Month: December 2008

  • I believe I've mentioned The Closet.

    Back when we moved in here 29 1/2 years ago, for some reason I took the small closet and Don got the walk-in.

    It's been years since he cleared it out.  Years.  Years and years.  When Don died, one could not actually walk into it.  The most one could do was step in perhaps eight inches.  It was really, really full.

    My sweetheart was a packrat's packrat.

    Alexander nobly shouldered the chore of getting that stuff out of there, spending close to twelve hours on it yesterday.  Mind, the closet isn't actually clear, as there's no where else to put some of his clothes, such as his sports coats and suits.  I bought a couple of those stand-alone garment hanger things at Target today (which Beth kindly assembled for me), and one is in the hall (holding shirts) and the other in the dining room (shirts and other things).

    This doesn't do justice to the amount of stuff Alex hauled out of The Closet, as he'd already cleared out large trash bags of magazines, etc.:

    DSCF0872

    See those three large boxes on the left?  Actually, make that four.  Yup.  Full of stuff from The Closet.  See the pile of clothes?  Yup.  From The Closet.  To be fair, the stuff in the lower right is not from The Closet.

    Here's The Closet last night; it's got some more stuff back into it now, however:

    DSCF0873

    It's a lot deeper on the right.  Don had a chest of drawers over there, which is out of the picture.  The closet is a lot larger than I'd realized.

    Folks, if some of y'all are packrats with closets, etc. filled to the brim, do your loved ones a favor and clean 'em out already!  It's not nice to leave them for the bereaved to deal with.  Mind, had Don the least idea he was going to be hauled to glory a good deal faster'n he'd expected, I've no doubt he'd have bitten the bullet and cleaned out his closet.

    And the garage.

    And the attic.

    And the off-site storage facility.  Yes, those are still to come. 

    This morning the doorbell rang and at first my heart plummeted to my shoes to see a police officer standing there.  "Charles?  Jonathan?" I fearfully thought. 

    Turned out it was Rick, one of Alex's oldest friends, who is now with the Dallas police department and whose grandmother lives close by.  He'd seen Alex entering the house and stopped to see him for the first time in years.  He didn't know about Don's death and was visibly shaken by it, bless his heart.  Naturally he wasn't getting away without a photo!

    DSCF0874

    While at Target I bought a package of those pre-cut sugar cookies so Hannah could decorate them. Unfortunately I didn't hear the timer go off for the majority of them, so they burned, but the eight remaining came out okay:

    DSCF0877

    DSCF0890

    Even Faith got a turn, the poppet.  ;^)  And here's a picture of her with Alex, the Closet-Slayer:

    DSCF0883

    BTW, see the silver ring with a cross on it that he's wearing?  That was the ring I gave Don on our first anniversary.  Alex had it sized and cleaned, and it looks brand new again.  I know Don would be pleased that Alex is wearing it now. 
     

  • I wonder how long the listening lasts?

    Listening for the sound of the shower in the morning, which was my cue to take Don his first mug of coffee and leave it on the bathroom counter.

    Listening for the sound of his step in the hall as he came out. Listening for the opening of the back door, meaning he's home from wherever he'd gone. Listening, even, for the sound of his cell phones ringing.

    They rang a lot.

    And the looking. Automatically looking out the kitchen window to see if his car's coming around the corner. Looking over to his desk when I go into the bedroom during the day, half-way expecting....well, hoping...to see him there, hard at work.

    I suppose it's akin to an amputation, where the brain doesn't quite comprehend that the missing limb is no longer there, so sends out signals saying it is. Just as usual.

  • [weakly] Oh. My. GOODNESS.

    Words almost  -  but not quite  -  fail me.

    Burger King launches beef-scented body spray

    The home of
    the Whopper has launched a new men's body spray called "Flame." The
    company describes the spray as "the scent of seduction with a hint of
    flame-broiled meat."

    The fragrance is on sale at New York
    City retailer Ricky's NYC in stores and online for a limited time for
    $3.99.

    The time can't be too limited for me, that's for sure!   e-rolleyes2

    And talk about a Freudian slip!  I love it:

    Burger King
    is marketing the product through a Web site featuring a photo of its
    King character reclining fireside and naked but for an animal fur
    strategically placed to not offend.

    The marketing ploy is the latest in a string of viral ad campaigns by the company.

    I'm pretty certain what whoever wrote the article meant to say was "virile," but actually, "viral" works just as well.  e-nogood

  • If this forecast is anything approaching accurate, it'll be amazing if we're not all sick on Christm

    Yesterday and today have been cold with icy bridges, etc., and freezing fog forecast for tonight.  Tomorrow it should warm up to the upper 40's or low 50's, depending upon the weather channel.  Check out the local CBS forecast:

    Forecast

    Texas weather.  Whatcha gonna do? 

  • Don's death has been, in some respects, a comedy of errors. Only I'm not laughing.

    Right as I was literally walking out the door to go to the Woman's Club Etta Newby Christmas luncheon (invited by a friend last night), the phone rang.

    It was the HR person from TerraTelecom. There's a problem with getting the insurance paid, as it turns out Don's social security number is wrong on the death certificate. This is the death certificate that first had his name wrong, you realize, and so had been rejected by Austin and had to be resubmitted. Now it turns out two numbers were transposed on his SS number.

    I'd checked his name and the address, but that was all. Frankly I hate to look at his death certificate. I mean, it means he's dead. And I hate that. So I handle them as much as necessary but no more.

