Crazy Daze, Silly Knights

(This is different than my normal blogging...a bit darker...and a short story. A snapshot into what could happen if this ever happened. Hope you enjoy it.) She looks in the bathroom’s mirror and sees a stranger looking back at her. Less than 24 hours ago, the reflection would have seemed familiar, but the bruises on her arms make her unrecognizable in her own eyes. She instinctively reaches for the body lotion, a habit she picked up as middle-aged became a reality. As she rubs in the lotion, the lesser visible bruises are felt. Pain throbs up and down her arms as she completes her routine. Suddenly, the reality of the past 24-hours hits her and she turns toward the toilet and relieves herself of her light dinner. Once again she turns toward the mirror but this time to get a drink to wash out the acidic taste. Anger overwhelms her…the pain in the arms are now coupled with the exhaustion of vomiting up what little she was able to eat for the day. With the anger welling up inside

It seems lately all we can to is talk about the weather in Chicagoland. There are other worthwhile topics, such as the changing of the guard at City Hall (Daley out, Rahm in). The death of Bin Laden (not shedding a tear for him). The economy which is still sucking the life out of many of us. Or just everyday things in our own personal lives. But the weather is winning by a long shot of being a conversation starter. And not due to the "good" weather, but because we are having November weather in the Spring. Trust me...I understand we have lots of rain in the Spring. But lately we are getting no sun...and when we do it is like we are in a rainforest with high humidity and scorching heat. In the Spring. Today it is raining...yesterday it was raining...and I have a sneaky suspicion the weather for tomorrow will be rain as well. This gets me down for one reason...I love Spring. I love going out and enjoying the sun and the cool breezes before the heat of summer sets in. An

Do you ever notice that good news and bad news just go hand in hand? Well, I do have good news...I am finally gainfully employed. It only took a really, really long time, but I have a temporary job. Bad news is that it isn't in my field of choice...but it is still a job. It is amazing how many hard luck stories are out there. I could get all whiny and say how far the job is, or how much of this work I have done in the past. But truthfully, it is a nice place, the people are friendly and it is a safe environment. And so many people are out of work, how can you complain about working in that kind of environment? I do live by the idea that wherever I am is where the Good Lord wants me, so that is where I should be. Now that might seem like a strange idea to many people, especially if they are atheists. Think of it as a "Que sera, sera" as the old Doris Day song says...whatever will be, will be. (As I have been told, the song uses poor grammar in Spanish. Technically

For the most part, I don't really care about fashion trends. When bell-bottoms came back, I smiled and nodded. When 70s patterns became in again, I enjoyed the nostalgia. Seeing acid washed jeans again made me remember why I got rid of my own. I actually applauded when little leather jackets came back, and then the lace to go with it. I am enjoying the wedge shoes and the nice full skirts. Many things I enjoy about fashion, and I'm not even a fashionista. And when I don't agree with something, I generally don't get too worked up about it. Until now. I have a bone to pick with the anti-nylon fashion trend. I have no idea how this trend started, and I have no idea whose hair-brained idea it was to get rid of these necessary items of fashion. Yes, I said it...they are necessary for some of us. For those of you who are into the no-nylon thing...I get it on some level. They can be a bit binding and uncomfortable. You know what else they do? They also don't ma

Take a moment and say "I love you" to someone you truly love. You never know when they will be gone. Or you never know when you will be gone, and the last words were harsh...or flippant...or rude. This moment might be the last chance you have to tell someone you love them, you cherish them, or where they fit in your life. This might be the last time you have to express the gratitude you have for that important someone. It might be a friend, a lover, a spouse, a child, a parent, a family member...or just someone who made a change in your life. It takes only seconds, but means so much more. Recently there were two people that I am friends with or familiar with who lost someone close to them. It made me think of what were my last words to the ones that I love, to the ones who have been there for me. Sadly, some of those words were not either kind, or ones of frustration and anger. In light of these issues, I want to make an effort to express myself. I can't tha

What is wrong with kids these days?? How many times have we all heard this phrase? Personally, I have heard it a lot. I'm sure I have uttered it a time or two as well. The reality is, the phrase is misguided. Kids do not raise themselves...or at least they aren't supposed to raise themselves. It is the parents that are supposed to do that job. If we aren't liking what we are seeing in the youth of today, we should not be looking at the kids, we need to look at the people who raised them. Don't get me wrong, I am not blaming parents who have children with difficult problems. There are some kids that need extra work, trust me, I know this on a very real level. Many of these parents struggle to find solutions to the problems their children are dealing with. And my hat is off to them, and my heart bleeds for their struggles. These parents are not the ones I am referring to. I'm talking about the parents who are absent in the lives of their children and then set

