"Hey, Where's our Memorial Blog?"

Can I be REALLY insensitive for a second, here?

Ok. Barbaro was euthanized. My family only had a dog growing up and a string of Ascension/Immaculate Festival goldfish that lived limited lives. Loosing Bandit was difficult but he lived a long happy life so I feel like those things are somewhat easier to get over.

As I was reading the msn.com report on Barbaro…. I went right to “Post your comments”….I was curious to see if anyone had the same feelings as I did, and I found that, at least the limited responses I could see, no one did.

Am I crazy to think the obsession with this horse is a little bit over the top? When Barbaro first went down, his stable had a mountain of “Princess Di/JFK Junior-esqe” posters and shrines out side in his honor. Here are a few, albeit, insensitive facts:

1 – Barbaro will not read your card. Unlike Mr. Ed, Barbaro cannot speak nor can he read your posters. If you feel the need to use up a marker or pen, redirect that message to an anonymous solder in Iraq, or a Veteran in a nursing home, or a Young Child in a Burn Unit. These creatures are able to read English and therefore, may be a little more receptive to your well-wishes. If you wish to send anything to Barbaro, send positive energy. Animals can feel that. Even more than humans can.

2 – Why is it that Barbaro was spared where as most horses down in Junior Varsity would have been shot on site? Could it be that from this “stud”, more of his prize winning sperm could have been extracted from him? We will never know how much he suffered post-injury. Could it be that his owners put up a front of “Barbaro is such a fighter” to give the impression that this horse was really was fighting? Its crushing to think that this poor horse lived a miserable 8 months so the owners could try and salvage a few more drops of that profitable horse goo.

3 – Barbaro has probably consumed more (and better quality) food than you will in your entire life. Take that apple and various other fruit products down to your local homeless shelter. Don’t lay it by the fence for Barbaro.

4 - I let John read this and his response was, "Yeah, and half the people making these posts were probably sitting in front of a steak"....

Im not trying to be some nasty, pet/animal hater, but the scores and scores of people posting are just DISTRAUGHT!!! When all the while there are children and adults who are living in poverty and would have loved to have eaten that apple, sad & lonely veterans who would have loved and appreciated that card, and MILLIONS of UNINSURED Americans waiting on a fraction of the medical care that this horse received.

How can we be so selective about the direction of our sympathy and aid???

Im sure that Barbaro was a charismatic, loving animal and well loved by his riders, his caregivers and fans, and its sad that he had to endure pain of ANY KIND at anytime, but where is the emotional passion for every other race horse that had to be shot? Perhaps if thier genetics were worth more they too, would have been deemed a "fighter"...

Feel free to blast me on this...I understand most people dont share my sentiments.

So...its Sunday and I promised to try and post SOMETHING once a week. I just took this picture...this is what Im looking at right now. John reading a rugby book and watching the Simpsons. I just realized how stacy is going to go nuts when she sees those curtians all in a disarray...Shes been to our house about four times in the last year and everytime she makes a beeline to curtians and "fixes" them. I think the problem is that the floorheater is behind the couch coupled with the fact that we coudl have just put the curtain rod just a "smidge" higher to have avoided the "bunching"....and dont tell me...I know putting the couch in front of the heater isnt the smartest thing, but im anal about where I want my furniture and there was just NO WAY around this.
Another thing that you may have noticed is the two-toned end table. When we moved in we got all excited to paint the two end tables and the coffee tables black to match the dining room chairs, and well, it just didnt happen. We got one end table done, all the drawers and john got as far as sanding and priming the coffee table. You can see it in our basement this weekend. So that corner of the room has been empty for months, just wating on the finished endtable, and has just become a "area" for throwing general junk. Its a magnet for anything I dont want to put way and thats just about everything. So I brought up the table a few weeks ago and John looked at me like I was crazy. I said, "Unless you want to paint this thing this week, Im bringing it up, I dont care how stupid it looks." So there it is. And I bet you wouldnt have noticed it if I didnt tell you! From here on out, we're calling it "character".

Id like to say we had a really exciting week, but we havent. Ive spent all weekend either on the couch watching TV or trying to get the place ready for the Beer Pong tournament this weekend. Im so excited! Ive got the basement pretty much ready...just need to mop and BLEACH the floor and make it as clean as possible...nothing like germ infested ping pong balls dropping into cup after cup after numerous bounces on the floor.

