I like how “jazzy” this song is. Calling a jazz song “jazzy” is pretty crummy writing, isn’t it? Not much description to distinguish it from any other jazz song, is there?
This inability to provide a good description was prevalent Sunday night at 2:15 am when I called the police. It’s not much help when you don’t know which way is N/S/E/W from your house, you forget the name of the street behind your house, and you can’t tell them the color of the vehicle, the street number of the duplex across the street, or the color of the said residence.
I thought I woke up because I had to make that midnight trip to the bathroom. Then I thought it was because of the slightly warm house. I stumbled out of bed and turned the AC from 82 down to 79. In the back of my mind I noted there was a car idling on the street. I crawled into bed and and drifted off to a dream. In the dream there were two muscle cars lining up for a street race. Side by side they sat idling - talking smack about who was going to drive the fastest - and make the turn onto the twisty street first. However, the director of my dream seemed to forget what the next part of the story was ... 'cause the the cars just keep idling with their glass-pack mufflers and Mallory Performance Headers.
That's about the time I woke up to register I could STILL hear an engine idling outside. Were there some kids getting ready to race down the street? Maybe it WASN'T a dream. I waited and listened. Funny – how I could hear the engine over the AC. It must be a big V-8 of some sort. Why wasn’t the car leaving? How long were they going to sit out there? Suddenly I realized the question should be "WHY" were they sitting out there?
I got out of bed – went to the living room and noticed a conversion van sitting in the street. Just idling away. AND THEN, someone walked across the parking area of the duplex across the street and to the driver's door of the van. This was pretty odd considering the the new tenants haven’t moved in yet and the parking lot was empty of cars. Still I was willing to not get involved – until I saw the person cross the street and WALK UP my neighbors driveway. NOW there was a problem. There’s no reason ON EARTH for someone to be walking from the street up my neighbor's driveway at that time of morning.
I turned on my front porch light – and a few seconds later – watched the person run back to the van - then the van moved about 400 feet to the stop sign at the end of the street and lingered there for a few minutes.
I had my house phone with me and tried to dial 9-1-1 in the dark. I need to get a new phone. One with numbers that are illuminated. I guess now - I can see how comical it was as I mashed numbers on my phone trying to figure out where the 9 button was - and then peering at the screen without my glasses to see if I could recognize the shape of the tenny-tiny blobs. Unable to determine what was on the display I moved from location to location in the house searching for enough ambient light to illuminate the number pad.
Of course, I didn't really want to turn on any lights and I was staying away from the windows because I am sneaky like that (or a coward). I finally turned on a night-light in my hallway, dialed 911, and saw the van drive off, before the dispatcher answered. As I talked to her, and revealed that had retained nothing USEFUL about the van and it's occupants, I could hear it idling on the next street - whose name I couldn't remember - nor which direction it was from MY house. Thankfully they have a map and were able to name the streets - so I could confirm the now no-longer-accurate-location of the vehicle.
I told the dispatcher I didn’t need the police to knock on my door after they cruised the hood – unless they found something was wrong. I guess the "Good News" is they never knocked on my door. The "Not-So-Good-News" is it took me a while to get back to sleep.
Tuesday morning it appeared everything was fine, but I went ahead and send out an eMail to the ‘hood, letting them know about our late night visitors. And of course I consulted my Morning eMail group. The 'hood awarded me 20 bonus points for actually waking up - as they remembered last year when I slept through the HELICOPTERS hovering over our neighborhood when the FIVE ALARM FIRE burnt the house TO THE GROUND.
In numerous emails/phone calls here is the collective wisdom of the interwebz:
Totally NOT jazz.
Jason H.A.T.E.S it. It has me captivated!
Part is the beat – kind of a driving – pushing – in your face sort of thing. Then there’s some distortion … and the lyrics. Totally ear catching.
I won’t fill this space up with them … but you can click here if you want to read them. I think one of the reasons this song works for me is it reminds me of a very hip version of “Hush Little Baby/Mockingbird Son” the children’s lullaby.
