Beautiful

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*Reblogged from tumblr *

I think I've been looking at this all wrong ...

Today, every time I read or hear a comment about how beautiful Pippa and Kate Middleton are, I immediately recoil with, "Well I can't possibly be beautiful if Pippa and Kate Middleton are beautiful because I look nothing like them!"

Tulips and daisies look nothing alike.

They are both beautiful!

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HNT - tumblr

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I didn't take an HNT shot last night ... I was too busy drinking vanilla porters ... with shots of vanilla vodka (blame that addiction on Vixen) ... tweeting, texting, chatting and posting tipsy pics (like this one) on tumblr.

And yes, I am hungover ... and headed to work ... go me!

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"(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo"

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Cam spent Easter weekend with his girlfriend's father (and his family - her parents are divorced) in Kalamazoo. Since we have no family connections locally, and holidays aren't really celebrated, I have always been supportive of Cam spending time with other families on holidays.

He left Thursday night.

There was a lot of planning and re-planning of this trip. Originally, Cam's girlfriend's mom (who usually drives half way there, meeting her ex and exchanging the kids) wasn't going to have enough room in her car to take Cam, so Cam was going to take METRA into the city, then Amtrak to Kalamazoo. I was concerned about him making the trip alone, primarily because I couldn't seem to get any adult to commit to picking him up/dropping him off at the train station.

I should have listened to my gut.

Thursday morning I learned that Cam's girlfriend's mom was going to drive them - meeting her ex at the half-way point and exchanging the kids. It was a relief. Cam has made this trip in the past without issue. I was relieved this trip would be the same.

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon. I get a phone call from Cam. He starts by saying, "Did Brenda (the girlfriend's mom) call you?"

I knew this wasn't going to be good.

The story was that he just learned they (Cam, his girlfriend (14), his girlfriend's sister (19) and her BF (19)) had no ride home. Brenda had a change of heart and now wasn't willing to drive half-way to pick up the kids. Cam's girlfriend's dad didn't have the money for gas to make the entire trip.

I needed to buy Cam an Amtrak ticket to get him from Kalamazoo to Chicago (Brenda would cover the cost of the tickets for the other 3 kids), then they would take METRA from Chicago to Podunk.

What??

After pulling Amtrak fare out of my ass, and demanding that someone cover the $6 METRA fare back out to Podunk (Cam had given the $50 cash I sent with him to his girlfriend's father to help out with groceries), arrangements were made for Cam to travel back with the other 3 kids ... on Monday night (Cam had school Monday) ... arriving home at 2AM Tuesday.

And not so much as a courtesy phone call from either parent (although I was able to confirm Cam's story with his girlfriend's father after I tracked him down hours later).

Really?

To say I was livid would be an understatement. I was grateful for the listening ear of a friend, and the common sense to know that calling Brenda at that moment (or any moment for that matter) was a bad idea.

Cam walked in the door at 2:25 this morning.

He will be going to school today.

He won't be going to Kalamazoo again any time soon.

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Too Many Pots on the Stove

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I need to do something to correct this.

Too many pots on the stove means I'm not giving any one thing the attention it deserves, and will likely make a mess of something before it gets on the plate.

Assuming it gets on the plate at all.

Hmmmm ...

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Sunday Secret

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HNT - Tolkien

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"All that is gold does not glitter,
not all those who wander are lost ..."
~ J.R.R. Tolkien


*CLICK (NSFW)*

I got new ink Tuesday. This has been a long time coming, but I finally knew what needed to be done, and it wasn't what I thought needed to be done. In addition to the Tolkien quote, I also had Alan's rose touched up and recolored (you can read the story [HERE]. It was time to move forward - to accept that even the most beautiful moments in life can have a painful thorn ...

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It's Raining Visitors - Part II

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Last week I wrote about my exciting and impromptu visit with Desert Rat. In true my life is a roller coaster fashion (I was on an uphill swing) the following Sunday I had more visitors - Sujomi and her Handsome Husband drove up to Podunk to have lunch with me.

(Handsome Husband is a little shy)

Sujomi was my primary inspiration for doing the Dana Does Digital Project 365 blog last year, so it's no surprise that we spent the majority of our visit taking photos.

You can see Sujomi's photos [HERE] and [HERE] (she's amazing - go look!). I decided to be brave and pull out the new to me DSLR and shot a few of my own ...

This tree had actually "swallowed" the barbed wire in places

NUTS! That had obviously been broken into by some critter

Bits and pieces of memories, dumped in a farmer's field

An old window frame, discarded by the wind only to land precariously

Rusted wheels that have likely seen many harvests

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HNT - Vulnerable

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And introduce an element of cynicism and darkness into it
and just realize that we're all vulnerable. We are humans.
There is a finite end to this life and we're all going to face it
and a little silliness can help.
~ Alan Thicke

*CLICK* (NSFW)

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It's Raining Visitors - Part I

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When it rains it pours ... and this week there was a wonderful spring flood!

