Sunday, November 28, 2004
Sunday Funday
Can't get enough excitement in your life? You should be me.
I did get to snooze in until 11, which was nice. Damaris and fam popped over--their weekend move is going remarkably well, thanks to the superpowers of the Mighty Nigel. Mike was, as usual, excited to see them. Maybe a little too excited. When I inquired gently as to who was attempted to heat the entire southeast Colorado region via our back door THIS time, he ran back to be helpful. One shattered pane of glass later, the door was almost completely blocking out the elements once again.
Luckily there is a curtain over the glass part of the door, so he didn't slice his hand to ribbons going through the pane. So good news! No ER trip for us!
My email showed me about a dozen posts from the Emergency Weather people. We are under a winter storm warning, the kind where they say, "Don't panic, but you DO have plenty of milk and prescription medication on hand, right?"
So I moved a project up on the roster while the outdoor temps were still in the mid 40s. I've harvested a boatload of moonflower, xeriscape petunia, and marigold seeds from the Garden of Art, Science and Technology, and then I raked and pulled up all the dead vines and such. Sliced a long but shallow cut across my thumb pulling up the big tall native grass, and I am now horribly itchy all over from wading through the plant life. But now the area is all ready for us to put out the outdoor trees which Mike has been raving on about since, oh, September....
Oh, and yesterday we finished clearing up the place in our living room where the tree will go, and under Mike's relentless nagging, actually set it up. So we now have an artificial tree looming in naked splendor on top of a stack of four boxes of books I guess we will list AFTER the holidays. Oh, well, they'll just get older.
As will Caro and I. By the minute. No, nothing like the innocent joy of a child in residence to really make the holidays meaningful....
I did get to snooze in until 11, which was nice. Damaris and fam popped over--their weekend move is going remarkably well, thanks to the superpowers of the Mighty Nigel. Mike was, as usual, excited to see them. Maybe a little too excited. When I inquired gently as to who was attempted to heat the entire southeast Colorado region via our back door THIS time, he ran back to be helpful. One shattered pane of glass later, the door was almost completely blocking out the elements once again.
Luckily there is a curtain over the glass part of the door, so he didn't slice his hand to ribbons going through the pane. So good news! No ER trip for us!
My email showed me about a dozen posts from the Emergency Weather people. We are under a winter storm warning, the kind where they say, "Don't panic, but you DO have plenty of milk and prescription medication on hand, right?"
So I moved a project up on the roster while the outdoor temps were still in the mid 40s. I've harvested a boatload of moonflower, xeriscape petunia, and marigold seeds from the Garden of Art, Science and Technology, and then I raked and pulled up all the dead vines and such. Sliced a long but shallow cut across my thumb pulling up the big tall native grass, and I am now horribly itchy all over from wading through the plant life. But now the area is all ready for us to put out the outdoor trees which Mike has been raving on about since, oh, September....
Oh, and yesterday we finished clearing up the place in our living room where the tree will go, and under Mike's relentless nagging, actually set it up. So we now have an artificial tree looming in naked splendor on top of a stack of four boxes of books I guess we will list AFTER the holidays. Oh, well, they'll just get older.
As will Caro and I. By the minute. No, nothing like the innocent joy of a child in residence to really make the holidays meaningful....
Friday, November 26, 2004
Friday folderol
I was having a pretty weird dream when I woke up today. Keith Richards had broken off with the Stones and was touring around doing concerts on his own, whenever he could get some group to sponsor him. So this one I was trying to attend had about 100 people there, but things kept going wrong. The equipment didn't work, and at one point all the speakers and things, which had been duct taped to the wall, fell down. What he was trying to sing was 80s pop hits to a karaoke type background soundtrack. At another point, I stomped off to get the sound man a cup of coffee so he would agree to continue working through the end of the show....
Pre-Christmas decoration shifting and sorting continues apace here, so yep, still busy like the bees. Oh, and here is what the hoya flowers look like OPEN.
Don't worry, that's not a train outside our window--just a picture.
Pre-Christmas decoration shifting and sorting continues apace here, so yep, still busy like the bees. Oh, and here is what the hoya flowers look like OPEN.
Don't worry, that's not a train outside our window--just a picture.
Thursday, November 25, 2004
GOOD MORNING! HAVE I HAD ENOUGH COFFEE YET?!?!
I DON'T THINK SO!!
So far so good re Thanksgiving.
Shopping for needed supplies, check.
Turkey I should have started defrosting on Monday quick thawed, check.
Friendly bickering over the Right Way to make stuffing, check.
Caro allowed to make it her heathen way, check.
Stay up too late despite good intentions, check.
Say The Bad Words at alarm clock, check.
Stuff turkey and start it cooking for noonish meal, check.
