BiddiesInMyBrain

Fabulosity

There are times in life when you just have to slow down and breathe.

A lot has been happening and a lot more is yet to come... but I am trying very hard to maintain a sense of perspective, a sense that things ahead can be bolstered by things behind and around me. There is a lot to be said for good personal space right now.

At the moment, Crash is employed, I am working successfully on my PhD and all is reasonably well with the world. Applying for scholarships, applying for grants... and was lucky enough to win a fellowship for next year. And the semester is over - that long, long semester with so very, very much going on! Now I need to think about AP exams and a course I want to take in Michigan and ... comps.

Oh yes, and comps. I really want to get through comps before the semester starts again in the Fall. I have a plan, I intend to stick to it, and I want to get from point A to point B with a minimum of fear and fuss. I want to go in confidently and know what I need to know to get out of whatever pickle they put me in. This is my goal. I have one adviser who is giving me fits... but other than that, I feel as though the preparation is going exceptionally well, and I know where I am going with it.

I love teaching... and feel the semester went incredibly well... I just wish I hadn't caught pneumonia right at the end. Blah. Really hard to try and project a lecture when I don't have the lung capacity - or the voice - to do it. But, my students did well, and I am so glad for them. They were a joy. I plan to teach first half American history in the Fall, so it will be brand new lesson prep... lots to do for it... and lots to learn for it. But it will be exciting and fun. I can't wait!

The roses are growing and blooming. We're through first flush - and they were just beautiful this time. I spent yesterday deadheading and must have trimmed back 500 rose heads. Wow. But there is a ton of new growth and I expect another flush in about a week. Just gorgeous. Then I mowed the front and side yard today. First time I have been able to do that in ... well ... years. I haven't felt well enough to do it for a very, very long time, and I had to take it slowly, but I did it. (YAY ME!) The front yard looks much better!! And I notice we have LOTS of black-eyed Susans coming up, though in patches, not in a huge row like I wanted, so I am going to have to do something about that (lots of seeds... lots and lots and lots of seeds!) The ivy in the old wheelbarrow survived the winter and is just going gangbusters - I am so glad - it looks fabulous in that old thing, and I think I'll put something vibrant in there with it for the summer. Lots of weeding to be done. Lots and lots. But that's always the case. I'm losing some rose bushes... but I think it's time to redo some of those beds anyway. Something more hardy needs to go in there. Maybe some more Yellow Submarines! I *love* that variety of rose!!

Had a new back door put on the house last month. Or maybe it was earlier this month. I can't remember. It needed it, anyway - the installer was shocked to find that the old door was - literally - held on by ONE screw, was sagging - and was the wrong size door for the sash anyway. @@ Go figure. Lowe's did a really good job with their installation services, by the way. Recommend them highly. The door we have now is just gorgeous. I feel as though it's on the wrong house! LOL

Have the neatest program... haven't installed it yet, but I have it, anyway. It's a program to translate VHS tapes into DVDs via my laptop. I'll let you know how well it works. Looks good, anyway. I've heard good things about it, and I have an entire cabinet FILLED with VHS tapes I want to get rid of (as in give to people who can use them - retirement homes, etc)... I can't wait. Yeah. In all the spare time I have. LOL

Jenny Goober is still with us, though she doesn't get up from her bed to come to the door when I come home very often anymore. As long as she knows it's just me... she's fine with it and stays in the back of the house on her bed. If anyone is with me, though, she's right at the gate, checking everything out. Silly girl. And she's just as goofy as ever. I love her to pieces, the silly Jenny Goober.

Hobbes is doing very well with his diabetes. And the rest of the kitties are great as well... if I remember once I am done writing this, I will put up a pic of Tug I took this morning; Tugboat does a "cute" pose whenever he wants to have lots of attention and his belly rubbed ... and I actually caught it with my cell phone this morning. So funny.
So, meanwhile, since yesterday morning (I had to turn in grades yesterday and was up until 4 a.m. doing so), I have been trying (vainly) to catch up on sleep. Last night was kind of funny; at 7:30 I had my last memory of the world, sitting in this chair doing heaven knows what - I think I had the remote in my hand. Next thing I know it's 5:30 a.m. and I'm needing the potty and the dog's needing out and Hobbes is needing fed. Huh?? I crawled out of bed, took care of these things, had a pear, heard Crash's alarm go off and snuggled back in with him for a few minutes while he got used to the idea of morning. Then I fell back asleep until this morning's doctor's appointment (I had a doc appointment yesterday, too, to add insult to injury!). Took another nap this afternoon for about half an hour and never heard the alarm... Crash woke me up and got me going again - I had a cocktail party to attend. Now? I am ready for the tub, I think. LOL

More than that, though, I am looking forward to Crash coming home safe and sound. He's at church at a board meeting. Looks as though he may be board president for one more year due to some unusual circumstances. I truly was looking forward to him being off board, but in this case, I don't mind him rising to the occasion.

