Guilty

  Since there was an early morning hockey game, I find myself already caffeinated before 7 am....on a Saturday. There is something wrong with this picture. But it's too late now so I'm going to make the best of my situation. Lemonade from the lemons so to speak.

  I've never been a morning person. Ever. Yet every morning I'm up and mobile before six. One of the many blessings of children. With the chaos that seems to be necessary to get them out the door, the idea of heading back to bed rarely crosses my mind. Well it crosses my mind but I rarely listen.

  This morning though I feel cheated. As if I was entitled to sleep in. It's the weekend after all. Didn't I deserve those yearned for two, maybe three, extra hours of sleep? Then guilt overcomes me. John, who is up daily at 5, has taken Riley to the game. He is the one driving the hour and a half in the early morning darkness. In the van where heat is a maybe most of the time. 

  Guilt be damned....I'm going back to bed.

  Ang
  

A Letter To All Women

  Dear Women,

    I'm not one to give unsolicited advice but on this one issue I'm going to break with tradition and give you some. And I want you to listen very carefully. It's important for every woman to do what I ask.

  #MeToo is a major change for all women in the workplace. Every single one of us. It's a movement to make us safer and more respected. I cannot stress enough the impact it can have on our choices and opportunities. This is our bra burning. 

  Here's what I ask of all women.....Do not lie. Do not stretch the truth. Do not embellish. Tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Even if people do not believe you or question your motives. Tell only the truth. 

  The first time someone can prove that a woman lied about facts or added a few "details" it's over. The entire movement is finished. Every man will remind us of that situation and use it to plant doubt in people's minds. And it will work.

  We all want a reason to believe our friends, family or coworkers. Even celebrities. We want to believe that the accusers are wrong. Or confused. Surely we would have seen who this person really was. So if we are given an out....a lot of folks will take it. And one lie will give the harassers just the ammunition.

  This is a turning point. An opportunity women have never seen before. Our voices are heard. Our truths believed. Our courage celebrated. 

  Please don't ruin it for all of us.

  Ang

Morning Rush Hour

  The morning insanity is over. And it's only 8:16! The craziness that happens in my home every weekday morning is unbelievable. Yet each and every day we go through a modified version of it. Where is the serenity of early mornings breakfasts and fresh coffee that you see on television and movies? I'll tell you where...it doesn't exist.

  Take this morning for example. Everyone was awake early. Lots of time to make lunches, get bags ready and make the school bus. Until...Alex decided to watch a video in his room which meant instead of having lots of time to eat he had all of five minutes. In that small window of opportunity he also had to brush his teeth, get his backpack ready, find his shoes and get to the bus stop. That didn't end well.

  Without giving you too many details, respecting a teenagers privacy and all that, I ended up driving Alex to school in my Minnie Mouse pajamas and almost running out of gas. With no wallet that would not have been fun. When I do finally pull into my driveway the other child comes running outside. You would think the house was on fire but no it was something much more important...he couldn't find his Harry Potter wand!

  For the  fifteen minutes I was gone, he ate breakfast then listened to Michael Jackson songs on Google Home. My arrival forces him to get ready and one look at the clock tells him he is already late. Now the wand becomes important for the play he is doing in class. It wasn't important last night or while I was gone but now...it's the Holy Grail. 

  Another round of running and searching. Homework, gloves and lunch bag. More searching, quick packing and a sandwich made in world record time. A granola bar tucked in the bag and another child is off with the just located wand hanging out the back.  Almost running down the icy street as the bus is rounding the corner, he makes it with seconds to spare. 

  Back inside my suddenly quiet house, I watch the bus go past. Shaking my head at the mornings absurdity, I reach for my hour old coffee. It's cold, naturally, and as I press start on the microwave I remember it's broken. Cold coffee is not going to cut it. I sure hope that wasn't the last of the coffee!

  While I wait for my new fresh, and hot, coffee I realize this morning was almost a copy cat of yesterday. And several last week. Not to mention last month or last year. Maybe this chaos is going to be my Monday thru Friday for the next, gulp, seven years. If that's the case I better embrace the insanity.

  Or send back the kids!

