Hi,
Marshall, my beloved husband of over 6 years, is obviously a hottie. His big radiant blue eyes are hard to miss. Smart, funny, charming to a fault and generous to boot. Marshall is my man. Now, how do I convince his old girlfriend, Bunny, to bug off!
She is stalking him. We are having a good laugh about this, but part of it is sad. It has been 25 years or so since Marshall has seen her, and he certainly wasn't looking for her, but she has been making contact with him, through his bowling alley. Yes, she some how found out where he bowls every Wednesday night. Did I mention he's ranked #2 in his league? How sexy is that! {Stay focused Marilyn, back to the Bunny-tale.} At first it was a phone call a few weeks ago to the bowling alley asking if he was there. Corky, who runs the place said "yeah, Marshall bowls here". Corky then passed the message of "hello from Bunny" on to Marshall. He thought nothing of it and figured it would end there since he didn't respond or try to make contact with her. No such luck.
This evening after bowling he returned from the alley with a purple envelope in his back pocket. It's hard to miss a giant purple envelope sticking out of your husbands back pocket. Okay, I'll bite "what's with the giant purple envelope?" A letter from Bunny. "Are you kidding me?" I had to read it.... and so do you............verbatim.... along with my choice of rebuttal responses for why she need not bother.
Top 10 reasons why to articulate a HELLO to Marshall ("articulate", big word)
10) Sooooo proud of your undertakings to date, GE, Tyco flow, Bowling league (she missed asking about his collection of hood ornaments or the 8' slide rule)
9) How are your parents? (alive) I trust Heather and Scott are also well (also alive)
8) We have in common issued patent licenses (yes, Marshall's is for technically advanced electric circuit protection, hers is for removable toe pantyhose)
7) ..... and Tae Kwon Do colored degree belts (sexy bedroom attire if nothing else)
6) Realize that dream Lamborghini? (nope, but he got a 52 year old airplane)
5) For me, the utmost individual undertaking had been convincing Legislation to declare Holocaust Remembrance Day on our common calendar, no easy task, under the Bill Clinton administration, the nationwide outpour of gratitude has been never ending. (In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated this day as International Holocaust Remembrance Day... so she is part of the UN?)
4) What did you do with all the dear Marshall mail: I saved each of your letters (wow, these I have to read!)
3) Is the striking beard still a part of your dapper self? (gone, long gone, making him even sexier but she'll never know that)
2) I hope you are well. We are wealthy when we are healthy (nice sentiment, what Hallmark card did she get it off of?)
1) My dear parents mentioned your name recently which brought to mind scores of fond recollections. (dementia is a wonderful thing sometimes)
I offered to have Marshall invite Bunny (now using her real name of Bonnie) over one night for dinner. He choked. I don't think he trusts me not to put arsenic in her appetizer or spill scalding water on her head. I can be a great hostess and very cunning with a knife. Ooops, did that blade in your back hit any vital organs? Sorry.
Really, I'm not the jealous type, just protective of my man. He's such a hunk!
xox
m
Day Lily!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
cancer free
hi,
yesterday was check up day at UPENN with my oncologist, Dr. Lynn Schuchter. I am officially cancer free. Nothing showed up on my PET/ CT scan. I now can glow in the dark from all the radiation they have pumped into me for the last 2 years, but the cancer is no where to be found. I now have only a yearly check up for the next few years and hopefully I can get completely off their radar and radiation program. I hate drinking that cocktail for the test, blech!
In my mind, life is now back to 'normal'. It's been almost two years since I started this nightmare and I have made it through the tunnel of horrors. Coming out the other end is bliss. Dr. Schuchter says "I'm fabulous", so it must be true, she wouldn't lie to me would she? I like the way they never say "you're cured" or even "it's over". It's always something ephemeral and lofty. High enough up there to make you feel good, but not promise anything. I'll take it.
