Bloggers are people too

Huh, they do exist.
They are real.
They are wonderful.

Prayers before gaiety

Before my sweet wife and I can share stories of the weekend …

Within the span of two weeks – two different couples, both our closest friends… lost fathers.
Fathers who were great men, with kind hearts and dearly loved.
We pray for them now.

How many lesbians can you fit in a ...


we'll let you know.

Winter in NE

I noticed when I walked out of the house this morning that the driveway was all shiny. Since we did not install a shiny driveway this was my hint to be careful as I walked over to the garage.
As I drove into work I noticed many shiny spots on the road. Since I know the town did not install shiny roads - here was another little clue.

Just in case I was too dense to notice all this slippery shiny-ness, I was passed by an EMS vehicle, and later a police car.

I heard sirens all around me as I drove into the office.

Clearly some folks missed their visual clues.

Friday

tip-o-day

Have you ever taken the hardware off a door to paint it, or strip it - only to find when you go to re-install that the old holes are simply not snug anymore?
Here is a quick fix, and will keep you from having to move a hinge or latch.

Take a toothpick and put in the screw hole, breaking it off flush. Then, simply install your screws. They’ll tighten right up.

I like to use two flat toothpicks (tho either will do) – they seem to break off cleanly and easily.

In a moment of passion

My valentine and I went out to dinner last night. We had a wonderful meal, and a couple of cocktails.
Before we left for dinner we had decided to wait until later to clear the driveway, since the storm was still going on.
I think it was sometime after my second cocktail that I suggested we wait until morning to clear the snow. My reasoning was that we have this behemoth snow-thrower, and really what was the difference whether we cleared it now or later. My romantic wife, also on her second cocktail, readily agreed.
Our plan was simple. I would get up and go right out side…firing up the behemoth and getting the driveway cleared in record time. My caring wife would fix up a big pot of coffee and we could have a cup together and admire my work.

So this morning, I got right up and started to put the plan into action. i did have a little nagging worry... because I had been a bit of a slacker this year and didn’t pre-test the snow-thrower.
I was so pleased when she fired right up.
Pulled out of the garage… only to skim across the top of the ice pack that had formed overnight.
Oops.
2 inches of solid snow. Could not for anything get the lip of that snow-thrower under it. It would not budge.
Oops.
Crap.

Ah, but for the sparkling wine, the red roses, the crackling fire it was a luscious evening– my sore back and arms will heal.

Oh …and regarding our paintball playing rodents… I was not able to set the trap up last night because my coddling wife was worried about me releasing the little guys in the middle of a storm. We will revisit the catch and release plan early next week.

A game of cat and mouse

When the cat is away the mice will play… paintball?

When Ferris was a young teen he and his buddies played paintball. He had a couple guns, one of those cool facemasks, and other various accoutrement. There were also some leftover paintballs.
Since he has grown into a strapping young man – these items have been relegated to a box in the basement.

A couple of weeks ago – my organized wife and I were tidying up the basement when we noticed little pink blobs and slimy streaks on the basement floor.
We, relatively quickly for two old ladies, realized these were expoloded paintballs.
We wondered if perhaps Ferris had decided this may be a fun new dorm toy, so I checked for his paintball box and it was still there... and seemingly intact.

We dismissed it as an isolated incident.

Well,over the last couple of days I think I have been smelling the tell tale aroma of a mouse making his final ascent. Last night I decided to rip apart the basement to try and find the little guy - to of course be sure he was laid to rest properly... in the pet cemetary we call our back yard.

In my quest for the little rodent, I came upon this -

These are paintballs. These paintballs have been placed under the furnace.

The paintballs came from this box:


See the paintballs laying on the top - these had been in sealed bags tucked under the gun, mask and tanks. Not only that, but this box is in a separate room no where near the furnace. The agile little critters opened the bags, took the paintballs up and out of the box, carried them out of the room and clear across the baesment to place them gently under the furnace. And other than those few little blobs of paint two weeks ago - we never saw a paintball.

Ok, so I can accept the fact that since the cat died we clearly have multiple rodent issues. But what's going on with the paintballs? Is it some wacky late night rodent football. Is under the furnace a goal?

