Not MY Dog!

Sitrep: 1x Lawn Mowing, 10x THINKING About REVing :(

I'm not one to watch a lot of the reality TV shows. Although in the past I've admitted to watching W.ife Sw.ap and Su.perna.nny. Now I mostly read or play solitaire while those are on in the background. But this summer I've discovered a new reality show. Greatest American Dog. Let me just say up front that my dog would not make it onto this show so I am suitably impressed at those that have. But last night's episode was crazy. Here's a short clip from the episode. This would have sent me running.
Watch CBS Videos Online I wish they had a short clip of the dogs doing the zip line. Yikes. To see that you have to watch the full episode online. You can't fast forward to the end, more's the pity.

Define: Hearing

Sitrep: 1x Lawn Mowed

Sometimes I think my little sister thinks I'm crazy. Sometimes I think I am... Last Friday I was invited to attend Shanni's "family" therapy session. During our regular outing together on Saturday, while enjoying cool treats al fresco at the local D.Q., she relayed her impression of the whole session. Shanni thinks the therapist is critical of her, and says everything she is doing is wrong. Which is so not what I heard. So we talked some about how we interpret what others say to us, and filter the words through our own feelings, experiences, memory process, etc. Of course, while we went about the rest of our afternoon, my mind was ruminating in the background, about thoughts and hearing and how it all works. Ruminations I then shared with her, to her everlasting joy. *snort* I mean, really. Can we hear our own thoughts? It seems like I'm hearing myself. (OK, so I talk to myself in my head. I can't be the only one!) So when I hear that voice in my head, am I really hearing it? I mean, physically. It's not really a sound, is it? Sounds are all about different waves, I think. (It's been awhile since those science classes.) Isn't hearing all about the actual physical actions of sound waves and the ears? Thinking in my head doesn't produce that...yet I could swear I "hear" those words. I can differentiate between my voice, a friend's voice, my mother's voice - don't tell her that!!! ;) But if it doesn't actually involve sound, how can it be hearing? Is it a chemical response combined with memories of sound? exactly is it? It's been driving me crazy all weekend. FYI, this is why I don't do drugs, and rarely drink. If I think about crazy stuff like this totally sober, could you imagine how insane I'd be if I was on drugs? {shudder} It doesn't bear thinking about! Of course, posts like this will probably be used someday as proof I need to be committed. But hey. This is much better than the time I convinced myself that the universe really didn't exist and therefore I didn't exist. Again, totally sober. That was a fun night. Not.

Fay, Fay, Go Away...

Sitrep: 1/2 Lawn Mowed, ~2 mile walk

Talked to the folks - again - this morning. The streets around them are flooded and closed, but so far the cul-de-sac they live on is okay. The sewage system is flooded, though, so that's not much fun. There are water use restrictions from that...limit how much you use, etc. But they have power. My SIL's grandfather is above water as well...at least when she checked on him yesterday. She hadn't called yet this morning when I talked to her. My lunatic sister (yes, lunatic!) went jogging yesterday when the wind/rain let up some. They (sister & bil) were going again this morning. [insert rolling of eyes here] They also went swimming yesterday evening with their 4.5 yr old during a short rain break. Just in case y'all didn't know this, but swimming pools filled with fresh rain water are cold. Just saying. Saw on the weather channel that the Ace Hardware in A1A Plaza put their generators on sale for 30% off yesterday. That's surprising. A nice surprise! Not too much else going on in my world. Crashed big time last night. Two days of running around and socializing until 8pm wears me out. I think I played solitaire for several hours. And did you know that if you shuffle a deck of cards continuously for over an hour you'll see all the Aces pass through the bottom of the deck? Really, you will. Some of them several times over. This morning was Business Plan presentations at work - to the whole office. Fifteen minutes per presentation with a 5 minute Q&A. Glad that's over. Now I get to implement mine, and be "monitored" in my progress. Oh, joy. Not.

Making Dad Laugh

Sitrep: 1/2 Lawn mowed, ~2 mi Walk

So I called my parents this morning to see how they fared with Tropical Storm F.ay, since the eye apparently moved quite s-l-o-o-o-w-l-y over them last night. Dad answered (nice surprise, it's usually Mom & I've talked to her and my sister the last two days.) Considering it was early for me on a work day, Dad should have been surprised it was me. But since I've called 2 days in a row to check on them...not so much. Really it's just an excuse to call! And yesterday I figured was the best chance to catch my sister not in the pool! But when I started with "The weather channel reported 51 tornadoes in [ ] county, are you guys ok?" Dad couldn't help but laugh. A real belly laugh. I think I really tickled his funny bone. Turns out it was one tornado, with 51 homes damaged. And not near them. My poor beleaguered brain apparently condensed the report and scrambled it about a bit. [g] But hey, at least I made my Dad laugh! I think it's quite humorous that they've had no tropical weather this season until the week my sister visits with her family. Lucky them - trapped for 2 days in the house with a 4 and a half year old who lives to swim. [g] While on the phone my BIL in the background hollered "Send snorkels!" LOL. So far all's well at the house. Streets around the neighborhood that flood with regular rainfall are flooded. But nothing beyond that. The last few days have been busy for me. But finally our 2-day annual seminar for a local company is over and the instructor in on his way home. Had to do the hostess thing the last 2 days, and eat out. Bummer. Last night we walked from the downtown hotel he stayed at & up to the walking mall and a local eatery that used to be a brothel. Big Dorothy's. [g] Good steaks and fun atmosphere. It's about a mile from the hotel one way. The weather cooled down considerably, and it sprinkled a bit. But it was a nice walk. On the way back we got ice cream. It's a good thing we walked! Saw the chiropractor again today for a status check. All looks good. A few more adjustments today and that's that unless I'm in pain again. He told me again not to baby my right hip for that arthritis, to keep moving so it stays lubricated. Which I'm doing. Sort of. :) I have got to get back into REVing. No ifs, ands or buts about it. Just a lot of hips and butt. [groan, I know]. Oh, and I'm buying a new (to me) camera. It's a smaller digital camera I've been wanting. Not quite a pocket point and shoot, but smaller by quite a bit than my digital SLR, and with a really good optical zoom. It's going to be my "around-town" camera. One I can carry with me and not worry about leaving in the trunk of the car. Not like my "baby", my D SLR. [g]

Speedy Gonzalez, That's my name!

Sitrep: 1/2 lawn mowed. Last night. At 9pm. Even under a full moon (barely up!) and outdoor lights, I did a lousy job. Note to self: don't mow after sunset.

