ahhhhhh ....

My child is gone.  She done flew the coop.

Well, not literally.  The birdies flew the coop but my dear, darling daughter hopped into her little red corvette ... I mean her little red solara ... and drove away.

The first five minutes that she was gone?  I smiled.  Life would now be stress free.

But at the sixth moment ... 

the agenda I was left with became more busy than ever before.  Wait, that was stinky English.  Suffice it to say that my world was more of a whirlwind than before.

Whew!

For the last 48 hours, I've been packing and repacking her boxes ... some were not packed appropriately for United Van Lines.  I've fired and hired three different moving companies, I've also scheduled her hotel rooms, finished handling her new apartment and signing all of the paperwork, taking care of a broken a/c at my rental property, booking a pest control for the rental property, losing Elizabeth's keys, handling a visit from my sister in law which will take place on Saturday at 11:00 ... where did I put those keys??? ... working on a group bible study that I'm leading on Sunday, dressing and redressing Rick's flesh wound ... anyone seen those keys? ... paying about 100 overdue bills, doing all of the laundry, taking bids for our own house leak repairs ... and cooking a meal or two.  

Tonight's pizza was awful.  I'm gonna leave the cooking to Domino's from now on.

I CAN'T FIND THE KEYS!!!

My time is not my own right now and for that, I'm stressed.  Life is whirring around me right now.

Know what makes it all better?

These.

Elizabeth wrote Rick and I 365 letters to read while she's away.  One for each day of the year.  'Cept there's only 150 here.  She got tired halfway through.

WHERE. ARE. THOSE. KEYS?????

I'm tired, too.  I'll read them all tomorrow.

Or the next day.

Or after I find the keys.

;)

post weekend

So, I mentioned that my weekend was crazy and yes, it was.  But it was fun.  Tons o' fun.

It all began last Wednesday when I had a choir practice and a drama practice after work.  That kept me out late and I then had to get up VERY EARLY to take my dear darling daughter to the airport.  She was traveling to Tucson for a wedding and I had the dubious honors of taking her to the airport at the crack of dawn and then taking care of her cat... at her apartment.  Oh, the dear darling cat.  I honestly considered forgetting to feed it or at least leaving the door open and seeing what would happen... but I did my deed.  I fed and watered and pottied the cat.  But first I drove Liz to the airport.

After work on Thursday, long before I got to come home and rest my little head, I met my sister in law for dinner and then visited with Jeannie the cat.  Then I headed out to an acting workshop that I'm taking for the next six weeks.  Home at ten, bedded down by twelve-ish and then up on Friday to attend a very long meeting of sorts at work.  It was a visit to another school... back by two-ish and then after a few hours of work, I headed to dinner with two cousins who happened into town at the last minute.  Sure, come on over.  I'm free.  (Actually I am free for them... but that didn't help my tiredness.)  And then, yes, Halloween happened.  And don't forget about the dear darling cat.

Saturday brought an all day visit to Canton, a huge Texas garage sale of sorts, with three friends.  It was two hours away and I figured we'd be there until noon or so.  But no.  We managed to stay until dinnertime and then we jumped back on the road for our two hour jaunt back.  Home at ten, oh yes, again.

Sunday?  Church and then two, yes TWO, drama rehearsals.  Well, one was a planning meeting that ran even longer than a regular rehearsal.

But the best part of the whole weekend?  Today.  Yes, today.  I was oh so blessed to have a tooth extracted early in the morning and yes, it darn near ruined my whole day.  I miss my tooth.  It was with me for nearly 50 years and we'd formed quite a bond.  Yes we had.  And now, amidst the blood and guts that I'm left with, I'm pretty much hating life.

And how was your weekend?  Kept all your teeth?

;)

still stuck

Tonight my daughter came home with something else stuck in her head.  Fortunately it wasn't a song.  I'd have died if she'd started singing, "It's a Small World."  But nope, she made the announcement that she had worn out her welcome here at her parent's house and she was ready to move on.  Well, she didn't actually use that phrase and no, she hasn't worn out her welcome.  Still, she is ready to move on.

I understand.  I was 24 when I left home and I was way too old to finally be leaving.  And don't even remind me about the time I returned home at 26.  For a year.  Brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it.

So anyway, she spent all of tonight exploring every website she could find that offered up apartments.  Nice apartments.  Darn nice apartments.  Yeah.  And THAT was what was stuck in her head.  And mine.  I worked just as hard as she did at finding a place.

