Alabaster Mom

 My heart was so heavy on Friday night, after the news of the best man dying, that I didn't know what to do with myself. I decided to go to the gym. Did you know that you can have the place to yourself if you go on Friday night? 'Tis true. Well, there were three other people there. So that makes four of us with no social life, apparently. I've noticed two young women who come pretty regularly. I think they've made some sort of pact to get fit together. However, as far as I can tell, they just walk very slowly on the treadmill and run their mouths.  They'll probably quit soon because the gym "did nothing for us!" But, I shouldn't judge. I thought I was killing it on the elliptical one day until I happened to glance at the settings on the elliptical next to the one I was on. This woman's settings were basically double mine - higher incline, higher resistance, etc. She probably thought I was a colossal pussy. Anyway, normally I go to the gym on S...

As I was driving home from work yesterday, I got a call from my middle sister. As you know (because I blather on about it constantly), she is getting married in two weeks. She is currently in Puerto Rico on a short vacation with her best friend. I could tell right away that something was wrong. She'd gotten up in the middle of the night to catch a freakishly early flight, so I also knew that she was probably wrecked from a long day of travel. But I also knew from her voice that it was more than that. A bit earlier, she had initiated a FaceTime chat with her fiance, who was back home taking care of the kids. She could see something in his face but wasn't sure what. Maybe he was just irritated with her for some reason. She asked him what was going on. He didn't want to tell her the news he'd just heard, didn't want to ruin her trip. She pushed until he finally, reluctantly, agreed to unburden himself: his brother Brian was dead. He'd been found by his young daug...

I went back to the orthopedic place on Tuesday to see my podiatrist. The last time I was there was one year ago. At that time I received a cortisone injection in my left foot.  It lasted about six weeks before the pain came roaring back.  For the past year, I've just been managing the pain and doing my best to wear flat, boring shoes.  I know I need surgery but wanted to put it off for a while. So, what is wrong with my foot? I have something called Hallux Rigidus , which (and I think you'll agree) sounds super sexy. My big toe joint is all jacked up (the joint where it connects to my foot). There is a bone spur and some other stuff going on in there. All of this is apparently a result of me falling up the stairs years ago and stubbing my toe while I was at it. My toe no longer bends properly and it hurts all the freaking time. I was motivated to go back to my doctor because I need to wear heels at my sister's wedding and wanted another cortisone injection. I promised...

My daughter. My only child. The day she was born was truly the best day of my life. Before I became a mom, I never gave much thought to the need to give my life for another person. I suppose one hopes that such a test will never, you know, come up. However, once I saw my baby girl, I knew: she is the one for whom I would trade in my beating heart if doing so would ensure that hers would continue to thump-thump away. She makes me happy. She is smart, beautiful, funny, feisty, and full of life.  She is everything I'd hoped my child would be. However, she also possesses a couple of traits that were not specifically on my wish list: lying and cheating. Oh, and stealing. It's kind of a weird feeling, this realization that your baby has become a full-fledged person with character flaws and ulterior motives and whatnot. A couple months ago, she stole her dad's tip money off the bed and shoved it in a container in her room. He was headed to the bank that day so it didn't ta...

All the arguments to prove man's superiority cannot shatter this hard fact: in suffering the animals are our equals. Peter Singer A couple months ago, my husband and I joined a new gym. And yes, we actually show up there pretty regularly! We like the new gym. The demographic skews to folks much older than we are. I see one senior citizen who - no lie -  hobbles from one machine to the next using a cane. More power to him, right? Some days, P and I are the youngest, hottest people there. And that's saying something. My old gym had a wall of televisions, set to a variety of stations. All of the cardio equipment faced the wall o'TVs. You could just choose one, tune in, and listen via your headphones. The new gym features televisions as well, but they are mounted on various walls and at various angles throughout the cardio area. During my second week there, I hopped onto a treadmill without paying too much attention to the TV that was mounted directly in front of the tre...

Every so often, I think to myself, "Crap. I've finally run out of topics for my blog." And then, almost as if by magic, some cohesive topic will form in my head. And I write. But not this time, mister. Nope. Lately I am primarily occupied with my sister's wedding (I still need to lose about a gazillion pounds - it could happen, right?) and my child's seemingly rampant insolence. Twice this week she went to daycare with no breakfast. When you spend a solid hour rolling around in your bed because your father offended you by suggesting that you wouldn't see the Kindle for two weeks if you didn't get moving . . . well, let's just say that there's no time left over for Honey Nut Cheerios. Fortunately, they do provide breakfast at the before-school daycare center.  I suspect it's primarily intended for low income kids who don't get much grub at home, but what the hell. Instead of a cohesive topic, here are a couple of things that are on my mind...

For the past few weeks, I've been working on a photo montage for my sister's wedding. I'm using One True Media to build it. The video will play without music at the wedding reception, but I'm adding music to it anyway. I figure my sister and her husband might like to have it with the music if they watch it sometime in the future. This project has been a lot of fun for me. I really don't consider it a chore at all.  Sorting and editing all of the photos has been a walk down memory lane, as the saying goes.  Recently, my sister borrowed an old photo album from our dad. She and her fiance scanned a bunch of childhood/baby photos and sent them to me for the montage. Naturally, I'm in some of them. As both of my readers are undoubtedly aware, I have some chronic self-esteem issues. I can trace many of my issues to growing up with a fun little treat called Vitiligo.  I went through de-pigmentation treatment when I was 14. It took about two years.  Most people with...