CoCo's Corner

It's Christmas time.  I haven't been feeling it so much this year.  It's been like that for the last few years.  It's just kind of work.  I think it's more work than I want to put in. Decorating, shopping, buying, wrapping, more decorating, cards, more shopping, mailing, delivering, driving, cooking, more wrapping, baking, more decorating.   Just work.  Once it's all done, especially the decorating, I'm good.  I get up in the morning, I turn on my tree, it's on until I go to bed. Once the presents are bought, it's a good feeling - there is  nothing more I love than giving a gift.  I love giving a gift a Brazilian more times more than I like receiving a gift.   Once the presents are wrapped, I love the sight of them.  Once the stockings are hung, I'm very excited that they are there.  I think it's just the effort it takes to get to that point.  It's almost exhausting.  You throw in there your  normal life and it's just overwhelming

Our time in NewYork.  We got engaged there.  He couldn't even keep that a secret, he said to me before we left, "you know I'm going to propose to you there, right?" Last night we went to Ted's Civil Air Patrol Christmas Party.  I had a lot of memories flood back yesterday, as it was ten years ago at that very party that I decided that this was a man I could really love and spend more time with - maybe even spend my life with. When my kids dad died, I found myself single.  I grew to love my single life.  I didn't have to answer to anyone - other than to tell my kids I'll be here or I'll be there.  My kids were my world and we enjoyed doing a lot of things together.  I had a lot of people telling me that I needed to move on - what they didn't realize was that I had moved on - and I enjoyed my new single lifestyle. Unfortunately, in the meantime, I had been dating someone from my past and really stuck as to why this relationship was not the

Because of my job, I get to enjoy getting on any plane that Delta flies as long as there is a seat available to me.  That also extends to my mother.  When I got the job, I told her I would take her on a trip.  She has been asking me where and when we are going pretty much since the day I started working.  Because the summer was so hectic, I kept putting her off.  Well, a couple of weeks ago I called and asked her if she would like to go to Las Vegas for an overnighter.  Just the two of us.  We had planned on going on November 4, but we ended up going this Tuesday because the hotel rates were about $100 cheaper than they were last week. She has been a little excited about this trip.  She has called me almost every day to ask me if we were still going and what time I would pick her up.  Now, in her defense, she is really forgetful these days - being 86 years old will do that to you.  She probably doesn't remember calling me.  One day she called me while I was at work, and when I wa

The trees are all orange and yellow.  The weather changing from hot to cool and crisp.  The season from summer to fall and then to winter.  The holidays are starting to get closer.  Things change - it's the world, it's life. This year, my life has changed immensely.  I await the birth of my eighth grandchild, a beautiful baby girl who will arrive in a couple of weeks.  I went from working forty exhausting hours a week at the airline gates to sixteen hours working in the lobby.  A drastic change for me, but an invited one. Semi-retirement; a concept I didn't think was possible, but after figuring things out - it's perfect for me; 16 to 24 hours a week means more time with family.  I'm very excited to finish up this month in the lobby and go back to the gates that I love. I'm getting older.  Ted is getting older.  But, that isn't stopping us.  We're bound and determined to spend our lives doing whatever we can to spend these years together.  We'r

AKA:  Portland for Lunch Ted and I made a tradition of going to see the colors - the Autumn colors up in the mountains here in beautiful Utah.  We would leave in the morning and go see the beauty that surrounds us.  This year, we changed it up a bit. This last week I was in training all week for the job.  Ted and I talked that if I had Sunday off, we would try and go somewhere. Thursday, we decided Portland.  Leave late Friday night and come home Saturday evening, leaving Portland in the afternoon.  We got us listed on the flights we wanted, set up the rental car and found a hotel for the night. I managed to get us on the guest list for the Sky Club.  Made a new friend during the class and he got us in the club.  It's where those frequent fliers, important people, celebrities and such go to relax, chat, eat free food and drink free alcohol and other beverages.  There are also showers available and places to set up your computers.  Our flight there was delayed about a half h

My mom is 86 years old.  She doesn't get around like she used to.  Her memory is fading and she is getting forgetful. She had asked me to take her to a party that she enjoys going to.  Her friends up in Heber, Utah have a party every September, where they play old country songs and have a sing along.  It's not really my thing, but, I want her to have days where she enjoys herself.  Ted came along.  It was frustrating as we got closer to the party, as she always forgets where the turn off is. After driving around for a bit, and a phone call, we finally found our way.  By that point, my nerves were a little on edge - I was already a bit cranky before the journey even started. We finally got her settled into her party.  Ted and I took a seat outside in the beautiful scenery by the mountains.  The idea of being in that little room had my claustrophobia on high alert.  I took a walk around the yard for a bit, to try and calm my nerves - and that's when it struck me.  The s

What is a season?  Is it just those thirteen weeks or 91 1/4 days that make up a spring, summer, fall or winter?  Summer seems to be from Memorial Day to Labor Day, from the last day of school to the first day of school.  Though the official day is toward the end of September and we can have warm temperatures well into October, summer is ending. I can say that this summer has turned my world upside down.  In good ways - but, in some not so good ways.  I have spent this summer in the most amazing place in the world.  I have loved pretty much every second, every minute, every hour, every day of working at the airport.  I am seeing people come and go.  I have seen the good and the bad.  I've seen the normal and the strange.   I have had an amazing summer - even though I feel as though I have not had a summer.  I have hardly seen my family.  My husband and I are virtual strangers.  I hope to have time to make up for that, on both counts during the next few weeks.  My last day as

