Cue the Twilight Zone music!

We bought a lottery ticket this week -- which we rarely do.

As he was leaving for work this morning, Tom mentioned that we'd forgotten to check last night to see if we're winners. At the same moment, he picked something off the floor that looked like a wayward scrap of paper.

It was this:

Neither of us have any idea where it came from.  We went out for dinner at the Mongolian BBQ last night and read the fortunes in the four cookies, but they were boring and normal and we left them on our plates!  Where did THIS fortune come from and why was it on our otherwise tidy floor?!

And why, oh why, is the picture posting upside down when it’s right side up on my computer?  Even when I flip it upside-down on my computer to “give in” to the bizarreness, it STILL posts upside-down!

HUH?!

We haven't checked the ticket yet... will do that tonight.

C'mon! Don't be silly! We don't believe in this stuff!! (Do we...?!?!)

Missing in Action

…or rather, INaction. 

I used to blog incessantly, about every little thing, no matter how trivial.  I was constantly amazed that anyone at all visited my blog but somehow over the years I attracted a following of people who, for whatever reason, found my relatively mundane life interesting.

Then I joined Facebook and I slowly stared posting trivialities about my mundane life there instead of on my blog.

Oddly enough, I constantly ask myself now whether a topic is blog worthy – which I never used to do.  And 99% of the time I answer myself with a resounding NO.  So I Facebook said topic instead which, truth be told, simply bores a different audience!

Regardless of whether my loyal readers miss me, I miss blogging!  So I’m making an effort to come back.  Brace yourself more of the truly mundane!

So where have I been, you ask? 

Mostly hanging out here in the Land of Limbo. 

Although my company Sandcastle Educational Consulting is still alive and well (though a bit dormant at the moment), I am looking for full-time work as an Educational Media Specialist (“I create experiences that engage and inspire youth and families”) with my eye and heart focused on one position in particular with Microsoft’s Kinect for Kids.  Just how perfect would THAT be?!

I’ve interviewed twice and now it’s pretty much a waiting game while that team re-structures and figures out what their needs are and where (if anywhere) I’d best fit.  My fingers have been crossed for so long that I have a feeling they’re stuck this way forever – which is fine, because hope and optimism never hurt anyone.

And if that position doesn’t pan out, I’ll do my own re-assessing.  Unfortunately, Sandcastle doesn’t offer great benefits that allow us to save for retirement, which is really where we need to focus now that we’re ONE TUITION PAYMENT AWAY (!!!) from being done with paying for kids’ college – something we’ve done for the past ten years solid!

So instead of waiting until everything is resolved and all nice and pretty, as I’ve been doing thus far, I guess I’ll blog all the ups and downs and ins and outs of my life – just as I did for five years until I… didn’t.

And hey, guess what?  I’m solidly on the road to getting back in shape and finding a new healthy me – or, as I indicate on the masthead of my blog at My Fitness Pal, “steadfastly clawing my way back from the depths of LETTING MYSELF GO.”  This journey is a tough one and has been where I’ve focused the majority of my energy lately.  After almost 30 years of focusing on everyone else’s health and needs, I am finally, finally focusing on my own.  It actually is beginning to feel good and I am actually beginning to look forward to the endorphin rush that I get each day when I work out at the gym. 

I know – that looks funny to me too!  Me?  Working out daily at a gym?  Yup!  I lift weights (a full circuit!), sweat on the elliptical, and swim.  Something every single day.  Me!  Can you believe it?  And for two months now I’ve tracked every single morsel that’s gone into my mouth – which is so easy using the My Fitness Pal app’s bar code scanner!

So ten pounds down, forty to go.  Ugh – that just looks so daunting!  But I’m taking it one pound, one centimeter , one lap, and one carrot at a time, allowing myself a full year to accomplish my goal.  If nothing else, I should feel better this year (my third!) at the Danskin Triathlon… where I plan to actually jog, rather than walk for the first time since breaking my ankle three years ago.

So yeah, that’s where I’ve been.  I promise not to stay away for so long again… as long as you promise that you won’t mind if I go back to posting the mundane. 

