Driftwood Lane

So, I found this book at B00ks-A-Million by Denise Hunter and it was part of a series she wrote based in Nantucket. She just published the final book in her Nantucket series and it was just as great as the rest of them.

It was a story of a woman, Meredith, who is happily engaged and living in St. Louis. One day she receives a call that her estranged father died and left her custody of her three half-siblings that she has never met. It is about struggles and relationships like the rest of the series and I really enjoyed them.

Sharks and Sociopaths

I haven't really been in the mood to blog lately. It's been a pretty shitty year so far. I'll be glad when this court stuff with my father is over. I know it's not good to hate and I've never really *hated* anyone before, but if he suddenly died or something I am pretty sure I would just feel relief. How can one person be such a horrible human being? I really thing that he much be an actual sociopath. How else can you not care that your ENTIRE family hates you. The only family that still talks to him is his mother that he has always hated and his sister that he has always hated and always referred to as a bitch and a whore. All of his kids hate him and I'm pretty sure all of his grandkids do too. His great-grandchildren probably would too, but he's never met them...I doubt he even knows their names. He can't remember Andrew's name...he refers to him as Bubba's little one and he doesn't know how old I am.

Anyhow, enough of that crap. I went to the beach this weekend. It was a really great weekend for the beach. It was only a yellow flag and lots of surf. There were plenty of surfers out. That is one thing that I have always wanted to do...learn to surf. However, I am a giant chicken shit. I am scared to death of getting bit by a shark...drowning would suck too, but I'm more scared of the creatures below the surface...they should have never came out with Jaws! :)

It's stupid, really, I know. Statistically, your chances of getting hit by lightening is 30 times more likely than dying from a shark attack. Bees, wasps, and snakes (I think I'm more terrified of snakes) kill more people each year than sharks. And I have a much greater statistical probability of getting into a car accident than getting bitten by a shark. I have a background in statistics and I know all of this, but it still doesn't make me less afraid of sharks. I don't know why I can't just get over it. What makes some people not scared and others scared? Can I get over this? Should I just say "screw it" and sign up for some surf lessons?

It also didn't help that I watched shark week and Florida is the #1 on the list of most shark attacks. I'm trying to be better and not letting things stop me from doing stuff I want to...you never know how long you have and you only live once...well...I guess unless you believe in reincarnation, but that's a whole 'nother topic.

That is all for now. Peace out. :-P

Randomness

When did I start leaving the house without my hair and makeup done? I used to never leave the house with my hair done (at least not wet and knotted in a hair tie) and full makeup...I used to even put on makeup for tennis and softball practice when I was younger! Even for just a quick trip to the drive through I would have to have makeup on...so when was it that I started actually going to get something to eat or in to a store without makeup? And yes...it is that time when you go out without makeup and wet hair that you run into someone you know!! This happened to me again tonight and I had to say ugh! to myself! At least I put decent clothes on for my quick food run. :)

Changing subjects...warned you it was random...so my mother has discovered "Keeping up with the Kardashians" and thinks it's this funny awesome new show...she refuses to believe me that it has been on for quite some time...and she has to call me in there to tell me it's on every time she sees a rerun on! Ugh! She also calls Facebook "spacebook" and Hello Kitty "Miss Kitty." I'm telling you...the woman is getting a alzheimers!!

People are annoying!

People are annoying and inconsiderate!! I seriously miss living among the cows!! The mooing I could deal with and they usually didn't moo at night unless the coyotes were out and you really can't blame them for that...though I do blame them when they got out and would come peek in my window and scare the crap out of me! So...my mother snores like there is not tomorrow and the walls in this stupid house are pretty pointless when it comes to noise control. When I can still hear her with two pillows over my head...that's when I want to take the pillows in there and beat her with them!! I absolutely hate living here and now I can't really sleep for the freaking noise too! WTF?!

So...some "youngsters" are up next door and seriously...why the heck is it necessary to go out and ride the four wheeler at 11:30 at night??!! I am seriously about ready to go postal...now it sounds like they are running a chain saw or something...it is now 12:30 at night! I woke aforementioned snorer up already and informed her that this needed to be corrected TOMORROW or I was going to show my @$$...and you know that I will because I am just a bitch like that! I usually stay up late, but it's raining...oh yeah...it's raining...so why four wheelers and chain saws in the rain??!!

