You'll · Be · a · Song · I'll · Sing

Last Saturday I did this. Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day by going to church and having lunch with my in-laws. Later that night my parents came over since my dad was to have surgery at a nearby hospital on Monday morning. My in-laws came over to see my parents and all six of us had dinner at Northstar.

On Monday morning Sammy went berserk when my mom woke up early. Unbeknownst to us, she'd fallen out of the guest bed, scraped her hand, banged up her knee and nearly broke her nose. She said it was the most comfortable bed she'd slept in for years. I was so exhausted from so little sleep I called in to work and slept most of the morning. In the afternoon I did go to the hospital to see my Dad. Monday night my brother and his wife came over to have Chinese food with us and Mom. It was their first visit to our house. Monday night Mom slept on the couch. Dad's surgery went well and he was released on Tuesday. My brother and his wife took my parents home that afternoon.

Wednesday night I was planning on seeing Amy Bloom speak but I was just so tired from having company, I took my laptop to the Grandview library and wrote. Spent the rest of the evening at home.

Last night was busy and a late evening. I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but someone backed up into my husband's car in the parking garage and tore up part of the grill and headlight. We picked up the car in the morning. The body shop did the repairs, fixed a sideview mirror (we said we'd pay separate for it) and cleaned up some paint scrapes on the side and on the bumper. It looked better than before the accident and it cost less than the estimate. After work I went to the Terry Moore talk at the Wexner Center. About 100 people attended. I had him sign the first issue of Echo. One of the girls/women gave him her Katchoo license plate which had expired two years ago. He was so excited! He's one of the most gracious signers I've ever met. Terry spoke to everyone and signed whatever they wanted. Strangers in Paradise was a comic I connected with because the women were drawn realistically. Francine would go up and down in weight and Terry showed it with some extra fat around the face which is more subtle and realistic than showing her as a size 2 (which Francine could never be) in one issue and then a size 22 in another.

Afterwards we had dinner at one of the best restaurants in town. By best I mean where the chef cares about the food and uses fresh ingredients. I was worried about being in jeans but Jeff was in jeans and so was Terry. There were eight of us total and Vijaya joined us later. It was the last night of the Columbus Symphony (supposedly forever though they're advertising two more shows this month) and Yo-Yo Ma was the guest performer. The restaurant closes at 10pm but we were there until nearly midnight. I ate too much and dessert sent me over the edge into colon spasms which ended up okay but really had me worried there in the restaurant. (I don't think it was the sweetness of the maple syrup creme brulee - I think it was from eating very little during the day and then a lot in three hours.)

Two of the guys at work today were talking about marriage (one is in a wedding this weekend and attending a wedding next weekend). And the one who was saying negative looks over at me and said, "Not you, Amber. Nothing like that applies to you." He went on to say, "You and your husband are really happy together and it shows." We have misunderstandings and miscommunications just like other couples but we know we're in it for the long haul and it's too much of a fun ride to try and get off early.

Due to all this family time I've gotten behind in my goal of writing a short story a day during the month of May. I'm at 6 completed stories, 1 is 3/4s completed and another barely started. Wish me luck! We have company coming from out of town tomorrow. :)

I may need to figure out what to do with my lilac bush - like learn how to make sachets or something.

All day I was thinking about tonight and feeling all nervous and excited.  I ate too much ice cream at work and that with my nerves just had me all worked up.  Picked up hubby from rental car place, went home to get gussied up and then we drove to his work. 

A new show opened tonight and walking through the galleries was fun.  We looked at about half of the Jeff Smith show and I just couldn't see any more of it - I was about to cry from the wonderfulness of it all.  Good memories, little girl me and watching some of the drawing/writing process was all a little too much to handle.  

Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner were there as was Terry Moore and Charles Vess.  The man I thought was Terry was not and I had no clue what Charles Vess looked like.  I didn't talk to Jeff or his wife.  On the way out hubby asked if I wanted to talk to Jeff and I just had no clue what to say.  It was much easier when I met him a few months ago to listen to him talk about his trip to Spain than to try and make actual conversation.  But isn't it always that way?

