Birthday(s) in July

I don't usually like to purchase gifts for birthdays for my nieces and nephews because I want to give them something to build positive memories of us doing things together.   I like to take them on an outing to do something they enjoy and spend time with them one on one.  I decided that since both Sarah and Paige's birthdays were in December (ummm...2010) it might be time I gave them their gifts.

Paige was up first.  She requested an evening of shopping and dinner.  Ugg..she is 8 and she LOVES to shop.  When I called her up to tell her of my plans I asked her where she would like to eat and she replied "Old Country Buffet".  Gag...disgusting.  I decided she had ZERO taste buds.  However, after further conversation she changed her mind to The Journey.  Still a buffet but it is a step up from OCB. 

I arrived at her house on Friday night about 5:30 and she was all dressed up and waiting for me.  She wore a cute little dress and heels.  OMG...she was so adorable and she made me feel so boring in my jeans and sneakers.  As soon as we got into the car she began to talk and talk and talk.  Apparently, she has lots of things to say and not enough people to listen.  FYI...the first 30 minutes of conversation was about fashion.  Shoes, dresses and styles.  Where did she learn this stuff?  At one point in the evening she asked me if she was talking to much.  I laughed and said that she is a girl and she talked a normal amount for a girl.  I think she was too young to understand the implied yes to her question.  But as I also like to talk it really didn't bother me.  Silence is much much worse.

We enjoyed our dinner together and she had terrific table manners.  She was polite and she even tried some new foods.  The buffet had a variety of sushi and I encouraged her to try several bites of mine and she liked them all.  It is nice to be around a kid who likes more than chicken fingers and fries.  After dinner we headed to the mall.  She was so excited.  She took me by the hand and lead me around to her favorite stores.  The first stop was the music store where she looked at DVD's and games for her DS.  Then it was Gamestop where she tried to get me to buy her a game. I said no as the purpose of the trip was to look at clothes.  Then she took me to a (horrible) pre-teen store called Justice.  Yuck!  I just didn't like the vibe of the store.  I let her walk around and look at stuff but I knew we were not going to be buying anything in that store.  After about 30 minutes I encouraged her to check out Macy's.  She has never been in that store so she was a bit reluctant to try it out.

When we found the little girls section her eyes got large and a giant smile was plastered on her face. She was VERY pleased with their selection of items and she was in dress heaven.  We walked around and she found several items to her liking and her little arms got very full with dresses.  By the time we were done combing the girls section I think she had picked out at least 20 dresses and two bathing suits to try on.  I went in the dressing room with her and helped keep her organized.


















 She found one dress she loved!  She was so happy but there was a second pants outfit that also was a great hit.  And...I ended up buying her both.  I tried to get her to pick a different dress because it was so long but her mind couldn't be swayed.  She wanted it and I thought what the heck...it was her birthday present and it didn't have to be practical.

The next stop was Claire's.  She wanted something pretty to matcher her new dress.  She found the friendship necklace section and she was hooked.  She found one that had 3 pieces because she has two best friends.  LOL.  We spent most of the ride home discussing who was going to get which section on the necklace.

I got her home close to 10pm and she was exhausted.  It was a great evening and I know she enjoyed the entire experience much more than getting a dress to open on her actual birthday.

Sarah was up the next day and she had a much different request.  Currently, her favorite TV show is Man Vs. Food.  They did a segment in Carmel at Bub's and ever since she saw that show she has wanted to go and try it out.  I decided I would take her for a bike ride on the Monon and then we would stop by Bub's at the end.  She was so excited when I came to pick her up on Saturday that she ran out to the car to greet me. 

Her bike was ready and waiting for me to load up in the driveway. She even asked if she could ride her step-mothers bike so she could "keep up" with me.  LOL.  I parked at the trailhead on Rohar road near 146th Street and we headed North.  She was excited because she had never rode on the new section of the monon.  We made it to the end in Westfield and we turned around and headed back south.  We rode about nine miles by the time we got to Bub's and she was famished and excited to check out the restaurant.  PS...when we arrived at Bub's she told me she thought I was trying to kill her...perhaps nine miles was a bit much for her.