Well, I think I am all lettered out. Hope you are all well. No promises anymore about blogging; you see where it gets me.

Laura

Pics Are Up!

I haven't put up a HUGE number - after all, I do have bandwidth to worry about - but there are quite a few up there at Colorado '08.

Gotta run... Enjoy!

Home Again Home Again

Jiggety Jig!

We got home yesterday, about 5:15 - easy traffic across the I-40 bridge coming into Memphis, though we were a little unnerved by all the huge fires in eastern Arkansas. No clue what they were doing, but we saw at least 10 HUGE fires start and then get put out as we were driving from Little Rock to the state line. So weird. Couldn't figure it out - and nothing on the radio, so it must have been something business-as-usual - but what?

Came home and found everything in order - except that one of the burners on the stove had been accidentally jiggled in the morning when our house sitter came over and gas had been seeping into the house all day - freaked us out, but no harm done, thankfully. Took a good airing out, but all is well, and the kitties are just fine.

Turned in someone for driving erratically in a company van in western Arkansas, too... they had a "How Am I Driving?" sticker on the back of the van, so we told the folks at the 800 number just how they were doing! We've never done that before, and it was a little unnerving - Crash actually called it in, but it just had to be done - this woman was nuts. Driving 69 in a 70 - then 80 - then right on our butt (within a car length or two) for a mile or two - then slamming on her brakes and swerving out into the passing lane to pass us doing 80 - and doing the same with semis and other cars. For 25 or 30 miles. We finally had a opportunity to get the number down just before she got off the interstate. Hope she gets the book thrown at her.

The earache has subsided a lot, but I still went to the doc today - and she is sending me to an ENT on Friday... this has become chronic and must be dealt with by a specialist (another one???) at this point. Sinus infections and ear infections for six weeks straight? No thank you. We'll see what the ENT says and go from there. Can't believe the number of specialists I am collecting.

ANYWAY... about the trip! It was INCREDIBLE!! Two train rides (yes, I will get the pics up tonight or tomorrow - I took more than 250 and it will take a while to get through all of them), fantastic food (True Grits AKA the Shrine to John Wayne... and the SLV Brewing Company, both in Alamosa, CO, serve terrific food, and the home-cooked meals at Dad's were FANTASTIC), unparalleled company (gotta love my dad and stepmom, and my uncle)... and the wildlife. Saw deer, elk, TWO BEARS (I only saw one - a yearling - and saw it within about 20 feet - YIKES - Crash saw the second, larger one, from about a 1/4 mile), bighorn sheep, antelope, golden hawks, eagles... just incredible. But I am very tired - drove all but three hours of the 19 home - and with the earache, I am just beat. As I said, it will take me some time to get all this up on the website - and I will not be posting anywhere near all of them - just some select few of them - but you will get the idea. This was perhaps the most incredible trip I have taken in the past decade... really amazing.

It's good to be home to the kitties and Jenny, though. And my own bed and soft, soft sheets. But I surely do miss the mountains something awful. Did you know it was in the 40s at night and in the 70s during the day where we were? ::poking at all y'all who've been suffering through the nineties::. Yeah. But I'm in the land of the double and triple digits now too, and am looking back wistfully on the weather, the scenery and the company. What a treat.

More later.

ADDENDUM: Forgot to mention the hummingbirds - probably between 18-23 at the feeders at the house, dining on a 2:1 sugar:water ratio. They were going through 8 cups of sugar/water mix every DAY AND A HALF when we left, and that wasn't even peak season. WOW. And so many different colors and varieties of hummingbirds up there. Just beautiful.

