Eye Candy Friday (on Saturday)

My bargain purchase, don't know what I'll use it for, but couldn't resist!

Ravelry Swap

My latest swap, Chocolate and Coffee.   And what could be better?   I use to swap a lot.   Then I quit for awhile because I found it too stressful.   Did I get the right stuff for my partner?   Will she/he like it?   Is there enough?  

Merry Christmas to All

Eye Candy Friday

Hurry up and finish the tree please

December

How in the heck can it be December 1st already?   And then  i wondered how in the heck that only 24 days remain until Christmas.   Duh.   But I'm on it this year.    Maybe.   I made the executive decision to go with an artifical tree this year.   The minions won't be pleased.    Our Christmas trees are legend in this house.    I always let the kids pick the tree out, and usually only had to put a dollar limit on it.    Once the boys his 6' tall the trees got bigger, waaay bigger.    The one I should have vetoed at the lot was the best I think.    I should have known when they couldn't fit the tree in the net machine thingy that we were in trouble.    I should have known when it wouldn't fit in the front door until we opened both doors up that we were in trouble.    I should have known that when we had to run out and buy a bigger tree stand we were in trouble.   But alas, I didn't really and truly figure it out until we got that sucker upright.   It didn't fit in the usual spot, in the livingroom, at the top of the steps about 5 feet from the wall, rather centered on the guard rail for the stairs.    Nope.   We had to put it pretty much in the middle of the room, so that the angle didn't whack her head on the ceiling.   at about 8' tall.    That was okay, but apparently this tree had also been on steriods so it was big around.   So big that you whacked branches everytime you went up and down the steps because they stuck through the rails.   And we finally just gave up using the door into the livingroom, and walked through the kitchen, diningroom and then in the other side of the living room, because the tree attacked you if you tried to go by.   Oh, and then there were the 6 extra boxes of lights we had to get because all the lights we previously had only covered half the tree and it looked stupid.   It was still sparce some ornaments because there were only so many more I was willing to get, so the tree got extra tinsel that year. 

My friend is letting me have the fake tree to try out.    I know what the kids will say.    However, as I remember quite well last year, the 4 of us couldn't seem to schedule 2 hours together to go pick a tree, so TinkerDaughter and I did it at the last minute.   No one wanted to come help put up and decorate the tree, and we'll not discuss the it is time to take it down conversation.     Nope, not a bah humbug mommy, but I'm sure going to be happy not finding pine needles in my livingroom in July next year.

Ten on Tuesday

Carole, Carole, Carole,  
I don't know if I have ten musicals in me but here goes, in no particular order:

Hello Dolly
Mame (with Rosslyn Russell)
Fame
Jeasus Christ Superstar
Mary Poppins
Chitty Bang Bang Bang (as my kids always called it)
Grinch (okay, so the songs just stick in my head)
Annie
Holiday Inn
Snow White

National Lemon Creme Pie Day

Yummy.    If it wasn't Tuesday, and I didn't have to work all day I'd be temped to make a bunch of lemon pies today.    However, that would be counter productive to my efforts to lose weight and get back in shape in the next 30 days wouldn't it?

My eating has gone okay, I do well, then crash and burn.   Last night was a school night, and I don't usually eat dinner when I have school, I just make sure to have a late, healthy lunch.   Which I did.   But class was a little stressful, nothingin like having a high school kid point out to you, out loud, in front of an entire class, that "you're not very good" is there.    Thus, I came home and ate a bowl of ice cream.   It was a small bowl, but nonetheless ice cream.    It was also the last  in the carton, so in order to avoid that pitfall again, I'll just not replace it.    

But I got 30 minutes of walking in yesterday morning and now I'm off for another 30 minute work out.    Pushing forward and not looking back.

66 Days

Today begins an experiment.  First to see if I can last at least 30 days at it.  After taking a good hard look at myself and my eating habits over the past week (Thanksgiving dinner notwithstanding) I've got to make a change.

I decided the year I turned 50 that I would get a physical, take care of myself, and be like the 80 woman, when it was my turn to turn 80, who joined the Peace Corps for her birthday and spent a year in China. I may not really want to go to China and volunteer for a year, but I want to know that when I'm 80 I can if I want. So I got the first physical I'd had since giving birth (and we just won't talk about how long ago that was), everything was good. My cholesterol was a tad high, but not enough to make anyone say anything other than, it’s a little high. My weight was okay. Not great but okay. My BP is good, always has been. So I started exercising more, quit the stressful job, don’t know why I thought being unemployed would be less stressful. But Mr. Tinkerpro bless his heart, told me when I called screaming one night on the way home from work “just quit the job. We will be okay until you find something else”. He said this during a recession. We don’t always see eye-to-eye. And okay, we use to fight a lot. But after all these years of marriage and raising three kids, we’ve figured it out and know what is important and what just isn’t.

I lost weight, ate better mostly because I was home all the time and could cook and fix and life was good. Then I got a real job with benefits again, and although the treadmill wasn’t quite as fast, I was back on it. Eating habits went to hell, exercise went further to hell and oh, it is so easy to just be lazy, isn’t it.

So today, I re-colored my hair with a permanent color this time, instead of the 28 day one that was great for years until they changed the formula this summer and now it fades out in about 2 weeks, that just isn’t acceptable to me - so I”m back to my Preference by L’Oreal that I used 30 years ago.  I thought they stopped using ammonia, but alas they did not as I found out half way through the process. The color is a little redder than I had anticipated, but we shall see tomorrow how it looks. I figured if it was horrible, that gives me Sunday to go to my hair guy and have him fix it. LOVE the cut he gives me, but sure can’t see spending the money for color.

And I changed my moisturizer to this:

I’ve heard good things about it, so when I got a coupon for it (which really doesn’t come around often) I thought I’d give it a shot. I’ll say that it is much thinner than the Oil of Olay that I’m use to using, and it makes my face tingle. So is that good or bad? Or am I having chemical reactions from the new hair color and face cream all at once? THAT would be a kick in the pants, wouldn’t it? I went for a microdermabrasion treatment earlier this month. The girl was actually really honest and didn’t try to sell me stuff/treatments. She said my skin really doesn’t need micro and she wouldn’t recommend it but would try it to see what happened. Frankly, I didn’t notice a difference, it didn’t feel any different and didn’t look different. I’m so glad TinkerDaughter found her. Of course, she has now moved 100 miles away.

I've started a 30 day walking program on tape, 45 minutes with Leslie Sansone and next weekend will be the experiment on teeth whitening.    I drink way too much coffee.

Happy Thanksgiving

May your day be filled with peace, joy and family and friends.

Eye Candy Friday

Awkward

TinkerDaughter got flowers on Thursday afternoon. I thought it was nice for the new guy in her life to send her flowers. Red carnations and tea roses. She was most pleased, and went to school that night with a smile on her face.    She sent a message to new guy “thanks for the delivery”. His response was “huh”? Oh oh.
She called him, “didn’t you send me flowers today?” He said “No, why would I do that?    Who sent you flowers?” She said,  I though you did, the card wasn’t signed.
So of course we all assumed (and you know what they say about that) it was the current guy in her life. He was not amused. But seems to have gotten over it. He also gets huge points because he asked what kind of flowers did she get, and she said red carnations and roses. And he said, well I would have sent you lilies because those are your favorite. I’m impressed, they have only been dating about 6 weeks and he knows her favorite flower?