Elizabeth gave me a list a mile long of places to call on ... because she was busy from 8 - 5 everyday.
Know what else was stuck in her head?  She needs said apartment by, uh, Thursday?  Just kidding.  But she did only give me five weeks to accomplish this task.  And I had to make sure that her cat would be welcome.  And that the apartment was near a Chipotle.  And there was sufficient shopping nearby.  And it had a weight room.  And a pool.  And a bedroom.  With a walk in closet.  Balcony optional.  

Good grief.

This from the girl who couldn't wait to get to California.  Or Florida.  Or Arizona.  She's picked Frisco.  And mama is very happy.  Unless I have to help her move.

Wanna know why my child is ready to move out?  So she can, and I quote, "Eat dinner in front of the TV in her room."  Yep, my child is ready to break all the rules.  She's gonna color outside the lines for a change.

And again, mama is happy.  She can eat all she wants in her room now and I won't even know it.

Sure hope she doesn't come home unexpectedly one night ... before I have a chance to vacuum up my own crumbs.

;)

.

 

2013 in Review

Well, we know I didn't get my Christmas cards out ... so we also know that I didn't write a Christmas newsletter this year, either.  That one hurt.  In fact, I didn't sit down to even ponder what we did this year.  I'm pretty sure we did something, though.  We must've.

Let's see...

Rick started out the year needing surgery.  Back surgery.  And merely days after the surgery happened he was relieved from his pain.  Surgery good.  Rick good.  Life good.

Elizabeth started out the year headed to Walt Disney World for a college internship.  She had returned home from Arizona (and college life there) to accept a position she'd been offered at her dream company, Disney.  She'd never been to Florida though, and this sounded like a pretty neat thing.  I liked it, too, because I GOT TO TAKE HER THERE!   So ...

I started out the year in Florida!  Yep, Liz and I drove there (so she could have her car with her) and I flew back but not before visiting the Magic Kingdom and introducing Elizabeth to the place that Rick and I honeymooned.  So ...

Elizabeth spent five months in Orlando and loved it.  She was given a position on the Toy Story Mania ride and then auditioned for and became Toy Story Barbie.

I earned a second trip to Orlando in May to visit Elizabeth for her birthday.  Her 22nd.  This time I was there for four days of fun and play.  I got to visit all four parks for free! 

Rick got to stay home with the dog and cat. 

Summer came and instead of picking up a second internship, Elizabeth put her Walt Disney career on hold and returned to Frisco.  Her intention was to work locally for six months and then return to the amusement park in a different capacity (a professional internship instead of a college internship) but she went and landed a job one day after returning home and she loves it!  She's working in Plano for a company that sells computer parts to the government and the military.  Her own office and a good salary.

I'm thrilled that she's off my insurance ... a raise for me!

Summer brought Rick's mother to Texas to live after a 20 year battle to get her here.  She likes it and we like it.  And life is good.  For her and us.

Rick entered the fall season in more pain, yet again.  Darn it!  We are monitoring this and tabooing any surgery for him.

I entered the fall returning to my Frisco ISD job and still liking it a lot.  I'm especially liking not paying for Elizabeth's insurance anymore. 

Elizabeth entered the fall with an event that will take her quite awhile to get over.  We're all still reeling from her being attacked at her work by a homeless man.  She survived and she fought him off successfully ... and is now interested in the martial arts. 

I like that Elizabeth is studying martial arts.

No additional trips were taken during the year unless you count a trip to Winstar, the Las Vegas of the Midwest.  More like the Laughlin of the Midwest.  Actually, more like one single Indian casino in the Midwest.  We did not come home rich.

November gave Rick one more chance to appeal for his military pension.  He and I took a road trip to Bonham, Texas (aka Hicksville) where they put him through the ringer.  We spent ALL DAY at the Veteran's hospital in Bonham where he had every test under the sun.  Still waiting for those dang results, too.

And as Christmas approached ... I managed to get our tree up and decorated on November 1st.  'Taint never done that before ... However, I never got the lights out in the yard and I never got the cards out.  So ... the early bird may catch the worm but he sure is tired from it and can't ever coordinate the rest of the tasks.

Probably because I was busy directing actors again for our Christmas dinner theater at my church.  We repeated our play "An Americana Christmas" and all WOULD'VE gone well if ... we hadn't had a severe ice storm throughout the city and gotten frozen in and confined to our homes.  Yeesh.  That's twice since we've lived here.  Our play did go on (because the show MUST go on) but four of our performances had to be cancelled and two had to be added.  Life was quite interesting around that time.

