Mixed Bag #437
Posted on December 5, 2008 - Filed Under Dear Readers..., Life, brain farts, mixed bag, update
Okay, so first - here are some incredible photographs that a friend sent me. I was very impressed and really it’s nice to start the day off with something beautiful and awesome, right?
Amazing, aren’t they? And hopefully a good substitute for pics of the trip which I still have to transfer over from little computer to big computer (don’t hold your collective breath in other words).
It is day ten of my residency in my new home state. We have gotten most of (about half really) his stuff out of his old apartment - and most important of which was the office cubicle which he built and designed and is really quite ingenius. I’m secretly hoping I will get one built for me. Almost like having your own little spaceship, seriously… Anyway, most of the heavy, difficult stuff is moved, now we are down to boxing of books, books and more books and other box worthy stuff.
We have cable, internet and phone and have been inhabiting the new house for four days. I got in half my flower bulbs yesterday (once the yard got the idea who was boss, that is - very evil crab grass in there) - it was a perfect day- sunny, chilly and cloudless sky. At the very least I will have daffodils and irises coming up on the east side of the fence this spring. I plan to get the rest out front done by this weekend. Then I will put in the crocous in the back.
Will be crusing craigslist for stuff like a couch or something to sit on - which should be great fun with no budget. Haha. Ain’t life grand? Actually I kind of enjoy the challenge - it makes my blood course just thinking about how I’m going to get everything I need with no resources. I know, there is something seriously wrong with me, eh?
Yesterday after much torment and confusion, we finally found out why the internet connection did not like my pc and sorted it all out so that they are talking and have become good friends. I can’t tell you how magical it is to be writing this post from my desktop pc with my big 22 inch monitor and full keyboard. It’s like an early Christmas, I have to tell you.
We found out why it was so fricking cold in here - seems the chimney flue was stuck open and not seated right. So we cleaned out all the fireplace crud, re-seated the flue and the change in temp is amazing. It does seem that the heater actually does work, which was in question earlier. Also, it’s just nice to not have to sleep in you overcoat and boots, don’t you think?
Maggie and Boodie are adapting nicely - starting to get some winter coats happening. Though Boodie, being the fat and lazy creature she is, has spent most of her time burrowed under the blankets in the made bed and has become quite adept at concealing the fact that she is in there. The other day I thought I’d lost her, that she’d gotten out and was a frozen cat on a stick somewhere, when I spied a suspicious lump on the bed. She has gotten more extroverted though since she seems to have realized that Roomie’s (ex roomie I mean) evil cats aren’t about anymore. By spring she’ll be stalking squirrels outside I suspect.
Hopefully by this weekend we have all the moving stuff done and all the stuff over here. We will have to sort it as we go along. Next week, must find work, gig or job or all three. Otherwise there won’t be any Christmas around here to speak of - although worse things have happened and it wouldn’t be the end of the world, you know?
All in all, we are doing good - recovering, still exhausted but managing to get some sleep and make some progress. Hopefully, I’m back to at least semi-regular blogging too. I’ve missed it and you guys, believe me.
But that’s all the boring details of what we’ve been up to. See you on the rebound.
Deja Move
Posted on November 30, 2008 - Filed Under Just For Fun, adventure, back to work, brain farts
Hello again, yup I am back and yet I’m not…let me explain. It all started when I decided to move from the West Coast to the East Coast. There were garage sales and last time lunches, planes to meet, car repairs and in the end I was left with one blue car, one small dog, one fat cat, all that my trunk could hold (which turned out to be quite a bit more than I had thought), a very small amount of cash and an already weary boyfriend -plus some free road maps.
With this we began a trek toward ‘home’ new for me, old for him - with a couple of stops - and a pretty grueling driving schedule. By the time we arrived in the promised land I was ready to explode or maybe it was implode- if I never saw the inside of a car again it would have been all right with me. Once we got out of that torture chamber I was loathe to return to it.
The next couple of days were spent shopping for food, the neighborhood tour, sleeping, eating and other pleasant activities. Life was good once again. Then Black Friday rolled around and we were back at it again-because you see I am moving yet again. Well, I am not moving, I suppose technically I haven’t really moved yet, simply found a holding station until ‘we’ move.
