Best Family Vacation EVER

What to say about this year's ASKR?(Who knows what number we're on with the weddings and graduations counting for some of the last few years.)What to say about this gathering; only that it was, quite possibly, THE. BEST. EVER!
And all the credit for the success goes to Rocketgirl and Floyd:For the space - we ALL slept in their house and no one died, which is the first miracle of the week; for the fun - we had a keg:A keg of root beer! It was spectacular.We saw CircusWorld!:We swam:We had a surprise party for Gamma and MusicMan's 40th wedding anniversary:With an original song and slide show.
There was 4th of July sparklers:A root beer tasting contest:We ate:We talked, we shopped:We played a lot of Sporcle, we caught up, discussed life, the universe and everything.And on Thursday we dispursed for points near and far.
It was hot, yes, but also the most relaxing vacation of our married life.

This is me and THANK YOU Rocketgirl and Floyd!!

Avoiding The Hairy One

What's the phrase; best laid plans of mice and Jane...
Yesterday morning - SUPER early, again - we departed from The Jungle for The Land of Cheese and all of Tarzan's family. ATL was nice enough to drive us to the airport so we didn't have to park the car at the the airport for a week or get up even earlier for the crazy shuttle people. Things were fairly normal with ticketing and security - no one even paused with my electrical taped purse, so score one there - and boarding. It was a lame airline with no food, not even peanuts, so I slept as much as I could, in the middle seat, not next to Tarzan.
We were starting our approach into The Hairy Airport when the pilot came on and told us a thunderstorm had closed all runways for at least an hour. We were low on fuel and because of the MEDICAL EMERGENCY (This was the first I had heard of anything. Apparently a chick fainted and was still dizzy when she got up so they were calling in the EMTs) we were diverting to the airport in FootballTown, just north. Because of the storm, and all the gate closurs, anyone meeting a connecting flight should be in time. We were supposed to have a lengthy layover and then catch a small plane to the small airport nearer to Rocketgirl and Floyd's house.
Hopefully the storm would pass quick, we'd get the sick chick off the plane and get back on schedule quickly.
We landed, the emergency personnel got their client off the plane and we waited for the refueling.
A few people were actully headed for FootballTown so they disembarked.
The pilot came on to say it would be at least another hour before we had any news out of Hairy, so sit tight and have another glass of water.
Tarzan got on the phone with family to see what they thought and before the conversation was done Floyd was on the road to pick us up. (We did not know it was a three hour drive. I am in awe of that man.)
So we disembarked, met up with Floyd, drive back his and Rocketgirl's house and hung out with family while the airport sorted stuff out.
Round about 9:30 local time last night, Tarzan and his father went to get our only checked bag as it had had to make the original scheduled trip. Late, to be sure, but all our stuff was there and I don't think we inconvenienced anyone too much.
Except Floyd.
We'll have to buy him a root beer or four to make it up to him.

This is me and we're here.

Isn't Exactly Gucci...

In preparation for our trip to see Tarzan's family tomorrow - TOMORROW!! - I pulled out my travelling "purse" - which is to say, the slightly undersized duffel bag I use as my 'personal item' on the airplane. I love it because it is roomy, with enough pockets to separate all my stuff - I'm neurotic, I admit it - but when less than jammed full, it doesn't collapse on itself and still looks good.
However, after many moons of use, the handles were starting to fray:
I dislike when one part wears out when the rest of the item still works fine:
So I decided to see if I could fix it. I looked through our many (i.e. two) types of industrial type tapes (duct and electrical) and settled on the electrical for a few reasons:

1. It is strong and flexible
2. It lays flat and smooth
3. I had a lot of it
4. It matched the color of my shoulder bag

What I did was select some lightweight cardboard. Like unto a cereal box and cut two strips per handle: Then I tacked it in place, one piece on either side: And wound the electrical tape around from one end to the other:Voila! Smooth, reinforced, flexible, consistant handle:
This is me, happy to be able to smuggle a small child onto the plane in my bag again.

Post Office Woes

I think part of the reason it is such a hassle to go to the post office - the long lines, the indeterminant number of pieces of paper one has to fill out, in triplicate, the correct way, the yelling from the staff, the boxes, the grafitti, the weird smell, the flashes from the passport station - is all so that when you finally get to the window, with all the correct papers in the correct order, you will pay whatever they ask, just so you can get the ordeal over with and not get sent back to the end of the line to start again with new papers and a new way to fill them out.


