Chronicles of Nani - Know Your Limits

I was still tired and you can hear it in my raspy voice, but the vlog must go on! 

After celebrating my birthday with things planned for three days in a row, it took me another 3 1/2 days to start to recover and get my normal energy back. It was totally worth it, but it's a lot easier to do if you know what your energy limit is and make an effort not to overdo it too much. In my life before multiple sclerosis, I tended to overdo it anyway. But it takes me longer to recover now. There was a time when I worked 2 80-hour weeks in a row producing a hockey game for a charity I really believed in. My boss told me she didn't want to see me for three days after the production was done. Now, I carefully schedule how long it takes me to complete a simple vlog once a week and that requires a few hours of rest in between and after. My energy limits changing is probably one of the hardest things multiple sclerosis has made me adjust to. 

But you can do you things that are fulfilling and things that are fun even if you are living with a chronic illness or are always in a wheelchair. You just have to learn to adjust what your limits are and go ahead and push them! Just PLAN your time for recovery, so you can push those limits again.

Nani At 50 (for a few more weeks)

I said I was going to expound on the Nani at 50 pages. When I turned 50 I decided to create a logo and during my 50th year, technically it's during my 51st year, but before I turn 51 I would do a few pages documenting what my world was like when I was 50 years old.

Here are few of the pages I've done.

The last page in this set, which I'll do later this month, we'll be “New things since turning 50.”

Half Century of Nani

I am officially half-century old. Just to let you know I don't have a problem with being my age so I feel no need to refer to myself as "years young." Everybody has their own personal little idiosyncrasies. Some of mine include hating phrases like "it is what it is," or that someone is however many "years young." It just feels like the ultimate in denial. I have the half-century of history. I have so many personal even public victories to remember fondly and as many mistakes and failures I have learned from. I've celebrated triumphs and fought challenges and I'm proud of every bit of who I am. Heck, I now qualify as a classic, even an antique in some circles. That means I'm worth more old than I am young. Why would I want to deny that?

I was officially 50 on July 29. I met David at the Mud Hens game and it was raining when I went out to catch the bus. Folks, I didn't see any rain on my birthday at all until I was 24 years old. In 1990, my friend Jeff and I we're at midway airport in Chicago waiting for plane to take us home. I saw rain on my birthday for the first time that day. And that was enough rain to keep our plane from landing and leave us with a few extra hours at the airport while we waited for the rescheduled flight. The guy tending the beer cart came to know us pretty well that day. Jeff's parents had dropped us off and my parents were picking us up so we didn't have to worry at all about driving… Since that time I've seen rain on my birthday hit and miss, not enough the delay anything. I really figured on my half-century birthday it shouldn't rain, right?

I tell you, it wasn't a drenching rain when I caught the bus and it had stopped raining by the time I got to the ballpark, but it WAS an absolute downpour that delayed the game for two hours at the start of the sixth inning! But the Mud Hens won and MY Tiger, JD Martinez, was my Mud Hen for my birthday! He was in Toledo on a rehab assignment. His first swing of the bat when he returned to Detroit a few days later was a home run that was the game-winning run. We'll just call that my birthday blessing. LOL

I did have a couple days of computer silence waiting for my "birthday present" from Apple. My power cord for my computer died. I mean it really died; I plugged it in and there was nothing. The battery died and the computer went dark while I was on the phone with AppleCare. It was a good thing I bought AppleCare insurance. The retail value on replacing the power source is $87! It died on a Sunday night and by Tuesday I had the replacement. All it cost me was two days of computer silence. I have my iPad and the TV; so, living in a swing state, I wasn't even away from politics for two days. Although no politics for 2 days might have been a present too.

Well, the couple days of computer silence did put me starting August behind on my page-a-day scrapbooking so I'm going to spend the rest of this pretty sunny afternoon catching up! Funny, 50 really doesn't feel any different than 49 did. Well, except that I joined AARP and I’m waiting for my card while looking for an appropriate coffee mug.

It's My Half Birthday!

I’ve never made it a secret that I’m not a fan of winter. In fact I’ve done a pretty good job of painting myself a an anti-fan of winter. So what’s an optimist to do to keep from falling into winter blues? Well, as a child of the summer, I celebrate my Half-Birthday! I’m not looking outside at Mother Nature’s gag-gift this year; in 6 months it will be the heart of Leo entering into the dog days of summer when even cats find shady spots if they are outdoors. (which is only acceptable if they are rural barn cats, a little safer from traffic than urban cats on the streets and cats and dogs on the farm should always have access to clean water!)

Now my half birthday isn’t celebrated as a festival and I usually just do something special for myself. I might order a pizza today; I discover a thin crust pizza with white sauce, bacon and veggies at Marcos. I add green olives and banana peppers to it for a little sour bite and it’s SO good! And it’s only 18 points for half a small. Of course since David doesn’t do pizza, it would end up being dinner tomorrow too since I can’t reheat on my own. Unless I didn’t refrigerate overnight. I like cold pizza fine but I don’t care for it chilled. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll just ask David if he’d drive trough and bring me home a McLatte.

One fun thing I did for myself for my half birthday this year is a 2-page scrapbook layout. I had a kit that was a set of journal cards that I really wanted to play with for a while. According to the dates on the files, it was May last year that I got the kit Hello! by Scrumptiously. I wanted to do a pocket-page type layout and I knew I wanted to do a totally narcissistic layout about myself. I’ve said before that scrapbooking is both a loving and giving hobby and a totally selfish hobby all in one. It’s saving your, memories to share with other people but it’s also putting yourself as the keeper of history. You get to be the dictator of the future by directing the past. I actually think that’s fine as long as you aren’t blatantly lying about the resent it’s a wonderful series of family heirlooms for generations to come. I also think that selfishness manifests itself in vanity. Too many scrapbookers don’t include their own completely separate from others in the family thoughts or photographs in their books. Generations later relations and even family friends will wonder about the person who assembled the books. What did she or he look like, what were they doing? That’s just my little scrapping soapbox.

Of course, there’s plenty of me in my scrapbooks because I do think that way. I try to be vain for everyone and use flattering photos of us all so generations down the line multiple greats of nieces and nephews will marvel at what an attractive lot we were. But I want my scrapbooks to hold memories, lot of them, but I want my character and sense of humor to be in them too. I want to look back at my books and remember how much fun being me has always been. Oh yeah, and how attractive we’ve always looked too!

Also my half-birthday 2-pager uses those journal cards and prompts to put a time-capsule bubble around my brain at 48-1/2 years old. Making “right here, right now” ordinary day a time capsule page every now and then is fun too!

 

Credits: Hello!  by Scrumptiously and other papers from my stash

The pages are full-resolution if you want to enlarge them and read on the pages, but if you want to read what they say in simple written form, the contents of the cards are right here:

So there’s my self-indulgent answer to the winter blues. For my birthday festival I encourage everyone to have ice cream to celebrate and last year it was to buy ice cream for a kid. So if you want to celebrate my half birthday with me have a cookie. That’s nice to go with hot cocoa to shake a winter frown away. If you like the snow and ice, go enjoy it! And have a hot cocoa for me when you get in because if I was there, you know that’s where I’d be!

