursday she told us that she hadn't expected to still be here, because she felt so poorly on Wednesday. And while she was still planning her funeral, she was still planning on being here for my YS's wedding in May. She said, "YS, I don't think I'll be able to walk you down the aisle." YS is planning on my Mom and Grandma walking her down the aisle, since we all know the FF isn't even invited. I told her that that was okay because we had a contingency plan for that. The middle Terror Child would push her down the aisle in a wheelchair. Grandma was cool with that, and said, "Oh good."

It was such a scare, though, that all the out-of-towners flew in and we had a mini-family reunion at the hospital. The YS and AP flew in Monday. The LB and AC arrived on Tuesday. BE was supposed to come in the same day but she was flying stand-by and got stuck in Chicago. Thankfully, I have cousins in Chicago, so BE stayed with her nieces, nephew-in-law and grand-niece, and she finally arrived on Wednesday. AK wasn't going to come in because she had bronchitis and a sinus infection, but UJ called her on Wednesday after the second meeting with the palliative care nurse and told her that she should think about coming. AK had talked to Grandma on Monday and explained that she couldn't come, but if Grandma was ready to go that she could go. Well, Grandma kept counting her children and coming up one short and she really wanted AK there.

Of course, trying to get an airline ticket at that short of notice was impossible unless AK and UD wanted to pay around $2000 apiece. Someone finally called Southwest (at my urging, because I love Southwest) and the Southwest agent was able to get them here via a most circuitous route for less than $700 apiece. They flew all day Thursday and got in late Thursday night. I managed to get the bronchitis I had been fighting all winter by this point and felt pretty rotten on Friday. I went to work for three hours (I had a few things to do), then went home to an hour nap before going to my 1:45 dr.'s appt. which was conveniently just a few miles from the hospital where Grandma was. I had to wear a mask, so that I wouldn't get her any sicker.

She's so cute that she was constantly yelling at my brother to go home (he's been suffering from some mysterious lung ailment for the past two months and just feels awful all the time) and when I came down with bronchitis, she kept telling me to go home.

We had Mass in her room on Saturday morning with Fr. Bob. He was a boy in the neighborhood where my Mom and the older siblings lived when growing up. He's kind of the family priest. He said a lovely Mass including an anointing of the sick and Grandma was very moved by it and thanked us all.

I spent all last week Monday through Sunday at the hospital whenever I wasn't at work. Monday she went home to hospice care and I stopped by. I called on Tuesday but she was sleeping and I needed to spend some time at home. I'm, of course, regretting that right now. I went by yesterday after work and spent the majority of my time there rubbing her legs and feet gently. She liked it and said it helped her to relax. When I got there she was talking to AC and while AC is usually the talker, it was Grandma who kept her on the phone. She snoozed a little bit and then the YS called and she woke up so she talked to the YS for awhile and when Grandma handed the phone back to me, the YS was sobbing and said, "She sounds so weak." I didn't know what to say to make her stop crying and since I didn't want to cry around Grandma I passed the phone to AJ and had AJ calm her down.

I'm afraid that if I start crying, I won't stop. I told Grandma yesterday that I loved her (as I do anyway) and that I always appreciated her, because I knew she loved me (unlike my paternal grandparents who couldn't stand me and let it be known, although every member of my immediate family would argue the point, but I know what I know). She mentioned to me that whenever we would go to the paternal grandparents' house they'd always give us a cookie. Now, they moved to Arizona when I was 6 or 7 and don't remember that, but Grandma said how she didn't believe in that. She just treated us like kids (her youngest is only a couple years older than my brother) and didn't think we needed a cookie. I finally had the alone time with her yesterday that I never got last week and then didn't know what to tell her, other than that I loved her and I knew that she loved me, even when she'd come upstairs at her house and tell me to put the book down and come downstairs and join the family party. She laughed. I teased that even though she never gave us cookies like I knew she gave UJ's kids cookies, that I still knew she loved us. I think they were more real as grandchildren to her as they weren't the same age as her youngest. When I called yesterday to see if Grandma were awake and wanted visitors, I could hear her in the background when AP told her that I was on the phone "That Kathleen is a character." I'm sure that's a compliment. ;-)

So, in case you thought I was just being a slacker about blogging, now you know that this time I had a valid reason. And please pray, send good thoughts, etc. to my Grandma and family. We really could use it. And if you want, I'll try to keep you updated. I'm wondering if I pissed off the gods when I said that I was having a rotten 2010…and they're now showing me how horrible it can get.

Politics, Keith, Books, Grandma and Mom

Bloody hell, I think Trina's posting more often than I am. And that's pathetic, since she actually told us she was taking time off…I'm just lazy and disappear for ages.

I started an entry last Wednesday but didn't get more than three sentences written, so I just scrapped it as not worth the effort. If you know me, you know I was thrilled by last Tuesday's results. I actually stayed up and watched the returns come in and the speeches. I was impressed by McCain's concession speech, typically described as the "old John McCain." Having never stayed up to watch before I was scared that I was going to be subjected to Caribou Barbie, but thankfully, there is no precedence for the losing VP to speak. Praise God. ;-) Of course, she's more than made up for it since then, hasn't she? I was so ready for her to go away!

How many of you watched Countdown with Keith Olbermann last Monday? The reason I mention it is because a woman here in the metropolitan Detroit area had made the news (at least, countrywide) for refusing to give small children candy on Halloween if their parents weren't voting for her candidate. Swear to God, she turned away 4 year olds!!!! Anyway, I just knew that Keith was going to make her the Worst Person in the World and I was right. The sad thing is that I'll bet she still thinks she was right to do it. Did she have the right to do it, heck yes, but was it the "right" thing to do? Hell no! What kind of evil person makes small children cry? Honestly.

Last night's Special Comment was brilliant as he takes on Prop. 8. You can tell that he's very upset, and I think he's *this* close to crying or getting very angry and trying really hard to maintain control. He asks the same questions I've been asking for years, but way better than I ever have.

It's the twelfth day of November and I'm just getting around to telling you what I read and watched last month.

Books

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova – 642 pages - Heather read it a year or so ago and highly recommended it. Soon thereafter I found a hardcover first edition for $6, so I picked it up, but I never got around to reading it because it wasn't a good size for reading on the treadmill. I figured it'd be a good book for the trip to SF and Vegas and while I did do a lot of knitting on the plane, I also read a bit. Normally, I wouldn't say I have any great appreciation for Dracula books, but this book sucked me in and I quite enjoyed it. I've already recommended it to Beth because she talked about vampire books recently. Anyway, it was a very well written book, which is very important.

The Clue of the Dancing Puppet #39 by Carolyn Keene – 177 pages – Classic Nancy Drew and one that I hadn't read a thousand times, so the story wasn't completely familiar to me which was kind of nice.

Book of the Month - The Historian

I'll work on the Movie list soon...I have a stupid headache and just can't think that hard right now. I watched a good five or six movies and even went to a couple of live concerts. Tres exciting. I know you'll be looking forward to that - whenever I freaking get to it.


Grandma Update
She's pretty well ensconced in her old folks' home apartment and I think accepting it a bit more. She held bridge with "the girls" for the first time since March when she broke her tibial plateau this past Monday. Mom, YS and I helped Grandma set up on Sunday and she told me today that it helped immensely as she wasn't sure she would have gotten everything done in time.

Grandma's doing super fabulously, so now I need to ask for your thoughts and prayers for Mom. Her recent mammogram found a very small lump. She's having a biopsy on Monday and they say that if they extract liquid, it's all good and no big deal. If they are unable to extract liquid, they'll use a bigger needle and then if necessary (i.e., no liquid), they'll take three chunks (about the size of a grain of rice). She didn't sound worried when I talked to her, but the YS said that Mom is pretty worried. And then after Mom told me about that, she said, "And Tuesday, I'm having eye surgery." WTF? The woman is impossible! The surgery isn't serious or eyesight threatening, so that's good, but still...so, please keep my Mom in your thoughts, prayers, etc. this coming Monday and Tuesday. I greatly appreciate it.

