That's terrific Pax. I wish I could get my mom out of the house for something other than doctor appointments.
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That's terrific Pax. I wish I could get my mom out of the house for something other than doctor appointments.
Snap - I hear you. She is normally too tired from all those doctors appointment to do anything else.
What a wonderful day Pax
Dear GI Doc's office,
It would have been really nice if you warned me off the seeds and nuts prior to today's exam. Apparently they are "persistant" in the GI track, so now I have the opportunity to repeat the prep and the exam. :(
what you aren't a mind reader :p sometimes the people in the medical world...Quote:
Originally Posted by bmccasland
Dear sleep cycle:
Can we please get back on track before Sunday? That would be awesome.
Dear BIL,
The thanks I get for helping support your family for the past few years, is an email asking me to co-sign on a loan to fund the family's education? :mad: Could you at least acknowledge the fact that I've been sending DS (your DW) a check, monthly, and most recently bought a gift card at the local grocer. So you want to get a PhD?! You've had a scheme for things "working out" for as long as I've known you.
There will be no more blood out of this rock. For my DS, the monthly checks will continue, but I will never co-sign on a loan with you. :(
Dear customer:
The fact that you spent money here doesn't entitle you to come here AFTER CLOSING to complain about something, especially when that something is a result of your own ignorance. You're lucky C is so nice. Leave the man alone, though, please! (Also, your existence does not entitle you to discounts. FYI.)
Dear C:
Sorry. I didn't want to deal with her. But some how she manages to seek you out anyway.:rolleyes:
Dear T/Financial Aid:
Took you long enough. Can I have my money now?
Dear "instructional team leader":
Yes, I am owning up to having screwed up a few times and have made a serious effort to be more organized this year. In spite of making that effort, or maybe because I've been hyper-conscious about it, after the last thing, I apparently messed up again. Given all that I should have just directly asked you to help out and check that student's records folder for me - that one you had told me to look up. I had a 14 hour day yesterday and at lunch I had students doing make-up labs and a lunch detention customer. It would have avoided a lot of unpleasantry. I didn't even have time to check my email between 8 and 11:30. But technically, you aren't my supervisor and I think you are overstepping your authority. Yes, I should have asked for help but you could have had the graciousness to offer instead of chewing me out.
I know you won't change and will be watching me for every little detail I may miss this year .... But I feel better for writing this.
Dear PI Parents,
Kudos to you for choosing to send your child to a school you believe is better than their home school. But part of what makes our school great is parent involvement. Not a single one of you came to Back to School Night last night. Thus keeping my percentage of PI parents who attend BTSN zero. It's a disturbing trend. Just sending your child to a better school is no guarantee they will be a better student.
I hope you attend your conferences.
Veronica
Dear school,
After reading what people are saying about your instructors in literature and Women studies, I'm feeling really fired up and positively eager to enroll and start the class. It's been a long time since I've felt this way about literature. It's awesome.
(Also, I love online college classes. It's so awesome to finally be able to succeed in school even if people think I'm a bit old to still be piddling around undergrad classes.)
Dear friends:
You should reconsider where you've stretched your clothesline at the new house. I am at least the third person to walk into the 2x4 holding an end of the clothesline.
Your friend with the black "third eye".
Dear Body,
I am not getting sick so just stop suggesting ...
to whom it may concern
i can't post here much but i think about it doing it a lot.
I am adjusting to my new life. I am not riding enough, without you know who badgering me to go for a ride; but I am riding once or twice a week.
I am not going for enough walks either, it is hard to go out the door past my driveway. (I have no trouble going places, it's going for a walk by myself that is hard.)
I am eating well, bathing, and sleeping. I am taking good care of my cats. I have fixed up one room completely, and a second is nearly done. I do not want for activity. I even have been painting; but i am kind of flighty.
I guess if anyone in the Seattle area wants to go for a ride with someone who is pokey, let me know. I will be around for 2 more weeks before I go to Italy.
This is not a plea for hugs and sympathy, I just thought it was fair to let people know what it is looking like here for me 6 weeks after the loss of my husband.
m
You're doing OK Mimi, you can't expect to feel "normal" right now, you're going through a huge adjustment. I'm glad to hear you're taking care of yourself, we like having you around.
How long will you be in Italy?
I will be gone for a little more than 2 weeks. Hope to find some riding buddies; I can't ride with my old friends yet, they are too fast for me at present.
Mimi, I'm plenty pokey these days. Check your private messages!
