Would you believe we brought four escaped doggies back home today?
I was harassing Chris to come help Ant and I clean up today when Ant's friend Christian brought a little dog over. He had no collar, of course. He had been wandering nearby. I hate it when there's no collar. That means it will be an all day adventure and we'll have to make a sad trip to the shelter. Both this one and the last little boy really took to me, probably because of my totally weak energy. Jasmine was gentle and Riley was beyond excited- she adores little boy Chihuahuas. He camped out in my lap for most of the afternoon as the boys went apartment to apartment. Somewhere around 4 we decided to take all three dogs for a walk. The little guy knew exactly what that meant. I found one of Riley's old skinny collars and hooked him up to her leash. Outside, we started to loop the block but Chris thought we should walk down the street where Christian found the dog in the hopes that someone would be out looking for him. About halfway down the street the dog pulled towards a driveway. Ant unhooked him and he ran straight to his door. The guy hadn't even noticed he was gone.
Later, on a very busy street I saw a big black dog trotting down the sidewalk. As we pulled over we saw another little black dog in a driveway. The big dog joined the second one as I approached the yard. He charged me so Chris went out after them. He got past the two and up to the door where the grateful owner was surprised to see her dogs outside. The gate was open.
After we got the washers going we went to pick Bubba up. On our way out of the neighborhood we saw another dog running down the sidewalk with no collar. Jeez! He was freaked out and ran when we started to follow him. He went into a yard so we pulled over. The front door was open. As the boys went up to ring the doorbell the dog circled around them and ran inside. They closed the door and we left. I sure hope that's where he lived, lol.
When we got home, Chris and I started putting our bedding back on. I saw a little spider and Chris scooped him up with paper.
"Take him outside," I requested.
"As long as he behaves," Chris replied.
Spider removal complete, we flopped on the bed and watched a few minutes of Kill Bill edited for TV. ("Your name is Buck and you like to -party-". And then she drives off in the -Party- Wagon.)
What do I get for all this positive animal karma? We're sitting there on our own bed watching a movie and
"Ouch!"
I go pull my pants off and there's a welt on the back of my leg. I look in the leg of my pants and there's an ant crawling around. How the hell did I get an ant in my pants? That little asshole! But even though he started it, I didn't crush him. But I'm done with good deeds today.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Aw, dammit.
Went to my Occupational Therapy appt today.
My OT asks how the exercises are going. I confess I spent a couple weeks in a Vicodin cloud, but started right back up after that. I tell him about the pain I often have in my wrist at the base of my thumb. He has me do a range of motion test and then calls the orthopedic nurse practitioner. She accepts his diagnosis of
By Mayo Clinic staff
My OT asks how the exercises are going. I confess I spent a couple weeks in a Vicodin cloud, but started right back up after that. I tell him about the pain I often have in my wrist at the base of my thumb. He has me do a range of motion test and then calls the orthopedic nurse practitioner. She accepts his diagnosis of
De Quervain's tenosynovitis
By Mayo Clinic staff
De Quervain's tenosynovitis (duh-kare-VAHS ten-oh-sine-oh-VIE-tis) is a painful inflammation of the tendons on the thumb side of your wrist. If you have de Quervain's tenosynovitis, you're likely to feel discomfort every time you turn your wrist, grasp anything or make a fist.
Although the cause of de Quervain's tenosynovitis isn't known, any activity that relies on repetitive hand or wrist movement — such as working in the garden, playing music, knitting, cooking, lifting your baby or walking your pet — can aggravate the condition.
Treatment for de Quervain's tenosynovitis may range from immobilizing your wrist and taking medications to surgery in more serious cases. If you start treatment early on, your symptoms of de Quervain's tenosynovitis should generally improve within four to six weeks.
