New t-shirt

Another black t-shirt for my stack. This one from No Sweat, which had been backordered, but is now back in stock.

I'm trying to upload the picture from the front, but even though my computer doesn't tell me I haven't saved it, I sure can't find it on my drive. So here it is in all its organic cotton glory, union-made by a company in Bethlehem that brings together Palestinians and Israelis. It's darn soft, too.

Odd computer game question

It seemed that our version of Spy Fox and Dry Cereal sounded more British than when we played the demo.

Now the kids are playing the demo of a Pajama Sam game from the same CD and he has a very different voice than we are used to hearing.

I wonder if it's a computer setting or we got the British CD? Anyone know?

Your typical Memorial Day picnic

Well. Sort of. We went to our friends' house and swam in their pool, then picked their cherries, then the mom and I went out and we got quesadillas and burritos from Jimboy's. She paid because we walked to their house and I didn't bring my purse (or DH his wallet), thinking we wouldn't need money or anything.

No traditional barbecue, but a good time was had by all.

Remembering Memorial Day

I've never been extremely pro-military. To be honest, I spent most of my life strongly anti-military. Even now, I can't say I want to shoot at anyone or would encourage my sons to shoot at anyone, but I am learning to disassociate the human beings in the armed services from the politicians who want bombs and wars.

False dichotomy in some ways, but when someone enlists, they are ready to fight and die for the country. The politicians are supposed to point them at battles that actually help our country - and the World, oh yeah, other people might have rights, too - and not things that are the pet projects of people who will lie to get what they want and then refuse to understand that they have completely f***ed up and have killed millions of civilians and destabilized the Middle East yet again.

My heart goes out to the men and women who have fought for our country and to the families of those who have fought and died - in the war in Iraq and in so many wars, battles, skirmishes, and friendly fire incidents.

My friends in high school in the Reagan era were mostly drama club. We were called fags (as most drama nerds seem to be), but we were also commie hippies. Obviously. In a small-ish college town with a large-ish university in an otherwise mostly rural area of Ohio, you get a mix that really accentuates the divide between liberal vs conservative. To put it mildly.

Once one of my sisters joined the Navy (though she got pregnant and dropped out. Yes. Really.) and later another joined the Army and didn't drop out, I had a lot of rethinking to do about what military means.

Up to that point, I tried not to think too much about my career Navy uncle and his sons who enlisted. DH did his mandatory year of service in France (stationed in Germany, messing with computers). My dad served his time when he was drafted after college back in 1954 or so. He got out early to go to grad school, after spending 18 months typing and playing ping-pong in Kansas. None of my grandparents fought in WWII (maternal grandfather was narcoleptic, paternal... not sure why not, though my wild guess would be that he was already going deaf and/or was older than most and was the sole breadwinner for his family). It doesn't sound like their grandparents were in WWI either, though maybe I missed that part of the family history.

Am I rambling again?

I would like to honor those who have fought and who are fighting for our country, even when our country doesn't know what to fight for. That's what I want to say.

Oh well!

I was not-so-secretly hoping that DS2 would go to Best Buddy's house today and leave me free free free. But BB's mom came by here and the boys took off to play and so here they are still. Usually, they don't take much supervision and I actually see DS2 less than if he's here with just me, but today I have interfered in some small matters - like having the garden hose gushing a flood when they weren't even playing in the water.

Luckily, I decided to make a quick stop at the grocery store after dropping DS1 off at school, while DS2 was at home with DH. I think they'd be fine, but I don't think a trip to the store would have been fun for any of us. We needed milk and bananas, so it had to happen sometime!

Oh, I got an espresso/cappuccino/latte machine at the preschool garage sale last weekend and have been playing with it ever since. The coffee has a slight metallic taste, but otherwise, I think I have the hang of it. And it only takes one time taking the filter holder full of grounds off before all the pressure has dissipated to learn that it's easier to open the frother thingy up to let the last tiny bit of steam out instead of spending the next few minutes cleaning grounds off of half of the kitchen.

I am going to get a little sewing done. I really need a shower and am debating if I should take one while the boys are running around. Or maybe I'll just read a book. I am halfway through The Loss of Leon Meed (recommended by my Page a Day book calendar). I'm not sure what the point is yet, but some of the characters are interesting.

