Couldn't resist trying just one more time and I DID IT!

For today only, I'm considering myself the Queen of Technology.  Doing that royal wave thing at my computer.

HOLY CRAP!  I DID IT!

Please excuse me while I happy dance for a minute-be right back.  Okay, happy dance is done.  That is a picture from about 4 years ago that I took of Sam and one of my favorites.  Be patient with me-going to see if I can do it one more time so I'll remember how to do it.

Now I'm having problems again and don't have the time to deal with it right now.  But atleast I know I can (sort of) make it happen.

I'm a happy camper!

Wait a minute, wait a minute...I might have just figured out to how post a picture.  Let me see.

Ack!  I thought I might have had it.  But I'm getting closer.  Atleast I figured out what button to click on so I can see my pictures.  But the circle thingy (the word "thingy" gets used a lot by me when I'm dealing with technology) keeps spinning and spinning.  Oh well-I'll keep trying.

Andie got out of the hospital yesterday afternoon.  She is on bedrest.  They got the labor stopped.  I'm seriously trying not to freak out.  Matt told me on his way out the door to the hospital yesterday that, when they did a sonogram on Tuesday, they could see some fluid next to Tristan's brain, but they won't know what it is or why its there until he is born.  Right now I mentally can not even go there.  But I now figure he'll probably be born sometime in July instead of the middle of August.  Matt had to shoot a black metal concert last night, so she went back to her mom's house.  When I got up this morning, he wasn't here so I figure he is over there too.  He said they are still moving out of here July 1st.  He's worried though because he has to leave town July 6th for several days.  Also, X-Games is next weekend and he will be out of town for that.  He knows that, between Andie's mom and I, we will take care of her.  But if she goes into labor again, he wants to be here when it happens.  He has taken the entire month of August off and won't be leaving town until September after that.  Its so hard to watch Matt go through all this.  Yes, I know he is an adult and all that, but its like I've seen him turn into a real grownup in the last few months.  And the hardest part for me is to sit back and watch it happen.  But he knows I'm there for all three of them and that's what counts.  They didn't tell me I'd have to go through all this when I took the Lamaze class when I was pregnant with him!  There should be some kind of full disclosure with those things or something.

Yesterday we actually had sun at 7:30am for the first time in what seems like forever!  I had breakfast on the deck and it was a wonderful way to start my day.  It was a very busy day.  I had so much to catch up on after been sick for a few days.  But I got it all done.  I even had time to take Buk for a 30 minute walk yesterday and mess around in the backyard with my solar lights.  Some of them are kind of tricky and it takes me a while to figure out how to get them to work.  But I got all the patio ones working and I think they look lovely!  Sam thinks I've got the patio lit up like its Christmas time.  But I don't care-its pretty, I love it, and I am really enjoying it.  That's all that matters.

I'm working my way through seasons one through three of "Ally McBeal".  I loved that show so much when it was on and was so happy when I found it on dvd.  The next one lined up is season one of "Episodes".  Its a show that is on Showtime (which I don't get) starring Matt LeBlanc.  He actually plays a larger than life character of himself and won a Golden Globe for it last year.  Sam and I were so happy for him!  We are such "Friends" fans and are excited to see him doing so well.  The next one we are keeping our fingers crossed for is Matthew Perry's new show this fall.  He's had a couple, but they never seem to even make it a full season.

I'm excited about today.  Sam and I are going to the county fair!  If Andie had still been in the hospital, I wouldn't have gone.  But this way I won't be at home worried about Tristan.  We are going to have so much fun!  I get to eat way too much and be miserable by the time we get home, probably ending up belly up on the couch tonight.  All the fun exhibits.  Maybe I'll pick up a few more solar lights for the yard.  I'll get to see the garden/backyard exhibit and get more ideas for my yard.  Love to see the animals and will try to talk Sam into watching the pig races with me.  I also love watching all the super scary rides and questioning the sanity of the people who actually go on them.  We are going to have a blast!

We've put off "Abraham Lincoln" until Saturday.  Sam has band stuff to do on Friday.  I'm glad because it gives me a chance to finish the book before seeing the movie.  I'm really curious to see how "Brave" does at the box office.  I think that will be the children's movie that will be nominated for Best Picture at my beloved Oscars.  To me it just looks darned good.  Sam knows that I won't be available to do anything next Thursday through Sunday because I will be glued to the tv watching X-Games.  This weekend I need to find out the schedule of events and find out exactly what Matt will be shooting.  Last year I had just gotten out of the hospital when they were on.  The one time they actually showed Matt on tv shooting an event, I was asleep!  The cats and I will keep our fingers and toes crossed that Matt's bmx team will end up with a medal or two.  I'm even more emotionally invested in it this year because a few of the guys have stayed at the house off and on over the last year.

Time to go pack my leopard print backpack for a day of fun!

