2009! (Edited) (Edited Twice)

It's 6:15 a.m., and I've been up for 30 minutes. I'm only on my 2nd cup of coffee, so I'm not awake yet.

But I do want to say something. I keep hearing about how the decade is ending and the next decade is going to be better/different/etc. Except that the decade isn't ending. Math Lesson: count to 10. What do you start with? 1. Not 0. The decade STARTED with 2001 and ENDS with 2010. So the last year of the decade isn't this one, it's the next one. Which means that 2000 was the LAST year of the previous decade, and 2001 was the FIRST one of this one.

Anyway. Here goes:

January

January started with mice, living in our closet. That problem was solved fast.
Bill worked on the quilt he made for me, that took a lot of time. But when he finished it, I was thrilled.
It was a very cold month and the cold caused me significant asthma issues.
A new president was inaugurated. Not one I'm impressed with at all.
We celebrated our 24th anniversary.
Ice storm - but that's not unusual!
Bill decided the time had come to switch jobs, he had an interview with the local school district and they really wanted him but they couldn't afford him. But it gave him the boost he needed!

February

The decorating bug visited, it spent a lot of time in our bathroom.
I found the quilt I started when Otter was in kindergarten and started back on it.
FutureJediMom's tribe increased!
16 years since our move to OK.

March

I started Froggy's collection of crocheted pot holders. I probably need to get busy and increase that!
Bill started clearing out unused shelf space in the garage and getting rid of some of the junk, I mean clutter!
The tulips started budding.
I crocheted a lot, working on Froggy's collection mostly.
Otter's asthma/allergy doctor agreed: no karate, so even though she hadn't been going in a while this was the month she officially dropped out. She's much improved.
Bill interviewed for a position that opened up at his current employer and got it! It turned out to be the position he was originally hired for and it was a true Godsend. But he didn't start the new position until April, it was very hard to keep quiet about it for most of March.
Snow!
Otter turned 17. Too quick! She should still be about 3 or 4.

April

Bill worked on his hydrogen generator project, he had a lot of fun with it. It did work, but not nearly as much as we'd heard that they would - which was not a surprise.
Bill's job transfer officially happened. It was a Very Good Thing.
Maggie decided that she needed to sleep in our bed instead of Otter's. That was not allowed!

Easter! We had a wonderful time at Grandpa & Sweetie's.
I mailed Froggy's collection to her.
We had the first hint of spring, we started hearing tree frogs. Fun!
Otter's parakeet died. While it was a sad occasion for her, she realized that she really did not enjoy having a bird and started thinking that maybe she should have got hamsters instead of parakeets like she originally wanted. She did the research and presented her case to her father, then two little furrballs moved in and I think I enjoy them as much as she does. "Nadine & Helena."
Sweetie's birthday was this month.
The irises started blooming!
Miss Dorothy fell & broke her hip. This was the beginning of some really rough times around the office, it was pretty bad because we were all so worried about this precious, precious lady. She's fine, thank God! But it was scary for a while.
One fun thing this month, a mockingbird outside the dining room window started imitating my cuckoo clock!
Otter had an interesting experience in school, they started disecting things. She enjoyed it, she's her mother's daughter after all.

May

We started hearing about swine flu. The media did it's usual thing, and it got to the point where I didn't even want to turn on the tv or read the paper!
The morning glories started coming up!
Maggie Moo discovered the hamsters, so the cage got moved to a higher location in Otter's room.
We got bamboo for the back yard. Which was a lot of work and then we didn't need it after all.
Work was wild, mostly due to the situation with Miss Dorothy.
We realized this month that Otter was probably going to have to go to summer school.
Mother's Day was very nice.
Rain. Lots of Rain. Lots and Lots of rain.
The tree frogs seemed to have multiplied exponentially! We enjoyed hearing them.
Put the pool up.
Last day of 10th grade.

June

Miss Dorothy got to go home from the hospital, she had been admitted again in May.
Toadles came to see us! He was the first of our summer visitors and we really enjoyed his visit. We had a train hunt, hit flea markets, and just had a great time. He got to hear the local coyotes, they talked to him. Otter also got a Toadles wake-up: ice cubes!
We saw a rabbit in the back yard, first time in a long time. The dogs spent a lot of time trying to find it, but they never managed to.
Nana came to visit! We had a wonderful time, and Otter really enjoyed it.
We saw the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. Very somber, but so well done.
I finally got to see the Chihuly exhibit in Ok City! Spectacular, absolutely spectacular.
Billyboy had a birthday.
Father's Day this month.
Minor air conditioner repair needed at the rent house.
The pool split! It was not a fun thing.
We had several heat warnings, early for the heat to happen. Still not as hot or as long as S. Texas, but pretty warm for NE OK.
The builders behind us put up a privacy fence, so the bamboo came out.
Froggy came to see us! Lots and lots of Braum's trips, many flea markets & thrift stores. Lots of Fenton finds this month. :)
Talequah visit, to the Cherokee Heritage Center.
My vacation started at the end of June, finished up in the first week of July.
Summer school started for Otter. And she finished the first draft of her manuscript! (This is the edit)

July

Bill decided to sell some gold stuff we'd had for years. Not anything big, just a few little things.
Painted the rain barrel. It was white, now it's dark green.
Bill shot off a few fireworks on the 4th. And one bottle rocket blew up as soon as it was out of the bottle, which means that it was in Bill's face. I was not pleased!
Air conditioner at the house started acting up, turned out to be minor.
Summer school continued.
I got a raise! Totally unexpected, very much appreciated.
Billyboy's brother Scott & his family visited. Really cute kids. Otter enjoyed their visit so much, they are just great kids.
FutureJediMom had news - the first thing guessed was that the Tribe was expanding again, but it turned out to be the 2nd thing everyone guessed - they moved back to Texas. Which made Toadly very happy - FutureJediMom is his daughter, by the way.
Harry Potter movie premiered, I took Otter and a friend of hers.
We started putting trellis pieces on the privacy fence, and the morning glories took off!
Otter finished summer school with a B! She worked really hard and we are very proud of her.
Bill brought home a load of firewood in the White Lightning and broke one of the shock absorbers.
Otter went to Texas to spend a week with Nana and got to see pretty much all the other relatives. She had a great time, but it was very quiet around the house! We're glad she could go, it didn't look like it at first because of Summer School.
Dogs still looking for the bunny, it ran right in front of them and they still missed it!
Froggy's birthday!

