Scribblings

Ellen Foster

The first line of Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons reads: "When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy." Wow! Talk about a powerful hook! Eleven year old Ellen has been through more than any child should experience. Her father is alcoholic and abusive toward Ellen's mother. Ellen just about raises herself in this dysfunctional household, the "hero" in the alcoholic family. After her mother dies, she goes to live with her teacher and things would have been fine except her grandmother interferes and gets custody of her. The grandmother blames her for the death of her mother, grandma's daughter...as if the poor kid hasn't been through enough as it is. To add to the misery, grandma dies and Helen has to move on yet again, this time to an aunt that doesn't really want her. Ellen sets about finding herself a new family. She has a refreshing voice. I read that she has been compared to Holden Caulfield but I wouldn't go that far. She's a lot more resourceful and "together" than Holden was, a truly admirable character. Now I want to read Gibbons' other books!

Feline Friday: Star

Great news! I'm starring in the next Tim Burton film.

It's totally non-demanding. All I have to do is maintain my pose and look beautiful!

Guess who I'll be playing? Mouse, Mouse? Aren't you interested?

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

Well, I'll tell you anyway. I'm going to be the Sphinx!

Aren't I just purrrrfect for it? I rather look like her, don't I -- but much more beautiful, of course!

Friday Fun:

1. What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?

Go to the bathroom!

2. What is your first memory?

The first thing I can remember is going into the kitchen to get a bottle from my mom. I went back to the living room to lie down on the couch and was watching cartoons. I guess I was between 2 and 3.

3. If you won a million dollars, what is the first thing you would do with it?

Pay off every last bill

4, How old were you when you first realized that YOU were the adult now?

I've always been the adult...but it probably really hit me when I moved out on my own and had to support myself. I was 18 or 19.

Four For Friday:

Q1: If you were offered an opportunity to travel free of charge to any destination on earth for just a 30 minutes visit, where would you choose to go and why?

I can only stay 30 minutes? I'd like to use the loo at Buckingham Palace then I guess.

Q2: Have you ever taken a cooking class? If so, was it fun and worthwhile, or did you feel it was a waste of your time and money? If you've never taken a cooking class, would you like to enroll in one? If so, what cuisine or techniques would like to learn?

I took a Chinese cooking class with my cousin back in 1985. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot of useful techniques.

Q3: With Category 4 and 5 hurricanes dominating the news, how prepared would you say you are to successfully ride out a major storm like Katrina or Rita? Said differently, do you have enough supplies on hand to be able to cope with the fallout that accompanies power outages and the like? If not, are you now thinking about stockpiling supplies such as drinking water, food, gasoline, medicines, batteries, etc.?

As of this moment, I probably have enough water for a couple of days. TB has a full tank of gas and I'm 2/3 full. We have enough medicines but definitely not enough food or batteries. We'd also need propane gas if we lost our electricity and couldn't cook. We probably should stockpile more but don't have a lot of room to keep stuff.

Q4: The average automobile stands still 23 hours a day. How about yours... how many hours a day would you say your car sits idle (not counting being caught in stop-and-go traffic)?

Now that Billy's away at college and since my surgery, my car sits in the driveway sometimes a couple of days without going anywhere.

Too Soon

I am so ready to drive again and do things on my own ... but my body isn't. My brain says, ah, come on, you're not in so much pain, you can do it, you know you don't want to depend on other people and impose! My body tries to go along with the brain and cooperates for as long as possible. Then my head feels a little woozy, I feel a little weak, my incisions begin to complain and I realize I'm trying to do too much too soon.

I can drive locally which makes me happy. I didn't take anything stronger than ibuprofen when I knew I was going to make these little trips. I went to the post office to send off packages for Billy and Michele/kids. I went to CVS to pick up a birthday card and gift wrap. I can go to the library -- it's just a few miles away. I picked up Heidi's birthday cake from the bakery about 10 miles away -- that was about as far as I could comfortably go.

