Thursday, December 30, 2004
Today? A little stressful.
I haven't had anything really interesting to write about since Christmas, seems like, but I'd been hesitating about griping about my ongoing feud with the mail carrier who is being all anal-retentive about our mail box lid. SHE claims it does not close enough to be "secure". I claim if she didn't pull on it like she was tugging the Queen Mary into dry dock, it wouldn't get instantly yanked back out of true every bloody time I fix it again! So she's held our mail hostage for a week. Bitch. I am currently in negotiations with the acting Postmistress as to exactly why my 12 year old developmentally delayed son can successfully shut the mailbox so it stays closed but this adult government employee cannot....
Basically not that gripping a topic, right? Right. So how's this one?
I got home from my errands to find that the caretaker with whom Mike's bio-mom resides had made several frantic calls while I was out. It seems Bio-mom was claiming a suddenly missing $100 bill went walkies the day after Christmas...IN MIKE'S POCKET!!!!!!!!
After Caro held me down until the exploding laser cannonballs stopped shooting out of my eyes and I was achieving three non-profane words in ten, I calmed down enough to return the call. I have to say, the caretaker was not totally in denial about what probably had really happened; she just understandably didn't WANT it to be true, and hoped her $100 was going to turn up in our laundry so we could all have a good laugh.
Bio-mom's story was that she showed Mike the bill when he was there delivering her Christmas present, and he put it in his pocket and took it away. She seems to have had no answer as to why she might have let him do this, and she totally forgot to mention that *I* was right there the whole time (about five minutes all told).
After I revealed MY presence at the non-scene of the crime, and insisted I would be more than happy to take a lie detector test to be sure Mike's good name was not officially blackened, the caretaker passed the phone to Bio-mom, and I regret to say I was pretty blunt about what I thought about this sorry attempt to escape punishment by pushing it off onto her child. Regret because she was abused and neglected as a child, and did not choose to become a sociopath with an IQ of 75 or so. If yelling at her was going to help at all, it already would have by now.
She did start changing her story about then, though, and I hope for the caretaker's sake that she hadn't yet gone out and spent the money. I don't know what happened over there after they got off the phone.
Afterwards I told Mike what had happened, on the off chance that he will need to go speak to the police or something. He was kind of upset, but we've always been as open as appropriate with him about the circumstances of his birth and adoption. He is familiar with the idea that his bio-mom loves his as much as she is able to, but no one taught her how to act right and she makes a lot of bad choices. She has let him down in minor ways before. I always knew some kind of major blow-out would happen eventually. Maybe it's good that it's something with only minor potential for serious problems for him, like this.
On the other hand, I didn't have to take delivery of my mother-in-law's ashes this morning like Damaris did (I COULDN'T HAVE!! MY MAILBOX IS NOT SECURE!!), so at least I can take comfort in knowing that ALL the weird stuff that happened in our locale today did not ALL happen to me.
Basically not that gripping a topic, right? Right. So how's this one?
I got home from my errands to find that the caretaker with whom Mike's bio-mom resides had made several frantic calls while I was out. It seems Bio-mom was claiming a suddenly missing $100 bill went walkies the day after Christmas...IN MIKE'S POCKET!!!!!!!!
After Caro held me down until the exploding laser cannonballs stopped shooting out of my eyes and I was achieving three non-profane words in ten, I calmed down enough to return the call. I have to say, the caretaker was not totally in denial about what probably had really happened; she just understandably didn't WANT it to be true, and hoped her $100 was going to turn up in our laundry so we could all have a good laugh.
Bio-mom's story was that she showed Mike the bill when he was there delivering her Christmas present, and he put it in his pocket and took it away. She seems to have had no answer as to why she might have let him do this, and she totally forgot to mention that *I* was right there the whole time (about five minutes all told).
After I revealed MY presence at the non-scene of the crime, and insisted I would be more than happy to take a lie detector test to be sure Mike's good name was not officially blackened, the caretaker passed the phone to Bio-mom, and I regret to say I was pretty blunt about what I thought about this sorry attempt to escape punishment by pushing it off onto her child. Regret because she was abused and neglected as a child, and did not choose to become a sociopath with an IQ of 75 or so. If yelling at her was going to help at all, it already would have by now.
She did start changing her story about then, though, and I hope for the caretaker's sake that she hadn't yet gone out and spent the money. I don't know what happened over there after they got off the phone.
Afterwards I told Mike what had happened, on the off chance that he will need to go speak to the police or something. He was kind of upset, but we've always been as open as appropriate with him about the circumstances of his birth and adoption. He is familiar with the idea that his bio-mom loves his as much as she is able to, but no one taught her how to act right and she makes a lot of bad choices. She has let him down in minor ways before. I always knew some kind of major blow-out would happen eventually. Maybe it's good that it's something with only minor potential for serious problems for him, like this.
On the other hand, I didn't have to take delivery of my mother-in-law's ashes this morning like Damaris did (I COULDN'T HAVE!! MY MAILBOX IS NOT SECURE!!), so at least I can take comfort in knowing that ALL the weird stuff that happened in our locale today did not ALL happen to me.
