Dusting off the alarm clock

I head back to work tomorrow, for the first time in about a year. Aside from taking a couple of short-temp temp jobs here and there, I've not worked since summer 2000. I'm going to be working part-time at my church, probably just a half day a week. So, tomorrow I shall find myself awaking to the rude sound of an alarm clock - ack! But I'm really looking forward to working there, so I'll survive. ;)

Howie and I worked out in the yard for two hours this afternoon. We decided to work in the yard together two hours a day, before he has to get ready for work. I deviated from the plan and ended up working out there until 6:30pm, though. I made up two window boxes with brilliant blue and purple wave petunias and yellow pansies, and one box with wave petunias and a couple of Martha Washington geraniums (pelargoniums, if you want to get technical).

Lastly, one big pot now has six white peruvian daffodil bulbs nestled down in its middle, topped off by yet more wave petunias and pansies; that ought to be really something when it's all blooming. I've missed having annuals. Color! All season long! Wooo-hooooo!

There are a few less weeds out in the island bed now, thanks to some labor-intensive hand-weeding. I am going to zap some stuff with Round-Up, but some of the grass and weeds were growing in with good stuff and I don't want to risk any spray getting on my precious babies.

Well, I am dog tired and am going to toddle off to bed and play Bookworm on Howie's PDA until I fall asleep. I have to get up at about 6:30 or 7:00am. The horror of it all.

The Power of a jealous Doggie

Tonight when I went to take the dogs out, I somehow managed to slip both leashes' choke collars onto Buddy...And nothing on Emma! I didn't even realize what I'd done until I saw Emma with Sarah at the back of our property and looked down to see two leashes leading to the beagle! I was in my nightgown and the last thing I wanted to do was chase after Emmy-Doodle at 10:30pm.

She is a real runner, part greyhound and all about long legs and speed. She also has not a whit of sense about roads, so we worry when she gets loose! From past experience, I knew better than to advance toward her or to use an angry or startled tone in my voice. So, I crouched down and said, "Emmmmmmma! Hi, Puppy! Hi! Go get 'im!" (much like this) and made a fuss over Buddy.

Thank goodness, Emma couldn't resist. She zoomed right over attack Buddy and I was able to snag her by her mesh collar. Whew! God saved my tushy, I'll tell ya.

It's ironic, babies

In the corner of the small cemetery at Denison University is a granite marker that simply reads: "Unknown Infants." The remains of 23 fetuses buried there show how both technology and philosophy have changed medical education. The fetuses had been preserved in Formaldehyde and were used in teaching human anatomy and development. Today, detailed computer models and other tools have taken their place. Other universities have used human specimens in the past. Professors say they stressed that they should be treated with respect. For the same reason, disposing of the specimens presents a dilemma. The Denison specimens were found in a locked cabinet during a cleanup in fall of 2000. While cremation is acceptable, officials at the central Ohio school opted also for a small funeral.

This was in WCLT news department's newsletter for Monday, April 14. How ironic that these infants/fetuses/babies are treated with such respect while it's common practice to abort babies the same age or even older with no respect (or funeral) whatsoever. I'm not posting this for an argument, but rather to give you something to mull over. Laws and attitudes vary so widely depending on circumstances, you know? Should they? I guess that's a moot point, really, because they do.

Great Gardeners

One of my friend Dave's creations has earned the recognition of Forbes.com's Best of the Web Directory. Congratulations, you guys! The Garden Watchdog was already mentioned in Organic Gardening a few months back, and this is just one more example of its growing popularity (no pun intended...and much deserved, I might add). Best yet, it's a great resource because it's a community effort by gardeners. That reminds me of the DG motto: For gardeners, by gardeners.

On another note, I saw this smart gardener's site linked to from Dave's Garden and had to share. The gal's come up with a self-watering pot for seed starting, using the humble 2-liter pop bottle. I suppose you could do the same thing with any similarly-shaped plastic bottle, but 2-liter is a good size. I am impressed! If you wanted to keep plants in such a container, you could always drop it into a basket to hide the plastic. Guess this gives me an excuse to buy more pop...and hoard bottles. Bwaaahahahahahah!

Pup's Growing Like A Weed

My folks came over for a little visit today so I could take some pictures of their Siberian Husky puppy Nikolai. It's been a while since I posted any shots of the little pooper, so here's a little collage I put together and printed for them today. It spans the time from about February 27 to today.

Many hands make light work

Even four hands can make a real dent in things. Shoot, I even have a blister to prove it. Yes, this soft girl worked hard enough raking to take the skin off her right thumb..

Howie and I worked in the yard from about noon until three this afternoon, cleaning up more perennial debris and mulching more of the leftover leaves while we mowed. We salvaged one compost bin out of the two stacking ones which were given to us last year; the timbers in half the pieces were rotten so we consolidated them into one bin. It's not pretty, but it sure looks better than the pile of bin sections we had back there before. There's still a lot of cement and pipe to haul away from when we redid the back steps last summer.

The pond still needs to be pumped empty and cleaned, but that's going to wait until two weekends from now. When Everdry worked at the back of the house, they unplugged the pond pump while digging the trench in that area; it didn't get plugged back in and, considering it was about nine degrees farenheit, everything froze over solid in short order. We couldn't turn the pump back on until everything had thawed, like around mid-March.

Everything, all the fish and all the water plants, died because of there being no way for the gasses to escape from the water. If I'd have thought about it, I would have put a piece of styrofoam in the thawed circle the circulating water had left; that would have allowed the gasses a way out. So, we have a big, stinky, leaf-filled pond until we can clean it out and refill it. Live and learn!

When we compare our back lawn to our neighbor's, it makes us green with jealousy. Theirs is green and beautiful, a carpet of lush grass. Ours has green patches, but it has far more brown patches, and a lot of dead grass. Then again, they don't have three dogs. Oh, and they raked their leaves up last fall. And when our Emma's greyhound genes kick in and she goes crazy-dog dashing around, her claws just rip the grass to pieces. Such is life with three dogs. I think we'll probably end up fencing in a section in back with picket fence, a place for them to run and play. The fence will hide the poor, grassless ground at least.

I sound like I'm complaining, but I'm not. I guess I'm still doing a mental inventory of what all we still need to get done. All in all, it was a great day. It was nice getting outside and sweating alongside my hubby. Work goes so much easier when you share it with someone else and can share in the feeling of accomplishment. If I can drag myself back out there, I'll take some pictures...I don't know though, because a nap is sounding really good now that I've had a hot shower and some lunch.

My hands...Are saved!

When Howie and I went to the chiropractor today, me for my regular visit and him for an initial consult, I mentioned to the doc that I was unable to give Howie a good massage because my hands hurt too badly. The doc showed us the niftiest little massage tool, and we bought one on the spot. What a livesaver it is for my hands! Here's pictures of my paw cradling this plastic wonder:



I found the company's website tonight and wrote to them to tell them how much we like the product. I believe in praising people when they've done a good job on something, not just firing off complaint letters (though I sometimes have to write them, too). Like I said in my letter to the company, when I find a product that really works - especially one which safely helps people alleviate pain - I want to shout it from the rooftops!

After writing, I saw they have an affiliate program. Hmmmmmm...My dilemma. I haven't really put sponsored stuff on my webpages before, but I have to tell you, this thing really works and I am 100% comfortable associating The Plot's good name with it. So, without further adieu, here is my official link to the Omni Massage Roller site:




And yes, if you buy from them directly, using my link, I will receive a small commission. It will help defray the costs of this website (and my visits to the chiropractor, incidently). I now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging. ;)

Say...

"Someone's been sitting in my chair, too," cried the Baby Bear, "and now my archives work!". Thanks, Angie!

Zippy, The People-Loving Geek

Boy, wish I could say I came up with that little ditty on my own, but I can't. It's the blog of a student, one whose writing is both fun and really insightful. Mucho-Referroed-Pangie clued me in with a terse e-mail entitled "blog" and containing one hyperlink. It needed no introduction, and no explanation. It's just plain good. Hi ya, Zippy!

archives all fixed up now. wee!

A Wee Site Enhancement

I prefer to have my hyperlinks open in a new window, but keep forgetting to add the target="_blank" tag when I add them. Problem solved! I found a nifty bit of javascript which will do it automatically. So, if you'd prefer to have hyperlinks open in a new window when you click them, put a check in the little box on the left, next to where it says "link preference". If you don't, leave it blank. The choice, friends, is yours now - and I don't have to remember every time.
To test it, here's a link to the site of Nancy Noel, one of my favorite artists.

Strike that. Until I figure out how to get it to work in conjunction with the hyperlinks to my pop-up comment windows, it's useless. :( Blargh!