Well, I was down for the count Saturday through Monday.  Started feeling human again yesterday.  Through sheer determination I managed to still do movie day with my neighbor.  I so enjoyed seeing "Hunger Games" for the second time!  I'm pretty sure the second one starts filming next month.

Andie had a radiology appointment yesterday morning that Matt took her to.  He came home in the afternoon-she was in labor and had been admitted to the hospital.  They started her on medication to stop her contractions and steroids to help develop Tristan's respiratory system.  Looks like she will be on complete bed rest the rest of the pregnancy.  Matt said Tristan is just shy of four pounds.  I went into labor about this same time with Sam.  We are pretty optimistc.  I know Matt is worried because of the move coming up at the end of the month.  And then he leaves town 7/6 for a week.  I don't know if she will stay here with me or what.  The bed rest really sucks.  You get to get up to take a shower, go to the bathroom, and that's it.  You are basically laying there growing a baby.  Right now, we just have to see when she will be released from the hospital.  A day at a time, Leopardditz, a day at a time.

At least I got 4 hours of sleep all at once.  Waiting for my Sleepytime tea to brew and then will see if I can get a couple more hours.  I knew that the last place I needed to be was at the hospital with them yesterday, but my throat isn't sore today and I hardly feel congested.

Sam and I were suppose to go to the county fair today, but I'm going to hold off until next week.  Between the cold and worrying about what's going on with Baby T (Matt knows I've already given Tristan a rap name!), I'm going to stick close to home.  With traffic and all, the fair is about 45 minutes to an hour away.  I'm venturing out to the grocery store later today, but then its catch up time around the house.  I'll need to get all my laundry done this morning as I don't want to have to run the washer if Andie is resting.  Want to clean the house really good and get it aired out to get rid of the cold germs.  Sam and I are still going to see "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Slayer" on Friday.  I also want to see "Brave".

Time to take my tea and head back to bed.  Atleast Timber is still in his spot on the bed and hasn't stomped off to the closet in disgust.  Come on tea-work your magic!

Feel like crap today.

But its movie day!

For those of you that are wondering, my new profile pic is what I walk under the tunnel when I walk into Disneyland,

THEY ARE MOVING OUT AT THE END OF THE MONTH!  The kitten drove me crazy last night.

But none of that matters because, yes I'm going to a movie today, but...........

The sun started shining at 10am!

quick post before heading to bed-Matt not only shared his cold that he brought home from his trip with Andie, but now I've got it.  Going to put my jammies back on and head to bed with chicken noodle soup and oj.

But the most amazing fantastical news is that Mandie got an apartment today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They will be moving out on July 1st!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After having two weeks without them, its hard to get used to them again.  Matt will still use my house as his office which I'm okay with.  They can't have pets at the apartment, but will try to sneak the kitten in.  Buk the dog will stay with me.

Did I mention that they will be moving out??????

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love them both, but I want my house back.

Tomorrow I will happy dance.

And go see "Hunger Game" again and have GDO-girls day out.

Guess what?  Mandie will be moving out 7/1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think its the fever that is causing all the !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to bed.

I normally don't post twice in one day.  But I keep trying to tell myself, remember what you said this morning. Nothing can be as bad as that day in the hospital.

After the movie, I walked in on a fight.  Mandie was at it again.  Grabbed the grocery list and ran out of the house.  Came home with groceries and Andie was gone.  Screen door open and front door closed.  My front door doesn't latch and leaving the screen door open shows how pissed she is at Matt.  But my cats could get out.  Enough said.

Carried in groceries and Matt came out into the kitchen.  I asked him very politely could he please close the door when they fight.

He said, "you want the door closed?"

And it was in my face.

I went to the furthest point of the house to get away from him.  Sam was gone.  Sam is the bay, Matt and I are the 40 foot waves.  At this point, we were 2 tsunamis waiting to hit each other.  Three hours later we sort of met in the kitchen.  I asked could he understand I don't want the front row seat to their relationship.  He said they can't afford the house in August.  He said they will move in with her mom when Tristan is born and could he come work over here during the day.  Physically I nodded and said yes.

Mental note-must get rocking chair and bed for Tristan to sleep in my room.

He and Sam went to shoot pool.  Sam can talk to him.  I think they need time together.  Determined not to let this get me down.

Especially when I saw a movie with Tom Cruise wearing assless chaps (from the back end) and Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin singing a love song to each other and kissing at the end.

Groping for the good things right now.  The 5 day honeymoon is over.  Mandie has taken over the house again.

Oh joy.

I usually have so much going on in my head that it sometimes takes me a little while to realize things.  That's one of the reasons I journal every day.  I buy pretty or fun spiral notebooks and write for an hour every morning.  Going back to pen and paper, rather than typing on a keyboard, slows my brain down and really makes me think.

