Dog ownership hazard #52

At Christmas we had a nice beef roast and my husband saved several of the bones for Elliot. He froze a few of them and last Monday pulled one out of the tundra to thaw for a treat. He went out on the back patio with Elliot figuring he could read while the dog gnawed. I was sitting at my desk trying to clean it some and I saw Elliot come inside out of the corner of my eye. A few seconds later I saw Tom follow him inside. A couple of seconds later the dog walked by again and went out the door. Then came Tom. I was too engrossed in my chore that I didn't register anything abnormal. I heard Tom talk to the dog, but again, I went on with what I was doing. Then the dog came in again, followed by Tom. When the dog returned and exited again with Tom at his heels I asked what was happening.

Tom's face was full of anguish. "I think the dog has a bone stuck in his mouth." He sighed. "I can't believe it."

I immediately took action. I freaked out. "WHAT? WHAT? What do you mean stuck in his mouth? On the roof? In his throat? Is he going to die? Is he crying? What are you doing? What should we do? Oh, god, this is why we shouldn't have a dog! All of the manuals say not to give dogs real bones."

But I was talking to the air because Tom was once again outside with the dog, and so I stood in the doorway and shouted it all over again in case he had missed it the first time. By this time Darcy was outside and she and Tom dealt with trying to remove the bone which was lodged over his canine tooth on the bottom of his mouth. He, of course, wanted nothing to do with these humans sticking their fingers in his mouth or messing with his mouth at all. He would get away from them and frantically try to use his tongue to dislodge the bone that was sticking in in such a way that Elliot could not close his mouth.

I refused to do anything physical. Instead I barked orders. "Darcy, pick him up. Hold his mouth open. Do you want tweezers?" I got tweezers and suggested Tom call the vet. It was 5:20 pm. on a Monday at this point, but the vet answered. Tom was having a deep conversation with the office that to me seemed to go on forever and so I interrupted. "Why are you standing here talking? Get in the car and talk to them at the office." I made Darcy go with him and I shooed them out the door.

They were back within forty five minutes and Elliot was happy and smiling. Darcy was covered in beef dog slobber and immediately went into the shower. Tom looked like he had been involved in a dramatic rescue that included heroic actions. I asked how it went first from him.

Tom: "It took no time at all. The vet just popped it right off. I mean, I could have done it myself. I just couldn't hold Elliot at the same time. His tooth went right through the bone and got stuck. Dogs teeth are so strong. I just couldn't get to it because he wouldn't let me. The lady took him back and she was back before I could finish filling out the paperwork. It was that quick."

Darcy, entering the room from her shower, rolled her eyes. I figured there was more to the story so I asked.

Darcy: "First of all, you couldn't have gotten it out Dad. We tried. I was holding Elliot and you were too afraid to stick your hand in his mouth. You were afraid he was going to bite you. I was afraid of that too. And if you want my opinion, you filled out the paperwork really terrible. No one is going to be able to read the gibberish you wrote on those forms."

Tom: "Well, they wanted my social security number. And they asked for my address and my phone number. Why would they need all of that? I didn't think I needed to fill out that stuff."

Darcy: "For their records. But they won't be able to read what you filled out. I'm telling you. It was awful. The lady came and got Elliot and left us to fill out the forms. She brought him right back to us in like a minute. That's how easy they did it. We had to stay and finish filling out the paperwork. That took longer than anything."

It all seemed very odd to me and upon further questioning I discovered that they hadn't gone to our vet. While on the phone with our vet they had sent him to the after hours emergency vet clinic because they were backed up and closed at our office. Darcy, while holding a slobbering and frantic Elliot, had had to find the clinic address on her phone and direct Tom to the place.

Darcy: "Yeah. And Dad says to the lady that he just needs someone to hold Elliot and then he can get the bone off. Like I wasn't already holding Elliot and he hadn't already tried to get the bone off. The lady looked at him like he was nuts and said the doctor would take care of it, sit down and fill out these forms. Which he made a mess of. He couldn't even get our address right."

I told her privately later to stop picking on her dad since he had been scared and not thinking clearly.

Sort of how I act when I deal with children emergencies. Like the time I had to drive to the ER with both girls to take Darcy in with a head wound. Just one of the reason why I stay out of the dog business when Tom is home. I figure its his turn with the son.

Tom mentioned later that there had been no charge for the visit. "I mean we weren't there longer than five minutes. Why would they charge for that? I could have gotten it off myself if the lady had just held Elliot."

I smiled and didn't bother to tell him that's why they had had him fill out the paperwork. I'm sure a bill will arrive any day now. Or maybe not. Because Tom's handwriting was illegible. Either way our dog was saved! Whew.

Saturday at The Condo - Part II

I dialed the three digit number that got me into the land of the cable company and pushed the prompt buttons that got me to a representative while my husband turned on the cable dvr box above the television. The message telling us we were not authorized to use the cable box was still there. A female voice answered my call and told me her name was Shannon. She asked me to verify the address of the account and the name on the account and proceeded to refer to me as my mother the rest of the conversation.

Shannon: "What can I help you today with, Mrs. M?"

Me: "My cable box on my second television is telling me I'm not authorized to use the box."

Shannon: "Oh, my, well let's pull that up and check on it. It looks like it has been asleep for some time and when that happens we usually just need to reboot it."

While she was talking the box would go off and Tom would push the on button to retrieve the message again. Shannon told me she was going to reboot the box on her end and so I told Tom to stop messing with it. He ignored me and kept turning it on when it would go off. I kept whispering to him to stop it and he kept waving at me to stop worrying about what he was doing.

Me: "Ok, Shannon, my husband keeps messing with the buttons on the box. Should he be doing that?"

Shannon: "If he could just let it go while I reboot it that would be fine."

Me: "Stop it! Tom! Stop it. She says to let her mess with it now."

Shannon: "Just tell me when anything changes on your TV."

Me: "Okay. So far nothing is changing. Well, now it went off."

Tom: "It isn't going off. It's going into stand-by mode."

Me: "My husband says its going into stand-by-mode."

Shannon: "I see that. Let me reboot it again. This will take one to two minutes."

She and I discussed the weather for two minutes. She rebooted it again and we talked more about the weather. Tom went back to pushing buttons.

Shannon: "Are you able to get behind the box by any chance?"

Me: "Let me pass you over to my husband because he can do that and because he isn't listening to me about turning the box off and on."
Shannon: "Oh. Okay, well..."

Tom: "I don't want the phone."

Me: "She needs you to do something to the back of the box."