8 things

My online friend, Liza Lee at The Egret's Nest posted 8 things about herself that we might not have known. I knew the part about pink, though ;) Since I am currently not actually doing anything but surfing the 'Net and listening/watching YouTube videos posted by Lilith Saintcrow (go to "journal") (some 80's music, but the first one - "Cows With Guns" is a classic in its genre. Whatever genre that is. Funny musical claymation western sagas?)

Oh yeah. 8 things.

1) I am 5'9" and currently weigh more than at any time in my life except when pregnant. And I was HUGE when pregnant.
2) I always considered myself a pacifist with a bad temper. I am now a beginner in Tae Kwon Do. Have I mentioned pent-up aggression?
3) Speaking of 80's music, I don't think I own any music that was recorded after, oh, about the mid-90's. I don't listen to music all that much anymore. When it's quiet, I need my quiet, not background music.
4) I learned to sew as a kid, but hadn't done anything until about 4 years ago. Now I have a middling-to-large fabric stash. It's a disease.

Liza's right. Navel-gazing isn't all that easy. Should I make that #5?

5) If you had asked me a couple of years ago if I read romance novels, I would have said "oh hey, no way!" I read 3 this weekend. 1 contemporary (pretty good), 1 regency (OK), 1 with werewolves (not sure why these don't go straight into SF/Fantasy? But they were published as romance.) My favorite author is Jennifer Crusie, followed closely by Lani Diane Rich. The fact that they write so well is bolstered by their grace and kindness.
6) I've written about 75 pages of a novel. Which seems to a be a romance novel. Which is lacking in cohesive plot, but I really like some of the scenes.
7) I am in two book groups and only rarely end up reading the same thing twice. I am in charge of picking next month's book for the group that met tonight and I am hesitating between two books. Because I didn't tell them outright what I was picking, they thought there was a big secret about it. Oooh, just thought of a third one. They are all books that I really like and I am almost afraid to choose one because what if everyone hates it.... ?
8) Um..... I have extremely crooked pinkie fingers. Everyone in my family has slightly crooked ones, but I got the double dose and have been asked too many times to count if I had broken my fingers.

Phew!

Long time no talk!

I just talked to my high-powered financial advisor, who just happens to be an friend from college. Then I talked to her sister, also a good friend from college, who is training to work at the same place.

Basically my day has been made :)

Everything in moderation, even moderation. LEAF me alone! OK Bye.

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom is... 21 years old today. Or 22? I can never keep it straight. The present is coming. It's in the mail. I swear. I sent it priority Wednesday, so maybe tomorrow or Monday? No, I didn't get a tracking number. I hope it didn't get irrevocably squished. Another gift to follow when it is available. Honest!

I spent about 1 1/2 hours in the front yard this morning. It's not all that big, but I did the edging and spent some time hacking away at the buffalo grass growing in the cracks. I watered my garden the rest of the way and am considering moving some broccoli from containers to the area where the lettuce has been pulled out. (Stull some left for anyone who's hungry - some has bolted, so that would be good for your rabbits...). On the other hand, I have tomato plants in that area and they will probably take over the entire western hemisphere, as usual.

DS2 and I are gold belts, now. They apparently didn't order him one of the little kids' ones (white with a gold stripe), so he has a full-fledged gold belt until they can get him the right one next week. DS1 was zany and silly yesterday - he was jealous and though he knows that he started karate later than we did and he'll move up later than we do, it just isn't quite fair, way back in his mind.

Back to our regularly-scheduled program

Resignation turned in. Should have been read by those it was addressed to by now.

Wrote about 10 pages of great American novel yesterday. Read some of No Plot? No Problem! by the guy who thought up NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Maybe I'll declare my own novel month this summer and not wait until November.

DS1's at school, DS2's at bestest buddy's house. I am going to meet them and some other friends at a park in a bit. We'll have to leave to go get DS1 at about the time a couple of other friends show up. One day, we'll get the timing right, and then they'll all be in school 5 days a week and we'll never see each other...

Cramping, but fog is lifting from my brain.

I need a shower and to do my toenails for belt promotions tonight. I wish I could find my gold nail polish. I only have 4 colors, so losing one - and my favorite one, at that - is hard.

Anyone need some lettuce? Mine is starting to bolt. Whoops. Need to water the garden too, for that matter.

Paraphrasing

In a statement, [those who I wish were anonymous instead of a political leader and his wife] were "deeply saddened" by the loss of a man who "cherished faith, family, and".... brutal repression of everyone who didn't think exactly like him on everything, because those people were going to BURN in HELL.

