I really do have it good, all things considered

This is an obligatory post. A post of gratitude.

Life is, in general, great. I have a roof over my head, food in my belly. I am not particularly sick. I do not lack for acquaintances and friends. Yippee.

As far as mom goes, I am grateful that she is not displaying a lot of the behaviors that I read about here and there - she is still, overall, quite a nice person. She sleeps a good bit. She eats on her own. She still has an appetite. Ok, maybe too much of an appetite, but that is still a good thing. She can manage better on her own than she lets on when I am around, but that is ok as well. I feel ok leaving her for a few hours at a time. All in all, I am lucky that mom isn't more worser.

That being said, I am feeling really, really, really frustrated with my mom just now. Sigh.

Second topic: I realize that I am hug deprived. I love my mom, and hugs with her are ok. But they are just sort of dim versions of comforting hugs. Or even dimmer versions of hugs with a romantic partner. Or so I seem to recall. Yes, I am that hug deprived. I am thinking of buying one of those hugging robots - does anybody want to buy one of my (slightly used) kidneys? - or something like that.

Puzzledom - I am almost done. I am now at a point where I think they sent me too many puzzle pieces and they aren't all going to fit!

Onward into the Future!

Here it is, Friday already, and the second day of 2105. Has anyone already dropped off the resolution bandwagon? Failed to do something they promised to do all year? I haven't, yet, but the day is young.

I was thinking about posting a picture everyday - like I did a few years back. Something, anything, to keep me posting for a whole year. I was sad to see that I only posted 75 times in 2014. Still, seventy five isn't too terrible. That averages to around 6+ posts a month. Not everyone is that prolific. Should I be content or not? (I chose to be content - and happy).

Oh, I am thinking of re-writing my match.com profile. If I do, I will post the updated one in my super stagnant relationship blog.

Does anyone else find it interesting who wishes who Happy New Year? My brother and sister both called to wish mom a Happy one! Good for them! True, we missed Karl's call (mom was otherwise engaged and I was shopping at a deserted Wegman's), but the thought was there. A couple of my friends wished me Happy New Year and I wished a couple of the Happy New Year. First that is - I replied to most all of those who wished me happy new year first...

Instagram - do you all like it? I have an account and I have posted 40 pictures so far. I though I had posted more. Still, I am thinking I will continue to post there - too bad that there isn't better synergy between Google and Facebook - but they are rivals, I guess...

Today is laundry day and I can hardly wait. Yippee! Laundry! Woo hoo!!

One of my goals for this year is to clean out this alcove - again:

Less than a 6 months accumulation of boxes (I think)

And here are two pictures of the puzzle in progress:

Got the edge done

Got some foliage done

One last thing - I need to remember to get the coins out of my center console in my car so that I can do my annual coin wrap-up. I don't remember how much I wrapped last year - but I think I average around $60. That is a few beers worth of change. Or some laundry...

2015 In Review

So, it was a good year. I cured Alzheimer's, won the lottery (twice) and found my forever-soulmate-partner. Oh, and I got some socks for Christmas (again - which is great, by the way - I love socks).

Seriously, who the heck knows what 2015 will be like. Hope springs eternal and I do hope I can look back and say that these things happened. Though the first is pretty unlikely (since I am not a research scientist), the second is a 600 million to one chance and the third is a one in 3.5 billion (assuming 7 billion people on the planet and that about half of them are women). But the last is almost a gimme. Yay socks!

I do hope to get back to a few things - like daily yoga - fell of the yoga wagon for a few months - blogging - I think I did maybe 25 last year - learning, growing (well, those two things will most likely continue to happen). Maybe what I need to do is to pick some project and go for it. Re-learn the trombone? Play more piano? Re-learn programming for the iPhone? Cut my hair? (Hahahahahaha) Though, have I mentioned, I have thought of going to school for hair styling. Or  maybe if I can find a school that teaches it, sonography? Finish one of the many books projects I have started? Or write a completely new one?

Most planning is difficult (probably impossible, really) since the future is uncertain. And I do have some issues at home to take care of. Like a really cluttered house (still looking for a friendly, helpful declutterer - maybe my future life partner?). And mom.

Anyway, 2015 will be what it will be. And hopefully it will be amazing. As 2014 was.

Writing Geyser

It seems that my pent up writing has gushed out all over the place. Those who got a bit wet, I apologize! I have been writing up a storm for the past couple of days - yesterday being no exception. I Today I will post two blogs - this one and a relationship post. Both are "must reads!" Ok, not really. Still, better than radio silence, right?

Lots of stuff percolating in my head - yesterday we had an adjunct aide - well not really, just gotta groove to the alliterativeness of life sometimes - who came to train with Jenny. Mom was not amused. At all. Not even a little bit. Oh well. Grrr and all that. Apparently she is following Jenny all week. (Insert rim shot sound here)

I got the coolest things in the mail yesterday - they came registered mail for some reason. I don't like registered mail. If you like me at all, you won't send me anything registered. Bad juju. These came all the way from China, so they might not work - but they are still cool. They are thumb drives - flash drives that actually look like thumbs! How freakin' cool is that? I ordered them so long ago, I can't recall when or why - but they are here now. Woo hoo!

