Laura

I'm not sure why, but it is anyway. ( Rambling about physical state, probably not as interesting as I think it is )

Yesterday after the farmer's market, I went out again and did some more shopping. I was already hurting when I left; by the time I got back, I was a walking lesson in "do NOT push farther than you can afford to, idiot" - I should have known better. I had plenty of energy, but too many aches. But, I did manage to get most of what was on my list, so at least if I screwed up and tortured myself, I didn't do it to no purpose. So later today the slow-cooker will work on pork roast for dinner. (My dinner, anyway: Scott is at an all-day Civilization game after church. I was invited to the Civ game, but I couldn't see committing to a Civ game given how much my energy levels and physical endurance vary these days. Frankly, those were grueling when I was in college, fueled by too much sugar and caffeine, and not pregnant. Fun, but grueling. But Scott will be at Dale's tomorrow afternoon/evening, so he'd miss it if I delayed it a day, too. At least this way he can have it reheated for lunch tomorrow!) And there's plenty of frozens and such (what can I say? I still eat microwave dinners, even if I am cooking more).

I'm debating doing something cooking-wise with the plums. I'd intended to just eat them, but they're on the bland side of ready to be picked - they looked better than they are. I knew that was a risk this early in the season. Cooked, though, they might be okay. Or they might be too bland to be worth the effort. Trying to decide.... If my energy levels stay good for at least part of the day, I may bake up some cornbread as well (from a mix, but hey - I noticed it in the cupboard while I was tidying the kitchen and poof, it sounded good :).

Back to yesterday, and shopping, one other bit. I was at Fred Meyer's getting the meat and other groceries, as well as socks and such. They were having a Labor Day weekend sale, which didn't thrill me. Yes, I saved money (in fact, I got those thin throw pillows for $4 each, which was a steal). But I'd rather have had fewer people and more shopping carts. There were no shopping carts at the middle/main entrance. NONE. I had to walk over to home and garden to get one. (The store wasn't that packed - but enough that they were too busy to retrieve the carts from the parking lot. As I was leaving, there was an announcement involving the words 'shopping carts' and 'managers'.) Anyway, when I came out of the store and went to my car, there was a gentleman who'd just finished unloading his cart. In front of one of the planters was a row of four or five carts stacked together, just sitting there, so he moved to put his cart on the front of the stack. I just stared, because 1) the back of the stack was downhill, 2) neither end was against a solid stopper, and 3) next to the planter was a car and next to the car was the actual cart return, which wasn't too full to use, so what was the friggin' POINT?

Sure enough, the carts began rolling downhill. I'd have laughed except for all the cars in their path. Fortunately, they guy who was doing it had good reflexes - he said "Whups, bad idea!" (no duh!), swung his cart in against the planter so it was sitting still, and raced to the other end of the line of carts, catching it before it could hit anything. I pointed out to him that he was now more or less in front of the cart return, and he let the whole stack run to there and pushed it in. (Then he went to his car, leaving his cart in front of the planter. Some people. I was parked just opposite the planter, so I grabbed his cart on the way to put mine into the cart return. No reason to leave it sticking several feet into the relatively narrow lane of traffic, anyway.)

And Scott has, as I've written this (and taken a break to lie down, as I said I would - Babe approved, she got petted), gotten home from church and done wonders with the chores he usually does (like the hand-washing dishes - I prefer to avoid that if I can, due to dry skin, which is cracking this week too - moisturizer is my friend!). He'll be taking off in a little bit, but yay, kitchen/dining area looks SO MUCH BETTER between our efforts today. My husband rocks.

Scott and I went out and tried it out, and at no point is there any problem. It walks just fine with no handrail - completely level, stable, non-shifting, with shallow steps down. I love it! We'll see how it does after the weather has a run at it, but so far, it's just perfect. If it holds up to weather as expected, it should be fine for usage as-is and will look better without a handrail.

And hopefully Monday or Tuesday we can get an idea of the schedule on the rest of the back yard, now that this is done. (Dave, our landscaper, was out of town this week, so he'll come back to the pleasant surprise that the subcontractor was finally able to put in the steps!)

