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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
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| Saturday, July 5th, 2008 | | 7:38 pm |
More meditation and yoga for me ... Last Sunday my back started spasming. My mid-back, not where you usually expect back pain. It got better after a few days, but I was still thinking a massage was in order. So, the therapist touched my back and confirmed those were some big knots in there. She spent a lot of time on the back itself. It was when she started on other areas that it became clear that I am carrying way too much stress. Every area she touched was a huge knot. Feet, hands, legs, arms, shoulders; I could even feel it when she was relieving tension in my scalp. It's pretty clear I started to cramp in my mid back just because there weren't other muscle groups to tighten up. It's six and a half hours from when the massage ended, and the parts of my back where she focused are still noticeably radiating heat. So, yeah, renewed focus on stress relief might be in order. Current Mood:  sore | | Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 | | 9:50 pm |
| | Friday, June 13th, 2008 | | 6:45 pm |
Oh, let's have a garden ... Surely that produce will save us money. I just got the water bill. I'm not so sure. LOL. Seriously, though, the garden is an Indigo project, and he's very excited to go and visit his plants. So, despite the fact I'm not sure we will produce enough salad to justify the sprinkler costs, it's a win. The good news is that while June looks really ugly (if Origins were a week later, or the mortgage was due a day later or if the stupid water bill was due at the start of July rather than the end of June, we'd be golden), our finances appear to be on course to straighten out in July. We should be able to make real progress on things in the coming months. After a couple of months of seemingly endless car repairs, getting the kids enrolled in summer activities and the like, this is a big relief. And with the doubling of hours, I don't even have to look into retail! Huzzah! Current Mood:  optimistic | | Monday, June 9th, 2008 | | 2:04 pm |
A little humid here ... but not so bad So, we replaced our non-working dehumidifier yesterday. Even when we were using the air conditioning, it would be sticky and/or dank down here, and it was just crazy without the air conditioning, which like so many people we're trying not to use for environmental and fiscal reasons. So, it was time to bite the bullet and replace the dehumidifier. We were doing cleaning, organizing yesterday and realized that there were books that just felt damp. Nora's boppy, which had gotten stored down here, was so musty and icky I couldn't even pack it up for charity. Just yuck. The new humidifier was not only full when I came down this morning at 7 a.m. or so; it was full again by 1 p.m. Good news is that the humidity has apparently dropped to 66 percent. Better news is that the heat wave is supposed to break tomorrow, so it will only be in the low 80s. It will seem like heaven. :) On happier summer news, I love, love, love the community center I chose for the kids' swimming lessons this year. The place we went before was crazy with its scheduling, which basically had kids attend in the mornings M-F for two weeks straight rather than one or two days once a week. Great, so long as you can take a two-week vacation just to get your kids to swimming lessons, but that was no longer an option for me. So, I explored the options and ended up at the community center. The weekly classes are much more workable, plus this aquatics center is indoors, so there is no chance of missing up to half the lessons because you get a stormy week. And I get to avoid protracted sunscreening sessions before anyone is entirely awake for the day. Every instructor was just absolutely fantastic in dealing with the kids and with me. They called Fuschia's real name (which I've never known another little girl in this era to have) for a different class, but it's the first week, so I thought I'd just messed up the times. Nope, there was another little one with the same name. So, Fuschia had a terrible time in that class, which apparently was intended for kids who were comfortable in the water. But, upon realizing the confusion, they were absolutely awesome. They not only said not a word about her having taken the wrong class and me inappropriately being in the water with her, but also planned for her to move to an even more appropriate one in the next hour. And that instructor spent the 15 or so minutes of downtime getting Fuschia comfortable. It was pretty cool to see a little girl go, within the space of two hours, from "No, no, no; I will not go more than an inch into the water" to actually laughing when her teacher doused her head. Indigo had the same instructor and did great at being a Guppy II. The other advantage to this indoor setup, of course, is that we can continue into the fall and even winter, so they won't regress summer to summer. On top of all this, these lessons cost less than the other place, and much less than the Y. As an added bonus, they will become still cheaper now that I will be working 20 hours per week for an organization within the community boundaries and therefore pay city taxes. And, as a liberal, I have to point out that I am getting great value for return on this community center just in the first week I've checked it out. I will definitely be checking out some of the other classes in the months to come. They have cheap child care, too! Current Mood: hopeful | | Monday, June 2nd, 2008 | | 8:29 am |
Milestones For those who haven't heard, I was promoted! From 10 hours a week as Web Editor to 20 hours a week as interim Communications Director for my church. This is most excellent, as I was thinking I would need to add a part-time job in consideration of paying down debt. Over the summer, I'm going to be spending six hours a week in the church office, which might go up during the school year if necessary. I can still do most of it from home (and should, because my computer is much better set up for design than anything they have there.) It also has the potential to lose the interim status and become full time next year. That would mean changes, but with the kids getting bigger, nothing we couldn't take on. ... Which leads to the other milestone of the early morning. We've moved my office to the basement because if I'm going to be working 20 hours a week I can't just mostly stay out in deference to guests for days at a time (I in no way mean to imply I don't love having the guests for those who have been here, just being realistic), because there is a greater chance of me enjoying WoW if I can call over to Blue to explain stuff in person and because it's cooler down here and that fits with our goal of reducing the use of air conditioning to improve the greater environment and our personal finances. So, I'm no longer across the hall from Little Miss Fuschia. Much to my surprise, just a few minutes after my last run upstairs to listen for her stirring I heard the pitter patter of a big girl who can get out of her own crib! The side has been down for months to encourage just such activity. So, yay for Fuschia! She was very proud of herself. Current Mood:  cheerfulCurrent Music: Noggin at a distance | | Sunday, June 1st, 2008 | | 6:59 pm |
