24 Miles

4-30-12


Happy birthday to the love of my life!

It has been one crazy and exhausting weekend. As sad as this sounds, Sunday morning was my favorite as I was able to be in my comfy bed until 8. It was glorious.

The registration event was more chaotic than I expected. We had 300 signups, which is a damn lot of people. Thankfully I did not have to deal with many of them. I was in charge of the log of money. I gave out change and wrote down every single check received. I also was responsible for making sure what we had matched what I wrote down. Of course, since I fucking rock, it balanced with no difficulty.

I had hoped that we would be leaving there around 11. There was no way that was going to happen. The event was going until 1, and we still had people showing up at 1. Ken rode home to get the car at around 10:30 so that he could come get the boys and take them to the birthday party. It was good since I know they were losing steam just sitting around at registration. Even the iPad was becoming boring.

There was one point in which they were exploring the campus, though, and there was the panic. Bobby ran into the Multi-Purpose room saying, “Mom! It’s an emergency! Come quick, Dax is stuck!” I jumped up, expecting the worst. Thankfully, it was just that my little monkey had climbed up on a fence to get to the other side to retrieve a ball. Sadly, he didn’t have an exit strategy. Nothing like a mini heart attack to get your blood flowing.

We left registration around 2. I was beat. It has been a really long time since I just hand wrote things for 5 hours straight. My thumb hurt. We got home, with me thinking that Ken and I could go up and get something to eat at a leisurely pace since the boys would be at the party for another couple hours. Not so much. We got a call that our very clingy Dax was upset and needed us to come get him.

Luckily, the party was right across the street from the school, so we were able to ride up and check in on him. I convinced him to bounce some more and that we would come get him in 15 minutes. He was cool with this, so Ken and I went and got a chicken bowl up the street.

6 miles on the bike and registration headaches made for one exhausted and grouchy Gena. Plus, it looked as though once again my monthly issue was becoming a bi-weekly event, therefore adding to the irritation factor. I passed out hard.

I am glad I didn’t opt out on the original plan of our transportation to the Spring Fest. It was actually a really nice ride. We rode there in the morning, stopping at Target briefly to let the boys rest and as it turned out, we needed to get new socks for Dax since he had Hobo Toe.

We got the boys the all you can ride passes, which was the smartest way to do the fair as we determined. They went down the giant slide 4 times, which would have been pricey otherwise. We let them hit up a couple other rides before we walked up to Tomboy’s to eat. Ken left us from there since he was doing a birthday party up near Costa. The boys and I walked back to the fair where they did several rides, including the Gravitron 3 times in a row. Then they did this other giant scary ass ride. They liked it, but decided to hit up the Gravitron again as a nice chaser. All in all, it was a lot of fun. It was nice that they can go on things together and were in the buddy mode of their brotherhood.

Bobby was a little skeptical of my abilities since I did manage to almost lose his backpack. I had set it down at one point near the slide and didn’t notice it was gone till we were on our way to lunch. Luckily, it was still in the same spot. It was hard on Bobby since his beloved camera and C3PO and R2D2 dolls were in there. Thank goodness people didn’t snag it!

The boys and I rode over to my parents’ house and they both showed off their new iPods to my parents. Yes, I spoil them, but I think it will all work out more towards spoiling me.

The ride home didn’t take too long. Actually, the route we have been using to go back and forth between our house and Redondo Beach is an incredibly nice route. It is lots of long stretches of no driveways and very little places we need to cross.

It was a 16 mile round trip. Sweet! Ken got in an extra 3 miles for his quick jaunt up to Costa and back for the party. I was sore, but not nearly as much as I would expect. I am glad we replaced my seat on Saturday since I am pretty sure I would be in very bad shape had I not. The springs were quite bent on the old seat from a couple of times the bike fell over, and countless times the boys have crashed into me.

We will head over to the grocery store after we get the boys so that I can make this giant deposit from this damn registration and pick up supplies to make a lasagna for dinner. It is Ken’s favorite and since it is his birthday, I feel it is the least I can do. Plus, I like the idea of taking some of it to our buddy Jim from AYSO on Thursday.

I am hoping at some point this week I can also correct whatever tornado ran through my house.

Naked

4-27-12


It is going to be a long day.

We got home around 8 last night, and then even though I went to bed soon after, I could not sleep. I found myself thinking about AYSO Treasurer crap. It was frustrating because it left me tossing and turning. I finally started to drift off, but it was at this point that the power went out, causing all sorts of beeping in the house. It only was out for maybe 10 minutes, but when the block came back up, I never got fully back to sleep, convinced the alarm would not go off due to the power issues, despite all important electronics in our house being on UPS’s. I am very, very, tired.