I spent three hours cleaning our room yesterday...we took a lot of clothes to goodwill and finally got the blue room cleaned again. Washed ALL the linens and made the spare room bed, the futon bed in the blue room and got the air matress out...unfortunately the battery operated air pump was corroded with battery acid when I tried to use it. I sent john out for a new one and he came back with a foot pump....um....howboutno. So we'll either have to borrow one or buy one. Either way we should have couches or beds for 10 and plenty of floor space. Im a little concerned about making sure anyone who shouldnt be driving, WONT. But we're all adults I guess, the best I can do is encourage it and thats about it. Here's the bedroom I worked on all last night - MOM!! LOOK!!! I cleaned my room! I swear! Theres nothing under my bed!!!!!

My mom once got so fed up with me when I was in high school she took a broom and I got home and there was like a four foot pile of JUNK that she had pulled out from under my bed. I had no option but to put it away. And as many of you know, I HATE putting things away. In general. One other thing thats been on probably the last seventeen household "to-dos" lists Ive made is to pull the blue tape off the ceiling in the bedroom. I keep saying Im going to "touch up" the paint in there, as there are a lot of "thin spots" which is my excuse to not pull it down....For those of you coming to the beer pong tournament this weekend, feel free to sneak into the bedroom and pull it down. Ill be forever grateful.
That "area" in front of my closet had baskets full of clean clothes that Ive been digging into and pulling from for the last month or so. Ill clean my clothes, but again, its the putting away things Im not real keen on. Whats nice is that John has his own little matching pile on the other side of bed. Between the two of us, there is just no motivation to keep things "tidy". Thats why we throw parties. Its the only way Ill get motivated to do some heavy duty cleaning.

Looking forward to even more cleaning this week...Im taking a half day on Tuesday for the plumber to come and finally fix the bathroom sink...(um, yeah its not fixed yet) Definitely have to have that ready for the party. They think they'll have to bust out more wall (from the pictures before) in the kitchen to avoid breaking tile in the bathroom. UGH. Another "rigged up" home improvement. Who wants to patch drywall when we've got all these big posters in the house. Im sure that poster of Rudolph Valentino will look lovely in the kitchen.

Katy! You & Shane coming down for the beer pong tourney??

Desperately Seeking Xeloda!!!!

So listen to the Rx Nightmare I found myself in last night…This was ridiculous and on the front end let me just say that most of this was MY FAULT, but to remedy the situation should not have been this hard!!!

I should have started my Xeloda on Saturday morning, which meant I should have called the Rx in on Wednesday so I could get it delivered to work on Thurs/Fri.

I was so busy I forgot….and the Mail-order Pharmacy where I get it was closed on the weekend so I had to wait until Monday to Order.

I called it in Monday, they said, “No problem, we’ll get it right out, this is your last refill.” (Meaning I just needed Romer to put in another Rx is all)

So Monday at work, by like 2, Im thinking, it should have been here by now, I should probably have the shipment tracked.

So I call, and they’re all, “Oh, Mrs. McLaughlin, that shipment was denied, you’re insurance is not with us anymore” Oh really? Thanks for calling to let me know. Its just chemo….

It turns out my insurance co sent new Rx Pharmacy cards out, and they switched to a new place. I saw the cards come in and I didn’t even open the envelope, I just thought it was an update of the current plan….WRONG!!!!

So now its late Tuesday afternoon and Im freaking out. I call the new place and they get me all set up and tell me that they can call the old pharmacy and transfer the prescription and then mail it out. That will take too long.

So I ask If a local pharmacy can transfer it and if I could just pick it up from them. They said that would be fine.

So I call CVS, give them the old place to pull that Rx (What sucks about this is that when they mail it, I get billed. To pick it up in person, I have to front the copay on the spot. A gut-punching $238.00 for 84 pills – every three weeks)

So I give CVS the number, and they say it will just take awhile to get the Rx transferred and to come by around 6 or 7

I call before I head over there and they say that they called the number and there was no record of my Name NOR my prescription.

After some tearful investigation, I find that I gave them the 1800 number to the Phoenix location, NOT the Chicago one I was using.

So I call CVS and give them the right number.

They call me back and tell me that they called that number, and again……no dice.

I call the place back in tears and they say, “Uh, no…you’re right here in the system, one refill left, just have them call us”

So I call CVS for the FOURTH time and give them a detailed account number. Its quarter till 7 at this point. CVS Closes at 9.