Then she called the one guy from high school that she talks to a lot. He is stationed across the country and they have a good long-distance relationship.   Distance being the key to their friendship.   Apparently, he is being transferred back to this side of the country early next year and making noises about how she’s "his girl".

She asked if he had sent flowers and he said yep, did you like them? Wrong answer.

Reports from TinkerDaughter are that after she reamed him a new one for pulling a stupid stunt when he knew she was seeing someone by sending flowers without signing the card, was that she then informed him she was not now, nor would she ever be his girl. In fact, she would put a bullet in her head before she was his girl. He said that seemed a little harsh.

Her response was “no, harsh would be if I put the bullet in your head”.

That’s my girl. She not only didn’t fall far from the tree, but sometimes I think she’s morphed into me.

Eye Candy Friday

TinkerDaughter has a new beau

I’ve been fighting with the mouse on my computer for about 6 weeks. Yes, I’m stubborn. The last time I had a mouse problem, I beat to death and then had to tape it back together to get through the workday.

Typically Mr.Tinperpro takes care of these things. He is the “computer guy” in the house, me, I just know the basics and know that I don’t want to know anymore. Unless you can show me how to do something once and it is easy. Or I write down the step by step directions. Oh, I can usually figure out how to make my flicker account work and itunes, and I can install a program if all I have to do is pop the disk in, but that’s about it.

This weekend I decided to be a grownup and go get my own mouse. For some reason there wasn’t the selection I thought there would be.

Here is my old reliable mouse. And actually it’s lasted at least 5 years.

Much to Mr.Tinkerpro’s dismay, I bought my new mouse, not based on ergonomics, how well it fits my hand, brand, price (which usually sways me) or consumer reports.

I bought it because it is pretty.

Time Management

Punctuality is honoring someone else's time.

I saw this comment several years ago and took it to heart.   I too use to be one of those people who couldn't seem to get myself together and out the door on time.  (well to be honest, sometimes I still am.)   I wasn't terribly late, usually 5 - 10 minutes.   And I always told myself it was because I was a busy mom of three, worked full time, traffic is horrible, blah, blah, blah.    And  I arrived just a tad discombublated and frazzeled.   Not the professional image I wanted to give.    Then I read that people who are perpetually late not only have organization issues, which we all know has been my challenge over the years, but they are also arrogent and have no regard for other people's time.    The question was, if you are meeting three other people for dinner and they are on time, what makes you  think you are so important that you can't be on time too? 

Hmmm, that was a bit of a slap.   I never considered myself so important that it was my right to make other people wait for me, I was just always behind.  My friends knew it but never said anything (to my face).   So that was my new goal to work on.  Be on time.   Not only on time but be the first one there.  Boy that was hard at first.   I tried to trick myself into leaving early, that didn't work well.   Finally, I just got it together.  I figured out how to get things done the night before which allowed me to have less morning stress and thus be able to walk out the door on time.   I didn't have to check my bag three times from the front door to the car to be sure I had everything.   Then run back to the house.

Once I learned to trust myself that I got everything together the night before I just grabbed my bag and left.   I keep knitting in the truck so if I'm way early, I have something to occupy my time while I wait.   That makes me less crazy and resentful when I'm waiting for the others, be it friends or the doctor appointment I was early for.  

Funny thing was once I changed my mindset, the relaxed happier me started poking her head out.    

My New Mantra

Ten on Tuesday - Pumpkin

Ah Carole, I don't eat a lot of pumpkin, but your list is encouraging.

1. with cake mix, as cupcakes, no frosting needed just a spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin makes very dense cakes, if you want it a little fluffy, add an egg.
2. Pumpkin pie not my favorite but with enough whip cream I'll eat it (I'd rather have pecan pie).
3. Bread.   Haven't tried pumpkin bread but maybe this is the year.
4. Soup.   Umm, no.
5. Cheesecake. There are tons of recipes for pumpkin cheesecake, from fancy ones to no bake ones to swirl ones and they all make me swoon.   I like cheesecake
6. Pumpkin Latte. Pumpkin, spices and caffeine make an excellent combination.   Except I'm not a flavor coffee kind of girl.  
7. Roasted pumpkin seeds.
8. Pancakes. Or waffles. The addition of pumpkin makes them super moist and the perfect autumn breakfast.
9. Pumpkin cookies.

Okay, I can't come up with 10 things, although I'm sure I could if  I googled.   Is that cheating?  How do you take your pumpkin?

On a Facebook page today

Recovery

Well, maybe the wrong title, but I am recovering from my weekend at SOAR. Wow what a few days it was. Of course, as per my normal state of affairs, there are no pictures. Don't know why I bother to take the camera if I'm not going to remember to use it.

I had only signed up for the two day retreat. Then early in the summer thought a Thursday class would be fun, but alas, was still on the waiting list yesterday. That's okay though, I made flight plans for Thursday, and being my optomistic self (and always trying to think economically) I flew out of BWI at 7:20 a.m. Which meant I was up and out the door at 4:45 since it is a good hour drive. My thought was that at the last minute, the class would have space open. My contingency plan was that of course my room would be ready in the morning, never mind the fact that the hotel states on their website that check in is 3:00 p.m. So as a second contengency plan, I signed up with the Suri Newtwork to do some demo spininng in their booth. What could be more fun and relaxing than spinning suri alpaca, for free?

So, flight was good, it was a little chilly in New Hampshire, but not bad and of course, my room wasn't ready. So I dumped my bags with the front desk and took a walk into town. Manchester is a small town, but full of life and easy to nativate - not that I went too far. There was a nice park right across the street from the hotel and the weekend before had a chili cookoff, sorry I missed that. I found a coffee shop, bought a huge scone and a coffee and headed back to hotel for a comfy morning of knitting in the lobby. Coffee was pretty good, scone was about the worse I've ever had and only ate it because I didn't know when I'd get lunch or if at all and knew not eating till dinner was a bad idea.

I met Lynn at the appointed time and sat down to spin with her wheel. Alpaca, pure alpaca. I stayed in the zone for well more than my two hour time, and shockingly, she said that only one other person had signed up to spin the entire weekend. I know that many people were busy with classes, but really, a lot of people didn't have class on Thursday, and you didn't have to do it the entire two hours. But it worked in my favor, because try as I might no room at the inn for me until 3:00.

I stepped out of my comfort zone a lot this weekend. I'm not a crowds and strangers kind of person. I don't mind crowds if I'm prepared for them (and I was) and I know my limits, so didn't look for a roommate and sucked up the expensive ass hotel fee. And I don't mind strangers, but not usually volunteering to spend an entire weekend with them where I know no one. So, I sat in the lobby before dinner and knitted. A woman sat with me and we started chatting. I was so fortunate to find one of the complainers of the weekend. Ugh. She started in on the food, the continued on how it was horrible, she hadn't eaten and was sick and nauseous. Her husband called while we were chatting, she complained to him, and said if the dinner looked bad she was going out for pizza. After she hung up, she started in again, and then her friend sat down and she complained to her. The friend, on the other hand said she thought the food was pretty good.

We all know that feeding over 300 people at one time is a challenge. I know that, and buffet isn't my favorite way to eat, but I've had some pretty bad retreat foods, so was hopeful. And glad with Ms. Complainer, got up and left. Dinner wasn't too bad actually, there was salad, not a lot of toppings for it, but a few, and red onions, I love those. No croutons which was too bad because the rolls served at each meal were dry and stale, so no bread for me, which was actually okay, and chicken, not too dried out, or tough. Dessert was okay too. There wasn't a lot of options, and I was actually surprised that I wasn't hungry later.

