Nothing on the radio

You may recall we were woken up in the wee hours of New Year's morning with a phone call from Will. He had sideswiped a parked truck....a truck that had parked in the right lane of a busy road. A truck that had been in a previous accident. And when Will turned to look at all the flashing lights, he sideswiped this parked truck....never saw it until he hit it. Parked black truck with no hazard lights on.

Chuck was the elected parent to go to the scene of the wreck so I didn't see the damage until we picked up the repaired vehicle yesterday. The vehicle is repaired $8000 later.

The damage:

Every single panel from front to back had to be replaced along with the front bumper.

One long scrape.

Repaired:

Chuck and I decided to drive up to Nacogdoches today to take Will his car. I would drive Will's car and Chuck would follow behind me. Only one problem......

Will put in a new stereo system right after Christmas and he had the face plate with him. The face plate that turns the radio on. I was going to have to drive 2 hours and 45 minutes with no radio/CD player/nada. And no, I do not have an IPod.

Surely I could do this.

And I was doing it. And we were about 45 minutes out of town and I couldn't get the car heater to heat. Me...who is never cold....had numb fingers and a runny nose from being so cold. I called Chuck (behind me in his car) and told him I didn't think the heater was working. So we pulled off the road so he could verify what I thought (cause apparently he is my supervisor and must analyze all situations himself) and he agreed the heater wasn't working.

So we turned around and on our way home we dropped it back off at the collision repair place.

Grrrrr. So Will will be without his car a while longer and our Sunday morning was somewhat of a waste of time.

When's the last time you drove in a car for an hour without the radio on?

On a happier note: Cameron came home to get some of her old textbooks and spent the afternoon....so it was a good day after all.

If any of you have the time, I would appreciate you stopping by Jordan's blog and commenting. She is going to paint some things and send proceeds to the relief effort in Haiti....and also donate a little for every comment she gets. I told her I would send a little traffic her way.

Fixing Sadness

Me and the dogs are a little depressed today. The college kids left us to go back for the spring semester. The cat that makes me laugh has left with the college girl. The yard is dead and brown. The house is dusty. Pictures of Haiti are haunting me. I think I have the January Blues.

So in trying to think of things positive I have come up with a list of good things.

1. I have the day off for Martin Luther King Day.
2. We are able to send our kids to college.
3. Running water and electricity.
4. The dust is only household dust....not the earthquake kind of dust.
5. The yard is frozen and brown but not covered in feet of snow like my northern neighbors.
6. The Ellen Show....she always makes me laugh...and cute Keith Urban, her guest.
7. Jordan's wedding is 2 months away....something wonderful to look forward to.
8. I have a couple of good books waiting to be read.
9. Chuck and his love of computers...which means I always have a good one to use.
10. The blog world....which has given me a creative outlet I couldn't have imagined 3 years ago.

Being a control freak, I find myself spiralling downward when I cannot fix things. I am not sure how Haiti will ever be "fixed"......but I suspect it will be one moment at a time, one child at a time, one pile of rubble at a time, $10 at a time......one prayer at a time. So for now, I think all we can do is pray. Is it just me or are you just a little ashamed at all that you have when you see those pictures of the destruction?

Dear God,

Help me to stand back and look at the big picture and know that you are in control. When the house is quiet and the sad thoughts are rushing in, help me to remember all the many blessings you have given me. Reveal to me, once again, your presence in this world. Be with the people of Haiti. In this horrible storm, let them feel your calm. Give your incredible stamina to the people who have gone to the island to help. Thank you for my abundant blessings and above all, your grace.

Amen.

Muh Lopez

Last night, Chuck and I had the privilege of eating out with Cameron AND Will. We gave Will the choice of restaurants and he picked Salt Grass. There was a time, a few years ago, that we ate at Salt Grass every Friday night. EVERY. FRIDAY. NIGHT. But we haven't been there in ages so it was a good choice.

About the time our salads arrived, I had a surprise visit from a friend. She had seen us across the room and came over to say hi. This friend was a teacher on the kindergarten team a couple of years ago. She is now at another school due to a downsizing at our school that one year....that one year when the big uppity-up predicted we would need 10 teachers and only enough kids for 8 teachers showed up. And as is the case when that happens, last in is first out. I wrote about that sad day here.

All I can say about that is.....our loss, the other school's huge gain. She is a wonderful teacher with the wisdom that comes from age and life experiences and raising her own four children. You just cannot teach that stuff to kids in college. This lady has snap. And you cannot buy snap.

She still calls me Muh 'ackney because one year she had a student who said my name like that. Some how Mrs. Hackney came out sounding like Muh 'ackney (pronounced: muh ak nee). It is a term of endearment coming from her and that time and that kid. And I call her Muh Lopez.

I know that horrible day she had 2 years ago, has turned into a blessing for her. She loves her new school, the kids, the team....all of it.

And while I'm happy that she's happy,

I think it means we could never get her back.

And that is just sad, sad to me.

