Rainy perfection

I went out to the car to get my suitcase - or one of them. I couldn't decide what to bring, so ended up just bringing it all; three bags, two suit carriers, a camera bag, and one entire suitcase full of shoes.













As I went outside, mist fell around me. The moon peered through the mist, pouring an eerie incandescence down on the street. My face tingled with delight at the touch of the raindrops.

The perfect night for a walk. It feels like London, but it's Dublin.

Dublin, Ohio.

When I suggested we go for a walk, Katie jumped at the idea and we headed outside, at 10 PM, to walk 2.5 miles. Stevie & Annie joined us, trailing - as lovers do. It couldn't have been more perfect. Finally, a night to do what I want; relax, enjoy my family and take a walk in the misty rain.

If I had planned this night I could not have planned anything more perfect. I should do this more often.

Funny Ferret

In just a few days I'll be able to take my own video, maybe even of all the grand-kids together. Wedding season opens on Tuesday and runs through the end of June and everyone is coming. I'm all geared up (though not packed) for getting to see all the kids at the same place and time.

Next week I get to see this little angel. She's grown so much since she left us and went back to China in March. She's 7 months old now, I can hardly believe that much time has already passed.

She's back

Got the truck back from the shop, it looks pretty dang good and drives even better. Now I can carry a load of bricks and not have the tires rub - the new lift kit makes it just right.

WhackJob

I jumped out of a deep sleep to answer the phone. It was Steve, making his daily call to me to see how my day went and to chat. I'm not really sure what else he said, because when I looked at the clock, I panicked.

The clock read 7:45. I looked out the window. Gloomy. 7:45?!! I was still undressed! I had to be at school at 8:15 and it's 10 minutes away. Plus, I hadn't packed.

"I have to go," I said abruptly. "I have to get out of here, I'm leaving tonight."

"Tonight? Don't you teach tomorrow?" Steve sounded as confused as I was.

I'm not sure how I answered him but I remember asking Steve what day it was.

"Thursday," said Steve. "I just took my test."

Test? School? Now I was really confused. My heart was racing. I had to get packed. I had to check out. I had to get to school myself. I was going to be late and I was clearly out of sorts. So I hung up.

It was only after we disconnected that I realized what happened. It was Thursday, not Friday. And it wasn't morning. I'd been napping, and so soundly that I thought I'd slept through the night and it was already Friday. I even imagined that I'd pushed snooze on my alarm and managed to sleep in.

But I hadn't. It was still Thursday, and I hadn't eaten dinner, didn't know what day it was, and thought a full night's sleep was a deep 2 hour nap. I'm a total nut-case.

But you already knew that.

Ms. Manners

Rules for civilized behavior dictate that one should not eat with their hands, strip off their clothing in front of a crowd, or burp loudly in public. Oh, and it's really not polite to pick your teeth, either.

All I can say in my defense is, it was really, really hot in that room - what else could I do?

Sometimes you just have to do what's necessary.

Especially as a professional. I guess I'm just not of professional stock - perhaps it comes from being raised in a blue-collar household (plus, who I married may have influenced me just a little).

I'm in Connecticut on a training mission. I went to work yesterday morning and grabbed a salad from the hotel store. It didn't occur to me to ask for cutlery so when lunch rolled around, I ate the salad with my fingers. Not bad actually, and since I didn't use the dressing, not too messy. At least no one saw me.

I bet you didn't know it was possible to eat a good steak with your hands, either, huh? Yep, had that today, and it tasted great. Only, I found that dipping your steak in the mashed potatoes muffles the taste of the steak. It's far better to just use your fingers for the potatoes, that way you can enjoy the full flavor of each item. Outback makes a good steak, even as carry out.

Looking at the list of items for civilized behavior, I'm really striking out. I suppose I'm going to have to stop carrying toothpicks.

At least I burped with my mouth closed.

Steve's new pimped ride

When I arrived in LA last week, I was greeted, not by Steve in his hot-rod convertible. This time he greeted me in his new truck - well, at least, new to him.















He said, when shopping for a truck and realized he couldn't get the one he really wanted, he had to settle at least for something he could see himself driving. Definitely not a mini-truck or van.

Well, at least this one's no mini.

It's a combination of "Old Blue" and "Big Red" - if any of you out there remember either of those. The lift kit on this one isn't quite as high as "Big Red" which is is a good thing. Plus, it has a side step, which I really like.















This is the first truck we've ever had with a back door; perfect for fitting that suitcase I brought along.

Summer Kickoff

It'd been 4 months since I've been to LA and really wanted to do something fun with Steve. So we headed to the Magic Kingdom, the happiest place on earth.

You can't beat the music there, on the street on in the rides, and I really like the fact that everyone looks like a tourist so taking pictures is not out of place.


We had a great time, though it wasn't long enough. I had to dash back to work that evening, but even those few hours we spent were well worth it.

Plus, we had time to ride every roller-coaster ride - all my favorites. The only regret I have is that the music on Space Mountain has been changed and it's far too slow for the force of the ride. Somehow, orchestra music just doesn't cut it on a space-coaster ride. I need to hear an epic tune, with a sort of techno-based theme, a remake of the original would have been far better.

