Life Goes On, and Is Fun!

I haven’t had time to write about recent goings on, because I’ve been so busy doing stuff. That’s a good problem to have, isn’t it? The weekend was really good—Saturday was spent driving all over the place to look at yarn with Deana and Dawn. It was SO windy that I really felt sorry for Deana having to drive. The wind did a number on my poinsettia plants at home, too. Once I got home, it was fun, fun, fun with Beccano and Parker working on a screen printing project while at the same time, Tuba Boy, Lee and a bunch of high school seniors were playing their role playing game. Lee made delicious burgers that pleased everyone who had one, too. Parker said it was the best burger ever.

Sunday was SO busy that I got pretty wiped out at one point. We had to be at church early, so we fetched band kid Jeremy, who wanted to visit the church, and got there in time and everything. I think the Dixieland Band sounded pretty OK, even with some of the missing solos and such. At least the sound balanced. One woman fled, saying it was too loud. I don’t know how you can get brass instruments any quieter than they were. We had a nice sermon on passive resistance, then another Dixieland song, where apparently my “belting out” on “When the Saints Go Marching In” went OK. There really wasn’t much singing in the arrangement. Oh well. After an endless music committee meeting in a frigid room, Lee and I got to go home for a tiny rest before heading back out to get some spring décor items and hangers for heavy pictures. What an exciting life we lead, I tell you. It was just a bit more running around than I was up for, so I relished the nice grilled cheese sandwich we had for dinner!

Meanwhile, Beccano had gone off to a birthday party for a former Triskelion member. I am glad Parker dragged him there, because apparently they had tons and tons of fun. I guess I was mostly happy to see Beccano doing social things with friends, and was especially pleased to find him on the phone giggling about goings-on at the party long after it was over. Such normal behavior! At his age he deserves to be having some fun with friends, laughing and gossiping!

Yesterday didn’t end up at all like I’d planned. But that’s OK, it was good! I am all about doing things a little differently right now, so when I got home, rather than sitting in front of my email and passing out from post-work exhaustion, I looked down and saw Scrunchy, who was really happy with me for getting some goop out of his eye. I decided to take him for a walk. He sure had a good time, and he only pooped once (I hate carrying poop bags). I think I’ll try to walk him as much as I can, and see if I can get someone to bring Rose along, too. I had stopped walking them when Gwynn went blind, because she went into such hysterics when one of them left. No one could read, watch TV or enjoy being at home if someone took a walk with one or more of the other dogs. But, the dogs need exercise. And so do I!

When I got home, Beccano and Parker had just gotten back, and I listened to the daily high school drama for a while on the lovely new porch furniture. We had decided to go with Parker and her mom to see a band nearby, but just before leaving, Beccano called out to us to look outside. It was one of the loveliest sunrises I’d seen in a long time. We had a blast taking photos and running around in the beautiful orange light. I hope you enjoy them, too! We did head out to see Parker’s dad’s guitar teacher in an R&B band. Lee loved the music—I know that’s the kind of stuff he’d love to perform. It was a bit chilly, but fun to listen to good music (or what will be once the singer backs off a bit—he’s good but was overpowering the system), eat good food, and enjoy the high school giggles between 2/3 of a Triskelion.

I’m glad we did something different last night! We all had genuine fun! More of that, please! I hope Tina comes over this evening, as planned. It might be another fun night!

Whirlwind Continues

Tuba Boy and Lovely Girlfriend
Originally uploaded by sunasak

The countdown to the wedding and the accompanying whirlwind continued yesterday. We had fun at church showing people the remnants of the fancy hair thing, then ran home where I cleaned and baked an absolutely awful cake (cake mix and diet soda--I think I messed up on the "recipe" somehow) that the kids like anyway.

Then I ran off to Deanna's house to a jewelry party. I certainly do like that kind of thing. It was good quality costume jewelry, and I got a couple of rings that I know I will enjoy, even if they aren't "real." One is a very dainty pearl. She had mighty good food, but I was good and didn't eat too much, thinking ahead to my need to fit into that dress.

When I came back, I tried to do more chores but was incredibly frustrated to discover that I could not get the vacuum cleaner to work. The brand new one. It simply won't come on. What on EARTH did the maid to do THIS one??? We can't afford a new one with all the other expenses right now, and besides, we JUST bought this. So, at some point in my busy week, I will have to call customer service.

While trying to clean the birdcage and discovering the vacuum didn't work, my cake baker and her helper arrived with tons of stuff. They had made a sample rose-flavored cake, and it was very good. The proceeded to bake the chocolate layers, and tried to do a fancy white/rose layer, but it didn't come out too well. She is going to try to get that one last layer to work right at home. But they sure worked hard on the project, I must say!!

Meanwhile, I was helping Beccano with his history project, and Tuba Boy and Lovely Girlfriend came by to hang out with us. They sure were a lot of fun. I enjoy listening to them interact--at one point they said they were completing each other's thoughts, which just made my heart melt. It's nice to see them having such a positive influence on each other. And they are so funny! Beccano took a bunch of pictures of them goofing off, which you can see by clicking the top picture and going to Flickr. Mostly I find it weird how similar they look--if Tuba Boy had straight hair they'd look like siblings.

Being around young love and appreciating the relationship Lee and I have developed made me quite happy. We had a delicious dinner of ham, sweet potatoes and carrots cooked in maple syrup in the slow cooker, which let Lee do a lot of work outside in preparation for the Big Day. He got me some more pansies (awwww) and some purple petunias, too. He expanded the bed in the side yard and it looks super.

