far from serene

my new solar powered garden buddha
from qvc (shut up)

I want to be all glowing and calm and serene and breathing and shit.

I am not.

On the surface things are doing pretty okay, I guess. I mean, I have a mountain of laundry and way too many dirty dishes stacked up, but that happens. Not unique. And I'm doing laundry and washing dishes and still finding a little time for myself. So life isn't all that bad.

I dunno.

I think I am getting anxious about getting ready to go on tour...maybe?? I'm not so nervous about being on tour, but it feels like there are a lot of things I need to tend to now in order to be able to be gone for two weeks. The to-do list is big again. Maybe that's it.....??

I think there is something else going on with me though. It has something to do with feeling less supported by people...maybe?? Like, when I need something, I feel like I have less and less people I can go to...?? People are too busy, people are aging, people are away, people are dying.

I don't know. I think in a way I just feel "less supported". Like there is less of a foundation of support underneath me...not that the actual people in my life aren't "in support of me," if that makes any sense at all. The people are they, and they love me and support me, it just feels like I have less places to go when I need help, or advice, or to talk, or to get a hug.

I guess it just feels like it is all shifting, and things (including people, but not just people) I could count on to always be there as a source of comfort....they're just not always there anymore. Or if they are, they aren't functioning in a supportive capacity anymore. And I haven't backfilled with a replacement.

Ooooohhhh, I am babbling!! This is what happens close to midnight over here these days. Hahahahaha.
Sorry.
And thanks for listening.
I'm going to publish this right now, because if I go back to edit it, I will probably erase the whole damned thing.
Please pardon if it is disjointed. Like my brain ;-)

snaps on.....

....Sunday?

Sure. Why not.

I skipped it yesterday and brought you the video instead, and this whole weekend has been a bit chaotic (understatement!!!). In fact, I think I need to go do some deep breathing into a paper bag or something.

So here you go:



That is the sun, all dim and red due to the plethora of fires in California right now.

Maybe I need an oxygen mask instead of a paper bag?

snaps on saturday

...is being replaced today by a YouTube clip.

(and I highly recommend the creator's note to "watch in high quality" if you are able to....which you would do by clicking this link, and then clicking on the "high quality" button below the video)



Dance everywhere :-)

(thank you, KarenTheDancingLurker for the link! made me smile)

barely

It's 11:28pm and I am squeeeeeching in post (yay blog365 *sigh*).

I would like to be writing about something else, but I had rehearsals all day long for the upcoming Los Angeles tour, and the bulk of my evening was spent dealing with a child (ok, my child) who was complaining that I have ruined his life by making him an only child and that he never has anyone to play with and how come I never ever play with him.

*sigh*

Sometimes parenting can be so much fun.

Whee.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I did at least catch up on commenting back on everyone's comments. If you asked me something, the answer is sure to be there ;-)

things around my house thursday, 21 and 22 of 52

Still examining the things on my walls, we are.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Things Around My House #21)

Well, last week I made mention of the Albatross Pub in Berkeley. Lovely place if you have never been, kids. Old fashioned pop-corn cart, darts, pool tables, board games, and a weekly trivia contest. Woohoo!

Anyhow, one night I was in there with TheMostImportantGuy, and while we were imbibing, I was checking out the current artwork hanging on the walls (it rotates, gallery style). There was this one image I just absolutely fell in love with. It was of a full moon with some bare branches around it.

Now, I've been TheAmpuT and this has been AmpuTeeHee ever since the beginning of this blog when I intended it only to be a place where I would record the host of stupidly funny things that happen due to missing an appendage (turns out the blog has been used for much more than that, and perhaps even hardly that). Anyhow, point is.....if you know me outside this blog, you'll know that my real user id's and emails and whatnot refer to me as MoonWoman. I have been MoonWoman for close to 20 years now, and there's a whole story behind it, but for the sake of this post, let's just say that I saw the art with the moon and it resonated so deeply with me that I wanted to buy it. But couldn't afford it.

I took the guys card, and held onto it for a long time. And then lost it in the move. I googled every whichaway come Sunday, and couldn't find the guy. I went back to the bar finally (this was months later, and the exhibit had come and gone), and all they could tell me was that they thought he was from Emeryville.

Took me another few weeks, but I finally found him. He is Stephen Lefkovits of Pacific Landscapes. Once I finally tracked him down, I got to meet with him at his gallery and have some tea. He is truly one fantastic photographer.

