Okay... it's not Christmas, but what a wonderful painting.

Outside it's sunny and its pouring down rain. I almost forgot I was in Oregon. Zito Von Frito managed to tangle himself around the tree again.
Honestly, this dog! He thinks that all he needs to do is walk around the tree again in the same direction. When that doesn't work, he does it again, only this time steps over the cable. When that fails, he goes around again and goes under the cable. He's trying to think his way out of it. I wish he would stop thinking!



Today was a fun day. I had the kindergarten all to myself the last half of it. It's kind of like trying to keep a couple dozen grasshoppers in place.
The end of the year crazies have infected them. It will only get worse as the school year draws toward a close. But they were funny and cute. I came home exhausted but happy.


Thursday night has become packing the car night. Max and I got an early start on it... sliding the Jen Air range top into the back hatch.
Packing the rest of the car was a snap since there is little space around that box. Meanwhile a pile of boxes have begun to inhabit the corer of my room. Next time boxes. I don't think the oven is going to fit in the car anyway. But we will see. I can always take it out of the box and packing.


The trip down the freeway will be interesting... the styrofoam packing
makes a lovely squeak as I drive. Thank goodness for music. Hey... maybe it will keep time and blend right in!


The world looks full of hope today. Tomorrow will be even better.
We are attacking the gun room this weekend. It makes me laugh! It used to be his mother's room... so it is bright pink... the color that every man's man cave should be right?
Plus it has white lace curtains with pretty butterflies across the top.
hee hee
His birthday is coming up next month and I am seriously considering buying him some sort of hot pink camouflage attire for a giggle gift.
Anyone got any ideas what I could get him for a real gift?



Happy Friday everybody!

Have a safe and happy weekend. Be sure to do something fun.

TINY TERROR

I had a tiny visitor today!

This poor little fellow showed up in my library today. He is not the first tiny terror to arrive. Generally speaking bees are most apt to visit when the weather is sweet and I leave the back door to the playground open. They do cause general havoc... since they like to fly in when the Kindergarteners are present.

Today's visitor arrived when the middle school was working on computers in my lab. Immediately the room was excited. This guy was so befuddled that it was sad. For a time he perched on one of the sprinkler pipe and just trilled his alarm. Then the kids, who meant well, tried to shoo him out the door again.

One kid says "Be careful they have stingers!"

The entire room turned their heads to look at him in disbelief.


Sadly, he was serious. I wondered if sometime in his past when he was younger if he did not pester the humming birds until some adult with good intent on behalf of some harassed bird had said "It'll sting you..." in an attempt to get him to stop pestering one.

Shortly after, the sub who had brought the kids to my lab to work, stood on a chair... these windows are higher than they look... and gently took it into her hands and released it outside once more. It left her hands so fast you could not see it vanish.
It was simply gone.


Other than that... not much happened today of note except that I received my 3001st email from Randy today. It read:
"Sweet dreams my baby."

I figure at this rate we will make it to 4000 by the time I move down there. Ha!


Life is sweet!


Happy Hump Day!

CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER

"Curiouser and curiouser"  ~ Alice

It was a fairly good day today.  But some ups and WTFs.

S-man came through with some beautiful salmon fillets... enough to feed about 10 people.  So we are planning a fish BBQ this weekend or next. Cool beans!

Picked the fish up from a mutual friend, P... the daughter of my best local friend.  Rumors run fast here.  I had not told them I was moving yet.  What??? you say... you have not told your best local friend???  A WTF moment to be sure.  But she, Kp is a good ten years older than me and , not very approving of live in relationships.  When I told them I could see that in her eyes.  But they had the grace to be quiet about that.  Actually what P said was "You've had a really hard time, you deserve this so don't feel any guilt".

I don't.  I am glad that they took it well though.  In fact, they invited us to their family reunion in June... after I move.  P says "Because you are family, you know".I was unsure about driving back up so soon.  But Randy being the sweetie that he is said "I'm not opposed to that.  It's nice having a life again".  I could not agree more.  There will be lots of people who want to meet him and that will be a good venue. All those looky-loos.  But I kind of like the idea of showing him off too.  Ha.

My other WTF moment came once I was sitting at the computer waiting for Randy to finish his errands and talk to me.  A frog that I have not heard from in a very long time after a sound paulting showed up on my chat.  