Off to bed at 8:30, because I know my limitations and didn't want to be too tired for my Friday classes. And I had a comfy room. Huge, huge bed all to myself, big bathroom comfy chair with a footstool, lots of space to stretch out, get my stuff ready for the next day, and off to slumber land. By 9:30. Late night party girl I'm not.

One More Sleep

In less than 24 hours I will be off to my first SOAR retreat. Can. Not. Wait. Because I have school tonight and won't be home until 10ish, and because I must leave the house at 4:45 a.m. Thursday, I have packed everything I will need.

I wonder how many women at the airport tomorrow will be able to say their carry on has all the clothes they will need?

Flying Southwest I know that I can check the suitcase for free, but I'm wondering if they will charge for weight. Hope not, but I figure it won't be near as much as if I tried shipping the wheel and all the "extras".

Coffee

Coffee is the beginning of my morning. It has consistently been the start of my morning for oh so many years. Except when I was pregnant, or really really really really sick, I have coffee every morning. The coffeemaker is ready to go before I go to bed, all I have to do is hit start in the morning.

There is a routine every morning, Jack stands on my chest if he thinks I'm oversleeping, thus starving his fat belly. I walk down the hall to the kitchen, push the on button on said coffee maker, feed the cats and empty the dishwasher. All this is accomplished while I hear the bubble bubble bubble of my coffee maker happing greeting me.

This morning was no different, exept it is Sunday, so Jack deemed it a day that I could sleep as long as I wanted (as long as it wasn't past 5:45). So I did my thing, like always. Except darkness was coming from the coffee maker. And it wasn't the darkness of a full clear pot of coffee. So I did what any normal person would do, I looked at it again, pulled the refrigerator away from the wall (the coffee maker is plugged into the same outlet as the refrigerator) all the while telling myself that the fridge was working quite happily, and really if it wasn't wouldn't you be more pissed about the possibility of having to buy a new fridge today instead of a coffee maker? But no, I was focused on no coffee. Naturally I plugged the maker into another outlet, because obviously the fridge faries are keeping power on to my refrigerator.

Nope. Nada. Dead in the water (hahaha)

Ponder. push buttons more, then wait, what? The hot water maker side works? WTF????? Ponder some more. Okay, you use to have a melita maker, so why not use the same process? I heated the water in the hot water heater, then poured the water into the coffee grounds on the other side, and . . . coffee.

Ponder ponder ponder. I'd really rather not have to spend money on a coffee mater today. No, they aren't that much in the big scheme of things, but I really like this one. I liked that I could make hot water on one side for tea or other hot drink. I liked the timer feature and clock, except oh yeah, now that I think about it, the clock broke about 4 months ago and I couldn't set it anymore. But it is my coffee maker. I like coffee. I don't think they make the melika system anymore, and I don't own a tea kettle. And this one was on sale for about 100 bucks 18 months ago, and I kinda thought that a Cuisinart would last for years and years. I expect a $18 special sale coffee maker to last me a year. I'm okay with that. I REALLY expected this one to last forever.

But WAIT! For some reason I never got rid of this.

I know that it was because every time I saw it in the back of the cabinet, where you have to squat and bend over to see, and the two times a year I actually did that, I said to myself, nope, it doesn't take up much room, and you never know . . .

I'll be cleaning it up this morning and checking it out, because if, while it has been in storage for the past 15 years or so, it has decided that it doesn't want to work anymore, that it likes retirement, I'll have to replace it too.

Here's the counter space I have now gained where the coffee maker USE to be.

Ten on Tuesday

Well, I can accept Carole's challenge for Ten Things You Do Everyday.

1. Get up, start the coffee and feed the cats.
2. Shower and get dressed make-up to shoes.
3. Start a load of laundry
4. Check email and ravelry.
5. Let the cats out and clean the litter box.
6. Let the cats inside and leave for work.
7. Work, oh so fun stuff trying to be diplomatic all day really stresses Tinkerpro.
8. Come home for lunch. Let the cats out, start something for dinner.
9. End of the day come home, laundry, fix dinner, feed the cats and let them out.
10. Nights are spent either doing homework or going to class. And letting the cats in at dark.

Hmmm, I see a pattern here. It would appear that I am a slave to my cats.

I can sit on the Roof if I Want

Miami Shawl

I don't normally make or wear shawls because they get caught on everything I walk by. But I was at a tea last month and someone had made the miami shawl and I really liked it. Of course I used my own method of knitting, i.e. patterns can be merely a suggestion, and why would I buy a specific yarn when I have so much in my stash.

I used the brooks farm Yarn I bought at MDSW two years ago for a sweater. Every stinkin time I cast on for a sweater, I didn't like the way the yarn was pooling. It worked just perfect for the shawl though, and I've got enough left I'm thinking hat, mittens and maybe a scarf . . . the possibilities are limitless. I used one skein and about an eighth of another so there's tons left.

done

taking a bath

blocking

fini

Wordless Wednesday

A Good Question Indeed

Who exactly DID piss off Mother Nature? Earthquakes in Virginia. No, not unheard of but truly not very common. I'd guess they aren't common in Colorado either. Hurricane this weekend.

I’m not discounting the earthquake of Tuesday, I’ll be the first to admit it was scary, I was in a less than sturdy building, and while I had to pretend to be calm, cool and collected, and responsible, because that is my job, I was pretty freaked inside. Worried about the house and kitties, couldn’t leave campus because it is rather what I get paid for, taking care of the buildings and operations. My leaving right then would rather be like a fireman leaving the scene of a fire in case maybe his house was burning.

Then I sadly told myself no tv for you this week. Why you might ask? Well, I’ll tell you. Guaranteed that every news person who can find a camera crew and sound guy will be out on the street interviewing people. And I quite frankly can’t listed to “I was so a’scared, I didn’t know what was happening!” “I was in my kitchen and the whole house started moving, I was just sure to all goodness that the roof was going to fall on my head”. “That was the worst experience in my life!” And I’m 8. And on, and on, and on. Yes, it would be fair to say that every one was a little shook up (haha), however why oh why do they have to find every a’scared person on the planet? And then play the same thing over and over and over. Go talk to the officers on the street, the rescue crews, the power crews, the building inspectors who could actually provide useful information to some. Oh wait, that isn’t news.

It is horrible about the buildings that are damaged. No doubt about it, but the problem with news on the street live, right now, as it is happening, is that they start speculating. Oh, they don’t tell you they are speculating, but we all know that once it is said then it becomes “the truth”.

Now we’re waiting for the hurricane. Yesterday it was sorta bad, last night maybe bad, this morning not so much, tonight huge. So my dilemma is, do I hit the market in the morning on the way to work for wine and snacks, or wait until tomorrow night. Storm is suppose to hit sometime Saturday night. Ain’t no way on this green earth I’m going to the market on Saturday morning, and while I don’t mind waiting until it blows over, I need my snacks. And if it doesn’t stop raining by Sunday night, then I have to shop in the rain and quite frankly I hate lugging groceries in the rain. I know, I’m a princess.

So my weekend plans are to eat, knit, have movie marathons, do homework and watch the weather. I’ll probably be cleaning up the yard on Sunday.

And please, who did piss of Mother Nature? C’mon, you can fess up.

