A Sad Goodbye

It has been a long week.  One that began in Florida and ended at a funeral home.  Bags are still unpacked, homework isn't finished and above of all, we are all saddened by an unexpected passing.

On Monday, Don's grandmother had a heart attack.  Ironically, we had just been talking a few days before about how well she was doing and how fortunate she was to be living on her own in her own home at the age of 88.  Needless to say her passing was unexpected.  I'm not a religious person, and I'm not sure where I stand on divine intervention, but I do know that something must have brought her out to the grocery store that afternoon where she was surrounded by people who called an ambulance when she wasn't feeling well and ultimately kept her alive after she collapsed.  Because of that, we were able to make it home so that Don and his family could be with her when she passed, peacefully and quickly.

She was a tiny lady, but she will be missed in a very big way.  Even from the first time I met her, when I was just dating Don, he told me just to call her Grammy, because everyone did, and he was right.  She was every one's Grammy.  She was everything a grandmother should be, the very definition of grandmother.  Kind and caring, with never (and I mean NEVER) a negative word to or about anyone.  She truly sought to see only the best in everyone, a trait that I admire and wish that I could emulate.  And if there is one thing grandmothers are known for it's spoiling; and Grammy was a champ.  She loved her family and I think every member of it knew, without question, how much they were loved.

Today was the funeral and it was a wonderful goodbye to such a sweet woman.  The place was filled to capacity, and then some, with people who cared for her and wanted to share stories about her.  It was beautiful and moving and sad.  She will be missed by many.  And I am one of the many.

Two Hours Later...

I know, I know, everyone is bitching about the snow.  But it took me TWO hours to get home from work tonight.  TWO HOURS.  That's two hours of listening to the smack and screech of the windshield wipers covered in ice scraping over the windshield, also covered in ice.  That's two hours of driving with the window down because the heat has to be BLASTING in order to keep the windshield from completely freezing over.  Which didn't even work, by the way.  Two hours of cold toes because the God Damn Heat has to be BLASTING on the window, and ONLY on the window so that a teeny tiny patch of window remains clear.  TWO FREAKING HOURS.  I think I've earned the right to bitch for a minute.

There was a certain novelty of watching the thermometer on my dash dip below zero last month.  Just how cold could it get?  Seeing -17 on the dash, at the time, was pretty damn cool.  Waking up to -7 last week, randomly, was considerably less cool.  Did you know it's impossible to buckle a child in his car-seat when you're wearing mittens?  And do you know how fast your fingers get cold when it's -7 out and you can't wear your mittens?  Pretty damn fast.

This morning I told Ben it was going to snow again and he got all excited.  I told him I am ready for spring.  I am ready for shorts and t-shirts and flip flops.  I'm ready for grass and sand and the beach.  He quickly changed his mind and decided he's ready for spring too.

We're all ready for spring.

Instead I got a two hour car ride home in the snow.

I am so done with winter.

Is it March yet?

Ahhhh....peace and quiet.  No one is home at the moment, well, that's not exactly true, both my adult stepsons are here, but since they're asleep and rarely make an appearance for anything other than food or showers, I am alone for now!

January was a miserable month, and I am glad it's over.  I just wish the cold weather would realize it's over and start warming up just a smidge.  You know it's been cold when you remark to your child how warm and spring-like it feels only to discover that the temperature is 23 degrees.

School started up again for another semester and I've got an especially mind numbing selection of classes this time.  Governmental Accounting and Intermediate Accounting-Part II.  For fun, I've mixed in Finite Math, whatever the hell that means.  I will (sheepishly) admit that the math class is kind of fun, though I had completely forgotten that logarithms existed and I kind of wish I could have kept it that way.  My fingers are crossed that I might actually have this degree wrapped up by the end of the fall semester.  It depends entirely on the scheduling at YCCC, which I have discovered doesn't cater to working students as much as they may think it does.

In other big news, we celebrated a few birthdays recently.  Jake, my oldest stepson turned 21.  Do you want to feel old?  Go have a beer with your kid.  I think Don's suffering a bit more than I am from this new development, mainly because Don is old and I'm not.  (Don't worry, he doesn't read my blog, he won't be offended.)  But this certainly is an adjustment.

