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There are lots of things interfering with my blogging these days. One I can’t tell you about … yet (that should keep you checking back). Another is my current fascination with wedding stuff. I may be consumed with plans right now but that doesn’t mean you want to hear all about them. Believe it or not I do try to keep my topics varied –sorta. End of month at work, and preparation for a visit from my mom at home are also taking little bites out of the time I normally spend blogging.
I’m sorta flipped out today, and for a wonder it has nothing to do with any of those things. Instead it has to do with a mistake I’ve made…one that makes my tummy do flips when I think about it. Last night on the way home I stopped at a local nursery looking for variegated pittosporum – a shrub that we have along the front of the house. I want to fill in the openings that I intentionally left in the hedge when I first planted it – I like to change things up in the yard. While I was there I wandered the rest of the nursery and stumbled across a Dutchman’s Pipe or Pipe Vine.
“Perfect”! I thought for a trellis on the back porch. There is a rather blank wall there that could use some softening and something interesting. Besides, it wholly fits my love of alien plant life. Seriously…I luvs me some weird plants. So I spoke to the nurseryman: no – not toxic (ie safe for the cats), likes shade (perfect for the porch), fast grower (but prune-able). Green lights all the way…so home I went with my new prize. D was in the garage when I arrived and was kind enough to carry it to the back porch, where it will sit until I plant it.
This morning at work I bragged about it to my uncle, who has a passing interest in such things, and we looked it up online so he could see a photo. While looking we found an info sheet that noted two things. One: it is considered invasive by the state of Florida and they are trying to get it added to the banned list. Two: it was once given to women in child birth to ease pain and help pass the placenta. It was also noted that it was as likely to kill them as to help with pain. Kill them! It’s toxic and causes kidney failure…and it is sitting on the back porch where the cats have direct, all-day access. Neither D nor my self work close enough to the house to make a quick trip home. It’s likely a non issue as the cats leave most of the plants out there alone (Libby has a thing for round cactus – she pulls them up and bats them around. Ouch.). D was very sure that they had not bothered it at all last night – hopefully they have continued that trend. Going back to work now…not thinking about it.
Update: Cats and plant are intact - whew!
Sometimes the day just gets away from you and today was certainly one of those. I started off the morning tying up little loose ends; things that pile up and sit unfinished because there is always something more important overshadowing them. And then I started in on the normal pile-o-paper only to get side tracked time and again. And so, all of it still sits there, neatly arranged on my desk waiting for tomorrow. By then, of course, the drift of paper will be twice as deep...I better bring my snowshoes, and maybe a shovel.
Our weekend was ordinary, the highlight - or maybe lowlight- was further ring shopping. I can only say that a part of me wishes that D had picked it out and surprised me with it, and saved me from the trauma of trying to choose. We visited a big mall jeweler who was having an artisan event. When I approached the case I knew right away that there was nothing in there for me; high settings waiting for gazillion dollar stones. Then I saw it...the ring...and then I saw the price tag. Eight freakin thousand dollars. The designer talked himself down to forty-nine hundred and seemed a little befuddled as to why we wouldn’t jump on such a deal. So we went back to one of the rings photo’d below. Ring one is my favorite, and though it paled somewhat next to the ring it was still very pretty...until...I stepped out from under the lights. It died. Not a wink, not a sparkle, just dull dead metal.
I’ll probably go back, one more time, and see if I can carry it to a window or have the security guard walk me out to the parking lot so that I can see in in sunlight. Dead in the dark is one thing...dead in the daylight another entirely. There is also the possibility that I’ll go look at the ring one more time too, but only because the salesman is certain that he can find it at another store. He figures that they [the store] purchased one a few years ago and it is probably still knocking around in inventory. Platinum was far cheaper then and he’s certain it would probably be a third of the price. I know he meant the 8k price, but I’m planning on going daft insisting that I understood it to be a third of the sale price. Ya know, just to see what happens. Hey, this is frustrating work, I gotta have fun somewhere.
For example: The artisan was delightedly showing me an eternity ring; the sort where the diamonds go all the way around the band. “I dont want to pay for ones that I cant see” I said, and before he could reply I added, “It’s sorta like getting a tattoo on your butt. What’s the point if you cant see it?” No, he didin’t laugh. To be honest I knew he wouldn’t. Anyone who could get up in the morning and keep a straigh face as he looked in the mirror at that hairdo is dead in the humor department.
A dose of cuteness...and probably giggles when you hear me talking doggy baby talk. Enjoy!
Yesterday a great package arrived from Roxanne. I was so torqued over the bank debacle that I failed to blog it right away. See how cool it is?
