Soup

It's not quite soup weather, but I'm trying out a new recipe tonight. Hamburger soup with barley. I hope it's good!

I did not have to work today, so I got up and colored my hair, and waited for Ed to come home from a short work day (he just had to do a delivery). We went shopping at Wegmans together. Ahhhh, love and togetherness.

We have already decided on a rental for next summer in Maine. Click here:

http://web.mac.com/oxygengroup/maine/Welcome.html

9-11

This date has always had a significance for me, long before 2001. My parents were married on September 11, 1954. They were both finishing college, with my dad going on to grad school with the eventual completion of a doctorate degree in chemistry. They were dirt poor, and sacrificed a lot to survive in those early years of their marriage. I was born on May 14, 1956--their first born child.

Today, I was thinking about my mom all day. I was wondering what it must feel like on your first wedding anniversary without your spouse. I know she wanted to go sit at the cemetery today, but the weather was not cooperating at all. I called her on the way home from work, and she sounded fine. I know she will never tell me how sad she is. She knows how much I still struggle coping with his death, and she will never say anything that would make me even sadder.

It seems like this year, there was less media attention given to the tragedy of 2001. I remember in past years, the radio stations had moments of silence at the exact times when the two planes hit the world trade center. Today, I didn't hear any mention of it on the radio at all.

Time seems to contribute more to healing than anything else. I have been discovering this as I deal with the death of my dad, and I think as a country we are also beginning to get over the events of 9-11-01. Never to forget, but with the knowledge that we all must move onward and forward.

Maybe This Weekend

Maybe, just maybe, I won't have to work on Saturday. I've been busting my butt to make that possible, and I feel like I'm on track.

Ed lost his temporary bridge today, and he had to go back to his favorite place to get it put back on...

Final HOH on BB tonight.

Tales From The Chair

Hi, Guest Blogger here. Well, the owner of the blog wanted to take a day off. That's OK with me. Interested about the title? The guest blogger spent 5 1/2 hours at the dentist today getting started on a 5 tooth bridge. And it is the first one that Dr. A. has done. Man, I feel good about that. J. knows that I hate going to the dentist, and this was going to be major work (and will continue to be with two more visits). Nothing like the sounds of drills, saws and brushes bouncing off the back of your head. Stuff flying into the air, and that constant gag feeling. The end result is that I have a temporary bridge in, a schedule to get one tooth ( couldn't be saved) removed, and a new bridge in three weeks.

The only way I could have tolerated this is that fact that J. loves me, and the dentist is pretty good and recognizes that I have a problem with the process. After this event, I think the next one should be easier.

Guest blogger signing off for today. J. will be back on Thursday.

Tuesday Feels Like Monday

Tuesday always feels like a Monday the day after a holiday. I'm hoping that even though it's a short week, that I might be caught up enough at work to not have to work Saturday this week. For one thing, I've worked the past four Saturdays, and even though the pay is time and a half, it's not fun. With the holiday on Monday, if I do end up working Saturday it will be paid as straight time, since I'm not working 40 hours this week. We'll see how it goes.

The golden girl emailed me today that she was so "bombarded" with her workload that she wanted me to take care of one of her salesman's requests. Of course, I just did it, because boss lady freaks out if anything is said about golden girl. So, I responded to the salesman and said I was emailing a bunch of confirmations to him, and that he should check the pricing. Two minutes later, I get an email addressed to me and the salesman, copying golden girl. Boss lady said, "G printed out your confirmations and they went in the mail on Friday, couldn't you wait until the mail comes????". So, I get chastised for responding to a request that wasn't my job to begin with....

Ed bought me the first season of "thirtysomething" on DVD. I'm so excited! It was always one of my favorite shows, and I can't wait to watch them and relive the 80s.

Indian Summer

Yesterday was like a perfect Indian summer day, yet today I feel like fall is right around the corner. It's much cooler today, with almost a chill in the air.

Labor Day is such a perfect holiday. There are no gifts, no decorations, nothing special to do at all, except it's a day off from work. The name of the holiday has a certain irony, though, doesn't it? It's to celebrate the efforts of all the workers in the United States, yet instead of laboring today, we all have the day off from work.

As it gets cooler, I know I'm going to think about my dad more and more. This time last year, we were making pretty frequent trips to see my parents, because my dad really couldn't get around too much. If he was feeling somewhat strong, we would go out to eat, and if not, Ed and I would stop at Wegmans and pick up something to grill. I still have no desire to ever go to an Outback again. It was the last restaurant my dad was in. He liked the lamb chops there, and I remember the last time we were there he wanted a taste of my mom's margarita.

He would have been 78 on November 1st, but he died on last December 5th, and was buried on December 8th. I love you very much, Daddy, and think about you all the time.

Garlic Festival

Today, Ed and I went to the Pocono Garlic festival. It was being held at the foot of the Shawnee Mountain ski resort. The website really hyped it, and I was expecting some huge event. It took us forever to get there---traffic backed up on route 209 for miles. We finally get there, and there is a $10 admission for adults.

Can I just say that we were underwelmed? There were a dozen food stands, all selling foods made with, you guessed it! Garlic. There were a couple of entertainment tents, and there were a few craft booths, and that was it. On the way in, I overheard a woman say, "it took us longer to get here than it did to walk around the festival". In our case, it took us the same length of time it took to consume a shared can of Budweiser.

We then took an alternate route home along the Delaware river and had a late lunch at a place called TK's Bar and Grill. The sandwiches were just, eh... It was a beautiful day, though, and at least we got out and did something.