And now it's time for some Aleve and my bed.

Today is Mom's birthday and I'm due at Grandma's country club at 7:00 p.m. for dinner. Problem with the country club is the "no jeans" rule. *sigh* Makes Grandma happy though and isn't that what is actually important? I gave Mom her presents on Sunday after church when I took her out for breakfast - we went really high class and hit the IHOP. I knit her a fabulous silk/alpaca scarf in a very pretty blue. I told her that I wanted it to be her signature piece. She didn't seem to know what I meant by that.

Grandma moved into assisted living and somehow managed to get a two-bedroom apt after all. She moved into a one bedroom and then the following week or so a two bedroom opened up, so she moved right up into that and apparently it's the biggest apt. in the place. She has new furniture and she's looking forward to taking knitting class which they supposedly offer there, but they haven't had one since she moved in. I gave her some yarn and two pairs of my favorite knitting needles Labor Day weekend and now she's just waiting for the class.

This past weekend we, as in southeast Michigan, got rain the entire freaking weekend - 3-6" apparently. I thought about Fermicat the whole time wondering if we were getting Georgia's share. Sure we hadn't had rain since July, but nothing compared to them and I feel guilty getting rain when they're in such dire straits. Not that we don't need it, too, but I think they need it worse. Of course, I'd rather get the rain now and let them get the wet stuff in the winter when here it would be white crap falling from the sky.

Have I mentioned that I'm heading off to San Francisco at the very end of the month (late on Sept. 30) and spending 9 days there and then off to Vegas to spend time with my racing friends who I haven't seen since April (except for HRH who I just saw Labor Day Friday and will see again this Friday)? The plan is to go back to the Valley of Fire. Other than that, my only plan is to get my Champ Car tattoo with HRH. She wants hers on her ankle. I'm against the ankle as I hear it's really painful there. I discussed the tattoo placement with Ursula who is my tattoo guidance counselor. I want it somewhere which isn't too obvious, too painful, too white-trash or too tramp-stampy...which leaves the inside of my left wrist where I can hide it with my watch.

Oh, I never updated you on the Big Milk Issue. I hated the soy milk - had I told you that part? - so I went with rice milk/drink the next time around and I have to say that it's MUCH better. I haven't tried cooking anything with it yet, but it's working out fabulously with my cereal, which is 90% of my milk usage.

I have no clue what's going on in my city but there are police sirens going constantly! When I was walking home a police car went SCREAMING down Oakwood. And I had to walk *in* Oakwood to get home because of all the roadwork occurring on all the streets around my home - including my very own street which is torn to hell. In fact, I'm not sure there's a street in the western half of my city that's not under construction. I'm wondering if they'd be better off doing ONE street at a time and concentrating all the workers on that one street for a shorter period of time than disrupting a good number of streets and displacing numerous people's parking spots. Of course, if this helps the drainage issue (supposedly they're putting in much larger pipes for the sewage or whatever) and it's done quickly enough, I might regret my whining. I'll keep you posted on how long I have to fight for parking with the apts. dwellers on the other street.

See why I haven't been posting? You'd have been even more bored with the nothingness I have to report. ;-)

Have a lovely week!

Morale couldn't be lower

Sorry for being so absent of late. It's been, to be blunt, shitty at work and I haven't felt like doing anything when I get home. To illustrate how bad it's been, I haven't even felt like knitting! I "watch" TV (more listen) while playing Jewel Quest. It's been bad.

Last Thursday I was at Borders (I needed the new Eoin Colfer Artemis Fowl book) when I felt my purse vibrating against the side of my body. By the time I found my phone, I had missed the call, but my heart sunk when I saw the name of a coworker. I called him right back but it went into voicemail, and as I was leaving my message "You better not be calling me for why I think you're calling me," my phone rang again and it was him again. I answered it saying, "I just left you a voicemail saying 'You better not be calling me for why I think you're calling me.'" He replied, "I think I am. I just got the call." The Call is what happens when you work for my company but aren't a direct employee, but a contract employee. The contract people get calls at home on Thursdays (this Thursday is supposed to be the last) between 6:00 and 6:30 telling them not to go to work tomorrow, but to go to the contract house's office and turn their badge and whatever else they have. I was so upset, because this guy is a good engineer and a good kid (he's 23 and just got married, in fact, supposedly, it was to have happened the week before but he was on his honeymoon). I was more upset than he was. I cried all night, and most of the morning as I packed up his desk. He'd only been with us since January, but he had two boxes of stuff. That part was pretty amusing, actually.

He drove in that day for his stuff and we all went out to lunch with him. I asked him how his wife took the news (she's in grad school) and he said that she was pretty matter-of-fact about it. "So, I was the only one who cried?" "Um, yeah, sorry about that." I felt like an idiot, but I think he was the last straw. I had seen and heard of too many good people losing their jobs while everybody here has a list of useless direct employees who still have their jobs. I know nobody ever said life was fair, but really there is a limit.


News on the Grandma Front:

Turns out that her initial willingness to go to assisted living was short-lived, although she did change her mind again. She dilly-dallied so long that somebody else took the last 2-bedroom apartment. On Saturday she was going over to look at the one-bedrooms that remained and make her decision. Grandma is presently filling out the paperwork and my aunt is going to drop it off on her way to work. Then we have to work on packing Grandma up, and convincing my Mom to sell her POS cheap-ass, nasty condo and buy Grandma's, but Mom's objecting because she doesn't want a mortgage. *eyes rolling* While yes, I do understand that, to a degree, all my mother does is work! Constantly. She has NO LIFE whatsoever. She must have a boatload of money saved up. And this way, we still can have family functions at Grandma's and it would be like nothing has changed. Of course, someone pointed out that Grandma's style isn't exactly my mom's style and I said that's because my Mom doesn't have a style!!! My Grandma is so stylish and elegant and somehow that trait skipped my mother completely. But this way the aunts would have somewhere to stay when they come home, etc. It's just best for every one. According to my aunt, EVERYBODY is on board with the idea, except my Mom. You have no idea how hard it is to get my mother's siblings to agree on something. This is HUGE! I told my aunt to get the YS working on Mom, as she is the favorite child, and she agrees with the rest of us.

Okay, back to work stuff. One of my absolutely favorite people got walked out this morning. He had stopped by my desk earlier to say he heard "they" were doing his section today. It was obvious he was very nervous. My cubemate went to his desk to get him to sign a Get Well Soon card for another co-worker who is out on medical and when she was over there, she recognised the woman across from him as somebody she went to school with. A bit later, she got an e-mail from her ex-schoolmate saying, "I think the gentleman you were talking to was walked out shortly after. We were asked to leave." Cubemate got a look of horror on her face and I asked what was wrong. She forwarded it to me and I read it in disbelief. I had a brand new person (to our department) at my desk while we discussed getting a desk for her and I started to cry. I'm sure she felt uncomfortable, as we were all expressing our thoughts on this subject and how not happy we all were. I apologised to her for crying and she said, "No problem. I just had a baby, I'm used to tears."

A few minutes later we all got an e-mail from our former co-worker saying thank you for helping and teaching him, wishing us all (including the company) well, etc. It was a very nice e-mail – he was raised properly. This one hit hard. I saw someone he worked with program-wise come over and look for him (as Good Co-worker used to sit by me – I'm in charge of moves, so I put him by me on purpose because he's such a good guy). I called Program Guy's name as he turned around asking who he was looking for (although I pretty much knew). I gave him the details as I knew them, at one point, he looked to race away to find Good Co-Worker, but I stopped him and said, "He's long gone. They walked him out a while ago." PG was furious. "What is wrong with this place? Don't they realise these are human beings? We don't even get to say Good-bye."