Tom: "I can do that."

I handed him the phone and he began to talk to her. At one point he called her by another name and that seemed to be the last straw for me. I burst out laughing and couldn't stop. I told him her name was Shannon. As usual, he did not believe me so he asked her if her name was the name he had called her. She corrected him. Her name was Shannon. He admitted defeat and the two of them started messing with the box. I got up and began moving furniture around. About five minutes into that I realized that the TV which had been on in the living room was not making any noise. I went out to check it and reported back that the cable box was beeping and the TV was counting down to something. The TV in the bedroom was also counting down and Tom was reporting the countdown to Shannon. 

I sat down, zoned out for awhile, and came back to hear Tom repeat what Shannon was telling him; that we had to switch out the cable dvr box. She told him we could do this at the nearest cable store in Clearwater Mall. Now we have two malls in Clearwater and those of us that have lived here longer than ten years refer to them as Countryside Mall and Clearwater Mall which is what they were called back in the day. They have since changed ownership and Countryside, which isn't far from The Condo, is now Westfield Countryside Mall. When Tom said Clearwater Mall and changing the box I pictured Countryside Mall because in the back of my mind I remembered my friend SueG telling me that her husband had to drive to Countryside five different times when dealing with their cable box. 

Tom: "We have to change out the box."

Me: "Well, that's annoying. I'm paying for that box. Is she going to credit me?"

Tom: "We can ask that. Let's clean up here and go do that."

Me: "Really? You want to do that now?"

Tom: "Don't you? Get it over with? She said they are open until nine."

Me: "I suppose so. I just thought you wouldn't want to do that and come back here to hook it all up."

Tom: "I wasn't planning on doing that, but I guess it makes sense."

Me: "I really do appreciate you helping me out today and doing all of this."

Tom: "You said you wanted me to take down the waterbed. I wasn't planning on all of this other stuff."

Me: "You should have just accepted the compliment."

We cleaned up, grabbed the box, and got into the car, Tom at the wheel.

Me: "Where are you going?"

Tom: "To Clearwater Mall."

Me: "It's at Countryside Mall."

Tom: "No. She said Clearwater Mall."

Me: "I know that, but I'm pretty sure that SueG told me that they had to go to Countryside Mall."

Tom: "The lady told me Clearwater Mall so that's where I'm going."

Clearwater Mall is a good twenty minutes south of the other mall and so I took out my phone as we drove and tried to find information. It took me awhile and when I found the information on places to exchange equipment it said "Clearwater/Countryside Mall" and gave an address and directions which led to Countryside Mall. I relayed this to my husband as he came up to the turn to the road to the wrong mall. I told him to get into the U-turn lane. He ignored me and got in the left lane.

Me: "We have to turn around and go to Countryside."

Tom: "Call them to make sure."

Me: "What? Babe. I'm on the site now. Look. It says Countryside."

Tom: "It says Clearwater/Countryside and Shannon told me Clearwater Mall. Just call the phone number and make sure."

Me: "Why can't you just trust me?"

Tom: "Because you don't know. Just call to make sure. How hard is that?"

Me: "Damn hard because all it gives me is an address and the hours, but no phone number. The directions are to Countryside Mall."

Tom: "Give me the phone."

I handed the phone to him so he could read for himself, but somehow in the passing of the phone he lost the information. I had to look it all up again as he turned into the wrong mall. I pulled up the Bright House site and pushed the "Call Us" button and handed him the phone. Of course he didn't get a human and had to keep saying, "Representative", which made me think of the commercial, which set me off in a fit of giggles, which annoyed him. He finally told the system he wanted sales and got a male human. Of course we were at the wrong mall which set Tom off. He started telling the guy that they should know their information better. I reminded him that the male wasn't Shannon and hadn't sent us the wrong way. The male was unfazed and wanted to know the problem and could he sell us better cable. Eventually Tom and I were laughing so hard we didn't think we could stop.

We hung up with the guy, turned around, and headed back the way we had just come. As we drove we discussed how we would handle the exchange. I didn't want it to be known that I wasn't my mom. Tom didn't think they would ask. I was sure they would ask for ID. We talked about changing everything, the price, the account, but decided that would need to be for another time. Once at the mall we had to guess where to park since we didn't know where inside the mall the store was located. We parked where I always park and found that for once that day we were right. The store was upstairs from where we had parked and we went up and in.

There was no one waiting in line and five customer service people. The woman took us immediately. Tom laid down the device and told her we needed to switch it out for an upgrade via Shannon. She told us no problem and scanned the device into her computer.

Bright House Lady: "Hmmm...let's see. That didn't work."

She scanned it again and when that didn't work she punched the barcode number in manually. She asked for the phone number associated with the account and then asked for the name on the account. I gave her all of that.

BH Lady: "I'm not showing this device at all in our system."
Me: "Okay, well the Bright House tech lady on the phone had it on her screen. I'm paying for it, aren't I?"
BH Lady: "I'm only showing one device on your account actually. Do you have another one?"
Me: "Yes. I have two. One at home and this one."
BH Lady: "Was this device working? Because I'm showing it isn't even in our system."

Tom and I started laughing. I laid my head down on the counter and pounded it. She called over another employee. He punched in some numbers.

BH Man: "This device was on your television?"
Me: "Yes."
BH Man: "And it worked?"
Tom: "No. It wasn't working that's why we are here."
Me: "But it did work. At one time."
BH Lady: "How long ago was that?"
Tom: "Christmas?"
Me: "We really don't know. I was told it wasn't working at Christmas time, but don't know when it worked before that."
BH Man: "Because it is showing that this device was lost. In our system this device is marked lost."
Me: "Well, we found it. Here it is. On my television where it has been hooked up for years."
BH Lady: "It is showing that this box has been lost since 2013."
Me: "Well, I can tell you that it worked in 2013. It worked in 2014."
BH Man: "It did?"
Me: "The Bright House lady on the phone had it up on her screen. She rebooted it."
BH Lady: "She rebooted it from her end? Or you rebooted it?"
Me: "She tried from her end, but it didn't work. She did it twice."
Tom: "Then I rebooted it. That's when she told us to come in and exchange it."
BH Lady: "Okay, well, this device was not hooked up to your television. It couldn't have been. That's why she couldn't reboot it and had you do it."
BH Man: "It hasn't worked since 2013. Did you change out devices then maybe? Upgrade to HD?"
Tom: "Well, this is her mother's account."
BH Lady: "And it works for her?"
Tom: "Well, um,..........she's dead."
BH Employees: "Oh! Oh sorry. Sure. How long?"
Me: "No, no the device worked when my mother was alive in 2014. After that I couldn't tell ya."
Tom: "We've been cleaning up stuff at her place all day. We're tired."
BH Lady: "I'm sorry. Do you want a new device?"