82 Years Combined Incompetence

An ad I saw on TV last night for a local auto repair shop reminded me of a pet peeve. What's WITH businesses touting things like, "we offer over 82 years combined experience!"? C'mon, what does that mean? What, they have fourteen people who have worked in their field for five years each, and maybe one who's been there twelve?

It means nothing, people! "Our planet's inhabitants offer xxx years combined experience!" And we've learned....what?

The Pissquiggler's Dilemma

Wednesday morning, Buddy beagle started wheezing, like he was choking on something. I dashed to the computer and looked to see if there is a Heimlich maneuver for dogs and found that there is (as well as animal CPR). I followed the instructions for the Heimlich, but he kept on wheezing. We thought it might just be somthing partially obstructing his airway, but too far down for us to see, so Howie rushed him to the vet's office.

They did an x-ray and found no obstruction, but they did find out he has fluid on his lungs and an enlarged heart. Howie had been spraying the basement walls down with the 50/50 solution of bleach/water and hadn't yet opened the windows upstairs. The fumes were pretty horrendous, but that wouldn't have caused this episode with Buddy. It might have aggravated it, however, and caused the wheezing.

The vet has him on an antibiotic for 10 days, thinking the fluid on his lungs could be caused by an infection. He said Buddy's heart could be enlarged from having to work so hard because of the fluid. We're to take him back for another checkup and x-rays when his antibiotics are finished. If his heart is still enlarged, he'll need to be on heart medication.

Okay, so you have to get the picture here. Of our trio, Sarah's had emergency surgery for bladderstones and eats prescription food, Emma takes estrogen to help with her bladder control, and now Buddy may have to be on heart medication for the rest of his doggie days.

Do we have pets or patients here? A little of both, but I guess they fit right in with Howie and his surgically-enhanced spine and my funky sinuses. Welcome to our world! We're all in this together, baby.

City Chicken, Plucked

My friend CoCo from Dave's Garden piped up with a little bit about the history of City Chicken yesterday. It seems it's sort of a shish-kabob, originating at a time when chicken was more expensive than pork and veal. Since poultry was so pricey, folks would cube and skewer these alternative (the-other-white)meats, bread them, brown them, then bake them with a liquid so a savory gravy resulted as well.

The recipes sound pretty tasty! I found a few while searching for more about this weird-sounding dish:

A site called Coalregion.com has one that sounds promising, along with some guesses as to its history. About.com has another one in their Souther U.S. Cuisine section, this time with that wonderful all-purpose staple, Cream Of Mushroom Soup.

Barring my making Dennis' (aka da brudder's) Meat Thingies sometime, this sounds pretty darned good.

I've Heard of Spring Chickens, but...

This was in this week's local Jamboree Foods grocery ad.



City chicken? Not just city chicken, but "all pork" city chicken?? I don't know what to say (but that won't stop me from talking).

Is it city pollutants which transmogrifies chickens into pork cells?

Do city roosters stir at dawn to issue a raucous "cock-a-doodle-rweeee-rweeee!"?

Are there "all pork" chickens in other locales?

If so, exactly how far out in the suburbs are they still indigenous species?

Do they have two feet, or four? Do they have wings? Do they cluck or grunt?

Do piglets hatch out of their eggs?

I'm just pretty disturbed by the thought...

More Blogger Woes

Now my stinkin' archives don't show up at all and I still can't publish them. Grrrrr!!

Blogger Woes: Error 230

I cannot get my archives to publish. I keep getting this wonderful error:

Archive Error
Error 203:java.lang.NumberFormatException: (server:page)

I've gone back in my entries and replaced any ampersands in my posts with the word "and". Are forward slashes also verboten? I don't know what else to do and I'm frustrated. I know, Joanie...MoveableType. This frustration with Blogger may serve as my best impetus, eh?

Stripping Away The Old...Plus Some Odds And Ends

We finally stripped the carpet from our office Saturday night. It was a bound carpet remnant we put in about a year ago. It was cheap carpet to begin with, plus we'd never gotten around to putting the padding down beneath it, so it was matted and looked really ratty. Plus, due to recurrent bouts of a certain un-named beagle's pissquiggles, it was pretty rank. Actually, it was embarrassingly stinky, truth be told.

It was a late-night team effort, as most of our projects tend to be. Howie crawled around on the floor and cut sections of carpet with his pocket knife and handed them to me to toss in a pile by the garage door. I vacuumed, he mopped with oil soap. About 3am (darned time change!), we dragged our sore and tired bodies to bed and slept a few hours until it was time to get up for church. It was worth it, though; now the office just smells like the cedar shavings in the dogs' bed. *sniff*

We brought up a bookshelf from the basement, too, so I'm working on getting the books off of horizontal surfaces, sorted into "keep" and "Goodwill", and up onto bookshelves where they belong. One thing the Sandra Felton said in her book,
The New Messies Manual, is so true: messies tend not to buy the organizational products they desparately need, thinking they're too expensive. She said the very things that will help us get organized and declutter things -- marvels such as bookshelves and plastic storage containers -- are absent from our homes. Boy, is she right about that!

I went to the chiropractor again today, my second visit. I awoke with a real headbanger of a headache, part sinus, part tension in my neck. The very last thing I felt like doing was going out of the house. The thing I most felt like doing was going back to bed. I went out of the house. I figure, if anything would probably help me feel better, it's getting my adjustment. My neck does feel better, but my head's still aching. It's not as bad, though, so that's a relief. My muscles are rebelling to the bones being moved, but my spine and neck are much loose now and I can turn my head without that grinding sound. mmmmmmmm.

Let's see, what else is new...I sang at a "celebration of life" service for a friend. It was a memorial service for a lady who we knew from our previous church. It was really neat, a combination of photos (many of them displayed on bulletin boards and such up front), favorite songs, and people sharing stories about Betty. I sang a cappella since it was short notice and I didn't have time to really practice with an accompaniest. A lady named Marie sang another hymn, and what a sweet, clear voice she had! They played some of Ralph and Betty's favorite country songs over the PA, too. All in all, it was a really neat tribute to her.

I told Howie, when I die, I'd like something like that rather than calling hours and a funeral service. I'd like it to be at my church, and I want packets of flower seeds given to every visitor. If the people don't garden, they can just scatter those seeds in a field - either way, new life will spring forth and the world will be a better place for them. :)

Combination Products II

A case in point in regard to the previous blog entry. Picture this: You're lying in the dark, reading in bed. The house is quiet and your spouse is snoring softly (or not so softly) next to you. You inhale, and your nose wrinkles. Suddenly, you realize, "Oh, my gosh...We have got to buy cat litter!" You look over at the nightstand, then remember you have no writing implement within easy reach, nor any paper! You would have to actually get out of bed to go jot down this important news bulletin.

What to do?

Oh, wait...That's right! You are the happy owner of a Book Light and A Recorder! No problem! You push the red button and, ever considerate, whisper "get caaaat liiiiiiter".

Recording Book Light goes wherever you need to read! On trains, planes, at the library, in school or in bed, lightweight, clip-on lamp gives you the extra light you want, and has a built-in 10 second recorder for voice memos. Unit adjusts to any angle, and folds to compact 5-1/2" x 1-1/2" size. Uses 2 AAA batteries (not incl.) and 1 included button cell battery.

Was $14.98 Now$8.50
C2204 - Recording Book Light

Now, you see the brilliance in this?

Combination Products

This site must be where Harriett Carter and her ilk get some of their product ideas. You can randomly generate product ideas there, odd ideas such as these:

Design #1462391020
It's a burger carton that spins about its axis!
It makes virtually no noise whatsoever and can emulate a ZX Spectrum.

Design #344517412
It's an MP3 player that's made of solid gold, removes stubborn stains and is monogrammed (up to three letters).

It brought to mind an excerpt from Paul Reiser's book Couplehood. So intent was I to share this tidbit, I searched for a good five minutes and found the book so I could type this for you all:

At some point, my wife and I got ourselves on every mailing list in the free world. All you have to do is buy one distinctly dumb product you don't need, and everyone wtih a catalogue hears about it. "Hi! We understand you don't care what you spend money on anymore. We have just the catalogue for you." I like the Combination Products. Things that you probably already have, but not in this particular combination.

"It's a sweater vest and a bottle opener."
"It's a hot beverage thermos and a snorkeling mask!"

And of course, if you look at the pictures long enough, you start thinking, "Well, you know, we could use that. With a thermos/snorkel mask we wouldn't have to come up for coffee anymore. We could snorkel all day and never come up!"

Then they combine things that not only shouldn't be together, there's no way they could be. "It's a cassette rack and a doberman pinscher!" How could that be?

"It's a rain bonnet, but it's also your parents."