This is the image :



Now, when I first saw it, I couldn't tell if it was a painting or what. It has this really soft feel to it. But it turns out that it is a photograph that is printed onto wrapped canvas. It's called "Blue Puzzle".

This is where it lives:




It's over the alter-ish thing of many boxes in my bedroom, and I apologize for being to lazy to crop out my open closet and bathroom door. Duh.

Anyhow, here is the thing. This is the piece I first saw of his that I coveted enough to take a few months to track him down. It is NOT the first piece I bought from him, though. See, once I found his website, I fell in love with another piece, and I bought that one FIRST (and then went back for the one with the moon later).


(Things Around My House #22)
Here's what I purchased first:



Shut up. It's not what you think. IT IS SNOW. It's snow that has drifted over some rocks on a river in Yellowstone. It is called, "Snow Pillows III".

It lives on the opposing wall of the alter o' boxes, and it's pretty damn sexy having it in the boudoir, if ya' don't mind my sayin' so ;-)


I kinda just realized that from this angle it looks like either the flower is giving the buns a little slap and tickle....or if that aint it, perhaps maybe girls really do fart flower petals....hahahaha.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So that is this week's installment.
Although, hey---Mouse. Remember I told you one time that I was arranging my books on the bookshelf by color?? There it is up there!

what i'm listening to and thinking about

The last solo I choreographed was called "Another Version of The Truth". It's performed to two pieces of music, the first by TheMIG's band Scar Tissue, and the second song is how I came to the title of dance....fittingly.



(not to be all directive, but it's one of those pieces that really aint worth listening to unless you listen all the way through. imho. so listen, or skip it.)

I've been preparing to revisit the piece. I have a feeling that this piece somehow funnels into my next chunk of work. I feel like there is a trilogy developing and this is the seed.

Anyhow, at this stage, I'm doing a whole lot of thinking, feeling, and listening to the music in all sorts of settings just to see how it filters through me. It's part of my process.

I'm trying to see if there is a way I can get the video onto the blog one of these days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PS...I'd behind a few days on replying to comments. I plan to catch up tomorrow, and I reply to comments IN the comments. Sorry for the delay.

too much

Too much on my mind.
Way too much on my to do list.
Overwhelmed, mentally mostly.

I'm going to go knit.

meatcake.

I am sooooo going to miss George Carlin. A big part of my formative years was spent listening to "A Place For My Stuff". Even though he has acts more well known, that's the one that will always live on in my memory.


(as best I can remember**:)

Honey???? What is this in the fridge?
Well, what's it look like?!?!
Well, I don't know. It might be meat. Or maybe it's cake. I think it's.... meatcake!
Well, SMELL IT!!

Lacks everything without his delivery for sure, but let me tell you....I've had quite a few "meatcake moments" in my life, and I think of him every single time it happens.

Rest in Peace, dude.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Okay, I was a off a little bit...here's a link to a clip that includes the actual meatcake bit. Still makes me laugh out loud.

putz

...with a capital P. That would be me.

This evening was MyFavoriteKid's birthday party at the BouncyPlaceOfInsanity I spoke of earlier. And.....

I FORGOT MY CAMERA.

See, this is how it happened.

MyFK has been saving for almost a year now to buy himself a Wii, and when he finally had enough dough, we couldn't find any in stock within a 100 mile radius. I got a line through a Target employee that today was the day the truckload was coming in, but MyFK was with his dad this weekend for the time between the birthday dinner and the kids party, so I couldn't take him shopping.

So like a loving mommy I can occasionally be, I got up at the buttcrack of dawn to go score him one (well, it's not like I could see the dawn---you know that fire?? It had burned 3,000 acres by the buttcrack of dawn, so dawn was dim. My eyes have been burning all day. The valley is all brown and hazy).

Anyhow.

So there I was, in line outside of Target, waiting for them to open with a bunch of other folks that apparently also had been given told the same secret by the same blabbermouth, but they had plenty in stock, and I was lucky enough to score the kid his Wii.
packed
I brought it home, and TheMostImportantGuy plugged it all in and loaded it all up so it would be ready for MyFK to play when he arrived home after the birthday party at the BouncyPlace. Immediately upon hooking the thing up, TheMIG tested it out by playing Wii Tennis.
For an hour.
(probably more...he even had the Wii version of tennis elbow)
And TheMIG was cursing the whole time!! Which he never does (unlike me, who has lost almost $25 to our new super expensive household "swear jar", but that's a story for another day).

