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.

Dentist

I was at the dentist office today getting a cleaning. I'm a super whimp when it comes to the dentist, although since they now make me come every 3 months it isn't as traumatic as it use to be. Nitrous is a given and I'm thinking vallum would not be misplaced.

But today was one of those days where I was just done by 3pm. All I could think about was my feet hurt and a massage would be wonderful instead of a tooth cleaning at 5:00.

Lightbulb Moment! How cool would it be if when you were laying in that chair having them pick and poke at your teeth, you could also get a foot massage? I'd pay a LOT of money for that!

Have a good weekend, think I'll make an appointment for some reflexology.

The hygienist was not impressed with my insight.

And I'll be seeing the dentist in 2 weeks for those fillings that have failed :(

Three Things for Thursday

Okay Carole I'll Play.

Three Things About Television:
1. I watch NCIS faithfully. And Big Bang Theory. Sometimes NCIS LA. And
that is about it.
2. I use to watch Gilmore Girls with TinkerDaughter, faithfully every week.
I have all the seasons on DVD and watch them too.
3. I don't have cable tv or a dish. And I probably never will, I refuse
to pay for television, and I've not yet figured out those newfangled
things called hulu or ruku or whatever.

Three Things About Books:
1. I don't read as much as I use to, it makes me fall asleep.
2. I love my kindle. I have a lot of books yet to read on it, and a list
a mile lone of what I want when I get around to reading what is on it
now. And I don't like cooking or knitting books on it. I need to
touch those pages.
3. When the babies were little and I was nursing, it was stressed that
your baby needed to hear your voice. I read Nora Roberts books
out loud to them.

Three Things About my Hobbies:
1. I'm a slow knitter, and a little ADD so it is sometimes hard to sit
still for long periods of time.
2. I have unrealistic expectations about how much knitting I will get
done this summer (see ADD above). But they are, finish the red
sweater by the end of May. Start and finish the next sweater in
June and July. Start the Hannah Faulkenberg sweater August 1 and be
done by October 1, 2011.
3. If I'd sit still for a few hours, I'd get the rest of the sleeve
done and another sweater will be ready to put together.

What will tomorrow bring?

This Cracked Me Up

It takes 7 seconds for food to pass from mouth to stomach.
A human hair can hold 3kg.
The length of a penis is 3 x the length of the thumb.
The femur is as hard as concrete.
A woman's heart beats faster then a man's.
Women blink 2 x as much as men.
We use 300 muscles just to keep our balance when we stand.
A woman has read this entire ...post. The man is still looking at his thumb.


Okay, it's been a crazy busy week and I just can't concentrate. Maybe tomorrow.

Not Happy Camper

I told mom it was totally unfair that Jack got to post and I didn't. She said have at it. Today was the day she wanted to catch up on "stuff" she said, after she left me again all day yesterday. And she came home happy. What's that all about? So to teach her a lesson, I spent all morning outside sleeping under my iris plants. The hosta are huge and pretty soon I'll burrow a space under my favorite one but haven't decided which one yet. Jack takes the other side of the garden.

Everything was moving along just swimmingly this afternoon, TinkerDaughter came over to change her oil. She use to be my mommy, but she moved into an apartment and said it would be nice if she made me move from my nice big house, Jack (who sometimes I wish would move away) and then I'd be cooped up inside forever. I was glad she made that decision, and always like it when she comes over. She calls me her puddinpop. Just so she doesn't think that means she can stick me in the freezer we're good.

Then TinkerSon2 decided he'd clean the gutters before it rained again. He didn't check with me and worse he didn't warn me. Do you know what kind of crap comes out of the gutters and flies all over my garden? Do you know how loud the blower is? Do you know what kind of crap comes out the downspout which I sleep next to????????????????????????????

I am NOT a happy camper and plan to spend the rest of today inside. On mom's bed. I hope I have fleas.

Fitness Friday

Oops. Since I no longer have my personal trainer, I fell of the wagon. Big time. So today I will walk for a few hours to get back in the groove.

On the plus side, I've been a little more careful about my eating habits. I've given up cookies for breakfast which is a biggie, and I've also given up a candy bar in the afternoon. When I eat better for breakfast and lunch, I'm not hungy in the afternoon (there's a shocker huh?) and it just took me a couple of days to convince my brain that it wasn't really hungry. I don't usually drink soda anyway so the few that I might have in a one month period isn't missed, and I'm drinking a lot more water. I also decided to give up my glass of wine every night for the month of May. May might not have been the month to pick to go alcohol free, but I'm doing it. We shall see if the saved calories are really countable.

Off to get ready for my walk. Wonder how far I'll make it.

