Friday, March 30, 2007
Doing cheerful
Because after a while you just have to laugh.
Yesterday I spent much of the day rearranging and cleaning my room, putting away winter clothes and such. Which of course means that, what with the weird weather of the past few days, it got cold enough inside that I had to turn the heater back on.
One of the cats thinks I should have spent a little time on THEIR area yesterday, and cleaned the catbox. They left a message to tell me so, right outside the box in a shadowy spot. Yes, I stepped in the message.
I didn't eat breakfast this morning because I had to go to a check-up for routine bloodwork. Except it turned out all they wanted to draw for was thyroid, which does NOT require fasting. Not that a little fasting will hurt me any. The medical team had to form an exploratory committee on my behalf, but finally acquired a donation of a tube of blood.
Yesterday while I was talking to my grandson Zach, who is on the track team at his school, I had a brilliant idea. If they used this Wii type technology and combined it with a treadmill or stationary bike, kids would be BEGGING to exercise!
Last night I used a bit of MikeSpeak to a friend, saying I was "jealous in the TREE!" That's something Mike came up with from the famous chant about people being in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Either he is saying that one person alone in the tree is jealous, or that the fact of being in the tree is a natural intensifier of emotion.
When he is feeling affectionate, he will tell me or the clone we are his favorite and we are in the tree with him. At one point, I reminded him that us older folk do not climb ladders with much enthusiasm anymore. So after some imaginary landscaping and construction, we now have a family Treehouse of Love. It's a big stately cottonwood, with a spiral staircase winding around the trunk to take us up to the treehouse proper. The Treehouse of Love has comfy seats enough for lots of people, and a little refrigerator for snacks and drinks, and screens over the open window area. We don't want any flies or mosquitoes in our Treehouse of Love.
I hope you all get to spend some time in your own Treehouse of Love this weekend, with whoever you'd like to imagine in there with you!
Yesterday I spent much of the day rearranging and cleaning my room, putting away winter clothes and such. Which of course means that, what with the weird weather of the past few days, it got cold enough inside that I had to turn the heater back on.
One of the cats thinks I should have spent a little time on THEIR area yesterday, and cleaned the catbox. They left a message to tell me so, right outside the box in a shadowy spot. Yes, I stepped in the message.
I didn't eat breakfast this morning because I had to go to a check-up for routine bloodwork. Except it turned out all they wanted to draw for was thyroid, which does NOT require fasting. Not that a little fasting will hurt me any. The medical team had to form an exploratory committee on my behalf, but finally acquired a donation of a tube of blood.
Yesterday while I was talking to my grandson Zach, who is on the track team at his school, I had a brilliant idea. If they used this Wii type technology and combined it with a treadmill or stationary bike, kids would be BEGGING to exercise!
Last night I used a bit of MikeSpeak to a friend, saying I was "jealous in the TREE!" That's something Mike came up with from the famous chant about people being in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Either he is saying that one person alone in the tree is jealous, or that the fact of being in the tree is a natural intensifier of emotion.
When he is feeling affectionate, he will tell me or the clone we are his favorite and we are in the tree with him. At one point, I reminded him that us older folk do not climb ladders with much enthusiasm anymore. So after some imaginary landscaping and construction, we now have a family Treehouse of Love. It's a big stately cottonwood, with a spiral staircase winding around the trunk to take us up to the treehouse proper. The Treehouse of Love has comfy seats enough for lots of people, and a little refrigerator for snacks and drinks, and screens over the open window area. We don't want any flies or mosquitoes in our Treehouse of Love.
I hope you all get to spend some time in your own Treehouse of Love this weekend, with whoever you'd like to imagine in there with you!
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Flighted
Caro and I suspected something was up last night when we started hearing helicopters after 10 o'clock. (We live about an airmile and a half away from the airport.) It wasn't a good sign, put together with the storm alerts we'd been getting via email and those pictures I took of threatening skies. According to various new reports this morning, a 600-700 foot wide tornado hit Holly, Colorado last night at 8:11.
This quote from Denver Channel 7's website is worth sharing. "'I looked out the back porch, and I called Syracuse Police Department -- 911, and I said, "Are there any tornadoes around because I got one in my back yard that's bigger than God,"' John Huges told 7NEWS."
Reports are still coming in, as crews try to get the power back on, clear the highway and continue the search for those still missing. So far at least one person has died of the seven sent out on Flight for Life. They say quite a few houses are totally gone, and most structures in town have some kind of damage.
Yet another example of a lot of someones having a worse day than you and me.
This quote from Denver Channel 7's website is worth sharing. "'I looked out the back porch, and I called Syracuse Police Department -- 911, and I said, "Are there any tornadoes around because I got one in my back yard that's bigger than God,"' John Huges told 7NEWS."
