CoCo's Corner

I went to my doctor yesterday.  It was all the usual.  Blood pressure is not ideal - STRESS.  We'll check your cholesterol because you stopped taking your cholesterol medication - STRESS.  Diet Coke doesn't help you lose weight - you wanna see STRESS, take that away from me. I've gained a thousand pounds - STRESS.  It sucks to be a stress eater.  But, I am.  My year started with Ted being in ICU for two weeks - during that two weeks, I didn't eat at all well - STRESS.  When he got home, he was 35 pounds lighter.  Then he did really well and went down fifteen more pounds.  I think most of that has returned - a true testament to our unhealthy lifestyle.  Couch potato lifestyle.   My mom got really sick and we didn't know if she was going to make it much longer - STRESS.  New job - STRESS.  Kids - STRESS. I told the doctor that I had been looking at LapBand surgical sites, I just couldn't take it.  He told me that...

Christmas just plain sucked this year.  Here are the reasons why: Oven didn't work - either it took twice as long to bake something or it burned something.  I felt like dinner just wasn't great, good or so-so. My son had to work until 6:00 on Christmas Eve - so he and his little family missed our Christmas dinner celebration. Right after they got here - my poor Princess Poop, who was suddenly acting tired and listless - started to vomit.  So my daughter, son-in-law and two grandbabies ended up going home before opening presents. I didn't take one freaking photograph!!! I worked on Christmas - and within an hour of being there I stabbed myself in the finger and it took forever to stop the bleeding.   An hour after that, I broke a cap on my tooth which now has a jagged edge and is shredding my tongue. I know - there are only five bullets.  But, they were big, freaking mortar sized bullets.  I spent much of Christmas Eve evening and Christmas morning...

I am sitting in my hotel room.  I go home tomorrow.  It's been a long and frigid week.  It's supposed to start icing and raining and snowing right before we go home tomorrow. If you pay attention, I have a husband who, with maybe one exception, says, "Happy (insert number here) monthaversary" on the twelfth of every month.  He's already texted both of my phones today. Sitting in my room, I hear a knock.  I think it's Lisa because it's almost time to go to our closing reception - because tomorrow our class is over and we literally leave class at 3:00 and get on a shuttle to the airport right after. There is a nice gentleman from the desk there, he is holding something for me and says they are for me.  I don't believe him, I'm figuring he is at the wrong room.  He tells me it's from my husband The card got lost - it said "Happy 103rd monthaversary".  I'm just bawlin'.  Love you honey bunny, you're the beste...

I have made a friend.  A soul sister for life.  I am so excited by this connection.  She is one of the most interesting and lovely people I have ever met and I hope we have a long and enduring friendship.  She is simply amazing!!  I 100% adore  her and if she'll have me, I'll be her friend forever.  We connected back in October, but, she and I still feel a crazy, awesome connection.  She is one of the most endearing and genuine people I know.  She puts everyone in front of herself.  She is a supervisor of a 911 center in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  She has worked there for 21 years.  She is loved by her staff.  She recently had a career disappointment when she wasn't chosen to be the Assistant Director.   She and I just spent about two hours talking about her opportunities and drinking margaritas - some of the best margaritas I've ever had by the way.   Have I told you she is an amazing person??   ...

I had so many plans this week and I hardly did anything I planned.  And I'm ok with that!!! Saturday - November 23:  My Thanksgiving.  I know most people celebrated on November 28, but, we had a large family Thanksgiving before.  Raja and Rustie couldn't come back down for the actual holiday and Brandon was probably going to have to work.  So - we just decided that this was our Thanksgiving. Sunday - November 24:  Stayed home and worked on home stuff.  Was worn out from the previous day. Monday - November 25:  Ted, Crystal and Zachary went to see Dr. Who at the theatre.  It was a special edition, in 3D.  It was crazy.  We all met for dinner and then they went to the movie and Chelsea, KayeLynn and I all came back to the house and played games and watched television. Tuesday - November 26:  Crystal had class today, the kids got out of school early, so I went and picked them up.  We went to Grandma Great's house and ...

I give up.  I'm too busy.  I just can't keep up - - - - - - so here goes the rest of the month in one whole post. I'm thankful for (in no particular order): pedicures fall leaves wind that rakes the leaves to the neighbors yard Chewy Red Hots (ooooh yum) road trips plane trips Nestle Sugar Free Chocolate Milk Powder  pictures - there needs to be more pictures a warm house my bed in the igloo reading glasses - I have seven pairs family time grandbabies - young and older education honeymoons my honey bunny my kids who are awesome adults being busy feelings of accomplishment hot baths home cooked meals writing hair color - but, I earned every one of those gray hairs it's covering amazing stepdaughters sporty car a challenging, new job sitting down, putting my head back, my feet up and saying AAAAHHHHHH!! That's not all!! But, highlights are amazing!!