There’s something I need to tell you

I can’t type with 10 fingers.  Never could.  I type with two or three fingers.  And I’m lightning fast!  But still…

I enrolled in a typing class during senior year in high school (no second grade keyboarding classes for us back then), but ultimately dropped it because it was offered first period and I didn’t have another class till noon. And because I had no plans to become a secretary, which was the only reason to take typing back then, I figured it would never be an issue.

Oh, how dismally wrong I was!  I have always been a writer.  Now I’m also a social media fanatic, a blogger, a business owner, and an all-day typist.  There’s simply no excuse anymore!

Those last three short paragraphs have taken me about five minutes each to type. Why? Because Peter is standing over me, forcing me to type without looking at the keyboard. 

“For how much you type every day, Mom, you really should learn to type!” he insists.  And he’s right.  So the next few weeks are going to be extremely frustrating for me, as I learn to slow down, re-map my brain, and actually learn to use the keyboard correctly. 

Be patient with me!

(That’s the longest it’s ever taken for me to write any blog post!)

In honor of the Royal Wedding…

I bought these:

“Domestics”!  My favorite reason to shop!

(I really had no choice because the car needed a battery.  And Marshall’s is next to Sears.  And these were on clearance for $2 – yes, TWO DOLLARS a plate/bowl.)

So it isn’t my fault that they ended up in my kitchen cabinets?  Is it?

Unfortunately, there were only five plates and two bowls.  I bought them all, of course (spending a grand total of $14), but now I’ll be looking for this pattern for the foreseeable future and I will become obsessed.  I already wrote to the company, attaching photos and asking how I can get more. 

I’m pathetic.

Where will they fit in our small kitchen with barely any cabinet space? I figure I’ll squeeze them in somewhere among the other blue dishes, like the Dansk Bistro (a wedding present) or the new white square dishes from World Market…

…or maybe above our everyday dishes.  Blue, of course.

I admit it (that’s the first step, right?): I have a problem around domestics – especially German bedding and dishes.

Is there a 12-step program for this?

Oh, and to the happy couple (thank goodness, this time the couple really does seems to be happy): Congratulations!  Yes, I will, in fact, be up watching the ceremony at 5 AM because I’m a romantic. 

Hmmmmm… I wonder what dishes and bedding the royal couple will use?

Our damaging contribution to the SeaTac parking garage

To those of you who head to SeaTac International Airport as often as we do (or more), you might have noticed this damage to the SeaTac Parking Garage entry kiosk:

I’d like to claim responsibility for this damage, which occurred in about 1997, and remains to this day – in spite of the massive renovations that have been made to the airport since then.

Our fault.  Our bad.

See, back then we had a big ol’ Ford F-150 passenger van (because we had four young kids and a big dog)… and on top of that big ol’ honkin’ van we carried a big ol’ honkin’ car top carrier.  I can’t remember why we had headed to the airport with the carrier on the car, but I DO remember the god-awful sound it made as we (may I point out that Tom was at the wheel?) attempted to pass under that lip.

We couldn’t back up, so we (and by “we,” I mean Tom) just had to go forward… and listen as the metal tore away, cracked, and bent.

So next time you head here…

…and you see this

…think of us – and that god-awful sound.

Red Angel

After hearing about Toby’s death today, I had a very hard time heading to the office and concentrating on work.  My thoughts just kept drifting to childhood memories when we were as close to our cousins as we were to our own siblings.  That slowly changed as we grew up and each headed in our own direction, but the memories and the emotions remain strong and I struggled today to focus on anything but Toby and the immense loss that so many people who love him are feeling.

There’s a single tree outside my office window. In the winter its branches are bare and the tree is barely noticeable.  In the spring, soft pink blossoms begin to fill in the spaces.  I’ve hardly noticed that the tree has become lush and green over the summer – until today.

Today, shortly after I arrived at the office with a tight throat and stinging eyes, this bird appeared on the branches of the tree. I’ve never seen this -- or any -- bird on the tree before and I sat motionless, staring at him.  He, in turn, sat motionless, staring at me. And so it went for what seemed like forever, until I was called into a meeting.

