mental note: do not plan to visit dad and brudder in the same day. i was already sleepy when i left my dad’s this afternoon so the hour and fifteen minute drive across central florida to see my brother was a bad call. it was an exhausting day, although i did have great visits with both family members. last night i had dinner with an old friend i haven’t seen in a couple years. funny thing about her is that we met playing softball for one season when we were nine years old, we never went to the same schools, and yet we’re still friends all these years later. isn’t that nice? tomorrow i’ll be spending most of the day with jenny and hopefully purchase my moh dress.

i miss my hubby so much already. i got up at 0400 to take him to the airport this morning. that was painful, especially after not being able to sleep much last night. i want him back and am very bummed that he’s going to be gone for two weeks straight. the weekend was spent mostly spending all the time i could with him. my dad and his wife came over saturday for grilling and swimming but that was the only visiting that went on outside my sissy’s family. yesterday we went to church with them and then made a day of shopping and movie. one of my bro-n-law’s relatives told him that iron man would be good for the kids so we went to see that yesterday. the previews were bad enough but it was probably twenty minutes into the not-kid-friendly movie when they left the theatre. my hubby and i stayed to watch it while they exchanged their ticket for a more appropriate movie. it was a good movie… for adults. i am appalled that his relative thought it was one for the kids. he also checked a movie review website for kids (i don’t recall which one) that made it sound like it wasn’t bad. i really couldn’t believe all of the little kids that were watching it with parents that didn’t seem to care what they were being exposed to. my parents never restricted what we watched. i watched cujo when i was four, child’s play when i was eight. i remember seeing s3xu@l situations in movies before i was in gradeschool. and i think it was all extremely inappropriate for me to have been exposed to so early. i remember twisting my teddy bear up and stabbing it with a pencil before bed every night to make sure that chucky was not in there. not a positive behavior for a kid. i’m not saying that iron man was that bad but it did have several moments that were not suitable for chilluns. /tangent. have i mentioned i miss my hubby?

how dare my sissy and bro-n-law keep me up until 0100 playing rock band! didn’t they know i had to work today? sheesh. so we had a good visiting weekend. spent a nice afternoon with my dad saturday, relaxed saturday night, spent time with my brother and sis-n-law yesterday, and had dinner with my jenny last night. i also managed to make plans for the week last night like jenny and i are going to look for bridesmaid dresses wednesday night and i managed to invite myself to a free movie with my cousin for tonight. it’s been forever since i had a girls-only night with my cousin. i feel a little guilty having two girls-nights this week when my hubby is going to be gone all next week but it’s also nice to have friends around. i think him and bro-n-law are talking about a golfing man-date wednesday anyhow. oh, and you’ll be shocked to know that my body has been vehemently disapproving of my run on saturday. my poor quads.

after getting in to orlando late last night and staying up even later to watch some dog whispering (yep, my sissy has inexplicably converted to dog-person), i actually got out of bed early-for-me today and went running! no, you didn’t misread that. i did two laps around the neighborhood (2.17 miles each lap) in exactly one hour. i know that’s not great, but it’s fantastic for me. i jogged every cul-de-sac once so i’m guessing that i jogged about a third of the total distance. that’s really good for me. now that i’m showered, we’re going to head out to visit my dad for the afternoon and maybe make it back for grown-up movie night.

i had the most wonderful conversation with my brother last night. not only did he call me (returning my call from earlier in the day when i left a happy anniversary vm) but he also talked non-stop for twenty minutes. not many of you know my brother but he is not a talker. at all. generally, when i call him (he never calls me) i struggle to carry a conversation and give up after about two minutes because he is king of the monosyllabic responses. calling my sis-n-law is much more fruitful if i want to know what’s going on in their life. not last night though. he talked and talked about all kinds of subjects (including the topic that he has not broached with me at all in close to two years and i was so relieved to know that he understands it’s not me). anyhow, never, i mean NEVER, have i had a phone conversation like that with him. and not since before i left home have we had any conversation like that. it was so nice to actually talk with him. he sounded great and was thankful that i reminded him of his anniversary. i was all kinds of happy after hanging up with him and told my hubby all about it as we walked on the beach. also last night it was decided that my boy has to fly north week after next so i’ll most likely be in o-town for two weeks since it’s cheaper for him to fly in and out of there. although being home to paint that room before the furniture is delivered would certainly be a plus, spending time with my friends and family is much more fun.

