Join me in calling on CBS to kill the Focus on the Family ad before the Super Bowl on February 7!
Tell CBS Tebo isn't that cute. Say NO to right wing zealotry and YES to choice
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Happy Thoughts
The weather people have vowed and declared that we are going to get snow. A substantial amount of snow. They are liars.
They did this twice before thus far this winter. Told us we were all going to die under a thick white blanket of doom and nothing happened . I have no reason to believe that their most recent prognostication is going to suffer a similar fate. Thursday for example it was warm and lovely. Lovely! I tell you! Not a hint of in-climate weather. But, lovely weather aside, Thursday I spent lunch at Wally World stocking up on food for the animals. I would have done this anyway, probably Friday, but on Friday we are allegedly going to be dead.
I am using my shopping as proof it is not going to happen. I went to Wally World at noon the day before we are all going to die and 1) There was food on the shelves, and 2) There were no crowds. The locals here know when hell is going to break loose and they know hell is going to stay locked up. I did however, go to Kroger later on and there was crowd-age. But, I'm choosing to see that as what the store looks like at 6pm and not as a sign imminent death. The locals are good though, I never listen to the weather guys, I keep watch on the milk and bread aisles at the grocery.
I decided that the best defence is a solid offence. If I am stocked up and ready to go, if I have all my hatches battened and sails tied down, house stocked with food, car full of gas - That the weekend will be as lovely as Thursday. Stands to reason. If I prepare for the worst, i.e the foot of snow they are predicting, everything will be fine and we'll all laugh and laugh.
Perhaps a light dusting, maybe an inch of accumulation- Just enough to kill the bugs! I mean, I would welcome enough snow to be photogenic, because I love me some photogenic snow and I know where to get photogenic snow - But, we have to get snow without ice. No Ice. No!
So. We get snow or we don't. The weather weenies have lied to me too many times, but just in case I'm taking my camera and my rubber boots into work with me. You never know.
The weather people have vowed and declared that we are going to get snow. A substantial amount of snow. They are liars.
They did this twice before thus far this winter. Told us we were all going to die under a thick white blanket of doom and nothing happened . I have no reason to believe that their most recent prognostication is going to suffer a similar fate. Thursday for example it was warm and lovely. Lovely! I tell you! Not a hint of in-climate weather. But, lovely weather aside, Thursday I spent lunch at Wally World stocking up on food for the animals. I would have done this anyway, probably Friday, but on Friday we are allegedly going to be dead.
I am using my shopping as proof it is not going to happen. I went to Wally World at noon the day before we are all going to die and 1) There was food on the shelves, and 2) There were no crowds. The locals here know when hell is going to break loose and they know hell is going to stay locked up. I did however, go to Kroger later on and there was crowd-age. But, I'm choosing to see that as what the store looks like at 6pm and not as a sign imminent death. The locals are good though, I never listen to the weather guys, I keep watch on the milk and bread aisles at the grocery.
I decided that the best defence is a solid offence. If I am stocked up and ready to go, if I have all my hatches battened and sails tied down, house stocked with food, car full of gas - That the weekend will be as lovely as Thursday. Stands to reason. If I prepare for the worst, i.e the foot of snow they are predicting, everything will be fine and we'll all laugh and laugh.
Perhaps a light dusting, maybe an inch of accumulation- Just enough to kill the bugs! I mean, I would welcome enough snow to be photogenic, because I love me some photogenic snow and I know where to get photogenic snow - But, we have to get snow without ice. No Ice. No!
So. We get snow or we don't. The weather weenies have lied to me too many times, but just in case I'm taking my camera and my rubber boots into work with me. You never know.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Over Thinking in the Kitchen with Diana
A friend from work gave me the heads up about the coolest better mouse trap evah " Spray Frosting! Its in a can! and you spray it! It's like Cheeze Whiz only not gross!
I signed on to make cupcakes for our quarterly birthday party and when I told her I was going to the store to get ingredients and I was trying to decide about frosting flavor and she suggested that I check out this new spray frosting and I said sure, why not! And boy am I glad I did!
I tried it out and its just like real frosting because it is real frosting! Its exactly like the stuff in the tub except its spray-able! You can make artsy frosting designs! Its just the coolest thing ever. Its pricy, about $1.50 more than tub frosting but its much cleaner and easier to deal with and its fun. Fun is good when you have to frost a lot of cupcakes. You don't want ennui to set in while you are frosting cupcakes or anything in general. You need to be able to keep a good outlook and many times that can prove difficult while cake frosting. Its a very unknown fact that frosting can be depressing.
Also, it is much harder to hoard frosting when you can't really really how much you have left in the can, so in the long run its probably better for you in general. I worked hard to make these cupcakes more or less healthy, I used applesauce instead of oil and I used egg whites instead of whole eggs and then I dumped full fat, full sugar frosting on top. You can make the cake with organic, whole grain and as homeopathic as you want but nobody wants "healthy" frosting, we want full on frosting. You have to go full on with the frosting.
For real. This was actually a part of my thought process. I stood there in the frosting isle and debated the "meanings" of the varieties: I felt it was necessary to debate primary colors verses the earth - tones. I decided that blue, red or green frosting's do not really send the right message about the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle . Bright colors say: "I'm probably giving you some sort of neurological damage" while Ecru frosting on the other hand, says "I care about maintaining your optimal health." I went with the earth-tones.
You all think I'm kidding.
A friend from work gave me the heads up about the coolest better mouse trap evah " Spray Frosting! Its in a can! and you spray it! It's like Cheeze Whiz only not gross!
I signed on to make cupcakes for our quarterly birthday party and when I told her I was going to the store to get ingredients and I was trying to decide about frosting flavor and she suggested that I check out this new spray frosting and I said sure, why not! And boy am I glad I did!
I tried it out and its just like real frosting because it is real frosting! Its exactly like the stuff in the tub except its spray-able! You can make artsy frosting designs! Its just the coolest thing ever. Its pricy, about $1.50 more than tub frosting but its much cleaner and easier to deal with and its fun. Fun is good when you have to frost a lot of cupcakes. You don't want ennui to set in while you are frosting cupcakes or anything in general. You need to be able to keep a good outlook and many times that can prove difficult while cake frosting. Its a very unknown fact that frosting can be depressing.
Also, it is much harder to hoard frosting when you can't really really how much you have left in the can, so in the long run its probably better for you in general. I worked hard to make these cupcakes more or less healthy, I used applesauce instead of oil and I used egg whites instead of whole eggs and then I dumped full fat, full sugar frosting on top. You can make the cake with organic, whole grain and as homeopathic as you want but nobody wants "healthy" frosting, we want full on frosting. You have to go full on with the frosting.
For real. This was actually a part of my thought process. I stood there in the frosting isle and debated the "meanings" of the varieties: I felt it was necessary to debate primary colors verses the earth - tones. I decided that blue, red or green frosting's do not really send the right message about the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle . Bright colors say: "I'm probably giving you some sort of neurological damage" while Ecru frosting on the other hand, says "I care about maintaining your optimal health." I went with the earth-tones.
You all think I'm kidding.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
DIY
I was a very good girl: I did not take any unapproved naps an I watched a first run episode! . I even learned that I can take off Brittany from my list of Places I've Never Heard of But I Really Should Learn More About, I do not need to go all the way there as for thousands less I could go Maine. I'm sure they have lovely French restaurants there too.
Yay me. Instead of napping and L&O abuse, I spent too long in a hot shower trying to sweet talk my sore shoulder and neck into chilling out and letting go. I thought letting it have a nice, long, hot shower would make it like me again. It didn't.
I could spend the weekend working in the yard and suffer no ill effects but I do nothing but nap in front of the TV and suddenly ow!. And it couldn't be my all-but-useless left side either, no, it "has" to be the all important right side. I don't need to lift my arm or check for on-coming traffic or anything, I'm good. Not. I live in NASCAR country, I can't just go through a green light without looking both ways twice first.
I had been trying to beg forgiveness from what ever muscle family I have offended by draping a warm towel around my neck, but that works for about three minutes at a go. I've also been downing a couple of Aleve every morning but that isn't making the muscles let go. I need a store bought heating pad and my DYI version is not optimum and I spend a lot of time with a damp neck. I was going to get one for Dogger but I couldn't do it, even for her, once I started pricing them. Do you have any idea how much your average plug in heating pad costs? A lot. Way too much for a heating pad.
So, obviously, I don't have one and microwaved towels are either too hot or too cold. If you think your Hot Pocket gets cold five minutes away from the microwave, you have enver lived or died by a microwaved towel.