Sunday, December 26, 2004
Into sorts
Nothing like a pre-dawn quest to utterly throw off your time sense for the rest of the day!
I had set my alarm for a prudent 5 am, knowing that I tend to move pretty slowly when it's that early out. But Mike, who had no clock help at all that we know of, came bursting into the bedroom yelling, "Get up, lazy parents!!" at about 4:58. How does he do it?
Anyway, we made it to the Wal-mart with 10 minutes to spare, and I fomented a very small rebellion by hand-opening the outer door and entering the "air lock" area of the store with Mike close beside me. I flaunted my rebelness by waving out the frosty glass doors at the shivering 'follow the rules' people (and Caro, their Queen), because I am not nearly so nice when I am giddy from lack of sleep as I am later in the day when my higher brain functions are plugging along properly. But a Wal-mart employee noticed the situation and came to assure the outsiders they were welcome inside the warm area, so then we had a nice little herd going.
About 25 of us stampeded down to the Christmas area, and we did indeed score the light up sign, plus a few very cheap goodies. I don't know what I am going to DO with a purple tinsel garland, but it will soon be decorating something, you may be sure. Plus we got a SpongeBob calendar. And a small half-price box of cheap but yummy chocolates.
I went back to sleep for three hours once I got home (one of the few perks of self-employment!) and things looked much brighter when I re-arose. I have begged off the Marble Game of Doom for the moment, but Mike has (temporarily) come to terms with the shocking concept that even *I* cannot make it look and work like the picture on the box. Happily, he is now rearranging it and experimenting with it in an educational manner, as the gods intended all along.
So far today I have busily begun sorting Stuff, and now I sort of have separate piles of Things Which Have Been Photographed But Not Described, Things Which Have Been Described But Not Photographed, Things Which Have Been Both (smallest pile) and Things Which Have Been Neither (biggest pile).
Fun, fun, fun around here all the time!
I had set my alarm for a prudent 5 am, knowing that I tend to move pretty slowly when it's that early out. But Mike, who had no clock help at all that we know of, came bursting into the bedroom yelling, "Get up, lazy parents!!" at about 4:58. How does he do it?
Anyway, we made it to the Wal-mart with 10 minutes to spare, and I fomented a very small rebellion by hand-opening the outer door and entering the "air lock" area of the store with Mike close beside me. I flaunted my rebelness by waving out the frosty glass doors at the shivering 'follow the rules' people (and Caro, their Queen), because I am not nearly so nice when I am giddy from lack of sleep as I am later in the day when my higher brain functions are plugging along properly. But a Wal-mart employee noticed the situation and came to assure the outsiders they were welcome inside the warm area, so then we had a nice little herd going.
About 25 of us stampeded down to the Christmas area, and we did indeed score the light up sign, plus a few very cheap goodies. I don't know what I am going to DO with a purple tinsel garland, but it will soon be decorating something, you may be sure. Plus we got a SpongeBob calendar. And a small half-price box of cheap but yummy chocolates.
I went back to sleep for three hours once I got home (one of the few perks of self-employment!) and things looked much brighter when I re-arose. I have begged off the Marble Game of Doom for the moment, but Mike has (temporarily) come to terms with the shocking concept that even *I* cannot make it look and work like the picture on the box. Happily, he is now rearranging it and experimenting with it in an educational manner, as the gods intended all along.
So far today I have busily begun sorting Stuff, and now I sort of have separate piles of Things Which Have Been Photographed But Not Described, Things Which Have Been Described But Not Photographed, Things Which Have Been Both (smallest pile) and Things Which Have Been Neither (biggest pile).
Fun, fun, fun around here all the time!
Saturday, December 25, 2004
Merry Christmouse and other holiday entertainments
For the past few days, we have suspected we were involuntarily harboring a fugitive rodent. Besides hearing odd rustlings in remote locations, the cats were acting more annoyed and frustrated than usual at not being able to walk through walls.
So last night, shortly after finalizing the evening's wrapping detail, Caro said, "Listen! I think...I think there's something moving in the trash can!"
She slowly and carefully picked up the trash can, intending to carry it outside while any theoretical inhabitant of said can huddled at the bottom, frozen in fear. After all, traditionally he should NOT have been stirring at all!
What she did not expect was that it was some sort of steroidal action movie mouse. It scrambled up a discarded wrapping paper tube and right onto her chestal area, eliciting a short but loud and emphatic boarder repelling action.
She went ahead and carried the mouse-free trash out, and of course by the time she was back I had regained both my self-control, my breath and my sense of self-preservation. And I really WAS sorry for laughing.
What was really funny was that what was probably the same mouse got back into the EMPTY trash can in the night, and this time he WAS successfully evicted!
We settled down for our long winter's nap, and Mike even let us sleep kinda sorta late--Caro got up around 7 and I snoozed in until almost 8! Then we opened pressies, and I settled in to help Mike with his favorite, an exercise in long-distance passive-aggressive manufactural sadism called "Marble Odyssey".
