Ordinary Rant

I rarely write in this blog, but since it is the day after Halloween and a few things are pissing me off, I figured why the hell not.

Look,Halloween is one of my favorite celebration days/nights. So much ghoulish fun.
But, I swear if next year I see some freakin' 6 ft tall 30 yr old at my door trying to get candy, I will beat them with a baseball bat!
Let me lay it out for you...if you are over the age of 12, NO CANDY FOR YOU!
Yes, I am the Candy Nazi.
I went Trick or Treating for the last time when I was 11. I am willing to give kids one more year than I had.
If you come to my door and look like you are in your teens, NO CANDY.
This year, I only gave candy to one wee fairy that I know. Her parents brought her over at my request.
My porch light was off and the gate was closed. Nonetheless, I still had a couple of obviously too old Trick or Treaters make it to my door. I opened the door, took a look and said "You are too old to be out doing this. I only give candy to little kids"
The response I got was ....well.....pretty negative.
Glad I was wearing a gun when I answered the door. It dissuaded them from acting out some negative responses.
After they were out of the yard, I released Andy and Siona to patrol the yard. I heard plenty of barking, but no one else came to the door. Nothing like a couple of large, aggressive and loud dogs to keep people out of your yard!
C'mon...let little kids have their fun and make fond childhood memories. If you are in your teens (or older), go to a party, set up a haunted house, give out candy.
And stay away from my house.

WTH are you looking for?

Yes, I Deleted a Post

That's right...I deleted the post not because there was anything wrong with it, but because my fella requested it.
His reasons were that the post brought people here in droves from a group I no longer associate with, nor do I wish to associate with.
He has a point.

I don't back down from anything I posted.
It was the complete truth and I have my son as a witness PLUS many, many people at the rooming house that know what I moved in with, friends in Joplin that know what I left with and emails from other parties that had also met in real life the person I commented about and agreed with me.

Truth is, when I look on my visitor list and see multiple visits from Grand Prairie Texas and even more from Washington state, I realize that the only way to banish those negative people from my life is to ignore them completely.
Done.

What the heck?

Things and people that annoy me seem to be coming out of the woodwork these days!
Found out from a few people that one of my ex husbands turned up in a town we used to live and many of my relatives still live in.
Apparently, he made some inquiries as to my whereabouts.
Didn't say why, but seemed anxious to find out.
Look, it has been YEARS since the divorce was final...even more years since we split.
It's done.
I am in a happy place now with someone that genuinely cares.
You can't revisit a past.....just doesn't work.
And I don't want to. Got enough pain and misery out of that relationship to last a lifetime.
***********************************

Another ongoing annoyance here is the heat, but I am adapting.
Does make you wonder, though, about those first pioneers.
"Look, a land perfect for us! Snakes, scorpions, deserts and blazing hot sunshine! The kids will LOVE it!"
Yeah, r-i-i-i-i-i-i-ght.
**********************************
I made it my goal this year to quit my addiction to *gulp* Dr Pepper.
I am doing pretty well...
EXCEPT!
Why is it, when you are quitting something, be it fattening foods, caffeine, soda, cigarettes, etc., all of a sudden every damn person you encounter is enjoying that now forbidden pleasure?
C'mon! I have been good....hadn't had a soda in DAYS. Just starting to think I was gonna be good...and then a neighbor comes over, in the heat of the day when I am cleaning out the chicken coop and they are swigging down an ice cold Dr Pepper!
And they have an extra one in their hand and say "You were looking hot out here...here, have a soda"
*facedesk*

So, I faltered out there.
I backslid. Forgive me oh great non-caffeine gods.
I'll restart my quitting program on Monday.
I betcha this gets harder when I start the quit smoking program....

Well, Here We Are...