Reports are still coming in, as crews try to get the power back on, clear the highway and continue the search for those still missing. So far at least one person has died of the seven sent out on Flight for Life. They say quite a few houses are totally gone, and most structures in town have some kind of damage.
Yet another example of a lot of someones having a worse day than you and me.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Better
Indiscriminate thanks to everyone who has sent messages of support lately, with more specific thank yous to follow!
This is another picspam post, some I took today, some from last Saturday I hadn't gotten around to putting on yet.
This first one is our backyard. The little building is an old feedbunk, half reconstructed into a cottage, half storage unit, yet another project in stasis. The signs around the wooden climbing gym are part of Mike's collection, bought as discards from a road construction company's going out of business auction. I was out taking pics because we were right on the extreme rear edge of a big old storm system which I hear produced a tornado 30 miles east of us.
Taken from my front yard as the sun went down. As you can see, the storm system just stopped--the rest of the sky westward was cloudless.
Another one from the backyard, looking northeast to where the towns and people under the purple clouds were getting whomped.
Earlier this afternoon, Mike and I went to town to run some errands. We had to stop and check out the coal plant construction. I don't THINK the tower is actually tipping--it's just a funny camera angle. But it IS taller than the really tall red crane!
Mike took this one, showing some blue-haired lookyloo checking out the action.
These are the pics I took last Saturday. There was a fire here a few months ago, and they have been dismantling it slowly ever since. I was intrigued by them leaving part of the back kitchen wall in place, as well as by the few oddments set aside on the porch, presumably as 'keepers'.
I wonder if that propped up wooden piece is the inside door to the storm cellar, and if that has anything to do with them not knocking that wall down?">
Bottom storm cellar entrance.
This is another picspam post, some I took today, some from last Saturday I hadn't gotten around to putting on yet.
This first one is our backyard. The little building is an old feedbunk, half reconstructed into a cottage, half storage unit, yet another project in stasis. The signs around the wooden climbing gym are part of Mike's collection, bought as discards from a road construction company's going out of business auction. I was out taking pics because we were right on the extreme rear edge of a big old storm system which I hear produced a tornado 30 miles east of us.
Taken from my front yard as the sun went down. As you can see, the storm system just stopped--the rest of the sky westward was cloudless.
Another one from the backyard, looking northeast to where the towns and people under the purple clouds were getting whomped.
Earlier this afternoon, Mike and I went to town to run some errands. We had to stop and check out the coal plant construction. I don't THINK the tower is actually tipping--it's just a funny camera angle. But it IS taller than the really tall red crane!
Mike took this one, showing some blue-haired lookyloo checking out the action.
These are the pics I took last Saturday. There was a fire here a few months ago, and they have been dismantling it slowly ever since. I was intrigued by them leaving part of the back kitchen wall in place, as well as by the few oddments set aside on the porch, presumably as 'keepers'.
I wonder if that propped up wooden piece is the inside door to the storm cellar, and if that has anything to do with them not knocking that wall down?">
Bottom storm cellar entrance.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Floodgates
I think I am starting to understand why I have not brought up (in public) the topic of the main problem that has been bothering me. Besides my usual tendency not to dwell on unhappy things I can't do anything about, I mean.
The situation is complex, it's fraught with emotion, and it's hard to boil down to a short explanation. But it seems to be bubbling up and demanding I deal with it. So beware the TMI, and feel free to skip this if you want. For people who are new to this blog, sorry about the drama--it's not usually like this! P.S. Don't worry, the following is NOT about Caro!
***
A long time ago, in a training session for volunteers who would be helping at a domestic violence center, they told us that ANYONE could find themselves in an abusive relationship. You just had to stumble into a situation with the right (or wrong, I guess you could say) elements that would get YOU hooked in.
I was dubious about that. Just didn't think I was the type to even get into such a situation, much less not be able to get out.
It turns out I'm at least partly right. All you have to do to get out of the trap of an abusive relationship is gnaw off your leg.
First, though, you have to go through the part where you wonder if you are to blame. Maybe if you had loved the person more, or been a better person yourself, or not made so many mistakes...maybe none of this would have happened. The "what ifs" will drive you crazy, if you weren't there to start with.
Here's what did happen, short form. Last May, I told my oldest child I was concerned about some of the choices she was making, and also upset about how she was treating me. It was the sort of disagreement we had occasionally had before, which usually resulted in a big fight, then reconciliation and promises to do better...and the cycle would begin again. The pattern actually goes back to when she was a teenager. She has always been a high maintenance drama queen type, but I thought as she matured, she would gain more of a perspective of how others need and deserve to be treated. I can't say I have seen as much growth in that area as I would like.