And stay smited! So, we've lived in this house for four years. I am not a gardener/landscape person as anyone who has visited will find unsurprising. However, for the past four years, I have had a mission to kill the stupid weed bush (and it is -- or was -- a full bush) that intertwines with the pink rosebush in our front yard. The first year, I trimmed back everything I could find. It grew back. The next year, Blue helped to trim it all the way down to the base. It grew back. Last year, I just trimmed it back again. And it was back in full force right with the roses. It's *ugly*, which is bad enough, but worse, it ruined the appearance of our very pretty pink roses. This afternoon, I trimmed it back as far as I could. Then Blue got out the damned electric saw and cut it to the ground. Then I sprayed the remaining bit of trunk with plant killer. Now that we've gone biblical on the thing, I hope it takes the hint. Just DIE! It was oddly satisfying. :) Current Mood: amused | | Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 | | 2:42 pm |
Happy birthday to ... ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ralphmelton. Hope it's fantastic and you have lots of fun! | | Friday, April 18th, 2008 | | 4:03 pm |
| | Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 | | 1:24 pm |
I'm plenty light, thanks. :) from 5eh Your Score: The Saint You scored 19% Scuzziness!
Listen up. This is an extremely low scuzziness score, which suggests that you are really a little too honest for your own good. In fact, a little too honest for my own good, because you make me puke.
Do you always, always, always have to tell the truth? Do you always, always, always have to do the right thing? Please lighten up. For your sake. For my sake.
Just chill.
No, the surprise is not at my results but at other news that I shouldn't share. Nothing bad or anything, just a piece of work-related news that should remain private for a time. Current Mood:  surprised | | Monday, March 10th, 2008 | | 2:42 pm |
Meme ... Yes, someday I may update again. In the meantime, please enjoy this meme stolen from matsujo9. | | Saturday, March 1st, 2008 | | 12:36 pm |
Ridiculous criticisms that make me laugh From the final paragraph of a film review on The Other Boelyn Girl: But history can't be denied (though studio heads do try), and the film gets downright grim in the home stretch, as Anne's sordid and bloody destiny reveals itself. The filmmakers deserve credit for being serious-minded, but they might have hinted at the top of the film that all would not be well in the end. Moviegoers who don't know Anne's fate in advance are likely to leave the theater feeling glum. History class can be a total bummer. I find it sad, but not impossible to believe, that there are a fair number of moviegoers who aren't aware that things ended badly for Anne. But why would any of them go see a film called The Other Boelyn Girl? Does the critic think people are just going to wander into the wrong theater? Is there a Britney Boelyn hitting the supermarket tabloids of whom I remain blissfully unaware? Current Mood: amused | | Thursday, December 13th, 2007 | | 11:32 am |
Bah, humbug! Went out to the mailbox in hopes of seasonal greetings. Found notice of drivers' license suspension (I failed to respond to a letter for proof of insurance.) I can avoid it by providing the proof now, but still. And then I opened a ridiculously large water bill that means I somewhat miscalculated in paying off something else. Again, there is no crisis, this time thanks to a very generous early Christmas gift from my dad. But really, 'tis not the season I want to see these things. Hope everyone else is opening nice cards today! Current Mood:  crankyCurrent Music: quiet | | Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 | | 6:55 am |
Meme
Respond to this and I will do the following:
1. Tell you why I friended you.
2. Associate you with something - fandom, a song, a color, a photo, etc.
3. Tell you something I like about you.
4. Tell you a memory I have of you.
5. Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
6. Tell you my favorite user pic of yours.
7. In return, you must post this in your LJ.
I make no guarantees to come up with something wonderful for all 7...but I will try! :-) | | Thursday, October 18th, 2007 | | 11:44 am |
Picture Day So,this evening our photographer comes to the house to take pictures of our beautiful children so that we have photos for our Christmas cards. Fuschia's outfit is a beatiful black velvet dress with a red bow. It is short-sleeved. I was paying some bills, leaving her in the family room. I came dowstairs, wondered what that strange chemically smell was and found that she had colored all over her arms with a blue sharpie. I don't know where or how she found the sharpie, but she did. And her little bare arms were blue. Very, very blue. Vigorous scrubbing did remove it, but I had this terrible fear of needing lots of touch-ups this year. It's like kids know the absolutely worst day they can do something like that. Current Mood:  relieved | | Thursday, September 20th, 2007 | | 3:42 pm |
Chamberlain and Hitler at Munich This entry does a great job of summarizing how I too often feel when debating politics, especially with a lot of my contemporaries. And geeky allusion! Score! An excerpt: I call today’s righties the “Reagan generation” because so many of them are Gen-X’ers whose first memories of politics and national events involved Carter and Reagan. They weren’t so much taught politics as imprinted with the Reagan mythos. For them, all Democrats are Jimmy Carter, an archetype of wimpy passivity. Reagan represents onfidence, action, sunniness. The two of them together represent opposing forces that tell the entire story of American politics. Nothing more needs to
be understood or thought through. Democrats bad, Republicans good, end of argument.
