For Those of You Who Came In Without a Program.. The Last Two Weeks in Digest Form.

For those of you who are following my blogs, so much has happened in the last few weeks, I thought I'd better put this in digest form so I can pick up and move on.

Uncle Jerry and Aunt Pat's visit

They came in on their way to Texas, stopping to see us on the 31st of May. What a delight to see them! We had a few beers, talked a lot, sat in the sun and crisped... and then it was time for dinner. I had one remaining ring of kielbasa from Misch's in Calumet City, and some pierogi in the freezer. I couldn't think of a better opportunity to serve it than to bring it out when they told us they were coming to visit. When I went in to check on dinner, I found the sausage was ready and all I had to do was to lightly fry the pierogi in butter. I did that while the guys got the table ready. I called everyone to the table and brought out the platter of pierogi. I heard an audible "Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" come from Uncle Jerry, and I swear his eyes glazed over. He mentioned how "we" never got pierogi except at Christmas, and I had an idea. I went to the kitchen, where I keep the leftover aplatek from Christmas. I told them that since no one ever comes to visit us, and they had made it Christmas for me by coming, I would like for them to break the aplatek and pass it around. I think they were genuinely touched by the gesture, and Uncle Jerry said, "Well we can't say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, so let's say to good health, good fortune and a safe trip." I couldn't have said it better.

Park Lane Jewelry

During the next week, I met up with Charlette, who is now my director in Park Lane. I decided to try selling Park Lane, since it is so new to the Memphis area and I have been having such a hard time finding a job. I love the jewelry and it's very reasonably priced. I was never much of a jewelry person before because I had this view of having "real" jewelry instead of costume jewelry... "real" diamonds vs. cubic zirconias, not using swarovski crystals but "real" ones. The hell with that! I wasn't getting anything new by sticking to that philosophy. I have a few pieces of "good" jewelry, but I will probably put them in the lockbox, since I love the new stuff and don't want the old stuff to get lost or damaged.

I am having my kickoff party this Saturday and am hoping for a good turnout. At the very least, this venture is showing me who I can count on, and who I can't, and that has proven interesting. The people that I have never been able to count on are being excluded from my life permanently. It's time to get rid of all the old energy and replace it with new. Old energy just drags me down.

The Blue Monkey Society

Speaking of new energy... the following weekend, Steve and I went to the Blue Monkey to meet up with some friends of his from high school. This gathering usually happens on the first Sunday of the month at 5pm. There was a quite a turnout! There were about 15-20 people there, including one of their old English teachers. Amazing. People came in from Little Rock and Nashville for this. There were numerous conversations flowing around that big group, and I'm slowly getting to know them through Facebook. What a good group! I didn't get any bad vibes from any of them, and felt very welcome. They all wanted pictures at the end, and I stuck to my camera-shy ways and stayed mostly out of them. Maybe next time I'll jump in.

Tucker

Then there's our 72 pound bundle of dynamite who has been suffering with a cyst hanging off his body for about the past year. He started chewing at it and it got to the point where we had to take him in to get the cyst removed along with all the hanging skin. He came through the surgery fine and is strong as an ox. He's had a cone around his head for the better part of a week, and I had to finally take it off today because he's destroying everything in his path, going along as if the cone weren't there. I can only hope he doesn't chew his stitches open. Oh, the word on the cyst (with tumor) is that it was benign. Looks like he will be around for a long time to come and I'm glad. The house was really empty without him in it.

Chasin' It

With these things all coming at me at full throttle, I thought it was time to kick up my exercise (cardio) a notch, and have done that in the last week. My doctor told me I could get off the cholesterol meds if I added cardio (LOTS of it) to my program and watched my nutrition. I usually ride my exercycle to some music, and yesterday it finally kicked... I reached the endorphin release. Ahhhhhhhh... Been chasin' that booger for a while now. And now that I've hit it, I want to hit it again. I didn't quite get there today, but will go out in the gym and hit the weights in about an hour. Let's see if that gets it. I'm excited, because my energy is getting better and I'm getting stronger. I want to go for a walk later. Maybe I can talk Steve into it as well. I know, it's 95 in the shade today. So maybe we can walk in the shade.

Back At It

I've got to get back to painting now. I'm making some improvements in the house and have to put a second coat on my bedroom door. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Nazdrowie'

Paczki Puta