31 - Better

Well, today's attitude is better than yesterday. While I didn't get near as much accomplished today as I needed to, I'll be working from home tomorrow thus not wasting time getting ready for work and driving in. It can all be productive time. And, my plans right now are to drive to TN on Wednesday (as originally planned) because if I haven't met my deadline yet, I can work from TN. It's a much prettier view.

Before heading to bowling tonight, I cut out a box for Oliver's litter box to go in for the trip. This will keep litter from going completely all over. Oliver decided it is definately his box. He's been in and out of it since then.

Bowling! Tonight was our registration and the lanes gave us a practice night for free. Only two of us from my team were there tonight, but one other showed up near the end of the evening (having just landed at JIA). It was so, so good to see everyone again, and great to walk in to hugs and "how have you been". The icing on the cake, all 3 of my games were above last year's average. I'll take it! Looking forward to the 14th when our league starts.

Trying to think up a name for our team. I'm leaning towards something with "diva" in the name. Suggestions?

TTFN!

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30 - Not So Easy

Find the positive ... the goal of this year. Who would think it would be difficult when the first month isn't even at a close? Oh, it could be easy ... look at the beautiful sunshine, and a day without rain (though you know I love the rain). We live in a country where we're free (for the most part) to be whomever we really are. I have friends and family that I dearly love. Those are the easy ones, ones that can be said for any day of the week. In my mind, they're cheating.



Today ... trying to get ready to go out of town for 6 days and get other things in order around the house. Had really hoped to put in some work for the office, but that just didn't happen. Yes, I did get some things done, but I feel the weight of what is left undone. My two days at work this week are going to be rough; I have deadlines that I do not believe I'll meet and need to be organized for a meeting tomorrow which I have not started planning for.


Positive. Positive. If I need to, I can delay my trip to TN by one day and thus finish my preparation and use that day to catch up at work (don't let work know I'm working type of thing). Positive. I can do some work Wed and Thur evening from TN to hopefully make my Tuesday (of next week) deadline. Boy, those don't seem like good positives.


Positive - a good night's sleep tonight will help me face the morning with a different outlook, hopefully with motivation to not allow the amount of what needs to be done to impede my progress.


Tomorrow is a new day.


TTFN!



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29 - Just Ok

When I started this trek 28 days ago, it was to find the positive in each day. Well, today there really weren't any negatives. It was a day of puttering, trying to get stuff done in preparation for my trip to Tennessee and trying to get some rest at the same time. I would guess that most of that was accomplished. Tonight, I'm just chillin' with the kids, reading my book. Sometimes, life doesn't get any better than that. :-)

TTFN!

28 - Allergies

Ok. I'm miserable. Took my daily allergy pill this morning. After lunch was still sniffling, and then around 3 started sneezing. Took another allergy pill, but it didn't dent it much. In 3 and a half hours, I've taken 5 Benadryl trying to stop this allergy attack, and now even though I'm congested and have a horrible sinus headache, my nose and eyes are still trying to run.

I can deal with losing an evening to the Benadryl haze, and even the misery associated with it. But I am so bummed that I can't go to the Theatre Jax Awards tonight. 4 of my cast mates from Into the Woods are up for awards. It would have been so nice to see many of them tonight, plus they're having a Mexican buffet. JSG even offered to give me a ride to the theatre, but I'm too miserable to leave the house.

The reason for these blogs is to focus on the positive. It's tough tonight. I guess turning what I'm viewing as negative into a positive would be to look at it that 1) I have new friends at TJ to cheer on tonight and they know I'm pulling for them, 2) there is a product like Benadryl, and 3) there's a Criminal Minds marathon on A & E that I can veg to.

Tomorrow is a new day and hopefully sneeze free.


TTFN!





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Today Is Beautiful

With a hat by his feet, a blind boy sat on the steps of a building. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way." I wrote: "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it."

Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people that they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.

When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.

The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling…

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27 - Thursday

Tough day. Appointment for a DTS session and then some rest afterwards. Didn't get squat done at work before my appointment because there were too many disruptions. Afterwards, however, I did give our Commissions Department some attention. They're so good about finding a way to work around problems, too good in fact. I have 90+ unread emails that require research and coding changes; the majority of those are from our Commissions Department. Instead of getting upset, they just find a way to work with things the way they are until I can find room on my plate to address those issues. So today, when I received an email from the manager, I thought, "Screw it. I can't wrap my brain any more around Luxury Portfolio, so let me at least help them out some." It took a few hours, but I made some changes that should help their daily processing.

As for Luxury Portfolio, it looks like over half of the new records are in their QA system now. The other half were not rejected due to my program, but from the office/agent not meeting Luxury Portfolio's requirements.


My kids always provide most of the positive joy in my daily life. Got Oliver a new bed today, which he promptly curled up in (see the pic), and it's so nice sitting out back after work watching Diva check and take care of "her" yard. She's going to wear a path along the edge of the fence. It's also nice to know that the pup and cat get along now (top pic).

A freaking awesome - I figured out that I can post more than one photo, so I no longer have to manually create a jpg file of multiple photos.


Have a pleasant evening. Tomorrow is Friday!
TTFN!

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26 - Good Day

On some days, there isn't a big positive but an accumulation of little positives. The accumulation type was today. Day started with getting a positive quote from a friend (TJ); then not putting the new managers to sleep with my data presentation (even had them laughing) and didn’t annoy Mr. W with my hyjinks in the New Manager’s Training; good lunch with a friend (CC); back at the office to find that my data feed to Luxury Portfolio made it through their import process (YIPEE!!!!!); finished with just an ok game of bowling but a fun time nevertheless.