Today I wanted to take Heidi to the allergist. He's about 20 miles away. I figured I could handle it. I've gone from percocet every 4-6 hours to 1-2 times a day. I just took ibuprofen this morning early afternoon and felt fine.

I drove to the high school to pick Heidi up at the end of the school day. We had to wait about 15 minutes for all the buses to clear out before we could leave. There's a lot of traffic on the road -- lots of road construction. Anyway, I got about 5 miles past the high school and realized it was too much. The incisions and my muscles were aching and I think it's too soon to try and drive 20 miles one way.

I am so impatient.

Anyway, I turned around and we went home. On the way, though, I stopped at Rite Aid so Heidi could pick up an application for a job. She's been wanting a part time job to help her pay for stuff and I wanted something productive to come from the trip. I think I'll still need my mother-in-law to drive me places that are more than 10 miles away...at least for another week.

On Friday, it'll be 3 weeks since I had the surgery. I need to be more patient. Soon I'll be back to my driving fool self. :)

Slept Through A Fire

I've known for a long time that I'm a heavy sleeper. Once the police chased a man in our neighborhood when we lived in Columbia, Md. They flew directly overhead in a helicopter with the search lights going. It woke all the neighbors up but I slept through it all.

Yesterday I was taking a nap. I hadn't slept well the night before and the percocet has really wreaked havoc with my schedule. TB was out at the store and Kristin's friends were picked up so I decided I could take a nap. When I woke up, I felt rather disoriented and there was a burning smell in the room. I thought our fan had overheated and turned it off. I started to exit the bedroom and then TB came in, looking very upset. He said he'd hurt the house.

Hurt the house?

While I was napping, he came in with a surprise for me--a brand new microwave he'd gotten on sale at Lowe's. He set it down on the stove top and went to get the other stuff he bought, including several bags of salt for the house. The salt takes the a lot of the iron and stuff out of the well water.

He and Kristin loaded in the salt and then came into the house and right away smelled smoke. One of the burners on the stove was on! I guess it was turned on accidentally when TB put the microwave on it. It's really big. Anyway, TB says there was pandemonium with him, Kristin & Heidi trying to figure out how to put out the fire, save the microwave and get the burning cardboard box out of the house. The smoke alarm went off and they were all yelling.

"When did all this happen?" I asked, trying to take it all in.

An hour ago. An hour ago? I slept through the whole thing! That's a very scary thought. Thank God, no one was hurt and the microwave wasn't damaged. There's a big burn on our linoleum floor, though, and another burn on the carpet. There is a really nasty smell in the house that makes me want to gag. But it could have been a whole lot worse!

Unconscious Mutterings:

1. Less filling:: lighter
2. Glue:: stick
3. Surprise me:: party
4. Model:: airplane
5. Fee:: service charge
6. Microphone:: sing
7. Choices:: pick one
8. To the bone:: chilled
9. Run!:: danger, Will Robinson!
10. Appeal:: likeable

Feline Friday: Mousie Mousie Mousie

Our Amber looks troubled this morning. What's the matter, Amber?

I've been cute and funny but can't get any face time! For three weeks now, it's been Mousie Mousie Mousie!

Nothing like a little TLC to drive those blues away!

My Baker's Dozen Weekend

1. How did we get this far into September already?
2. Little grandson Nikolas turned 1 on Friday; we missed being with him but to sing him "Happy Birthday" the next day
3. I got to talk to Billy this weekend because he's bored -- the office of first year experience didn't jam pack the weekend with activities for a change! It's good to hear his voice
4. I also got to talk to my brother -- this is the weekend for catching up!
5. I wrote down everything I ate at each meal this weekend. It's helping me stay on track and on goal!
6. We got a note from Taylor! Gosh, we miss the grandkids!
7. The girls went over to Gram's to help her with a yard sale. I am so glad they have each other. My mom lives in MD and Grandma Alberta lives in PA so they were missing out on a lot of good grandparenting. Now they have Gram
8. My sleep schedule is still wacky from the medication...but I haven't taken any percocet since last night. Maybe I'll get back on a normal schedule this week!
9. I am so glad the New Orleans Saints won their football game yesterday. We needed some good news for New Orleans!
10. Thank God things are finally improving for the victims of Hurricane Katrina
11. I noticed that -- in addition to the 12 lbs the doctor took off me -- I've lost another 3 lbs!
12. I realized that although I'm still fluffy, I look and feel much better now and it'll be that much easier to attack the weight!

