I think I've gotten that through my older son's head, at long last.
This happened a few weeks ago, but I'm still chuckling over it. My boys were both in their bedroom, which is a disaster at the moment (another story), and the younger one started screaming... not a new thing, really, but not a pleasant sound, either. I started toward the bedroom, exasperated, and as I approached, I asked, "What in the world is Danny's problem?!?"
And Hunter's blunt, honest answer was, "I think I am."
I almost sputtered as I tried not to laugh. "You think you are, huh?" But I couldn't keep the grin off my face.
Kids!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Dead whale on the beach in Northern California?
Yes, that's what my girlfriend tells me. I've not even thought about it since she texted me, trying to persuade me to take a road trip down to see it tomorrow. I'd love to, under normal circumstances.
Unfortunately, I'm sick. A genuine, deep-in-the-lungs congested cough which yesterday was bringing up a few small blood clots. Only a few, and they vanished after a few rounds of coughing. A little bit of a runny nose, but that's mostly controlled by my allergy medication, so I don't really count that. But all of this combined still wipes me out, and I'm not really interested in going out into the weather to poke a dead thing with a stick, not even a whale.
This reminds me of the time I discovered the rotting corpse of a sea lion, while I was pregnant with my youngest... but I'll leave it at that, since I don't know what's legal and what isn't, and I don't want to implicate anyone at this point! I bring it up now, though, because I have a bumper sticker which I bought after the sea lion incident, which still resides on my van, and reads something to the effect of: "I like poetry, long walks on the beach, and poking dead things with a stick."
And this is true, even now. I do like to poke dead things with a stick, and the rarer they are, the better. I'd not dream of desecrating the body, just learning more about it through observation. It's part of the reason I had no problem with preparing my mother's body for her memorial service. Not really a tasteful correlation, but I'm sure you get the idea.
I'd love to go poke at a dead whale. Unfortunately, my phlegm-filled lungs are protesting at a mad rate, and I couldn't manage my youngest son under those circumstances to boot. A trip to the beach does not sound good at all! (Did I actually say that?!?) Sorry, girlfriend--- you're on your own this time!
Unfortunately, I'm sick. A genuine, deep-in-the-lungs congested cough which yesterday was bringing up a few small blood clots. Only a few, and they vanished after a few rounds of coughing. A little bit of a runny nose, but that's mostly controlled by my allergy medication, so I don't really count that. But all of this combined still wipes me out, and I'm not really interested in going out into the weather to poke a dead thing with a stick, not even a whale.
This reminds me of the time I discovered the rotting corpse of a sea lion, while I was pregnant with my youngest... but I'll leave it at that, since I don't know what's legal and what isn't, and I don't want to implicate anyone at this point! I bring it up now, though, because I have a bumper sticker which I bought after the sea lion incident, which still resides on my van, and reads something to the effect of: "I like poetry, long walks on the beach, and poking dead things with a stick."
And this is true, even now. I do like to poke dead things with a stick, and the rarer they are, the better. I'd not dream of desecrating the body, just learning more about it through observation. It's part of the reason I had no problem with preparing my mother's body for her memorial service. Not really a tasteful correlation, but I'm sure you get the idea.
I'd love to go poke at a dead whale. Unfortunately, my phlegm-filled lungs are protesting at a mad rate, and I couldn't manage my youngest son under those circumstances to boot. A trip to the beach does not sound good at all! (Did I actually say that?!?) Sorry, girlfriend--- you're on your own this time!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Happy Birthdays!
I almost forgot--- I have four family members to whom I want to send out birthday greetings!
Happiest of birthdays to my Uncle, Steve Acock, and to my cousins Nick Russell, Alyssa Smith and Katy Delavan! May your life be full of joys beyond measure and support for your sorrows. I love you all, and I'm so glad you're in my life!
*hugs*
Happiest of birthdays to my Uncle, Steve Acock, and to my cousins Nick Russell, Alyssa Smith and Katy Delavan! May your life be full of joys beyond measure and support for your sorrows. I love you all, and I'm so glad you're in my life!
*hugs*
Beating the heat on a budget... can we do it??
My one and only complaint about my state is that it gets damned hot in the summer--- especially in the Willamette Valley, where I live with my fambly.