I walked her inside and took her photo next to the big picture of the Man Vs. Food dude.  She acted a bit embarrassed but I know she loved the attention.  We only had to wait 20ish minutes and we got a seat inside.  Woo Hoo...air conditioning.  She wanted to try the Big burger but  I coaxed her into getting the smaller burger and we shared some fries.  Yummy!  She was in heaven after her first bite. 

While we were there I bought her an offical Bub's t-shirt and I know that made her day.  We topped off our burger lunch with some scrumptious ice cream and we were FULL.  The bike ride back to the car was painful and I couldn't wait for a nap.

Just like Paige...I think Sarah really enjoyed her birthday outing and hopefully they both thought it was worth the wait.

Still Sad

Christmas 2003 - Sis and Sarah

I wrote a blog a few weeks ago about the unexpected death of Sis (remember...brothers ex-wife's mother).  The funeral was Saturday and it was sad.  The service was held in the church that Bill (her husband) was the pastor of for many years until they retired and moved to Florida.  The funeral service was nice and was what you would expect from a Methodist funeral service.  Traditional and sedate.  One of the special things about the service was that the pastor officiating the service had known Bill and Sis for 20 plus years and he was a close family friend.  I think having that connection makes the service more special.

When my mom passed away in 2004 Bill was kind enough to drive all the way to Ohio and stay overnight in a hotel to preside over my mothers services.  In her case we did it in the funeral home and not in a Church.  But it was nice that he knew my mother and he had personal things to say about her as well as knowing the right kinds of questions to ask my brother and I in the pre-funeral interview.

After the church service Bill had arranged an "after-party" at Maggiano's.  I am not sure if the right words are "after-party" but that is what it was.  Food and drink and talk about Sis.  The lunch was the best part of the day.  There was an open bar (um...I may have had several drinks) and a three course meal.  After dinner but before dessert Bill decided to stand up and talk about his late wife and encourage others to do the same.  He was very eloquent and it was nice to hear some new things about his marriage to Sis and some of the ups and downs of being married almost 55 years.  He was a great speaker and I am glad that he was able to convey his emotions to his family. When he was done talking several other family members stood up and spoke from their hearts.  It was nice to hear the little stories about Sis and why each person loved her.

My brother was the last speaker and he was very emotional.  He had a hard time getting through his speech and it was nice that he was able to find the right words to say how much Sis meant to him.   I regret that I didn't speak.  I had things to say but I was shy.  There is an old quote that you can only regret the things that you don't try.  I regret not speaking from my heart. 

When my brother sat down he said it was time for him to turn off his emotion chip.  Just like Data.  I agree.  I don't like to convey that much emotion in front of others but I always find writing the words easier.  This is what I would have said about Sis had I had the courage to stand up and talk about my feelings.

"Sis was awesome and I will miss her.  She was always very kind and caring.  I am grateful that she included me and my mother in her family gatherings and she always made us feel welcome. 

I remember traveling to Florida with Lou after he was divorced from Tricia and staying at Bill and Sis's house.  She was open and generous and most importantly, treated us as if we were still part of the family.  She gave up her bed so I would have a comfortable place to sleep and she opened her house to me.  That was a excellent Christmas trip and very relaxing. 

I remember talking to her about my career before she retired and left Indy.  She were so free with her advise and she was always willing to listen to me drone on and on about how much I was dissatisfied with my job.

However, I will always remember her as the person who taught me how to hug.  I used to be shy with the hugs and I didn't like it when people touched me.  She didn't care.  She would come up to me and say she knew I didn't want a hug but she was going to give me one anyway.  I think she knew that I secretly enjoyed them and that is why she always insisted upon giving them to me.  She knew the right way to give."

Christmas 2005 - Sarah, Sis, Paige

January 2005 - The entire family took a cruise to celebrate Christmas. 

Sad

I received some sad news Friday evening.  I found out that my brothers ex-wife's mother passed away last week.  I know that sounds like a very loose bond, but it wasn't.  My brother was married to his ex for about ten years (Ok...I cannot remember exactly;) and we spent many holidays and ordinary Sundays together.