To top the evening off, Beccano and I laughed our heads off at the Colbert Christmas special. Man, that was funny (especially Willie Nelson), but the ending song, where all the guest stars harmonized, was beautiful. I hope it repeats, since Lee had a bunch of phone calls and missed it (his family suddenly realizes he is getting married--it is so funny how mine wanted every detail months in advance, and he didn't even start telling his until recently--that's family dynamics, huh!).

We were tired from cleaning and yard work, but very happy by the time bedtime came.

This week we both have a lot of work to do, and want to earn money since we will miss two days of work this week and one next week.

Two Clean Rooms, and Weekend Hilarity

The task for this past weekend was to get the formal areas of the house in reasonable shape. Both had been beaten up pretty badly in the recent painting and freeze warning--plant debris everywhere, all the nick-knacks spread all over the place, and things not where they should be. Parker volunteered to come over and help (earning some kind of high school girl sainthood award or something), so after my time at the yarn shop on Saturday, we got to work. Some of the pieces of china and stuff were really disgusting, so it took quite some time to clean it all. I do feel good that all the things on the wall have been cleaned, and the areas BEHIND furniture are in good shape, even. The picture here shows her and Beccano taking a break to pay attention to Rose, world's neediest dog.

And not only did we deal with dust and dirt, but we put away some things. Yes, I actually decluttered. You'd probably not know it to look at the space, but there are way fewer "things" sitting out now. All the glass coffee cups emblazoned with the logo of the Dysfunctional Nonprofit Organization that I received as thank-yous over the years are now packed away, along with a number of small items and the scary collection of dusty nutcrackers from Becanno's previous obsession with them. Ahhh. I let the kids decorate the corner hutch, and it is a festival of fall harvest vegetables, which I'll let stay until after Thanksgiving, I guess! The photo of that shows poor Suna trying to untangle the incredible mess the workers made of her blinds in the dining room when they replaced them (sorta backwards--Beccano fixed it).

I really hate dusting and decluttering, so it truly helped a lot to have someone to chat with while I did it. I need to rent a helper more frequently, then the house would look way more better. Becanno helped some, but was rather busy sulking because his brother was so busy texting the out-of-town Lovely Girlfriend that he didn't help at all. Kids, sigh. But, we stopped eventually, and dealt with some frustration with the Avery website, which tried to hold the correct template to the nametags we want to print customization on for the wedding (photo shows Parker rather disgusted with the site, and Suna trying to navigate).

To reward Parker, and so I wouldn't have to cook, we went out to dinner at the very local and quaint Catfish Parlor (food was good, waiter amusing, and conversation grand). I have to say, three high school kids discussing relationship issues is most entertaining. They were talking about Lovely Girlfriend, every single person Parker ever dated, everyone the band had dated, why Beccano hasn't dated, etc. It soon became clear that Beccano had a reason why he didn't think this person was compatible with that person for about every past or potential couple discussed. Parker brought that up, and then Tuba Boy said, "Yeah, Beccano, you are like the Johnny Appleseed of doubt, spreading it all over the world."

At that we about wrecked the truck from laughing. And Beccano has a new monicker. That Tuba Boy, when in a good mood, certainly has his way with the words. It is a lot of fun going out with those young people, though sometimes they do ask some weird personal questions of me. That's what I get for being honest and open, I guess. I do think servers in restaurants enjoy us, too.

Let's see, I dragged the boys to the mall on Friday evening. They survived the dreaded spot and were only seen by a couple of people they knew, I think. They ended up really enjoying the staff at Men's Warehouse, which consisted mostly of people barely older than Tuba Boy and equally thin. I was very nice and got Tuba Boy two nice ties and dress shirts so his debate wardrobe would fit better. I didn't get him a new jacket, and sure enough the new pants do slightly differ in blackness from the old jacket (old being just a couple of months old). And of course, when I got home I found the "lost" dress pants all balled up in his desk chair. Ahem. I believe I know who will pay to dry clean those pants...not Suna. I guess I got him the shirts to make up for kidding him about having evidence of his dating life on his neck...which he immediately told to Lovely Girldfriend. Who was embarrassed. But, then they seemed gleefully ready to share a story about getting caught making out by her mother last night. They could not be cuter, and seem to be showing signs of good sense.

Sunday Lee and I were very bad and ditched church after Joys and Concerns (where, because this is right around our two year love-a-versary I said how happy I was to be marrying such a nice guy, and he later said he agreed, to which someone shouted, "What, you agree that you are a nice guy?" and sent the church into gales of laughter). Just too much "stuff" to do. Like get my engagement ring inspected, buy a lamp to replace the one the dogs broke, and oooh, order curtains!!! I am really happy with the formal living room now that we got a new lamp and replacement shades for the teeny lamps a departing friend gave us as she was moving. When you turn on the switch, the room now lights up! What a concept! And Lee installed stuff that makes it impossible for crazed barking dogs to tear up the electrical cord by the front window, I hope. He can be so "handy"! I think that once there are finally curtains in those rooms, I will feel completely moved in (after 11.5 years). Lee also planted some pansies for me in the new flower bed. I love pansies. Have I mentioned that???

We did get a little chance to rest and watch football last night, which was very nice. Tuba Boy came home from greeting his returned girlfriend (photo shows him texting her every few minutes while she was out of town), and informed me he had gotten her roses for their one-week annivesary. He said that was what you have to do in high school. I think he is just a very nice young man, whom any girl would be happy to date. Sniff. Reminds me of my high school boyfriend and me. Sniff.

Like Any Other Day

Garden Mushroom
Originally uploaded by sunasak

A weekend's like any other day when there's no job to go to. On the other hand, there are endless possibilities. And you can always find beauty in unlikely situations, much like the little mushroom here, peeking up between the leaves of our onions. Isn't it beautiful?