How Do They Manage To Grow Up?

ring ring (my cell phone)

me: Hi honey
son: Mom? I got backed into by an escalade a little while ago and now
my neck is starting to hurt, do you think I should go to the doctor?
me: huh? did the police come?
son: No, it was here in the lot.
me: were you driving a customer's car (thinking OMG this is gonna
be expensive)
son: No mom, I was walking.
me: I'm sorry? Your were walking????? He ran you over?
Did you fall???????????????????
son: no, but almost
me: could not talk for the banging of the head against the desk


Two hours later and neck/back x-rays and a prescription for extra strength motrin, and a check of his kidneys since that is apparently where the biggest impact was, he is off for the rest of the day.

Overload

You know how you know that you need to get things done and then when you sit down to get to it, they all just fly straight out of your brain? Comeon, I know you know. Don't try to pretend Tinker is the only one in the world with this problem.

Things on the old homestead are achangin in the next few weeks. Good changes to be sure, but changes none the less. TinkerSon is moving into his own place. We're not sure if he is happy, sad or just conflicted about the decision. He has talked about it for quite some time, but always in the "next year" context. Then wham in less than two weeks it was I'm doing it, and apparently doing it now. It is good. He will take his stinky dirty clothes with him - big yeah on that one! Some furniture we don't want, haven't wanted for about the 7 years we've had it, but didn't quite know what to do with it. Give it away would be the logical answer, but something always stopped me.

He has in fact, gone through the entire house and tagged the items he would like to take. Except for my egg poacher which he at least asked for before packing, I'm glad to let him have at it.

So I decided last week while traveling that the next 12 months would be a good time to finally start getting my house back in order and taking it back so-to-speak. The first line item will be to walk through the entire house with a bucket of spackle and a putty knife and fix every ding, dang and hole in every wall in every room. To be fair, TinkerSon didn't make a lot of the holes, he is more for putting grimy fingerprints on the walls. Yes son, those are yours. You are the only one here anymore that can reach that high, and I can assure you that I am not the one reaching up to touch the ceiling just because I can.

So I sat at my desk this morning to start the list, think about what to eat next week and do homework.

Yeah. None of those things have happened yet and it's been over an hour. Intarsia has set in. Oops, I mean inertia. Oh wait, maybe I do mean intersia. Ya know, maybe I should just go finish my shawl. The shawl from my trip that has gone about the same way my last week has gone.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, there's always tomorrow!

Sing in peace this afternoon.

Home

Well, my return home wasn't quite as dramatic as my departure. Mostly because I didn't have to get up at 3 in the morning and while I still had a long drive to airport, it was in the afternoon, but WHAT was up with traffic in Charlotte? On a Tuesday? Ah well, because my mom stresses about missing airplanes, I had more than enough time, which was good because TSA seemed to be running a bit behind too. Maybe it is "summer" travelers and I fly more often during the school year.

But I needed dinner. After looking at all the mayo laden, soggy bread, greasy spoon places, and the $6 beer, I settled on a container of carrots, celery and cheese chunks. And then I broke my self imposed rule and bought a coke instead of water because the coke was cheaper. How wrong it that? But carrots and cheese (and only some of the celery) absolutely hit the spot and was only $4, fresh and yummy. Next time I'll have to remember to pack my own so that I can afford the water - becuse I always seem to forget to grab an empty bottle to carry though security and then fill up.

On time flight, yay! No storms in our area, double yay! Construction on the beltway not so yay but at least we didn't have to stop for long periods of time and I was home by 11. I'm a morning person, I go to bed around 9. This wasn't going to bode well for my Wednesday,

But I walked in the door of my house relaxed and happy. The kitchen was clean - tripple yay! And although the floor looked more like it belonged in the barn, the counters and sink was shiny, there were clean towels for my shower, and food in the fridge.

And Jack didn't shun me. This time I remembered to tell him bye I'll see you in a few days. I read somewhere you need to tell your pets good bye when you're leaving them for a few days so they don't get mad at you.

Well, he could be mad at me, that's okay, he usually gets over it, and there were two humans to cater to his every whim, but alas. He got after some roving on Tuesday, so I guess next time I need to tell him I'll see you Wednesday and then when I come home Tuesday it will be a bonus.

Now I just have to unpack.

Traveling

I’ve tried to become philosophical about travel over the years. When you drive, you can take whatever stuff you want and if you choose to throw 27 pairs of shoes in the back it’s all good. But driving can take precious time especially if you’re using vacation time from work, and the cost of gas and amount of traffic has made it a 50/50 prospect on what is more economical.

Flying of course can be stressful. You must plan what to take being sure to not to take liquids, etc. unless they are in the little clear bottles, in a clear quart size zip lock bag. Your luggage is subject to random searches if you can afford to check it, and even if you carry it on, it has to go through the screen thing and there is no telling what will trigger the TSA’s desire to spread your undies all over the floor of the security area.

So I take what I can carry only, a book, some change and a good attitude because there isn’t any point in fighting a losing battle

I decided to fly to my mom’s this weekend. My plan has been to catch the o’dark thirty flight - which means I’m up and out the door o o’dark thirty to make the hour long drive and still have time to park, catch the shuttle and get in line. By flying, my time from my bed to my mom’s front door is 5 hours. If I drive, the time pretty much doubles. So, I was on my merry way early, fortunate that no construction shut down the roads for long periods of time, and I was glad the deer on the side of the road stayed there. The shuttle bus in the parking lot was actually pulling up to the pick up spot as I was walking to it, and the morning was good. Except the loud guy on the bus who though everyone wanted to hear him shout about how someone in his office was panicking because, what if there is a problem, how will we reach you? The guy apparently said, I don’t care if there is a problem, figure out a solution. Oh, and the lady who was wearing some kind of long dress with very little top to it. SHE had a lot of top, and a black bra on as well, which you could see just as clearly as all her skin. I wonder what people think when they are dressing to travel.

The security line was long, but for a change I wasn’t worried, I knew I had time. By the time I got to the departure gate, there were only 5 people left getting on the plane. Not a problem, but the last 20 people had to check their bags, which wasn’t a problem either, then I don’t have to haul it over my head and it will be at the door when I get off the plane. Oh, no, not this time, I would have to go to baggage claim to get it. Bummer. Then the woman in the middle seat didn’t feel like getting up, and just tried to tuck her feet in and told me to slide on by. Right, I’d rather not stick my butt in your face. So she sighed and got up. I guess the flight attendants had had enough of people already too because before takeoff they turned off the overhead lights and left them off for the entire flight. That was okay, I got an extra hour of sleep. Except because of storms, the flight was an extra half hour long and I had plans.

The Charlotte airport was crazy busy at 7 am on a Saturday. Usually it has people, but not like this. Some girl came up and asked me if we were in NC or SC. I started to ask her if she had not taken geography in school yet, but then decided it wasn’t worth it so told her North Carolina, then had to not laugh at her relief. My first cup of coffee was from ‘bucks which I usually avoid like the plague, but that was all I could find. At baggage it took me 5 minutes to find my bag, no one was lingering, and someone had kindly hidden it behind a pillar. The car rental girl was bright and perky, but the guy on the other end was kinda a jerk. 80 miles later, I realized I forgot to grab my toothbrush and comb this morning, so make a quick stop at the drug store then drove to my mom’s place. But it was all good.

My mom lives in a retirement community. Usually, I get a visitor hang tag, park, go into the dining room and she is there with a friend or two and I get breakfast. Well. This time she forgot to call the front gate. And this time, the kid pretending to be security decided to follow all the rules and wouldn’t let me in because I wasn’t on the list. I said she’s in the dining room call there. He said, I called her apartment, she didn’t answer, there isn’t anything I can do until she calls me back. I just stared at him, he said sorry. Sigh.

