Ready, Aim,

This is my first time as the official Manager of anything. I've always been good at being bossy leadership and organization, but have never before been paid for these qualities.

Yesterday was one of the drawbacks to being in charge - I had to fire someone.

It went remarkably easier than I expected, although I suspect that she was thinking of quitting anyway.

I think I was fair and honest, without getting personal.

I can only hope the future of firing goes so well! (Not that I plan to make it a regular occurence).

School Daze

I didn't have an easy time in elementary school. My family was not wealthy, I was too gangly to be athletic, and I was smarter than most of my classmates. These factors made me quite unpopular with the cool kids and sadly, some of the teachers.

I didn't run in to much trouble with teachers or administration in general until I was in seventh grade. Beginning with seventh grade we had "homeroom" teachers and then two or three other teachers for different subjects, similar to high school.

My homeroom teacher was a tiny lady (she was about 4'10") who sat on a tall stool in front of the classroom in order to see all her students. More than once we undid the cover, removed the cushion and replaced with a cushion that goes by the name of "Whopee". She fortunately had a decent sense of humor.

The Science Teacher that year was Lenny Ringman (not his real name, duh...). Mr. Ringman was a fan of the popular kids. Maybe because he and his family had moved to our state from Hawaii, where they apparently surfed daily and were just generally cool, dude. He was blond and tan and wore cooler clothes than our other male teachers.

The "popular" kids at my school were the athletically gifted. Or even just moderately coordinated, which I was not. I grew much to quickly to get a handle on my arms and legs in any way that was useful to any sort of competitive sport (unless you count monopoly).

I had several difficult days in elementary school, frustrated at my lack of fitting in and bored with the lack of mental challenge in my schoolwork.

After one such day I entered the science classroom in a mood that was less than ideal for molecules and spirogyra. I was lamenting to my best friend about whatever had ruined my day thus far when Mr. Ringman said (loud enough for the entire class to hear) "Quit complaining and sit down!" Without missing a beat I whipped around and responded "Shut up Mr. Ringman, who asked you?!"

Needless to say I was sent immediately to the principal's office. The principal knew that Mr. Ringman was a little bit of an elitist and instead of giving me a lecture, he just let me sit in his office for a half hour and then told me to have a good day.

The other night I dreamed about the Ringman family (he has four children, three older than me) and one of the daughters apologized to me for how "supreme" they all acted.

"If the Eye Offends Thee..."

Right about now I would LOVE to pluck BOTH my eyes right out of my head.

Back in February when we moved from the condo to the house, I started experiencing some allergies. Considering that anyone can develop allergies to pretty much anything at anytime, I didn't think a whole lot about it. I assumed that I had developed run-of-the-mill "spring" allergies that were making my eyes itch and water, my throat itch, and my nose run.

Not having had THIS bad of a reaction before, I initially was rubbing my eyes (trying really hard not to, of course) and irritated the skin of the eyelid with my acrylic nails. I assumed I had given myself eczema, and tried to baby the skin as much as possible, and not wear any eye makeup.

When I went to Portland for the wedding, it got better, enough that I was able to withstand having my eyebrows waxed (which I clearly could use again) and wear makeup regularly (just in time for my wedding).

Once I returned to Key West, so the affliction returned to my face.

In the past three months since the wedding it has gotten worse and worse. I wake up in the morning with swollen, crusty eyes that are bright red.

I have developed bags and skin tags that are not seeming to go away.

I gently wash the area with alternately a cold washcloth, hot washcloth, and eye scrubs, then follow up with neosporin, hydrocortisone cream, Burt's Bees eye cream, or Temple Spa calming lotion.

I also hold a bag of frozen veggies on my eyes to try and get the swelling to go down to the point where I can see.

The itching has started to gain ground, now affecting my cheeks and chin.

Yes, I should stop whining and go to a dermatologist, but I don't know any in Key West and medical care of any sort down here is somewhat of a joke.

I am surviving on a cocktail of Claritin during the day and half a Benadryl to sleep at night.

