Seatbacks and Traytables

My vacation with Kim and her family was wonderful. I was afraid that it would be too long or we'd try to do too much. I'm going to try to write about the best parts, if only so we can look back a year from now and remember what it was like.

The Goveas arrival in Raleigh was a long time in coming. They were supposed to come LAST May, but a new job postponed everything. So, with the kids a year older we embarked on a grand tour of NC and DC. When the day finally came for them to get on the plane and get here already, there was an electrical storm at their stopping point in New York City. If only they're known their layover and delay were going to give them about 7 hours in NYC they could have taken a taxi ride to Times Square.

We spent the first day in Raleigh slowly -- everyone was tired after their 3 am arrival. Add that to a 3 hour time difference and it was a slow morning. We bravely went roller skating. I think Kaitlyn took to it right away, but of course she's the closest to the ground so falling can't have hurt her much. Christian tried for about 5 minutes and was d-o-n-e done. I figure skated for 5 years so roller blades, while different, weren't totally scary for me. Kim did really well too. Ed however, was a story unto himself.

At some point Kaitlyn fell in front of Ed. Ed fell over trying to save his daughter's life. That's his story and he stuck to it all week. In the process he badly sprained his ankle, requiring a trip to the Rex emergency room the next day to get a cast.

Once Ed was casted (?) and fitted with crutches, it was on to our next activity. I wanted them to spend a little time with my mom and Wayne, so they could see the kids for the first time in several years. We decided to go bowling. The kids had a great time and we all got to play for a while. Unfortunately, due to some faulty bowling shoes, Wayne took a tumble and cracked a rib. Apparently, it's dangerous to enjoy any family activities with this group!

Later we went to see The Bridge to Terebithia at Raleighwood. If you've never been to Raleighwood, it's an interesting experience. An old theater fitted with restaurant tables and they feed you dinner while you watch a movies. The Bridge to Terebithia was one of my favorite books when I was Christian's age. Watching the movie, I didn't remember a single part of it except for the creek and the places the kids played, because it was just how I imagined it and it looked just like where I grew up. I even had a bridge across a creek. This movie will figure in later in the trip...

I'm Just a Bill

This blogger is on vacation until the end of the week -- touring DC with friends from CA. They've been here since last Tuesday and we're in DC until Wednesday. Headed to the Capitol today.

Yes it's a long, long journey to the capitol city....

In the Waiting Line

I just had to see if this works...


Create yours at BlingyBlob.com!

Mary Had a Little Lamb

My NC friends know that this is a wonderful area to live in. If I ever have children of my own I want them to be raised in an area like this. If you live here you know the pros and cons (weather, friendliness, proximity to mountains, beaches, sports, theater, blah, blah, blah). Where else can you have 80 degrees of steam and then snow in the very same week? If you don't live here you won't be swayed by a few glowing remarks. You just have to experience this place to understand.

My CA friends think I live in some God-forsaken area where I may be the only person who knows how to read, conjugate a verb correctly or count to 100. I think when Kim and her family arrive next month they will be happily surprised to learn that I have indoor plumbing...and shocked to learn I have more bathrooms in my house than they do in theirs.

So, last week my coworker and I are playing the "this headline says it all game" (some headlines on CNN and MSNBC just don't need to be read further) when one pops up on CNN that said something like "Man Arrested with 80 Sheep in House." We laughed at it and went on with our day. Later I learn he lives in Apex (a suburb of Raleigh). No wonder my friends think I'm nuts.

It Ends Tonight

It's a sad day for Canes fans.  I don't know which is worse: having your team sink to the depths in the standings with half a season left to go, or fighting until the 80th game and losing with two games left.  I think I'd rather hang around to the bitter end.  The hardest part, is that today the whole hockey world is using the "f" word* to describe our skaters.  It's simply not true.

Believe we when I say that I know that hockey is not the most important thing in the world.  It's just that the real world is quite scary at times and it's nice to have such an escape from it.  Some days there doesn't seem like anything to look forward to, and then I realize that 7pm isn't far away and another roller coaster ride is about to begin.  I especially love the nights when I get to be in the arena, driving down Creedmoor with my goofy car flags, watching at the parade of red lights racing down the hill...or better yet the ride home with those same cars and flags, after a big win when everyone honks and waves at each other at stoplights.  I'm going to miss it.

