Are We There Yet??

Sunny Sunday Morning

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:55:00 +0000

It seems that the sun has finally found us in New England and it's going to be a gorgeous day. Too bad I will be spending all of it in dispatch. Ah well at least it will look nice out of the window from the "Ivory Tower"!

Everyone have a great Sunday and a safe remainder of the holiday weekend.

Happy Birthday, America!

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Best wishes to everyone for a safe and fun Fourth of July holiday weekend here in the States! And for my international buddies - Happy First Saturday in July!!

Looking at the Sky on Friday - Last Year's Version

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Believe it or not I haven't been too inspired to go out and take pictures lately (perhaps the weather has something to do with that?!?) so decided to dig into my photo archives for something to post for Tisha's sky meme this week.

This picture brings back many happy memories of a week spent with some very special blogging buddies at Matunuck Beach in Rhode Island last September and I can only wish that I had something so wonderful to look forward to this year but a week-long beach vacation is definitely NOT on the agenda for this year. Rats!

Of course, I do believe I'm going to have the chance to meet at least one wonderful blog-friend this year when her trella brings her to points north and maybe, with any luck, there might be an opportunity to meet another blogger from the deep south should she return to her roots in Massachusetts for a visit. I do so love meeting blog friends as they generally end up being even more wonderful in real life than they are on the computer!

Maybe someday I'll even get to meet the mistress of this meme!

Daydreams and Queens

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:22:00 +0000

Today's daydream is brought to you by one of the most famous ocean liners in the world - the Queen Mary 2.

Sometimes I allow myself to have these silly little daydreams of things that I would like to do in life and yesterday I was thinking that one of the things I would really, really, really like to do is visit England and then come back to America in style via a TransAtlantic cruise. Doesn't that sound lovely?

Now granted, there are a lot of other cruise lines and ships that traverse the Atlantic but I was thinking that if one was going to do that sort of thing, it should done in style and how much more stylish can you get than the RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Queen Mary 2 of the Cunard line?

In 1839, Queen Victoria of England awarded Canadian-born Samuel Cunard the first ever license to deliver mail across the Atlantic, proudly granting his steamship the honored title RMS (Royal Mail Steamer). In 2004 RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Queen Mary 2 was awarded this privileged title and continues to celebrate this golden heritage that was started over 165 years ago.

The Queen Mary 2 is named after the earlier Cunard liner Queen Mary, which was in turn named after Mary of Teck. With a full name of Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes, Queen Mary was the wife of George V, King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, Emperor of India who reigned over England from 1910 through World War I (1914–1918) until his death in 1936. He was the first British monarch of the House of Windsor.

Victoria Mary (known affectionately as May by her family) was born on May 26th, 1867 at Kensington Palace in London, daughter of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck, and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge. By birth, she was a princess of Teck (a dukedom in southwestern Germany), in the Kingdom of Württemberg, with the title of Her Serene Highness. In December of 1891, May was engaged to her second cousin, once-removed, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales and next in line for the throne. The choice of May as bride for the Duke probably owed much to Queen Victoria's fondness for her, as well as to her strong character and sense of duty. However, Prince Albert Victor died six weeks after their engagement in the worldwide influenza pandemic which swept through Britain in the winter of 1891–1892.

Despite this setback, Queen Victoria still favored May as a suitable candidate to marry a future king; and Albert Victor's brother, Prince George, Duke of York and now second in line to the throne, evidently became close to her during their shared period of mourning for Prince Albert Victor. In May 1893, George duly proposed, May accepted, and they were soon deeply in love. May married Prince George, Duke of York, on July 6th, 1893 at the Chapel Royal, St. James' Palace, in London and went on to have a very successful marriage as well as six children: Edward, Albert, Mary, Henry, George, and John.

Before her husband's accession to King, Mary she was successively known as the Duchess of York, Duchess of Cornwall and Princess of Wales. Following the death of King Edward VII on May 6th, 1910, the Prince of Wales ascended the throne as George V, and May became his queen consort. Queen Mary was crowned with the King on June 22nd, 1911 at Westminster Abbey.

Following a long and successful reign as king, George V died on January 20th, 1936 from lung problems and at that time their eldest son, Edward, Prince of Wales, ascended the throne as Edward VIII. Mary was now officially Queen Mother, though she did not use that title and was instead known as Her Majesty Queen Mary. Within the year, Edward abdicated the throne to marry his twice-divorced American mistress, Wallis Simpson. Following the abdication, Prince Albert, Duke of York, Mary's second son, ascended the throne in Edward's place, taking the name George VI. When Mary attended the coronation she became the first dowager queen (widow of a deceased king) to do so in the history of England.

During World War II in 1942, her youngest surviving son, Prince George, Duke of Kent, was killed in an air crash while on active service and in 1952, King George VI died, the third of Queen Mary's children to predecease her (her youngest son, John, had died at the age of thirteen in 1918). Following the death of King George VI, Mary's eldest granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth, ascended the throne to become Queen of England. Queen Mary died the next year of lung cancer (referred to publicly as "gastric problems") at the age of 85, only ten weeks before Elizabeth II's coronation on February 6th, 1952, Queen Mary is buried beside her husband in the nave of St. George's Chapel in Windsor.

Anyhow, after that impromptu history lesson, it may be easy to see why I'd love to sail across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2 rather than just another ship that happens to be going that way! As a lover of history, I can think of no better way to travel as no doubt the story of the woman for which the ship is named could only add to the romance and excitement of the journey. Besides, I've already watched Fourth of July fireworks being shot off while on the deck the original Queen Mary - granted, she was docked in Long Beach, California as a floating hotel and museum and no longer sailed the seas but I was on board nonetheless!