And, Christmas came and went.  The decorations are still up, the presents are all still under the tree (yes, opened) and the leftover food is still living in our fridge.  Yes, we are eating large in the Kahle home.

Despite Rick's pain, we have had a fun year.  Adventurous, too.  Just ask Liz.  And, once again, we feel completely blessed.  God has been so good and so faithful to us.  2014 is approaching quickly and we're all looking forward to it.  We remain a close family and plan to all be under the same roof for at least one more year.  Then Liz is off to California and Rick and I plan to ... what?  Well, nothing different.  We'll still be here.

Midnight is still here, too.  She's over 12 now.  Well, we've had her for 12 1/2 years but she was full grown when we got her. Jeannie's still with us, too.  Jeannie doesn't show her face much though and that's okay with me.

So ... since we're all still here, let me take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful, wonderful New Year.  We wish you God's peace and His blessings on you as well. 

With our love ~

Kris, Rick and Elizabeth
with Jeannie and Midnight, too.

for sale

I found this on Twitter.  Apparently we're not the only ones struggling with student loans...

.

giving blood

I missed a few days here.  Oops.  Darned cold.  Darned kiddo that gave me my darned cold.  But it was kinda fun ... since I gave it to my hubby who in turn gave it to my daughter.  I like to share.

Here's something fun that happened over the last few days ...

I got a call from my daughter's student loan company.  They said something about wanting some money. Darned people.  I told them that my daughter was still in school and although not using loan money right now, she shouldn't have to be paying back her student loans yet.  They agreed and although in theory that's true, you apparently need to be in school full time ... or at least part time.  Elizabeth only has two classes this semester which apparently doesn't qualify her for part time.  Huh?  That's 'part time' in my book.  Sigh.

So, the kind folks on the other end of the phone line told me that not only does she owe her student loans back now ... but I owe my part, too.  The 'parent loan' is now due and payable.  And, they so kindly told me, I am two months behind.

* blink blink *

At $300 per month, I now owe $900.

I had a doctor's appointment this morning and the nurse took blood out of me.  So, I gave blood to the doctor and I'm giving blood to my daughter's student loans.  What a bloody shame.

My daughter posted this on Twitter:

We'll house you, feed you and teach you a skill for free. - prison

We'll do none of that and you pay us $50,000. - college

Ain't that the truth.

so...

... my daughter arrives in Arizona and tweets this:

Arrived safe and sound.  A bright, beautiful 71 degrees in Phoenix and supposedly even more beautiful in Tucson.  Darn, forgot to pack my convertible.

*********************************

My favorite post of hers, though, was this:

The good news is, I caught the bouquet. 

The bad news is, I proposed to every guy at the wedding and no one accepted.  Not even Rachael's 6-year-old son.  I don't know why... my manicure matches my dress AND I can rap all of Eminem's Lose Yourself.  I'mma catch...  :)

*********************************

And then she came home.  My baby girl came home and life got back to normal once again.

By the way, normal to us is Rick sitting in front of the TV with a remote glued to his hand, pretending not to notice anyone else in the room; Elizabeth sitting on the couch with a cat on her shoulder, scolding Rick for watching too much TV and scolding me for sitting at my computer too long; and me ... at the computer for a moment, watching the pumpkins muffins in the oven so they don't burn (they did anyway), clearing the dinner table (that only I ate at), unloading the dishwasher, reloading the dishwasher, putting away the groceries that I bought after work, wrapping a baby gift for a shower, wrapping a secret pal gift, loading the washing machine, unloading the dryer and sneaking in a game of Freecell and/or Blitz before bringing in the trash cans from the curb and sitting down to monitor my auctions on eBay. 

My daughter only saw me playing Freecell and checking eBay.

Have I got a few tweets in mind about that!!!!
.

Twiddler

My daughter's a hoot.  She's been out of town for a few days and sent me a couple of text messages and several requests for money.  I read the text messages...

Oh, and she posted on Twitter.  I read those, too.  Her gift lies in twittering.  Tweeting?  Twixting?

******************************
How to pack for your trip to Arizona:

1. Pack one shoe.
2. Watch an episode of Bones.
3. Miss your plane.

******************************
What baby?  There was no crying, screaming, wailing baby on the plane when we took off, officer...

******************************
Hi, yes, I want a refund for my Southwest Airlines fight.  My attendant was dressed like a hooker & cabin lights were not dimmed as promised.

