Hellacious Travel Day

I had to travel for a client visit yesterday. Dallas to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina and back in one day, and I didn't have direct flights. I had to get up before the sun (5 a.m.) and wasn't home until 11 p.m.

My colleagues and I were delayed at our stop-over, so we called to let the client know we were running a bit late. Then, the cab driver we got didn't know how to get to our client's. He called a friend and spoke a foreign language and supposedly got directions. However, I've been there several times and could tell he was going the wrong way. We asked him to turn around, and from the left lane -- not the turning lane -- and without looking, he proceeds to do a U-turn. Unfortunately for him, another driver was coming up in the left turn lane, and they collided. A little whiplash makes the day that much better, doesn't it?

We got to meet a friendly North Carolina state trooper as we waited on the side of the road for our client to come pick us up.

Our presentation went well, and the cab ride back to the airport was uneventful. We took our two flights home, only slightly delayed, and when I landed, I called Steve.

"I've got some news," he said.

Something in his voice made me cringe inside. "Okay..."

"Al's coming through Dallas/Fort Worth and is going to stay with us tonight."

Al (not Steph's Al, this is formerly-dairy-farmer-Al from Wisconsin) was Steve's late sister's boyfriend up until her death from lung cancer three years ago. He is like family and was extremely generous to us when we visited Wisconsin in July, allowing us to borrow a car and stay at his farmhouse. He has recently sold the farm and cows and traded it for the open road, trucking across country with various loads on a flatbed. I like him, and of course, he's always welcome, but after a long day of travel, I didn't really feel up to entertaining.

But Al is very easy-going, and Steve did most of the "entertaining." They were understanding when I went to bed. And luckily, we cleaned the house this weekend in anticipation of my uncle Tom's visit today. He should be arriving any minute now.

P.S. The Cakebread wine dinner was FANTASTIC!

Sweet Ending to a Busy Week.

What a crazy week this has been! I've had two new business pitches and an in-office client visit, leaving hardly any time to do my project work. Am I glad it's Friday! Unfortunately, I will be travelling again on Monday to visit another client. I'm very disappointed that Monday is the day my company has decided to have its annual Halloween costume party. It's one of my favorite days here at work with everyone dressed in costume, and I'm sorry to miss it.

But I'm really looking forward to tonight. Steve and I have a date night planned at the restaurant where we met. They are hosting a Cakebread Vineyards wine dinner, featuring Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The chef is preparing a four course meal to go along with these fantastic wines, including scallops and filet mignon.

Baby Work

It was a busy night at the hospital tonight. They are short-staffed, so all the nurses were really happy to see me.

I fed three babies and held a fourth. One of the babies was born 3 months ago at 26-27 weeks -- about as early as they can survive. He's having trouble breathing and is still on oxygen. He scared us all at one point holding his breath and making all the alarms sound. He's also been constipated for the past five days (!) and finally had a good bowel movement after a suppository.

Another little girl is getting a chemotherapy agent to treat cytomegalovirus (CMV). It's a common virus that's part of the herpes family of viruses, but in premature infants, it can cause all sorts of problems, including hearing, vision and neurological problems. Poor little thing. She's obviously going through a very tough treatment.

The second little girl I fed was born without any opening for urine or poop to come out. So strange...she currently has an ostomy and a catheter of sorts to allow the waste to get out of her body. I don't know what the doctors will do long-term for her.

So keep these little ones in your prayers.

Just like the rest of us

On Friday, I flew up to Cincinnati for a client meeting and back to Dallas all in one day. It’s a grueling schedule, starting at 6 in the morning. And it’s on American Eagle. So much for their “more legroom” advertising campaign. This plane is cramped.

All I want to do when I get onboard the airplane is sleep, but I have to prepare for the meeting I’m going to since I haven’t had time this week to review the materials. Still, comfort is important.

Before we take off, a small child is screaming loudly somewhere behind me. Great, I think. (I love children, but when I’m travelling, especially this early in the morning, my patience for them is greatly reduced.)

Then the person behind me keeps messing with my seat back. Any traveller expects some jostling as people get settled, but this just keeps going and going. I finally do the half-turn of my head to signal my annoyance, thinking perhaps this person is so self-absorbed they don’t realize the effect they are having on me.