The airport is an amazing place to be.  People watching there is extraordinary type of fun.  Thursdays, the "working girls" head to Vegas.  Families galore heading to John Wayne Airport or Orlando Airport.  Businessmen, hoping to get upgraded to first class, heading to their next appointment, meeting or wherever they go - and they go so often, they get those upgrades quite a bit. I think the thing that excites me the most is the awe that people have when they get here and see the mountains.  And they are probably just seeing that kind of beauty for the very first time.  It's something that we residents take for granted for the most part.  It's something we see every day.  But, when you see the excitement that comes from people arriving here - they stand their entire families in front of the windows so they can take a picture with the mountains as the background, you realize that we get to see this every day.  They stand and take photo after photo - just to get that

I just took a little jaunt, a little trip.  I have an extra day off this week, because someone I worked for last week is paying me back this week.  I decided to take advantage and use my flight benefits - mostly so I could just say that I did it.  No real other reason. As far as the trip goes, I did nothing.  Absolutely NOTHING.  I didn't even leave the hotel.  I ordered pizza in from a local pizzeria that delivered.  I went to the pool for about an hour.  That was the extent of it.  Otherwise, I just relaxed.  I read, I played on my iPad, I watched HGTV (I don't have cable television).  I arrived around noon yesterday and left there at 10:00 this morning. When I fly, I usually take a book and read.  Or a magazine.  Something to occupy my time.  Even when I'm flying with someone I know, I don't usually chat with them.  So, when a stranger is sitting next to me, I generally keep to myself and read.  I'm just not someone who wants or likes to chat with people in

My backyard has always been BLAH.  No life, no nothing.  The grass that is back there is incredibly uncomfortable to walk on.  I have a deck, which we have put a porch swing.  We really haven't been able to enjoy backyard barbecues or anything like that. I have talked for the last couple of years, I have talked about wanting to replace the horrible grass and put in a patio.  Just some cement that we can enjoy having family barbecues and the like.  Problem was, there was a cost factor.  Well, when I bid my old life adieu, I had 350 hours in vacation time to be paid out.  Figuring I needed to save those dollars to support myself in the fashion I had become accustomed to, I socked it away to use at a later date.  Well, the lucky thing was that my retirement came into play before I even put a dent in the other.  So, I decided to treat myself and the old hubby to a fixer upper moment.  Here is the chronological transformation: Getting ready to cut through the grass and get rid

Tomorrow marks two months from my official retirement from my old life.  I've now been working at my new job for about six weeks.  Here are some things I've found in that time: I love watching people.  I always knew that, but, the airport is the most amazing place to watch people, to see how people act, etc.   I have no idea how to recognize celebrities.  I don't know how many times I've had someone say, "do you know who that was?" and not realize who they are.  The only one I actually recognized I didn't recognize their face, I recognized their name as they were boarding. I was spoiled for 32 years.   I had a job that was sitting down - hence my Chelsea dubbed, "big, big butt" was born.  I am now on my feet and running and walking and standing and sweating.  It's awesome!!  But, I'm pretty much exhausted all of the time. Now I'm working at a place where you eat lunch and you are all together.  So seeing how differently people

I stopped at the bank on my way home from work today.  The lines were long - I am guessing that those people who get paid the 5th were all lined up there.  There is a Deseret Industries behind the bank.  Just as I pulled around the corner after finishing at the bank I noticed a Vespa type scooter came speeding out of the thrift store parking lot.  As I saw him cross in front of me, I noticed that he had a lamp sitting in front of him.  Not only that, he had a mirror and a framed picture of some type under his arm. He stopped at one of the busiest streets in our town, it's five lanes across, and it was the busiest time of the day.  Cars were coming one after the other.  I watched him dart across the first two lanes and sit in the middle lane.  I turned right from there and don't know if this freaky game of frogger was going to end well.  Hopefully, Mr. Dumb or Dumber made it all the way across and home.  I hope his redecorating goes well.

Don't keep going if you might get grossed out by my ugly toe. What it looked like when it happened.  Bloody ugly toe. Back in December, I was reaching in my pantry and reached behind a jar of peanut butter.  It was about four and a half feet up.  I knocked it over and it toppled down and landed on the big toe on my right foot.  I said some pretty colorful words and the longer I stood there, the more it started to just hurt - and it hurt bad. I started to just sob.  Ted and KayeLynn just kept trying to figure out how to deal with me. Once the tears stopped, I just started to shake and shake.  Ted told me I was in a form of shock, because the pain had been so intense.  I thought the toe was broken, but it wasn't.  It bled a little bit - over the next couple of days.  The day I did this was the day I had just had a pedicure - so I just left the polish on and left the toe alone. One month later Ugly blister! When I went four weeks later for a new pedicure, the polish

Today marks one month since I left my old life behind and moved onward to a new one.  As I've posted before, it was not an easy decision - and I honestly kept thinking that I wouldn't be where I am today when I walked away.  I kept thinking I would wake up and the nightmare would be done.  But, that didn't happen. I spent the first week very angry.  And when I realized that my life was moving in a positive direction and not a negative one - I moved on. The last month has been a whirlwind.  I started projects, none of which are finished.  I went on an amazing road trip - that had to be cut short.  I started a new job.  That is a pretty full month. The new job started out pretty shaky at first - well, shaky for about two days. The intimidation of the reality had me a little freaked out.  I am the oldest of the new hires.  That came with perks, too - as being oldest made me first in seniority.  But, for the next three months, I don't have weekends off - I have days o