Anyhow, I found the whole Cursing-Wii-Tennis-Scene so hilarious that I pulled out my digital camera (out of the bag I had already packed to go to the party) so that I could shoot a video of TheMIG swingin' at a TV set and cursing like a sailor. Then I downloaded the video off the camera and onto the laptop, so the memory card would be clear for the party. And then I left the danged thing on the table next to the computer.

PUTZ.

Well, there was a liquor store around the corner from the bouncy place, so I bought a disposable camera, but DANG. MyFK will probably be a teenager by the time I finish off the roll and get it developed, if I know me.


Other than the camera mishap, it was a pretty decent party. Prior to today, every single time I have ever seen a bounce house anywhere, I have also seen a kid crying with a lump on his head, or a fat lip or something. I just sort of figured that today would be no different, and so I was prepared for the fact that someone was gonna be crying, but thankfully no one did. That fact alone made it a decent party.


There is one thing I couldn't figure out about the drill at the BouncyPlace, though. T

hey have the kids jump around like a bunch of crazies for an hour and twenty minutes, then they feed them, THEN they give them cake, and then the kids need to immediately vacate the premises so that the next group can come in.

So there the kids are, heading out the door, and that is exactly at the moment that the sugar kicks in. The kids are all caked-up and bouncing off the walls, which is how they should be BEFORE they go into the BouncyPlace, not AFTER. Instead, these frosting-tweaked kidlets are hooting and hollering, and sucking in helium and talking like Oopma Loompas, and trying to play with every dumb little thing in the goodie bags that the BouncyPlace passes out to the kids on their way out the door.

Great. So I get the kids in the car, and they are all wired up trying to play paddle ball from the backseat into the front windshield.
Thanks, BouncyPlace.
I appreciate that.



My apologies if this post doesn't make any sense. My eyes are stinging so bad from the smoke that I'm pretty much typing with my eyes closed.

PS (to TheMIG....get a load of THIS)

snaps on saturday

Went with TheMostImportantGuy to a brewpub we'd never tried before in downtown Napa.



Brought a little knitting.



Nice view of the Napa River.



Not the best photo, but the fish were "boiling" all over the place.



The fish were laughing at these two guys. They didn't catch a thing.



I had my money on her, but I didn't see her catch a thing either.



Service was stupid, the pizza was okay, but the Caeser with Meyer Lemon Dressing and Roasted Garlic was fantastic.



Then there was the not so good part of the view. Local wildfire. We have so many fires going in California right now, they all have names so we can tell them apart. This one is called "The Wildfire" though, because it's either near Wildfire road or canyon or something. It's hot and breezy here, and the terrain is difficult for the fire crews to access. Hope it gets put out soon.

whose birthday is it?

Well, it's MyFavoriteKid's!!
Today he turns 11 years old.
Tonight all the family is meeting at Benihana for dinner (MyFK's choice), and then on Sunday, he is having a party with all of his friends at PumpItUp (basically an entire building that packed with air filled jumping bounce houses...ie total insanity).

I am certainly not the first mom ever to state that when your kid celebrates a birthday, you somehow celebrate it yourself. I dont' usually feel that way though, but this year is the exception. I've been all trippin' down memory lane for two days now, and I'm not sure if it's because he's just matured so much this year, or if it's because he starts middle school in the fall, or if it's because his feet are now big enough to wear my shoes.

MyFK's shoes age 1, MyFK's shoes age 11
*sniff sniff*

Happy Birthday, Baby!
Sorry, dude....I know you aren't a baby, but you'll always be my baby....not much I can do about that ;-)

things around my house thursday, 19 & 20 of 52

Hey, look! I am catching up! (I should be on 25....I'm closing the gap here kids).

More about the art on my walls.

Things Around My House #19

After buying Jodi's piece (shown last week), I went on a roll a bought a few more things for the new home. This first one was bought even though I had no idea where it was going to go. I just totally fell in love with it.


It's a print from The Black Apple called "Corner Girl". I love her. It was hard to choose between this print and The Waiting print. I almost bought both, I love them so much. But if you put those two together, you get a deep look into my psyche, and....well....get outa my head ;-)


Things Around My House #20

I week or two after I moved into the new house, I had a little time to kill and that's when I ran into this next thing I have for walls. There is an awesome collectibles shop (for the locals, it's the little dive on San Pablo Ave in Berkeley right next door to the Albatross Pub). This place is a crazy collection of strangeness, and the owners are a hoot. You never know when it's going to be open because they just sorta show up when they feel like it.