It looked harmless enough on the shelf. Mike called it a marble roller coaster and I didn't think it would be too hard for him, as the minimum age listed on the box was 8. What I wasn't counting on was a minimalist instruction page with very small blurry pics and diagrams (words must be too expensive to use), some of which are either incorrect or printed with register error so that you can't quite tell which of two diverging images is correct. Also, the design engineer is either a descendant of Escher or from some alternate universe where three dimensional construction is only one of many options....
We called it quits for a while to go over to eat and be merry with Damaris, Nigel, his dad and wife/girlfriend, and the grands. It was a great meal, and afterwards we had fun playing some new version of Uno, Full Contact or some such. Very entertaining.
Back at home, I spent another fruitless couple of hours trying to complete the basic model of Marble Odyssey. It occurs to me that this toy may have been deliberately named, and one is supposed to get that it is a theoretically routine task which will end up taking you twenty years to accomplish.
Anyway, now I am winding down catching up on my e-stuff. My plan is to get to bed early because tomorrow we are arising before dawn to head to Wal-mart and let Mr. Mike fulfill his youthful dream of acquiring a blinking, glowing, flashing sign that says "Santa Stop Here" at 75% off....
Either that or a solar powered lighthouse garden marker.
So last night, shortly after finalizing the evening's wrapping detail, Caro said, "Listen! I think...I think there's something moving in the trash can!"
She slowly and carefully picked up the trash can, intending to carry it outside while any theoretical inhabitant of said can huddled at the bottom, frozen in fear. After all, traditionally he should NOT have been stirring at all!
What she did not expect was that it was some sort of steroidal action movie mouse. It scrambled up a discarded wrapping paper tube and right onto her chestal area, eliciting a short but loud and emphatic boarder repelling action.
She went ahead and carried the mouse-free trash out, and of course by the time she was back I had regained both my self-control, my breath and my sense of self-preservation. And I really WAS sorry for laughing.
What was really funny was that what was probably the same mouse got back into the EMPTY trash can in the night, and this time he WAS successfully evicted!
We settled down for our long winter's nap, and Mike even let us sleep kinda sorta late--Caro got up around 7 and I snoozed in until almost 8! Then we opened pressies, and I settled in to help Mike with his favorite, an exercise in long-distance passive-aggressive manufactural sadism called "Marble Odyssey".
It looked harmless enough on the shelf. Mike called it a marble roller coaster and I didn't think it would be too hard for him, as the minimum age listed on the box was 8. What I wasn't counting on was a minimalist instruction page with very small blurry pics and diagrams (words must be too expensive to use), some of which are either incorrect or printed with register error so that you can't quite tell which of two diverging images is correct. Also, the design engineer is either a descendant of Escher or from some alternate universe where three dimensional construction is only one of many options....
We called it quits for a while to go over to eat and be merry with Damaris, Nigel, his dad and wife/girlfriend, and the grands. It was a great meal, and afterwards we had fun playing some new version of Uno, Full Contact or some such. Very entertaining.
Back at home, I spent another fruitless couple of hours trying to complete the basic model of Marble Odyssey. It occurs to me that this toy may have been deliberately named, and one is supposed to get that it is a theoretically routine task which will end up taking you twenty years to accomplish.
Anyway, now I am winding down catching up on my e-stuff. My plan is to get to bed early because tomorrow we are arising before dawn to head to Wal-mart and let Mr. Mike fulfill his youthful dream of acquiring a blinking, glowing, flashing sign that says "Santa Stop Here" at 75% off....
Either that or a solar powered lighthouse garden marker.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Strange things
I wish I could let you all into my head sometimes.
I had the most amazing dream the other night, and there's no way of really getting it across in just words. I keep remembering little flashes of it, but because of the dream aspect, they wouldn't make much sense as a narrative. The basic premise (which made total dream sense, you know how it is) was that this was a new TV show about a spaceship crew, and it was populated by people from canceled shows. But I don't remember all the people because some of them were from shows I'd never watched. (I'm generous and unselfish that way, giving employment to folks from other people's fandoms.)
The highlight was when someone handed me a small leather box with a snap-together rim like a case for eyeglasses. The tooling was a little worn across the highlights, I remember, as if it had been in use a long time. Inside was a disc, a little bigger than a silver dollar, with a edged rim (like on a dime). It was clear but dark except for a few little flickers of light from chips or something inside.
The disc was the consciousness of the woman who was going to be the captain of our ship. She had died in action somewhere, and this was how they were bringing her back. When I put the disc in a hole on the console, all of a sudden the ship shook all over and the lights all went in a series of big noisy flashes, FOOM! FOOM! FOOM! And then she made an inspiring speech about wishing she had a body so she could be right there with us all on our mission.
And then I woke up.
I don't know if it had anything to do with waking up in the night from being bitten by a spider. Which really did happen and wasn't a dream, as I now have a hard itchy bump on my arm which is annoying.
Even more annoying is the news I read on LJ yesterday that they are canceling Dead Like Me. I watch hardly ANY TV shows, I don't think it's too much to ask that they leave on the ones I like. I did also read today that maybe they won't cancel it...so maybe I am being all annoyed for nothing. None of the DLM characters would be much use at all on a spaceship, so really, I think they should keep the show running.