On Friday, I did get over to our new house and unloaded everything that was in the blue car, cleaned a lot and organized what there was to organize. Took a walking tour around the neighborhood which is pretty good and has many nearby shopping locations which can provide for pretty much anything we need- which is good news for my cardio and my fat ass.
Saturday, back to the new house with some boxes and things from his place- and installing new locks on the doors -setting up temporary tethering for aforementioned small dog and discussion of placement of various belongings and workstations as well as getting doggie familiar with space.
Today it is raining not a good moving day kind of day - so we get boxes and box things today. Must be there early tomorrow to meet cable person for tv, internet & phone and then I guess it is flat out moving. I really am hoping that once we move this time, it really is for good and there will be no surprise or guest moves because I would simply have to kill someone if there were. We did manage to get a bed over there and I got some daffodil, iris & crocus bulbs(with appropriate hand tools) which I will plant along the front fence, around the guest house and around the deck for some wonderful springtime color and delight.
Tomorrow, we spend our first night in the new house which I suppose will officially make it home, though truth be told it will be days before we get everything over there. Anyway, at least I should be operating from the desktop instead of this measely little laptop-praise Jesus!
Again, will try to stick my head in to say, ‘hi’ but can’t promise much. So, how was your weekend?
The Zen of Moving
Posted on November 17, 2008 - Filed Under adventure, brain farts, breathe
I know that most people hate to move, and I am certainly among them. You get used to being in a certain space and surrounded by certain familiar objects and material possessions. Even if you aren’t particularly happy in that space or with those possessions, there is a security in the constancy of it.
When you decide to move you introduce change into the scene and even though it will be better for you in the long run, the short term does get to you. There is all the initial having to move things around, boxes, trucks, yard sales, all the not so fun stuff. Your once peaceful space becomes chaos and it’s easy to feel like your life is chaos too, even though it really isn’t. It’s simply changing.
No matter what people say or think they think, the truth is, we don’t like to change, not if there is any effort involved. We like things to stay the same, stay predictable. I know in my case that is true - at least in my living arrangements. I like that sameness and not having to think about it much. It enables me to go and do other things, things I deem more important and interesting. Know what I mean?
However, there is another aspect to all this change and moving that is interesting to me. I find that once I get through all the effort of getting my butt into gear, get into action about things, that a kind of nice change comes over me. A sort of zen experience if you will. There is something good for the soul, I think, to every now and then get rid of everything that isn’t absolutely essential in your life. It’s very freeing and you can even feel physically lighter. As though you have much more mobility and aren’t tethered or harnassed. And I have to say that’s a pretty cool thing.
And as I now am rapidly approaching the actual move date and I’ve condensed my belongings down to one pretty small pile, I feel myself lightening up. Feeling a bit freer and more open to change and new adventures. In this case, for me, that certainly will be the outcome.
Sure there will be more effort - the drive, moving all our stuff into the new place, finding stuff that we need, arranging and rearranging and then the settling into the safe predictable space once again. But for now, I’m grooving on the zen and it ain’t bad. Ain’t bad at all.
Please Buy My Crap
Posted on November 16, 2008 - Filed Under Just For Fun, adventure, brain farts
So, yesterday was the big garage sale. The fact that it was the the hottest, windiest day of the year and a forest fire was blazing just five miles away didn’t stop me. Nope, I was up at 5 am and dragging crap around in front of the house.
Now there is a special way to lay out a garage sale when you’re in 25mile per hour winds. Have to be extra careful of glass items and God forbid you don’t anchor the clothes to the trees, just right. You know? So much for a nice display. I was just trying to keep everything from flying over the hill onto the freeway, lest I be the inadvertant cause of a 20 car pile up.