Well...I have no idea what happened to last week. After Tuesday it's all a blur. Except Friday afternoon. Our boss decided to do a staff outing. Normally cause for the grumbles, but not this time. They took us up the road to "Tons of Fun". An arcade/mini-golf/go-kart place. We had BBQ ribs and chicken for lunch, then a round of truly hilarious mini-golf. Then we got on the go-karts. That was a hoot. I might keep to the speed limit on the real road, but get me on a go-kart and the pedal is to the metal. [g] I was standing on that gas pedal hollering in my head "Faster dammit, faster!" I was fourth to start, right after two of my coworkers and my boss. I could not get past him. He was hugging the curves and going flat out...But I'm smart. ;) I saw that one of my coworkers, P, was not going as fast as us, and after a few laps we were catching up. D and N blew past her, but I could tell my boss B was going to keep on going until the last minute. So I started to pull out and go wide around the curve...Then K (who'd been right behind the whole time) thought she'd scoot between me and B and get past us. Hah. She fell right into my trap. B got too close to P and she panicked, moved left. Too late, I was zooming right in there so she zoomed right, cutting B off. He had to brake, then K had to swerve behind me to miss him. And I just flew right past all of them. [g] I came in third. :) One of the best moments, though, was when W blew past J (who just became a grandma for the first time), screaming "Move over Grandma!!!" Too funny. Then a quick trip to DQ, and we got to go home an hour early. Naturally, it being payday, I stopped at Hast.ings to browse the books. Didn't do much this weekend...read a lot. Lounged around a lot. Sigh. Worked some yesterday, last minute. Ughhh. Argued with Shanni some. That girl has got to learn how to deal with disappointment. Geez. So what if the store doesn't have the locker lock you want...they'll get more in or she'll find it at another store! No cause for pouting, etc. Today I feel like a ping pong ball...one of our annual seminars we do for a local company is today and tomorrow, and the instructor is in town from Florida. So I'm doing the chauffeur thing, and popping back and forth from the hotel to the office and back again to make sure everything's okay, the instructor doesn't need anything, and so on ad infinitum...I went home at lunch to let the fur baby out because I have to do the dinner thing after work today. At least I'll eat nice. But now I have to go home tonight and clean like mad because I didn't this weekend and the sun room is looking more like a junk room and I'm having someone over this week to look at the gas valve I broke (part 1 and part 2) beginning of last winter . They have to be able to get to it to fix it. Sigh. I also want them to quote how much it will cost to move the water hookups for the washer & dryer up to the main floor, so I can seal that darn floor instead of keeping that huge hole for the hoses to run through. They'll kinda need to go down into the basement. So the stuff parked on top of the access door has got to go... Gonna be a fun night. Not. ;)

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Sitrep: 1/2 lawn mowed

the old man is snoooooring. He went to... Oh, wait. That's me. [g] I'm soooo sleepy this mornin' I'm about to pass out at my desk. I must be cranky too as a coworker made a coffee run and treated me to a Mocha. Ahhh, the little joys in life. ;) I dreamt a lot last night. Pretty much all I can remember is a guy changing from a blond-haired cutie into a mocha skinned god with a gold earring. I gave him a purple hat (which he put on straight away) in exchange for some advice and then I walked away. I turned back a second or two later and there was nothing but a purple hat moving along the ground. I cautiously flipped the hat off and it was a turtle making some pretty fast (and determined) progress. Then the perspective changed...I was looking up and toward the turtle, as if through a sheet of glass that was barely thick enough to cover me. And as the turtle crawled over me, I realized it was a tarantula. Jeez oh Pete. Is it any wonder I'm exhausted???? And I can't even begin to put into words the feeling I remember from the dream. First good/excited/proud (???), then totally creeped out. I'm not sure I even want to know what this dream means. And I'm sure there's a meaning there somewhere.

It's probably "Don't eat Spaghetti O's for lunch you idiot".

Grease Monkeys

Weekly Goal: 1x Bootcamp, 1x Qigong, 1x Mow Lawn

Apologies in advance if I sound cranky...I'm very tired; slept poorly. Not inclined to parse my words for mood. [g] Dreamt last night I was on the phone with Shanni and she was sick; started with a cold and got worse. I was irritable because she wouldn't tell me the symptoms and I was feeling sick in my dream. Maybe my subconscious is trying to tell me something? Like if I don't get off my butt and exercise and eat better I'm going to get sick? Saturday was an uneventful day for the most part. I motivated my sorry self out of the house around noon to go get Shanni. We'd planned to work in my yard, putting in the new flower bed borders and starting on the back "deck". Except it pretty much boiled down to a quick run to the cell phone store (she locked her SIM card therefore blocking all but 911 calls) and then to the store to buy a bulb for the car headlight. We had to get someone to help us as the number bulb I needed wasn't on the shelf...the guy told me to bring my car around and they could change the bulb for me. For $5.00 (plus cost of light bulb). I guess I'm cheap, because I didn't want to pay someone to do something I can d0 - and have - myself. Shanni was quite dubious. Once at my house I looked up the instructions quickly online (to make sure I didn't unplug some necessary wires). I had a little trouble getting the cap off. I didn't want to use force (been there, done that, broken a few things!) so first tried finessing it off. Went with force. ;) To make a long story shorter, we changed the bulb. I had a bit of trouble lining the bulb up with all the grooves. Hard to line things up blindly. But finally got it in. At one point during the process Shanni went "Don't you have any guy neighbors we can call?" Pfffffttttt. I also heard "Ooooo...you're dirty!" (Funny coming from a girl who just a few years ago was happily catching frogs in the irrigation ditch by her house.) I said what I usually say, "I'm washable." She was pretty proud when we finished - and the light worked. [g] I also made a point to show her how to check the oil and washer fluid, and where the anti-freeze (coolant) goes. And the battery. I guess I'm going to have to show her how to change a tire one of these days. The rest of the afternoon she kept calling us "Grease Monkeys." So I didn't exercise last week. Went to the chiropractor for my hip Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. By the evening after the second adjustment I felt great! Wednesday was a final adjustment and also to review the x-rays of my hips. Turns out I have very early signs of arthritis in my right hip. Surprise. Not. It's always bothered me, and I figured eventually I'd have arthritis there. Just not at 35. [g] The doc said I can keep on exercising and walking/hiking is okay. I'm just not to take up running. In one of those "did I say that out loud" moments, I went "Please. I just took up walking. Running's not even an option!" He looked a little startled, but laughed. So. Now I really need to lose that extra 20 pounds. Just more motivation! I was afraid he was going to tell me to stop exercising all together. But from what he told me, and from some research I did at the library, I'm okay to continue. Just need to wear really, really good shoes. He told me where I can get some good orthotics (not custom made) for about $50. I think I'll try those before going the orthopedist route again. So. Onward and upward. And it's nice to know I'm not hallucinating the aches in my hip, or the pain when I sleep on my right side. [g] And yesterday I managed to motivate into the garden. One flower bed out front now has a new border - two years after removing the old one. ;) It's that generic plastic border you bury except for the edge, but it works for me. Got 50 feet of it for $5.00. Gotta love procrastinating until the end of the season. Hah. The veggie garden is not making much progress...tomato plant is all played out. Carrots are finally coming up and I thinned them out. Green onions aren't getting taller and browning on top. Lettuce is struggling. But it's getting much cooler. I actually wore jeans out to dinner Saturday night. The Chives and Basil are hanging in there. At least the lime trees are looking wonderful! Not much else to report, except that Shanni keeps getting herself grounded. So far she's lost going out one afternoon, her cell phone for 2 days (oh, the inhumanity! lol) and now our outing to Ga.tes of the Mo.untains Saturday with BBBS. Heh. Poor kid. NOT! I keep telling her about the time my mom dragged me home from a friends birthday slumber party because I hadn't finished my chores. I was 16 at the time...