And our neighbor on the one side with the nicer landscaping was out tending her own yard, and she likes our new steps, too. Cool. (I told her she's welcome to use them for access to the lower part of her yard if it's helpful, as long as the state of landscaping in our yard will allow. I believe there will be too many plants in the way later, but just now when she's clearing back exuberant growth it might be handy.)

Words can, indeed, express what I think of this, but they are not very polite words.

The only good thing being, when I got home, I hadn't bought any new refrigerator items. I had bought frozens, but the chest freezer on the back porch is just fine and (by removing a few things we're never going to use, that I'd meant to get around to cleaning out anyway) I managed to get all the new purchases in there.

We've already had to pitch the food that was in the fridge and freezer. It was warm inside when we got home. I mean, barely below room temperature...barely.

Scott's on the phone with the home warranty people.

Ugh.

(You know, this icon is really an odd one to use in regards the refrigerator, since heat is what I'm objecting to in its case.)

...but still not bad. Scott was more productive than I was, actually. Thank you, dear! (Laundry, hand-wash dishes, and vacuuming the upstairs. It is so nice!)

Things I got done: went through a stack of three file boxes upstairs and reduced it to one box of things (the rest are either trash or donation fodder). Also got a small pile of donation fodder that had been sprawled on the floor up and into the two boxes holding donation stuff.

Also went to the farmer's markets - I went to both Sherwood and Oregon City. As expected, not a whole lot of selection (it's early in the year, and the weather's been a brat, too). But there was some. I'm not sure I'll go back to Sherwood. It had an awful lot of flea market / Saturday-Market / artist type stuff which, while lovely, is not what I expect in a farmer's market. Food items and plants were much sparser there than at Oregon City. I think Sherwood had as many booths as Oregon City. It might even have had more. But fewer that promised future relevant. We'll see. I'll probably go to tomorrow's market, too, and that one could outdo both of the others. Who knows? I do know the Lake Oswego market was a nice one last year, but they're not open yet, and who knows, by the time they are these guys will have more options and maybe be their match.

That's about all I got done, though. Oh, and one load of laundry. But I'm in a good mood and fairly relaxed, and I suppose that's a useful thing to accomplish on a weekend, too.

Today, our new desks and table (the desks for the living room, the table for the kitchen area by the phone) were delivered today. Overall, I'm pleased, though they're not perfect. Nothing ever is. On Scott's side, his computer doesn't quite fit in the space due to cable lengths; we need to address that. (It's okay, he just has to raise it up and loses a pull-out shelf. We'll work on that.)

They're not quite the color I wished; instead of being a match for either the built-in wood or the entertainment center, they're kind of between. I like them, they're lovely, but they don't quite go. So now instead of three wood tones in the living room, I have four. But...fixing that would mean removing them and getting them in was a bear. Inclined to leave well enough alone, I will get used to them, I think. It's the new-and-not-totally-perfect. The guy who made them for us (Bob, of B&V Crafts), was very willing to tweak and adjust. When he brought them over, he measured and put in the access points needed for power and such, and did some adjustments to hug the mantel where we were going to put them in.

I think I may ask him to add the drawer to the kitchen table as he offered to, though. I didn't realize the bits that hang down would be there regardless, and I wanted the extra space, not a drawer. If I can't have the extra space, a drawer is fine. And the shelf below that has more space than I realized it would in any case.

He was a little late (he missed the exit), but not too bad. And I counted that as my exercise for the day as hauling around large chunks of solid wood (some of which had to make it into a tight corner, bounded by a writing desk that is not a candidate for frequent moves, needed to not be scratched, and was perilously close) is a bit of work. I was doing the least of the work (I'm not a heavy lifter) in most cases...except a couple really fun ones. What I am is SMALL, so when we had trouble maneuvering, I suggested I simply get in the foot well of the desk and squat, then push the thing up, making it easier to maneuver into place. It worked!

My laptop and desktop are finally in the same place again. First time in ages. I can now chat or post (slowly) while I play WoW, instead of going totally offline. Observation: reading LJ while running my level-24 character through the Arathi Highlands, while now possible, is not wise.

