Red Nose

What's Happening?

Hi!

I know, I know; it's been a while. Let's get caught up, shall we?

Mom

Mom continues to hold her own. This woman is amazing. She can sit in a wheelchair for a couple hours a day and carry on a conversation, but just when you think she might beat back death once again, the conversation takes a turn. I visited her yesterday and she told me she wanted to host Thanksgiving this year.

Yeah.

I decided to play along, not wanting to upset her by pointing out that it might be difficult to have eight people over for a big turkey dinner when you're pretty much bedridden. Instead, we planned out the meal. She had a blast, so I think I did the right thing there.

Hockey

My Capitals finally snapped their four-game losing streak by beating the San Jose Sharks 4-1! Then they beat the Nashville Predators in the shootout 3-2! My adopted son Alex Ovechkin is leading the league in goals and points. He's a beast, I tell you, a beast. And cute, in a Russian kind of way.

 

(Okay, I cheated. This shot is from the HD Jumbotron. Still!)

Lunch

I love a good Italian joint, so when the lovely and talented Deb suggested a nice place near both of us, I jumped at the chance. It had been way too long between lunch dates for Deb and me, so we really made the most of it. Good food, good friend, good visit!

Stuff on eBay

I'm cleaning out my jewelry box! If you're in the market for some nice pieces, check out my eBay auctions. I'll be putting more things up as the days go by and I dig deeper through my unused and lonely baubles, so check back often.

Good Stuff

Wow, October already!

It's been a busy few days, what with visiting Mom, deadlines at work, and emotional stuff, but it hasn't been all bad by any means.

My Caps have started their season off with a bang, winning the opener against the Bruins very decisively (4-1) and winning the home opener against the Maple Leafs slightly less decisively (6-4). This makes me very happy. Before the home opener, our newest banner was dropped from the rafters:

 

As is our wont (and because we wanted to be sure to snag a Mike Green bobblehead), Joe and I arrived downtown extra early. To pass the time, we wandered over to the Museum of American Art. I was quite taken with a wall-sized multimedia sculpture called "Electronic Superhighway" by Nam June Paik. It's a map of the USA in neon, with DVD players inserted in each "state" playing video specific to that state -- for example, Kansas is playing The Wizard of Oz.

 

This photo really doesn't do it justice. What was really cool was that right where DC would be was a camera, which meant that whoever walked by it was shown on the small video screen right beside it. So of course I had to try to capture that -- you can sort of see me in my Caps jersey here.

Today we went to the Redskins game, courtesy of my sister, where we cheered our team to victory -- a sloppy, sloppy victory, but a victory nonetheless. Let me tell you, my sis and her family do tailgating right.

The game was a roller coaster (kind of like my life at the moment), but we managed to overcome a 10-point deficit and hold on for a win.

So it was a good weekend, overall. The art inspires me, the Caps make me happy, and the Skins give me hope.

I'll take it.

Roller Coaster

The emotional roller coaster continues to operate at high speed.

Wednesday was bad. I met with the social worker at the nursing home and signed the DNR orders for Mom. Did you know that there are two main types of Do Not Resusitate orders? The first, DNR-A, specifies maximum effort to prevent cardiac arrest, but no CPR should arrest occur. The second, DNR-B, specifies minimal effort to prevent cardiac arrest, and no CPR should arrest occur.

I chose B. I also specified comfort care, no antibiotics, no intravenous nutrition, no respiratory intervention. I felt like a one-woman death panel.

Thursday was awful, although it actually started Wednesday night when we found out, quite by chance, that our checking account was overdrawn by $2400. Yes, twenty-four hundred dollars. It turns out that a check I had deposited several days ago bounced! So on Thursday I had to deal with that, and I couldn't deal with until after a 90-minute meeting first thing in the morning.

I was, to put it mildly, a little stressed. It evidently showed, because at least four people asked me if I was all right. The last person to ask if I was all right was in the meeting, just as it was getting started. When she asked, I said, "No!" and promptly starting tearing up, so I left the conference room and found my way to a relatively private nook and pulled myself together. I went back in and made it through the rest of the meeting, then called the business that had written the rubber check.

They were shocked -- shocked! -- to find that the check had bounced and promised to take care of it right away. I started feeling a little bit better.

And then my older sister called to tell me that it looked like Mom was fading fast. So I grabbed everything, called Joe, and beat feet out to the nursing home. When we got there Mom was actually awake. She even talked, although it was more like repeating what we said. She ate a few bites of soup. Mostly, though, she slept.

I took Friday off -- I really didn't want to chance a repeat of the Thursday tear-fest. We got out to the nursing home shortly after lunch. Amazingly, Mom seemed more with it. She talked more (though it wasn't really conversation). She smiled. She called me a dumbass and said I didn't know my ass from a hole in the ground. (Gee, thanks Ma!) She had quite a few visitors. She ate a whole bowl of soup and drank some milk.

