For you 52...

...for me it's even less than that! David and I are going up to PA for Thanksgiving this year, so the plan is to order the gifts for the PA contingent and have them delivered to MIL's house before then, so I can wrap them and leave them there.

We do a gift exchange between the four sibling and the spouses, so rather than get everyone a gift we pick a name and give one nice gift. Then everyone gets gifts for my MIL and FIL and all five children - this time next year there'll be six! (While I wasn't Blogging, David's sister went and got pregnant with her second. )

So if my plan works I'll only have to buy the gift exchangees' gifts and mail the Texas contingents' gifts later.

My in-laws are relatively easyish - but the kids! They're always a project. Granted that's pretty much my fault because I want to give each of them books, a toy or other "fun" thing, and a personalized ornament commemorating something that occurred to them during the year.

Here's the breakdown: In Pennsylvania I have two nieces from one of David's brothers - they're 11 and 9, and David's sister's son who's 1, almost 2 (he's the one that's getting a brother). Then in Texas, David's other brother also has two girls that are 6 and 1½. Look how cute they all are!


Now since I don't live near any of them it's difficult to keep up with what they're into so trying to figure out what to get them and what the ornament should be is stress inducing to say the least. So I am in the throes of figuring out and deciding and picking...GAH!

Have you started your shopping yet?

'Toon Tuesday on Wednesday!

Election Night

Yesterday I posted my emotions about Obama's election as President of the U.S. Today I'll tell you about how my night went.

First of all I was a wreck! Actually I had been nervous all day at work just itching to get home and start watching the news. I started watching CNN at around 6 p.m. Then, when CNN announced their first results - they had returns from 1% of Kentucky and McCain was winning! WHAT? I freaked! Seriously, my heart started racing and I was hyperventilating a little. I had just finished eating a delicious dinner Hubby made and I almost lost it.

Hubby looked at me and told me to go take a pill. When I told him I didn't have that kind of pill, he told me to find one. Mind you this was before 8:00 p.m. EST. He said there was no way I would make it through the night at the rate.

Then the stomach cramps started - hello IBS.

We watched CNN all night. Did you see all the cool gadgets and gizmos they had? The new and improved magic map, the exit poll virtual drawers, and the hologram thingy, we got to see a hologram of singer will.i.am! Actually, it looked exactly like the scene in "Star Wars" when R2D2 projected Princess Leia's hologram message to Obi Wan Kenobi! CNN also had an election thingy online where you could customize a page to track races in which you were interested, and they had an interactive map thingy where you could follow along as the results came in - fun!

Occasionally, as Obama's victory was becoming more and more of a sure thing, we'd flip over to Fox News to see if they were committing hara kiri or if their heads were exploding, alas - none of that.

We stayed up until around 3 a.m. We were too wired to go to sleep I guess. Or maybe we just didn't want the wonderful night to end...

The Lola Shuffle - The "I Don't Like Ike" Edition

Yeah - so, it's not looking pretty right now for South Florida. The picture above indicates what I call (among other names) the "Cone of Confusion" and it pretty much sucks.

So Lola...give me some good weather love...maybe something by Tina Turner since she kicked Ike's ass...

1. Boy - Erasure
2. It's Been a Long, Long Time - Bing Crosby
3. Tabu - Desi Arnaz (Dixie - for you! Totally random!)
4. Livin' La Vida Loca - Ricky Martin
5. Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen (thunder - funny Lola)
6. Come Together - The Beatles
7. American Idiot - Green Day (the day after McCain's speech - how apropo!)
8. It Ain't Me Babe - Bob Dylan (probably my favorite Dylan song)
9. Don't Stand So Close to Me - The Police
10. Knock Three Times - Tony Orlando and Dawn (What? Yes I have Tony Orlando and Dawn on my iPOd! You wanna make something of it? Huh?)

Seriously, right now it's looking pretty scary for South Florida. Please think a good thought for us.

Have a great weekend!

The Lola Shuffle - The "Crappy End to a Crappy Week Edition"

Harumph.

I'm in a mood. YUCK.

Anyway, do your thing Lola...