Where's momma?

After a whirlwind week in LA I arrived home today, greeted by Yogi in the driveway. First thing I thought was, "What's that dog doing out?"

I guess he missed momma. I jumped out of the car and put him back in the kennel, only to be greeted by him again ten seconds later at the back door.

Again, I walked him back to the pen.

Within 5 minutes he had climbed the fence 7 times. I decided I'd just lock him into another area of the pen to keep him away from where he was climbing over, to see what he'd do. It took him a little longer but he managed it.

Yogi and the goats have been used to me visiting several times a day. He must have wondered, "Where's momma?" The funny thing is, he also climbs back into the pen when he misses his goat family. At least he knows his place.

He's not supposed to be a pet. I finally just quit trying to capture him, I've got things to do.

Poor animals. They just don't know what to do when I have to go away. I guess they've gotten used to all the attention.

Notice what he can accomplish in less than 30 seconds.

Two Dimensions

Steve was driving our old truck, the one we got from my aunt. But he wasn't in there, he was somewhere in Nevada. He needed some cash so pulled to the drive-up teller. It was lunch time, so somehow, the electronic teller was taking a break, and in its place was a redneck. Steve started pushing the redneck's face like he would the buttons on the teller machine.

"Funny," said the redneck, "can I help you?"

"I need $20," Steve said, looking confused.

The redneck started digging around in his pockets. He turned to a teller who happened to be nearby and asked her if she had any cash. Between them they managed to get $20 out and handed it to Steve.

Thanking them, Steve headed outside. He had been in his truck but now somehow he was inside so walked out the door. He looked at his companions.

He had with him on a leash our dog, Andy and our goat, Felicia. Somehow he let go of one leash and Felicia ran across the street. "Hey, come back here," yelled Steve. He put Andy in the truck and ran after the goat.

Out of nowhere a billy-goat appeared, and started blowing raspberries at Felicia. Running like mad, Steve tried to catch Felicia, while Felicia tried to get away from the billy-goat.

That was Steve's dream.

In another dimension, people were dying all around me. Everywhere I went, whenever I touched someone, they dropped dead. If I handed someone anything, even a piece of paper directly, they keeled over on the spot. I finally figured out that, if I used a pair of tongs to hand a person something, they'd survive. The only people who survived my touch were my husband and my kids.

"That's comforting," said Steve.

Both dreams all in the same night.

Some things speak for themselves

The price of a storm

I said I like storms. It's true, storms and thunder are mesmerizing, even romantic. I love to sit out on the porch and watch a good storm, and listen to its musical sounds. But storms can sometimes be costly, when you aren't quite prepared.

Growing up in Michigan I know firsthand the power of an electrical storm. So thinking ahead, I equipped all of my electronics rooms with battery-backup units to protect my equipment from loss. Replacing equipment is less than ideal. Battery-backups, or UPS units, cost far less than replacing computers, televisions, DVRs, and other data equipment. As much as we all spend on our precious electronics, the last thing anyone wants to do is have to buy new stuff. So I'm a little overly cautious. Even my televisions and satellite receivers are on battery-backups.

The one thing I didn't think of was protecting my phone lines. I used to try and protect them but after having those little extension cords with phone line jacks in them blow out a few times, I just forgot about it. I probably have five of those things around the house with their phone jacks blown. That should have taught me something.

It didn't.

Today's storms cost me two telephones, an answering machine, a wireless router and a DSL modem. All those were plugged in to unprotected phone lines which are highly susceptible to lightning, especially when it hits right near the house. I'm grateful I didn't lose anything with data, but all my communication devices have to be replaced.

You can bet I'll be purchasing phone jack surge suppressors - for the next time lightning strikes nearby. Because, contrary to popular belief, it CAN strike twice (or more) in one place. This is the third time I've had to replace a phone due to lightning.

Storm Watch 2010

The rain started to fall last night around midnight. Thunder didn't start for another hour or so. Andy ran under the bed, and peaked out now and then until he decided I wasn't letting him under my covers. That's when he moved to the other side of the bed, where Steve sleeps. He stayed there, lying on the carpet instead of his heated doggy bed, which was just too close to the door.

It rained hard all night and hasn't really let up. The thunder finally took a break after 11 hours. I opened all the doors to let in the clean, fresh air. I love the smell of rain and wet ground. Hopefully a bird won't fly in, I see them fluttering around outside, trying to keep dry.

I actually didn't even know we were having a horrendous storm until Stevie called early in the morning. He was watching the weather channel and told me I should too. Our county is currently under flash flood warnings and a tornado watch. I turned on the tube until the Satellite went out. Internet and phones went out too, for a while. I finally managed to get everything back on. I don't mind being uninformed but I'm not really fond of being disconnected.

I love the rain and thunder, even if the animals don't. But with an already saturated ground, streams and runoffs have more than they can handle. I'm glad my house is on a hill.

This is what a storm in the southeast looks like. This is a real action-packed storm watch. Not like those silly ones in SoCal where 1/2" of rain falls and newscasters freak out. No, this is for real. We've had, in my neighborhood, over 5 inches of rain. In some counties it's more than twice that. All in about 13 hours. Take that, SoCal.