Ten after 8 CVS calls me and says that they successfully got the Rx transferred and I picked up my meds and finally got my mom off my back about it!!!

I think the Murphy of Murphy’s law was working at my old pharmacy. It was definitely a good lesson to learn about staying on top of these things. I was a wreck last night...and im sorry for making you endure this painful post.

Did anyone else wait with bated breath to see the over-hyped 2hour show on the history channel about the lost city of Atlantis? Ive held a secret obsession with All things Atlantis, rushed home after my volleyball game to see it, and it was an utter disapointment. Im too tired to discuss this but feel free to contribute if you saw it. Hype something, dismiss it, hype something, dismiss it....only the last 5 min seemed worthy of two hours but it was just used to keep everyone scratching thier heads

This show did NOT deliver what all the hype had you expecting.

I give it a C-

The best part of the 2 hour show as the 20 min i spent flipping back to the Hills to see what LC and the rest of the overprivelaged skank patrol are getting into these days. Now that was enjoyable.

Ok - Two Main things to cover in this post....Mother Daughter Weekend 2007 & a little "project" I worked on tonight to get the basement ready for the next two weekends

(Im having some ladies over on Friday for scrapbooking/two weeks is the beer pong tournament...)

So this weekend was the 5th Annual Mother Daughter Excursion. That picture above is of the journal we've been writing in for a few years. Its hard to keep up with it..especially when you're hungover the next morning...(Sharon! just cut this blog entry out and slap 'er on in!)

We headed back to Covington and stayed at the Embassy Suites. Mom and I got an early start - she came down and picked me up and then we headed back up to Middletown for lunch at Applebees.

After lunch - I convinced everyone to go shopping at OTP. I will use any occasion as an excuse to go to OTP. I got a cute basket for my scrapbooking stuff and a new rug for the front door. (For some insane reason I had a white berber rug there and it was the WORST Idea ever....its FILTHY and impossible to keep clean) We spent enough time there....then it was time to head down to that free happy hour at Embassy Suites!!

We got there, had a few beers and headed down to happy hour, continued to drink, and when it was over headed back upstairs to the rooms, where more drinking ensued. Nobody knew where we were going or what we were doing - so I made the announcement that we would head out at 9:15. Sharon laughed at me and I told her I knew why - She thinks Im being just like my micro-managed father. He wouldnt have been more proud if I had pulled out my own Franklin Planner and handed out detiailed iteneraries to all the participants.

So we hopped on the bus and headed down to Mainstrausse...its kind of like the Oregon District of Covington. My idea was to go "Bar Hopping"...but I should know by now, we find one place, get comfortable, and usually get so drunk we're out before midnight. This year was no different. We got to the bar and Mom, Jess, Mandi and I stayed while everyone else went out to get something to eat.

One of our "goals" of the evening was to find someone who graduated in 74 - (the same year as the moms) It didnt get off to a good start. As predicted, they were approaching people who looked liked they were in their 30'....eventually though, we found someone. Our goal was to find four people, but I think the moms got discouraged and may have just been scared to find out who was their age. This guy did SAY he grad in 74 but looking back....the way he answered, he may have been coached...

Headed back to the hotel and ordered pizzas...I ordered WAY too much and there were 2 uneaten pizzas this morning - Mandi - If you read this - my mom gave Brenda money to give to you! Im sorry I was passed out cold when the food arrived. I did manage to wake up long enough to cram 2 slices down before passing out again....

Now heres a funny story - Two years ago when we were at the Embassy we met this really wierd girl who had just gotten married and was on her honeymoon. Long story short - she hung out with us and was later referred to as "Danger Stranger"....its kind of become our thing to attract odd people. Well, we had gone all night without bringing a random stranger into the fold, and so one of the moms popped her head out the door, and grabbed the first couple off the elevator and invited them in for a beer (perhaps WE'VE become the "Danger Strangers" perhaps)

This couple was coming in from the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert and before I tell you what happened next, stop reading for two seconds and JUST GUESS....

