Archive for June, 2008

2008
30
Jun
11:06

prayers needed

   Posted by: arcanai    in prayers needed

a coworker’s son is in bad shape. we don’t have many details yet. all we know is that he was at the beach, there was some sort of an incident (if skimboarding was involved, any and all guests will be banned from having them here!), he had a fall in the ocean, and has broken three vertebrae in his neck. he is currently on a ventilator in an induced coma but the doctors are telling hs that they believe best case scenario is that he will be paralyzed from the waist down, worst case from the neck down. of course, they won’t know for sure the extent of damage until they wake him up. this boy is only 18 (maybe 19 by now) and getting really close to being a father. i cannot express how my heart is breaking right now. i hope and pray that the doctors are wrong and that he is able to make a full recovery.

update: 15:55 – hubby just spoke with hs. his son was just playing in the ocean, jumping waves, when one of them flipped him over and he landed on the ocean floor on his neck. he was instantly paralyzed (which i assume means that he was fortunate enough to have someone really close by that was able to pull him out of the water before drowning). he shattered three cervical vertebrae, including the c1 (at the very top) and c6 (which is around the region of the spinal cord that controls breathing). they are going to do surgery on wednesday to try to repair the c6 vertebra so that he can breathe on his own again. they won’t know until after that surgery how extensive the paralysis might be but they are telling hs that there is a very slim chance he will ever walk again. my heart is just full of pain on behalf of the whole family.

2008
30
Jun
7:15

monday blues

   Posted by: arcanai    in Nuthin' Special

wherefore does the weekend fly by so quickly?  it was a relatively nice weekend.  we did the cinema under the stars friday night and had a good time.  saturday i got to sleep in a bit and then hold down the couch for a little while watching tv while we waited for the girls to wake up so i could start breakfast (14:00!).  after breakfast (lunch/early dinner), we watched randal’s favorite movie with the girls, went to the pool/hot tub, had a yummy dinner, and unlocked some more songs on rock band.  sunday, we dragged the girls out of bed before noon (actually, we had them fed and out of the house before noon).  it was a good rainy day for shopping so we did just that.  we stopped at several boat stores looking for kayaks.  we also stopped at several clothing stores so the girls could shop.  we ended up at the dollar theatre in town for a movie about baby mama drama (i was highly amused on my bro-n-law’s behalf since he never heard of baby mamas until he changed professions and had the opportunity to employ young men that bring their baby mama drama to work).  after a very long day of shopping/movieing, we stopped for dinner and then took the girls cruisin’ up and down the strip so they could yell out the car windows at boys.  i think that was their favorite activity yet.  we got home just in time for bedtime.  this morning, i’m feeling pretty awful.  i’m sinussy and sick at my stomach.  and, there was a release sent out this weekend so work is full of fallout.  is it friday yet?  ooh, wait… wednesday’s our last day this week! 

2008
27
Jun
13:54

dreams

   Posted by: arcanai    in pondering the past

i had a strange dream last night about an ex (get your mind out of the gutter!). it was very much unlike my usual ex dreams in that usually when i dream about an ex, i am always conscious of the fact that i am married to hubby. always. but in last night’s dream, i was actually with my most recent ex (is eleven years ago recent?) and i had run into my first-love-ex and everything between us just came rushing back. i broke up with recent-ex so that 1st-luv-ex and i could have another try. when we met back up so i could tell him i had ended things, he had his grandmother’s ring and proposed to me. there was more to it but it was all emotions and not at all something i could describe. really, the whole dream was extremely emotional and, for some reason, i woke up feeling very disturbed by it.

2008
27
Jun
13:53

today’s gymming

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

forty-five minutes on the treadmill, plus i took the seventeen flights of stairs down to the gym and back up. am i dead yet???

2008
27
Jun
12:24

two year anniversary

   Posted by: arcanai    in heartache

i’ve thought of her much more in recent weeks. maternal-unit’s day, her birthday, and today, of course. overall though, it’s been much easier since she moved. at least i know that she’s not alone and she’s having some good times. do i miss her? like crazy. do i love her? always will. but i guess this is just the way things have to be right now. i wish that she would make a genuine effort. nasty, guilt-ridden cards do not in my book constitute a true desire to begin making repairs. and pretending that two years has not happened — i just can’t do that. anyhow, happy anniversary!

