G is for Gospodor's Monument Park and Ghostie movies

On my daily work commute I pass by a strange little patch of land known as the Gospodor’s Monument Park, between the little towns of Toledo and Winlock in Washington State. It’s a very odd little memorial area, and hasn’t been without controversy. In a grassy, overgrown field stand three large and two smaller copper-plated monuments in honor of Mother Theresa, Holocaust victims, and the American Indian. When they were first erected in 2002, they were quite the oddity. The tallest monument – the one for Mother Theresa – is 108 feet high; the monument for the American Indian is 100 feet, and the monument for the Holocaust victims is 87 feet. All were fitted with lights that could be seen for miles at night. The first time I encountered them was on a visit from Montana; Sis had not said anything about them, and I thought I was looking at an alien landing site! The lights no longer shine down on them at night; I don’t know if the Dept. of Transportation and the Washington State Patrol decided it was just not safe since they are literally just yards off of the I-5 freeway, where the speed limit is 70mph, or if the money ran out to pay the electricity bill, or what. You can read more about the controversy about getting the park set up, about the monuments themselves, and the fight to make it bigger here. The linked website is also the source for this photo:

OK, now onto the movies. It has been commented on that my taste in movies seems to lean rather heavily towards the horror genre, and I guess it does. I never really thought about it, but these next two selections will seem to put a few more nails in the coffin (see what I did there?): Ghost Ship and Ghost Rig.

Sis and I have nearly identical taste in movies, books, and music. When one of us tells the other about a new movie, author, or musical group that has been discovered, the other of us just goes ahead and buys it, fully anticipating that we will enjoy it profusely because the other one did. Ghost Ship was kind of a miss on that. I loved it, but it took Sis nearly four years to watch it all the way through because it scared her to death! The opening scene was enough to send her scrambling to turn on every light in the house. It definitely is not the best movie ever made and was never in danger of winning any awards, but it has a good (if slightly predictable) plot, good acting with faces you recognize, and good special effects. One review I read said it is “more like a ‘Shining’ on the water”. In brief, a salvage crew gets a tip on an ocean liner that has been missing since the 1960’s. They manage to find it; as they are towing it back to harbor, things happen and the crew winds up trapped inside the liner only to discover a presence aboard the ship. Be sure to be pay attention at the very end for a great twist! Stars Julianna Margulies, Gabriel Byrne, and Ron Eldard.

The second pick today is Ghost Rig starring Jamie Bamber, Bryan Carney, Juliet Diamond, Kerry Norton and Noel Fitzpatrick. Fair warning: this movie is borderline terrible. It gets terrible reviews because the acting is pretty crappy, the script needs help, and the direction…well, it probably could have been better. At first I figured that they just replaced the ship in Ghost Ship with an oil rig. But this movie is definitely different. Basically, it’s about a group of environmental activists who get themselves airlifted onto an abandoned oil rig that the owners plan to blow up, letting the pieces fall to the ocean floor to make an artificial reef. The activists figure it can’t be blown up with them on it, and the owners will have to listen to their demands. The only weird thing is where is the maintenance crew that is supposed to be on board? It doesn’t take long for characters to start dying off, and it doesn’t really hurt your feelings any. There are lots of holes in the plot, but if you can ignore some of that, you can really enjoy the movie. This is another movie with a big plot twist at the end, and watching the whole movie is actually worth it just for that! Don’t hate me if you hate it. Please.

OK – that is it for today. Hope your week is going well so far, and I’ll see you here tomorrow for the letter H!

TTFN.

F is for FIRE! and Fallen

Well, I made it! Today's post is late in getting published, but it's still on the right day. I've done all my other posts a day ahead, but I didn't get my post done over the weekend.

OK - F is for fire. Well, the fire that almost was, but wasn't, so YAAAYYY!

On Saturday, I took Les out for breakfast at this great little French restaurant in town called "Jacques en le boîte" (or Jack in the Box for all you non-Frenchers), and then we went and got him a haircut.

We had been out and about for an hour and a half or so, when Les casually turns to me and says, "You know, I left a pot pie in the oven when we left. I'm sure the oven is still on. Do you think the house has burned down yet?"

o.O

"How long are those supposed to bake?" I asked, trying to remain calm while visions of the house fully engulfed in flames, little dogs barking their heads off, ravage my brain.

"Oh, only about 45 minutes."

"Ah. So only about 45 minutes longer than we have been away from home? Great. Let's get home, shall we?"

I tried to fit a 25-minute drive into 15 seconds, and as we came over the top of a hill that leads down to where our home is, I felt better when I could not see smoke.

The house wasn't filled with smoke, but we did have to open all the doors and windows for a while. The pot pie, I'm sad to say, was a total loss: blackened beyond all recognition, all it's gravy evaporated away. Now when we leave the house, I will have to make sure there isn't anything cooking in the oven as well as checking to be sure none of the burners have been left on. Jeezy creezy.

OK, now for movies. It's hard to just pick one "F" movie, so I have three for you. I would classify the first as Thriller, the second as Drama/Dark Comedy, and the third as Science Fiction/Action/Comedy.

The first is "Fallen" starring Denzel Washington, Reno Wilson, Donald Sutherland, James Gandolfini, and John Goodman, released in 1998. Following the execution of a demonic serial killer, a homicide detective finds himself on the trail of another serial killer whose methods are strikingly similar to the executed killer. Great acting + unexpected plot twists = awesome movie.

