Unfinished Object
Quote of The Day
Navigation
Home |
Where I Play
Categories
Read
Lurk
Inspire
Green
Diversions
Photos
Monthly Archives
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
Site Credits
Powered by:
ExpressionEngine
Design by:
BlogMoxie
...if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all. and I haven’t much good to report. My aunt is back in the hospital, and it is very touch and go. Her heart dropped to 8 beats / min this morning, which scared everyone. She is stable now, but suffering from a bacterial blood infection that is causing her to fill up with fluid, so much so that all of her systems are being affected.
I’m a little more centered overall, and not as frazzled .... certainly still worried. I spoke to Rox by phone, Kim by email and Donni on yahoo chat, which has helped. Its not sympathy I’m after, just a little understanding, and they were all kind enough to offer that.
Speaking of Donni, I received a package from here today ... definitely a mood booster. In it, a drop dead gorgeous shawl of dark brown and cream (and many in between) that is so soft I’m praying for the temperature to drop - hee. Potpourri that smells divine, two travel pamphlet, a card and a packet of sumac (spice that smells even better than the potpourri, lol). Donni, I really cant thank you enough and I’m turning down the air conditioner as I type ... haha.
Added 9/29/06: I was doing two things at once when I entered this post, and I failed to point out that with the packet of sumac there was a little book about spices and packed with recipes. Not only that but it was signed by Herbie himself! Very cool Donni, very cool!
I left work late this evening and had to make two stops on my way home, putting dinner in serious danger of being really late. Instead of rushing home and cooking I stopped at a local wing joint and ordered out. While I was waiting I took a seat at the bar, and listened to the live entertainment ... a guy, a guitar and a back up track. He was better than average, and loud enough conversation was difficult. That didn’t stop the retiree to my right. He meets up with a group of buddies every Wednesday and they take off on their motorcycles together. They ride about 50 to 100 miles, or at least that’s the way he told it the first time. The second go ‘round it was 100 to 150, by the third it was over 200. I wonder how many states he’d have covered if I’d stayed - heh.
This is one of those days when I sorely wish I had girlfriends who would take me out, listen to me rant, get me knee-walking drunk and drive me home.
House is clean, lawn is mowed, laundry is done and its mighty sleepy around here.
Libby on the dining room table (naughty kitty).
Lenny on D’s office floor.
Leona on the chair in my office, the needle point pillow behind her says ‘home is where the cat is’ - heh.
Daniel, in the middle of my work table.
Why, you may ask is my work table covered in fabric, simple, I told my mom I’d make a tote for her to give as a gift....and have it done tonight. It’s maybe two hours of work, but after too much sun, a relaxing margarita, and a delightful conversation with Amysue by phone (she found me online) ... I’m having trouble getting started. Of course I wouldnt’ trade any of it. Well maybe cleaning the toilets. But certainly not Amysue’s call. She was a little surprised to find I didn’t knit, but she talks fabric with the best of them, and lots of other things too. I fear I may have talked her ear off, and I know I made her late for choir practice. But I wouldn’t trade that either, it was a great finish to a busy, but nice weekend.
Oh, and I nearly forgot. Last weekend I finished my pincushion, for the pincushion challenge. I can’t say it turned out how I had hoped ... in fact I can’t say I’m happy with it at all. But, its done, and I can move on to something else. The challenge was recycling, and in keeping I raided the recycling bin. The fence and dragon fly are cut from plastic bottles, and the flowers from a cardboard soda box. The felt isn’t recycled, but is from my scrap bag, and it is stuffed with trimmings from the serger. The idea was a hillside garden ... but it falls a little short. Oh well, onward and upward. Tomorrow...Monday, sigh.
I’m glad I did that reapair myself, because in the end there was little to it. The phone system was down for under five minutes while I wired, and the only difficulty encountered was the fire alarm’s annoyance at being disconnected from the phone line. The best part? I don’t have to loose sleep over the system being struck by lightening anymore. I sure didn’t want to replace all of that on my own - heh.