******************************
I'm in Houston!  Let's hang out!  I'm just kidding.  I'm on a layover.  I'd never come to Houston on purpose.

******************************
There are far too many married people on this flight.  Come on guys, give me a chance!

******************************
In the event of a water landing, zombie attack, explosion or Sesame Street marathon, your seat cushion may be used as a flotation device.

*****************************
So rude that this kid next to me on the flight doesn't want to watch Law & Order, SVU with me ... I mean, come on kid, there's wifi on this plane!

*****************************
I never make friends faster than when I'm looking for my baggage claim and trying to recognize people from my flight.

******************************

and my favorite tweet of hers:


With the 5% discount you get when you purchase mid-flight, I've decided that everyone gets a Skymall gift this Christmas.  Enjoy your catbeds.


:)

My daughter, who, while in Tucson referred to herself as "Kahle" and made all new friends who still call her that ... found this.  And sent it to me.  To prepare, I guess.  Like I even cook, let alone cook KALE.

I absolutely refuse to remove her stalks and ribs.  

I might just bake her till she's crisp, though.  

.

prodigal daughter returns !

So, now that we've gotten Elizabeth to Florida, we need to get her home.  Yes, she's homeward bound now.  Fortunately, I don't have to continue paying rent in Florida though!

In case I haven't shared this yet, Elizabeth has decided to end her internship as of May 31st.  She had the option of picking up a second "college program" and staying in Florida until August 8th or ending her tenure at Walt Disney World and then applying for a "professional internship" that will take place in January.  She has opted for the latter choice. 

But ... before that decision was made, I spent countless hours on the telephone trying to find her a suitable apartment to live in since she would need to give up her dorm room.  And "dorm room" is a loose term.  It was actually six girls crammed together in a two bathroom apartment. 

Elizabeth will be returning to Casa de Kahle in Frisco, where she'll have an entire second floor to herself (except for the comings and goings of her cat) with three bedrooms and two baths and a media room.  Poor kid.  It'll take some time getting used to all that space, I'm sure.

 Rick and I told her that she would need to pay us rent.  Not much, but some rent nonetheless.  She balked at it.

"EXCUSE ME????  I've just paid $800/month for an apartment that you weren't even living in, Missy!"

Oh, wait.  Don't tell her about the conversation I just had with that area manager.

.

hi ho, hi ho

In order for Elizabeth to take on that college internship at Walt Disney World this past January, she would have to leave her one bedroom apartment in Tucson, Arizona.  Nearly $800/month we had been paying and were going to have to continue paying, but we wanted her to experience this internship.  Not too many people get opportunities like this.  It almost didn't matter that she couldn't break the lease.  Almost.  Not that I didn't try.  Yes, we had definitely tried.  Believe me.

I did, however, figure out that if we switched Elizabeth to a 4 bedroom, 4 bath unit, the rent would be less.  A lot less.  Like half.  And that was more palatable than paying nearly $800/month while she wasn't even there.  Yes, we had tried to sublet her one bedroom apartment without any luck.  So, that's when we decided on the move.  The office staff charged us $200 to make that switch (sweet of them, eh?) but that was still better than paying $800/month.  They also continued to charge us $25/month for the cat, even though the cat was now living in Texas.  I was told that whatever was written on the lease in the beginning would have to remain on the lease now.

We actually couldn't get Elizabeth out of that apartment fast enough.

So, off Elizabeth went, with all of her belongings in hand ... and she bid a somewhat fond farewell to Arizona.  And then a hearty hello to Orlando.  It was a costly adventure but a fun one, nonetheless.

And I picked up the tab for that new 4 bedroom apartment... while Liz picked up the tab for the new apartment in Florida.  And all was well.  Until I got behind on the rent. 

And the late fees racked up.  Apparently $25 or $35 per day that you are late.  Before I knew it, I owed a ton.

I was plum fed up with it all around March, but I kept on paying.  In April, I'd had enough.  Especially since I was told that Elizabeth didn't even have a room in the complex.  We had been notified that she was being assigned to an non-usable apartment that was just storing extra beds and such since she wasn't around anyway, and we were to let them know if she was coming back so they could clean it out.  Uh, seriously?

So, behind in fees and angry that my daughter didn't even have a space that we were paying for ... I had had enough.  I went over the apartment complex' head and called the parent company to the apartment building.  I didn't quite know what I would say that hadn't already been said, but I just had to voice my concerns that I was paying for a room that didn't even exist.   And so, I called.  Oddly enough, the parent company is located in Texas.  However, I was transferred to Phoenix, Arizona, where I reached the area manager.  And I told my story.