So I went in to town where the farmer’s market was, walked up and down the two rows, then sat on a bench, grabbed my knitting and called my friend who I knew was up. She pointed out how as annoying as it is, at least they don’t just let anyone into a gated community, which would defeat the purpose of the concept, wouldn’t it. Yeah, yeah, but why did I have to get the new guy today? The others have always let me in.

And really, it wasn’t so bad, I had a shady bench and good weather, no water though, and the company of a friend on the phone. I relaxed for awhile and was happy because it is all about adapting.

40 minutes later, mom called to say she was in her apartment and talked to security. So my trip was 7 hours this time. Hope the trip home is smoother.

Not Without Me Again

Ha! She only thinks she is leaving me again to go visit her mom.

National Watermelon Day!

What a most excellent day. Too bad they didn't coordinate this day with National Night Out. Did anyone do that last night? I didn't but then I don't usually participate in neighborhood events, although I will go watch the neighborhood parade on the 4th of July.

And why would you plan a block party event like this without making it something like the first Saturday or Sunday in August instead of a specific day? The idea is good, but a heck of a lot of people work and aren't likely to take time off early from work (or at all) just to attend a block party. Are they?

Last night I went apartment shopping with TinkerSon. It was a quite nice place, sales pitch wasn't too heavy, but a little, although the woman was nice enough. He has been tasked with looking at the apartments, because prospective roommate works crazy hours, and then will be gone this weekend. So RM is finding places and TinkerSon is checking them out. I did metion that RM is going to have to come see before signing the lease. Part of me wants to point out that he has been asked to vacate his current premises by August 31st. That doesn't leave him a lot of time to find a place and get moved. And TinkerSon can be nice to a fault sometimes. Other times I definately see where he got the worst traits of both his dad and me.

Oh yeah, then TinkerSon said, if his current landlord won't let him stay for a few extra days until we can move, can he stay here?

sure.

Ten on Tuesday

Carole's pick for the week is romantic comedies. I don't think I have ten, but here goes, in no particular order:

Philadelphia Story
Princess Bride
Under the Tuscan Sun
Mamma Mia
Sabrina - both of them
Hello Doly
Kiss Me Goodbye
Singing in the Rain
Bringing Up Baby
Shrek

The Roommate

There is a couple, we will call them Fred and Ethyl. They are friends with TinkerDaughter and TinkerSon. In fact Fred and TinkerSon went to school together. Fred is a wonderful young man. He still has that boyish smile and endearing charm of a 16 year old con artist. And I say that in the most loving of ways. Ethyl on the other hand is more like Miss Hannagan and Cruella Deville. A most difficult and obnoxious woman. The first time we met her, in my own home, she insulted MrTinkerPro and then got attitude. No. Not invited back.

Then there is Fritz. Fritz rents a room from Fred and Ethyl. Fritz is a nice young man, seems to always be clean and tidy. Of course I like him because a few weeks ago, when I got out of bed at 2 am to collect him and TinkerSon after they had been enjoying a party and didn’t think driving home was a spectacular idea. My kid. At least he could think. Fritz bought me a box of chocolate as a thank you. Touched me it did. The box went straight to my arse, but that’s another story altogether.

Recently there has been tension on the Mertz’ home. Ethyl has decided she really doesn’t care for Fritz. Mostly I suspect because Fritz reminds her that he rented a room and his obligation is to keep it tidy, not mess up the common areas and not eat her food. He has done those things as required. He also tells Ethyl to take a flying leap on a regular basis because he won’t jump when she tells him to. Apparently Friday night she decided that Fritz needs to go. So this morning she told him he has 30 days to get out. I didn’t inquire as to if she was giving the security deposit back and I would assume that he will, especially since it is her idea that he leave. He isn’t that upset about it, he has been wondering how to get out of the lease anyway.

So TinkerSon and Fritz have decided that they can afford a place together. Between the two of them they have two televisions, two beds two lap tops, 3 vehicles and clothing. TinkerSon said they would take the furniture in the playroom since I’ve been wanting to get rid of it. Play room furniture that came from Japan 55 years ago, it has been in almost everyone’s first home as “starter” furniture three generations now. It really needs to retire. I offered the table in my knitting room since it is an old kitchen table, they can get chairs from salvation army. I don’t know what they will do for kitchen stuff, that they will have to figure out themselves. TinkerDaughter has a microwave she might let them borrow.

MrTinkerPro has been wanting TinkerSon to move for about a year. Says it’s time. I always stall about it. He is handy to have around because he is tall and strong. On the other hand, I never sleep well when he goes out until he comes home, he doesn’t pick up after himself well, and he eats a lot. Which is why I hesitate to tell him to get out, I know what his grocery bill will be like. On the other hand, I could re-do the house and get new furniture and re-paint and reclaim my house.

The boys were in the basement tonight making plans, looking at possible apartments on line, making appointments to visit them. The horrible, wicked, awful though crossed my mind. Why not just rent a room to Fritz?

I’m sick.

Another Project Finished (Finally)

If you're like me, you start a bascillion projects and they are all in various stages of completion and as soon as you finish one, you start another.

Two (2) years ago I wanted a skirting table. 18 months ago I got all the supplies for said skirting table. Finally, last Sunday I actually put all the supplies in one place and attached them to each other. For less than $20. I'm very pleased. Mr. Tinkerpro told me my original plan wa too big and how would I get it inside during the winter and when it rains? Only a man who wants to put car parts in the dining room would think of that. So while I pointed out that it woud have water on it periodically when I was cleaning fiber, he pointed out, yeah, but you don't have to leave it in the rain all the time, do you?

No, darling I don't.

Dork

I'm such a dork. I thought I'd been neglecting the blog over the past year or two that I started it. And I go months and/or weeks not writing, sometimes because the words just aren't there, sometimes because life is so hectic that I can't see past my own pile of what-not. But I just looked, I'm doing a little better than I thought. If I average out the two years we'll say I've had the blog, I've almost posted every other day. That's not too bad. It's more like every three days, but hey. Now, if I'd just set some sort of schedule and do it regularly - and remember to do it, then I'd maybe be on track for my goal of posting every day.

But then, sometimes my life is dull and I don't want to revisit the dullness. On the other hand, in May I bought 35 vehicles in less than a month. That was pretty cool, and heady and oh, I could just call Carly on speed dial and say "I need three more". Carly and I had a good thing going, I needed hybrids, and she got almost all of them. I needed some small SUV's and she found them. I needed pick-ups, she was on it. The flip side was, I didn't care what color, features, or options. I pretty much didn't care about anything other than they had engines and transmissions that worked (2011 so no brainer there) weren't damaged and since we were working on a state contract, the cost was minimal (all things considered - it was still a boat load of money).

Tomorrow will start the saga of distributing vehicles. oye!

Eye Candy Friday

Angel Falls Mist from Pickadilly Tea, Fredericksburg Va

National Strawberry Sundae Day

Go forth and celebrate!



http://www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1294

Happy Fourth of July!

In a very un-patriotic manner I am not attending any fireworks shows tonight, I didn’t host a huge back yard party and in fact, I went yarn shopping. I did attend the neighborhood parade, which was, once again, a success. Mostly because it is geared towards the kids in the neighborhood who get to walk, ride bikes or be pulled in wagons by their parents. I will probably look out the window tonight though when the neighbors put on a street show for the kiddies. Like we use to do. Four families, about 10 kids and hundreds of thousands of fireworks. In the street, every year we were raided by the cops. It was a blast!