I was a very good girl: I did not take any unapproved naps an I watched a first run episode! . I even learned that I can take off Brittany from my list of Places I've Never Heard of But I Really Should Learn More About, I do not need to go all the way there as for thousands less I could go Maine. I'm sure they have lovely French restaurants there too.
Yay me. Instead of napping and L&O abuse, I spent too long in a hot shower trying to sweet talk my sore shoulder and neck into chilling out and letting go. I thought letting it have a nice, long, hot shower would make it like me again. It didn't.
I could spend the weekend working in the yard and suffer no ill effects but I do nothing but nap in front of the TV and suddenly ow!. And it couldn't be my all-but-useless left side either, no, it "has" to be the all important right side. I don't need to lift my arm or check for on-coming traffic or anything, I'm good. Not. I live in NASCAR country, I can't just go through a green light without looking both ways twice first.
I had been trying to beg forgiveness from what ever muscle family I have offended by draping a warm towel around my neck, but that works for about three minutes at a go. I've also been downing a couple of Aleve every morning but that isn't making the muscles let go. I need a store bought heating pad and my DYI version is not optimum and I spend a lot of time with a damp neck. I was going to get one for Dogger but I couldn't do it, even for her, once I started pricing them. Do you have any idea how much your average plug in heating pad costs? A lot. Way too much for a heating pad.
So, obviously, I don't have one and microwaved towels are either too hot or too cold. If you think your Hot Pocket gets cold five minutes away from the microwave, you have enver lived or died by a microwaved towel.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sleeping
I'm so good at work. I work at work. Work, work, work. And then I come home and do nothing, sure I feed the animals and myself but when I come home from work my agenda is severely limited.
Today I came home, walked Dogger, fed everyone and then said I'm going to watch some Law and Orders and then the kitty jumped into my lap and I said. Okay, I'm going to watch a lot of Law and Orders. My plan when I sat down to watch L&O's was to briefly scan through a few of the several hours that tape each day and then take Dogger for a post-dinner walk. I like these, I decided that if I feel safe enough to walk Dogger in the the pre-dawn darkness that I could also feel safe walking her in the post-dunk darkness. It all looks the same there is just more street traffic, which is a good thing. The more cars the more eyes the more of a safety net should I ever God Forbid! need one.
And Dogger needs the exercise. I also sat down with the idea that I could also perhaps, walk to one of the Pirates at the corner and maybe get a candy bar or something. I forgot that I hate them and I don't want to give them business - I should have taken this as a sign.
I'm watched parts of three or four of the L&O's they were weighted heavily to the Benjamin Bratt years and I don't care for the character, he's too reactionary and I keep waiting for Lenny to smack him. Which he does not.I mute the TV. The cat jumps into my lap. And now I'm not moving ever. I can hear the wind outside and Dogger doesn't like wind at all and she has had two walks already and if I go outside I might go to the pirates and I hate them and so I could really just stay in my chair with my cat curled up on my lap - because I wouldn't want him to think I didn't approve of this lap sitting thing. I want him to know its >okay. I fall asleep.
I fall asleep because the wonder of sleeping under the eves are over-rated. Listening to the wind wail and the rain pound the roof is not restful. The next time a storm comes though, I'm sleeping downstairs.
I'm so good at work. I work at work. Work, work, work. And then I come home and do nothing, sure I feed the animals and myself but when I come home from work my agenda is severely limited.
Today I came home, walked Dogger, fed everyone and then said I'm going to watch some Law and Orders and then the kitty jumped into my lap and I said. Okay, I'm going to watch a lot of Law and Orders. My plan when I sat down to watch L&O's was to briefly scan through a few of the several hours that tape each day and then take Dogger for a post-dinner walk. I like these, I decided that if I feel safe enough to walk Dogger in the the pre-dawn darkness that I could also feel safe walking her in the post-dunk darkness. It all looks the same there is just more street traffic, which is a good thing. The more cars the more eyes the more of a safety net should I ever God Forbid! need one.
And Dogger needs the exercise. I also sat down with the idea that I could also perhaps, walk to one of the Pirates at the corner and maybe get a candy bar or something. I forgot that I hate them and I don't want to give them business - I should have taken this as a sign.
I'm watched parts of three or four of the L&O's they were weighted heavily to the Benjamin Bratt years and I don't care for the character, he's too reactionary and I keep waiting for Lenny to smack him. Which he does not.I mute the TV. The cat jumps into my lap. And now I'm not moving ever. I can hear the wind outside and Dogger doesn't like wind at all and she has had two walks already and if I go outside I might go to the pirates and I hate them and so I could really just stay in my chair with my cat curled up on my lap - because I wouldn't want him to think I didn't approve of this lap sitting thing. I want him to know its >okay. I fall asleep.
I fall asleep because the wonder of sleeping under the eves are over-rated. Listening to the wind wail and the rain pound the roof is not restful. The next time a storm comes though, I'm sleeping downstairs.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Put Up on your Netflix list
Yes, I was tardy to the party. Everyone was right when they said Up was like the bestest movie evah. Totally right. It's the best movie ever. Its so sweet and loving and just sweet and genuine. You end up wanting to hug the movie. The one thing I will say that might be negative is that the first twenty dialogue free minutes of the film are the very best of the entire thing, worth the price of admission for that bit alone - in the same was as the first twenty minutes of dialogue free action was in Wal-E. And then they start talking.
Right up until they break the spell the movie is so absolutely beautiful and magic that the first time anything like dialogue happens its almost a let down. There always has to be a bad guy and the bad guy is a major buzz kill and he talks too much. If the whole of the move was just the first twenty minutes it would win Best Picture and nobody would say a damn word against the voting members of the Academy for their choice. I could have watched the whole movie dialogue free and without the addition of Bad Guy and his attendant unlovely dialogue and it would have been fine.
But. I do want one of the dog to human translation collars.
But still, great movie totally deserves all the accolades and everything your friends told you about it. If the first dialogue free minutes don't leave you a weepy mess you have no soul.
You know how else you can tell you have no soul? If the idea of making homemade (from a box) pancakes with fresh blue berries isn't the best idea you have had all day. Yes, the berries will leave your hands purple, but its okay it would be bragging to say "I made blueberry pancakes at some point". You can make people equally jealous of your clearly superior meal planning decision making skills if they see your purple finger nails. They'll know and they'll feel bad about bragging on their low fat, diet Ize Kreem bits they they ate all weekend. They may have been able to eat a whole popcorn bowl of bits but you had three mini pancakes and dozens of blueberries. You may have eaten more calories but you will end up with a healthy urinary tract system and with much higher levels of antioxidants. So there. The healthy goodness of the blueberries almost technically could overwhelm the arguably less than optimal health benefits of the pancakes themselves. Best. Idea. Ever.
Even better idea? Watch Up while eating blueberry pancakes!
Yes, I was tardy to the party. Everyone was right when they said Up was like the bestest movie evah. Totally right. It's the best movie ever. Its so sweet and loving and just sweet and genuine. You end up wanting to hug the movie. The one thing I will say that might be negative is that the first twenty dialogue free minutes of the film are the very best of the entire thing, worth the price of admission for that bit alone - in the same was as the first twenty minutes of dialogue free action was in Wal-E. And then they start talking.
Right up until they break the spell the movie is so absolutely beautiful and magic that the first time anything like dialogue happens its almost a let down. There always has to be a bad guy and the bad guy is a major buzz kill and he talks too much. If the whole of the move was just the first twenty minutes it would win Best Picture and nobody would say a damn word against the voting members of the Academy for their choice. I could have watched the whole movie dialogue free and without the addition of Bad Guy and his attendant unlovely dialogue and it would have been fine.
But. I do want one of the dog to human translation collars.
But still, great movie totally deserves all the accolades and everything your friends told you about it. If the first dialogue free minutes don't leave you a weepy mess you have no soul.
You know how else you can tell you have no soul? If the idea of making homemade (from a box) pancakes with fresh blue berries isn't the best idea you have had all day. Yes, the berries will leave your hands purple, but its okay it would be bragging to say "I made blueberry pancakes at some point". You can make people equally jealous of your clearly superior meal planning decision making skills if they see your purple finger nails. They'll know and they'll feel bad about bragging on their low fat, diet Ize Kreem bits they they ate all weekend. They may have been able to eat a whole popcorn bowl of bits but you had three mini pancakes and dozens of blueberries. You may have eaten more calories but you will end up with a healthy urinary tract system and with much higher levels of antioxidants. So there. The healthy goodness of the blueberries almost technically could overwhelm the arguably less than optimal health benefits of the pancakes themselves. Best. Idea. Ever.