And suddenly we were doing everything we said we wouldn't do. We talked about the account and changing it. The lady needed the death certificate just like I had told Tom, but she did lower my bill and we did discover that the TV would work hooked up to a cable since the association forks out cable money for a handful of channels. We left there laughing, happy to have lowered our bill. Tom left her with the antique Roadrunner kit which he had insisted on bringing and which she found fascinating.

We went back to The Condo and hooked up the TV to the cable coming out of the wall. It worked. I was leaving the room and reminded Tom that he had to turn off the light at the fan. I was pooped and ready to get some dinner and go home.

Tom: "Why do I have to turn off the light right here? What's wrong with the switch?"
Me: "Who cares? It hasn't worked in years. Turn it off and let's go eat."
Tom: "Why is there tape on the light switch on the wall?"
Me: "Because it doesn't work. Because my mom didn't want anyone messing with it. Frankly, I just don't even remember anymore why there is tape. Who cares?"
Tom: "Do you care if I look at? Where's that electric meter we found earlier? I can check the wires with that."

I let him. I figured what the hell. I need the man to mess with another electric issue later down the road and I figured maybe all of it was connected so what the hell. I got the meter and he took off the plate and tested the wires. They were dead. He then went over to the fan/light and started following the cord. That led to him noticing that there were live wires capped off outside the fan at the base leading into the ceiling. He ranted and raved about that for some time shaking his head. I didn't want to tell him that I think it had been that way since he last looked into changing out the fan because I vaguely remembered that. I told him not to worry about it tonight.

Me: "Lets pack up and go get food."
Tom: "Those are live wires. That's so...well, I can't even begin to tell you how stupid that is. Where's the attic?"
Me: "The what? There isn't an attic."
Tom: "Of course there is an attic. How do you get into it?"
Me: "Why of course there is an attic. How do you know there is an attic?"
Tom: "Because there is always an attic."
Me: "What kind of an answer is that?"

He was already moving. He checked the laundry room. He checked the guest bedroom and that closet. He checked the bathroom. I checked the hall closet. All the time I was telling him there wasn't an attic. All of the time he was telling me there had to be one. Suddenly as we stood in the hallway looking at each other I vaguely remembered...well, an attic entrance.

Me: "We should try my mom's bedroom closet because if there is going to be an entrance to an attic it would be there. Actually now that I think about it there is one."

And there was. I got Tom a step stool. He wanted to peek into the attic and see if he could see where the wires for the light switch were running. The stool didn't get him very high so he climbed on top of the handle of the step stool and I held the bottom step so he wouldn't tumble over. He opened the entrance and just barely could peek his head into it. It was quite large, but dark as night.

Tom: "What's all this stuff up here?"
Me: "What stuff? There's nothing up there."
Tom: "There is all sorts of stuff up here. Boxes."
Me: "WHAT?"

And immediately this is what went through my mind at warp speed:

"Holy, mother of god, my mother has hidden things in an attic that I didn't remember existed. She has hidden boxes of cash. Millions and thousands of dollars in cash.  No. It can't be cash. It's coins. Gold. Treasure. I told her she should do this before she died and she did. But...wait. I told her that the day before she went into hospice. She couldn't have done it. But she did and she didn't tell me. That's not like her. What if I had never gone up here."

And then Tom leaned up in the attic and pulled down this little travel suitcase that looked like something from the 1960's. I didn't recognize it at all and was disappointed when I saw it. But then more treasure, money, coins, and cash went flying through my mind, and I was thinking about how exciting it all would be and what I would spend it all on, and then Tom opened it so that only he could see into the suitcase and he burst out laughing.

Me: "What? What? What is it? What's in there? Is something in there? Is it empty?"
Tom: "No. It's full."
Me: "What's in there? What is it? Is it money?"
Tom: "It's fate."

And he turned it around so that I could see the knitting materials inside the box. It was full of yarn, thread, knitting needles, and a croquet needle. There were pouches of patterns yellowed with age and a book on how to knit and croquet that cost $.35. It did not belong to my mother. He kept laughing and now I was the one not in the mood for that. I was tired and hurting and was not able to see the humor in the knitting box despite the fact that my own new knitting hobby bag was in the other room.

He pulled down another little suitcase; this one blue. The seam of the lid had popped on this case and foamy stuffing was falling out of it. That case was empty. He pulled down a large, under the bed, box that was full of lady's elastic pants and capris, the elastic disintegrating with age, and yellowed baby outfits. Not exactly the treasure this greedy, tired, woman was looking for. It also did not belong to my mom. I have no idea who it belonged to, obviously a former tenant. I wondered aloud if my mother or father had even ventured into this attic. I figured the cable guy had been up there and the bug man, but obviously no one mentioned the boxes in there.

Tom couldn't reach the other boxes or see into the darkened attic for wires or treasure. We agreed to call it a day and collected the stuff we had found. I mused aloud how the attic was now going to be another item on my to do list. Or rather Tom's list as he was taller. He reminded me again of how he was only there to to take down the waterbed. Tom put the light switch back on while I headed toward the exit.

Me: "Don't forget to turn the light off at the fan!"
Tom: "Let's not start with that again. That's what got us in trouble in the first place. That's the first thing I fix when I come back."

Well, at least he is willing to come back again. Whew!

Happy Birthday Shoutout #3 - Anya

Jeez, what is with all of these people starting out the year with birthdays? No wonder I can't get cards out on time. It's bam, bam, bam with these January and February parties. Here is number 3!

Happy Birthday Anya!

I don't understand all of the relations and the removing of relations, but I do know that Anya is my cousin's daughter and therefore a relative. A cousin. Maybe once removed or something like that, but who cares? We are related.

It was very exciting when my cousin delivered a baby girl because well, in our family we are partial to girls. My family meaning me and my girls. We were all very excited to add another girl to the family, and we immediately knew we would have to travel to Boston to welcome her to the fold.

We didn't get there until a year later. The first thing I remember was her standing at the window of their house, her little hands and face pressed against it looking out at us. Then she was at the door looking up at us. Way up at us. She was the tiniest person I had ever seen in my life. I don't know if I had just forgotten what it was like to have a little baby around or if she really was the tiniest thing ever.