I have done a teeny smidge of catching up on LJ, plus I am making big strides in rearranging the kitchen cupboards and Other Useful Things. More anon.
I had the most amazing dream the other night, and there's no way of really getting it across in just words. I keep remembering little flashes of it, but because of the dream aspect, they wouldn't make much sense as a narrative. The basic premise (which made total dream sense, you know how it is) was that this was a new TV show about a spaceship crew, and it was populated by people from canceled shows. But I don't remember all the people because some of them were from shows I'd never watched. (I'm generous and unselfish that way, giving employment to folks from other people's fandoms.)
The highlight was when someone handed me a small leather box with a snap-together rim like a case for eyeglasses. The tooling was a little worn across the highlights, I remember, as if it had been in use a long time. Inside was a disc, a little bigger than a silver dollar, with a edged rim (like on a dime). It was clear but dark except for a few little flickers of light from chips or something inside.
The disc was the consciousness of the woman who was going to be the captain of our ship. She had died in action somewhere, and this was how they were bringing her back. When I put the disc in a hole on the console, all of a sudden the ship shook all over and the lights all went in a series of big noisy flashes, FOOM! FOOM! FOOM! And then she made an inspiring speech about wishing she had a body so she could be right there with us all on our mission.
And then I woke up.
I don't know if it had anything to do with waking up in the night from being bitten by a spider. Which really did happen and wasn't a dream, as I now have a hard itchy bump on my arm which is annoying.
Even more annoying is the news I read on LJ yesterday that they are canceling Dead Like Me. I watch hardly ANY TV shows, I don't think it's too much to ask that they leave on the ones I like. I did also read today that maybe they won't cancel it...so maybe I am being all annoyed for nothing. None of the DLM characters would be much use at all on a spaceship, so really, I think they should keep the show running.
I have done a teeny smidge of catching up on LJ, plus I am making big strides in rearranging the kitchen cupboards and Other Useful Things. More anon.
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Humboldt Street Specials
Per request, I shall share the instructions for the making of the most excellent Humboldt Street Specials, aka Best Sandwich Evar.
Some readers here might remember the actual name of the restaurant we got this from. It was on the corner of Humboldt (duh!) and Colfax in Denver, and has changed hands several times since we used to drop in there, way back before I moved to Lamar in 1980. Yuppie fern bar type place, art for sale on the walls, lots of wicker and such, as I recall. Good food though. I remember the lobster bisque with great fondness, but my culinary skills don't go much further than copying a sandwich.
So. You need wheat bread, avocados, mushrooms, green onions, tomatoes, Monterey Jack cheese and sproots. (You know, alfalfa sproots)
Moosh you up some avocados, about 1 and a little per person of the big kind, 2 or so of the small kind. Spread that on the bread--oh, yeah, which you have laid out on a cookie sheet. Chop and slice your mushrooms and green onions and squish them into the avocado layer. Cover these with slices of the cheese, then stick the lot under a broiler until the cheese starts to bubble and brown.
(I didn't give amounts on the ingredients. Just buy Enough of the mushrooms, green onions and tomatoes, because you can always have a salad too, or tomorrow, or something, right? An ounce or two of cheese per sandwich is about right, and most likely people will want at LEAST two!)
Remove from oven, top with tomato slices and sproots (or chopped lettuce, or just leave that layer off if you want, I don't care) and devour, marveling at how well all the flavors combine.
Very easy, very good for brunch, dinner, unexpected guests, etc!
Some readers here might remember the actual name of the restaurant we got this from. It was on the corner of Humboldt (duh!) and Colfax in Denver, and has changed hands several times since we used to drop in there, way back before I moved to Lamar in 1980. Yuppie fern bar type place, art for sale on the walls, lots of wicker and such, as I recall. Good food though. I remember the lobster bisque with great fondness, but my culinary skills don't go much further than copying a sandwich.
So. You need wheat bread, avocados, mushrooms, green onions, tomatoes, Monterey Jack cheese and sproots. (You know, alfalfa sproots)
Moosh you up some avocados, about 1 and a little per person of the big kind, 2 or so of the small kind. Spread that on the bread--oh, yeah, which you have laid out on a cookie sheet. Chop and slice your mushrooms and green onions and squish them into the avocado layer. Cover these with slices of the cheese, then stick the lot under a broiler until the cheese starts to bubble and brown.
(I didn't give amounts on the ingredients. Just buy Enough of the mushrooms, green onions and tomatoes, because you can always have a salad too, or tomorrow, or something, right? An ounce or two of cheese per sandwich is about right, and most likely people will want at LEAST two!)
Remove from oven, top with tomato slices and sproots (or chopped lettuce, or just leave that layer off if you want, I don't care) and devour, marveling at how well all the flavors combine.
Very easy, very good for brunch, dinner, unexpected guests, etc!
Green onion timeout
Well, MY Wednesday went skidding off the rails!
It didn't start that badly. I was busy with my usual work during the day. Caro made dinner, a kind of sandwich we really like called Humboldt Street Specials, while I went to the PO, and after dinner Mike and I made salt dough ornaments.
(Note to self: The computer area is probably not the best place in the house to do projects involving flour, rolling pins and plates of cookie cuttered decorations. Just for your future reference....)