For every complaint that I voiced, the area manager had a quick comeback, a quick answer as to why I was paying what I was paying.  And she was in no mood to listen to a grumpy mom who didn't like paying that rent.  I griped and she fought back.

When we got to the part about how I was paying for a room that didn't even exist, her tone changed.  "She is, too," she snapped.  "She's in room  911C."

"Well, that's news to me," I said.  "First I've ever heard of it.  Last room I knew about was her one bedroom apartment in 816."

"She was never in 816," the A.M. quipped. 

"Oh yes, she was," I argued. 

"Are you sure?"  I was. 

"I helped move her into that apartment," I explained.  And then the other end of the phone line grew strangely silent. 

"Mrs. Kahle, I'll need to call you right back."  And within five minutes, I was back on the line with Ms. A.M.  She couldn't apologize fast enough or loud enough or long enough.  And she thanked me over and over for calling.

"Say what?" was all that ran through my mind.  That and "What just happened here?"  Apparently what had actually happened in that silent five minutes was that the A.M. had discovered that apartment 816 had actually been rented out in January.  We hadn't known.  I'm also thinking that room 911C was also rented out.  In fact, I can't help but think that the area manager had happened onto something, something that reeked of illegal-ness and smacked of a lawsuit.  I'd had no clue, of course, about any of it so I had never planned to take any action.  I just wanted to quit paying that stinky ol' rent.  Instead ... we no longer have to pay rent at all!  A N D ... we are getting all of the money back that we've been paying since January.  Late fees included.

I couldn't wait to tell Rick. 

Know what he said?

"Why did you put her in a 4 bedroom apartment?  We couldn't even afford the one bedroom apartment."

I didn't even try to explain that one.  I'll just present him with the check when it comes ... and let him try to figure it out then.

,

2012 in review...

Exactly what happened in 2012?

I learned a lot.  A. LOT.  Plain and simple, 2012 was a most enlightening year.  2013 has a lot to live up to.

Our year was going along swimingly when all of a sudden, Rick began getting weak.  He was having trouble walking and we couldn't quite understand what was up.  Several weeks of this strange weakness came to a head in April, when I found Rick slumped over the side of our bed.  It was a stroke.  A small stroke... but a stroke nonetheless.  And he recovered nicely. 

In June, I began following a lead to a new job that was SO much closer to my house and in a school district that I'd been wanting to work at for a very long time.  And it actually turned into a job in July.  I was to start in August, right after returning from a driving trip to see our baby in Tucson.  The trip was fun but it wore down Rick's left hip causing us to hospitalize him almost immediately following the trip for severe pain.  We had believed the pain was coming from his already-replaced right hip and we were ready to re-replace that hip.  Ha!  We were so wrong.  The other hip must've been jealous because it suddenly let everyone know that it was tired of playing second fiddle and it wanted some attention, too.  September 4th gave it the attention it wanted.  The left hip was replaced giving Rick a total of three replaced joints.  His left knee is all that remains of his original equipment!

September and October were spent helping Rick recover and he did so, just in time for another hospital stay in October... a reaction to the pain meds that he'd been taking for so long.  Rick was away from our home for so long that our dog began to worry and made herself sick missing her best friend so.  I made the decision to "put her down" not knowing that there was a simple cure.  Before I took action, I took the advice of a friend who suggested I drive her to see Rick one more time so he could say goodbye.  And so, Midnight and I set out on the one hour trek to Rick's rehab hospital... and neither Rick nor I expected what would happen.  The dog came alive!  Midnight is still with us today.  Rick is, too.

November brought another trip to see Elizabeth in Tucson, but this time by plane.  Not gonna chance another hip surgery with another long drive!  We Thanksgiving'd with her and had a very good, very relaxing time.  My baby had been sick with her Celiac Disease for too long, too, and it was good to cook her some good food and help her get well.

And suddenly, December came upon us and a play that I'd been rehearsing was up and running for the first four nights of the month.  December also brought our baby back home to live.  Well, for five weeks, anyway.  Elizabeth was done with Arizona and so were we.  To this day, we are still waiting for her school loan to fund.  Uh, school's over, folks... but we're still waiting.

Elizabeth is finished with Arizona, though.  And in January she moves to Florida to begin a paid college internship with Walt Disney World.  She's excited, we're excited and I'm gonna get another road trip, driving with her to Orlando to drop her and her car off for the next nine months.  Yea!

