24 Hours

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This is what my kitchen looked like exactly 24 hours after our dishwasher unceremoniously died and poured water all over the kitchen floor.  The Engineer went to work trying to fix it but we had to accept that the end of it's workable life has come. 

I tried to convince people that paper plates were a viable option during this dishwasher free, painful period of our lives but no one was having any of it.  They kept using dishes and glasses despite my logical arguments.  Oh well,  guess what folks, go ahead use whatever you want, but I'm not listening to the whining when your washing all this crap by hand.  And just so we're clear on this matter before us, I'm not washing any of it.  They did clean it up themselves and if they whined I never heard it because I made sure I wasn't home to witness it.

The Engineer spent the weekend researching and shopping for a new dishwasher.  Last Wednesday we picked it up and it was immediately installed.  After it was installed it ran for four loads in a row before you could see the counters again.   There isn't an appliance in this house that rests on it's laurels.  We are a household accustomed to luxury.  Many would argue that a dishwasher is a luxury item, and I can't say I disagree, but when you've spent your whole life with one your perception is definitely coming from a different place. 

Maybe the end of it's life hasn't arrived.  Yesterday morning someone pulled up in front of our house and loaded that dishwasher into the back of their pickup truck.  It made me happy.

They Just Don't Make Things Like They Used To.....

I haven't even had this lap top for a year.  It's still under warranty.  So imagine my surprise when I got the blue screen of death a couple of weeks ago.  Once again I had a warning and backed up my hard drive the day before it died.

It made it in by the warranty date by a couple of weeks.  Usually it's the other way around with the repair people telling me how sorry they are that the warranty just expired.

So I'm grateful it didn't cost me anything to fix it but I gotta tell you that I'd of been screwed if I needed this thing to make a living (and not just the time sucking beast that it is) because it took forever to get it back.  They had to wait for Toshiba to send the "rescue disks".  In this electronic day and age can someone explain to me why repair people had to wait for disks at all?

Sigh, at least I'm back in business.

Yes, there are good people out there.

The last week has been a difficult one. A couple of things happened that really rocked me. One I've completely put behind me and after the second one occurred it really highlighted how insignificant the first one really was. I know it's mean to do this but I can't talk about either one of them yet. For now you'll just have to know that it was a crappy week.

I usually work on Saturday nights but yesterday I switched shifts with another EMT so he could pick up another shift at another squad. So I worked during the day yesterday and was home last night. This morning I woke up, rested, at about 9 AM. I was ready to spend the day with the family and was looking forward to it. At 9:15 AM my cell phone rang and ruined all my plans. It was my boss. She asked me if I was planning to come to work today. At that very moment I remembered that I was supposed to be at work at 7 AM. Apparently they didn't notice I wasn't there until 9 AM (just kidding). My boss, being ever so empathetic told me to get my ass to work. She told me to shower when I got there. Of course I said sure, knowing that there is no way I am stepping foot in the showers at the squad. I told myself as I jumped in the shower that by the time I gathered all the necessary items to shower there I'd be done my shower. While I'm in the shower my husband asks what he can do to help me. I asked him to pack my breakfast. I didn't know what to tell him about lunch. So I get to work and we get a call right away. Then on the way back we were going to stop at the grocery store and as we were pulling into the parking lot we were dispatched to that very grocery store for a seizure patient. So I didn't get my lunch but we got there pretty quick to help him.

On the way back from the hospital we stop at a convenience store. I go in and get my food and I go to check out and my debit card is declined. I am surprised and don't really know what to do. All I have is the debit card, no cash, no other cards and me not eating a meal is very bad indeed. The clerk is kind but there isn't anything she can do. I go over to the ATM to check my balance and it tells me I have $2.00 in my checking account. That's it, it's over, no food for me. Dejected I walk back over to the clerk to tell her I don't have the money and to put the stuff back. As I'm walking over the gentleman who was standing behind me in line asks me if I have the money for my lunch. I told him I was embarrassed to say that I didn't. Bless his kind heart he offered to pay for my food. One of the tenants of OA is learning to accept help when you need it. I told him that my meal was expensive. You can find an abstinent meal at a convenience store but you're going to pay for it. He said it didn't matter, that he wanted to buy my meal. He told me he wanted to help me since I help others (don't forget I was in uniform). I was touched by his generosity and accepted his offer of help.

I need to remember that there are more good people than bad out there. His kindness meant more to me than he could ever know. Skipping meals can trigger cravings which could be a disaster. With his simple offer he may have prevented me making a bad decision. What could have really been the icing on the cake for this crappy week turned into a bright spot.

Thank you Mr. Elderly Gentleman. I hope you never need my services but I'll be there if you do.