Speaking of mothering … Jason gets an A+ for yesterday. I came home from work at noon. I have no idea what hit me. At first I wanted to blame lack of sleep, but I slept in every day over the weekend, so it's not like I was sleep deprived by yesterday. We didn’t really stay out that late Tuesday night. I mean … I was suggesting that we go dancing or something (because clearly I had already lost my mind) after dinner – but Jason wisely said, "No, we should go home." I went to bed by 10pm.
Yesterday morning I had a 7am dentist appointment to have a new crown put on a tooth and a old filing removed & replaced. I go to a dentist that specializes in "fearful" patients - and they are not unused to applying gas just for teeth cleaning. They kind of like to see me come in because I'm pretty dang low maintenance - and don't need any of that stuff. And although I am a big crybaby – I’m really NOT that bad of a patient. I don't fear the dentist - only blood and pain. They do a good job of keep both to a minimum.
So I only had a local anesthetic – no gas – when I was there. But it was really cold in the office and I just couldn't get warm, plus I could barely keep my eyes open. The whole time I was just kind of wishing they'd tell – "now we need to wait an hour" so I could fall asleep. When the appointment was done I came home and took my mini-nap (which is very unlike me). I couldn't seem to warm up then, either, but after 45 minutes I trudged off to the office. One I got here I remained chilled and fuzzy headed. (Plus I was really grumpy - and it's kind of hard to do voice recording and sound pleasant when you feel like crap. I was saying things like, "This is X. Use it so you don't have to call me." <-- not really a great way to help customers use software!)
So – at noon, I went home, put on a nightgown, deprived Jason of loud music while he sanded and painted the guest room ceiling and I went to bed. I slept ‘till 3:30. When I woke, I felt slightly better. But I must have been enough of a zombie that Jason banning me from the kitchen and making dinner. Actually I was pretty happy with his pronouncement, because I was trying to figure out if just scrambled eggs was going to ruin my reputation. Thankfully he was willing to make his own sandwhich and said I was off kitchen duty all together. I ate a bowl of cold cereal around 7:30 pm – left him painting the guest room ceiling – and went back to bed.
I woke up around 6:30 this morning (which made me late for work). But all is well and I feel 100% today.
Poor Jason – he is kind of working against the clock. He has one more coat of paint on that ceiling – and then the cleanup - plus putting everything back in the room. Which includes bring stuff down out of the attic. And the screen door still needs to be hung … along with him doing laundry/packing for his departure tomorrow morning. Poor guy – his plane LEAVES at 6:00 am. I guess we’ll be leaving the house about 4:45 am. Ugg. Although, I’ll be doing the exact same thing next week when I fly to Syracuse.
Once again, today is “Food Wednesday”. Go look at your paper – read the food column – make a plan to cook something good this week. If you don’t have a great resource, I’ll share ONE of mine with you. Today is the début of the N & O’s new food blog “Mouthful”. I really like Andrea Weigl – the food editor/writer for the N and O.
Finally – here’s a pic from Tuesday night.
This weekend was interesting. I think there are three major points:
In other news, we ate well. Grilled pork chops with a rosemary/garlic marinade and another panzella salad, steamed green beans, and garlic/olive oil saut̩ed zucchini plus peach cobbler for dessert. Saturday night we had homemade steamed dumplings and Cashew Chicken and last night it was spicy white chicken chili/homemade salsa last night Рwith lemon-buttermilk ice cream for dessert.
I also made buttermilk pancakes for breakfast Sunday morning. I was hoping to induce Jason to worship with me. Although he enjoyed the pancakes, no praising God followed. I wonder if it was because he knew I was bribing him to keep at the repair jobs and endure my desire for things to be done, “the right way.”
I will say he gets bonus points as he has yet to say, “I you think you know how to do it, then YOU do it.” Although I have OFFERED to assist.
