Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Batten down the hatches!


Its an El Nino year and it appears to be a real doozy! Today was crazy with the high winds, torrential rains and power outtages and its the "tame" storm. In the next few days we are gonna be slammed with high winds and rain. Being a Washingtonian I am used to and actually love a good rain storm. But this is rediculous! The property I manage is a nightmare with units flooding and debris flying all over the place. It reminded me of the summer storms in Virginia when I was a kid. We had actual tornado warnings today too. Crazazy!

Gonna batten down the hatches and be very grateful that we live at the top of a hill and not the bottom. Got firewood and candles ready just in case the power is out again. Oh ya, and about the power outtage..LAME!! It was a riot with all of us holed up together. We had to actually hang out and spend time together without tv or computer. The kids just picked on each other the whole time while I paced back and forth praying that the power would return. So sad when you think about it, to be worried about a temporary inconvenince while Haitians are permanently outside without even the most basic of needs. Gonna have to get my priorities straight.
**Picture from www.signonsandiego.com

Monday, January 18, 2010

Birthdays

Some say, that the older you get, birthdays become just another day. I still like mine even though being middle-aged is a bit of a trip! I like to look back to birthdays past, remembering the celebrations and celebrating how far I have come. Some birthdays stand out, like my 12th birthday when a blizzard hit the night of my slumber party and what was supposed to be a one night gig turned into a weekend because we were snowed in. I got a green percolating curling iron and burger cooker that year.

Then there was my 16th birthday where I convinced my conservative parents to let me have a party. We lived amongst the pines and a dense wooded area. I had friends that were jocks and preps and had also befriended a few stoners too. The older stoner kids hung out in the woods drinking. I spent my evening going back and forth between my house and the woods entertaining two seperate groups of people who didn't care for each other much. I look back now and think what in the world was I thinking? I was no more a stoner or a drinker than the man on the moon! Sad how you will do anything to be accepted in high school. My parents never figured it out which was crazy!

Next up, the 21st birthday. Definetly a colorful one. My mom had bought me a cute outfit that came with a black bolero hat. (it was 1989 and quite the trend!)She took me to dinner at my favorite Mexican place before I was to meet my friends Chuck and Carmine to go out. As I mentioned before, my mom was conservative so I was surprised when she agreed to have an alcoholic beverage with me. We both got margaritas and when the waitress asked if we wanted a floater I said yes. My mom had no idea what a floater was, but I did! (an extra shot of tequila) I was determined to lighten her butt up! When it was time to pay the bill, the waitress recognized me and said, "you are just NOW 21?" I had been going for months without being carded..HA HA My mother was not amused. She dropped me off at Chuck and Carmines and well the rest of it was a blur that ended with Carnine and I hunched over the toilet while her husband took care of us. Crazy to think that drinking yourself to the point of being ill would be any kind of fun.

Today I turned 42. So many friends called and wrote messages wishing me a happy birthday. It was the best day ever. Its a day that beat out any burger cooker in a blizzard, stoner/jock party with a tequila floater on top! Growing older is quite the adventure...the older I get the more I like myself. I give God the glory for that miracle thats been 42 years in the making!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Losing Sean

It's amazing how some memories stay intact in our minds so much so that all we have to do is close our eyes and relive the moments whenever we want. Sean was a friend whom I had come to know through my Dad. Our Dads worked togther and so we would hang out together at company parties and picnics and sometimes at school. He lived around the corner from me and as we grew up I developed a bit of a crush on him. He was perfect, big brown eyes and brown hair and had an amazing smile. He also played football which I thought was the coolest thing ever. I was twelve and we often talked about our 13th birthdays. Our birthdays were 2 days apart with his being the 16th and mine the 18th. In December prior to our big birthday month Sean became ill with the flu. We lived in Virginia at the time, and a huge storm had covered the area just in time for Christmas. The day after Christmas I was walking in the snowy cold day and to my surprise ran into Sean walking the opposite way. He explained he was feeling better and we exchanged our Christmas lists, describing what we had received. I was so happy to see him. We also talked of our big days, just weeks away. Parties were in the plans for sure we agreed. Shortly thereafter his Mom called him in an so we said our goodbyes. "See ya when school starts!"
School started right after the New Year.

I walked in the front door that first day back to my Mom looking at me with eyes I had rarely seen in my young life. Now that I am a Mom I know those eyes, I have looked at my own children with those eyes. How do you tell your child that a friend of theirs has unexpectedly died? What do you say? Mine sat me down, at our round kitchen table and told me. I ran screaming down the hall, screaming that she's a liar, that it wasn't true. But it was.

The night of his wake, I refused to go, figuring if I didn't go, then it wouldn't be true. But it was. A few weeks later his birthday came and I sat and wondered what his parents and brother were doing. I felt so sad that a day he was so looking forward to wouldn't be happening for him. On my birthday, I celebrated for the both of us and have done so every birthday since. Every January 16th, I wish him a very happy heavenly birthday and tomorrow on my birthday I plan to raise a glass to him.

Losing Sean was one of many losses I experienced that year. It really affected me and in some ways it still does. I will never forget Sean, and if ever I wanna see his smiling face all I have to do is close my eyes and there we'll be, two 12 years old on a cold snowy afternoon laughing without a care in the world.