And last week, little Ben turned FOUR years old.  And I am suffering from this much, much more than my husband.  My little guy isn't a baby anymore!  I can't even call him a toddler, or a little kid really.  He's just a kid now.  A kid!!  A kid who's going to be in school before I know it!  The plan is to sign him up for T-ball this spring.  So be prepared for some amazingly adorable photos and videos of Ben playing t-ball.  It should be especially fun since he is about the tiniest four year old I've ever seen.

And the last exciting development in our world, is the impromptu planning of a family vacation in March!  Not only will Don and I get to take Ben to Florida to check out Animal Kingdom and Legoland, we will be going with my father and step-mother!  I have never been on vacation with my father and am looking forward to seeing him attempt to "relax."  (If you know my father I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.)  I am also secretly hoping that he has a Florida wardrobe of Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirts, but that really seems unlikely.  And if that isn't enough excitement, my SISTER will be joining us all in Florida as well!  It has been nearly a year since I've seen her and I can't wait to see her again.  I know Ben is excited about seeing Aunt Kelsey as well.  What started out as a "wouldn't that be nice" has actually turned into a family vacation and I am thrilled!

It seems my peace and quiet is coming to an end.  Back to the never ending mountain of homework!

An Open Letter to Junk Mail

Dear Get BIGGER with Free Sample,

Thank you for not emailing me with an offer to enlarge my manhood.  For far too long I've been concerned that my email address, which starts with the word "princess," might be construed as too masculine.  I see now that you have finally identified that I am part of the 50% of the population that does not appreciate your weekly/daily/hourly offers to increase the size of my penis.  This due to the fact, of course, that I don't actually have a penis.

I'm truly glad to see that you have finally focused on attempting to enlarge something that matters to me.  Because, like the majority of women, I would in fact like to have "Boobs as big as balloons."

I appreciate that you have cut to the chase here.  No offers of inches, no promises of 40% growth.  You are bringing it right to the table.  "As big as balloons."  Yes.  Now that is a visual I can get on board with.  Balloons.  In my bra.  Thank you Get BIGGER with Free Sample.  I now know what perfection looks like.   And perfection is: "Boobs as big as balloons."

I think I'm going to go get some balloons today.

Sincerely,

Kyla

Gotta Love Spam!!

How to Snow Blow the Driveway

Step 1:  Call husband energetically offering to snow blow driveway so he doesn't have to do it in the dark when he gets home from work.

Step 2:  Bundle up in at LEAST 75 layers.

Step 3: Grab Blowtorch.

Step 4:  Hold Blowtorch on iced up shed lock for one minute.  Try not to catch shed on fire.  Try key.  Drop blowtorch in snow.  Swear profusely.  Get blowtorch started again.  Try not to catch shed on fire.  Blow out small fire.  Try key again.

Step 5:  Gently lower 5000 pound snow blower to the ground.  Resolve not to tell husband about the crash landing and possible denting.

Step 6:  Open choke, set to run, pump fuel thingey, pull cord.  Pull cord.  Pull cord.  Pull cord.

Step 7: Open choke, set to run, pump fuel thingey, stand on snow blower, pull cord.  Pull cord.  Pull cord.

Step 8:  Kick snow blower.

Step 9:  Text adult child living rent free in the upstairs bedroom to come down and start snow blower.

Step 10:  Make adult child pull cord.  Pull cord.  Pull cord.  Pull cord.

Step 11:  With (finally) running snow blower begin walking up and down driveway.

Step 12:  Get face full of snow.

Step 13:  Adjust blower thing to other direction.

Step 14: Get face full of snow.

Step 15:  Repeat steps 12-14 while walking up and down driveway until driveway has considerably less snow on it and face has considerably more.

Step 16:  Leave snow blower parked haphazardly at top of driveway.  Resolve to let lazy ass step-children or husband put it away and finish the shoveling.

