making room

I just got back from having a tooth extraction.
The way I look at it - now I have more room for brains.
Then again, the copious amounts of Novocaine have not yet worn off - lets see what I think after all I am left with is my cold compress and pain meds.

Evidently, I have some freaky root system that even takes a little turn at the bottom. You know its never good when they start calling out to their colleagues "You gotta come see THIS!"

Once again, we thank the powers that be for nitrous oxide.

at least the coffee maker still works...

This is what my caffeinated wife said this morning as we were reviewing our action plan for the recent spate of mishaps.

On Saturday the tractor quit. I lifted the hood, looked in the engine, wiggled things - then called to have someone come pick it up. They offered to come get it right away, tho they could not look at it until the end of the week.
I was in a state of calm acceptance.

We came home from work yesterday afternoon to find Ferris forlorn in the living room staring at the 42" blank screen in front of him. The TV had gone lifeless. I pressed some buttons, waved the remote control around, rubbed it a little and did some internet research. I think we need some parts - hopefully we can get them in time to see murky Beijing in the glory of full High Definition.
I will order these parts in a state of calm acceptance.

Last night I went up to get ready for bed to find my handy wife pouring all sorts of concoctions down the shower drain. The room smelled like a salad bar. She plunged and poured and boiled water and plunged some more. The clog was not budging.
This morning I called the drain fellow.
He will come this afternoon, and I will wait for him in a calm state of acceptance.

How does that ad go:
Tractor needs repair - $200.00
Shower drain needs snaking - $95.00
TV needs new lamp - $280.00
calm state of acceptance - priceless

weeds

I think quitting smoking was easier, and I haven't even made it through the whole mowing season yet...

I was very proud of our organic lawn when the first weeds started to sprout. They were so cute and different, even beautiful. I thought - hey... this is easy.
But now... now the crabgrass. Its wide, bright green leaves - so unmistakable. And so prolific.

My calming wife reminds me that we have crabgrass every year. But I keep thinking -- if I do nothing... what about next year -- it will take over the entire lawn!
This is where I begin to panic...

So here I am, driving around on the tractor in mindless circles, panicking.
And I think I begin to hallucinate...

on one shoulder I have a little tiny Scotts salesperson and Al Gore sitting on the other. Each one whispering in my ear.

Scotts dude is so calming and reassuring:
"Weese, relax - you know we can handle this with some summertime spot treatments and a preventative next spring."

Al says: "Better yet, instead of cutting the lawn at all, let it go back to meadow and forest."

Scotts Dude: "A simple fall weed and feed will really knock back those dandy-lions, and that thistle doesn't stand a chance."

Al: "Read my research on lawn chemicals as cancer causing agents, and how they affect wildlife."

Scotts dude: "You don't need to read, weese. Just feed it... c'mon - you know you want to. Look at John's yard next door."
my head spins...

Al: "Did you know US lawns take up as much space as the entire state of New York. And that 1/3 of all the water on the East Coast is used to water lawns!"

Scotts Dude: "We have a new chemical that helps reduce the need for watering."
He is grinning now.

Al: "So we feed and water a lawn to make it grow, only to cut it back every week - does that sound silly to you?"

Scotts Dude: "Consistent maintenance, including sharp blades and regular mowing is essential to a healthy lawn."

Al: "And by 'healthy' you mean....?"

Al breaks out into song and is joined on my shoulder by Rachel Carson.

Scotts dude: "WTF - they're singing. Fine, fine keep your weeds and your crabgrass, save hundreds of dollars a year as well as the environment, not to mention your family pets... whatever."

Whew.

Marie

We have lived in our house for just over 20 years now, and for all of this time Marie has been our neighbor. I’ve mentioned Marie a couple of times on my blog over the years because she never ceases to amaze me. Marie is 83 (I mistakenly aged her at 78 in a blog post a couple of years ago), and grew up on our street, in fact in our house. It was truly a farm house back when she was a child and she tells stories of walking the cows up the hill to their other pastures on a dirt road which is today paved with a double yellow line.

She moved, from what is now our house, when she and her new husband Charlie built a new house for themselves next door. She has lived there ever since. Charlie passed away several years ago, and she has managed on her own since. Marie has never learned to drive, so she walks down to the store when she needs to pick something up. She still cuts ½ of her 1 acre yard with a push mower… the kind that’s not self-propelled. And she shovels her driveway so early on a winter morning that I don’t even have a chance to offer to help out with my girnormous snowthrower.

What made me think of her today though is her flowers. Boy, does Marie love her flowers. She plants them ALL over her yard and waters them everyday. When you drive down our street you can’t help but marvel over her front yard every time.
Which I did just this afternoon. So I thought I would share.



I snapped this from inside our house ... you can see Marie out there probably snagging a stray weed or two.

Twenty Three

hmm, 23... 23... why does that number ring a bell today. hmm...

Friday

tip-o-day

Learn from your mistakes.


Clearly I don't.
I am off to the dentist now.

Twitter me this...

Sassy was inquiring about Twitter the other day ...got me to thinking.

I have not used Twitter, tho conceptually I get it - and I am certain I don't want it.

Just what we need is something else to make our communications even shorter and MORE meaningless. The last thing I want to do is read the random thoughts of someone I don't know.

My life is not a snippet.

If you want to share something with me, my off-the-grid wife and I would love to invite you over to sit on the porch and languish linger over a cool drink while you regale us with your story. We'll have a conversation. We'll see eachother. We may even touch.