I was pretty jazzed about our long ride yesterday. We once again rode to practice, and then up to the meeting and back. It was just shy of 6 miles, and filled with lots of hills. Dax was not as thrilled about it, but he was having a rough practice after a minor injury and a ball hitting him in the head. In fact, both my boys got hurt (by me) and I strained a muscle. I may have been playing too hard.

Thankfully, I think the only plan this evening is to go to Target to get a birthday present for a party the boys go to tomorrow. It looks like a full weekend, too. Registration event tomorrow morning, then the party. We also have another party we have been invited to, so I feel like we should make an appearance. Sunday is the day we will go to Spring Fest, and Ken has a birthday party. We will ride our bikes out to all of that.

I have at least my workout to look forward to. I can zone out for a half an hour.

I started book two of the Twilight series. The Vampire backstory pulled me in way more than any love story. If anything, I find that aspect tedious. Bella is irritating, and Edward is even whinier than her. But the other characters are intriguing. Alyssa also said that those stories are apparently very important later. That sounds pretty cool, then, so I will move forward.

I left my iTouch at home. I feel naked.

I am proud that I didn't buy this awesome purse I found online. But I still want it.

I think at some point I need some chips and good salsa this weekend.

I just got up to walk to the restroom when I noted just how sore my hip is from my injury last night. I really hope some walking helps it.

Girl on Fire

4-26-12


While sitting in the chair at the dentist’s office, I was admiring the hygienist, Mary’s flowers. They were this gorgeous orange and yellow that just screamed awesome. I thought it they had a hint of red, and the entire hue was transferred to my head, I would be the girl on fire. My plan is to wait until the end of the Spring Season for soccer, and then the purple will be replaced with fire.



This is my favorite


My mom emailed me this morning with an assignment. She wants me to be excited about Ireland. She told me that the boys will be fine and even though she thinks the Brenans will be the ones missing out on not getting to spend time with the boys, my folks will get to spend a good chunk of time with them. Plus, she thinks that since this is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity, I should have a blast. She told me to not feel guilty. This makes the support for this trip unanimous which is very calming for my soul.

Soccer for a few hours tonight. We have practice and then a semi-emergency meeting in order to vote for our new commissioner. I am hoping it isn’t too long as we are bringing the boys with us. They will be fine. Shoot, when I put the iPad in front of them, all issues disappear. I just don’t want to have to keep them out too late.

Although I was a little annoyed that he chose to do this on my lunch break, I did appreciate the fantastic work review I got along with the 3.5% raise I got. In addition to this, the boss told me he did approve my bonus, which means I got 3 out of 4 of my quarter goals. I don’t know how much I get for that, but it is a couple hundred bucks, so woo hoo!

While at the dentist, I found out that I have had my crown for 10 years! Holy crap! It means they would like to replace it, and since it has been 10 years, it should be covered. I also have to go back in a few weeks because he wants to replace some of my super old fillings. He is a pretty thorough dentist, and I like that he is making sure none of the old stuff will cause me issues later. I just liked that while he was looking at my crown, Bobby was peering inside and exclaims, “Mom! You didn’t tell me you had a gold tooth!”

I was once again the female savior in the office. The screams of all the ladies alerted me to the fact that there was a critter of some kind. Poor little mouse had been killed via one of the traps I try to sabotage as best I can. I just find it curious how freaked out they all are when it is dead. It isn’t like it was going to go all zombie mouse on them. Hmm…might be an interesting Halloween Costume for this year.

Puppy Love

4-25-12


Matt is suffering from a broken heart.

His newly found teenage angst has provided him with a surly attitude, a too cool for school demeanor and now he has experienced his first real heartache. His little friends Kip and Sam never seemed to me like they were anything but buddies. But Sam apparently was more to Matt than I realize. She came over more often than Kip. She often brought her nephew, and to my mom, it looked more like she was using Matt for his internet access and Wii. That being said, it seemed like a win win since Matt was happy.

Sadly, Sam has found a new fella. I found out last night that she has been hanging around another boy more, and this is driving Matt bonkers. In full love sick puppy mode, Matt has tried desperately to talk to her more and hopefully regain his status as the one she was using. His work told him to leave her alone.

While my parents and Matt had to stay in a hotel during fumigation of the house, she called him. They got into some kind of an argument, which needless to say was quite embarrassing to be trapped in this small room with your folks when on the phone with your ex. At some point there was silence and then Matt hung up. He proceeded to tell my parents what they talked about, but it was clearly a made up excuse for the tense way he hung up. My mom prodded and found out it was in fact something else.