You get hugs and sympathy whether you want them or not. :o I'm glad you're being gentle with yourself. Are you seeing family in Italy?
As Oak said, you get hugs, warm thoughts and sympathies regardless :) It is good that you are giving yourself time to process all of this. You know, your old friends might like to go on an easier paced ride with you, why not ask?Quote:
Originally Posted by Biciclista
+1. I agree with Catrin that your otherwise fast-paced friends are worth asking out for a ride. If I were in there shoes and a friend/riding buddy had lost their partner, I know that I'd be more than eager to oblige if they wanted company on a ride.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catrin
Safe travels to Italy, Mimi. I hope it's an enjoyable and restorative trip.
I did talk to my friends. Their idea of easy is to start me on another P12 (100 kilometer rides once a month ) in NOvember. On the back of a tandem!!!
Yikes! Sorry they misunderstood what "easy" means. :eek: I hope you have some additional takers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Biciclista
They are SO FIT right now. Donald and I started the P12 thing winter 2010. ANd he had been doing the R12's too and HE sucked them into the R12's. (that's 200k's once a month) So I feel partially responsible.
:o
Quote:
Originally Posted by Biciclista
You can always soft pedal. :D
Mimi I am so impressed by your strength of spirit. And it's okay to be flighty. Geez... I think I'd still be curled up in a little ball, not thinking about doing anything.
Take care of yourself.
Veronica
Tell 'em that they can pedal on climbs and that you'll pedal on descents. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Biciclista
Love, hugs, and good thoughts to you. Enjoy your trip. :)
Mimi, you are way, way, way stronger than I would be. You are fierce, and I admire the h e l l out of you. The fact that you are doing anything at all -- much less getting ready to travel out of the country -- is a testament to your strength of character and spirit.
Hugs!
Emily
thank you all for your nice words. I am seeing family in ITaly, including someone who was recently widowed when i visited her the last time (and she's my age) and a bunch of other cousins. And both of my adopted daughters. (adopted as adults)
I don't know how strong I am. I know i have to keep busy, I know i have to stay strong. As horrible as Donald's cancer was, he exceeded expectations because he continued to work out. Two weeks before he died, he told me that he sang every day. He took walks every day until a week before he died. (and he continued to walk until the day he died). He also worked on his balance. Up to the very end, he put his pants on standing up... No kidding. I think it bought him time and quality of life too. With someone like that to inspire me, I cannot do less.
He was inspirational. And you know he wants you right back out there walking, riding and enjoying your life. That probably makes it a little easier, but not much. Big huge hug to you. Wish we were closer and DD and I would take you for a pokey ride.
I have two rides lined up, one friday and one tuesday. And maybe another ! thanks all.
That's great, Mimi! I wish I could join you!Quote:
Originally Posted by Biciclista
that would be awesome!
When I get back from Italy, I will be scheduling more rides.
Have fun in Italy, Mimi. How wonderful to have family there.
I am so glad I got to meet you! Of course, my vacation seems like a dream right now, a hundred years ago.
Post pictures, if you can.
Dear Self,
Maintain your positive attitude. Don't let the whiners and idiots surrounding you, bring you down. Seriously, what is their problem? It doesn't matter, it's their problems.
Veronica
Inspiring about Don's willpower.... and yours to continue onward.
A work colleague will be going to Italy with his wife in 2 wks. His first trip to Europe @ 45 yrs. old and he's nervous thinking about it. Probably the hardes thing for him might be the language matter. (And he's never been to Asia/Africa/South America either).
I also look forward to new painting works on your blog when you get around to it.
Shooting Star, I didn't go to Europe until I was 50. Went to the UK the first time, but just 2 months later, I went to Germany and Italy (where I had my exchange student in one place and my son in the other to translate). The language stuff doesn't bother me, but traveling was just not something my own family did. They went to the same place, on Cape Cod, every summer, and really did not see why anyone would want to do anything else. My parents took occasional trips to NYC, always around my dad's business trips. After my parents moved away from MA, they did do more exploring, usually by car in Florida, Arizona, and California. My mom never went out of the country, except to Mexico (by car), although my dad did go to Europe and Japan on business. His parents even lived in Florence for several years (my grandfather moved his shoe business there), but we (my mom, brother, and I) never went to visit. In fact, my extended family made fun of people who traveled, as in "why would they want to go anywhere except Massachusetts?" Perhaps this is a hyper version of New England chauvinism, but mostly, they are afraid of doing or experiencing anything different. A few years ago my aunt was at my house, and my DS was showing her pictures he took in Spain after he got back from his deployment there. Her comment was, "It looks like a fairy tale." She couldn't comprehend that there are places like that in the world, that are real.
