Goofy or Regular?

Believe it or not, tomorrow is December 1. I for one have continuously expressed my concern with how quickly this year has flown by.

However, December means winter is here! And winter means snow, and snow means fun activities! Over the last two winters I have decided to take up the fine art of snowboarding… and it is a fine art. For me, it has not been easy, but I have grown to love it as a winter sport. So much so that I went out and ordered myself a snowboard after only my third time on a mountain. Most were skeptical of my purchase seeing that my first time down a mountain resulted in a minor concussion and a few smashed 8 year olds.

But, last season I successfully made it down the hills. I’m not good. I’m pretty bad. In fact, I can’t walk for almost a week after we spend time at 7 Springs or Hidden Valley and my knees are usually bruised beyond recognition.

It is one of those things Nick and I enjoy doing together (though, he usually leaves me in the dust to fend for myself, because I hold him up), and we love getting a group of friends together and heading to the mountains for the weekend.

This year I am teaching my friend Jackie to board. In her failed attempt this summer to teach me how to wakeboard, I feel as though this could be a task (Love you JMO). Nick says we both need to purchase helmets. This is probably a true statement.

But for those of you who have never attempted to board or ski, I must tell you that the hardest part about it all is getting off the damn lift. For me, it is no longer making it down the mountain that is my Achilles' heel – it is conquering the ski lift! Getting on – OK. Getting off – Challenge. This is where I fall, bruise my knees, smash into people, knock others over. It’s dangerous, hard and hilarious all at the same time. I’ve seen more injuries occur from people trying to get off the lifts than from falls down the mountain.

This winter season, I have two goals:
1. Learn to use the front edge of my board. Right now, I have two speeds – fast and stop. I don’t carve across the mountain (you need to use your front edge to do this), I just go as fast as I can, and then stop.
2. Master the lift.

Here in Pittsburgh we’ve been having unseasonably warm weather, but by Christmas (26 days) I’m going to be itching to get on my board. Stop this rain, gimme snow!

Happy winter, everyone!

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A New Normal

On Saturday afternoon, November 12, I received a call from my mom that no one wants to get.

“Something’s happened. You need to come home.”

I knew my dad was not having a good day – still in SICU and his blood pressure was extremely low. But I wasn’t prepared for THAT call. I quickly gathered what I could think about in my frenzied state of mind, not knowing what I was going home to or what the days ahead looked like. By the next day, we knew there was only one outcome.

My mom spent almost 3 whole days at the hospital, only going home to shower. My brother and I spent a lot of that time in the hospital as well, while trying to take care of things at home.

We were able to bring my dad home with the help of hospice. My cousin, who is an RN, flew up from North Carolina to help us take care of him. The dog even gave her own kind of comfort – licking his hands and laying under his bed. My mom, brother and I spent my dad’s last moments holding his hands and telling him how much we loved him.

After six physically and emotionally exhausting days, my dad passed away on Friday, November 18.

I have been running on auto-pilot ever since. Everything still feels surreal. The most benign events can cause an overwhelming flood of grief and emotion. This new normal is hard, which was expected, but I had no idea how hard it would be.

We have experienced our first Thanksgiving without my dad, which we handled pretty well. But the next several weeks carry more "firsts" – his birthday, Christmas, my mom’s birthday.

It will get better – eventually. As much as I want to hold on to how things used to be, time keeps moving forward. So for right now, it is just about putting one foot in front of the other and learning how to cope with a new normal.

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Serve You Well

We all live in a complex web of relationships: family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, significant others, etc. Some relationships work, and some don’t – it is the sad reality of life. As I have said before, we live and learn from these experiences and hopefully become a better person because of these lessons. Recently I have learned we must be conscious of who we enter into a relationship with and why. At times we can control the amount at which people rob us of our energy and how often they irritate and frustrate us.

What tends to happen is that we shut off and are not fully present for the people in our lives that truly matter; those who give and take, equally exchanging their energy. We fall into a path of not nurturing relationships that serve us well, healthy relationships. Instead, we lose all of our energy in relationships where the other person doesn’t serve us.

