Driving Ms. Crazy

I like driving. Alone. All by myself.  I like listening to the music I like and singing along at the top of my lungs in traffic.  I also enjoy having quiet time alone with my thoughts to reflect.  On Monday, I had some of that quiet time driving down to Georgetown to see Dad.  From my house it takes about 90 minutes one way if there isn't any traffic.  That's about 3 hours for me to think, play the drums on my steering wheel, change CDs and sing to strangers at stop lights.  Here is a peek into my brain at some of my thoughts and reflections on the last 6 months.

• I do not understand the need people feel to jam on their brakes on 270 when they see a cop on the far side of the opposite lanes of traffic with someone already pulled over on the shoulder.  He doesn't care about you. He's already busy.  He's not going to sprint across 8 lanes of traffic to get your plate number and issue you a ticket.  Just go already.
• I really need to get a new battery for my XM radio remote control.
• For a state of the art, wickedly expensive medical university, it seems incredibly stupid to me that Georgetown only has one MRI machine.  During the day they use it for outpatient imaging and then at night, all hours of night, the inpatients get to take a turn.  Damned inconvenient if you're trying to sleep.  And guess what else? Their MRI machine cannot accommodate obese people.  If you don't fit in the machine, they ship you to... guess where!  The National Zoo. Yep, that's right. The Zoo.  As in Elephants, Pandas and Gazelles, oh my!
• I had no inkling of an clue how much my family's life was going to change on September 17, 2010.  How one phone call and seven little words devastatingly whispered by my mother would flip everything around.  I would have liked to have been more prepared... but I can't see how anything can prepare you to hear "Dad has a mass in his brain".
• My husband does not kiss me nearly enough.
• What am I going to make for dinner?  I am in a serious rut in this regard.  I used to do all this meal planning and knew what was for dinner 2 weeks in advance.  I just can't seem to get it together lately with that and end up throwing anything together I can manage.  It's getting pretty monotonous and repetitive.  Maybe that's why my husband doesn't kiss me. He doesn't like what was for dinner! Hmmm.
• I really need to clean the inside of my windows.  Hines is a window licker.
• Even though I complain and have a hard time adjusting to daylight savings time, I really do like it when it is still light out for a while once I get home from work.  But DST is just such an odd concept.  And what happens when you live in an area that doesn't observe it and work in an area that does?  Do you feel like Marty McFly when you arrive for work an hour earlier than you left home?  Do flux capacitors come standard on cars sold in that area?
• I love love love love love my Adidas sneakers.
• When I blow my nose sometimes, air comes out of my eye.  Only on the left side.  There is a connection between your maxillary sinus and your tear ducts which has a valve in it.  Since having this nasty sinus infection from hell, I discovered that when your sinuses are too full and there is too much pressure, that valve can get blocked open and snot can come out of your eye.  You can't make this stuff up, people.  It is really disgusting and rather alarming.
• Danny Elfman has scored a ridiculous amount of movies.  But Howard Shore is still my favorite.
• People really need to use blinkers more consistently and more effectively.
• Montgomery County changes more every time I go through there.  Now there is some fancy schmancy toll road connecting the county.  I haven't tried it out yet, but it's on the bucket list.
• One day I am going to Georgetown and actually see more than the inside of the hospital.  Maddie thought that the University looked like Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when you approach from the Key Bridge.  I kinda wish it were, so they could brew a potion or cast a spell and make Dad better again.
• I used to have floor mats in my car, but I have no idea where they are, or what happened to them.
• I really need to burn my Ultimate Rock CD Volume Six featuring songs from Stryper circa 1986 and Megadeth circa 1992.

Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to let you peek... even I am a little disturbed... but I have already typed all this and I'd hate to not share.  Inquiring minds want to know.  Well, they thought they wanted to know, but turns out they wish they didn't now.  Anywho, maybe someone can tell me what happened to my floor mats!

Sick! AGAIN?!

I hate being sick.  In addition to it sucking big time, it keeps me from being able to spend time with my Dad.  I almost never get sick! But this winter, I have had the same freakin' cold four times!  This time it coincides with my Dad being inpatient at Georgetown since last Sunday.  We have to find an inpatient rehab facility to transfer him to, and it is BEYOND frustrating that I can't be at the hospital talking with the case worker personally.  GAH!  I started an antibiotic so hopefully by Monday I will be cleared to get down there and help get this business settled!

Busy Bee Beasleys and Nephews

It's been one heck of a busy couple of weeks for us here in the Beasley household. Concerts, rehearsals, classes, MSAs, a death in my family, helping out Dad, and just regular old family life. 

This week, we had my 15 year old nephew Andrew staying with us.  I just have to say, I really enjoyed him being here.  Usually when I see him, the rest of our families are together and everyone is being sassy and sarcastic.  Beasley Family Functions are barrels of fun!  But this week I got to spend some one on one time with him as I drove him to school in the morning and on the way home in the evening.  I gotta say... it was very enlightening and I enjoyed his company very much!  He is a sweet, thoughtful kid. I am still a little shocked at how one day he was a skinny little kid and now he's got a manly voice I can't recognize on the phone as his.  He can stay with us any time!


