for reals

I came across this little (literally) guy this morning while out on another morning meandering.  

He seems appropriate for the Friday mood.

He is one detail in this larger... erm... yard ornament decoration thing?

It sits on a corner house, and I'd seen it before while bicycling by, but never looked at it closely before this morning.

There is a whole mess of little characters and crevices to discover.  The painted mailbox says, "Fairy and Leprechaun mail only". The main structure is part of a tree that is bolted down to a tree stump. Looks to me like the bolted down portion is part of the original tree. 

Either way, I enjoyed the morning look-like-a-runner outing as it's raining now. We're predicted to have lots of rain all day today - a rarity here. Remnants of hurricane Hilary, perhaps?

My work schedule changed slightly this week, and I'm liking the new schedule well enough. We're in the process of hiring a new boss since Boss boss was promoted to yet another layer of admin. Current Assistant Boss is in the running, but not necessarily a shoe-in, and hopefully we'll have an answer within a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I played around some more with my little WacomⓇ tablet. I am a legit preschooler when it comes to creating digital art. Clearly in the only-can-do-cartoony-things phase.

I call this depiction "me walking the dogs while imagining me walking the dogs"

Based on a true story.

bring the heat

Happy Sunday, y'all.  The start of my "weekend".

I'm happy to report that I've felt very little adverse effects from my second hit of the COVID vaccine.  Had some mild muscle soreness develop a little into the day after, but it was all gone by evening.  I'm actually glad I felt something, because otherwise I would have wondered if the thing was doing anything!

We were concerned at work because a number of us were scheduled to work the day after our shots, and we didn't know how each would respond.  For the most part, people felt mild "crappiness", but were able to work just fine.  Our boss was relieved as she'd struggled quite a bit the day after her second shot.

"I felt like butt", in her words

I did start receiving texts from one coworker early Friday morning, however:

So yeah, that particular coworker soldierly dragged herself in for about an hour and then went home to "vomit in peace" once we were able to establish coverage for her.  Any voodoo attempts apparently didn't work. 

I'm still fantasizing a getaway.  It doesn't even need to be a warm getaway, although that would be nice.  But I'd be happy with a trip to the mountains, maybe a sunny ski resort.  "Sunny" being the operative word.

Although I've spent most of my life in Colorado, I've not skied (I had to google to see if that's the correct spelling for past-tense of ski) a whole lot.  I didn't learn to ski until I was 19 and in college and actually got a P.E. credit for my efforts.  Then there were the university years when, who had money for lift tickets??

There was one season there when I wasn't a broke student and also had a boyfriend who liked to ski and take me along.  We would load up early on weekends and hit the slopes.  "Hit" being the operative word in my case.  But I was young and could easily bounce back, literally, from the many wipeouts.  

That was many years ago, and snowboarding wasn't a thing yet.  Now, I watch snowboarding and it looks like fun.  Back in the 70's, when skateboarding was in a heyday, we kids spent our days zipping around and I became relatively skilled myself.  I now have the front teeth crowns to show for it.  So I think I would have picked up snowboarding pretty easily.  Sometimes I'm tempted to give it a shot.  I wonder how it would feel all these years later?

Okay, then again, maybe I'll just count "survived my COVID vaccine" as this winter's physical accomplishment...

dreaming, watching, shopping, working, oh my!

Just before I awoke this morning, I was dreaming of a black owl.  It was present in the background of my dream, but then it seemed to take an interest in me.  It followed me around and eventually perched itself on my shoulder and then my head, where it was happy.

Gosh, must be some profoundly meaningful dream!  But what is my subconscious/ the universe trying to tell me??  As I sat here pondering, I noticed the cheapo coaster I keep on my desk:

All right, so maybe it was a rando dream about coasters... or coffee... or... I dunno, cork?  Nothing to see here.

In other current events:

 

We finished "The Queen's Gambit" on Netflix.  I enjoyed the series with its well developed and engaging characters and plot.  I did find the final episode rather corny and predictable, but it tied up the story well enough.  

Speaking of tying up, remember elementary school how we'd sing when someone got new shoes?  I still remember the words to the song, try as I might to forget.

Anyway, I got new shoes for work this week.  I don't know how many steps I put in during a shift, but I'm sure it's a lot.  I was wearing simple canvas sneakers that were comfy on my feet, but my calves and knees felt like lead by the end of the day.  I chalked it up to poor footwear and went on the hunt for something better.

