Monday, May 31, 2010

Monday-2:45am

Was a gorgeous day yesterday!
Cooler...
...so could have the windows open all day...
...much to Karma's delight. :)
I headed over to check on Sammy and Annie around 9:30am. I saw Annie peering at me in the window next to the front door as I walked up, but she vanished before I got the door open. I called for her, Sammy showed up to greet me, chatted with him while I set down my bag, and told him I was going to go down to clean their catbox first. I headed downstairs to the laundry room and started to scoop. Sammy came down briefly and I chatted with him. I was just finishing up when I heard the stairs creak behind me! I froze!!
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As I swung around, a groggy Dagan said hello. Scared the living shit out of me!!
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Turned out they decided to wait and leave on Sunday...and forgot to tell me! I said--Sure, and you wait till I've already scooped the cat box! We laughed.
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I scared them, too. Leah was startled awake wondering how kids had gotten in the house. (Confession--I do baby talk animals in a higher voice.) But Dagan (who grew up with me and animals) woke up and said, Why is my mom here?
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So funny! Turned out I stayed for three hours--and Dagan made omelets. Was an unexpected surprise to find them home (almost gave me a heart attack--hehe!) that turned into such a nice morning. And then it was a windows-wide-open day!! :):)

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Sunday-4:45am

Karma stayed out on the porch watching the screen flap in the wind (no bugs), but it got too hot for even my heat lovin' cat, I guess. She didn't ask to go out the rest of the day. Got up to 94 I saw once. Didn't watch the news, so I don't know if it got any higher. Didn't want to know! We stayed inside and cool. Even closed the blinds because the heat seemed to seep right thru the windows!
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I looked for a while for a language translator to add to my blogs. Thought google had one, but when I clicked on the google affiliate translator program it appeared to be for me to translate a page to English? I did find a search box gadget--which I added, even tho I don't know if it works if you don't use the label words on your posts? Haven't tried it yet. And I also added something for subscribing? No clue what it is or how those feeds work, but I see them on other people's blogs. So I figured for the people who are more computer savvy than myself--I added that, too. :) Still looking for a language translator, tho. If anybody knows of a good one and can point me in the right direction...or can explain how to add the google affiliate one to a blog...I'd really appreciate a head's up. ;)
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Spent my good hours catching up online again yesterday. Actually caught up there for a moment--ROFL! Karma wanted an extra, extra long cuddle session yesterday--like she knew. A big old purring cat falling asleep on me--now that's food for my soul! :):)
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Sometime today I am going to go visit with Sammy and Annie. The cold front moved in. 60 degrees right now--very humid. Looks like it rained while I was sleeping. (I made it to 6:30pm last night--whoohoo! Around the clock we go!). Only expected to be in the 70s today--ahh! Especially nice for me as PitaPaseo has no AC. The heater works, tho, and up here that's what's important 9 months of the year. ;) Might be a good day to wash clothes...
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Anyways, I hope you had a great day and another one today for good measure! :):)

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Saturday-11am

Early in the morning it was much cooler yesterday.
Temperature really dropped that night so that I could have the windows open--despite the almost roaring winds.
I'm surprised Karma's ears weren't flattened back--hehe!
She was greatly enjoying her spy position, of course. But it gets very hot during the day and we had to close up early and get the AC going before it warmed up very much. Didn't cool off as much last night, so we had to stay closed up. Predicting lower 90s again today. Sunny and blue skies! :)
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In case any of you notice, I had to switch the comments now to be approved before they will post. Since I stopped the verification process I have been getting spam posts for viagra and porn. So, I am going to see how the approval thing works. I don't like having to go back and hunt them down to delete them from 2007 posts. I found out they are sneaky that way--hehe! This should work. I don't mind deleting them if I can do a simple choice--boom--and be done and not have to hunt them down. :)
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Being as I have been up all night lately, I was curious as to why they would have "Teen Kids News" on at 3:30am? Strange! I'm working my way around the clock, tho. Made it till 4pm yesterday. ;)
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I spent the night last night catching up online, actually. Really got to a lot!! Just didn't feel like making cards. Got going online, was feeling pretty good, and just kept puttering away all during the night and morning. :)
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Got into a conversation with an online friend about those times when life gets you down and you just feel soul weary. I know I have had times in my life where I wondered if I could even keep going. It can be love, money, family, health...we all have those times where we feel dried and withered, you know? The main thing I have learned about that empty feeling over the years is to remember:
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You can feed and water yourself. :):)
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Took me years to stop looking for nourishment and watering from someone or something.
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I'm sure you've heard the saying "food for the soul". Well, I think everybody has those things that feed their soul. Something that can lift their spirits no matter what. Whether it's a little uplift or soaring high--it feeds your soul, you know? Whether it's sleeping without an alarm, sitting alone on a hillside, playing music, completing a task well, holding a baby, chopping wood, learning something new, traveling, music, riding a bike, spending time with someone who always makes us feel better, petting your dog, working on a project, volunteering, sports, meditation, ironing, laughing, exercise, singing, painting, gardening, organizing, reading, baking....it doesn't matter what it is or whether anyone else understands or approves...it is the food for your soul. We all know it when we feel it.
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If we all just went there, did that, practiced that--whatever it is--if we each fed and watered our own souls and took comfort in knowing that we could do our own refueling and how simple it can be...
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...what a wonderful world this could be.
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Well...it already is a wonderful world. :)
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I learned--don't wait for somebody else to feed and water you. Too many people don't know how to feed and water their own souls to be responsible for someone else's, right? ROFL!!
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My wish would be for everybody to feed and water their soul today. If only for a few soul-soothing minutes. :):)

