A nice positive

when your mom passes is that you get nicely fed.  Like a great meal at the local raw vegan cafe:

Or an awesome cafe brunch in town:

Or someone makes you a vegan blueberry cream cake:

Or your awesome company sends you an edible arrangement:

That even a little nephew or niece can enjoy:

Or a friend sends you home with a huge trough of leftovers:

Or brings fancy take-out:

This was pretty awesome and delicious. If food = love, I am very well loved. On a separate note, I have gained approximately 15 pounds.

Rest in Peace Mom

I love you.

It's been a LONG time

Holy cow.  It's been forever since I posted but for what it's worth the last months have been a blur and a lot of things feel like they were just yesterday.

Unfortunately, my mom hasn't been feeling the greatest and that's really been consuming my time, energy, and attention.  I've spent weeks at a time in NJ (yeesh, I can't remember when I last spent an entire week at home all summer) with a little respites of fun with visits from these cuties:

Also I was thrilled to witness these beautiful weddings:

Kristen and David

Abby and Lars

Definitely a lovely balance.

SoCal memories: I mustache you

How cute do my friends' kids rock my $3 mustache keychain:

And me, right?

I stand corrected: This was the highlight of my yesterday

My friend Tom has helped me on a number of fix-its around my mom's house these past couple of weeks--things that seemed so daunting when my mind has been on so many things--as well as being a great sounding board as I rambled on stuff going through my mind. Bonus: I now know how to use Plumbing tape!  I offered to treat him to wings and beer at Hooter's as my thanks for all his help.

I had never been to Hooter's and the controversy of its waitresses in shorts and tank tops when it first opened a few decades ago had cemented in my brain that Hooter's was a place of salaciousness where gross horny dudes went to eat fried food.

Tom said I'd probably be let down by this level of expectation.

And he was right.  There were folks with their kids there and here was a guy celebrating his 21st birthday.  The song was no sexier (and just as cheesy) as a birthday song at Chili's or Bennigan's.  Also, after being in a number of sports bars where the waitresses don short skirts and low-cut referee blouses, I was fairly indifferent (or numb) to the waitresses' outfits at Hooter's.  I will say that our waitress was adorable and sweet:

And my friend Tom treated me to a souvenir shirt! If anyone is familiar with Princeton at all, you can understand how much it tickles me that Hooter's claims a Princeton address:

Needless to say, it was really nice to have a night of distraction and a new adventure!

This Will Be the Highlight of my Day

I'm in NJ. I've been here a couple of weeks and I initially was transitioning my mother from rehab to home (which was very, very challenging in itself) but then had to take her to the ER early Sunday morning. To say it's overwhelming to balance medical needs, financial ability, and health outlook sometimes feels like an understatement. The days are pretty rough and I've started treating myself to these large coffees from Dunkin Donuts. I can honestly say that they have become the highlight of my days.

I'm grateful for all the support and encouragement and all the friends who continue to play Words With Friends with me to give me a little escape, distraction, and levity.

So many things I'm behind on--I really want to post pix from SoCal and Nebraska trips and I really need to exercise but I've been feeling somewhat paralyzed by this current situation. So if anyone has spare mojo, please forward!

P.S. A nurse said that because today is 7/11, 7-11's are giving away free small slurpees! Maybe that will be the highlight of my day today.

Heading West

After a brief return to SoCar, I'm now heading out to SoCal:

I've been appreciating that airplane coffee isn't as bad I remembered.

Plus sometimes it's cool to be able see cool stuff while you're flying across the country: