I attended Marilyn Imming's funeral today. It was a beautiful service on a beautiful day in a gorgeous church with a fantastic singer. Marilyn would be so proud. Her family is very nice-looking. And I told Deb and Bec what Mrs. Wilcox told my sisters and me when she came to Dad's visitation. "None of you got fat either". Funny what sticks in your head from those events of your life.
So the events of this past month - Marilyn's lung cancer decline and death - got me to thinkin' (I know - dangerous stuff) about my mom and her death. It's been so long ago now - some 12 years since she died.
Pat Bullock wasn't easy to have as a mother. First I must say she was pretty smart - as she graduated near the top of her class at the University of Iowa. I found out (from Aunt Marty when we were in Denver) just why Mom and Dad got married after a short engagement. Mom was going to go to Paris before her senior year of college. When she got to New York City, the Korean War broke out. Dad was a ROTC guy and they knew he'd be called up eventually. So they got engaged in July and married the fall of their senior year.
Then Mom was preggers in 3 months and Susi was born just one year past their first anniversary. Long story short, they ended up back in good ol Atlantic - Dad's home town. Not too glam for a bright and beautiful college grad. She wasn't ever one of those little homemaker moms. I'm glad she raised us to be independent and self confident. (Though it took me practically until I was a mommy to get that way).
Somewhere along the line during Mom's life, she became very bitter. And, like many of her generation, she calmed her bitter nerves with her drug of choice - bourbon. Dad liked to drink too - perhaps even more than mom, but he was a fun drinker. She was not.
Mom was one of those "smart" drinkers. When she had her cocktails, she thought she was pretty f'in smart. She'd try to pick your brain, engage you in deep conversation. The stuff she wouldn't talk about sober. I'm sure she was frustrated over what "might have been" had she been born in a different age. Or married a different guy, in another town. Whatever.
Near the end of her life, when I was a young mother, she and Dad lived in Florida each winter in my fave place Marco Island. Paradise. For some reason she liked to call me after a couple pops (I could tell right away from her slurring voice) to get me going. Right about meal time for the family. Or she would call Cindo who wisely got caller ID. She'd complain about Dad and say how miserable she was.
I finally got fed up and yelled and screamed at her. That was after reasoning wouldn't work. I'd say "Leave him or suck it up". She'd say she wouldn't be left a pauper. And on it would go. Finally I would hang up, frustrated and angry. It was a sad way for a woman to live - someone with that much going for her. I believe she was clinically depressed, even before she was diagnosed. When she got sick, the calls stopped. Chemo took away her penchant for bourbon, but cancer soon took away her personality.
I made a vow never to drink every night like my folks did. So I'm more of a binge drinker - ha! Plus I'm a happy drinker. None of that morose feeling sorry for my self - at least until the hangover.
Mom and I had some good times too - and those are the things I thought about today. I miss her. I'm mad that she didn't get to know Amy and Jud as the great people they are today. How proud she would be of all her grandchildren. She woulda made a great old lady. Sans the booze and the attitude.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Monday, Monday
Mom, Dad, Pablo and me, around 1982.
So good to me. Not really, but I always did love that song. Poor Cass Elliot - an early death like so many of our talents in this world.
I slept through my alarm this a.m., so I awoke from an exciting dream - McKims and Paul and I driving around in an oversized Hawkeye golf cart that we ended up crashing. With that I awoke and checked my phone - it said the alarm had gone off a half hour before. Yikes! So I started in a rush.
I got to work by 7:30 a.m., so I did pretty well at catch up! And no more episodes of terrible cramps. Called Dr. Turner's office and spoke to a nurse. The Doc is off most of July - spose she's off to Italy again. So I make an appointment to see one of her partners, a man, thanks to a cancellation. I'll see him Wed. morning. As God is my witness I shall not suffer this curse month after month. I'll let you know what he says.
For Every Season
My bestie, Deb's mom passed away Saturday after a month in the hospice in Johnston. Marilyn had been diagnosed with lung cancer (and she was never a smoker) last winter around Christmas, after suffering from poor health for quite some time before that. She tried chemo and radiation for several weeks, but this spring they found that despite treatment the cancer wasn't giving up.
