my one liner

Committing to posting every day starts to get really stupid when you are too travel-weary to write anything of substance!

last night.

Just back at the hotel, it's 11:45 and MyFavoriteKid passed out within within two minutes of his head hitting the pillow. It's been a very long few days for him...and so exciting.  He has so much to talk about. What an experience!

I am actually going to miss cute little Riverside. It's an odd little place, the rock formations and all...I sort of feel like I am on the moon.  Downtown has been charming, and there was lots of really cool architecture here. I feel like I could have spent a bit more time rolling around here.

Sorry to have missed you, Pickyknitter.
Lorena....my sweet...I luvs you for vouching for me :-)  You're the best. Skype-y lunch date! Soon!!


Nighty-night, all. 
Tomorrow is a travel day. We go early in an attempt to beat the 106 degree heat through the mountain pass heading home.

a very thin post

I have a TON of stories and photos to share. I had a very adventurous day out on my own while the kid was in camp. But once again, we are just getting back to the hotel, it's 11:25, and we have to be up again at the buttcrack o' dawn.

I promise photo essays soon...but probably not until I get home.
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Personal note for Pickyknitter!!!!  If I truly am only 3 miles away from you, and if it doesn't freak you out too much to meet strange one legged knitters off the internet, let me say what said a few days ago:
contact me!!
Blogger is not providing me with your email addy, so you have to get in touch with me. 
RavelryID for a PM: AmpuTeeHee,
or email here through the blog at AmpuTeeHee{at}hotomail{dot}com

I'm only free tomorrow, Saturday, from 10am to 1pm (coffee! tea! plain ol water! knitting! visiting!).  After 1pm  I collect the kiddo and we head over to see the really big drum competition at MtSanAntonio College in Walnut (where I will be sitting all by myself...the kids are in a different section). 
Sunday we head home, but I could do coffee in the morning ;-)

scorcher

When I dropped MyFavoriteKid off at the snare drum camp this morning, the Blue Devils were practicing on the field.

It wasn't even the hottest part of the day and it was already 95 degrees.
When I went back to pick MyFavoriteKid up, they were still at it! 

A little breeze and 78 degrees.

I have lots more photos, but thanks to a freeway closure between the filed and our lovely hotel, it's 11:30pm and we have to be back there again at 10am, so I have to tuck in.

Tidbits for now. More soon, or it perhaps it will trickle in for a few days once I get home!

travel-ish

Hello! This post was written Wed Jun 26th (and therefore dated as such), but it didn't go live until the 27th. We're traveling, and I had issues with the hotel's wireless.  I finally figured out today that there is one more reason to be in love with my iPhone:  it's a mobile hotspot. Woot!  So here we are, connected again :-)

Today was a travel day. Something like an 8 hour drive, with the stop for lunch and all that. Only two hours into the trip and MyFavoriteKid was already whining, "are we there yet?"  (this behavior never ends, I guess).  We're staying down in the Riverside area for MyFavoriteKid's snare drum camp with the Blue Devils and we checked into our hotel room at about 4:30. 
Let me say a bit about our accommodations :-)  <---that cuz="" did="" i="" me="" s="" smilin="">goood
).  
The Blue Devils informed us with the registration packet that there was a hotel to be had a 1/2 mile away from the camp, and that they were getting a group reduced rate.  I immediately booked our room. That was a couple of months ago.

About a week or so ago, I started googl-ing and yelp-ing around to see what I could possibly do with myself for 12 hours a day while he is at this drum thing (it's not an overnighter camp, it's a "commuter" or day camp).  I put in the address of the group rate hotel, and then clicked for "nearby" things like food and entertainment.  Guess what.  A Carl's Jr, a plumbing supply store, and a strip club. (??!!)  Oy vey.  So then I searched for movie theaters. Nothin'.  Then shopping.  A K-Mart and a Walmart. Hrmph. 

Then I decided I better look at the reviews for this suggested hotel.   One guy wrote, "If I could give this place a zero, I would....but you have to give at least one star to be allowed to write a review. Trains ran right past the hotel every 30 minutes all night long, and people were partying in the hot tub until 7am."  There were a pile of reviews like that.

