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!"

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


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

.....and so that is exactly what i am doing this evening.

Busy. Being crafty. New toys. More soon.

heart attck

It's very late. I'm halfway between being on and in my bed. I'm working on a post.  I hear MrDarcy (the tuxedo cat) come in through the cat door (finally) and I'm about to get out of / off of my bed to go shut the door.

Darcy jumps up on the bed and spits out some big brown blob dead center in the middle of the king sized white bedspread.  I am trying to figure out what he's got but I can't see...the lights are too dim and I am thinking to myself that it sucks that I need some reading glasses, and that's when I see the brown blob is moving and it has a whole lotta legs and holy crap it sure does look like a tarantula (!) but wait we dont have any tarantulas here, do we (?) but maybe it's one of those potato bug things (?) and all off these thoughts are running through my head as I am flying through the air off my bed and screaming, basically.  Lordy.

It ended up being the biggest cricket sort of thing I have ever seen in my life, and he's hopping around and hard to catch, and by the time I finally catch him I have given up on the idea of taking a photo of him for the blog so that you'll believe me how big he is....as if I am going to get him to pose for the camera or something, right?? LOL

Well, I caught him and set him free in the jasmine bush outside of the front door.  And I caught my breath after almost having a heart attack.  And now whatever post it was I was working on is just way way out of my mind by now.


(edited Friday morning for clarity and a whole lotta adrenalin built in typos LOL)

what i woke to this morning

Frick.
And Frack.

Sorry so fuzzy.  I was fuzzy when I took it.

I had a horrible bout of insomnia last night. I couldn't get myself to fall asleep until after 11:30. Then I woke up at 2:30am and couldn't get myself back to sleep until almost 6!!  My brain was in "fret-mode".  I thought I'd catch a nap today, but it never happened.  Instead I visited with TheBon online for awhile, went to the library, grocery shopped, taught the last knitting group of the year at the high school, did some hand sewing (my new favorite thing), made dinner, caught up with friends on a Ravelry forum, and then a friend of TheMIG's came over and joined us and the dogs for a late night walk and chat.

I'm hoping the late night walk will help with getting to sleep quickly tonight. I need it!

worrywart

I made a little list today of the many small things that are weighing on my mind lately.  None of them are huge, individually.  Collectively, though? Oy vey.

I woke up this morning and TheMostImportantGuy was looking at me from the next pillow over, and he was looking all smiley and loving, and I was looking back....all smiley and lovey...the best I could...even though my mind was already beginning it's daily list of troubles.  But smiley and lovey I was.  And then TheMIG said, "You look worried."

I can't even hide it!  Gah.

Once I get into a mental cycle like this, I'm a little wacked.  Deer in the headlights on the outside, racing mind on the inside, basically.  Today I tried to take a little break from my thoughts and do a little "window shopping" on Amazon.  At the beginning, it was very effective!!  And then a few minutes later I realized that I was worrying even worse than before, and that's when I realized I was shopping Amazon for earthquake and disaster supplies!!!!

I had a good laugh at that one.  LOL
I am such a nutjob sometimes!  I am so glad I can laugh at myself, it's awesome.

But it doesn't decrease the list of worries any.

doesnt really matter if george was there or not!!

Even though it premiered on HBO last night, we didn't have a chance to watch Behind The Candelabra until this evening (it was hard to resist watching it on the sly on my own, but TheMostImportantGuy was working an audio gig, and I wanted to see it with him!!).

After seeing trailers for it week after week and getting totally ramped up about it, my expectations were pretty danged high. Well, it totally exceeded my expectation in every possible way. The acting was amazing, by the entire cast (which is FULL of huge names and faces you will recognize).....and I can only imagine what awards the production will garner for costuming and especially make-up (seriously...the face lifts?!!).  Incredible. Not to mention the digital work it took to make it look like Michael Douglas could actually play piano.

My only disappointment was that I kept waiting for Liberace to say, "I wish my brother George was here...."
and he never did.
But then again, I don't really know if Liberace actually really said that, or if I am just thinking about Bugs Bunny.  LOL


If you have a chance to see this...DO IT!!

stag

TheMostImportantGuy is quite busy today.  He is doing a partial day of meditation at the zen center from 6am until noon-ish, then he's working a sound system rental gig for a wedding way into the wee hours.

