Paper or Plastic?

How about cloth? So, went to the doctor yesterday for my annual checkup - that's always so much fun. You know, after this experience I think I'm going to investigate purchasing my own gown for the future. No, I'm serious! The nurse did let me wait until the doctor was finished in the next room so I wouldn't have to sit there naked and"draped" (and I use that word loosely) forever. Still, sitting there for five minutes in that state is rather uncomfortable. They don't use real cloth gowns anymore. They use freakin' paper. She gave me a cropped top from paper (that opens in the front) and a sheet of paper to place over my lower half. ... Um, ok. First off, as I was trying to put the "top" on I kept hearing it tear. Bloody hell! There is nothing to help keep it closed in the front. If I pulled it down far enough in the front to hold it closed, the back barely covered my shoulder blades ... keep in mind I just have a stiff, thin piece of paper covering my lower half in the front, so my entire backside is just hanging in the breeze so to speak. I tried tucking it in under my thighs - didn't work so well. I'd pull the back down and I'd hear something tear - again. I'd try holding it closed in the front and the damn thing was up around my shoulders in the back. UGH!

By the time she (the doctor) came in I gave her this evil eye and said, "You know isn't very effective, right?" Yeah yeah yeah - she went to explain they used to have the cloth gowns (yeah, I know - I remember them!) and they went to paper because the cloth gowns weren't cost effective. That brings me back to why I'll purchase my own for next time. She asked me if I wanted her to get me another "sheet?" "Um, no, let's just get this over with so I can get dressed!" That being said, she proceeds to start this conversation with me about any questions or concerns I have, what prescriptions I need refills on, etc. After sitting there holding my front together for a good 10 minutes or so (I think my hand and arm was locked in that position), she decided to get this show on the road and says, "OK, lift your arms." Now I've just spent how long trying to hold everything together, needing another pair of hands to do it successfully and she tells me to raise my arms. Uh huh. You know what happens - everything just falls away. I know I'm at the doctor, but really? Oh but wait! I gets better!!

After the boob exam, she tells me to scoot to the end of the table. Sound simple? While it should be, it seems nothing is simple with me. Oh, and I'm back to trying to hold everything together again ... I've "flashed" a few times during the conversation and exam so am a bit sweaty ... can you see where I'm going with this? The freakin' paper is sticking to me like glue!! As I try to scoot to the end of the table, I'm taking all the paper with me! Nice huh? Un-be-lieve-able. It wasn't pretty. I'm sure it's nothing she hasn't seen before but still ... anyone know where I can buy my own real cloth gown?

Hopefully I have until next year to solve this little issue ...

Neptune Festival

The Neptune Festival has once again come and gone. The entire Troupe clan met down at the beach Saturday morning to browse the craft vendors. It was hot. I mean really hot. It was record setting hot. The car read 97 deg on the way home around 2:30 but the official temperature at Norfolk International was 96. I don't know if it was just too hot or if the art show wasn't that great this year. We found a few things that really caught our attention but not much. The one thing was all had to walk away with was these fabulous "YaYa Hats." They are just too cool! Every female in our group had to have one. We took this shot after our lunch at Ocean Eddies:

Soon after lunch Bob and I ended up heading home. The sun was brutal and it felt like a July or August day - both of us were just done.

Sunday morning Bob played golf but I met Mike, Paddy, Lynne, Bill, Lisa and Camryn down at 9th Street to see the sand castles. They never fail to completely amaze me. The talent to create these incredible masterpieces blows me away. The weather had done an about face and it was very windy, cool and threatening to rain. We were only down there for about an hour but well worth the effort.

Maybe next year I'll try to get down there before the crowds and get some nice shots without people.

American Citizen!

I was so incredibly honored to be a witness at Regina's swearing in ceremony today. This day has been coming for a long time. Excitement (and frustration) had been building for weeks anticipating this day. It was finally here and Regina had her own cheering section - hell we had almost an entire pew! Everyone from S&B was there, plus Rick and Kathleen. She had been told the ceremony would begin at 10:30 so we all arrived around 10am. Soon after she was informed the ceremony would be divided into two groups and she was in the 12:30 group. Since there wasn't anywhere to wait for two hours, we decided to walk to a nearby coffee shop to wait. The poor security guards didn't quite know what to make of us - they were all pretty somber the first time we passed them. We seem to make a scene no matter where we go or what we do. The Norfolk Courthouse was no exception. One of the guards we passed on the way out said, "You guys remind me of a sitcom!" I responded by saying, "You have no idea."

