HOGAAAAAAANNNN!

Dad had his first eye surgery last week on his right eye. Things have gone well and, although he will never gain the eyesight that he lost in his stroke, the sight he does have will be clear. He may only need reading glasses when this all is through. Everytime I tape his eye protector on or untape it to put drops in his eyes, he says "Hogggannnn" ...and I say, "I know nutzing...nutzing!!"...we Reeder's crack ourselves up.

Other good news, after his "procedure" today, it is confirmed that he does not have prostrate cancer. He still has to go back to get another treatment but he should be fine...well, at least not as bad as he was. We are getting the house in order after moving all and I mean ALL of mom and dad's stuff to either storage or here. This last week I spent resting and watching soccer. Something I haven't been able to do since the EPL started a couple weeks ago. Susan is back to her ol' comments about it being "zero to zero...shocker" but now I can lock the TV room's door and ignore her.

Back to normalcy, or what passes for such in my life.

DAMN!

Done and Done!

Susan and I finished up moving all of mom and dad's stuff out of their Bayside Lakes house this past weekend. What a job. We put more stuff in the storage unit and filled a 14 ft. truck full of stuff for the dump. I am now quite familiar with the Brevard County Landfill since I had been last week as well....I'm sorry to say. Susan and I had a bit of fun unloading the truck. We had competitions on who could toss a chair the farthest out of the truck or who could break one of my mom's gazillion vases more spectacularly...I, of course, think did best. We started to get the hairy eyeball from the guy 'guarding' the landfill....let's call him the 'Garbage Master', so we had to stop having fun or we were going to get kicked out of the dump...how low would that be and then where would I go to find my next date. I saw the man of my dreams there. He was about 300 lbs with mullet and he showed me the biggest, whitest, pimple ridden butt crack I had ever seen. It was love at first sight....alas, I fear I will never see him again. Susan and I found out that no electronics at all are allowed at the land fill. Upon entering, you have to go through two 'Garbage Masters' who want to know what you are dumping. They both repeatedly ask you if you have any electronics. When hearing a negative response they both went further, giving examples of what an electronic device is (uh, thanks for the clarification). I suppose maybe people who frequent the dump aren't smart enough to know this....Susan and I figured we would tell the second guy that "no, we have no electronics in the truck....a couple dead bodies...but no toasters or coffee makers. As long as we didn't have a radio on board....we were given the ok to dump the truck, including the dead bodies...isn't America great.

Everyone knows I'm not the most graceful person. Susan and I had a hard time moving a piece of furniture that I forgot to have the strong guys from the moving company take. It is a huge piece of slate that is part of an outdoor bench my mother had. This thing was still partially crated from the folks move from Tucson and probably weighs around 250. Susan and I could budge it but were able to get a dolly under it and with both of our muscles able to barely get it up the ramp on the truck. When we moved it out of the truck to my backyard we couldn't get the dolly free from it. I bent down to pull from the bottom and the next thing I knew I was flat on my back with a huge headache! My hands were full of sweat and they slipped sending the dolly ricocheting right into my head....the only saving grace (there is always an upside) was that I didn't land in dog poop. A few Tylenols some ice and I was good to go!

I heard from our cousin Kurt who lives in LA. He and his sibs, his wife and kids are doing great. He had a pacemaker put in last May, but now that he is bionic he's feeling great. Lynda sent some pictures of her family, sis Pat, bro Curt and Aunt Louise at the outer banks of NC last week. The link is: (tbd)

Thanks for the photo albums Uncle Kenny!

That's all for now…

My Aching Back!

Packing, moving, packing, lifting, packing….it’s amazing how much stuff two people can collect over a 48 year marriage. I mean, I ask you, does any couple need four full sets of china? And, over 100 serving dishes, 100 pans and dishes and….over 100 decks of playing cards? My mother would say “yes, of course”. But, I can assure you if you are the person who is tasked with the monumental effort to pack all the stuff, you would sternly disagree. Such is my world this week. Susan and I have been moving stuff from Mom and Dad’s over to my house and into storage. I have movers coming to move the heavy stuff like the armoires (everyone needs two, right) and the buffet table….but OH MY GOD did my mom have a lot of stuff.

The fun part is discovering curious items, such as my great-great grandfathers obituary which stated that he delivered mail in the Kansas territory in the mid to late 1800’s using a white horse to draw his carriage…he was from Denmark and his name was Petersen (who knew….my dad did, but he never told any of us about his grandmother’s dad). I came across a whole collection of Dad’s old press passes, from the Senate and Congress to the Department of Justice to the Chicago Press Club to some Rockefeller event….pretty neat collection. ALLLLLLLLL (over 500) of my mother’s recipes, even some I wrote down as a child. Each recipe on an index card and filed in the appropriate section, of course. Anyway, even though it is a seemingly endless task, it has its benefits.

Dad, Susan and I are getting increasingly aggravated over our beloved Cubs playing as of late. The Cubs are doing their late season annual nose dive. We are still hopeful, but if they keep it up, the Cardinals will pass both them and the Brewers. EPL Soccer Season is here!!! Thank God for Fox Soccer Channel!!! Much to Susan’s dismay, I can be found on the couch both Saturday and Sunday morning watching the live broadcasts from England. Look at it this way Susan, you can go back to your old “…Oh look, the score is still zero to zero…SHOCKER!” comments every time you pass by the TV set. (Well, you can do it a few times before I start throwing my coffee cup at you ).

We’ll let you all know how the move goes and hopefully I can post some more pictures soon.

LAH – you still need to tell me about the BIG conversation, I'll call you.

Crazy girl- you reading this? What do you think?