I also met the new neighbors quite by accident. TinkerDaughter and I were following the parade because TinkerSon always drives the tractor (1957 International Harvester H Series) in the parade. The family in front of us said to each other, where are we going? I responded, to the park! They said we didn’t know, we just moved in. Oh! You’re my new neighbors. (I saw them moving in on Saturday). So then we introduced ourselves and TinkerSon and Mr. Tinkerpro came back up the street and we just blocked traffic and chattted. Because that is what a neighborhood is all about. You meet new people and block traffic on a lazy holiday.

Jack and Stanley are not enjoying the 4th of July.

Jack is annoyed because he can’t go out tonight.

Stanley just doesn’t like the noise

Tour de Fleece - Day 1

Spun remainder of green/teal Merino Distributed by Carolina Homespun that I’m sure I got at a fiber fair, but I can’t find the tag, and I don't remember which one, but most likely MDS&W or SAFF. Maybe 2-3 ounces, but I’ll weigh it after it comes on the nitty noddy.

Combined some seconds with some raw wool I got from Marie. The raw wool I washed and carded myself. Remains to be seen if there will be enough to get a chunky sweater out of it. And I’m not really happy with how it came off the drum carder, but will spin it up and then decide next course of action.

100% Merino (Rose Quartz) also distributed by Carolina Homespun, 4 oz Got almost half spun lace weight, will finish it tomorrow am and ply it.

Wood Pile

Wood Pile

No Wood Pile









Makes for a very happy Tinkerpro. And a huge shout out of thanks to the guy who came and took it all, pick-up truck load by load. It took him 6 days, and over the weekend TinkerSon and a few of his friends "played" in the wood pile and split the bigger pieces so Mr. Nice Man could get the last of it.

Of course, now thepoor little tree Mr. Tinkerpro and I have fought over for years needs to be removed because it didn't quite survive the removal of the big oak, and sun shock. And I now have a yard full of sawdust instead of gress, but it is better than the moss I had instead of grass.

I think when it is all said and done, and the yard is re-planted a gazebo will look just lovely out there.

Ten on Tuesday - Fourth of July!

Hmm, Carole's challenge, your ten favorite things about 4th of July.

1. My friend Anne's birthday. She was 8 before she realized that not everyone got fireworks on their birthday.

2. Cooking out. Except I like doing that all the time, and with a gas grill that is connected to my gas line in the house, I can grill in the snow if I so choose. And I did when we lost power this winter and I needed warm food & drinks. Was ever so glad I had kept the camping perculator

3. Fireworks. When the kids were little, three other neighbors showed up in our yard a dark with their fireworks too. It took hours to get them all done, and the last 5 years or so, it wasn't the Fourth of July if the police didn't raid our display. It was rather sad actually. But we had a blast anyway. But we knew we were a success!

4. The neighborhood parade. Full of kids, bikes, fire trucks, bands, and babies. To this day (30 years later) I hop the back fence, cut through the neighbor's yard and sit and watch the parade go by.

5. The concert on the Mall. I haven't been back since that stupid James Watts declared the Beach Boys weren't "patriotic" enough and couldn't participate in the Capitol Concert anymore. What a ya-hoo he was. It was great to go into DC in the afternoon, party and then watch the huge firework display on the Mall. TV isn't quite the same.

6. Potato and Macaroni salad. Staples of any picnic or festivity.

7. A day off to do nothing I don't want to do.

8. I get to wear my red white & blue star earrings, they scream 4th of July, and aren't really appropriate most days. But for a week I wear them!

9. The Flag. Usually some real estate company or some one will put flags at most people's driveways in the neighborhood. The streets are so fun to go down.

10. Our soldiers. TinkerBoy being my current favorite.

Wildlife

Saturday morning I scheduled all sorts of "me" time. Well, just a massae and a manicure, but TinkerSon was working and MrTinkerpro was suppose to go out of town for the day. My first stop of the morning was with Kathy, a most magnificent massage therapist. I've known her as a friend before she ever finished training, and was one of a group of five who encouraged her, once she got her license to give up cleaning houses and open her massage office. Full time. Just go for it! It took her awhile to let go of the house cleaning business. I understood. She had been cleaning houses for over 25 years, it was comfortable, and steady income. Massage therapy was a new venture and untested waters. Well, less than 10 years later, she has two offices, more clients than she can manage and a website.

While she was torturing me and working out sore muscles I didn't know were sore, we caught up on the kids and families and life. I asked her about fox in her neighborhood. She lives about 5 miles from me. Yep, she said they are everywhere. And they steal news papers. Huh? She said that there has been a problem in the neighborhood, and they though the delivery guy just wasn't doing his job until they kept seeing fox running down the street with the entire plastic bag with a paper in it.

So of course Sunday morning, I go outside rather late for me, 7:30 am to get my paper and what do I see? Walking up the sidewalk is a fox. With a paper in it's mouth. After making sure it wasn't MY paper, I just stood there with my hands on my hips staring it down. It stopped and stared back. So I said good morning. And then with some authority, Drop it. After all, that usually works with dogs.

Nope. No such luck so some poor neighbor was without their sunday morning paper. Evil Tinkerpro hoped it was the neighbor down the street she isn't too fond of.

Pretty soon the fox will be running for office in the county since they are catching up on their reading. They certainly can't do any worse than the yo yos that are currently running the government.

Progress

Two weeks ago, we had a tree taken down in the back yard. A big tree. We didn't have them haul the wood away because, well it was expensive and we were already paying a boatload to have it cut.

The picture doesn't do the pile quite justice. It starts about 1 foot away from the garage, and goes across the yard about 20 feet. In fact, when I think about it, it is a 20x20 pile of logs and sticks, that is piled about 2-3 feet high.

I advertised on craigslist free wood, because I wasn't paying to take it away. One guy has been working on this pile for the last three evenings, about two loads a day. He should be done tomorrow.

Time

For some reason, there just doesn't seem to be enough of it anymore. Or to be more accurate I'm not maximizing my time to the best of my ability.

Crazy Aunt Purl wrote about how people stuck in traffic couldn't wait 3 - 5 minutes to get past an accident and instead were involved in their own accident, which does truly delay you more. Traffic lights are the same way. While I get annoyed as the next person when I've pissed off the red light fairy and she makes me stop at EVERY STINKIN LIGHT between where I am and where I want to be, I remind myself that a red light is no more than 2 minutes. It's true. I've timmed it. Several times, different lights. So then I take a deep breath and remind myself two minutes. That isn't so bad.

Carole's Ten for Tuesday is books you would recommend to your friends. I don't have any. I haven't been reading lately and that is a shame because I love to read. I use to empty shelves at the library and read. I read while riding the bus to work, I read at lunch, on the bus home, and I would stay up half the night reading. When I was single, by Sunday afternoon my back and legs would ache. I'm so slow that it took me 6 months to realize that laying on the couch and reading all weekend was a great way to rest my mind, but my body was rebelling and I needed to get my fat ass off the sofa and move.

I keep counting down the days until July 1st. Work is crazy, the staff is crazy and we need to get through the year-end stuff. July first marks the new fiscal year, a fresh start. Now that I know what needs to be done at year-end next year I will truly do things differently. In the meantime I'm trying not to wish my days away. I realized that it is almost July. Today is the first day of summer. I don't want to have to think about fall and winter quite yet.

There things I want to accomplish this summer and I need it to last.

