Reminiscing...

Do you remember the first concert you ever went to of your favorite band? I was looking thru things of mine the other day...and I found some ticket stubs from Pearl Jam concerts I have gone to in the past. I remember my first time seeing them. We were in Pittsburgh at Post Gazette Gazebo on the lawn, I'm not even sure of the year? Maybe 1999? I'm sure Sam would remember the exact date since he is good with those things. We were waiting for Iggy Pop to come on the stage and play. A single man comes on the stage and says " I am Iggy Pop" and starts singing this:

I will come to you in the daytime
I will raise you from your sleep
I will kiss you in four places
As I go runnin' down your street

I will squeeze the life right out of you
I will make you laugh, I'll make you cry
And we may never forget it
As I make you call my name as I shout it to the blue, summer sky

And we may never meet again
So shed your skin lets get started
And you will throw your arms around me

I will come to you at nighttime
I will climb into your bed
I will kiss you in 155 places
As I go runnin' round in your head

I will squeeze the life right out of you
I will make you laugh, I'll make you cry
And we may never forget it
As I make you call my name as I shout it to the blue, summer sky

And we may never meet again
So shed your skin lets get started
And you will throw your arms around me...
("Throw Your Arms Around Me", Hunters and Collectors)

As he starts singing I realize that it is Eddie Vedder, the lead singer from Pearl Jam. All the years of waiting to finally see him live and in person wash over me and I remember the feelings. The song, the moment, it all fit together perfectly. All of the other Pearl Jam concerts that we went to, he never did that. He never came on stage and played an acoustic song to start the night like that night. It was one of a kind. I thought I was going to cry, I thought I was going to faint like one of those silly girls you see in the old Beatles videos. The crowd went wild as everyone realized it was Eddie all at the same time and that made the emotions even headier. But I will never forget how special that moment was. All the other concerts I have ever been to, none of them were as memorable as that one, and that moment.

Man Down!

We took a hard hit from Hurricane Ike last night. Of course being on top of a hill we always get the most extreme elements of each season. We have had some pretty wild storms on that hill. The straight line winds that come over the hill have torn down trees and knocked down our tall garden sunflowers and blown away trash cans galore. In the spring we don't get leaves on our trees for another 2 weeks after everyone else because of the elements. Its just something that we are used to laugh at anymore.

Last nights storm was in the top 3 of the worst we have had since we moved there almost 10 years ago. We had Megan over for supper and planned on watching a movie or just chilling for the night. The winds were wild the entire day & they picked up around 8pm. We sat on the porch for awhile watching everything unfold; it's always a great show out there. Winds picked up and the electricity went out. We went inside for a moment and we noticed that cars were stopped on the road in front of our house. A large locust tree fell onto the road and was blocking it for traffic. People were trying to move the branches onto the side and into our yard so Sam went out with the chainsaw to try and cut it smaller. When we got out towards the road we noticed that the electric pole was bent at an angle towards the ground and leaning into our yard. Yikes! I called 911 to let them know the situation and of course it was busy. I finally got ahold of them and they said they would put it on file, to call if it caught on fire or sparked. Whoa whoa wee whoa!

Megan drove her car to the end of the driveway to shine lights on the tree in the road. It was so huge there was no way of it getting cut. While I was out there I got smacked in the ear with a flying branch and it hurt for the rest of the night. A huge branch rolled right into Megans car and scraped along the side of it while she was parked there. We watched it rolling towards us and Megan said that it came at her so fast she forgot to roll up her window as it rolled past the drivers side. Today we looked and her car is all scraped up from it. Electricity is still out now over 24 hours later and not supposed to get turned on possibly for a couple days.

I had to work today, but Sam took the day off to clean up everything. I went home and our great friends Megan and Jonathan were there. I worked the morning with Brad and he came over as soon as we got off work. We picked up and burned 5 truckloads of branches and leaves in the firepit in the afternoon, the yard probably looks better than it did before! We emptied the refrigerator and freezers and brought everything over to Jonathans house to store there. Tonight we are staying with the Wilsons since we possibly won't get electricity for another couple days, at least not till that electric pole gets fixed. But at least I got a shower tonight and I am comfy in a house with great friends who are hospitable and love to help us out.

What? Its all over?

Playing cards on July 4th

Relaxin at Lakeside



Sammys birthday presents
Well, the summer is officially over for me. I'm not even sure what to write about because I didn't let anyone in on what was going on in my blogsphere at all. I've never been good at writing in journals because I just get on these crazy tangents and the information I wanted to write never gets on the paper. In saying all of that because I just went on a tangent; I had a really great summer! I got to relax, enjoy time with friends and family, go on some sweet weekend trips, drink myself a little too much, sleep in, get sunburnt, get mad, get tattooed, get a dreadlock, eat tasty smorgasbords, throw crap away, play some tennis, make a pinata, read a book, and all things good. I will write on some of the more memorable events of the summer in the future but for now, of course, I have to get to class.

