Old Friends

Heard from someone tonite I haven't talked to in around a year.

It was good to hear from her and get the chance to vent on something that she totally gets.

Awesome.

Damn I'm Crude

I realized here in July that I was editing myself here on my blog to try to keep from offending anyone. I thought about it for a while and I'm going to keep details to myself but I'm not going to censor who I am anymore. It took this long to come to that point.

Watch out world, here I am.

Vote!!

You'd better have voted. Otherwise? I will hear no bitching from you.

Walking

Lots of walking and working. Hubby came to visit last week - it was really nice to see him. I wish we could be together more often but such is life.


Walking to Rivendell - 179 miles. Camp in western part of marches. (3rd day from Bree.)

Walking...

Walking to Rivendell - 5 miles today - total 15 miles.

Ooph. And I feel it. Mother's Day. And we went to lunch. And planted flowers. And did yard work. And worked on the clogged drain. And on, and on, and on.

I'm going to bed now, G'nite.

"All knowledge is worth having."
- Anafiel no Delauney,
Kushiel's Dart

Miss Marple!

Mystery! has been playing Miss Marple mysteries. I don't know the actresses' name but she is a riot.


Walking to Rivendell - 10 miles. (Stop in a birch grove. Eat a frugal supper.)

Walking to Rivendell

From Bag End to Rivendell - 458 miles (from the Eowyn Challenge Site.)

Progress so far with 3 days under my belt....not much. BUT I have made it to Tookland.

Walking to Rivendell - 5.5 miles.

The Office?

Not that funny.
PBS?
Infinitely interesting for some odd reason. Been watching too much Miss Marple on Mystery!

GAH!!

I'm getting old. *sigh*

Crash Into You

Yoga nearly every day = muscles you never knew you had.

That is all.

Some days it's all about the reading

There are days when it is nice to do nothing but read a good book. And listening to some good authors discuss their business and their books. Nice.

Sickness

I truly hate being sick. The hacking, nose blowing, throwing-upness. Blech.

Lots of fluids, lots of t.v. and lots of medicine later I'm starting to feel better. I received the expansion set for my game so I'm going to get that going here in a minute, but first a little Dexter. That is one twisted show.

Something Musically Cool

Gotta love WoW

The Wheel has Turned

And the fantasy world is a little poorer this week. James Rigney, Jr. - pen name Robert Jordan - passed on from this world to the next on Sunday. I've read quite a few tributes, posts, blogs and remembrances. They all point out to me that this world has lost not just a good writer but a good man.

"And there are never any words except 'The light shine on you, and the Creator shelter you. The last embrace of the mother welcome you home.'"
-Loial, The Great Hunt pg. 178

An Extraordinary Author

In the whirlwind of packing and family stress and drama, I had totally forgotten that I had won a contest on Paperback Writer's blog. The package came today. It had a neat tote bag that Mom thought was extremely cute (and so did I) various and sundry little surprises, more books that you can shake a stick at (Wabi Sabi for Writers, Tied to the Tracks, The Spooky Art, Soul Song, and several others) and these.






They were signed.

I did a little dance around the living room and squealed like a teenage girl at a boy band concert. My husband thinks I'm weird now.

What I don't think I could ever express to the author is how much this thrills me. I've never owned a book signed just for me. She troubled herself sending this to me (USPS instead of UPS because of the moving issue) and she didn't have to. I've never thought that I could win anything like this. I didn't think I was worth the trouble. Granted, this was sheer luck of the draw - but still...

I needed to hear/receive something positive. And I did.

And for the first time in more months than I want to think about, I want to write.

That is inspiration.

Thanks, PBW.

200

200 posts.

I didn't think I'd make it this far. I started out thinking that this blogging trip was just a fad I was going through. Guess not.

I surfed today and found all kinds of interesting things: Zube Girl had her a baby girl : ) , Dooce is going crazy with the contractors in her house, Rad Fanny is getting married and Jay at Kill the Goat is having her some rough life moments right now. I don't know these girls in real life and I wouldn't since they are spread over half the globe but if I could? Oh yes I would. The Nets bring the most interesting people to my attention and even if I'm not spreading the love and commenting like a fool, (which would require a NAME or something - I'm such a chicken sh*t) I'm interested in their stories, the real and the poetical.