So, here we sit.  Christmas decorations still up, the snow that graced us on Christmas day (our 2nd white Christmas!) is melting, leftovers still in the fridge, shopping still going on and I still haven't gotten my cards out.  But the family is all together and healthy.  Can't beat that.  It's been a good year... no, a great year.  I can't complain.

Looking forward to 2013, though.  It's gonna bring us several trips to Walt Disney World, I'm sure.  And that alone brings a sparkle to my eyes!

And while 2012 comes quietly to a close?  Here's what you'll find Elizabeth and I doing...

 

... 'tis the season.

 

.

Friday Night

It's been one of those days...

Just sitting on the couch with Rick, curled up, and eating our dinner with White Christmas playing on our the TV.

Most of America was saddened by the events of the day ... the Columbine-type shooting in Connecticut.

But something even closer to home has got me all twisted up.  My dear friend Monica was just diagnosed with breast cancer on Wednesday and rushed into surgery today.  She'll begin 6 months of Chemo in January, followed by radiation. 

This comes on the heels of her wonderful mother's diagnosis of uterine cancer which led her to her first cancer treatment just a week ago.

Life is so odd.

Odd, mixed up, crazy and sweet.  My daughter will be home from Arizona on Wednesday and I can't wait.  I need her face to brighten up my world.

One more thing...

I was absolutely capitivated by one thing in Tucson.  There was one thing that stole all of my attention, though...

My dog.  Midnight.

She was boarded in a local shelter that had CAMERAS in the cages!  And I got to see what she was doing 24/7!  And if you ask Rick and Liz, they will attest that I was actually peeking in on Midnight, oh, uh, 24/7.  Yes, I darn near was.

Here's what I saw:

and

Midnight was in this large suite with the camera overhead.  I peeked in on her while she was sleeping and while she was standing at the door trying to get the warden's worker's attention. 

I loved every minute of my spying. 

Except when I saw this:



It seems Midnight made a break for it when the warden wasn't looking!

She left so quickly, she left her little pink fuzzy pig behind.  And we all know that pig's squeal...

Know where she escaped to? 

We found her at home.    Doing this.

Nah, not really.  But this is what she did the moment we got her home.  And the many moments afterwards.  Heck, she's probably still doing that now, a week later.

:)

So, what else did I do in Tucson?

I took a lot of trash down to the dumpster...  yes, that was a highlight.

But better than that, I spent my time cleaning countertops, cleaning a shower, unclogging a sink, unclogging a bathtub, grocery shopping, turning a sagging mattress over, blowing up an air mattress, feeding a cat, emptying a litter box, and, of course, caring for a sick child. 

Was it relaxing?  Was it restful?  Actually it was.  I enjoyed myself immensely.  But the best part?  A text from my daughter once I was home and happily settled back into my own bed...

"I took a shower this morning and guess what!! I didn't swim in it! :) When I turned off the water, that was that, I didn't have to hold my breath and scuba dive to find the knob to turn off the water. Thank you so much for unclogging all of my bathroom sinks. You are the best!!"

Yep, I'm still smiling.

Thanksgiving - Elizabeth style

So just what was a gluten free Thanksgiving meal like, you ask?

The turkey was perfectly normal, basted with goat's butter instead of real butter.  Wait... goat's butter probably IS real butter.  Let me rephrase that.  The turkey was perfectly normal, basted with goat's butter instead of NORMAL butter.  But you know what?  Me, nor the turkey, could tell the difference.

The sweet potatoes came out of a can that was deemed gluten free by my daughter... mixed with brown sugar and topped with marshmallows.  All gluten free, naturally. 

So far, so good.

We had the traditional green bean casserole... but prepared not quite so traditionally.  And personally, this is the one dish that could've just stayed in the oven.  Indefinitely.  Canned green beans.  Can't go too wrong with that.  But it was the canned gluten free mushroom soup that turned into water when cooked... and the lack of french-fried onions that ruined the dish.  I used regular onions... don't ever use regular onions.  Some dishes just NEED french-fried onions.  This dish did not cut it without that staple.

Add to this meal some gluten free stuffing... prepared by a local gluten free restaurant.  Add to this some gluten free biscuits.  And add some gluten free gravy.   Nope, didn't cook any of these things.  That local gluten free restaurant was a godsend!   And... they know what they're doing.  Stuffing.... excellent.  Biscuits.... very, very good.   Gravy.... also quite good.  Too bad I didn't buy the green bean casserole from this restaurant.  Too bad I tried to cook that myself.