I'm feeling like the kiss of death for friends at my jobs. I found out today that the nice friend who helped me move my stuff out of my office got removed from the program he was in, too. At least he can still get a job there, but gee, that's batting .000 for my church friends there. Hope the other two people I know who are still there don't get too close to either of us!

And then, argh, we'd thought things had gotten as bad as possible where I spent the bulk of my working years, but no, telling volunteers they are no longer welcome was not the worst. They also took down a valued resource for thousands of mothers, which had three years of archived material. There was no warning, so mothers couldn't save their personal information, stories, and advice. Years of FAQs, quality help for new mothers and organizational information was also wiped out with no warning.

Wow, when they don't like former co-workers of mine, they really go all out! The woman I worked so hard with to set the system up in the first place was also banned from it. It was a BIG mistake to punish someone so dedicated to the mission of the organization and to the mothers she helped. Her fans are legion. While the decision-makers can't fire innocent mothers and babies for expressing their outrage at this, and they have sure guaranteed that thousands of women will find other organizations to join and donate to, and that they will tell all their friends what happened. What a weird world.

I still truly admire most of the women I used to work with in my department. They focused so hard on helping others. They took a lot of unkind treatment and still stuck around because they felt that what they were doing was important. However, other than one exception, they got no rewards for their work, just pressure to go away.

So, let's forget about that. I keep TRYING to. Instead let's laugh at how my weekend started. With dropping the boys off at the airport to go see their dad then head off to Ireland. As Lee and i were driving away from the airport, the phone rang. Beccano had forgotten his passport. The one he kept in plain sight so he'd be sure to not forget it. Thank goodness they don't leave for Ireland until Tuesday, so I was able to send it to him overnight, at great expense. Sigh. I filled the rest of the day with visiting yarn shop friends (hi Lisa!), going to the far south yarn shop in town with Suzanne and meeting an Internet celebrity (see the knitting blog for more on that), then having a lovely Italian dinner with my beloved. That long day wiped me out!

Today Lee picked these beautiful flowers in the garden and displayed them in the media room for me. That was so sweet. He's working on more flower bed stuff now. We sang the hardest choir song ever today, with all sorts of not-well-practiced people, but it came off! The cello player who was brought in did a great job, too. It ended up being pretty fun, even though I forgot to bring flowers for the altar in honor of Beccano's birthday--I'll have to tell him he is not the only forgetful person in the family! I picked some wildflowers, though, and they looked lovely.

Keep sending job vibes. I appreciate them.

Fine Craftsmanship

New Flower Bed
Originally uploaded by sunasak

I want to praise Lee for his lovely flower bed, since he feels so bad about the gate project being off the mark. The flowers are red petunias, with happy onions, basil and Mr. Stripey the tomato in the center. So far, so good. In fact, so far all the plants for Spring are OK. But, we have not entered into the "bad weather" yet. It is still cool nights and barely warm days. Not even tomato weather.

Beccano had his first tutoring from our friend last night. It went really well, I think. He seemed truly pleased that he ended up understanding the problems. She has a neat mini-whiteboard that she can carry to work examples on. Smart. I hope we have him on a better path now. I am really glad he will get to go on the band trip this weekend, too. He is working very hard. Interestingly, we have watched television shows on what constitutes intelligence, and one on a savant over the past few days. It's a nice bridge for talking to him about how he is wired a bit differently from others and that causes academic angst, but still tests very high on most areas in an IQ test. I told him we are all perplexingly complex.

I hope Tuba Boy finds someone to sub for him at work so he can go on the band trip. No grade problems, just organizational ones. And he "forgot" to tell me I had to pay $54 each for him to take two AP tests, either. Ahem. Good thing his friend had that much cash on him (and scary that he was carrying it around school). Tuba Boy doesn't talk much, but hasn't mentioned the girlfriend I have not met in a while. He spent all last Sunday (when there was no OWL class at church due to the Christian Holiday) with another female friend, the li'l singer-songwriter with actual gigs. They seemed to have a great time in a friend-like way. It would be FINE if he dated her. They live close and I know her parents and their wonderfully pagan/organic values!

Tonight, as a reward for hard work, Lee and I are going on an actual DATE with some people we used to work with. It's one of those "free" comedy club ticket deals, where you win 20 of them and bring your friends, who do not know that there is a two-drink minimum and drinks are $10 each. Well, I actually DO know that, but it should be a fun evening anyway. I will be a lot more fun to be around than I was at winter holiday time, which was when I last saw those folks. Employment is good.

I am thinking good thoughts for a couple of friends' job interviews. Many fingers are crossed and much good energy is going out!!

Birthday Month Meme Amusement

I have mentioned before that I read the blog by Barb Cooper, currently a local humor writer, soon to be a distant humor writer. She is always wanting to be tagged for memes, and answering ones she isn't tagged for, anyway. In her honor, I am doing this one that she was tagged for but I was not (cause she doesn't tag me in this semi-hidden blog, anyway). I just laughed and laughed at the whole concept, so will play along.

She said in her blog: "Okay, this meme asks you to take the attributes supposedly associated with your birth month (February) and talk about how they apply to you. Pay no attention to the fact that they seem to have been randomly generated by some astrological parody engine or a house elf or something."

She's right, they are pretty funny and random, but some hit the nail on the head for this Child of March (depicted by the lovely aquamarine crystal above). Here are my reactions...

MARCH:

Attractive personality. Not sure what I attract other than inappropriate partners (before the autumn of 2006, of course) but sure, yeah, I must attract something.

Sexy. As long as Lee thinks I am, I will buy into that. I do not really care if anyone else thinks so.

Affectionate. In my own not-too-touchy-feely way, sure. I am more mentally affectionate.

Shy and reserved. Well, as I will tell anyone, I am a well-socialized introvert. I actually AM shy, I just may not appear to be due to my stellar acting abilities in public situations.

