My 40th birthday

It's tradition in my family to relentlessly torture each other prior to the milestone 40th birthday and follow it up with a surprise birthday party. When my oldest sister Teresa turned 40 about nine years ago, we took it to the limit. I'm not sure how it all came about, but we started anonymously sending her note cards each month on the sixth (her birthday is August 6) of each month counting down until she turned 40. We started this 18 months before her birthday. Overkill? Perhaps.

When Teresa's 40th birthday rolled around, it was on a Friday. For various reasons, we scheduled her surprise party for the following day. Boy was she surprised when she came home from getting a pedicure that Saturday and walked in the door with six gallons of milk to find 70 people standing in her house waiting to scream "happy birthday!" to her. At this point she still didn't know who was sending her the cards. They were never in our handwriting and they were always mailed from Ellinwood by my dad on the 5th of each month so she'd get it on the 6th. Teresa never mentioned the cards to us and we never mentioned them to her.

Her final note card contained a Polaroid picture of my mom, dad, sister Jenny and I. It really was the perfect execution of the torture. With it being the first one there was no precedent. Since then we've done similar but different things to the other sibs. Mark got little snippets about his life for a poster board before his surprise party. I can't remember at all what we did for John, other than have a party for him in my dad's welding shop in the dead of winter. For Jenny the memories are more vivid. We scanned 12 pictures of her at different stages of her life and we made posters out of them. Every month they showed up in weird places, like the convenience store where she goes to get her Diet Coke fix every day. During that year she was on the school board and I contacted the people at the school and arranged for one of these 8x11 posters to show up every pre-meeting packet but hers. She was definitely surprised at that meeting when they all had pictures of her.

Now that you have some background, you've probably figured out that my torture has begun. It started back in April. It was the night of the Final Four to be exact, the same week I turned 39. I was at my friend Joyce's for a KU basketball watch party and Laurie presented me with a gift bag. Inside was a cloth diaper and some rubber pants, but no note. Apparently the story of my life was going to be told through gifts that have some meaning in my life.

I was a little confused at first what the diaper and rubber pants really meant. I've been told since by my mom (even though I know exactly who's doing this, nobody's admitting to anything) that maybe it's because when I was a baby my sister Jenny was told to change my pants and she poked me with a diaper pin so hard that I ended up bleeding. Her punishment kept her from going to spend time in Salina with our cousins and she's never forgiven me for that. Because of course it was my fault.

My other gifts so far have included a ladies slip (yes, there's a story there but I'm not telling it right now), a letter from my invisible childhood playmates, a rooster refrigerator magnet and some super-cool sunglasses. When I was a teenager I got a pair of sunglasses that had one of those cling-on plastic sticker things that said "Duro lenses" and I thought it was the thing to do to leave that sticker on. My sisters teased me about it relentlessly until I finally removed the sticker in disgust. I didn't do it soon enough, however, because a new nickname was born. Any of you call me Duro, I'll deck you. That name is reserved for my sisters only. My latest gift was the sunglasses pictured here with some bling that spells out "DURO". These are much classier than the sunglasses of my youth. And believe me when I tell you that the letters aren't cheap cling-on material. They're glued on to stay.

When I was in Bozeman, Montana, earlier this year my cousin Angie presented me with a gift that she said came to her anonymously for me. Gee, I wonder how. It was a rooster refrigerator magnet. Yes, another story. I'm quite famous for this story in my family. My nephew Christopher wrote a paper about this incident for a class once in high school. I think he got an "A" on it. When I was little my family had lots of animals including pigs, chickens and a rooster named Pinky. We lived out in the country (where my parents still live) and I would frequently visit the pigs in their pen and then bop out to visit the chickens. Pinky didn't like me at all. And he was a mean rooster. More than once on my visits out to the chicken coop, he'd peck me on the behind. Most of the time it just scared me, but I guess more than once it caused me great distress and tears. He never really bothered anybody else. Let me just end by saying that Pinky's hatred for me caused his own demise. My dad got sick of him always pecking at me and he took the matter into his own hands. Pinky ended up on the menu in the pig pen one night.

Four years ago when Jenny moved into her house in Oakley, she found this sign left behind by the previous occupant. It was only natural that she give it to me.

So now you're up-to-date on the birthday shenanigans. I'll keep you posted as the rest of my "gifts" come rolling in.

I'm far from 15

Well, I'm pretty far from my promised 15 blog posts this month. But I'm working on a doozy that I'll be posting sometime this weekend. It's going to be a long one and for that I apologize. In the meantime I'm keeping busy with a job interview this week (more about the job later after I know something) and more contact with my former employer. Just haven't heard from either one that I am being offered a job. I'm trying to be patient.