Visiting

I have been a world traveler these past couple months. Really just a Eastern part of the United States traveler is all. I went to Bradenton Beach in Florida with my Dad at the end of March and then at the end of April I went to Chicago for a NRA food show with Don, the owner of the Encore Cafe and Main Street Theater. Both trips were semi-work trips. I went to Florida to help Dad clear out and clean the house that was passed to him in the death of his brother. I went to Chicago to peruse a HUGE food show there to get some great ideas and make some contacts with restaurant sources. I did get time by myself which was absolutely amazing. I love to have time to myself and in both trips I had lots of it because I didn't have my husband or any friends travel along with me. I would rather have had Sam or close friends with me because each of the trips would have been so much more fun, but at the same time I enjoyed myself immensely in the fact that I was alone. I love friends and sharing all my time with others. Don't get me wrong. But I think that I am a loner more than I admit. I am too independent and I am stubborn as all get out. When I want something I want it then and there and that is a downfall of mine. I have a hard time waiting for things so it is just sometimes easier to do it on my own and in the timely manner that I want it done in. So it was nice to be by myself each time for awhile.

In Chicago I stayed in my own room at the Chicago Hilton on Michigan St. right across from the lake and Grant Park. This hotel reminded me of the movie "The Shining". I love that movie and I was just a little creeped out by all of the gaudiness and pomp at the hotel although it was absolutely amazing to see how much work and effort was put into that hotel. I was very much impressed by it all. I went to an awesome suburb of Chicago called Wicker Park where I visited a sweet record store, a musty bookstore and a independent coffeeshop called the Earwax Cafe. I want to take everyone back to visit them all with me again! In Florida I spent as much time on the beach as I could. I got my usual big ole sunburn which turned to a nice shade of pink on my skin and is now faded to barely noticeable. Overall they were both excellent trips and I hope to go back to both places soon and with family and friends so I can share more memories with them there.

Wheres the time gone?

Whoa whoa we whoa! I thought that I would have a little more time to get in some more blogging and catching up on my blog reading once school was out. Turns out I don't have much extra of that glorious commodity to go around. I'm still pretty busy at the Cafe. I work 6 days a week there. Sundays are amazing I must say!!!! Last Sunday Sam and I spent the first part of the day outside. Sam played in the garden and did a bunch of other stuff around the house that needed done. Trimmed the golden threads by the door, rounded up all the weeds around the firepit and other areas of the yard and a bunch of other stuff I probably missed. I spent some time inside cleaning and putting away stuff that I just sat down whenever I got in the house the past several days. Later in the day we watched TV and both took a nice sunday nap in the living room. Sam in his lazyboy chair and me in my comfy, sink-in 1960's orange fainting couch that my best friends parents gave to me after I begged them to give it to me for years and years prior. This couch is the best thing in the world. I'm telling you if you ever get to sit or rest in it you will sink in and never want to come back out. It's that good. So off of that tangent; we got up went to hike in the Coke Ovens in Leetonia for awhile, got some Dairy Queen and sat outside by the little creek that runs behind it to eat and then went to the Oakvale Cemetary to walk around and check out some of the gravestones and mausoleums. Sam actually broke into one of the mausoleums. It didn't seem like it was really locked but once the doors were opened we could tell that it was supposed to hold back people from getting in. The entire inside was a rose colored marble and there were some keys laying on a bench that looked like they were to be used to get into the vaults. I don't know. We didn't try them. So after that adventure we went home and I made the usual Sunday homemade pizza. Which hasn't been "usual" for the last 2 months probably. Kyle and Brad came over and we watched a movie together and ate the tasty pizza. I must say the crust was really good this time. Thin and a little crunchy. Yum. I made a pepperoni, a spinach alfredo and a pepperoni and onion pizza. With the 4 of us we had less than 1 pizza left so it must have tasted ok. After the movie we watched the Best of Chris Farley DVD from SNL and laughed our heads off. I really miss that guy. He was probably my favorite from SNL. So good. Well, I am writing this at work so I must be getting back. I'm suprised that no one has come in to say that I had a visitor of phone call to get to. Later all!

Oh Man! Here it Comes!