I Summited Mount Helena

Last Week Sitrep: 3.4 mile hike
Goal: 1x Bootcamp, 1x Qui Gong

Shanni & I finally made it to the top of Mount Helena. And I have the aching muscles and chiropractor bills to prove it. [g]

Plan of Attack: Prospect Shafts Trail (1.5 mi) to Hogback Switch Trail (.3 mi) leading to Summit; 1906 Trail back to the parking lot (1.6 mi).

Reality Check: We set out at 9:30 am, reaching the top around 11:30 am. Yep. Took us almost two hours to hike the 1.8 miles to the top. I'm thinking that's a pretty abysmal pace, but hey. It's me. This trail is supposedly less step than the 1906 trail we attempted last year. I'd have to agree on that, although others don't. It's longer, and winds around more. Gorgeous sneak peeks of the valley along the way, and plenty of shade, make this a rather nice hike. If you can forget about the fact you're hiking, that is.

About twenty minutes down the trail, we came across a picnic table and Shanni wanted to stop for a snack. I brought sandwiches for our lunch later, along with cheese sticks, carrots and granola bars. Not to mention tons of water. (Two 32oz bottles for each of us.) Let's just say that cheese sticks are not a good option on a hike unless you have a cooler or thermal lined backpack.

Just across the way from the picnic table is what's called the Charcoal Kiln. We took pictures. It looks like the remains of a tower or something made out of rocks. Pretty neat. Then we started back up the path. It was about this point that my right hip started to irritate. Like my sciatic nerve was getting pinched or something. Not too unusual.

About 1.5 miles up the Prospect Shaft's Trail we switched onto Hogback Switch Trail. Now, it was getting rather steep already, and I was hoping we'd already hit Hogback Switch. Nope. I wanted to cry when we saw the sign. Shanni was great, very encouraging. I was struggling by this point; not sure how much farther I could go. I'd forgotten to wear my heart rate monitor, but could tell whenever I got too high out of my target zone. I'd stop in the shade for a few minutes (usually moving around a bit, just not going up.) Anyway. Shanni coaxed me those last .3 miles to the summit (yes, it was .3, at least that's what the map down below said!)

The top was just craggy rocks, but the view was amazing. I took some pictures. Not as many as I'd've normally taken. But exhaustion and no shade make for poor photographer incentives. [g] We wanted to take the 1906 trail down, which I thought connected to the Hogback trail further back. Ooops. That was the first wrong step of the day. So we had to go back up. Oh, joy. At least it was only fifteen feet or so...someone else pointed us the correct way down. Only after a few minutes the trail started to split into 3 directions with no signs/markers. Peachy. Figuring I was being intelligent, I said "Those 2 look like they're going back up, this one is definitely going down. Let's take this one." Heh. Turned out to be not so intelligent after all!

After about 10 minutes of pretty steep and rocky progress down (I'm pretty sure this is where I really started to screw up my hip), we began to wonder if we'd passed the Devil's Kitchen (large cave in the limestone face), and how'd we mange to do that? Thankfully we came across a mother-daughter pair hiking up. They kindly told us we were on the Powerline Trail, not the 1906. Shanni was disappointed and wanted to go back; I wanted to know if this trail ended in the parking lot. They laughed, said yes, but then told us they (veteran hikers) wouldn't go down this trail. Apparently the Powerline Trail is a pretty ugly downward climb. (My chiropractor confirmed this.) So we had to go back up. {whimper}

Shanni ran ahead with them; I kept having to stop. Although I pushed myself harder than I previously had. That whole ego thing. Didn't want to look bad. Like being red-faced and breathing like a bellows while the top of your head explodes doesn't look bad, and tears stream down your face, doesn't look bad! By this point I kept telling myself "The only easy day was yesterday"...not sure why my brain picked that quote. I certainly didn't help! "You gotta want it bad enough" and "Body obeys the brain" would have been better motivators, I think. But we made it back up (nearly to the top, where the trail split in 3 directions) and they showed us the 1906 trail. You actually have to walk down that path a bit to see a) it goes up slightly then down dramatically and b) the signpost. Sigh. So really. I summited several times. ;) That whole side-trip added thirty minutes to the day.

Going down was lovely. Much easier. The first few minutes the world spun crazily in my peripheral vision - Vertigo - but that evened out. The Devil's Kitchen is neat; it's basically an extremly large and wonderfully cool shallow opening in the limestone cliff face. We stopped there about twenty minutes or so and ate lunch. I didn't even eat half my sandwich; my body started giving me the "going to be sick" signals. But we'd snacked several times on the way up, with my choice being carrots. (love the moisture in them.) I stuck to sipping water the rest of the way down. At this point I was 1/3 of the way through my second bottle of water.

The 1906 trail down is rather steep, mostly shaded, and also provides great views of the valley. My hip really burned by this point, and I could feel every step in my lower back. But we did it. We made it. :) At 1:05 pm we were in the car.

FWIW (for what it's worth): The 2 ladies that we met on the Powerline Trail caught up with us on their way down. The Powerline Trail is not on the map at the parking lot.

The Aftermath: I woke up Sunday with the expected pain. Legs so stiff, calve muscles in agony. Didn't do much throughout the day other than walk around the house and stretch my muscles, etc. Was going to mow the lawn as a method of loosening up my legs, but it rained. Soaked at least 40 minutes in hot water. Felt much better, except for my hip. Oh, my hip! It was late afternoon when I realized that every time I stood up, when I put my rut foot down and walked in a straight line, my right foot was pointed right (not forward!). Uh-oh. My feet turn outward normally, but not that much.