I swear...It is bloody Jerry freaking Springer here!! He could get enough material to retire on just from spending one week at my house!! It's the flipping nut house and I am beginning to think that I would rather have the little men in white coats come and take me away!! The nut house has got to be better than here, right?! I could write a book on all this redneckery around here! yes...I said redneckery...I am cranky and it's late and I have the right to make up my own words if I feel like it. UGH! More noise! Do people not understand the concept of common courtesy?! Damn city folk. :-P I am going to try and go to sleep and resist the urge to set my alarm for 5am and go outside with a fog horn...might be more tempted if I actually had a fog horn...bet they'll be trying to sleep at 5am...they'll probably be sleeping until noon...seriously tempted to return the favor in some creative way.

New Years Resolution #4

OK, so my fourth new years resolution was to read a certain number of book off of the BBC's Big Read list. Many of these books I read way back in middle and high school. If I don't really remember much about them, then I am not counting them as having been read and will endeavor to re-read them. That being said, this is my list for 2010. There are many books that I feel BBC should have included that they didn't, but that is why I made my BBC list goal small (20 books) so that I could include these others (and fun books) as well without making it so daunting a task that I would not be able to complete it. Here are some of the BBC books I want to read/re-read/finish:

1. Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (currently in the process of reading)
2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (currently in the process of reading)
3. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (want to re-read)
4. To Kill a Mockinbird (hardly remember reading)
5. Winnie-The-Pooh by A.A. Milne (have, but actually have never read!)
6. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (have actually never read this one...started, but that doesn't count) :)
7. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
8. Wuthering Heights (have only about fifty pages or so left, but never finished)
9. The Catcher in the Rye (have read all, but about 60 pages or so...need to finish!)
10. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (somehow missed this one)
11. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (haven't read this one)
12. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (never finished years ago)
13. The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens (been awhile)
14. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (never finished...have you seen how long it is??!!)
15. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (I love Oscar Wilde! My fave story as a child is actually an Oscar Wilde short story, "The Selfish Giant")
16. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery (never finshed...it's another long one)
17. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingslover
18. Animal Farm by George Orwell (just want to re-read)
19. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (it's sooo long! Never got through it)
20. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (been a long time and it's a goodie)
21. Ulysses by James Joyce
22. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
23. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
24. The Little Prince by Antoine de Staint-Exupery
25. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
26. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
27. Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

Ok, so I have included more than 20 here but at least I have options for my 20 if I just can't get through one of them. That way I can still stick to my list of 20, but also have some options. :)

Now to try and get through some more of A Tale of Two Cities. It has 15 chapters and I am going for at least one chapter a night. I am reading Brave New World concurrently.

New Years Resolutions

Yep...it's that time again. It's time to make those many resolutions that most of us won't keep for more than a couple of days. There is always the lost weight resolution...if I had a penny for everyone who had that as their resolution...

Anyhow, I guess I will start thinking of mine, so here it goes...

1. Exercise more (I need to for my heart as well as to be not so darn fat)


2. Learn to knit


3. Learn to crochet
   
4. Read at least 20 more books on the BBC Big Read list of 200 books everyone should read.


5. Hopefully decide what the heck to do and go back to work (that has a lot of factors that are well beyond my control as well, but here's hoping)
   
6. Visit somewhere outside of Florida (though it'll be hard to top visiting Ashley and Chris in Hawai'i...going back would be nice...otherwise somewhere I have never been).

Ok...I think those are enough resolutions for the new year thus far. There are a few biggies, so I'll stick with that for now. 2009 has really sucked (except for the trip to see one of my favorite cousins and the better cardiologist appointment), so here's hoping 2010 will be better. It seems that you keep thinking to yourself, "well, it has to get better at some point, but then something else happens and it just sucks even more." It doesn't look like I'm ever going to win this one apparently.

Here's a look back at some very happy moments in 2009...

There's No Place Like Home...Florida Style!