August

The month started with a call from our tenant, they had bought a house and would be moving at the end of the month. We discussed our options and decided that it was time to sell.
Bill sold the Redneck Joke, also known as the parts car - the blue El Camino.
Otter came home from Texas, tired & happy. She had a great time.
FutureJediMom and the Tribe (or she might have called them the Herd) came to see us on their way back home to Texas. It was a short visit, but we are really glad that we got to see them. I think that Otter would have willingly kept any and all of the kids, by the way. We would have let her!
Grandpa's birthday this month!
Sales Tax Free weekend, we found a few things - mostly t-shirts for Otter to wear to school.
One particularly bad thunderstorm this month. Lots of hail. We started thinking maybe we should get the roof checked. Which we did, and the insurance started a claim for us.
11th grade started. Otter chose buffalo burgers for the special meal the first day of school.
Tropical Storm Bill! Then Hurricane Bill!
We argued with the insurance company on the type of coverage we had for the roof. We are going to change agents very shortly, since the agent we had been using couldn't give me an answer as to why we were told we had one coverage type but then didn't - at least we were not charged for the better coverage, we paid for the type of coverage we had. But it was not the better coverage we thought we had.
The tenants moved out a few days before the first, so we were able to get into the rent house this month and see what we needed to do. We started the cleaning process there. At first, we thought it was minor but then we realized that the carpet was not repairable and that there were a whole bunch of little things that were tenant related. It really added up.
Toadles had a birthday! He was hatched, by the way. Or maybe the aliens left him, we're not sure. :)

September

Busy month! Mostly related to the rent house. But we got it done, over the course of the month. There was a LOT to do. Otter helped us a great deal, and we really appreciated her efforts. She also helped out a lot at home, since so much of our time was spent at the rent house.We met with our realtor and signed the contract. He was very positive about it. We signed the contract on a Wednesday, he showed it for the first time on Friday and on the next Tuesday we had an offer. We got what we wanted for it and we were happy about that.
I had a major skin allergy attack, from something planted in the back yard - we think it was the "tree" on the neighbor's side that I brushed up against while mowing. I just about scratched all my skin off!
We realized that Magginator was having some housebreaking issues. We locked her out of the bedroom at that point. At their regular vet visit, Maggie weighed 30# and Frasier weighed 71#.
We had to buy a new lawn mower, Bill wore the old one out!
We discovered mosquitos in the rain barrel. Unexpected, we didn't think they could get in.

October

Frasier brought me a dead vole, good doggie!
Otter and I went to the rent house to say goodbye, since it was our home for 10 years. There were a lot of memories.
We saw the Toy Story movies in 3D at the theater.
I made my major Fenton find of the year - Cactus! This one made my year, as far as Fenton goes. It was spectacular! Now, I just need to top it. :)
We started redoing the rock garden.
We realized that Magginator had been leaving us surprises all over the house! We bought a steam cleaner and started cleaning everywhere.
We got our flu shots this month, as early as we could since all indications were that the supply was short.
We had to turn the heater on this month, as it got cold early.
We should have closed mid-month on the rent house sale. It looked like it, but the purchaser's title company kept messing up their paperwork. Then it was his mortgage company that kept screwing up.
We celebrated the anniversary of our meeting by cleaning the carpet!
Froggy had an internet issue - Scooter's dog chewed the cords up. So I didn't feel alone in doggie issues!
Otter really enjoyed sewing class at school.
Bill and I went to the rent house for one last check, we realized just how much work we'd done over there and it was a lot. It paid off, but we really worked hard.
The redecorating bug moved into Otter's bathroom!
We had the dryer vent cleaned out and also asked them to sweep the chimney - which turned out to need some work so along with the roof replacement, we now had to get the chimney rebuilt.
We worked on the rock garden some more.
We actually went to an auction! First time in months.
We signed our closing paperwork on the rent house sale.
We steam cleaned lots of places in the house.
Our realtor informed us that our rent house set the new price standard for that neighborhood - it raised it considerably. We're glad that we were able to do that.
Otter counted her shoes - 20 plus pair.
FutureJediMom's birthday this month.
Halloween.

November

We finished the rock garden! It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed it.
The Dirty Jobs show Fenton episode aired. Obviously, I really enjoyed this one.
After who knows how many delays, the rent house closing finally happened! We had reached the point where we told the title company that we were not delaying anymore, it either happened by a certain date or we were cancelling the sale. All of a sudden, the tenant's mortgage company got their stuff together and it happened at about the last minute, on the last day we gave them. But it happened!
Bill bought a compressor on Craigslist. It meant that he had to clean out a lot of clutter in the garage. Good Thing.
I bought a bike, to replace the one that I'd had for a while but gave up on because of the fact that it is old and falling apart. Of course, the weather turned then so beyond a test ride I haven't actually got to use it!
Since we finally had time, Bill started getting estimates on the chimney and signed the contract for the roof repair. We really weren't sure that they would happen this year.
We got banana trees. 3 of them died, 3 of them might make it - we'll find out for sure in a few months.
I finally, FINALLY got to see the new Star Trek movie! It was tremendous!
I got new glasses. After a delay caused by the tech who made the new lenses.
We enjoyed Thanksgiving, we went to Grandpa & Sweetie's house and had a wonderful time. Great food and great visit.
Bill got a new chain saw! He used it on tree limbs. No blood this time!
Bill finally got around to replacing the windshield on his Impala.