Anyhow, I scored this:



It's the real thing. Very old. Very heavy. Tin, I guess? I bought it because the second I saw it, I knew right then and there that I was going to hang it with the Corner Girl print in my bright assed yeller laundry room.



Pretty cheery, eh?

I like it.

accessorize

My new favorite little bracelet:


Only problem is that it's made out of a material that does not breathe, which makes it behave like a pulse-warmer (a highly unnecessary thing in the 90 degree weather we're having here).
But I really like it.
So I wear it.
Then I got hot.
And not nice.
And have to leave.

drag.

Really big drag :-(

Cyd Charisse passed away today.



I always loved her with Fred, because....well...I adore Fred.



But I reallllly loved her as the Party Girl.

it's not that often that i love watching the local news....

...but tonight's 10pm edition has just been the best. It makes me even want to stay up to watch the 11pm show, too!

As of 5:01pm today here in California, there have been a whole mess of same sex marriages. Yay!!


(having already been married and unmarried once...for me, personally, I now I live in the camp with the people who say "screw marriage--it's only a piece of paper--and I don't need a paper to prove the bond of my relationship"....but hey, if I wanted that paper?? and I wasn't allowed to have it??!! I'd be pretty damn outraged! And I am outraged for those who do want it and haven't been allowed the right to have it).



Awwww...I love these two. This was the only ceremony held in San Francisco tonight. These lovely ladies have been together for 55 years.

I think 41 marriages were held inside Oakland's City Hall today, and look at this:


....only ONE lonely protester.
Now that's saying something.

And my favorite sign being waved in front of the San Francisco Court House tonight:


That would be a proposal to the (straight, last I heard) Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsome.

Teehee.

paid and forwarded!

Leave it to no-blog-rachel to up the ante on Pay It Forward:



An absolutely GORGEOUS lacy scarf made out of her own handspun!!



I love it so much!!! Totally my colors, totally my style, and totally something I will wear often and all the while remember how it became to come to me. Thank you, Rachel!! *mwah!* You raised the bar!


I've been working on gifts for my three recipients, but I'm keeping things under wraps so it's a surprise. The commitment is to have them all out within a year (end of November), but I'm hoping to have them done much earlier than that.

snaps on saturday

How to not behave like Yoko Ono when you're milling around the studio while the guys are making music (besides knitting, of course):



Whip out your camera, play with the zoom, and occupy yourself shooting photos of acoustic foam ;-)



Or other stuff...

things around my house thursday (on a friday), 18 of 52

Ok, here we go. Back to back "Things Around My House" posts, in an attempt to catch up. I'm still doing the "Art on My Walls" series.

Things Around My House Thursday (on a Friday), 18 of 52

this photo was taken Thanksgiving 2007
(the photos below were taken yesterday)

This piece of art has the distinction of being the first piece I ever purchased (at age 40--amazing, eh?) Every single thing hanging on my walls up to that point in my life was either given to me, or it was a framed greeting card (we talked about that here last week).


This was created by the one and only Jodi Green (her etsy shop can be found here). I fell in love with it the moment I saw it, but it took awhile for the stars to align before I could invest.

Here's Jodi's description:
On Returning, 2006
This hand-pulled print is one of an edition of four combining woodblock printing, digital printing, collage and ink drawing. It is printed without borders on Rives BFK rag paper and measures 13 x 18 inches, with rounded corners.

What I can tell you is that it feels like layer upon layer of stuff, and it has a texture to it. I just got sucked right into it whenever I look at it. When it came time to frame it, I found myself really intrigued with the small circles of old maps.

I wanted this piece to hang on the dining room wall, which is gigantic compared to the scale of the piece. I was determined to find a way to make it work on that wall though, because I love this piece, and I want to look at it often, and that wall is one that I look at all day, every day.


I see that wall from the kitchen when I cook or wash dishes, and I see it when I sit at the dining room table with my laptop (my favorite place to work). You can also see this wall from the living room and the front door of the house.

So to make it work on that wall, I made a gigantic frame for it.

I went to Ikea and bought a whole mess of inexpensive little wooden framed mirrors, and then I connected them all together on the back using mending plates. It's hard to see in the photo, but there is also a "mat" of crinkled Japanese paper in the center of the assembled frame.