Here we are, hitting March already.
The economy is still in the toilet, just nobody has had the manners to do a courtesy flush yet.
The Middle East has turned into Chaos, Inc. with protests in about half the countries going on.
Applications for Food Stamps are up, housing sales are still down.
New construction, one of the driving forces of the economy when it comes to construction is WAY down.
The Army is deploying yet still more troops to Iraq (oh, no, children, we aren't done there by a long shot!) and assume my Darlin' Man is champing at the bit to go as well.
Wait...what?
He put in his RETIREMENT papers, you idiots! As in; He is LEAVING. No, NOT leaving for Iraq...leaving the military!
What's more, he has a Doctors Note saying he isn't fit to go. That's right, a DOCTORS NOTE...one of YOUR doctors saying he CAN'T go!
But the Army is ignoring that....they expect him to go.
Needless to say, I am having a bit of an internal hissy fit about the situation.
I am sure that everything will work out and the Darlin' Man will remain stateside, but I am feeling a bit stressed by the hoops they are making hm jump through, nonetheless.
In better news, th weather has smoothed out here after that icy beginning to the new year and a couple of minor sand storms.
Helpful Note: Do NOT hang wet clothes on the line before a sand storm hits. Not. Good. Jus' sayin'...

Welcome to 2011

I post in this blog infrequently, but it has been about a month, so I decided to welcome in 2011 here.

2011 arrived here with a blast of Arctic air and a bit of snow. I enjoyed it, but the fella and the kids bundled up as if they were embarking on an expedition to the South Pole! I was walking around the house in shorts and a tee shirt and gave a nod to the weather by adding a pair of knee socks to my ensemble when I ventured outside.
Man, some people get cranky when they are cold! Just my lack of 32 layers of clothing seemed to annoy them!
"How can you wear THAT!?" was the comment I heard every morning and several times a day.
My Darlin' Man's freaking out point came one morning while he, under a sheet, a blanket, a quilt, a down comforter and another comforter--while wearing long underwear and pajamas over those, saw me calmly slip on my bedroom slippers and go out to feed the livestock in my light cotton sleeveless nightgown.
"Are you INSANE!!???" was the blanket muffled query I heard as I went out the bedroom door.
It was a rather mild 35 degrees...I could not understand the issue.
I fed the livestock and wandered back inside after enjoying the brisk morning air and watching the sun rise.
The fella had migrated to the sofa, still wrapped in a comforter, but had added a parka (!) to his  sleep attire.
We keep the heat in the house at a relatively balmy 62 degrees....
"Could you fix me a nice hot breakfast?", he asked...although I fix him a hot breakfast EVERY morning.
I fixed it...and had a nice cool cup of yogurt for my breakfast while he eyed my choice with something akin to horror.
The final straw for the cold weather haters in my household came when the power went out during a strong windstorm.
"We'll FREEZE!" they wailed.
I filled up some empty 2 liter bottles with scalding hot water and wrapped them in dish towels and put a couple in each bed. About a half hour later, everyone crawled into warm comfy beds for a good nights sleep.
I ended up kicking off about half my covers that night...felt like I would suffocate! The Darlin' Man was more than happy to take my excess covers...he is a true blanket hog!
Why are some people so cold natured and others hot natured?
I dunno....
But check back with me in the summer when I start my whining!

Sometimes Men Just Don't "Get It"

Having a frustrating week here...sigh.
Why don't men "get it"?
We women demurely drop hints...then we leave demur behind and make strong hints...we then progress to telling a man right out what we need/desire/require. If all else fails, we hit them over the head with with our request (which has usually escalated to a blatant demand at this point!)
And then they look at us and say "Huh...what?"
Head + Brick Wall

My Darlin' Man has been particularly obtuse lately.
I love him. Really, I do. He is sexy and smart and funny and adorable and dependable and everything I want/need in a partner in life.
But, he is male and suffers on occasion that male brainlessness and clueless behavior.
It has to be a gender related thing, as I have never seen a female suffering from it.
Call me sexist, I don't care!

