All I Know is That to Me You Look Like You’re Having Fun…

There’s an AMAZING amount of space in my brain totally wasted on storing mundane stuff like 80s song lyrics. If anything defines my decade, it’s this Dead or Alive song…

I’m not sure why I remember so many lyrics. I mean, I was pretty into music back then (still am). But I read a lot, too. And I don’t remember words to novels. In fact, I can’t even remember the titles of most of the books I’ve read. But I can remember lyrics to songs that aren’t mainstream hits that still get played. They’re old 80s songs that no one listens to any more.

I’ve always known about this lyric issue of mine. (I tell Hubby there’s a band playing in my brain all the time, but I’m not sure he believes me.) But I was reminded of the lyric thing today when I started playing with my new Christmas toy. A USB turntable that plugs right in to my computer so I can convert my vinyl records — albums, 45s and 12-inch singles — to MP3.

Sweet, eh?

Can you believe I was playing records today? And they actually sounded quite good. Hubby said that was debatable, but he and I don’t necessarily agree on all of our musical tastes.

It’s going to take months and months to convert all of this music. Seriously. I have to play each one after all. And I have lots of vinyl.

This is just a few crates I used most often back when I worked as a mobile DJ. Before that, I worked in a record store and got lots of stuff free as “promotional copy” (actually stamped on the cover). I owned lots of stuff before I started working there, too.

One song that surfaces in my brain particularly frequently is Old Friend, by Phyllis Hyman. I couldn’t find a decent video to share here, so just ignore the screen if you must as you listen. Or don’t listen. It’s entirely up to you.

If you do listen, just remember…you are actually hearing a piece of the soundtrack of my brain!

How Was Your 2008?

Our 2008 was TUMULTUOUS. That one word describes it quite succinctly. There were LOTS of ups and downs. Lots.

I could re-hash it all here, but I won’t. I’ll just tell you about our not-so-peaceful end to 2008 instead.

It would’ve been nice had the year slipped peacefully behind us as we celebrated with our good friends Kathy and Barry in WV like we’d planned. They were going to feed us a gourmet dinner. We were supposed to go skiing tomorrow, too.

In all honesty, the week started of badly.

Monday, the flu bug or whatever illness it was hit me full force. I spent all day alternating between the bathroom and the bed (or sofa later in the day).

The only good thing that happened Monday was that a fence was installed (more on that later).

By Tuesday, I felt lots better. No more bathroom visits. Woo hoo! Then I noticed that Meg was having a hard time pooing.

First-thing this morning, I was outside following Meg around in the dark, with a flashlight, wearing my snowman Jammie’s, to see if she was pooing.

She wasn’t. And she was in obvious pain. So off to the vet we went.


That bit of grossness pictured above is a fully-cooked ham bone. Meg LOVES bones. She loves bones so much, she ate the whole thing. In one sitting. That was Sunday. She hadn’t pooed since.

The poor girl was completely and utterly backed up. Call it constipation. Call it impaction. Whatever you choose to call it, there was lots of poo in her intestines. After several x-rays, multiple enemas, sedation and a thorough cleansing, we got to bring her home.

We have to keep a close eye on her. There’s a slim chance they may have perforated the bowel while removing some of the bone. Time will tell.

That was our final day of 2008.

Happy new year.

Recuperation Day

Christmas is over. Thank goodness. Meg agrees with that sentiment. I think she’s tired of playing dress-up to entertain me. Though she’s been a really good sport about it.

It’s been a busy holiday time. But good. I took lots of pictures over the course of the last few days. I posted some of them (only 170!) on my Flickr page.

Today is recuperation day. I’m either plain tired or getting the flu. I’ve been pretty achy these past few days. And there’s some sinus stuff going on. I’m hoping it’s just a cold though.

“Tired” can’t be ruled out completely, however. We’ve been on the go for DAYS. First, there was all the Christmas preparation. Then, on Christmas Eve, all of the kids and grand kids gathered at our house for dinner.

On Christmas day, after opening our gifts, Mike and I headed for my parents’ house. We spent some time there visiting, then headed to my mother in laws. Conveniently, my parents live quite close to my mother in law. That is one thing at least that makes holiday visiting slightly easier.

After visiting with my mother in law for a while, Mike headed home and I headed to my Aunt Kathy’s house to visit with my mother’s side of the family.