The bank account situation got resolved too, so that was a huge load off my mind.

In the evening a bunch of us went over to the assisted living home and moved out more of Mom's furniture. Joe and I took the sofa. We ate a late dinner, all together, and talked a lot. It always feels so much better when we all talk. We get each other; we can say what we're really feeling and it's okay. Somehow we always manage to laugh.

Saturday Joe and I went to the Capitals Convention and had a ball. I put all my worries on hold and just had fun. I got some great autographs, went to a couple of interesting panels, and ran into some old pals. In the middle of this, my older sister called to report that Mom was really much better! She had been out of bed, in the wheelchair, talking coherently, and ate some lunch in the dining room. A miracle!

Today we went to the Caps game, a preseason tussle with the Rangers. The game was great -- the Caps won 4-3. Then Joe took me on my own private tour of the new Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. (He's working in the hall as a docent.) Then we checked out the dinosaurs and the gems and minerals (Hello, Hope Diamond!).

Tired but happy, we got on the subway. Halfway home, my younger sister called. Mom may have been great yesterday, but today she took a real turn for the worse. She spiked a fever, she was terribly lethargic, and she didn't eat or drink. Off we went to the nursing home. She was sleeping, but it was a deep, deep sleep. We couldn't wake her. After standing around for awhile, we all agreed to head home.

So we have fun. We keep life going. And we wait.

Let's Go Caps!

Tonight is the Caps' first home preseason game -- we've won two so far! I can't wait. I really need this sweet diversion, so let's go Caps!

Let Us Move On To Happier Things

Mom is better. Not great, but better. She is still very weak, unable to take a step without help, unable to hold a fork or a spoon without wobbling. We are wrestling with the next steps.

But she is better, and I thank you all for your kind words. I hold you in my heart.

I have had enough of worry for now. Let us move on to happier things. 

Like hockey! 

The preseason begins in less than two weeks; the home opener shortly after that. For those of you who do not know the rules, here is a brief explanation of some of the common penalties from the great hockey movie of the 70s, Slapshot.

It's Not Fall Until September 22

It was actually cool this morning when I left for work, almost jacket cool but not quite. I wore a turtleneck -- a thin one, to be sure, but a long-sleeved turtleneck nonetheless.

But I refuse to believe that it is fall, because it isn't. It isn't fall until the Autumnal Equinox; that is, September 22, 2009; 5:18 P.M. EDT. At that time, you can stand on the equator and the center of the sun will be directly overhead, if that's your idea of a good time. What's more, day and night will be equally long; 12 hours of daytime and 12 hours of nighttime.

After that, the night takes over, little by little, until the winter solstice in December, when I will hide under a blanket and whimper.

That might give you the impression that I hate Fall. Not so! I do hate the short days and the long, long nights, but I'm okay with the season itself. The air is cool and dry and feels clean instead of being a big hot mess of damp; the sky is blue as Redd Foxx's comedy act.

And, of course, there's hockey. The first home preseason game is September 21 against the Buffalo Sabres. Sounds like a great way to end the summer!

Ten Things In No Particular Order

1. We got a new refrigerator! Our old one was 21 years old and finally decided to retire. At least it gave us some notice. So we went to the Big Orange Box store and picked out a basic fridge -- no icemaker, no water/crushed ice/frozen margarita dispenser (although I would have totally gone for a frozen margarita dispenser) -- for $459 bucks. We've never bought a new fridge, so I was overly excited over the clear drawers and the deep door shelves. And it's all nice and white!

2. We went to a hockey game! Yes, in July! It was the Dave Fay memorial game. It was great fun for a great cause. And what could be better than hockey in July?

3. We took Mom to lunch today. There were no tables available in the main dining room of the place she likes, so we sat in the bar. However, the tables and chairs in there are the tall bar variety, so Joe and I had to actually lift Mom up and plop her on the seat. But she ate two cups of soup and a mozzarella stick and various pieces of my salad. She's like a bird, perched on a chair, picking and pecking.

4. I am entirely too fond of cake shows.

5. The posters on the TWOP forum for True Blood have been complaining about a lack of action. Boy oh boy, tonight's episode sure made up for that!

6. Lists work. I should make more of them.

7. Speaking of Mom, she has decided that she wants dental implants and veneers because her perfectly acceptable teeth and partials are "not pretty", so she called her dentist and made an appointment. Then she forgot what day the appointment was, and then she fogged out on the appointment itself. I called the dentist and had a delightful conversation with the nurse, so we're all squared away. She's definitely going to the dentist, she'll have a cleaning, and the dentist will gently let her know that implants and veneers are expensive, painful, and a bad investment if you're 98.