Thats right. Pam KNEW this woman. Shes a waitress at Nortons. Im not kidding. This happens everywhere and no longer surprises us that much. here we all are:

Then...of course....the best part....Made-to-order omelettes for breakfast at the best view in town!!! It was a great time as usual - post any interesting stories if Ive forgotten..Woke up to the first snowfall of the year! Im excited for the first overnight snow when I can get into my car - in the garage - and be the jerk who didnt have to scrape their windows! Ive always wanted to be that jerk. Heres the back yard today:

Ok - Second subject...My Sunday "Project"

So - Im not happy with the basement. Its unfinished, and at this rate will be for some time. So I wanted to create some sort of divider that runs along the front of the storage shelves, the washer & Dryer and the basin. Just to chip into the eye-soreyness of it all. We're holding the beer pong tournament down there and I just wanted to remedy this. I told John I was feeling "Inspired" and set out for supplies. I have to say I spent a lot less than what I had thought I would have. Here is what that wall of the basment looked like before:
BEFORE:

Supplies Needed: 2 - 10 feet pieces of conduit pipe (super cheap at Lowes...like $6 for it all), needle nosed pliers, one roll of pliable wire, small screw-in hooks.

5-shower curtians. I was worried that this would break the bank but I found some nice cotton ones for $10 each at Target.

5-shower curtian hooks - These can get pricey. I just went to Odd Lots and paid $1 for each set.

The Process: I basically hung the conduit from the wire attached to the screw-in hooks. then added the shower curtains.

Its exactly what I wanted, but it will take some getting used to. Hopefully gravity will do its job and the wrinkles will go away. Now if I could just clean the rest of the basement!

AFTER:

GOOD NEWS!!!
TUMOR MARKER RESULTS FROM FRIDAY: 67 - (DOWN FROM 71 three months ago!!!)

More tomorrow...we're off to haps to celebrate!!!

This post is dedicated to Cole Slaw and Sweet potatoes

Ok - so for almost 30 years, I have always felt secure in the idea of what foods were on my "I dont like these foods" list. Cole Slaw and sweet potatoes are definitely on this list. Every now and then, Ill put a spoonful of slaw on my plate and eat it for the sake of being at a cook out, but OFFICALLY, my stance is that I dont like either.

Until now.

A few weeks ago when we were over in Oxford for Brendans cookout, He had a massive bowl of cole slaw that, I, out of "cook-out obligation" scooped a small amount onto my plate. That was the beginning of something great. As if he had laced it with cocaine, I was heading back for more a few minutes later.

"Whats up with the cole slaw?" I asked. "Its really good!"

"Bleu Cheese"

Ahhh.......Ok, so long story short, I am not only EATING slaw with enthusiasm now, but I actually MADE a batch yesterday....with bleu cheese of course. You may think it sounds gross, but its not. Its awesome.

And sweet potatoes. Again, my offical stance is that I do not like sweet potatoes (Although I will admit muching on some SP chips at some point)....So John starts cooking dinner tonight and I see that he has two big sweet potatoes boiling. I dont say anything, even though I know for a FACT that we have had the discussion that I didnt like sweet potatoes, I dont do the cooking, there fore I dont complain.

So I run out to pick up my rx of Ambien and when I get back? Whats waiting for me? See the photo above...Its Sweet POtato Fries. That guy chopped those sweet potatoes up and fried the suckers, and they were AWESOME. Lets not even mention the side of chipotle mayo he whipped up. ....it was so incredible I took a picture of the plate.

Never say never!!!! Switching two more foods from the DONT LIKE list to the LIKE list probably will not help any future diets I plan on failing, but whatever. It was worth mentioning.

Kat - sorry I didnt call you back. John wasnt feeling well yesterday and I didnt get your message until later.

***If you havent taken "The Quiz" yet...I suggest you take it...its posted below.

Another Check up with romer on Friday

Had my regular check up with Romer on Friday morning. Same old Same old. Mom noticed that it has rained for ALL of my appointments. Something just dawned on me as I wrote that. Back to that later..

One loud discussion on "my daughter is lookign for that weight watchers book with the calculator" and two employees helping us later, we all conclude that the book is not there.

Today I took a walk down at Winton Woods. Ive dropped my expensive mp3 player so many times that now the touch screen doesnt work. So I can only play it randomly. Which is ok I guess. I had downloaded my Chi Gong onto it so I could do it by the pond during my walks but I cant do that anymore. There's 2000 some songs in there and It it rarely comes up.

