No Sugar and Spice Here

4

June 30, 2010

In keeping with the whole returning-to-my-roots phase that I’ve been going through, I’m indulging the tomboy within today.  Hair pulled untidily back into a ponytail, baseball-style t-shirt, and paint-spattered jean cutoffs.  I’ve got Caladryl smeared on the poison ivy on my leg and dirty feet from hanging around outside barefooted.  Best of all – and this may creep some of you out – I saw a garden snake in my… you guessed it… garden!

How cool is that?!

I love snakes.

It was a little under a foot long, its girth tiny.  I followed it without crowding it until it slipped under our screened-in porch.  I called out excitedly to my mother to come see! She did but, though not afraid of snakes, was decidedly less enthusiastic than I was.

I don’t care.  I’m happy.

Categories: Random Thoughts.

Questions: Make-Believe Edition

7

June 27, 2010

1.  I saw a headline that read: “Is Reality TV Romance Dead?” to which I respond: “Did it ever exist?” (I don’t think so)

2.  Why are there so many songs about rainbows and what’s on the other side?

3.  When I’m an old woman, can I still live in a shoe even if I don’t have so many children that I don’t know what to do?  I could adopt  lots of animals, you know…

4.  Fire-breathing, people/dwarf-eating habits aside, don’t you think it would have been cool to have a conversation with Smaug? (the dragon in “The Hobbit,” for those unfamiliar.)

5.  “…four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie…”  Dude- how big is that pie??

6.  If you possessed a hammer why, precisely, would you feel compelled to use it in the morning and the evening all over this land?  Do you, as it seems, intend to do this all in one day?  While you’d wrack up some serious frequent flier miles, it sounds like an exhausting waste of time if you ask me.  It’s also a bit troubling that you don’t mention what you would be using the hammer on.  And finally: if it is the hammer of justice, as you say at the end of the song, why would you only use it at the beginning and end of the day?  Is the middle part just a free-for-all then?

Not that this would surprise me.

7.  If Puss wears boots does that mean Rover wears Manolo Blahniks?  I would have thought it would be the other way around.

This is what happens when school is not in session to discipline my thoughts.

Categories: Random Thoughts.

A Couple of Things

6

June 26, 2010

~ I finally watched “The Stand” over the past couple of days.  The effects were pretty crappy by our standards but most likely state of the art in ’94, so I’ll grant it leeway there.  It had an excellent cast, and is one of the better translations of King’s books to movies.  My only big problem was that I couldn’t find Randall Flagg at all scary.  It’s hard to take a demon from Hell seriously when he’s sporting a big bushy mullet.  The fact that he wore one, however, can stand as a testament to his evil nature.

~ I’ve continued to help my mother by driving Randy’s truck to run errands like picking up furniture or loads of mulch or topsoil.  She, in her turn, has been a gardening fiend in my flower beds.  It’s going to look amazing when she’s done!  It already looks 5 katrillion (I just made that up… take that Shakespeare!) times better than before.  There will be pictures at some point.

~ I don’t have ascites; the fluid is in my stomach, not my abdomen.  What a relief!  The gastric emptying study I underwent a couple of weeks ago indicates a problem there, so I have been put on a new medication, Reglan, which will make me sleepy.  It has some potentially nasty side effects that I have to watch out for, such as tremors and spasms, but as long as I don’t experience these I should be alright, and it should alleviate some of my symptoms.  I want to get something else checked out, but don’t want to discuss it yet.  Later, once it’s done.

~ I am so colossally lazy today that, though I’d like a bowl of cereal, I won’t have one because there aren’t any clean bowls and I can’t be bothered to wash one.  In my defense, I spent the morning ferrying topsoil to my mother’s and an old sofa of hers to the dump.  I feel I’ve expended as much energy as I’m going to today.  No, I didn’t hurt my back with either of these things.  I am the driver, nothing else.  My mother and brother did the heavy work.  I can’t emphasize enough how much it goes against the grain to watch my mother, who has her own back and cardiac issues, doing the heavy work.  She insists she’s fine, but it’s just wrong.  At least my brother was home today to do most of the work.  *sigh*

Well now, that’s 4 things, which is twice as many as a “couple.”  Having put the lie to the title of this post, I will end right here.

The End

********************

Categories: Home Improvement, My Viewing Pleasure, Random Thoughts.

How I Passed the Time on Tuesday Night

6

June 23, 2010

Last night I:

~ Made the vilest brownies known to man.  Truly.  One bite and I was gagging.  So yeah, worst brownies ever.  Won’t be following that recipe again.

~ Watched “Persons Unknown” on OnDemand with Randy, who was wearing one of my bras on his head like the nerds in “Weird Science.”  Why, you wonder, was he wearing it on his head?  Because it wouldn’t fit around his torso silly!

