Life With Frenchie

The Sky Isn’t Visible from Here: Scenes from a Life 

Author: Felicia Sullivan

Publisher: Algonquin Books (February 5, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1565125150

ISBN-13: 978-1565125155

When I got this book, I immediately read the first few pages. I always do this to get an idea of what the book is going to be like. Unfortunately, I got so busy I didn’t have time to pick it up again for a while. This weekend, I had a four-hour car ride as well as a two-hour wait in a doctor’s office. As much as I was upset about having to wait in the doctor’s office, I was actually somewhat upset when I was called back because already 1/4 of the way through the book and didn’t want to put it down! By the time we got to our destination, I had to decide whether I would be considered rude if I sat in the car for another 10 minutes to finish the book - I decided it would, but I did finish it the next day as the guys played with the Wii.

Felicia Sullivan, in a word, is a survivor. Having survived growing up poor and the daughter of an addict in Brooklyn during the 1980s, she seems destined to become her mother as she spirals deeper and deeper into the addiction that took her mother from her slowly over the years. Her memoir takes you on this journey with her.

The book alternates between Sullivan’s childhood in Brooklyn and her adulthood, living life in the city. Everytime the story went from one stage of her life to the other, I greedily gobbled up the pages, trying each time to get back to where she left off. Ms. Sullivan relays her story in such a way that, even if you’ve never experienced addiction in your life, your heartbeat races in time with hers during the highs and slowly descends everytime she crashes.

This was my first time reading a memoir, and I was extremely pleased with my first venture into this genre. Ms. Sullivan’s writing style is not overly complicated. As a matter of fact, I would say it was close to simplistic, but I enjoyed that. I didn’t feel as if she was trying to impress me with her vocabulary, alliteration, or any of those literary devices that get drilled into you in your high school or college Intro to Literature class.

All in all, I would say this is a very good read and would recommend it to anyone, no matter their usual genre “happy place”. I can’t wait to read more about and from Felicia Sullivan.

I’m thiefing this topic from my favorite forum.

With MM being 10, it’s not often that something “cute and endearing” comes out of her mouth. It’s more “smart and sassy” and borderline “what did you just say?!?!?” But last night she had me laughing.

We’re sitting at the dinner table and EP was joking around with her and something was said about something being big. She automatically assumed we were teasing her about her J-Lo booty and she said “My butt’s not big! It just wants its own space!”

Classic!

Okay, maybe not. Although, Bonnie Tyler’s song did come to mind when I heard about the total lunar eclipse that is happening tonight. No, it’s not nearly as cool as a total solar eclipse. I have only been in a prime spot for one of those in my life and that was many moons ago (ugh! bad pun, I know, but you should know better by now! ) when I was in elementary school. Lunar eclipses happen more often, but are still neat if you get a good seat. According to MSNBC.com, more than half of the planet usually get to see at least some portion of all lunar eclipses:

As is the case with all lunar eclipses, the region of visibility encompasses more than half of our planet. Nearly a billion people in the Western Hemisphere, more than 1.5 billion in Europe and Africa, and perhaps another half-billion in western Asia will be able to watch — weather permitting — as the brilliant midwinter full moon becomes a shadow of its former self and morphs into a glowing coppery ball.

But, this time it seems like those of you in my corner of the world will get an even better view at a time when you’re likely to actually be awake to see it!

Almost everyone in the Americas and Western Europe will have a beautiful view of this eclipse if bad weather doesn’t spoil the show. The moon will be high in a dark evening sky as viewed from most of the United States and Canada, at a time when most people are still awake and about.

If you want to let your Inner Urkel out like me, take a peek at NASA’s Lunar Eclipse Page. It’s actually kinda neat! Or is it just me???

This weekend, at the mall, I went to Auntie Annie’s to get pretzels for MM & me. I always ask for plain - no butter, no salt. When I got there, there were 4 girls working - 1 ringing up purchases, 1 bagging the stuff, and 2 making pretzels. The one bagging said they didn’t have any that didn’t have butter but she asked the one girl standing at the oven what was baking. It turned out they were baking pretzel sticks so she offered me those. I’m not so picky where I can’t just pick off the salt or wipe off the butter if that’s the only kind they have, but given the option, I’ll take the already plain pretzel. But, I had somewhere to be so I couldn’t wait around long. When I asked her how long, she kindly turned around and asked the same girl how much longer they had.

I swear the girl’s (the one by the oven) eyes made a complete revolution in her head! OMG! I could not believe how completely obvious she made it that we were interrupting her standing around to ask her a question about her job!!! I mean, all three of us - the cashier, the bagger, and myself - were looking right at her with no more than 15 feet separating us and she just rolled her eyes! WTF is wrong with people these days? It was a simple question that took, at most, 4 syllables to answer! The worst part was, this was just shortly after they opened. My God! If she was like this at the start of the day, I’d hate to see how she was by the end.

I just hate poor customer service and when they make it obvious that I am imposing upon them by asking them to do their job, it makes me even more upset.

Ugh! I’m still upset over it!

I was so excited about the deals I found at Ross & Marshall Friday that I forgot about the lady who looked like she might have wanted to kill me in Marshall!

