Best Comedian Ever? Can you decide?

Still reeling over Robin Williams' suicide. Wow! However, we have a big disagreement going around our house. I did post it on Facebook and the answers have varied so much, showing the diversity and tastes of my friends and colleagues.

Who is the best comedian of all times? It has narrowed down to two choices; Robin Williams or George Carlin?

The discussion started over dinner at Olive Garden last night and continued into the wee hours of the morning. We have been to tons of comedy shows in Chicago and Vegas, so it's really hard to pinpoint. I look back over the years, starting with Henny Youngman, Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Carol Burnett, Tim Conway and the list goes on and on.

Who would you choose, or can you?

Perspective

I am a very optimistic person. You can knock me down, but I will get right back up. However, I think this week really took some punches to me and until last night, I felt really down in the dumps.

 - My daughter was let go from her job all because of politics. Its a lesson learned. It wasn't a very good  job but at least it was something in today's economy. She was an assistant teacher at a Montessori school. She was on camera constantly because parents could watch the teachers' interactions with the students. Parents would sit and watch for hours. (which I couldn't understand. Wouldn't you want to interact with your child yourself?) However, the director would make all the decisions and the teachers would have to abide by them whether they agreed or not. This summer my daughter worked full time as a floater. Who ever needed the help, she had to go. Why they let her go? Because of her not being in a classroom full time, she was deemed inconsistent. She showed up for work early everyday and stayed late. Didn't matter. Boss wanted to save her own job and my daughter happened to be the scapegoat.

 - After living fifteen years in a neighborhood with nice neighbors, we have moved into a not so friendly one. I get it. Everyone has their own agenda and because it's so big, a lot of people don't want to be bothered. We have a few good eggs that wave when they drive by but that's all it is. A wave.
Now we have a new neighbor who is very inconsiderate of anyone but themselves. They have the biggest house in the subdivision and think they own the street. Unfortunately, they give the true meaning to the term, "The Ugly Texas American". Garish, over the top and loud.

 - Lack of communication. I feel frustrated when I send an email when something has been promised to me  and has not been; the email is ignored. I find it very unprofessional.

So, I was down. Saturday night, my husband took me along with his business partners, for dinner. In his office, there is a young lady in her thirties. Two years ago, they think she had a stroke. She was pregnant with her second child and her blood pressure shot up really high. This poor woman has been through hell and back trying to find out what is really wrong with her. It's like her sensory system is out of whack. She has been in constant therapy for two years; testing constantly for a cure. She has two young children under the age of five and is trying to work at least thirty hours a week. Her attitude is amazing! She is upbeat and positive and refuses to let this condition get her down.
Being with her, was my lesson learned. I can do it! I will take the high road!

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Always Something

I am writing this from my husband's man cave. We have Verizon Fios for our internet provider and for some reason, I have a very low signal from my office upstairs. Gosh, he's got a lot of clutter in here but I can't say anything because its his space, not mine!

It was an expensive week. My husband was in Chicago for the first part of the week. He just had to send pictures of my favorite Chicago restaurants where he ate. Portillos Hot Dogs (they have onion rings do die for) and Aurelios pizza. Really? My mouth watered with jealously!

I get up on Wednesday morning only to find the extension arm of our garage door opener ripped out of the garage door itself, narrowly missing my car and my daughter's car. Also, because of it, I couldn't manually open the garage door to get out. I am only five feet tall and barely weigh one hundred pounds.

I called for the repairman and he came around noon. My daughter had to call her boss to come get her for work, which she did. That meant I had to pick her up and spoiled her after work plans. Sorry! The repairman installed a metal plate in the garage door so the arm will not rip out again. He also pointed out that our rollers on the door, which are plastic, are cracking and needed to be replaced. $$$$

Then our pool guy came, only to point out that the axle and wheels had fallen off our Polaris and needed to be repaired. I swear animals party in our pool at night. This is the second time this year it's happened!!! Oh, by the way? More $$$$$!!

All of this happens when my husband is not home. I'm getting good at this repair stuff!

I worked really hard on my golf romance manuscript this week and am close to finishing it. Of course it's not ready to be sent to my new publisher, Blushing Books. Yes. Lazy Day Publishing has been acquired by Blushing Books. It's all seamless and Bethany, the owner, is very nice and I look forward to working with her and her staff!

They still have my fourth book, Not Just an Act and am awaiting a release date for it. I have outlined a next book, but put it to the side to finish the golf romance.

Today was yard work, where I mowed and my husband followed me with the trimmer and the hedger. I know my neighbors were probably not pleased because I started it around eight this morning. I know, but when the temps are 94F at nine in the morning and rising, I like to get it done while the temps are somewhat tolerable.

Hope to relax....yeah. I don't think the word relax is in my dictionary!

Not a Good Patient

I am not a patient person when it comes to not feeling well. That's why I try to eat the right foods and exercise for more than an hour a day, six days a week. I do take Sundays off. I run, do weights and swim. What can be more devastating than a sinus infection? My head feels twice it's size and my face just throbs with pain in addition to my ears being stuffed up.

I haven't had one in a long time; I'd say maybe eight years ago? It started before the week we were to go on vacation. I weathered it out because I didn't want to be taking antibiotics while traveling. I survived the plane ride in addition to the numerous roller coaster rides. I thought it more or less had disappeared.

Nope! This Monday, it started all over again when we had a cold front move through bringing much needed rain. The pain, not throbs, in my sinus cavity was unbearable. I finally broke down and called the doctor and he saw me on Friday. He confirmed my diagnosis and prescribed an antibiotic for me. I know the drug companies come out with many every year and I couldn't remember back eight years ago, what antibiotic I had taken. He wasn't my doctor back then, so he prescribed Ciproloxacin. Okay. He's the doctor and I respect him.