We are talking at least 6 months.  I was quite firm about not wanting to continue communication with him back then.  We did not ever talk much. Only a few times.

He was obviously controlling and way too pushy.  On top of that, he hardly spoke to me before he was demanding my address and personal info.  It screamed scam in my head, so I give him the heave-ho.

His message today was ridiculous... as if we were some hot item and how much he missed me.  Huh?  Utter confusion there.  He probably talks up so many women looking to cheat them that he forgets which is which.

I gave my simple and polite message... sorry but I am in a committed relationship and not interested in communication with you.

The message back was that he would only agree  if I promised to be his friend.  I said a very firm no, please do not contact me anymore.  I will not answer any message, email or chat.  We are not friends.  I hardly spoke to you.

So as I am chatting with my fella, he keeps popping up on my chat.  I don't know how to turn the darned thing off and it can interfere with my emails getting in timely.  I was annoyed to say the least as I kept X-ing him out and he persisted.

I told the man about it... and that I wanted to change my email once I got down there on his service.  He said I should not have to do that.  No is no... give him the email address and he would take care of it.  He did.  The chat window became wonderfully calm.  I've no idea what he said.  Don't care an iota.  I'm just glad that he did whatever it was.  Stuff like that guy's persistence unnerves me and I had that "bad feeling" from that creep from the get go.  Sheesh!

Four of my nicest frogs have checked in to see how I am doing.  That is nice and that is fine.

Gave me an opportunity to say that I am so happy that I am moving in with Randy.  Keep things crystal clear.  I do not mind communicating with nice people who stay nice.  But I doubt that they will continue to communicate though and that is fine too.  Got to be honest and got to be clear.  

Randy is not a jealous type and he does not care that I have friends who happen to be male.  Nor is he a bully.  He's really very even tempered.  His best (besides me) friend is female.  I have no problem with that either.  We trust each other.  But he is protective if I am creeped out.  Not a bad thing in my opinion.

Okay.  I've got it all down in my head now.  There are 45 days until I get in my little clown car and go home for good.  And 14 of those days will be spent with Randy anyway.

Thirty one days of no Randy seems like something I can manage with some decorum.

Very cool beans.

Until then, there is work.  I will be starting my inventory two weeks earlier than usual.  I want to be sure no computer snaffoos or drama pops up to delay my departure.  I will have to train someone to take my place.  I am the only one who knows how to run my library system.  I know they will not agree to more than a week or two of training pay for someone.  So it goes.

All I can say is come June 11th I am out of Dumb Potter's Hell for good.

I guess my question today concerning the creepy chat man is did I do the right thing by letting Randy handle it?  Or should  I just have kept X-ing him out until he gave up?  I am curious what you folk think.

UNCLE TED BBQ BINGO BASH

A little visit from Uncle Ted for you.  I love to BBQ, so we did every night I was home this weekend... and by home I mean sanctuary.  Ted's BBQs are a bit more intense than ours.  Ours were quiet without guests this time.  In fact, we did not see anyone else all weekend.  No complaint there.  Sometimes quiet and private is what you need.

Not much to tell about it really other than I got there and back safely.  We mostly made plans for the summer concerning the yard, the puppy and what kind of car I might want.  Fun stuff for sure, but boring for you.

It gets harder to leave each time.  I hardly had the car turned off... still in it when I called to let him know I was back safe.  We ended up talking for an hour and a half.  Now all I have to do is make it through the work week and get back down there.

I hope you all had wonderful weekends and did something you enjoyed.  Has anyone made any summer plans yet?

Hey... I'll race you to Friday!   

THE ART OF PACKING

Happy Friday!

Nice to know that my particular brand of temporary insanity has kindred spirits out there.  I wish I had a giant parakeet to travel with me.

The plan is that I will move something down each time I drive home now.  There are 7 weekend trips home (including today's) until my 8th and final trip.

I have concerns.  The amount of available space in a Ford Aspire is certainly at issue.

Weight and gas use is another.  You know I am looking forward to the patio and yard, being a garden nut.  Randy has a strawberry pot that has nothing living in it, even weeds.  So as I sat in sanctuary on that patio and saw that... I knew where it would go and what would go in it.  I love these pots!  They come in a great variety of shapes.  I have two of my own that I fill with things that "trail" out of the pockets.

