ATL and Me

It's like we share a twin brain, ATL and I. With absolutely no colaboration at all, we end up dressing the same a lot of the time. I'm sure some of it comes from living in the same house for seven +/- years.And some may come from having the same complexion, so the same colors look good on both of us:AND we shop together, so we own a few of the same shirts and whatall:But besides all that, it's a total coincidence when we show up at the end of a day of work having not seen each other since the night before and we're in the same outfit:But, despite being born 8 years apart.
And the fact she's WAY super organized and I am not:Also, she's prettier, taller and skinnier:Otherwise, we're totally twins:
This is me, and ATL and we dress alike a lot.

Traffic

It's probably silly but I feel pleased with my decision to move over for the motorcycles on the freeway - like we are asked to do - when they tip a finger or a hand, or nod their head in thanks as they pass by.
When they just weave closer to my car, or rev their engines and then blow whatever type of fume it is into my intake valve I am more inclined to swerve out in front of them the next time.

This is me and one of these days I am going to get a really big ticket.

Sad Thing

It was a normal Wednesday evening; I was coming home from work and exited the freeway as I usually do. There was a green truck in front of me who signaled and turned right. I coasted a little, glanced left and drifted right up under the rear bumper of the truck who had had to stop suddenly as someone else flew out of the driveway right in front of him.
And I crunched the front end of my car.
My pretty convertible got hurt:It was sad:Because I "hit" another car - the truck was fine BTW, in fact didn't even notice and drove right off without even looking back at me - we had to call the insurance people and they had me take my car to one of their recommended dealers. They were really nice of course, fixing me up with a rental.
A rental that looks remarkably like my original car:Very solicitous, concerned, trying so hard to be my friend. I was hoping for a little more anonimity I think. And I'm scared of what the final bill will be. They were offering to take out all the tiny little scratches and paint smears and promised a full detail job.

This is me, a little sad and guilty. And afraid of the price tag.

Reading Material

Another of the tasks I have been assigned, at the 'office,' is showing houses for Tarzan's cousin, Stingy (Aunt Richie's daughter) when she is short of time and/or personnel.
It's usually pretty cool. I like houses, these are pretty fancy, and I get to see what I like and don't like for when we build the imaginary house in my head, when we have unlimited, unassigned money.
I have learned that there can be some down time at open houses though. And sometimes it's intermittent busy vs. boring time.
James Patterson's books, I have discovered, have the best format for these open house days. His chapters are short and dramatic. The font is widely spaced, easy to read and one's place is easy to find again. Good thing the man puts out 5-6 books a year. I've read a dozen already doing this job.

This is me and I like how there's a book for every occasion.

Like I Never Left

It's amazing how quickly the best. vacation. ever! can melt away.

Even before one is actually home.

Tarzan and I had some time after the family gathering - before summer school started - so rather than fly home, we took the train. I have never done long distance on a train and he hadn't since he was in Euroope years ago.It was very cool.

I was reminded of the genie from Aladdin though, "Phenomenal cosmic power!...Itty bitty living space."It was MUCH more social than flying.

Everyone was very friendly.

The trip took longer of course, but we met some really interesting people.

The food was excellent, and a lot of it.

We read, took pictures, talked, played computer games, napped, really a good time.

And then we got closer to home and the text messages started coming in. It's like they could feel me getting close enough to get involved or something.

Someone's relative from church had passed away and I was getting back just in time to organize the funeral, the luncheon, the meals for the family.

Aunt Richie and Stingy called about when I would be in to work and suggestions for what to do on my way there.

Someone else had been really mean to a couple of people at church the previous Sunday and the rumors were flying.

Someone else was having surgery and needed meals and no one wanted to volunteer because of all the other "helping" they had to do.
We'd been home only 4 hours and it felt like 4 days.

This is me and I would have liked to hold on to the buzz a little longer.

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!