I watched a lot of the Democratic National Convention this week. Mostly because my mom was watching it and I was there for the first two nights. Some of the speeches were very moving. That's enough about politics.

This past Monday was the beginning of the U.S. Open and I've been watching tennis when I can. One of my favorites, Tommy Haas, was defeated yesterday. I didn't see the match since it wasn't televised in its entirety, but apparently there was a line call that Tommy didn't agree with and then he self-destructed because he couldn't get past that. No challenge system was in place on that court either. But how about that Andy Roddick? He played a wonderful four-set match last night against Gulbis and won. I will admit that the television was on during the match, but I slept through most of it even though I had the best of intentions to stay awake.

More on the Open and tennis later. Right now I've got to go fold some clothes and maybe have a nap. I love three-day weekends!

Those boys are growing up

While I was in Ellinwood I got a chance to see both of the little boys, although my time was limited since I was in the bathrooms painting most of the time. I had a little bit of time on Sunday to go see Zach at his house. His parents told me he was taking a nap, but when I went to his crib to look in on him he was playing some music and hugging the music thing on the side of his bed. After I got him out we played in the house for a while and then we went outside. Terri brought out some laundry to fold on the deck and Zach was very helpful with the socks.

Yesterday my mom was keeping Zach (I planned my painting days around that fact) and so the three of us went to see Caden and his grandma (my sister Teresa). Teresa watches him every other week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Zach was so excited when I told him we were going to see Caden, he just about jumped out of his skin. Caden had just gotten up from a nap, but he was happy to see his buddy, Zach, too.

Renovations on the homestead

For the past year or so my parents have been doing some home renovations. Since I'd been there last, they had some of the windows and siding replaced. The first picture (on the right) shows part of the house with old siding and windows.

The picture on the left is of the new siding and windows. What a difference the new siding has made. It looks so much more modern than their house has ever looked. The siding and trim will be painted eventually, but my mom is still undecided on the color. I tried to help her, but we don't agree at all about what would look good. My brother Mark will be no help because he thinks that all houses should be white. I'll definitely post a picture when they make a decision and have it painted. I'm excited to see how it turns out.

For the past two days I've been at my parents house painting in the bathrooms. The first bathroom I worked on was the new bathroom they installed last year. Installation of this bathroom brought their total bathroom count up to three, which is handy when we're all there for holidays. I touched up the ceiling and put a second coat of very light peach paint in the new bathroom. I also painted the shower surround (same color as the walls) which hadn't been painted at all. It looks so much better if I do say so myself. That's the shower to the left of the picture.

The next bathroom renovation project was to completely gut my dad's bathroom and fix the floor boards (shower pipe leakage problems caused some wood to rot). My mom found some mis-tinted paint at the home improvement store for $5 and decided it was perfect for my dad's bathroom. A before picture on the left and an after picture on the right. The best thing about painting in this room was that it was empty. My mom, sister and I went to the local furniture store yesterday and picked out some linoleum for the floor. They installed it today but it was after I'd already left so I don't have a picture of that. The picture is deceiving, but it's a light olive green and is quite pretty. Can't wait to see it with all the new fixtures. Once this bathroom is completely done, the old bathroom in the front of the house will be removed and walls will come down to enlarge their living room and give them a bigger dining room area. It's exciting to see these changes since it's been over 20 years since the big kitchen remodel.

I'm a joiner

Today I bit the bullet and signed on the dotted line to become a member at Genesis Health Clubs. I signed up for a free week when I was at Exploration Place the other day and went yesterday for a tour and workout. I lost my super-cheap YMCA membership when I lost my job in May, so I decided to just do it. I really like the facility. I love the fact that there are individual LCD screens on each treadmill or elliptical machine for watching TV or a personal DVD. You just plug in your own headphones and tune in what you want to watch. Makes me feel very special for a few minutes each day. And I've needed that lately. So as the days and weeks keep going by while I'm looking for a job at least I'll be spending some of that time constructively sculpting a new me!

Blog's first birthday

Well, I made it. My first blog post was last year on August 17. I'm getting this in just before midnight, glad I remembered it in time. I've really enjoyed blogging the past year. I think I'm getting worse at it, however. I seem to blog less and less each month. Thank you for continuing to read my nonsense and I'll try to pick up the pace by posting more each month. I'll shoot for 15 this month. That should be a lofty enough goal for me!

The job search

I haven't given an update here lately. But the job search continues. Even though I keep myself busy, that doesn't mean I've forgotten about the larger goal. I'll be brief if I can. It's frustrating. I send out resumes and apply for jobs online each week. I find things that I am interested in (communications-related jobs) and should be qualified for, but am told that I either don't have enough experience (they want someone who's done that specific job before) or I have too much experience (they want to pay peanuts). And sometimes I don't receive calls back. It's hard but I'm trying to keep a positive attitude. That's half the battle. I know it will work out, I just need to keep the faith. So that's what I'm doing.