It’s a night at the movies and the prize from her Movie Line Meme a few weeks ago. Twizzlers, Goobers, Rasinets, Cotton Candy and a popcorn scented movie gift card! There is also stationary and a skull note pad (lurve it muchly)...ya know, so I can write notes if the moving is boring - heh. Lesson learned: Never show off on Rox’s site, the prises are too terrific!
When I got home the same night there was another box waiting. This one from Laurie. See...also terrific!
Lesson learned: never tell Laurie you are a) terrified of sewing stretch fabrics, b) that there’s a book you’d like to have and c) that you are broke. She’s gets a little carried away.
This evening I did a little ring shopping. The store I visited was kind enough to take photos of my top picks (so far). They are photos of photos, therefore, crappy, but I think you can get the idea:
Lesson learned: I dont know what I want...sheesh!
Over the weekend D and I went to a movie and on the way we stopped at the bank to use the ATM. We were in the Mini Cooper and when D pulled up he could barely reach the buttons. When he asked how much I wanted I was originally going to say $100 but then I noticed that the button for $60 was waaaaay up at the top...$60! I said with a grin. We laughed and he preformed some very complex yoga stretches to reach the button, gave me my money and we drove off. As I slid the three bills into my purse I noticed that instead of $20’s the machine had issued three $50!. Now we know what was taking the guy in front of us so long. We joked about going through the line again and that maybe D should try his card....whoohooo rings here we come!
We actually just went off to the movie and I didn’t think about it again until Monday when I called the bank to tell them about the error. It took three calls to get someone to talk to me and the woman who finally did had no idea how to handle it. She would call me back. It took till Wednesday for someone to call me and the first words out of her mouth were when could I return the money to the bank? We went through a whole back and forth match of ‘can I put it in the night drop?’ NO ‘Cant you just take it out of the account” NO. I was torqued...I still am. I have no problem with the money being theirs but the fact that before ‘Thank-you’ came ‘Gimmie” really ticked me off. I called a supervisor and it is coming out of my account...but I gotta tell ya, I’m think I’m sorry I did the right thing.
I’m a channel surfer and as such I’m guilty of ‘train wreck’ tv watching. As I flip through the channels I stall on the stupidist most sensationalist shows...like Flavor Flav, Tila Tequila, Work Out...basically any channel where someone is yelling or acting the ass stops me in my tracks. Of late the one thats stops my finger mid click is Real Housewives of New York. I realize that I cannot adequately fathom the lives these women lead, but holy spoiled rotten beotchs batman! Sheesh! They live on another planet, in another solar system, possibly in an entirely different universe. The most grounded among them is a Countess.
Tonight, as I type, the season recap show is airing. One, Alex, a tiny little blond with more money than brains just piped up and said ‘I’m not a socialite” and yet there has been scene after scene of her and her husband looking for themselves in the socialite pages or discussing the mechanizations of moving up into a higher social status. They push their three year old son to speak French because they vacation in the Rivera. They shop together for gowns for her to wear to opening nights and he buys matching suits. The viewers are slinging words at this couple like grasping, pretentious, and delusional. They of course claim that they are being misrepresented and it is all a trick of the editing. In truth everyone in the circle is guilty of the same things. I’m no fool, I know producers are looking for juicy bits to air and I know I’m seeing only part of the picture. But you know what? There’s no amount of make up or bling or social status that can hide a person that is ugly on the inside...and ladies, you are hideous.
Hmmm…well there was a post here but I pulled it. Some selfish broad whining about how her brother’s wedding is outshining her own isn’t what you visit for. And it certainly isn’t how I want to feel, so I’m pretending I don’t. I’ll let you know how that goes, and do some money whining instead. We did a small amount of ring shopping this weekend and both found things we like but the total of the two rings is three grand…our entire wedding budget. I’ guessing we’ll keep shopping but I must admit that I’m beginning to freak out just a tiny bit, mostly over upcoming expenses.
Mom is visiting soon and already there has been an Aero bed and linen purchase and there are sure to be dinners out and extra groceries once she’s here. Plus her visit is over Mother’s day so there will be something for that too. Bro’s wedding is in June and we are driving to Atlanta: gas, hotel, meals - and I’m on wedding cake duty which isn’t crazy expensive but has to be planned for nonetheless. Then a two month break and we are on to the cruise, which is paid for but not paid for – if you get my drift. Plus there will be additional things like alcohol, shore excursions, etc. Don’t get me wrong, we aren’t in financial straits, not at all. But knowing that all those things are just sitting out there waiting is daunting. Knowing, and trying to plan a wedding, even a small one…well…that’s nerve wracking. I’m sure some creative corner cutting, a lot of buying restraint and maybe a little Ebay / Etsy selling will round it all back out but I just don’t like the feeling of being financially ‘tight’.
