Technicalities

My other half took me to dinner last night at Red Lobster for my birthday (see previous post). I told her on the way in, "Absolutely, under no circumstances, do I want anyone in the restaurant singing to me tonight." She agreed and promised. And then proceeded to tell the waitress, Ashley, not to sing to me.
So the end of the meal comes and Tara has that evil look that cats get when they are plotting something and I emphasis again I don't want anyone singing to me. She promises again.
Then Ashley and three other servers walk out with a scoop of ice cream with a candle on it, set it in front of me, I give Tara the look of death and then....
the servers proceed to HUM the entire birthday song. Patrons joined in...
Tara looks me in the eye and says, "You said no singing. You didn't say anything about humming..."
Caught on a technicality. Next year I'm going to say No musical interludes...
Revenge will be sweet and I have until March 31 to figure it out...

Happy Birthday

I'm going to have a rare egotistical moment and say:
Happy Birthday To ME!
I've made it through another year with flying colors.
Now I have a whole new year to try to figure out if getting a year older really makes me a year wiser...
I can't wait to see what the next year brings...

The Death of a Great Author

James Oliver Rigney Jr. better known to millions of people as Robert Jordan passed away last week from a rare blood disorder, primary amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy which caused the walls of his heart to thicken. He was 58.
Rigney Jr wrote the Wheel of Time series, a sweeping fantasy epic that I've been addicted to for years. The books were amazingly detailed, rich in a multitude of plots and character depth. I always made it a point to start rereading the series about 3-4 months before a new book would come out so I could catch up and remember all the important items.
My friend sent me a link to his obituary last week and I've been struggling with a little guilt since then. My first thought on reading the obit was, "@#$%, he died before he finished writing the series!" I did find out he was working on the last novel when he died. It's release date has been pushed back due to his illness a few times. I also know he was quoted as saying he had extensive notes so hopefully someone will be able to finish it and give his millions of loyal fans some closure on the fate of Rand Al Thor.
Reading his obituary I realized there was an extraordinary man behind the pseudonym with a family, hopes, dreams and I'm truly sorry to see him go as a person not just because he died before he could finish his life's work.
So here's to James Oliver Rigney Jr. I hope he's found something wonderful on the other side.

It's Been Awhile

I know it has been many weeks since I've posted. My life has required a five-point harness and safety bar as of late and I didn't have a way to let go long enough to catch everyone up. I'm just going to fair warn you now...this will be a long one. SO MUCH to talk about.
First: Dad Update
My father had a resistant bacterial pneumonia that effused into his chest cavity. I'm happy to say after 3 weeks in the hospital, major surgery, 28 days of IV antibiotics and a lot of TLC he is doing fine. No more tubes, no IVs and he is down to 1 liter of O2 that he only uses for about an hour a day so that will be going away soon as well. He is also gaining weight back and is happily at home puttering around.
Second: Jewelry Update
The website will be up in a week. We went to a festival in Ohio and did not do as well as we would have hoped due to rain through most of the day but, we learned a lot, met a lot of fabulous women, and plan to return next year as well as attend some other festivals on the east coast.
Third: Job Update
This is the single biggest reason I haven't been online in so long. I was promoted to Training Manager at our Rocky Mount, NC location and was given slightly over two weeks to 1. find a place to live 2. pack my house 3. rent a truck 4. move to new location 5. sell trailer. Believe it or not, we did it all. After the festival in Columbus OH we drove to my parents in Pittsburgh, PA, stored our festival stuff there and visited. From Pittsburgh we drove to Rocky Mount, had 1 day to find a place to live. Accidentally ran into a wonderful Realtor and actually almost bought a house. We will actually be able to buy one in 6 months to a year. In the mean time we found a very nice apartment, signed all the paperwork for that, I met my boss and toured the site and the next day we drove all the way back to Erie. That was Wednesday, September 12th. On Thursday we picked up the truck and started packing. Friday more packing and loaded and a friend of a friend mentioned his brother-in-law might be interested in the trailer. We loaded 95% of the truck Friday, went out Friday night and closed the bar saying goodbye to everyone. Got up Saturday morning, finished loading and left. Tara's sister stayed to clean for us and her daughter brought the interested party in to look at the trailer at 1pm.
We left at noon on Saturday for what should have been an 11 hour drive. We arrived in Rocky Mount at 730 am Sunday.
Did you know 2 cats can meow non-stop for HOURS? Tara had Charles in the truck and he was perfectly well behaved. She had the cage door open and he happily sat in that crate for the entire trip. I had Cali and George. Cali successfully escaped the crate once and after we locked her back up she started to meow and George joined in. From 730 pm to 730 am, non-stop. We stopped every 2 hours and got them out on harnesses and leashes (oh the indignity) but even so, 12 straight hours of, "Mow. MEOW. MEW."
Despite there best efforts we survived and arrived safely. We hired some help from EMove.com to unload the truck. $140 for 2 guys for 3 hours. Money very well spent. They are professionals, treated our stuff with care, climbed the steps 400 times and even hooked up the washer and dryer. Thank you Ed and Jeff.
The guy that looked at the trailer loved it. Payed for it on Monday and we are out from under the trailer. He is already having the last few items fixed before he and his family move in. I'm really happy for them. They seem like great people.
I started my new job Monday and have by trying my best to keep my head above water. I have a lot to learn but the other managers are good people and I have a really positive outlook on this.
Last note. As far as the apartment manager knows we have 1 cat. So we have 2 fugitive cats and 1 fugitive bearded dragon. I figure we can pull it off for the few months we'll be there.
Happy blogging to all. I'm back!