Start reading LJ since I will never get back to sleep after drinking a double Velvet Chocolate expresso, check.
Here is an oldie but goodie, the Thanksgiving Weather Forecast:
Turkeys will thaw in the morning, then warm in the oven to an afternoon
high near 190oF. The kitchen will turn hot and humid, and if you bother
the cook, be ready for a severe squall or cold shoulder.
During the late afternoon and evening, the cold front of a knife will slice
through the turkey, causing an accumulation of one to two inches on
plates. Mashed potatoes will drift across one side while cranberry sauce
creates slippery spots on the other. Please pass the gravy.
A weight watch and indigestion warning have been issued for the entire
area, with increased stuffiness around the beltway.
During the evening, the turkey will diminish and taper off to leftovers,
dropping to a low of 34oF in the refrigerator.
Looking ahead to the next two days, high pressure to eat sandwiches will be
established. Flurries of leftovers can be expected both days with a 50
percent chance of scattered soup late in the day. We expect a warming
trend where soup develops.
By early next week, eating pressure will be low as the only wish left will
be the bone.
So far so good re Thanksgiving.
Shopping for needed supplies, check.
Turkey I should have started defrosting on Monday quick thawed, check.
Friendly bickering over the Right Way to make stuffing, check.
Caro allowed to make it her heathen way, check.
Stay up too late despite good intentions, check.
Say The Bad Words at alarm clock, check.
Stuff turkey and start it cooking for noonish meal, check.
Start reading LJ since I will never get back to sleep after drinking a double Velvet Chocolate expresso, check.
Here is an oldie but goodie, the Thanksgiving Weather Forecast:
Turkeys will thaw in the morning, then warm in the oven to an afternoon
high near 190oF. The kitchen will turn hot and humid, and if you bother
the cook, be ready for a severe squall or cold shoulder.
During the late afternoon and evening, the cold front of a knife will slice
through the turkey, causing an accumulation of one to two inches on
plates. Mashed potatoes will drift across one side while cranberry sauce
creates slippery spots on the other. Please pass the gravy.
A weight watch and indigestion warning have been issued for the entire
area, with increased stuffiness around the beltway.
During the evening, the turkey will diminish and taper off to leftovers,
dropping to a low of 34oF in the refrigerator.
Looking ahead to the next two days, high pressure to eat sandwiches will be
established. Flurries of leftovers can be expected both days with a 50
percent chance of scattered soup late in the day. We expect a warming
trend where soup develops.
By early next week, eating pressure will be low as the only wish left will
be the bone.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Best laid plans, I think they call it.
Despite my best intentions, I did not get my packing of packages done today, although I did the packing slips and address labels. Instead I got sucked into sorting through the tail-end-of-the-month bills, and the diabolical planning of what to do about next month's bills.
That actually did need doing, and it ended cheer-ishly. It looks like, providing we keep putting in a lot of listing hours to keep sales up, we can reverse our current experiment in deficit spending by Christmas. With luck. If nothing else major starts whining for money.
We have other exciting news too! When we were shifting things about this weekend, I discovered THESE on the hoya plant!
Yes! Flowers! As you may not know, hoyas are picky about blooming, and often don't do it for years at a time! I think this one last bloomed at LEAST 15 years ago! And know what else? The flowers smell AWFUL! So, um, yay?
In other news, damn Schipperkes still among the missing.
That actually did need doing, and it ended cheer-ishly. It looks like, providing we keep putting in a lot of listing hours to keep sales up, we can reverse our current experiment in deficit spending by Christmas. With luck. If nothing else major starts whining for money.
We have other exciting news too! When we were shifting things about this weekend, I discovered THESE on the hoya plant!
Yes! Flowers! As you may not know, hoyas are picky about blooming, and often don't do it for years at a time! I think this one last bloomed at LEAST 15 years ago! And know what else? The flowers smell AWFUL! So, um, yay?
In other news, damn Schipperkes still among the missing.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Checking in
Still here, and all is well. I just didn't seen, hear or think anything worth posting about on Monday.
I continue tunneling about the place, moving things from here to there. Not unlike an ant. Or an aunt, I suppose.
I have lost some crucial items here in the house. A vintage leather Texas Tech purse, two prints of reproduction engravings of Schipperke dogs and a folder of background notes for the thing I am poking about writing. I know they are all here somewhere, probably hiding and snickering at me....
On the plus side, the eye/ear thing resolved itself, and now I am thinking it was just reaction to the heater running so much, now that we've hit actual fall-like weather.
Another plus, for breakfast I had a big chunk of slightly over-tweaked but still delicious lemon bar which I made on a whim last night.
OK, I have to go wrap stuff to mail now. If I can FIND the damn Schipperkes....
