the one where we were training for disaster

It’s a really windy day here in N.W. Indiana. The kind of day that not only messes up your hair, but blows your pant leg and shirt making all of your clothing form fitting. Not always an attractive look, I will admit. It’s the high wind and warm air swirling that makes me think of tornado weather. If you live in an area that isn’t frequented by tornado’s, well, “sucks to be us”, doesn’t it? Nah, I mean, people who live in parts of the country where tornados frequent just know what tornado weather is.

I like that kind of weather. I’m a safety girl, I don’t cross against the no crossing sign, I don’t go around the gates at a rail road crossing, I don’t spit into the wind, but tornado weather, I mean come on really – what are you going to do when you see one coming. Duck.

I remember when my children were young. I prepared them for all types of disasters. (safety girl and scared young mother of three, natural worrier, that’s me) I told them that if I should alert them of a tornado’s impending peril, they were to grab a couch cushion and go into our bathtub. We had a bathroom that was placed kind of central to the house, and the kids could easily grab a couch cushion versus a mattress off the bed. A mattress off the bed can be quite cumbersome when you are three or four years old. It never happened. BUT WE WERE PREPARED, incase it did happen, so don’t laugh.
Yeah, I also had a prepared “password” that only my children and I knew, incase that I had to send someone to pick them up from school in my stead. They were not supposed to go anywhere with a stranger OR a friend posing as a concerned person who might wish to steal away my small children, kidnap them and I wouldn’t see them ever again. Pffft. Gone. Unless said friend knew the password, then my children could rest assure that I sent this person to scoop them up for me. We were prepared.

My children and I had a fire drill – so that in case of a fire, they would know what to do, what exit to take, how to get out of the house safely. See, I was worried because the kids bedrooms were on the second story of our Cape Cod style home, my own bedroom on the main level. If a raging blaze broke out and they couldn't get downstairs, they should go out of the window in my son’s bedroom that ran adjacent to the garage roof. Cool, they could sit on the roof and wait for the fireman (or mom) to rescue them. They were instructed to crawl close to the ground, yadda yadda …all that. I was a FREAK for disaster preparedness.

I labeled all the cleaning products with “Mr. Yuck” stickers from poison control. (and still my three year old son licked up some Miracle Grow thinking it was blue sugar…who knew?)
I put red stickers in the window corners to alert the fireman of the presence of small children.
I taught them how to call 911 should I mysteriously pass out and become unconscious. (Used to make my daughter Sarah cry, but I wanted them to be prepared!!!)
Freak. Now as I type this, I sound like very freaky, but better safe than sorry right? Right?
Don't be so judgey.

Ahh, young parents, relax would ya? They made it safely to their adult hood almost unscathed …well unscathed by natural disasters anyway. We had our share of emergency room visits. Don’t you all?
Any of you parents out there do similar preparation with your children?

My New Ride

I don't really care - as long as it gets me there.

That could be my motto. For my ride, you know. I don't care what it looks like, what bells and whistles it has, what color, make or model it is. I want it to get me there in one piece.

From this....

My last car I rode until stuff started literally falling off! If I went over a bump or pot hole, the armrest on the door handles in the back seat would shake loose! The body was in good shape. Indiana winter's and the salt started to erode the paint at the bottom of the doors. The heat/air conditioning worked at a minimum. It has 183,000+ miles on it. My 1998 Olds Intrigue, lovingly got me there! So, it was 12 years old - and starting to show it's age. Everyone was buggin me to get a new car...but my heart wasn't in the payment.

So, we began the search. All I really wanted was a CD player, heated seats, and a decent cup holder.

I got it! And it's a racy red color too!

To this...my new Impala!

Whew-made it past the day unscathed

Ah HA! It's the day after April Fool's day. Poissant D'Avril for you odd frenchies...{i never did understand the fish foolery}
I have come through unscathed.
See, It's taken me years of looking over my shoulder and doubting every phone call, or bit of April 1st news or gossip to finally settle down on the first of April.
I had been quite a bit of a practical joker in years past, and my children liked to take pride in "getting me back" in creative ways.

This year I went by without anyone trying to pull a prank. Whew!
With the temperature at an unseasonal 64 degrees and it's only 7:13 a.m. I'm off to have a Good Friday, off fromwork, enjoying the weather and preparing for our Easter weekend. Going to my mom's to make Easter cheese and wash her bedding. I MAY even get to hang her blankets on the clothes line outside!
Hope you all enjoy the weekend!

