Randomness

Anastasia did not get the job. No reason given other than they said they wanted to open it up to more applicants. Anastasia needs to find another client for senior care, if even it's a short gig, or it's going to be a grim Christmas. The ex is claiming poverty. I told him to start selling his shit on Craigslist instead of throwing it away. He is supposedly moving in with his fiance and he needs to get rid of tons of stuff. It's 2 months now that I have not gotten a dime.

Crossing my fingers. Our daughter seems to have made a couple of friends on the bowling team. I'm hoping that means that I am done with being her entertainment committee for awhile. Or at least give me a break from it.

Leggo Your Eggo - There's A Waffle Shortage. Hmm, wonder if any entrepreneurial types will be hoarding and selling them on street corners.

Buffalo Grove Boy Dials 911 After Parents Take Away His XBOX Video Game - Chicago Tribune. Thank goodness parents can still take things away as punishment!

Oprah's quitting. Does anyone care?

Had a chat with the ex on Wednesday. Told him daughter was NOT going to his place for Thanksgiving and to cease and desist any talk about Thanksgiving with her. He also mentioned that he wanted daughter to stand up in his wedding next year. The wedding is in a city that is over an hour away. That does not comply with the visitation order. That's besides the point, how could he think that someone with her mental health issues could handle being part of a wedding party? She has confused thoughts, ruminates on the most bizarre things, is completely inflexible in her thinking and has serious problems with events and things that she is not familiar with. The other thing is, if she even were be able to be a member of the wedding party, what supervision will there be? The bride and groom will be way too busy with wedding festivities to properly supervise her, make sure she doesn't get overwhelmed, etc. etc. Oh, and since the venue is far away from his fiance's home, a hotel stay will be involved. Who will be providing supervision at the hotel? Does he expect me to sit in my car in the parking lot until the she get's to the point of overload and needs to leave? What if she were to get to overload in the middle of the ceremony? He's just not thinking clearly, but then...that's par for the course. All of you who have followed my blog, do you think our daughter is capable of being part of a wedding party over an hour from home? Keeping in mind that since her illness she has nearly always had meltdowns when she has been with him more than a couple of hours and far from home.

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Pay It Forward Holiday Cheer

I had insomnia again Sunday night. The last time I looked at the clock it was 4:01am. When I have insomnia, I often thing about future posts. (What else is there to do when you can't sleep?) I came up with this one. I hope you like it and I hope you'll jump on the bandwagon.

With the economy the way it is, I'm sure everyone is scaling down their celebrations and scaling down their gift giving. When you're one of the people doing this it's hard to be of good cheer. It's depressing.

I thought why not take the Pay It Forward idea and adapt it to the holidays.

What you do to Pay it Forward doesn't have to cost money. It can be time or effort. It could be baking an extra batch of cookies to share with your elderly neighbor. It could be offering a ride to the grocery store to your neighbor who doesn't have a car. It could be shoveling a neighbor's walk. You could be in line at the grocery store behind a mom with her kids and she's a couple bucks short to pay for her groceries. Whatever it is...it's some kindness to spread holiday cheer.

Whatever it is you do, you ask the recipient to Pay It Forward in whatever way they choose.

The way I'm Paying it Forward is through baked goods. In our house, baking ingredients are staples and we always have them on hand. It's easy and not terribly expensive for me to bake an extra batch of cookies or an extra bread. Of course I'll be having Anastasia deliver whatever it is to Mr. Friendly, because she's the charming, friendly, bubbly part of this duo and I'm the ogre. Lol!

I was thinking of including a note card with a poem about Pay It Forward Holiday Cheer, explaining the concept, but I'm not a poem writer. Any ideas?

So what do you think of Pay It Forward Holiday Cheer?

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

So What's Your Thanksgiving Drama?

Er...I mean, what are you serving for Thankgiving?

No, wait...what is your Thanksgiving Drama? Or maybe you don't having Thanksgiving Drama.