This is me, and I made the trip to the end of the line three times today. Not a stellar recommendation.

Our Summer Plans

With the news of Tarzan's job resolved, we turn our attention towards the summer plans.
And it's going to be a PAR-TAY!
Friday we have tickets for a baseball game, and then next Sunday, we leave for an entre week in The Land Of Cheese, at Rocketgirl's house with all of Tarzan's family, before his parents leave for a year in the Orient.
Much fun is planned.
When we get home from that Tarzan has summer school and regular work all around before RHM comes for a weekend of excitement and after she's goes home, we're off again for BHB's wedding.

This is me and before I know it, it's going to be Christmas.

Found On The Table

It struck me as highly amusing that one of the items donated to the LDS church sponsored swap meet this evening was a Budweiser labeled bottle opener...

This is me and that's how we roll?

At Least Until Next Year

As you may recall, Tarzan got the RIF notice from his school district earlier this year. And despite the dour mood on the radio - thank you NPR - and among other departments that have been reduced, Tarzan has been remarkably upbeat. He's right; whatever will be, will be and we're prepared either way.
The good news however, is that the school district has contrived some deal with the unions and the state to allow nearly all of the teachers, librarians, counselors and maintenance staff to come back in the fall.
Which means, for the second year in a row, Tarzan's job has been saved. The school year is getting cut a whole week short but I'll be honest, there are very few to whom five days will make a difference.
Additionally, the Academic Decathlon funds have been "found" somewhere. It was amusing to hear the uproar when the program was threatened. Our state, and for the last 4 years, our district, has won the National Academic Decathlon Championship.
The buzz was, 'why would they cancel the one program in the state that was working?'
Well, they aren't, and that means Tarzan has his other job as well. We'll be back teaching, chauffeuring, cajoling, baking cookies and herding the teenagers again in a few weeks. But it's a good thing and we're happy for that too.

This is me and this is getting silly.

Couch Cover

It's not like an HGTV make-over or anything, but we finally updated our sad, couch slipcover:For a nicer, new one:The bonus of it all is that we can use the same throw pillows.

This is me and it looks better now.

I Held My Tongue

As part of this job, working for Tarzan's Aunt Richie, I have been asked to take one of her granddaughters - making her my second cousin I think...by marriage? - on her college tours. Aunt Richie is not able to walk college campuses like she once was and driving places outside of her neighborhood make her nervous.
Enter me.
We have been to a few this summer, but today's was truly memorable.
Let me preface this with; it has been a while, but I remember what college was like and I remember my presentation style and I know what a big deal it was to have a job and the insecurity of almost-but-not-quite-being an adult.
So I sympathize with our tour guide, I really do.
But honey, there are more descriptive words in the English vocabulary than 'cool,' 'fun' and 'awesome.'
Don't tell us you are a junior and still haven't picked a major.
Don't tell the parents there that their kids are going to break the law when they move in. It might be true but don't tell them straight out.
Next, know your own campus. It does not bode well to get lost on your own school grounds.
Lastly, do not interrupt your scripted blurb - the only one that was actually informative - to comment on the sweater of one of the tourees.

This is me and I could have done a better job without knowing a thing about the school.

To-Do List

Do you ever put 'shower' and 'brush teeth' on your to-do list, just so you can cross something off?

This is me and just one of those weeks.

Last One

Thursday, Tarzan, ATL and I ducked out of work early and drove three hours to see my baby brother, LBO, graduate from high school: I say, without the slightest hint of self importance, that I have been at every one of my eight siblings' high school graduations. And I also say, I have been to better organized events.
The parking was atrocious and despite having tickets and a camera with 18x optical zoom, this is the best picture we could get of LBO's the trip across the stage:Stupid balloon arch.Fortunately, there was much confetti, fireworks and dancing afterwards:Proud parents:Sisters:Manly handshake:Congratulations LBO!
This is me not having to go to another high school graduation ever. I figure by the time the nieces and nephews graduate, we can all Skype in or something.