I had been doing relatively better, after last week's stress and tension, but I'm back to Friday-mode. I can't stop crying, I have a headache and I just want to go home, take a valium and go to bed for a week. I don't feel like eating, in fact, I had to take an alka-seltzer because my stomach is so not happy. I want to throw up.



My brother sent me the following the other day, the first half consists of interesting facts about Michigan (even if you're not from here), the second half is old-time Detroit tidbits which probably won't mean anything to you unless you lived here.


MICHIGAN HISTORY

From 1910 to 1920, Hamtramck, Michigan grew from 3,589 to 45,615 residents, leading the nation in growth for that period.

During the lumber boom era, the row of saloons that lined Water Street in Bay City was known as "Hell's Half Mile."

In 1936, Escanaba, Michigan harvested and processed 100,000 sq. ft. of bird's eye maple to be used in the English Luxury Liner, the Queen Mary.

When the territory of Michigan was created on Jan. 11, 1805, Detroit was chosen as its capital.

Bagley's Corner was the original name of Bloomfield Hills. (This is amusing because Bloomfield Hills is super ritzy, expensive…and Bagley's Corner doesn't really sound that ritzy.)

The world's only marble lighthouse is located on Belle Isle. (Livingston Lighthouse)

Hog's Hollow was the original name of Utica, Mich.

There are over 11,000 lakes in Michigan.

The home offices of Life Savers Candy, Beech-Nut Gum, and Squirt soft drinks are in Holland, Michigan.

In 1870, Detroit became the nation's first telephone customers to have phone numbers assigned to them.

Charles A Lindbergh was born in Detroit on Feb. 4, 1902.

The Stars and Stripes first flew over Michigan soil on July 11, 1796.

In Sept. 1908, William C. Durant organized several independent automobile plants into what was to become General Motors.

Michigan began charging an annual license fee of 50 cents in 1905.

Michigan 's first police woman began walking the beat in Detroit in 1893.

In 1942, the Davison Freeway in Detroit was completed and became the world's first urban freeway.

The first soft drink, (Vernor's Ginger Ale) was introduced by a Detroit Pharmacist, James A Vernor, in 1866. Note: There were several 'elixirs' on the market at that time, including what would later be called Coca Cola. These contained alcohol, whereas Vernor's didn't. Hence, the name 'soft' drink.

The intersection of Woodward Avenue and Grand Avenue in Detroit proudly displayed the world's first traffic light in 1915.

In 1688, Father Jacques Marquette founded the first permanent settlement in what would later become Michigan .

The world's first shopping mall (Northland Mall) opened in the Detroit suburb of Southfield in 1954.

The world's first painted highway center lines were featured in Trenton , MI in 1911. They were used in other towns and was how Centerline, MI got its name.

Michigan ranks Number #1 nationally in the production of dog sleds.

The nation's largest indoor/outdoor museum complex is Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village . (Right across the street from where I live.)

Opened in 1904, the nation's oldest freshwater aquarium is the Belle Isle Aquarium. (I thought this was closed a few years back.)

The onion is Michigan 's largest fresh-market vegetable crop.



AND YOU ARE AN OLD DETROITER (OR JUST OLD) if ........

You took a 'moonlight cruise' to Boblo with Captain Boblo or went to Edgewater Amusement Park . (The cruise was the only way to get to Boblo. It was half the fun as they had a dance floor on the ground level floor and as a pre-teen/teenaged girl, you'd dance your way to Boblo. My Great Grandparents lived near Edgewater and you could see the roller coaster from one of the 2nd floor bedrooms.)

You shopped at Hughes and Hatcher, B Siegel, Peck and Peck, Himelhoch's, Robert Hall, Crowley's, Shoppers Fair, EJ Korvettes or Federals. (Definitely didn't shop at Hughes & Hatcher as it was a men's store, but I got my baseball mitt from Federals.)

You rode the elevator at J. L. Hudson's, which was 'run' by an elevator operator. (Once, near the end.)

You remember a Winkleman's and Sanders store in your neighborhood. (Heck yeah! The greatest day in Detroit history is when the new owners of Sanders opened up Sanders stores in DTW again. YUM! Sanders Hot Fudge Cream Puffs!!!!)

You remember the 'Big Snow', Buffalo Bob, Howdy Doody, Clarabelle, Phineas T. Bluster, Princess Summer-Fall-Winter-Spring. (Not that old, although I didn't think they were just Detroit .)

You remember Twin Pines Dairy delivered milk and juice to the chute on the side of your house and Milky the Clown performed magic with the magic words 'Twin Pines. (I love Milky the Clown. We did have a milkman when I was growing up, but I don't think he ever used the 'milk chute." What I remember most about the milk chute was having to squeeze through it to break into the house on the rare days we'd come home from school and mom wouldn't be there. The Former Father was not thrilled with us then.)

You watched Johnny Ginger! (no clue)

You remember the Good Humor man in a white uniform, ringing the bells as he drove down your street. (Again, I don't think this was just Detroit , was it?)

You remember Olympia Stadium. (To this day, I look up at the spot where it was when I drive past on 96.)

You remember when Vernors was made on Woodward Ave. , and a bearded troll was on the bottle. (Definitely the bearded GNOME, but we never went downtown as kids, so I don't remember where it was on Woodward.)

Your Mom got groceries at Great Scott, Food Fair, Food Town , Wrigley's, Chatham or A&P. (We were a Great Scott or Wrigley's family, whereas Grandma usually shopped at Chatham or A&P.)

Your Mom saved Holden Red Stamps, S&H Green stamps, or Gold Bell Gift stamps, and you licked them into those little books. (Again, this wasn't just a Detroit thing, was it?)

Kresge's and Woolworth's were 'Dime Stores.' (Oh yeah, I had a BMW t-shirt from Kresge's before BMW was so hot in the States. In fact, my college ID picture was taken in that t-shirt.)

"You had an uncle in the furniture business (Joshua Door)". (I remember stopping in a Joshua Door's parking lot one year to watch fireworks.)

You know who Bill Kennedy is. (Of course!)

You saw the Detroit Lions play football in Tiger Stadium. (I didn't really pay much attention to the Lions back then, but I was aware of them playing at Tiger Stadium. I also remember the Pistons playing at Cobo.)

You remember Black Bart and the Faygo song. Or how about "Which way did he go? He went for Faygo, old fashioned root beer." (I think I remember this.)

You watched Rita Bell's Prize Movies in the morning. (We weren't allowed to watch TV during the day, but my best friend was always inside watching Rita Bell.)

You remember Jack LeGoff and Van Patrick. (Not a clue.)

You remember Milky the Clown, Soupy Sales, Johnny Ginger, Poopdeck Paul, Captain Jolly, Sagebrush Shorty and maybe even Sergeant Satko Salute. (Three out of seven ain't bad.)

You visited the Wonder Bread Bakery and got to take home a mini loaf of bread. (Nope, but I do know where the Wonder Bread Bakery is – even before it got turned into a casino.)

Your address had a two-digit 'zone' before there were zip codes. Detroit 19, Michigan. (This is vague, as I was pretty young when the "zip" code first came into being.)

You remember "Get on the right track at 9 mile and Mack, to get the best deal in town. Roy O'Brien...it's the best deal in town."

You remember going to Detroit Edison with your Mom to exchange burned out light bulbs for new ones. (Oh yeah, we never got to go with them to exchange light bulbs, but we always had to save them, which I did up until about a year ago, because it was ingrained in me that we save burnt out light bulbs.)

Haircuts & Grandma

Ah, life is good...no, I have no clue if I'm still going to have a job two weeks from now, but I did get my hair cut. It's the little things, isn't it?

