Two Weeks?!

I think this is the longest I've gone without an update. Lets see, since I wrote last...

Beth pulled a muscle in her back and couldn't walk upright for a full day. I put some Icy Hot on her back and when she woke up on day 2 she was much better. It was interesting to watch her go through that though. She's never pulled a muscle before and now she's always talking about "Bean careful when I bowl." "I took my shower and I was careful my back." I think middle age might be showing it's ugly head.

I've noticed Beth has become high maintenance lately. We're still dealing with the alopecia and I put cream on the bald spot on her head a few times a week, plus I'm brushing her hair everyday now. For many years, she put it in a tight ponytail (she'd spend her day pulling it tighter and tighter) but the doctor thinks that might be the cause of the alopecia. So to cover the bald spot I pull her bangs back into a small 'soft' ponytail and let the rest of her hair just hang down. Before I go anywhere, I have to make sure I've taken the time to brush her hair. That's something she's done for many years.

The cell phone situation. I think I told you that she's broken 2 phones now. She somehow broke the port where you plug in the charger so now I charge my phone, then we switch batteries and I charge mine again. I have to make sure my phone is fully charged at all times then right before she heads out the door we switch batteries. So I charge mine at home, in the car, at work...

Beth and her boyfriend broke up. But then got back together again. But maybe just as friends, not really sure. :)  I thought I heard Beth crying downstairs and went down to see. She was laying on her bed sobbing. I sat down next to her and asked her what was wrong. She lifted her head long enough to say, "N broke up with me!" Then continued sobbing. It broke my heart to see her like that! His mom and I had made plans to get the two of them together so I called her and asked if she thought it was still a good idea. She called N over and he told her that Beth is 2 years older, so he broke up. His mom laughed! "Oh N, that's no reason to break up! Do you still want to meet with her?" He said yes so their 'date' is still on. (It's planned for the first week in December. I promise to let you know how it goes!) A few days ago I got a text from Beth, "I'm back with N again."

All is right with the world. :)

Beth at around 15

Our Van - What A Headache

Diana reminded me today that I haven't updated the blog in a while. Things have been so busy lately, I've barely had time to think about it!

I got a letter in the mail today from a blogging friend. You know who you are! What a joy to open that mailbox and see an envelope with my name hand written on the front! So fun!! I couldn't wait to get in the house and open it!

Let's see, what else? We got our van back. It was found in another park & ride type of lot not too far from where we had left it. When Chuck and I pulled into the tow yard he noticed the slider door was open. "That's the way we found it" is what the guy at the tow yard told us. Whoever took it basically tore up the inside; opened the glove compartment and various little drawers and dumped everything out. They pulled the antenna off the inside front window (the one for our electric gauges, direction, temperature, etc.) dumped bins over, rolled down windows, just made a mess of things and then walked away from it.

I think I'm more angry at whoever runs the parking lot where it was found. It's one of these places where you park and pay. Our van was stolen on a Monday. Early Tuesday morning the attendant put a ticket on the windshield for non-payment. And they did again the next day and the next day... we got a total of 10 tickets!! Was the slider door open this whole time?? They could tell the van was trashed inside, why didn't they call after a day or two to report it?? Instead it sat in their lot for two weeks, the seats getting soaked from all the rain we've had... grrr!

BUT, we have it back. The guy at the tow yard said to make copies of all the tickets and send them in with a copy of the police report and we shouldn't have to pay them. Driving it home from the tow yard I was so thankful it was still running, no windows were broken and it wasn't stripped. But man, this has been a headache.

I don't think I've taken any pictures in the last couple of weeks. Well, except for the inside of the van. But no fun pictures. :)  Lately it seems I've been more busy than usual. Is your life like that too? Most of the time you're just going through the motions, one day looks like the next. And then all of the sudden you've got meetings and outings and appointments and... I'm in one of those phases. Almost every day there's something to do and someplace to be. Fridays and Saturdays have been my weekends lately. I'm purposely keeping them as quiet as possible!  

A Thief and a Phone Call

On October 26th, Chuck drove to the park & ride and rode the bus into work. When he got back that evening, the van was gone.

He called me, "Unless you or Diana moved the van, it's gone!" "What?!?"

Diana and I drove to the lot and waited with Chuck for the police. They told him this happens quite often and will probably be found in a few days. The thief will take it for a joy ride, then dump it somewhere. Someone will call 911 about a car parked in front of their house and it will end up being a stolen car.

I was in denial. "Chuck, maybe you really parked over there when you only think you parked over here." Now, this is a 15 year old van with nothing special about it. No fancy radio, no sun roof, it doesn't even have a CD player. Why would they want our van?

We talked to friends and they've all told us, "Ours was found the next day." Our car was returned within 48 hours." One lady even told me her car was returned right to her driveway!

But, it's been almost 2 weeks and we haven't heard a thing. We look for it every time we go out. Thankfully our insurance is paying for a rental car but we're ready to have our own car back.

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I came home from work the other day and Beth came upstairs. She sat at the kitchen table and told me that someone called her cell phone. She doesn't usually get calls so I asked her if she knew who it was. She got a big smile on her face and said, "It was N!!"

"Really Beth? He called you?! What did he say?"

"He wants us live somewhere else." Hmm, okay. I don't know if he just wishes our families lived closer or if he wants the two of them to live together. Either way, we talked about them hanging out together first, going out to eat, to the movies, getting to know each other better. She smiled a lot and I could tell she was a little embarrassed but she wants this so desperately. To have a real boyfriend.

Well, a couple nights ago her and I were in the living room when her phone rang. She went into the hall to answer it and all I heard was, "Okay. Yea. Okay." When she came back, her head was down. "Beth was that N?" She nodded. "What did he say?"

Head down, very quiet, "I don't wanna talk 'bout it."

"Beth, is everything okay?"

"I don't wanna talk 'bout it."

I asked her sisters if she's said anything to them about it but she hasn't. It's killing me but she won't talk about it. :(