We don't yet know what we'll be doing. The family matriarch (honest, I'm not being sarcastic, I'm just avoiding the use of 'mil' because technically Anastasia and I aren't married and even though her Mom ok'd me calling her Mom, I think she might spontaneously catch fire if I referred to her as 'mother-in-law'.) Even though I tried out 'Mom' just last week (yeah, it's been years, and I just snuck it in now...yes...I'm a big chicken!) and got a hug from her. Anastasia's eye's about popped out of her head when she heard me do it in front of one of the homophobic family members. Ok, now I'm ramblin, but you get my point. The family matriarch has declared that she's not doing Thanksgiving this year, but 'we' can come over. The thing is...she's told this to virtually all of Anastasia's siblings, which in effect means she IS doing Thanksgiving, but which also means it could be a huge debacle because she said she wasn't doing it and she will no doubt forget some of those conversations with the other siblings. No, I'm not kidding. This has happened before. And yes, no matter what it's always a debacle because we are all Irish and there is alcohol involved.

So this means that our Thanksgiving plans are up in the air. I will still be making a turkey dinner with all the usual trimmings, it's just a matter of when. Our menu rarely changes, except maybe adding a new dish. Lola's Thanksgiving Menu. Our daughter is insisting I make the Roasted Brussels Sprouts. She loves them.

Add to this drama, we have the ex drama. Our son will be with him for Thanksgiving, but the ex is trying to manipulate our daughter who, due to the current visitation order cannot travel to his Thanksgiving. This stipulation in the order is to protect her because of issues with previous visits. He knows this is the arrangement, yet he continues to try to manipulate her, which obviously causes her problems. He's even tried to solicit the help of our daughter's school counselor, who has repeatedly told him to cease the Thanksgiving talk, as have I, but as usual, he ignores all of us. Anastasia is about ready to have a conversation with him. Let's just say that...well..that wouldn't be pretty.

Sunday night as I typed this I was watching Grey's Anatomy repeats on late night. They aired one of the Thanksgiving episodes. The one where O'Malley has to shoot a turkey. I always love the Meredith Grey voiceovers. They're so well written. So poignant, sometimes profound. Here are just a few from the end of the episode:

"Being grateful for what you have...whatever that is."
"Maybe we're thankful for the familiar things we know...and maybe we're thankful for the things we'll never know."
"At the end of the day if we had courage enough to still be standing...it's reason enough to be thankful."

Frankly I can't wait until Thanksgiving is over. But then I'll only be more depressed, because I'm historically one of those crazies out there on Black Friday. Our budget doesn't allow for Black Friday shopping this year so I'm going to have to find some other way to amuse myself from 3am Black Friday until 5pm. Any ideas?

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Can you believe it? 517 posts! I didn't even notice when I reached 500. I guess times flies when you're having fun. And we're at 242 followers! Thank you to all of you and give a shout out once in awhile in the comments. I'd love to hear from you!

All weekend was spent frantically trying to find a free twin bed frame because our son did who knows what to his old one. Anastasia just told me not to look, not to ask questions, just to know that the old one was bent beyond repair and I just needed to find one. Thankfully I got one off Craigslist and it was brand new still in the box.

When I wasn't working on that I was dealing with our daughter who wanted me to be her entertainment committee, whilst the whole time being indignant and refusing to do chores. Still trying to figure out how that works.

Today I get an email from our daughter's school, bus transportation for bowling was not arranged. I made numerous frantic phone calls and emails and it's finally arranged. Why does there always have to be this drama surrounding her after school activities? Why don't the school/coaches/special ed department/transportation get their shit together ahead of time? What if I was working, how could I possibly have made this many phone calls and emails to get this fixed?

Our son hasn't shaved since Halloween. He thinks he's rockin' the Seth Rogan scruffy look, but he's not. It just doesn't go with his Shaggy from Scooby Doo hair. He's insisting he's not shaving until he has a full beard. Umm, hello, that could be years. He's just got sideburns, hair under the chin and his neck. No mustache, no cheek hair and nothing on the chin. He looks ridiculous.

Isn't it great how the government has decided that women in their 40's don't need mammograms? (Women In 40's Advised Against Routine Annual Mammograms - Chicago Tribune.) No doubt that decision is a precursor to what we can expect from the Obama Health Plan. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for every legal United States citizen having healthcare, but if you're going to downgrade the medical necessity of certain tests and procedures to make it happen, then what is the point of it all? I'm just sayin'...

Monday night was Code of Conduct at the high school. Our daughter went last year. It's only necessary to go once in your high school career. I insisted our son go even though he continues to drag his feet about an activity. I had to go to the high school for a parent's bowling meeting afterward, so why not get all the pain over with at once? Yes, there was arguing and grunting, but I held my ground and I have his signed Code of Conduct Contract to prove it. Yay me!