It Started with a Blood Test: cont...

Before reading this post go back and read this one or it will make no sense. Unless of course you have an incredible memory for useless information, then you can just read on.

It took forever for the secondary test results to come back. They said 60 days and it was even longer than that. I can't imagine what the patient and his family were feeling during that time. I may never know. The good news is the results came back positive. I am a match. The bad news is the patients "situation" has changed and he is no longer a candidate for a bone marrow transplant. Now this could mean several things. The worst news would be that he died waiting. Or his condition could have worsened to the point that he wouldn't survive the necessary assault on his current bone marrow to prepare him for a transplant. The best news would be that he has gone into spontaneous remission and no longer needs a transplant. I don't know, and probably will never know what happened. I try to remain hopeful that he experienced a positive outcome but the cynical black cloud I carry around keeps me from accepting that possibility.

The consolation prize in all this is that my secondary test results are now on file. The next time I am a preliminary match there will be no waiting period to find out if I am a true match. Maybe someone else will benefit.

I pray that my brother in bone marrow has had a significant recovery and he should know that if that should ever change it will be my honor to share the gift of life with him.

Outside my comfort zone

See that hand, the one with the dirt under the nails and all over the fingers. That's my hand. I had Baseball Boy take a picture of it because this was a once in a lifetime event. I wanted it recorded so in the future I have evidence that this happened. Especially once my mind erases it from my memory.

The Engineer, at my request, tore out all this old overgrown landscaping along the edge of our driveway and around the mailbox. I just wanted grass and a simple group of flowers around the mailbox. So yesterday he's got it all ready. But as usual our timing sucks and he had to stop to take Baseball Boy to a baseball game. It's little league so they kinda make up some of the rules as they go, like how many innings they are going to play. The Engineer had hoped to get home before dark and spread the seed/fertilizer and plant the little flowering plants (I think they're petunias). Well the coaches decided to play until it got to dark so that plan went out the window.

No biggie, he's got an hour or so after work today to take care of it.

This morning the phone rings and The Engineer is not a happy man. He just found out that rain is moving in and all his fluffy perfectly raked out topsoil will all pack down if it rains. This will make it difficult to start grass from seed and his flowers will not have soft soil to lay out its roots. So he calls knowing that he is up against someone who cringes at the feel of dirt under her fingernails. Who hates to sit on the ground and dig and refuses to wear gardening gloves because all they do is grind the dirt into your skin. He makes his plea and is met with whining. But he was well prepared this time with his defense and I was forced to concede. He almost blew it though. See I've never spread grass seed. As far as I'm concerned you stick your hand in the bag grab a handful and throw it. Who knew there was an art to this? I was not interested in a seed spreading lesson on the phone when I'm already unhappy with this job ahead of me. He took the hint and accepted that he was going to have to get what he gets.

I planted the flowers. Put the mulchy stuff all around them and threw seed and fertilizer willy nilly. I couldn't find the darn little garden shovel and had to use one of my spoons but that's why we have a dishwasher.

I gave the flowers a little water and wished them well. The Engineer will fuss over them and the new grass that will grow and in a month it will be a clean and beautiful area instead of the overgrown pit it was.

All day I waited for the dreaded rain to start; and it did, exactly one hour after The Engineer got home from work.

I'm off today!

I only get one a year and today is the day. It's take your child to work day. All three kids were up at 5AM and left for work with The Engineer at 6AM. After work they will all go out to dinner together and won't be home until about 7:30 or so.

When they get home they will all collapse with exhaustion and for a period of time will appreciate how hard their father works.

I don't know who came up with the idea of Take Your Child to Work Day (I think it started as take your daughter to work but the politically correct police fixed that) but I'd like to shake their hand. Not just for my day off but because it gives kids a chance to see that parents aren't just hanging out to collect a paycheck.

My husband's employer is terrific when it comes to this day. They have a whole program set up so the kids really get to see how things work there, not just spend the day looking over their Dad's shoulder at something they don't understand. Of course that is built into the day too but when they come home they really have gotten to see how it all works and comes together.

I love Take Your Child to Work Day!

It started with a blood test.

Ten years ago or so I filled out paperwork to become a bone marrow donor and gave a sample of blood. Someone I knew, knew someone who needed a transplant and no one on the current list was a match so they were going around getting people to sign up in the hopes of finding a match. If I remember correctly no match was ever found and the person passed away.

About six months or so ago I was cleaning out my wallet and found my card for the National Bone Marrow Donor program. I figured I better give them a call and change my information since I had moved.

As fate would have it about an hour ago the phone rang and The Vet answered and said hey Mom the Red Cross wants to talk to you. Since I'm a regular blood donor I figured they were looking to see if I could schedule a donation.