Are you wondering why Mike went home? ‘Cause he could. He’s tired of traipsing all over creation visiting people on Christmas. I am, too, honestly. But I wanted to see my family.

We’ve both agreed that next year, we’re staying home on Christmas. It’s time for the younger generation to do the running. We’re passing the torch, so to speak.

I got home around 6:00, I guess. And I was bushed. The day after Christmas, I rose early to take advantage of some of the post-Christmas sales. I bought some last-minute gifts, too. After I got home, Hubby wrapped the gifts. Then we headed to his Mom’s house to celebrate Christmas with that side of the family.

The holidays are all about family, right? It really is nice to visit with everyone. It’s something we should do more often throughout the year. But everyone is pretty busy. Not to mention the geographic spread. Although Mike’s family are all relatively close, scattered on the east side of Baltimore. It’s my brother that’s furthest away; he lives in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Anyway… after we left there, we headed back to our place. Our good friends Kathy and Barry Spice (below image, rear center and rear right) were meeting us at 6:00 to go out for a nice Mexican dinner. They brought Max (below image, front center), their Yellow Lab, to keep Meg company.

That brings us to Saturday. Yesterday. We pretty much chilled all day. Then we went to my parents’ house for dinner with my brother Tom and his family (wife Sharen and son Josh).

That’s my Mom, aka Mawsie, and brother, Tom, pictured above. Below is my favorite shot of Mawsie with my nephew, Josh, and son, Eric.

I didn’t get any great shots of my sister in law, Sharen, so I’ll spare her the embarrassment of posting a not-so-flattering pic just for the sake of posting an image here.

I did end up with a couple good shots of Mawsie and Eric, one of which is posted below.

And because I never, ever seem to end up with any decent shots of Mike and I, I’m posting one here, which was taken by Shannon at Mike’s Mom’s house, that actually turned out good.

So, that’s how we spent our holiday. That’s why today is recuperetion day.

I hope your holidays were just as happy!

10 Things I Love

My daughter shared this simple mime (rhymes with dream) and I thought I’d play along.

The person who starts, or in her case continues, the mime assigns participants a letter. Each participant takes the assigned letter and lists 10 things she/he loves that start with that letter. I was assigned the letter “B.” So here’s my list, in no particular order (don’t yell at me for talking about dogs first, please; these things are listed randomly):

1. Belle. Belle, pictured below, is our new dog. She’s about 17 months old. She’s currently living with an amazing foster family in West Creek, New Jersey. She’s coming to live with us on January 4. Now that the excitement of Christmas has passed, it’s going to be harder than ever to keep from thinking of her, wishing she’d moved in yesterday!

2. Brittanys. That’s a breed of dog. Of course, it happens to be Belle’s breed. Meg is a Brittany, too. So was C, our first little doggie girl who passed away on November 20. There’s just something special about the breed. Brittanys are typically super-affectionate, very smart, VERY people-oriented dogs. As the American Brittany Rescue Web site will tell you, “If you meet enough Brittanys from different lines, you’ll find that what the breeders tell you is true, Brittanys are not a breed for generalizations. They range from mellow to extremely active, big to small, soft tempered to stubborn. But even Brittanys who run continuously outdoors will most often settle down when inside with their family.”

3. Brianna. She’s my oldest grandchild. She just turned 8 a few days ago. The picture you see at right was taken in May, 2007. But it is one of my favorites.

She was playing softball at the time. Actually, this was taken just after a game/practice.

It’s fun having a granddaughter. One of the cool things about her is that she’s just the right mix of tomboy and girly-girl. She’s pretty smart, too. Sometimes, her questions can be tiring. But I think she’s going to grow up to be a great litigator. Or a scientist.

4. Baby toes. Especially those, pictured at right, belonging to my youngest grandson, Joey. He was only about 3 weeks old when this picture was taken in August of 2007. His toes are bigger now, but still darn cute.

There’s just something fascinating about tiny little baby feet…

5. Bruster’s. That’s just my favorite ice cream chain in the whole world. They’ve only been around since 1989. It’s a chain that started in Bridgewater, Pennsylvania, but is slowly spreading across the country. Their ice cream, made on-site from all-natural ingredients, rocks. To learn more about Bruster’s, visit their Web site.

6. Black pants. They’re the only color that really help hide the fat. Although, I prefer silver pants on football players, as they’re the ones that accentuate the muscles best.