i had my first medical 6006-squeezing this morning. no worries; just early screening because of family history. i was pleased when the tech said that since it was just a baseline, i shouldn’t need to have it done again for five years unless necessary. it really isn’t pleasant – not that i’ve ever heard any woman claim that it was. 6006s should really never be squeezed so hard or in such akward positions. i really felt like i deserved a nice dinner and movie for all that. after work today, we’ll be heading to al. happily, the quarantine was just lifted this week so we’ll be able to visit gma h. i’m looking forward to seeing her. poor woman probably thinks she was abandonned after two months of quarantine (not just her but the whole facility was locked down to keep the flu out). from what we’ve heard, she has been recovering from her surgery remarkably well. i still am amazed at what a strong body she has at 97 years old. mine would never make it that long. this will actually be our first time back since gma m passed away. it makes me very sad to think we won’t be playing dominos with her tomorrow. visits to wedowee will just never be the same.

after a very tiring, sad, and trying week, we are finally back home. it feels so good. we worked from granny’s one last time yesterday. it felt odd to be there all day just the two of us. most of her stuff is gone already, all of the pictures are off the walls (there were tons of photos of her family on every wall). when we started to pack up our stuff, we both started crying – it was like watching them close the coffin all over again. visits to wedowee will never be the same. on the way home, we had more of the continuing appliance saga. i can tell you this much: i will never again set foot in a sears store. i wouldn’t buy a pair of socks there. if i had ty pennington’s home number, i’d be raving to him because i bet he could get a manager to call us back. anyhow, my blood pressure shoots through the moon when i get started on sears and our lack of kitchen so i’m not going to bother getting into it. it’s enough to say that it does not look like we will have anything more than a refrigerator and toaster oven (that we were forced to go buy because of sears) in our kitchen in the foreseeable future. SEARS, YOU SUCK!!! we got home late last night and it felt like a weight was lifted. luckily, my birthday present from my hubby is the month of february (i know, pick the shortest month, why donchya). he has promised that, barring another emergency, we are staying home to get unpacked, settled, and relaxed for the whole month. that may be the best birthday gift i’ve ever gotten.

we’re in wedowee. gma moore has passed away. she’s the younger gma, 83. she’s the one whose house we installed dsl at so we could work from her house and visit more with her. she’s the one we spend hours playing dominoes with. she’s the one who has made our closet so colorful. she came to our wedding. we took her to disney and to the mountains years ago when she was well. randal was the first grandkid, born on his grandfather’s birthday, and lived with them for a couple of years in high school. randal is taking it very hard. i’m taking it very hard. we were in target last night buying a toaster oven (remember, we had no way to cook dinner last night). i was three aisles down from randal and i heard his phone ring. i was able to hear him say “which grandmother?” and i dropped what was in my hand and ran to him. i’m such a girl. my husband finds out that his grandmother died and i’m the one bawling in the middle of target. we bought our toaster oven (already picked it out and had it in the cart so might as well), went home to pack, and we were on the road about an hour later. it was a long night and a sad one. we’re over at her house now and it just doesn’t feel right. it’s hard to believe that she’s not sitting in the kitchen griping about us having the door open letting cold air in. she had cooked some food sunday night for another funeral and it was still in the fridge so everybody is getting one last bite of granny’s cooking. randal’s cousin just took me aside and said that she just wanted me to know that granny thought the world of me and spoke very highly of me. i broke down. i have a memory of about six years ago when my mil said something about us needing to get married and granny said that the only granddaughter-in-law she would ever have would be the ex. i was so hurt. i guarantee you she wouldn’t even remember saying it. it was one of those comments that you make without thinking, without meaning anything ugly, and without ever thinking about again. over the years and the games of dominos, i knew in my heart that she had grown to love me as much as i love her. granny has a gruff demeaner but she’s a tender-hearted woman. to know that she truly had grown to love and respect me – god, i’ll miss that woman! they say she went peacefully in her sleep. her blankets weren’t messed up or anything. thank God for that. when randal spoke with her saturday, she said she was feeling the best she had in a while so i’m glad that she wasn’t sick or in pain. today would have been her and paw’s 64th anniversary. i’m glad she made it home to him for their anniversary. please pray for us and the whole family. granny’s departure will be felt for a long time.