Friday, May 28, 2010

Friday-6:30am

What a beautiful dawn today!

I finally hung the philodendron in the porch.
This morning it is wildly gusty and the plant is being buffeted by the wind--but it looks good out there.
The art table got cleared off--tada! Haven't decided what to fill it up with next. ;)
All the jars were shiny cleaned and Caroline put them back up for me.


Nice to have them back where they belong. Thanks, Caroline! :)
Last night I worked on cards. Funny--I joined StampTV (online) and earlier last evening I took notes on all the recent challenges (I've never participated before). It was only after I finished this card that I realized I had combined the notes from TWO different challenges--ROFL! One challenge was to make a card with red, blue, and yellow (colors I would never think to put together and not sure I like them much) and the other one was to use the shapes--the two rectangles, an oval, and a flower or bow and they show you basically where to place them.
I keep chuckling to myself over it! I wasn't even sure I wanted to actually post anything in the first place and now--so very silly! They'd think I can't read--ROFL! I'll work on them some more this weekend. If I am going to post in a challenge I have till Monday. It's kind of interesting to have a challenge--something to go by.
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Afterwards I made a very simple card...for no reason...just because I loved the papers.
I watched movies during the night while I worked on cards. All were okay. Nothing to rave about, I guess--but good to make cards by--hehe! I watched The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (fanciful), Sherlock Holmes (interesting), and It's Complicated (cute).
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Let's see...I still have some soreness in my cheek. If it flares up again I will call the dentist. I never took any pain pills this month--which felt like a real accomplishment under the circumstances--hehe! No IBS pills, either--and now have quit the acid reflux ones, too. No meds at all right now! Tada!
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Dagan and Leah will be gone over the long weekend. I will pop in on Sammy and Annie on Sunday. My days and nights are still flipped. They always flip back eventually. Teaches me patience, I guess. :)
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I do plan to play around with the www.StampTV.com challenges this weekend. Just fun to try something a little different--whether I actually enter or not. Supposed to be hot and hotter. Mid-80s today and up to 90s the next couple days. I'll have to close up and get the AC on before I go to bed or when it gets too warm in here, whichever comes first. ;)
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Beautiful days, tho, for the holiday. Blue skies and sunny! People may not be able to keep the food on their paper plates, but they won't have to wear jackets or carry umbrellas, that's for sure. On the whole, a pretty decent weekend for remembering our departed. Hope it is a good one for everybody! :):)

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Thursday-9am--Especially For Iggy

So much for sleeping at night. I haven't been able to sleep all night. Oh well. Soon, I hope. Another sunny, hot day ahead.
When I made a trip over to Dagan and Leah's yesterday afternoon I took my life in my hands (what ate friends for, after all) and was snapping pictures blindly from the car...singing "Cones, glorious cones!" since Iggy got that song in my head--hehe!
http://intenseguy.blogspot.com/2010/05/instant-broadway-classics.html
I did get a farm with what looks like a plowed field...just because...
...and all kinds of cones! Normal sized...
...little skinny ones hiding by the semaphore.
And even took some shots of Dagan and Leah's street.

I ran in and picked things up. Gave Sammy the catnip ball that Miss Karma will not pay a lick of attention to anymore...
...and headed back home. This time I got a good picture of these really tall skinny cones I've never noticed before. Of course, until I met Iggy, I hadn't paid much attention to cones--hehe! Not exactly sure what some of these cones are guarding?
More regular ones...
...and the army of huge ones at the intersection!
Coneland!