Thing are a little strained at work, two people are on vacation (dad and step-mom), one tech is away at school, and my uncle has been in and out caring for my aunt. She is finally home now, but still not doing very well. Evidently ovarian cancer causes the body to retain fluid, she has retained so much that it is weeping from the pores of her legs. A physical therapist has been by to show him how to properly help her about the house and a nurse came yesterday to change the dressing. My uncle said if he’d been left to do it alone he’d have taken one look and called 911. The staples are out, but the incision site is 7cm long 4cm wide and 6cm deep. That ‘deep’ part flips him out, understandably. His worry, combined with ours, and the shorthandedness at work has everyone on edge, and we have a week of being short-staffed left. Posting may be a little spotty on weekdays for a while.
My weekend plans are on the mundane side, chores, chores, chores. But we are going to try to go to lunch today, at an outdoor spot where we can take Mackie, and to the pet store ... sort of ‘a Mackie day out’. She’s alone so much during the week that we try to take her with us whenever possible on the weekends, plus she loves to go! I’m hoping to get the chores done today, so I can relax tomorrow. My brain needs a little ‘down time’.
I spent some time this morning patting myself on the back for figuring-out something difficult. The short version of the story is that the telephone system surge suppresser died, leaving an expensive (though outdated) telephone system vulnerable to lightening at the height of storm season. I managed to track a replacement down and it should be here tomorrow. I also managed to find the special tool, for connecting the wires to the unit, in my dad’s garage (without ever having seen one in my life). Hopefully my luck will hold, and I’ll be able to install it without mishap.
The yellow arrow points to what I’ll be replacing, but what you can’t see is the nine billion wires attached to it. Ok, there’s only 32, but when you are trying to keep them in order, believe me, billion seems possible.
Why, you ask, with a building full of technicians would I even try it? It comes down to pride, plain and simple. Part of my easing into the driver’s seat of this business is to be responsible for building repairs. Not that I have to preform them myself, but I have to start making the decisions regarding them ... and I decided that this is a repair I can make. Of course, if you see a mushroom cloud go up in this direction, you should probably send D a casserole - heh.
After lunch Saturday my mother and I went to Ulta, my favorite beauty supply store, I wanted to pick up some Smash Box Primer
-What’s that?
-Primer, it fills in the little creases before you put on your makeup.
-Will it fill in these lines around my mouth?
-Mom ... its not spackle!
1. One book that changed your life: Rissa Kerguelen, F.M. Busby
Yeah, a book from the juvenile section. But to this day, whenever I get out of balance I drag it out and read it again, somehow it centers me.
2. One book that you’ve read more than once: A Winter’s Tale, Mark Helprin
And I need to do it again, it has been many years since I sat down with it. I remember it as a little bit of a ‘wader’, but I suspect I’d enjoy it even more now, than I did ten years ago.
3. One book you’d want on a desert island: Kushiel’s Dart, Jaqueline Carey
Truthfully, I’d want the whole series. I finished it a month or two ago, but enjoyed so much, I’m ready to read it again.
4. One book that made you laugh: Assassin’s Apprentice, Robin Hobb
Obviously it is not a funny book, but the interaction between the main character and his wolf is at times quite humorous. Hobb nails ‘animal indifference’ to human problems.
5. One book that made you cry: The Blue Sword, Robin McKinley
Hmmm, another from the juvenile section, and another I read a few times a year as a centering device. Proof that I have never really grown up-heh.
6. One book that you wish had been written: The Riverwall, Randall Garrett, Vicky Ann Heydron.
How can I wish a book that was written ‘had been’ written? Randall suffered an illness and was unable to write - he was in a coma the last years of his life. Vicky Ann carried on, and I’m sure she gave it her best, but for me it fell a little flat. I wish he had been able to write a few more.
7. One book that you wish had never been written: The Plains of Passage, Jean M Auel
My grandmother gave me Clan of the Cave Bear for Christmas, I was probably fifteen or sixteen, and still pretty naive. I loved it, despite being VERY embarrassed when my Grandmother asked if I thought it was too racy. But with each book of the series the characters became more whiney and less likeable. I finished Plains (the fourth book), but am not likely to finish the series.
8. One book you’re currently reading: Banewreaker, Jaqueline Carey
So far it hasn’t grabbed me as hard as Kushiel’s Dart did, but I am still enjoying it.