My friend Virginia lost her husband. Two years after their daughter died, and completely unexpectedly. She retired in the early spring, they only had a few months together where they were retired and they were raising their grandchildren. It was a really rough time, he died the day after Thanksgiving. This overshadowed everything this month. They still need our prayers.

December

The roofing company had an opening and were able to work us in!
The chimney rebuild happened on the same day, it took a couple of weeks for that because they had rain delays but they were able to get it finished and in perfect time because it started to get really cold shortly after they finished.
Bill bought a few pachinko machines.
Otter had to seperate her hamsters, they quit getting along and now she has two cages.
We got our first freeze. It got cold early this year, but then it got warm again and the trees were confused - they started budding out.
For the first time in all her school years, Otter got sick and school and I had to go get her!
Nana & Carolyn had birthdays this month!

Christmas happened this month. We had a nice one, very quiet and relaxing. I did get one present that I need to mention - FENTON! It's pink, it's a rose bowl style vase and it's perfect. It's on the shelf in the bedroom, which badly needed another piece.
We had an ice storm, it was actually an official blizzard and hit Christmas eve. We were really glad that the chimney work was done!
We had a nice vacation week (we're technically still on it today).
I caught up with Bill! I'm 48 now.
Paul graduated from Texas A & M! Froggy was very happy.
Carolyn & Jim visited, we enjoyed getting to see them.

Otter made a wonderful find at a thrift store - no Fenton for me, but she had a good day. She found a jacket. New with the original tag. She paid $2.00 for it. The original price tag? $169.00.

We finally decided how to rearrange Otter's bathroom! She chose a burgundy shower curtain and is using jewel tones for the other colors. It is turning out wonderfully.

I made another major Fenton find, on Dec. 31. It's a footed compte, milk glass in the Rose pattern. The one I've been looking for, and in the shape I've been wanting. It wasn't quite as good a deal as the cactus, but it was a good deal. (This is the 2nd edit).

This has been such a busy year, but it has been a good one. We got to see a whole lot of people, family visits were so much fun. We accomplished a great deal around the house and the rent house sale was something that took a lot of work but was so worth it. We have had very little in the way of health issues, just a few things but they were all relativly minor. Otter's asthma has improved so much, it looked like she was going to have bad problems for the rest of her life but instead we got a Miracle. Bill has a great job now, he's so much happier and the reduction in his stress has helped a lot. It's been a very good year. Our wish for everyone is that 2010 will be a good year for us all.

And now, it's 8:38 a.m.!

December Book List!

Wow, I'm early for once! I know it's still December and will be through tomorrow, but I have time to post this now and won't have time later. Also, I probably won't have much in the way of reading time between now and January 1st, so here goes:

1. Quick Crochet, Huge Hooks by Sally Harding. Uninteresting.

2. How to Crochet by Pauline Turner. A couple of ideas.

3. But I Trusted You by Ann Rule. This is the newest book by Ms. Rule. It is good, it's a collection of true-crime stories. Just about everything she writes is good, she very obviously does a great deal of research for the stories she picks and the attention to detail is very good.

4. A Rage to Kill by Ann Rule. This is an earlier book of hers, I have had it for a while but didn't realize that I'd never read it until I picked it up to read thinking it was a re-read.

5. Good Better Best, Trade Secrets for Spotting a Find by Carol Prisant. Not accurately named!

6. Twist & Twine, 18 Ideas for Rag Rugs and Home Decor by Bobbie Irwin. OK.

7. Junk Beautiful by Sue Whitney & Ki Nassauer. OK, recommended by Froggy and I'm glad I read it but I didn't find too much that I would want to use.

8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 & 17, 18, 19,20: All Batman books. See my note last month, Otter and I are working our way through the Batman books.

21. Plain Secrets, An Outsider Among the Amish by Joe Mackall. Interesting, mostly stuff I already knew.

22. The Sweater Chop Shop, sewing one of a kind creations from recycled sweaters by Crispina French. Otter and I enjoyed this one, it had some good ideas.

23. Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs. I picked up a book by this author that deals with a yarn shop and knitting. I discovered that it's part two of a new series, I have ordered part one from the library and won't read part 2 until I've read the first one. But I saw this book and decided it sounded interesting. It was ok, the writing style is not the best and it was somewhat predictable, but it was enjoyable. However, I have a suspicion that this author's other works may be romance novels and if they are, I won't have any interest. But I'm going to at least read the first two in the yarn series. I think she was inspired by Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street series, which is also about a yarn store and knitting. Froggy, you will probably like the yarn series if you haven't already read it. The first one is called something like Knit One and the second one might be Knit Two. I'll let you know.

I'll probaby do my year-end wrap up tomorrow, so watch this space!

Motorcycle Day

It's the day we refer to as Motorcycle Day.

In other words, it's my birthday. I'm 48 today, so for the next 6 months Bill and I will be the same age. For 6 months, he's married to a younger woman and I'm married to an older man.