The second movie is "Fargo" starring William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, and Frances McDormand (who won an Oscar for this role). Oh my god I love this movie. Sometimes I just like to watch it so I can hear them talk! And for those of you not familiar with the Northern United States - Minnesota, North Dakota, etc. - they really do talk like that. I used to say, "Ya, sure, you betcha" all the time; when I lived in Montana, people always used to ask me if I was from Fargo! Anyhoo, here's the synopsis: Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of pregnant Marge Gunderson. There is gore and one short but slightly bizarre sex scene. One of my all time favs.

The third and final selection is "The Fifth Element". I love this movie so much. It stars Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Ian Holm, Chris Tucker, and Gary Oldman. A burnt-out ex-cop has the savior of the universe literally fall into his lap. With the aid of a priest, a radio DJ, and an all expense paid trip on a luxury cruise spaceship, he trys to save the planet from a greedy war lord and his bosses. Love it. Love, love love love love it. I have seen it so many times I can talk along with the script! Milla is wonderful in it, and Bruce shows off his many acting talents in this film.

Well, that's it for today! Once again, thank you all for your lovely comments. I love reading them so much (I'm kinda needy that way).

TTFN!

E is for…well, you’ll see

Since several readers enjoyed my post for the letter C with the lake name that was longer than anyone thought the name of a lake could be, I’ve decided to go with something similar for the letter E. Are ya ready?

E is for eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious. (HA! Spellchecker just lit up like a Christmas tree!) According to the website Glossographia, this is what is known as a “nonce-word”, or a word “created to solve a one-time need in communication, without any expectation that it will become standardized or widely accepted.” Nonce-words can become widely used, and sometimes will wind up in a dictionary, but most are never written down or never repeated. However, this word does turn up in a 1934 copy of Weseen’s dictionary. What does it mean? Very good or very fine. Wow – all those letter for that? I think I’ll stick with just plain ol’ good.

Check out Glossographia – this person knows lots of words and a lot about them as well. A very interesting website.

You know what else E is for? E is for extremely exhausted. And that is me today. I actually spent my lunch hour sound asleep in my Rodeo out in the parking lot at work. This morning, I fell asleep at my desk numerous times while working on an Excel spreadsheet. One moment I was highlighting cells to be copied, and three moments later I would jerk my head up with a start, hand still on the mouse, cells partially highlighted and ready for my next command. I’ve been fighting this stupid virus all week; I seem to be sleeping OK, but my head lolls around like a bladder on a stick during my entire commute to work (and that is NOT eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious). I drink a ton of water throughout the day because my throat is swollen and dry, and I fall asleep on the toilet. It’s making me crazy, and it’s making me fear for my job if the wrong person catches me snoozing at my desk! Oy.

Today’s E movie choice is a flash from the past: Earthquake. This movie was released in 1974 and scared the crap out of me as a kid. I suppose that is because our family was living in the small ski resort town of Wrightwood when a 6.6 quake hit the Los Angeles area in 1971. Even though it wasn’t a high-on-the-richter-scale number, it did over $500 million in damage, injured more than 2,000 people, and took 65 lives. You can read more about it here. Anyway, this movie stars Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene, and Genevieve Bujold, and title tells you all you need to know about the plot. Made before state of the art computer graphics were used for special effects, it still gets the job done. It may be a little cheesy, but it still rocks! Back in the ‘80’s they used to pair this movie with The Towering Inferno on TV, showing them back to back in the same night, and would call it Shake ‘N Bake. It will probably be hard to find, but if you find it, it’s worth checking out.

Well, that’s all for today. Thanks to everyone for the really nice comments – they mean a lot to me!

TTFN.

D is for Dogs and Dan In Real Life

For me, D was always going to be about dogs. I love dogs, all shapes and sizes, although I do prefer large dogs when given a choice. I have always had a dog for a pet since birth, except for the 10 years I lived in Montana. I hated not being able to have a pet! Coming home to an empty house sucked, and I don’t care how freaking big the goldfish is, it’s just not the same.

D is also for dachshund. We had Queenie and Alexander when I was growing up; I don’t know how old Queenie got, but Alexander was 22 years old. Yup. He was older than dirt. He always put on this show – Oh, I’m so frail and blind and deaf – but drop a piece of bacon on the floor and he was on it from three rooms away before you could bend down to retrieve it. We currently have four doxies at our house (you can see their pics in the roll call down the right side of my blog): Bruiser, Snoopy, Mrs. Weenie, and Sam. Sam was a rescue; when we first got him he was so shut down that he just sat. He didn’t wag his tail for almost a month – when he did, I called my sister and we both cried. He didn’t know how to play with toys, let alone other dogs. Now he runs around playing with anyone who has the energy to keep up with him, and he is just so happy all the time. Mrs. Weenie is a favorite wrestling partner, and Gigi – our Pomchi (Pomeranian/Chihuahua mix) – is his girlfriend.

