Desert Magnolia

In 5 days my baby girl will be getting married. In 2 days she, her fiance and their besties will be arriving. In 1 day I will need to have baked 6 quiches of different flavors for the brunch on Sunday. In 3 days I will have baked enough brownies to satisfy the sweet cravings of an army   a rehearsal dinner crowd. In 3 days I will have made enough lemon bars to do the same. In 15 minutes my next patient, then my last patient of the day, arrive. Just 2 hours ago my Mom came into clinic for a tuneup treatment and left 'feeling like she was walking on a cloud'. In 2 days I will, upon closing my clinic day, get my Mother of the Bride Mani/Pedi on my way home. In 3 days our little family and the groom's little family will enjoy cocktails and appetizers on our patio followed by dinner at a lovely, lovely restaurant in the valley to celebrate Father of the Groom's 60th birthday. In 4 days we will be loading a host of vehicles with the necessities to throw th...

Flash forward to present moment. To a Monday night spent domestically focused..on Skyping with Daughter, who is improving in both emotional and physical aspects. To making flight plans to bring the girl home for the holidays...the day following her last final exam. To making flight plans that mirror hers for her bestie and roommate. Why mirroring flights? We're getting the hell out of Dodge for the holidays, and we're taking her bestie with us. To Mexico. Cancun. The ocean, warm breezes, where only SPF, hats, plenty of water and bikinis are required. "Mas tequila, por favor." That's really all I want to say during our stay in a time share condo that a friend of ours has been kind enough to offer up. We'll cook, we'll hang out, and mostly..we'll just 'be'... Picture if you will, Hubby, moi, Daughter, and her friend the lovely Ginger girl from the East Coast. Can you say Hell yes? I can.

So, hi. I'm really not sure where to begin so I'll start where I left off nearly a month ago and move forward... Timeline 9/20/12. I get on a plane and head East. Made it to Minneapolis before Delta, the least reliable airline in the entire world (that isn't currently in bankruptcy) with what must be an abyssmal on time record announced that our commuter jet from Minneapolis to Providence had 'a pretty big dent in the cargo door', and that they were going to have to address that before we could leave. Well, yeah. That would be good. Address the big dent in the skin of the airplane BEFORE we take off, please. Turns out the dent was bigger than they'd thought at first, so really, the next step was to 'wheel over another plane' and then we'd be all set to go. Up until this point I didn't realize that extra planes are just sort of stored...just for these occasions when a ball peen hammer and some swearing aren't going to do the trick wi...

Euphemisms play a role in  life, particularly if you're dealing with the human body, with foibles of its own. Case in point? Our human body of note of late, my daughter's. Specific part, her knee. Yep, the bad one. Yep, the one she 'tweaked' several weeks back. 'Tweak' in this case means 'broke off a dime sized piece of cartilage that's now free floating in the knee and causing no end of pain, swelling, general angst..but it's hard to say for sure because it's cartilage and doesn't really show up well on an MRI.' The really nasty part about this, though, is the REASON for the cartilage breaking off. See, the ACL, the one they ALREADY REPLACED not quite three years ago...has stretched. Which is bad if you're an ACL is your sole job in life is to support my daughter's knee so she can play the game she loves loves loves and finish college while she's at it. Because if you're stretched, and you're that ACL? You let unn...

Daughter's team is playing in DePaul this weekend. And also at Notre Dame. For many reasons, none of which seem solid to me right now,  I'm not going to see her play. But G. G. and his Mom are. G.G.'s fam is from that area of the world, so they'll be staying in a hotel one night and with relatives the next, so it's convenient and then his Mom is going to some kind of a reunion one night so G.G. may be able to hang with our girl a little then, too, which is a bonus. He misses his girl. And she misses her Dad. So, G. G. and Mominlaw are super excited about seeing the girl play. She's strengthening and focusing herself on the field and getting more minutes and all is well. And she loves it when her Dad watches her play..she always has. While I may not be there in body, I will most certainly be there in spirit. Which means I'm sending a goodie bag for the girl, some stuff she's requested, some I found and will be a surprise. Mostly it'll be some ...

Grandma Gin is on the mend, though the whole being 91 thing does in fact play into the process. Baby Girl is fine, and in fact today they're shopping at an outlet mall, 'because we have down day and there's absolutely nothing else to do'. Alrighty then. Tomorrow they head back to RI, though they won't until power is restored at school cuz why fly from sunny NC to powerless RI? I need another weekend, but other than that, this week is upon us. And I never got that latte the other day so I may have to grab one on my way back from visiting Grandma during my lunch. Happy Monday everyone!

