Hiiii Deee Ho!

Wow! It's been a while since I've said anything on here. Studying for the CLA exam pretty much consumed the end of September through the end of November. It was a good test and I enjoyed seeing my sister, though I have to say, seeing my Mother was hard. The trip back to Oklahoma was a taxing one all the way around. First I landed on Wednesday evening and went home with my sister and saw my Mom there in the Hospital (this was, by the way, November 30). Mom had been in the hospital either in Stillwater or Perry since October 3. Anyway, we got to the hospital and there was Mom. She had lost all ability to get up and walk at all, even as crummy as she was walking the last time I saw her. So there was that....and the next day I spent the day getting prepped for the test and resting up from the trip and seeing Mom. The day after that was day 1 of the test, and that was in Tulsa, 90 miles away. This is me at the Tulsa Community College on day 1 of the test.
After the test, I managed to get myself lost on the way back to Perry, so when I got to Stillwater, I stopped off and ate at El Chico - which, for those of you reading this who don't know, it's a bomb Mexican restaurant chain that I miss from my Tex/OK days. It was good, and I got through the 2nd day of the test okay too. On the second day, however, there was a horrific writing exam where we had to write a brief on a legal fact scenario and apply some law that was given to us. I had a hard time with it, and when I was reading through it the 3rd time that a woman walked up to the Procor and turned her exam in. Made me feel stupid for about a split second until I realized that she was crying. She told the Proctor that she didn't even know what to do, and that she was sorry. That meant that she failed that section of the exam since that particular question was worth 75% of it. Oh well.
Anyway, I got through it and had a few days to visit with my sister and my Mom. Mom is in bad shape. I don't want to say any more about that really. There are still all kinds of ongoing problems with that, and I send my love and sympathy to her, and to my sister who is working hard to take care of her.

So, I had a great birthday also. Turned another year older. It was a good one. The day before Kristopher and I went to Sushi with Nick, Maggie, Terry and Geoff and Marianne. It was fun except for the fact that there were not enough chairs at the bar for us all to sit there, so Kristopher sat with Geoff and Marianne and it was like they were in a separate party. But you can't have everything. The next day I got up and went to coffee, then to Macy's and got myself a pair of new jeans and a new shirt. I knew that kristopher was taking me somewhere for dinner, but I didn't know where at the time. I went home and had a brand new DS waiting for me all wrapped up on the kitchen table. It was very cool. It is a beautiful red one with a cool case and Brain Age II. Then, my little hubby took me to the Space Needle for my birthday dinner. He didn't spare any expense. It was very nice. I had the prime rib and Kristopher had a steak. It was a great birthday. Okay . . . that pretty much catches us up with the exception of what I have a buncha pictures for. On Tuesday of this week when I got my tattoo. Yay! :) I was so happy to get it done.

It was done by a dude named Hippie John at ColorBomb Tattoo here in Lynnwood. I went there last Saturday (after all, Andrea had one done on her birthday just after she walked in the door and announced that she wanted one). I didn't get to do that because what I wanted wasn't in any of their books, and Hippie needed to draw it up on the light board. So, we settled in on a design, and I went back the next day to get it fixed on my chest, then he made the appointment to do the tattoo on Tuesday of this week. Here I am just before I went in to lay on Hippie's table:

I wasn't scared, just tired from working all day and taking time out to go to the doctor - spine dude. Anyway it wasn't long and Hippie came to get me. We got started at 6:49 p.m. and got finished at 10:10 p.m. I was STARVIN' by the time I got home. Anyway, here are some of the pics from the big event.

The above pictures and the very next one were taken by a dude there at the shop named Berger. He is a wanna be tattoo artist and works the front counter. The tattoo dudes were constently yelling "Goddammit Berger!" for no reason. It was fun. They were razzin' the new dude. Anyway, here's another Berger special showing Hippie John doin' his thang with the cornucopia on my chest.

Isn't it beautiful? I'm gonna be wearin' it for a looooooong time to come.

It was worth all the time and effort. And Hippie John is a great tattoo artist, and an artist he is. :) Here it is close to being finished.
Both Hippie and I were ready for it to be done when it was, but he stuck with it and did a fantastic job. Okay....I just reailzed that it is after midnight and we have stayed up night after night and it's getting old! I have to get up and go to work in the morning. So, goodnight all.

Andrea's New Car

Last weekend (not this Labor Day weekend, but the one just before that), was a big one 'round the old homestead because Missy Andrea-head got a new car. Sick of wrestling with old cars, we (and I suppose I'm using the "royal we" here) made the executive decision to buy her a new one with a full 10-year/100,000 mile warranty. Here are some pics of her with her new baby.