Even better idea? Watch Up while eating blueberry pancakes!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Woke Me Up Before They Went, Went
I’ve had a “better Mouse Trap” idea. Every alarm clock makes the same shrieking, buzzing, ringing noises. So easy to ignore, so pleasurable to sleep through. Do you know what will really wake your ass up? The sounds of Shattering Glass! You are not going to sleep through that. You can’t.
The sound of shattering glass will have you up and about and wide awake with all the lights on and ready to go to in seconds. Nobody can sleep through the sounds of a window being smashed. I didn’t. I was standing upright in the middle of the room before I figured out it was not my windows being smashed and it didn’t seem to be my neighbors windows either. No alarms were going off and Dogger was not concerned. I would like to think if it was my window that Dogger would have all ready been in the process of taking limbs off the intruder. Dogger doesn’t like people to walk on the street past my house at night and she was not barking. The smashing glass alarm clock idea is not suitable for use with dogs.
While I was up and still wound up I dutifully checked all my windows and my alarm. All intact, all in working order. Now that I was awake, I even figured out what house was being broken into. The same house that I over heard being broken into months ago. A perfect place to crash and burn and it will burn. That’s what “we” do to empty houses in my neighborhood, “we” burn them down. I don’t want a burning house that close to my house. "We" need to find another house to crash and burn.
I did not call the police at 3:23 am because that seemed like a lot of work, instead I called 911 at 6:15 am - the windows were still broken, there was no rush, and they promised to send an officer. I saw no signs of police presence before I left for work or after work when I drove past the house this afternoon. After I called 911, I called the city as there is no law against not boarding up your windows. By 5pm, the windows were not boarded up, there were no notices to the landlords or any police tape in evidence. When I spoke to the the city I also told to them about the house at the other end of the street that is also abandoned and being slowly destroyed. They didn’t know about either of them. I spoke to yet another city office to whom I turned over the renters and their mini van that has been parked in the street for the last several weeks. That now has a sticker and seven days to be moved. The harmless dead car got action. A dangerous dead house gets ignored.
I’ve had a “better Mouse Trap” idea. Every alarm clock makes the same shrieking, buzzing, ringing noises. So easy to ignore, so pleasurable to sleep through. Do you know what will really wake your ass up? The sounds of Shattering Glass! You are not going to sleep through that. You can’t.
The sound of shattering glass will have you up and about and wide awake with all the lights on and ready to go to in seconds. Nobody can sleep through the sounds of a window being smashed. I didn’t. I was standing upright in the middle of the room before I figured out it was not my windows being smashed and it didn’t seem to be my neighbors windows either. No alarms were going off and Dogger was not concerned. I would like to think if it was my window that Dogger would have all ready been in the process of taking limbs off the intruder. Dogger doesn’t like people to walk on the street past my house at night and she was not barking. The smashing glass alarm clock idea is not suitable for use with dogs.
While I was up and still wound up I dutifully checked all my windows and my alarm. All intact, all in working order. Now that I was awake, I even figured out what house was being broken into. The same house that I over heard being broken into months ago. A perfect place to crash and burn and it will burn. That’s what “we” do to empty houses in my neighborhood, “we” burn them down. I don’t want a burning house that close to my house. "We" need to find another house to crash and burn.
I did not call the police at 3:23 am because that seemed like a lot of work, instead I called 911 at 6:15 am - the windows were still broken, there was no rush, and they promised to send an officer. I saw no signs of police presence before I left for work or after work when I drove past the house this afternoon. After I called 911, I called the city as there is no law against not boarding up your windows. By 5pm, the windows were not boarded up, there were no notices to the landlords or any police tape in evidence. When I spoke to the the city I also told to them about the house at the other end of the street that is also abandoned and being slowly destroyed. They didn’t know about either of them. I spoke to yet another city office to whom I turned over the renters and their mini van that has been parked in the street for the last several weeks. That now has a sticker and seven days to be moved. The harmless dead car got action. A dangerous dead house gets ignored.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Digging in
I surprised Dogger this morning. Instead of a quick trot outside to go pee, we went on a walk! I opened the door to get the paper and it wasn't cold, I decided that it was now or never and Dogger needs the rehab now. Its going to rain the next few days and I thought I should get my trot on while I could. Dogger and I haven't gone on a morning walk since November! It's been in turns very cold or very wet and I can't say I have missed these morning jaunts. I've even experimented with setting my alarm later and later in the morning. I liked this.
It was a short walk, our maiden voyage, but it was nice. I shocked her even more later on by walking her a record third time after dinner! We were both floored. Again, these are short little walks but I think every step she is forced to take is a step in the right direction. I would like to see her use her back leg more but I think the more we walk the more she'll use it. I like to pretend that when I tell her "foot down" every two minutes that she actually thinks to herself "Oops! I have the foot pulled up, I need to walk on all four of my feet". I also spend a lot of time bending down and physically putting her foot on the ground so she can feel her foot bearing weight. I wish she could tolerate longer walks, but any walking at all is good. Right now she's sound asleep. All this therapeutic walking makes her dog tired. Har, har.
I did a bad thing when I was garden shopping. I bought seeds and one one hand I don't have the patience to do all the work that seems to follow growing from seeds, I do not want to deal with tiny green houses and planting and re-planting and keeping track of when the last frost will be. I'm not good at all that, its too detailed and I am not a details person. But on the other hand, last year I planted seeds right from the baggy into the ground and I didn't have any problems with them. My morning glories and Spanish flag seeds came right up, my green beans sprouted and they weren't any extra work at all. I planted them and they grew. No problems no tiny green houses or planting and replanting issues. Very few details.
But this year, I have straight flower seeds - I also have some very nice green beans which I can't wait to plant far, far away from my wretched powdery mildew tree. Bastard tree. I haven't exactly nailed down where the beans are going to end up but this year I want to have more plants, last year I had only five and that wasn't enough. I should have planted more but I didn't know how big the plants would ultimately get - I'm sure this bit of information was somewhere on the package but I didn't read the package. I saw seeds, I planted seeds.I got beans, this year I want a harvest .
My flower seeds should grow very nice flowers, actually several different kinds, one something termed "Mixed flowers" which include "15% each Cynoglossum, Calendula, Iberis, Coreopsis, Centaurea and Linum and then 10% of Gypsophila" . The picxture shows a lovely collection of pretty things. My other flowers are 100% Venus poppies! Very pretty flowers, lovely, fluffy, frilly, baby pink blooms. They look like a shag rug - only glorious.
My question about the flowers would be, does each seed grow "a" flower or do these seeds make plants that will produce multiple flowers? The directions for both varieties just say to scatter the seeds and cover lightly with soil and then to thin the herd when they begin to sprout. Its a big $2.49 investment so if it doesn't work out I'll toddle back to Wally World and get more of the pansy's I had such good luck with last year.
But everybody planted those last year! I want different! Do they make seeds for ground cover plants?
I surprised Dogger this morning. Instead of a quick trot outside to go pee, we went on a walk! I opened the door to get the paper and it wasn't cold, I decided that it was now or never and Dogger needs the rehab now. Its going to rain the next few days and I thought I should get my trot on while I could. Dogger and I haven't gone on a morning walk since November! It's been in turns very cold or very wet and I can't say I have missed these morning jaunts. I've even experimented with setting my alarm later and later in the morning. I liked this.
It was a short walk, our maiden voyage, but it was nice. I shocked her even more later on by walking her a record third time after dinner! We were both floored. Again, these are short little walks but I think every step she is forced to take is a step in the right direction. I would like to see her use her back leg more but I think the more we walk the more she'll use it. I like to pretend that when I tell her "foot down" every two minutes that she actually thinks to herself "Oops! I have the foot pulled up, I need to walk on all four of my feet". I also spend a lot of time bending down and physically putting her foot on the ground so she can feel her foot bearing weight. I wish she could tolerate longer walks, but any walking at all is good. Right now she's sound asleep. All this therapeutic walking makes her dog tired. Har, har.
I did a bad thing when I was garden shopping. I bought seeds and one one hand I don't have the patience to do all the work that seems to follow growing from seeds, I do not want to deal with tiny green houses and planting and re-planting and keeping track of when the last frost will be. I'm not good at all that, its too detailed and I am not a details person. But on the other hand, last year I planted seeds right from the baggy into the ground and I didn't have any problems with them. My morning glories and Spanish flag seeds came right up, my green beans sprouted and they weren't any extra work at all. I planted them and they grew. No problems no tiny green houses or planting and replanting issues. Very few details.