6 weeks of not moving my thumb. That ought to make things easier! D'oh!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
I am a Powerhouse of Productivity
Today I got two giant tasks off my Perpetual Big Projects To Do List. This morning I applied for Chapter 33, the Post-9/11 GI Bill. My Chapter 30 Montgomery GI Bill ran out this semester but the VA won't leave you high and dry mid-semester so I'm good until summer. I'm eligible for Chapter 33 because I was medically discharged over thirty days past 9/11. I applied online this morning. I had to call the 800 number four times and fax my discharge paper in separately but it is all done. These big projects loom forever and cause much anxiety but when I'm ready I just burn through it. I can't do baby steps, it seems.
Part Two of Productivity Day was collecting my old blogs off MySpace. They used to have a function where you could search the archive by date but now you just have to start with the recent ones and hit "Older Posts" about 400 times. It always freezes at some point and you have to start over but today I made it all the way back to when Ant came out here. Whew! I got some from before that, but Ant's arrival was my main objective. I wanted to have my stepmonster transformation documented. The stuff before that seems to largely be movie blogs and silliness- I may not go crazy trying to reclaim those. What I do want to do is collect these blogs into a book. I was cracking myself up rereading snippets that I had totally forgotten about.
So right now all the blogs are saved to the computer at work- I didn't have time to send them to my e-mail. I thought I could work on them this weekend but I'm happy enough to have them saved. It took forever and reformatting them will take a while too, but the good news is that the blogs are not lost in space. I can't believe that I have been blogging for four or five years now. Sheesh. As the scroll button shrank and shrank, my coworker said,
"I'll bet you wish you hadn't written so much, huh?"
Not at all, my friend. Not at all.
Part Two of Productivity Day was collecting my old blogs off MySpace. They used to have a function where you could search the archive by date but now you just have to start with the recent ones and hit "Older Posts" about 400 times. It always freezes at some point and you have to start over but today I made it all the way back to when Ant came out here. Whew! I got some from before that, but Ant's arrival was my main objective. I wanted to have my stepmonster transformation documented. The stuff before that seems to largely be movie blogs and silliness- I may not go crazy trying to reclaim those. What I do want to do is collect these blogs into a book. I was cracking myself up rereading snippets that I had totally forgotten about.
So right now all the blogs are saved to the computer at work- I didn't have time to send them to my e-mail. I thought I could work on them this weekend but I'm happy enough to have them saved. It took forever and reformatting them will take a while too, but the good news is that the blogs are not lost in space. I can't believe that I have been blogging for four or five years now. Sheesh. As the scroll button shrank and shrank, my coworker said,
"I'll bet you wish you hadn't written so much, huh?"
Not at all, my friend. Not at all.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Less cranky now.
I've been sitting in the Pickle Parlor reading both a school book and a non-school book. I'm in a better mood. My nighttime shot alarm just went off and Chris, as he's been doing for the last several nights, said simply:
"Shot."
:D
Ant told Christian at dinner,
"Dude, as soon as we're finished? I'll walk you home and take the dogs out."
I didn't get to say anything! I was putting food away when Ant brought in his dishes.
"Leave those alone, I'll do them when I get back," he ordered.
Okay!
He told me the other day that he understood why I am always cleaning the kitchen recently. He said it's because I'm on my break and I have time. I wanted to be defensive as if he was saying it was my job or something but I reined it in. I tried to see that he was acknowledging that I help out voluntarily but that my schedule is normally crazy enough that I need his help. He didn't say all that but I felt like he understood so I tried not to beat a dead horse like I love to do. We talked about the schedule and I gave him kudos for putting that picture together. I think it made it easier for him to do the chore he hates the most because he sees that he's needed and that it's not just some creative way to punish him.
I told Chris that I have really been enjoying the time we've spent together this week. He said he's really enjoyed it too. And I confessed: the lasagna was excellent.
"Shot."
:D
Ant told Christian at dinner,
"Dude, as soon as we're finished? I'll walk you home and take the dogs out."
I didn't get to say anything! I was putting food away when Ant brought in his dishes.
"Leave those alone, I'll do them when I get back," he ordered.
Okay!