For example, this morning I realized I look at the world a whole lot differently than I used to.  No matter how truly crappy things can get at times or particular moments, when I run it through the mental filter of remembering laying in a hospital bed last July and being told I had 5 to 7 weeks to live makes me look at things in a very different way.  And then having to tell my children what the doctors had just told me.  So now I get excited like a little kid over very simple things.  I'm even grateful each morning when I open my eyes and realize I have a whole new day ahead of me.  I sort of wish I had had this realization when I was on those last few weeks of Prednisone withdrawal and throwing up constantly.  Would it have made it a tiny bit easier?  I think so.  Okay, enough deep thoughts.  Time to close that mental box for the day.

Today is movie day!  "Rock of Ages" at 10:10.  Lunch out with Abraham Lincoln.  Then I will begin my chair quest.  I know the perfect one for my bedroom is out there-I just have to find it.

The weather wizards are saying we may get sun in the afternoon on Sunday.  I put away the pretty long skirt I was going to wear today and broke out the jeans and a pullover sweater.  Freezing for the sake of fashion is something I decided I didn't want to do today.

Andie showed me where she was registered for the baby shower yesterday on the computer.  I got to see the Tristan's crib and all the other things she picked out.  The shower isn't until 7/21, but I'm going to go pick up my gift next week before anyone else gets it.  I'm getting them his and hers diaper bags!  Hers is cute and his is manly.  With Matt being self-employed as a photographer and working out of the house, he will be home with Tristan and will need to take him when he runs errands.  He would actually look pretty funny walking around with his ears gaged huge, full tattooed sleeves, and a girly diaper bag.  I would have definitely had to revoke his man card.

In my mind, I keep trying to imagine what it will be like the very first time I get to hold my grandson.  And I tear up immediately.

I love Twitter passionately!  I have 5 different Disneyland things I follow.  Yesterday was the huge grand opening of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure which is directly across from Disneyland.  They had a red carpet and everything. With my iPhone, I was even able to see what was going on while I was out.  With all the pictures and tweets from everyone who was there, it was like I was there but didn't have to stand in line for either the rides or the bathroom.

Sam's car is out front, so he made it home okay after the Van Halen concert last night.  I purposely planned to be gone today, so when the poor guy comes staggering out of his room I won't be standing there verbally attacking him with tons of questions in that special way I have.  I'm going to wait for my concert debriefing until sometime this weekend.

Yup, I definitely look at life differently now.  Right now a cat is snoring very loudly next to me and its putting a smile on my face. 

I've been playing around trying to figure out how to upload pictures to my entries again with no luck.  Why can't they make it easy with a picture of a camera that I click on, and then the magic happens-my picture is there along with my entry!  To finish off the redo of my deck, I hung a pirate flag with a skull and crossbones on it today.  I ended up doing the deck furniture in red, white, and black, so it really goes well with all of it.  Would love to post a picture-I'll keep trying to figure it out.

Van Halen concert day is finally here.  I think I'm more excited than Sam is.  I know he is going to have an amazing time.  Its at my favorite outdoor venue and the sound is wonderful.  I can't wait until this weekend when I can get the full debriefing about his evening.  I figure he won't be real talkative tomorrow-I remember those days.

Mandie is still getting along beautifully and my house is crowded but very peaceful.  Andie feels like crap but is in a very social mood with both Sam and I.  It hasn't been like this for atleast 5 months (a very loooooong 5 months).  Today she even sat down next to me and we pulled up her baby shower registry.  I got to see the crib and everything else she picked out.  We must have talked for atleast 2 hours.  It was nice.  I've really missed the old Andie.  I still can't believe Tristan will be here in two months!

And "by here", I mean that possibly literally.  Matt and I went out to lunch yesterday.  Their house won't be ready until maybe September.  I asked him what they were going to do and didn't get much of an answer.  He did tell me that he has to travel in September (Tristan will be a month old), and after that he may have to go to China with the DC bmx team.  I'm beginning to wonder if they plan on staying here until the house is ready.  Andie's mom's house is much bigger than mine, and they would have more room and more privacy there.  But Andie doesn't really get along with her mom.  I started out with 3 cats.  Now I'm up to 4 cats, 1 dog......and a newborn living here???  I'm not going to worry about it.  I can't at this point.  If it happens, somehow I will make it work-its what I do.

More gloom today. Fog and mist on top of that.  No solar lights last night.  July is just around the corner, July is just around the corner-that's my June mantra.  Atleast it won't be hot when I go to the fair next week.  But I hate it when the phrase "considerable cloudiness" comes out of the local news weather wizard's mouth.