Deb and family found the same thing that we found with our parents, sometimes doctors don't want to give up. They feel like giving up is losing. But sometimes patients know best. At that point, they contacted hospice, an organization that knows how to treat people to help them live through the last stage of their life. Hospice empowers the dying person and their family.
Marilyn was able to live at home for a while, but her health slipped quickly. She was moved into the hospice a month ago and mercifully, finally passed on Saturday. It sure makes me think of my mom. I'm sorry Deb's is now gone too.
There's nothing like a mother, your own personal cheerleader. It's no fun being an orphan - even at 50! It's been 12 years since my mom died of lung cancer. In late summer 1996, Mom and I took a wonderful trip to Galena to meet Paul's sister Pat to deliver Amy for a visit with Pat's daughter Sarah, Amy's cousin.
After touring Galena, and buying some antiques, we traveled up the "coast" of Illinois and took a small ferry across to Iowa. Then we spent the night in Marquette, IA at a motel with a pink elephant in the drive and visited the riverboat casino there. Mom always did find the unique places to go. The next day we went to Bily Clocks in Spillville and Governor Larabee's Montauk Mansion in Clermont. Mom loved to learn.
That fall she called from Florida with the terrible news that she had lung cancer. She tried to sound brave. But she had to be frightened to death - she always thought she was too mean to get cancer - despite smoking 2 packs a day for some 50 years. It was small cell cancer, which can't be treated with surgery, so she tried chemo and radiation. But by the time she came home to Iowa in the spring of 1997, she was a shadow of her former self. It was downhill from there.
Paul and the kids and I planned to go to Vail for a vacation in August, even though Mom was in the Atlantic hospital. She seemed stable, and was at physical therapy when we stopped on our way through on our trip. Then later that day, when we pulled into Cindo's place in Vail, Cindy met us with the news that Mom had taken a terrible turn and we had to go back. Jud, age 8 said "I'm not going"! None of us were too eager to jump back into the car.
So the Alvillars drove over from Grand Junction, and we took off early the next day for the return trip. When we got to town, we rushed to see Mom who was suffering from a massive infection. To our dismay, there were no rooms at the Super 8, so we had to stay in the motel from hell - The Hawkeye that first night. Fitting name for a smoky, moldy place.
We spent most of the 2nd night sitting with Mom at the hospital, were we too learned the value of hospice. Even though Atlantic didn't have an actual hospice to put mom in, we were fortunate to have such an advocate for our family when the doctor wanted to continue to pump antibiotics into Mom. One night we had a great Dave Bullock steak dinner at Mom and Dad's place. There was lots of laughter.
It was an ugly way to die. Gasping for breath. Ironically, we walked by the respiratory therapist smoking in the entry of the hospital a couple times. How crazy is that?
Mom waited for me to go to the bathroom before she took her last breath. Guess she wanted to protect me even then. It was a relief when she was gone after that suffering. It was permanent. Even though the real mom had been gone for a few months. It was hard to face that she was no longer of this world.
I had a dream with both my parents in it the other night. They only had bit parts, but they were there. It was comforting. No matter how long they're gone, they'll always be with me.
I slept through my alarm this a.m., so I awoke from an exciting dream - McKims and Paul and I driving around in an oversized Hawkeye golf cart that we ended up crashing. With that I awoke and checked my phone - it said the alarm had gone off a half hour before. Yikes! So I started in a rush.
I got to work by 7:30 a.m., so I did pretty well at catch up! And no more episodes of terrible cramps. Called Dr. Turner's office and spoke to a nurse. The Doc is off most of July - spose she's off to Italy again. So I make an appointment to see one of her partners, a man, thanks to a cancellation. I'll see him Wed. morning. As God is my witness I shall not suffer this curse month after month. I'll let you know what he says.
For Every Season
My bestie, Deb's mom passed away Saturday after a month in the hospice in Johnston. Marilyn had been diagnosed with lung cancer (and she was never a smoker) last winter around Christmas, after suffering from poor health for quite some time before that. She tried chemo and radiation for several weeks, but this spring they found that despite treatment the cancer wasn't giving up.
