HAPPY NEW YEAR!

To all of you from both of us, have a safe holiday! And PLEASE drive carefully, or don't drive at all if you don't have to.

We are staying home, having a little drop-in party here tonight... it's been snowing so we might have some folks staying over. Never tried to sleep more than 3 people here at once so somebody's going to end up on the floor. Times like this I wish I had a Murphy bed, or at least a pull-out couch, but an air mattress will have to suffice. At least we have no shortage of blankets or sheets.

Should be fun... see y'all next year!

Bummed

We always park the good truck all the way in the back of our lot, next to a fence, where nobody can park on at least one side of us. We don't park up front on the pavement due to the constant traffic in and out for the local grocery next door (the truck was bumped once in a minor hit-and-run). When we got home from making the family rounds yesterday, we recalled that the store would be closed today... didn't want to walk across the ice unloading the truck, so we left it up front along the side of our building.

Nobody hit it this time, but when we came downstairs the first thing we saw was our bug shield smashed to pieces and a huge chunk of ice on the hood. The snow on the roof had melted and refrozen, then today when it warmed up, sheets of it were sliding off from two stories up and one of them landed right on the nose of our Bronco. I wasn't concerned about the bug shield (didn't like it anyway) but there are now two dents in the hood and one in the top of the fender. Not majorly noticeable but there nonetheless. As soon as we can afford it I'm going to call the pop-a-dent guy to see if he can fix them. Why bother, you ask? Because the Bronco is (or was) immaculately straight and beautiful and now he isn't and it bothers me. That's my baby we're talking about.

Ironically enough, my old Buick was parked right next to the Bronco, and even though ice was falling on it too, nary a scratch could be found. Thing's a tank. Funny, the big bad "Ford Tough" 4x4 can't take a beating, but the junky former granny car doesn't even flinch. *Sigh*

Lesson learned... don't park so close to the house! The reason the Buick was up front stemmed from another lesson learned the hard way. My spot is next to an old barn out back. I came out one morning last winter to find my car buried in snow that had slid off the barn roof. This was the day after I'd spent half an hour digging it out so I could get to work... and I had to do it all over again. And I never even thought about the snow becoming ice on the house roof. Guess I will from now on. Going on seven years here and I'm still learning the nuances of living in a snow zone. Ice sucks...

Week In Review

Just got home from a night out. My longest-running friend here has a new boyfriend after being terminally single... just found out he plans to be married and have kid(s) on the way within the next year. My friend is of the opinion that words and actions are two different animals so we'll see what happens. Whatever the outcome, I hope she finds the happiness she wanted.

Work is winding down for the season. Just a handful of poinsettias left that only took me 2 hours to water today. Already started on the cleanup for the spring crops, spraying weeds and shutting down most of my greenhouse. We're shut down between next Friday and Jan. 2, so that's a lean week with no pay coming in. Bummer.

Hubby sunk his work truck today. A customer had put fill dirt in his driveway, but it wasn't packed and was covered with snow. B drove over it thinking it was solid and buried the front of the Mack up to the axles. A nice neighbor with a tractor pulled the truck out, wouldn't take any money for the help either. God bless farmers.

We had a soup party at work yesterday in lieu of a Christmas party. I was impressed with the Thai soup (spicy but very tasty) and the ham n' bean soup. There were four soups plus chili; I had to try some of each! Our Christmas gift from the company was a single glass ball ornament in a plastic gift bag. I'm surprised we got that much, really... Angela in Human Resources tries to have a little something for gifts, anniversaries, and birthdays, and it's nice that she goes out of her way to at least give a token of appreciation even if the company itself no longer does. Not that anyone expects anything, but she believes recognition is a morale-booster and people do appreciate the thought.

My buddy and co-worker Ray was having chest pains the other day. I ended up driving him to the hospital in a company car (quicker than waiting for an ambulance, and he refused to let anyone call one anyway). He's okay, nothing serious, just high BP and stress from working out in the cold. I got to drive a new Chrysler, which I didn't like. Too low to the ground and I couldn't see the front of the car. I hate that. I like knowing where the nose of the vehicle is so I can tell how close I am when parking and turning. Whatever happened to hood ornaments anyway?

B and I made our one gesture towards decorating for the holidays by hanging a string of lights on the porch railing (the old-fashioned big bulb kind, not those bitty things) and putting out my Moravian star. It's hanging from the porch and looks absolutely beautiful. I wanted one of those for so long, finally got one last year... it looks so nice! (Below image swiped off Yahoo; mine looks just like it.)

(For background on Moravian stars, visit http://www.mcnp.org/edeb/star.htm )

I have to get started baking tomorrow. My annual tradition of procrastination is going to bite me if I don't. We have no $ for Christmas gifts, so everyone's getting cookies and munchies. It's a gift that's always enjoyed. I make great cookies too... The Amish market no longer sells a certain trail mix I used for my family-famous dump cookies, so I'm going with date-walnut rocks and white chocolate-coconut this year, plus the traditional sand tarts, chocolate chip, and peanut butter. Maybe some chocolate mint too if I'm not sick of baking by then (or sick of eating the ugly ones!). I got an excellent chocolate-chip cookie recipe from the Amish market, which I tried earlier in the year, and let me tell you, the oft-used Tollhouse recipe can't compare. They're that good!

We had two days of sub-zero AM temperatures, with highs in the single-digit range, then a snow/sleet/ice storm that turned the roads into car ballet arenas. Our parking lot was as slick as an ice rink, or maybe more so, since I'm sure if I'd gotten a running start I could have slid from the sidewalk all the way to the fence a few hundred yards away. Of course, temps hit the mid-30s the day after, turning everything to gray slush which then re-froze overnight. I couldn't get into the Bronco tonight because the doors were frozen shut. A 99-cent can of de-icer is a must-have item around here. (I bought two, since silly me keeps leaving the can INSIDE the vehicle, where it does no good whatsoever. Nothing like being iced out of your car and being able to SEE the solution through the frosty window. Now I keep a spare can inside for those "duh" moments.)

Nothing much else going on. I have 8 Christmas cacti that will be presents for somebody, I hope, so I can get them out of my hallway. Anybody want one?

Painting What?

A European trend has made its way to Podunk, Pennsylvania. Suddenly painted poinsettias are The New Big Thing. Therefore, we spent some time last week... guess what? Painting poinsettias. I read the emails from Sales today and the sparkly blue ones sold out first. Blue poinsettias...*sigh* Just doesn't seem very Christmasy to me, but I guess all those people with trendy color schemes for the holidaze like being able to match their plants to their decor.

Anyway, we had fun painting them. I did a few trials on my own that were well-received by the Sales team, but I won't post those pictures. Don't want anyone else beating us to market!





My boss and a coworker on the "spray line." That's me in the background mixing paint.

Sting returns!

Former WCW wrestler Steve "Sting" Borden is rumored to have signed a deal with TNA Wrestling. This was more or less confirmed at the end of tonight's TNA pay-per-view, when the Sting logo appeared on the video screens and his trademark coat and bat were shown on a chair in the middle of the ring.

To be perfectly honest, I was hoping he wouldn't go back to wrestling at all, but TNA is hands-down a better choice than Vince McSatan's trashy WWE. It showcases more technical wrestling and is more viewer-friendly to younger audiences.

Steve is a Christian man, an elder in his church... he gave his life to God in 1998. As a result his marriage was saved and he kicked his drug and alcohol habits literally overnight. Lately he's been appearing at Christian conferences, stores, and on TBN television to give his testimony. He recently co-hosted Praise The Lord for the first time after being a frequent guest.

There are several Christian wrestlers out there but few who are as well-known or as vocal about their faith as Steve. It will be interesting to see what angles he, as Sting, is involved in, knowing how TV wrestling is all about getting ratings at any means. The unseen side of wrestling is full of temptations too... having experienced it for myself, I can say that only a person with strong faith would be willing to walk back into the lion's den and take it head-on after having the same scene nearly ruin his life. I first met him in his darkest days and he's truly a changed man now. Best of luck, Steve, and go with God.

Sting fans, come check out the Official Sting Site and stop in the forum to say hello. I'm there every night and Steve himself drops in often. www.therealsting.com

Determination or stupidity?

So it's supposed to be 0 tomorrow. As in 0 degrees Fahrenheit. As in cold.

And what are we doing? SITTING IN IT. Not just experiencing a bit of chill going between the front door and the truck, not dashing from the house to the store and back, not sticking our heads outside and saying " Woo! Cold out today" before returning to the relative warmth of the indoors.

Nope, we're going outside to deliberately park our tails in the woods for several hours. 5 AM to 5 PM, with an hour for lunch, which is just long enough to thaw out. Yesterday we were out in it, and even the deer were smart enough to stay in their beds. Not a creature was stirring, literally, except the two morons dressed in safety-orange winter gear, shivering under a tree in the snow. I lost my toes for a while... I mean, they were there, tucked into boots and socks equipped with heat pads, but the cold got to 'em anyway and they just didn't want to cooperate. I'm test-driving some battery-powered heated socks tomorrow. *eyeroll*

It's our last day to hunt so I hope we trip over a deer. I have a feeling it's the only way...

Now, if you know me, you know how much I love winter. I love the cold, the snow, pretty much everything except driving in it. I even like shoveling the walks. But there's a limit. I'm going to test that tomorrow. We were out hunting once when it was about 5 below, but we were moving the whole time so that was fine. Sitting still is going to be a challenge.

Too bad it doesn't apply to husbands!