It was Jay from the National Bone Marrow Registry. He was very happy to find me. He said that a 62 year old man was a preliminary match. He has a rare fancy form of leukemia (he didn't really say exactly that, I just can't remember the exact name). He wanted to know if I was still willing to be a donor if additional testing proved I was a match. He explained the two possible procedures to me. I said, of course.

He then went on the ask me all the usual questions. If you've ever given blood you know what they are. Have you ever taken illegal drugs by needle? Have you visited or lived in Africa since 1977? Have you ever had sex with a man who has had sex with a man since 1977? Have you ever had sex with anyone who has ever done any of the above? There were 20 questions, I don't remember most of them but they all related to illegal drug use, travel and sex. I'm boring, I said no to all of them. I haven't even gotten a tattoo. My boring life is good news for some 62 year old man somewhere.

Next Monday I'm scheduled for another blood test to see if we match at the next level. I'm a little nervous about donating marrow. But I figure it would be a small price to pay to give someone a gift of life.

Say a few prayers, keep your fingers crossed or what ever, that I am a match and am eligible to donate.

I almost had a heart attack and I wasn't even involved!

This afternoon we're driving home from one of our adventures and I'm waiting to make a left turn across a four lane highway. There is a left hand turn arrow so I'm actually waiting for it to turn green. I was going northbound and they have a green light and they are moving right along. 50-55 miles an hour easily. Cross traffic can make a right on red legally but doing it during the day when there is a lot of traffic is ill advised.

So I'm in the zone waiting for my light to turn and I hear the blast of an air horn. Right as I look over a fully loaded dump truck has locked up his brakes and is started to slide sideways and tip to the side. The reason for this is a small four door car made a turn on red and pulled out right in front of the truck. There is a car to the left of the dump truck and he is trying to move over to give the sliding truck room. There really isn't much room to move because of a concrete barrier that divides the highway. It was an incredible sight. My heart rate doubled and I was far enough away even if the truck flipped I was safe.

Smoke from the brakes and tires is billowing from underneath the truck. This is gonna be bad. The truck is tipping to the right while sliding left into the innocent car. The car that pulled out has no where to go and somehow this truck driver is threading his huge truck between these two cars. It will be a miracle if one or both of these little cars doesn't wind up crushed beneath this truck. Either way it's going to be very bad if either one of them even makes contact.

That fast it was over. The offending car quickly pulled into the first driveway it could after nearly causing the catastrophe. The truck driver some how kept control of the truck and straightened it out. The car on the left managed to get by before it was crushed against the concrete divider. The truck pulled right over onto the shoulder of the road and stopped. As the smoke cleared I could see he had put on his hazard lights. Just as my light turned green he had started to pull back out onto the road.

I wanted to go see if he was alright but he had already pulled away. I wasn't involved and I'm still having chest pains over the whole thing. I was witness to a combination of incredible driving, some good luck and what can only be described as a gift from above. Because there is no reason in the world why everyone should have been able to drive away from that intact.

I am Vindicated!

My mother was the grammar police. She could not stand improper use of our language. You should of heard her rant when she'd find grammatical errors in a newspaper, of all places. Then I married a grammar cop. Okay, so he's not as bad as my mom but he hates when I write something and end the sentence with a preposition. I've heard it before, but sometimes a sentence just needs to end that way. We've even had a few arguments discussions on the subject.
So today I'm poking around on different blogs. You know, because I have nothing else to do. I come across Grammar Girl. Wouldn't you know it she has a write up on ending a sentence with a preposition. Guess what she called it? Grammar Myth #1. Ha, vindication at last!

If you just don't want to, or can't bring yourself to believe me head on over to her site and check out what she has to say. She even explained the Who vs Whom thing in a way I might actually remember. I'm still struggling with the lie vs lay dilemma. Maybe I'll understand that at some point in my life.

I may not be the grammar police but I do prefer not to sound like a moron. Also, since I'm supposed to be teaching my children grammar it helps to have backup. I feel free.

The Germaphobe rides again

So tonight the Germaphobe is coughing her head off. She's still hoarse. When I walk in the door she's sitting at the desk with tissues jammed against her nose. I'm thinking she came in sick again and I'm annoyed. I'm not worried about getting sick. It just pisses me off that she comes in sick after all her bitching about me making her sick.

So just for fun I complain to her about her coming in sick and how I don't want to get sick, blah, blah, blah and you know what she said!! Let me just tell you, I couldn't believe it. I'm still speechless (okay, I'm lying about speechless, I've been accused of many things, speechless is not one of them).