After grabbing a snack and something to drink, we headed back to the courthouse about 11:45. At this point, the poor guards just shook their heads at us. As we filed into the courtroom and took our seats and the giggling began. I swear you just can't take us anywhere. It was pretty pathetic at one point. We'll laugh over anything. Behaving just isn't in our vocabulary. But boy we know how to have fun. The ceremony finally began and we sobered up a bit. It was interesting to see where everyone was from - several from Germany, lots from the Phillipines, a few from Pakistan and Aghanistan, and the UK. It was going pretty well until Ben Loyola got up to speak. Good grief! Thank goodness Fran had her purse and was doling out the tissues. He had us all in tears. His story was incredibly moving and his emotions almost got the best of him on several occasions.

The entire ceremony really made me stop and think about what it means to be an American citizen - something a lot of us take for granted on a daily basis. I am so thankful to Regina for the opportunity of this experience. Of course we were whooping it up and waving our little flags as we exited the courthouse - the guards were just a grinning as we left ... I wonder why?

We found ourselves at 4-5-6 Fish for a celebratory lunch where we did a bit more whooping and quite a few toasts to the new citizen. It was an awesome day and I am so proud to be an American!

OBX Weekend!

OBX Weekend

Missy rented a cottage for the weekend - a birthday celebration. Mom, Missy, Regina and I were all so ready to get away for a couple of days! Of course Missy had black napkins, plates, balloons, and a birthday ice cream cake. Nothing goes with wine like ice cream cake! LOL Regina had made a yummy lasagne for dinner and all we had to do was heat it up. Settling in for the evening, we got out our yarn and put "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" on - Regina had never seen it before. I gave Mom my old iPod and she was in music heaven - you should've seen her giggle with excitement! Hope the thing doesn't die next week!

Saturday morning we had Oven Baked Strawberry French Toast for breakfast (can you say yummm!?) and headed down to the beach with our books and chairs. Mom, Regina and I walked the shore collecting shells (not sure why, it just seemed the thing to do) while Missy sat and read her book. After lunch we showered and did a bit of shopping - Mom wanted to go buy a little iHome and we wanted to hit the yarn shop before it closed. Mom bought me some baby alpaca I had picked out for my birthday. Can't wait to make that scarf! We went to The Black Pelican for dinner - Mom, Regina and I got delicious Nuts and Berries Salad topped with grilled shrimp. Missy got a shrimp and crab bake - it was divine! Regina made us some tea when we got back to the cottage and we decided to take a walk on the beach to work off our dinner. Mom, however, stayed behind to enjoy her new music. The beach at night was magical. All too soon, it was time to pack up and head back to reality. We all agreed we need to plan one of these weekends again - very soon. It was very therapeutic for all of us.

Happy Birthday!!!

Auntie Joan and Lynne arrive from England on the 10th. Since Bob and I were out of town the weekend we didn't see them until the big birthday dinner Tuesday night. Jean turned 80 on the 15th and Joan turned 88 on the 16th. We had a wonderful celebration at Zoes on 19th Street. Joan and Lynne both are loads of fun! It was awesome to see them again. Since Herb, Jean and Joan were leaving the following morning for Myrtle Beach, I planned to go to hang out at Mike & Paddy's pool with Lynne. Peanut and I had a wonderful afternoon visiting with Lynne and Grendle. We had such a nice day I decided it would be a good plan for Thursday as well! Bob stopped by after work and we all went to a nearby Mexican restaurant for dinner. I've had such a wonderful time getting to know Lynne more these last couple of days. It really makes me want to go to England even more now ...

... and tomorrow I head to the OBX for the weekend!! sigh ... life is good :)

The Big Game ...