8. I made cupcakes! Because I made the frosting with lemon extract that is more like straight alcohol with a slight tinge of lemon, Joe calls them buzzcakes.

9. I got the checkbook squared away.

10. Finally, a Public Service Announcement regarding my last post. Like President Obama, I could have calibrated my words differently. In short, my brother does not think Buddy Holly is hardcore.

Weddings and Ball Games

What a weekend! I spent most of it outside -- in the woods and in the city -- and an amusing hour or so deep in a cellar in Silver Spring.

Let's start with a wedding in the woods!

On Saturday, my juggling pal Amy married her sweetheart Seth at Gambrill State Park near Frederick, Maryland. The weather was absolutely perfect. It was a small, delightful, beautiful casual wedding.The ceremony was held on the balcony of a little stone cabin perched on the edge of the mountain, overlooking the valley. After the vows, we all went back into the cabin for the reception -- a crab feast! And what a feast it was: steamed crabs, fried chicken, corn on the cob, potato salad, cole slaw, and good bread and rolls. Oh! I forgot about watermelon! The party favors were inscribed crab mallets and jars of Old Bay spice.

Joe and I had great fun instructing the less crab-picking knowledgeable about the best way to pick the sweet meat out of the shell.

And then! The polka band struck up a lively tune out on the patio. The bride and groomed danced their wedding polka and lots of folks joined in. Joe and I, being polka challenged, waited for a waltz, but we did dance. But the piece de resistance was this wonderful cake -- half almond with strawberry filling, half red velvet, and all delicious. It fact, I guess you could call it a crab cake! (Sorry.) (Not.) See the little bride and groom crabs? And the Old Bay and Mallet are also cake! Too cute for words.

On Sunday we went to our first Washington Nationals baseball game. Our seats were on the third base line, right behind the foul pole, in full sun. Good thing the temperature was only in the 80s and the humidity was low -- we baked instead of steamed.

This was my first visit to Nationals park. I love it; it's really a great ballpark, with every kind of great ballpark food you can imagine. I had a Ben's Chili Bowl classic half smoke, followed by a lovely icy lemon gelato. And plenty of water. Whew! The afternoon would have been perfect if the Naionals had won; alas, the Cubs delivered a beatdown to the poor DC team.

Even so, it was still a lot of fun...

In the sun...

With a home run...

by Adam Dunn!

There's more (oh boy, is there more!), but this post is already long enough. Stay tuned for the saga of Hardcore Sunday!

 

Road Trip

Okay!

Joe and I are heading out of town this weekend, but not to Ocean City. Nope, we're heading northwest, to Hershey, Pennsylvania.

For chocolate? I hear you cry.

Nope. For hockey!

Oh good grief, I hear you cry.

Bear with me. See, the Caps minor league affiliate, the Hershey Bears (ha ha, didja get that?) are playing the Manitoba Moose for the Calder Cup. The Calder Cup is the American Hockey League's version of the Stanley Cup. The seven-game series is currently tied, 1-1. Many of the Bears players played for the Capitals for short stints during the season, and it will be exciting to see them play for the Cup.

Plus, it's hockey!

The tickets were dirt cheap. I had Marriott points to burn, so our hotel stay is free. It's going to be a beautiful weekend, after several days of thunderstorms and rain.

But that's not to say we won't have a couple of Hershey Bars while we're there. Hershey's Chocolate World is right across from the Giant Center, after all.

GO BEARS!

Post Playoffs Love List

I'm still a little sad that my Capitals got beat down by the Team Who Shall Not Be Named on Wednesday, but there are many many things that I'm loving this Friday.

• I love my team and I love my fellow fans. When two minutes remained in the game and it was clear that a comeback was not in the cards, the entire crowd rose and gave the team a standing ovation for the rest of regulation, through the traditional team handshake, and through the team's raised-stick salute to the fans. It was such a good season, so full of great games. I admit that I got a wee bit misty. See you in the fall, boys!
• I love that it is 8:00 at night and it is still light outside.
• I love New York in June, how about you?
• I love frozen custard, vanilla with chocolate sprinkles.
• I love azaleas in full bloom, especially when they're big and wild rather than trimmed and sculpted.
• I love Sean Connery as James Bond.
• I love penne with sausage.
• I love turning off the alarm clock when I go to bed on Friday night.
• I love getting checks in the mail.
• I love not having to travel for the foreseeable future.
• I love a Gershwin tune; how about you?
• I love Ted.com - "TED" stands for "Technology, Entertainment, Design." The videos on the site are quite wonderful, ranging from scientific inventions, to brilliantly illustrated research on social issues, to witty talks, to wonderful music. Check this one out and go into your weekend smiling.