One of Three Scenarios.

The Benz

Today I went to Offut Air Force Base to do some on base tax free shopping. The last time I was on an Air Force Base is when Bear was still on active duty. So it has been a few years.

My dear friend Ryan has given me the Benz to drive and the Princess ain't complaining. Ry's license place says WRKDHRD and I can attest to that fact. Yes he has an incredible home and cars, but he worked damn hard and is totally deserving of it all.

As I pulled into a parking space I noticed an Air Force Pilot looking at the car. When I got out and started walking to the Exchange the Air Force Pilot fell into step with me and the following conversation took place:

AFP: I must ask you about your license place "Worked Hard" what do you do?

Me: Oh no this car belongs to a good friend who is VP of Operations for a group of hotels, I am borrowing his car as I help him with the rebranding of a hotel.

AFP: That is a great license plate, may I ask where this hotel is?

Me: It is in Lincoln.

AFP: Do you live in Omaha?

Me: No I live in Oregon.

AFP: So what is your affiliation to the Air Force?

Me: My husband is retired Air Force

AFP: Oh, you're married?

Me: Yes I am.

AFP: Oh well, great car.

So here are the three scenarios:

1.  I've still got it.

2.  Air Force Pilots are still players.

3.  It was the Benz.

I think Ry would choose option #3.

I, however, am going with option #1. Yep, still got it.

No Regrets.

Uncle M. ~ Dad ~ Uncle L.

My mother called me before I came out to Nebraska to let me know that my dear Uncle L was in the hospital. I called the hospital and after being hung up on five times, I finally got to speak to him. He sounded very weak, but was happy to hear from me.  My Uncle passed away this past week. My last words to my Uncle and his to me were "I love you".

After my father's death I made a promise to myself that I would always tell everyone in my life how much they mean to me and I end the conversation or departure with I love you. Christmas 2001 I was married to the ex and I had asked him if I could call my father on Christmas day. The call would be international. At that time we did not have Skype and calls internationally were very expensive. My ex responded no and that I could wait until New Years Day. New Years Eve 2001 my father was kidnapped and murdered. I never got to tell him that I loved him. Whenever I think back on that day the regret sometimes overwhelms me and the guilt in not standing my ground is yet again a sucker punch to the gut. Yes I know that my father knew I loved him, but I didn't get to say it one last time. My cousins all got to say goodbye to my Uncle and they were with him when he passed. We didn't get the opportunity.

No one likes to think about death and that there is always tomorrow, but what if there wasn't and those closest to you were no longer here?  Did they know how much they meant to you?

Would you have any regrets?

Corn Country.

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A few months ago my friend R, who is Vice President of Operations for a Hotel Management company, called me and told me about a hotel they were going to take over. The hotel was going into foreclosure status and the bank had asked their company to rebrand and get it back in shape. R asked me if I would be interested in helping. I thought it would be fun, an adventure and exciting. Well I wasn't far off.

R emailed me pictures of the hotel and I immediately responded that I thought I had a couple of root canals scheduled over that time period. The pictures were overwhelming. I arrived in Omaha the 4th July and was at work on the 5th. The first week was insane. We have dealt with an alcoholic who walked sideways and fell all over the place. A guest missing presumed dead. A sleep walking tweaker who was found in another guest bedroom. A husband who punched his wife in the face. A staff member who walked out on her shift as she didn't approve of the schedule I had written up and my personal favorite the maintenance person who had a couple of beers with his lunch as he didn't know he couldn't drink while on the job. After working a 12 hour shift I turned to R and said "Okay, where are the cameras because this isn't real, it can't be real."

I have had many WTF moments and there have been days were I wanted to just give up, but R has kept me laughing and giving me the Benz to drive has been a definite plus. We are now staffed and I think we have a great team in place. Everyday is like Christmas as we receive more packages from corporate to bring the hotel back up to brand standard. When the housekeepers received new vacuums I thought they were going to cry. At the end of every work day I look back at the lobby and I can see what we have accomplished.

We have a long way to go, but seeing things progress helps me deal a little bit better with crab walking drunks.

Would It One Day Matter?

I don't like a lot of things I would actually say my hate for certain things is on an even keel with things I love. This blog post is about one of the things I hate is uncaring, unfeeling people.

Living in a college town has been very challenging for me, I should write a book on my adventures. We live in a very nice part of town and we don't have many students in our area. The students that do live here I think are more in the graduate school level, so we are not witness to many parties or late night shenanigans.

At the end of the school year our dumpster becomes a treasure trove. I am literally left speechless as to what is thrown away. Many of the items I take to the Vina Moses Center and many other items we keep. T has scored brand new clothes, an office chair, Oakley sunglasses, Pioneer sound system, coffee table, DVD's, books and I recently scored an awesome Dyson vacuum cleaner. I have the entire family involved now in dumpster hunting.

Yesterday I found this recipe binder in the dumpster. It looked new as the plastic wrapping was semi attached.  When I opened the binder my heart sank. One of the college girls who moved out threw this away. This binder of recipes was lovingly put together for her by her grandmother. Every recipe had a story. This must have taken a lot of time and effort to put together. It was a gift to her in 2010 and one that was never used.

I don't follow this person on Twitter, but I know who she is. I was thinking of keeping the binder and one day if she ever posts that her grandmother has passed away I would send her the binder. Would she  even care?

A few weeks ago I spent time with my cousins on the East Coast. I picked my Aunts brains for all her recipes and wrote them down and they are now in a database of family recipes. Over the years I have collected everything that my Mother bakes and creates as I want those to be passed down to future generations.

I am sad that this girl didn't care enough to save this binder and that she couldn't see all the time and effort that was put into making this for her. Judging by the letter in the front of the binder her grandmother was very involved in her life.

When I see things like this I have the itch on the bottom of my feet to go into Ninja Bitch mode. I hope that one day she will realize what she threw away. I guess until then the only person important to her is the one she sees in the mirror.

How very sad.