A bit of a dud but my display looked good. I'll post photos eventually.
I was here by myself. I got dressed in my usual costume (which I love because it looks cool and it's comfortable) and handed out candy to the trickle of trick-or-treaters. This neighborhood has a bizillion kids but they all stayed pretty much on Laramie. No one wanted to come up the hill. It doesn't help that hardly anyone on my street opens their door on Halloween. I did what I could to have some lights out front so people could see there was something going on up here. But right when it started to get dark a HUGE U-Haul pulled up and parked in front of my next-door neighbor's house. They spent most of the night packing it (her sister was moving out). No one walking down Laramie could see my house. I had strewn snap pops along the sidewalk so they would go off when people stepped on them. The kid next door kept warning people not to step on them! A few of them said, "Ooh, this place is too scary, let's not go there" and turned around! So here I am with four huge bags of candy and almost no takers. The last group of kids to come up were teenagers. I gave them HUGE handfuls of candy. Sheesh!
So, I'll probably find something else to do next year. Halloween might be played out for me.
But, dang, my display looked good. I set the witch up in her big Morticia chair with her usual witchy trinkets on a table next to her. But this time I made it into a Paul Newman shrine. I printed out some photos of him. One of them I put into an ornate frame and signed it "All my love, Paul Newman, XXOO". I bought the People magazine that came out right after he died. That was in the witch's lap along with another photo and a box of Kleenex. I had some crumpled Kleenex around her feet. An empty wine bottle lay among them. Candles were on either side of the framed photo. A bottle of Newman's Own salad dressing was next to it. One of the photos was of him and Joanne Woodward. I took a Sharpie and drew a moustache and devil horns and glasses on her. The whole thing looked just great.
I also carved an Obama pumpkin. NO ONE commented on it. So there ya go.
I got through the whole night without eating a single piece of candy.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Damn chickens
They didn't hatch. Today I was notified that they're not considering me for that RCC job. Crapola. I really thought I had a good shot at this one. So now I have to figure out what I'm going to do to pull in some more money. I need a second job. The stores are hiring Christmas help right now. Maybe I can grab something at Target. Just thinking out loud here.
Hey, maybe I can get a job at Home Depot. Then I could get a discount on a water heater.
Hey, maybe I can get a job at Home Depot. Then I could get a discount on a water heater.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Kittens!
Well, not kittens anymore. They've reached the teenage stage. Lindsay and Kyle's friend, Sam, was here last weekend with her friend, Gary, who is a photographer. Sam wanted to get a photo of Ivy so she can be featured as Pet-of-the-Month at the pet store where she does design work. When Ivy was a teeeny, starving kitten she was hanging around Sam's house. When they finally caught her they brought her to me. About a week later Paige and I went to Petco and got Lio.
Our Ivy. She was nervous about having strangers in the house and when they started calling her to have her photo taken she knew something was up. It took a while to find her. She was not too happy about the noisy camera.
Hmmm, having trouble uploading images. I'll do the best I can here and edit it later.
Lio was much more relaxed about the whole thing. He posed all day. Lio is awesome. He's my panther boy. He's also the most affectionate cat I've ever had.
Spiral is one of Kyle's cats. He's a little shy but usually pretty friendly. But not when he doesn't want his picture taken. I think he was worried that Gary was trying to steal his soul.
A good one of Lio.
Our Ivy. She was nervous about having strangers in the house and when they started calling her to have her photo taken she knew something was up. It took a while to find her. She was not too happy about the noisy camera.Hmmm, having trouble uploading images. I'll do the best I can here and edit it later.
Lio was much more relaxed about the whole thing. He posed all day. Lio is awesome. He's my panther boy. He's also the most affectionate cat I've ever had.
Spiral is one of Kyle's cats. He's a little shy but usually pretty friendly. But not when he doesn't want his picture taken. I think he was worried that Gary was trying to steal his soul.
A good one of Lio.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
W.
Ho-hum. Jeff and I saw it last night. With all the hype that's been going on ever since this movie was cast you'd think it would have packed more of a wallop. It didn't. I just got the feeling that Oliver Stone couldn't figure out which W he wanted us to see, so what we ended up with was a picture of a bumbling but sincere idiot. And Dubya ain't that. Well, maybe he is that, but he's so much more (or less). Why did Oliver Stone want us to like the guy?
Anyway, the whole thing fell flat. And the ending.... just ended. I hate movies that do that.