This Irene thing is turning out to be a much bigger deal than originally anticipated. She's 430 miles across right now, and her eye has refined and organized to the point where it appears dome like from the space stations observing it. Daughter is in North Carolina, anticipating a game in ungodly heat with 100% humidity later today, and mentioned they'd probably not be heading back to Providence until Tuesday now due to the anticipated airport closures and other havoc wreaked by this storm. Awe.some. My question is really rather simple, and has to do with common sense. (I know, I always get into trouble when I start to question decisions that have clearly been made in a common sense vacuum...). Why on God's green Earth would not just one but TWO (presumably) college educated women's varsity soccer coaches IN THE BIG EAST CONFERENCE NO LESS decide to 'play on' in spite of the fact that a behemoth of a storm is headed directly their way within 48 hours?...

This isn't really one of them. Right now I'm annoyed at my Aunt who isn't answering texts from me about my Grandma's status. This shouldn't surprise me, but really? So I'm about to do some phone calling and investigating and information seeking on my own to just bypass the stupidity. How hard is it to hit Reply and say, 'She's fine, they're about to send her to Recovery', or something like that? I know. NOT hard. Also, I got a text from Daughter, who is 'safe on the ground' in North Carolina. Um, 'safe'? There's a hurricane headed that way and it's a big one. But I talked about that yesterday already, didn't I? Sometimes topics bear repeating. This is one of them. I have a headache that may be stress induced, but I'm not sure. I just ate lunch and it didn't go away so it's not a low blood sugar thing which happens too, but not today, not this time. I'm not sure which god to pray to right now, ...

Apparently so. Daughter's team is scheduled to fly to North Carolina tomorrow. Yes, the North Carolina WHERE THERE'S A HURRICANE ON THE WAY! Irene aka the Cat 3 bitch that's following my daughter. (Thank you NASA earth observatory for the image.) But I'm not freaking out, oh no. Not me. Not even a little. Because I know that the coaches will make the prudent decision, if warranted, and call off the games. Right? Bueller?

Daughter played in their first game of the regular season this weekend. After endless pain, rehab, recovery, a second surgery to 'just clean up some scar tissue and stuff', more rehab, more recovery, etc. My girl is back on the field, and I realized something as GG and I were digesting the post-game stats that the college so kindly provides. I think I've been holding my breath since the day she injured her knee..holding it and praying and hoping and nurturing her and encouraging her and cheering her small victories and bursting with pride as she's worked through the ridiculous rehab that affects not just a young body, but impacts a young psyche as well. GG and I high fived when we saw those stats yesterday. The girl, well she played 84 minutes. And, she assisted in one of the two goals that was scored by her team. And, she said she felt good. Not yet at the great level, but really good. I felt an exhale, then I breathed deeply in, and realized that until tha...

Monday, as in after Sunday. As in after a lovely gathering on Saturday night to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I think this was our best celebration ever. I got to mingle, which sometimes doesn't happen. I seem to get caught in the kitchen, which is always full of chatty friends, and as I putter and fuss over food and such I just become embroiled in one conversation after another and never really mingle in the living room and dining room, and outside by the firepit. But this year I did, and it was nice. And Daughter got to spend time with all of our friends who love finding out how life is in RI, in college, and with her in general. She also gave an iPhone tutorial to a group of our friends that made them all gasp with wonder and become more excited about their phone choice. Suffice to say, they're now all hooked on Words with Friends... Yesterday we went for hike, and it was hard. It was on the Piedra Lisa trail in the Sandia Mountains, which is steep...going up is hard ...

View from up high on campus It snowed. Again. A lot... Daughter is enjoying hot chocolate, hanging out and may in the very near future instigate a massive snowball fight. What's not to loooooooooooooooove about that???

The saddle, being the office. Back, being from the East Coast. And now, it's about following up with the media. About putting details around the end of the year planning for work. About preparing to be in Ft. Lauderdale at the end of next week for a business tradeshow. JL and I are going to this, and if last year is any indicator, will have a great time and kick butt, which is so fun. Then, we get back, and the week after that I'm in DC for another conference, this time as an attendee. Never been to DC. Heard it's awesome. Great food. Movers and shakers. History. The capital. Stuff like that. Then, once we're back from DC, Daughter comes home for Thanksgiving. Yay! Lots on the near horizon, then blissful holidays beginning with a big old roasted bird, savory stuffing, yams, sauteed green beans, gravy, and the fixings.... Personally, I think I'm ready this year. For the togetherness piece. For the backgammon games in front of a crackling fire. For snuggli...

Don't expect cohesive, coherent thoughts here, it's been a long day after a long weekend and I'm kind of maxed out but still felt compelled to..write about things. Daughter, is doing well. She's adjusting. She's...a college Freshman, and is experiencing all that entails plus the being an athlete thing, which is a lot. I'm not sure which of us benefited more from my whirlwind visit, her or me. I know for sure that my heart filled and I breathed a deep deep breath when we hugged at the airport...she smiled and we hugged and I felt a deep little nagging ache ebb a bit with that. She's focused...on finishing healing, on exploding as the player she knows she is but hasn't been able to express this last year. She's working hard in hard classes and figuring out how to study..effectively...well..at that level. It's not easy, but we all have to figure it out that Freshman year or sink..and she's a swimmer. She's dreading the Providence w...