We immediately fell in love. She was cute and cuddly and my girls loved playing with her like she was their own personal doll. One of the things we all remember about her back then was how she would shake her head and shout, "Nononononononononono!" My girls still use that sometimes to this day.

We were with her when she got her first pair of shoes....which she didn't care for and we all felt so bad at trying to put shoes on this kid that just wanted to be free to be barefoot. Except it was March and snowing!

We were also there to show her the Gulf of Mexico for the first time. That she liked. Like her cousins Cara and Darcy she is a water girl.

Darcy likes to believe that Anya got her love of reading from her since she read to her when she was little. Anya LOVES reading and has read so much in her twelve years that each Christmas and birthday we have a very hard time finding books she hasn't read. 

If you can't find Anya you know she is off somewhere reading. She has a book in her hand or near her body all of the time. It is also one of the few times she is still. She is very active. I think of her as a little bouncing object that is constantly in motion. She dances. She twirls. She hops up and down. She jigs sideways. She sits. She stands. And she is always talking, telling everyone around her stories, facts, history, interesting topics she discovered, and anything else that pops into her brain. She is full of information and very, very smart.

While she does argue with her little brother at times she is also very loving and protecting of him. She won't like to admit that, but she is. I see it when they play together or when she tells him stories or makes up games for them to play.

She loves animals real and stuffed, and knows all about every animals from tiny ants to large whales. She knows more information than Encyclopedia Brown, I bet. Everyone in the family wants her on his team when we play trivia games.

I can't believe that the little girl I met so many years ago is twelve today. She isn't little anymore, but tall, and lean, and very much like one of the ballerina's in a jewelry box; sparkling, twirling, musical. She has brought much joy to our family and we love her dearly and would give her a BIG birthday squeeze if she were here. Happy Birthday Anya! Hope your birthday and birthday week are the greatest ever!

P.S. Gift coming later. (sigh)

Saturday at The Condo - Part I

My brother and I inherited The Condo, the residence that my mother lived in thirty minutes from my house. The last year and a half of her life I have had the task of weeding through the medical equipment and personal belongings deciding what to keep and what to pitch. I have done three different thorough cleanings and sweepings of the place, and this past Christmas my brother and I did another. While I wouldn't be opposed to selling the place my brother isn't ready to do that and so we have talked about renting it. To do this I have decided that various things have to happen, and so I've made a list and have been working to get through the tasks. One of the tasks was taking down her waterbed because I had visions of some rental person breaking it and water gushing into the condo below. I had also heard from my SIL and brother that it wasn't very comfortable and so I just decided we should remove the whole thing and replace it with a normal mattress. To do this, however, I felt I needed my husband who is an expert in dealing with waterbeds. Saturday he decided was the day he would tackle the task.

He armed himself with his waterbed kit and a hose for draining and we went to The Condo. In the master bedroom is the bed, a nightstand with a broken drawer, a chest of drawers, a small, but heavy chair that use to belong to my MIL and sat in her living room, a corner desk, and an armoire that houses an old TV complete with built in VCR and DVD players. The only light in the room comes from an old light/fan combination with a chain that runs from the ceiling to the wall where it is plugged into an outlet. For years my mother asked my husband, he with the electrical engineering degree, to replace the fan with a more modern one, but as I remember it he examined that job and deemed it a large one. It never got done. There is also a little lamp on the nightstand, but it casts less light than the flashlight that came with my Iphone, and a small window that lets in pretty much nothing. To turn on the light in the room one has to pull the chain on the light/fan combination because the light switch on her wall doesn't work and is covered with tape so that no one messes with it. It has been that way since she bought the place and my husband has been in that room many a times over the years to build her desk and to work on her computers, printers, and cable connections.

The master bedroom after Mom died

We enter The Condo and Tom went directly to the master bedroom not bothering to look around and admire all of the cleaning and clearing out of stuff that I have done.

Tom: "How do I turn on the light in here?"
Me: "Pull the switch with the ball on the fan."
Tom: "That's stupid."

He got the light on and I opened the blinds on the window and turned on the little lamp on the nightstand. We unzipped the mattress and discovered that the waterbed was made up of seven skinny tubes filled with water that were easily pulled out. My husband was beside himself with glee at this discovery.

Tom: "This is easy. I didn't even need a hose. I'll just take these tubes out and empty them outside."
Me: "Great! I'm sorry. I didn't look inside this mattress to see what was in here. But I still need you to lift the tubes as they are too heavy for me and my back."

He went to work hauling the tubes outside and emptying them. He cut the mattress and foam up into pieces and chucked the whole lot in the large garbage dumpster on the property. The whole process took less than an hour and he returned dusting off his hands to find me shredding documents, and when the shredder got overheated, cleaning behind the bed.

Tom: "Was that it?"
Me: "No, I'd like you to take down the computer too."
Tom: "Why?"
Me: "Because if we rent the place I don't want them using her computer. She probably has all sorts of personal crap on that thing."
Tom: "That's easy to fix."
Me: "I'm not going to rent the place with a computer. No one needs a computer. People bring their own laptops or smart devices nowadays."
Tom: "I don't agree. I think you can charge $25 more a month by saying it comes with a computer."
Me: "OMG! Are you serious? No! NO! I just want the computer taken down. No one is going to pay more for an old computer that takes forever to connect. Why are you asking me what you can do if you're just going to argue with me? I also want the desk taken down and out of here too. Are you going to argue with that too?"
Tom: "Yes. Why would you take out the desk?"
Me: "Because I think it is silly it is in a bedroom. It is hard to get to and why would someone on vacation want a desk?"
Tom: "Everyone likes a desk. I would leave that here with the computer."
Me: "You're just trying to irritate me. This is a bedroom. The desk doesn't need to be in here."
Tom: "But it fits in here."
Me: "It doesn't. The only fit is that it is a corner unit in the corner. I'm going to put the chair there because where the chair sits now people hit it on the way into the bathroom. Connie always rammed into that chair with her wheelchair and her leg."

He argued some more with me, but in the end he took down the computer. To do that he had to get down on his hands and knees and take apart all of the cable company's rigging of equipment that included the internet, the cable for two televisions, and the telephone. He mumbled and griped aloud about what a terrible job the cable guy had done and how ridiculous the entire set up was and he told me he was going to change it all and improve on it. I didn't argue with him and let him do what needed to be done.

He had the computer taken down and wrapped up in less than an hour. He wandered off into the living room and turned on the television to watch his alma mater play basketball. I was busy continuing my line of weeding through stuff and eventually he returned into the bedroom.

