Author Archives: LA Blogger Gal

I’m So Ready for Fall

Real fall or at least the sort of fall that we get here in LA. I’ve my crave-able pumpkin spice lattes twice now and well, 1) they’re just not as enjoyable when it’s 80 degrees out and 2) they just don’t seem to taste quite as good as I remember.

But the real reason I’m waiting for fall is that we still have clothes to buy for Ireland (the hubs has NOTHING short of a couple long-sleeve tees to wear). So of course, now that I need those sweaters and warmer attire, nothing is hitting the stores. Which is odd. I remember wearing a sweater to school that first day back because it was new (only to die from the heat of Indian Summer in Jersey), yet short of ordering online, I can’t seem to find sweaters anywhere. What’s up with that?

And when are all the cool scarves, hats and gloves going to hit the stores? Even online there’s just not much available. So we rush the holidays (yes, Halloween stuff is already up), but we stopped rushing the winter clothes? Well that’s just not acceptable. Give me my thermals and cashmere scarves now please! Or at least over the next couple of weeks so I can consider ourselves ready for Ireland already.

On that note, I will be shooting out last minute confirmations to our B&Bs and Ireland will be officially and finally booked! Hell yeah!

A Pacemaker, Are You Kidding Me?

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I called my dad today and he proceeded to tell me that just today his heart stopped twice! What?!?! No, he didn’t need to be recucitated, he was awake and aware during all of it. Turns out th meds may have slowed his heartbeat down too much. So now, there’s talk that he needs a pacemaker.

I’m fine with that. No big deal. But um, just whose idea was that? I mean, he’s a 64 year-old, obese man in shitty health with NO money. I mean all his medical bills and day to day living expenses are covered by Medicaid, Social Services and what I’m able to send him from time to time. Seems like a pretty silly and expensive procedure to go through when he’s in such poor health and there’s no one to foot the bill, so to speak.

Oh well, I’m just be happy that he’s getting good treatment and will live a longer, healthier life. Or more to the point, that he’s give the chance to do something with the new lease on lifethat they’re giving him. So now it’s looking like he probably won’t be going home until Tuesday the earliest. So we’re off to a good start and now we basically know what’s going on.

This Post Isn’t About Fathers, Family or Strokes

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Apparently, discussing family medical issues is not such the hot topic…my visits are way, way down since I’ve been blogging about this. Guess I should find something else to talk about 😉

So here we go, totally unrelated to fathers, strokes or even families…how ’bout some random thoughts?

* I sat down today to watch the Coco Chanel story on Lifetime. Can’t say it was all that exciting. I’d have expected much more out of a 3 hour movie. I will say that now I’m quite curious about what her life was really like. I think I’ll be checking out a biography on her.

* I love minestrone soup and Progresso makes a damn fine one. Unfortunately, they either don’t sell all too well at my local Pavillions, or they sell out on a regular basis. Either way, they never have any in stock. The other day I found some cans, but they were 50% less sodium. Man, that stuff tastes like shit. Even when you add back the missing salt, it still tastes like crap. Not cool.

* I should’ve spent today confirming my Ireland reservations. Instead, I watched the stupid Coco story and took a very long, very uncomfortable nap. The kind of nap that you only half-slept through, all while having funky dreams and fighting to open your eyes. Very uncomfortable indeed.

* I still haven’t slip covered the couch because I need the hubs to help me move the couch so I can get behind it. And well, if I’m going to move it far enough away from the wall to get behind it, then I may as well vacuum while I’m back there. So of course, I can’t do that late at night once the hubs gets home, when it’s cooler.

* Next weekend I have an invitation to my friend’s Baptism (and possibly the baby’s 1st birthday as well) and book club all three hours apart. Now, in theory, this is doable. But, travel time alone (assuming no traffic and well, in LA, that’s never a guarantee) is two hours. So now I have to figure out how best to handle this. There is a brunch prior to the actual service, but we were hoping on skipping that since it’s so early. Now, we just might have to do the brunch instead of the service.

* I want an iPod. I have a Shuffle, and it works just fine for going to the gym since I make playlists to work out to. But it sucks on airplanes because you can’t see what you’re listening to and you don’t know what’s next. Not nearly as convenient. So now I’m thinking that I’d like a new iPod in time for Ireland. Any idea how to justify this as a business expense?

* I have a small biz meetup tonight. I’m actually looking forward to it since there will be someone there from Constant Contact. I figure I’ll grab a card and pass it along to the LWL group and maybe they can speak at one of our events (or at least at one of the OC events since they couldn’t come up and get in on tonight’s opportunity). I have no idea what to wear. It’s late enough (7:30) that there’s no need to look biz-like. But really, I’m not in the mood to do the whole hair, make-up and wardobe thing…must be that awful nap.