7. Bandannas. They make great doggie outfits.

8. Bed time. I’m getting old…

9. Books. I’m talking novels here. And short story compilations. I plain love to read. Maybe this will be the year I write a book?

10. Being me. I hope that doesn’t sound narcissistic. I don’t mean it, too. I just mean to say I am happy with my life. I have a great family (wonderful Hubby included) and fabulous friends. And I am thankful for all of you!

Christmas 2008

From my family to yours…

Merry Christmas!

The shopping is done (mostly). And so is the wrapping (sort of). The cookies are baked (thanks to Mike). And Christmas is finally here.

This is the first Christmas Eve in many years where all of the kids were at our house. It was a bit hectic, but quite nice, if I do say so myself.

Pictured from left to right, there’s me; our youngest child, Eric (19); our oldest child, Shannon (30); our oldest grandchild, Brianna (8); our son-in-law, TJ (27); our youngest grandson, Joey (17 1/2 months); our middle child, Amy (27), and mother of our grandchildren; Mike (aka “Hubby”); and, front-and-center, our middle grandchild, Gaige (5).

It really was a very pleasant evening. I got some nice gifts tonight, and I’m sure I’ll get more gifts tomorrow. But the biggest and best gift for me is having all of these wonderful people in my life. I love them all dearly and can’t imagine life without them.

Guess Who is 8 Today?

Today is Brianna’s birthday. Yep, my oldest grandchild turned 8 years old today.

Where does the time go? Sigh…

I can’t wax rhapsodic about the birth of this one. Like me, Amy become a Mom to her oldest two children by marriage. So we really only met four years ago. But it feels much longer.

She’s such a sweet kid. She’s not only adorable, she’s smart and funny and loving, too.

And she’s always been a fabulous big sister. She takes that job very seriously. She always has.

I remember several years ago, when she was at my house. This was way before Joey, the baby, was born. Gaige was sleeping or something and I gave Brianna a cookie. I was about to put the jar away when she said, “What about Gaige? Him needs one, too.”

She tries to help out all the time, too. It’s not always helpful, but it’s the thought that counts. Her heart is in the right place.

One of my favorite Brianna stories is from about a year ago. Amy went off to Alabama on a Thursday to meet up with TJ who was there for some job-related training (he’s in the Army). The plan was for me to stay at Amy’s house with the kids that first night, take them to school/daycare on Friday, then home to my house that night, where Amy and TJ would pick them up on Sunday. (The above picture was taken mere moments before TJ and Amy arrived.)

All was going well on Thursday, or so I thought. After school/daycare, I played with the kids for a bit before starting dinner. I guess it was about 5:30 when I decided to start cooking. I was only making Hamburger Helper, so prep was no huge deal. Little did I know…

I’m not used to having three kids around (I’m getting better). Gaige, who was 4 at the time, was quite wound up. Brianna was talking my ear off (did I mention that she’s quite chatty?). And Joey was feeling a bit clingy, crawling around the kitchen as I was trying to get dinner cooked.

I finally sat Joey in a little bouncy chair and he was almost asleep when Gaige came running into the kitchen, roared very loudly like a pirate, and scared Joey half to death. Of course, Joey was startled, started screaming and demanded to be held. I yelled at Gaige, who then slunk dejectedly off to the living room.

It was right about then that Brianna asked for a snack. “I’m cooking dinner now, so no snack,” I told her.

She pouted off to join Gaige in the living room. I was holding Joey, continuing to prepare dinner when the phone rang. It was Amy calling to check in. She must have asked Brianna how she was doing.

“I’m HUNGRY,” I overheard Brianna say. “She hasn’t even fed us dinner yet. And she wouldn’t give me a snack today either!”

It was pretty funny. Amy had left really good instructions for Joey, but forgot to remind me that an after school snack was in order. And that the kids usually eat at 5:00 or so. Not 6:00-6:30, which is what time we ended up eating.

Anyway… Brianna is a wonderful little girl. She totally kicks my butt at the Memory card game. And she loves playing War (she beat me at that, too) and UNO. And she keeps a pretty good sense of humor about my ineptness as a grandparent. (I am getting better, I swear.)

The below picture, which Amy took earlier this year on her first day in second grade, shows just how grown up she’s getting. She may be 8 now, but the years are going to go fast. I hope to be around to enjoy every one.

Happy Birthday, Brianna!