To My Tree Doctor

Dear Tree Doctor;
I have a book that explains fruit tree care and it says to prune my apricot tree in the fall after all the leaves come off and to remove all the suckers. It has diagrams of the Y-shape I am supposed to utilize and mentions to not let any branches point downward or off the bottom of another branch. Then it says to fertilize the tree shortly after and in the spring I should get leaves, blossoms and eventually fruit.I did all the trimming and fertilizing and the tree did put out leaves and blossoms, in fact, many blossoms this year:But it didn't stop there, all the blossoms fell off and the tree is growing out of control:How do I make the tree put the spring effort into making fruit and not into making more branches?Thank you for your assistance.
This is me, respectfully Jane.

Almost Time

I have to wonder how farmers do it; the waiting until the fruit is really ripe and not picking it too soon.
But also not wating too long and having it rot on the vine/tree.
I am one of the former I think, rather than the latter. I've been hovering over the blackberry vines in the back yard and have already eaten three (okay five) that are not quite ripe yet, because I'm too anxious. They were darker than these:There are a lot (relatively speaking) this year:I'm so excited. And there's more to come. The bees are out and loving the blossoms:But I don't know if they will all be ripe at approximately the same time, so I might end up eating them by twos and threes, as they turn black.

This is me with no patience in the garden either.

I Double Dare You

I dare you...no.
I double dog dare you to find something more precious than this:Sleeping.
Baby.
Hummingbirds.
Seriously.
On a wavy, low hanging branch in Aunt Richie's back yard.
For reals.

This is me and sometimes the day does not suck.

Sherlock

What is with British television? And how do three episodes make a season in any sense of the word?
Tarzan, ATL and I are watching the Masterpiece Mystery series Sherlock and it is pretty dang good. The actor playing Sherlock - pretty important part obvi - is amazingly good. I would not saddle my child with a name like Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch but he does a remarkable job with the part. His script must be four times the size of anyone else's. And I like his hair much better in the show than in real life. The writing is excellent and the updating of the scenes to include television and cell phones (mobiles, sorry) but not lose the integrity of the original stories is impressive.
Pretty dang good, but such a very small number of episodes.
Yes, each episode is an hour and a half long but even then, it's not an average viewing season.

This is me; I need more Sherlock!

Spectacular

I am not famous or cool enough to get endorsements so when I mention a product on this page, know that I had to buy it for myself and it is REALLY good.
Today's featured substance: Krazy Glue.
It seems to be a different sort of Krazy Glue from my childhood. Maybe I'm just not remembering it correctly but the stuff I used today came out of the tube like water and yet glued together the broken pieces of a really heavy object in less than 5 minutes.
So amazing. It's like invisible duct tape; sticking things that should be stuck together but aren't.

This is me gluing stuff.

If, By Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!

This is me and all those who wish to run for office should study this.

Swinging Good Time

Same Saturday, after we went to the Renaissance Fair...e, we took some of the kids from Tarzan's high school out to a ballroom dance club. They were really excited about learning to swing dance for their high school musical and Tarzan had a really good time teaching them, so this was a huge thing for them all.What amazed me was the difference between these kids who wanted to learn; their attitude - yes, they were teenagers, but they came and they participated, they danced, they didn't say no, no matter who asked, they tried - and some others that didn't. We taught the church kids the same dance style and we had to drag them kicking and screaming the whole way and they ran as soon as they could.I'll take the ones who want to learn every time:
This is me, goin' dancing.

Renaissance Faire

On Saturday last, Tarzan and I went to the local Renaissance Fair...e. He's been a few times before - a fact I did not know, nor predict - but I have never been so we took an excursion:
It was interesting to say the least.We watched the falconry show, which was really fascinating and amusing. The guy had two owls: A hawk:And a vulture:Which, you might not suspect, was really funny. I don't know if it was part of the routine or just a vulture with a mind of it's own. Still, it was amusing watching it try and route out hidden turkey legs from the bleachers. I ate mine after the show was over:We saw the joust:



Hilarious because it's grown men with bigger toys and real horses acting like little boys in the back yard. I wonder if this is something I would have done if I had more stage prescence and less desire to be clothed...The costumes were perhaps the most diverse I have ever seen anywhere, and that includes Halloween. From full on Renaissance stuff:Through I don't even know what:Some of them were really elaborate, some were made up out of people's closets and some were just weird. Still, it was very interesting and with more time to plan, and longer to stay, I'd go again.