Nicely paired, yet very different, with the Jeff Smith show is the Mary Heilmann show.  The colors are bright and cheerful.  

We spent about 2 hours at the VIP party and let me tell you, I'm one tired girl.

Not So Cute
Sammy's Monday morning. This is usually garbage day and he's still afraid of trucks and such. They were really noisy. I told him he could go upstairs but he wanted to be with me. So he either pressed himself up against the dishwasher or my legs and shivered. Poor thing.

The Nova had a boxy almost Rabbitish exterior but the interior was all Toyota parts.  We'd call it the Super Nova after the Liz Phair song.  It had a grey cloth interior and those flat tabs to lock the doors.  I'm pretty sure it had crank handles but I was really happy it had a tape deck.  

For some reason it began conking out.  I drove into the hospital parking lot once from lunch and it just died.  I had to put it in park and then restart it.  Dave, our mechanic at the time, said "Something deep in the heart of it died."  All in all, I think we got six years out of it. 

Next came my favorite, the Passat.

I'll create a special filter so if you want to see the results comment and I'll add you.

Current Mood:

cheerful

I've signed up for a May writing Challenge but I don't know what to do. My writing schedule rests in your hands. Please vote!

"Is he howling?"

Um yeah.  A low plaintive howl that said he was lonely.  With the french doors open it wasn't very audible outside the house.  I wonder if he was howling from under the couch.  

I almost feel sorry for him and then I remember how he tried to take my bahama mama from my plate at yesterday's dinner and how this morning he tried to eat my cereal from my bowl...

Sweeps officially begins tomorrow so the day job will be very busy!

While on vacation I finished a book that I'd been reading for a review.  Monday at home was so relaxing I began writing the review right away instead of putting it off for the book to digest.

Got into New York yesterday afternoon.  Had a skinny hotdog for lunch at one of the plazas downtown.  Went to some museums/art galleries.  I think I'd like to live in portions of the Frick house.  Was transported to Vienna for dinner then got to see a comic in a Chicago jazz club that looked a lot like a young Warren Beatty. 

I wasn't as awake as I thought I was when a man asked if he could see my baby and the words made no sense until he asked a second time. Sammy got some scritches.

Walking up to the house though, I noticed a fat bird in the corkscrew willow tree. It hopped and kind of wobbled with each hop like it had a limp or was slightly drunk. I think this is the first red-bellied woodpecker sighting this year. Hubby says a bird is trying to make a nest on our porch.

While we were on our way to dinner my husband was teasing about how with the recession our family would have to put Grandma to work.  This started a conversation about whether or not she'd ever worked.  She mentioned Kilgore's and another place where she used to make caskets.  It was after she offered up the information that she remembered using straw that it was realized she had made baskets and not caskets.  

This then made my husband ask what she did at Kilgore's.
"Munitions."
"Munitions?!"
"Yeah.  I built flame throwers."
"Flame throwers?!"
"Uh huh.  They were for the war.  One time the building caught on fire while we were making them."

And so on and so forth...  Grandpa confirmed what she said was true.  He said she had a job after that but any job would probably pale in comparison.  

I didn't get to hear any of the conversation because I was talking to my mother-in-law in the back of the minivan.  It's a good thing I didn't - having my husband retell it to me had me alternating amongst snorting, crying and not being able to breathe because I was laughing so hard.

I'm not expecting a cure in my lifetime but it would be nice for Crohnies who have severe cases to find a surefire method of relief.

Current Mood:

disappointed

It would have been Zilla's 12th birthday and it was the 1st anniversary of his passing. I thought it would be difficult but it wasn't as hard as I expected. In fact, all it did was highlight the differences between Sammy and Zilla.

• Zilla liked to sleep in during the mornings and especially liked to sleep in with us during the weekend. One of us would get up, put him on the bed, and go about our business. Unless he had to go to the bathroom he was good for a few more hours.


• Sammy was up early and jumping around the bedroom until he was taken out.


• Zilla understood the phrase "mine" and knew he was supposed to leave the food alone.


• Sammy snagged half of a Potbelly roast beef sandwich from the middle of the dining room table then used the Lowe's ad it was sitting on as a napkin when we were out of sight.