And finally... we had pumpkin pie... from the same restaurant.  And you know what?

IT WAS THE BEST PUMPKIN PIE I'VE EVER EATEN!   E V E R !!!!

So what were the high heel and the nails all about?

Guess what young people don't keep in their apartments?  Guess what young people forget to tell their mothers until, oh, fifteen minutes before it's time to start cooking?  That they don't own a can opener.  And that they don't own a "church key" can opener, either.   And that they don't even own a hammer.

And guess what?  Most of the above dishes that I prepared REQUIRED A CAN OPENER!! 

My daughter lives alone and her neighbors were all off Thanksgiving-ing with their families.  The entire complex was void of people on that fateful Thanksgiving day when I so needed a can opener.

So... my dear, darling daughter was able to produce a high heeled shoe and a nail.  I produced the bloody fingers. 

May you never have to open ten different cans with a nail and a high heel.  It is not easy.  May you never ruin an oven mitt trying to bend the top of that rugged, jagged, sharp can top back, either.  And... may you always have a high heel handy just in case that's you're only option.

We did it, though, and it only took about an hour per can.  So Thanksgiving lunch turned into Thanksgiving dinner... but since there were still two bandaids left in the bandaid box, we considered it a complete success.

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Black Friday

So here I sit...  Can't get anyone up to Black Friday shop with me.  'Cept the cat.  And she only wants to go to Petsmart.

There is some pie left, I think.  Pretty sure there's some turkey, too.  But the pie wins.  That Reese's peanut butter cup sitting on the counter is calling my name, too.  Nope, it's pie for me right now.

I better go shopping.  I'll forget about all the leftover food once I'm in Macy's.  I'll forget that I have no money, too.

I won't forget about my stay here in Tucson, though.  I got to see my daughter's apartment.  Heck, I got to live in it for seven days even.  I got to attend my daughter's church twice.  I had a gluten free Thanksgiving dinner (actually that was my second one since she's been gluten free for over a year now) that tasted mighty good.  In fact, that gluten free pumpkin pie I ate was darn near the BEST PUMPKIN PIE I've ever eaten, ever!!  But the best part of this Thanksgiving?

My daughter.  I got to see that she is alive and well and surviving in Tucson, Arizona.  I've been so concerned about her lately... since she's been in the throes of a Celiac flare up.  But while we've been here in Tucson, my little girl has been well and healthy and happy.  Only one day was she down and in bed... but even that day was tolerable for her.  She is doing well overall and that pleased me no end.

As Rick and I get on a plane today and head back to Frisco, I can rest a bit easier knowing that my daughter is doing very well now.

And for that, I am truly thankful.

Next up... a nail, a high heel and a few bloody fingers.  :)
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Tucson, Arizona

Rick and I flew out to Tucson for this Thanksgiving week to not only celebrate Turkey Day with our daughter but also to check on her and see what's up with her health.  She's had a bad run lately with her Celiac Disease.  Lots to report on the week so far but I had to share this one conversation with you today...

When Rick and I were sitting on the plane, the captain came on the overhead and announced the time it now was in Tucson.  Since our watches were still set to Texas time, Rick wanted them changed and now.  And since Rick had a watch that had two time zones, I was able to keep his Frisco time on top and Elizabeth's time on the bottom.  And within a moment or two, I had everything accomplished and the times all ironed out.  In hindsight, though, I should've moved Liz' time up to the top and put Frisco on the bottom.

Fast forward to us sitting in Elizabeth's apartment and getting ready to watch "The Amazing Race" on Sunday night.  The TV announced that the show would be starting in one minute at 7:52.  Rick looked at his watch and claimed that I had set it all wrong... since his watch was currently reading 8:51.  It was my fault, he kept reminding me.  And since I knew I had done it right I gave him permission to change it himself.  Please.  Set your own stupid watch, bud.

And so he did.

And within an hour (yes, it took him that long) Rick proudly announced that he'd fixed his watch... meaning he'd fixed the supposed mess I'd made.  And he proudly announced that his watch now had the Tucson time on top and the Frisco time on the bottom. 

And then he made a funny face.  There was just one thing he couldn't figure out, though...  why both time zones now read 10:51.  This baffled him and somehow I got blamed again. 

When we do get back to Frisco, I have a strange feeling that all of our clocks are going to need adjusting, too.  Maybe it'll be Christmas vacation when we get back.