I continue tunneling about the place, moving things from here to there. Not unlike an ant. Or an aunt, I suppose.
I have lost some crucial items here in the house. A vintage leather Texas Tech purse, two prints of reproduction engravings of Schipperke dogs and a folder of background notes for the thing I am poking about writing. I know they are all here somewhere, probably hiding and snickering at me....
On the plus side, the eye/ear thing resolved itself, and now I am thinking it was just reaction to the heater running so much, now that we've hit actual fall-like weather.
Another plus, for breakfast I had a big chunk of slightly over-tweaked but still delicious lemon bar which I made on a whim last night.
OK, I have to go wrap stuff to mail now. If I can FIND the damn Schipperkes....
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Missing - 1 week
If found, don't bother to return it. It wasn't anything to blog home about.
What I *thought* I was going to do last Saturday got derailed by an entirely new project. (Pics later.) That dragged on into Sunday, and then we got into the Week of Many Interruptions. For some reason Mike and I both had a slew of appointments fall in the same week--doctor and dentist stuff, mostly. We are both fine, but as a result of me hanging about in assorted medical establishments at least half a dozen times, not to mention standing in line at the pharmacy, I fear I have been exposed to some highly virile viri, because my ears are all owie and my eyes feel sticky and itchy. Could be worse, though. We have a mini whooping cough epidemic going on in our county....
Oh, and a spider or something bit my leg, right on the tender part on the back of my knee where it is kind of hard to apply a heat compress.
I am still coming to terms with my disappointment and outrage about the election (not to mention the serious worry about the future), which was a drain on mental energy that made my reaction to the drains on my time that much worse. So part of my very reasonable reaction to the feeling my grasp on control of my time was gone, gone, totally gone...was to spend quite a few hours on some fiction writing I recently resurrected. This is one where the main character is having a depressive meltdown. And I say, better him than me.
The week kind of capped off when Caro went sorting through a box of Christmas cards Saturday morning, trying to get like designs together with the right sized envelopes. Way down at the bottom she found four checks which were all endorsed and ready to deposit...back in 1997. One paycheck, one insurance dividend and two gift checks from my mom. The paycheck was mine, from when I was DJing part time for KVAY, and since the station changed hands a couple years back, well, that's $72 I'll never get back. I seem to recall my mom replacing the gift checks (and if not, eh, whatever) and I MIGHT be able to convince State Farm to cut us a new check for the magnificent $13.52. But on the whole it was a weird thing to discover, and it felt just like the whole uncomfortable week coming full circle.
Today was lots better, except for the ears thing. I am optimistic about the week ahead.
What I *thought* I was going to do last Saturday got derailed by an entirely new project. (Pics later.) That dragged on into Sunday, and then we got into the Week of Many Interruptions. For some reason Mike and I both had a slew of appointments fall in the same week--doctor and dentist stuff, mostly. We are both fine, but as a result of me hanging about in assorted medical establishments at least half a dozen times, not to mention standing in line at the pharmacy, I fear I have been exposed to some highly virile viri, because my ears are all owie and my eyes feel sticky and itchy. Could be worse, though. We have a mini whooping cough epidemic going on in our county....
Oh, and a spider or something bit my leg, right on the tender part on the back of my knee where it is kind of hard to apply a heat compress.
I am still coming to terms with my disappointment and outrage about the election (not to mention the serious worry about the future), which was a drain on mental energy that made my reaction to the drains on my time that much worse. So part of my very reasonable reaction to the feeling my grasp on control of my time was gone, gone, totally gone...was to spend quite a few hours on some fiction writing I recently resurrected. This is one where the main character is having a depressive meltdown. And I say, better him than me.
The week kind of capped off when Caro went sorting through a box of Christmas cards Saturday morning, trying to get like designs together with the right sized envelopes. Way down at the bottom she found four checks which were all endorsed and ready to deposit...back in 1997. One paycheck, one insurance dividend and two gift checks from my mom. The paycheck was mine, from when I was DJing part time for KVAY, and since the station changed hands a couple years back, well, that's $72 I'll never get back. I seem to recall my mom replacing the gift checks (and if not, eh, whatever) and I MIGHT be able to convince State Farm to cut us a new check for the magnificent $13.52. But on the whole it was a weird thing to discover, and it felt just like the whole uncomfortable week coming full circle.
Today was lots better, except for the ears thing. I am optimistic about the week ahead.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
My Day In History
OK, here I am, back home in a quiet house, caught up on email. Thought I would post some scattered observations of the day. BE WARNED, I am slurping down Fuzzy Navels like there's no tomorrow!