Today - I'm thankful for a girls getaway.  But, I'm not thankful for the snow that ha settled.  Hopefully it gets better before the road trip.

I'm thankful I remembered my sister's birthday yesterday and actually called and wished her a happy one ON her birthday.  There is always a first time in history for something!!

Not sure I can do this another thirty days.  I'm going to try. Today - I'm thankful for karma.  Nuff said.

This has been kind of a rough weekend.  I've not felt well.  Halloween party on Saturday was fun, but, that was when I started to not feel great.  While I was gone a couple of weeks ago, when I left, KayeLynn had a horrible virus that made it so she had to quit her first job and is now relying on her second job.  By the end of the week, Ted had it.  It reacted differently on both of them - but, now I've got it.  I'm going to say again, because this feels just like the same thing I had twice back in July. Yesterday, Ted wanted to go to Idaho to see his daughter - because we didn't know when we could get back there.  She lives in Glenn's Ferry with her boyfriend and two boys.  She moved there shortly after the newest kiddo, Cash William, was born back in April.  Glenn's Ferry is one of those little towns that you forget exist.  There are no McDonalds.  There are no Subways.  There is literally no fast food in the area.  Th...

Ted and I tried to start a tradition of going to look at the Autumn colors every year.  It started two years ago - and we missed last year.  Tradition isn't going very well - but, this year we managed to go.  This year we went on the Alpine Loop.  It's a scenic drive through Utah County and I have to say we couldn't have gone to a more lovely area.  So damned beautiful up there. Let me describe it a bit.  It starts in Alpine and goes by the Timpanogas Cave and keeps going up and up.  The summit is over 8,000 feet.  It's a VERY narrow two-laned road that in most places the speed limit is 20 miles per hour.  It has several pull outs so that you can stop and look at the scenery.  We ended at Sundance Resort where enjoyed an hour-long round trip ride on the ski lift and went way up the mountain and then turned around and came back.  It was AMAZING!!!  On the way up, the sun beat down on us and caused a little sunburn.  On th...

A community lost a hero today.  He was a silent hero - I didn't know him until today and it was too late.  I look at the picture of him, his wife and his little boy that one of the news agencies posted and it breaks my heart.  The little boy, who looks to be about two years old, will grow and slowly, but surely, forget pretty much everything he knows about his father.  The only things that will strike his memory are the things that his mother and others who loved his father tell him.  Sgt. Derek Johnson didn't deserve to be gunned down in his car as he drove to help someone in need. Rest In Peace Sgt. Derek Johnson May you watch over your little boy from the heavens above I've worked in public safety a very long time.  Not many have surpassed the amount of years I've put in - only a few have hit the milestone that I'm at now.  Nobody in this world, myself included, knows what it is to walk in the shoes of a police officer or a firefighter. ...

Ted and I usually go out on Saturday and browse thrift shops,yard sales and bargain stores.  That's our routine.  Usually, we don't find too much stuff - but, sometimes do. Recently, we decided to add a new kind of shopping to our routines.  We started looking at estate sales.  The true definition of an estate sale is to sale things belonging to a deceased person, or possibly a person who has had to leave their home for a nursing home or assisted living center,  and the proceeds go to the deceased's estate or to support them in their new environment - or whomever they decide to leave their proceeds to. I went with Ted's mom to a few back in Grand Junction and thought they were much better than yard sales.  Yard sales tend to be one person selling their junk to people looking for more junk.  Don't get me wrong.  Some yard sales have some great stuff - alot, not so much.  Honestly, I rarely buy anything, because I have enough stuff - I just l...

Last night, Ted and I went to the Bees baseball game.  It wasn't what we planned to do.  We talked about Bingo and I suggested a movie.  Then my BFF said that she had a couple of leftover tickets to the game and I decided to steal them from her.  It was the PMAA (Police Mutual Aid Association) night there - and it's quite the fun night to go. Ted's re-enactment of the scene I can honestly say - I didn't pay much attention, I was having too much fun playing with Kenzi (BFFs granddaughter) and watching people.  Saw some pretty astonishing and crazy things - because I paid more attention to that than I did anything else. About the only time I would pay much attention would be when people would be going, "heads up" "look out" "WHOOOAAAA".   Somewhere around the middle of the game, that is the noise I heard, so I looked up and watched the ball going right over my head.  No big deal, went right over my head and to the upper deck.  I went ...

Ted:  (makes some smart ass comment) Me:    (gives him a "talk to the hand" gesture) Ted:  You are not in your 30's.  You cannot do that. Me:    I may not be in my 30's literally, but I feel  like I am, so there!!!! Ya know - sometimes, I just wanna give him a "talk to the hand" gesture square up to his face.

