Avenue Miserables

Whew. My last post was almost two weeks ago. How did that happen? So what have I been up to? Crazyness. I'll try to catch you up here.

1. Work - work has been nuts but it is getting better. We hired the new Accounting Admin which will take a lot of work off of me. Sarah is awesome. She's really nice, very efficient, able to work without me hovering over her and telling her how to do every little thing, AND she knew what letterboxing was without me telling her! That alone would have been a good reason to hire her.

Now that Sarah is here I can stop staying at work from 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and later. Most of the last couple of weeks I've been going to work, working like a fiend, then working late, coming home and crashing. I am,however, building a nice cushion of comp time. Now if I could just use it...

2. Home - home has been mostly me waving at Greg and my pets and going to bed. I also spend a lot of time doing dishes and laundry. And a lot of time moaning about how much work I have to do around here.

3. Pets - pets are doing okay. We are still having trouble with Carmen & Sophie and their sensitive little tummies. I swear they did better on the Kirkland food than they have been on all this "healthy" food I've been feeding them. And now the vet has them on this special Science Diet food that is $75 for a 25 pound bag.

Zinger & Cleo are doing fine. Greg took Cleo in to have her annual. All was fine. She's a good weight (9 pounds) and healthy. Zinger went along to use the scale. I thought he was getting quite chunky, but it turns out he's only about 12 pounds.

4. Family - My 90-year-old grandma was in the hospital this week. Turns out she has terminal ovarian cancer. Her doctors say it's an agressive form of cancer and expect that she has about 2 or 3 months left. I'm very sad. I'll be going over to spend a lot of time with her this summer.

Mom & Dad are doing okay with it all. They have a strong support group of friends and the hospital hooked them up with what sounds like a great group of hospice folks. I'm sure it will be more difficult as time goes on, but right now they seem to be doing okay.

5. Other Stuff - This was my big theater weekend. My first theater buddy, Julie and my new theater buddy Leah and I had tickets to see Avenue Q on Friday. It was FABULOUS! I was ready to watch it again before the last note faded away. It was done by a traveling troup.

Then on Saturday night the three of us (and Julie's mom, too) went to see Les Miserables. This one was put on by Broadway Rose, the local theater Julie & I have season tickets for during the summer. It was fantastic. FAN-TAS-TIC!! We were all excited when we found out that one of our favorite local actors Leif Norby was playing Javert. I was all "squeeeeeee! Leif is Javert!" It was so well done. I want to go see it again. Now. I wish I could get a recording of this cast performing. It was wonderful.

So that's about it. You are now up to date.

Carry on.

Brought to You By...

...the numbers 1, 6, and 14.

Any guesses as to what those are for? You'll never guess, so I'll tell you.

June 13th was the one-year anniversary of me breaking my ankle. It's weird to think that this time last year I was in a cast and couldn't hardly get around. I might just go to the bathroom to celebrate the ease of being able to do it now.

Ankle then (June 13, 2007)

Ankle now (June 15, 2007)

The number 6 indicates how many pounds I have lost on my new eat better campaign. Woot-woot!

The number 14 is what the pressure should be on my CPAP. It is currently at 8. I went in and told the sleep doctor that I was feeling really tired all the time again. They sent me home with a different machine that can track all the stuff you do when sleeping and also is able to change the pressures as needed. After a week of that machine, they deciphered the data and found that I really need to pump up my pressure.

Is my life fascinating or what?

Check the Poo

I love the TV show Scrubs. I'm so sad that it is over now. I've been getting them from Netflix, which is actually better than watching them on TV, in my opinion. I just watched the funniest Scrubs episode ever. It’s titled “My Musical” and is about this lady that hears everything in song. It is so great. And the composers from Avenue Q (which I’m going to see later this month…Yay!) wrote a bunch of the songs. I downloaded the songs from it on to my new iPod. Funny stuff.

You should check it out!

I Knew It!!

Global warming is a total farce. Ha!

Okay, that’s not to say we can’t all do our part to be more green. Like use less electricity, buy recycled, recycle, and not drive so much.

I wish someone would make an engine that runs on dog or cat poo. We have a lot of that at our house. How can I make that work for me??

Don't Blame Me!

When I posted the link to the lion-cub cam earlier, I didn't realize it had to come with a warning label. So don't blame me if...

...you are late to work because you were busy watching mama give her babies a bath and couldn't tear yourself away until all four babies were clean.

...you get in trouble at work because you were watching them sleep and bogged down the entire network.

...your husband gets annoyed with you because you constantly interrupt him to point out cute things that are happening on the screen. "Aww, she's washing her face!" "Oooh, looky! That one is laying on his back. Could it be any cuuuuter?" "Hey, did you see that bug fly by?"

...you find yourself thinking of names for the babies in an important meeting with your boss.

...you spend 20 minutes trying to figure out what language this site is in and immediately thereafter sign up for a class so you can read what it says on the site about these cuties.

...your cat leaves in a huff because you tried to make her watch with you.

I guess what I'm saying is click the link at your own peril. The managment of Random Thoughts can not be held responsbile for any actions resulting from you visiting these babies and getting hooked on it!

Free Kibble

Here is another web site to add to the ones you click on daily to feed people. This one is much more important, though. Click and feed those kitties and puppies!!

Lion Cuteness

If you want to see something really cool..go to this page.

So you can't read it. You can still enjoy the babies!

Can You Believe...

...Big Brown totally blew his chance at the Triple Crown? BB, WTF??

...It's been almost a year since I broke my ankle?