The woman sitting next to me says, “Do you know who that is?”

Since I didn’t actually turn all the way around and see the person’s face, I say, “No.”

“It’s Daryl Johnson!” (former Cowboys football player and local celebrity)

I turn around again, and sure enough, it is.

“He keeps bumping my seat,” I explain to my neighbor.

Celebrity or no, he should still be more considerate.

I’m not one to get too excited about celebrities. When I was about fourteen, visiting my aunt in California, we saw Sylvester Stalone at an outdoor shopping mall. I was so excited and politely asked him for his autograph. He was so rude to me, not even glancing my way, signing the paper and disdainfully handing it back to me while blowing cigar smoke. I was so unimpressed, I threw the autograph away. Since then, I’ve seen Jamie Lee Curtis at an airport (she’s angular and too thin) and had the opportunity to meet Paula Zahn (I was a big fan at the time, and a bit starstruck. She was also rail thin and looked like she needed to eat. Still, she was polite and let me take a picture with her. I have no idea where that snapshot is now.)

I guess I adhere to the idea that they are just human beings like me. We all put our pants on one leg at a time. We all have our foibles and our baggage, our own crosses to carry, even if some are better at concealing theirs than others.

My New Teeth

Well, I survived 2 hours and 45 minutes at the dentist this morning. My face was all puffed up and I was numb from my cheekbone to my nose and down to my chin for several hours, but I have minimal pain now. The temporary crowns look good, and he also fixed a chip in another tooth and a small cavity in another.

I went into work afterwards, but since I looked like I had suffered a stroke (the left half of my face was just not responding), it was difficult for anyone to look at me and hear what I was saying. Besides, I didn't feel so great, so I took my laptop home and am now sitting on the couch working, looking out the window at a beautiful sunny day and having my snuggly Sabrina beside me. And Steve brought me some beautiful flowers that are brightening up the room.

Bad News

I had a regular dental cleaning appointment this afternoon. I haven't had any major problems, but I did mention I've had periodic sensitivity in the top left teeth. Nothing overwhelming. I figured it was a small cavity.

"Which one? Second from the back or third from the back?"

I'm not sure. Can't really specify.

"Oh...it looks like you have a hairline crack across both of those teeth."

WHAT?!?

Oh yes, since I clench and grind my teeth at night, I have created two new cracked teeth. (My first cracked tooth resulted in my first crown earlier this year.)

And it gets better! Since the other crown was also in this calendar year, I'm nearing the end of what my insurance will cover. I have to pay an additional $2000 out of pocket for these lovely crowns.

"The sooner you get this done, the better."

How soon is soon?

"Tomorrow wouldn't be a bad idea. If you wait, they may crack deeper, requiring root canals. The deeper the divide goes, you may not even be able to save the tooth with a root canal and that would require extraction."

I am too young to have a partial! I have an appointment tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. And I am NOT a morning person.

Happy Monday

I called my mom this morning to wish her a happy birthday. She and my dad are in Niagra Falls, and she sounded so happy. She had told my dad she wanted to go to either Niagra or the Grand Canyon, and about a month ago, it didn't look like either one was going to work out. Fortunately, it did, and they are enjoying the Falls and their time together.

Birthdays are a great time to reflect how much someone means to you. My mom is such a special person to her family and friends. She's an organizer, from making lists to getting people together. She's incredibly loyal to her family. Her sweet demeanor and polished appearance hide a lioness ready to protect those she loves. She's an incredibly hard worker. I've seen her not only at home but also in an office situation, and she's well respected for her diligence and persistence.

And she's a Baby Boomer. She was conceived after her dad came home from WWII, and I think they must have been delighted with this petite, darling, blonde-haired, blue-eyed baby girl after their firstborn was a beautiful son. Now, she definitely fits the description of Boomers that state "60 is the new 40."

Happy Birthday, Momma.

A Noise in the Night

Texas has a lot of pests. Mosquitos are one of my least favorite.