The Knitting Room

Jack here,

Mom has a knitting room. It is a work in progress and maybe one day she'll post finished pictures. She took furniture from various places and it is a cozy room, it use to be the guest room.

Here's my window. I have to share it with Stanley, but that's okay, it is almost 4 feet wide, the sill is 9" which is just barely wide enough for my fat butt mom says. Now that it is spring, the gardens are in full bloom so I can't see the street as well, but it makes a great place to hide. Except that the orange cat tried to get in last night and really pissed dad off.

This is mom's chair. It is big and she has a cozy blanket on it because she hates the leather. She said in the winter it is always cold and in the summer when she dares to wear shorts, her legs stick to it. I use to lay on the back of it when she was knitting, and when she wasn't in it, I would sleep in the comfy blanket.

But then I decided that the mohair and other yummy yarns were calling to me. She found hanks and balls of yarn in varius places in th house. I didn't usualy hurt the yarn, but I did enjoy it's company. So then she started closing the door. I could only get in the room when she was in there. Stanley was pissed. Yelled at me that I had ruined a good thing for the both of us. He liked sleeping on top of the closet because he could look out the window but not really be seen. He's a big scaredy cat. I went to a 12 step program for yarn and mom said I was doing better, and she would leave the door open more often because she said I looked cute sleeping in her chair. And if she left a knitting project in it, I didn't touch it. Yea Me!

Then two days ago she found it. On the chair. It took her a day to figure it out (sometimes she's slow). Bunny fur. I didn't hurt it, I swear! But it was there, in the bag with her extra bobbins and some silk hankies. And really. I didn't touch those so I don't know what she's all bent out of shape about. I just wanted a litle to sleep with. It's so soft! And yeah, it was at the bottom of the bag, but I'm a cat. Bags are our speciality.

So now the door is closed again.

Happy Mother's Day

Maryland Sheep & Wool

Every year for about the past 5 years TinkerDaughter and I have gone to MDS&W. Some years my sister goes with us like she did this year, sometimes it is just the two of us.

We decided early on that there were only a few vendors we wanted to visit, neither one of us NEEDS yarn, or roving, but you never know what might be new. I wanted to replace my spindle if I could since I've lost mine somewhere. That doesn't please me let me tell you. I also wanted to look at wheels I could travel with. I have an Ashford Traveler, which despite the name, doesn't travel easy. I looked at the louet, and the new one that puts the wheel between your feet, and another little one. Then I saw it. At The Merlin Tree booth. A kiwi. The wheel had been painted teal. It spoke to me. It is mine and writing that check still doesn't hurt.

Fitness Friday

I don't have my own personal trainer anymore. Semester is over. That means that I am not accountable to anyone on Friday on how much I worked out in the past week, and to make me work hard and sweat for awhile on Friday afternoons. So, I did little this week. I did adjust my diet some, and decided when I finished the open bottle of wine the other day, that I would not have wine this month. This month only. because I know that while red wine is good for you, it is also full of calories. And I also know that I pulled out my warm weather clothes, and the pants, they be a little . . . snug.

So while I didn't work out as much as I should have in the past week. I've mostly gotten over the habit of an afternoon snack, even when I wasn't hungry, I'm eating a better breakfastwhich makes me not want to snack in the morning. So all in all, it was a good week.

Oh, and the semester is done. I took my final on Wednesday and and now tkaing a break until the fall semester.

Finals

Done with school for time being. Will probably sign up for fall class after nice long summer break. WHich really isn't a break because I do work at the school, and since I really have nothing to do with the students but everything to do will keeping the campus running, cleaning, maintenance, etc. we don't get much of a break. Well except with less students and staff, I can usually get a parking place closer to my buiding. Except I've been trying to park at the other end of campus to force myself to walk more. GOTTA get with the program, my summer clothes are a little tight and since they were new last year I'm NOT replacing them.

Here is keeping my fingers crossed that I did well on test last night. I think I did, which is usually a sign that I didn't. But maybe.

The Spring of Nature

I wrote a week or two ago about the fox in the back yard. I said it was big. I told my sister it was big, I told people at work it was big, I told Mr. Tinkerpro it was big. He saw it later in the day and agreed. It was big. No one believed me. They said that I must be mistaken, fox don't get big. Nope, I know what I saw, we were about 10 feet from each other. We looked into each others eyes. He was big, deep red and VERY healthy looking.

Sunday TinkerSon2 was sitting at the diningroom table and heard a noise so turned around. Stanley was on the porch and so was the fox. He ran out the door, Stanley ran in and the fox ran around front. So I went out front to see, and it wasn't the same fox. This one is smaller. Pretty and healthy looking too, but smaller. So is that why the howling at night has stopped? Has Mr. Fox found a mate? Am I going to have little baby foxes running around the yard? That would be kinda cool.