    Stupid me. Should have scrutinized them carefully, for now Greenwood is issuing an amendment to it which, I'm assured, the various insurance companies, etc., ought to take. Corrected copies of the death certificate will take two to six months to arrive from Austin, unfortunately. Until then I'm stuck with the ones with a mistake and an amendment thing attached to them.

    Just when I think maybe I'm getting everything a smidge under control, it all spirals out of control again. That's the way it feels, at any rate.

  • Something I'm anxious to do is redo the bedroom.

    For years I spent a fair amount of time back there reading, or using Mom's old laptop she'd given me.  Dmitry and I used to hang out on the bed to read, play cards, etc.

    Then two or three years ago I began staying in the living room, making the other recliner my own.  Now I am convinced it was the LORD chasing me out there to spend more time with Don prior to his death, for which I'm enormously grateful.

    However, Don's gone to glory and I'm feeling the need to go back to my roots, as it were.  But with some changes.  First, I no longer need a king-size bed, and it quit being comfortable awhile back, so it needs to go.  I'd been hoping to replace it with a twin adjustable bed, but those are pricey.  This morning I remembered a leather chaise I'd admired at JCPenney, and according to the store's web site, it's on sale:

    chaisel

    I've always liked chaise lounges, and ISTM this would give the same sitting up/knees raised position I was looking for in an adjustable bed for half the price.  Plus it doesn't have electric stuff to go awry.  Or be played with by grandchildren.

    So I think I'll take a run out to JCPenney this afternoon - once the temps have warmed up and there's no ice on the roads - to try it out.

    Also on my list is a used upright piano.  Don never wanted one but I rather did, and a keyboard simply isn't the same thing.  Surely TerraTelecom isn't going to actually want the computer desk and chair it bought Don for his home office, so assuming they don't, I'm going to keep them and make it my base of operations as regards bills, etc.

    This way the boys can spend more time in the living room themselves, and not feel so restricted to their bedrooms.  Not that Don and I didn't urge them to join us, but there it is....they're more comfortable when they can be out here without the parental unit(s). 

  • No matter how I try, there are emotional minefields littering my world.

    Take going to Tom Thumb, a thing I rarely did with Don.

    Remembered to get a "thank you" card for us all to sign and have Alex take to his command, showing our appreciation for their hard work at getting Alex, Beth, and the girls on a flight to Texas on 24 hour notice, and allowing them to stay four weeks.

    Reaching for one that looked suitable, my eye fell on the one below it. That one started with "I Want to Grow Old With You".

    Immediately my throat closed up and tears threatened, as that was, of course, what Don and I had (in blissful ignorance) assumed we'd do, i.e. grow old together.

    Quickly chose a card and hurried from that aisle. Paused to look at some stand-alone displays of featured items and saw cans of tart red cherries.

    Don loved cherry pie, and I'd been intending to bake one for him but hadn't gotten around to it.

    Throat and eye action, same song, second verse.

    It's emotionally draining to go out and about, and that's a fact. It's as if the man's Santa Claus....he's everywhere! He's everywhere!

  • Interesting how the cats have split notification duties.

    About 12:30 or 12:45 a.m. I'd been sleeping on the sofa when I was disturbed by a plaintive, actually rather worried-sounding "meow!"

    Tried to ignore it, but it came again.  Then again.  Clearly, Boots wasn't going to go away.

    Except in my sleep-fogged state I'd neglected to notice this was Zeus, not Boots.  The way it usually works is for Boots to sit in front of my face, periodically uttering short meows, while Zeus sits next to the insufficiently filled food and water bowls in the kitchen.  These cats are big on delegation of authority.

    But this was Zeus sitting in front of me and meowing, and her whole demeanor - once I'd surfaced enough to pay attention - was one of concern.  Didn't know cats could have furrowed brows, as a matter of fact.

    Swung my legs over, plunked my feet on the floor, and stood, then grouchily walked a few steps and turned to the left toward the kitchen.

    Where the back door - which faces due north - was standing wide open, allowing cold air and leaves to enter the house unimpeded.  Apparently I hadn't pushed it hard enough to hear the "click" after I put Don's car up (Dan was still out at the time so I didn't set the deadbolt); the foundation's been settling again, and that's one of the effects....unless the deadbolt's set, it's easy to not really shut the door properly, allowing strong wind to blow it open. 

    The food and water bowls were fine, which is why it wasn't Boots who woke me up, but rather Zeus, who was concerned about the back door coming open and made sure to wake me up so I could do something about it. 

    Nothing like a good watch-cat, I always say. 

  • It's occurring to me that to land a job, I need to learn some stuff I don't currently know.

    From what I can tell, Microsoft Word 2007, Excel, and Access are fairly standard, so I'd do well to learn those.

    Anything else anyone can think of?

  • That was amusing and unexpected. ;^)

    Last night I went to dinner with Alex and Beth, then we headed to the room known as "the Den" at Christ Chapel to see the improv group, Curtis Needs a Ride.

    Figured this was a "safe" activity, as Don only went once, last January, and he wasn't fond of improvisational comedy.  That's one of those "love it or hate it" things, like opera. 

    Anyway, we sat up front in seats saved for us by our friends, Bill and Kathy, whose son is one of the actors, and doggoned if Alex wasn't hauled up to be interviewed!  The group was going to do a segment loosely based on "A Christmas Carol" and needed to glean info from an audience member to provide the framework for it.  Therefore Scrooge was "Alex", who plays the tuba on the USS Christmas and is in charge of people.  The ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future appeared in turn, and it was too funny to see Flu being Beth, and skinny Grayson being a young Alex, etc.

    For being the inspiration for the segment, Alex received a two-pack of large bottles of French's mustard.