But then I started having a stomach ache. Not something I am prone to even in a minor way, so I was all Whisky-Tango-Foxtrot?
In order not to TMI you, I'll cut to the chase. Palliative care did not help, and in retrospect I admit I should have just given in right away to my body's suggestion to return the sandwiches to Nature via the same route we acquired them, rather than going through with the more customary 24 processing period. Would have saved me about 3 hours of groaning and complaining.
We figure it was the green onions because Caro can only have a tiny token amount in her food (allergies) and they are on Mike's very long Dislikes list. Caro was very upset, insisting she had washed them carefully before cutting them up (and I'm SURE it had nothing to do with payback for the little explosion from the bathroom light fixture recently). Being so familiar with her usual careful kitchen procedures, I think it must be a case of, if a green onion has YOUR name on it, there's nothing you can do.
Anyway, I am much better today, and plan to do some more catching up, in between loads of laundry....
It didn't start that badly. I was busy with my usual work during the day. Caro made dinner, a kind of sandwich we really like called Humboldt Street Specials, while I went to the PO, and after dinner Mike and I made salt dough ornaments.
(Note to self: The computer area is probably not the best place in the house to do projects involving flour, rolling pins and plates of cookie cuttered decorations. Just for your future reference....)
But then I started having a stomach ache. Not something I am prone to even in a minor way, so I was all Whisky-Tango-Foxtrot?
In order not to TMI you, I'll cut to the chase. Palliative care did not help, and in retrospect I admit I should have just given in right away to my body's suggestion to return the sandwiches to Nature via the same route we acquired them, rather than going through with the more customary 24 processing period. Would have saved me about 3 hours of groaning and complaining.
We figure it was the green onions because Caro can only have a tiny token amount in her food (allergies) and they are on Mike's very long Dislikes list. Caro was very upset, insisting she had washed them carefully before cutting them up (and I'm SURE it had nothing to do with payback for the little explosion from the bathroom light fixture recently). Being so familiar with her usual careful kitchen procedures, I think it must be a case of, if a green onion has YOUR name on it, there's nothing you can do.
Anyway, I am much better today, and plan to do some more catching up, in between loads of laundry....
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Harder than it sounds!
I got this from....somebody on LiveJournal, but I forgot to note down who....
Anyway, it's a game where you drop and drag states into their proper place on a blank US map. The border states are pretty easy, but the interior ones will kill your score if you aren't lucky enough to have any states in place to latch them onto.
Click here to play!
Unless you have Firefox, in which case you have to click there and then copy the URL to IE. At least, that's what I often end up doing with animated sites. One of these days I will go rooting around and figure out why that is....
Anyway, it's a game where you drop and drag states into their proper place on a blank US map. The border states are pretty easy, but the interior ones will kill your score if you aren't lucky enough to have any states in place to latch them onto.
Click here to play!
Unless you have Firefox, in which case you have to click there and then copy the URL to IE. At least, that's what I often end up doing with animated sites. One of these days I will go rooting around and figure out why that is....
A very different Christmas story!
http://www.sff.net/people/nalo/writing/fiction/daughter.html
Short, way cool. Now I am going to have to find some of Nalo Hopkinson's books!
Short, way cool. Now I am going to have to find some of Nalo Hopkinson's books!
Warning! Catch up day!
Since this is the first day in quite a while I have no major tasks pulling me out of the house, I am catching up on in house stuff--cleaning (yikes!), email, and of course blogging. So LOOK OUT! Mega posting ahead!
This one is just a link to a very interesting (though deeply sad) article from a few years back in a Miami paper, about the development of a new mythology among street children. It reminded me more than a little of parts of Pullman's trilogy.
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/1997-06-05/feature.html
This one is just a link to a very interesting (though deeply sad) article from a few years back in a Miami paper, about the development of a new mythology among street children. It reminded me more than a little of parts of Pullman's trilogy.
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/1997-06-05/feature.html
Something fishy going on
As you may recall, Damaris and Nigel and fam had agreed to fish-sit for us over the winter, since they had a handy, and more importantly, EMPTY 55 gallon tank.
The first set-up never really 'took'. All but two of the snails died off, gradually, and as you can imagine, it really didn't do anything for the water quality of the tank. Anything good, I mean.
Just before Thanksgiving, they (my kids, not the fish) found a larger yet still affordable place to move into, so on the weekends when Nigel is down from his job in Denver, they've been shifting households. Sunday I went over to help move the fish. All ten of the goldfish are still in good shape, and I am hoping they will stay that way until spring....
Here is a shot of most of the 'herd':
The first set-up never really 'took'. All but two of the snails died off, gradually, and as you can imagine, it really didn't do anything for the water quality of the tank. Anything good, I mean.
Just before Thanksgiving, they (my kids, not the fish) found a larger yet still affordable place to move into, so on the weekends when Nigel is down from his job in Denver, they've been shifting households. Sunday I went over to help move the fish. All ten of the goldfish are still in good shape, and I am hoping they will stay that way until spring....
