Zinger of a Curve Ball

Life is unexpected, simply put.

Right now I was supposed to be on the road with my parents and grandma Wyszkowski, driving to the Outerbanks of North Carolina. I imagine I'd be catching up with my parents, my grandma would be filling me in on her aches and pains, and there would be some disagreement on interpretation of stories from home. Grandma tends to see things a little different than mom and dad. Then Grandma would change the subject abruptly - she has an uncanny skill - and all of a sudden we'd be talking about her blueberry bushes or something.

Anyhow, it is Saturday morning, my parents are home in Binghamton, and my dad has shingles and bronchitis. I'm here in DC waiting for my brother Mark and sister Stephanie to arrive from Brooklyn. The short story is my dad got horribly ill this past week and my parents have decided they aren't in any shape to travel, at least right now. This is not what my sister and Karen and I were planning. The whole purpose of our week together in the Outerbanks was to celebrate 35 years of marriage and my dad's good health, but instead my dad is home with lesions on his head, and my mom is dutifully caring for him, but understandably concerned and exhausted. Hmmm. It is a gigantic bummer, a curve ball I definitely wasn't expecting. Life is unexpected. And, once again, I will only come to understand God's ways in heaven. Please pray for healing and that my parents might still be able to join us later this coming week.

We still have so much to celebrate. Although my father's current circumstances are not fun and are quite unnerving, the very, very good news, Praise the Lord, is that his PT scan for cancer came back negative this week. We are all quite relieved and grateful.

Well, I guess I should get packing. You never now when the siblings will arrive. It will be an interesting road trip to say the least. Looking forward to the adventure. From DC, we will be off to Durham (where Steph will start med school at Duke) to drop some things off at her new apartment and from there to Corolla in the Outerbanks. Whooo, I guess I better get prepared for the miles ahead....

The First Installment - A Safeway Story

Every time Jordana and I hit our local Safeway for groceries, we immediately know we're not in Kansas -- or Virginia -- any more. Our first visit included an episode with a local Southwester of 25 years erupting in line because the security guard looked at him in the wrong way. My visit this past Saturday seemed like it just might go off without a hitch before I got into line. That is where it always happens. Although sometimes the entrance can be interesting. Sometimes there's a homeless person; other times there are men just hanging around making comments as women enter and leave. It's always an adventure and introduction to city living. That is DC living. So, I was waiting to check out with my myriad baking supplies, standing behind a Caucasian woman who seemed to be an urbanite and a really, really old couple who were quite hilarious to observe. The older man didn't realize his wife had run off with the groceries while he was paying. The urbanite woman in front of me decided to try to joke around a little with him, telling him, "No, those are my groceries. You can't have 'em." She then turned to me, "Oh, I hope I didn't scare the old guy". He slowly noticed his wife out of the corner of his eye and putting one foot in front of the other made his way over to her. In the meantime I shared a cute laugh with the urbanite about how lovely this couple was and discussed how we both wished we would some day be like them. Next comes an interruption: some young thing with heels and a tight skirt wanted a price check. She gets in the way of the urbanite and the urbanite didn't much like it. So the urbanite decided to bump her and starts speaking in some urban lingo, dropping the slang. Hmmmm, I wonder what will be coming out of my month in a few months?

A Sign of Life

Yes, friends, I am still alive. It has been too long, much too long, since my fingers graced a keyboard, typing a blog entry on the VOC. I apologize, but I have not yet, purchased a lap top or desk top. Somehow I've been caught up in a whirlwind of activity, mainly at work. Yeah, story of my life. Truth be told I was getting kind of bored for a few weeks -- well, that is no longer the case! I've got about enough information to download and process -- I think my internal celeron or pentium processor up in the 'noggin is about to go bezerk. I kid you not, really.

Anyway, just wanted to say hello. Breathe a sign of life.