My birthday is about the only day I can get him to go shopping with me, for more than a fast trip. So I always take advantage of that, and we go shopping!

So that's what we did. And it was fun. But it would have been more fun if I'd actually been able to find something! We hit several thrift stores, I was on a Fenton hunt and they are the best place to find it. I saw one piece, which I already have but I only paid about $5.00 for mine and they wanted $25 for theirs. It's a harder to find piece, but not extremely rare. They were way overpriced. Bill and Otter each found several books and she found - what else? - a pair of shoes. Well, I guess it gives me an excuse to go shopping again this coming week.

We also hit Wallyworld this morning, and I looked at cameras but didn't see anything I really liked. And we went to Garden Ridge. Garden Ridge is not the store it used to be. In fact, we kind of expect it to close because it just had that look about it. And it was mostly junk, although Bill did find the led lights he wanted for one of his projects. Which meant a trip back to Wallyworld, to return the ones he bought this morning when he couldn't find the exact ones he wanted. The return department at Wally is very busy today!

We also went to our favorite local Mexican place for lunch. I'm stuffed! We all are, actually. It was very good.

We had planned on going to church this morning, but the pastor emailed everyone that the parking lot hadn't been treated and he really didn't want anyone to even try since it was dangerous. The neighborhood streets are pretty bad, they are almost never treated. The city streets are hit or miss, some of them were really bad and some of them weren't. There are still cars abandoned by the side of the road and lots still in various ditches. We didn't get up to freezing today, tomorrow (I think) is supposed to get to the mid-30's but the rest of the week will be back to the low 30's and there is a possibility of snow mid-week. I'm really glad that we are all off work/school this week, so nobody has to go anywhere if we don't want to.

Did I mention that I woke up at 4:00 this morning? On my birthday! Since I was up so early, and Bill was already up, we took the Christmas tree down and all the other assorted decorations. I honestly would have taken it down Friday, except that Grandpa and Sweetie weren't able to make it until Saturday morning due to the ice. So the tree got a reprieve until today. All done now!

OK, now I'm going to go surf the 'net for a while and drink a coke. Because I'm so stuffed from lunch that I can't move! Quesadillas! Happy, Happy.

Cold Stuff!

Officially, I think we got something like 6" of snow. But it blew so much that it's drifted much higher. Over a foot of snow is all over the yard.

We (we being Bill mostly) shoveled off the front porch, sidewalk and an area in the driveway. Grandpa & Sweetie were unable to make it over here this morning, so we put off our Christmas with them until tomorrow. We had waffles for breakfast this morning, then opened presents with Otter. It was a nice, quiet Christmas morning. And we still have tomorrow to look forward to, which is a good thing.

Anyway, now that the driveway, etc. are semi-clear of snow & ice it will be a little safer for them tomorrow. The streets are not clear, but I don't have any idea of the non-nieghborhood streets. I know that the turnpikes were closed earlier, which almost never happens. But the news at noon made it look like some progress has happened as far as clearing roadways.

Otter went outside in the back yard to play in the snow for a while. She took both dogs out with her. The snow was drifted pretty high on the back deck, which Maggie discovered when she ran out with her usual speed. And right into a snow drift! She tried to swim the rest of the way off the deck, then gave up and just started bouncing over the snow. She went down all the way at the end of each bounce, it was so funny. Magsters made it out to the back yard, ran more or less in a circle and then bounded right back up to the deck and right in the back door. And she absolutely would NOT go back outside for anything! I think that maybe the beagle doesn't like snow. Frasier, on the other hand, loves it. He stayed out until Otter came in, then he came in with her and parked his furry behind on his blanket.

I tried to get pictures of Maggie in the snow, but the camera is not working. I have a suspicion that it's broken or trying to break. It's been acting up lately, and it keeps telling me that it needs new batteries as well as simply not taking clean pictures.

We had chili for lunch, after the de-icing of the driveway we were really cold and it was a good meal to come in for.

And now, I'm going to go get my crochet and keep the couch company.

Act One

How we celebrate.

What we celebrate.

The Reason we celebrate.

Merry Christmas, everyone. May we all be warm in the Light of God's love for us, Jesus Christ.

Looks Like a White Christmas!

Ice or snow, too early to tell, but both are white and it's Christmas tomorrow.

It was rainy until about 11:00 this morning, then there was some sleet mixed in. Otter went to work with me today, we left for lunch about 11:30 and there was more sleet and less rain. By about 1:15, 45 minutes after we got back from lunch, the car was already starting to get covered. We left the office then and it was nearly all sleet with very little rain. By the time we got home, there were definite snow flakes showing up. The sleet may be transitioning to snow, which was the forecast, but there is still quite a bit of sleet coming down. However, it's starting to be visible on the ground. Bill had a nice, warm fire going when we got home and Otter has already staked out her spot. I'm going to join her in a bit, and we'll probably roast marshmallows.

Here's the tree! Sorry the picture is blurry, the batteries were going out in my camera and I didn't have enough of the right size. Otter is in the process of decorating it here. I've decided that the tree isn't so bad after all. But the ornaments are too big for it, which is why I think it looks odd. We just grabbed assorted ornaments when we were getting the stuff down, we have smaller ones but they are going to stay in the attic until next year - if we use this particular tree then.

I probably won't post again today, so I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and if you are in my neck of the woods or anywhere where you have to deal with winter weather - be careful!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Or at least a little like it, around my house.

Otter got the tree decorated today. I was going to take picture but my camera batteries are weak and we seem to have all sorts of other size batteries except the ones I need. So maybe tomorrow, if I remember!