SHE SAID, "I don't think I was sick all along, I think it's allergies." What!!! After weeks of listening about how sick she is because of me and how her cats are gonna die because of me and how she has no one to take care of her when she is sick and it's all my fault because I'm selfish and came to work sick. After all that she has now decided that it must be allergies.

I just don't know how to respond to that.

We're Weird, thank you very much.

We're weird. I'm weird, my kids are weird, my husband thinks we're normal and everyone else is weird. I like being weird, wouldn't change a thing. Raised my kids to be weird and intend to keep raising them to be weird. It saddens me because we are not the norm. Do you know why we are weird? Because we believe you should take responsibiltiy for your own actions. That your family is the most important thing. Children should treat adults with respect. Manners and grammar count. Because G-d will be there for you, if you let him. Because those who die with the most toys don't win. The most important thing you have is your word and your name, take care of both because once they're gone it's almost impossible to get them back. Because when we wanted to adopt a dog and found one we really liked at the SPCA we didn't walk away because she was a pit bull, we took her home. We homeschool, not for religious reasons, or because I think the public school system is a great government plot to take over our children or because they can't educate my kids. We homeschool for reasons which you'll get to know about the more you follow along on this journey. I don't like to beat around the bush, just get to the point. I love a good discussion, hard to find anymore. Can't be bothered keeping up with the Jones, don't even like the Jones most of the time. Comfort over fashion any day. If you tell me I can have both, I'd agree but I'm still only going to wear it if I like it not just because everyone else does, then I'm going to wear it until it's worn out. I drive a van with 150,000 miles on it because it's paid off and I'll run it into the ground, just like the last one. The Engineer's car, a Saturn, is at 280,000 miles and still going (knock on wood). I don't have time for people who kiss butt to get what they want or the ones being kissed giving them what they want. Politics, oy, don't even get me started. Reality TV, oxymoron. Give me a book over TV any time. Newpaper over TV News. I used to love sports, still love the sport but the players, what a spoiled bunch of overpaid, self-centered curs, my apologies to the one player who doesn't fit that description. I'm sure someone does... I hope... anyone..... please.....

Paper vs. The Computer

Do you remember when computers became available to the general public and you didn't need to build an addition on your home to have one? How it was touted that we would soon be a paperless society?

Well I don't know about you but I have a long file of computer printouts that need to be saved in case of some computer failure wipes out my life. I can't keep track of my passwords. When I need to make a new one their requirements are so rigid that my account is so secure I can't even get into it.

Now you can get a phone that is a handheld computer, text calls now outnumber phone calls, you can take pictures, watch tv and a whole list of things that I don't even know about. My phone takes pictures (lousy ones no less) and that's it. I like it that way.

I'm a paper person. I write lists. It's the only way I can keep track of things. If it's not written on the calender, it doesn't exist. I make lists of what meals we will be eating in the next two weeks, then make my grocery list from that list. I know I could have a PDA in my phone and keep my life tracked in there. But then I have to get my phone out, sign in, and look. In my mind that's a waste of time. Plus, I know me, I won't just look at the calender. I'll check my email, read my favorite blogs, read an interesting article that caught my eye and all of a sudden an hour has gone by. Right now I can look at the calender in the morning to see whats going on for the day. Yeah, I know when someone wants to set something up you have to talk to me at home so I can check the calender but if your really can't call me later just leave a message on my answering machine and I'll check when I'm home and let you know.

I love to read. There is nothing like holding a book in your hand and travelling through the story. So everyone says "you need a Kindle". Nope sorry, I love the paper. I don't have to worry about charging it, dropping it and spilling my coffee on it. If I lose my bookmark I just fold the corner down. (I heard that groan from the anti corner folding crowd). Check out this link on more of why I'm just a go to the library or local bookstore kinda girl. http://www.dailydiatribes.com/?p=870 Hope I did that right, it's my first link.

So call me old fashioned. I'm not a techno phobe, I'm just not interested. I like it simple, and that's hard to accomplish today. I've found I waste a lot of time with all these time savers.

Oh, and many years ago my computer geek husband wrote me a simple program to keep track of all my phone numbers and addresses. I only used it reluctantly because, well, he wrote it for me and I didn't want to hurt his feelings. But I found it was great, he wrote it exactly for what I wanted. I still use it, even though he wants to "upgrade" it and add all these fancy bells and whistles. No thanks, it works, nothing needs upgrading as far as I'm concerned. The whole thing fits on two floppy disks (remember them) as a back up. Now I have to waste a cd for back up since my floppy drive died. I still have my paper address book because if my laptop isn't on I don't want to bother starting it up to look up a number. Did I mention my laptop is ancient?

As far as I'm concerned the best invention ever was the post it note.