Sierra Trading Post came through for me once again.  I bagged a pair of $130 Hokas for $43.  I'd tried the brand for running not long ago, and wasn't impressed, but they've turned out great for work.  In conclusion, my legs are happy and my wallet isn't empty.  Now I know why the nurses wear Hokas, however, nobody sang for me.

Speaking of work, I find I'm enjoying my position as den mother despite my initial wariness...  it's early days though.  Honestly, I have little interest in geriatrics, nutrition, and dietetics in general, but I'm a total nerd for accuracy and efficiency, and this job fits that bill nicely.  Dare I say I'm actually using a bit of my graduate degree on a job?  

Well, let's not get carried away.

drug bust

I was having a weird dream just before the alarm woke me this morning.  I've mentioned how we've been decluttering (in real life, not the dream... yet).  In my dream, I went into one of the rooms in our house and realized I hadn't been in there in a while.

Omigosh, it was full o' stuff!  Boxes and bags, old furniture from my parent's house, random small appliances...  And the old furniture from my parent's house - with drawers, shelves, and cabinets - was filled with more stuff!

Most all of the items in the furniture, boxes, and bags were either things that belonged to my parents, who are both deceased, or things that belonged to my kids when they were little.  Like very little.  Toddlers.

What does it mean?  Whatever, I was glad to wake up.

Speaking of getting rid of stuff, I tossed a buncha drugs yesterday.

To set me up for that recent dental procedure, the Dr. gave me some prescriptions to fill.  One was a mouth rinse, the others were all pain relievers.  I'm a lightweight and have a low tolerance for drugs, and I'm unfamiliar with the different names and uses.

I went to the pharmacy and filled all the prescriptions like a clueless dutiful little patient, figuring I'd google them when I got home.

One of the prescriptions was for the opioid, Vicodin.  What?  I thought there's an opioid crisis, why am I buying opioids??  Then it made me think, "sh*t, how much is this gonna hurt?!"

Still, I was determined not to dip into the Vicodin or the other stuff.  But since I'd already purchased it, I then thought, "Hmm... wonder what I could get for this..."  JUST KIDDING!

I knew I wanted to get rid of it, and the pharmacist actually gave me a packet to get rid of unused drugs:  Dispose Rx.  Toldya, I am not well versed in drugs, so this may be old news to some.

The stuff worked just as described.  It was like a flashback to middle school science class.

Turned my Vicodin to mush

I'm also happy to say I never once felt a need for such heavy narcotics.  My left cheek and gums are a bit chipmunky and bruised, but look worse than they feel. I'm happily, puffily, drug free.







So it seems I can't blame weird dreams on drugs.

the teletubbies did it

fuckyeahearthships.tumblr.com

I'd build an Earthship.  Just a small one.  Big enough for two people and the occasional guests. It could be a vacation home.  Maybe we'd airbnb it when we weren't there.

[From Wikipedia] An Earthship is a type of passive solar house that is made of both natural and upcycled materials such as earth-packed tires.

An Earthship addresses six principles or human needs:

1. Thermal/solar heating and cooling
2. solar and wind electricity
3. self contained sewage treatment
4. building with natural and recycled materials
5. water harvesting and long term storage
6. some internal food production capability

pinterest.com

Designing our Earthship would be fun.  It would provide a lot of sun in the winter.  We could make use of the natural landscape.

pinterest.com

fuckyeahearthships.tumblr.com

It would be cool in the summer and still provide plenty of natural light.

pinterest.com

fuckyeahearthships.tumblr.com

There are plans available online.  We'd just need to get ourselves a plot of land and get hopping.

pinterest.com

Construction might involve gathering and filling old tires with dirt and pounding them over and over with sledge hammers, and/or collecting a bunch of old bottles and/or cans and tediously joining them with concrete.  

SOURCE

It could take many hours.  But could be a fun hobby, right?

Or... maybe I'd do a webcomic...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:

2. Describe a hobby you would pursue if you had an additional hour to spend each day

I can see clearly... now

"I need an adventure..." - the last text I sent.

I was out today and happened to be riding Bella the bike when I got a text from Wolfgang.  He told me about a trip he and a couple of friends are planning for a couple of months from now.  Sounds like fun.  For those guys.