Not too many years ago I was in debt up to my eyeballs, my credit sucked and I was worried all the time. I worked hard, paid things down and refinanced the house and got out of it. Right now I feel like I’m on a very slippery slope that leads back to that hole. As always ‘want’ is at odds with ‘need’ and I’ve been a little slack with the reigns of late. It’s time to haul back on them hard, but believe me its difficult to do while staring at shiny diamonds.
I was very naive in high school. I had an inkling of the things that people talked about but no true idea and certainly no ‘experience’. Then I started working in a restaurant, and though I still lagged on the experience part believe me the details provided were far more elaborate than those in high school. I believed I had heard it all. When I finally did become experienced, well I thought I’d kissed that naivety goodbye. Evidently not.
Yesterday on my flickr site I posted a few photos of some swaps I recently received. When I post swap photos they appear briefly on the Swap-Bot log-in screen which will occasionally result in comments from unknown people. Yesterday was no exception as I received a couple of comments but I was surprised when someone, who I’m going to call FF for flickr friend, marked one of the swaps photos as a favorite.
Normally if someone is going to mark one of my images favorite its one of the bugs or flowers or something more interesting than a pile of stuff on my desk. When a swap photo is marked favorite a quick visit to the person’s profile will usually clue me in as to why. The swap may be very much in their style, or have something in it that clearly interests or inspires them. But when I followed that link …no crafts. None. In fact the first thing I encountered was a note from flickr warning me that FF’s photo stream lay outside my ‘safe search’ settings and asked ‘would I like to go back?’. After a tease like that? Heck no! Click to proceed.
The first image was of a woman (an actress maybe-she seemed familiar) wiping a tear with a lacy hanky. There was a semi dramatic note from FF saying she was done with flickr due to negative comments. Again a tease so I paged into the photo stream and instead of the racy photos I now expected, I found hankies…lots and lots of hankies…a daily hankie if you will. My photo that FF had marked favorite included a vintage hanky embroidered with an ‘S’. The hankie wasn’t front and center in my photo or pointed out with anything greater than a note, it was just there. Ok, I thought, she collects hankies not that she can really get a good view of the one in my photo.
Still, it seemed odd. There was no staging, no care taken with the light and many of the hankies were really ordinary. I’m used to overachieving swappers who paint, embroider or otherwise decorate things; these by comparison were downright mundane. Moreover, all the hankies were badly in need of a good ironing. Some had been folded and some wadded before being laid out on computer keyboards, beds, tables, wherever to have their photos taken. Thinking that I must be missing something I picked one at random and read the comments. It seemed the one I picked had been sent to her by another flickr member and his ‘GF just didn’t know what she was missing’. Um…huh?
I clicked her profile and when I looked at the groups she belonged to the light finally came on. Evidently we both have a hankie fetish…she needs to be bound and gagged by them and I need them ironed!
Thursday is an odd day. You’re past the hump of the week but it still seems forever until the weekend. Or, if you’re working with a Friday deadline it goes by in a blink. I’m working under that ‘blink’ thing. The whole week has slipped by in a blur. I’m sure I’ve made great strides but I’m not sure where they are under all this paper. Thursday is also the day the house starts to fall apart. We do well the first few days of the week when all that cleaning is fresh in our minds but on Thursday our thought process changes from ‘I just cleaned that’ to ‘I’ll do it this weekend’. Yes, Thursday is an odd day.
I’ve been doing odd little projects when I get home in the evenings. Monday I folded laundry and cleaned out the veggie drawer in the fridge (odd that it’s called a crisper-drawer, don’t you think – the cucumber I took outta there was miles away from crisp, and a millimeter from soup-blech). Tuesday I culled mail and magazines and paid a few bills. Last night we put the mower back together (we did the seasonal tune up last weekend but had to order the belt so the deck was still in ‘bits’) and I cut the grass. I also tossed all the spices that were well beyond their expiration or more closely resembled ‘lick’ than a jar of powder. If cows like salt-licks how do you think they’d feel about a garlic-lick? When the big projects, like new kitchen cabinets or remodeling the guest bath or, heaven-forbid, tearing down the awful wall paper in the dining room are looming but undoable it’s nice to knock a few little things out of the way. It’s also my way of avoiding doable big projects like reorganizing the craft room. It’s like when my dog is on the sofa and wont look at me; if she can’t see me then I must not be able to see her. On. The. Sofa. If I am busy with something else then I’m not really avoiding the mess. Right? Yeah, ok so that only works for a little while and I’ll have to face it sooner than later. My mom is coming to visit in early May and the only way a queen sized Aerobed is going in there is with a great deal of organization. Right now it wouldn’t even go in there leaned up against a wall…that is if I had the nerve to drag it in there. There will have to be some serious straight pin collections before I even attempt it.