But this year, I have straight flower seeds - I also have some very nice green beans which I can't wait to plant far, far away from my wretched powdery mildew tree. Bastard tree. I haven't exactly nailed down where the beans are going to end up but this year I want to have more plants, last year I had only five and that wasn't enough. I should have planted more but I didn't know how big the plants would ultimately get - I'm sure this bit of information was somewhere on the package but I didn't read the package. I saw seeds, I planted seeds.I got beans, this year I want a harvest .
My flower seeds should grow very nice flowers, actually several different kinds, one something termed "Mixed flowers" which include "15% each Cynoglossum, Calendula, Iberis, Coreopsis, Centaurea and Linum and then 10% of Gypsophila" . The picxture shows a lovely collection of pretty things. My other flowers are 100% Venus poppies! Very pretty flowers, lovely, fluffy, frilly, baby pink blooms. They look like a shag rug - only glorious.
My question about the flowers would be, does each seed grow "a" flower or do these seeds make plants that will produce multiple flowers? The directions for both varieties just say to scatter the seeds and cover lightly with soil and then to thin the herd when they begin to sprout. Its a big $2.49 investment so if it doesn't work out I'll toddle back to Wally World and get more of the pansy's I had such good luck with last year.
But everybody planted those last year! I want different! Do they make seeds for ground cover plants?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Rant, Rant
Thanks to Anthony Bourdain, I now need to go to Turkey. I hate that. I never thought about Turkey and now I want to go there. They also serve a lot of meat, I like meat, I don't really think I would enjoy a vegetarian culture - unless it was a very pretty vegetarian culture with lots of very bright colors and interesting images and exotic native costumes and access to McDonald's.
Bourdain goes to a lot of really neat places but he goes there as a man . He can do as he pleases. He seemed to have a very fab time in Saudi Arabia but as a woman, a thoroughly western woman, I would not feel comfortable there. I hide my light under a veil for no male dominated, paternalistic, closet case culture.
And no burqas. Turkey is a burqa free zone. I have to go to a burqa free zone. I object to covering my hair in Mass and I would certainly not be able to tolerate a burqa positive culture. I would get cranky and probably end up in some burqa refusenik prison. A vegetarian prison.
Speaking of burqa positive cultures, I am a little curious about the Latin rite Mass that they do at the cathedral every month. I think if I wanted to go, I would have to go when it was warmer - so that I could wear a short skirt and a halter top and a mantilla. I would just sit there, braless, and think about the things I could be covering up but didn't have to because my hair damn it, I covered my hair!
The size of my mantilla it would depend on what kind of a hair day I was having - A mantilla hanky hair day or a full on LOOK AT ME I COVER MY HAIR lace shawl hair day. Or not, maybe I would decide by my wardrobe, if I wore a longer skirt I would only wear a hanky on my hair because if I wore a mini I would probably feel obligated to go with the LAMICMA shawl. Because I'm a nice girl.
Thanks to Anthony Bourdain, I now need to go to Turkey. I hate that. I never thought about Turkey and now I want to go there. They also serve a lot of meat, I like meat, I don't really think I would enjoy a vegetarian culture - unless it was a very pretty vegetarian culture with lots of very bright colors and interesting images and exotic native costumes and access to McDonald's.
Bourdain goes to a lot of really neat places but he goes there as a man . He can do as he pleases. He seemed to have a very fab time in Saudi Arabia but as a woman, a thoroughly western woman, I would not feel comfortable there. I hide my light under a veil for no male dominated, paternalistic, closet case culture.
And no burqas. Turkey is a burqa free zone. I have to go to a burqa free zone. I object to covering my hair in Mass and I would certainly not be able to tolerate a burqa positive culture. I would get cranky and probably end up in some burqa refusenik prison. A vegetarian prison.
Speaking of burqa positive cultures, I am a little curious about the Latin rite Mass that they do at the cathedral every month. I think if I wanted to go, I would have to go when it was warmer - so that I could wear a short skirt and a halter top and a mantilla. I would just sit there, braless, and think about the things I could be covering up but didn't have to because my hair damn it, I covered my hair!
The size of my mantilla it would depend on what kind of a hair day I was having - A mantilla hanky hair day or a full on LOOK AT ME I COVER MY HAIR lace shawl hair day. Or not, maybe I would decide by my wardrobe, if I wore a longer skirt I would only wear a hanky on my hair because if I wore a mini I would probably feel obligated to go with the LAMICMA shawl. Because I'm a nice girl.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Day to Day
I need a three day weekend more often.
I know in a few days I'm going to be cursing the missed day, I prefer a free Friday to a free Monday -A Monday off makes the week go slower in my opinion. A Friday off is much easier to work with, Fridays being slower days by nature. A missed Monday just makes work. We don't have another day off until Good Friday.
January we have two days off, February we have no days off, March, no days off, April, one day off, May, one day off, June no days off, July, one day off, August no days off, September, one day off, October no days off, November, three days off, December 2 days off. Its how we at work look at our calender. We're a little pathetic.
I had so much time this weekend and so much nothing to do. It was really nice, I didn't "have" to do anything! So I stayed up late and slept late and watched a lot of TV and didn't do a single thing I didn't want to. I did do a lot of laundry and ran the dishwasher more than was probably necessary and I finally folded the laundry in the basement! Y'all have no idea, I've been avoiding that job for months and now its done! Finished! I have custody of my laundry baskets back! Yay!
I can hear you saying You need to chill out. Party less hardy. Cheer Down, I know.
Oh, Dogger! I took Dogger back to the vet and now she is no longer a cone head and I got permission to take down the pup tent! Dogger was so happy to lose the come but she look kind of confused about the pup tent going away. Dogger is very easily confused. But now, its time for walks and doggy rehab. I think I'm a little more excited about resuming our walks than the rehab part. Dogger doesn't want to do things that she doesn't want to do. She's very head strong and despite being a little bit weakened by the whole knee issue, she's still verystrong and when she doesn't want to do do something she doesn't go down silently or easily.
I'm also no exactly sure what I'm supposed to do rehab-wise. The vet showed me about straightening it and building the muscle but I;'m not exactly sure how. I did it but I didn't know if I was doing it right and I could feel things in the knee and I can't say that was a lot of fun. I think I would just as soon walk her a lot. We have been doing walks since Sunday, but she gets tired really fast.
We aren't going to be doing the morning walks though. Its too cold and I've gotten kind of used to not waking at 0'dark thirty and going on walks. If it was warmer, maybe, but now its still cold.
I need a three day weekend more often.
I know in a few days I'm going to be cursing the missed day, I prefer a free Friday to a free Monday -A Monday off makes the week go slower in my opinion. A Friday off is much easier to work with, Fridays being slower days by nature. A missed Monday just makes work. We don't have another day off until Good Friday.
January we have two days off, February we have no days off, March, no days off, April, one day off, May, one day off, June no days off, July, one day off, August no days off, September, one day off, October no days off, November, three days off, December 2 days off. Its how we at work look at our calender. We're a little pathetic.
I had so much time this weekend and so much nothing to do. It was really nice, I didn't "have" to do anything! So I stayed up late and slept late and watched a lot of TV and didn't do a single thing I didn't want to. I did do a lot of laundry and ran the dishwasher more than was probably necessary and I finally folded the laundry in the basement! Y'all have no idea, I've been avoiding that job for months and now its done! Finished! I have custody of my laundry baskets back! Yay!
I can hear you saying You need to chill out. Party less hardy. Cheer Down, I know.
Oh, Dogger! I took Dogger back to the vet and now she is no longer a cone head and I got permission to take down the pup tent! Dogger was so happy to lose the come but she look kind of confused about the pup tent going away. Dogger is very easily confused. But now, its time for walks and doggy rehab. I think I'm a little more excited about resuming our walks than the rehab part. Dogger doesn't want to do things that she doesn't want to do. She's very head strong and despite being a little bit weakened by the whole knee issue, she's still verystrong and when she doesn't want to do do something she doesn't go down silently or easily.
I'm also no exactly sure what I'm supposed to do rehab-wise. The vet showed me about straightening it and building the muscle but I;'m not exactly sure how. I did it but I didn't know if I was doing it right and I could feel things in the knee and I can't say that was a lot of fun. I think I would just as soon walk her a lot. We have been doing walks since Sunday, but she gets tired really fast.
