Time Flies Whether You're Having Fun or Not

I can't believe that it's just shy of a month since I last posted ~ OY! Remember how slowly time went when we were kids? Why can't it be like that into adulthood???

Where to start? On October 25th, Wilton (the town in CT where our store is) held its' annual Halloween parade & the kiddies then go around to the local stores in their costumes trick~or~treating. After the 2 hours alloted for this, Skip went across the parking lot to another store whose owner we are friendly with & my Dad went to the back of the store & into the teeny office. He wasn't having any perceptable (sp?) problems before this, but he called me back there saying he needed me. He was pale & having pain across his shoulders & into his arms & was kind of slouched back in a folding chair. I insisted that we needed to call 911, but he kept saying no & to take care of the customers coming in. I finally got a friend who came into the store to go get Skip. He took my Dad's blood pressure, looked him over (as I had) ~ we're both EMT's ~ & was able to convince him to have the paramedics at least come look at him. My Dad ended up going to the hospital & it turned out that he had had a mild heart attack. 2 cardiac catheterizations & 2 or 3 stents later, he is home & doing well. He's actually taking it easy & listening to the doctors (as far as I can tell) & after 62 years of smoking, he's quit. Whew ~ what a scare!

In the meantime, his friend & business partner, Clarice (who broke her femur on November 11, 2007 & has only been in the store a handful of times to say hello or get cat food because she's having her own physical problems since then), has come in like friggin' Mussolini...yelling, screaming, telling us how so many of the things in the store are wrong or look terrible, how we're stealing time from the store (I've had long standing appointments that I make a point of scheduling on Wednesdays only unless otherwise impossible) & that we're liars. My father knew of the schedules that Skip & worked out, he saw everyday, even if only for an hour or less, how we had the store running & never complained. He would make a few odd suggestions, but nothing like what this woman is doing. Some of the things she's upset about have been in the same spot since before she had her accident! She's also started "docking" our pay to reflect time we've "stolen" instead of giving us the weekly equity checks that we had an agreement with my father about. We told her that was unfair & unacceptable (because of the agreement with my father & that he knew how we ran things) & that we couldn't survive on what she wanted to give us. She didn't give a flying rats' ass. She didn't believe that I had various doctors appointments (including re~starting group therapy & seeing my therapist & psychiatrist weekly which is none of her beeswax) & called me a liar several times to my face. I said we could go back to high school & I could bring in doctors notes if she wanted. She had nothing to say. She called both of us liars regarding what time Skip came in to work this past Monday (he has a standing therapy appointment on Mondays at 10:00). We told her that Skip was in at Noon ~ 1 hour for therapist, a quick stop at the hardware store & the 45 minute drive up ~ which was the truth, because I looked at my watch. She said it was all a lie & that he couldn't have gotten to work until at least 2:00 because the hardware store receipt said 12:48. She actually called the hardware store yesterday to find out if their cash register time was correct & they looked at it & said "no, it's actually about an hour and a half off." We had nothing to do with her calling them, nor did we have them cover for us. She was forced to realize her mistake & apologize. It has been a never ending sense of dread & fear for me about what she's going to do & how she's going to act. I'm hoping it's true when she says she'll be totally removed from the store in 2 weeks. Skip has been wonderful in helping me remain fairly calm & in sticking up for me. He's my angel! In the middle of all of this, I celebrated my 42nd birthday.

On to lighter news...I set up something in honor of my grandmother who will have been gone 3 years this coming January 14th. She had a glass vase of some sort in the right hand corner of her kitchen window in her apartment with a string of Christmas lights that she kept on continuously year round...she never turned them off. I decided I wanted to do the same, so as of November 9th, I set up my own glass vase with some really pretty LED Christmas lights. I haven't turned them off yet. I won't turn them off either...they only way they're going off is if they burn out or she somehow turns them off. They're so pretty & cheery & make me feel connected to her & they can be seen in the picture at the top of this entry. The reflection on the wall almost looks like the Northern Lights.

Anywho, I'm still here, still breathing, & apologize for being so long in posting anything. Can y'all forgive me? Now it's off for me to make a handmade postcard to send out to Phinney for a swap we're both in & maybe do a little ghosthunting with Skip tonight & see if we can get any EVPs at the condo complex clubhouse.