How could that be?! I just saw my parents. They weren't a rain bonnet.

If you're a fan like me, you heard Paul Reiser's voice as you read that. This book makes me giggle. As a matter of fact, when I left it in the bathroom one time, one of our favorite houseguests was heard giggling behind the bathroom door. I know it isn't just me.

Gallery at the Plot

Slowly, but surely, I'm working on the gallery. I made a main page for it today and uploaded a gallery of my favorite pet portraits. I just noticed the thumbnails on the pets page are terrible! Ah well...More coming soon, as the categories indicate! I need to do everything in FrontPage so navigation will be easier for me. Right now I'm putting things together piecemeal and have to remember to link to different pages.

Hide and Go Seek

I just recently figured out that I could view results by subdomains for search hits bringing people to my site. I nosed around and found the search terms that have brought folks to this neck of the woods. Some of it is pretty amusing, and some kinda disturbing! For your indifferent scanning pleasure, I've included them here. Just as in real life, my comments are parenthetical.

April 2003:

coffee table fish tank

March 2003:

basement waterproofing everdry

gardenwife blog

nude wife (certainly not moi!)

photographs of white kitchen cabinets

refurbished dell dimension 4550

wallpaper border with grapes

February 2003:

digital dock o' sullivan l desk

desktop garden pictures

everdry waterproofing

gozing survey problems

selling for everdry

tan babes

January 2003:

envision en-910e driver (and refresh rates)

puns about eyes

December 2002:

senile virus

jacqueline saburido (and every variation on the spelling you can imagine)

joe boxer ads

shock or wring or disjointness or kill or simplistic (Indicative of moi?)

supersedes or shots or fixed or infern or wreck

November 2002:

jacqueline saburido

everdry

lady liberty fireworks

me breastfeeding photos my brother (Again, not moi!)

monkey lamp

anchor or unfold or odd or conversations or electrocutes (kinda weird)

black mold pictures

ceiling fan blade cleaner vacuum

interperative dance

jacqueline saburido accident photos (et. al.)

obliging or partnered or myriad or purse or dismal (what a combination)

olympus c-2100uz sale

reheating the turducken (yummmmm)

riddle at what time do people go to the dentist

swinburne or destined or monopolize or microprograms or stanchi (say WHAT?)

thumbnails at the dentist

October 2002:

wife (that's pretty general)

coffee maker plastic taste

comments for jane austin's emma (hee, hee, and all they got was my dog Emma)

complications of tonsilectomy

easy halloween costume ideals (Note it's not IDEAS they wanted, just ideals)

freezing fresh pasta

gevalia thermal (carafe or pot)

listen to survivor thailand theme song

pigeon roost farm

sister-in-law naked pics (All in the family, I guess. Once again, not moi!)

survivor thialand pictures

turducken song

September 2002:

it ain't all about me

9/11 goldfish pictures world trade <---- Goldfish pictures??

9/11 people jumping photo horrific

breast augmentation

hairy toes pictures (Oh, Joanie....)

images people leaping off the world trade center pictures

jumping hand in hand

kathy glasses bra (ooookay...)

pictures people leaping death 9/11

tonsilectomy complications

August 2002:

apex ad-1100w

blog.gardenwife.com (why didn't they just type it into the address bar?)

images of brooke burns from tv show dog eat dog (Who? Musta been dogs that got it)

The Blogs Of War

Okay, you know I cringe at the thought of conflict, but I'm moving a wee bit beyond my comfort zone and writing this in spite of the discomfort it causes me. Kim Komando linked to several blogs from the war at her site. She's also linked to many ways to support the troops, and she's gotten a lot of flack for it.

One person wrote her, “You shouldn’t tell people to give thanks to the servicemen and women. It’s their job and they are getting paid for it.”

Boy, I bet that writer is one heck of a customer to people, demanding, bitter and bereft of any sense of appreciation for anyone but self. Anyone who works gets paid for what he does, and that doesn't make him any less deserving or appreciative of some thanks.

Thank you, Kim. Thank you, soldiers and support staff in the military. That's all I'm sayin'.

P.S. This is really something. Click the link on the page to listen to the phone call.

Question for You Blog Geeks

Is there a way to do an extended entry thingie like MoveableType offers, just using regular old HTML? If so, please e-mail me. I'm not quite ready to take the MoveableType plunge, and I can't justify paying someone to set it up for me, but I sure would like to tidy up this blog if it isn't too hard to do this sans-MT.

Monday Mission 3.13

These are the weekly questions Promoguy hath wrought. To see his answers, go to his blog.

1. How old will you be on your next birthday?

As the hand ticks past midnight, I shall be thirty six. Wow...Four years away from the big four-oh. I sure don't feel like it (mentally, anyway)!

2. What is your favorite gadget?

One thing I love is my underwater stem cutter. I got it from Jackson and Perkins in one of the warehouse sales when I worked there, but it looks like they discontinued it. Some cut flowers need to have their stems seared with a match, while others need to be cut underwater so no air gets into the stem (the air bubble will keep water from being taken up through the stem). For the latter, this gadget works great. It is a glass jar with a screw-on lid which contains a razor blade sort of assembly. You fill the jar with water, screw on the lid, then insert the stems of your cut flowers into it and press the button on top. It slices the stems under water.

(By the way, I have one of those little George Foreman grills, too, and I love it; I want one of the big ones so I can do more than one big burger at a time!)

3. Tell me about someone that you lost touch with several years ago. Would you like to get back in touch with them again? What caused the separation? Has enough time passed? Would you still get along?

I lost touch with someone who was instrumental in showing me God was not only real, but approacheable and loving. We were good friends while I was in high school, but as I grew and matured as a person, he stayed right where he was. He's got a lot of strange ideas, a lot of things he swears are revelations to him by God. He's in his fifties and still lives at home, an eternal Peter Pan.

He was in his thirties when I met him, and the very fact that he was a youthful-thinking hippy made friendship fun and easy; the thing is, he stayed that way and I just keep wishing he'd grow up. So, no, I don't think we'd still get along, sad as that is.

4. Is there a difference between your online personality and your real-life version? Or are you pretty much the same person either way?

In the most basic sense, no. I strive to be approacheable and helpful. I enjoy helping people with their computer snafus, gabbing about gardening and scores of other subjects. In RL, I am more of a hermit, though. It's funny, the more of a hermit I am in RL, the more active I am online, so I suppose it goes hand-in-hand.

5. Can you think of any ways that the Internet hinders person-to-person communication? What could we do to change things?

I know that in my own life, I am more apt to jot someone an e-mail than I am to call. Sometimes I want to just communicate some tidbit of information, and I know if I call, it will probably end up being a 1/2 hour conversation. Truthfully, I just don't enjoy talking on the phone that much anymore. I think the Internet is a mixed bag. I've met many of my Internet friends in RL and enjoyed their company very much. Many of those online acquaintances have become RL trusted and cherished friends, people with whom we've even stayed with.

However, I also find that, especially when stressed, I tend to pull back from my local RL friends and family and dwell more in my Internet community. It's just easier sometimes, you know? I can read their blogs, threads, and e-mails without feeling put on the spot. I have more of a chance to digest what they're saying and think about my replies before answering.

Personally, to change things, I need to force myself to get outside and be with people. It always charges me up and makes me happy when I get out with folks face-to-face, so why I don't just DO more often that is a mystery!

6. When was the last time you felt truly happy, or had that sense of perfect inner-peace? What does it take to get that feeling back when you need it?

I feel peaceful like that when I awake in the wee hours of the morning and hear the birds chattering. I love that sound. And when I sing, especially worship songs, I feel very peaceful and happy. One of the most wonderful things to me is singing harmony with others.

7. If you could just verbally let loose on someone and be able to say anything you want, without repercussions, who would you say it to and what would you say?

Hmmmmm.....Really can't say. ;)

Oh, and my caption for the photo is "Super-Elastic Kitty Plastic!"

It's April? No Fooling?

"April, Comes like an idiot,
babbling, and strewing flowers."

-- Edna St. Vincent Millay,
American poet

These were taken in April 2002, but we're not too far from looking this way this spring:







We did so much in the basement yesterday. My brother-in-law came by and helped, and between the three of us working, we got all the stuff we're keeping up on some shelves Howie built. We also have the remainder of the stuff sorted into two piles in the front of our garage: Goodwill and Garbage. By the time mid-April comes around, we'll have a clean slate for the contractor to start working.

Since we got everything in the basement done, Howie said he'll help me work in the yard this Satuday. I got a little bit of the winter die-back cleared from the front perennial beds Saturday, but I'm behind in my pruning. It will be so good to get everything cleared away so all the new growth has room to grow. There's so much coming up, and it's so welcome to see after this harsh, bitter winter.