Find the happy, everyone!

The Last of Leo

It’s August 20 and only a few days of Leo left! Last year I expanded Nanifest to include any plans made during the festival week as a Nanifest Event. This enables me to celebrate with more of my family of relatives and friends since I can’t drive out to see them anymore.

I mentioned a while back that part of Nanifest this year is that I no longer drive, officially. On my birthday this year my last driver’s license expired and I replaced it with a State ID. It was a funny bit of irony there. When I renewed the license I had three years ago I used the walker when I went in to the BMV. At that time I was able to load the walker in and out of the backseat of the Camaro so I could use it to get to places once I drove there. I could still drive okay, but walking I couldn’t do without assistance. The clerk at the counter looked at me and the walker and asked if I could still drive. Well, I got there, didn’t I? I assured the clerk that I drove fine; I just needed the walker to walk. With a little trepidation she said okay and proceeded with the eye test. When I went in at the end of July to trade my last driver license for a state ID I got from not one clerk, but that clerk’s supervisor as well the question “Are you sure you want to give up your privilege to drive?” WAY different reaction to my identification situation than 3 years ago! I told them, from the seat of my powerchair, that TARPS got me here because I don’t drive, I can’t drive. I also added that I don’t drive FOR the other drivers. Yeesh; it was as hard to quit driving with a wheelchair as it was to keep driving with a walker. I haven’t driven in 2 years and I don’t have a car and the state of Ohio has finally let go. It’s a good thing they did the kicking and screaming about me not driving because while I scream just fine, I’m not up to the kicking part.

Naniday Breakfast

Double Chocolate Frosted Donuts!

There are two essential components to Nanifest in addition to as many of my people as possible. Those are ice cream and baseball. There was plenty of ice cream, all within my daily or weekly Weight Watchers point allowances. There was even ice cream and baseball together. I talked about stopping at Graeter’s with Rob and K, Rob insisted it was his Nanifest treat. I bought a Blue Bunny cone from a rest area machine on actual Naniday since the ice cream and fudge place at the rest area in Indiana was closed by the time we got in there, but Naniday started with David getting me 2 especially good double chocolate frosted donuts at the Dunkin Drive through near our hotel. We’d done a long weekend in metro Chicago chasing trains and seeing a day game the day before Naniday at the Kane County Cougars. Since we’d been to the West Michigan Whitecaps earlier David has now been to all the Midwest League stadiums I have and we have only the Wisconsin teams and Bowling Green Kentucky to have been to every Midwest League stadium!

 In the 10 days from August 8-17 I saw 4 baseball games, 3 of the Major League! David and I saw the Reds and Marlins in Cincinnati on the 8th and the Mariners and Tigers in Detroit on the 17th and we joined Rob and K for the Red Sox and Reds on the 13th. The 16th, last Saturday was the Strike Out MS dinner and ballgame in Toledo and I went to that while David was working. That game was a sellout and after dinner and a little talking about the Self Help Group I lead I went down to get closer to the game. Our area of seats didn’t really have enough wheelchair spots ad I like to be closer if I can so I went solo. The saddest part of that stretch was that the team I was rooting for lost every game! I did get 2 games with fireworks after, one that made my husband and cousin happy and one that let me see “My Mariner,” Austin Jackson…sniff, sniff…and at least Austin’s team won!

My Mariner (sniff)

After the Tigers game we went to Pop’s house for the second annual Leo Birthday Banquet. Pop grills a fantastic dinner and Aunt Judy, August 18, and I share the cake! We shared a birthday dinner last year and it was very cool, so when Pop asked about birthday dinner this year I suggested that it was a great idea to do it for both of us again. I think it’s going to be a regular thing now! Three of Aunt Judy’s grands, my cousin Lisa’s kids, were there to help eat the cake and ice cream, I mean celebrate, too. I wanted a photo of the Lovely Leo Ladies for my scrapbook and asked the kids to help “make their grandmother beautiful.” Aunt Judy never likes her photo taken because she is never happy with her look in photos. I got some nice candid photos of her at Christmas a few years ago and discovered the secret. I asked the kids to stand behind Pop when he was taking the picture and just be goofy for her and make her smile. It worked! She even said she liked the picture!

Lovely Lionesses

Marble cake with fantastic fudgy frosting. My piece was 26 points and pretty much replaces the 2-scoop waffle cone for the week. (But a new week starts tomorrow!)

Holiday Time!

I hope everyone had a great Canada Day yesterday! As a border-baby, born just 5 minutes away from Canada, Canada Day has always been the start of a month of celebration for me ending with my Birthday Festival. When I was a kid the Freedom Festival was a festival in Detroit and Windsor celebrating both Canada Day and Independence Day with carnivals and a huge fireworks display from a boat in the Detroit River. Of course it was an open border and no one ever needed a passport to cross from one side of the festival to the other. It’s not so difficult to get to Canada now, but needing a passport to cross the border is sad. It’s kinda like having to get someone’s permission to see your sister.


Yesterday was also my brother-in-law, Ben’s, birthday. David’s baby brother turned the same age my baby brother will be in September. It’s mean how they keep getting older and force us to stay ahead. ;)

We’re enjoying a holiday weekend starting today since people who work in media don’t get regular holidays. David will be working Saturday. We toyed with thoughts of going out of town for three days but ended up opting for sleeping in this morning. Sleeping in here means we woke up when my third snooze on the alarm went off at 7:20. If you’d have told me that would ever be “sleeping in” when I was 17, I’d have called you crazy!

I sent David out to photograph some local trains while I continue to recover from physical therapy yesterday. I was just stiff yesterday. The therapist I was working with noted that and asked if I was affected by the weather. Well, duh! I always remember that AFTER I say “what is wrong with me today?” I usually ask that question on the cloudy, rainy days or when the humidity is still up after a heavy rain. So today I’m just a little sore and slow, but when I’m sitting I don’t really feel pain, but the mild stretching at home reminds me of the pain. The steroid shot didn’t make the pain go away but it does seem that it helped and it may be time to think about doing it again. I didn’t really notice that the second one was a huge difference at the beginning of the year, although the first one was noticeable, so maybe 2 a year 6 months apart is what I need. I’ll have to give the pain doc a call next week.

Today is the first day of the 27th week of 2014, or the half-way point. I know this well because in my Random 2014 project I keep my notes in weekly files and then sort those files into quarters so I can access them if I need to. I’m a little OCD like that. But one of the plusses of condensing and organizing all of my files is that it takes less time and less scrolling to find things which takes it easier on my hands.

Now, in a 365 day year today is the top of the hill and there have been 182 days of 2014 before today and 182 to go. I’ve been thinking about doing a full 2-page spread for today and starting the rest of the weeks with Thursdays. That OCD sides doesn’t like that at all because it makes the first and second halves of the same year different. But then what do I do with the extra day? Put it in the extra box in Week 52? But what if I want to do a special section for goals for 2015 or a wrap-up of 2014 in that section?