Isn't that a sweet name?   I had to warm up to it, but, now it's an amazing name. Last night, I arrived in Logan to spend the night with my son and his bride because their daughter was to be born today.  When I arrived, I was told a story.  My daughter-in-law's father works with a lot of Chinese people.  The Chinese believe in numbers and were very excited that the baby was to be born on 8/8.  Eight is a very lucky number in the Chinese culture and means good fortune. Last nights slumber was horrible.  It was extremely hot and the air conditioner was not working.  Everyone was on edge, because they had to be at the hospital at 5:30 in the morning.  My son was up and down all night, trying to figure out how to make it cooler.  I lay on the couch upstairs, not an ounce of covers on me, and tried to catch a few ZZZs.  Other than a short moment of sleep, I was pretty much up until 3:00 in the morning.  I was sleeping pretty good, wi...

Yesterday was an amazingly crazy, busy, hectic, happy day. I got home a little after 7:00 p.m. from work on Thursday night and had to be back up and ready, raring and running at 7:00 a.m. Friday morning.   Yesterday was the opening ceremony for the opening of our new building  A building that for me and my work kids is still 58 days from really a reality.  However, it is beautiful.  The raising of the flag ceremony was yesterday morning and the ribbon cutting was in the afternoon - and in between it was run, run, run!!!  Once all the pomp and circumstance was done, my bossman, my princess and I were in our office to greet visitors and explain things about the office. When my princess and I arrived, we found our boss in a discussion with a gentleman.  Because this has to do with work, I am going to call him MM.  This was a very animated gentleman and he was busily describing things to my boss.  Let me describe him a bit - think Doc Brown from...

Ted and I went to the Murray Parade two days ago.  We got there early enough we got to watch the people running the 5K.  They went up and then they came back.  So, we got to watch every part of it, every person in it and all the different shapes, sizes, ages, generations, thins, chubbies, talls, shorts, youngsters, oldsters.  We watched people running, walking, riding in strollers, riding a Jazzie.  We saw Boba Fett running, we saw a ballerina with pink hair running.  Some people ran the entire way, some people walked the entire way. What it made me realize is as I watched the people go is, I wish I was in shape enough to do something like that. So, I sat there and commented continuously on how impressed I was with people who were actually doing it.  I watched people bigger than me doing it and they were actually running!!!!   Maybe not fast, maybe not continuously, but they were running.  I saw women with my same old "ghetto bootie" out ...

I've decided to add another facet to my rambling ways.  Interesting people.  I already posted about #1 and #2 back here:   Interesting people .  I didn't call them that, it was a rambling about not judging a book by it's cover.  But, I have decided that we let the world pass us by too much, we don't pay attention enough - I am probably just talking about myself, but, sometimes there are people you just notice. We went to the July 4th Parade in Murray, Utah yesterday.  I have been sick and I was still not feeling awesome, but my kiddos were in the parade and I won't miss anything that I have an opportunity to witness if it has something to do with any of my kiddos. We made our way to a spot and were lucky to find a nice spot to sit.  A while later, a man and a woman come and sit right next to us.  Ted, who everyone knows makes me insane, instantly starts giving them a bad time about sitting in front of the metal sign on the sidewalk and blah bl...

Ted and I are travelling again this weekend.  We leave Thursday to head to Kansas City, Missouri. On Friday, we drive down to Joplin, Missouri. Sunday, we head back to Kansas City for the night and leave VERY early Monday morning to come home.  We're going for Ted's 40th high school reunion.  He certainly robbed the cradle -   :). I am a planner.  I am an insane planner.  This trip has been planned for months - with the exception of the hotels.  We are actually spending one night with Ted's sister and her husband - the very first night.  The rest is in hotels.  Ted wanted to check with his contacts to see if we could get a discounted rate somewhere.  Which we were able to take advantage of for our time in Joplin.  I was insistent that we spend the night prior to leaving for home in a hotel.  His sister lives 45 minutes from the airport.  Our flight leaves at 6:00 in the morning.  I would rather spend that 45 minutes...

As I age, things are getting more and more jumbled.  I'm busier.  Ted is busy.  My kids are busy.  So, I truly appreciate when  I can get with my family and just spend time.  Spend time laughing, talking, visiting and remembering why we like each other. Because we are a family that have crazy schedules, we are celebrating Father's Day today - Saturday.  I always wish that my other girls were close by so we could truly spend time with each other - all of us. A lot has happened since the last one. Life is a crazy thing and you learn to appreciate every moment.  You never know how things can change.  It was Father's Day last year that Ted called his dad to wish him a Happy Father's Day.  He hung up the phone and said, "my dad is dying".  His Dad hardly had the strength to talk to him.  It was that night his mom had to call an ambulance to come and get him because he had collapsed in his chair.  He never went home again a...