You gals rock. I wish I could write about my life as half as well as you all do.

Stupid Trains

As I'm up two hours before my alarm is supposed to go off, I thought I'd take the time to stop by and say hello. I'm not sure what the engineers don't get about leaving running trains with noisy ass air compressors running RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE but I'm sure breakfast at Dennys doesn't take 2 hours and counting. I'd mind less if they (all 6 of them) were on the far side of the three tracks in front of my house or there were some train cars between me and them.

I think what really bothers me is the fact that they aren't hooked to anything. There's just 6 engines sitting down here running. Instead of parked behind the dairy plant a block away. Or better yet, downtown at the offices for these bastards. Since the tracks run right by there.

P.S. - That's the view from my living room with the door open. Spectacular isn't it?

#49

All kinds of interesting and uninteresting but time consuming things have been going on lately, so pardon my absence.

The Secret Life of Houdini - by Kalush and Sloman

Houdini as spy. His life, his love, and what may have been his real job. Fascinating. More info and footnotes at : www.conjuringarts.org .

Actually I just picked up the book to begin with because I thought it was a bio of Houdini and I think he's cool.

The Trip to Hell was Wonderful

Well, I was sick for two weeks. It was completely boring. I worked, I went home, I slept, I worked. That puts us up to nearly last week. And then? The hot water heater sprung a leak. So there was emergency house cleaning because I'd been a slob for two weeks so the repairmen could actually get through the house. *Sigh* I need a vacation from my time off.

My sister got accepted to GRADUATE SCHOOL. And she called and left a VERY long and EXCITED message on my phone. If I could translate what she said into print, there would be lots of CAPS. Way to go!

My Stepmother spent the weekend at my mom's with her two boys (long convoluted story) while hoping the police could catch up with my dad to serve him with a restraining order. The boys had fun and were not excited about going back but it's all up to the paperwork. We've (mom and I) done what we can, but being able to go to the appointments and all the red tape is what's left.

Hmmm, oh and my hubby wished me Happy Valentines Day with flowers and a balloon. Twice in a one month time span. Freaky, but I'm not complaining.

It seems to have been a very busy two weeks and hopefully the next trip I take I'll remember to get the pictures for the slideshow.

'Twas the night before Christmas

And all through the house
The only thing stirring was the computer mouse.

The stockings were scattered hither and there
And I was desperately hoping no one would be here.

The cat was all snuggled up in his bed
With visions of kibbles going 'round in his head.

And Hubby in his boxers and I in my shirt
Were gaming away and feeling quite pert.

When out in the yard there arose such a clatter
I jumped from my chair to see what was a matter.

Away to the door I ran like the Flash
Yanked open the sucker and gave my foot a good bash.

The moon reflected off the tarp like Canadian snow
Which gave off a good glare to see what was below.

When, what to my disbelieving eyes should appear
But one lazy old tom gorging on leftover beer.

I wandered back in the house with aplomb
And I muttered about tossing some f-bombs.

I shreiked in fright scaring hubby a bit
Realizing that I'd forgotten St. Nick.

You see, he was coming and the house was a mess
It seemed that my life was destined for stress.

I scoured and cleaned, washing dishes like mad
Hoping hubby would jump up and help just a tad.

He was gaming away, lost in the WarCraft
And I told my mom this and she totally laughed,"

You know the young man is oblivious to
Any cleaning or house chores that you need to do."

I continued my mission, making everything neat
And definitely taking time for a treat.

Finally the house was well scoured and cleaned
And I passed out on the couch, listening to the clicking.

The next morning the stockings were stuffed clear up full
And the tree was finally found under the packages and yanked out with a good pull.

We picked up the papers, hauling out the trash with shear might
and at the bottom of the pile a note was located that made everything all right.

"Merry Christmas to all and To All A GOOD NIGHT."