Time to pull out the ole RTD.

off spring

Have I bragged about our kids lately.
Hmm, no?

well then…

First, I want to congratulate The Daughter The Therapist.
She passed her State LPC exam, the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) exam giving by the National Board of Certified Counselors.
So if you are in the neighborhood…and nuts – she is now licensed to help you.

We’re also very proud of Ferris – who made it through his first semester at college …gaining only a scant couple freshman pounds, doing his own laundry, oh and making the Dean’s List.

Friday

tip-o-day

Are you feeling ill effects from the winter? Do you feel listless, tired, do you poop out at parties? Are you unpoopular? (oops …a Lucy moment).

Maybe you have an unexplained lack of energy or are you getting a little short fused?

You will be surprised how much it helps with winter blues to get your house clean and orderly.

Your home is an integral part of your energy. Your home has energy flowing through it all the time. Feng Shui is the environmental science of this energy – and there are boat loads of info on this.
But on a smaller scale – and without doing a lot of research…
Energy in your home can be good or bad which can help or hinder you in your daily life. A cramped, cluttered home that’s dusty and disorganized will greatly affect the way you feel.

I am more pragmatic than most, and proudly consider myself shallow – but even I can feel the difference in our home when it’s cleaned and set right. I am more at ease, and I feel happier. Sometimes that’s enhanced by the several lite beers I partake after getting everything in order… but I digress.

So if you’re longing for the days of summer and feeling like you need more space and sunlight, take some time this weekend to do a good cleaning. Think of it as a way to pamper and care for yourself. Some folks may go to a spa, which while pleasant is short lived. Caring for yourself by caring for your home environment will have lasting effects.

If your home is particularly disorganized – start small. Take one room, perhaps your bedroom – which should be your sanctuary. Dust and vacuum everything including your window treatments and walls (which can be quickly dusted with one of those swiffer thingys). Wash your linens, hang out spreads and comforters and toss your pillows in the dryer at high heat for freshening.

If you are storing things under your bed, remove them. Keeping clutter hiding under your bed is not good for sleeping energy. Keeping it clear is good for air flow, which keeps your room fresher and also allows easy access for vacuuming and/or mopping.

Attics and basements are other great places to organize and purge unneeded stuff. You may think there is no harm in keeping piles clutter and useless stuff behind closed doors.
But – try this. Clean and organize your basement, throwing out anything you don’t use and making sure the stuff you do use is accessible and arranged by purpose.
Then sit in your living room and see how it makes you feel. You will feel a better flow of energy even in other rooms. Perhaps you won’t perceive it as energy. You may simply feel, at first, satisfied with a job well done.
But I promise it will feel good.
And… a couple of beers won’t hurt either.
Something about a good day of clutter clearing that just makes the cold ones flow better.

You make the diagnosis

Have you seen these new shows on TV? They give you a bunch of medical facts about someone and then a list of possible ailments.
I am really good at these, because not only do I watch DiscoveryHealth, but I have been watching TV medical shows my whole life.
I could intubate someone if I had to.

Today, you can play along in my psychosis by analyzing my dream from last night.

It goes something like this: (cue eerie music and fog...)

I get onto an escalator, which seems to be in a mall type setting. The escalator is unusual in that it's covered – picture a tube... with moving stairs. I suppose it was somewhat like those kiddie slides you see at playgrounds.
I crouched down to get on and then sit once inside, because it was pretty small. I think about how difficult it would be for someone larger than me, and how silly to have such a thing at the mall.
As I descend I that creepy feeling that I have done this before, and on that previous occasion I just barely fit through the opening at the bottom. I feel my anxiety rise as I approach the bottom. I see the opening, size it up. Just as my feet pass through I realize it's too small.

I hear a squelch sort of sound as my legs are stopped by the small opening.
I am stuck.
I tap on the tube, and call for help. I remember to panic. Claustrophobia washes over me. I look down at my feet poking through the small hole. I notice I am wearing cream colored pumps. I may also be wearing a matching cream skirt and jacket.


Then... I woke up.

well??

Luckily for me we are having dinner with The Daughter The Therapist tonight.
Hopefully she will read today's entry before we go and possibly jot down some notes and come up with some theories.