Dallas - Washington Game

On the 11th Bob and I drove to Harrisonburg for a short visit with Cari before heading to the Redskin/Cowboy game in DC on Sunday.  We had a wonderful dinner at Kyoto with Cari, then ended up at the movie theater. "The Expendables" was playing at the right time and came recommended by a couple of the guys working there. We bought tickets and walked into the theater, which we pretty much had to ourselves. Long story short, it was a decent movie - not a must see, but not a complete waste of time either. It made me laugh; it also made me cover my eyes a few times. Cari and I played with my new iPod (birthday gift from Bob) the rest of the evening. I learned how to get some fun new apps and we traded music and had a wonderful time!

After having an early lunch with Cari, Bob and I headed to Fredericksburg to check into our hotel before going to the game. I think we were parked and tailgating by 5:30 or so - the game started at 8:30 so we had plenty of time. Of course Bob had his Redskin shirt on and of course I had my Cowboy shirt on. :) There were LOTS of Cowboy fans, thank goodness. We grilled some chicken breasts and hot dogs and just enjoyed the moment. Our hike to our seats was a workout. Bob was so excited to see our seats for the first time! He was like a kid at Christmas! Anyway, we all know the outcome of the game by now. It wasn't pretty. While "hiking" back to the parking lot (and I use that term loosely - it was a field) Washington fans were chanting, "Dallas Sucks!" I chanted with them. It was about 1am by the time we got out traffic and on the interstate and 2am before we were back in our room. Needless to say, we slept late Monday morning. It was a busy but fun weekend!

Turning 50 ...

I'm not exactly how this happened either, but I turned 50 this month. Wow! There are quite a lot I like about being 50 ...

I like where I am with myself. I like that I don't feel the need to impress others or be what anyone else thinks I should be. I like where I am in my life - my ability to not punch a time clock for an employer, the luxury of being able to work my schedule to fit my day/week, being able to enjoy rainy days from inside my cozy home, etc. I like the fact that both of my daughters have grown into beautiful, compassionate, self sufficient, incredible young women - and thankfully they still "need" mom from time to time. I like that have some of the most wonderful girlfriends on the planet. They really do try to keep me sane - "try" being the main word - and sometimes it's nearly impossible. I recognize that. We've even begun naming our inner bitches - my mom named mine, "Cruella." I think that's appropriate. Anyway, that's not all I have to be thankful for but it's a good starting place.

There are also some things I'm not very thrilled with about being 50 ...

I started "falling apart" around 38. Apparently, that was my first cycle of decline so to speak. That's when all kinds of things started changing and not working quite right. I guess 48-49 was my second cycle. I got prescription glasses for the first time a couple of years ago, came off the pill at 49 (can you say hormone hell?), I have aches and pains that are really, really annoying & things just keep popping up that make me ask, "what the hell have I done to piss you (whatever particular body part) off now?" Oh and the memory thing? Oh good Lord - it's just a shame! Sometimes I start typing a sentence and can't remember the end of it! No joke! But for the most part I'm relatively healthy. I'll take that.

more reading ...

Last week I re-read "Lake News" by Barbara Delinsky. I read it for the first time about ten years ago. When I found the sequel to it, I decided to read it again so the characters would be fresh when I read, "An Accidental Woman." Besides, do you have any idea how many books I've read in the last ten years? I couldn't begin to remember the story anyway. It was almost like reading it for the first time. I think I enjoyed it just as much reading it this time as I did ten years ago. Jumping right into "An Accidental Woman" was effortless and I breezed right through that one too. I don't think I've read a Barbara Delinsky I didn't like.

THEN I picked up "The Castaways" by Elin Hilderbrand. I'd never read anything by her before but it sounded interesting so I picked it up at Walmart. Ugh! Bad decision! I managed to make it through 100 pages before getting so disgusted and fed up with these whiney, immoral characters. For one thing, each chapter is from a different point of view. There are six different characters, actually eight but two of them are dead, who share their thoughts, memories and such. Good grief it was boring and morose! so now I've started another one by Dorthea Benton Frank,"Shem Creek." I'm only about 50 pages into it but so far, so good. :)