Getting Ready For a Convention, A Man's Version

Ted is leaving early Thursday morning for a work related convention. He will need to wear "decent" clothes, such as real pants and real shirts, NOT jeans or a pocket t-shirt! He will also need to wear his SUIT for a special banquet. He'll be home late Saturday afternoon.

For a fair amount of men, this would probably not be a challenge, but for my husband, it is.

It took some pressure on my part for him to start to get ready this past weekend. First of all, his suit has needed cleaned since he last wore it. And when was that, you may be asking? LAST YEAR'S CONVENTION. So I reminded him several times to get his suit out.

Secondly, since he rarely wears nice shirts, he doesn't pay any attention to the ones that he has until the last minute. He began digging around in his closet and commented that he thought he found one. I told him that was great, but he needed THREE. He eventually found some wrinkled things wrapped around a hanger and jammed into a corner of his closet.

Thirdly, since he has quit smoking he's put on a few pounds. He can get his dress pants on, but they're pretty tight. Since he has to be in the pants all day, he needs to be comfortable. Therefore, a trip to the big and tall department at Penneys would be in order.

Fourthly, there's the matter of dark socks. Alex tends to think that most things in the house are community property, so the six pairs of dark socks that Ted bought a few months ago have dwindled to ONE pair, with the rest of them hiding somewhere in the abyss of Alex's bedroom.

Fifthly, he couldn't find his white dress shirt. Anywhere. Or his tie. "When did you last wear your white shirt and tie?"

"At last year's convention. I hate going to these things."

"Hmmm...could you possibly have left them at the hotel?"

"That's what I'm wondering too. I told you, I hate these things."

"Yes, dear, I know you don't like going to these conventions, but you HAVE to go to get your hours to get your contractor's license renewed for another year. And besides, the boss is paying for everything, so at least you're not going to be out anything financially."

"I know, but I still don't like it."

Oh yes, and then there's the SIXTH thing. I do not iron very well. It can take me 45 minutes to iron ONE shirt. My mother, on the other hand, can iron extremely well. And besides, she offered to iron his shirts for the convention. Since she was kind enough to offer, I certainly didn't want to give her the shirts at the last minute.

Maybe men just don't think ahead.

If I hadn't put the pressure on, Ted would have waited until tomorrow night to get his things out. But I knew that it was going to be a NIGHTMARE if that happened.

So Sunday night we discovered that the suit still needed cleaned, the dress shirt was missing, the pants were too tight, and the socks were in hiding.

Alex was sent into his abyss to find socks. After only 5 minutes, he returned with 2 pair.

Fortunately we an assortment of ties around here, so at least that wasn't a problem.

The plan for Monday was to take the suit to the cleaners, go to Penneys and get another white dress shirt, two pairs of dress pants (he can wear jeans on Saturday), then drop off the new pants, the new shirt, and the shirts he already had at my mom's so she could iron them.

Tomorrow he has to pick up his suit at the cleaners and the other clothes at my mom's. I'll get all that stuff in the garment bag so they don't get wrinkled and the rest of his stuff is packed. It's amazing how much space two pairs of size 14 shoes can take up in a suitcase!

Anyway, hopefully he'll make it out of here in one piece on Thursday morning. In the past I've had to make sure that certain shirts are on the same hanger as certain pants, because he has admitted that he knows ZERO, NADA, ZILCH about matching clothes together to make an outfit that won't make you squint your eyes and say, "WHAT?!?!"

I may do that again for him. Anything to help.

But the worst part of him going to the convention is that I'll miss him. A lot.

On the Road to Recovery

Ted is going back to work tomorrow! He's really looking forward to it, too. He's been off for FOUR weeks due to this terrible bout of bronchitis. Although he's not 100% quite yet, he's feeling much better. It's been a long haul for him.

As bad as this has been on him, something very good came out of all of this. He has QUIT SMOKING!!

I'm so proud of him! At the beginning of this he could barely take a breath, let alone inhale a cigarette. After a couple of days of going outside and valiantly trying to have a smoke (like what's up with that??) he realized that it just wasn't possible. Therefore, it will be four weeks tomorrow since he last had a cigarette. He said he still gets an occasional urge, but so far it's nothing he can't handle.

We both feel that this is a message from his dad, who died of lung cancer (he had smoked for 60 years) almost 4 years ago. As if THAT is not enough, the little store where Ted would stop every morning for a cup of coffee and a pack of cigarettes, just closed.

He and I both believe in signs, and we think that these things happening are just a step short of being hit in the head with a 2" x 4"!

As far as I'm concerned, all the trips to the chiropractor really helped last week. Unfortunately, a slide in the snow on Friday messed things up again.

It's amazing to think that a week ago yesterday I first met Dr. Bill when I took Ted for an emergency treatment. I had my first appointment with him on Tuesday, then went again on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

On Friday I told Dr. Bill that the last time I met a man and saw him 4 more times that week, I married him! He got a kick out of that.

Each day I felt a little better, but a lot of my movements were still difficult to make. There is still quite a bit that I can't do. After we left Dr. Bill's on Friday, we went to my school so I could get my lesson plans done for this upcoming week. Because of several 2-hour delays due to weather last week, some of my plans would just carry over, but I still had to get some things copied and ready to go. After an hour or so there, we were leaving.

It's rather important to note that on Friday we had heavy snowfall for several hours. In fact, a couple of schools in the area even decided to dismiss early. The roads were pretty nasty, but sometimes you just have to go out and get things done. And we did. Going to Dr. Bill's was a top priority and going to school so I could do my plans was another high priority. Other than those two things, everything else could wait until the weather improved.