I was reminded how amazing people are in that we can be friends, converse, but have totally different opinions on other people in our lives, and how accepting some people can be. Lunch conversation today was awesome.

Tomorrow will be a good day. Finally have an appointment for cervical traction, hoping it will take the pressure off the nerve and my right hand will quit going numb.

Today’s quote is so what I believe: “My Every Thought Is Attracting Its Vibrational Essence... Whether you are thinking about wanted things or unwanted things, you are still sending out a “request” to attract more things like the subject of your thought. And all things that happen to you - all people, things, experiences, situations that come to you - come in response to your Vibrational invitation.” I really do feel, almost to the point of superstition, that how we treat people, how we act, even how we think will bring those things into our lives. If we’re negative, we attract negative. If we’re positive, we attract positive. Even with sports and games – if you’re a good sport and encourage your opponent, you might lose the game, but you can still leave feeling good about it.

Bring the positive into your life.
TTFN!

PS - Isn't that PLUS sign beautiful ..... in that TN Orange???? :-)

25 - LuxPort

After a week and a half of concentrating mostly only the data feed to Luxury Portfolio, I finally uploaded a file with the new data tonight. It will take them about 48 hours to let me know if there is any thing in my data causing their import to crash, but the first step is done. This will get the "West Wing" off my back a little. It's not near close to being automated, but at least I can breathe a little bit now.

Tomorrow is my presentation at the New Manager's training. Wolves or Sheep ...... should be interesting.

Time for some rest.
TTFN!

24 - Good Girl!

I was sitting here wondering what to post today. Some days are just days - nothing eventful happened; nothing really bad, but nothing memoriably good either. And in many ways, that in itself is a positive. Then I looked at Goofy Dog (Diva) and remembered this afternoon.

SS stopped by to pick up cases of water that I'm taking to the mountains for the Labor Day Motor Maids meet. (I won't have enough room in my truck for it with having the Suzuki in the back along with clothes, riding gear and the kids food. Diva, Oliver and I take up the cab of my truck.) I've been working with Diva on her barking. She goes bonkers when the people across the street get their mail, and I need it to stop. So, I figured when SS got here, it would be a good training session. Nope. When SS got out of her van, Diva was looking out the front door and just started wagging her tail. There was no barking - her buddy who taught her "ring around the mulberry bush" in TN when she was just a puppy was here. She hasn't seen SS in months, but she remembers. I think that's cool.

Heading for the hammock ...

TTFN!

23 - Magic

For a long time I've said that the theatre is magic, but I've said that as a member of the audience. You step into another world when you witness live theatre. Well, it's also magic on the other side of that 4th wall. For me tonight, it was healing. All day long, I've dealt with stomach issues, and slept most of the day away. Was feeling horrible as I was getting ready to go to ABET to perform one of the songs from Aussie Song. Well, by the time I got to Atlantic Beach, my stomach was settling, and by the time the evening started, all the symptoms were gone. Magic, I'm telling you!

I wish, however, the magic had worked on my lyric memorization. I did get the opening monolog correct, but drew a completely blank on one of the lyric lines. Even driving home, I could not remember it. It's as if someone took an eraser and took it out of my memory. Fortunately, I thought on my feet, stayed in character, and managed to pull it off. It does help when your character (Mama Key) actually wrote the song and you're accompanying yourself.

It was also really nice to see my friends at ABET. I love that little theatre!

Support your local theatres -- they're magical places!

TTFN!

22 - The Door

I while ago while closing the door to my outside storage room, I accidently locked it. Oops. In the 13 years I've lived here, I've never had a key. Ok. Well, I don't need anything in there and what I do need, I'll borrow until I get the door open. In my recent motivation for home projects, I decided it was time to get that door open. Dad suggested I try to take the pin out of the hinges. Today, I gave that a shot. However, no amount of banging on the hinge, hitting the nail post on the bottom, nothing would get that pin to budge. Fine. I've had it. I'll just cut a hole in the door. just big enough for my fingers to unlock the door. I don't plan on locking it again, and a door is cheaper than getting a locksmith out here, right?

I can get in the room now. Wow, look at all that stuff I have to go through.


Does anyone know how to seal this up so I can lock the door again????

TTFN!

21 - Momma Byrd

I was wondering what I was going to write tonight. The wonderful rain we're having ('cause you know I do like rain)? The fact that the work week is OVER? My sore fingers from playing guitar getting ready for this Sunday? Then I got an email of a post on a networking site I'm on, and the picture here was the picture on that post. I knew I'd found my positive for today as I just started smiling.

Momma Byrd, is sitting on what looks to be a suped up lawn mower. I've known her since I was 9 or 10 years old. My folks used to ride motorcycles with her and her former husband; I, of course, was trapped on the passenger seat due to age. Now in her late 70's, Momma Byrd is still riding. This pic is up in Michigan where she headed after spending time with friends in Canada ... all of those travels on her motorcycle.

It is my hope to learn to have her attitude on life. She's always in a good mood, doesn't let any one hurry her past the pace she wants to go, enjoys the friends in her life, and finds the positive in almost everything she does.

I'm fortunate to have had her in my life as a youngster, and now again as an adult. Love ya, Momma Byrd.

TTFN!

20 Positive Triplets

Today was the best day out of this week. Even though I was in meetings from 10am until 1:30pm, I felt better about the day. I found out that what I thought was going to be a very arduous process to write was actually stored in a table for me to access. Thank the gods for that! But my positives today are triplets. I thought about cheating and holding one of these for a day where nothing goes right, but I just can't do that. These are in no specific order.