We aren't going to be doing the morning walks though. Its too cold and I've gotten kind of used to not waking at 0'dark thirty and going on walks. If it was warmer, maybe, but now its still cold.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
The Golden Globes 2010 results/who won
In the order they were presented. In no considerable order at all
Best Supporting Actress - Monique, Precious
Best Supporting Actress TV Comedy - Courtney Cox, Cougar Town
Best Animated Film - Up
Best Supporting Actor TV Drama - John Lithgow, Dexter
Best Actor TV Drama - Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Best Actress TV Drama - Juliana Margulies, The Good Wife
Best Original Song from a Movie - "The Weary Kind", Crazy Heart
Best Original Score from a Movie - Up
Best Mini-Series or made for TV Movie - Gray Gardens
Best Actress Comedy or Musical, Movie - Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia
Best Actor Mini-Series of Musical, Movie - Kevin Bacon (Not clear as to title of movie)
Best Actress Mini- Series or Movie - Drew Barrymore, Gray Gardens
Best Screen Play Movie - Up in The Air, Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner
Best Actor TV Comedy - Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Best Foreign Language Film - The White Ribbon, Germany
Best TV Series Drama - Mad Men
Best Supporting Actress Cable Something Drama - Cloe Seviginey, Big Love
Best Supporting Actor Movie - Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Best Director Movie - James Cameron, Avatar
Best TV Series Comedy - Glee
Best Movie Comedy - The Hang Over
Best Actress Drama Movie - Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Best Actor Comedy Movie - Robert Downey, Jr. , Sherlock Holmes
Best Actor Drama Movie - Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Best Movie Drama - Avatar
I stayed up so you didn't have to.
In the order they were presented. In no considerable order at all
Best Supporting Actress - Monique, Precious
Best Supporting Actress TV Comedy - Courtney Cox, Cougar Town
Best Animated Film - Up
Best Supporting Actor TV Drama - John Lithgow, Dexter
Best Actor TV Drama - Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Best Actress TV Drama - Juliana Margulies, The Good Wife
Best Original Song from a Movie - "The Weary Kind", Crazy Heart
Best Original Score from a Movie - Up
Best Mini-Series or made for TV Movie - Gray Gardens
Best Actress Comedy or Musical, Movie - Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia
Best Actor Mini-Series of Musical, Movie - Kevin Bacon (Not clear as to title of movie)
Best Actress Mini- Series or Movie - Drew Barrymore, Gray Gardens
Best Screen Play Movie - Up in The Air, Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner
Best Actor TV Comedy - Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Best Foreign Language Film - The White Ribbon, Germany
Best TV Series Drama - Mad Men
Best Supporting Actress Cable Something Drama - Cloe Seviginey, Big Love
Best Supporting Actor Movie - Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Best Director Movie - James Cameron, Avatar
Best TV Series Comedy - Glee
Best Movie Comedy - The Hang Over
Best Actress Drama Movie - Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Best Actor Comedy Movie - Robert Downey, Jr. , Sherlock Holmes
Best Actor Drama Movie - Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Best Movie Drama - Avatar
I stayed up so you didn't have to.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Work, work, work
I did so much nothing tonight and its all the little animals fault.
I was going to do stuff. Like laundry and dishwasher emptying and general tidying but I I didn't get any of it done. If would have been pretty much miraculous if I had, but this time it wasn't because I just didn't feel like acting like a grown up and getting things done. I am still holding out the hope that someday the elves will come out of the walls and do all the chores I would rather just ignore until they develop their own ecosystems.
Also, all my shows came back on and so my hands were tied. You have to set your priorities. I choose to prioritize Community over emptying the dishwasher.
I started out being all good.I fed the dog, I changed out of my work clothes, I took the recycling and trash to the curb, I ate dinner, I industriously tormented baby kitty with flash photography so that I could get Friday Cat Blogging, I watched several Law and Order episodes, but none of them all the way through, I had things to get done. I think I enjoy L&O more when they are aggressively ripped from the headlines.I don't love the financial crime/murder episodes as much though, I really don't care that much about dead accountants unless they were taken out by a really good guest star, preferably one that I recognize. I need to not Tivo six hours of Law and Order day.
Anyway. I was going to get my "work" done early because of my TV shows and I like to be able to watch them on the big TV whenever possible, instead of watching them on the small office TV while multi-tasking - Its a sign of respect. I like to watch my sitcoms on the larger screen because I think it adds some gravitas to the tit jokes. So I went to the office room to do my thing early and I saw Dogger sleeping on the futon and she looked so lonely and a little sad -and I decided to sit with her for a while. I fell asleep with her cone in my lap.
And then the phone rang and it was 7:57 and my shows came on and so I got up and went into the other room and settled in, like you I'm sure, to watch Community. Fine. Its a half hour, its comes on at 8:00 and I thought I would be able to watch it and then get up and make up for lost time. Yeah.
Baby Kitty jumped into my lap and curled up and watched TV with me! He has never done that! And so all of a sudden, I can't move, I can't leave. This is it, I am in this chair until he moves because I am not going to make him think I don't want him to jump up on the chair with me! So instead of photo editing and entry posting at a reasonable hour, I ended up watching a half hour of Bones and then the first 30 Rock episode and its getting later and later and I'm thinking How much of this can I do from my phone? Not very much but I was able to keep up with my email.
So I got nothing done early, and had to stay up late but my animals love me.
I did so much nothing tonight and its all the little animals fault.
I was going to do stuff. Like laundry and dishwasher emptying and general tidying but I I didn't get any of it done. If would have been pretty much miraculous if I had, but this time it wasn't because I just didn't feel like acting like a grown up and getting things done. I am still holding out the hope that someday the elves will come out of the walls and do all the chores I would rather just ignore until they develop their own ecosystems.
Also, all my shows came back on and so my hands were tied. You have to set your priorities. I choose to prioritize Community over emptying the dishwasher.
I started out being all good.I fed the dog, I changed out of my work clothes, I took the recycling and trash to the curb, I ate dinner, I industriously tormented baby kitty with flash photography so that I could get Friday Cat Blogging, I watched several Law and Order episodes, but none of them all the way through, I had things to get done. I think I enjoy L&O more when they are aggressively ripped from the headlines.I don't love the financial crime/murder episodes as much though, I really don't care that much about dead accountants unless they were taken out by a really good guest star, preferably one that I recognize. I need to not Tivo six hours of Law and Order day.
Anyway. I was going to get my "work" done early because of my TV shows and I like to be able to watch them on the big TV whenever possible, instead of watching them on the small office TV while multi-tasking - Its a sign of respect. I like to watch my sitcoms on the larger screen because I think it adds some gravitas to the tit jokes. So I went to the office room to do my thing early and I saw Dogger sleeping on the futon and she looked so lonely and a little sad -and I decided to sit with her for a while. I fell asleep with her cone in my lap.
And then the phone rang and it was 7:57 and my shows came on and so I got up and went into the other room and settled in, like you I'm sure, to watch Community. Fine. Its a half hour, its comes on at 8:00 and I thought I would be able to watch it and then get up and make up for lost time. Yeah.
Baby Kitty jumped into my lap and curled up and watched TV with me! He has never done that! And so all of a sudden, I can't move, I can't leave. This is it, I am in this chair until he moves because I am not going to make him think I don't want him to jump up on the chair with me! So instead of photo editing and entry posting at a reasonable hour, I ended up watching a half hour of Bones and then the first 30 Rock episode and its getting later and later and I'm thinking How much of this can I do from my phone? Not very much but I was able to keep up with my email.
So I got nothing done early, and had to stay up late but my animals love me.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Jumping off point
This weeks every-ones-jumping-off-the-roof meme on Facebook is to change your picture to one from your past. I replaced mine with one taken when I was five. I was very cute and there were comments that my five year old self looks like my niece or rather that she looks like me but I don't see it. I think its more that we have the same haircut. She is either really embracing retro style or I was way, way, way ahead of my time.
The other meme I've seen this week is to take a sentence from X page of a book you are reading and use it as your status. It says that you aren't to cherry pick a cool book or search for a good passage but I think I'm totally going to cherry pick. In real life I'm reading a pulpy, mass market paperback and I don't think it would be cool enough. I'm just going to claim that I have much better taste than I actually do. They don't need to know that I like pulpy, mass market paperbacks or that I read a lot of them.
Do you know why I read pulpy, mass market paperbacks? Because I get calls like this:
X - I have a question.
