guess who's back...

I can't believe it's been 6 months since my last blog.  I've totes fallen off the face of the blog earth and I wish I had a great story about where I've been but...I don't.

I'll catch you up anyway...

End of December/Beginning of January:

I had the mumps.

I worked.

I spent some time at the CCI.

In February:

I went to New Orleans without my wallet to run a half marathon I didn't train for...

I worked.

I spent a lot of time at Suggins, in fact, the manager asked if I was paying rent...

In March:

OHHHHHHHHHHHH C-A-T-S....CATS CATS CATS!!!! March Madness!! I thought it was our year.  Every game I threw on my jorts and cracked open a can of four loko....and watched the Cats lose in the final four.

I still get teary eyed just thinking about it...

I also spent a lot of time at the Tulip and Suggins...

In April:

I spent some time at Keeneland...

and some time at the chinoe pub...

I thought I had bed bugs from a hotel in Ohio...just kiddin'...

And then May rolled around...

I picked the Derby winner....

I celebrated my birthday...a couple of times...

and I went to the Indy 500...

And that brings us to June:

I had a kidney infection, I haven't read a book/month like I had planned, I don't run as much as I should, I go out too much, the kayaker is still missing and I'm coming to terms with the fact I will not be spending my entire summer in Northern Michigan.  If you know me, you know how hard it is for me to say that...BUT I'm going this weekend and I can't wait to get up there!! 

So....that about sums up the last 6 months of my life...in one little blog post.  I hope it's not another 6 months until the next one!!

xoxo  

not so close...

I went to see the movie Black Swan yesterday afternoon.  While I was at the theater I had a couple of problems with the people sitting next to me, so I told my friend I needed to take to the blog for some movie theater etiquette.  Listen up all the heavy breathing, texting, sitting next to a stranger movie go-ers, this one's for you.  My friend Emmy and I arrived early to the movie to get a good seat because it was the day after Christmas and we knew Black Swan was a hit.  We found a seat in the middle section next to the aisle, more than half way down to the front.  The theater was somewhat crowded but with plenty of seats available.  After we sat down, an older lady came past us and sat exactly four seats down from me....not a big deal at all.  Then she proceded to take off her scarf and lay it down on the three seats between us.  Again, I was ok with this...thinking maybe her husband was coming and she wanted to make sure to have enough room for him and perhaps her purse and a coat or two.  Well, her husband walks in and sits next to her and then two more friends sit down RIGHT next to me.  I looked around thinking there was no way that the theater filled up that much in the few minutes we had been sitting down and to my dismay there was an entire row empty directly behind us.  Not only that...there were three other seats on the other side of the first lady that sat down that were empty!  So, to give you a visual of our row it was Emmy, Me, and four stranger followed by three empty seats and an empty row behind us.  First rule of movie going etiquette, don't sit directly next to someone else unless there are no other seats in the theater.  So, not only are we sitting right on top of each other...the arm rest between us breaks.  This is no joke, at one point I was holding the arm rest in the air thinking it might make the man move.  He just looked at me and said "yep, it's broken".  The right thing to do would have been to move down one seat, they didn't budge.  So, the movie starts and so did the strangers breathing.  I just kept thinking of those hand sanitizer commercials where they show germs shooting out of peoples mouths and nose....totally disgusted.  It's cold and flu season, we don't need to be sharing germs.  So, another rule to learn: if you are sitting directly next to a stranger, keep the breathing down!  The noise and oxygen intake was unnecessary.  And to top it all off...everytime I hid my face under my coat or jumped because of a scary part in the movie...he laughed at me.  As if I wasn't upset enough with the movie, he had to act like it was ridiculous that I couldn't watch Natalie Portman scratch her skin off or cut her finger nails down to the skin.  Sorry mister, that's just not something I can stomach!  If I was sitting next to a friend and they were making fun of me, that's fine, but it's not ok for a stranger!  So, next time you're at the movie, remember to consider the people around you...and by around I don't mean the person sitting exactly next to you because there should always be an empty seat between you!  I won't get into lice on the seats because that would just be downright gross...hope ya'll had a Merry Christmas!!

xoxo

it's that time of year again...