Deb and family found the same thing that we found with our parents, sometimes doctors don't want to give up. They feel like giving up is losing. But sometimes patients know best. At that point, they contacted hospice, an organization that knows how to treat people to help them live through the last stage of their life. Hospice empowers the dying person and their family.
Marilyn was able to live at home for a while, but her health slipped quickly. She was moved into the hospice a month ago and mercifully, finally passed on Saturday. It sure makes me think of my mom. I'm sorry Deb's is now gone too.
There's nothing like a mother, your own personal cheerleader. It's no fun being an orphan - even at 50! It's been 12 years since my mom died of lung cancer. In late summer 1996, Mom and I took a wonderful trip to Galena to meet Paul's sister Pat to deliver Amy for a visit with Pat's daughter Sarah, Amy's cousin.
After touring Galena, and buying some antiques, we traveled up the "coast" of Illinois and took a small ferry across to Iowa. Then we spent the night in Marquette, IA at a motel with a pink elephant in the drive and visited the riverboat casino there. Mom always did find the unique places to go. The next day we went to Bily Clocks in Spillville and Governor Larabee's Montauk Mansion in Clermont. Mom loved to learn.
That fall she called from Florida with the terrible news that she had lung cancer. She tried to sound brave. But she had to be frightened to death - she always thought she was too mean to get cancer - despite smoking 2 packs a day for some 50 years. It was small cell cancer, which can't be treated with surgery, so she tried chemo and radiation. But by the time she came home to Iowa in the spring of 1997, she was a shadow of her former self. It was downhill from there.
Paul and the kids and I planned to go to Vail for a vacation in August, even though Mom was in the Atlantic hospital. She seemed stable, and was at physical therapy when we stopped on our way through on our trip. Then later that day, when we pulled into Cindo's place in Vail, Cindy met us with the news that Mom had taken a terrible turn and we had to go back. Jud, age 8 said "I'm not going"! None of us were too eager to jump back into the car.
So the Alvillars drove over from Grand Junction, and we took off early the next day for the return trip. When we got to town, we rushed to see Mom who was suffering from a massive infection. To our dismay, there were no rooms at the Super 8, so we had to stay in the motel from hell - The Hawkeye that first night. Fitting name for a smoky, moldy place.
We spent most of the 2nd night sitting with Mom at the hospital, were we too learned the value of hospice. Even though Atlantic didn't have an actual hospice to put mom in, we were fortunate to have such an advocate for our family when the doctor wanted to continue to pump antibiotics into Mom. One night we had a great Dave Bullock steak dinner at Mom and Dad's place. There was lots of laughter.
It was an ugly way to die. Gasping for breath. Ironically, we walked by the respiratory therapist smoking in the entry of the hospital a couple times. How crazy is that?
Mom waited for me to go to the bathroom before she took her last breath. Guess she wanted to protect me even then. It was a relief when she was gone after that suffering. It was permanent. Even though the real mom had been gone for a few months. It was hard to face that she was no longer of this world.
I had a dream with both my parents in it the other night. They only had bit parts, but they were there. It was comforting. No matter how long they're gone, they'll always be with me.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Female problems
Men (if I do have any male readers out there besides my beloved Pool Boy) avert your eyes. This blog is not for you. In fact for many of you it will be TMI. If you are squeamish about bodily functions, do not read this piece. But I feel compelled to tell my story, lest others out there are suffering as I have.
It all started a month or so ago. You might recall I found some lovely white pants to wear for my big work-related speaking engagement. I was stressed preparing for my part - talking in front of some 100 people from around the state including my bosses at a conference. I didn't sleep well that week and, though I haven't had a menstrual period for some 2 years, I was experiencing painful menstrual like cramps during the night.
