when i first got this acct it asked for a little bit about me. i thought it was time i updated that information, but wanted to keep my original info too. so i'm putting it in a post for posterity. LOL
i think this was written in the fall of 04.
i recently returned to rural west virginia after spending 7 years living in orlando, st pete, and tampa florida, and milwaukee wisconsin. i just started my master's degree in communication. :) and i'm crazy in love.
i have 5 brothers, 5 nieces, and 2 grand nieces. yeah, after my generation the women rule! i am an only girl, my mom is an only girl, and my dad's sister is an only girl.
in addition to the places listed above, i have also lived in kirkland illinois, warsaw indiana, parkersburg west virginia, and athens ohio. i love to travel! my goal is to visit all 50 states. i've been to 21 so far. well, 22 if i can count being at the airport in NJ.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Kuke is back!
And I'm married! Howard and I tied the knot on March 11, 2006. It was a lovely day. Then in September, the Catholic Church granted his annulment. So we had a Catholic Ceremony, AKA "Catholic Validation Ceremony." That happened just last Sunday, January 7, 2007.
I have so much to write about, but it's late and I want to go to bed. I was just recently reading some of my blogs and have realized how much I miss writing! So I'm hoping to get back in the saddle as they say. Life is good and we are happy and that's all I have to say right now.
Monday, May 23, 2005
life goes on
our assignment tonight was to think about a narrative passage we might include in our book. then to take a "philosophical tangent." our passage was to start with "This much I know is true..." the prof told me that what i had written was extraordinary! i am still floating. :) after class he reiterated that it was remarkable. he was really impressed. *blush* here's what i wrote and read in class:
This much I know is true: life goes on. The problem with not knowing what you want is that life goes on—ready or not.
I don’t know what I expected after having been gone for seventeen years, but I certainly didn’t expect to return home to find my friends middle-aged.
I was the one who had had it rough: I was the one who wandered and wondered. I was the one who had moved more than once a year for the last seven years. I was the one who had lost two jobs due to downsizing in the last two years. I was the one who leaped before I looked. I was the risk taker. Wasn’t that supposed to age me?
I had gone to seek fame and fortune—or at the very least, more excitement than one could find in Letart. To find a mate—a good looking son of a gun who didn’t care that I couldn’t cook but was impressed with the number of miles I had traveled and the things I had seen. Someone more than the “good ole boys” I had known since first grade.
I moved home, jobless and still single. I came back with my tail tucked between my legs and my head hanging low, but with a lifetime of memories and an address book full of friends. I thought those I left behind would be…what? Still twenty years old? Still fresh faced without a care in the world? Well, yes. They who had reached their life-long goal of getting married and having children. They had their families, their mortgages, their mini-vans. What in the world could have aged them? They knew what they wanted and had gotten it. I expected to find them just as I had left them.
I came home to find divorce, grandparents, death, joblessness. And I found they were as surprised by my stories as I was by theirs.
The problem with reaching your life-long dream so early is that life goes on.
This much I know is true: life goes on. The problem with not knowing what you want is that life goes on—ready or not.
I don’t know what I expected after having been gone for seventeen years, but I certainly didn’t expect to return home to find my friends middle-aged.
I was the one who had had it rough: I was the one who wandered and wondered. I was the one who had moved more than once a year for the last seven years. I was the one who had lost two jobs due to downsizing in the last two years. I was the one who leaped before I looked. I was the risk taker. Wasn’t that supposed to age me?
I had gone to seek fame and fortune—or at the very least, more excitement than one could find in Letart. To find a mate—a good looking son of a gun who didn’t care that I couldn’t cook but was impressed with the number of miles I had traveled and the things I had seen. Someone more than the “good ole boys” I had known since first grade.
I moved home, jobless and still single. I came back with my tail tucked between my legs and my head hanging low, but with a lifetime of memories and an address book full of friends. I thought those I left behind would be…what? Still twenty years old? Still fresh faced without a care in the world? Well, yes. They who had reached their life-long goal of getting married and having children. They had their families, their mortgages, their mini-vans. What in the world could have aged them? They knew what they wanted and had gotten it. I expected to find them just as I had left them.
I came home to find divorce, grandparents, death, joblessness. And I found they were as surprised by my stories as I was by theirs.
