sunday afternoon

I haven’t blogged this before… and I only do so now really so that I can tell you a story where its relevance will matter.

My mom is sick. She has cancer… as oh so many do. My mom’s cancer cannot be cured. And so we move through these days and months in treatment, in limbo… in life.

She was diagnosed in March – and one of her great hopes was to make it to football season.
And here we are.
Tho I fear she will take the news of B ruschi’s r*tirement worse than her own diagnosis... we are poised and ready to take in another Patriots season - in hi-def of course.

Every year here in southern Connecticut a group of motorcyclists get together to do a charity ride for 9/11.
By ‘a group’ I mean over a thousand of them.
I’ve blogged about this before… and we try to be there every year to cheer them on.
It’s really quite moving.


We like to toss some lawn chairs in the car and head over to Main Street in our town to watch. As soon as we see the riders I will call my mom who lives in the next town over in a retirement community right on the riders route. She then makes sure all the old folks from the village are out by the road in time.

This year however, not sure if it was the timing or perhaps we were too busy, maybe it wasn’t well advertised– we were unaware of the date of the ride.

Yesterday mom was resting in her recliner and watching some afternoon TV. Chemo leaves her rather wiped out for a couple days, and so her recliner is her weekend pal.
When the sound of some loud motorcycles came she waited impatiently for them to pass so she could hear her show.
But there were more… and more… and it didn’t stop.

She went to the door.
There were more…
It slowly dawned on her what was going on.

She realized no one from the village knew - no one was out there to cheer them on.

And so … pale, tired, shaky and little nauseous – she went out the door and slowly made her way across the lawn - to the curb.
There she stood all by herself… waving, tears streaming, completely moved by the sight of those thousand motorcycles.

Friday

tip-o-day

Some of products I use on the lawn require watering in. We have a pretty big yard so getting out the hose and sprinkling the lawn is really not an option.

In the case of grub control - I like to get that watering in right away. I don't like the idea of the chemical sitting there for too long.

So to keep the environment as safe as I can under such circumstances*, I spread the materials before an expected rain shower.

For quick results, I like to begin spreading just as the rain is starting.
To do this I simply fill the hopper of my broadcast spreader and cover the top with a piece of foil. My gourmet wife keeps the large size foil around to cover her large baking pans - this fits perfectly over my spreader. You can also use saran warp or even a garbage bag.

Toss on a rain hat and some tall rubber boots to complete the look.



Try you're best not to apply the product when very heavy rains are expected. Not only can this be harmful to plants and wildlife but you will simply waste your money as your product washes away.

*I do generally recommend natural grub control methods - such as Milky Spore. But for this size yard in the current economy it's a bit cost prohibitive.

last mom standing

The Free dog has 'hot spots' - she is on antibiotics and a topical treatment.
She has had two accidents in the house so far this week. Please keep in mind she is 80 pounds. An accident can require almost an entire roll of paper towels.

I came down with a stomach virus. I was not even able to stand for an entire day.
I am just starting to eat rice and pudding today.

Ferris was supposed to move into his first off campus apartment yesterday, but he was near death so we dragged him out to a clinic. He has strep. He got some good drugs. Today we are sharing pudding.

And my wily wife - she's fine.
Somebody has to take care of all of us.

tips

Hmm, there used to be 'tips' here every Friday
[scratching head, looking under desk]

I wonder where they went.

I love uniforms

This morning we took our coffee out to the side porch.
It's shady and cool there and we can watch the morning traffic go by on our busy street.

weese (looking at a ginourmous SUV with a soccer mom on her cell)
"Ugh, another one on the phone...I wish I were a cop"

my coffee-sipping wife:
"You are a cop...you just don't have a uniform"

TMI

Have you ever felt a little...something, maybe something wasn't quite right, you feel a little off. So you start to look up your symptoms on the internets.

C'mon...you know you do.

I've noticed that every major disease, affliction, complication or illness seems to involve "unexplained weight loss".

Clearly I'll live to 100.

turn the heat up

Last week I blogged about being hot.

It was technically not that hot outside, in fact it was quite comfortable. Here in my home office,however, in our un-air-conditioned attic things were a bit steamier.

Today temps are predicted to go into the mid 90's.
Should be interesting up here today.
At high noon - my office temp is 81.

It takes until mid afternoon to really get toasty up here. All that radiant warmth off our Timberline dark gray architectural shingles just swirls in here.

I'll update with a thermometer pic later this afternoon.
If I can stand the heat.


4:40 p.m. update - the sun went in...its only 84 degrees up here. I think I will survive after all.

Re-inventing the wheel

Even tho most of my workdays are spent in my warm, dark home office – I do occasionally put on clothes and take the ride into our corporate office building.
When I come to the office, because we are mostly a work-at-home team, office space is shared. There are docking stations and monitors all over the place. So basically I can come in and pop my laptop in most anywhere for my workday.

Today I am in a new location. It’s quite adequate – although a bit chilly and bright for my tastes.
Uncharacteristically, I forgot my little wireless travel mouse. I love my little mouse.

The mouse I am using today has no middle wheel button.
I had no idea how attached I was to the wheel button.

whooo weee

Have you ever been so hot that you need to take your jewelry off.
As if it might be cooler to just not have that necklace on your neck.

Don't get me wrong here.
My people are a short, round island people*.
We love the heat.
Bring it.

* This is a common joke of mine. My father was Italian, his mother grew up in Sicily. I tend to favor that side of the family in the short, round shape and fetching olive tone... thus 'my people'.
Oh... and my mother? The W.A.S.P. - she was simply the vessel.

a token, a favor... a small parting gift

I went to the dentist yesterday.
They gave me a goodie bag. You know - new toothbrush, a small tube of paste and some floss.
I love goodie bags
Really, it doesn't take much to make my day.

I think we should get goodie bags from all our appointments.
You could get a new pencil or notepad from your accountant.
How about a home breathalyzer from your attorney?
Your shrink could give you a complimentary xanax with a tissue pack.
Even the gynecologist can join in the fun....

Little Bathroom Cups

At any given moment you may find one, or more, little bathroom cups strewn about our patio. You know those little cups. The little 3 oz'ers - the ones you get with the Dixie bathroom dispenser. We've had the dispenser mounted to the wall next to our bathroom sink since the kids were little. Always sure to get happy, colorful cup designs - like fish or jungle animals with smiley faces, or a favorite cartoon character.

I suppose we don't use them so much anymore since we've stopped being summoned for a midnight sip of water - or to administer Tylenol just before bed. But we still have the dispenser and I still buy happily designed little cups.


I regularly toss these little cups out the bathroom window.
In fact, I just did last night.

My sentient wife was washing dishes in the kitchen below when she saw it drop by the window in front of her. She didn't flinch.
That's because she knows.
She knows that in that little cup there is an unsuspecting spider... perhaps a witless beetle, or any number of other tiny crawling intruders that has just been launched for the ride of their lives.

No really... it's way more humane than just squishing them on the wall.
I often wonder why they are all so enamored with crawling around the tub, perhaps they like the ride so much they make their way back up for another turn.