I wish we didn't perpetually run in catch-up mode. The clean-up outside would be easier if we weren't also having to clear last fall's leaves! The Messies Manual book I just finished reading has helped me see things in new ways and has me feeling more empowered to change some of my habits; it's really my hope to have a better handle on routine maintenance of the house and the yard by this fall.

After getting so much done this weekend, I feel pumped. I actually feel like change is possible!

Added: Silly me, I had it in my mind that Monday was April 1. So, April came a day early in my blogworld. Whoops!

Homeless Critters

I added a goodie to the right sidebar last night. It's a link to Petfinder.com, which offers access to a huge network of animal shelters across the country. Our Emma is a pound puppy, and we have big hearts when it comes to homeless critters.

I know some folks really desire a purebred with all the papers, but I just don't know if I could spend hundreds on such a dog when I know there are sooo many great critters living on borrowed time at the shelter. Emma's littermates were put down the day we got to take her home, and if they had temperments anything like hers, they would have made fantastic pets.

I urge you, check out your local dog pound and animal shelter if you're considering a pet; they even have purebreds if that's your thing. I like mutts, myself. I can guar-ON-tee there's no other doggie like our Emma on the planet!

Finally, it's Friday

My hubby had to go back to 5-day work weeks after last week's layoffs at his job. It's weird getting used to, but we're so thankful he still has a job. So, once again, Friday really means something. Of course, Friday's also an excuse to answer someone else's questions.

1. What was your most memorable moment from the last week?

Last Saturday morning, I went to a womens coffee fellowship at our church. The lady next to me, Jeanette, was interpreting the speaker's message in sign language so one of our church's hearing-impaired members could listen. Watching Jeannette's graceful hands and seeing Carol's expressions as she listened, it struck me how much I would like to better communicate with the deaf members at my church. I love people, love talking with them, and it bothers me I am not able to communicate as well with the deaf as I'd like. I know how to do the alphabet in sign language, but that's it. I really should look into this more - there are people at church who teach others, for interpreters are always welcome.

2. What one person touched your life this week?

So many! Someone who I've especially appreciated this week is Naomi, though. She's been a real encouragement to me! Love you, girl. :)






3. How have you helped someone this week?

That same Saturday morning, I provided transportation to an elderly member of my church. Actually, it may have helped me even more than her; surely someone would have given her a ride had I not asked her, but by offering her a ride, I made sure that I would go, too. She is a widow and struggles with depression, so it meant a lot to her to get out and just visit with people and laugh -- and I was blessed, too!

4. What one thing do you need to get done by this time next week?

I need to get the house cleaning done by this time next week. I wanna have people over to visit! (That New Messies Handbook I'm reading is awesome, by the way). I also need to get outside a little each day and clean up the perennial beds. There are leaves from last fall, plus all the perennial foliage that died back over winter. There's new growth coming up everywhere, and I need to get rid of the dead stuff before I end up cutting good shoots and leaves with the dead stuff.

5. What one thing will you do over the next seven days to make your world a better place?

My world? I will pray. I am one person, basically impotent to impact much of what's going on in the world at large, but I know Someone who can. I don't know what all the future holds, but I know Who holds the future. As far as what I can do locally? I can listen. I am making it a point to listen more. We all need someone who will just listen sometimes.

Flutterby

We have a few overwintering butterflies in our area, but most of them will be coming back with the warmer weather. I found a neat site which shows butterflies by county for the whole US. So, if you ever wondered what species are common to your own neck of the woods, check it out at the USGS website.

Death Becomes Her

I couldn't think of another catchy title for this week's Monday Mission entry, so I'm afraid that will have to do.

1. Since we've covered the standard "where do you go when you die" question, let's get a little deeper. When you do die, would you like to be able to watch your funeral?

I think it would be neat to watch my funeral, yes, but only if I couldn't feel sad! I wouldn't want to hover there feeling all guilty at leaving my loved ones behind. ;)

2. Catholics must have the longest funeral services ever. I think there is a lot to be said for the traditions that they keep, but it was just so depressing. I'd like my funeral to be much more upbeat, like those I've seen in New Orleans. What type of funeral would you plan for yourself?

I'd like a joyous one, and one that's closed-casket. I'd also like to have photos showing me and my friends and family having fun, so people can look and laugh as they remember the good times. I'd like my favorite songs played, many of them upbeat praise and worship songs. I'd like packets of flower seeds given to those who attend, so they can scatter them and start a little garden in my memory. I think that's the coolest kind of memorial.

As a child, when I was angry sometimes I would wish that a parent or teacher would die. Thank goodness wishes like those are never granted. I think it probably takes the loss of someone important before you learn the value of life. When did you first realize that life was so fragile?

Gosh, probably when my grandma Georgie died in a car accident. It was the first time someone really close to me, someone I truly loved, was taken from my life.

4. When we said our final respects to Grandma H. today, I though about her impact on the world. No, she didn't cure cancer or make sweeping changes to society. But she did leave a legacy of four sons and a daughter, who in turn have children and grandchildren. And maybe that was her purpose, to launch future generations that will accomplish great things. Some of us are here to make a huge splash in the pond of life, others are here to direct the ripples in the water. Of the people you've known personally who have passed away, what sort of legacy, impact, mark or achievement did they leave behind?

My grandma Georgia left me with a love of reading and nature, and memories of summers weeks spent at her home - just me visiting her. She listened to my endless chatter because she knew that sometimes you had to bear up with the trivial in order to catch a glimpse of the heart.

5. One thing that struck me at the funeral, was that there were so many men were dressed in casual clothes. I was brought up to believe that men should always wear a suit to a funeral, as a show of respect. Maybe these men were never taught that. Maybe they just don't own suits. Maybe that I am just old fashioned and not hip to the times. Do you think there is an "appropriate" way to dress for attending a funeral? Or is it even important?

I guess it depends on the deceased and his/her family. If people come to my funeral in jeans and t-shirts, that's okay with me. I love the fact that our church makes it known that our dress is casual - it's the hearts of people that matter. Some social stigmas need to be let go when it comes to matters of the heart.

6. Grandma H. was far enough along in life to have been able to plan ahead for her funeral, even down to the tiny details such as song selections. It was nice to finally attend a funeral where they didn't play "Amazing Grace!" My choices would be "Ode to Joy" and "I'll Fly Away." What are some of the more memorable songs you've heard played at funerals?

I've not really heard a lot of unusual music played at funerals. Most of the time, the funerals I've attended have been at the same funeral home in town, and there tends to be quiet classical music played softly in the background.

7. I've been craving some home-made pickles for years now. Not just any, but the kind my dear Great Grandmother made. It's been over 20 years since she died, but I can still remember just how her dill pickles taste. No one in the family has even attempted to make them since. Today at the funeral I overheard someone wishing that they had asked Grandma H. for her home-made noodle recipe but now it was too late. Do you have any favorite foods that only one relative made, and the recipe died with them?

And HOW. My grandma made yogurt cookies, and had a recipe for them. Grandpa threw out so many things like that in the year following her death, and her recipe was among the rubbish. These cookies were of a sugar cookie variety, only they were very moist and plumped up thick when baked. They had a vanilla flavor to them. They were just the best things, and no recipe I've tried has come close; I can sure relate to your being able to remember the taste of your grandma's dill pickles. The taste thing is so fleeting, like a flashing memory of a face or tune - sort of like the rush people get when they smell Crayola crayons and are transported back to kindergarden. The senses are such powerful things!

Today's Comment Question: Do you like pickles? If so, what kind?

I love pickles. When I don't care about how rank my breath will end up, I enjoy a sassy, garlic-steeped kosher dill - the kind you pull from a great big jar at the deli counter. Man, those are so good!

More than Meets the Eye

In the Bible, it says "man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart". So does Joanie, and that's one of the reasons I love her. She is a pediatric nurse at a children's hospital and, though some of her blogging might ruffle some feathers, she's so much more than all that. She is one deep lady with insight. Go read.

We're Bi-Technical

We took the plunge tonight and bought us a Mac. Why? Because Howie's employer had another round of layoffs on Tuesday. Out of four people on second shift in his department, he's the only one they kept. It was a big wake-up call that he needs to learn as much as he can.

He uses both Macs and PC's at his job, but mostly the latter. Knowing both PC and Mac platforms will make him a more desireable employee. So, today he sold our Micron P2 300mHz laptop to a coworker and tonight we bought a Powerbook G3 Wallstreet on eBay. We figure it is pretty similar to our laptop as far as processor speed, RAM and hard drive space goes, plus it has a 14" display like the Micron. He's using his downtime at work to learn more about QuarkXpress and Photoshop, too.