Is there anyone in your life that you notice yourself feeling emotionally tired around? Sometimes we stay in relationships that we would truly be happier without in the long run. A favorite quote of mine is, “Don’t waste your time on someone who won’t waste their time on you.” We all deserve to be happy; life is too short to surround yourself with a few bad eggs. Protect the good relationships in your life, nurture them and be an active participant. Serve yourself and your good relationships well.

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I Am Thankful For...

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, I thought I would post about a couple of things that we are all thankful for. I will speak for myself, but I can almost guarentee that the rest of the WWB bloggers will agree, as you may too, that we are greatful for a lot of the same things. This list does not include everything that I am thankful for, because you all know I am most thankful for my dog, Mark Eaton, but I won't mention him! And so to start...

First things first - Family. Whether it is just one other person or a hundred different people that make up your family, it is still a blessing to have those individuals in our lives. They are who we are, and who we will grow up to be like (Oh lord, please don't let me be like my uncle!) Family should always come first, hence why it came first on my list.

Friends - How interesting that this word also starts with an F. Are F words good afterall? (I know what you are thinking!!) We all know that friends come and go, in and out of our lives, sometimes just as much as the weather changes, but true friends will always be there, come rain, snow, sleet, hail, etc. I cherish my friends and am thankful for everything they have ever said or done for me. I will probably never be ever to repay them for their friendship, but I do not know what kind of person I would be like today if it were not for them.

Freedom - I think I have said it enough times through my blog posts, but I will say it again. I am thankful for those who leave their families and friends to go overseas and fight the battles that help keep us safe from harm. I am thankful for their strength, courage and dedication.

Now here is where some may disagree - Hockey - If you know me, you know that I love, love, love, like really love hockey. It was perfect when I met my husband because one of the first evenings we spent together, we just laid on his floor watching a hockey playoff game and I think he was so excited that he had a girl who actually WATCHED hockey! But now he also knows why I love hockey so much... Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Rick DiPietro, Carey Price, John Zeiler (hahahaha, little inside joke for those who know me), but the list goes on of goooood looking hockey players. I am THANKFUL for them!

So what are you thankful for? I have noticed people posting to their facebook every day what they are thankful for this month, but let's remember to be thankful year round. Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day and remember, give thanks for the fun things too!

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EXHAUSTED...That's How I Feel!

This time of year is hard for everyone.  Not only do you have work and family obligations but the holidays are rapidly approaching which means, cooking, gift buying, decorating and just going here, there and everywhere.  It’s difficult and I honestly don’t know how we all do it!

The last week was completely exhausting for me.  It started off with a quick three-day trip to Philadelphia which did wrap up my travel season for my “big girl” job.  Thank goodness…I really don’t think I could get on one more airplane this year.  I got back to the ‘burgh and worked my Wednesday night and Thursday day shift at our bar.  Friday I managed to almost finish my Christmas shopping and then it was back to work at the bar for the weekend and let me tell you, this weekend was tough!  It was the first weekend, in almost five years of ownership, where I had a mental break from dealing with the type of people you have deal with in a bar.  I now know, and completely understand, why people in the service industry are slightly "off" from the rest of the population.

Friday night I had the most ridiculous customers...EVER!  We had DJs and the music was great but I was dealing with complete asses and/or amateurs.  One woman, who I absolutely cannot stand (I’m desperately trying to figure out a way to get her ban for life) actually tipped me with a plastic, 2006 Steelers football!  Really?!  I had another guy that was buying shot after shot and wouldn’t leave a tip at all and then, to top it all off, I had these amateurs that would come up to me and say “can you make me a shot that doesn’t taste like it has alcohol in it?”  Or the classic, “do you have any beer?”  Seriously…it was enough to make me pluck my eye lashes out one by one and with all the kids coming home from college this week for the Turkey Day holiday, I’m sure I have a week full of fun to look forward too!

