w00t w00t booyah

Nine years today.

He never saw Y2K. 9/11. Cowboy Bebop. iPods, iPhones, multi-gig microprocessors, wireless networking, hybrid cars like the Prius, Alton Brown....

I wonder what he'd make of it all.

Something tells me he wouldn't have stayed a Republican.

He'd have found the wii fascinating.

Not fair.

And I wonder what he would have done, had he stayed healthy and in engineering. I always do.

I'll pull out some kirsch tomorrow night or something.

Still miss you, husband. And I resent that the memories keep stretching further and further into the past. I really do.

Nine years today.

He never saw Y2K. 9/11. Cowboy Bebop. iPods, iPhones, multi-gig microprocessors, wireless networking, hybrid cars like the Prius, Alton Brown....

I wonder what he'd make of it all.

Something tells me he wouldn't have stayed a Republican.

He'd have found the wii fascinating.

Not fair.

And I wonder what he would have done, had he stayed healthy and in engineering. I always do.

I'll pull out some kirsch tomorrow night or something.

Still miss you, husband. And I resent that the memories keep stretching further and further into the past. I really do.

Folks in Las Vegas, when would you like us to come visit? We're needing to see at least two shows, and we want a vacation that won't suck. That means we want to see people who love seeing us. Ante up.

Folks in Cleveland, it looks like it'll be the week of June 2nd - yes, we'll be nearby for a family reunion, and I want a replay of the roadtrip in 2000. You want us, all ya have to do is ask for it. Uh, US.

Folks in Switzerland, I'm considering a trip in August or September. SERIOUSLY considering. You want us, you can have us - all you have to do is say so.

..

To me, heaven is not a place where you stop doing everything. Hell would be where I'd stop doing everything and never do a single thing again.

And I freely admit it - when life was going south for Cliff, the only thing he could think about was taking a trip. I'm afraid that's rubbed off a bit on me.

Struggling to maintain equilibrium here - she's been in my life over 25 years, and we are not alike in any way; she is difficult to deal with, opinionated as all hell and we had little in common.

Yet, we never argued. Never fought. We were never angry with each other. She never created issues with my BIL or my sister over issues she may have had with me. She always, always remembered me no matter what - in marriage, in death, in every Christmas...in short, she was family who never gave me grief. (She gave plenty to others, but not me.)

Hers is another passing I can't begrudge. I only hope it won't take long to let her go. She's been terribly unhappy for too many years.

Well, I canceled all the pet insurance. Last year it cost nearly a grand, over the course of the whole year and I only got $16 reimbursed out of one round of flea stuff (which was over $100 in itself). Feh. Love my four-foots, but I ain't stupid.

I don't think I've mentioned a bunch of stuff that happened between Christmas and New Years.

One, I was gifted with a new dining room table and chairs - one large enough with the two leaves in it to seat everyone for Thanksgiving. (No more rental table!) It's not a new set - I forsee having to send them out for refinishing inside of ten years - but it's lovely. The chairs have caned backs - and I can redo the upholstered seats quick as a wink. Without the leaves, it now seats six and is only about eight inches longer than the old set. It has a pad for the top, and looks fab with a tablecloth on it. (And the cats love lying on it and doing carrier landings. :P)

But that means I have a dining room set spare now. It's sitting on the back porch while folks who just lost their digs figure stuff out. That, and a number of things I can get out of the back house. Packrattery does come in handy, some days.

Jim got a trip to the Magic Castle for Christmas from Sis - but before we could go, her MIL fell gravely ill and she couldn't go. This is a Problem, because if we didn't round out the party to the 4 in the package, Sis was going to get charged a significant bump for changing the reservation. OK. Call EVERYONE I KNOW. SHIT.

I quickly rounded up caitlin and apositivevoice and we dressed up in our very best (and Caitlin found the most wonderful beaded scarf for me to wear with my brand-new dress. OMG gorgeous.) - but there are no pictures. You can't take pictures of any kind inside the Castle. I managed to get Jim and I to the hairdressers, wore makeup for the first time in ages (and had a damn good time finding it too, lemme tellya) - and there are no pictures. Oh, well.

The reservations were also for dinner at 9:30 PM. *gulp* Yeah. We got there early and all - but dinner began after 10:00, and the one show we were to see began at 11:30. I'm not used to this. Sorry, but not used to eating prime rib with all the trimmings, dessert and everything - that late. And I indulged in a brandy alexander to open the evening (hadn't had one of those in ages) - so while it was truly a wonderful night? Hammered poo the next morning.

(I really have to follow up and get the roster of the people we saw. And ask me about Irma. Irma was cool.)

One of the magicians did sleight-of-hand with fire. REALLY neat. Thought of varna
The place teemed with owls everywhere - in the bookcases, as sconces, on pedestals - thought of bigbigtruck.

The place is a series of Victorian rooms, with five bars. No kidding. Would love to go back - and they give classes. Oh very yes, if it can be arranged, Jim's going back for classes.

But let's jump back to Sis' MIL.

Keep in mind, her in-laws always adored me. Was surprising at first, in all honesty. I mean. Wow. I could always expect a warm welcome from any member of that group - and I've said the nicest thing she ever did for me was marry my BIL.

So many of them are gone now. And now, MIL. Her health status has always been precarious - she's overweight. Old COPD. And then had a huge pneumonia and diabetes diagnosis this year - and now, what looks to be a big heart attack/stroke. BIG. Think no ability to swallow and drastically reduced level of consciousness. Not gone, but so reduced she might know what happened or be able to respond. Transferring her out of Loma Linda to the Kaiser facility near her home was the best indicator so far - she was stable enough to transport.