This is quite a leap for this girl. I am an old pro when it comes to PC's and Windows, but I am clueless when it comes to Macs. I'm looking forward to learning, though! Our first challenge will be in getting our Windows PC's to talk with the new laptop; we've never networked anything but PC to PC. Woo-hooo!

A Spring Respite

I wrote about this on a thread at Dave's, where we were discussing mourning doves, but thought I'd elaborate a little about it here. It's one of my favorite memories and I hope you find some respite in it, too. I know I have, just in the re-telling.

One of Howie's and my favorite memories is a Saturday night we spent up in Holmes County. We'd taken a drive and had dinner at Der Dutchman restaurant, but it became very foggy by the time evening came. We thought it was as good an excuse as any to find lodging and spend the night. We called around at about 8pm and finally found a bed and breakfast with a room open.

It was in a little farmhouse down the road from the Mennonite owners' home; our room was on the second floor, sparsely, but attractively, furnished and decorated. A low window on each side of the room provided a wonderful cross breeze. We snuggled down in the bed and fell asleep breathing that wonderful spring country air.

Sometime in the pre-dawn hours, we awoke to hear rain pattering on the slate roof outside the windows. There were also mourning doves cooing nearby. We lay there in that magic, just soaking in the whole experience, and finally fell back asleep. What awoke us for the day was the sound of Amish buggies passing as familes made their way to homes for church. After breakfast, we sat outside on a porch swing and enjoyed the quiet before heading back home.

Whenever I hear doves, I think of that wonderful night - especially if it's raining. :)

First Garden Shots of the Year

The first green ones, anyway. I added a bunch of pictures to my journal at Dave's Garden (click on the thumbnails there to see the full-size images). I hope to take pictures of these same plants at weekly intervals, along with others which make their appearances. It will be interesting to see what all survived the trench-digging along the house's foundation. *grumble* *sigh*

Avian Rich Littles

I've been hearing the call of a killdeer lately, both day and night. We live not too far from some open fields, but it's still not a bird I've regularly seen around our yard. This has been puzzling me.

I've long been fascinated and amused by the chatter of European starlings. What a cacophony in the mornings and, especially, evenings! Sure, they're dirty birds. And, yes, they're major pests to farmers and can clean out our own feeders in no time flat when they take a mind to swarm into the yard, but they're still amusing birds. They put me in mind of a bunch of old ladies gossiping over at the beauty shop.

This morning, a couple of starlings flew up and perched on our open casement window, maybe three feet from my head, and one of them began yammering away. Right in the middle of his repertoir came a very familiar sound...A killdeer's cry.

Ah ha! I don't know where I've been, but I never realized it was starlings doing it. I thought maybe it was a grey catbird (since we haven't seen any northern mockingbirds around our neighborhood) but it was the goofy starling all along.

Speaking of mimicks, mockingbirds are just incredible. Last summer, when we went to Tennessee for the first annual Dave's Garden Roundup, we tent-camped beneath a few scrawny trees. A mockingbird serenaded us much of the time we were there, day and night. What a treat it was to hear him go through over a dozen different bird songs, plus throw in his own embellishments. It was amazing. I would not want one camped outside my bedroom window during breeding season, however.

Oh Waiter, Is This Spam Kosher?

I got a fun spam tonight...

SUBJECT: A bigger schlong awaits you efbu mmz.

Yiddish spam I'm now getting? Oy. I don't mean to kvetsh, but this meshugine takes me for a mentsh, eh?

A Day of Firsts

I saw my first bumblebee of spring today. :) I also saw the season's first mosquito, at least the first one to try to bite me! Either way, spring is padding its way in through the muck and I couldn't be happier to see it. I saw a couple tiny leaves of my huchera plants (coral bells) coming back, so something beneath the sycamore survived the winter. It looks like my digitalis (foxgloves) in that area may have all died. We'll see, though; maybe they'll surprise me and come back after all. I hope the ones by our patio bed do make a return; they were so pretty last summer. I'm putting together some pictures of the garden. Be watching!

Is there hope for Messies?

Confession time here. As those who know me have heard me say, I am an "all or nothing kind of person". I procrastinate cleaning the house until it's a cluttered, awful mess and then...then...I dig in and clean the hell out of it.

Daily maintenance is such a struggle for me, for whatever reason. I am an admitted perfectionist and feel like I have to do something absolutely right, or it's not worth even doing. But that overwhelms me and I can't face the actual starting. It's an ugly, vicious circle. And I've lived under a cloud for decades now, feeling like a real failure when it comes to getting my life in order.

I am mortified if people drop by unexpectedly because the house is in a shambles. What? You say my house looks so nice? Open the closets, dears. Stop by sometime when I'm not expecting anyone. If - and only if - I let you in the front door, you will see. I've tried making lists, I've tried setting aside one day to clean, spreading it out throughout the week...I've tried just about everything.

Ack! Is there hope? I sure hope so, and I believe there is. Last week I listened to an archived broadcast of Focus on the Family, entitled Coping as a Messie. When I wasn't laughing aloud at this lady's humor, I was sitting open-mouthed as she described this old girl to a T. When she said the majority of the messies she speaks to overwhelmingly use the phrase "I'm drowning", I knew I'd found someone who knew me.

You can listen to it at OnePlace.com, where archived broadcasts are available in both RealOne and Windows Media formats. Scroll down a bit to find that show.

Even if you're a cleanie, listen. It will help you understand why some of your friends, neighbors, roommates, family members and others are the way they are. Most of them aren't just lazy,and they don't do it just to irritate you. Honest.

Take me...It's not just that I am online now; shoot, I've always been this way, even before we had a computer. Sandra says messies are highly sentimental and surround themselves with personal momentos. Yep! They are practical and keep things because they, or someone else, really might need that thing someday. Yep!

I ordered Sandra Felton's book, The New Messies Manual (no tax or shipping!) and it arrived today. The first chapter just smacks of me. Can you imagine the relief I feel? I've also been lurking around her website, Messies.com and have a tiny glimmer of hope in me that things can change.

Talky Talk Talk

Friday Five concerns telephones this week, a subject with which I am all too familiar!

1. Do you like talking on the phone? Why or why not?

I used to, until I got a job at a catalog call center and spent anywhere from 8-11 hours a day doing customer service and doing supervisor calls. I liked the phone work, but it killed my desire to talk much on the phone in my spare time. I like to talk about something, not just talk. Small talk just kills me sometimes.

2. Who is the last person you talked to on the phone?

My hubby, when he called from work to say hi.

3. About how many telephones do you have at home?

Six, not counting two cellphones. Pretty much everywhere except the bathroom.

4. Have you encountered anyone who has really bad phone manners? What happened?

All the time! I've been on both sides of it, monitoring my employees' phone calls at the above-mentioned call center, and taking calls from customers. Some of the manners I heard were appalling! With the employees, I had a chance to tell them their strengths and weaknesses regarding the phones. With rude customers? Well, I had to bite my tongue and try not to let them get me riled up. Sometimes I didn't keep a cool head, but most of the time I did. Life-preserving measures? Making shooting gestures toward my temple and contorting my face ludicrous expressions. Many of us did this. It was code, like the universal choking sign!

5. Would you rather pick up the phone and call someone or write them an e-mail or a letter? Why or why not?

It depends on what information it is I want to convey or glean. To be honest -- given the information I've supplied above it's not surprising -- I would usually rather write. I am far better at written communication than oral. Also, what is begun as a quick phone call sometimes ends up being a marathon. I also see great value in having the written word (even e-mail). Though tone can be difficult to read sometimes, at least it is there in front of you for posterity's sake and you are not just remembering bits and pieces of what was said.

Pissquiggles

Well, our beagle had himself another pee-fest this evening. He's been on a medication to help him better control his bladder, and up until today it seemed to be helping. But today he drank a bunch of water since we put a bowl in the office with us. I neglected to remember the fact that he'd consumed massive quantities of liquid, and failed to adjust the walk schedule. So...

I was treated to pisssquiggles all over the office carpet. I was just beside myself when I stood up from my office chair (currently a recliner) and surveyed the wet pattern on the carpet. You could see the back-and-forth swing in his gait by following the trail. It's very distinctive.

Ohhhhh, it's so simple when a female dog pees: one puddle is your general result, maybe a little trail leading up to or away from it. Not so with males, at least this male, darn it.

It led from beneath my desk to the office door, back into the office, and back to the door. You could see the swing in his gait by following the trail. I am trying to laugh, really I am! If it were someone else's dog and someone else was cleaning up the messes when they happened, I'd chuckle and move on to other things.

Can't move on, though. Have to rummage around for the enzymatic cleaner* to spray. Have to spritz, spritz, spritz. Saturate. Walk around on it and make sure that stuff really soaks in well. Yep.