The problem with reaching your life-long dream so early is that life goes on.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
catching up with you
ok, it's been a good few days and i need to write about them before i forget.
last tuesday i drove to morgantown to meet my friend schmaaron. her mom had made banana nut bread for me!! i LOVE bnb, especially her mom's!! (but don't tell my mom!!) we went to a bar to watch the WVU women's basketball team lose the championship. :( we stayed at her parents' house and it was really good to see them again. i knew them when we all lived in p'burg, but haven't seen much of them since we all moved away from there. anyway, she had to get up early the next day to go to work...she lives and works in maryland. since she had the bad luck to have to be up by 5 a.m., i got the spare room and slept like a baby!! well, not really. ha. i mean, i really did get the spare room, but didn't quite sleep like a baby.
her mom had warned me to be sure i shut the bedroom door all the way--"'til it latches!" so the dog and cat wouldn't get in. the cat thinks it's his room. so i was sure to shut the door all the way. but after a couple of hrs of sleep, i got up to use the bathroom. i figured they were asleep somewhere else by this time so i left the door ajar while i went to relieve myself. big mistake. when i came back, the 25 lb cat was sprawled out on the floor. now don't get me wrong, i love animals!! so much so that i can't make myself leave them alone. but i'm allergic to them. so i try to chase him out. he let's me roll him across the floor until we get to the door. then he whips out the claws, digs into the carpet and refused to go through the door. i hiss at him. he hisses back. i try to pick him up. lol, i'm not kidding about the 25 lbs thing. what a lug. again, i make it to the door. then he hisses again. it scares me (cause i'm already nervous and thinking he might scratch me) so i drop him. finally i realize the more i fool with him the more hair and dander i'm going to disturb so i figure letting him sleep in the floor is the best option. well, really the only option at this point. ha
just as i'm dozing off, i hear this THUD and feel something hit the bed. yep, 25 lbs of fur. so i nudge him off with my feet. this happens three times. finally i decide, again, that i'm causing more harm to myself this way so i finally let him stay. he curls up between my feet and sleeps soundly the rest of the night. not too bad. and i didn't have an allergy attack. thank goodness for allergy meds!
next morning i got up around 8:30. schmaaron was long gone. her mom had gone to work also. so i chatted with her dad a bit and ate some more banana nut bread then headed east. i stopped and got gas. i could have kicked myself. on the way into town the night before gas was $1.12. this morning it's $1.18. i took 81 east to 70 south to 270 south. along the way i stopped at a rest area/scenic overlook in a national or state park. i think it was called green ridge. i took some really cool pics.
as i got close to her exit, i realized i was very near to DC. i wasn't sure what she had planned for the wknd and i would have hated to have been that close to DC and not gone on into town. so i stayed on 270 south to 495 south. (i think it was south). that's known as the outer belt. i had an atlas in the car, but it's very small and not very detailed and i couldn't reach it. but i have traveled some and i figured 495 went all the way around the city. thing was, i wasn't sure how much of the city i could see from there. i didn't want to stop anywhere, just wanted to see things from the road. so i took an exit that said downtown. this was 395. i went through one tunnel and entered a second one where traffic stopped. dead stopped. and i'm not a big fan of tunnels. however, i didn't think these tunnels were under water and that helped. (if they are under water, please don't tell me.) then i saw a sign that said 395 ends 1000 ft. hmmm. well, that would explain stopped traffic. but there has to be another road or something...well the something turned out to be new york street or ave. i think. all traffic must turn right. by this time i had found my atlas. it was almost no help. i could see i was heading northeast and i wanted to go northwest. well, straight west would get me back to 495, but i was going east. i thought, no sweat, i'll just turn around up here. i was in the left lane. there are 3 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic and i have no hopes of getting to the right lane. and for several miles, left turns are not allowed!! by this time i'm almost in delaware. HA. i finally see a sign that says 495 straight ahead. low and behold i finally ran back into 495 but am on the opposite side of town from where i need to be. but i head west on 495 and end up back on north 270 to my exit. it just took a lot longer than i thought.
schmaaron came home from work and we decided to go get something to eat at olive garden. her friend jamie joined us. we had a good visit. i started to get a cough though. no sore throat, no other pains, just a cough that won't stop. it was very annoying. and it started to rain. jamie left and marna and i headed to a book store. neither of us bought anything, we just love bookstores. then we tried to find a store that has cough syrup. well we went to a grocery store. they have gobs of cough syrup, but none that are just for coughs. i found some cough drops and some of those new melting strips that are just for coughs, but alas, everything is cherry flavored. blech. i hate cherry flavored anything. :( i finally decided on the melty strips though because i'm afraid i'll choke on a cough drop if i fall asleep.