So yesterday I missed work and ended up at the chiropractor for the first time in my life. I felt silly as I wasn't in any pain. Just discomfort, but when I stood to show him how I was standing, he goes "oh yeah, that's not right." LOL. A quick, little adjustment later and my foot was pointing straight. My right hip was too far forward or something. He had me come back today for an x-ray to take a look at the hip joint (I told him I had to wear splints/casts on my leg as an infant) just to be sure since I've always had issues with it. (No side leg lifts - agonizing burning pain!). His wife took the pics today, and per her the hip looks normal...radiographer needs to give the "official" word. I got another adjustment and feel much better. I no longer feel lopsided. [g] One more adjustment tomorrow, and then a follow-up on Monday to make sure I'm still in alignment.

Funny thing, after about 10 minutes or so of walking after the first adjustment, the calve muscles in my right leg no longer hurt as much. They were much much more sore than the left leg. Guess it was the additional strain of how I was walking. [g]

So. That's the grand adventure on Mount Helena last weekend. The Hike That Lasted Three Days. :) But we made it!!!!

I Am...

...really weird sometimes, ya know? What else can you say about someone who hangs out in their yard and meows at the neighbor's cat two yards down? We're talking 10+ minutes, here. My little sister rolls her eyes at me...I know the names of my neighbors' pets, but not my neighbors. Heh.


...also finished with ITF. Got it from the library on lunch yesterday and finished it at 1:45 am. So the rest of this post is ALL ABOUT ITF.

THIS IS YOUR OFFICIAL SPOILER ALERT!

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So. Obviously it was written well enough I stayed up late to finish it. Mostly because I want to be as enthralled by her books as I once was.

But parts of this book felt like I was slogging through mud. A few times I found myself thinking "oh, come on. This is taking for-ev-er!" I've felt that a few times lately while reading books I otherwise put in the "enjoyed" and "good book" category when done. Bizarre.

ITF was well written, as usual, yet I was still left frustrated at the end of the book. It reads more like several books competing to be top dog in one. Some of the story arcs are moving toward closure. Maybe. Although I don't think that Dave & Sophia will end up together. She's with him because she wanted to be with someone who loved her, not because she loved him. Totally understandable from my viewpoint. Decker...I still don't like him. Or not like him. I'm pretty "whatever" on the whole thing with him. Murphy & Hannah...the supposed main characters...liked them. Liked Hannah. Liked Murphy. Although at times I got confused by the similarity of sense of humor...like trying to figure out the nickname Hannah gave him "Bwee"...What the heck? I had to get the answer to that from the BB...which someone got from Suz...I kept thinking it was a "So.uth P.ark" thing...then kept having to go "no, that's Izzy, not Murphy." Sigh. And the sarcastic humor they all seem to have.

I enjoyed Izzy & Eden's story line the most, until the ctastrophic ending. [Arggh. I'd this vain hope while reading Suz was going to surprise me & tie that all up nicely.] Although how quickly Izzy "fell in love" with this kid wasn't so believable to me. He's confusing lust & white night syndrome with love, if you ask me. So I won't be surprised if in his next, what, 4?, appearances he's not with her and not with Tracy. So far Suz has had him hook up with 2 women needing to be "saved". At least, in their minds & his. Suz has already said his arc is over 6 books. 2 down, 4 to go. Yippee. NOT. And that's just Izzy/Eden/Tracy.

And there were some things I was kinda "huh" about. I'm not an expert, but I'd thought the amount of Roh.yp.nol it would take to give Eden such total blackout/amnesia would be a fairly large dose, and would last from 2-12 hours. Reading I've done would indicate the 12 hours being on the extreme far end of the time-line. Effects starting to wear off around 4 hours. From what I've read. Would there have been enough time to do all that filming/staging? Maybe. I guess I'm getting hung up on details. And why the heck would this guy go to all the bother. Yeah, I can get the whole I-want-her-I'm-gonna-have-her vibe. But the elaborateness of Richie's plan, the videos, etc, all to get Jerry back? I mean, geez, hadn't they just met??? Is this guy in love with Jerry or something? Made NO sense to me. One tape would have been enough..."dude, your girl's been screwing around on you...and it wasn't the first time."

Then there's the whole Sophia/Decker/Dave triangle. The Tess/Nash/"Whatever" triangle. And that one leaves me feeling betrayed. Because Tess & Nash had their book. They got their happy-ever-after. Which means riding off into the freaking sunset in my world - when it comes to romance novels, that is. [g] It does not mean being primary characters, overcoming the storyline obstacle to become a couple in love and together at the end of the book only to appear fleetingly in subsequent books with major issues, and then finally as a major not-quite-secondary-not-quite-primary plot line. Which wasn't resolved by the end of the book either. Hoo. Yah. If I wanted this kind of anxiety/heartburn, I'd watch F.ox news 24/7. [sorry Dad & other Fo.x N.ew.s fans. If it helps, I can't think of any other news programs that don't follow close on FN's heels.]

Reading fulfills a need I have to escape. Escape being the operative word. Closure, happiness, order, balance, harmony, light...That's what I need at the end of the book. Not a bunch of characters with gaping wounds. And there are so very, very, very many characters...and we just got 2 new ones. Eden & Jo (the psychiatrist.) It's too tiring; I can't keep them straight. I shouldn't need a freaking chart to keep track of info while reading for pleasure.

This is why I'm not enjoying her books as much anymore. Why I want to cry when I finish; because I'm so let down. The older I get, the less I find myself "equipped" to deal with such angst. Funny, really, considering I used to watch THREE soap operas daily. Taped & watched them daily, I really did. (This was pre-DVR days.) Maybe I just burned myself out. LOL.

Mostly I think it's because I'm just tired of it. I'm much more pragmatic now than I was during those years. Growing up had something to do with it. Mostly those 2 years in Paraguay, I think. I'm so "For Pete's Sake. Get over it already." Which is why I'm not the best support for my friend fighting alcoholism. Not that I think that about the alcoholism. But the way she blows everything else up into a huge f-ing deal. Sometimes I just want to scream "GET A F-ING GRIP!" Heh. Wonder what response that would get! [g]

Anyway. I'm kinda wandering all over the place today. See what lack of sleep and no coffee yet have done to me?

So here's what I have to say to myself: "Get a F-ing Grip!" and "Get over it already." [g] Facts are facts. Suz' books are not romances. Not any more. They are what I consider fiction/suspense with relationships. It's a series of ongoing characters, not stand-alone books loosely connected to each other. So. Facts being facts, and life being what it is, I'll probably keep reading her books. But I'll be doing the library thing, like this time, and only reading them when I'm in the mood for that type of book. :) It's a testament to how good of a writer she is that her books engender these kinds of reactions, no?

