For liberals only....

So, Rob and I have been invited to a Halloween party on Saturday night. The guest list is made up almost entirely of teachers and the host is a retired teacher whom I absolutely love. Her retirement gift was a beer pong table if that helps you set the scene. Elementary teachers are very into themes and last year her Halloween party theme was Ancient Egypt and guests were attired in the appropriate costumes. I have seen pictures...it was quite a hoot. Alas, Rob and I missed the event due to the Cornell Parent Weekend conflict.

This year her theme is MonsterQuest. Apparently, Carole's husband, Carmen is a devoted follower of this show on the History channel. The show's creators try to prove or disprove the sightings of legendary monsters and other creatures using eyewitness accounts, scientists and the latest technology. Think Lochness Monster, Sasquatch, Jaws and of course, UFO's. (Didn't Uncle Tom once have the yearning to move to Roswell? Perhaps after Prague?)

I just couldn't get into the theme and my mind went elsewhere when I thought of monsters. Of course, politics and the edginess I crave always crept into my mind. I could embrace the monster theme...but I needed something more.

So I spent a lot of energy and time trying to talk Rob into going as a priest. Thought that would be a hoot...he didn't. He could rationalize the monster, but 12 years of catholic school would not allow him to dress as a priest. I could have done it without losing any sleep, but a woman priest would have opened up a whole new can of worms. and some devout guest would have misinterpreted the meaning.

This being an election year and year 9 of a war we should never have been fighting, we decided to go as Bush and Cheney.

Monsters? Yes.

Pictures to follow.

Hotel room feel....

I love staying in hotels because of the non-offensive decorating color scheme, the comfort and of course, the cleanliness (or should I say, perceived cleanliness.) When redecorating the guest room, I was going for that feel. Hard to accomplish without purchasing a new 24" thick mattress and furniture but I am happy with the results.Amazing what can be accomplished with a gallon of paint and new bedding. Rob did a great job painting the space (apparently long before the doctor wanted him to but who knew...since the doctor NEVER gave him any direction.....)

Not Much Fun Going On....

Rob is feeling much better. He has been de-catheterized and now he can drive, so he is in a much better place. The doctor said the cancer was confined to the prostate so that is the best news. He is well on the way to recovery.

I was not happy with the care in the hospital at all. It was nonexistent. Those nurses were so overworked, you needed to be coding for attention. Although his stay was only overnight, he was sent home without eating anything, (midnight Monday to Thursday at 1) and the nurses didn't get him up to walk until shortly before we left. Are all hospitals like this or just St. Joes?

In all honesty, the doctor's office is not much better. At the urologist's last week, after catheter removal, the nurse was letting us go with an appointment to come back next week for bladder strengthening exercises (Rob....not me) and I said, "Can he drive? Can he lift anything? What signs should we be looking for if the infection worsens? Is anyone going to look at the 6 incisions he has on his stomach?" Good grief.

I am busy and decided that I need to let go of some of my outside volunteer activities. In addition to being President of Parents for Public Schools and on the board of the Ted Grace Reading Grove, I am the union building rep at work and spend a lot of time working closely with the union president, Joe. Not because I want to have this added work load but because I owe him big time. For 8 years we have had the most self serving, arrogant man possible as president. His agenda included making sure he was seen as important not seeing to the needs of his constituents. The guy ran unopposed for 8 years because the job pays almost nothing and is a ton of work. Nobody wants it. Joe has a social conscience and believes strongly in democracy. He ran as a favor to me, agreeing that the ballot results would send a strong message to the president. I never thought he would win but boy did it send a message! I am seen as the instigator in the district and hated by all the supporters of the past president. And it's a negotiating year and I find myself on a committee that is creating language that merges our contract language with the FMLA laws and is it summer yet?

Surgical Success

Rob's Prostatectomy was performed today (da Vinci Robotic surgery) The surgeon is confident the cancer was contained within the prostate and had not spread. Everything went well and they think he may be able to come home tomorrow. YEAH!

Rob wasn't cleared for surgery until yesterday afternoon even though we have had the appointment for months. Talk about stress! He failed his EKG at the pre-op and needed to visit a cardiologist and ended up with a Nuclear Stress Test before he was cleared cardiologically. Of course, the cardiologist felt a mass in Rob's abdomen so he had a CAT scan yesterday morning. All tests came back negative.....so on to surgery at a moment's notice. Neither of us thought this would happen.

Do you remember having surgery in the olden days? You had an appointment for surgery and showed up and you stayed in the hospital until you were well enough to go home. Rob had a 4 hour pre-op urinary health class last week and returned home with about 10 lbs of directions and a video on catheter care. Yesterday, it was only clear fluids all day and he had to drink something special at 3 to clear the bowels.....and give himself an enema! He had to shower the night before and wipe the surgical area down with a special medicated cloth 1 hour after and wear clean pajamas to bed and do the whole wipe thing again this morning. How do idiots handle the 10 pages of directions? And don't even get me started on catheter care! A video? Do I look like a nurse? He will have a catheter for 8 days so it looks like I will learn.