Oh, I think that I got my composter while I was otherwise distracted! Yay! More on it later! Just wanted to say, I love my composter! (Ok, maybe there isn't anything else to say...)

Between then and now

I have always liked that turn of phrase. Between then and now - as if time were both time and space.

So, since April 18, what has been happening to keep me from writing? Well, I had a torrid and roller coastery attempt at a Long Distance Relationship. Sadly, in the end, there was nothing there. It was, though, quite enjoyable in parts. And I did so enjoy having someone special in my life in even such an odd way. I will admit that much of my waking time was spent on that, er, relationship? for the past two weeks. Wow, was it really only two weeks? Seemed a lot longer. Weird. Time is weird.

Of course, other things happened during that time. First, the issue with the long past due bill got resolved. I was bearded at my door - we "discussed" the issue and he agreed to take $.50 on the dollar. Surprisingly he wanted to keep us as clients. Whatever. He promised to bill monthly. I will believe it when I see it!

What else? Oh, a lot of stuff has happened at the Smith. More movies of course. I took mom to see two: Ernest and Celestine - which she didn't like - and Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush - which I think she did. The week of April 23 was really busy at the Smith and I felt like my head was about to explode at one point. I don't think it actually did, otherwise I might have noticed. I tried to take a day off - last Thursday - and still spent two hours doing Smith work from home! I do see a respite coming later this month - a trip to Maine is the current plan. One more big concert - then a long inhabitation by a dance company. Have to get through those before I am footloose and fancy free for a bit. Yay!

Meanwhile, at home, mom has started a couple new behaviors. The most disconcerting is finding she has fled her bed and gone downstairs to lie down. Maybe I really do need to buy her a new bed. And put a child gate across the top of the stairs. Luckily, she still believes that she can't get around too well, so I am not too worried that she is going to head outside - but that has become a bit more of a possibility at this point. Eeek!

And that is all the big news that I can think of at this point. Oh, I have been playing too much Words of Wonder on Faecbook...

Very Productive morning so far

Good morning! It is not even 9:30 am and I have already had a banner day. Two women I wrote to after they liked my naked face pictures rejected me! Woo hoo! I also completed three entries to my retirement plan (Publisher's Clearing house sweepstakes). I get such a sense of accomplishment from jumping through the hoops and licking the icky tasting glue - and peeling the presticky-ed ones off my tongue - and putting them sort of where they belong on the entry forms. Yay! And lastly, I finished a post about a "relationship" that has ended. (Go read it!) And I haven't even had breakfast! Go me.

King of Bandaids!

That is what I am anointing myself! King of D'aids! Well, Keeper of the D'Aids might be more accurate. I have had to hide the bandaids from mom. She was putting them on her sores. Not a good way - with the pad over the sore, but with the sticky adhesive part on the sore - which was making the sores unhappy and her unhappier. With effort, Jenny, mom and I are slowly healing mom of owies. I think her back is down from dozens to single digit owies. Now, onto the arms. Yay!

As some of you know, I am writing a relationship blog - in it, for the most part, are posts about notes I have written to people for the first time and responses, if I get any. It also, though, has some pithy thoughts. Sometimes. At least as pithy as some of the thoughts here. Sometimes. So, although I am not posting updates on Facebook, I do think it is worth a read to diehard Augustus blogging fans, of which I think I might number a couple of you. Heck, I am on a month and a half of daily posts over there! And tomorrow there will be a pithy one. See below.

I wrote a bit about my "feelings" (nothing more than feelings) in my relationship blog this morning. I am not going to repeat it here. Here, I will complain about mom instead.

Yay for mom complaining. Not yay for mom complaining to me about her ailments, but yay for me complaining about mom complaining about her ailments. This morning, she woke me up saying she was dying. This is not new. And it is not a fun topic of conversation. Her idea, that I kill her. Or that I give her a pill that she can take to end her life. So, I asked her, in what way dying.

Realize, please, that I had just been dreaming of a woman playing poker (quite an attractive woman, actually) and me knowing that she was a professional poker player and wanted to win some money. Not from me. I think I was a server at the restaurant/club place. Or something like that.

Anyway, mom said, she couldn't breathe. This is not abnormal. She says this all the time. The options are not great for this. I have tried to teach her how to breath. Sadly, she really cannot learn any more. She might get a concept for a minute or two - but an hour later it is usually gone. I have pretty much thrown in the towel trying to teach her anything new. Case in point - she tells me she is cold. I tell her that the fan blowing air in her room is keeping her room cool. She needs to turn off the fan if she would like to be warm. Ok, she says. I turn off the fan. A few minutes later I walk into her room again, the fan is on. Mom, I say, the fan is on. I couldn't breathe, she says. Ok, I say. How are you doing otherwise? I'm cold, she says. Fun times. Let me tell you!

