Thursday, April 16, 2009

Weird Dream

Well, I have to record last night's sleep adventures because they were so weird. My mom's birthday is today so maybe I had her on my mind...(I usually don't need her birthday to do that!). I used to write dreams I remembered in a journal, but it's getting harder to write longhand for very long (my fingers & hand fall asleep or get pins & needles), and I figured this might be a long entry, so I decided to share it with all you lovely folks. You're welcome to try to translate it, but I'm usually good at doing that and this one leaves me stumped.

Anyway, there were two distinct parts of it:

In the first, I was living in mega-surburbia. Big house filled with family (yes, even Mom) and lots of neighbors who kept dropping by! One of the neighbors brought some very large (desk pad sized) black & white photos to me--they were all pictures of my father and the ships he was stationed on in the 40s and 50s. There were group shots and shots of him on the quay next to the ship. These neighbors were all dropping in unexpectedly, bringing food, drinks, gifts, and setting up events. In one scene, I remember going into my great room and finding a stray game table (you know, the octagonal, leather-topped ones). I thought, "oh! Mom must be having a card party later today and someone brought this by in preparation." In another, someone came over with some kind of drink they wanted us to try. It was sticky red and yellow in layers! I also remember walking from one house to another. Karma (my dog) was with me cavorting around my legs as we walked through a muddy lane.

In the second part, I was in the hospital having some type of procedure done. And (here's the kicker!), Tom Cruise was my boyfriend! He was also in the hospital...lying on the gurney next to me in a hospital gown with his butt hanging out! Now, if that isn't weird enough, I figured out that my mom (!) had set up the procedure for me and that after they did one fairly inocuous treatment, they had me waiting around for something else that would help my "arthritis medicine do a better job" of working. I kept asking questions about what it was...and finally found out that it was a hysterectomy! So, I gave them all a piece of my mind and told them they were going to do no such thing and got off the gurney and was trying to find my clothes so I could go home. Somehow during this phase, I lost Tom. He was going through something that made him sad, and I was trying to fix it (no surprise there) by talking to him, but then when I figured out the thing about me, he just faded away (maybe has something to do with me taking care of myself?). I remember thinking about the health insurance and wondering who, if anyone had gotten approval from the insurance company. At any rate, I certainly wasn't going to allow any such thing, and somehow that's about all I remember. It was a very busy place...people walking by, my family in and out, tons of nurses. I remember one who came in and clipped her mini Ipod to the side of the bed so she could listen to her music while she worked on me.

Wow. It's always nice to see Mom in dreams. Tom Cruise was a surprise. I'm not especially fond of him, I usually lust after the Tom Selleck types. Of course, an added very sick piece of this is that my dad's name was Tom...but I'm not about to go there!


Whew. I feel better now.
(BTW: Happy Birthday, Mom!!! [and to my very much alive-and-kicking friend, and soul sister, Donna!])

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

April Fools, CPAs, FICO scores, Shanghai, slot machines, and roses

April Fools Day. Boy, I must be old. Not one person even attempted to fool me...worse, I didn't try to fool anyone either!

Had to send a certified letter today to a small company that says I owe them money! They sent me a letter telling me I owe for a service (aerating my lawn) that was done in Feb 2008, and that my account is in "serious default." I have a cancelled check showing that I paid the bill. I have called and emailed them for the last 3 or 4 days, and they haven't bothered to call me back. So, today, I sent the certified letter. It's stuff like this that can ruin a girl's
FICO scores!

I also sent some signed forms back to my CPA (
Ahlers & Stoll, a great firm in Houston) so that they could send in my e-file to the IRS and to AH-NOLD. I'm getting a bit of green back from both. Good thing. I've managed to deplete my savings this year and I think I'll be able to put a little back into the bank. No, I'm not talking about my mutual funds in my IRAs and 401Ks...my story is just like yours...depressing!

If I'm careful, maybe I can gift myself with a few of those greenbacks to gamble! Yup. When I retire (probably when I'm 80 if the economy doesn't turn around soon), I plan to be one of those old women in gaudy polyester sitting at a slot machine putting in my pennies! Of course, I won't be smoking and the machines don't take pennies these days, but you get the idea. It's definitely something I can strive for! :-)

I'm here at my HP cube killing time because I have a conference call scheduled with my little team in Shanghai at 6:30 pm. 6:30 pm Wednesday my time is 9:30 am Thursday for them. When we set up the meetings, it was only 5:30 pm for me, but when we started DST, the call changed to an hour later. Did you know that all of China is on the same time??? Their country is about as wide as the U.S., yet they all live on Beijing time. The rest of the country just deals with sunrise and sunset at weird times. Can you imagine that for us? If we set our clocks on Washington D.C. time, those of us in California would have sunrise at 3 am! Nuff said.

It's definitely spring here and I have the roses to prove it! I'm not sure if it's the food I gave them or the additional rain we've had, but I'm getting some killer roses! A couple are as big as my head! (not really, but almost!) Anyway, I've decided that this year, I'm going to cut them and bring them inside more often than I usually do. Someone told me that they bloom more when you cut them. I enjoy seeing them out in my yard, but maybe, if I plan it right, I can have both! If you're a rose fiend, check out this place online or in Texas:
The Antique Rose Emporium . They're wonderful!

And with that bit of potpourri, I bid you au revoir!



Linda O

Linda O
Glamorous Me