What a lovely weekend it's been. Friday night I hung out for a while at FS on the porch while waiting for the Victor Continental Sizzling Summer Sexcapades to start... I had never been to a Victor Continental show, and I was quite amused. It's a variety show with local flavor, rude and pants-wetting humor, and a very talented cast/crew. It was a blast, but everyone who was with me fell asleep midway through the second half... I believe it was the culmination of such a hot, hot week and general busy-ness that found everyone exhausted that night, rather than a reflection on the show's entertainment quality.
Regardless, it was fun for me even tho I was not participating in the "drinking games" aspect of it.
Saturday was a perfect, 80 degree day with the bluest sky and big, puffy white clouds floating across it. I had breakfast with Andy, went to the pool and floated/sunbathed/read/socialized with the other pool rats for 3 hours, then came home to meet my friend Amy at my house and to prepare for an evening out. We chatted and chatted, she is experiencing a health crisis from hell and we always seem to have so much to talk about... it's so different to talk to someone who can relate on that deepest level about illness and weakness and the people in our lives who support us and love us, and yet still sometimes make things difficult. You never really know who will have the strength and love for you that will allow them to walk that path with you and be of assistance during your illness. I was lucky to have many people who did that, and if I can be a comforting voice on the phone or a place to land when she needs a break from the daily grind, then it's my privilege to do so whenever possible. She's a fabulous woman who is going to make an even more fabulous breast cancer survivor.
We had dinner with two of the best goddesses ever, (not that there are any bad goddesses, of course) at a place where we could sit outside and enjoy the lovely weather and I could chain smoke, which seems to be my main vice nowadays. Earlier this week I removed all of my cocktail glasses from my cabinets with the intent of wrapping them up and giving them away to other goddesses. In the process, I have now managed to break 2 margarita glasses and a martini glass, one of which bounced down and nicked my leg... perhaps that was a sign. I happily got rid of the nicest set of 4 martini glasses to Ames tonight, so that was good. The rest of the motley assortment of margarita, martini, and wine glasses are going to Gypsy. I believe I found my glassware good homes where they won't be neglected.
Tonight was $ellout at the Jazzhaus, which is always a rocking good time, and is one of my favorite bands to get all sweaty and dancy with.
So, for the first time in a year and a half, I actually got out and danced! One of the songs that encompassed my favorite moments of the night was "I Willl Survive", and it was a great feeling to know that I have survived so much and will continue to grow into myself with each time that I go out and socialize as a sober person.
I hate that the term "sober" is also synonymous with "serious", because that is not and never will be a way to describe me. I am anything but.
However, it gives me great joy to know that everytime I go out and get around crowds of people, I am starting to feel so much more comfortable in my own skin. I don't look sick, I don't feel sick, and it gets easier and easier with each experience to feel normal, happy, talkative, humorous, and outgoing withOUT alcohol. What a concept!
So tomorrow I have to prep my body for Monday's endoscopy and colonoscopy. The latter of the two is the thing that requires the most prep... a clear liquid diet all day and superpowered laxatives intermittenly throughout the day. I bought extra soft toilet paper, gatorade, Fleet phospho-somethingorother, and I have plenty of toilet worthy reading to occupy my time. What a fun way to spend a Sunday.
I do believe that I will put a sticker on my ass on Monday for the doctor and nurses to find before they stick the camera up my butt... It's going to say "Pay heed, all who enter: beware of the fog" which all good KU basketball fans know is an homage to the large sign in Allen Fieldhouse which says the same thing, only it's "Phog", not fog, as a tribute to Phog Allen, a great basketball coach. I believe that the indignity of having a camera shoved down you and UP you really deserves whatever humor I can inject into the situation, so I hope that the medical personnel completing the procedure appreciate my attempt at lightening up their day a little.
And really, isn't that what life is all about?
. . . . Random thoughts about nothing in particular, executed with alternating fits of bitchiness and/or sentimentality.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Click to see photos of Kallipalooza 2006
Kallipalooza 2006 was a blast! Lots and lots of great people were in attendance, the bands were fabulous, and the Silent Auction went off perfectly.
Please visit www.kallipalooza2006.blogspot.com for details and program of the event, and click on the title of this entry to see pics.
Thank you so much to everyone who attended, and many of you who could not attend but who donated money anyway. We raised a bunch of money, enough for a couple of house payments, some medical bills, and quite possibly even some groceries! Yippee! It was a really fun night, and I got to see almost everyone who I hoped would be there. The fact that my doctor and his wife came out was really nice... it's amazing how much you come to know and depend on your medical people after a year like this one. I am feeling good but tired, and tomorrow is Miss Rikki's wedding, which promises to be a rockin' good time, also.
Please visit www.kallipalooza2006.blogspot.com for details and program of the event, and click on the title of this entry to see pics.
Thank you so much to everyone who attended, and many of you who could not attend but who donated money anyway. We raised a bunch of money, enough for a couple of house payments, some medical bills, and quite possibly even some groceries! Yippee! It was a really fun night, and I got to see almost everyone who I hoped would be there. The fact that my doctor and his wife came out was really nice... it's amazing how much you come to know and depend on your medical people after a year like this one. I am feeling good but tired, and tomorrow is Miss Rikki's wedding, which promises to be a rockin' good time, also.