saturday we thought about going to either gettysburg or harper's ferry. i have been to gettysburg, and i loved it!! i would go again in a heartbeat, but i also really wanted to go to harper's ferry cause i've never been there. so i asked her if she had been to either; she had not. so i decide on gettysburg cause everyone needs to see that. but it was all a moot decision, it rained really hard on saturday!! so we went shopping instead! we went to virginia and shopped at IKEA then went to a mall called potomac mills. OMG what a huge mall!! again, neither of us bought anything. haha. on the way there we ate at a place called hamburger hamlet. this was her idea--and she's a vegetarian!! it was really good. and the waiter was cute too. don't tell howard. i mean, i already told him and he didn't take it very well. LOL so we'll just keep that between us.
we were going to head back towards maryland and eat in a mexican restaurant, but when we got to the interstate, traffic heading north was backed up for MILES!! so we decided to eat where we were. we found a chile's and had a good dinner. we were worn out from the mall experience. we went home and crashed. all night fri night and all day saturday i sucked those stupid cherry flavored melty strips. YUCK. but they do work.
sunday i got up and showered. when i got out of the shower, she was watching the movie "love actually." no i'm NOT a big hugh grant fan, but this movie is so funny. i do like liam neesom and colin firth though, so it was ok. we talked for a while about relationships after the movie. then i had to hit the road. i was going to visit howard!! :D
last tuesday i drove to morgantown to meet my friend schmaaron. her mom had made banana nut bread for me!! i LOVE bnb, especially her mom's!! (but don't tell my mom!!) we went to a bar to watch the WVU women's basketball team lose the championship. :( we stayed at her parents' house and it was really good to see them again. i knew them when we all lived in p'burg, but haven't seen much of them since we all moved away from there. anyway, she had to get up early the next day to go to work...she lives and works in maryland. since she had the bad luck to have to be up by 5 a.m., i got the spare room and slept like a baby!! well, not really. ha. i mean, i really did get the spare room, but didn't quite sleep like a baby.
her mom had warned me to be sure i shut the bedroom door all the way--"'til it latches!" so the dog and cat wouldn't get in. the cat thinks it's his room. so i was sure to shut the door all the way. but after a couple of hrs of sleep, i got up to use the bathroom. i figured they were asleep somewhere else by this time so i left the door ajar while i went to relieve myself. big mistake. when i came back, the 25 lb cat was sprawled out on the floor. now don't get me wrong, i love animals!! so much so that i can't make myself leave them alone. but i'm allergic to them. so i try to chase him out. he let's me roll him across the floor until we get to the door. then he whips out the claws, digs into the carpet and refused to go through the door. i hiss at him. he hisses back. i try to pick him up. lol, i'm not kidding about the 25 lbs thing. what a lug. again, i make it to the door. then he hisses again. it scares me (cause i'm already nervous and thinking he might scratch me) so i drop him. finally i realize the more i fool with him the more hair and dander i'm going to disturb so i figure letting him sleep in the floor is the best option. well, really the only option at this point. ha
just as i'm dozing off, i hear this THUD and feel something hit the bed. yep, 25 lbs of fur. so i nudge him off with my feet. this happens three times. finally i decide, again, that i'm causing more harm to myself this way so i finally let him stay. he curls up between my feet and sleeps soundly the rest of the night. not too bad. and i didn't have an allergy attack. thank goodness for allergy meds!
next morning i got up around 8:30. schmaaron was long gone. her mom had gone to work also. so i chatted with her dad a bit and ate some more banana nut bread then headed east. i stopped and got gas. i could have kicked myself. on the way into town the night before gas was $1.12. this morning it's $1.18. i took 81 east to 70 south to 270 south. along the way i stopped at a rest area/scenic overlook in a national or state park. i think it was called green ridge. i took some really cool pics.
as i got close to her exit, i realized i was very near to DC. i wasn't sure what she had planned for the wknd and i would have hated to have been that close to DC and not gone on into town. so i stayed on 270 south to 495 south. (i think it was south). that's known as the outer belt. i had an atlas in the car, but it's very small and not very detailed and i couldn't reach it. but i have traveled some and i figured 495 went all the way around the city. thing was, i wasn't sure how much of the city i could see from there. i didn't want to stop anywhere, just wanted to see things from the road. so i took an exit that said downtown. this was 395. i went through one tunnel and entered a second one where traffic stopped. dead stopped. and i'm not a big fan of tunnels. however, i didn't think these tunnels were under water and that helped. (if they are under water, please don't tell me.) then i saw a sign that said 395 ends 1000 ft. hmmm. well, that would explain stopped traffic. but there has to be another road or something...well the something turned out to be new york street or ave. i think. all traffic must turn right. by this time i had found my atlas. it was almost no help. i could see i was heading northeast and i wanted to go northwest. well, straight west would get me back to 495, but i was going east. i thought, no sweat, i'll just turn around up here. i was in the left lane. there are 3 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic and i have no hopes of getting to the right lane. and for several miles, left turns are not allowed!! by this time i'm almost in delaware. HA. i finally see a sign that says 495 straight ahead. low and behold i finally ran back into 495 but am on the opposite side of town from where i need to be. but i head west on 495 and end up back on north 270 to my exit. it just took a lot longer than i thought.