9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
Oddly, I dont ‘mean to’ because I want to read it, I really don’t. I just feel that I should because of all the hype, and so that I have something to add to the conversation when it comes up. Happily, the hype is dying, and my loaned copy is gathering dust ... I might not have to do it after all.
10. Now tag five people: The Tribe, Greenie, Rox, Kim and JustCuz (blogless).
I’d say this meme pretty clearly shows how shallow my literary appreciation is. My preferred genre is sci fi / fantasy ... heavy on the fantasy. There was a time when my reading choice was embarrassing to me, like it was a guilty pleasure. Sometimes it still does, it all depends on who is leaning over my shoulder to see. But, I am coming to understand that it is something I do for myself, and ultimately that is all that matters.
I’m finally in the exam room, after sitting almost an hour in the waiting room, and I’m speaking with my rheumatologist when his cell phone rings. No, not rings. It starts singing. Singing the theme from the Beverly Hillbillies. He (not looking the least bit embarrassed) takes it from his belt, examines the number with a puzzled expression and answers it. Not with a “Dr. B”, as I had expected, but with a casual ‘hello’. Clearly, from the other end, I hear “Mr. B? This is Fred from Roadway Trucking, and we have a crate out for delivery to you tomorrow. It’s about 170 pounds.” At which point Dr. B leaves the room, no apology, no ‘excuse me’; he just walks out, leaving the door wide open and stands near the nurse’s station and makes arrangements for his delivery. When he returns he still offers no apology, but starts telling me about the big crate he’s expecting at home tomorrow.
Now, on one hand I’m impressed that he’s wearing a Columbia Crest shirt, and isn’t so stuffed with his own importance that ‘Dr.’ is written on the bill of lading. Of course, ‘Dr.’ might not have been one of the options on the pull down menu when he ordered his 170 crate, so I may be all impressed for nothing. But on the other, this disregard for my time ... for me, just pisses me off to no end! I’m not sure which offended me more, taking the call without apology or leaving the damn door wide open! No, that’s a lie ... answering the cell phone in the first place pissed me off more.
Oh, and if you’re interested. I passed my pulmonary function’s test with flying colors, and with the exception of having Scleroderma, I’m in fine health.
There was a package from Binkie and Doogy for Mackie on Friday (my that’s a lotta ‘ie’s’ ). As you can probably tell from her tense stance in the photo, a nano-second later she was off, hedgehog firmly in mouth, ripping through the house to make sure all the cats saw -and heard- her new toy! Dooce does an entry from time to time called ‘How to Charm Me’, well, sending a giftie for Mackenzie just charms my socks off! Thanks Rox! It was an amazingly sweet thing to do!
Saturday morning, D forgot to turn off his alarm clock, and we all rolled out at a disgustingly early hour. D spent the morning on the computer (I swear the man’s brain is gonna melt) and I went into town to try to find fabric for my quilt conundrum. I started at a very nice, and expensive quilt shop and ran smack into qult snobbery. The woman who offered to help me could barely contain her disgust over my color choices. I tried to explain the ‘bruise’ request, but she didn’t see the humor in it. I left empty handed. I scored, however, at Joann’s with two fabrics in the odd green category. Hopefully, the quilt is back on track for its November deadline.
After solving my fabric problem, I lurked around some furniture stores, which is worse than used car shopping, took my mom to lunch, and went shopping at my favorite high-end grocery. Any time I shop there you can be sure I’ve got a better-than-average dinner in mind. Last night we dined on sirloin crusted in black pepper and garlic, with a Madeira reduction, baked potatoes, and rosemary/sea salt flat bread. And capped it with a BIG zin, Poizin. I admit I bought the bottle for its label, but was happy to find the contents just as pleasing.
Before dinner though, it rained. And rained. And rained. We’ve had more than our normal share lately and the ground has had enough. The yard is still full this morning, unusual for our sandy soil. We had a good amount of lightening to go with it and we lost power for a couple of hours. So, we sat in the front of the house, near the big windows and read. It was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon, though damp, way to spend the afternoon.
Today it’s back to the real world, cleaning, grocery shopping, yard work if it dries up some, and if I’m lucky quilting.