So as Ted and I carefully maneuvered through the falling snow and the accumulating snow already on the ground, to get to the car (and knowing full well that my middle name is NOT Grace!), it was with great relief that we had almost made it to the car. HOWEVER, being only about three feet away from the vehicle, I slipped on the snow and twisted my back and hip. Fortunately I caught my balance and didn't fall down, but I sure did a number on my back and hip. As Ted helped me into the car I was trying to quickly assess any possible damage I did to myself. I was sore and in some pain, but was really hoping that it was the kind of discomfort that I could shake off and it would disappear in a short period of time.

It's now almost 48 hours later, and that's not the case. I'm not as bad as I was at the beginning of last week, but I'm worse than what I was when I left Dr. Bill's Friday morning. I'm going to try to get in to see him tomorrow.

Ah yes...the fun continues!

At least Ted is doing much better....we're really thankful for that!

When it Rains, it POURS!

Around noon on Saturday I had to take Ted to the chiropractor for an emergency appointment. He was in absolute misery. Ted asked me to go in with him. His chiropractor is just WONDERFUL! He's often told Ted that if he has a problem on the weekend, to just call him at home, so that's what he did. The dr told Ted that he would meet us at the office.

This was the first time I'd ever been in a chiropractor's office, so I was rather interested in what was going on. The doctor explained each and every thing to me and it was really quite amazing. The table stood straight up, then Ted leaned against it with his feet on a metal plate. The doctor then pressed a button and made the table go to the horizontal position. Watching the doctor use his different tools on Ted's back was really something. Heck, even Ted doesn't get to see it because he's face down on the table!

The doctor even used one of the instruments on my hand so I could see how it felt...68 pounds of pressure per square inch! I learned a lot from that visit and of course commented to the doctor about how I'd never had to visit a chiropractor's office. He said that some people get through life without that visit.

By the time Ted and I left, he was feeling MUCH better!

That night we were watching the movie "Twister" for the umpteenth time and I felt a little uncomfortableness on the right side of my lower back. Within an hour, I was in pain. And it was not fun.

I must have twisted something without realizing it and it has been causing me incredible discomfort and pain since then. By last night Ted was telling me that I really needed to go see Dr. Bill, his chiropractor. I told him I was worried. I admitted to him that the whole idea of that table moving really freaked me out, and there was NO WAY I could handle the movement from vertical to horizontal. Fortunately Ted understood my fear, and said that he would talk to Dr. Bill about it at his appointment today. Then he told me that I wasn't going to be able to go to school today. I told him that I had to go to school because we had a snow day on Friday and my lesson plans weren't finished. He understood, but still wanted me to think about not going in.

And then...he started coughing...and coughing...and coughing...and throwing up from the coughing, over and over again. It's just like the bronchitis was hitting him again. He spent the night on the couch and wandering around, because he couldn't sleep. Of course he was also coughing and throwing up from the coughing.

By this morning, he'd had no sleep at all and I'd had very little. He was in bad shape and I was not doing well either. He said that he was going to move his chiro appt to the afternoon and I was going to go to work. Although I'd been up since 5, I was not able to be ready to leave until a few minutes after 7, because I was moving in s u p e r s l 0 w motion due to the pain. I had a really rough time getting into the car. We have an SUV and I just really struggled getting my leg up high enough to get inside. Eventually it worked. Thank goodness I had a cane with me because it really helped.

I got to work a few minutes late and, as usual on a Monday, it was crazy. The principal was putting on her coat as she rushed down the hall. (Later I found out why...a teacher had to call 9-1-1 for her mom and would not be in today, but needed her bag. The principal was getting it out of her room and taking it to her as the teacher and her mom live across the street from the school.)

I told the secretary that I was only there to do my plans. Fortunately as a reading intervention teacher, they can get along without me if they have to. We're so short on subs that there have been times when they haven't gotten one for me, along with the other reading teachers. HOWEVER, I needed to be ready just in case. When my principal came back and stopped in the room, I told her that I was leaving after my plans were done and she said that she would put the sub who was coming in for the other teacher in my place and just split up the second grade class among the other two second grades. This is definitely an advantage to having such small second grade classes! They each only have 16 students, and 6 were absent in the missing teacher's class today!

Anyway, I got my plans done just as the sub came in. I explained things to her, then left. On my way past the office, my principal said that she was planning on me taking tomorrow off too. It was awful trying to walk down the hall and get into the car again. I've been in a lot of pain since I got home too.

When Ted went to see Dr. Bill this afternoon he told him about my fear of the table and he said that he could treat me without going up on the table. As soon as I heard that I called and made an appointment for tomorrow.

In the meantime, Ted is still coughing like crazy and losing his voice...AGAIN.

Ted's back is bad, mine is bad, and he is getting sick again.

What next??

Cindi and Ted, Chapter Seven

After we had dated for a little over a year, we needed to prepare for a challenge.

I would be leaving home and going to the main campus of the college branch I attended. Even though it was a little over an hour away, we would be apart.

On one hand, I looked forward to the experience of being away from home and having to be responsible for myself. On the other hand, I was really going to miss Ted a LOT!

We'd spent so much time together that it was going to be very difficult to be apart. However, I knew that we would be able to get through it...somehow.

Although I was going to be going through a big change (a new place to live, new classes, being more responsible for things, just having to grow up, being without Ted on a daily basis), Ted's life was going to change in only one way: I was not going to be right there and he would have to get along without me for a while.

We knew we weren't going to break up. That just wasn't an option. We were way too in love to even consider that. We were going to try our best to stay in contact as much as possible.

Keep in mind that this was L O N G before cell phones and computers. Long distance phone calls were expensive, so we couldn't just call each other at the drop of a hat. We couldn't text each other. We couldn't send email back and forth several times a day. And we certainly couldn't meet on any type of messenger service online.

