Author Archive

I can’t believe it’s already been 2 months since she passed.  I’ve lost family members before, but never someone this close.  My grandmother was an amazing woman.  Her sense of humor, her generosity, the way she opened her heart to everyone.  Today would be her 80th birthday.  She was so proud and looking forward to making the 80th year mark, unfortunately she fell just a couple months short.  But in her final days of battling the cancer that took over her body so quickly, we gave her her 80th birthday.  We (about 12 of us) were at her house all surrounding her in her bed.  We had a cake with lit candles and as we sang she smiled her last smile.  I really do miss her so so much. I picked out a pretty silk flower arrangement and went to her grave today.  I hadn’t been there since her burial on July 2nd.  I look forward to the day that I get to see her again.

Our playgroup had a field trip to a local firehouse today.  The entire ride Gavin kept asking to go to the Fire Station.  We had quite a group meet at the fire station.  The kids absolutely loved it.  They gave us a tour of the firehouse, then the kids got to get on the ambulance.  I’m sure the highlight of the kids day was when they got to sit in the drivers seat of the fire truck.  While waiting in line Gavin kept asking.. "Gavin drive fire truck?" It was so cute. I’d tell him to wait his turn and he’d repeat me.. "Wait your turn"  He did so well and was so patient waiting until it was his turn to sit in the fire truck.  Then they pulled the fire truck out of the station so they could show all the kids how they raise the ladder. They turned on all the flashing lights and honked the horns.  They couldn’t runt he sirens though because they’re located on a busy street and didn’t want to cause any alarm to the motorists on the street.  Afterward one of the firemen got out his fire suit and showed the kids all the different parts to the gear they wear during a fire. It was a fun afternoon.

My mom and I took Gavin to the Detroit Zoo on Monday.  The weather was perfect.  The whole drive there Gavin kept saying "going to the zoo?"  He loved seeing all the animals.  We took a break in their food court and had some pizza.  There were these peacocks acting like seagulls or pigeons, almost literally begging for food.  They’d get so close that you could let them take the food from your hand, too risky for me.  Gavin thougth it was really cool that the peacock walked right up to his stroller.  He’d throw a piece of his pizza crust on the ground and laughed at peacock and sparrows racing to get it.

I think the highlight of the day for Gavin was the mist machines they had placed throughout the zoo.  They were really nice.  It was a hot day, but not too hot, your perfect summer type day.  The mist machines were a wonderful refreshment during the walk.  Gavin spent a good 20 minutes at one just running through it, I got a few good shots of it on my camera.

The polar bear exhibit is always a treat.  It happened that they were feeding the bears as we entered the exhibit.  As you entered in the tunnel, you could watch the polar bear fetch all the fish under the water.  A really neat sight is when they step on top of the tunnel, you can see their massive paws.. WOW!  It was a nice day out.

Our office receptionist comes up to me yesterday to say that I’m looking rather pale today. Pale? What does that mean? I felt fine. Then this morning I get an email from my husband asking how my morning is going and to see if I’m feeling okay, that I didn’t look too good last night.  I have no idea what brought all this on. Maybe I was in a little rush yesterday morning and was too brief with the bronzing brush, maybe I was just tired. I haven’t had the nerve to ask our receptionist how I look today. She can be rather honest. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.. she’s just very.. open, maybe that’s the word I need?

I’ve decided not to take the offer my boss gave me regarding an apprenticeship. It’s just the wrong time for me. Gavin will be in school in a few years, maybe then I can start to think about working more.  One of the young assistants here in the office helped me decide without her even knowing.  We were eating lunch and her being barely out of high school she started commenting on the cafeteria food in comparison to high school food.  During her conversation she used the words.. "I was raised in a daycare"… those words alone set off a spark in me and right then I decided.. Gavin is NOT going into a daycare so I can work more.  He needs me at home right now.  This poor 19 year old gal has more memories of the daycare that "raised" her than anything else.  Apparently her mom worked many hours, sometimes late into the evening.  I couldn’t do that to Gavin.  I want him to remember being with Mom.

So in the meantime… my mind is, well… unchallenged.  My husband has a couple-few, shall we say, extra cirricular activities, i.e. golf.  I don’t have anything outside of motherhood or work that I can call my own.  So for starters, upon winning that eBay auction for the camera flash, I’ve taken up to striking a deal with one of the moms in our playgroup that is a professional photographer.  She does the occassional wedding for extra money.  I’ve always wanted to do something like that, so I’m going to start going with her to a few weddings and taking some pictures with my own camera, just to start getting the feel for it all.. build a portfolio, something like that.  We’ll see… my dream job has always been photographer/photojournalist.  Compared to what I’m doing now, that would be awesome!!

Took Gavin to the Detroit Zoo today, had a lot of fun. Read about it here.  You can also see the pictures in the Detroit Zoo photo album.

I left work Wednesday without my paycheck, didn’t think about it until I was bumper deep in traffic on the Southfield Freeway.  So yesterday, for my day off, I came to the office.  Brought my 2 year old with me, he had fun flirting with all the assistants and they loved it.  After picking up my check and while in the area, I made a stop by my former place of employment.