It’s that time of year again…everyone’s favorite holiday, Christmas.  I have a confession; not sure how comfortable I feel sharing this fact about myself but let the truth be told…I don’t love “Christmas”.  Before you throw me under the bus, call me the grinch, switch to another blog or shake your head in disgust…just hear me out.   There's a group(maybe small, maybe large) of people I think have forgotten what Christmas is all about and make the season unbearable for others.  Perhaps you might know someone who could use a little reminder??  Feel free to send them over to my blog!! I’ve noticed that people are crazy right now, seriously crazy.  Fuzzes are short, emotions are running high, and every one is broke.  I work for a company that makes children’s clothing…in the past couple of days I’ve been told I’ve ruined Christmas for a family because their pj’s were sold out and I was told I’ve saved Christmas for another family because I could send their two year old a silk party dress (I’m sure the baby will be thrilled).  How in the world do I have the power to make or break someone’s Christmas with what their kid is wearing??  We have this huge build up for one day…parents shop for weeks, wrap for hours and gifts are opened and thrown to the side in minutes.  Kids cry when they don’t get what they want, parents are tired and cranky because they’ve stayed up all night to make the day special for the kids, where are all the merry people?  It’s become the hustle and bustle of going from one party to another, getting all the shopping done, having the house decorated and gifts under the tree, but are people truly appreciating it all? I could go on and on, but I won’t because I do know there are also good things about Christmas…spending time with family, being thankful for what you have and if you want to celebrate the absolute true meaning of Christmas…it’s celebrating Jesus, his birth and everything he has given us.  But, how many people do you think actually celebrate that?

do you celebrate christmas because of this??

or this??

I was talking to my friend, Mere tonight.  You all might know her from her guest blog appearance about breast cancer at 30.  Here is a woman who has so much to celebrate this Christmas.  She is a great reason we should take the time to think about what we have and how truly blessed we are. I know this year her family and friends will be thankful for the time spent with her celebrating another Christmas.  So, don’t let yourself get too wrapped up in the commercial aspect of the 25th of December.  Remember why we have this holiday and don’t worry so much about the materialistic things you/your loved ones have been asking for, reflect on your year and what truly makes a difference.  Meredith got a card from two young cancer patients this year and this is what it read with a picture of the two kids with their little bald heads on their “make a wish” trip:

It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."

So, call me the grinch if you want, but I think we can learn something from this green guy.  Merry Christmas!!

xoxo

she's fallen and she won't get up...

Blog readers...have you missed me?? Wondered where I went..to be honest, I have no excuse.  My schedule has changed a bit, working more and less time to write.  I feel like I've had a lot of funny things to share, but not always sure how to share without exposing some of my secrets ;) Another VERY time consuming project has been taking care of my sweet little mama.  She broke her foot a week before Thanksgiving and you would think she was paralyzed.  It happened on a Friday night...I had gone out to dinner with my parents and a couple of glasses of champagne for Brenda and down she went...literally.  One wrong step and boom...it all happened so fast, I had no idea how she did it.  Not only was she in pain, she kept passing out.  I was literally in shock because I've never seen anyone pass out.  Unfortunately for my mom, my sympathetic, maternal side did not kick in...I just kept telling her to get up.  My Dad was mute, so I had to take charge and strategize how to get her to the car.  My Dad and I carried her together and let's just put it this way...we accidentally kept going in opposite directions.  It wasn't pretty and I would pay someone big bucks if there was a video of it!  At the hospital my future flashed in front of my eyes because the doctors just talked to me...not my parents.  FINALLY, I was the one in charge.  After staying the night in the hospital, she was allowed to leave with a boot on her right foot and crutches.  I wish that was the end of my story, but it's only the beginning.

my sweet mama

For those of you that don't know me, I can be very dramatic, the past few weeks I figured out where my overly dramatic side comes from.  My mom had a friend bring her a wheel chair, she has been rolling around in it running into every wall and door way because the crutches just aren't an option.  Coordination and upper body strength put the kibosh on that.  As soon as anyone sits down she decides she needs a glass of water or a popsicle.  When she finishes her meal she hands you her plate to immediately take it away, even if you are in the middle of finishing your meal.  She MUST have two diet cokes from McDonalds/day (the first one my Dad delivers around 6:30-7am).  She texts me at work at 4 to bring her home champagne because hers has gone flat and she sits in her bed, playing games on her i-pad and giggles on the phone.  One week of this was funny, two weeks was understandable but a month later and I'm so over it.   Now that it's icy out there, I may never see her on her two legs again!!

will she ever walk again??

Speaking of people having two legs, did you watch the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills tonight??  I would take my mom in a full body cast for five years over the electric cig. smoking psychic or Camille Grammer.  The psychic was about as crazy as they get.  I think in one episode of RHBH, she single handedly lost all attraction to her show Medium.  She was a nut and left me hiding under a blanket in utter embarrassment.  I'm so addicted.  As Andy Cohen would say, "my mazel of the week" is that I am NOT Camille Grammer.  There's nothing right about that lady.

I hope everyone is having a good holiday season so far.  I will work harder on getting more posts up!!

xoxo

random thoughts...

Don't have a lot to blog about, so thought I'd give you some random thoughts:

1. What would the world be like if we all skipped everywhere we went?  Don't you think we would be happier?  I would love to see all the politicians going into the capital with their papers in hand, skipping right alongside their biggest opponent.  How could they not get along??  Anyone who skips is happy, right?