Nope, we were going to have to rely on writing letters and an occasional phone call! And that's what we did. There was a big blue mailbox one building away from the apartment I shared with a couple other girls. The mail pick up time was posted as 5:00 pm. And I took that to MEAN 5:00 pm. Not 4:59, and not 5:02, but FIVE O'CLOCK P.M.

That means that I had to have my letter to Ted IN THAT BOX by5:00. I didn't want to seal the envelope until right before 5:00 in case I had something else to add to the letter, so I was always cutting it close. I needed to make sure that I had stamps and envelopes all the time, necessary items if you're going to be writing letters!

After one week of school, Ted showed up on Friday to bring me home for the weekend. On Sunday, he took me back to school. We fell into a routine then...every Friday he would arrive, and every Sunday he would take me back. Of course each quarter my schedule changed and there were some times when I could go home on Thursday night, so he would pick me up then. We usually didn't leave home to head back to school until sometime early Sunday evening, so we could spend the day together doing different things.

The letter writing lasted for the entire first quarter. After that, he started calling. Every night, at either 10:00 or 11:00 (okay, so I'm getting older and I don't remember!) he would call the apartment and we would talk about how our days had gone.

To be honest, I think that this year apart bothered Ted much more than it bothered me. I had so many new things going on that I didn't have extra time to sit back and think about him and miss him all the time. He, on the other hand, had plenty of time to think about and miss me.

In April of that year, when I was home for a weekend, we had spent Saturday night with some friends. We were out sort of late when Ted finally took me home. I thought our night was ending, but he had something else in mind.

Around 1:00 am on Sunday morning, April 22, Ted asked me if I would MARRY HIM!!

We had discussed this fairly often, but never "officially" if you know what I mean. It was always "well someday when we get married..." or "when we eventually get married..." or "after we're married..." BUT THIS WAS DIFFERENT!

This was serious now. It was the real thing. A proposal from the man I loved. A diamond RING!

Well, without a second's hesitation, I said YES!!

We were so giddy and happy that we just continued to sit and talk for at least another hour. Eventually Ted left and I went to my bedroom. For the first time I really looked at the ring.

WOW, he sure did a fantastic job at picking out something I would like! Back then they didn't have the fancy bridal sets like they do now. You got an engagement ring, then a separate wedding ring. The ring was simple, yet elegant. I absolutely loved it!

I knew that my mom would come in my bedroom early in the morning to wake me up for church and I didn't want her to see it before I had a chance to tell her about it first, so I took it off and put it back in the box. I slipped the box under my pillow and went to sleep with a huge smile on my face.

To be continued...

Slight Change in Plans

Today I was planning on writing the next chapter in the "Cindi and Ted" story, but instead it's a very BRIEF installment in the "What could go wrong NOW?" story.

Alex and I were both home today as there was no school anywhere in the county due to the snow that we got. Joey is always home on Fridays, as he has no classes on Fridays. Of course Ted was here.

I called the doctor's office for Ted to see if the report came back yet about the blood work and/or the x-ray from yesterday. The nurse called back to tell him that his blood work was just fine but his x-ray report may not be back until Monday.

Then Ted was in another room and moved suddenly, and his back went out. When that happens, he's absolutely miserable. Today was no different. So in addition to wheezing, coughing, being short of breath, and just feeling generally LOUSY, his back is out of alignment.

I suggested that I call the chiropractor for him to see if he could get in today and he bellowed, I mean he nicely suggested, that I wait to see if he could straighten up first. After a couple of hours of moaning and groaning, I told him that I was calling. He said that I probably should.

(Didn't I want to do that originally??)

I called and the receptionist said that he should come up right away. When I told him that, he BELLOWED again, I mean he nicely mentioned, that he needed to get his shoes on. After he did that, I asked if he wanted me to drive him and he said YES.

(Darn it, I should have taken that mind reading class in college.)

Off we went. He was in there for about 25 minutes, and when he came out he said he felt much better. I didn't go in with him because I knew we were in a hurry and I didn't take the time to change from sweat pants into jeans and I also didn't change from my slippers to real shoes. Besides, he and the chiropractor spend a lot of time together and I thought he could handle it, which he did.

When we got home, Alex said that the doctor's office had called and said that his x-ray report came back just fine. It didn't show anything out of the ordinary, thank goodness.

Just a little while ago, he meanly yelled, I mean casually asked in a pleasant manner, for me to help him get up out of the chair so he could go to the bathroom.

(Again, that mind reading class would have come in pretty handy.)

He told me to get the cane out of the closet so he could attempt to stand up and didn't want me to help pull him up. However he did take my hand and it cracked a few times because he was holding it so tightly. Then he used the cane as a base and rolled off the chair onto his knee, then eventually stood up and somehow made it to the bathroom.

He's back in his chair now, thank goodness, and I'm off to finish some of the chores I started earlier today.

I sure hope that nothing else happens because we've had about all we can deal with for now, especially Ted!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! I have a few comments on that, but need to mention a few other things before I do.

First things first....we had school today, yippeeeee!!!! So Terre, from your lips to our superintendent's ears! It was a rather confusing day, with everyone thinking it was Monday, instead of Thursday, but we'll all get it worked out. It was just nice to be able to go back. There is, however, a rumor floating around that there's going to be snow again next week. That's fine with me, but just don't let it be so much that it will cancel school!

Secondly, Ted Jolie is no more. His first comment this morning was, "I'm afraid to look in the mirror. I may see Jimmy Durante!" (For those of you who don't know who Jimmy Durante is, you'll have to do a little research on your own!)

Fortunately everything on his face is normal sized right now. He's still coughing a lot and can't get a deep breath, but he's feeling a little bit better. If this keeps up, he may get to go to work next week. I think he missed Alex and me today, since we were both back at school, but that's okay. He was able to get along just fine without us.

Now, for Valentine's Day...I hope all of you have a great day filled with love, either from a loved one, a pet, or yourself!

