Let's Discuss Books

I have a little down time in between bus routes and so I'm getting some reading done. I'm ashamed to say it took me about six months to read a very entertaining book by Isabelle Allende called "Zorro". It was very good but I just didn't seem to sit and read much, and basically not at all during the summer. When I went in for jury duty a couple of weeks ago, I had just finished "Zorro" so took along the book "The Falls" by Joyce Carol Oates. WOW! what a great book. JCO is from the western New York area so many of her books take place in this area, with liberal use of artistic licenses moving towns to areas that suit her story a bit better. I just find it fun being able to picture the locations in her novels.

"The Falls" begins in the early 1950's and ends in the late 1970's. Her characters are always so complex, some lovable, some not so nice but even when you think some characters are completely nuts, you still care about them. This book includes the story of "Love Canal" and the ramifications of it, even if they didn't live there. The main thing I have learned is that JCO's writing isn't always happy. She will take twists and turns that make me sad and then I worry if it will be resolved in the end. Of course my favorite part of reading her is that Nicki reads her also and then we can discuss the book later. I'll be borrowing Nicki's copy of "Blonde" when I'm visiting next week. It's the story of Marilyn Monroe.

My favorite author is John Irving. I have read all his books, some of them three times. My favorites are "Hotel New Hampshire", "The World According to Garp" and "A Prayer for Owen Meany". Here are copies of them. I especially like the small hardback version of Garp because of the picture of JI on the cover.

I could go on for hours talking about Irving books. Let me just say that his characters are incredible. I fall in love with all of them, caring about them and sometimes having my heart broken when their lives fall apart. The main thing about JI is that no matter how tough things get in his stories, you can always see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how bad things get, they will get better. This is something I have had to accept in my life and I'm sure that what I have read in these books has taught me to look forward not backward.

Nicki says that sometimes she doesn't like to borrow my copies of JI's books because of all the highlighting I've done in them. She tries not to think about why a phrase moved me. I will admit, some of them are pretty painful. Heck, sometimes I reread a book and wonder myself where I was in my head when I highlighted something!

This is my shelf with most of my JI books. I started out with paperback and have added hardback books when I had the money.

Here is my "library" and part of my skunk collection. I love to own my books. I cannot bring myself to borrow books from the Library. I want to own them so I can take as much time or a little time reading as time allows. I also like to write in my books. When taking world literature from Dan Scanlon in high school, he taught me how to fill the margins with comments and to highlight phrases that struck me as important. When you read my JI books, you can tell how many times I have read them as I use a different color highlighter every time I read them. Each time I read them I get something different out of them because of where I am in my life.

JI's last book was called "Until I Find You" which has a main character of a church organist how has a full body suit of tattoos. I had always wanted to honor my love of JI with a tattoo based on his books. For years I struggled with what to get. When this book came out, I took one look at the cover and there it was! As with anything JI, I took this to mean that I'm still looking for myself as well as that special someone that I can have in my life that will love and understand me, accepting me for who I am and not trying to mold me into who they think I should be to suit their needs. When you come right down to it, that was something I had to work out for myself, accepting myself for who I am and loving myself. I think that I can honestly say that I'm finally getting to that point in my life. As I've said before "What a long strange journey it has been" phrased another way "WOW! What a ride it's been!"

I have nothing to say

Oh you! Stop laughing. I know you all think I always have something to say, but I'm just tired and want to have some supper! Hey, I told you to stop laughing.

Jury Duty

I've been called for Jury Duty every so many years ever since the early 1970's. At first I was able to get out of it because "I am a woman" and a new mother so didn't have to serve. Then the kids got older and being a woman wasn't an excuse any longer and I thought maybe serving on a jury would be interesting. Everytime I was called, I never had to appear as my number was too high so I was never needed. There was the one time I had to appear in Marilla Town Court for a criminal matter, but with only a 6 person jury needed, I didn't make the cut. I was called once for supreme court which I think would have been really interesting, but ended up never having to show up then either. So the other day I pick up my mail and there is another notice to appear and this time my number is pretty low. Monday I drove into downtown Buffalo, parked in a parking ramp and walked over to the court which wasn't open yet. It really didn't take me long to get into the city at all. I guess that also speaks to how few people head into Buffalo these days. First they called people for civil court and I wasn't selected. Then they called for a criminal trial and I wasn't called. Another criminal trial was called for Judge Penny Wolfgang and I thought, now there's a trial I would like to see as I have seen Judge Wolfgang on TV a number of times, but I wasn't called. Then another couple of groups were called and they were dismissed. We should have been the next group, but we were told to go to lunch and be back by 1:45PM. I stayed there reading my book and listening to music. Everyone came back and then suddenly they called another group. I figured my time was over, it was time to head for home. 36 of us gathered in one room and we were told we were to report the next day at 9AM as Judge Wolfgang needed more jurors. I can't say I was disappointed, maybe I would finally get to serve and in a court that should be interesting. The next day our group of 36 showed up again along with some of the jurors chosen the day before. About 10AM they made the announcement that we could go home as the defendent has taken a plea deal so they no longer needed us. I called Bev and we went to lunch and a few minutes of shopping then I went back to work at school. That night I had the news on and heard a report about a criminal taking a plea deal early that morning and realized it was the case I would have been going too. Turned out to be a 1st degree murder case of a man who broke into an older lady's home and killed her with a screwdriver and hammer. WOW, what a case that could have been! Here is the link to an article in the Buffalo News about the case http://buffalonews.com/editorial/20060920/9038646.asp