I knew as soon as I spied his, that mine would flank it in a tidy row across the end of the patio.  I saw them in my head in full bloom.  So yesterday when I was packing the car, one of the first things I put in there was the smaller of the two of my big strawberry pots.

As soon as I lifted it and waddled toward the car I began to think of how much more gas I'd be using to haul it... full... with me.  But once a thing is in my head, I don't let go.

The next thing to load was my antique bin table.  It's a nice pine double bin table.  One of the things that my mother gave to me.  It no longer has its bins... those were gone before she found it covered in icky beige paint in a St. Vincet DePaul's thrift shop when I was little.  She refinished it down to the wood.  When I was young it was more blond.  Now its a lovely amber that fits its age.  

I said to max... no problem, the legs come off.  The first three did, but one stubbornly refused to be removed without possible damage to the connection.

What would I do without Murphy's Law to challenge my thinker toy?

Then I get outside with the table and max holding it and realize something not good at all.  When Just did the work on my car, there was a key issue.  The key had snapped off part way in the ignition and some helpful person had locked me out.  This required getting into the car through the hatch.  Just removed the hatch lock.  Now one must climb inside the car to open the hatch.  So as max stood there... holding a one legged table...I climbed into the back seat and fiddled with the lock until I popped it open.

I had no doubt that I could fit the table in minus the legs, but that stubborn limb called for creative angling.  Eventually we figured it out after several failed attempts and managed to get it in at an odd angle.

At this point the art of packing took over.  I have things up the wazoo.  My car became a puzzle box and my things became candidates for unique spaces left open by the odd angle of the table.  A great deal of trial and error later, it was packed with this and that.

The big question then became would the hatch shut?

Murphy must have been looking away at that moment because it closed successfully BEFORE I was ready for it... leading me to believe that Murphy looked back in the nick of time.

Sheesh!

The remainder of packing required wedging things in through the inverted triangular space behind the passenger seat when you flip the seat forward.

I can tell you this... a round table with non-removable legs and square boxes can fit through triangular holes!  Especially after lubricating with a few bloody marys... if you grit your teeth tight and push.

Finished at last, I stood back to view my efforts... and pant a few moments.  It occurred to me then that if the only way I can release the hatch latch is from the inside that there might be some trouble unloading.

Crap.

There was only one thing to do.  Have another bloody mary before falling exhausted into bed... and leave that problem for Randy to puzzle out.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  If you know Shife... don't forget to stop in and wish him a happy 40th b-day Saturday... you can find him right there on my list at Confessions of a Dumb White Guy.

I have only these suggestions left;

Be safe.

Be with someone who makes you happy.

Enjoy!

40 OZ

In honor of Shife and his impending 40th birthday... a bit of Sublime.

Well the computer is back and I am here at my own little piece of the universe again.  Yay!

One must be very careful what they put on a work computer, even with permission to use it after hours.

I am at the very least elated.

Especially after 64 emails from Randy tonight.  I know it sounds a bit excessive, but the business of long distance relationships is harry and really we talk about 4 hours at a stretch.  There is a great deal to talk about now that I am moving down that way.  He has a house filled with furniture.  I have antiques handed down from my mom... what pieces to bring... where they will go, how best to get them down there.  Making the house into our house.

I have, for example, a Jen Air range that you can BBQ on and a wall oven still new in boxes that X was going to install and never got around to doing.  So Randy and I decided to use them to build an outdoor kitchen on the covered patio.  Very cool beans.  The range was suppose to go into an island... now it will go into cabinets built by Randy and T.  The Jen Air and I have both found our home.  Likewise the grand antique oak dining table I grew up with that has massive lions feet that once upon a time protected me in thunder storms.  A former sanctuary is moving to sanctuary.

Yeah, I am excited.  But I have so many things. 
The time between now and my move, in say... exactly 51 days... seems a terribly long amount of time.  But I know that it will fly toward the end.  Randy and
T are going to rent an U-haul to collect what I want to bring.  Every visit I take something as well.  Still, I envision myself flinging things into boxes at the end in a panic... desperation to be done and there motivating me to exhaustion.  Its sort of the way that I do moves.