Secretive. Absolutely positootely. And I will not tell you why or in what way.

Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. And that has been my undoing more than once. But, I like being that way, really.

Loves peace and serenity. I don't call myself a pacifist for nothing. And there's a reason I flee conflict. Love that peace and serenity and would like it as much as possible all day all the time.

Sensitive to others. Very. Usually a good thing. Especially when I can spot a predator, mean person, or person liable to harm others in a flash. Not good when I see that someone has chosen such a person as a partner. Hard to keep my mouth shut.

Loves to serve others. Fraid so. All those years at the Dysfunctional Nonprofit Organization speak to that.

Easily angered. It takes a while to build up, actually, but once the trigger hits, I guess.

Trustworthy. Trust me; I am. Or ask my friends and family if you refuse to trust my self-reported trustworthiness.

Appreciative and returns kindness. I am always surprised when anyone is kind to me, and I am not sure why that is. I really enjoy being kind to others.

Observant and assesses others. Very much so. I am perhaps too observant at times. My assessments are usually accurate and I sure get pissed off at myself if they are not.

Revengeful. Maybe when younger. I think I have drummed that out of myself.

Loves to dream and fantasize. I'm a Pisces; what do you expect? Yeah. Much of my life I have been more in the fantasy world than the real one. Lately it's been more real.

Loves traveling. Absolutely, though I also love home. I like to see different things and see how other people live.

Loves attention. Look at meeee, look at meeeee. This is another thing I have worked on lessening.

Hasty decisions in choosing partners. BWA HA HA. This is the one that had me literally ROFL-ing. Yep, I have always been hasty. That's why I tried to ignore all the signals between Lee and me and go as slowly as I could. Still, once we were together, we were hastily partners. He was born in March, too, ya know.

Loves home decors. Or office cubicle decor.

Musically talented. I do like to sing, and read music fairly well. Lots of people are more talented, but I enjoy what I have.

Loves special things. I didn't know what this meant, but if it means I have sentimental attachments to objects, I do. Thus, the clutter of "special items" in the house.

Moody. Overly, perhaps.


By the way, Barb posted all the months' supposed attributes if you want to wax eloquent about yourself and your month (scroll past the discussion of a book about sex ed for young girls, or not, as you wish).

Guitars! Whee, That Was FUN!

Rock On, Tuba Boy
Originally uploaded by sunasak

I'm hikacking an email I sent to a list so I hope this post comes out making sense:

We had SO much fun last night, just out of a fluke. I was looking on craigslist for something else and decided to see if there were any cheap banjos for sale (Beccanois interested in learning to play that, but luckily his stepmom may give him hers). I saw an ad for a whole bunch of guitars in a garage. Sounded suspicious, but I sent it on to Lee. We checked it out, and it turns out to be legit--a dude had started an online guitar store, sorta on the lines of Dell, which did OK but his business partner pulled out and he had to close up shop. He still has a bunch of brand-new guitars in his garage, and since he is moving, he needs to get them out.

So, they were bargain guitars, all with the same brand name. All Korean made in the same factories the brand name ones are made in.

We all drove over there and had a blast looking at things. (Also enjoyed the man's very nice wife and daughter and charming guinea pig.) I consulted on a kitchen re-do with the wife while the guys looked at guitars.

There was a wide variety of quality of parts, so I was glad Lee was there to evaluate. Some were definitely "starter" guitars, while there were also fairly nice ones. So, not "great" guitars, but "good" ones. The kids were pretty funny--trying to be cool and not act all excited.

But, when Tuba Boy saw this fretless bass, he just stopped looking at everything else. Turns out he doesn't like frets, and this was his dream guitar (even though it is not a fancy-schmancy one). All the guitars were at wholesale (some below) so it the fretless bass was hardly anything. Tuba Boy is in love.

Lee got a black dreadnaught acoustic for $100. It sounded surprisingly good--just wasn't one of the ones with fancy decorations and inlay. Perfect for outdoor gigs in the middle of winter (which we have one of, 3M Marathon again).

Beccano looked and looked, and tried a very nice one, which he could have had in green (with fingerprint dust on it--it had been stolen from the warehouse and returned! would have been a cool story). But, in his heart, he wanted one that looked "cool" --he was more interested in looks than feel. It cracked the guitar guy up when Beccano asked wistfully if he had something "pointy." (Since guitar man also has a kid, so he apparently understood.) He went in the other room and dragged out a satin-finish yet slightly shiny silver "pointy" guitar (if you are a guitar person, it is a BC Rich Mockingbird style--very retro rock). He said it was the last one he had of that style and he would be happy to just get rid of it. He GAVE it to Beccano. It is very basic but actually plays just fine, and Bec is thrilled. Here's what it looks like, only it has cloud shaped inlays, really pretty. There is a picture on Flickr of Beccano making a horrid "rock-out" face with it--click the Tuba Boy photo link and you will see the measley pix I took--none of Lee' so far.

The only guitar that actually cost us anything was the one Lee got for himself, which was one of the good ones hiding in the back of the garage. It's one weird looking thing, black with gold sparkles and lots of gold knobs and a great deal of quite attractive inlay, but it played great. I have found similar ones online for $1500 (or more) and he paid way, way less for it. It is like a fancier pimped-out version of this one. It was made in the same factory as the Gretsch guitars, according to the guitar man (who knows if this is true).

OK enough about guitars. I don't know ihow many of you play, but I have to say it was fun looking at them. But you know what was more fun? That Tuba Boy came home, said, "Can I bring the bass amp downstairs?" then got out his "learn bass" book and CD and sat there until I am sure his butt fell asleep. By the end of the evening, "Smoke on the Water" was wafting up. He really "gets" it (helps he reads bass cleff so well, being a tuba player, and that tuba and bass parts are similar). He'd been messing with Lee's bass, and had it leaning against a door. But the second thing he did was ask Lee for a stand for his new one. He loves it.

