Another Good Day - Eeeeeeek

Does anyone else worry when things are going well? Yesterday was good and so was today. Eeeek!

So I got up and got out of the house after lunch - oh, there was one of the bad things (well, not bad, but not good either) - I decided to make mom some soup for lunch. I grabbed what I thought was the soup container, tossed it in the microwave and it turned into custard. Oops. It turned out that I had microwaved some leftover egg stuff. Poo. I didn't want to look for the soup, so I made mom some New England clam chowder (which she used to love) and she ate a good amount of it, leaving some of the potatoes.

After lunch, I headed out to the Smith and got a good chunk of work done. Fixed the slide-show and uploaded it (and downloaded it). Got some stuff figured out about Theatre Manager - still have a long way to go - talk about a deep program! It does everything except my laundry. I also added Spotify to two laptops. Then I checked the movie only to find that a few items hadn't been flown in and the borders and some legs. So that was taken care of. Oh, and light in the dressing room area wasn't dead,  there was just a switch switched incorrectly. Which reminds me, I want to get that fixed somehow. Maybe for now, it just gets heavily gaff taped.

While we are on the subject, my staff did a pretty good job last night. We did the load-in and got the drum riser down and then I boogied and I only heard a couple of little peeps out of them. Huzzuh!

Yesterday, a Facebook Friend posted a status saying that she was selling her husband's bicycle. (I hope he knew about it.) It was a Trek that was a few years old - a little small for me, but inexpensive and in good shape. Today I bought it to replace the one that was stolen last year. Took it to the bike shop to get a look-see done, a couple of things added (front rain guard thingie - I know there is a word for it - sigh - I hope I am not going to have Alzheimer's - I don't have anyone to take care of me. Maybe Kyle will... - toe clip pedals, a nice rear rack and they are going to put my rear view mirror on for me (no charge)).

Then back at home, I played a bit - can't seem to get an economic victory - and made dinner with out going to the grocery store - salad and hot dogs and baked beans. And I brushed my hair for no apparent reason apparently. Sigh. Mom and I are watching Studio 60 and I am trying to get this blog post written and posted.

Speaking of salad - I took a couple of pictures - salad fixings and then finished salads. Please enjoy them.

Lots of yummies!

Finished Salads before dressing

Quick thing about the new to mom phone - a while ago I bought a phone that was designed for Alzheimer's patients - it has buttons that could have pictures put in them for people in the early stages - push the button and be connected to whoever the picture is. Mom is way past that, so I have programmed all the buttons to dial my phone. When I got the phone, I tried programming it on my phone line and was told by the manufacturer that it didn't work with VOIP phones. Poop. So I put out a plea for people with real landlines to be met with a resounding silence. Except for my friend Rosanne out in CA. So I eventually packed the phone in a box and shipped it out to her, only to discover that she also had a VOIP phone. Sigh. Then, recently, I was at the Smith in the ticket booth and I noticed that the credit card machine was plugged into a phone jack - and I put two and seven together and realized that it must be a straight land line! When the phone came back, I took it into the Smith, today, and lo and behold it worked well and the phone got all programmed. Can I get a(n) "huzzuh?"

Fear of feeling fearful - is there a phobia of fear? Phobophibia.

I hope, that as I age, I maintain a modicum of fearlessness. My mom is afraid of everything - including everyday stuff - like breathing and walking and, well, everything. I don't know that I would be able to live in a such a constant state of fear...

My right ear is blocked again. Poo. I will adjust or it will get better or both or neither. Grrr.

When I first came to take care of my mom a few years ago, she was pretty autonomous. Now, I am a little worried to leave her alone for more than an hour at a time - maybe two or three depending on the day - but four makes me really anxious. And I can't really tell her where I am going as a) she just forgets and b) gets anxious if it is someplace new. OK places for me to be going are: grocery shopping and The Smith. So if I am headed out for whatever reason, I am doing one of those two things in her mind. Luckily, right now, there isn't a lot happening at the Smith, so I don't need to be there for long stretches of time. We shall see what happens come the Spring.

I took most of the day off from the puzzle yesterday. I got a couple of pieces put together and a couple of pieces added to the pieces already attached in the puzzle - but not the leaps and bounds that occurred in the past few days. Moderation and patience - always working on those two "virtues."

The Smith did get a bit of my time yesterday. One of my projectionists was really, really late. Got there at 1:45 when he was supposed to be there at 1:00. Sigh. So I got to go in and be there for a while. Which was a good thing, since it seemed like he had also forgotten how to run the movies. Double sigh.