Anyway, it is now time for me to head to bed. There may be pictures of the new desks tomorrow, or not. I've taken them, but whether they will get posted in a timely fashion, I have no idea.

The good book is Maria Snyder's Poison Study which was very, very enjoyable. I've got a hold on the sequel now; since a copy's available, I should have it by maybe Wednesday at the latest. Yay! I want to know what happens next, darnit. ;) Seriously, good book. I enjoyed it.

My car has had two burnt-out bulbs replaced, so now I can see what gear I am shifting into when it is dark, AND I have TWO headlights. Actually, you know, on. And I got the oil changed. Don't worry, that didn't affect the headlights. ;) (Or anything else, in spite of Jiffy Lube's attempts to sell me windshield wipers. Yes, I do need to replace them soon. No, I will not pay more than three times what I should for them, which is what they wanted last time they tried. I didn't even let him quote it at me this time. Yes, they install them for me if I buy theirs. My wipers are snap-out snap-in. Not only can I not mess that up, most six-year-olds couldn't mess that up if actually trying to do it right.)

We have a design approved for the desks in the living room. He's hoping to have them done before Christmas. That would really, really rock. A lot.

We had a celebratory work meal earlier this week. Despite the menu NOT fitting my food issues, I gotta say: ohwow yay. They were very good about tweaking the salad so I could eat something more than lettuce, and the rest of it (well, with the entree I ordered) was mild dairy and I took pills, and wow good food and good company. (And we ran almost an hour over the planned time and everyone was fine with that, too. That rocked.)

No Christmas Shoes song at ALL this year. BLISS.

I have given to the Salvation Army three times this holiday season, after ranting about their bell ringers earlier. I'm amused by this, but none of them broke my "the heck I will pay you to hurt me" policy. The first one, the ringer was just ringing quietly and got spare change. The second one, the ringer had two bells that frankly were one step above cowbells (no, SA, we do not need more cowbell) with plastic handles. And was somehow getting them to ring clear and quiet. He was ringing them in a rhythm pattern, and dancing lightly to it. When I went in. And when I came back out a half hour later. At no time did I see him pause or take a break, and while he wasn't doing anything strenuous, that's a lot to keep up for a full shift. I gave him actual bills. He wasn't saying much to people, barely managed a soft response to those who gave money, seemed quite shy. And yet I will wager he was doing better than many more aggressive, forward ringers, because of how he was going about it.

The last one wasn't a bell ringer; the local grocery store had a nice, quiet sign about sponsored food boxes that would go to the SA for distribution, and the grocery store matched the donations to that purpose at 1/5. So I paid for one.

A snippet of memory from when I was young: we had a big flashlight, red, with I think a black band (not sure) and a big white squishy button that I sometimes had trouble pressing. It had a small bulb and a big reflector (perhaps 4-6 inches across, I think), and used four "D" batteries, and was just huge. I don't remember lugging it with me when I went out to the barn, and yet I know I did. I remember using the little black flashlight and we didn't have that until years later! (I now love maglites, which Dad also liked, but the little LED flashlights are good too. I don't think I need one longer than my forearm these days.)

I went into work for a few hours this morning. Normally I don't work on Fridays, but my boss let me short Monday and Tuesday to find and collect Apple, and go in this morning instead. Work itself went well - I got things done, which is always nice.

Then I headed over to the upholstery place I'd picked, and talked with them about the chair. Mom's chair, I think of it as, because for years she was the one who sat in it - loved it, had it reupholstered, loved it some more. It's dirty and worn again. I threw fits the first time she had it reupholstered. I was still too young to accept that the worn patches meant it had to be redone; I didn't want it different. I feel something of the same now, but if her health had been better, I suspect it might have already been redone again. I did ask them to preserve the back panel for me, though; it's in better shape than the rest and I am hoping I can use it for a bag or a pillow. Now it is a waiting game since they have to order the fabric I picked. It is like enough to what's on there for there to be continuity, for it to feel to me like the same chair, but only that. I like it; a fairly pretty design, with some purple in it, which was not the case in the last one. I think Mom would have liked it. That wasn't a criteria in my selection (which is fortunate, perhaps: this was the only fabric I saw that I truly liked, and I looked at a lot of fabrics - but I really like this one a lot). But even though it wasn't a requirement or even something I sought - I take comfort in the thought that Mom might have liked it.