  Ang

  

Disappointed

  Disappointment is a tough pill to swallow. Especially when you feel like you've lost something important. Yesterday we learned we have to live with it and how confusing that can really be.

  Last year our friend was killed in a hit and run. The man driving the car left him for dead on the side of the road. Tuesday he pled guilty to leaving the scene, driving on a suspended license and obstruction of justice. No where does it include anything relating to our friends death. Nothing. 

  After the accident, this man drove to a friends house with a broken windshield. He hid the car and then a week or so later took it to an out of the way area and burnt it. Destroying any chance of the police gathering evidence. 

 The same night of the accident, he told his girlfriend not to tell anyone after she saw on the internet that in fact the man had died. And she didn't. Others also helped hide the fact that he killed someone. His friends and family allowed him to remain free. 

  He will get some jail time. It won't be enough. Not for us or his family I assume. How can it ever be? No amount of jail time will bring our friend back. People say maybe it will bring closure. I hope and pray it will for the family.

  I get that perhaps you might panic after an accident. But quickly you would calm down and go to the police. If you had nothing to hide. Obviously this wasn't the case. But when you burn the car and get people to help you cover it up, it sure is hard to believe it was an accident.

  No one is responsible for our friends death. Not according to the law. We must live with that. Live with the disappointment that the person who hit him will not have to pay the legal price for it. That one day he will be walking around free to pursue his dreams and enjoy his grandchildren.

  Two things, of many, our friend will not be able to do.

  Ang

  

Resolutions

  Today is international Break Your New Year's Resolutions day! Wow I guess someone knew just how quickly people tire of eating healthy, exercising and not smoking. Everyone I know, who have shared their resolutions, haven't even really begun yet. 

  The idea of starting off a new year right is very appealing. A clean slate so to speak. But according to experts it's the worst day to begin and almost certain failure follows. So why do we do it? Why would we set ourselves up to fail? Because we want to succeed.

 We feel if we start on the first day, of the new month, of a new year, we will achieve our goals. Simple. The newness will encourage us. And lots of other people will be starting their own challenges. We can all help each other. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case.

  Look we all should aim for something. Whether it's life changing or just minor tweaking. But we shouldn't kick ourselves when we stumble, fall or quit. We need to get up, dust ourselves off and try again. 

  Oh well maybe next year.

  Ang

Cruising Like A Norwegian

  So a few of you know we went on vacation after Christmas to celebrate my birthday, New Years and Riley's birthday. We had planned this for a while and were really looking forward to it. As a family, cruising works for us as we all get the vacation we want under the same roof. But this one ended a little differently than most.

  We were on the Norwegian Breakaway, a ship of 5000 passengers and crew, give or take a few. It sails out of New York City and we have been on it twice before. We enjoy the ship, the food and the entertainment. No complaints what-so-ever. This time though weather played a huge factor...one of the many challenges of winter travel.

  A "cyclone bomb" storm was brewing in the Atlantic Ocean. Quite far south and moving north.  It made for some choppy seas in the Bahamas, on the forth day. Someone, either the captain or the brains at Norwegian Cruiseline in Miami, decided to continue on course home. Through the worst of the storm. Right or wrong the decision was made.

  To say that the next 36 hours were rough would be an understatement. We experienced very high seas, wind and rain. At one point John said it was snow but that was when we were much farther north. But these ships are designed to weather storms much worse than what we encountered. That is fact not an opinion. Myself or John never felt we were in any sort of real danger of capsizing or sinking.

  Our room flooded as did many others. Water could be seen flowing down stairs and through ceilings. Elevators were shut down and the entire outside of the ship was sealed off...for passengers and crews safety. Some of the shows were cancelled. And we were repeatedly reminded to use the handrails at all times. 

  People congregated in the main atrium because it was the calmest spot on the ship. In fact it didn't seem as if anything was happening outside most of the time when there. The occasional shudder or wave. Nothing too drastic. In fact some folks slept there. Our cabin was in the front of the ship, where the most impact was felt, and even I considered sleeping there but two chairs pushed together was not as appealing as you might think.

