Unexpected Liberation

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Happy Valentine's Day!
Originally uploaded by HamWithCam.

May your day be filled with love!

Vic set it free at 7:19 AM

Monday, August 15, 2005

Summers end
Originally uploaded by victornado.

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Today is very much like the last day of summer for me.

Certainly there are still hot days ahead. Fall begins early, though, here in Pittsburgh. At least compared to Oklahoma. As a rule the summers are not severe in Pennsylvania and fall transitions subtly as the weather gradually turns cooler and the days shorter.

It is not the weather that will end my summer.

Tomorrow we will drive to Terre Haute, Indiana to retrieve the man-child after six weeks in Arkansas. We meet half-way for both parties for the exchange. We'll return on Wednesday.

I won't lie - I have enjoyed the time my husband, LB, and I have shared together these past six weeks. Not that our son cramps our style too much. He is 13 1/2 and has his own agenda. Still, to come and go on a whim without any responsibilities has been nice.

I can tell my son is ready to come home. He has a habit of telling me the day's date and how many days there are until an important event. For the past two weeks he has relayed that information to me over the phone, counting down the days until August 16th.

Yesterday we visited the grocery store to prepare for his return. I stopped in the bakery to pick up his favorite flavor of cupcakes, white cake, white icing with sprinkles. Somehow I managed to wind down the cookie aisle, an aisle I haven't visited in some time, and picked up a package of Oreo Double Stuff cookies - his favorite. "Are we trying to fatten him up??", LB asked as the cookies took their place in our cart. OF COURSE I won't let him have all these treats at once but there are only two weeks left until school starts. A little indulgence won't hurt - will it? I also purchased nectarines and peaches - more favorites.

Soon the "back to school" shopping will begin. His room will be thoroughly cleaned and organized. I know he'll need a haircut. I'll have him go to bed and rise in the morning at a specific time to set his internal "school clock".

But this week is our freebie. We'll finish out the week with wild abandon. Okay, we'll go to the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh and see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on the IMAX screen. We'll race each other via Play Station and stay up late.

Yes, summer is over in a sense but I have no complaints. It's all good.

Vic set it free at 11:58 AM

Friday, August 12, 2005

Where do I begin? Or...What I Did During My Summer Vacation

I deliberately avoided looking at the date of my last post while signing on to Blogger today. I know it's been a long time - even for a slacker like me.

The good news is: my hair is looking good!

The other good news is: I had an awesome summer.

It has been a honeymoon, vacation, and life journey I won't soon forget.

The vacation started off with the four of us: Me, LB, the man-child & Dugan.

First stop was Burnsville, NC. Burnsville is nestled in the North Carolina mountains near Ashville. My half-sister, Barb, spends her summers there in a lovely "cabin" (that seems bigger than my house!) I hadn't seen Barb in 17 years although we have always kept in touch over the years. The first time I met her I was 25 and I saw her once more a year later. That was it. Long story. She the only child from my father's first marriage and I am the youngest from his other "child-bearing" wife.

My mother passed away last February and Barb is truthfully the only sibling I have left. Yes, I have a older sister from my parent's union but she hasn't liked me from birth ("That thing has my blanket" and it went downhill after that) I have to admit I was a bit aprehensive about the visit and deliberately kept it short in case things didn't go well. It turned out I should have planned a week there. We had such a lovely time!

Our next stop was Euharlee, GA. Now, I would only go to Euharlee, Ga for one reason and one reason alone: to meet Kitty. Kitty and I have been online friends for a couple of years now. We met when we both wrote for an online site that shall remain nameless only because we both left about the same time for the same reason...and I'm not giving them any press.

Kitty is the third person I met online that I have met in person. The first became a very, very, very dear friend and then he was tragically killed in a car crash. The second is my Sweet Baboo, LB. We met in an online poker game on New Year's Eve 1998.

He's the best hand I ever won.

The time spent in Euharlee was too short. I think it took longer for the AAA lady to find it for our trip-tik than we had time to spend but it was worth the stop. Meeting an online friend, especially one that has been such a good friend and so supportive, is surreal. Spending time with Kitty in her gorgeous home, meeting her s/o and her menagerie of pets made her 100% real. Now when we talk on the phone I can imagine her surroundings and I feel so much closer to her.