1) For reasons I don't even know, I've been teaching Diva to "Find Oliver." I never have trouble finding him because he doesn't hide, even at medicine time. But since Diva is a mix of a working breed and a hunting breed, I thought it would be good for her. So each time it's time for Oliver's medicine, I tell Diva to "Find Oliver." Tonight it was raining outside and I wanted to hear it, so I opened the sliding door a little bit. Oliver thought, "Escape! I can finally get outside." No way, pussy cat. "Diva - find Oliver!" She jumps up and goes to Oliver, who promptly turns around and jumps back on the coffee table. A little while later, we did it all again. On the third time when I said "Diva - Find Oliver!", Oliver ran into the bedroom. And who says cats aren't trainable!

2) Sometimes you meet people and you know that while your paths may not cross all that often, they will always hold a special place in your heart. EJG (top part of today's image) and JSG are like that to me. For those of you who remember, EJG is our "Miracle Man." He was supposed to be in "Into the Woods" with us, but 10 days prior to opening was rushed into emergency surgery for a double brain aneurism. Miracle of all miracles, he survived the surgery and was himself afterwards. He was released after just a week in the hospital and actually came to our rehearsal a couple of nights later. Well, this morning, I saw this on Facebook: "visited the doctor who saved his life May 31st. Doctor confirmed that I have a brain, and that it's perfect (take that, Judy). He never wants to see me again." How freaking awesome is that?!?!?!!!!

3) Wow - this is very, very anticlimactic after #2. First weekend in May, I fractured and severely sprained my right ankle. After 13 weeks in either a taped cast or a brace, I was finally able to do without. Another week of sneakers (making 14 weeks), and then into dress, lace-up boots for work. (The lace up supported my ankle.) Today, I wore heals (bottom part of today's image) and was pain free from the injury. That's a good thing!

Hope everyone is healthy and well.
TTFN!

19 Summer Love

Work continues to be something I want to forget about in the evenings. My 'kids' helped me tonight. I stretched out on the couch. Diva jumped up and laid down in front of me on her side, with her head on my shoulder. Oliver came over and sat on the floor in front of the couch with a look on his face that said, "What about me." I told him he could come on up. And oh how I WISH I had a camera I could have reached. Oliver jumped up and laid down between Diva's front and rear paws. I made sure to keep Diva from getting too excited, and the 3 of us actually relaxed like that for probably 10 minutes. For a cat who will sometimes smack the dog just for the hell of it, this was monumental. I used to think Oliver wanted to be an only child, but after losing his feline brothers a year ago and now warming up to the pup, I'm thinking that's not the case.

TTFN!

May you get lots of Puppy Love ... and Kitty Love.

18 End of a Day

There are some days that you're glad they're over, but you can't seem to shake them. Work was like that today. I want it to just go away. I spent 2 and a half hours out in the back yard with the pup, my book, a drink and dinner. When I'm back inside, the crappy day comes back.

The positives: Diva doesn't care how my day was; I'm still the incredible mom to her. And ... there's no computer in the back yard.

TTFN!

Tomorrow is another day.

17/46-365 Meet Mama Key

Audition was on Saturday. “We’ll let everyone know about casting on Monday or Tuesday” … that’s the hardest part. Waiting. All day today I kept checking my cell phone; hopes were up because I felt good about my audition (something rare). Caryl did call at lunch and offered me the role of “Mama Key” … “Female, mid-40s to mid-50s, a Texan (mezzo belt); A big hearted woman always ready with a home cooked meal” (from ABET’s website). The only other thing I know about Mama Key is that she took in a lot of orphans during the depression. From the two pages of script we read on Saturday, she seems a bit of a mush, and I’m so looking forward to playing someone who is full of love. (Haven’t had a role like that.)

Another thing I’m excited about is working with Caryl. SC (one of my cast mates from Into the Woods and who will also be in Aussie Song) said Caryl is a wonderful teacher. I can’t wait. I want to learn everything I can from her, pick her brain. I know she spent 20 years working in New York – she has to be just awesome. It’s going to be great working with GLR again. We had a grand time in Nunsense, and I’m sure we’ll have fun in this show too.

The other exciting thing is that this is the premier showing of this musical. The playwright/composer is here in Jacksonville, and we’re doing the show for the first time. She’ll be working with us in the process. How cool is that?!?!?!?!!!

Rehearsals don’t start until end of October as the show is the first 3 weekends in December. However, ABET is having their season kickoff Extravaganza, and they’ve asked if I can learn one of Mama Key’s songs by Sunday. I look forward to it! The Extravaganza was fun last year.

For more info on the show, visit ABET’s site at:
http://www.abettheatre.com/current-season/aussie-song/

Dreaming about being a Texan in the early 1940’s.

TTFN!


Aussie Song
A world premiere by Jacksonville playwright, Frances Rae Key, relates the true-life story of Teddy Trager and her family growing up in 1930s Australia. This poignant tale takes us to the backwoods of Texas where a humorous culture clash occurs that both Americans and those from Down Under are sure to enjoy. Perfect family holiday musical, with rousing tunes, child actors, and an old-fashioned love story.

16/46-365 9 to 99

Why is it that when I go into Lowes with 2 items on my list that should only cost me about $9, I leave with more than I anticipated. CLEARANCE! That’s why. I found my fencing on clearance for ½ price, so I picked it up. A few months later, I contracted them to put my fence in. Today, I go in for some bricks and a washer for a leaking toilet. I come out with the bricks and the washer (total about $9), and a hammock for the back yard. Go figure!