Other dogs we had in the past were a Bluetick Coonhound named Emma that we rescued from the desert around Edwards Air Force Base in California; the world’s most awesome apricot German Shepherd named Barney; Great Danes, Harvey (blonde) and Samantha (black brindle); a red Cocker Spaniel named Cocoa that grew up with Alexander; a fabulous Boxer named Caesar; a black Lab named Ebony; a poodle mix of some sort named Surf; and a humongous Rottweiler named Trooper (but was affectionately called Poopy). When Sis married Les, he had a gorgeous Chow Chow named Bear. Unfortunately, Bear was an asshat and killed two of my sister’s cats. Eventually, Sis and Bear came to the understanding that he would not steal her sandwiches anymore, and she wouldn’t try to smack him with a rolled up newspaper. One time he went across the road and rolled in fresh farm animal poop. He was completely black and dripping with liquid poop. Les’s idiot brother let him in the house, where Bear proceeded to – yes – shake that muck all. Over. The livingroom. Including the ceiling. While my sister had pneumonia. Coughasshatcough.

As far as movies go, today D is for Dan In Real Life. This isn’t normally the type of movie I like, but I luuurve Steve Carell. Juliette Binoche and Dane Cook also star in this comedy/drama/romance. I don’t usually do romance movies, but there are a few that I enjoy. This is about a single father headed up to the family home where he grew up for a family reunion. He has dedicated his life to his children, but the family would love to see him fall in love and get married again. He hits a local bookstore and meets the perfect woman. They spend the day getting to know each other, but each has an engagement to get to and they go their separate ways. That evening, Dave’s brother Mitch shows up with his girlfriend. Guess who it is? I loved it. This is a very talented cast, and the movie is funny, touching, and heartwarming without being smarmy or sickeningly sweet. I hope you enjoy it.

Well, I guess that is it for today! I'll see you tomorrow for the letter E.

TTFN.

C is for "What the heck is the name of that lake?" and Cloverfield

I’m really kind of stretching it for the letter “C” today, but I did say that stuff was going to be random, right? I was going to talk a bit about our cat, Cheddar, but that is a bit predictable and I don’t have any current pictures of him because he is a scaredy-cat! Prepare yourselves for the randomness:

Which of the following letters - R, B, M or C - appears the most times in the word CHARGOGGAGOGGMANCHAUGGAUGGAGOGGCHAUBUNAGUNGAMAUGG? Yes, it’s a real word. Would the Internet lie? Anyhoo, the answer is: the letter C. The letter R and B appear only once; the letter M appears twice; but the letter C appears a whopping three times! Anyway, this massively long word would appear to be Welsh (seriously, have you seen some of the names of the towns in Wales? Some appear to be all vowels, and some don’t seem to have any vowels at all. Some of them just sound like you’re clearing your throat. No offense to anyone from Wales! You guys rock with your bad-ass names!), but it is actually Native American Nimpuc language for the name of a lake near Webster, Massachusetts, USA. It is commonly known as Lake Webster (gee, I wonder why…). According to the Interwebs, the lake’s name means “You fish on your side; I fish on my side; nobody fishes in the middle.” So…there you have it. You are Jeopardy ready now. Here is a picture of it to prove I'm not making it up:

OK, now for the movie portion of today’s post. Today’s movie beginning with the letter C is Cloverfield. Now, I know there are some of you groaning just reading the name of my choice, but I totally love this movie. When the Blair Witch Project came out, I didn’t really like it. It kept building up and up, and it was making me very anxious, and then the ending was just weird and I didn’t get it. I watched it again a few years later, and I still didn’t get it. But I loved the idea of filming the movie in the style of a home movie camera. It seemed to make it more believable. Cloverfield is filmed in this style. It takes a bit to get going, but when it finally does, it takes off like a fighter jet and you can’t unclench until about a half hour after it’s over. I love that. And it all takes place at night, which always makes things 100 times creepier; you never really get a look at the monster until almost the very end but you can hear it making ungodly noises and see the destruction it’s causing. Which adds to the psychological thrill. If you like Godzilla movies, you will like this one. ‘Coz it’s better.

See you tomorrow for the letter "D".

TTFN.

(Sources: www.funtrivia.com and www.websterlake.net/pictures)

B is for BBBb tuba and Below

I love music. Big time. I think the only form of music I don’t really care for is Rap; I still believe it is music – although many think it’s just swearing, noise, and references to…erm…human body parts – I still believe it is a firmly set, cultural part of music history. I just don’t happen to care for it.

I started playing music when I was in the 6th grade, around 12 years old. I started playing the flute. When I was 13, my father bought me a piano! Oh, it is so beautiful. It is considered an upright studio baby grand and is made from rosewood. It was the most unique area of the shop where my father said I could choose from. I’ve never seen another like it. Anyhoo, when I started high school, I joined the marching band. I played my flute and marched my butt off the first year, then the other three years I was honored to be the Drum Major. So many wonderful memories…

But, I digress. Today’s random thought starting with the letter B is the BBBb tuba, better known as the subcontrabass tuba. The first tuba tuned to BBBb was designed by the inventor of the saxophone of all things, Adolphe Sax (1814-1894). The first two modern versions were built on the suggestion of John Philip Sousa – and if you know about marching bands, then you know all about him.

A tuba pitched to FFF was made around 1910, but two persons were needed to play it; one to operate the valves and one to blow into the mouthpiece. That guy probably needed a good set of lungs!





One big ass tuba yo

As for my movie selection, I choose Below. This is a great movie, and I had never heard of it when I bought it. It was released in 2002, was directed by David Twohy and stars Matthew Davis, Bruce Greenwood, Holt McCallany, and Olivia Williams. There is even a small part played brilliantly by Zach Galifianakis.