Colorado Photoblogging

I've been remiss - we've been having a lovely time, but I haven't been taking the loads of pictures I had been planning on. We haven't gotten out a lot - the car is having issues and we need to get it into the shop, but tomorrow we will be heading deep into the mountains (in Dad's truck) and will have lots of opportunities to take lots of pics. We may be delaying the return home by a day just to get the car looked at, but we think it's an oil leak and nothing major - I had the oil changed just before we left home, and the stuff on the driveway appears to be oil... and is in the right place for a filter problem. Anyway, I hope that's all it is.

Back to the photos. The two random inside pics of a pretty day were taken on Sunday from the top of Dad's house looking over the western mountains... Crash and I had a quiet evening with wine, fruit and cheese up there and enjoyed the sunset and a young golden hawk with practically iridescent wings flying overhead - so beautiful. Almost made me cry it was so stunning. Lots of storms to the north of us, but a stunning sunset to the the southwest.

Yesterday was cold and very windy. I went into town (about 2500 feet lower in elevation) and hit a cloud bank you wouldn't believe. Could hardly see my hand before my face, but once I got up here, there were no problems seeing - clear skies; mostly sunny though very, very windy.

Today, however, we had a gentle, sweet picnic at the Rampart Reservoir in Teller El Paso County and took some pictures there, which are on the Colorado '08 photo album. It's been hazy and stormy here in the afternoons and the picture taking opportunities haven't been great even with good filters... but I did get some decent pics. I like the one of the thunderstorm building over the hills and the one of Crash in front of Pike's Peak.

The hummingbirds are going through a mix of 8 cups water/4 cups sugar every day and a half out of three feeders. No red dye, just pure sugar water and my, are they are greedy suckers - and it's not even peak season yet; at peak season Dad will be going through that amount of sugar water every day. These birds are beautiful, too - there are ruby throated ones, green ones, tan ones, ones with black bands around their necks and more... just a stunning array. I sit and watch them for half an hour or more at a time sometimes, and their communications are as complex as their pecking order - just amazing little creatures.

Crash has been taking long hikes every night - LONG hikes - sometimes we don't see him for hours, and it gets me to fussing, but he is enjoying playing out in the valley and into the crevasses and ravines. He has to be careful, though - the elk have very young ones and they are in the woods down in the valleys, and they will kill if anything inadvertently comes between them and their young.

Wildflowers are just now really coming out - hope to have some new pics of them soon. We'll see what's in the high country and further south. With the late Spring, things are terribly delayed. Usually we're here a little later in the year - early-to-mid-July - and everything is really in season or just past, but this year we're almost a half month too early and maybe more with the late snowstorms. The last snow here at Dad's was about two weeks ago and it has thrown things wildly out of whack. But, like I said, we'll see. The columbine and all may really be popping with the snow runoff just hitting in the high country. Will let you know when we return on Friday night or Saturday.

Speaking of... there will be radio silence for the next several days while we travel down to Antonito, CO / Chama, NM with the family - I am traveling very, very light and will not have the computer with me, but will have all the camera equipment, so never fear - there will be lots of pics. LOTS.

Anyway, all is well (except the car) and I am terribly, terrifically happy. Lots to do when we get home, but I am not thinking too much about it at the moment. Too much wonderful stuff happening.

::smile::

Sign me,

Delirious in Colorado

ADDENDUM: Added two sunset photos from tonight.

Flower Communion Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Flower Communion at church and we are bringing extras for those who forget - don't want anyone going home without, and since we have such a bounty here it is a joy to pick and choose the best to take in. While we were out there we found that the peonies were blooming and most of the blooms were too heavy for the stems and were on the ground... so we picked those as well - and they smell just incredible. In the pic the roses on the right are for flower communion and the peonies in the pink are home just because.

Then we came in and since I had the camera out, I decided to snap a few pics of Crash. This is the best one - he was trying to pose and all, so they all came out a little goofy, but this does capture his tenderhearted side. And, he's relaxed. Yay for that!! We're having a very gentle, kind, enjoyable day.

I'm a little worried about Jen today - she didn't want to go outside at all this morning (she usually has one of us up by 6:30 a.m.) and I had to practically kick her out at 2 this afternoon. She's been sleeping all the rest of the day. Hmmm. Will be keeping a sharp eye on her into the evening.

::happy sigh:: I am, however, just going with the flow today. Haven't felt this good since ... well... I don't remember when. I am not questioning this, I am not picking it apart... and I sure as heck am not going to do anything deliberately to spoil it. I'm just going to float through it and smile.

Gotta have some days like that once in a while, no?