I told Howie I want to get rid of the carpet in the office. It's a big, cheap bound remnant we bought at Rite Rug last year, and it's just more hassle than it's worth. I don't care if the hardwood floor is scratched and maybe even discolored at this point. I'd rather have that than have to deal with dog pee on carpet.

Not that this is a regular thing (anymore). But when it happens, it happens with a real bang. When it rains it pours.

*Nature's Miracle truly IS a miraculous product. The cat urine formula is especially excellent. It worked great on our mattress...But THAT is another story.

More on Audioblog

Man, now that I've heard a few bloggers' use of Audioblog(scroll down - they have links to examples), I think I may see possibilities. What a tool this could be. I love to read aloud, so perhaps that could be a part of it. Oh, my. I am a big talk radio buff, especially interviews, stories and such on NPR, and this gives anyone and everyone a chance to do this. The sound quality is MUCH better than anything I've done at home with my el-cheapo microphone, too. Hmmmmmm......I may have to try this for 3 months. I could do three audio posts a week for the $3/month. And you can subscribe in 3-month increments, which isn't so painful. Hmmmmmm.

The New Voice of Blogger

Blogger has a nifty new AudioBlog feature which lets you call a telephone number and record an entry for your blog, which is then posted as an MP3 file to your blog. You still have to publish it, though, like any other blog entry, so it's not instantaneous.

It's a fun novelty, but I'm not sure how much I'd use it, especially for $3/month. They sell it as being something you can do from anywhere (like from a cellphone while you're out on the road, for instance). Considering I am not out on the road, but at my computer, a lion's share of my day, I just don't think this is for me. Plus, I and can probably type my thoughts more coherently than speak them - And my typing never sounds nasally and gross!

But they did have a free trial (of course) allowing me to leave one AudioBlog entry, which I just did:
audblog audio post

C'mon, fellow bloggers. Do your part and transport, yea, catapult yourselves into Blogger MP3dom. ;)

Foolin' Around

I'm messing with my template. Just ignore me. I need to save the various versions as I do them, too. Note to self. ;)

Courtesy of some unknown smart-aleck

I was --->this<--- close to deleting an e-mail and/or going to Snopes.com to debunk it...Glad I kept reading. It's a hoot.

If you receive an email entitled "Bedtimes, " delete it IMMEDIATELY. Do not open it.

Apparently this one is pretty nasty. It will not only erase everything on your hard drive, but it will also delete anything on disks within 20 feet of your computer.

It demagnetizes the strips on ALL of your credit cards. It reprograms your ATM access code, screws up the tracking on your VCR, and uses subspace field harmonics to scratch any CD's you attempt to play.

It will program your phone auto dial to call only 1-800 numbers. This virus will mix antifreeze into your fish tank.

IT WILL CAUSE YOUR TOILET TO FLUSH WHILE YOU ARE SHOWERING.

FOR GOD'S SAKE, ARE YOU LISTENING??

It will leave dirty underwear on the coffee table when you are expecting company.

It will replace your shampoo with Nair and your Nair with Rogaine.

If the "Bedtimes" message opened in a Windows 95/98 environment, it will leave the toilet seat up and leave your hair dryer plugged in
dangerously close to a full bathtub.

It will not only remove the forbidden tags from your mattresses and pillows, it will also refill your skim milk with whole milk.


******* WARN AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN. *******

And if you don't send this to 5000 people in 20 seconds, it's just
too horrible to think about.

Send this warning to everyone. If you don't, you don't love Jesus.

If you are a blonde, this is a joke.

My gosh, I think our household is infected with this thing! (I added that part about Jesus just for you, Angie)

This Bud's for You

I notice the buds on the crab apple tree out back are now not only swelling, but showing the faintest blush of pink. O, rapture! I don't see anything sprouting yet from the earth, but seeing those apple buds makes me realize spring is not so far off. It's sunny today, too, and the high's are forecast to be in the mid 40's today and high 50's the next few days. O, sweet respite!

Hellllo Trebuchet

I don't know about you, but I was sick of seeing Times New Roman every time I went to my blog. I think this is a lot cleaner and shows boldface stuff better. Wheee. Hmmmm, I need a life!

P.S. I changed the background so it has a muted sort of sponged green and black pattern, and I am working on a new logo. Someone has a shareware version of the Upper West Side font I used when rendering my original GW logo and buttons at Cooltext.com. I downloaded and installed it and can now Upper West Side anything I darned well please!

Out of Curiosity

Why do spammers think that I'm going to bother reading an e-mail with a subject line like przeszpiegi angrim nestaje SWART, let alone from an unknown and obviously junk/forged e-mail address? Why do people send this stuff? I know, I know...But, man, I just got back from being out all afternoon, and when I screened my e-mail headers with Mailwasher , it marked dozens of these goofy e-mails for deletion. I love that program.

Friday Five

What more can I say? It's time to consult with my inner child and answer this week's Friday Five questions...

1. What was the last song you heard?
The theme song to "That 70's Show"

2. What were the last two movies you saw?
I watched "Pleasantville" on TV Saturday night, and prior to that I think the last movie I saw was "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers". I just told Howie that my answer is pretty pitiful; here I love movies, but I haven't seen anything new since December? Gosh. I don't usually watch TV when he's at work. and when he gets home we watch some of our favorite late-night shows.

3. What were the last three things you purchased?
I bought a 12x12" post-bound memory album, a package of 12x12" pages/sheet protectors and a combo pack of paper/stickers...All from Hobby Lobby. And right after I bought those, I dashed back to Michael's and returned all the scrapbook stuff I'd just bought before going to Hobby Lobby! Michael's is so expensive unless you use one of the weekly 40% off an item coupons or catch them when they have something on sale. Yikes!

4. What four things do you need to do this weekend?
I really must (1) de-poop the back yard, weather permitting, (2) dust and vacuum, (3) launder all the dogs' bedding, and (4) get my butt out of bed and go to church Sunday morning.

5. Who are the last five people you talked to?
Howie, Mom, Lisa, Amy, and Angie

And We Liked It That Way!

First, let me preface this by saying I do not know who originally wrote this. It's one of those e-mail goodies passed around the net. But I could have written something like it, because I sure could identify with most of it!

When I was a kid adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious stories about how hard things were when they were growing up;

What with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning uphill both ways through year 'round blizzards, carrying their younger siblings on their backs to their one-room schoolhouse where they maintained a straight-A average despite their full-time after-school job at the local textile mill where they worked for 35 cents an hour just to keep their family from starving to death!

I remember promising myself that when I grew up there was no way I was going to lay a bunch of junk like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've go it!

But....Now that I've reached the ripe old age thirty-nine, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves (In BOOKS!!!)! And there was no email! We had to actually write somebody a letter with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

And there were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to go to the record store and shoplift it yourself!.... Or we had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and screw it all up! You want to hear about hardship? Guys couldn't just download porn! They had to bribe some homeless dude to buy you a copy of "Hustler" at the 7-11 Store! Those were your options!

We didn't have fancy stuff like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal! We didn't have fancy Caller ID boxes either. When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was, it could be your boss, your mom, a collections agency, your drug dealer, you didn't know! You just had to pick it up and take your chances, Mister!

And we didn't have any fancy Sony Play station video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 260 with games like "Space Invaders" and "Asteroids" and the graphics stunk! Your guy was a little square! You had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens. It was just one screen forever! And you could never win, the game just kept getting harder and faster until you died! Just like life!

When you went to the movie theater there was no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! A tall guy sat in front of you, you were messed up! And sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 20 channels and there was no onscreen menu! You had to use a little book called a TV guide to find out what was on!

And there was no Cartoon Network! You could only get cartoons on Saturday morning....D'ya hear what the heck I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK, you spoiled little brats! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy.You're spoiled!

You guys wouldn't have lasted last five minutes back in 1984!

That was my life in a nutshell...The Atari games, the library...That could be me talking.

B-days, Birfdays, Birthdays

However you say it,
Happy birthday to Naomi and to my aunt Bonnie...
March 4th was a blessed day, indeed. :)

Monday Mission Time Again

Promoguy's Monday Mission 3.09 Questions:

1. Are there any television commercials on these days that are among your favorites? What is your favorite television commercial from your childhood?

As I've mentioned before, I love the Chevy Tahoe commercial which features fabulously rich filmwork and James Garner's voiceover of the poem "Nobody Knows It But Me". It just doesn't get any better than that. My hubby and I also giggle at those Glad commercials with the perky little brunette and the various celebrities. Her voice is so darned cute! My favorite childhood commercial...Hmmmmmm. I always liked the Charmin commercials with Mr. Whipple, and got a kick out of the Chuckwagon dog food ads, too. Oh! And O-S-C-A-R M-A-Y-E-R B-O-L-O-G-N-A . Boy, how many of us kids learned how to spell bologna from listening to those ads?