Wednesday is still the first day of the weeks of 2014. I’d confuse myself if I changed it.

Satellite Festival Events

It’s a bright Monday morning and although it’s David’s Sunday, we didn’t go out to chase trains today and we made hot breakfast. Our meal included Kroger brand Brown Sugar Honey Breakfast Sausage which is the absolute best breakfast sausage in the Nani world bar none, so starting off that way always sets the table for a god day. Well, that and I had my coffee in my Good Morning coffee mug. I guess it’s the little things that set my attitude, good or bad. Starting my day with my Good Morning mug is important; brown sugar honey breakfast sausage is a major plus!

Midnight was the official end of Nanifest XLVII, thank you Edna for the festival wishes! This year was a one-week festival as Naniday was last Monday, but I’ve been giving the festival dates some thought this year. With my physical limitations, that is since I don’t drive, I have less access to meeting friends or even getting to Pop’s house during a one-week festival. David and I are making plans to go to Pop’s in the next week or two for grill and cake. He told me he and Aunt Judy would take care of dessert for my birthday and not to bring anything this time. Sheri will be out for a girls' day at the end of the month and Heather, Tracy and I are trying to line up schedules for lunch. I think I need to make a disability rider for my festival that states that any plans made during my festival count as festival events. It adds a few random days later in August to the festival but that makes up for the days during my festival that I stayed home and didn’t see anyone. So I’m going to consider any plans made during the festival to be Satellite Festival Events on the Disability Rider. I don’t consider this “milking the disability.” It’s milking my birthday!

Now we joining Heather at Acting Balanced and Wayne at Touristic for the Monday Quiz About Me!

1. Do you prefer brain games or games of chance?

My favorite board games are the brain games and the creative games.


2. How often do you misplace your keys?

I’m usually pretty good with the keys but on the occasion when I do misplace them it’s a traumatic event.

Now David misplaces them a bit more often. That’s a traumatic event too. I got him a key fob and remote finder for them for Christmas last year, but I think he misplaced it.


3. It's National Clown Week! If you were a professional clown what would your name be?

I think Nani the Clown would be a decent clown-name.


4. What is the strangest conversation you had last week?

Just yesterday David and I were trying to figure out if 2011 was a prime number to explain why The Reds didn’t get to the playoffs in 2011. (using Nanilogic)

2011 IS a prime number so that explains why the Reds didn’t make it to the post season in 2011. They were World Champions in 1919, 1940, 1975, 1976 and 1990; none of which are prime numbers. Since 2013 is divisible by three, they should be able to get to the post season this year.

Now don’t you wish you hadn’t asked me about strange conversations??

And now my final question for you…

5. An ear worm is when a song gets stuck in your head and won’t go away. Sometimes you know where it came from other times it makes you crazy because you have no idea how the song got planted in your head. What song was the last ear worm you had. Is it a song you like?

Just this morning I got an ear worm from word art in a scrapbook page I was viewing at Ginger Scraps. The word art says “Boys-Boys-Boys” and the Lady Gaga song Boys, Boys, Boys from her first CD got lodged in my brain and is still going. At least I do like the song.

Have Some Ice Cream

Yanno July is one of the big photo months for me. There are lots of reasons for that. I just get out more in the summer, there are more things to do and I try to see lots of my people and do a lot of things during my annual festival and take lots of pictures. Last year there was the Heritage Unit celebration in North Carolina, a steam special that came through Toledo and much baseball. But in going through my scrapbook folders for July… I still had major long weekends in 2008; one we took Rina on and one we took Tori on. Then in 2009 was our wedding reception. I already had 2010 and 2011 done when I started this scrapbook catch up project. Still I don’t see me closing any or the years for this month! I did a huge bunch of pages, but there are still so many folders. But July 31 will be the last day for July folders through 2012. Net year will be finishing time for those. And I hope to have this month’s pages done by August 7. I really do want to keep up this year at the very least! Going into August there awaits our 2-week honeymoon in 2009. No pressure; I usually take good notes when we travel. I’ll be as ready in 2014 and I am now.

Today is Treat Yourself to Ice Cream Day! That is it’s the official holiday of Nanifest. Celebrate with me by treating yourself to ice cream today. It’s an even bigger gift to me if you also treat a kid to some.

Now, Naniday and all, it’s still Monday. Let’s join Heather at Acting Balanced and Wayne at Touristic for the Monday Quiz About Me!

1. What is your favorite pair of shoes?

My absolute favorite shoes are this super comfy flesh-tone pair called barefoots


2. Do you get embarrassed easily?

I’ve been afraid of doing something embarrassing all my life but the truth is that when things that should mortify me happen I usually laugh them off or otherwise deal with them and move on. Guess I over prepared for the red faced moment. That’s a good thing though.


3. What makes you cringe?
Watching someone fall. I know that can be devastating and frustrating for someone who has a hard time getting up from a fall and it’s also something, from child to senior and everything in between, that can result in a serious injury.


4. July 29th is National Lasagna day... are you celebrating? What kind of lasagna do you prefer?

I don’t have plans to celebrate Lasagna Day, however David and I are thinking about dinner out tonight. I don’t think Red Lobster has lasagna. I remember the veggie lasagna a=I had at the Sunday luncheon of our reception weekend. I do love veggie lasagna, but I remember really loving Noni’s lasagna made with spinach pasta, ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella and her homemade Bolognese. Mmmm! I miss that lasagna!


And here is my totally self-indulgent question for you.

5. Will you join me in celebrating Naniday today by having an ice cream treat? Will you bring kids and treat them? What kind of frozen treat will you enjoy?

At some point today David and I will stop for a waffle cone or we’ll decide to go to the Mud Hens game and have some Toft’s at the park. It all kinda depends on the weather. It could be a lazy day at home too.

Happy Wednesday!

I’ve really wanted to blog more, but as of late I’ve been doing a lot of letter writing with this self-advocacy thing. It’s neither totally selfless nor selfish. I write letters to favorite stores that aren’t accessible, which by law they have to be. If I can gently urge them to comply and they do, it makes it better for me, for them because they neither lose a customer nor experience down-time in their store and lost hours for their employees when the ADA hears the whistle blow on them, and it makes their place of business more welcoming to disabled customers they don’t have yet because they weren’t accessible. It’s a win-win-win again thing. If it’s something they legally have to do and someone (me) is ready to do whatever is necessary to make them comply, might as well get the good PR instead of the consumer advocate news story at 6, right?

This morning I was writing city council members in a couple cities that aren’t served by the Toledo paratransit service what they can suggest so I can get my hair cut and teeth cleaned. Two providers I have no interest in changing, but they aren’t served by TARPS. (Toledo paratransit) A private paratransit service may be more than I can afford, but I won’t know if I can’t even locate the service to call! Wish me luck on that.

So, instead of morning Hodge Podge, I bring you my afternoon answers to the Wednesday Hodge Podge, hosted by Joyce at From This Side of the Pond.

1. July 24th is Amelia Earhart Day. Earhart was the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. What's something you've recently accomplished solo?