Today on my way to work trying to get out of my neighborhood I saw a woodpecker. Down low on the truck of a tree in someone's front yard, not worrying about traffic. I love woodpeckers (except when they're pecking on my house).

THEN I was walking through the warehouse and the supervisor told me to come see something. We have several large delivery trucks, in the wheelwell in front, near a filter, a robin has built her nest, and I'm pretty sure she's sitting on eggs because she didn't move when we got close to look. The Super said that they took the truck to Loudoun and back and she was still there. That's about an hour drive each way. He said that there is another nexting bird in the other truck that just left for another campus. So called wildlife rescue to find out what to do. I'm not necessarily a bird lover, but I hate for cruel/bad things to happen to most animals. Crows and Geese deserve whatever they get. The rescue guy said to move the next if the eggs haven't hatched. Ms. Robin will either go sit on them wherever we move it, or she'll build another one and lay more eggs. If they hatch before we move it, I'm to call him back so he can tell me where a rescue person is who will take the babies.

So I left a message for the Super, told him to be sure and take care of this tomorrow first thing. I'd rather the eggs get abandoned than have to deal with baby birds, and letting two work trucks sit until they fly away isn't an option.

Wonder what tomorrow will bring.

I hope it is the internet. We lost internet at work for two days last week, today it went out around 10:30 and wasn't back when I left at 5:00 at this rate, all my filing will be caught up and I'll have labels on everything in sight.

Drivers

It is always a challenge to drive in my neck of the woods. So much traffic, we are on the 95 corridor between Main and Florida, there is construction - always. There are idiot drivers. Some who hug the left lane going below the posted speed limit, some who think they are on the Indy track. I got rid of my sports car and bought a truck for that very reason. Not economical in the gas area, but at least I know I will be safer. As proven by the accident I had almost exactly one year ago when some stupid woman rear ended me - on the interstate - I was stopped as was the rest of the traffic, she had maybe slowed down to 55. My poor truck took a beating, but TinkerDaughter and I were fine, and we fixed the truck (kinda).

Yesterday the family was out on a chore. Unfortunately the four people in my family were all in separate vehicles - hated chore cleaning out a house. I left first, TinkerBoy2 was behind me, TinkerDaughter behind him and then Mr. Tinkerpro and his brother (also in separate vehicles) were a few minutes behind us.

TinkerSon2, being of the Indy frame of mind passed me on the highway. I was doing a sedate 55 because I wasn't in a hurry, he apparently was. I crested a hill and saw brake lights coming on fast and furious, so was able to slow down, then I saw on the right, a small SUV with it's nose into the guard rail so that it's back end was in the far right lane just a tad. There was a truck already pulled over before it, there was a new audi right past it pulled over and then TinkerBoy2 was pulled over next.
So of course not thinking, I pulled right over as well, and before I could get out of my truck, TinkerDaughter is stopping in front of me.

TinkerBoy2 is now looking under the SUV that wrecked, and after ascertaining that my boy was fine (of course he was said he only saw it didn't get hit) I went to check on the driver. A woman who was laughing pretty hard and her poor 12 yearoldish daughter crying. I asked the driver if she was okay and her poor daughter if she was hurt? Nope, scared the piss out of them, but they were fine, they declined my offer of water, but then I saw a construction worker bringing them bottles. After asking TinkerBoy2 if he really was fine, because you know your kids will lie to you if they think they are "protecting" you from something, TinkerDaughter and I took off. My phone was rining off the hook. Mr. Tinkerpro saw us all pulled over but he was in the far left lane and couldn't get over safely, so he was on the next exit and turning around. I assured him all was well, we were all on our way home. He said later, that he had to drive by the scene, and in the maybe 5 minutes from the time I left to the time he went by, there were 2 cops, 3 fire trucks and a fourth was coming he could see from rearview mirror. Glad they got there fast, that isn't a situation I'd want to be in for sure.

At home, come to find out, TinkerBoy2 was in 3rd lane, new audi was in 2nd lane and SUV was in far left lane, TinkerBoy2 said he heard the tire of SUV pop and she immediately startes swerving, so he hit the brakes, and now understands what it means when you put both feet on the brake, hold it to the floor, lock your brakes and pray. He drives a big, heavy truck. Short stops are not really on the agenda. He started to swerve to the right but then saw the audi, so prayed. SUV apparently spun in two complete circles before ending up where she did. He is sure that his driving skills (see indy wannabe reference above) and that as the SUV was spinning he could see the driver with her arms locked against the wheel and she was screaming. He said the whole think went in slow motion. I told him I'd be screaming too. It is very fortunte that she didn't hit anyone or flip over.

I sure hope May is calmer.