2. Sometimes we see ourselves as different than we actually are. For example, I like to think I am a pretty outgoing person, but in reality, I would be perfectly happy if I were left alone. How about you? Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Would others agree with you?

That sounds a lot like me, actually. I think I am an extrovert, but also play very well by myself. I am an only child, and I think that makes a difference; I learned early on how to entertain myself. I honestly don't get lonely being by myself, though I also love to get out with people and laugh. Getting me out with people is difficult, because I am very content being at home, but once I am out, I have a great time.

3. What kind of a worker are you? Do you like a job where you have a daily routine that you can count on every day? Or do you prefer to be in an environment where there is constant change and you never know what to expect from one day to the next?

These are such good questions! I'll tell you what I don't like in a job: endless paperwork and backlogs. I like jobs which afford new things every day, but within a structure that gives guidance. Take my job at Bear Creek, for instance; it was structured in that we had procedures to follow, but it was always different because we dealt with customers all day long. What I liked about that job was being a knowledge source (I was the "plant lady" for the call center) and being able to help people with questions. What I detested about the job was the close monitoring of call times and other statistical minutae, not only as one being monitored, but as a team leader having to give employees "feedback". Ugh.

4. I've found that when I go out for a business lunch or any type of meeting where you have to speak, a salad makes the best meal choice. It isn't sloppy and makes it easy to pause for conversation. I would think the same would be true for first dates. When you've gone out on first dates, what sort of decisions would go into your choice of dinner? Price? Ease of conversation? The "messiness" factor?

The messiness factor is a big one! Spaghetti is an accident waiting to happen. Conversation is a biggie, too. And you want to have garlic if your date does. ;)

5. "It's grouper" "Two Dollars!" "By choice, man!" The Donger need food!" are just a few of the movie quote that I can recite off the top of my head. These (and oh so many others) come up in the most unusual and inappropriate situations. Usually no one but me "gets it." Doesn't matter, I still have a good laugh. What are some of your all-time favorite movie quotes?

"My name is Inigo Mantoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." ... "He's only mostly dead." How well do you know The Princess Bride? Check out these quizzes! You can read the whole script online, for that matter.

6. What if it happened. All of creation is gone. Wiped out. And then come to find out that that there is no reincarnation, no chance to live life over again, no second chance. Turned out, there really was a God and Heaven and Hell. How would that make you feel? Do you want to go to Heaven?

Sure do! I think we should all live our lives as if this were the only chance - otherwise, what's the point?

7. Should everyone be allowed into Heaven? Or should there be criteria? If you were making up the guest list for Heaven, how would you choose who gets in?

My guest list and God's guest list differ somewhat, I suspect. For one, my list might change depending on my whim or what I think I see someone say/do. But my observances, nomatter how shrewd, do not penetrate to the heart. Only God sees the deepest hearts of men! It's Him we must all make an accounting to, not me.

Tossed Atomz...Plus A Question

I got rid of the Atomz search since it was not picking up on my pages correctly and it was more of a hassle than I wanted. Please join me in welcoming my favorite search engine to my page. After a little tweaking so the search box is (1) a bit smaller and (2) searches Gardenwife.com by default, it is working pretty well. Give 'er a whirl, why don'tcha? I need to figure out if there's a way to bring up search requests (that's once I figure out how to log back in at Google!).

Does anyone know how to do something similar to MoveableType's expanded entries, only with a Blogger template? I would really like to just have a teaser for each blog entry, with a way for the entry to be expanded and collapsed again. These pages are so long! E-Mail me help?

Okay, my blood sugar is down to the nether regions of middle earth now. I'm off to ingest a spoonful of peanut butter and put something in the oven for our dinner. Crawling off now for a bit....

Friday Five: A Novel One

I love the Friday Five questions this week!

1. What is your favorite type of literature to read (magazine, newspaper, novels, nonfiction, poetry, etc.)?

That's a tough one, because I just plain love to read. My favorite type would probably be novels, followed closely by nonfiction and magazines. It all depends on my mood and my activity. Literature such as magazines and catalogs lend themselves nicely to the watercloset library for their short articles. I must admit, however, that my novels find their way into the bathroom, too, if the plot's particularly compelling. I catch a few pages sporadically throughout the day, then take the book wherever I plant myself to settle down for a good read.

2. What is your favorite novel?

Oh, my. There are several I've really loved. Here's a few of them:

I Know This Much Is True, by Wally Lamb

Colony, by Anne Rivers Siddons

Insomnia, and all the Dark Tower books (especially Wizard and Glass) by Stephen King

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl, by Fannie Flagg

Jubal Sackett, by Louis L'Amour

3. Do you have a favorite poem? (Share it!)

I shared one I really liked last week, as a matter of fact: Nobody Knows It But Me. What's ironic is that it was written specifically for a commercial. It's still a wonderful, evocative poem.

I also really love Robert Frost's "Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening" and "Birches". They, too, take me into the woods, nomatter where I am.

4. What is one thing you've always wanted to read, or wish you had more time to read?

There's too much out there! I want to read all of Stephen King's novels and all of Anne Rivers Siddons', too. And the classics. I have plenty of time to read (especially if you count the watercloset library and time spent waiting in line at various places).

5. What are you currently reading?

I'm reading Ursula Hegi's novel, Stones From The River. It takes place in a small town in Germany, spanning the time between WWI and WWII and a little beyond. The protagonist, Trudi, is a zwerg (dwarf) whose observations about human nature are at once both bitter and hopeful. It's a coming of age story with a different twist since she is physically handicapped as well as in the heart of what is to become Nazi Germany. It's mostly voiced in third-person omnicient, but Trudi's voice is the strongest.

I find myself drawing many parallels between our attitudes about war today and those of the Germans in Trudi's town back then. First raised by the Church to think mere doubt equal to sin (let alone actually voicing questions), then cowed by the SS and SA's brutal might, even those with consciences are fearful of speaking up when they see the horrible trend their country is taking. And those who aren't overtly fearful fool themselves into believing it will all just go away, given time. We all know what ended up happening there, and elsewhere, with Hitler's "bloodless takeover".

We don't have such political oppression here in the US, and I certainly am not comparing the US to Nazi Germany. But I can see the same wide range of attitudes in people; there are those who are in denial, those who speak out, those who support the war, etc. It's just really interesting reading, not at all lighthearted, but still very thought-provoking and engrossing.

Nicholai Pupsnitski

Well, the Nicholai part is right, anyway. My dad got mom a puppy for a belated valentine's day gift. She's been saying for a long time that she wanted a husky or malamute, so when one of our vet's customers had a litter of newly-weaned Siberian Husky pups, dad made his move. They went and picked out this little guy today. He has incredibly blue eyes and the softest, fluffy puppy fur - just a cutie. Mom just called to let me hear him; he's not happy about being in a crate. Poor little guy's only 7 weeks old and hasn't even been outside prior to today! Mom and I will be doing lots of Googling about puppy care, we will.

Stream of Conscious Rambling

I just got up, so I won't say this is a stream of conscious thinking because I am just now getting my first cup of coffee ingested. I'm just getting over a cold and feel the rumblings of something going on in my chest again - bleah. It's too early for allergies - nothing's budding out other than more snowflakes. My husband does have a cold now, thanks to me or some other germ-spewing individual. I tried to keep the germ-spewing to a minimum, but sometimes stuff just happens.

I've been happy to spend some time with Angie this last week. She came by Sunday for a few hours and again yesterday. She found a job - weeee! Nice daytime hours for her, too. I mentioned that I'd read some of her blog entries from 2001 and couldn't believe the change in her. She's blossomed as she's shed her bitterness and trusted God. It's just the coolest thing! I have a lot of letting go to do, shedding off of old preconceptions, and seeing the changes in her encourages me: It can be done. What a cool thing.

We got an unexpected and welcome surprise yesterday. Howie was praying about our finances Monday night. He'd decided to start tithing again, despite that money being needed for some car repairs and our dogs' licenses this coming month. We believe in supporting the local church where we're being fed, and we've seen miraculous things happen in our own finances when we're faithful to support the church. Anyway...He told God he didn't want to charge anything, that he wanted to trust Him to supply the money for those things. The next day he got to work and found an e-mail from his boss announcing a $350 bonus was being given to the non-management employees! I love it when things like that happen. :)

Raging Hormones

Okay, first of all, this oft-used phrase begs the question, are hormones ever not raging? Reading this article from Reuters, I was struck by two things: (1) The idiocy of the school system which thinks that teaching kids this will stem the tide of teen pregnancies in Great Britian and (B) every time hormones are mentioned in the context of teens, they're "raging". The latter just tickles me. Of course they're raging - isn't that what hormones do? You never hear anyone say a person has pacifistic hormones, laid-back hormones, sanguine hormones...No, they're always raging. And for good reason -- rrrrow! So, gimme a break, people; these "stopping points" are a joke.