Me - Okay. About?
X - Abortions?
Me - What?
X - How do they do abortions?
Me - Do you have a complaint about a facility that performed an abortion?
X - No, I don't have a complaint. I just want to know how they do them.
Me - Abortions?
X - Yeah. How do they do it?
Well, first a Mommy and a Daddy let things get out of hand...
I don't remember how I got him off the phone. If I had been feeling very hateful I would have said You know? That sounds like a question for a nurse and I know just the nurse to send you to!, because I have a nurse who would swollow her tounge if someone asked her that...but I was too chicken to do it and technically it was an Acute Care question and in reality, according to the rules I am supposed to send questions to the group that handles those facilities so... but I think they would would feel obligated to tell my boss and I'm sure I would hear about it. At length. Even if technically it was a question for them. I'm sure that arguing technicalities would be the way to go there. I think I just told him we couldn't help him and that if he did have a complaint about health-care received at a facility that he should call back. Gawd.
Great lit-er-a-ture doesn't work to fix that. You really need a good, pulpy, mass market paperback.
This weeks every-ones-jumping-off-the-roof meme on Facebook is to change your picture to one from your past. I replaced mine with one taken when I was five. I was very cute and there were comments that my five year old self looks like my niece or rather that she looks like me but I don't see it. I think its more that we have the same haircut. She is either really embracing retro style or I was way, way, way ahead of my time.
The other meme I've seen this week is to take a sentence from X page of a book you are reading and use it as your status. It says that you aren't to cherry pick a cool book or search for a good passage but I think I'm totally going to cherry pick. In real life I'm reading a pulpy, mass market paperback and I don't think it would be cool enough. I'm just going to claim that I have much better taste than I actually do. They don't need to know that I like pulpy, mass market paperbacks or that I read a lot of them.
Do you know why I read pulpy, mass market paperbacks? Because I get calls like this:
X - I have a question.
Me - Okay. About?
X - Abortions?
Me - What?
X - How do they do abortions?
Me - Do you have a complaint about a facility that performed an abortion?
X - No, I don't have a complaint. I just want to know how they do them.
Me - Abortions?
X - Yeah. How do they do it?
Well, first a Mommy and a Daddy let things get out of hand...
I don't remember how I got him off the phone. If I had been feeling very hateful I would have said You know? That sounds like a question for a nurse and I know just the nurse to send you to!, because I have a nurse who would swollow her tounge if someone asked her that...but I was too chicken to do it and technically it was an Acute Care question and in reality, according to the rules I am supposed to send questions to the group that handles those facilities so... but I think they would would feel obligated to tell my boss and I'm sure I would hear about it. At length. Even if technically it was a question for them. I'm sure that arguing technicalities would be the way to go there. I think I just told him we couldn't help him and that if he did have a complaint about health-care received at a facility that he should call back. Gawd.
Great lit-er-a-ture doesn't work to fix that. You really need a good, pulpy, mass market paperback.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The Future will be Green
I didn't want to spend too much time in the past with my Christmas tree so I decided to start thinking about the future... I ordered my Garden! Well, most of my garden. I'm going to get some Carolina Golden tomatoes and I'm sure there will be other sweet young things that will catch my eye in the spring, but for the most part the lovely people at Burpee and I are going to be corespondents. I can't wait!
This year I decided to be a little less out there than I was last year. I ordered four different kinds of red tomatoes -Big Mama, Fourth of July, Burpee Burger and Health Kick , one kind of bell peppers, Crisp Hybrid and some green bean seeds that this year will not be planted directly under a powdery mildew factory and this year instead of rainbow vegetables I'm going with:
Grown for its fibrous flesh which, when dried, makes the best bath sponges ever! Harvest at 2" long for delectable baby vegetables. Needs at least 90 days to harvest for sponges. North of zone 6, start seeds indoors. Vines spread 12'.
Luffas! They aren't from the sea! Who knew? I'm going to grow sponges! Isn't that the kewlest thing evah? I just thought it seemed so freaking awesome. I can't eat them but I don't eat tomatoes either and this way I'll never be spongless and if it works? Maybe next year I can send homemade gifts to people too. That would be so cool.
I didn't want to spend too much time in the past with my Christmas tree so I decided to start thinking about the future... I ordered my Garden! Well, most of my garden. I'm going to get some Carolina Golden tomatoes and I'm sure there will be other sweet young things that will catch my eye in the spring, but for the most part the lovely people at Burpee and I are going to be corespondents. I can't wait!
This year I decided to be a little less out there than I was last year. I ordered four different kinds of red tomatoes -Big Mama, Fourth of July, Burpee Burger and Health Kick , one kind of bell peppers, Crisp Hybrid and some green bean seeds that this year will not be planted directly under a powdery mildew factory and this year instead of rainbow vegetables I'm going with:
Grown for its fibrous flesh which, when dried, makes the best bath sponges ever! Harvest at 2" long for delectable baby vegetables. Needs at least 90 days to harvest for sponges. North of zone 6, start seeds indoors. Vines spread 12'.
"Grown for its fibrous flesh which, when dried, makes the best bath sponges ever! "
Luffas! They aren't from the sea! Who knew? I'm going to grow sponges! Isn't that the kewlest thing evah? I just thought it seemed so freaking awesome. I can't eat them but I don't eat tomatoes either and this way I'll never be spongless and if it works? Maybe next year I can send homemade gifts to people too. That would be so cool.
My tomatoes are more , um garden variety than last years, but I decided to go with more useful day in/day out tomatoes. I wanted bigger fruits to work with and the exotics I had were all on the small side. I also didn't want to get stuck with tiny tomatoes and this years group has only one smallish variety and its only smallish not tiny. I'm happy. The peppers this year they didn't sell as groups and I just had to pick out the largest variety that got ripe the soonest . I'm probably going to get at least one more variety of pepper in the spring.
I also think I'm going to widen my net garden space-wise as well. I don't have to plant everything in the existing bed, the sponges for instance and the beans I'm thinking are most likely going to be elsewhere, maybe in the front deck or on the side of the house that gets all the sun. I have a lot of time to think about it.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Beige
Christmas is over . Its packed up, boxed up and locked up in the attic for another year.
I miss my decorations! It was time to put them away and they couldn't stay out indefinitely but damn! I miss my twinkle lights and my Santa's and my tree! It was like a huge jeweled brooch in the middle of my room, I loved it and it made everything pretty. I couldn't really see my outside lights but just knowing they were out there made me happy ad made me feel I was doing my part to spread cheer.
I know I cheered up my electric company. I at least made them happy, very happy. Ecstatic. It seems that those pre-lit trees have a whole lot more than three strands of lights on them and that maybe that net light I had draped artfully around the garland on my mantle piece might have also played a part. I thought I was being good! I cut way, way back on my exterior lights! I thought this was good way to go! I didn't even plug in my light up penguin and I love my penguin!
Bygones.
The interior was also cheerful and bright when it was decorated, my normally unremarkable dinning room was cute and my Santa's were all so sweet and happy and for once not all crowed together. I experimented with separating them by size and I think it was a good idea. They seemed happier that way. I am going to have to figure out a way to keep them lit though, I think they would be even more sweet if they didn't look like a bunch of pervs leaning against a way hanging around in the dark. Lighting is totally key in your display. I am hopeing Real Simple will have some ideas on this or maybe Martha Stewart. Somewhere out there there is a person who specializes in Santa Figure lighting who wants to help out a fellow Santa slut.
Undecorated, I had no idea my living room was so beige. It is the beigeiosity, it's a beigefest, a veritable beigegasm. I had never noticed. My couch is green, the chair is floral, the curtains are striped, the walls are yellow and yet the beige predominates. Everything is just so boring now. The living room is dark and gloomy and as I said before, beige, I will say that during the day it is a lot brighter in there with the tree not blocking the window and that's nice, but the room is dullsville. I haven't moved the book shelf back in front of the window and I'm not sure I'm going to. I think I want some kind of shelve there but maybe not what I have - which by the way works beautifully as a sofa table. I don't know, I need to do something with that room.
It may be time to go back to Ikea.
Christmas is over . Its packed up, boxed up and locked up in the attic for another year.
I miss my decorations! It was time to put them away and they couldn't stay out indefinitely but damn! I miss my twinkle lights and my Santa's and my tree! It was like a huge jeweled brooch in the middle of my room, I loved it and it made everything pretty. I couldn't really see my outside lights but just knowing they were out there made me happy ad made me feel I was doing my part to spread cheer.