Did anyone catch the Wanda Sykes show on Saturday. They seemed to have changed the format from last week. Not sure what I'm thinking of it yet, other than it is fresher than SNL. Of course that's not saying alot.

Dave Letterman needs his eyes checked. What the heck happened to Sharon Stone's face? I didn't even recognize her. Well, until she spoke...very distinctive voice.

How come my Mafia in fb keeps loosing fights and I keep losing so much money? Curses to Anastasia's niece who got me hooked. Like I don't spend enough time in this black box.

Still waiting hear about Anastasia's job interview and we are biting our nails here wondering why we haven't heard anything. Please keep your fingers crossed, say a prayer, send some positive energy out into the universe our way...whatever you can do we would greatly appreciate it.

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

HAVE YOU or WOULD YOU...Meme

Welcome to Monday Mayhem

Every week is something different.

Have fun!

Today's meme- Have You Would You?

For each of the prompts, you may answer with an image, a sentence or however you want to.

Simply copy and paste this into a post on your site and answer the prompts.

I got this from Harriet @ I Am Harriet.

HAVE YOU or WOULD YOU...

Go Skinny Dipping?

Never been 'skinny'...not even close! Not a chance!

HAVE YOU or WOULD YOU...

Woken up somewhere that you have no idea how you got there?

Not that I ever recall.

HAVE YOU or WOULD YOU...

Eaten a rabbit?

I don't think I have, but doesn't it taste like chicken?

HAVE YOU or WOULD YOU...

Have a meet-up with another blogger?

Yes I have! Lin, Patricia, Lynne, Rita!
I can't wait for Lin and I to meet up with JD.

HAVE YOU or WOULD YOU...

Stolen a candy bar?

I'm pleading the 5th.

HAVE YOU or WOULD YOU...

Roasted a pig?

No I haven't. But my Dad used to take me to an annual festival where spanferkel was served. Also, an ex-boss invited all the staff to her neighborhood's pig roast. Our son took plenty of close-up photos of the head to gross out our daughter. Lol! Spanferkel is delicious!

HAVE YOU or WOULD YOU...

Bounced a check

HAVE YOU or WOULD YOU...

Gone for a balloon ride?

Hell to the no!

HAVE YOU or WOULD YOU...

Write a really cool Monday Mayhem ?

You tell me :)

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Over The Top Meme

Today we ripped this meme off a blogger named Linda at the blog Are We There Yet??. Linda changed the meme a bit and so did we. She states that Sandy of Traveling Bells passed on the meme with a blog award called the Over the Top Award. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

Cheers to all us thieves!
Sunday Stealing: The Over the Top Meme
Part One - Describe:

Your hair?
Getting grayer by the minute.
Your mother?
Heaven.
Your father?
Heaven.
Your favorite food?
It was the Scalloped Potatoes and Ham that I made Thursday night. My Mom's recipe. It was so delicious, so comforting, tasted exactly like my Mom made it. I made a huge tray, definitely enough for leftover lunch on Friday. Our son delivers my dinner to me (I was banned from living room because I wanted to watch Grey's Anatomy instead of the Bears game, what can I say? The Bears suck lately and I didn't want to miss my show and watch yet another bad game.) and he's eating off my plate as he brings it to me. Friday morning I go downstairs and the leftover container was on my laptop. EMPTY. I was livid. I was so looking to more of that comfort food. Anastasia said he had 3 heaping plates Thursday night. Yeah, and whatever he stole off my dinner plate. Grrrrr.
Your dream last night?
Not sure if it was last night or the night before, but my dream was me in an elevator frantically trying to get from the 7th floor to the 9th floor. I have no idea why. It was a short dream.

Your favorite drink?
Regular drink, iced tea. Alcohol, I so seldom drink. A margarita would be good, or a dirty martini.
Your dream/goal?
Staying afloat.
The room are you in?
Living room.
Your hobby?
Blogging.
Your fear?
The F' word. I can't even type it. As a homeowner struggling, it's my greatest fear.
Your TV?
um...it's on. Saturday night tv sucks. We don't have cable or satellite. Just free tv and on Saturday night that means slim pickins.