Anyway, this is the first time we've used this particular fiber optic tree. And it might be the last. It's ugly! The tree itself, not Otter's decoration. It's kind of skinny and taller than I would prefer, considering that it's on the sofa table. But, at least we finally have it up. I was about at the point where I was going to say skip it!

Busy at work, which I knew it would be. Tomorrow will be busy, but then it should be calmer for the remaining two days. Should be and Actually are frequently not the same thing, at least where I work.

Bill steam cleaned the living room carpet today. It was pretty dirty, from what he and Otter said regarding the water that came out of the steam cleaner. But we've only cleaned it once in the 5 years we've been here, and I don't think we cleaned it all then. While he was at it, he also cleaned the ceiling fans in two rooms and then he dusted the mantle and rocks above it. Tomorrow, I think he's going to play with his power tools. Not a comforting thought!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANA!

Sunday Pickles & Congratulations!

First things first. CONGRATULATIONS PAUL! You have worked really hard over the last few years and as your Aunt, I am very proud of the young man you have become. Even though you went to the wrong Texas school..... :)

On to other things. Pickles! I still am not out of condiment ideas to use in place of ketchup. I happen to love pickles. Dill ones, not sweet ones.

Bill got his Christmas present from me today. He originally wanted a guide book for restoring the pachinko machines, then he found a bunch of information online so he went with Plan B. More pachinkno machines! We went to a small town north of us, Ramona to be exact and it is tiny! He saw some for sale on Craigslist, and they were what he wanted: good shape, don't need too much work and a good price. So he's happy.

We just came down from the attic. We brought in one of the Christmas trees (we have at least 3) and some of the ornaments. Also the stockings and the wreath holder. Otter & Bill are both off the next two weeks, so their plans for tomorrow include steam-cleaning the carpet in the living room and then she will decorate the tree. Actually, we have more than three. We have the 6' tall one that is the one we bought shortly after we got married and have used several times. Then there are two fiber-optic trees that Bill bought one year - one of which we're using this year. Then there is a small tree that I used in an apartment the year that we were seperated (way, way, way long time ago) and then it became Otter's tree. There is a tiny one that she also used in her room at the old house. And I have 3, or maybe 4, ceramic trees. We didn't set out to collect them, but apparently that's what we did.

Only 4 days of work this week! Then I'm off until Monday, January 4, 2010. Bill & Otter are off this week as well, so they get two weeks off. Bill keeps trying to tease me about being off work longer than I am, but he's failing miserably. For one thing, I won't have to help clean the carpet! But Frasier will probably not forgive him for a long time, it just won't smell the same. Kind of like when we wash the dog blankets, but worse. Poor pup!

Movie Review: Night at the Museum 2. It was ok, it was cute and we enjoyed it. But I think we would have been disappointed if we'd paid theater prices instead of renting it. It was predictable. But it was fun.

If I think of anything else, I'll add it later or put it in the next post.

Can't Resist This One!

I know it's probably not polite. OK, it's definetely not polit. But it's cute. See my comments at the end!

CHRISTMAS CAROLS FOR THE DISTURBED
* 1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?
* 2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are
* 3. Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas
* 4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

* 5. Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and.....

* 6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me
* 7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire

* 8. Personality Disorder --- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why

* 9. Attention Deficit Disorder --- Silent night, Holy... oooh look at the Froggy - can I have a chocolate?... why is Japan so far away?

* 10. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle,Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle ! Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,

I'm definetely # 5. Even Otter agrees to that one! She's # 9, by the way. And we think that # 7 probably fits Billyboy.

What A Wonderful Day!

Can you guess what today is?




It involves chocolate.

And covering things with it.


Today is National Anything Covered in Chocolate Day!

So if I eat a Hershey's bar with almonds, I am still participating because it is technically almonds covered in chocolate, right?

We had chocolate bite sized candies that are like Crackle. Which is rice krispie type pieces covered in chocolate. I think that counts.

Weather Forecast

This morning, it was 19 degrees at 7:00 a.m. The windchill was 3. It got into the 30's, but it was breezy.

Tonight, my attitude is LET IT SNOW!

I don't care how cold it gets, I have a working fireplace!

Now, I'm going to go join the coyote dog parked in front of it. It's warm there.

It's Maggie Moooooo!!!!!

Hi! Hi! Hi!

I haven't talkked to youu in a loooong tiime. Wee been bezy.

My mommm really luffs me. Shee gave mee some really gooood fud today. I don't know what it was, but mommm said it was from a piggie. I like piggies. They taste goooood.

The little fence is still in the big den, I don't like it. I can't go into mommm's mommm's night time den anymore. I neeeed to go in there. I have to keep badd monsters from getting under der bedd. But they won't let mee! I can't protect mommm's mommm and daddd if I can't go in der anymore. I wonder if they are ascared since I'm not der to protect dem.

Daddd was home all day but me and big brother Frasierr were outside. We wanted to be in the big den with daddd, but we couldn't get in our doorrr. There were these other peoples today, they were here the otther day and we barkked at them to make them go away. But they didn't go away fast. Daddd said we had to stay outside today and I don't think that was gooood. We're gooood doggies.

Mommm gave us piggie in our foood bowls tonight, so she must seee that weee are gooood doggies. I'm a goooooder doggie than big brother Frasierr.

Sunday Mayonnaise

(Still not a huge ketchup fan!)

Otter suggested today's title, by the way.

Otter is over her brief asthma spell. She went back to school on Friday, she felt almost back to normal and she's fine now. Yesterday was Saturday, so we took it easy and I think that helped her.