'Tis the weekend for spending money, I suppose. Or at least thinking about spending money. The man who will probably do our furniture for the living room (two custom pieces to fit exactly in the spaces involved) will be out Sunday afternoon to measure and discuss what will fit style-wise with the other furniture already here.

(Why are we just now adding these? Simple: before, the computer room was upstairs. And this is fine, except I want to spend more time with the cats, and that room's not really the best for opening to them. So if we can make a space for the computers downstairs, I think that is the better answer.)

Then I ran a variety of errands. As I was driving home, I got caught in rush hour traffic and weather. It was worth it for the weather. Pouring rain, big splats, and then for a while hail, lots and lots albeit small. Lovely. And then more rain. Sometimes splats just shy of sleet, sometimes little razor droplets, sometimes gone. Once, I watched a wall of heavy rain that looked like mist slowly cross an intersection toward me, and then actually start falling on the car quite heavily.

There was a double rainbow as I drove along Elligsen, so strong that the bottom one was stunningly bright and visible even in front of the trees near the ground, and the upper one was fully formed, not a partial arc. Stunning. I took some photographs, but they only half-heartedly capture it. Photos are up on Flickr, though.

One small bit of not-ideal, but not a disaster either: first introduction of Babe to Apple, through a cracked door. While Apple was on the bathroom counter, Babe went on her hind legs and they batted paws at each other, quietly, almost playfully. But when Apple came down to the floor and peered out at Babe, Babe went into full yowl-snarl mode. Without any fluffing or much tail-twitching, but she did swat the door a good one. Sigh. We'll see!

Awake. Mostly ready to head out, but don't need to yet. The flight is not until noon.

Yesterday, I finally went to get my hair trimmed, which I have been meaning to do for quite a while (literally months). I always get about the same trim - raise it to waist height, cut it straight (it grows into a V on its own, which I don't care for since I always wear it back-but-loose).

This time, the lady who was there wanted my hair wet. I've had this before, they just damp it down, works fine. She, however, doused it, then squished it into a ball and wrung it dry. Hair places being what they are, I couldn't see this and didn't figure out exactly what she did until she told me later. My hair falls to my butt. The hairs are fine, but the overall is thick because of how many there are. And they tangle easily. It took FOREVER (and some drying with a towel) to get my hair back to where it was brushed out neatly. Argh. But I did get my trim.

Then, I came home and packed. And then I wanted a shower because of the gunk she had put in my hair while trying to get it to behave (something I can achieve, I should note, without gunk at all, but then I don't brush it while wet and I sure as heck don't wring it that way). And the shower...was...cold. Not amused. The pilot light on our hot water heater had gone out. Scott had noticed his shower was cold this morning but had just assumed, I think, that it was because he didn't give it enough time to really warm up. I wish he'd tested it then, we might have had hot water for my shower last night. As it was I could only rinse my hair because I could not stand in that spray. Argh.

He's now trying to arrange to get it lit again. The gas company can do so, but not until Monday, so he's calling the contractor who did an inspection for us on that stuff just last week. They've said they might be able to get someone here today and will call him back and let him know. ETA: They did, and it's already back on. Yay!

Actually, spending the next two nights in a hotel, visiting dormouse_in_tea, sounds like it may save my sanity in addition to giving me the very great joy of finally seeing her and spending time with her again!

Back at work after a four-day weekend, but hey, I survived it, and even got some stuff done. And then we got Scott's car back. It was the fan, jenett - I am SO GLAD. Still not cheap but much better than most possible alternatives, anyway. Once the fan was replaced, the AC was fine again, even. We stopped it shy of actual damage. Then, in a truck borrowed from a friend (hi, Elaine, thank you, Elaine! very much!), we went and got nightstands from City Liquidators that we thought would match our bed and brought them home.