Monday, July 10, 2006
I love my friends!!
I am the luckiest person in the world to have such an eclectic and fabulous circle of friends. I keep meeting more of them in AA, too, and am not sure how to fit everyone in, but I love having that problem. High school for me was not a time of Popularity. Granted, we only had 20 people in our graduating class, and I was sort of friends with everyone, I guess, but only a few remain even remotely in my life, and only one has even been aware of and supportive of my illness during the past year. It makes me particularly grateful for her friendship, as I do believe that it's good to have people around you who "knew you when..."
to keep you sane and aware of who you are and how your dreams change through the years. Plus she can make me laugh until I almost pee my pants, which is a big factor in my life. {Thanks, Christina:)}
A new friend recently heard me mentioning "Goddesses" and I think he thought I was a wiccan or something, (not that there's anything wrong with that.) But it made me laugh, as the Goddess Collective is so varied and cool, and really is all about positive women supporting other positive women. Even when we don't feel too damn positive. Click on the title of today's entry to see more on that. Also see...http://www.poppetprojects.blogspot.com/ That's Rikki, the coolest redhead ever,
http://cleopatraqueenofdenial.blogspot.com/ Miss Meg, my savior many times during the past two years, even after catching me making out in bed with her ex and helping me search for the tooth, http://www.runlulurun.blogspot.com/ and of course this is Lulu, whom I adore for all of the reasons in the article linked here and more. http://evasspot.blogspot.com/ And this is someone who I hope to get to know much better after we are both over the freakin' bizarre hurdles that life has thrown our way recently.
I am nervous about Kallipalooza (the event) and dreamed recently that only 3 people came. So just to remind you.... Fri, July 14. Starts around 6 pm with Andy's Mom on accordian, then Mike Helvey on banjo. After that the bands will be underway, and it should be a rockin' good time. I figure even if it doesn't raise any money, I hope it will cover the cost of the venue, and what the hell, it makes a great birthday party!
to keep you sane and aware of who you are and how your dreams change through the years. Plus she can make me laugh until I almost pee my pants, which is a big factor in my life. {Thanks, Christina:)}
A new friend recently heard me mentioning "Goddesses" and I think he thought I was a wiccan or something, (not that there's anything wrong with that.) But it made me laugh, as the Goddess Collective is so varied and cool, and really is all about positive women supporting other positive women. Even when we don't feel too damn positive. Click on the title of today's entry to see more on that. Also see...http://www.poppetprojects.blogspot.com/ That's Rikki, the coolest redhead ever,
http://cleopatraqueenofdenial.blogspot.com/ Miss Meg, my savior many times during the past two years, even after catching me making out in bed with her ex and helping me search for the tooth, http://www.runlulurun.blogspot.com/ and of course this is Lulu, whom I adore for all of the reasons in the article linked here and more. http://evasspot.blogspot.com/ And this is someone who I hope to get to know much better after we are both over the freakin' bizarre hurdles that life has thrown our way recently.
I am nervous about Kallipalooza (the event) and dreamed recently that only 3 people came. So just to remind you.... Fri, July 14. Starts around 6 pm with Andy's Mom on accordian, then Mike Helvey on banjo. After that the bands will be underway, and it should be a rockin' good time. I figure even if it doesn't raise any money, I hope it will cover the cost of the venue, and what the hell, it makes a great birthday party!
Friday, July 07, 2006
Say Cheese!!
The tooth:
I’ve been told that this story needs to be blogged, so here it is…
Sometime in the early 90’s I had several problems with my front teeth. A dentist convinced me that the best thing to do was to cover those teeth with crowns. I ended up with 4 crowns in the front of my mouth, and indeed, it was an improvement on my smile. However, one of the crowns never quite fit right. It banged against the bottom teeth, and was basically a disaster waiting to happen. (there was no option for recourse from the dentist, as he was diagnosed shortly thereafter with ALS and died.)
One night I was at my friend Brad’s home, and he had prepared a lovely meal for me and another of our pals. We were pretty far into a bottle of rum by the time we sat down to eat. Halfway through the meal, I looked down and realized that my front tooth had fallen off. Under the crown, it was just a tiny nub of a tooth, so it was truly a scary sight to see me with a full tooth missing right in the front of my mouth. Mustering all the logic about the situation that we could, we piled into our friend’s convertible, and drunkenly made our way to Walgreens, where I proudly smiled and waved to anyone in our general vicinity. One friend found the aisle with the hula hoops, and was in the middle of a serious demonstration about how to hula hoop in the aisle at the store, while I was over in the “I need to somehow glue this tooth back into my mouth” aisle. I recall that this event happened at the beginning of a 3 day weekend like Memorial Day, so it was several days before I got it fixed again at the dentist. Like an idiot, I continued to go to the dental practice where the original dentist had worked, and allowed his equally inept minion “repair” the tooth.
