Week in Review

Wow! So this week just dragged on and on!

My co-worker, Maiko (said like Mike with an Oh), has decided to get prepared for an emergency since the quake and tsunami in Japan.  Her family was in Tokyo and Osaka during the disaster, but I can see why she would be concerned!  We really should ALL have things prepared for such emergencies.

Emergency Supplies

Packages started arriving from Amazon on Tuesday and continued throughout the week.  The coolest was probably the self-inflating air matresses and the long range Walkie Talkies.  They said 36 miles and her girlfriend works in Beverly Hills which should be in range, but apparently that is only if there are not a lot of other signals, buildings etc. around.  So, they are going back. She also got a solar powered flashlight, a compass (or as I like to call it, a non-satellite reliant GPS) among many other items.  Quite fun to watch them come in and think about what I might need at home.  I think I'm going to get water purifying pills. I think we have pretty much everything else already.  Including a Geiger counter from the 1950s (don't ask).

Pattie's Monkeys with Christian's in the middle

My boss, Tami's son, Christian has been sending a stuffed animal with her most days "so Mommy wont be sad when she's at work" and now they get their picture taken with "Pattie's Monkeys". 

As I've mentioned before, the Evil Monkey who loves to steal things, especially Sean's watch, has a bad reputation, but the one on the left is a happy monkey that sings and dances.  He's quite cute.  They are both becoming CPRx legends. Well, I left my camera on my desk on Wednesday night and cam back to these pix:

Disconcerting to say the least.  I suspect Sean as the culprit.  He has also been taking my brackets that I printed out for the March Madness Basketball Pool and been placing them way up high over the cubbys where I couldn't reach them.  Because I was in first place and he was jealous.  Of course, I am now in 5th place (Stupid Ohio State) but he is still below me.  The other trainers got some revenge for me though.  They took his brackets and stuck them to the ceiling.  I've got to admit, I was feeling pretty smug when I say that.  It's good to have tall friends!

I spent about 3 hours with my mom yesterday.  I helped her with her Bingo cards (she won once) and then we just sat and talked.  She was having a good memory day and I showed her video of Andrew (her great-grandchild) from his visit with my sister, Virginia on Thursday.  She really liked watching him.  He has a sponsor called War Co. Skateboards Apparently they have given him skateboards and some clothing.  He wore out his shoes in the parking lot demoing for me so I got him some more that he seems to like.  Gotta love Ross! BTW, apparently, I lied cuz I just watched the video and told Andrew it wouldn't be on my blog.  Sorry, Pookie!

It was Corina's daughter Alex's Birthday so we got to spend some time with them catching up.  Of course, talking about wedding stuff.  They are doing their own flowers and we are going to help.  Should be lots of fun!  We were looking over the things at Sam's Club and think maybe we will order the bouquets through there, but will probably just go to the flower district to pick up everything for the centerpieces.  She is using the same dressmaker we are. Frances Boutique  We've been using her for YEARS.  She's done my wedding, Joan's wedding, Olivia and Lucy's weddings, and many formals over the years.

I was going to do taxes today, but I can't find my w-2s DOH.  I'll have to get a copy from work tomorrow.

I was also supposed to meet my friend Toni from jr. hi and high school for lunch today, but her dad got into a minor car accident and she, understandably, wants to be there for him.  Maybe in a few weeks we'll be able to hook up.

Weekend Update

Well, we didn't make it to the movies, but my kitchen is clean.  It rained so hard on Sunday that we didn't really want to go anywhere and only went to the melodrama that we had purchased tickets to earlier in the week.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Randy and I slept in quite late for garage sailing. But we did make it to the Rossmore neighborhood that was having a community sale.  We found some good things including lights for the reception and flower girl baskets.Some earrings for Ummi (she has non-pierced ears) and a green pottery bowl for Majella.

We went to see my mom and had a lovely time with her.  She loves hearing Randy talk to her about all kinds of things.  We left her eating her lunch with her friends.  They were watching a movie when we first got there, but no one was very interested in it.  It was Monster In Law with Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez.Monster-in-Law (New Line Platinum Series)  I think the only redeeming part of that movie was getting to look at Michael Vartan and how funny Wanda Sykes was.