I was laid-off/let-go in June of 2004 after 6 years with the company. I had gone part-time after having Gavin; a year later they decide to cut all part-time positions and suddenly I was just as expendable as the position I held.  To keep the story short, I’ll just say that I loved working there and hated that I had to go. Yeah, I could have transferred out to Chicago or worse yet demote myself, take a pay-cut and ignore the 6 years worth of on-the-job training and learning about the system to become their new receptionist.. NO THANK YOU!  Again, in short… it sucked getting let go.

So Gavin and I walk in and we’re greeted by my old boss, it was nice to see her.  I still get the gossip every now and then because my husband works for one of their clients (which is how we met).  Walking through the office suite was like walking through a ghost town.  When I started there back in 1998, there were hundreds employed there, today there’s little over twenty, which is pretty much how it was when I left.  The size of the suite has shrunk since I started and even now there’s far too much useless and unutilized space.  Empty cubicles that once housed ringing phones, blinking computers, papers, pictures, and the most obvious, people.  I walked past my old space in client services, it was still empty.  I purposely avoided lingering in the area for too long.  What a waste.

It was great to see some of my old co-workers. I miss them the most. My husband sees them now more than I do.  He fills me in when he can.  Just the other day he was talking about a new product they are taking on and I began my sentence with "we" meaning my old company and as if I was still working there.  That was an added benefit, having my husband working for a client.  Benefit for my side as well as the place my husband works.  But we could each come home from work and actually know about the other persons day, including the quirks, pitfalls, hassles, and yes the gossip.. LOL  On top of that, my husband’s employer just happened to be one of the clients I took care of… needless to say, he and I became the topic of gossip for awhile once the secret that we were dating was made public within the circle.

I could go on and on.. I really miss those days.  My new job is well… working out.  I like my new boss and his associates.  I’m appreciative of the opportunities that he’s opening up for me.  But it’s not a ‘comfortable old shoe’ yet, if that makes any sense.  My old job was 2 comfortable old shoes that I at least get to put on every now and then when I go by there.  Just isn’t the same.

Okay I know pet-peeves while driving are inevitable, but this one has me so fired up.  I get stuck in this intersection on my way to work EVERYDAY for the same fricken reason and it’s driving me crazy. All I have to say is this…

DON’T ENTER AN INTERSECTION UNLESS YOU HAVE ROOM TO CROSS THROUGH!!!!

Ugh.. why can’t people understand this?? They insistantly, almost intentionally, enter an intersection only to be stopped half way through because of heavy traffic.. then the light turns green for crossing traffic.. BUT, because some idiot is blocking the way, I can’t get through!!! UGH!!!

Took Friday off and went to visit my sister, Renee, in Chicago over the weekend. Took my mother and Gavin with me. Not THAT bad of a drive.  Just the mere fact that your traveling with a 2 year old can make it a challenge.  It’s always good to see my sister and the girls.  We took a couple side trips to see the progress on the house they’re having built in Indiana, also went to a waterpark.  The house looks great, can’t wait to visit her there, plus it’ll cut and hour and a half off the drive.  I’m happy for my sister, she’s getting a great house, I just hope she’s happy.

So while I was there, I ended up reading this book that my mom wanted me to read.  It’s called, Embraced by the Light by Betty J. Eadie. What an amazing book, I could not put it down and ended up reading the whole thing in a little over 2 hours the first night at my sisters.  In it the author describes her near-death experience with the spirit world before returning back to earth. So much of it made sense, so much of it brought to light some of the things I’ve always wondered about.  After reading it, I went to bed, curled up next to my son Gavin and whispered in his ear.. "Thanks for chosing me.. "  The explaination she gives on reincarnations makes perfect sense. I’ve always had these dreams of another life and could never figure out where they came from, now I know.  In looking at the book reviews on Amazon, some might disagree that this is an actual account of what happened to the author when she had her ‘out-of-body’ experience.  Whether it be true of false, after reading it, I had a better sense or understanding of ‘who I am’ or ‘why I’m here’… in all truths, it strengthened my faith, regardless of denomiation.  If you’ve read this book, please let me know what you think of it.

Got in late last night after a long weekend at Gavin’s Aunt Renee’s place in Chicago area. Gavin was so excited to see his cousins. We (Gavin, my mom and me) arrived Friday evening. Saturday we hung around Renee’s and went swimming in the pool. Went downtown Chicago for dinner at "Ed’s", that was a lot of fun. Sunday we spent the day at a waterpark near where Renee and Gary are having their new house built in Indiana.

Gavin had a great time, we all had a fun weekend.

I’ve been watching an item on ebay for a few days now. I really want to get into photography, possibly wedding photography. This would be a great start to building on my equipement. I haven’t bid on it yet.. I’m afraid that if I do, it’ll go up even more. If I wait till maybe the hour of auction end, any bid battle I get into won’t be too bad cause there’ll only be an hour or so left.

I really really wannit!! Promaster FTD 5700 FLASH CANON EOS

edited 8/4/05 to add: I won the auction.. the flash is mine!!