Or rather the Swamp! Instead of ruby red slippers...I got blue sparkly ones!! :) Everything has to be orange and blue you know! :) Here is a picture of my new sparkly blue flats and the other comfy bordeaux pair I got from Aldo. (and my pink sparkly Christmas tree).

Drama, drama, drama

There is drama everywhere!! I can't escape all of the drama and it is driving me crazy! Let's just invite Jerry Springer in and cash in!! Seriously! I should write a book...I have lots of material around here. I just want a drama free zone. I think I like cardiac rehab so much because it is essentially drama free and everyone is friendly and my cell phone is turned off! :)

Update for Beth's sake...haha

OK...so Beth wanted an update, so while I am waiting for Ashley to get off work I will give you one.

So my plane out of Gainesville was late on Thursday. They had some latch problem in Atlanta and had to get it fixed (there are a lot of things that need to be fixed on those planes lately?!). The pilot was quite a character. He introduced himself as Brian Wilson formerly of the Beach Boys and since we were running late already he said that we would ignore the fuel efficiency guidelines and "fly this plane like we stold it" and let me tell you...he did! However, I still ended up having to go to Los Angeles instead of Seattle. LAX was a horrible place! It looks like a dirty prison and the people were very mean (not the people on the plane just at the airport). At my gate there were no empty seats so I went to sit by the window...then some fat Mexican looking dude yelled at me and said, "you no sit here. you no going to fresno." I said there are no seats over there...so he just kept yelling, "No! You no sit here." Who the hell would want to go to Fresno (though anywhere else must be better than that nasty place) and what the hell difference does it make where you sit?! Stupid L.A. assholes.

The flight to Honolulu was decent. The flight was FULL and it was one of those three tiny seats on each side plane flights, but after they closed the door I did little cheers of joy in my head as the seat between me and an aloof Asian girl stayed empty. She was not very friendly and she continually brought out snacks from her bag...she even made instant grits on the plane! I was greeted by Chris and Ashley at baggage claim with a beautiful orchid lei, but then my luggage didn't show up. Strangely, I was very calm. I didn't even utter a single curse word! Soooooo not like me! I just said, ok whatever. It did turn up the next day (it went to Seattle...lucky damn bag!) and I was very happy. I think I probably would have gotten a little irate if it had taken longer to get it.

Ashley and I went to Waikiki yesterday. It was beautiful, but very hot. We walked a lot, but I gave out pretty quickly. It's probably just because I am still a little weak from being sick last week. There are some very strange people down there, but that is to be expected...and it's funny to watch them. We are going to the North Shore tomorrow! I'm excited about that! Chris is going too and we are going to go to the surf museum! I have this strange obsession with surfing even though I am terrified of sharks and rarely go swimming in open water. However, Ashley says that she is going to have Chris and his friend teach me to surf. Not so sure about that, but it's not every day that you are in Hawaii (unless of course you live here) and you only live once, so we'll see if I suck it up and try it out! :)

Creepy people

Ok...so all the creey people are crawling out of the woodwork! OK...so I won't even mention the Daytona Beach trip from last summer. I recently visited a friend at work and her 58 year old co-worker couldn't take his eyes off my chest and then wanted information about me from her. Ewww...he doesn't look like George Strait...and that's my criteria for old guys! :-P Then I went to Publix today and this creepy old guy (who works there might I add) kept staring at my chest! C'mon old guys...quit creeping me out...that's just gross!! I guess on the bright side, I can say that someone is interested at least...even if it is just for something other than my brain or stunning personality (haha...yeah I know...that part's funny). I have been nicer since being sick, so normally I would have said something smart to these people and told them to piss off...I guess I'll just have to drag my protective friend with me...yeah the one who wanted to beat up one of my exes for hugging me...apparently I shouldn't be hugging people with tatoos...he shouldn't have been hugging me like that either...she's hilarious...I'm just glad she wasn't packing then! Haha Ok...that's my creepy story of the day...the rehab one was so much better, huh?

I'm in rehab!