We watched lots of movies this week; four to be exact; a miracle really because we generally rent more than we watch. For the curious we watched: Chaos – not as bad as it could have been. The Waterhorse – cutest creature ever. Sweeny Todd – not bad, but a little flat (pardon the pun). Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium – cutest kid ever. None of them were show stoppers, but they were entertaining and for the most part that’s all D and I really ask of a movie.
Basically no news here but that doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary because right now my whole blogging community seems a little quiet. Or is it just me?
I want…
Whenever I ask D what he wants he always answers ‘world peace’. Evidently I’m either more realistic or baser because my wants are somewhat different.
I want…
…to gut my sewing room and turn it into a true, organized workspace rather than the catchall it has become.
…a purse frame; you see I have this idea…
…two pallets of mulch for the yard, and since I’m wishing here, someone to spread it.
…furniture, lots and lots of furniture.
…the perfect summery cotton dress…in white.
…a nap.
…to be finished with these damn claims.
…to know why a friend of mine is no longer a friend of mine.
…to be able to see the top of the cutting table in my sewing room – sheesh.
…a puppy.
…a ring.
…to take a sewing/knitting/crafting class.
…to completely change my blog.
…my orchids to bloom.
…someone else to cook dinner tonight.
…for my tax return to get here.
…for this damn disease to go away.
…six sewing patterns…hey, they’re on sale.
…for my hair to behave.
…to have time to learn more about how my camera works.
…someone to paint the inside of my house.
…a Royal Poinciana.
…a vacation that is mine all mine (‘ours all ours’ would be ok too).
…to start reading the book that’s been languishing for a month.
…to look like Angelina Jolie (D probably wants this too-heh).
…to remodel the kitchen right down to the drawer pulls.
…hard wood floors.
…to live closer to work.
…to be able to actually park a car in the garage.
…for business to pick up.
So….what do you want?
The final few days of last week as well as the weekend were devoted to loose ends. Small, but satisfying projects that do lots to fuel a sense of accomplishment. The largest and stinkiest of those chores was cleaning out one of the two lily ponds. We discovered that a raccoon had taken up residence in the yard a few weeks ago and he has since tumbled all the stones into the pond trying to wash his dinner. So, feeling pretty clever, I flipped a flower pot upside down into the water and perched a stone on it...voila!...instant raccoon shelf. So far so good. I can’t say that he’s tested it, there is no place to find tracks, but no stones have been moved...yet. Perhaps equally large, but far less stinky has been clearing all the warranty claims since the first of the year. I’m almost finished and when I am I may have to open a bottle of champagne...it will be that big a deal.
We rested too, sorta. Mackie’s momma is staying with us this week so we took ourselves to the beach Sunday. Despite neither dog being all that keen on water I think they had a good time.
Of course two dogs to the beach means two doggie baths, a car to clean out and a mound of towels to wash. So, yeah, we rested...sorta.
Just in case you needed a dose of ‘cute’ .... this little guy was plumb tuckered out.
And if you need a dose of ‘pretty’ one of my pond irises bloomed.
It was a nice weekend ... wish you’d been here.
D and I hurried out to dinner tonight and then home again where he has settled in front of the tv and I in front of the desk to survey the outcome of my mental desk cleaning. Total failure there...oh well. My original intent was to clean it the old fashioned way and to keep me company I popped a DVD into the player...Into the Woods. I haven’t seen it in a long time, and I had forgotten how much I love it. If you’ve never seen it, and you like the occasional Broadway play, I highly recommend it. In fact, if you want to borrow mine I’ll send it to you, it is truly that clever.
DVD player:1
Desk: 0
Have you ever found yourself un-enthused? Nothing much of interest, no gumption but still lots to do? Yep, that’s me, I’m there. I’d go to bed right this instant but its only 8:20 and I just cant be that lame. That’s not entirely true, I probably could be that lame but I’m choosing not to...gotta keep up appearances, ya know? So, what to do? Veg in front of a CSI rerun? Grab a book? Read a blog? Nope, cant do it...just gonna sit here and stare at the mess on my desk and see if I can get it to clear it self...bleh.