He told me the other day that he understood why I am always cleaning the kitchen recently. He said it's because I'm on my break and I have time. I wanted to be defensive as if he was saying it was my job or something but I reined it in. I tried to see that he was acknowledging that I help out voluntarily but that my schedule is normally crazy enough that I need his help. He didn't say all that but I felt like he understood so I tried not to beat a dead horse like I love to do. We talked about the schedule and I gave him kudos for putting that picture together. I think it made it easier for him to do the chore he hates the most because he sees that he's needed and that it's not just some creative way to punish him.
I told Chris that I have really been enjoying the time we've spent together this week. He said he's really enjoyed it too. And I confessed: the lasagna was excellent.
Have fun, dammit.
And suddenly I am cranky. Today is Wednesday and spring break is half over. Somebody call the Waahmbulance. I am trying to wrestle my mood and try to be happy that if today were a normal day, I would have only just gotten home instead of getting up to no alarm, hanging out with my honey, meeting a friend for lunch, taking the dogs to the park, bathing Riley and watching Unbreakable with her and Chris. And then Chris helped me make dinner. Tough day, right? Well, there is a danger in Chris helping- he alters the recipe. He loves to experiment in the kitchen and never follows a recipe. He always adds extra spices and tells me not to worry when ingredients get added in the wrong order (Gaaarrgggghh!) but tonight he added colby jack cheese to the lasagna. No, no, please noooo...kay. Well, maybe it will be some new twist that's really awesome. Because how bad can it be to add more cheese? I hope?
At least I wasn't baking. He likes to experiment with baking too, which you know is dangerous. At least with cooking there's some room to experiment. Some of his creations have been pretty damn good, but he's still trying to live down the olive oil cookies. Gross.
Soooo... Chris and I have spent a lot of time together this week and it has been fun. We've walked every day and gotten some things organized and cleaned up. Riley has been following me everywhere. Today on the way home from the park we stopped at Blockbuster. I went in and left everyone in the Dodge. I came out with Megamind and 127 Hours and giggled at Riley and Jasmine in my seat, panting on the window. Both of them jumped into the back to sit on Ant and his friend Christian so I was Riley-less on the ride back. At home, I got out and went to check the mail. The boys moved slower and by the time I was walking around the building with the mail they were just coming around from the parking lot. Ant had Jasmine, but they had no idea where Riley was. I called her just as she came running around from the mailboxes, trying to catch up with me. <3 She's currently curled up at my feet. Love my little girl.
I decided I was going to enjoy this break and I am not going to start being a poopy pants now. I am going to go find a fun March book and wait for the cheesy lasagna.
At least I wasn't baking. He likes to experiment with baking too, which you know is dangerous. At least with cooking there's some room to experiment. Some of his creations have been pretty damn good, but he's still trying to live down the olive oil cookies. Gross.
Soooo... Chris and I have spent a lot of time together this week and it has been fun. We've walked every day and gotten some things organized and cleaned up. Riley has been following me everywhere. Today on the way home from the park we stopped at Blockbuster. I went in and left everyone in the Dodge. I came out with Megamind and 127 Hours and giggled at Riley and Jasmine in my seat, panting on the window. Both of them jumped into the back to sit on Ant and his friend Christian so I was Riley-less on the ride back. At home, I got out and went to check the mail. The boys moved slower and by the time I was walking around the building with the mail they were just coming around from the parking lot. Ant had Jasmine, but they had no idea where Riley was. I called her just as she came running around from the mailboxes, trying to catch up with me. <3 She's currently curled up at my feet. Love my little girl.
I decided I was going to enjoy this break and I am not going to start being a poopy pants now. I am going to go find a fun March book and wait for the cheesy lasagna.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Cuteness and Boxing (Huh?)
Welcome, Shannon!
It's a good thing I'm on spring break. I just realized that March is almost half over and I need to read a non school related book to keep up with my resolution. I think I will cheat and find something short. I do have a couple books on standby but two are long and one is long and clinical. Our counselor recommended that one to us- it's on mindfulness. I thought it would be full of exercises but sadly no.