So I am stag today.

I'm going to hang around the house. Laundry, dealing with the remaining cherries, lots of crafty-makey of things....and probably loads of background television to keep me company. 
That's my plan, and I'm stickin' to it ;-)

snaps on saturday

dear universe:

Dear Universe:

Okay. You can stop now.  Just. Stop.
You've had your fun. 

First it was the dog's butt. That was a massive chunk of change and a whole lotta effort.

Then yesterday, it was the garage door.  I hit the power switch so we could leave to take MyFavoriteKid to school, and I heard an odd pop. The cable had spun off its spool and wrapped around the support rod. The door wouldn't close, not even manually. I couldn't just leave my garage wide open, so I had to call in a repair guy for an urgent visit. More time and dollars spent.

But today?  Well, today took the cake.  Today I had to bring the car into the dealership because I couldn't lock the rear passenger door. The auto-lock mechanism wasn't working correctly.  I'd lock the doors (or the car would lock itself, as it does once you are driving the road for a minute or so), and the back door lock would pop back open.  I might as well have just hung a "break into me" sign on the door.  I thought maybe the damn thing just needed a shot of WD40 or something, but nooooooo. No, the whole danged locking mechanism had to be changed out!  More money out.  Two hours spent at the shop.

Universe, you seem to like it when things happen in threes, right?  Well....in case you aren't counting....

THAT MAKES THREE.

I do believe I have fulfilled my quota for awhile, would you not agree> 

Let me also tell you, one other thing, Dear Universe....and that is fact that I am due for at least one day of rest.....but let me clear and tell you that I am onto you.  I know how you are.  If I ask for a break and then you give me the flu, or a migraine, or some other mini (or grand) disaster, and then say, "SEE! LOOK! You are resting!!!" ...

THAT DOES NOT COUNT.

It is  not at all what I am talking about.
You and I both know that is not what I am looking for.
 I am looking for a day with no drama, a day with a little breathing room and no lost time or money. A day to catch up with stuff and perhaps enjoy an extra finer thing or two.

I'll work on manifesting that visually from my end (granola!!!)....and you....well, you just make it so.
Deal?

With So Much Love ~
AmpuTeeHee

where's a dumbphone when ya need one

I had to take MyFavoriteKid to the Apple store tonight.  Laptop problems, and that is just not gonna work for him during these last two weeks of schools with finals.

So what do I do while I'm waiting for him to deal with "TheGenius" at the TheGeniusBar? (I love that LOL)  I talk to one of the sales reps about how my phone service has been due for a free upgrade since February, and I've been sitting on it. I've had an iPad for a good long while (1st generation), but my phone is seriously archaic.

Which, of course, has me exiting the Apple store with a new iPhone.
My very first smartphone. 

Except I don't feel that smart yet. I am still figuring stuff out.  I feel dumber than when I am using my dumbphone, actually.
I know it's a curve and I know I'ma learnin'  ;-)

the pits

Yesterday I heard it: the squawk of the birds bickering over MY CHERRIES.  The cherry tree branches have been hanging heavy, but I thought I had until the weekend to do something about it.  But if I let the birds get to it first, they'd all be gone (ask me how I know).

So today was a big harvest day.

I paid a neighbor guy a few bucks to come by to help with the upper branches. We pulled enough to fill 6 paper grocery bags!!  He took a bag home and shared it with his mom, then I spent a chunk of my day looking like I was dealing (cherry flavored) drugs out of my car.  I met a friend who cans at Starbucks and gave her a bag. Another friend came to my house and scored on. I delivered some gallon bags full to two neighbors and to my parents. I gave a big paper sack full to the local firemen.

I pitted a ton of them and tried my hand at canning for the very first time.

Jars filled and on their way to be becoming Cherries in Wine (those are the cooked cherries waiting for the wine-y cooking liquid to be reduced and added to the jars prior to hitting a water bath).  Leave it to me to scald the holy shit out of my left hand while straining the sugary cherry wine liquid that had just come off the boil. 
My hand has been on ice ever since.