Give a man a grocery list...maybe 6 items on it.Explain to him that is all you need AND the food budget can't be stretched any further this month.
I GUARANTEE he will return from the store with about 80 bucks worth of stuff, a lot of stuff you don't need and didn't want---and he will neglect to get at least two items on your list!
Oh, and those two items will be crucial to your cooking/baking in the next week!
He'll buy 40 pounds of flour...and forget yeast. Buy 15 bucks worth of produce and neglect to get the salad dressing you requested. Sixteen pounds of chicken ("It was on sale, baby!") but no ziplock freezer bags or aluminum foil or plastic wrap so you can freeze it.

Yes, been dealing with that lately....sigh.
Some days, I wish I drank......
He will return from the store

Adjustments, Compromises and Adapting...

So, I have moved in with my Darlin' Man.
New situations call for new adaptations.
Sometimes you have to compromise.
Some things only require a bit of *tweaking*, minor adjustments to smooth out a slight bump in the road.

Laundry for example. My fella is in the military, so his laundry must be done a certain way.
I also found out that he *has* to have his socks, t-shirts and boxers folded a certain way.
Okay---minor adjustment.
 My Darlin' Man has two kids in his custody. Teen agers.
Compromises and adapting are the watchwords there!
From diet and my cooking, bedtimes, entertainment, house cleaning, etc.
I could let some things become battle grounds--if I wanted to go that route.
But I prefer a calmer journey...
So, I give the kids choices.
Get up and get out the door to school by a certain time OR get up EARLIER the next day.
Eat what is put on the table at dinner time OR make yourself a sandwich.
Clean your room OR I will box up all the stuff on your floor and tuck the box away in a closet.
They have adapted, as have I.

I had to compromise on closet space (ACK!) as the fella has a huge amount of uniforms  that HAVE to be on hangers. It is a walk-in closet with oodles of hanging and shelf space...of which I have about 2 feet of  closet space out of about 8 feet of hanging space...Yup...BIG compromise. But since I don't excatly have a huge wardrobe, that's okay.
My fella has had to adapt to my sewing fetish...I sew, I quilt and I have a massive amount of fabrics, notions, patterns, etc. Plus, my sewing machine, of course.
So, one corner of the bedroom is now my sewing nook.
He's adapting...
We finally hammered out an agreement on our books. I am a confirmed and certified book whore. I moved in with several boxes of books. Today, I will finally have a place to put them! It took a few weeks to figure out where they would go--as the fella has a few hundred books of his own and his small bookshelf is bulging at the seams!
After much discussion, we finally figured out a compromise and both of us are happy with it.
My beloved books will be unpacked and placed on the *breakfast bar* ---that is never used as such---and his books will be joining them there.




It works!

Lovely October has arrived!

In 4th grade my teacher, Mrs. Miller, made each of us memorize a poem about our birth month. I was an October baby, so the poem that follows is the one I chose to memorize.
On Oct. 28th, I will be a glorious 54 years old!




Oh suns and skies and clouds of June, and flowers of June together, you cannot rival for one hour October's bright blue weather!
When loud the bumblebee makes haste, belated, thriftless vagrant, and golden Rod is dying fast, and lanes with grapes are fragrant;
When Gentians roll their fringes bright, to save them from the morning light, and chestnuts fall from satin burrs without a sound of warning;
When on the ground red apples lie in piles like jewels shining, and redder still on old stone walls are leaves of woodbine twining;
When all the lovely wayside things their white-winged seeds are sowing, and in the fields, still green and fair, late aftermaths are growing;
When springs run low, and on the brooks, in idle golding freighting, bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush of woods, for winter waiting;
When comrades seek sweet country haunts, by twos and twos together, and count like misers, hour by hour, October's bright blue weather.
Oh suns and skies and flowers of June, count all your boasts together, love loveth best of all the year October's bright blue weather!
by Helen Hunt Jackson