1. The Fool on the Hill - The Beatles
2. I Don't Love You Much - Guy Clark (I heard this song in a commercial and loved it - what a beautiful song)
3. Mr Jones - Counting Crows
4. Bridge Over Troubled Waters - Paul Simon (I prefer the Simon and Garfunkel version - I miss Garfunkel's voice in this version)
5. Sorry Seems To be The Hardest Word - Elton John
6. Party for Two - Shania Twain and Mark McGrath (Uh...no)
7. More Than a Woman - Bee Gees
8. The Girl From Yesterday - The Eagles (pretty)
9. Hung Up - Madonna
10. Keep On the Sunny Side - The White from the "Brother Where Art Thou?" soundtrack - (Lola is being a smart-azz - don't you test me Lola!)

This week needs to be over. Now.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend - just ignore the thunder cloud over my head.

See...I knew something like this was gonna happen...

So...today was my mom's first day of outpatient physical therapy. The way it's supposed to work is that the ALF where she lives calls the transportation service to pick her up and take her to PT and then bring her back home. The ALF has to call the day before therapy to arrange for transportation, and they did, telling them the appointment was at 3 and that she would be there for an hour - they should pick her up at the house between 1:30 and 2 p.m.

Well, they arrived late to pick her up so she technically arrived to her appointment late but the Rehab people were nice enough to take her anyway. About 15 minutes before she was done the Rehab people called the transport service and told them to be there by 4:15 - not because they had to, but just to make sure everything went well.

At around 4:00 or so, hubby and I drove by the Rehab place on our way home. I said to my husband, oh, they should be picking Mami up around now, she should be done (I didn't know she had started late). Then I said "God, I hope the transport doesn't forget her and leave her there".

Fast forward to 5:30 p.m., I'm sitting in my comfy chair watching what appeared to be the first-ever episode of "Beverly Hills 90210". I get a call from the Rehab place telling me that MY MOTHER WAS STILL THERE! The transport hadn't come by to get her!

OHMYGOD!

The girl said she seemed OK, but they felt sorry for her because she had been there so long.

At this point my back, which has been bothering me for over two weeks, went into an immediate spasm. But I didn't have time to deal with that because the Rehab place was going to close at 7 p.m. and we either had to find out if transportation was on the way or if we had to go get her.

After several calls to several places they told me they would be there in 15 minutes - that would be 6 p.m. At 6 p.m. they still weren't there. I called some more people and finally got the number for the transport company dispatcher. OK - are you ready for this? Do you know what the dispatcher's name is? Wait for it...

Fidel.

Yes, the horrible man who had abandoned my 84 year old, broken-hipped, Alzheimer's confused mother is named Fidel! I swear I am not making this up. If you're not a Cuban-American from Miami you may not appreciate the black irony of this.

So I called Fidel. My husband who understands Spanish relatively well realized that I had gone as he calls it into "Little Havana mode". See, Fidel started yelling at me ! when I asked him - way more calmly than the situation merited - what was happening. So when Fidel yelled at me, I of course yelled at him. I'm talking arms flapping, eyes popping, pacing back and forth yelling.

Then he put Maximiliano on the phone, because I guess Fidel had lived through enough abuse in his life because of his name and couldn't deal with me. Maximiliano wanted to tell me this long drawn out story about why they hadn't picked up my 84 year old, broken-hipped, Alzheimer's confused mother. I told Maximiliano, OK maybe a little bit animatedly, that I didn't have time to hear his story because I needed to know whether or not Hubby had to finish putting on his pants so we could go get my 84 year old, broken-hipped, Alzheimer's confused mother before the rehab people who had been working all day and wanted to go home parked her in her wheelchair in the handicapped space in the parking lot!

So then Maximiliano started yelling at me and telling me that his wife was getting her and that she was *right there*, she was getting her *right now*! Meanwhile half-panted Hubby is on the phone with the Rehab people, and Maximiliano's wife was NOT *right there*. THEN Maximiliano asks me what the suite number was.

Me (in loud Spanish): What do you mean what suite number? Maximiliano you just told me your wife was *right there*. How can she be *right there* when you don't know the suite number for *right there*?

