A Likely Story!

Gratitude

Long time no post, I know!

House is still on the market. Activity has been steady over the last week but no offers as of this second. Hopefully soon..really really soon  :-)

Leaving for San Diego in a few hours to see my adorably awesome friend Aree. She started out being a client, turned into a really good friend (Jager Bombs will do that to a friendship!) and now she is really part of my 'family' - she's adopted us and we've adopted her. So there you have it!

When the house deal fell thru, I texted Aree to inform her that my trip was off. Didn't see how I could afford a trip at this point. Yeah, the ticket was paid for but everything else? Not so much. No budget for In-N-Out, much less Jager Bombs.

Aree insisted. She said I needed to get away. That I needed a break and she needed a break. She told me that all my drinks/food/In-N-Out runs will be paid for. She's my Sugar Momma for the weekend. And if I didn't get my butt on the plane as scheduled, she would make my life very unpleasant.

Alrighty then!

So I'm packing to leave for San Diego and will spend the weekend hanging with Aree, some of my family, some of Aree's friends, we'll pay our respects to the lovely Pacific Ocean in all her glorious wetness and homage will equally be paid to my all-time fave "In-N-Out'...cause a trip to Cali is not complete without a visit. 

As I've written in the past it's sometimes difficult for me to accept. Giving? Not a problem. Accepting? I'm working on it. And learning that there needs to be a balance.

So many of my friends - all you guys - have been extra giving and loving over this last couple of weeks...the comments, the hugs (especially the hugs!), the help...it's all be much appreciated.

Thanks Aree for this weekend..I can't wait to see you and I KNOW we'll have a blast. 

And one of these days...hopefully soon...we'll reconvene at MY house - where ever that will be - and we'll have our Aree comes to Denver celebration.

Will all of you invited, of course :-)

Happy Thursday!

Happy Birthday...

Kelly-Bird :-)

Love you!

The Hardest Call I've Ever Had To Make

I just called my brother Brian to tell him how very sorry I am. His darling wife Michele passed away this afternoon.

We don't know why or how it happened. She had a procedure, it went smoothly, the Dr's were finishing up and her heart stopped. They worked on her for over an hour.

Michele was awesome, amazing and absolutely wonderful. My brother is heart broken as are their 3 boys. My whole family is crushed, me included.

I'll write more when I can write without crying.

For now? Please think good thoughts for my brother Brian and their sons Tommy, Matt and Jeff.

Thanks.

Thanks Dad And Mom

My Dad and Mom were very generous (what else is new?) and gave me this for my Birthday/Hanukkah present :

A snowthrower...yay!

The winter of 2006 prompted my parents to get me a snowthrower. This one runs on gas. And guess who procrastinated at getting a container to put said gas into?

Craftsman. Good stuff. Works even better with gas.

And look what Santa brought me. Snow! And my very own snow drift to call my own. Gee, thanks Santa!

Note to self. Procrastination = not good.

So what did YOU get for Christmas?

Happy Birthday Diane!

You're a great sister and the best chocolate chip cookie maker in the world.

xoxo,

Kath

Happy Birthday Dad! Day

We have a wacky tradition in our family between my dad and his brother Louie. They have a contest to see who can call each other the earliest in the morning on the day of their birthday. Louie called my dad at 3 am. DAMN! I almost called my dad at midnite last night CO time...since it would have been his birthday here in CO but not in SoCal, where he lives..but I was pretty incoherent and saved my call for this morning.

Wish all of you could meet my dad. Great guy, wicked sense of humor (a must in our family), would give you the shirt off his back and do anything in the world to help out his family or his friends.

He and my mom have made several trips to visit (and help with manual labor) since I've lived in Denver. On his last trip he helped install my former gazebo (moment of silence) as well as two new high-pressure, low-flush, never clog toilets that almost got the best of him since the install was really tricky. The Sunday morning of that trip I heard him on the phone to my sister saying "your sister Kathy is a slavedriver...she's keeping me busy from morning to night"! I felt really really bad when I heard that...cause it was true!

Then my dad put my mind at ease by reminding me that he lives close enough to his other kids to help them with projects all the time whereas projects that involve his Denver kid have to finish quicker than usual. True, but I still felt bad.

I've promised them that I'll go easy on them during their next trip...even tho crown moulding in my bedroom WOULD look pretty awesome...as would a newly painted garage. In all seriousness, the next visit will involve day trips to Estes Park, to Golden and I'd like to take them on the Royal Gorge train trip. With maybe a teeny side trip to Home Depot or Lowe's thrown in for good measure!