New Photo Album

It's short, but I have put up a new photo album: April 2008 At Home Thought you might like to see it.

Brrrr... I'm Cold Despite the Warm Temps...

But yanno what? I feel actually *good* this afternoon. :::glancing around for threat of lightning:::

I'm getting a lot done, I am alert and reasonably pain-free... and it's a gorgeous, sunny day. It's in the upper 70s right now, with a cool breeze, and I am bundled up in a sweatshirt and I am thinking about gloves... but other than that, I am really, really feeling good.

::smiling:: I have another rose blooming. I am guessing Spring is here. And there are just thousands of buds on the 32 bushes and climbers - I think the next bloomer is going to be a yellow tea rose - I can already see the yellow bursting through the bud. I'll take a pic as soon as it comes. There are *tiny* fig buds on the trees - I mean TINY - they are about half the size of my little fingernail. Took a bunch of pics today, but haven't pulled them off the camera yet. Will post when I do.

Feel a great sense of relief now that my Medical Power of Attorney and Advance Care Plan are in place and safely put away (and I have e-mailed pdf copies to the relevant people who will need it). They know where to find it in the house, and they are well aware of my wishes. I was very melancholy about this this weekend - weepy even - but now that I have gone and done it, I feel much, much better. I suspect it will be the same way about the Will, which will be considerably more complicated, but will feel much better all said and done.

Put up baby gates so the dog can't get to the front of the house and on Grandma's furniture. I found some really nice ones on Amazon for $30 a piece, and they are gated instead of static, so we don't have to climb over them. Jen is ok with them (they at least allow her to *see* the living room, unlike the flimsy boards we had up)... but the cats are really pissed off about them, and are protesting vigorously. I have put "steps" on either side of one of them so they can jump over them, but they are *very* skeptical and want the gates *GONE.* ::rolling eyes:: They are such prima donnas.

Picked up a very inexensive copy of 1000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die from Amazon... ordered it yesterday afternoon and somehow got it today. Go figure! I figure since we will be traveling cross country this summer we had might as well take some minor detours here and there, if anything is on the way. Might be fun to see what we have seen that they consider essential, too. Worth the conversation while driving, anyway.

Can I tell you just how much I love Levenger?? They are the most amazing vendor I have ever dealt with. I had a minor problem with an order that arrived yesterday - a purse I have been coveting - which arrived with something unexpected in it. I let them know about it, and that while it wasn't a dealbreaker or anything, I felt they needed to know about it. I *love* the purse... and have made it MINE MINE MINE... (I feel like Gollum) - it's the first purse of any sort I have bought in like... ten or twelve years... and it is made out of this incredibly supple leather and it is just.. OMG it is just... :::drool:::. Well, they wanted me to be *perfectly* happy and before I knew it, they had sent me a brand new purse and want me to send the other one back. I am sending the replacement one back... I don't have the heart to unload my Gollum-Precious... I am already so attached to it... but they are so determined to make it right that they are bending over backwards. This is one of my all-time favorite catalog stores for family and close friend gifts, but this? This puts them over the top. Order from them if you can. Their service and care - not to mention the legendary quality of their products - will blow you away.

OK. I need to get back to my school work. But I am just ... happy tonight. And I wanted to share it. I haven't felt happy since before Spring Break - the last time I can pinpoint it was early on the day of my birthday, February 27, *before* the plumber discovered the mess that was the hell of last month.

Happy is good.

Babbling Excitedly

Oh oh oh oh!! One other thing!!!

I HAVE A ROSE BLOOMING!!!

One of the Altissimo climbing roses has a beautiful red bloom, way out of reach. I meant to go back out with the telephoto lens on the camera to get a pic, but completely forgot about it with a phone call.

A rose blooming! Already!! April 12th!!

Picspam

Here are some random pictures to round out the day... it's gorgeous here, by the way.

Looking a bit windblown, but better than I have in weeks.



The infamous rosemary bush that will not stop thriving! LOL It grew ALL WINTER and threatens to take over the driveway.


The front of the house. To the left is where the ground was all dug up for the sewer and the fresh water piping... and in the foreground is the redbud from my grandma's that is *finally* growing after only 8 years in the ground (long story) ... I miss the crepe myrtle at the left side of the house, but it had to come down - it was right on top of the sewer AND gas lines. Hello.


Tugboat and Boots through the open window. Such happy kitties.