We then wound our way through Georgia, Alabama to Mississippi to spend the night before heading to Ardmore, Oklahoma. My two grown children, Rocky & Blondwinkle, live there as well as my two beautiful grandsons. I was also scheduled to attend my first high school reunion after THIRTY years. After we left Mississipi we drove through part of Tennessee, then Arkansas to our final destination.

I can't begin to describe how wonderful it was to see my kids and grandkids. It has been seven years (another long story!) One of my grandsons I had never even seen in person. The high school reunion went equally well and the sense of "home" was overwhelming as I drove around to my old haunts, showed LB and Matt around Lake Murray, heard "kids" I had known from grade school holler my maiden name when they recognized me, and felt the arms of my children around me.

Wow. The sense of belonging. The feeling of love. Worth many miles and hours on a sore tailbone.

After nearly a week in Ardmore we set off for NW Arkansas. The man-child was set to spend six weeks with relatives there...and that's when the honeymoon began.

LB and I drove back to Pittsburgh and dropped Dugan off with his breeders. They wanted him home to participate in a dog show and baby-sat him a few extra days while we visited my sister-in law and her husband in Williamsburg, VA. We spent the 4th of July there.

If you ever get a chance to spend the 4th of July in Colonial Williamsburg - do it.

After that we stayed home for about 10 days to catch up on responsibilities and then headed back to North Carolina. LB's oldest son and his wife live outside of Charlotte. We spent four days there and then went back to spend more time with my sister, Barb, in Burnsville.

This time I took several boxes of pictures from the early 1900's of our family on my father's side. Barb knew my Grandmother Victoria and her sisters. They had long since passed before I was born. (Barb is 23 years older than I am). Barb had a 40 year gap in contact with our father (due to her mother) so...

She could tell me about my family from before I was born and I could help her get to know our father better. It was a beautiful exchange and has cemented our relationship. We also found out that we do many of the same things, love many of the same foods (spicy) and generally are very much sisters even if it took us nearly 50 years to get to know each other.

That has to be all, right? Almost!

A week after returning from THAT trip we went to a four day dog show in Canfield, OH. Dugan is finally finished! He is now officially Champion Calgar Shadow Boxin McGregor! No more dog shows!

Well, almost. My photography bug has hit hard this morning and I took some great (if I do say so myself) candid shots at the dog show. I have been asked to take pictures at a Rotating Specialty next spring. Woo hoo!

I love taking dog pictures. I love taking pictures period.

If you are feeling adventurous and would like to look at some of the pics I took during my travels you are welcome to view them HERE.

Some are better than others, what can I say? There is a link at the top of the page to the different albums.

I also joined flickr and am just starting to figure out all of the tools. Eventually I hope to have one of those flickr thingmabobs here on my blog.

It is good to be back. But, damn, did I have a good time!

Vic set it free at 11:22 AM

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Yes, As a matter of fact…

I did fall off the face of the earth. It was an amazing journey!

It all began about a month ago. I woke up in my usual manner, groggy but still my amazingly cheerful self, and began my day with four slices of cinnamon toast and a nice glass of cold Dr. Pepper.

The memo holder next to my computer held an ominous url in its clutches. Our insurance company’s website of “in network” health providers. My only task was to find a doctor for my son that lived with-in a 10 mile radius, make an appointment and find the help he so desperately needed. Piece of cake, yes?

Piece of cake, no. Most of the phone numbers did not lead to a nice little office with a nice little reservation taking employee. These numbers went directly to doctor’s pagers where you could leave a detailed message and never have your call returned. I have a list of about 15 doctors in the Pittsburgh area that aren’t professional enough to return a phone call if anyone is interested.

Then there is the clinic where my son’s last evaluation took place in February. We found out (on our own because the clinic wouldn’t take the time to follow up) after the evaluation that our insurance wouldn’t cover his therapy and care. We have requested a copy of the evaluation by mail, phone and fax. Nothing.