Okay, to be fair, it usually doesn't get hotter than 103 degrees Fahrenheit at the most. I've lived in hotter circumstances when I lived in Las Vegas--- the hottest I remember was 113 degrees F, and I was working in a cabinet shop. But THAT was a dry heat, whereas we're rather humid here in Oregon. No, I know it's not humid like it is in Texas, or Georgia, or the like... but it's humid to us native Oregonians!
Anyway, I'm getting off-track. I am now forty years old, nearly 41, and I just can't take the heat the way I used to when I was much younger--- heck, even just when I was in my twenties! And my husband has Multiple Sclerosis, which is aggravated by the heat. Today it is 91 degrees F (I have a thermometer on my desktop), and we're practically melting right now, even though we're both inside where it's air-conditioned!
Late last night, around 11pm or so, I noticed an ad for a free Softub--- that is, a hot tub that's got foam-rubber sides and is fairly portable in comparison to normal hot tubs. I dashed off an e-mail requesting it, but by morning the ad was pulled and I had no answering e-mail. So I figured it was gone, and moved on with my life.
Fast forward to this afternoon.
I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize. It turned out to be the person who'd placed the Softub ad. Apparently the first person to answer the ad never showed up this morning to pick it up... and I was next in line!
(Insert happy dance here)
I got the address, loaded the boys into the car (daughter was at a cheer fundraising car wash), and took off.
As soon as I got there, I knocked on the guy's door to let him know I was taking the tub, which was waiting in the driveway. He pointed out the various places where the liner was split, and said he wasn't sure what was wrong with the motor. He was kind enough to help me load it on top of my van, and we secured it with the line from my Sailfish. Then I slowly drove home, barely topping 25mph at most. (Wonder if I should have turned on my emergency flashers?)
So now we're the proud owners of a used Softub, complete with motor and lid. It needs scrubbing out before I try to repair the liner, but that won't be a problem--- I'm sure the boys would be glad to help! I figure if worse comes to worse, I may just put in my own liner. It would be nice if I could get the motor to work as well, so that we can actually use it for a hot tub sometimes... but right now, I just want it to hold water so that we can cool down during the hottest part of the summer! *fans self frantically in anticipation*
Wish me luck! I can't wait to use it as a tub for the first time! (I say that, because my boys are right now dancing around on the covered tub--- I had to employ my 230 pounds to force the lid securely into place!)
Okay, to be fair, it usually doesn't get hotter than 103 degrees Fahrenheit at the most. I've lived in hotter circumstances when I lived in Las Vegas--- the hottest I remember was 113 degrees F, and I was working in a cabinet shop. But THAT was a dry heat, whereas we're rather humid here in Oregon. No, I know it's not humid like it is in Texas, or Georgia, or the like... but it's humid to us native Oregonians!
Anyway, I'm getting off-track. I am now forty years old, nearly 41, and I just can't take the heat the way I used to when I was much younger--- heck, even just when I was in my twenties! And my husband has Multiple Sclerosis, which is aggravated by the heat. Today it is 91 degrees F (I have a thermometer on my desktop), and we're practically melting right now, even though we're both inside where it's air-conditioned!
Late last night, around 11pm or so, I noticed an ad for a free Softub--- that is, a hot tub that's got foam-rubber sides and is fairly portable in comparison to normal hot tubs. I dashed off an e-mail requesting it, but by morning the ad was pulled and I had no answering e-mail. So I figured it was gone, and moved on with my life.
Fast forward to this afternoon.
I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize. It turned out to be the person who'd placed the Softub ad. Apparently the first person to answer the ad never showed up this morning to pick it up... and I was next in line!
(Insert happy dance here)
I got the address, loaded the boys into the car (daughter was at a cheer fundraising car wash), and took off.
As soon as I got there, I knocked on the guy's door to let him know I was taking the tub, which was waiting in the driveway. He pointed out the various places where the liner was split, and said he wasn't sure what was wrong with the motor. He was kind enough to help me load it on top of my van, and we secured it with the line from my Sailfish. Then I slowly drove home, barely topping 25mph at most. (Wonder if I should have turned on my emergency flashers?)
