self indulgence

Aaaaaaah....... *takes another sip of coffee*

Looking in my planner, I see a rare sight. It says "Wednesday". It says "16". Other than that, there's not a whole lot else.

No tutor sessions. No classes. No meetings. Kids are all at school. This is a rarity. What's a girl to do?

I think I'll start with a total full-body cleanse (a.k.a laundry duty).
Then, a rejuvenation package (a.k.a shop for groceries).
Next, a nature retreat (a.k.a shovel the shtuff from the dog kennel).
All this to be followed by a deep tissue massage (a.k.a sweep and mop the floors).
Maybe even a "boob job" (a.k.a. fix Wolfgang's flat tire)

Let's get this party started.
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Silver Liningness, part IV, vol. 2

The week started out with a day off, and I feel like I've been catching up ever since. You know how it is when you "lose" a day....

But still, Monday was fun. No work. No school. Didn't do anything particularly special, just messed around at Garden of the Gods for a while. Not too good for the cracked rib, but... screw it.

On that note, however, the rib situation is much better today! In the words of King Julian: "I LIKE LAUGHING!" I can laugh without crying now! Couldn't necessarily say so a week ago.

Work is busy but fulfilling. I've got a class going on still and two private tutor students. That's about right, don't want anymore right now. I'm thankful to have a flexible job that I enjoy.

On that note, I started VoMo (that's "volunteer Mom") duties for this school year in Meego's classroom. I usually make myself available to his classroom teachers and then get paranoid if the teacher doesn't ask me to help out. She asked. I'm in. I get to do mindless work for her each week. It's nice.

Also nice, Magnum and I watched such a movie. The Station Agent. I don't even remember how I came to hear of this movie. Maybe one of those obscure Netflix recommendations. I took the bait and rented it. It's funny, sad, heartwarming, and I liked all of the main characters. Go watch.

Today is all fallish. Chilly and rainy. I like it. For now. *sings* "If you like pina coladas... and getting caught in the...."
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ding dong, the babies are dead!

For your viewing pleasure.... Is this one of the most disgusting things you've ever seen, or what??

Okay, don't answer that.

But really. Gross, no?

It's a dog heart FILLED with heartworms. Kinda looks like spaghetti.

Anyways. I think hopefully, probably, maybe, maybe probably we are finished fighting the heartworm wars with China the crazy-but-loveable dog.

The whole ordeal began last January, I think, when she went in for her annual checkup. She had freakin' heartworms! What?

And so started our journey of heartworm annihilation. 6 months of slowly killing off the baby heartworms followed by two nasty NASTY intramuscular injections to kill off the big daddies.

The nasty NASTY injections were administered last week. I took her in Monday for the first one, Tuesday for the second. On Monday, she happily hopped into the van for a fun outting. Tuesday morning, she was a little less thrilled to go back.

But, it is done. The test shows that all the babies are dead, and we've no reason to believe that the adults haven't also gone to the big dog heart in the sky. China still needs to take it easy for a while, but she seems like a normal, albeit crazy, dog. And now, she has celebrity status at the vets' for contracting this so-rare-in-Colorado doggie disease.

Lessons learned: Use those heartworm chews! No matter where your dog lives. And... I don't think I'll be having spaghetti for a while.

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in flux

Hear me, O gods of Real Estate!

We sit precariously perched between a house for rent and a house for sale. A few houses up, another house sits for sale. Two houses have recently been purchased or rented, having new families moved in. So far, so good.

The house next door that's for rent has been vacant since the start of summer. Much activity has gone on there. Landscaping. New cabinetry. New carpetry. New windowtry. New sprinkler installationtry. Still, it sits.

The house of the other next door that's for sale still houses the current owner. Nice lady. Last child is off at college. She doesn't need all the space for her and Winston, the little monopoly dog. I don't want her to leave, but I understand.