So I chose a different hotel.  Not at a group rate sadly, but hey. You get what you pay for, right?  I'm at the Hyatt Downtown Riverside, and it is lovely. Their internet has been crashing on and off, and they have apologized, but who cares!  The place is lovely, and quiet, clean...and I got a queen-gueen accessible room that has a little livingroom area to spread out into.  The hotel is absolutely packed with teenage girls right now, though...but it's cool (I think MyFK might even like it a little LOL).  It turns out that the girl/teen Nationals in Synchronized Swimming Finals are here in town. I actually might go check it out today!

So after we got settled into the room this afternoon, we went and checked out the 'hood. Lots of cute shops and restaurants for me to explore tomorrow! Several quirky antique-y looking shops, too. We ate dinner in the more casual bistro of the uber-fancy Mission Inn next door, and then after that we discovered THE (and I do mean THE, cupcake place).

Couldn't pass it up.  The place had won Cupcake Wars 2011!!  And I have to tell you. It was honest to goodness the best cupcake I have ever eaten.  It was something about the frosting.  It was like it had a little marshmallow mixed in or something. I don't know, but it was amazing.  Not overly sweet, just overly amazing.   I might have to try another flavor tomorrow. LOL



Okay, we're off to bed. Huge day tomorrow for MyFK, and who knows what's in store for me. Adventures!  They are calling for a heat wave down here for the next 72 hours (official alerts included), so whatever I do, I hope it will include air conditioning. Not so for MyFK though!  A good portion of his day will be spent out in the sun. Gah!  He'll probably be quite wilted by day's end.

and since i am packing...

...and cleaning...and doing laundry....
you get a guest blogger tonight!  TheMostImportantGuy!

(but before I turn it over to him:  Pickyknitter! I am staying IN Riverside!! Are you in Riverside?? If you are, send me a PM on Ravelry!!  I'm AmpuTeeHee on Rav, too! Wanna knit?? heehee!!)

Ok. Without further adieu....
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Well, a bit of adieu... Ms. AmpuTeeHee just started washing dishes and cut her finger on a cat food can lid. (Dry food's good enough!) Now it's wrapped up, and the adieu seems to be at a minimum. Speaking of dry food, I just bought 3 big bags (get 1 free!) for the feral / abandoned cats that have started showing up around TheNewDigs recently.  One in particular is really trying hard to get adopted by us (me). I think I'll be trying to capture her (or others) and get her checked / fixed at the vet soon. Stay tuned for more cat-related hijinks!

so much for packing

I didn't get quite as much done tonight as I had hoped, packing for the trip, that it is.

I got seriously sucked into a PBS/POV program called "Homegoing" about a Harlem funeral director, and it just hooked me right from the get go.

Between the work I do at convalescent hospitals, practicing at the zen center (and pondering impermanence), and some of the modern dance work I have done exploring death and what happens to the body when we go....well, watching this program just drew me right in.  I was so touched by this man, and families he has served, and the work he does.  Filmmaker gets my kudos.

I looks like you'll be able to stream it for a month or two (at the link above), and I hereby proclaim you should check it out ;-)

sunday sunday

Oops! This is going up late. Hung up in the system!



It's evolving.
 

 

The ceiling is up on the shower, and now the walls are going up, too.  I am so glad I sprung a little extra to put in a niche that has an arch, because it add so much character, and it matches the arch over the tub that is part of the original architecture. Squeeee!!   I am also so glad I punched out a big fat hole in the wall on the right there between the shower and the tub, because a glass block window is going there, and it is totally going to reduce the claustrophobia factor ten-fold.

*exhaaaaale* (not the same a *sigh*)
I am feeling a bit better about things.