Both the hammock stand and the hammock itself were on clearance. My total bill came out to the regular price of the hammock stand, so I guess I couldn’t pass up the bargain … and I’ve been wanting a hammock since the back yard was fenced in.

The top of the picture is my new hammock; the bottom is my view from the hammock. As I stretched out in it at 4 this afternoon, there was a breeze blowing and it was actually nice outside. With the rope hammock, I could feel the breeze across my back as well.

I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to get my book and my drink in there with me without tumping all of us on the ground. Oh, and sometimes I take popcorn out too when I relax in the evening. Hmmm.

Oh, and the toilet … it’s still leaking.

TTFN!

15/46-365 Waiting

As much as auditions make me incredibly nervous, this one went well today … at least well for me. It was a “closed” audition, where we were not allowed to hear the other folks sing their audition song. While “Spitfire” was also a closed audition, we could easily hear each person sing through the door. I think this one counts as my first that was “closed”. I’m not sure I liked it. Being able to listen to the other auditionees (if that is a word) helps me calm my nerves. Instead, I paced the back room at ABET, running through my lyrics, hoping my voice wouldn’t crack as a moved through the break into the belt part of my headvoice, and wishing time would move quicker. Finally, I was called into the room.

My audition piece was “100 Easy Ways to Lose a Man” from “Wonderful Town.” The show and that song are relatively uncommon for auditioning, and the music director had not seen this music before. She asked for a little time to look it over, so there I was standing on the stage looking at the director, writer/composer and a few others helping out in the decision making. A bit of an awkward position, so what do I do? Tell a joke. No joke, really. I told a joke. Fortunately, the punch line was a song and they liked it. We chatted a little bit about Wonderful Town and Broadway, then finally it was time for me to sing. It was one of the best times I’ve sung that song, which was good. As I was walking out, Caryl said to let them know that she wanted me to read for Mama Key. I said, “Ok, and I’ll have another joke when I come back in!” They said good; make it a longer one. One of these days my attempts to get past my nervousness are not going to be so well received.

I read through the two pages of dialog; then GLR and I walked around out side. There were other people still singing their songs, so we were killing time. When they started the reading, they read the two little girls (age 8 – 11) with the dad role. Then came the time for Mama Key. There were 3 of us still there to read for Mama Key, and 2 young women reading for Teddy. Caryl decided to bring all of in as it would be easier to switch up who was reading with whom.

GLR went first and in my opinion was great. I hated to follow her as she reads so well. Another lady was next; then I read. When I read with the first young lady, I read it ‘big’. Louder voice, more boisterous, that type of thing. I felt I should be different from GLR and the other woman. When we were done, Caryl asked me to read it softer, more intimate, that she wanted to see the relationship between Teddy and Mama Key develop. So, I completely changed it, trying to do what she asked, and I could almost feel the chemistry between the young lady and myself. It was pretty cool.

Now the waiting begins. Caryl said that she’d let us know Monday or Tuesday as to her decision on casting the show. I would really like to do the show – an opportunity to work on a show that has never been done before, with the playwrite there helping out. I honestly don’t know what my chances are for being cast, but my fingers and toes are crossed.

If you're curious, here's the link to the show information:
http://www.abettheatre.com/current-season/aussie-song/

TTFN!

14/46-365 TGIFF!

The work week is over.
Sat out back with a drink and my book.
Watched Diva play in the rain.
Oliver is back on track.
An evening to rest.
Audition tomorrow.
Life is good.

TTFN!

13/46-365 Good Evening

The work day was nothing positive to write about, so I won’t. Tonight, TAC and I finally had our birthday dinner. We only live 6 miles apart, but it’s rare that we get to sit down for a couple of hours and just talk. Good meal, and great conversation catching up with my bestest friend. And I love my birthday presents – a couple books on acting in musical theatre!!!

Came home hoping for a present in the litter box, but no luck. So, I had a talk with little Mr. Oliver about how his mom was worried. About 10 minutes later, he headed for the litter box and his mom is no longer worried. (My vet did have me stop the twice a week meds. I’m happy about that too.)

Time for some rest, and tomorrow is FRIDAY!

TTFN!

Ps – I did not win any part of the lotto. (See 12/46-365.)

12/46-365 Shoes?

Yesterday. I stopped by Dick’s Sporting Goods to look for a new pair of bowling shoes. They don’t stock anything for bowling. So today at lunch, I went across the street to Sports Authority. They had 3 different styles for women. Only one pair in my size, and it was my least favorite style. Tried it on – they run small, so it didn’t fit. The sales dude called the two other stores in Jacksonville, but neither had shoes in my size. I figured, no problem; I’ll just order them online.

Next, I wanted to get my own ball. I was tired of searching for a ball that was comfortable each time I bowled, and with our 26 week league starting up in less than a month, it was time. One of the balls was on sale, so I start hunting to see if they had any of those left. The balls were stacked 2 deep in the shelves, so I was pulling the front row out to see what kind of ball was behind it. Got near the end of the first row, pulled the ball out and behind it was not a bowling ball. Behind it was a shoe box. I just looked at it and thought, my luck can’t be that good.

It was the style I liked, in my size.

I bought the shoes and a new ball. Left Sports Authority and bought a Lotto ticket on the way back to the office. Maybe my luck will hold out.

TTFN!