I was encouraged when I got some early birders who bought stuff right off. But there were long lulls of dry winds and nobody coming by. I listed the sale on Craigslist (everybody knows craigslist, right?) but I doubt any of the people who came by had anything to do with that since you end up so far down the list so fast that it ain’t funny. Luckily Roomie was in a good mood and made signs and kept going out to scout new places to hang them. I’m sure that’s the only reason anyone came off the beaten path to check out my wares. And he kept me company too (for part of the day anyway) which helped.
What was really strange is what sold. I expected things like furniture to go quickly but it didnt. In fact, most of my weirder stuff sold. Like the little elf suit I bought my dog last year so I could take pictures of her in it for xmas. A cheap clip on lamp - my old boom box, purses, costume jewelry, vhs tapes and cassettes.
To my utter shock and dismay nobody bit on the furniture - nobody needed a desk or a hutch or bookshelves, apparently. I guess if it wasn’t weird they didn’t want it. Go figure. God Bless Roomie for loading all that crap up in his truck and dragging it down to the thrift store for me. I have a trunkful of odds and ends to drop myself but there you have it.
Considering few of the ‘big ticket items’ (if one can say such a thing of a garage sale) sold, I did okay. I mean, what can you expect? You are essentially asking people to buy your crap and well if the weather isn’t nice and you’re not on a freeway off ramp, it is rather inconvenient for them to come by and pick through your possessions like black crows on a roadkill, you know? So, I got some pocket money and some gas money and I guess that is something to be grateful for.
The funny thing is that even though it feels a little weird to sell your stuff and sit on the floor in a nearly empty room, writing a post with the keyboard in your lap, it is kind of freeing to let go of all of it. Something about being down to few material goods does something for me every now and then. And really how hard is it to replace things that have no true sentimental value to you?
Though by the time 1 o’clock rolled around I was exhausted and every muscle in my body ached. I slept nine hours last night, which was good since I really needed it. I still feel a little creaky and that I’m too old for the crap but I’ll get over it.
Today, I clean and clean and then clean some more. Yay, one of my favorite activities. At least I’ll have breffy with Zelda first and a quick trip to Target for moving supplies. I love field trips, don’t you?
Anyway friends, I’m that much closer to kissing L.A. goodbye and moving onto my new life. And that’s a good thing.
Bad Dreams
Posted on November 14, 2008 - Filed Under Dreams, brain farts, really stupid shit
So, here I am at 1 AM plus sitting at my computer keyboard cuz I had a dream that scared the bageebers outta me. Luckily I was smart enough to wake up or I could be lost in the depths of a bad plot about a doctor going crazy on my ass. You know? But you have to love dreams, don’t you? For all their Alice in Wonderland, crazy plot twists and casts of characters. This one, which thankfully, I vaguely remember was about some doctor who was lecturing me about stealing from him and he was going to ‘get’ me and somehow an old boyfriend figured into the scenario too but he had something to do with critiques on flavors of candy he had invented as well as sleep remedies. And somebody must have been beating me with a stick too because my neck is killing me. Aside from the old boyfriend, I have never met any of the people in the dream, which is freaky cuz man they seem real, so maybe it’s just a novel I need to write that is calling to me from badfuckingdreamland or I shouldn’t have eaten the cheese cracker thingies Roomie offered me last night?
I do (and have often) wonder where these kind of dreams come from. I know there is much psychobabble dedicated to dreams and their ‘meanings’ which for the most part I think is a bunch of hogwash. I mean seriously, how much can you trust the ‘unconscious mind’? It’s unconscious for a reason, right? You don’t trust unconscious people, do you? So why would you put any stock in a mind that was unconscious and what it was trying to tell you? Like babies and puppy dogs, while they are amazingly cute and lovable, if they were giving you advice, would you listen? I think not.
I do, however, believe in premonitions that sometimes come in dreams, as some of those have really hit the mark for me personally. I wonder if there is a difference? There must be, otherwise they’d be as nonsensical as the other dreams, wouldn’t they?
