Another one...

October 23, 1985 - April 23, 2013

She blogged.  She Facebooked.  She did HNT.  She was the Mystery Guest once.  She did a handful of OHNTs.

She turned 27 last October.  She was the mother to a handsome boy and a cute little girl.  She raised them in southern California.

She was a cancer survivor.  She still had numerous surgeries over the past year or so.  But she was winning.

I had talked to her a couple of times on the phone since the new year.  She had found a new boyfriend who treated her like a princess.  She was completely happy. 

You may remember her either as "~c~" or as "Cher".  She died unexpectedly this morning in her sleep.

When I started my online life, I didn't plan on having to deal with the deaths of people with whom I would form some sort of friendship.  She's the third.  I'm tired of it.

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Just thought I'd mention that my birthday is on Monday.  In case any of you might have forgotten.

You probably have a good idea of what I'm hoping to get from you...

Go check out HNT!

Here!

HNT Reminder

I know it's still April Fool's Day, but this is on the level...  Remember that HNT is this week!  And in it's different format.  You don't post on your own site these days--you send them to me to post to the OHNT site.  It'll go up on Wednesday night at 9:30 PM (just like the old days).  I've got a handful of pics already, and expect a few more in the next day or two.  You should join in.  Really.

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Not to toot my own horn or anything, but a certain individual (*ahem) who is near and dear to your hearts celebrates his birthday in two weeks. Just thought you should know.

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Facebook has all sorts of problems, as we all know, but when it works right, it's quite an impressive social tool. I just got back in touch with a blogger/HNTer who sort of disappeared on us about six years ago. I love social media!

HNT Reminder and stuff

Don't forget!  The great HNT experiment is next Thursday (April 4th).  If you've missed what it's all about--we won't do HNT on our own sites, but send everything in to the OHNT site.  Email your pics to hntanon@gmail.com no later than next Wednesday afternoon.  We'll see if there's any interest in keeping HNT going every three months...

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I know that not all of you follow me on FB, but I put my 2¢ there about the same-sex marriage debate and the blossoming of the red/pink equality image that everyone adopted as their profile pic.  I tried to write something profound, but ran into mental blocks. So I kept it short and sweet:

SCOTUS--Find that same-sex marriages are legal. They don't really hurt anyone/anything. But keep your nose out of decreeing that churches must allow them (that whole separation of church/state thing).
CHURCHES--If your denomination accepts such things, go marry a bunch of same-sex couples. If it doesn't, then don't. But keep your nose out of the others that do.
GOVERNMENT--Fix the government. Same-sex marriage should be low on anyone's radar. It should be a non-issue.
FB--I'll be happy when I don't have to be bombarded daily with gay-positive posts. It should be a non-issue.
PERSONAL--I'm not going to change my profile pic to the red equal sign. And I'm not ever going to join Twitter.

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Easter is almost here!!! In spite of my delicate condition, I might have snuck in a Cadbury's egg or two over the past couple of weeks...

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Speaking of Easter, it's a weird family situation this year. Normally, it's one of those "meet at Mom's for dinner" things that almost the entire family gathers for. This year though, no one's in town. S3 and her family are in San Diego (I think) for spring break, and I'm not even sure if N3 is with them. She might still have classes in Missoula. S2 will be here, but N1 has to work in Billings, and N2 is in Philly for some sort of training. S1 and her hubby are in Portland. So it's just me, Mom, and S2. We're going to go out for dinner. But it's so weird with just the three of us!

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In case I don't make it back here (which is entirely probable), I hope you all have a Happy Easter!!!

She'd have been 35 today...

Ya know...she sort of faded away from us for a spell.  And she was sort of forgotten.

I'll be damned if I'm gonna let that happen anymore...

It always happens this way...

I had a routine doctor's appointment this morning.  The results of which were a bit on the disappointing side (I blame winter and a change in meds). 

Knowing that I needed to fast and hydrate so they could take blood easily, I didn't eat anything after dinner last night, and only drank water until bedtime.  When I woke up, I opted out of the first thing I do when I get out of bed (peeing, for those who have a different routine), since I knew I'd be asked for a urine sample.  I even sucked down two more glasses of water before heading to the appointment.

The results of my fasting/hydrating?  They still had to bring in three different people in an attempt to find a cooperative vein to draw blood from.  That finally worked.  Then when the pressure came to pee in a cup, it took me about ten minutes to piddle out maybe half a cup.  That's half a pee cup.  Not four ounces.  I was pathetic.

Of course, I've had to pee three times since getting to work...

HNT n' Stuff

To start out...a reminder about HNT!  After hearing from some of you, I'm going to experiment with doing HNT once every three months.  BUT, rather than bothering with your individual blogs (many of which no longer exist), you'll send them in to me and I'll post them all on the OHNT site.  That seemed to work pretty well in Dec.  We'll see how that works.  SO...plan on April 4th as being the next time we try.  And spread the word!!  That gives you a couple of weeks to come up with something!

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Lots of change happening--Pope Francis made his first appearance this afternoon.  I had the 'Chimney Cam' open on the side of my window at work, and happened to catch the first wisps of white smoke come out, so I was hooked to watch the coverage for the next 90 minutes.  We'll see what the future brings for the Church...

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I am SO jacked about the daylight staying later!  The mornings aren't too dark, and there's plenty of light after dinner.  Add to the mix that the temps have been in the mid-60s this week (what?? in Montana in March?)  What's not to like?  Bring on Spring and Easter!!!