When I returned to my office the bird was gone.  I’d really like it if he comes back again someday and treats me to another stare-down.

To my friends at Microsoft:

Please, please, please correct this:

Thank you.

Embarrassing moment #724

Tom and I went to the gym together this morning.  The plan was that I’d attend a Boot Camp class and Tom would do some weights followed by some laps in the pool.  I made it through Boot Camp (and was actually surprised that it didn’t totally kick my ass!) and went to the pool afterwards to look for Tom.

I immediately spotted Tom’s familiar stroke and stood at the end of the lane, waiting for him to touch the side so I could grab his attention.  He approached the end of the lane and I motioned to him to stop swimming, which he did, standing up in front of me.  As I began to speak to him, he lifted his goggles… and it was only at THAT moment that I realized that…

… this man was NOT my husband! 

Mortified, I opened my mouth, not sure what would come out.  I was afraid I’d say, “Oh, excuse me – I thought you were my husband …of 27 years, who I have known for 34 years and can spot from a mile away, just by the way you move.”

Fortunately (if you can call it fortunate) I said, “Oh excuse me… I thought you were someone else.”  I then turned around and shuffled out of there so fast that I almost slipped on the wet tile and – broke my ankle.  Again.

I saw this guy again later as he left the locker room and again opened my mouth, thinking it was Tom… but, realizing (again) that it wasn’t, I um… feigned a yawn and kept walking.  Fast.

Tom’s brother looks a lot like him and I have come close to a few embarrassing moments before, mistaking Craig for Tom.  That’s legit and even expected.  But this?  This was just weird!  Who IS this guy?!

Later, when I introduced Tom to my trainer, I told them what had happened and Tom, not missing a beat, asked whether I now had a date with this strange man – to which I could only answer, “in fact, yes – we’re having lunch together next Wednesday!” 

(Which isn’t true, of course because really, it’s not a good idea to have an illicit affair with a man who’s a dead ringer for your husband!)

April Flowers

How to have the perfect flat tire

Step 1: Ignore the slightly funny, very easy-to-ignore noise as you drive home from work.

Step 2: Forget to mention said noise to your automotively gifted husband that evening.

Step 3: Head to your physical therapy appointment – which happens to be at a gym – the next morning.

Step 4: As you drive to the gym, ignore said noise again.  Also ignore the nagging, something-just-doesn’t-seem-right feeling.

Step 5: Endure the intense pressure on your aching gastrocnemius muscle.  Enjoy the ankle massage and heat therapy.  Revel in the guilty pleasure of the gossip rag.

Step 6: Say g’bye to your PT friends and appreciate a few of the brawny, built, buff ProClub employees on your way out.  Privately deny that you, a 53-year-old woman, even noticed them.

Step 7: Start your car, back out of the parking spot, and notice that something now most definitely doesn’t feel right.

Step 8: Get out of your car and notice this:

Step 9: Decide that you-are-woman, hear-you-roar, you can change a silly flat tire.  You’ve been working out lately and you have new muscles of your own, thankyouverymuch,

Step 10:

Step 11:

Step 12:

Step 13: Be glad that this is right around the corner.  Also be glad that there’s no internet access there, which means you can’t very well work, but you can prepare a blog post.

Step 14: Get to work late and appreciate your good fortune amid your bad fortune.

Step 15: Thank JJay and Josh PROFUSELY for both fixing your flat tire and brightening your day before noon. ;-)

Thank you, JJay and Josh! 

I nominate this movie for an Academy Award!

Reflections on Life Choices as prompted by a schmaltzy Nicholas Cage movie

I’m usually exhausted when I roll into bed after working literally morning (when production work comes in from our Mumbai production team), noon (as in, all day, when I work with Microsoft and at my agency office) and night (when I convey Microsoft’s wishes to our team for overnight production).  By the time my head hits the pillow, my mind is mush and I want to either read a good book or watch a movie – and neither should make me think.