We have friends who were actually married on Valentine's Day, so Happy 27th Anniversary Mario and Vickie! Mario is the contractor who built our house, and two years ago, for their 25th anniversary, he was spending a lot of time here. I was giving him suggestions for a nice gift for her...something along the jewelry line, but he just seemed to have a problem with the beautiful ring I had seen at a local jewelry shop. He liked the idea of the three diamonds (past, present, and future). He liked the idea of it being platinum. He liked the idea that it came from a local shop, and not "the mall." HOWEVER, he wasn't too crazy about the price... $32,000. I really can't say as I blame him! He did end up getting her a very nice necklace at the jewelry shop though, and she was very happy with it.

Ted and I have never made a big deal out of Valentine's Day. We say the requisite "Happy Valentine's Day" to each other and sometimes exchange cards and candy. But we express our love and affection other ways throughout the year. He's so good to me. He does anything and everything I ask him to do. In addition to taking care of all the outside stuff here, he also helps inside. He has never once in all our years of being married, asked me to make dinner. I do that because I want to, although it seems to be happening a little less often these days. I'm so fortunate to have married a man like him.

There's just one teensy, weensy little thing. It took about 20-some years before he asked what my favorite flower is. Now he knows!

I love pink roses!

Happy Valentine's Day!

"Cindi and Ted" will be continued....tomorrow!

Ted Jolie

Oh my....Ted started some different medication last night and he has had some kind of a reaction to it.

It's really not funny, but I'm finding it hysterical, and to be honest, so is he.

This morning he said, "Look at my lips. LOOK AT MY LIPS!"

I looked at them, then really looked at them. I started to smile and he said, "It looks like I've had freaking BOTOX!"

I told him that his lips looked like Angelina Jolie's. They're all puffy and swollen.

Once we stopped laughing about it, I called the doctor's office, and the poor receptionist was laughing so hard about the Angelina Jolie reference that she could barely talk to the nurse. Anyway, the nurse said that he was to discontinue the new antibiotic and check the pharmacy this afternoon for a different one.

This whole sickness has been so hard on Ted. I feel so bad for him. However, something good has come from this.

He and I both believe in "signs." We are approaching the four year anniversary of his dad's death. My father in law died of lung cancer, and had smoked rather heavily for 60 years. Ted is also a smoker. He tried to really cut back after his knee surgery last April, especially since his orthopaedic surgeon said that if he didn't quit, he'd be dead in 10 years.

Ted did well for a month or so, then gradually started smoking more and more until he was almost back at his pre-surgery frequency. Although I've never smoked, I can completely understand the addiction. Afterall, I'm addicted to food, and I readily admit it.

He's felt so lousy that he hasn't gone outside for a cigarette in over a week and a half. After a couple days, his comment was, "Don't get excited...I haven't quit."

But for the past 4 or 5 days, he's said, "That's it. I'm done with smoking." Thank goodness!!

I know this will be a difficult journey for him, but the boys and I will support him in every way possible. I'm SO proud of him for wanting to do this!

He and I both feel that this is a sign from his dad and he's really taking heed.

Changing the subject here, yes, it's the middle of the day, and I'm writing a post. You know what that means. Yep, another snow day. This is day number SIX, so it will be made up this Monday on Presidents Day. We were supposed to have it off, but will now be in school.

I love the snow, but I'm hoping we can get back to school tomorrow!

(By the way, Ted told me I could write about his lips in today's post. He said that RON would get a kick out of it!)

Snow Day #5

(For those of you looking for the next chapter in the "Cindi and Ted" story, stay tuned...it's coming very soon!)

Well, this is it as far as freebies are concerned. If we have another snow day this week, then we will need to make it up on Monday, Presidents' Day.

We really did get a fair amount of snow. In fact, it's still snowing lightly right now, at 4:00 pm, and it began sometime during the night.

Alex didn't have school either, and even Joey's college classes were cancelled. Of course Ted is still home, still sick.

So sick, in fact, that we went back to the doctor again this morning. He's on a "big gun" antibiotic, as the doctor says, along with something different for the coughing. His coughing is absolutely horrendous, yet he still thinks that he may go to work tomorrow. Nope, not gonna happen. I seriously doubt if he'll go at all this week. He's feeling a lot of guilt about that, but there's no sense in going if he can't do the work. I understand that he "thinks" he's letting everyone there down, but come on...they'll really be upset with him if they catch what he has!

I did some cooking and cleaning yesterday, but today I haven't done much of anything except take Ted to the doctor in the snow. Oh well, that's the way it goes sometimes! I could really handle taking a short nap, but I doubt that will happen.

Pepina has become very attached to me lately for some reason or another. She was sleeping on my shoulder last night, but had to get down when I had to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. When I came out of the bathroom, there she was, waiting for me on the bed. She tried to settle back into her spot on my shoulder before I could even lie down. She's meandering around my ankles right now as I type. If I leave to go anywhere, she hears the garage door open and close and waits for me at the back door. Such feline dedication...I love it!

Well, it's off to either start dinner...or take a nap!

Sick Hubby

Ted is sick.

He's been miserable for a WEEK now.

So sick, in fact, that he didn't go to work at all this past week...and will probably not go back until at least the middle of next week.

He even called the doctor's office first thing Monday morning, and they had him come over right away. He was there by 7:45 am.

He was diagnosed with sinusitis and prescribed an antibiotic.

He has not had a fever throughout this, but has had coughing bouts that last an eternity. He was coughing so hard that he threw up quite a few times. Then that gave him a headache. When he didn't throw up, the coughing made him dizzy. He has been having trouble catching a breath, and hasn't slept worth a crap in a week. It seems that the only way he can sleep is sitting up, and it has to be almost leaning forward. The recliner doesn't help him. He gets so worn out that he tries to lie down, but that only lasts for about 10 minutes. He coughs all night long, on and off. His ribs ache from the coughing too.