I was very bad last week about updating you on Grandma's condition, wasn't I? Last I left you Grandma had a blood clot in her lung. She didn't get transferred to the main hospital until Wednesday because there were no empty beds (which I find fascinating considering how the health insurance companies don't let you stay in the hospital for anything). It was actually late Wednesday (rush hour-ish) by the time she got to the main hospital and I think it was Thursday before she actually got a room. Insane!

The medical professionals performed a Doppler test on Wednesday which found additional blod clots in her left and right legs. She wasn't allowed out of bed, until these professionals inserted a screen into her vein(?) on Friday which apparently is to break up any clots that work their way northward.

Today she got released from the hospital and is going back to the rehab place where she spent however many months a little while back. She'll be there for a while, I guess, until her blood pressure gets under control. She won't be going back home, though, from what I can tell. She mentioned a couple of weeks back that she wanted to move to an assisted living place not far from her condo. I guess the time she spent at the rehab place made her realise that it was fun to be around people her own age, people to talk to, and have activities in which to participate. I don't know when this will happen or what will happen to Grandma's condo, but as long as she's happy that's what matters.

Other than that, not much is going on around here. I'm enjoying the Tour de France (yesterday's stage, the first in the Alps, was fabulous with a first time American going off in the breakaway and lasting, even if he did finish 3rd) this year. I was very upset with the few announcements of people being kicked out for doping, but it's good they're catching them. They're doing a great job catching the cheaters and eliminating them immediately. I don't understand why there are riders even trying to cheat anymore, but I guess there will always be people who think they're above the law.

Time to fix some dinner...wonder what I have in this house.

Grandma likes to make us worry

This has been a crappy week so far and it's only Tuesday. I got absolutely no sleep on Sunday night, first the bars (which I could hear over the sound of my window fan on high) and then I was so pissed off that my brain wouldn't shut off. Last time I looked at the clock it said 3:54 with the alarm scheduled to go off at 4:17.

Work was work, except that an engineer stopped by my desk to share what he heard from a manager who lives near him with whom he talked over the weekend. What he heard was supposedly the criteria to be used to figure out who is part of the 15% who are going to be laid off. Oy vey...I'm positive, that come August 1st, I shall be jobless and job hunting in southeastern Michigan (not a pleasant prospect considering our unofficial unemployment rate). I felt like throwing up.

I left on time to get to my usual Monday appointment and had a crappy time dealing with morons incapable of driving the bloody speed limit. I got boxed out of making my turn onto the second highway and ended up taking the slow boat to China which had me swearing. I finally get to my appointment (not late) and notice that Maureen's car is not in the parking lot, nor the people who have the appointment before me. I don't really think anything of it, because it's happened before and she had just run to the library. When my appointment time finally came around and it was obvious nothing was happening, I called her cell phone and got her message saying she was called out of town on a family medical emergency. *sigh*

I wasn't able to make my usual trip to Trader Joe's (there isn't one near me) because I had plans to pick the YS up at the car dealership and then go for sushi (which somehow became Red Robin) and it was too hot to leave groceries in the car for any number of hours. This means I'm now foodless, for the most part.

I get to the car dealership and there's no sign of the YS even though she was supposed to be there. I go in and find my friend Irean who I haven't seen in a while (she used to live in my building, but had to move out when her hours got cut at the dealership). She hadn't seen my sister, but I wasn't stressed because we had some catching up to do. When a customer stopped by I called the YS and she said, "How did you know to call me? I was just texting you." Turns out that she couldn't get her truck started (it hadn't moved since January, so not really a shock), and therefore was still at home.

For those playing at home, I've now driven a good 30-40 miles for no reason at all, and I was a good 12-18 miles from home. The YS was worried about Grandma because she had been having trouble breathing and the plan was to get her a dr.'s appointment or take her to the E.R. I was more than ready to just go home with a stop at the beer store. I wasn't needed, so that's what I did. Occasionally I regret living 20 miles from everybody else, but if I'm needed I'll be there. There were at least four people hovering over Grandma yesterday, she didn't need me there.

A few hours later I got a call telling me that Grandma has a blood clot in her lung (apparently came from her leg, made its way through her heart and into her lung - LUCKILY) and they were going to transfer her to the main hospital. I called the main hospital today and they couldn't find her. Turns out there were no beds at the hospital, so she was still in the E.R. They finally got her admitted to the hospital at some point this evening.

Once again, please keep my Grandma (cute and elegant) in your prayers, thoughts, etc. I'm really not ready for her to leave.

Thanks.

Not Really Entry Worthy

I almost started an entry on Monday and then got side-tracked – with God knows what. I finally got my pictures from the two trips to CA uploaded to my computer, but sadly, not to flickr. Soon…or not.

I really need to update more often, because I don't remember where I left off. Did I tell you that my friends and I were in the May 5, 2008 issue of AutoWeek? Sadly, you can't buy AutoWeek at a magazine stand, but I do have a pdf of the page (which I can't find right now). If I remember, I'll include it with this post.



I'm a little annoyed with AutoWeek right now. TWO WEEKS ago, I ordered ten more copies of that issue (various people who don't subscribe need their own copies, you know) and I was told that I would receive them within 7-10 days. Yeah, still nothing. I called on Monday and the woman wouldn't do anything about it because she said Tuesday was the official date I ordered them. Whatever, it was still two weeks! They charged my debit card that day, so they're at least efficient there. The problem with that particular issue is that it was the same week The Bitch "won" her race, so I've had to glue a number of pages together in order not to see her every time I open my magazine. They arrived Wednesday, finally.

So, I called. I decided that instead of just bitching about it, I would call again. The woman I talked to today was a tad more helpful. She sounded aghast that I didn't have them yet and that I definitely should have. She's putting them in the mail today, so I hope to have them VERY SOON. I have packages to mail around the country and have been waiting for the magazines, so I don't have to make two trips to the post office. I hate going to the post office. The old people in my town (and there are lots) like to go, not during the day when other people are at work, but when we get out of work. The number of people who don't know how to mail a package is mind-boggling! I think the USPS gets an unfair rap. I mail a lot of stuff, not as much as some eBayers, but I go there fairly often and they're cheaper and faster than UPS. I can put a Netflix DVD in the mail on Monday and they'll have it in Lansing on Tuesday. Only once have I had a problem with them and that was when I mailed a book to my friend Rick in CT and used the book rate. It never got there, so NEVER EVER use book rate, it's worth the extra few dollars to mail it Priority. Just a little tip there for ya.

Grandma comes home today. I just talked to her and she told my aunt to come and get here at 11:00. My Aunt arrived from CA yesterday and will be here for a week or so. Then another aunt shows up, then the currently in Michigan aunt comes back in early June – in time for my niece's (her grand-niece's) high school graduation party. I'm pretty sure that by July Grandma will be more than ready for the aunts to go home and leave her the hell alone! I know I would be, as you get used to living alone and doing your own thing. Having people around can be darn annoying. Especially when they're your grown-up daughters who like to tell you what to do. I told Grandma that I had her back if she needed it against who try to tell her what to do. They had a real estate agent come through the condo last year and tell Grandma what needed to be done to make the condo saleable. I told Grandma she didn't have to do anything the woman said (take down the wallpaper and paint white, change this to that, etc.), and apparently, my uncle told Grandma the same thing. For heaven's sake, it's her house, let her have it the way she wants. Grandma told my uncle and me that she appreciates our support as "the girls" can be quite persuasive, i.e., willing to run rough shod over Grandma's wishes.

This past Saturday I had a bridal shower to attend – it was during the Wings' playoff game. I was pleased. I, of course, had been planning on them winning the bloody thing, but as we know they didn't. So, I didn't get to see the hockey game and I had to suffer through a bridal shower. Honestly, they are horrific. You know what? You're getting married? Just ask for the damn gift, don't make me waste 3-4 hours of a precious weekend standing or sitting around with a bunch of women eating chicken salad just for the privilege of giving somebody a present. I'd much rather send the gift and enjoy my day in peace. I feel the same way about baby showers, just for the record. The saving grace for this past Saturday's shower was that there were NO GAMES! Dear God, who invented bridal/baby shower games? Can they be shot? Strung up by their toenails? Waterboarded? Honestly.