Saying Goodbye to Favorite Authors

Sitrep: last week - 30 minutes swimming
Goals: 2x Boot camp

One of my favorite authors, Suz.anne Bro.ckmann, released a new book last week. And I have yet to buy it. Yes, I know. Coming from the person that scoured used book stores on her vacation in Japan to find copies of her back list, this is shocking.

I haven't enjoyed her last few books as much as I used to. (My post on her previous book) Part of it is that I have changed since I first discovered her books 10+ years ago. Part of it is she has changed, as has the world.

I'm on the library waiting list for this one. I noticed Saturday that I'm now up to number one (from 4 on release day), with the next copy due back around August 14. But I'm so not excited about this. I think I'm actually dreading reading this book. Made evident by a BB post header listing several characters that apparently have secondary story lines in this book. Characters from two of her "triangles"; the seemingly endless soap-opera-like threads. [sigh]

It's so depressing when an author whose books/writing I enjoy evolves into a different style. It happened with J.ude De.vereaux, Ju.lie Ga.rwood, etc. It's the switch over to mainstream, more fiction/suspense, I think. And seems to happen around or after they move into hardback. After they hit the bestseller lists. Reader, publisher, editor or author driven, it seems to inevitably happen.

This weekend it dawned on me that OTE was the last book of hers that I read more than once. Every one after that, once I'd read it, I put it away and that was that.

Her writing style has changed. Slowly at first with the introduction of the Sam/Alyssa/MaryLou triangle. But once that went over so "well" (hey, it generated lots of buzz and people wanting to keep reading to get to the end) it's like that became the sole goal. There are now three continuous story lines or "arcs": Decker/Dave/Sophia, Tess/Nash, Izzy/Tracy. The last book and now this book introduce the hero and heroine for the first time. And they are newcomers to the "world" she's created. Characters we've never heard about. It's like they are foils for these story arcs, and overshadowed. Less detailed, less impressive, less important. At least, that's how I feel.

And her books are definitely more political. It's not like my politics and hers differ. They really don't from what I can tell. I just am tired of the "causes". Maybe they were always there; I'm either too sensitive or the climate politically has changed and it's coming across more stridently in her books. I don't k now. But things like "Cosmo" pulling out the PF.LAG button/emblem (whatever it was) didn't fit in the scene it happened in. Maybe it was the way it was written, like it was added to promote the group, not as part of the character development. I'm so not sure why that was jarring to me and stands out. Hmmm.

The characters no longer stand out for me; they blend together now. It's kind of irritating that the heroines all seem to be of the same type: spunky, law-enforcement type background, etc. The continual use of alcoholism, lack of condom useage. It's becoming repetitive. And I know I've remarked on this before, but the fact that everyone the characters meet has the same type of sense of humor etc. It's like what happened with Davi.d E.ddings. I loved the "Belagariad". The "Belgarion" was pretty good. But after that, especially through the "Sparhawk" and later series, it's like they were pale imitations of the first books.

Or like the Ro.bert J.ordan "Whee.l of T.im.e" series. Wonderful writing, detailed, intricate story lines, great characters. Until what, the fourth or fifth book? Then the characters (especially the women) started to become more like empty shells of themselves, more alike than dissimilar, and way too many threads/story lines for any of them to be satisfactorily written. It was too easy to become lost, confused...and way too much work to read the books as they came out. I'm not sure to this day, almost twenty years after the first book in the series, if he ever finished it.

But I digress. So this is how I feel about Suz' books. Rather a revelation to me. And I'm not sure I even want to read this latest one, In.to the F.ire, when my turn comes up at the library. I'm tempted to wait until she finishes these story arcs. Or maybe not even then. (Which will probably get me banned from the BB.)

It's All About Scully

Sitrep: 30 minutes Swimming

And no, I'm not referring to the new X.-Files movie. Although I want to go see it. First I need to rewatch the series finale...I can't remember the ending!

I'm talking about my wonderful, obnoxious, adorable and extremely spoiled fur-baby.

I dropped her off at my little's house Wednesday a.m. before heading out of town on a business trip. Shanni called that night, around 10pm, to "chat", and while talking realized they hadn't fed Scully dinner. Now, Scully is nothing if not insistent about having her meals at preordained times. Seriously. If I'm not feeding her by 7am on weekends, she makes such a racket I'm surprised the neighbors don't complain. So Shanni was upset because they forgot to feed Scully...it's not that they're cruel, etc, it's that their 3 dogs are outside most of the day (Golden Retriever, Standard Poodle, Westie) and self-feed from this huge bowl. For Scully going over there is a little bit like Thanksgiving and Christmas all rolled into one. Naturally she's outside with the other dogs a lot, and munches quite happily from their bowl. Keeping them away until she eats the juiciest bits, of course. She's The Alpha of that pack.

So yesterday morning at 6:45 am Michelle called to assure me they fed her breakfast. Scully made sure of it. [g] Then last night Shanni called to say good-night, and told me Scully almost gave them heart failure. Apparently, she disappeared for quite awhile. Various accounts have it ranging from a few minutes, to over an hour. When they weren't looking, she slipped into the master bedroom and crawled under the bed. (I do mean crawled - there's very little space. She can make herself mighty little/flat when she wants to.) And she stayed there all day. I think there's just too much activity there for her. [g] Shanni was apparently so scared she was shrieking Scully's name. Oh yeah, that'll make the dog come running. [rolling my eyes]

Well, talking to them just now, it appears Scully stayed all night and all morning under the bed. She didn't come out for dinner (I'm sure she was too gorged on the other dog's food. She won't skip a meal) nor did she come out for breakfast. Michelle said "I know she's still alive because whenever the cat tries to go under the bed she growls. And if the other dogs come in the room, she growls." Still on the phone, Michelle decided it was time for Scully to go outside. I mean, she has got to go pee...Then she started laughing.

Apparently Shanni was so worried about Scully starving while I'm away, she put Scully's dog food bowl under the bed this morning!!! It was licked clean. OMG. I'm still laughing. No wonder the silly thing didn't get out from under the bed. Talk about "room service."

If You're Ever...

Sitrep: 30 minutes Swimming

If you're ever in Bozeman, Montana on a Thursday night, have dinner at The Mint Bar & Cafe in Belgrade, just outside town.