Feline Friday: Hide & Seek III

Since Mommy's surgery, she's been especially careful about leaving out all sorts of hiding places for me. She says it's because she doesn't want to bend over and pick things up yet but I know it's really because she likes playing hide and seek so much.

Let's see...should I hide in this direction?

Or in the basket with all the cool stuff?

Or...how about here? My favorite--an empty box!

Think quick! Here she comes now!

I'll just turn my head aside and go invisible! See, it works, she's lying down to take a nap and didn't even see me! Tee hee!

Update

It's been almost a week since I went in for surgery and I'm feeling pretty good. I am taking percocet less frequently, mostly because it's messing with my sleep schedule. I seem to be following the sleep schedule of a new born, up and down every couple of hours. Luckily, though, my appetite hasn't gotten out of control so I'm not eating every time I get up either!

I won't get into the gross details of healing too much except to say it's going along just fine. The bruises are fading nicely. The stitches feel a little itchy but they're supposed to do that when you heal. I'm a little stymied by physical limitations -- like bending over to get a basket of laundry -- but I know it's temporary.

My MIL came over to help yesterday and she was a blessing. She prepared an oven stuffer roaster for me which seems like no big deal but I can't mess with an 8 lb bird right now. She also helped me put laundry away in drawers I can't reach, vacuumed and persuaded my daughters to help her do extras around the house. I felt a little bad watching her doing all this stuff but then I realized that she was enjoying herself and that letting her help was the right thing to do after all.

So what's up for today? Mom will be back over to shop for a few things at the grocery store. I wanted to mail a couple of books to Michele and I bet she'd take them to the post office for me.

I am feeling very content.

Ten Great Love Songs

Ten on Tuesday:

10 Great Love Songs

1. Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers
2. I Can't Help Falling in Love With You by Elvis Presley
3. Breathe by Faith Hill
4. My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion
5. Grow Old Along With Me by John Lennon
6. Love Can Build A Bridge by the Judds
7. Just the Way You Are by Billy Joel
8. Colour My World by Chicago
9. If by Bread
10. Fields of Gold by Sting

Before and After

I was trying to find a good "before" picture of me. It'd gotten to the point where I either didn't want to pose or I'd hide myself somehow. Like with this picture, taken the day Billy graduated 2 months ago:

I did find this one, though!

You can see how low they're hanging...well, that was in June and this was taken on September 3, 2005.

Check it out, I can wear a sports bra! I am SO happy!!!!

Feline Friday: Hide & Seek II

Help! Come find me, I'm tired of playing hide & seek!

We could hear her plaintive cries but weren't sure where she was. Sometimes she'll roam the house crying piteously as if she's lost or has lost someone. Maybe that was it? And yet, when I was using Quicken in TB's office I remembered she'd jumped up on the desk next to me and then slithered down behind it. TB said she'd done it before. She likes to play hide and seek...could it be?

Mousie, are you back there? Ollie ollie outs in free!

Oh thank heaven and little fishes, you finally found me!!

You can come out now, Mouse.

Well, you see, I have this little problem...I can't jump back up, it's too high...

Hellllp me, I've got catstrophobia!

And so TB crawled under the desk and moved a lot of stuff around so that Mouse could squeeze herself out. Hopefully she won't play hide and seek in small places anymore!

Ah yes, a much better place to hide because I'm invisible!