Walking to school stuff…
A marble. A clear, smooth marble/stone on the street. Walking the kids to school (or bus) is one of my favorite things to do in the world right now. I photo’d it with my blood pressure cuff and scope to remind me of every other moment in my life that isn’t sleeping or driving to and from school. Sorry its blurry. Another telling sign.
Running 55 and Under!
Labor Day Weekend! Scenic 5 (Mile)! We did it! I know it’s been a week but I’ve had school. I’ll always have school…but for now this is about the race.
If you have been following along, I was running five miles fairly easily. In about an hour or less depending on traffic lights. (I said easy–not fast)
So I was pretty confident I could do under an hour, for sure, in the actual race. And I did! And thanks to my running partner, Wayne, I was able to aim for 55 minutes or less. And I got that! My official time was 54 minutes and 32 seconds. I consider that pretty good. I was ninth finisher in my age bracket. I made the top 10! (In my age bracket) (Oh and did I mention that there were only 17 total IN my age bracket…) HAHAHA. I don’t care! It still counts!! I was 304 out of 372. That’s pretty funny too! I was on page 8 of the results. Next year, I’m going for page 7. Oh yeah. High hopes! Small steps! Also, I almost threw up at the end. I really hate when that happens! When I crossed the finish line, I started dry heaving. I felt bad for the nice woman who was trying to give me my finishing medal. She’s reaching out, I’m dry heaving, she’s recoiling in horror…I got it together and was fine in a few. Luckily I never eat before I run. Lucky for all of us. That’s probably enough gross stuff.
Wayne did good too. First race for him, and he ran coming off of surgery and an ankle injury, and I still couldn’t beat him! I was actually slowing him down but he (kindly) said he was speeding me up! True. Thanks Wayney! He beat me by two minutes! He was on page 7!! Curses!!
Next year. There’s always next year. Here are some photos. Forgot the camera, but I always have my phone.
The line up to start.
Wayne. (In black)
Me. I have to laugh at this because my hair and leg makes me look like I'm just speeding across the line, robot-style, all 9o degree angles, but in a movie and in slow-mo, and really I was just trying not to be sick. Funny.
Drum Pad Post
The boy is in the band. Playing drums. This is a practice pad. I wouldn’t normally post such a plain thing like this, (I would), but it was the presentation as a whole that makes it worthy(er).
The BF went to the music store and texted us a picture to make sure it was the right kind. The picture is fine, it was the words along with it that earned its spot here. It could be just me…
And, fyi, Mason is getting REALLY good at playing. He’s musical.
As texted to me: Dbl sided bouncy and firm thirty dollars alternate 8inch single side bouncy twelve dollars
Speaking of candy
There seems to be a mad love affair going on with the old fashioned wax bottle candy. You know, the ones shaped like bottles that have the colorful, fruity liquid inside them? You can bite off the top, drink the juice and then chew on the wax until it’s gross. Yes, those.
My daughter discovered them by accident at an old fashion type ice cream shop. Besides the wax bottles, they had candy cigarettes and bottle caps and what not, but she honed right in on those wax bottles. We bought her ten. She “ate” one and she was hooked. So we bought her twenty more. In the week between our first purchase and going back for more, they were all gone! A really big jar, sold out! She was crushed. I don’t know what happened in the south suburbs this summer that spurned the love of wax bottles, but we couldn’t find anymore, anywhere, in the area. Ridiculous right?
But you can always count on the internet. There they were. Cases and cases to be bought. Pound after pound. Store after store. We picked the company that didn’t charge more for the shipping than the actual candies, ordered up four pounds of them and hoped for cool weather on the day they were delivered. (They tend to melt in the box if it’s too hot outside and you’re not home)
But we had no problems. When they came I let Stevie open them. Told her we had a special surprise for her since we had bought Mason a bike the week before. (It’s not exactly even reciprocation, but she doesn’t care because those candies are worth more to her than a bike, which she already has anyway) She was thinking she was getting books (Twilight is the current fav and being read right now)…when she saw the candy she almost cried! It was very exciting. She carried them around for awhile in their separate bags, then took them all out and counted them (216), then put them in one big bag, and then finally transferred them all to a shoe box. She tries not to eat too many at a time even though she wants to eat them all.
Let’s start past to present…like a “birthday” present…haha
When last I left you…we were at the circus. We weren’t actually at the circus, but we saw the tent and we took the pictures (POST BELOW) and we were on our way to dinner. But it still wasn’t my official birthday yet.
Well, that day has come and gone. I moved into a new age bracket, some insurance rates went up, some went down. The various commercial organizations that I get e-mails from, sent me lovely birthday wishes, as if they know me. I have special rates to Vegas, money off if I purchase some shoes, I even get free dessert from Friday’s! Oh yeah, I am living the life.
I only bring it up now because I actually took a picture of all the cards I received and the presents I got. It was a landmark year. One with a zero. I am saving all my acknowledgments, so if I get depressed in the near future or discouraged, I can look at them and remember a good time.
After this we can move on.
Thank you thank you thank you to all who helped me celebrate! I appreciate everything! XOXO
These are my cards
These are my presents. You really can't go wrong with candy, coffee, music and money.
On the way to dinner last night we ran into the CIRCUS! Seriously.