He even wrote her notes. My poor little brother is experiencing something that is a rite of passage into adulthood. Sure, he is almost 36, but better late than never, right? Who knows that this could mean. He might find another girl that tickles his fancy.

I did offer to kick Sam’s ass for my mother. She said she would think about it.

The boys and I saw my dad yesterday. He looks much better. His taste buds are still fried, which sucks when you are trying to eat and drink, but he is managing. His skin looks a little loose on his body, and I did the pinch test on his hand to make sure he was drinking enough. He went down to the bowling alley yesterday morning to visit with his peeps. He said he had considered bowling a game, but came to his senses. He told me he would wait until Sunday. Sigh. I suppose I should be happy he has his spunk back. I just want him to be careful.

Brandy came over in her new Prius last night. She was worried about the color, but I think it is even prettier in person. It is so crazy quiet!! It almost sounds like a Disneyland ride in how electric it is. It has a lot of pep, too. The boys and I got to go in the car as she did her first donuts. Bobby of course said in disbelief something about there being no stove in the car. LOL!!

We ordered iTouches for the boys yesterday off of Woot. Alyssa tipped me off to them being on there for a bit cheaper than they normally run, so I purchased one and Ken got another. I don’t anticipate getting them for a few weeks, but I can assure you they are anxiously awaited. I didn’t tell the boys. I am an anxiously awaiting them. Every time we go anywhere, they both fight over what music we listen to. I want to let them just listen to their own tunes. In the next few weeks, I want to sit down with them and go over our music library and help them make their own playlists so we can put those onto their iTouch. Since they are only 8GB, they don’t have room for all of our music, but really, they don’t need all of it. I have already started moving things in there I know they like. I also told them to start talking to me about songs they hear and might want. Now is the time in which they start becoming more independent. I will need to set up some kind of Apple Dock that we can all plug in our devices, and so that I know that one of them won’t end up under a bed or a doggie chew toy.

Dental cleaning scheduled for this afternoon. Bobby is quite excited about it, declaring each night while we brush our teeth how much he likes going. I am guessing this is all inspired by the visit to the treasure chest at the end. I am certainly not saying the dentist is unpleasant, but what kid is that jazzed over a fluoride treatment?

I am excited about the rain scheduled for this afternoon, but wouldn’t you know that I just bathed Miss Luna. Dangit!

Clean Boob of Health

4-24-12


Apparently my dad almost died.

According to the doctors, my dad was so severely dehydrated; he was at death’s door. They told my folks that this was why so many people die from diarrhea. It is especially scary for folks who don’t have people checking on them. In reality, my dad should have been in the hospital a good 3 days before he was finally admitted.

The boys and I will go see him today and find out some more information. My mom told me that the rounds of antibiotics he has to get done daily only take about 20 minutes, so at least that whole adventure isn’t too much of a pain in the ass.

My health adventures too me to the breast center yesterday for my follow up ultrasound. Thankfully it was all kinds of happy. Not only did I get a clean boob of health, I had a fantastic tech and doc, both of whom were sweet and friendly. I wish I had the same tech the first time they noticed the irregularity.

Since this took me out of work fairly early, it gave Ken and I time to take care of some things. We needed to get out passports renewed. Ken had tried, but they rejected it because the photo was wrong. Plus, we sent the wrong amount. LOL! Instead of taking the pic ourselves this time, we determined that Costco could take our photo for only $5. Woo hoo!

We spent the morning shopping at Costco after getting our pictures taken. It is a nice shopping trip when you don’t have to worry about the kids. Plus, our pictures came out great. In fact, one of my concerns had been my hair. When I filled out the passport form, I noted that I wasn’t sure what color hair I should put down. I wasn’t sure if I would have purple hair in August. I might have red. I might have pink. The web site assured me as long as they can identify me by my face I should be fine. The picture that Costco took makes my hair look mostly a super dark brown. This means that it matches the fact that I opted to put that my hair was brown. Yay!

We decided to ride our bikes up to the post office to mail in our paperwork. We took the boys’ bikes up to the school and locked them up there and then headed up to the post office. It was a nice ride. It is always different when you are not herding the ducklings.

The rest of the afternoon was good. Apparently even though I believe that Bobby already has too much homework, his teacher does not think he has enough and she assigned an additional paragraph that they had to write this week. I had Bobby do more than his standard daily work just to get a leg up since tomorrow he and I have a dentist appointment and I would like to keep his homework to a minimum for when we get home. Thankfully, we got through it pretty quickly and we all were able to go hang out in the back yard for a bit.