So now we're the proud owners of a used Softub, complete with motor and lid. It needs scrubbing out before I try to repair the liner, but that won't be a problem--- I'm sure the boys would be glad to help! I figure if worse comes to worse, I may just put in my own liner. It would be nice if I could get the motor to work as well, so that we can actually use it for a hot tub sometimes... but right now, I just want it to hold water so that we can cool down during the hottest part of the summer! *fans self frantically in anticipation*
Wish me luck! I can't wait to use it as a tub for the first time! (I say that, because my boys are right now dancing around on the covered tub--- I had to employ my 230 pounds to force the lid securely into place!)
Friday, June 19, 2009
Chuckle for the day!
For those who don't know, I have two boys, who will be turning 8 and 3 in October. Life is an adventure with them, that's for sure!
This evening I was making grilled cheese sandwiches for them for supper, and the younger one was standing outside the baby gate (yes, we still keep one up at the kitchen entrance to discourage him from going in, though it's got its drawbacks--- he climbs over it anyway, and several times now he's turned off the refrigerator by turning the temperature control to zero... once to the tune of almost everything in the fridge and freezer!).
A little backstory, so that you understand better:
Older brother, Squid by nickname, has a bit of a problem recognizing social no-no's. As his first-grade teacher, the therapist and the school principal would all tell you, he hasn't a bad bone in his body. But he cannot seem to grasp what is okay social behavior. For example, even though he has been told multiple times that I do not like my tummy touched, he will come up while I am nursing his younger brother and give me a kiss or a blow-belly on my exposed tummy. He has been given incident reports several times for giving a kindergartener a kiss on the cheek. And at the beginning of the school year, he licked a young black boy on the cheek while they were riding on the bus. (He told me later that he thought the boy looked like chocolate, so he licked him to see if he was! This is probably politically incorrect of me, but I almost died laughing later in private!)
Squid asked if he could have soda with his dinner, and I said no, but that he could have juice. Delighted, he danced away from the kitchen and I turned back to cooking. A moment later I looked up to see him still dancing, but this time with his foot inserted into his intended drinking cup. I scolded him and told him he won't be able to drink from that cup now, and told him to bring it to me.
The baby (yes, he's too old, really, to be called that, but he IS my baby) asked, "Why?"
I answered, "Because it's dirty now. Bring the cup here!" This last directed to Squid, who had instead put the cup on the table.
"Why?" from the baby.
"Because it was on his foot, and our feet are dirty," I told him. He just looked at me with wide eyes, and I thought I should really explain that better, so I elaborated, "We walk everywhere with our feet, and our feet get dirty, so when he put the cup on his foot, that made the cup dirty with germs."
Still nothing but a wide-eyed stare from the baby. So jokingly, I asked, "Have I confused you?"
Another moment of silent staring... and then he turned away, saying, "Yesh...."
*lol* Kids.
This evening I was making grilled cheese sandwiches for them for supper, and the younger one was standing outside the baby gate (yes, we still keep one up at the kitchen entrance to discourage him from going in, though it's got its drawbacks--- he climbs over it anyway, and several times now he's turned off the refrigerator by turning the temperature control to zero... once to the tune of almost everything in the fridge and freezer!).
A little backstory, so that you understand better:
Older brother, Squid by nickname, has a bit of a problem recognizing social no-no's. As his first-grade teacher, the therapist and the school principal would all tell you, he hasn't a bad bone in his body. But he cannot seem to grasp what is okay social behavior. For example, even though he has been told multiple times that I do not like my tummy touched, he will come up while I am nursing his younger brother and give me a kiss or a blow-belly on my exposed tummy. He has been given incident reports several times for giving a kindergartener a kiss on the cheek. And at the beginning of the school year, he licked a young black boy on the cheek while they were riding on the bus. (He told me later that he thought the boy looked like chocolate, so he licked him to see if he was! This is probably politically incorrect of me, but I almost died laughing later in private!)
Squid asked if he could have soda with his dinner, and I said no, but that he could have juice. Delighted, he danced away from the kitchen and I turned back to cooking. A moment later I looked up to see him still dancing, but this time with his foot inserted into his intended drinking cup. I scolded him and told him he won't be able to drink from that cup now, and told him to bring it to me.
The baby (yes, he's too old, really, to be called that, but he IS my baby) asked, "Why?"
I answered, "Because it's dirty now. Bring the cup here!" This last directed to Squid, who had instead put the cup on the table.
"Why?" from the baby.