Sis was very generous and always greeted me with a hug, even when I didn't want one.  She welcomed me into her family and she treated me as a family member.  I missed her when she moved to Florida and embraced retirement.

A few years ago Lou took the children to Florida to visit their grandparents over Christmas break and I was invited to go along.  It was a great long weekend.  They took excellent care of us and treated us like family, even thought my brother was already divorced from their daughter.

This isn't from the trip to Florida.

I always thought very fondly of both of them and when I heard the news of her death on Friday I got very upset.  I was on a weekend trip with my two nieces and I had a very hard time putting on my cheery face.  Sis was often on my mind.  I found myself remembering her and getting teary eyed over her death. 

Sis, I will miss you.

Books

I spent the weekend in Ohio with my two little nieces and nephew. They are 13, 11 and 8 and they don't like to read.  I was fascinated and disturbed by this information.  Reading is so important to me and fills many of my blank and unallocated hours.  What makes a person interested or disinterested in reading?  Parenting, environment, learning ability?  IDK.

What I found so disturbing wasn't that they didn't want to read but they were disdainful of reading and people who read.  They made several derogatory comments about my interest in reading.  For example, we were watching one of the Harry Potter movies and one of the children made a sneering comment that I must not be interested in the movie because "I read the book".  Yes, I read the books and enjoyed them but that didn't stop me from liking the movie version. 

I tried talking to the oldest child about this but I couldn't ever get a clear answer as to why she wasn't interested in reading.  I gave them books as part of their Christmas presents several years in a row and I am pretty sure that they got tossed in the corner and eventually thrown away.  What a waste.   I tried to explain my experience with books and why it was important to me but it fell upon def ears.  She just had her own ideas and she didn't want to listen.

I don't feel that anyone pushed me into reading.  My mother didn't read books for enjoyment and I think her reading comprehension was very low but I know my dad LOVED to read and he always had books lying about the house.  However, I don't remember him encouraging or discouraging me from reading.  He was just a positive example.

There was one book that I read in the fourth grade that really piqued my interest in books.  I don't remember the name of the book but it was about an overweight girl who gets stranded on an island several miles from the shore of her home and the adventure of her living on the island by herself and learning to survive.  My imagination exploded and I had many fantasies about living on that same island and catching fish with spears.  That book was pivotal point in my childhood as my book consumption exploded after that experience.

I wish I could find something like that for the children.  I want them to be enthralled with books and used as a tool to expand their imaginations.  I just don't know if that is possible without daily positive examples around them.  Plus the thought of them never enjoying books makes me sad.

Thanksgiving in Evansville

 This was my weekend! 

Perfect Food - I should mention that I made this beautiful Apple pie and it was delicious.

There was food.  Tons and tons of food.  I ate all the time.  I went to Evansville with Ems and Z to visit Ems parents for Thanksgiving weekend.  Her mom fed us all of the time.  She was always in the kitchen cooking and making breakfast or lunch or dinner or a snack.  Then she would be doing the dishes from some scrumptious meal.  I was happy.

I have never spent Thanksgiving with anyone other than immediate family.  This felt the same.  Except....better.  Everyone got along and co-existed well.  It was like we were always on the same page.  We knew when it was time to talk, when it was time to be quiet, when it was time to walk the dog and when it was time to play a game.  My family holidays were never this serene.  There was always some tension in the room or some bad feeling.  I don't remember ever having such a relaxed and stress free holiday weekend (sorry Lou).

We played Rock Band sometimes and Mexican Train Domino's sometimes and watched Football sometimes.  The weekend was all about relaxation and doing as we wished.  We went to see the newest Harry Potter movie and also went to see the special holiday light display.  There was talk about visiting the circus but what idea was quickly and quietly veto'ed.