Even managed to pull off a shot of one of the big boys.
One thing I do know--the orange cones are a sure sign of summer. We only have two seasons up here, ya know--winter and construction. LOL! Having noticed the cornucopia of cones when I went over to watch the movie--I planned ahead this trip and had my camera ready. I hope the orange cone sentries give you a chuckle today. :)
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Caroline came last night. I did get the jars cleaned and such--pictures next time. I am fading away. Nighty-night! :):)

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Wednesday-10:30am

Sammy relaxing.
Dagan checking email after dinner.
Leah making angel food cake from scratch.
Then we started the movie. I think I love Avatar more than Dagan and Leah do. Not that they didn't like it--they did. Just not as much as I do. It was even better in blueray on the bigger TV! :):)
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I forgot the food they were sending home with me--veggies and homemade frozen waffles. So, I will probably run over there today and pic it up. Looks like a beautiful day!
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I was so tired (hadn't slept long the last couple times during the day) that I was in bed and slept during the night--tada! Hurray! Caroline called and she is coming over at 8:30pm tonight to clean. That will throw Miss Karma for a loop--hehe!
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I just had a comment from a man in Vietnam on a youtube video and realized I have had 3,388 hits on how to sew on the back cover of a coptic stitch journal! Wow!! Only three comments on it--which only goes to prove that the vast majority of people are lurkers like me--ROFL! :)
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On this hot day...going to make a run over to Dagan and Leah's for the veggies and finally clean off all the jars from the kitchen so that maybe Caroline could put them all back up there for me tonight. That sounds like a plan. ;)

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Tuesday-8am

I don't know why I saved this odd watercolor I did umpteen years ago when I had my first watercolor class, but I did. I have a few other small practice pieces that I found when I was digging around in those satchels the other day. I needed a card for a male friend, so I mounted this last night. Everything else I had was too girly--hehe!
I'll probably make some more cards with the old watercolor pieces, too. What the heck.
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I tried to catch Karma napping with her head on the leg of my reader's table but I was charging the battery for the camera and by the time I pulled it out of the charger and got the camera ready...
...I woke her up and that was that. :)
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I talked to Caroline and she now knows that Dagan and Leah switched our night from Wednesday to Tuesday nights. Caroline had her first day on her job with the democrats yesterday. She has no clue what her hours will be and what night she can come by to clean. I told her I'm not worried and she can just work at the new job a few days and let me know. I'm the one who is home all the time. We can figure it out. She'll call me in a day or so. I'm adaptable. :)
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Tonight I am actually going over to Dagan and Leah's instead of them coming over here. They are making dinner and we are going to watch....Avatar!! Yes! I am going to watch it again on their huge TV with blueray!! Awesome! It was that good that I am looking forward to seeing it again tonight! TaDa!!
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Speaking of...I guess I need to get some sleep today then, don't I? It is so weird when my days and nights are flipped. That's why I figured I'd write now before I went to bed. Not sure I'd have time tonight after I get up--whenever that will be. Sleep is always an even more questionable accomplishment during the daytime. ;)
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Anyways, right now the sky is blue, the sun is out, and it is supposed to be around 80 degrees again today. The rain has passed and the AC will be on. Nighty-night! ;)

Monday, May 24, 2010

Monday-5pm

87 degrees. Thank goodness for whoever invented the air conditioner!
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Because it got hot fast, we've had storms passing thru. Hen egg to baseball size hail west of us and there's a huge area tornado watch till 10pm--including Fargo. But it doesn't look bad here right now at all. Sun trying to break thru the clouds that have lightened up considerably. But it's very windy and we have more storms coming our way, I guess--another round. We've been very lucky, I guess. I should probably finally go move PitaPaseo into the garage. She's has several good rain washes--hehe!
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Well--Lost...???
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Spoiler alert! Don't read any further if you haven't seen it yet and don't want to know.
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I am still not sure what I think about it and I'm not even sure I'm glad I taped it. (But I will probably watch it again later on--aftr I mill on it for a while.) I think there will be a lot of people upset because they didn't tie together all the craziness of The Island, the Dharma Initiative...well, none of all the craziness and clues over the last six years. They were in a purgatory type place, so I guess they didn't think they had to? Funny. I was pretty convinced they were in purgatory until they started the sideways lives and all the mythology. Then I got so totally confused...and convinced I was mistaken. Excited and hoped it would be explained some other way since they promised to tie up all the ends. Nope! I wanted to be wrong, because the whole 6 years being a kind of "dead and in limbo" thing did seem like a cop out--and even moreso when you could take it ALL as only in Jack's head if you wanted to. That said--they did deal with the emotional resolution of many of the characters (but not all). I think there will be more people upset over this ending than with The Sopranos finale--hehe! I am still milling on it. They left soooo many unanswered questions--even if it was a purgatory type answer in the end. Even knowing that--many things still make no sense to me. And going back and watching the entire series knowing that--wouldn't help, you know. Kind of like back when Dallas was just a dream for a year or whatever it was. Oh well.
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Avatar, on the other hand, was absolutely awesome!!!
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Disabled Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) travels to planet Pandora to become an avatar, ingratiate himself with the natives and help Americans mine lucrative unobtainium. But he finds himself in an interstellar conflict after falling for Na'vi warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). James Cameron writes and directs this Golden Globe-winning CGI odyssey that has broken box office records. Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang co-star.
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Even tho I didn't see it in 3D (which-sorry-I dislike because it is so hard for people with glasses to watch with those 3D glasses you have to put over your regular glasses)--it was amazing! It made me remember how I felt when I watched Star Wars for the first time. I actually clapped and startled Miss Karma with my hooting! It brought tears and triumph--hate and love. You want to live on Pandora! It was the best movie I have seen in a long time. AND it had a message, too! I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen it, so I'll leave it at that. :):):)
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Well, I guess I really should go move the car. :)