Thursday he called the doctor's office and told them that he wasn't any better and the coughing was worse. They called in a prescription cough medicine with codeine. Ahhhhhhhh...that should have helped. It did, just maybe a tad.

Yesterday afternoon he called me at work to tell me that he had another doctor's appointment for 4 pm. I told him that I would take him. His coughing was bad again and he felt like crap. When I got home from work, he was in the midst of a coughing bout that lasted for almost 2 hours. There was about a 15 second window of silence between each series of coughs. Poor guy.

The doctor said that this "crud" that he's dealing with has not gotten any better and has now moved down to his lungs. He's wheezing a little now. The doctor prescribed prednisone (which I dearly LOVE because it makes my knees feel better!) and an inhaler. Doc also said that these things might make him cough a little more for the first 24 hours, but then should help him feel better.

Well, we're 24 hours into it, and I think we may possibly have turned a corner. At the very least, he's no worse. I consider that an improvement.

He has told me repeatedly that he feels miserable. He has asked me if he’ll ever get better. He has even said that he thinks that he is going to die from this infection.

Most men I know don’t handle being sick very well. And that’s all I’ll say about that.

I know he doesn’t feel well. We can all tell. I gently reminded him that this is fairly similar to what I had last fall, except I had bronchitis. I also told him that he WILL get better. Eventually. Today I told him that when I was a week into my sickness last fall I had a routine appointment with my oncologist. (I’d already been to the regular doctor and was on all kinds of medication.) My oncologist told me that it would take another two weeks before I felt half way decent. He was right.

Today Ted is one week into this, so that means another two weeks of not feeling so great, but slowly improving. I wish we could fast forward to that point now.

I feel bad for him, but I’m also a little selfish:

I do NOT want to get this bug.
I can NOT get this bug.
I will NOT get this bug.

I’m sure the boys won’t get it…that never happens.

Get better soon Ted!

Cindi and Ted, Chapter Four

Ted called me the very next evening. Little did he know at the time that he was committing a HUGE blunder.

My dad does NOT like the phone ringing during dinner. Now come on…how in the world would people know exactly when we are eating dinner??? To him, though, that’s irrelevant. You just do NOT interrupt my dad during dinner.

Ted and I hadn’t mentioned that during our first date, so how would he know that he was calling while we were having DINNER?????

Whenever the phone would happen to ring while we were eating, we always sort of glanced at dad out of the corner of our eye, just to see how he would take it. His usual response was “I’m not here” and then he’d absolutely ignore the continual ringing. Nowadays, the answering machine kicks on after the fourth ring, but back then we didn’t have a machine and the phone would ring…and ring…and ring…and ring…continually.

So when the phone rang this particular time, my dad responded with “I’m not here” and my mom jumped up to answer it so it wouldn’t interrupt my dad any longer than necessary. Then she looked at me and nodded. I ran to my bedroom to pick up the phone so she could sit back down.

It was Ted. He told me that he had just gotten a new car that day and asked if I would go for a ride with him. I told him that I would love to go, but not to pick me up until around 7:00.

When I returned to the table, of course I was asked who had called and I told everyone that I would be going for a ride with Ted later on. I could hardly contain my excitement, but knew that this was NOT the time to start gushing.

After dinner, I cleared off the table and rinsed the dishes. I went to take a bath and get ready, knowing that my mom would be washing the dishes, but I would still need to dry them before I left. Yep, I had “chores” and the only way to get out of them was…well, there really wasn’t a way!

Ted picked me up in this shiny, red car and was such a gentleman. As we walked to the car, he opened the door for me (he had also done that the night before when we went to the concert) and off we went.

We spent at least four hours just driving around on that summer night, talking and getting to know one another. And yes, I did mention the “no phone call” time, hahaha!

Over the next several months I learned about his family, he learned about mine. I found out about his friends, he found out about mine. We shared our thoughts on current events and dreams for the future.

We had a wonderful time during those months, including the first time he took me to his parents’ house…

To be continued...

Cindi and Ted, Chapter Three

Being that this was my first concert AND the fact that I was pretty naive (I still am!), I was in awe of the whole atmosphere. The venue was huge and we walked around a little, then found our way to our seats.

There were some people milling around with bright yellow "STAFF" t-shirts on and I had no idea what they were doing or who they were. I asked Ted and he patiently told me that they were people who were showing some people to their seats and making sure that no one went where they weren't supposed to go....in other words, they were security.

As the time for the start of the concert drew near, I could faintly smell something in the air. I casually mentioned that it smelled like burnt pork chops. This was NOT Ted's first concert, so in my opinion he was the resident expert. He quietly mumbled something.

I said, "What?"

He once again mumbled something, but a little louder this time.

Again, I said, "What??"

Then I heard him clearly...."it's pot."

My eyes must have bugged out of my head because he chuckled just a little.

Okay, so for the first time I smelled pot. We still laugh about that.

The concert began and it was great. Although I didn't know many of the songs, I really enjoyed seeing the bands play LIVE. We had a great time.

All too soon it was time to head home. Not too long after we got on the interstate, Jim and his date were asleep in the backseat. Ted and I just talked for the next hour and 10 minutes until we dropped off Jim's date, then Jim.

I really had a good time...the concert was fun, and Ted was a very nice, polite, and kind person. I was sooooooooooo hoping that he would ask me out again.

When we got to my house around 1 am, he walked me to the door and asked if he could see me again...WOW! I was thrilled! But of course I couldn't lay all my cards out on the table, so I simply said, "Sure, that would be great."

And for the most part, that ended our first date.

After I went inside and got into bed, I couldn't fall asleep. I was going through the entire evening in my mind, minute by minute, step by step.