schmaaron came home from work and we decided to go get something to eat at olive garden. her friend jamie joined us. we had a good visit. i started to get a cough though. no sore throat, no other pains, just a cough that won't stop. it was very annoying. and it started to rain. jamie left and marna and i headed to a book store. neither of us bought anything, we just love bookstores. then we tried to find a store that has cough syrup. well we went to a grocery store. they have gobs of cough syrup, but none that are just for coughs. i found some cough drops and some of those new melting strips that are just for coughs, but alas, everything is cherry flavored. blech. i hate cherry flavored anything. :( i finally decided on the melty strips though because i'm afraid i'll choke on a cough drop if i fall asleep.
saturday we thought about going to either gettysburg or harper's ferry. i have been to gettysburg, and i loved it!! i would go again in a heartbeat, but i also really wanted to go to harper's ferry cause i've never been there. so i asked her if she had been to either; she had not. so i decide on gettysburg cause everyone needs to see that. but it was all a moot decision, it rained really hard on saturday!! so we went shopping instead! we went to virginia and shopped at IKEA then went to a mall called potomac mills. OMG what a huge mall!! again, neither of us bought anything. haha. on the way there we ate at a place called hamburger hamlet. this was her idea--and she's a vegetarian!! it was really good. and the waiter was cute too. don't tell howard. i mean, i already told him and he didn't take it very well. LOL so we'll just keep that between us.
we were going to head back towards maryland and eat in a mexican restaurant, but when we got to the interstate, traffic heading north was backed up for MILES!! so we decided to eat where we were. we found a chile's and had a good dinner. we were worn out from the mall experience. we went home and crashed. all night fri night and all day saturday i sucked those stupid cherry flavored melty strips. YUCK. but they do work.
sunday i got up and showered. when i got out of the shower, she was watching the movie "love actually." no i'm NOT a big hugh grant fan, but this movie is so funny. i do like liam neesom and colin firth though, so it was ok. we talked for a while about relationships after the movie. then i had to hit the road. i was going to visit howard!! :D
the woods
Just beyond the potato patch was a patch of woods. I had lived all my life in town until we moved to Letart. I experienced a lot of culture shock. While I loved the gardening and few other things about rural life, I was deathly afraid of the woods. I never ventured past the last row of potatoes but David often did. That boy worried me to death!; so much so that I had a recurring nightmare.
In this nightmare, he had gone into the woods and I was sent in to get him. I found him in a cave with a monster! In the middle of the cave was Ruth’s black metal phone stand and their phone. The monster refused to let us go and refused to let us use the phone. Then it started raining. The cave started to flood, but still the monster kept us. Soon the water was at David’s chin. The monster instructed me to hold him on my shoulders if I was afraid of him drowning. So I did. When the water to my chin, the monster finally said I could call for help. When the phone rang, I woke up.
In this nightmare, he had gone into the woods and I was sent in to get him. I found him in a cave with a monster! In the middle of the cave was Ruth’s black metal phone stand and their phone. The monster refused to let us go and refused to let us use the phone. Then it started raining. The cave started to flood, but still the monster kept us. Soon the water was at David’s chin. The monster instructed me to hold him on my shoulders if I was afraid of him drowning. So I did. When the water to my chin, the monster finally said I could call for help. When the phone rang, I woke up.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
garden & potato patch
To one side of our house was a garden. There is nothing like home grown tomatoes, corn on the cob, cucumbers, and peas. My dad says there’s nothing like West Virginia homegrown vegetables. He left here when he was sixteen and has traveled all over the United States but has yet to find a tomato like the ones his dad raised. The first several rows of our garden were strawberries. They were small and full of holes, but were the best strawberries in the world to me. Ruth made great strawberry pies and a lot of people wanted her glaze recipe. She said the secret was to add just a couple drops of oil to the glaze to improve the consistency.
Just beyond the garden was our potato patch. There has to be Irish blood somewhere in this family. When I got older and started visiting other people, I couldn’t believe they could serve a meal without potatoes. And was even more shocked that other people have never even tasted a raw potato! We had potatoes at almost every meal (except when pasta was our main dish).
