Random musings on a weekend...

This was a busy weekend, and I had a lot of conflicting emotions throughout. It started early Saturday morning, with our local Race for the Cure. This is an annual race in support of finding a cure for breast cancer. Our area hosts one of the largest Races in the nation, and this year was no exception. It is exhilarating to be part of over 20,000 men and women (mostly women – they only made our version co-ed a year ago) walking and running for a common cause.

What made this portion of the day also interesting is this – it was terrible weather. Usually at this time of the year, it is approximately 50 degrees or so in the morning, and warms up as the day goes on. That day, it was 40 degrees, no sun, and drizzle. Never got any warmer, either. I wore jeans, a turtleneck, my race shirt, and a jacket over the top. Plus, I had on gloves and my trusty Clay Aiken bucket hat. I think that hat kept me warmer than anything else I had on. Anyway, it is so cool to see so many people come out for this, even if the weather would make most people stay in bed and throw their covers over their heads.

After the Race, my husband (who walked with me!) and I went technology toy shopping. This…was cool.

My husband has never really complained all that much about me being a Clay Aiken fan. Why? Because a side effect of this fandom is that I know a heck of a lot more about technology and computers. Before my fandom hit full throttle, I had never burned a music CD, considered buying a digital camera, or even thought about using Instant Messaging. But now, I can understand what my husband is talking about when he mentions “transcoding” or “compressing a video file” or other technology talk. I really should send Clay a thank you note for that. *g*

Anyway, he and I looked at external hard drives. We both need them. I already have two, and now am looking at a third. With all the clack (Clay video clips, which to fans are addictive as crack, hence the name) out there, and the potential for more to come…heh. We also looked a cable signal booster. My husband and I both have video capture cards in our computers, and the TV reception was getting a bit fuzzy. Voila! Problem solved.

The interesting one, though, was my husband ASKING to look for a video camera. Now, I’ve been thinking of getting one for a few years, in order to capture clack at concerts. But I hadn’t asked, because I knew we just bought a regular digital camera which has captured some pretty darn good video. (Someday, I’ll link to a few…) So, imagine my surprise when my husband decides to get one! EEEEEEEEE! We don’t have it yet, and he is doing research at the moment…but soon. Very soon.

Sunday was Mother’s Day, and I visited my Mom. She recently fell and broke a bone in her leg, and she is now recuperating in a nursing home. She is also 85 years old. Since her fall, I’ve been visiting her every weekend (a 3 hour trip each way). What I’ve discovered since these visits is the hard realization – I have to mother my own mother. This is incredibly difficult for me, for a couple of reasons. First of all, I don’t have kids of my own (just our adorable kitties), so being a mother is a foreign concept to me. But, more importantly, it’s just hard watching someone who has been your rock for so many years need so much help. It’s so sad for me to feel this way, watching her like this, and having to do basic things for her (such as giving her sips of water).

It was a day when Clay’s “I Will Carry You” helped an awful lot.

Picture courtesy of the pjstar.com

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, Race for the Cure, Technology, Mothers