I am guessing today will be a little more chaotic what with me being gone half the day yesterday. I suppose I should get to it.

My dad's home!!

4-23-12


We went and saw my dad on Friday at the hospital. What a difference a day makes! From Thursday evening to Friday afternoon, they pumped him full of fluids and meds. By the time Saturday rolled around, he was even sitting up more and joking around. There were some concerns during his stay involving his Coumadin levels. He is supposed to be between 2 and 3, but Friday night he was up to 9. This put him on bed rest, since these high levels meant that even a minor fall could make him bleed out. By Saturday, though, levels were back down to between 3 and 4, so this was good. Last I spoke to my mom, which was yesterday afternoon, he was supposed to be out by last night. I have not heard from her, but I know what a pain in the ass it is to get discharged and then settled in at home. Plus, he is going to have an IV left in. He will have to go get a drip of antibiotics every day for two weeks. They were hoping he would only have to go down to our doc’s office, but he may have to go to the hospital. Either way, he will be spending probably 2 hours a day with a bag attached to him.

The diagnosis was E-coli and Salmonella. I am glad that is all it is, but it was awful seeing it all. I don’t wish this on anyone.

Friday night I ended up going out with Stephanie to our bar. I say our bar as if we have been there a million times, but really, it was only the second time. That being said, it did not disappoint. It is filled with this strange mix of old people and a handful of younger folks. I love watching these couples dance. They don’t talk, they don’t even smile, but they seem so in tune with one another. It is charming. Then again, I did point out that this place seems right out of a David Lynch flick.

Saturday late morning took us to Long Beach for Mike’s funeral. It was a Catholic service that thankfully was attended by quite a lot of people. I was so happy to see so much of his family, who were all incredibly sweet. Especially his cousin, Bob, whose house we went back to. He was this charming old guy whose place is fantastic. It isn’t big or anything, but it clearly is set up to entertain people, and you can tell he just loves life. His wife was a total doll, too.

The service itself was interesting, as I always find those things interesting. The boys were very well behaved considering the fact that they had to be quiet for 45 minutes in between sitting and standing 100 times. I loved the story Mike’s sister told. I was also moved at one of our neighbor’s sons who was there. He can’t be more than 10, but he was crying, despite being embarrassed about it. Poor darling must only just be understanding death.

I was hesitant to go to the house after the chapel, but I am glad we went. First off, Bob’s house and hospitality is not something to be missed. It also was nice, though because we ended up chatting with Anna, Mike’s other next door neighbor, quite a bit. We used to despise her, but she has grown on me quite a bit over the years. I also think that Mike’s sister was very appreciative of us coming.

They gave us back a clock that we had given to Mike. It was that was in my parents’ house while I was growing up. It had since stopped working and I was going to get rid of it. However, we knew that Mike loved antiques and clocks so we offered it to him. He was thrilled. He cleaned it up and made meticulous notes about what he did to it. We now have it displayed proudly in our living room, and I have to say I am enjoying the bongs it sounds out every 30 minutes. Thank you, Mike.

Saturday night took us to the Home Depot Center. Holy fuck, MQ gave me some kick ass seats. Not only were we on the 50 yard line, we were in a fab section that gave us free hot dogs, popcorn, nachos and sodas. We even got free hot chocolate, which the boys were thrilled about. It also wasn’t a sold out game or section, which allowed the boys to sit up behind us where they could see better. It was fantastic!

The game was quite exciting. Chivas lost, but the game included several yellow cards and even a coach and player being kicked out! Total excitement. Some of the best parts included this one section of fans that had props and flags and were so much fun to watch. I loved how jazzed they were about their team.

There was a wave at one point, which tickled the shit out of Dax. He was actually in a maniacal giggle when it would go by. He loved the hell out of that.


We ended up staying for the whole game, which surprised me, but despite the boys getting a bit tired, they wanted to hang out.

The announcer said something about getting a free half dozen Krispy Kreme donuts with our ticket stubs, so we went there in the morning. Sadly, they didn’t specify that it was only valid if they won. Doh’! Oh well, we got the boys some donuts anyway and had planned on taking some to the hospital. My mom recommended us not coming since my dad now had a neighbor, so we ended up going home.

I spent a lot of time on the living room. I was hell bent on making it less of a storage room. Specifically, the boys have been working on these large sets and I didn’t want them stored on the piano bench. So I cleared out a spot in the playroom for them to be set up nicely. I also moved much of the school based things from the living room wall into the playroom, making their desk space more personal.