The Stove Top Stuffing commercials used to drive us crazy. “Have Stove Top Stuffing instead of potatoes.” Instead of potatoes!? We were incredulous. Why not with potatoes? I’m sure others would have laughed at our holiday spreads. We often had mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes or yams, and potato salad too. Sometimes we even had Stove Top Stuffing with all those potatoes.
Recently I was discussing food with my Grandma and I mentioned that I thought peas were my favorite vegetable. She got the strangest look and said, “What about potatoes?”
I said, “Grandma, potatoes are my favorite food! They are in a class all by themselves and cannot be considered with mere vegetables.”
I loved helping during hoeing time in the potato patch. I rarely got to hoe because I wasn’t careful enough. I often swung the hoe with too much force and would plant it deeply into a potato damaging it. Sometimes I cut them clean in two. So my hoeing days were short lived. But I was allowed to pick them up and carry them to the wagon after Jack uncovered a pile of them. I loved the smell of the dirt and potatoes.
After the potatoes were dug, we took them to the back yard water pump—we called it a spigot. We washed the potatoes carefully and dried them. Ruth explained that we couldn’t let the sun dry them because they would get sunburned and sunburn on a potato is poison to little bellies. After drying them, we sorted them. Any that had damage were taken straight into the house to be used first. The rest we carried down into the cellar under Jack’s tool shed. There they were kept cool and out of the sun’s damaging rays.
The door into the cellar was in the floor of the shed. I hated going completely into the cellar. I was the one who handed the potatoes down into the cellar. Ruth often asked me to go get potatoes for our next meal. I would take David with me and make him stand on the stairs with his head above the door so nobody would shut it accidentally. When he got to the age that I thought he might try to shut it on me as a joke, we changed roles. I made him go into the cellar while I stood guard.
Just beyond the garden was our potato patch. There has to be Irish blood somewhere in this family. When I got older and started visiting other people, I couldn’t believe they could serve a meal without potatoes. And was even more shocked that other people have never even tasted a raw potato! We had potatoes at almost every meal (except when pasta was our main dish).
The Stove Top Stuffing commercials used to drive us crazy. “Have Stove Top Stuffing instead of potatoes.” Instead of potatoes!? We were incredulous. Why not with potatoes? I’m sure others would have laughed at our holiday spreads. We often had mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes or yams, and potato salad too. Sometimes we even had Stove Top Stuffing with all those potatoes.
Recently I was discussing food with my Grandma and I mentioned that I thought peas were my favorite vegetable. She got the strangest look and said, “What about potatoes?”
I said, “Grandma, potatoes are my favorite food! They are in a class all by themselves and cannot be considered with mere vegetables.”
I loved helping during hoeing time in the potato patch. I rarely got to hoe because I wasn’t careful enough. I often swung the hoe with too much force and would plant it deeply into a potato damaging it. Sometimes I cut them clean in two. So my hoeing days were short lived. But I was allowed to pick them up and carry them to the wagon after Jack uncovered a pile of them. I loved the smell of the dirt and potatoes.
After the potatoes were dug, we took them to the back yard water pump—we called it a spigot. We washed the potatoes carefully and dried them. Ruth explained that we couldn’t let the sun dry them because they would get sunburned and sunburn on a potato is poison to little bellies. After drying them, we sorted them. Any that had damage were taken straight into the house to be used first. The rest we carried down into the cellar under Jack’s tool shed. There they were kept cool and out of the sun’s damaging rays.
The door into the cellar was in the floor of the shed. I hated going completely into the cellar. I was the one who handed the potatoes down into the cellar. Ruth often asked me to go get potatoes for our next meal. I would take David with me and make him stand on the stairs with his head above the door so nobody would shut it accidentally. When he got to the age that I thought he might try to shut it on me as a joke, we changed roles. I made him go into the cellar while I stood guard.
Friday, March 18, 2005
Thurs 3/17/2005
HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!
What a week. Howard came to visit on Sunday. We haven't seen each other since the week of Valentine's Day! Ugh, what a horrible month it was.
He got here Sunday evening and went to church with me. A Catholic in a Baptist Church!! Everyone survived. LOL. Monday we went to Parkersburg to visit Martha and Becky at WVUP. We had planned on going to dinner and a movie. We went to the mall and ate in the food court. (I had Chik-fil-A and he had Burger King.) Then we went to check on the movie times. We would have to wait 2 hours! Sooo...