Aside from getting out of the house and taking care of my own errands? That is a feat of sorts. Golly, I’ve always done a lot of things solo and I still do. I don’t know that I’d call them accomplishments. I think and actual accomplishment can’t be achieved solo. My biggest achievements have always been group efforts. I may have been the leader, but there is no point in leading if you don’t have a capable group to work with. Five dozen cookies in one day at Christmas isn’t an accomplishment, neither is a week’s vacation on my own. Even sales is nothing without a product to sell. It’s not even possible to successfully get a business to change to become more accessible without the ADA behind me. Truly big accomplishments are not done solo and anything I can do solo really isn’t that big to me.


2. What's one product you use that never ever fails?

Neosporin! I use it on cuts and they heal remarkably fest. I also use it on rashes or breakouts, canker sores in the mouth, hangnails and if I put a light coating on the posts or wires, I’ve been able to wear the absolute cheapest cute earrings without any irritation!


3. Have you found your place in the world? Where is it?

I kinda think my “place in the world” might be as an advocate for persons with disabilities. It’s starting to form now. I’m collecting information, writing lots of letters and getting ready to do some small presentations.

What I really do need to get there right now is the transportation service I need to get to my hair stylist so I can get a haircut and look decent for public speaking. ;)


4. Worst movie you ever saw?

Blair Witch Project(ile)


5. What's the last fun thing you did?

We have a new kitten; everything is fun right now!


6. The month of July is named for Roman Emperor Julius Caesar...ever been to Rome? What's your favorite Italian dish?

I was in Rome just before, and I mean JUST before, I turned 13. We were in Italy/San Marin for a month between mid-July and mid-August in 1979. On my birthday I had a traditional Sammarinese “fruit animal” on a tray of French and Italian pastries with one American candle in it!

My fruit animal was based on a lemon and I think 

it was a cat or dog, but this is the general idea,

My favorite Italian dish? Wow, I was raised on the real stuff! Mt dad makes some awesome pasta sauce starting with a prosciutto end. I remember making ravioli with Noni string with flour and creating the pasta dough, the meat or cheese filling from scratch and rolling out the dough and placing the filling on the dough and then another sheet of dough and creasing around the filling to seal the pieces before cutting them. Lots of work but SO worth it. I also regained an immense appreciation for Noni’s crostada after working on refinding the flavor and texture for a few years. My favorite Italian food in Italy was any flavor of gelato!


7. What is one piece of advice you'd offer new mom Kate Middleton?

I was officially so over caring about a “royal baby” about two minutes after hearing about the royal conception. Didn’t we win a war so we didn’t have to care about the royals in England?


8. Insert your own random thought here.

My glasses are in and I have to plan a bus trip to go get them. I’ll probably do that Friday. Friday at 5 is the beginning of Nanifest XLVII, but I’ll get my glasses earlier in the day. My eye doc is sandwiched between Panera Bread and Coldstone Creamery. I want to stop and pick up a few grocery items on the way home, thus spending three fares instead of four to make the two stops. But the important question is; do I get a sandwich at Panera for lunch or a like-it-size treat at Coldstone to start my festival early before the bus picks me up? Hmm…decisions, decisions.

Last Day of Nanifest XLVI

I'm just in a Birthday Baklava mood this morning.

Today is the last day of Nanifest XLVI. As of 7:45 AM, I am 46 years and one week old. No, I don’t really count the weeks; it’s just that when Naniday is on a Sunday, the festival ends one week after my actual birthday. I took David to Coldstone during the festival. He’s not a big Coldstone fan and I got a buy one get one coupon for my birthday, so I bought him a treat so I could get mine. The Coldstone coupon used to be just a free Love-It size creation, but now it’s a buy-one-get-one coupon. That’s not a big deal since I always went with someone. Who wants to go out for ice cream alone for their birthday? Last year I cashed in my Coldstone coupon with Sheri, Tori and Rina; essentially buy THREE get one free.

Today Pop is doing dinner for the finale of Nanifest! He told me he’s doing pork tenderloin and he definitely has zucchini but he hasn’t decided how he’s going to prepare them yet. My dad prepares zucchini several different ways for grilling and they are all wonderful! He’s also got green beans, tomatoes and cucumbers that he and my uncle picked yesterday from my uncle’s garden. I tell ya, my mouth was watering last night when he was telling me about his veggie ideas to go with supper! I volunteered that we’d ring a cake. Well, we’re actually going to get a cake en route so we can have an ice cream cake. If we bought that here, we’d be lucky if it was a giant shake by the time we got there. I just don’t want to drink a huge cake-filled shake…in a box. So, yeah, there’s a Baskin Robbins and a Coldstone very close to his place.

I wanted to share a couple of awards that Edna, of Miss Edna’s Place, has honored me with! She lists me as one of her daily stops for blog reading and she’s one of mine too! It’s my morning coffee with my friend, although I confess that sometimes, usually on Mondays, it’s catching up from the weekend. When I’m home on the weekend, Saturday is usually my scrap day and David is home on Sunday, so we usually chase trains or watch baseball together. In fact, I think all the Mud Hens games we’ve seen this year have been Sunday games. I love having an affordable Minor League team so close that we can on a whim say, “Hens home today? Let’s go!” I remember that the Tigers used to be like that when I was a kid. Even with a young family income, Dad could just ask all of us if we wanted to go to a baseball game, which of course always got a “yes!” and we went. A young family of four just can’t do that anymore with a Major League team. A MLB game is an expense and an event a blue collar family has to plan for. I LOVE living in a Minor League city!
But back to the awards! See, I’m scattered on Sunday!

Edna awarded me twice recently and I want to share those awards! The first one is the Fabulous Blog Ribbon!

The rules for the award are: (1) Post the rules. (2) Name five of your most fabulous moments, either in real life or in the blogosphere. (3) Name five things you love. (4) Name five things you hate. (5) Pass the award on to five other bloggers (leave them a comment notifying them of the award.

Five Fabulous Moments:

1. Finishing my degree. It took 13 years, bit by bit, to do it, but the day that piece of paper arrived was a major accomplishment for me. Sharing it with Mom and Grandma was great. They both smiled with such pride I was the first in the immediate circle of family on Mom’s side and the second on Pop’s side to complete a bachelor’s degree.

2. Sitting in a bar in Canton, Michigan, with most of my crew who’d just shot the benefit hockey game they were showing on the big screen TV as part of the partnership we’d arranged for the event and listening to the people at the table on the level just below us talk about the game; “This is our local channel? Wow, this is good.”

3. The whole weekend of our wedding reception. I got all of the celebrity status a traditional bride gets without upstaging my leading man or supporting cast to do it. And well, a fabulous cake and baseball followed by trains and more cake; what’s not to love about that??

4. Giving the family history books I’d made to my brother and cousins for Christmas in 2008.

5. Having lunch with a writer for Headline News when I was at CNN Center on my quest in 1990. He was a wealth of great career advice and encouragement. Without his suggestions, I wouldn’t have gone to trade school, met many of the people I still call family today or eventually finished that degree

Five Things I Love

Not listing any people, or cats, because my people are so much more than things…plus five things is easy to come up with and no one gets hurt when I run out of five before I run out of people.