We have a little basket with a couple magazines in our bathroom, just in case you find yourself with some time to pass.
One of them is a health and well-being type of magazine.
It has an article on things you can do to boost your memory… especially as you age.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read this article.

Because Grandpa says so

Tidying up the basement this week has got me thinking about a number of organizational and basement improvement type projects. One of these projects was rebuilding the basement stairs.
These stairs are probably original to the house making them circa 1935. They look like they were built from scrap wood laying around after the house was complete. Add to that some of the stair treads toward the bottom are missing chunks from our first Labrador. They are pretty ugly.

I was excited about the challenge of rebuilding them because they are steep and far from any sort of standard run/rise combination. I looked forward to measuring, making calculations and drawings, re-measuring, redrawing…etc.

Well last night, my devoted wife’s brother stopped over for a visit. He is a carpenter and master craftsman.
Normally, when I tell him of one of my crazy ideas –he is right on board, often lending advice on how to measure or what materials may work best.
When I mentioned the stair project to him last night, he gazed down the stairs shaking his head in a patient, all-knowing sorta way…
“You don’t want to touch those.” he said. “Those are grandfathered.”

Who would ever disagree with their grandfather? Grandfathers are old.
This means they know.
They know most everything.
They have seen it, done it and been there… perhaps several times.

And so by being ‘grandfathered in’ – our stairs... which do meet new codes or regulations –can stay, no questions asked.
Because they are already here and have been here for a really long time, and they are old and wise and have seen it all.

And so when your master craftsman brother in-law tells you something’s been ‘grandfathered’… don’t ask questions.
Put down the tape measure and back away from the tool box.

A good purge

Our recent oil tank incident has caused a flurry of activity in our house this past week.
Since we needed to quickly rearrange things to move them away from the old leaky, smelly oil tank, we took the opportunity to get rid of alot of it and reorganize the remainder.

Purging can be so satisfying... just ask Sassy.

Now we have a garage full of junk rather than a basement full of junk.
This will be organized into three areas:
stuff to sell
stuff to toss
and our favorite... stuff to put at the curb for free.

We do this alot.
It's like sport for us.
We take perfectly good stuff that we no longer use and set it out at the curb to see how long it takes for someone to snatch it up. We do it so often that folks probably wait with great anticipation to see what we will put out next. We actually have an old (working) air conditioner that we are saving for just such an occasion. We want to wait until next summer when its like 99 degrees out - then put the old A/C out at the curb with a FREE sign on it...
That's gotta make somebody's day.

Oh, and of course, all this tidying and purging has also spawned some ideas for new projects... more on this later.

...later that same day

Look!

it fit down the stairs!


Its all done, and the house is almost warm again.

They did manage to put a big scratch in the side. I am not to happy about that. Because its important for me to have a shiny new, scratch free oil tank. (I may have to touch it up).

Now I must go and vacuum and mop up after the installers.

Our Old House

Nothing is ever easy here.

The new oil tank is being installed today.
Here is our old one. The heating guy said this tank is probably 70 years old being the original tank from when the house was converted from coal.

Yes, it's a stone basement. I believe the floor used to be dirt. But at some point an inch of concrete was poured down there.

Because of the lack of a separate entrance to the basement and the narrow stairs... today's project will be a challenge.
The fellows who are doing the install tho are familiar with these issues. We live in an old farm house - and there are many in these parts (sprinkled in with the McMansions), so they have a plan.
First, the old tank will be drained and washed clean. The oil, about 175 gallons, will be stored in drums and tansferred to the new tank.
Then they will cut the old tank to fit it up and out the stairs.

Our new tank will be slightly smaller, 22" wide, and 240 gallons rather than the standard of 275.
Here it is in the driveway.

Fitting the 22" tank down the narrow stairs is still really just a theory. If it won't go - we can actually get two small tanks which they can tandem.
We are really hoping this is not necessary tho, as it jacks up the price by a grand.

I told my frugal wife not to worry - I would find a way to get this tank down the stairs no matter what... I will start taking down walls if I have to.

They will also need to replace our vent line, as its not up to code (really... in this house... what is).
This will require widening the outlet through our stone basement walls. I hope this works out easily. But with this old house - I wouldn't put money on it.