And I don't trust her to self medicate. Right now, I sorry about the artifical tears she uses. Both Jenny and I have observed her putting them in her nose. Luckily, they are basically salt water, but still. Most drugs have been removed from places that she might find and take them. And I am trying to keep her drugs to a minimum. Lots of water, though. Yay water!

All in all, yes, she is deteriorating.

Apparently, I am a Racist

Hi everyone. What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of me? Cute? Adorable? Funny? Generous? Toothsome? Racist? Yup, that's right, someone called me a racist the other day. Not someone who knew me, but still, it was a bit of a shock. If you want to read more about it, head over to my relationship blog post for March 1. I admit that I am a teeny bit of a racist. The human racist! :) Seriously, I don't know many people who weren't born on this planet. At least I am not aware of knowing anyone who for sure wasn't. I have my doubts about a couple of people - and I don't really know them, just of them. John (who I keep thinking is named Tim for some reason) Boehner for instance. I certainly hope he isn't actually a human being...In the note I wrote back to the woman who called me racist, I forgot to mention that in every country I have visited, I have fallen in love at least once, if not hundreds of times. Sometimes with more than one person in an hour! Sigh. I know it was all her stuff, but still, it weirds me out that someone actually called me a racist. Sigh again. Moving on.

Busy weekend at the Smith. Underwhelming attendance at the Oscar event, but it was ok for an inaugural happening. Maybe the Oscars aren't as big as they were. I am surprised that some of our stalwart movie patrons didn't show up. A lot of people said that they were excited about the event and were coming but they didn't materialize. The good news, though, is that Inside Edition came and filmed family members related to the author of 12 Years a Slave. And it won three Academy Awards - including Best Picture! Yay!

The day before was an excellent, and for me, easy Jazz performance. This was classic modern jazz. What I mean by this is that there were songs with musical themes that the players sometimes took turns riffing on. Nothing too weird, nothing too esoteric or exotic. Very straight forward, mostly melodic music.  All of the musicians were nice, friendly and had excellent musicianship. Decently attended which always makes me happy. I love to see lots of butts in seats!

Django Unchained is sitting by my computer and has been for a week. I got it from Netflix but so far haven't brought myself to watch it...

Post Thoughts

What a cool subject - Post Thoughts. Ambiguous - possibly humorous, especially if the blog entry turns out to be about fencing posts. Or poster bed posts. Actually, it is about blog posts. Big surprise, right? And not about ones that are in the past. Post. Get it?!

Ok, where was I? Oh, right, I was writing a post about posts. And of course a little of my life will undoubtedly slip through - which is why this post is here and not in the writing blog. I think there is one post there...

Still digressing, and what I really wanted to do was zip out a post since I haven't written a post here in a few days and because, well, lots is going on in my life. Sort of.

We have a busy weekend at the Smith. A concert tonight and our first ever Oscar Viewing event at the Smith on Sunday. In my life, I am still percolating along, taking care of mom, searching for Ms. Right (Now or forever - either would actually be ok at this point...), thinking deep thoughts and writing great truths. Or something like that.

My goal here was to write a quick blog. Hopefully after March 4, I will have more brain power to write more interesting posts. That would be nifty. Until then, I will just dash this off and see what happens in the future! See you then, then!

Peeling Celery

Hi everyone! What a joyous life one leads when one can peel celery for one's mother! Ok, I don't actually do that. I have to draw the line somewhere. True, I keep redrawing the line, but life is like that. My goal is to keep mom as self-sufficient as I can. Part of that entails letting her peel her own celery! I know, I make her work for her meals. I make her get out of bed. I make her go the five steps from her bed to the chair. I won't let her throw herself down into the chair. And I bring her food, lovingly prepared. Except I won't peel her celery. I just won't do it!

I was napping on my bed (I do like to nap)(it is better napping with someone...I seem to recall that is the case at least) and thought my nose felt a little cold. That was a bit of a surprise. I have had the heat cranked this winter due to mom saying that she is cold all the time (not going to get into it...). I was about to head out to the grocery store and discovered that the temperature controller had died - new batteries needed. Of course, we didn't have any AA's. What a surprise. So I picked a pack of pickled peppers, er, batteries up and replaced them. Woo hoo! We have auto controlled heat again!

I just had a mini-revelation or epiphany-let: when I say to myself (or to someone else) "I don't care." I don't really mean I don't care - I do. What I mean is "I am not attached." I care that you are in pain, I do, I can empathize and sympathize. At the same time, I understand that there is probably little I can do about it other than empathize and sympathize so I will aim for not being attached. "I don't care" just has fewer syllables.

Another thing I would like to mention - when I say "Her Loss" or "Their Loss" in regards to someone making a decision - especially one about choosing not to get to know me better - I hope that it is understood that it is my loss as well. And probably a loss for the Universe - if we are to believe that the point of the universe is love. (For anyone who is following my relationship blog, I will probably copy and paste this there, too.) (Ok, not going to do that - what I will do is put a link there, back to this one - not that there is anyone reading that one that doesn't read this one, I don't think. How the heck should I know. The amount of feedback would lead me to think that no one (maybe three people) read anything I write...