The actual persons Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan are/were far more complicated than the Carter and Reagan archetypes, of course, and they both have/had their virtues and flaws. [But tho righties] What’s important to them is not what Reagan actually did as President, but what he represents emotionally and mythically... But really, read the whole thing if only for the TNG analogy. Current Mood: amused | | Monday, September 17th, 2007 | | 7:50 pm |
Lectionary readings to make me tremble Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land,saying, ‘When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain;and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practise deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. Amos 8:4-7 This makes me reluctant to look at my Target-shod feet. | | Sunday, September 16th, 2007 | | 5:16 pm |
Funny children I keep meaning to record these for the amusement of others. Indigo: 1. Has taken to insisting that we not call the toilet "the potty" because, he says, "that's kind of embarrassing to me." 2. Wanders around the house naked but insists I not look when he is trying on pants. He seems to think it possible he'll have grown something I've not seen. Fuschia: 1. Says "st" as "f." Considers herself to be "stuck" when caught behind the gate that keeps her in the family room. Chants it loudly. Gets her point across better than she likely intends. 2. Has figured out that if she whines for no reason at all in the backseat of the car, she can get her brother in trouble. She finds this a great deal of fun, but bluelang and I are catching on. Current Mood: amused | | Friday, September 14th, 2007 | | 12:18 pm |
Overcoming frustrations. So, I decided to start with the Walk Away the Pounds. I pulled up my yoga mat to give me room for the walk, put on appropriate shoes and clothing. DVD player wouldn't work in the bedroom. Fuschia is in the family room, and I didn't want to interfere with Sesame Street, so I thought I was thwarted. But! I realized that I have a DVD drive on the computer. I pushed things out of the way in my office/guest room/place things have been thrown while I work on other rooms room and figured I'd be ready to go. Nope. Needed more software. Downloaded that. Waited for activation code. It worked! It probably took longer to find a way to start the workout than it took to do the workout. But I'm glad that I made myself do it rather than just giving up. Current Mood:  determined | | Thursday, September 13th, 2007 | | 3:29 pm |
Positivity rewarded The sink is all better having gotten a new, improved and unbroken garbage disposal. The old one had been problematic since we moved in three years ago, and we've gotten at least a year out of it since the last repair, so it was time. As always, Roto Rooter sent a pleasant, competent person who got the job done with the minimum of fuss and mess. He had everything needed on the truck, and he took all of the trash out. The dishwashwer is running! I received the Wii I won from Northstar Games. bluelang and I played Wits & Wagers at Origins and received raffle tickets. I'd honestly not thought about it until I heard from the company that I'd won on Sept. 5. So, kudos for giving away a Wii as promised and for being generally pleasant folk. They have asked me (and hey, small request in return for a Wii) to let people know that Wits & Wagers is now available at Target and that a producer is making a TV show based on it. They also wish me to share that they are the coolest manufacturers of party games in the world. And, hey, no one else has sent me a Wii, and that was cool! Oh, and the games are fun, and definitely have broad appeal, so you don't have to keep them on the shelves when non-gamer family and friends visit. And, just as a bonus, the exercise DVDs I ordered from Amazon arrived a day early, so I can get started tomorrow instead of over the weekend! The doctor told me to get on the weight loss and health thing at my appointment yesterday, and, hey, I have a mirror, so I *know*. I went with the often-reccommended Leslie Sanson and a Carol Argo routine that includes some yoga, tai chi and dance. With that and my existing yoga DVDs, I figure I can have some options. And, of course, the Wii is putting out its fitness game in January. I'm hoping it has much in common with the Playstation 2 Kinetics, which both Blue and I loved, except it is nearly impossible to set up an area that has and maintains the proper lighting for the EyeToy. The family room was too bright for it to read our movements at all, and we tried to basement, but we have small helpers who bump the thing or move a table or blah, blah, blah. Since the Wii is not dependent on light sensitivity, we think it should work much better for us. Can hardly wait! Current Mood: chipper | | 1:42 pm |
Trying to keep things in perspective.
So, I got up this morning. My head was solid congestion. But I got to go back to sleep for a bit, so that was good.
I somehow completely lost a half hour of time and therefore missed getting Fuschia to storytime. But I was home when church contacted me to ask about newsletter articles for which the deadline was today rather than tomorrow as I'd thought.
The kitchen sink is leaking something fierce. But it is amazing how much I can accomplish with paper towels, household wipes and Soft Scrub spray when faced with the prospect of some stranger entering my kitchen within the next half hour. If only I could run the dishwasher. :)
So, I am trying to look on the bright side of what has been a day, and I am pleased that I seem to be succeeding. |
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