Kit Update

About a month ago, I told you about Kit, my version of Windy.

Kit has endured some serious storms and threats in the last month. There were a few instances which concerned me. The wind was so severe I thought not only was Kit a goner, but the tree that held her as well.

But Kit and that tree held tight.

Poor Kit is slightly battered and tattered, but she is still there, a bright, colorful, welcoming sight outside my window.

Kit did face another kind of threat. The human kind.

Shortly after I took the most recent photo (below), there were two fully grown men who tried to assault her.

I think they were watching one of their kids play ball in the field, but I cannot be certain because they acted more like an 8-year-old than the 8-year-olds playing ball.

They started by shaking the sad little tree Kit is in. If you did not notice, that tree is the only one in the field without leaves. I don't think that tree is well. I do think Kit is keeping it company and they have become very good friends.

After shaking the tree did not stir Kit, the one tried to climb the tree. The tree recognized what the man was doing and refused. The tree made it impossible for the man to climb, so the man tried to jump as if he had springs in his feet that would propel him 12 feet in the air.

Then he started throwing twigs up at Kit. I felt so protective that I nearly went out and yelled at the man. I wanted to ask him how old he was that he thought it was okay to try to damage a tree to get to a kite that is stuck at the top of the tree. I wanted to ask him how he thought the Forest Preserve Police might react to someone damaging their property.

Eventually, they got tired of abusing the tree and threatening Kit. Kit is still there, though with all the wind and storms we have had, I am not sure how long Kit can hold on.

3 Icons Gone

The death of Ed McMahon, while sad, was not too terribly unexpected. He was 86 and struggling with cancer.

No doubt, I was saddened to hear that he passed. He has been a presence my entire life from watching the Tonight Show as a kid to Star Search to seeing him knock on doors presenting sweepstakes checks to lucky winners.

He had a long, fulfilling life for which we will all remember him. It's unfortunate that he had to spend his last years dealing with his very public financial issues. He will be missed.

Farrah Fawcett's death was also not too terribly unexpected. However, I feel very sad about her passing. Her battle with cancer has been long and very public; I don't think there was a person out there that wasn't pulling for her to beat it.

I was born in the 70's, so I grew up with her image and her name all round me. Her image as one of Charlie's Angels and the hairstyle named after her feathery hair will live on forever. Most recently her image has been of a courageous woman truly fighting cancer and a woman preparing to marry her longtime love, Ryan O'Neal.

I'm sorry she lost her battle and I am sorry for those who loved her. I think I am particularly touched by her death because she was only a year older than my mother. May her family find peace.

Michael Jackson's death is such a shock. I first saw it online and I did not believe it. Then my mom told me she heard it on the radio.

I know his life has been strange the last decade or so, but he is an icon, a true American Idol, the King of Pop. I do not remember a time in my life when Michael Jackson wasn't influencing something. The first record I bought was his. I have his doll. I had a glove like his.

He was a musical genius. Like Prince, he was eccentric, but beyond talented in everything he touched. A true performer.

I will not speak to the allegations and charges he faced nor his plastic surgeries. I will not disparage the dead. However, I will say that he will be remembered for his musical contributions and the way he changed the face of pop music and videos.

His death is shocking me almost as much as Heath Ledger's. I just cannot believe it.

I hope all three icons can rest in peace and their families can also find peace. The world will not forget them.

No More Wings

You might recall the post from a week or so ago about my shorts with the built in hips, or wings.

This is what they looked like:



Fit great in the waist, but had these strange flaps for the hips, as if I didn't have enough hips on my own.

I finally got around to sewing them. I sew by hand, I rarely use a machine. I sewed them once to find that all I did was move the wings further down my leg. I didn't realize when I began that I would have to sew the entire length of the shorts, but I went back and did so.



Now they fit! No wings! Nobody would ever know these things were deformed before!

Bliss & Promises

I was preparing to report to you my new favorite thing. Hershey's Bliss Dark Chocolate candy.

I am a chocoholic. I have said many times that I don't have a sweet tooth, all my teeth are sweet.

I have a really healthy diet all day long, but at night, I get the craving for sweets like ice cream or cookies. I have kept it at bay with cereal, but sometimes, I just need some real chocolate.