Tom: "Do you want me to take down this desk?"
Me: "Yes. I want the desk out of here."
Tom: "I could take it apart and haul it out of here that way if you want."
Me: "However you do it is fine with me."
Tom: "Well are you going to put it somewhere else in here?"
Me: "No. I have no use for that large, bulky, heavy desk."
Tom: "Do you have any tools here?"
Me: "Yes, I have an entire tool box of tools here in the hallway closet."
Tom: "Do you have an Allen wrench? That's what I need to take down this desk."
Me: "No, I do not have an Allen wrench. Dammit. I did have an Allen wrench. I had like twenty of them when Gigi and I last cleaned, but I took most of them home."
Tom: "Why would you do that? Why wouldn't you leave them here?"
Me: "For what? I didn't think I needed twenty Allen wrenches for renters. Why would they need them?"
Tom: "Well, to take down this desk for one."

He went off to investigate the tool box despite my assuring him there were no Allen wrenches. He never believes me when I tell him things and has to check for himself. He discovered I was right and decided to run to the hardware store to buy some and pick up some lunch. He wanted me to come with him, but I told him I could get more done while he was gone. Off he went, calling me once for a lunch order. When he returned he was very proud of himself because he had found a set of Allen wrenches for $1.99 on the clearance table. We ate and then went back to work.

Feeling guilty he was missing his game I opened the armoire and attempted to turn on the TV to put the game on in the bedroom. While the TV came on the cable box kept shutting itself off after giving me a message that said, "You are not authorized to use this cable box. Please call...." That annoyed me immensely because I've been continuing her cable payment since she died.

Tom: "Call them."
Me: "I can't. You unhooked the phone."
Tom: "Use your cell phone."
Me: "I can't because they will want a bunch of information, and I don't have that. If I call from the home phone they have it all already and don't bother me."
Tom: "What information will they need?"
Me: (sighing) "The phone is still in her name so they ask me account information and I don't have that stuff here. It's all at home. Just trust me on this. Just finish what you are doing and hook the phone back up."
Tom: "The phone situation is retarded. You need a remote base, but you don't have a phone for that base. But the other phones won't work without the remote base. How stupid is that?"
Me: "Who cares? That's not a priority right now."
Tom: "What happened to the phone?"
Me: "It didn't work. There was something wrong with it when Mom was alive. We tried fixing it, but it didn't work. Gigi and I threw the damn thing away. Who cares? The phones work fine when they are all hooked up."
Tom: "Because what's the point of a base with no phone. Doesn't make sense."
Me: "Concentrate on the desk, would you?"

He did. He used his new Allen wrench set and piece by piece he took down the desk. I helped him holding pieces as he took them apart and carrying them into the other room to make a pile. Eventually the desk was all down. It took longer than an hour. While I cleaned the carpet under the desk he turned his attention to the drawer in the armoire where I had discovered a bunch of computer stuff that Tom had, long ago, put into the drawer.

Tom: "Look at this stuff. Do you know how old this stuff is?"
Me: "I can guess."
Tom: "I mean look at this. This is her Roadrunner set up kit. That hasn't been around for years. You're not looking. Aren't you even curious?"
Me: "Not in the least. It doesn't have anything to do with what we are doing or using now. Throw it out."

He excitedly went through the drawer. He tossed everything out but the Roadrunner kit and then turned to putting back all of the cable set up the "correct way". Since he was in my way I sat down in the chair and watched and listened to him as he worked cursing out the cable guy.

Tom: "I mean, was this guy a moron? Why wouldn't you put everything together in one place? He has this spread out all over the place. He may have thought he was simplifying everything, but really he was making more work for himself. I'm going to fix it. What are you doing?"
Me: "I'm sitting here watching you. You're in my way now. I was working in that corner cleaning up that stuff on the carpet, but I can't do that with you there."
Tom: "Why don't you call the cable company and get that fixed."
Me: "Is the phone hooked back up yet?"
Tom: "Not yet. Use your cell phone."
Me: "I already told you I can't do that. Trust me on that."
Tom: "You won't know until you try."
Me: "OMG TOM! I don't want to try. I don't want to get into that whole account thing in the wrong name dispute tonight. I'm tired now. If I call from the home phone they will just assume I'm Connie and take care of everything that way. Why can't you just believe me on that?"

I watched him untangle wires and cords and plug things in and unplug things. He pulled up several cords and questioned their existence. He followed cords from outlets to equipment. Eventually he had all of the equipment on the armoire shelf above the television where the cable dvr box was sitting, and he went to work putting everything on one outlet.

Tom: "Try the phone now."
Me: "It doesn't work."
Tom: "It has to work."
Me: "Well, it doesn't."
Tom: "That's because you really should have a landline phone. I know you don't understand that, but that's what we need."
Me: "Okay, but the phones worked just fine until you unplugged them, landline or not. Who cares that the remote base phone is missing? As long as the base is hooked up the other phones will work just fine. Plug the damn thing in."
Tom: "You said it doesn't work."
Me: "It doesn't."
Tom: "Give me the phone in your hand and let me try it in this remote base."
Me: "That makes no sense to me, but here."
Tom: "Maybe I have to plug it directly into the wall."
Me: "It was plugged into the computer so plug it into the cable modem thing."
Tom: "It is plugged into that. There are too many phone jacks in this room. It is all too crazy. What was this guy thinking? There. Now it works."

And it did. And so I dialed the three digit number that got me into the land of the cable company, thinking this was finally going to be the last thing we did. Boy, was I wrong.

Monday morning division playoff recap

Game One: Now we get to listen to the media talk about Peyton Manning going out with a win at the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl as if they believed this was what would happen all along. Pfft.

• Was it just me or was anyone else bored with the whole tablet nonsense? The Patriots had several Microsoft tablets on the sidelines that they were using to examine plays. The tablets quite working and suddenly it became the biggest story of the game. CBS had two reporters on the investigation which resulted in "the tablets are now working". 
• Once again we had a player slip off the field after going out of bounds. Just like Reggie Bush, Rob Gronkowski slipped and fell and had to receive treatment by his medical staff. I certainly hope that issue will be on the agenda at the next owner's meeting.
• Kudos to the Denver defense who kicked ass in that game! Wow! That's the way to play your heart out, stopping the Pats on fourth down not once, but several times, especially at the end.
• Patriots coach Bill Belichick will have to answer a lot of questions, I'm sure, about why he didn't kick a field goal on fourth down, but really, don't we know the answer? Belichick has Tom Brady as his quarterback. Belichick has a huge ego. He believed those things could get the job done. Sometimes you take a chance and win and sometimes you don't. 
• Tom Brady spent more time on the ground and running from being on the ground than he did standing. His line let him down despite his going off on them in the last game. You have to protect your quarterback and the Pats line did not do that. Another kudos again to Denver's defense that also helped that not happen.
• And the first analyst to mention Peyton going out with a win in Super Bowl 50 was Boomer Eiason!