So, I'm slowing down, smelling the coffee (yummy) and not going to stress anymore. Stress is not something I usually do anyway. The work will be there tomorrow. The world won't tilt off it's axis. I won't get fired if something gets delayed. And the mafia isn't going to come after me if accounting doesn't get the invoice processed before next Monday.

Last week I walked around the lake on campus since I haven't been down there for awhile. The baby turtles were lined up on logs near the shore. So cute. Then I saw the biggest goldfish I'd ever seen. I swear it was a foot long.

Note to self: Go sit by the lake for 10 minutes every day for the next two weeks, enjoy the scenery.

How Many Days!

Exactly please, how many days does it take to move a one bedroom apartment? TinkerDaughter moved out of her large one bedroom apt. (the one with the dishwasher and washer/dryer) but in a neighborhood that went bad. Really bad. Into a half the size one bedroom, with no dishwasher or washer/dryer. It took three days to move her from big into storage room for most things and my house for her, some clothing and the cats. Three days. When we were having an early heat wave. And on a holiday weekend in which I had other plans.

Last Sunday, her brother and a friend moved all her furniture out of storage and into the new (smaller) apartment. I helped with my truck to move some boxes. Today she moved a load or two out of the house and the cats into said apartment. That leaves some small miscellaneous furniture and boxes in storage. Which she just called to ask if I will help move today. Before the storms come. After I spent all morning unpacking for her waiting for the cable guy (a long story for another day) and calming two unhappy kitties. But she got an opportunity to work this morning for triple pay, I told her she'd be a fool to turn it down when I could wait just as easily as she could

But, I want my knitting room back. Desparetly. Which is where 90% of her take to mom's stuff went. I couldn't even dig anything out. :(

This exercise better be worth a lot of calories is all I can say.

National Lobster Day

So, go free a lobster.

No I'm not a member of PETA and quite frankly think they are all looney, but I don't eat anything that lives in the ocean, so this is my way to celebrate a day.

Why isn't it a government holiday?

Moving Day

TinkerDaughter needed to get out of her apartment. She accomplished that painfully. Why she didn't connect the dots that if you are moving on a certain weekend, you actually need to pack your stuff up, I'm not sure. Nevertheless, all furniture and non-essential items were safely placed in storage and DD and crew moved home for a few weeks.

Last friday she got the keys to her new apartment. The one she had never seen before. She called in a panic because it was too small for all her stuff. Half the size of her old apartment. Not a problem I replied, you will de-clutter and just sell what won't fit. And donate some of your clothes. The ones that as you were packing kept saying "oh, I didn't know I had this".

This exercise is about saving money and revovering from some unwise decisions. And it is only for 365 days. The biggest problem was her bed. King size. And she dug her heels in and said no, she wasn't giving it up. So we agreed that the living room could become the bedroom, and the bedroom could become the large storage room/closet. She would treat her one bedroom as an efficiency. She is busy working full time, going to school and put the social life for the most part on hold. But she forgot to tell her brother who was moving the furniture. He set the bed up in the bedroom. I'm glad he forced the issue, it actually fit and there is about 3 feet on two walls leftover. So she got her dresser in there too.

We got risers for the bed so she could use the underneath space for more storage. She is a happy camper again, now she just needs to figure out where to put things. Oh and the bathroom is full size and pretty big for such a small apartment. THAT was a bonus. I had shown her some videos of people in NYC who live in 90 sq feet and one girl's bathroom was so small there wasn't room for her in it.

The kitchen is a galley kitchen, with an apartment size stove, regular size refrigerator, sink and about 18" of counter space. With her noew positive attitude (since the bed fit) she has some plans for shelves, and a drop down added "counter" her dad will put up for her. She will become very "continental" and shop for food a few times a week, seeing as how there aren't very many cabinets either. But there is room for her microwave and coffee maker (on top of the refrigerator) so all is not lost.

And there are only 362 days left.

Tree Day 2

Monday I came home to traumatized cats. There was a pile of wood in the back yard, there were strange guys in the yard all day. A lot of them, and noise. Oh the noise! I came home at lunch just to check on things, and while I was in the kitchen a limb dropped and hit the patio arbor, shook the entire house. That explained why I couldn’t find a cat. I think Stanley was in the basement under the work bench. We’re still not sure where Jack was.

Monday night after the workers left, I opened the door for the cats in case they wanted to go our. Jack walked toward the door, about a foot away, he stuck his nose out as far as it would go, and then backed up. Stanley didn’t get as close to the door as two feet. I felt bad, but what could I do. I knew if I made them stay outside during all this they would never come home.

When I left Tuesday morning for work, Jack was hiding in the knitting room, stanley was in the play room - not quite as bad as under the workbench, but rather below where the guys would be working.

Stanley

Jack

Tree being "pruned"

Tuesday night when I got home, and after the guys had left, Stanley came out of hiding and sat at the top of the steps. He was actually shaking. How often can you feel bad for upsetting your cat?

Busy

It has been a busy few weeks, which is no reason to neglect the blog, but there you go. TinkrArmySon was home for a few weeks, and then last week we finally found someone to take out a tree from the back yard. Not just any tree. A good 80' white oak that was too close to the house. We have talked about taking that tree out for most of the 27 years we have lived in this house. Now it is pushing at the wall in the basement so it was time.

First three estimates were anywhere from $4,700 to $5,500. No. The guys last fall who were working next door said $2,000. But they weren't able to prove they had insurance and I wasn't too sure about their skill. Sure my insurance would cover an accidental tree dropped on my house, but it wouldn't cover their life and limb. Two weeks ago, a friend had a tree removed and so I asked the guy to come estimate. First he said $3,800, we countered with $3,500. Then the dad, who actually does the climgbing - did I mention the entire thing had to be roped down? He countered with $3,750 after they looked at it for about 15 minutes. Done. They came back the next day to look again and sighed. We agreed to up it to $3,900. It is a BIG tree. Fully in bloom, not any dead branches. Tall. Did I mention it was tall? I haven't had sun in my back yard for over 20 years. I grow moss and ferns and hosta, no grass. No matter what. Even shady grass wouldn't grow.

First they were going to come Wednesday, then called because it was too hot. Yeah, 99 with 80 percent humidity is hot and I didn't want anyone in a tree with chain saws who might get sick from heat. So then they said Friday, fine. Then they called Friday and said a regular customer called and had a tree on their garage. I understood, that is more important. They promised Monday. I said fine. We're in no hurry just call the night before so we can move cars.

Monday when I left at 7:15 am, the house was serene, the cars were moved and I didn't see any tree guys. This was Jack and Stanley

Oh so happy in the yard, not a care in the world . . .

10 Ways to Beat Insomnia

I also have this problem from time to time. It seems to work in phases. One thing about me: when I am hungry or tired, I get cranky. Really cranky. Fortunately as I've gotten older I've learned to control the crank, or at least remove myself from others who may suffer from my mood..
Carole’s challenge this week, 10 things to help beat insomnia.

1. When I exercise regularly, and drink enough water I feel better.
When I feel better I sleep better, or at least am able to moderate
the “phases” better.

2. I’m hot a lot now. Except when I’m really cold, which is usually
only when the a/c is cranking at full blast. Can’t stand that
cold air blowing on my skin. But waking up in a full sweat is
pretty gross.

3. If I’m laying in bed trying to go back to sleep, I start counting
backward from 999. No images in my head, just counting. Some
nights I’ve been known to do it three times.

4. After the 3rd set of 999 and down, I just get up. There is some
truly bad tv on at that time of the morning. Especially since we
don’t have cable (or dish) tv and rely on rabbit ears and the whims
of public television. Lately though there have been some really
old (and bad) movies, or old StarTrek, and Sea Hunt with Lloyd
Bridges. I watch that and think it’s rather racy for it’s time.