Here is a summary: After they rescue a trio of survivors that includes a nurse, Claire Page (Olivia Williams), from a British hospital ship sunk by the Nazis, the crew of the American submarine U.S.S. Tiger Shark comes to believe that their vessel is haunted. The unexpected death of their commander forces first officer Lt. Brice (Bruce Greenwood) to take command, trying to avoid a German destroyer on the hunt for his ship, while investigating the series of mysterious incidents that are terrifying his crew.

For some reason it doesn’t get super fabulous reviews, but I thought it was great. Submarines give me the heeby-jeebies anyway, and combine that with the fact that warships are after you and weird stuff is happening all around but you can't get off the sub...I can watch this movie again and again.

Well, that’s all for B!

TTFN

A is for Aardvark and Auntie Mame

This is my first time participating in the A to Z blog challenge – oh, thank you, no need for applause, you are too kind.

I didn’t really have any theme picked out because I just kind of leaped into this challenge without really knowing much about it; but after contemplating it for a while I think my theme will be random thoughts and movie selections. Kind of jumbled and unrelated, just like my brain.

For some weird reason, the first thing that popped into my head when I thought, “A is for…”, was the scene from Blackadder The Third where Blackadder is trying to re-write the dictionary because Baldrick has burnt the only copy. You can enjoy a bit of it here.

A is also for one of my all-time favorite movies: Auntie Mame (Rosalind Russell version). I want to be Auntie Mame. This move makes me feel better when I am down, and I often watch it when I’m sick – it gives me the “all betters”. Other favorite movies that start with A? Alien, Aliens, America’s Sweethearts (another favorite when I’m down or sick).

Well, speaking of sick, I’m off to the doctor this afternoon. I cannot kick this stupid virus, and I need to follow up with her from that time when my blood sugar was over 500. I smell more pills a-comin’!

TTFN.

May I Have Your Attention, Please?

I am already massively burnt out on "news" stories about Kimye's Vouge cover and the Paltrow/Martin conscious uncoupling (does that mean they were unconsciously coupling before?).

Please cease and desist. These are not "news" stories, they are "entertainment" stories, if that. Although, I must admit that I found it highly entertaining that little North peed all over Kanye during the photo shoot. But otherwise? Please.

Thank you. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Just some pictures to share

Well, howdy. Nothing much going on around here. I'm trying to re-succumb to the vile virus I had a few weeks ago, but I REFUSE to give in! I have no idea where it keeps coming from, but it raised its ugly head this weekend. I felt OK Friday night, but when I got up Saturday morning I could barely swallow. The weather outside was gorgeous and sunny, and I refused to stay home in bed. I treated myself to lunch at our favorite Mom & Pop restaurant in Centralia: Poppa Ray's. Only now I think it might be calling itself Main Street Grill. They were closed for a month - the sign on the door said they were cleaning and doing some remodeling - and we were beginning to fear that they were closed for good! But apparently the old owner is back; booths and barstools have been recovered, and you can tell the place has been given an old fashioned assholes-and-elbows kind of cleaning. The food is still the same, which is a good thing 'coz that's why we go there!

After hitting the grocery store for a few things, I returned home and I took a few pictures around the homestead. Then I went into the house and collapsed for the rest of the day. Sunday was spent hiding in my room (I don't want Les to catch this) and playing Candy Crush on my Kindle. I feel better today. Weird.

As you can see to the right, I've decided to join a blogging challenge. It's new to me, but I think I'll be able to handle it. It's the A to Z challenge; click here to find out all about it. I don't have a central theme, but I thought I would chose a random thought for each day, and have an underlying theme of choosing a favorite film (or films) that start with that letter. Wish me luck!

OK - so here are the pictures. First off, I mentioned a while back that I joined a Facebook photography group to help me get back out there and doing what I love: taking pictures. There is a theme every week, and we must take the picture we submit within that week; no fair posting pictures that we have taken in the past.

The first week was a selfie, which I posted in my last post: me with the Kleenex box on my head. The second week was "buildings", and here is my submission:

The third week was "children". I don't have any, we don't live near any nor do I work with or around any. So, I had to get creative:

These are the eggs that our geese have been laying. So they are future children, yes? Well, it's all I could come up with.

Here are our geese:



Roaming geese gang with runner duck

We won't know which eggs belong to which goose pair until they hatch, I guess. They are HUGE! Each one of those eggs is bigger than my fist.

And speaking of geese, or gooses, whatever...we had a little goose that Jim got last summer that had a gammy leg, so he carried him around in his shirt and named him Swenson. Eventually, Swenson's leg healed up and he followed Jim around like a little puppy dog. Whenever Jim would sit down, Swenson cried to be held. Here is a picture of Jim and Swenson last summer:

It's love...

Eventually, Swenson got bigger and Jim was away from the house more and more, so one day I let him out of the little pen that Jim was keeping him in and put him in with the other geese. Jim never mentioned it, so there he stayed and is very happy. Here is Swenson today:





He is a big boy - his head comes up past my hip. I can't wait for all the little goslings to hatch! One of the grey geese lost her mate (because Jim sold him...grrrrr...) and was very depressed. One day Jim brought home a whole flock of little runner ducklings, and she took them under her wing (literally) and was a very good auntie. Hopefully some of those eggs are hers, and she can be a mommy this year!