Of course, I caught no end of crap from my son who managed to tell me that I never did anything for him ever in his life, and how his "mother in law" (I put that in quotes because he's not really married to the girl he's living with) has been there for him more than I have, blah, blah, blah....and how it didn't count that I bought him, outright, a $2000 Honda Prelude, which he loved. Mind you, the daughter is responsbile for making the payments on this new little car. That's part of the deal. Help her to grow up while she's got a net (me) underneath her. But he didn't seem to care much about that fact, nor in fact, give it any credence at all. Oh well. It is typical of kids that they tell you how you have ruined their life, and if they have siblings, how much better you treat the other than they ever treated you. My turn, I guess. I know that my brother and sisters gave my mother similar crap when I was growing up. The older I get, the more I see life as a circle.

As for my part, I will continue to do whatever it is I can for my children for the time and circumstances I'm in, and just hope, that when the circle comes around on them, they remember.

Charlotte's Web, Witches in the Stix, and Happy Birthday Blogger!

This here's Charlotte! She's our newest tenant here at casa de Skelton and she is living above the doorway to and from the garage at the back. (My husband would say that she is living in the doorway of his shop - and really that's true, as one of her threads is attached to his blacksmith sign. E.B. White would be proud. :) I can't help wishing that she would spin some words into her web. Maybe she could write, "BAD ASS" or "TIME TO MOW" and we could hang out by her web and intake her wisdom.

I can't believe that blogger is 8 years old. Let's see...I only found it what, two years ago? I think it's cool to keep an Internet diary - so long as you are not stupid about it, as I believe I mentioned in another post. We live in a country that is tenuously free - that freedom can be taken at any time, really as it is only there as a matter of social compact that is solidified into laws. But solid things have a way of revealing their transitive nature at some of the most inopportune times - so just a little caution is called for.

Things have been so busy I haven't had a chance to put up a decent post in a while. But the husband is sitting here next to me watching "New Hope" on his laptop, and I am refusing to study tonight (I gotta at least have my Friday night, man...at least until the test gets a bit closer)

So I got a few pictures from our camporee adventure at the first of August that I thought I would share here. A little segment I like to call....Witches in the Stix. Dun dun duuuuuuuuun.

I don't even know what I was thinkin' when I laid these sticks out and took a picture of them. Don't remember that at all. There's evidence of why in the next shot.

This second one is of me sitting at one of the tables at our campsite copying in my big book. Notice the empty bottle of Ameretto sitting in front of me. Possibly something to do with my lack of memory of the finer points and details of the camping trip. It was nice to be outside and be working on my book. I do remember that much.


This next one is of my little man using our "La Douche de Camp" or... Camp Shower. :) Instead of calling each other douche bags now, we just call each other "camp showers." Works for me. I think he probably wishes the sun had come out for just a while and warmed that water. Bless his heart. I, on the other hand, went up the hill with my tokens from Miss Lori and got myself a hot shower in the pay-can.



I've got more pictures from camping, but they are of peeps I don't know how they would feel about being put up on the Internet. Remember that minimal level of care thing?

But here's one more thing I can show you before the Xanax kicks in....Princess Skwiik. Yes, it's Skwiik. Her name has stuck but the spelling has changed. She's been named with the beloved wii in mind. ;) And here she is....what a little doll.



And that's about it for tonight. Not too verbose, but lots of pics. I need to blog more because I need to get in the writing practice in anticipation of my CLA/CP exam in November. I'm discovering that mental skills, like physical skills, get very, very rusty from lack of use. But I'm putting on the old Navel Jelly and hoping ot knock it back down to shiny steel. :)

Now I'm gonna go check out the new tools on blogger. I think it's really cool that they have pivoted information on the profiles. I've always liked this venue soooooo much better than My Space. I still keep a page out there because I still need to keep an eye on my daughter and make sure she isn't trying to peddle herself on the Internet or anything like that, but Blogger is my fav. Nighty Night!

Glory Hallelujah.....

I don't know why I just said that...or really what the Hell it was about. Just felt like titling this post that way. Lots has happened since my last entry. We had a great campout with our pointy-hatted little friends out in the wilds of Sequim. It was a grand time with only a mishap or two not worth mentioning. Kristopher and I made stew our first night there and had that with Popeyes biscuits and it was like bein' on the trail with a chuck wagon.

We didn't tell any ghost stories around the campfire or anything like that - but there was a Lammas ritual in a perfect little grove and there was a Wicker Man about 9 ft. tall with a holly head and a wicker basket heart.

And here I am, a good 10 days after I started this post trying to remember what my point was in even making it. Sadly, it is lost!

But I'm gonna put it up anyway because it's been a while since I posted. I just got finished reading a quick blurb on MySpace where one of the people who is on my friend's list just got fired from her job for posting to her MySpace blog about her job. Daaaaang. People, get a clue. Don't post stuff on the Internet about your employer, your job, what you hate, what you like about it....NOTHING. It can come to no good. I've mentioned in my profile that I work for a large downtown law firm in Seattle, and that's all you're gettin'! I'm not gonna talk about my employer and sully up my job because I want to vent about a bad day, bad week, month or year. Buy a fuckin' diary! Don't put it out here, because honey-bee, lemme tell ya...ain't nothin' private about electronic data. Beleive me, I know. It's my job to know.

