I really dug re-reading this Book! This time around, I was surprised at how much I admired and related to Angie. I still think Hondo’s hot! There is a John Wayne movie totaled, Hondo. However, the Hondo in my mind is NOT John Wayne! It’s Bradley Cooper!
Yesterday, the GMFB hosts had a segment where they proposed a, “Super Bowl hangover.” That is EXACTLY what I’m feeling! I think it didn’t help that my Super Bowl shirt arrived yesterday. It was a Rams shirt! It actually was a royal blue T-shirt with yellow letters. It was a Todd Gurley Ii #30 shirt. I’ve said before that I still rock my Eagles Super Bowl Championship shirt but I can’t get behind the Gurley shirt. I don’t want to be reminded of that Super Bowl.
Yesterday, Kay talked about the NFL 100 Super Bowl commercial as being something that could be a, “pick me up” for her. That was my favorite commercial during the Super Bowl! I really liked seeing Barry Sanders in it!
Today, they still talked to a lot about the commercial and they had the interview of the girl in the red dress at the end of the commercial. I didn’t know who she was until I saw GMFB this morning. They still talked about the Patriots being the Super Bowl Champs and they talked about the Saints which kind of broke my heart a little bit. Mike and I wanted them to go all the way! (He was one of the EMTs who took me to the emergency room downtown from the emergency room in Dearborn).
I haven’t even talked about the halftime show yet! I’ve seen some of the reviews of it though and they weren’t so good but I believe I have a differing opinion. I think because I am older now, hangovers last a lot longer!
As I get my thoughts together and in the meantime, I will enjoy off-season GMFB which Peter Shager said was the best yesterday and I COMPLETELY agree with him! I also am returning my shirt. What a bummer! I have wanted a Todd Gurley Ii shirt ever since the team was in St. Louis for his awesome rookie year! I REALLY love that Jolly Rancher’s commercial!
My Mom and I used to listen to Christmas music as I got ready for the day with her help. The day after Christmas, I shared her playlist with her. I had made a playlist on Apple Music titled, “Mom/Abuela” and since it’s not Christmas anymore, we listen to that. I made that playlist a couple ofyears ago because I wanted to have a 65th birthday party for her. I made this playlist for her of all the songs that she likes and my brother, Ray, helped me with songs that she liked that were recorded before I was born. I added a few more contemporary songs as well.
My Mom ended up putting the kabaush on my plans for that party because she didn’t want to be the center of attention. In retrospect, that was good anyway because that was the year that I was fired. Anyway, I still have the playlist in my phone and so we listen to it as she helps me get ready for the day. She doesn’t like my music and sometimes we listen to my Dad’s playlist.
Today, she wanted to listen to her playlist. It’s comprised of songs I remember her singing with while she cleaned the house or hearing it when we drove in the green station wagon. She will constantly ask me if I know the song playing which I never do If it was a song suggested by my brother, Ray. She is astonished that I don’t know the artist and she will look it up. How can I know the artist’s name of a song that was released eight years before I was born?!
Today, my Mom told me about when I was born. She’s told me stories about this day many times and what I will always take away from it is the fact that she had me, “naturally.“.She has told me that if she had my oldest brother, “naturally”, he would be an ONLY child. She also would re-count how it was the first birth where my Dad would cut the cord and give the baby their first bath.
Today, she told me what my Dad said when I was born. My Mom has always told me that she pushed incorrectly when she gave birth to me and ended up popping all of the blood vessels in her face. She told me that my Dad was supposed to be her coach but he didn’t do ANY coaching!
One regret I have is never having had asked my Dad about what it was like. I never heard it from him, in his own words. My Mom told me today that once I came out, he sighed and said, “My family is complete.“ My Mom had her heart set on having a girl and kept trying to have one until her fifth pregnancy. She had resigned herself to having five boys and my Dad had already closed up shop. Because my Mom had pushed incorrectly, she said that she was so tired she couldn’t even lift up her arms. She always tells me that my Dad held me because she couldn’t.
For some reason, today, as she told me that my Dad replied to her inability to hold me by looking at me and telling me something along the lines of, “ it’s okay, honey, I got you.‘. I’ve heard that story so many times but today, as she spoke I could feel tears sting my eyes.
The playlist is about four hours long so I just put it on shuffle as we complete our morning routine. After a couple of weeks of listening to it, she noticed that I did not have any Stevie Wonder on the playlist. I told her that I could add some of his songs onto it. A few weeks ago, I put the “Stevie Wonder Essentials” playlist on my phone so she could choose the songs she wanted to have on her playlist. She wanted to add this song.