At least he's gone. Unfortunately, he left a lot of other people who claim to be religious and spend all their time hating and trying to hurt others.

Those dirty rotten...

I was just eating Dreyer's Loaded Chocolate Brownie ice cream straight from the container. I was going to comment on it, as it is blissful.

But as I scanned the small print (known as Edy's ice cream East of the Rockies), I discovered it is owned by.... Nestle.

I guess I won't be getting it again.

Ah poop.

Further symptoms

Digestive system upset. Can't get enough to eat.

Oh, and yesterday, I had to seriously restrain myself from buying all kinds of stuff in Target and Sears that I do not need at all. Well, that one shirt was really nice. And on clearance. No no no no.

I've even been looking at the car ads. Ours is almost to 100K. No end in sight, but I neeeeeed a new car. Yeah, I can probably hold off on this one. DH has been getting marketing advice from The Secret and is going to be a millionaire in a few months.

I am drafting my 2-week notice. I'll hold on to it for a couple of days to be sure I don't say anything I will regret later.

I feel like I am trying to outlast a siege.

And now I am sitting here cleaning out the keyboard - what a heap of crumbs and fluff!

It's that time again sports fans

Just a month since the last time! 11 days into my luteal phase (usually 12 or 13 days long) and counting.

I went to Trader Joe's and bought what was on my list - spaghetti, Weetabix, carrots - and then what wasn't - pickles, snapea snacks, potato chips. Apparently I am going salty instead of sweet this cycle.

I've been grumpy and impatient. I usually lose my head and screech like a harpy within 24 hours of starting my actual period. It's how I keep track of exactly when I am due. Well, it should be.

In kid news: After school, we are going to Target so DS1 can purchase Battleship (don't tell Granny we hadn't spent the rest of his Christmas gift card yet!). He and DH had already jerry-rigged Battleship games out of checkerboards, but he played on the REAL board at a friend's house and now he can hardly contain his excitement.

The boy needs some new shoes, too. He still has a little space for his toes, but the seams are coming apart. We might even look at - GASP - shoes that tie. He knows how to tie his shoes, he just hates doing it, so hasn't practiced and gets shoes that slip on each time.

No karate tonight because I have to work. Black-tip testing tomorrow for DS1 and he'll be halfway to his next belt. Belt promotions are on Thursday. Oh foo, I just realized that since I work Mon and Weds, we will only have one regular class this week. We are definitely going on Friday and I might go Saturday morning after setting up DS2's school garage sale.

Speaking of which, I got tired of telling the school's non-profit foundation that you get a heck of a lot more people at your garage sale if you run an ad, so I made a donation to the school today in the form of a classified. Now, if I could only talk them into putting up signs on Thursday at the major intersection 1/2 mile up the road...

Duh and double duh

I had been told the Race for the Cure was on the 12th. I asked for the morning off work. A few days ago, someone told me it was the 19th, so I have been walking around the last few days saying oh well, I'll go to a karate session Saturday morning and now I have 2 things booked for the morning of the 19th.

But it's tomorrow morning. Way early. I haven't registered yet. I will now have to get up even earlier and stand in line and pay the extra $5 for having not pre-registered. The 5K run starts at 7:45, the walk at 8:05. I'm a walker.

Oh, and I haven't hit anyone up for donations. Anyone?

Hooray for geeks!

DS2 and I passed our red tip tests last night which means that we will get our gold belts at the belt promotion night next week. Woo hoo us! DS1 will test for a black tip next week, which means that he is halfway to his gold belt. He started a month later, but I can already see him a bit grumpy that DS2 will get gold before him. Now how to keep him from getting discouraged...

My teacher said that ours was the most aggressive group or white belts he remembered - we sweated, we shouted, none of us made any mistakes when testing, and we submitted - mostly cheerfully - to the push ups*. I have to say that some of that is due to the boys that I have referred to (affectionately, I swear!) as the Geek Boys.

(*The push ups: Usually, for kids, they make them do twice their age when they are promoting to a new belt. For those over 30, we have to do 30. Ms. P, the black belt administrative person suggested that those under 30 do twice their age, those over do half. K, who was moving from gold to orange belt said she turns 30 in 2 weeks. She was assigned 58 push-ups, though our instructor told her to "only" do 30. Her husband, who is just a few weeks behind wasn't testing for a belt, so was down beside her harassing her like a drill sergeant, shouting. She was threatening him with retribution. I only had to do 19, so I told her I'd do some of hers and did 30 instead. I love my class. We're mean, we're tough, and we always end up laughing about something. But I digress.)