Now be good and I'll talk to you later.

Goodbye Chico....

Got up this morning....made coffee, and was opening the blinds when I saw our little cockatiel, Chico, who had been with us for 9 years lying dead on the bottom of her cage. She was three years old when we got her which put her at 12 when she died. She was a good little bird who was very loving and would allow you to hold and handle her all you wanted. She was a hand-raised baby who had been given to us by a firend of mine who used t work at the law firm where I am currently employed. Her name was Liz Fitchen and she was leaving the city to move to the midwest to get married, and thought that two birds would be too much to take. So, she chose to take her pocket-parrot, Opus, instead of Chico, and left Chico to live with us. Chico was primarily my daughter Andrea's bird for a long time, but as teenagerhood settled in on my daughter and her room became more dark and uninviting, Chico's care began to flag as well, so, just about a year ago, maybe just over, I moved Chico out into the living room so she could be around where most of the family activity took place.

About two years ago we were all surprised by Chico when we discovered, by finding eggs in the bottom of her cage, that she was a "Chica" and not a "Chico" after all. Hmmmm....it explained why, all the years we had her, she didn't learn to talk. The females of the species just don't have as much capacity for it as the males.

In November of last year, I bought her a really nice cage, and she lived her remaining days with the light of day on her for as many hours as it was available in the sky. She loved her honey sticks and spray millet. She would only squawk and squeak when she was hungry or needed new water. She was a great little pet, but now she's free. She's free to fly the blue skies beyond the boundaries of this flesh-life.

These pictures of Chico (whom we could never get accustomed to calling "Chica" after our revelation about her gender), were taken on April 1. Our friends Jaime and Melanie had come to visit with their dog, Lu-Lu, and Melanie wanted to see what it was like to hold the little bird. As you can see, Chico made it a pleasant experience for Melanie who really enjoyed holding her. Chico never disappointed people when they wanted to hold and pet a nice little bird who wouldn't bit them. She's bending down for a little scratch behind the neck like she loved.

So bye-bye, Chico, baby. You were a good little pet, and we tried to make you happy while you were with us. Fly free now and please remember us well if you remember us at all.

Swimming in theQuantum Sea, and Cecilia

Good morning...happy Wednesday in the middle of July from Seattle where it is raining and about 68 degrees outside.

Just got off the phone with my buddy Ce-ce, with whom I seem to be extra connected. We talked about quantum physics. Not many of my friends I can talk to about somethin' like that in the first place - and, as it turns out, Missy Cecilia had been given a vision of the string theory of matter when she was in a half-sleep some years ago. I told her that she was retarded lucky....and we chatted for a while about a book I've been reading and I read her a passage about microtubules and we ooooo-ed and awww-ed together for a little bit about the reality of being light-emitting ethereal beings. Then we talked about tarot and the fact that I had returned some money to her for a reading she had purchased a couple of weeks ago. I just came into the office this morning and thought "I can't let another minute go by without giving this girl her money back because I haven't done the flippin' reading yet," and so I came in, logged on to PayPal, wrote her a nice little note and proceeded to go to work. She calls, and we talk (as I've already mentioned), and all the while she is thinking that I did the PayPal thing in response to an email she sent me this morning....had to have been VERY close to the same time I sent the PayPal money...but I had NOT seen the email...I did NOT know that she too was thinking of it....perhaps I should've known...but I didn't.

Ce-ce...if you're reading this, you gotta know that I'm thinkin' it would be great to conduct some psychic experiments together if you're game to do it. I already mentioned the astral travel....maybe I really SHOULD try it.

Okay, so I DO have to get back to work - the mysteries of the universe will simply have to wait 'til after 5:00, but I did want to share this poem on my Blog. I wrote it a couple of nights ago as a homage to the glorious entity that is the Moon....

Did you ever open your arms
to the Moon....

When She was round and
Gorged with radiant dreams?
Did you feel the cool, silver light wash over you -
Remind you of the gift of Magic,
and Infinite possibility?

Or when she was a silver crescent
Slicing the summer night sky?
Did you feel Her young and eager energy
Quicken the tides of your blood?
Did you remember your Power?

Or when her light was full spent -
hanging at the flickering point
Before the final darkness ,
And re-entry to the womb?
Did you sense the weight of time?
And , if only for the briefest of moments,
Know the secrets of the Quantum Sea?

Did you ever open your arms to the Moon?
****
Bright blessings, everyone...and don't forget: Magic is EVERYWHERE.

Az

The Inner Me

Good morning all! :) Happy random Tuesday. It is a beautiful, sunny day in bustling downtown Seattle. My allergies seem to have abated, I'm wearing a new silk top and have lots of good work on my desk to do. Before I get to it, however, I thought I would check in with the old blogspot and post a cool pic I scammed at the doc's office yesterday.