This is me and we went to the Fair...e.

Morning

I saw this on my way up the hill to Aunt Richie's house today:
Small and simple things.

This is me, pleased.

NPR

Tarzan has made a few comments over the years about my lack of knowledge regarding current events. I can't say that he's wrong entirely, but the news makes me so mad most of the time, and if it's really good stuff it shows up on The Daily Show. But the last time he borrowed my car he left the station on NPR; it was a decent piece so I left it and then he and I chatted about it at dinner that night and that snowballed so now I listen to NPR all the time. I am more informed for sure and find I can talk to other people about current events and sound quasi-intelligent. It hasn't made me any less mad though.
Two discussions in the last few days in particular make me want to bite someone.

• The first bit I heard on the way home one day was about how some Silicon Valley employees are wearing hoodies in a show of solidarity after the whole debacle in the news about the kid who got shot by the Neighborhood Watch guy. It's terrible that the kid is dead and that the guy has to live with a death of a teenager but I don't know that it was racially motivated. If I see a person in a hoodie, shading the face, in the dark, slouching down the street, I'm gonna be more inclined to think it's a thug - no matter the color of their skin - than if I see a kid on the sidewalk, in the daylight, with a designer brand, pressed hoodie on, no matter the color of their skin. Situation and circumstance plays a part in these incidents as well. Location, location, location.


• The second piece has to do with a cover of Time magazine about attached parenting. Despite the hideous picture - which I didn't see until just now - my first concern after listening to the guest describe what the group is all about was "just how is that different from what my parents did?" If, as they spokesperson kept saying, their emphasis is on connection between parent and child, talking to the kid, touching, cuddling, eating with and spending time with young ones, I still don't know how that is different from what my own mother and father did. Why do we need a whole new label and 'movement' about it? And the NPR host kept trying to get the guest to specify how her group was different than 'regular' parenting and she couldn't, or wouldn't. The only differences I see are the extreme cases; the nursing until the child goes to kindergarten, or the one caller who still co-sleeps with her son and he's 9. It broke up her marriage because the husband didn't want to share his wife with his son. Other than the weird stuff, it sounds like Parenting 101. Why the big to-do about it?

This is me, better informed but not happy about it.

I'd Be More Excited To Vote

It's a telling sign of the state of affairs when George Clooney is mentioned more times than President Obama in the ads for the political fundraiser that's going on tonight. It's at Geroge's house, true, but it's Obama's campaign they're meeting to finance.

This is me and I'd vote for George. Prettiest president EVER.

Stomachs Are Weird

The stomach flu stinks.
At least that's what I hope this is - and isn't THAT a weird statement to make - because otherwise I can't make pizza ever, ever again.


This is me trying not to vomit.

Invested

I admit to a bit of an obsession with Law & Order. I used to watch all the iterations but it became too much for the DVR so I had to cut. Jerry Orbach passed away, so the original could go and then Vincent d'Onofrio reduced his air time on Criminal Intent and SVU was my favorite anyway, mostly because of Mariska Hargitay and, until recently, Christopher Maloni. (Who's movie career is so demanding that he can give up the bread and butter that is Law & Order?)
All of this is the wind-up to tell you I think it stinks that Detective Benson and David Haden had to break up after only four episodes. I get that he's contracted for only four appearances - so far - but does the romance have to be that speedy? In one episode he's promising to not go anywhere and the next they're over because he's head of the committee to oversee her case files. And after all the promos saying Harry Connick Jr. was coming it was barely a blip in the 34 episodes I had on the DVR. (They're all gone now, I watched a lot waiting for him to show up.)
So much for TV promises.

This is me, a little disappointed.

Weird Dream #40

I dreamed I was on a basketball team and though I couldn't dribble, or pass, or really anything at all, I could make a basket from anywhere on the floor. Every time, no problem. Because of this I was always allowed to play but the opposing team kept trying to sabotage the ball, filling it with rocks and this really heavy white powder so I couldn't throw it. It didn't work because I would feel the difference and tell the referee and they would lose a point.
Then the game dissolved into a dinner of sorts, but there weren't any tables or chairs and I was still wearing my basketball uniform and the oldest son (he's 19) of one of the families from church was there and he proceeded to make a public apology about something, asking us all to forgive him and promising to try harder (at what I do not know) then as we were proceeding into dinner (that's right, it was in another room) he slung his arm around my neck and proceeded to kiss my forehead, like a father would, except he did it a couple of times on the way to dinner.