We decided to leave Parkersburg and drive towards Indianapolis to visit his mom. We decided we'd drive an hour or two then stop and see a movie then stay all night. We were aiming for Columbus. Along the way we decided to skip the movie. We drove a little past Dayton and got a hotel. We got up the next morning and ate at the Waffle House. We drove on to his mom's house in Indianapolis.
We stayed with her until Wednesday afternoon. It was quite an emotional time for Howard. His mom is under Hospice care. Say a prayer for her and for him. And for his brother too.
Wednesday afternoon we left Indianapolis. We drove to Dayton and visited my Uncle Jr. and Aunt Hazel. It was really good to see them, but they are not doing very well healthwise. I need to get back out there soon.
We made it all the way back home on Wednesday.
Thursday turned my week around. I had a very good Thursday. Howard and I went to my Writer's Group meeting. The facilitator, Joan, asked if anyone had any readings. I did not (for a change!). Others read then Joan said, "Well, I brought something to read this week. I don't usually write fiction, but Suzie has been my inspiration. She inspired me to write."
WOW!! I felt soooooo good about that!! And what she wrote was very good! I have had this dopey grin on my face since then!
THEN...
After the meeting I went to the Ladie's room and ran into Toni there. Somehow we got to talking about stand up comedy and she said she'd like to try it. I told her I had done it and it was a lot of fun. So she got really excited and started talking about all these places we could try to get to let us do it. She, Joan, Howard, and I went to a cafe on Main Street (Red Parrot, or something like that) to talk to the owner about doing it there. She sometimes has musicians so we wondered if she'd be interested in allowing our group to do readings or comedy.
They kind of put me on the spot and asked me to do some comedy there. I was very nervous but came up with a few jokes. They thought it was pretty good and the owner said she'd think aobut it. But Toni wants to do the show next month! I don't know if that's enough time for me to come up with a routine. Anyway, Joan and Toni went into the other room to play the poker machines. Then the owner of the cafe...what was her name??? She looked at me and said, "You really have some talent there. You need to persue this comedy thing. I look forward to having you here. Good luck!"
:) I feel really really good about this.
But on the downside...during that meeting, Howard got a phone call from his ex wife. He knew his daughter had stones in her neck/throat (like gall stones or kidney stones, but in her neck). His ex was calling to tell him that their daughter needed surgery and it was scheduled for the day after Easter. Not a good week for him! :(
After that, Howard and I went to dinner at the Golden Corral (sp?) across the river. Then I wanted to drive him across Route 2. But we had made plans to be at Pat's by 7. We had 45 mins. We started out Rt 2. I stopped to get gas. $2.08!! And that's a GOOD price. It's $2.25 in most places. We went out Rt 2 to Plain Valley Rd. We went across to Sand Hill. I had to check my msgs before going to Pat's. I had left a msg to make plans to visit and told them to let me know via the phone. There were no msgs!! I picked up the phone to call and realized my computer was still online! We had left it online to finish downloading something. But I really thought it would kick offline when it was done. So Connie had tried to call, but couldn't get through! Yes, it was ok to come over and visit.
We had a really nice visit with them.
Today we met Mom and Grandma for lunch at the Corner Cafe. After that Howard wanted to go to the dam. We went, but couldn't get very close to it. So he asked if we could get closer on the Ohio side. I didn't know, but told him we'd find out. We drove to Ravenswood and crossed the river. Then went down Rt 124 to the dam. There is fishing access to the river on the south side of the dam. We walked down and watched the water for a little bit.
Then we drove back to Butch's and Howard fixed mac n cheese. The three of us visited for a while then Howard left to go home. He should be home any second now! I can't wait to chat with him. And I will not wait another month to see him!!!!!!!
What a week. Howard came to visit on Sunday. We haven't seen each other since the week of Valentine's Day! Ugh, what a horrible month it was.
He got here Sunday evening and went to church with me. A Catholic in a Baptist Church!! Everyone survived. LOL. Monday we went to Parkersburg to visit Martha and Becky at WVUP. We had planned on going to dinner and a movie. We went to the mall and ate in the food court. (I had Chik-fil-A and he had Burger King.) Then we went to check on the movie times. We would have to wait 2 hours! Sooo...
We decided to leave Parkersburg and drive towards Indianapolis to visit his mom. We decided we'd drive an hour or two then stop and see a movie then stay all night. We were aiming for Columbus. Along the way we decided to skip the movie. We drove a little past Dayton and got a hotel. We got up the next morning and ate at the Waffle House. We drove on to his mom's house in Indianapolis.
We stayed with her until Wednesday afternoon. It was quite an emotional time for Howard. His mom is under Hospice care. Say a prayer for her and for him. And for his brother too.