"Because it was on his foot, and our feet are dirty," I told him. He just looked at me with wide eyes, and I thought I should really explain that better, so I elaborated, "We walk everywhere with our feet, and our feet get dirty, so when he put the cup on his foot, that made the cup dirty with germs."
Still nothing but a wide-eyed stare from the baby. So jokingly, I asked, "Have I confused you?"
Another moment of silent staring... and then he turned away, saying, "Yesh...."
*lol* Kids.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Crazy Gardener Dance
Yippee!!
I am delighted to report that my basil and tomato seeds--- the ones purchased from Valdemart, the ones which were planted over a month ago but never came up--- have finally sprouted!!
*drumroll, please*
There are four lemon basil sprouts in one pot, and in another pot there are two (unknown variety) tomato sprouts and one lemon basil sprout. I had to look online to confirm that they were tomato and basil sprouts, instead of weeds. *lol* The third pot, which was planted with lemon basil seeds as well, still has shown no sign of life. <_< Oh, well.
Normally I'd know what type of tomato seeds I planted, but the packet of seeds from which this came was a variety pack, with five different types of tomatoes claimed on the back of the envelope... and only ten seeds total. So I'm clueless as to whether the two which have sprouted are even the same variety as each other!
I was disgusted with these two packets "failing" to sprout, so when I transplanted last (on June 11), I replanted my "greenhouse" (very tiny one, roughly 3"x6"!) with yellow pear tomato seeds... and there are at least eleven of those sprouting as of this morning! So I'm going to have yellow pear tomatoes coming out my ears again this year, just as I did the first year I had a garden here! Hopefully I'll also have at least one other type of tomato, but since I love yellow pears, I'll not complain!
See ya in a few days, I hope!
I am delighted to report that my basil and tomato seeds--- the ones purchased from Valdemart, the ones which were planted over a month ago but never came up--- have finally sprouted!!
*drumroll, please*
There are four lemon basil sprouts in one pot, and in another pot there are two (unknown variety) tomato sprouts and one lemon basil sprout. I had to look online to confirm that they were tomato and basil sprouts, instead of weeds. *lol* The third pot, which was planted with lemon basil seeds as well, still has shown no sign of life. <_< Oh, well.
Normally I'd know what type of tomato seeds I planted, but the packet of seeds from which this came was a variety pack, with five different types of tomatoes claimed on the back of the envelope... and only ten seeds total. So I'm clueless as to whether the two which have sprouted are even the same variety as each other!
I was disgusted with these two packets "failing" to sprout, so when I transplanted last (on June 11), I replanted my "greenhouse" (very tiny one, roughly 3"x6"!) with yellow pear tomato seeds... and there are at least eleven of those sprouting as of this morning! So I'm going to have yellow pear tomatoes coming out my ears again this year, just as I did the first year I had a garden here! Hopefully I'll also have at least one other type of tomato, but since I love yellow pears, I'll not complain!
See ya in a few days, I hope!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Transplanting time!
This morning I got up to get my older boy off to school--- his last day of first grade! Normally I would go back to bed afterward, especially since I went to bed at 3am (yikes!), but I glanced at my garden as I was going back into the house, and realized I really needed to get my corn and popcorn into the ground, not to mention my tomatoes and squash! So I grabbed my wood-hauling gloves and headed back outside.
In an hour I had transplanted my yellow pear tomatoes (four of them altogether, although they were two to a pot and transplanted that way), 20 corn plants and a total of 47 popcorn plants!
Okay, I have to explain that, don't I?
I love growing popcorn even more than I love eating it, if that's possible! I have such neat memories of my dad wringing the dried popcorn kernels from the cob, and last year I finally tried growing my own. I found the popcorn seeds from Ed Hume's collection--- only place I could find them (it was later in the season).
Well, I went away for a bit before finishing this blog, and I've got my squashes planted as well. Off to start some more squashes I don't already have, plus possibly some lettuce mix, carrots and radishes, and maybe some more tomatoes. I might directly sow the lettuce mix among the strawberries, which were transplanted two years ago, a thinning from a neighbor's strawberry patch (I've already picked a pint, with at least that much more ripening soon!).
I'd love to have some pumpkins growing, but my hubby has been adamantly against pumpkins ever since the first year we were married, when I had my first garden of pumpkins take over the backyard! *lol* I think I'll sneak 'em in next year!
