Memorial Day Weekend

Going to make the best of this weekend because #1: I'm only working 4 hours. #2. It is so sunny out right now and other than a few storms...will be sunny for the next few days. #3. Because that 4 hr shift has kept me from driving to Doylestown. #4. But that's okay because can you imagine the traffic? #5. Need to save the gas money right now - have a mountain of one-time bills to pay. #6. When I go home to Dtown I eat like I am 21 years old and that's just not working for me anymore. #7. Dr BJ says that women our age have unwanted stored up fat that, anthropologically speaking is a survival thing. #8. I want to survive but does that mean I have to be built like a soup can? #9. I can't wear the two piece anymore. I'm officially a one-piecer and will have to use self tanning lotion to make up the color difference.

Now that was a flight of ideas.........

5 days have flown!

Wow. I have been so busy. What a week!
Work and work and more work. Things to do, places to go and people to see. All organized around work.
Did very little, saw very few people, and pretty much went nowhere. Except work. I'm glad that I love my coworkers. Work is fun because of the great people I work with.

So...look into my eyes? Are my pupils the shape of $? I'm keeping my eyes on the prize---- A paycheck on Thursday that reinforces the sad and somber truth: I have to work to make the money. Ok, maybe an occasional dime on the ground, a penny on the floor, a dusty nickel at the bottom of my purse.

I remember when the kids were little and we would take them to the zoo, or Seaworld, Disneyland.....they would be on the ground looking underneath benches and soda machines looking for spare change. Geez, if we had known that we could have saved $40 per child on entrance fees...we could have taken them ANYWHERE for free and actually come out with more money than when we arrived!!

Well, this is my only day off and I'm going to spend nothing. I'm going to take a very long swim (free) and a very long walk (free) and eat the food in my refrigerator even though I want to go to Qdoba  and get the Quesadilla with guac and sour cream and pico de gallo.

Have a wonderful day!

my only day off this week

I"m glad that I spent the weekend having a GREAT time in Doylestown with my family. Sisters are like girlfriends. Brothers are my guardian angels. Mom and Dad are the tribal leaders :>)

I missed my kids, my pup and kit......but I needed to swim and eat and shop because this week it's 6 shifts out of 7. And its CRAZY this week. FULL MOON CRAZY.

I want to say: Stop getting pregnant!!!!! Go to another hospital!!!! Did you ever think of home births?
Here's some formula- feed your kid. Take this pill and go to sleep. What do you mean you need help?
Is your husband still sleeping? Kick his butt, Momma- it's his kid too.

4 days of work to go. Wild thing is, I actually love my job.
All we need is a 24 hour salad bar, a sleep break and unlimited caffeinated drinks.
Have a great rest of the week!

Dad's birthday

I am in Doylestown for the weekend. My kids are keeping the home fires burning in DC. Hopefully not burning the home in DC. Just kidding. Fortunately no one smokes, except for the hoarder in 103. This very very nice woman (who gives housewarming and holiday gifts of candy to all the residents) smokes in chain fashion. The smell is oppressive when entering the lobby area. But the vision that will forever be burned into my mind is the time I was walking up the steps, her door was opened maybe a foot....and this cute and little white/beige kitten or cat was sitting at the doorway looking out. Meowing. In a raspy voice. I can't even imagine the lungs of this cat.
Ok well now that I completely depressed myself. I will depress myself further. Its raining. Gloomy. Yuk. April showers bring May flowers. They're here- announcement- flowers are here. And what am I complaining about? I'm not flooded out of my home or my town. Poor southern states. I can't even imagine.
Good news of the day! We are all celebrating Dad's 80th birthday. Everyone is coming over for pizza and cake.
Except Will and Deb and kids who live too far away. Except my kids who work weekends. Dad is 80. Mom and I took him to St Anne's last night. The Liturgy lit a spark and I could see it in his eyes and hands. That was my birthday present from Dad!!
Off to the pool!
Have a wonderful day.

i miss my balcony

it's warm, but not too warm. it's sunny. and i miss the balcony that was on the back of my slumlord-owned apartment. i'm considering paying full price at the Bethesda Y tomorrow....to swim, lie out, bake on both sides, consider feeling guilty, push it out of my mind and lay there for several hours.

i will let you know....after a night shift it seems to me that its the least i could do for myself!

breathe towards the sun!
have a good day :>)

Mother's Day throughout the years

age 1-5: Dad buys something for Mom and gives it to her and says it's from us kids.