Tonight we go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.
Now onto Steve Hobbs. He’s a local guy – here in North Carolina. A vibraphonist. He lives about 2 miles away from me. He’s frequently seen around the jazz clubs here in Raleigh. With my “love” of my fellow man, “Blues For a Way of Life” just seemed kind of appropriate for today’s title.
Summertime, And the livin' is easy Fish are jumpin' And the cotton is high
Keith has done a lot in his lifetime. Most of it seems to be well received.
Yesterday was the first presentation of our webinars. To say we were nervous about the reception from our customers would be an understatement. We didn’t know if they’d be receptive to method of information delivery or not. The invitation and instructions we sent to them instructed them to conduct a test before hand to make sure sound and video components on their computers were working. Then we let them know they could sign into the session 30 minutes before the start of the presentation.
Of course, my biggest fear was I’d been spending all this time, effort, and angst in vein – for no reason. At 30 minutes ‘till we had 15 people signed in. At 45 minutes to we had 68 people. The GM – greatly amazed at the response – started saying out loud … “no more people! No more!” At five minutes to show time, we’d reached our 100 person viewing limit. Quick calls were made to our other offices – and employees were instructed to sign out of the session. During the sessions duration, there were about 96 people viewing the webinar. Statistics show no one left the session early. We had a few issues with sound – which we’ll be able to correct on the remaining five topics that haven’t been produced yet. We’ll just have to make due with the audio on the six already in the can.
The second session - although it had a smaller viewing audience (different product, smaller customer base) – had percentage wise, just as good of an attendance rate and positive response.
I still don’t think they were the best – but of course, they were the very first two I put together – and there’s a big learning curve. However … these comments – unsolicited by the viewers – prove once again that I don’t always evaluate myself in the best possible light.
“You speak so well tho... you really did sound good on it.”
“Just a note to say that I thought the webinar was great. This seems to be a great way to communicate in the future.”
“Good job with the webinar – as a new user, the information is helpful and useful….particularly the hint about entering the first bale from each gin by hand and issuing the receipt to make there are no errors. This is a good training tool and I look forward to future sessions”
So – onward and forward. Today I’m editing the session so it can be downloaded or played from our website; plus putting up some additional documentation.
Jason almost has the outside motion detector light up – and the new screen door has two coats of primer on it. Now if we can just get that guest bedroom ceiling done before he leaves next Thursday morning. I’d really wanted to take him to this very awesome wine shop for a wine tasting … but I’m not sure if that’s in the cards or not. I guess it depends on how much he can remove from the guest room without my help and get started in there today.
I’d also wanted to take him down to Ayden to sample some Q. If you watch this video, you’ll see why. But a two-hundred round mile trip also seems to be pushing it a bit much. Some cotton friends are in town – and they’ve asked to meet at the Cheesecake Factory. Since that is DEFINITELY on the list – I guess that’s what we’re doing Saturday night.
Yippy – it’s Friday. Hope your day is short and your weekend is long.
Stan Getz’s version is the original (although not the original artist/recording) – without lyrics. Later, Chris Caswell added some lyrics. I really like them. Especially when sung by Karrin Allyson and Nancy King.
I told you once before, my friend Jordu,
this is the kind of thing I love to do,
so if you say you really want me to,
I’ll play for you
I use to dream of playing jazz all night,
so if you ask me nice, well I just might,
pick up my microphone and sing for you,
only for you
Jazz is a way to get lost,
along the way to work out our cares and woe,
If you close your eyes you will soon realize,
that life’s lesson is to let go
And so my friend you can plainly see,
this is the kind of thing that is for me,
as long as we play in harmony,
life is a groove.
If you’re interested in Karrin, here’s an interview.
Last night (thank you for your patience) Jason took down, put up, took down, put up, took down (and didn’t kill me) and put up the new dining room light. Heh … here’s Karrin singing, “Moanin’”. Perhaps Jason can identify. But the light looks great AND it’s hanging correctly.