Oh well, I guess I need to start saving my pennies if I ever hope for this particular daydream to become a reality! You gotta admit, it would make for a great blog post!

I've Got a Question - You've Got an Answer

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Time seems to be something that we could all use a little extra off - at least I know I sure could! I can't quite figure out when time got away from me but it certainly has and I never seem to have enough time in the day to do all of the things I'd like and/or need to do.

That said, there are occasions when I just don't have the time and resort to picking up some type of fast food on the way home for the girls. They don't seem to mind (they're teenagers, of course they don't mind!) and it also saves on having to clean the kitchen and do the dishes and all the other fun stuff that goes along with cooking.

Norwich has all of the standard fast food joints - McDonald's, Wendy's Burger King, KFC/Taco Bell - as well as more pizza places than you can shake a large stick at not to mention quite a few Chinese take-out places. It's hard to pick a favorite but that's what I'm going to ask you today -

If you are going to get take-out for dinner, what's your favorite kind or favorite place to go?

Everyone have a nice first day of July - I'll be at work for 16-hours hoping for a peaceful day but if it's anything like the other night I doubt that's gonna happen! Oh well, it makes the day go by faster at any rate!

Tuesday Tidbits

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

It was one week ago today that Amanda had her two bottom wisdom teeth extracted so it's off to the oral surgeon for her follow-up appointment. She said that it's still a bit sore in places and hurts when she chews but for the most part I'd have to say she had a pretty easy recovery. Hopefully she'll soon find that with those two wisdom teeth out, she'll have less headaches and her jaw won't ache all the time.

I can't believe that it's the end of June already and I still haven't put my air-conditioners in! Truth be told I don't mind the cooler weather we've been having this summer as I'm not a big fan of hazy, hot, and humid - which is normally what we get here. That said, we could still have a few less rainy days - please!

Even though we had rain for 22 out of the 30 days of June, I was surprised to see that the water seemed to be down quite a bit over at Yantic Falls when I passed by there the other day. I guess the water levels go down in the summer regardless of how much rain you have.

Speaking of the Falls, I took a 911 call from one our of local ETOHs the other night who told me that he fell off Indian Leap and hurt his arm. Nothing for nothing but I've been up on Indian Leap and if you fell off of there - inebriated or not - you'd do a lot more than hurt your arm! The gentleman in question wasn't exactly very polite while requesting an ambulance either so the police joined us "just in case".

Just in case anyone was wondering, the wreaths that were in the pictures on my post from yesterday are on the doors of the First Congregational Church in Canterbury. I was there earlier in the month for a surprise party for my cousin and his wife who had just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and I snapped some pictures of the church while I was there. This isn't the "original" First Congregational Church of Canterbury as the first First Church was destroyed in a fire but it's definitely your quintessential New England Congregational Church!

I've been kicking around a few ideas of where to take the girls for a road-trip or two this summer and it was mentioned to me at work yesterday by one of my fellow dispatchers that I should check out the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in New York. A quick search of the internet showed it to be only about 2 hours from here just up the Hudson River a bit from New York City. Apparently the cemetery offers regular tours and is quite the place with graves from Revolutionary War heroes to New York millionaires including the Rockefellers and the Helmsleys. In addition to that, the town of Sleepy Hollow itself - home of the fictitious Ichabod Crane - looks pretty cool and a great place to take ~~my Nikon~~ the girls.

Speaking of the girls, I wonder if they could behave themselves on a road-trip or whether I'd end up dumping them by the side of the road with a sign attached that read "Free to Good Home"?!? Amanda seemed to think a trip to Sleepy Hollow would be cool so maybe she could get along with her sister long enough to actually get there.

Actually, not to jinx myself here, they've been getting along pretty good the last few days so I'm hoping that perhaps a corner has been turned - or at least a temporary truce called! I keep hoping that like all of the others who have told me that they" never got along with their sister but now they're great" the same will happen with Amanda and Jamie. Hope springs eternal in the heart of a mother!

Speaking of mothers, congratulations to my friend Kevin whose wife just gave birth to their second daughter on Sunday the 28th. Kevin reports mom and baby are doing fine and should be coming home either Wednesday or Thursday. In the meantime he's taken some time off of work to take care of his adorable oldest daughter and enjoy the new addition to their family.

Guess that about wraps up the tidbits for now; here's hoping everyone has a great Tuesday and last day of June!

A Quote For Monday

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

"The doors of wisdom are never shut." - Benjamin Franklin

Zuppa Toscana - The At Home Version!

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Last Saturday afternoon the girls and I went to The Olive Garden for lunch and - for probably the 12th time - I said that if I could just find a recipe for it, I'd make my favorite Zuppa Toscana soup at home so that we could have it more often. Amanda likes it just as much as I do so I finally went in search of a recipe online.

Turns out there were quite a few from which to choose but none of them sounded 'quite right' as I couldn't for the life of me remember there being bacon in the soup. However, every recipe I looked at called for bacon in varying amounts so I figured that had to be right, right? I ended up using a little of this and a little of that from each of the recipes that I found and eventually ended up with my own recipe of sorts. When I made the soup I doubled the recipe as the way I look at it you can never have enough Zuppa Toscana and I knew Amanda would be looking for leftovers if it came out as well as the soup we love at The Olive Garden.