Today was good. We woke early, had breakfast at the greasy spoon, and did a bunch of work around TheNewDiggs. Wiped up a layer of construction dust and did a little, but not enough, yard work, because it sprinkled a bit here today! Went back to YeOlHouse and took a bit of a rest (rest?!? what is rest??! hahaha) and then went over to Sandy's where she entertained us with a gourmet dinner!  Artisanal cheese and cracker board, our favorite beers (good eye!), zucchini soup with a red pepper coulis, a roasted vegetable tart, and the best lemon berry dessert thing I have ever eaten (gotta get that recipe).

She wouldn't let us lift a finger. I haven't sat back like that and been spoiled in ages, and it was the best time ever. We loved it. Thank you Sandy!! We even brought the dogs with us. A dry run for her watching them while we are out of town (fun for her, apparently...and cheaper than a kennel for me!).

So.

Yes.

Out of town.

The next two days are full of preparations to depart on Wednesday for Southern California, where MyFavoriteKid goes to Blue Devils Snare Drum Camp...a birthday gift to him from my folks. Woot!

Should be a really good time, actually. I have plans to do some exploring and some WholeLottaNothing while MyFK does three days of drumming.  

My only concern is trying to manage the renovations remotely that will still be going on for the 5 days I am gone (3 drumming, 2 traveling).  Hope I dont come back to a nightmare or nothing being done!

 

snaps on saturday

Ok, so now I am going to marching band competitions without MyFavoriteKid either in the band, or joining me in attendance. Today was a big competition at Stanford.  Being that it was MyFK's birthday weekend, when they went on sale (5 months early). I asked him if he might want to go as a birthday present and bring a friend or two.  He was so very excited, so I bought 4 tix. Then his father, TheEX (and this is why he is TheEx) bought tickets for a rock concert on the very same night, also thinking that MyFK might want to go.   MyFK had a big decision to make, and he opted for the rock concert (even though he committed to the marching band event months earlier), and I didn't feel like I could refuse, because it's his birthday (had it been other time, I'd have told his dad to go screw himself).  And here I was tonight with tickets (even though MyFK tried real hard to sell them off to drumline buddies).  So I went. TheMostImportantGuy came, too....and I sold the other 2 tickets at at deep discount at the gate.  And we actually had a great time.  I went as a Blue Devils fan, and they won by a couple of points tonight...but I have to say it: The Carolina Crown was so good my eyes tear up more than once. the audience went nuts over them, were on their feet several times throughout their show, and booed when they came in 2nd.  Me thinks the Blue Devils might have a run for the money this year as they work up towards finals!  Go Go Blue Devils!

this post is totally for my own entertainment

Now that demo is done, we've rounded a very important corner, and that is:

every day the bathroom looks a little bit more like a bathroom 

than it did the day before

16 years ago today...

...MyFavoriteKid made an entrance :-)
SIXTEEN YEARS AGO!  (gah! time! it flies!!)

He asked to bring 3 buddies to Waterworld, then back to our house for pizza and cake with family, then same buddies spend the night.

Mom got smart and sprung for a cabana for this one. Guaranteed good seating, shade, and it came with "room service" so they delivered our lunch (and mom's margarita..heh heh).

Friends!  MyFK 2nd from the right ;-)

I swear he really does look a year older today. 
(might be because he got a haircut yesterday though LOL)

Getting silly while waiting for all the family cameras to snap a pic.

And making some wishes. :-)

because it's prettier

Strange cloud pattern and a rainbow colored ring around the sun (taken yesterday).

Because it is prettier than my bathroom.

That wood is what was underneath a layer of circa 1932 tile, a good half inch of float, and two inches of a thick layer of gravel mixed with concrete.  In other words, there was a several hundred pound concrete sub-floor in my bathroom, and these old boards nailed in between the joists were holding the whole three inch thick floor up somehow. It showed no signs of wear (well, the tile was worn, but not what was underneath it). I guess they built them to last back then? Or at least it was built by someone who didn't put any foresight into what it would take to get it out??

A real subfloor goes in next week, and meanwhile TheTileGuy is starting to work on the waterproofing for the shower (orange stuff on the left, the shower pan and curb).