1. Baseball
2. Trains
3. Scrapbooking
4. Baking
5. Christmas


Five Things I Hate

1. Religious contradictions; that is people who hate in the name of their religious beliefs.  That’s one of the worst oxymorons there is.

2. Reality TV

3. Spiders; deathly afraid is hate, right?

4. People who manipulate others for their own gain.  When you manipulate people, and we all do, it should be for their gain.  Think about putting children in the direction in the position to make their own decisions but influencing them to make the best ones; good manipulation.  Conning someone for your own advancement, even if it destroys them; bad manipulation.  I hate the bad one.

5. being cold

As far as only 5 blogs that I’d give this award to, I’m taking the cop out on that one, as I often do.  I read a bunch of blogs and I choose to follow them because I enjoy them.  If you click on my “full profile” you can see the list.  If your blog is there, I’m sharing this award with you. If you have time to post about it, great, if not, enjoy knowing it’s yours all the same!

The other award Edna bestowed upon The Chronicles is The Sunshine Award!

The rules for this are simple.  (1) thank the person who gave you the award and link back to their blog  (2) answer the following questions about yourself (below)  (3) choose 10 of your favorite blogs to give the award to, and leave them a comment letting them know about it.  Last, be sure to paste the award to your blog. 

Here are the questions and answers.

Favorite Color – If I’m choosing one color it’s green – My wardrobe has lots of green and it’s usually my first choice of color in pretty much anything.    My Nook cover is green my feather dusters are green and when given a choice of colors for board games, I always choose green. 

Favorite Animal – I love squirrels, always have since I was a kid.  I like big dogs, but my heart is owned by cats, especially Kaline and Carla

Favorite Number – 17; that was my jersey number when I played hockey (9 years old) and it’s been “my number” ever since.

Favorite Drink – Depends when I’m drinking it.  Water is my usual drink any time, but I love my coffee and latte and I enjoy an occasional soda or sweet tea sweetened with Splenda.

Facebook or Twitter  - I communicate with friends on Facebook, but I hate that I get tied into political argument so I try to limit the time I spend there.  I prefer Twitter where I “watch Reds and Tigers games” with other fans.  We comment on the games and it is like a cyber-sports bar.  I also follow Justin Verlander, Brandon Phillips and several other players.  It’s a high class sports bar!

Good Book or Good Movie – How often do you read about movies here?  I talk about books a lot more because I read a little every day.  I go to a movie about once a year.

My Passion – Honestly, I’ve been kind of obsessed with Multiple Sclerosis awareness and making adjustments to life with my disease.  Maybe that’s a little selfish, but it’s something I live with the reality of every day.

Giving or Getting Gifts – Giving gifts!  I love the feeling inside when a gift , especially on for no reason, that I give is received.

Favorite Day – Today, but tomorrow is always going to be even better.

Favorite Flower – To look at roses and snap dragons.  To smell Easter lilies and carnations

As for ten people; see above

This was fun. Thanks Edna!!!  

Visit Miss Edna's Place:  http://missednasplace.blogspot.com/

Monday Mayhem

Home at midnight, I'm wrapping up a great weekend and getting ready for tomorrow night! We just got in from Cincinnati where we sweltered but got to see a fabulous finale to the weekend sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers!

It was Hall of Fame induction day and retired Reds shortstop, Barry Larkin, was inducted to Cooperstown today! They showed a snip of his induction speech live in between innings and there was much joy in the crowd, as there was for most of the game. The scoring started in the top of the third inning with one run for the Brew crew that was answered with 2 from the Reds in the bottom of the third. That’s all the scoring there was. On the way but I told David, “You give good birthday!” It was the second year in a row that the Reds won the game he took me to for my birthday!

I went out chasing the steam train on its real excursions with David and Mike on Saturday. I faced a dead battery and the spare that I thought was fully charged was in the wrong pocket of my tote and wasn’t charged at all! I managed to choke an afternoon’s worth of photos from the two batteries only turning the camera on right before I shot and only clicking one frame per shot. I still had a few nice shots and the batteries didn’t finally actually die until we were done shooting. I must have some good karma stored somewhere!

So far, it’s been a good festival!

I want to extend a special “thank you” to Heather at Acting Balanced for featuring me and my blog on 9 At 9 this Saturday. What a fun feature she does and a great opportunity to meet new blogs and bloggers!

Full party plate today, lots of the calorie-free kind of cake! So, expect the Mug Shot on Tuesday. For now, while I have a little Sunday night energy left, I’ll step up with this week’s Monday Quiz About Me, also hosted by Heather at Acting Balanced.

1. What are your favorite pizza toppings?

I like lots of different types of pizzas. My favorite gourmet pizza is Mediterranean style with olive tapenade, feta cheese, kalamata olives, ring peppers and spinach. MM!!!

My footies classic American pizza is Detroit-style with pepperoni, bacon and pinions


2. What is the strangest name you've ever heard for a child?

Let’s see…my given name is quite unusual, so I try not to judge. BTW, I love my given name, but I use a nick name; much easier to pronounce and spell Nani!


3. What is the best vacation you've ever gone on?

Not so much a vacation, but the most fun I’ve crammed into a weekend, sometimes a long weekend, has been the trips Kelly and I have taken. Kel’s my platonic soul mate and when we have total uninterrupted “just us” time, nothing can compare to that!


4. What is your favorite quick summer meal?

Salad. I make my own salads for dinner at home, but tonight I had a salad at Perkins on the way home; chicken, strawberries, lightly sugared pecans and feta. It was outstanding! Definitely something I’d order again.



And don't forget to add a 5th Question on your own blog so we can answer as we hop around!


5. At what temperature do you start to feel like you want to wear light jacket or sweater? For those of us in the heat wave, do you think you’ll wait until a cooler temperature than usual for a jacket this fall?

I wear a sweater in the house because I get cold in the air conditioning, but outside, I usually do sweatshirts in the low 70’s to high 60’s Fahrenheit and when it get to the mid-sixties it definitely jacket time. I don’t rally think all this heat is making me appreciate the cold any more.

Friday Stuff (Finally)

Tonight's dinner; Pizza toppings salad

turkey pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, 

bell peppers and kalamata olives.  YUM!

Late but still here today! We were out this morning, read on for a fragment about that, and with David at work, for the rest of tonight, now I have time to blog!

While Mama M is on vacation this week, Kate from Kate's Life is hosting this week.  Clicking the logo will bring you to her blog!


1} What do you call them- flip flops, sandals, thongs, or slippers?

Flip-Flops, one of the most awesome shoes to have if you break a toe in the summer. :)


2} Are you a "my kids can do no wrong" kind of mom or a "Johnny punched you? Well what did you do to him first?!" kind of mom?

My cats can do no wrong. hehe.