THAT was an adventure. We got there at 10 minutes to when they close, having NOT realized they close at 6 so not allowed adequate time. That's cutting it real close.... Then, we paid, went to the loading dock, and waited while he brought them out. By then it was after 6 and the actual store was closed. And he gets out there and says, hey, check the color on these. Your order gives the item number - and the color - but that color isn't this item number. (Both were copied down from a single label on a single nightstand that was the shade we wanted.) I looked at it and finally said I had no clue, it looked like maybe, but I didn't have my color patch WITH me since I'd just intended to get something already selected. We took them, knowing we could return if we had to, but AIE. The longer we drove, the more certain I was that they were both too light and too red, and we were TOAST.

We got them home, popped one of the box (they come fully set up), deposited it next to the bed...they match. They match SO CLOSE it's astonishing, like they were made to be a set. (They weren't: the knobs on the drawers don't match the bed, but they're close, you have to be looking for it or be very visually-responsive to be bugged by them.) I took some photos but in the light I had it's hard to really see. (The problem in judging color when we picked it up, I think, was seeing it in full sun - light we seldom see the bed in! But they very clearly go together and I can probably get a good photo when there's more daylight involved.)

WHEW.

Then we returned Elaine's truck, which was just super-funny. Scott pulled into her apartment complex, then neatly parked in a space. VERY neatly. The truck is large and he was being careful of the car in the slot to the right, so he was left in his space but still completely in it. He had to back up a little, however...because there are support posts and he was too far forward to open his door. Fixed that, got out, looked at it, and we started laughing. Elaine is, fortunately, tolerant. I say this because I think he had that thing within 3 inches of the posts - I know he had it within 6. She'll have to be careful getting it out. O.o Eeep. Or oops. Or something like that.

WE HAVE NIGHTSTANDS. And one in place. The other is not yet. We have to move the bed first, snug against the one nightstand that is in place, so there's enough room on the far side for the other. And won't that be fun?

The landscaping goes well, although there is little progress. No, seriously. I couldn't figure out how to deal with that back yard and I finally conceded that my available time and list of to-dos were sufficiently small and large (respectively) that I wasn't going to get this done, and called in a landscape designer, right?

We've now found one we're happy with (yay!) at least based on the initial conversation. Her reaction to our back yard was funny. Apparently the contractor who does our maintenance, who referred us to her, didn't warn her about our yard even though he knew about it (he'd cleared the berries out!). It's a bit of a "challenge." Even by her standards, I think, though that's for more reasons than one.

She broke her foot, if I remember right about a week before she came to see us. So she knocked some cost off her fee in return for our gathering the yard measurements and references for her. Why? Because this yard is hard enough with all pieces working, with a broken foot there is NO WAY she would want to scramble around down there. I was paying close attention to MY balance and I didn't have to worry about anything else, and boy is that slope tiring. To get up it again I had to use my legs and feet in ways she couldn't have safely done.

So now we are in waiting mode, to see what she comes up with. I want a way into the lower back yard that doesn't involve broken necks, if possible, so she is looking at hardscaping possibilities first and will go over those with us and with the guy who'd have to install them. Hopefully that'll be feasible and affordable (I use that term loosely!), but we'll see. She does seem to have solutions and alternatives for some of our druthers. (Scott wants a weeping tree. I'm allergic to willow and don't want a large tree, either. She had some ideas.)

Meanwhile, I share a photo looking up at the house from the lower back yard, about a third or half the way between the retaining wall and the creek: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyrielle/496367319/

No, the land behind me is not even, either. And neither is the land off to the right, where the slope that let me get down at ALL is. If it tells you anything, I had Scott hand me the camera over the drop-off once I was down. (I would have done so anyway as we needed to set it down - safer above - until the measuring was done, but in this case if that had not led to it, I'd've done it just to be sure the camera didn't suffer if I went down gracelessly on my butt partway down or otherwise pratfalled. A steep dirt slope with bark mulch over it is SO FUN.)

Edited to add: this is the slope that gives the best access to our yard: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyrielle/496374154/

And this is a view to the south, 'sideways' to the yard so you can see a bit of the front-to-back changes: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyrielle/496407109/