Step 17:  Make tea and resolve that next time you want to do something nice for husband, bake cookies.

A Little Light Dusting

This is me with the figurative Pledge and rag in hand dusting off my blog for 2014.

I may have completely ignored my blog for the majority of 2013.  Whoops!  I did sit down several times to write, but it is harder than you think to start writing when you've taken a break for weeks/months at a time.

But I'm here now to report that 2013 was a pretty spectacular yet dull year.  And that is a-okay with me! We did have a few big moments, Marcus graduated from High School, Ben was fully potty trained and learned to write his name, Jake moved in...then out....then in again, and Don and I worked hard managing our money and were able to hire someone to replace (almost) all the windows in our house.  We are also in good shape to replace the bay windows and siding this spring.  Yay for home improvement!

But aside from those few items of import, 2013 was really pretty uneventful.  Just a lot of work, school, play and happiness.  I'm not sure you can ask for much more than that.

As for 2014, it is so far on course to look exactly the same as 2013.  Plugging away at my accounting degree, wishing it was a bit more interesting, working too many jobs but enjoying them, spending time with my favorite almost-four-year-old (yeah that's right FOUR), reading and, hopefully, writing.

I'm not going to set myself a lot of goals for 2014, but I do want to read less (perhaps I am the only person in the world with that goal?) and write more.  There is a woman and a story in my head that have been hanging out there for a while, and I think I need to see what happens when they appear on paper.  Probably nothing.  But then...maybe something.  I guess I'll find out in 2014!

Happy New Year!

A Couple Sad Goodbyes

Over the last couple of weeks two people I remember fondly from my childhood summers have passed away.  This has left me saddened but also scrounging up some wonderful memories I had nearly forgotten.

A few weeks ago I was told of the passing of Dr. Mason Romaine.  When I was young, my mother used to clean their house once a week.  She would bring my sister and I along and we would spend our time having tea parties with Dr. and Mrs. Romaine or playing with them or walking across the street and playing on the beach.  Tea parties were our favorite as we would sit and sip hot chocolate and eat little cookies with a true southern lady.  If you are going to learn manners, you should learn them from a southern lady.  True to form, a week after sending my sympathy note to Mrs. Romaine I received a sweet note from her thanking me for my kind words.  That's how manners are done.  Dr. Romaine was a lovely man who lived a very important life and spent 68 years married to his wonderful wife.  How lucky am I to have such sweet childhood memories of him and his wife!

This weekend I learned of another passing which still leaves me in disbelief, my childhood friend Katie lost her mother Lori this past weekend and I am still struggling to comprehend that the lovely lady I knew as a kid is gone.

Nearly all of my memories from summertime as a child involved Katie and her family.  She came to the island during summer vacation and it seemed we spent all of our waking moments together divided between her house, my house, and the beach.  I can remember spending mornings at the beginning of the summer waiting at the end of her driveway to see if she was on this boat, or maybe the next boat, so summer could officially begin with the arrival of my friend.

We spent a lot of our time at the beach, playing on floats or building forts in the rocks.  We played with our dolls, we played dress up with the finds from the rummage sale that our mothers would scrounge up for us.  We had lemonade stands and pooled our earnings to buy penny candy from the Dark Harbor Shop.  We picked berries, we had sleepovers, we drove her brother nuts.  We had fun.

Always, our families were in the background.  Her mom making us lemonade for our lemonade stand or giving us free reign of the kitchen to "cook" whatever berries we discovered in the backyard.  Our moms sitting together in the sun at the beach while we spent hours playing in the sand.  Her mom trying to teach me to swim, tripping on a rock and dumping me into the ocean.

I haven't seen my friend Katie or her mother in years, and it leaves me very sad that Lori is gone.  But I am so very glad that I still have so many memories of all of them.  Not just a few, but summers of them.

"Seashells remind us that every passing life leaves something beautiful behind." 
 -Unknown

http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary-print.aspx?n=Mason-Romaine&lc=2309&pid=163332208&mid=5438966

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/berkshire/obituary.aspx?n=lori-anne-dalton-rech&pid=164034874