This is me; would they even take my brain if I donated it to science?

The Devil Wears Prada

It doesn't happen often. In fact, never before.
I like books and I like movies but I usually don't like when one becomes the other. And I'll tell you why. The very nature of books, printed words, all the thoughts and feelings being laid out, the imagery taking place in the mind of the reader, is altered when put on a screen - big or small - and some of what I may or may not have thought is lost.
This is not to say there are not some really well done book to movie adaptations. True to the spirit of the story without being too literal and those I can respect. (The Hunger Games anyone, anyone?)
But it's very rare when I find a movie that I like BETTER than the book from which it was adapted.
And The Devil Wears Prada is that one exception. I just finished reading the book and I have to say, I don't like it nearly as much as the movie. This is not because I saw the movie first, I've done that before (The Firm and The Lord of the Rings trilogy - don't shoot, I know, it's a classic.) and even with the imagery preset in my mind, the books were much more thorough and well done.
In the case of The Devil Wears Prada, the book, I didn't like the main character, which makes it hard to enjoy, because I'm pretty sure we're supposed to sympathize with her. She's a chain smoker, which might not matter to others but I don't like it in a person and she doesn't have the integrity they give to Anne Hathaway's version in the movie. Also, the evil boss is not so evil in the book, just demanding and mean. She never asks the impossible, as is suggested in the movie, just to her exacting specifications. Andy's boyfriend in the movie is a nice well-adjusted guy, in the book he's a holier-than-thou, weak, little man. Nigel, played by Stanley Tucci - who I LOVE - in the movie is actually an amalgamation of three characters from the book and the impact of his influence on Andy is diluted. The only character that carried over faithfully from print to film was the first assistant, Emily, and that was okay because I liked her. In both places.
There are other differences, obviously, but the it's mainly that Andy is not a nice or good person in the book and her lack of principles makes it had to be on her side.
So score a few zillion for the written word and one for the big screen.

This is me and that's what I thought.

Work Vibe

My work situation is not the usual sort of work situation.
Firstly, I work for and with family, so I know and care about all the people involved in the conversations I overhear. It's harder to maintain the professional distance that one needs as a personal assistant when I find out someone is sleeping with someone they're not married to, or so-an-so has cancer. But that's not what this is about.This is about the nieghborhood in which I work. It's a little bit infamous, a little bit fancy looking and it has a bit of a reputation. Aaaaand some odd sights.There are large numbers of vans with the roofs cut off tooling around, taking pictures of houses and hedges - albeit very nice houses and hedges:And nice pools and pool houses:These same vans of tourists take pictures of a police officer with a pulled over car JUST IN CASE it's a famous person getting a ticket. When the cynical drivers of the vans aren't schlepping tourists, they take a break:Other things I have seen while driving to, from or around the work neighborhood. If you need decorative ironwork:

This is me and it's never dull.

1,000 Posts

I feel like my 1,000th post should be monumental or substantial or significant somehow.
Now, I am a very practical person - I can get stuff done when asked - but I do not come up with the ideas so good. Party conception-ing just isn't my forte. So I asked Tarzan what he thought I should write about for my 1,000th post. He asked me two questions.
1. What I have learned from blogging?
An interesting question; I didn't plan on learning anything. I started this blog as a distraction, a way to double dip if you will; keep a journal as we are encouraged to do, for future generations and first person perspective on current society AND also to distract me at work when I felt like punching people. (Since I never actually punched anyone, I think it worked.) There have been a few other things to come out of the last 999 posts however. I have learned that I am funniest when I am not trying so hard to be. I have learned that this anonymity thing is very important if I am going to whine. I have learned how very important comments are, which means, I actually DO care what other people think of me, at least a little bit. I have learned that I get more comments if I ask a question. I have learned that I need to be way more organized and figure out a decent cross referencing system because the labels are not as good as it looks like they should be. I have learned that my life is more interesting when I share it with other people. And I have learned that I don't have to meet people to become good friends.
2. What do I hope to see in the future with/from the blog?
On a purely selfish level, I hope to see more posts and comments from myself and others, respectively. I hope that I get the chance to print out a hard copy, pictures included, to share with my mother who disdains the Internet, except for Skype, which she uses to talk to my sister on The Other Side Of The World. I hope that I will be more organized and consistent. I hope that I will make more friends. I hope that I will always be able to type so that I can share our crazy life with all of you.