We met the dance instructor, Gary (his craigslist ad), at my work and got an introduction to the Foxtrot and a nightclub two step.  Christa and Trey showed up about 10 minutes late, but we were glad Trey got out of training early so he could make it at all.  It worked out quite well since I am the worst dancer of the group and got a little more instruction up front. The hour went by rather quickly, but I think we learned a LOT.  I definitely want to do it again.  I hope Gary is o.k. with making the trek from the valley for a few more lessons.  Definitely worth the money. He was so patient and knowledgeable.  He noticed right away that Christa had danced with training before.  She was picking everything up right away.  And despite Trey's nervousness, he picked up the steps rather quickly.  I have been practicing both with and without Randy since then. I'm still not every graceful, but hope that will come in time as I get the moves down.

It was such a bright sunny day on Saturday, but come the evening, that changed quickly.  Rain and wind and cold.  COLD?  I hate cold!  But it continued all day Sunday.  Even some lightening and thunder.  Then, while we were out in it, flash flood warnings.  WTH?  But out in it we went.  We weren't going to let tickets go to waste!  And it was fine.  We made it there and back safely.

We saw Back From the Future at the Long Beach Melodrama Theater.  Very cute. Quite funny.  We had great audience participation that night and that makes it even better.  They did a spoof on several time travel movies mostly, obviously, Back to the Future.  Then they did a bunch of vaudeville skits on cars.  Here are some links on youtube.

Weekend after St. Pattie's Day

Me at work with the Von Trapps

My mom with Sylvia and me, Felicia in the backgroud

I had a really fun time at work on St. Pattie's Day.  Everyone loved my green hair and the hat a patient let me barrow for the day. It was really quite fun!

I went to my mom's at lunch, as usual and she got SUCH a kick out of handing out the stickers Randy bought me. (He and Amber gave me a very cute card as well.)  She would ask everyone if they would like a shamrock and hand on to them and recite the poem below.

 St. Patrick's Day

Oh, my mother isn't Irish
And my father isn't too,
But today I feel as Irish
As the really Irish do.

For today I wear a shamrock
That is green in every way
And though I am American,
I am Irish -- for today!

by Aileen Fisher
Irish Poems (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets)

Mom, Sergio, Ana and Felicia

Majella on her garden swing

They had a party for the residents at the facility and she was just glowing.  I didn't see her on Friday because I was having lunch with my patient, Majella.  But Randy  did see her and said she was still talking about it.

I had a lovely time with Majella and her cute doggies.  One is a puppy, but is a Great Dane mix, so she is HUGE.  And so sweet and cute.  I haven't uploaded the pix yet.  Majella has such a lovely garden.  I enjoyed seeing all her treasures she's collected.  She has quite the green thumb as well. Search Amazon.com for garden swing chair

Majella's blue glass bottle collection

We are going to have our first dance lesson for the wedding this afternoon.  Trey got his work schedule changed, but Christa and Randy and I are going to see what we can do.  I warned the guy that we are quite hopeless.  I believe I told him we are an old, fat, White couple with absolutely no rhythm!

Rossmore is having a huge neighborhood garage sale today and I'm waiting for Randy to get up and go with me.  I can't wait to see what kind of good junk we can find.

We are also going to a melodrama play on Sunday called "Back From the Future" at the playhouse in Shoreline Village.  Should be fun.  Maybe stop at the Yardhouse or Parker's Lighthouse for dinner first.  Randy wants to fit in a movie too, but I think we will run out of time.  We'll see.

Thinking about my mom

I got my green wig out to wear for St. Patrick's Day on Thursday and I realized that the last time I wore it I was having lunch with my co-workers on one of the very few days I didn't go home to see my mom and got "The Call".  Donna, my comadre, and my mom's care-giver called to tell me that the urgent care they were going to for my mom's "bad cold" was closed so she took my mom to the E.R. next door and they were keeping her to run tests.  I went back to work and let them know I was leaving for the rest of the day. At least I made the E.R. techs, nurses and doctor's laugh with my green hair.