11/46-365 Mellow

No, I haven’t been drinking Mello Yellow; I’ve been in a mellow mood all day today. Typically, our Sr. Developer and I meet with my boss on Tuesday mornings to discuss where we are on projects and if we’re running into issues he needs to know about. Today, I IM’d him to see if we were having a meeting (the meeting is in ‘pencil’), and told him SC didn’t have anything, and I didn’t have anything to say or bitch about. Being the smartass that he can be sometimes, he writes back that he’s going to post it on the Corporate Intranet – “SJR has nothing to say or bitch about today! Mark your calendars.” He thinks he’s a comedian. Since we didn’t have to meet, I was able to wrap up a couple of projects and get them handed off to either our programmer or a vendor. Yea!

This evening, I took my dinner out back to spend a little time outside with Diva while she guarded the yard. I think I’ve spent more time out back since the fence was completed than in the 13 years I’ve lived here. It’s really nice.

Positives: 2 projects completed; nice relaxing evening; no one causing me undo stress today!!!

TTFN!

Humor: A little useless knowledge that was posted on my iGoogle page today... Is it possible to double your pleasure? In 1609, a doctor by the name of Wecker discovered a corpse in Bologna that had two penises. Since his findings, researchers have recorded eighty other official cases of men who were so endowed. Maybe the doctor should have changed his name to Pecker.

Until one has loved an animal

If I Didn't Have a Dog..... or Cat ...

I could walk around the yard barefoot in safety. My house could be carpeted instead of tiled and laminated. All flat surfaces, clothing, furniture, and cars would be free of hair. When the doorbell rings, it wouldn't sound like a kennel.

When the doorbell rings, I could get to the door without wading through fuzzy bodies who beat me there. I could sit on the couch and my bed the way I wanted, without taking into consideration how much space several fur bodies would need to get comfortable. I would have money and no guilt to go on a real vacation. I would not be on a first-name basis with 6 veterinarians, as I put their yet unborn grand kids through college.



The most used words in my vocabulary would not be: out, sit, down, come, no, stay, and leave him/her/it ALONE. My house would not be cordoned off into zones with baby gates or barriers. I would not talk 'baby talk'. 'Eat your din din'. 'Yummy yummy for the tummy'. My house would not look like a day care center, toys everywhere. My pockets would not contain things like poop bags, treats and an extra leash.

I would no longer have to spell the words B-A-L-L, F-R-I-S-B-E- E, W-A-L-K, T-R-E-A-T, B-I-K-E, G-O, R-I-D-E. I would not have as many leaves (or pine needles) INSIDE my house as outside. I would not look strangely at people who think having ONE dog/cat ties them down too much. I'd look forward to spring and the rainy season instead of dreading 'mud' season.

I would not have to answer the question 'Why do you have so many animals?' from people who will never have the joy in their lives of knowing they are loved unconditionally by someone as close to an angel as they will ever get.

How EMPTY my life would be!!!



Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened.


This was sent to me yesterday evening.

10/46-365 My Baby Boy

This morning, I left a voicemail for my vet because Oliver had not left a #2 deposit in the litter box since last Tuesday. Since he’s been on laxatives for the past 8 years (diagnosed as a mega-colon kitty, meaning the muscles in his colon don’t work right), I’m very aware of his regularity and irregularity.

A few months ago, blood tests showed he had high calcium levels, and when Dr. G looked back at his history, it showed his levels had always been up. One of the symptoms/side effects of hypercalcemia is constipation, but also it can lead to kidney failure. So, we started him on a 4 week run of Fosamax, 10mgs once a week. After another set of blood tests, his calcium levels hadn’t changed. So then it was run it for 7 weeks, but 10mg twice a week. Still no change. Change it to 20mg twice a week. After his 3rd dose, I was concerned about his BM’s, so when Diva had to get her shots last Thursday, I took Oliver in too. He had dropped some weight, and no he wasn’t blocked up – he was full of air! Well, I could have told Dr. G there was that… don’t light a match near him, he may explode! And boy do they ever stink!!!

Time to change the meds … again … due to the gas. 10mg of Fosamax and 5mg of Prednisone, twice a week. He had his second dose of those Sunday night, but there still hadn’t been a BM since last Tuesday. So, we end up back at the vets today.

When she palpated him, she said his bladder was full, which makes it difficult for her to find his colon. We decided for her to knock him out based on his lack of litter box deposits and that he hadn’t lost weight. She called me shortly after noon to say that he was not blocked up. (Good!) That what she thought was his colon was actually his kidneys – his full bladder was displacing his kidneys.

She says that he must be going somewhere. And (now this is gross), Diva might be getting to it before it has a chance to stink up the house. So, my baby boy will be going into isolation for a while when I’m not here to see what he’s doing.

This afternoon, he hasn’t slept but he acts so drugged up. I think he thinks he’s hungry because he keeps sitting in front of his food bowl, but then he dozes off. At least 3 times, I’ve moved him somewhere else thinking he would go to sleep.

The positive: He wasn’t constipated, and once again, he had no trouble with anesthesia. I’ve got an awesome veterinarian who does everything she can to get him what he needs, including research, calling specialists and even the author of one of the medical manuals.

Oliver is now 9 years old, which is much longer than one vet thought he’d have. He’s the most incredible cat I’ve ever had – very much a people cat; travels with me to Tennessee; greets me at the door when I get home, having to tell me about his day. And after adjusting to life without his 3 feline brothers, now gets along with Diva. I pretty much know what the future holds with him, sub-q IV’s in the house and medicine, but that’s ok – I’ve already done it with him.

Positive #2 – Oliver is worth it. He trusts me to take care of him, and that I will. (The two pics are of him on the way home from the vets today.)