So now I don't have to serve for another 8 years. At least I came close this time.

Getting Ready for Winter

I hate to think about it but winter will be here before you know it. The Farmer's Almanac is predicting a harsh and below normal cold winter. Do we believe them? I guess we will just deal with whatever comes our way. I am starting to get ready though because Cory and Krista split some firewood today. I called the young man that usually stacks for me but this year he doesn't have time to help me out. So tonight I went out and moved a little bit of it. Between my back arthritis and sore legs, I figure it should take me about 6 months to move all the wood. Hmm, that's all fall and winter! Looks like I'll be moving all this wood twice, once into semi-neat piles and then into the house! This is five trailer loads in the backyard.

This is my pathetic start at stacking the wood. As you can see, Isabeau is NO help at all. Little did I know she was going to take a supervisory position.

Have I changed?

Today I drove 31 kids, boys and girls to a cross country invitational meet. I knew it was going to be a fairly long day so I had my lunch, a book to finish reading plus a new book to start, my iPod and my knitting.

I knew both the male coaches, one being a neighbor and the other had been my son's special ed teacher back when Cory was in 8th grade. Over the years I had taken this coach and his team to out of town/overnight track meets so I've known Tom for a quite a while. Today after everyone else got off the bus, Tom says to me, "you know, you just never change". I laughed and said, "oh yes, I've changed a lot". With that Tom was off the bus and on to his coaching duties.

Now of course, you know me, I got thinking about Tom's comment and how I think I've changed. And I have come to this conclusion. I'm a much happier person then what I use to be. This is sort of an odd thing to say really, but in many ways I find I'm a much more serious person and I feel like I don't laugh as much as I use to and yet I truly do believe I'm a happier person and more content with my life.

The other night I was sitting on the couch watching TV and I started thinking how I was sort of lonely. Then I thought back on my past and remembered all the nights I was lonely. I suddenly realized that yes, I'm lonely some nights but what I find now is that at least I'm not miserable! I also say there is a big difference between being alone and being lonely. Most nights I'm just alone, it's just an occasional night that I'm lonely and I know that emotion is just a normal thing and nothing to worry about.

So have I changed? Maybe not to most people, but I know myself that I have changed and I like the change. More serious? More responsible? Better suited to face life's challenges? More determined? More tired? Much more Happy? Yep, I'm that and much more. I'm well on my way to becoming the person I never had the chance to be. I even think that I've earned the tattoo I've been planning for the last couple years, I think I'm finally ready!!

(someday, maybe I'll explain why the mermaid is such an important image to me)

Four Bitchin' Babes

I'm just playing with the new beta version of Blogger and finally I'm able to load the picture from the Four Bitchin' Babes CD that I wrote about a while ago. I can't wait to get more of their CDs. I love how they use the cover art so much like one of the Beatles' albums. Another of the CDs is called Gabby Road and looks like the cover from Abby Road. I still highly recommend their music!

Pictures loaded at Last!

I did go on the ride Sunday to Kinusa Dam in PA. I met up with the WOW group and told them if I just disappeared, not to worry, I was just heading out on my own. I didn't care for the route they had picked and then the leader didn't seem to know where they were going, so when they pulled off the road, I passed them, went up to a scenic overlook I knew about just a few hundred yards up the road and let them turn around and leave. I ended up meeting a sweetest old couple sitting in their car eating breakfast. Turns out she had been a widow for 27 yrs when they started dating. This scenic overlook was where she liked to pray, so he started going there with her. He proposed to her there and they were married there and now eat breakfast there 3 or 4 times a week.

After leaving them, I headed to my more scenic route to Kinsua Dam. What a beautiful ride. The leaves haven't changed yet so traffic was very light. I reached the first dam overlook, stopped to take pictures, called Nicki to talk for a while, watched the WOW group ride by, then finally got back on the bike and headed down to the next overlook right next to the dam. Didn't find the WOW group there but did talk to a couple guys on bikes from OH. Next it was down to the parking area below the dam, no WOW group there either. I guess their idea of riding someplace is to ride by it and look without stopping. Oh well, their lose.