Yep, it was a nice night, and hopefully there would be more nice evenings to come.

Little did I know...

Cindi and Ted, Chapter Two

So Ted was the guy with the concert tickets...hmmmm....I was trying to remember everything I could about him, which wasn't a whole lot. But I did recall his smile and his eyes. As I was thinking about this momentarily, Jim mentioned that the concert was on July 22.

Hey! That's my birthday!

"Sure Jim, I'll go...it sounds like fun!"

Now in the back of my mind, I was wondering if this would ever actually happen, since things like this absolutely NEVER go my way, but thought that I had nothing to lose.

A couple of weeks later I called Jim to see if it was still a "go" and he said that it was and that Ted would pick me up around 5:00 the evening of the concert.

I had mentioned this to my folks in passing when it first happened, then in typical teenager fashion (I was about to turn 19), I didn't mention it again, because if I had mentioned it, there was a chance that they would say that I couldn't go. And I wasn't going to put myself in that situation.

My dad was on the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and as any child of someone in law enforcement can attest to, there is a different set of rules for us. We're usually brought up in a little stricter environment, because our parents have actually seen what could happen to young people. While I definitely appreciate that NOW, back then I wasn't quite so crazy about it.

So on July 22 that year, I came home from my summer job, took a bath, got all ready to go on this date, then knew that I had to face the music. I went out into the kitchen where my mom was fixing dinner and of course she asked why I was so dressed up. I reminded her that I had a date. I will give her credit... although I could tell that she wasn't real happy, she didn't say a word. I told her who I was going out with and where I was going, then went to my bedroom to brush my hair. Again.

When Ted came to the door, my mom answered and let him in. He sat down in a chair, and within a minute or so my dad came home from work. I guess it can be a little intimidating to pick up your date for the first time and her dad comes in wearing his uniform and gun. I thought it was a good sign that that didn't scare him off. Right after that I came out of my bedroom. (We lived in a ranch house, and since I'd had my bedroom door open, I was able to sort of see what was going on in the living room. The Merv Griffin Show was on TV, and Wayne Newton was his guest. For readers of this blog, you already know how I feel about Wayne, but for those of you who don't know, I love him!

Ted and I said hello to each other, then we left, after hearing the "Be careful!" from both of my parents.

I knew that Ted had gotten four tickets for this concert, so Jim was in the car too and we were off to pick up his date.

The four of us talked on the way to the concert which was a little over an hour away. We had a good time on the trip there. After we arrived and parked, we went in and found our seats. We were seeing "Climax Blues Band" and "Bad Company" and I was looking forward to it.

This was the first concert I had ever been to, so it was also rather amusing.

To be continued...

Cindi and Ted, Chapter One

Last weekend I wrote about my dateless sons ( http://anotherdayinmylife-cindi.blogspot.com/2008/01/my-dateless-sons.html okay, so I haven't quite figured out how to make a hyperlink look like regular words...although I think I did it one time, but now can't figure it out again, sigh). I mentioned how they inherited their lack of confidence in dating from their father. Sooooooo...here is our story.

Although I had dated several different guys throughout high school, the first "semi-serious" guy entered my life in mid May of my senior year. We dated all summer, then through our first year of college. Unfortunately we went to different universities, and that took its toll on our relationship. We broke up as our freshman year ended. It was a difficult time for an 18 year old female, thinking that this might have been "the" one, however it was clear that our time together had run its course and it would be in both of our best interests to move on.

After several weeks of not dating anyone, I was finally ready to put myself "out there" again. I happened to be at our city park (which is absolutely phenomenal for families, kids, and teens) and ran into a guy I had known from high school. Although he was a few years younger than me, we'd been in band together, so I'd known him for a long time.

We talked for a while, updating each other on our lives, as we hadn't seen one another for over a year. I told him that I was "on the market" again and asked him in a joking fashion, who I could go out with.

He commented that a buddy of his had just gotten tickets for a concert and might need a date. I thought to myself....well, I've never been to a concert, so it might be fun. I asked who the guy was, and he told me it was Ted. I had to think for a minute, then said that I remembered him from school. I described him and Jim said that I was thinking of the right guy. I thought...this really could be fun.

I was in band in high school and during my sophomore year, we were invited to play in the Astro Blue Bonnet Bowl (it no longer exists), a football bowl game played in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. It took an immense amount of planning to get this one pulled off, but our directors undertook the challenge and made it happen! We were in Houston from December 26 until December 30 and it was obvious that the directors and band parents wanted us to not only work hard, but give us an experience we would never forget. And they did!

We stayed in a motel that was divided into buildings. Our band, the directors, and the parents who came along all took up an entire building, so we were more or less by ourselves. Until the game on December 29, we had just about every second accounted for. After the game and we got back to the motel, we finally had some free time. Oh yeah, and starting the morning of the game, a type of intestinal flu started going around the band.

THAT was just so much fun...I was the only one in my room who didn't get sick, thank goodness.

Since none of us had access to a car, we all just hung around the motel halls. There weren't all that many of us who were even able to get out of bed by that point, so it wasn't too crowded. I recall us "well" ones gathering in a certain hallway to talk. We were sitting on the floor, just having a good time.

And I recall Ted sitting in the doorway of a room, leaning back on the closed door. Yes, Ted was in band too. (He quit band after that year though.) I remember him being very quiet and shy. He hardly said a word, but would laugh quietly when something funny was said. I liked his laugh and his smile, and his eyes were really pretty.

Fast forward three and a half years....Ted was the guy with the concert tickets!

To be continued...

Ipod Success!

Ted has spent most of the afternoon in the den on the computer. Apparently Alex figured everything out on his ipod and has been teaching his dad how to do things.

Alex even wrote out a simple set of directions that he titled "Ipods For Dummies." Ted has been sitting there, with the directions in one hand, and a CD in the other hand, ready to pop in as soon as the current one is finished.