You probably know by now that I am not a morning person. All the kind responses to my pic of Dreamcloud in his Election Day costume pleased me muchly, and in large part because that was HARD WORK! Coloring the signs took me a long time because my markers kept freezing up, and also I fell down the steps on one trip outside. Oh, yeah, baby, I suffered for my art!
For the record, I drove 112 miles in my prayer-wheel circuit around town, in a little over eight hours. Some of that time involved poll watching, but the folks running my precinct's set-up were very good and didn't require much watching.
I never did give anyone a ride, but I DID get someone out to vote in Florida. I'd sent that pic link around, and an acquaintance on an email list wrote back to say she didn't know where to go vote (in Florida!). Needless to say I Googled her up an answer fast, and she popped off to her local library!
I also pointed some people to the appropriate polling places here in Lamar. So my day was not poorly spent, in my view.
I drove to the middle school when it let out to pick Mike up, per his request. He is, especially considering his handicaps, more deeply interested in this election and the political process than many supposedly normal adults.
He spent some time encouraging me to shanghai any pedestrians we saw off to the polls. I think I eventually explained that this was not our actual mission. Instead, I tried to get across to him exactly what voting was, and why it was important.
In the end, what I hope he got was that the "other side" was not our enemy. They were just good people with different ideas.
The enemies are people who are just bone lazy, who can't be bothered to get off their butts and vote.
Later in the day, our county chair asked me if I wanted to volunteer to help count some oddball votes, as a Dem rep. I said sure, and volunteered Damaris as well.
So she and I turned up at Dem headquarters at about 6:30, and after snogging up some really good homemade snacks, we walked over to the courthouse, a block away.
It was pretty busy, with the County Clerk and her best minions putting in overtime like mad, while candidates for office and local news personages slavered for Official Details.
We got to see how the local votes were counted (on equipment that would have been state of the art in 1968, though still quite reliable). Three of us Dems were paired with three Repubs, and we went through a few ballots that had a very minor error which affected under 200 people in our county. We carefully made sure that all votes were properly counted, as we also made jokes featuring lines like, "Yes, YES, OH BABY YES!!!--No." And when an error cropped up and we were joking about us all going to jail, I offered to let them all be my bitches and defend them against the other hardened female prisoners, and they all accepted gratefully.
That was possibly the high point of my day.
You probably know by now that I am not a morning person. All the kind responses to my pic of Dreamcloud in his Election Day costume pleased me muchly, and in large part because that was HARD WORK! Coloring the signs took me a long time because my markers kept freezing up, and also I fell down the steps on one trip outside. Oh, yeah, baby, I suffered for my art!
For the record, I drove 112 miles in my prayer-wheel circuit around town, in a little over eight hours. Some of that time involved poll watching, but the folks running my precinct's set-up were very good and didn't require much watching.
I never did give anyone a ride, but I DID get someone out to vote in Florida. I'd sent that pic link around, and an acquaintance on an email list wrote back to say she didn't know where to go vote (in Florida!). Needless to say I Googled her up an answer fast, and she popped off to her local library!
I also pointed some people to the appropriate polling places here in Lamar. So my day was not poorly spent, in my view.
I drove to the middle school when it let out to pick Mike up, per his request. He is, especially considering his handicaps, more deeply interested in this election and the political process than many supposedly normal adults.
He spent some time encouraging me to shanghai any pedestrians we saw off to the polls. I think I eventually explained that this was not our actual mission. Instead, I tried to get across to him exactly what voting was, and why it was important.
In the end, what I hope he got was that the "other side" was not our enemy. They were just good people with different ideas.
The enemies are people who are just bone lazy, who can't be bothered to get off their butts and vote.
Later in the day, our county chair asked me if I wanted to volunteer to help count some oddball votes, as a Dem rep. I said sure, and volunteered Damaris as well.
So she and I turned up at Dem headquarters at about 6:30, and after snogging up some really good homemade snacks, we walked over to the courthouse, a block away.
It was pretty busy, with the County Clerk and her best minions putting in overtime like mad, while candidates for office and local news personages slavered for Official Details.
We got to see how the local votes were counted (on equipment that would have been state of the art in 1968, though still quite reliable). Three of us Dems were paired with three Repubs, and we went through a few ballots that had a very minor error which affected under 200 people in our county. We carefully made sure that all votes were properly counted, as we also made jokes featuring lines like, "Yes, YES, OH BABY YES!!!--No." And when an error cropped up and we were joking about us all going to jail, I offered to let them all be my bitches and defend them against the other hardened female prisoners, and they all accepted gratefully.
That was possibly the high point of my day.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Full tank of gas, mission from God, etc.
If you know anybody in Prowers County who needs a ride to vote, give me a buzz!
Talk to you later!
Talk to you later!