Then Friday night, I picked up my almost 15 month old nephews and had them all weekend. I look forward to their time here so much and just LOVE seeing all the new things that they are doing now.  They are so charming and sweet and such good babies!  They never give Aunt Julie a hard time.  Since there are two of them, I have to say, I would NEVER be able to have them without the help of Maddie.  She is such a wonderful helper! She is going to make a fabulous babysitter in a few years and a great Mommy someday.  She is very patient and even put on a great little play for them this morning to occupy them while I did the breakfast dishes.  Having the boys gives me my baby fix for a while and I look forward to having them again for a weekend in July.

I joked with everyone that I only needed my nephew Nicholas here and I would have all my nephews under one roof with me.  I don't know if my little house could handle it, since it felt like it might burst at the seams with all the gear the twins have!  But I do look forward to having Nicholas over soon.  He and Maddie get along so well and I am afraid that if I turn around, Nicholas will be calling me and I won't recognize his newly manly voice!!  Don't do it, Nicholas... don't grow up! :)

On a personal note, I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to my brother, Bob, for traveling to Canada to represent our family to mourn the death of our Uncle Jean-Guy.  It could not have been easy, mon oncle was his God Father, and he drove all the way up and back in essentially 2 1/2 days.  Dad has taken his passing very hard and was unable to travel.  We are very fortunate that ma tante Anita and mon oncle Jean-Guy came to visit in the summer and then came to visit and help with Dad this Fall when he started chemo and radiation.

I better get myself to bed, as this stupid time change garbage will have me all jacked up for weeks until I adjust and we have busy weeks still ahead.  I'm gonna need a lot of coffee for this. A Lot.

Haiku

 

Sit in silent house

Waiting for Father to stir

Come Spring. Cancer Leave!

Dot Dot Dot

Hello. My name is Julie, and I am an ellipsis abuser.

Ellipsis (plural ellipses; from the Greek: ἔλλειψις, élleipsis, "omission") is a mark or series of marks that usually indicate an intentional omission of a word in the original text. An ellipsis can also be used to indicate a pause in speech, an unfinished thought, or, at the end of a sentence, a trailing off into silence (aposiopesis). When placed at the end of a sentence, the ellipsis can also inspire a feeling of melancholy longing. The ellipsis calls for a slight pause in speech.

The most common form of an ellipsis is a row of three periods or full stops (...) or pre-composed triple-dot glyph (…). The usage of the em dash (—) can overlap the usage of the ellipsis.

The triple-dot punctuation mark is also called a suspension point, points of ellipsis, periods of ellipsis, or colloquially, dot-dot-dot.

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, right?  *Breathes Deeply * I use ellipses with regularity.  I am a wee bit of a grammar nerd and when I use the ol' dot dot dot, I can't help but cringe a little inside for it's overuse.  There! I said it! Whew... I feel much better!

...back to your regularly scheduled program.

What's in a Name?

For some reason my daughter and her friends decided recently that they would all begin calling each other by their middle names, or some variation thereof.  I am particularly fond of my daughter's name, as she is the namesake of my mother and maternal grandmother.  There was a tremendous amount of thought and research that went into naming her.  If you have ever had the daunting task of naming a child, you know that of which I speak.  We did not tell anyone what her name was going to be until she was actually born, even though we had decided months before the joyous day.  Mainly because I wanted it to be a special moment and an opportunity to pay homage to the woman that supplied me with my own name and helped shape me into who I am today.  But partly because I was nervous... what if we looked at her and she just didn't seem like a Madalyn?  What if it just didn't fit?  How you could tell what fits by looking at a red, squirmy, toothless bundle I have no idea.  But you're just supposed to know.

But does your name have a part  in shaping who you are as a person?  Would you turn out slightly different if your name were Barbara instead of Louise?  What if I screwed my kid up because I named her something that didn't fit her destiny?! Oh, so much pressure!!  What if her sixth grade teacher had a problem with a Maddie in her past and so therefore places some personal stigma on all Maddies in the future?  And what if, in the influential age of sixth grade, that causes My Maddie to have self esteem issues, or some other kind of problem?  Oh, geeze... now I've really done it...  That wouldn't have happened if her name was Elizabeth!

Then there is the issue of a name's ease of use as an adult.  It's all fun and games for a Maddie when she's 10, but what about when she's 25 and coming out of college (looking for a job while she works on a masters degree).  What kind of feelings would a future employer have about hiring an attorney named Madalyn with a "y".  Is it professional enough?  Maddie told me, during this foray into middle name usage with her friends, that she thought that in her professional life she might consider using her middle name and going by M. Cécile.  Now that sounds hoity toity to even me, her mother!

The other issue I have with names is that no one around our house gets called their actual given name.  Even the dog gets called a million different names.  I doubt that he'll ever actually learn what his name really is now.  Maddie gets call Mac, Tater, Boo Boo, Stinky Pants, Stink, Tater Biscuit Lollipop, Macaroni... the list goes on forever.  My husband calls me Lady Friend.  I won't get into what he gets called.  But why do we give nicknames to people? Sometimes they fit, but sometimes there is such a complicated back story that you never really know why you call that guy over there "Slim".  (Which fit in that particular case, by the way)

I know a lot of people out here who are pregnant or recently had a child and I would be interested to hear the names you've picked and why.  And then what you actually end up calling them after they've been here for a while...

Just as a side note for my own entertainment... in my line of work, I spend a LOT of time on the phone with insurance companies.  This involves a lot of required documentation for parties on both ends of the phone call.  When a rep asks my name for documentation purposes and they seem rude or short with me (or it's Friday and I'm in a good mood) I tell them that my name is Juliejuliefofuliefeefifofulie.  And then I spell it for them. :)