Oh, here's another thought that might be cross-pollinated with the relationship blog - I heard somewhere that authors get a lot action - hugs, offers of sex and or marriage etc. Sadly, I haven't found this to be the case. Then again, not really sure what makes one an "author."

Up for the duration

For some reason, I am feeling put upon and overwhelmed. Just thought I would share.

I know this is all in my head. Maybe it has something to do with Valentine's Day. Maybe it has something to do with how much work I have to do in the next few days at The Smith. Maybe it is the weight of taking care of mom. Maybe it is something else entirely - relationship/Relationship wise. Who the heck knows.

Valentine's Day was long and dull. I wrote a lot of letters - e-mail notes. My recent pithiest correspondent is signing off for a week and that was a bit of a blow. It shouldn't be, since we have not been corresponding that long. But I really enjoy our dialogue and have looked forward to it. And now I won't hear a peep for a week. Part of me is afraid that after that week, it just won't be the same. Then again, it might be.

Other notes were not as pithy, but I did hear from some nice people. That is a good thing. Not as good as seeing someone in person, but a lot better than nothing.

*******

Back again, after a long day on Saturday. I woke at 5 and stayed up. Work started at 7 for me, schlepping tables. Fun stuff indeed. The more fun stuff was setting up the AV equipment for the Fire-people's training session. I knew that we had to put the small projector they had someplace nearish the stage - I was surprised that it went in the second row! I had the small sound table to use and its legs were long enough to go over the seats nicely. I could have run power from the front of the stage. If I am around next year, that's what I will do. I did run sound from there to the snake which worked out fine. Not all that necessary since the guy's/presenter's presentation had about 30 seconds of pretty useless sound all together. Nice guy, dull as lead presenter. I snored or nodded off a lot. Made for a long day, though. On top of that, I went in later and trained a new projectionist. I think he will get the hang of it quickly! Yay!

Hmm, what happened on Sunday? Not a lot of anything.

And now Monday is history as well. More work. I went in to get some preliminary set-up accomplished. All went smoothly and quickly. Yay. Lunch for mom and then off to the doctor's appointment. Jenny (the aide) got mom dressed and nudged her along to eat her food. Then, while we were gone, she did a great job neatening the kitchen. Yippee!

Meanwhile, mom and I had a thrilling time at the doctor's. Well, I had a nice time at least - chatting with the staff. One of them liked Hello Kitty! :) Dr. Ryan suggested that I make an appointment to get mom's eyes looked at, which I will do. Other than that, no big news. Phew and huzzuh! Quick trip to the grocery store - mom has taken to sitting in the car rather than going in with me. Should I make her go? I don't think so. In any case, I didn't make her go into the store. I got what I needed and got right back out.

Since I didn't need to be back to the Smith until time for the event, I puttered around the house and napped a bit. Dinner was a major glop. All of the leftovers (except the garlic mashed potatoes) went into the pan. Turned out pretty well - and the leftovers of that will be my lunch for the next few days. Yum. I put Hunt for Red October on for mom and went to my event. It was a movie showing and talk presented by Hobart and William Smith. It wasn't particularly well attended but was interesting. And despite having to run up and down from the projection booth and up and down the aisle in the auditorium a few times, I think it went smoothly. I got most of the clean-up done last night - just have a few cables to coil and put away that I didn't feel like doing.

So, there you have it. Finally caught up. Oh, there is a new week in review from my relationship blog.

And I saw Ender's Game one night - Saturday night I think. It was ok, not great. I am a huge fan of the first two books (and the others aren't bad - I am just not a fan of the author, sadly). So I had a lot of preconceptions heading into the movie. I think that overall they navigated that pretty well. I just don't like Asa Buttersworth or whatever his name is. I didn't like him in Hugo and I didn't like him here.  Glad I saw it, but sad I saw it at the same time. Now I need to read the book again...

500 is my limit

500 is my limit - or thereabouts. It isn't anything like a formal delineation. If it gets to 525, I cut off all my hair and dance naked in the snow from frustration. Or maybe not. I just get aggressive. Email messages in my inbox, is what I am referring to. Not sure what you were thinking. What were you thinking? What is your limit? Do you have one? One that is self imposed and not imposed by your service provider or email provider?

I am taking the day off from the Smith. Yay! This means that I have only worked for about two hours from home. Sigh. I just need to remember to mark it on my time sheet. Maybe I will be able to negotiate a change to non-hourly at my review. Anything is possible.