Chris and I are headed out to Target to find 99 cent packages of cardstock. We're also hitting the post office because we know how to have a good time. Tonight I'm making veggie lasagna. Last night we had leftovers. I don't usually do leftovers, I just leave them in the fridge and yell at everybody else to eat them. I made some broccoli slaw (Nummmmmmm) and we ate reheated crescent dogs and beans. I'm so happy to be home in the evenings that I started cleaning the kitchen even though I made dinner. Ant brought his dishes in and cried, "Jenny, you don't have to do that! I'll clean up!" Yes, he actually said that.
Chris found a projector at a thrift store, some fancy expensive thing priced very, very low. The guy told him that it was busted but it turns out it was just extremely out of focus. I love that we are a scavenging family. :D Now we have a movie theater in the living room. Ant's friends are very excited about it so last night Christian brought over a DVD he'd borrowed from our neighbor, Harold. Harold is a boxer and the DVD was a compilation of his fights. He won all three of the matches I saw, though it didn't look like he would. In one he got knocked down twice only to get back up and win by unanimous decision. Harold came by looking for Christian and the DVD only to find us watching it on the giant screen.
"Man, I want one of those so bad..." he said.
He watched a little bit of a fight with us and told us we were coming up on the knockout. Up until that point it had looked pretty even but there was an opening and Harold took it. It's amazing to me how tired boxers can be but once they see that opening they pull power from somewhere. During that fight and the two others I saw, the announcers ended up rooting for Harold. They loved how he just did not give up. In the post-win interview after the fight where he got knocked down, he said that he would have to be on his back, unconscious, before he'd stay down, and that's what I saw in all of his fights including the ones I found online. What a tough guy, yet you'd never know it from the way he is with his stepdaughter, Lila.
Lila is the 6-year-old who loves Ant because he looked like Justin Bieber. (His hair is gone now.) A while ago I found this note on the ground, stepped on.
It says:
Der Anthy
I am sab
I wil not lisn to you.
I do not lik you.
Lila is quite dramatic and her feelings change often, so don't worry. Ant is very nice to her- he is really good with little kids.
One day this summer she wiggled through the door and started investigating our living room. She found the Snoopy piggy bank that Ant got me for Christmas one year and begged us to let her have it. I couldn't, of course, because it was a gift from Ant, so Chris promised we'd get her a different one. For months, every time she saw us she was asking for her piggy bank. I finally found one the other day at the dollar store- a cute little ceramic elephant. Ant saw it on the coffee table and volunteered to take it over to her- he adores being adored. :D It might have been the next day that Ant brought this to me:
Oh my god, stick a fork in me. How cute is that? I immediately taped it up on the cupboard. I saw Lila's mom a few days later and she said it was especially nice because Lila's piggy bank broke the night before Ant brought ours over. She said that while Lila did have a piggy bank that whole time, she loves them and seems to want to collect them. Now I'm inspired to do nothing but find piggy banks for Lila.
It's a good thing I'm on spring break. I just realized that March is almost half over and I need to read a non school related book to keep up with my resolution. I think I will cheat and find something short. I do have a couple books on standby but two are long and one is long and clinical. Our counselor recommended that one to us- it's on mindfulness. I thought it would be full of exercises but sadly no.
Chris and I are headed out to Target to find 99 cent packages of cardstock. We're also hitting the post office because we know how to have a good time. Tonight I'm making veggie lasagna. Last night we had leftovers. I don't usually do leftovers, I just leave them in the fridge and yell at everybody else to eat them. I made some broccoli slaw (Nummmmmmm) and we ate reheated crescent dogs and beans. I'm so happy to be home in the evenings that I started cleaning the kitchen even though I made dinner. Ant brought his dishes in and cried, "Jenny, you don't have to do that! I'll clean up!" Yes, he actually said that.