Oh, I did get to Lake Drum's chocolate and beer and BYOV (bring your own vinyl) event. Sadly my copy of Court of the Crimson King is totally messed up. Maybe all of my records are. I don't know. I haven't actually played many of them since, well, for a long, long time. Why the heck am I holding on to them still? Silly Augustus. Speaking of which, I did decide to let go of some plastic baggage that has been accumulating for years and years (and years and years).

But I got away from my subject. There was quite a crowd at Lake Drum - especially for a Sunday afternoon. My enjoyment was spoiled a little because of my ear being stuffed up. We early muggers got a yummy taste treat as well - I think I posted a picture of it on Instagram - pulled pork plus! The taste of chocolate was pretty yummy, chocolate with bacon. I did think that there would be more chocolate tasting than just the one little tidbit, but there wasn't. The tasting of beers that Victor and Jenna shared more than made up for it, though!

I didn't end up buying any of the chocolate that was for sale. Lake Drum was out of the beer I have been partaking of there most recently, so I made do with the Smoked IPA.

Next stop yesterday, grocery store. Yippee! I love going to the grocery store. Is that acutely weird?

I spend a lot of time on Facebook. And recently on Instagram as well. And I comment and "like" a lot of posts. I do worry (a teeny bit) that people get tired of me always writing on their posts. But I like to feel like I am actually engaged in something, rather than just sitting here passively and not interacting. If they don't want their crap commented on, don't post it. Anyway...

Looks like a muddy Christmas (Mish mash post)

Yay! Mud for everyone! The snow we had here in beautiful Geneva, NY is mostly gone. We are not really expecting enough new snow in the next few days to make for a white christmas. This isn't really a surprise since the first day of winter is December 21. Yippee!

Meanwhile, I have made it through a full year of being the Technical Director at the Smith Opera House. Balancing that job with taking care of my mom, who continues to decline, has been an interesting challenge. We shall see how we fare in the new year.

Nothing really too exciting to report. Let's see... Tomorrow is laundry day. Today, I am working on some forms for mom's health insurance and slowly putting the Christmas tree up. And trying to survive a few hours without Facebook.

Yes, that's right, I am trying to survive a few hours without Facebook. Mainly because I have a huge crush on someone and that is the only way that we have been "communicating." Sigh. For those of you who know me well, you know that I love email and mucho communication in general. (Well, most of the time.) So not checking Facebook is proving to be something of a challenge. Anyway, I am leaning towards believing that my crush does not reciprocate my feelings - which is not a surprise, but sad nonetheless.  Oh well. This too shall pass.

I have been posting on and checking Instagram a lot which is a poor substitute for Facebook. Glarg.

Let's see - more mom news? Not really anything to report there. I took her out to help buy the tree yesterday. Then dinner at Friendly's. That went pretty well.

Now I think I will take a shower and head off to Lake Drum (a new beer place in town) and maybe some grocery shopping. Speaking of groceries, I am all confused now. A friend has invited mom and me to her house for a Christmas dinner buffet! So when do I eat Peking Duck? Hmm? Anyway, Huzzuh!

Good Day, all things considered

Yesterday was a mixed bag. I got a bit of mail from my brother the day before, to which I responded publicly. In the letter he said that the reasons I didn't have a meaningful romantic relationship were because I am basically a hairy, weird, friendless, poor, shallow, childish, mooching, unkind, lazy loser. Sadly, there were some people who thought my brother was "right." Well, I don't agree. I wrote a long post about that, but it will never see the light of day. Suffice it to say these things - I love me. As I am, warts (and long hair) and all. Secondly, the love of money is the root of all evil - it was true in Christ's time it is true today - so anyone who values money is, well, an unfortunate person in my eyes. I send them love. And third - Love is acceptance, not sacrifice.

So, there, all done. Moving on. Yippee!

I got defriended by a friend I had never met on Facebook. Whatever. Her loss. Is that unkind to say? I don't think so. I do wish her the best in whatever choices she makes in her life and whatever eventualities may unfold.

Yesterday was "Operation Clean out the Guest Rooms" day. Mom helped by writing stickers/tags for the various containers - she did some odd stuff and got some things mixed up, but overall, I think she felt helpful. I got all the boxes I had planned on moving out of the room at the head of the stairs into the attic with room to spare. And all of the empty containers out of the red room into the attic as well - still more room.

Today is laundry and break down boxes day. Yippee again!

We had several severe thunderstorms come through the area. No damage to the house that I can tell. Wow, the weather is really weird. Wish I understood more about it. Maybe meteorology school? Nah, probably not.

Walking in the rain when it is warm is a pleasant experience for me. Especially when I have my huge golf umbrella - thank you Rosanne! Memory is funny - as I learn more and more both from my own experiences and watching mom and her brain/memory issues. I walked to one my locals - The Red Dove where I had a lovely time talking to someone who told me about the beer scene in Buffalo. Her boyfriend is a home brewer and she appreciates beer. Yay!

