That is how my brother wished me "Happy Birthday" with a 7 AM call this morning.
That was the high point of my day.
A friend had to miss a flight out here due to a plane with a bad engine. You-know-who had to be her usual whiny self because I dared to expect her to behave this one day out of the year. I also had to go in to work tonight for a while.
Yep! Another milestone down the tubes...
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Oh, to be 17 again!
In two days, I hit the big 5-0. That doesn't bother me because I should have died in 1961 and didn't, so EVERY day on this side of the grass is OK by me (even the suckish ones). Some of the perks include cheaper buffets and movie tickets in one casino chain as well as admission into the senior center around the corner from my house which has the only indoor pool this side of town that does NOT allow kids (woo-hoo!). The center also has all sorts of free classes I might take just for funsies.
But, when I think about it (as all who hit milestones are wont to do), I keep thinking that when I was 17 it was my best year in so many ways.
• I could stay up for days and never complain about being tired.
• I spent the night before I took my SATs getting drunk with a friend, got an hour of sleep and STILL hit four digits comfortably. I doubt I could move now with only an hour of sleep.
• Sachsenhausen was always open and no one carded us because it was "Germany, man!"
• I could sit in the Hauptbahnhof at midnight and not worry about some perv making a grab at me.
• Prom and the Military Ball meant spending the entire weekend in Frankfurt and riding the StraBe all over the place.
• I still had that long, Marsha Brady hair and could rock hot pants without looking like I was wearing pants with rocks in them.
• The art school scholarship I should have taken no matter what my dad said.
• Friends that really did understand it sucked when it was time to move for the 10th time.
• Castles, fairy-tale rivers, Roman ruins just up the road, parties for cities that were thriving even before the Aztecs and Mayans had gotten their stuff together...
• The 2nd annual Rockfest at the Lorelei with Ted Nugent and Aerosmith!
• Still feeling like I could conquer the world if given the chance (well, we know how that went, don't we?).
• So much more, but I think just about everyone has had that one year in their life when they were sure of it all.
Now, life is more about compromise and knowing that you have to make choices you would have screamed about and refused to choose in that one special year. Pay your mortgage instead of going to the rockfest? Never! Staying in to catch up instead of sneaking into Gruenberg Park during the third period break? No way! Now I am reaching the place where I sound like those people I laughed at when I was 17.
You know what? It sucks not to be 17 anymore. There are days when I look for the "do-over button".
But, when I think about it (as all who hit milestones are wont to do), I keep thinking that when I was 17 it was my best year in so many ways.
• I could stay up for days and never complain about being tired.
• I spent the night before I took my SATs getting drunk with a friend, got an hour of sleep and STILL hit four digits comfortably. I doubt I could move now with only an hour of sleep.
• Sachsenhausen was always open and no one carded us because it was "Germany, man!"
• I could sit in the Hauptbahnhof at midnight and not worry about some perv making a grab at me.
• Prom and the Military Ball meant spending the entire weekend in Frankfurt and riding the StraBe all over the place.
• I still had that long, Marsha Brady hair and could rock hot pants without looking like I was wearing pants with rocks in them.
• The art school scholarship I should have taken no matter what my dad said.
• Friends that really did understand it sucked when it was time to move for the 10th time.
• Castles, fairy-tale rivers, Roman ruins just up the road, parties for cities that were thriving even before the Aztecs and Mayans had gotten their stuff together...
• The 2nd annual Rockfest at the Lorelei with Ted Nugent and Aerosmith!
• Still feeling like I could conquer the world if given the chance (well, we know how that went, don't we?).
• So much more, but I think just about everyone has had that one year in their life when they were sure of it all.
Now, life is more about compromise and knowing that you have to make choices you would have screamed about and refused to choose in that one special year. Pay your mortgage instead of going to the rockfest? Never! Staying in to catch up instead of sneaking into Gruenberg Park during the third period break? No way! Now I am reaching the place where I sound like those people I laughed at when I was 17.
You know what? It sucks not to be 17 anymore. There are days when I look for the "do-over button".
Friday, September 04, 2009
Alrighty then!
So long since my last post and I cannot make it up all at once, so bear with me...
D did have to go to summer school for math. Here you have to PAY for it and I was determined she was going to get through it and at least get a "D" to pass, which she did. If she had done all of her homework, she would have gotten a "C". But the goal in doing a whole semester in three weeks is to pass and I was not going to push harder than that.
She also went to Georgia to visit family and to finally meet someone she only knew from emails, blogs and MySpace. It was maybe a good thing, maybe not. But they needed to spend time together and that was accomplished. I guess she had a good time, but she didn't talk to me much while she was gone. A combination of teen angst and her conditions made her surly towards me for most of the time. But, according to most accounts, she was a sweetheart 99% of the time. One semi-bad meltdown at the end, but other than that, it couldn't have been MY kid.