Anyway, this time she went extra ballistic. I was not to see her or speak to her again, although I could still see the grandchildren. I'm not sure if she expected that this time, like all the dozens of times before, I would be the one to find some way to talk her down or joke her out of being mad. Chances are she did, so maybe me not doing that seems like a betrayal to her, like I changed the rules of the game without telling her I was going to.
But the trouble is, this time the blow-up was not about something she or I did. It was about how I felt about things like being first on the list when she wanted money or something, but last when it came to getting any time, concern or even respect from her. I can't see how it would help, in the long run, to say I didn't mean it when I said her behavior hurt me. It wouldn't be true, and it seems to me it would be a kind of enabling. There are other aspects, naturally, but that's the main issue at the core of them all.
In one exchange during the course of all this, after I sincerely and (I thought) without rancor suggested she seek some therapy, she wrote back to say that if she was such a horrible person, it was all my fault because I raised her to be like she is. It's certainly true that if I could have "do overs", there are plenty of things I would do differently. And yet, I believe that while a person's raising is important to the development of their personality, there does come a time when, if you are planning to be an autonomous adult, you take over and start to raise yourself. I had D up to a few days before she turned 17 (another long story) and she's going to be 34 this October. Doing the math means I shouldn't have to take more than half the blame.
So this is where I am at right now. I can't change the parameters of the problem, and can't fix it as it stands. The choice is hers to make, and after all this time, it looks like she has made it. That means it is time for me to start chewing, I guess. Because I can't go on like this indefinitely.
And that's the story about why I have been dropping off the face of the internet now and then. I get to dwelling on all this, can't shake it, and it makes me too bummed out to find the energy to be cheerful with others. Hopefully things will get better again sooner rather than later.
The situation is complex, it's fraught with emotion, and it's hard to boil down to a short explanation. But it seems to be bubbling up and demanding I deal with it. So beware the TMI, and feel free to skip this if you want. For people who are new to this blog, sorry about the drama--it's not usually like this! P.S. Don't worry, the following is NOT about Caro!
***
A long time ago, in a training session for volunteers who would be helping at a domestic violence center, they told us that ANYONE could find themselves in an abusive relationship. You just had to stumble into a situation with the right (or wrong, I guess you could say) elements that would get YOU hooked in.
I was dubious about that. Just didn't think I was the type to even get into such a situation, much less not be able to get out.
It turns out I'm at least partly right. All you have to do to get out of the trap of an abusive relationship is gnaw off your leg.
First, though, you have to go through the part where you wonder if you are to blame. Maybe if you had loved the person more, or been a better person yourself, or not made so many mistakes...maybe none of this would have happened. The "what ifs" will drive you crazy, if you weren't there to start with.
Here's what did happen, short form. Last May, I told my oldest child I was concerned about some of the choices she was making, and also upset about how she was treating me. It was the sort of disagreement we had occasionally had before, which usually resulted in a big fight, then reconciliation and promises to do better...and the cycle would begin again. The pattern actually goes back to when she was a teenager. She has always been a high maintenance drama queen type, but I thought as she matured, she would gain more of a perspective of how others need and deserve to be treated. I can't say I have seen as much growth in that area as I would like.
Anyway, this time she went extra ballistic. I was not to see her or speak to her again, although I could still see the grandchildren. I'm not sure if she expected that this time, like all the dozens of times before, I would be the one to find some way to talk her down or joke her out of being mad. Chances are she did, so maybe me not doing that seems like a betrayal to her, like I changed the rules of the game without telling her I was going to.
But the trouble is, this time the blow-up was not about something she or I did. It was about how I felt about things like being first on the list when she wanted money or something, but last when it came to getting any time, concern or even respect from her. I can't see how it would help, in the long run, to say I didn't mean it when I said her behavior hurt me. It wouldn't be true, and it seems to me it would be a kind of enabling. There are other aspects, naturally, but that's the main issue at the core of them all.
In one exchange during the course of all this, after I sincerely and (I thought) without rancor suggested she seek some therapy, she wrote back to say that if she was such a horrible person, it was all my fault because I raised her to be like she is. It's certainly true that if I could have "do overs", there are plenty of things I would do differently. And yet, I believe that while a person's raising is important to the development of their personality, there does come a time when, if you are planning to be an autonomous adult, you take over and start to raise yourself. I had D up to a few days before she turned 17 (another long story) and she's going to be 34 this October. Doing the math means I shouldn't have to take more than half the blame.
So this is where I am at right now. I can't change the parameters of the problem, and can't fix it as it stands. The choice is hers to make, and after all this time, it looks like she has made it. That means it is time for me to start chewing, I guess. Because I can't go on like this indefinitely.