To celebrate my new found freedom and health Marshall & I cleaned the pond today. It really does feel great to do the mundane daily stupid stuff without the weight on your shoulders of pending tests. I have three hundred and sixty-four days of uninterrupted good health to live with. Nice. Even the elephant ear plant in our garden got into the party by blooming. That's the 'lily' you see posted on the blog photo. It's about 14" in length. The elephant ears I'm standing in with are over 4' in size. We have had such a hot, wet season the plants think they are in the tropics so they are blooming like they do at the equator. I pretend we live in Panama... cancer free.
xox
m
yesterday was check up day at UPENN with my oncologist, Dr. Lynn Schuchter. I am officially cancer free. Nothing showed up on my PET/ CT scan. I now can glow in the dark from all the radiation they have pumped into me for the last 2 years, but the cancer is no where to be found. I now have only a yearly check up for the next few years and hopefully I can get completely off their radar and radiation program. I hate drinking that cocktail for the test, blech!
In my mind, life is now back to 'normal'. It's been almost two years since I started this nightmare and I have made it through the tunnel of horrors. Coming out the other end is bliss. Dr. Schuchter says "I'm fabulous", so it must be true, she wouldn't lie to me would she? I like the way they never say "you're cured" or even "it's over". It's always something ephemeral and lofty. High enough up there to make you feel good, but not promise anything. I'll take it.
To celebrate my new found freedom and health Marshall & I cleaned the pond today. It really does feel great to do the mundane daily stupid stuff without the weight on your shoulders of pending tests. I have three hundred and sixty-four days of uninterrupted good health to live with. Nice. Even the elephant ear plant in our garden got into the party by blooming. That's the 'lily' you see posted on the blog photo. It's about 14" in length. The elephant ears I'm standing in with are over 4' in size. We have had such a hot, wet season the plants think they are in the tropics so they are blooming like they do at the equator. I pretend we live in Panama... cancer free.
xox
m
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
it's that time of year again
hi,
swimming season is upon me. This is when the local parents come home from their summer vacations and start to 'program' the kids to death. If their children aren't throwing, kicking, batting, catching, punting, bunting or fielding a ball somewhere, the heavens are going to swallow them alive.
I shouldn't complain. It certainly is better for these tikes to be out trying to make a triple play rather than to be sitting in the basement glued to their DS games (Lord knows they spend enough time doing that as it is). I just can't get my head wrapped around the need to schedual, or over schedual, these little people. Going outside and just 'playing' is not an option anymore. The phobia about being abducted by space aliens has taken root and grown a generation of neurotic parents. You never see a game of pick-up road hockey or touch football here, ever! Games have to be organized and supervised and dictated by adults. What fun is that for either the kids or the parents? I would think the kids would love a free afternoon away from mom's evil eye and she might like a few hours to indulge in a trashy romance novel. I guess not.
All I see are bleary-eyed toddlers getting dragged into the pool for yet another round of activity. Dance lessons, martial arts class, team sports... it's one thing after another, day in and day out, with an occasional 'play-date' thrown in for good measure. These kids have busier social scheduals than most adults. To tell you the truth (and I always do), sometimes I just let the kids play in the pool. It's their only break from the hectic timetable they are blitzed through every week. A swimming lesson can be of more value when the student thinks they are just having fun. Pretending to be a whale or a starfish doubles as floating on their front or back but it's so much more fun when the spout blows. Riding the syrofoam noodle works as a horse race (or a balancing exercise) but spinning it as a pony ride works wonders. We sing songs, count going up and down the steps, look for Nemo under water and no one knows they are learning to swim. It's too much fun.
I like my gig in the pool, I just don't consider it work. Playing make believe water monsters is much more important when you are 4 years old. If they happen to figure out how to swim along the way, great. If not, that's okay too. We got to just play.
xox
m
swimming season is upon me. This is when the local parents come home from their summer vacations and start to 'program' the kids to death. If their children aren't throwing, kicking, batting, catching, punting, bunting or fielding a ball somewhere, the heavens are going to swallow them alive.
I shouldn't complain. It certainly is better for these tikes to be out trying to make a triple play rather than to be sitting in the basement glued to their DS games (Lord knows they spend enough time doing that as it is). I just can't get my head wrapped around the need to schedual, or over schedual, these little people. Going outside and just 'playing' is not an option anymore. The phobia about being abducted by space aliens has taken root and grown a generation of neurotic parents. You never see a game of pick-up road hockey or touch football here, ever! Games have to be organized and supervised and dictated by adults. What fun is that for either the kids or the parents? I would think the kids would love a free afternoon away from mom's evil eye and she might like a few hours to indulge in a trashy romance novel. I guess not.