He who knows the way of the Lord can find it in the dark.

Opening Week

The end of the first week of hunting season for us, and it's Deer: 3, Us: 0. Between us we've seen three bucks. One was a spike (not legal), one was a 4-point (not legal), and yesterday a big 6-point ran past us. B couldn't get a clean shot so we had to let him go.

I had a scary ten or fifteen minutes in the woods last night. I was walking back to the truck up the main trail while B went along the ridgeline parallel to me. I could hear and see him until I stopped to listen to some rustling nearby, thinking we'd startled a deer. When I started walking again just a moment later, my husband had disappeared. I whistled... no answer. I called him, still no answer. Now, a big man going through brush and dead leaves makes a lot of noise in empty woods, and I was hearing nothing except my own voice echoing back at me from the next mountain over. I called him for almost 10 minutes, at the top of my lungs, scared out of my wits thinking of what might have happened to him. I wanted to run get the truck but at the same time didn't want to leave in case he was lying in the woods someplace. By now it was dark and I had my flashlight out. I was two seconds away from firing off a three-shot distress signal when I heard a whistle from far off... and a minute later here came hubby down the main trail. Apparently when he dropped down over the ridge he couldn't hear me, nor I him, and he was almost back to the truck (a quarter-mile away) when he finally got up high enough to hear me yelling and came running. I wanted to beat him senseless but I settled for a hug. :-D My heart rate didn't drop for another half-hour though. Note to self: no matter that they might scare the deer, next year we WILL have two-way radios. My sanity depends on it.

Oh, and he was almost shot on Monday. We aren't going back there. Got some nice quiet private property to hunt on next week, thank God. The public lands attract ignorant, gun-toting, deer-fever-addled lunatics.

Of Trucks and Deer and Holiday Cheer

Hubby's truck is back home. All the problems it had (besides the unrepairable issue of it being a 1986 Chevy) were traced back to a broken wire. It *might* need an ignition module eventually but for now it's running and I haven't had to go rescue anyone. The entrance (ANY entrance) to Wal-Mart is not the place one wants to break down this time of year!

Rifle season opens tomorrow. We're going to sight in our guns today and get everything laid out, since we'll be up at oh-dark-thirty. By sunup I should be comfortably parked under a tree in the woods, sassafrass tea in a thermos beside me and gun across my knees. I'll watch the woods wake up. Birds and squirrels will start their chirping and chatter, sunlight will make crazy patterns through the foliage, and eventually it will warm up enough for the ice to melt and drip, loud in the stillness, on the dead leaves scattered about. Every sound is amplified to me. A squirrel can sound like a herd of deer if he gets feisty enough. My hearing gets a workout; have to rely on senses normally focused on tuning out, not in! I love it.
Since we'll be in a place I've never hunted, I'll spend the first half-hour of light familiarizing myself with the look and shape of things so if anything changes I'll notice it. Deer are sneaky and ghostlike and blend in quite well on a grey morning... knowing the landscape silhouette is important. Oh, and the camera goes with me this year. I just don't know if I personally want to shoot a nice buck, or snap a picture and let him go make more for next year. I really don't care if I get a deer or not. If hubby gets one, our meat needs are taken care of and I can just sit back and enjoy the scenery for the rest of the day. And that's the reason I go. It's my time for introspection as well as just marveling at creation.

The unfortunate thing about rifle season is that it falls so close to Christmas. Meaning, my days off are spent in the woods, not out shopping or baking or prepping for the holiday. In a way it's good; I don't like dealing with the madness that is CommercialMas. But on the other hand I have a lot to do... A friend and I are supposed to be baking cookies in the very near future and hubby and I have to shop for the kids in the family. It will be a lean Christmas financially, but it isn't about the money or the gifts, is it? I don't recall reading about Santa Claus and Rudolph in my Bible. I read about a miracle, a savior born... and isn't everlasting life a pretty swell gift? Bet you won't find that at Wal-Mart!

Counting Blessings

A very happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there. If you aren't celebrating it, well, have a wonderful day anyway.

I am thankful for my husband, family and friends, for our health and happiness, the blessings God has bestowed upon us, and the beautiful world He created.

I'm also thankful for the first person who put marshmallows on sweet potatoes. Amen!

Victorian Dreams

The first time I visited my dad and his family here, in this particular borough, I fell in love. With a house. The neighboring communities all have houses that strike my fancy; some are more elaborate and beautiful than others, and some have property that greatly increases the attractiveness of the house itself. The old wooden farmhouses with ancient barns and stately Victorians with their fancy gingerbread trim catch my eye most often.

There is one house in my dad's hometown that I've admired since I was a child. It's smack-dab in the middle of the busiest part of town and is now either a funeral home or a law office. I always loved the curved bay windows with the inner polished-wood privacy shutters, also curved, and the ornate woodwork and dark green-with-cream color scheme. But that's not the one I was referring to, though it's on my list of favorites.

There is another huge Victorian, blue and cream, with an incredible wraparound porch and a matching guest house and garage, sitting on a corner lot in the Big Town across from the former Wal-Mart location. It was for sale at a surprisingly low price for a home of that caliber a couple of years ago. It needed a bit of woodwork which has since been done. It's gorgeous, also on my list, still not the one.

There is yet another, right here in town... an old faded white farmhouse on a large tree-lined lot. It's set back from the road in a private copse and is in need of cosmetic work. I love the location. It's a block from the so-called hub of town and fronts the main road, but is tucked away so neatly that it took me a year to realize it was there. To my knowledge it isn't for sale. I went up to the porch once to scope it out, thinking it was empty; a note on the front door told me otherwise. The house could be beautiful, truly impressive, with some fresh paint and new windows and landscaping. And, you guessed it, that's not the one either.

Finally, one out on Rt. 61, for two reasons: one, it has rainbow-colored clay shingles. Two, it has an impressive garage with matching shingles. I look for it every time we go that way. I'd like those shingles on my own house someday, but I bet they're outrageously expensive for a place that size. Now, on to The One...

The house I fell in love with the first time I saw it isn't brightly colored or dripping with scrollwork. It doesn't have a barn or a lot of property, though it does have a nice corner lot. The only people I ever see there are the ones mowing and landscaping in the spring and summer. There are rarely any lights on after dark. I know someone lives there; I was told it was an elderly couple, or perhaps just the woman now, but I haven't met or spoken to anyone there. It's a large hulking tan-brick with white trim and copper shingles. And a dome. I've never seen the inside, no idea how it's laid out or if it's kept up as well as the exterior, and I don't care. I. want. this. house.

I see it more than once every day, since it's across the street from my place. On a main road, no privacy or wooded lots bordering it, no buffers from traffic noise, in direct earshot of the emergency siren at the firehall (as are we), and on the corner where the parades turn (not that that's a bad thing, really). It isn't out in the country (which B and I both prefer) nor is it practical by any means. It's just a big chunk of house with a beautiful yard plunked in the middle of town. Oddly, it's easy to overlook, since most people drive right by, unless you stop and realize just how impressive it is. I do this on a daily basis. Sadly, even if it did ever go on the market, I'd have to win the lottery twice to afford it.


I love the ornamental iron around the chimney!

Not even going there

I could tell you what a crazy day it's been. I could complain about my job and the clueless people who call the shots. I could type half a page about how I got home, ready to warm up from the cold and relax, and instead had to go pick up my husband, whose truck had a serious internal mishap (two days after he hit a deer with it) and will be sitting indefinitely in the Wal-Mart parking lot. I could gripe about the fact that I'm still cold, haven't had any dinner yet, and am huddled in front of the computer because I'm just too tired to do anything else.

But I'm not going to.

My job can be a challenge, but when things get insane I take that challenge and meet it head-on. The nutsier it gets the more I'm forced to think and act on the fly, and I've learned a lot about that over the last few years. Give me five minutes to come up with a plan and I'll git 'er done.

The bozos in management? They sign my paycheck. As long as they keep paying me, I'll deal with whatever insane idea they come up with next.

The cold? I love cold weather. Gives me a reason to cuddle up with the hubby or soak in the bathtub. The air seems cleaner and fresher, the stars are brighter, and the black naked trees against a pale grey sky are visually stunning.

The truck? It's just a thing. Do we have the money to fix it? No, but so what? We have other options. One of us will drive the Bronco and the other one (me) will continue to drive the slag heap known as the Puick until we can get another vehicle.

Dinner? No big loss. The employee Thanksgiving lunch today was excellent, and I'm thankful that we all had plenty to eat and share. I'll have some cheese and cocoa and be perfectly content.

So... what AM I going to rant about? Just this: Every year at our employee lunch one of the suits gives a speech and then a manager offers the blessing, and everyone takes off their hats and waits until the prayer is said. This year nobody gave a speech (yay!!!) but no one said the blessing either... I waited... looked around... nobody missed it. I was shocked. So I said my own. And I missed the opportunity to say one aloud for everyone else... That bugs me. Some people who saw me did take their own silent moment. And granted, there are different faiths and the PC thing is to not offend anyone, but still... It's a sad day when a company changes their traditions to avoid getting sued over a prayer, if in fact that's the reason. Of all the things that happened today that's really the only one that is going to stay with me.

Turkey Trot and Fancy Doorknob

It was more like turkey run...

I have a big mouth sometimes. Usually at the times that are least conducive to my sanity and free time. In this instance, my boss announced that the site manager had just bought four turkeys for the employee dinner. He was going to fry two, someone in the office was cooking one, and that left one. He said to me (joking) "Hey, you wanna cook a turkey?" And my mouth overran my brain and said "Sure, why not?" It became less of a joke when I learned he wasn't kidding.