Mom in her new room.

Over the last year, my mom has been in and out of the hospital 4 times with pneumonia.  After the first bout, she was in rehab for about a week and a half and then came home.  That lasted for 3 days.  We made a trip back to the ER and she had pneumonia in the other lung.  She really hasn't been home for more than a few hours at a time since then.

Mom and Randy at the Luau last August

It kept looking good and they would get her up and walking.  She was fully ambulatory the first time she went in.  After the last bout, she has just never re-gained her strength enough to really walk again and is now mostly confined to a wheelchair.  It's amazing how fast that happened.

I can't believe she I got this pic b/4 she got her hand up to block me!

It's hard on the bad days when I have to keep repeating things over and over.  Especially on my birthday when I had to tell her again and again that it was my birthday and that she had already wished it for me more than once.  But the look of horror on her face when she realized she hadn't gotten me anything over and over, is just heartbreaking.  Especially since I just wanted my mom to be there and it really wasn't her that day.

Mom on her patio.  Enjoying the sun on her face.

On the brighter side.  She is usually happy.  She is still quick-witted.  Maybe even more so now than before. She is quick with a joke and makes little joking remarks behind people's backs.  Usually at the expense of her "evil" roommate or one of the nurses.  She has the best time with Randy.  They just really enjoy each other's company.  It's funny she remembers a lot of the things he tells her for days after-wards.  It's really kind of sweet to see how much they care for each other. 

She wasn't the world's greatest mom.  She was pretty clueless, with her head in the sand about some really important issues.  The facts that her various daughters were starving in front of her eyes, boosting cars, selling and smoking drugs.  But, she really did do what she thought was best for us.  Even if it was misguided I never doubted her motives.  My mother loved me.  More than she loved herself (that part wasn't hard, she was very much down on herself).  My mother would always love me.  I still see that love in her eyes every day when I visit her at her rehab hospital.

I doubt I will every truly get my mom back, not my real mom.  I don't think she even wants to come home now.  Even though I've got her room waiting for her.  She has really found something at the place she lives now.  A community.  Friends, caregivers, activities, visitors.  People really like her.  She is actually blossoming with the people she interacts with there.  She is liked by staff and residence alike.

No, I wont ever get my mom back.  But she is really enjoying herself now.

Mom with Jr and Karina.  My honorary Grand-kids.

When I saw her today, she had gone to the hairdresser.  Usually my friend, Mirtha does her hair and nails, but she is out of town in Argentina for her god-daughter's quincenera.  But I thought maybe Mom should try this lady since it is more convenient.  She did an o.k. job, but really not as good as I'd hoped.  My mom liked it and even let me take a video of her to show off her hair.  But she told me how unbelievably slow the woman was and never wants to sit still that long again. LOL

Here's the video link:

So, this Thursday, a year later.  I will put on my wig, go to work and on my lunch I will go and see my mom in her new place, Alamitos Belmont.  I will joke with the staff, entertain her friends, let everyone laugh at my hair and drop my mom off at Bingo with a quick kiss and a promise to see her tomorrow.

Getting ready for the weekend

So, Randy has been true to his word and taken me out (or brought food home for a romantic night ;-D )every night this week for my birthday.  He and Amber (my cat) have also been leaving cards for me all over the place.  I am married to such a romantic guy!

We bumped into my patient, Jill at Marie Calender's last night.  She and her friend, Donna, called me over and we chatted a bit.  They asked me if I could clone my husband for them, well, really for Donna.  I don't think Jill would really give up Steve for ANYTHING.  And I thought about it and told them Randy had a guy quite similar to him, but he lives in Santee.  Donna said she is willing to travel!  They had already finished their meal (doggy bags on the table) but were still there when Randy and I were leaving. They are quite the trouble makers!

Randy charged my flip camera for me and I started to play with it a bit, but I still haven't actually shot any video.  I think I'll take it to work with me today and maybe to my mom's.  She will love it and hate it at the same time.