And that's the story about why I have been dropping off the face of the internet now and then. I get to dwelling on all this, can't shake it, and it makes me too bummed out to find the energy to be cheerful with others. Hopefully things will get better again sooner rather than later.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Doldrums
My mom called today to check and see if my computer was broken, since she hadn't heard from me all week. (Man, kids today! They never blog, they never email....)
No, the computers are okay (except I think mine needs an overhaul of some kind--it's acting a little wonky). The thing is, although it probably didn't show much because I do Cheerful and Cheerful is what I do, I have been feeling down and out of it for a while now. Losing Souvenir seems to have been, as the great writer Mistful puts it, the Tragic Cherry on my Woe Cake.
So I got myself really busy this week with all different kinds of work. Parts of the yard look quite nice. And I've been doing other distracting things for fun. Except I kept feeling this nagging feeling that I was not really having all THAT much fun. I was mainly just keeping myself from thinking.
Not so good. But no worries. I have made an appointment with Kitty the Feelings Doctor, who was so helpful when we were going through a very rough patch with Mike a while back. Just thinking of something to do that may help and DOING it is actually making me feel better tonight. So before you know it I will be overrunning your inbox with Cheerful again.
Here is a pic of one project Mike and I finished. We bought this swing on clearance for only $45 during the time when it seemed like the snow would never never never melt. But it has!
No, the computers are okay (except I think mine needs an overhaul of some kind--it's acting a little wonky). The thing is, although it probably didn't show much because I do Cheerful and Cheerful is what I do, I have been feeling down and out of it for a while now. Losing Souvenir seems to have been, as the great writer Mistful puts it, the Tragic Cherry on my Woe Cake.
So I got myself really busy this week with all different kinds of work. Parts of the yard look quite nice. And I've been doing other distracting things for fun. Except I kept feeling this nagging feeling that I was not really having all THAT much fun. I was mainly just keeping myself from thinking.
Not so good. But no worries. I have made an appointment with Kitty the Feelings Doctor, who was so helpful when we were going through a very rough patch with Mike a while back. Just thinking of something to do that may help and DOING it is actually making me feel better tonight. So before you know it I will be overrunning your inbox with Cheerful again.
Here is a pic of one project Mike and I finished. We bought this swing on clearance for only $45 during the time when it seemed like the snow would never never never melt. But it has!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Too brave
Friday evening about dusk I let the dogs out for a quick run. When I called them back in a few minutes later, Souvenir ran up along with them, but then turned around and flounced off again. When I went in, I joked to Caro that he looked like a kid saying, "Aw, Mom, I don't WANNA come in. It's not DARK yet!"
He didn't come in later, though, even after I called him several times. I called again the next morning as I was leaving for Denver--still nothing. When I phoned home in the afternoon, Caro still had not seen him. So she and Mike went looking, and today they made flyers to post and pass around to neighbors.
When I got home from Denver, Mike and I went tramping around our place and the fields behind us, looking for spots where a cat could have gotten trapped. We were taking a break before trying my next idea, checking the farms and houses around us where there might be girl cats to lure innocent young boy cats from their homes. Then our neighbor called to tell us she thought our missing cat was over in the ditch across from their place.
We assumed he was hit by a car, since our neighbors on the other side drive like maniacs night or day. But when I fetched him home, I noticed the tips of some of his belly and leg fur looked singed, and his whiskers were frazzled and curled.
Poor Souvy was strong and athletic and LOVED to climb things, the higher the better. He went out at the peak of the adventure of his short lifetime, climbing an electrical power pole.
This is Mike's first major loss, as Souvenir was his own personal cat. He was the Cat-dad and Souvy was his Cat-son. So I am a weird double mess right now, half because Souvy was a SPECIAL cat to me, and half because Mike is so sad.
And may I just say I have been losing pets now and again since I was nine, and it really sucks how it doesn't ever get any easier.
He didn't come in later, though, even after I called him several times. I called again the next morning as I was leaving for Denver--still nothing. When I phoned home in the afternoon, Caro still had not seen him. So she and Mike went looking, and today they made flyers to post and pass around to neighbors.
When I got home from Denver, Mike and I went tramping around our place and the fields behind us, looking for spots where a cat could have gotten trapped. We were taking a break before trying my next idea, checking the farms and houses around us where there might be girl cats to lure innocent young boy cats from their homes. Then our neighbor called to tell us she thought our missing cat was over in the ditch across from their place.
We assumed he was hit by a car, since our neighbors on the other side drive like maniacs night or day. But when I fetched him home, I noticed the tips of some of his belly and leg fur looked singed, and his whiskers were frazzled and curled.