People Just Piss Me Off Some Days

Grouchy me.
People have really irritated me in the past few weeks.
To wit:
Slow people at ATMs. Look, swipe your card, get your damn money and GO already! Don't stand there and check your checking balance. Check your savings balance. Check you checking balance again. Look at receipts carefully for at least 3 minutes. FINALLY decide to take out money.Swipe card again. Forget pin (apparently).Swipe card again, get pin right, take out money. Examine receipt like a diamond evaluator in Amsterdam. Swipe card again and check balances again. Finally leave. I want to stab you in the head with a spoon.
Late people. You told me to meet you at such and such place at such and such time. You are not there. I wait. And wait. And wait.You finally show up and breezily offer some sort of (non) excuse. This is NOT the first time you did this.Trust me, it will be the last. Look, being late is RUDE. It is telling the other person that YOUR time is more important and valuable than THEIR time.
Cashiers that have *important* things to do (other than waiting on customers). Talking to other salespeople. Rearranging merchandise. Talking on phone. Doing nails. You get the idea. Look, you got a job in the *service industry*, lets provide some damn service, already!!!
People using cell phones in public.Okay, I can understand calling your spouse while in the grocery store to make sure you are getting the right brand of beer or whatever. I do NOT appreciate standing behind you in line while you go into the details of your last trip to the gynecologist! C'mon...I am planning dinner in my head...I do NOT need to hear about your "cervical discharge". And using a cell phone at ANY sort of performance should be punishable by public flogging! Turn those bastards off in the cinema, the theatre, the concert venue!
Just trying to vent a bit...

Yeah...But I'm a GROWN UP Now, So I CAN!!!

Remember all that crap you got yelled at for doing (or not doing) when you were a kid?
I yelled at my kids for some of the same stuff....my bad.

Now, my kids are grown, I am more or less on my own...and I realized a couple of weeks ago that there were a few things I had never done since becoming an adult. (Okay...in my case, maybe quasi-adult would be better terminology).

I made a list and tried out a few things, so here is my report:

Playing ball in the house. Pretty fun. Probably because my dog ended up being an enthusiastic partner in crime.
Drinking milk out of the carton. Rather enjoyable.I am the only one here that drinks milk, so now I have one less glass to wash.
Running with scissors. Doesn't have the charm I thought it would.
Drawing on the wall. AWESOME! I have a field of poppies on my bedroom door now.
Leaving my shoes in the middle of the floor. Bad idea when you trip over them in the middle of the night.
Leaving the t.v. on all night. In my case, it was my computer -- which I watch movies and t.v. shows on. This one gets a mixed review. I lined up several *conspiracy* documentaries on youtube...6 hours worth or so.Went to sleep during "From Freedom to Fascism". Not bad...but sometime during the night, a David Ickes documentary came into the mix. I was jolted awake by "Alien lizards---the Queen of England among them!!!" Now granted, the woman is no beauty queen, but I am not quite sure she qualifies as an alien lizard. My advice on this one...choose the programs carefully. I had a difficult time getting back to sleep.
Going outside barefoot and no jacket in the rain.I HIGHLY recommend this one! Yes, mud squished delightfully between my toes and my hair was plastered to my head and my clothes were soaked through, but it was an utterly delightful experience!
Eating dessert FIRST. Yes, yes and YES! Do it.
Not sharing your crayons. Got myself the Crayola BIG box. Mine...ALL MINE!!! Used them to color on the wall. Very. Cool.
Jumping on the bed (or other furniture). Kind of a let down. This probably because I only have a mattress on the floor. Will re-do this experiment after I get a proper bed. Did get the dog pretty excited, though.

All in all, I had a good time.
I suggest everyone out there try breaking a childhood rule or two your parents had for you and see how it feels!

Heat Wave...