I can't believe it's been about a year since all this started.  I was telling a patient about how last year I was in a green wig for St. Patrick's Day when I had to run to the ER for my mom.  They pointed out that I must have brought smiles to a lot of faces in that get up.  They were right.  There was LOTS of giggling.  It seems like it's gone so fast in some ways and so SLOW in others.  My mom was so healthy right before that and she seemed to recover so well at first, but after 4 bouts with pneumonia, she hasn't bee anywhere near the same.

When I got to her place yesterday, she was having a very bad memory day.  Kept repeating subjects.  Didn't remember that yesterday was my birthday even though we had talked about it several times.  Didn't remember taking me up to the UCLA Marion Davies Clinic when I was a kid.  That lasted for at least 2 years and was an ordeal.for both of us.  Couldn't remember Christa's fiance's name. Kept telling me how the activities lady needed to find a home for the "cutest dog in the world".  When she does think something is important like that, she will hold onto it and repeat it so she doesn't forget.  It's really quite amazing.  She was very glad that the musician, Sean, was going to be there to sing to them and then she was looking forward to Bible Study. 

She told me the Bible Study man was very good and really knew his stuff.  I find this very amusing because, Sharon, the other activities director, had confided to me that my mom always questions him and makes him show them where in the Bible it says whatever he is teaching and then tells him other places (from memory) where it says something different.  Apparently there is quite lively debate.

Christa has been e-mailing me all kinds of things about her wedding.  Different products, decor, design. It's nice to see her so excited.  But it's wearing me out how often she is changing her mind.  We have exactly 6 months from today to pull this together. 

She is off for the next three days from BOTH jobs.  She really wont know how to act, LOL.  She even told me that she'll probably put in for at least one shift because it's too much time off. She is meeting with Ummi, her maid of honor, today and we are supposed to go to Downtown L.A. on Saturday. Christa and I are having lunch together on Friday to go over plans and she is picking up the seashells I found at a garage sale last Saturday.

I got in touch with my high school buddy, Toni on FaceBook (when I was young face/book was an act of violence) and we are getting together on Sunday to catch up at the Stonewood Olive Garden.  Ahhh the memories of having business meeting there with Joan during my drug-pushing phase (Novartis/Sandoz).  I'm really looking forward to seeing her and hearing how she's doing.

What I am NOT looking forward to is Daylight Savings Time.  WTF?  It's like from mid March to early November now?  Why not just leave it this way and call it Standard Time if they think it saves so much energy.  I really think they should just leave the clock alone.  It's not worth the lost productivity in having everyone have jet lag for a few weeks!

My birthday on Marti Gras

Don't get too excited.  I didn't party like a rock star or anything, LOL.  But I really did truly enjoy my birthday. Randy took the day off and spent lunch with me.  He got me up and offered me breakfast.  But, since it was my birthday, I decided to throw all my eating rules out FOR ONE DAY.  I got Chic-fil-a on my way into work.

He played warmer and colder with me to find my present.  It was a a Wii Game and some controller chargers.  Nice, but not what I expected.  The bag was filled with Marti Gras beads and a bright green feather boa!  Woot!

I wore purple pants and a green and purple top.  I found my feathered mask and off I went.  Only there was a problem.  When I got to work and put on my boa, my co-worker, Brian says he's allergic to feathers.  I didn't believe him.  I thought he thought I was going to try to put them on him.  So a little bit later, when I'm flouncing my boa in front of a patient, he says it again and starts backing up.  He says he can't even be in a hotel room where they use feathers as decorations.  (I didn't want to get into A. why he would know that or B. what kind of hotel room uses feathers to decorate - not as innocent as he seems, maybe?)   There are feathers everywhere, like my boa was molting or something.  Brian starts turning red and his face is getting puffy.  Whoooooa!!!  I put my boa in a bag for the rest of the morning and had Brian a Zyrtec.  Which he didn't want to take cause he "doesn't take pills".  Tami and I were like, take it now or you're going to have to go to the hospital.  So, he finally took it.  Who knew I was almost going to kill my co-worker with my festive nature?

