UNCANNY

My "horrorscope" appears on my home page every day and invariably I read it, just for curiousity's sake, usually when I check the weather. Today's is in a word—uncanny.

One minute you will feel like a wild horse straining to break loose, and the next moment you might feel like all you want to do is lie down and take a nap. Your extremes in energy might give anyone who's trying to follow you a serious case of whiplash, but you'll be able to handle this roller coaster ride just fine! Your life is yours to lead as you see fit, so don't pay any attention to people who are trying to tell you to slow down -- or speed up. They mean well, but these advice-givers are butting in.

Sue

My friend Sue just sent this email to me:

"Enjoy this day and this breath you are taking this very moment."

I love Sue.

Twittered Out

One of my grandfather's most often used warnings to me related to people who were "a flash in the pan." He counseled me that a fire that hot doesn't remain so long and thus, I should take care to wait things out to see how they panned out, so to speak.

So Twitter, I think I'm over it. Already. I follow Lance Armstrong, who is fascinating and funny and interesting, and always says good morning, which I think is very nice. I also follow John Mayer, whose mind works in a way I don't think I've ever witnessed before. While I think he is bizarre, he is also brilliant and worth following. There are a couple of others, friends mainly. I used to have twirl open on my desktop so I got updates in real time, but I find now I'm not opening it with as much frequency.

Twitter has provided a place for my goddaughter and I to send quick, private (or direct) messages to one another and we both use it more often than other methodologies so it has been beneficial in that regard. And I suppose I will continue for that reason alone. Otherwise, I think I'm over it.

Like Yesterday

I got an email yesterday morning from our dear friend Allan saying his mother and her husband were on the road from South Dakota to Arizona. They were stuck in Denver traffic and called him to catch up while they were sitting, not moving, for an hour.

He suggested that when they hit the Monument area to get off the highway and come over and see us. I answered Allan's email almost immediately with how much I would look forward to their visit. Within seconds, they walked in the door.

Doug and I haven't seen Audrey and Howard in probably twelve years. And while it doesn't seem possible, we all decided the last time must have been Allan's wedding. Allan is since divorced and has circumnavigated the globe on his motorcycle. I refer to him from time to time, so many of you are already familiar with worldrider, but check him out again anyway.

Audrey commented that Allan had booked a couple speaking engagements and hoped to get on an inspirational/motivational speaking tour. My response was, "Allan has a level of enthusiasm, energy and passion unmatched by most living people. He should excel at motivational speaking as he has done with everything he has attempted to do in life." The unmatched level of enthusiasm comment caused Howard and Audrey to burst out laughing at what an accurate assessment that was.

Howard has aged considerably in the twelve years since we've seen him and Audrey looks exactly as she did, as if I had seen her only days before. Serendipitously Doug and I have been planning to take the boys to South Dakota this summer over the Fourth of July holiday. Doug is great at planning family vacations, he invests hours and hours of research into them and somehow manages to find the good stuff about wherever we are going and also seems to know what we should stay away from. It is almost uncanny. And something he and Allan have in common.

We were able to get great advice about our trip from Audrey and Howard, and have been extended an invitation to watch the fireworks over Mt. Rushmore from their old property, a former museum, and a spot that Howard says makes Mt. Rushmore look as if it was carved just for them. We've heard that the fireworks are some of the most spectacular in the country. Howard is also arranging to get us on top of Crazy Horse. Um, that one I may skip, terribly afraid of heights. But then again, I usually find a way to overcome as to not miss out on an experience of a lifetime, which this sounds like it might be.

What a fantastic visit it was. They stayed for lunch and we chatted for more than an hour, perhaps longer. It is amazing how certain friendships are sustained in such a way that it seems as though we were just together yesterday, even when in actuality, it has been twelve years.

One Step Forward, Ten Steps Back

Seems like I've used that title before. Employees are the single most difficult aspect of the wine bar. There is a certain mentality among servers (and this is an unfair generalization that doesn't apply to ALL servers in the universe), that quitting without notice is okay. And whats more, quitting a couple hours before the shift you're supposed to work is okay.

