Def-y's Categorizing: March 2006 Archives

Spring has officially arrived. Elegante Mother noticed that the squill which grows around the base of a tree in our grove is in full bloom. I'll find sprigs of it here and there on the north lawn, courtesy of our chipmunk redecorators, but the largest patch has been extending away from a tree that is at the northwest corner of the house. Now that so many dead trees have been cut down, there's more sunlight in that area. I wonder if next year we will see a bigger patch of squill?

My youngest sis, and her two daughters are coming for a visit this weekend. We hope to make a trip to Chicago. The youngest one has requested a visit to Chinatown. I hope our weather cooperates!

We're about halfway done with our three-quilt project. I need to call the woman who is quilting the tops for Elegante Mother and see if she is ready for me to pick up the second and drop off the third. I have the last of the binding cut, and may get it assembled tomorrow.

The lawyer has sent me a laundry list of all the information she needs to be able to proceed with our revocable trusts. I have several fairly large projects in the works right now, and that's one of them. I hope several of them will be off my desk before Spring is officially over. Don't these people know I'm supposed to be in the garden!!!?

Ed has had his one month checkup at the vet. I don't know if he tripped the Geiger counter or not, but I'll know the results of the blood test by Saturday. He's gained a quarter of a pound. They didn't say if that was good or bad. Mr. Feisty swiped at me as I went to close the door of the cat carrier and got me good. It's a good thing I'm still on antibiotics for that finger infection! The vet would have been more concerned for me if Ed had bitten me. She says mouth germs are more dangerous than claw scratches.

My niece has come through all her biopsies and surgery well, and has started chemo. We have high hopes that she is going to sail through her treatment, and come out strong.

I'm ready for summer meals. We're doing spinach salad tomorrow night, and I think salad is going to be a major player in the menu now. I need to find a few new salads to throw into the mix. I'll have to take my notebook with to write down appealing combinations when we go out to eat. *G*

I hope you are all safe from the dangerous weather this Spring is bringing. I'll have to tell you tomorrow how we weathered this evening's thunderstorms.

Stay safe!

My mother frequently talks about wanting a RED convertible. I've heard this story for years. Something small, bright red, and driven by a handsome man.

At exercise today the Dragon Lady asked if the weather didn't make you want to go driving in a convertible, and a sizable portion of the class said "NO!" But, Elegante Mother said yes.

The youngest member of the class had a suggestion for me. She asked why we didn't consider renting a red convertible to drive Mother to brunch on Mother's Day. What a fabulous idea! I'm going to talk it over with Dear Husband tonight and see if I can reserve one right away.

I've talked about the fact that Elegante Mother and I go to an exercise class three days a week. I love the woman who leads us through the routines, even when I have a day when I'd rather stay in bed.

When our Dragon Lady first came to us, we were quiet and well behaved. That lasted a whole three months. She thought we hated her. Gradually the class began to talk with each other (during class), resuming the semi-rowdiness and friendship that had characterized the class before DL joined us.

The oddest thing happened today. We have a new member. The class is supposed to be limited to 40 people, but they have overbooked it by 5 at least, for this session. The new member took her place toward the back (the front positions are coveted, as are the ones all the way to the back). Class started and the noise level was unusually high, and during the warm up, we heard the new member's voice boom out, "Talking is incredibly RUDE!!"

I'm a TOm Hanks fan. I'm not a stalker, and I'm not a card-carying member of his official fan club, but I love his movies. I suppose the only one I'm not terribly fond of is "Sleepless in Seattle." I watched "You've Got Mail" this afternoon before it was time to make dinner, and we've seen "The Green Mile" recently. "Apollo 13" is playing as I write this.

I understand that Hanks has been given the role of the main character in the "Da Vinci Code", which is coming out this Spring. I'll be one of the people who go to see it within the first week.

You have to read what Cop Car has to say about her "quilting" room. I was so into that post that I left a book-long response, and it seems that I have more to say about it.

I think, Cop Car, that we are simply in a season of our lives when organization becomes important. I keep thinking that I don't want to leave confusion for others to deal with, but as I work my way through things here, I'm discovering the pleasures of living a simpler life.

Our refrigerator has died. It's taken it's sweet time, but the refrigerator died a couple of days ago and now the freezer portion is going. I didn't realize the fridge wasn't working and made myself a sandwich from the leftover meatloaf, Friday. By evening, my stomach was upset. I'm taking Augmentin for a finger infection, and between the two, my stomach was a mess most of the night.

Dear Husband realized that if he wasn't proactive about it, he'd loose the chance to go to Sailpalooza on Saturday, so despite the the fact that I was starting to look and feel peaked, he dragged me to Se@rs to shop for a new refrigerator.

We purchased our first side by side with water and ice service to the door. It will be delivered on Sunday! We emptied out the refrigerator Friday night, storing the acidic condiments in a Coleman chest with ice. They should be cold enough for two days to be safe. Unfortunately, we ended up throwing out several hundred dollars of refrigerated and frozen foods.

I took Elegante Mother out to lunch today, and this evening we made a pot of Minestrone, from mostly canned goods. We'll have eggs, fruit and toast for breakfast, and then Elegante Mother and I will be attending a bridal shower at noon at a local Italian restaurant. I suspect that we'll do pizza or take out Sunday night, and then restock the fridge on Monday.