I don't have a turkey roaster or even a big baking pan (except the nice one I use for cookies and cookies ONLY.) I didn't really want to cook the bird either, but once I said I would I was committed. So I think, okay, I've roasted turkeys before. I just need a pan... I can cook it the night before and warm it up on Friday, so I need something to heat it in... two phone calls later and I lined up a warmer for Friday and my husband informed me that I did, in fact, have a roasting pan. It came with the new stove we got last year and was still in the bottom storage drawer. Whaddaya know...!

I hauled the turkey home on Tuesday and put it in the fridge to thaw. Tonight I got my marinade ready, heated the oven, washed and prepped the roasting pan... and the dang turkey was still frozen. *Brainstorm* Run to grocery store, buy fresh unfrozen turkey, and keep the other for the actual T-Day... that'll work! A nicer, bigger bird is in the oven as I type, oozing marinade and browning like it's supposed to.

About half an hour ago I heard crashing and thumping downstairs, like someone was trying to bash the lower door in. You can tell we live in a low-crime area because instead of thinking someone was trying to break in, I ran downstairs to open the door. See, this is an old house... the fancy brass doorknobs predate indoor plumbing... and something in the inner workings of the one downstairs finally went kaput. Therefore we haven't been able to close the door, since the slide jams and we can't open it again. Our neighbor was locked out, and he was, in fact, trying to bash the door in. My hubby got a knife and pried open the door; I took my screwdriver and proceeded to disassemble the knob with the intention of pulling the slide and innards out.

I have never seen such an old locking assembly up close. By "up close" I mean in my lap and all over the floor, since when I took the screws out a literal pound of various metal thingamabobs went everywhere. No tumblers in that baby... levers and springs and interlocking parts (and thankfully, several broken pieces that I personally was not responsible for). After ten minutes of head-scratching and rearranging I gave up, lined them all up as well as I could, screwed the thing back together and left it on the floor for the landlord. I did put the fancy knobs back in, though. So I don't feel entirely clueless... I hate not being able to figure gizmos out. At least I'm handy with a modern doorknob. I know exactly how to throw it out and install a new one. ;-P

Bits and Pieces, Part II

WWE and former WCW wrestler Eddie Guerrero passed away unexpectedly yesterday. He was a new man in Christ, although that doesn't make his death any less of a shock. He was only 38. It's a risky business. I used to watch Eddie a lot, both live and on TV, and he was always quite the character. Condolences to his family.

Today was an accidentally lazy day... I had a list of things to do and a pile of good intentions, but after getting out of the shower I made the mistake of lying on the bed to put my socks on... next thing I knew it was four o'clock in the afternoon. I was snoozin' with one sock on and had slept through the better part of the day. Guess I needed a recharge because I. Was. Out.

Didn't see the '59 Caddy yesterday. Bummer. I hate wasting a trip like that.

Hubby wanted some apples and cheese the other day, not typical of him but I wasn't going to argue. Between us we polished off a small bag of apples and a block of pepper jack in two days. Then we went and bought another bag of apples and some Havarti. I was hoping for Gouda or Edam but hey, if he's eating fruit instead of junk, I'll let him get whatever cheese he likes to go with it. Havarti's pretty good anyway. I just prefer Edam with apples and crackers. It's what my mom always got so it must be ingrained.

Have some fun and watch some "classic" dance moves... so it's a Gap ad, so what? Create your friends just so you can laugh at them. Hilarious! www.watchmechange.com (Volume essential for effect.)

Bits and Pieces

Why is Autumn so short? It's the most beautiful time of the year and only lasts a few weeks, it seems, before the six-month-long winter kicks in. I should go find some leaves to press before they're all gone.

Dad told me there is a 1959 Caddy up on Mt. Zion Road... must. go. drool. Think we're going to take the camera for another drive today.

Have to swing by WalMartHell too. Hubby said they had studded snow tires on sale, and I need two or my Buick isn't on the road until April when the snow melts. It won't get up the mountain without traction and the rear end tries to pass me on the straightaway. So, two good tires and a couple bags of coal in the trunk for weight should do it. No Buick Ballet on Ice this year!

The pheasant didn't wait for Thanksgiving. He was right tasty after being marinated a day or two and then wrapped with slab bacon and roasted. Good bird! Not nearly as good as the one my boss brought in, though... and that was a chicken! He has a deep-fryer... injected the bird and marinated it, then fried it... he usually does turkeys but the chicken impressed me more. SO GOOD. I got my dad a turkey fryer a few years ago and I'm thinking of borrowing it to do up my own chicken. (I roast a great bird in the oven, but there is no comparison...)

My company has blocked out any and all vacation time from now until Dec. 20. This time frame includes deer season. There are going to be a lot of people "out sick" for a few specific days. It's funny... the site manager won't approve a vacation request, but if you call in sick, they charge you vacation time for it... I wrote my own schedule and turned it in, gave myself my usual two days off each hunting week. I WILL be in the woods, vacation time or no. If we don't get a deer we become temporary vegetarians until spring, which is OK with me but my husband is a meat-and-taters guy and there is nothing I can do with eggplant or soy that will be an adequate substitution to him.

It's an absolutely gorgeous day out there... I can't sit at the computer any longer when it's like this, so I'm going to soak up some atmosphere. Might even jump in some leaves and have supper on the porch later. It's just that kind of day.

Loudly, and with the windows down!

James 5:13

Anyone who is having troubles should pray. Anyone who is happy should sing praises.

Lake Jean in the autumn.

Country rooooads, take me hoooome....

The Real Sting News

UPDATE: The Real Sting is back! Apparently someone submitted a false news item to the main site and it got posted accidentally. The result was a flood of fans wanting to know the story behind the rumor, and that overloaded the server. For the record: Sting will NOT be on WWE this week! It's amazing how a little blurb like that, which was only on the site a short while before the error was caught and removed, could cause such widespread interest in the space of a couple hours. Not to mention crashing the website... but we're up and running now.

In related news: Be sure to watch Praise the Lord on TBN, Thursday December 1st. Steve "Sting" Borden will be hosting Praise for the first time! If you miss it, you can watch a replay online at www.tbn.org

Catch the show, which airs at 10 PM EST (7 PM on Planet California), then join us for a forum party afterward!

Foooooo...

Feathers. Lots of 'em. In the hall, in the kitchen, but mostly in the bathtub.

Why? Because it's dark outside and my darling husband has no place to clean the pheasant he got today. So he's in the tub with the bird. Cleaning it. In the bathtub. Hey, why not? He WAS going to clean it in my kitchen, but after the squirrel episode I said no way.

When he's done I'm going to stick the Shop-Vac nozzle in the bathroom door, turn it on and suck all the floaters out of the air before tackling the tub. It's the least I can do for my hunter guy, who is so happy about his bird... Methinks roasted pheasant on Thanksgiving sounds good! A turkey shall be spared this year.

Thanks, God. Once again you have provided. (Next time, can you send us one that's already nekkid? Just kidding... sort of...)

*fooooo* (blowing feathers a la Hudson Hawk)

Faith, Snow, and Faith

Faith I

I was conversing with a friend on IM the other day. I re-read our conversation afterward, then went back and read some of the others we'd had. One thing struck me, and that was how I come across in (rapid) print as opposed to how I really sound. It's a common thing on the internet, and doesn't generally bother me. However, with the fast pace and randomness of our conversations, he has got to be wondering just what kind of Christian I am due to some of the comments I'd made. So, to explain (more for my own peace of mind than anything else):

1. Verbiage. I use masked cursing online more than I use it verbally (i.e. $#%@!!). It's faster when I'm aggravated about something (namely, my shift key not working) to type that than to say "Oh, gee, my shift key isn't working." I don't type 100+ words a minute so I use shortcuts. So assume it stands for "drat-diddly-dee" or something, OK?

2. The Playboy magazines. I've been an "automatic renewal" subscriber for years now. Why? I like to read them. No, really... I called once to see if it was available without pictures, but it wasn't except in the Braille edition. (I can't read Braille.) I like the interviews, the product reviews, some of the fiction and Raw Data. It's the only thing that might be considered smut that you'll find in our house. The hubby and I read it in turn and discuss articles with each other and I have no problem with that whatsoever. And we hide it when my brother is here.

3. Grade-school grudges. I don't have any, really, life's too short for that. But I refer to those people as I knew them then, since I haven't seen or heard from them since. Maybe they regret treating people like dirt. Maybe they talk about me the same way ("Oh, yeah, the weird chick..."). Maybe they don't think about it at all. I don't have any other points of reference so they're stuck in my memory as the mean girls. I hope we can find some other common ground to discuss besides grade-school history anyway, though I had a great trip down memory lane looking up our former teachers. I'm going to write to one of them.

4. Truck worship. Yeah, I'm just throwing that in there... (This is going out to everyone I've ever IM'd with a photo of myself hugging the truck.) I love vehicles, and I love my truck. I'm not obsessed with it, but since it's the nicest thing we own, I tend to yap about it. I picked him out, I named him, and he's like our first-born child since we don't have any actual ones to spoil. Not worship; unconditional love. Did I mention he's purple? What's not to love?