Beccano did homework like a speed demon when we got home, then sat patiently with his Wolf Mother songbook and plunked out song after song (no clue how well, not knowing my Wolf Mother catalogue very well.

Lee was just BEAMING at how happy he made the kids. I am beaming at how happy they all are. I love hearing the music (ask me if I still do in a month or two).

Idea!

One more thing: when I typed in the subject line, I wrote "guitarts" instead of guitar. Hee hee--wouldn't that make a great Girl Band name???

Happy New Year again!

Front Door on Halloween
Originally uploaded by sunasak

Most of us had a pretty good Samhain/Halloween evening. Poor Lee did not, as he was unsuccessful in his bid to fix his motorcycle's dead battery. It was very frustrating for him, and I felt so sad that he didn't get to enjoy the fun with the rest of us!

I came home from a fine work day featuring much candy and food and set out to make some lentil chili (too offset all that candy) and to finish decorating the exterior and interior of the house for the holiday. Beccano was a big help--he had brought home a really well done jack-o-lantern and was happy to help me string lights, set out candles and get the decor JUST right. The first picture shows how nice the front door looked, with bad lights and garland around the door and a black feather wreath on it, flowers and a black feather own, an axe, and hard to see, but behind the geranium on the right, a hand that moved its fingers when the door slams, or you stomp. ELAB had fun getting all those items! Beccano's pumpkin is the top one.


We still had one un-carved pumpkin. Debate Girl (who spent most of the evening in a pumpkin suit) was here with Tuba Boy, and she managed to convince him to stop playing Guitar Hero 3 and carve the pumpkin. He was a bit reluctant at first, and really did NOT like scooping out pumpkin guts (see photo). Beccano informed him that it was NOT all that bad, so Tuba Boy jumped in and scraped like a professional pumpkin-meister.


Then, Tuba Boy could not figure out what to carve. We gave suggestions, but Debate Girl really wanted him to come up with his own design. He started to make a ghost, but realized it looked more like the monster in the Pac Man game. So, he made a Pac Man jack-o-lantern. It came out great, as you can see from the happy two-some who made it! And he even admitted that he had fun playing with the knife, ha ha. Really, it was fun to be cooking and listening to their teen banter. The kids get along so well.

The older kids went out to get candy, while Ninja Beccano stayed with me to hand things out. Lee eventually came home, but really was not in the mood for the festivities, so we didn't do tarot or anything. Maybe over the weekend. In addition, at the height of the doorbell ringing time, my dad called. I really needed to talk to him, but no one else was answering the door, so it got quite disjointed. I'd have to stop Flo in the middle of a long, extended story, answer the doorbell, chat to kids, then come back. She'd pick right up.

Still worried about dad, but I made sure he would have things to do if they move to the Quaker old people village. It sounds like they are condos or apartments or something like that. He showed them to my brother last week, but he apparently didn't cope real well with it. The upshot is that I will end up with a lot more furniture at some point. Oh yes, my home will hold three households' worth...nope. Some things will need to go! But, that's for later. I do want to keep both my and Lee's heirlooms in the family, so we will work it out.

If you want to see more Halloween pix, just click here and it will be obvious where they start in the collection.

Fun Is Where You Make It

A Successful Prank!
Originally uploaded by sunasak

I think I mentioned that we tee-pee-ed the boss's office earlier this week. This is all its glory (since the toilet paper effectively eliminates any way to tell where the heck this is as well as the poor woman's face, I figure it's OK to post). I had the most fun strangling her Elvis Presley figure and hanging him from the blinds. He's fine now, btw. She left it up all day yesterday, and even showed her boss, who was visiting. I have got to say that the department across from mine sure has a lot of fun. They also work hard. That is perfect.

It hasn't been all that fun at our house, but we are trying to make fun as well. I completely lost it yesterday, though, when I got a phone call from Beccano's English teacher saying he was failing English due to not doing his homework. NOT that AGAIN! To his credit he had already approached her himself, looking for ways to remedy things. And he has already remedied math issues. But, on top of Lee's job situation, the massive bills, the drama of Lee selling his old house (it was sad for him--lots of work had gone into it by both him and the ex), the school bus thing (still no apology from the intolerant woman and I have to ride the bus today)...anyway, this incident was the last straw.

I cried at my desk, but thankfully no one was there at the time (lunch combined with the guy across from me having a crown done). Then I cried at Bill when he called wanting to go to lunch. Then I cried at Lee. I got it all back together, but developed a massive headache and sore muscles from being so tense. Thank goodness I had a nice juicy task to do, which kept my mind occupied.

By the time I got home, having managed to do an errand for Lee, avoid an accident two cars ahead of me, and not run out of gas, I was dead. Luckily Beccano agreed to all the things I wanted him to do until he got back under control, and we had a fairly nice time doing homework. I managed to help with Algebra 1, too. It is still hard, but I gave him some tips that seemed to help. All this teaching experience comes in handy at home!

We were supposed to have a committee meeting for the church coffeehouse, but once again, no one showed. So, that looks like we will have one more concert and put it all on hiatus or call it quits. Yay, one more web site I won't have to do any more. I used to really love this coffeehouse, and will be sorry to see it go, but if no one wants to work on it...I guess my friend who booked all the acts will be able to just book them into house concerts at his newly renovated house from now on, so he will still get to be a mover and shaker on the folk scene. Good for him. We need venues for quality folk music up in north Austin still!

So, lots of endings these days. But, Lee and I have our new beginning to focus on, Lee has a new job beginning to hope for, and the kids are still happy...even with all the new homework rules for Beccano. Could be worse. At least no one has tee-pee-ed the house. So far.