But the cherries are going to screamin' deeeeelicious poured over ice cream.

I have four more gallon bags in the fridge.  One or two will go to my buddy Kimberly who taught me how to water bath can last Sunday at her place, hence the inspiration.  The other bags that are left... I dont know yet! I think I might pit them tomorrow and pop them in the freezer until I figure it out! Or maybe I'll make some more drunken cherries, or maybe I'll try my (one, good?) hand at jam or a chutney.

And guess what?
We only harvested about 60% of the tree!!!
I might try to get to it. I might let it become the Bird Share!

period.

My last two days:
Deeply saddened about Oklahoma, punctuated by stress about dog buns.
Period.

when a really bad tune sticks in your head

All day long today I've had the stupidest of tunes running through my head:

Hot. Cross. Buns.




(except that I turned it into: Hot. Compress. Buns.)
(poor Teeny. poor me.)

doggone it

Poooooor Teeny.

We had big plans for today, but we ended up spending most of it at the vet.  You see, we woke up this morning to find that Teeny had a little something going on near the rear of the house, so to speak.  It turns out she has a ruptured gland back there. And it turns out that for us that means a combination of five (five!!!) medications or topical ointments that need to be administered twice daily for 2-3 weeks. 

And that doesn't count the hot compresses.

snaps on saturday

The. Last. One.
No more announcing until next year.
Thank goodness.


Also today?
A quick trip to SF where TheMostImportantGuy bought more fancy clothes (I have created a monster...the best kind of monster...he looks hot!!).  A pear and gorgonzola pizza with a "Spring Pimms" cocktail before leaving the city.  Dinner with friends, chinese food and a huge lazy susan.  Local Vallejo Comedy night.  Back to our place for a few rounds of Cards Against Humanity.

FUN.

Tomorrow, I clean the oven.
NOT FUN.

Oh well. It can't all be a party, can it?

i already am a slave to my animals...

...so don't you dare give them a bell.

on glamour

Makes me feel like maybe I should be putting on eyeliner more than just a couple of times a week! 

fluff

captain quirk

Today I was at TheNewDiggs while MyFavoriteKid was having his weekly snare drum lesson, and I noticed that our little resident robot...

....was trying to pull a "beam me up, Scotty!" teleporting maneuver by way of the Sodastream.

TheMostImportantGuy must have been at the controls ;-)

elvis is in da house

 

Well, he's in the convalescent hospital house, that is.

And it is good news that I know this, because this means that James has been returned "home", as he calls it (sometimes he says his home is "19B", like it's an actual complete address or something, which always bums me out a little bit deep down inside).

A few weeks ago James went into the "hospital-hospital" for a bladder infection and ended up having his gall bladder removed while he was there.  He also struggled with low blood pressure. He was in the hospital ICU so long that the convalescent hospital gave up his room temporarily, but they never packed up James' stuff, which was quite the pleasant surprise.

I came in today to see him back "at his home" and he was a bit of a mess. He was having a bit of trouble breathing and I had to have his oxygen machine checked over (it was on the wrong setting). I had to push the staff to get him a shave and then to get him put back into bed because he was so uncomfortable sitting up in a chair (he had asked to be taken out of bed and put into a chair only because he knew I was coming to visit...awwww...like I  needed that.  

A few of you have asked about what I might be able to do to help him more, but I really need to remain a volunteer.  Yes, it's true that I could do more for him if I was power of attorney, but that is not a responsibility I can accept. It's just too much for me.  I signed up with a volunteer organization to visit someone who doesn't get visitors. I've had many buddies over the years, but usually they are much older and are in a deeper state of decline with their health, and even if they don't get regular visitors, there is often a family member several states away taking care of important legal details.  James refuses to fill out any Advance Care Directives, and if I had power of attorney, that would leave me to make some decisions about his life that I'm just not about to do.  It would also leave me responsible for many other matters.  I just can't take it on, as much as I love him and have grown close to him after 8 years of weekly visits.  He does have a sister.  Sure, they're not very close (she lives 8 hours away and they are so far apart in age that they barely knew each other growing up) but she is in the picture a little bit (a letter and a care package a couple of times a year), and I'd rather any big decisions be made by his own family.