There are a few in our class, but the set of 3 brothers spring to mind. The oldest (somewhere around 18 to 20) takes it seriously, yes. The youngest takes it seriously, but is young (15, I am guessing) and pretty shy and sits hunched over. The middle boy, about 18 years old, though... I pause to reflect on how to put it. That boy is INTO it. He crouches, he fades, he jabs, he's the loudest, the fastest, the first - and only - to volunteer to have the instructor throw him on his butt, the..... watched-too-many-movies-est.

But even those of us who thought we would be shy have no way of feeling silly, when J is out there being totally unembarrassed by his dedication - and he's learning all the moves with vigor. I have been embarrassed FOR him a few times, I have to admit. He is calming down a bit (though he bellowed out "Sir! Yes, Sir!" to the instructor last night. We all chuckled and I said it's not the Marines, and the instructor said he spent 20 years in the military already and didn't need to be reminded.) and the rest of us are enthusiastically shouting out our moves and our "kiiii-ya!"

So let's hear it for those who keep their head in the game.

Hooray for geek boys!

Kapow! Spring's going, going, gone!

It's been a fairly comfortable Spring. There have been a few hot days, some cold ones, not quite enough rain - we certainly haven't caught up from the dry conditions this Winter. But it has been Spring weather.

Yesterday? POW! 91 degrees. Today? WHAM! 93 degrees. Averages are upper 70's.

It's supposed to cool off to low-mid-80's the rest of the week, but I have a feeling that this is pretty much it.

I have the A/C on because it was too hot and stuffy with all of our big, 30-year-old single pane windows. I want to make new curtains for our bedroom because it has a huge sliding door that faces full west and whooosh it gets hot in there.

Something new is pollenating out there, too, or else I have picked up a cold somewhere. Achoo-moo-moo achoo-moo-moo achoo-moo-moo achoo-moo-moo-moo-moo.

Don't look! I mean "Don't Look Down"

It's out in paperback, available at the book seller or grocery store near you (or online). It was the first Jennifer Crusie novel I ever read, even though it's technically a Crusie novel written half by Bob Mayer, so it holds a special place in my heart. It has led me to read all her other works, the past 5 or so of which are really awesome, the ones before that just great, but not fabuloso-blow-my-socks-off like Faking It or Bet Me.

They have another collaborative novel coming out in a couple of months (August?) that I am looking forward to.

Oh, and she has also written 1/3rd of a group novel -"The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes" with two other women writers. It is due out in June. I'm not sure if it's three short stories, or if the stories have been interwoven. I have gleaned from various websites and blogs that they each write one of the three sisters. I just went to check if I have pre-ordered it at Amazon and found that I have pre-ordered it twice. Oops.

Keeee-YA!

Scary, but Mom wanted to see them and I have procrastinated long enough.

I still need a pics of DS1 in his uniform. And next week, DS2 and I will have gold belts and DS1 will have a black tip on his belt, so we'll need more pictures ;)









"It aint over until the fat lady kicks your butt."

Something like that.

picture page, picture page

Butterfly quilt from pink ribbon fabrics, done to be sold in a silent auction sometime in June. I am currently pinning the quilt sandwich together.


St Jude fabric quilt to be donated to St Jude's through Hancock's when the time comes (usually in July). The green at the ends is not St Jude's but is.... Radiance? I want to say Radiance 2. Something like that. The bigger panels have huge bursts and you can also get ones with smaller ones that look like fireworks. It's been around for a while - since about the time I started at Hancock's, so a year and a half at least - and I finally bought some last time everything on the cotton wall was on sale. Coming soon to a machine near you, a Radiance quilt....


Close up of the fun St Jude's fabric, some of which I NEEEEEEEED more of for my stash, of course.


DH made the cake, which is always good. The candles are 3 and 6 and then 2 more candles. I did his as a 3 and a 7 and one more candle. Note that depending on which side you look at it from, either the 3 or the 6 is backward. The frosting is metled and poured chocolate, so once the candles were in, they weren't coming back out again!


Silly boy!

testing one two three!

Just clicking around, trying to make it so my blog feeds to google reader (thanks Liza for pointing out that it didn't!) and decided to activate the email publishing feature.

TEST!

In happier news...

