My week has been crazy.  Here are a few snippets….

Mother’s Day was good for me.  My husband always does a stellar job of spoiling me on that day.  He got me my favorite donut for breakfast, took me to brunch and we went shopping with the kids.  He also made dinner and did all the dishes.  The finest moment of the day, however, was his discovery of an app on Facebook that allowed you to generate your own Top Gun call sign.  Did you know Mother’s Day also fell on Top Gun day this year?  I didn’t even know there was a Top Gun day, but I was thrilled to share in it.  And for shits and giggles, I made the decision that for the entire day, we could only address each other by our new Top Gun call signs.  I was “Boom.”  Dan was “B.A. Baracus,” and Bryce was “Hoser.”  That one was my favorite!  Bryn was “Cat,” which she loved because cats are her favorite animal.  We laughed and made fun of each other’s names all day.  It was magnificent.

U2 at The Forum

This past Wednesday, my husband was invited by one of his vendors to attend the U2 show at the Forum, here in Los Angeles.  I have never seen U2 in concert.  To be honest, I’m not a huge U2 fan.  The last time I was actively interested in one of their albums was back in the 90’s.  I’ve always liked U2, they just haven’t been on my bucket list of bands to see live.  I didn’t want to go.  The show was on a school night and I wanted to wear sweat pants, sit on the couch after helping the kids with homework, order sushi for dinner and go to bed super early.  I suggested Dan take a friend and make it a guys night out.  He said, “I like you.  I want to spend time with you.  You are my wife, and I want to take YOU to the show.  You have to see U2 perform live at least once in your life.”  Well, isn’t that sweet?!  So I went to the show.  And I didn’t regret it.  It was amazing.  Even though I only knew about five songs on their set list, it was an incredible night of visual and musical artistry.  I love rock music, and they did not disappoint.  I even almost cried, twice.  Almost.

My refrigerator died slowly this week.  It was fifteen years old and the compressor went out.  The repairman said it would cost around $600-700 to fix it, and even then I would be lucky to get another 3 years out of it as other essential parts started to wear out.  He recommended that for that amount of money and the age of the machine,  I should research and look into purchasing a new unit.  Thankfully, as we are approaching Memorial Day weekend, everything is on sale.  So Dan and I went to Home Depot last night to start looking.  When I told the Home Depot sales guy that I was replacing a unit that was fifteen years old, he looked like he was going to choke on his tongue.  He informed me that the refrigerators today are just not made the same, and I should not expect more than a ten year life span for any new unit we buy.  I wish I could say that surprised me.  Maybe it’s because of the technology, but products just don’t last as long as their older generations.  We keep finding ways to make things cheaper, less durable, more disposable, yet they cost more.   Anyway, an hour later, I left with a receipt for a new refrigerator that cost twice as much as my old one, and will die in half as many years.  Good times.

Minnie

Also this week, my cat had what I believe was a seizure and scared the hell out of us.  We had gone to bed, and as I was laying there half asleep, I hear what sounds like two of my cats wrestling their way across the floor.  I sit up and look around the dark room to see the shadow of one cat rolling around uncontrollably.  Dan jumps up and flips on the light to find our cat Minnie scrambling around like she’s trying to run away, but half her body isn’t working.  By the time I got my hands on her she was panting so hard her tongue was hanging out of her mouth and her pupils were severely dilated.  I was worried she’d had some kind of a stroke and was going into shock.  Dan took her to the emergency vet, and initially the vet suspected she might have had a blood clot.  A few hours later, a round of blood work, two x-rays and a bill for $600, we had no definitive answers.  Dan brought Minnie home and by the next day she was fine.  No coordination issues, no lingering side effects of whatever had caused her body to go hay-wire the night before.  And did I mention it cost $600?  As Dan would say, “Fucking cat.”

I’m looking forward to this next week, and no unexpected surprises.  No emergency vet visits, no last minute late night rock shows, and no appliance apocalypse.  This is Boom, and I’m out.