When Tori and Rina were little, and even now at almost 18, they’re human. My Mom always told Dave and me, “I don’t believe in ‘Saint Child’ because I sure wasn’t.” I looked at things when I was with the girls the same way. We “talked” a lot, even when they were little, about things they could have done better to keep the problem from happening. I think making kids be accountable when they are part of the problem makes them better capable of being part of the solution next time. When there are two, it always seems to “take” better and quicker with one than the other. LOL


3} Would you confront a good friend that looked/looks down on your husband/significant other?

I don't think anyone looks down on anyone among us.  We're peers.

When David was to meet my friends and my nieces for the first time, I told him these were the people he had to impress because their opinions were important to me. These are the people I protect and who protect me. If he was going to be one of them, they’d have to be okay with it. The opinion of the 10-year olds was especially important because they were my “almost kids.”

If anyone has a David problem now, they’d talk to him about it unless their problem was concern for me, then they’d talk to me.


4} Biggest pet peeve?

I find it’s like nails on a blackboard to me when I hear the wrong use of me/I and he-she/him-her. I don’t get all school-teacher with other adults, but I always corrected Tori and Rina.

“She and I went to the store, the clerk was rude to her and me. (Yes, I’d say “us.”)

You wouldn’t say “me went to the store or her went to the store,” and you wouldn’t say “the clerk was rude to I or the clerk was rude to she.” It’s easy to catch yourself. When someone misspeaks it once, no big deal; people make flubs in conversation, but if the misuse is consistent, they obviously don’t know. It just makes me sad when it’s an adult who speaks English as their first language.


5} What's your favorite take out meal?

Delivery, but if I was more able I go out to take it home myself I would, it’s Chinese! We have an awesome no MSG Chinese restaurant that delivers. Every now and then when David works nights or is out of town overnight I order Kung Pao Chicken with a vegetarian egg roll and wonton soup. It’s usually at least two meals, plus I make soup with the rice.

**  This has been an odd week. David has been working the “variety shift” this week. I went up to wake him yesterday because he likes to be up by 8:30 when he works his usual 10 am shift. I mentioned that it was pouring rain, which with the metal roof on the covered porch off our bedroom was easy enough to hear. He said, “Oh, I thought it was bacon sizzling. Must have still been dreaming.” I’d been thinking earlier about making hot breakfast, but he slept so late! Then he told me, “I go in at noon today.” Yeesh! So I went back downstairs and made hot breakfast.

He came down and made fun of my breakfast! I made his bacon, eggs over medium and while he was fixing his coffee, he looked over at the pan where I was cooking cinnamon French toast for me. I use the cinnamon and a little sweetener and I have it without syrup. That’s not what he was making fun of. He said I was making “French Buns.”

We had sloppy Joes and we had an 8-pack of buns. Three Joes; 2 for him and one for me, leaves 5 left for other cooking or a penicillin experiment. I’m allergic to penicillin, so I’d rather use the extra buns! I make some great French toast and I make it with so many things! Italian bread French toast served with spaghetti sauce makes a great lunch or brunch. And leftover donuts? Awesome sliced in half and prepare French toast style! So, some egg beaters, and little cinnamon and the leftover buns make great breakfast. Just say “yum” and eat up. :P


**   Nanifest XLVI started tonight at 5PM! Actual Naniday, July 29, is a Sunday this year, so my festival is 2 weeks! From 5PM today until 11:59 PM the Sunday after my birthday weekend. I’ve already got baseball and steam train plans and Pop is grilling a dinner for me on the last day of the festival when Tori and Rina will be there! I have a few calls to make to fill up my festival dance card. I celebrate my birthday by trying to see as many of the key people in my life as I can. I like cards, but I don’t require presents.  I prefer presence as a gift.


**  The first Nanifest event was actually a pre-Nanifest event. Everything that happens during my festival is a festival event. There’s a steam excursion this weekend that we’ll be venturing out with Mike to chase and photograph. Today was the day they moved the equipment from Fort Wayne, so David and I went out to get some shots of it coming in. VERY COOL!

We met Mike and a few other friends that moved their lunch time or otherwise finagled the time to get the shots of it coming in. It was more railfans gathered on a Friday morning in some of Ohio’s small towns on the line than they usually see. Tomorrow it will be a MUCH larger crowd lining up at crossings to get photos. It’ll be a good time!

Happy Naniday!

Perfect black forest birthday cake, huh?

Original photo and recipe at Ahaar Pleasure and Sustenance

Happy Naniday, everyone! I am officially 45 today. My Twitter message said that I was 45, even to a newspaper reporter. Yes, that’s directed at that guy who shares the same last name and address as me. For the last 48 days we’ve been calling ourselves the same age, but he has insisted I was 44. I think when I’m 48 days away from 45, I‘m much more 45 than 44, My always cheery honey, reminds me that if I dropped the day before my birthday, the obituary would call me 44, not 45. Okay, so I made it to 45. Told him so! :P

Last weekend David and I kicked off Nanifest XLV with baseball in the Motherland, specifically in Lansing. I hadn’t been to a Lugnuts game in a few years and when I lived in Michigan I went to a couple Nuts games every year, so I really missed seeing them. I’d been to a couple Lugnuts games on my birthday or during the Festival. We kinda copied the first Saturday off Nanifest XL, stopping in Hell on the way to Lansing. The ice cream in Hell is great! This year, also just like when I turned 40, David bought me a Hell T-shirt! The new one is a Screams Ice Cream shirt! It’s cool! The lettering is in glow-in-the-dark green on dark purple! The shirt is a “goal shirt” right now. It is a size smaller than I usually wear and just a bit snug. By Halloween, it’ll fit great!

After ice cream at Screams, I had chocolate fudge wrapped around cherry in a waffle cone, black forest cone, baby, we went to the Lugnuts game. Finally the streak of losing home teams is over! The Lugnuts won 3-1!! I’m feeling better about upcoming games at home in Toledo and in Cincinnati to see my Reds! The Lugnuts celebrated my festival with fireworks after the game. I love birthday fireworks!

On Sunday, we took our buy one get one coupon to Baskin Robbins with us after dinner. I had two scoops of Baseball Nut in a waffle cone. I like waffle cones because they hold the ice cream all in the cone instead of on it, better for avoiding dropped ice cream! I’m using the Weight Watchers Points Plus system to help with my diet goals and the coolest part of the program is how real it is. There are weekly extra points that allow for an occasional treat on plan. With the extra points I was able to have ice cream twice. Okay, that uses almost all the points, but hey, it still working, slowly and safely! Best news is the weekly points reset on Thursdays, just in time for the Festival weekends!


Last night, David took me out to Mancy’s Bluewater Grille. I had the Pretzel Crusted Flounder, a dish with Nani written all over it! We shared a flourless chocolate cake for dessert, truly decadent! Tonight the Mud Hens are having fireworks to celebrate the actual day again, just like last year and we’ll be there. I know the Reds really wanted me to come to Cincinnati tonight, they’re doing fireworks set to music from the 60s, the decade in which I was born, but my Dad is doing a barbecue for me tomorrow in the Motherland and Tori and Rina will be there too. So, my Reds game will be later in August. I still love the Reds for hosting a Naniday party!