Currently, we are having a heat wave down here in the land of the swamp.
Which means it is hot.
DAMN hot!
Mosquitos are ignoring my tasty Irish blood and sucking on the ice cubes in my drink instead.
I take cold showers and then sit naked and wet in front of my air conditioner to dry off.
I watch web cams for cities in cooler climes...like in Alaska. Found one that was in the Arctic...that was refreshing to watch!
My t.v. viewing is following the same theme...Ice Road Truckers and Deadliest Catch, YES!
Hells Kitchen and anything that involves beaches, sunshine and heat, NO!

I have become a partial vampire of sorts...awake during the cooler evening and morning hours, asleep during the day.
The dogs (mine and my room mates) have followed suit. They plop down in the coolest part of my room (usually under my chair) and snooze away, knowing they'll get walked around 1 a.m.and then again at 6 a.m.
My cooking (usually a labor of love for me) has dwindled down to salads, with the occasional sandwich.
I really, REALLY wanted some cornbread today, but with the temperature hovering around 100 degrees and no ac in the kitchen...uhhhh...I can wait!

The heat makes everyone cranky.
The news here has been full of reports of assaults, robberies, shootings and the like.
You don't see that in the winter as much.
I think even the cops here are hoping for rain---maybe the crooks will stay in their houses if it rains. Maybe it will cool off and calm everyone down.
Someone once told me that the highest crime areas of the world are also the hottest areas.
I can believe that...this heat makes me cranky, too!

I need another cool shower...

True Confessions

Ever go along with the crowd just so you didn't feel left out?
Yeah...we all have.
So, in the spirit of finally not going along with the crowd...here are my true confessions of the day:
First, movies, actors and actresses:
Lord of the Rings trilogy? Never made it through the second and third one. Fell asleep.Snooze-fest. First one was okay.
I liked "Willow" better.More entertaining. If I want Tolkien, I read Tolkien. See it much better in my head, anyway.
Meryl Streep. Can't stand her. I KNOW she has a million Oscars, Golden Globes, etc. It is just people look up at the screen and say "WOW! Look at her ACT!"  You shouldn't be doing that. You should be SO immersed in the story the cast of a film is telling on that screen that you forget they are acting. Besides, I think I have only seen her act like she was having fun or enjoying her self in one movie;  "Death Becomes Her".
The Godfather. And all the sequels, prequels, etc. Not a fan. The first was...ehhhh...okay. After that---suck fest.
Eddie Murphy and almost every other actor that has gone to work for Disney. Sell outs. Lost their edge in return for a paycheck. I know, they gotta eat, too, but still...puhleeeeze..there are some levels you just can't stoop to!
Movies being made of bad t.v. shows from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s. Stop. By all that is sacred and holy, Just. Stop. It.
Movie remakes of other movies. Stop that, too. Don't the idiots in Hollywood have a single creative bone in their collective bodies? Some of the movies were done well the first time, so a second film is not necessary. Other films were just so dreadful in all facets that it is like that old cliche: Garbage in, garbage out.

On to Fashion:
Shoes...dear heavens, SHOES. Have you seen the prices socialites and Hollywood types and the wealthy pay for their shoes...600 bucks, 800 bucks, 2000 bucks...WTF!?!?!
C'mon people, they are *just* frikkin' S-H-O-E-S!
And the more expensive ones seem to be the ugliest.
Put me in a cheap pair of sneakers from K-Mart and I am happy. I'll pay a bit more for hiking boots, but those are footwear with a purpose.
Same for purses. Saw a picture of a young actress with a purse that she paid 14,500 for.
What. The. Hell.
And the darn thing was almost as big as she was and ugly as home-made sin!
Wear clothes that are neat, clean and comfortable and you are good to go.

Back to my true confessions:
Cars do NOT impress me. A guy driving a Ferrari or a girl behind the wheel of a Mercedes strike me as  endowed with more money than sense.
If it is a Mercedes diesel...NOW ya got my attention. Rig it so it can burn vegetable oil (recycled) and you'll get a big thumbs up from me!

