...food,thundersnow,and fun...
Tuesday night as we were hanging out upstairs it began to snow. We noticed it wasn't really sticking, and continued on chatting and taking in some cable. A little while later we decided to look out the windows again. Hmmm...it was starting to collect a bit. As I was drifting into sleep, HUGE bursts of thunder and lightning filled the room! Thundersnow! When I woke up the next morning, I made my way downstairs, threw opened the blinds to our bedroom window, and yelled,"Oh fuck!"
A very large part of Barb's pear tree had fallen on top of the fence and was jutting about five feet into our yard (right over the herb garden!) It had pulled her electrical and phone lines dangerously close to the ground. I looked up, and saw the branches that have been starting to intermingle among our own power lines were getting a little too close for comfort.
So...our power only was out for an hour on Thanksgiving, the snow melted rapidly, the tree is still in our yard, but getting taken away tomorrow, my Mom's power was off and on all day Wednesday and caused some transfering of food (great turkey transfer of '04), but ulitmately we had Thanksgiving at her place on Thursday.
Joan and Rachel made it safely in Wednesday evening while I was at work. I came home to a lovely evening of bbq tofu, baked beans, jalapeno/cheddar cornbread, and salad provided by Jer. We sat around the dining room table talking, then I fell asleep with Jeremy rubbing my head in his lap...in front of his Mom...that could sound dirty, but it wasn't. We are all sugar and innocence here.
Thursday, Joan and I both awoke early-ish and made biscuits and cranberry sauce, then some breakfast for us and the lazy bones still in bed. She and I had a nice walk around Waldo/Brookside, and returned in time so that I could make fruit salad before heading to my Ma's around 3:00. The evening was filled with good food, conversation, and much laughter.
Friday I had the honor of being at work from 10am-7pm. It was dead a good portion of the day, but Jer and Rachel stopped in for a visit, and Andrew (co-worker) and I worked on projects and danced around all day. I discoverd that the Cross-Stitch show got a little write up in The Pitch and my work was mentioned! Jer, Joan, and Rachel picked me up, and we indulged in a wonderful Ethiopian dinner. Drool. After we got home, an old friend of Joan's came over. We just hung out in the living room drinking wine, and talking.
Saturday was more work, seeing Joan and Rachel off, and then over to Matt and Mary's for curry and hanging out with Thom before he leaves for his possibly year-long cross-country excursion in his VW van.
Hoping everyone had a nice holiday...
Sunday, November 28
Tuesday, November 23
...warm on the inside...
The weather people are discussing the possibility of snow later today! Yay! I doubt it will come close to the two-feet of snow I dreamed of a couple of weeks ago, but that is okay. We have to stay inside most of today anyway, so that we can finish cleaning for a visit from Joan and Rachel! They will be swinging in at some point tomorrow afternoon. The only thing that sucks about this visit is that I have to work Friday 10am-7pm and Saturday 10am-6pm...I think they are leaving Saturday. So goes retail...
Jeremy had a great birthday. We made our way to Lawrence on his actual b-day. Did some shopping, had dinner at FreeState, then spent the rest of the night drinking at The Jayhawker (the bar at the Eldridge Hotel)with friends. Good night. The next day after I got off of work, we went out to dinner with my Mom, Piper, and Nick, then back to Mom's for presents and cake. So...Happy Birthday Jer...big 33.
Friday night was the opening to the show "Cross-Stitch" that I happen to have two pieces in. A lot of friends showed up to support me, so I felt very lucky. I discovered the next day that a detail shot of one of my pieces ended up in our local, monthly, art newspaper the "Review." Lucky indeed.
A good portion of the leaves are down. Squirells are nervously darting across yards trying to desperately remember where they buried nuts. My Mom's Japanese Maple looks like it is on fire. Frank and Bones are more insistent each day that they just have endless food 24-hours-a-day. Jeremy is still in bed, and I am in great need of coffee.
If I don't get to it...everyone have a great Thanksgiving, wherever you may be. Family, we will be thinking of you, and wishing we were all together. Much love.
The weather people are discussing the possibility of snow later today! Yay! I doubt it will come close to the two-feet of snow I dreamed of a couple of weeks ago, but that is okay. We have to stay inside most of today anyway, so that we can finish cleaning for a visit from Joan and Rachel! They will be swinging in at some point tomorrow afternoon. The only thing that sucks about this visit is that I have to work Friday 10am-7pm and Saturday 10am-6pm...I think they are leaving Saturday. So goes retail...
Jeremy had a great birthday. We made our way to Lawrence on his actual b-day. Did some shopping, had dinner at FreeState, then spent the rest of the night drinking at The Jayhawker (the bar at the Eldridge Hotel)with friends. Good night. The next day after I got off of work, we went out to dinner with my Mom, Piper, and Nick, then back to Mom's for presents and cake. So...Happy Birthday Jer...big 33.
Friday night was the opening to the show "Cross-Stitch" that I happen to have two pieces in. A lot of friends showed up to support me, so I felt very lucky. I discovered the next day that a detail shot of one of my pieces ended up in our local, monthly, art newspaper the "Review." Lucky indeed.