Your Pets?
Hoping to adopt again soon. I really really want a kitten, but our son is really campaigning for a dog, but I will only agree to a very small breed dog.

Friends?
According to our son, I have no friends. He said it again last night. Don't you love teens? Want mine?

Your life?
I'm here, I'm queer, get used to it. Oh, and by the way, I'm very cool too. Our daughter can't wait to "out" us to new people. She "outed" me to her bowling coach who thinks we're "cool".

Your mood?
Depressed. I really wish Anastasia would hear from the job she interviewed for and get the job. If she doesn't, I don't think we'll have Christmas presents.

If you're missing someone?
My parents.

Your best friend?
My partner, Anastasia.

Part Two - The Where's?
Where do you want to be in 6 years?
Still in this house, living in this great community.

Where were you last night?
um......I'm always here.

Where did you grow up?
Suburb of Milwaukee.

One place that I go to over and over?
The bathroom. Colitis. Overshare!

Your favorite place to eat out?
Gosh, anyplace that's not my kitchen and that I don't have to cook! I wish I had the $$ to go out for sushi. I love sushi.

Wish list items?
Wish list? Like for Christmas? Video games for our son. A bowling ball for our daughter. A Kindle or Sony Reader for Anastasia.

Last time you laughed?
I laugh all the time. In fact in high school a friend once told me that I laughed at everything. To prove her point she told me that she knew she could make me laugh by saying a single word. I was like, no way. The word? "Shoehorn". It wasn't the word that was funny, because "shoehorn" isn't funny...not by itself really. It was the look on her face when she said "shoehorn" that made me bust out laughing. But there you have it...I laugh at anything.

Last time you cried?
Lately...too often. Nuf said.

Part Three - The What's?
Something that you aren't?
Thin.

Last thing you did?
Just got back from grocery shopping.

What are you wearing?
Blue tshirt, sweats, slippers.

Something you're not wearing?
Socks.

Your favorite store?
Fashion Bug, but I never have money to shop there.

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I just have not been feeling well. Colitis is kicking my butt. Anastasia caught that weird bug again at the nursing home and is nauseous all the time. Thank goodness she still had some of the anti-nausea medication from her last hospitalization. She stayed home the last 2 nights with the dry heaves. Good times. I don't know if I'm having a weird colitis attack only, or whether she gave me the bug also because I'm nauseous too. Every time I go to eat a meal I have to stop because I'm nauseous and then have to go to the bathroom. Last night I had 3 small square slices of pizza for dinner. That was it and then I got nauseous. Great diet plan.

At bedtime last night Anastasia told me that Sunday night I was laughing in my sleep. Laughing like I was watching a sitcom or Ellen or Craig Fergusen's show. I haven't a clue what I was dreaming, although I guess it's better than screaming in my sleep...right?

No school today for our son because of Parent Teacher Conferences today. I skipped them because I wasn't feeling well and our son's IEP meeting is coming up anyway. I'll get to meet all of his teacher then, and our son will be required to attend. For some reason this morning he was refusing to go with me to his conference. Arghhh! I finally gave up after I checked his grades online and saw he brought them up and figured I'd have more time at the IEP meeting to talk to his teachers anyway, since there were alloting only 10 minutes per teacher. The aggravation though, it's driving me nuts. Whenever he spends the weekend at his dad's he comes home with attitude. Grrrr!

No school tomorrow for both kids. Hellllppp! I swear I'm going to kill Eddie Haskell. The damn kid cannot seem to understand that my cell phone number is mine and he should be calling our son's cell phone number. This morning he kept calling and calling my phone. He's been told numerous times what number he should be calling. Grrrr!

Today after dropping our son and Eddie Haskell at the movies I went to Targay to pick up prescriptions and toilet paper. When I picked up the toilet paper to put it on the check out counter something pulled from my lower back all the way down to the heel of my left foot. I was lifting frickin' toilet paper for cryin' out loud! WTH?

Our daughter is now trying out for the Girl's Bowling Team at her home school. I have yet to be told what the financial outlay is going to be. I do know that she must have her own 'equipment', so that means shoes ball and bag, but our daughter also tells me there is a jacket and uniform to be bought. WTH? It's a bowling team. What do they need a jacket for? Are they bowling outside? And a uniform? Whatever happened to team t-shirts?

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009