  By Thursday evening things were much calmer. The storm had moved on and we were just experiencing the tail-end of it. However we were hours off schedule and the early morning arrival in NYC the next morning was pushed back to four in the afternoon. That was going to add an extra expense for us as we drove the seven hours and were not going to start home at such a late hour in the winter. 

  Friday afternoon we arrived in NYC. Bruised. Battered. But in one piece. By supper time we were off the ship and settled in a surprisingly cheap hotel a few blocks from Times Square. We were safe and with a whopper of a vacation story to tell!

  I've waited a few days to write about this for several reasons. One, I have been in touch with the customer relations center for Norwegian and am submitting our experiences to them. I wanted to have a few days to process the events in my mind and to give a true and accurate account to them and to you. And I needed to focus on Riley who didn't handle this as well as the rest of us. He is ten after all. Oops eleven now as his birthday was during the adventure.

  Part of travelling is putting yourself in someone else's hands. We had no say in whether we went on or not. Just like you have no say when a pilot lands at a different airport due to weather or mechanical issues. We have to trust in them making the right decisions that will keep their guests safe. No matter what you think about the decision, we all came out the other side safe and sound. 

  Unlike some people, this will not make us think twice about cruising. Nor will it stop us from travelling in the winter or with Norwegian for that matter. We know and accept the risks both of winter travel and of giving control over to someone else. 

  Mistakes were made. The biggest, in my opinion, was not giving clear information to the passengers. Many were panicking because they did not understand what was going on. They had no idea what was normal and what wasn't. This lack of information caused panic and anxiety at very high levels for many. And yes I believe some passengers, my family included, deserve compensation. 

  I'm sure Norwegian Cruiseline and others will re-evaluate their decision making process about storms. Maybe next time the Captain and crew will keep the passengers informed of what is "normal" in bad weather conditions. Fingers crossed there won't be "another" time.

  This is probably the longest blog in my history!! And I edited lots out! Long winded might be the trend of 2018!

  Ang

A Stable Genius

  I am a stable genius! That's right I felt the need to tell you all just in case you may have heard, or thought, otherwise. Now that I've said it....you know it's true. Don't question it. What other proof could you possibly need? It doesn't matter that Stephen Hawking, Claire Tomlinson, Bobby Fischer or Margaret Atwood, who are all considered to be geniuses in their fields, never feel the need to tell you. I want to make sure you are well aware that I am.

  You think it's strange that I'm telling you? Hmmm that doesn't make sense. Ask my friends and co-workers. They will tell you too. In fact they will go out of their way to let the world know I am exactly what I say I am. Even when it makes them look awkward and not very bright. That is the true sign of a dedicated employee. Not one who is scared of losing their job or enduring my rage when they don't....obviously.

  Honestly it's difficult being, like, really smart. I'm always successful and that comes at a price. People want me to solve all the world's problems. It cuts into my golf game and forces me to consume a lot of fast food since I'm so busy. Even my tv watching time is affected. Not to mention I must catch up on social media in the middle of the night. You have no idea just how lucky you are not to be me.

  I need to leave you now. I have many, many important things to do. Work consumes at least three hours of my day. Every day at that. It's very hard being a genius. Especially a stable one!

  Ang   

A New Year

  Happy 2018!! It's been a while my friends but I'm happy to say I am back and ready to make this year the best one ever! Or at least do everything in my power to try. I hope you all do too. It's a goal we can all strive for.

  The year was supposed to end on a high note....Christmas celebrations, my birthday, New Years Eve...and it did. We celebrated with family and friends and the boys made my birthday a huge success. We danced in 2018 and Alex made friends and did the same with them. A grand time was had by all. Then it went downhill...fast. But that is a story for another day. Wait for it...it's a crazy one.

  We are now one week into it. The kids are all back to school and adults to work. Most holiday decorations are put away. Diets are started and gym memberships bought. Credit card bills are in and life is returning to normal. It's time to breathe and refocus.

  Let's make this year a success for ourselves and those around us. Let's try to find common ground with our enemies. Let's open lines of communications with our estranged loved ones and old friends. Let's become the people we were meant to be.

  That's not asking too much is it?

  Ang