I've managed to catch myself a sore throat. Not sure how this has happened, but I really don't feel all that fabulously. I took a two hour nap yesterday after work since I had a ticket to see Eddie Izzard last night and there was no way I was missing that. I contemplated taking the day off today and sleeping, but knew that would just mean I wouldn't sleep tonight, so I went to work and felt icky all day. I'm contemplating taking tomorrow off or Friday and resting. I have tickets to the Tigers game on Friday night, so I want to be well enough to attend that. I'm going with a friend from the Univ and she's a riot, and someone I don't get to see that often. Somebody at work offered me to tix to the Wings game on Saturday, but they weren't his to offer and the supplier who mentioned them to him is a creepy, in a "I'm so sexy women want me kind of way," but the sad truth is that he's not and women don't, so I said no. I don't want to be beholden to this guy for anything, not even Stanley Cup Finals tickets.

I think I need to gargle with salt water…and I think it's naptime.

Grandma Update, Book, Movie, Music

I was going to go and visit Grandma last Wednesday (it's a really a pain when I write an entry but don't post it for a week, because then I have to go through and fix all the "todays" and "yesterdays") but didn't get there because stupid UPS insists on trying to deliver packages to apartments between the hours of 10:00 and 2:00. I do NOT understand why they are used so much. I used them to mail a pair of Chucks back to Converse and it was almost $11 vs the $5 it would have cost me at the post office. I was already there with a different pair of Chucks to mail back to zappos.com (they're the best, they actually sent me a packing slip so I could mail it for free – which is why I was at the UPS store), otherwise I would have been at the post office to begin with.

Anyway, Wednesday was the third attempt and the little yellow slip stated they were going to deliver between 2:00 and 5:00, so I had to be at home. I talked to her in the morning and she told me not to worry, she'd be fine. I had tried to call her for a few hours on Tuesday and the phone just rang and rang and rang. She was out gallivanting around the rehab place, i.e., she was in the dining room listening to some guy playing the guitar and singing songs. Then it was time for dinner, and she doesn't leave the dining room after dinner, she hangs out with the other women and chat until God knows what time.

When I called her on Wednesday (since I hadn't been able to get a hold of her on Tuesday) she had been up and cleaning out one of the drawers in her dresser, getting stuff together for my Mom to take home and getting a list of other stuff she wants from home. She told me that I don't have to call her every day, etc. Yeah, yeah, whatever, Shortstuff. I'm not sure I've told you all how darn cute she is, lately, have I?

Oh yeah, there was a meeting last week in which people from the rehab place all got together, I'm assuming with doctors, and discussed who needs to stay and who is doing well enough to go home. Another "oh yeah," Grandma's doctor wrote out a prescription two or so weeks ago stating she needed to stay, so she ended up only paying for about 5 days (or so she says, I think it was longer, actually).

Mom and the YS (there's a story there) took Grandma home on the previous Saturday for a visit. I guess they do that when it's getting close to time to go home to see how the person feels and how they get around their own house. Grandma said she had no trouble getting into the house (it's a decent sized step from the garage into the house), nor up the stairs to her bedroom, etc. And this is all good, because according to the outcome of the meeting, it sounds like Grandma is going home in a couple of weeks (next Wednesday, to be specific). The aunts from California are going to take two weeks each (I think), consecutively, using their family leave time in order to make sure Grandma's not alone. I'm not sure if the Oregon aunt is coming, too, because I don't know if they have the family leave time policy, as well.

Grandma also said that she's learning and doing lots in therapy although she wasn't sure about last Friday's & Saturday's therapy. It was OT, not PT, and on Friday they painted flowers on a little flower pot and then on Saturday they planted a flower in said flower pot. Grandma was kind of annoyed because she wasn't sure how that's going to help her get around. Grandma's not really into crafts, although she mentions semi-regularly, that she thinks it would be nice to take up knitting again. Maybe I'll see if she's serious and go over there one day and refresh her memory.

FWIG posted this a while back and I thought it contained interesting questions (it's amazing how far out of my way I'll go not to use a certain word that starts with "me" and ends with "me").

1. Who are your much loved Bands? Favorite songs by them?

Okay, who here can't name my favorite band? You either haven't been paying attention or are new, because I think I mention it every few months, just in case… ;-)

Joy Division – Atmosphere, Atrocity Exhibition, Heart and Soul, They Walked in Line, New Dawn Fades, etc.
The Crüxshadows – Kisses 3, Winter Born, Spectator, Go Away, Orphean Wing


2. Do you like your job? Could you do your boss' job?

Yes, I like my job. I like the people, I like being able to help them manage their workload. I could NOT do my boss' job and nor would I want to.


3. What is the first thing you would do if you won the jackpot? (I mean after you collect your winnings.)

Pay off my debt (which isn't massive, I don't think), buy my mother a better condo, put money aside for the nieces and nephews college, get new carpet for my apt.

Yeah, I know, I should buy a house, right? The problem is that I have never ever wanted a house. I hate mowing the lawn and gardening. I hate shoveling snow. I like knowing there are people nearby who might miss me if they didn't see me for a few days. Yes, I know I could hire people to do the gardening, shoveling, etc., but that's not the point, really.

I guess I'd invest the rest smartly. My former lottery winning dream was to travel the Champ Car circuit and attend every single race. We all know that's not even possible anymore.


4. Most annoying thing in the newspaper?

The incredibly bad grammar, the incredibly hideous, nasty, evil people who feel the need to comment and think they can say hateful things because they're anonymous.


5. Best line from a movie?

"I was born when she kissed me. I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me." Humphrey Bogart from In A Lonely Place.

April's Book and Movie List don't even require their own post...I read one book and watched one movie.

Nineteen-Eighty-Four by George Orwell - The Centennial Edition with a Foreword by Thomas Pynchon and an Afterword by Erich Fromm for a total of 357 pages - It's classic, everybody knows, generally, what it's about, but I had never read it. When people would look aghast at me that I hadn't read it, I would say, "My class read Animal Farm."

I also read 300 pages of another book, but I don't count a book until it's finished. I'll tell you all about it next month.

My one movie was Gosford Park (2002) - I DVRd this off IFC and I have to say that I quite enjoyed it. I read a review that said Upstairs, Downstairs meets Agatha Christie and while, yes, that definitely describes it, I kept thinking Upstairs, Downstairs meets Murder By Death, which if you haven't seen it, it's bloody hilarious! I must go and see if it's available at Netflix. It has been much too long since I've seen it.

I would definitely recommend both the book and the movie. Sad...so sad. I've already done better this month - two books read and two movies watched.

Medicare Sucks, I suck at knitting, Sushi doesn't suck, although the waitress did

Forget that good news about Grandma. It turns out that Grandma is getting kicked out of the rehab facility next Monday, because Medicare rules state that you can't stay if you're not making progress. And Blue Cross is mindless and just goes along with whatever Medicare decides. Mind you, it's hard to make progress when you're medically not allowed to put any weight on your leg. Our only hope, apparently, right now, is that she has pneumonia (she's back on oxygen and just not feeling very well at all – when I talked to her on Friday she wasn't eating at all as she just wasn't hungry or able to eat) to the point where she has to go back to the hospital. Once at the hospital, she needs to stay a minimum of three days (or so I've been told) and then she can return to rehab for another 20 days. How bloody stupid is that???

She thinks it's all taken care of and she's allowed to stay until she can take care of herself. The pathetic thing is that is the way it should be. I realise there are people who might need a little incentive to motivate them to do their exercises, but Grandma isn't one of them. She even did her PT last Friday when she wasn't feeling well and had no energy. She needs to build up her upper body strength in order to use the walker properly (i.e., not put any weight on her right leg), and that takes longer than 3 weeks when you're 89 years old!