I had a suitcase.  A L-A-R-G-E suitcase.  I like to have lots of options when I travel.  I realized something important about myself on this trip.  I don't like to decide what I am going to wear in advance.  What if I don't feel like wearing that t-shirt on Saturday.  What if I am cold or hot or want to dress up.  So I pack options.  Plus I don't like to wear clothes more than once.  If I wore a pair of pants all day Friday I don't want to wear them again on Saturday.  They are dirty!  So I had a large suitcase and it was filled.  Um....it was the size of both of my companions suitcases put together.  So I have a quirk.  Ok...this is one of many quirks but still...love me for my quirk.

Ems father has a big wooden block in his back yard for hatchet throwing, BB Gun and Crossbow shooting.  I was immediately intrigued.  The first time I visited I mentioned about four times how much I would like to throw the hatchets but no one ever really got the hint.  I made sure they understood my desire to play with these toys on this trip.  Ems dad thought I should start with the BB gun.  Whoop!!!!

 Look at me holding the gun all serous.  I was trying to aim at this tiny little target about fifteen feet away.

 He taught me how to put the safety on the gun as well as load it with a round of six pellets.  It took about two times but I understood the concept.  I aimed and fired.  And fired and fired.  Bam...I felt a pellet hit me in the stomach...then in the leg...then I heard them fall behind me into the leaves.

 I figured out that the pellets were ricocheting off the wood and back towards my body.  I decided if they were hitting me then I was hitting the target fairly square.  Do you notice the addition of safety glasses to my outfit.  Apparently someone was worried that I would "shoot my eye out".  W.  I kept shooting the rounds and I kept getting better and better.  I noticed that most of the dents in the wood were directly above the target so I made one final correction and I was on track.  I hit the paper target with with every pellet from my final round of ammo.  AWESOME!  I should mention that this was the first time that I have every shot any sort of gun or even held one.  Woot!

The second to last round of ammo got stuck in the chamber so Ems dad had to come back and get it unstuck for me.  Oops.  I think it was just a bad round and not a user error;)

When I was done with the six rounds of ammo he brought out the best toy ever.  The crossbow.  I have never held anything like it before.  It was awesome.  The rear sight was broke off the bow but I still had great aim.  I guess I have natural long distance eyesight because I got most of my arrows in the target and not just in the wood.  I really enjoyed this activity.  It felt good to learn something new.  I should mention that Ems dad wouldn't let me load the crossbow.  Apparently, he was afraid that I would somehow shoot a bow in my hand and require a trip to the hospital.  I was just happy that he was patient and stood there while I played with his toy.

Look at that!  This was on my third round of arrows.  It is so close to the blue triangle.  So close.  Perhaps next time I will make it in the center.

After being around my two good friends four days in a row if felt lonely when I came home.  My house was so empty and there was no one to talk to.  That feeling cements the fact that it was a super awesome weekend with super awesome people.  I love having friends that understand me and I understand them and we can all get along so well.  I couldn't think of a better way to spend four days.  Ok...one little thing was missing.  But she will come out again in the spring.

I am NOT a Plumber

Last week the inside portion of my toilet handle snapped.  It was a clean break but this meant that I couldn’t flush the toilet using the handle. I had open up the back lid and stick my hand inside to lift the flapper.  Sigh!  Sigh!  I hate fixing things.  But, I hate broken things much more.

The first thing I decided to do was call brother L and ask him to come over and fix it for me.  The following is a paraphrased version of our conversation.

C:  My toilet is broke.  Can you come and fix it?

BL:  Explain how it is broken.

C:  Explanation

BL:  Um…no you can fix that yourself.

C:  But I don’t want to. (whiny voice)

BL:  Seriously, it is a two minute fix.  It would take me longer to drive to your house than it would take me to complete the repair.

C:  But, I don’t know how.

BL:  It is simple and I know you can do it.

C:  But, I don’t want to! (more whiny voice)

BL:  Too bad…do it yourself.

Sigh!  Sigh!  Sigh!  I guess this meant I needed to fix the toilet myself.  The next day I took myself to Lowe’s after work and I soon became overwhelmed at the amount of repair items in the plumbing aisle.  I got the attention of an employee and he helped me pick out the right thing.  The new piece seemed pretty simple and theoretically easy to install.  Theoretically is the key word of that sentence.  I removed the broken piece  easily and then I began to try and fit the metal piece through the hole.  Good .  Then I tried to fit the plastic bracket in the hole in the toilet.  Guess what??  It didn't exactly fit.  I tried pushing it in.  I encountered some resistance so I push a bit harder.  Snap!  This is the sound the new piece made as I broke it. 