I know I cheered up my electric company. I at least made them happy, very happy. Ecstatic. It seems that those pre-lit trees have a whole lot more than three strands of lights on them and that maybe that net light I had draped artfully around the garland on my mantle piece might have also played a part. I thought I was being good! I cut way, way back on my exterior lights! I thought this was good way to go! I didn't even plug in my light up penguin and I love my penguin!
Bygones.
The interior was also cheerful and bright when it was decorated, my normally unremarkable dinning room was cute and my Santa's were all so sweet and happy and for once not all crowed together. I experimented with separating them by size and I think it was a good idea. They seemed happier that way. I am going to have to figure out a way to keep them lit though, I think they would be even more sweet if they didn't look like a bunch of pervs leaning against a way hanging around in the dark. Lighting is totally key in your display. I am hopeing Real Simple will have some ideas on this or maybe Martha Stewart. Somewhere out there there is a person who specializes in Santa Figure lighting who wants to help out a fellow Santa slut.
Undecorated, I had no idea my living room was so beige. It is the beigeiosity, it's a beigefest, a veritable beigegasm. I had never noticed. My couch is green, the chair is floral, the curtains are striped, the walls are yellow and yet the beige predominates. Everything is just so boring now. The living room is dark and gloomy and as I said before, beige, I will say that during the day it is a lot brighter in there with the tree not blocking the window and that's nice, but the room is dullsville. I haven't moved the book shelf back in front of the window and I'm not sure I'm going to. I think I want some kind of shelve there but maybe not what I have - which by the way works beautifully as a sofa table. I don't know, I need to do something with that room.
It may be time to go back to Ikea.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Here we go again.
Friday night I decided that I wanted to do something nice for Dogger. I decided that I was going to get her a new and improved E-Collar because I know she hates wearing hers and I thought it would be easy to go and fine a clear one that she could see through. The E-Collar that the vet supplies is opaque white plastic and pretty much like a huge horse blinder and I also think it effects her sense of hearing as well so while she's wearing it she's effectively Helen Keller Dog.
It wouldn't be that big a deal to Dogger or myself, but when she had her initial surgery, she ended up wearing one of the awful things for a month and that was about three weeks longer than she or I was happy with. So far, her incision looks really good but she's still on ABT and those only go for another two days. Last April her leg got infected the day after her two week appointment and the end of the antibiotic therapy. I think the wound looks good but what do I know.
I live near not one but two big box pet supply places. I thought if one couldn't help me the other could. Well, place one didn't have what I wanted and they wanted a lot of money! I'm there for a half a sheet of plastic and they wanted $24! I was floored, I've never been in the market for one before and I thought for some reason that a half a piece of plastic wasn't going to be a big investment. I was thinking more along the lines of $8 tops, I might be up for a larger investment in one of the fancy e-collars, one of the inflatable numbers for example, now those are investment quality e-collars.
Now that's class
Friday night I decided that I wanted to do something nice for Dogger. I decided that I was going to get her a new and improved E-Collar because I know she hates wearing hers and I thought it would be easy to go and fine a clear one that she could see through. The E-Collar that the vet supplies is opaque white plastic and pretty much like a huge horse blinder and I also think it effects her sense of hearing as well so while she's wearing it she's effectively Helen Keller Dog.
It wouldn't be that big a deal to Dogger or myself, but when she had her initial surgery, she ended up wearing one of the awful things for a month and that was about three weeks longer than she or I was happy with. So far, her incision looks really good but she's still on ABT and those only go for another two days. Last April her leg got infected the day after her two week appointment and the end of the antibiotic therapy. I think the wound looks good but what do I know.
I live near not one but two big box pet supply places. I thought if one couldn't help me the other could. Well, place one didn't have what I wanted and they wanted a lot of money! I'm there for a half a sheet of plastic and they wanted $24! I was floored, I've never been in the market for one before and I thought for some reason that a half a piece of plastic wasn't going to be a big investment. I was thinking more along the lines of $8 tops, I might be up for a larger investment in one of the fancy e-collars, one of the inflatable numbers for example, now those are investment quality e-collars.
Now that's classIt looks more comfortable, it doesn't block her vision and I bet it doesn't mess with her antenna either. I am a little concerned about how she would sleep with that on, but I bet she would adjust. These fancy collars aren't any more expensive then the plastic ones - That is at Petco, at Petco the sheets of plastic were at least five dollars more than the same product at Petsmart. Same exact thing, same vendor, everything and there was a $5 difference. Neither place had the fancy collars for any price, both places just had the plastic versions and Wallyworld didn't sell them at all.
Both places wanted to sell me pink and green e-collars. They did not want to sell me clear collars Why? I mean what does the dog care? Was there a study that said that dogs wearing e-collars did better in a pink or green environment? My dog would do better in a world she could actually see. I hate watching her bump herself into the futon and door ways. It makes me sad and I know it doesn't make her happy either. I don't think seeing the world through a rose colored e-collar would be make her happy.
Tomorrow, I hit another Petsmart.
Hey! Happy Binary Day!!
Hey! Happy Binary Day!!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Sick-ish puppy
The vet removed the wire and hopefully the problem. Dogger is back on antibiotics and is to continue her pain meds. The incision is smaller than the last one and shes scheduled to have her stitches removed in ten days, the vet wants good news from us then because his option if she's not recovering, would be to put a wire back in. I don't really want him opening her up again, this time all he had to do was make a small incision and pull the wire out.
Without the wire the only thing holding her knee together is scar tissue and that makes me very concerned because she has less than a year of healing under her collar and most of that time the wound was infected. The vet said the knee felt really good and he feels confident but I know his work and I'm not completely confident.
She's back in an Elizabethan collar and I'm thinking that this go-round I'm going to go get her a nice one at the store because she really does not love life when she's wearing one and the last time around she wore one for over a month and if she must wear one I want her to wear one that is comfortable, She seems pretty perky though, shes awake and alert and scarfed up her dinner and when I take her outside she really moves along at a good clip. I'm hopeful.
The vet removed the wire and hopefully the problem. Dogger is back on antibiotics and is to continue her pain meds. The incision is smaller than the last one and shes scheduled to have her stitches removed in ten days, the vet wants good news from us then because his option if she's not recovering, would be to put a wire back in. I don't really want him opening her up again, this time all he had to do was make a small incision and pull the wire out.
Without the wire the only thing holding her knee together is scar tissue and that makes me very concerned because she has less than a year of healing under her collar and most of that time the wound was infected. The vet said the knee felt really good and he feels confident but I know his work and I'm not completely confident.
She's back in an Elizabethan collar and I'm thinking that this go-round I'm going to go get her a nice one at the store because she really does not love life when she's wearing one and the last time around she wore one for over a month and if she must wear one I want her to wear one that is comfortable, She seems pretty perky though, shes awake and alert and scarfed up her dinner and when I take her outside she really moves along at a good clip. I'm hopeful.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Oops
I didn't plan to not have entry today but I also didn't plan to fall asleep at 8pm in front of a Law and Order rerun either.
Yeah. So. Dogger is going in to have surgery to undo the surgery she had last March. The vet says that during the initial surgery that bacteria got into the wound tract and that he is going to "fix" it. He says that in all the cases he has had this has happened only once before and the next day after the surgery the dog was back to 100%. Dogger peaked at about 78% and has gone down from there. I'm not even sure that 100% would be like anymore. Think positive thoughts for Dogger today.
I didn't plan to not have entry today but I also didn't plan to fall asleep at 8pm in front of a Law and Order rerun either.
Yeah. So. Dogger is going in to have surgery to undo the surgery she had last March. The vet says that during the initial surgery that bacteria got into the wound tract and that he is going to "fix" it. He says that in all the cases he has had this has happened only once before and the next day after the surgery the dog was back to 100%. Dogger peaked at about 78% and has gone down from there. I'm not even sure that 100% would be like anymore. Think positive thoughts for Dogger today.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
This Day in History
Tex Cat
I looked through about 1250 of the 1333 pictures in the "All Tex All The Time" folder
Tex Cat
I looked through about 1250 of the 1333 pictures in the "All Tex All The Time" folder
Rest In Peace.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Brrrrrrr
Its times like this that I wish dogs came knowing how to use litter boxes. The cat looks at me and says "Its colder than a witches tit outside and when I pee, I pee inside. You and Fido feel free to go wander around the yard. I hope nothing you need freezes and falls off while ya'll are outside. I'll be in here, on the couch."