Haha...not like Lindsey or Britney! I started cardiac rehab today. It's in the hospital on the heart patient floor, so there is always a cardiologist on the floor and they have crash carts and everything there. They have treadmills, exercise bikes, and some other stuff. They have you hooked up to a heart monitor the whole time and watch the monitor the entire time you are working out. My cardiologist is also the medical director of it, so he gets my information from them as well. It was actually kind of fun and they were all very nice. For now, I'm going to go once a week. Who would have thought that I would be so happy to use a treadmill and stationary bike?! :) Haha

People suck!

My mother was at Tractor Supply this morning and a guy drives by and throws a kitten out the window into the dumpster!! A homeless lady crawled in and got the kitten out. Now mom is trying to find a home for it. It looks like it will be long-ish haired...white with grey. But seriously people...I am so sick and tired of people just tossing their animals out or worse yet...not feeding them, but unwilling to give them up...or killing them. Like the story at Christmas where someone left a litter of puppies out to freeze to death in the cold by the side of the road. It just pisses me off!!

Please just shoot me now...

I don't know if it's just a fluke or I am just noticing it more now (like when I got my Mustang...I never noticed them before, but now I notice them EVERYWHERE...it just made me more aware), but characters with heart problems like mine keep popping up whether it's on TV or in a book. Week before last, the entire episode of ER was about people with heart problems. They had a camp at the hospital for kids that have heart problems and the one girl had an ICD...and yes...even in fiction you could see the bloody thing clearly...I don't care how big my chest is...these babies ain't gonna cover that shit! Screw that. Oh yeah...and it shocked her (turns out it was a false alarm) and it sent her to the ground. Then I was reading this book that I figured was going to be fun light reading. Oh noooo...midway through the book the main character's sister got a heart condition and then she died in the end waiting on a transplant that she didn't want. Can't we put warnings on things?! Seriously! I won't say which book it is so as not to ruin it for people who want to read it. I'm glad I didn't suggest this one for book club...I almost did! It wasn't very well written either.

Change of subject...

So my mother wants the ENTIRE house painted and no one else wants to paint and since I am painting what is going to be my room then I am stuck doing the rest too. I painted my ceiling and T taped off my room and helped me take the trillion nails out of the walls and start readying the rest of the house for painting. I have a five gallon bucket of primer, but I have to find someone to take it out of the car for me. I'm not finished taping off or cleaning the windows and walls and I am already so flipping sore and exhausted!! I bought five or six rollers hoping for help, but none has come. My neighbor here is going to help me tomorrow. She's good at painting! But there are a lot of walls!!!! And they ALL have to be primed first!!

So...yesterday I was trying to take the verticals down in the office. I have the screw driver and I'm up in the window and I just glance at the actual window and there is something at the top staring in at me...at first I think it's a lizard, but then I freak out...it's a flipping snake staring in the window at me!!!! I scream like a girl and then go get my mother and T...it's still there when we get back. We knock on the window at it, tap the screw driver on the window at it, but nooooo it doesn't care...it just watches us and stays there watching and lurking for about another half an hour. I guess it finally got tired or hungry and left. Then I saw this ginormous lizard outside. It's HUGE!!!! It's reddish, and is as round as a half dollar, has a creepy head like a snake, but has feet. I have been told it is a skink, but dang...what the hell is up with all of these reptilian critters???!!! I am never going outside again!!!! The only reptilian critters that don't bother me much are Alligators...they aren't slithery and you can actually see them. Ewww.

So I am completely exhausted, sore as hell, still not looking forward to moving into this dump (I am working on my Jiffy Store feet for that full on redneck experience...still have to put the christmas lights on the front porch and pick up a pink flamingo for the front yard...and I even have the Ford now and rednecks love Mustangs, so I guess that's the next best thing to a big ole truck).

So...please just shoot me now and put me out of my misery!

I made a decion finally!

I picked paint colors! For the bathroom, I have chosen "Pineapple" which is a light yellow that will match the natural light wood of the sink cabinet and the bamboo flooring. I think I'm going to try to use bamboo for baseboards.