Fu*k   Fu*k    Fu*k

I guess it didn’t fit into the hole.  After a closer inspection I realized that the mounting piece was a touch too large to fit in the hole.  OK so day 1 of this repair was a FAIL.  But I didn't feel too bad as I discovered I had a much better understand of the inner workings of my toilet.

The next day I went back to Lowe’s and I explained my problem to the worker and he gave me a slightly different piece that might work with my brand of toiled.  As I drove home and I had hopeful thoughts that the repair was going to be a snap.  Negative Houston! 

This time the piece did fit in the hole great but the plastic piece that lifts the flapper was too long or it was shaped wrong because it was too close to the front portion of the tank.  I looked at the piece and I saw notations on it that said you could cut it to fit.  I took it to the kitchen and grabbed a steak knife and I started to saw at the plastic.  In hindsight this doesn’t seem like a good plan.  I could not saw through the plastic but I did end up bending it back and forth and finally snapping the end off.

I took the shorter piece back to the bathroom and I discovered that it was still too long.  A little more work with the knife and some bending and viola the piece was now about 1.5 inches long.  Yea...1.5 inches.  But at least it fit in the toilet without rubbing the edge.  Score.  Now I tried to attached the plastic flapper piece to the new arm.  Problem Houston because the hole is too small.  The hole is small and rectangular and the flapper is larger and a triangle.  I tried all kinds of things to get it to fit.  Pushing it.   I tried attaching some dental floss to use as a mini rope to pull it through the hole.  That did NOT work.  I tried using my tweezers to pull it through the hole but I couldn’t reach it.  It just didn’t fit.  Damn Damn Damn.  You know rectangles and triangles do not fit together.

I believe I threw some sort of fit in the bathroom when I couldn't get it to work.  Luckily no one was there to witness the long stream of curse works that left my mouth or the vast amount of foot stamping.  After I had calmed down a bit I decided to remove this old toiled bowl cleaner thing that was installed in the back of the tank.  A long long time ago it contained cleaner but it had long since run its course.  Done.  It was removed and I felt like I could do that one little thing.  

I went to bed angry with not solution in sight.  The next morning I got up, used the bathroom and got ready to get in the shower.  Don't imagine it too much but this did involve removing my clothes.  I lifted the back of the tank to manually lift the flapper and I had a rude awakening.  Splat!  This was the sound the very COLD water made as it hit me in the chest.  I didn't know what to do with the little tubes that fill the tank and they were just flopping about wildly in the tank.  So not only did I have to manually flush the toilet I also had to duck from the water fountain that came out the toilet tank.

I guess I made the bad situation worse.  Now, I didn't even want to use the bathroom as it was way too much trouble.  This plan involved me drinking less water and pop when I was at home.

As I was driving to work I decided that the situation warranted a second call to brother L.  This time my whining and ignorance worked and he agreed to come over and fix it for me.  However, it took some coaxing and begging.  A few days later I procured a third handle and a complete toilet repair kit.  I wanted to be prepared for any problem when L came by.  He installed the new handle in 5 minutes, shoved the water feeding tubes in their hole and lowered the tank water level.  The funniest part was L was wearing a blue and white stripe shirt that looked like a repairman work shirt.  All it needed was a patch for his name.  It cracked me up.

The reason I couldn't get the second lever to work was because I should have bent it out and not cut it off into a tiny stump.  So I believe in the future I could install a new handle.  Woo Hoo....but I am not guaranteeing that I could fix anything else inside there.  It is complicated!

Home Time with Lou and Candace

I used to love to watch the home improvement show Home Time a long long long time ago.  I remember recording (VHS not DVR) the shows and anticipating watching them when I would come home from work.  I wanted my daily dose of  Dean and that that seasons co-hostess (Ok...I just cannot remember her name).  I would watch these shows and imagine what it would be like to live my own house and be able to repair household items.  I remember watching them install a toilet one time and thinking to myself, I could do that.