I'm currently experiencing crochet frustration. Kid#3 wants a hat to match the scarf I made her. I found a pattern that looked right, the picture was perfect and I always enjoy new things. I spent quite a while yesterday working on it. And then discovered that the pattern made a tire cover, or at least that's about what size it was. And no, it was NOT pilot error. I thought at first that the pattern was incorrect, but now that I've gone back over the pattern I've realized that it was a hat pattern alright. But the hat style is the type that reminds me of a morterboard - graduation cap. I haven't given up yet, Kid#3! I have another crochet project to finish, along with the hat, and then I think I'm finally going to be able to get to my throw pillow covers that I want to make. Along with a hat for myself, once I find the right pattern. :)

Bill has been asking me what I want for Christmas and my birthday. I haven't had a clue. I finally decided. I told him I wanted a can opener. We've been using hand-held openers and I really like them, but when my skin does it's super-sensitive thing, which is pretty much every fall and winter (or about 9 months of the year!), it's absolute agony to open a can. So I finally admitted defeat and told him I needed an electric one. That left my birthday. That one was actually easier. The last time I used my crockpot to make soup, about 3 weeks ago, the lid came apart. I had been thinking that it wasn't heating as well as it should be, so it was probably going to be replaced soon anyway. The crockpot is one of the most often used appliances I have. I was going to make soup this weekend, then I remembered the lid. And there was no way I could use it, so I told Bill I knew what I wanted for my birthday. I don't normally like to go pick out my own gifts, but this time I didn't mind. He went with me at least - and he even behaved! In Walmart! I now have an electric can opener and a new crockpot. A larger crockpot, 7 quarts this time. It's pretty big, but I won't have any problem at all with that. When I make soup, I make a lot of soup! I use it for other things besides soup.

We are pretty much done with our Christmas shopping. We didn't have much to do, since we're out of the gift-giving loop. It doesn't look like Christmas at my house yet anyway, we'll get our decorations out this week. We were waiting until the chimney repair was finished, which would have been last Tuesday but the weather caught up with them. The chimney crew is supposed to be back tomorrow, so probably tomorrow evening is when Otter and I will get the decorating done. Although it no longer feels like Christmas, since it was in the 60's today!

Come Play With Us!!

On second thought, don't. The game we are playing is the Asthma Game. Otter has been playing it since last night, and she was obviously on the losing end this morning. She went to school, but only because she had a project due. Then her group didn't get to present their project, so she could have stayed home. She called me after the class period ended and I went to get her. She's on the couch with her pillow and a couple of blankets, and a beagle for good measure. She's had a sore throat off & on the last couple of days, not bad but just there. But her lungs are now involved, so that changes things. We'll just play it by ear as far as tomorrow goes. The cold aggravates the asthma, and it's certainly cold!

We decided to see how the hamsters would get along, after a couple of days as singletons. They were fine as long as we were holding them, they groomed each other and got along. So we put them both in the same cage to see what happened. And immediately had to take the little one back out and put her in her own cage! Then they went back to being happy, alone girls.

Frasier just collapsed in a heap on the floor, then he stretched out and yawned. Now I think he's going to sleep. Smart dog! They didn't particularly want to go outside when we left this morning, but we filled them full of treats and I poured hot water over their frozen water dish. When we got home and let them in, they were warm and happy so I think they'd been cuddled up in the garage on their carpet, snoozing most likely.

I did manage to get two birdfeeders out this morning. I might head out there later and hang a couple more. I should have put them out days ago, but with the roofers & chimney people here there were a lot of things like shingles flying off the roof and I didn't think the birds would even come to the feeders.

OK, I'm off to start a load of laundry, unload the dishwasher, wash the dishes in the sink, pet a dog or two, feed my Otter and then I might possibly get some crochet started. Like a hat for Kid # 3!

Updates

This is a pachinko machine, which is what Bill's current project involves. This is not one of his, I'll get pictures when he gets through cleaning & restoring them. See all the little dots in curved shapes on the face of the machine? They aren't dots. They are metal spikes, a couple of inches long. The machine in the picture doesn't have all that many. The machines that are currently sitting in my living room (2) and garage (1) have a whole bunch of little spikes. They are all somewhat dirty. Each one has to be cleaned individually with a q-tip. It's very time-consuming. Bill's been cleaning spikes for days now...

Anyway, he's having fun. And no power tools have been used! So I'm not complaining.

The roofers came back today and finished up. We had them install attic vents, there were a couple already and now there are more. They also cleaned up anything they missed yesterday and took the rest of the unused shingles. The roof looks wonderful. I'm just glad we were able to get it done this year, because we really didn't think it would happen since it's so close to the end of the year. But we simply did not have time when we realized that there was an issue with the old roof because that's when the rent house became vacant and most of our time was spent in getting it ready to sell. Now, we're just waiting on Monday for the final chimney work to be done.

We sure could use that chimney tonight! It was 18 degrees this morning, I think it got to the mid-20's this afternoon. Very cold. Looking out the window, it looked like a nice day - blue skies, just beautiful. However, looks can be deceiving. And they were! Tonight will get to 12 degrees. Just thinking about it makes me feel cold. There was a little breeze, just enough to make the cold feel worse. Especially to my asthmatic lungs! The dry, cold air is also affecting another problem. I keep trying to have nosebleeds. They are a normal occurance for me, not frequent but they do happen from time to time. I don't like them!