So there is reason to talk so much.  Not that I need one.

Big grin.

On a very happy note and speaking of birthdays...

Squeaky turned 18 today!

I sent him, Boo and Max to see Kick Ass to celebrate the event.  He also got his learner's permit.  What you say?  But you recall my giving him driving lessons... with no permit?  Yes, that is correct.  Shame on me.  But then, dabear was driving the family station wagon when she was 14.  I admit, I do not always follow the law to the letter.  Besides, we were on private property when
Squeaky was driving.  Okay... most of the time.

Squeaky required a photo ID for college... hence the permit.  Anyway... Max is back.  He said they had a great time and the movie was funny.  He gives it a thumbs up.

Oops... make that 65 emails.  Another one just came in.  It was sent three and a half hours ago.  Yahoo is being a stinker tonight I guess.  Randy is long into sleep by now... and I should be.  So on that note; all is right in my universe.  I feel blessed.  A good man, a wonderful bunch of sons and dabear of course, not to forget that little munchkin, Mikey who graced me with giggles and hugs earlier.  What a nice day.

How was your hump day?

HAPPY DANCING

Don't you just love those signs?

Hey how was your weekend? What did you do with yours?







I spent mine in sanctuary as usual. Both BBQs were big successes. Everyone… extended family and friends all had a good time. I got there in time to do some work. I managed to clean the patio and make it all spiffy by the time the first party started. But I wasn’t able to get to the lawn until the next day for that party. No matter. In the end, the kids ran around laughing and playing and the adults did pretty much the same thing without the running. There was enough food to feed an army and Randy’s “schloppy burgers” were incredible edibles! I felt very comfortable.






When everyone went home after Saturday’s party, Randy asked me if I would consider moving in with him. I did not expect this. He’s been pretty constant in expressing how much he enjoys living alone and being independent. I sort of wrote it out of the options in my head. I considered it for about a nanosecond and said yes.






There was not much thought required, even if you are not me. I was still on hold with Jack waiting for his family to decide if I was okay enough to take care of their dad. I would be living in the same town as Randy if I was at Jack’s but I’d be working for Jack and not have much time to see Randy. Jack only wanted to give me a couple of evenings off a week. I see Randy more than that now living 200+ miles away. At Jack’s, I would have had a room. In sanctuary, I have a whole house and a great huge yard to play with whenever I want.






So Sunday was a day spent making plans about stuff. Randy would like me to put in an herb garden so that we can use fresh herbs. We picked out a good spot for that and I showed him what I want to do with each of the flower beds and where I want my veggie garden. He’s going to build French boxes for both. We also went over our finances. We made motel reservations and got our tickets for the concerts we will see in August and planned a trip to the Oregon Sea Lion Caves to celebrate the weekend I move in (by going away… how funny!).






Two other plans involve getting a newer used car for me so that I can visit my kids and not worry about breaking down. He doesn’t care much for all the driving I do now… so we are looking. Very cool beans. And another warm fuzzy… it’s time for a baby. A baby brindle pit! She will have a huge yard well fenced and doggie doors to the shop and kitchen and dining room and out back, with baby gates to keep her off the hardwood floors and carpets. She’s going to walk with me everyday.






I think I really did find my prince… and Sanctuary is mine. Big cheesy grin!

GRINDING AWAY

Yeah, back to the same old grind.   Not the best day at work.  But not the worst.  It's all attitude, I suppose.  Today the sun was shining and all I could think of was NOT being here in Dumb Potter's Hell.  Ha.

The weekend went great.   To recap, Randy and the guys took his  son out for his 21st birthday.  So I got there and had a small visit with them before they took off.   He promised to be home early.  Cool beans.

Meeting his sister was a trip.  I had enough alone time to have a shower and get ready.  She's very nice and so is her husband.  But I must say it was odd... Randy lives in the house they grew up in.  I've never met her before and there I am the one unlocking the door to the house she grew up in to let her in.    D and D were nice people though, and I got to hear a few stories.

Randy kept his word and showed up within an hour of when they arrived.  Phew!  Then we all visited and they decided that they had to have a big family BBQ this coming Friday.  So now I get to start meeting all the extended family.  Ought to be interesting. 