She has told me so many times at how excited she was to finally have a girl and the fact that she would change my outfit all of the time when I was a baby. She has told me that she smiled for three months after I was born. When she chose this song, I recognized it but the words she said next completely left me speechless! I said something about who he is singing about being lovely and then I kind of like this song and my Mom told me, “It’s you!”
Hearing those words really SHOCKED me! We didn’t hear that song today as she helped me get ready for the day but talking about my Dad and my birth made me thank of this song and miss him so much more!
I’ve always prided myself in recognizing the lead singer of songs that I hear. Today, Sean was flipping through the guide trying to find something to watch. He flips through that too quickly so I can never read anything. But today, I looked up just as the movie, 10 Things I Hate About You passed on the screen.
I have always had a thing for teeny-bopper, high school movies. I’m not sure why but, High School Musical really got to me! Historically, Sean knows my affinity for cheesy, high school movies and he allows me to watch them when they are on TV.
When I saw that movie name, I got excited and Sean changed the channel so we could watch the end of it. It was at my favorite part! I make it a point to tell Sean that the styles were beyond cool when I was in high school. The formal dress that is just a skirt and a top with your midriff showing?! COME ON!!! I’ve never had the abs to pull that off but I’ve let him know that getting your hair done in an updo with curls coming down was beyond cool!
He just lets me get lost in my high school years and he watches the movie with me. Toward the end of that movie, there was a song that played in the background and I didn’t know HOW I know that voice but I KNEW that voice! I was racking my brain trying to figure out how that song sounded familiar to me, or rather the singer‘s voice. Sean, being a millennial, looked it up on his phone. It was Sister Hazel. It was familiar to me because I saw them once in Chicago at the House of Blues!
That song didn’t get radio play but I remembered that voice and I’m glad that I know who it is brcause of Sean. I was never a big fan of them but I saw them in concert in Chicago and they put on a pretty good show!
I read this book for the first time in Dr. Watson‘s class during undergrad. I told him that I thought Hondo was, “hot.” He laughed and then we both went into class and he started it. He said, “Jen thinks Hondo’s hot, what do you think? I then had to defend my position that Hondo was, “hot.” It’s been so long that I’ve read this book that I’m going to read it again but I remember liking it. I wonder if I still think Hondo will be hot?!
I saw Mayte Garcia on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah speaking of this book a while ago and it interested me a lot! I’ve just finished this book and ABSOLUTELY loved it! I am no book reviewer but I definitely would recommend this one! It’s not until you get near to the end then you understand why I feel like a kindred spirit with her! I SO appreciated reading this one!!!
I started watching professional football when my son started playing football when he was seven. (2009) After watching the first couple games, it didn’t make sense to me! I was just seeing little kids bumping into each other for the whole game. When I was in high school, I knew all of the rules and positions. After watching the first Lions’ game, it all came back and made sense to me! Being from Dearborn, of course, my team is the Detroit Lions! I have not known a Lions’ team without Matthew Stafford!
Given that the Lions very rarely make it to the postseason, I am a post-season bandwagoner! I have become a HUGE football fan and when Sean was younger, he was OK with being a bandwagoner with me. Now, he just makes fun of me for buying a shirt. I choose my team on Wildcard Weekend and it will change once my desired team is eliminated. I usually make my choice after the NFC championship game.
There have been times when I go along with an AFC team, but I like to stick with in our conference. After the NFC championship game, I ordered my shirt to have it for Super Bowl Sunday. I ordered my shirt after the NFC championship game and because of the high demand, it was back ordered and shipped to my house two days later than was expected. I checked the tracking on the package and it is not due to get to my house until Wednesday! The Super Bowl is this Sunday!
I called customer service twice and was hoping to get some kind of discount because if my team loses, what is the point of having the shirt? I was told that since that item has already shipped, there is nothing they can do. That really stinks! I’ve thought about it and for the Super Bowl, I will just have to wear my GMFB shirt. I LOVE that shirt!!!
I’m not sure what I will do when my shirt comes. I ordered a really cool one but I’m not sure what to do if they lose. The second customer service representative I spoke with reiterated what the first representative told me. I can send back the package unopened with “Return to Sender” on it and get a full refund. I still rock my Eagles Super Bowl Champions shirt from last year so I’m not sure what I’m going to do!
When Sean was younger, I was still working and it was not a problem to get both of us a bandwagon shirt. But now, being on a fixed income, I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I am all in on my team for the Super Bowl and I guess the outcome will determine if I keep or send my shirt back.