What I am doing for James is contacting the county to see if he qualifies to have coverage for an official healthcare advocate.  It's just the best I can do for James from the volunteer visitor perspective.

Anyhow, back to today at Chez19B. At one point during my visit with James I heard music floating down the halls, and I went down to the lobby and lo and behold, there was a SortaSkinnyFatElvis belting a few out.  James had heard they were serving up root beer floats and that he could go get one since he had gotten out of bed and into a chair,  but since he asked to be put back in bed he couldn't go down and get one, so I went down and I scored one for him. He was very happy about that, too....back home AND ice cream.  A good day for him.

scenes from mother's day

A pile of cards for all the moms we had over today: Me, my mom, TheMostImportantGuy's mom, and TheMIG's sister. 

I did a brunch today for all of us at TheNewDiggs.  With the moms of course was: MyFavoriteKid, my dad, the brother in law and the niece. The only one missing was the nephew, who had to work.

There I go, tinkering around with the set up the coffee, tea, beverages.  I cooked several things for the brunch, but I tried one new recipe that was a very big hit, and that was a baked blueberry french toast dish (it was super-good, not to mention that it was so easy to make it practically made itself).

After brunch we sat on the patio and chatted while the kids floated around in the pool.

And here's the card MyFavoriteKid gave me.

Awwww...

Happy Mother's Day to all the other SuperMoms out there!!  I hope it was a fabulous day.

snaps on saturday

It's official.

I am entirely sick of this view.
*sigh*

It's actually not so bad when the music is good, and it most often is, but today was just horrible.  The judges in all 3 performance venues said it was the lowest scoring day in their entire careers.  At one point, a middle school concert band performed Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. It's doable. I've seen it more than once. But the band that did it today was so bad it made my eyes water (real tears!), and when I turned back to look at the judges, one of them actually had his head in his hands (he might have been trying to cover his ears).  I think I heard Freddie Mercury actually turn in his grave, I shit you not.

At these things you sometimes see incredibly amazing band directors, and sometimes you see some that are not so good (or even bad). But today I saw couple that I swear to you may actually have been harming these poor kidlets. Like, damaging. It's a little sad.

I have one more day of this, next Saturday (and just Saturday, no Friday next week).
I hope we go out with a bang :-)

:-)

one thing i will never get sick of

Thanks to volunteering for 5 weeks in a row, I'm a little bit sick of looking at the interior of the high school band department/theater.

That being said, I will never get sick of seeing MyFavoritKid on that same stage.

(a Super-Booster-Mom has already put up a video)

The school hosts two more weekends of the Music In The Parks events (in which I volunteer....MyFK, volunteers, too!... as other schools visit ours to be adjudicated). Once Music In The Parks is done, I think MyFK only has one more performance this year:
Performing Pomp & Circumstance at the graduation ceremony for seniors.

Being that this school is only 3 years old and the first year open, the school started only with Freshman & Sophomore's, this year is the school's first graduating class!

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

Tonight on the way home, MyFK and I were talking about how over the last few months I've started to notice that I'm in the very beginning stages of "missing him" as he grows up and is noticeably "growing away".  He hasn't really gone anywhere, not nearly as far as he will go once he is of age, that's for darn sure....and he's been headed towards independence and autonomy since the day he was born, right??  I've noticed it all through his growing up, or course.  But in the last few months, there has been another wave of detachment, and it's noticeable.  It's right on track, it's how this deal goes, but it's real interesting that I am starting to really feel the difference within myself. 
MyFK told me he's already missing me a bit, too...and that he loves me. 
And then he asked me to tuck him in ;-) 

Somehow I think no matter how old your kid gets, your kid will always be your kid.

as seen at ikea the other day....

Need I tell you how much this pisses me off?

May that jerk never crash that bike, may he never end up in a wheelchair, and may he never not be able to access his car because he cant roll up to the door.

what is up with all the table shots lately?!!

I dunno!!!

But here's another!

Tuesday night knitting group at the sports bar!  Giants game, beer, food, friends...
and I worked on some needle felting.

lost

I realize this is a first world problem, but ohmygosh, did I ever get lost in IKEA today.
Literally.

