*Walks in slowly and sinks onto couch*
Well, Mr. Blog,
It's been a long, long day.
At 8:30 I went out to look for Bill Evans to help him set up
for the Kookmore Earth Day park clean up. It was so cold and the
wind was howling down the street, but it was really sunny so the sky
looked like one of those time-lapse movies you see on the Discovery Chanel.
I didn't see Bill so I just started picking up litter around the road and down
in Darcy's bioswill. Poor thing. I can't believe they put in right in front
of her house so Chad can't park his boat in the driveway because
if he backs out the boat lands in the bioswill.
Man that's a big bioswill. It is about one hundred feet long
and twenty feet wide like a giant half of a Quaker oatmeal tube!
It looks cool now that it is full of weeds and mud.
Bill showed up at nine and told me he changed his mind about
running two crews and canceled worked behind our house.
He gave me a ride down the road to the other side of Trail Walk
condominiums where the crews had started last week.
You should have seen the garbage! I filled three huge bags
with cans and beer bottles and other trash.
Leslie, the Kenmore event planner, had the table all set
up for volunteers to sign in so Laurie and I didn't have to do it.
By around ten I saw Liz Mooney-Meyers, Lee and Sam McCravey,
David, Laura, Matthew and Steven Thayer, Camille and Simon Burton,
Trevor Keegan, Michael Collison, Ryan Gilmore. There were several
dozen people I didn't know that turned out to work and you should
have seen it! Chainsaws roaring, trees getting hacked up, everyone
buzzing around filling up sacks of trash like some crazy Easter Egg
hunt without candy. It was one wild morning!
I only lasted until eleven 'cause I'd been picking up litter
down by our house the last two days and was getting worn out.
You would not believe the cute t-shirts Bill Evans brought for
everyone! White with an OFFICIAL City of Kenmore logo on the front
and a pretty light green Earth Day 2010 with a plant logo on the back.
Real 100% cotton of a high quality and thickness too!
I LOVE MY T-SHIRT!
So I socialized and went home and rested a second and I
decided to get my errands done at the Dollar Tree.
It was so sunny that I walked and then stopped at Starbucks
for a small jolt and what a surprise I had. One of my
old Hawaii Starbucks cards had $4.00 on it!!! Woo hoo me.
That gave me such a buzz I decided to walk to Saint Vincent De Paul.
Looks like the remodel is done and I found some hideous looking
shorts and a cute looking romance novel.
Then I looked at that blue sky and decided to walk on down
our brand new sidewalk to Radio Shack.
Well that nice Chris got the back off my Timex with a razor blade
and got my new battery in and I was happy as a clam.
But I had a problem Mr. Blog.
I didn't have enough energy to walk the half mile
back home. I rested against the new fancy-pants
swirly fence at the corner of 68th and SR 522 with my arms
draped up over the top holding me up.
I closed my eyes and let the sun shine on my face.
Luckily, that is the world's longest light and when I heard
the beeping, I sauntered across and down the bike trail.
It was so chilly and windy that the trail hardly had any bikers
so it was pretty safe going. I admired the new trees and fences
and abundant weeds along the parking strip and was home
in about ten minutes.
I unloaded my wares and did some organizing
and jumped in the shower.
I put on my flowered sun dress because I wanted
to show off my new flip-flops but I had a big fashion
problem. My top ribbon on my new flip-flops is navy plaid
and every sundress I own has a floral print. UGH.
So Terry came out of his man cave and said,
"Ready to go?" And I told him I was starving.
I drove us out to Canyon Park Goutback Steakhouse
and our favorite waitress, Barbara, seemed really down.
She was trying to fake it but we could tell and I wished
I could have handed her a check for a million dollars and say,
"Take the day off."
We both had steak and King crab legs.
I don't think I've ever had crab legs before in the shell
but the meat was out of this world!
My steak was perfect but Terry's was rubbery.
I thought he was exaggerating but he gave me a bite
and it was like steak-flavored bubbalicious gum!
Poor thing. He works so hard and the kids and I bleed
him dry daily and he got a bad steak.
I felt horrible for him.
I would have sent it back but he is too nice to do that so
we just accepted the fact that one time in the ten years
we have been going there, he got one bad steak.
After dinner we popped over to the Bothell QFC so
Terry could pick up cash and then went to Gary's Exxon for gas.
Then home sweet home!
I have had an orange for dinner for two months now so that
dinner made my eyelids drop right down to my ankles in a
heartbeat. But I really wanted to tell you about my pleasant
day and the fun and excitement of working with my community
to clean up the new park for Earth Day.
It just meant a lot to me to see people I have known
in Kookmore a decade or more and make our town
beautiful. I love Kenmore Mr. Blog.
Ciao!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
4/25/10 Hopping Mad/Botswana Safari
*prances in merrily and flops on couch*
Oh! I was SO MAD yesterday Mr. Blog. I went to pick up
a student where I was subbing and saw this young man at
the door of the classroom. I asked his if he was student teaching
and he said, "No I just started my long term sub job today."
WELL, I NEVER!!!
He looked about twenty two and right out of teaching college.
I have socks older than that man Mr. Blog!
I had subbed at that school for five years too.
I was so angry and when I got home I got a tiny bit teary
at the injustice of it all.
But, I'm over it and glad to be me and have my perfect life.
I have a way better life than I deserve, that's for sure.
I mean, I am such a total bitch sometimes
and I can nag with the best of them.
I remove the kids X-360 at the drop of a hat
and don't visit my Auntie Jean near as much as I should.
SO, NOW I WANT TO GO ON A SAFARI IN BOTSWANA!
It occurred to me that a twenty seven month stint in the Peace Corps
might be too long. What if Troy got married and had a baby
and I missed the entire thing?! Well, he might not mind but
what if he did? I think there is a maternal law about that kind of thing.
So after reading, "The Double Comfort Safari" a few days ago,
it occurred to me to that there might be pictures on the internet of
Botswana safaris. Turns out safaris are big business Africa and
my friend Marta Moody Collins just got back from a safari in Kenya!
She showed me her 182 pictures and they were absolutely marvelous!
She is so cute too! You should have seen her in 1966 Mr. Blog.
Her mom, Wanda, used to but her hip-length dark hair in ringlets.
I'll have to dig out a picture of us that year in our matching
white go go boots. We'd dance all around her bedroom to
Nancy Sinatra's song, "These Boots Are Made For Walking.
Oh, we thought we were very tough when we were ten.
She had every toy ever made and our favorite were
Creepy Crawlers. We'd go in the basement and make them for hours.
Her mom was so nice to me. In the morning before we walked to school
she'd always let me take peanuts out to the yard for the squirrels.
Their little black dog, Scocie, would go absolutely crazy at the window.
The only mother daughter activity I ever went on with another
mother and daughter was when Wanda and Mom took us to
see, "The Sound of Music." We sang and sang and sang after
we saw that movie. It was a big hit in 1966 when it came out.
So, back to Botswana. If Marta was brave enough to go to Kenya,
I should be able to rally up to go to Botswana.
The ONLY snag is I don't have a job.
Hmmm. I could really get to Botswana fast if I finally got
a teaching job. I love the way it sounds! BOT SWAN A!
Like I DA HO! Lyle had a tee-shirt once with pictures of a man
and his mouth was pronouncing I DA HO. It was really funny
and I hated it but I wish he was alive so I could see him
wearing that awful shirt.
Well, thanks for letting me share my drivel with you
Mr. Blog.
You are the best!
Ciao!
Oh! I was SO MAD yesterday Mr. Blog. I went to pick up
a student where I was subbing and saw this young man at
the door of the classroom. I asked his if he was student teaching
and he said, "No I just started my long term sub job today."
WELL, I NEVER!!!
He looked about twenty two and right out of teaching college.
I have socks older than that man Mr. Blog!
I had subbed at that school for five years too.
I was so angry and when I got home I got a tiny bit teary
at the injustice of it all.
But, I'm over it and glad to be me and have my perfect life.
I have a way better life than I deserve, that's for sure.
I mean, I am such a total bitch sometimes
and I can nag with the best of them.
I remove the kids X-360 at the drop of a hat
and don't visit my Auntie Jean near as much as I should.
SO, NOW I WANT TO GO ON A SAFARI IN BOTSWANA!
It occurred to me that a twenty seven month stint in the Peace Corps
might be too long. What if Troy got married and had a baby
and I missed the entire thing?! Well, he might not mind but
what if he did? I think there is a maternal law about that kind of thing.
So after reading, "The Double Comfort Safari" a few days ago,
it occurred to me to that there might be pictures on the internet of
Botswana safaris. Turns out safaris are big business Africa and
my friend Marta Moody Collins just got back from a safari in Kenya!
She showed me her 182 pictures and they were absolutely marvelous!
She is so cute too! You should have seen her in 1966 Mr. Blog.
Her mom, Wanda, used to but her hip-length dark hair in ringlets.
I'll have to dig out a picture of us that year in our matching
white go go boots. We'd dance all around her bedroom to
Nancy Sinatra's song, "These Boots Are Made For Walking.
Oh, we thought we were very tough when we were ten.
She had every toy ever made and our favorite were
Creepy Crawlers. We'd go in the basement and make them for hours.
Her mom was so nice to me. In the morning before we walked to school
she'd always let me take peanuts out to the yard for the squirrels.
Their little black dog, Scocie, would go absolutely crazy at the window.
The only mother daughter activity I ever went on with another
mother and daughter was when Wanda and Mom took us to
see, "The Sound of Music." We sang and sang and sang after
we saw that movie. It was a big hit in 1966 when it came out.
So, back to Botswana. If Marta was brave enough to go to Kenya,
I should be able to rally up to go to Botswana.
The ONLY snag is I don't have a job.
Hmmm. I could really get to Botswana fast if I finally got
a teaching job. I love the way it sounds! BOT SWAN A!
Like I DA HO! Lyle had a tee-shirt once with pictures of a man
and his mouth was pronouncing I DA HO. It was really funny
and I hated it but I wish he was alive so I could see him
wearing that awful shirt.
Well, thanks for letting me share my drivel with you
Mr. Blog.
You are the best!
Ciao!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
4/22/10 RHS/Earth Day/Double Comfort Safari
*Skips in merrily and perches on edge of chair*
Hi Mr. Blog. Happy Earth Day!
I just got called to work this afternoon so I'd better be quick.
I picked up Margo and took her to Mimi's law office in Wedgewood
the night before last for her 35Th Roosevelt high school reunion
planning meeting. I asked to be removed from the committee because
I had this idea my business would take off and I'd be too busy to
work on the committee but as it turned out, it didn't.
So it was fun to see Mimi and sit in her swanky law office and look
at her important-looking law books covering one whole wall!
Marta and Louie, Lisa and Marcia were there so that was fun
and Stephanie Cobb Winegard and Michelle Moyes were there.
I hadn't seen them since the last reunion so that was really fun.
Mimi had Jeanne Hsu on the speaker-phone which was very exciting!
I felt like we were Charlie's Angels getting our assignments!
They have some UW faculty snazzy place overlooking Husky Stadium
and the water all lined up and fancy-pants food in place.
Geez they are all so smart and ambitious and nice and funny.
I handed Marta my camera to take one picture of the group working
and she went to take a close up of me sitting next to her.
I jumped up and put her in a half Nelson for fun and grabbed my
camera. I hope she isn't mad at me and as usual I was totally
inappropriate wrestling at the meeting. I excel at that.
So yesterday, I met with the head of the Kenmore Park department
and the biologist leading the Earth Day clean up in the park
next to our house Saturday and we walked all around the park.
I showed them that where they planned to clean up was right
underneath sissy's window and that she was having an
anxiety attack over workers coming there when she is home
on Saturday. They decided not to work right there after
I told them about her many, many health problems.
I told Bill my main worry was homeless people peering
in our yard if they take out all the blackberries and he said that
a privacy fence was a totally reasonable request of the City.
Before the blackberries filled in Mr. Blog, we always had
homeless people getting off the bus in front of our house
from Seattle in the summer and sleeping behind and next to
our property. Terry didn't mind but it gave me the creeps!
So thinking we will get a privacy fence made me very excited
about the new park! I wish I hadn't sent the landscape designers
hate mail about putting the trail behind my house because now
I really like the idea and Bill Evans certainly won't hire me after that.
I'm such an idiot sometimes! Okay, most of the time it seems.
Well, on the brightest, bright side, I got my brand new
Alexander McCall Smith book Tuesday down at 3rd Place Books
called, "The Double Comfort Safari." I finished it last night and it
was like a mental hot bubble-bath.
It was funny when I was walking to the check out at Third Place Books
and a lady saw my book and exclaimed over it. I stopped and showed
it to her because they hadn't put it out on the shelves yet
and the saleslady had to go to the back room to get it for me.
She said she was a huge fan of the series and said she couldn't
wait to find out what Madame Ramotswe was up to.
Well, I never knew how to pronounce her name so it was
very delightful to hear it said out loud! That was a nice lady.
I love, love, loved that book and now I want to go on that
safari up there in North Botswana when Bren and I go.
We will finish our Peace Corps job in 2017 in Botswana so
we can just head up there before we fly back home.
I dreamed I was on that safari in the canoe on that river.
Ohhhh, scary and dangerous and so exciting! Can't wait.
I had a million things planned to do today but I have to
be a work in an hour so I'd better dash.
Ciao!
Hi Mr. Blog. Happy Earth Day!
I just got called to work this afternoon so I'd better be quick.
I picked up Margo and took her to Mimi's law office in Wedgewood
the night before last for her 35Th Roosevelt high school reunion
planning meeting. I asked to be removed from the committee because
I had this idea my business would take off and I'd be too busy to
work on the committee but as it turned out, it didn't.
So it was fun to see Mimi and sit in her swanky law office and look
at her important-looking law books covering one whole wall!
Marta and Louie, Lisa and Marcia were there so that was fun
and Stephanie Cobb Winegard and Michelle Moyes were there.
I hadn't seen them since the last reunion so that was really fun.
Mimi had Jeanne Hsu on the speaker-phone which was very exciting!
I felt like we were Charlie's Angels getting our assignments!
They have some UW faculty snazzy place overlooking Husky Stadium
and the water all lined up and fancy-pants food in place.
Geez they are all so smart and ambitious and nice and funny.
I handed Marta my camera to take one picture of the group working
and she went to take a close up of me sitting next to her.
I jumped up and put her in a half Nelson for fun and grabbed my
camera. I hope she isn't mad at me and as usual I was totally
inappropriate wrestling at the meeting. I excel at that.
So yesterday, I met with the head of the Kenmore Park department
and the biologist leading the Earth Day clean up in the park
next to our house Saturday and we walked all around the park.
I showed them that where they planned to clean up was right
underneath sissy's window and that she was having an
anxiety attack over workers coming there when she is home
on Saturday. They decided not to work right there after
I told them about her many, many health problems.
I told Bill my main worry was homeless people peering
in our yard if they take out all the blackberries and he said that
a privacy fence was a totally reasonable request of the City.
Before the blackberries filled in Mr. Blog, we always had
homeless people getting off the bus in front of our house
from Seattle in the summer and sleeping behind and next to
our property. Terry didn't mind but it gave me the creeps!
So thinking we will get a privacy fence made me very excited
about the new park! I wish I hadn't sent the landscape designers
hate mail about putting the trail behind my house because now
I really like the idea and Bill Evans certainly won't hire me after that.
I'm such an idiot sometimes! Okay, most of the time it seems.
Well, on the brightest, bright side, I got my brand new
Alexander McCall Smith book Tuesday down at 3rd Place Books
called, "The Double Comfort Safari." I finished it last night and it
was like a mental hot bubble-bath.
It was funny when I was walking to the check out at Third Place Books
and a lady saw my book and exclaimed over it. I stopped and showed
it to her because they hadn't put it out on the shelves yet
and the saleslady had to go to the back room to get it for me.
She said she was a huge fan of the series and said she couldn't
wait to find out what Madame Ramotswe was up to.
Well, I never knew how to pronounce her name so it was
very delightful to hear it said out loud! That was a nice lady.
I love, love, loved that book and now I want to go on that
safari up there in North Botswana when Bren and I go.
We will finish our Peace Corps job in 2017 in Botswana so
we can just head up there before we fly back home.
I dreamed I was on that safari in the canoe on that river.
Ohhhh, scary and dangerous and so exciting! Can't wait.
I had a million things planned to do today but I have to
be a work in an hour so I'd better dash.
Ciao!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
4/18/10 Weighted Down By Worry, Has Lots of Whine to Cope
*Drags in and flops down on couch*
Ugh, Mr. Blog.
I feel like a giant sack of flour is pressing on me as I lie here.
I can just visualize that.
The giant bag is pressing harder and harder and I feel bits
of flour on my fingertips when I rub them together.
My head is sideways and the flour dust is getting thicker
and thicker until all I see is white.