Here are a few random pics. Please to enjoy.

One of our roosers: Lloyd



Sammy with an olde timey filter



This last picture was taken the same day as the picture of the Mission. This was directly across the street. I would take a snap of the Mission, turn around and take a snap of the sun coming through the clouds. I did this from several different angles, and I think this one turned out the best.

Well, I guess that does it for today. Hope to have some stitchy updates for you next time.

Take care!

TTFN.

Bonus post - project progress pictures and a small rant

OK - here are the progress pictures for Poppy Puss that I promised. I think I just used up my entire allotment of "p"s in that one sentence!

Here was my last progress shot on 1-26-14:

And here is where I am now:

Also, I posted some pictures a bit back showing some of the other projects I had completed, namely: jewelry. There were a few pictures that refused to cooperate (quelle surprise) and so I couldn't share them with you. Here they are:

I made a bracelet for my mother. I was out for a visit from Montana, and she was lamenting the fact that I had never made anything for her. I felt really bad about that; but to be honest, I didn't really know what to make for her. She never wore bracelets and does not have pierced ears. However, she does have this awesome banded agate ring that she got from her mother when she graduated from high school back around 1954. I have never seen another one like it; when I was little, I thought it was one of those rolly-poly bugs - you know, the kind you see on the sidewalk and when you touch them they roll up into a little ball? Anyhoo. She very, very rarely takes it off. Since I had driven out to Portland from Montana, I decided to leave a few hours ahead of my scheduled departure time for heading home and stopped at this phenomenal bead store just outside of Olympia called Shipwreck Beads (you can find them online). When I walked through the front door, I literally ran into a table covered in displays of...wait for it...banded agates in every shape and size you can imagine! So I found several that were almost exactly the same size and shape as the one in her ring, got some other beads and a few fresh water pearls to go with them, and when I got home I made her this:

Sorry - I know the picture quality is a bit wonky. I put a magnetic clasp on it so that she would be able to put it on by herself without any trouble. I don't usually work with gold, but that is pretty much all Mom wears. I got a small black and gold gift box, and wrote a little something on the lid in gold pen for her. Best. Gift. Ever. When she called to tell me she had received it, she was in tears. I sent it to her work place because I don't always trust her home mail delivery, and she said she couldn't stop bragging to people that I had hand made it just for her. It made my heart so happy!

I also made these pendants. I'm not super happy with them (I had planned to sell them on Etsy or similar) so I just kept them for myself. I gave the sunflower one to Sissy and the bird one on the far right to a friend.

I have a twin-set that is the exact same color blue as the background in the other bird pendant (second to the right) and wore it to a job interview. I have copper chains that go with the pendants, and if it wasn't for the big air bubble in the center of almost every one of them, I'd be really happy with them. I'm going to try to make more, and maybe I'll use one for my first blog give away someday.

And now for the rant:

I am addicted to the game "Candy Crush". I put it to you that it should actually be called "Candy Crush Your Soul". A game implies fun. Sure, strategy and skill can be in there too, but mostly "fun" is associated with the word "game". My sister wants to know how something could be considered "fun" when one is shaking one's fist at said game, and screaming "YOU BLOODY BASTARD!" at least once every 15-90 seconds. I have been stuck on level 70 (there are approximately 450 levels to date - and that is not an exaggeration on my part) for what seems like my entire life. My Facebook chums send me extra lives and extra moves, but to no avail. The CEO of the company that owns this game is set to make a butt load of cash in the coming weeks; I hope he squirrels some of that money away for dental insurance 'coz if some of us ever catch him in a dark alleyway, he's going to need help getting his teeth put back in.

And now, something sweet to counteract the bitterness of the above rant:

Miss Muffin has decided that I need a night time companion and has taken to sleeping in my room. If I am in my room with the door closed, she will sit in the hallway right outside my door and cry until I let her in. I don't mind; it's nice to have another little warm body in the bed. Ahhhhh...cuteness.

TTFN.

Being sick and daylight savings sucks!

I haven't been around lately because I discovered something: Strep + pharyngitis + ear infection = I want my mommy x butt kicked (squared). Who says you won't ever use algebra in your everyday life? At first it was one of those things where you are afraid you are going to die, then you are afraid that you won't die. Where the heck did I pick this up from? I'm giving you the stink eye, three out of the five food workers in the mill cafe that were sick at work, breathing your vile germs all over the food. Trust me, I totally get the "I don't get paid time off for sick days and I need the money" mentality. I truely do. However, I make sure I am not contagious, and if I am, I stay home so I don't give it to EVERYBODY ELSE. I also do not get sick days and I totally need money, but you cost me three unpaid days off, and my paycheck on Friday was only $189. Thanks for that. Thanks a lot. However, I was so extremely grateful for my awesome Kindle because Netflix!

So, along with the physical uncomfortableness came the mental hardship of dealing with the anxiety of only having $189 to deal with $400 worth of bills and gas for the vehicle in order to get to work, etc. I was (and still am) not very good company; prone to fits of weeping and nashing of teeth, extreme feelings of ill will and envy towards anyone that makes more than $10 an hour and/or does not have a current negative checking acount balance, or has more than $.75 in their savings account. My life usually feels like jail; right now it feels like 25 to life in maximum security prison with no parole until 2050. Although, if that was true, I'd have free cable, access to a free college education, and better food. Pfffffft.