I purposely waited for a weekday morning when it's nice and slow so that I could run in and pick up three things:
~ a few magnetic boards (a photo project at TheNewDiggs coming soon!)
~ a glass (to replace one in set I broke)
~ and a couple replacement light bulbs for my folks

I don't go to IKEA all that often, but I knew that all of these things would be on the marketplace floor and where, and this was going to be one very quick dash-in/dash-out affair. 

I walked through the marketplace door, and they had rearranged everything. By everything, I mean that not only did they relocate the various departments (kitchen, bath, organization, etc), but the had also moved the walls around, and therefore the maze that IKEA can be was totally not where it had formally been.  Employees were all over the place moving stuff and stocking shelves and even they didn't know where anything was when I asked for help!

Of course, we all know that stores rearrange so that we will get lost and therefore discover new things to buy as we find our way.  And I did leave with more than 3 items (add cute paper napkins and some shelves my handyman suggested I check out for next to the stove in the kitchen).   


But 15 minute dash-in/dash out?
AN HOUR AND A HALF.
hahahahaha

yum

(delayed post, user error!) 

A fabulously fun Sunday with friends, food, knitting (and some smuggled in fresh lime daiquiris!)....a bunch of us happily lost 3 whole hours hanging out at the weekly Off The Grid food truck even at Larkspur Landing.

snaps on saturday

Ok. I might be getting just a little bit sick of this.

I have more to say on the subject, like why I might be getting a little bit sick of this...but now that I am home and relaxing with TheMostImportantGuy (and on a kid-free weekend, no less), I'm done thinking about it for the moment!!

today's tables

The Friday Morning Knitters table...

The Ladies Who Lunch table...

The Announcers table at the High School (again...and tomorrow, too)...

More announcing tomorrow from 8am to 3pm, but the rest of the weekend should be full of fun :-)

if it were always just as simple as a glass a water

The jumpy leg stuff stopped late Wednesday night, so I finally got some uninterrupted sleep (although not enough)....but then I woke up at 5:30am with a splitting headache.

I was absolutely headed for migraine territory when I realized....I was really thirsty!  Like, really really thirsty.  It's been in the upper 80's low 90's here, and....well, I was really dehydrated!  I drank two full super large glasses of water, and viola! Right as rain, headache gone.

Now if I could only make that glass of water trick work on everything else!

and tomorrow will be a better day

It just has to be a better day, because today sucked ass.

I think I have mentioned this before, but every 4 to 6 weeks or so, I get this thing I call "jumpy leg syndrome" in my short leg.  There's no rhyme or reason to why it happens (and I have analyzed it to death with the intention of not ever doing again whatever it is that causes it).  I know that it's nerve related, that it feels like it comes from the sacrum or down the sciatic nerve.  What I can say for sure is that it feels like I am being electrocuted and that I stop breathing for the few seconds it is happening (unless I am exhaling a curse), and that the moment it stops, it is gone.

But sometimes it happens periodically throughout the day.  And then there are times when it lasts for a few days. And then there are days, like today, where I wake up in the middle of the night with it, can't go to sleep, pain meds don't respond, and I get electrocuted every 30 seconds or so for hours and hours.  It's days like that when I finally whimp out, buckle, shed a few tears....and no matter what I do I can't get comfortable. My breath gets taken away so many times that I give myself a headache on top of it all, and my shoulders get so tense that I wish someone would send me a cabana boy for a massage (daaaaang, wouldn't that be nice?!!!)


Anyhow. I wasted an entire friggin' day due to this.  I took pain meds that made me super dopey but didn't take the pain away. I have been awake since 4am.  And I didn't do diddly squat except feed everyone that lives here.  Oh, and I knit a few rows!!  THAT was good!

So tomorrow will be better. I am sure of it.

in lieu of clutter

Because I really do not need any more stuffed animals (Seriously. I am 46 years old and sleep with at least 2 already), I did not buy the cute chicken.

 

I settled for a photo of me with the chicken.

It is indeed chicken love, though.

some updates

This is post is probably way too much information for most of you, so if things about the body gross you out, I urge you to just move along.
I'll post something fluffy tomorrow.