Sat. we went to BBQ at T's house.  I'd met his wife, K briefly when Randy and I ran into her at a Home Depot kind of place.  Her sister and brother in law were there as well.  The food and company were very pleasing.  They have a nice home.  The newly remodled bathroom is gorgeous.  Slate tile and hickory wood cabinets.   I had a lot of fun and felt very comfortable.  Lots of funny stories there.  Oh, and T found out that Billy Idol will be at the same place as the Scorpions the following night... so it was decided that we would get a motel and stay over for that show too. 

We had so much fun that they are coming to Randy's next Sat. and we will do the BBQ this time.   As soon as T heard Randy tell me that he's making a "sloppy burger" for us to split next weekend... T lit up.  Randy makes an increadible burger.  They are HUGE.  Sauted onions, fresh mushrooms, swiss cheese and the meat is spiced like you would not believe.  YUM.

On Sun. we lazed around most of the day.  In the afternoon T and Randy replaced T's brakes.  I spent my time playing in the yard... pruning back the cherry tree and removing some plants that needed to go.   Randy bought a bunch of bulbs that I wanted for the yard.  I'll have to get on that as soon as they arrive.  (T's son is selling them to raise money for his school.  Can't turn that down.)  Then time flew and I was back on the road to Dumb Potter's Hell again.  Heavy sigh.


I feel like I am falling into a nice comfortable pattern there.  I have friends.  I'm getting to know all of Randy's family.  A few weeks back we were in the kitchen and Randy says "Holy crap!  I've got a whole other family of birthdays and Christmas presents now."  Then he laughed.  Nice.  In for a penny.  In for a pound as they say.  Yeah, I am happy.  Things are very good.

How did your work week start off?  Good, bad or meh?  Mine was meh.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

FRIDAY 5

Well I'm sure you all know that I'm off again to sanctuary for the weekend as soon as my work day ends.  Cool beans.

Lots doin' this time.  Randy's sister is going to be here from Arizona.  I'll meet her for the first time.

Saturday evening we are going to diner at T's house.  We get to see the finished newly remodeled bathroom he just finished putting in.
 
(Why yes... I am from the Department of Redundancy Department!)

Randy's youngest son is celebrating his 21st birthday tonight... Randy and T are going to take him out.

That gives me a fairly quiet evening visiting with his sister.  Its always a bit strange entertaining people you don't know by yourself.  Got any tips?

 

Since it's Friday... here's my Friday 5 for you folk:

1.What would you do this weekend if you could go or do whatever you wanted?

2. Who would you enjoy sharing that with?

3. What are you really going to do?

4. Who will you be enjoying it with?

5. What one thing are you absolutely NOT going to do this weekend?

Whatever  your answers... have a wonderful time!

OMSI

FIELD TRIP ALERT!

Well, I must say that I am glad that we have better buses than they do in India for their school children.  Although this trike does remind me of my ancient Hercules three speed from childhood.

Tomorrow our entire school is jamming ourselves into two buses and heading out for OMSI... Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in the heart of the industrial section of Portland. 

(My first thought was that if it had been Friday instead of tomrrow that I could have taken off from there to Randy's and been a third of the way there. 

Nope.  Wrong day.  Crap.)

http://www.omsi.edu/events 

This time I get to be with older kids... yay!  I love little ones, but they can be scary on field trips.  They vanish fast and they tend to touch what they should not.

But its hard to get mad at them when they do.

It is my understanding that we will be gone for the entire day... the exhibits we are seeing are at that link above... fun stuffs!  Brain food for everyone.  If nothing else, it will make tomorrow go faster.  I'm into week days flying by if possible these days.  But most field trips give me a migraine.  We shall see.

Another good piece of news is that Randy is taking me to see The Scorpions.  This is supposed to be their last tour if I understand it right.  That's not until August though... but in a way that's kind of cool too.  Long term plans feel kind of nice. ;-)

What is your day looking like? 

Any big plans?

RANDY

Yep.  This is Randy.  This photo was taken at a wedding he was in a couple of years ago.  He still has the long hair.  (Keeps it in a ponytail and down his shirt.)  Still has the beard... neatly trimmed.  Still looks like this.