Mom is getting a shower today. Speaking of mom, I went to Rochester the other day during the morning. I thought that it would be fine to leave her alone, as I often do when going to the Smith. I made the mistake of telling her where I was going. Somehow she freaked out and pushed her panic button telling the operator that she couldn't see or move or anything. Of course, she had to be able to see and move to get to the button. But that of course didn't occur to her. The ambulance people came and I happened to catch them when I was calling. Turns out mom was just agitated. She didn't want to go anywhere, and the aide was coming in a little bit. So it all worked out. I am just waiting for the $1000 bill from the ambulance company. Joy and rapture. But my lesson was learned. Next time I head to Rochester before mom is truly awake, I will have to fib and tell her that I am going to the Smith. That is ok in her mind. I don't like lying, but I also don't like mom flipping out! (This seems familiar - did I post this already?)

I have started my relationship blog - one can find it at http://gusssrrelationships.blogspot.com. I would suggest bookmarking it as I will not be posting links to it on my FB page. Google circle friends are getting notices...

The meeting that wasn't

Don't you hate it when you have a meeting and everyone who is supposed to be there isn't? What's the point in having the meeting when all the players don't play. Sigh. So, it was rescheduled. Yippee! I did get some work in the office accomplished, though. And my new time sheets for The Smith's hourly employees, me included, will get their first trial run starting next week. I can hardly wait.

And there we have it. The excitement for the day. Woo hoo! We can all take a break now. Phew! Ah. If only I knew someone who was a masseuse who could come in and give me a good working over. Heck, I would like a massage of any kind at this point in my life. Maybe after my next pay check? I think we get paid every two weeks...

Aide day! Yippee! Mom says she doesn't need the company - but she does so enjoy an audience. For a while. Then she is over it. Jenny is great, though. I am very happy that we have her helping out. 

Some of you may have noticed that I am have not been writing much about relationships or the lack there of. That is because there is nothing to write. Nothing positive that is. Which is sad. And not worth writing about. So, I am not writing about it. Yay?

Event-filled Birth Day

Here is what my day was like - not over the top, not terrible - just another day in the life...

After not sleeping much, I stayed up and read for a long while. Here is my review-ish of the book I finished: You Say Goodbye and We Say Hello: The Montessori Method for Positive Dementia Care by Tom and Karen Brenner. This is, admittedly, the first caregiver book I have read. As such, it made a good impression on me. Things I liked - it focused on the positive, it had some good activities and suggestions on ways to connect with someone going through dementia and Alzheimer's, it was an easy read (short and fairly to the point). I also liked that each chapter was the title of a Beatles song. Things I didn't like: book design in general was not great - the Guideposts were not as pithy as I would have liked (little bubbles with a "key" thought in them) - sometimes the book was a little repetitive. It also felt like it got thin at the end. Still, all in all, I would recommend it. Now I guess I have to read the other five books I bought. Sigh.

Also, before I was out of bed, the aide service called to tell me that our current aide had stopped working at the agency. Suddenly. I don't know if she quit or was terminated. I hope she is ok, mentally, physically and emotionally! Anyway, that means no aide yesterday. Maybe a new one on Thursday. Not looking forward to breaking in a new one. Sigh. I just hope she is half as good as our previous one was.

Am I the only one who thinks that Kate Middleton is gorgeous? (That was a total non sequitur (my program thinks this is misspelled...) - sorry - surfing while writing...)

I did try to nap off and on throughout the day - but never managed it for some reason. First there was getting up and getting ready for the day. Then getting mom lunch - a sandwich, half a banana, chips and some yellow glop - which is actually orange - sweet potato with butter and brown sugar - she loves the stuff - I know what to feed her when she needs to be fed and doesn't want to eat (when that happens...). Then I headed to the Smith.

There is a movie being shown tonight - Tuesday, April 9 - at the Smith called Chasing Ice. Looks pretty and depressing. The primary person is coming and giving a talk before hand - and the Smith needs to make sure that happens smoothly. So I spent an hour yesterday - not including the hour to download the file - making sure that a Mac could talk to the projector at the Smith and that everything would be pretty easily set up for projection and sound. After having to go to the HWS library to pick up a dongle (I hate that word) that connected my old mac to a VGA cable, everything worked scintillatingly! But it did eat an hour+ of my day. And before I knew it, it was time to make dinner.

I had planned on cooking two things besides dinner. Cooking is used loosely in this situation. The first was hummus - which I did accomplish. Yum! The second was deviled eggs - which I really need to make - but probably won't until tomorrow - that have avocado and bacon grease and bacon bits in them - wow! In other words, I haven't made them yet. Sigh. I did, though, cook a decent dinner - of steak, yellow glop for mom, and artichokes. Two of the big ones that were surprisingly tasty and delicious. Reminds me of when I was in Paris as a youth - on a semester abroad - when I lived primarily on artichokes and fresh made mayonnaise. I alternated that with pizza. Both of which I could get for a dollar. I had spent my discretionary funds on taking some Commedia classes so I had very little money left over to spend on food. Later I learned that the faculty would have been happy to lend me some money. I did earn a little money as a life model - I hope all of those pictures have been burned and that no one was blinded by the sight...I was young, in Paris and just loved living like I was a starving artist, which I guess I was. Anyway, I digress. That was dinner. No cake. That is one of the terrible things about not being in a relationship or having a large network of really good friends here in Geneva - no one to make a cake for me. Maybe I will make brownies tonight. And stick a candle in one. Or maybe just forgo the candle...