it’s been a great visit but i’m happy that we’re heading home. maybe we’ll be able to get moved in. my hubby came back late thursday night. there’s a restaurant called huhot that has become my cousin’s and my sister’s families’ favorite restaurant. i decided to take advantage of that so i arranged for all of us to meet up for dinner friday night. and since we were all getting together, i invited my dad to join as well. it was a big gathering for our family and we had a great dinner. it’s a very yummy and fun place. it turned out to be a surprise party when we were through eating and they came out singing and carrying a cake for me. i invited everyone and arranged everything and then they surprised me with an early birthday celebration. i was full of warm fuzzies.

i’ll be calling him to sing at him (again – poor guy). luckily i was able to semi-celebrate this milestone birthday with him this year when i took a cake cookie to him and sang at him this weekend. i hope it’s a fantabulous year for him!

we packed a lot into this weekend. saturday morning, the men folks had a man-project going on. once they were to a point where i could steal my man, we went to my dad’s for a visit and Christmas exchange. we had a great visit and dinner with them and then we left to meet up with jenny and some of her friends. they were at a little greek restaurant around the corner from her new place so we stopped there to meet up with them. we were there a few minutes when a guy came up behind me and put his arm around me and said, “i knew it was you when you walked through the door.” folks, this was very, very exciting for me. i know that i’m a weirdo and all but i have been confounded over the fact that i grew up and went to school and worked in orlando and have NEVER run into anyone i know since i’ve left. this was a guy that i worked with almost TWELVE years ago! he remembered and recognized me from when i was fifteen years old. i was amazed and so pleased. it really made my weekend. i’m probably revealing my crazy here, but the part that really excited me was not so much running into someone from my past, but that someone that i knew for a matter of months over a decade ago would bother to remember me. i’ve alluded to it in past rants that a good portion of my thoughts are thinking about people in my past and wondering how they are and who they are now. perhaps it’s kind of creepy but it’s what i do. and i often wonder whether i’ve ever made a big enough impact on people’s lives that maybe they would think of me once in a while. so for a guy to remember me by name after twelve years – well, it made me happy. and no, there is no chance that he only remembered me because of some romantic complication as he was several years older than me and batting for the other team so nothing like that existed between us. /tangent. so when we got to the restaurant, jenny and friends were finishing up and waiting for their checks so we weren’t there long before heading back to her place. we got there and played scattergories for several hours and ended up getting back home around 0100. sunday morning, i slept in a bit while my man got up early to continue the man project started the day before. they finished early in the afternoon and we headed out to see my brother. we stopped along the way to get an oversized birthday cookie for him since i doubt i’ll see him on his birthday wednesday. we got there and sang happy birthday to him and gave them their Christmas present and watched some football and chatted for a couple hours. we then headed to katie’s for a couple hours before heading back. this morning, my hubby left me for a business trip. he’ll be gone for four days. i’m taking advantage of being husbandless by making arrangements to help jenny with being a bride. it should be a good time.

yesterday was a nightmare migraine day. i emailed my boss around lunchtime, took a handful of motrin, wrapped my head in a blanket and slept all afternoon. i woke up just in time for our after-hours conference call and managed to drag my computer into my lap to get dialed in. i took more motrin and made it through the call. i made it through dinner and guitar hero III and a tv show and took more motrin before bed. this morning, thankfully, the migraine is gone and the headache is mostly gone. that means it’s going to be a great friday, right? it’s just as well that yesterday was a bust since the plans we had for last night got blown off. wednesday was good though; we had a fun night with my cousin. we walked over there after dinner to poke some cards but ended up poking balls instead. i’m pleased to say that even though i’m about the sorriest billiard player around, i managed to win two games. we even wii’d a little before heading back home that night. i’m not sure what we’ll be doing tonight. i was going to make calls last night to try to get some plans going for tonight and sunday but the migraine kept me from getting very far with that. i think i made one unsuccessful call and sank back into the couch to watch more ghiii. we’ll come up with something. if nothing else, it’s family pizza and movie night here.