I'm surprising the heck out of myself by continuing to make friends with my iPhone.  A week ago if you had told me that I'd be using my phone to check my bank balance, email, and movie times with ease, I would have fallen over laughing until I cried.  But I've learned the trick-I ask everyone for help unless you share my same last name.  The boys do it for me.  Other people explain it to me while I'm doing it so I understand what I'm doing.  All I know is that its working for me and I have no complaints.

The doctor appointment went well yesterday.  I was very happy with 90% of what she told me.  I'm pretty healthy again, I've made miraculous progress considering that I was on home hospice care from July until October.  But she told me that I can expect to have a bad day here and there where I just don't feel good.  Anyway, I wrote in my journal about it for 2 hours this morning and dealt with it.

I'm watching seasons one through three of "Allie McBeal" on dvd in the evenings.  I really love that show so much!  After that will be season one of "Episodes" with Matt LeBlanc.  Sam and I are very excited about that.  We love him from the Joey on "Friends" days, and are so happy for him that he is doing so well on the show.  Its on Showtime which I don't have, so I'm glad I was able to track down the dvd.  The next one I'm hunting for is season one of "GCB".  Since it got cancelled, I really want the dvd.  Whenever I watched it on tv, I would laugh so darned hard-love Kristen Chenowith in anything!

Tomorrow is movie day-10:10am showing of "Rock of Ages".  I'm going to freeze for the sake of fashion and wear one of my long cotton shirts with a cute t-shirt and make a day of it.  Lunch out with my Abraham Lincoln book.  Then I want to hit a furniture store.  I'm looking for a chair (possibly a rocking one) for my bedroom.  Since I found out Andie was pregnant in December, I've been tossing all my one dollar bills in a Disneyland popcorn bucket.  I've got 150.00 towards my chair!  I admit that there have been times (which I told Matt about and he just laughed) when I wondered if I really needed a rocking chair to rock my grandson in or......my own pool cue.  Grandson won over pool cue.  But the next fund that gets started in the Disneyland bucket will be the pool cue one.  I've got one all picked out with inlaid turquoise in it.  I have to have a pretty one for goodness sake!

Four more things to do on my "to do" list for today.  And then I am done for the day!

After 2 nights of sleep, tonight is a sleepless one.

I got an iPhone yesterday!  Yes, I'm climbed off my dinosaur and decided it was time to get one.  The look on Matt's face the first time "app" came out of my mouth was priceless.  He, Sam, and I decided to run out and grab a quick lunch before we all continued with our day.  We were going to run through a drive-thru.  Big mistake at 12pm on a weekday.  By our third attempt, to find a semi short line somewhere, I had gotten bored and decided to set up my ringtones and text message alerts for my new phone.  Sam finally said that he decided hell was being stuck in a car with his mother while she listened to every single ringtone to finally pick one.  Matt simply unlocked the doors (we were sitting in line at In-and-Out Burger), leaned over and unbuckled my seatbelt and told me to get out.  Of course, since I was buying lunch, I knew I wasn't going anywhere.  And I'm very happy with my ringtone choice.  I even managed to post a picture using Instagram on my Facebook page.  I still have a lot to learn to figure out how to use it.  But everyone I know has one, so I'm not asking the boys who do a horrible job explaining things to me ("you ask too many questions"!  How else am I ever going to figure anything out?), but asking everyone else to show me how to use it.

The weather continues to be gray and gloomy.  Now its begun to get downright cold!  I feel so sorry for all the tourists who have paid for overpriced hotels right on the beach here.  I know they are all sitting on their towels and shivering.  I refuse to turn the heat back on, but will be breaking out the long sleeved shirts again.  The weather wizards are saying there is a small chance for a slight warm-up and maybe a little sun next week.

My neighbor came over last night to answer some iPhone related questions, and we decided to go see "The Hunger Games" on Sunday.  She hasn't seen it yet and I'm definitely ready to see it a second time.  The first time I saw it, I was sitting there doing the whole analyzing thing while watching it.  This time will be for pure enjoyment!

So far there has been no Mandie drama since they got home Saturday night.  I don't know how long its going to last, but I'm not feeling like I'm doing the eggshell dance right now.  I'm definitely enjoying it while it lasts.  I can tell Sam is feeling the same way.

Doctor appointment for a check-up today.  Then I have lots to do to get caught up from yesterday.  Major trip to Target, so I have lots to sort through and put away.  I need to get out and work on my patio and yard.  I'll just wear my favorite Disneyland sweatshirt to stay warm.  If I can't stop playing with my phone, I may take it out and lock it in my car for an hour or two.  I downloaded a bubble game app, two movie apps that I can watch previews on, my Twitter and Facebook, still want to figure out Instagram which will require me taking pictures of stuff....starting to wonder if this iPhone purchase was such a good idea or not......

And, of course, I got a pretty sparkly hot pink cover for it.  And a purple one with birds on it.  Oh dear, my iPhone actually has cover options like I have clothing options.

At least I haven't named it yet.