Happy Thanksgiving

Hi nonexistent audience,
We've been to New York, didn't pass the test for contestants, moved some of Bob's aunt's furniture, and now am waiting for a 20 lb turkey to thaw. See you around when I get more time to tell the story of doing the champagne town on a beer budget.

Christos Voskrese

Yes, I'm still here....
The girls are still plotting how to beautify Chirpy's grave. As it is, it receives all the palm crosses, church bread crumbs, red eggshells from church, and fake flowers they can shower upon it. They also ordered plush animals that bear a passing resemblance to her and put her collars and ID tag on them.

I managed to eat some spoiled leftovers last Saturday night, and what's worse, held them down until Sunday morning. THEN I 'tossed my cookies'. I recovered enough to drag myself to church, sit slumped in the choir, and belt out the tenor. We actually had 2 men to sing bass! Val works in Baltimore. His wife Sandy is first cousin to our choir director Nina. Michael, well..I'm not sure how he fits in, he's Russian and his wife is Greek. He appears frequently, but not steadily. As it is, his little son Constantine keeps attempting paratroop maneuvers off the choir loft rail. Boy, I'm glad I wasn't in the St. Nicholas San Diego choir, Thomas would have tried it.......

I slept most of the rest of the day. Didn't eat much, either. The Russian Paschka tradition is to pork out on all that meat and dairy denied during Lent, so I broke that. However, I had lost 3 pounds at my last diabetic checkup on the 15th, and my A1C (glycosolated hemoglobin) was a 5.5. That's within the normal range. Feelin' good!

Called Mom in her nursing home and my sister Grace at her home, which is a defacto nursing home with her son Aaron as caretaker since she fractured her lumbar spine and discombobulated her knees. Grace roasted my husband Bob for not allowing the cats in the house. In her opinion, he was responsible for Chirpy's death. I had to counter that the current setup is not my idea of responsible pet ownership, but a compromise with the Lord and Master that allowed the litter to even stay and not be carted off to the pound. Mom suggested that Bob misses Chirpy, but can't bring himself to admit it, having grown up with the constant propaganda of 'pets are destructive'. I think Mom's right.

Meanwhile, back to the job hunt, wondering how we'll handle going to DC for the tryouts, and filing for the nth time to get Maria on Medicaid. They accepted Anne and Rachel, but not her. HUH? The one who needs it worst? I dropped off a "Health-Sparing Medication" form at the county office on the 31st, and you think I'd have dropped off a fox in the henhouse. Tomorrow Maria and I go visit the office of a professional pit bull retained by Brandywine Hospital to expedite these matters. Let's go kick some ***!

And yes, Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

Catchin' up on the ol' blog

I finished the Certified Medical Administrative Assistant course April 3 - got 99 out of 100 on the exam. The certificate is in the mail. (Technically, I still have to take the Basic MS Excel class I missed February 24 because I was running a 102° fever with the bug going around. I'm scheduled for May 22 - too far out - but I'm noted to be contacted for a cancellation. I've checked out a book on MS Office from the library.)

The young woman in our class who is turning her life around, and was so anxious over being able to pass at all, got a 96. Shrieks, tears, laughter, and pictures all around with the instructors. Which reminds me, I need to email her the Student Profile for Career Search, since I don't know if she got one. She left before I did on Friday.

I applied to a library-secreterial position at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Coatesville. Its main building looks like a knockoff of Independence Hall sitting on the crest of the hill overlooking Coatesville on the north. I got a NIce Turn Down email sounding like the position was open to the public only to be fishing for any veterans out there who weren't IN the hospital. C'est la vie. I haven't heard from my Office of Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor lately, so I think he's fuming over it. :)

Michigan State got to the finals, just to be stomped flat by University of North Carolina. Wait till next year, Nikki. People here in the Philly area aren't too happy either. UNC defeated Villanova before taking on State. Villanova is a Catholic university about 35 miles east on US 30 from where I live, and Bob's cousin Jerry is an alumnus. He must have gone there on his father's sweat at Lukens Steel, and ROTC, because after that he went to Nam...... and back, fortunately.

The Jeopardy tryouts will be held at the St. Regis Hotel in DC, at 9am. ZZZZZZ. Their cheapest room is $400/night, we can't afford to stay there. Separate beds in sex-segregated dormitories at the American Youth Hostel are about $30 each per night. Looks like we may not be able to avoid just driving down (115 miles) and/or staying at a Motel 6, 8, whatever, near the terminus of the Washington Metro and commuting in. Who wants to park in the capital of confusion?? It was a lot easier auditioning in Culver City on the Jeopardy soundstage. Stay tuned.

And ONE MORE TIME: Thomas, email your father or get a cheap phone card if you can't get your cellphone to hold a charge. I believe your sisters have no reason to lie to me when they say they've heard from you..... but your dad wants proof and he won't get off my back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jeopardy tryouts, round 8

I just got a return email announcing the Jeopardy tryouts in Washington DC, for those would-be contestants who passed the online test in January. I hope Dad's birthday, May 28, is good luck.

I passed this test in Culver City, in person, 6 times. Is the eighth time the charm? Of course we could use the money!