It won't be long - and if her status doesn't significantly improve, I hope it won't be long. *sigh*

hiawatha was down for Christmas Eve. She got back home? Her father was admitted to the ER and is now waiting for a permanent placement in a SNF due to Alzheimer's. None of these were unexpected - but none of it very pretty.

So, I've been a little quiet.

Uh, Mom is okay - today. Matter of fact, I need to call her. She's been down a bit healthwise with UTIs and the last stent placement hasn't been entirely peaceful. So, she remains precarious too - most of the time, perky and happy. But you really can't assume anything - that can change in the blink of an eye.

Jim's peeved already - he's gotten a speeding ticket. Me? Ready to take down the tree, get it mulched and get on with the year. Talked with Heartsent this morning - there are no concerns about me aging out of the Taiwan program, so we go ahead with China for now - by itself.

Another year plus before we have kid. Well, there's a lot to do before then. Best get on with it.

2006 was so totally forgettable for a lot of reasons - kind of a placeholder, if you think about it. If you skip the people I met last year, of course. Really REALLY shouldn't do that. It was a good building year for friends.

Well, I canceled all the pet insurance. Last year it cost nearly a grand, over the course of the whole year and I only got $16 reimbursed out of one round of flea stuff (which was over $100 in itself). Feh. Love my four-foots, but I ain't stupid.

I don't think I've mentioned a bunch of stuff that happened between Christmas and New Years.

One, I was gifted with a new dining room table and chairs - one large enough with the two leaves in it to seat everyone for Thanksgiving. (No more rental table!) It's not a new set - I forsee having to send them out for refinishing inside of ten years - but it's lovely. The chairs have caned backs - and I can redo the upholstered seats quick as a wink. Without the leaves, it now seats six and is only about eight inches longer than the old set. It has a pad for the top, and looks fab with a tablecloth on it. (And the cats love lying on it and doing carrier landings. :P)

But that means I have a dining room set spare now. It's sitting on the back porch while folks who just lost their digs figure stuff out. That, and a number of things I can get out of the back house. Packrattery does come in handy, some days.

Jim got a trip to the Magic Castle for Christmas from Sis - but before we could go, her MIL fell gravely ill and she couldn't go. This is a Problem, because if we didn't round out the party to the 4 in the package, Sis was going to get charged a significant bump for changing the reservation. OK. Call EVERYONE I KNOW. SHIT.

I quickly rounded up caitlin and apositivevoice and we dressed up in our very best (and Caitlin found the most wonderful beaded scarf for me to wear with my brand-new dress. OMG gorgeous.) - but there are no pictures. You can't take pictures of any kind inside the Castle. I managed to get Jim and I to the hairdressers, wore makeup for the first time in ages (and had a damn good time finding it too, lemme tellya) - and there are no pictures. Oh, well.

The reservations were also for dinner at 9:30 PM. *gulp* Yeah. We got there early and all - but dinner began after 10:00, and the one show we were to see began at 11:30. I'm not used to this. Sorry, but not used to eating prime rib with all the trimmings, dessert and everything - that late. And I indulged in a brandy alexander to open the evening (hadn't had one of those in ages) - so while it was truly a wonderful night? Hammered poo the next morning.

(I really have to follow up and get the roster of the people we saw. And ask me about Irma. Irma was cool.)

One of the magicians did sleight-of-hand with fire. REALLY neat. Thought of varna
The place teemed with owls everywhere - in the bookcases, as sconces, on pedestals - thought of bigbigtruck.

The place is a series of Victorian rooms, with five bars. No kidding. Would love to go back - and they give classes. Oh very yes, if it can be arranged, Jim's going back for classes.

But let's jump back to Sis' MIL.

Keep in mind, her in-laws always adored me. Was surprising at first, in all honesty. I mean. Wow. I could always expect a warm welcome from any member of that group - and I've said the nicest thing she ever did for me was marry my BIL.

So many of them are gone now. And now, MIL. Her health status has always been precarious - she's overweight. Old COPD. And then had a huge pneumonia and diabetes diagnosis this year - and now, what looks to be a big heart attack/stroke. BIG. Think no ability to swallow and drastically reduced level of consciousness. Not gone, but so reduced she might know what happened or be able to respond. Transferring her out of Loma Linda to the Kaiser facility near her home was the best indicator so far - she was stable enough to transport.

It won't be long - and if her status doesn't significantly improve, I hope it won't be long. *sigh*

hiawatha was down for Christmas Eve. She got back home? Her father was admitted to the ER and is now waiting for a permanent placement in a SNF due to Alzheimer's. None of these were unexpected - but none of it very pretty.

So, I've been a little quiet.

Uh, Mom is okay - today. Matter of fact, I need to call her. She's been down a bit healthwise with UTIs and the last stent placement hasn't been entirely peaceful. So, she remains precarious too - most of the time, perky and happy. But you really can't assume anything - that can change in the blink of an eye.

Jim's peeved already - he's gotten a speeding ticket. Me? Ready to take down the tree, get it mulched and get on with the year. Talked with Heartsent this morning - there are no concerns about me aging out of the Taiwan program, so we go ahead with China for now - by itself.

Another year plus before we have kid. Well, there's a lot to do before then. Best get on with it.

2006 was so totally forgettable for a lot of reasons - kind of a placeholder, if you think about it. If you skip the people I met last year, of course. Really REALLY shouldn't do that. It was a good building year for friends.