Then what I did, was to make my own circles from maps, to tie in with the maps Jodi had on her piece. I cut out circles of places where important events in my life have taken place, and I added little sparkly doo-dads to mark where the important thing had happened. I put those randomly around inside the smaller frames.

where MyFavoriteKid was born

where I was when I fell in love with TheMostImportantGuy
and the location of the dance studio where I teach

where the accident happened
(my mom thinks that's kinda morbid, but the idea was to mark the places of life changing events, and that was definitely life changing....LOL)

I also have been meaning to add a circle of where I was born. I picked up a copy of the map (I was born in Hartford, CT), but I haven't cut out the circle yet.


I really love having something from Jodi in my home. I have always been a big fan of her work, and even though we haven't met in person, I sort of feel like I know her. Over the years we've exchanged a few packages, kept up with each other's blogs, chatted online, you know the drill....if you are reading this blog, you probably have a few friendships like this of your own.

I hope I get to meet her one day in person :-)
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things around my house thursday, 17 of 52

More from the "art on my walls" series, and I don't think I have it in me to double up today. the next couple of pieces I am going to be showing are important, and I don't want them to get all mushed up. They deserve separate entries. I might try to do a few more individual "things around my house" posts between now and next week, though. I would love to get caught up.

Things Around My House Thursday, 17 of 52



This is a painting done by a bellydance student and friend of mine, Metzalli. The longer I know her, the more I am blown away by her creativity. I keep finding out that she has more and more talents. She is a clothing designer, she paints, she dances and performs, she sings and plays guitar....and she does it all quite well, and in her own unique style. She is also making and selling these awesome handmade bags (and don't buy the one with the bunny ripping his heart out unless you are buying it for me...or I will have to hunt you down).

Anyhow, Metzi painted the piece you see above the night she heard about my big fat car accident (At least I think it was that same night. Not long thereafter, for sure). I can't remember her exact words (things were kind of a blur back in that first chunk of time when she gave it to me--my life was one giant pain-killer-o-rama), but I know that her painting this was important to her processing how she was feeling when she got the news. She gave it to me at some point thereafter, and I just adore it.

For a long time, it hung in one very very special room (one that very few people know about, and one that I've never written about here, but probably should at some point). It was a little artist's studio that I shared with TheMostImportantGuy when we first met. When we let the studio go, the painting came home with me and hung in the bedroom of my old house.

This painting means a lot to me for many reasons. I really feel love and warmth and healing when I look at it. I see strength and vulnerability and a connection with the earth. For a long time it was the first thing I saw upon rising in the morning. It has been a huge part of my processing the accident, as well.

The other reason this painting means so much to me, is that in admiring its colors, I gained the nerve to paint the walls of my new home.



My bedroom was completely designed around my learning to understand how these colors worked together to make me feel good. My bedroom has lots of dark brown wood, sky blue, purples and aubergines.

The painting hangs just to the right of the bed, above my nightstand. It hangs on the opposing wall from the entry way to the bedroom, so when you walk in the room (or pass by it), it is the first things you see (sorry I don't have a picture of where it hangs--I forgot to do that when it was daylight).

Anyhow, I love this painting, and it is one of my most cherishes possessions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I am exhausted.
It seems like I am always exhausted these days.
I feel like I have plenty to write about, but having so much to write about is exactly what makes it so I don't have time to write.
If that makes any sense. It's almost midnight, so it might not. I'm just home from dance class, and can't wait to crawl into bed. G'night.

no more teachers...no more books...

...plenty of dirty looks though. Hey, he's almost 11 now.

I love the pile of stuff that comes home on the last day of school. Each year I save the best of the best to go into a folder.

A story entitled: "Brittany Spears and The Three Ninjas"

A fully assembled book about
Christmas Monkeys (that came from outer space)

A memo from MyFavoriteKid to the Darth Vader
(subject: The dark side)

A certificate for being an honor roll student for the whole year.
(I'm so proud)

And last, but not least, a certificate showing that MyFK has completed elementary school and is being promoted to middle school (*sniff sniff*)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Sorry for the crappy photoshopping job to remove MyFK's personal info. He's a private kid, and I'm a hack.)

minimum daily bloggong requirement

I'm blogging to say I can't blog tonight.
Sometimes Blog365 just sucks.

~the need for sleep wins~

I ganked this awhile back over at Kerry's blog....