Afterward Jeff and I went for coffee and tea, which was much more interesting.
Another movie I saw recently also fell flat, but not as flatly. City of Ember was visually interesting, and Bill Murray was fun to watch, but mostly it was slow moving and not that interesting. So there ya go.
Anyway, the whole thing fell flat. And the ending.... just ended. I hate movies that do that.
Afterward Jeff and I went for coffee and tea, which was much more interesting.
Another movie I saw recently also fell flat, but not as flatly. City of Ember was visually interesting, and Bill Murray was fun to watch, but mostly it was slow moving and not that interesting. So there ya go.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Happy Birthday, Michelllllle!
Heh! She spells it with only one L. I'm giving her the gift of more Ls. Don't spend 'em all in one place.
I hope you had a lovely, lovely day.
I hope you had a lovely, lovely day.
Oh yeah, I still got it
I went to see Dad after work. As usual, he was in the dining room. He hadn't eaten much of his dinner, just a few vegetables and his dessert. I tried to get him to eat a little more meat but after a couple bites he did the classic toddler avoidance moves. Then he said, "Hey, where are my dirty cookies?" I said, "You mean dessert?" He must have had brownies tonight. Dad's aphasia was in full swing. I told him he had already eaten them. I got the uke out and started to play for him.
He almost always has the same man sitting next to him. His name is Mr. Hammond (Jim would be amused) and he's always out of it, like, totally. One of the staff will come by every once in a while and try to wake him up to take a bite, and he'll usually refuse it. One day when I was there he was sitting there with his head down muttering, "Jesus... Jesus...oh shit, oh shit.... Jesus", etc. Then he perked up and listened to my playing and said, "Hey, you're pretty good on that thing." Well, I was glad to see he wasn't permanently vegged out.
Tonight while I was playing, and Dad was singing along, and Mr. Hammond was muttering, another man came in and sat at our table. He was visiting his wife, who must be in the end stages of something because she's just plain non-responsive. We had a very nice conversation. He asked me if Dad taught me to sing and I said, "Oh yeah", which was kind of a lie because Mom was the one who taught me to sing. Dad taught me how to draw. I said, "He's a very good singer. He was a Barbershopper and he was in a group that won the world championship." Then I started singing Alexander's Ragtime Band, which is one of the ooold Barbershop songs I always heard when I was little. Dad perked right up and sang with me and got pretty much all of the words. I was impressed. Then Mr. Hammond joined in, singing loud and smiling. I said, "Hey, Mr. Hammond! You know that song! Well, I'm going to have to look up the chords so I can play it for you next time." Mr, Hammond smiled and said, "You've got beautiful boobies."
I laughed and said, "Um, well, thank you!" The other man at the table said, "Couldn't you tell her she has beautiful lungs, because she's such a good singer?" I guess not, because Mr. Hammond said it again. "You've got beautiful boobies." So, ok, I guess it's time to go.
I got up and packed up my stuff. One of the nurses came by with her cart and said, "Mr. Hammond, I have to check your vitals" and started taking off his jacket. He said, "Ow! You're hurting my balls! Get your hands off my balls! Jesus! Shit!" The nurse pretty much ignored this. By the time she was done I was all packed up and giving Dad a hug goodbye. Again Mr, Hammond said, "You've got beautiful boobies." Dad got pretty mad then. He said, "You're not... you don't know... you're not going to get out of here alive!" Still pretty aphasic, but his message was clear. Clear to everyone except Mr. Hammond, who just sat there smiling. I said, "It's ok, Dad. It's ok, don't worry about it. I'm sure he meant it as a compliment." I hugged him again and left.
Anyone who saw me walking to my car might have thought I was an escapee from Skilled Nursing, because I was giggling so hard I know I looked like a crazy person.
He almost always has the same man sitting next to him. His name is Mr. Hammond (Jim would be amused) and he's always out of it, like, totally. One of the staff will come by every once in a while and try to wake him up to take a bite, and he'll usually refuse it. One day when I was there he was sitting there with his head down muttering, "Jesus... Jesus...oh shit, oh shit.... Jesus", etc. Then he perked up and listened to my playing and said, "Hey, you're pretty good on that thing." Well, I was glad to see he wasn't permanently vegged out.