Rest well -- we'll see you in October.  It just seems so far away. 

 

*fluke

Martha My Dear

I share my birthday with Martha Stewart and Martin Sheen.  I can't suddenly decide I want to pretend to be the president, so I decided I wanted to learn to cook.  This isn't a new thing, I've been trying new things for a couple of years now.  This weekend I made my mother's meatloaf and a spinach, bacon and Swiss cheese quiche.  Not bad if I do say so myself -- there may be hope for me yet.

Next Contestant

Online dating, or really, online looking and deleting, sucks. I think married people see those happy little commercials on tv and think "everything is so easy now" and they tell their single friends to go try to meet someone online. Then these sad, single people log in for a happy ever after and well....they have no freaking idea. It is not like buying a new cd or a book on Amazon. Wouldn't that be fun -- I'd like a tall, dark and witty man with limited mommy issues and a good job. If junior high wasn't bad enough -- I've been deleted by cowboys who are only five feet tall, a guy who wears his Star Wars costume as a hobby and someone who listed the five things he can't live without as "sex, beer, pizza, sex, and sex." Puh-leeze. As if.

Dance, Dance

Nine teams are out so far -- who will still be dancing next weekend?

We are running our girls only pool at work again this year. I don't know why the boys won't play with us. Probably because we don't really have any. Poor Sam -- we always leave him out.

My boys are skating tonight, the kids are pounding the hardwoods, I lived through another spinning class and I had wonderful Chinese food for dinner. I definitely like Thursday better than Wednesday.

Something's Always Wrong

The last few weeks have been difficult and I feel like having a good old fashioned pity party. I do know how fortunate I am and shortly I will regain my equilibrium. Tonight, I am simply bummed out. I can't even put my finger on the reason I have the blues...

I think it may be winter doldrums, even though I love winter more than any other time of year. Well, autumn pretty much rocks too.

It could be the routine I've gotten into where nothing ever changes; which isn't even accurate because everything around me is in flux.

I've been lonely lately. My friend Linda lives here now and I've actually been getting out more, which seems to make the rest of the time somehow emptier.

It could be my performance review at work coming this week, where I will probably hear the same thing as last year, even though I really have tried to fix the thing about me that seems to bother everyone so.

Possibly it's my worry about my friend, who is now past the very scary part but needs to be watched (and I am very grateful for that) but it has worn on me and made me homesick.

The hockey season is almost over. It will be a long summer.

I'm irked by the fact that I have gone to my new gym four (four!) times a week for six weeks now and I've lost only half a pound. I've walked 25 miles. I've ridden a fake bike for 50 more. I can leg press my own body weight (I'm not telling how much that is). I've taken a cycling class that while fun and difficult, resulted in me not being able to sit down for two days. It's ok to laugh at the last one.

My last gripe: it's Wednesday

Tomorrow will be better.

Route 66

This is fun -- but don't do it when you are watching 24 -- the ticking clock makes it harder. When you do to this site, the clock starts. You have 10 minutes to type in the names of all 50 states (spelling counts!). My first try I got 46. The second try I only got 43.

http://www.ironicsans.com/state22.html

Singing the song helps.

Hold My Hand

Music from the golden days in your life will always be just that: golden. It can keep you company on a long Saturday in the office. Sometimes it's best played loudly with the car windows open. Some cd's are just so comfortable, you know every beat and chord change and word.

Hootie and the Blowfish eventually turned into a bit of a joke (well, Hootie and his Burger King commercials anyway). I loved Darius Rucker and my roommate loved the naked drummer. Hold My Hand and Let Her Cry were big in the fall of 1994 when I went away to school and they were on the video monitors in the slop house everyday. That was one of the best years of my life and that music was the soundtrack.

This is one of those times when I need to turn my back on everything new and go back home. I have a friend in trouble right now. She's got a scary medical thing going on and I'm very far away. If I was back home (well, three homes ago), I'd be able to take her kids out while she was at the doctor or take her to a movie to get her mind off things. We'd go to dinner and talk about what the doctors said and I'd tell her to stop looking things up on the internet because it only makes it more scary. I'd be able to do something. Anything. I'd be able to hold her hand and tell her it's going to be ok.

