Officially Technological
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
EARTH-SHATTERING NEWS!
OK, so we don't have any earth-shattering news. I just thought I'd say that and see if people are intrigued. Feel free to let me know [shameless plug to see who all is reading my blog] if it worked.
BUT! I do have some news items. If there is new that can shatter the earth, our news could probably shatter an egg shell (if even that exciting), but here is our news anyway.
BUT! I do have some news items. If there is new that can shatter the earth, our news could probably shatter an egg shell (if even that exciting), but here is our news anyway.
- I finished the quilting on a quilt for a friend's baby. I'm trying to decide if I should post pictures, because I haven't given the quilt to said friend (since I have to do the binding yet). I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It's fun. And I'm hoping it won't be "weird". I don't have a great sense of what is weird and what isn't (I blame band-camp). Brian doesn't think it's weird (Brian's pretty much the least weird person I've ever met), so that's promising.
- We're kinda getting ready to redo our three-seasons room. There are a few things that we haven't really decided on yet, but we have mostly decided to tile it and put down a huge throw rug. Anyway, we got a great wood-burning stove, which we're putting in the three-seasons room to make it less like a three-seasons room and more like a four-seasons room.
- We went to look at Trent and Heidi's puppies. Their Chocolate Lab had puppies with what they believe to be a Border Collie. Anyway, we liked them very much. They're super cute. This is a picture of one of Trent and Heidi's sons with the one that we liked. Her name currently is Spooky. They're really funny because they will just be walking around "do-do-do" and all the sudden plop over and fall instantly to sleep. LOL! So cute. Anyway, we're in discussion about whether this is a good time for another puppy. However, as Brian's mom once said (and is my attitude), "Puppies are so much work and you'll have rearrange your schedule to take it out and they're messy... get one anyway." LOL!
- My headache that I had had since the beginning of last week has gone away. Yessss. At first I thought it might just be that there was a lot going on at work and no recoup time, but now I think I actually had a bug because Brian now has an awful headache and has been dizzy and nauseated (other symptoms of my headache).
That's it.
Friday, August 24, 2007
I Wish...
- I had something even remotely interesting to report (but no new puppies, no big house projects, etc)
- Nail polish lasted longer than 24 hours before the chipping begins (I have gross nails. They're peely and shaped weird, and I used nail polish to try to keep the chipping down, but when the polish starts chipping too... oh the struggle!)
- That I hadn't just eaten a couple thousand calories of Mexican food, I'm feeling really sorry about that
- It was Labor Day weekend (fortunately for me, that's coming up really quickly)
- My cell phone would stay charged for more than a twenty minute call (of course, I don't ever really charge it all the way, just in the car on the way home from work, so yeah... I should probably work on that)
Wow, I think that must be all my wishes! I'm not doing too bad if I've only got five...
Thursday, August 16, 2007
The Yucca
We have a Yucca plant. We didn’t know we had a Yucca plant until the re-landscaping party we had this spring during which we pulled up a bush on the corner of our house. Lurking under the bush was the Yucca.
The Yucca was fortunate at that point that Brian was standing next to me. As soon as we saw it growing there on the corner of our living room, my face fell. I start motioning to the guys who had just unearthed the bush to follow the same procedure with the Yucca. But when I turned to my husband, I realized that his face had responded in an opposite way. His hand was motioning to brush the extra dirt off the leaves. As it was 4:30 in the afternoon, and everyone’s nails were in shreds and muscles likewise, the Yucca stayed in the corner by our living room.
The Yucca plant, for those of you who are blithely unaware, is desert plant, and – like most desert plants – is more interesting than attractive. It has hard, tall, extremely pointy evergreen leaves that stick out in a ball. The leaves have little tendrils growing off of it. I’m not sure what those are or why they are, but the plant continuously looks unkempt.
As you can probably construe, I don’t like the Yucca. I justified keeping the Yucca by the thought that we had purchased scads of wonderfully beautiful plants, and what, in the scheme of things, could one Yucca do spoil the whole landscape? Besides, Brian liked it and wanted to keep it, and I thought he might as well enjoy it while it lasted since a Yucca could not possibly subsist in the mid-west where it rains much more than a desert plant may desire.
Unfortunately, it has been one of the hottest, driest summers in Indiana history, and the Yucca, instead of being a backdrop for all the lovely plants we so fervently planted, is now the showcase piece in a flower bed of mostly dead plants. It has more than doubled its size now that it’s in the sun, and has even started new Yuccas in the area around it. It’s like a disease. A big Yucca disease.
So, I’m now auctioning about 7 Yuccas. The little ones, I’m starting at $.10. The big mother of all other Yuccas I will starting at $.50. Yuccas do best in areas where they are unwanted, and since the whole country is hot and dry right now, any continental United States region will most likely support growth.*
*Yucca is not guaranteed to arrive or transplant in good heath. Yucca may blemish verdant landscaping schemes. All sales are final.
