Fairy Barry Lee

It's been 14 days since my last post.  Certainly not on the road to being named Blogger of the Year.  My other/better half reminded me this afternoon that I need to post.  Right he is and here I be.

So I was just reading news online - catching up with this whole concept of the 51st State...South California.  You know, getting myself edumacated.  Here's the deal...I am way too tired to make an intelligent comment about any of this.  So I will stay silent.  When I'm tired, these are the kind of comments that I end up posting online...

"I would kick Fairy Barry Lee in the nuts...if he had any. Glad I don't rely on him for my kibbles and water every day. Moron."  Yep, I just posted that in response to some guy named Barry Lee something or another.  He posted a completely ignorant response to a story about a woman who left her puppy in her BMW in the middle of the day with no air, food, or water.  The puppy was in there for hours while this idiot woman shopped at the mall.  The puppy died.  So this moron guy has to make a comment about how we spend too much money on animals and not enough on children.  And of course he had to mention the Casey Anthony case.  It pissed me off along with a whole bunch of other people.  So I could not help myself...I had to say something.  Of course, I posted under my dog's name - her Facebook account.  Nothing like standing up for what you believe in and hiding behind your Bichon-Poo!

 

It's kind of been a tough week.  I have been feeling a bit under the weather.  Fluish.  Work has been a little rough.  The diet has been a struggle.  And this past Friday my friend, Sue (from church), passed away.  Her breast cancer spread to her bones and it moved so quickly.  I mentioned Sue just a few blogs back after I had been to visit her.  She was definitely my favorite person @ church.  I certainly miss knowing she is no longer here.  I remember the last time I saw her she told me how much she loved me.  I will never forget she said that.  I know I will see her again someday.

 

Sure is a lot of sadness and strife going on right now.  A lot of people are sick...very sick.  Some are unemployed.  Some are addicted.  And some are just fighting with their own demons.  I wish I could fix everyone and everything but I realize I just can't do that.  I pray for all of these people every day.  That is what is most needed and most appreciated.

 

Thanks for reading my blog.  And by all means, if you catch me being a lagger, just give me a swift but not very painful kick in the ass and tell me to get posting! ♥

Family Meal

I think when I posted the other day I said I would finish the second part "tomorrow".  My tomorrows are certainly long and drawn out.
Soooo - back to what I was saying "yesterday"...
During the reception our family got together and decided to have dinner somewhere.  When you have over 10 people it's near to impossible for the whole group to decide on one particular place.  Aunt Cheryl mentioned Taco Bell (that would be because she loves Taco Bell and Texans claim that Texas Taco Bells in no way compare to California Taco Bells).  Who knew?  So after we all told her "NO" in unison, Uncle Ben said "PF Chang's".  Luigi was all for that one as were some others but we also got some ugly faces.  So then someone said "Cheesecake Factory".  Ok...that made everyone happy for the most part.  I mentioned that there may be a wait so asked Dan to call and put our name in.  Silly me.  There is no such thing as putting your name in at Cheesecake Factory on a Saturday at 6:00pm.  So we drive there.  You have to be familiar with Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego to truly appreciate the pain it causes to even enter the parking lot.  There ain't no economic depression in that part of the world!  So we come up with a plan.  I drive and Luigi and Mom are in the backseat.  Luigi is to jump out and put our name in.  We leave him to fight his way into there and then I drive across the parking lot so Mom can jump out at PF Chang's and put our name in.  Whoever has the least wait is the winning restaurant.  Meanwhile we have called Josh and Michelle to come meet us.  It takes a good 3 minutes to drive across the parking lot.  You could walk faster - really you could.  Bev hops out and we go back to pick up Luigi at the Factory.  No Luigi.  So we circle around.  By the way, the whole loop takes 5 minutes at a time.  He finally texts me and tells me he is still in line to put his name in to wait in line.  Wow.  Back to PF Chang's to pick up Mom.  She says 1 hour/45 minutes.  Has her little pager.  Back to pick up Luigi.  Still not out front.  Do the route again.  Finally on the 3rd time he comes out and says 2 hours/30 minutes.  Way worse.  He jumps in the car and we circle to find parking and we see all the rest of the family going in the door.  We find parking and all convene in the lobby of the Factory.  We have 2 little kids and know they are not going to last over 2 hours.  We need to pick a new restaurant.  But then good news...Mom's PF Chang's pager went off!  So 13 of us trek on over to PF Chang's.  We have people using canes, people pushing strollers, tired people, you name it.  I'm still in the car so drive over there with Mom and her pager.  We all arrive at the same time and we are told that she broke the rules and went out of range and thus...the pager went off!  Nice!  Everyone is huffing and puffing and we say "false alarm"!  Geez.  So we call El Torito across the freeway and they say "no wait".  So we all manage to get people, strollers, and the like all packed in to cars so we can go to El Torito.  And don't forget to call Josh and Michelle to tell them of the location change.  So I drive to El Torito...Luigi goes in there and guess what?  A party of 14 just walked in ahead of us!  Of course they did.  Yet another wait.  We were all so exhausted by this time that everyone just wanted to go bed!  However, we finally did get a table and we did have a nice time!  Josh and Michelle made it - worked out good for them because Michelle got to go into Express and buy a new top during the whole chaos thing so they missed the real fun.  Here is Josh and Michelle...perhaps this is the top she bought?