9/46-365 Lazy Day

Sort of a lazy day. Dealing with a bit of allergies, so the Benadryl (never a full dose at one time) has kept me a little lethargic. That said, I did still get some cooking done; GLR and I caught a movie then managed to bowl almost 3 complete games in an hour. The league that I bowl on starts on Sept. 14th, with a free practice and registration night on Aug. 31st. I want to get some practice in this month so I’m not so rusty to start out. (My bowling today was a few pins above my ending average last season.)

The good news is that I was able to bowl today with no pain in my ankle, well, either ankle. I did not wear a brace on my left ankle, the one I sprained while bowling 11 months ago. (How do you sprain an ankle bowling? Have your slide foot suddenly stick. In fact, I need to get new shoes because I’m still having issues with my slide.) I did wear a brace on my right ankle, the one that was fractured and severely sprained 13 weeks ago. (I haven’t gone a day without a brace on it since it was injured.) So, I’m not worried to start bowling again.

Tomorrow, I’m going to take my ankle brace to work with me but not intending to wear it unless I feel I need it. One of the tests for determining that a severe sprain is healed is being able to jump up and down on that foot 4 or 5 times without pain. I can now do that. My range of motion is the same as my left foot, with only a bit of pain at the furthest part of the range of motion. Time to start letting it handle its job without a brace.

Time for some dinner and sleep. Work begins again tomorrow.

TTFN!

8/46-365 Humid Music

Ok – my Year 46 Resolution was to blog positively every day. Well, I walked in the door at 11:40pm, and started typing at 11:50pm. I doubt I will finish this and get the photo collage created and posted before midnight, but suffice to say, I still did start my blog before the day was over.

After a lazy day (which I really needed), I went to a house party tonight where TAC was playing. I didn’t get my copy of the COE this month (I think I need to renew my subscription), so TAC had to text me the address. I really didn’t know what this was going to be, just that it was at someone’s house and there was live music. And you know what, that was about it. They had an awning for the band to be under (in case it rained), some tables and chairs, pool. It was BYOB. There were evidently snacks and stuff inside, but I didn’t venture in. Jell-O shooters, but I didn’t partake. It was me and my G2.

A duo opened. Meg and another woman whose name I didn’t catch. Two guitars, or guitar and bass, both sang. Enjoyable to listen to. Then TAC did a set. As always, it’s fun to see her play and sing. She ended with “Closer to Fine”, and forgot the middle verse. Meg, from the opening set jumped up and sang with her, and then TAC motioned me up to finish out the song with them. It was fun.

Kym Berry and her band had the last two sets. (I only stayed for one.) TAC played with them on that first set, and Meg also plays with them on a regular basis. Mostly original pieces. Folk, rock, some country (Yea!). Kym and Wendy (also in the band) were just married up in Canada. After she sang a song called “I Can’t Stop The Rain,” she did a little ‘counseling’ about relationships and the ‘baggage’ every one brings with them. I know what you’re thinking – Rock band leader and she ends up talking about relationships? Well, she had some very wise words, and it was good to listen to. She was happy that she got to see her son who was home from Iraq briefly, and got to meet her 1 year old granddaughter for the first time. Kym’s website is: http://kymberrymusic.com/. You can hear “I Can’t Stop The Rain” on the site. It’s an awesome song.

What was interesting was hearing her background. We so often judge books by their covers, even though we’re taught not to. We’re all guilty of it. I looked at her, and of course thought, gay woman, always been that way. Then I hear she’s a grandmother, her son and daughter are both in the military, and she travelled to Canada in order to be able to marry the person she loves. Rarely are things as simple as they seem on the surface. She’s only a year or two older than me, and I say “good for her!”

The funny thing about this life we lead … I met Kym and Wendy 2 years ago at an arts fair where TAC played. We had chatted a little then, and it was good to see them again. Actually, that arts fair led to some changes as that’s where I met Cheryl and then got involved in the bowling league. Go figure! J

On the way home I was thinking about watching the bands, and wondering to myself if I missed that. The answer is no. While I would love to work up a couple of songs with TAC to join her as a guest every now and then, it’s not something I want to do one a regular basis. I think I found my artistic outlet in theatre. But it’s awesome to support my sister and friends in their gigs.

Time to put the pics together and then post this. I’m letting Kym’s song play over and over. I really do love this song.

TTFN and sweet dreams!

7/46-365 Hard Already

Day 7 of project 46-365, and it’s already tough. Blame it on it being a hard week at work, not liking getting blown off at work because someone doesn’t have a backbone, and being very tired. I’m writing my blog now because I’m going back to the beach tonight to see Hair, and it will be too late when I get home tonight. Last night was too late on a "school night"… makes me wonder how I survive doing shows!

Tonight will be fun. It’s wonderful to see how my theatre ‘family’ has grown. In the show tonight will be our lead from the first show I was in, Spitfire Grill, our stage manager from Into The Woods and our music director from Into the Woods. Seeing the show with me is our lead from Nunsense, and 7 of the Woodies (castmates from Into The Woods). And who knows who will be there that I know from getting involved in community theatre. It really is a great thing, this network that we build.

Am hoping for some good rest this weekend along with working on some projects and having a bit of fun too. Wishing everyone else a great weekend!

TTFN!!!