The Yucca was fortunate at that point that Brian was standing next to me. As soon as we saw it growing there on the corner of our living room, my face fell. I start motioning to the guys who had just unearthed the bush to follow the same procedure with the Yucca. But when I turned to my husband, I realized that his face had responded in an opposite way. His hand was motioning to brush the extra dirt off the leaves. As it was 4:30 in the afternoon, and everyone’s nails were in shreds and muscles likewise, the Yucca stayed in the corner by our living room.
The Yucca plant, for those of you who are blithely unaware, is desert plant, and – like most desert plants – is more interesting than attractive. It has hard, tall, extremely pointy evergreen leaves that stick out in a ball. The leaves have little tendrils growing off of it. I’m not sure what those are or why they are, but the plant continuously looks unkempt.
As you can probably construe, I don’t like the Yucca. I justified keeping the Yucca by the thought that we had purchased scads of wonderfully beautiful plants, and what, in the scheme of things, could one Yucca do spoil the whole landscape? Besides, Brian liked it and wanted to keep it, and I thought he might as well enjoy it while it lasted since a Yucca could not possibly subsist in the mid-west where it rains much more than a desert plant may desire.
Unfortunately, it has been one of the hottest, driest summers in Indiana history, and the Yucca, instead of being a backdrop for all the lovely plants we so fervently planted, is now the showcase piece in a flower bed of mostly dead plants. It has more than doubled its size now that it’s in the sun, and has even started new Yuccas in the area around it. It’s like a disease. A big Yucca disease.
So, I’m now auctioning about 7 Yuccas. The little ones, I’m starting at $.10. The big mother of all other Yuccas I will starting at $.50. Yuccas do best in areas where they are unwanted, and since the whole country is hot and dry right now, any continental United States region will most likely support growth.*
*Yucca is not guaranteed to arrive or transplant in good heath. Yucca may blemish verdant landscaping schemes. All sales are final.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Homesick
Homesickness is a funny thing.
I was one of those little kids who started saying from age 4 or 5 that I was going to move to California. And I meant it. My life kind of revolved around that dream. Even in my young adulthood I wouldn't take a job that wouldn't be able to transfer me California at some point. I was the kind of kid that was always trying on her mom's high heels, apparently looking for some place to go. Before I was sixteen I had dreams (literally, in-my-sleep dreams) about driving because I was so excited to learn how to drive.
I think I'm just one of those people who is always looking to the next thing. All winter I said that I can't wait for summer and then last week on the way to church I told Brian that I can't wait until Christmas (at which point he told me to enjoy the summer for which I waited so anxiously). I think I just push. I'm always looking forward to the next thing. I'm always curious about what's going to happen next. I'm a wings person. There are roots people and there are wings people, and I'm a wings person.
When I worked for the government, it didn't occur to me to dislike living out of a suitcase from traveling any and every where until Brian and I got engaged and I had a reason to want to stay in the area. I'm a wings sort of person.
It is a mystery then, how someone, who has spent their entire life actively seeking the next step forward, is now wanting to step back. I am so homesick. I think about us moving back to Michigan all the time. We went back to my parents a couple of weeks ago and ever since I just keep looking for ways to make moving back a reality. It's strange. I've spent my whole life wishing I wasn't in Michigan and now it's the only place I want to be. Maybe it's just all part of it. I just wasn't expecting to feel this way. Weird. It is potentially a phase, and if it's not, maybe we should honestly think about it. We'll see. But in the meantime, if you see me or talk to me on the phone or communicate with me in any way expect me to mention something about being homesick. Because I am. And I don't stuff very well (obviously, I just told the entire world that I'm homesick). :)
I was one of those little kids who started saying from age 4 or 5 that I was going to move to California. And I meant it. My life kind of revolved around that dream. Even in my young adulthood I wouldn't take a job that wouldn't be able to transfer me California at some point. I was the kind of kid that was always trying on her mom's high heels, apparently looking for some place to go. Before I was sixteen I had dreams (literally, in-my-sleep dreams) about driving because I was so excited to learn how to drive.
I think I'm just one of those people who is always looking to the next thing. All winter I said that I can't wait for summer and then last week on the way to church I told Brian that I can't wait until Christmas (at which point he told me to enjoy the summer for which I waited so anxiously). I think I just push. I'm always looking forward to the next thing. I'm always curious about what's going to happen next. I'm a wings person. There are roots people and there are wings people, and I'm a wings person.
When I worked for the government, it didn't occur to me to dislike living out of a suitcase from traveling any and every where until Brian and I got engaged and I had a reason to want to stay in the area. I'm a wings sort of person.
It is a mystery then, how someone, who has spent their entire life actively seeking the next step forward, is now wanting to step back. I am so homesick. I think about us moving back to Michigan all the time. We went back to my parents a couple of weeks ago and ever since I just keep looking for ways to make moving back a reality. It's strange. I've spent my whole life wishing I wasn't in Michigan and now it's the only place I want to be. Maybe it's just all part of it. I just wasn't expecting to feel this way. Weird. It is potentially a phase, and if it's not, maybe we should honestly think about it. We'll see. But in the meantime, if you see me or talk to me on the phone or communicate with me in any way expect me to mention something about being homesick. Because I am. And I don't stuff very well (obviously, I just told the entire world that I'm homesick). :)