The Bliss candy has really helped. I can eat one and am satisfied.

I've lost about 10 pounds in 6 months by cutting out the ice cream and cookies, so, I was going to report my excitement about how the Bliss has helped.

Yesterday, my mom bought me a bag of Dove Promises Peanut Butter candy.

I cannot eat just one. The serving size is 5 pieces, same as with the Bliss, but I don't eat more than one Bliss. The Promises, I have a hard time stopping at the 5! In the 24 hours since I have had this bag of candy, I'd say I have eaten about 15 or so pieces.

I told my mom not to buy any more of those! They are evil! Delicious, but evil. They should not be called Promises, but rather Gluttony.

Migraine & A Free Day in the City

I have been MIA again and I apologize.

Partly due to physical issues. Last week I had so much pain my right neck, shoulder and hand that I stayed away from the computer as much as possible. Then Friday night, just before bed, I got a terrible headache which turned into a migraine and is still here.

Thankfully, I felt just fine Friday because I had plans to go into the city with an old friend and her 4 and almost 2 year old daughters.

The forecast threatened of severe weather, but we were going regardless. It was a free day at the Shedd Aquarium.

She called me to tell me she'd be late because it was already storming by her and she was having a hard time getting the girls in the car because the storm was scaring them. It hadn't started by me, though I could see lightening to the West, which is the direction from which she was coming.

An hour later she arrived and it was just starting to drizzle. By the time we got to the Eisenhower (I-290), it was raining pretty hard. By the time we got off and were making our way to Lake Shore Drive, it was a torrential downpour. I was so glad she drove her minivan rather than me try to drive my Grand Am! I would have been stalled on LSD with as much water as was on the street.

We made it into the parking area of the Shedd when we saw the sign that it was a 2 hour wait to get in. With the line to get into the parking garage wrapped around the corner, a 2 hour wait, the storm coming down like it was and a 4 and 2 year old, we decided to go to plan B.

Plan B was the Museum of Science & Industry, which is about 4 miles further south. It was also free that day, but it hadn't been advertised on the news and such like the Shedd had.

We felt bad for the kids, especially the little one. They were excited to see the fish.

We got to the museum and turned into the parking garage just as they were closing it because it was full. We were having really terrible luck up to this point. We were giving up and getting ready to turn back onto Lake Shore Drive to head home when my friend decided to go to the right to see what was over there. We turned into an open parking lot near some benches and a pond.

We actually found a spot too and by that time, it had stopped raining. We had to walk a little bit to get to the entrance, but it was so worth it because the parking was FREE!

I can't say I have found free parking in Chicago for anything before. We had expected to split the parking making it either $8 or $10 each depending on where we parked, but Free?!

The museum was crowded, but not like I would have thought, though it was a sauna in there. We had so much fun and it was completely free!!!!

Now, if we had known about that parking lot and intended to park there for free, we would not have found a spot, I just know it. The parking gods felt sorry for us and let us have a spot because just after we parked, a stream of cars came in asking us if we were leaving as we were unloading the kids!

It's rare to get a free treat like that and it was even better to have it with a friend I hadn't seen in a year and two incredibly sweet little girls.

Little Con Artist

My niece is becoming a little con artist.

A couple of weeks ago, my sister asked our dad to watch the kids so she could go to dinner with her husband. He has never watched the kids. My sister has been too nervous to leave them alone with him. Personally, I would not leave my kids with him, but that's me. She spends a lot of time with him, so, since no one else could/would do it, she asked him.

They were watching a movie and suddenly my niece pauses the movie and says, "grandpa, this is the time of night when we give the cat her can of tuna."

What? They don't ever give the cat table food. They might let her eat a piece of tune that fell or lick the can when it is empty, but they have never given her an entire can. She knows this.

My dad, gullible as he is, follows her to the kitchen, lets her get out a can and opens it for the cat. The cat ate a little out of the can and now they have wasted a can of food.

Then she says, "when aunt Kelly watched us last weekend, she made us popcorn while we watched the movie. Can you make us popcorn too?"

That one was true, but I can just feel her testing the waters with him more and more.