My chest and torso and legs are getting flatter and flatter
and I am struggling for air...
Wow Mr. Blog, *gasps raspily* You look so weird sitting
there like a white marble statue, covered in flour.
What do you think I should do Mr. Blog?
*Listens to him*
Well, yes, I knew you would say, "What do you think?"
I think I should just wallow in self-pity.
My ex-friend Arlene Foley told me one time that it is perfectly
acceptable to wallow in self-pity as long as you put a time limit on it.
Like a week or a few days.
But I have kids to take care of so I don't have that luxury
of just staying in bed for days and saying no to living.
So I don't have a full time job.
So I don't have my business going at a very fast pace.
So my husband it totally irritated that I don't contribute to the bills.
So my kids hate me because if they don't do their chores I remove
their electronic X-Box 360 until they shape up.
So my house needs painting and the roof is covered with moss.
So I still have my dead parents stuff in my basement after seven years.
So I'm lonely because everyone has jobs and there is no one to goof off with.
So I lost my business partner because she needed income sooner than later.
So I miss my mom and dad and have been crying a lot lately.
So my linoleum has holes in it with duct tape over them.
So both bathrooms have old basins that are cracked and ugly.
So my clothes are all ten years old and from the thrift store.
So my carpet has a million Kool-Aid stains that won't come out.
So the wood on our deck is old and splintered.
So I don't have a Rebel motorcycle and cute leather clothes
to wear when I ride around on it.
So I don't have a hot tub to ache my soaking ex-femailman body in.
So we have a boat we can't sell sitting in the driveway.
HELP MR. BLOG! I'm suffocating!
*Coughs and gasps for air*
What?! Is there anything right in my life you ask?
*Wheezily answers*
We all have perfect health!!!
Wow, I can breathe again Mr. Blog.
Thanks. You are the best. At least I can breathe again.
The flour sack is still so heavy now but I'll think happy thoughts
and see if I can't bust it open like a bomb.
We own our home.
We live in a fantastic location.
Terry has a job so we get to keep our home.
My kids are smart and popular.
We all enjoy each other and have fun together.
We have lots of nice friends and relatives and neighbors.
It is springtime so the days are getting longer.
We still have Troy's old cat Smokey.
I made a new family at church from strangers.
I get to see Margo tonight and Mimi.
*POW! Flour sack explodes leaving her covered in white and
she sits up and looks over at Mr. Blog and laughs and laughs*
Hahahahaha! Look at us Mr. Blog! We look like
statues! That is the funniest thing I have ever not seen!
Well, I feel so much better.
I think I can jump around with my Jane Fonda tape now
and forget about not getting a sub job today.
I have errands to run and I think I have processed everything
bothering me but boy do I need a shower!
I just hope this flour doesn't stop up my drain 'cause
I don't want even one more glass of whine today!
Cheers!
Ugh, Mr. Blog.
I feel like a giant sack of flour is pressing on me as I lie here.
I can just visualize that.
The giant bag is pressing harder and harder and I feel bits
of flour on my fingertips when I rub them together.
My head is sideways and the flour dust is getting thicker
and thicker until all I see is white.
My chest and torso and legs are getting flatter and flatter
and I am struggling for air...
Wow Mr. Blog, *gasps raspily* You look so weird sitting
there like a white marble statue, covered in flour.
What do you think I should do Mr. Blog?
*Listens to him*
Well, yes, I knew you would say, "What do you think?"
I think I should just wallow in self-pity.
My ex-friend Arlene Foley told me one time that it is perfectly
acceptable to wallow in self-pity as long as you put a time limit on it.
Like a week or a few days.
But I have kids to take care of so I don't have that luxury
of just staying in bed for days and saying no to living.
So I don't have a full time job.
So I don't have my business going at a very fast pace.
So my husband it totally irritated that I don't contribute to the bills.
So my kids hate me because if they don't do their chores I remove
their electronic X-Box 360 until they shape up.
So my house needs painting and the roof is covered with moss.
So I still have my dead parents stuff in my basement after seven years.
So I'm lonely because everyone has jobs and there is no one to goof off with.
So I lost my business partner because she needed income sooner than later.
So I miss my mom and dad and have been crying a lot lately.
So my linoleum has holes in it with duct tape over them.
So both bathrooms have old basins that are cracked and ugly.
So my clothes are all ten years old and from the thrift store.
So my carpet has a million Kool-Aid stains that won't come out.
So the wood on our deck is old and splintered.
So I don't have a Rebel motorcycle and cute leather clothes
to wear when I ride around on it.
So I don't have a hot tub to ache my soaking ex-femailman body in.
So we have a boat we can't sell sitting in the driveway.
HELP MR. BLOG! I'm suffocating!
*Coughs and gasps for air*
What?! Is there anything right in my life you ask?
*Wheezily answers*
We all have perfect health!!!
Wow, I can breathe again Mr. Blog.
Thanks. You are the best. At least I can breathe again.
The flour sack is still so heavy now but I'll think happy thoughts
and see if I can't bust it open like a bomb.
We own our home.
We live in a fantastic location.
Terry has a job so we get to keep our home.
My kids are smart and popular.
We all enjoy each other and have fun together.
We have lots of nice friends and relatives and neighbors.
It is springtime so the days are getting longer.
We still have Troy's old cat Smokey.
I made a new family at church from strangers.
I get to see Margo tonight and Mimi.
*POW! Flour sack explodes leaving her covered in white and
she sits up and looks over at Mr. Blog and laughs and laughs*
Hahahahaha! Look at us Mr. Blog! We look like
statues! That is the funniest thing I have ever not seen!
Well, I feel so much better.
I think I can jump around with my Jane Fonda tape now
and forget about not getting a sub job today.
I have errands to run and I think I have processed everything
bothering me but boy do I need a shower!
I just hope this flour doesn't stop up my drain 'cause
I don't want even one more glass of whine today!
Cheers!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
4/18/10 Trail Trials and Vendor Tent
*Walks in happily and lies down*
What a pretty sunny day Mr. Blog. I love sunshine and don't
understand how I can be a Seattle native as much as I hate rain.
I didn't sleep much so I was dragging all day but I forced myself
to go to church and I was glad I did because Mary was there.
I can't believe I forgot her last name. It'll come to me.
She is from Port Angeles and so a bunch of her homies
came out last week to celebrate her birthday with her.
She said they went to the downtown Seattle Ivars.
I LOVE Ivars Fish and Chips! Yum. Yum.
Did I ever tell you I used to deliver his mail when I worked
out of the Magnolia post office? What a cute little post office that
was right on Main Street in 1978. I'll be they replaced it by now.
So Laura Bolger did a bang up job with that sermon about Peter
and going fishing and Jesus inviting them to breakfast.
It is way more fun going to church since I went to the
women's retreat and the ladies' tea. I know way more
people than I did even one year ago.
All the people there are so warm and friendly and I totally forgot
to tell you last week that Stephen Tarr did my favorite sermon
about Doubting Thomas. Those that believe without seeing...
You know what Mr. Blog? I do have Faith that the world and all the people
and animals are going to work out harmoniously.
So I got home and did chores and looked up the latest
on the park behind our house. Oh God what a nightmare!
They plan to remove all the blackberries right behind my house
and put in a raised boardwalk trail right there.
After three years of road construction while they renovated Highway 522
right in front of my house, the city plans to construct a trail right behind
my house! I know I told you this before but they said they'd update
the plan after the majority of people voted for a perimeter trail
down to the river. Liars. I'm so calling every single council member
to find out which trail they support then I'm only voting for the members
that push for the river trail. When Laurie and I went down there last
week, I was in awe of the beauty of that river!
Well, I got myself in a worry party and decided to take a nap
but I was too upset at the prospect of the trail next to my house
to sleep last night or this afternoon.
I dragged my new tent out and set it up and it looked wonderful
but it is 10x10 and I can't remember if my booth is 10x10 or 8x8.
It is an awesome design and I would like to thank the person that designed it.
It is like an old-school accordion style drying rack only with legs
and the top is attached on with velcro. It even comes with a darling
wheeled carrying case. Oh God, Mr. Blog.
If I could sell the last four hundred games I'd come home with
eight thousand dollars and could get caught up on my business
loans. I'm trying not to panic but it DOES take money
to make money. Lots of it too.
So I'm just tossing out all my worries into a big wooden bucket.
The old-fashioned kind with slats and wires.
It weighs a ton with all my worries but
I'm going to lift with my knees, not with my back
like they trained me at the post office in 1978.
I'm going to carefully lift it up and handed it right up to God.
God will know what to do about the trail
and my tent and my marraige.
Because he is God and
I have faith.
Ciao.
What a pretty sunny day Mr. Blog. I love sunshine and don't
understand how I can be a Seattle native as much as I hate rain.
I didn't sleep much so I was dragging all day but I forced myself
to go to church and I was glad I did because Mary was there.
I can't believe I forgot her last name. It'll come to me.
She is from Port Angeles and so a bunch of her homies
came out last week to celebrate her birthday with her.
She said they went to the downtown Seattle Ivars.
I LOVE Ivars Fish and Chips! Yum. Yum.
Did I ever tell you I used to deliver his mail when I worked
out of the Magnolia post office? What a cute little post office that
was right on Main Street in 1978. I'll be they replaced it by now.
So Laura Bolger did a bang up job with that sermon about Peter
and going fishing and Jesus inviting them to breakfast.
It is way more fun going to church since I went to the
women's retreat and the ladies' tea. I know way more
people than I did even one year ago.
All the people there are so warm and friendly and I totally forgot
to tell you last week that Stephen Tarr did my favorite sermon
about Doubting Thomas. Those that believe without seeing...
You know what Mr. Blog? I do have Faith that the world and all the people
and animals are going to work out harmoniously.
So I got home and did chores and looked up the latest
on the park behind our house. Oh God what a nightmare!
They plan to remove all the blackberries right behind my house
and put in a raised boardwalk trail right there.
After three years of road construction while they renovated Highway 522
right in front of my house, the city plans to construct a trail right behind
my house! I know I told you this before but they said they'd update
the plan after the majority of people voted for a perimeter trail
down to the river. Liars. I'm so calling every single council member
to find out which trail they support then I'm only voting for the members
that push for the river trail. When Laurie and I went down there last
week, I was in awe of the beauty of that river!
Well, I got myself in a worry party and decided to take a nap
but I was too upset at the prospect of the trail next to my house
to sleep last night or this afternoon.
I dragged my new tent out and set it up and it looked wonderful
but it is 10x10 and I can't remember if my booth is 10x10 or 8x8.
It is an awesome design and I would like to thank the person that designed it.
It is like an old-school accordion style drying rack only with legs
and the top is attached on with velcro. It even comes with a darling
wheeled carrying case. Oh God, Mr. Blog.
If I could sell the last four hundred games I'd come home with
eight thousand dollars and could get caught up on my business
loans. I'm trying not to panic but it DOES take money
to make money. Lots of it too.
So I'm just tossing out all my worries into a big wooden bucket.
The old-fashioned kind with slats and wires.
It weighs a ton with all my worries but
I'm going to lift with my knees, not with my back
like they trained me at the post office in 1978.
I'm going to carefully lift it up and handed it right up to God.
God will know what to do about the trail
and my tent and my marraige.
Because he is God and
I have faith.
Ciao.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
4/17/2010 Earth Day & Flip-Flops
*Bounces in merrily and sits in wing back chair*
Good afternoon Mr. Blog,
I had the best day. I slept great and got up at seven and
put on my gardening clothes and crept over the half dozen or so
teen bodies to get out to my cedar tree.
It has tons of babies so I dug out six dozen
and planted them early for Earth Day which is April 22ND.
Then Patty picked me up and we zipped up Lake City Way
to Freddies and went window shopping.
I looked and looked at tents to replace the one of Terry's that
I accidentally broke the main pole to. Ugh Mr. Blog.
That tent is one hundred and fifty dollars. Waaa. Patty
said it would be cheaper on Amazon.com and it was by
about fifty dollars. Terry is a name-brand guy and will HAVE
to have a Coleman tent. Darn it anyway.
Oh well, I'll have a small paycheck the thirtieth to replace it with.
Then we looked at all the cute stuff all over the store and
dreamed about having jobs. We both like nice housewares.
On the way out I remembered that I haven't had new
flip-flops in ten years so we looked at their huge selection.
I found the cutest flip-flops in the world Mr. Blog! LOOK!
*Holds up foot*
Well they were more than the one dollar I have ever spent on
flip-flops by a long-shot. Six dollars! Ouch!
But they are so comfortable and Patty says navy and white
is especially attractive in summer and I agree.
Can't go wrong with something nautical-looking for summer.
So I was all happy until Terry got home and starting whining
about the bills again.
I have applied for every job under the sun but with eleven million
Americans looking for jobs right now I really don't know
what on earth he expects me to do.
Well, now it is cold and pouring down rain so I'd better find
some long pants and socks and shoes.
I thought it was summer for a minute there!
Ciao
Good afternoon Mr. Blog,
I had the best day. I slept great and got up at seven and
put on my gardening clothes and crept over the half dozen or so
teen bodies to get out to my cedar tree.
It has tons of babies so I dug out six dozen
and planted them early for Earth Day which is April 22ND.
Then Patty picked me up and we zipped up Lake City Way
to Freddies and went window shopping.
I looked and looked at tents to replace the one of Terry's that
I accidentally broke the main pole to. Ugh Mr. Blog.
That tent is one hundred and fifty dollars. Waaa. Patty
said it would be cheaper on Amazon.com and it was by
about fifty dollars. Terry is a name-brand guy and will HAVE
to have a Coleman tent. Darn it anyway.
Oh well, I'll have a small paycheck the thirtieth to replace it with.
Then we looked at all the cute stuff all over the store and
dreamed about having jobs. We both like nice housewares.
On the way out I remembered that I haven't had new
flip-flops in ten years so we looked at their huge selection.
I found the cutest flip-flops in the world Mr. Blog! LOOK!
*Holds up foot*
Well they were more than the one dollar I have ever spent on
flip-flops by a long-shot. Six dollars! Ouch!
But they are so comfortable and Patty says navy and white
is especially attractive in summer and I agree.
Can't go wrong with something nautical-looking for summer.
So I was all happy until Terry got home and starting whining
about the bills again.
I have applied for every job under the sun but with eleven million
Americans looking for jobs right now I really don't know
what on earth he expects me to do.
Well, now it is cold and pouring down rain so I'd better find
some long pants and socks and shoes.
I thought it was summer for a minute there!
Ciao
Friday, April 16, 2010
4/16/2010 Teen Chow Quest & Bad Dial Soap
*Walks in gingerly and lies on couch*
Wow Mr. Blog,
For not getting much sleep I sure did a lot. I'm beat.
After I saw you this morning I tried extra hard when I jumped
around with my Jane Fonda tape and then showered and dashed off.
I went straight to Grocery Outlet and thanked God when I saw two
vendor tents left. I was so surprised to see Roberta Trahan checking
at that store. She is a delightful person and so is her daughter Morgan.
I think she was in Jake Comb's class five years ago when I subbed
for her when her dad was so ill. Now she is in ninth grade already.
I popped in the Dollar Tree for a few things and much to my dismay
they had sold out of the Benedryll capsules that I use for sleep.
I knew I should have bought every single jar when the store opened.
The identical allergy pills are ten dollars at Safeway. Ugh.
It was friskily sunny out so I just cruised right over to Woodinville.
I got to Costco and admired all the big shoppers shopping for big
quantities of stuff. Nothing better than being an American in the land
of plenty and nothing says plenty better than Costco.
I got tons of frozen burritos, taquitos and chimechangas for
the teenagers along with a bunch of deli meats and hoagy rolls.
When the weather gets better the numbers of teens swells up
considerably. I remembered we were out of Dial soap and could not
believe it was only three dollars for eighteen bars, but you know
what Mr. Blog? You get what you pay for which was nine bars of soap!
I got home and opened one and they had carved it in half in a weird shape.
I am so boycotting Dial Soap from now on and we go through tons of soap!
It's an insult to the intelligence of Americans to sell us a concave
bar of soap and I won't tolerate it. I thought maybe the odd shape
would be better and I gave it a try but it was uncomfortable to
hold and smaller than a normal rectangular bar so not only did
I feel completely uncomfortable, I felt ripped off by the missing
one third bar of soap I thought I'd paid for. Those dirty Dial dogs!
Like we are too stupid too notice half the bar of soap is missing?
To think of the cost of casting the new molds for that disgusting,
inferior product! Mr. Dial should be ashamed of himself.
Shame on you Mr. Dial!!! Ahhh. I feel so much better.
Mr. Dial can kiss my grits if he thinks I'll buy any Dial product again.
When I dislike one product, I boycott the entire line of products.
Well, nice to have that off my chest.