Let me backtrack by explaining that exactly 2 years ago I underwent a procedure called uterine ablation to fry the lining of my uterus, so it would stop hemorrhaging huge amounts of blood each month. I blamed it my saggy baggy old uterus, as when I was younger I didn't have that problem. After the surgery I had a little spotting (I know - icky visual) for a couple months when I would have had a period. But then nothing! It was a miracle. And at first I did seem to still have all the other monthly signs - puffiness, breaking out on my chin, and yes - I know you find this hard to believe - bitchiness. But over this past winter, I had lost track of my period and wasn't even sure if I was cycling any more.
I had my annual physical earlier in May, and was scheduled to have my blood work done. I suggested to Sheryl my examiner (Nurse Practitioner, originally from Creston now practicing in Johnston) that I'd like to know if I was in menopause, along with the usual checking of liver and seeing what my cholesterol levels are.
So I was convinced I had ovarian cancer, until the blood work results came in and lo and behold. I'm not in menopause. So I was having menstrual symptoms, just no period. I figured it was just regular cramps though they were more painful than past cramps. After a few days, they were done. I talked to Sheryl and she said take Tylenol.
Then came this past week - 1 month after the first crampy episode. About Wednesday, I was again uncomfortable. Very painful cramps while sitting at an all day meeting - took meds and felt better later in the day. Came home Thursday and walked hard with my buddies Friday a.m. Cramps later in the day, but sleeping okay.
Saturday morning. Awaken around 7 a.m. painful cramps. Knee-buckling, moaning pain. Like contractions when I was in labor. Call my Doc's office (the one who did the ablation) Take Tylenol, hot bath. Doc's partner calls back - says take pain meds, hot pad. Look online for possible causes - may be post ablation problems.
Cry it hurts so bad! - low around my ovaries. Pressure. Drugs help a bit. Ate lunch and tried to go to WalMart for necessities. Feel pressure pain coming back - break out in a cold sweat paying for my purchases. Drive home. Hot pad, doesn't help - get in the tub again. Such pressure - finally, a gush in the tub. I'm bleeding! Pass several clots in the tub. (Not to be confused with the time I had an epiphany in the tub) Cry in the tub. But finally pressure is less. Thank God that's what I needed. It was like giving mini-birth!
So now I'm spotting. Plan to call my Doc in DM Monday. Jeeez. I don't need this! Eff womanhood, I want to be done with this crap. I don't want to plan my months around bleeding. My life commuting is complex enough already! Plus that pain. I don't think I've been in that much pain since...well I can't remember when. That was like a 7 or 8 on a scale of 10.
We'll see what Dr. Francesca Turner says. I love being a mommy and pregnancy was a miracle and all. But I am now old - all I have to do is look in the mirror to be reminded. Pleez doc make it go away again! The curse is right. And looking back - thank GOD I didn't begin hemorrhaging in my white pants during my talk for work, or at Wal Mart in the checkout line. Cleanup on Aisle 8!
It all started a month or so ago. You might recall I found some lovely white pants to wear for my big work-related speaking engagement. I was stressed preparing for my part - talking in front of some 100 people from around the state including my bosses at a conference. I didn't sleep well that week and, though I haven't had a menstrual period for some 2 years, I was experiencing painful menstrual like cramps during the night.
Let me backtrack by explaining that exactly 2 years ago I underwent a procedure called uterine ablation to fry the lining of my uterus, so it would stop hemorrhaging huge amounts of blood each month. I blamed it my saggy baggy old uterus, as when I was younger I didn't have that problem. After the surgery I had a little spotting (I know - icky visual) for a couple months when I would have had a period. But then nothing! It was a miracle. And at first I did seem to still have all the other monthly signs - puffiness, breaking out on my chin, and yes - I know you find this hard to believe - bitchiness. But over this past winter, I had lost track of my period and wasn't even sure if I was cycling any more.
I had my annual physical earlier in May, and was scheduled to have my blood work done. I suggested to Sheryl my examiner (Nurse Practitioner, originally from Creston now practicing in Johnston) that I'd like to know if I was in menopause, along with the usual checking of liver and seeing what my cholesterol levels are.
So I was convinced I had ovarian cancer, until the blood work results came in and lo and behold. I'm not in menopause. So I was having menstrual symptoms, just no period. I figured it was just regular cramps though they were more painful than past cramps. After a few days, they were done. I talked to Sheryl and she said take Tylenol.