The update, continued

Last Friday after the circus left, I had one night to recover from the visit (mostly from all the hard physical labor I did -- hey, shopping is hard!) before I had another adventure.

Before I move on, though, I must share that my sister Jenny's 47th birthday was Friday (8-8-08). She gave us all instructions months ago that she wanted eight presents from everyone on her birthday. So Teresa and I complied. We pooled our resources and wits and got her eight gifts. One of her gifts is an 18-month calendar from Shutterfly with pictures of our vacation to Montana, Yellowstone and points west back in May. Somehow I timed it just right and she actually got her calendar on Friday. She called to tell me she loved it. The rest of her gifts haven't gotten to her yet, so I'll have to stay mum in case she reads this. But Teresa sent her eight cards with various items in them: chewing gum, two dollars for Diet Coke and sunflower stickers. Teresa is a little nuts. But I think we've covered that before.

(Birthday side note: My oldest sister, Teresa, was born August 6, 1959. Brother Mark was born July 22, 1960. Jenny came along on August 8, 1961. So my mother had three kids in two years and two days. My brother John came into the world on February 21, 1963. [I know this even though I input his birthday wrong on her calendar!] Then I was born April 2, 1969. Mom likes to point out that she had four kids under the age of four before drive-through banks existed.)

Saturday morning my sister Teresa, her husband Kenny, daughter Katie and Katie's boyfriend, Frank, picked me up and we zipped down to Oklahoma City. Saturday was my nephew Christopher's birthday and even though he had to work all day, we went down to see him. We hit Penn Square Mall first and Katie got lots of clothes while I made my purchase at Sephora (I <3 that store) and then treated myself to a very indulgent pedicure. You may admire my toes now.
It's the first time I've ever gotten flowers on my big toes. Christopher met us at The Cheesecake Factory for a 23rd birthday celebration between the matinee and the evening show. We had the waitstaff sing to him before he left to go back to work. And somehow I managed to screw up the flower on my left foot. I went back and they graciously fixed it for me.

We checked into our room and then got ready to attend Lyric Theatre's evening performance of "UrineTown (the musical)" at the Civic Center. It was the first time for all of us to see this show. It was wonderful. We laughed a lot. I shot this picture backstage after the show was over and they were starting to tear down (strike) the set and costumes. It was a flurry of activity and Christopher had to get back to work. Notice he's now sporting a mohawk.

Sunday morning we met for breakfast at IHOP. After going to see the house he's moving into this month we headed out of town. Most of us napped on the way home (except Kenny who was driving) and that made the trip go exceptionally fast.

When I got back home I had just a couple of minutes to unpack and regroup before I went to a birthday party for my friend Joyce. She turned 40 on August 6. I haven't seen some of Joyce's family members since she got married over 11 years ago, so it was nice to catch up with them and see the newest member of Joyce's family, her niece Aliyah.

Joyce holding the three-week-old.

Joyce's daughter Gabrielle, two-year-old Ellie, Aliyah and Joyce's sister Sarah (also Ellie's mom).

Laurie, Joyce and Joyce's sister Angela, new mom to Aliyah. At this point they were telling funny family stories.

Joyce's sash says Ms. Over the Hill. It wasn't planned but it matched perfectly with the clothes she was wearing that day.

Ellie after she obviously enjoyed her cake and ice cream.

I think Aunt Joyce and Grandma Judy might have given her some extra cake so she could eat the frosting, but I don't want to get them in trouble or anything.

I've been so busy...

...I haven't had time to blog! That's not true. I have had some time, I've just chosen to spend that time doing other things. You'll understand once you read this post. I'm going to attempt to recap the past couple of weeks of my life. I've got photos. It'll be fun.

In addition to attending book club at Jaime's house and meeting friends for lunch or dinner (you know who you are), I also went to visit my friend, Sarah. She and her family were in the process of packing up and moving west to Garden City (they're gone now--sob, sob). I worked with Sarah at the Eagle and I know she will be missed there. I watched her husband, Aaron, pack some boxes while I ate yummy homemade enchiladas and then I helped Sarah make potato salad for a family party later in the day. I also oohed and aahed over five-month-old Sammy and got to know her other two boys a little better. Here's a picture of Sammy having a nap amongst the packing and potato salad making.

