Curtin Call

Ouch. This has been a tough morning.

As I drove out to Route 93 this morning, my cell phone rang, alerting me of a roll over accident. I turned on a traffic report and learned that the highway was shut down as a med-flight helicopter was being brought in. I turned around and came to work on my “backup” route. When I arrived, I learned that the lone occupant of the vehicle died as a result of the single car accident.

I also learned of a fire in nearby Woburn last night that claimed the life of a 21 year old woman. Neighbors tried unsuccessfully to rescue the screaming woman.

Its two days before Thanksgiving. Losing a loved one at anytime is difficult but I know from experience that it is even more difficult to lose someone just before a holiday, as everyone around you is rejoicing as they should be doing and all you can do is cry.

So during your celebrations this year, please take a moment and be extra thankful for what and who you have in your lives. Maybe say an extra prayer for the families that lost their loved ones this morning and for those who tried to come to their rescue but were unsuccessful, for reasons outside of their control.

At that, I wish you all a very happy – and safe – Thanksgiving holiday!

Because I just had to share this:

I just had someone call me to tell me that he wants to earn a phD in Physics from our University using distance education because he doesn’t want to attend – we won’t mention get accepted to – classes because people who go to class get germs and diseases and then die so what good would it be to come here because getting a phD in Physics isn’t going to allow him to prevent getting a disease and dying and then having the degree would be useless.

No. It’s not a full moon. I checked. Yesterday. It wasn’t much better than today.

Oh, yes. Thank goodness its Friday! This has been one long week. It does not seem possible that it was actually only a four day week. I’m pooped.

It also does not seem possible that next week is Thanksgiving already. Though I am very, very much looking forward to both the holiday and the extended weekend! I need some down time in a big way.

I realized last night that we haven’t even been in our new home for three months. It feels like forever. That’s probably because it seems we’ve gone non-stop ever since we got there. It really is so much fun! At the old house, I’d get home and just chill. At this house, when I get home, I want to do “something” so its gotten so that I’m not relaxing like I used to and I think its caught up to me. Yes, relaxing next Thursday is going to be wonderful!

What have we accomplished, you ask? Most credit, of course, goes to Brian since his day ends much earlier than mine but I do pitch in when I can. Our laundry area now has a fresh coat of paint on the ceiling and walls, a new tile floor, new baseboard and, of course, a new washer and dryer! These were much needed because what was left were old. Very old.

We also ordered, picked up and assembled our bar stools for the kitchen island. We ended up paying a little more than we had hoped but these will last a long time. I was going to invest in less expensive ones figuring if they lasted a couple years, that would be good enough but it became very clear that you get what you pay for.

Today, Brian will be picking up the louver doors for the laundry area. We did this at the last house, too, and I see many a night ahead of us staining and urethaning same – a long, tedious task but the end results are worth it.

Me and my fairy blog mother are also trying to figure out why I don’t seem to be able to post photos here so, stay tuned – with a little fairy dust sprinkling over my computer, maybe you’ll actually get to see some photos of this home soon!

So, that’s my life in a nutshell. What have you been up to?

… is among us!

We have a holiday on Monday, to celebrate Veteran’s Day. I am very, very thankful to all of our Veterans – young and old. For allowing me to have the family and friends that I have today, I thank you. For the beautiful home that I live in today, I thank you. For the job that I hold today, I thank you. For all you’ve done to allow me the freedoms I enjoy today, I thank you. Without you, I shudder to think what my life might be. Thank you.

The week after that is Thanksgiving week. That just does not seem possible. In addition to all those things I mention above to be thankful to our Vets for, I thank my friends for being there when I laugh and cry, I thank my family for the same and for always being so supportive of me. I thank my coworkers for making my days pleasurable (even if I do complain now and again) and I thank them for helping me learn all the new things that I learn everyday in this place.

I am especially thankful to and for my husband of 20 years (tomorrow). That also does not seem possible. As expected, there have been ups and downs (don’t believe anyone that tells you they have a marriage without!) but he has always been there for me, through good times and in bad, in sickness and in health… just like he said he would be 20 years ago! He’ll never read this but I’m sending him a cyber “Thank you. Happy Anniversary. I love you!” all at once.

Ah, then there’s Christmas and New Years. We found out today that the Institute will be closed on both Mondays (12/24 and 12/31) as the holidays fall on Tuesdays so there’s just one more thing for me to be thankful for!

Phew! Life is good. I am happy.

So, tell me, what are you thankful for?

Halloween was awesome! Though we did not go through the six bags of candy our neighbor had suggested we would, I would have to say we had at least 70 kids! I haven’t seen 70 kids trick or treating since I was a kid! It was amazing. Hubby’s pretty sure I was having more fun than they were!

It also brought back memories of my childhood! I so clearly remember how anxious I would always be on Halloween. I could not wait to get out there trick or treating. Course, mom insisted that we had to wait for dad to get home from work, relax a bit, have dinner and then we could go out. Oh, how I hated waiting!

Then I remember when I was a little older and I was going trick or treating at my friend Andrea’s house WITHOUT parents. Joan was going with us, too, and a really funny thing happened. We were good kids – maybe a bit mischievous – but good kids overall. Joan decided that she was going to be “cool” on that Halloween and she took an egg (yes, one) out of her refrigerator and hid it in her coat pocket before her parents drove her over. Well, she was so excited about our all going trick or treating together that, when she got there, she whipped her jacket onto the radiator cover in the hallway and guess what!?!?!?!? Said egg smashed inside her pocket. Can you say “bagged”??? LOL!

Then there’s Halloween eve twenty seven years ago when hubby and I were set up on a blind date. Can you guess where we went? A haunted house! Of course! To this day we still joke that we’re still blind and haunted!

So now its all over but I still have lots of candy to share with folks so come on by and say “hello” over some yummy chocolate!