Then came this past week - 1 month after the first crampy episode. About Wednesday, I was again uncomfortable. Very painful cramps while sitting at an all day meeting - took meds and felt better later in the day. Came home Thursday and walked hard with my buddies Friday a.m. Cramps later in the day, but sleeping okay.
Saturday morning. Awaken around 7 a.m. painful cramps. Knee-buckling, moaning pain. Like contractions when I was in labor. Call my Doc's office (the one who did the ablation) Take Tylenol, hot bath. Doc's partner calls back - says take pain meds, hot pad. Look online for possible causes - may be post ablation problems.
Cry it hurts so bad! - low around my ovaries. Pressure. Drugs help a bit. Ate lunch and tried to go to WalMart for necessities. Feel pressure pain coming back - break out in a cold sweat paying for my purchases. Drive home. Hot pad, doesn't help - get in the tub again. Such pressure - finally, a gush in the tub. I'm bleeding! Pass several clots in the tub. (Not to be confused with the time I had an epiphany in the tub) Cry in the tub. But finally pressure is less. Thank God that's what I needed. It was like giving mini-birth!
So now I'm spotting. Plan to call my Doc in DM Monday. Jeeez. I don't need this! Eff womanhood, I want to be done with this crap. I don't want to plan my months around bleeding. My life commuting is complex enough already! Plus that pain. I don't think I've been in that much pain since...well I can't remember when. That was like a 7 or 8 on a scale of 10.
We'll see what Dr. Francesca Turner says. I love being a mommy and pregnancy was a miracle and all. But I am now old - all I have to do is look in the mirror to be reminded. Pleez doc make it go away again! The curse is right. And looking back - thank GOD I didn't begin hemorrhaging in my white pants during my talk for work, or at Wal Mart in the checkout line. Cleanup on Aisle 8!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
It was hell
I always liked the quote from one of my most valued B. Kliban books that Vicki and I loved in college. Pithy sayings with line drawing cartoons. Words to live by! Things like "Chiggers can be boozers" with a picture of a drunk chigger in a gutter with a bottle (instead of beggars can't be choosers), and "Hey Cuba, eat my Florida". Funny!
One was a picture of a grizzled old guy saying "It was hell recalled former child!" Except it wasn't hell. It was just much different than today's children experience. At book club the other night we discussed the stuff we used to do since there wasn't much on TV and we didn't have all those sophisticated video games etc. Plus there were more kids in our neighborhood, due to larger families.
We spent a great deal of time playing outdoors this time of year. Our house was a newer house on the edge of an older neighborhood - address 202 Crombie Place. It was a great place to grow up! Just down the big hill (bad idea to ride my trike down it that time - crash and burn!) was Fairlawns - a post WWII housing development with small starter homes filled with families.
The amounted to a lotta kids to play with! We did lots of running around. You could usually ride around on your bike and scrounge up something to do. Our next door neighbors, the Reinertsons had kids about the same age as each of us - either 1 year older or younger. We spent a lot of time with that family. Oh how I loved it when the older kids allowed us to join into their games! Freeze tag, Sardines, some ghost game where you said "1 o'clock and the ghosts are out" and so on. Kick the can caused Katherine Reinertson to cut her foot once - poorly chosen coffee can.
Most days were spent at the Country Club pool where we were on the go constantly. Baby pool, big pool, chairs to tip and cover with a towel to make a fort, snack shop, locker room, TV room. We watched Dark Shadows each day. We played Shark and Nibbles. We pretended to take each other's photo while going off the diving board. It was all great fun.
I'm sorry kids today have to be so supervised, and that they can't move about as freely as we did in the good old days. It's much more complicated for them to have a play date. They probably don't often get so busy that they forget to eat like we did. Finally Mom or Dad would track us down and we'd come in for a meal. Bathtime was truly needed after a day of all those activities. We were the lucky ones!