It's been much easier to get through three days without a refrigerator than I expected.

I'm working back wards this morning. I have another post ready to go that's on my personal computer, and I can't get to it. Now, the thing that will make later readers just crazy is that they will see "Short Shorts" first in line, just as I intended it to be read, followed by this post......but those of you who are around now, will only see "More Shorts." Sorry about that.....

....awhipping up the water in the bay.
Then April sighed, and said good-bye,
And along came pretty little May.

I know it dates me, but that music was popular when I was a kid. I can envision the classroom and the teacher.

The weather in Northern Illinois brought that music to mind. I'm sure you've heard about the tornadoes that struck the Midwest, through Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois. I'm sure there were other states involved. Most of the damage in Illinois was in the central area around Springfield, but we have our share of downed trees and branches.

We still have high winds two days later. I have chosen not to sit at our personal computer for a few days because the table it sits on is next to a wall of glass. On the other side of that glass is a very old grove of trees that are being whipped around by incredible gusts of wind. The noise of the wind is not the "freight train" sound of a tornado, but close.

And it's cold....colder than it was in parts of January. Maybe it's just the wind-chill factor. The sun is brilliant, but the winds blow away any warmth that develops.

I'm ready to hear April's sigh.

I'm happy to tell you that my niece has had her surgery for breast cancer, and everything seems to have gone well. Her tumor has been removed, and they've found that only the first lymph node had been affected. The advances in surgery are so incredible that the only sign of surgery will be a small dimple, where the tumor was removed.

It's been a difficult week, waiting for her to be able to proceed. I'm sure it was a hellish week for her. I don't deal with waiting well. My often joked-about prayer is "Dear Lord, please give me patience, NOW!" Well....SHE was patient. She coped, and she has come out of this well.

I really should have started a new category and named it "Raccoons."

I was sitting with the guys in the living room Thursday night, watching a sci-fi movie. The volume was up, and there was a lot of fighting on screen. I was sitting near the windows, at the west end of the room, at the computer.

I heard a noise, and my heart stopped for a second. "DH, mute the sound!"

We sat there, our heads cocked, quietly listening.

"I thought I heard a raccoon on the roof."

Now, you know we have a brand new roof, in part because the raccoons had chewed their way into the attic last year. I'm more than a little jumpy because half a dozen of them are still living somewhere in the grove. It's been such a warm winter that they haven't hibernated as usual, and we see them nightly under the bird feeder.

So....we're listening, and my stepson looks over at the window and laughs. There's a raccoon climbing up a ladder not three feet away from me.

Dear Husband has been cleaning the bees out of the sofit. The windows at the end of the living room run from about two feet off the floor up to the cathedral ceiling. There's a one foot spacer in the center of the window wall that has brick on the outside. DH left the extension ladder leaning there and a raccoon decided it might be a way to the roof. We've cut down all the other branches that might give them access (we think).

I've suggested to DH that he might want to put the ladder back in place so that he can clean the muddy raccoon prints off the upper windows.

Would you please tell me who came up with the bright idea of selling the management rights for our ports??!! For God's sake, have that person run to his nearest clinic for an MRI, to see if he HAS ANY BRAINS!!

I suppose selling the rights sounds LUCRATIVE. And in these days, when government is having trouble making ends meet, I know they are grasping at any straw to keep from having to make cuts or raise taxes, again! But, did ANYONE suggest there might be a problem with letting the security of our ports out of our hands? Why sell the rights to another country, when, if it HAD to be sold, it could have been sold to an American company? Were they just a bit greedy when it was time to sell the contracts?

It seems to me that between the mismanagement of the disaster due to hurricanes in the south, and selling the contract for port management, our Homeland Security is in serious trouble, and SO ARE WE!

Perhaps ten years ago, I read that one in every four Americans earns their living through some form of government. Village, city, township, county,state and federal government, police, national guard, the military and our justice system. Three of us have to pay enough taxes to support one of them, AND the services and improvements we need. I don't know about you, but that's a pretty bleak picture to me. When is government going to figure out that it's way past time to cut back? Do you think we could simply pick a percentage and cut back EVERYTHING? Less welfare, fewer cops, less pay for government jobs, less overseas aid, government documents printed in ENGLISH only?

And while we are at it, let's privatize more of what needs to be done, with contracts to be let to American citizens only. Privatize the security for the ports, if necessary, but establish the requirements that every company must meet for every port. They can choose to do more, but they have to meet the minimums.

Is that unrealistic? We need to create jobs for Americans, and we need to cut back on costs to Americans. Couldn't the two go hand in hand?

I'm rambling, I know. But what you should walk away with is my feeling that our government needs a serious overhaul. It's run amok, and doesn't understand that the people it serves are more important than it is. Rather than meeting the needs of the people, it prevents them from getting the help they need. Don't you think it's time for a change?

Good news!

The tech called me yesterday to tell me that Ed had his procedure done on Tuesday afternoon. In the following 24 hours, he ate all his wet food, drank all his water and ate some of his dry food. He gained TWO OUNCES by Wednesday, when she called me.

She called again tonight, and I may be able to bring Ed home on Friday evening.

There are restrictions for the next two weeks, but they are not quite as rigorous as we believed. I think the family can carry this off.