It's the End of the Week, and Now it's Time for a Nap!

“Whatever you give a woman she will make greater. If you give her sperm she will give you a baby. If you give her a house, she will make you a home. If you give her groceries she will make you a meal. If you give her a smile, she’ll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So if you give her any crap, be prepared to receive a ton of shit”.


I think I got that quote in one of those annoying email forwards, but I liked its content and thought I’d share it with you two readers.

No, I didn’t forward it on, kind sir or Madame. Smarty pants.

This was a rough and busy week but it flew by! Starting with 55 degree days (as compared to bitter cold and tons of snow) which melted the large dirty ugly piles of leftover snow and grungy ice. I saw groups of people enjoying the weather – sans coats and other garb. Hurray for me, job security!

I took my mom to the doctor for a second opinion on what I think might be seizure activity. She has a nonchalant neurologist, nice lady, who just “Isn’t that into HER”. So, after a few episodes of her losing consciousness, I decided to take her to the wonder doctor who helped me so much. Her being a new patient and all, he ordered a ton of diagnostic tests and appointments with other specialists, and my 80 year old mom can only handle a few hours at a time, so I spread them out over a few weeks.
I’ll be busy.

Besides the mama drama, all the ladies I work with are having personal problems. Not that they don’t hide them, they do…some do…and some need to share. I consider myself lucky that things personally are even keel. Wonderfully sane even.
We’ve got a few (three) divorces going on, one whose mother passed away yesterday, and some with personal self esteem issues that make them feel inferior to their peers and definitely interfere with their work performance. Those require alot of hand holding and support that saps you of your strength. So by today I’m spent. I decided to take the weekend off. Do some house work, do some reading, blogging or scrapbooking. Maybe hit the mall. Peace out folks, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Truth Or Dare

I can’t even remember the content of my studies in Health & Safety class. It was a required course for all freshmen and it was BORING. I was of course at the top of the food chain in my middle school, by being a freshman, the head of the class. Our local high school was jam packed with sophomores, juniors and seniors so the freshman stayed one more year at the junior high school level and became the big cheese for one year before plummeting to the bottom again with big time teens ready to burst upon the world.

The Health and Safety teacher was also the track coach and chess club sponsor. Nice man, who wore a shirt and tie, carried a brief case full of track strategies and statistics and stood before the bored freshman to lecture about the lesson plan. For that hour, he could easily be distracted from health and safety instruction, by say one smart aleck kid asking a well thought out “track or chess question”. Turning to the chalk board he would draw out long diagrams, and the rest of us could play hangman, write love notes, draw or do our homework for 4th period - sort of a laid back study hall. He never knew.

Of course, I was not that smart aleck kid, but being creative I was known for being fun and a ring leader of sorts when trying to create an atmosphere of fun and games. So began our Truth or Dare sessions. We would engage him in the art of chess or track lectures and while his back was turned drawing a diagram of plays, we would take turns with Truth or Dare tasks. When it was my turn, I was “dared” to get out of my seat (I was at the end of the row) and slip out into the empty hallway, travel to the next floor and swipe the attendance slip off the door of my boyfriend’s English class in progress. Brilliant strategic move for the kid who wanted me to fail at a dare- so that I might have to divulge a “truth.” I slipped out of class, skipping lightly in my navy blue Charlie Brown flats. Oh, the glory of those stylish duds! They matched my red brushed denim hot pants, matching navy tights and navy turtleneck bodysuit. Hey, no digs at the duds! It was 1972 and the student council had fought for the destruction of our school’s dress code and we fully took advantage of the odd assortment of outfits we could create.

I naturally was successful, triumphant even to the task at hand – had to stand outside of the classroom until the teacher turned his back again – he never wondering why my seat was empty. I slid into my seat quietly, mission accomplished. I felt WICKED naughty, totally cool, hoodwinking that silly teacher as such and getting away with 9th grade murder. Oh, he (the teacher) got his revenge, as I was getting a “C” average in that class, learned not a Safe or Healthy thing and by the end of the semester was sequestered at home with a nasty case of mono. My friends brought me my school work and upon my return to school I had to take all of his weekly quizzes and one final test in one after school session of test taking. His version of murder. The end to that story is a whole OTHER blog post. The reason for this here post?
The moral of this story, the end-all-be-all for the reason this memory popped into my head?
Impending spring fever reminding me of school, nah.

