Month: July 2008 (Page 2 of 2)

Thanks for coming on over. I hope this font isn’t too tiny. Let me know if it’s a PITA. (I’ll make it even smaller. That’s my favorite way to deal with complaints. Exacerbate the situation!)

Nearing An Anniversary…

On July 15th, I will have been doing this blogging thing for 4 years. I probably could’ve set that date to move on over here, but hey, I need the pressure to get things fixed up and get all my links transferred and updated.  Right now, no links. Lameage abounds. But! I’m here! And eventually, I’ll haul four years’ worth of blogging over here, and I’ll also clean out the garage, and organize my craft room, and gosh, now I just need a lie-down thinking about everything I have to do. :)

This is going to be a crazy week – I’ve got lots of work stuff going on, including travel (with no internets! For two days! My fingers freeze at the thought!) plus laundry and thank-yous and then the sleeping. So I realize I just had everyone shuffle over here at a time I won’t be posting regularly, but I figure it gives us all time to get used to it.

And speaking of loathing change, we’ve finally got a dog in the house who hates it more than I do. Tripper can’t stand anything out of his routine, and let me tell you, the list of Things that Drive Tripper Crazy is ever-growing.  Balloons, for instance. (We made the house festive for the big 4-0.) And boy, he sure doesn’t like horses on television. I thought we’d never get through Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid!

As for my birthday – there was a little wistfulness, a little melancholy – I think because I woke up and for a split second, imagined I’d be talking to my dad that day. He rarely called me, it was always on me to make the phone calls, but I could always count on him to call me on my birthday, greeting me with a “Hey, kiddo…” It was nice to hear his voice in my head, but a little hard on my heart. Time gives us perspective, and it allows us to see what we have, what we’ve lost, what’s changed…. and it also gives us wisdom. I told my Auntie Karen that I’ve reached an age where I’m much quicker to separate the wheat from the chaff, to see what I want, what matters, what’s bullshit, and what I choose to invest my energy in. I’m probably always going to be nursing some wounds – recent and old, but I am grateful to have the earth steady and solid under my feet, and of all the things that occupy my mind, the ones that matter most are the things that are flourishing.

So, there you have it. Welcome to my new blog abode. I appreciate the extra clicks to get here.

My poor husband. He had a rough day yesterday, and I can only hope that whatever planetary-star alignment thing he had going on has been swallowed up by a black hole and the crazy has moved on to another block, city, or continent.

His truck has been… finicky. It’s got over 190k miles on it, and as many things do when they get older, has taken to making its own decisions here and there about what it will or will not do. Like start. Or turn off. It reached a point that he just routinely would hook & unhook the battery to co-operate with the truck’s New Method of Running. But yesterday, the truck decided it would not play with the routine any more. And this decision took place in the Lowe’s parking lot.

Now, as James observed, if you’re going to have a vehicle breakdown, the place to have it is in the Lowe’s parking lot. Three men immediately appeared to help, and they pushed the truck down an incline so he could get it into gear & rolling again. (As someone who is only knowledgeable about car styles and names, this is all very magical.) I was telling Beth about it today, and we were joking about other sorts of breakdowns, like what the best parking lots would be for those. I think a nervous breakdown would be best in a Target parking lot. Anyway, he has determined it’s the starter, and is outside installing it as I type.

But that wasn’t all. Last night, we had major storms – lots of lightning, thunder, rain. I went to bed a bit later, and it was challenging to fall asleep, what with the noise and flashes of light. And the dogs kept barking. Mostly Polly, but she’d get Suzy going and Tripper, who stays in his kennel & has the StopBark by him, just whined, because he knows barking=ultrasonic badness. At one point, James asked me if I’d heard the doorbell. I hadn’t, and replied as much. But the barking continued, over hours. I started incorporating all the noise into my dreams, and finally awoke as James, beside-himself-crazy, flipped on the hall light and asked me where the doorbell chimes were. I directed him to the old ones, which he’d already investigated & ruled out, since it didn’t have all the batteries inside. I then remembered that a couple years ago, I’d replaced that unit with a plug-in device. I found it, unplugged it, and went back to bed. Apparently, something with the storm was setting off the doorbell, which in turn set off Polly, who set off Suzy and Tripper (Bark & Whine). Suzy finally gave up, because that’s how she rolls, but James said that at one point, Polly GOT UP ON THE BED to get our attention. (I have no recollection of this, as I was in my dreams wandering around complaining about “all the racket”.) She’s vigilant, my dog. I’ll give her that. But man, we’re both tired today! And the power’s out at the office, so I can’t check my email from home. I think I feel a nap coming on & a fresh start to the weekend in my future!