Another true confession...I am a lousy driver. I will not drive in inclement weather or after dark unless it is a dire emergency. I KNOW I am a bad driver. I KNOW my eyesight is not the best. So, when I do have a vehicle, I limit my driving to the absolute minimum.

Other true confessions:
I love dark chocolate. Best edible thing on the planet.
I am a Science Fiction addict. Love Steampunk. (Look it up) Frank Herbert. Robert Heinlein.  Issac Asminov.
Yeah...a bit of a geek.

Well, I feel I have unburdened my soul enough for one day...

Mad Dogs and Englishmen....

So, I went walking to the store this morning. The store I was heading to is about 2 miles away, so I made sure I was quite prepared.
Water bottle: Check
Hiking Boots: Check
My Big Bag Purse: Check
So, I set off, enjoying a bit of a morning breeze before the sun got too hot.
Halfway there, I stopped to get a bag of walnuts at Family Dollar (they are HALF the price there that they are in the grocery store!). I dig into my bag for my wallet...and it's not there.
I FORGOT MY WALLET!!!
I had enough money tucked into the bottom of my bag to pay for the walnuts, but still...
So, back to the house.
A mile walk.
The breeze had stopped and the sun was gleefully beating down on me. I had also forgot a sun hat.
...sigh...
Everyone was rushing past in their air conditioned cars while I trudged homeward.
I made it home....sweating...a bit ticked off at myself...
Got up the three flights of stairs and there, THERE was my wallet, right where I left it on the kitchen counter.
Called a friend to get a ride later to the store.
Made a better checklist for my next trip up the road...

Shiny New Button!

If you noticed, or even if you haven't, there is a cute picture of a wee lamb over to the left.
<----------Thataway.
I am going to put up some items for sale in the near future and I may be making a major life change the End of August, Beginning of Sept. and I am going to need all the funds I can get to do it! (More about that in a post--coming soon!)
I used a *donate* button rather than a *merchant* button just in case some good hearted person out there feels generous enough to toss me a few bucks to help.(I know, I know, we are ALL broke right now--but I figured it wouldn't hurt!) No, donations are NOT tax deductible.



Some of the items I will be putting up for sale (no auctions, everything will be reasonably priced!) will be baby quilts, books, artwork, attractive (I hope to others!) wall decorations-room accents-bric-a-brac, clothes,fabric, first aid supplies for your FAK or BoB and gear. By "gear", I mean useful items for camping, hiking, hunting preparedness, etc. I will figure in the cost of shipping on each item when I price it. A few items I will send via UPS or Fed. Express due to their size or fragility.


The first items will be posted the second week in August. It will be first come, first served!
So wait and watch for the explanation and the items!

Experiments in self-improvement

Okay...I have bad habits.
Everybody does..
My current bad habits include :watching too much t.v., smoking and drinking soda to excess.
TV has now been moved out of my room.
I stopped drinking soda.
Now...I have not had any withdrawal symptoms from tossing the tv out of my room. If I want information, I go to my computer. I mainly watched History and Discovery Channel anyway and most of their stuff is available online.
On to the soda...that was a bit harder...and then, out of  pure damn desperation, I grabbed the lemon juice off the fridge shelf, pored a teaspoon in a mug added cold water and ice cubes and a couple of teaspoons of sugar...Lemonade! I made it a bit more tart than most people like it, but it works for me.
I sip on it every time I get a craving for soda.
So, for the past 40 hours now, I have been clean of caffiene....W00-H00!
Now for the worst habit...Smoking.
I have switched from name brand cigs, down to generic, and finally, I am now rolling my own.
They taste like shit and I can't roll worth a damn, so my smoking has reduced substantially.
So, there's my self improvement efforts..which seem to be going fairly well right now.

What the Hell?

So, I go out and about running errands today. A little shopping, dropping one of the computers off at the shop (needs a new fan), just a bit of this and that.