Maximiliano (also in loud Spanish): She IS right there, she IS right there! So, uh, what's the suite number?

So I give him the suite number and Ana - Maximiliano's wife - actually arrived. My husband then hands me the cell phone because Ana wants to talk to me. So now I have Ana on the cell in one ear and her husband Maximiliano on the land line in the other ear. Ana asks me "So, can you mother walk?"

WTF?

So I start yelling at both of them that they should already know this seeing as to how this is THEIR JOB, and yes, she can walk with some assistance for short distances - meanwhile my husband still with his pants half way up his legs is sitting on the bed looking at me somewhat bemusedly.

Ana, who apparently has more patience than either Fidel or Maximiliano - perhaps because she has a regular name - calmly told me that everything was OK and she would be taking my mother home and everything would be fine.

(sigh)

I called the ALF and she arrived just fine, had her dinner and went to bed.

Thank God, in this case, her dementia actually seems to have helped because she didn't realize how long she had been waiting or that anything was wrong. As for the therapy, in one of the million phone calls I spoke to the Physical Therapist and he said she did very well. She took instructions perfectly and the only issue was that she was afraid to stand up with the walker, but once she did she was fine and did everything she had to do.

Clearly, she's doing better than I am.

Beba Update - The Beba Has Landed

Well Mami is back home at her ALF. Everything went smoothly and when I left her she was reading a magazine in the living room sitting in her wheelchair.

She's not supposed to spend too much time in the wheelchair and only use it for long distances, but she was tired from the transfer and in a bit of pain, so I figured she could sit in it for a while. However she's supposed to move around accompanied but using the walker at least until physical therapy is over.

Next week she has to see the surgeon so he can remove the last of the staples from surgery, and she has to start the outpatient therapy - so we'll see how that goes.

She's in good spirits and seems to have reacclimated herself, so that's good.

Thanks for your good thoughts, I'll keep you all posted.

Beba Update

Yesterday I attended a "team conference" at the rehab hospital. I met with Mami's "team" which included her doctor, her therapists, etc. She has continued going to therapy every day. She is 75%-85% independent in all the *skills* they look at, can walk 100 feet on her own using a walker with wheels and she's doing exceptionally well in the occupational therapy exercises. They were all amazed at her progress.

The big news is that she's doing so well that as of today they're planning on sending her home to her assisted living facility on Saturday! If she goes home Saturday she'll have been in Rehab exactly 2 weeks.

Once she's in the ALF she'll need more assistance than she did before, but they are supposed to be equipped to handle that. Also we're going to try out-patient therapy where she will be transported back and forth for one hour of physical therapy a couple of times a week. Because of her mental state we don't know how she'll respond, but we'll at least try it, as it will help her be mobile sooner.

It appears the second phase of the *adventure* is almost over, but now we're entering the third phase which will have its own challenges. I ask for your continued prayers and good wishes for her. I'll keep you posted as events warrant.

As always thanks so much for your support.

Beba Update

Hi all,

Thanks to all who have e-mailed/posted in my Comments showing support and concern for my mother and me (that's her up there on my wedding day 10 years ago). This is the most efficient way to spread the word, so I'll use the technology.

Mami is scheduled for partial hip replacement surgery Thursday at 10:30 a.m. EST, so if you can, please send up a prayer or good thought for her.

Surgery will be followed by a few days at the hospital and then a stint in rehab - so we've still got a ways to go.

Hopefully I'll be back at work Friday (did I just write that?!?!).

Again, thanks for everything.

Is it over yet?

2007 that is. Because heaven forbid my life should be boring.

I woke up yesterday at around 8:45, we had been out kinda late Saturday night so Hubby was fast asleep. I made coffee, ensconced myself in my big arm chair, turned on the TV to CBS to semi-watch the delightful and mellow Sunday Morning. I also logged on to World of Warcraft and started a quest in a my quest log - Hildalaira, my 'toon, had just banged the kodohide drum to summon a marmot to capture something I needed to get for the quest. All was right with the world. There was nothing pressing that needed to get done, we were probably going to go to Purplepassion's house to watch football and hang out. A perfect Sunday.