Ho Ho Ho!

Just when ~

Just when my life was getting back on track... just when life was looking somewhat normal... just when I could look people in the eye again and not want to run and hide... rain came down on my head.  A thunderstorm was setting up camp right over me.

It started with a simple phonecall from Rick saying, "Something's wrong with my right hip."  Okay, really?  You just got out of the hospital with your other hip being replaced... you've already had that hip replaced... so what's up?  Who knows.  But I'm fearing my dog is gonna be upset again real soon. 

All of this pales in comparison, though, to my daughter's illness acting up.  We couldn't even get ahold of her all weekend and I finally had to round up some of her friends in Tucson to check in on her.  Just as I suspected, Celiac Sprue was rearing its ugly head.  And my emotions were bubbling very close to the top.  I can't even tell you how tired I am of all of the illness that surrounds my family.

My friend Sally was able to get some comfort foods to my daughter and report back that she was on the mend... but not before I was ready to curl up in my bed with a big bag of Cheetos.  Cheetos can fix it all, you know.

And there's a play going on at my church right now that seems to want to hoard all of my time.  I don't have a lot to give but I'm still giving.

My car is squeaking, my house is creaking and two of my sinks are doing anything but leaking.  In fact, just the opposite.  They are holding onto water very tightly and not letting it go.

My dog has forgotten that she's housebroken, I have a house completely void of groceries, yet I'm 200 pounds overweight.  Why won't the Halloween candy go away?  And why won't Rick believe that Hershey's makes a great dinner?

My clothes don't fit and my bank account is overdrawn, not that I'd want to go shopping for new ones right now anyway.

But hey, it's November.  And I love this time of year.  LOVE this time of year.  So rain clouds go away.  NOW!  'Cuz I'm not gonna get wet this time around.  There's an umbrella fixed permanently over my head.

In just three days, I'll have an entire week off of work, complete with two weekends! 

I'll be seeing my daughter on Saturday and staying for a wonderful (okay I'm being a bit optimistic here) gluten free Thanksgiving meal from a very good gluten free restaurant.  We'll be there until Friday.

When we return to Frisco, it'll be the final week of preparing for our show to open.  I like the final weeks.  Everyone's nervous and I enjoy calming them all down.  Plus they're all pretty good peeps to hang out with.

Christmas is closer than I realized... but, believe it or not, I've got my shoppping done.  Good thing, too, since my bank account is kaput.  Maybe that's what did it!

I have an awesome home, creaking or not.  I have an awesome car, squeaking or not.  And I have two awesome sinks... okay, that's going a bit far.  But I do have two sinks.  And an endless supply of water to drink since those sinks are still hanging onto their treasures.

The weather is chilly and the pizza is ordered.  Life is pretty good.  Bad hips, bad sinks, bad dog and all.

:)

loop de loop

 My darling daughter is in search of a job.  My darling daughter picked several places that she would like to work at.  My darling daughter selected Curves in Tucson to work at, since she's already a pro at it.  Pro... because she used to work for Curves.  For two years.  Not in Tucson, though.  In Tucson, she wasn't even sure there was a Curves.  Nor where such a place would even be.  Had to Google it.  Yes, it did exist.  Had to Mapquest it.  Yes, she found it.

Check out the address at the beginning of her search and the end of her search.

Point A - her house.   Point G - her house.

How 'bout that?  My daughter wouldn't even have to drive very far to get to Curves...  Oh wait... there sure are a lot of steps in between, just to get to the place that she was already at.

In case you're wondering just how many miles it is from Point A to Point G...  it's 11.17 miles.  But it'll only take her 20 minutes though.  If she makes all the lights.

Just far enough though, that Mapquest thought she might need to know where a restaurant or two or three were... you know, for that long trip from Point A to Point G.  Or even just to Point C.  That one's WAY outta the way.  I wonder if she'll need lodging, too.  Mapquest can help with that, too, I'm sure.

Below is a pretty, pretty picture of the route she'll be taking to work.  Point A doesn't show up on this map.  Because it's located directly below Point G. But no matter.  It'll be a wonderful drive.  She'll see lots of interesting things on her way to work.  She may not even have to get out of her pjs to do so, too.

Wanna know the funniest part?  Curves is not the same Curves that she used to work at in Frisco.  Nope.  Not at all.  It's a "Gentleman's Club".  But she didn't know that.  Or maybe she did. 

Hey wait...  just where does Elizabeth live????

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