And it reminded me how much I would just LURV to get away.

Remember how the family took a trip to sunny California while I stayed here to freeze and keep the geriatric dog company?  I'm not complaining, it was my choice, I'm glad they went and saw and did the things they did.  They said they missed having me along.  They brought me back a t-shirt...

But it doesn't delete the fact that I feel overripe for a getaway.  When was my last one?  I don't even know!

In the meantime, I took advantage of a relatively nice day today.  I haven't gotten in much bike riding lately.  Mostly because of the weather. We haven't had a whole lot of snow, but it's just been a really windy blustery few months, and windy blustery takes the fun out of bicycling.

Today looked good, though.  Relative calm.  A bit on the chilly side, but that's what outerwear is for.  Plus, I had no tuting assignments today and felt deserving.  So after doing a bit of morning housewifery, I got Bella and me all ready for a joyride "just because". No deadlines or need-to-be's.  Just ride around for the fun of it, like when we were kids.

And it was wonderful and invigorating and fresh and crisp and just what I needed...  For about 90% of it.

At one point, I remember looking to the north sky and thinking, "Those are some really dark clouds, glad I'm not under them".

Well, they must've heard me and came over to make fun of me.

Suddenly, the bright crisp day turned dark and sloppy.  Huge, wet snowflakes began hitting me.  At the beginning, it was actually still quite fun.

I snapped this selfie just before I crossed over into probable legal blindness.

The big sloppy snowflakes smacked into and clung onto my geeky bicycling glasses.  As soon as I'd swipe them somewhat clean, they'd get re-smacked upon.

At one point, as I took them off to give them a (totally ineffective) better cleaning, I realized I could see fifty times better without the glasses.  Anyone who knows how bad my eyesight is will know that's not a good sign.

But I wore the glasses anyway to keep the big sloppy snowflakes from smacking into my eyeballs.

Eventually, it tapered off some.  The big sloppy snowflakes turned into just little wet ones.  The storm moved on through, and the sun reappeared about 5 minutes after I got home.

Figures.

I still need a getaway adventure.  I'm not counting that one.

Wake up!

I was at work, and the group I worked for had just moved to a beautiful new building. I was walking around the building with some co-workers, checking out the new digs.  There were large areas, each for different work functions - administrative, HR, IT, finance, engineering, facilities, etc - and so each area had its own "personality".

Since the building was new and we were in the process of moving in, most of the areas weren't yet occupied. But there were paper layouts/maps that showed the different workspaces with people's names written in marker at their assigned spots.

I kept walking around, noting how nice the building environment was with its large open areas, high ceilings, large windows, and pleasant modern furnishings.  But I couldn't find my name on any of the maps.  I knew I was in the right place as I recognized other people and saw their names, but where was I supposed to go?  I was getting frustrated.

Then I woke up.

I woke up, but I remained frustrated for a while as the dream cobwebs slowly ebbed away.

And then Shia Labeouf was with me... "Don't let your dreams be dreams!"

Yeah, preach it!  Well... maybe just not the part about not "finding myself".  On that note, back-to-school this week.  I don't typically remember my dreams, but that one seemed to mirror my wanting to be finished with school and actually working.  Somewhere.

Also this week was our P.E.O. "Christmas in January!" party after our real party was called on account of a snowstorm.  It was a good time.  Our hostess had even left all her decorations up, so it actually felt like Christmas - just when I thought it was all done.  Some ladies even wore their ugly Christmas sweaters for the occasion.  At least I think they were purposely ugly...

Then yesterday, I attended the first meeting of the high school site improvement committee.  Remember?  I volunteered to identify capital project(s) to make the high school more sparkly?  So our meeting mainly consisted of taking a tour of the school.  And here I was worried that I wouldn't find anything to agree to spend money on.  NOT a problem!

Funny that Meego didn't mention the run down locker rooms or dated classrooms when I asked him for input.  But then, judging by his bedroom, that state is probably normal to him.

So while I still haven't found my name in marker in the pretty new building, I've got school and working for free to keep me out of trouble.

DOIN' IT!

.

Jean's bench

There are other parks.  There are other benches.

But Jean's bench, in this park, is currently my favorite.

Jean's bench sits toward the east end of the park, facing west, encircled by large trees that provide the perfect amount of shade.  

From Jean's bench, I can see activity along the path that borders the west side, activity within this section of the park, the view of the mountains to the west.  