The food is phenomenal. I had the tastiest, tenderest steak I can remember (which says a lot, since I order medium well or well done). It was like butter in my mouth. And whatever they marinate it in...O.M.G. The fries were delicious as well...tangy and salty and just perfect. And you won't find a better vanilla bean Creme Brulee. The atmosphere is great...very Montana yet tasteful....The Mint has been around since 1904 so the history is fun.

And on Thursday nights, an extra special treat with entertainment by Montana Rose. Great mellow beat, kinda bluegrass meets country meets something else...She has a wonderful voice, and the band is excellent. Live music with the best dinner I've had in a long time!

The company was great; I love listening to our Ed Consultant J. swap stories with the instructors...especially when we can get him talking about his travels in Europe, or his years in the Navy. Tonight was no exception, great dinner company (except for one of the instructors, who I don't like for some reason. I can't quite put my finger on why I distrust her so much. Must puzzle that one out.)

Driving back to the hotel we were treated to a Montana sunset over the countryside and mountains. Breathtaking! And a perfect end to a perfect evening.

Last night a wonderful Italian place, tonight the Mint...who knows where we'll eat tomorrow?

Turning Limes into Limeade

I'm having such a hard time keeping to my budget lately. Stress, stress, stress. And today I bought another Lime Tree. For Pete's sake. Sigh. BUT it was the one I really wanted in the first place only it was $39.95 plus shipping. So I got the cheaper one. And it is thriving. Oh, you should see the new leaves coming off of it. I'm thrilled...it was actually the third attempt (first 2 attempts from a different company) and finally SUCCESS!

Anyway. With my love of limes, I've been thinking of getting a second one. In Paraguay I pretty much denuded the two lime trees in my yard when they were in season, and the limes in the grocery stores around here are puh-theh-tic.

Today in my email I got the newsletter for Park Trees & Shrubs , and there it was, the other lime tree, for only $19.95. So I had to buy it. I mean, that's half the price! So I'm a happy little grower.

And for all of you wondering how I can grow lime trees in MT, it's for my container garden. They'll over-winter it in the house. ;) So now I'm sitting here at my desk singing "Limes, beautiful Limes" in my head. At least I'm smiling now! It's all good, as long as I don't start singing out loud and skipping through the office!

Silence. With a capital "S".

Somehow I've ended up single and childless yet with a child very much like me as a teen. OMG. How the heck did that happen? Oh, yeah...I joined Big Brothers Big Sisters. I have no idea what to do with Shanni. She's just a bundle of raw nerves and crazy emotions. I can so relate to what she's feeling. I was an emotional mess myself at her age. I just don't know what to do or say when she falls apart. Nothing I do seems to help, and only makes it worse. So I just sit there and listen. It's just so hard because I know what's on the other side of all that emotion and chaos...it's just something you can see at twelve, almost thirteen. But, Oh, the melodrama! Her Aunt yelled at her yesterday, and called her lazy. (Actually, she called Shanni and her siblings lazy.) Not cause for a meltdown, but this is Shanni. A child whose parents never yell at her, and are pretty lax in discipline, rules, etc. The truth of the matter is that Shanni is lazy. As are her siblings. They've learned to be so from their parents (both households). So the house and yard aren't very well maintained. Unless they're having company over for a holiday, and then it's clean-clean-clean like mad for days. I know, because I'm family enough I've been recruited for those events. [g] Since they are now moving (long story short, they gave up their house in the bankruptcy, and are having a different home brought in) Mom has decided it's time to start fresh. Sunday Shanni's Aunt D and family (think Brady Bunch, only 5 girls and 1 boy) descended to clean the yard. I didn't show up until early afternoon, and just in time for the fireworks. [g] It was all I could do later on not to laugh when Shanni was presenting to her mother all her grievances against Aunt D. Especially when she started in on "Aunt D didn't take into consideration that I have a job, or the dogs, or the wind, or that we concentrate on the inside of the house so much..." OMG. That "take into consideration" part sounds so like me. At this point her Mom stopped her and went "How many days in July have you worked?" Silence. With a Capital S. Her mom held up one finger. "One day." Then she looked around the room, raised an eyebrow and continued "You've been concentrating on the inside?" Silence. Again, with a Capital S. "It doesn't look clean to me." By this point I was sitting hunched up in my chair, face turned away, because I really wanted to laugh at the dumbstruck looks on the girl's faces. M doesn't usually call them on their crap. I do, but their Mom doesn't. I wanted to cheer her on. I'd already been over this with Shannon earlier that afternoon. And I've told her on numerous occasions that she should do more around the house. She's learned the rules at my house, although I have to remind her a lot. I don't yell, I just remind her calmly to throw stuff away, or rinse her dishes and put them in the dishwasher...But then again, I only have her with me once a week. If it was daily I might lose my mind. [g] Anyway. I do my best not to let Shanni get away with her flights of fancy...I'll let her have her little fits. I ignore her, turn up the music, read, stuff like that, until she's calmer and then we talk rationally about stuff. Mostly I just ask her questions to try to get her to think through why she's so upset. Honestly, she doesn't have these breakdowns with me, unless they've started before I show up. There are numerous reasons for that, the largest one I'm not mom, followed by the fact I see it coming and say "Don't even start that with me. You'll only ruin your afternoon, not mine." And have proven the point. I've tried to tell M. we can't baby Shanni through these. Let her have her melt down and talk to her afterward. Trying to cajole her into a better mood only feeds into the meltdown. Maybe I'm just too harsh. I don't know. It's nerve-wracking. Anyway. By the time I got home I was exhausted. And extremely thankful for the Blessed Silence of my home. With a Capital S!!! At least her mom has her seeing a counselor. Maybe she can help Shanni learn how to deal with her emotions and anger issues. I definitely think some physical activity will help tremendously. Keep your fingers crossed we get into the YMCA for the Single Parent Family Rate. Then I think I'll make a weekly date with Shanni to go to the Y, in addition to our usual weekend outing. P.S. Did I mention the lettuce is coming up? Just a few little leaves poking through the dirt. Man, I'm going to go crazy waiting for all this stuff to get big enough to eat. How do people stand this?

Lucky Bookstore Find

Sitrep: no Mount Helena tomorrow. :(

So yesterday I drove to Butte with my little sis and her family. It was bankruptcy court date, and their car is in the shop. Of course. So I "volunteered" to take them. It's only about an hour away, and a pretty drive. I didn't have a clue where we were going, but Steve said he knew, no prob. Riiiiight. Ya know, when a person is driving down the interstate at 75 mph, and you're the navigator, you really have to tell them it's their exit coming up before you pass it!!!!