Chris found a projector at a thrift store, some fancy expensive thing priced very, very low. The guy told him that it was busted but it turns out it was just extremely out of focus. I love that we are a scavenging family. :D Now we have a movie theater in the living room. Ant's friends are very excited about it so last night Christian brought over a DVD he'd borrowed from our neighbor, Harold. Harold is a boxer and the DVD was a compilation of his fights. He won all three of the matches I saw, though it didn't look like he would. In one he got knocked down twice only to get back up and win by unanimous decision. Harold came by looking for Christian and the DVD only to find us watching it on the giant screen.
"Man, I want one of those so bad..." he said.
He watched a little bit of a fight with us and told us we were coming up on the knockout. Up until that point it had looked pretty even but there was an opening and Harold took it. It's amazing to me how tired boxers can be but once they see that opening they pull power from somewhere. During that fight and the two others I saw, the announcers ended up rooting for Harold. They loved how he just did not give up. In the post-win interview after the fight where he got knocked down, he said that he would have to be on his back, unconscious, before he'd stay down, and that's what I saw in all of his fights including the ones I found online. What a tough guy, yet you'd never know it from the way he is with his stepdaughter, Lila.
Lila is the 6-year-old who loves Ant because he looked like Justin Bieber. (His hair is gone now.) A while ago I found this note on the ground, stepped on.
It says:
Der Anthy
I am sab
I wil not lisn to you.
I do not lik you.
Lila is quite dramatic and her feelings change often, so don't worry. Ant is very nice to her- he is really good with little kids.
One day this summer she wiggled through the door and started investigating our living room. She found the Snoopy piggy bank that Ant got me for Christmas one year and begged us to let her have it. I couldn't, of course, because it was a gift from Ant, so Chris promised we'd get her a different one. For months, every time she saw us she was asking for her piggy bank. I finally found one the other day at the dollar store- a cute little ceramic elephant. Ant saw it on the coffee table and volunteered to take it over to her- he adores being adored. :D It might have been the next day that Ant brought this to me:
Oh my god, stick a fork in me. How cute is that? I immediately taped it up on the cupboard. I saw Lila's mom a few days later and she said it was especially nice because Lila's piggy bank broke the night before Ant brought ours over. She said that while Lila did have a piggy bank that whole time, she loves them and seems to want to collect them. Now I'm inspired to do nothing but find piggy banks for Lila.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Insomniarrrgghh
It's really awesome how I turn everything into anxiety. The wedding should be a fun project but I am busy stressing and trying to process plans and problems at 4am, when things always seem three times worse than they actually are. Usually it's money or my teeth that I'm stressing about and those are not supposed to be fun projects so it's harder to convince myself to stop. Why does oral surgery have to be so expensive?
I keep trying to remind myself that students are supposed to be broke and I won't be broke forever. That leads to the whatifs about getting a job. I really don't know how to shut up.
In an effort to distract myself, I turn on the TV to a low hum and try to find a crime drama. Those shows are pretty level with a lot of talking. We used to have this TV that would only have picture for about twenty seconds- then the picture would go dark but you could hear it fine. That would be a godsend about now. The picture is too much light and I'm just trying to listen anyway. When I was in high school I used to listen to talk radio at night, low enough to where I had to be absolutely still and actively listening in order to hear it. I could never listen for long because it was difficult to focus that much while laying down in the dark. Now I rely on the TV because, as we all know, nothing puts we to sleep faster than a movie.
The doctor said there is a link between lack of REM sleep and a craving for carbs. He said it would be difficult to lose weight that way, lol. He also didn't like that I'm waking up already in the anxiety- he said that kind of stress is usually reserved for PTSD and wants me to talk to my (what I call my counselor but is really my) psychologist at the VA. She's supposed to be my stress-as-it-affects-my-diabetes counselor, and he feels sleep problems + carb cravings + weight = problem that needs to be addressed. I told him about this Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction class I'm about to start and he, like every other person I've told, is very encouraging about it and has heard good things.