So he makes them popcorn.

A little while later, she says, "grandpa, this is the time of night when we get to have a pop-tart."

He obliges, of course.

When I was there the weekend before watching them for my sister's birthday dinner, she told me that they couldn't have pop-tarts at night because they are pure sugar and you just can't have sugar.

The kids know they cannot get away with anything with mommy, daddy, grandma or me. The rest, would believe anything they say.

She got in trouble when my sister and brother-in-law got home.

Sunday, she was playing at the neighbors and her dad was there hanging out with that dad.

My niece comes home for something and my sister tells her they can only play over there for about 10 more minutes because dinner would be ready then.

My niece goes back over and does not tell her dad this. When the neighbors offer them ice cream, my brother-in-law says I don't know when my wife will have dinner ready, so I don't see why not. Instead of saying, dad, mom said dinner will be ready in 10 minutes, she grins and eats the ice cream.

Needless to say, she went to bed early that night.

She's 7. Is it normal to test the boundaries of truth at that age? As far as I know these are the first times she has intentionally conned someone.

Pants with Wings

Today I put on a pair of city shorts, Bermudas, knee shorts, walking shorts or whatever you want to call them.

I have not worn them since last summer and I had forgotten that they have wings.

Well, no, not wings, but built in hips.

I understand that women are curvy and should have clothes made to suit our bodies, but really, I do not need built in hips.

These shorts fit me well in the waist, but make me look like I am wearing the clothes of someone else.

Look. You might be able to see the wings I am referring to in this shot:


If not, here I am pinching the amount of space between my actual hip and the end of the material where they suggest my hip should be:



In this one, I have pulled the material back so you can see what these shorts ought to look like.



I can sew, therefore, I am hoping to salvage these shorts because they are nice and rarely worn. I know I have lost a few lbs since I wore them last, but they fit like that then. With wings. Built in hips. Most women do not need added hips, including me.

Have you ever come across pants with built in hips?

Were You Prepared?

Last night I saw a preview for the ABC 10 pm news.

They said: the digital revolution is here. Stay tuned to find out what you need to do if you are not prepared....



Um, if you weren't prepared by noon, when the switch happened, I am thinking you could not see that report....just a thought.

No Sleep & JackHammers

I couldn't sleep last night.

One reason is because I had Starbucks and did not take a sleeping pill.

I did not take it because the last few times I did, I ended up waking up a dozen times, so I thought I'd just go without.

Last night, I dozed, but never went into a full sleep until about 6:30 a.m. Up until then, I was either wide awake or dozing for a few minutes.

Then, at precisely 8:00 a.m., the jackhammer began.

(p.s. some of the images I came across when searching for an image of a jackhammer would make a stripper blush.)

I knew it was coming, but still....

We are having our porch replaced because it is crumbling. The very snowy, cold winters we've had and all the salt have not helped the cement porch.

This morning the crew came to demolish the porch and started with the jackhammer at 8:00 and did not stop until about 10:00. I tried to sleep through the noise, but that was impossible.

I feel like I'm hungover, though no alcohol was consumed. Now that I think of it, I bet that would have helped me sleep! Oh well. I'll keep it in mind for next time.

(I thought the jackhammering was done....they just started up again! BAH!)

Mystery Injuries

I've mentioned before that I get mystery bruises.

I bruise very easily so I often end up with bruises and have no idea how I got them.

I am also a bit of a clutz. It's genetic...from my grandma, my mom, me, my niece....

A lot of the time, though, I have no idea where or how I get the marks I get. I haven't walked into anything...they just appear. I have often woken up looking like a battered woman.

Yesterday, I had a new mystery injury.

I know it wasn't there when I got out of the shower.

I had an itch around noon, so I rubbed my back and it hurt a bit, but I thought maybe I had a bug bite. Around 4 pm, I felt a stinging, so I looked and found this scratch. (I know the photo is out of focus, but that's the best I could do at that angle.)

It is about 3 or 4 inches long between my shoulder and my bra hook. The skin is broken. No idea where I got it. I didn't walk into or fall into anything. I didn't scratch myself. Nothing sharp was in my clothes.

I don't know what the deal is, but it is very strange.