After dinner, I decided not to go out. It was Monday in Geneva and the sidewalks are pretty much rolled up and put away anyway. I played a bit on my xBox (gotta love my xBox) and then watched Castle (I don't know why I enjoy that show so much, but I do - maybe it is the tongue in cheek writing - maybe it is the occasional glimpses of Molly Quinn (yes I am a cradle robber at heart) or maybe it is the occasional reference to Firefly!

Then bed. And today, I answered all 80+ birthday wishes on my Facebook page! Warm and fuzzy (like a rotting mushroom with mold on it - how does fungus grow mold? Weird...)

June 29, Bonus Post

I know, a lot of you are missing my normal, introspective, thoughtful, perceptive, interesting posts and are tired of the travelogue. Fear not, I will eventually get back to examining the minutiae of my life. It's just that the past few weeks have been stuffed to the gunnels with busyness.

So, one of my goals today is to get my Staples Rewards coupon printed out - $18 - and go spend it. Sadly, I am not in dire need of anything, so I will have to spend it frivolously. Yay frivolity! If anyone has any suggestions on how to use my legitimately gotten gains, please let me know!

Ok, achieved. Phew, that really was pretty easy! Next goal, finish at least one brewpub post - that will have to wait until I figure out what the whole day will entail. Staying with other people, I have to adjust to their lives and schedules. Sometimes, they actually want to spend time with me and mom (or at least one of us). Meanwhile, I will puddle along.

I reached a milestone on my Life and Such Blog. Over 30,000 views! I don't know how many of those are bots - how many are me - how many are random people lost in the interwebs and confused about how they ended up on such a boring blog! But still, I am excited! I wonder how many people are viewing the blog through RSS feeds. And over 600 posts! Isn't that exciting? Maybe it is just me. Now, if everyone of those views had resulted in a sale of Bar Dreams or Diary of a Plate Addict...I am allowed to dream, aren't I? Hey, it is never too late to buy copies and make me a gazillionaire! One post I am going to write one day is the post - if I were financially really, really well off, what would I do.

My other blogs are puttering along. The brewpub blog is my first commercialized blog. I wonder if I will actually make any money from it. Time will tell, of course. The writing blog hasn't been touched in a while. I haven't been doing much writing except on here of course. And I haven't been working on Flippety at all. I have played it quite a bit, but that isn't the same as working on it...

Women. Let's talk about women. As you probably know, I am open to a relationship. Universe, are you listening? Of course the Universe is listening. And who knows, maybe one day it will happen. On the trip, I haven't been meeting a lot of viable women. They are not viable primarily because we obviously don't live anywhere near each other. And most of the women I have been meeting are way too young and inexperienced (no, I am not talking sexually or pharmaceutically - I am talking about life experience) to be of anything more than conversational appeal. Well, there was one woman who was interesting, but she lives in Wales and didn't evince the least little bit of interest in me. Oh well. Meanwhile, life goes on and the potential for a romantic relationship persists!

I had one more thing to write about and I can't think what it is just now. Something interesting and earth shattering no doubt...Nope, it just isn't coming.

Anyway, happy Bonus Post!

30!

A thirtieth follower has magically appeared! Hurrah! Please, if you do read this blog again one day, identify yourself. I can't figure out who you are...but thank you for following. I will endeavor to be only as boring as I need to be. :)

For some reason, Blogger is not tracking the visits to yesterday's post. I don't understand that. I guess I will have to write to them and see if they can figure it out.

Still no word on the Spanish class. I have to believe that it will all be ok - but I think classes start a week from Monday! Eeek! I am having second and third thoughts about going back to school. But maybe I will be a student and get student discounts and a student id and such. That would be nifty. And I hope the class isn't really early in the morning. That would suck. Anyway, we shall see.

Went to Billsboro Winery yesterday. I have driven past quite a few times and this time made a point of stopping. Partly because of the man at the party - whose name I still don't recall, who told me that the owner also likes beer. Anyway, Barb was the taste pourer and was very nice. $2 for 6 tastes isn't too bad. I had three whites - all good - a pink - not so good - and two reds - both of which were a bit thin for my taste. I made a reservation for mom and me to go to their Pizza on the Patio next Thursday. The name comes from the area - I thought it might have had something to do with The Hobbit and all that stuff. Oh well.

Last night I made another foray to Leaf Kitchen. It was their Game and Pub night. Decent turnout - all the people there were how old my kids would be, if I had kids. Very nice people - I might go again - especially if I can find a box of Risk in the attic. I wonder if I could get some people to play that. Or Life. :) I had a yummy beer from Southern Tier - Iniquity - a black Ale - kind of like a combination of a porter and an IPA. It was pretty tasty! And one of the guys there suggested I try Ellicotville Beer and restaurants. They are far-ish away - but I might could go. (I just looked it up and it isn't really that far.) Maybe this weekend - or next week. We shall see.

