Emily's New Year's Date

Here he is! Isn't he dreamy?

"Wow, it is difficult to describe myself without sounding conceited...I suppose that friends would describe me as very friendly, soft and cuddly. I'm a great listener because I have big funky ears. My long neck, big eyebrows and crooked smile make most people laugh. I enjoy laying around a lot, so football season is my favorite.

"Who am I looking for? I'm looking for someone who is really really ultra-stressed out with work and/or personal issues. I'm not opposed to emotionally disturbed people as long as they're not prone to tearing the innards out of stuffed animals. I'm not big into the gym, so if you like to lay around, watch movies or sports and nap, we might be a good match. Pucker up, buttercup!"

Merry Christmas!

Well, I'm excited to have some time off work to finish up shopping and wrapping, then to spend time with the fam in Dayton.

Of course I can't get away from work completely...I have several employee reviews and a self-review to do before end of year. Fortunately I can do these things from home in my jammies. Maybe with a glass of wine...then everyone would receive GREAT reviews...

I have a long to-do list for myself during vacation. I've officially started wrapping presents and I did laundry. Two things done out of about fifty...I should try to be more realistic about what I will actually accomplish!

I hope you have a Merry Christmas surrounded by friends and family. The picture here is a watercolor/Photoshop combo that features my children's book characters, Vivianne and Sparky.

I'll try to write more before the new year!

Christmas Shopping for Cripples

Do you know why I make fun of newspaper and direct mail ads? It's because they're my link to the outside shopping world!! Although my surgery aligned well with my health care spending 'knee cap' for 2008, it makes for a tough holiday shopping season.

It's the thought that counts, right? Wrong. I've personally witnessed abandonment of electronic gifts on my very back porch. My brother was re-attaching his truck cap after storing for a while in my garage. My soon-to-be sister-in-law picked up a tiny black thing from the truck bed. Brian nodded and gave it to Sam as a gift. She treasured it...fondled it...gazed at it. Sure enough, after they left, I found it sitting on the ledge of my deck - an abandoned electronic little gift.

If people won't accept gifts as valuable as electronics, what will they accept? I just don't know what the world is coming to. The little black gift also had a message of "I" and "O" on it...personalized! Who knows how long it took Brian to come up with that. Yet Sam left it like a beer can in my backyard.

I don't know how I'll meet expectations if black and white electrical devices aren't even worth taking home. I guess I need to look for something more colorful or stainless steel.

Ten Places Not To Wear This Hat

I came across this gem the other day. This 'handsome' and 'humorous' cap promises 'plenty of smiles from onlookers'. I know that if I saw this on my dear Grandpa's head, I'd probably giggle and shake my head, hoping that he didn't wear it in public. However, not all people are as sweet as my Grandpa. There's an inherent risk in wearing a hat like this. Here's my advice, directed specifically to senior discount-seekers considering investment in this cap...

Let's face it; not everyone gets along. Should you disagree with someone while wearing this hat, it could quickly become your worst attire decision of the day. If you happen to butt heads with someone who is paying through the nose for Social Security right now even though they'll likely never see a cent of it down the road, you'll want to back off about the 50-cent discount.

In an effort to keep the peace between seniors and others, I assembled a list of top five places/situations NOT to don this 'embroidered, not just a patch' yet 'comfortable' hat:

10.) Library: It's already free. It's like a slap in the face to the girl behind the counter as she scans your large-prints.

9.) Dining: Besides the obvious risk of spittage in your food, servers will know you're that lousy tipper at Table 32.

8.) Online Dating: If you happen to be single and looking for love, this hat is not flattering. Especially if you list your age as 45.

7.) Bureau of Motor Vehicles: With this big target on your forehead, BMV employees will insist on an eyesight re-test.

6.) Job Interview: Cracker Barrel might foresee a potential connection between you and patrons, but not many other hiring managers will view this as a plus.