Practice makes as practice does?

I am sure I am not the only person to practice conversations in one's head. Like my plan to ask a local bartender to be my facebook friend. I had all sorts of excuses for why we ought to be FB friends and cute rejoinders all prepared. The actual conversation? "Hey, are you on FB?" "Yes." "Can we be FB friends?" "Sure." Sigh.

My mind is fairly squarely behind my decision to start reviewing local wineries and their associated tasting rooms. The decision is multi-folded. I was going to say two-fold, but I think there are more twists and turns in my tiny cranium regarding this than two. The ones that leap to mind are - I like having some sort of project to spend time and energy on. Another is my desire to learn more about the area - the other day, a couple were asking about wineries in the area, and I realized that I have only been to four out of the 30 or so around Seneca Lake. Not a good percentage. A third reason is to get me out and exploring and possibly meeting people - increasing my surface area is the way I like to think of it. And there are probably more, but I can't think of them just now.

Oops, I did it again. I bought the wrong size labels. Glarp. I need to go back to Staples and get bigger ones. The ones I did get are teeny - an inch by a half inch. Can't see those with a magnifying glass the size of my head! I need bigger labels! What I want to do is slap one of those bad boys on each box that I have touched - write the date touched and a brief synopsis of the contents. That way, when I get around to doing more sorting of the boxes in the attic - which might happen in my lifetime, I will know which boxes I still need to do. That would be nifty. But with these teeny tiny labels, that isn't going to happen. I don't have a pen small enough to write the pertinent details on such a petite label. Glarg.

By the way, I did find the linen for the porch. I had seen it. Frequently. Last Fall, I did something crazy. I washed the stuff. I know! Absolutely bizarre thing to do. But I did it. And instead of putting the things in the basement with the rest of the crap from the porch, I left it in its basket, dried (and I think folded) in the red room. Where I would be sure to see it and remember it. Which I didn't. Until the other day. After the porch got set up. Sigh.

I have replaced the glass front door with its screen counterpart. I am so excited!

Operation Empty(ish) Rooms has sort of commenced. I have more than a week before Karl and kids descend to accomplish it. My goal is to have it done by mid-week next week. Easily doable.

Good day yesterday, though I didn't really accomplish much of anything, except the door and buying new, larger labels. And got a call asking me to work at the Smith tonight and tomorrow - there goes my free weekend. But it does mean a few dollars coming in. Yay.

Indolence and Lassitude

Can Indolence and Lassitude be catching? I think they can be. I don't know what to do about them, though. My mom has both and I don't know whether to do more to try to get her out of that zone, or to leave her alone, since she is 80 and not totally healthy. My thought is that she has been productive her whole life - and if she doesn't want to be productive now, who am I to try and make her be productive? Yet, at times, I find it rubbing off on me.

Not in a major way. I mean I do get my blog done everyday - I know, mixed blessing, right? And I have been percolating along on my letter writing campaign. More than 20% completed! Next milestone, 25% - 1/4 of the way! That will be awesome - ought to be tomorrow. At that point, I plan on writing a FB post to the people I have written to who have not yet written back. Maybe some of them will defriend me! That would be awesome! That would, selfishly, save me from defriending them!

Am I weird for not wanting friends who are non-communicative? And by that I don't just mean non-communicative on Facebook. Let's face it, (oops, there's the face word), FB makes it easy to be a part of people's lives if they are making an effort to put themselves out there. If it weren't for FB, how do we participate in each other's lives? By being there physically - by talking on the phone - texting (there's a winner for communication) - sending letters or emails and that is about it. Some of our friends we just can't be there physically for very often due to time/space/money constraints. I personally am not a big phone caller. I will talk on the phone, and sometimes I find it enjoyable, both rarely. I do enjoy email. FB email is not optimal, but it is better than nothing.

Now I know that FB isn't just for friends anymore. It is for fun - so I do have some friends who I just know from playing Gardens of Time. That doesn't mean that I don't want to meet them or know them better. And there are business pages and celebrity pages and all that sort of mischegas. I know that some people have multiple Facebook profiles, but that just seems like too much effort to me...

I am listening to book 9 of the Wheel of Time series. I couldn't find a copy for less than $124 on Amazon, so I had to buy it on iTunes. Listening to it on my computer isn't optimal, but it is a lot better than nothing!

Dinner was pasta - I love having a tub of alfredo sauce in the fridge - makes it so easy to whip up some pasta! Yum!

Yay Audio Books!

Barely visible pasta...