I'm very displeased.

Friday night at the Token Lounge was very good. I enjoyed listening to all three bands, although I couldn't watch the first band as the lead singer was annoying and pretentious. He seriously needed to be slapped. And holy shit, were they LOUD!!! I could feel my clothes moving from the percussion of the music. Thankfully Urs was prepared and brought a bunch of earplugs. I was saving mine for the YS who was coming down, but a few minutes into the first band, I broke down and shoved them into my ears. Dear God, I think that was the loudest show ever. I text the YS a few minutes before she got there and told her that if she had earplugs in the truck, she might want them. Thank God, she had some. Urs' OOMA's band played last and they were quite good and enjoyable.

The second band invited people onto the dance floor to mosh. As it was so hideously loud, the YS and I were communicating with each other using the text messaging feature of our cell phones. We weren't sending messages, per se, just typing them up and showing the other person and awaiting acknowledgement with a nod. Anyway, I told her that I would never slam dance (I'm old, that's what we called it) with kids these days since none of them knows the proper way to do it, or as I put it, they don't know how to pull their punches. They just slam wholeheartedly into each other thinking that's the proper way to do it.

As soon as OOMA's band finished playing, the YS and I were out of there as the cigarette smoke was killing us! I took a shower as soon as I got home to get rid of all that secondhand smoke, took an alka-seltzer nighttime cold & cough and a Bronkaid to counteract the effects of the smoke, and then slept until noon. I don't need to get sick as I'm leaving Wednesday after work for Southern California.

I couldn't sleep at all last week, for some reason, so I needed to sleep until noon. Once I got up on Saturday I went to visit Grandma and took her bed jacket project with me. After harassing Grandma for a few hours, Mom, the YS and I took off for sushi. We got a new waitress who was horrific. An hour after we got there, we had no food, while every table around us who came in after us had their food. She also missed my tempura asparagus order on the back of the sushi order sheet. At no point did she apologise, she just blamed the kitchen. Sadly for her, she didn't know that we know the owner and once he showed up, the YS gave him an earful. Amazingly enough, my tempura asparagus showed up very quickly – I wouldn't have bet money she submitted it even after we pointed it out to her. We're so nice, though, she still got a 15% tip.

Yesterday, I pinned out the back of Grandma's bed jacket on my cardboard thingie and then pinned the left front next to it. Ooops, too long. Then I re-read the instructions and realised that everything was all kerfluffled and I ended up taking the whole thing out and starting again. *sigh* The right hand side is still sitting on my circular needles, but I'll end up taking that out and re-doing it as well. I don't want to think about the fact that the armhole shaping for the left and right sides on the back doesn't look symmetrical. I'll be calling Soyon later today and asking her about that. I also need to ask her to translate the instructions where I got hung up yesterday on the armhole shaping. It made NO sense to me, whatsoever. *double sigh*

How was everybody's weekend? Do anything fun? Eat anything yummy? Not mess up a knitting project?

Do not call telemarketers back! Plus Good News on the Grandma Front

I'm really slacking of late – posting entries, reading blogs, etc., and I apologise.

Latest Grandma news is good news!!! Woohoo!!! At physical therapy this week, starting on Wednesday, they began bending her knee! She was a little scared at first, expecting it to hurt, but she said it didn't. Also, one of my CA aunts was in town for a few days and she got the Medicare/Blue Cross issue straightened out. From the sounds of things, both will pay for 20 days in rehab, but they both wanted to pay for the first 20 days, so Grandma was going to get kicked out after 20 days, even though she wasn't allowed to put any weight on her leg for 6 weeks. The social worker has told Grandma that she will not be kicked out until the end of April, although Grandma thinks there's a possibility she'll be able to stay longer than that, if need be. We shall see. I don’t have a lot of faith in the "healthcare system" in this country.

I still don't know what's up with her dermatologist appt. and the atypical cells, but I'm sure I'll see Mom tomorrow and she'll tell me what's up. The YS is home from Texas, and due to Grandma's fall decided to do her next rotation here in Michigan, so we're going to harass Grandma tomorrow and then go for sushi! Yay! It's been much too long since I had sushi.

I mentioned a while back that my work phone is one number off from a telemarketers, if you remember. Well, I finally got tired of being sworn at for something I didn't do, so I asked my boss if I could be a bit more blunt in my voicemail message. He said, Yes, so a few weeks ago, I changed my VM from the standard BS to "Hello. I AM NOT A TELEMARKETER and DID NOT CALL YOU. You have reached My Name at Big Faceless Corporation and can't answer your call right now. If you know me, please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible." Or something very similar to that. One of my co-workers called me last week and was just laughing throughout his entire message to me. He asked if I had permission to do that. Yup.

It worked up until last night when I got someone saying "You lie, you did too call me." ARGH!!! Actually, I had THREE messages from people yelling at me once again about calling them. Today's message is even more blunt.

"Hello, you've reached My Name at Specific Department at Big Faceless Corporation. I am not a telemarketer and I did not call you. The last number is a zero, not an eight. If you are a supplier or a co-worker, please leave a message."

If you know me and my work #, give it a call and a listen…let me know what you think. I think my irritation shows through. I had said the next VM message was going to include information on how to get their phone # on the Do Not Call Registry, but I was too pissed this morning to do it. Maybe next time I need to get even more explicit. Yes, I could get a new phone #, but I've had this number since I started here almost 8 years ago. It's on every order I submit, it's the # everybody knows, etc. I don't want a new phone #!!! I want people to stop being stupid and not only calling telemarketers back, but too stupid to discern a zero from an eight!!!!

I'll keep you posted on well this works. Just hope the new big boss doesn't feel the need to call me when I'm not here. ;-)

One week from today I'll be at the street circuit in Long Beach for the last ever Champ Car race (even though technically it's an IRL [f*ckers] sanctioned race, it's my cars and engines and drivers, so we're considering it a Champ Car race). The LB is coming down from NorCal Friday night and hanging with us for two days. Figures we get him into Champ Car just in time for it go away. Last year in Vegas he came down to see us (he and HRH get along great because they're both so politically conservative). On Friday, he took the rental car to the Grand Canyon where they had just opened the tourist rip-off Lucite platform (you can't take a camera on it), and he was supposed to leave late afternoon on Saturday, but he joined us in the cool grandstand over the track and watched the cars coming at us and getting only a little airborne (since they fixed the massive bump overnight) and he looked at me and said, "Do you think I could get my ticket changed to tomorrow? Do you think Uncle Kevin will mind if I miss Easter Vigil?" "It can't hurt to try. Are you kidding? Uncle Kevin doesn't give a shit about stuff like that." (Note: Uncle Kevin married our aunt 20+ years ago – we're Catholic. He's been attending a Catholic church all these years, their kids all went to Catholic school, he just finally got around to converting officially last year – adult conversions are formally acknowledged/done during the Easter vigil which is a complete nightmare and can last up to three hours.) The LB was able to change his ticket leaving Sunday (as it was Easter) and he sat there watching cars and asked "Why is NASCAR more popular than this? This is so much more interesting." Ah, LB, you have asked the eternal question, which is even more pertinent now that my series is no more.

I need to post pics of the progress of Grandma's bed jacket, but first I need to download the images from my camera. Let's hope it doesn't take as long as my October trip. ;-)

Have a good weekend. I'm going to the Token Lounge tonight to see Ursa's hubby play with his old band. I'm pretty sure there will be some absolutely fabulous people-watching happening this evening, as it is a rock/metal concert. The funny thing is that I grew up not all that far from the Token and have never ever been in it. I've driven past it numerous times, but never stepped one foot inside. I shall now find out what I've been missing all these years!