Poor Souvy was strong and athletic and LOVED to climb things, the higher the better. He went out at the peak of the adventure of his short lifetime, climbing an electrical power pole.
This is Mike's first major loss, as Souvenir was his own personal cat. He was the Cat-dad and Souvy was his Cat-son. So I am a weird double mess right now, half because Souvy was a SPECIAL cat to me, and half because Mike is so sad.
And may I just say I have been losing pets now and again since I was nine, and it really sucks how it doesn't ever get any easier.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Tune Tues and the upcoming holiday
Instead of a regular song download today, I am sharing a YouTube link that is guaranteed to keel you ded laffing. Seriously.
Muppet Trio Singing 'Danny Boy'
Muppet Trio Singing 'Danny Boy'
Picspam post!
As you may know, our house was furnished and decorated by Good Intentions, Inc., the same firm that did such a fabulous job on the road to Hell. We have been sorting and cleaning up in piecemeal fashion for a long time now, but planning to do a BIG fix-up RealSoonNow. Well, the time has come. We partly got the jumpstart because of spring break, but also, I admit, because my sister Debbie and niece Jenny announced they were making us a stop on Jenny's whirlwind Farewell to the USA Tour.
So that's what I've been doing ever since my cold started to abate last week.
I have several things saved back to post about, but for now I am going to fling on some pics for your enjoyment. It was 79!degrees! out today! So Mike and I went joy-riding and pic taking for a while.
A larger version of this is my entry today for Day On Earth. I shot it along the side of Highway 50 east of town. I chose it because it shows a variety of the old style insulators, a few still in use, with a modern power line in the background.
While I was sitting in the stickery grass beside Dreamcloud, I shot this on a whim, thinking of my son Sterling the trucker.
One of the places we stopped to sightsee and shoot was the coal plant construction site. Mike took a lot there and I didn't want to poach his choice, but I did take one, since our artistic visions always differ.
Despite the bad weather in January and February, they've made progress. Part of the coal feeder thingies are in place, as is a portion of the stack. You can also see the frame for what we think will be the boiler.
So that's what I've been doing ever since my cold started to abate last week.
I have several things saved back to post about, but for now I am going to fling on some pics for your enjoyment. It was 79!degrees! out today! So Mike and I went joy-riding and pic taking for a while.
A larger version of this is my entry today for Day On Earth. I shot it along the side of Highway 50 east of town. I chose it because it shows a variety of the old style insulators, a few still in use, with a modern power line in the background.
While I was sitting in the stickery grass beside Dreamcloud, I shot this on a whim, thinking of my son Sterling the trucker.
One of the places we stopped to sightsee and shoot was the coal plant construction site. Mike took a lot there and I didn't want to poach his choice, but I did take one, since our artistic visions always differ.
Despite the bad weather in January and February, they've made progress. Part of the coal feeder thingies are in place, as is a portion of the stack. You can also see the frame for what we think will be the boiler.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Two questions
I've had a request from the family to share the comments that were made to my journal when I posted about my friend Richard's death. Is there anyone who minds me doing this? If so, just drop me a note and I'll leave you off.
The other question is unrelated on the surface, but maybe connected underneath. I recently got the first two discs for the TV show House (Season 1) and I've watched the first four episodes. My question...are the first four shows atypical, or is this pretty much what the whole thing is like?
Not meaning any insult to fans of the show, but I really kind of dislike it. It's not the acting, or the characters. I do see Hugh Laurie as funny, in a horrifying sort of way. And I liked the ongoing character interactions--probably that was the best part for me.
I guess what I really can't stand is the unspoken premise that House is a slacker and an Entitlement Bitch, and that's...okay.
In the four shows I've watched, there has been one Worthwhile Case o' the Week weird enough for House to deign to apply his mighty brainpower to. When he is somehow tricked or forced to deal with any other patient (at least, that we see), they are all either fakers, wimps with nothing really wrong, or someone who caused their own problem and thus deserve no sympathy.
There isn't the slightest suggestion that the full waiting room we see now and then holds people who have taken the day off work, losing pay, or are here because of any one of hundreds of frightening, painful, ongoing symptoms they've finally gotten worried enough to do something about. They don't show that some of them are having to come in and pay their out-of-pocket fee so they can be evaluated before getting another round of the prescription medicine they need to live. All these non-star-disease patients are just fodder for teh funny of House.
So I have to wonder. Within the construct of this imaginary world, how many patients are either waiting an extra hour or two, or not getting seen at all on the day they came in, because our funny, funny prima donna House is not sufficiently entertained by their plight?
If the point was to make him a sort of super-genius go to guy, called on when nothing was working and everyone else was stumped, that would make sense. But that's not how I am seeing the show written. So...does it change?
