Getting What You Want Is Not Always Satisfying

After months of correspondence, certified mail, Arguing and exasperation I have received what I requested from the VA. What I requested was to be the "fiduciary" for my Mother's affairs since she is no longer capable of handling them herself. Never mind that I already have Power of Attorney. The VA doesn't recognize a legal POA. Leave it to the government to make things more difficult. I sent the VA the information that they said was necessary 5 times. Yep! The same information 5 times. So....does that mean they are all morons and no one knew what to do with the paperwork? Or is it they just didn't care so it laid on someones desk and was lost in the shuffle? I'm betting it was a little of both.

Now that I have my mother declared incompetent with respect to her VA affairs, I don't feel so good. Incompetent is a legal term but it sounds so derogatory. Kind of like the word moron; except when I use the word moron it is derogatory. Mom's not incompetent, she just can't write a check because her hand shakes too much. Plus her eyesight is so bad she can't even see the paper very well. She's done her job in life, so now it's my turn to help her out. All I wanted was for the VA to say that it is ok for me to do the talking to them when I have a question, not to call her names. I know it's all a formality and legality kind of thing, but it's my Mom! She's so much more than what she has been transformed into because of her age and health.

It is so hard to keep my eyes open to what is real and inevitable. It's easier to close them and pretend that everything is fine; except that I run into wall when my eyes are closed.

Where's The Beef? In My Freezer!

I love Joe's friends. Maybe they aren't friends so much as colleagues but whatever they are they have good taste. Sometimes Joe will take care of a colleague or their family member. They will be appreciative and sometimes send us a gift at Christmas. We've gotten gourmet candy, grapefruits from Texas, steaks, wine etc....
Although, the last few years we haven't gotten anything. So either Joe is slacking, or because we never send anything out but a card people got tired of spending money on us.

This year Joe was on someones nice list because we received a shipment of beef yesterday. That last statement makes it sound like it was an entire cow. For the price they apparently paid it should have been, but no it is one 3lb. beef tenderloin roast. It came from a company called "Allen Brothers". A catalog of their offerings came with the shipment. According to the catalog, the tenderloin they sent is priced at.........$199.95. HOLY MAD COW DISEASE!!!!!!!! Thank you very much, but SERIOUSLY? I checked the box to make sure the beef wasn't wrapped with 14kt gold paper. What could they possibly do to this beef to make it worth that much? I may actually have to go out and buy a thank you card for these people instead of making one up on my computer on recycled paper.

I made a beef tenderloin roast for our Christmas celebration last weekend. My roast was twice as big and only about a quarter of the price. It turned out really well, but I was a nervous wreck worrying about fixing it. I didn't want to ruin a $50 roast. I may have a nervous breakdown over fixing this $200 roast.

The roast came with a bonus too. It was packed in dry ice. Jaxon was fascinated by the smoke from the ice when we put it in the sink in some water. Actually I was quite mesmerized too. See, all they would have had to send was the ice and we would have been happy. (Try explaining to a 2 year old how smoking ice is cold not hot, but it will burn you.)

I am going to have to get up the nerve to cook this baby before it gets freezer burn. Maybe New Years Eve. Wait for your invitation in the mail.

If anyone wants to know what they can get me for Christmas, Allen Brothers has a "Steak of the Month" club. For only $1399.95 they will send a different "Prime" cut of meat every month; with the exception of February and November when the cut is only "Choice". I'll be waiting for my gift notice.

Please Sit Down

This isn't a Christmas type of blog but it's been on my mind for awhile and I need to share. Who was the first guy that decided it was ok to pee standing up???? I would like to know so I could kick his ass. I get it that you guys do it because you can. I really wish I could do it without peeing on my leg. You guys can do it outside all you want or even in public restrooms, but I really wish I could enforce a ban on it in my house. I don't care how good a guy thinks his aim is, it's not good enough. Liquid hitting liquid from a distance of 2 feet will splash. In most cases it's probably more than 2 feet, but I'm not judging. It's on the wall, the outside of the toilet, the rim, the seat, the floor. Even if you aim dead center it will splash. GROSS! If nothing else, you should all sit down just out of respect for the person that cleans the toilet. Maybe I should install a urinal in my house. One that sits about thigh high on the wall and has a tube you have to put your member in so you don't splash all over. If you guys sat down while peeing then the whole "putting the seat down" debate would be solved. The only way you are allowed to stand up to pee in the house is if your Johnson skims the water. I know it would take some getting used to but you guys are tough you can handle it. It would give you a reason to get out of bed and go to work in the morning knowing that you can pee standing up at work.