Wednesday afternoon we left Indianapolis. We drove to Dayton and visited my Uncle Jr. and Aunt Hazel. It was really good to see them, but they are not doing very well healthwise. I need to get back out there soon.
We made it all the way back home on Wednesday.
Thursday turned my week around. I had a very good Thursday. Howard and I went to my Writer's Group meeting. The facilitator, Joan, asked if anyone had any readings. I did not (for a change!). Others read then Joan said, "Well, I brought something to read this week. I don't usually write fiction, but Suzie has been my inspiration. She inspired me to write."
WOW!! I felt soooooo good about that!! And what she wrote was very good! I have had this dopey grin on my face since then!
THEN...
After the meeting I went to the Ladie's room and ran into Toni there. Somehow we got to talking about stand up comedy and she said she'd like to try it. I told her I had done it and it was a lot of fun. So she got really excited and started talking about all these places we could try to get to let us do it. She, Joan, Howard, and I went to a cafe on Main Street (Red Parrot, or something like that) to talk to the owner about doing it there. She sometimes has musicians so we wondered if she'd be interested in allowing our group to do readings or comedy.
They kind of put me on the spot and asked me to do some comedy there. I was very nervous but came up with a few jokes. They thought it was pretty good and the owner said she'd think aobut it. But Toni wants to do the show next month! I don't know if that's enough time for me to come up with a routine. Anyway, Joan and Toni went into the other room to play the poker machines. Then the owner of the cafe...what was her name??? She looked at me and said, "You really have some talent there. You need to persue this comedy thing. I look forward to having you here. Good luck!"
:) I feel really really good about this.
But on the downside...during that meeting, Howard got a phone call from his ex wife. He knew his daughter had stones in her neck/throat (like gall stones or kidney stones, but in her neck). His ex was calling to tell him that their daughter needed surgery and it was scheduled for the day after Easter. Not a good week for him! :(
After that, Howard and I went to dinner at the Golden Corral (sp?) across the river. Then I wanted to drive him across Route 2. But we had made plans to be at Pat's by 7. We had 45 mins. We started out Rt 2. I stopped to get gas. $2.08!! And that's a GOOD price. It's $2.25 in most places. We went out Rt 2 to Plain Valley Rd. We went across to Sand Hill. I had to check my msgs before going to Pat's. I had left a msg to make plans to visit and told them to let me know via the phone. There were no msgs!! I picked up the phone to call and realized my computer was still online! We had left it online to finish downloading something. But I really thought it would kick offline when it was done. So Connie had tried to call, but couldn't get through! Yes, it was ok to come over and visit.
We had a really nice visit with them.
Today we met Mom and Grandma for lunch at the Corner Cafe. After that Howard wanted to go to the dam. We went, but couldn't get very close to it. So he asked if we could get closer on the Ohio side. I didn't know, but told him we'd find out. We drove to Ravenswood and crossed the river. Then went down Rt 124 to the dam. There is fishing access to the river on the south side of the dam. We walked down and watched the water for a little bit.
Then we drove back to Butch's and Howard fixed mac n cheese. The three of us visited for a while then Howard left to go home. He should be home any second now! I can't wait to chat with him. And I will not wait another month to see him!!!!!!!
US 33
Just beyond the railroad tracks was a highway. At the time, it was US Route 33. Mom used to sit on the porch swing with me and drink sweet iced tea and watch the traffic go by. Sometimes she would wonder out loud if they were locals or travelers. We knew most of the locals’ cars and most locals beeped their horns as they passed. Those cars we didn’t recognize and didn’t beep must have been the travelers. Mom would look at me and say, “That highway right there will take you anywhere you want to go Suzie. If you ever leave here that’s the road you’ll take. But you’ll come back some day on that same road.
I knew that the road went lots of places. I could get to Mt. Alto or New Haven on that road. It’s also the road we came in on from Illinois when we moved here. And it was the road I would watch patiently at the end of the school year waiting for my dad to come and get me.
Turns out Mom was right about it being the highway I took when I left town. And, although it was no longer US33, it was the same stretch of road I came home on.
I knew that the road went lots of places. I could get to Mt. Alto or New Haven on that road. It’s also the road we came in on from Illinois when we moved here. And it was the road I would watch patiently at the end of the school year waiting for my dad to come and get me.
Turns out Mom was right about it being the highway I took when I left town. And, although it was no longer US33, it was the same stretch of road I came home on.