The class requires a weekly meeting and one day long retreat, but the part that worries me is the 45-60 minutes of daily practice. Our schedule is always different but I think if I 1) involve Chris and 2) set an alarm, I'll have a better chance at success. After that nighttime shot fiasco the other night I swore I'd stop whatever I was doing right away when the alarm went off and I also asked Chris to support my efforts. Last night my phone was on the charger so I didn't hear it, but Chris did.
"Take your shot!" he yelled. And so I did.
Our couples counselor has been asking us to work on Mindfulness together anyway, so that might be just great timing. If he's still busy puttering as we both like to do at 10 at night, will I be able to focus? Is it possible to focus on anything if Ant is still awake? Here's where my counselor would tell me to announce that it's my quiet time and no one should bother me for an hour unless the house is on fire. I imagine I will need a lot of practice to absorb the strategies, so I will have to find the time. Hopefully it's not at 4 am.
I keep trying to remind myself that students are supposed to be broke and I won't be broke forever. That leads to the whatifs about getting a job. I really don't know how to shut up.
In an effort to distract myself, I turn on the TV to a low hum and try to find a crime drama. Those shows are pretty level with a lot of talking. We used to have this TV that would only have picture for about twenty seconds- then the picture would go dark but you could hear it fine. That would be a godsend about now. The picture is too much light and I'm just trying to listen anyway. When I was in high school I used to listen to talk radio at night, low enough to where I had to be absolutely still and actively listening in order to hear it. I could never listen for long because it was difficult to focus that much while laying down in the dark. Now I rely on the TV because, as we all know, nothing puts we to sleep faster than a movie.
The doctor said there is a link between lack of REM sleep and a craving for carbs. He said it would be difficult to lose weight that way, lol. He also didn't like that I'm waking up already in the anxiety- he said that kind of stress is usually reserved for PTSD and wants me to talk to my (what I call my counselor but is really my) psychologist at the VA. She's supposed to be my stress-as-it-affects-my-diabetes counselor, and he feels sleep problems + carb cravings + weight = problem that needs to be addressed. I told him about this Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction class I'm about to start and he, like every other person I've told, is very encouraging about it and has heard good things.
The class requires a weekly meeting and one day long retreat, but the part that worries me is the 45-60 minutes of daily practice. Our schedule is always different but I think if I 1) involve Chris and 2) set an alarm, I'll have a better chance at success. After that nighttime shot fiasco the other night I swore I'd stop whatever I was doing right away when the alarm went off and I also asked Chris to support my efforts. Last night my phone was on the charger so I didn't hear it, but Chris did.
"Take your shot!" he yelled. And so I did.
Our couples counselor has been asking us to work on Mindfulness together anyway, so that might be just great timing. If he's still busy puttering as we both like to do at 10 at night, will I be able to focus? Is it possible to focus on anything if Ant is still awake? Here's where my counselor would tell me to announce that it's my quiet time and no one should bother me for an hour unless the house is on fire. I imagine I will need a lot of practice to absorb the strategies, so I will have to find the time. Hopefully it's not at 4 am.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Totally Unhelpful Pictures of Topaz
Mom and Tracy have never been to Topaz.
I don't know when I'll be able to get out there to take more helpful pictures.
Hotmail is picture retarded.
Here is a totally unhelpful guided tour of Topaz in the frame of reference of a wedding.
Tempted as I am to take you on a tour of confusion, I'll give you the most helpful picture first. This is the house and the deck. The angled building to the right of the house is the "outside bathroom". Up against the hill is the highway. To the right of the shed is where the driveway goes, it loops up around the house. Further to the right out of the picture is the garage and way past that up the highway is the Lodge. To the left of the house you can see a couple trailers. Obviously, the deck faces the water. That tree actually comes through the center of the deck floor.
This is the dock and the garage. The house is to the left, Lodge up the highway to the right.
Here's the deck. It is light green now, but Elaine wants to repaint it before the wedding. There is a dead deer leg that has been hanging in the tree for several years now that will just have to be part of the decorations.