I'm not sure why I put the crazy pictures on my blogs sometimes that don't really make sense with the topic at hand. I enjoy a nice random picture to spice it up a bit and make you wonder what's in my wacko head. But this one seemed to make sense to me with all of the chaos coming up. So this next week is gonna be killer! 2 cumulative finals in the hardest classes I have taken as of yet in my entire college career, the grand opening of the Main Street Theater on May 8th and with that planning a menu for the big day, menu planning for Mothers Day, scheduling my employees around the Cafe and Theater, studying my brains out in the "spare" time I will have with all of that and then all of the little details that go along with getting a 440 seat theater prepared for a huge influx of people that have been curious for over a year to see the place in all it's glory! Yikes! I was talking to my friend and we are both sick of school so we discussed it and I think that we are going to just move to Mexico and start a freak show with some of the crazy people that come into the cafe every once in awhile. We got T-Rex, the Determinator, Creepy 40-100 year old woman, the Caramel Macchiatti man, Grand Wizard I and II, Pink Slipper Woman, and Red Dog. Wouldn't you like to come see it? So if you aren't doing anything this Thursday, May 8th we are having an open house for the grand opening of the Main Street Theater from 6-9pm. Refreshments, a movie(Breakfast at Tiffany's), presentation with a slide show and lots of other suprises to pique your interest. Come on out! I'd love to see ya!

Florida.

So, um, yeah, I am in Florida right now. No joke. At this very moment I am sitting in the downstairs apartment of my Fathers newly aquired house. We have the windows all open and the fans going. Dad is sitting near me reading the local newpapers with his feet up just like any good old dad does in the evenings. I am sitting here in the other lazyboy chair with my feet up too. I am feeling pretty cold right now, mostly from the sunburn that I got while on the beach today for 2 hours. I swear I put on suntan lotion; that stuff just doesn't work for me and now I am freezing from all of the heat radiating from me. No wonder Florida is so hot. All the heat that people generate from sunburns here, its gotta be redunkulous. I kinda really like the feeling that a good hard sunburn gives you. A little headache, some tight skin on your face when you smile, all that good stuff. We are down here to clean up the house and to get together documents and stuff that my Dad needs to go through to clear up all the legal mumbo jumbo since his brother died. We flew down on Saturday morning and we are flying back on Tuesday. I am really enjoying the feeling of being down here. I enjoy alone time and this is also giving me some time to study and get schoolwork done without all the interruptions that life gives me in Ohio. So if you don't see me for a few days, well um yeah, thats cause I'm in FLORIDA!

Well that happened.

Thanks to everyone who has had me in their thoughts and prayers these past few weeks. I am really doing well. This past week I was on spring break and also able to go to Hocking Hills with some of my closest and bestest friends for a few days. We all had a great time, I enjoyed the relaxation of it all and that really was what I needed the most. I didn't go into it with any expectations other than to get alot of naps. Well I did that, mos def, I think I had 7 naps in the sunday evening thru wednesday morning that we were there. Good times I tell you! The best parts of the trip were all the good eatings. Oh man, we always eat so good, I think that I probably gained 5 lbs while there, blue stilton hamburgers, homemade pizza with dough kneaded by my two hands, & amazing omelets for breakfast. YUM! I got to slide down a set of totally iced up stairs in Old Mans Cave and scrape up my hands trying to slow myself down. I took off my shirt and layed out on the warm rocks at the rim of Upper Falls, a little awkward for everyone, but I think we all know they liked it;) It was all memorable and, as always, amazing to go yet another year and enjoy the beauty and slow pace of it all.

Don't read this, it's just my rantings...

So I have a few minutes to sit and blog after about a month of nonstop action. Actually I really need to just sit and write, I really don't have the time right now but this nagging feeling that I haven't put anything down in writing won't pass until I write something down. In my head if I can check off of the list just one more thing it brings down the stress meter. Know what I mean? So anyways, things are difficult in my life right now. I'm not trying to get any sympathy or "OH, I feel so bad for Laura" quotes, I have a great husband and awesome friends & family who have been so supportive of me thru everything going on that I couldn't ask for more. But there is only so much others can do for you, you have to figure the rest out on your own. Thru all that I am still pretty messed up. I told Sam that I am beyond the point of crying, and I never actually got to that part, I just kinda skipped it. Life is hard right now. I've wondered where the boiling point is and I think that I might just hit it soon if I don't change something. I'm not sleeping enough or eating enough. I'm not hungry, I actually feel sick to my stomach most of the time. I failed an exam in Pharmacology last week, I was sick and I missed a huge day of classes and I need to make them up. I don't care about getting motivated to even study when I should be 100% of the time when I am not at work. I do study but it doesn't sink in. I talked to my nursing professor and she said that she is scared for me, she can tell that I am not "focusing" as she put it. She could tell that my mind is racing in 100 different directions at the same time and I can't pin down any thoughts for long to really grasp them. I take pride in my multi-tasking abilities and I hate my deficient delegating skills cause they really suck. I am working on things getting easier at work, but I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel at school. I love the challenge still of keeping up this crazy schedule. I have had only 1 day off in more than a month. Spring break is next week and I need it, we are going to Hocking Hills. My Uncle Tom decided to kill himself on March 6th, which was his birthday, he thought that he took care of everything, but all he left was a big mess for my Dad to have to clean up and all I can think of is how I want to be there for Dad right now and help him thru this. Sorry, brain overload is a real killer. No one should ever try it.