He also got the new bathroom vent in – and the last coat of paint on the dinning room ceiling. After dinner (oriental inspired short ribs and zucchini) we put the table back in the dinning room and left the sisal rug out of the room. I then returned all the wine glasses, pictures, and bottles of scotch, Whiskey, Jenever, and rum back on the book shelves.
Tonight we have company coming for dinner. Typically I like to have all the prep work done the night before – and have the table set. But it just didn’t happen. At 10:30 I was ready to call it a night. I’m sure I’ll have it all ready to go when the guests show up.
Today at work there’ll be more practice with the Webinar interface. We had a “sound check” yesterday. I guess today I’ll go for a “full dress rehearsal” today. I think it’s all crap. But then again, that’s usually my opinion, isn’t it? Tomorrow is the big day. We deploy the first session at 11 am EST and the second session at 2 pm EST. I’m not really looking forward to it all. Oh well.
So – at five o’clock in the morning on Tuesday, I wrote to a friend that I heard rain when I got out of the shower. Although it took me a while to place the sound. I mean, water sounds like water, right? And I'd just turned off the water. It wasn’t until I opened the bathroom window that I realized it wasn’t a “drizzle” happening out there either.
I awoke early so I could do some writing. In the midst of creativity – the music was interrupted with an Emergency Broadcast announcement … about flash flooding.
Of course, I ignored this … because *I know about flash floods*. And they only happen in the dessert, the mountains, and Los Angeles. A-hem.
I had a guest post on the blog that day (and you should go read it if you haven't already). So I was more focused on getting that formatted and plastering it all over the various places I write; which might explain why I continued my unconcerned attitude as new Emergency Announcements were made.
At seven o’clock, when it was time to get dressed for work, I was irritated because it was SO DARK and I had to turn on lights in my bedroom to see if my clothes matched.
Then the rain REALLY STARTED falling … and I thought, “Gee – I hope it lets up because I don’t want to deal with this.” "This" equaling raindrops.
It wasn’t until I opened the front door that I saw it was more than just “raindrops”.
If it weren’t so dark – you could see … hmm. That doesn’t look like a street!
Oh! Hey … errr – hrm.
I guess there ARE flash floods in other places. Thankfully I have 4x4 drive and I wasn’t one of those idiots that thinks, “my car won’t get stuck”.
I am now checking into Federal Flood insurance. (although my place is fine).
I'd also like to know if there is any place you can live that doesn’t have Creepy Crawlies? If so, I’d like to live there.
It appears that Rodanthy is (unfortunately) alive and well. I’ve seen his calling cards on the floor – and there was shredded paper towel under the kitchen sink. Plus a pungent odor. I’ve been hoping the odor was my imagination – but not so much. It’s a sharp smell – more like pee than death. I’ll have to clean out from under there this weekend.
Of course – that is just a short term fix. Thankfully my out-of-state-handyman will be here soon – and he will provide extermination services. He asked what kind of burial I wanted … cremation, Viking, or planting. I told him I wanted an “out of my sight” service – followed by a lively wake when I get home from work.
Here’s info about Bob Florence, if you care (The Creepy Crawlies is his tune). His biggest claim to fame was as musical director for Vikki Carr and Julie Andrews.
Last night Simon Van Booy was at Quail Ridge. He’s getting all kinds of accolades for this collection of short stories, “Love Begins in Winter.” His first book was “The Secret Lives of People in Love”. I got my homework done (enough) so I went to listened to him. He was fun and witty and all together too gifted. I'm glad I was around to get recharged.
Of course, it was another gray, drizzly day here Wednesday. I tried telling myself the “bright side” is that I don’t live in the UK or Seattle where this is par for the course. It's not making it much better. But since yesterday was Food Wednesday my mood was slightly improved. Did you go read your favorite restaurant reviewers, food blogs, or recipe magazines? I did. It's one of the highlights of my week - now that I don't have "cleaning-lady-was-here" day to look forward to each week.
