A family distraction

Today my Mom and Dad are coming in from Rochester for the holiday weekend. Already I have made big plans to keep us occupied. I think tonight we'll have dinner at The Great Lakes Brewing Company, since my Dad's never been before but has had to listen to my Mom and Julia and her parents gush about it. Saturday, I will enlist my Dad's help to rip out the carpeting in the hallway, which Oscar has been using as a toilet recently. Sunday we will celebrate Kevin's grandfather's 84th birthday, followed by a picnic and the last Cleveland Orchestra concert of the summer season at Blossom. Should be fun stuff, and a much needed distraction from recent events.

May the fleas of a thousand camels infest the crotch of the person who screws up your day and may their arms be too short to scratch.

Amen.

I think my Boss is looking to get out of the piano business, which means I also think I could be without a job in the near future. We are so far in the financial hole these days, that the situation seems hopeless. The Boss has been investigating franchise opportunities for Cold Stone Creamery and Quiznos Subs. He's even been out scouting locations. The other clue that makes me think something is up at work is what has been happening as far as our Year End routine goes. Normally I go through all the books and make sure all the figures match each other, and match the inventory still on the floor. This year Boss wants me to do everything completely different, including counting every book and brochure from the manufacturers we have. In the 30 years this company has been in business, to the best of my knowledge, that has never been done before. I just know something is going on. Just what I need.

Back in "school"

Last night Kevin's Mom and I attended our first of 12 Family to Family classes. This class has been described as "the light at the end of the tunnel" - a real life-saver. That's what we're hopeful for.

Merlin

When it rains, it pours. Merlin's been in the hospital for several days now. He went into surgery for a spinal tap yesterday, and the doctor found 2 broken vertebrae, some hip displaysia and a disease of some kind in his knees. The good news is that eventually he will be ok, but recovery time will lat several months.

To the dogs

We changed Lucy's name to Harley (my idea). Kevin wanted something a little more "vicious" sounding for the little squirt. He has his heart set on keeping her, but I'm not so sure yet. That, and this morning Merlin had to go to Emergency for having excruciating pain in his hips. He cried all night last night, and this morning couldn't move. The vet gave him a shot but it didn't work, so Merlin goes back this afternoon. Let's hope he won't have to have surgery.

Never thought I'd see this one...

Interesting: Willie Nelson and Ani DiFranco (one of my favorites) will be touring together and performing benefits, called Concerts for Kucinich. Come on, Ani! I expect more from you than this! So far only 2 concerts have been scheduled in Iowa and Cleveland. Lucky us.

The world is her toilet

Now I remember why we have cats, and why we share Merlin with Lou (Merlin also was already potty trained before he belogned to us). Lucy and the kitties got to know one another a little bit last night, before we went to bed. There was some hissing, but no major incidents to speak of till I was awakened by wet feet at about 3 am this morning. Yes, that's right. Wet feet. Lucy is too little to jump off the bed to make it to her puppy pad, so she peed on the bedspread. Also she pooped on the bedspread. So Kevin and I were up changing sheets at 3 am. When my alarm went off at 6:45am, I got up, looked around, and discovered another little "deposit" on the floor near Kevin's side of the bed. Things went downhill from there after Lucy ate breakfast. I'll not go into anymore detail.

I'm a sucker

We may have adopted another pet, to add to our "Family Petting Zoo". In the words of my Mother-in-law: "Are you nuts?" Um, no, just a sucker for a stray animal. Our neighbor down the street rescues dogs and cats, nurses them back to health, and finds homes for them. Recently she found an abandoned Cockapoo, and last night while Kevin and I were out walking Merlin, we stopped by to say hello. The puppy, Lucy, found her way to my feet and collapsed on the toes of my sneakers. I bent down to pick her up, she licked my face, and I was in love. So, today we brought her home for a "trial", to see how the cats will do with her. Merlin already loves her after meeting her last night. But he loves anyone who doesn't hiss at him and swat his face.

got enough guilt to start my own religion...