I've recovered nicely from my root canal. I got my permanent crown a little over a week ago and I was so ready to get rid of that stupid temporary. Don't even get me started! The same day I got my pretty, sparkly, new porcelain-covered gold (yes, I said gold) crown, I went to Exploration Place with Jenn and Bella. Bella showed me some of her favorite places at EP including the kitchen in the castle, where she busied herself arranging food on the plates. Then she and Jenn went to see the "Chirpie" movie while I went through the "Our Body: The Universe Within" exhibit. Real bodies and body parts. Skin removed. Sliced and diced so we could have a better view of the muscles, tendons, organs and bones. What could be more fun? Actually, I did enjoy it. I like stuff like that. If it's not gushing blood, it's fascinating to me. For some reason they didn't look like real bodies to me. But then I'd get closer to them and see the remnants of eyebrows or arm hair and then I'd remember. I'm not sure it was worth the price of admission, but it sure was packed that Monday afternoon.

I've also been cramming in doctor's appointments like mad. Last week I had three appointments and this week I have four days where I'm doing something at a doctor's office. One shot yesterday, one shot today, appointment on Thursday and blood draw on Friday. Doesn't that sound like a bunch of fun? Up next: scheduling the well woman exam. Priceless.

Mixed in with all the doctor's appointments I've been cleaning my house. I cleaned my bedroom and my guest bedroom from top to bottom last week. Dust bunnies, anyone? That included cleaning out every drawer in the rooms and going through the closets to organize/toss things. I also cleaned out the cabinets in my kitchen and laundry area. Some stuff I purged is now boxed and bound for Goodwill. The rest is boxed and on its way (via Ellinwood and Oakley) to Goodland. My niece, Anissa, just moved into an apartment there this past weekend so she'll have some hand-me-down things from me for her kitchen. She's starting school at the vo-tech this week. Poor thing got her wisdom teeth pulled last week and still can't eat solid foods. Luckily her mom and dad bought her lots of soup before they left her on Saturday. To the right is a picture of Anissa from our trip to the northwest in June. She eats lemons. Weird.

Last Wednesday the circus came to stay at my house. By the circus, I mean my mom, Terri, Zach, Jessica, Victoria and Kyle. That's six extra people in case you didn't count them. And three of them are teenagers. Oy! The first afternoon we did some back-to-school shopping for the teenagers. The Target trip alone crossed lots of things off the lists. My nieces found some clothes there as well as the notebooks and binders they were yearning for. Jessica will be a senior and Victoria will be a freshman. Kyle is going to be in the eighth grade. After we had shopped 'til we dropped we went out to see Steve, Jenn and Bella. We timed it perfectly and when we got there the boat was free, so we all hopped in (except mom, Terri and Zach) so the teenagers could go tubing. First we had to go to the other lake to get the tube. Here's a picture of Kyle, Bella, Victoria and Jessica in the back of the boat.

Jessica and Kyle tubed together first. Kyle hadn't ever gone tubing before, so Jenn told them how to let Steve know if they needed to go slower or wanted to go faster and how to tell him to stop (other than falling off). They did pretty well.

Then Jessica and Victoria went together. Combined they weigh about as much soaking wet as half of my body, so their size 1 and 3 selves bounced around a lot on the tube. I didn't feel too sorry for them.

Kyle went solo for a bit. He did much better when he was by himself, but I was lucky enough to get this shot on his last wipeout.

We came prepared to make supper at their house, so they fired up the grill and we dined on hot dogs, hamburgers and for dessert had some apple pie that Jennifer had baked. We all left stuffed and tired (Zach was up until almost 11 o'clock, which is a record for him).

The next day was a work day. Part of the reason they came to visit was to help me with some jobs around my house. Almost a month ago I got a bad allergic reaction after chopping out some overgrowth in my backyard. It looked really grisly for about two weeks, but got remarkably better after I went to the doctor for a cortisone shot. I know, I know: I should have gone sooner. Anyway, I've been hesitant to attack the overgrowth in the front for obvious reasons. While Victoria cleaned out my gutters (she loves doing it in case anyone has the need), Kyle mowed, Terri cleaned off my front porch and swept away all the cobwebs from the eaves of my house, and mom, Jessica and I weeded the front flower bed. After we got those things accomplished we worked on cleaning out my garage. It all looks so much better. I don't know what I would have done without them. We ate lunch about 1 o'clock and then people started dropping like flies. Terri and Zach slept in the recliner (above left). Kyle fell asleep in the guest bedroom (right). And Jessica chose to lay on the deflated air mattress in the dining room (below left). Victoria chose to lay on the couch (below right) and I headed straight for my bed. We just needed a little nap and then we did more shopping. Hooray!

Friday before they left, Jenn and Bella met us at the mall for one last shopping foray. Zach and Bella had fun riding the carousel. Bella chose a reindeer.

And for his first ride, Zach chose the scary pig with fangs. He loved it!

They both had fun playing on the police car, too.

I hope I haven't lost you in all the activity, blog readers. There's actually more, but I've got to go watch the Olympics now and I'll post the rest in another post. Yes, two posts in one week!