Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Hasta, Sayonara, Ciao, Later...

First things first, though.

Here is the infamous Taylor's First Day on the Job picture:



Now on to the business at hand.

I will not be around for the next week. Tomorrow I'm leaving on a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again. Oh wait. Yes I do. I'll be back next Tuesday.

My sisters, Terri and Michele, are meeting me in Little Rock from Fort Worth and Albuquerque (or parts thereabout) respectively. The plan is to paint my parents' kitchen and living room and then celebrate their 55th anniversary on Saturday with them.

As excited as I am about this little reunion, I'm a little scared as well. These are my big sisters. The last time we were all three together was when I was going through my scans before I started chemotherapy. Here I was, waiting for the technician to call me back for a brain scan, my life in total crisis mode, and they're arguing about what they're going to find. Here's an excerpt of the conversation:

Michele: I wonder if they'll find anything.

Me: Ha. Ha.

Terri: Oh, they'll find something. Jenni has a brain. It's just really small.

Me: Ha. Ha.

Michele: Teehee.

Terri: Or maybe it's just wired different than a normal person.

Michele: Heehee.

Terri: Giggle.

Me: You guys are hilarious.

But since I am fairness incarnate I will tell you something nice about them. Terri got married when she was 18 and she and David lived in an apartment in Elk City, Oklahoma. We had gone to visit them for Easter and her nice thing was that she nearly broke the bank on my Easter basket. We're talking chocolate out the wazoo. And a lot of chocolate and marshmallow yummies. Priceless stuff when you're eight.

Michele was 16 and she had beautiful, long, dark brown hair. It really was her crowning glory. She and I shared a bed while we were at Terri's. Apparently I had a little too much chocolate and marshmallow because it made a subsequent appearance. All over Michele's beautiful hair. And her nice thing was that she didn't even get mad!!

Turns out it wasn't all the candy, but a horrible case of the flu. I barely remember standing nekkid from the waist down in the bathtub in the middle of the night because stuff was flying from everywhere. After the spewing stopped and I was cleaned up I passed out. THAT I remember because, frankly, it was kinda cool. I was standing in Terri's room - the room my parents had been sleeping in - and I was looking at the knob on the dresser. Then everything went black, starting from the periphery and working it's way in. I said, "I can't seeeeee..." and passed out.

Yeah. Good times.

All joking aside, I'm really looking forward to being together. We always have a good time with lots of laughing. Crying-type laughing. [Note to self. Consider purchasing Depends.]

I will also be seeing a few of my friends while I'm there. Since this is all about family I won't get to see everyone or even a lot of people. But there are a few I refuse to travel all that way and not see. I'm very demanding that way.

One of my friends, Rhonda, will probably be coming over on Friday to help paint. Todd refers to her as my partner in crime because I was encouraged in several of my home improvement projects by her. Here's an example of what I mean. This is when I was going to paint the office.

Todd: Don't pull off the wallpaper. Kilz it because the walls weren't sized before the idiots put it up so you'll pull off wallboard just like you did in the dining room and the bathrooms.

Me: Yeah. That's what I was thinking.

Next day:

Rhonda: So are you going to pull of the wallpaper?

Me: No. You know the problems we've had with wallpaper before.

Rhonda: Yeah.

Me: Still... It wouldn't hurt to just pull a tiny bit to see if it comes off easy.

Rhonda: Okay. (Said with great fervor and enthusiasm)

Me: It seems to be coming off alright.

Rhonda: Mine, too.

Me: Let's do it!

Rhonda: Okay!!

Bad idea. It was put directly onto the wallboard except for a few places where they had Spackled something - the spots we tried. So we made three times more work for ourselves than we would have had we just primed the wallpaper first and then painted.

But I digress. My whole point of this post is to let you know I will probably not be posting for the next week, nor will I be commenting on other blogs. But what a post I'll have when I get back. And neither my sisters nor my friends have blogs and won't be able to defend themselves because I have control over the comments. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Now I leave you with a few pictures of the cutest puppy on earth. Or at least in this house:

Labels: family, friends, job, kids

Mused by Jenster :: 3:18 PM :: 28 People musing:

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