This is me with my 1,000th post.

Pictures Of Spring

The winter has been wonky this year, random cooling and warming trends with no apparent rhyme or reason, so when Spring arrived it was a little muted. We did some work on the front yard but that was because of necessity and time available, not because of season. In the last few days though, I have decisive proof that time marches steadily onward:I am so excited so see the blackberries are growing well. I tend to overdo and then not do with my plants, feast and famine with the care if you will, but I recently realized that the blackberry vines are in a great spot. They get sun but not all day and not the harsh southern sun, when it rains it the roof from the shed doesn't drip on them directly, but they get a lot of water AND the dryer vent provides a lot of humid warmth and they like that. Of couse, so do the weeds.We have a few blossoms on the apricot tree this season, which I hope means that we might actually get an apricot, who knows. It got fertilized this year, which is new, and might have helped. Sorry, this shot is under-focused:And the sunsets this spring have been really awesome:I'm not sure why, it must have to do with clouds and the ozone layer and stuff, but it's really pretty.Completely random, spring is also the time that snails appear in the grocery store:Apparently. I have walked that aisle in the store a hundred times and not seen the escargot kit before. Oh yes, snails, shells and instructions:It's the complete package.

This is me recognizing the season.

Happy Birthday Tarzan!

It has been a mighty long day. And I feel that I don't deserve the wife button today.
We are scheduled for a lot of thing, all the time - no excuses, we just are - but I REALLY need to get organized. Somehow I am always one step behind and usually, it doesn't matter that much. I skip a shower, fail to switch a load of clothes to the dryer (dangit!), or just run around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to squeeze 5lbs of sand into a 3lb sack.
But, today is Tarzan's birthday.
I had such plans. You know what they say about good intentions. I put shopping off because of other things until here it was - his birthday - and I didn't have his present, ingredients for dinner or for his pie. I actually ducked out of work early - not like it's hard, working for family does have it's advantages - to try and recover some of the time and goods.
But traffic hates me. Construction EVERYwhere. While I did manage to find part of the present I wanted it wasn't how I wanted it to turn out and I didn't make it home in time to find a store that sold blue cheese so I could make the dinner I had planned for him. He had to go to an audit meeting tonight - that one is not my fault - and the pie took me several attempts to get the crust to work. Grr, I will defeat you yet, my piecrust arch-nemesis.
Of course, Tarzan is all sweet and forgiving which does not make me feel better about the whole thing. I do mean it when I say: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TARZAN! and I only make a big deal out of your birthday because I love you so much.

This is me and I could have done it better.

Interesting Sunday

Did anyone else have a 'special' Stake Conference today because a General Authority just wanted to stop by and "say hi?"
We did.
Bishop Davies of the Presiding Bishopric was the reason for our out-of-season-and-not-on-the-regular-schedule conference today.
Just because.
He shared some stories, some funny, some a little creepy, asked us to love one another - not a bad sentiment, I'm down with it - and then left.

This is me and it was SO anti-climactic after all the speculation.

Hand Education

Guess what I learned today?
I learned that the thumb, index and middle fingers of our hands are used for fine motor control but the ring and the little fingers are what provide the strength of the hand. For opening lids, shaking hands, holding books, water pitchers and turning doors handles.
How and where did I learn this?
I learned this from my favorite plastic surgeon, Dr. Z, when I went to talk to him today about the ring finger on my left hand. Which apparently has decided it was left out of the excitement with my thumb and wants some attention too.
Yes, I have developed trigger finger in an actual finger this time. Same symptoms, with the hurting and the snapping and the hurting and the swelling and did I mention the hurting? The routine is the same as well; Cortisone shots for a max of three times and then surgery if it doesn't quit acting out.
At least I know what is coming.

This is me, back on the hand circuit.