I was driving into Chicago last night. It was a nice clear night, no rain or snow and the skies were fairly clear. As I exited the Stevenson onto Lake Shore Drive, past McCormick Place and Soldier Field, I began to smile. Then when I turned onto Columbus, something occurred to me...I really love Chicago. I know it is cliche. Most people love say their childhood towns or cities. It is where our family and friends are, it is where many of our memories were born. Our own respective cities are near and dear to our hearts for our own individual reasons. So my warm fuzzy feelings toward a city is nothing new. Every time I drive down Columbus at night, with the parks to the right of me, and the city lay in the front and to the left of me, I actually say aloud (many times to no one), "Damn I love this place." It doesn't mean I like the politics, and I don't ignore the areas of the city that are neglected. But something about this city makes me skin hum. It wasn't al

Tomorrow night will be the biggest full moon in 20 years. I know, maybe not a big event for a lot of people, but it is an event nonetheless. 20 years ago I was 3 months pregnant with my first child, my son. I had morning sickness 24/7...for all 9 months. Not many pregnant women get to experience that much morning sickness, but lucky me, I did. 1991 was an eventful year for me, despite the constant feeling of the need to throw up. It changed me into a mom, which was one of the best experiences of my life. As I think about my son now, in college and making plans for his future, I can't help but to think how fast the last 20 years went. I don't remember the full moon of that year, but this full moon is causing a bit of nostalgia. I had to look up what was happening that year, as my memory doesn't have enough room for so many details. I found a nice site that broke down that year nicely. http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1991.html When I read that gas was only $1.12 bac

One of my favorite sayings is "Every Cloud has a Silver Lining." It's hookey, I know, but I'm okay with that. Lately, however, it seems most of the silver linings are a bit tarnished. This makes the hunt for the silver lining difficult at best, but the discovery of the tarnished lining takes away the joy of finding it. After a particularly difficult few days, I'm trying to think of a way to get my found silver linings polished. Turns out it is much easier said than done. Mostly because someone keeps pissing in my pool. (I know, another cliche, but I started this posting with a cliche, and it was lonely and invited another one along for the ride.) So what do you do when every lining you find is tarnished, not by your own doing but because someone is muddying up the waters? My only answer is keep looking forward, don't look back on it. Sure, the silver linings might be tarnished and a tad uglier than expected. However they are still silver and still wort

It seems the weather is all anyone can talk about lately. We are in the gray days before Spring hits us. The vestiges of Winter are fading, and we are left with a chilly world that is often sunless and wet. Random garbage is piled on the sides of the road because our street sweeping hasn't started yet. Basically, outside it looks the way most of us feel...waiting for the grays to go away. This time of year it is tough to keep up one's spirit. It is a little like our darkest days of winter. There is very little sun to enjoy and what little time you spend outside is spend ducking from the cold raindrops that seem to be ever present. If you can't relate, go in your bathroom with a flashlight and an umbrella and shut off the lights. Turn on the flashlight and put it on the ground under a towel. Then turn on the shower to a cold setting and get in with your umbrella and stand there for a bit under the umbrella. If you are really a go-getter, toss in some random dirt and wrap

I admit it...for the past 6 months I have had serious writer's block. If you haven't heard, or read, I'm an "aspiring" author. I have self-published one book, I have another book written and trying to sell it to an agent, and I have 2 more books that I started. One of the partial books is a sequel to the non-published completed novel. I felt bad for a while because I left my characters scattered in the wind. Some of them were left walking around in a forest for six months. That's no way to treat a character. Sure, authors write horrible things that happen to their characters, but at least they have purpose for the storyline. Mine were just there...their world ended when I got a bad case of the Blocks. Recently I went to an Irish Pub, just to get out of the house. I sat down, ordered a drink. And then something hit me. Stories in my head again started to flow. I'm not sure exactly what caused it. Maybe it was the energy of the crowd, maybe it was the mu