Today Lou and I reenacted an old time version of this show and we added a bit of the three stooges for comic relief.  Hmmm....I also don't remember so much profanity when it was showed on PBS, perhaps that was included on the Lifetime version?

Tuesday evening I was in the kitchen and the roommate remarked that the hot water heater seemed to be making an unusual amount of noise.  I listened and said that it sounded OK to me.  Honestly, I wasn't interested in that topic as I was on a short break from Oblivion and I didn't want to be disturbed.  About an hour later I came out of my video game haze and I realized that I could hear the hot water heater in my bedroom.  Crap!  I could no longer ignore the problem.

I wandered into the utility room to investigate and I gave a long sigh.  I called my handy brother to get his opinion.  I held the phone up to the heater so he could hear the popping sound.  He advised me to turn the electricity off.  I looked around and I saw no off switch and I got confused. I asked Lou where they would locate the off switch and with a bit of forced patience in his voice he replied that I needed to shut it off on the breaker.  Ohhhhhhhh.  Wow, it may have taken me a while to come to that conclusion.  After a brief discussion I told him I would call the repair number in the morning.  The company that installed the heater  placed a sticker on the front so I could call them for repairs.  Good marketing strategy. 

Wednesday morning came and I tentatively looked at my bathroom.  I was really hoping to have a hot shower and surprisingly I wasn't disappointed.  That thing must have some serious insulation because there was enough hot water for me to take a full shower.  After I was dressed I started on the dreaded task of calling the repair man.  I always hate making those types of calls.  I took a deep calming breath and I dived right in.  I spoke to the man and explained to him the situation.  He diagnosed the problem as being a calcium build up on the elements and that he could fix this for me for $250.  If I wanted to replace the two thermostats the total cost would be $300.  Uggg....really.  I didn't want to spend the money, but the need for hot showers outweighed my desire to spend my money on new electronics.  I told the guy I would think about it and let him know.

I called Lou and gave him the news and then he said the best thing ever.  He had to do this same repair on his water heater several months ago so he thought he could fix it for me.  Woo HOOOOOO!!!!  Go Lou!!!!  I did some research on getting the parts necessary and I arranged to have Thursday off of work.  When I told one of my bosses about the home repair and that I was going to do it with my brother I got quite an incredulous look.  The expression told me, "Hire a repairman...Dumb-ass!"  I refrained from giving him the finger as I still need to be employed there.

I woke up very happy on Thursday morning and excited to work on this new project.  I still had enough hot water for a quick almost hot shower.  Woo Hoo!!!!  Then I got to work hooking up the hose so I could drain the tank.  The first problem I encountered was my inability to turn off the water.  Seriously...I had no idea how to turn off the water to the tank or the house.  I patiently waited for Lou to arrive so he could show me.  I have to say this started the morning off a bit rocky as he really wanted me to have the tank drained before he arrived.  I believe he said that I should get up at 5:00 am to start the project.  I said OK to placate him, but I had ZERO intention of fulfilling that crazy promise.

It took him about 30 seconds to turn off the water to the tank (that is now in the memory banks) and to start the draining process.  While he was attending to that task I cooked myself a delicious breakfast of hash-browns, scrambled eggs and toast.  This is an unheard of luxury for a weekday morning.  We talked for a bit while I ate my breakfast and I listened to Lou bitch about having to wait for the tank to drain. 

The next task was to get the necessary parts.  I had contacted a company on Wednesday that works with my type of water heater and they said they have the parts in stock.  I looked up their address and they were located at 30th and Post.  Lou was a bit disgruntled about the long drive to get the parts and he wanted to try and find a place closer.  He called the dealer where he got his parts in Carmel and they said that they didn't sell the parts to my brand of water heater.  Lou wanted to keep checking but I got impatient and insisted that we just go to Central Supply.

