Surgery Went Well

My Dad had his heart surgery on Wednesday and although very serious the doctor said it went with out any complications what so ever. He will be in the hospital over Christmas and so my mother is going to spend Christmas Eve over my sister's house. This is just one crazy Christmas for us all but in the grand scheme of things, plenty of great presents already received and enjoyed for this Christmas -- better health, a great job, and lots of blessings.

¡Ay, Caramba!

I was in Mexico having lunch with my friend Oscar and wouldn't you know it, there was a clown in the booth next to ours! Just a miscellaneous clown having lunch with her friends, who were not clowns. Of course my eyes were bugging out of my head! I have known Oscar for a while and although we always speak in Spanish, since I have known him so long he understands perfectly my level of Spanish and adjusts his Spanish to mine. I asked him to please ask the clown if I could get a picture with her, he said NOOOOOOO. He thought I was crazy. I begged as how many opportunities do you get like that in life. He still said NOOOOOOO and added again that I was crazy. I had to figure something out and fast!

When our waiter came up I asked in Spanish of the waiter that since I feel my Spanish is poor, would he please ask the clown if I could get my picture with her. He understood perfectly and said he would ask. He left and Oscar rolled his eyes, as if that mattered - you know how many times in my life I have gotten the eye roll from people LOL. Eureka, the waiter returns and tells me the clown said yes! I wanna pee my pants AND my heart is palpitating but I know it will be good to deal with the clown issue once and for all head on - nose to nose I guess would be the appropriate saying.

I go over and in Spanish tell the clown Merry Christmas and thank you for the photo. She says - in PERFECT English - you are welcome honey! My head is swimming!!! The crazy miscellaneous clown in Mexico speaks perfect English - and it gets better. The crazy clown tells me she wants to hold her bible in the picture and pulls out this HOT PINK bible and holds it up - don't believe me then look closely at the picture above. All I can think is that you really should not drink the water in Mexico as it must fuck up your head since this cannot be reality. As it all turns out, the clown was from Vegas (sure why not) and was there with her church on an evangelism mission. So of course now I am really afraid of the clown as I am thinking the crazy miscellaneous English speaking clown in Mexico is going to want to baptism me or something. Turns out she was very sweet. She did invite me to a meeting and gave me some literature - all written in Spanish.

I return to my table and Oscar tells me in Spanish that I am the reason Mexicans think all gringos are nuts. I wish I could disagree but I cannot. I told him it was not me that it was the water in Mexico. He did not buy my claim. Then to top this off - check out the picture one last time - how freaking good do I look in that picture???? Why didn't my picture with Sharlowe that I posted a little bit ago come out that good. Now I am sitting here wondering if I use this picture as my online profile picture what kind of gentleman callers is that going to attract??? Crazy, crazy, crazy -- my world is crazy. And regardless if you say clown or you say payaso - they still scare me.

I Am Worried

Got a call that they rushed my father to the hospital. He had a heart attack and although he is not in good health, he has never had heart problems. They did some tests and said he needed an operation to fix his heart. The operation has a 98% success rate and it will add years to his life. With out the operation he has 6 months. So he is having the operation on Monday at a hospital in Boston. I feel bad and it makes this strange Christmas that much stranger. I feel mostly for my mother. My father is in the hospital and getting excellent care but my mother worries so - all the time. I know I am just like her but she still worries even more than me.

Then there is that whole lack of emotion factor in my family. I love my family, you all know that but it is only my mother and I that are emotional. My father does not take care of himself so I have been expecting this call for years. I am good with my relationship with him. I do not want anything bad to happen but there are only two definites in life. It is all very strange, strange indeed. I think he will be fine, I hope he will be. I just hope my mother is too.

TOPS Christmas Party

At my weight loss we has a little Christmas party and it was fun. We did not over indulge too much but we did enjoy. We had some nice food, a gift card swap, and some laughs.

This is Robin and Mary is in the blue. I love Mary. She is from Ireland and is so sweet and inspiring. We all have a way to go on this road but it is good to have friends like her along for the trip.

This is Sharlowe. I know that you are not supposed to have favorites but she is my favorite! She is sooooo lovely! I cannot help it, if I love you then you know it. I have always been like that. I do not look good at all in that shirt! I have not gained any weight but boy is that an unflattering shirt. But I still love the picture because I love Sharlowe. Just before we had this picture taken I noticed have very short she is next to me. I told her that I was going to look like Santa Claus and she would look like one of my elves. And we do!

Some of the gals. We do our best.

I Am Under Attack

This praying mantis was in my house! I DO NOT want roommates and especially scary ones like this! It freaked me right out as I am still not over the trantula deck sighting that I posted before. I got the broom and swept it out the door and trust me he was none too happy about the eviction. I then grabbed my camera to take it's picture. The whole time I had the heebie jeebies so of course I then quickly went back into the house and locked the the door.

Ok I Will Admit It

I am sad that I will not be in MA for Christmas. I am super happy about my new job and it is going well, so I know that I have a huge blessing to be happy for but I have never not been with my family for Christmas. They are completely nuts but I love them for it. When do I ever complain or fuss about my family? When do I ever say this sibling is fighting with that one or someone is causing drama? That just is not my family and I am incredibly fortunate for it. While I was at the boss' Christmas party yesterday there were other east coasters that were laughing and joking about how happy they were not to go back for Christmas because it was too much work and too much of a hassle. I felt bad for them that that was their view of their family. I know I am lucky that I was able to go back all these previous years and although I am far away I don't think it ever really dawned on me that this could ever possibly happen. Seems I did not think the one through too much.