Still no romantic partner in my life. Sigh. At least I dated someone for a few weeks this year. Yippee! No crushes either, which is odd for me...

Pictures from August 18, 2011:


This was at the Billsboro Winery - I just liked the picture...


New Signage?


Iniquity making pretty bubbles on the glass...

Tutti Finutti!

Ok, I don't speak Italian. Not at all. Except to say that I don't speak Italian. I don't even know how to ask where the small scissors are...that being said, I am happy to report that I survived the opera! Woo hoo! It is sad that there were only two shows. Then again, there wasn't all that high an attendance, so it is probably good that there were only two shows. The second one went passably well. True, the cane did plummet from the sky again - killing and maiming no one again. But other than that, I think it went decently from my technical perspective.

Opera folk seem nicer in general than run of the mill theatre folk. At least that has been my experience this go 'round. Who knows for sure, though. Julie actually gave me a nice note and a piece of chocolate! Woo hoo!

It was a fun experience. I still don't know if I am going to be paid and if so how much. Not that it really matters all that much. But it would be nice to get a little money. I will ask Susanne about it next week sometime.

Strike after the show went pretty quickly. Many people stayed to help, which is the key to a quick and successful strike. It also helps if someone organizes it - which sort of happened. I am glad that I strapped on my fake leatherman - true, I looked even dorkier and less datable than ever, but I could cut things and pliers things and such, much more easily!

Cast party! Wow, they do it up big for such a little show - Gena took over the cobblestone and wined and dined everyone! Huge shrimp, beef, pasta, sushi, beet salad, desserts and an open bar! Southern Tier IPA was on tap. Huzzah! Most everyone showed up for at least a little while. And some extra people - including the Gearans from the Colleges! I met their daughter Madeleine, who seemed very nice. After a while, the singing started. I hummed a bit in the background. To sing, I think I would want some voice lessons. I did take voice lessons briefly somewhere - was it at Hobart? Or at Ithaca College? Andover? I don't know - I didn't like them or the teacher and didn't stick with it for whatever reason. I didn't opt for the midnight swim - I think that was a cast bonding experience and I just didn't feel up for it.

All in all, a yippee! I do plan on creating an album of opera related pictures on Facebook at some point.

On another subject, how is one supposed to ask people out? That is an art that has somehow eluded me. On a dating site, it isn't so hard - ask and they say yes or no. Usually yes because they are on the site for the same reason. But out in the real world, how do you ask? Especially when the person is at their workplace. Sigh. We shall see - maybe I will figure it out. One day.

Pictures from August 6, 2011:


I took this because the flower was pretty and because I was afraid that I wouldn't take any more pictures that day. Oops. I took a lot...


Nummy!



Julie doing a rendition of Carmen!

Circus Day!

I mean that literally! A large part of the day revolved around the Circus. First off, getting up pretty early - though that was in part to meet with mom's handyman to go over what we were looking at having done. I am guessing about $500 worth of work - a lot of painting - like the last wall in the kitchen, some railings in the attic, a hole in the roof or two - that sort of thing. When it will get done is anyone's guess.

Next it was off to watch the circus tent go up. Working for the circus is hard work! Everyone has at least three jobs if not more. And even the elephants helped. By the way, pictures from circus day will go up on Facebook. Yippee! I hung out there for a while, came back and made tuna salad for lunch. It was not exemplary, but was functional.

(I love my little desk, by the way)

Then it was nap time. I was exhausted for some reason. Oh, right, lack of sleep. And a lot of walking and standing about. At some point, I decided that instead of having more leftover quiche for dinner, we would go out to Eddie O'Brien's for half price appetizers. What a huge deal that is! We had Onion Rings, Shrimp platter and Chicken wings - all for $10!

Morgan was there and we got our "Photos with Facebook Friends" picture accomplished. (Note the alliteration...) She is so great. I couldn't remember some names and she quietly prompted me with them. Go her! I will miss her when she goes to PA. :(

Then to the circus. We got there in plenty of time and snagged front row seats! Yippee! The show was good - certainly entertaining. A very traditional American circus. Very happy to have gone. Yippee!

I get so excited for no real reasons. Yesterday I met a woman who I immediately got a crush on. Inappropriate of course. And Plenty of Fish told me that a woman was interested in meeting me. So I wrote her, as I thought I would be interested in knowing more about her. And now I will wait impatiently for a day or so before moving on with my life! Sometimes I think I am better off not being in a relationship. Ok, not that I am better off, but that the other person (whoever she may be) is probably better off without me in their life. I have kind of forgotten what it is like to be in a relationship. :(

We have more to look forward to this week - laundry today - Into the Woods at some point, meet the opera director and there is something else, but it is escaping me just this second...