For the bedroom, I have chosen "Yacht Club Blue" (then I will go join the Cedar Key Yacht Club! Haha...for those of you not from here...there is no such thing...perhaps a redneck yacht club full of air boats!). It's a bright blue, but not dark or overly loud. I am going to put up some white crown moulding and then put white moulding around the windows. At Home Depot or Lowes I found non-expensive crown moulding that is made out of a PVC material instead of solid wood making it MUCH less expensive. It doesn't really look that much different either.

I hope it all comes together well. Ugh! So much work!!! Just the Wal-Mart trip to buy the paint and supplies wore me out! I have to go take a nap now before I have to go back out later for dinner. I NEED my energy and stamina back!! Grr!!

Happy Friday everyone!!

Decorating ideas?

Well, it's official...my mother signed the papers yesterday, so she bought the place. Ugh. I am so not excited, if you can't tell! It's fairly spacious (though I have nowhere near as much room as I have now...I'm going to be severely cramped!), but it's from the 70's and has ugly paneling and I hate hate hate paneling. It's one of my peeves...up there with slow drivers!

I'm having trouble deciding what to do with my room. I already have my bathroom planned. I have the second smaller bathroom, but I found a sink that I really love with a matching vanity. It's currently sitting in the living room because we are still cleaning the new place and getting all new flooring. I found a flooring for my bathroom that I LOVE! It is textured (it's from a spa line or something) and looks like bamboo!! It's great!! I'm going to paint the walls in the bathroom a light yellow (not pastel, but not bright in your face either).

Here's a picture of my sink cabinet:

I still don't know what to do with my room. It has the ugly dark paneling. I thought about making my own duvet cover and decorating around that, but by the time I buy all the fabric I may as well go buy a new comforter! It's a vicious cycle! I want something fresh and calming (I so need that!...along with some Grey Goose, but it's still in the cabinet...haven't read the restrictions of my new med yet, but I'm still supposed to "limit" whatever that means).

I thought about painting the room a citrus green, but I'm not sure how that would be. I've never been a big green fan and my family has never been a big fan of color...our houses tend to resemble a psych ward...everything WHITE WHITE WHITE. My mother has no imagination whatsoever...she still thinks the velvet tassled lamp shades from the 70's are still pretty and cool...I apparently have no taste. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of retro, but there is a point where it's just plain tacky! I've always wanted to paint my room a bright blue, but wouldn't I get sick of it?! I don't know!! It's so hard!!!! I like the look of the tans and browns, but I'm trying to get away from the depressing colors that are already there. The carpet I am having put in is called "honey silk" so it's a tannish color...that way anything is going to work with it.

Anyone have any suggestions? I'm so at a loss. I thought about wallpaper, but it's expensive and there is so much to do that I want to try paint first...I can always wallpaper over it.

Anyone is free to come help fix up the place too! :) hehe So many people were, "oh! we'll come help" yadda yadda yadda...haven't seen them.

Packing has been very hard on me and I haven't done much yet. Getting tired so easily, sucks so very badly.

Moving cont'd...

I have started the packing. It hasn't been a whole lot. Yesterday I packed up my desk and a box of CD's and DVD's. Sadly, even taking a light box out to the living room to stack it made me short of breath. I don't know how I will get through it all and it doesn't help that I am not at all excited about it...it just depresses me more.

But, whatever...I'm not going to whine...I wouldn't want to bother someone by reminding them that I am not 100% and am still limited in what I can and can't do. I am getting really tired of people telling me how I should feel or act. I know it's not very healthy, but I'm getting to the point where I just don't want to talk to anyone and I would like to just pack up and move away from here. I can't take it anymore. I really need to just cut the negative, non-supportive, and bossy (that doesn't include my one friend who is bossy to everyone by nature) people out and not talk to them anymore. It's not good for me...I talk to them and then I am in a pissy mood for hours and get upset...which then leads to chest pains if I can't get control of it and calm down. I'm also getting to the point where I'm just so over everything that I don't care anymore and I just feel like getting rid of EVERYTHING. I am just so apathetic these days. I don't even care about shopping. I spent the entire day in Gainesville shopping on Sunday and all I bought was a CD that I didn't even know if I wanted to buy (I did want the CD...just didn't know if I wanted to buy it if that makes sense) with a gift card I got for my birthday.