The song that seems to sum up today is Joe Henderson's "Mode for Joe". There’s so many places that title can go. Pie a la Mode for Joe – Mode For Joe Making Coffee …
Joe Henderson is sometimes referred to as a Coltrane clone. I think he’s got his own style – and like the swing in this piece. Of course – it’s got all my favorites. Bass, Tenor Sax, and Vibes. Lots of luminaries too – Ron Carter (bass), Bobby Hutcherson (vibes) and Lee Morgan (trumpet). If you want to hear an interview with him … this is kind of fun.
You know – I’ve never really been in North Carolina in June. I don’t really care if I’m here for an extended period of time ever again – because EVERY DAY I’ll just be writing "… it rained again in the night". Or, "it’s raining now". Or, "it rained on my way home from work."
The other thing “Mode for Joe” reminds me of … is the stupid voice overs I’m having to do. *Big sigh* I recorded one whole learning segment before we got the “real” microphone. So I used the one imbedded in my laptop. The quality? She is not so bueno.
The segment is only 22 minutes long – but it took me 7 hours yesterday to re-record six and a half minutes. Because all the visual is good, I just have to listen to each phrase, splice out the phrase, re-record the phrase (so it fits in with the visual) and then re-insert it into production.
I really think drinking would make all of this better.
I also hope my friend Ken got on the airplane out if Iraq last night and is on his way home. He has two-weeks here – before he returns. Then – just a short countdown to September when his tour of duty is over.
*** update, he didn't make it. Seems instead of rain - they're having those wonderfully dramatic dust storms. I'm sure he's happier to be grounded - than being tossed around in a plane. At this rate, he'll be here for Father's Day AND 4th of July.
Folded in the hall closet of my childhood was an ugly, scratchy blanket. Did I mention it was scratchy? And it smelled funky. I don’t remember that blanket ever leaving the closet. It certainly was never on my bed or draped on the back of one of our couches to snuggle into on cold winter nights.
One year for Christmas … somewhere between 1977 and 1978 – my brother obtained his first “adult job” with General Motors in Fremont, California. That first Christmas he gifted us all with waterbeds. (Who still has a waterbed these days??)
I L-O-V-E-D my waterbed. It was ALWAYS warm. It was perfect for climbing into during the winter. You never, ever, had to worry about warming up the bed with your own body heat – or how long it would take your cold feet to thaw out. My waterbed went with me to Arizona where I attended (and graduated) college and then it followed me in my post college life. I remained a snug and warm waterbed sleeper until 1998.
When I moved back to California, the waterbed had been abandoned for about six months and I’d been sleeping on a box spring set. When I changed beds I hadn’t even given winter a single consideration. Wow … did you know the San Joaquin Valley gets … COLD?? Maybe not “Four feet of snow on the ground” cold, but STILL! So I asked for an electric blanket because my polyfill-comforter and thermal blanket weren’t doing the job. Then I asked for a down comforter.
I thought I was ok as I settled into my new environment. I re-learned why people wear slippers (I had hardwood floors throughout the house and tiled bathroom floors). I started wearing a bathrobe again – because I refuse to set my heater above sixty-eight degrees when I’m home – and at night I turned it down to forty-five degrees. I coped with the cold.
Then I came out here. Suddenly I was living in a place that had ICE STORMS! And SNOW! Did you know that the snow in Tahoe has NO RELATIONSHIP to the snow on the East Coast? Seriously. Snow out west is “dry” … and “crisp” … and you can navigate it, once it stops falling.
Here – we don’t really have snow. We have an ice-maker that needs defrosting. Oh sure … there is a powder, white and flaky in form that falls from the sky – but just like old freezers, before there was “auto-defrosting” the snow form, when it touches the ground, it forms a furry layer of … ice. And then the fur becomes sheets. And the sheets become heavy. And things, like trees and tree limbs, go crash. And vehicles that usually are dependable and follow directions go sliding off on their own secret missions of death and destruction. EVEN IF YOU HAVE FOUR WHEEL DRIVE. Also? In case you haven’t paid attention? Ice is cold. (Yes, just call me Ms. Science).
