Fort's Cancer Sux!!

My "shark", the saddest thing Ive experienced in years, the fall sports banquet, Alicia Keys & The Ed Lover Dance, READER OF THE MONTH!!!

• Ive been having really vivid dreams lately. I can remember them pretty well and usually cant identify them with anything going on in my life like dreams are supposed do. They're all just wacky, fast and colorful. But last night I had a dream that I think might have some parallel to my life. Of course there was a train. 70% of my dreams these days involve riding in trains, go figure. But last night one of the train trips took us to Florida, and the next thing I know, Im swimming in the ocean. Im with an unidentified friend, and a big black shark is circling, but the shark is my friend too, as in, the shark is just chatting me up like we went to high school or something. There are people on the pier looking down at the obviously frightening black shark circling me but Im not freaked out in the least. As a matter of fact, the shark actually makes some comment to me like, "Watch this" and lunges toward me, with gasps coming from the people on the pier. Im amused. I know the shark isnt going to get me even though everyone watching seems scared to death. Weird. I guess the moral of the story is, Make friends with your damn shark.
• I like to tout myself as the emotionless black heart of my family. Im not a big crier when it comes to happy things, but when the right components are thrown together, I can turn into a blubbering mess, as I was today. We had a train trip leave tonight. A really cool train trip going to Chicago, full of women planning shopping and makeovers and all kinds of fun stuff. Its a really super trip and I booked a woman for the trip a few weeks ago who confessed that she was a recent widow with no children, a breast cancer surviving retired teacher who for the first time in months, was finally doing something for herself, despite a limited budget. She is the sweetest woman, and I spoke to her today and she was so excited....she actually said, "Im so excited!!!...And I JUST CANT HIDE IT!" I shook my head. I wished everyone could get this excited about these trips. And you could tell she just needed to get out in the worst way. Vicky (Brian's wife) was nice enough to agree to go pick her up before the trip. She was so grateful and informed me that she wasnt going to shop, she just wanted to buy something nice for Vicky for her kind gesture. It was just the kind of thing that gives you a warm fuzzy, that someone like this was going to get the well deserved break they so desperately needed. That all came to an abrupt end, when, around noon, I got a second call from her, sobbing on the other end. She had been on much medication since her husband passed and she was having trouble getting her perscription filled and she absolutely could not go with out it. (She mentioned MedCo but dont EVEN get me started on MedCo) As an expert on the trials of getting prescriptions filled in the most dire of situations, I offered up every possible scenario and every possible soloution and told her to keep at it, but by the time she had called me, she had given up. She was not going to be able to get the 10 pills she needed to make the trip. She was sobbing like a child and apologizing to me, almost timid to ask if she would be getting her money back. I assured her that I hadnt even charged her card yet and would not do so. She had already mentioned when she booked the trip that she was on a limited budget. "I just was looking so forward to this trip", she said so slowly and sincerely that I just started crying on the other end. Im supposed to be the professional who handles the situation and I just got so caught up in the unfairness of the situation that I was crying myself to the point where I couldnt even talk to tell her to keep trying, to please let me know if anything changed. She was so devistated. Ive been through some bad breaks in my life, but Im always motivated by the good things I still have going on that I dont feel sorry for myself. I acutally felt GUILTY shopping for scrapbooking supplies, like my trip to Scrapbook weekend was the same thing as having a million dollars. I kept thinking of all the people didnt just have the money or time to scrapbook, but more importantly, the life TO scrapbook. I just felt unworthy of the opportunity. I guess I just value those things so much more. So how in holy hell does this shake out so poorly for this woman? I can hardly think about it without wanting to cry. I want to call her and maybe take her out to a movie or dinner or something. SOMETHING. She said she has friends at her condo, but to her, it was like a child getting a trip to Disneyland taken away. Everybody has bad breaks, but, i dont know, this one just gutted me. Could everyone say a quick little prayer that this nice woman gets a break this weekend or soon? I prayed when I got of the phone that she could pull of the Rx order, but I never go the call and had to go home. Just say a little prayer for the lady in Erlanger to win a couple hundred bucks on a scratch off, or maybe run into an old friend. Im not asking for much, just a little sunshine in her general direction. Thanks.
• Had our fall sports banquet tonight and pulled off a 1.5 hour Scrapbooking Project of EPIC PROPORTIONS. I had done the lettering to make a scrapbook page for each one of my JV girls. Yesterday I planned on completing them, and then realized, that each girls page needed a team picture. I was just going to go to Kinkos and make color copies....of the team picture.....that I put in my scrapbook.....that mom took to Dayton this week!!!! ARRRGGGGHHHH.....I emailed the varsity coach today and told her of my plight and that I was just going to get them to her later in the week. Bullshit. I knew if I didnt do them today they werent going to get done, period. So Megan scans her picture at work and emails it to me. I was able to run to Kinkos at lunch and make my copies. Now, I get off at 430, and dont get home until 5p. I start working FRANTICALLY when I get home. I have TWELVE pages to get done by 6:45p. At 640, I still have THREE pages that need to be put together. and Megan calls me. I tell her I have a great scrapbooking project and she's like, "Um, yeah, this thing starts in ten minutes".....I am still cutting and pasting. I yell up to John that I will be running upstairs in TWO MINUTES and we have to leave ASAP. I finish the last three pages, grab the page sleeves and run upstairs. In the four minute drive to the High School, I stuff the last three pages in their sleeves, put on eyeliner and deoderant (I was wearing a polyester shirt and the manic scrapbooking left me smelling quite ripe) and got to the school at 6:55. I will be calling Guinness tomorrow to see what kind of scrapbooking categories they have, I have to have broken some kind of world record with this one. Kathy Tyler would have been so proud of this power layout. So proud. I thinkt he girls liked them. I hope they did! I didnt even get to take pictures of the pages becuase I was that rushed.....that never happens!!!!
• What the hell is the deal with MTV playing Alicia Keys clips after everyshow? I dont hate Alicia Keys, but they're really getting annoying with it. Also annoying? Alicia Keys playing the piano standing up and pointing to the audience. C'mon. Thats like playing the flute doing the Ed Lover dance. Does anyone even remember that? Can you do it? I like to think I can, but it probably looks rediculous. Im going to youtube the Ed Lover dance so you all know what Im talking about...... so, ok. No Clip of Ed Lover doing the ed Lover dance. What I DID Find was "80's dance" website that explained the dance:
• Ed Lover Dance
  From Yo MTV Raps. With both arms out to the sides, step with your right and pop your right hip forward, then to the left with the left hip, then back to the right twice, left, right, left, left.

Geez. I cant belive tomorrow is Thursday!! Crazy. This week is flying by. This is the first weekend in MONTHS we havent had plans. Right now, my goal is to finally install the ceiling fan in the bedroom and John wants to start sawing down the shelving in the garage to fit this kegerator in there. Big Goals. Busy weekend. Dont forget. Positive energy and prayers to Erlanger lady. God will know who she is.

I Think Im going to start doing a "READER OF THE MONTH"

Email me at ruggergirl8@yahoo.com with your picture and why you deserve to be reader of the month. Please include your Zodiac sign and your personal "motto". Make sure its a picture you dont mind being on the blog for a month straight!!! Good luck to all. Happy Thursday.