Wow what a weekend. I have to start first by highlighting the fact that we did indeed make it down to the Tori show on Saturday. We launched the boat about 4:30, despite the small craft advisory which expired not long after we went out. We cruised down the river a bit, which I was concerned about, because of the "millions of gallons of raw sewage released into the Cuyahoga River" during the Blackout (according to The Plain Dealer). Luckily, there wasn't really a stench, just very brown water, which is normal.

We cruised by the concert venue just as Tori was finishing her Sound Check. Never heard a Tori Sound Check before. I was in Heaven! I was so excited. I got out the binoculars. Lou coaxed Merlin up on the bow of the boat in the hopes that someone would see him (Tori) and want to come on the boat with us, or invite us up to her trailer, which we could see clearly from the water. We were so close! But I didn't want to be too obvious. Yes, I had on my Tori T-Shirt, and yes, we were playing Tori CD's in the boat, and yes I was watching everything with the binoculars glued to my face. Suddenly I felt like a crazed stalker and got really paranoid that Tori would hate me if she found out I was "spying" on her. So we left and cruised up the River some more, till it was show time.

We came back to the Amphitheater just as Ben Folds was finishing up his opening set. We pulled the boat up as close as possible and slyly dropped anchor. Which you are not supposed to do, anywhere in the River. Then Lou said, "I wonder if she would be pissed that we didn't care enough buy tickets and instead are seeing the show for free...?" I hadn't thought about that before. Immediately I felt guilty. That quickly subsided, however, when Tori bounced out on stage and I had the most perfect view of her throughout the entire show. I couldn't have had better seats if I had purchased a ticket. Go here to see the Set List and Concert Reviews. Even Kevin got excited about this...clapping and whistling. It was his very first Tori show. I'm so proud!

In the Dark

I suppose I should account for my experience with this blackout, but I am really sick of hearing about it. I really would just like for our WATER to be restored. I was at work yesterday afternoon when the power went off. The drive home, which normally takes me 10 to 15 minutes, lasted 45 minutes because the idiots on the roads out here just barrel through the intersections without stopping first.

No one showed up to choir practice last night, presumeably because they were stuck downtown. (We're going to have to wing it on Sunday.) I went over to Kevin's grandmother's apartment last night to check on her and make sure she wasn't stuck in her electric recliner, which she wasn't, thankfully, and also to bring her a cooler and ice for her insulin. My mother-in-law was nice enough to bring me a few gallons of gas for my car, since Kevin's car was stuck in the garage (electric), and we couldn't find the key to open the back door. Kevin didn't have to work last night, so despite the heat, we went to bed relatively early. Did I get any sleep? Of course not. Aside from it being a torrid 85 degrees in our bedroom, the wind-up alarm clock ticked away next to my ear all night long, keeping me awake.

The power finally came back on this morning about 5am. Alas, however, we have only a trickle of water coming from the faucets. Therefore, I was really unable to shower this morning, and as of this minute, there is still no water at our house that I know of. I may have to go to Medina tonight, to shower at my mother-in-law's, because it's now 90 degrees outside and I STINK.

We're still going to see Tori tomorrow, though!

I wonder if there will be a Baby Boom nine months from now....

Tori at Tower City

This weekend we have planned to go down to the Flats on the boat to hear Tori and Ben Folds at the Tower City Amphitheater the during the Cleveland leg of the Lottapianos Tour. We're supposed to go on the boat and hear the show from the river (for free!), but Lou is notorious for backing out of things at the last minute if he can find something "better" to do. Kevin isn't strong enough yet to do the boat by himself, and I unfortunately still don't know what the hell I'm doing with that thing. So, we wait in anticipation. If we end up getting to go, I'm going to wave to Tori from the boat. Maybe she'll want to take a ride around the river with us.

Getting there

I know it's been a while since I last posted. Things have been busy at home lately. With Kevin recovering slowly from his hospital visit, I've got a lot of extra stuff to do at home until Kevin reaches 100% again.

This past weekend I nearly finished redoing the Master Bedroom...Gerry came over to help me paint. We got the ceiling fan hung, and then on Sunday I ripped up the ratty old carpeting and padding, and pulled the staples and tack strips off the floor. We now have gorgeous hardwood flooring in the bedroom. Yesterday Gerry and I hung up the curtain rods and my red curtains. The room is unrecognizable now, and I love it!

Here's to you, Mr. Robinson...