Josh & Michelle


Of course, the 3 year old let loose of his balloons in the restaurant and oops, broke the ceiling fan!  This is what we caused...

This is us waiting outside of El Torito...not sure what he was looking at.  My feet?  Down my dress?  I don't think he knew either.

And here is a pic of most of the family after the service and a pick of all the cousins (Melika is Andy's significant other) except for Josh who was...I don't know...learning to tie yellow ribbons on trees or something?  Seriously, he was at a Yellow Ribbon something having to do with military duty.  Of which I am proud of and definitely thank him for his service!

Dan, Julie, Andy, and Melika

Hugh, Julie, Bev, Vickie, Wendell, Cheryl, Ben, and Dan

And THAT my friends is the rest of the story.  Amidst the chaos it was nice to have the family together again.  May be a long time before we get to do that again.  And we STILL won't go to Taco Bell! ♥

Thoughts on a Memorial Service

So I've been thinking...an often dangerous thing for me to do.  I seem to get myself in a lot of trouble when I think too much.
But here's the thing...Grandma Verna's memorial service was on Saturday afternoon.  Our whole family was there which was kind of cool.  Mom's brother and sister, spouses, and all the cousins.  The service was nice.  The flowers were beautiful.  Here's a picture of what it looked like:

It all went off without a hitch.  Lovely memorial.  I know you are hearing a BUT...in this.  And if so, you are correct.  First off, Verna has been my "Grandma" for about 32 years.  She married my grandfather after my real Grandma died in 1978.  I can't say it was a completely beautiful and wonderful thing but it all worked out for the most part.  But I am not here to talk about the last 32 years and what went on during that time.  She has been my 2 youngest cousins' Grandma their whole life.  They never knew the real one as they were born after she passed away.  Anyway, to explain the family situation, Verna had 2 grown children when she married my Grandpa.  Sandy and Dennis.
Then there was our family.  Sandy never had children and sadly predeceased Verna 2 years ago.  Dennis had 2 children, Ryan and Kelly.  We all knew those were her favorite grandchildren and really, that is ok and understandable.  The two families never meshed though.  Actually, the opportunity never presented itself in all 32 years with the exception of my Grandpa's memorial and Sandy's memorial. 
Here's the deal...I had a pretty good relationship with Verna - we had our moments but for the most part, it was fine.  I learned to accept her and while I did not call her "Grandma" to her face, I considered her my Grandmother.  She always signed her cards to me "Grandma Verna".  At the service, Verna's REAL family sat on the left side and her fake family (us) sat on the right.  And the one thing that really bothers me is that not ONE time were any of us mentioned as being her family.  Not a word.  And when the pastor spoke and mentioned the family, he turned from us and spoke to the left side.  It was as if the last 32 years just vanished.  As I recall, it was a service for Verna Hesseltine.  We were the Hesseltine Family sitting there.   Frankly, it sucked.  And now that a couple of days have passed, I feel slighted and basically, pissed off.  What is wrong with people?  When my Grandfather died, the left side was included as "family".  But I guess that is what is called taking the high road. 
So I am left wondering...what is the true definition of family?  Granted, we may not have been the left side's family but we sure as hell were Verna's family.  So we were just a family of 15 sitting on the right side, watching a service for the dearly departed as if we never existed?  I guess that's it.  People are just not very loving or thoughtful these days.  That is the cold harsh reality.
As it turned out, after we left the church, the right side group of 15 got together and had a really nice dinner out.  After much to-do in finding a restaurant...which I will write about in tomorrow night's Blog!
Happy Tuesday to everyone. ♥

Frivesday

Trying to figure out why the longer this diet goes, the harder it gets.  Some days I feel as if I am barely hanging on by a thread.  You just don't feel normal when you can't eat or drink.  But then again, being fat does not feel normal either.  So when I question what in the heck I am doing...I am feeling better and prolonging my life.  Simple as that.
Tomorrow will be a very long day.  Gym first thing in the morning, church after that, then to Point Loma for Grandma Verna's service.  After that, a big family dinner out at a restaurant.  I believe that is where people go to dine, as in EAT.  Water with lemon for me, please!  Anyway, I will see lots of family.  Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins.  Good FB and Blog picture posting.
I got out of Costco today for $36.00.  Unheard of! 
I'm afraid I have nothing noteworthy or funny to say today.  The Blogger is flailing!  I'll get it back...I promise.
And if you are wondering how the title of today's Blog fits in with it's content.  Wonder no more.  It doesn't!  Just what I felt like calling it today...
Happy Weekend everyone. ♥