On my summer vacation I...

Our intentions were not to have any plans. To wake each day and see what the day would bring. This went along smoothly for the first couple days. Whimsy and free we flitted around at our leisure and our pleasure.

Until ...o about Tuesday - when we thought we would just eye up a little project we have been toying with.

See we have had this custom, built-in cabinet in our living room for about 15 years now. It has served us well, but it was designed to hold electronics equipment and CDs -- which we no longer use.
You can see it here in this picture from several years ago.


While we were sizing up the project it seemed to make sense to just see how the thing might be installed. This could be easily accomplished by simply removing a little bit of the sheet rock from the back of the unit in the other room.
So ... we decided to just have a peak. We thought we'll look... get a cocktail, and think it over.

We noticed right away how easily the sheet rock seemed to be breaking up, so I grabbed an old towel, just to collect some of the dust we were creating.

It occurred to us that if we just had a hammer and maybe a pry bar that this sheet rock would really just come right down, so I went to get those.
My tidy wife suggested next that I grab a bucket to put some of the debris in.
But really... we just wanted to see how to get the cabinet out. So this wouldn't take more than a few minutes.

We uncovered some screws holding up some of the framing, so I grabbed my drill just to pop out some these.

The bucket filled up pretty fast, so we brought in one of those 30 gallon garbage cans. That seemed to do the trick - since really we were just gonna take off a little bit more.

Suprisingly, we were able to remove large pieces of the wall quite easily. And since I already had the drill out why not just see how the thing was secured to the wall.

To do this we simply needed to remove the trim from the front side of the unit. A couple more tools and this was easily accomplished.
And since we already had the large garbage can there... why not really....

We quickly found how it was secured to the wall but the unit itself was heavier than we could lift -- so we thought perhaps we could just shimey it a bit then lay it down. So I went and got some moving blankets and we eventually were able to drag it out of the house.

Since we coulnd't really move it around much I just went ahead and grabbed my circular saw so we could cut it up into more managable pieces.

The vacuum came out and we tidied up the place. It was then we realized that it was Wednesday and we had just intended to see how the unit had been installed.

oops.




Off to home depot for some studs and sheet rock.

Framed it up...


And tossed up some sheetrock.
whew.



All that was left was mudding and paint - and it was only Thursday.

Now, I don't want you to go getting the idea that our whole week off was all about projects and home improvements.

There was much rejoicing, and drinking and yes... nakedness. Tho sometimes these overlapped --just a bit.

You know how sometimes when you are walking through a room and you notice just a little something you want to touch up real quick ... and its only gonna take a second... so you just figure its better to do it now rather than wait... even if possibly you have been drinking... and might not exactly be appropriatly dressed for it...

ahhhhh....

I'm back.
Well... we didn't really go anywhere.

Have you taken time off from work recently?
If you have the means, I highly recommend it.

I am slowly adjusting to this new routine. Sitting... typing... reading.

I have some email to sift through. More blogging tomorrow.

Dude, where's the party?

Remember when you were in high school and you waited to see whose parents would be stupid enough to go away for a long weekend.
Party on, dude.

Welp, Ferris is away this week. It's his annual mission trip with his church's youth group - tho now he travels with them as an adult advisor. I am always so proud of him for not only doing this trip each year, but getting so much out of it as well.


My giddy wife and I are taking the entire week off from work to enjoy the big empty house.

So... party is at our house. I should warn you tho, if you're planning to stop by, you may want to call first ;)

Friday

tip-o-day

I have said before that cleaning is my Zen. This does not mean our house is immaculate - it simply means that I enjoy the act of cleaning as much as the result.

Cleaning has alot to do with Chi. And so... if you find yourself in a funk someday, maybe a little foggy or not quite connected, perhaps you have some issues to work through -- tidy up your space. Set things in order, dust, vacuum and mop. Clear some clutter, get into the corners, rid yourself of the dust and disorder.

This will do several things for you. It will get you moving, your blood flowing and your brain organizing, and as a bonus your space will be neat and organized.
In this newly cleaned space you will feel better, clearer and more present, your heart will lighten.
You will feel like you have done something nice for yourself, and you may be surprised to find you are calmer and more relaxed.
Try it.

When you're done... be sure to put your feet up in that sparkly room and have a refreshing cocktail.

where's weese?

dunno, I'll go look for her.

Cats

Welp. Looks like we have a cat.

Our little feral kitty, locked up in confinement for 8 weeks, is now FREE.
We opened the doors Friday and waited. She popped out of her kitty door and walked around the back of the garage like she owned the place. (I know this because I was sitting in a lawn chair waiting.)

We have seen her exploring around the barn/garage, up around the house and out into the yard a little bit all weekend. And then she comes right back to nap on her shelf in the garage.

The world is her oyster (or rodent... as it were).




But wait, there's more.
Meet Jasper.


Jasper is The Daughter The Therapist and Her Handsome Beau's newest addition to their family. Last year they rescued Sophie, and this past weekend scooped up another little feral.

Independence Day

Tomorrow is Independence Day.


We will open the door for the FREE cat.
And wait to see if she ever comes back.

A sign of the times.

I have been watching this particular low profile window air conditioner online for some time now - waiting for it to go on sale. We already have one and love it, it's a great little unit, and light enough for me to install alone with ease.

It finally went on sale last week.

Alas, we decided to buy a cord of wood instead.