After dinner at Pop’s tomorrow, which will be chicken kebabs and teriyaki pork with grilled veggies, oh my mouth is watering already, Pop is the king of the grill, Tori and Rina are coming home with us. They’re having lunch with me and Sheri Sunday at our favorite Toledo restaurant, Ya Halla. Sheri likes Middle Eastern food and this will be her first time at Ya Halla. Then we plan to visit Cold Stone to use my birthday coupon for dessert. Sunday evening, the girls and I will meet Dave and Laura for dinner and they’ll take the girls home. Both of the girls have their drivers licenses now, so I’m thinking I can get by with only having to drive home from dinner this weekend!

I’m trying to set up some travel to the Motherland for next week. Maybe the Farmers Market with Scotty and then lunch with Heather H and Tracy. Still working on that plan.

I’ve had some interest in doing the Photo Walk in Frankenmuth in October, so maybe I’ll gather a modest group, maybe I’ll even sign up for it being an official Photo Walk. Edna, when I posted about Photo Walk, I SO had you in mind too! Anyone reading can either form an informal or solo Photo Walk or check that website out to see if there’s an organized one in your area. It’s definitely something to which I’m looking forward!!

My birthday wish is that I hope everyone has a great Naniday, do something that makes you happy and eat ice cream!

Help, Todd! Thunder!

I’m typing in the middle of strong storm 2 today. The first one knocked out the power around 11:00 this morning. The power was out for about 8 minutes. The second one, just now at about 12:45 was supposed to be stronger. I don’t think it was. There was more lightning after the rain than the first one, but the first one blew And rained harder. Maybe that was just the weather cell was more centered over our house the first time.

Todd on The Weather Channel was saying the second cell had the potential for tornadoes. Kaline was downstairs with me, sleeping by my computer, so no worries there if we needed to head for the basement, but I called Carla, shook the treat bag and sang the Kitty Treats song, loud, three times, and she didn’t come downstairs. I do know when rain starts and you can hear it on the patio awning upstairs, Carla heads for the bedroom closet. Now, if the house was broken in to, that would probably be a great place to hide, but the uppermost floor is NOT a good place to hide from a tornado! Fortunately, the siren never went off and the severe thunder storm warning expired. Now we are under a watch. It’s still gloomy-looking and my barometric body is telling me to take this as an easy day. Ugh. I’d wanted to do some laundry today. I may still be able to later in the afternoon.

I found out that I had the Nanifest roman numeral wrong! According to Numericana.com, the proper number is XLV, not VL. The rule is that only the next number down can be subtracted, or on the left. Smaller numbers are added on the right. So, it forty, XL, then five, V. So Nanifest XLV starts July 22 at 5PM!

Grrr… Thunder again. It’s not giving me enough time to charge the laptop battery between cells now. So, maybe I’ll check in after more rain.


Links: Numericana Roman Numerals

The last Day of Nanifest XLIV

Nanifest - AKA National Black Forest Cake week!

Happy August! This is the last day of Nanifest XLIV. David and I have plans to go out to dinner. The plan was a sunny day would be railfanning and a casual sit-down at the end of the day instead of a fast food stop on the way home. A cloudy day would be a day at home and a little nicer dinner. Right now, it’s a little gloomy, but the weather forecasters are calling it as a supposed to be sunny day. Not like they’ve never been wrong before, so we’ll see!

Yesterday was an awesome day! I met Sheri and Heather for lunch at Cracker Barrel. Heather got me a card with a cute puppy with sunglasses hanging out a window on it, totally adorable! They split my bill, which I told them they totally didn’t have to do! My birthday present was them having lunch with me! Then Sheri told me there was no discussion to have so just say, “thank you,” and shut up. I smiled and said, “thank you.” I have GREAT friends! After lunch we sat on the porch and talked. It was a little humid, but not too hot and pleasant for sitting outside.

In was meeting Scott at 4:00 so he could follow me to Pop’s for dinner. I was really thinking I’d go to Pop’s and then go meet Scotty at the designated time. When I got in the car, eeks! It was 3:58! Time to meet Scotty first – late!

I was really only about 15 minutes late and we went to my Dad’s.

Pop made marinated chicken with grilled veggies and green beans. YUM!! I was originally going to have coffee with Scotty after lunch and then come back for dinner. Pop told me that was silly and I should invite Scotty. He hadn’t seen Scott in a long time and wanted to have him over for dinner. They have a little barky dog who would not stop barking at Scotty. I think she thought this new guy was replacing her half-brother-in-law! David had to work, or I would have brought them both!

Dad got me a totally awesome birthday present that will save me a weekly trip tot the produce market! I got a big bag of zucchini and an equally big bag of green beans – my favorite veggies, along with a bag of tomatoes and white peaches. Pop often sends fresh veggies home with me, but this market trip was one to pick out my favorites! I also got a card from him, one my Aunt had nothing to do with picking out, she hadn’t even seen it. Pop chose the card and this time he chose a mushy one. It made me cry. I think he was getting even for the Father’s Day card that got him all misty this year, but the card was so awesome! I just love those magical little pieces of paper that hold a wish, a smile or an emotion forever! I have a box that I keep all my cards in. That’s the one thing that will NOT leave when I start my anti-packrat clean sweep in September! Those cards through the years are the pick-me-ups when I’m feeling down, reminders that I am and have always been loved, and they are sweetest reminders of those who aren’t with me any longer, their own writing and things we have both touched.

Next year, the actual Naniday is on a Friday, so I’m back to 2-week festivals for a couple of years. As for this year, today is the last day of Nanifest, so if you haven’t already, you can celebrate with me by having an ice cream and treat your kids, or a child who is close to you to have one with you!

Thanks for reading and being part of my world, part of what makes that world great and Nanifest worth celebrating every year!!

Monday Mug Shot

Yeah, another Monday Mug Shot on Tuesday. Yesterday was a busy day! I took the exam for the last three classes in my Microsoft Server 1 class. I got 94% and my current class average is an A! There are still several case studies that I haven’t gotten my grades back on yet and one more set of case studies and the term project to do yet, so that’s not saying I got an A yet, but I’m doing well. I’m not putting the pressure on myself of needing to get an A, realistically, this is an area where getting official certification is far more important than the letter grades in school. I need to get the knowledge so I can excel where it’s really important. Still when I told my Dad that I got 94 on the test, he said, with a chuckle, “You’re slipping.” Yeesh!

We’re stating to get some peace on the kitty front. Kaline even slept on my hip again for a little the night before last, but not last night. I’m okay with that right now because Carla has a respiratory infect ion that we’re treating her for and I don’t mind the cats not wanting to be close to each other right now. When she’s feeling better and isn’t contagious I’ll want them to be closer again. Bt, they are civil to each other and right now the stress of giving Carla pills twice a day is enough for us!

Here’s this week’s mug!