5. I have turned my clock to face away from me, mostly because I’ve
read that the light isn’t good for sleep, but also then I’m not
tempted to look at the time and start obsessing about when I need
to get up and how much sleep I’m not getting.

6. Hot tea. Sometimes I’ll have a cup of hot mint tea, or cocoa
before bed. Especially on a cold evening.

7. I try to be off the computer for at least an hour before bed, but
that doesn’t always work, since I‘m in bed around 9 at night.
Yep, that’s me, Ms. Excitement. But I’m also up at 5 most every
morning. ‘Cept last Sunday I slept in until 6:15.

8. Get up and knit. Sometimes if it is close enough to get up time
anyway, I just start my day. Sometimes I’ll fall asleep in my
chair and hope I don’t oversleep.

9. Sometimes I am quite happily sleeping and get head butted by Jack.
He wants me to know he is curling up in my neck for his middle of
the night snooze. Like I wouldn’t know a 15 pound cat was curling
up in my neck? Oh, and when said cat head butts me, it is a good
thing my head is attached to my body otherwise I fear it would be
sent flying across the room like a playground ball

10. I haven’t tried Ambian yet. Guess no sleep isn’t enough of a
problem yet. My mom asked me about it once, said she is up in the
middle of the night a lot, or can’t fall asleep until midnight or
1 am. And she gets up at 7 every morning, has breakfast with her
friends at 8 and doesn’t want to give that up. I said if she wants
to sleep past 7 then go ahead, she’s 90 years old and is allowed.
Her theory is if she does it once, it will be easy to do again
and she doesn’t want to become one of those old women who stays
in bed all day. I was visiting and diagnosed her sleep problem.
She falls asleep sitting in her chair. A lot. So then she isn’t
tired at night. We “re-calculated” her internal clock and now
she is back to a “regular” sleep pattern. She just needed to
become more active during the day.

So, I guess I do have 10 things.

Five - Four - Three - Ten

Nope. Not random numbers. It has been a challenging week here at the Tinker house. TinkerArmyBoy came home for two weeks. That is always a lovely time he has a little down time, we all take randm days off work to spend one-on-one time with him, we do family stuff, and are sad when he leaves.

TinkerDaughter moved home for 3 weeks in between apartments. Her new apartment isn't "quite ready" yet. Hmmm, hope they get their act together. Most of her things are in storage, the rest are spread over the house.

That gives me the Five. Five adults in my house.

TinkerArmyBoy and TinkerSon shared a room growing up, but as childen moved in and out, rooms were shuffled. TinkerSon moved into TinkerDaughter's room when she moved out. Tinkerpro converter TinkerArmyBoys room into the guest room when he moved out, and turned the old guest room into TinkerWomanCave full of yarn, fiber, spinning wheels, sewing area, comfy knitting chair. That room now also has TinkerDaughter's fiber/yarn in it because it should not go into storage. If I get brave enough, I'll take a picture.

That is my Three. Three Bedrooms.

TinkerDaughter has two cats. Tinkerpro has two cats. They've not met yet. Poor Flynn has been hiding uner the dresser since he moved in.

That is my Four

Vehicles. TinkerDad has always had cars. The first car he ever bought sits in our driveway. When there were three teenagers living in the house we had so many vehciles, the insurance company gave us fleet rates. It was embarassing, but a good discount. I counted last night. I have ten cars and one motorcycle in my driveway/front of the house/ across the street.

Five Adults
Four Cats
Three Bedrooms
Ten Cars

Happy Birthday My Boys

TinkerArmyBoy is home for a visit. TinkerSon is most pleased to see his brother, although he'd probably cut his foot off before admitting it. Boys. They never change. Inseparable for the first few days, and we actually went almost 72 hours before the first real battle of wills. Arg. So they are off to the amusement park today - when there is a heat advisory out. Can't teach them anything.

Saturday night they chose to stay home and "bond"

Somehow I don't think watching tv, sitting on separate couches, on separate laptops is bonding, but then what do I know?



I use to refer to them in the plural as the boys. Never the twins. Didn't allow anyone to do that. As children wont to do, they grew up and moved on.

However, I found it most interesting that as adults now, they were VERY offended when they heard me say to their dad one day, "are the boys in or out?" And I was referring to the cats.

Yes Virginia, you can replace your sons with cats.

Natinal Cherry Dessert Day

Yesterday on Dr. Oz he was doing a show on what is good for you to eat to help with mood swings, etc. One of the new snacks on the "approved" list is dried tart cherries. Perfect choice for today's National Day, don't you think?

Off to the store . . . .

Ten on Tuesday

Today’s challenge is 10 catalogues you get and enjoy. I don’t get 10 catalogues. If this were knitting magazines I might stand a chance. Some over the years I gave up because I just wasn’t interested in the content, and some stopped coming because I didn’t buy enough stuff from that company. I get how it costs them money to print and mail. But I too like nothing better to sit on the porch with a cup of something and peruse through a catalog for an hour or so.

Catalogs I get now:
1. LL Bean
2. KnitPicks
3. Chicos

Catalogs I’m planning on checking out thanks to Carole:
4. Vermont Country Store
5. King Arthur Flour
6. Victorian Trading Co.

Catalogues that use to come twice a year:
7. Montgomery Wards
8. Sears

I don’t get Penzy’s catalog because they have a store near me and I can just pop over there, and I use to get some seed/flower catalogues but stopped because everything in my garden is just green once the iris finish blooming. What is in there now keeps coming back and doesn’t require any extra effort on my part. The best kind of plant.

Ladybug

I'm not a bug person, I'm perfectly happy for them to stay outside and not bother me. If they come into my house, they'd best hide. Last night TinkerSon1 came home for a visit. Hungry. At 10:00 p.m. So I offered him salad, which he said was great.

While I was washing the romaine I found a ladybug, she was stiff and I felt sorry for her being frozen to death like that. So I rinsed the leaf off and left her in the sink for later. Acout 15 minutes later she was crawling up my wall. Hmmm, guess hibernation was the name of the game. So I scooped her up and was walking to the door when TinkerSon2 saw her and said what's up. I told him I was freeing Ms. Ladybug and where I found her. You'd have thought I told him I put worms in the salad.

I then remembered Norma's blog post about the woman concerned about bugs in Norma's garden and how did she keep them off the salad.

People. Plants. Outside. Bugs. Fact. of. life.

Get over it and wash your greens well.

Still Here

Well, I'll admit that I don't pay much attention to the news. I don't check internet news often except when it screams at me, I don't have cable tv so I'm not "tuned in" 24/7 to some station, and while the free chanel will flash ticker things at the top or bottom if there is blizzard or tornado warning, I don't usually have the tv on. That being said, I haven't seen anything about millions of people finally meeting their maker today.

So, does that mean the weird preacher dude was wrong? Can't imagine that.

Did whoever you believe in decide no one is worthy?

Are we really already in hell and this is as bad as it gets until each individual person gets it right? (That's my personal belief)

Does Mother Earth really control our destiny? (another personal belief)

So, I guess really what happened is, that like the Y2K hysteria, someone, or several someone made a lot of money off people's vulnerability and sacredness. And will now spent the next few days justifying their actions.

What really is sad is that some people sold or gave away all their belongings. What is going to happen to them now? Is the whacko who started this going to take care of them? Nope, I'll bet not.