We went to the car and started to drive away when I noticed that the water was no longer draining from the hose in the street.  We parked the car and went to investigate.  Guess what???  The tank had completed draining.  It only took an hour so there was no need for me to get up at 5am!  We decided to take the parts out of the tank so we could take them with us to the store.  The process was quick.  There was just a couple of screws and copper wires and viola we had access to the tank.  (Yes...the electricity was turned off.)   Lou tried to remove the top element and as he was pulling it out we were accosted with an offensive smell.  It was emanating from the heating element and the two inches of calcium that had built up.  It looked and smelled disgusting.  It also made the removal of the element difficult.  After some careful tugging he was able to completely free it from the hole.  We had the same problem with the bottom element but we eventually released it from the heater housing.

It was amazing that I was getting any hot water considering how much calcium build up there was.  Is calcium a good conductor of  heat?  IDK?  We piled back into the car for our trip to the store.  We arrived there about 30 minutes later and had an interesting conversation with the employee.  They didn't have that part in stock but they could sell us an upgraded item for $30 each.  The regular item would have been $10 each.  OMG....what a rip off.  As I was standing there deciding what to do, the employee mentioned that this common universal part could be found at any Lowe's or Home Depot.  My eyes got giant and we decided to head out to the Lowe's that was about a mile away.  I knew we could always head back if we couldn't find the right part.  When Lou and I got back into the car I looked at him and said. "Not at Word!".  He of course ignored me and couldn't let my mistake go.  He enjoyed teasing me for the next 20 minutes.  We easily found the proper parts at Lowe's for $20 each.  I also came out with 4 new light bulbs for my kitchen light fixture and they were $4.50 each (ouch), lawn mower oil for the yearly change and line for the weed trimmer.  All necessary items that I hate buying.

We arrived home 30 minutes later and the hot water heater had it's new elements installed and it was put back together in 15 minutes.  This was truly a simple job.  I was antsy to turn the electricity back on to verify that the heater no longer made dying noises and I am happy to report it is still back it's quiet self.  I took Lou to lunch and when we came back an hour later the water was already hot.  Hallelujah!

Way to go handy Lou and assistant Candy.  I am sure this project would have made a hysterical episode of Home Time.  Perhaps to be viewed on cable as the language was a bit inappropriate for anything else;)  The cost of the project was $45 for parts and $27 for lunch.  This was so much better than the estimated $250.  I am glad that I have such an helpful and knowledgeable brother.

Irresponsibility

Usually, I am a responsible girl. If you ask me to bring something, I always remember it. If you ask me to meet you somewhere, I am usually on time and at the right spot. If you ask me to pick you up at the airport I am always there on time. That is not the case today. Some form of haze enveloped me, and I was WAAAYYY late for Lou's airport pick-up today.


We spoke on the phone this morning to confirm the pick-up time. He told me that his plane was to arrive at 2:45pm. I told him I would plan to arrive at 3:00 to give him time to get his luggage and two girls outside. After the phone call I wandered back into my room to watch TV and then a movie (Funny People...way too depressing). As I was watching the movie I tried to do the time math in my head. I need 45 minuets to drive to the airport...so I need to leave my house by 2:15. I need 45 minutes to shower and dress, so I needed to start at 1:30. I had the time line down.

I got in the shower sort-of on time...around 1:40 but I knew I could make up the 10 minutes. When I was done in the shower, I unpaused the movie and continued my dressing routine. The next instance I was aware of the time it was 2:15 and I was sitting on the couch half dressed relaxing. Somehow the time didn't stress me out and I had completely forgotten the aforementioned timeline. I didn't move until the movie ended at 2:30. I only got up then to get my book because I thought I had plenty of time. I sat and read until 2:40 when I thought I should probably finish getting dressed and get ready to leave.

I donned my shirt and shoes, and then decided to sync my IPOD because I wanted to listen to the new Bob Marley album I downloaded today. When that was done so I headed outside to the car and and to get the mail. Wow...Joanne got the package she was expecting from Amazon...so I decided to text her and let her know it was on the kitchen table. I was finally sitting in the car at 2:46 when I get a text from Lou that said, "We just landed".