Then my cell phone rang. Even before I saw the called ID I knew it was bad because everyone knows my "don't call me before 10 a.m. on a weekend unless it's an emergency" rule. It was the ALF where my mother lives calling to tell me my 84 year-old Alzheimer's ridden mother was found on the floor when they went in to her room with her Cuban coffee and newspaper. They were going to call an ambulance because she couldn't walk.

sigh.

To make a way too long story short I wound up in the hospital ER from 10:15 a.m. to 6:30 when she was taken to her room. In the interim I cried several times when I saw my mom confused as to what was going on or wincing and crying out in pain until they thankfully gave her morphine and she was able to sleep. It turns out she broke her hip and needs surgery. We're hoping it'll happen Wednesday or Thursday.

I spent most of the day with her today. She is pain-free since she was put on (in?) traction. Because she doesn't feel any pain she has absolutely no idea why she's in the hospital.

Between 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. today she asked me why she was in the hospital approximately 84,217 times. Each time I told her she had a fractured hip it was all shock and awe: "Me!?!" "I broke my hip?" "When?" Then I tell her. 15-20 minutes later: "Why am I here?" Second verse, same as the first. And so on, and so on, and so on. I was about ready to ask for morphine for myself. Come to think of it, I still have Vicodin...

Oh yeah - and I have to tell everyone who comes in contact with her to not mention the *s* word - surgery. She completely FREAKS OUT! The thing is my mother understands English perfectly, so through a series of winks, and grimaces, and rolling eyes I have to communicate to the innocent health-care worker to not mention surgery, they have to call it treatment instead.

And this is only the beginning. We still have surgery, 2 or 3 post-surgery days in the hospital, god-knows how long in a rehab facility, and the back to the ALF.

W00T! Happy New Year!

But, still, I know I'm blessed with friends and family who love and support me. And my husband has, as always, been wonderful. Last night he was my rock when I literally fell to my knees crying in exhaustion and sadness. He helped me back up and plied me with a Checkers' chili dog, a Big Buford hamburger, a chocolate shake and Loaded French Fries. Now that's love.

I wish everyone a wonderful 2008. Tonight I'll party with my friends and tomorrow I will resume explaining to my mother that she broke her hip.

A New Chapter

Today my husband and I started a new chapter in our lives. After 8 years of working in a bank, my husband quit and is returning to school to earn his AS.

His last day was Friday and he'll start classes at Miami-Dade college in January - which is the beginning of the Spring semester- working towards his AS in Technical Support (there's a more complicated name, but that's the gist of it). He's also going to work on getting some certifications that are pretty much required for any type of Tech Support work.

I'm very happy he's going back to school. He is so smart, I mean really smart, and he was wasting his abilities in retail banking. Some issues regarding vacation time was the impetus that led to the decision, but we had been considering this for a long time, and it's something he's been wanting to do.

To be honest though, while I'm happy for him and for us, I'm a little scared. All of a sudden being responsible the family's sole income source is daunting. And of course I'm concerned we'll run out of money. That's not really a positively, we reviewed our finances carefully taking in various considerations and we're really OK. But still, I'm me. I worry. That's what I do.

So - please, think a good thought for our new beginning.

Process Flow Diagrams - the Devil's Work

As some of you may know, I'm a Technical Writer in the IT field. That means I primarily write procedures - usually for software - for end users as well as technical personnel. I also write release notes for some inhouse software, configuration documents, etc. Lately however, my boss has asked me to start doing process flow charts - something like the image above - using a product called Visio.

This is a problem for me. First, because I think verbally not visually. And secondly because I'm somewhat obsessive. Really - I was diagnosed, medicated and *therapped* (went to therapy for) mild obsessive disorder. So, an endeavor that consists of lines, arrows and aligned shapes isn't really good for me.

See, I *HAVE* to get the arrows and lines or "connectors" perfectly straight and the same length as well as getting all the shapes aligned perfectly. Seriously. No matter how long it takes. Not because anyone is forcing this perfection - it's all me. No one else really cares as long as the information is there and in order. Never mind that you have to zoom the diagram to 200% to see that the lines aren't perfect, *I* know they're not perfect and that's enough.

It's awful.