Lucky Dorito

These two darlings have arrived!!

Oh what fun we’re going to have!! I’ll be blogging as I can over the next week. Definitely taking a gazillion pics!

Have you TRIED this??? Holy cow… it’s to die for!

I recently had a conversation with a female patient about hearing loss. I was doing as all health care providers do at times - trying to speak to her with my mask covering my lips. She reminded me, “You do remember I have some hearing loss, don’t you?”

“Why yes - now I do!”

Duh. It’s a chronic habit that I try to break myself of all the time.

She is an incredibly articulate woman whom I enjoy speaking with at every opportunity so I sure don’t want to make it impossible for her to have a conversation with me. She went on to explain that hearing loss is not just a matter of hearing everything at a decreased volume, as if someone turned the volume down on the television, but more a distortion of the sounds. Different tones of voice might still be loud and clear while others are garbled-sounding. For her, being outside at a ballgame or at a party with lots of conversations going on around her are very different than those same things would be for me. She can only make out bits and pieces of conversations unless the person is standing right next to her.

I got to thinking about our conversation later that day when I was getting groceries at Wal-Mart. Have you ever really paid any attention to all the noise that goes on around us, especially in a busy store? As people pass, you hear a snippet of their conversation. A man on his cell phone, quickly asking what it was he was supposed to be picking up. A small child begging her mom for something. Teenagers snickering and laughing with each other. A husband and wife comparing prices. A baby screaming (that one I heard loud and clear). Once I started noticing them, I struggled to tune them out - which is what I must usually do since I had never noticed before.

When I approached the check out line, there was a young couple in front of me - possibly just high school age. He was saying, “Why would you want to do that?”

She said, “Just because…” shrugging her shoulders.

He said, “That’s no reason.”

She said, “Well, it’s my hair. I can do what I want to with it.’

He said, “Yeah but…. why would you WANT to?”

She said, “I don’t know.”

He said, “But you’re beautiful like it is.”

Awwww.

She turned to look directly at him. He smiled at her and she must have been able to see that he meant it. I think she might have melted slightly.

It was precious.

I felt momentarily guilty for eavesdropping on such a sweet moment. But then again…. it warmed my heart. I needed that.

I asked for it when I blogged about picking up dog poop.

I get a kick out of the searches people make for different things that make them land on my blog. But, in all honesty, I never plan a topic with regard to the fact that it might or might not bring readers to this page. I just blog about whatever strikes my fancy at the moment.

Lately people have searched the following things and wound up here:

*I feel like I have to poop after I poop

*how to use a poop scooper

*fertilizing with dog poop

*poop-eating beetles

and …. *pivotal moments in life after age 40 (which has nothing to do with poop, thank goodness!)

What’s the weirdest things that have brought readers to your blog?

You’ve heard the expression, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him about your plans.” I believe it.

For the past fifteen years my husband has organized and presented at a continuing education meeting for coaches. (It’s officially called a Sports Medicine Symposium) He recruits all the speakers and does a lot of the background stuff - flyers, emails, etc. with the assistance of his office staff. (There’s your plug Courtney) Several times over the past weeks he has said, “I really need to get my power point presentations together.” When I questioned him on this, the closer it neared the date of the symposium, he would said, “Oh, it won’t take long. I’ve got all the information from past years, just need to update it.”

I believed it.

You know we were in Texas last week, right? We got home last Sunday night, both started work again on Monday and just were plugging away all week. There was laundry to catch up on, knee-high grass to mow, and a plethora of other chores for us to do each night. Several times during the week he mentioned needing to work on his presentations but…. didn’t.

Thursday night when I got home late after a hair appointment, he said, “I’ll need your help tomorrow night on my power points, ok?”

I said, “Sure, you said it wouldn’t take too long. Between the both of us, we can knock it out in no time.”

I was wrong.

Wayyy wrong.

It turned into a nightmare night. Everything he wanted to update took ten times as long as it should have. I was searching out google images on my laptop for him of concussion injuries and muscle cramps and total body immersion for heat illnesses and emailing them to him. He would save them to his computer to insert where needed. I was helping him figure out how to make his power point slides to transition correctly. (Neither of us use power point enough to remember all the ins and outs.) I was basically just here, being useful when he needed me. And that was just for the first of his two presentations.