2008
27
Jun
9:04

trying to fit in with them young whippersnappers

   Posted by: arcanai    in family time, playing around

last night we tried out the concert in the park gig. i was a bit disappointed. it was a great venue filled with groups of people picnicking and having a good social time. it was terrific people-watching. but the band was pretty awful. it was supposed to be classic rock but it was just a bunch of tone-deaf geriatric guys. seriously, it was sad. even the couple of songs that i knew were barely recognizable after being butchered by a tone-deaf singer. of course, the girls were bored out of their minds a quarter of the way through the first song. they immediately asked for the iphone and stared myspacing. we stayed for about an hour, until a break, and then left before they could come back and butcher some more. i’m sure hubby and i will try it again because it really could have been much more fun with slightly better musicians. and a picnic. we should have picnicked. i’m not sure if we’ll be doing the cinema under the stars tonight or not. they’re doing bee movie which i never really cared much for seeing but i love outside movies and i think we could have a good time if we picnic and do it right. anyhow, after the first set, we put our chairs back in the car and walked around the mall a bit. i ended up getting a new outfit that i was coveting the other day when we were there. i love the shirt. and i love the idea of the shorts but they are outside of my comfort zone so i’m not completely sure yet. i don’t think my hubby likes the shorts but they are what all the “kids” are wearing these days and i’m trying to stop looking like the curmudgeonly old woman around here. stop judging me! anyhow, after stopping in a few shops, the girls wanted to go to target so while they were shopping around in there, we headed to the electronics department. kids, i cannot tell you how pained my husband was when he saw rock band for wii sitting right there, just as pretty as could be. he paced back and forth in front of it for a good two minutes. then he put his head in his hands and walked up and down a couple of aisles. then he picked it up – just in case – since it was the only one there. he found a cart to put it in and walked around the store asking what was wrong with him. finally, he ended up at the register with it and told me to do the deed while he went to retrieve the car from the other end of the plaza (honestly, i think he just couldn’t bear to witness the purchasing). it was quite amusing. he has been dying to have this game though, so i was glad that he decided to go ahead and get it. it’s only money, right? the girls were pretty happy about the purchase, even if a little disappointed that we deemed it far too late on a work night to be opening the box to set it up and play. hey, i said we’re trying to be young, i didn’t say we were succeeding. so, regardless of whether we make it to a movie in the park tonight or go walking down the strip, there will definitely be some rocking going on around our house!

2008
27
Jun
8:03

yesterday’s gym update

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

i got wrapped up in a training class i was presenting yesterday and never got a chance to post my lunch-gymming. i don’t care if it is of no interest to you – it helps keep me accountable to have it posted. since i had the training to do, i was short on time. i got down there later than usual and the place was packed. the only thing open was an elliptical so i did ten minutes on it (still doesn’t fit me right), then moved to an open bike for two minutes until a treadmill finally opened. i did twenty-three minutes on the treadmill for a total of thirty-five minutes of cardio. better than nothing. to help cool down before coming back up to start my class, i did 150 crunches on the sit-up bench.

2008
26
Jun
9:20

weekend plans

   Posted by: arcanai    in family time

we’re starting to put some sketchy plans together for the weekend. tonight, we’ll be doing concert in the park (free) at the waterford-like plaza. tomorrow, we may be doing cinema under the stars (free) at a different park. at some point, we promised we’d walk the girls down the strip a little (probably to the waterford-like plaza) so that they could experience the cruising and cat-calling that happens on the weekends. we drove them down the strip a little piece tuesday night and they had a good time rolling down their windows and hollering at boys. teenage girls are funny. i think a movie they would like is coming to the $1 theatre in town this weekend so that may be on the agenda as well. hubby and i went to that theatre tuesday night while the girls walked around the mall. it was one of the old theatres sans stadium-seating and it wasn’t very comfortable at all but it was a dollar so it was worth it. i haven’t been to a dollar theatre in years. anyhow, we’re trying to come up with decent activities to keep the girls entertained and out of trouble. although last night we just stayed around here. i had a headache so hubby took the girls down to the beach and pool for a bit. when i was feeling a bit better, i started dinner and went down to join them at the pool. we came back and ate dinner and sat around and looked at pics for a while before going to bed. i hope they’re having a good time.