Photos from July 19, 2011:


The William Smith Green littered with kids from the Hobart Lacrosse Camp!


Morgan and me - with mom looking on in the background - picture taken by Maria!


Our repast!


Heffalumps on parade!

Accomplishment Day!

At least it felt like accomplishment day...

A couple of things I had been putting off got done. Finally. Well, finally is a strong word - but at least they got done for the time being. And mom helped! The one she helped with was the container cabinet in the kitchen. It always accumulates stuff and I just threw most of it away. Mom emptied the contents of the cabinet onto a counter. (Oooh, alliteration!) Then she apologized for doing it. Weird. Anyway, I then sorted the stuff into keep and toss - putting the "to be tossed" stuff onto a folding table in the middle of the kitchen - not having enough counter space for it all. Mom looked through it but rescued nothing! Good on her! :) She also washed the containers that needed washing - which was most of them. All clean, all put back, all done. And now we have more counter space as well. Yippee!

Another bit that was accomplished was the study alcove - the boxes that I accumulated there had to go - I did it in about 5 stages. All of the flattened boxes, which was most of them, are on the front porch awaiting recycling. The alcove is almost totally empty of boxes. Next step? Move all of the boxes that I have sorted into the space. Then start moving the other boxes and papers in there - leaving nothing in the living room and dining room and front hall. That is the dream. After that, start pulling boxes or piles or whatever out, a little at a time and whittle away at it till it is gone, gone, gone! Hahahahahahahaha! (Diabolical and slightly demented laughter)

And if that wasn't enough, the rug guys came and fixed the ridges in the rug. They cut and tugged and tapped until there was nary a wrinkle! Mom's trudging is now protected once again! Sadly, I broke a toe nail trying to help move a sofa. Poop! Luckily it didn't hurt at all. Yippee!

Dinner was yummy last night! Store bought roasted chicken, steamed green beans and homemade onion rings that turned out really, really well! I will have to do that again. It was a lot of work, but well worth it!

Every month or so I get girl crazy. Well, girl crazier. I mailed the crush the email I oughtn't to have mailed. Heaven knows that she will not respond. And maybe I will even get 86'd from the Raleigh Saucer. Though honestly, I didn't put anything lewd or lascivious in the note. Whatever. Done is done! And I spent the whole day twisting my head around to glimpse potentially pretty women. Sigh. If I were in a relationship, perhaps my girl craziness wouldn't be as intense. Double sigh.

Photos from July 8, 2011:


My new computer lapdesk and my garnet bed sitting pillow thingie. Yippee!


The emptied alcove!


My toe's owie.


Onion rings! The seasoned bread crumbs helped to make them delicious!

Good Advice?

As my nephew hopped into his rental car and headed off to Norther NY, he gave me some advice. He said not to worry about the lack of comments from the Saucer people and not to worry about not getting everyone's written release for their pictures. Just to go ahead and get the thing done without those things. Once it is done, if people complain, people complain! So, my goal, to finish my part of working on the draft by the end of the week and get it off to Heather, the designer! Come hell or high water. Grrr! Hear me roar!!

A friend found a dateable person on Plenty of Fish. Congratulations to her!! That means there is hope. Actually, though I am getting fed up with Plenty of Fish (the dating site), my hope still stays strong that I will find someone dateable. Of course, there is always the current crush of the month to keep my mind occupied. Speaking of whom, I got a book out of the library that she apparently liked. We shall see. I will read most anything that someone recommends. Or at least one thing that they recommend. If I find it atrocious or just not to my liking, I will take their further recommendations with a grain or three of salt.

Went for another test ride yesterday and liked that bike a lot more than the first one. The first one just felt hard and a little painful. And I don't like that. This one was more mellow feeling. So, the bike place has ordered one for me to test ride. If I like it, I will get it. Yippee! I forgot to ask for a time frame and they didn't offer. Hmm.

Also, I met with the Chinese woman who was interested in having me help her with her English. She only gets one day off a week from her job, so we will be meeting Mondays it seems. Nice person. I hope I can help! Like some other immigrants, she has been staying in her comfort zone, spending most of her time with people from her own country and not really immersing herself in the culture (such as it is) here. I hope I can help her change that...

Lastly, I ventured to a new to me bar. Inland Reef. I have seen it for years but have never been in. Morgan, a new friend, was working there for the last time, so I stopped in to say hello. I ended up playing two games of pool with a pool hustler - not that I got taken, since I don't gamble on pool, but he was happy to tell me how he loved to play for money.

Oh, I guess that wasn't lastly. I did want to mention that I feel a little guilty whenever I do anything not with my mom. I feel sad that she is sitting alone in the house reading one of her books, or watching television or doing whatever she does when I am not around. Then I realize that I can't live her life for her and there really is nothing for me to feel guilty about. And that mostly assuages my feelings. Yippee!

Pictures from June 13, 2011:


Next door's roses!


On my ride, I came across this yard! Looking cool!


This was the second test ride bicycle. I liked it better than the first.