Friday Five

It's that most wonderful time of the week, once again - Friday Five time.

1. What is your most prized material possession?

My first reaction was that it's my computer because of how it opens the world up to me here in this little Ohio burb and keeps me in contact with friends both old and new. Then I second-guessed myself and thought that sounded shallow. But as I again re-think the question, I think I need to go back to the computer. Sure, it's not worth that much in and of itself, but it's the idea of what it represents: communication, entertainment, news, photographs, writing, art, music, and so much more. But I'm not completely about electronics - My photographs are really important to me, even if I have never organized them all in albums like I'd planned (been too busy on the computer).

2. What item, that you currently own, have you had the longest?

Oh, that's easy. I have a little stuffed bear which someone gave me when I was a baby. He's small, only about 5" tall, and the ribbon around his neck is faded and limp. He's a real trooper, that fella.

3. Are you a packrat?

God help me, yes. I have periodic bouts of throwing/giving things away, mostly spurred on by my husband, but I am a hoarder. We might NEED this is my battle cry. My husband likes to tell people of how his sole contribution to our household as newlyweds was a few pieces of clothing and the contents of his footlocker. The clothes were probably in the footlocker, too, actually; eleven years of marriage has dimmed this memory. I've noticed a decline in the number of times he mentions it a year, too. He's the one who keeps us from having to wend our way through the house amidst a maze of stuff, though!

4. Do you prefer a spic-and-span clean house? Or is some clutter necessary to avoid the appearance of a museum?

What do I prefer, or what is reality? Oh, I like a happy medium. I don't mind some clutter - this place is never going to be free of clutter, believe me. I prefer my house be clean. The problem is, I procrastinate because I don't like cleaning. Oh, once I get started, I do, but it's the getting started that gets me. See #1. My cycle is to let it get so bad it drives Howie and me both crazy, then finally jump on in and clean the hell out of the house. Then I walk, amazed, from room to room and intone that I will keep it this way from now on, by gosh. Yeah.

5. Do the rooms in your house have a theme? Or is it a mixture of knick-knacks here and there?

The rooms are somewhat themed, but they contain knick-knacks, too. Our bedroom is "the moon room", with deep golden walls, a wallpaper border of coppery-gold moons and suns on a crackled blue background, and the ceiling is dark blue. The pictures in that room do have to do with the moon and stars, yes. It's a really restful, cozy space.

The office, by far the room we spend the most time in, is sunny and cheerful, even on grey days. It is our garden room, with a Marjorie Bastin birdhouse wallpaper border, walls painted in a parchement-like effect with three shades of yellow, and nature-oriented pictures. There's a silk sunflower scarf stretched out on one wall, two frramed antique fruit crate labels on another...Just a cheerful, out-doorsy feeling room with light wood.

The living room is the eclectic one. It's a long room, featuring a fireplace at one end. The fireplace wall we painted a deep forest green, but the other walls we painted a rich deep golden-brown. It's all tied together by a wallpaper border featuring clusters of grapes. In front of our couch we have a kitchen table that's enjoying a second life as a coffee table; it's amazing what sawing half the legs off a table can do. It opens up with a hidden leaf and is big enough to host a night of games or a big Chinese take-out dinner (providing everyone sits on the floor, of course).

Our kitchen is the Great Unknown. The cabinets are metal, vintage 1954 Geneva metal cabinets. They're one of the things I liked most about the kitchen because of their quirkiness. Now, four years later, they are still unpainted and look terrible. That and the bathroom are two rooms we have just not been able to bring ourselves to tackle. I wanted the cabinets to be perfect when painted, and that phantom has kept me at bay. I believe our happy solution is going to be taking them out and having wooden cabinets installed by the same guy who's doing our basement renovation. That way, we can also re-arrange and make better use of the limited space. I suspect the kitchen will be another out-doorsy rooms, maybe with a mural of lattice and vines on the wall housing the window overlooking our back yard. It's all up here (tapping my head as I say that).

That's the 2-cent tour, folks. Pictures coming later!

Anywhere and Nobody

Some of the best things on TV are the commercials. Take the "Anywhere" and "Nobody" ads running for the Chevy Tahoe, for example. Filmed by Eric Saarinen, they're gorgeous - just a real treat to watch. My favorite, "Nobody" couples a voiceover with James Garner reading a cool little poem coupled with striking use of colors and landscapes. Together, they really set the ad apart.

They're not hard-sell, but all about possibilities and adventures...They make me want to travel for places unseen. They make me want to test drive a Tahoe and dream of hitting the open back roads. Alas, there's a wide berth between want and reality, though: They're too rich for our blood, nomatter how nice they are. *Sniffle*

But I digress...Digital Producer published an interesting article about the ads and the techniques used in them (you can view the "Nobody" ad at their site, too).

Interestingly, the poem Patrick O'Leary wrote for the Tahoe ad.

Nobody Knows It But Me

There's a place that I travel
When I want to roam
And nobody knows it but me.

The roads don't go there
And the signs stay home
And nobody knows it but me.

It's far far away
And way way afar
It's over the moon and the sea
And whenever you're going
that's wherever you are
And nobody knows it but me.

-- Patrick O'Leary

Patrick O'Leary's homepage is not patrickoleary.com; that tidy domain was nabbed by a programmer of the same name - the creator of Matchmaker.com, actually. No, poet and ad-man Patrick's is a little more normal (i.e. obscure, were it not for Google), so here's a link. I think he needs a good domain name - how about you?

Quote of the Moment

"There is nothing like walking to get the feel of a country. A fine landscape is like a piece of music; it must be taken at the right tempo. Even a bicycle goes too fast."

-- Paul Scott Mowrer, American journalist and poet laureate

Tidbit: In 1929, Mowrer won a Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for his coverage of international affairs.

this site has been hacked

we have taken your password hostage. if you want it back unharmed, please put $1407.75 in quarters in a pilla case, and drop it behind seat number 6 in row number 22 in theater number 10 at the easton amc. we will then return your password safe and sound and changed to something else. have a good day.

Comments, Please

I am forever endebted to Pangie for getting comments working for me. Yippee! Now I not only host them myself, but I also get e-mail notifications when you kind readers leave a comment. No more do I have to worry if someone might have left a comment on an old entry, one which I might overlook. Whew - How lovely it is! I was pretty happy with YACCS, but really wanted e-mail notification. Now, there's only one hitch: Previous comments are gone from the site until I can figure out what to do with them. They're still on file at YACCS, but I'm not sure if it's worth bringing them over to the blog again.

The Farthest Extent Of My Soapbox

You know I don't have a political blog. I'm just not a very political person. I don't particularly like debating and frankly, I don't understand a lot of the complexities of politics. Anyway, I just read this article, Shame On You American-Hating Liberals, for the first time today. Woah. Coming from a normally liberal publication, this is really something. I'm glad my friend sent it my way -- It's good to hear someone outside the country assert that America isn't just a big ogre in the world.

Gems from Forwards

I've been catching up on my e-mail today and have some gems to pass along. I really ought to have a page of funny forwards I've received. I don't pass most along because I'm not a big forwarder, but I could always put them on a page for others to read at their leisure. Anyway...These struck me as funny and/or thought-provoking:

• The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
  
• OK, so what's the speed of dark?
  
• If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?
  
• My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."
  
• To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.
  
• Everyone has a photographic memory, some just don't have film.
  

And the one which really tickled me today...

Did you hear about the Hindu who refused Novocain during a root canal? He wanted to transcend dental medication.

Oh, punny, punny.

Pure Silliness for Valentine's

Okay have fun tweaking this fella. Just a dose of silliness for everyone this fine Valentine's Day.

I have chicken cut into medallions and marinating in an oriental marinade. Carrots, broccoli, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots are standing ready in their respective freezer bag and can (hey - car battery's dead and I can't get out to buy fresh veggies). I've made the kitchen a more hospitable place and we shall enjoy a nice stir-fry dinner together when my hubby comes pulling into the driveway late tonight. Hope it comes out as good as it sounds, because stir-fry sounds really good.

Big White Guy's Engrish Giggles

If you're an even somewhat regular reader of my blog, you'll perhaps recall my writing about Engrish and its effects on my spirits. Well, now Big White Guy made a page on his site chock full of pictures he's taken of funny signs around Hong Kong. I'm still laughing at some of them - Y'all have fun!