Went to Reno last week and didn't see any of the city except from a window. It was like ten miles from the Reno casinos, so I didn't even get to see the "biggest little city" sign. :(
It was ALL union business and I think I left interior of the hotel/conference center ONCE--on the day I left and for only half an hour. I went down to the pool and read a good book for a little while. It wouldn't have been so bad except we spent most of the time trying to reinvent the wheel and only succeeded in fattening the tires. Everything else stayed as it was before we started. I was sorely disappointed because we had such high hopes for getting some stuff through that would protect our workers and ONE agency where the workers make like $70K a year whined about every little penny or proposal whether it impacted them or not. I cornered one of the ringleaders at the airport when he happened by and explained to him what he and his buddies ruined by being childish (holding up signs behind people speaking on resolutions and issues, shouting everyone down that spoke for reforms, throwing things at the chair...). His jaw dropped when he heard about all the things they killed by being asses. Now we have to wait three years
to effect those changes and we may lose a lot of ground in between. Really a sad prospect...
D stayed with her friends while I was out of town and I swear there is a Stepford factory somewhere in this city. I am SO tired of people telling me what an absolute angel she is when ten minutes later, she lets it rip! I swear I am going to start taping her rants and posting them on YouTube for those who think she is so sweet. It makes it hard to work when I am always in one battle or another with her and her issues, which wears me out and keeps me too tired at times.
I am working too hard and there is too much to do in too little time. I managed to get hurt because someone who should have known better did something stupid. Why is it the stupid ones don't get hurt by the things they jacked up? Anyway, that makes it harder to do my job because I can't lift anything without making it worse (pulled ligaments in left hand/arm). Oh, well... At least I don't have to pay for the care myself as it was a WORK injury.
More overnights coming, more stuff to fix behind other people. And my 50th is coming up--joy. If it mirrors every other birthday for the past ten years, it will end with D whining she isn't getting all the attention. She already stole my early birthday present (a netbook) for herself. :(
D did have to go to summer school for math. Here you have to PAY for it and I was determined she was going to get through it and at least get a "D" to pass, which she did. If she had done all of her homework, she would have gotten a "C". But the goal in doing a whole semester in three weeks is to pass and I was not going to push harder than that.
She also went to Georgia to visit family and to finally meet someone she only knew from emails, blogs and MySpace. It was maybe a good thing, maybe not. But they needed to spend time together and that was accomplished. I guess she had a good time, but she didn't talk to me much while she was gone. A combination of teen angst and her conditions made her surly towards me for most of the time. But, according to most accounts, she was a sweetheart 99% of the time. One semi-bad meltdown at the end, but other than that, it couldn't have been MY kid.
Went to Reno last week and didn't see any of the city except from a window. It was like ten miles from the Reno casinos, so I didn't even get to see the "biggest little city" sign. :(
It was ALL union business and I think I left interior of the hotel/conference center ONCE--on the day I left and for only half an hour. I went down to the pool and read a good book for a little while. It wouldn't have been so bad except we spent most of the time trying to reinvent the wheel and only succeeded in fattening the tires. Everything else stayed as it was before we started. I was sorely disappointed because we had such high hopes for getting some stuff through that would protect our workers and ONE agency where the workers make like $70K a year whined about every little penny or proposal whether it impacted them or not. I cornered one of the ringleaders at the airport when he happened by and explained to him what he and his buddies ruined by being childish (holding up signs behind people speaking on resolutions and issues, shouting everyone down that spoke for reforms, throwing things at the chair...). His jaw dropped when he heard about all the things they killed by being asses. Now we have to wait three years
to effect those changes and we may lose a lot of ground in between. Really a sad prospect...
D stayed with her friends while I was out of town and I swear there is a Stepford factory somewhere in this city. I am SO tired of people telling me what an absolute angel she is when ten minutes later, she lets it rip! I swear I am going to start taping her rants and posting them on YouTube for those who think she is so sweet. It makes it hard to work when I am always in one battle or another with her and her issues, which wears me out and keeps me too tired at times.
I am working too hard and there is too much to do in too little time. I managed to get hurt because someone who should have known better did something stupid. Why is it the stupid ones don't get hurt by the things they jacked up? Anyway, that makes it harder to do my job because I can't lift anything without making it worse (pulled ligaments in left hand/arm). Oh, well... At least I don't have to pay for the care myself as it was a WORK injury.
More overnights coming, more stuff to fix behind other people. And my 50th is coming up--joy. If it mirrors every other birthday for the past ten years, it will end with D whining she isn't getting all the attention. She already stole my early birthday present (a netbook) for herself. :(
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