Yesterday a friend and I were having an email conversation; you know the kind where you really should fire up messenger and have a chat but instead you just keep lobbing emails at each other. Well, amidst the flying bytes we landed on the topic of ‘big blogs’; the sort that are nearly famous with the comment count to prove it. Whether they know it or not they have power. If one of these bloggers points at something and says ‘buy it’, ‘read it’, ‘want it’ there’s a good bet a percentage of their readers will do just that. They also have the ability to point at a fellow blogger and say ‘hate it’ and a flame war will ensue with few thoughts of what might have actually happened behind the scenes. What if our famous blogger is a jerk in real life? What if the crafty, motherly, creative, nice person we see on line is simply the side the author wants us to see? To me the way they wield that power says more about them than what they write does.
I may wish for more readers but I’m happy with the number I have. Huge readership has draw backs, one is the loonies. Fame of any sort attracts them, and big blogs seem to be super attractive to these folks. I’m a comment reader and I can honestly admit that I’ve read comments on these blogs that have incensed me. “Why do you dress your child like that?” “You live a sad, sad life”, “Why do you show off so much”…and worse. Besides the ‘rude factor’ of such comments what I really don’t understand about them is how they fail to miss the point. Nine out of ten of these blatherings focus on some tidbit that is way, way out of context and let fly. I believe that the internet, and tongue in cheek writing must be new to these folks. The blog Dooce is a particularly good example of this. If she talks about wanting to lock her screaming kid in a closet and down a few martinis she’ll get a hundred comments about how she shouldn’t even have kids because she’s a terrible parent. I don’t have kids, but I’ve imagined bodily harm to our four-footeds when they were being particularly annoying….it doesn’t mean I’d actually do it…helloooo?
Worse are the comments that are designed to be nothing but hurtful. Again I’ll borrow from Dooce as my example. She had a miscarriage a few months back and amid all the expressions of sympathy was a comment that basically said “you deserve it for being godless and making fun of Mormons all the time”. This one really torques my turnips in a fly off the handle sort of way. If you don’t like what you are reading, and you don’t agree with what you are reading….WHY ARE YOU READING! When I don’t like a blog’s vibe or message I don’t feel like it’s my privilege or right to tell them so I simply stop reading. It’s like changing the channel…easy, painless and far better for my karma than strapping on my ‘holier than thou’ hat and going to town.
I accept that the medium of blogs is a public forum. I accept that by blogging you open yourself up to all types of folks and the drama some bring with them. I accept that some blogs cultivate heated (civil) discussions in their comments. I even accept that sometimes the loonies just go with the territory. But I do not accept that anyone has the right to be a jerk in my space…or yours either. If you’re gonna act the ass do it on your own time in your own space…nobody wants to hear it.
I guess my quarterly review last week put a bee in my bonnet because I finished the house painting project over the weekend and grouted the bathroom backsplash. Both projects had been languishing rather severely and the bathroom is still not technically finished; some paint touch up and tile sealing remain, but it’s a big step in the right direction….that direction being actually finish a project in under a year – ha! We don’t have immediate plans for the next big project because the coming year promises to be challenging enough. Here’s the schedule: My mom is visiting in May, my brother is marrying in Atlanta in June, our Bahamas cruise is in September, and somewhere in all of that D and I would like to get married.
For those interested we have settled on a plan – no particulars yet, just a plan. Technically we’re going to elope…but several people will know about it. We’ve decided to opt-out of all the drama that a true wedding entails and find a little bed and breakfast or nice hotel somewhere, have the ceremony on site, maybe a nice dinner after and then spend a few days acting like tourists. Right now we’re investigating the space coast because D is interested in touring Kennedy Space Center. It’s not terribly romantic, but the one thing I want almost more than any from this event is that we both get something out of it. I think all that ‘it’s the bride’s day’ stuff is silly; it’s our day…together. Oh, and the thing on the top of my want list? I want the ceremony outside in a garden setting or under a big tree that’s all drippy with Spanish moss (please let it not rain – heh). When it’s over we’ll send out notes saying ‘we took the plunge’ and maybe throw a party. I’ve no doubt we’ll disappoint some people with these plans but I suspect we’d probably disappoint someone with any plans we made so we aren’t going to worry over it.
In other news I guess my Etsy shop will have to open with a few cupcakes. The response to the one was super positive and I received several emails from unknown folks asking if I’d be interested in making them one….of course I said I would. I’m not charging anyone who has asked (now’s your chance) as I figure it’s a good way to formalize the pattern - my first one was a little ‘seat-of-the-pants’ - and to experiment with construction methods. Hey….maybe I can supplement the wedding budget with wedding cupcakes…wheels are turning!