While I enjoy traveling now, I don't do well with the time zone changes and often get sick either at the beginning of a trip or, more often, when I get home. It's not fun, especially when I've been sick at the beginning of a bike tour, as I was in Prague.
Travel to Europe is not cheap. The median household income in the US is $50,000. Most people just can't afford to travel to Europe.
I've only been to the Azores. Whenever we think about planning a vacation, we talk about Europe, but there are some fascinating places to visit here. It's cheaper to fly to Hawaii than to Boston from CA. Flying to Europe from here takes FOREVER. When you only have so many vacation days, you don't want to waste them on travel. If we can, we prefer to drive to our vacation destination.
Veronica
We are celebrating our 10 year anniversary next year. Because of extenuating circumstances we never had a honeymoon. We always imagined that for our 10 year we would do a honeymoon/anniversary extravaganza and travel abroad. Well, that's not going to happen. We certainly can't afford it. In fact, we've nearly settled on a plan that includes driving two hours from our home and camping for four days. We decided that if our circumstances happen to improve, we'd buy ourselves really nice carbon fiber road bikes and spend our anniversary riding from camp :)
To be honest, I hate flying. I always get sick. I like our travel trailer, it feels like home to me. Hotel rooms feel like a cage. DH and I once got lost in a "french-speaking" area of Canada and it made me nervous, lol.
Someday I will travel and explore other countries, but its not in the cards right now and I don't have the desire to make it work. I have friends that have taken their kids to Europe as a high school graduation gift . . . that's something to think about. I would like to do something like that for my kids.
----------
Dear DH,
DS rode his bike without training wheels for the first time last night. I am sorry that you missed it. Missed seeing his proud smirk stretch across his face, his shoulders back and bursting with confidence. You really should work to change things so you don't have to be gone as much. I am proud and happy that I was able to teach DD and DS to ride their bikes. But it saddens me that you've missed out on so many things. I wish these events could be "family" instead of "mother-child" memories.
~Limewave
Don't sweat it if that also turns out not to be in the cards. I think a lot of Europe would be wasted on, or underappreciated by, kids that age.Quote:
Originally Posted by limewave
IMO, the experiences you're providing them on their bikes is pretty darn cool. Lucky kids; I wish I'd learned to mountain bike as a child. I'm sorry your DH missed DS's big day on the bike though.
We were really poor in the 1980's. My husband received a check for something work related; maybe a grant because he had been unemployed and got a job, something. It was for $800. He gave it to me and told me to go to Italy. Our idea of a vacation previous to this was to drive to the coast (3 hours) and sleep at his sister's house, then turn around and come home the next day. THat's when i first got to Europe. while many of us really cannot afford to travel, i do believe a lot of it is priorities. You can save money for a trip or you can save money for a bike. Or bike events. or or or. Crankin, I do know the mentality that you are describing, it cracks me up. I grew up on the east coast, so I recognize it. Most the people I knew had been to NY NJ and PA. period. That was the whole world to them.
I am typically a very frugal traveler I do not spend on hotels and I rarely eat out. Yep, it's kind of like it was when we were poor. I am sleeping at cousin's and friends' houses when i go next week. For others of you who are not blessed with friends and relatives in Europe, there are home exchanges, warm showers and um drat, I can't think of the other one. You don't have to spend a fortune on travel. But bottom line, this country we live in is huge and has lots to offer right around here.
WHen my sons were in highschool, their orchestra took them to Europe. Oh that was expensive. THere were fund raisers, but bottom line, Donald and I had to cough up a lot of dough for two kids. We wondered how our petulant teenaged sons would show their appreciation upon their return. Oh brother, we never should have worried. THey came home and gave us hugs and went on and on about how wonderful the trip had been for them. It opened their eyes to the world. Both have traveled since. They are international travelers and are both more sophisticated for it.
I used to love to fly, but circumstances have made flying at the least unpleasant, and airports downright miserable. But at least for me,it's worth it.
Shootingstar, I will post a few more paintings by the weekend.
I'm glad your boys got so much out of a trip to Europe at that age. I guess I've talked to too many friends and colleagues whose teenage children seemed oblivious to where they were. I suppose, like most things, it depends on the kids and their parents.