The image you are seeing there is an x-ray of my new metal knee. Very cool, huh? I sent it around yesterday to anyone and everyone I didn't think it would gross out too badly. How's THAT for sophomoric? Hmmm?

Okay - well, time to get to work! Happy Tuesday everyone.

Ooooh! Lookie here! A Baby Kitty

Isn't she sweet? Her name, so far, is Squeak. :) She may tell us something different later, but for now that's what it is. She is three months old and just as cute as she can possibly be. I went and got her while Kristopher was off racing on Sunday. He was very happy when he got home. My daughter, who normally doesn't like anything I do or say or think, actually said yesterday that I picked good kitties. :) High praise, baby.

Not too much new going on otherwise. Kristopher and I are eagerly awaiting the next disc of The Sopranos to arrive in the mail. That should be some time tomorrow since I got the email notification from Blockbuster today. I couldn't believe it...I actually ordered HBO so I could get HBO on demand and, I thought, watch ALL of the Soprano episodes. However, evidently, that's not how the whole "on demand" thing works. There are only so many legacy episodes you can watch, and Kristopher and I still lack a whole discs worth before we can start watching what's available on the cable service. Oh well. It's not a very expensive addiction, so I guess I'm not worried.


So I went to a Trainer's Symposium today and learned about Office 2007. Lemme tell ya, any anxiety or weepiness I was feeling about giving up my training job went out the window when I saw these apps. They are really going to be a tough sell to the general computing populus around here.
Well, about time for me to get on home. Yay! See ya later.

STING....Oh my god!

Hello from Cloud 9 - cuz that's where I am right now. Last night's Police concert was awesome to the Nth degree. I don't have any pictures from the event because we went in stripped down and streamlined to avoid the physical search at the door. Plus, let's fact it, I forgot to bring my camera. Susan and I started out by spending about 5 minutes in my car "getting ready" at about 6:00. Then we walked over to T.J. McHugh's on Mercer and went into The Police beer garden. We had an average brat and a better than average beer. It was cool to be in a place where everyone there was going to the concert.

We went over to Key Arena after that, found our seats then wandered around and bought tshirts and blinkies. (and nachos, M&Ms and sodas). **grin** Then the opening band "FictionPlane" came out and they were so-so. I was mystified as to why The Police would choose a "Police WannaBe" band to open for them. Oh well. They were average at best. Making The Police shine all the brighter when they came out. Maybe THAT is the purpose.

Well, of course everyone went apeshit wild when they came out on stage. Our seats were in the nose-bleed section, but we didn't care...it was just wonderful to be there and feel the energy and know that you were seeing and hearing these guys live. At least for me that was the case. The tix were a bill each, and still it was nose bleed time. The seats on the floor were $200 if the little wierdo who was standing guard on our row was to be believed. The first song of the set was the high-energy Synchronicity and it just went on from there. These guys didn't confer with each other between songs or anything - they just went from one right into the other...it was fuckin' awesome. I would have very much liked to hear more talking from them, but what'reya gonna do? They weren't there to talk...they were there to play.

Their set went by in a flippin' blur of excitement; Roxanne, Walking on the Moon, Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, Spirits in the Material World, Lonely, Message in a Bottle and more...for the first encore, it was King of Pain, second encore, and thought I was gonna die on this one, Every Breath You Take....they actually did a THIRD encore, but I didn't recognize the song. Poor bastards probably just wanted to get off the stage by that point so thought if they played one of their B-side selections, the crowd would get the message. Anyway, what a grand and glorious time...makes me tear up just thinkin' about it. I felt like I was 20 years old again! And the audience was all over the place age-wise. People my age and 10 to 15 years older, and people in their early 20s, and maybe some of them not even in their 20s yet. It was really, really fun and it's something I'm going to remember for a long time to come. I have my ticket all posted on my bulletin board here at work, and I must be suffering from post-excitement disorder because I can't seem to get a flippin' thing done. I thought maybe if I went ahead and made a blog post it would alleviate a little of the excitement and I could get on with my day. That's the idea anyway.

Of course I'm sitting here with my Rhapsody channel playing and listening to Sting sing "Every Breath You Take" **sigh** Did you know that he was born on October 2, 1951? Geeeeezuz....not only was the show good, but it was also inspiring. It's fantastic to me that he is 56 years old, well, will be on his birthday this year, and he's still in the kind of condition it takes to put on a show like they did last night. The sum-bitch just isn't aging I tell ya! I think I'm gonna have to sign up for some yoga classes or somethin', cause honey...I am IMPRESSED! I had to play it down a bit when I went home last night because the poor little hubby didn't get to go. Not that he likes The Police or anything, but any live show that exciting is a hard thing to miss and then hear about later.

Okay! I'm gonna try to get some flippin work done. Software training and data collection seem so drab after that!

Krikey! Where's the Friggin' Sudafed?

So I'm sitting here in my office after lunch in the protected, filtered air, and feeling pretty darn miserable. I may have to take my plump rump down the street and buy some allergy meds. **sigh** Oh well....