So...what happened to my resolution to tend to my blog? Oh so many things. First off, my book is finally published. It was a fantastic feeling...for the first day. Then the sinking feeling of "how can I market this to the masses" enveloped me. I believe I was reduced to a quivering mass of goo on several occasions. Which mentally is a funny image, but the reality of being a quivering mass of goo really ruins a day. It took me a few days to grab the bull by the horns and embrace my marketing spirit. I was reading blogs and articles and coming up with a marketing plan. I was exited. I was ready to take on the independent author world. And then... Well, I won't say much about the "then"...but suffice it to say, my marriage license clearly had an expiration date. I had no idea, but I was informed by my spouse at 15 years it was up. So here I am, ready to be an author...and now going to be an ex-wife. Now this might be the point where people say...aww...how

Waiting patiently for things has never been my strong suits. As a child I peeked in Christmas gifts when they were wrapped, and those were just at the ones I didn't already find in the house. The first pages I read of my Nancy Drew novels were not in the beginning, but at the back of the book. Same thing for my Agatha Christie. If you ask my children, why will attest to my lack of patience. My favorite phrase is "Hurry up!" to them. In my world, nothing happens fast enough. It isn't all gloom and doom being impatient. I am rarely late for things...in fact most of the time I show up early. Sometimes earlier isn't better, as I've arrived at doctor appointments days early. Okay that only happened once, but I really wanted to know what was going on. I actually am jealous of people who are able to sit back and wait without constantly checking the time. People who can just accept that some things they can't get right away. Their inner child must be on lock d

It is the day after the NFC Championship. Much to the dismay of Bears fans, Green Bay Packers won on Bears territory which now brings them to the Super Bowl. Chicago Bears were not the favored team so it wasn't a big surprise when they lost. It was disappointing, but really not surprising. I was hoping to the last turnover the Bears could pull a win out of the day. The biggest controversy of the game seems to be the Cutler factor. He injured his knee at some point during the game and was not allowed to return to the game. This made people sound off furiously all over the social medias questioning just how tough the man was if he was willing to sit on the sidelines and not play for the rest of the game injured. Now, let me start by saying, I'm not a football person. I watch the Bears...that's it. I am a Chicago fan and have no real interest in watching football other than the Bears. So I don't know all the ins and outs of what other players do. What I do know is Cutl

Today is the NFC Championship game. Today the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers play at Soldier Field, and they have not been in a NFC Championship game in 70 years. Coupled with their intense rivalry, this is going to be a heck of a game today. I will make no apologies, I am a Bears fan. I was born in Chicago and raised in the suburbs, I almost had no choice but to be a Bears fan. When it comes to games against the Packers, if we win, I cheer a little extra hard too. But here is the thing...I don't hate the Packers, nor do I hate their fans. It is a football game to me. A game where athletes compete. Nothing more, nothing less. And it is fun to yell at the TV when things go wrong, or cheer when things go right. If the other team wins, then they deserved to win. Clearly they outplayed my team. I don't feel anger towards a team for beating my team. It makes no sense to me when people do get angry either. They are people just like them, cheering for their team. Someone

When it comes to award shows, I usually am not part of their viewing audience. I have nothing against them, but I do find them a bit boring. Or so I did, until this year when Ricky Grevais hosted them. I woke the next morning, logged into my computer and there were intense reviews of his hosting duties that evening. Some people were applauding his roasting of the stars, others were appalled at his humor. I think the extreme emotional reactions to his performance at the 2011 Golden Globes is a little overblown. Both the attendees of the Golden Globes and Grevais knew what they were getting into...and yet both seem surprised at the results. Surely someone must have known Grevais was not going to put his style of humor on hold for an award events. My best way to explain it is this... If I have a dog which intensely dislikes cats and will attack them at will...I am not bringing him to a cat show. Nor would they invite me to bring my dog there. If for some crazy reason they decided to

While I started this blog with the best of intentions...it has gone astray. I will not give an excuse as it will sound weak because it will be weak. I can, however, resolve to change or give it all up. I think I'll give it another whirl. So my New Year's Resolution is to finish what I started. For me that will involve a LOT of things. Which oddly enough might cut into my blogging time. Part of my blogging life will be a change of subject matter. As much material my friends and family give me, I can't in good conscious do that to them. Even if I change the names to protect the innocent, they will figure it out, and hunt me down. Since I am not a fast runner, I believe saying away from certain subject matters would be good for my physical and mental health. So here we are, at the end of January and I'm fulfilling one of my many New Year's Resolutions. Better late than never...or that is what I am going with.