All I see are bleary-eyed toddlers getting dragged into the pool for yet another round of activity. Dance lessons, martial arts class, team sports... it's one thing after another, day in and day out, with an occasional 'play-date' thrown in for good measure. These kids have busier social scheduals than most adults. To tell you the truth (and I always do), sometimes I just let the kids play in the pool. It's their only break from the hectic timetable they are blitzed through every week. A swimming lesson can be of more value when the student thinks they are just having fun. Pretending to be a whale or a starfish doubles as floating on their front or back but it's so much more fun when the spout blows. Riding the syrofoam noodle works as a horse race (or a balancing exercise) but spinning it as a pony ride works wonders. We sing songs, count going up and down the steps, look for Nemo under water and no one knows they are learning to swim. It's too much fun.
I like my gig in the pool, I just don't consider it work. Playing make believe water monsters is much more important when you are 4 years old. If they happen to figure out how to swim along the way, great. If not, that's okay too. We got to just play.
xox
m
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Mother Nature
Hi,
the weather just won't let up. It's raining cats & dogs today. Three weeks ago it was an earthquake, two weeks ago a hurricane, now we're back to flooding water. I surrender.
Weather watching has become an obsession with people. Since I can't control it or predict it with any accuracy I really don't care what the weather is or is going to be. I roll with it as best I can. Rain boots when it's wet, snow boots when it's cold. I learned all this in kindergarten and the rules haven't changed. As long as you stick to the parameters of weather issues then it usually turns out okay. Sometimes I forget my hat when it's sunny out but the rest of the time I'm dressed for success with Mother Natures' temper tantrums, better known as "bad weather".
Weather is never really bad. It may be excessive (see: floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and raining frogs) but it's all part of the game on this planet. It's when you get into weather denial that is when you have trouble. Tar paper shacks in Haiti don't ever stand a chance in hurricane season in the Caribbean. Anything less than a concrete silo in hurricane alley in the mid west is bound to fly at some point in time. Stilt built multi-million dollar mansions in Malibu are bound to end up in the Pacific on any given storm date. We are like ants, we build our homes in direct paths of nature and then wonder why they disappear in the drop of an tornado eye... only to rebuild them again in the same spot. Gosh we are a dumb species sometimes.
I bet the Weather Chanel is probably the most popular network right now. Broadcast news spends at least 25% of it's air time on weather reporting. Being a meteorologist is the best job going. You get paid for being right, and wrong, no matter what. Global warming, melting ice shields, shifting axis of the earth rotation. I can do nothing about any of these things except try and stay temperate and dry in my own abode.
I do have a new snow shovel ready and I'm starting to knit mittens in case anyone is still in weather denial that winter will be here before you know it. Enjoy the sun while it shines. I'm just hoping it comes out again before 2012.
xox
m
the weather just won't let up. It's raining cats & dogs today. Three weeks ago it was an earthquake, two weeks ago a hurricane, now we're back to flooding water. I surrender.
Weather watching has become an obsession with people. Since I can't control it or predict it with any accuracy I really don't care what the weather is or is going to be. I roll with it as best I can. Rain boots when it's wet, snow boots when it's cold. I learned all this in kindergarten and the rules haven't changed. As long as you stick to the parameters of weather issues then it usually turns out okay. Sometimes I forget my hat when it's sunny out but the rest of the time I'm dressed for success with Mother Natures' temper tantrums, better known as "bad weather".
Weather is never really bad. It may be excessive (see: floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and raining frogs) but it's all part of the game on this planet. It's when you get into weather denial that is when you have trouble. Tar paper shacks in Haiti don't ever stand a chance in hurricane season in the Caribbean. Anything less than a concrete silo in hurricane alley in the mid west is bound to fly at some point in time. Stilt built multi-million dollar mansions in Malibu are bound to end up in the Pacific on any given storm date. We are like ants, we build our homes in direct paths of nature and then wonder why they disappear in the drop of an tornado eye... only to rebuild them again in the same spot. Gosh we are a dumb species sometimes.