By the time this is done I will know way more about bathrooms than I ever wanted to. LOL

tides-a-turnin'

Nothing bad happened today. Actually, even a few good things happened today.
Annnnnd... I got so much stuff done, I sort of scared myself. 

(hyperbole and a half, I love you) 

 

 

 
 Stick a gold star on my forehead, will ya'??

a wee little shift

Fewer remarkably odd and craptastic things are happening.  (*raise the roof!*)

Now I'm just trying to play one heavy duty game of catch-up.  The list of things that need to get done is very very long, and the time available to get them done is shorter than the list. Today ran me ragged, and tomorrow will be no different.  One of the many things on tomorrow's list is to go pick up the tile order for TheTileGuy.  He made an offer that if I went to pick up the tile, he'd kick us his contractor discount. Sort of hard to refuse.

And I have already spent part of the savings on this:

Timing could not have been better....they emailed me a 20% off coupon yesterday :-)
See?  Things are lining up more positively again!


Lordy, I cannot wait to take my first soak in that tub!

like father like son

It's not "like father like son" in every way (and forgive me for being crappy and saying "thank goodness")....but they do indeed have music in common....

MyFavoriteKid on drums, his dad on bass guitar

...and that is good :-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Father's Day!

snaps on saturday

An evening at Blue Devils Family Night.  
WOW, they have an amazing show this year!!

i do realize there is such a thing as an internal battery, however...

...I still find that any device that an taunt me with it's evil blinking "eyes" while completely unplugged is...

...terrifying!!

(and curse you comcast for wasting so many  hours of time yesterday and still the problem is not completely resolved!! grrrrr!!!)

dear universe (it's me again)

Actually, I cannot bear to write another letter to The Universe.  How many have I already written here on the blog in the past few weeks?? Three? Four? 

Nothing has changed. Crazy bizarre things continue to happen to me. 

The new things on the list of strange things happening to me?? For just last night and today??
~ A cracked tooth. 
~ A huge problem with internet/phone service at YeOldHouse resulting in a preliminary four hours on the phone, a trip to the storefront for an exchange, another then another couple of hours on the phone, upon returning home....and it's still not fixed (I have internet again finally, but still no phone).
~ And the plumber working over at TheNewDiggs did something with the water main that ended up blowing out the last working toilet, and it was so strong it also blew out the city owned backflow thingamajiggy in the front yard, so water was squirting out in the yarn for hours and hours.



I am beginning to think that all of this might not be TheUniverse's doing.

I am beginning to think that I have pissed someone off, and that someone has made a little AmpuTeeHee voodoo doll and is throwing weird things at it (it=me).  I cant figure out how else I could possibly have this many odd things go wrong (what are we up to now, 12? 16? I have lost count) in what...4 weeks time?

Oddly enough, I am still laughing about it all. 

Except that my laughter is starting to turn into crazy giggly laughter. 
I heard it coming out of myself a couple of times today, and I did not even sound like myself, and I was strangely detached enough from myself that I was able to see myself and hear my own laughter as if I was one foot outside of my own body.
It sort of sounded like the like the maniacal laughter one might hear emanating from a padded room. 

Not good. 

remodeling makes me cranky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like, really really cranky!!!!!!

And grumpy, too!!

HRMPH!!

bucket o' bath

Say hello (wellll, perhaps goodbye??) to the old bathroom at TheNewDiggs.

This is about one-fifth of the debris piled up outside in the yard, and demolition still aint done yet. We're about a week in, and we're already several days behind schedule. 
Why??
Because we have epicamounts of tile, a 2" thick concrete sub-floor, a lead shower pan, and a few other surprises....and none of it is budging without a whole lotta muscle.

Circa 1932...built to last! 

 

its a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

 (this is in the neighborhood of YeOldHouse)

Ok, not want you want to see as you are rounding the corner heading for your house, right??? 
I tried to pretend the circus had come to town (because that's what I think the exterminator is trying to get me to believe), but I do not believe that is the case. ;-)

This house is up the road a spit (thank the lord it isn't right next door to me), but rumor has it that several houses in the area are showing signs of termite damage.