~ Saw a young man fly an indoor kite during “America’s Got Talent,” a show I don’t normally watch but did last night for some reason.  This man was born with debilitating epilepsy and, reading between the lines of what he and his mother said, I could tell that he has been teased his whole life because of it.  Indoor kite flying, he said, has been his way of escaping and relaxing.  It consists of pulling a large kite by 4 strings, which aren’t as long as those used with a regular kite, through the air.  Randy and I were a bit worried about him because lights can trigger a seizure, and there were tons of lights above the stage as well as a couple of follow spots, but he made it through just fine.  My husband has epilepsy, though his is well controlled by medication, so this young man touched us especially.  He flew his kite to Sarah Mclachlan’s “Angel,” making it arc and weave, dip and float; he made it dance.  It was stunningly beautiful and I found myself crying.  He blew everyone away.

With the exception of the brownies, it was an evening well spent.

Categories: My Viewing Pleasure, Random Thoughts.

Exploring Aravis

3

June 21, 2010

I haven’t been online much lately; I needed some time to myself, and this is a good thing.  I’m back now, and this is also a good thing, but I’ll share with you what’s been going on:

A few people have asked me if I’ve begun to relax now that I’m on summer vacation, and that short answer to that is “yes.”  I am now as relaxed as I’ve ever been while on school break.  But that is not the same thing as being relaxed- I’m still a little keyed up because I know that I’ll be going back, and I get caught up in the challenges ahead.  To a certain extent that is ongoing even now.  Although I’d prefer not to think about school, to a certain extent I have to because I have some decisions to make about grad school in the spring.  These decisions are long past due, really, but I’ll get there.

Right now, however, my thoughts are elsewhere.

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about how biting into a fresh string bean brought back a flood of memories from my childhood.  These were the best sort of memories, filled with picnics, berry-picking, hikes, trips to the ocean, sitting on the porch with family snapping beans or shelling peas.  I’ve been recalling days in and on the water: swimming, inner-tubing or canoeing on rivers or lakes, the wind lashing my hair as I water-skied, jumping the wake.  I’ve thought about rock-climbing trips to Oklahoma, the groundhogs popping up and the buffalo crossing the street.  I once turned a corner on a trail and came face-to-face with a buffalo, just inches away from me.  Scary, and exhilarating at the same time!  I used to go camping with my family in the forests or beaches of Connecticut, or by lakes and in plains in Texas.  The last was made more exciting by the coyotes howling in the distance at night.  I loved sitting by campfires, singing, talking, roasting hot dogs or marshmallows, telling ghost stories.  The only time I tried shark meat was during a camping trip near the ocean.  It was good, but it somehow seemed wrong to be eating something that should, by rights, have been eating me.  I love sharks and once swam with one, albeit unknowingly until people on the beach told me afterward.  They had tried to call me in, to warn me, but I swim underwater so much that I never heard them cry out.  Oh well… no harm done, and it’s kind of cool to think about.

All of these things, and more besides, have been playing through my head and I remember how good it felt.  These things are a part of me, forgotten for years.  I’ve been locked inside my head for so long, shut away from everything, that I’ve closed large parts of myself off.  The way my life is structured, and certain physical limitations, mean some of these things are unlikely to occur again.  But there are other things I can do, and would like to do.  I have to think about this some more, find ways to include this part of who I am into the person I’ve become.  I want more of it.  I want to create more of these memories.

So am I relaxed?  I suppose so.  More importantly, I’m exploring who I am apart from the roles of wife, daughter, sibling, friend, student.  Who am I away from the trappings of the things around me and the jobs I’ve worked at?  I’m finally officially unemployed as of last week, and I’m okay with that for now.  The bookstore waited for me for over a year, but I couldn’t return; they were more than fair.  So that’s been stripped away for me.  It’s another crossroads time, and I’m embracing it.  I’ll let you know how it goes…

Categories: College Life, Random Thoughts, Tales from a Bookstore.

Spotted

5

June 16, 2010

As I drove along today I saw a bouquet of flowers tossed on the side of the road, and it struck me as sad.  What is the story behind those discarded flowers?  What broken heart?  What seething anger?  Or was it simply carelessness?

I mulled this over for a couple of miles, reflecting on what a depressing sight those flowers had been, when a new vision appeared before me: a very young boy in t-shirt, shorts, socks and sneakers marching proudly, knees raised high with each step, wearing an old lampshade that completely covered his head.  I didn’t need to see his face to see the pride he was taking in himself.

And though the day is overcast, it brightened in that moment.

Categories: Random Thoughts.

Going Green

3

June 15, 2010

It has begun.

Awhile back Randy applied for a state-subsidized solar panel installation for our home.  What would have cost us approximately $25,000 is only going to cost us $6,000 to be paid over time.  We got it just in time- the state has recalled funds designated for this project in order to address budget deficits.  We’re one of the last ones to receive it.

We’ll get a tax break, and we’ll receive credit for any excess electricity generated.  The panels will cover most of the roof on the front of the house, but I can live with that.  Guilt-free late night television viewing and internet surfing, not to mention all of those all-nighters I have to pull during the school year, make it worth it.