I did not grow up with siblings. I have some step-people, but they have each other and don't need me. This girl is the closest thing I'll ever have to a real sister. She's seen me when I was skinny, not-so-skinny, a brat, a saint...we've fought, we've consoled each other's broken hearts. She makes me laugh, she makes me crazy, she made me a Godmother. When my heart was broken and I wanted to hide and never come out into the light, she dragged me to the movies every weekend for eight months. She didn't laugh when I was 17 and wanted to marry a guy whose lifetime aspiration was to become a plumber's assistant. She let me go out into the world and find my own place, but has always let me know that she'd be there if I ever wanted to go back. I've taken her to see parts of the country she may never have seen; she's shown me a life I hope to have on my own someday. She met a great guy and they've brought two beautiful children into this world. I only get to see her a couple of times a year but she is a part of me every day. I love her and can't imagine my life without her. I don't know what is going to happen over the next few weeks, but from across a continent I am going to hold her hand as tightly as I can.

Not Ready to Make Nice

I've been sitting on this title for a while. It's an amazing song by the Dixie Chicks, who have been much-maligned (by the country music establishment) but are also much-admired (by me). Tonight, they have been honored for the music that was born of their "incident" in London on the eve of the current war. They have lost their home on country radio and they don't really fit in to any other pre-programmed genres so you have to make an effort (read: spend money) to hear their music. I am so happy for them to be recognized.

I am not the kind of person who voices my opinions about politics or the state of the world unless pressed. I believe everyone has an opinion and I know they are not all the same as mine. I don't appreciate it when other people try to force their opinions on me and I avoid discussions about this sort of stuff, except in large generalizations. Even writing this post seems like a leap for me -- and I know the average blog is read by 2 people.

Those three women had the guts, in a very dangerous time, to speak their beliefs and when challenged they didn't back down. They may not have been particularly eloquent and could have picked a better venue, but really, those are details that should not overshadow the message. At the heart of it all, they spoke for another America, one that lost it's voice in the face of a war. I still can't figure out why more people didn't see that the freedom for Natalie Maines to voice her opinion was the very thing we were (at that time anyway) talking about fighting for. They had their lives threatened, their careers trashed. Three years later, most people I know agree with them.

There is an auto body shop I pass each day on my way home. I always try to read their marquee as the owner is surely a Canes fan and the sign always says something cute about the team. For most of the summer it read Congratulations Stanley Cup Champions then it went on to count down the days to opening day and later notes about upcoming games (Get Even With the Caps Sat Night, or, Blow Leafs Blow). Now it simply reads Bring Our Troops Home. I wonder what it said three years ago?

All That I'm Living For

This week is all about getting to Thursday. It's been a very difficult couple of weeks. (Do I really keep saying that, or does it just feel that way?) At work I am in charge of just about anything with an on/off switch. In the past 20 days or so, every single thing in my building has rebelled. If it's not the phones, it's the internet, the reservation system, or some other mission critical piece of software. Last night I was there until 9 pm with our phone guy. Most of the time I don't mind, but sometimes it is just so hard.

On Thursday I will be flying far, far away. Mostly I'm going to St Louis to visit my grandparents, but Friday will be even more. Friday is like my birthday and Christmas -- I'll be going into the city to see world champion skating under the lights. It's really become a holiday for me. I'm a big geek when it comes to figure skating -- I can admit it! This is my 12th year going to see this particular tour. I just love it!

There should also be snow in St Louis. What is funny is that it might snow here in Raleigh on Thursday too. A couple of weeks ago we got a little bit here. It's the first time we've had any since I moved to my townhouse. I've added a picture below -- please ignore the scary grass in my yard. I already have big plans for the weekend after I come home.


I'll be home just in time for the "big game" on Sunday. Then Monday it's back to the building -- I hope it behaves while I am away.