I'm surprised I didn't land in the elementary school category, to be honest with you.
I took the little quiz several weeks ago and filed it away in case I ever had a day where I needed some filler. A day like today.

Today has been allllllll about little irritants, mishaps, and misunderstandings.....and my being ill equipped to deal with any of them with any sort of pleasantry....because IT IS FRIGGIN' HOT HERE AND MY BRAIN HAS MELTED.

I swear to you that if it this hot here tomorrow, I am NOT going to be LittleMissEcoGranolaGirl about it and just sit here with my undies all sweated to my arse just so I can decrease my carbon footprint or whatever (hey--is mine less because I have only one foot, by the way???).

Tomorrow, if it is this hot?? I am going to stop being the sticky cranky barking kvetching lady that people cannot stand to be around, and I am TURNING ON THE AIR CONDITIONER.

Screw the power grid, and I will deal with the bill from the power company when it arrives. I think it's worth throwing a few extra bucks their way to keep the few friends I do have from running away as fast as they possibly can.

Dang, I'm tired!! I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night, and I had such a busy day today.

I woke up early and trekked into San Francisco for the first meet up of the San Francisco One Sock a Month Knit ALong group (ravelry link). The general gist of the group is that the members nominate and vote on a sock pattern that we will work on together over two months. Just my speed. Additionally, once a month there's a meet up scheduled in the city that also involves a trip to the yarn store together so we can pick up yarn for the project (or other things...you know how that goes!). People don't need to come to the meet ups to participate, but what a blast it was.

I'm so glad I went because I had almost talked myself out if of it the day before. It was pointed out to me that I was coming up with all sorts of excuses (thanks, Bon). It started off with my not being excited about the selected pattern (great pattern, I'm just not feeling the cabled look right now). I started to knit the cuff of the sock, and was having some problems. I could get gauge, but only with a needle that was making too dense of a sock. All the while I'm knitting, I'm letting my head spin about why heck I was joining a KAL just because I'm lonely.

The truth of the matter, is that I am lonely. I haven't been able to make it to a Stitch N Bitch since I moved last summer, and I just really miss hanging out with other knitters. A once a month meeting that has an online forum for staying connected is a perfect fit for my schedule right now.

Anyhow, we all met up at a cafe for an hour or so, and got to chat. It was great to meet some of the people that I'd seen on the bulletin boards. After a bit we all walked down to ImagiKnit to do some yarn shopping for the socks we are working on. It was a real treat to go their store (it's amazing) because I'd never been there before, even though I've shopped from them when they are at Stitches. It was a really good time be shopping in the company of a whole gaggle of other knitters.

As an even more special treat, my friend Carleigh came and met me there. We did a little shopping for some other wee projects (a little bird tells me this girl has baby items in her future--yay!). She just moved a few months ago, so we went back to her place to hang out, knit, visit, watch bellydance videos....such good company.

The drive home from her place was fantastic. I took the scenic route, and it was a stunning day and totally worth it. I cruised my old neighborhood from way back down near the beach. I haven't been through that area in awhile. Ocean Beach, Sutro Park and Baths, through the Presidio, over the Golden Gate. A lovely view of Mount Tamalpais. It was really lovely.

I sadly had to be back here at the home 'hood by 5pm for an emergency board meeting of the home association. That was not the fun way to cap off my day, but since I've been home I've been doing my best to erase it from my memory.


So that was my day. And now I am very tired, and wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Blog365. I can't believe I have made it this far. Getting close to half way done.
There's all sorts of editing and linking I should do to make this post complete, but I'm too pooped. Sorry if it is a mess. G'night.

snaps on saturday

Per John's request, a couple of shots of the garden. Not very good shots, though. Sorry. I took these first thing this morning before I was fully awake. By the time I remembered to take some more, it was night time.


This is one raised bed loaded with dark leafy greens that have just gone crazy in the last week. I have so much kale, chard, and mustard greens...I'm in heaven.


Here's a glance down the row into some of the other boxes. Corn is coming up, I saw some baby squash, some eggplants are beginning to form, the tomato plants are looking great (no fruit yet). I even have a few little strawberries here and there. I think the birds might be getting at them. I keep hearing loads of screeching outside, but I think they are fighting over the cherries.

I let the basil bolt (oops) but I'm working on it.
I love being able to pick my own parsley whenever I want it.
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MyFavoriteKid is off with his dad this weekend, and TheMostImportantGuy is off being a sound engineer for a band at a wedding. My parents came over for a bit today and we watched the horse races at Belmont.