If you'd like to try it, the recipe I used was:

1 quart water
2 14.5 oz cans of chicken broth
4 medium-size russet potatoes
1/2 medium onion
1-1/2 to 2 tsp minced garlic
3 pieces of cooked crisp bacon, diced
1 pound spicy Italian sausage
3 cups chopped kale
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper

Cook the Italian sausage, crumbling it as you go (I used the non-link variety); drain and set aside.
Lightly saute the onion in the same pan you just cooked the sausage in until soft.
In a large pot, add water, chicken broth, garlic, sauteed onions, and potatoes; cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender.
Add cooked sausage and cooked diced bacon to the pot and let simmer for another ten minutes.
Add kale and heavy cream to pot; season with salt & pepper; heat for about 5 to 10 minutes; serve to rave reviews!

This was my finished product and Amanda declared it to be exactly like the soup at The Olive Garden; the only things missing were the grated Romano cheese on top and the breadsticks! Because Amanda dislikes onions almost as much as she dislikes needles, after sauteing the onions I put them through my mini-food processor so Amanda couldn't see them floating in her soup and she never even knew they were there until I told her after she'd eaten her first bowl-full!

Unfortunately Jamie didn't much care for the soup as she thought it was a little too spicy for her tastebuds and she's also not much of an Italian sausage fan but I thought it actually came out pretty close to the real thing. I think the next time I make it, I'm actually going to throw in a couple extra potatoes and see how it comes out and I might toss in another handful of kale, too, but other than that I'm going to give myself a pat on the back and call it buon abbastanza rammendato per una prima prova!*

*pretty darned good for a first try!

Looking at the Sky on Friday - The Bleh Version

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:24:00 +0000

Sigh ... yep ... that gray sky is pretty much what we here in Connecticut have been looking at all Spring and now into the Summer. I do believe there's more color in the reflections of the water on Beach Pond then there is in the sky! Oh well, Mother Nature is a stubborn cuss and it is what it is - bleh!

Speaking of it is what it is - today is Gracie's birthday so I wanted to make sure to give her a shout out way over there in California and send her wishes for a day filled with happiness! Stop by and wish her a good one and then pop over to Tisha's where I'm sure you'll find some blue skies and maybe even some cottony clouds!

A Moment of Reflection

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:12:00 +0000

On Route 165 in Rhode Island - straddling the Connecticut State Line - lies Beach Pond beach, part of the Arcadia Wildlife Management Area and a great place to go swimming when I was a kid long, long ago.

Unfortunately, swimming at Beach Pond was prohibited several years ago due to a cut in funding for lifeguards in the Rhode Island state budget. Since then, the bathhouse that used to stand on the beach has been torn down and the beach strewn with rocks so that people aren't tempted to swim there illegally.

I stopped by Beach Pond briefly on way back from dropping a friend and her mother off at the airport near Providence, Rhode Island this morning and snapped a few pictures of the once lively beach area. I had hoped that maybe - just maybe - the sun would make an appearance and I could capture a sunrise while I was up at the unprecedented time of before dawn but alas, the sun chose to hide behind the clouds yet again.

While walking along the abandoned beach, I thought this one tree was quite fascinating as its roots are obviously growing above ground while it hangs on tenaciously by the edge of the pond and it reminded me of the Bible passage about the sower and the seeds where Jesus tells His disciples His very first parable:

“Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” - Matthew 13:3-9

Sometimes it's hard not to look at nature and remember the words of the Lord, isn't it? I wonder how deep the roots of this tree run and how long it's been hanging on to the edge of the pond?

I've Got a Question - You've Got an Answer

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:09:00 +0000

Rumor has it that it's summer and even the calendar proclaimed it as such on June 21st but you'd be hard-pressed to believe it here in New England where a lot of us are beginning to think that somehow the country was spun around and we are now living in Seattle! The sun has been virtually nonexistent this year - or so it seems - and truth be told, it's getting a bit depressing - particularly after the brutal winter we went through.

Mother Nature occasionally teases us with a nice day, though, just to give us a glimmer of hope or a reminder that the sun is still out there - somewhere - doing what the sun does best in the summer so I thought I'd take a moment just to ask everyone -

What are your summer plans?

Personally I've been craving a train trip of some sort but that's probably because I've been taking way too many pictures of train tracks! Currently, though, there aren't any plans to go anywhere in particular or do much of anything except perhaps a short visit to see the cousins in Massachusetts while Jamie is here.

How about you? What are you up to this summer?

Open Wide!

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:02:00 +0000

In just a little while I'll be waking Amanda up so that she can take her prescribed dose of Xanax prior to her oral surgery which is scheduled for 9:30 EST today. Whoever thought of giving patients something to relax them prior to having their wisdom teeth removed is a genius as I think Amanda is most definitely going to be nervous - not so much about the extraction itself but about the IV that they are going to be putting in her arm to administer the Versed used to send her off to LaLa Land during the procedure.

Yep, our own Miss Delirium is deathly afraid of needles. Go figure! I guess everyone is afraid of something and if it isn't ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night, it may as well be needles! I personally have no problem with needles in spite of the fact I have horrible veins but I make up for that by having a nice healthy fear of heights. Heck, my palms sweat just watching a high-wire act on TV!

My friend Andrew, who is a paramedic, checked out Amanda's veins the other day and told her that she'll have no problems as she's got lots of available sites (thank goodness she didn't inherit my sorry-excuse for accessible sites to sink an IV) and that she probably won't even feel it when they put the needle in. The doctor has told her that they freeze the site prior also so as long as she has her iPod earbuds firmly in place and looks the other way, she should be fine. That dose of Xanax will probably help, too!