5.) State or Federal Court Proceedings: You won't want to be discounted here, particularly as senile.

4.) House-Hunting: In the market for highly contested house or condo? This hat will put you out of the running in a hurry.

3.) IRS Audit: This hat won't exactly scream 'I'm clean' in the interview.

2.) Religious Services: First of all, this hat does not entitle you to a reduced offertory donation. Plus, you'd hate to cause so many other seniors in the congregation to covet thy neighbor's cap.

1.) Surgical Procedures: Fortunately, if you're the one on the table, they require removal of all clothing/accessories prior to surgery. Maybe because they saw too many 'Don't Forget My Senior Discount' caps.

ACL Surgery

After tearing my left ACL during a highly competitive dodgeball tournament with co-workers (yes, I'm serious), I scheduled ACL replacement / reconstruction arthroscopic surgery through my ortho. It's been almost a week since my surgery. The surgeon used a cadaver ACL to replace my torn one...that seemed a little weird at first. Of course a month ago I joked with my ortho to 'find me a good one' and he said they only use ACLs aged 18 years or less. Okay, bad joke. (How sad.)

The recovery is going well. I'm hobbling around now without crutches, which is good since I fell over last week trying to use them. The fam took great care of me during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. My new ACL seems to be getting along well with the other ligaments so far...the MCL and PCL have welcomed the newcomer with open...er...well........fibers.

A bit of good news...I've officially hit my annual out-of-pocket maximum expenditure for the year. The MRI, the physical therapy and appointments with the ortho pretty much did me in. This means that most surgery, drug and physical therapy expenses will be no charge to me since I already hit my 'spending cap', as some people call it. I call it my 'knee cap'.

Odd Moment Today

In follow-up to my prior post, I lost my aunt just a week ago. A strange yet comforting thing took place today.

I had a busy day at work, including a day trip to Columbus and back. I left our downtown Cincinnati office with a coworker around lunchtime. There are two elevators standing opposite each other in my building. One had doors wide open and although we tried to go down a level, the doors wouldn't close...they were stuck open. We walked across to the other elevator as its doors opened. The next ten seconds were my 'Aunt P moment'...

Our office elevators never had music. This was the first time I'd ever heard anything in the elevators for our listening enjoyment. The song playing was an obscure favorite of mine from an old TV show, Twin Peaks. I'd just been talking to my family about that show in the past month or two (it was popular among weird high school kids with bad hair in '90-'91). I told my friend and co-worker, Jen, that I loved this song and hadn't heard it in a while...that's when it hit me that it might be my Aunt P pressing 'play' from above.

I looked up the song tonight and I couldn't believe the title - 'Love Theme Farewell', by Angelo Badalamenti & David Lynch. It wasn't even the main theme, which is obscure enough on its own! I'm planning to check in with the building operations folks to see if there is a song list somewhere to verify that I'm not crazy.

So...I had to document these special ten seconds of my day, even if it was just a strange coincidence. And if the elevator people confirm that I'm not completely nuts, I expect some Everly Brothers soon, Aunt P.

Warning: Introspective Stuff Enclosed

**This will be an unusual post, I must warn you reader-types. An unexpected death in the family leaves my emotions raw, and my fingertips have a broadband connection to my emotional database.**

I received news on Monday night that my dear Aunt Peggy passed away the prior night very suddenly. Hence, this entry's 'emploration' will be much more inward- than outward-focused.

Readers who have lost loved ones might understand how the short-term grieving process works. It's new to me. This week, I experienced a Monday night of shock, sobbing, horrific images in my mind and near-panic. I spent my Tuesday crying and taking Advil for the resulting sinus headaches. I went to work on Wednesday and Thursday and actually felt okay. I was busy. I didn't receive a lot of inquiries about the situation, and I managed through two solid days nearly tear-free. This led to a certain overconfidence on my part that collapsed readily this morning as I hit the Piqua city limits. Near-panic set in again as we drove up to the church, and I realized that the event was not 'really real' to me until I felt the grief of my family, relatives, and my aunt's friends and co-workers. I cried a lot but it was an important and necessary bout.