The main path branches off and travels just behind Jean's bench.  Babies in strollers and dogs on leashes wander by, their moms and masters enjoying the area of Jean's bench too.

I don't remember precisely when I found Jean's bench.  I suspect I was just looking to take a quiet break, and Jean's bench called to me.  

A small weathered plaque is bolted to Jean's bench.  It reads:

"In loving memory of 

Jean C. Brown.  

A very special lady, friend, and neighbor 

who often walked these trails.

Deeply loved and sadly missed by her 

family and her many friends"

Jean's bench is a pleasing, quiet contemplation.  A nice place to ponder.

About Jean.

----------------------------------------------

Linking up with Mama Kat again this week for the prompt:

1.) Show us where you go for quiet.


.

and it feels so good

I ended up giving the Its-Not-You-Its-Me speech:

Dear You

Really.  It's not you, it's me.  You seemed like a good mate in the beginning, looked pretty good on paper anyway.  And I won't say we didn't have any fun together.  But actually, I saw signs early on that this wasn't going to work out.  We just didn't seem to be on the same wavelength most of the time, and I grew tired of waiting for you.  It probably shouldn't have even lasted as long as it did, others told me I should probably get out sooner.  But I felt we deserved more time to see where this would go.

To be honest, my eyes started roaming several months ago when I felt our connection slipping.  I started talking to other people, just talking.  I just had to think about my future, and more and more, it just didn't seem like you would be a part of it.  Really, it's not you, it's me.  I think, among other things, you're just too young for me. 

I do want to thank you, however.  My time spent with you really helped me to realize what I truly wanted.  You introduced me to new things and also reawakened parts of me that had been dormant for quite some time.  I admit now that the more I was with you, the more I thought about my ex.  About how I made a mistake in tryiing to put the ex behind me forever.  

I was thinking about my ex so much, I ended up talking to someone to investigate a reconciliation.  I saw that my separation had not caused as big of a division as I'd thought.  In fact, my on-the-side activities served to foster a timely reunion.

I'm getting back with my ex.  I hope you can be happy for me.  *fake tears*

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah, I broke up with the teacher licensing program.   I think they were trying to be all things to all people, but in the end, it's really a better program for undergrads who THINK they MIGHT want to be teachers.   I found the courses very rudimentary and tedious.

Some of my classmates dropped after the first semester.  They were similar to me in that they were older and already had teaching experience, just wanted to get licensed.  I decided to give the program one more make-or-break semester.

Break.

I started looking into other programs about a month into last semester - there are many ways to get licensed.  I'd almost settled on one program, but I found my thoughts straying back to being an engineer.

So I got with a program advisor at the university to discuss an engineering masters program, did the application, and got approved.  Start in the fall.

“Alice Abby came to a fork in the road. 'Which road do I take?' she asked.
'Where do you want to go?'...

Back to Nerdland!


p.s.  With this degree, I can also be a teacher - wheee!

.

Swim

It's snowing and 11 *F outside.  Wind is blowing around 30 - 40 m.p.h.  Nonetheless, Magnum and I strapped on our outerwear and took China for her beauty walk.  I was pretty happy to just remain a cave dweller today, but China gets ugly without a beauty walk.

So while Magnum and I were bundled beyond recognition, China was her usual happy self, frolicking in the blizzard.  She prefers the cold weather to heat any day.

This week's prompt at Illustration Friday is "swim".  Most cats prefer to stay out of the water, but tigers are known to go for regular dips.  Most tigers live in Southeast Asia where it gets pretty hot hot hot.  Lately, I've been dreaming of a tropical vacation:  sun, beaches, flip flops, swimming...

Aaah, to be a Bengal tiger.  

drug store?

We were camping.  On top of a little hill, overlooking a woodsy ravine.  Our tent was surrounded by a few evergreen trees.  The large bear in the ravine was pissed.  Growling and roaring and thrashing about.  We sat  helplessly up on that hill just watching that pissed off bear.  There didn't seem to be anything else we could do other than to hope it would just go away.

But it was loud.  It was really angry.  It felt to me that it was angry that we were there.  Why wasn't it attacking, though?  That's what I kept wondering.  It could have easily climbed up to where we were.  We were trapped.  I was scared.  Could we climb one of the trees?  Then what??