* I’m refusing to buy any more shampoo, conditioner, soap or lotion, until I finish up the bags and bags of the travel size products I’ve either purchased or taken from hotels. Of course, I’m not liking any of the conditioners, so I might still need to keep some good conditioner, like some Terax Crema, on hand.

* I need to tighten the screws on my chair. I don’t know where my little, handy phillips thinga-majiggy is. I think the hubs borrowed it and never gave it back.

* I dyed my hair myself last night to save some money. Big mistake. It’s now too dark. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken Pamela Anderson’s advice and left the crap on my head for 45 minutes. Face it, she’s a platinum blonde, what does she know?!?! But hey, I did a decent job of cleaning up the rug…you can barely see my drop spots.

It Was Indeed a Stroke (or two)

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We finally have some answers. My dad has his MRI yesterday and they can no confirm that he not only had one, but two recent strokes. My dad also said something about a “stroke since February” but I don’t know if that refers to this second one or not since I got the impression that this second was was very recent. The challenges of being out of state, you’re left with only your parents to tell you what the doctors said…frustrating.

I have a feeling it probably all came about because he wasn’t on blood thinners. Back in January, the blood thinners were giving him nasty headaches. For some reason only the doctors can know, instead of switching brands or formulas, they just stopped with them all together. Needless to say, he’s back on them again now and they won’t send him home until the blood actually thins – plus they’re waiting on his paperwork from the other hospital.

He sounds so much better today compared to even yesterday. His thoughts are much clearer and his speech sounds stronger now. He said the I don’t need to head out there, so that’s a bit of a load off. It doesn’t stop the worrying, but it feels good just knowing that he doesn’t need me there.

I’m still going to hang low and not make many plans or get too involved in anything just yet. I think I’m handling things fine and then I feel the twinges of the migraines, I feel the tension of the jaw, I realize that I don’t want to talk to anyone. I just need some time to process all of this some more. Plus I still have Ireland to arrange and finalize.

Thank you everyone for your support. Considering I’m not talking to my “real life” friends much, it’s nice knowing that I can still talk about things.

He Seems to be Doing Fine

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I just got off the phone with my dad. There’s still no confirmation or ruling out that he had another stroke. But I can hear in his voice that it’s a little slurry. He doesn’t know all too much about what happened before he got to the hospital and he doesn’t seem to know much about his current status. He said that he may go home tomorrow, but since he’s yet to have his MRI, I doubt they’d send him home without a before and after MRI (unless they’e want him out ASAP since he’s on Medicare).

I reminded him to ask his nurses to help him to get me on his HIPPA clearance and he said he’d talk to them about it. Though his last nurses said it wasn’t important and didn’t do it last time claiming that he told them who I was and to talk to me. Worse case, I’ll ask his neighbor to help him with that once he gets home. I’m also thinking that I’ll laminate a card that says “in case of emergency, please call my name & info” and mention that they have permission to call and release info.

I’m wondering when and if I should head out there. It’s not just the time and expense, it’s also the fact that I can’t actually stay at his place (it gives me horrific sinus infections). And this time around, he doesn’t need me to set anything up short of making some legal documents. I had planned to head out there in December.

Man, taking care of aging parents long distance is tough work.

In the meantime, I’m canceling my upcoming workshop. I haven’t yet sent out any advertising or solicitation for it, and well, since it’s in 2 weeks there’s no way of knowing I won’t have to fly back east. I’d hate to have to cancel and deal with refunds while I was working on taking care of him. Just too much of a hassle right now.

Until then, I’m off to do laundry and not much else. I just don’t want to have to wrap my brain around something else right now. I think today calls for a chick flick!

Dammit to Hell – My Dad Had Another Stroke!

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He had one earlier this year (maybe his first, maybe his second). I was able to go out there for a week once he got out of the hospital to help him get ready to be home alone and to get him hooked up with the various social services.

Granted, I don’t yet know anything, but I have a feeling that this time things won’t go as smoothly.

Once again, being out of state, it sucks. Unfortunately, he lives in an odd part of the state, where his street lives on three different counties. So typically, its up to whoever to decide which county they want to consider it. This paramedic and ambulance decided that he’s in one county, so he’s now being sent to a different hospital than last time (in particular, a county that he’s not getting his social services through). Ugh!

Here’s hoping that the doctors will talk to me since I’m out of state. He’s too out of it to be able to tell them himself and I never got around to getting him a living will and all that stuff.

Okay, nothing else to say. Not that I even said all that much. Hell, I’m not so sure I can even really think straight. I hate this shit.

I’m an 8-Hour Kinda Gal

What’s It Worth To Ya?

