Silver Liningness Sunday

Another Sunday is upon us.  So what's good about it?

Well, it was a good and busy week.  Everyone at this household seems to be settled into a productive summer.  I'll admit that I've grown weary of the increased housewenchery I'm being subjected to.  This will definitely end soon (the housewenchery, not the weariness).

deep in the jungle!

Magnum and I did make it out for some recreating on Friday - a bike ride that included lunch and a bit of geocaching.

We had to fight off deadly jungle critters to get to this highly camouflaged prize.

Okay, well it was hidden in the sticks pretty well, but not too many deadly critters attacked.  We did, however, meet a cute pooch who was out getting some exercise with his master.  Pooch was about 86.3% Basset Hound, but his face just wasn't quite big and droopy enough.

I asked his owner what the dog's mix was.

"Part Basset Hound, part asshole", he lovingly replied.

Really they were very friendly, you meet the nicest people while out sniffing around the woods.

And speaking of camouflage, we took a shopping trip out to Bass Pro yesterday.  Meego and I weren't interested in anything in particular, just tagging along with Magnum and Wolfgang.  So we eventually headed outside where he and I logged another cache - I swear, those things are everywhere!

In so doing, we discovered that there is a free car show every Saturday afternoon in the Bass Pro parking lot,

I owe Meego $5 for misidentifying the cars on the far left and far right
pfffft...

which provided additional entertainment as well as another set of nice people met while geocaching.  I'll admit that my automobile recognition skills were pretty mediocre.  

In closing, I'll add that my gay friends are all very happy.  And I'm very happy for them.  I have had my fill of rainbow imagery for a while, however...

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summer cycling haul

I walked into the Rec Center, showed my ID, headed to the Outdoor office, and

*CHAKUNK*

"Uhm...", I spoke intelligently, "They closed?"

Okay, so yeah.  Apparently the Outdoor office has summer hours. Live and learn.  I returned this week, however, all educated on their office hours so...

I walked into the Rec Center, showed my ID, headed to the Outdoor office, and

"Hi, it's me, Abby!  Got any prizes left??"

Yes, the friendly people at Pedal Perks are keeping the drive alive year 'round!  I was again informed that I got a prize for May and to stop in and pick it up.  This time was fun, a "grab bag" of sorts.  (as in, we get all these promo items, so we just throw them in a big bin and let the winners fight over stuff).

So the helpful Pedal Perkian slid out the big bin and told me to have at it.  I was eligible for three items.  So here are what I chose, in no particular order.

SOCKS!

These seem like fun socks, although I doubt anyone will read them, particularly the words that will be in my shoes.  But I'LL know what they say!

Next up...

REAR VIEW MIRROR!

I've never had a mirror for bicycling, although I see others (mostly old people) who have them.  I installed it on Bella since, as luck would have it, her left handgrip was all torn and messy - so not anymore!  If  nothing else, the mirror makes for a nice patch.  On a side note, there were handgrips in the bin, but they were an ugly green that would have totally clashed with Beautiful Bella Orange.

The image in the mirror is me taking a picture of the image in the mirror in the mirror in the mirror... We have a large (cracked) mirror on the wall of our garage.  Doesn't everyone?

And lastly, I grabbed a sleeveless base layer top that I didn't feel like taking a photo of.  I doubt I'll wear it for bike riding, but it was my size and looked like a nice top for summer running.  The product info page states, "Perfect for running" Aha!  Knew it!  ...Okay, so it wasn't that epiphanous.

Thank you, Pedal Perks People.

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Hookin' up with MamaKat again this week:
4. Write a blog post inspired by the word: prize

Silver Liningness Sunday

My dad.  The baby isn't me.
It's the favorite child

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all the good bloggin' dads out there!  And to my own dear soon-to-be 91 year-old dad!

My dad is no longer able to live independently, but his mind is as sharp as ever.  When we talk, he is understandably ready to "go", especially since my mom passed away.  He's not typically sad or angry, just very matter-of-fact and philosophical about feeling he's lived a good life.  During a recent conversation:

Dad:  I'm not sure why I'm still here.
Me:  You've just taken such darn good care of yourself.
Dad:  Yeah, maybe I should've been more foolish.

