Snow up to my eyeballs...

I'm back in Minnesota. My trip to Florida was good. I ate at a FANTASTIC place in Indian Rocks Beach, FL called Guppy's. It was truly, truly yummy. I highly recommend it. And now I'm glad to be back in my own bed, however we had literally a record snowfall this weekend! We received 16 inches of snow in the town I live. My husband had to use the snow blower three times this weekend. When I walk down the sidewalk, the piles on both sides go up to my knees! On the street corner (because of the snow plows and such) the piles are honestly up to my chest and sometimes my shoulders! And the most interesting part...we are supposed to get MORE snow today...ugh...I know I live in Minnesota and that means snow, but more snow on top of an already record snowfall is crazy!!! The plows and dump trucks end up taking the excess snow from the streets to the corners of parking lots like Wal-mart, Target, etc. You should see those piles of snow---honestly as tall as a house and taller. My dog is loving it though. He likes romping around and chomping on the snow. My husband likes throwing snowballs for the dog to chase. I'm pretty much done with the whole thing though...bring on spring...ah, yes...that would be quite ducky....

Florida, cold weather and haiku...

I am in Florida for most of this week. Currently, the temperature today was a high of 64 degrees and the Floridians are calling it a cold snap. It is still far warmer than the weather we've been having in Minnesota, so I'll take it and be grateful. I have a cold though...as a result, I had a hard time staying awake during training today....I was awake enough though to write a haiku about my cold:

Illness, cold, fever, aches
Green stuff coming out my nose
Tissue with lotion

I know....it's lame, but it amused me quite a bit this afternoon...

No thanks, I'd prefer to hide...

This has been a long week. My daughter had another "episode" today. This one wasn't nearly as scary as the last one, but it was still emotionally draining. I'm leaving tomorrow for more software training in Florida, and my husband will be left to deal with any issues on his own for the next 5 days. I'd prefer to hide under my covers for a few days and say "Screw the world! I'm not coming out. I'm staying in bed forever." Unfortunately, that isn't a viable option. I will go to Florida and upon my return, I'll be caught up in a whirlwind of doctor's appointments and medication adjustments for my girl...on top of it all, I think I'm getting a cold. I've had that sore throat feeling all day. Welcome to my pity party! Poor me...blah, blah, blah...everyone has their "schtuff" to deal with...this just happens to be mine. Give me a good night's sleep and I'm sure things will look/feel a little more ducky.....

Today really, really sucked......big time....

Where I am, I don't know, I'll never know, in the silence you don't know, you must go on, I can't go on, I'll go on. ~Samuel Becket

It's bad tonight...my nerves are shattered. Just talk to me. I'll make it through the night.
~Edna St. Vincent Millay

These two quotes pretty much sum up my day. This wasn't a good day. My daughter had a 1 1/2 hour long manic rage today....complete with screaming, crying and irrational thoughts. She has been "on the fence" for most of the week...it was all initially triggered on Tuesday when the school bus driver was an entire hour late to pick up the kids due to a lot of snow and bus problems. The kids all stood outside in the snow/cold for over a half an hour before they went back to their homes. She called me at work and I called the school and the bus company. It was all too much for her. She has been irritable and manic ever since. Today it all culminated into a huge rage. She hasn't had one like that in a couple of years.....Luckily her older sister was at a friend's house at the time. It allowed me to focus on calming my daughter down without having to calm them both down.... My older daughter gets freaked out by the rages....I do too, but I can't show it 'cause I'm the mom. There are a million words of encouragement out there...the sun will come out tomorrow....this too shall pass....blah, blah, blah....this sucks....there is no way to make it stop sucking....things will get better, but the manic rages will ALWAYS suck....I love her...she's my girl...the manic rages still suck....the one thing that makes me smile right now is that I just thought "Hey, suck rhymes with duck!" And that folks, makes things a little more ducky....

Afternoons and coffee spoons

Isn't it weird how you can stumble upon something (like a song, quote, picture, etc.) that you haven't thought about in a really long time, but when you finally do stumble upon it again---other things pop up to remind you of it constantly afterwards?

I used to listen to a band called the Crash Test Dummies all the time. I think they were pretty much considered a one hit wonder in the 1990s. The lead singer has this unmistakeably low/strange voice. One of their semi-obscure songs was entitled Afternoons and Coffee Spoons. I love that song. It is a rather odd song, but it has a catchy tune. The chorus goes "Afternoons will be measured out, measured with, coffee spoons and T.S. Elliott." I hadn't heard that song in many years when I stumbled upon it yesterday while browsing my MP3 collection. How can you not love a rock song that has the lyrics "I've heard the rattle in my bronchi"? It was like coming home again....

Then today, I was browsing on a quotation website that I tend to frequent often and I saw this quote "Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things.".....which just happens to be credited to the writer.....wait for it....oh yeah, baby....T.S. Elliott. I think it is a super cool quote that seems to fit my life perfectly.

I can't seem to get away from T.S. Elliott lately.....I wonder where I'll hear about him next? I'll have to check him out on Wikipedia. I don't know much about him and I don't think I've read any of his work.....although that doesn't mean much because I can't remember squat anymore and I'm not even 40......What I do know, is that he is a famous author and judging from his quote listed above---he is definitely someone I need to know more about.

Life is all about the six degrees of separation folks...and that's just ducky with me......

Funny things people say...

I was walking down the hall at work (in the hospital) and I heard an older woman say "Oh what a cute nut cup!" I kept walking and giggled while making a mental note to tell my husband about the incident---he would totally appreciate it. As it so happens, some of the hospital founder's china collection--which was very old and very rare--was on display and they did in fact have a small cup...called a nut cup...to hold individual servings of nuts. However, nothing quite beats hearing someone say "Oh what a cute nut cup!" It's hilarious and most definitely ducky.....