Death in the family

Aunt Grace lost her battle with cancer this morning. Its sad but not unexpected. She was 88 years old and had lung cancer (No, she never smoked. Go figure.) She had surgery back in the fall and was in a rehabilitation center (nursing home) for several months. Luckily she got to go home right before Christmas. She really just wanted to go home. I'm so glad that she got to do that before she died. Anyway, we will be at the funeral on Sunday. Some of the rest of the family will be coming in for this, too. I have mixed feelings about this whole thing. On the one hand, loss is always hard. On the other hand, she was ready for this to be over with, and she told us that flat out the last time we saw her. Good-bye Aunt Grace. You were a spunky little thing, and you always made me laugh whenever we got a chance to visit with you.

Dear Mr, President

Dear Mr. President,

I like you. I have supported you, and voted for you. I respect your intelligence, and your calm straightforward way of speaking. I absolutely adore your lovely family. But seriously? You have GOT to find a better time to hold a news conference than 8pm on a Monday evening. Preempting House, MD is absolutely unacceptable. I know that you are busy what with the failing economy, and the bulk of Washington apparently "forgetting" to pay their taxes and all. But there has got to be a better time to address these issues. Please see if you can figure out a better way. Because honestly? If Hugh Laurie decided to run for President in the next election, even though he's British, and I know that is most probably impossible, my vote will HAVE to go to Hugh if only because he has those gorgeous blue eyes. But whether or not he decides to run for office, the main message that I need for you to hear is this: Do NOT come between me and my House fix on Monday nights. "Yes, You can!" I believe in you.

And because I respect the fact that you have a whole lot going on right now, I will postpone my discussion of allowing pets to be claimed as dependents until some time later in the week. Call me!
Thanks for your time,
Rebecca

Sunday

The antibiotics seem to be working. I'm feeling a whole lot better. Not quite 100% yet, but at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel I think. We went out to eat last night with Hannia and Stephen. That whole infected salivary gland thing made it impossible to eat for days, so I was hungry and ready for some real food. We went out to Olive Garden, which is the worst place to go on a Saturday, but still....it was what I wanted so we braved the crowds and the wait and went for it. We all skipped lunch, so we were starving by 5pm. For some reason, we assumed that was early enough to beat the dinner rush, but we were WRONG. It was already packed, with a 45 minute wait. At least we got a spot at the bar to while away the minutes, so honestly it wasn't all that bad. I had a strawberry-mango margarita that was especially delicious. And for dinner, I had one of their limited-time specials. They have these every month, and a lot of times these dishes are the best thing EVER.....and then they disappear, which is really disappointing. Last night was "4 Cheese stuffed mezzaluna with Shrimp". And yeah, it was extremely yummy. I would love to have it again, but I doubt it will be on the menu by the time we go back again. Sad.

Afterwards, even though we were stuffed to the gills, we decided to go for something decadent, so we went to Krispie Kreme. I know, I know....its the worst thing ever for you. Sugar-coated fried transfats with a little crack cocaine on the side to keep you addicted....hahaha. We try to not go there often. But every once in a while we behave badly. Last night we pigged out. So sue me. It was good. And now I am going to have to get my rear-end back to the gym this week to work off all of this weekend of gluttony. But whatever. It was fun while it lasted.

One little fact about the only Krispie Kreme in town: Its on the corner of 10th and Charles.
And I have to drive by it every single morning on my way to work. People cut across lanes of traffic, darting in there for their morning sugar/carb fix, and let me tell you....its dangerous. I feel like I am going to get killed waiting there at the light, because people are NOT particularly patient to cut across there to get into the parking lot. Its a madhouse there in the mornings.