The hamsters seem to be doing just fine, now that they are on their own. Both are still friendly, both wheels are being used and they are active and seem happy. They just live alone now. When Otter had pet mice, they usually got along great. One one time was there a problem. Usually, when introducing a new mouse to the existing cage we would have to watch them and occasionally there would be a spat or two while they adjusted. But it only took a little while, then they got along great. One time, the dominant mouse killed a new one. But that was the only problem. With hamsters, they almost never accept a new cage mate although if they are raised together, certain breeds will generally be fine together. Usually, that is. Otter's are not the same species, although they are both dwarf types (small) and both of their species are supposed to get along with cage mates provided that they are raised together. But Helena and Nadine seem to be much happier as singles. We heard lots of chirping from Nadine this morning. She was happy, and I think she was singing. Happy little furry.

Banging Over My Head!

We have a roof! They came out yesterday and got started immediately, and then today was icy this morning then rainy so we didn't think they would be able to work. But by early afternoon, it was warm and dry enough for them. The final part of the roof was done this afternoon, it was a little misty but not enough to be a problem. There are still a few finishing touches, but the roof is essentially finished. I really only had to listen to a couple of hours of hammering, poor Bill had all day yesterday to deal with!

The chimney people didn't even try, Bill talked to them this morning and they have scheduled the completion for Monday. Because it will take several hours, they didn't want to start in the afternoon. So, no fireplace use yet. Which is a shame, because it is COLD and getting COLDER! But we'll be patient. It's going to be mid-week next week, probably about Wednesday, before we can use the fireplace. Frasier and I have our spots already staked out, all I have to do is show up with a blanket and head in the general direction of the fireplace and that dog is right there with me.

Bill's got a new project. Several years ago, probably shortly after we got married which means nearly 25 years ago, he bought a pachinko machine. Go look it up on google if you don't know what one is, but it's similar to pinball. He built a cabinet for it, and it's basically lived in the garage ever since. He has discussed selling it at times, I think he even put it out in our last garage sale but nobody bought it. He's decided that it's time to start playing it, he's going to build a different type of cabinet and it will eventually be brought into the office. He's going to put it where the remaining former e-Bay shelf sits. And it's going to have company. He's bought two more this week, they all need various degrees of work but it's all stuff he can do. Pachinko machines are not rare, but they are not made anymore or at least not too many are. He's having a lot of fun with this, he had been looking for a new project and now he's found it.

At least this project won't involve power tools!

Hamster Tales and Other Stuff

Hamster tail, get it? Yeah, I know. It's a bad pun. But I think it's a cute one. This is not one of Otter's hamsters, by the way!

Lots of stuff going on around here.

To start with, the title Hamster Tales refers to the fact that Otter's hamsters have now decided not to get along. It happens sometimes, they have been raised together which usually will work out. But hamsters are by nature solitary animals and sometimes they will simply stop getting along and once that starts, they seldom go back to being peaceful occupants of the same cage. Otter's two girls have been fine, just the occasional spat, since she got them. However, as of last night, it's all changed. The smaller one has always been the more submissive of the two. But last night she apparently decided that a change of command was in order. She kept attacking the larger one, and it wasn't just a spat. They were seriously fighting. We kept separating them and every time they got back into the cage, the smaller one (Helena) would attack the bigger one (Nadine). We finally realized that they were going to have to be in different cages if we wanted them both to stay alive. A few months back, Otter bought a smaller cage which was attached to the larger cage with plastic climbing tubes. We took them apart and blocked the openings, she had a second water bottle and a second, smaller food dish that came with the smaller cage. This morning, we tried to put them back into the same cage and Helena started another fight so we put her back into the smaller cage. This afternoon, we went to Petsmart and bought another wheel as well as a larger food dish for the second cage. The cages are now seperate and both have wheels, good sized food dishes so they don't have to be refilled every day and water bottles. The larger cage had a climbing tube set up that went to a smaller room and a second climbing tube to an area that can be accessed via a lid on the top. We moved the climbing tube set up with the smaller room to the smaller cage, since Helena was pretty much the only hamster that used it. Nadine has always climbed up to the access area so she's still got it and Helena has the one she always used. Among other things, they are not the same type of hamster although they were sold as the same. But that's not a major deal.

The chimney repair started today. It's a 2-day job. The roofer called Friday evening, he had an opening in his schedule so he was going to start today as well. Billyboy was off work today and also tomorrow, for the chimney work so he told the roofer to come on. The chimney crew left around 5:00ish, they said that they hope to be able to finish up tomorrow but honestly, it might not happen. Because we might get winter weather. The roofers did the back of the house and the side/garage area, they stripped the previous roofing material off and put the felt/membrane down, then the shingles. They did not get to the front of the house yet. They did it in stages in case they weren't able to finish it all because of the afore-mentioned winter weather possiblity. Both of them are planning on being back tomorrow, if it's at all possible. Otherwise, it will be sometime later on in the week or possibly Monday for the chimney and I'm not sure about the roof schedule, but it's similar. The way that the roofers did their job today actually worked out very well, in case we do get bad or wet weather. But we can't use the fireplace yet, it will be 24 hours after they are all done anyway. I just hope that the winter weather holds off enough or is mild enough so that the chimney at least can be finished up tomorrow. The roof can wait a few days if it has to, I'd prefer not to have to wait but it's ok if it can't be finished up tomorrow. I hope that they finish soon, there is a very large truck parked in my driveway and piles of roofing shingles & supplies stacked in the front yard!

I spoke with Virginia tonight. She is doing pretty good, she said that she's been so busy with the kids & moving into her mother's house that she hasn't really had time to process everything. But she's finished up with moving, and now she's trying to get the kids back into a routine. She hasn't been sleeping too well, which is probably normal. She said that she knows it hasn't really hit her yet, but she is coping as much as she can at this point. She misses her husband badly, but she knows that he is with their daughter and that they will all be reunited some day. She wanted me to tell everyone again how much the prayers mean to her.