Saturday was slightly better.  I of course was up at the crack of dawn but I did manage to get all of the gifts I bought the day before wrapped.  As for down at the bar on Saturday night, it too was slightly better.  The customers were far better than the previous night but we were insanely busy.  I spent most of the night running up and down two flights of stairs (I worked our second floor bar) to get more beer, juice, lemons and limes.  The only real perk was I got an amazing ass workout! J

Don’t get me wrong, I was happy we were busy and making money but I’m EXHAUSTED!  I’m tired of smiling and being nice.  I’m tired of drunk people acting like idiots.  I’m tired of working seven days a week.  I’m tired of cooking, cleaning and grocery shopping.  I’m tired of not getting enough sleep and I’m tired of feeling like a little, old lady when I'm only 33.  I just want to go home, put my jammies on, watch really bad reality TV (perhaps a little Housewives) while drinking hot chocolate spiked with a little something, something until I pass out!  Is that too much to ask for?  I know I probably sound like a whinning, complaining bitch, and I swear I'm not.  I also totally get the motto...Work hard now, play hard later.  Today, I just wish it was later!

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Birthdays and Such

Remember being a kid and literally counting down the days until your birthday. Having half-birthdays. Birthday eve. While I still get excited about presents--I'm a girlie girl when it comes to that kind of stuff--the turning of the calendar and changing of a number I could do without.

I'm not ashamed of my age. I truly have gotten wiser as I've aged and I wouldn't trade the knowledge or life experiences I've had for another chance at youth. However, slowing the process down wouldn't be a bad thing. Maybe have every year be the equivalent of two--730 days vs. 365 days. Or, only celebrate on leap years--which would mean I'm all of eight and a half!

You don't realize how quickly life passes by until you have children. How my kids got to be six and eight is a mystery to me. It really does feel like they were in diapers and cribs last week. I cried on my son's eighth birthday because it just didn't seem possible that he could have gotten that old, that quick!

Any milestone marking time that has passed is bittersweet. It is wonderful to have fond memories to reminisce about, however, it is sad to know certain chapters are complete and will not come again. Graduating high school or college. Buying your first house. Getting married. Having kids.

The point is enjoy it. All of it. It all comes and goes so quickly. We live in such a fast-paced, gotta-have-it-now, no-time-to-wait world that not only do we miss the little things, but sometimes the big ones as well.

At a time such as Thanksgiving, it seems perfect to slow down, enjoy and be thankful for the here and now. Before you know it, there will just be pictures and memories to commemorate another holiday passing.

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Merry Early Christmas to Me

It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve given a “new house” update, but we have been making some progress. And although painting seems like the NEVER ENDING project, I feel as though we might be close to finishing up the last couple rooms. Once those are done, just give me a new bathroom, some new kitchen floors, appliances, and we are ready to move in!

It’s small, needs some updating, but it is ours! It’s been a LOT of hard work, some arguments, decision making, and for indecisive individuals like my fiancé and me, not always a walk in the park…

However; I am excited to announce that we will be closing on our first home next Wednesday, November 23, at noon!

It seems like a long time coming, especially since we have been in the process since July… and working in the house since August, it is all FINALLY falling into place.

The thought of the “officialness” of the whole closing process is a little scary! I’ve NEVER purchased anything so expensive. Besides my saddle and maybe the carpeting I just bought, I can’t say I have invested so much money into one purchase.

A fellow blogger informed me that she literally gets nauseous when making big purchases and has actually gotten sick when buying cars and closing on her house.

I can’t say that I’m a puker – I’m an impulse buyer. Typically, regardless of price, if I want it, I buy it. But I’ve had a lot of time to think about this purchase, a BIG purchase. It’s nerve-wracking. It isn’t like buying a pair of jeans. If they don’t fit right, I return them and get my money back, or find another pair. You can’t return a house if things aren’t going well… I won’t get my money back if the toilet leaks and floods my basement.

Reality is setting in – in 5 days I will be a homeowner. Scary! Exciting!

But I’m ready, it is time, I need to be a big girl!

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