Its times like this that I wish dogs came knowing how to use litter boxes. The cat looks at me and says "Its colder than a witches tit outside and when I pee, I pee inside. You and Fido feel free to go wander around the yard. I hope nothing you need freezes and falls off while ya'll are outside. I'll be in here, on the couch."
Cruel Shoes
Did you know that Monday is "Bad Modern Jazz Night Played Very Loud" at DSW? It is! DSW is floor to ceiling, wall to wall SHOES. You walk in and you walk into shoes. I walked into air. It was off putting. I don't know what kind of post holiday shoegasm the people of Raleigh had, but they cleared the store out. It was a little depressing. I wanted a pair of suitable, office appropriate black, lace up oxford style shoes that were comfortable for walking. I thought there would be a lot of these. I found two pairs that were cute but neither of them suitable for walking. But then I said Where are you walking? You walk down the hall, you walk upstairs. Its not like you're going to walk the Appalachian trail over lunch. Come on. Think about Mr. Right Now Shoe, it doesn't have to be The One True Shoe,! Not all shoes have to be a long term relationship, you need Rebound Shoe!
I checked out the sale racks and I found Right Now Shoe in about forty-five seconds. And then, seeing they were on sale and everything, I looked around to see if there were other shoes I might need and then I found the worlds ugliest shoes and I needed them. They look like the kind of shoes that girl hobbits would wear if hobbits wore shoes, they look like Mary Jane's under going gender reassignment. They are butt ugly but they are butt ugly and Born. They were 50 percent off and they would be mine!
I tried my size but it seemed too big, I wanted these shoes but I wasn't sure I wanted to spend even the sale price to be slightly uncomfortable. So i went on an ugly shoe hunt. The store was mostly empty, House was not on. And I wanted my ugly shoes! and I would have them! And I got 'em! I scared the other ladies in the sale racks with my shoe stalking but I found them at last.
I ended up spending more than I was going to, but I could have conceivably found the pair of black shoes, the perfect pair that filled all my requirements and were the twins to my old pair and if I had to spend to get them, I would have done it, such was my love of those shoes. I didn't find those shoes, I found a different pair that filled the "black" requirement and the "office appropriate" requirement - and to that end, cost about half of what I would have spent for the perfect shoes.
So, now I have a pair of black shoes without holes in the soles to wear to the office and a pair of tan shoes that are ugly but comfortable to wear to the office and the store and out and about.
Did you know that Monday is "Bad Modern Jazz Night Played Very Loud" at DSW? It is! DSW is floor to ceiling, wall to wall SHOES. You walk in and you walk into shoes. I walked into air. It was off putting. I don't know what kind of post holiday shoegasm the people of Raleigh had, but they cleared the store out. It was a little depressing. I wanted a pair of suitable, office appropriate black, lace up oxford style shoes that were comfortable for walking. I thought there would be a lot of these. I found two pairs that were cute but neither of them suitable for walking. But then I said Where are you walking? You walk down the hall, you walk upstairs. Its not like you're going to walk the Appalachian trail over lunch. Come on. Think about Mr. Right Now Shoe, it doesn't have to be The One True Shoe,! Not all shoes have to be a long term relationship, you need Rebound Shoe!
I checked out the sale racks and I found Right Now Shoe in about forty-five seconds. And then, seeing they were on sale and everything, I looked around to see if there were other shoes I might need and then I found the worlds ugliest shoes and I needed them. They look like the kind of shoes that girl hobbits would wear if hobbits wore shoes, they look like Mary Jane's under going gender reassignment. They are butt ugly but they are butt ugly and Born. They were 50 percent off and they would be mine!
I tried my size but it seemed too big, I wanted these shoes but I wasn't sure I wanted to spend even the sale price to be slightly uncomfortable. So i went on an ugly shoe hunt. The store was mostly empty, House was not on. And I wanted my ugly shoes! and I would have them! And I got 'em! I scared the other ladies in the sale racks with my shoe stalking but I found them at last.
I ended up spending more than I was going to, but I could have conceivably found the pair of black shoes, the perfect pair that filled all my requirements and were the twins to my old pair and if I had to spend to get them, I would have done it, such was my love of those shoes. I didn't find those shoes, I found a different pair that filled the "black" requirement and the "office appropriate" requirement - and to that end, cost about half of what I would have spent for the perfect shoes.
So, now I have a pair of black shoes without holes in the soles to wear to the office and a pair of tan shoes that are ugly but comfortable to wear to the office and the store and out and about.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Happy New Year!
2010! Woo! Where is my rocket pack?
I got a late Christmas gift for Dogger and tada! I got the dog crate out of my living room! and replaced it with a dog tent. Huge difference. Really.
I can make the tent go away in seconds! It has it own carrying case! I can zip it together in less than a snap! and it weighs less than Tiny! Ya'll don't know. In truth, I could take apart the crate, it just folded up but, its weighs about a houndred pounds and moving it from point A to point B is less than fun. Also, its a cage and I am really tired of living with a cage in my living room.
The tent is about the same size but comes out to be a little narrower. It does probably take up more visual space than the crate because its solid, but it seems "lighter" somehow than the crate in the space. I introduced Dogger to her new little house and she went in just fine, but she whined about it - which is normal behavior for her if she's in her crate when she's feeling well. So not a problem. She might have also been unhappy because she doesn't have the 360 degree view in the tent that she had become accustomed to in the crate. Okay with being crated? Awesome, accustomed to being crate-fast? Anti-awesome.
We're finally doing something about this. On Thursday she's going to have surgery again to remove the bacteria infested twine. The Doctor and I are hoping this is going to put a stop to the ongoing infections that she's suffered since the surgery. I'm really hopeing that this is going to be her last surgery and we can get off the antibiotic treadmill. Her most recent script ran out on Thursday and her knee is weeping again already and she isn't using the robo-knee to bare weight at all.
I would also really like it if I could live in a house with fewer throw rugs. I have really nice hard wood floors, I would like to see them again and even better, I would like my dog to be able to walk on them too.
2010! Woo! Where is my rocket pack?
I got a late Christmas gift for Dogger and tada! I got the dog crate out of my living room! and replaced it with a dog tent. Huge difference. Really.
I can make the tent go away in seconds! It has it own carrying case! I can zip it together in less than a snap! and it weighs less than Tiny! Ya'll don't know. In truth, I could take apart the crate, it just folded up but, its weighs about a houndred pounds and moving it from point A to point B is less than fun. Also, its a cage and I am really tired of living with a cage in my living room.
The tent is about the same size but comes out to be a little narrower. It does probably take up more visual space than the crate because its solid, but it seems "lighter" somehow than the crate in the space. I introduced Dogger to her new little house and she went in just fine, but she whined about it - which is normal behavior for her if she's in her crate when she's feeling well. So not a problem. She might have also been unhappy because she doesn't have the 360 degree view in the tent that she had become accustomed to in the crate. Okay with being crated? Awesome, accustomed to being crate-fast? Anti-awesome.
We're finally doing something about this. On Thursday she's going to have surgery again to remove the bacteria infested twine. The Doctor and I are hoping this is going to put a stop to the ongoing infections that she's suffered since the surgery. I'm really hopeing that this is going to be her last surgery and we can get off the antibiotic treadmill. Her most recent script ran out on Thursday and her knee is weeping again already and she isn't using the robo-knee to bare weight at all.
I would also really like it if I could live in a house with fewer throw rugs. I have really nice hard wood floors, I would like to see them again and even better, I would like my dog to be able to walk on them too.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Fox News scammed ignorant people.
Fox spent weeks promoting apparent tea party scam
December 31, 2009 4:00 pm ET by Matt Gertz
TPM Media's Zachary Roth reported earlier in the week that the political action committee that organized the Tea Party Express -- Our Country Deserves Better PAC -- funneled almost two-thirds of its spending from July to November back to the political consulting firm from which it was spawned, Russo, Marsh, and Associates. More than $850,000 of the money the supposedly grassroots PAC collected went to the firm of GOP political operatives who ran it.
Fox spent weeks promoting apparent tea party scam
December 31, 2009 4:00 pm ET by Matt Gertz
TPM Media's Zachary Roth reported earlier in the week that the political action committee that organized the Tea Party Express -- Our Country Deserves Better PAC -- funneled almost two-thirds of its spending from July to November back to the political consulting firm from which it was spawned, Russo, Marsh, and Associates. More than $850,000 of the money the supposedly grassroots PAC collected went to the firm of GOP political operatives who ran it.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
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