So not too much going on - I just find myself here on my lunch break without much to do. It's raining outside and I'm already all snuffly, so not really interested in going out and getting moreso. I'm gonna be doing something exciting here in a couple of nights. I'm going out to The Police concert with nmy friend Susan from work. I think we'll have a great time...too bad you can't take pictures at the concert. That would be a huge bummer to whip out a digital camera and have it confiscated. :( Not willing to risk that. I'll just have to buy the tee-shirt I guess. The tix are $90 each - and generally I'm very tight with my money, but as soon as I found out that Sting was actually playing with them in this wheezing revival tour, I thought what the hell? I listened to these guys all during my 20s, and I still find myself listening to their stuff even now that they are long-since broken up and haven't made a record together since the advent of the MP3 file. So, it seemed fitting. In fact, at the moment, I am playing all of The Police that my music service, Rhapsody, has to offer.

At the moment that song, "Don't Stand So Close to Me," is playing. Sting re-did that song in the late 80s and it was released on his disc called "The Singles" which I listened to 'til it was worn out (if such a thing is possible for a cd). Anyway, he really slowed that sucker down and it was haunting.

My husband read some reviews on this latest tour (you know...The Police : The search for more cash) and said that the drummer was quoted as saying they sucked and that they weren't together on anything and Sting's vocals were off. I guess they are getting their rehersals in on the big stage. I'm glad Seattle wasn't their first stop. I'm hoping they have their shit together by Thursday night. I'm sure it will be a good show and a memorable evening pretty much no matter what.

Okay...I'll let you know about the concert after. Right now, it's about time to get back to work. Ciao!

Did I show you these?

I think I forgot to post any pics from my brother-in-law's wedding last month. There were actually two formal affairs....the first was the actual wedding which was on April 5 (don't have any pictures from that...was still walking with a cane at that time) and one was on April 12, which was the formal reception. That's the thing I have pictures of. This first one is one of my favorites - it's a close up of the cake decoration. This was one of the best wedding cakes EVER. It was a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and these darling little do-dads on it.

They were very happy at their wedding and their reception, and we were very happy for them. It was a nice time all the way around.

My friend Cecilia in DC called today. We had a nice long chat. I miss her - here is a picture of her and one of her friends who is a legal assistant at a firm here in town...hell, I forget which one - but I took this picture a couple of years ago when she came for a visit and we all went to a Viatnamese restaurant in the International District....somewhere. Geezuz...I can't remember anything when I get to the end of a day anymore. Too much going on these days I guess.

Oh...and the dude in the picture - his name is Mark. Hell No! I didn't just remember it. It's in the name of the photo. ;) anyway, Ce Ce, if you're reading this, don't forget to send me your questions.

Okay, now where were we? Ah yes...rambling...my favorite. I read a couple of articles on WitchVox today. I've been trying to think of good topics to write about. I was thinking that I would write a series of articles on the sabbats as a kind of commemoration of my year of Sabbats in my 2d Degree, but I just can't seem to get motivated. I wrote my article on Samhain last year and they put that one up....why not? Not a bad idea I suppose, and I am a contributing member.

So what would anyone be interested in reading about Litha. That it commemorates the festival of mid-summer. That it is the Summer solstice - the longest day of the year....the apex of daylight and the sun in our hemisphere? Mebbe. Or would they be more intersted to know that midsummer is traditionally, at least in fairy traditions, the night where you can cross between the human world and the fairy world without getting hopelessly stuck in the latter? Taht's always good for a head-turner. Iv'e often wondered about people who say things like "I work with fairies" - what the fuck does that mean? I'm talking about in a wiccan context here. Some of you reading this may not know what I'm talking about, but some of you do. some of you out there have been in new age stores buying your candles and incense and been standing next to this rasta-haired white girl reeking of patchouli and wearing Birkinstocks who opens her mouth and says, in all and great sincerity, "I work with fairies," and know that they are talking about the little flying people. There may be something to it, though I myself have never actually seen one. I did see a video tape of what for all the world looked like one. It was taped by the friend of a friend. Supposedly something captured on a closed circuit security camera that waqs unmanned at the time the footage was shot. It was fuckin' incredible. That'd be something for U-tube, wouldn't it. It was friggin' wild. It looked at first like a giant bug, but then you could see a little body perfected outlined as it went up the wall. I don't know...it sure got me thinking. It seemed too sophisticated for the equipment I think this dude had at the time - but I don't know squat about the video biz, so this might have been something that he could have done himself with cello tape and a flashlight. Whatever - I will email him and if he still has it, tell him to put it up on U-tube. If he does it, I'll put a link to it here. Then we'll see how crazy rasta patchouli girl is. But it DOES sound strange.

Okay, enough nonsensical talk for now. I'm gonna go do something else that maybe doesn't require me looking at this little screen anymore.

Ciao! and bright blessings.

Vrrrrroooom Vrooom! and Ahoy Mateys!