A short update: I have a new intern at work, which I absolutely adore. Jiri is so detail oriented and brilliant it makes me want to jump for joy. Seriously. If there is one thing I've come to learn is that not everyone is as obsessive compulsive and attentive to detail as I am. He's only been here a week and I am able to pass things off to him with confidence. That is something every manager would like to have in his/her employees, but sadly it is not always the case. In case you are curious, Jiri is also a chess player and student at university in Prague. Okay, maybe that is another reason we get along well. Except for the fact I told him today his country had a disfunctional government.

Moving on, tomorrow I'm off to a PENN alumni event at Haines Point. I am going to be a mentor to young Penn students spending the summer in DC. I really love working with younger students and building them up. But don't be fooled, this is my first official foray into an organized program. We shall see.

To one of my most loyal readers, thanks for your call! Unfortunately this past week has been a bit like working in a NYC lawfirm. Alas, it is Friday and if there is enough day light left -- I'm going to try to get a jog in.

Godspeed.

Silent Bob R.I.P.

Friends, it is with great sadness that I share the news Bob, my Dell Inspiron 8150 laptop, passed away on Monday evening. We spent nearly 5 years together. Bob was solid. Some liked to think of him as a brick house given his construction and weight. But, for me, Bob was consistent. He harldy every failed me. He traveled to Prague, California, and Binghamton on multiple occasions. And, now he is silent. Well, not if you attempt to turn him on. The optical drive -- what I believe is the hard drive -- is kaput. I came home on Monday night after a lovely dinner out to find the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH. You can imagine my stomach dropped and my eyes grew two sizes. I ran to Bob and saw the fatal words ... beginning dump of physical memory. This was the beginning of the end. On Wednesday night I saw my friend Jess who does IT stuff at Georgetown University. Well, after several attempts of trying to read my hard drive from an external hard drive Jess gave me the doctor out of the operating room read out: "Maam, we did everything we could, but unfortunately Bob didn't make it."

So, I've been a little sad, a little under the weather, to be honest, a little stir crazy without an internet hook-up. Man, are we ever dependent beings! In case you are wondering, I'm writing now from Jordana's new laptop.

For now, I'm contemplating next steps. Considering a new lap top or even a desk top. If you have any recommendations I'm all ears - figuratively, of course.

In the midst of my mourning, I know life will go on. I'll mooch from my roommate for a while. I'll educate myself about the horrors of Windows Vista and I'll eventually make a decision. And, just perhaps, not being an online addict will be a good thing. Time away from the computer will allow me to do other things, most important carry on life in the real world. It's a bit scary how many people spend more hours in the cyber world than in the waking world.

Well, a jog on the mall is calling my name.

But, before I leave you, I'll share one self-deprecating story... I was at a friend's picnic today and got roped into playing some stupid game called "Izzy Dizzy". It basically takes you back to grade school - not necessarily a bad thing - but in this case, yes ,it was. You run down to a pole, put your forehead to the pole and rotate 8 times, then you attempt to run back to your team and the next person goes. Well, I somehow (in my old age) did not believe that dizzyness could overcome my body. I warn you - turning around a pole 8 times will most certainly make you dizzy and temporarily incapacitate you from walking in a straight line. The debacle of my afternoon is that after I turned around 8 times, I fell flat on my face, bent my glasses out of shape, gashed my forehead, and brazed the skin below my elbow. If there was ever a sight for sore eyes, it was me!! I could hardly stand up after I fell, and when I did, I could not walk straight. For some reason unbeknownst to myself, I had to walk/run to the right and into the tree line. Well, after a whole lotta mind over matter will power, I made it back to my team. The last two people on my team got to go, but the game was well over. My dear friend Anita, horrified at the blood on my forehead, the sight of my twisted glasses, and the blood on my arm volunteered to clean me up. What a friend! Now I'm home after a quick trip to Pentagon City Mall where I got my specs fixed. Thank the good Lord! They were fixable, and I can see again.

Dizzyness is not where it's at. That sums it up.

PS: I hope you all watched the National Spelling Bee on Thursday!