A good Weekend to Stay Inside

Which is exactly what I did yesterday.   Woke up to icy/snowy roads and yard.   Truck was covered and there was no place I had to be so desparetly that I wanted to clean it  off.    I tried to convince the cats that it  was too nasty to go out, but no, they of course know better.    After about 30 minutes I called out the back door and no one came running .   Hmmm.  Odd.   So I opened the front door and there was jack, pressed against the door so close he fell in when it opened.   I looked around and Stanley was about 20 feet away in the yard.    Apparently my conversation with him about ice, slick, furry feet and a hill did not register with him.  He had a horrid time getting up the slope to the door.   Of course, if he had gone toward the house, he could have walked where there was nothing, but no, he slowly made his way up, an about 4 feet from the sidewalk, he decided to leap for it.    Yeah.   Well, those feet slipped right out from under him as he jumped.   And still his weight didn't break the ice.    I did very well not to laugh at him because he looked worried, I also didn't go rescue him because is was in my socks.     Once he made it in, he didn't want to go out again.    Today is not an option, no sun, no warm, and it was flurrying a little while ago.

I came home from the market and noticed workers across the street at the house for rent.   It is nice, the former tenants moved out before christmas, the painters were there christmas week, the for rent sign was up before the 1st.   However, I am seriously wondering about the management company/landscapers.    I will be the first to admit that growing plants is not my forte in life.    I put things in the garden that I hope will come back the next year, and they must survive on their own.    I will water if we have a really dry summer (and I remember) but otherwise they are on their own.   And no house plants for me.   They commit suicide before coming ino the house, because they just somehow know that I will kill them anyway.   But back to the rental house.    I heard chainsaws and looked.   They are cutting down all the green boxwood bush things.   They have about 14 replacement plants lined up in the driveway in what looks to be 5 gallon buckets (maybe only 3 gallon).    They have leaf blowers pointed to the ice/snow as they are chain sawing down the old stuff.   

Even me, the non-gardener, knows that if you plant something in the frozen ground, and can they even dig a hole deep/wide enough, it probably isn't going to survive the rest of winter.   Especially given the fact that the front of that house gets no sun.   Ever.   I'll have to remember to take pictures when they are done.

Long Weekends

Ah, another three day weekend, just after being off for a little over a week during christmas.      That week was spent doing nothing but sleeping and drinking tea, mostly because I got sick although I did manage to get out a few times if even just for lunch, or in one case, breakfast, with a friend.  Little knitting got done, and what was done promptly was ripped back.    Six rows in, four rows out.   I finally put the stupid thing down and walked away.   

So my plan for this weekend was get some knitting done, make a few pots of soup to freeze and little else.   Good in theory execution wasn't as successful, and why did I expect anything different.   Haven't I learned yet?   Apparently not.  I did happily spnd most of the weekend at home, and I did get some knitting done, and not quite as much ripping out, but I didn't get the laundry room cleaned and organized.   I did spend about 30minutes in there but hardly made a dent.    I spent some time in one of the guestthrow it in there room, and you can at least see the floor, but the dust bunnies are still in residence.  

Then there was today.   The joke in my family is the number of vehicles that we own.   At one time, there were 10 and the insurance company gave us a fleet discount.    It is the way when you have teenagers, car enthuastists and they all own their own vehicles.   If they paid for them, and could afford the insurance and gas, who was I to argue?   TinkerHusband bought another "project" car in December.   I didn't fuss too much, he didn't pay much for it, and we discussed it first.   But I pointed out that he wasn't yet done with the current "project car" that is suppose to be mine when he is done.    "Almost done" he keeps saying.   Right.    Let me assure you, it is not.    So today he decided to take the new project car to the body shop because he doesn't want to do the work and it needs to be done now.    He didn't even make it out of the neighborhood before calling me to come pick him up.   Transmission blew.  Super.   So I took inventory.   My truck is not a happy camper and I talk nice to it every day hoping to get another year out of it.   If it goes then I have to decide on fixing it or replacing it.   And I don't have the time to look for another vehicle that will piss me off to have to buy.   There is no reason in my opinion for vehicles to cost what they do.   Then there is TinkerHusband's everyday car.   The one that is also old and it's usefulness is questionable.   That one will go straight to the junk yard when it leaves him.  There is the snow truck.   So named because it is super useful in the snow.   If it got more than 8 miles per gallon, I'd drive it more, but alas, it doesn't so I don't.   There is TinkerSon's car that he blew the rear out of last month.   That is sitting in the driveway waiting for him to save the money to get the parts to fix it, then there is the question of no room in the garage and we all know he isn't going to work outside when the high is in the 30s.   There is the semi-new car that I hate to drive mostly because of the terrible possibility of door nicks.   God forbid the car get parked where it might get dinged.   It doesn't go out in the rain either.   Worthless is what that one is, but TinkerHusband promised when his commuter car gives it up, he will drive it full time.   Then there is the first car TinkerHusband bought all by himself.  brand spankin new '68 RoadRunner.   At one time it was a thing of beauty, ran top speed, back in the day all the county cops knew the car.   Now it is sad and neglected, and parts to replace worn out - rusty pieces are just plain 'spensive.   Plus while it was great to drive when I was 20, now with no power steering, no power breaks and that huge hunk of metal, it is a little more difficult to drive than I care for.   TinkerHusband would sell it if the right offer came along, but the boys say no, don't sell.   By the time they can afford to fix it up, there will be nothing left to fix and no parts to be had.