We get along with (or are rather oblivious to - which is "like" getting along with...) pretty much everyone in the neighborhood. I'd like it to stay that way please.

O gods of Real Estate.

Anyone reading this who is a way cool neighbor and wants to move to Colorado, talk to me!

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Silver Liningness, part 3, Vol. 2

Greetings on this fine Sunday of a holiday weekend for some!

As usual, there's much to be thankful for, so let the games begin.

Magnum and I took one of our epic hikes-without-kids on Friday. We decided to attack Blodgett peak. A good time was had by all. We emerged dirty and scratched and beat up about 3 hours after starting out.

[click on the photos, and they get really big!]

If you look out at that blue hazy stuff in the pic on the left, I think Kansas is out there somewhere. The other photo is Magnum after descending the "Asteroid Field". Yeah, we did it! Last one down was a rotten egg (that would be Mag...)

The weather was perfect. We did get lost, naturally, but it's all part of the adventure. Just a side note: I do not recommend this climb as therapy for a cracked rib. *ahem*

Wolfgang needed a new bike as he had outgrown his. He and Chaco ride their bikes to school, so a bicycle is an essential piece of equipment. We went bicycle shopping yesterday - always fun! He found a nice Trek to get him where he needs to go, and Meego found out that Wolfie's old bike fits him nicely. Two new bikes for the price of one! I'll take it.

I started tutoring a new high school ACT student this week. Seems like a nice kid. Dad's a bit helicopterish, but goes with the territory.

Relatedly, the LSAT class continues to go well. A nice group. I really want for them to become nice lawyers.

Sort of relatedly, we watched "Legally Blonde" this weekend. I'd never seen it, and it was pretty funny. Better than I thought it would be. Just a side note: I don't recommend funny movies as therapy for a cracked rib - HA! *ouch!* HA! *ouch!* HA! *ouch!* HA! *ouch!*.....
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a good ribbing

I visited my chiropractor yesterday.

For about the last week, I could swear there was an arrowhead lodged just under my left shoulder blade. No biggie, it only hurt when I inhaled. Or exhaled. Or moved. Please, don't make me sneeze.

It's almost mystical the way she knows things. She rendered my right arm almost useless merely by lightly pushing a spot on my spine merely to determine that I have a cracked rib to the left of my spine. WTF?

Oh well, I believe her. She just knows these things, y'know?

She did some magical adjustments followed by a WONderful but too short massage with that WONderful vibrator thing (I can see the search engine lights flashing now...) and sent me on my way.

This morning, as Meego and I walked to school, I told him of my diagnosis. He would have to do the laundry and vacuuming and trash collecting and grocery loading and etc. for the next few days.

He just laughed.

Oh well. I tried.
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the things you see

In the pre-dawn darkness, I saw the car sitting there. Parked on the side of the road that goes by the middle school track, there was an occupant. He had the dome light on.

He was either someone who'd come to the track to do some laps, or he was someone who stakes out such tracks at pre-dawn so as to attack defenseless joggers, chop them into little pieces, and strew their remains about...

... or something in the middle.

Another lap, and he was still in the car. Dome light off now.

Another lap and another runner joins me on the track. She enters from the side away from the road. Away from the stake-out car. She has the appearance of a typical suburban mom-type. Like me, she's wearing shorts, a light top, running shoes, a ponytail. Unlike me, she walks straight across the field rather than runs laps.

She walks straight to the stake-out car. She gets in.

The car stays. The engine remains off. The occupants remain inside. I continue my laps.

Eventually, my time there is done. I leave the track. I run past the stake-out car to the road to head back home.

What's up with that? A 6 a.m. tryst? At a road bordering a middle school track? In a hatchback?

I imagine such a scenario. Who is the car man? What does she tell her husband?

Is it like kids who tell their parents they're going to the "library" when really....

"I'm going to start running... early in the morning...."

"I'm going to the track to do some....."

.... guy in a hatchback?
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