OK, done with that.

The picture above is me taken with my fabulous Kindle for a Facebook photography group I was invited to join. We take one picture every week, adhering to a dedicated theme for the week; the picture must be taken during that current week, it can't be a picture that has been taken at some earlier time. The first week was self-portraits, and that was my submission - kleenex box on my head, cough drops and prescription medications on my chest. This week's theme is "building". I took a snap of one of the buildings here at the mill, but I don't think it's what I really want. I really want to take a good picture of the St. Francis Mission in Toledo, WA. It is sort of on my way home from work, but the weather has been rain, more rain, and torrential rain. Yesterday was gorgeous, however, and so is today. I'm hoping that it will hold out through tomorrow and/or Saturday so that I can get over there and get some good shots. I had to borrow $40 for gas from Sissy this week so that I had enough money for gas to get to and from work this week, and I felt guilty about using up extra gas to make the side trip to the Mission for pictures. But I get paid again tomorrow, and while I still won't have a complete paycheck and my checking account is in the hole, I'll be able to swing by without worrying too much about the extra gas. Hopefully I can do it tomorrow evening when the sun hits that "golden hour". If I can't get a good one of the Mission, I'll go ahead and use the picture from the mill. I think I will post my pictures on here too, just in case anyone is interested. I think I will enjoy belonging to the group; I used to be a very avid photographer, but the depression always robs you of the things you love most, and I rarely take pictures anymore. That, coupled with the fact that I cannot lock my vehicle (well, I can, I just can't get it unlocked again) makes it difficult to take my camera with me where ever I go so that it's handy for spur-of-the-moment snaps.

I have made some progress on Poppy Puss, but I'm blogging from work (shhhh...) and the progress picture is on my computer at home. I'll try to get that uploaded tonight or this weekend.

So, I guess that's it for now. Just wanted to let you know that I'm still around!

Oh, yeah, and daylight savings time SUCKS! I swear, only Americans are arrogant enough to decide that when actual time itself becomes too inconvenient for them, they start screwing around with it. And not in the fun Dr. Who type of way. Just LEAVE IT for Pete's sake! When the clocks go back in the Fall, it's not too bad. But robbing me of an hour of sleep for ANY reason is a good way to get bitch-slapped, and losing that hour in the Spring is killing me dead. And I'm already not in the mood, so this is not helping.

TTFN.

They Don’t Call Him Snoopy Because of Charlie Brown

I didn’t go to work on Thursday. Snoopy tried to scare us to death, and as a result I wound up being awake for nearly 24 hours in a row. There is a TMI warning for this post, as there will much discussing of disgusting canine bodily functions. Well, these bodily functions would be equally as disgusting if they were human. So those of you with weak stomachs, proceed with caution.

Wednesday was interesting in and of itself, without Snoopy’s help (see my weight-loss blog post, which interestingly enough comes with its own TMI warning). I got home around 7pm, fed all the animals, and everything seemed fine.

Then, at about 8:30pm, Snoopy barfed in front of the front door. He went outside and had some runny poop, walked around in a squat for a few minutes, then came up on the front porch and barfed two more times. I felt so bad for him; he was trying to get around the puddles and I was trying to help him, then he slipped and fell in one of the puddles. He completely wigged out and obviously grossed himself out! I managed to get him back in the house and cleaned up. I turned my back for 20 seconds, turned back around and discovered he had suffered massive, projectile, explosive diarrhea. And peed. By the time I cleaned that up, he did it again. I was very concerned about him, and so was everyone else. He kept going to the water dish, hovering his muzzle right over the surface of the water, but not taking a drink. We would sit in the hallway with his head hanging, then wander around, come back to the water dish, not be able to bring himself to drink, then go sit in the hallway and hang his head. He repeated this pattern over and over until he barfed again. I was really concerned about dehydration, especially considering the amount of liquid he was losing with each…erm…discharge, and because of his age – which we figure to be between 12 and 15.

He finally was able to take a few sips of water. By this time, it was way past my bedtime, but Sis had wrapped him in a towel and held him in her lap in the recliner. I went to my room to play a few games on my fabulous Kindle before going to sleep. Sometime around midnight, I got up to use the bathroom one last time before lights out and when I came out, decided to check on Snoopy. I found Les sobbing in the kitchen, begging Snoopy not to die as Snoopy wobbled in circles around the dining room. He could not keep his footing and was very obviously disoriented. He had just pooped all over Sis as well. We decided that this called for medical intervention. We thought there was a 24-hour emergency vet clinic in Centralia, about 25 miles away, but it turns out it is not open 24 hours. We found one in Olympia, about 45 miles away. Sis and I threw on clothes, wrapped Snoopy in a couple of towels, told Les to get his shit together and hit the road. On the way, we noticed that his eyes were constantly flitting from left to right and he was very agitated. He calmed down after about 10 minutes into the car ride.

We got to the clinic and they took him right back (we had called ahead to explain the situation so they were ready for us). They gave him a mild sedative to calm him down, and after about 20 minutes they came to talk to us and get the whole story. By this time, not only were his eyes going from side to side, now his head was wagging from side to side as well. The doctor could not figure out what was going on; I discussed my concern about dehydration, and wondered if he had a blockage or something. I did find something that looked like chewed up, tiny, splintered green things that sure looked and felt like plastic to me. The doctor was concerned that he had gotten into something toxic, but we just don’t have any idea of what it could be. We keep all medications (human and otherwise), chocolate, sugar-free items, etc. all out of their reach, and we could not think of anything in green plastic that he could have gotten into. There were no signs of anything in the house being chewed up or gnawed on. But, like this post title says, he wasn’t named for the Peanuts character; he’s called Snoopy because he can’t keep his big, doxie nose out of stuff.