So I popped down to Target for some undershirts and was stunned
that they wanted eight dollars for an undershirt. Well, I went right
over to the men's department and saw they were three dollars each
there so I got three. Saved nine dollars! No one sees them anyway.
I lucked out after that at the Pawn Exchange back in Kookmore
and found the second Matrix movie for me and Teddy and it was
only fifty cents! What a bargain! Our machine plays DVDs and VHS
so I didn't care if it was a tape.
I remembered when DVDs came out thinking they would never catch on
but I was wrong about that. Thankfully, but don't you wonder if
all our landfills are full of old VHS tapes and what about the eight tracks
and cassettes? Are there zillions of them all stacked in garbage dumps?
No wonder we are in so much trouble environmentally.
People should quit inventing so much new stuff!
Which reminds me and I hope I read it wrong, wrong, wrong,
but I think the Seattle Times this morning said President Obama
has given the space program the green light to go to Mars.
I hope I hallucinated that one Mr. Blog!
How can they even contemplate having a space program at all
when millions of people on the planet are starving and don't have
clean drinking water or homes?!
The space program is the biggest waste of tax dollars invented!
For what?! Tang? Geesh.
So after the Pawn Exchange I dashed into Slaveway for some Kool Aid
and hand lotion for my face and found the Suave oatmeal lotion
that I love, love, love. Great products Suave has! Love them.
I had a big chicken foot long at Slubway after that and it gave
me the energy to go clear to Lake Forest Park.
I almost cried when they told me the ninth book in my
Alexander McCall-Smith series, "The #1 Ladies' Detective Agency"
was not going to be in until Tuesday! Ohhhhh, the agony.
I'm in total Botswana withdrawal....
By the time I got home, Troy was home from high school and he
and Dakota unloaded all the food for me and I got it all put away.
At three o'clock Laurie Sperry showed up and we went down
my little road to the bridge and went on Secret Walk.
Pam and Al used to always take my kids on that walk but
in twenty years I had never been on it. The canary grass had gotten
dry and fallen over and we had to high step it most of the mile
down to the river. Oh the memories it brought back of taking
Troy down there before our bridge washed out over Swamp Creek.
He learned to run down there and we'd be there all day with Luki
or with Mom and Lyle or Terry or all of us. The meadow was
so big along the river back then we used to play softball down there.
I'd forgotten that the bridge washed out in 1996, the year Teddy was
born so he'd never gotten to go down that old trail and across the bridge.
We meandered all along the deer trails and I even saw some deer tracks
in the soft sand. It got really hot out, like sixty-five so it was a
glorious time down there at the river.
We explored all around but the blackberries had grown over most of it.
We found lots of garbage all over down there that was
disgusting to see and spots where people had camped out down there.
I'm so glad we went because the grass will be taller than me by July
and I don't know that I'll get a chance to go down there by then.
I saw the spots along the river where Mrs. Davis and Betty West
had their boat houses. The bank was dug back where the boats used to sit
and there was old lumber left of Betty West's along the side that was
all grown over. When we moved in she used to let us keep our canoe
in her boathouse along the river, which made for some mighty fun
and easy to start adventures on that big, big river.
I hope Laurie can talk the rest of the city council into getting my
perimeter trail put in so it has a boat launch there. I could
hook my canoe on it's wheeled cart and wheel it right down
my little road and down the trail and into the drink.
Doesn't that sound fun Mr.Blog?
*Looks over and sees he's sound asleep and tiptoes out*
Wow Mr. Blog,
For not getting much sleep I sure did a lot. I'm beat.
After I saw you this morning I tried extra hard when I jumped
around with my Jane Fonda tape and then showered and dashed off.
I went straight to Grocery Outlet and thanked God when I saw two
vendor tents left. I was so surprised to see Roberta Trahan checking
at that store. She is a delightful person and so is her daughter Morgan.
I think she was in Jake Comb's class five years ago when I subbed
for her when her dad was so ill. Now she is in ninth grade already.
I popped in the Dollar Tree for a few things and much to my dismay
they had sold out of the Benedryll capsules that I use for sleep.
I knew I should have bought every single jar when the store opened.
The identical allergy pills are ten dollars at Safeway. Ugh.
It was friskily sunny out so I just cruised right over to Woodinville.
I got to Costco and admired all the big shoppers shopping for big
quantities of stuff. Nothing better than being an American in the land
of plenty and nothing says plenty better than Costco.
I got tons of frozen burritos, taquitos and chimechangas for
the teenagers along with a bunch of deli meats and hoagy rolls.
When the weather gets better the numbers of teens swells up
considerably. I remembered we were out of Dial soap and could not
believe it was only three dollars for eighteen bars, but you know
what Mr. Blog? You get what you pay for which was nine bars of soap!
I got home and opened one and they had carved it in half in a weird shape.
I am so boycotting Dial Soap from now on and we go through tons of soap!
It's an insult to the intelligence of Americans to sell us a concave
bar of soap and I won't tolerate it. I thought maybe the odd shape
would be better and I gave it a try but it was uncomfortable to
hold and smaller than a normal rectangular bar so not only did
I feel completely uncomfortable, I felt ripped off by the missing
one third bar of soap I thought I'd paid for. Those dirty Dial dogs!
Like we are too stupid too notice half the bar of soap is missing?
To think of the cost of casting the new molds for that disgusting,
inferior product! Mr. Dial should be ashamed of himself.
Shame on you Mr. Dial!!! Ahhh. I feel so much better.
Mr. Dial can kiss my grits if he thinks I'll buy any Dial product again.
When I dislike one product, I boycott the entire line of products.
Well, nice to have that off my chest.
So I popped down to Target for some undershirts and was stunned
that they wanted eight dollars for an undershirt. Well, I went right
over to the men's department and saw they were three dollars each
there so I got three. Saved nine dollars! No one sees them anyway.
I lucked out after that at the Pawn Exchange back in Kookmore
and found the second Matrix movie for me and Teddy and it was
only fifty cents! What a bargain! Our machine plays DVDs and VHS
so I didn't care if it was a tape.
I remembered when DVDs came out thinking they would never catch on
but I was wrong about that. Thankfully, but don't you wonder if
all our landfills are full of old VHS tapes and what about the eight tracks
and cassettes? Are there zillions of them all stacked in garbage dumps?
No wonder we are in so much trouble environmentally.
People should quit inventing so much new stuff!
Which reminds me and I hope I read it wrong, wrong, wrong,
but I think the Seattle Times this morning said President Obama
has given the space program the green light to go to Mars.
I hope I hallucinated that one Mr. Blog!
How can they even contemplate having a space program at all
when millions of people on the planet are starving and don't have
clean drinking water or homes?!
The space program is the biggest waste of tax dollars invented!
For what?! Tang? Geesh.
So after the Pawn Exchange I dashed into Slaveway for some Kool Aid
and hand lotion for my face and found the Suave oatmeal lotion
that I love, love, love. Great products Suave has! Love them.
I had a big chicken foot long at Slubway after that and it gave
me the energy to go clear to Lake Forest Park.
I almost cried when they told me the ninth book in my
Alexander McCall-Smith series, "The #1 Ladies' Detective Agency"
was not going to be in until Tuesday! Ohhhhh, the agony.
I'm in total Botswana withdrawal....
By the time I got home, Troy was home from high school and he
and Dakota unloaded all the food for me and I got it all put away.
At three o'clock Laurie Sperry showed up and we went down
my little road to the bridge and went on Secret Walk.
Pam and Al used to always take my kids on that walk but
in twenty years I had never been on it. The canary grass had gotten
dry and fallen over and we had to high step it most of the mile
down to the river. Oh the memories it brought back of taking
Troy down there before our bridge washed out over Swamp Creek.
He learned to run down there and we'd be there all day with Luki
or with Mom and Lyle or Terry or all of us. The meadow was
so big along the river back then we used to play softball down there.
I'd forgotten that the bridge washed out in 1996, the year Teddy was
born so he'd never gotten to go down that old trail and across the bridge.
We meandered all along the deer trails and I even saw some deer tracks
in the soft sand. It got really hot out, like sixty-five so it was a
glorious time down there at the river.
We explored all around but the blackberries had grown over most of it.
We found lots of garbage all over down there that was
disgusting to see and spots where people had camped out down there.
I'm so glad we went because the grass will be taller than me by July
and I don't know that I'll get a chance to go down there by then.
I saw the spots along the river where Mrs. Davis and Betty West
had their boat houses. The bank was dug back where the boats used to sit
and there was old lumber left of Betty West's along the side that was
all grown over. When we moved in she used to let us keep our canoe
in her boathouse along the river, which made for some mighty fun
and easy to start adventures on that big, big river.
I hope Laurie can talk the rest of the city council into getting my
perimeter trail put in so it has a boat launch there. I could
hook my canoe on it's wheeled cart and wheel it right down
my little road and down the trail and into the drink.
Doesn't that sound fun Mr.Blog?
*Looks over and sees he's sound asleep and tiptoes out*
4/16/10 Stupid Insomnia
*Drags in and flops on couch*
Ugh Mr. Blog, help me.
I had insomnia and I can't get up.
I'm so worried about paying my business charge card
I can't see straight. I haven't sold any games or shirts
in months and don't have the money for the minimum payment.
I am praying that my sub teaching paycheck will even be enough
for the minimum payment and I think it will but the uncertainty
is killing me.
I need, need, need a full time job to cover my start-up costs.
That's all there is to it.
Ciao
Ugh Mr. Blog, help me.
I had insomnia and I can't get up.
I'm so worried about paying my business charge card
I can't see straight. I haven't sold any games or shirts
in months and don't have the money for the minimum payment.
I am praying that my sub teaching paycheck will even be enough
for the minimum payment and I think it will but the uncertainty
is killing me.
I need, need, need a full time job to cover my start-up costs.
That's all there is to it.
Ciao
Thursday, April 15, 2010
4/15/10 Band Camp in Ireland Job
*Walks in cheerfully and lies down*
What an odd dream I had this morning Mr. Blog.
I got hired to teach at band camp in Ireland and I was living
with my brother-in-law Mathew and his friend Yair.
I don't even know how to read music so what a strange job for me!
Plus I have only met Mathew and Yair a few times since
they live in Ireland.
But I have always wanted to go to Ireland since some of my
ancestors were from there and I was a huge fan of all the
James Herriot books when they came out years ago.
So, in the dream, I'm in their house while they are at work.
It is modern-looking with cedar paneling and big windows on the
back looking out on a green, forested ravine.
I didn't have to work until the next day so I was wandering
around looking for something helpful to do and I
found an office that had a new, modern-looking sewing machine.
I saw some pants next to it that needed mending and I was just
starting to mend them when I woke up.
What do you make of that Mr. Blog?
What a busy day today was Mr. Blog! It was Terry's day off so I made
enough ham and eggs, fried potatoes with cheddar cheese and toast
for five people. He was quite pleased since I hadn't spoken to him in days
since he was nagging me about money again the other day.
It was like the first, most totally glorious day of spring so
we went across the street to Starbucks for coffee.
They had put in sumptuous new armchairs by the fireplace and we
lucked out and got two! It was free coffee day for Earth Day if you
brought your own cup and I had a delightful iced coffee.
We still hate Mr. Schultz but not enough to turn down free coffee!
We chatted and then walked to the new Grocery Outlet store.
I showed Terry the pop-up vendor tents that are on sale for $59.00
and he said I could buy one tomorrow on payday. There were only two
left so I'll be praying that one is left tomorrow morning when I get there!
My booth will look so spiffy at the University District Street Fair
next month with my fancy-pants booth!
I can't wait for the fair!
I have been in sales withdrawal for weeks now and thought about
looking for a sales-junkie twelve step program.
When I tried to sell games on the sidewalk across the street from
Marcia Procter's house to some teenagers Patty just about
died from embarrassment but I couldn't control my need to sell.
I was Jonesing for for it!
Patty told me I should go sell houses or cars if I loved to sell that much,
but it isn't just about just selling anything.
My addiction runs much, much deeper than that.
It's about selling a product that I think makes learning a
difficult subject fun! It's hard to explain!
I want to sell something I have made to help people have fun.
I hope I don't sound crazier than usual.
I was sad for years when my parents died and it is weird
to feel like my old self for the first time in seven years.
It's like I missed seven years of living because of grieving
and now I want to cram seven years of fun into one day!
I'm so excited about everything again that I was down the hall before
I came in visiting with the Amtrack salesman!
I had an entire train trip planned for August for me and Terry and
the kids to Utah to visit Chuck and Raylene Naftzger!
I couldn't think about them for years without crying because
Raylene was my mom's best friend and it was just too painful.
Of course we can't afford it and they probably couldn't stand our kids,
but it was darn fun to daydream.
Can you believe that round-trip tickets for four are only
one thousand dollars?!
Well, there is always next summer and we are all in perfect health
so there is no rush.
The website had pictures of the fancy-pants sleeper chairs
and schematics of the sleeping cars.
Now wouldn't that be super-fun?!
To have your own room on a train?!
Nothing sounds more fun than that to me
and when Gin Latin goes global, I'm buying Amtrack
tickets with sleeping rooms from coast to coast!
Doesn't that sound fun Mr. Blog?!
*Sees him sleeping and tiptoes out*
What an odd dream I had this morning Mr. Blog.
I got hired to teach at band camp in Ireland and I was living
with my brother-in-law Mathew and his friend Yair.
I don't even know how to read music so what a strange job for me!
Plus I have only met Mathew and Yair a few times since
they live in Ireland.
But I have always wanted to go to Ireland since some of my
ancestors were from there and I was a huge fan of all the
James Herriot books when they came out years ago.
So, in the dream, I'm in their house while they are at work.
It is modern-looking with cedar paneling and big windows on the
back looking out on a green, forested ravine.
I didn't have to work until the next day so I was wandering
around looking for something helpful to do and I
found an office that had a new, modern-looking sewing machine.
I saw some pants next to it that needed mending and I was just
starting to mend them when I woke up.
What do you make of that Mr. Blog?
What a busy day today was Mr. Blog! It was Terry's day off so I made
enough ham and eggs, fried potatoes with cheddar cheese and toast
for five people. He was quite pleased since I hadn't spoken to him in days
since he was nagging me about money again the other day.
It was like the first, most totally glorious day of spring so
we went across the street to Starbucks for coffee.
They had put in sumptuous new armchairs by the fireplace and we
lucked out and got two! It was free coffee day for Earth Day if you
brought your own cup and I had a delightful iced coffee.
We still hate Mr. Schultz but not enough to turn down free coffee!
We chatted and then walked to the new Grocery Outlet store.
I showed Terry the pop-up vendor tents that are on sale for $59.00
and he said I could buy one tomorrow on payday. There were only two
left so I'll be praying that one is left tomorrow morning when I get there!
My booth will look so spiffy at the University District Street Fair
next month with my fancy-pants booth!
I can't wait for the fair!
I have been in sales withdrawal for weeks now and thought about
looking for a sales-junkie twelve step program.
When I tried to sell games on the sidewalk across the street from
Marcia Procter's house to some teenagers Patty just about
died from embarrassment but I couldn't control my need to sell.
I was Jonesing for for it!
Patty told me I should go sell houses or cars if I loved to sell that much,
but it isn't just about just selling anything.
My addiction runs much, much deeper than that.
It's about selling a product that I think makes learning a
difficult subject fun! It's hard to explain!
I want to sell something I have made to help people have fun.
I hope I don't sound crazier than usual.
I was sad for years when my parents died and it is weird
to feel like my old self for the first time in seven years.
It's like I missed seven years of living because of grieving
and now I want to cram seven years of fun into one day!
I'm so excited about everything again that I was down the hall before
I came in visiting with the Amtrack salesman!
I had an entire train trip planned for August for me and Terry and
the kids to Utah to visit Chuck and Raylene Naftzger!
I couldn't think about them for years without crying because
Raylene was my mom's best friend and it was just too painful.
Of course we can't afford it and they probably couldn't stand our kids,
but it was darn fun to daydream.
Can you believe that round-trip tickets for four are only
one thousand dollars?!
Well, there is always next summer and we are all in perfect health
so there is no rush.
The website had pictures of the fancy-pants sleeper chairs
and schematics of the sleeping cars.
Now wouldn't that be super-fun?!
To have your own room on a train?!
Nothing sounds more fun than that to me
and when Gin Latin goes global, I'm buying Amtrack
tickets with sleeping rooms from coast to coast!
Doesn't that sound fun Mr. Blog?!
*Sees him sleeping and tiptoes out*
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
4/13/10 Substitute Teacher, Flight Attendant, Mail Carrier
*Drags in and flops on couch smiling*
Oh Mr. Blog,
I had the best time subbing today.
I did third grade the first half of the day
and kindergarten the second half.
Those kindergartners are so tiny and cute!
None of them had any front teeth.
My pal Liz said I should let the principal
know that I'd be interested in any long-term sub
jobs so I did! I was so nervous but you know what?
She was really nice too!