The other question is unrelated on the surface, but maybe connected underneath. I recently got the first two discs for the TV show House (Season 1) and I've watched the first four episodes. My question...are the first four shows atypical, or is this pretty much what the whole thing is like?
Not meaning any insult to fans of the show, but I really kind of dislike it. It's not the acting, or the characters. I do see Hugh Laurie as funny, in a horrifying sort of way. And I liked the ongoing character interactions--probably that was the best part for me.
I guess what I really can't stand is the unspoken premise that House is a slacker and an Entitlement Bitch, and that's...okay.
In the four shows I've watched, there has been one Worthwhile Case o' the Week weird enough for House to deign to apply his mighty brainpower to. When he is somehow tricked or forced to deal with any other patient (at least, that we see), they are all either fakers, wimps with nothing really wrong, or someone who caused their own problem and thus deserve no sympathy.
There isn't the slightest suggestion that the full waiting room we see now and then holds people who have taken the day off work, losing pay, or are here because of any one of hundreds of frightening, painful, ongoing symptoms they've finally gotten worried enough to do something about. They don't show that some of them are having to come in and pay their out-of-pocket fee so they can be evaluated before getting another round of the prescription medicine they need to live. All these non-star-disease patients are just fodder for teh funny of House.
So I have to wonder. Within the construct of this imaginary world, how many patients are either waiting an extra hour or two, or not getting seen at all on the day they came in, because our funny, funny prima donna House is not sufficiently entertained by their plight?
If the point was to make him a sort of super-genius go to guy, called on when nothing was working and everyone else was stumped, that would make sense. But that's not how I am seeing the show written. So...does it change?
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
At least I'm home to be sick
A day or two before I left for Denver, the clone started having sneezing fits which turned into something like a cold. I was hoping to avoid her fate, but no such luck. As I struggled to catch up Sunday and yesterday, I got so bogged down I may have actually moved backwards in time a few steps. Or maybe that idea is stuck in my head after watching Heroes....
Anyway. Thank you to everyone who commiserated with me on Richard's death. I usually try to respond to all my comments, but I am feeling a little daunted and energy-challenged. Maybe this time I will try this "take it easy" remedy I have heard so much about, and see if I get better quicker, maybe even skip the customary side trip to Bronchitis Land.
Funny story time. While I was telling Caro and Mike of some of my Denver adventures, I mentioned a slightly odd incident that had happened at breakfast Sunday morning. We found a little place called The Delectable Egg (which I highly recommend to Denver Friends) just down the street from our hotel. Our friendly server came up and joyfully said to me, "Hello! Remember me?!"
Don't you hate it when that happens? I mean, she looked slightly familiar, but I am NOT good with remembering faces. "I talked to you outside the Adam's Mark yesterday," she explained. "I said 'Great Hair!'?"
I did remember someone doing that, and she did look like she could have been that person. So I apologized on the grounds of having seen 1900 new faces the day before, and said I did kind of remember her.
It seemed to be a satisfactory answer, because she smiled and RUFFLED MY HAIR as she headed back to the kitchen with our orders.
"She what?" Caro asked, laughing.
"She put her hand on my head and fluffed my hair!"
Then Mike piped up in a highly indignant voice. "For FREE?!?"
I honestly do not know exactly what he meant by that, and by the time Caro and I got done laughing hysterically, I don't think he could have explained.
I didn't actually MIND, you know. She probably flashed back to some beloved stuffed toy from her childhood or something. Thinking of that gave me an idea for a classic for Tune Tuesday!
Sesame Street - Fuzzy And Blue
Click here to download from YouSendIt.com!
Anyway. Thank you to everyone who commiserated with me on Richard's death. I usually try to respond to all my comments, but I am feeling a little daunted and energy-challenged. Maybe this time I will try this "take it easy" remedy I have heard so much about, and see if I get better quicker, maybe even skip the customary side trip to Bronchitis Land.
Funny story time. While I was telling Caro and Mike of some of my Denver adventures, I mentioned a slightly odd incident that had happened at breakfast Sunday morning. We found a little place called The Delectable Egg (which I highly recommend to Denver Friends) just down the street from our hotel. Our friendly server came up and joyfully said to me, "Hello! Remember me?!"
Don't you hate it when that happens? I mean, she looked slightly familiar, but I am NOT good with remembering faces. "I talked to you outside the Adam's Mark yesterday," she explained. "I said 'Great Hair!'?"
I did remember someone doing that, and she did look like she could have been that person. So I apologized on the grounds of having seen 1900 new faces the day before, and said I did kind of remember her.
It seemed to be a satisfactory answer, because she smiled and RUFFLED MY HAIR as she headed back to the kitchen with our orders.