Game Two: If it weren't for the turnovers this game would have been a snore, but the fumbles and interceptions and Cam Newton's leaping kept it interesting. 

• The crazy "let's talk about this subject forever" in his game wasn't tablets but Carson Palmer's injured finger. If I had to hear speculation on whether his piss poor throws were due to that finger one more time...
• I think Erin Andrews is the best female sports reporter in the NFL.  Instead of tablet reporting she was down in the trenches giving us quality information, and her interviews are not fluff pieces, but detailed, intelligent, and she isn't afraid to ask tough questions. 
• Michael Strahan, on the other hand, is getting on my nerves. He's getting too full of himself in this business and needs to take a step back. His disrespect for Terry Bradshaw is very apparent with eye rolling and talking over him, but his telling Jimmy Johnson to shut up was way over the line. 
• With a little more than four minutes in the game and the Panthers up by a gazillion points, Fox's Troy Aikman made a comment wondering what the Denver coaches must be th thinking about how to stop the Carolina offense. His booth partner Joe Buck then came back with, "If that's who Denver will be playing." Really Joe? I understand being impartial, but being stupid?
• Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is certainly no longer a rookie. He has turned out to be quite the leader, and Denver's defense is going to have come up with something extraordinary to stop him. 
• After the game Newton told Erin Andrews during her interview that he didn't know who they were playing in the Super Bowl. When she told him his reaction was the best. His face took on an "oh no" look and he said, "ah, the sheriff ..." Respect!

NFL division playoff picks

Last Week - 3-4

Overall - 145 - 119

Denver over New England - Fingers crossed! I woke up this morning with a feeling and so I went with it. Go Peyton! I just don't want to see the Patriots back in the Bowl, do you?

Carolina over Arizona - Again, I think I'm rooting for Cam Newton and Company, but this isn't a game I feel as deeply about as I do the first game. The Panthers have been great all year so let's see if they really want this. The Cardinals have been great too, but they have also been not so great this year so I feel they are more vulnerable. Plus, it is quite easy to get into Carson Palmer's head to rattle him.

Happy Birthday Shoutout #2 - Clint

Here is the second birthday shout out via the blog (although I did manage to get a card off to him too as I don't believe he reads my blog, plus I found the perfect card).

My brother-in-law Clint

I first met Clint during my wedding festivities. He was my brother-in-law's plus one, although he had been that for many years. He was thrust into the family at that crazy time of wedding preparation and the actual event and so he didn't get to ease into the family like I had. 

My mother was the first to interrogate ask him all about his life at my wedding reception. She liked him right off probably because they had a lot in common; intelligence, humor, and the not suffering of fools gladly thing . Clint went with the flow of the festivities, the wedding, and the entire 745,000 members of the Boos clan. It couldn't have been an easy entrance.

Weddings were the events of choice for the entire family get-togethers for the next several years as one by one siblings were married. Clint and I naturally hung out at these events, adding each year the newest in-law. Somehow we were always seated with each other in the pews and at the receptions and someone was always wanting to take our pictures. It was like a tradition, much to my please-don't-take-my-photograph mentality. He made the events fun as he made fun of the events and we had a lot of good laughs together.

Clint is quite the charming, suave, debonair gentleman in his own mind, but we have learned quickly there is a lot more to him than that. He is very caring, despite his pretending that he isn't. That was never more true then when the kids started arriving in the family. He took on the role of uncle immediately wrecking havoc in their little lives with threats to spank them and lock them in closets, but the children saw right through that facade and gravitated to him instantly.

He is very content to stay in the background sometimes disappearing for hours, but he can suddenly reappear as if he were there the entire time that he wasn't. I probably have spent more time with him than with any of my brother-in-laws (not including his husband). I know he loves coffee, traveling, and animals. He REALLY loves dogs, and I blame him for the addition in our family. For years he use to send pictures of dogs from our local pound to my children and husband. He threatened to give us one or two for Christmas and use to tell my kids to ask Santa for a dog.

He is generous, has a dry sense of humor, and under what he would say was his black heart is really a heart of gold. We were thrilled when he and Tom's brother were able to make marriage official, but really, by then he was already part of the family and one of us; much to his chagrin I'm sure he would say.

We don't get to see as much of him as we would like, but I think this year we will travel to California and make him see us. In the meantime I wish him a very Happy, Happy, Birthday and send him tons of virtual hugs and kisses. I'll save the Birthday licks for when I see you in person. We love you!

I had one job to do...

Last week my neighbor Bonnie went into the hospital to have knee replacement surgery. She and I have been walking our dogs together twice a week and so when I asked what I could do to help her out she asked me to walk her pug, Gibbs on Thursday and Friday. I told her no problem.

Thursday I spent considerable time pondering whether I should take Gibbs and Elliot on a walk together. Gibbs is deaf and partially blind and he pees about fifty times on a walk. Elliot likes to chase cars. I debated and decided that I could handle both. I left Elliot at home and went to get Gibbs first. Bonnie has a friend staying with her and that woman also has a pug who greeted me when I entered the house. She was barking and snorting and running circles around my feet while Gibbs lay on a piece of carpet sound asleep. I pet the other dog and got Gibbs' leash telling him it was time to take a walk. He never moved. Forgetting he was deaf, I called him again. Nothing. His eyes were closed and  he was out. I walked over to him and suddenly I got a bit worried. I mean here was this other dog making enough noise to wake the entire neighborhood and Gibbs wasn't even moving. Immediately, all sorts of thoughts went through my head: "the other dog has poisoned him, he is dead, he died of a broken heart because the family left him".

I went over and stood looking down at him for any sign of life like his back moving up and down as he breathed. Nothing. "Oh, my god, how has this happened? I had one job to do and the dog is dead and how am I going to explain this to Bonnie?" was all running through my head, but I leaned down and gently touched his head. He shot up on all four legs, his head spinning around in all directions, giving a little bark as he ran around the kitchen scared out of his mind. I shot up too, not expecting that, my heart racing, scared out of my mind, yelling, "Jesus!" at the top of my lungs. Once he realized I was there he ran immediately to the door, and I got his harness and leash on, apologized to the other dog for leaving him, and off we went to get Elliot. I was very relieved that he was not dead.