Words of wisdom?

Anyway, he's been a good dad to me.  He doesn't like "Hallmark Holidays", but I can wish him Happy Father's Day on this, my blog.  Also a shout out to Magnum, the daddy of the house!

 In other Silver Liningness news, Meego and I had baseball duty twice this week. Wednesday and again today.  Father's Day at the park was expectedly busy and a bit hectic, but the little kids were cute.  The team gave out free mitts to the first 1,000 kids and let them play catch on the field prior to the start of the game.  Very cute!  Lots of little kids, lots of dads and grandpas.

My vocal chords are now a bit shot as I was, as is typical, on one of the cash registers.  Four hours of "4 DOGS AND A PIKES PEAK NACHO ON 2!"  over the din of everything ballpark can ruin my singing talents.  Good thing I don't have any.

Sparse much?

Chaco continues to relocate to the apartment.  It's closer to the university and also closer to where he's working this summer than our house is.  Wolfgang will move in at the end of summer.







P.E.O was also this week, and I'm glad I've gotten back into it.  All the guys here lightheartedly tease me about this all-woman's "club" I'm in, but kidding aside, it's a good organization to be a part of.  ... Plus I just gotta get away from the testosterone sometimes.

And happy first day of summer!  It's currently quite hot here.  We're hoping it will somewhat dry up the backyard swamp still plaguing us.  The Great Ditch is helping, but we're still wary of things crawling up out of there...

...unless it's Reese, who continues with the hide-and-seek.  *sigh*

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MegaMeego moving on

Wolfgang had his last day at EduKit yesterday.  His internship job starts on Monday.  EduKit was a good place for him to work.  They employ mostly high school and college students, and it works out nicely because they work full-time during the summers, then they're off the rest of the year, but keep their seniority.  Conveniently, he was there long enough to help Meego get hired on, and I won't say I haven't appreciated the loads of school supply loot he's brought home at the end of each season.  Let's hope Meego carries on that tradition!

So I was asking Meego how he likes working there.  He likes it, and he noted that, at first, others began referring to him as "MiniWolfgang".  But once he got up and running, he reclaimed "Meego", and instead, Wolfgang became "MegaMeego".

Nice ring to it?

Anyway, the engineering firm for Wolfgang's internship isn't far from our house and, in fact, it's right near the bike path.  I ride past there nearly every day, and I've often gone by these clumps of walkers at mid-day that very much resemble "engineers walkin'".

Back when I was a working girl, we used to take daily walks during our lunch breaks.  The number of walkers varied depending on the weather, but there were at least three of us that were pretty consistent.  Anyway, from that, I think I can spot "engineers walkin'" when I see them.  I'm thinking those clumps are probably some of MegaMeego's soon-to-be coworkers.

Since Wolfgang doesn't have true possession of a car, I'm lobbying for him to bicycle commute.  He's got Good Time Louie, after all!  And his work is right off the bike path.  Plus, life is just better on a bike than in a car.  This photo showed up this week from one of my bicycle commuter friends:

https://www.facebook.com/

He loves his Fatbike, even in summer.  Looks like too much work to me.  The caption he gave the photo says it all, though...

"Another lovely morning commute in Colorado.  Also, there's a car in the river"

Who's got the better transportation now?

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pet peeves

Issues.  We have issues.

Recall a while back when China was having troubles getting up the stairs?  Through genius deduction, we concluded that the hardwood stairs were too slippery for her.  Well, she/we just sort of dealt with it in our minds, because she would eventually make it up.

Recently, though, with all this stormy weather we've had, her troubles have been troubling her more than usual.  She's understandably not a fan of lightning and thunder, so when they are present, she prefers to seek the lowest ground.  From there, we have seven carpeted steps to get to our entryway/foyer/ hall-where-everyone-throws-their-shoes-and-muddy-bicyles... followed by a set of seven more hardwood steps to get to the main floor.  The carpeted steps are no problem, thus our genius deduction.