I like my truck.  It sits up high, it is safe, it has 4 wheel drive for what little bad weather we get, and well, I like it.  It took a really hard hit a few years ago, hard enough to bend the frame, but we were fine, narry a problem.   A little body work and it is back to it's old self.   Well, it has extra "quirks" now and gets crank when someone else drives it and doesn't respect it's quirks, but I think that is what I like best.    The CD player gave it up last summer.   The tape deck doesn't work either, so it is just the radio and my ipod but tht's okay.    My actual commute to work is so short I could walk if I wanted to, it's only 3 miles and I suspect it wouldn't take much longer than it does to drive given the traffic situation.    Which is the other reason I haven't looked for a new vehicle too hard.   We have things to drive if it is raining/snowing and frankly, I could and should walk.

So what do you drive?

Exercise Goals

January seems to be the month where everyone sets lofty goals. Gyms and Fitness Centers round the world laugh at all the new clients who come in enthusiastic and with high hopes, only to crash and burn within a few weeks. Most having signed up for a long-term membership and now that is money down the drain. I wonder if those gyms ever call clients late February/early March to see where they are and ask if there is anything they can do to get that member back into the gym and maybe started again on the road in a more logical way.


My friend while not a gym rat, decided that this is the year. Life is on the upswing and the next obstacle is lack of exercise and proper eating. Then she mentioned she found myfitnesspal.com and had signed up and she thought it would be helpful to just track her food intake for a while so that when she met with her doctor later she could at least say these are the problems I’m having, this is what I’ve been eating and this is what I want to check out. Food diary. Yep, all the “experts” say that is the best way to track your calories in. Hmmm, I thought, that sounds familiar so after trying for about 10 minutes, I finally remembered my log in information for that site. It reminded me it had been 6 months since I’d last logged on. Yeah, don’t be a nag. So in solidarity with my friend, I said okay, I’ll do it too. Maybe if I’m actually doing it with someone, we friended each other so we see each other’s daily logs I will be motivated to do this more than a week. I’ve put my food info in ever night, and have been a little sad to see that I’ve gone over my calorie number for the day. But then I picked an arbitrary number and haven’t gone over by much. At this point we are still in the adjustment phase so I’m allowing myself wiggle room/learning curve space.

Last night, after only 4 days, the lightbulb went off in my head. I’m a little slow sometimes. But after catching up on my food diary entry, I put in my exercise entries for the past few days. I’ve been a little lax on the exercise too. Then I looked at the summary. Holy bat poop batman, it actually deducts from your total the calories you burned! So now it is telling me that while I may not be putting a ton of effort into my exercise, at least what little I’m doing is a visible positive result.

Maybe I’ll be able to keep this up more than 2 weeks after all . .

Eye Candy Friday

Chinese Zodiacs and Life

I got an excited email from a friend this morning declaring that she was born in the year of the Dragon. Hmmm, so wonder what that makes me?

Apparently the year of the Dog. Which isn’t nearly as cool as a dragon, but it will do. Then I started reading what it said, and wondered how the prophecy knew me so well in some cases and Not. At. All in others.

Strengths: One born in the year of the Dog has a straightforward character and loyal. Well, that would be me. No one who knows me is ever surprised by what comes out of my mouth.  And I am true to my friends.   They can te terribly stubborn with the right things. Yeah, well I’m pretty stubborn about wrong things too.

Weakness: Most women under this sign are appealing but lack stability. They can be cold emotionally and sometimes distant at parties. Well that would be because I rarely go to parties. They can find fault with many things and are noted for heir sharp tongues - see comment above about what comes out of my mouth. They are irritable and usually bothered by unwarranted anxiety. Yep, I have very little patience for undecided blithering simpering girls. I respectfully disagree with the lacking stability and no, I’m not cold emotionally, but then I don’t open my arms to every stranger I meet either. I am polite to people when I first meet them  and I try to keep a leash on my tongue for at least a few hours - apparently this makes me appear uninterested and cold. Meh. Many would be more dismayed if I just let it all blurt out.

So I shall do some research and see what is foretelling in 2012. On the other hand, maybe I don’t want to know.

Happy 2012

January 1, 2012 and the possibilities are endless.   I spent yesterday getting last minute things done, like laundry and such, because those things won't get done today.   Today is a day for doing what you plan to do for the rest of the year, and scrubbing toilets and washing clothes isn't on top of the  list.    Although ripping out 20 rows of a cable sweatervest wasn't exactly on my list either at 6 am, but there you go.   That is what I get for patting myself on the back and thinking I could  possibly be done with this by Monday night.   Nope.   And why did I forget life lines?   I know better than that.   oh well.   I will spin and knit today, eat the requisite black eyed peas that I'm putting in a soup.   I have swept the porch this morning already and we are good to go.  

Here is my last frivolous purchase of 2011 purchased from an antique store in Fredericksburg, where I met my sister of an end of the year tea luncheon.  And oh my that place is yummy!

I haven't mastered links yet, but we shall try.   www.pinkadillytea.com/
I was first there this summer with a group of knitters and while can't get there often, since it isn't in my town, but will definately make this a place to go to.    We also visited a new yarn shop that just opened up there.  Old Towne Yarnery.    Nice little shop, she has a nice stock started, and while I hadn't planned to buy anything.  Alas I did.   No shocker there really.    But I'm determined to knit down on my stash and spin up my fiber this first quarter.   But only so I can justify big purchases at Maryland Sheep & Wool in May.  

So today while at my wheel, I will reflect on things of importance, and yes, even some things that are not important and fling them.  Because I can.

Have a peaceful and blessed day.