We started out on our walk. We didn't get past my driveway before Gibbs was peeing on our garbage can. He loves to investigate inanimate things along the curb like garbage cans, mail boxes, large shrubs, and the various objects people use to protect their sprinkler heads and he always pees on them. First he walks up very closely to get a good look through his almost blind eyes. Secondly, he sniffs the object and walks around it. Lastly, he turns his body around a couple of times and pees on the object.  When he is finished watering he digs in the ground with his paws kicking up dirt, sand, and grass and then he will start walking once again. The problem with all of that is he gets himself turned around in the opposite direction of where we are walking, and being partially blind he doesn't realize it. So he would start walking in the wrong direction while Elliot was walking in the right direction, and I stood in the road with my arms in either direction holding leashes.

Eventually I got them both in the correct direction and we would get a few inches down the road and Gibbs would find another object to water. He would go through his routine and when he was ready to start walking again Elliot would wonder what he had been doing and come back in the opposite direction to sniff where Gibbs had just watered. I thought we would never get through our twenty minutes of walking. When Gibbs pooped and I was trying to scoop it up he would be walking in the wrong direction. A car would inevitably come down the road and Elliot would try to take off running after it. I would be trying to shorten Elliot's leash, and trying to pull Gibbs back in the right direction, all without losing sight of the poop sure that the neighbor whose yard the deed had been done in was watching all of this out the window. I was an emotional wreck when it was all over, and I decided that I would not be bringing Elliot when I walked Gibbs on Friday.

On Friday it poured down rain. It didn't let up until almost 10:30 that morning and when it did I grabbed my raincoat and headed over to the neighbor's house. Her friend's van was missing from the driveway so I knew she wasn't there, assumed she was down south taking care of the work she is having done on her house, and since she usually takes her dog with her wasn't expecting her. But as soon as I opened the door to the house there was the other pug barking and snorting and running circles around me. I pet her again and talked to her and then I looked on the carpet. No Gibbs. I called him, remembered that he couldn't hear me, and walked further into the kitchen. I looked under the dining room table. I looked out on the porch. I peered into the master bedroom, picked up some poop that someone had deposited on the floor, but no Gibbs. I asked the other dog where he was, but she was so excited to see me she couldn't have a decent conversation. She did, however, follow me all through the house while I looked for Gibbs who was nowhere to be found. I stood in the kitchen at a loss and then I took a second look at the dog who was there.

Gibbs has a black face, but rarely looks up at people. This dog was older, had a gray face, and was always looking at me. I looked into her eyes to make sure I wasn't crazy and had the wrong dog, but I knew Gibbs wasn't gray. I also knew Gibbs didn't make all this noise that this dog was making.

I went out to the porch and opened the back door thinking maybe he had gone out the doggy door and was hanging out in the misty, wet rain. The other dog ran out past my legs and peed. I knew immediately that she was a girl by her stance and reassured myself this wasn't Gibbs. We went back inside and I locked up. I threw my hands into the air and shouted, "OMG! I had one job to do and now this dog is missing!" I texted Bonnie and told her I was at her house and while I had one dog I couldn't find her dog. I asked her if perhaps her husband had taken her to work with him that day or if he had a certain hiding place I didn't know about. Her response did not come until after I had returned home, and it made as much sense as a text from someone doped up on massive pain killers; none whatsoever. She told me that she wasn't sure if her husband had taken the dog out that morning to potty, but not to worry he could use the doggy door. Thanks so much for walking him. Huh? I finally came to the conclusion that her friend had gotten the two dogs confused and took Gibbs with her down south instead of taking her own dog.

The friend returned at some point in the day as did the husband, but since neither was running up and down the street shouting for Gibbs I figured he wasn't missing. I inquired the next day about his whereabouts, but Bonnie's husband had no clue. He told me that he hadn't taken him to work, but he couldn't imagine where Gibbs had been. He didn't seem to be too concerned either way, and when Gibbs came to the door to see who his master was talking to, he refused to give up the information, sauntered outside, and promptly peed on my shoe.

Thank god Bonnie is back home now.

Monday morning NFL recap

Steelers: Only saving grace for me was it was a win for Peyton Manning, but I also think the Steelers had a better shot at beating the Patriots than the Broncos do.

• I should have started counting missed tackles from the beginning of the game, but that first quarter I'm sure we missed 586,345. 
• I read a lot of stuff this past week on the Steelers with a lot of players and people saying not nice things about the players and coaching staff. I don't know what is true or not since I'm not part of the organization, but I know the Rooney family is top notch and the best in the business so I didn't get too fired up. I will agree, however, that I dislike some of Coach Tomlin's way of thinking. Celebrating after tackles and touchdowns? Stop it. You did your job. That's what your paid to do. You can celebrate after you have secured the win. Tomlin needs to get that message across to his players. Seriously. 
• And along the same lines...I didn't like that Steelers Markus Wheaton didn't help up Broncos Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips after Wheaton was pushed into him during the second quarter. No it wasn't your fault, Wheaton, but Phillips is more than twice your age and can't exactly hop up after a hit like that. Show some character guys or the things people say about you are going to be believable.
• Welcome back Peyton Manning. Like Larry Fitzgerald I have no doubt you belong here. It would have been nice if the rest of your team could have remembered how to catch your passes in that first half. I lost count after awhile. 
• It was nice to play against a class team after the classless team we played last week. I was so less tense and I think everyone from the players and coaches to the fans and announcers were as well. Tomlin said it all at halftime when talking about number 18, "...obviously we have a lot of respect for him."
• I know the tide turned with the fumble by Fitzgerald Toussaint, but not having Antonio Brown and having to play it safe with short passes and the running game was what hurt us. Ben is best in tight situations when he can lob the ball 70 yards down the field knowing AB can get away from defenders and sprint in time to make the catch. Wonder boy Martavis Bryant, who didn't turn out to be as wonderful as his hype, just can't do what Brown can do.
• The talk was all about the aging, hurt quarterbacks in the game, but while Roethlisberger and Manning may be both I'll take either over any other quarterback in the league.