I had the rest of the day to myself to knit, but I'm really cranky about everything I have on the needles right now. There is something wrong with each of them....too heavy/too hot to knit, too boring, don't like the pattern, don't like the yarn, etc etc. I spent all day picking things up and putting things back down again and getting very little accomplished. Just the cuff of a sock, and I got the cardigan off the needles and onto waste yarn so I could check the fit again.

I really need to find me a comfort knit.

like mother like dogdog

As a quick health update from yesterday, I was feeling better yesterday until about 2:30 in the afternoon. Then I started feeling warm again, then I started having stomach cramps, and then before I knew it, I ended up having to skip dance class last night because, well.....let's just say I wanted to stay close to the powder room ;-)
UGH.
I think today marks the last of it, though.
*crosses fingers*.
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Now for real news of the day.....
Like Mother Like DogDog

I'm sure you're going to say, "Yeah. Right." once I show you this photo, but I swear to you, I am not a drunk....


....even though I do live in the presence of one very well stocked Bar.

I do not drink that often. Seriously. But when I do, I-want-what-I-want-when-I -want-it, if ya' know what I mean (kinda like the rest of my life), and I like to be the kind of hostess that makes it so her guests can have the same satisfaction. I can pretty much cover all of your standard desires, and if your a bourbon fan....well, TheMostImportantGuy has you covered, because he's left a few mighty fine bottles of that here, too.

A few weeks ago, I had a serious craving for a White Russian. I wanted a cocktail, and I wanted dessert, and I wanted them in the same glass, damn it... but that is when I discovered that my bar was sorely lacking Kahlua. I grabbed a bottle when I was out shopping last week, and over the weekend I had me a couple. The Dude would have been proud.

The side door cabinets of TheBar, where I usually stash bottles that have been opened or need to be stored upright, were both full (yes, I did say one fully stocked Bar). The Kahlua has a screwtop, so I figured it was safe to stick the bottle into one of the horizontal slots meant for storing wine.

Well, last night, TheEx decided came over. See, he has every Thursday night with MyFavoriteKid normally, so that I can go teach dance class. Even though I was ill and skipped class, TheEx came up anyhow so they could still have their time together, and so I could also enjoy my time in the powder room. Kinda nice of him, actually.

TheEx brought dinner up for them, and they sat down together at the dining room table which is right next to TheBar. At one point I came out to get myself a glass of water, and all of the sudden I hear this "glug-glug-glug" noise. I start to yell out to TheEx and MyFk that someone has tipped over their cream soda, but both of their bottles are upright. I start getting nervous thinking that it's the plumbing from my bathroom (which is on the other side of the wall as TheBar) and since I had been spending so much time in there, but NOooooooo.........

I quickly come in closer to see that the Kahlua is glug-glug-glugging all over the floor. Lovely. Do y'all know just how sticky Kahlua is???!! Think maple syrup. Coffee flavored maple syrup, basically. Lovely.

The bar is on wheels, so TheEx and I start to roll it out of the way so we can clean up the mess, which has also flowed into several of the compartments filled with wine bottles. I say to him, "Dang! I wonder how this happened!!" as I'm making the 3rd pass over the floor (swiffer, not working...damp mop, not working...mop with pine sol, not working....).

TheEx looks me straight in the face and says, "I think the dog did it. I swear I saw him creeping around back there."

The dog. THE. DOG. Ummm, yeah. Sure. The dog opened up a screwtop bottle of Kahlua. RIGHT.
What an ass to even suggest that.

Well, after a bunch more cleaning, we roll the bar back into place and the boys go off to do their thing for the rest of the night so I can get back to my lovely evening in the powder room. Ten minutes later, I start hearing this strange noise coming from the bar again. I come out and there is THE DOG and he is licking THE BAR. I get a close look at his face, and that is when I see it is covered with dark brown coffee flavored syrupy sticky goodness.

That little tickturd had licked the sticky lid of the Kahlua until it spun right off the danged bottle!!!

TheEx could hardly contain himself. I thought he was going to split a gut laughing. He told me that second he heard the glug-glugging he had decided that if I hadn't been in the room the moment the bottle was glug-glugging, he might have just left it there and played stupid because he was so certain I'd never believe it was the dog (damn straight, I would NEVER have bought that line of crap---it's kinda like the proverbial "the dog ate my homework" thing, and I got enough of that while married to him, and I know way better than to buy into that b.s., and he knows I'm right LOL).