Anyhow. I'm still not sure what to do with my room. I ordered a tan-ish carpet so it will go with whatever I choose. I think I want something cheerful (to help offset the oft-pissy mood). Something either slightly beachy/palm tree or with crisp, calming, and cheerful color. Those colors will also match my bathroom. My mother bought my sink/cabinet and vanity today. It's a light natural wood color and the doors are the slotted ones (think shutters)...it's very Tommy Bahama feel and I am getting a flooring for the bathroom that is slightly textured and looks like bamboo. I'm a little excited about the bathroom.

As I was looking at my apron fabric I got a good idea. I don't have the patience or a quilting machine to make myself a comforter, but what I can make in about an hour would be a duvet cover!! I could then have a couple of options that I could change out. I was actually thinking that my favorite apron fabric (the green paisley) would make a really pretty duvet and brighten up the room. I also found a pretty damask on Sunday that has a really pretty citrus green pattern on a white background. I don't know!!!!

Moving

It looks like it's going to happen after all. My mother is closing on her new place on Wednesday and they have already started cleaning up the place. I'm not looking forward to it...my new room is basically the size of my freakin' shoe closet now!!! Ugh!! I just finished the stupid shoe closet too!!! I'm not even going to go into it...it gave me chest pains for four days when I first saw the place. It's just so frustrating not being able to go back to work. I sure hope the cardiac rehab helps!!!

I'm really worried about my cat, though. He's never lived anywhere else and he is very finnicky! I guess as long as I am with him, he'll be ok though. Mom used to bring him to the high school my senior year (Mrs. Barnes begged for him) and Wal-Mart in her purse when he was a kitty, but that was a LONG time ago and he didn't stay that social and calm for long. He'll be 12 years old in August.

Cupcakes, Apples, Pears, and Sewing

My new sewing box and my cupcake pin cushion. I've had the pin cushion for a while, but the sewing box is new, but they are so cute that I had to post pictures.

The Spice Girls, Odd People, and junk...

Since we are moving and I have already discussed my "spring cleaning" and purging in great detail, we are all familiar with the fact that I had LOTS of stuff to get rid of. So being back on my Altace and not feeling like death warmed over, we set out for the flea market to rid ourselves of these lovely items that have been gathering dust for ages.

I have lots of lovely clothes from Gap, Old Navy, The Limited, Ann Taylor, Ralph Lauren, DKNY, and others as well. Sunglasses from Kenneth Cole, Ralph Lauren, Nine West, Calvin Klein, etc. I also have some other nice stuff as well. I figure this stuff will be what goes first and I will be stuck with all the junk. Imagine my shock when everyone starts buying the tacky crap that mom dragged home from some yard sale somewhere!!

"Oooh! Look!! A shadow box for my bathroom!!"

"Ooh! Beat up Adidas sneakers!" (I feel bad that someone probably needed them that badly)

This one pair of shoes that I thought for sure I would have to throw out...sold for ten cents! The Adidas sneakers went for fifty cents.

On Friday this British guy came through and bought a bunch of VHS tapes I had. He didn't have his glasses, so I had to read the back of the box of some of them to him. The awesome Spice Girls movie, Spice World, was in the mix of these fifty tapes or so (yes...please keep your "what the heck are you doing with the Spice Girls movie" to yourself), so we had a discussion of the Spice Girls and each of them separately as well. This guy was at least in his fifties. It was very strange.

Some Indian guy came and bought all of my perfume and Bath and Body Works stuff...I hope it was for a girl friend or wife...

At the end of the day, I started giving away the stuff I REALLY DID NOT WANT TO TAKE HOME! Then I gave a bunch of it to another vendor that I have known for years!

It was an interesting weekend and I made about $200, so not too shabby for getting rid of junk.

I now have aprons to make and lunch to go to.

Is this really necessary?

Ok, so I won't go into the Dr. visit stuff, but I was on the website for one of my meds tonight and saw this warning that I couldn't believe. I'm really glad they told me this because I would have NEVER known this otherwise!!

"Do NOT take ALTACE if you are allergic to ALTACE."

Yes...it does say this as the warning on www.altace.com. Do people really need to be told this??!! Caution: Coffee is hot!