If all goes well, she should be in and out of the dentist chair in less than an hour and back home before she even knows it. As a matter of fact, if she has the same reaction I did to the Versed, she probably won't know it! I've jokingly told her that I was going to bring a video camera to record how she reacts to the drug but I'm still debating whether to actually do it or not. Truth be told, I wish someone had videotaped me after my surgery on the 12th as I'm still wondering whether I did or said something more embarrassing than asking about cute guys in the waiting room!

Anyhow, happy thoughts and well wishes for a speedy and relatively painless recovery for Amanda would be greatly appreciated today. As someone who has all of her wisdom teeth still intact I'm not sure exactly what Amanda will be going through but as her mother, of course I hope it's a simple procedure with an easy recovery period.

Update! Amanda is sleeping soundly (in my room, of course) after what the dentist said was a very easy extraction and two teeth that just "popped" right out. At the end of surgery she was laughing and giggling and acting quite like she'd had way too much too drink (and yes, I have video!). Her first request was her cellphone so that she could twitter an update - oy! -with her second request being a shake from McDonald's because she was starving. It was too early for Mickey D's so she came home and had a small glass of milk with a Tylox before deciding I was right after all and she really wanted to sleep for awhile. That was close to three hours ago!

So far so good, right?

Jane Austen Takes Over Chick Flick Sunday

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:38:00 +0000

Yesterday was the epitome of Chick Flick Sunday at work as Jen and I watched not one or two but THREE Jane Austen related movies in between being very busy with the radio and telephones. Jen wondered if I had gotten a little carried away with the NetFlix queue but I guess they just lined up that way when I was checking off movies for inclusion.

We watched the Masterpiece Theater editions of Mansfield Park and Northanger Abby and then followed that up with Miss Austen Regrets which was based on the last few years of Jane Austen's life as she looks back on her life and loves and helps her favorite niece, Fanny, decide about a husband. I believe that most of the movie was culled from letters to her sister and other bits and pieces of family correspondence.

Truth be told, it's kind of depressing as it's very sad to think that a woman who wrote so compellingly of love and passion ended up spending her life as a spinster living with her mother and her sister, Cassandra. Still, you've got to admire someone for sticking to their principals of not getting married simply for convenience or money - as was often the case during the time period in which Miss Austen lived. Jane wanted to marry for love and if she couldn't marry for that then she wouldn't marry at all.

One of the lines I liked best in Miss Austen Regrets is when she is talking to her niece Fanny about men and tells her that "the only way you can get a man like Mr. Darcy is to make him up". Sad, but true, particularly if your favorite Mr. Darcy is the one played by Colin Firth (rowr!). Still, if you're an incurable romantic like myself, you always hope that someday your own Mr. Darcy will show up on your doorstep perhaps lost and looking for directions that only you can provide him.

Alas, I am no Elizabeth Bennett, Catherine Morland, Fanny Price, Ann Elliott, Eleanor or Marianne Dashwood, or Emma Woodhouse though there are times when I fervently wish I was as even though they have to go through some tough times to get there - all of these heroines eventually end up with the man they love and, for all intents and purposes, live happily ever after. Right?

Just for kicks, I took a quiz to see what Jane Austen character I am and got the following results which I don't think are quite right:

You're Fanny Price from Mansfield Park! You are quiet and feel alone most of the time, and you don't usually speak out. Because of your quiet, sweet nature, you are sometimes used as a most unfortunate scapegoat.

Marianne Dashwood

100%

Catherine Morland

85%

Fanny Price

70%

Anne Elliot

55%

Elizabeth Bennet

55%

Emma Woodhouse

55%

Elinor Dashwood

45%

Alone - yes, for the most part ... quiet and don't speak out? No, I don't think so! And I also rather doubt I serve as anyone's unfortunate scapegoat! Still, she held out for her Edward and she got him in the end so in that case, I guess I wouldn't mind being Fanny Price after all. Truth be told, though, I really do believe I am more Marianne Dashwood then any other Austen character.

How about you? Anyone else want to take the quiz and tell me your results? Guys - you are excluded unless you're feeling brave!

"The Moving Wall" Stops in Norwich

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Since June 5th, Norwich has been celebrating its Semiseptcentennial - 350th birthday - with various and assorted tours, a reenactment of the deed signing between the Colonists and the Mohegans, Riverfest with dragon boat races, a kids trout fishing derby and a whole host of other events.

The big event for this weekend was the arrival and display of the traveling Vietnam Wall Memorial which was set up at Howard T. Brown Park near the marina. "The Moving Wall" is a 3/5th scale of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC that stands six feet tall at the center and covers almost 300 feet from end to end which has been touring the country for more than twenty years. The Wall's visit to Norwich was sponsored by Norwich VFW Post 594 and it was quite the site to see.

After Amanda's party last night, Amy and I took the girls down to Howard T. Brown Park to look at The Wall and take some pictures while reflecting upon all of the lives lost not just in Vietnam but throughout America's history as there were also displays from the Korean War, the Wars in Irag and Afghastan, and a 911 tribute.

We stopped by briefly again today so that Amy could look up the name of a friend amongst the dogtags of those killed in action in Iraq. The stop was unplanned so I didn't have my camera with me but I did have my trusty cellphone to capture a few images under the cloudy skies.

With over 58,000 names on The Wall I am always very thankful that my Dad's name is not among them though it very well could have been as he was injured during a bombing raid in Danang, Vietnam during his tour there. Instead he came home with the shrapnel they'd removed from his leg as well as a Bronze Star and Purple Heart Medal. It's my understanding that he would have been just as happy to not have any of the three but he served proudly in the United States Air Force for over 20 years serving during both the Korean and Vietnam Wars and I was always proud of him.