I gave her a copy of my resume because I have now
taken fifteen voluntary professional development classes
and that ought to count for something.
Seven years in the sub pool is a very long time.
I was only a substitute mail carrier five years before I
got my very own mail route-well after I was stuck being
a T-6 for a year. What a nightmare that was.
A T-6 does five routes on a rotation to cover the regular
mail carrier's rotating day off. When they end Saturday mail
delivery those people will all lose their jobs.
Then when I was a substitute flight attendant, it was called
being a "Reserve" flight attendant. I went off and on reserve
the first three years and so that wasn't too bad.
Matter of fact, one time it was totally awesome!
I was based in Honolulu at the time with Debbie Agricola
and a bunch of junior pals. Debbie and I shared the crash-pad
basement of this gorgeous house by Diamond Head just up
from Queens beach. We had the nicest roommates!
Three of them lived there full time: Patty, Kelly and Carol
and three of us rotated in and out in the basement.
I loved Hawaii except for the cockroaches.
One time Deb and I were laying in our twin beds blabbing
and this huge flying cockroach came flying out of the sky
and bounced off my chest! I was screaming so hard!
We flipped on the light and saw it on the floor and it was
four inches long and really hefty like a linebacker cockroach.
I slept with my sheet over my head and went to the store
the next day and bought ten cockroach traps and placed them
all around my bed. When we flew different times Debbie would
always have them all around her bed.
Anyway, me, Debbie, Keeka and our other five best friends were
laying on the beach out at Sandy Beach sunbathing one day
and Debbie's beeper went off so she ran across the road
to the phone booth and called scheduling. This was before
cell phones were invented in 1987. She started screaming,
"I'M GOING TO TAHITI!" over and over again so we all
jumped up and ran to the phone booth and I called next
and got assigned the trip and asked the scheduler if I could
please pass the phone to the person I was with and she said sure.
So we passed the phone down the line until all seven of us
we on the trip that night! Oh my God Mr. Blog!
We deadheaded down there with eight other junior pals
and got to Tahiti to the nicest hotel in the world!
We sat reserve there to cover a 747 crew of fourteen people
for the entire week! And guess what?! No one ever got sick
so we got to swim and snorkel all day and party all night
and go sightseeing and shopping and at night the hotel
would have Tahitian dancers perform. I liked the men
dancing with swords and torches! Man that looked dangerous!
They would give our crew fashion shows and teach us how to wear
a Sari a zillion different ways. Man, that was some good subbing!
I was only twenty-nine and looked really cute back then since
I was like only size six and one hundred and twenty-five pounds.
Ahhh, those were the days! Man we had fun in Tahiti but it
was way too hot for me. Like in the nineties all the time.
But I had ALWAYS wanted to go there and I did.
So back to today.
After I talked to the principal and gave her my resume
I could have just skipped down the hall I was so happy.
That is like the nicest public school in the world too Mr. Blog!
It is like a private school it is so fancy and it a lovely neighborhood.
But you know what Mr. Blog? I think seven years subbing should
count for something don't you?
Oh Mr. Blog,
I had the best time subbing today.
I did third grade the first half of the day
and kindergarten the second half.
Those kindergartners are so tiny and cute!
None of them had any front teeth.
My pal Liz said I should let the principal
know that I'd be interested in any long-term sub
jobs so I did! I was so nervous but you know what?
She was really nice too!
I gave her a copy of my resume because I have now
taken fifteen voluntary professional development classes
and that ought to count for something.
Seven years in the sub pool is a very long time.
I was only a substitute mail carrier five years before I
got my very own mail route-well after I was stuck being
a T-6 for a year. What a nightmare that was.
A T-6 does five routes on a rotation to cover the regular
mail carrier's rotating day off. When they end Saturday mail
delivery those people will all lose their jobs.
Then when I was a substitute flight attendant, it was called
being a "Reserve" flight attendant. I went off and on reserve
the first three years and so that wasn't too bad.
Matter of fact, one time it was totally awesome!
I was based in Honolulu at the time with Debbie Agricola
and a bunch of junior pals. Debbie and I shared the crash-pad
basement of this gorgeous house by Diamond Head just up
from Queens beach. We had the nicest roommates!
Three of them lived there full time: Patty, Kelly and Carol
and three of us rotated in and out in the basement.
I loved Hawaii except for the cockroaches.
One time Deb and I were laying in our twin beds blabbing
and this huge flying cockroach came flying out of the sky
and bounced off my chest! I was screaming so hard!
We flipped on the light and saw it on the floor and it was
four inches long and really hefty like a linebacker cockroach.
I slept with my sheet over my head and went to the store
the next day and bought ten cockroach traps and placed them
all around my bed. When we flew different times Debbie would
always have them all around her bed.
Anyway, me, Debbie, Keeka and our other five best friends were
laying on the beach out at Sandy Beach sunbathing one day
and Debbie's beeper went off so she ran across the road
to the phone booth and called scheduling. This was before
cell phones were invented in 1987. She started screaming,
"I'M GOING TO TAHITI!" over and over again so we all
jumped up and ran to the phone booth and I called next
and got assigned the trip and asked the scheduler if I could
please pass the phone to the person I was with and she said sure.
So we passed the phone down the line until all seven of us
we on the trip that night! Oh my God Mr. Blog!
We deadheaded down there with eight other junior pals
and got to Tahiti to the nicest hotel in the world!
We sat reserve there to cover a 747 crew of fourteen people
for the entire week! And guess what?! No one ever got sick
so we got to swim and snorkel all day and party all night
and go sightseeing and shopping and at night the hotel
would have Tahitian dancers perform. I liked the men
dancing with swords and torches! Man that looked dangerous!
They would give our crew fashion shows and teach us how to wear
a Sari a zillion different ways. Man, that was some good subbing!
I was only twenty-nine and looked really cute back then since
I was like only size six and one hundred and twenty-five pounds.
Ahhh, those were the days! Man we had fun in Tahiti but it
was way too hot for me. Like in the nineties all the time.
But I had ALWAYS wanted to go there and I did.
So back to today.
After I talked to the principal and gave her my resume
I could have just skipped down the hall I was so happy.
That is like the nicest public school in the world too Mr. Blog!
It is like a private school it is so fancy and it a lovely neighborhood.
But you know what Mr. Blog? I think seven years subbing should
count for something don't you?
4/13/2010 Meatloaf Sandwiches
*Bounces in merrily and perches on edge of chair*
Guess what Mr. Blog?!
After I saw you yesterday when I was depressed I did something
I never do! I took a bubble bath and went back to bed.
When I woke up at noon I felt all better. As our marriage counselor
once said, "Fatigue Makes Everything Worse." He had it on a poster too.
So I got right up and jumped around with my Jane Fonda tape
and cleaned the house and made meatloaf for Terry and the kids.
I'm back to my "Orange for Dinner" diet and eating all my
calories at breakfast and lunch. I used my grandmothers secret recipe
for the meatloaf and made two five pounders.
I made myself a meatloaf sandwich for work today.
A meatloaf sandwich is my mom talking to me from heaven and she says,
"I love you baby." Those were her dying words to me Mr. Blog.
And meatloaf just represents family love and everything they wish
for you: happiness, success, achievements met, and love.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!
All in one convenient sandwich that I'll wolf down between
classes at Brookside Elementary today!
Ciao!
Guess what Mr. Blog?!
After I saw you yesterday when I was depressed I did something
I never do! I took a bubble bath and went back to bed.
When I woke up at noon I felt all better. As our marriage counselor
once said, "Fatigue Makes Everything Worse." He had it on a poster too.
So I got right up and jumped around with my Jane Fonda tape
and cleaned the house and made meatloaf for Terry and the kids.
I'm back to my "Orange for Dinner" diet and eating all my
calories at breakfast and lunch. I used my grandmothers secret recipe
for the meatloaf and made two five pounders.
I made myself a meatloaf sandwich for work today.
A meatloaf sandwich is my mom talking to me from heaven and she says,
"I love you baby." Those were her dying words to me Mr. Blog.
And meatloaf just represents family love and everything they wish
for you: happiness, success, achievements met, and love.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!
All in one convenient sandwich that I'll wolf down between
classes at Brookside Elementary today!
Ciao!
Monday, April 12, 2010
4/12/2010 The DS Blues Bar
*Opens different door that has old, peeling red paint on it and murmurs*
Oh my God. I guess I'm not the only one.
*Squints into Dark, Smoky bar and sees Mr. Blog and walks
over to his rickety table and sits on a tippy old chair*
This is different Mr. Blog. What is this place?
*listens to his story*
I can't believe you would ever come to a place like this but I have
heard that well-educated people with jobs and money like to "slum it."
It is so weird to see dozens of people in pajamas in the middle of the day.
*Looks at table then lights a Salem light and gulps her 7 7.*
Bleh, that is awful. I don't even drink or smoke but I like it.
*Looks at raised platform and hears old black men singing the blues*
"No job, no money-
dirty looks
from my honey"
Wow Mr. Blog. I could have written that song.
Funny how this makes me feel better.
Like I'm not alone in my joblessness and total despair.
I feel less alone and pathetic and at least we went somewhere.
Beats staying at home in our pajamas.
Oh my God. I guess I'm not the only one.
*Squints into Dark, Smoky bar and sees Mr. Blog and walks
over to his rickety table and sits on a tippy old chair*
This is different Mr. Blog. What is this place?
*listens to his story*
I can't believe you would ever come to a place like this but I have
heard that well-educated people with jobs and money like to "slum it."
It is so weird to see dozens of people in pajamas in the middle of the day.
*Looks at table then lights a Salem light and gulps her 7 7.*
Bleh, that is awful. I don't even drink or smoke but I like it.
*Looks at raised platform and hears old black men singing the blues*
"No job, no money-
dirty looks
from my honey"
Wow Mr. Blog. I could have written that song.
Funny how this makes me feel better.
Like I'm not alone in my joblessness and total despair.
I feel less alone and pathetic and at least we went somewhere.
Beats staying at home in our pajamas.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
4/11/2010 Crying in Rite Aid & BUMC Tea
*Skips in merrily*
Ahhh, I feel so much better today.
Right before I woke up yesterday I had this horrible nightmare.
I was sitting at the dining room table with three checkbook
registers and all of our accounts were overdrawn by $500.00.
I woke up and I was sweating and panting I was so upset.
Then I realized, yes, I DON'T have a full time job.
I think it was taking the census taker job test that triggered it.
I was so miserable that I could barely jump around
with my Jane Fonda tape and dress myself by noon.
The kids were watching TV downstairs and Terry was at work
so I had to think about what to do to cheer up and I
decided that doing something nice for someone else usually worked.
But I was so cold and tired and depressed that
I wanted to go back to bed.
I put on my batik travel outfit and white loafers
and went to Rite Aid and tried to make reprints
of the BUMC women's retreat to take to the tea.
I was so tired I couldn't think straight and I only had
twenty dollars Terry left so I could go to the tea and
I goofed up and tried to cancel the first order
and only use my $3.99 coupon.
Well, seventy pictures got printed and I told the
young man I could only afford the coupon special
and that he'd have to throw away my mistakes and he said,
"I can't see doing that."
Well, we walked up front and he asked Michelle
what to do and she just looked at my sad face and said,
"Let her keep the mistake and use the coupon."
I got all choked up that she was kind to me and
paid as fast as I could because my eyes started leaking
at her kindness. I was just overwhelmed that as
useless as I felt that anyone could value me at all.
She was admiring my off-white mohair
mushroom hat from Target a few years ago
and when mummy died and I had her matching hat so
I gave her mine and kept mummy's hat for me.
The Kenmore Rite Aid has the nicest employees in the world!
When Mabel locked her keys in her car a few months ago
in their parking lot, Ronnie and Dave dashed her to
my house so I could get the new locksmith Christopher,
to get into her car in the parking lot.
She had forgotten where her extra set of keys were
and I looked everywhere in her house and never found it
but at eighty-nine that is to be expected.
So I drove up to the church for the BUMC tea
and sat with three nice ladies I had seen but not met before
and then Eleanor Green came in and sat next to me.
I pretended she was my grandmother and doted on her
and held her hand and she liked that.
WOW. When it comes to food those church ladies
DO NOT MESS AROUND!
I was so stunned at the non-stop chow that for a minute
I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
I have gone back to water for dinner and one thousand calories
a day so you can just imagine how much I loved all those
tiny tea-sandwiches, and salad and scones with that lemon stuff
and an entire tray of itsy bitsy cookies and miniature cupcakes.
YUM.
Well, I was happy that my church retreat carpool partner
Lynn, was the ring-leader for this big do.
She got right up there at the microphone and talked
about the history of the tea and how it is a mission fund-raiser.
I had thought about going to the tea for a decade but I always
thought that Pam and I would be doing all that stuff together
as old ladies. What a huge disappointment she has turned out
to be as a church buddy. And she found that church for us too!
Then she pulled her typical puny, weird crap and didn't
want to go because when she was sick I kept going without her
and started knowing more people and when she got better and came
back they said hi to me by name. Well, duh, Mr. Blog.
I wear my name tag!
Burns my butt that she can't just ever put my feelings
first and go to church with me. Like it's expensive or something. UGH!
So anyway, besides seeing Lynn from the retreat, I saw Jen,
Jeanne and Lorinda and Kathy Baker. I gave Kathy all the
reprints from the retreat because I didn't see her taking any
pictures there and she was the ring-leader of that gig.
I had a set for Pastor Laura with a thank you card for the
"Holding it All Together" seminar but she wasn't there so
I left it on the desk in the office.
I had the cutest close-up of her and Lynn.
I don't envy her job.
Mom was married to Lyle for many decades
and when I visited them in Pocatello, Colville, Malta and Orem,
there were sad jobs as part of that job. We'd take communion
to nursing homes and Lyle had to do memorials and things like that
and help with the saddest of sad times for people that believed.
Lynn introduced the guest speaker, master gardener
Barbara Flynn and she gave a hysterically funny
demonstration of potting flowers.
Everyone was highly interested and some people took notes.
I can barely dress myself these days so I don't want plants.
I tried to garden for years and years and no one would help
pull weeds or water so I ripped out my garden and put in a pool!
Smartest thing I ever did.
I had signed up for clean up after the tea so I started
racking up the chairs. Felt like I was back at scouts.
If I had a dime for every chair I'd racked up after
community events as a scout leader for ten years
I'd be a millionaire!
I asked Kathy Baker what we were raising funds for with
the tea party price and she told me it was for mission work.
I thought twelve dollars for tea was a fortune and I was happy
to hear that. I told her I wanted to go to Botswana and she said
to talk to Kristen because she went to Africa twice on missions!
Well, when I was storing the tiny topiary centerpieces she
was in the back room making some dough stuff in a big
bowl and I asked her about it and she said it was very
interesting and that I needed to go to United Methodist
website and surf around there.
We got that social hall all lickety-splitted up and
I met a nice lady named, bleh, starts with a G or J
and helped her carry her deceased aunts tea cups out to her car.
Then I went to the Kenmore Grocery Outlet Grand opening sale.
It had finally warmed up, much to my surprise, because it was
twenty-eight degrees when I got up and was hot and sunny.
The new store is BEAUTIFUL Mr. Blog and I ran into
Laurie Sperry right off the bat. I love her. She is just
a breath of fresh air on feet as far as I'm concerned.
I can't believe she can sit through those long, boring
tedious city council meetings! Ugh. I could never do that!
She had what I thought was a giant camping chair in her cart
and when I asked her about it she said it was a canopy.
She showed it to me and I was stunned because it is
EXACTLY what I need for my new career as a show vendor!
It is a ten by ten foot pop-up canopy with a
delightfully attractive navy blue fabric nylon top!!!
And get this Mr. Blog! They are only $49.99!
I am praying so hard there are some left there payday!
Laurie showed me that it comes with a cute stuff bag on wheels.
She is so nice.
I entered the drawing for free groceries for a year
and did a little prayer about that since the teens are eating us
out of house and home.
When I went outside, I was admiring the fruit display and told
the employee I loved the new store and needed to send my son
over to get a job and he said, "Send him over!"
Then I went to the new Kenmore Dollar Tree store and ran
into Laurie again and invited her to go look at the trail I
want improved and she said she'd like that so we wrote
out a rain-check for a coffee trail investigation date.
When I got home I decided to mail Suzanne and Auntie Jean
and Heidi and Cousin Carolyn letters with some Easter pictures
but I got distracted with the United Methodist Mission website
and then Teddy wanted to watch The Matrix with me.
It was my favorite movie when it came out and I hadn't watched
it for twenty years. I love the cool special effects but now that
I'm older it gave me nightmares. Everything gives me nightmares!
Hahahahha. Brenny called right after I went to bed and filled
me in on Tony and Mel's wedding. It stopped pouring right
before the wedding. Thank God since it was outside.