Arrrrrr! Cap'n Jack Sparrow rides again! :) Rescued from Davey Jones locker, he's back to give 2 hours and 45 minutes of solid entertainment. But! let's start with today....

Went to the autocross races today with the hubby-person. He likes to do his autocross stuff. He's pretty dedicated with it too. We got up thids morning at a pretty reasonable time and took off about 9:30. Stopped and got some breakfast at Jack in the Box (our other kitchen) and made our way to Bremerton Motor Sports park for his participation in the afternoon session.


I got to ride along for one run - but the rest I sat out and played fan club. I got a few pictures, but they aren't very good and don't do anything to capture the excitment of the day or the fun of watching your baby drive his car as fast as he can.


So, that was the majority of the day. Then we came home and watched some more Sopranos (damn I'm hooked on those things!!) and I planted some more flowers in the yard, and now we are sitting peacefully watching Pirates of the Carribean II.

I went to see III with the daughter this weekend, and it was WONDERFUL! :) It was way better than Part 2 (although my hubby solidly argues that 2 and 3 are parts of the same movie - and he's right). What a RIDE part 3 is! Can't wait to see it again.

But, in the meantime, it's lights out and nighty night.

It was rainy, but I got some gardening done after all

I go forever without posting anything to this blog, and then, all of a sudden, I can't shut up. But that's okay. I think I'm coming back to being more like my old self. I'm feeling better, I'm doing more, my house is looking a lot better for it, and, in general, I'm in a much better mood.

So I wanted to get some gardening done this weekend, but yesterday there was the matter of a party to attend at the home of my office administrator, and I didn't want to get too dirty or too involved in anything. So, yesterday I got up and cleaned off the patio furniture and the patio. It looks great...the grill, the table, the chairs, the benches, the desk that I put out there last year as a sort of place to store all the grill tools and as a staging area for having BBQ guests...all clean now. The cedar table and chairs is ready for a coat of oil now too. That table and chairs was gifen to us by a dude who used to work at Stoel as a professional "schmoozer" - he was about 5 ft. tall and was a guy who had turned the short man's complex to his financial advantage by being a smarmy used-car salesman. Every time he came in to talk to me at the officde I felt like I was on the front row in a comedy club with all the one liners and long stories he could lay out...but I digress.

So that was yesterday, but today was going to be for mowing the lawn, clearing out the flower beds and planting some new annuals. But when Kristopher and I left the house for Lowe's this morning, it started raining and we came back home because it wasn't any fun to go out and look at flowers with the rain falling on me and the wind blowing...yech. So I came home and finished the Aphrodite I just posted about.


Okay...so I didn't want to give up on my idea of planting some flowers - so I decided to at least plant out the porch. So here are some pictures....after that, I watched the Sopranos.

Lookie What I Did Today...

So I have this Aprhodite statue that I inherited from a friend of mine - he's a friend who's burned a lot of bridges and isn't well thought of by the people we hang out with, but I still like him. Anyway, when he gave up Paganism for whatever religion he is investigating this week, and he gave me this statue. She's lovely, and I had cleaned her up and fixed her a little then put her in a shell and put her outside. She looked okay in her original paintjob - but I thought that she would be a lot prettier if I painted her more lifelike and painted the dolphins etc....

Here's how she looked before I got started

this is the front view.

This is the back.

And so here is how she looks like now that she's all painted up:


This is her newly painted front.
And this, is her newly painted backside. Check out the "newly spanked" pink of her little rear-end. OKAY! Yes....I'm a pervert. Tee hee!



So I think she looks a lot prettier. Doens't hurt anything to have an altar to aphrodite in your house. I'm a young woman she still has quite a lot to offer me. ;) And now, with her new coat of paint she's mine all mine.

We're sitting here watching The Sopranos...we're on Season 4 and I think we are on episode 5. It's a good show.

Okay, guess I'm gonna call it a wrap on this entry.

Howdy Doody

Don't have a picture today - though I should. I took some recently but haven't moved them off of the camera. It's that old laziness thing. :)

Went over to an old friend's house for dinner last night. This dude is a long-time bachelor - though not "confirmed" - as he would like to find a nice Catholic girl and settle down, but just hasn't yet. Anyway, he grilled some chicken for us and stir-fried some fresh green beans and made some gooey rice. Oh well....for a bachelor, he did a great job. And one of the best parts is he got along with my husband pretty well. Not an easy feat most of the time - though I have to admit that the hubby was on his best behavior yesterday.

So, tonight is the hearing for my daughter's diversion. Every teenaged kid in Washington state gets one free pass to commit a minor crime. Too bad hers is being used up on something as stupid as a erroneous accusation of "obstruction" when she had her accident and the police believed that she was lying when she said she was driving - all in the name of protecting her idiot boyfriend. **sigh** I hope it is over quickly and quietly. This is an exercise in logic, however, for her. She figured out all on her own that even if she was able to make the police believe that she was, in fact, the driver of that vehicle on the day of the accident, she would STILL be charged with obstruction because she lied to them about her boyfriend's name and tried to shine them on about him even being in the car at all. I can't imagine having the brass as a teenager to lie to the police. I was kinda wild, but lie to the police? No....I really don't think so.