Tonight, ugh, long bus ride to Belton for a game, then tomorrow we will drive right back up there for Beccano's percussion section competition right where the game was. Lee will get to come to that, anyway. So will the kids' dad and Tuba Boy, so it should be quite the family event. We will make it fun, in keeping with this entry's theme. I hope we can get up there fairly early and see some of the other competitors. Then, sigh, back to old house or new house work.

Fun at Home and Elsewhere

Pilar Re-Knitting
Originally uploaded by sunasak.

I've had a nice weekend so far, with my wonderful Tuba Boy home, and the usual wonderful Lee. I also had a nice time at the yarn shop today. I told Pilar, who is in this picture, that I would blog it, because she had me laughing so much at one point. I decided to post here rather than to the public knitting blog, because the story is a little racy.

Pat was teaching a new person to knit, and I was "helping" (didn't feel like earning the money, so I helped her pick yarn, cool new Cascade hand dyed yarn, and was giving additional advice and help when Pat was busy. Pilar was "working," though we didn't have many customers. So mostly she was reknitting the arms of her sweater, again (they were NOT pretty as bell sleeves.) She is a good reknitter.

The new knitter, who was a really friendly person, had finished her first row of knitting, and Pat was giving her the standard little speech about being careful with the first stitch of a row, not to pull the yarn over the needle, or it will look like two stitches. She demonstrated what that looked like. Pilar got a shocked look on her face, and demo-ing with her needles said, "Oh no, you'd NEVER lift her up like that! That would reveal her private parts! You never want to show your stitch's Hoo-Ha!" Well, at "Hoo-Ha" we all cracked up. Especially when we realized it did sorta look like a "Hoo-Ha," Pilar quickly explained it was like lifting up her skirt--you just don't do that to a lady. The new student, between gasps of laughter, declared she would never, ever, forget this important knitting advice. I am glad she had such a good sense of humor.

Jody showed up later, and I don't know if she thought it was as funny as the rest of us did.

I finally went home after a nice time chatting, and packed and cleaned in preparation for leaving for a work trip and vacation, so my next post will be from North Carolina. The intrepid Tina will be guarding the fort and dogs at home. THANK YOU, Tina. And Jared.

Jody came by later and I showed her all the new rooms. We do that a lot. And when Tuba Boy's friend came over, he proudly showed him the new rooms. I was touched--realized he DID care and was proud of what we had done.

And I finished my new short-sleeved sweater in time to wear it in the chilly airport and plane! Photo on knitting blog!

We have new stuff

We have new stuff
Originally uploaded by sunasak.

It's been a happy day, so here's a happy photo of me and my very tall teen enjoying our new purchases. Last night we took the kids shopping and he got new shoes a black dress shirt (size extra thin, not shown) and his brother got a green newsboy-style cap. Well, the cap has not come off THIS kid's head, backwards, of course. He looks pretty good for someone with a miserable cold or sinus condition.

I am looking happy because I love both my new-ish sheep-made-out-of-balls-of-yarn shirt, and I really love the shawl that Jody made for me for my birthday. It is SUCH a lovely pattern (for details, see my knitting blog) and it feels SO luxurious on!

I hung out with Jody today, longer than I'd intended, but since we hadn't hung out in a while, it was worth it. Trip to Hill Country Weavers, where yarn was bought, then a lovely lunch at Guero's, followed by a bit of shopping and then a lesson in spinning with a drop spindle. I hope to get better at it, that's all I can say. But it is fun.

While I was gone, Lee and Beccano had WAY too much fun looking at motorcycles and getting B a helmet (it fits me too, eek). B also got to drive the riding lawn mower at Lee's old house and apparently was quite good at maneuvering it. To top it all off, he got to whack things with a machete. Manly fun, I tell you. Boys continuing to be boys.

And Older Boy has been more perky, other than the sinus issue.

Restaurant Fun

Restaurant Fun
Originally uploaded by sunasak.

Friday night we decided we wanted to go out to eat, and it was my turn. I picked a local family-run Italian restaurant, because I like the "real restaurant" atmosphere and lack of chain-restaurant blandness. The problem was that it was Friday, prom night and such, so we had a bit of a wait. I came prepared with knitting (which I later had to rip out, but it passed the time), and everyone else entertained each other with banter while we had drinks.

Once we got seated, the boys (Lee included) got sillier and sillier, and we ended up playing a seriously funny game of adult vs. teen "straw hockey" (blowing a straw folded into a triangle across the table, trying to avoid glasses, so you can "score"). The easiest way to lose was to start laughing, so you could not blow any more, and the other side could score on you. There was a lot of laughing! I hope we were not too embarrassing. I captured the end of the game on my cell phone, and that's the picture you see here.

The food was wonderful, and to see them eating salad and broccoli cheese soup warmed my heart. And ordering adult kinds of food. Wow. (If only Older Boy would EAT more.)

I came home so happy to have my wonderful three men in my home. They were great fun.

And in good news, it looks like Jeff found a roommate and a nice place to live, not very far from here (but a lot closer to his fave South Austin haunts, like Artz and Donn's Depot). He should be moving soon, if all goes well. So that's 4 dudes I am happy with.

Lawn Furniture Fun

So, what are we doing this weekend other than refrigerating? I may have mentioned last week that Lee got some older wooden lawn furniture at an estate sale last week (we found out that the sale was of things belonging to a family who all died in a plane crash--how sad--I hope we can do them an honor by fixing it up and giving it new life).