Following the service, my extended family headed back to my Aunt Sandy's house. We'd received condolences and stories from Aunt P's friends and co-workers. We'd felt the kindness of friends who set up lunch for us and discreetly excused themselves for our privacy. We'd overcome panic-laden situations to be there for ourselves and others. We spent several hours talking, recalling stories and reconnecting as a family. Aunt P would have loved it, and I have a feeling that she was there in spirit.

We lived life today in all its despair, delight and distraction.

Thursday NFL Football...Love It & Hate It

I am a big NFL football fan and manage two fantasy football teams. This is my first year playing fantasy football, actually...I adore it. I have one team in a girls league at work and another with my dad, uncles, cousins, etc. In both leagues, my team name is the Fluffy Bunnies.

First of all, I can't take credit for the team name. My brother, Brian, came up with this long ago. In my humble opinion, I think this name is brilliant. Who expects the Fluffy Bunnies to rip them apart? Even if it's the killer bunny from Monty Python (see Exhibit A), can he really take on Peyton Manning or Donovan McNabb?

Well, that doesn't much concern me, because Peyton and Donovan are Fluffy Bunnies at the helms of my two teams. A Manning girl at heart, I picked Eli over Ben - even though Ben is a fellow Miamian! Jay and Trent are my other backups.

Now that I've gushed about the Bunnies, I'll get to my point...I love watching NFL football, so I love a Thursday game (since I have DVR to record The Office). This game is as good as Monday Night - it's primetime without other NFL games to compete...if it's on TV. Last Thursday I was pumped to watch a great matchup and it wasn't on! I hate that it was limited to the recap on ESPN.

I tend to keep track of deadlines, so I'm a fan of the Thursday lineup deadline nowadays. I hope that a few competitor fantasy footballers will fall prey to the Thursday deadline...and the Fluffy Bunnies.

Let's emplore the topic of newspaper ad inserts...

I was perusing the Cincinnati Enquirer last Sunday. I usually snuggle in with coffee, set the paper on the couch beside me and start sorting into sections that I either read or ignore. Of those that I read, I sort into my level of interest. I read the ones that are least interesting first and save the best for last. (I do this same thing with Lucky Charms cereal, ending up with lots of marshmallows floating in pastel milk by the end of breakfast. Yummers.)

The ad inserts are always a favorite of mine. I don't know if it's because I think I might find good coupons (which can later be found balled up in the bottom of most of my purses), or because I work in advertising, or because these ads have lots more colorful pictures than the other parts of the paper.

I usually skip the toy store ads since I don't have any lucky kids to buy for this year. This Sunday I found myself leafing through an insert and I was suddenly in toyland. Normally I'd gasp and grab the next insert, but this one pulled me in. No, I wasn't intrigued by the great bargains they offered...I was cracking up. I doubt that anyone without a warped mind such as mine would have felt the same way, but I had to do things to this ad.......bad things.

I hope that you enjoy this page as much as I did. I have to recognize that none of these toys involve electricity and all have a definite 'classic' message coming through...but I couldn't help poking fun when I saw the photos (and pricetags) at the store which shall remain nameless... :-)

Emtroduction

Welcome!

I'm Emily, a thirty-something digital agency chick leading a client service team in Cincinnati, Ohio. I have a nice (old) house that I share with my lovely dog, Phoebe. In my free time, I love watching sports, movies...I also write/illustrate children's books in hopes of being published one day.

Please share open and honest feedback on this blog. I'm not sure what topics I'll cover but they'll likely be diverse! I hope to update regularly, and I expect disagreement and discussion...oh, and also lots of praise. ("You're brilliant, Emily," is a good start.)

Thank you for visiting!
Emily