I whipped up the quilt top for my St Jude's donation quilt today. We haven't yet received the information about donating or having the quilts judged, etc and the big event is in July, but we have loads of the fabric. Anyway, I did a, um, picket fence? I think that's what they call it? Basically, slap some strips together, cut them perpendicular to the stitching and then make them uneven and sew them back together. I'll take a picture...

I think I have enough batting for the cancer quilt (need to take a pic of that, too) and should go to the store tomorrow and get some batting for the St Jude's one.

cops and robbers

Well, robbers at least.

Someone broke into the fabric store on Thursday night/Friday morning. They broke a lower window off to the side - it's fairly well hidden behing garbage cans and the other stores all close before us.

We usually leave the registers open to show that all we have in them is some coins, but I had counted one down while the store was still open and had shut it so random people walking by couldn't just grab it, so the burglar(s) forced that register drawer and broke it..... and got only change.

They forced and broke the door to the office, but couldn't get into the safe. They forced and didn't break the door to the district office, but they don't have any money in there.

No sewing machines or anything else big ticket appears to be missing - we had coincidentally been told to survey our machines Thursday and I had done it that evening.

Basically, they got away with a bout $15 and damaged a window and the latch on a door, then left through the back door.

From what I was told, the police didn't get much in the way of fingerprints. Or rather, they got zillions of partial prints from all the people who have handled the doors and the boxes and so on. And how seriously are the police going to take it?

Righty-oh

DS2 has his bestest buddy (BB) over and I've barely seen them except when they were playing a computer game while eating lunch and I had to help Pajama Sam find all the parts to the weather machines. In a bit, the best buddy's mom (BBM?) is going to get her older son from school and come and take b0th little boys away. They have a friend coming to their house this afternoon, but the dynamics of this particular group aren't always great, as BB and other buddy (OB?) both want to be in charge, plus BB tends to want to play with only one friend at a time. After I get DS1 from school, we'll go over there for a little while. DS1 wants to be in charge of EVERYONE, so this could be exciting.

I have worked a tiny bit on the border of my cancer quilt. I now have 3 sides on. For some reason, I am having a hard time getting back into it and I need to get it done and move on. I need to get some batting, which is on sale. But maybe I will piece together enough from the bits of Warm and Natural I have, since only the poly batting is on sale and I am quickly becoming a batting snob.

How roMANtic!

Got a new fridge today. Surprise from DH. Birthday present - sort of. I think I will have to share :)

Water and ice dispenser on the front. Oooooooooh! Aaaaaaah!

Google game

*your name* + needs, wants, and gets. Five each of Phyllis needs, Phyllis wants, Phyllis gets. Picked up from Liza Lee at http://egretsnest.wordpress.com/

Phyllis needs:
"Phyllis needs to FORGIVE ALREADY! " Good goal for the year - for life as a matter of fact. Then 5 more Young and Restless references, including:
"Phyllis needs to turn in her "Diva Card"" am i really so much of a diva? Do I seem to be?
" Phyllis needs our help." Yes please.
"Suppose you have enough to go out and Phyllis needs 31; the cut is a 5. ... If Phyllis needs 34, you should play the 5. Her only hope of winning is if her ..." cribbage strategy?

"Phyllis needs to learn the ancient art of shutting it"Yes, I do. I'm working on it.


Phyllis Wants:
"Phyllis wants to run the story but Jean says it would break Wilf's heart." huh? I wouldn't run it then.
"Dan wants Edward's estimates to be good for the sake of the patients who present after the trial, and Phyllis wants the patients in the trial to be treated ..." No idea.
"PHYLLIS WANTS SHARON TO USE HER MAIDEN NAME AT THE OFFICE. -" actually, i'm pretty laid back about maiden names.
"PHYLLIS WANTS TO GO TO SCHOOL," Ah now this is more like it :)
"Phyllis Wants To Be Published!" How did they know?

Phyllis gets:
"The Office’s Phyllis Gets Married »" Woah! BTDT got the t-shirt. Still am. Not into bigamy.
"Outrage breaks out in the office after Phyllis gets an unexpected eyeful from a flasher." Ah. OK.
"So Phyllis gets to skate again - Y&R is going to blame Sharon for Dru's fall. No matter what the pictures show if Phyllis had not been blackmailing Sharon..." Skate? Blackmail?
"Once again, Phyllis gets away with something" tee hee cackle!
"this could be why phyllis gets haunted by her past. a person from phyllis's past shows up ..." oooooh. I wonder who it will be?

Fun :)