No doubt there are families standing proudly behind all of those 58,000+ names and missing them every single day; for that reason I set the following video to a song from the Statler Brothers - More Than a Name on a Wall. Don't forget to thank a veteran next time you see one.

Amanda's Birthday Wrap-Up

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:39:00 +0000

If I were Amanda, I'd have to say that I had a pretty darned good 17th birthday even though it took 2 days to do it! After all, she got a Tardis cake (even if it looked like it had accordioned upon crash landing!), a Doctor Who t-shirt complete with David Tennant as the doctor, the DVD series of Doctor Who Seasons 1-4 (though they are coming via slow boat from China and haven't gotten here yet), a Tardis cookie jar which is on pre-order, and a party complete with a whole lot of balloons!

The balloons were a gift from our friend Amy (she of Amy & Jason fame) who really knows how to make a kid happy on her birthday - even though Amanda looks more scared of the balloon than happy in this picture!

As I had failed miserably in the celebration of her 16th birthday last year, I decided that this year I'd do better and invited folks over to the new humble abode for sandwiches, chips, watermelon, and the famed Tardis cake. Guests included my favorite Aunt Eleanor and cousin Amy, my mother and youngest brother John, Amy minus Jason who had a nasty sinus headache, and my son Mike along with his wife Laura and the two grandsons - Christopher and Mathew.

Everyone seemed to have a good time visiting and Amanda even managed to smile quite a bit. I actually left the camera on the dresser and didn't take any pictures (which my mother thought was rather amazing!) but I figured I'd forgo the role of photographer and just enjoy the evening. After all, I've posted more than enough pictures of the famed Tardis cake which - once we peeled off the blue fondant - was quite tasty!

Amanda got some very nice gifts for her birthday including every teen's favorite - cash! - and a very special present which came from Jason & Amy ...

Meet Demise - the newest member of the household! Amanda had been talking about wanting to get a hamster as she didn't seem to have much luck with reptiles (she insists that Evra is my lizard being that I feed him and talk to him) so Amy (who loves all pets!) had asked me if it was okay to get her a hamster and all the trimmings for her birthday. Being the easy-touch that I apparently am, I acquiesced knowing that at least I wasn't going to have to feed a hamster frozen baby mice if Amanda happened to go somewhere.

Earlier in the afternoon before the party, Jason & Amy stopped by loaded down with a cage with accessories, food, bedding, exercise ball, and a fancy bear hamster that had Amanda grinning from ear-to-ear even before she took her out of her box.

The idea originally was to put the cage in Amanda's room where Tardis' habitat used to be but considering she spends more time in the dining room on the computer than in her room it was decided to put it on the shelf next to the computer so Amanda would be able to watch her more often.

Various names were tried out and discarded before I suggested "Demise" based on one of Amanda's favorite Creature Feature songs. She ran it past her friends online who all agreed it was a great name and so it became that Miss Delirium met her Demise! Of course, I'm beginning to think she should have named her "Sheezsokewt" as I think Amanda must have said that a good 30 times shortly after Demise arrived!

Like I said, were I Amanda I'd have to say I had a pretty darned good 17th birthday and I'm thinking that maybe I've managed to redeem myself from last year's epic fail!

Tackling the Tardis (Cake!)

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:06:00 +0000

"So Linda .. what did you do on your day off Thursday?"

"I built a Tardis."

"A what?"

"A Tardis, it's a time machine."

"A what?!?"

"A time machine - Time and Relative Dimension in Space to be exact."

"Okay ... and exactly just why did you build a, what do you call it, Tardis?"

"Amanda really wanted one for her birthday."

"A time machine??"

"Well, a birthday cake that looked like one at any rate!"

Yeah, I'm thinking that's probably about how that conversation would go were I to actually have it!

For those unfamiliar with the British Sci-Fi television series that has been around almost longer than I have, Doctor Who features a guy (the doctor) who travels through time in the Tardis getting into all sorts of adventures with his sonic screwdriver and trusty sidekick. The show has become one of Amanda's very favorites and one of her requests for her birthday this year was a Tardis cake.

To be honest, I originally wasn't going to do it as I figured I had absolutely no talent when it came to cake-making - especially one that was supposed to look like a blue police call box! I had hoped that Mags would be able to come down from Boston and bail me out (excellent baker that she is) but alas, she had plans and couldn't make it. I then kicked around the idea of getting a digital picture put on a sheet cake at the local grocery store but in the end, after checking every internet source possible, I decided I'd take on the challenge and hope for the best.

After gathering up what I figured I was going to need for this project -

I decided I was ready but Thursday morning found me running out to the store for a couple more cans of frosting "just in case" as it had dawned on me late the night before that perhaps I wouldn't have enough. I had been lucky enough to find blue fondant online and a few other things I needed which was good because I had never ever worked with fondant in my life and I was a bit intimidated by the whole idea. The stuff is tricky to say the least!

On Tuesday I baked four 8x8 chocolate cakes and another four 8x8 vanilla cakes so that they'd be ready for Thursday's cake-a-thon which commenced around noon. Of course pictures were taken throughout the process and put together in this really quick one-minute video set to the theme music from Doctor Who for your viewing pleasure -

Ah, if only I could have made the cake that quickly but instead it took me about four hours all told.

It wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination and I'm not sure how well it's going to look at the party this evening as once it comes out of the refrigerator it will probably be even more wibbly-wobbly and timey-whimey than it already is (I'm pretty sure I know what things I did wrong and should I ever take on this sort of project again will attempt to learn from those mistakes). The bottom line though is that Amanda seemed to love it and that smile was more than worth it!