Here is a shot of most of the 'herd':
Friday, December 10, 2004
Better day
By the time evening rolled around yesterday I was way tired. So when Mike reminded me that it was the last night for the SpongeBob movie, I groaned. I DID promise if he was good we would go, though, and he had been trying hard the past few days. Plus I was so tired I doubted I would get much done at home anyway....
So we went. And I did enjoy it moderately, although it is very freaky and strange and I kept thinking this would be a GREAT movie to watch when you are high, if one was into that sort of thing. Some pretty scary stuff for a cartoon, and I don't mean just naked Patrick the Starfish!
But the best part...during the credits, Mike reached out, put his arm around my neck and pulled me to him, and said, "Thank you for taking me to this movie. I love you so much!" And he held me there, our heads touching, while we watched the pretty waves and the credits. Moments like that are better than having a million dollars.
Damaris and Nigel and the kids are back, and today Damaris and Nigel took me out to lunch at the Chinese buffet place, which was quite pleasant. They filled me in on their week, which was full of drama and angst...and I had nothin'. "Uh...did I mention how the bathroom light exploded?" Lame, I tell ya.
I had some luck with the dryer. The heat element is held inside this long metal casing, and one end of that is supposed to fit into a hole to direct the hot air into the dryer drum. It had come out, so I pounded it back in. The lint vent wasn't even very cloggy, but I cleaned that out too on general principles. But when I got it all back in place and started it up, there it went again with the bip-bip-bip!!
So I did some Googling, and now I think the roller somethings are bad. But I found a site that for a $12 lifetime membership will advise you on all sorts of repairs and give you good deals on replacement parts complete with instructions so the average handy-person can do what needs doing. So I am going to try that. At least in the meantime we ARE getting dry cloth out of the deal again!
So we went. And I did enjoy it moderately, although it is very freaky and strange and I kept thinking this would be a GREAT movie to watch when you are high, if one was into that sort of thing. Some pretty scary stuff for a cartoon, and I don't mean just naked Patrick the Starfish!
But the best part...during the credits, Mike reached out, put his arm around my neck and pulled me to him, and said, "Thank you for taking me to this movie. I love you so much!" And he held me there, our heads touching, while we watched the pretty waves and the credits. Moments like that are better than having a million dollars.
Damaris and Nigel and the kids are back, and today Damaris and Nigel took me out to lunch at the Chinese buffet place, which was quite pleasant. They filled me in on their week, which was full of drama and angst...and I had nothin'. "Uh...did I mention how the bathroom light exploded?" Lame, I tell ya.
I had some luck with the dryer. The heat element is held inside this long metal casing, and one end of that is supposed to fit into a hole to direct the hot air into the dryer drum. It had come out, so I pounded it back in. The lint vent wasn't even very cloggy, but I cleaned that out too on general principles. But when I got it all back in place and started it up, there it went again with the bip-bip-bip!!
So I did some Googling, and now I think the roller somethings are bad. But I found a site that for a $12 lifetime membership will advise you on all sorts of repairs and give you good deals on replacement parts complete with instructions so the average handy-person can do what needs doing. So I am going to try that. At least in the meantime we ARE getting dry cloth out of the deal again!
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rhum
I am making a CD of songs for a friend and I got to thinking it might be fun to share some lyrics now and then.
So, OK, Christmas. Far be it from your friendly neighborhood Neon Nurse to dislike any holiday that requires that everything which doesn't move for 30 seconds to be covered with billions of lights and tons of glittery things....
But yeah, there's a downside. No matter WHO you are, you get a little burned out:
Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rhum (sorry, not about pirates)
(lyrics by Jimmy Buffett & Ross Kunkel-
music by Jimmy Buffett Roger Guth & Peter Mayer, from the album Christmas Island)
Santa's stressed out as the holiday season draws near
He's been doing the same job now going on two thousand years
He's got pains in his brain and chimney scars cover his buns
He hates to admit it, but Christmas is more work than fun
He needs a vacation from bad decorations and snow
Mr. Claus has escape plans, a secret that only he knows
Beaches and palm trees appear night and day in his dreams
A break from his wife, his half frozen life
the elves and that damn reindeer team
Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of rhum
Santa's run off to the Caribbean
He thinks about boat drinks and fun in the sun
Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of rhum
Plastic creations and crass exploitations aren't good
He wants to go back to simple toys made out of wood
Just for the weekend he'd like to be Peter Pan
Get out his long johns and dance with a sword in the sand
Chorus:
Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of rhum
Santa's run off to the Caribbean
Marimbas, calimbas, he's playing steel drums
Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of rhum
Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of rhum
Santa's run off to the Caribbean
A week in the tropics and he'll be all right
Sporting a tan as he rides out of sight
(over the drums)
Merry Christmas to all, and to all... good night.
So, OK, Christmas. Far be it from your friendly neighborhood Neon Nurse to dislike any holiday that requires that everything which doesn't move for 30 seconds to be covered with billions of lights and tons of glittery things....
