Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Beat Me Now, Please

Beat me with the idiot stick, please. Why do I have so much trouble spelling names right? First I get Charlaine Harris wrong, changed her to Charlene. Now I get Rett MacPherson wrong. Listen, children, THERE IS NO "H" IN HER FIRST NAME! Now that I have that corrected, my deepest apologies to the fabulous writer who also quilts. My goddess, I have found another Dusty!

Now if you see my kids' names, it may explain my weirdness for name spells. My oldest is Alanda, the middle kidlet is Ruthi, and the youngest is Liam - short for Uilliam, the Irish spelling of William. His middle name is Beathan-Davelynn; Beathan is Scots for Benjamin. Alanda is just made up, but seems to be pretty popular; there is a series of books with Alanda as a country, and in Piers Anthony's Xanth books, Alanda is the Earth Goddess. Pretty good for a name that my ex made up (he wanted to give her the name he would have had if he had been born a girl: Yolanda Susie Katherine. He suggested and we compromised on Alanda; he figured it would be easier for him to spell because it is shorther than Yolanda.) Nuff said about exes...

We have new kittens, one bluegrey (Alae named him Riffraff, after the RHPS dude), and one white siamese mix (originally named Magenta, to go with Riffraff, until I pointed out that she is a HE kitty; now named Rico). Don't know how many there were originally, at least one more blue that hasn't been seen since the first discovery after they got out of wherever their mother had them. Now momkit won't feed them, so I get to do the nursemaid routine. How happy am I... if they survive I will be surprised, as the last batch of kittens didn't make it past two months. Too much inbreeding, I think. Not that mine is the only tom in the neighborhood, but apparently he is the only one to breed here; and since half 0f the females are his offspring, it doesn't bode well genetically. Great, hillbilly cats.... (My daddy is from Mississippi, I can say stuff like that! But y'all can't! So there!)

Now I just find out that the gas company apparently never received their payments, which were made like three months ago, and I have 24 hours to come up with over $1000 or have my gas shut off. I cook with gas and have a gas water heater, so kind of need the service. Can't cook everything in the microwave, especially since I have a shortage of glass and plastic cooking pans/bowls/etc. Which really ticks me off, because I know the payments were made, but bet anything I won't be able to find the paperwork now that I actually need it. The gas company just changed ownership about two weeks after these payments were made, so somewhere Aquila has my payment and Michigan Gas Utilities wants more. I just can't seem to get ahead.

So beat me with the idiot stick really hard; maybe if I am in the hospital I can have a vacation from reality for awhile. Everyone knows I need one!

Friday, September 22, 2006

News and Reminisces from the Home Front

OK, today maybe I can get the stuff posted…

Got a “new” book by Rhett MacPherson today at the library, the title is A Misty Mourning. These books are just so cool!!! I probably won’t get this one finished tonight, though, as I have already started a Margaret Coel mystery and I am trying to get into the habit of only reading one book at a time. Hard habit to break, reading up to five titles at once, but it is about time. Not like I am in college anymore. Thank gods, although I wouldn’t give up the time I did do in college because while there were miserable times (ad design class) there were also FABULOUS times (every minute spent with Dusty, John, Lisa, MaryLou and Giggles a/k/a Dawn).

Of course, all these years later the only one I still am in contact with is Dusty; which is excellent because other than John (who later developed an attitude issue – HIS loss), Dusty is the one that kept me going through thick and thin. While Mary was still a good friend long after college, we went our separate ways about fifteen years ago. Her life went down the path of perfection, and she didn’t condone some of my life choices. I didn’t exactly like some of them either, but I am the one that has to live with them and the consequences. So, considering that the only thing we have in common anymore is our memories and (hopefully) a love of sci/fi-fantasy books and art, and of course our birthday (she is one year older, nyah nyah…); I guess I shouldn’t lose any sleep or tears over her absence in my life. Guess what, I still think of her at least once a year; every December 30 I psychically send her a “happy birthday Mary” thought. And once in awhile something else will bring her to the front of my mind, a cool picture or something that triggers a certain memory. She is an excellent artist, or was, I always wonder if she still does any drawing anymore, since the last time we talked she “didn’t have time anymore” for her artwork. Sadly, I can’t draw a straight line without a ruler or the shift key, so I really admire those who can draw anything they want to.