Last night when I turned on the TV, Family Man was on.  I remember that I’d seen the movie at some point, I think on a flight years ago, but I didn’t remember details.  As I recalled, Family Man was about a wealthy corporate workaholic who one day magically finds himself to be a tire salesman living in New Jersey with his high school sweetheart wife and two kids. 

Cute.  Yawn.

I figured this light-hearted movie would fit my “mindless entertainment” requirement, so I fluffed a pillow or two and settled in.  

Ah yes… the formula is predictable but entertaining.  Rich snobby man wakes up in his new “messy” life surrounded by his wife and kids on one of those lazy entire-family-in-the-bed mornings.  He freaks out and tries to go back to his predictable Manhattan high-rise life, but is told by the angel who sent him on this freakish journey that he is being provided a “glimpse” and will just have to endure the apparent misery.

I’m getting sleepy at this point and I miss entire sections of the movie as I doze off.  I wake up to Tom gently pulling the remote from my hands and kissing my forehead as he turns off the TV.

“No, wait,” I mumble. “He has to see that his choices…” And I drifted off again. 

This morning, as I was getting ready for work I turned on the TV and there was Nicholas Cage the Family Man again (an obvious re-play of last night’s feature), only now he had settled into his married-with-children life and he was extraordinarily happy.  He had fallen in love with his kids, with his non-profit attorney wife, and with his unpredictable, messy, middle-class life.  And, predictably, it was now time for him to go back to his rich, single, corporate life – the one he loved so much before he got a “glimpse” of his other possible life, had he hade other choices.

I stood in front of the TV, riveted to the last 30 minutes of the movie as a lump formed in my throat. 

Life choices.  Forks in the road, taken.  Saying yes.  Saying no. 

Had I done it right, I wondered?  Had I made all the right choices?  Did I want the Choice Angel to give me more choices, retroactively? (Ah, movies!)

The lump in my throat grew bigger as I stood in front of the TV half-dressed and mesmerized.  It grew bigger because as I watched this Hollywood romantic comedy/soft drama, I realized beyond a doubt at the old age of 53, that I am completely, 100% satisfied with the major, life altering choices I’ve made in my life.

Most importantly, I know that I married the right man.  Had I married anyone else and had Tom reappeared in my life 20 or 30 years later, I’d be prodding the Choice Angel to give me another chance so I could marry this man.  As schmaltzy as it sounds, that realization turned the lump into a tear and I stood there, choked up and grateful for roads taken.

The little choices in life pretty much take care of themselves on a daily basis, but the Big Choices, the ones that can completely alter the course of one’s life, need more reflection and information, balanced with strong doses of trusted intuition.  I’m glad that I wasn’t fully aware of the magnitude of those Big Choices when I made them (that’s just too much pressure!), but so grateful that they turned out to be the right ones.

Or maybe I’m just sure they’re the right choices because I  lived them and made them the right choices.  Maybe!  But that’s too metaphysical for me right now because I have a to-do list a mile long and I have no choice but to work my way through it today.

Someday I will really, truly blog again (I hope). Until then, I will treat you to the only thing that put a smile on my face today.

Extra-super-duper-fantabulous news!

I’ll just come right out and say it because I can’t keep it in any longer:

TOM GOT A JOB!!!

As you might recall, Tom’s career – while always centering on environmental something – has been just a bit topsy-turvy over the past nine years. 

Tom was laid off from his job as an Environmental Engineer at a large local aerospace corporation shortly after 9/11.  Just a few months previous to his lay-off, Tom had begun taking a few digital art and animation classes at the local community college.  Although he had a masters degree and 20-plus years’ experience in the field of environmental engineering, Tom wanted to explore his always-present but always-dormant artistic talent, and the lay-off, combined with my secure job provided him that opportunity. 

(There are only two people I know who have such a distinct dichotomy -- the mind of an engineer and the soul of an artist: one is my father; the other is my husband.)