2. What was life like before the Real Housewives?  I can't remember.  There's nothing better than watching those train wrecks to make you feel better about yourself.  I'm obsessed with Beverly Hills.  It couldn't get any better and Watchers in the Woods was my favorite movie when I was a kid and the star is on the show...could it get any better??

3. Why do some people text all the time, act super peppy and excited on facebook and then when you see them in real life they're a bump on a log.  Is this a new personality disorder...split cyber personalities?

4. Have you ever felt like you are at the exact place where you should be and karma can be a good think?  I do.

5. Why didn't they free Enes?  Ashley Judd would understand this if she read my blog...if you're not from Kentucky and you don't follow college basketball, this will mean nothing to you.

6. I want Edelweiss to be sung to me on my deathbed.  I'd love it if it could be Christopher Plummer, but I also hope I outlive him.

7. I'm signing up to run a half marathon in February in New Orleans.  I've never been to New Orleans and I've never run a half marathon...the longest I've ever ran is 10 miles and I hated every second of it.  Should be interesting.

8. The kayaker still hasn't been found.  Where is he?  It's like asking the question: Who shot JFK?

9. I haven't bought a tank top in at least a month.  That's a record.  In fact, I only have one on under a long sleeve t-shirt right now...that's another record.  I am normally in at least two tank tops.

10. I wish my life was a musical and every few minutes a new song would start and we'd dance around.  I spend a lot of time choreographing these moments in my head.  I'd also love a video montage of things in my life to the song Kentucky Woman.

That's all I have for you for tonight.  

xoxo

Mere's a survivor!!!

I meant to write this last week, but ran out of time and wanted to give this post some thought.  I know some people have told me that they've shown the posts we've written about Mere's breast cancer to friends who are going through the same thing, so I thought I'd write a little more about what we did and what helped Meredith from a friends perspective.  Last Thursday, November 4th, Meredith, finished her cancer treatments!! It was her last radiation...so, after 8 chemo's, one surgery and six weeks of radiation...we have a survivor!!  I am so excited, proud, happy, relieved and amazed with Mere.  She was a trooper and by summer will have the best, perkiest, well placed boobs at the pool(there has to be a silver lining for breast cancer patients).  I took a look back at our text over the past few months to see when this whole journey began.  I knew things started in April, but wasn't exactly sure what part of the month it was.  "Call me later when you have a sec" was the text I got on April 6th, the day she talked to someone about the lump in her breast.  I think I knew right away something was wrong, but wasn't sure what it would be.  At this point Mere wasn't sure either, but had a hunch it wasn't good.  After that text it was a bunch of texts about ultra sounds, biopsy's, surgeons, bone scans etc.  In fact, my very first cancer joke came on April 9th...phrased "not sure if this is appropriate to say, but knew you would get out of doing a triathlon this summer."  And that was actually a true statement, just didn't know she'd go to such extremes.  The first chemo was on April 21st because I texted her a picture of the two of us.  I had also done a lot of research online about cancer patients and given her a "survival kit" to take to chemo.  There were texts explaining all the gifts.  Ginger snaps and gatorade for nausea, mint and gum for the bad taste some patients have from chemo (she never said much about that and sucked on a popsicle when she needed it), books of crosswords and sudoku for chemo(didn't realize we would be so entertained by ourselves), and a scarf in case she got cold.  I gave her a bag to put everything in because I was worried that after chemo I might have to carry her out (let's keep in mind I had no idea what to expect and I'm a bit of a drama queen) and we needed everything in one bag so I would have both hands/arms to carry her.  Mere walked in and out of every chemo and normally to lunch when we were done and I know there were even a few birthday dinners we attended in the evenings!  If anything it was a couple days later when she wasn't feeling well and during the second half of her chemo when her bones ached.  I don't think she missed a day of work during chemo ( I could be wrong about that and if she did miss work, it was only a day or so).  Like I have said before....she is AMAZING.  I know I've mentioned she works, but is also a mother to a one year old....did she plan a huge first birthday party for Finn??? Yes, during the middle of chemo and the same weekend she attended the all day Indy 500 event.  She literally did not let any part of life pass her by and did it all.  In fact, last weekend, I went up to Indy to attend her "Bats all Folks" end of treatment Halloween party.  She made all the food, did all the decorations, ran around looking for her costume and her sons...she never stops!! I've wondered through all of this if I would handle this situation the same way she has and sadly, I don't think I could....she's too good at being an awesome breast cancer patient.  When I came back after surgery and we went shopping for a bra and boob at Nordstroms, the lady who was in charge of the mastectomy bras could not believe she was already out and about...that's how Mere works...NOTHING will stop her.

club chemo group at the halloween party
erika- farve reporter, mere-flamingo, sld- lindsay lohan