One was a picture of a grizzled old guy saying "It was hell recalled former child!" Except it wasn't hell. It was just much different than today's children experience. At book club the other night we discussed the stuff we used to do since there wasn't much on TV and we didn't have all those sophisticated video games etc. Plus there were more kids in our neighborhood, due to larger families.
We spent a great deal of time playing outdoors this time of year. Our house was a newer house on the edge of an older neighborhood - address 202 Crombie Place. It was a great place to grow up! Just down the big hill (bad idea to ride my trike down it that time - crash and burn!) was Fairlawns - a post WWII housing development with small starter homes filled with families.
The amounted to a lotta kids to play with! We did lots of running around. You could usually ride around on your bike and scrounge up something to do. Our next door neighbors, the Reinertsons had kids about the same age as each of us - either 1 year older or younger. We spent a lot of time with that family. Oh how I loved it when the older kids allowed us to join into their games! Freeze tag, Sardines, some ghost game where you said "1 o'clock and the ghosts are out" and so on. Kick the can caused Katherine Reinertson to cut her foot once - poorly chosen coffee can.
Most days were spent at the Country Club pool where we were on the go constantly. Baby pool, big pool, chairs to tip and cover with a towel to make a fort, snack shop, locker room, TV room. We watched Dark Shadows each day. We played Shark and Nibbles. We pretended to take each other's photo while going off the diving board. It was all great fun.
I'm sorry kids today have to be so supervised, and that they can't move about as freely as we did in the good old days. It's much more complicated for them to have a play date. They probably don't often get so busy that they forget to eat like we did. Finally Mom or Dad would track us down and we'd come in for a meal. Bathtime was truly needed after a day of all those activities. We were the lucky ones!
Friday, June 26, 2009
TGIF
I know - I didn't even work a whole lot on Monday. But this week felt longish! I was happy to get home yesterday evening - in time to eat a nice grilled steak with veggies, and head to Book Club. It was a delightful time as usual.
We got to swim in Thea's pool - which is complete with a new liner. As I recall for the past 5 years or so, Thea has been saying "this liner is on borrowed time!" Evidently it came due this summer. After a series of false starts, and gallons 'o water, the above ground pool, surrounded by a deck, is looking good! There is a nice new table and fancy (difficult to figure out) dangling umbrella as well.
Wine has been popular at the last couple meetings and Ramona brought a fancy ice cream bucket ice bucket to chill the vino while we swam. Francie had showered and didn't wear her suit, so we named her the official book "Water for Elephants" question reader, as the rest of us bobbed in the refreshing water of the pool.
We all liked the book. It was a little depressing to start - the old guy narrator was in a nursing home. It made me call my years (6 months) delivering oxygen to comatose people in nursing homes. When I remembered to push the big red button to get in the door (without releasing old folks), I was often faced with comatose patients who I was leery of touching. Ick!
But I enjoyed the book, which I'm sure contained a number of truths about circuses back in the 1930's. While I would proclaim not to like going to the circus, I must admit my Girl Scout trip to the Shrine Circus at Vets was quite exciting. We had to hold onto a rope to make sure we didn't get lost walking in. Then, when our children were little, Dad bought them tickets to the Carson and Barnes circus in Atlantic - big top at the airport. The acrobats were fabulous, and I was amazed at the athletic ability of the clowns and tumblers.
Anyways, last night was fine - book club and a night with my honey - though I wrenched myself out of bed early this a.m. for a 4-mile walk with my buds. A teeth cleaning, lunch with Pablo and a session with Amber, returning my hair to a low and high-lighted condition completed the day. Ahhhh. Then Amy texted me with the news that she scored a part time job marketing for a wine/gourmet shop. Score! Life is good.
We got to swim in Thea's pool - which is complete with a new liner. As I recall for the past 5 years or so, Thea has been saying "this liner is on borrowed time!" Evidently it came due this summer. After a series of false starts, and gallons 'o water, the above ground pool, surrounded by a deck, is looking good! There is a nice new table and fancy (difficult to figure out) dangling umbrella as well.