Today, she'd stranded herself once again.  This is what a guilt trip looks like when it's on stairs

Oh sheesh, they even have reflectors...

Ugh, hideous, right?!  I ran out and got these ugly but functional stair treads.  All the pretty and functional stair treads and runners were "available online only" which means waiting a week or paying up the yahoo for expedited shipping (I didn't feel that guilty).

Anyway, they worked.  As I installed the ghastly strips, China was hanging out with me there down on the entryway/foyer/ hall-where-everyone-throws-their-shoes-and-muddy-bicyles, and she seemed to know what I was doing and why.  When I was finished, she gave them a sniff and headed on up without much hesitation.

In fact, if you look closely in the pic, that black blob in the bed at the top of the stairs is hers truly.

I plan to get nicer looking stair treads, so note that this is a temporary ugly fix.  I feel half like I'm climbing out of a pool as I go up the stairs now.

In other pet news, Snake Reese is still at large!  We have had some shuffling of boxes and crap as Chaco's in residence transition, but there's still a lot of junk to hide in.  Still no sign of Reese.  I've told Chaco to be on the lookout as he unpacks boxes, but he's convinced Reese isn't in any of them.

In the meantime, we've set out this inviting portal.  Heat lamp, water, cozy hollow rock... Geez, whatta we gotta do to catch a snake around here??





So yeah, ugly stairs, boxes and bins of dorm crap, and a snake on the loose "somewhere".  Anyone up for a visit?


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Silver Liningness Sunday

Howdy strangers!  It's been an entire week since I was last here??  Well, I can explain...
My week went pretty much like this;

*sit down to blog*

Backyard's flooded.  Again.

*sit down to blog*

"I got a job and need to go to training"

*sit down to blog*

"Come ride and show me the bike route to my job"

*sit down to blog*

"I have a job interview tomorrow, help me pick clothes"

*sit down to blog*

"Hey, I need work clothes too"

*sit down to blog*

"Buy a washer and dryer?  Pleeeeez??"

*sit down to blog*

"The cat killed something and left it on the welcome mat"

*sit down to blog*

"Do me" - laundry

*sit down to blog*

"Cut me" - lawn

*sit down to blog*

"Whack me" - weeds

*sit down to blog*

"Forget this, I need to get outta here" - me

That along with other stuff like the fact that I'm in summer school marketing class and there was the wildly compelling case of the whole grain pizza.

So ANYWAY, hey, I missed you guys!   It's been a busy but productive, consumptive, educative, fluxive, floodive week, and it's all good!

Our backyard continues to flood, so we took a more active role this week in trying to staunch the thing.  Magnum got the ball rolling, and next we knew, we were all rolling in the mud and muck.  Here's the mid-project view:

Okay, so it's pretty much just a ditch in a swamp.  

But we also filled in a lot of places where there was standing water, China has a beach of her own now.  The drainage ditch seems to be helping.  The yard noticeably dried out, and I was able to mow through what had become monstrous grass.  I'd say about 2/3 of the yard looks like yard again, depending on your frame of reference.

Of course, work on The Great Wall of 2015 has been halted through all of this since every time a spot of ground was dug into, it immediately filled with water.

In other news... Meego got a job, which is lovely.  He has connections (Wolfgang) at EduKit, and now he gets to spend the summer in the warehouse too.  

But then Wolfgang got wind of an internship with a local engineering firm, applied and got hired, so he's actually leaving EduKit  to do the internship.  

Oh, and Chaco has been moving into the new apartment in baby steps since's he's also working full-time.  

In the meantime, Magnum brings home the bacon and is king of ditch digging while I am student/maid/cook/chauffeur/queen of the credit card.

And *POOF*, here it is, Sunday again already!

Wolfgang ran in a race this morning, the Garden of the Gods 10-mile.  As anyone who's been to Garden of the Gods knows, the park is very hilly.  I don't think there's a length of flat ground on any part of the course.  So it's a challenging and very popular race.  I've been tempted to do it, but honestly, haven't wanted to deal with parking.  

Find Wolfgang, win a prize!
(okay, you pretty much know by now, there's no prize, right?)

