I'm Back!!

Hi All!! It's been a very long time since I blogged. After my last blog, I just needed a break. That was the hardest few weeks of my entire life as well as my family's and I was emotionally spent. Of course we know now it all turned out fantastic and our little Graci is almost a YEAR old!!! She's a scrappy little thing! Nothing will ever get in her way, if she sees it and she wants it, she'll get it! I love you Bean!!!



A few weeks ago I checked out a couple of antique stores in my neighborhood and found 2 fantastic items! The first is an antique glass top small table that I'm able to display some of my favorite possessions. Bibles that were owned by my Grandparents as well as my Dad. A bible with a metal engraved cover that was my Great Grandfathers and was part of my Great Aunt Borgie's personal items. It's all in Norwegian. A bible with a metal cover that my Grandpa Bendickson carried while he was in the War. He carried it in his left front pocket, over his heart as a shield. Aunt Borgie's 'War Ration' stamps, a doily and a spoon from Norway. I'm sure I will find other trinkets to put in there, but for now, it's perfect!




My second find was an old 8 pane window. Yep, a window! I bought it, took it home, sanded and stained it and it now hangs on my wall and is framing 8 of my photos I've taken of flowers. It's awesome!!

My friend Jeff told me that I amaze him with my mad crafting skills! But really, I come by my artsy, crafty self naturally. My Grandma Bendickson was a painter. She painted some of the most beautiful paintings and I am lucky enough to own two. She gave me my first one when I turned 21. It is a painting of a Cockatiel that I admired in her home for as long as I could remember. In addition to my artist Grandma, my parents were always creating something when I was growing up. If they weren't Macrameing a wall hanging or curtains, remodeling our rooms they were painting the rooms in our house some crazy color or pattern. Ok, maybe it was Mom who painted the crazy patterns but she always roped Dad into helping! I remember Mom recovering several pieces of furniture as well. Including the chairs to my dinning room table that I use to this day. I believe the table, chairs and buffet (my sister has that) were given to my parents for a wedding present 45 years ago. And finally, photography. I love to take pictures! Some are really good and my sister says I should try to sell them. I'm looking into that now, but I give this artsy gene credit to my Uncle Steve (Mom's brother). From the time I was a little girl, I can remember admiring my Uncle Steve's photos that he'd taken. They were so beautiful. Anytime I take a beautiful picture, I say a little thank you to Uncle Steve!! ;-) I leave you with one of my favorite flower pictures I took last fall.

Cracked but not broken..

In 6 days from today, my sweet little 4 month old niece will go into surgery to fix her cracked, not broken heart. She was born with a hole in her heart. Today we know she actually has 3 holes, 1 big and 2 smaller ones. Our family, both immediate and extended, and our friends have so much love for this little girl. It's amazing to me the pure joy one little face can bring someone. My sister and I both each had one child before little Bean came along, Levi(21)and Denika. Bean is the name I chose for Graci Nicole before she was born. I needed a nickname for her since I've called her sister Peanut since the day she was born 12 1/2 years ago. Denika (AKA Peanut) recently told me that I could call her Peanut forever, she would never get tired of it. I hope Bean allows the same for her. We'll see.... I know that I asked that everyone but my Grandma to stop calling me Neecie when I was about Denika's age. Grandma was always allowed. :-)

Everyone who knows me, knows that I am more of a spiritual person, not a religious one. I used to tell a co-worker that I was on dial up and she was on direct connect when it came to God. We always got a good laugh out of that one! Then when my cousin Brenda wrote on my sisters Facebook that she'd light a candle for Graci.. I thought what a great idea. What if anyone who wanted to would light a candle and say a little something to help Graci and the doctors and our family get through what will probably be the toughest 4-6 hours we will ever have to live through.. How awesome would that be? Since Graci will be in surgery beginning 7/16/09 @ 0630, and that's pretty early for most, so my thought is how about the night before the surgery. At a time that most people are home.. 8pm.

So, if you're home on Wednesday July 15th @ 8pm and would like to light a candle for Graci and our family, please do so. I am leaving for California on Tuesday and packed in my suitcase is a special candle that I will be lighting.

Thanks for all your love and support..

Love, Denise

In a blink of an eye, your world can change forever..

I learned last night from a good friend that her 6(now 7)year old daughter was injured by a riding lawn mower that her husband was driving. Her leg is severely damaged and she will have a long road ahead of her to be able to regain any use of it. I cannot imaging the pain both her and her dad are going through. It makes my heart ache. So if you're reading this, please take these words from her dad with you..

"This horrible accident has changed many rules in our home and I hope it has opened the eyes, ears, and mind of everyone that has heard about it. All it takes is a knock at the door, a phone ringing, a dog barking, another child yelling, or a quick look at a calendar to realize that tomorrow is forever changed and yesterday will never be the same."

Well said Tony..

Mothers Day Weekend Recap....

My Mothers Day weekend was AWESOME despite it's rocky start Friday night.