Other:

• I could barely stay awake during the first game of the playoffs on Saturday. The Chiefs were out manned, out coached, and just out played. Tom Brady was more than fired up and god help the rest of the teams, but he has what I talk about every year; determination and the heart to win.
• I mentioned to my friend Gigi while we watched the Patriots/Chiefs game that I sure hoped that we would get a better game with the second one, and by golly, I didn't have to eat my words. Holy come down to the wire! Aaron Rogers isn't quite Tom Brady, but he too has a will to win and he makes his players believe it too. That last play to go to overtime? Is anyone else wondering if the Packers have some divine intervention?
• At the beginning the season when I was picking my fantasy team I took Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald for one of my wide receivers. It wasn't long before the fantasy experts told me I was an idiot because Fitzgerald was an old man and past his prime and blah, blah, blah. While not a Cardinals fan I was sure cheering loudly when he made the final touchdown to win the game. Old people can do it! Nike should pick that up. I saw it in his eyes in the second half as the Packers took the lead. He wanted the ball and he wanted to be the one to get the Cardinals back in the game. He did just that and then he went ahead and won it all. Wow. Doesn't get any better than that.
• One of the Arizona Cardinals players got cocky with over two minutes left in the game after the Packers failed to convert and started firing up the crowd and celebrating his win. One of the announcers, Collinsworth or Michaels, made reference to how the game wasn't over yet and what an omen that turned out to be. Just another mark in my column for my irritation of cockiness and celebratory nonsense.
• What was up with the coin toss debacle in overtime of that Packers game? It didn't flip so it had to be tossed again. You knew as soon as it happened that conspiracy theories would abound. But seriously, I'm more curious as to why the postseason rules are different than the regular season rules regarding overtime?  
• At first I enjoyed the fact that the games were rotated among the various television networks, but then as I listened to the game callers I remembered why I prefer certain channels. I'm not a fan of Al Michaels, Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, or Dan Fouts. Too many opinions. Too many dumb comments. Too much rambling. Sort of like writing on a blog.
• I love the Panther's giving of the touchdown balls to kids. How great was that little girl's reaction after Carolina's Jonathan Stewart ran in for the first score of the game and handed her the ball? Precious.
• At halftime of the Panthers/Seahawks game the analysts were all sure that Seattle was done, but Russell Wilson and company sure proved them wrong. They held the Panthers scoreless in the second half and put up 24 points themselves. They just ran out of time
• Nice pom pom on your hat Cam Newton that you wore for interviews after the game! Wonder if sales will pick up for that hat that didn't look to me to be the property of the Panthers.

NFL picks - playoffs week #2

Last Week - 3-4

New England over Kansas City - Tom Brady with a week off? Sorry Chiefs, but I don't see you moving on.

Arizona over Green Bay - I know the Packers have gotten here with hail mary's and determination, but I'm going with the Cardinals who have played steady the entire year and have Bruce Arians, a player's favorite, at the helm.

Carolina over Seattle - I'm rooting for Cam Newton. The Seahawks have had their chance the past two years. Their time is over.

Pittsburgh over Denver - I feel I have to eat my own words and have faith, but with Antonio Brown out and Big Ben hobbled I'm more than worried. If we want this we have to show major heart and grit, and frankly, I haven't seen a lot of that this year. Plus, dear me, I just love Peyton Manning and hate for him to go out on a loss. But I won't be cheering for him tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Shoutout #1 - Kim

I always forget to send out birthday cards despite remembering everyone's birthday on time. I don't know why I find it so hard, but I do. I buy the cards, address them, and then forget to put them in the mailbox. For several years it was one of my new year's resolutions, but this year I decided to go about it a different way. This year I resolve to celebrate people's birthdays on my blog. Here is the first birthday of the year!

My friend Kim

I met Kim when she moved in next door to our house in Pennsylvania. She claims that she remembers the day her mother introduced me to her and her sister. I rejected them. I was four years old. I have no memory of that first meeting, but despite my first reaction, we became friends. We still are. She and her sister are my oldest friends. 

We went to school together and graduated kindergarten together. She is a year older than me. Her sister is two years younger than me, and my brother is two years younger than her. It made for a nice little group and we all played well together.

We danced together as elves and as rats. My mother taught her how to swim. We spent a lot of time swimming in my backyard pool. She grew up to be a great swimmer and swam all through high school.

We moved when I was six, but because our parents were good friends we all stayed in touch. They came and visited us in North Carolina and later in Indiana when we moved again. We visited them in Pennsylvania. We kept in touch by writing letters. We both loved to read and we discussed the books we were reading in our letters. 

We took vacations together. We spent summers together. We shared Christmases together. We have tons of memories of our good times. We have tons of stories. We've shared many laughs.

    

Letters turned into phone conversations. During college Kim discovered she had a brain tumor and we traveled to Pennsylvania for the surgery. The tumor was benign and she came through with flying colors, losing her hearing in one ear which came in handy later on after we moved in together. We continued to visit one another both of us traveling to each other's state by bus.

Kim moved to Indiana in the latter part of the 80's and lived with us. She had no fear about uprooting her life and starting over. She talked me into traveling with her. We spent over a month traveling out east through New England staying in youth hostels. Kim did all of the driving and taught me how to read a map. She was fearless in her love of travel and was always open for new adventures. I never would have done that trip without her. She took me out of my comfort zone and gave me some confidence. 

 In 1989 we both moved to Florida and lived with her grandparents, eventually moving into our own apartment. We got jobs. We fell in love and got married. We bought houses. I had a baby, and I can remember Kim and I bundling Madison in her stroller and walking the trail.

Kim and her husband moved away in the late 90's. She became a registered nurse. She's had her tumor return a couple of times. She's dealt with everything thrown her way calmly and with an assurance I never had. I visited her once while traveling in the summer with my mother and daughters, but we haven't been together in years. This is probably the longest we have gone without seeing each other since that first meeting in 1968, but we have still kept in touch. We text now. We talk on the phone. We play Words with Friends. She reads my blog. We send each other birthday cards...well, she is good about that.  We talk about visiting each other, but life always seems to get in the way.

I tell everyone that if it weren't for Kim I wouldn't have left Indiana. I would have lived forever with my parents. I credit her with the life I have now; my husband and my children. She was a strong force in my life in the most gentlest way. She guided me without me really being aware. She suggested things and then made them happen. She pushed me without me feeling the shove in my back. She wasn't loud and she was content to stay in the background and let me be the center of attention and the loud one. She loved me unconditionally. She is one of my greatest friends, and I love her dearly.

Happy Birthday Kim. May your day be a special one. May you have cake (because I love cake).

Thanks for being my friend forever and ever.

Agoy goy!