I received an email early last week from long-time cyber friend Desert Rat. Rat lives in Arizona, but she and her husband were coming to Chicago for vacation. Would I be interested in coming into the city to have dinner with them?

SQUEEEEEEE!

We made plans for me to take the train into the city Thursday. When Cam learned I was taking the train, he decided that he needed to take the train too. Fortunately, Rat does not have an aversion to gnarly 15-year old boys!

*NOTE* I apologize in advance for the quality of the photos. I had my camera, but went with the convenience of my cell phone.


I tried to get Cam to lay across the tracks - I thought it would make a much more interesting photo - he was a party pooper!



My protector ... doesn't he look fierce??



Cam and I made the trek, got lost, called on my twitter friend Monkey to help us find ourselves (although not here now, he lived in Chicago for many years).


We had a wonderful dinner - I screamed out Jay's name when experiencing a foodgasm from this bleu cheese burger.


Rat didn't seem to mind ... she was playing with her food (yes, those are raw onions)!

We ended the evening with a walk back to Union Station, a visit to the restroom where they had DYSON hand dryers, a quick photo of Rat and I in front of the Nuts on Clark sign (which she promises to email) and then Cam and I ran to the train - somehow making it before it pulled out of the station at 8:30 (yes, we were those people).

A big thank you to Rat and her husband! It was a great evening and I feel privileged to have finally met them!

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HNT - Eye

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That old law about 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind.
The time is always right to do the right thing.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

The "cure" for multiple corneal abrasions?? Some fancy-schmancy eye drops four times/day (first dose right after I get out of the shower) and time! The eye is healing and feeling much better!

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Bits

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Got little bits of stuff hanging around and need to get them of of my brain. Writing them down will do the trick, right? Right??

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Had a bit of a "blow up" with "husband" this weekend. Let me preface this by saying in a recent discussion with him, he told me to start asking for help when I needed it - to quit being so proud and stubborn. I took him for his word

Last week he offered to cover $180 worth of car repairs on the Cavy. I took him up on his offer. This weekend? He called and left a (lengthy and nasty) voice mail complaining that the only time I want anything to do with him is when he's shelling out money.

There is some truth to that.

Needless to say I'll be paying him back every last penny of the $180 and I will not take him at his word again ... at least not when it involves money.

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I've been thinking a lot about what would happen to my cyber-self should anything happen to my physical self. I am in a somewhat (I think) odd place. The people who would be contacted should I become seriously ill ... or worse ... have no idea that I blog or tweet.

Do any of you have a similar situation? And a solution??

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Speaking of things happening to my physical self, if you follow me on twitter you know that I had a fairly significant eye injury yesterday - two large corneal abrasions on my left eye.

It was kind of a strange situation. I woke up Thursday morning, put in my contacts and headed to the gym at 5AM. I had some problems with my left contact - had to take it out and put it back in again - but nothing I haven't had happen i the past.

During my workout I noticed that my left eye was getting a little cloudy. Again, nothing that hasn't happened in the past. Went home and took out my contact ... and then all hell broke loose.

The pain was unbearable. It felt like someone had emptied a dump truck of sand in my eye. It was extremely sensitive to light and I lost all but light/dark vision in that eye. It scared the hell out of me.

By about 7AM I knew I had to get to the doctor, but I also knew there was no way I could drive myself (the doctor is a 20 mile drive from Podunk). I didn't have anyone that I could call. Let me say that again - I DIDN'T HAVE ANYONE THAT I COULD CALL. I have never felt such a complete sense of being invisible and alone.

I broke down and called "husband" although I figured he had already left for work and would likely not take my call anyway ('cause that's how he rolls). I left a voice mail ... and then I panicked.

Thank goodness for a few of you who talked me down from the ledge.

As it turned out, "husband" had overslept and was in the shower when I called. When he got the message he immediately called me back and was at the apartment in 10 minutes to take me to the doctor. He stayed with me at urgent care, then took me to the optometrist after urgent care released me.

I hated every moment of having to depend on him, but also realized just how limited my options were. I was torn between being grateful he was there, and being angry that I am here.

Life has a funny way of teaching lessons sometimes.

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Lessons? Yeah, I received another one in a recent discussion, that was then repeated by someone else in an email. I was described as having:

... typical Dana "I'm not good enough for anybody, they'll end up not liking me anyway, I'll push 'em away now" rubbish.

It made me realize just how frustrating I must be for people who care about me.

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Sunday Secret

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