I think what helped her most was the support she got from friends and family.  We set up a web site and had dinners brought in a few times a week.  People were more than willing to help out and everyone wanted to contribute in some way.  This is a great way to get everyone to participate.  I know the cards, e-mails and texts were so nice for her to read, in fact, she said she would send a note to someone now if they had a cold!  Throughout all of this I've had people tell me that I've been a good friend to Meredith, my response is that she doesn't have an option to go through this, so her friends don't either.  I'm not being a "good" friend, I'm just being a FRIEND.   If you're a friend to someone you're there for them during the good AND bad parts and hopefully you can make the hard times a little easier...the good times are the added bonuses.  AND as I've said before...you can make these hard times fun.  It's ok to laugh about things and make jokes...there's no right or wrong way to talk about cancer.  Just be honest and true to your friendship.  I remember at the beginning of all of this I kept telling Meredith it would all be over before we knew it and here we are....her hairs growing back, she has all of her free time back and she's ready to move on.  I know she's on to great things and will be an inspiration for young women who are diagnosed with breast cancer...I'm so proud of her and am glad we're finishing up the "Cancer Chapter" in her life and are moving on to better things!! Mere's a survivor!!

she's a survivor!!

Perfecting a different kind of marathon...

So sorry to my loyal blog followers that I've been so delinquent with my posts.  I really have no excuse at all, I've just moved and started a new job.  No excuse at all....  So, I hope my title enticed you to get back to sissy unplugged, put your feet up and start reading again.  I have an important blog post about marathons.  For you runners out there, don't get excited...I haven't done any more relays, didn't attempt a half (yet) and I'll certainly never do a full marathon....the marathon I'm talking about is day drinking and I have it down to a science.  Read carefully, this is where you may learn something from me!

One of my favorite hobbies is day drinking.  It's one of those rare times you know everyone's there to party if they're committing to a day of drinking.  Two weekends ago was my favorite fall day in Kentucky.  The horse races at Keeneland followed by a tailgate and Kentucky Football game.  The weather was close to 80 degrees and sunny.  Perfect conditions for a marathon day.  This year I was smart....I made a plan for myself.  I wanted to enjoy the whole day and feel ok on Sunday.  I knew that drinking bourbon wasn't an option at Keeneland.  I've been down that road before...it's ugly and the next day is even worse.  The first move I made was to be in bed at a decent hour on Friday night and to make sure I was well hydrated.  I woke up ready for the day...the only thing I had to get was my mini bottles to sneak into the football game.  I had decided that I needed to be able to mix with diet coke, it's my fave and I didn't want anything with sprite.  Obvious choice is Bourbon....again, not if I was going to be ok the next day.  On Tuesday I did a practice run and decided on vanilla vodka...perfect mix, a vanilla diet coke!  I swear when I pulled out of my driveway to go to the store it was like The Truman Show.  Every car was pulling out of their driveways and where were we all headed at 10 am on a fall Saturday morning....Liquor Barn Express!  I could barely get a parking spot.  I was set for the game and ready for the races.

at the races...

My friends and I went out to lunch and started with a Bloody Mary and food in the stomach.  It's always important to get something down or you'll never make it.  Food and water are both essential in a marathon day.  Off to the track...the safest bet (and I believe the most cost efficient??? didn't check the stats, but my guess would def be...) beer.  I knew that they would be filling and I would be in good shape for the rest of the day.  It was a great day at the races.  I don't think I lost any money!! I ran into some friends and it was such a beautiful day.  We all had a great time.  Keeneland is so pretty in the fall!! If you ever have a chance to go, I suggest you do it!  I left the track happy and ready to hit the tailgate.  I wasn't tired at all and ready to keep partying.

at the game!

After a quick change and a bottle of water, we went to the tailgate.  Again, drinking only beer and water.  It was time to eat again and instead of "drinking my dinner", I ate.  Smart move in a marathon.  I'm sure the people sitting around me at the game were happy I went with that choice.  Then, after smuggling my mini bottles in, it was one drink per half.  After the game (actually after the 3rd quarter because the cats aren't the best) it was back to the tailgate.  I was happy with the way my behavior was after seeing a turned over table at the tailgate by a drunken couple and a couple of wipe outs by people who clearly didn't listen to their bodies and the effects of their alcohol.  My friend and I even decided to take a beer for the road and walk the couple miles home!! All in all, it was a great marathon.

perfect night to walk home...full moon, crazy things were happening!

The next day we were up by 9 and even walked a couple of miles to breakfast with a very productive Sunday.  We couldn't help but pat ourselves on our backs for being so good at day drinking.  Although, still not sure this is something we should be proud of...I may not have run 26.2 miles,  but I've perfected a different kind of marathon...

xoxo