Wolfgang's the type that needs a race to motivate him to train, so he and some high school buddies signed up for a series of three races over the summer.  The GoG10M was first in the series, and they easily met the requirement of  "under 2 hours" to qualify for the next in the series.  His finish time was right about 1:16, and they all had good fun.  

But not to be upstaged, the cat brought dinner home a little while ago.  

Uhm... it's a bird.  You might be glad to know that it got away.  Last I checked...

I've missed you all, really.   It's just been one of those weeks.  Thanks for letting me empty it all over the blog!

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Silver Liningness Sunday

Hello, Junebugs!  First full week of June is in the books, and it was another goody.

First of all, how 'bout that American Pharoah, eh?  Did you watch the race?  Good thing they're so fast, I don't think I remembered to breathe from start to finish.  I don't bet on the horses, but I do enjoy watching a good race.  A Triple Crown win was exciting to see.

In similar speedy news, but not really, this week included a few breaks between storms.  I was able to spend my bicycle commutes with speedy Alice.  No offense to Bella, who is great in less-than-ideal weather. But Alice is the true speedster of the crew and keeps me crowned in my queendom status, so it was certainly fun to get back into that saddle.  Forget Caitlyn Jenner.  Alice, you GO girl!

I had my first Sky Sox (minor league baseball) concession duty this week with the band boosters.  As expected, it was busy and fun.  The night was clear and pleasant and was one of several Military Appreciation nights at the field, so the game was well-attended.  Good times.  I'm actually looking forward to my remaining games.  It surprises me  how much people spend on baseball junk food.




Baseball provides such a friendly atmosphere and fans are, for the most part, good people to be around.  That's what makes this weekend's Fenway Park accident all the more scary and tragic.  I'm watching that story and surely hoping for a full recovery.  The band actually had a fly ball come into the concession stand and land in the fryer at a recent game.  It was christened "Fry Ball", and luckily no one was hit and it just made for a fun story.




And while we parents were doling out beer and deep fried everything, Meego was attending mini band camp - 2 days and one night of sheer band geekness.

Geocaching has been in a bit of a lull thanks to lightning storms and general adult responsible behaviors, but we managed to log one this week.  Meego had an orthodontist appointment, and I noticed that there was a cache nearby.  He was lobbying for Lulu's (frozen yogurt) afterwards, so we decided, if we found the cache within 5 minutes, we'd go for some FroYo.  Thusly motivated, we found the thing.

Chaco and Wolfgang will be moving into an off-campus apartment.  We found one, but rentals are at a premium so they've had to wait for the move in date - which is this coming week.  Chaco will start  moving while Wolfgang will stay home for the remainder of the summer since his job is nearby.  I won't miss having the hodgepodge of boxes around and am hoping the decluttering will help to reveal Reese the snake.

Yeah, he's STILL at large.  I wouldn't be surprised if he's in one of the many boxes. Could make for an interesting unpacking experience!

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Airborne

Love is in the air!  Or on the ground anyways.

Och, the mosquitoes have been making sweet sweet love as an effect of our soggy weather.  They've been breeding like bunnies, and we've got plenty of bunnies too!

I'm covered in bites.  Apparently I don't run fast enough to beat mosquitoes.  How encouraging...
Meego and Wolfgang are similarly covered.

So rather than b*tch about the b*tch mosquitoes (the biters are all females, y'know), I decided to transfer my anguish to Illustration Friday for this week's prompt:  "airborne".   Although my mosquito is not shown in flight, I know she gets around.

Our backyard is still a swamp.  The runoff from the hill behind our house seems unrelenting.  Chaco noted that there is more than one species of algae (aka pond scum) growing back there, so I suggested we turn our yard into a biological research center.  Maybe we can get a government grant and all publish papers and get Ph.D's  while we wait it out.  Magnum is on some sort of mission to drain it.  He's at Home Depot as I speak/type.  We'll see if this alters our doctoral plans.

China's dog run is similary swampy.  She asks to go out, I take her out, she looks at her digs, looks at me and says, "You're not serious".

Oh well.  It is still better than fire.

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