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Symphony stuff is plodding along.  We have two more concerts left in the season.  It hardly seems like any work at all compared to the last couple of years.  Which isn't to say that the concerts won't be spectacular!  Just that I'm much less stressed about the production end of things.  Then I jump in with both feet working on the summer concert in July.  The feet have gotten wet already, but the real work starts towards the end of April.

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Apparently, Facebook is in the midst of ramping up a new format that no one has requested.  And Google is getting rid of its Reader.  Why do these internet companies keep messing with things that aren't broken???

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Where have all the people gone??

Almost Missed February!

I was informed that it's been over 4 weeks since my last post, and that I'd better get crackin'.  And lord knows I can't skip a whole month, even a short one, so here's my February post.  Hold on, it's going to go all over the place...

• Super Bowl--Didn't really care one way or the other who won.  Was just glad it was a good game!
• Paperwork--I despise paperwork.  Intensely.  I was brought up on the idea that a handshake was good enough for a contract.  Maybe that's more of a Montana thing.  But there are those who thrive on it.  Like lawyers.  And two people that have made my life much easier.  I mentioned on Facebook that I had a minor accident with the U-Haul before our January concert.  Short story--a gentleman by the name of Robert, who works for the insurance company for U-Haul called me the next day, asked me a couple of questions, and has apparently taken care of the entire matter.  Thanks, Robert!  The other person is Dawn, a social worker at the clinic where I get my insulin from.  Reams of paperwork, but all she requires from me is a signature.  Thanks, Dawn!
• Valentine's Day--Nothing to report.
• Father/Daughter Events--Or mother/son events.  I don't recall ever having anything like that when I was growing up.  Dad was involved with Scouting with me, and we all did a lot as a family, but I don't remember any one-on-one time with Mom.  Or my sisters with my dad.  I wonder how much we missed out on.  We all had one-on-one time with my grandfather though...
• Parents At School--I don't remember anything like this, either.  I would have been horrified if one of my parents (Mom, probably) would have shown up at school just to observe or something.  And as a teacher, I never had anyone just show up.  Again, I wonder how much we missed out on.
• Popular FB postings--I secretly snicker at some of my FB friends who post a popular meme or a picture or a video that is actually months old.  Makes me wonder where they were when it made the rounds the first time.
• Speed Talkers--How does one learn to speed talk in the radio commercials where they whip through the fine print and/or disclaimers?  I suspect there's some sort of digital way of speeding it up these days so it doesn't sound like Alvin & the Chipmunks, but before then...how did they do that? 
• Classic Radio--Speaking of radio, one of the stations in town changed formats from a satellite-fed pop station to a locally produced "classics" station.  Not "classic rock", or "classical".  Music from the late 50s, 60s and 70s.  Dare I say...easy listening?  Not quite.  But lots of the crooners, doo-wop, soft rock, even harder rock. As a musician, I go through phases to cleanse my musical palette.  I can't listen to symphonic music all the time, so I will listen to a lot of country, then jazz, then some Motown, etc.  No rap or hip-hop or what passes as "music" these days.  That's like cleansing with drain cleaner.  But this new station is a breath of fresh air for me.  We didn't listen to a lot of music when I was growing up, but what we did listen to was Mom's.  And it was the whitest music you could imagine.  And this station is playing it all again.  I love it!
• Pope Benedict--In less than 24 hours, his resignation kicks in.  As a Catholic, it's a weird time.  It's hard to read all the speculation as to why he's resigning, especially from non-Catholics.   Personally, I didn't get the warm fuzzies from him as I did from John Paul II.  I don't think anyone did.  He doesn't seem to be a great 'people' person.  But it'll be fascinating to follow the election of a new pope.  This will be the seventh pope in my lifetime.
• Concerts--The end of February was jam-packed full of concerts and stuff.  Five rehearsals and 2 different concerts in the span of six days last week.  And the fun is now just getting started for me.  Planning has started for the big summer concert in July, and I was hired as project manager again.  Based on the near-flawless event last summer, I penciled in a 50% increase to my salary (which was eagerly approved), so things are looking up!  I'm certain I'll have lots more to write about this one later!
• HNT--After hearing from some of you, I'm going to experiment with doing HNT once every three months.  BUT, rather than bothering with your individual blogs, you'll send them in to me and I'll post them all on the OHNT site.  That seemed to work pretty well.  We'll see how that works.  SO...plan on April 4th as being the next time we try.  That gives you a month to come up with something!

So there you go!  Hopefully I'll post a bit in March.  I sort of miss the sound of my own posts!

Happy Blogaversary to Me!!

Jumping in with both feet!

Yep, it's happening! After having lurked around a number of blogs, and hearing from others who are trying it themselves, I figured I'd better give it a shot myself! No promises here. Maybe alot, maybe a little. We'll see where it goes from here....

That was it.  My very first post I ever wrote.  Eight long years ago.  I missed the actual blogaversary, which was Saturday, but it's given me time to think about what's transpired in eight years. 

Lots and lots of new friends made.  More travels than in the previous 47 years combined.  Two deaths within the immediate family.  Two deaths within my online friends.  Lots of births.  Lots of graduations.  Some divorces.  Some weddings.  Lots of kids growing up in front of my eyes!!  Too much cancer.  Too many hospital visits.  Lots of eye-opening.  Lots of mind-opening.  An incredible amount of good. 

Oh, and boobies.  Lots of boobies.

Yes, it's been a good eight years!