Maybe I shouldn't have gotten him an ipod for Christmas. I think between Alex and me, we've created a monster.

However, Ted is thoroughly enjoying his ipod, so I'm not going to complain one little bit!

Phones

I'm finding out that more and more men are like my husband and older son when it comes to phones.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Scene 1:

The phone rings.

Ted: Don't answer it. I hate phones.

Me: It's "so-and-so" and it'll be for you. (we have caller ID)

Ted: I'm not here.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Scene 2:

The phone rings.

Ted: See who it is.

Me: It's so-and-so.

Ted: Well hurry up and answer it. (the answering machine kicks in during the 4th ring)

* * * * * * * * * * *

The phone rings.

Ted: Why are people always calling us? I'm getting rid of that phone.

I usually just ignore this one.

* * * * * * * * * * *

When I call home from school and either Ted or Joey are here, I swear the phone is only answered about 10% of the time. They both detest phones and just won't answer them. In our basement we have 10 rooms. One room is Joey's workout room. There is no phone in there, as per his request. If he's down there in that room and the phone rings, he always has the excuse "I didn't hear it." He also refused to have a phone put in his bedroom. It took over a year for Ted to finally agree to put a phone in his "guitar room" down there. I told him that there might be an emergency sometime and it would be imperative that he answer the phone. He still rarely answers it if he's down there though.

We have a phone in the laundry room, but the caller ID doesn't work on it because the batteries need to be replaced. A couple of weeks ago, I was in there with Joey and the phone rang. He immediately asked who it was. I told him I didn't know, and proceeded to answer it. He was SHOCKED that I answered the phone without finding out who it was first! Come on now... that's a little ridiculous.

Today's youth has no idea what it's like to NOT have caller ID, or to have to use a "party line" God forbid. Oh my, that would really be hilarious! I barely remember party lines myself, but I could see plenty of problems with kids today if they had no cell phones and only a party line at home! And imagine if they had no push button and had to put their finger in a hole and move the dial!

Who checks the caller ID or the answering machine after we come home from somewhere? ME. I got the biggest kick last night. I was in the den working on the pictures that we have on the computer, trying to get them all organized into files and putting them in chronological order. It was well after 9:00 pm.

I hear Ted come in from out in the garage and mumble something about the answering machine. (He had been home all day, as he had taken a vacation day.) He presses the button on the machine and it's a message from work. He was to call the shop by noon today to tell them how many hours he actually worked this week. Suddenly I hear, "I didn't know anyone called. I never saw this blinking before. When did they call? Why didn't I hear it?"

I wanted so badly to say something along the line of "you have selective hearing" or "you never answer the phone anyway" or "you always depend on someone else to take care of the mundane things in life, like checking to see if there are any messages." But instead, I said nothing and just sat here grinning from ear to ear.

He has a cell phone for work and I've actually witnessed him tossing the phone when it rings, sort of like the "Hot Potato" game we played as kids.

Someday he'll miss a REALLY important call and that might make him change his tune.

But then again, maybe not.

Snow Day Musings

Last night, as we had just gotten into bed, this conversation took place:

Me: I need to make sure that I have my call list available, JUST IN CASE.

Ted: Why? Is it supposed to snow?

Me: You're kidding, right?

Ted: What do you mean, I'm kidding? Is it supposed to snow or not?

Me: Didn't we have the 6:00 news on earlier this evening? And did they NOT talk about the snow that's coming??

Ted: I don't know. I wasn't paying any attention.

Me: YES, DEAR, IT IS SUPPOSED TO SNOW TONIGHT.

Ted: Well, I have a little problem then.

Me (starting to wonder what the problem could possibly be): And what's that?

Ted: I haven't put the snow blade on the lawn mower yet.

Me: Then I guess you'll be pulling an all-nighter, won't you?

Ted: Real funny.

Me: How long will it take to do that?

Ted: Maybe around 3 hours or so. (Of course last year it took a couple weekends because that was the first time he'd done it. I sort of thought that it might only take a half hour or so, but I don't do anything with the mower, so I really wouldn't know.)

Me: Well if you get started right away you may be back in bed by 2 a.m.

Ted: Good night.

Now how in the world he had NO CLUE that snow was on its way is beyond me. Not only did he and I discuss it, but Joey and Alex and I discussed it too, and right in front of Ted.

So at 5:24 a.m. I was in the recliner, sleeping when the phone rang to deliver the news of NO SCHOOL today and Ted jumped up out of bed to look outside. That was all he needed. At that time there was just a little bit of snow, and you could still see the grass, but the little tiny flakes were coming down pretty fast. He was, of course, whimpering around about schools calling off when they really don't need to. You know, that sort of jealous chit chat that someone who is married to a teacher feels obligated to do whenever there's a snow day, hahaha!

I was trying to make the morning smooth, so I went ahead and got up and came out to the den to turn on the TV and check on other local school districts. Once I found out that Alex didn't have school either, I told him about that and was glad he could turn off his alarm. Around 6:50 a.m. I went back into the bedroom and settled into the recliner with my blankets heard Ted leave for work.

As all of these ambitious thoughts ran through my head, I quickly dozed off, and slept until after 10! In fact, Ted came home to change his pants because his had gotten all wet at the job he was at, and before he could even say a word, I said, "Yes, I'm still lying here in the chair, not dressed yet, and I just woke up." He quickly changed and left.

Shortly after that, Alex decided that he wanted a big breakfast and offered to make breakfast for me too. I turned on the TV, and by this time it was almost 11, and time for "The View," one of my favorite daytime shows. A little while later, Alex came in with a plate of scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, and toast! He brought in a napkin and a fork too! I already had a bottle of water, so I was set. What a kid!