Around 2045 on Friday night, Chris noticed DaiZee Mae acting very strangely. Her heart was racing, she was twitching and she wasn't able to walk very well. We rushed her to the ER. By the time we got there she was wild eyed and drooling in addition to the twitching. They immediately gave her an IV with meds to try to stop the seizing (we called it twitching). The Vet came in to talk to us and told us she had been poisoned by something, it was definitely a toxin in her system. They wanted to keep her for 48 hours, give her IV meds, pump her stomach, do blood tests and finally give her charcoal for her stomach to bind what ever was left and she'd void it later. All that for the bargain price of $1300! Once I picked myself up off the floor, I asked for plan B. The Vet left and came back with another "estimate". This time is was $475 - $675. She whittled it down to a 12-24 hour stay, cut out the blood tests and the pumping of her stomach. And I asked for Plan C.. This time she came back with we could treat her as an Outpatient.. She gave her mass fluids, subcutaneously, gave her some charcoal and some meds for us to take home to stop the seizures. Once I received the bill of $192.88, I noticed at the top that they had written off $170.00 for charity care. I guess my tears got to them.. And I thank them so much! Little DaiZee is doing just fine! She made it through the night and only had to take 1/4 of a pill for seizures and by Sunday was back to normal. We really don't know what she ate. We do not have any pesticides or fertilizer at our house because we have pets. The Vet said it could have been a rodent that had been poisoned by someone in the neighborhood and DaiZee could have chewed on it. We are very happy she is OK!
On Saturday EARLY I drove to Seattle. I had drill this weekend with my Sea Cadets and we were at the Maritime Festival down on the waterfront.



The tug boat races were very cool! The day was beautiful! When I got home, I was in bed and asleep by 2000! I slept until 0700 Mothers Day morning..
On Mothers Day, Chris and I went to Ft. Steilacoom for the 160th Anniversary. We watched a Civil War reenactment and toured some of the old houses on the fort.



Then it was off to lunch with my BOY!
I met Levi at Los Cabos in Covington. We enjoyed a Margarita together! He's been 21 since last October and this is the first drink we've had together! He gave me an Orchid and bought my lunch. We had a really great visit! I love having an adult child! Even if it makes me OLD! I did remind him that I was his age when I had him..




My weekend was good...

"You're right, I'm not sorry."

I wrote this letter today.. Thought I'd share..

Mocha Stop
430 E 25th St.
Ste 36
Tacoma, WA.
98241

22 Apr 2009

Re: Poor Customer Service

Dear Sir or Ma’am,

On 21 Apr 09, I bought a Mocha at your place of business at about 0640. I paid $4.20 for the coffee plus I put a tip in the tip jar. I received my coffee, said thank you and reached for a few napkins. I wrapped them around my coffee and turned to walk away. After a few steps I heard, “WOW. That’s a lot of napkins.” I turned to see who the cashier (curly brown hair) was talking to and it was me. Shocked I looked at the napkins in my hand and counted 4. I looked at her and said, “Yes, 4” and I walked out the door to the train.

Today I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and try to make a joke about the number of napkins I took yesterday. When I arrived I ordered my coffee and the same cashier told me it was $4.20. While I was paying I said smiling, “I promise not to take as many napkins as I did yesterday.” She looked up and said, “Thank you, we like to conserve around here.” I told her it was 4 napkins, still smiling, “You’re going to call me out over 4 napkins?” I was completely shocked by her snide comments. She said, “We’re a family owned business and we like to conserve. I’m sorry you don’t agree.” I said, “It was rude.” She replied, “I’m sorry if you don’t agree, you don’t think we should conserve?” I said, “It was 4 napkins.” and I said, “You’re not sorry.” She replied, “You’re right, I’m not sorry.” I explained she has just lost a customer and I would let my friends know as well. The Barista who was making my coffee (she has always been very polite) asked that this not escalate and I told her I would buy coffee from her anytime, but not this other girl, she’s rude. The Barista tried to defend her saying she was actually really nice. Maybe she is, but she didn’t show it today. I have no problem with you regulating the number of napkins each customer gets, they do cost money, albeit, not much. Maybe you should keep them behind the counter and the Barista can give each customer one.

I am disappointed because I prefer to support the “Mom and Pop” types of businesses but I refuse to be treated like she treated me. Again I say.. this is over 4 napkins! She would rather lose a customer over 4 napkins! My coffee costs $4.20. How much did those 4 napkins cost?

EDUCATE THIS!

A very good friend of mine posted a blog and I want you all to read it..

Shari's Bloggity

Thanks!

"Thanks for the Cool Stuff BITCHES!"

To get to the 3rd floor here in my office building, you must swipe your ID Badge in the appropriate spot in the elevator and if you pass the test, you are able to push the button to get to this floor. If your badge does not grant you access, you can do any number of things to gain access. For example, you can get on the elevator when someone else is coming up.. You can ask the lobby front desk person to “swipe you up”. You can obtain a “Visitors” badge or you can simply call Shari @ 49247 and she’ll come save you! I’ve used the last option on several occasions! My point here is that yes, technically, our floor is a “secure” floor, but security is pretty non existent if you ask me..

This leads me to the reason I am blogging today. I was in our break room this morning and noticed this sign…




My first, second and third reaction to this sign was hysterical laughter! …….. “our own “SECURED” floor.” REALLY? Secured? AHAHAHAHHAHA! Oh, sorry.. I just broke out in laughter again.. My favorite line is, “We assume we can use this space and feel that our belongings are safe, but now we’re victims of thief!” I’m thinking maybe in addition to the posters Campbell’s Soup bowl, the thief also stole their grammar checker! “we’re now victims of thief”… Of a thief.. or thieves maybe. Don’t get me wrong, I do not condone anyone taking someone else’s dinnerware, but it is a public room that several hundred staff and visitors use. You shouldn’t leave your precious items in there if you want to keep them forever and ever. The odds are not in your favor!

I could go to Goodwill and purchase a few of the items listed and randomly place them on my co-workers desks.. Now that would be FUNNY! And lastly, the note at the bottom encourages anyone who was a victim to add their missing items to the list. A co-worker said, “I should add my youth.. I’m sure I left it next to the soup bowl.” BAHA!

…. Mad props go out to Jeff! He inspired the title of this blog! YAY!