I added new things to the piano and I moved other things around. I was quite pleased when I was done since it seemed to make the place less just thrown together.

Ken worked on laundry and other various projects including fixing a burner on the stove and re positioning the watering hole. We have our flowing bucket of water for the cats. Lately, I had been putting down a tin bowl for the dogs inside, but this has caused the cats to think that is better. It means filling that damn thing every day. So I thought we could move the other one down for everyone to use. So far so good, and it also cleaned up their food area a bit.

We also sat down at caught up on a few episodes of Glee while the boys played out back with NB. It was all in all a pleasant day.

I am leaving here in about an hour to go get my boob ultrasounded. It is a follow up to my biopsy. I am hoping all is well, and to be honest, this is one of those times where I am not all hypochondriaced out! YAY!

I just got an email from my dad:
 
Good morning Ness


Well I am out and home.



This what the Dr say I have.

At discharge I had Acute kidney failure. Salmonella infection and Dehydration.

Real nice ha

Hope to see you and the boys tomorrow.

Poppy

correction

Apparently my dad's birthday is actually 9-9-43. I am glad I am finding this stuff out now. Putting it in digital devices so I don't forget.

Old

4-20-12


I have not cried.

The emotion of it all hit be briefly as Ken and I walked from my dad’s bedside in the hospital. Ken asked me if I was ok and put his arm around me. I felt the tears well up in me, yet I suppressed them quickly since in a matter of moments we would be back with my mom and the boys who were in the waiting room. I wasn’t about to do that to any of them.

When I saw him in his bed, you could see just how ravaging 15 less pounds are when they come off in such a short amount of time. His eyes were sunken in, his voice low and scratchy, and it drummed up images that I had seen way too recently.

Our neighbor, Mike, looked way to eerily similar. Both Mike and my dad are bald with the easily tanned skin. What makes it even more terrifying is that they are the same age. In fact, just shy of an exact year apart, with Mike having been born Sept 13 1944 and my dad September 9, 1945. Mike, who’s funeral is tomorrow. I worried that I was seeing the last coherent days of my dad.



This is Mike


I know this is overly dramatic, but this is the thought that flashed in my mind. I know he will be ok. It must just be one of those nasty flu bugs that tends to hit older folks a little harder. Older. That word hits me like a sack of bricks. That means my dad is in that group of people. Sure, he was always my ol’ man when my mom spoke to him, but to me, my dad has never been ‘old’.

The frailty of his hand when I gripped it at one point was certainly hard to accept. I was especially frustrated, though, at how thrown I was that I honestly didn’t know what to say to him. I talked a bit, trying to be somewhat clinical, but I think I came across as cold. I asked him about stool samples and catheters and mentioned that he should see about sleeping meds. I suppose this is better since he isn’t dying, right? He is just sick and he will get better.

Fuck, I hate this.

Thankfully today I think I will be pretty distracted. It is the Health Fair at work which means lots of time bullshitting at booths about how to get healthy and maybe even a massage if those good people are back. Then I have the Zumba workout that is 45 minutes where I can’t possibly dedicate any of my mind to what is going on at the hospital. After that, though, I am going to go home.

After we pick up the boys, we are going to go to the hospital. I am guessing my dad will be there through the weekend. He needs to get fully hydrated, and be able to stay hydrated without using a bag of prepped fluids. They also need to get this crippling diarrhea under control.

I dressed today for being able to just exercise. It isn’t ideal, but it is all I have that will hold some of my skin flaps down. Plus, I don’t want to wear my stretchy pants since they are now to big in terms of support. I considered no makeup, but I had to add some paint just so I felt like me.

I wore one of my favorite necklaces today, too. It is a little bird that opens up. I have put a worrier doll in there. Maybe my little doll can hold on to my fears for me today.

Fuck. I just read that the health fair doesn’t actually start until 11. That means I still have to keep busy from now until 10:30.

A fun and positive note to yesterday; the boys declared me a rock star. The both rambled on about how I have rock star boots, shirts and even hair. They were not saying it in a goofy way. They truly think of me as a rock star, which honestly, makes me one.

I am guessing tomorrow will be a strange combo of activities. In the morning, we are going to go help with a large soccer tournament. After that, Mike’s funeral happens at 11. In the evening, we have tickets to the Chivas game. Thank goodness we can sleep in Sunday. Hell, we can sleep in tomorrow if need be.

I need a drink.