Wine has been popular at the last couple meetings and Ramona brought a fancy ice cream bucket ice bucket to chill the vino while we swam. Francie had showered and didn't wear her suit, so we named her the official book "Water for Elephants" question reader, as the rest of us bobbed in the refreshing water of the pool.
We all liked the book. It was a little depressing to start - the old guy narrator was in a nursing home. It made me call my years (6 months) delivering oxygen to comatose people in nursing homes. When I remembered to push the big red button to get in the door (without releasing old folks), I was often faced with comatose patients who I was leery of touching. Ick!
But I enjoyed the book, which I'm sure contained a number of truths about circuses back in the 1930's. While I would proclaim not to like going to the circus, I must admit my Girl Scout trip to the Shrine Circus at Vets was quite exciting. We had to hold onto a rope to make sure we didn't get lost walking in. Then, when our children were little, Dad bought them tickets to the Carson and Barnes circus in Atlantic - big top at the airport. The acrobats were fabulous, and I was amazed at the athletic ability of the clowns and tumblers.
Anyways, last night was fine - book club and a night with my honey - though I wrenched myself out of bed early this a.m. for a 4-mile walk with my buds. A teeth cleaning, lunch with Pablo and a session with Amber, returning my hair to a low and high-lighted condition completed the day. Ahhhh. Then Amy texted me with the news that she scored a part time job marketing for a wine/gourmet shop. Score! Life is good.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
2 icons gone
Jacko and Farrah are gone. I'm sorry their lives turned out so badly. Back in their heydays (is that a word?) they were on top of the world. Who could have known their lives would turn out so tragically, each in their own F*&(ed up way.
Michael and the Jackson 5 first hit the scene when I was a youngster - not yet a teen. When I got a little record player for my 13th birthday, I kept it under my bed, pulling it out to listen to my Jackson 5 album on Motown Records each night. I loved "Stop the Love You Save". Michael was such a rockin' little dude!
Through the years, we all know the story as told by the press. As with many people who get idolized from childhood, he became mentally unstable. (good thing I've been hard on our kids - no idols they...) But he did put out some great music in the meantime. Billy Jean, Gonna Rock Tonight, Thriller - all great songs. He was a pop icon. Just today, before I heard about his illness and death I listened to Will You Be There, thinking to myself about how it had been a while since we'd seen anything of the reclusive star. A little premonition perhaps. (watch for me solving crimes and predicting the future on a TV show near you soon)
Farrah - I think half the guys dorm rooms in 1977 had the famous poster up. Everyone tried to do the Farrah hair. (Except me, the girl without the girl/hair gene) They said on TV that she was only on Charlie's Angels one season. Wha? I was surprised! It sure seemed like longer! Sally, Jane, Vic and I used to watch Charlie's Angel (or Chuck's Chicks) in the "den" of our dorm floor, critiquing hairstyles and acting. As if we were goddesses ourselves. Somehow, ragging on Farrah boosted my ego. Right before Chuck's Chicks we watched My 6 Legs (My 3 Sons). My weren't we clever???
At first I liked it when Farrah got together with Ryan O'Neal. He was so handsome in the movie "Paper Moon" - quite the scoundrel. And Tatum was so cute. They both ended up F'ed up too. Hmm perhaps it's a good thing my childhood dreams of fame and fortune didn't come true!
Here's to you Michael and Farrah - you did entertain! And what fodder you've provided for the media for years to come. Anything to forget the recession...
Michael and the Jackson 5 first hit the scene when I was a youngster - not yet a teen. When I got a little record player for my 13th birthday, I kept it under my bed, pulling it out to listen to my Jackson 5 album on Motown Records each night. I loved "Stop the Love You Save". Michael was such a rockin' little dude!