The men from Litchfield Hills Solar have been busy little bees connecting to our electric panel, adding the meters, and putting brackets on the roof for the solar panels when they arrive in a couple of weeks.  I didn’t enjoy waking up to all of the noise on the other side of my bedroom wall, or to the sound of them tromping in the attic above me.  Randy is home to deal with them, however, so at least I didn’t need to get out of bed.  I hid my head under the covers and grumbled to myself until I accepted that I wasn’t going to get anymore sleep.  Then I stayed in bed a little longer, just on principle.  I’m up now, though, and basking in my fiscal and environmental responsibility.

This is technology that I’ve been interested in since I was a kid and it became available, so this is especially cool.  And the guys are literally whistling (and singing) while they work.  People who enjoy their jobs… amazing!

Categories: Creativity Expressed, Random Thoughts.

Wet and Lazy Days

3

June 12, 2010

I haven’t had much to say for myself lately.  No new news on the health front.  My days have been spent reading, watching t.v., and playing on the internets.  I had to stop weeding because my back couldn’t take anymore. I’ve done some of the really light Wii exercises to build up strength and keep my weight down (extra weight not good for the back), but I’ve had to take a break from that as well.  All of the rain we’ve been having is probably making it worse, but I have to admit that I’m enjoying the downpour outside my window right now.  Despite the intensity of the rain, there’s something peaceful about it.  There’s no thunder or lightning, just the drumming of the water hitting the earth.  Nice.

For all of the whining and complaining I’ve done here, I should note that life really isn’t that bad.  I have a roof over my head for the rain to pound on, food and drink in my belly, the use of all of my limbs and, on that rare occasion, my brain.  I have books to read, a car that runs, lots of good friends, a wonderful family, cats who freely express their affection (whenever they think treats might be in the offing, but whatever), and the love of a good man who treats me like a queen.  I kind of love him too, which helps.

Now if only the flower beds would weed themselves, and money would fall out of the sky, life would be perfect.

Categories: Creativity Expressed, Random Thoughts.

Labor of Love

8

June 6, 2010

There’s a severe storm warning and a tornado watch for half of my state, including my corner.  A thunderstorm is making itself known outside and I probably shouldn’t be on my computer.  I rarely do what I’m supposed to, however, and so you find me here.  Until I have to drive to Hartford tonight to pick my brother up at the bus station.  We’ll just chalk it up to having an adventure and leave it at that, shall we?

I’ve managed to weed half of my front flower garden over the past few days.  This is an extremely painful process physically, but I’ve invested too much time, energy, and money in my gardens to let them slide any further into the Weed Hell that they reside in; it hurts – mentally – to see it.  The results are gratifying even if I am reduced to limping afterward.  Some things in life are worth it.

Of course, gardening is not for the faint of heart.  Becky could never in a million years assist me in weeding, for example: a surprising variety of spiders have made themselves at home there.  Slugs have turned up as well, and there is always an abundance of earthworms and creepy crawlers.  My MIL insists that she once saw a snake in it years ago but, if so, I’ve never seen one.  I once found a dead mouse and I’ll admit that I didn’t find that pleasant at all.  But overall there’s little to fear.  What I hate, though, is knowing that I probably have bugs crawling in my hair.  I could feel the bun I was wearing my hair in brushing against the underside of one of the bay windows as I toiled, and there are spider webs and other things lurking there.   I’ve never scrubbed my head in the shower the way I did after I called it quits for the day.

As I cleaned up I had an idea.  I should place an ad in the paper offering to let some gardener, bereft of the ability to have a garden of their own, come to my house and care for mine.  I wouldn’t pay them anything, and all materials they needed they would have to provide themselves.  They couldn’t remove any of the flowers, only the weeds.  I might let them add flowers, but they would have to clear their choices with me first.  Other than that, they could come over and weed and putter to their heart’s content.

Now isn’t that a good deal?

The sad thing is that someone probably would take me up on that offer.  I’m just not sure I want anyone that crazy hanging outside my house, however.

Yes, I want everything, and I want it my way.

Speaking of wanting, I want some of the white irises my mother has in her garden…

Categories: Creativity Expressed, Home Improvement, Random Thoughts.

They Said I Won’t Glow in the Dark

3

June 1, 2010

There’s nothing quite like water, an egg sandwich, and radioactive isotopes to start the day off right.  Their flavor is very subtle.  Still, I can’t help but feel that there are better things with which to season one’s eggs.

I haven’t learned anything from the test yet (it takes a couple of days to get results) other than the fact that, should I choose to fly, my radioactivity may now trip security alarms at an airport.  This side effect will be gone in a couple of days, but in the meantime if you want to smuggle an extra bottle of water or something on board a plane and need a distraction, I’m your gal.

Categories: Creativity Expressed, Random Thoughts.