You can't get close to the bottom of the dam any longer, I assume because of security since 911. I decided to head back the same way I traveled down to Kinsua so I could take the pic below which is along RT 59, the route the dam is on. I took about 3 dozen pics during this stop. This one I'm going to put in my Venturer's calender contest.
These other pics were ones I wanted to post with an earlier post. Below is Cory and Mason on the bulldozer
The pool all winterized. I heard today that the farmers almanac is saying it's going to be a harsh and cold winter.
This is my new iPod player thingie in my car. I'll be trying it out in my bus also.
Cory's bonfire. The pic doesn't really show the scope of this fire, it's probably 20 feet across

Life is Amazing

I am constantly amazed with life. When I have thought that life was at it's darkest, suddenly the sun breaks through and I can see the light. Of course the darkest days were when I was adjusting to the thought of being divorced. Since I got over those fears, most of my dark clouds seemed to be about money and yet like the old saying, when a door closes, someone opens a window. Whether you think it's God or just the fates, I have been so blessed in the last couple of years.

A couple of years ago when I really didn't know how I was going to make it, a job jumped right into my lap and I became the secretary at the church where I play the organ during the winter. Besides the added money, it was just good for me to be busy with a new job. I had a lot to learn but I also had a lot to offer the job.

Things went pretty good for a while then once again my finances became a little scary. I didn't know what I was going to do about some bills when suddenly I get a phone call from a guy I know telling me about a job opening that I might want to look into. Sure enough, about a month later I got my job at Aspire of WNY. This job was really a step up for me as far a money but also was a management position.

Soon the job at church was beginning to suffer so in fairness to the church and to myself, I gave that job up. Then the job of head bus driver was coming up. I applied for the job and with my added skills that I had gained at Aspire, I thought I had a pretty good shot at it. I had a good interview then it was going to be a few weeks before a choice was announced. I start crunching numbers and looking at my lifestyle and I realized that I didn't want to be head bus driver. I would be giving up too much that I had worked for in my life, believe if or not. The day before the decision was going to be made, I sent a letter saying without a better rate of pay, I was no longer interested in the position. I had a couple phone calls after that and it became pretty clear that more money would not be offered. These phone calls also made it fairly clear that I was going to be offered the job. It was almost a relief to not have to think about learning a new job.

Then another phone call came from my boss from my Aspire job. He was resigning his position at Aspire to move into a position with a school district. Suddenly I wondered if I was still needed at Aspire. A few days later I happened to stop over to the office (I had been off there all week because of school opening). I was standing outside talking to Marge, the office manager, when Percy, the head of our building stuck his head out the door asking me to step into his office for a talk. Within a few minutes I was seated at the table in Percy's office and we were talking about my future with Aspire. I guess everyone was wondering if I knew that Jim was going to resign, which of course I didn't know, but also wasn't surprised. After talking to Percy for a while, we agreed to meet on Monday to discuss my future at Aspire. On Monday when we finally sat down and talked, I was offered to expand my hours to 20 per week spread out over 5 days. So far this is temporary until a new fleet safety manager is hired but it also could become permanent. So this means I won't be able to do any mid day runs at school, but Aspire pays me well enough to make up for that. At school I was offered and accepted a temporary late run while it's regular driver recovers from surgery, probably after November. It happens to be a very long run, many times taking over 2 hours to complete so this makes up for me losing extra runs. So at the present, I'm working about 50 hours per week and I'm still planning on doing my organist gig this winter.

So once again my finances are looking a bit brighter. I'm putting extra money into my motorcycle payments with plans of paying off the bike at least four months early. Then it's time to increase my payments on my home equity and start saving up for a new roof. I'm still conflicted about whether to take advantage of the tax incentive for the new windows this year or just save up to have more of a cushion in my bank account. I have also started a 403(B) account at Aspire which I think shows my committment to continue working there.

It's rather difficult for me to think back a couple of years when I didn't know if I was going to make it to finding out I can get by without out of a lot of things that I thought were important and to learn what is truly important and of course the most important things in life have no cost.

Yes indeed, life is truly amazing.

Weekend

The more I work, the more I want to just veg on weekends. But the more I work, the more I need to get things done around the house on weekends!

With the late run I'm doing at school this year for the next three months at least, I'm now working from 6:30AM until about 6:30PM and if I get more hours at Aspire, that will be 12 hour days, five days a week. At my age, I wonder how long I can keep it up! It sure does feel good to be back to work at school and driving. I have great routes this year again including my new afternoon primary run which has a very special student on it, namely my grandson Mason!