Maybe this is a Christmas blog after all because all I want for Christmas is for the men (or boys) using my bathroom to sit while peeing. If that wish came true, it really would be a Christmas miracle.

Don't Mess With Karma

Doesn't everyone know that I am done with my Christmas celebration so when I go shopping now it's just for everyday essentials. Traffic is crazy, people are crazy. I just want to walk into a store, get what I want and walk out. Not so easy to do right now. It's is kind of fun however; laughing at all the people trying to get their shopping done. Still, I really don't want to leave the house again until after Christmas. I'll have to train Joe to shop and then I can send him for everything.

I had to go to Walmart (the worst place to go this time of year). I wanted to print out some photos that I had scanned and touched up for Amanda. The photos were from her church for their directory. She could have bought extra pictures from them, but they were ridiculously expensive. So I scanned the picture, cropped it and put a border around it and called it my own. I know, it's wrong and I lied to the photo people when I got the pictures. I'm not good at lying. Well, maybe I am good at lying because they bought my story, but I feel really guilty. I also believe in Karma and a balance in life (yin yang). Their has to be a balance between good and bad or you become unhealthy either physically or mentally. I know I'm only talking about illegally printing a photo, but it doesn't matter it's still bad Karma, and I had to fix it. I couldn't take the pictures back, that's just dumb. So as I'm leaving the parking lot, there is an alleged homeless guy standing on the corner. I say alleged because while he did have a bag and sleeping roll, it could have been a prop and he just uses it to get more sympathy. I didn't care though, if he's not really broke and homeless then he has to worry about his own Karma. I gave him $5. He was very appreciative and wished me a Merry Christmas. I felt good knowing that at least he could eat a little today and as a bonus I balanced out my Karma. All is right with the world.

Merry Christmas

Hello old friend! I've been away too long. It's not that I didn't have anything to say. I had plenty of stories that I would write in my head, but when it came down to putting them on the computer I was too tired and my head was filled with all of the things I needed to get done for our Christmas gathering. I didn't have room in my little brain for everything. Even I have my limits.

Our Christmas party for 2009 is over already. It funny to me all of the planning that goes into an event that doesn't last more than a few hours. Honestly, I bitch and moan (to Joe) about all the work I have to do, and I stress about getting everything done. But when it come right down to it, I wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, I bring most of the stress on myself by creating all kinds of projects. Plus striving to make it perfect is very stressful and in my mind it's never good enough. I know in my head that we would all have a good time if I didn't plan anything and we were just together, but in my heart I have to be "the Mom" and try and make things special and memorable. I want my kids and grand kids to remember the fun times at Nanu and Papa Joe's house. I need to keep in mind however that the most memorable things are the unplanned things. Like.......When Lorrie and Julie did acrobatic Yoga in the library and Harrison got mad because his Mom was laughing and being silly. Or when Santa came and he looked "disheveled" (as Amanda said). His wig was on funny and the hair pretty much covered his face. We couldn't keep his hat on either. Poor Santa! He was an awesome Santa though and the kids loved him. Except for maybe Jaxon and initially Connor was a little taken aback but he warmed up to him. Let see what else???? Oh yeah Sarah and Brad bitching about the annual game and how much work it was. You guys know you love it! Bryan and I having the first fight of Christmas over how to work the TV. Who can forget how Jaxon kept Nanu up half of the night crying over I don't know what and me threatening to take him home and telling him to be quiet because he was going to wake everyone up. Brad and Amanda don't remember because they weren't here! Now that I've had a nap, I forgive him. I have also brought more converts to Ruinite D'oro wine. I'm telling you it's the best! I know there is more I'll have to think about it.

One bad thing was the fact that Brian and Malia weren't her this year. We missed you guys! I'll photoshop you into the Christmas picture later.

I also forgot to give a Christmas toast, so here it is. First I was going to tell everyone to dust off their plates because I had the table set for about a week (oh well, a little dust never hurt anyone). Then I would have said something about how happy I was that everyone was here and how much we missed Brian and Malia. I would have talked about Joe not feeling well and how we were worried about him and how scared we all were when Julie was sick. Then I would have said that we are a strong family and we will stick together no matter what and I couldn't be prouder to call you all my family and I love you all very much. Then I would cry and we would all laugh and drink wine.

Merry Christmas Everyone!