I bet the Weather Chanel is probably the most popular network right now. Broadcast news spends at least 25% of it's air time on weather reporting. Being a meteorologist is the best job going. You get paid for being right, and wrong, no matter what. Global warming, melting ice shields, shifting axis of the earth rotation. I can do nothing about any of these things except try and stay temperate and dry in my own abode.
I do have a new snow shovel ready and I'm starting to knit mittens in case anyone is still in weather denial that winter will be here before you know it. Enjoy the sun while it shines. I'm just hoping it comes out again before 2012.
xox
m
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Hurricane 1, Marilyn 4
Hi,
last weekend we experienced our first Pennsylvania hurricane. Hopefully our last. Our house was fine, no leaks, no damage, no hits, no runs, no fouls. Whew. Neighbours were not so lucky. Behind us the Collins' had a huge tree land on their house. Gutters & roof were damaged but it made them re-think how many old big trees they have on their property. Nine trees and $8000 later they are feeling poorer in pocket but safer all around. People across from them had their Mini Cooper squashed by another tree. Power was out for 16 hours Sunday through Monday and for a few hours on Thursday but that was the depth of inconvenience for us. We ended up hosting a hurricane party Sunday night. I made sushi (gas stove provided cooking ability for rice and I had bought fresh fish on Saturday).Kim, Malcolm & Megan came bearing food and candles so we sat around by firelight and enjoyed a great meal with fun company. I think we should have a 'light-out' party once a month.
I've listened to people all week tell their tales of woes from this weather disaster. Serious flooding wiped out River Road here, along with several houses along the water. People with property in the 'flood zone' near the river all had filled basements. Most of the expensive damage was done by downed trees and branches. A lot of home owners here don't take care of the older trees and keep them trimmed, dead branch-free or removed when they rot out. Therefore, they are a disaster looking for a place to happen in a storm like this one. Now the arborists are making off like bandits getting the trees taken out or off buildings and mashed cars. They can name any price they want when you need a crane & crew to salvage your house. Power to them.
I hate to say it but I was feeling rather smug cleaning up our yard after the whole thing had blown over. Nothing fell down but buckets of rain on our new, dry roof. All our rotted trees were removed 2 years ago and dead branches are long gone thanks to my tree-master, Lee Stockard. Two hours of twig & branch picking up filled 4 large lawn & leaf bags, and I was done. Most of which was not even off our trees but stuff that was blown into our property. It pays to take that ounce of prevention rather than the pounding, just ask some of our neighbours.
xox
m
last weekend we experienced our first Pennsylvania hurricane. Hopefully our last. Our house was fine, no leaks, no damage, no hits, no runs, no fouls. Whew. Neighbours were not so lucky. Behind us the Collins' had a huge tree land on their house. Gutters & roof were damaged but it made them re-think how many old big trees they have on their property. Nine trees and $8000 later they are feeling poorer in pocket but safer all around. People across from them had their Mini Cooper squashed by another tree. Power was out for 16 hours Sunday through Monday and for a few hours on Thursday but that was the depth of inconvenience for us. We ended up hosting a hurricane party Sunday night. I made sushi (gas stove provided cooking ability for rice and I had bought fresh fish on Saturday).Kim, Malcolm & Megan came bearing food and candles so we sat around by firelight and enjoyed a great meal with fun company. I think we should have a 'light-out' party once a month.
I've listened to people all week tell their tales of woes from this weather disaster. Serious flooding wiped out River Road here, along with several houses along the water. People with property in the 'flood zone' near the river all had filled basements. Most of the expensive damage was done by downed trees and branches. A lot of home owners here don't take care of the older trees and keep them trimmed, dead branch-free or removed when they rot out. Therefore, they are a disaster looking for a place to happen in a storm like this one. Now the arborists are making off like bandits getting the trees taken out or off buildings and mashed cars. They can name any price they want when you need a crane & crew to salvage your house. Power to them.
I hate to say it but I was feeling rather smug cleaning up our yard after the whole thing had blown over. Nothing fell down but buckets of rain on our new, dry roof. All our rotted trees were removed 2 years ago and dead branches are long gone thanks to my tree-master, Lee Stockard. Two hours of twig & branch picking up filled 4 large lawn & leaf bags, and I was done. Most of which was not even off our trees but stuff that was blown into our property. It pays to take that ounce of prevention rather than the pounding, just ask some of our neighbours.
xox
m
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)