The new project, a quilt, is stalled, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Not even a pinpoint. I am mired down in a dilemma of pattern within pattern. Confused? Me too. Its rather like trying to see into the future, and I just cant do it. I’m working with a Log Cabin block, which couldn’t be simpler, but, as my book says, there are over 500 ways to assemble them. The pieces are arranged on my work-room floor, and I sit and stare at them for hours. It feels like a puzzle, one where the answer will suddenly jump up and smack me in the head. The sticking point? How the first row of finished blocks relates to the second, and the second to the third, and so on. Should there be a pattern to the negative space? Or should I just let fly? And to make the mire deeper, I can already tell I won’t have enough fabric, and must sort out where I can tuck at least four new ones. “Just go to the store and buy more of what I have”, you say? Yeah, here’s where my habits of hoarding and procrastination bite me in the butt...I bought the fabric for this quilt three years ago. Three. I’ve gone from being pleased with myself for finally knuckling down and starting it (with a deadline, no less) to being disgusted with the whole mess. I’m sure I’ve piqued your curiosity, but the photos I took at home are dismal, so you’ll have to make do with one block (I brought it with me to take to the fabric store). Oh, and before I show you, let me explain the colors ... because when you see you are going to think I’ve flipped. The quilt is for my brother, and when I asked him what colors he wanted he said, very adamantly, “No flowers, nothing country, or girly, or pink! Make it in the colors of a bruise.” That’s why it’s an odd goldish green and purple*, and I gotta tell ya, it’s growing on me (and killing me at the same time).
*You’ll have to trust me on that, the purple insists on photographing more blue, and I even carried it outside and eliminated the flash ... same result.
Things have been a little too serious around here lately, but to be honest I don’t know how to break the mood. I visited my aunt in the hospital last night, and though she’s in pain and has a long ‘row yet to hoe’, she is in good spirits and seems very determined to survive. That alone should shift my malaise, but I remain rather morose which seems odd. Life is good. Really. I booked my b’day trip to Atlanta and landed both a cheap fare and the hotel I wanted to try. I spoke to Kim by phone over the weekend and she has booked as well. I started a new project that is moving forward at an amazing pace and threatens to actually be something I will finish, and I am pleased with how it is turning out. I have even taken a respectable bite out of some of the ‘unfinished’ things and have very little hanging over my head right now. All in all I have no complaints ... I’m just not feeling very perky, ya know?
I haven’t watched a single documentary, or movie, or even touching tribute since it happened. For me these programs are like picking at the scab of a slow healing wound. We’ve wasted a great deal of time arguing over plans for a memorial, how the donations should be distributed, and how we should protect ourselves in the future. Like New Orleans and Katrina, New York overshadows the other lives lost that day. Are they less important because their numbers were fewer? I say no. We allow the media to cheapen things, it’s the American way, and then we wonder way other countries think we are such fools.
Worst of all we’ve forgotten the lessons learned and fallen back to who we were before, and it is a very sad day indeed.
Today surgeons removed a 20 pound tumor and four liters of fluid from Aunt C. She will be in ICU for the next few days. She has a long road ahead of her but hopefully her healing will go smoothly, and the chemo will kill any of the tumor that surgeons were unable to remove. Thank you all for your kind words and well wishes.
Ladies...if you have not been for an annual OBGYN exam, please see this as a possible future for your self and make an appointment!
My aunt has felt ‘sick to her stomach’ for the last three weeks or so. Finally, last week, her doctor took notice of her complaints and sent her for an ultra sound. It revealed a football sized mass in her abdomen. The let her stew in the hospital for the long weekend, claiming that even if the test results were to come back only a doctor could deliver them, and they were on-call for emergencies only. Tuesday she was given a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, and tomorrow (if she’s stable) they will try remove it. She will then be on chemo for six months.
We speak of her at work, and worry for her; yet we do our jobs and live our lives. Even her husband has been here the better part of each day. More than once the conversation in the ‘smoking area’ has turned to death. Harmless conversation that suddenly has sting.
I’ve not been to the hospital yet. I have several reasons. None good. And none excusable. I feel like crap .... which cannot possibly compare with how she feels.