A couple of years later, the tooth was still loose and not at all trustworthy. However, I was at the Jazzhaus one evening, and saw an upper administrator of the agency that I worked for at the time, and proceeded to drunkenly approach her table of friends and say hello and babble about something that I am sure none of us remember… because about 3 sentences into my rant, my front tooth came flying out of my mouth and landed right in the middle of the table. I grabbed it and got the hell out of there. Another trip to the inept dentist the next day, and I was back in rare form.
Then a couple of years ago came the fabulous Kallipalooza month of partying, which always commences during the 4th of July weekend. I was at a house in the country, standing in one of those weird 4 foot deep above ground swimming pools and having a rather animated discussion with a new drunk friend. My tooth flew out of my mouth AGAIN, landed in the water, and new drunk friend, with nary a thought, quickly grabbed that tooth before it could sink to the bottom of the pool. Feeling quite adept at dealing with tooth emergencies, (which really did always seem to happen during holiday weekends) I popped the tooth back on and made my way around to the other women at the party looking for someone with nail glue or super glue. Sure enough, someone had some, and I took 5 minutes in the bathroom to glue that baby back into place and then continued with the festivities. No problem!
The tooth was still not happy in its place, and continued to be loose and annoying for some time after that. One night about a year and a half ago, I was having yet another animated conversation with a drunk friend, and pop… the tooth was gone suddenly, and I had no earthly idea where the hell it was. I was at the Red Lyon, which has floors with tiny white tiles, and also they serve free popcorn, much of which ends up on the floor. My dear friends David and Meg were there, and joined me in my drunken crawl around the vicinity where I had been perched on a barstool, searching unsuccessfully for the tooth. Finally they poured me into a car and took me home.
I’ve been told that this story needs to be blogged, so here it is…
Sometime in the early 90’s I had several problems with my front teeth. A dentist convinced me that the best thing to do was to cover those teeth with crowns. I ended up with 4 crowns in the front of my mouth, and indeed, it was an improvement on my smile. However, one of the crowns never quite fit right. It banged against the bottom teeth, and was basically a disaster waiting to happen. (there was no option for recourse from the dentist, as he was diagnosed shortly thereafter with ALS and died.)
One night I was at my friend Brad’s home, and he had prepared a lovely meal for me and another of our pals. We were pretty far into a bottle of rum by the time we sat down to eat. Halfway through the meal, I looked down and realized that my front tooth had fallen off. Under the crown, it was just a tiny nub of a tooth, so it was truly a scary sight to see me with a full tooth missing right in the front of my mouth. Mustering all the logic about the situation that we could, we piled into our friend’s convertible, and drunkenly made our way to Walgreens, where I proudly smiled and waved to anyone in our general vicinity. One friend found the aisle with the hula hoops, and was in the middle of a serious demonstration about how to hula hoop in the aisle at the store, while I was over in the “I need to somehow glue this tooth back into my mouth” aisle. I recall that this event happened at the beginning of a 3 day weekend like Memorial Day, so it was several days before I got it fixed again at the dentist. Like an idiot, I continued to go to the dental practice where the original dentist had worked, and allowed his equally inept minion “repair” the tooth.
A couple of years later, the tooth was still loose and not at all trustworthy. However, I was at the Jazzhaus one evening, and saw an upper administrator of the agency that I worked for at the time, and proceeded to drunkenly approach her table of friends and say hello and babble about something that I am sure none of us remember… because about 3 sentences into my rant, my front tooth came flying out of my mouth and landed right in the middle of the table. I grabbed it and got the hell out of there. Another trip to the inept dentist the next day, and I was back in rare form.
Then a couple of years ago came the fabulous Kallipalooza month of partying, which always commences during the 4th of July weekend. I was at a house in the country, standing in one of those weird 4 foot deep above ground swimming pools and having a rather animated discussion with a new drunk friend. My tooth flew out of my mouth AGAIN, landed in the water, and new drunk friend, with nary a thought, quickly grabbed that tooth before it could sink to the bottom of the pool. Feeling quite adept at dealing with tooth emergencies, (which really did always seem to happen during holiday weekends) I popped the tooth back on and made my way around to the other women at the party looking for someone with nail glue or super glue. Sure enough, someone had some, and I took 5 minutes in the bathroom to glue that baby back into place and then continued with the festivities. No problem!
The tooth was still not happy in its place, and continued to be loose and annoying for some time after that. One night about a year and a half ago, I was having yet another animated conversation with a drunk friend, and pop… the tooth was gone suddenly, and I had no earthly idea where the hell it was. I was at the Red Lyon, which has floors with tiny white tiles, and also they serve free popcorn, much of which ends up on the floor. My dear friends David and Meg were there, and joined me in my drunken crawl around the vicinity where I had been perched on a barstool, searching unsuccessfully for the tooth. Finally they poured me into a car and took me home.
Let me tell you that waking up with a big bad hangover is not fun. Waking up with a big, bad hangover and missing your front tooth is beyond not fun. Finally I hit the yellow pages and found a dentist that was willing to get me in immediately, agreed with me that something better could be done, and finally, once and for all, made me a beautiful crown that fits perfectly and has never fallen out of my mouth since. So next time you see me smile, be grateful that my drunken redneck tooth-missin’ days are behind me.
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