It just kept thrashing about down below us, occasionally stopping to look up at us - eyes looking directly into mine as it huffed and puffed.  It was me.  I was the reason it was so pissed.

And then I realized that it wasn't going to come up.  All this violent activity was just posturing, to try to make us go.  To try to make me go.  If it was going to come up and eat us, it would have done it a long time ago.  Once I realized that, the bear calmed down.  It gave me one last long deep look, then turned and walked away.  Just like that.

Did we have an understanding now?  What did I understand?

Relieved, I checked my phone messages.  It was my friend Judy from high school.  She wanted me to start working with her at Walgreens so that I could fill in for her when she wanted to take a day off.

Sure, why not?

----------------------------------------

Then I woke up.

Dreams. Do they ever make sense?
.

snoozin'

wake up.  WAKE UP.  GET UP.  GET UP!!

That's how my husband was sultrily awakened by his sultry wife this morning.

Magnum and I get up at the same time each day, so we share the same alarm on the same clock.  I'm in charge of the alarm.  There was a short window of time during our 22+ years together when he was in charge of the alarm, but that resulted in too many mornings like this morning, so I got the job.

Waking up with an alarm is usually not a problem.  I think my internal clock usurped the alarm clock and pulled a coup today by getting me to continually hit the snooze button without even realizing that I was continually hitting the snooze button.

It's safe to say that sleep quality was not the best last week.  We'd go to bed later than usual and breathe smoke all night because it was too hot to imagine leaving the windows closed at night while it was so hot during the day.  And when things went all Armageddon, we tried to look like we were sleeping for a few hours, but I don't think we really were.

We're lucky, though.  I have a few friends who are parents of little kids, and they didn't even bother to go to bed much.  At least we have older kids - one of whom is an adult on paper and is also a night owl.  He was up listening to the scanners while we pretended to sleep.

Now that things have calmed down considerably, real sleep is returning.  And returning and returning and returning until it's been a good hour and more cycle of alarm-snooze-alarm-snooze-alarm-snooze...

I remember a strange dream I was having probably somewhere during that time.  I was graduating from high school except I was the same age I am now.  My fellow graduates and I were at some bar in my hometown waiting for our commencement ceremony to begin.

Things were as they would be now - us not having seen each other for many years and just sitting around the bar catching up with one another, all while wearing caps and gowns and waiting to receive our diplomas.

Do dreams have meanings?  Or are they just the brain flushing itself?  What was I graduating from?  Where were our diplomas?

Maybe I'll graduate tonight, on time.
.

Silver Lining Saturday, part XXI

I was teaching this class and doing a horrible job of it. My teacher trainer was there critiquing, along with a guy from my training class. Then these extra students kept showing up whenever I turned around. I was all disorganized and had papers strewn everywhere.

Then I woke up and went, "Oh whew."

I kicked off an LSAT class this morning, and it went much smoother than in my dream. It was nice to be in a classroom after the holiday break. Now for more silver liningness:

The weather this week has been really nice. I almost feel guilty when I hear about other parts of the country dealing with bad weather. But not guilty enough to keep me from enjoying my BIKERIDE in SHORT SLEEVES the other day. HA HA HA HA! SORRY.

The kids are happily using their new XBOX 360 that they pooled their money for. So far, they're being very cooperative and trading off players because they were only able to afford two controllers.

On that note, Chaco's birthday is on Monday, and I just got around to ordering his stuff last week. You'd think I'd be smart after all these years and order his birthday stuff around the same time we get the Christmas stuff, but no, apparently not. I thought it might be late, but it arrived yesterday. I like that whole underpromise-and-overdeliver thing. I'm happy.

I'm dealing with a minor foot injury that has me cutting back on my running for a bit. Yesterday I tried the unimaginable task of riding the exercise bike we've had for about three years (despite my first point about the nice weather, yesterday was crappy). It was surprisingly fun!

As mentioned, I started a class assignment today. They seem like a good group. I doubt they will end up in those TV ads for "The Hammer", "The Strong Arm", etc. Have you been injured?

And I've gotta say it again. I'm thankful for my blog friends. I learn so much from you guys! Pet care tips, camping equipment tips, recipes, religious perspectives, sewing tips, running tips, parenting tips, tax laws, reinforcement that not all Texans are loud and just want to take over Colorado.... I won't mention names. You know who you are.
.