Through the years, we all know the story as told by the press. As with many people who get idolized from childhood, he became mentally unstable. (good thing I've been hard on our kids - no idols they...) But he did put out some great music in the meantime. Billy Jean, Gonna Rock Tonight, Thriller - all great songs. He was a pop icon. Just today, before I heard about his illness and death I listened to Will You Be There, thinking to myself about how it had been a while since we'd seen anything of the reclusive star. A little premonition perhaps. (watch for me solving crimes and predicting the future on a TV show near you soon)
Farrah - I think half the guys dorm rooms in 1977 had the famous poster up. Everyone tried to do the Farrah hair. (Except me, the girl without the girl/hair gene) They said on TV that she was only on Charlie's Angels one season. Wha? I was surprised! It sure seemed like longer! Sally, Jane, Vic and I used to watch Charlie's Angel (or Chuck's Chicks) in the "den" of our dorm floor, critiquing hairstyles and acting. As if we were goddesses ourselves. Somehow, ragging on Farrah boosted my ego. Right before Chuck's Chicks we watched My 6 Legs (My 3 Sons). My weren't we clever???
At first I liked it when Farrah got together with Ryan O'Neal. He was so handsome in the movie "Paper Moon" - quite the scoundrel. And Tatum was so cute. They both ended up F'ed up too. Hmm perhaps it's a good thing my childhood dreams of fame and fortune didn't come true!
Here's to you Michael and Farrah - you did entertain! And what fodder you've provided for the media for years to come. Anything to forget the recession...
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Recession cheer?
Do you think the recession is making people friendlier? Or at least making them act nicer to customers? I pondered this during our recent trip, when everywhere I went, workers were greeting me cheerily. And they didn't even seem like they were faking it.
Are people truly more thankful for their jobs than they were only a year or so ago? Most of us know people who have been affected by the economic situation. In Colorado, my sis Cindo had to take a pay cut, putting her back to a salary rate similar to what it was a couple years ago despite more responsibility today. Her husband Bolder had to take a big commission hit on his bar supply job. I know others who have had furlough days. Though Iowa has not been hit as hard as other places, we are feeling some pain.
Iowa DNR, my employer, just came out with an unpaid leave policy, encouraging staff to take non-paid time off (if their supervisor supports it). Our department is not supported by general tax funds so I don't think our bosses are too keen on the idea of trash folk taking time off. I wonder who is suppposed to take on job duties, as there are unfilled positions plus people taking unpaid leave? Eventually this rubber band will be stretched a little thin!
Amy is struggling in her job hunt in her new city Denver. One position she applied for had some 500 applicants. Argh - how do you compete with that many people when you have few local connections? I tell her just keep plugging away. Anyone out there - suggestions appreciated! While she graduated in graphic design, I believe she's open to all types of jobs.
Jobs are important. It's important that we like our jobs! I've described some of my jobs in previous blogs. No I didn't like all of them all the time. I had to "settle" for employment where I could get it through most of my working career - at least until 1998 when I became a fledgling trash lady. But there were good things about most of my jobs -mostly the people I worked with. They all became friends!
I hope you find your job rewarding!
Are people truly more thankful for their jobs than they were only a year or so ago? Most of us know people who have been affected by the economic situation. In Colorado, my sis Cindo had to take a pay cut, putting her back to a salary rate similar to what it was a couple years ago despite more responsibility today. Her husband Bolder had to take a big commission hit on his bar supply job. I know others who have had furlough days. Though Iowa has not been hit as hard as other places, we are feeling some pain.
Iowa DNR, my employer, just came out with an unpaid leave policy, encouraging staff to take non-paid time off (if their supervisor supports it). Our department is not supported by general tax funds so I don't think our bosses are too keen on the idea of trash folk taking time off. I wonder who is suppposed to take on job duties, as there are unfilled positions plus people taking unpaid leave? Eventually this rubber band will be stretched a little thin!
Amy is struggling in her job hunt in her new city Denver. One position she applied for had some 500 applicants. Argh - how do you compete with that many people when you have few local connections? I tell her just keep plugging away. Anyone out there - suggestions appreciated! While she graduated in graphic design, I believe she's open to all types of jobs.
Jobs are important. It's important that we like our jobs! I've described some of my jobs in previous blogs. No I didn't like all of them all the time. I had to "settle" for employment where I could get it through most of my working career - at least until 1998 when I became a fledgling trash lady. But there were good things about most of my jobs -mostly the people I worked with. They all became friends!
I hope you find your job rewarding!
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