Somewhere to the left of Ant's eyeballs, maybe about where the window is, is where the Lodge is situated. If you understood what I meant by that, you deserve a cookie. If you look down by the water, where the shade abruptly ends is actually a rocky drop. Just to the left of that is where you drive boats down to the water and to the right of that tree is where I envision the ceremony.
Here's where the boats come in. Squint and see the garage at the top center and that rocky drop on the left. This is so unhelpful.
This is the level ground where I want the ceremony. This is not the boat slip but the flat ground just above it- the most flat ground at Topaz.
From the deck. With a panoramic view, the property looks much bigger.
More from the deck, just looking around. If you walk onto the deck, I'm in the back corner. My side of the deck faces the highway.
To my left, Ray is sitting with his back to the garage. My invisible ceremony is taking place behind him.
Same spot, now with Carol facing away from the dock.
There used to be a lot of open space down there behind Elaine, but now there are a couple trailers lined up. She wants them moved for the wedding, Mike says Ron's trailer will fall apart if moved, so I don't know if they will be there or not.
Now you can see the dead tree that has been removed. To the right, out of view, is another porch behind that tree.
This completes the 360 degree view, with the tree in the center of the deck.
During the winter, the lake goes down quite a bit. If you look at the picture with Carol, or the one from the jetski, the water is up about as high as it gets. That was late August, I think. With this picture or the two of Ant, you can see how low it gets.
Questions? Comments?
I don't know when I'll be able to get out there to take more helpful pictures.
Hotmail is picture retarded.
Here is a totally unhelpful guided tour of Topaz in the frame of reference of a wedding.
Tempted as I am to take you on a tour of confusion, I'll give you the most helpful picture first. This is the house and the deck. The angled building to the right of the house is the "outside bathroom". Up against the hill is the highway. To the right of the shed is where the driveway goes, it loops up around the house. Further to the right out of the picture is the garage and way past that up the highway is the Lodge. To the left of the house you can see a couple trailers. Obviously, the deck faces the water. That tree actually comes through the center of the deck floor.
This is the dock and the garage. The house is to the left, Lodge up the highway to the right.
Here's the deck. It is light green now, but Elaine wants to repaint it before the wedding. There is a dead deer leg that has been hanging in the tree for several years now that will just have to be part of the decorations.
Somewhere to the left of Ant's eyeballs, maybe about where the window is, is where the Lodge is situated. If you understood what I meant by that, you deserve a cookie. If you look down by the water, where the shade abruptly ends is actually a rocky drop. Just to the left of that is where you drive boats down to the water and to the right of that tree is where I envision the ceremony.
Here's where the boats come in. Squint and see the garage at the top center and that rocky drop on the left. This is so unhelpful.
This is the level ground where I want the ceremony. This is not the boat slip but the flat ground just above it- the most flat ground at Topaz.
From the deck. With a panoramic view, the property looks much bigger.
To my left, Ray is sitting with his back to the garage. My invisible ceremony is taking place behind him.
Same spot, now with Carol facing away from the dock.
There used to be a lot of open space down there behind Elaine, but now there are a couple trailers lined up. She wants them moved for the wedding, Mike says Ron's trailer will fall apart if moved, so I don't know if they will be there or not.
Now you can see the dead tree that has been removed. To the right, out of view, is another porch behind that tree.
This completes the 360 degree view, with the tree in the center of the deck.
During the winter, the lake goes down quite a bit. If you look at the picture with Carol, or the one from the jetski, the water is up about as high as it gets. That was late August, I think. With this picture or the two of Ant, you can see how low it gets.
Questions? Comments?
Preachy McPreacherson
It seems clear to me that the dangers clearly outweigh the benefits, so why are we still using nuclear energy?
I just read Encounters with the Archdruid, a book about David Brower, former president of the Sierra Club, visiting potential project sites with his enemies: a geologist, a developer, and the Commissioner of Reclamation. Each part/project had pros and cons but Floyd Dominy made some serious sense to me when he said:
"Hydroelectric power doesn't pollute water and it doesn't pollute air."