They did x-rays and did see something in his colon, but it seemed to be moving along just fine with no danger of obstruction. The cost of all of this was great and we wanted to do as much for him as we could; the clinic was very helpful and understanding of this. In the end, we did the x-rays, he received subcutaneous fluids, an anti-nausea shot, a dose of antibiotics (a pill which we did not end up giving him – it was for if we saw blood in his poop or vomit, which never occurred), and the sedative: $477 and change. I paid for half and Sis paid for half; this way we are both mostly screwed instead of just Sis being totally screwed. He is Jim’s dog, but Jim would have just had him put to sleep because Jim is an asshole and won’t even fork out the $18 to have his toenails clipped (no, we cannot do his at home). But that’s another whine for another day.

We got home at 4:45am, right when my alarm clock goes off. I sent a text to my co-worker and told her I wouldn’t be in since I was just now getting home from a vet emergency. Sis kept Snoopy with her and slept with him in the recliner and I went to bed. The sedative wore off about the time she tried to go to sleep, but he stayed with her all morning. I got up around 1pm and was overjoyed to see that he was doing great! His eyes and head had stopped that weird flopping back and forth, and though he was weak, he was walking around just fine. He continued to get stronger throughout the day, and when I came home from work on Friday night, he was even better than his old self. When Luka came in for dinner, Snoopy ran after her into the kitchen – boing boing boing. His eyes were clear and bright and he just couldn’t seem to wag his tail enough. I nearly cried. Tonight he has been frisky, even initiating play with Les by pawing at his hands and nipping him.

Sigh…it was a close call and really scary. I hope he doesn’t do that again. I tried to look up his symptoms on The Google, but couldn’t come up with anything. I don’t know if it was the dehydration that caused those weird neurological symptoms; we still don’t know what he ate – if anything – that would have caused the vomiting and diarrhea.

We are just glad he is his good ‘ol self again.

Oh, and everyone at work was totally cool about my missing work; two of the guys I work with even came into the lab to ask me how Snoopy was doing and were so very happy that he was doing so much better. It made my heart feel happy.

TTFN.

Random Stuff and Things

As promised, here is a picture of my progress on Poppy Puss. Progress has been pretty hit and miss lately; fatigue, depression and a visit from Mom kind of got in the way of my stitching time. My super-duper nice (and very expensive) Ott light fell over during the middle of the night while Mom was here; it looks OK but I need to tighten some bolts and might have to replace the light bulb before I can use it in my room again. We had snow – well, most of it was down in the Portland area – and Sis couldn’t make it in to work so she was home for an entire week! It was weird, felt like she’d been home for a month! So, since the only chair she can sit in comfortably is the recliner in the living room where the only decent floor lamp resides, I wasn’t able to stitch out there. Since I never get to see her, I didn’t want to shut myself up in my bedroom to stitch either. Hopefully now that things are back to normal (or what passes for it in our house) I can get some more stitching done.

Mom brought her two dogs with her – we already have five, what’s two more? For your viewing enjoyment, here is her dog Stanley asleep on Mom’s robe on my bed:

OH, and speaking of stitching, here is a very rare picture of an actual finished project of mine. I am very proud of it as I designed it myself! It’s not a great shot because it is framed and hanging on the wall above a very tall (and cluttered) dresser. I zoomed in on it for the best detail, so the navy bit around the fabric is the mat inside the frame. You can’t tell, but the pink dots inside the diamond border are beads, as are the dark blue and red flowers under the poem. I made the pattern for the design on graph paper with pretty big squares, and the pattern was huge! About 4’ x 3’. I worked on it during my lunch hours at work and my all male co-workers thought I was nuts. I am really happy with how it turned out, and my sister and bro-in-law were very touched by it. The "L" is for Les, the "K" is for Karen, and the "B" is the first letter of their last name.

I like to make things; Sis and I got into making jewelry about 20 years ago. I’m not super accomplished at it, but I really love when something comes together. I have made many bracelets and tons of earrings but didn’t really keep track of them all. Here are a couple that I actually recorded for posterity! I gave the copper one to Sis as a gift; I am pleased as punch when I see her wearing it.

I made a really nice bracelet for Mom a few years ago. I tried to download the picture of it but the computer, Yahoo, and Blogger were not cooperating! I’ll try to post that another time.

Well, that’s about it for the time being. I reviewed another book, so be sure to check out my review page. Blogger has been a right booger about letting me update my lists on the right side of the blog; bear with me until I can get it all fixed up.

Take care and TTFN!

PS – I’m still trying to wade my way through all the blogs from the GYB party; please don’t be upset if you are following me and I’m not following you back yet! I’ll get through everything eventually!

It’s Been a Winter Weenieland

Howdy everyone, and a great big HOWDY to my new followers! I want to say thank you so much to everyone who is following – each one of you is a warm spot in my heart and I really appreciate your interest. Thanks, too, for all of the kind comments on my last post! I love comments, so please always feel free to say something, even if it’s just Hi.