I had my electric blanket when I moved here … but it bothered me. It doesn’t make my bed toasty warm before I crawl in … not to mention that half of it doesn’t seem to work anymore. Add to that the fact I’m just a little bit leery of electricity in my bed (although in a quick search, I could not find one reliable scientific study to back this concern up), and it’s easy to see I needed a new solution.
For some reason – that ugly, scratchy wool blanket from my childhood popped into my head. I sent an email home. In it – I said that along with inheriting the cast iron waffle iron (so totally mine) – I wanted the “Hudson Bay Blanket”.
Talla Paula could not believe I was asking after the blanket that had been unused since … their wedding when it arrived at the Mitter household. Much to my surprise, she’d given it to some friends – for their cabin in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I’m not sure how it happened … but within a month or two, it arrived in North Carolina. It is also unfortunately NOT a real Hudson Bay Blanket. But it does have the iconoclast green/red/yellow/blue bands on a creamy wool background.
Why am I telling you this story?
Last night it got really cold (for here). And I happily dragged the J.C. Penny “Golden Dawn” (aka the FAKE Hudson Bay Blanket) out and onto my bed.
I love this blanket. I had no idea how effective wool can be until it made the move to North Carolina. Within moments of crawling under it (well, there are sheets and another cotton blanket between me and its scratchy self), I am toasty warm. It radiates warmth – so I can stretch out a leg or arm … and not be attacked by frost bite. It’s heavy … and reminds me of being tucked in as a kid. And it stays in place on the bed. No slipping or sliding or puddling up on the other side of the bed.
So tonight as we face a possible light dusting of snow, “Variably cloudy, windy and colder with the chance of snow flurries in the morning”, I’m going to crawl under my blanket and stay toasty warm and recall the hall closet where this blanket resided for years and years until rescued by a western girl moving south.
All hail the glory of the wool blanket.
I’ve acquired a pet. I’ve named it Rodanthe.
Pluses of Pet Ownership:
“Someone” at the house after work
Morning visits
Minimal feeding and watering requirements
It doesn’t wake me up too often
Minuses of Pet Ownership:
Pet Poop
Eaten chocolate if left lying around
High probability of procreation
The chewing!!
I don’t know. We’ll see how long this lasts.
I have safely arrived in the land of my birth.
It was an amazing trip. Later today I will start writing the stories.
Thank you to everyone who made this possible. Thank you to everyone who traveled to meet me.
<3, each and every one of you. Edit to Add: This is what happiness looks like in Amsterdam!
Besides, I’d made arrangements with them, to eat dinner before Mrs. Host and I attended a circle meeting. (Mr. Host JUST happens to own a Corvette Z06, which will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds – and has a 505 engine with 11 to 1 compression!!! You don’t REALLY think I’d cut short an opportunity to stand in the garage and gaze in lust at that car, do you?) And they were expecting me to spend the night ANYWAY … (it is also possible I am tired of a different bed each night … and am trying to save up for my trip next week, which will involve LOTS of packing and unpacking and a different bed each night.) 6 days, 8 hours 'till I'm in the UK!!!!!
Back to lighting fires. Seems that SOMEHOW my pilot light was blown out on the heater. The technician was really surprised since my heating unit is UNDER my house, in the crawl space – and there are no direct air vents to blow on the pilot. As near as he can figure, a freak gust of wind blew over the front of the house, down through the porch boards, and extinguished the light.
When he told me what the problem was, I felt pretty stupid. I asked him if he could show me how to light it, in case it went out again. He declined. Truthfully, I was glad. I mean, I’ve grown up lighting Coleman stoves and lanterns. I’m not helpless – but crawling on my stomach, through cobwebs to light something that could blow me up? I’m willing to pay the $55.00 and pass on the experience.