Which brings me back to Dusty. That girl can PAINT!!! Somewhere in my lair I have a book of photos and poems and drawings/paintings, and in that book are some of the mini-watercolors that Dusty shared with me when she was in East Lansing (more cool memories!). One of the reasons I am trying to get the house cleaned and organized is to find that book so I can scan them and send them to her. I have a nagging feeling that the volume in question is in Alanda’s room, though; translation, look behind Amelia Earhart!

OK, got to end now. Accomplishments for the week include half of the living room cleaned, books sorted through, tapes put back on shelves, and George’s dresser cleaned out and sorted…. No wonder I am tired today!

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Some Good News at Last

OK, I just typed this post for twenty minutes and lost it. I don't feel up to sharing all that information again.... but will suffice to say that George's cardiac stress tests came back normal, looks like his recurrent chest pains are from the hiatal (sp?) hernia. He has two MRIs scheduled for next week. Liam is on meds at last for ADD, but we are having trouble getting him to swallow them, they keep sticking to his tongue. Ruthi is on meds for ADHD and is very happy with them, she is able to concentrate much better now. Alanda and I have appointments this afternoon, hers to check on her meds and mine to beg for pain pills and antibiotics for an abcessed tooth.

I miss all my friends (not that there are that many to miss), and am slipping into serious Kinnison-channeling. Even RHPS can't perk me up.

Have to do some email, let the teachers know what is going on with the kids....

Friday, September 08, 2006

Another Day Bites the Dust

SCHOOL IS BACK IN SESSION! I guess I am happy about it; it is weird that I now hate high school more than I did when I was actually in high school. At least we had choir, to keep us sane (more or less). And we could go into the school library during lunch hour. Nowadays the HS has no choir and the library -- excuse ME, the MEDIA CENTER -- is offlimits during lunch.

Al is a senior, gods how time flies. Seems like just yesterday she was starting pre-school. Her pre-school teacher was my college psychology teacher. Then her kindergarten teacher was my kindergarten teacher. Through her school years she has had only a couple of teachers that had no relation to my school years... spooky. Her fifth grade teacher, Mr. Smeltzer, ended up being Ruthi's fifth grade teacher, and I was looking forward to Liam having him next year for fifth grade. Unfortunately, Mr. Smeltzer passed away last weekend. He had the same birthday as Ruthi and died on Liam's birthday. Bizarre, you say. Freaking scary, I say... Not to mention very depressing.

Ruthi is a sophomore this year, and Liam is in fourth grade (obviously). While there are days that I wish I were back in school with them, eventually I wake up screaming and come to my senses.

Got an email from my nephew-in-law, George's late sister's husband passed away this weekend the day after Liam's birthday. He didn't even make six months after she passed; I can't say I am surprised, because they were so close to each other. At least the kids are all grown, and the grandkids fairly grown, so everyone is old enough to have good memories to keep.

Am trying to keep my depression at bay; with no income, no vehicle, no energy, no washing machine (five people's laundry being washed by hand.... it SUCKS). It is a challenge, and all my friends are so far away... and I can't even keep in touch through e-mail unless I can get my sorry asterisk to the library. So when I am too down to move, I go totally hermit. Which brings me down even more. Usually, anyway; there will always be days that I just really need the peace and quiet that I don't often get with four kids at home (three I gave birth to and the one I married)...

Have made a bit of a dent in the massive hellhole that is housecleaning. Even started on the basement, which is a REALLY scary place! I hope to get all my yarn together in one spot, all my fabric and notions in one spot, all my books given away or sold, and all my why-do-I-keep-this-junk either to the thrift shop or the trash can, depending on its condition.

Real coffee. He says real coffee. Dang nab it, instant coffee is real coffee!!! It certainly isn't fake coffee. Maybe I should get a coffee cup and fill it with brown cotton, and show little old Darrell what FAKE coffee really is! Men. If they didn't make such handy speedbumps.....

OK, now that I have drifted totally off-topic, I guess I should end this off and do some surfing.