I have another prayer request, along with continued prayers for Virginia. Miss Dorothy, who I had requested prayers for in the spring when she broke her hip. She has come down with pneumonia and is hospitalized. She's doing very well, I talked to her today, but she is 93 and that makes her more fragile. She'll probably go home tomorrow, but I would still like to ask for prayers for her. Her husband, the young old boss EL, had it a few weeks back. He's doing great now.

Goodnight!

REMEMBER

Because they can't forget.

More Whining on Wednesday!

Mostly because it's cold. Our high was 43 today. We hit it at midnight (last night) and it went down hill from there. We have been in the low 40's to mid 30's all day and are going to get our first hard freeze tonight. The chimney people were originally going to start today but not all the parts came in, so we've been put off until Monday. So, no fire tonight! It's a 2-day job, I sure hope that they get the parts in and can get out here and do the job on time. Because I want to be able to use the fireplace!

We're kind of late in getting the start of winter weather. Which might mean that it will be a bad one, or might not.

Whatever, today alone has made me almost rethink my decision to not wear pants. I'm not changing my mind, I just was longing for my slacks today is all. I still have a pair of jeans, I do wear them sometimes like on the weekend. I will occasionally wear the jeans to work, if I'm going to be doing something such as helping EL in the garden or something like that. But it's skirts & dresses 90% of the time and always to church. I don't even have any slacks anymore, they have been gone for over a year now and I don't really miss them. Except when it's really cold! I had not intended to quit wearing shorts around the house in the summer, but my shorts outgrew me and I just never got around to getting any this last summer. Since then, I've decided that I don't want to wear them anyway. I was going to get rid of the jeans and go strictly skirts & dresses, but Bill suggested I at least keep a pair of jeans because we do a lot of outside work and stuff in the yard. I thought he made sense, especially since he mentioned it while we were hauling in firewood! Also, there is my bike riding to consider. So I'll hang on to my jeans, I just won't wear them too much. I hardly ever change out of my skirts when I get home, I usually stay dressed until bedtime - unless I have a bike ride or yard chore to do. I probably need a new pair of jeans anyway, the ones I have are really showing their wear.

Otter and I are rethinking her bathroom. We have been wanting to change it around for a long time, we just never quite made up our minds on how. We talked about different things, then we put some amber colored glass & birds in there as a test and liked it. Then the rent house came up and we just got too busy. Now, we have time! And have decided that we probably still don't know what we want to do in there. The amber glass & birds might stay, but they might not. She really likes some Japanese and Oriental decor, so that might be the direction we go in. At least, it's today's discussion. Stay tuned for updates & pictures, but be warned: it might be a while!

Shoes, Books, Other Stuff

The shoe shelf! As you can see, it's in Otter's closet. The closet is kind of messy, so ignore that part. The point is, she has room for more shoes. The combat boots Grandpa gave her are not in this picture, it was taken before we saw him last week. But there is still room for more, so she's happy. And yes, she really does wear all of them.

I did not forget about the November book list! Here 'tis:

1. Halfway to Heaven, my white-knucked & bullheaded quest for the Rocky Mountain High by Mark Obmascik. Interesting book about his experiences climbing all the 14ers in Colorado.

2. Gianna - Aborted & Lived To Tell About It by Jessica Shaver. I have read this before, but it's been many years. 

3. I'll Scream Later by Marlee Maitlin. This one was very surprising. Surprising because it completely changed my opinion about her. Let's just say that she is NOT someone I would ever want to meet, NOT someone I am at all impressed by and if this book is true - which it probably is as it's an autobiography, she's a pretty disgusting example of a human being.

4. Batman Year One. Rerun. 5. Batman Fugitive.

6. You Lucky Dog - more than 30 craft projects to unlease your pup's personality by Valerie Van Arsdale Shrader. This one was fun, Otter liked a few of the ideas.

7. Family Circle Easy Wreaths, 50 ideas for every season. Not worth the time it took to check it out of the library!

8. Super Finishing Techniques for Crocheters by Betty Barnden. I might just have to buy this one.

9. Bag Style, 20 inspirational handbags, totes & carry-alls to knit and crochet by Pann Allen & Ann Budd. Didn't find anything in this one.

10. The Crochet Handbook & stitch guide - essential techniques & stitch patterns to improve your skills by Ruth Patrick. I've noticed something. The more words in the title, the more uselss the book is!

11. Junk Beautiful Outdoor Edition by Sue Whitney. Froggy recommended the original version, the non-outdoor book, and it's on my December list. This one was fun, but not at all practical.

12. The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy. Rerun x infinity. 13. Garfield, 30 Years of Laughts & Lasagne by Jim Davis. Funny!

14. Betty Crocker Cookies, 100 recipes for the way you really cook. OK, if the way you really cook is to use cake mix for everything! Not the way I cook anyway.

15. Batman Gotham after midnight by Seve Niles & Kelly Jones. Otter and I are making a valiant attempt to read all the Batman books in the library.

16. Batman and the outsiders: the snare. 17. Batman: Harley & Ivy.

18. Tornado Hunter, getting inside the most violent storms on earth by Stefan Bechtel with Tim Samaras. This one was very interesting, despite having too many words in the title! Living in Tornado Alley, I like to know as much as I can.

19. Easy home improvements, the essential guide to home decoration by Julian Cassell & Peter Parham. This is one that Bill has on his shelf, it's actually very interesting.

20. Batman Strange Apparitions. 21. The Strange Deaths of Batman. See comment on # 15! And now I think I'll go see what Billyboy is up to. He's out in the garage. I hear a suspicious sound. I think it's a power tool.