My finger.
It's improving. The splint is off most of the time. But I've had to cut away a bunch of dead stuff and what is underneath is tender, and there's sort of a chunk of my index finger missing that I have been assured will grow back. It's usable, but sensitive, especially if I bang into something.  Which I do often. I am a wheelchair user.

James.
He's a bit of a mess.  He went into the hospital for a bladder infection. It had to have been bad, because they admitted him to the ICU for it.  Two days later, he was having his gallbladder removed. They're also keeping a close eye on some infection in his foot (and I should say, his only remaining foot...because he's an amputee already).  It's really hard for me to get specifics.  The hospital isn't really allowed to give me details because I am not related, I am a volunteer.  At the same time, they were really glad to see me today to help calm him down. He's getting really stressed out because he is about to cross that line where the his medical coverage can cover the hospital stay, but can't hold his room at the convalescent hospital. This has happened a few times now. One time they boxed all his stuff up, kicked it to the curb, and they lost a whole bunch of important information like identification, safe deposit keys, and his birth certificate. It took us over a year to get it all back in order.  They wont let me go pick his personal items up though...because I am not family. 



I am a little bummed out (about James and a few other things) and I can't even knit all that easily due to the finger!  Cooking isn't all that much fun either (I'm afraid to do too much chopping...it's my dominant hand's index finger that is out of commission).  I don't have too much to keep me distracted!!

as if i needed another hobby

I took a soldered jewelry class at Stained Glass Garden in Berkeley today.

front and back of the same pendant

I think this is something I could really get into.
Uh oh.

snaps on saturday

Second verse, same as the first!!

Another Saturday announcing at the high school band competition thingy our school is hosting. The campus actually has three announcer in three different venues for these things. I got lucky today. I got the jazz ensembles.  What you are seeing above is one school's "Saxophone Society" ensemble performing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".

I have 3 more weekends of this to go!

working on thinking happier thoughts

A quote from a book I flipped through today on the used book shelf:

Yeah, well, I've got a dream too. But it's about singing and dancing and making people happy. That's the kind of dream that gets better the more people you share it with. And, well, I've found a whole bunch of friends who have the same dream. And it kind of makes us like a family.

~ Kermit the Frog

and a cherry on top!

I had just wrapped up a particularly nice dance class. What a perfect way to end my day!

Then.

At 10:45pm, on the drive home, I get a call from Kaiser Hospital that James (my convalescent home buddy of 8 years) is in the ICU.
Not.
Good.

When I finally get home, I walk in the door only to see all 4 of my animals (2 cats, 2 dogs) sitting together in a small circle and playing some sort of hackey-sack toss game with each other using a dead gopher.


*sigh*

when you almost lose a finger just folding laundry....

....it must be Teeny.

my night

Yarns on Tap Knitting Group
at Oxbow Public Market
celebrating Mz.SincereSheep's birthday
food, drink, cake, craft!!

i think perhaps it's just gonna be a perpetual drumline season for a few years

MyFavoriteKid has decided to go for it where drums are concerned. He's asked his band director if he can audition to be a snare drummer in next year's Fall Marching Season (letting go of clarinet for the Marching Band, but instead he'll play clarinet in the Jazz Band and Concert Band).  Come winter he's going to audition for Winter Percussion again, but he's going to make a run for it next year and try out to be the Center Snare.  And MyFK has also now decided to start gearing up for next year's Blue Devils auditions.

He's asked for private drum lessons. MyFk did the research himself in finding a teacher to work with,  and as of last week is now having regular lessons with former Blue Devil Adam C. Clay (who just recently aged out of the Blue Devils).
Adam is quite the inspiration. Check him out.


I did myself the favor of asking that the lessons take place over at TheNewDiggs. Doing so gives the guys more space (although I now realize they are sort of standing it one place! ha!!), but what it really does for me is to build in a little time over at the new house. While they practice, I get to hang out in my craftroom!


So there's been a lot of tap tap tapping going on over here, and I don't think it's going to let up.
For years.
And that's okay!
It is a realllllly realllllly good thing that I like the sound of drums so much!

i have no pictures!