**Programming note -- Kings@Canes Feb 13 -- I'll be there.**

Kokomo (Indiana)

First, I have to apologize, yet again, for not posting anything here in a long time. What is funny about that is that I have started thinking in topics. I will roll an idea around in my head about something that doesn't sound too lame to write about. It has never happened when I could actually pound anything out. Figures! Anyway, work has been...hectic lately. We've had some staff changes and with that comes extra work in training and covering other functions, that eventually gets better. I'm still waiting for the "getting better" part but hope it'll happen soon. At the end of each day all I want to do is curl up on my couch and watch the Canes win a hockey game. Not much luck there lately either.

Second, a disclaimer. My people are from Indiana. Not all of them, but everyone on my mother's side of the family started out there in Greentown and Kokomo. We have records going back 200 years -- and then everyone picked up and moved somewhere else. Must have been those new-fangled contraptions, your know, cars and airplanes, that got my people wandering the globe. In any case, it has given me a predisposition to John Mellencamp songs and college basketball.

OK, the basketball is a stretch until March Madness starts, then I'm all over it.

I have lots of friends who are from New England and to them I can only say, I'm sorry but you've had 3 turns in the last 5 years.

So, in a couple of weeks we will have the great Battle of the Midwest, held, appropriately, in Miami.

Go Colts!

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

New Year's Eve has never been my favorite holiday.  It just has too much responsibility.  When you are young, there is this big built up expectation to go out and get crazy.  More often than not, that didn't really work out.  Don't get me wrong -- I have had some great ones -- but I also had many that involved arguments and misunderstandings and tears.  Not the best way to wipe the slate clean and start over.

 

Then there's the whole kissing thing.  If you have someone to kiss at midnight it can be a sweet, romantic moment.  If you don't, it can be heartbreakingly lonely.  You can be surrounded by people you love (or maybe just people you really like) and if there isn't one there just for you...well, sometimes it requires a "buck up camper" moment or two.

 

This year, as I have in several years past, I'll be heading out to the RBC Center to watch a hockey game.  I love this developing tradition (this is my 4th year) because even though it's just another game, the atmosphere is more potent and you are "doing something" on New Year's. 

 

Being the nostalgic person that I am, there will be thoughts of nights spent at the Golden Horseshoe (is it still open?) or in an apartment high over Central Park.  A night in Kelly Henderson's living room and a hotel room watching the sun rise in Virginia Beach.  I welcomed in the new millennium with 18 thousand others...and James Taylor.

 

Lots of memories made and many more in the new year.  I hope wherever you are or whatever you are doing tonight that you are going to have a good time.  And I hope you have someone to kiss at midnight.

Boogie Shoes

So, I know at least 3 other people who are loving Studio 60 on NBC.  I am definitely one of them, but I had to get past an initial uneasiness about a plot that is so similar to that of my beloved Sports Night.  I thought maybe Aaron Sorkin was suddenly on the hook for the next big thing and simply recycled his last, best idea before The West Wing.  After a few weeks I decided to get over it.  However, linking the similarities of those two shows and all the connections to another media darling, Desperate Housewives, could turn into a fun parlor game.

 

* The first guest on the first minute of Studio 60 was Felicity Huffman.

 

* Two of the housewives (albeit one of them is dead) are former enemies on Sports Night -- Dana and Sally moved to Wisteria Lane and became friends.

 

* Jeremy is, was, and will always be Jeremy.  I still don't remember his character's name on The West Wing.  It's just Jeremy.

 

* On Sports Night, Dana goes a little nuts whenever they play the KC & the Sunshine Band hit -- a few years later Lynette did the same trying to ditch her needy boss.

 

* Why do all three of Aaron Sorkin's shows have a prominent character named Danny?  (ok, he was Dan on Sports Night)

 

* The production company for Studio 60 is Shoe Money.  Either you know this one or I've lost you entirely. 

 

[If you go on Wikipedia and look up Sports Night there is an extensive list of these things with The West Wing.]

Girl Can't Help It

Zoey seems to be taking my "job" as neighborhood watch block captain quite seriously. I moved the guest bed last weekend and this has become her permanent post. I'm sure she'll let me know if she sees anything unusual out there.

Things Have Changed

[This was originally submitted on Election Night, but I guess the blogosphere was too busy for me.]