another long day. i actually had to go into the local office today. reminds me why i’m very lucky to not work in a corporate office. the bright side was that it was in the neighborhood of my sis-n-law’s restaurant so i was able to drop in and surprise her first thing this morning. i think she was pleased to see us because she fed us really yummy eats. hopefully we’ll get to see her and my brother later this week or weekend. work was work but at least i wasn’t tethered for the day so there was that. after work, we went out to dinner with a couple coworkers. it was quite an agreeable time and the restaurant was fabulous. we went to seasons 52 which looked far too hoity-toity for my pallate but the food was exceptionally good. i even discovered that i don’t hate asparagus (at least not when it’s cooked right by someone other than myself) so that’s a plus.

i’m just worn out. after a very tiring week of attempting to get settled in the new place (no, we aren’t even close), we drove all night friday to orlando. we got in after midnight and were up again at 0730 to get ready for a day at disney. let me tell you, disney with three kids is tiring enough but adding car fatigue and too little sleep on top of it… exhausting. it was a good day though. we did the magic kingdom and the chilluns experienced several firsts. both boys rode space mountain for the first time. this was an especially momentous feat for the younger boy who has not been very adventurous with big rides since he’s been tall enough for them. he was behind me but i was told he even held his arms up! all three kids rode thunder mountain and enjoyed it. all three kids also did the haunted mansion, although two regretted that decision afterward. there was a new interactive monsters inc® show that yours truly got called upon to take part in. it was cute and highly embarrassing. i don’t do well with being put on the spot. at least i remembered my name and sense of humor (yes, i have one!). when the sun set, the castle was lit up much, much prettier than i have ever seen it in my life. it truly was something to behold. at the end of the night, my bro-n-law complained about nobody asking him what ride he wanted to do. we humored him and went into the carousel of progress. while i appreciate the nostalgic value of this attraction, i’ll admit that i have not been in it since i was a kid and really hadn’t thought about it since either. i figured it was long gone and didn’t care. if you’ve never been in it, it was walt disney’s own vision, which he presented at the ’64 new york world’s fair. it has animatronic tableaus of the how the typical american family uses technology from the turn of the 20th century forward, complete with an annoyingly cheerful jingle-song between each. anyhow, you get the picture on why it’s not the most popular attraction at disney anymore. so we’re on the second scene (the 1920’s) and the annoying song is sung and the seats start to spin us toward the third scene (the audience seating moves, not the stage) when a strange noise is made and we stop moving. the song finishes and scene two starts again! everyone in the theatre is amused by this and making commentaries throughout the scene. an agitated male voice keeps coming over the speakers advising that, for our own safety, everyone should stay in their seats PLEASE. and then the annoying music starts up but we move not at all. and then scene two plays again. and the mass-psychosis is already setting in as we all get silliar and silliar. a woman suddenly jumps up and runs back to the exit door. she looks back at us long enough to say that there’s a way out before disappearing forever as the agitated voice comes on again reminding us that our safety hinges on us staying seated. we audibly wonder if she made it to freedom. and the annoying music starts again. and you can just hear all of our sanity congealing into a pile of mush on the floor. as scene two starts up again, there is talk of a riot. about halfway through the scene, just as the overloaded fuse is about to blow sending the house and then the neighborhood into darkness, the agitated voice pipes up to tell us that they are experiencing technical difficulties (really?) and will have to evacuate the theatres (freedom!!!) and please stay seated (huh? how are we evacuating while seated?). a teenage boy dressed in an embarrasing disney costume appears out of nowhere and leads us (in the dark because they chose that part of the scene to evacuate) all to the exit door and down a corridor to freedom. all told, we were in that theatre for more than thirty minutes with that song and scene playing all the while. it really could have only been worse to be stuck in “it’s a small world afterall” hell. in all my giddyness, i admitted that was the most fun i had had all day. with a couple more stops for restrooms and popcorn, we left the park and made it home around midnight. yesterday we met up with my cousin who helped us on errands such as buying my sis’ Christmas gift and finding dishes in ikea. we managed to have our gift exchange with my sis and her family last night. the kids all seemed very pleased with their gifts, my sis and bro-n-law were ecstatic with their blue man group tickets, and we received many wonderfully fun things. it was a fun weekend but oh so tiring. i need a nap.