I've always said that I would not allow the blog to be a place where I vent my frustrations. When I look through archives I want to see happy things, fond memories, reminders of pleasant things I've forgotten. Not angst. But some days, this is the best place to gripe.

Okay, so if I turn it around, Aga and Jenn are gifts from God. They are the best, most trustworthy, pleasant and hardworking people I've ever had the opportunity to work with. Briana and Kasidy are so new, but both seem like they really enjoy working here and now that there is an opportunity for more hours, they'll probably like it even more. And Glenn, our sole male, other than Doug, is a prince, just hardly ever here with graduate school and an internship. But he remains as loyal and hardworking as they come.

I'd like to have a couple of male servers on board, but it just doesn't ever seem to work out. Glenn says it comes with the territory, but it is hard to take sometimes, the constant turnover.

Whew

I'm back, with a vengeance. I don't know where I've been, but I'm glad I'm back. I missed me.

First Wish Granted

Didn't sleep until 9, but did sleep until 8, thank goodness. Somehow in the last fifteen minutes I folded a load of laundry, made school lunches and breakfast, stripped three beds and fed the dog. I think I'm still asleep, so I don't actually know what kind of sandwiches I made or if I fed the dog cereal but at least its done. I'd like to go back to sleep, but at a minimum sitting down and writing gives me a three-minute break from the whirlwind that is my morning. I wonder if my boss would be mad if I came in late today.

Insomnitorture

This is the fourth night I haven't been able to sleep. The last day/night I slept was Wednesday, when after my endoscopy and the drugs that go along with it put me in a coma and I slept for 24 hours. Prior to that, slept like a baby, every night, all night, couldn't get enough sleep. For those of you who have known me a long time, yes, I'm talking about me. I slept like a baby, from the time the boys went to sleep (and sometimes before), until sometimes 7am. I know--shocking.

It's affecting my work, my patience, my thought processes, my sanity. I haven't had insomnia in years, and then, I had so much work, and worked at home, it was hard to know whether it was insomnia or work-induced ocd.

Not long after we moved here and opened the gallery, friends from California, an artist we did a show for and her husband, came to visit. At dinner one night, David asked Doug if I had REALLY slowed down since we moved here and Doug's response was, "Well ... now she sleeps."

I have to sleep. I want to sleep. I want to sleep for ten hours. I want to fall asleep and not wake up until 9 tomorrow morning, and the boys will be late for school, and I won't care, because I was sleeping. I suppose that is a dream I can only have if I'm SLEEPING.

Where have I been?

I never write anymore, which is a shame, because when I read back what I've written, there is so much I remember. I have synched twitter and facebook, I wonder if I could synch blogspot too. I'll have to look into that. Although then everything I write would only be 140 words long, and not all that important. Whereas this blog has been a steady record of our life since March of 2005.

So I guess the bottom line is, I need to get back to this, because it is important. The boys are growing up so fast, and while they seem to be in trouble more than anything else, perhaps writing about the good stuff they do will help remind me that they do good stuff.

Both are signed up for little league. Frank is on the Rangers, although on the schedule they're called the Angels. Frank was very excited to be on the Angels, and then the league forgot to order Angels uniforms, or accidentally ordered Rangers uniforms. So he's a Ranger.

Beckett is on the Raptors. His first practice was cancelled due to snow on the field, but I can't wait to see him play. He's such a natural athlete.

Frank didn't want to play little league, or more accurately, didn't (and doesn't) like to try anything new. We had to talk him into going to the first meeting. His best pal at the time, Tyler, was there, and Coach Dave was SO nice, that it all went well. And now he loves baseball.

Kris thinks I should try to get Beckett to play lacrosse. She thinks his personality is well-suited to it. I guess we'll see. He's five. A little early for lacrosse I think.