After the wonderful breakfast that he fixed, we just sort of laid around and talked and I didn't get dressed until after 1:00. Then we went to the local meat market, and then to Wal*Mart. I really don't like Wal*Mart at all, so Alex went in for me, bless his heart. We just got home and basically, all is right with the world.

However...since I'm off today, I sort of feel obligated to cook tonight, sigh. I was thinking about making chili, but I don't have any green peppers and I'm not going back out, so we might end up having pork chops.

Yep, gotta love those snow days.

Harold's Ties

In the last post, I alluded to the fact that my dad has a LOT of ties. Tons of ties. TOO many ties. But he is well aware of what he has (and for the life of me, I have NO idea HOW he can keep track of them all!)

Back in 1999 we attended a family wedding in Pennsylvania. As soon as we got the invitation, I knew what was going to happen. Ted does not wear good clothes to work. He wears jeans and pocket t-shirts, along with sweatshirts and hoodies when it gets cold out. Ted is also a pretty big guy, so "normal" size clothing doesn't work for him. He wears extra tall t-shirts, and sometimes has a little trouble finding pants that fit quite right.

In preparing for the wedding, he knew he was going to have to get some new clothes. He went off to the local men's shop the week before our weekend trip to PA. He came home with a pair of nice pants, a dress shirt, a jacket, and a pair of shoes. Okay, so this wedding was going to cost us a little more than what I originally budgeted, but that's just the way it goes sometimes. Let's just say that he never says a word when I spend money on clothes for work, so I sure wasn't going to get all worked up about him spending over $300 (EIGHT YEARS AGO) on some clothes.

The boys were not going to the wedding, but would be staying with A.P. and U.T. and we would leave Saturday morning, attend the wedding, spend the night, have dinner on Sunday with the extended family, then come home late Sunday afternoon.

When Ted got home from the men's store and showed me everything he purchased, he commented that he didn't buy a tie because he figured he could just borrow one from my dad. No problem. I called my mom and we arranged for a time for Ted to take his pants, shirt, and jacket to their house and she would help him pick out a tie, all while my dad was at work.

*Sometimes it's just best not to let Dad know everything*

When Ted came home from this secret meeting, he had two ties with him. We ended up taking both ties along and would make the decision as to which tie to wear at the last minute.

When Saturday came, we drove over to the hotel we would be staying at and met my parents in the lobby, along with a few cousins, and an aunt. We all had reservations and just happened to arrive around the same time. Everyone else was changing clothes and getting ready to go to the wedding. It just so happened that I had a work project that I needed to spend a lot of time on and Ted was really tired, so we decided that we would be going to the reception only.

Several hours later we walked in to the reception hall and sat down with everyone. The place was starting to fill up and we were sitting there talking and having a great time.

My dad kept glancing over at Ted. Finally...he said something.

"Hey Ted, looks like you got yourself some new clothes."

"Yes, I did...this past week. I couldn't wear my pocket t-shirt or they would throw me out."

We all had a big chuckle over that one.

Then dad said, "Where'd you get that tie?"

Ted looked at me, I looked at my mom, she looked at Ted, and then we all looked at dad.

Then dad said, "That's my tie, isn't it?"

We all laughed.

You have to hand it to him....the man knows his ties.

The Patients

Yesterday was a rough day...first of all there was Marina getting spayed. Okay, I know you've heard enough about that already. Then there was me being slightly neurotic about her spaying. Again, I know...you've heard enough about THAT too.

But there was also another patient.

Peg (Ted's sister) had arthroscopic knee surgery done yesterday. Her left knee has been giving her a lot of trouble and she has been off work (as an x-ray tech at our local hospital) for over a month. She has tried a cortisone shot and even went to the chiropractor for several treatments since this all began a few months ago. Some things worked temporarily, but then the pain would return with a vengeance.

(This is Peg with Michael, our great nephew and her grandson, taken this past summer in Myrtle Beach.)

Peg would talk to Ted because he went through arthroscopic knee surgery in mid April. He filled her in on things about his situation in regards to visiting the orthopaedist, the MRI, the actual surgery, follow up physical therapy, getting around with a healing knee, etc. Ted had torn cartilage, otherwise known as a torn meniscus (meniscus has become his new favorite word...he says it at least 5 times a day). Ted had a few other knee issues as he went through the recovery process and has just this past week declared that he thinks his knee is doing pretty good now, and is as good as it's probably going to get.

When Ted had his surgery at the local ambulatory surgical center, they had me write "NO" on his good knee with a Sharpie marker. We sure didn't want any mistakes as to which knee to operate on!They let me see him right before his surgery and he was actually looking forward to it so that he would get some relief from the pain he'd been having.

And then after his surgery he was in a little bit of a "fog" in case you can't tell. I should have gotten his knee in this picture, but I wasn't thinking. Heck, I even forgot to bring my camera and took these shots with my phone! They didn't come out too badly either.

Anyway, Peg went through her surgery yesterday and it sounds as though there was a little more trouble in there than the doctor originally thought. But the GOOD news is that she's not in any pain! Last night, the only thing that hurt was her throat, and that was from the tube they had put down. I talked to her a little while ago and she said that her throat is fine now and she still doesn't have any pain from her knee. She has a prescription for a strong painkiller, but hasn't even needed to take it yet. Although Ted wasn't in dire pain after his surgery, he was achy and took the painkillers. But he was surprised that he wasn't in much more pain than he was. Peg is also surprised.

Peg is hopeful that this will take care of all her pain and that she will be able to get back to work in 5 or 6 weeks. She really enjoys her job and the social perks it entails.

As for Marina...she's been walking around here, and jumping off the bed and chair. She's sleeping a little more than usual and trying to bite her stitches, but she's well on the road to recovery!

It's such a relief to know that two of our loved ones made it through yesterday with flying colors!