Like my dream, I’m probably not making any sense - or maybe I really can write in my sleep - I guess I’ll let you be the judge of that - but again, what is up with these dreams anyway? Are they just from stress or a string of weird thoughts, snippets of television shows and bad cheese and crackers? I think they are. I think the body just can’t take what we deal out often in our daily lives and so it revolts at night when we aren’t paying attention by causing us to hallucinate about non-existant jobs, trips and blind dates. It is ‘its’ way of getting back at us for not taking good enough care of it. Not feeding it right, pushing it to the point of exhaustion and then forcing it eat and drink very weird stuff (as far as it is concerned anyway).
I have no real point here, I am simply jabbering in the hopes the last vestiges of the dream melts like cotton candy and I can go back to sleep. Any thoughts?
Road Trip Part Deux
Posted on November 13, 2008 - Filed Under Random Thoughts, Road Trip, adventure, brain farts
The last time I took a road trip was when I had a huge mental lapse and decided to move to Florida. I did write a post about it but I think I was still suffering post traumatic traveling syndrome when I did. Let me give you the Reader’s Digest version. Bad break up, needed a ‘change’, hey, Florida sounds good. Sold everything I owned, including two antique cherry dressers that I refinished myself, my favorite impressionist print of all time, a great chair and blah blah blah.
I cried when I got to Florida and pretty much cried every day until I left. To say I hated it was putting it mildly. My conclusion about Florida was that it was simply a swamp that the critters were trying to reclaim and as far as I was concerned they were doing a damn good job of it. Did you know that mold grows on everthing there? Seriously. My butter even grew mold on it. That’s just scary.
Anyway, so I quickly put everything in reverse and went running back to California and practically kissed the ground when I crossed the border. I decided at that point that the next time I left California (as I knew I would) that it was going to be for a much better reason - and so there is.
Although there are some similarities, such as I’m selling most of my stuff - hey if you ‘re in the neighborhood, drop by the garage sale - although nothing treasured, strictly utilitarian stuff. I am driving but in a much better, more comfortable car and have a driving partner. There are are a lot of ‘unknowns’ about where I’m going. Never been there - don’t know a thing about it, not really. Of course my trusty pets Maggie and Boodie will be coming along, so I’ll have at least two other friends.
The differences of course, are many. For one thing I’m not running away from anything (except maybe smog and bad drivers). It’s not about becoming invisible, it’s about enriching my life, making my life bigger, better. I’m not surrendering, I’m celebrating.
I have a feeling this will be no repeat of Florida actually it’s more than a feeling - I know it won’t be.
It will be a road trip to remember, punctuated with funny stories, new sights, snap shots, and joy. I can’t wait.
Cha-Cha-Changes…
Posted on November 11, 2008 - Filed Under adventure, brain farts, changing seasons
I don’t know about you but I hate change and yet I love it. I love the newness and the excitement and honestly the whole mystery of it. What will it be like, where will I go, who will I meet, what will I see? On the other hand, being the lazy slug that I am, I hate changing anything - sometimes I don’t even change out of my pajamas, especially if it’s cold and the coffee is good and I get involved in something…I can go days just sitting in front of my computer. It’s pathetic really, I didn’t even know who’d been elected until Roomie came home and blurted it out before I could stop him. So see we have your classic love/hate relationship going on with change here.
So what is that all about? Is it simply comfort? We get comfortable with where/how things are and are loathe to alter things because we might have to actually put on our shoes or brush our teeth? Talk to another human being? Have I (we) become incurable couch potatoes? In my case, I suppose the answer would be yes, typically.
However, if I really think about it, this entire year has been all about change for me. Which could account for all my whining and sissy-assed behavior. Things that I always thought would be the same, weren’t. The unthinkable happened to someone I dearly love. Wonderful, surprising things happened that I never could have guessed in a thousand years or believed had someone told me it was going to happen. But more than anything my outlook has changed, it’s definitely more positive and filled with much hope and joy for the future. There is a whole lot more activity going on in the old gray matter - which has sort of had the affect of making me seem like Rain Man’s older sister or something. I laugh a lot more and smile a lot more. Which is really pretty amazing when I consider that a few months ago things seemed awfully glum, terribly sad and even hopeless.
So perhaps I have become an advocate for change. Not just for the sake of the change, I mean I could rearrange the furniture for that - but for new things, good things.
