My Mother died a month ago, on September the 18th, 2005. She was 51. I went out to Utah for the funeral, and stayed out there for a couple weeks. There's a memorial mass for her tomorrow at St. Paul's in Kenmore.



My Mom had a great sense of humor, and always made everyone laugh. I can't tell you how many of my friends that I run into years later, where the first thing they ask me is how my mother is. She really cared about everyone. She volunteered to work as a home health care nurse on he East Side. She was one of only a few nurses in her company who were willing to be assigned to that area. She was fearless.

She made a difference once she moved back to Utah, too. The church was packed for the funeral. There literally weren't enough seats. The priest said he'd never seen so many people inside of it.



She was from Buffalo, one of nine children. Her father died a few years ago, and they're together now, in whatever way really matters to us left behind. He and my mother were the funniest, most caring members of my family.



My Dad is from Utah, and my mom loved it there. I was born in Utah, but the family moved back to Buffalo when I was 13. My parents recently moved back to Utah, and my mother spent her time fixing up their house... she'd go to a rock quarry and break up rock, load the truck and then use it around their house. It's the desert, so she made rock gardens.



She went to the quarry a couple times a month. She went the day before she died... it was very sudden. She died of an aneurysm on her aorta. They never suspected. And to be honest: I thought she'd out live us all. She projected unstoppable energy, awake every day and out of bed at 5am. This was such a shock.



My Dad is wonderful. He is lost without her. They loved and fought and stayed together, worked things out. They really taught me all I that I think is good within myself. Hopefully I will do her memory well -- I know I've made a poor start in many ways. But I see clearer every year, and hope there is time to make a difference.



My mom loved this life. She never wasted a day. I miss her so much. She was my best friend, these past few years. We talked all the time, and I'm so lucky that I had a chance to know her as an adult and to really listen to her, after all those years as a kid where I was deafened by my own ignorance.

A couple months ago I bought a lifetime web hosting account. This will be the first month that I don't have to pay a hosting bill. I'm saving about $50 a month. I can't tell you how sweet that is. It only cost $400, and I'll make that back in no time, in saved money. My broke-ass self will be slightly less broke :)

Anyway. Just my random happy thought for the day.

I'm getting sick of all the meth tags and graffitti everywhere. I know it's the result like only about two or three tweakers, but they've covered half the city with this shit.

... eating pistachios 'til I'm sick.



Saturday, though: Donnie Darko

--- Update

This is Ben hanging out tonight in his favorite place, the bath tub.



--- Update #2

Mission accomplished.

This house is for sale on my street. I love it so much, it towers over all the others around it. I never spent much time on Hodge before moving to my current apartment, but there are many many cute houses on it. Now that I am not in as much debt as I used to be, the possibility of owning a home seems closer then ever. Not that I can afford this monster, for $300k.

A diner in Niagara Falls. Do not ever eat there. Ever, ever.



In addition to their poor spelling and punctuation skills,



The food was awful and served cold. Smoothered chicken?!

This is my goofy-ass dog. Part Newfoundland, part Retriever. All black and fluffy.

Happy Birthday! One year old! And two months living with us!

I am not out of labels for my labelmaker. I was beginning to panic. My whole organizational system was about to come crashing down around my head. Then I remembered... my spare cassette in my secret supply stash!



Isn't it beautiful?

In other news, my cat 'ran away' so now I can move my desk out from the bedroom back out into the sunny living room. The cat used to chew through all my cables, but no longer. This is like, fun for me. Labels and a brightly-lit desk. This is going to be a good weekend.

Time to go reload the labeler...