In 1992 I was a sophomore in college and I was studying psychology.  I thought I might like to someday work as a therapist.  That semester I took abnormal psychology and it horrified me.  I was convinced that I had every condition that we studied -- paranoia, split personalities, depression -- and apparently everyone else in the class felt the same way.  I decided that a life listening to other people's problems might not be the best road for me.  But what else was there?  It just so happened that semester I was fulfilling my political science requirement, taking a class with 300 other people at CSUF.  The professor's name was Michael Brown.  I had taken a required class in high school, but that teacher was a man counting days until retirement, who spent class time out walking the halls collecting soda cans for recycling, while we researched that day's three questions in our textbooks.  Not the best introduction!  Anyway, Professor Brown took this subject that I was not at all interested in and made it about me.  It was about the city council and the school board and health care and a broken street light.  It was about AIDS policies and free speech and the right to vote and (inside joke) the freedom of assembly.  It was the fall of 1992 and the Democrats took the White House, helped by my first ever vote.

 

I'm not sure what career path I thought I was putting myself on.  (It certainly wasn't a clear path to becoming the IT Manager.)  At times I thought I'd go to law school or be a congressional staffer or run a non-profit or work in opinion polling.  None of those things worked out for me, but I learned some amazing things along the way.  Dr Madison taught me about the three kinds of leaders there are in the world and that even though Burundi is just a dot on the map, it's sovereignty isn't any less valuable than that of the United States.  Dr McNamara showed me how important the "third world" was and how much impact it could someday have on the world.  He also nurtured my senior thesis on a topic that seemed so clear cut to me and yet is on the ballot in several states today, ten years later.  Dr Nelson let me take my love for the words of Dr King and somehow incorporate them into papers for a women's politics class.  Dr Merrifield taught me everything else.  I think I had him for six or seven classes by the time I was done and he was my favorite.

 

Once upon a time in this country, it was safe to trust the government.  That was the world my grandfather grew up in and he still has that faith, no matter how different the world is today.  I was born the year after the Watergate break-in; my government has never been trustworthy.  I hope, if anything, my education has given me a broader view of the political system and how it works.   I know that there are people of great faith who think their way is the only way; their way does not include everyone and I can't believe that is what any God would want.  There are people who are consumed with protection -- their wealth, oil, borders and others who have different goals -- health care, freedom from war.  I understand the party that thinks people should be self starters and that people should pull themselves up by their boot straps.  I identify stronger with the party who worries about those with no shoes.

 

I'm not saying any side is right or wrong -- it's all a measure of priorities and degrees.  It is what makes this a great nation and today a great day.  My personal hope is that significant change is in the air.  We won't really know tonight.  The kind of change I want to see -- for this government to be worth of my grandfather's trust, would take decades.  I hope I'm around to see it.

I Hate Mondays

OK, just the ones when I'm home sick and I've already been sick for 2 days and I'm bored out of my mind. It's barely after 10 and I've already called work twice. Argh!

I just found this little quiz that lets you determine what kind of accent you have. Apparently mine is from the West Coast -- go figure. I've lived here long enough to pick up some regional phrases but for the most part, the differences still stand out. I like them.

Happy birthday Zoey Belle!

Lucky Ball and Chain

My friend Warren is getting married today.  I know he reads this once in a while so I don't want to say anything too goofy, but I'm really very happy for him.  It is supposed to be on a boat in CA and some of my old friends will be there, who I have not seen in eight and a half years.  I can't believe so much time has passed.  Isn't it funny how people can be like your family and then one day they aren't anymore?  I've encountered that more than once in my life and it always surprises me.  Maybe that's why it is so much harder to meet people as you get older? 

 

I spent today at a football game.  Duke lost in spectacular fashion to Navy.  Maybe it's because it was so, so cold.  I woke up sick this morning -- just a bad cold I think, but I cancelled everything I had planned after the football game.  I'm home now, curled up on my couch, waiting for a hockey game to start and hoping I'll be able to stay awake for the whole thing.  Not looking so good right about now.

 

So, before I lose the rest of today to a cold-infused haze, I wanted to wish Warren and his bride the very best.