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Memphis … I’ll write more later, but for the moment I’ll say this.
Seeing customers was GREAT! I get so rejuvenated when they stop and seem so enthusiastic to greet me and say hi.
Work meetings were pretty much the "wank-fest" I expected, and they will not be elaborated on here.
Mr. and Mrs. I H8 24 – are the best Arkansas friends a girl could have! They picked me up at the hotel – across town – in rush hour traffic – and took me to an industry dinner with someone I’ve been trying to establish contact with for the past two years. They also let me stay in their hotel room (extra sleep for me) that night, and didn’t give me a hard time about NOT joining them on Beale Street. (there’s more to what all they did for me, but suffice it to say ABOVE AND BEYOND and I’ll try to get to those stories later.)
Another old friend (not in age, but years of acquaintance) picked me up on Thursday for lunch. He and his wife took me to Las Tortugas for the BEST fish tacos on that side of the Mississippi. It was great to see them, hear about their two children, and find out he is happy and thriving away from the large corporate world he left behind.
Friday night, friends of my parents, picked me up and fed me enchiladas, and an amazing poppy-seed/apple/candied pecan salad; not to mention sangria, beer, and coffee ice cream with Kahlua! This was a very enjoyable evening – and not just because of the food. He was a wildlife biologist out in Arizona (actually grew up there – and has just recently moved to Memphis), and historian. It was great to share history books that meant a lot to us (Martha Summerhayes, “Vanished Arizona” and Marshall Trimble articles) plus reminisce over some favorite country we’d both wandered. BUT EVEN BETTER, we were able to discuss my novel! He had some great suggestions and was encouraging, plus offered to act as a resource for “little known facts”.
Least I be rude, his lovely wife … was just that! A true southern girl, who talked about growing up in Memphis – and then living in mid-town Manhattan. The changes she made and encountered between the two places – and what it’s like to be back in Memphis now. All together an A+ evening.
Over all – the trade show was slow. On Friday the cotton market touched 80 cents – and it has remained strong the last two days. Hopefully the estimate of 16+ million bales for 2008 will continue to be revised upward – and it won’t be as tight and gloomy as everyone is expecting.
I don’t live in Winterpeg (Winnipeg for the uninitiated).
My house remains a brisk 52 degrees (11.11 Celsius) – and the repair people have scheduled me for a visit Wednesday between ten and noon. I guess 52 degrees isn’t life threatening – but it sure isn’t conductive to getting much done.
I have booked a room at Chez Thomas for the next two nights, because frankly, I think I am running out of “personal” resources.
My house
S’out of the ordinary
That’s might
Don’t want to hurt nobody
Some things sure can sweep me off my feet
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
It’s typical – you look forward to going home. Early in the morning you pack your luggage. Bundle the computer, wireless router, and 100 other odds and ends into the suitcase and computer bag. Leave the suitcase behind, grab the haversack and trudge down to the civic center because the trolley doesn’t start ‘till 9:30 am – but the trade show starts at 9:00 am.
Meet and greet customers. Dash-downstairs, leap into the maroon truck and head to the airport. Snake through security, loaf in the lounge, board the bird, land at the layover, delay the departure, ultimately reach Raleigh. Acquire the auto, get some grub, pull into the drive.
Big sigh. HOME! Lights, bed, music, relaxation, warmth.
Wait … warmth? Hmmm – it is a little chilly. “Forgot to adjust the thermostat when I first walked in,” you think to your self. Turn on heat, make a call. End the call, after all, it is 11:30 pm and head to bed. Hmmm – house is still cold. Turn up electric blanket and drift off to sleep.
Awake late on Sunday morning. Snuggle under the covers – because “Damn it’s cold out there!” Wonder about the coldness. Get out of bed. Make coffee. Stare at heat register. Flip fan on manually. Up the temperature. Stand over an air vent. *sigh* Cold air.