But yeah, there's a downside. No matter WHO you are, you get a little burned out:
Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rhum (sorry, not about pirates)
(lyrics by Jimmy Buffett & Ross Kunkel-
music by Jimmy Buffett Roger Guth & Peter Mayer, from the album Christmas Island)
Santa's stressed out as the holiday season draws near
He's been doing the same job now going on two thousand years
He's got pains in his brain and chimney scars cover his buns
He hates to admit it, but Christmas is more work than fun
He needs a vacation from bad decorations and snow
Mr. Claus has escape plans, a secret that only he knows
Beaches and palm trees appear night and day in his dreams
A break from his wife, his half frozen life
the elves and that damn reindeer team
Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of rhum
Santa's run off to the Caribbean
He thinks about boat drinks and fun in the sun
Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of rhum
Plastic creations and crass exploitations aren't good
He wants to go back to simple toys made out of wood
Just for the weekend he'd like to be Peter Pan
Get out his long johns and dance with a sword in the sand
Chorus:
Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of rhum
Santa's run off to the Caribbean
Marimbas, calimbas, he's playing steel drums
Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of rhum
Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of rhum
Santa's run off to the Caribbean
A week in the tropics and he'll be all right
Sporting a tan as he rides out of sight
(over the drums)
Merry Christmas to all, and to all... good night.
Is it me or is it them?
Why is everything BREAKING?
Now the dryer isn't working. I think the belt broke. Not the big one that turns the drum. Some smaller one that goes bip-bip-bip-bip-bip-bip-bip against the casing and keeps the heat from going down INTO the drum where it would actually dry the clothes somewhat....
So I will have to drag it away from the wall and turn it and take the damn uncooperative back off again. Not that I didn't need to do that ANYWAY, because the lint trap is clogged AGAIN.
*sigh*
Very sore and tired today from yesterday's fandangos. Not quite as tired as I was yesterday morning, though. When I took a shower, got out and dried off, then started to comb my hair, only to find the comb instantly full of floofy mounds of conditioner. Oops, left out the 'rinse' function in the shower equation. (Which is 'Rinse under run(ning water)' as opposed to 'rise over run')
No wonder I never get anything done around here; I am always having to DO something!!!!
Now the dryer isn't working. I think the belt broke. Not the big one that turns the drum. Some smaller one that goes bip-bip-bip-bip-bip-bip-bip against the casing and keeps the heat from going down INTO the drum where it would actually dry the clothes somewhat....
So I will have to drag it away from the wall and turn it and take the damn uncooperative back off again. Not that I didn't need to do that ANYWAY, because the lint trap is clogged AGAIN.
*sigh*
Very sore and tired today from yesterday's fandangos. Not quite as tired as I was yesterday morning, though. When I took a shower, got out and dried off, then started to comb my hair, only to find the comb instantly full of floofy mounds of conditioner. Oops, left out the 'rinse' function in the shower equation. (Which is 'Rinse under run(ning water)' as opposed to 'rise over run')
No wonder I never get anything done around here; I am always having to DO something!!!!
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Purple velvet electrician
Lighting in the bathroom has been restored, and I am feeling thumped. Changing out a light fixture involves, among a few dozen other tasks, climbing up and down on a chair about a hundred bazillion times. My knees, back and neck think this was a stupid idea and light in the bathroom is over-rated.
Also, the task is only marginally done. The holes where you mount the case of the fixture to the wall were not in the same places on the old and the new one. Since the new one is MUCH lighter in weight, I felt it was safe enough to get it more or less pretty much set up, and leave the retro-fitting for another day. Also the repainting of the wall area, because this new fixture is just teeny skosh smaller than the old one....
I am still not totally sure what happened with the old one. It COULD have just been a bad bulb. There was no sign of wire crossing or melt-down anywhere, just a cracked casing and soot where the bulb arced. So I dunno.
WhatI DO know is that I looked tres stylin' making my household repairs in my purple velvet pants!
Also, the task is only marginally done. The holes where you mount the case of the fixture to the wall were not in the same places on the old and the new one. Since the new one is MUCH lighter in weight, I felt it was safe enough to get it more or less pretty much set up, and leave the retro-fitting for another day. Also the repainting of the wall area, because this new fixture is just teeny skosh smaller than the old one....
I am still not totally sure what happened with the old one. It COULD have just been a bad bulb. There was no sign of wire crossing or melt-down anywhere, just a cracked casing and soot where the bulb arced. So I dunno.
WhatI DO know is that I looked tres stylin' making my household repairs in my purple velvet pants!
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Too much excitement!
Caro was making her bedtime rounds just a bit ago. She turned on the light in the bathroom and the top bulb in the fixture EXPLODED!
Not sure why. Tomorrow I will take it down and investigate.
Also, as I told her, the fact I had just had her sign a new insurance form about five minutes before the event means NOTHING!
Not sure why. Tomorrow I will take it down and investigate.
Also, as I told her, the fact I had just had her sign a new insurance form about five minutes before the event means NOTHING!
Sunday, December 05, 2004
A little busy?
Has anybody seen me lately? You might have noted a whirl of activity go blurring by....
Let's see. I successfully replaced the broken glass in the back door and the defective doorknob, yay me. As predicted, I found the missing Schipperke pics the NEXT DAY after I gave the buyer her refund. *snarls at self* They were RIGHT THERE where they belonged, too. Except I had faced them inward on the shelf in a slightly different spot and so they were the same COLOR as the shelf wall, and...yeah, I looked right at them a couple dozen times while I was going crazy wondering where they were. Damn crummy eyeballs.