6/46-365 OOB

Tonight, my friend HB took me to dinner and then to see “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged.” She’d asked me what I wanted, and this is exactly what I told her. Told her she would laugh until her sides hurt. I saw this play a few years ago at Limelight Theatre in St. Augustine, and told LCB that she had to come down with me when I went to see it a second time. These 3 actors are doing the show at a number of theatres – last night and tonight at Atlantic Beach, then 2 nights in Amelia Island. They just now booked it at Players by the Sea (Jax Beach) for Sunday night. I’m seriously considering seeing it again.

Ok. “Shakespeare” you’re thinking? That sure doesn’t sound like me, does it?! Well, when you have three male actors take all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays and do them in 90 minutes, playing ALL the roles, with minimal costume changes and props … it’s funny. The play was London’s longest running comedy, playing for 10 years.

Tonight’s production was almost as minimal as you can get for staging. A chair, a wooden box for a table, 2 glasses and a bottle of water. Actually, I don’t think the glasses were used as props. The actors used some props: wigs, clothing, foam swords, a baby doll, etc. It was 99% the actors, and 1% props.

Amazon’s review says it much better than I can. This is what they say about the DVD (that yes, I’m getting from Block Buster): “Three men performing 37 plays in less than two hours may seem a bit of a stretch. But Adam Long, Reed Martin, and Austin Tichenor--all members of the Reduced Shakespeare Company--pull it off beautifully with The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), a slapstick show that summarizes the playwright's stage work (with the sonnets thrown in). Never read Titus Andronicus? No problem; it's presented here as a cooking show. Can't keep your Shakespearean histories straight? Visualize them as a football game. Wondering what exactly is the deal with that guy Othello? Hear his story as a rap song. Hard as it is to imagine, this video of the stage show (originally seen on PBS) is one of the funniest, most clever productions around. Long is hysterical in his roles of Juliet and Ophelia (among others), bringing a hip, edgy feel to the plays while remaining surprisingly true to the stories. Martin and Tichenor will amaze with their acrobatic movements and frequent costume changes, and the three together are a marvel of timing and rhythm. Best of all, whether you know Shakespeare inside out or have yet to read a word of him, The Complete Works will have you in stitches.”

Act One is 36 or the 37 plays. Act Two is just Hamlet. First they do it in their normal fashion, including complete audience participation. Then, they realize they still have time, so instead of letting us go home early, they do it again – faster. After that, well guess what? There’s still time, so they do it again, even faster yet. With still a little time left for us, they decide to do Hamlet backwards, at the middle fast speed. Not only funny, but amazing. To know how hard it was to memorize Sondheim’s lyrics, I cannot imagine how difficult it was to memorize some of Shakespeare’s lines – backwards. “Be to not or be to.” Right?

If you’re here in Jax and have Sunday night free – GO SEE THIS SHOW at Players by the Sea. If you’re not in Jax, keep an eye out for someone doing it near you, and go!

Oh, and the title of today’s blog … You’re wondering WTH; she’s off her rocker again. Well, there’s a ghost in Hamlet, right? Then what does a ghost say … backwards?


TTFN!

5/46-365 Sometimes the Humor Finds You

Today has been a day where 5 o’clock or quitting time (for me was around 6:30) couldn’t come soon enough. End of Month was a royal pain. I made some mindless errors last night (probably because of being tired and working late) that caused me to have to re-do some of the reports today. And at 4:30 there was another email from a broker questioning some of the numbers. That one waits until tomorrow! I actually left the office around 11am to try to shake the frustration. I thought everything was fixed, but low and behold another error was found that I had to fix when I got back. It’s been a long time since I needed to walk away. As grouchy and negative as I was feeling, I was wondering how my blog would be positive tonight. Well, sometimes the humor finds you.

I finally quit doing active WRC work around 6:30, and read a friend of mine’s blog. She had me cracking up. Not because of the subject matter, but because of the way it was written. It was about CNBS. No, it’s not a news channel, this is Chronic Numb Butt Syndrome, and while not it’s true scientific name (though I like it), it is something that some people experience following surgery when their back side falls asleep for too long. Evidently, it can take weeks, months, even years for it to wake up! For the past 3 weeks, I’ve been fighting tingling and numbness in the ring and little finger of my right hand. It’s pinched nerves in my neck that do not want to unpinch. At least I can shake my hand out and try to get some relief. My friend, though, posted this, “Mostly it’s annoying and I want to massage it to get the feeling back but you really can’t walk around an office massaging your own butt without raising eyebrows.” See why I was laughing?

GLR did remind me today about traction. It’s probably been over a year since I’ve had a traction session, which means I’m over due. That may help the lower vertebra in my neck let go of the stinkin’ nerve. Enough already! I’ll talk with my chiropractor next week about it.

Our daily thunderstorm came through between 6 and 7 tonight. This goofy dog of mine is afraid of thunder; she wants to lie down under my feet. We sat by the front door and watched the storm. She did sit there with me, looking ou. I fixed myself a strong drink, heated up some corn on the cob and took Goofy Dog out back to watch it rain some more. She’s nuts; she really is. She decided it was time to check out the thunder. So she goes bounding (yes bounding, like a deer, not running) to the back of the yard to stare up in the sky after it would thunder. Then she’d bound back and bite at the water running off the roof. I sipped my drink, ate my corn on the cob and laughed at her.

Sometimes the humor does find you, when you aren’t expecting it. While there are some things I should do tonight, I believe I’ll do my best imitation of a couch potato and catch up on some TVshows.