JC Penney...Torn Quad

So, I was watching the Biography channel with my dad the other day and they were profiling James Cash Penney....who started the famous department store above. They talked about how frugal he was, and how he didn't believe in store credit because it would cause consumer's to spend beyond their means. He basically thought credit cards were an evil future industry (smart man). Anyhow, after the show was over I commented to Dad what an interesting man Mr. Penney must have been. Dad nonchalantly blurts out, "…oh I interviewed him, spent the afternoon with him, and wrote an article about him in the fifties...nice guy, he even sold me a tie!" He apparently ended his story with the whole idea that Mr. Penney will always be a salesman (hence my dad buying a tie from him). Now, I know dad has met with plenty of Presidents and US politicians...but it never occurred to me that he might have met some other interesting characters. I am going to ask to ask him to draw up a list (I know he covered the Indy 500 for the AP for a number of years) while he can still somewhat remember. As for the JC Penney article, I'm going to try to get a copy of it. It is probably in microfiche or microfilm in the dusty basement of the Lafayette Journal~Courier in Indiana.

Small tear revealed in Soriano's quad
Star not expected back before Labor Day; Cubs stay confident
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
Sigh……

Musings...a personal side

I was riding my bike today, risking my life dodging potholes and cars, and I was thinking about how much I missed my Mom. Earlier in the day I was looking through some old pictures, prepping for the monumental task of scanning and sending photos to my relatives out west, and wave of sadness came over me. My mom was a beautiful, vibrant, funny, popular, intelligent and humble person. I can say this not only because I knew her, but the old and faded photos reflect these characteristics I speak of clearly. There is a photo of her eight grade catholic school reunion (taken sometime in the 80’s), and there she is front and center glowing, the rest of her classmates flocking around her like a herd of sheep. There is one of her that looks like it was taken the 50’s in a speed boat. My mom in a bathing suit smiling at the camera…the men in the photo fixated on her, not the camera. Another one that looks like it was taken in the sixties, my mom singing by a piano at a party, all eyes on her. Or the one of her in some guy’s letterman sweater in high school as she was lounging with some friends, again front and center. Of course, there are hundreds of photos of her with her children, the center of her life.

My mom was my idol. I know people say that all the time, but I admired my mom more than any other person I can think of. I was trying to remember if ever told her that, I don’t think I did. I can only hope that she knew how much she meant to me, and how I not only looked up to her, but looked to her. My mom was always only a phone call away. I could talk to her about anything and her advice was always wise and beneficial, not that I always heeded it. .

Anyway, as I sit here watching the Cubs with my other hero, my Dad (they’re beating the Mets 6-0), I can smile, my pride overtaking my moroseness. My Mom had the answers to everything. And although I miss my two friends I speak of above, I know my Mom is looking down on me and praying for me. I am the happiest and most content I have ever been…much of it thanks to my Mom. I’m glad I got to spend the last six months of her life with her here in Florida, I feel blessed. So, if you haven’t told your Mom today how much you love her….do it! She can be taken away at the blink of an eye.

On a lighter note, I added some links to a couple of my favorite sites at the bottom...check 'em out.

Here and Now

My favorite two nephews came for a visit this past weekend and it was a blast. Pictures will follow. Mitchell is getting too cool for the room. The innocent, painfully shy child has been replaced by a smart alec, annoying, fashion conscious pre-teen. Naw....he is a good kid...I had to remind him that I wasn't his mother so I was perfectfully comfortable putting him over my knee and whacking him a few times. My Stalinistic threating way of restoring order was almost always successful. Seriously, I swear, his mother (Lynda) and I spent over an hour in a surf shop looking for plaid shorts that fit him PERFECTLY. "Aunty Cathy, these taper in too much....Aunt Cathy, these are too short...Aunt Cathy these are'nt plaid enough...Aunt Cathy these are loose enough...." ARGHHHH. We were finally successful, I told him he was worse than a girl to shop with. He didn't seem to mind the compliment/insult and just slugged me in retaliation. I mean really, this is the same kid who, at four years old, cried when he pushed the air break button in a truck because he thought he broke it. Matt was glued to my new XBOX 360 and 45 inch plasma HD TV playing video games. Their favorite game was Dance Dance Revolution which put them on a pad on the floor trying to match the computers dance move....fun stuff.

We went to Disney's Typhone Lagoon and played in the wave pool. Mitchell showed no fear and I got to ride some waves. Mitchell liked me throwing him up in the air when the wave came...funny kid. Matthew and I dared to do the 5 story drop water slide. All I can say is, I did it....and I will NEVER do it again. The heart condition sign scared me a bit, but the cardiologist reassures me I get the OK. Damn....no excuse not the ride the scary rides.

I'm now running again and it was fun to go running with Lynda and Susan...the three Reeder's talking away and having a blast (well, Susan was listening to her IPod...but let's face it....she never has anything interesting to say...heehee).

Speaking of Susan, she is going to Chicago this weekend to visit her friend Barry and go root on our Cubbies who are only one game out of first as my tiny fingers furiously type this post.

Work is great. Busy again and the stock is doing well. Anyone who knows my liberal leanings is well aware of my anti-war stance (not to be confused with anti-troop stance....I mean really, do you think putting an overpriced yellow ribbon magnet on your car makes a marine feel better when and IED goes off under his vehicle...), but I have to admit that the war has given the corporation a lot of work.

Hey...you know who... don't let things get to you, we all make mistakes or bad decisions in our lives. Life is too short to hold grudges or be angry, my Mom lived by this credo. Happiness can be achieved by not dwelling on the past or penting up anger. Sometimes things beyond your control happen, just roll with it and be happy. You are worth it! Besides....we all know that HATE leads to the dark side, the dark side leads to....oh wait...that is my inner geekness coming out.