He and I were horrible romantic and domestic partners, but I'm glad to say we still like each other enough to get a laugh out of things like this.


It's funny, but the other day I caught the dog up on the coffee table slurping up the milk out of my cereal bowl, and now he's figured out how to open the Kahlua bottle.

Maybe I need to go hide the Vodka.

things around my house thursday, 15 & 16 of 52

Man, I really was sick yesterday! I ended up tossing my cookies around noon, and after that I had a low-grade fever (around 100) for the rest of the day. I'm feeling much better today, but a little run down still, a wee bit headache-y, and (all of the sudden) a bit queasy (probably because I tried to make another long to-do list today---duh).

Anyhow, here we are again, back to the "Art on My Walls" version of
Things Around My House Thursday 16 of 52

15 of 52


Now, this isn't presently hanging on my wall....and I'm not even sure I'd label it as "art" per se, because it's really just a greeting card that I fell in love with and so I framed it. The reason I'm making note of it at all, is because it is the image in my house that I have dragged around with me the longest. Seriously. It has been in every home I have lived in since probably around 1989. I don't know why it always seems to end up on a bathroom while, but that's fine. It means I get to see it frequently, especially since it is mostly the quote that resonates with me. In case it's not showing up well enough, it says,
"I think I am in this world to fine beauty..." --Louis L'Amour

I love the image, too---reminds me of backpacking, and being in Montana.


16 of 52


This is another greeting card turned framed "art" that I have drug around for awhile. Not quite so long, though....I am thinking maybe 1997. I'm not sure why I love it so much, but I do. It makes me very happy.


Anyhow, both of these things are in the master bath right now, propped up on the edge of the "garden tub" (sounds fancier than it really is), and sometimes there is a candle or a smudge stick or something next to it. Like here, from last week's pics, if you are dying to see it again.
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Next week we'll take a look at some of the "real" art stuff ;-)

ugh

Apparently my body knew what it was doing when it wanted to go to bed at 9:30. I woke up at 3:45am with a stomach ache, and was only able to doze in and out from that point on until the alarm went off.

It feels like maybe I ate something that mys tummy didn't agree with. Who knows. I up and functioning (barely), but I feel nauseous. I can't imagine I'd be writing much more than this today, so here ya' go.

At least I was productive yesterday.

responsible

Today I made a to-do list as long as my arm, and I completed all of it. It actually feels extremely satisfying to get some of those things crossed off (some had been there for weeks), but doing it all one day...?

I am toasted.

9:25pm, and I am crawling into bed.

a little knittin'

Elysian

Pattern found here. (do click and see the designer's photos--they are of much better quality than mine, and the yarn she used shows off the lace much better!)

Queue on Ravelry here.

Also noted on my Ravelry page, here.

Yarn: Rowan Kid Class, about 2/3 a skein, colorway: Nightly (midnight blue)
Needles: US 5, 7, & 8
Size: long
Started: May 27
Finished: May 29
Notes: This was a test knit for Susan, the designer. Great pattern. A great combination of quick, easy knitting, mixed with a bit of lace and the learning of a new technique (an awesome stretchy picot cast on).

I knit the long version of the gloves, but my row gauge was different so they came out a bit shorter, probably. I am pleased with the results, though. Adding another repeat after the wrist shaping would have been a simple fix if I had wanted to.

There are three versions of the picot bind off (depending on how big you’d like your “picots” to be) and I did the version that was right up the middle.

I am sure I will knit more of these as gifts and for myself. The Kid Classic feels great to wear, but it doesn’t provide quite enough stitch definition to see the lace, imho (it bloomed upon blocking). I’d probably try something a bit more tightly spun.

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I now officially have some sort of knitting itch. Like a psychological rash.

* I have the red Juliet cardigan on the needles, and am almost done, but feel driven to at least (as in, I really want to cast-on, dang it) just knit a swatch for another sweater.

* I am almost done with the first sock of a pair, but I also have a sock club knit along starting up this week where we will all be knitting the same pattern, and s that, I have another sock yarn club I just joined where the yarn is dyed to match movie themes (the first up is The Sound of Music).

* I also have a lace club I belong to that has a shawlette/scarf kit that should be arriving any day now

.........annnnnnnd..............
I want to do it all! Yet fear finishing nothing!
Oy!