4/46-365 End of Month

It’s been a long day. Open business (new listings and pending contracts written on properties) isn’t run until after close of business on the 2nd business day of the following month. I just now fired off the program that emails out all of the reports to our brokers, regional VPs and the president of WRC. Personally, I think they’re a little ‘report happy’. 12 reports go to 39 sales offices, reports go to our two Relocations offices, and then there’s reports for Corporate. Over 600 reports are crunched and exported, then emailed out. (The Closed Business EOM, which is on the last business day of the month, has over 400 reports.) Nuts, huh?

While yes, I’m exhausted and not in the best of moods, the POSITIVE SIDE is that I’m about 3 or 4 steps away from having Open Business EOM automated. After 9 years of running these reports every month, I’m close to no longer having to do it manually. Oh sure, there will be errors at first because the users will have to be trained on a couple changes needed for the automation, but fixing those will be better than working until 8 or later for each Open EOM.

Time to log off the servers at work, and fix some dinner. Tomorrow is the comparative analysis reports, but folks aren’t waiting on them like they are on these. And if all goes well, maybe the August reports will be the first test on automation.

3/46-365 Rainy Days and Mondays

Shortly before 2pm today, here it came: dark skies, peals of thunder and pouring rain. I had a chiropractor’s appointment that I had just made this morning (so it was necessary), and at 2:10 when I needed to leave, it was just a wall of water. The windows are down in my truck now so the driver’s seat can dry out. There’s standing water in the back yard; the mosquitoes are multiplying exponentially. But you know what – I DON’T CARE!!!

In 1998, I swore I would never complain about rain again. And for the most part, I’ve kept that promise. June of 1998, we had temperatures over 100 degrees 6 or 8 days that month; we had some long streak of 90+ degree days. The worst, though, was the fires. It wasn’t raining water; it was raining ash on us. Cars were covered with it. The acrid smell of smoke seemed to be forever stuck in your sinuses. Roads were closed.

That summer, vacation was to our Motor Maids Convention in Del Rio, TX. As I was preparing to leave, both I-95 and I-10 were closed because of fires. I was wondering how we were going to get out of the city. After getting the bike loaded, I put those items most precious to me in the middle of the living room floor. TAC was taking care of the cats, and I asked her to take that small pile along with “the boys” if my neighborhood was evacuated. It was a scary feeling to leave town. Fortunately, we were not evacuated, but my friend SS, who lives in Palm Coast, was evacuated twice.

Rain? Bring it on. Everything is green, and the temperatures aren’t rising too high. These afternoon storms keep the a/c from having to work so hard. While I know that fire is a cycle of nature (I did have a fire behind my house last year, and the grass came back better than ever), it scares me. So, give me rain …

2-46/365 Best Friends

Under “Friendship” on Wikipedia, it says this: “Best friend (or close friend): a person(s) with whom someone shares extremely strong interpersonal ties with as a friend.” An online forum said this: “Someone, who even though you could be pissed off at them, thousands of miles away from them or haven't seen them in years, the thought of not being friends with them anymore never even crosses your mind.”

Today’s positive blog is easy: It’s TAC’s birthday, and she’s been my best friend going on 20 years. Our friendship has evolved to “sisters” now. Neither of us have blood sisters in this lifetime, but if we had, it would have been each other. We literally have been through hell and back, came out singed but healed. When I wrecked my truck and was still trapped in the cab, she was the 2nd phone call I made, the first being 911. If that happened again, she would still be the first person I’d call, without thought or hesitation.

She’s now engaged to her beloved, and I couldn’t be happier for her. It’s been a long road to find the right person, and she’s the happiest I’ve seen her. She’s also one of the most self-disciplined people I know (fitting right in with my parents). How I wish I had half the self-discipline she does; I’d get so much done. She’s smart, witty, talented to the Nth degree.

I wish her the happiest of birthdays and many, many more. I’m eternally grateful that we have the friendship we have – I don’t know what I’d do without it.

1/46-365 Positive Start

Project 46-365

Most of you are probably saying, “WTH? We knew she was off her rocker, but right now the rocker isn’t even on the porch!” Well, I turn 46 today, and for some reason that number, 4 6, isn’t sitting all that well with me. I’ve not been looking forward to today and this week, I was thinking about how I could turn that around. So, taking a page from my friend JSG’s book (who is working on Project 365), I decided to do project 46-365. For the next 365 days, I will post a blog about something positive. It might be long; it might be short. It might be about something that happened that day or something years ago. The only thing I’m forcing myself to stick to is that it is positive.

“Resolutions” seem to be something we do on New Years Day, because a new year has started. But why not on our birthday? That’s a new year, and a whole lot more personal than New Years Day. Project 46-365 is my public resolution for my 46th year. Each day will be posted on Blogger, Facebook and Multiply. You can follow along; you can ignore. Feel free to comment. These sites make our worlds even smaller. (Don’t sing – that song gets STUCK in your head!) (Note: I will use initials of people to protect their privacy. Something else I learned from my friend, JSG.)

Today: 1/46-365

Today we’re having the family birthday party for ACB, my “nephew”. He doesn’t turn 1 until the 14th of August, but since his grandparents from Massachusetts are in town, it’s time to celebrate. It’s not like he knows what day of the month it is. J It will be fun spending time with the family and playing with ACB. I got him a pooh bear for his first birthday. My grandfather gave me Pooh on my first birthday, and he turns 45 today. Yes, I still have him. He’s in fantastic shape, and is one of my prized possessions.

Life is good. I am blessed to have wonderful people in my life, and a good job that allows me the freedom to spend time with them and the activities I enjoy. I’m hoping this year is filled with theatre, both on stage and in the audience, nice rides in cool, sunny weather and lots of laughter. Stepping into 46 with a positive look forward.