Phantom of the Opera

The coolest thing about this mug is the mask! On the other side of the mug is a grey Phantom mask that fades into the black cup, but it turns white when there is warm liquid in the cup. Yeah, that’s a Nani-weirdism, I know, but when I did the photographing yesterday I made a cup of coffee in my Keurig coffee maker and photographed it as it filled. The mask got gradually whiter as the cup filled. It was very cool!


While I enjoy going to the theater, I don’t that often. It’s kinda pricey and I guess I’m picky. I saw Cats when I was 20 and didn’t like it. The tickets were a Christmas gift and that made it even worse because I wanted to really like it! I did enjoy the evening out with Mom, Dave and his girlfriend though! I’ve seen Phantom three times and loved it every time! The most recent time was n Detroit, with my Dad and Aunt Judy, before that was in Toronto at the Pantages Theatre with Mom and Dad, and the first time was in Chicago, with Jeff T. That’s when I bought this mug.

Jeff bought my ticket for my 24th birthday and it was the day before my birthday that we saw the show. It was fantastic! I have enjoyed seeing how different productions did the falling chandelier n the play, but the first time, I wasn’t expecting it and it really felt like a giant chandelier was falling on the audience! Yes, the production was fabulous, the singing and acting superb, but the strongest memory in my brain is the falling chandelier and how I was in a split second sure something had gone wrong and it was really falling on us!

After the show we went back to Naperville, where we were stating with Jeff’s parents. There was much talk about the show! It successfully wiped out the unimpressed memories from Cats and brought me back to being okay with going to the the4ater for shows that weren’t Shakespeare. I guess Jeff saved me from becoming a life-long snob, huh?

The next day, my birthday, was the day we flew home. We were flying Southwest out of Midway to go back to Detroit. In all of my then 24 years, I had never seen rain on my birthday. This year was the first!

Just before our plane was due in, the sky just opened up and drowned the airport! Our plane circled around a bit, and then went on to Detroit having never stopped in Chicago! The announcement came that our flight couldn’t land in the rain and we should report to the ticket counter at our gate to be put on a later flight. So, it wasn’t just the first time I saw rain n y birthday, but it was trip-delaying rain at that!

It was going to be three hours or so before we’d be on a Detroit-bound plane. We did what any 24 and almost 25 year-old would do in a situation like this. We sought out the beer man! When we went back down to the beer cart for a third time, the beer man was already opening out beers! If I was getting a third beer now, I’d be staggering to the cart!

When our plane, our new plane, got there, I called Mom. Jeff’s parents shuttled us in Chicago and mine shuttled us in Detroit. What was supposed to be an afternoon trip home, ended up being watching the sun set as the plane was taking off, but it was a fun weekend with a good friend, seeing a great show! It was an awesome rainy birthday!

I am Super Woman 43!

What a festival this year. I still have a few days left, and I’m hoping there is more reward than challenge to show me how much of a super woman I am!

On my actual birthday, I woke up early, as I usually do because my husband has turned mme into a bona fide morning person, I just wake up around 7 AM, even without any alarm now. Whoda ever thunk that would happen! I did a scrapbook page in mt ever winding road to catch up. I’m almost 40 on paper now! It’s David’s 40th on the laptop and cats around the time of mine on the Mac. So I did a cute kitty page and it was nearing David wake-up time. I needed him to get a top shelf photo album for me so I could post that Photoblog. I didn’t have the picture of Mums and me on my 17th scanned yet. Then we went downstairs, I made coffee and washed up the dishes that I didn’t get to Tuesday nighty.

Maybe that’s the problem. I didn’t do the dishes Tuesday night and that jinxed me. Physical therapy has made me quite quite weak in the back nd hips as we’re working on retraining my walking muscles. Near the end of a not very large sink of dishes, my back weakened and I was teetering standing up. That is so frustrating when it happens! I put the last pan in the drain and stepped away and was hit with pan in my left lower back-hip area like a bolt of lightening! It’s like a combination muscle spasm and cramp. Nasty birthday present from fate, huh? So, ice, ice, Nani time!

Ice, Advil and Icy Hit rub have made it bearable and bit by bit better over the last three days, but I haven’t been as mobile as I wanted to be! Just today I’m finally feeling up to trying to get the laundry done and run a few errands. Yeesh!

But then yesterday, add to superwoman for this week, I get a phone call from Grandma’s next door neighbor, at Grandma’s house. There is a sad truism about living alone as you get older. If Grandma doesn’t feel physically up to fixing a meal or even going into the kitchen to get something to eat, she just doesn't. Not a good thing for a diabetic! Her friend, whom she talks with a couple times a day, was worried because she just didn’t sound okay, so she called the neighbor who went to Grandma’s house. Grandma’s blood sugar had tanked, again. The neighbor got her some juice and made her breakfast, then called me.

After I called her doctor and subsequently, he called her, the neighbor brought her in to see him. Now she’s in the hospital getting some tests done and getting some heart-related issues tended to.

I’m her power-of-attorney person and the one the doctors give all the information to, so I am also Grandma-info-central! I have more area codes in my recent calls list on my phone than someone who doesn’t like talking on the phone should have! Thankfully, when I talked to Grandma this morning, she sounds great. She was complaining that they are feeding her so much all the time and I encouraged her to just listen and eat when they say eat because that’s why she ended up there! Dad is working close to her place and is visiting after work. Dave and Dad were planning a visit next weekend anyway and my Cincinnati pans have changed to traveling north rather than south. I’ll go up to bring her home when she gets out of the hospital and be there when the rest of the family gets there. At her doctor’s suggestion, our goal is to get her to be on board with the thought of a senior apartment.

Her doctor says it’s really time to think about assisted living. She has her independence, but 24/7 help when she needs it. I’d really prefer Grandma to be okay with it rather than have to play the “You signed papers saying I can bully you” card! Wish us luck!

So, since turning 43, I’ve been on ice and painfully immobile, Grandma is in the hospital and, oh, there was a back-up and overflow in the bathroom this morning, that I fixed and cleaned up, sopping wet towels with my cramped back. I firmly believe that life’s challenges are God’s way of showing you how strong he made you. He’ll never give you more than you can handle, but sometimes I just wish I wasn’t so strong!

Just in case God telling me I’m super woman wasn’t enough to make me smile, when it’s all done and I realize what I’ve accomplished, there are some nice things that I didn’t have to work for too! There have been a ton of birthday greetings on my Facebook page, email greetings including a cute email card from Sheri. My Dad called Wednesday just to say “Happy Birthday” and Dave called and the whole family sang “Happy birthday davonna-sis-nana...” to me. I got a sweet card in the mail from Heather. David cooked me a fish dinner and brought home the ice cream cake he ordered, and he gave me a card. I LOVE cards and he’s not a huge giver-of-cards, which makes me feel even more spoiled and totally romanced when he gives me one. There was also a sweet personal note in it that made me get misty too!

Now, I’m going to take Advil again for the back, switch the laundry loads, run a couple errands and stop at Cold Stone Creamery with my free Love-It Size birthday coupon. The make a fat-free cake batter than is just crying to have chocolate chips and cherries mixed in it for me!