He said he could get us there taking the next exit, and foolishly I listened instead of just turning around like I wanted to. Sigh. We had 10 minutes to get to the courthouse by the time the attorney had given them (thank goodness he told them to be there 30 minutes before the hearing start time!!!!). I was not exactly happy as I thought they were going to be late for court. Not a good idea. I think judges tend to get irritated by that kind of thing.

Anyway. Steve & Michelle were doing the usual couple-bickering-over-asking-for-directions thing, KT telling me to just "Google it", and Shanni was uncharacteristically quiet. Smart kid. [g] I'm going how the hell do I "Google it" when I'm driving? I don't exactly have the Internet in my car...that's when KT (in that teenager tone - you know the one) informed me that I can text Google for directions. How the heck am I supposed to know that? I usually Google it BEFORE I GO. To put an end to the madness I just pulled over, grabbed my cell and called a coworker that lives in Butte. She told me how to get where we were going and we were there just in time to meet the attorney.

Oh, did I mention that downtown Butte is something like 4 blocks by 4 blocks? Turns out where I pulled over was two blocks from the courthouse, which we could see from where we were. I even pointed to it and said "is that it?" Hah.

After that was done, we ate lunch, and then went shopping. First store was this great little used book store. I spent $25 there. I found a copy of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's "Listen, the Wind" which I've been wanting for a long time. :) Happy happy. And it was only $5.00. Joy, joy I had the worst time figuring out where they put her books. The owner said his wife insists on shelving AML in the classics section. He lead me to the right book case, and I saw it first. I almost knocked him over trying to get it off the shelf. LOL.

Then we hit a couple of antique stores, took the girls to the mall, and came home. It was a good day! Except for when Steve lost his patience and went to haul the girls out of Claire's Boutique. He was a pretty amusing sight standing there in the midst of all that girly stuff. And suitably threatening, as the two made their choices ASAP when they saw him.

Happy, happy, joy, joy...that was me last night fondling my new-to-me books as I tried to read them all at once.

P.S. - Shanni forgot she's babysitting all day tomorrow, followed by an school friend's slumber party, so no hike on Mount Helena. Too bad I promised her months ago that I wouldn't go up there without her. Stupid me. So it's Boot Camp with Alden this weekend.

P.S.S. - Almost forgot! They weren't there last night when I watered, but this morning the onions are peeking through the surface...a whole 1/4"! Whoo-hoo!

Minor Miracles and Lessons Learned

Sitrep: I have a goal now. [g] Mt Helena on Saturday or Bust!

So yesterday was the monthly grocery shopping day. It's still going surprisingly well, using the typed list on the fridge and going only once for the main stuff, and 2 weeks later the other store for the meats (monthly supply again). Last night I came in at $4.84 over my budget. Because of a book, naturally. :) And this was also one of those monthly trips where I had to restock flour, sugar, shortening...all those baking goods I buy infrequently. And miracle of miracles, I actually made it out of the store without any chocolate, cookies, ice cream or pizza/tomato items. Which is saying a lot since a) I was really hungry and b) I was PMS-ing.

Then I ruined it by making oatmeal cookies at 9pm and inhaling several cookies worth of the dough. Not to mention the finished product. They're supposed to be for tomorrow's trip to Butte, America with my little and her family. At least that's what I told myself as I was baking them. (But we all know it's because I wanted the dough.)

Every so often I get these strange cravings or spells where I only want to eat one thing. Usually it's my favorite lime pasta dish, or egg salad sandwiches, or biscuits with eggs and gravy...lately it's been Oatmeal Cookies. This was my third batch in the last 2 weeks. All eaten by yours truly. Although one batch was an oatmeal cake (try it sometime. It's pretty good with coffee for breakfast). Interestingly enough, did you realize that you can (without adjusting the other ingredients)

1) Use less flour than called for
2) Use less shortening than called for
3) Use butter 1 for 1 instead of shortening
4) Use a mix of butter & shortening
5) Eliminate the eggs entirely
6) Don't add vanilla (I wanna know who closed the bottle last. It's un-openable!)

And the cookies will still turn out pretty decent? You can even do a multiple of the above in the same batch and the cookies are still edible.

And if you're using the recipe from the New Better Homes & Garden Cookbook (the same one my Mom's had since I can remember), you can substitute regular milk for the buttermilk, change nothing else in the recipe, and bake it in a cake pan? It's kinda like a cornbread, only oatmeal. With sugar. Yum. (It only works with the above cookbook's recipe. At least, that's the only one that's worked for me so far!)

But you absolutely, positively, can not use less oats than the recipe calls for without reducing all the other ingredients first. Because it just does not taste like oatmeal cookies. It tastes like a brown sugar flour cinnamon cookie. Which I suppose is okay. Just not when you're craving oatmeal cookies.

Not that that stopped me from eating a handful for breakfast.

Ostrich

Sitrep: Che Caique...( loosely translated from Guarani - "Without Want". No motivation!)

A lot of things lately have made me think humans are a bunch of ostriches with our heads in the sand. I read a great Thurber quote (I'm re-reading a bunch of his stuff. The "Flood" story from "My Life & Hard Times" can still make me laugh helplessly.) Anyway. I read a great Thurber quote that brought ostriches to mind (I'll post it later) and was kind of my ah-ha moment that brought together a lot of things I've been musing over the last few weeks.

1) Discovering my little's mom has been paying interest-only mortgage payments for ten years. OMG. It took a lot of doing to get her to understand why she's upside down in her house...with the girls looking on. I just wanted to shake her and yell at the girls that if I ever catch them doing something so stupid...Not once in those ten years did she add up what she'd paid, or even look at the balance remaining on her mortgage statement...

Thwump...there goes her head into the sand.

2) News story on giving cholesterol to children as young as one year old if high cholesterol/obesity runs in the family. Apparently that's considered safe. WTF? Are they serious? Geez. Both my parents have high cholesterol, yet aren't obese. I'm overweight yet my cholesterol is excellent. So instead of actually implementing programs such as incentives for parents to exercise with their kids from a young age, assistance for poorer families to buy fruits/veggies, insisting on physical education in school, nutrition classes in school (can combine into all sorts of other classes as well, like math - you use math in recipes, figuring out calories, etc). Do they actually think putting these kids on cholesterol meds as young as one years old is the right thing to do? What potential side-effects would that have!

Thwump...there go all our heads into the sand.