One night, shortly after we had turned out the lights to go to sleep, both Steve and I heard the telltale whining noise of a mosquito buzzing around our heads. Steve said, "It's a mosquito! Quick, turn on the light!" I did, and he successfully killed it. I was so relieved. I don't think I could have easily fell asleep waiting for that bug to feed on my blood and leave a whelp.

Sometimes, Steve wakes up in the middle of the night for an hour or two. He gets up and watches TV in the living room. He did this a few weeks ago, and as he was lying on the couch, he heard a loud whining, buzzing noise. It was louder than the one we had heard before. This thing must be massive! He turned off the volume on the TV in order to locate the bugger.

Last month, we celebrated my cat Sabrina's 13th birthday. For her special day each year, she gets wet cat food and a catnip toy. This year, I also splurged on an electronic litter box. Fifteen minutes after the cat leaves the box, a metalic rake combs the litter and moves any waste into a receptacle. It also rakes once every three hours.

As you've probably figured out, the noise Steve heard that night, his "massive mosquito," was Sabrina's new litter box!

Flipping a House

All last week, Steve has been in Virginia working on his rental house. I joined him last weekend to finish it up. It's amazing how much work he got done in a little over a week, and it's horrifying to see how much filth and damage the tenants had created.

We expected to paint and clean. Steve was even aware of the garage door which had been accidentally smashed by the tenant and needed replacing. But what we weren't prepared for was the overwhelming stench of cat urine in every room.

Although according to the lease agreement pets were not allowed, the former tenant let his cat use the house as his large personal litter box. That smell is so rank! Steve had professional carpet cleaners do their best, and while it lessened the odor, it was still noticeable. So he pulled out all the carpet and used Kilz to seal all the floors. New carpet has been ordered and should be installed in the next two weeks.

We also found that they must have had a small fire. There was smoke damage in the master bedroom and the adjoining hallway, and we found a spent fire extinguisher.

Then there was the filth. It appeared to me that these people had shook up soda cans and allowed them to spray on the walls and doors. The cobwebs in the corners of the ceilings were so laden with dust even the spiders had moved out. Everything was just disgustingly dirty, so it was amazing to see the transformation when we were finished.

Fortunately, Steve had help from his neighbor, who offered all his tools, and his dad, who can fix anything. They replaced faucets, fixed leaky sinks and toilets and did other repair jobs. We are also SO grateful that he already found new tenants! It's the sheriff's son, who is a policeman, and his fiance, who is an EMT. They are so excited about the house, they offered to help us clean and paint! We are hopeful that they will take better care of the place, and they promised to treat it as their own.

Steve and I often watch TV shows about flipping houses. Now, we know we could do it.

Amazing Devastation and Hope

One of my friends (and a fellow coworker) suffered a tremendous loss a little more than a week ago. She and her husband awoke in the middle of the night to a raging house fire. It completely destroyed their home and most of their possessions, including her car. Fortunately, both her and her husband were able to get out safely with their two dogs and cat.

On Saturday, several additional coworkers and I went over to the demolished house to help her clean up. Thankfully, she had renter's insurance, and they already made plans to buy a house (which they've now closed on). But the loss of so many things makes you ponder. She lost all her clothes, Christmas decorations, antique family lamps, mementos from trips, including their honeymoon...

It was strange to see how some things were left unscathed. She was grateful that the fire skipped their office, where all their photos and documentation were kept. And all the electronic equipment in that room was also not touched by the fire, but it was ruined by the water.

Our clean-up on Saturday was to remove and take to the dump any and all personal items. The house will likely be torn down, but the insurance company requires that all of their items be removed. We rifled through roofing material mixed in with the ashes to throw away burned and soaked clothing and tossed furniture out of the second story window. There were at least 14 people there, and we got the job done in about two hours.

My friend's attitude is what really amazes me. She's such an optimistic person, and she has approached this just like anything else. She just doesn't dwell on the losses, and honestly says she's grateful they and "their babies" got out safely with a smile on her face.

She gave me a tour of the destruction, including her grill, which was melted down to a twisted mass of metal due to the intense heat of the fire. I'm thankful I've never had to experience something like that. If I ever do, I hope I can meet the challenge with the enthusiasm and optimism that she does.

Today, just to be on the safe side, I bought a fire-safe security chest for our important documents.