The Evil Monkey on Valentine's day on his shelf

Randy took me to get a Philly Cheese Steak. OMG I forgot how good those could be, LOL.  Then we spent some time at my mom's and headed back to work.

Evil Monkey on vacation

Oh yes, Randy also brought back the evil monkey he took from it's perch last week.  He told everyone it was on vacation.  He set up an electronic photo frame and had pictures the monkey in various spots around the globe.  Interesting. I came home last night to him putting the monkey in various poses in front of our HD TV.  No photoshop was used.  My husband's a little bit crazy, LOL.

In Egypt

Kristal made her famous chocolate Kahlua cake with candy bar frosting and chocolate curls for me.  I love you, Kristal!  That cake is soooo good.  I don't know how she does it!   HMMMM Kristal Cake.

My little ramp rat stopped by dressed in her JetBlue best, lol.  She brought me my real gift from her and her dad.  A Flip HD Video Camera!  YEAH!!!!!!  I really love it!  Can't wait to use it.

Kristal also gave me a gift card to Black Angus.  I called in a phone order and picked up dinner on my way home to a very romantic time with the love of my life.

A truly lovely day!

More Wedding Things Done

My boss let me out early so I could run wedding errands with Christa.  Then my sister called to say she was in town and would be up to visit Mom.  She also wanted to take me to lunch for my upcoming birthday.  YEAH!  So, since she was going to visit Mom, I could do it and still have time to get everything else done.  Christa met us at Hoff's Hut.  Which is actually on PCH and NOT 2nd street like I thought and miss directed my sister too.  But I did get a nice little site seeing trip down 2nd street.  Did you know they have a cheese-monger shop and a 2 shops with nothing but cupcakes?  Not that I got to taste any of that.

We caught up on what everyone is doing.  My sister is selling her house in Tucson.  I can't believe how much the market has down-turned!  But she has had about 20 people through and one very tentative offer.  They haven't even started looking in Savannah where they are moving to.  But are flying out sometime this month to start.  Tim is almost done with his student teaching.  He has no idea, according to Carole what he is going to do after that.  My guess would be teach, LOL.  But you know how mom's worry.

Christa and I continued on to the venue.  I finally got to see the INSIDE, lol.  it is even prettier than I  thought.  We went through in our minds where we wanted everything.  How we want it set up.  Where the candy buffet should go.  How many up-lights we need. Where to set up the catering.  Where the DJ and dance floor should go.  From which doorway should they make the Grand Entrance. Do the overlays I bought not clash with the color?  It was quite exciting!

Then, off to the rental guy's home to figure out what all we needed.  We settled on 12 tables, 120 chairs, 6 cocktail tables, a sweethearts table and a cake table and a bunch of linens. YIKES!  Luckily the guy will set up and tear down for us.  And pick up the same night of the event.  That is a requirement for the venue.  He has worked there many times and knows it very well.  He had more pictures of different set ups than we had seen so far for the venue.  It was very nice.  He's also very easy to work with.  It's D & D Party Rentals if you need someone in the San Pedro Area.

It's kind of funny because one of my patients told me that Donny, the guy that owns the company, was his cousin and to tell him that he sent us. Well, we did, but it turns out, he is not my patient's cousin.  Kind of embarrassing.  But he did know him for years so it wasn't a complete wrong steer.

Then off to meet the DJ.  Christa found him on Yelp and his name is Ryan or D.J. Tempoe Very nice kid (he's actually Christa's age).  He had a lot of music, will run our slide show and MC the event for a VERY REASONABLE fee.  Plus he and Christa might barter for some JetBlue buddy passes, LOL.

Since we were right be Pru's place, she met us at the coffee shop.  And since Trey had been texting Christa about how hungry he was, I decided to take everyone to Polly's.  Pru is having a hard time right now and it looks like she might be taking up a spare bedroom.  We'll have to see how that progresses.

Well, it's jeans day at work so I'm off to be casual.