Another Grandma Update & March Lists of Books & Movies

I know, I know…I haven't listed my books and movies from March, but first, a Grandma Update. She somehow managed to get bronchitis last week, so she wasn't feeling all that fabulously and she was obviously having trouble breathing. She was on the Z-Pack, getting breathing treatments three times a day and then finally, oxygen (either Friday or Saturday – she couldn't remember). She sounded better last night and they took her off the oxygen, so that was good news.

Mom told me more bad news last week, however. Grandma went to a dermatologist and got a biopsy done sometime before she fell. Mom finally remembered and called the dermatologist and was told that the biopsy had come back and the results were that the cells were atypical and squamous. Mom didn't know what squamous meant, but made an appointment for Grandma for some time in May. Then Mom went to work (she works at a pediatrician's office) and was told that squamous means fast-growing, malignant cancer. Mom moved the appointment up to this week, but only told Grandma the cells were atypical. She didn't think Grandma needed further bad news. I'm hoping that as it's only skin cancer (I think), that it will be easy to cut out and eliminate completely. Please continue praying for the cute little lady. Thank you.

Here is my lame book list and not quite as lame movie list.

Books

The Ringmaster's Secret by Carolyn Keene – 178 pages - #31 – What can I say, I was looking for an easy read. Classic Nancy Drew.

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu – This was "An Illustrated Journey" translated by Stephen Mitchell – It was very interesting, I even marked passages I really liked, for some reason or other. It's very short, but takes a little time to digest. I have three more copies to read. Yeah, not quite sure why I own four copies of it, but I do.

High Rhulain by Brian Jacques – 320 pages – From the Redwall Abby series by Brian Jacques for Young Adults. My nephew got me into them a number of years ago and this was one he didn't have. I bought it a good 1.5-2 years ago with the intention of giving it to the nephew (as he owns most of them, and I generally just borrow them from him) as soon as I finished reading it. I finally got around to it and enjoyed it quite a bit. I really enjoy the books which including the fighting hares of Salamandastron, they make me laugh. When I gave it to the nephew I said, "Want to know the ending?" "No!" he said in a panic. "The good guys win." "Duh." I would recommend all of the Redwall books to anybody and everybody who enjoys a good story. Although the first book is technically "Redwall" my nephew started me out with Martin the Warrior and I would say it was not a bad move.

I started Nineteen-Eighty-Four by George Orwell last month as well, but didn't finish it. So, while I'm a slacker, I'm not a complete slacker. ;-)

Book of the Month has to be High Rhulain.


Movies

I started out the month pretty well and ended it well…the middle – there was a definite lack of movie watching happening, except for the Saturday I spent with Grandma after she fell.

3/1 - Babette's Feast - 1987 (N) – Sadly this movie has been on my list to see since it came out. Only took me 20 years to get around to it. Pathetic. I started watching a version I DVRd back in February, but it was dubbed and I hate dubbed foreign films, so I hit the delete button and moved the title to the top of my Netflix queue. If you like action, you won't like this movie. It's more about people and how they relate to each other. I liked it.

3/1 - Woyzeck - 1979 (N) – A Werner Herzog/Klaus Kinski collaboration. Do I really need to say more? It was dark, depressing and I would say you could see Klaus Kinski's insanity most readily. The man personified batshit crazy.

3/1 - Ocean's 13 - 2007 (K) – What can I say? I love the Ocean's series (yes, including 12, which apparently I'm not supposed to like because it didn't follow the "heist movie formula" – whatever). The link above takes you to the Rolling Stone review which does a much better job than I could describing the movie. Unless you have serious George Clooney issues (which I won't even begin to pretend to understand), check it out. It's fun, and it's always a good time to see the really icky bad guys lose.

3/2 - Tsotsi - 2005 (Enc) – Tsotsi was nominated for best foreign film back in 2005 and won. It's about a teenaged boy in South Africa who carjacks a woman, seriously injuring her and without realising her baby was in the backseat. For some reason, he keeps the baby and in a roundabout, messed up way, it humanizes him to a certain degree. A sad movie, but not nearly depressing as Woyzeck.

3/2 - Best Little Whorehouse in Texas - 1982 (Retro) – I had never had any desire to see this movie, but an acquaintance (and fellow punk/goth) told me it was her absolutely favorite movie and that I should watch it. It was playing on Retroplex shortly thereafter, so I DVRd it. I have to confess that I liked it. I love Dolly Parton. Dom Deluise was hilarious as Melvin P. Thorpe and Burt Reynolds did a fine job as the sheriff. I actually like musicals, but I could have lived w/o some of the songs in the movie. All in all, I'm glad I took the advice.

3/2 - O Brother, Where Art Thou? - 2000 (Enc) – Alleluia! I finally found a Coen Brothers' film that I liked. I think I would even watch it a second time. And before anybody asks, in disbelief, Yes, I *HATED* Fargo. It.Wasn't.Funny. The other Coen Brothers' film I saw and hated was Barton Fink. No, I haven't seen Raising Arizona, and if you think I should because it's funny, just think for a second "Did I find Fargo funny?" If you answered yes to that question, I won't take your advice on Raising AZ. Sorry…I can not even begin to find the words to express how not funny Fargo was and how disgusted I was at the film….and my friends who laughed hysterically throughout it.

3/2 - The Flight of the Navigator - 1986 (Hallmark) – Yeah, it's a cheesy, 80s Disney movie, but I love it. I saw it was on Hallmark, DVRd it and then watched it when I had a spare 90 minutes. Sadly, it was cut all to hell, so I bit the bullet and found a copy on line which I bought. It arrived the other day. Not sure if I'll watch it anytime soon, since I did just watch it, but don't be surprised when it pops up again on my movie list.

3/16 - The Philadelphia Story - 1940 (K) – I took a bunch of movies with me to Grandma's the Saturday I was to stay with her after she fell. This was one of the movies we watched (I left halfway through An Affair to Remember). Once again, Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. It's brilliant and if you still haven't seen it, do yourself a favor!!! Rent it! Netflix it! Do what you need to do to watch it.

3/29 - The Importance of Being Earnest - 1952 (N) – Between Cyrano de Bergerac and Importance, I don't know which is my favorite play. I've seen both played live (Importance, twice at Stratford, ONT & Cyrano, once in Stratford and once down at Wayne State during my senior year of high school), to say nothing of how many times I've seen the movies. I believe this version (with Michael Redgrave – I think you all remember how much I love him) was my uncle's favorite movie version, as well. I haven't given the 2002 version with Rupert Everett a chance yet and I'm just not sure I'm going to. I'm scared they'll have modernised it or something worse. Okay, I might have to see it…Dame Judi Dench plays Lady Bracknell, but then again, it has a whole lot more characters listed than there are in the play. I'll have to think about that. Anyway, just for the record, I prefer Jose Ferrer's Cyrano to Gerard Depardieu's. Did I mention that Oscar Wilde wrote Importance? I don't think I did, and that should be enough reason to see it. It's bloody hilarious!!!

3/29 - Fitzcarraldo - 1981 (N) – Another Werner Herzog/Klaus Kinski film. While in the middle of watching it, a friend called and asked if I were sleeping. I said, "No, watching my last Werner Herzog film." She laughed as she's seen a few, and asked which one. I told her and she asked where the boat was. "45-degree angle on a mountainside." KK played a crazy man (a stretch for him – ha ha) who is obsessed with opera and wants to bring Caruso to Peru to perform. He needed to make a lot of money with rubber production and somehow moving the steamboat over a mountain was going to help him. Anyway, after it was over, I can say that it is The.Most.Uplifting of all of Werner Herzog's films (of the too many I have seen). So, if you want to see ONE Werner Herzog film, go with this one. Honestly.

