TheBanyanTree: I'm Sorry

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I couldn’t figure out why the networks carried Tiger Woods’ apology
yesterday.  He’s not the President of the United States, he’s a pro golfer.
He’s done what some men have done before him, cheated on his wife.  Yes,
he’s famous and rich, but why the TV apology?  The only person he needs to
apologize to is his wife, and how he does it and whether or not she accepts
it is none of my business.

I rank John Edwards’ affair much worse than Tiger’s dalliances, because John
Edwards WAS running for President, and then when he was caught, he spent
millions of dollars trying to cover it up.  He didn’t even have the balls to
admit to it right away.  Do I want that kind of person as my president?
Hell, no!  If he lies about stuff like that, then what else does he lie
about?

And, finally, and then I’ll get off my soapbox, because I’m not perfect and
have no right really to point fingers at anyone, but that governor from
South Carolina who abandoned his state to have a few hot nights in Argentina
is another one who thought the rules didn’t apply to him.  

We’ve been watching the Olympics and enjoying the small town feel of the
Winter Games.  I like watching all the sports, because I’m extremely
uncoordinated and I admire anyone who performs these great athletic feats.
It’s wonderful to snuggle on the couch in chilly Minnesota with a cup of hot
coffee and see poor Vancouver try to coax real winter weather from rain and
warm temperatures.

Those warm temperatures are migrating towards Minnesota little by little.
We were a bit above freezing this week and some of our snow started to melt.
The days are getting longer.  It’s light out when I go to work and light out
when I come home.  And the birds are getting noisier with their spring
songs.  It’s no longer dead silent when I go outside.

The bonded ice is finally giving way on the streets and sidewalks.  It’s not
gone completely, but it’s getting smaller and mushier.  

We have a long way to go until spring, but I think we’ve turned the corner,
and moving away from winter.

I’m still trying to adjust to having just one job.  I come home in the
evening and I don’t really do very much.  I make dinner and then I check my
email, look at Facebook and Twitter, and maybe a few other websites.

Sometimes I’ll move documents from my old computer to my new computer, which
is now almost a year old.  It’s really silly to have three computers set up
in my small office.  I have my new desktop, my old desktop, and my laptop
all ready to go.  I also have Ray’s old desktop in my closet.

But it’s been good to through the old stuff.  I’ve been deleting some old
documents, but it’s fun to find old photos and writings that I’ve totally
forgotten about.

After doing the computer thing, I’ll go downstairs and either watch TV or
read for a while before going to bed.  Hardly productive.

I think now that it’s getting lighter in the evening, I’ll start walking the
dogs.  I’ll get that little power walk in just after work.  That will get my
blood going and carry me through the evening.

I need to get my taxes done.  I have everything, I just need to set time
aside and get them done.  This will be the first time I do my taxes as a
single person since Ray died.  No more “married, filing joint.”

I made a few goals for this year.  The first one is that I want to be more
involved with my profession, so I know what’s going on outside of my job.  I
went to a chapter meeting earlier this month, but I was in an incredibly sad
mood, so I didn’t go in.  March will be better.

I’ve been taking classes in my field.  There is a certification process and
I’ll probably look more into that and work towards that goal.  Certification
isn’t necessary, but again, I need to keep a professional edge, in case I
get laid off again.

I wanted to open a Roth IRA and I’ve done so.  Now I need to transfer my
401(k) to an IRA.  

I’d like to read more, write more, take more photos, and get more organized.
Maybe once winter’s grip loosens up, I’ll get more energy.  It’s amazing how
much the sun’s rays charges me up.

This week on Thursday, February 25, is the second anniversary of Ray’s
death.  This is where I was on this date, February 20, 2008:

Ray seemed a bit better last night. They have him hooked up to IVs again. He
seemed more "with it" than he did this weekend. He ate a little dinner. He
had oatmeal and milk. I'm not sure about the milk. He always seems to get
sick when he has some. I wish he would drink the Ensure instead. He took a
nap for about an hour and then his stomach started rocking and rolling. He
was spitting up phlegm, clear phlegm. He took his pills. Now there were two
pills there when I left and he needed his spit sucked out, so I'm hoping the
nurse was able to get to them. They seemed busy last night and a bit short
staffed. I leave when I start feeling frustrated and angry. Cindi (Ray’s
daughter) called me and we had a nice chat. I also called Ray's boss
yesterday just to update him on what's going on. I bought stamps and milk. I
hope Ray has a better day today. He said he was going to get x-rays or
something today. He doesn't talk about coming home, so that makes me sad. I
hope he still has home in his sights and uses that to work towards that
goal. I assured him we were OK as far as money was concerned. He knows I
talked to Rich (his boss) and Cindi, so I hope he feels OK about his
personal stuff and keeps focused on getting better. It's very cold this
morning. One more cold morning and then we'll begin to warm up.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net
margaret.kramer at polarispublications.com
www.polarispublications.com
www.linkedin.com/in/margaretkramer

Love is a symbol of eternity.  It wipes out all sense of time, destroying
all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end. 
-Unknown