Up in the Air

Will and I went to see Up in the Air this afternoon. I was intrigued by the fact it is directed by the same guy who directed Juno. The fact that I got to stare at George Clooney for 1 hour and 49 made me get up and go see it. The movie was good...in that quirky character, lots of life stuff kind of way. It certainly wasn't predictable in the twists and turns it took. And the ending was very sad.......as it ended and the staring at George had to stop.

Oh, and you're welcome for the picture above. Easy on the eyes, isn't he?

Small World

Last night was The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, 2010. I had more connections to this college bowl game than ever before....making this big, old world seem a little smaller.

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - My daughter works as an event planner for that organization.

Boise State - My cousin's son Chad goes to college there.

TCU - My friend, Kerri, graduated from there. She has a horned frog on her desk.

Tostitos - I love them!

I had to watch the game because there was a 1 in a million chance that I might see Jordan. And I was torn between who to pull for because..... I didn't care....I had connections to both teams. So I just tried to keep my eye on the ball and stay in the room. I was able to do neither.

Boise State won and I was so happy for Chad....my cousin Camille's precious son...who had traveled to Phoenix to support his team. But I know my friend Kerri is grieving today. So I will not say another word about Boise State's win. I will say TCU gave them a run for their money.

Here's a little something you may not know about me. I am not athletic. Haha...okay you knew that. I am not competitive....well, not about sports or playing board games. I just want to be at the top of every other ladder. So watching sports is not so fun for me. I immediately begin worrying about the losing team. And someone is always losing. And watching those bodies slam into each other....I cringe at the knees.

Here's hoping your team always wins. I will worry about the losers.

Look who got a play bath!

Chuck and I went out to eat last night with my friend Kathy and her husband, who were my most gracious hosts in London. When we got home, I went to change into my pj's and saw a very wet bathroom. More like a wading pool than a bathroom floor. It seems Cameron let the dogs have a play bath while we were gone.

Don't they look guilty?

I may be on to somethin'

I'm not on a diet...yet...again. But today I have had 4 bottles of water and only a small serving of pasta and an orange. It is 4:37 p.m.

Why? That's so unlike me.

Because Chuck's company is finally offering spousal life insurance at an affordable rate. So he signed up for it and I have to have a blood and urine test. And the beauty is the nurse will come to my house. The appointment was for 4:00 p.m. (It is now 4:38)

I was instructed not to eat anything after 12 noon....and drink lots of water. I slept 'til 11:00, drank my coffee while doing my morning computer routine......then glanced at the clock at 12:10. Yikes! I had to hurry and eat something because I wasn't supposed to eat anything after noon. So I ate a little bit of leftover pasta and an orange...not together, but one after the other.

And I began to drink water........and more water.........and more water.

Around 4:00 the phone rang and the nurse tells me she is running late. How late? About an hour at least. So I have dieted today. Without meaning to. I am starving but I can't eat because she's on her way to take my blood.

You would think wanting to be healthier would make me not eat.

You would think wanting to fit in my clothes would make me not eat.

You would think that my daughter's impending wedding would make me not eat.

You would think the mirror would make me not eat.

But nope. It's that nurse coming to my house that is making me not eat.

Not even a peanut.

Tomorrow, I am going to pretend a nurse is coming to my house again. It seems to work better than other incentives.

And about that life insurance. When the kids were little, I would tell Chuck quite often that he should get insurance on me....because if something happened to me, it would take several others to do my job....a maid, a nanny, a taxi driver, a personal shopper, etc. His company would only allow a small amount...basically an amount that would probably not even cover the funeral/celebration. So I was never really insured for much. And of course, I'm still here so I guess that's a good thing.

But now? Now that my kids are raised and I am older? They are offering good insurance at a very affordable price. So if I should accidently die after being tripped.......you know what I'm saying.

I'm kidding Chuck. Sort of. NO, really I'm just kidding. I think.

We are who we are.

And a cat is a cat, no matter how much of a cuddle muffin they seem to be. In the last 3 days, we have found 3 snakes, 1 grasshopper and a baby bird just now........all dead.......all brought in the house. The snakes were the size of a pencil, but might as well have been cobras. The cat is a hunter. He is who he is.

I also would like to report that I haven't even left the house this year. We had a great time bringing the new year in at my teacher/friend's house and got home sometime around 1:00 a.m.


We were awoken by a phone call from Will at 3:00 a.m. that he had been in an accident.

Yep. The dreaded call. But the good news is, he was not hurt and received no ticket. Just loads of damage to his car. There had been a wreck on the other side of the median and he glanced over at it........then sideswiped a black truck that was parked in the right lane on his side. This truck had been in the earlier accident and had just parked in the lane.....no hazard lights on. Even the police officer said that it was a normal reaction for him to have looked at the wreck and there was no way he could have seen the truck. The driver of the parked, already hit once truck was ticketed.

After that, none of us slept so New Year's Day was spent catching up on our sleep.

So 2010? Dead animals and wrecks? I don't think I like you so much. Let's start over.