I know most of you are probably scratching your heads and thinking, ‘wtf is she talking about?’ that’s okay too. Maybe I’m just thinking out loud. Bottom line is that one thing, one incident can change everything and maybe that’s the way it’s meant to be. If you ask, it is.
How about you, any good changes happening for you?
Wake Up People, It’s Monday!
Posted on November 10, 2008 - Filed Under Life, brain farts, mixed bag
Hey Guys!
So, did you miss me? I missed you too. Well actually, there were times when I didn’t even think about blogs or blogging or any of you because well I was thinking of other things - but I didn’t forget you.
So let’s see…okay, first of all we are suspending Theme Fridays for the time being, probably til after the 1st of the New Year. All of us have various things that have us swamped and distracted and so after much discussion and deliberation we’ve decided to suspend for now. I will however, probably still do some sort of fiction thing on Fridays, it just won’t be a group thing with reciprocal links.
My friend Kelly, who you may remember was in a bad car accident last Spring is doing much better, so much better in fact that her doctors have agreed to put the part of her skull that they had to remove when she had the accident, back in. It will be a late Christmas present and the surgery will be at the end of December. We’re all excited because then she will look really good in hats again. (She thought that was funny, come on, people, lighten up). And to celebrate she sent you this vid:
Quite a little toe tapper, ain’t it?
You’ll all be delighted to know I have refined my chicken vegetable soup recipe to perfection. Feel free to email me for a copy.
I pulled a hamstring because I had the good sense to decide to exercise in an attempt to decrease the size of my fat ass. Feel free to send flowers and chocolates. It’s all better now though.
I came up with a brilliant business idea which I think will be tre’s cool and make us a lot of money (I have a partner) and I’m working on the website now.
And…let’s see what else? Oh yeah, I’m in love and going to be moving to the east coast soon.
Okay, that’s about it.
Have a great Monday.
Heads Up
Posted on November 5, 2008 - Filed Under brain farts, excuses-excuses, heads up
I’m late, I’m late, I’m very, very late…. Oh my ears and whiskers…
Okay, so perhaps some of you have been wondering what the heck I’ve been up to lately - rightfully so, I’ve not been by your blogs (my bad) and haven’t been power posting much lately either… Well, sorry not going to tell you the specifics, but suffice to say that I have some plans for the future which are demanding my time right now, so I’m taking the rest of the week off of blogging (probably, unless I get a hair up my ass kind of post I can’t resist writing). Which means that we won’t have a Theme Friday post either (although Panther may do one, so check her blog out).
I have been a bad little blogger and I will someday make it up to one and all - but not this week.
I will try to get around to some of your places, if time allows - but I absolutely must get these things done if I have any hope of reaching my target for the thing I’m not telling you about. You see? Aren’t you glad I clarified that? I know I feel better.
So, wish me luck and I’ll see y’all next week. Otay? If you get lonely for me and my rapier wit, feel free to email or just dig through the archives - you might at least find a recipe you like, eh?
Love you guys.
Welcome to the People’s Republic of America
Posted on November 4, 2008 - Filed Under Election 2008, Politics, brain farts, little rants, rest in peace, sarcasm, yoiks
Okay, America if this is what you want, then I hope you’re happy. I for one, will be stuffing my mattress with money and stocking up on those MRE’s and survival gear. If you think the last eight years was bad news I don’t think you’re prepared with what will be coming our way over the next four (my prediction). Apparently, all it takes to become president of this once great country, is to put on a helluva campaign. I wonder if I could become CEO of GM after 13 months of selling cars in their backlot. (Heck maybe I could even run for Prez, once the implosion happens.)
I know a lot of you out there, love this man and I have never really been able to figure out why - but I hope the love affair continues - but I have my doubts. Serious ones.
Oh well, at the very least it should be good for some blog fodder, providing political descension is still Constitutional come January - there’s always Grit’s farm I suppose.
Congrats to those who wanted change - I just hope it’s the kind of change we all want. Somehow I doubt it and I’m certainly not holding my breath. Anybody got change for 10 Euronote? I need a drink.