Snow

It snowed yesterday. Not here, but in the higher elevations. We took above-mentioned truck for a drive today to look at the fall foliage and wound up near Lake Jean. Hubby was surprised to see that there was enough snow to call out the plow trucks! It was the wet, heavy kind that's great for snow sculptures. Unfortunately I was unprepared, having only a long-sleeve shirt and no jacket or gloves, and the wrong shoes. I got out long enough to throw a token snowball at my husband, lost a shoe, and hopped around until I could retrieve it and get back in the truck. The remaining snow was pretty to see among the fall colors, though. The sky was simply incredible today too. Still... snow a week before Halloween? Might not have to move to Canada after all!

Faith II

Faith is a family friend. She and her husband are a truck-driving team; they are long-haul (or over-the-road) truckers and only get home a couple days a month. I missed seeing them this time around but my husband got to see them for a bit. They presented him with a goodie bag full of... drum roll... ELK! We now have elk steaks and elk loin in our freezer. Man, that's even better than venison. I'm stoked (and thankful, since we lost almost all our meat when the freezer quit). Faith, by the way, is the neighbor who invited me to come work for her for a couple weeks 6 years ago. I met my future husband my first day there, and I'm still working there. I'm grateful for the former; the latter is debatable. She was smart enough to get out. I got her job, but still, if a pay raise doesn't come my way soon I'm going to be seeking other employment. Guess I should be happy that I'm employed at all but I'm collecting job applications. (I'm also available for work-at-home computer stuff... hint hint.)
Anyway, Faith and Jeff are wonderful, down-home folks with big hearts and I wanted to give them a shout-out here. Hi y'all! Thanks!!! See you at Thanksgiving and keep the rubber side down!

Day's End

Baggage Claim

Matthew 11:28

Come to me, all of you who are tired
and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest.

Home again home again, draggety-drag

Stayed at a hotel near the airport last night so my sister wouldn't have to get up in the wee hours to drive us. We ended up still awake in those wee hours, since the hotel had an indoor pool and a whirlpool. Then the NASCAR race was on, then I was in that too-tired-to-sleep mode.

Got about 3 hours sleep and also slept through most of our flights in spite of the coffee. I'm pretty disappointed with Starbucks. I thought I'd be wired, but I was out before the first plane even finished boarding. I think I wasted four bucks. (I have a funny Starbucks story to tell later, though!)

Got home about 3 PM, been in a zombie trance since then. But I'm going to bed as soon as I fix some dinner. I'll come back to post pics when I wake up. No more deer shots, I promise!

If you're squeamish, don't look!

Dinner the old-fashioned way... This is the buck my aunt got. I was cutting a shoulder here.

Episcopal Church, near Ridgeland, SC

I never knew there was such a thing. Only in Redneckland, y'all!

Of Mugginess and Meatlessness

Arrived in Savannah in the middle of a tropical storm. (The egg made it safely; they made us take off our shoes and belts in Harrisburg but that was it.) Our checked luggage arrived on the baggage carousel soaking wet. Made me glad I'd kept the ancient vinyl suitcase of my mother's, since nothing in that one got wet.

So it's pouring rain, 94% humidity and 80 degrees. Welcome back to the South. My niece and nephew were happy to see us. We spent the night at my sister's in Savannah. She made tofu curry and rice for dinner; I threw together a passable veggie pizza. Plus she and the kids had made cupcakes. My sister is the Baking Queen, and the cupcakes were great. Almost worth the trip right there! We played with their porch cat and their ferret. (Side note: I was dozing on the couch and was awakened in a jolting hurry when the ferret decided to chew on the instep of my foot. Good MORNING!)

Since then, we've been at Mom's. Went to Charleston one day for shopping and dinner and to give Mom and B a bad case of nerves... We took Mom's little Toyota, and "while in Rome, drive as the Romans do" was my motto. Yee-haa! That city is bananas. B-a-n-a-n-a-s. But we had a good time.

Let's see, what else... dug up some fossils at the shoals, just a handful of teeth and some random pieces. Going back today when the tide turns to hunt bigger sharks teeth. Went to my grandmother's yesterday, watched the Braves choke in the playoffs (of course) although they held on for 18 innings. My aunt decided to go sit in the deer stand for a while. She told me there was a big fox that came up sometimes, so I grabbed the camera and went along, but not until my grandmother had made me put on a pair of cammies (to keep the bugs off). I don't think I've ever sweated so much during hunting season in my life. When we hunt up north, most of the time there's snow on the ground and bugs are nonexistent. We saw five and a half deer (the sixth one didn't come out of the woods) and my aunt bagged a five-point buck. So B helped her husband clean it etc. and we came home with a nice piece of meat for steak sandwiches.

On the way home last night, at one of the backroads turns, we had to stop and wait for what we initially thought was a possum to get out of the way. It was only after we rolled up next to it that I saw my first *live* armadillo. (Only ones I ever saw had tread marks on them.) A younger one, but neat to watch... I tried to get a picture but my camera batteries died again. I know why they call them "possums on the half-shell" because it moved just like one, only faster. ;-P

Today, we go back fossil-hunting; tomorrow, fishing (finally!) and crabbing. Wednesday, if my sister will allow it, we're taking my niece with us to the state fair. I'm going to pull rank (Aunt Privilege) to get her if I have to. Haven't seen the kids in two years and my sister has to pick this week to have an authority struggle with my niece. She can wait a week, dang it. I've missed most of her growing up (she's 10) and left when my nephew was only a couple months old... he's six now and I've seen them both once a year or less since then. Adorable kids, and well-mannered to boot. Even my niece is good compared to most young'uns today.

So that's the update. More later, heading for the beach now!

I'm leaving, on a jet plane
Don't know if I'll be back again

We gone... will post from the islands when we aren't fishing, eating, or beach-ing. Not too worried about the flight; I always did like flying. I'm going to think about Jonathan Livingston Seagull when we're up in the clouds today!

Speaking of birds, this goes right along with the theme. I will be hand-transporting an emu egg to my niece. It's boxed and padded but I know I'll have to open it for security and explain just why I'm toting a giant green egg around with me. (I didn't trust putting it in our luggage.) Also in the box with the egg is a figurine of Buddha from a Chinatown shop. (gift for someone else.) This is going to be fun: woman with cowboy hat and sneakers, purse full of hard candy and camera and Christian book, carrying a box of really big egg and Buddha. Accompanied by redneck male. Yeah, I'm gonna get searched.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Fair, enough!

So the fair is going on in the big town. Everyone goes to the fair. The kids are given a few days off school (some of them the whole week so they can work at the fair), the seniors are temporarily employed hawking fudge and candy, traffic is backed up for miles, and of course it rains. It always rains during fair week.

Last year four of us went to a concert at the fair. It was raining and the stage seating (the ground between the stage and the grandstand) was of course muddy. Two of us remembered to bring ponchos and ended up sharing them with the other two. So picture two mud-splattered tent-looking contrivances, each one with two heads sticking out of it, one of those heads wearing an umbrella hat. Yes, I did say umbrella hat!

I bought one at the dollar store for the sole intention of wearing it to the fair. I could take a regular umbrella but it takes one hand to carry it. I need both hands free for the fair; one to bring whatever gastric delight I've just purchased to my mouth, and one to toss dimes and/or play bingo. An umbrella hat was the obvious answer. By the way, I am the dime-toss queen, y'all. That totally goes on the resume if I ever apply for a job in Alabama.

Now picture the umbrella-hat-wearing head holding a fried dill pickle in one hand and flipping dimes with the other. Occasionally interchange "fried pickle" for "cheesecake on a stick" and "flipping dimes" with "playing bingo" and that's pretty much me at the fair.

Oh, and we aren't going this year. It's not raining.

Countdown To Freedom!

Sunday: Invited friend over and baked cookies all afternoon. Subs for dinner, didn't feel like cooking after five hours in the kitchen.

Monday: Got broken fingernail fixed. Mailed cookies to a friend in Mississippi. (He lost everything to Katrina... others were helping with the stuff, but cookies might cheer him up.) Got frantic phone call from stepmother, who had just lost her brakes driving downhill in town. Picked her up and took her to get the truck from Dad. Received a package from Australia... thanks K! Big hugs to you! Ate dinner on the fly.

Tuesday: Worked. Broke another fingernail ($#@!!!) but it wasn't bad so I was able to fix it. Got a letter from the bank stating they were unable to withdraw our loan payment because our account was locked (see earlier rant about Em and Tee). The loan is through the same bank, and they were able to take out other charges, and B can withdraw/deposit money... so why couldn't they take out the payment? It was there! Called and griped about it, decided to switch banks ASAP. They have done nothing but jerk us around since we found out about them paying out of our account for an obviously fraudulent e-check. They don't want to take responsibility. And they owe us a lot of money too. Having tamales for dinner.

Wednesday Plan: I'm going to go to work late so B and I can have a little chat with the bank manager face-to-face. Have to call garage to arrange truck inspection, if Mike will ever answer the phone. Roasting a chicken after work.

Thursday-Saturday Plan: Work, possibly drop truck off at Mike's, call credit union about transferring our loan from Em and Tee, close account and tell manager we'll be looking forward to our reimbursement check. That was supposed to be our vacation money... grr. Now it might be Christmas money. Come home and begin vacation prep: laundry, clean out fridge, begin packing. Actually I'll probably procrastinate until Tuesday night and then run around like a maniac until three in the morning, but at least I'm able to go anywhere with a single duffel bag. Most women can't do that!