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My bloggie-twitter friend Karen over at Verbatim wrote this great post forever-ago on what she feels it’s worth spending money and what isn’t in her life. I thought it makes a great topic. As I’m planning a pretty big expense with our upcoming trip, I’m starting to give serious thought to each and every purchase right now.

For example, I plan on forgoing my hair appointment, opting to dye it myself (my hair stylist won’t be too pleased) because the dog also needs to get groomed. I just can’t see spending the money on both of us at the same time – especially since I just bought that damn collar for him.

Another example, even though it’s spa week this week, I just can’t bring myself to splurge on a facial for $50. My skin has still not completely cleared up and I see the derm in a week or so (I think, well it’s soon anyway), so it’s almost a waste of money when I’ll just have to pay to visit him and possibly buy more meds.

Final example…pedicures. I love me some pedicures. Thing is, I love me the all out, deluxe pedicures and well, they cost quite a bit more. So to make this expense more bearable, I tend to do my own toes every other time. This way I’m only forking over the big bucks half the time.

What Do I Splurge On

good sheets – but I always try to get them on sale
good foundation – it really makes a difference in how it looks, feels and lasts
good eyeliner – again, it makes a difference
good lipstick – see above
nice purse – I love expensive pretty purses, but I restrain myself to 1 purchase every 1-3 years
computer & electronics – we’re a Mac house and we love it
hair products – I know what I like and I know what works for my curly hair and it’s not the drugstore stuff
tea – I absolutely love tea and can definitely taste the difference between quality loose tea and bagged stuff from the grocery store
shoes – I’ve learned the hard way that sometimes, paying more for something, like shoes, just pays off in the end (and no, I’m not talking talking Manolos here, just definitely not Payless or Target)

What I Won’t Splurge On

clothes – I just can’t bring myself to spend more than $30 for a pair of jeans
mascara – I rarely wear makeup and well you need to toss the mascara every 2-3 months so it’s just not worth it
books – while I love books, I try to always check the library and used bookstores first before buying
music – we get a lot of promo and advance copies, so I don’t think I’ve bought a full album in ages
movies – we don’t go out to the movies much and when we do we either hit the matinee, the discount theater or use a voucher or coupon. We also rent through Netflix
car – I admit it, I love my Hyundai. It looks good, it drives well and it does everything I need a car to do for a fraction of the cost. Mind you, I’ve craved an Audi since I was a teen, but I just can’t really see me ever paying those prices for one.

These lists are by no means conclusive. Some things, like travel and food fall into both categories – for example, I don’t have a problem with more store-brand foodstuffs and can just as easily stay someplace budget over some place luxe…it just depends.

So what are some of the things you’re willing to splurge on?

And Still More Ireland Planning

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But first, man, what a PITA planning this trip seems to have been. At this rate, all the travel agent did is book the flight and our hotels in both Dublin and Belfast. I’m researching and booking the entire rest of the trip. Oh well, I’m sure we’ll have fun and that’s what matters.

We’ll start if all off by flying into Dublin and driving 3.5 hours to Kinsale in County Cork for two nights. This will give us some good food, pretty sights and the Midleton Whiskey distillery. Kinsale is actually considered the gourmet capital of Ireland. And well, I’ve heard that Midleton Whiskey is great (and that the distillery is authentic and doesn’t feel as “fake” as the Jameson one in Dublin – we’ll visit there as well).

From there it’s one night in Dingle over in the Ring of Dingle for some good music and pretty sights. I hear that the Ring of Kerry is crazy busy (maybe not in November, but still) and that most folks that have done both rings enjoy the Ring of Dingle much better.

Next it’s up to Galway for two nights (might just go with the Jury Inn since it’s in the heart of the Centre and has wifi – that husband of mine will NEED his wifi). We’ll finish things off with two nights in Dublin, one night in Belfast and then one last nigiht in Dublin again. We have to do it that way since one of the reasons we’re going is to see Herbie play in Dublin on his daughter’s birthday, with his daughter and his manager.

So now I just need to send out a bunch of emails to the B&Bs in Kinsale, Dingle. I still have a couple emails out to B&B’s in Galway that I’m waiting to hear back from in case we decide to go that route. In the meantime, I’ll have the travel agent send over some boutique, family-run hotel suggestions for Kinsale & Dingle (though I’m pretty certain Dingle will be a B&B since it’s so small).

I expect we’ll have things finalized (no, REALLY finalized) by Tuesday or Wednesday the latest. At least now, I know where we want to go and why we’re picking the locations we are. This puts us miles against our original, early planning stages.

I’m Getting a New Stove!!!

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Life & Ramblings of an LA Blogger Gal