Blogging About Blogs

I've decided to add another blog to my repertoire. It is focused on pregnancy loss and infertility (mine and others). The link is http://www.fertileramblings.blogspot.com/. Visit here & there plus add both blogs to your blogroll. Don't forget to leave your comments! :)

Now I'll suffer from being a bi-blogger. Oh dear.

New Arrival

Our new dining set is here! It's big, but I think it also looks that way because the old table was so scrawny & crummy looking. The delivery process was SO smooth! When Salvation Army knocked on the door & took the old table & chairs, Macy's pulled up and started unloading.

Before:






During (naked!):






AFTER!!!







Can you tell how excited I am?! Now we have to figure out how to redo the wall and what (if anything to put on the table). Tonight will be our first dinner at our new table!

Cancer Sucks

Anyone reading this that has cancer, survived cancer, lost a loved one to cancer, or have a loved one with cancer can wholeheartedly agree with that statement.

My grandmother, Mary, has cancer. (You can read more about Mary in previous posts: Mary the Great and Prayers for Mary.) She's actually been battling cancer off & on for 28 years. There have been more years of remission and health than not, but we're now entering the final countdown.

Mary is presently doing injection chemotherapy, and it's kicking her ass. Last night, Mary was admitted to the hospital for pain. Doctors suspect that the pain is due to the chemo (gosh, ya think??). I think the next part of the plan will be to discontinue chemo and begin hospice care. Mary is so very strong, but these last months have made her weak and frail. She is a little, tiny thing now and trying so hard to maintain a positive attitude. When you ask Mary how she is doing, she typically responds, "I'm okay." When she does complain, you know it's been really bad for her. My grandfather, Fritz, is still trying so hard to take care of Mary, but I feel as if he is wearing thin as well.

When you look at Mary, you don't think, "Gosh, she's dying of cancer." But she is. I know we are all dying and that death is inevitable, but I hate that Mary has to suffer through this. She has always had such a zest for life and living, and watching her slowly wane away is painful for all of us. The one thing Mary's always wanted is to maintain a quality of life. That is slowly going away as well. And I know she hates it.

Luckily we were able to spend the night before Mother's Day together as a family. It was Mary & Fritz, my Mom and Rick, my brother Jeffrey, my brother Michael & his wife Danielle and their kids Aeva & Will, and Todd and me. That night was the first night we were all together for over a year. And I feel it was probably our last.

Mary will continue to have ups and downs, but we are all realizing that our time with her is limited more than ever now. I just pray (and ask for you to join me) that God will provide her peace and comfort in the upcoming days/weeks/months - however long we have with her.

I love you, Mary, and I always will.

I'm Animaled Out Tonight

I love fresh air during the spring, so I left the back door open for a few minutes when I got home. A fly must have gotten in at that time because Pippin the Flycatcher Pup is running around looking in corners and snapping at the air. She has me so paranoid that more bugs are in the house that I actually thought I felt one crawling on my arm. Note to self: Start looking for screen doors.

As I was fixing MY dinner (Ghetto Ham Sandwiches - yum!), the four animals were at my feet begging for anything. I finally settled on small pieces of cheese and fed them to the dogs first. Mackey was instantly thrilled and ran from the room in delight. Pippin waited for more as did Steve. Then I gave the cat a bite. That's when Steve barked so loudly that I may be deaf in my left ear now. Idiot.

I shooed naughty dog & his entourage out of the kitchen and attempted to give Mindy her cheese again. In came the beast ready for a repeat performance. I shooed Steve out again with him only to prove his vigilance. Mindy and I finally gave up. Luckily she got a teensy-tiny, little-bitty bit of cheese. While I think Mindy would hate him, I think she secretly likes the attention he gives her. I've had a couple of roommates that had pets, but no animal has ever wanted to sniff Mindy's butt as much as Steve. Stevie is such a bad boy.

Then there were the two instances of barking in the house (which is rare) - one by Pippin and the other by Steve. They both scared the crap out of me. Pippin's barkfest was brief, but Steve got them both going and they flew out of the house to go kick some butt. (Have I ever told you that we have a dogdoor that has saved our sanity?) Barkfest #2 ensued for a few minutes, but I was too tired to go tell them to shut it. Plus, I knew my efforts would be fruitless.

After all the antics of the past couple of hours, they all appear to be tired for now. I'm sure something else will happen very soon. I hope Todd is home by then so he can deal with it.

Out with the old, In with the new

We are finally replacing the furniture in our breakfast area! We currently have a mismatched table with chairs & it's in a pretty sad state. I recovered the chairs a couple of years ago & they look better than they did, but still.




The chairs aren't the worst part of the "ensemble". The table is almost like a fake table because you just can't really sit around it. Anyway, Salvation Army - take it away!

On Saturday, our dining area will take on a new look. Something exactly like this, in fact:



It's a wonderful counter-height, cherrywood table top (no veneers!) with black legs and black chairs. We opted for the leaf and eight chairs instead of four. While I'm not overly hip on the chair covers, I know how to recover them when we're ready. :)

I can't wait for our first dinner at our new table!

Will the Real Queen Please Stand Up?

Many of my "bestie" internet pals and I went out for a 2nd Chance Bachelorette Party. What a night we had! It's taken me all of this time to recover and post. :)

Here are a few of us - L to R - Sarah, Dianthe, Jessica, Meg, Kelly, ReJana, Rebecca & me. Oh, and don't forget the huge chunk of wall above and behind us. Thanks dude that took the photo! (and to me for being too lazy to crop it)

We started at the Embassy Suites Hotel at Market Center. We started getting ready and having a few cocktails before cocktail hour began. The hotel offers a free cocktail hour for guests, so we (of course) had to oblige that opportunity as well.

After cocktails & cocktail hour, we headed to our rooms to finish getting ready some more. I'm sure there were a few cocktails consumed again.

For dinner, we went to the Victory Tavern in Victory Plaza. It was my first time down there since it's become such a hotspot around the AAC. Dinner & drinks were overpriced but fairly tasty. The hummus and pita chips were awesome!

From there, we headed to Oak Lawn's Rose Room at S4. They offer a fabulous drag show that we really enjoyed. Then we headed downstairs for more dancing - oh - and more cocktails. :) Here are a few of the ladies/men/whatevers that entertained us. Some of them looked good!

After closing the place down, we went back to the hotel. Many of our friends were already there and asleep (*ahem* passed out), so our hungry selves walked down the street to Whataburger. For those of you that have known me (and known me well) for a long time, you realize heading to Whataburger after being at a bar was a bit scary for me to do. However, I was (once again) pretty sober and needed some sustinence.

Finally, a little after 4am, I unfolded my very uncomfortable sofa bed and crashed. The morning came quickly, as did the week ahead of me.

The one thing I learned is that I am officially old.

Duck, Duck, BARK!

Pippin & Steve had an absolute fit when we had a visitor atop our roof this evening. You would have thought the aliens had landed and were coming for all of us. Instead, it was this:



Yep, it's a duck. (a mallard in fact)


Get off MY house!! I am Steve and you can't be on my roof! WOOOOFF! Don't you understand "dog"?


I don't want to bark at you because my spray collar will get me. Oh well ----- WOOOOFF!


I know, I know . . . Such excitement in our home. You gotta take what you can get!