3/30 - Sicko - 2007 (N) – I know Michael Moore is a hot button topic for a lot of people and that they will discount anything he says just because he is the one saying it. However, he seems to be the only one saying what needs to be said about the American health care system in easy to understand ideas, if you're willing to listen. I found the movie fascinating, but I will confess to thinking the health care system in this country sucks canal water, so he was preaching to the choir. I laughed out loud when he went to Cuba, as that is so Michael Moore and who the hell else would have had the balls to do it. I don't think that I would actually like Michael Moore if I met him, but I like that he doesn't care if people hate him and does what he thinks is right.

And there you go, my March movies. Movie of the Month has to be Sicko.

Latest Grandma Update, Knitting, Long Beach

Sorry for my absence, but for the first time I can remember I think I'm suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder. I need warmth and sun…the warmth from the sun. I've never discounted SAD's existence before, but I never thought I suffered from it. This winter, though, has put me over the edge. I'm always tired, I don't feel like doing anything. I don't want to leave my apt. once I'm home. I don't feel like working when I'm at work. I don't feel like blogging or reading blogs. It's really pathetic. I need SUMMER!!!

I had Good Friday and Easter Monday off work which was nice. Grandma is doing quite well. She had surgery on the Tuesday before Easter, as you know, and the hospital released her on Good Friday. I slept in Friday but made it to church by a little after twelve noon (had to stop by the University to pick up hockey tickets from a friend) – they were on the second station of the cross when I got there. After the service was over (only day of the year when there is no Mass in a Catholic church – little trivia there for you – I won a bet on that once), I went to Target (not my usual one and it was stupid busy) and then Mom called to say Grandma was being moved right then, so I headed up to the rehab place. I beat her there as her ambulance driver didn't have a clue how to get to the place, so he decided to go up Greenfield from the hospital to 13 Mile Road and then west to Meadowbrook Road. Yes, theoretically it's direct, but it's not the fastest way to get there. When they finally arrived, Grandma said, "I think we came by way of Toledo." I was amused but I'm not sure the ambulance guys were.

We got Grandma settled in and stood and chatted for a while, until I decided the snow was coming down a little too hard for my peace of mind and I said my good-byes. It wasn't as white-knuckle driving as when I had to take the YS to the airport back in December, but it wasn't the best time ever, either. Thankfully, Saturday was warm-ish (low 40s?), so driving to Knitting Club that night wasn't a problem. The city where EGC lives has a snow rule, so one whole side of EGC's street is forbidden. I proved my parallel parking skills by getting into the tightest damn spot. I might have had a couple of inches on both ends of the car. I rock.

I started knitting a sweater/bed jacket for Grandma that night. Soyon brought me some patterns and I picked one that looked easy. You can see it here (third picture down in blue). It's not going to be that long, obviously, since it is a bed jacket and Grandma's only 4'7". I've already ripped the damn thing completely out as it was going to be way too long. I've started shaping the armholes for the back piece, and figured out it's still going to be too long, but hopefully only by an inch or so. I'm not ripping it out again.

I took a break from the bed jacket this weekend to knit a scarf as a housewarming gift. I had a housewarming party to attend on Saturday and wanted to knit something for the "lady of the house." I didn't finish it in time, and was hoping to finish it by today so I could give it to Katie this afternoon, but it didn't happen. I went to the Red Wings game on Sunday (they won in OT – woohoo) and that took up quite a few hours, and then yesterday I was visiting Grandma and this particular pattern needs my attention. I kept messing up and having to take rows out one stitch at time so that I wouldn't have to rip the entire thing out. I ended up working on the bed jacket so that I wasn't wasting time while visiting with Grandma. ARGH! I didn't get home until 9:30 which is bedtime, so it's not done. Darn it!!!

Grandma has only been in physical therapy for a week, but she's making great progress. They're teaching her how to use the walker to support herself as she hops to get from point A to point B. I met a lady with whom Grandma has PT and she told the OS and me that Grandma has progressed very quickly and that she was very impressed with Grandma's accomplishments. She gets out of bed with a minimum of help and is just doing really, really well. Even though she's making friends at the facility, she can't wait to get home and be on her own again. It's good to have a goal.

Grandma's not allowed to put any weight on her right leg for six weeks (I guess we're down to 4 weeks, now). She figured out yesterday that she's more than likely not going on our trip to CA in 3 weeks. She's bummed because she really wanted to surprise the LB for his b-day. I was really looking forward to it, too. I now need to call the airline or Travelocity and see if we can get a voucher for the ticket, so Grandma isn't out the money and can get to CA eventually.

I leave two weeks from tomorrow for Long Beach. While I'm looking forward to the trip, I'm also dreading it as that's when IT will really be over. Supposedly, the first Icky Racing League race of the season was this past weekend. I had a party to attend that night, not that I would have watched anyway, but HRH tried to watch it and she said it just brought it all home to her that our series is really over. It upset her so much she couldn't even sleep that night. A bigwig at work (who back when the takeover was announced argued with me that there would still be a race in Cleveland and all this other stuff, he simply refused to believe that someone who didn't wear a suit to work might actually know more about something) yesterday asked me "Did you watch the race?" I replied, "There wasn't a race." He just laughed. I didn't.

I know that at some point I will need to "get over it," but I'm not ready yet. HRH's trying to get me to go to Charlotte for the 600…I wouldn't bet money on it happening, but never say never, right?

I hope all is well with everybody. It'll probably take me a little while to catch up as I've been lax for the past couple of weeks, but I trust comments will be popping up around the blogging world.

Waiting for summer….

Grandma thinks it is Sunday

I talked to Grandma yesterday and today. She didn't sound very good yesterday, but she did sound much better today. She was telling me how if you're in pain and want painkillers, they ask you your name and birthdate to make sure you're you and then they give it to you. I'm thinking she's pretty looped today as she wasn't sure what tehy were giving her and she thought it was Sunday. Normally when I call her from work, she's anxious to get me off the phone so I don't get fired, but today I had to say, "I have to go, Grandma, the bossman called me and I need to see what he needs." three times, before she let me go.

I told her that she needs to make our trip to CA in April her recovery goal and she said, "Believe me, Kathleen, it is." She also told me that I don't need to come visit her, calling on the phone is enough. *eyes rolling* Then she told me how my Mom is coming too much and too often and is just exhausted. I simply said that my mom is too Catholic sometimes. Grandma told her she didn't have to come today, but Mom said, "You used to tell me what to do. Now I'm telling you." That mother of mine is BOSSY!!!

Of course, this whole hospital/rehab facility/Grandma falling business has me wondering what the heck we're all doing for Easter. The original plan was that we were going to her house after church for brunch. I was to go over on Saturday and set up the dining room table and whatever else needed doing, but I have a feeling that won't need to be done. I didn't ask her because I didn't want her to get upset with herself for falling and inconveniencing others (her viewpoint, not mine).

All in all, I thought she sounded pretty good today, so let's keep our fingers crossed that she stays that way! As always, thanks for all thoughts and prayers!

Grandma's out of surgery

Update #5 (I think or is it #4?):

Grandma's surgery apparently went well. They had trouble finding enough bone to work with as they put in a plate and a bunch of screws. Mom called at 6:00 to say that Grandma had been out of surgery for two hours, but she was still in recovery.

Grandma didn't get out of recovery until after 10:00 because the hospital didn't have a bed for her. She was in major pain - had two doses of morphine in Recovery and another two overnight. Her blood pressure was 190 over something. She finally settled down after the fourth dose of morphine. Nurse said the blood pressure came down today, but not by how much.

That's all I know for now, except that the hospital is supposedly releasing her tomorrow (we need to find a rehab facility that will take her), but I'm hoping the doctor keeps her a bit longer. She is 89 years old, for heaven's sake. I can see discharging a relatively healthy 35-year-old, but I think it would be nice if decisions were made on individual bases and not a template.

Thanks again to all who are praying for my cute little Grandma. She appreciates it. I told her on Saturday that my friends were praying for her.