I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything lately; between migraines, depression days, bad weather and slow internet, I haven’t been able to get up the gumption to get anything posted. I have some pictures to post but the batteries are dead in the camera and I swear there isn’t a single freaking AA battery in the house. Grrrr.

The weather bestowed upon us all here in the Pacific NW (south of Olympia, WA down to Eugene, OR) some lovely (unless you were driving in it) snow. Mom had come home with Sis last week to spend some time with us for what was supposed to be just a few days. They got home Monday night and would have gone back down to Mom’s in Portland on Thursday, but the roads were just not good enough. It wasn’t too bad at our house, but Portland really got walloped. Driving in the Portland metro area is terrible when it snows because the snow is really, really wet. Freezing rain often accompanies, and with all the bridges it can be quite treacherous. Let alone the idiots in their 4WD trucks and SUVs that are under the mistaken impression that having 4WD makes you magically stop better than everyone else. Uh, no. More often than not, they are the ones that wind up upside down in the median.

I was at work and was watching the WDOT cameras online. There is a camera where I get on I-5 at exit #36, and the next camera to the north is the exit (#68) where I leave I-5 to head for home. No cameras in between. When the snow started falling by the bucketful, my co-worker declared it was time to get out of town. The mill where I work generates a lot of heat, so if there is two inches on the ground on the mill site, there is going to be a minimum of double that in town. The snow fell heavily all the way home, and I didn’t go to work on Friday because I couldn’t get from the house to I-5. I sent a text to my co-worker, and she said she only got to work because her husband drove her, and she recommended staying right where I was. So I did. Unfortunately, I had called out sick (migraine) on Monday, and then didn’t work Friday, so I will get only half a paycheck tomorrow. Ouch. Sis couldn’t go to work at all this weekend, so she is out $500. O.U.C.H. That smarts!

Mom brought her two little dogs with her – Stanley, the Chiweenie and Shadow, the Chihuahua. SO CUTE! They had a grand time playing with everyone else and it was like a rodeo most of the time. Mrs. Weenie, Stanley and Shadow absolutely loved the snow! Did I get pictures? Nope. Hopefully next time.

I took Mom home on Sunday because I have 4WD (but I know how to use it). The roads were just wet but there were cars off the road everywhere. ODOT was requiring all vehicles over 10,000lbs to put on chains, so big rigs were parked every which way trying to get them on before they got into Portland city limits. This made driving rather exciting because I was either dodging the back ends of their trailers that were sticking out into the lanes, or trying to avoid the piles of thrown chains that were lying in the lanes. Getting to the general area where Mom lives wasn't too bad, but trying to get into her mobile home park was treacherous, and getting to her actual trailer was horrible. I had to engage my 4WD to get up the hill; as we were unloading the rig, some guy in a supped up 4WD that had chains on the back wheels tried to get up the hill and busted one of his chains! I spent the night (and risked death to get to my favorite Mexican place there in Milwaukie – Super Burrito Express – for their Super Nachos with Al Pastor. Totally worth the risk.) and drove directly to work from her place Monday morning. The piles of thrown chains had increased to approximately eleventy million, and I believe they were the cause of the flat tire I discovered when I went to leave work that night. I had to wait an hour for the Les Schwab truck to arrive (thankfully I had my lovely Kindle with me and I worked jigsaw puzzles on it while I waited), then stood out in the pouring down rain holding a flashlight for the guy while he changed my tire. Soaking wet and $45 later, I got home at 8:30pm. So. Not. Amused. The rest of this week has gone fine.

I will get on here this weekend and post pictures of my progress with Poppy Puss (yes, there has been some stitching going on over the last few weeks). I really want to get a small project to do at work on my lunch hour, but I’m having trouble finding anything. I’ll just have to keep looking.

To tide you over, here are two pictures of Stanley sleeping on the foldout couch at Mom’s, nice and cozy under the blankets:

Sorry about the quality - cell phone pictures!

TTFN!

Grow Your Blog party

Well, heck. I planned on participating on this year's "Grow Your Blog" party that is being hosted by a very nice person, and I forgot to post my introductory blog! BAD BLOGGER! So, in hopes that I will be forgiven, here is my introductory post:

Hello! My name is Heather, but I go by Big Auntie because I am an Auntie and I am...well, big. I currently live with my sister, her husband, and a friend of theirs along with five small dogs, one large dog, three cats, eleventy billion chickens, five geese and two pigs (in addition, that is, to the previously mentioned brother-in-law and his friend). We live in a very rural community in western Washington state near Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens.

I started blogging several years ago when I lived in Montana, mostly as a way to keep my family and friends informed of what was happening in my life in lieu of a newsletter. I have been told that I have a good style of writing, so I thought it might be a way to grow my skills in that area. It turns out that no one in my family reads the thing (that I know of), but I find it quite cathartic to be able to express myself in a way that is both anonymous and exposing at the same time.

I love to laugh, read, watch movies, do cross stitch, listen to music, snuggle with our dogs, take road trips to nowhere specific, spend time with my sister, read other people's blogs, roam the backroads with my camera, and wander in graveyards. I love pretty much anything having to do with psychology, forensics, and puzzles.

My blog is evolving these days; I have decided to talk more about my interests and post more pictures showing progress on my projects. I have also added a page for reviewing the books I have been reading.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you will come back again soon.

TTFN.