"She what?" Caro asked, laughing.
"She put her hand on my head and fluffed my hair!"
Then Mike piped up in a highly indignant voice. "For FREE?!?"
I honestly do not know exactly what he meant by that, and by the time Caro and I got done laughing hysterically, I don't think he could have explained.
I didn't actually MIND, you know. She probably flashed back to some beloved stuffed toy from her childhood or something. Thinking of that gave me an idea for a classic for Tune Tuesday!
Sesame Street - Fuzzy And Blue
Click here to download from YouSendIt.com!
Monday, March 05, 2007
Noble Ox, huh?
A funny story from The Telegraph Online
Why Noble Ox won't be running at Cheltenham
By Paul Stokes
Last Updated: 12:49am GMT 04/03/2007
When the tape goes up on this year's Cheltenham Festival in 10 days' time, commentators can be fairly confident that they will not inadvertently cause offence to sensitive racing fans.
Thanks to the sport's board of censors, the names of 15,000 thoroughbreds a year in Britain are scrutinised and the ridiculous, the naughty and the downright obscene are weeded out.
But a constant desire by some to hoodwink the system has led the board to compile a table of the top 10 failed bids for the past year.
The panel at the 230-year-old central administration company, Weatherbys, is drawn from a "broad minded" and diverse age range in an attempt to keep pace with linguistic and social changes.
Tests applied to prevent pundits like John McCririck choking on their words include reciting the names at speed before further analysis for hidden meanings.
Names containing Ophelia and Norfolk immediately attract closer scrutiny while automatic checks are conducted on what a name spells backwards — the Welsh-sounding Llamedos and Llareggub are among those names frequently tried and always rejected.
Beau Lux Blair was another recent try-on.
But some still slip through the net. The nod to rhyming slang in Who Gives a Donald went entirely unnoticed.
Nick Craven, Weatherby's chief executive officer, said: "People frequently choose a horse with a fun name, but we have to draw the line somewhere."
The top naughtiest names rejected in 2006 included Betty Swallocks (spoonerism), Drew Peacock (too rude), Far Kinnel (obvious reasons), Noble Ox (would cause offence) and Wear the Fox Hat (too rude in Irish accent).
Why Noble Ox won't be running at Cheltenham
By Paul Stokes
Last Updated: 12:49am GMT 04/03/2007
When the tape goes up on this year's Cheltenham Festival in 10 days' time, commentators can be fairly confident that they will not inadvertently cause offence to sensitive racing fans.
Thanks to the sport's board of censors, the names of 15,000 thoroughbreds a year in Britain are scrutinised and the ridiculous, the naughty and the downright obscene are weeded out.
But a constant desire by some to hoodwink the system has led the board to compile a table of the top 10 failed bids for the past year.
The panel at the 230-year-old central administration company, Weatherbys, is drawn from a "broad minded" and diverse age range in an attempt to keep pace with linguistic and social changes.
Tests applied to prevent pundits like John McCririck choking on their words include reciting the names at speed before further analysis for hidden meanings.
Names containing Ophelia and Norfolk immediately attract closer scrutiny while automatic checks are conducted on what a name spells backwards — the Welsh-sounding Llamedos and Llareggub are among those names frequently tried and always rejected.
Beau Lux Blair was another recent try-on.
But some still slip through the net. The nod to rhyming slang in Who Gives a Donald went entirely unnoticed.
Nick Craven, Weatherby's chief executive officer, said: "People frequently choose a horse with a fun name, but we have to draw the line somewhere."
The top naughtiest names rejected in 2006 included Betty Swallocks (spoonerism), Drew Peacock (too rude), Far Kinnel (obvious reasons), Noble Ox (would cause offence) and Wear the Fox Hat (too rude in Irish accent).
The river of time rolls on
I know there are some people on my list who would want to know this. My friend Richard died peacefully this morning at about 3 am. He had been deeply asleep without waking for several days and just slipped away.
So. One journey ends, a new one begins.
Just to finish it off right, here's a pic from my RAEBNC file Richard made for me.
So. One journey ends, a new one begins.
Just to finish it off right, here's a pic from my RAEBNC file Richard made for me.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Home again!
I got home again late this afternoon, and even after seven hours of trying, I'm not anywhere NEAR caught up.
Some of you had asked for a shot of me with my blue hair, and I can now oblige. This is me just before the Jefferson-Jackson dinner last night. The other lady is Angie Paccione, who came within a TEENY margin of ousting Marilyn Musgrave last fall to become our area Congresswoman. Next time....
I had even more fun than it looks like in the pic. More tomorrow!