These things are just the tip of the iceberg and I will not bore you with the full details. Needless to say, I have been obsessed and not much in the mood to talk about it. Dealing with it is enough.

There have been many high-notes in the past month. My husband and I stumbled onto an opportunity to take “Swing” dance lessons for four weeks…for free! Free was the operative word for me because I have never danced a day in my life (in public) An upcoming class reunion in June featuring a dinner/dance as the main event have made dance classes seem like a reasonable idea.

The first night I thought I was going to die. I am not an active person, per se. Walking from my computer to the refrigerator or bathroom makes up my daily exercise routine. I want to do more. It is just SO BORING. I can’t say that about the dance classes. After getting past the initial embarrassment of not knowing my left from my right foot ( a piece of knowledge that continues to plague me the first 20 minutes of class each week) I start having fun. I have to take several breaks through out the class because my leg muscles eventually just go limp. But, I have noticed more stamina each week after the class and I have finally gotten “out of self” and found myself just enjoying the experience.

I can’t say that we’ll impress anyone at the reunion but frankly, that wasn’t my goal in the first place.

As the reunion approaches you’ll be receiving an earful on the subject so that’s all I have to say about it for now. Trust me, I’m doing you a favor.

Last weekend I spent three whole days without the internet. It wasn’t by choice. My friend Sally and I drove up to Erie, PA for a Toastmasters Spring Conference. The AVALON HOTEL in Erie boasts on their website that they have wireless internet throughout the hotel. LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE! There was NO internet. I called down to the main desk when my laptop didn’t hook up with a wireless provider in my room.
There wasn’t even visible evidence of a data port. Do you know what they told me? DO YOU? I was to unplug the telephone and plug my modem in to the phone jack. OR, I could go down to the lobby where “wireless sometimes drift in.” It does? From where? Lake Erie? Does a seagull fly overhead with a connection on his ass?

Several of my cohorts and I tried out various areas of the lobby and not a single one ever linked up to anything.

In the long run it turned out okay. It forced me to find something to do the night before the conference. Sally and I wound up in a great comedy club right up the street called Juniors Last Laugh. Our table was right next to the stage. All three comedians were great but the headliner, Mark Reedy, was the best. The guy before him was named Buzz Nutley. Very funny guy. How could you go wrong with a name like Buzz Nutley?

On Sunday after the conference we drove over to North Tonawanda, NY. Sallie is a master breeder of tropical fish and apparently “The Fish Place” is THE place to check out fish. I have all sorts of pictures I took with my cell phone and the minute I figure out how in the hell to get them from my phone to the computer I will share them with you. I have a very cool picture of two morey eels among others. We spent three hours in that fish store. I would tell you about the secret basement that is about three times bigger than the store but I have been sworn to secrecy. (Don’t worry, I have pictures of that too!)
We departed with two large Styrofoam containers filled with assorted fish stuffed into the back of her Prius. (A Prius is a car – you sicko!)

As we were finally leaving the store I found out we were only 11 miles from Niagra Falls. There was no way I was going to be that close and not go. I dreamed of seeing Niagra Falls since I was a little girl growing up in Oklahoma. I always hoped to see it with my husband the first time but as I said…there was no way I was going to miss it when I was just eleven miles away!

Sallie is a trooper plus she owed me big time for my angelic patience at The Fish Place. We arrived at the Falls around 5 pm. I gladly paid the 10.00 for parking. We donned our jackets and took out on foot to the Falls. I cried. I really did. They are absolutely magnificent. All that power really puts you in your place. I took lots of pictures. I even emailed one to my husband (don’t ask me how I did that …I just followed the prompts that I now can’t find. No, I am not a complete idiot. I just got this damn thing two weeks ago) I can’t wait to go back and visit the Canadian side. That will be another big deal for me since I have never been outside of the U.S. But I could look across the rapids and see Canada…!

So, that is a few of the ways I spent my time while fallen off the face of the earth. Some of it has been frustrating, some of it fun, some of it life altering.

Maybe I’ll fall off again next year.

Vic set it free at 11:28 AM

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