So you can see I've got a pretty wild schedule. Friday afternoon I was able to spend some time with my friend Bev as we went shopping at BJ's and then out to lunch for Chinese buffet, yummy. I did find a pretty neat gadget for my Ipod that I just hook up to my cigarette lighter, then I can simply place the iPod in it, tune the FM station in that I've selected on my iPod and we have tunes. This gizmo also charges the iPod so will be great for long trips and short trips as well.

Mason came over Friday as usual to spend the night with his Dad and me. We had pizza and wings for dinner. I had been mowing the lawn, a 3-4 hour project if I do part of my Mom's lawn and also I keep adding more lawn now that I have a repaired and fully functional riding mower. Mason fell asleep while waiting for the pizza/wings to be delivered. Friday was his first full day of school so he was pretty tuckered out.

Saturday morning, Cory had to go to work for a couple hours. Mason decided he just wanted Fruit Loops for breakfast so I didn't have to do the blueberry pancake thing as usual. I was trying to get some laundry done and cutting up a pineapple and make a banana bread to use up some old over-ripe bananas. Mason decided he would like to help, adding ingredients and peeling the bananas. Only a half of a banana ended up on the floor, but now that my house is remodeled, the floor is much safer to eat off, so we just washed the banana off. Mason thought that was pretty funny, I just thought it was practical. Cory called and asked if I would bring Mason over to his jobsite so they could spend more time together. After a quick drive, Mason was up in a bulldozer riding around with Dad and I went home to get more mowing done.

Saturday night was Cory's big annual bonfire. After some sprinkles and light showers the evening cleared but was fairly cold and damp. This was the first time I've been home for one of Cory's big fires and I even walked back to take some pics. I was in bed by midnight with plans of riding today with the local Women On Wheels (r) chapter. I'm still debating if I want to do that or just spend more time at home mowing and getting a few more things done around the house. It's a cloudy morning and rather cool so I'm not really in the mood for a big ride. Another thought is to just meet up with the group at their first stop and just riding to Springville with them to meet up with other members of the group. Then I could head home and get more done. This would be a two hour ride at least. Of course the big decision is always should I take the FJR or the Venture. I spent a number of hours loading another 600 tunes on my iPod yesterday so I know I have more good music to listen to no matter what I decide.

The pool is closed now so it's really beginning to feel and look like fall. The nights are getting darker so much quicker now. Cory is starting to cut up the firewood and will be splitting it soon.

Once again I'm not able to upload the pics. I'll try to post them later. Drats!

I'm Tired

I'm just a little too tired to update the blog. Hopefully this weekend I'll have time. I'm back to work with school starting on Wednesday with a very hectic schedule and also doing a late run which turns out to pay great but it really does go late. Also some very interesting things happening at Aspire after talking to my boss today when I stopped in for a few minutes. We are meeting on Monday to talk about my future at Aspire. It looks like maybe I'll be getting busier. Watch this space for more rambling.

Don't feel like Writing, HoHum

Between the weather and my aching back, I haven't felt like writing much lately. But at least this morning my back if finally feeling like it's really mending and the sky is a bit brighter today. I haven't had so many days to just veg in such a long time. I'm beginning to think that veggie isn't very good for me. I finished up my last knitting project, the lawn is all mowed, the house is semi-clean and don't have that much laundry to do, TV is mostly repeats and made all my phone calls. What is a girl to do?

Tuesday life should return to a more normal pace with school starting this week. Tuesday will be safety meetings at school and driving to get familiar with new routes. This past week I did a couple of nights work with Kindergarten orientation at two of our three primary schools. This year was lots of fun thanks to my grandson Mason attending school this year. I'm even going to be his afternoon bus driver! I can't wait to be able to see him just about every day. Here is a picture of Mason with his Mom and Dad at orientation. Cory and Mason's Mom are divorced but get along pretty well so they can share in these special times together as a family. I also was able to give Mason his first ride on a school bus. I made them sit in the front seat, more or less as a joke as Cory spent so much time in the front seat of his bus, being the trouble maker that he was.

Next week I will return to my other job at Aspire of WNY. This past Wednesday I learned that my boss had quit his job to move on to a new job at Williamsville Central School. So now I'm wondering what will happen for me at Aspire. Now that Jim is gone, will they decide I'm not needed or will they decide I can get more hours now, would they even consider me for the job as Safety Manager? Once again my options seem to be staring me straight in the face and asking me, "Ok, how are you going to handle what life is throwing at you now?" Should I reconsider taking the head bus driver job at school instead? What I have decided for now it just to take a wait and see attitude and let what happens, happen. Some people might even say that I'm learning patience with this attitude. Nah, I'm just as anxious as ever to see what life is going to hand me next!