So the new job is going pretty well. I'm learning lots of stuff and getting to do interesting work. It's an adjustment, but what isn't. I miss my old office and my old friends. There is no goofing off in my new position - well, very, very little. And I kinda like that. Oh! Break's over....gotta go.

Take care and thanks for reading!

Woooo Hooo!

Look what I got today....

shocks, kickstand, pretty light yellow color.....lucky! :) I got myself a Trek bike at the Gregg's cycle that opened up near us a few months ago. Along with the cycle, I got a trainer so I can ride in the living room and get my strength up so I can better ride on the street. I need to rehab this knee of mine and strengthen the other one so I can put off having another surgery for longer, so, I guess I had to spend some money. This was a much better option than having to purchase an indoor exercise bike that clutters up the place 24/7. This way, i can bring in the trainer, set up the bike, ride it after work during the week, then take it off the trainer and ride it out on the street on the weekend. I hope it works. I certainly spent enough money!

Oh well, just wanted to show you my bike. Now I'm gonna go out and sell my treadmill on Craig's List as well as a traimer that I don't need. Don't need it cuz I bought it off of the Craig's list and it woulnd't fit the new bike I bought at the Cycle shop. :( I'm also gonna sell my Nintendo DS. I don't really want to sit around looking at a tiny little screen.

Blessed be! Talk to ya'll soon.

Let the Good Times Roll

April 22 2007

Let them knock you around....let the good times roll....let them make you a clown....

Now, personally, I think that Rick O'Casick crapped out on that last line, copping to something that almost rhymed but didn't quite...but probably sounded preeeeetty good whilst stoned out of your gourd. But it's a cool friggin' song anyway.

I'm working on building up my third laptop in 9 months. 9 months ago my long beloved one was stolen, then I got a temp replacement from my office and had to turn it back on this last week. Now I have a new one. I've popped some more ram in and it's ready to go. I did, however, with my cowgirl ways of turning back computers wind up losing a few things. Among them a license to my ftp upload program. :( I just bought the license about six months ago and now the key is gone with the wind. I uninstalled it from the old laptop, and when I changed jobs recently, deleted about a bazillion emails from my work account. It is highly likely that the license key one was among them. oh well. Software is volitile stuff.

Of course there is all kinds of software to be reloaded. I am a member of Rhapsody music service, and I don't have that on here....I have a wonderful digital camera that I got for my birthday in December of last year that has to have software to hum on this new machine - so that's one of the things I'm gonna be doing this weekend. Getting this new box into "Asradel" shape.

Didn't have much to say - just wanted to check in on my blog. Bought another pile of shit car for my daughter last weekend. So far she has spent 250 fixing up a 500 dollar car, and there is much more to go.

Hello from Recoveryville

It's Sunday the 18th...day after St. Paddy's day. We had a quiet one at home with guests (since (I'm not in any shape to hit the town) and it was very good. I was glad that the teenager had decided to go out and do her own thing as her being home these days is like having a 140-pound porcupine with a bad attitude and a smutty mouth in the house. November, when she turns 18, is just not going to be able to get here quite fast enough as far as I'm concerned. Here's a little picture of me and the hubby yesterday. It was a good day and we were both happy.

Like my "wearin' o-the-green" hair ribbon?

The husband told me one of the most bizarre things I've heard in a long while......he told me that one of his co-workers, who is a relious man, does not believe that St. Paddy was a regal guy. I sat there in astonishment as he related that this guy said he didn't believe in St. Paddy's day because he didn't believe in fairies. Yep....didn't believe in fairies......

Well, that's it for today Lads and Lasses!

OwweeeeeeeiiiiOOgeezuzhepmesunuvabitchturdfucker!

Keeerist! Well, it's been a while since I've posted and well, I finally have something to say.....

A total knee replacement hurts like a sunnuvabitch. That is all.

lol! Well, yes, it does hurt like all nine kinds of hell but the bigger picture of pain-free knees when the trauma of the surgery subsides is what I'm focused on here. So stay with me on that. And yes...I DID go and do this voluntarily. Quality of life over time is worth putting up with a lot of pain.

I went into Swedish Hospital on Wednesday, March 7 for the procedure - so it has been a week. The photo I've uploaded here was taken on day 5. Not a lot of change in that image in two days, so you're gettin' the fresh goods here.