I heard this very same rumor from the building inspector I hired when I purchased the house, too. He saw no termite damage, but said there were issues with several houses in our little gated community of 120 units. 

And that is why I have taken preventative measures ever since I have lived here.  In fact, my termite guy was just here last week looking all over the ins and outs and underneaths of my house, and I still have no signs of termites. He did find a couple of spots near the foundation underneath the house that needed a spritz of something mold reducing (thanks gardener guy for directing that sprinkler for the hedges towards my foundation--duh!!), and there is some rotten trim near the exterior exhaust for the clothes dryer that needs replacing....but no sign of termites. Just termite food in the making, and I'm gettin' it outta here this week, baby!!
And FAST!
Because my life is already like a high wire act these days. 
The last thing I need is to be the ringmaster of my very own big-top!!

season finale....

...of Game Of Thrones.


Need I say more??



Nnnnnope.

snaps on saturday

(ps I'm kinda in love with my smartphone)

dear universe (take 3):

Dear Universe:

Okay. This is my last time asking you. After this, I am calling tech support.
If I can find the universal tech support. And they speak English. ;-)

Soooooooooo things have been happening in three's, and I am now very close to achieving three sets of three!! I should be close to reaching my quota, no??
Let us recap.

Set 1, exploding stuff:
~ exploding locking mechanism in the car (300 clams)
~ exploding cable pops off the pulley of the garage door (200 clams)
~ exploding dog buns, vet bill (500 clams)

Ohhhhh how I wish we paid for things with clams (and that I lived near a clam filled beach).
Who did that, anyhow? Was it Fred Flintstone?? Anyone? Bueller?

Set 2, broken stuff:
~ broken wheelchair (600 clams)
~ broken female plumbing issues and skin issues requiring medical visits, tests, medications (150 clams) <--------but i="" the="">good
news on that front is that the doc called this afternoon with the biopsy results (ie the plumbing report) and it's negative, and that is great news I'm happy to have paid for)~  broken house, as termite inspection reveals some preventative work that needs to be done at YeOldHouse (1000 clams)


As of today, we are now working on...
Set 3, a melange:
~ contractor at YeOldHouse discovers more dry rot today, increasing the amount of work to be done here by close to triple the original estimate. I got the bid, but I am not about to do that amount of clammin' without getting a second bid.
~ contractor at TheNewDiggs breaks the toilet today on Day 2 of the demo of the bathroom remodel. After promising me there would at least be a working toilet downstairs for all but one day of the reno. I'm not quite sure yet if/how that affects "the clam count", but at the very least it means I cannot go to the little girls room during this potentially 6-week renovation without being supervised up a flight of stairs and going up on crutches.  This may only be until the new toilet arrives...but I'm now totally scared to let the new toilet go in temporarily...and out for plumbing...and in again for me to be able to use it....and out again for tile installation...and in again (you get the idea). If I do that, there is potential for damage of the new toilet and I'd almost rather have an upstairs bathroom buddy than risk losing toilet #2. Because that would indeed cost clams.
~ and also today, well....this is not a surprise expense, but I just didn't have it on my radar, and it totally snuck up on me on the worst week possible.  The "doggie day care" passes have just run out, and renewing them is a whoooole lotta clams. I usually buy in bulk so that I get the discount. My dogs had better learn how to dig in the sand along with me looking for clams 'cuz we are gonna need to be clam farmers or they are gonna be looonely little pups.



Universe, I am counting this as 3x3=9.
Please stop the hemorrhaging. 
Or make it rain clams.
I'll even do a clammy rain dance.


It's Getting Very Hard To Take This With A Grain of Salt.
Ever Faithful ~
AmpuTeeHee

 

:-(

dear universe (let's try this again)

Dear Universe:

Let's try this again. Shall we??

About a week and a half ago, when I told you that was enough was enough, especially when it came to slashing my bank account an letting it bleed out, I really was not kidding.

I listed three costly things, and I didn't even bother listing all of the other crappy things that were happening that were affecting me negatively but didn't involve money.