I will keep everyone posted.

Nothing much going on....

1 -I am back to work...always sad...but only 9 more days until my 1st pay check since June.....always exciting.

2 - Last week I felt like Erika did several months ago when her appliances were dying around her. The computer has been in the shop for a week. Cafe.Net has always done a superb job on repairs buy this time they were stymied. The guy just kept repeating, "you know it's 8 years old." This time it wasn't the video card or the fan but the power switch. He jury-rigged the switch so it will turn on and stay on but it looks so bad. In order to run, the case can't be on. I will be shopping soon. I am thinking of a laptop for the portability but I hate those keyboards and the little screen. Decisions......

I received a letter from the Water Dept advising us that our reading showed a tremendous, out of the ordinary for us, water usage and that we should recheck the reading. The numbers corresponded and the toilets aren't running so where did all the water go?

I received a letter from Maytag letting me know that an electrical failure in the heating element of our dishwaher can cause a serious fire hazard. The solution? "Stop using the dishwasher immediately and disconnect the electrical supply and shut off the circuit breaker." I can call to schedule a free in home repair. Is that before the fire or after? Hopefully we will still have enough water to put out the fire since I haven't yet followed the directions.

3 - We received a package in the mail today...always exciting. Actually, I got home around 5:30 and the outgoing mail was still in the mailbox and I stomped around the house admonishing the mailman (using a myriad of stored up swear words since I was with kids today) for not walking up the steps to get the mail that was going out. About 8 tonight I opened the front door since the temp was dropping from our high of 90 and we had mail and a package! The white mailing bag was for Ian and from Syvertsen in Prague. Looked like Cyndy's handwriting but I thought it might have been Chris or Laura's too. Oh, the mystery. We went to Ithaca to visit Ian just yesterday, so I was kind of sad thinking he wouldn't be able to open it until Columbus Day. I texted Ian and he said, "OPEN IT!." Can you imagine how boring our lives are? The blue PRIORITAIRE stickers all over added to the mystery. The end of the bag was covered with tape bearing the message in bright red, " REWRAPPED - RESEALED- IN THE USPS - REWRAPPED." So exciting. Was this contraband? NO! Inside were 4 size small Hanes boxer briefs and a note," Ian - Tom says to tell you he only wore these a few times so they shouldn't be too stretched out. Haha. Cyndy & Tom." Very anticlimactic, although we all had a good laugh. When Ian was packing for school, I did make him look under his bed for boxers since it didn't look like he had enough. Who leaves 4 pairs of underwear? Who mails 4 pairs of underwear halfway across the world?

4 - Still haven't painted the guest room. I am waiting for inspiration.

Home improvements

Unlike Rich & Diane I am not adding a floor or a window. Who has the balls to add a window? I have to trust the architects to know how many windows the house is supposed to have but....
I have hated the wallpaper that covered one wall in the guest room since we moved into the house. Navy blue plaid...yuck! After 17 years, I finally had the time and energy to remove it. Easy afternoon job but now I have to pick a color so Rob can paint the whole room and the trim. We will need new bedding and window treatments too and maybe I will have the dresser refinished and hang some of Rob's art and maybe I will move in.

Back to school

I drove Ian back to Cornell last Thursday. All of his stuff fit nicely into the Prius...even the 150.00 of groceries we picked up at the Wegmans in Ithaca. Ian is no longer on campus but is in an apartment with 4 other guys. Apparently, Cornell doesn't have enough rooms for all their students and Ian had a high lottery number so he was shut out of housing. This apartment is just down the hill from West Campus...very close to where he would have ended up anyway. He found 4 friends and they rented a place in Ravenwood. His room is the upper window with the fan. Big livingroom with tv (it was working when I left) and a dining room with only 4 chairs (I seem to be the only one who cares)
Decent kitchen (or at least it was when I left) and even a dishwasher5 bedrooms in the place each with double bed, dresser and desk (bigger than his room at home)
His closet is huge and very neatly organized (when I left.) They must rent to a lot of girls.

I made his bed, helped him unpack his clothes and dishes and food, cleaned the kitchen and kissed him good-bye. I didn't even cry this time.

The next day, as Rob and I were on our way to a wedding, I received a text from Ian. "Seamus and Nick are on their way over to pick up a saw and a hammer. And they will need a drill too." I immediately called Ian back to find out what was going on and let him know we were not at home to lend tools. After badgering him relentlessly, I found out that his Syracuse friends were coming down to visit and they all want to build a beer pong table.

Good lord. He may have inherited some drinking skills but I have neglected to teach carpentry. Luckily he has health insurance and the rental company is only authorized to take out the rent....not the damages.

Ian's new address is:
516 University Ave Apt B 5
Ithaca, NY 14850

I can't wait to see what this place looks like when the other 4 guys arrive. I will post pictures.