At 3 am, when I was getting my second wind, he ran over to his office to pick up something he needed so that we could work on his second presentation. I thought about kicking his butt for waiting til the last minute to do these but…. I didn’t really have enough energy.

He finally finished up (while I was dozing in and out) and we headed upstairs just as the sky was beginning to lighten up. I ironed clothes while he showered and then I hopped in myself.

I wasn’t too worried at that point - my job during the symposium was to be getting the food tables set up and basically being available for whatever they needed. I figured as long as I wasn’t sitting still, I would be all right. But of course, no sooner than we got there, my sweet husband looked at me with his tired eyes and said,  “Honey, would you mind filming each of the speakers?”

How could I refuse, knowing he was as tired as I was and still had to get up in front of these people for TWO presentations?

I whispered, “Just please, don’t turn the lights out!”

As it turns out, it didn’t matter that the lights were on. I struggled to stay awake anyway. Every now and then, I’d look over and catch my husband watching me nod off and he’d just smile at me. I was embarrassed, I’m sure the speakers noticed me nodding off since I was sitting in the 4th row and everyone else was way behind me. But I tell ya, I just couldn’t stay awake. Not even after about 8 cups of coffee and a dozen trips to the potty. (At least running to the restroom gave me the chance to move around a bit!)

We went to eat afterwards with the two gals from his office who were there to handle all the incoming coaches, making sure they’d been registered and signed in. I was trying to tell them a story and absolutely lost my train of thought halfway through it. Sheesh. This is a sign I’m getting old, huh?

Needless to say, we were totally unproductive most of the weekend afterwards. I slept only a few hours Saturday, knowing the girls were probably bored out of their minds, which meant I was only half awake the rest of the day. My husband slept from 2pm Saturday afternoon until 8am Sunday morning except for a minor raid of the kitchen around midnight.

Sunday was supposed to be our Father’s Day celebration since we were traveling back from Texas last Sunday. After about 18 hours in bed, Mr. Lucky’s back was killing him so he settled for breakfast on the couch while we watched a movie. We decided to skip the all-over-town scavenger hunt that I’d planned for him since… well…. I didn’t have time to get the *gift* that was supposed to be the found at the end of the hunt. Guess I sorta blew it there. Oh well. It’s ok. That’ll teach him to keep this old woman up working all night.

I almost always have my cell phone in my pocket, set to vibrate instead of ring. I think the vibration is much less intrusive than a ringing phone so I prefer it that way, it works for me. Of course, I often suffer from phantom vibrations but oh well.

When I’m at work, my phone buzzes in my pocket randomly - if my husband wants to meet for lunch or my girls letting me know when they get home from school. (Right now, it’s summer and they are home most days - even more cause for concern for me!) But for the most part, everyone knows I work chairside with patients so I don’t get many calls or texts at all during the day. So when my phone buzzed today I checked it as soon as I could, to make sure there were no emergencies.

It listed a local phone number that I didn’t recognize. The message said, “Is this it?”

I replied, “Is this what?”

The reply came quickly, “You.”

Ummm… well….. let me think. It’s me all right - but was it the YOU this person meant? I knew by now that it must surely be a wrong number but I couldn’t resist - I replied, “You WHO?”

The reply came in momentarily, saying “Chris.”

I laughed out loud. Nope, it’s not that you.

I replied, “Sorry, I think you have the wrong number.” But I reallllllly wanted to say… “Chris who?” hehe

Thirteen Things I learned this past week while in Texas:

1. Long road trips are a perfect excuse to buy/eat junk food.

2. I was pretty sure I already loved my new van - but now I am totally sure. Having the wireless headphones so that the girls could listen to their movies on the DVD while we were able to crank some music really helped keep the drive entertaining for all of us.

3. It is seriously hot in Texas.

4. I love the sunshine but I sure didn’t care for the sweating in the seriously hot Texas weather.

5. Apparently talcum powder is a must-have.

6. A cockroach crawling up the wall of the restaurant where you’ve just finished eating is not nearly as disgusting when you say to yourself, “But it’s Texas! Just think - it could be so much BIGGER!”