It turns out, dear Universe, that you have made this week very costly, as well.  Over $700 in wheelchair repairs yesterday.  Then I required a few extra doctor's appointments this week (including fees for tests) that wasn't exactly in the budget.  But today? The termite inspector that comes every two years for a look-see??  Having him find a few areas of concern, with a quote that repair will cost just over $1k??  Seriously?!?!  WTF

*sigh*

Universe, my budget for summer travel is rapidly dwindling, and I can only assume this is your way of telling me that perhaps I should stay home and knit up all the yarn before I have moth problem to deal with as well. 
Is that it?
Is that what you are trying to tell me??

So if things happen in threes, and I already noted three last week, and now there's three more this week, does this mean I am due for another set of three, just to keep things even...for a total of 9, or something?  Come on, man. Seriously.  Spread it around it a little bit, will ya'?!? (and preferably to someone else, someone with a karma point deficit or something, yah??)

*sigh*

Over and Out~
AmpuTeeHee

dang you!

I know, I know. I am way late to the party by laughing at the crap the auto-correct feature comes up with on my phone, and I know there are whole websites devoted to it. But....hey. I've only had a "smart" phone for what...a week or so now??  And every frickin' day I am entertained. 


Here's today's chuckle.

 

 

ketchup. pics from the weekend.

On Saturday, for TheMostImportantGuy's birthday, we started with breakfast out and then we traveled up to see his family. There was a warm greeting from his mom that gave him a big smile, and she baked his favorite cake.

In addition to visiting with family, there might have been a couple of pitstops at dive bars (one on the way in, one on the way back).


I mean, why not. The BirthdayBoy loooves a dive bar hunting (me too!), and he found some reviews online of two places that sounded like "must-sees" and were right on our route.  We stopped at Phat Chad's on the way in...super cool place....we were there during the day with the owner and just a few regulars.  And then on the way home, we could not resist stopping at Thompson's Corner, because how do not stop at a dive bar that has a review that starts off by saying:

"First off I'm really into all of the underwear on the ceiling and I would have gladly added mine but I wasn't wearing any. I love this place. I went in at like 7pm on a saturday and some drunk mom was trying to explain the touch screen jukebox to us."

Yup. That about said it all.

 

It might also be interesting to note that it's the oldest bar in the county, circa 1902 (and yay for having a smartphone now and being able to look up crap like that while sitting there!).

We didn't have to rush home Saturday night because MyFavoriteKid was off at TheEx's for the weekend, and also because we'd set the dogs up for an overnight stay at the doggie play place.

We picked up the dogs from the play place on Sunday morning, that was the start of a roller coaster day for them. At first, having been left overnight, they were thrilled to see us.  Then, we took them to the vet, and that was a real downer (it was just Teeny at the vet....for her recheck...and she passed with flying colors...Riley was just there for moral support LOL).
 
After the vet, they were rewarded with a trip to Point Isabel, which we actually refer to as the CrazyCrazy Dog Park.

After the thrill and excitement of the wild off leash adventure, they poor dears ended up being dragged into the self-serve dog wash.
I washed Riley, TheMIG washed Teeny.

Ohhh noooooo.
Not a happy ending!  (heh)

 

i...i.......

.....I had an entirely different plan for a post tonight, and was going to work on it after watching Game of Thrones (don't worry. no spoilers here.)

But I can barely think straight after watching this week's episode.  I was on the edge of my seat with my head in my hands and/or talking to the screen more than once.  And I do believe I am literally in some stage of shock or denial or I dont know what.  I'm numb.

snaps on saturday

What kind of birthday gift do you give to the man who has everything?

Well, you can sneak out of bed really early in the morning, make his favorite morning beverage (in this case, double soy latte), and then you can take a package of 3D birthday stickers meant for scrapbooking...

...you stick them to yourself in a few strategic locations. Then you can present yourself and the beverage along with a birthday song.

And then he wakes up saying: "Oh!!! Everything!"

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Do I file this post under:
~ how to be romantic for under $2....?
~ new/creative uses for craft supplies...??
or
~ too much information...?!!