Tom spent 2002 as a full-time student and by 2003 he had earned an AA in Digital Graphics and Animation, working at least as hard for that degree, in my opinion, as he had worked to earn his Masters in Engineering almost 20 years before.  During the semester before he graduated, he was lucky to land an unpaid internship with a local gaming company and upon graduation he was extra lucky to be hired as an Environment Artist at the same company. 

So he’d made his way from Environmental Engineer to Environment Artist.  Convenient!

After six years as a Digital Artist, Tom was again victim to a company-wide lay-off, this time fueled by the catastrophic economy rather than by catastrophic world events. 

NOW WHAT?

After much thought and discussion, Tom decided to try to make his way back to environmental work.  Or rather, to work in the field of Environmental Science and Engineering as opposed to Environmental Graphics.  The political and social climate had become more attune t0 environmental work and his hope was that jobs in the environmental arena would be easier to come by now than they were nine years ago.  And although he enjoyed his stint as an artist, he missed the more professional world. 

Besides, with three kids in college full-time (well, four – but Elisabeth’s post-graduate work is up to her to cover), it felt like a more responsible move to try to get back to the field in which he had more experience… a field in which the money is also invariably better.

Long story short, Tom will go back to his previous job in his previous department and his previous company early next month!  Except for the learning curve of getting back up to speed after nine years away, it will probably begin to feel as if he’d never left.

I am thrilled for him, relived for our family, and newly hopeful that we can now face both the multiple-kids-in-college years and the saving-for-retirement years with a bit more hope and confidence.

In a word, PHEW!!

(Yes, we did some celebrating when it was all finalized:

In gneed of gnomes

These are for you

But you really need to crank up your smell-o-meter to get the full impact!

Two summers ago we planted a few little lavender bushlets in a location that, if you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know quite well.

This summer the plants have really taken off and they’ve been practically taking over my favorite (cough-cough) steps.

They’ve looked pretty and smelled delicious, as my dear friend Marco can attest to:

 

… but they’ve been attracting gobs of bubble bees* (*photo by Marco!) who think it’s funny to terrorize me as I limp down the steps like an unstable toddler (yes, still)… and they took special delight last week when I wore a full skirt, threatening to fly straight up it, sting me but good, and do their part to match my winter break dancing falling with a summer version.

No thank you!

So after a warm summer rain this evening that chased all but one stubborn bee away, I decided to cut a few bushels of lavender.

Before I could cut even half of it, the box was overflowing!

The house smells fabulous – which is surprising considering that the smell reminds me of the faint smell of lavender in Mom’s bedroom during her final week (courtesy of the Hospice nurses).  But today it says LIFE, not death, to me.

So here you go.  These are for you.

Take a really deep whiff and maybe you can get a hint of the heavenly aroma. 

And hey, when will we be able to contain a smell like this on a little SD card so we can share it with our dear friends?  Marco, Mr. Technical Wizard, could you get cracking on that please? 

140 characters of defiance

I used to blog short tidbits regularly. Then came Twitter and FB status updates and they monopolized short tidbit posts. So I’m defiant!

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9

Guess what time and date it is right…

NOW?!

It’s 12:34:56 on 7/8/9!

Bloom where you are (not?) planted

So two days ago our backyard slope looked like this:

Yesterday I spent a few iPod-enhanced hours weeding it.  Afterwards, it looked like this:

Notice that I decided to leave the tall grassy “volunteer” that grew right next to the wall.

I had no idea what this plant was or why it was growing there (we certainly didn’t plant it!), but it just seemed like something that should stay.  It wasn’t prettier than all the other weeds and it didn’t scream out  “don’t pick me,” but for some reason I decided not to yank it.

This morning, less than 24 hours after I finished weeding, this is what I found:

It’s beautiful!

I mean, seriously gorgeous!

Somewhere in this little, tiny tidbit of a story, all my religious/spiritual/philosophical beliefs are encapsulated.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll sit next to this little flower and have a cup of tea.

What does it say about me that…

…I find this comic absolutely hilarious… 

…and oddly, deeply poignant. 

Personally relevant. 

Sad.  And sweet. 

Hopeful.  Inspirational, even.

Analysis, please?