Fuck! I finally dropped out of my time haze. I could not believe that he just landed and I was still sitting at my house 45 minutes away. Of course, I needed to spend another minute in my driveway to set up the IPOD and I then raced off to the airport. As I was speeding I tried to think of some good lies about being late. There was the idea of Bad Traffic or Mickey running out of the house and I needed to catch him.

I still didn't have a good story planned when my phone began to ring at 3:05. I was lucky as it was only Sarah, and it was easy to blow her off and tell her I was still driving. There was no need for her to know that I was still near Castleton when I told her I would be there in about 15 minutes. I knew that was a stretch but it bought me some time. The second time my phone rang at 3:20 I wasn't so lucky. It was Lou and I could no longer avoid the situation.

I told him I was still driving but that wasn't a good enough answer. I then had tell him that I was near downtown. Ok...I wasn't exactly downtown yet...but I could see it from my position on I70. I decided to tell him the truth and fess up. I explained about my time haze and after his initial anger he began to laugh with me or...at me.

I finally arrived at the airport at 3:35. A full 35 minutes late. I am glad that they handled it so well. I know if it was reversed I would have been angry for a longer period of time. I also need to build good will as I require transportation to the airport several times each year.

I am VERY Sorry Lou! Please accept my apology. I promise the next time I will really try to be on time;)

An Evening of Children

I invited Sarah and Paige (my nieces) over to my house for a sleepover on Saturday night. They are 9 and 6 respectively. I made these plans a couple of weeks ago because I haven't been spending very much time with them in the last few months, and I thought it would be nice to reconnect. It is often interesting to me the wisdom that comes from the children. Here are a few funny things that occurred during their visit.

Late Afternoon:

I picked the girls up at 4:30 and I was very fatigued from my 20 mile bike ride. I explained this to them and said I needed to have some rest time when we got to my house. I sat on my bed and turned on the latest episode of Project Runway. The children were surprisingly entertained by this show. They stayed fairly quiet and let me doze for that hour. I was very appreciative that they were so easily entertained.


Dinner:

I was going to make the girls some homemade chicken fingers with shake n bake for dinner but I was pretty fatigued. They just kept asking for a grilled cheese so I gave in out of convenience. I made them grilled cheese, canned soup and some gummy bears and they were ecstatic. It is so easy to please children. They were so happy to help stir the soup and set the table. They just enjoyed Aunt Candy's undivided attention.



When we sat down to dinner Paige asked me if we were going to pray. I said no. She then proceeded to bow her head and have a silent prayer. Seriously..she is only six. I was cracking up. We then had the following conversation:



Paige: Do you ever pray?

Aunt Candy: No

Paige: Not even when you were a kid?

Aunt Candy: I guess I did but not anymore.

Paige: Are you going to hell?

Aunt Candy: No...I don't believe in Hell.

Paige: What about Heaven?

Aunt Candy: I don't believe in Heaven either.

Paige: I guess you will just be in the ground with the worms crawling in and out of you.

Aunt Candy: You you are correct. The worms will get me.

After this conversation Paige got out of her chair and walked up behind me. She removed my hair band, gave me and once over and pronounced that I was Beautiful with my hair down. How can she already be so charming as six. Seriously, where does she get this from. I asked her for the band back and she didn't want to give it back. She looked at me, cocked her head and said I was much prettier with my hair down. Charming...Charming...Charming.

Early Evening:

The children brought over a DVD game called Disney's Scene It. It is a trivia game related to Disney movies. We enjoyed playing this for about an hour. Of course, the little tykes kicked my ass. They are much more versed in all things Disney than I. The end result was it was a very nice hour spent together.

Evening:

After our game I promised the children that I would make them fruit smoothies. This is a treat that they only get at Aunt Candy's house and they love it. They act as if it is the best thing they have ever eaten. I prepared it with frozen berries, two fresh bananas and milk. It was a delightful evening snack. We drank our faux milkshakes while we watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was a very good evening.

I am so glad that I invited them over and I would like to be more diligent about doing this in the future. I will have to plan another weekend sleepover in December.