But while I was walking, and scrolling through songs, I told myself that if the Chi Gong routine came up I would stop where I was and do it. A few minutes later, it came on...and it was the 16 minute long version that I hate doing. So I stopped in the light rain by the lake and did it. It felt great. The Chi Gong often gives you this glowing, energetic feeling and really puts you in good spirits. When I finished, I started walking, and what random song came up? The song that I consider JP & I's song. Its by Vanessa Carlton and its called "Ordinary Boy". I always think of my son when I hear it and it just helps me to think that there was something bigger going on and that he was some wise soul who was trying to teach me something....I guess Im still learning.

If you get a chance, Google "ordinary boy"...its a beautiful song

So all in all, it was one of the best walks Ive had in a while. It was dark and overcast and it was lightly raining the whole time. and I was in such a good mood over it all and I was thinking to myself how much I love overcast days and rain. I cant put my finger on it I just enjoy it. Sunny days are fine too, but I was just walking and smiling to myself the whole time.

And It was as I had this "I love the rain" epiphany that I remembered that mom mentioned that it has rained for every one of my appointments for as long as we can remember.

Just because it looks like rain, doesnt mean its gonna suck.

One more thing, I get these bone strength injections when I go to chemo and I was talking to a woman who had a great new saying:

"Smart is the new skinny"

love it.

How well do you know FORT??? Take my quiz! Take This Quiz See Scores Make Own Quiz

CHeck it out! I was able to post this on my blog AS WELL as my myspace page. Ill post some more tomorrow. I understand that this is mostly OU stuff, but give it a whirl.

Tonight Judy, Bobby & Willy came down to Cincinnati and John & I went with them to my cousin Andy's game vs. Cincinnati State...Clark State gave an impressive effort with 73 points..I think andy had 12-15? but it was not enough to beat CS's 112 points!!! What an NBA effort...at one point they had THREE dunks in a row. It woud have been nice to see Clark State dunk, but lets face it who doesnt like to see a dunk? I took some horrible pictures:

Well, my husband may very well divorce me over this whole new myspace addiction...and its why the blog has taken such a serious hit. Well, that and for those of you that dont know...I got written up for blogging at work. It was a few months ago. My boss was like, "You really are a great writer, but Im going to need you to sign right here."

It was a big wake up call, but I didnt have a whole lot on my plate at the time so in stead of asking for more work...well...I dont really want to talk about it. The good news is that Ive been slammed at work with all the private railroading stuff and the Ready Tools stuff...Its been keeping me really busy at work and Ive really been busier and happier and the days are flying by which is great.

As for blog-worthy events..there are none!!! The hole is still in the wall, the sink still doesnt work, I was supposed to have our maintence guy call my cousin Doug to get the sink situation fixed, but Im lazy. I dont have an excuse. We have been using the fireplace quite a bit though....those starter logs are the shiz-nit!

Im just trying to get something up here so I can go to bed! I promise Ill post something tomorrow or friday...Ive got nothing going on this weekend so Ill try and catch up. For those of you who get bored and need a good blog to read, Stetson started a myspace page and has been posting some good drunken story blogs...So good Ive been tempted to cut and paste his stories in my own blog...is that wrong???

Heres another thing I DONT really want to blog about. I got sick of looking at my fake blond hair and dark brown roots, so I died it again....brown...and it SUUUCCCKS. Suckety-suck-suck-sucks!!!! To add insult to injury, the length is awful and I look like I have a hair helmet. It takes a handful of strong Elmers glue like paste to sculpt it into anything respectable and it still looks like crap. I look like a man. I told john that we should now be considered life partners. He did not like that idea.

Im going to try not to get into the myspace thing but Im hoping that this crack-like addiction will soon subside. I thought I was too old, too good for it, but I have to be perfectly honest in saying that finding all these friends from high school and college and seeing how great everyone is doing is awesome.

Heres an example of the fun Im having - I was on a younger OU rugby players myspace page...he mentioned that one of his most favorite memories from OU was the party where the porch collapsed. I dont know if he knew this but i had a picture of that event. I was out in the yard and I was going to get a shot of everyone up on the porch...and when it got too over crowded, the whole thing collapsed. Thank god it was just low enough NOT to have people underneath...otherwise it woudnt have been so funny. Anyway...I posted this on his page:

Thats it for now...I promise...Im making a new commitment...at LEAST one blog entry per week...Lets shoot for monday mornings....I can commit a Sunday from here on out, at least!