See that cigar?  They smell so good!  A lot of cigars don't.  I've come to associate that smell with him.  In fact, as odd as it sounds, I keep a butt in my room to sniff from time to time.  Yah... I am a bit weird.  But I think you know that.  Ha.

Okay... can you believe that he's never seen Deadwood?  How do you miss Deadwoood?  Now I have to buy the set and let him enjoy it with me.

There you have it.  My fella.  I'm rather proud of him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQcXtKa8IGo  
Here's a song to go with the photo theme. 

Monday blahs

 


This goes way back.  It is a long video.  Hope you don't mind, but then you can always shut it down and I would never know the difference nor would that ever bother me anyway. 

Troubles in my computer.  I have gotten permission to show you a photo of DH, but hey... my computer has decided to suck.  It may be a couple of weeks before I can work on it.  I'm on my work computer now.  I can use my work computer to put my personal photos on... but before I do that, I need to remove some things from my camera.  So you will have to wait a day or two to see what DH looks like.  But I will tell you this much.  His real name is Randy.  There... I toss you an ort!


So computer is down... which means nightly communication with Randy is via my work computer.  You didn't really expect me to give that up did you?  Do you know how creepy an empty school is at night?  Funny how its not creepy at 5:00 AM but it is at 7:30 PM.


Because computer is down, my blogging is limited.  Please do not be offended if I am slow to respond or if my own posts are sporadic.  I will be very late or very early... or get frustrated and go home to sleep my week away. 

That is my main plan... sleep is a time machine.  The more I sleep, the faster time goes.  Yes, I am already looking for the weekend.  I am to the point now where I can hardly stand to be at my own home.  It no longer feels like home.  I've made some mental adjustment.

However, I am not exactly looking forward to the packing process.  Last week I took the first of my things to Randy's... an antique oak bench and a bird house dabear made for me.  Its a small car.  This move will take time.

We made another shift weekend before last... I got a group of drawers and closet space.  This weekend, I forgot my medication at Dumb Potter's Hell... so we bought another month's worth and that has a place in the medicine cabinet. 

I was also gifted with my own pair of duck feet... which you will not understand without explanation.  They are a kind of flop-feet, flip-flops... whatever... with the Ducks logo on them.  Their main purpose is to wear when we go out to the shop for a smoke.  Duck feet are all that is required in the way of a dress code.  The floor is concrete.  Cold. 

So there you have it.  I wish you all well.  What is happening in your life?  Got any special plans?

PRANK YOU VERY MUCH

Ah... that time of  year again.

Today most of the children in our elementary wing will tell me that I have a spider on me at some point.

I will do my best to act shocked and frightened.

:-)

The worst prank that was ever pulled on me was not meant for me.  I was living in the house with my four roommates in college.  This was the middle of summer and classes had ended the week before... I was enjoying myself by smashing tennis balls around with another gal I knew.  But Fresno in the heat is not a good time to run around on blacktop.  We had to stop after a short time and return to "the courts" (not the tennis ones, but the court where I lived) for something cold to drink and to sit in front of the fan before passing out.

I walked into our kitchen and opened the fridge.  No beer.  No milk.  No water.  Only one beverage seemed to have survived my four fine fellows.  One lonely Dr.Pepper bottle rattled inside the door.

I pulled it out and it had obviously been opened.  Yes, I should have known better.  Only Edd drank Dr. Pepper.  I figured he'd had a swig and then recapped it for later.

I knew that Edd would not mind if I had some and I could drive down to the mini mart and replace it.

I pulled the cap off... the kind that needed a church key to remove.  I was so overheated that I just leaned my  head back and let the cold liquid roll down my throat.

Most of the bottle was gone by the time the stomach sent an urgent message it my brain that there was a problem.

Randy, who was Edd's best friend at the time had decided to pull a prank on Edd with his soda... and had added dish liquid to the mix.

I puked for 2 days and you don't want to know what  was happening at the other end.

My only satisfaction was that Randy could not stop apologizing for poisoning me.  The more I puked, the worse he felt.  Fuck you very much!

To this day, I cannot drink Dr. Pepper to save my soul.

No matter what, I will be someone's April Fool today.

hee hee

I'm looking forward to that. 

I hope the pranks that find you are safe and actually funny ones.  Have you got a funny one or a terrible one you would like to share?