Saturday, November 29, 2008

quick thoughts

Quick thoughts for this evening.

Kim's party: huge success. Huge. In spite of tacky and rude people. I let all that go and just celebrated my friend and the fact she was well enough to enjoy her party. Everyone had a great time.

Thanksgiving:  fun time in spite of the change in plans. We did not go to Portland as is our usual custom. Our friend's son is deployed and the daughter-in-law is far too pregnant to travel that far and also chase her 18-month-old daughter. So we met at the daughter-in-law's house and brought the party to her. We did all the cooking and cleanup, but there was much love and laughter. It was good.

UAQ: thanks to the ladies at Kim's party, I got a solution to the UAQ and am hoping to finish it soon. It will always be the UAQ in my eyes, but at least it will be the completed UAQ!

Like I said, it's quick tonight. I want some of our usual Saturday night "man, movie and wine" time.

...may there be mercy and joy in the quick moments of life.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

tacky and rude

So... I'm planning a birthday party for Kim. It's going to be Saturday. In spite of the fact she's been so sick, she wants a group of quilters to get together and spend the day quilting together. Fun idea, right?

The local quilt shop has recently expanded and added a nice classroom. In anticipation of this room being used - and in the thought of renting it out for fun events like this - until the end of the year, the owner is letting clients "rent" the room at no charge. Cool!  Room holds 10 people, has cutting stations set up, ironing stations set up and a tiny kitchen area. Perfect for an all day quilting party with lots of great munchies - a continental breakfast, snacks, lunch and a special birthday sweet treat for Kim. Brownies being her favorite, I've been planning on what types to make.

Unfortunately, sometimes people are thoughtless, rude and tacky.

Invitations went out with a request for an RSVP by Saturday the 15th... last Saturday, in fact. Heard from most folks by Sunday that they would come. Cool!

Except for that person who said, "can I invite this other person?  She feels like she is close to Kim and would like to come." Huh? Now when I have been invited to a party, I have always been appreciative of the invitation and given my answer without asking to invite others. Especially when there will be food that must be prepared for a group! My mama always taught me that it would be tacky to ask if I could bring someone if the invitation did not specifically say that I could. 

And there is that other little mean thought in my head that the person feels close to Kim... but Kim apparently doesn't feel quite as close or she would have been on that invitation list, eh? 

Oh, and then there is the other person who assumed that because the invitation was addressed to her partner, she is invited also... and she rather rudely braced me on the issue today on the phone. I didn't exclude her because of her status as the "husband" in the relationship. I excluded her because I was not given her name on the invitation list - because Kim doesn't like her and she does not quilt. 

Why would you want to force your way into a quilting party if you don't quilt? I understand she tends to take over any gathering and make it all about herself instead of the actual reason for the gathering. Ugh!

Then there are those who have been calling Kim to invite others to her party... when the invitations clearly state that I am the hostess and contact person. I mean, really, the party is FOR Kim, not being given BY Kim. Why the heck are you calling her?? Sheesh!

So I'm in a crappy mood now because my friend has been so ill and we have been so looking forward to her party... and there are a few people who are being thoughtless and rude and who may take over the party and make it about them instead of Kim. And I'm upset because Kim is disappointed already by her friends. 

It was supposed to be a joyous celebration of our friendship with Kim. Now I just want it over.

But I have to get all the extra food prepped first.

...may there be mercy and joy in spite of tacky.

Monday, November 17, 2008

still concerned, but progress

A quickie post before work. Talked to Kim. Friday they popped her butt back into the hospital and drained off an equal amount of fluid from her lungs as the first time. She still doesn't have any answers, but her doctor appointment is today.

If they do not have a treatment plan that will work and a specific cause, she is going to be heading down to the University of Washington Medical Center.

I'm so relieved they have that plan in place!

...may there be mercy and some answers soon.

Friday, November 14, 2008

very concerned

Kim has had a return of the fluid on both heart and lungs... and now has pneumonia on top of it all. I'm not happy about this and, quite frankly, am very concerned.

...may there be mercy and healing for my dear friend.

Saturday, November 01, 2008

quick rambles

Just a couple quick rambling thoughts for this Saturday morning.

Boeing:  we're heading out to do the contract vote in the next 10 minutes. At the end of today, we will know if it got approved. If it goes as we think and is approved, my sweet husband will go back to work on Monday.


My work:  after a high-stress day yesterday, it was sweet to come home with no one laid off and no pay cuts for staff. Hallelujah!!! Well, there was that pay cut that comes from our office benefit package that - for the first time ever - asked staff to pay 30% of the premium for spouse/dependent medical insurance. Company still pays 70% of that premium and 100% of the premium for the employee. Since my sweet husband has medical insurance available at his work, it does not affect our income at all. We elected to decline coverage at my office for him.

Friends:  have spent this week visiting friends in the hospital. Nancy had a tumor removed. They could not determine pre-surgery if it was on the kidney or intestine, so they removed a small portion of her kidney and a small portion of her intestine. Ended up being in the intestine and benign. Hallelujah! She took a while to stop having post-surgical complications, but went home yesterday and will be fine. Anytime they tell you that you do not have cancer, you will be fine!

Kim has been very ill. She had fluid around her heart and on (not in) her lungs. She was admitted to the hospital in the "progressive care" unit on Tuesday. Progressive Care is one step down from Critical Care. Yikes! Wednesday they removed almost a gallon of fluid from her lungs. It was amazing the difference in her color and breathing that night. Thursday they removed about 12 oz of fluid from her heart. This is a lot since there should only be about 2 tablespoons worth there. Again, her color and breathing were dramatically changed... but they moved her to Critical Care post-procedure. Scared the daylights out of me until I found out that this is normal protocol for this procedure. She was better last night, but really pissed off that she was still in the hospital. They will do another couple tests today and hopefully have final determination of the underlying causes for her. Once they know, she can go home.

Okay, those weren't such quick rambles and now I've got to run so we can play a bit today.

...may there be mercy and quick healing for my dear friends - and a calm, less-stressful week next week!