Now here's hoping Jamie wants something "normal" for her 16th birthday next month!

Amanda's Birthday Tardis

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:45:00 +0000

Well Amanda's Tardis cake is done but I don't know if it will last until tomorrow night's party being that it is all wibbly-wobbly and sagging badly! Pardon the picture quality, it was sent from my cell phone. Better pictures later - honest!

Happy Birthday, Miss Delirium!

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

As hard as it is for me to believe, it was 17 years ago today somewhere around 2:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time in Long Beach, California that I gave birth to my first daughter -Amanda Elizabeth. Her middle name is in tribute to my mother who also claims today as her birthday - albeit quite a few years earlier than Amanda! Happy birthday, Mom!

Those of you who have been regular readers of my blog are probably quite familiar with the variations in the color of Amanda's hair but when she first came home from the hospital she had a beautiful head of soft brown hair that even back then refused to be tamed! I guess I should have taken it as a sign of things to come but alas, who knew that in my arms I was holding a future wanna-be zombie?!?

In looking back over the pictures in the collage below (which you can click to make bigger), it's easy to see how much Amanda has changed over the years - from a blonde-haired little girl to a multi-color-haired teenager as well as a few stops in between.

No doubt Amanda will do some more changing between now and her 18th birthday next year - which also happens to fall on the scheduled day for graduation of the Norwich Free Academy Class of 2010 and the day when she will walk across the stage, receive her diploma, and step into the confusing world of life after high school. She thinks that graduating on her 18th birthday is going to stink though I think it's pretty cool ... but then again, what do I know? I actually liked high school!

For today, though, we're going to celebrate her 17th birthday with preparations for a small party tomorrow evening with family, friends, and a Tardis-shaped birthday cake. For those of you who aren't exactly sure what that is, come on back tomorrow when I hope to have a post on the creation of this epic cake ... or epic fail depending on how well I do! The things we do for our kids on their birthdays ... !

Until then, if you'd like to pop by Amanda's blog (where she doesn't post anywhere near as often as I think she should!) and leave her a birthday wish or two on the post I broke into her blog and left then click on over to Artcetera and feel free to tell her that I said she needs to update her blog! Nothing says happy birthday quite like nagging from blog friends!

Happy birthday, Amanda, and I hope one of your wishes is that I don't screw up your cake!

Sculptures of Peace and Joy in Rhode Island

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

This piece of artwork is called "Dancing on the Waves" and is located in a small park in front of the town beach at Narragansett, Rhode Island. The sculpture is created by Anne Mimi Sammis, "whose passion for love and peace, embody the joy, the dance of love between ourselves and others."

From what I can determine, Ms. Sammis is a resident of Narragansett but her artwork can be found in quite a few other states in this country as well as overseas in England and the Netherlands. She has a second sculpture located in the same park called "Dance of Peace" -

Jamie not included!

Sometimes I just don't 'get' modern art but I thought these sculptures were rather pretty and I can appreciate their meaning and the thought behind them. As a matter of fact, I think that our own Queen Mimi, founder of the Peace Globe Movement, would really hit it off with this other Mimi who also strives for peace through her artwork - one of which bears a striking resemblance to a globe! Maybe it's the name?

Lawnwork Explained

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:45:00 +0000

Having caught heck from a few folks yesterday when I mentioned that I was mowing the lawn before the next rains came in, I thought today would be a good time to do a post about the lawn and why it is that I mow it myself rather than having either of the two teenagers who reside with me do it.

This is my humble abode - Casa de Mouseski if you will - in all of its brick glory. My part of this palatial estate is the entire bottom floor with neighbors both upstairs (the Vietnamese smokers) and a lovely elderly lady named Elizabeth who lives in the small apartment over the garage at the back of the property.

As you can see, the yard is not exactly massive in proportion but my landlord knocks off a nice chunk of my monthly rent in return for mowing it and keeping it looking decent. When this past winter ended, most of the yard underneath the tree was dirt and small trees that were attempting to grow into a forest. It looked pretty bad to be honest!

Since I started taking care of the lawn I have put down new grass seed and also gotten rid of most of the weeds that had taken root. I've also picked up way too many cigarette butts but after putting them in a can and placing them on the upstairs neighbors' back steps last time I mowed, they seem to have gotten the hint that the yard is not their personal ashtray. Yay! Who says you need to speak the same language in order to communicate?!? At any rate, I take pride in the way the lawn currently looks kind of like those guys you see on commercials on TV about Scotts Turf-Builder and the like!

The crux of the matter is, I enjoy taking care of the lawn or else I wouldn't have agreed to do it when the landlady asked me. They have provided me with a very nice self-propelled lawnmower and anything else I may need for the job merely requires me buying it, mailing them the receipt, and deducting the amount from my rent check. Not a bad deal at all.

Yes, the girls are old enough to help out with the yard but truth be told, I'd really rather do it myself and I wouldn't have done it were I not feeling up to it yesterday. My doctor had told me I could resume normal activities after the weekend as long as I felt okay and I felt more than well enough to mow the small amount of grass we have out there. I had wanted to do it before my surgery but the weather we've been having this so-called Spring didn't give me a chance and with more rain predicted for most of this week (with the exception of Wednesday when I work a double) yesterday was the best time.

Trust me, I do know my limitations when it comes to physical abilities and if I forget them, my back is quick to remind me that I am no longer young and need to take it easy. I've mowed lawns since I was a teenager and because it's one of those things where you get immediate visible results for your efforts, I have always enjoyed it. There's nothing quite like a fresh mowed lawn! Granted, I don't enjoy mowing when it's hot and humid but that just means I let the grass grow a little more and wait for it to be nicer out.