...I finally got an iPod?

...Weekenders went into bankruptcy today and is shutting their doors forever?

...I haven't been letterboxing in MONTHS?

...We still haven't fixed our floors from the Big Flood of '08?

...Gas prices are so FREAKING high? $75 bucks doesn't even fill my tank anymore.

...Obama won the Democratic nomination? Puh-leeze.

...Timberline Lodge up on Mt. Hood got 15" of snow this past weekend and parts of the country are baking in 100 degree plus weather?

...Sophie turned 8 on May 26th?

...I still haven't unpacked my suitcase from my Tampa trip? That's what I should be doing now instead of typing stupid things on my blog and downloading stuff to my new iPod.

...Some bozo was mean to me at work and made me cry?

...Zinger is almost a year old?

...I have nothing better to do than write dumb posts on my blog?

Things That Make You Go...Sniffle

This is the eulogy my oldest cousin Scott gave at his mother's memorial service. I had to share it here (hope you don't mind, Scott) to show you all how loved my Auntie Charleen was.

Thank you all for coming today.

We are here to celebrate the life and mourn the passing of Charlene Emma Suggs Osborn – or as I’ve always know her – “mom”

I’m not sure how you are supposed to summarize the life of someone that you have known, respected, and loved your entire life. No mater what words you come up with, they don’t seem to be adequate.

Mom was born almost 72 years ago in Arkansas. She said that she was born in a town called Monkey Run – I don’t know if that is or isn’t the case, but I always thought that it sounded cool when I was a kid.

Soon after that the family moved to Dayton. She went to school and graduated from Kaiser high school where she met my dad – and, as they say, “the rest is history.”

She worked at TRW Globe Motors where she was the office manager. One day she was asked to work on the assembly line during a strike. They quickly decided that someone needed to be in the office when she grabbed the wrong end of a soldering iron.

A few years after that, Terry and I came along. Mom was always a good mother. I don’t remember her ever spanking us – she could just look at you and you knew you were doing something that you shouldn’t be doing. She did have some unusual parenting techniques – I don’t think I’ve ever known of anyone who had peanut butter put in their belly button when they were acting up. And I don’t know of anyone who was ever told to “put a belt on it” when they lost a button on their shirt – she said she thought I lost the button on my pants instead of my shirt.

As much as she cared for Terry and I, we eventually took second seat (or so we thought) when Licorice Lady the 12th arrived. She was our family dog. When we first got her, mom told us to make sure we never fed her from the table. But, after a while she was sneaking her food under the table – and it really became embarrassing when she would go to Dairy Queen and order her a cup of ice cream without the spoon. And she was a great grandma to our kids.

I think it’s safe to say that, whether you are family, a friend, or an acquaintance, it is obvious to everyone that my mother was honest, kind, caring, smart, loved a spirited discussion, and treated everyone with respect. They say that, when you come to your final days, you care more about your loved ones than you do about work, your home, cars, money, or many other things that we Americans seem to think are important. It is pretty safe to say that my mother lived her life like that every day.

Even though we are sad that she is gone from here, we know that she is in a better place. When I looked at her on line obituary, there was a quote on the web site that said: Next to silence, that which comes closest to expressing the inexpressible is music.

That seemed to make a lot of sense – because the words from a song have been going through my head for the past few weeks. They are the chorus of a song by Mike Weaver (the lead singer for a band called Big Daddy Weave). Mike and Big Daddy Weave started out as a band just down the street from where our family goes to church. In one of their early songs titled Neighborhoods, the chorus says:

‘Cause you know one day I will fly To my mansion in the sky
And I'll have no regrets when I leave this place for good
When I say my last farewell oh, please don't forget to tell them
That I'm not really dead I'm just changing neighborhoods

Today we are here to mark the passing of my mother. And we will naturally morn for a while. But we should also realize and celebrate that she has also changed neighborhoods. And she has gone to a neighborhood that we will eventually go to.

So, mom – today we don’t say good by – we say that we love you, and we will see you again.

Thank you.

Thanks For Everything

I just want to thank all of you for your educational emails over the past year.

Thanks to you, I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel.

I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the adult movie channels.

I can't sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.

I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pass-time while driving alone is picking your nose. (Although cell phone usage may be taking the number one spot)

Eating a Little Debbie sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed over the years.

I can't touch any woman's purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom. Yuck!

I must send my special thanks to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.

Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same re ason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels l ooking out for me, and St. Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas.

I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr. Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put 'Under God' on their cans.

I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face...disfiguring me for life.

I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore and Uzbekistan.

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.

Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.

And thanks to your great advice, I can't ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

I can no longer drive my car because I can't buy gas from certain gas companies!

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's
ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician...

Have a wonderful day....

Oh, by the way.....

A German scientist from Argentina, after a lengthy study, has discovered that people with insufficient brain activity read their e-mail with their hand on the mouse.

Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late.

My Girls are Famous!

A few days ago Greg was at the dog park with the girls when a photographer came up to him and asked if she could take pictures of them. This was the result. You all need to rush out and buy your set now!

I need you photographers to chime in here about this. Is it weird to take pictures of someone's dog (with permission in a public place) and then use those pictures on merchandise that you are selling? I think it's kind of weird myself. If she gave me a set I would be totally okay with the whole thing. I don't know. What do you all think?

And I have to say that yes, I know you can see all of Carmen's ribs in that one shot. I do feed her. Really I do. She's just extra skinny right now because she's been sick off and on and she's eating this special food. But I really do feed my dogs. Honest.