Tonight while I was playing, and Dad was singing along, and Mr. Hammond was muttering, another man came in and sat at our table. He was visiting his wife, who must be in the end stages of something because she's just plain non-responsive. We had a very nice conversation. He asked me if Dad taught me to sing and I said, "Oh yeah", which was kind of a lie because Mom was the one who taught me to sing. Dad taught me how to draw. I said, "He's a very good singer. He was a Barbershopper and he was in a group that won the world championship." Then I started singing Alexander's Ragtime Band, which is one of the ooold Barbershop songs I always heard when I was little. Dad perked right up and sang with me and got pretty much all of the words. I was impressed. Then Mr. Hammond joined in, singing loud and smiling. I said, "Hey, Mr. Hammond! You know that song! Well, I'm going to have to look up the chords so I can play it for you next time." Mr, Hammond smiled and said, "You've got beautiful boobies."
I laughed and said, "Um, well, thank you!" The other man at the table said, "Couldn't you tell her she has beautiful lungs, because she's such a good singer?" I guess not, because Mr. Hammond said it again. "You've got beautiful boobies." So, ok, I guess it's time to go.
I got up and packed up my stuff. One of the nurses came by with her cart and said, "Mr. Hammond, I have to check your vitals" and started taking off his jacket. He said, "Ow! You're hurting my balls! Get your hands off my balls! Jesus! Shit!" The nurse pretty much ignored this. By the time she was done I was all packed up and giving Dad a hug goodbye. Again Mr, Hammond said, "You've got beautiful boobies." Dad got pretty mad then. He said, "You're not... you don't know... you're not going to get out of here alive!" Still pretty aphasic, but his message was clear. Clear to everyone except Mr. Hammond, who just sat there smiling. I said, "It's ok, Dad. It's ok, don't worry about it. I'm sure he meant it as a compliment." I hugged him again and left.
Anyone who saw me walking to my car might have thought I was an escapee from Skilled Nursing, because I was giggling so hard I know I looked like a crazy person.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Too bummed out to blog
Dude, where's my money? My 401K has lost more than half its value. I didn't have a lot of stock but what I had tanked. I was planning to sell it to hold me through the next couple years while I'm going to school. Right now I'm all bundled up in a cold house because I don't want to run the heat. I'll probably shut off the satellite tv for a while. I don't know where else I can cut back but I've got to find a way to trim the expenses.
I still haven't heard anything about that RCC job I applied for. I'm like, COME ONNNNN!!!!! I'd at least like to know if I'm in the running.
AND I have a water heater that's ready to die any day now. The faucet in my other bathroom is leaking and it can't be fixed, it has to be replaced. The only way to do that is to bust out the wall from the front, or go in from behind. That's the best way to do it but I'll need to get the water heater out first. Ok, fine, it needs replacing anyway, but we're looking at around $600 without installation. If things were normal I'd ask Drew to do it, but he's got problems of his own. There's no way I'd ask him to do anything for me right now. If the water heater can hold out for another month, maybe. I'll just have to put up with the leak. And then there's the money problem. Shit.
Gracie isn't doing well. She's on medication for her thyroid but I don't know if it's helping. She's kind of skinny and her hair has fallen out in big patches. Plus, she's almost deaf and she has arthritis. Last night it was cold so I brought her in the house to sleep in the bathroom. All she did was crap all over the floor and bark her head off. I put her back outside. She's almost 13. I might be letting her go soon.
So, this is one of those times. Things are just piling up. People have been asking me if I'm going to decorate for Halloween. I'm not sure if I will at this point. The only thing I'm looking forward to is the election.
I'm going to look up bus schedules.
I still haven't heard anything about that RCC job I applied for. I'm like, COME ONNNNN!!!!! I'd at least like to know if I'm in the running.
AND I have a water heater that's ready to die any day now. The faucet in my other bathroom is leaking and it can't be fixed, it has to be replaced. The only way to do that is to bust out the wall from the front, or go in from behind. That's the best way to do it but I'll need to get the water heater out first. Ok, fine, it needs replacing anyway, but we're looking at around $600 without installation. If things were normal I'd ask Drew to do it, but he's got problems of his own. There's no way I'd ask him to do anything for me right now. If the water heater can hold out for another month, maybe. I'll just have to put up with the leak. And then there's the money problem. Shit.
Gracie isn't doing well. She's on medication for her thyroid but I don't know if it's helping. She's kind of skinny and her hair has fallen out in big patches. Plus, she's almost deaf and she has arthritis. Last night it was cold so I brought her in the house to sleep in the bathroom. All she did was crap all over the floor and bark her head off. I put her back outside. She's almost 13. I might be letting her go soon.