Thank you to everyone for your concern, I really do appreciate your looking out for me and I promise to put the girls to work pulling weeds and such if need be - now that I don't enjoy!

A Brief Glimpse of Rhode Island

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

The sun actually managed to come out for awhile yesterday and there were blue skies - at least in Rhode Island if not Connecticut! Following a visit with my grandson for his fourth birthday, the girls and I went for a ride up the Rhode Island coast and made a stop in Narragansett at the seawall.

More pictures* later but for now, I really need to get out and mow the lawn before going back into work this afternoon after my short 'medical leave'. I guess all good things must come to an end, eh?

*click on pictures to biggify

Sunday Scenery

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Back around Memorial Day I took a walk through the Yantic Cemetery and while there took a few pictures of some the local flowers that were blooming. I'm not real good at macro stuff but I kind of like the way they turned out.

Lastly, in honor of Flag Day which marks the anniversary of the adoption by Congress in 1777 of the Stars and Stripes as the emblem of our nation is a picture I took of the new flags that had been put out for Memorial Day weekend on the graves of several veterans of the Spanish American War -

Today is also my Aunt Eleanor's birthday so a very happy birthday to her! Speaking of birthdays, I'm going to take a nice leisurely drive over to Rhode Island to my son's house for a belated birthday celebration for my grandson who turned four this past Friday. I promise to take it easy, okay? Everyone have a great Sunday!

Conscious, Alert, and Oriented Times Four

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 13:34:00 +0000

As the medical professionals that I work with like to say when transmitting information over the med radio to the hospital about patients they are bringing into the Emergency Department, today I am "conscious, alert, and oriented times four". In other words, I know who I am, where I am at, what time it is, and what's just happened. I'm not exactly sure I can say the same about a good part of yesterday!

As I reported in yesterday's blog post, I had an outpatient surgical procedure done at the local hospital that was actually a pretty simple sort of thing that will hopefully reap lots of benefits. It's something I probably should have had done long ago but somehow, just never got around to it. One of the requirements of the hospital was that I have a responsible driver to take me home after the procedure which at the time I thought was kind of funny being that I now live within extremely easy walking distance of the hospital. My friend Rhonda volunteered and ended up not just being a responsible driver but a responsible friend, too!

The William W. Backus Hospital is the only hospital here in Norwich and I've been there a time or two recently for assorted things but hadn't actually been there for anything of a surgical sort since 2005 when I had spinal epidural injections for my ongoing back issues. Since then they have changed their entire Same Day Surgery Suite and it's quite nice. Once I got checked in, Rhonda and I were shown to my "room" where I got to meet my nurse, the anesthesiologist, and another nurse who was participating in my surgery. After changing into my new-fangled hospital gown that was really quite cool (none of those gaping in the back, cloth gowns there!) the nurse had the unpleasant task of trying to put my IV in.

I say unpleasant because I have absolutely positively horrible veins and it's always a challenge to try to find one to use. Thankfully I know that ahead of time and can warn the nurse that it isn't going to be easy which they always find a bit dismaying because I think the last thing a nurse wants to do is hurt a patient looking for a vein. After tapping on my veins and looking in vain (no pun intended!) for a few moments, my nurse decided to try a double tourniquet to see if that would help. While she did that, Rhonda decided to tell a few jokes in order to relax the situation a bit and finally the nurse found a small vein in my left hand that didn't hide when she went after it. It really didn't hurt but that's probably because I'm used to the process however I'm glad that Amanda doesn't appear to have my veins as when she has to get her IV for her wisdom tooth extraction later this month I would rather she didn't have to go through that. Of course, I could always tell jokes like Rhonda did and see if that helped!

Once my IV was in place I was given an anti-nausea medication and then something to help me relax a bit (I think it may have been Xanax but I'm not positive). Shortly afterward my doctor came in and went over the procedure again with me and asked if I had any questions. I had told Rhonda that he was just a kid but that he was really nice and she agreed completely with me as he does look extremely boyish, especially in his surgical scrubs! The only question I had was how long Rhonda would have to wait for me to be out of the operating room and he said probably half an hour to forty-five minutes tops. She'd brought along a good book so wasn't too concerned about it herself but I hated to think she'd have to waste a good part of her day waiting on me. Following that I was wheeled down to the OR while Rhonda cheerily waved goodbye and told me to have a good time! A good time??

En route to the OR I met yet another of the nurses who would be in on my procedure named Dave and then once in the OR I was introduced to Maria but not the other two people who were on the other side of the room. For a simple procedure there sure seemed to be a lot of people in there! Once transferred from the gurney to the operating table I got all strapped in place into what I refer to as the sign of the cross (one arm stretched out on either side) and the anthesiologist put on my oxygen mask and started hooking up her tools of the trade. At that point she asked me, "Republican?" At first I wasn't sure what she meant or how she might have guessed my political affiliation (for the most part though I don't vote party lines) until I remembered the elephant tattoo that I have over my heart. Oh, that! I told her that it wasn't related to politics but that it was a birthday present from my friend Cyndi one year and that it was an elephant because we like to joke in my family that an elephant is the family mascot. Besides, it's purple and not red-white-and-blue!

Shortly after that, Dr. Briggs came in and asked me my name and date of birth as well as what I was having done (I guess just to make sure I was still with the program) and then one of the nurses said they were going to attach the pumps that keep you from getting blood clots to your legs and that was it for me ... I don't remember anything else until I woke up sipping cranberry juice in my room. I remember thinking it was odd that they had brought me cranberry juice but I didn't think much of it at the time.