2008
25
Jun
12:59

and for today’s lunch…

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

another forty-five minutes on the treadmill! whoohooo! i miss the ellipticals at our old gym. i’d like to mix up my cardio a bit but the ellipticals here just really don’t fit me and exercise bikes bore me to tears. all i can do is the treadmill (in the gym). and even that is limited because they’re not near as good quality as my treadmill (that i still heart) in storage so i can’t really run on them because they feel like they’ll fall to pieces. i need to get out and run on the beach some but it’s very florida out there.

2008
24
Jun
13:14

must… fit… bathing suit…

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

so we took the girls to the waterford-like mall last night to eat and walk around. while walking through a store, i finally found a bathing suit that i like a lot and is reasonably priced. i hesitantly tried it on, bringing two different sizes into the dressing room with me – the size i wanted to fit and the size i thought would realistically fit. after giving up on my dreams and changing into the more realistic size, i asked my hubby to come into the dressing room to cast his vote. he confirmed my own disappointment that even the more realistic size was too small. it was a devastating blow to the esteem and i refuse to go to a larger size. i knew i shouldn’t have tried it on. it was jus so cute. anyhow, that inspired my lunch-gymming today. forty-five minutes on the treadmill. i didn’t go yesterday because i was so exhausted (much like today since i couldn’t fall asleep untill well after 03:00) but i did go when i got out of bed sunday morning. i did thirty minutes on the treadmill and forty-five minutes on weights then. i’m not doing nearly as well as my cousin, but she is inspiring me to try harder. her and the very cute bathing suit that i want (and need – how can i live at the beach with only one bathing suit?).

2008
24
Jun
11:39

bringing people together

   Posted by: arcanai    in pondering the past

i’m always proud when someone from the past finds my website and makes contact. apparently, someone from my dad’s past was looking for him, found my site, and was able to find him and get in touch. i think he said it was his God-daughter or something. how nice to bring folks together just by keeping a little home on the interwebs.

2008
24
Jun
9:02

am i just strange?

   Posted by: arcanai    in rantings

would you go into someone’s home and use their razor? would you be okay with someone using yours?

2008
23
Jun
9:56

this few hours of quiet brought to you by…

   Posted by: arcanai    in family time, pix

lazy teenagers who sleep till noon. those two are the only ones left and we haven’t heard a peep out of them yet. hopefully they’re still breathing. apart from some moments of frustration, i honestly enjoyed having the family here this weekend. i’m not sure if we’ll try having the entire family at one time again as it was just too many people to agree on stuff but i’m hoping that individual family units will feel welcome to come back and visit again. it was particularly nice to spend time with bro-n-law’s family since we don’t see them often. unfortunately, yesterday turned into a hellacious day. no guest behavior issues – just a truly unfortunate circumstance that couldn’t be helped but wreaked havoc in our home. it was 02:00 before i got to bed and i was not able to rest well after all of the commotion. fortunately, i can thank my sissy for cheering me up with her fun sunday ordeal:

puppy found out the hard way that the tasty looking blue liquid in the pen isn’t as yummy as it appears. she said the sofa came clean for the most part. you know, considering she’s got three kids, two cats, and a puppy anyhow.

2008
21
Jun
20:10

diatribe

   Posted by: arcanai    in rantings

i believe that i am an extremely accomodating hostess. i pride myself on it, particularly since it was not necessarily an example that was set for me growing up. i go out of my way to make people feel at home when visiting me and i really and truly hope that they do. there are very few things that i have zero patience for as a hostess but am far too kind to say anything that would make my guests feel unwelcome. for future reference, if you may ever be a guest in my home: DO NOT use my personal items, DO NOT completely snub a meal that i have prepared, and DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES touch my thermostat – my husband isn’t even allowed to touch that.

that’s really all i care to say about that.

2008
21
Jun
16:29

it doesn’t feel right

   Posted by: arcanai    in family time

i think the wii has been more popular this weekend than the beach. good investment on our part. the pools have been pretty happening too. other than the headaches of deciding where eleven people want to eat, it’s been a good time. we’ve gotten to spend some quality time with his brother’s family that we never really see except on holidays and funerals. speaking of which, his sis-n-law was telling us a cute story about niece (she’s about six months younger than my niece). her and her mom were getting a shower yesterday in our bathroom and niece kept saying that “this doesn’t feel right; it just doesn’t feel right”. th asked ag what didn’t feel right and ag basically explained that she felt guilty because they don’t see us very often and she felt like they shouldn’t be in our house and using our stuff. i thought it was very sweet.