Fuzzy Biscuit

This is Chou.

He is an eighteen-pound Ragdoll mix. Chou will be six on August 12th.

Chou has always been pliable, even as a tiny kitten we would stick him in a shirt pocket and he would just sit and watch the world go by.

Chou likes to sleep under the covers. You would think that a cat with so much insulation and fur wouldn't want to be any warmer, but nearly every night (or morning) he will come to the head of the bed and dig at the covers until we let him in. Then he makes his way to the area behind my knees and curls up.

I can tell when it's time to trim his claws because his nightly snuggles leave me with small holes in my leg from his loving caress.

Chou loves to lay on his back and invite anyone and everyone to rub his belly. People that do not like cats have decided "if all cats were like Chou, I would like cats." He is quiet and laid back, only meowing when in the vicinity of his food dish, or during his morning ritual: When Scott gets out of the shower Chou is waiting in the bathroom with his two front paws on the scale. He looks up at Scott and gives one plaintive "mew" and then wanders off towards the dining room.

His favorite foods are ice cream, chips, and anything left on your plate. He will deign to eat cat food, and tries to convince anyone remotely within petting distance that he hasn't eaten yet.

Because of his love affair with food, we feed the cats about five times a day, about 1/3 of a cup split between all three kitties. Some people think this is ridiculous, but if we give them any more than that, Chou will scarf it all down and then give it right back all over the floor.

His fur is as soft as it looks. I love to lay my head on his belly and listen to his meaty purr.

When I'm having an anxiety attack, it's very soothing to have him on my lap and stroke his back.

Chou may be my middle child, but he is my favorite. (Shhh, don't tell the others!)

Mama's First Grill-Out

I've never grilled something myself before.

True, I didn't start the grill (I don't know how, truthfully). But I did all the prep and the hands-ON grilling.

I sliced and salted some eggplant and then tossed it in olive oil. I marinated baby portobello mushrooms in balsamic vinegar and some tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, green and yellow patty-pan squash in olive-oil and balsamic.




I boiled some small red potatoes for about 20 minutes and then tossed them in olive oil and salt, threw in a handful of whole garlic cloves.

I wrapped some baby asparagus in tinfoil and drizzled them with olive oil, cut some fresh rosemary and oregano and steamed it on top of the kebabs.



I made a salad with Boston lettuce, baby carrots, and fresh tomatoes from our back yard, tossed with the balsamic and oil from under the other vegetables. I added a little red wine vinegar and lime juice, a sprinkle of Mrs. Dash and tossed it.











Everything turned out pretty darn good I have to say.













Scott liked it too - despite the fact that he added cheese and a microwaved veggie-hot-dog.

Author, Party of One!??

Due to the recent circumstances that lead to the "Dear Husbands" post, I have decided to write a book about the particular husband, his brother (whom I dated for about 6 years) and their father from the perspective of the wives and girlfriends whose lives they have impacted through their sex-addled brains.

I started it in the height of my anger and frustration last week and worked on it for two nights straight and then stopped. I will continue, probably this week, but I needed to take a little break.

Remembering the days of that relationship gave me dreams at night that I do not enjoy. It also brought back memories that I do not like to dwell on and some of the feelings the old relationship brought on a regular basis.

I am so thankful to be married to my husband. He is my best friend, we can tell each other anything and everything, but we retain a level of privacy and respect because we trust each other. We can have fun doing anything or nothing.

When we got married the pastor asked us to write down ahead of time "our story". How we met, how we got together, what we like about each other, etc. During the ceremony they read parts of our stories aloud and it was a really great part of the experience. It made the whole thing very personal, very "us."

While I am choosing to remember things from a past life for the ultimate betterment of those who may someday be in a similar situation, here's to my Now-Life. Here's to my husband.

Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July!

As the wife of a former United States Marine, this is an important day at our house.

It is also Maui's 5th Birthday, but Buster got to eat an entire hot dog and have a few laps of Corona.

Here we are in all our festivity-ness!