3) Tom's post the other day on Charlie Mike. I've read it a few times and each time I feel like I'm hearing this giant THWUMP. Me sticking my head in the sand. [g] In particular the last few days I've been focusing on his last line "what lifestyle do you want to be trapped in?" Judging by the last few weeks, one of indolence and food. [sigh] But that's not what I want to be trapped in. I used to say to myself (and others) that if only I lost 20 pounds, I'd be satisfied, I'd be healthy, etc. Well, the truth of it is that I've lost - and kept off for over a year - those 20 pounds. And I'm not satisfied. I'm happy, very much so, but it's not enough. There's another 20 pounds for me to hit the healthy mark. I think where I've been stumbling is that I've been setting short-term goals. Things like "this is what I'm doing this week". Which is good, but without having that larger goal beyond the smaller one, it's too easy to lose focus. I want to be trapped in a lifestyle where exercising several times a week is normal, part of my routine. A lifestyle where I have energy and am healthy. A lifestyle that my little sister can look to and think she can do it too.

So this ostrich is pulling her head outta the sand and taking a look around.

My goal: lose 20 pounds by July 15, 2009.

I think that's a pretty decent amount of time to get this accomplished in. Short term steps to get this done are to get back on Spark People. Daily journaling of my food/exercise helped. A lot. I'm also setting weekly goals and monthly "rewards" (ie, Starbucks, Books, Music) for meeting those goals. This week's goal: climb Mount Helena.

Basil, I see Basil!

Finally! The basil is peeking it's way out of the dirt. I'd about given up on it. I must have planted it a bit too deep, maybe. But I was watering the tomato/basil/chives container after work yesterday and there it was! I was so excited I forgot I had the hose in my hand and sprayed the dog. Oops. [g] I got the carrots, onion and lettuce planted although I'm afraid it's probably too hot for them right now. We'll see. Tonight I need to build the planter for the green beans and the green pepper. I've had the wood piled in the "garden" area for weeks, just have been too distracted (read lazy) to do anything about it. The tomatoes are ripening up quite nicely. Too bad I don't eat them. lol. But Shanni does, so they are all hers! They're little tomatoes, too.

It's a good thing I had such a nice day last Sunday, because this week has been heck at work. The convention started today and it has just been insane getting ready for it. Especially with a new boss, and the 2nd in "command" hasn't a clue (even if she thinks she does!). At least I managed to finagle my way out of attending. Because if I was there I'd be doing all the work. I already had one call from Nick (coworker) who is so frustrated because he's doing the work while everyone else is socializing. I had a feeling it would be that way. Which is why I didn't want to go. :)

Nothing much else to report. I'm exhausted (haven't exercised in awhile!!!) and I ate lunch at one of my favorite places this week (Pita Pit) and forgot that their Caesar dressing is the kind that gives me a headache. So it's been a fun few days. I'm not sure which is more draining; the headache or the meds? Either way I'm too tired mentally to think of anything to blog about today. Just thought I'd post before everyone thinks I'm sick or something. And I was excited about the basil. [g]

Perfect Day

Sitrep for last week: 1x Swimming, 1x Walk (30 min w/little sis), 1x Yard Mowing, 1x Moving Furniture (Sofa, ugh)

Goals: 2x Boot camp, Daily Walks w/Dog (weather permitting)

I didn't want yesterday to end. Maybe my idea of a perfect day is different than others' ideas, but yesterday was so wonderful, so relaxing. I got up at my usual weekend time, 7 am (thanks fur baby-that-must-eat-on-schedule-or-else), and then crashed on the couch for a few hours. There was a wonderful breeze coming in the windows most of the day. I watched a few home decorating shows, then logged on to check the library website to see if a book I wanted was in. It was. So I showered and dressed, and then worked on my puzzle book "Brain Games" (I love this thing, and am always so impatient for the next issue to come out!). I headed to the library around 1pm (that's when they open) and found my book, "Susannah Morrow" by Megan Chance. (VERY GOOD BOOK, as is "An Inconvenient Wife".) I also picked up "The Timekeeper's Wife" or whatever it's called. Can't remember right now.

I went home and read the rest of the day. Didn't turn the TV on, just sat in my recliner chair under the window, with the fresh air flowing over me. It was great. The house was spotless since I'd cleaned for the party on Friday. Laundry was done, I had dinner already prepared. I just sat there and read. Late afternoon I stopped for a bit and mowed the yard, tended to my plants (chives are growing nicely, tomatoes are doing okay - one is actually ripening, no sight of the basil yet, and the lime tree is thriving in it's new pot). Then I went inside and read some more. It was just one of those peaceful, perfect days. The light, the air, the quiet, the soft sounds of summer drifting in from outside (distant lawnmowers, children's voices, a dog bark here and there). I love days like this. :)

Here's wishing you all have days that renew you as much as yesterday did for me.

PS - If you haven't read it yet, check out last week's guest post on Charlie Mike. It's wonderful!!!

Whose bright idea was this, anyway?

Goal: Daily Exercise (at least 15 minutes)
Sitrep: 1x Swimming (75 minutes)

Does anyone have a "I Survived My First Homeowner Disaster" t-shirt? Okay, maybe disaster is too strong a word. But Saturday morning when I was crouching under my dismantled bathroom sink and desperately trying to catch the water pouring out of the pipes, it sure felt like one!

The darn think has been draining slow and no amount of D.raino or bleach would clear it. Then it stopped draining period. So. I got something stronger, a big bottle of Rot.oroo.ter drain opener. Poured some in, waited, tried to flush with water. It foamed and bubbled and after a few hours the sink was empty. So I tried to brush my teeth and it backed up. Sigh. Poured the rest of the bottle down the drain. Or tried to, anyway. Let it sit overnight with no success. So Saturday morning I took the darn thing apart. I managed to fit the mop bucket underneath before pulling the pipes apart. Alas, I hadn't realized all the drain opener solution was pooled in the pipe and the trap. That combined with the now-released water made a heck of a foaming mess that overflowed the bucket rather quickly. I grabbed a towel to soak it up and prevent it from getting onto the nice hall flooring. Too bad it was a purple towel. Now it's purple with ugly yellowish splotches on it.

And after all that, the stupid pipes were clear. All the way from the sink down through the trap. Yet it wasn't draining. So I figured there had to be a clog in the part of the pipe coming from the wall and curving down to meet the trap. Only I couldn't see it. By this point it's been hours. So I put the sink back together, cleaned up and headed out to meet my little sis and her family as previously arranged. After dinner, I stopped and bought a plunger. Wouldn't you know it, that cleared the clog. For Pete's Sake!!! After hours of banging and shoving and crouching and pulled shoulder and leg muscles, a $3 plunger did the trick. [rolling eyes] It sure was easier when I had a landlord to call for issues like this!

Only now as I write this, I remember the loud popping/sucking noise when I used the plunger and am wondering if maybe I should go down in the basement and make sure I didn't rupture a pipe or something. Whimper. I hate going down there. There are spiders. ;)