Friday

tip-o-day

If you live in an old home, like we do, keep an eye and a nose on your indoor oil tank.
They are much, much easier to replace in the summer ... when there is not 250 gallons of oil in them.

Look underneath your tank often. And if you smell oil... you've waited to long.

Oh..right

It occurs to me that I never followed up on our counter installation.
(well...it didn't actually occur to me - I was reminded)

Plus, we needed some extra time to finish the back splash for the final pictures. (ok, ok not that much time)

Ok so...
the counters used to be green, and clearly that needed to change.




As I told you the installation was harrowing:

First we removed the old counter. We put the old counter on sawhorses close by so we could use it as a reference. Tho we quickly learned that we would not be able to transfer the old measurements. I began to panic.
Lucky me, my mathematical wife steps in with a pencil:

After penciling in the proper measurements, she adds tape so that the foot of the saw won't scratch the new counter.

My intelligent and attractive wife has me check the final measurements one more time. You get one shot with a sink hole. If you mess up - you can toss the whole counter out:


Then we use a hole saw in each corner:


After all four holes are drilled we simply cut the straight edges with a jig saw. I am using a small kerf laminate (down-cut) blade, so as not to chip the laminate during the cut.

Look! it FITS!

Some things we leave to the professionals. The plumber came the next day.


Then my creative wife finished up with a stone tile back splash (during this process I got to wipe things, get her fresh water, and open the wine when she was done).





Notice the sink rack in the bottom of the oddly shaped sink. Initially we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get a rack to protect our happy new sink - but we dismayed with the selection. I found these custom racks made by the manufacturer online. I do so love the internets.

I'm not a felon, but they don't know that yet

Next week, here at the office, we are all going to be fingerprinted.
No one has given us an actual, plausible explanation - tho its fairly obvious... since we work with highly confidential personal data.

As to be expected, many folks are in a nit about it.
Personally, I am excited. I don't think I have ever been fingerprinted.
Well... there was that 'incident' in upstate New York. Tho I can't quite remember if they fingerprinted me or not.

I felt like I was in Mayberry.
The synopsis goes like this:
- around midnight driving through nowhere on our way to Canada, circa 1989
- stopped for really minor traffic violation
- I was a passenger and arrested on an open container charge
- my empty beer bottle was marked as 'Exhibit A'
- almost got into more trouble for laughing at the labeling of my Michelob
- I had to ride in the patrol car to the police station/court house
- the officer and I chatted about real estate prices and rising insurance costs
- the judge was called in from home, he was wearing a flannel shirt
- I was asked if I wanted a lawyer, and again... the laughing
- I pleaded guilty to drinking a beer (technically it was only 1/2 a beer...)
- payed a 20.00 fine to be release into the custody of my giggling wife

This can't possibly come up on my record... can it?
Ha!

Let’s just say

Let’s just say you were approaching the entrance to your favorite local shop.
You notice as you get closer that someone else is also heading for the door.
Do you speed up to reach the door and let it close behind you so that you are in first?
Then why do you do that in your car?

Let’s just say you are walking along a park path. Ahead of you is an elderly couple, holding hands and enjoying a leisurely walk. Suddenly you realize the time and need to brisk your pace to get back for an appointment.
Do you yell at the old couple as you approach from behind, and then scowl at them as you pass in your haste?
Then why do you do that in your car?

Let’s just say you walk into the bank and need to see a teller for your transaction.
You notice there are a number of people waiting in a roped line.
Do you bypass the line and go directly to the front to be waited on next?
Then why do you do that in your car?

Let’s just say you are a thoughtful, courteous person – who tends to open doors for others, help a lost person, be patient and kind.
Then why aren’t you like that your car?

Circle the wagons

I keep falling off damn wagons.
Well, technically, I was never really on the wagon per se...

In my ongoing determination to lose weight, I had decided several weeks ago to cut back on my beer consumption. It's just so many calories, and... being a middle aged woman I just don't metabolize alcohol like back in the day.
(which is mostly just the universe telling me enough is enough old woman, you ain't 20 anymore)

I had a bit of a setback this weekend.
But its Monday... I am now planted firmly in my wagon seat, hands on the reigns, keeping a look out for angry natives, with a Perrier by my side.