Sunday Plan: CARLISLE!!! We were discouraged to find out that the Fall Carlisle car show (one of the biggest of the year) was the weekend before we left, when we're trying to save what money we do have, but it turns out we'll be able to carpool down and spend the day drooling after all. They have worship services on Sunday too. At a car show! How cool is that?!

Politicians At Large?

Romans 1:21-22

Their thinking became useless.
Their foolish minds were filled with darkness.
They said they were wise, but they became fools.

The Irish in me...

My blood runneth green.

Stuff n' Nonsense

Changed my mind on the hunting post, at least for now. Some ultrasensitive animal activist might flame me from here to the Happy Hunting Grounds if I write what I originally intended.

So... work sucks. Everyone's getting shifted or laid off for the rest of the year, which creates scheduling hassles for me. Not to mention fewer people to share the workload. Ah well... T minus 10 days until I forget about it for a couple of weeks. I'll assess the damage when I get back.

Yesterday was the first day of autumn. We've been complaining about the unseasonably hot weather here, but today it was like Momma Nature flipped a switch and POOF it was fall. Seems like the colors started changing overnight, the weather got cooler and the breeze picked up... I'm loving it. It's my favorite time of year!

I just joined another message forum. After reading the posts and replies for twenty minutes or so, I realized just how good ours is. I was stunned at the things I read. Not one of the members there would last past their first post on our site... they'd get nuked immediately. I decided to unjoin pronto... thought I'd have to claw my eyeballs out for a minute there when I clicked on a topic and was confronted with a picture of... well... never mind, I don't even WANT to go there. Ewwwwww........

Prayers going out to those in Hurricane Rita's path. Y'all bootscootn'boogie on outta there, y'hear?

I'm out.

Hi Y'all!

I had to turn on Comment Verification. This blog doesn't get much traffic, but within 15 seconds of a new post yesterday I had 3 comment spammers. I'm not wasting time going back and deleting them, so CV is on. Sorry to the couple of folks that are nice enough to leave comments.

I should get some self-tanner for my ankles. High heels with a sock tan is not fashionable. It screams Redneck!!! As if anyone needs proof.

Speaking of... you might be a redneck if someone mentions how they wish they had another 2 inches, and the first thing you think of is a lift kit for a pickup truck. You know the speaker is a redneck if that was, in fact, what he was referring to!

One from the Forum: You might be a computer redneck if your username indicates that you are the spouse of another forum member.

You might be a redneck if -ing endings do not exist in your vocabulary; rather, you use -in'.
As in fishin', huntin', swimmin', muddin'...

You might be one if a coworker sees you wearing anything other than your work clothes, and says they've never seen you without a baseball cap on... and you're female.

You might be one if Fireballs just ain't as hot as they used to be... if you know Tootsie Rolls are better after you've softened them up in your pocket for a while... and if you buy Dum-Dum lollipops at Halloween and eat them all yourself.

Coming up: Hunting recap. 'Tis the season soon! Now y'all excuse me, I have to get to the store... I'm out of ammo.

Today's Tidbits

I wrote an article for our company website/newsletter about what the company is doing for Hurricane Katrina victims. Hoping it gets published. I may well be the only person there who can spell, so I think I've got a good shot.

Debating whether to see "Transporter 2" or "March of the Penguins" tomorrow night. It's been a few years since the hubby and I have been to an actual movie theater... am waiting semi-anxiously for "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride." Burton, Danny Elfman, and Johnny Depp... it. must. be. good. (Did anyone else know that Tim Burton was an animator for the Disney movie "The Fox and the Hound?" How cool is that?)

Tomorrow afternoon the hubby is going up to Dad's to do something with the tractor and help clear trees. I might go, but I might also stay here and rearrange some furniture. *scoots wheeled desk chair six inches to the right* Well, that's done. I guess I'll go along.

Two and a half weeks... not another movie title, but the time left until we go on vacation! This is going to be interesting. My husband hates flying, and for the first time since we've been together we're NOT driving. He hasn't been on an airplane since he was in the Marines and said he actually preferred jumping out of one to having to stay in it... I, on the other hand, like to fly. The world looks so different from up there! I hope we aren't over the wing.

I've never been allergic to anything in my life. Suddenly, I have allergies. Might be my place of employment, might not, but either way the doc gave me Allegra. I'm going to lose weight now... about 5 pounds of sinus pressure, that is. I feel like a bobble-head doll. Little body, big ol' heavy head... I think I'm allergic to poinsettias. And I think it's psychological. Bet I feel better after I kick a couple of them.

A funny website: www.stuffonmycat.com A few minutes of mindless entertainment.

I just read Janet Evanovich's latest, "Eleven On Top." It's one of her Stephanie Plum novels. She went full-tilt on this one, laying on the improbability incredibly thick. Wasn't nearly as funny as the first six or seven in the series. I still giggle thinking about Grandma Mazur shooting the turkey. At least Stephanie hasn't blown up the Buick... I'll stop reading them if that happens. The Buick is my favorite part of the series, and IMO the best returning character. A car! Of course!

Have to start thinking about our Christmas card photos soon. Last year we set up the tripod at a scenic spot, only to have power-plant security come check us out and run our license plate. I guess they own the view, along with everything else in the area. The year before, we wanted photos taken in our hunting gear but Wal-Mart wouldn't let us bring our guns in with us. Not even unloaded! People are so suspicious anymore... *grin* It was fun asking, though.

And again with the shoes... made the mistake of driving past Boscov's last Monday and the gravitational pull was too strong to resist. Got a pair of Skechers for 10 bucks. Tres passe, but I needed new sneaks. "You get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers..."

I've decided I'm on Team Aniston. Life-altering, isn't it? NOT.

With that, I'm out.

VAROOOOOM!

It ain't practical, but it sure is pretty.

No Pictures Today

I tried to upload some pics from yesterday's car show fundraiser using the image function, but for some reason they aren't working.

We went to support a friend of my husband's sister, who has cancer and is trying to raise money for treatments. The turnout was incredible, the cars (and trucks, and motorcycles) incited visible drooling from yours truly, and the weather was as perfect as it could be. There was a moment of silence in recognition of 9/11 and a nice memorial speech, plus a Chinese auction, raffles, and a bake sale that found repeat customers from our table. Whoever made the shortbread cookies needs to market them. Seriously, they were fantastic!

The DJ had some catchy nostalgic tunes going... I boogied my way from car to car, admiring just about all of them for one reason or other. Oddly, I found myself drawn to the former duds... a Chevy Luv pickup, a Maverick with a pea-green and tan plaid interior, and an absolutely gorgeous Edsel. And of all things, a mint-green four-door Buick Skylark... that Buick thing again! Gah. Resistance is futile...

Other highlights were a Dodge Warlock pickup, a Shelby Mustang GT-350, an El Camino (that sadly didn't have a FOR SALE sign on it anywhere), a couple of sweet Indian bikes, a mint '54 Vette, and one of my personal dream cars: a '66 Barracuda fastback (with that huge rear window). There must have been over a hundred cars there... No Grand Nationals, darn it, but one guy did have a Grand Nat engine and drive train in his Cutlass. I was jealous... wanted to do the same thing with my own car.

Speaking of Buicks... mine has been sick. It's been smoking and losing power on the hills and the engine light goes off and on. Same thing happened when the last oil pump went out, so I was afraid we'd have to tear it down and put yet another heavy-duty spring in there. We checked it out today... turns out the breather filter (the small one on the side of the air cleaner) was clogged solid. Three dollars later and it's fixed! That has got to be the cheapest fix EVER for that (insert expletive) car. The downside is, if it's running I'll have to drive it through the winter again, and it doesn't do well at all in snow. I need to invest in snow tires.

Or just get over my protective paranoia and drive the Bronco... is it wrong to pamper a truck? I think on some redneck level, it is... at least my dad makes fun of me for it. I won't even drive it up the mountain to his house if the bushes haven't been trimmed back to avoid scratching the sides. Dad: "It's a TRUCK, for cryin' out loud!" Me: "But it's a NICE truck! I wanna keep it that way!" Dad: *eyeroll*

Yeah, I got it bad. But I'm going to have one of the sweetest original Broncos out there someday. Then I'm going to sell it and buy a late-60s El Camino. See, I have a plan....!

What you talkin' bout?

Everyone's talking about the hurricane, the survivors, and the fuel prices, so I'm not going to. I won't stop thinking about it, but I doubt anything I could say would be any different than what everyone else is discussing at work and home and everywhere else.

Therefore, I'm going to yap about something else. A favorite rant: SUV drivers vs. SUV haters.

I was on a message board last night where people were complaining about gas prices. Half the group started flaming the other half for owning "big, pretentious, gas-guzzling, environment-polluting monsters on wheels." Also "4Wd is SO unnecessary!" Okay then. You there, in the Honda Civic with the spoiler and the lo-pro tires... Come up here when there's a foot of snow on the ground and try to get up my road. Come on, you can do it! What's that? Your 3" ground clearance isn't enough? Your slick tires have no traction? Well, turn up your bass booster, maybe you can bounce your way up the mountain... No? Gee, sorry to hear that. Mind getting that useless tin can out of my way so I can get my 4X4 in gear and go to work? No problem, I'll just push it out of the road with my bumper... Come back and pick it up after next spring when the mud dries up, okay? It's not going anywhere. Oh, and remember...4WD is SO unnecessary! *Snickering as I drive off*

As to polluting the environment... vehicles today have stricter emissions standards than ever before in the history of automaking. Please tell me how my modern-emissions-equipped SUV, which passes state emissions tests annually, is pumping out more pollutants than your 1987 Econobox with the exhaust leak and the oil dripping out of the valve cover? (If you have a newer hybrid vehicle, I defer that remark. I envy you, truly.)