Some of you had asked for a shot of me with my blue hair, and I can now oblige. This is me just before the Jefferson-Jackson dinner last night. The other lady is Angie Paccione, who came within a TEENY margin of ousting Marilyn Musgrave last fall to become our area Congresswoman. Next time....
I had even more fun than it looks like in the pic. More tomorrow!
Friday, March 02, 2007
Still up!
I shouldn't be, I have to wake up again in a little less than five hours. But I'm not sleepy yet! Still, I should. I know.
As you may recall, I am going to the big DemCon in Denver tomorrow. I've decided it would be good experience to try live blogging it, and since I am only an alternate and probably won't be called into play much, I might as well grab the opportunity!
I understand the internal doings of the Colorado Democratic Central Committee is probably not going to be edge-of-the-chair riveting for most of you. But if you want to check in on me tomorrow,
here's the link to that blog.
As you may recall, I am going to the big DemCon in Denver tomorrow. I've decided it would be good experience to try live blogging it, and since I am only an alternate and probably won't be called into play much, I might as well grab the opportunity!
I understand the internal doings of the Colorado Democratic Central Committee is probably not going to be edge-of-the-chair riveting for most of you. But if you want to check in on me tomorrow,
here's the link to that blog.
Under Deconstruction
Tomorrow is the start of another three day weekend for local schooligans. These long weekends usually play havoc with my ability to do things that require concentration, which means I get piddly stuff done, but not usually any of the Big Things on my plate.
This weekend will also be interrupted because I am catching a ride to Denver to attend the Colorado statewide Central Committee meeting for the Democrats. There's a dinner that evening where Nancy Pelosi will speak, and although it is way past sold out, I may have a chance at attending anyway. Which would be cool. We'll see.
I'd been wondering if I even OUGHT to go, because Mike had been having a rough week. Just moderate incidents of acting out, but then Wednesday he was playing floor hockey, and got smacked pretty hard on the calf during a scrimmage. The gym teacher happened to have been watching Mike, because he doesn't always want to take part in games and she was pleased he was participating so enthusiastically.
Mike jumped to the conclusion that someone had hurt him on purpose. We have had a number of talks about when a person can and cannot hit, and I do think he felt this was a case where he was justified in defending himself. Unfortunately, the kid he came unglued on was not even the one who had accidentally smacked him.
We are lucky to have a school where the principal and staff are genuinely trying to prevent violence and teasing, but who also make allowances for circumstances. So Mike was not suspended, as he could have been. The principal consulted with Caro as to what sorts of consequences we use at home, then called Mike in to see him. He used his background as a coach to explain to Mike that these things happen in contact sports, and then told Mike he was suspended from his computer at home!
He did tell Caro it was okay to adjust the decree. So Mike has spent the ensuing time earning his computer back by doing a LOT of extra chores, and also HAND-writing three letters of apology, one to the boy he attacked, one to the gym teacher and one to the principal. Sentence duly served, he will now be free to redeem the 'free playing game days' he still has coming from his birthday over the long weekend.
I will keep working on my task of sorting old stuff, answering old and new mail, and all that sort of thing. More...I hope...tomorrow!
This weekend will also be interrupted because I am catching a ride to Denver to attend the Colorado statewide Central Committee meeting for the Democrats. There's a dinner that evening where Nancy Pelosi will speak, and although it is way past sold out, I may have a chance at attending anyway. Which would be cool. We'll see.
I'd been wondering if I even OUGHT to go, because Mike had been having a rough week. Just moderate incidents of acting out, but then Wednesday he was playing floor hockey, and got smacked pretty hard on the calf during a scrimmage. The gym teacher happened to have been watching Mike, because he doesn't always want to take part in games and she was pleased he was participating so enthusiastically.
Mike jumped to the conclusion that someone had hurt him on purpose. We have had a number of talks about when a person can and cannot hit, and I do think he felt this was a case where he was justified in defending himself. Unfortunately, the kid he came unglued on was not even the one who had accidentally smacked him.
We are lucky to have a school where the principal and staff are genuinely trying to prevent violence and teasing, but who also make allowances for circumstances. So Mike was not suspended, as he could have been. The principal consulted with Caro as to what sorts of consequences we use at home, then called Mike in to see him. He used his background as a coach to explain to Mike that these things happen in contact sports, and then told Mike he was suspended from his computer at home!
He did tell Caro it was okay to adjust the decree. So Mike has spent the ensuing time earning his computer back by doing a LOT of extra chores, and also HAND-writing three letters of apology, one to the boy he attacked, one to the gym teacher and one to the principal. Sentence duly served, he will now be free to redeem the 'free playing game days' he still has coming from his birthday over the long weekend.
I will keep working on my task of sorting old stuff, answering old and new mail, and all that sort of thing. More...I hope...tomorrow!