age 6-10: Dad takes us to the drugstore or Woolworth's and tells us to pick something out for Mom and he buys it and makes sure it cost less than a dollar: because it's the thought that counts :>$

age 11-15: Dad drops us off at the drugstore or Woolworth's and tells us to buy something for Mom with      our own money. We walk over to the handkerchiefs and candy aisle.

age 16-20: We go to the mall with our friends and find a gift for Mom. We hope that our gift is better than our friend's gifts to their Moms but it depends on how much we spent at the Food Court.

age 21-30: We realize how awesome our Mom was to get us this far and since we are still living at home, or coming home to visit...Mother's Day means jewelry, plants and a adding to a collection that we want our Mom to start up. For example : Mom, I bought you this cool angel figurine, so now you can start a collection and I will buy you one every year!!!

age 30-40: We have kids. Now we know. We know what it's like to be a Mom. We are experiencing this prophetic exclamation by our Mom when we were in our teens: "I HOPE THAT YOU HAVE KIDS JUST LIKE YOU AND YOU WILL KNOW WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH!!" So that means extravagant gifts, reminiscent of the guilt we are feeling for having put our Mom through what we are going through with our own kids right now.

age 40-50: Some of us are broke at the end of the month. Some of us aren't. But what seems to be the best Mother's Day gift to our Mom is: helping with chores around the house....bringing a gift that she mentioned a long time ago and figured we forgot.....doing something to brighten up her home and watching her break into a huge smile and say, I LOVE IT!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

I'm stopping at age 50 because I will not get any older than that.
Have a wonderful day!

Saturday after the busiest week ever

....well, almost. I would say my busiest week was in February when I moved from my slum dwelling on 40th Place to this really nice apartment building on Edmunds St NW. My question is: why does one streetsign say "Edmund St" and the other one says, "Edmunds St". Just wondering.

So, this past Monday I went to my friend Liz' awards ceremony. We drove to Howard University- which, by the way is a surprisingly well kept campus- and found the Blackburn center. After a 2 hour ceremony we truly enjoyed some really great meatballs and chicken wings. Good thing it was afterwards, because my Blackberry would have been a pretty sticky mess if we had been fed prior or during.

Tuesday was swim and work. Wednesday was swim and work. Thursday was swim and work. Friday was wake up from a night shift..swim...CVS....a huge pasta meal.....and sofa. I was a goner. Out like a light. Nothing like going to sleep.

Sounds so boring!! But it was a busy boring and kept me out of trouble.
I hope everyone's week was great and the weekend even better. The sun is shining and the weather is California. Enjoy!

Mid-week, glad it is. Raining, glad it is.

Not that I ever want time to fly, because then I would be freakin' old. But I need these next several days to go by quickly...I see a 3 day off stretch in a row on the schedule and I'm achin' for that to git here fast.

I love the sun. My motto is: breathe towards the sun. That's what my friend Kelli told me to do when we were swimming in a cold pool. We didn't have much body fat back then, in Coronado...so the cold water and the cool air were a painful duo. We pushed off the wall from the far end and, by breathing to the left, the sun was shining in our faces. Kelli lifts her head and yells out,"Mary..breathe towards the sun! Feel the warmth on your face!" I have never forgotten that moment.

But now that it is getting warm and sunny I only want to be outside. Now I'm checking my tan index (pressing my skin to see if it blanches from tan to white and back); and walking the dog for much longer at a time;  and wearing sandals, not shoes; and constantly dreaming of the moment that I'm in an outdoor pool for the first time this season.

Thank you rainy day-I've got a lot to do today.
uh oh......

Is it Wednesday and my sister Anne is off from work and its crappy out? NOT GOOD!!
Let's check her blog and see how she feels!
Have a great day :>)

proud to be an American

When we lived in Coronado we watched the Navy Seals train on the beach. When we lived in Virginia Beach/Norfolk we watched them there, too. A few of my swimmers on the Coronado swim teams joined the military. Even though I've witnessed their training, and watched my swimmers grow  into military men...it's not until we read and hear about the attack on the compound that we can even partially fathom  or imagine how skilled, trained, disciplined, and devoted to their country that they  truly are. WOW!!

Anything I've done in the past couple days since posting last is not even remotely as awesome and wonderful as what these people have accomplished. Thank you President Bush for sticking to your principles 100% of the time! Thank you military and intelligence agencies for never giving up. Thanks President Obama for seeing that your country's welfare is your top priority.

Have a great day. But- terror is still a real threat. Be careful.