Having said that, Hummers and Escalades and the like really are pretentious. People that buy them and then gripe about gas prices will get no sympathy from me. Hey Hummer dude, back away from the gas pumps! Save some for the rest of us!

Taken By Storm

Isaiah 22:1, 2
What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops,
You who are full of noise, a tumultuous city, a joyous city?
Your slain men are not slain with the sword,
Nor dead in battle.

A Quickie

I'm tired so I'm going to be quick about this.

The birthday was okay. We're shaking the piggy bank right now so I told hubby not to even think about a present... I'd have felt too guilty otherwise. He made dinner instead which to me is infinitely better than trinkets. A friend and I went out pseudoshopping... we had a lot of fun trying on the ugliest, Barbie-est shoes we could find. Hats too, natch. There are some seriously fugly hats out there...

I'm feeling under the weather today. Been dizzy (no jokes please, if you know me) and slightly off-kilter... I think it's the weather. Ordinarily I love rain, but it's been hot and humid along with the showers which means misery in the plastic bubble I work in. Everyone had headaches today.

Hoping everyone in Katrina's path is okay... prayers to all of you.

I'm taking myself and the latest issue of GAMES to bed.

Random Bits

No news today, except I just got my mother addicted to Kitty Cannon. (It's sick and twisted, but the sound effects are funny. You can find it yourself; I'm not posting a link!)

B's dad had eye surgery today. They found some blood clots, so he'll need to go back, but we haven't gotten any details yet.

Decided to fly instead of drive for our vacation in October. The vacation we were supposed to be on right now, that is... got postponed for the third time. We just don't have the $$$ to drive the Bronco all that way, and it actually IS cheaper to fly. (A year ago I was joking about that. Very sad to see my sarcasm become reality.)

Oh, and the biggest news of the day: B (the hubby) had dinner on when I got home. He made his incredible meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, and broccoli... He really does make one heck of a good meatloaf, using venison and ground sausage instead of burger. Plus the requisite onions and mushrooms and spices and stuff... and NO baked-on ketchup. It doesn't need it!

He's now gearing up to bake a carrot cake for my birthday, like he does every year.

Was my husband replaced by an alien clone, or does he just want something and is sucking up? Neither, actually... he's just a sweetheart. Yes, he does have a brother, who is married. Sorry.

Made me laugh out loud.

From PostSecret (link at right). I can sometimes relate. Mmm, enchiladas....

Oops!

To whomever has a username similar to mine:
You should be getting one of those "password recovery" emails tonight. I deleted my cookies and cleared my cache, and had a total brain-drain afterwards. Turns out I got the password right but the username wrong. (I've used the same one for ages... no idea why I went with a variation this time.)

I'd like to see your blog and find out if we have anything in common! ;-)

Launch!

Poinsettias are here.

You're thinking... poinsettias? Aren't those Christmas flowers?

Yep. But they have to grow somewhere. And they take six months to grow and bloom properly. Our site got the cuttings in July; my greenhouse gets the transplanted rooted cuttings and grows them until we either sell them all or get sick of them and stomp on....um.... I mean, until the holiday season's over. Yeah, that's right.

Poinsettias are susceptible to every plant disease known to man, and then some. They attract insects. They get mold, mildew, and scab. They are incredibly sensitive to environmental changes, which is why even though it's been hot as heck in the GH, we've discussed turning on the floor heat at night already. They get too tall, or stay too short, requiring numerous amounts of growth regulators to keep 'em short or shoot them up. It's like Alice and her mushrooms. They need calcium supplements, salt supplements, fertilizer supplements, and possibly One-A-Day vitamins... not sure about that last one but I wouldn't doubt it. Couldn't hurt, anyway.

There is this widespread myth that poinsettias are poisonous. They aren't. Not to humans and most animals, anyway. Might make your cat or your toddler a bit ill, if they ate a bunch of them, but you could have poinsettia hors d'oeuvres at a cocktail party and be more likely to get salmonella from the chicken pate' than die from poinsettia consumption. I wouldn't recommend it, however; I know what we spray on those things. I'd rather play poinsettia bowling than actually eat one. (P-bowling is a great way to release frustration at the end of the year. Due to the shape of the pots, it requires a wicked curve to win.)

I hate poinsettias. Really I do. This year I'm going to put Operation Poinsettia Launch into effect, and see how far I can hurl a six-inch pot using a bicycle tube tied between two posts. INCOMING!!!!! Thwannnngggg..... I feel better already. ;-P

The Numbers Game

I stopped to pretend to put gas in my car after work today. I got 7 gallons of fuel and some Gatorade, and the total was $27.72.

Other than the obvious comment about fuel prices, what's so odd about that?

In 7 days it will be the 27th (my birthday). '72 is the year I was born. 27 and 72 are both divisible by 3; 3/3 (33) is my age.

My mom did a "magic numbers" diagram for me on my self-proclaimed Lucky Birthday six years ago. I was 27 on the 27th. Every single way it computed, if one believed in numerology my day was destined to be a good one.

Guess what? It was my first date with my future husband. We went out for Mexican food, met his sister and future BIL at a karaoke bar (great first impressions there!) and ended the night with the radio cranked and the windows down cruising back country roads in a pickup truck.

What's changed? Well, we never went to another karaoke bar. The rest is pretty much the same. Six years next weekend... Every birthday is a lucky one. I'm blessed no matter how the numbers line up.

Although... I wonder if there's a bus going to Atlantic City next Saturday?

My Inner Imelda Marcos

So what is it with women and shoes, anyway?

I never had that shoe fetish. As a kid, I had sneakers and flip-flops, though it was hard to get me in any kind of footwear at all, most of the time. I'd spend entire summers barefoot if my parents let me.

As a teen, when most girls were begging Daddy for money for the latest trends, I had sneakers (hightops, of course; it was the 80s after all), flip-flops, and three different-colored pairs of Keds. And I still went barefoot quite a bit. Not a lot of variety in the shoe department... believe it or not, I'd decided that turquoise L.A. Gears went with anything. Did I mention it was the 80s?

Then I had to get a pair of boots for riding. I also retired the L.A. Gears in favor of Converse All-Stars during one of their many fashion revivals. Turquoise, naturally. I still had not owned a pair of leather sandals or high heels.

Moving on, I switched to boots. Black motorcycle boots for hanging out, black combat boots for casual days, and black cowboy boots for dancing. It was a strange time... At one point I had a pair of suede knee-high lace-ups for "formal wear." Yes, you read that right.

Eventually I had to break down and buy heels. There were weddings to attend and functions where black boots weren't quite the expected mode of dress. I had the same pair of heels for years... and when they wore out, I bought another pair just like them. I also gave up the motorcycle boots for clunky black Oxfords. I'd pretty much given up on color at this point; everything I owned was black or grey, except t-shirts and one dress for the abovementioned occasions.

Today, I spend working hours in leather hiking shoes, Gore-Tex'd and waterproofed. For all other times I own five pairs of leather sandals, three pairs of glorified flip-flops, four pairs of heels, one good set of sneakers and one grubby set, the old standby combat boots, hunting (snow) boots, rubber ones for work, slip-ons for running next door to the store, and a great pair of black square-toed "witch shoes" I wear at Halloween. Plus boat shoes, fuzzy cow slippers, and a throwback pair of grey-and-black Acme cowboy boots from the Salvation Army in case I ever get the mad urge to line-dance again (hasn't happened yet, but if it does I'm prepared).

To top it all off, Boscov's had an incredible sale this past weekend. I'm feeling a little guilty, but who could resist name-brand shoes for 12 bucks? What I'm trying to figure out is when the Imelda Syndrome hit me. From a shoe-fashion disaster to a closet heel-hound... I never thought it would happen to me.

Ironically enough, when I left Boscov's the first thing I did was take my shoes off, stick them in the bag with the new ones, and walk across the parking lot barefoot. Some things never change.

X marks the Spot

Matthew 6:21
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

My Latest PC Add-On

A must-have for anyone running anything connected with Micro$oft. Or for those who mod on volatile message forums.

POOF went the lights

Well, foo. I was halfway through a new post, and our power went out for three seconds... just long enough to kick the computer off and mess up all the clocks.

*Looks outside* No wind, rain, or sirens... so nobody hit a utility pole and no branches down... PP&L must be messing with us again. I think they like to practice in case they ever have to utilize rolling blackouts. Either that, or somewhere there's a squirrel-ka-bob hanging by a smoking claw from a power line...


Back later. Grocery shopping awaits, and I've decided that I'm going to do it in high heels today. Weeee.....I can reach the high shelves!

Chartreuse and Periwinkle

Mood: melancholy
Tune: "Little Conversations" Concrete Blonde

I'm in one of those moods tonight. Just blah, kinda here, kinda not... introspective. I should go to bed early but I don't feel like dealing with tomorrow just yet, and the sooner I sleep the sooner I'll have to wake up and go full-tilt again. I'm not in a full-tilt frame of mind.

I used to draw all the time. Last night I was IM'ing with my best friend, and something he said just triggered the sudden and unexpected urge to pick up a pencil. I bought a new sketch pad some months ago; I was saddened when I realized I'd used it for the first time only last night. I loved the feeling of whipping an idea onto paper in minutes, like I used to, and having a whole theme for several subsequent sketches already in mind...