She told me Tom is taking off for two weeks to Arizona to learn
how to install solar panels and she invited me out.
Well, that cheered me up considerably but I told her
Terry wouldn't send me again after sending me twice in six months.
She said she might buy me a ticket and I told her I'm in.
She has bought me tickets many times in the past that I
paid back but I owe too much cash on my business to do that.
I think she probably will and I'll find out later today.
Cheers me up thinking about it.
No such thing as too much Hawaii.
Ahhh, I feel so much better today.
Right before I woke up yesterday I had this horrible nightmare.
I was sitting at the dining room table with three checkbook
registers and all of our accounts were overdrawn by $500.00.
I woke up and I was sweating and panting I was so upset.
Then I realized, yes, I DON'T have a full time job.
I think it was taking the census taker job test that triggered it.
I was so miserable that I could barely jump around
with my Jane Fonda tape and dress myself by noon.
The kids were watching TV downstairs and Terry was at work
so I had to think about what to do to cheer up and I
decided that doing something nice for someone else usually worked.
But I was so cold and tired and depressed that
I wanted to go back to bed.
I put on my batik travel outfit and white loafers
and went to Rite Aid and tried to make reprints
of the BUMC women's retreat to take to the tea.
I was so tired I couldn't think straight and I only had
twenty dollars Terry left so I could go to the tea and
I goofed up and tried to cancel the first order
and only use my $3.99 coupon.
Well, seventy pictures got printed and I told the
young man I could only afford the coupon special
and that he'd have to throw away my mistakes and he said,
"I can't see doing that."
Well, we walked up front and he asked Michelle
what to do and she just looked at my sad face and said,
"Let her keep the mistake and use the coupon."
I got all choked up that she was kind to me and
paid as fast as I could because my eyes started leaking
at her kindness. I was just overwhelmed that as
useless as I felt that anyone could value me at all.
She was admiring my off-white mohair
mushroom hat from Target a few years ago
and when mummy died and I had her matching hat so
I gave her mine and kept mummy's hat for me.
The Kenmore Rite Aid has the nicest employees in the world!
When Mabel locked her keys in her car a few months ago
in their parking lot, Ronnie and Dave dashed her to
my house so I could get the new locksmith Christopher,
to get into her car in the parking lot.
She had forgotten where her extra set of keys were
and I looked everywhere in her house and never found it
but at eighty-nine that is to be expected.
So I drove up to the church for the BUMC tea
and sat with three nice ladies I had seen but not met before
and then Eleanor Green came in and sat next to me.
I pretended she was my grandmother and doted on her
and held her hand and she liked that.
WOW. When it comes to food those church ladies
DO NOT MESS AROUND!
I was so stunned at the non-stop chow that for a minute
I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
I have gone back to water for dinner and one thousand calories
a day so you can just imagine how much I loved all those
tiny tea-sandwiches, and salad and scones with that lemon stuff
and an entire tray of itsy bitsy cookies and miniature cupcakes.
YUM.
Well, I was happy that my church retreat carpool partner
Lynn, was the ring-leader for this big do.
She got right up there at the microphone and talked
about the history of the tea and how it is a mission fund-raiser.
I had thought about going to the tea for a decade but I always
thought that Pam and I would be doing all that stuff together
as old ladies. What a huge disappointment she has turned out
to be as a church buddy. And she found that church for us too!
Then she pulled her typical puny, weird crap and didn't
want to go because when she was sick I kept going without her
and started knowing more people and when she got better and came
back they said hi to me by name. Well, duh, Mr. Blog.
I wear my name tag!
Burns my butt that she can't just ever put my feelings
first and go to church with me. Like it's expensive or something. UGH!
So anyway, besides seeing Lynn from the retreat, I saw Jen,
Jeanne and Lorinda and Kathy Baker. I gave Kathy all the
reprints from the retreat because I didn't see her taking any
pictures there and she was the ring-leader of that gig.
I had a set for Pastor Laura with a thank you card for the
"Holding it All Together" seminar but she wasn't there so
I left it on the desk in the office.
I had the cutest close-up of her and Lynn.
I don't envy her job.
Mom was married to Lyle for many decades
and when I visited them in Pocatello, Colville, Malta and Orem,
there were sad jobs as part of that job. We'd take communion
to nursing homes and Lyle had to do memorials and things like that
and help with the saddest of sad times for people that believed.
Lynn introduced the guest speaker, master gardener
Barbara Flynn and she gave a hysterically funny
demonstration of potting flowers.
Everyone was highly interested and some people took notes.
I can barely dress myself these days so I don't want plants.
I tried to garden for years and years and no one would help
pull weeds or water so I ripped out my garden and put in a pool!
Smartest thing I ever did.
I had signed up for clean up after the tea so I started
racking up the chairs. Felt like I was back at scouts.
If I had a dime for every chair I'd racked up after
community events as a scout leader for ten years
I'd be a millionaire!
I asked Kathy Baker what we were raising funds for with
the tea party price and she told me it was for mission work.
I thought twelve dollars for tea was a fortune and I was happy
to hear that. I told her I wanted to go to Botswana and she said
to talk to Kristen because she went to Africa twice on missions!
Well, when I was storing the tiny topiary centerpieces she
was in the back room making some dough stuff in a big
bowl and I asked her about it and she said it was very
interesting and that I needed to go to United Methodist
website and surf around there.
We got that social hall all lickety-splitted up and
I met a nice lady named, bleh, starts with a G or J
and helped her carry her deceased aunts tea cups out to her car.
Then I went to the Kenmore Grocery Outlet Grand opening sale.
It had finally warmed up, much to my surprise, because it was
twenty-eight degrees when I got up and was hot and sunny.
The new store is BEAUTIFUL Mr. Blog and I ran into
Laurie Sperry right off the bat. I love her. She is just
a breath of fresh air on feet as far as I'm concerned.
I can't believe she can sit through those long, boring
tedious city council meetings! Ugh. I could never do that!
She had what I thought was a giant camping chair in her cart
and when I asked her about it she said it was a canopy.
She showed it to me and I was stunned because it is
EXACTLY what I need for my new career as a show vendor!
It is a ten by ten foot pop-up canopy with a
delightfully attractive navy blue fabric nylon top!!!
And get this Mr. Blog! They are only $49.99!
I am praying so hard there are some left there payday!
Laurie showed me that it comes with a cute stuff bag on wheels.
She is so nice.
I entered the drawing for free groceries for a year
and did a little prayer about that since the teens are eating us
out of house and home.
When I went outside, I was admiring the fruit display and told
the employee I loved the new store and needed to send my son
over to get a job and he said, "Send him over!"
Then I went to the new Kenmore Dollar Tree store and ran
into Laurie again and invited her to go look at the trail I
want improved and she said she'd like that so we wrote
out a rain-check for a coffee trail investigation date.
When I got home I decided to mail Suzanne and Auntie Jean
and Heidi and Cousin Carolyn letters with some Easter pictures
but I got distracted with the United Methodist Mission website
and then Teddy wanted to watch The Matrix with me.
It was my favorite movie when it came out and I hadn't watched
it for twenty years. I love the cool special effects but now that
I'm older it gave me nightmares. Everything gives me nightmares!
Hahahahha. Brenny called right after I went to bed and filled
me in on Tony and Mel's wedding. It stopped pouring right
before the wedding. Thank God since it was outside.
She told me Tom is taking off for two weeks to Arizona to learn
how to install solar panels and she invited me out.
Well, that cheered me up considerably but I told her
Terry wouldn't send me again after sending me twice in six months.
She said she might buy me a ticket and I told her I'm in.
She has bought me tickets many times in the past that I
paid back but I owe too much cash on my business to do that.
I think she probably will and I'll find out later today.
Cheers me up thinking about it.
No such thing as too much Hawaii.
Friday, April 9, 2010
4/9/10 Peace Corps, Bonnie Forsyth-Rygh, Census Job Test
*Bounces in merrily*
Ahhh, nothing like sleeping in your own bed Mr. Blog!
Did you miss me? Better grab your pillow for this one!
*Waits for him to lie down on opposite couch with gold lame pillow*
So when I left here two days ago, I went down the hall
to study how to help the orphans in Botswana and saw a notice
for the Peace Corps. I tried to apply online but it
didn't work so I went to their office and talked to a nice man.
I was sad to hear I didn't qualify to go because I wanted to go
in November. Turns out if you have kids under 18 you can't go.
The time commitment is twenty-seven months. Ugh.
My teen sons hate me because I take away their awful video
games at the drop of a hate and they would LOVE to get rid of me!
Terry thinks I am nothing more than a useless parasite so
why would I want to stay here?! Short answer: I DON'T.
I called Brenny and told her I am going to join Peace Corps in 2015
when Teddy finishes Inglemoor and you know what she said?!
She said she had wanted to join Peace Corps since 1970 or go
to India to help the late Mother Theresa. Well, I thought
about India and parts of Asia then and how they can't get birth control.
The Philippines is all Catholic too so they can't get birth control.
It's just not fair Mr. Blog!
I CAN'T STAND THE THOUGHT OF PEOPLE STARVING
OR NOT HAVING CLEAN WATER OR SHELTER!
Ugh. I need to calm down, *Breathes deeply*
So Brenny said she will go with me but wonders if her husband
might not like it. Terry wouldn't notice if I was gone for twenty-seven months.
I could like, mail a pot roast Express Mail once a month
and he'd be happy.
Brenda and I discussed at depth the fact that we both come from
families of long livers and that we'd still have one
more decade of good health and two more of crappy health
after we got home from Botswana.
We agreed we've had so much fun in this lifetime that if we did get murdered
over there for being the wrong color we didn't mind.
As long as we get to help and adopt the orphans
and make some new friends and avoid mamba snakes.
Doesn't that sound like a great plan Mr. Blog?
*Looks over and smiles at him sleeping*
So our new motto is BOB 2015!
Botswana Or Bust in 2015.
So I finished packing to go visit Bonnie and asked Terry for
five dollars in case I needed coffee on the way and do you know
what he said?! "You had coffee and you have gas, you don't need money."
I was so hopping mad!
If I had a job and he didn't I'd give him ANYTHING HE WANTED.
So I buzzed down to Third Place Books and picked up a
shopping bag of used books by Alexander McCall-Smith
and put it on the charge card.
I don't care about new clothes or shoes
but I would be Jonesing bad for some new books
by Alexander McCall-Smith if I didn't have plenty
stored up. Now I have two dozen that I'm saving
up for my half-sister Heidi. She said she has always wanted
to read them, that they were her grandmother's favorite
books. I'm saving them for her for Christmas!
So, I hopped on I-5 and drag-raced up to exit 210 and
followed my mail to the entrance of Eagle's Ridge.
Now Bonnie forgot to mention that it was a private development
with a big NO TRESPASSING violators will be prosecuted sign at the entrance.
I knew from being a mail carrier ten years that I had to go in.
So, off I went and winding around through the mansions was pleasant.
A big fat deer was wandering down the road
and it looked like Mount Rainier National Park
only you got to stay in a mansion instead of a tent!
Well, then of course I thought about the people
in Botswana that are dying from AIDS and the
one million orphans in Africa and I felt sad.
It just seemed wrong somehow,
I pushed my thoughts of social inequity aside and found
Bonnie's driveway and was hoping she remembered I was coming!
I pulled up to her house and she came out and I was so happy.
She gave me a tour of her home and it was so lovely.
The decor was inviting country-living style and I felt
at home right away. Both her kids moved out since they are
twenty eight and twenty six so she told me to take either room upstairs.
I chose the one facing east and it had a panoramic view of the
Stillaguamish River and Cascade Mountains and the snow
level was at near eye-level.
Her husband doesn't want her to work outside the home
but after looking at that huge monster of a house, I knew she had
more work in that house than ANY job could entail!
She felt like getting out so we climbed into her totally awesome
pick-up truck! It was so huge and high up it had ladders built
in and on the back were duel tires in case we go a flat.
And get this Mr. Blog! The seats had built in heaters!
Have you ever heard of such a thing? Wow, my butt
was so hot I could have easily hatched an egg.
We cruised out onto I-5 and headed north and were just
cruising and blabbing a mile a minute.
For a minute I thought we were heading to Canada!
Then she hopped off on 520 westbound and we went to the
Farmhouse cafe for lunch. It was packed so we sat at the counter
and they had the coolest high-backed swivel chairs I'd ever seen.
Right across from us was the pie cooler and on the counter
was a lemon meringue pie that hat foot high meringue!
Well, my jaw dropped to my knees when I saw that!
The waitress heard me gushing about it and grabbed it
and put it right in front of us and I was speechless.
I handed her my camera and she took our picture together
and guess what Mr. Blog? Bonnie's favorite sandwich is a
Rueben too and she was buying so that was what we had.
God they were good with a million fat French fries on the side.
I will be paying for that for weeks but it was so worth it.
I had seen many dirt fields on the way and commented that
my entire life I had wanted to see the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
but that it looked too late for it. She just agreed but guess what?
When we left the Farmhouse she turned a corner and
there they were! Tulips! Millions and millions of them!
Red, yellow, purple, yellow and red and yellow daffodils too!
We took a few pictures but they didn't come out very
well on my cheap camera. Not like Jeanette Eggerman's!
Man, she takes the best pictures in the world!
So we cruised on back to her pad and looked at our old year books
and she showed me some pictures of her late husband on Facebook
and I did remember him and all his cute brothers.
She married Kevin Brockman and he was a mean drunk.
She stayed with him twenty years until he died and then
she started over. She didn't even want to remarry after all
that happened but you know what? Her cousin set her up on a
blind date with Dave and they fell in love
and got married in 2006.
Now she is the Queen of Arlington and good for her!
She SO deserves it after what she went through with Kevin.
She was always so quiet and friendly in high school and just
adorable. Like a little blond doll. She's only five feet one inch.
When it got late in the day I asked her if she minded if I took
my census renumator practice test and she said I needed to.
I finished in thirty minutes but missed ten and went back
and realized I didn't read all the choices of possible answers.
I studied for ten minutes and then Dave got home
from his job at Boeing.
God, he is such a living doll and it is rare that such a kind
man was still single at fifty! No ex-wife with kids
to make Bonnie miserable so that is nice.
She made the best pot roasted I had ever had in my life.
God it was good. Food you don't have to make
tastes SOOO much better!
After dinner we went out to the workshop and Dave unloaded
Troy and Teddy's old Ketcars for their grandkids.
I got to admire Bonnie's '67 Mustang that he bought her for
her birthday a few years ago. Man it was tricked out and very cherry!
We went back and blabbed in her gorgeous living room
and I enjoyed her giant ginger-calico cat Jewel
and dust-mop of a Shit-a-Poo Max.
They were both very cuddly and Dave entertained us with
a wild story about going to the Arctic to fish wild pike and
to hunt Moose. He had a moose-head and giant pike replica
on the wall and they were really impressive.
He was a very good story teller and I started getting
sleepy from all that food and said it must be near
eight o'clock which is when I go to bed.
Dave said it was nine so we went to bed
and I heard the music that I have loved more than any other
since I was a child: The song of the green frogs.
I opened my window a few minutes and savored the sound
until it got too chilly. I read, "Miracle at Speedy Motors"
and sat in their massage chair and I was thinking
I might have died and gone to heaven.
All that good food and fun with Bonnie all day
and hanging out and getting to know her handsome husband.
Wow Mr. Blog, it just doesn't get any better than that!
I konked out until seven in the morning
and Bonnie made me some Joe even though she doesn't drink it
and you know what? We started blabbing and it went from seven
to ten in five minutes! I was so sad to leave.
Bonnie is so awesome and I wanted to stay all week!
It was a big windstorm when I left and my van was swaying like crazy
on I-5 going back to Kookmore.
When I got home there were lots of teens and I had authorized it
so it wasn't a surprise. Troy, Teddy, Daniel, Carlos, Dakota, Sean and
Herrardo were all hanging around. I was glad to see them since
they are all nice kids. They wanted to spend the night AGAIN
and I said, "Maybe. If you can clean house while I'm gone."
Then I made a list of chores I knew they couldn't complete
and had lunch and a shower and got dressed up to go
to Redmond to take the census job test.
It was snowing like crazy when I got to Redmond so I
just crept along until I found the library.
There were about two dozen of us there and the nice lady,
Deanne Thai, told us they only needed a few people to go
through Hunts Point and Medina because no one that lived
there wanted to work for the census. So then I had a nice
daydream of being invited into a waterfront mansion for coffee.
Well, my chances of having the top score are slim and the veteran
got ten points added to his score, but you never know.
I was so tired and cold when I got home at five and boy was
I surprised when I walked in the door!
MY HOUSE WAS SPOTLESS! Not only did they dust, sweep, mop,
vacuum and clean the bathroom and both bedrooms,
they even put away all six loads of laundry!
Dude! I just looked at those six kids and said,
"You're all in."
They were so happy and excited to have a party and started
bouncing up and down like superballs.