It does destroy habitats and some wildlife and drastically changes its environment. I don't think it is always the best option but compared to nuclear power, I'd prefer a dam. Where the hell are the wind turbines and solar panels? In the 1950s they didn't know about the radiation but we sure do now. There is no good place to store waste as I keep learning out here. Waste buried and bombs detonated underground left radiation. I met a guy from Fallon who said he was allergic to dirt. You're not allergic to dirt, my dear, you're allergic to what's in it.
Not to be a doomsday prophet, but doesn't it seem like weather events are getting stronger? Isn't that the prediction? Here's my really preachy sentence: Maybe Mother Nature is trying to wipe this plague of people off the planet. Nature gives us the most beautiful things and we are so often undeserving. I watched Pit Boss last night and was horrified again by stupid irresponsible breeders who think only of money and not where these animals are going to end up. Yesterday on my walk with Jody out at Rattlesnake Mountain where the wild horses live I saw a foal and its mother separated by a barbed wire fence. I felt so frustrated and worried and I didn't want to leave. Thankfully there was this couple out driving around looking at the horses and saw the situation. The wife went home to grab pliers and the guy stayed put to monitor things. I hope he cut many, many holes in that fence.
I feel horrible for the people in Japan who had only minutes of warning before the tsunami hit. Did you see how well their buildings withstood an 8.9 earthquake? If that had been Turkey, forget it. Japan was so well equipped to handle earthquakes. After two and half days of watching the news, I've only seen one collapsed building from the earthquake. There was damage, of course, but how unfair is it to survive an 8.9 earthquake relatively intact only to suffer a giant tsunami? How the hell do you prepare for that?
But why do we have nuclear power plants in the Ring of Fire!? I hope this situation changes our view about the safety of nuclear energy.
I just read Encounters with the Archdruid, a book about David Brower, former president of the Sierra Club, visiting potential project sites with his enemies: a geologist, a developer, and the Commissioner of Reclamation. Each part/project had pros and cons but Floyd Dominy made some serious sense to me when he said:
"Hydroelectric power doesn't pollute water and it doesn't pollute air."
It does destroy habitats and some wildlife and drastically changes its environment. I don't think it is always the best option but compared to nuclear power, I'd prefer a dam. Where the hell are the wind turbines and solar panels? In the 1950s they didn't know about the radiation but we sure do now. There is no good place to store waste as I keep learning out here. Waste buried and bombs detonated underground left radiation. I met a guy from Fallon who said he was allergic to dirt. You're not allergic to dirt, my dear, you're allergic to what's in it.
Not to be a doomsday prophet, but doesn't it seem like weather events are getting stronger? Isn't that the prediction? Here's my really preachy sentence: Maybe Mother Nature is trying to wipe this plague of people off the planet. Nature gives us the most beautiful things and we are so often undeserving. I watched Pit Boss last night and was horrified again by stupid irresponsible breeders who think only of money and not where these animals are going to end up. Yesterday on my walk with Jody out at Rattlesnake Mountain where the wild horses live I saw a foal and its mother separated by a barbed wire fence. I felt so frustrated and worried and I didn't want to leave. Thankfully there was this couple out driving around looking at the horses and saw the situation. The wife went home to grab pliers and the guy stayed put to monitor things. I hope he cut many, many holes in that fence.
I feel horrible for the people in Japan who had only minutes of warning before the tsunami hit. Did you see how well their buildings withstood an 8.9 earthquake? If that had been Turkey, forget it. Japan was so well equipped to handle earthquakes. After two and half days of watching the news, I've only seen one collapsed building from the earthquake. There was damage, of course, but how unfair is it to survive an 8.9 earthquake relatively intact only to suffer a giant tsunami? How the hell do you prepare for that?
But why do we have nuclear power plants in the Ring of Fire!? I hope this situation changes our view about the safety of nuclear energy.
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