A year since Daughter hurt her knee. A year since Mama went cold inside, from fear, from worry, from anger and mostly from not knowing what the hell was next for her girl. What came next I chronicled on my blog, sometimes with a positive spin, sometimes, in darker days, with more weight than not. But now we're a year out. Not quite eleven months since her surgery. And she is nearly, almost, approaching, some semblance of normal again. A fucking YEAR. But she is fine. And is getting stronger, and sassier, and loves Providence, and loves being in college (except for the fact that it is HARD and requires LOTS of studying which seriously steps on her social life). And she's stretching her brain, finding her way far far away from her familiar ground. I get to see her this next weekend. I'm headed to NYC for a conference and then some meetings with media, and I get to fly into Providence and hug my sweet girl and take her to dinner and look into her eyes and see f...

Daughter is settled. Mama is adjusting to the new reality. Hubby is exhibiting signs of missing the girl, too, which is to be expected. They were joined at the hip from very early on. Share a love for soccer, a similar sense of humor, and pretty much no patience for BS. It's cool, their relationship. A girl with a strong bond with her dad is in a good place, in my mind. I loved my dad fiercely, and there was never any doubt he felt the same about me. It made my decisions early in life easier knowing no matter how badly I botched things, Daddy would be there with a hug, a smile, and some good advice for me while I brushed my skinned knees off. While there, I stayed in a hotel in Sekonk, Mass. Daughter goes to school in Providence. It's really not that far, just about 20 minutes on the freeway, but a state line is crossed. And recrossed, and crossed again on the late night trip back. Daughter has a really sweet roommate, who also plays soccer, and honestly seems to be t...

It's time for me to fly, literally. To RI. To visit/settle in the Daughter. Time has flown, and I am totally jazzed to be headed her way. Miss her. Want to see for myself that she's well.  All that. I confirmed my hotel reservation  just now and am already impressed. Very nice lady answered with an accent you could cut with a knife..that made me immediately feel like a drawler...:-) This has happened before, when I lived in California, which was most unexpected as I'd always assumed my speech was kind of newscaster neutral, but I was wrong. Kind lady with bracing accent gave me some good practical advice re: which exit NOT to take...apparently many many people get confused when the exit #'s reset going from RI to Mass. I would have done this as well, of this I'm certain. Take care, all, and know I'm thinkin' about ya as I learn about RI and where my girl will be hanging out getting her horizons broadened over the next four years. Stevie

Things that contributed to my mood on Friday? Hair ambiguity. I'm in the process of growing out my layers, and while it still feels short short, it's actually grown a bit, and looks pretty good due to Sweet Melissa's trim and highlight ministrations last week. The crux of my problem stems from the bigger, 'should I really grow it out at my age, or just keep it short?' question. I haven't really worked that out, though am practicing envisioning myself with a slightly longer than chin-length do, very chic, that will, when we finally get there, make me glad I stuck with it. In the meantime, every time I walk by a mirror I go, 'Ugh, how long is it going to take until I actually like my hair again????' My emotions, on Friday, courtesy of www.stuffintheair.com PMS . I'm not going to blame my emotional, mental state, and screwed up cycle on the obvious, but isn't it strange that this summer, one in which Son graduated from college and just depa...

The emotions, to say they're wildly fluctuating would be an exaggeration, but they are certainly not balanced and I am so not centered and I'm finding it really hard to maintain my train of thought and I'm now even more worried about my son moving to Abu Dhabi now that they're further limiting Blackberry communications, and my daughter has a stomach bug. But other than that, everything's cool in my world. Son heads to Abu Dhabi this Saturday, early evening my time. Daughter heads to Providence, RI, this Saturday, before lunch. Hubby just informed me we're committed to a dinner at his department head's house Saturday night for a 'casual evening with the new headmaster and his wife.' Are you kidding me? WTF? Of all the things I want to be doing Saturday night, I'm pretty sure schmoozing with the new guy (hub's boss for hell sake) is NOT on the list. My list looks more like this: Take a nap after first wave of absolute searingly...

You don't often see that stuff together, do you? If you're lucky, you never will. See, when in NY, a person sees and hears jackhammers. They're everywhere. Along with trash trucks abusing dumpsters in the wee hours. But jackhammers should NEVER be found in one's living room. Particularly when they're there because a hot water pipe decided to leak. In the middle of the evening. On Friday night. After a looooooooooong day of preparing the house for the hall bath remodel. Hubby and I were watching Up in the Air on Friday night, when all of  a sudden, during a quiet moment in the movie, we heard a sound. Like someone had left the water on outside. But nobody had. Or inside either. There's no terror like that struck by the prospect of yet another plumbing crisis. Our trauma of December still lingers in spite of our attempting to will it away, so when we heard that plumbing sound, we both panicked a bit. Which is no way to spend a Friday night. So we turned ...