At any rate, this operation was done by the Rock Star orthopedic surgeon, Daniel L. Flugstad. I am hoping that his Germanness has brought precision engineering to the operating table. Was I being mean and racist there? Hardly my friend...hardly. I would still rather drive a German-made car than any other. Only problem is I couldn't afford it. I could, however, afford for my insurance to pay for Dr. Dan Flugstad to give me a new titanium and plastic knee in my right leg. And that's what I did. The surgery happened on Wednesday, March 7, and I was out of the hospital on Saturday, March 10. I can get around with some assistance ( a walker all my very own named "Gerty") and things are improving each day. Though the increments of improvement could be a bit larger. We takes what we can get, though....right? Well, I just wanted to post a pic of my surgery. Now I need to take a nap. That's how sleep is coming these days. Short bursts of one to two hours at a time - then it's time to wake up and ice the knee. I've been feeling like the Duncan Donuts guy lately. (For those of you who remember the commercials on television with the man getting up so early he meets himself coming back from work at the front door as he's leaving to go make the donuts....) Anyway, that's what this feels like, only you're not making donuts. You're taking narcotics and getting out ice packs!

Okay, sleepy now. nighty night.....

Countdown and Sweetie's Day and Various Ramblings

It's about three weeks until I get the surgery on my leg. Yay.....I'm scared and ready all at the same time. I give my next unit of blood "autologous" donation is what they call it....where if I need blood during the surgery, they will have my very own on ice and ready to go in. It was mine before, it'll be mine again if I need it. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. That's pretty cool. It was a pretty crummy holiday for me there for a couple of years, but it's getting good again. Lots of things are getting good again. I should have known when the shrink-o said "One to three years...." as an average "getting over it" time period, that I would be at the very end of that spectrum, and sure enough...here we are. The shitty days where Valentine's Day 2004. Infamous, but not worth mentioning here again - and now, Valentine's Day 2007, I feel pretty good about the whole thing and the memories of the crappiness have faded to tattered remnants not worth looking at.

Damn man....I just spent the past 10 minutes or so trying to make a little Valentine in the Paint program. No dice. I must be really tired or something. Maybe I can do one tomorrow when I'm not using a friggin' roller mouse. Ahhhhhhh....listening to "A Perfect Circle" at the moment. They are like "Tool" only different. "Passive" - it's a song from Constantine. I love the scene where it's playing. Neo, oh wait, fuck...um....Constantine is walking into Papa Midnight's bar (a haven for those who rise and fall) :) WAKE UP! AND FACE ME.......DON'T PLAY DEAD...CUZ MAYBE....ONE DAY...i WILL WALK AWAY AND SAY....You disappoint me. Maybe you're better off this way.....

Yeah.....

If you know the flick you will understand the preceding paragraph. If you don't...well...you won't.

I'm all amped up but know I need to go to bed. It's weird how the first of the week you really have to ration out your energy so you can make it all the way to Friday.

Okay....so I dug out a picture I think is fit for Valentine's Day. It's me and the man from my birthday (about 30 seconds prior to the waitress dropping my birthday camera) but we were having such a great time and the warm fuzziness was quite apparent.

Happy Valentine's Day ya'll. Go find someone to hug.

Yipppee! It's 2007

So it's Sunday, January 13, and I've been sitting around the house just enjoying all the things that life here at the house has to offer since about 9:00. Coffee....coffee and more coffee (probably not the best thing in the world for me), and working on my web pages and writing a bit. I'm going to be entering a novel writing contest on ta interweb very soon. I just discovered today that the complete novels that I had housed on my domain site are now gone. Probably as a result of a move to another server and rules that did not capture then since they were outside of the main folder where my other web pages were kept.

Oh well, one more challenge. I have to get the computer I was using at the time out of the closet and boot it up and get the data moved VIA FLOPPY DISK to a jump drive and then to this laptop. It's hard to believe that it has been 11 years since I did any creative writing....seriously....any at all. That's really strange because I spent all the years of my adult life in the south writing on SOMETHING....then, I move up here, and as though it was a price to be paid for the moving and the prosperity of the new life I had found in the Pacific Northwest, the muse dried up and there was nothing. I finalized The Invoker and The Secret Year after I arrived here, but the most creative writing I've actually DONE since we rolled into town 13 years ago are some short stories. Un-be-fuckin'-lievable....lemme tell ya.

But 2007 is gonna see me return to the pen a bit I think. At least that is the hope. I'ts gonna be a big year with the Crescent Scouts as I perform my Sabbat cycle....and I think that that is gonna give me some impetus to do some creative work. Or at least that's the hope.

Anyway, wanted to check in on the blog....it's either that or delete the damn thing. I am harshly reminded of the transient nature of digital data with the loss of my novels out on my website. Of course, this would not have been a problem had my personal laptop not been stolen in August of 2006. It was part of the data that I move around from one machine to the other as I change year after year...now that chain has been broken and I have to go back to the source machine. I wonder if I will have to burn incense and chant while I try to boot it up. It is, after all a 13 year old computer. But it was a Gateway from back in the day when Gateway meant superior components, so I have great faith.

Well, I guess I'll get to it. I gotta pull the box out of the closet in our library/computer room and send some sparks to it and see what I can get cookin.

Bright blessings to all who read this and all who touch their lives.

Az