And yet... the sketch pad lies closed, inspiration waned, no more than a wistful recollection of enthusiasm remaining. I wish I could get that back. I WANT to draw, but I look at the page and see nothing but blank paper where once I'd have envisioned wild mustangs or sarcastic cartoons or a friend, sound asleep, an unguarded moment captured in graphite... Sleeping people were always some of my favorite subjects.

Where did that go? Where did my obsessive love for Prismacolors and charcoal run away to, and why did it abandon me when for the longest time it was my preferred form of expression? Once upon a time, I lusted after Rapidograph pens... searched determinedly for the perfect nib for that ink drawing I had in mind... combed the art-supply store for the one shade of color I didn't have... And now, other priorities have pushed that all behind me.

I want that feeling back. I need to create! I need to color! I need to... what's that, honey? The porch rails need painting? *Sigh* Better than nothing, I guess... At least I'll get to go buy some paint.

Who is Bert, anyway?

I used to live in the South, where there was at least one Huddle House or Waffle House in every town. It was our habit to go there after a night out, since my town had what I believe was the only Denny's in the US that actually closed at 10 P.M. (!!!) and the diner was the only place open at two in the morning. (The Denny's eventually closed due to lack of business... go figure.)

I have numerous Waffle House stories... which I'm not going to share... let's just say, if you leave a large enough tip in plain view of the waitress, it is impossible to get thrown out of a Waffle House.

What I'm getting at is that since I've moved North, I haven't been to any Waffle Houses. There aren't any around here. We have truck stops instead... eh. Just not the same.

Today I found not one, but two! Waffle Houses in the Harrisburg area. (side note: we were able to go to the truck show today after all.) Limited finances barred our usual repast at El Rodeo Mexican Ristorante, and I forgot where Fuddrucker's was, so in a fit of nostalgia B and I dined on patty melts, hash browns WH style (scattered, smothered, covered, chunked, diced, capped, and topped; you WH aficionados don't need an explanation), and Bert's chili. I love Bert's chili.

I am going to be paying for this later... Bert's chili also comes with Bert's Revenge. But it was worth it.

RANT: EM and TEE Bank

This is not the first time they've messed something up with my hubby's account, but it's by far the worst. He uses the online banking thing just to see what's cleared, and to make sure they took out the loan payment. (He does all transactions in person because he doesn't trust the internet.)

So he sees that a check for a large amount of money has been paid out of his account. He's just mailed checks for all the monthly bills, and with this large amount of money missing, there isn't enough to cover them. He can look at canceled checks online, so he does, and (drum roll) it's his name on the check, but it isn't his check, or his account number, or even his bank! (In fact, the issuing bank was bought out over 5 years ago!) And the address of the nom de same is in a state we've never even been to.

He calls his bank. They confirm that no, it isn't his, and determine that this check has gone through four other banks before being drawn on his account. They say they will investigate. He calls back the next day, and they ask him to come in Monday morning to sign some fraud paper or something. But do they correct his account?

NO.

Therefore, his account is now overdrawn, and not all the bills have cleared yet. Also, he had our weekend money for Carlisle in there...POOF, we can't go now. GRRRRRR....

KNOWING it wasn't him, and CONFIRMING this to him, how hard would it have been to click a couple buttons and fix his balance?

I'm going with B on Monday, and I'm going to speak to the bank manager. They will pay any insufficient funds fees, they will fix his account, and they will apologize for the inconvenience they've caused. Or else I'm going to get a wee bit irate. Hell hath no fury...

Then they can track down whatever bozo actually accepted that check in the first place and beat him with rolls of quarters. Or at least pretend to.

Totally ridiculous. LOVE it!

Didja ever wonder...

...What if?

Bring 'em home, Dubya

Proverbs 25:25
As cold water to a weary soul,
So is good news from a far country.

Creative Writing, husband style

Our refrigerator is dying. The freezer part decided to quit first; ironically, just a few weeks ago, our chest freezer somehow became unplugged, and I ended up cooking a lot of stuff that got partially thawed. We were eatin' good for a few days... I had a couple of turkeys in there, so we had Thanksgiving in July. Twice. Better than wasting it, right?

We lost a lot of the stuff on the top of the freezer, though, and what was still frozen got transferred to the now-nonfunctioning icebox. Tonight we're moving everything in there BACK to the chest freezer. He tosses, I catch... It's almost fun, except for the imminent reality of having to find a new fridge. That's going to bite the budget, since the stove we had to buy when our deluxe 1963 model caught fire for the last time isn't paid for yet. Man, I loved that stove...

Anyway, gotta go. The hubby just tossed me something that I strongly suspect is a deer part of some sort. The big label reading "BAMBI BUTT" kinda gives it away.

This just makes me sad.

Note to Self: Next time, take a quilt.

I mentioned that I was hoping to catch a nap at the doc's today. Lucky me... Just before I was called, the receptionist announced to the six people there that our doctor had to go deliver a baby, and would we mind waiting? Most of us didn't, since a delivery really isn't something a woman can put on hold until after her doc has discussed incontinence with Mrs. Feedlehoffer. One patient, however, caused eyes to roll in unison by whining, "Well, how long is it going to take anyway?" Um...hon...have you ever had a baby? Just asking... I haven't, but I'm pretty sure a baby's ETA isn't even as reliable as Delta Airlines' and that leaves a pretty wide margin. No pun intended.

I didn't snooze then... I was engrossed in my occasional game of "spot the grammatical errors in today's newspaper" and was proofreading the classifieds when they called me. Ten minutes later (and forty-five minutes after my initial appointment time) I was in The Gown and waiting for Doc to appear. I was listening closely to the voices in the hall, since I like to hear how they refer to the patients by disease or reason for visit instead of name, when what sounded like a Pamplona bull went thundering by the door, hollering "DELIVERY! Gotta go!" And there she went.

Keep in mind that I'd never met this particular doctor. She was referred to me by a friend a few years ago, but thanks to my HMO pulling a power-play with providers, I was unable to see her until the standoff ended. Needless to say, I was a little concerned. Those footfalls made me expect a stiff-spined, matronly, no-nonsense type, the kind that gives you withering looks if you even suggest you might get lightheaded at the sight of a hypodermic.

So I was surprised when, after finally taking an hour-long nap on the exam table, a very petite young woman arrived to see me. I had to ask her name just to make sure they hadn't sent a replacement. It was, indeed, my new doctor. The rest of the appointment went uninterrupted by whiny people or Pamplona bulls, and I found out I'd lost six pounds. Yay!

But I gotta tell ya, that crinkly paper on the exam table makes a lousy blanket.

Link of the Moment

Mind-numbingly useless, but addictive. Is it your lucky day?

http://www.gamegold.co.kr/33/clover.swf

There's no need to fear...maybe.

"A community of people thriving on open in-depth discussion of anything they care to discuss. With only one 'cast in stone' rule; attack the issue, not the individual."

Also prone to wandering conversation, occasional diatribes against career politicians, innuendo, and really bad jokes. Sensitive P.C. people need not apply.

Curious? Ask me about The Underdog.

Just think it to me

Scene: Hubby driving, me riding shotgun, in heavy 6-lane traffic in the city. He has his attention on the road. I'm alternating between reading a map and watching for signs.

Me: "Okay, 22 should be coming up on the...hey, was that a Barnes & Noble?"
He: (without asking) "I'll turn around."

Same scene, another frequent conversation:

He: "So Al saw this flock of turkeys, and...ooh." (glances in rearview)
Me: "Blue two-tone. Nice." (goes back to sign-watching)
He: "Extended-cab longbed."
Me: "4x4, too."
He: "With manual hubs."
Me: "Didn't see any rust on the fenders."
He: "I like it."
Me: "Needs bigger tires."
He: (laughs at me) "So anyway, Al saw the turkeys..."

There can be four lanes of traffic, a median, and three semis between us and a nice car or truck, but we always know exactly which vehicle it is that the other one spotted, even if we only got a quick glimpse as it went the other way at 70 MPH. We're just tuned in. Got Radar Love or something.

Hey, was that a Fuddrucker's we just passed?

Night of the Living Dead?

I was so tired this morning. I haven't been sleeping too well since the accident, so I've been staying up until I've reached that stage where I pass out from sheer exhaustion. And then the alarm goes off... I have got to work on my pitching. A slider just won't shut that thing up.

I'm actually glad I have a doctor's appointment (routine checkup) tomorrow, because I can leave work at noon and maybe catch a catnap in the waiting room. (Of course, this will be the one time I get called right off the bat, I betcha. Either that, or I'll only have the first two jokes in "Laughter, The Best Medicine" read when they call my name. I hate it when people interrupt my funny fix.) Seems daylight hours are more conducive to sleeping nowadays. I've been a zombie for two weeks... does it ever end?

In other news, our vacation is on for October. It's better than August, since it won't be so hot, the beach will still be an option (but without the crowds), and we can get fresh local oysters. Yay! And with any luck fuel prices will drop (wishful thinking) so we can afford to drive the Bronco down. I calculated the fuel cost at the current price; $300 round-trip in gas alone, as long as we don't drive anywhere else once we get there or run into any detours. Ouch.

I should have bought that diesel '83 VW Rabbit. 45 MPG... I'm still kicking myself.

Flashback II

Jr. High graduation... yeah, it was the 80's, but that's still no excuse...*grin*

We're gonna need more guest towels...

Eph. 2:19
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God...

Flashbacks

After chatting with some former classmates over the past few months, and especially recently, I've been bouncing around in nostalgia-land.