Tonite my Dad will be celebrating with my mom and the rest of my sibs...dinner out at BJ's and his most favorite dessert in the whole wide world...a Pizookie to split with my Mom.

Here's some pix of my Dad from the last trip he and my mom made to Denver.

Have a GREAT Birthday Dad.

Love you...the Meece.

My Dad and the Gazebo

Dad and Mom waving

The Slavedriver gave them a break and took them to Hungarian Freedom Park. My Dad is 100% Hungarian!

This is the Pizookie my Dad and Mom had on their last trip here when the introduced me to this yummy dessert. And they'll have one just like it tonite!

Family Bizniz

So y'all remember that back in mid-December, the day I was supposed to fly to CA to spend the holidays with my family? The same day that the Hanukkah Blizzard of 2K6 blew into town? And I wound up spending the holidays here mostly snowed in except for the special Christmas Day I spent with Her Hottness & Clan.

In the back of my mind I was thinking that I really should get on over to SoCal to do some visiting sooner than later.

Well, let me tell ya.

Monday night my dad went to the ER complaining of massive stomach pains. Xrays were taken and he was told it was nothing, go home. So my brother dropped my Dad back home at 2:30 in the morning, having been at the hospital all night. 6 am that morning (my Dad hadn't even been home for a full four hours) he gets a call from the Radiologist that just came on duty, telling him to get to the hospital asap. The first RAD read the films wrong and my Dad's appendix needed to come out asap. Which finally happened Tuesday night.

The same Tuesday night that my Sister-In-Law Michele was taken to the hospital by ambulance cause she was having problems breathing. (Michele has an advanced case of MS). Once at the hospital she was found to have a 105 degree temperature and pneumonia.

Fast forward to today...Michele is doing better but will stay hospitalized for a bit longer. My Dad was supposed to come home today...my Mom's birthday...but wound up developing an infection and will have to stay a while longer.

Of course, this is making me miss my family even more. My first urge upon hearing that Michele was also in the hospital was to catch the next plane. Then Kelly (ever the smart ass) said with our family luck the way it is, my plane would probably crash. Good point, Kel.

So I'm staying home for now but will plan to see them before long.

And surprise surprise, I miss them now more than ever.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

I love you!

Rerun

Here's a post from Christmas Eve 2004. Same as it ever was. Except that I'm in CO now and there's snow to deal with. I'll take snow over heat and humidity ANY day :-)

For My Family

‘Twas the night before Christmas
And I’m on the phone
My family’s in CA
And I’m here alone

A yearly tradition
Takes place once again
The whole crowd comes over
Eats, drinks, and settles in

My parents have been cooking
For over two days
More food than you can fathom
It’s our Irish-Hungarian ways

There’s ham, turkey, meatballs
Dinner rolls too
Aunt Maggie’s Jello Salad
And yeah, lots of booze

The house is crammed tight
With sisters and brothers
Dozens of cousins
And numerous others

Then suddenly the phone rings
Yep, that would be me
Calling to chat
With Diane then Denise

Tommy, then Matthew
Dad, Mom, Nichole &Terry
Patrick my brother
They all sound so merry

Then Mike, Kelly, Lindsay
Auntie Chele and Brian
Jeff, Casey, Erika,
I wanna start cryin’

Devon, Darian, Heather
Lori, Mr & Mrs G
Hopefully Patrick and maybe Damaris?

My family’s all there
And me, I am not
I’m back here in FL
80 degrees, humid and hot

I miss them so much
And love them much more
So I call on Christmas Eve
Instead of walking thru their door.

I talk to everyone
To see what is new
To tell them I love them
I know they love me too

Thank goodness for phone calls
It’s part of the night
It’s just like I’m with them
And that feels just right

Merry Christmas, Guys... I Love You!

Relief And Happiness

No, this isn't another election post.

My Mom is home from the hospital.

She was rushed to the hospital yesterday after experiencing weakness in her left arm while she was raking leaves. Her doctor decided to run a ton of tests and kept her overnight just to play it safe.

The diagnosis? T.I.A..

My skinny little mom, that a strong wind would blow away, seems to have developed high blood pressure AND high cholesterol. Make that my skinny little mom that never eats enough to keep a bird alive and has had low blood pressure all her life.

So now she is on Coumadin and several other pills.

This was a bit of a scare for me...and of course for my mom and the rest of our family. We're all incredibly close and I'm the only one not in CA so knowing she was hospitalized last night made all sorts of 'what if's' run thru my brain non-stop.

So this is a happy ending.

Thanks for all the well-wishes and good thoughts and prayers...they meant the world to me and my family.