So, here's a picture of what the patio looked like yesterday, with grumpy morning Lee and a tangle of dogs in it. There's wooden furniture and black wrought-iron furniture we've had since the house in Illinois. Lee got the idea of repainting the wooden stuff AND the wrought-iron stuff and making a festive patio. We got paint in many happy bright colors, and are going to have all sorts of different colorations going. We're also going to paint the wall hangings that are metal, and perhaps some of the plant pots (what the heck).

Yesterday I painted four of the metal items. Three chairs and a small table. Green, red and yellow. Well, doing it in the garage was a pain. Paint everywhere. And no way to keep colors off each other. Plus, the cute little trigger thing we got stopped working, so I ended up having my finger all numbed from pressing the nozzle. Argh. And I still have a blue chair and an orange table and glider to paint! Worse, today is just supposed to be partly cloudy, but it is drizzling!

The wooden chairs and loungers need to be sanded, primed, then painted, so they will take longer. I got us a sander, and one chair is done. Looks good. We also have to repair the chairs a bit--tightening their bolts and such--they are old. They will be pink, purple, yellow, blue and something else. Red...the idea is we will have two of every color once we are done.

I must say that, though it was a lot of work and mess, the ones I painted yesterday look spectacular and the patio already looks more cheery. I think it will be a fun look. Why be boring in the back yard, right?

Green, Green Grass

Look, look look. See, see see. See grass grow.

Grow grass, grow!

This is not a very exciting photo unless you are familiar with the vast expanse of bare dirt that is my back yard. Then, you are thrilled to see those li'l blades of grass shimmering in the sun! And that photo was taken on Sunday. Today you can REALLY see the grass, and Lee has filled in some gaps with more seed. It is conceivable that, soon, a person would consider us to have a "lawn."

Whoa.

I didn't spend all weekend watching grass grow. I taught a lot of knitting, went to church and learned interesting things about societies in an exercise we all did as a family. We were all members of different "cities" named after types of ice cream, and the "mayor" and "sherrif" wandered around doling out favors or not. And there was someone acting as permit person who showed favoritism too. It was supposed to be a microcosm of society and show how you start to act like how you are treated. It was pretty fun! We made our city a commune off the grid, but still could not avoid influences of others.

So, what else...last night was the annual birthday bash of my friend Austin. Not as many people as usual, but still a lot of music. I got to introduce Lee to a lot of my music friends, and was relieved to find out that some of the ones I really care about ARE my friends, and not just people who were nice to me because I was with Jeff. A couple of people made a big point of saying that they would like to see me more and do stuff with me and Lee. And more than one told me how wonderful I am for being so kind to Jeff. I told one woman that Jeff had been hard to live with and she said, "Oh, I KNOW, you are an ANGEL to have been to good to him for so long." So, that was nice.

Lee spent a lot of time out on the labyrinth. He sure loves it, and it had a big pool of moonlight right in the center. Beautiful.

Unfortunately, I ended up having two too many margaritas from the marvelous frozen margarita machine. Lee kept refilling. Then he made another one when we got home. It ended up being QUITE the fun evening, but this morning my head sure hurt, and I had job interview stuff to do!

And Job Interview Marathon went well. 4 hours of talking, but it ended up really, really good. I loved the place and the people seemed very nice as well. Tomorrow I have two--someone called in this morning having looked at my resume from last year and gave me a call--wow, someone actually DID call when something fitting my skills came up!

Good Attitude Weekend Report

So, I said I'd report on my reasonable weekend. And I am very proud of myself for keeping up with my intentions to only let myself wallow in self pity a short time. I ended up having some wonderful times this weekend, and feeling fairly calm and hopeful.

I have to thank Lee for a lot of it. It is just so easy to have a nice time with him. I can remember sitting in the car at one point and thinking, "I am having fun!" We just did normal things, too, like shopping for plants, planning yard improvements and stuff. But he is so easy to be with, easy to talk to, and supportive, that almost anything we do is a fine time.

The back yard continues to improve. Lee has mowed and bagged twice, so the leaves are all off the ground. We got some grass seed, but...today is the predicted flash flooding that ALWAYS comes whenever I get grass seed put down in the back yard!! However, all this got done this weekend:

• Got some snapdragons and impatiens, plus more potted plants
• Weeded ALL traces of Virginia Creeper, remnant blackberry, thorn and honeysuckle vine in front and back. All that is left, vine-wise are grapevines, which have to grow a bit so I can find and Roundup them (won't pull up). I know the VC will be back, but it is at least wounded now.
• Put down newspapers in the part of the front bed where everything I ever planted died, other than weeds. Then covered it with lovely free oak leaf mulch from the formerly most shady part of the back yard, and planted snapdragons in it. Looks like an entirely new front yard.
• Built a back step (the kids did it for us) so that it is easier for Buddy the Dog to get in and out. He is already walking better. I found the concrete pieces at Lee's old house, so it was free! See how thrifty we unemployed can be.
• Built an inexpensive charcoal grill so we can have yummy grilled foods. Of course poor Lee had to grill in a downpour yesterday, but the chicken was divine. Jeff helped, and it was amusing to see the Men working together so well. Sigh, in some ways, it's not bad having them both here, when Jeff is in a good mood. Lee also got us one of those starter chimney things, so we do not have to use lighter fluid (yay). It is cool to see how those work (I have not had a charcoal grill in so long...but the gas one is totally DEAD.)
• Put up a chain of nice lights to light up the back patio. Just have to get the extension cord set up so we can turn them on. Lee did a good job with chains and such, and they match the hanging basket chain.
• Also got two more wrought iron decorations to put on the back of the house. It will look really nice.
• We went out to Granger and got some tools from Lee's. Managed to fit them all in the garage, too. Soon we can build stuff.