I was given some toast to eat and the nurse asked if I was still having any itching to which I said "no" and again didn't think much of that though I thought it was an odd question as I didn't remember saying anything about any itching to begin with though I know for a fact that I have had issues with morphine and itching in the past and thought maybe she was referring to that. At that point I noticed that I was starting to have some cramping so the nurse gave me two Vicodin and said she thought it was strange that I wasn't having any cramping before when she asked but I don't even remember her asking. Huh?

Turns out that I was supposedly awake and having full conversations with everyone for a good half an hour or so before I was actually awake though I have no memory of any of that. I had thought it odd that the doctor didn't come by afterward but turns out that he did and even showed me pictures of part of the procedure as well as gave me instructions of what not to do for a few days and what to expect. Huh? The nurses had given me another medication that they said they explained to me (nope), I had requested cranberry juice when asked what kind of juice I wanted (nope), I had asked Rhonda if there were any cute guys in the waiting room (nope) and she had said Dr. Briggs was the cutest one there when he came out to get her to which he apparently told her that flattery would get her everywhere (nope), I said that I wasn't having any cramping at all when asked by the nurses a couple of times (nope), and I did say that I was having some itching when asked and the nurses gave me something for that (nope). When I told the nurse that I didn't remember any of that she seemed pretty surprised as she said I was talking coherently and seemed to know exactly what was going on as soon as they brought me back from the OR. Uh ... no!

Rhonda assured me that I didn't say anything inappropriate or embarrassing (0ther than asking about the cute guys in the waiting room I guess) but I have to say that it's really disconcerting to know that I was that out of it. The drug they gave me for the procedure, Versed, is what they refer to as conscious sedation or "twilight sleep" but apparently I was not conscious at all - and I defintely wasn't oriented! I guess maybe that's what people who sleepwalk or sleeptalk go through? Either way it was strange and once I mentioned that I had no recollection of any of the things that went on the nurse made sure to go over my post-surgical instructions with me again and had Rhonda be the responsible one to sign my paperwork.

By the time we left the hospital and went to the local CVS to have my prescription filled I was starting to feel pretty sick (I could have used some more anti-nausea medication apparently) and couldn't wait to get home and into bed. In spite of the two Vicodin they had given me at the hospital, my uterus was revolting big-time and I was having some of the most miserable cramps of my life that I was hoping to sleep through, especially considering I felt like I was still tip-toeing through LaLa Land. Jamie got the heating pad for me which helped and I slept almost the entire afternoon away - woke up briefly - and then slept the entire evening away - woke up long enough for the girls to give me some eggs and toast - and then slept the entire night away. I guess that's what they mean by 'rest and recover'!

Today I'm feeling pretty good and have no residual pain or anything else to speak of while also seeming to have pretty good control of my mental faculties, especially as opposed to yesterday! That Versed is some powerful stuff! Should be interesting to see how Amanda reacts on the 23rd as that's what she's going to be getting at the oral surgeon's office for her procedure - maybe I'll have to take some videos! I almost wish someone had been taping yesterday as I have absolutely no idea what I said or did but now I know why one needs a responsible driver, as well as a responsible friend, to be there! Thanks again, Rhonda!

Procedural Update

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:46:00 +0000

First off, thank you so much to everyone who left well wishes here and on my Facebook page about my outpatient surgery. Everything seemed to go well and even though I had some major nausea and cramps from the hot, fiery place guarded over by some guy with a pointed tail and a pitchfork, I'm feeling much better tonight though still somewhat on the woozy side at the moment.

I'll try to blog some more tomorrow once I get the rest of this Versed out of my system. I'm thinking it's going to be a good nighty-night for me tonight!

Going Under the Knife Laser

mouseski58@yahoo.com (Linda) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:28:00 +0000

Just enough time for a quick post before my "responsible driver" arrives to take me the two blocks or so over to the William W. Backus Hospital where I will spend probably most of the morning undergoing a little bit of outpatient surgery. Not that I'm sure if you can call what I'm having done surgery or not but hey ... it's all semantics, right?

Not to go into too much personal detail here (or skeeve anyone out!) but I am basically having the lining of my uterus burned away via a laser instrument that looks like the netting on a Coleman lantern! The procedure is called an endometrial ablation and it will, hopefully, take care of some issues I've been having for quite a long time - or at least long enough for me to enter the wonderful world of menopause. Oh joy.

Unlike my dispatch partner, Jen, who likes to happily tell pretty much anyone who walked into the dispatch center that she has a "pristine" uterus, I don't. Matter of fact, I probably have a fairly antique uterus at this point that has pretty much done what it's needed to do and could probably have simply been put out to pasture had I chosen to go the route of a full hysterectomy instead. However that would have required a lot more time off of work than I have available so I'm going this route instead.

My doctor tells me that the procedure is fairly simple and that for most people recovery is only a few days at the most which is why he performs them on Fridays so that people can use the weekend to recuperate. Of course, I don't have what one could call a normal weekend (naturally!) and would normally return to work on Sunday but for those who encouraged me (or was that yelled at me?) to take off Sunday, you will be happy to know that I have done so.

With any luck, I can spend some of the recovery time in bed with my laptop so perhaps I'll finally get a chance to catch up on my blogging but if not and you don't hear from me for a couple days (other than perhaps a status update on Facebook), I'll be taking it easy - once my responsible driver brings me back home later! Oh, and a big thank you to my friend Rhonda for coming all the way down here from Canterbury to take me the less than two blocks to the hospital - what a responsible gal and good friend!