So, this is one of those times. Things are just piling up. People have been asking me if I'm going to decorate for Halloween. I'm not sure if I will at this point. The only thing I'm looking forward to is the election.
I'm going to look up bus schedules.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
We love you, Mindy!
Oh, wow. Drew just called. Mindy's mom just died. She's been in poor health for the last several months and losing weight. She was already quite slim. Mindy's sister died a few months ago. I'm sure that also contributed to her decline. Hoo boy.
Ok, universe, let up on these guys for a while, eh? Drew needs to heal and Mindy needs to recover from her loss. The last several months (the last year, really, if you add in all they went through with Dad) has been really rough on this family. They need a break.
Well. I don't believe in prayer and I don't think there is an equivalent for non-believers. I kind of wish there was, just for these occasions. But I can offer my help. As far as I know they still haven't cleared out Mindy's sister's house and now they'll have her mom's house to deal with.
I have uke circle today. I'll call them afterward and see how things are going. There's a lot to deal with in the first few hours. After that, there's time to do a little thinking about what needs to be done. I know the drill.
Take care, you guys. You have my love and good thoughts, And prayers too, such as they are.
Ok, universe, let up on these guys for a while, eh? Drew needs to heal and Mindy needs to recover from her loss. The last several months (the last year, really, if you add in all they went through with Dad) has been really rough on this family. They need a break.
Well. I don't believe in prayer and I don't think there is an equivalent for non-believers. I kind of wish there was, just for these occasions. But I can offer my help. As far as I know they still haven't cleared out Mindy's sister's house and now they'll have her mom's house to deal with.
I have uke circle today. I'll call them afterward and see how things are going. There's a lot to deal with in the first few hours. After that, there's time to do a little thinking about what needs to be done. I know the drill.
Take care, you guys. You have my love and good thoughts, And prayers too, such as they are.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Hidey hay!
Look to the right on the links list. I added the weight loss blog. Now it's easier to get there.
This morning I did some much-needed yard work. Mostly I tidied up the front walk and the driveway. Doesn't sound like much but I've got three big trees that dump freakin' LOADS of debris on everything. Man, I'd love to rip them all out, especially that Shamel ash. Not much chance of that because it's a city tree. The whole street is lined with them. Very pretty and they provide lots of shade, but they have very invasive roots and they drop a bizillion seeds that cover everything. Cleaning it all up was a huge job. I also cleaned out the front planting bed, which was looking pretty sad since I haven't been watering it. I'm going to plant my succulents there but first I have to kill all the nasty, persistent weeds that have taken hold.
But it's so nice to be out there right now! The weather is nicely cool. It was supposed to rain today but it looks like that's not going to happen. I've been waiting for cooler weather so I can get stuff done outside. I want to get this place looking better so my neighbors will be happy.
In a little while I'm going to Ramona to help them with their sets for this year's field show. I know, WHY am I doing that since Paige is no longer there? Because they asked me, and because the sets are much simpler this year. All I'm doing is painting 5 big spiral shapes on fabric. And I don't even have to do the whole thing. All I have to do is the outline.
Tonight we're going to see Religulous.
This morning I did some much-needed yard work. Mostly I tidied up the front walk and the driveway. Doesn't sound like much but I've got three big trees that dump freakin' LOADS of debris on everything. Man, I'd love to rip them all out, especially that Shamel ash. Not much chance of that because it's a city tree. The whole street is lined with them. Very pretty and they provide lots of shade, but they have very invasive roots and they drop a bizillion seeds that cover everything. Cleaning it all up was a huge job. I also cleaned out the front planting bed, which was looking pretty sad since I haven't been watering it. I'm going to plant my succulents there but first I have to kill all the nasty, persistent weeds that have taken hold.
But it's so nice to be out there right now! The weather is nicely cool. It was supposed to rain today but it looks like that's not going to happen. I've been waiting for cooler weather so I can get stuff done outside. I want to get this place looking better so my neighbors will be happy.
In a little while I'm going to Ramona to help them with their sets for this year's field show. I know, WHY am I doing that since Paige is no longer there? Because they asked me, and because the sets are much simpler this year. All I'm doing is painting 5 big spiral shapes on fabric. And I don't even have to do the whole thing. All I have to do is the outline.
Tonight we're going to see Religulous.
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