It’s the Truth and Dare’s of life that make us go out on the ledge and live to challenge ourselves.
It’s FRIDAY – go out and live life this weekend! I dare you!

Oh, and Gah - I’ve miss you all.

Good News! I'm alive!

I feel sorry for those who came to read my blog posts. I've been so absent. So sorry about that.

This week has been one hectic chaos after another.
At work we had a sprinkler head freeze and BLOW! Spraying a continuous flow of water all over our waiting room, pouring through the floor, under doors and seeping into my office and conference room, several other offices and through to our business office. We are in a state of shock, and yet, staying open and still seeing patients. We've put chairs up and down one hallway, rerouting the traffic through the side employee entrance.

It's a hot mess.

and a humid one.

Even though the temperature outside is close to zero, the inside is hot and muggy due to the fans and dehumidifiers trying to soak up all the water.

I miss my desk.

So, I've not had time to blog - by the time my tired butt reaches home, I am half asleep with fatique.

Oh, and by the way, if you are the spammer that keeps leaving wierd comments in my comment section, kindly move on.
I'll try to be more vigilant in the future. Maybe in March. Could still be in February.

I MISS SUMMER

As we dig out of our snowfall of about two feet and temperatures drop to below zero, I just want to


A. curl up under a blanket.


B. Eat ice cream over hot soup


C. Watch movies that take place at the seashore.

Casper loves the gigantic snowflakes.

I may just get out of my pajama's today!

Thursday Thoughts

The snow is steadily falling in the rate of a scary 1” per hour and has been since sometime early this morning here in N.W. Indiana. Brrrrr. Really cool if you are a kid with a sled or tucked into your warm abode, complete with hot beverages and cozy snuggly blankets. But if you are out in it, driving or working it’s a nightmare!

I was thinking on my slippery, all white drive into work this a.m. (Thinking can be dangerous) I was thinking about random posts that lack real direction, and AADD. When I was a kid and was daydreaming or distracted and couldn’t learn my fractions, no one suggested that there may have been a DISORDER to blame. No, sir! It was your own thick numbskull head that wouldn’t focus or REFUSED to pay attention.
*blink*
*blink*
Where was I? Oh, yeah, AADD, I think that my husband and I both have a touch of attention deficit handicaps. I tell him some tidbit of information; he’s watching a commercial that he’s seen a thousand times before, later when I remind him that I’m not coming home after work tomorrow, he says “hey, how come you never told me”. Stuff like that. I do the same. The point? Um, not much other than a random post, one that is scattered and bears no rhyme or reason in correlation with each other. Hey, I’m not to blame, it’s my AADD. Natch.

*I had another brilliant idea for discussion. (All while driving) Let’s talk it out. While driving in, there is always someone going 15 mph below the speed limit and some whacko who is weaving in and out of the semi-trucks that are stopping and starting on the highway. I hate em. I’d like to roll the window down really close next to them and A. knock the cell phone out of their hands or B. announce in a loud voice “I’m telling on you”. Or something just as sinister. So, what if when you register for your license plates they use your cell number or home phone number as your plate number? That way when you drive like an idiot, you have to take the heat, later on the phone or listen to obnoxious voice mail messages from all the people you cut in front of. Just a thought.

*Really, you know what is under-rated? Ear muffs. Think about ‘em. They don’t mess up your hair, they keep your ears toasty – sometimes you can hardly see them! I never get that annoying static cling from them, they tuck into your pocket when vanity prevails and you whip them off your head so the cute guy at the next pump at the gas station pulls up. I really like them. Go on and grab yourself a pair. Even more to think about is what if you could buy hair extensions for your ear muffs…ok, maybe not, but like I claimed before this is random thoughts. Not good thoughts, or brilliant thoughts, just random ones.
*blink*
*blink*
I think I may have more when I can sit at home and discuss from my cozy electric blanket and my warm new LAPTOP the awesome hubster bought me for Christmas! Thanks to my son I’ve got a WiFi hub and thanks to my daughter I got a cool little mouse so I don’t have to use my fingers…they might love me a little.