I talked to Terry for an hour and then
headed downstairs to read my new book
and head out to Botswana.
Africa, Africa, Africa....
Ahhh, nothing like sleeping in your own bed Mr. Blog!
Did you miss me? Better grab your pillow for this one!
*Waits for him to lie down on opposite couch with gold lame pillow*
So when I left here two days ago, I went down the hall
to study how to help the orphans in Botswana and saw a notice
for the Peace Corps. I tried to apply online but it
didn't work so I went to their office and talked to a nice man.
I was sad to hear I didn't qualify to go because I wanted to go
in November. Turns out if you have kids under 18 you can't go.
The time commitment is twenty-seven months. Ugh.
My teen sons hate me because I take away their awful video
games at the drop of a hate and they would LOVE to get rid of me!
Terry thinks I am nothing more than a useless parasite so
why would I want to stay here?! Short answer: I DON'T.
I called Brenny and told her I am going to join Peace Corps in 2015
when Teddy finishes Inglemoor and you know what she said?!
She said she had wanted to join Peace Corps since 1970 or go
to India to help the late Mother Theresa. Well, I thought
about India and parts of Asia then and how they can't get birth control.
The Philippines is all Catholic too so they can't get birth control.
It's just not fair Mr. Blog!
I CAN'T STAND THE THOUGHT OF PEOPLE STARVING
OR NOT HAVING CLEAN WATER OR SHELTER!
Ugh. I need to calm down, *Breathes deeply*
So Brenny said she will go with me but wonders if her husband
might not like it. Terry wouldn't notice if I was gone for twenty-seven months.
I could like, mail a pot roast Express Mail once a month
and he'd be happy.
Brenda and I discussed at depth the fact that we both come from
families of long livers and that we'd still have one
more decade of good health and two more of crappy health
after we got home from Botswana.
We agreed we've had so much fun in this lifetime that if we did get murdered
over there for being the wrong color we didn't mind.
As long as we get to help and adopt the orphans
and make some new friends and avoid mamba snakes.
Doesn't that sound like a great plan Mr. Blog?
*Looks over and smiles at him sleeping*
So our new motto is BOB 2015!
Botswana Or Bust in 2015.
So I finished packing to go visit Bonnie and asked Terry for
five dollars in case I needed coffee on the way and do you know
what he said?! "You had coffee and you have gas, you don't need money."
I was so hopping mad!
If I had a job and he didn't I'd give him ANYTHING HE WANTED.
So I buzzed down to Third Place Books and picked up a
shopping bag of used books by Alexander McCall-Smith
and put it on the charge card.
I don't care about new clothes or shoes
but I would be Jonesing bad for some new books
by Alexander McCall-Smith if I didn't have plenty
stored up. Now I have two dozen that I'm saving
up for my half-sister Heidi. She said she has always wanted
to read them, that they were her grandmother's favorite
books. I'm saving them for her for Christmas!
So, I hopped on I-5 and drag-raced up to exit 210 and
followed my mail to the entrance of Eagle's Ridge.
Now Bonnie forgot to mention that it was a private development
with a big NO TRESPASSING violators will be prosecuted sign at the entrance.
I knew from being a mail carrier ten years that I had to go in.
So, off I went and winding around through the mansions was pleasant.
A big fat deer was wandering down the road
and it looked like Mount Rainier National Park
only you got to stay in a mansion instead of a tent!
Well, then of course I thought about the people
in Botswana that are dying from AIDS and the
one million orphans in Africa and I felt sad.
It just seemed wrong somehow,
I pushed my thoughts of social inequity aside and found
Bonnie's driveway and was hoping she remembered I was coming!
I pulled up to her house and she came out and I was so happy.
She gave me a tour of her home and it was so lovely.
The decor was inviting country-living style and I felt
at home right away. Both her kids moved out since they are
twenty eight and twenty six so she told me to take either room upstairs.
I chose the one facing east and it had a panoramic view of the
Stillaguamish River and Cascade Mountains and the snow
level was at near eye-level.
Her husband doesn't want her to work outside the home
but after looking at that huge monster of a house, I knew she had
more work in that house than ANY job could entail!
She felt like getting out so we climbed into her totally awesome
pick-up truck! It was so huge and high up it had ladders built
in and on the back were duel tires in case we go a flat.
And get this Mr. Blog! The seats had built in heaters!
Have you ever heard of such a thing? Wow, my butt
was so hot I could have easily hatched an egg.
We cruised out onto I-5 and headed north and were just
cruising and blabbing a mile a minute.
For a minute I thought we were heading to Canada!
Then she hopped off on 520 westbound and we went to the
Farmhouse cafe for lunch. It was packed so we sat at the counter
and they had the coolest high-backed swivel chairs I'd ever seen.
Right across from us was the pie cooler and on the counter
was a lemon meringue pie that hat foot high meringue!
Well, my jaw dropped to my knees when I saw that!
The waitress heard me gushing about it and grabbed it
and put it right in front of us and I was speechless.
I handed her my camera and she took our picture together
and guess what Mr. Blog? Bonnie's favorite sandwich is a
Rueben too and she was buying so that was what we had.
God they were good with a million fat French fries on the side.
I will be paying for that for weeks but it was so worth it.
I had seen many dirt fields on the way and commented that
my entire life I had wanted to see the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
but that it looked too late for it. She just agreed but guess what?
When we left the Farmhouse she turned a corner and
there they were! Tulips! Millions and millions of them!
Red, yellow, purple, yellow and red and yellow daffodils too!
We took a few pictures but they didn't come out very
well on my cheap camera. Not like Jeanette Eggerman's!
Man, she takes the best pictures in the world!
So we cruised on back to her pad and looked at our old year books
and she showed me some pictures of her late husband on Facebook
and I did remember him and all his cute brothers.
She married Kevin Brockman and he was a mean drunk.
She stayed with him twenty years until he died and then
she started over. She didn't even want to remarry after all
that happened but you know what? Her cousin set her up on a
blind date with Dave and they fell in love
and got married in 2006.
Now she is the Queen of Arlington and good for her!
She SO deserves it after what she went through with Kevin.
She was always so quiet and friendly in high school and just
adorable. Like a little blond doll. She's only five feet one inch.
When it got late in the day I asked her if she minded if I took
my census renumator practice test and she said I needed to.
I finished in thirty minutes but missed ten and went back
and realized I didn't read all the choices of possible answers.
I studied for ten minutes and then Dave got home
from his job at Boeing.
God, he is such a living doll and it is rare that such a kind
man was still single at fifty! No ex-wife with kids
to make Bonnie miserable so that is nice.
She made the best pot roasted I had ever had in my life.
God it was good. Food you don't have to make
tastes SOOO much better!
After dinner we went out to the workshop and Dave unloaded
Troy and Teddy's old Ketcars for their grandkids.
I got to admire Bonnie's '67 Mustang that he bought her for
her birthday a few years ago. Man it was tricked out and very cherry!
We went back and blabbed in her gorgeous living room
and I enjoyed her giant ginger-calico cat Jewel
and dust-mop of a Shit-a-Poo Max.
They were both very cuddly and Dave entertained us with
a wild story about going to the Arctic to fish wild pike and
to hunt Moose. He had a moose-head and giant pike replica
on the wall and they were really impressive.
He was a very good story teller and I started getting
sleepy from all that food and said it must be near
eight o'clock which is when I go to bed.
Dave said it was nine so we went to bed
and I heard the music that I have loved more than any other
since I was a child: The song of the green frogs.
I opened my window a few minutes and savored the sound
until it got too chilly. I read, "Miracle at Speedy Motors"
and sat in their massage chair and I was thinking
I might have died and gone to heaven.
All that good food and fun with Bonnie all day
and hanging out and getting to know her handsome husband.
Wow Mr. Blog, it just doesn't get any better than that!
I konked out until seven in the morning
and Bonnie made me some Joe even though she doesn't drink it
and you know what? We started blabbing and it went from seven
to ten in five minutes! I was so sad to leave.
Bonnie is so awesome and I wanted to stay all week!
It was a big windstorm when I left and my van was swaying like crazy
on I-5 going back to Kookmore.
When I got home there were lots of teens and I had authorized it
so it wasn't a surprise. Troy, Teddy, Daniel, Carlos, Dakota, Sean and
Herrardo were all hanging around. I was glad to see them since
they are all nice kids. They wanted to spend the night AGAIN
and I said, "Maybe. If you can clean house while I'm gone."
Then I made a list of chores I knew they couldn't complete
and had lunch and a shower and got dressed up to go
to Redmond to take the census job test.
It was snowing like crazy when I got to Redmond so I
just crept along until I found the library.
There were about two dozen of us there and the nice lady,
Deanne Thai, told us they only needed a few people to go
through Hunts Point and Medina because no one that lived
there wanted to work for the census. So then I had a nice
daydream of being invited into a waterfront mansion for coffee.
Well, my chances of having the top score are slim and the veteran
got ten points added to his score, but you never know.
I was so tired and cold when I got home at five and boy was
I surprised when I walked in the door!
MY HOUSE WAS SPOTLESS! Not only did they dust, sweep, mop,
vacuum and clean the bathroom and both bedrooms,
they even put away all six loads of laundry!
Dude! I just looked at those six kids and said,
"You're all in."
They were so happy and excited to have a party and started
bouncing up and down like superballs.
I talked to Terry for an hour and then
headed downstairs to read my new book
and head out to Botswana.
Africa, Africa, Africa....
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
4/6/10 Census/Africa/Aids/HIV/Gates Foundation
*Skips in merrily*
Good Morning Mr. Blog.
I slept so well last night it is criminal!
I got a call last night from the census test scheduler
that they ended up short-handed for renumerators and they had used a
traced my inquiry call from last week and used a reverse phone directory
to to find me and invite me to take the exam Thursday.
I was so surprised to find out they earn $18.00 an hour!
Nearly what I make as a teacher after suffering through five years at the
University of Washington. Ugh. Still have a student loan.
Do you think I wasted my time and money on college Mr. Blog?
Well, it is all inconsequential when you think about the AIDS
epidemic in Africa. I had read about it over the years in the
newspaper and saw that the Gates Foundation had begun to help
Botswana and other countries get medicines recently.
I just spent an hour reading a heart-breaking article about it.
I wonder if Alexander McCall-Smith knows
how his fictional story in Botswana moves
people like myself, to investigate Africa and AIDS?
I was reading, "The Good Husband of Zebra Lane"
last night and Precious goes to investigate a medical mystery
and a small orphan boy reaches up to her.
She picks him up and holds him and there is a mention
of many orphans in Africa.
Well, I surmised there might be if they had an AIDS epidemic
but never studied the issue very carefully.
Now that I have friends in Botswana,
my lifelong interest in Africa has been rekindled
so I did some digging around
down the hall in the history room and just finished
an hour of reading about the history of AIDS/HIV.
I am so upset Mr. Blog!
Over twenty-two million people have HIV or AIDS in Africa!
That is completely unacceptable!
Every single one of those sick people needs medicine.
I now would like to run an orphanage in Botswana.
I don't have any money though.
I need to work harder to get a teaching job and my business going
so I can build an enormous orphanage for every single orphaned
child in Africa. I wonder if Africa would let me adopt orphaned children?
I know I am the wrong color and most people there
would not like me. I wonder if there is a pill I can take
to change colors so I can help those children?
It is very distressing Mr. Blog.
Many of the religious leaders are against birth control.
Of course the Pope is rich and can't have children.
If he was poor and had AIDS and had to watch
his son die of starvation, he would promote health access
and the world could improve over night.
I believe in God Mr. Blog.
I believe his son died for our sins.
But all texts are subject to interpretation.
The bible has been translated millions of times and who
is to say that God did not want people to have access to
medical help? Who thinks God could accept suffering?
Well, I'd better get going to try to hustle up some initiative
to find a way to stop AIDS and HIV.
Here is the article Mr. Blog.
You can read it later.
Ciao *hands him article*
http://www.avert.org/history-aids-africa.htm
Good Morning Mr. Blog.
I slept so well last night it is criminal!
I got a call last night from the census test scheduler
that they ended up short-handed for renumerators and they had used a
traced my inquiry call from last week and used a reverse phone directory
to to find me and invite me to take the exam Thursday.
I was so surprised to find out they earn $18.00 an hour!
Nearly what I make as a teacher after suffering through five years at the
University of Washington. Ugh. Still have a student loan.
Do you think I wasted my time and money on college Mr. Blog?
Well, it is all inconsequential when you think about the AIDS
epidemic in Africa. I had read about it over the years in the
newspaper and saw that the Gates Foundation had begun to help
Botswana and other countries get medicines recently.
I just spent an hour reading a heart-breaking article about it.
I wonder if Alexander McCall-Smith knows
how his fictional story in Botswana moves
people like myself, to investigate Africa and AIDS?
I was reading, "The Good Husband of Zebra Lane"
last night and Precious goes to investigate a medical mystery
and a small orphan boy reaches up to her.
She picks him up and holds him and there is a mention
of many orphans in Africa.
Well, I surmised there might be if they had an AIDS epidemic
but never studied the issue very carefully.
Now that I have friends in Botswana,
my lifelong interest in Africa has been rekindled
so I did some digging around
down the hall in the history room and just finished
an hour of reading about the history of AIDS/HIV.
I am so upset Mr. Blog!
Over twenty-two million people have HIV or AIDS in Africa!
That is completely unacceptable!
Every single one of those sick people needs medicine.
I now would like to run an orphanage in Botswana.
I don't have any money though.
I need to work harder to get a teaching job and my business going
so I can build an enormous orphanage for every single orphaned
child in Africa. I wonder if Africa would let me adopt orphaned children?
I know I am the wrong color and most people there
would not like me. I wonder if there is a pill I can take
to change colors so I can help those children?
It is very distressing Mr. Blog.
Many of the religious leaders are against birth control.
Of course the Pope is rich and can't have children.
If he was poor and had AIDS and had to watch
his son die of starvation, he would promote health access
and the world could improve over night.
I believe in God Mr. Blog.
I believe his son died for our sins.
But all texts are subject to interpretation.
The bible has been translated millions of times and who
is to say that God did not want people to have access to
medical help? Who thinks God could accept suffering?
Well, I'd better get going to try to hustle up some initiative
to find a way to stop AIDS and HIV.
Here is the article Mr. Blog.
You can read it later.
Ciao *hands him article*
http://www.avert.org/history-aids-africa.htm
Monday, April 5, 2010
4/5/2010 Easter in Kookmore
*Walks in and hands Mr. Blog gold lame egg-pillow and basket*
Hi Mr. Blog, don't you love that pillow? Found it at Ostrom's
where there are millions of fantastic and overpriced gifts.
Better lie down because this is a very long sad and happy story.
*Waits for him to lie down on his new pillow*
So, after I saw you Friday morning, Patty and I went shopping
for Easter and yard supplies. She came over and I drove us
out to Home Depot where I found some saws for the kids
and garden stakes for a secret project that I will tell you about
in a few years. The saws are for cutting down small trees
while the boys are on spring break. Speaking of boys...
Did I tell you Teddy won an excellence in school award?
I was so proud and his certificate says, "Theo."
He says that is his name that his friends call him at school
so I said, "That's nice Theo."
He looked at me and said,
"Not you mom. I am Teddy to you."
Well, that was nice since he has been my little
Teddy-bear since he was born.
With those big brown eyes.
My eyes.
And warm, agreeable nature, like me.
Both Terry's are quite stubborn and obstinate at times.
So Patty and I finished up at Home Depot and she
wanted to go to Grocery Outlet.
My goodness, they had some great prices Mr. Blog!
I asked the checker where she is from and guess what Mr. Blog?!
She is from Africa!!! I am so excited that when Grocery Outlet
moves across the street from me I will be able to talk to someone
from Africa! I forget which state, but I'll find out for you.
I asked her about a job for Troy and she said to have him bring
a resume on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday for Leslie.
I'm not sure he will be brave enough tomorrow but we'll find out...
Patty and I popped in Safeway and I had all the food I needed for
Easter and when she went home I dug right into work.
I plugged in my trusty PowerBook G-4 and set it on the ledge
above my kitchen sink and started my My Name Is Earl festival.
I happily used my new used Daisy Stripper to peel potatoes.
I didn't know they still made electric potato peelers and I had
worn mine out five years ago and looked all over for one.
Then one day I saw this one at Saint Vincent DePaul.
Thank God for Kenmore Saint Vincent DePaul!
I also made a ham and cheese fritatta for Easter breakfast.
Daniel had slept over and Teddy was at Tyler's so
Troy and Daniel were playing a video game in the basement
when Carlos burst through the door!
I was startled and he exclaimed,
"I got my license!"
Well, he ran to the basement and there was much shouting
and cheering and the house started shaking as
those giant teenagers came flying up the stairs and
running out the front door!