Since the kids were with their dad this weekend, Lee and I went to dinner at Mesa Rosa (right across from our neighborhood). It was like our second real "date" ever. Sigh, I do things strangely. But it was nice. He was so sweet to me all night. We had one big and one small margarita, so were quite happy when we got home. We watched Saturday Night Live and laughed and laughed. Then we just had fun kidding with each other and playing around. We decided that perhaps the best way to watch SNL is slightly tipsy. Anyway, it was so nice to have plain ole fun in our own house, not having to be quiet or worry about anyone else being offended (Jeff was out, too).

Speaking of which, it looks like by mid May he will be totally out, and that he is going to take a "vacation" for much of the time between now and then. And he will put his stuff in storage. I am glad we just had to have "a talk" and not get cantankerous about it. He knows he needs to move on and look for real work and relationship opportunities. And Lee and I would sure like to be a more "normal" family unit. Sigh, if that divorce would just finalize, perhaps that dream will become more of a reality.

Profitable Partying

You just never know where a party will take you.

I went to a gathering of folks from ALE -- contractors and former contractors from my department. A nice bunch of people, and we don't all get to see each other much since we have split off to various other places. I'd been a bit concerned, since some of the attendees had applied for the same job as me, and I'd have to deal with the person who "went off" on me on Friday. But, I dealt with my headache remnants and showed up with all my food products and a smile.

It went pretty well--just had to not engage that one attendee every time she said, "Friday was hell," which she said a lot. I enjoyed talking to all the people I don't see much--all interesting women. At some point after dinner, we were talking about fashion and G. said that one day she had gotten chilly and gone to the "scarf store in Sue Ann's car." Everyone perked up and said, "You have a scarf store in your car?" and I said, yeah, actually, I do--because I have all those consignment scarves I was gonna sell at Yulefest in there, riding around. They begged me to go get them, so I did. It was pretty funny to watch them all flinging scarves around. They'd put one on, look in the mirror, come back, get opinions. They seemed to have a great time. I was slightly uncomfortable about selling them stuff at a party, so I priced them lower than I normally would (but at least paid for the yarn). I left with about $200 I didn't have when I went, which will be nice holiday money! Lots of funny pictures were taken, so I will be sure to share then when I get them! I DO hope the photo of me chewing was DELETED.

PS: I missed Jody and Cheri at the yarn shop yesterday. It was really quiet.

Set of Three Things about Me

I found this on my friend Barbara’s blog. She got it from a site called 43 Things. She keeps answering all these interesting questions, so I thought I would give it a try, rather than venting my spleen, which would be really an ugly thing right now.

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:

1. Sue Ann
2. Suna
3. Mom

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:

1. SunaSAK
2. LLLSueAnn (that one’s a goner)
3. none—I am consistent

THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:

1. I am kind to people and animals.
2. I have interesting and useful talents.
3. I work very hard at any task I am asked to do.

THREE THINGS YOU DON’T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:

1. I can’t dredge up interest in home maintenance projects
2. I am “too sensitive”
3. I suck at picking men

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:

1. nuclear holocaust
2. losing my children
3. being out of work

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:

1. yarn
2. tarot cards
3. contact with friends

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:

1. Vietnamese shirt
2. black dress pants
3. a jade and peridot ring

THREE FAVORITE DESSERTS:

1. bread pudding
2. Jack Daniels pie from Texas Land and Cattle Co.
3. drambouie

THREE THINGS YOU WONT EAT:

1. natto (Japanese fermented soybeans)
2. fatty sausage (makes me sick—no gall bladder)
3. raw eggs (texture)

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS OR MUSICAL ARTISTS (at the moment):

1. Slaid Cleves
2. Bruce Springsteen
3. Jeff Tveraas (aww)

THREE NEW THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS:

1. Knitting a shawl with yarn I dyed
2. Get a permanent job
3. Take a class on something new

THREE THINGS YOU’D WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:

1. Mutual respect
2. Humor and fun
3. Financial stability

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE:

1. I have a degree in Japanese.
2. I have never broken a bone.
3. I know how to tat

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX (or same) THAT APPEAL TO YOU:

1. Broad shoulders that taper to a narrow waist
2. Good hair (color and style can vary—like it long)
3. Lively eyes

THREE THINGS YOU JUST CAN’T DO:

1. Keep my personal space tidy
2. Maintain an exercise regimen
3. Play a musical instrument.

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:

1. knitting
2. tarot reading
3. reading

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:

1. Go somewhere in nature near a body of water, and sit and read and knit alone for about a week
2. Knit while watching an interesting TV show about philosophy
3. Give a couple of folks a piece of my mind (which I never will in this case--I've made a vow).


THREE CAREERS YOU’RE CONSIDERING:

1. Knitting teacher
2. Management of writing projects
3. Director at a healthy, interesting nonprofit organization that does work that is meaningful to me (good luck on this one)

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:

1. Oregon
2. Western Ireland
3. a lake house in northern Florida

THREE KID’S NAMES:

1. Kynan Kendall
2. Declan
3. Ada Maeve

THREE CELEB CRUSHES:

1. Pierce Brosnan
2. Dennis Quaid
3. Richard Gere

THREE WAYS I AM STEREOTYPICALLY A GUY:

1. I like to watch sports on TV.
2. I am most comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt.
3. I prefer action figures to dolls.

THREE WAYS I AM STEREOTYPICALLY A CHICK:

1. I love to paint my nails interesting colors and grow my fingernails long.
2. I like fabrics with flowers on them.
3. I like things that smell sweet.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:

1. Live next to a lake.
2. Spend a couple of months without anything to worry about and no effing growth opportunities.
3. Go on a book promotion tour, which assumes I have written a book.

So, what are yours? Email them to me or post them to YOUR blog!

Comment

Jody said...
I can't believe you said Richard Gere...
Monday, August 21, 2006 8:57:00 PM