Had I taken out my camera today, I'd have a little photo album for you!
But I didn't take out my camera today, and therefore I have no pictures of:

~ 7 of us sitting by the pool at TheNewDiggs
~ knitting and chatting and nibbling

I can't show you:

~ Teeny the chihuahua getting loved on by her favorite guests
~ the food we ate
~ the knitting some of us were working on
~ the cocktails we made using Kimberly's fabulous blood orange liquer
~ the bracelets Kimberly was working on for her etsy store
~ the bracelet she gave me! (thank you!! love it!!)
~ the quilt Sandy made for TheMostImportantGuy


Those last two need photos!
I will take them asap.

snaps on saturday

Crappy fuzzy pic, but it's all I got.

Just when you think band season is over and you are going to get a break, you realize that it is Winter Drumline that is over, and that means the beginning of concert season.

Our school hosted a judged music event today, and I was the announcer for the entirety (1pm to 9:30pm). That's my perch. I'd announce at the little table there with the mic, then roll back to where my knitting was during the performances. Finger is killing me, and so hard to knit without an index finger. I only managed to eek out a few rows. But the music was good.
Well, most of it. LOL

I have several more weekends of this to go. Hope the finger heals faster so I can knit may way through all of it!

snaps on...every day!! lol

Finger hurts, thwacked it good twice today, not helping matters.  Got rubber gloves on so could wash dishes...yay me!

Tonight. Mexican & Margaritas (no mariachi, though)...but then on to the local comedy night here in Vallejo.

Laughed so hard, I was hyperventilating :-)

(and forgot about my finger)

let the photo roll begin

Pics from last night....
Dead Can Dance at the Uptown Theater in Napa. The first pic was taken by TheMostImportantGuy on his cell phone. The rest were taken by me with my stupid little point and shoot camera, but they look so good because, hey.....we were in the second row (squeeee!!!!).

This was my 4th time seeing Dead Can Dance. The first time was at The Greek Theater in Berkeley, a very long time ago. The second time I saw them was when TheMostImportantGuy and I took his parents to see them at the Paramount Theater in Oakland. Then last summer I took MyFavoriteKid to see them back at The Greek again. I only went to that show because a friend of mine who had tickets couldn't make it, so she sold me her tickets (I felt so bad that she missed them, but she saw them this past Monday in San Francisco) .

Being that they were just here in August, I was surprised to see that they were coming back again so soon, bu how could I pass it up?! The Uptown is so close to me, and it's so small and intimate! (under 900 seats)   Very special venue.



Would you like to know how long it took me to type this post without using my index finger??
28 minutes!! Holy crap!
hahahahaha <----typing i="">that
part was easy though ;-) 

dont hold your breath

Waiting for a reply from me via email?
Or for me to follow up on something we discussed? (and that includes you, mom & dad)
Waiting for me to wash those dishes?
Or post something?
Or knit that....that....thing???

Well, don't hold your breath.

I nearly took off my finger tip this morning when I shut the clothes dryer door on it (and my ol' skool dryer has quite the sharp edge in there!)

A trip to the ER for a little sympathy, some skin glue, a butterfly bandage, and a finger splint....have no fears, my loves.
I'll be fiiiiiiiine.


Probably pics with very short captions for a few days though!!

boy, am i slow? or what??

Duh. What I was avoiding was tuning in to more coverage than I had already seen of the bombings at the Boston Marathon.

MsAmpuTeeHee can only handle so many re-tellings of people losing their limbs....



...and then she has to turn to her happy place.

i'm not quite sure what it is that i am avoiding, but i'm having an awfully good time avoiding it :-)

FAR too much time spent watching dance videos tonight on YouTube.

Sometimes I watch videos of stuff that I already do, and sometimes I watch videos of stuff I might like to do, but in the end, I always end up watching some Les Twins (and what they do is not even remotely close to what I do or what I might like to do...but oh my gosh, they do what they do better than anyone else doing it).



AND. I have been wanting to go back to Paris again for ages. Not for the dancing, but for all the other Parisian goodness, but hey....could you just image running into them while they are filming a dance tutorial in front of the Louvre?!!
Why imagine??!!
WE CAN.





(but I'd still like to get back to Paris LOL)