In an hour I had transplanted my yellow pear tomatoes (four of them altogether, although they were two to a pot and transplanted that way), 20 corn plants and a total of 47 popcorn plants!
Okay, I have to explain that, don't I?
I love growing popcorn even more than I love eating it, if that's possible! I have such neat memories of my dad wringing the dried popcorn kernels from the cob, and last year I finally tried growing my own. I found the popcorn seeds from Ed Hume's collection--- only place I could find them (it was later in the season).
Well, I went away for a bit before finishing this blog, and I've got my squashes planted as well. Off to start some more squashes I don't already have, plus possibly some lettuce mix, carrots and radishes, and maybe some more tomatoes. I might directly sow the lettuce mix among the strawberries, which were transplanted two years ago, a thinning from a neighbor's strawberry patch (I've already picked a pint, with at least that much more ripening soon!).
I'd love to have some pumpkins growing, but my hubby has been adamantly against pumpkins ever since the first year we were married, when I had my first garden of pumpkins take over the backyard! *lol* I think I'll sneak 'em in next year!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Planting time in Oregon's springtime
I love gardening.
Every spring, ever since I learned how to grow and care for a garden in Montana in the spring of 1991, I've loved to plant vegetables and grow them. I also have any number of forest-type plants, houseplants, herbs and flowers which I love to grow--- spoon jade, regular jade, trilliums, comfrey, lilacs, honeysuckle, roses, a ficus which I'm trying to train as a bonsai (well, the jades are both bonsai as well), lavender, pussywillow, mint, sweetgrass, Japanese maple... need I go on?? And I have several fruit plants as well--- a Concord grape, two raspberries, and a hill full of strawberries.
This year in my vegetable garden, I plan to grow corn, tomatoes, popcorn, multiple varieties of squash, leeks, and maybe even some potatoes. The corn I'm growing comes from my last year's harvest. The corn seed I got from the store didn't even sprout! I need to plant more popcorn, since only 6 seeds decided to sprout. I think I'll try my own seed from last year's harvest, as I did with the corn. Can't hurt!
Someday I dream of having my own property, and I'll be able to grow much more, including rhubarb, blueberries, blackberries, huckleberries (the red ones, like the ones which grow at Camp Kilowan), loganberries, peas, carrots, beans, pumpkins, various melons, garlic, onions, parsnips, eggplants, various bell peppers, hazelnuts, walnuts, etc. I also want to grow many herbs and medicinal plants, including nettles, ferns, prickly pear cacti, salmonberries, salal, thimbleberry, and others which I can't bring to mind right now, not to mention the more familiar herbs like basil, mint, marjoram, oregano, sage, rosemary, etc.
I love growing things. ^_^
Every spring, ever since I learned how to grow and care for a garden in Montana in the spring of 1991, I've loved to plant vegetables and grow them. I also have any number of forest-type plants, houseplants, herbs and flowers which I love to grow--- spoon jade, regular jade, trilliums, comfrey, lilacs, honeysuckle, roses, a ficus which I'm trying to train as a bonsai (well, the jades are both bonsai as well), lavender, pussywillow, mint, sweetgrass, Japanese maple... need I go on?? And I have several fruit plants as well--- a Concord grape, two raspberries, and a hill full of strawberries.
This year in my vegetable garden, I plan to grow corn, tomatoes, popcorn, multiple varieties of squash, leeks, and maybe even some potatoes. The corn I'm growing comes from my last year's harvest. The corn seed I got from the store didn't even sprout! I need to plant more popcorn, since only 6 seeds decided to sprout. I think I'll try my own seed from last year's harvest, as I did with the corn. Can't hurt!
Someday I dream of having my own property, and I'll be able to grow much more, including rhubarb, blueberries, blackberries, huckleberries (the red ones, like the ones which grow at Camp Kilowan), loganberries, peas, carrots, beans, pumpkins, various melons, garlic, onions, parsnips, eggplants, various bell peppers, hazelnuts, walnuts, etc. I also want to grow many herbs and medicinal plants, including nettles, ferns, prickly pear cacti, salmonberries, salal, thimbleberry, and others which I can't bring to mind right now, not to mention the more familiar herbs like basil, mint, marjoram, oregano, sage, rosemary, etc.
I love growing things. ^_^
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