Wow!

Just wanted to let all my loyal fans know that I am still out there, alive and kicking! The Encore Cafe has been going really great. We have a steady traffic coming in every day. I see new faces and already some regulars who come in and it has been a joy to come to work everyday. I truly do enjoy myself, even though my feet and brain hurts at the end of the days I've been pulling. I had 65 hours in the first week and we were only open Thursday thru Saturday. I am still managing to get between 4-5 hours of sleep each night to at least keep me moving. "People think I'm crazy, but I'm not the only one..." (-John Lennon) Thanks to those who have been keeping me in their prayers and who have suprised me by their visits to the Cafe to refresh me and remind me why I am doing all this! Talk to you later!

Sofa-King Tired!

Well I don't know if that title is very kosher but I put it there anyways, if you don't get it then don't think too much about it. OK? The ones that know the inside scoop on it may still think that I went a little over-board. But HEY, that's what you get when you are so tired and your thoughts aren't running too straight. Gosh, I had to respell "straight" like 8 times there. Yikes! Anywho...I really hate this time of year when it is just Sofa-King Cold and Sofa-King Dark all the time that you don't get motivated to do anything. I could really go for a day in Florida on the beach right now to soak up some sun and warm my bones just for a little while. Maybe a little nap and wake up looking like a burnt lobster. I'd take that over the blah that we have here in Ohio. I could go for some sun and heat right now and I am sure that I would have not nearly as big of a difficulty with everything as I do now. The 8am to 10pm day that I had at the cafe didn't help anything either. But that was so exciting to actually start training with real employees who are all nervous & excited at the same time.

Stuff

Well I have to start writing a journal for one of my nursing classes this semester to help us get thru our thought cycles and to let stuff out that we wouldn't normally think about. I always have enjoyed journaling even if it takes up so much time. But it is true that you think about & retrospect over what has happened to you in days past. I think that is why I enjoy writing here too. I think of stuff that I wouldn't normally think about until my fingers start typing away at the keyboard. I never have a "draft" of words to bring with me, instead I just start writing as I go and it doesn't always come out clean and tidy but that's how my normal brain works anyways. I like to go back & read about how I was doing at a particular time or how I dealt with something in the past. It's all good. I think that I wrote more about the cafe than I did about this upcoming semester at college in my first journal entry. One thing pretty awesome, that I am so glad about, is that I switched my calendar year of the nursing program this past Friday & that means that I only have to finish 123 credit hours in the nursing program instead of the 129 that I thought that I would have to take. That's 2 less classes that I have to go thru & the best part is that I dropped my dreaded Physiological Chemistry class this semester & picked up another easier online class because P. Chem. is no longer required to take at all in the new calendar year that I switched to. HoOrAy! A-woo-hoo!

Morning Rituals

I am sitting in the upstairs room of my parents-in-laws house listening to Sam working on putting new wheels on his fathers wheelchair, Sams mom is making some loud comments so that everyone can hear her voice just so it's heard. Sam is clanking away at taking the wheels off to put on the new ones. His Dad is doing his morning rituals while singing a gentle hymn and I am thinking of the usual, everyday things that families do to make their life normal. I remember when I was little that I would bumble out of bed in my usual pj's of a t-shirt and underoo's and go and sit under a blanket on the couch and watch some tv to get my day going. Maybe a little cereal or pancakes to really start the creative juices flowing as my brother and I postponed our homeschooling day as much as we could. We would get on the old Apple IIE and maybe play a little Oregon Trail or get out the Nintendo and finish up some Super Mario Bros II or go outside and spend the day in the woods pretending about something really great. The part that I don't even think I ever thought about back then, the part that I took for granted, is the air of taking it easy. Yes, we had stuff to do, but it never seemed to be overwhelming. We could take it easy and feel no pressure in life for all of the stuff that needed done. I love remembering that at one time in my life I felt like that. I so enjoy those rare times that show up when I feel that way all over again. I think that is why when those times do show up I enjoy them so much more, because I realize that I don't always have that time in the morning to sit at the couch in my pj's and watch some tv. I don't get the pancakes in the morning anymore like mom used to make them. I don't go outside or play some video games to jump start the morning anymore. That's ok with me, I would just really like to have a morning ritual that gave me at least a few moments of ease that I could get ready and enjoy the day that I have set before me.

Back to it

Well things are back to normal around here. All our great friends that were home are all back to their usual routines in their parts of the world. I am interviewing and hiring employees for the cafe next week and I start back up at Kent on Monday. So I have to get back into the groove of working full time and going to school full time and get a good blend of the two without driving myself, my husband, or my friends crazy. That's all for now...