Things to think about! Because I am usually a jinxer of the Super Bowl, (If you are a true football fan, you already know what kind of shirt I got!) I’m not going to say what kind of shirt I got until AFTER the Super Bowl! When I let you guys know if I send it back for a refund or not. It is really cool so regardless, maybe I’ll just keep it!
I have about 100 pages left in the book I am currently reading, The Most Beautiful, by Mayte Garcia. And I am ABSOLUTELY loving it! Growing up, my childhood friend and neighbor, Aseal, loved Prince! I liked his music but I really couldn’t get into it as much as she did! After reading this book, I appreciate that it is a love story between him and her and makes me become more intrigued with Prince’s music so
I thought to post the songs that she references in the book plus one more that makes me think of my days of student teaching and trying to get that song to play for my students when I taught English. I was never able to get it properly download it so I could not play it for my students but I listened to it again to jog my memory. I’m not even finish reading the book but I know I will have to download a lot of princes music on my Apple Music and I’ll make a playlist. It’s better late than never and this will be “the peanut that butter is my jelly.“
*NOTE: I don’t even eat peanut butter and jelly together in a sandwich but prince used to say that to Mayte so…
No, “Betcha By Golly Wow” video will not allow me to share it which is frustrating but she talks about that video too.
Student teaching:
My knee popped out again this morning. My eyes were open when it happened just like yesterday. Yesterday, I started thinking about the x-rays I had done of my right knee a few weekends ago. The x-ray I thought of was my second x-ray in the second emergency room that I was in on Saturday after my second ambulance ride. It was the first ambulance ride that I didn’t have any pants on for!
I make it a point to remember everyone’s name if I’m going to speak of them in my blog so I think my Porter was named Sergei who took me for my second x-ray at Henry Ford Hospital downtown this time. I thought about this x-ray because for the past 19 years, I haven’t really ever spoken about this, at least with an x-ray technician! Sergei (I think that’s what his name was) took me into the room and a young woman got me ready for the x-rays.
She asked me if I had any metal in my knee. I gave her this standard answer just like I give a list of surgeries that I’ve had and when I’ve had them. I don’t think I got her name but I told her that I had metal buttons in my right knee and I told her that it was orthopedic hardware so it was OK to x-ray.
Once she took the pictures, the same pictures I took at the Dearborn emergency room she came out from behind the glass and asked me when I got what I got in my knee. I kind of laughed and told her that they are metal buttons that I got from my ACL reconstruction. She told me that she had never seen them before in her life! She added that they DO look like buttons!
I have never really been asked about them before and I had my ACL reconstructed 19 years ago! I was asked about the hardware when my knee was first injured in September 2016. I told the doctor then that it was almost 17 years ago that my ACL was repaired. It really is mind-boggling that I am STILL having problems with my knee!
After the x-rays were finished and I was taken back to my waiting cubicle, the doctor came back in to talk to me about the x-rays and what her plans were for me. I can’t remember her name either but I know that she was really, super pregnant! My Mom asked when she was due and she answered that she was due in February. My Mom let her know that she had three of her kids in February. That’s 60%!
She told me that she was sending me home and my Mom let her know that I needed to go back home in an ambulance. That was my third ambulance ride of the day and the second one that I STILL didn’t have any pants on! I still don’t have any answers about what is happening to my knee and why it is happening! All I know is that it hurts! As I thought about my x-rays from that time in the emergency room, it made me wonder what these buttons look like in my knee.
My knee popped out this morning. Only, it was different than it always has been. Normally, my eyes are still closed and I’m just starting to become coherent when my knee will pop that causes my eyes to fly open at the exact moment that I am ripped from my slumber. That’s when I call myMom for help!
It is only after my Championship Saturday that I spent in two emergency rooms and after two x-rays and three ambulance rides that I know it is not my knee popping out. My knee joint is still intact when it feels like this. The x-rays showed that! What Dr. Washington told me was that it was a tendon or ligament that is stretching funny that causes my knee to hurt.
It no longer, “pups”out but rather just kind of, “slides” out of place but either way both hurt! A lot! For the rest of the day that my knee, “pops” out, it hurts! Just like right now! I’m trying to wrap my head around it STILL hurting after MORE than a year and a half removed from surgery!
I wonder if continued damage is being done to my knee?! Dr. Moore has been through all of my MRIs multiple times. Now, I am just waiting to get an appointment with Dr. Bitar. He isthe PMR (physical medicine and rehabilitation) doctor that Dr. Moore has referred me to. To me, it is further proof that my knee is broken! I need ongoing care!
My knee, “pops” out multiple times during each week but what makes this time different is that I was awake, my eyes were open, and I thought I had bypassed the pain! Not so much!