We were going to have a big wingding today, a Brownie Scout ceremony of some sort. My daughter Damaris, who needs her own copy of the bumper sticker I used to have, "Stop Me Before I Volunteer AGAIN!", is the troop leader for the troop my twin grand-girlies are in, and she had quite a nice event planned.
Unfortunately they got a message today that her husband Nigel's mother was in the hospital, going through the last stages of liver failure from substance abuse. Even though they were estranged, the family thought Nigel should have a chance to come say his goodbyes, and so they called. So the Brownie event had to be postponed. I got to spend a little extra time with my mom due to the change in plans. That can be a tricky thing to maneuver, but today it went well. I am mainly bummed that I can't do more for poor Nigel.
Tonight I made hot and sour soup, our family version, and I was chagrined to find I had not made it in so long, I'd almost forgotten how! When I got ingredients at the store Saturday, I failed to buy the shrimp AND the cucumber! Plus I deliberately did NOT buy cornstarch, because I did remember that I was always buying a new box and then finding I already had two at home. So of course this time I had NONE. Since that ingredient is crucial, poor Caro had to go BACK to the store (since I was waiting for a call from Damaris to exchange some important messages) and get the stuff.
But not before I had emptied out the kitchen cupboard failing to find cornstarch. Instead, I found mysterious ancient cakemixes and other items which had drifted to the back and sort of become epochal layers or something. So tomorrow, right after I wrap a whole mass of packages again, I am due to start a massive cupboard makeover.
Very holiday like, no?
Let's see. I successfully replaced the broken glass in the back door and the defective doorknob, yay me. As predicted, I found the missing Schipperke pics the NEXT DAY after I gave the buyer her refund. *snarls at self* They were RIGHT THERE where they belonged, too. Except I had faced them inward on the shelf in a slightly different spot and so they were the same COLOR as the shelf wall, and...yeah, I looked right at them a couple dozen times while I was going crazy wondering where they were. Damn crummy eyeballs.
We were going to have a big wingding today, a Brownie Scout ceremony of some sort. My daughter Damaris, who needs her own copy of the bumper sticker I used to have, "Stop Me Before I Volunteer AGAIN!", is the troop leader for the troop my twin grand-girlies are in, and she had quite a nice event planned.
Unfortunately they got a message today that her husband Nigel's mother was in the hospital, going through the last stages of liver failure from substance abuse. Even though they were estranged, the family thought Nigel should have a chance to come say his goodbyes, and so they called. So the Brownie event had to be postponed. I got to spend a little extra time with my mom due to the change in plans. That can be a tricky thing to maneuver, but today it went well. I am mainly bummed that I can't do more for poor Nigel.
Tonight I made hot and sour soup, our family version, and I was chagrined to find I had not made it in so long, I'd almost forgotten how! When I got ingredients at the store Saturday, I failed to buy the shrimp AND the cucumber! Plus I deliberately did NOT buy cornstarch, because I did remember that I was always buying a new box and then finding I already had two at home. So of course this time I had NONE. Since that ingredient is crucial, poor Caro had to go BACK to the store (since I was waiting for a call from Damaris to exchange some important messages) and get the stuff.
But not before I had emptied out the kitchen cupboard failing to find cornstarch. Instead, I found mysterious ancient cakemixes and other items which had drifted to the back and sort of become epochal layers or something. So tomorrow, right after I wrap a whole mass of packages again, I am due to start a massive cupboard makeover.
Very holiday like, no?
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
What the heck, Wednesday already??
Three weeks of Christmas season left. I must Be Strong.
If only things would quit coming around using up my strength points.
Like Mike learning things. Did you know that it is actually not possible to open a can of refried beans by stabbing it with a steak knife? (In the wee hours of the morning when grown-ups are not around to help provide burritos.) Did you know that if you DO manage to make a few little holes and return the can to the cupboard upside-down, it will make its own little puddle of Bacteria Soup?
Like the front door knob just spontaneously going into permanent lock-down mode. Even after taking it apart and applying hammer therapy, the inner mechanism just stays bolted, requiring a duct tape enhancement to prevent the invasion of ice weasel breath.
Yes, my whole house IS held together with duct tape, why do you even bother to ask?
OK, back to wrapping packages AGAIN. STILL.
If only things would quit coming around using up my strength points.
Like Mike learning things. Did you know that it is actually not possible to open a can of refried beans by stabbing it with a steak knife? (In the wee hours of the morning when grown-ups are not around to help provide burritos.) Did you know that if you DO manage to make a few little holes and return the can to the cupboard upside-down, it will make its own little puddle of Bacteria Soup?
Like the front door knob just spontaneously going into permanent lock-down mode. Even after taking it apart and applying hammer therapy, the inner mechanism just stays bolted, requiring a duct tape enhancement to prevent the invasion of ice weasel breath.
Yes, my whole house IS held together with duct tape, why do you even bother to ask?
OK, back to wrapping packages AGAIN. STILL.