Place YET ANOTHER service repair call. Spend day in bed – the only warm place in the house. Consider the option of arson – which would accomplish several goals.
No more housework
Fewer belongings
End the need for repairmen
Heat
Who needs to lock up their house before they go out of town for 5 days??
Where the TRUCK did I put my house keys???
Couldn't find them at 5:00 am - on my way out the door to the gym - so used my spares. No big deal ...
But now ... 4 hours later, I still can't find them!! I have a spare set of keys for the house - but it's dis-concerning to know I don't have a clue where my "normal keys" are ... Plus my office key is on that key chain :(
My car keys (different key-ring) were in my purse - right where I expected them, at 5:00 AM. I know the keys must be IN THE HOUSE, because I had to use my house keys to get INTO my house last night. Blurry eyed and not quite awake, I thought maybe they were still hanging in the front door (I've been known to lock up on the inside - totally NOT paying attention to them hanging on the outside). BUT NO KEYS IN THE DOOR.
They were not on my dinning room table - which I cleaned off last night, of all the mail, and newspapers, and boxes, and other accumulated debris that gathers there far too easily.
They were not on the kitchen counter - which is where I also frequently set them down, as I walk through the door on my way to pour myself a glass of wine.
Not on the end table by the door. Not on the couch. Not on my dresser in the bedroom - I wasn't wearing a jacket yesterday - so they are NOT in a pocket somewhere. I washed my blue jeans last night - so they are not in my pants pocket.
They are not on the filing cabinet where I moved stuff off my table to ... they are not on my desk - which I also dusted ....
hmmm - I hung some stuff up in the guest room ..... NOT THERE EITHER ...
As I folded all of my laundry and packed this morning I kept saying, "Don't worry, they'll turn up." As I took the recycling and garbage out I told myself, "Don't worry, they'll turn up." As I changed my thermostat program for the heater, and packed my makeup WITHOUT PUTTING IT ON .... I continued to say, "Don't worry, they'll turn up."
As I hauled my luggage and jacket to the car ... I told myself, "&^%##$^& idiot - go get the damn spare keys and get out of here - you're late to pick up the boss!"
I sure hope this isn't an indication of how this trip is going to go ... and if it is, I hope this is like the house problems - and I'm receiving all the crap karma know - so when I leave in 15 days!!!! :) for the UK - everything goes SMOOTHLY.
halp
As I'm putting stuff back in my refrigerator I realized I have some food addictions and compulsions. I mean, everyone has condiments, right? The staples, mayo, mustard, catsup, eggs, milk … “normal stuff” .. and I bet in “normal” quantities too. I on the other hand …. Seem to be not so “normal” (SHUT UP! I know this is not a ground breaking revelation) … in that I have entire collections of the basics:
*le sigh*
So much stuff – thank goodness I was able to save it all! (small note: Why are refrigerators and freezer made so difficult to clean?? grrr)
(ps: this does not cover the sour dough starter stockpile, the marinade miscellany, nor the “homemade sauces/reductions” acquisitions).
What assemblages are hiding in YOUR refrigerator?
First the good news.
I HAVE ELECTRICITY!
I WILL BE SLEEPING IN MY OWN HOME TONIGHT!
NOTHING appears to be burnt up, but I understand these things can be sneaky. So sometime between tomorrow and flying out Tuesday night I need to get people over here to “test” stuff.
But for now – at this moment … although there is something else rumbling around … that I cannot even hint about, life is good – but there is
WAY TO MUCH GOING ON IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME …
(putting house back in order, taxes, school, dinner group, homework, leaving for a trip to the delta, followed by the UK trip)
Plus this new thing to approach/manage/consider ...
*looks towards heavens*
“God? Can we just slow this down a little bit? I know you want me to listen and to trust you, but you aren’t giving me much time TO LISTEN or CONSIDER.”
But the house – at the moment – all is good.