James was laughing at me last night, as I was chattering on about my birthday present to mahself, which I bought with Christmas money I’d tucked away. (It sounds far more noble that way, and, bonus, it’s true.) I was talking about what additional things I’d like for it, and he asked how much those cost, and I quickly tabulated “about $75. And I am WORTH $75, James.” Oh, he noted quite quickly, I’m worth much, much more. ;) He laughed about me having a “birthday week” and I immediately corrected him: “Birthday MONTH, my friend.”

So here it is – I got one helluva deal on this, too.

It’s the KitchenAid 6, which is the biggest one they make. (Well, I think the parent company makes industrial mixers, but really, we’d have to convert the dining room into a bakery. And have a serious discussion about upgrading the oven!)

Anyway, I got it in the color shown above, pearl metallic. I bought it at my local Mar-Beck, which is a treasure trove of refurbished items, and it came with the same warranty as if I’d bought it new. They told me most of the mixers they sell have just had dinged-up boxes or missing a beater or something, and besides, they’re the place it goes if it has to be fixed under warranty, anyway. The price was fabu, AND I had a coupon! I know they are offering free shipping on orders over $200, so if you’re in the market for one of these, consider buying from them. It’s bad-ass. I can’t wait to make some dough and not hear the sad grinding of my little KitchenAid’s motor. I may save the mixer to give to one of our nieces one day, just to keep it in the family, or else we’ll see what CraigsList can bring us…speaking of which, SOMEone is now the proud owner of a fishing boat! Yep! James came out while I was floating in the pool (yes! A pool! I’m spilling all our purchases) and informed me he’d found his dream fishing boat. He did a little negotiating, and in keeping with our plans to stay-cation, we spent the money on something that will be around for years and didn’t make us feel queasy to buy it.

For whatever reason, a trip to Mexico just left me nervous…queasy… it just didn’t quite feel right. So, the first compromise on staying home was to buy one of those inflatable pools. Of course, that in of itself required compromise, as I wanted something like this:

How can you not love a pool called the “Parthenon”??? Ok, OK, it’s a little … big.

SO, I came home from Wal-Mart with this pool:

It’s 12′ wide, it’s 36″ tall (but the water is about 29″ at the deepest spot – we have a concrete patio that’s slightly slanted for runoff). Relaxing and fabulous. I’ve been in it every day since we put it up – yep, even when it was just being filled, straight from the hose! I’ve always been a water junkie. I love pools, I love swimming, tubs, water in general. Something peaceful and transcendental happens when I float around in a tub of water, and I decompress. It’s nice. I’ve always wanted a pool, my whole life, and would lobby for a motel with a pool whenever we traveled. I even wanted a pool more than I wanted a moped, which is saying something. Alas, it was never to be.

So there you have it. We’ve actually been pretty frugal lately – dining out has taken a nose dive, and it helped that all of the above were really good deals. Someday – maybe someday – we’ll have the Parthenon, but that will require a pool boy. (I’ll work on the application process! And we’ll have to convert the workshop into a pool house.) OH, and before you even ask, NO, the dogs are not allowed in the pool. It would be fun for about 30 seconds and would turn into a major nightmare, not to mention the fact they’d tear up the vinyl with their claws and there goes the pool. It’s just high enough that they can’t really see in it, and they’ve left it alone. So, here comes Summer, and for once, I’m ready.