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Sunday-5:15pm

While I slept, the sun returned! Nice! I puttered with leftover card stuff during the night. These four cards are recycled cards. Re-made from cards I have received in the past. You just take the fronts of a card you get and put it on fresh cardstock to make a "new" recycled card.
And these are from a day I was playing around with colored markers, mister, and some rubber stamps.
I did finally watch one of the movies from Netflix--Crazy Heart.
When reporter Jean Craddock (Oscar nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal) interviews Bad Blake (Oscar winner Jeff Bridges) -- an alcoholic, seen-better-days country music legend -- they connect, and the hard-living crooner sees a possible saving grace in a life with Jean and her young son. But can he leave behind an existence playing in the shadow of Tommy (Colin Farrell), the upstart kid he once mentored? Robert Duvall produces and co-stars.
Karma slept on my computer chair...
...using the hard plastic arm as a pillow, of course.
Anyways, Jeff Bridges was totally convincing as the aging, alcoholic singer. I can see why he won the oscar. You get caught up in just watching him and watching him...almost like you can't help but look at a car accident as you drive by...but you still hope he can turn his life around, you know? I won't tell you what happens. All I can say is I was caught up in Bad's life till the last frame of the movie.
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The movie reminded me of the atmosphere and storyline of The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke. Older performer, addicted, and a last chance type of situation. Both movies were really good and were presented with an unflinching honesty.
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Tonight--the big Lost finale is on! I'm planning to watch and also tape--as I know it is so confusing I might want to watch it again to understand it--hehe! And then I have Avatar to watch from Netflix. Anxious to see what this other world is like with the blue people. From what little I've heard, it sounds like it could be my kind of place--hehe!
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Hope you had a good weekend. :)

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Saturday-5pm

Looks nothing like this today.
Been raining, dark, and blowing like crazy. The dryer flap has pounded off and on against the building as it shook--and yet I was able to sleep all day fairly well. :)
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Was puttering about at the craft table during the night.
I got this free kit in the mail a few years back--incentive to attempt to get me to join some card making club. They send you all the parts and you put the cards together. I finally got the five cards together from my free kit.
They're nice and all that--but just taping and gluing parts together doesn't make them "handmade" to me. I can't remember the name of the company--been too long and it didn't say on the card parts anywhere. Felt good to finally make them, tho. :)
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I closed my Twitter account. Just never used it, really. I barely get to facebook, either--so I miss a lot of things people post. Especially since they changed things. Still don't understand the difference between "top news" and "most recent" when a lot of the same things show up on both of them?
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Oh--tried the 7-grain Kashi crackers. I need a big glass of water or something nearby to eat Kashi goods, I guess. They are, shall we say, very dry. For a Swede who is used to everything being covered with butter or sauce, I could barely swallow them without much liquid assistance--hehe! Not that they taste bad. They don't have a lot of taste, actually. But maybe other kinds will taste better--I have a few to pick from. The cookies were easier to swallow and had some taste to them--hehe! Good thing I bought the crackers for more medicinal reasons--ROFL! Kashi (so far) is anything but melt in your mouth bake goods.
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Well, on this wet evening I have a couple movies from Netflix--some card leftover parts to putter with--and am working on the third book for Caroline to take back home with her when she comes next week. I'll probably continue to try to catch up a little online, too--the ongoing, endless process--hehe! Funny--can't imagine life without the Internet anymore.
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Have a good weekend! :):)

Friday, May 21, 2010

Friday-4:15pm

I didn't get to sleep until morning, but I slept much better and mouth isn't as bad--knock on wood!

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I forgot to show you...bought Karma something else at the natural pet store--a catnip ball.
She licked it...
...tried to bite it...
...hunkered over it...
...recaptured it when it tried to roll away...
...and hasn't paid a bit of attention to it since that first night--ROFL!
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Today I'm just appreciating less mouth pain, the cooler weather (71 right now), and getting the clothes washed. :):)