I'm allergic to aspirin, codeine and penicillin, in addition to having SVT, so it's safer to put me on a sulfur-based antibiotic which Cipro is. I read the instructions provided by CVS and it mostly focused on being careful to avoid calcium and dairy products. They provided a time schedule to take the pill two hours before consuming dairy products or six hours after. I took the first pill at five, two hours before dinner.

Then, I started to itch. What was that about? I reread the CVS warnings; didn't see anything. Then I read the side effects provided by the drug company. I was in trouble. This medication might cause rashes, severe cramping, changes in your heart rate, seizures, yeast infections and the list went on. I immediately called the pharmacist who advised me to discontinue the medication and call my doctor first thing Monday morning. In the mean time, eat cheese to diminish the effect of the medication.

I love cheese so not a problem. I continued the night and began to itch like crazy. I couldn't even sleep. Then came the irregular heart rate which I took a double dose of my beta blockers to get back into rhythm.

When I got out of bed at six the next morning, I thought I had this medication out of my system. Nope! I had the most severe leg cramps I've ever experienced, to the point I was in tears. I drank lots of water hoping to flush it out of my system. The rest of the day, I just spent sitting in my chair reading a book. I was so exhausted from the last twenty four hours I went to bed at eight pm.

You know? Maybe the sinus pain isn't as bad as I thought. I can do without the antibiotic!

Rough Week....

I have survived my first week back from vacation! Not only have I had a chance to work intently on my next manuscript, I have had a fight with my neighbor about them always parking in front of my mailbox so that I have to go to the post office to get my mail. I guess having a three car garage; two car driveway and a cul-de-sac in front of their house is not enough for them....

I've had a fight with our FSA insurance because they didn't feel the ER hospital bill I provided them for the $250.00 copay provided sufficient information for them to process the claim. They want an entire itemized bill with ALL charges on it. Really? BCBS of Illinois processed it without any problems. I have requested the bill which will take two weeks to process...

I have unanswered emails...regarding my projects...

I am a normally happy, positive person, but this week has tried my patience. I know there are more serious problems in the world and I should count my blessings. I keep saying prayers for everyone. On day at a time!

Vacation!!!

What a whirl of a vacation! I told you about the wedding but now I need to tell you about the rest of the vacation!

We went to Colonial Williamsburg, VA for the week. I just love Virginia. It is such a pretty state. The only relaxing day I had was on Tuesday when my husband played golf and I stayed behind and relaxed by the pool!

Let me preface by saying, my husband and I, when we first started dating were roller coaster junkies. We went on everything we could. One of the reasons we love Williamsburg is because of Busch Gardens. Starting in 1991, we went every year.

As we got older, we started going every other year. Why? We discovered Hawaii and didn't want to waste every vacation in Williamsburg. Did this stop us from roller coasters? Absolutely not. Where we lived in Pennsylvania, we were only an hour away from Hershey Park and Dorney Park.

Then we moved to Texas where there is Six Flags. Let me tell you, the thought of standing in long lines in the Texas heat didn't really appeal to us. It has been a while since I've been on a coaster. (2008 to be exact!) When we went to Disney World in March, I went on the Harry Potter coaster and got a little sick to my stomach.

This Williamsburg vacation had my husband really excited. He couldn't wait to go on the rides. Okay. I'm not old, but I'm no spring chicken either. With my SVT (fast heartbeat) acting up more often than I want it to, I was a little apprehensive about this journey.

Monday, we were at the park at 10. First couple of rides were just okay. By four, I kind of had had it. But I did learn something important; keep you head forward. That way, you don't bang your brain stem on the back of the seat. Learned that the hard way!

On Wednesday, we were back at it again. This time we got kicked out of the park due to some pretty bad storms. I found myself a little disappointed  because now I looked forward to the rides.

Thursday, in the rain, we did the old town tour. We just love the way Colonial Williamsburg has made a day so enjoyable with great actors and actresses portraying the trying times of that era.
We ate at one of the taverns and also snuck in a wine tour.

Friday? Back at the park. Finally, around 4 (only because we had to pack) my husband conceded he had had enough of the rides.

By the way, as an author, I had become pretty frustrated on my book I'm working on. My characters were not talking to me as I sat in front of my laptop; fingers poised on the keyboard...nothing. Who came to life while I was on these rides? My characters. I had to write things down when I got back to the condo. So, this week I look forward to fine tuning my story!

Dysfunctional Families

Went to a family wedding in New Jersey over the weekend. The last time I've been to a family wedding was when my nephew got married up in Canada three years ago. It was great to see everyone after six years of being in Texas. I know every family has their unique relationships and it gets kind of hard to explain it to people, so where do I begin?

This was my mother's side of the family. My mother was the youngest of five children; two brothers and two sisters. The brothers hated each other and never spoke again. The three sisters only spoke to my mother but not to each other. Lots of internal fights my mother didn't know about. It's the same way in my husbands family with the aunts and uncles. You know, 'back in 1953, she/he said this about me and I'll never forgive her/him'....and they don't!

The oldest, Grace, was much older than my mother. Grace married first and had a son, Paul and daughter, Grace. She later divorced, remarried and had a son, Robert.

Grace named my mother, Estelle, Grace's god mother. My mother was only three years old at the time. So the wedding was for young Grace's grandson, Andrew who is thirty two years old. Grace is ninety and refuses to admit it. She is as sharp as a tack and in great shape. She religiously walks five miles a day. Her husband, Chuck, is a deep sea diver. He finally gave it up three years ago at the young age of ninety.

Other than my sisters and their family, I don't really keep in touch with the rest of the families on my mother or my father's side. I have tried, but most of them want nothing to do with me or the rest are after a hidden agenda better left alone.

After listening to all of the family stories, I have tons of materials for upcoming books!