Saturday, March 12, 2005
the train tracks
The front yard was a very small patch of grass between our front porch and the gravel lane. Our house was the last house on this end of the lane. The gravels were actually small smooth stones. I could sit for hours examining them carefully. I picked out the prettiest ones—or sometimes the ugliest ones when I felt sorry for them—to keep. I remember one time, after a particularly long and hard rain, building a dam out of those stones. I watched how the water slowed as it reached the little dam then flowed faster again after it went over the dam.
Just beyond the lane was the railroad tracks. I dreamed about the railroad a lot back then. I’ve always wanted to take a long train ride, but I never have. Well, not that I remember. The story goes that when I was two years old my family took a train ride through the English countryside. Apparently I mooed to every cow we passed. Mom swears the other passengers love it; Dad rolls his eyes.
My brothers and I used to put pennies on these tracks at night and rush out to get them the next morning. The coins were now worthless as legal tender but lucky as a rabbit’s foot. We stopped that after someone at school warned us we could get arrested for defacing government property.
My younger brother and I knew the train schedule. The train went twice a day: once around noon and once around 9:30 p.m. Between noon and bedtime we were brave enough to walk on the tracks. A few years earlier I was in training to be a gymnast. Now I pretended the track was my balance beam and would sometimes do cartwheels on it. This never failed to stop Ruth’s heart.
We waited for the school bus at the railroad crossing, which was not quite half way down the lane from our house. It was the only access to our gravel lane from the main road. One morning we were waiting for the bus and a train whistle blew. A train was coming down the tracks at the wrong time of day! I ran back up the lane to assure Ruth that we had heard it and were off the tracks. I thought she’d be relieved to know it. Instead, she worried that I would miss the bus.
“Run!” she said. “Run! Don’t miss the bus!”
I ran as hard as I could, which wasn’t very hard for a child with activity induced asthma. I barely beat the train and I ran right in front of it. I know I scared the engineer; he blew the whistle and hit the brakes. But I made it across. I peed my pants in the process though and ended up missing the bus anyway.
Sometimes the noon trains had passenger cars. If we were home from school, Dave and I would stand in the lane and wave at the passengers. They always waved back. I was sort of a prissy thing back then, so sometimes I would dress up for the occasion. I watched them go by and wondered who they were and where they were going.
At night we would listen for the 9:30 train. Some nights we tried to be asleep before we heard it. Actually I think this was a game I made up to get David to go to sleep. I loved the whistle and can’t imagine that I would have tried to be asleep before I heard it. I think the nights that I did fall asleep early, I heard the whistle anyway and these are the nights I dreamed of riding the train.
Just beyond the lane was the railroad tracks. I dreamed about the railroad a lot back then. I’ve always wanted to take a long train ride, but I never have. Well, not that I remember. The story goes that when I was two years old my family took a train ride through the English countryside. Apparently I mooed to every cow we passed. Mom swears the other passengers love it; Dad rolls his eyes.
My brothers and I used to put pennies on these tracks at night and rush out to get them the next morning. The coins were now worthless as legal tender but lucky as a rabbit’s foot. We stopped that after someone at school warned us we could get arrested for defacing government property.
My younger brother and I knew the train schedule. The train went twice a day: once around noon and once around 9:30 p.m. Between noon and bedtime we were brave enough to walk on the tracks. A few years earlier I was in training to be a gymnast. Now I pretended the track was my balance beam and would sometimes do cartwheels on it. This never failed to stop Ruth’s heart.
We waited for the school bus at the railroad crossing, which was not quite half way down the lane from our house. It was the only access to our gravel lane from the main road. One morning we were waiting for the bus and a train whistle blew. A train was coming down the tracks at the wrong time of day! I ran back up the lane to assure Ruth that we had heard it and were off the tracks. I thought she’d be relieved to know it. Instead, she worried that I would miss the bus.
“Run!” she said. “Run! Don’t miss the bus!”
I ran as hard as I could, which wasn’t very hard for a child with activity induced asthma. I barely beat the train and I ran right in front of it. I know I scared the engineer; he blew the whistle and hit the brakes. But I made it across. I peed my pants in the process though and ended up missing the bus anyway.
Sometimes the noon trains had passenger cars. If we were home from school, Dave and I would stand in the lane and wave at the passengers. They always waved back. I was sort of a prissy thing back then, so sometimes I would dress up for the occasion. I watched them go by and wondered who they were and where they were going.
At night we would listen for the 9:30 train. Some nights we tried to be asleep before we heard it. Actually I think this was a game I made up to get David to go to sleep. I loved the whistle and can’t imagine that I would have tried to be asleep before I heard it. I think the nights that I did fall asleep early, I heard the whistle anyway and these are the nights I dreamed of riding the train.
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