7. The big beautiful trees flanking the Alamo would look even better in my yard.

8. The grass at Shannon’s house is “spongier” feeling than the grass at my house. Wonder why?

9. Shannon’s sweet little dog Belle reminds me of the sweet-faced dog in the Grinch Who Stole Christmas:

10. The water in Texas is much *softer* than the water at home.

11. I am still in awe of the expansive and gorgeous sky over Texas.

12. The little step between driveway and garage floor is only about an inch high - and yet, that’s plenty tall enough to cause klutzy me to almost nosedive into the trunk of Shannon’s car.

13. My best friend lives in Texas. I miss her already.

Someone tell me what is the deal with all the ants this summer? Is anyone else finding an overabundance of ants every where you turn or is it just me?

It all started a few months ago with a straggler here or there, in the kitchen, in the bathroom, on the back deck (which is outside so I can’t complain about that too much). I’d kill them and not think anything of it. Then one day there was a whole entourage near the back door - I dug out some ant-killing spray and treated the door frame outside and killed the little army inside.

Then one day a few weeks ago, we were at my husbands new physical therapy clinic that they just finished and moved into when we found ants crawling on the newly tiled foyer floor. Sheesh.

This past weekend when we were driving home from Texas, Luby or Beebo saw an ant inside the van. Inside the van ?? One ant turned into two or three, and so on and so on. We were talking about it as we drove, both of us remembering seeing a big swarming pile of them inside the parking garage at the hotel in San Antonio near where the van was parked. Finally, after seeing several, we pulled off an exit to investigate. Mr. Lucky opened the back end of the van and tapped on the luggage rack bar on top of the van and a gazillion little teeny Texas ants poured out. Ewwwww. We found a bunch more inside under the floor mats. Blecht.

Yesterday when I got home from work, there was another small army of ants in the kitchen window and a few near the sink.

What is the deal?? I know I’m not the greatest housekeeper in the world but come on - it’s not THAT bad. We’ve had a ton of rain this year, I don’t know if that is contributing or what. That wouldn’t explain the ones in the van though. I’ve heard several people here mention them too so maybe it’s just in this area.

I bought some Ant Block - has anyone tried it? We’ll see what happens…

Speaking of bugs, wouldn’t you just love to have this paperweight sitting on your desk?

Or maybe this one:

I didn’t even get a picture of the Scorpion Suckers we saw all over the place in Texas but I found them online. **Shiver**

Never been so happy to see these two sweet faces.

I have tons of pictures and stories to share but…. it’ll take me a few days.

This Father’s Day, we find ourselves in Texarkana, Arkansas in a surprisingly beautiful and BIG room at a newly opened Best Western. (Big as in - we wouldn’t even have to rearrange to fit in the air mattress so that 6 of us can share a room as we did in San Antonio when Shannon and Madison were with us.)

We made a group decision that we would wait until next Sunday for our little family of 4 to celebrate Father’s Day, starting with breakfast in bed for my darling Mr. Lucky, an all-over-town scavenger hunt, and unlimited sexual favors. That only seemed fair since we have over 500 miles to travel to get home today…. wouldn’t you agree?

On a totally different note, this is the first Father’s Day since my Dad passed away last fall. It makes me ache with sadness to think of all the “firsts” we (my mom, my sisters and I) are experiencing now…. first Halloween, first Thanksgiving, Christmas, first New Years, first birthday he wasn’t here for, and now - first Father’s Day that I can’t at least pick up the phone and find him on the other end. I can’t help but wonder - how many times over the years did I accidentally let the day slip away without even calling? Knowing I’d send a card already…. as if that was enough to make up for not calling. But, sadly, it’s true. I didn’t always cherish those moments as I should have. I took them for granted. I never dreamed of the day those opportunities would be gone from me.

Wow, that makes me sound shallow and selfish. But…. it’s true. I am not proud of it, that’s for sure. If my Dad could hear me now, I’d say “Thank you for all the sacrifices you made for us along the way. Thank you for always being in our corner, even when we were too stupid to realize it. Thank you for being you, Daddy. I love you. Happy Father’s Day.”

So.

Now that I have sufficiently cried my freshly applied make up back off…. I must go. The long highway beckons.

To all my DAD friends - I wish you each a wonderful Father’s Day. Enjoy your day! I pray that each of your families recognize the incredible role that you play in their lives.