Anyway I wanted to be cheered up some so I went down to Mexico last night and hung out with Oscar. It was fun of course but he asked if I was going to Boston for Christmas and I told him that I could not. I told him it was ok because maybe I could go in February for a longer period of time or can save money to go in June for my niece and nephew's high school graduation. He invited me to his house to spend Christmas with his family. He has nothing but he has his family and so it meant a lot to me. I actually cried. I have gotten a lot of nice invites like that so far and again, I am lucky for that. I do not know what I will end up doing but regardless of what it is, I will appreciate the gifts that I have received in my life, like my family and friends. Still doesn't mean it doesn't make me cry.

Movie Review: Submarine

This movie came out earlier this year but I did not get a chance to see it in the theaters so I watched it on dvd last night. It was so good. I have had an odd week so and seeing this movie completely saved it for me and made the week end on a good note. It is a coming of age story about Oliver Tate who clearly is an odd young man but still like everyone else is doing his best to figure out this crazy ride called life. It is quirky and strange so I am not sure how realistic but it was still sweet and funny. Everyone just does their best and so even if a bit unrealistic the point was still well done and well received. I made me smile and I enjoyed every bit of it.

It got great reviews and it was written and directed by this guy who was in this really funny British sitcom called the IT Crowd. He is funny on the sitcom but I think this, the first movie he wrote and directed, shows how insanely talented he is. Everyone thinks I love Mexicans but I have always been in love with the British. The only downfall is I see all these great movies and shows and yet it is hard to find anyone that ever knows what the hell I am talking about. I cannot be the only person watching these things. Guess that is what my blog is for.

What a Pisspot!

Hi There. Well my week is still shakey and today I was just so annoyed. I am trying to right things but it is just a challenge. Things heated up a bit at the office - nothing too bad but I did raise my voice which makes me unhappy. Then I went to the post office at lunch and it was a zoo so I left. Driving was a nightmare - people honking at me and everything. Just nutty. I have been making bad eating choices. Then I went off to Zumba. I love Zumba, you know that. I wanted to just shake it all off and exercise and feel good. The class was so helter skelter! The instructor kept forgetting the steps and really seemed like she was just making shit up. That made it hard for me to follow and so I did not feel like I was getting a work out which was making me even more annoyed. I hung in there for 30 minutes and my annoyance was just not subsiding. I got my gear and got the hell out of there right in the middle of class. I knew there would be a call later and there was - which just means someone cares. The instructor who is always so nice to me called because she was concerned. I did not take the call but felt guilty so I called her back. I let her know my day was challenging and then since the class was all over the place it greatly annoyed me and so I left. She quickly agreed about the class and apologized.

I felt bad - I really did, but sometimes when I just cannot make things stop I do the only thing that I can truly control which is myself and I leave. Matt would probably have told me that I have the choice not to react with annoyance to things in the world but I truly don't have that power. I sincerely did my best to thwart all the little craziness but then I just gave into it. I do feel better now - actually I feel exhausted and look forward to a really good deep sleep and much better day tomorrow.

Oh Mr. Blue

I was kinda sad today. I don't really know why but I just kinda was. I know that I have not figured out a steady schedule for exercise to go with my new job and that is bugging me. I also know that exercise keeps a happy level of natural happy chemicals in your brain. But I am not sure. Tomorrow there is a party at my weight loss group and I am ready for it but just have not been giving it my all. I also have a crush on a straight friend and that is so making me feel like and 8th grader. We used to work together and I did not like him at all when we worked together. He is the complete opposite of me, in just about every way. But we stayed in touch somehow. He was unemployed while I was unemployed so we hung out a couple times and it went from there. And now I have this weirdo crush. Then to top if off, I was describing him to a friend and how odd this crush is to me and as I described him it dawned on me how eerily similar he is to my ex. Boy that was an unsettling thought. Perhaps it is all the Christmas carols. Christmas carols are so beautiful, I just love them but they me feel so sad. This is for real, nutty. I know they are supposed to be joyous but joy translates to sadness for me because their beauty is so overwhelming. I am sure I will shake this, I just have to exercise regularly, stay away from the donut shop, just enjoy having a good friend and stop playing Christmas carols. Ahhh at least I have a to do list for this week.

The Not So Windy City

I got three calls today to check in on my because people are hearing about the crazy Santa Ana winds. I have not been too good with the news lately so I do not know where it is effecting but all is good here. There has been no winds at all this week. My wind chimes go nuts when the Santa Ana is blowing but nada. It has actually been a very cool and damn fire season which is good news so I would welcome the winds as they warm things up. But even better news, as I said three people called to make sure I was ok because they were concerned - how sweet is that? It made me feel really good!

I'll Be Home for Christmas

The holidays are coming and I really do not have the money to travel - plus I just became a regular employee today at my company - hooray - but I figured I still would ask if I could get some time off around the holidays. I seemed if I didn't ask the answer was a no but if I asked perhaps it might be a yes and I could some how scrape the money together. I have no reps off and the supervisor will be in so I asked my boss. He said no and told me know as it would just be to busy. I said, " No worries - can't blame a guy for trying - I will definitely be here". So I will be having my first California Christmas. Should be interesting. Considering that I already got an amazing gift - my job - I am still looking forward to it. I already have some local invites too so it is all good. My mother already knew I would not be headed back east for the holidays but I still let her know that 100% definite I would not be there so don't be expecting any surprises. Plus on the brightside, I don't have to worry about getting trapped in any snow storms like last year. Regardless I am still so thrilled for Christmas!