I peered out the window and watched happily as they
piled into Gene's pick-up truck.
I knew Carlos was not allowed to have anyone not related to him
for the first six months and that he could get his license pulled
and revoked until he was eighteen. I knew he knew it and decided
not to run out to the street and shout at him and ruin his moment
of glory. He slowly pulled out and drove off with my son and Daniel
and I started crying a little. How fast the years had flown by.
Troy met Carlos and Daniel when he was six and I made him
play t-ball for Kenmore Little League. He was so frightened
and didn't want to go but I forced him to be brave and he
made his first two best friends.
Carlos and Daniel.
They were in my first cub scout den
in 1999 and they were so tiny! Daniel was really tiny
and had a jet-black, silky mullet and looked like an adorable elf.
Carlos was so thin I thought he would surely
go down the drain with the bathwater!
Funny that ten years later the three are still best friends.
I wonder if they will be best friends forever?
So, one million gallons of Kool-Aid later,
they are are taller than me! Troy and Carlos are well
above six feet tall and Daniel is about five feet nine inches.
Carlos drove off in the light blue metallic pick-up truck
and they were only gone a few minutes so I'm guessing they
drove to the end of the road and back.
So they all hung out around the house all day and every
ten minutes Carlos had to drive somewhere.
Because he could.
I'm so proud of those boys.
Turns out they all grew up to be fine men and they will all
make very nice husbands someday. Especially Troy!
I have trained him to dote on girls
and to clean windows, bathrooms, floors, dishes
and he signed up for cooking at school and can really cook!
Well, speaking of cooking...
I made my mashed potatoes and a cake and cleaned up my mess
and went to bed to read my book. It was so chilly
that I put my heating pad under my feet and took
off for Botswana and my friends at the
Number 1 First Ladies' Detective Agency.
I'm on the fifth or sixth book now and I find the books
very calming on my deteriorating nervous system.
Saturday I got up to start filling the eggs and guess what I forgot?
Easter candy! I was so disgusted with myself.
It was cold again but I forced myself to jump around
with my daily dose of my Jane Fonda tape and then
take a hot shower and bundle up and walk to the Dollar Tree
store across the street. I found everything and was relieved
that the sons had gone off roaming around town with their
friends. Our new Comcast television has something called
On Demand and I managed to find and play one of my favorite
movies, Alien, starring Sigorney Weaver. I remember when
it came out when I was twenty and it is still just as scary!
I happily sat on my dear couch and filled plastic eggs with
jelly beans, scared to death. I hadn't watched that movie in
thirty years so it was very exciting!
I had found something at the Kenmore Dollar Tree
that I remembered from my youth and hadn't seen for years!
Circus Peanuts. They are orange marshmallows the shape
of two inch tall peanuts and quite disgusting and tasty!
Yum, yum, Mr. Blog. I only ate two and was quite delighted
to remember my mother hiding eggs my whole life.
Even when she was a depressed welfare mom living
in Holly Park housing project in 1959, she still hid eggs!
I wonder in two decades, when I am dead and gone
if my sons will remember having Easter Egg hunts
well into their teens.
I have decided to hide eggs for them and make their
baskets until I die
because they will have a few decades to live after that
and maybe a few struggles that fond memories can help with.
Well, that is my plan, but if I get hit by a bus tomorrow
I won't care because I will look down on them
from Heaven and know that they will find their
old baskets in the attic at some point and smile
and remember.
So I went to bed to wait for the boys to go to bed.
At ten, I heard Terry tell them to go to bed.
I was getting tired and needed to hide the eggs
and at eleven thirty I told them to go to bed.
They were playing some hideous game on the
X-Box 360, which I will be removing one day soon
and Troy was quite sassy with me.
So I woke up Terry and he came upstairs
and was cranky and sided with the kids!
That feckless nimcompoop! Ugh!
I glared at Troy and stormed downstairs
and told them to say good-bye to their
X-Box 360. I hope the inventor of that burns in hell-fire!
They went to bed and I put out their darling baskets and hid the
eggs and I took a diphenhydromine to help me sleep.
Funny, as angry as I was when I fell asleep, I was my normal
cheerful self when I woke up!
It was eight thirty and Terry and I had coffee and I popped
the fritatta and cinnamon rolls in the oven and waited
for the boys to wake up. As teens they sleep and sleep and sleep!
At nine they came out and both showered and Terry left
to empty all the trash containers which was annoying but
to be expected.
Troy and Teddy shouted with glee and raced around the house
collecting their eggs.
When they finished, they sat on the couch and looked through
their baskets and Troy said, "Teddy, I am sentimental
over all these old toys."
Teddy had the trick money holder and noticed
it had a five dollar bill instead of a one dollar bill for the first time.
They squeezed their giant bunny-doll hands and laughed as they
played the Archie's song, "Sugar sugar."
Well, we had that fine breakfast and everyone
got dressed for church in the suits I had laid out
and Troy drove us to church.
It was packed and Troy told us later that his Spanish teacher
had come in late and sat behind us.
As you know, Mr. Blog, I am completely
obsessed with Botswana Africa at the moment so you can
imagine my glee when the choir sang the opening hymn
and it was, "Song of the Risen One" which is African!
I looked at the choir and they had on African print
stoles over their golden Easter choir robes and I
thought I had died and gone to heaven! Or Botswana
which I think is heaven on earth, except for the snakes.
Then I saw my new friend Robin was playing an African
drum that looked like a very tall conga drum.
Ever since I went to that church women's retreat
church has become very exciting for me because
I know some people a little better and enjoy
watching them sing in the choir and play instruments.
We went into the first hymn for the rest of us which of course was,
"Christ the Lord is Risen Today."
It made me weep a little thinking of my mom, whom was
particularly fond of that song. I shut my eyes and visualized her in heaven
with Lyle and Grandma and Grandpa and
for the first time I saw my Auntie Ann, rejoined with
my Uncle Dick. He had died as a young man of fifty
and I was happy to seem them standing together in heaven.
Well, the Easter banners of gold thread were shockingly beautiful
and I am glad you are here Mr. Blog.
It will give me so much pleasure someday to remember the
beauty of those banners!
What gave me the most pleasure of my entire life
was to have my fine handsome sons standing between
us and to hear them sing! Oh how they can sing!
Teddy has been in choir all year and sings tenor
and Troy on the other side of him sang a flawless bass line!
Well, Terry and I don't know how to read music Mr. Blog so
it is very exciting for us to hear them sing.
When they were both in grade school at Kenmore Elementary,
their music teacher, Judy Bonet, told me they
both had perfect pitch, whatever that is and that
I HAD to sign them up for choir when they go to junior high.
Well, that was good advice and I took it and Troy was
voted best male vocalist all three years and Linda Hamilton
told me she tried to talk Teddy into solos without success.
Troy was a bold, happy singer and did a solo up at
Bastyer when he was in seventh grade. Blake Lewis, from
American Idol came out and sang after them.
He had started his singing career at Kenmore Junior High!
But poor Teddy, as good as a singer as he is...gets
stage-fright and looks like he will throw up any minute
when he is up there at the school concerts.
So, I will never forget Easter of 2010 and the
pure joy of hearing my sons singing my mother's favorite hymn.
The next part of the service was shockingly funny.
Pastor Laura had the children come for their part of the service
and she taught them how to do a wave like at a football game.
Well, I had a hard time not laughing at this.
Then Pastor Laura had the ENTIRE congregation do a wave
while shouting hallelujah! I had NEVER seen anything like that
before but was very delighted.
Reverend Stephen Tarr did a fantastic sermon,
"When the Tough Get Going."
I laughed when he talked about Jesus telling Mary to spread
the word to the disciples that he had risen from the dead
and that he chose to think of Jesus as empowering Mary to
spread the good word and liked to think of it in modern terms
and then this, small Scottish reverend, took the stance
and voice of a black, inner-city sister and said very loudly.
"YOU GO GIRL!"
Everyone laughed at the image and couldn't stop.
The modern voice of Jesus telling Mary to send out the good word.
I was so delighted by this as you can imagine!
Teddy started fussing at this point at not wanting to go
up for communion. As is my way when they fuss
I did what I always do and ignored him. When it was time
to stand and line up, I gave Terry the signal and I led
the way without looking behind me. The boys followed
and I could feel Teddy behind me as I followed
the line to share God's blood and body with the hopes
that my numerous sins could be forgiven
and that one day I could be with my mother and father
and grandparents again for eternity.
WE got back home and I took a long nap for the day
and woke up refreshed at four and put dinner on.
Pam had dialysis so it was just my tiny family and our friend Dean.
He was kind enough to pick up Martinellis and we
feasted on ham, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, potato salad, asparagus
and strawberry short cake with tea for dessert.
I tried not to think about missing fruit salad but I couldn't afford it this year.
Maybe next year. Imagine having a job again Mr. Blog!
Having fruit salad!
Perhaps putting in a floor to replace our old one
with the dozens of patches of duct-tape.
I was exhausted after dinner and left Terry and Dean to clean up
and I crawled in Bed with my new book,
"Blue Shoes and Happiness"
and waited for Brenda to call.
I was so excited when she called from Pahoa
to find out that one of her orchids I had bought
her had flowered! Six large purple-trimmed white blossoms
on Easter! Now how amazing is that?????
Hi Mr. Blog, don't you love that pillow? Found it at Ostrom's
where there are millions of fantastic and overpriced gifts.
Better lie down because this is a very long sad and happy story.
*Waits for him to lie down on his new pillow*
So, after I saw you Friday morning, Patty and I went shopping
for Easter and yard supplies. She came over and I drove us
out to Home Depot where I found some saws for the kids
and garden stakes for a secret project that I will tell you about
in a few years. The saws are for cutting down small trees
while the boys are on spring break. Speaking of boys...
Did I tell you Teddy won an excellence in school award?
I was so proud and his certificate says, "Theo."
He says that is his name that his friends call him at school
so I said, "That's nice Theo."
He looked at me and said,
"Not you mom. I am Teddy to you."
Well, that was nice since he has been my little
Teddy-bear since he was born.
With those big brown eyes.
My eyes.
And warm, agreeable nature, like me.
Both Terry's are quite stubborn and obstinate at times.
So Patty and I finished up at Home Depot and she
wanted to go to Grocery Outlet.
My goodness, they had some great prices Mr. Blog!
I asked the checker where she is from and guess what Mr. Blog?!
She is from Africa!!! I am so excited that when Grocery Outlet
moves across the street from me I will be able to talk to someone
from Africa! I forget which state, but I'll find out for you.
I asked her about a job for Troy and she said to have him bring
a resume on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday for Leslie.
I'm not sure he will be brave enough tomorrow but we'll find out...
Patty and I popped in Safeway and I had all the food I needed for
Easter and when she went home I dug right into work.
I plugged in my trusty PowerBook G-4 and set it on the ledge
above my kitchen sink and started my My Name Is Earl festival.
I happily used my new used Daisy Stripper to peel potatoes.
I didn't know they still made electric potato peelers and I had
worn mine out five years ago and looked all over for one.
Then one day I saw this one at Saint Vincent DePaul.
Thank God for Kenmore Saint Vincent DePaul!
I also made a ham and cheese fritatta for Easter breakfast.
Daniel had slept over and Teddy was at Tyler's so
Troy and Daniel were playing a video game in the basement
when Carlos burst through the door!
I was startled and he exclaimed,
"I got my license!"
Well, he ran to the basement and there was much shouting
and cheering and the house started shaking as
those giant teenagers came flying up the stairs and
running out the front door!
I peered out the window and watched happily as they
piled into Gene's pick-up truck.
I knew Carlos was not allowed to have anyone not related to him
for the first six months and that he could get his license pulled
and revoked until he was eighteen. I knew he knew it and decided
not to run out to the street and shout at him and ruin his moment
of glory. He slowly pulled out and drove off with my son and Daniel
and I started crying a little. How fast the years had flown by.
Troy met Carlos and Daniel when he was six and I made him
play t-ball for Kenmore Little League. He was so frightened
and didn't want to go but I forced him to be brave and he
made his first two best friends.
Carlos and Daniel.
They were in my first cub scout den
in 1999 and they were so tiny! Daniel was really tiny
and had a jet-black, silky mullet and looked like an adorable elf.
Carlos was so thin I thought he would surely
go down the drain with the bathwater!
Funny that ten years later the three are still best friends.
I wonder if they will be best friends forever?
So, one million gallons of Kool-Aid later,
they are are taller than me! Troy and Carlos are well
above six feet tall and Daniel is about five feet nine inches.
Carlos drove off in the light blue metallic pick-up truck
and they were only gone a few minutes so I'm guessing they
drove to the end of the road and back.
So they all hung out around the house all day and every
ten minutes Carlos had to drive somewhere.
Because he could.
I'm so proud of those boys.
Turns out they all grew up to be fine men and they will all
make very nice husbands someday. Especially Troy!
I have trained him to dote on girls
and to clean windows, bathrooms, floors, dishes
and he signed up for cooking at school and can really cook!
Well, speaking of cooking...
I made my mashed potatoes and a cake and cleaned up my mess
and went to bed to read my book. It was so chilly
that I put my heating pad under my feet and took
off for Botswana and my friends at the
Number 1 First Ladies' Detective Agency.
I'm on the fifth or sixth book now and I find the books
very calming on my deteriorating nervous system.
Saturday I got up to start filling the eggs and guess what I forgot?
Easter candy! I was so disgusted with myself.
It was cold again but I forced myself to jump around
with my daily dose of my Jane Fonda tape and then
take a hot shower and bundle up and walk to the Dollar Tree
store across the street. I found everything and was relieved
that the sons had gone off roaming around town with their
friends. Our new Comcast television has something called
On Demand and I managed to find and play one of my favorite
movies, Alien, starring Sigorney Weaver. I remember when
it came out when I was twenty and it is still just as scary!
I happily sat on my dear couch and filled plastic eggs with
jelly beans, scared to death. I hadn't watched that movie in
thirty years so it was very exciting!
I had found something at the Kenmore Dollar Tree
that I remembered from my youth and hadn't seen for years!
Circus Peanuts. They are orange marshmallows the shape
of two inch tall peanuts and quite disgusting and tasty!
Yum, yum, Mr. Blog. I only ate two and was quite delighted
to remember my mother hiding eggs my whole life.
Even when she was a depressed welfare mom living
in Holly Park housing project in 1959, she still hid eggs!
I wonder in two decades, when I am dead and gone
if my sons will remember having Easter Egg hunts
well into their teens.
I have decided to hide eggs for them and make their
baskets until I die
because they will have a few decades to live after that
and maybe a few struggles that fond memories can help with.
Well, that is my plan, but if I get hit by a bus tomorrow
I won't care because I will look down on them
from Heaven and know that they will find their
old baskets in the attic at some point and smile
and remember.
So I went to bed to wait for the boys to go to bed.
At ten, I heard Terry tell them to go to bed.
I was getting tired and needed to hide the eggs
and at eleven thirty I told them to go to bed.
They were playing some hideous game on the
X-Box 360, which I will be removing one day soon
and Troy was quite sassy with me.
So I woke up Terry and he came upstairs
and was cranky and sided with the kids!
That feckless nimcompoop! Ugh!
I glared at Troy and stormed downstairs
and told them to say good-bye to their
X-Box 360. I hope the inventor of that burns in hell-fire!
They went to bed and I put out their darling baskets and hid the
eggs and I took a diphenhydromine to help me sleep.
Funny, as angry as I was when I fell asleep, I was my normal
cheerful self when I woke up!
It was eight thirty and Terry and I had coffee and I popped
the fritatta and cinnamon rolls in the oven and waited
for the boys to wake up. As teens they sleep and sleep and sleep!
At nine they came out and both showered and Terry left
to empty all the trash containers which was annoying but
to be expected.
Troy and Teddy shouted with glee and raced around the house
collecting their eggs.
When they finished, they sat on the couch and looked through
their baskets and Troy said, "Teddy, I am sentimental
over all these old toys."
Teddy had the trick money holder and noticed
it had a five dollar bill instead of a one dollar bill for the first time.
They squeezed their giant bunny-doll hands and laughed as they
played the Archie's song, "Sugar sugar."
Well, we had that fine breakfast and everyone
got dressed for church in the suits I had laid out
and Troy drove us to church.
It was packed and Troy told us later that his Spanish teacher
had come in late and sat behind us.
As you know, Mr. Blog, I am completely
obsessed with Botswana Africa at the moment so you can
imagine my glee when the choir sang the opening hymn
and it was, "Song of the Risen One" which is African!
I looked at the choir and they had on African print
stoles over their golden Easter choir robes and I
thought I had died and gone to heaven! Or Botswana
which I think is heaven on earth, except for the snakes.
Then I saw my new friend Robin was playing an African
drum that looked like a very tall conga drum.
Ever since I went to that church women's retreat
church has become very exciting for me because
I know some people a little better and enjoy
watching them sing in the choir and play instruments.