While we were checking out at Ross, there were two ladies in there and one had her 3 little kids with her. The kids looked to all be under the age of 4. The scene was like something out of a sitcom because the mom and her friend were trying to wrangle up the kids the whole time while shopping and paying. You constantly heard their conversations interrupted by “Sweetie, don’t do that,” or “I told you to come out from there,” etc.

When we moved on to Marshall, and within a few minutes they were there. As I was finding my Polo shirts, the mom was about 3 rows away, in my direct line of sight. From the sounds of the conversation with her kids, one was crawling under and through the racks of clothing. As I looked up, there was another lady in the same aisle with her, pretty much next to the mom and kids. You could tell from the look on her face that she was not happy! I pray that she doesn’t have grandkids because she seemed more like the witch in Hansel & Gretel than a grandmother type. It got to the point where they needed to exchange places because the two were moving in opposite directions down the row.

At this point, I guess the kids were in the way because all I heard was mom saying “I’m sorry..” and she was very sweet and polite about it. It was not enough for the witch though because she just rolled her eyes and looked like she wanted to stick them all in her oven! I couldn’t help it, but I just started to laugh out loud and couldn’t stop. Well, that didnt’ make the witch any happier! She snapped her head up and shot evil looks in my direction. I gave her a polite smile and tried not to laugh anymore but it was too late. I just kept laughing and chuckling (I’m sure the people in my aisle thought I was off my meds!) and she kept formulating a recipe for my trip to her oven! I finally had to just walk away and continue my search later because I was afraid she was going to pull some Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon move and leap over the racks to get me!

I have never been quite as amused at the “suffering” of others before and apparently, the witch wasn’t as amused as I was. What a great shopping trip! Bargains and entertainment all in one trip!

Another reason why I lurv EP. We went to buy MM a new bike yesterday and this is what happened:

EP & I got a rare Sunday evening alone today. This morning, I took MM to get her hair relaxed and trimmed (the first and last time I tried to put in a relaxer myself, MM had pigtails that were a full 4 inches different in lenght!!!) and on the way her friend called to ask if MM could spend the night. Heck yeah!!!

It was not all playtime after I dropped her off though. Ever since I moved in a year ago, we have had several large items in the garage that we needed to sell. This included a washer and dryer set. Today, I finally got around to putting an ad on Craig’s List for all the stuff. When we went in the garage to take pictures, we were in for quite a surprise.

I am known for hating to do laundry. Actually, I don’t mind sorting, washing, and drying. I do mind folding and putting away! Loads only leave the dryer when I need to use the dryer for another load. Loads only leave the baskets when I run out of room in the dryer and the hampers are full with dirty clothes. I just loathe folding and putting away. Especially the whites! There are thousands of socks to match and fold. How come I buy all the same socks, yet within 2 loads, none of them match anymore?? So, unless EP gets on my case, I have had times where I lived out of my dryer instead of using the perfectly good dresser and closet that I have. :blush:

Today, it became apparent just how much I hate putting away laundry. My washer and dryer have been in the garage for over a year now and when I opened the dryer to take a picture, there was a load of sheets in towels in there! EP had a good laugh at my expense. I must say, I was quite tickled myself. It took quite a while before I could stop laughing long enough to take the pictures!

Oh well, I’m washing that laundry now and it’s time to put it in the dryer…unless something’s already in there.

Like I said - I can’t find #2

A heart-saving story about women and heart disease—straight from a survivor.

Brought to you by the American Heart Association and Go Red for Women

Today’s message is from Brenda Harper-Davis, who suffered a heart attack at age 52.

Three years ago, I attended a free CPR training class my employer offered. I have a family history of heart disease and thought I might need CPR skills someday to save thelife of someone close to me. I never imagined my own life was in jeopardy at that very moment — I had a heart attack later that night. I’m alive today because my daughter took quick action and called 9-1-1.If you or someone close to you experiences the symptoms of a heart attack — pain in the chest, back, neck, jaw or stomach, as well as shortness of breath and lightheadedness, nausea or breaking out in a cold sweat – don’t waste a single second.

Call for the help that could save your heart and your life. Look for these symptoms:

* Chest discomfort that feels like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.

* Discomfort in other areas of the upper body, such as one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.

* Shortness of breath, with or without chest discomfort.

* Breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.

Please share this lifesaving message with at least one other woman today.

Take action to love your heart!

A friend of mine who graduated high school with me is a doctor and recently, I’ve started receiving these heart health tips from her. Instead of deleting them, I decided it’s probably a good idea to actually read them (novel idea, I know..) and better yet, share them. I can’t seem to find the second one, but here’s the first of three so far:

Love Your Heart

A heart-saving story about women and heart disease—straight from a survivor.

Brought to you by the American Heart Association and Go Red for Women

Today’s message is from Sue Davidson. Sue was healthy, active and just 37 years old when she had her first heart attack.

I had a family history of diabetes and developed it myself when I was 10. If you have diabetes — or have a blood relative who has or had it — you’re at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Learn about the risk factors for heart disease and which ones affect you.

* Work with your parents and siblings to create a family medical tree, including relatives who live or have lived with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other associated conditions.

* Talk with your doctor about what this means for you and others in your family.

* Develop a prevention plan to manage your risk factors.

Please share this lifesaving message with at least one other woman today.

Put your hand over your own heart and promise to protect it!