The Good, Bad, Ugly...and more!

Everything I have to say seems to fall in one of those categories today--the good, the bad and the ugly. So, here goes:

The Good

My life as an ex-magazine editor is swell. I am more relaxed, getting more rest, catching up on tons of things I let drop for the past year.

My technical writing/editing employer still has a need for me and actually offered me an opportunity for a full-time, mostly from home job if I wanted it! (No worries, I'm still shell-shocked from the magazine job, so I didn't take it!) But, I have some future income that I wasn't sure I would have.

I bought these shoes--which I think are just the cat's meow! My hubs didn't really love them when I showed them off. In truth, I think he's more afraid I'm becoming a shoe girl all of the sudden, after years of the most bland shoes sitting in my closet. (Angela, if I do convert, I'm blaming you and your damn shoe-voting blog for this! grin) Compared to most of my brown and black blah collection, picking a red wedge with some heel--well, that's really stepping out there--trust me!

The Bad

I still have not lost weight and my 20-year class reunion is coming up in June. I must lose weight! It is less about me going and showing up anyone and more about me being able to go and feel comfortable in my own skin. And my own skin is too thick right now, quite frankly. Yet, I don't feel like splurging on a trainer. If I haven't lost weight by April though, that is just what I will do.

We have a trip to Disney planned in the spring, but chose to book it during school. I said I would never ever do that as a parent, but my son's not yet of TAKS testing age and my daughter's in preschool and we hate crowds. So, booking right at the end of the school year seemed fine as long as we told the teachers ahead. NOT. The trip is booked and I just found out he'll be missing at least two benchmark tests--which may make his grades plummet. We can't change the dates without major financial penalties too. @$@#$!!!!

The Ugly

Our weekend trip to my folks resulted in extreme allergy/asthma attacks in 3 of the 4 members of my family. I suppose my lungs have mutated from living with my dear parents all those years ago. God love them, they are good people and I'm proud to call them my own. But, they smoke, never dust their house and they have 4 cats at a minimum. My poor family didn't stand a chance. And, when everyone is coughing all night, my mom radar is up and I don't sleep at all. So, I'm risking extremely offending them after all these years and I'm breaking down and booking a hotel for my reunion weekend. I just can't take that anymore, and I know my family's lungs can't either.

My only sibling pulled some stuff this weekend that has changed my trust in her, which makes me really sad. Tell me this--how can it be that someone else in our family can pull the ultimate betrayal on her and yet I am somehow made into the bad guy because I tried to convince her to be strong and independent and stand up against it? I don't want to get into this on here, but I'm very frustrated and distrusting of her again now and not sure how our relationship will get back on even footing again.

My father-in-law is on a downward health spiral. I have not blogged about this because I don't know how to, to be perfectly honest. Let's just say that watching a parent's health decline (even when it is your in-law) is really a life-changing experience and really makes you question your own mortality.

I just realized that this good, bad and ugly format has me ending on quite a low note. So, let me say something more entertaining...

The Wacky

Today I had a first. While dining with a writer friend who I'd only met via email before, she told me that she was having dental trouble with a tooth and that it might just fall out during our lunch. I made a joke about being glad she ordered the soup and not a burger.

Moments later, her tooth came flying out mid-sentence as she was telling me about her experiences working at a TV station. What do you say to someone whose tooth as just flown out of their mouth and almost landed in their soup? Even more humorous was that we were having such a good conversation that she didn't immediately leave, but tucked the tooth in her purse and kept talking to me with her hand covering her mouth as she spoke!