I'm amazed at the things I remember, and equally incredulous at the things I don't. I mean, from fourth through ninth grade, I was a sentient human, I'm pretty sure. Aliens didn't take over my consciousness or wipe my brain or anything. So how is it that from that entire six years, only bits and pieces come to mind? Sure, I remember certain people, a few teachers, drinking Jolt cola at lunch and getting wired... but the time is mostly blank, with the occasional fragmented memory flickering like a low-watt bulb in a faulty socket. Where was I, all those years? How is it that my memory retention was good enough to ace tests regularly, but not good enough to hang on to the "important stuff" that real memories are made of?

And where can I get some Jolt cola?

Good Stuff

Italian ice...on a stiiiick. (with apologies to Jeff Dunham)

http://www.phillyswirl.com/products/products.cfm

Virgos are notoriously organized.

Say what?

Organized. Practical. Logical. That's what the description says.

They obviously haven't seen my desk.

No, not my desk at work...that's all of the above. At work I am fanatical about everything being where it should be, not just in my office but in every area I work in. I'm Mrs. I-Know-Where-It-Is-And-By-The-Time-You've-Finished-Asking-For-It-I-Have-It-In-Hand. I hate it when the production crew doesn't line up plants by variety and color. I hate it when somebody moves something and I can't find it. I hate seeing shipping carts on both sides of the walks, instead of lined up neatly on one side only. I've picked up my supervisor's habit of straightening the refuse cans as I walk by them, with the lid flaps aligned with the can handles.

But my desk at home would send Martha Stewart into hyperventilation and an incurable nervous tic. And my coworkers would be incredulous. (Not to mention a little perturbed, considering how I am at work.)

This came about because I'm trying to find my new HMO card (not even going off on that rant right now). I just got it a couple weeks ago, and it isn't with my other necessary cards, which means it's somewhere on the desk. I have a huge desk, by the way. I could sleep on it, if I moved the computer. And the right-side pile of junk mail, which is sitting on top of the scanner... (I have to shred soon, because the stack is blocking my framed Brandon Lee picture from the Crow, and that is so not right.) And I'd have to move the front-right pile of paid bills to the archives (shout-out to CB; my new "filing system" has a label!) and the left-side stack to the regular trash and the printer and speakers and VCR and all the assorted candles and notepads and peripherals...

So in theory I could, in fact, sleep on the desk. But I have to find my HMO card first. I'll probably need a nap after that anyway.

You catch 'em, He'll clean 'em

Matt. 4:19
Then He said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

New Mustang: Addictive

I should never have let him drive. Now he has yet another car on the wish list...

Website of the Moment

www.carsatcarlisle.com

We'll be there this coming weekend for the All-Truck Nats. Just follow the trail of drool to find us.

7 pounds of chocolate.

(Originally written sometime last year)
Not ounces, or liters, or any liquid measure...the bottle of Hershey's syrup I just bought says 7 lbs.

Why did I buy 7 lbs. of chocolate syrup? Because my husband needed a fix...he's been out for over a week and is suffering from withdrawals. I got tired of paying for smaller bottles once or twice a month, and found the big jugs at a warehouse store, so now I buy those instead. My hubby loves his chocolate milk... it kills me that he's more of a chocoholic than any female I know, and yet he managed to lose 13 pounds in the past 3 months without doing anything. What's worse is that he didn't need to lose any weight in the first place. Women should be so lucky.

I, on the other hand, rarely eat chocolate. I binge now and then, but if we were out of syrup I probably wouldn't notice. I like my 2% milk plain, and (shhh...don't tell the locals!) really don't care for Hershey's chocolate anyway. I'm a Lindt truffle person...white, please.

7 lbs...sheesh. We should buy stock in the company.

Good Causes

WillowWood Ranch in Celina, Texas is the home of Walk On!, a not-for-profit Therapy Riding Center for disabled kids. They're having a fundraiser at the moment, but could always benefit from word-of-mouth, so check them out. And be sure to meet the horses...they need sponsors!

http://www.willowwoodranch.com

Also, some friends are missionaries with Youth With A Mission, and they're returning to Latvia in August. Check out their site...sponsors welcome here too. Help them spread the Word!

http://www.chrisandlydia.net/

My husband's truck doesn't like me.

What better thing to do while stranded in a suddenly-uncooperative pickup truck in 95-degree heat than take pictures to commemorate the occasion? (I edited out the sweat.)

Behind the Technological Power Curve

OK, so I’m not a geek. At least not in the technical sense… Not having anyone nearby to give me hands-on instruction, I’ve had to figure most of this computer junk out on my own. “User-Friendly” my fanny…
The internet tech forums are helpful sometimes, but geekspeak is a foreign language to me. Ironically, I’m an administrator on a few message forums…I was flying blind for a while last year, but now have a handle on it for the most part. I’m so proud. A small victory computer-wise is a good one for me.

Just last week I learned how to burn DVDs from VHS tapes, with help from Pinnacle’s Studio 9 program and a MovieBox. Now if someone could tell me how to burn a DVD with no region code, I could send some home movies to friends in Australia and New Zealand. Next step: recording LPs (remember them?) onto CD… I believe I have the equipment I need, just have to tackle the octopus of wiring behind my desk… *looks under desk* But not today. Last time I rerouted everything I blew a fuse…literally…got a heavy-duty surge protector now, but our entire apartment is only wired on two circuits, so overload is a distinct possibility. I better go check our fire insurance coverage, now that I think about it.

Not Flying South in August

All vacations for August and September are cancelled due to GoLive! Our GH is set to connect with all our other sites using a new network and computer system which I don’t even pretend to understand. All I know is that I’ll be counting plants while the office people are pulling their hair out for once. And it means my trip to Spartanburg for Impact 2005 (www.theimpactisreal.com) is a no-go. Randall Cunningham, Ricky Skaggs and Steve Borden (Sting) are some of the scheduled guests…I was going to hang with Steve and Kathy after Steve gave his testimony, but it ain’t gonna happen now…*sigh* As it turns out, Kathy has a scheduling conflict with her church in Nashville, so she won’t be going anyway. I was really hoping to (finally) meet her, but maybe next time…

Killer Buicks and Birds

(Originally written Spring 2005)
You may have heard me yapping about the family Buick curse…we’re destined to have at least one at any given moment, and it will break or cause much grief at the least opportune times (doesn’t it always work that way?) The current tally is two; Dad has the sweet blue ‘73 Electra 225, with a 455 engine that naturally only runs on premium gasoline ($$$!). He doesn’t drive it much right now…go figure. I still have my old ‘85 Regal, which has survived several resurrections and just refuses to permanently die. Or maybe it’s just cheaper to fix than to buy another car….at any rate, it’s still going.

The most recent trials of Buck Buick (my car):
The current Buick vs. Bird Total is Buick 5, Bird 0. Two robins, two crows…never hit either kind of bird before. Usually it’s pigeons or doves that misjudge the distance between their flight route and the grille of the car. The crows I hit at the same time…both on the windshield….same with the robins, but they were a couple days apart. All the birds met their unfortunate demise within a week and a half.
Wait…I said 5 birds, you’re thinking…that’s only four. The fifth occurred just when I was thinking the streak was over…and then it happened. On the way home from work, something flew out from a field by the road and went THUMP under the right-front wheel. I was confused… “Birds don‘t go THUMP!” They just disintegrate into a poof of feathers…so of course I turned around and went back, thinking it was one of the numerous kestrels that catch mice in the fields.
Nope…it was a Northern Flicker, AKA a pretty good-sized woodpecker. Almost 12 inches long…(no need to comment on that, OK? I know there's a joke just begging to happen.) I felt bad, but what could I do? And how many people hit woodpeckers with their cars, anyway?
Someday the birds are coming for me a la Alfred Hitchcock, I just know it. When I (accidentally) hit the robins, I thought it was justice served for the ones that used to chase me and peck at my head in one of the greenhouses, but now the favor lies with the winged ones…

Speaking of birds, the golden eagles are back! I heard the female screeching the other day, out in her nest in the treeline behind Plant 3. Usually when she’s talking the male is out cruising, so I searched the sky and sure enough, there he was, doing lazy loops over the next farm. Some of you know I’ve watched this pair for a few years now, and have witnessed two baby eaglets (two different years) taking their first flights. The adult male has finally lost his white juvenile wing and tailfeathers and is all brown, so I figure him to be about 5 or 6 years old. I haven’t seen the female yet this year, as she’s nesting, but a couple years ago the whole family (mom, dad, and baby) were flying around our field when three more adults came from the South and joined them for 20 minutes of aerobatics. I don’t know how often that happens, but it was incredible to watch! I’m hoping I’ll get to see this year’s family when they leave the nest.
The kestrels were back in S-Section this past spring, but not like years past when they would follow us around from bay to bay, waiting for us to scare out a vole or two. This year they seemed a little stand-offish and spent most of their time on the power lines across the road. Noisy critters, but nice to see them again. At least there weren’t as many mouse parts lying around the perimeter of S-Sec to clean up (or step on…eww).

Welcome to my Blog.

To expand on the description up there...I've managed to save most of my former rants and raves and randomness, but they were in several locations...message forums, family website, email newsletters, etc.... I'll be adding them here, along with some new observations.

Everything will probably have the wrong date on it but I'll try to add it to the original post (if I can remember specifics, that is!). No guarantees about chronological order, either, not that anyone else cares.

Life's too short to worry too much about blog dates anyway.

More to come...