run on sentences

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day as I ran to my friend Bob's house. The leaves were jumping off the trees and it was a warm 50 something (just like me). The smell of fall reminded me of being a little girl, playing in piles of leaves and making leaf houses in the school yard. A year ago at this time, my friends and I were basking in the satisfaction of having finished the St. George marathon and qualifying for Boston....Me, Bob and another friend, Tom. Our friend and running buddy, Paula had qualified at another marathon, so she was going to run Boston with us too. I thought about all of this as I ran to Bob's house. Last year at this time, he would have met me at my house to do our usual Saturday run. Shortly after the St. George marathon, Bob got diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. The disease has been relentless, taking away first the use of his hands, muffling and then slurring his voice and making every breath a struggle. In the beginning, it was little thing...

My mom is 79 today and doing well. She is fragile though. I call her twice every day, the first time on my way to work. I know I shouldn't drive and talk but it is comforting to hear her voice saying "Hi Donna Raye". We talk about the weather, what Jan Tucker is saying on her local radio, and whether my brother and his girlfriend are fighting. She wonders if they will take her to breakfast and if my sister will take her to the Casino the next weekend. I see her sitting in her chair, looking small and childlike, with her books stacked up. old lottery tickets on the table, and at least, no overflowing ashtray like there used to be. Today I did not go to work, so I call her after my run with Jack and sing "Happy Birthday". I got her some Croc shoes which she wanted when she saw a nurse at her doctor's office wearing them. I also sent her 25 dollars for her next casino trip. I am sad not to be there and that she will be alone all day except for my brother who wi...

I am not going to go into detail about the title...but it is catchy so I had to use it. I always come up with great titles for books, stories and essays but sometimes that is as far as I get Sometimes the title says it all. I started thinking of the different ways we use the term "ass". In my youth, wimps were called candy asses. Toilet paper was (and still is to my mom and Barbara Jean my sister) ass wipe. Of course, there were smart assess, dumb asses, and the term "your ass will be grass (not meant in the smoking pot sense, I don't think)". We play grab ass, we haul ass and kick some ass. Some people are hauled by asses (as in donkeys) and have made asses of themselves. Some are just plain asses without even trying. My grandma, when she got old and bold would want to tell people "shove it up your ass and if it doesn't fit, fold it". Then there's the insult of "fat ass". Do these pants make my ass look big? Who ever would give the h...

Yesterday my day was made more "silly and happy" as Tina seamonster says, by a envelope she sent to me containing some cool things. I have never met Tina, but my daughter who has enjoyed reading her blog ( http://www.ilikeseamonsters.com/ ), sent her a copy of my previous post on zombies and vampires. Tina seamonster might be the first person to read any of my posts outside my family, and my sweet daughter wanted to get my blog "out there". Tina seamonster sent me some great magnets, some cards, and a pin that says "sometimes I worry about zombies"(which to be honest, I sometimes do, especially when a hot flash wakes me up at 3:30 am, a time of night where everything bad is magnified several times and I think we would be most vulnerable to bad zombies). Tina's zombies looked more lost, sad and almost cute than actually mean so I think they are benevolent zombies. Maybe zombies are like people who are bewildered by the bad stuff that happens in the wor...

Today I woke up with two drops of blood on my chin. I observed this strange thing when I was in the bathroom at 5:30 am getting ready to go running. Two tiny drops of blood, not even dripping, on the right side of my chin. It looked like a bug bite but more like a vampire bite. I probably turned my head just in time to avoid having my neck bitten and my blood drained by that vampire, who instead only got chin blood. The blood did not seem to want to wipe off either - not with soap and not with spit. So I chose to ignore it and run off with Jack who could have given a damn about all of this. I had on two shirts and a jacket because the day before it was only 32 degrees and I was cold and not prepared. It happened to be 52 degrees outside so I was hot. As I ran along, listening to my IPOD playing the "Boys in the hood are always hard, don't talk that trash or they'll pull your card" song. I turned to let Jack pee and I was singing along to the part about slappi...

My friend Vic was not only optimistic but also timely. He died exactly 10 days after we signed the will and drank the scotch. His dying was as graceful and dignified as his living. I will miss him but am forever glad to have taken the time to listen to his stories. I spoke at his funeral - the comments are below. My friend, Victor, was born on St. Patrick’s Day, 1908. During that year, paper cups were invented, Ford came out with the first Model T and cellophane was invented. The Gideon bible company was started and Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th president. Vic’s long life spanned many other events. He was a young man when the TV was invented and the first Olympics took place in Switzerland in 1924. He probably witnessed the first talkie movie The Jazz singer, staring Al Jolson. Vic also lived through prohibition, the great depression and two world wars and 17 more US presidents. Through much of this, he played Jazz on his trumpet in various bands around the Salt lake area. Enid, his ...