We received the free tickets. We knew it was coming. We forgot all about it. Boom. Big Tent. Calliope music. Small ponies. Dancing horses. And elephants!
Oh yeah! Three, huge, giant elephants wearing colorful vests waiting in the parking lot for their turn in the big top. A tent the size of a football field in the Steger, K-Mart parking lot! Come one. Come all. My kids were P.O.’d that we didn’t go. Next year for sure. Here’s the pictures to prove it.
So basically we couldn’t park anywhere near the area. We ended up going to McDonald’s. They were very nice and friendly. They had a really cool mural on the wall of the Chicago skyline. Of course I took the pics to share.
The real birthday celebration was a little different…
And a little more savage. Ewww…sorry. Hooter’s. That was last Saturday. With the family. There was carnivorous behavior occurring. They were good though, even though it looks disgusting in this picture. Check out that clarity! Guess who took it? Picture(s) below:
It's just not a camera file without a picture of Mason. Or his new hat that he loves. From the truck race in Joliet last Friday.
Giant, creepy spider waiting on the wall to grab our leftovers. Yes, there were leftovers. Hard to believe, I know.
I got the ENEMA.
Of course. I knew it when they told us we would have to do this skill set. And I knew it as I was sitting at the desk waiting to pull it out of the bedpan. (Not really, it was a plastic baggy–random draw of a skill to demonstrate.)
But I did not panic. I studied. A lot. I took all the skills, from enema’s to bed-making to ROM to safety devices, positioning and transfers…I did them all. Over and over until I was comfortable. Mason helped ENORMOUSLY! He let me practice everything I needed (with the exception of enema and rectal temp…big baby) and when I sat down, picked enema, faced the nurse evaluator with ALL that experience, I just…relaxed. I knew the material. I knew the process. I knew WHY I knew the process. She said I seemed very competent. That is good enough for me. Relief. I did forget one thing, but not a failure. And that’s good because I feel that this is my calling. Does that sound lame?
Every time I learn something, or every time I do a skill, even just practice for fake, I feel like I am right where I should be. Like I can really DO this job and be good at it and want to work. It feels real natural. All these years…and now I figure it out. Well, better late than never right?
And speaking of all these years, to get off all that serious, it’s my birthday! Yay Me! I got some pictures….but first, I have to share with you some other people that share my birthday. I turn to D-Listed, as always, and the shock of celebrity birthdays. I knew about Salma and Keanu, but Shauna was a surprise! I think I might be changing what I want for my birthday. Perhaps a couple of chest implants instead of I-Tunes cards?? I’m not getting any younger ya’ know! What could I do with these?? What COULDN’T I do with these?!? This is copy/pasted directly from the website. Even the picture. Observe:
Birthday Sluts
The Empress of Lucite, Shauna Sand (Forever Young)
Aimee Osbourne (26)
Cedric “K-Ci” Hailey (40)
Camille Grammer (41)
Cynthia Watros (41)
Salma Hayek (43)
Tuc Watkins (43)
Lennox Lewis (44)
Keanu Reeves (45)
Mark Harmon (58)
Terry Bradshaw (61)
Open Post: Hosted By The Most Elegant Birthday Goddess In The Universe And Beyond!
38 years ago today, angels came down from heaven carrying a brilliant lucite pearl, because they believed the world needed more elegance and glamour. As soon as Shauna Sand’s perfect toes touched Earth’s soil, stripper poles got shinier, titty implants got harder and lucite was born. Yeah, anything they called “lucite” before then was just cheap low-grade plastic, because it had not been blessed by Shauna!
Last night, The Empress of Lucite and her greasy baguette went out to celebrate the most important day in history by gracing the streets of Hollywood with her gorgeous presence. Shauna is so pure of heart, because she is thinking of others on her special day. Speaking of, why are you at work? This is the most important day in history!
You must immediately leave the office, head to the nearest Frederick’s, purchase a pair of exquisite lucite heels, go home, place them in the middle of the room, decorate them with lights, kneel before them and thank the heavens above for giving us the gift that is Shauna Sand!
And Shauna didn’t wear her main lucite heels last night, because they like to spend the evening before her birthday handing out heels to less fortunate whores on Hollywood Blvd.
Same night as sushi…Dodge Nemesis. In the parking lot on the way out.
It’s new. It’s orange-y. It looks pretty cool, I guess. This is with the phone camera. I personally like the neon lights reflecting from above, but that’s just me.
Let’s do some sushi! And a little school news…
I need to post. You need a picture. Otherwise…too boring!
Monday: First quiz of the season. I’m not even going to drag it out. Success. Thank God! First is always the hardest because you never know how the teaching will reflect into the testing. As long as I continue to study the way that I did, I should be ok.
Tuesday…however…first Skills Test. Just the basics please, but that’s what can trip you up. Seems so simple, and yet…you freeze up in front of all that experience, feeling intimidated. And I really HATE feeling like that. So, practice the skills, learn the rationale, and do your best. My son says, “Mom, that’s all you can do. I know you’ll do the best you can.” Thanks Mason 🙂
(I think those little icons turn into the real thing…smiley face…that’s cool.)
Anyway, here’s some sushi. Mason went to the truck race and Stevie, the BF and I went for food. Stevie tried everything we ordered. And even liked it! Enjoy the picture, I got skills to do.
just shy of pretty 