We went into the first hymn for the rest of us which of course was,
"Christ the Lord is Risen Today."
It made me weep a little thinking of my mom, whom was
particularly fond of that song. I shut my eyes and visualized her in heaven
with Lyle and Grandma and Grandpa and
for the first time I saw my Auntie Ann, rejoined with
my Uncle Dick. He had died as a young man of fifty
and I was happy to seem them standing together in heaven.
Well, the Easter banners of gold thread were shockingly beautiful
and I am glad you are here Mr. Blog.
It will give me so much pleasure someday to remember the
beauty of those banners!
What gave me the most pleasure of my entire life
was to have my fine handsome sons standing between
us and to hear them sing! Oh how they can sing!
Teddy has been in choir all year and sings tenor
and Troy on the other side of him sang a flawless bass line!
Well, Terry and I don't know how to read music Mr. Blog so
it is very exciting for us to hear them sing.
When they were both in grade school at Kenmore Elementary,
their music teacher, Judy Bonet, told me they
both had perfect pitch, whatever that is and that
I HAD to sign them up for choir when they go to junior high.
Well, that was good advice and I took it and Troy was
voted best male vocalist all three years and Linda Hamilton
told me she tried to talk Teddy into solos without success.
Troy was a bold, happy singer and did a solo up at
Bastyer when he was in seventh grade. Blake Lewis, from
American Idol came out and sang after them.
He had started his singing career at Kenmore Junior High!
But poor Teddy, as good as a singer as he is...gets
stage-fright and looks like he will throw up any minute
when he is up there at the school concerts.
So, I will never forget Easter of 2010 and the
pure joy of hearing my sons singing my mother's favorite hymn.
The next part of the service was shockingly funny.
Pastor Laura had the children come for their part of the service
and she taught them how to do a wave like at a football game.
Well, I had a hard time not laughing at this.
Then Pastor Laura had the ENTIRE congregation do a wave
while shouting hallelujah! I had NEVER seen anything like that
before but was very delighted.
Reverend Stephen Tarr did a fantastic sermon,
"When the Tough Get Going."
I laughed when he talked about Jesus telling Mary to spread
the word to the disciples that he had risen from the dead
and that he chose to think of Jesus as empowering Mary to
spread the good word and liked to think of it in modern terms
and then this, small Scottish reverend, took the stance
and voice of a black, inner-city sister and said very loudly.
"YOU GO GIRL!"
Everyone laughed at the image and couldn't stop.
The modern voice of Jesus telling Mary to send out the good word.
I was so delighted by this as you can imagine!
Teddy started fussing at this point at not wanting to go
up for communion. As is my way when they fuss
I did what I always do and ignored him. When it was time
to stand and line up, I gave Terry the signal and I led
the way without looking behind me. The boys followed
and I could feel Teddy behind me as I followed
the line to share God's blood and body with the hopes
that my numerous sins could be forgiven
and that one day I could be with my mother and father
and grandparents again for eternity.
WE got back home and I took a long nap for the day
and woke up refreshed at four and put dinner on.
Pam had dialysis so it was just my tiny family and our friend Dean.
He was kind enough to pick up Martinellis and we
feasted on ham, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, potato salad, asparagus
and strawberry short cake with tea for dessert.
I tried not to think about missing fruit salad but I couldn't afford it this year.
Maybe next year. Imagine having a job again Mr. Blog!
Having fruit salad!
Perhaps putting in a floor to replace our old one
with the dozens of patches of duct-tape.
I was exhausted after dinner and left Terry and Dean to clean up
and I crawled in Bed with my new book,
"Blue Shoes and Happiness"
and waited for Brenda to call.
I was so excited when she called from Pahoa
to find out that one of her orchids I had bought
her had flowered! Six large purple-trimmed white blossoms
on Easter! Now how amazing is that?????
Saturday, April 3, 2010
4/3/10 Shhh. Don't Tell Troy and Teddy I'm the ...
Good morning Mr. Blog,
I slept so well. Only one hot flash all night.
Maybe after seven years of those, the end is near.
I hope so!
Well, I have a big job today.
I have to fill Troy and Teddy's Easter baskets.
I am so glad my bedroom door has a lock on it.
I mean at thirteen and sixteen they might have figured it out..
Hahahaha. Of course they have!
I had some interesting conversations yesterday with
Marcia and Brenda.
Turns out that children want Easter baskets their entire lives
from their moms.
I have to think back and you know what?
My mom did hide eggs and put out baskets until
she remarried and moved away when I was eighteen.
You know what?
Terry and I were kind of on tight budget when the kids were little
so I told them that after Easter,
I had to mail everything back to the Easter Bunny
for the next year except the fresh candy.
I had bought some specialty Easter toys
and now that they are grownish,
they go through their baskets and say stuff like,
"Look! I remember these little Mutant Ninja Turtles
from when I was little!"
They seem to enjoy the continuity of seeing items
from their early childhood.
Plus, without a full time job I can't afford
new cool stuff like I wish I could.
I did find nice sweatpants cheap at the
Grocery Outlet store.
That is the oddest thing I have ever put in their baskets.
Clothes are so boring but you know what Mr. Blog?
I'm not a regular Easter Bunny.
I'm a mom Easter Bunny.
I strive to rekindle the memories of their early childhoods
and add a little practicality
and show them I love them
more than watermelon.
I slept so well. Only one hot flash all night.
Maybe after seven years of those, the end is near.
I hope so!
Well, I have a big job today.
I have to fill Troy and Teddy's Easter baskets.
I am so glad my bedroom door has a lock on it.
I mean at thirteen and sixteen they might have figured it out..
Hahahaha. Of course they have!
I had some interesting conversations yesterday with
Marcia and Brenda.
Turns out that children want Easter baskets their entire lives
from their moms.
I have to think back and you know what?
My mom did hide eggs and put out baskets until
she remarried and moved away when I was eighteen.
You know what?
Terry and I were kind of on tight budget when the kids were little
so I told them that after Easter,
I had to mail everything back to the Easter Bunny
for the next year except the fresh candy.
I had bought some specialty Easter toys
and now that they are grownish,
they go through their baskets and say stuff like,
"Look! I remember these little Mutant Ninja Turtles
from when I was little!"
They seem to enjoy the continuity of seeing items
from their early childhood.
Plus, without a full time job I can't afford
new cool stuff like I wish I could.
I did find nice sweatpants cheap at the
Grocery Outlet store.
That is the oddest thing I have ever put in their baskets.
Clothes are so boring but you know what Mr. Blog?
I'm not a regular Easter Bunny.
I'm a mom Easter Bunny.
I strive to rekindle the memories of their early childhoods
and add a little practicality
and show them I love them
more than watermelon.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
4/1/10 Hodgepodge House & New Friends in Botswana
*Cartwheels in and perches on chair edge*
Impressive aren't I Mr. Blog?! Bet you don't know too
many fifty-three year old women that can do that!
That's the beauty of imagination isn't it Mr. Blog?
Well, I'm housewarming Angela's new apartment so I don't have
much time but I had the weirdest dream of Hodgepodge House
that I haven't had for about six months.
Hodgepodge House is located where Rudy's TV Repair
sits on Lake City Way only there are no apartments
and just a few tiny businesses along the un-busy road.
The bottom two floors are white colonial style with four columns
but then the top it red cedar in an austere Frank Floyd Wright style.
So I'm sound asleep and the windstorm wakes me up
and tears off a corner of the ceiling in our bedroom.
Our bedroom is on the top floor and lined with cedar paneling.
I can't wake up Terry but I hear a noise in the kitchen.
It is styled like Tina Clark's kitchen in Windemere
with windows along one side above the counters
only they are facing east instead of west.
The wind and rain are coming in the kitchen too
and I hear an animal noise and see an orange cat.
I sit down in the cold, wet mud and pick up the cat.
It is Earl! He is all grown up and cold and wet
and huge! Like twenty pounds. I gently dry him with
a towel and he looks up at me adoringly.
Then I see Winston under a nearby chair and pick him
up. He is a little smaller than Earl and I gently
pick him up and hold both of them and I'm
filled with the biggest happiness of my life to have
my babies back.
The storm stops and I hear my friend Patty calling up to me.
I go downstairs and greet her and show her around the house
which she hasn't seen even though we've lived there twenty years.
I say, "Come see this Patty, you'll love it."
We walk out a side door that faces north and there is
a pasture with grass and a few old, gnarled fruit trees
and across the meadow is a darling white carriage house.
It has Victorian trim and elaborate cornices
and it white on white.
We go in the front door and it is a living room decorated in comfortable
overstuffed chintz chairs and it is the most appealing
room I have ever seen!
It is one large room but there is a bed off to one side
but not clear to the wall because of a kitchen there.
It is an old, elegant looking kitchen with
antique appliances in white enamel but the odd thing is..
There are dutch doors at either end with a babbling brook
running down the middle of the room so to cook
you would have to step over it!
Patty says, "Gretchen! I have never seen anything like this!"
And I say, "Just wait, you haven't seen nothin yet."
She follows me to the door and we step into the grassy yard
next to the brook. The brook wells up from a huge stump
of a maple tree and there is a tiny pond inside.
We peer over the edge of the stump and see ducklings!
Patty says, "Look at the ducklings Gretchen!"
And I say, "Not just any ducklings Patty."
I pick one up and it is so soft and fuzzy and adorable
and I turn it towards Patty and her jaw drops open.
The duckling is a cross between an owl and a duck!
It has these huge appealing owl-eyes and wide owl head
on top of a fat, fuzzy brown duckling body.
They were the cutest creatures I have
ever not seen in my life Mr. Blog!
So I gently set the owl-duckling in the pond and say,
"Watch this Patty."
I lead her back into the cottage and we sit on the edge
of the bed next to the kitchen.
I have left the bottom of the Dutch door open
and in float the owl-ducklings as cute as can be.
There is a half circle opening in the bottom of the
door at the other side of the kitchen
and the babies float right out.
Patty's eyes are huge and she says,
"That is the cutest thing I have ever seen!
I would love to live here!" And I look at her and say,
"You can if you want, I'd be delighted to have you for a neighbor."
Then, this is funny Mr. Blog, she takes out a checkbook
and in this neat script handwriting, she makes out a check
for $267.00 even though I don't know that I am a landlord.
Funny thing is Mr. Blog, I have never seen Patty's handwriting
but I now want to and I'll have to ask her to write something
next time she comes over.
Well, that was that for that odd dream but I have dreamed
of that house at least a dozen times. It is different from Pigson
Mannor which is a replica of the white house and located
on the bluff over the Columbia River.
I have told you about my obsession with Botswana and posted to
four women I saw pictures of down the hall and I now
*says proudly* have two friends in Botswana!
Mo and Bakadzi. I'm guessing Mo is short for something
and guess what Mr. Blog?! She is a police officer!
Now, how fortunate am I to meet a lady police officer in Botswana?!
She has a handsome husband and three darling children.
Bakadzi is only twenty three and wants to be friends
despite my advanced age. I am old enough to be her grandmother!
But she is friendly and chatty and looked at my website
and wanted a Nixpix t-shirt!
Now how lucky is that Mr. Blog?!
I am waiting to hear what kind she wants
and I have made a decision right now,
while talking to you, that instead of having
Zazzle ship directly to her, I will order the shirt
sent her and then package it myself.
I want to send her some Kenmore stuff if there is any.
I don't think there is. Oh! A sticker!
I hope City Hall has some left!
They are diamond shape in yellow with black letters
that say, "In Kenmore, Courtesy is Contagious."
Oh! I will send her as many as they'll give me and then...
Maybe she and all her friends will come visit and stay
with us!!! Wouldn't that be exciting Mr. Blog?!
Yikes, more about all that later!
I am meeting Angela at the Kenmore Toshi's Teriyaki
at noon and will just barely make it!
Ciao!
Impressive aren't I Mr. Blog?! Bet you don't know too
many fifty-three year old women that can do that!
That's the beauty of imagination isn't it Mr. Blog?
Well, I'm housewarming Angela's new apartment so I don't have
much time but I had the weirdest dream of Hodgepodge House
that I haven't had for about six months.
Hodgepodge House is located where Rudy's TV Repair
sits on Lake City Way only there are no apartments
and just a few tiny businesses along the un-busy road.
The bottom two floors are white colonial style with four columns
but then the top it red cedar in an austere Frank Floyd Wright style.
So I'm sound asleep and the windstorm wakes me up
and tears off a corner of the ceiling in our bedroom.
Our bedroom is on the top floor and lined with cedar paneling.
I can't wake up Terry but I hear a noise in the kitchen.
It is styled like Tina Clark's kitchen in Windemere
with windows along one side above the counters
only they are facing east instead of west.
The wind and rain are coming in the kitchen too
and I hear an animal noise and see an orange cat.
I sit down in the cold, wet mud and pick up the cat.
It is Earl! He is all grown up and cold and wet
and huge! Like twenty pounds. I gently dry him with
a towel and he looks up at me adoringly.
Then I see Winston under a nearby chair and pick him
up. He is a little smaller than Earl and I gently
pick him up and hold both of them and I'm
filled with the biggest happiness of my life to have
my babies back.
The storm stops and I hear my friend Patty calling up to me.
I go downstairs and greet her and show her around the house
which she hasn't seen even though we've lived there twenty years.
I say, "Come see this Patty, you'll love it."
We walk out a side door that faces north and there is
a pasture with grass and a few old, gnarled fruit trees
and across the meadow is a darling white carriage house.
It has Victorian trim and elaborate cornices
and it white on white.
We go in the front door and it is a living room decorated in comfortable
overstuffed chintz chairs and it is the most appealing
room I have ever seen!
It is one large room but there is a bed off to one side
but not clear to the wall because of a kitchen there.
It is an old, elegant looking kitchen with
antique appliances in white enamel but the odd thing is..
There are dutch doors at either end with a babbling brook
running down the middle of the room so to cook
you would have to step over it!
Patty says, "Gretchen! I have never seen anything like this!"
And I say, "Just wait, you haven't seen nothin yet."
She follows me to the door and we step into the grassy yard
next to the brook. The brook wells up from a huge stump
of a maple tree and there is a tiny pond inside.
We peer over the edge of the stump and see ducklings!
Patty says, "Look at the ducklings Gretchen!"
And I say, "Not just any ducklings Patty."
I pick one up and it is so soft and fuzzy and adorable
and I turn it towards Patty and her jaw drops open.
The duckling is a cross between an owl and a duck!
It has these huge appealing owl-eyes and wide owl head
on top of a fat, fuzzy brown duckling body.
They were the cutest creatures I have
ever not seen in my life Mr. Blog!
So I gently set the owl-duckling in the pond and say,
"Watch this Patty."
I lead her back into the cottage and we sit on the edge
of the bed next to the kitchen.
I have left the bottom of the Dutch door open
and in float the owl-ducklings as cute as can be.
There is a half circle opening in the bottom of the
door at the other side of the kitchen
and the babies float right out.
Patty's eyes are huge and she says,
"That is the cutest thing I have ever seen!
I would love to live here!" And I look at her and say,
"You can if you want, I'd be delighted to have you for a neighbor."
Then, this is funny Mr. Blog, she takes out a checkbook
and in this neat script handwriting, she makes out a check
for $267.00 even though I don't know that I am a landlord.
Funny thing is Mr. Blog, I have never seen Patty's handwriting
but I now want to and I'll have to ask her to write something
next time she comes over.
Well, that was that for that odd dream but I have dreamed
of that house at least a dozen times. It is different from Pigson
Mannor which is a replica of the white house and located
on the bluff over the Columbia River.
I have told you about my obsession with Botswana and posted to
four women I saw pictures of down the hall and I now
*says proudly* have two friends in Botswana!
Mo and Bakadzi. I'm guessing Mo is short for something
and guess what Mr. Blog?! She is a police officer!
Now, how fortunate am I to meet a lady police officer in Botswana?!
She has a handsome husband and three darling children.
Bakadzi is only twenty three and wants to be friends
despite my advanced age. I am old enough to be her grandmother!
But she is friendly and chatty and looked at my website
and wanted a Nixpix t-shirt!
Now how lucky is that Mr. Blog?!
I am waiting to hear what kind she wants
and I have made a decision right now,
while talking to you, that instead of having
Zazzle ship directly to her, I will order the shirt
sent her and then package it myself.
I want to send her some Kenmore stuff if there is any.
I don't think there is. Oh! A sticker!
I hope City Hall has some left!
They are diamond shape in yellow with black letters
that say, "In Kenmore, Courtesy is Contagious."
Oh! I will send her as many as they'll give me and then...
Maybe she and all her friends will come visit and stay
with us!!! Wouldn't that be exciting Mr. Blog?!
Yikes, more about all that later!
I am meeting Angela at the Kenmore Toshi's Teriyaki
at noon and will just barely make it!
Ciao!
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