A good portion of the leaves are down. Squirells are nervously darting across yards trying to desperately remember where they buried nuts. My Mom's Japanese Maple looks like it is on fire. Frank and Bones are more insistent each day that they just have endless food 24-hours-a-day. Jeremy is still in bed, and I am in great need of coffee.
If I don't get to it...everyone have a great Thanksgiving, wherever you may be. Family, we will be thinking of you, and wishing we were all together. Much love.
Thursday, November 11
...seeing red...
This morning I decided to indulge in reading some Vanity Fair articles before really starting my day. The first one I chose sucked me in and spit me back out very worried and pissed off. If you find yourselves in the grocery store, a bookstore, any place with magazines, please pick up the December 2004 issue of Vanity Fair (it has dreamy Leonardo DiCaprio on the cover)and find the article on page 204 entitled, "Weapons of Self-Destruction." Here is the lead in:
"Heroic soldiers returning from Iraq seem to be prey to the same debilitating, potentially fatal illnesses that first became known as Gulf War syndrome and then afflicted veterans of Bosnia and Kosovo. Critics point to the U.S.'s own ammunition made of toxic, radioactive depleted uranium-an explanation the Pentagon is resisting."
I think that it is the best, most eye-opening story this month. You know what's sad? It didn't get any mention on the front cover.
This article is disturbing, and this should be something we are trying to nail the government, Republicans and Democrats, with. They do not give one shit about human life.
This morning I decided to indulge in reading some Vanity Fair articles before really starting my day. The first one I chose sucked me in and spit me back out very worried and pissed off. If you find yourselves in the grocery store, a bookstore, any place with magazines, please pick up the December 2004 issue of Vanity Fair (it has dreamy Leonardo DiCaprio on the cover)and find the article on page 204 entitled, "Weapons of Self-Destruction." Here is the lead in:
"Heroic soldiers returning from Iraq seem to be prey to the same debilitating, potentially fatal illnesses that first became known as Gulf War syndrome and then afflicted veterans of Bosnia and Kosovo. Critics point to the U.S.'s own ammunition made of toxic, radioactive depleted uranium-an explanation the Pentagon is resisting."
I think that it is the best, most eye-opening story this month. You know what's sad? It didn't get any mention on the front cover.
This article is disturbing, and this should be something we are trying to nail the government, Republicans and Democrats, with. They do not give one shit about human life.
Tuesday, November 2
..."the most beautiful boogeyman"...
The flying guardians of Kansas City have returned to perch above us all in their wooden palaces. They keep an eye on the unwinding boulevards, and are tempted to flight by secretive, scurrying leaves. The crows watch me head to work, and then meet me there. I watch them through heavy glass doors, silently swaying in the treetops until disturbed into a cawing flurry. Maybe they are here to help usher those who passed in the last year into the next step. Or maybe winter cannot come until they have arrived. It does seem that the leaves are giving up more quickly this year...The weather folk say frost is lurking nearby.
...
reading: "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" and "Oryx and Crake"
listening to lately: "Medula" by Bjork, the latest Mos Def w/Black Jack Johnson cd...can't remeber the title, "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd, the leaves slipping off of the trees and tumbling down the streets, huffy cat grunts
eating: lots of Halloween candy, whatever yumminess comes across my path
working on: another drawing that incorporates lungs, cleaning my studio and the house in general, putting together the puzzle of dates and names that is family history
excited about: the fact that soon there will be no more phone calls reminding me to vote, how nights have been feeling lately, elmwood cemetery, being an aunt, greeting each day
anxious about:the large, painful zit on my neck, or as I like to call it...plague
sad about: nothing in particular...I just get periodic washes of melancholia, which I don't mind
anrgy about: eh...not much...I'm trying to appreciate everything for what it is...plus some days there is just too much I read in the news that makes me angry that I just have to shut it off
curious about: the election outcome, when it is going to snow, who is America's Next Top Model
The flying guardians of Kansas City have returned to perch above us all in their wooden palaces. They keep an eye on the unwinding boulevards, and are tempted to flight by secretive, scurrying leaves. The crows watch me head to work, and then meet me there. I watch them through heavy glass doors, silently swaying in the treetops until disturbed into a cawing flurry. Maybe they are here to help usher those who passed in the last year into the next step. Or maybe winter cannot come until they have arrived. It does seem that the leaves are giving up more quickly this year...The weather folk say frost is lurking nearby.
...
reading: "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" and "Oryx and Crake"
listening to lately: "Medula" by Bjork, the latest Mos Def w/Black Jack Johnson cd...can't remeber the title, "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd, the leaves slipping off of the trees and tumbling down the streets, huffy cat grunts
eating: lots of Halloween candy, whatever yumminess comes across my path
working on: another drawing that incorporates lungs, cleaning my studio and the house in general, putting together the puzzle of dates and names that is family history
excited about: the fact that soon there will be no more phone calls reminding me to vote, how nights have been feeling lately, elmwood cemetery, being an aunt, greeting each day
anxious about:the large, painful zit on my neck, or as I like to call it...plague
sad about: nothing in particular...I just get periodic washes of melancholia, which I don't mind
anrgy about: eh...not much...I'm trying to appreciate everything for what it is...plus some days there is just too much I read in the news that makes me angry that I just have to shut it off
curious about: the election outcome, when it is going to snow, who is America's Next Top Model