Sooooo...I am in a store, just browsing around and in comes a small gaggle of women. (Honestly, I don't think gaggle is the proper word...maybe a muttering of women...or a whisper --for a quiet group--or a screech of women--for a loud group...let me think on that...)
Anyway, 4 or 5 broads come in the store as a group. Ages between 35 to about 45 by my reckoning.
One, short, chubby and around 40, is wearing a belly shirt, "Daisy Dukes" and --dear Lord on toast---BODY GLITTER!
Body glitter? Really?
I thought women genetically out-grew body glitter at about age...oh...TWELVE.
Her belly shirt proclaimed her a "Baby Girl".
Hot pink lip gloss.
Belly button ring from which a pink crystal dangled.
Really.
REALLY?!?
The rest of the women in the group were similarly attired, though not quite as sartorially splendid as  "Baby Girl".
One wore "yoga pants" that had "Hot To Trot" emblazoned across the ass.
Since she weighed about 250, it was a LARGE statement on her part.

What the hell happened to people dressing their age?
Not to lay all the blame at these ladies (?) doorsteps....I see 40 something men trying dress like the Jonas Brothers and hanging around Hot Topic at the mall, hitting on the cute sales girls there.
Guys...quit that--it is embarrassing just to see!
Just as bad--if not worse--are 8 year old girls wearing clothe and make-up that makes them look like mini prostitutes.

Maybe I am just having a grumpy day...but I would LOVE to see men, women and children dressing appropriately for their ages.

And I would also like to see body glitter made illegal for women over the age of twelve.
Just my complaint for the day....

Heat

I live in southeast Texas, near the Gulf of Mexico.
It gets hot here.
DAMN hot.

I hate heat. Always have.
In my new place we have one air conditioner. Fortunately, it is located in a window in my bedroom.
UNfortunately, it does not function as well as it should.
It only cools the room down by a few degrees when it is working.
WHEN it is working, which is not all the time.
To me, if I don't have frostbite on my nipples, the air conditioner is not functioning properly.
Currently, my nipples remain unfrostbit.
Therefore, my ac is not functioning to the level that I expect for comfort.

I cannot, for the life of me, understand why anyone would want to settle in this particular piece of real estate.
What did the pioneers think "Swamp, alligators, Jurassic Park sized mosquitoes and other bugs, hurricanes, flooding, poisonous snakes, heat like the 7th level of Hell...Yee-Haw, looks like home to me!"?
I have been here over 2 years, but I don't want to stretch it out to 3, although I may be forced to.
In the mean time, I am on the hunt for a decent air conditioner.
Oh yes, I KNOW I am a "survivalist" type gal. Don't care.
I NEED frosty Montana mountains on a February day, in my face, take my breath away, frostbitten nipples air conditioning!
Right now, I am looking at some used units, but I am not so sure I want to buy a used unit that was not enough for someone else---how the hell could it stand up to MY demands and standards?
Hopefully, I will find something that works for me at a reasonable price!

I hate heat.

Here in the treetops

After a short hiatus, I am back.
I moved in the interim, and am now in a third floor apartment
Although I am not the biggest fan of apartment living, I sort of enjoy being up here.
My most interesting neighbors are the squirrels that scamper around the trees that are next to my windows.
They also use the power and cable lines as a sort of interstate system to travel rapidly from yard to yard in their search for food.
They are entertaining little rodents, I must admit.
I can identify several individuals by sight now--no, all squirrels do NOT look the same.
One little squirrel seems to be the "merry prankster" of the local population. He races from branch to branch...chattering away at the others and seems to instigate chaos and fights where-ever he goes.
If there is a tail to be tweaked, he is there to tweak it. He ambushes other squirrels, pouncing on the others who wander past him.
A Squirrel of Adventurous Spirit, he also seems to love annoying the very large dog in the yard behind us.
The dog, a mastiff, doesn't have the speed or agility of our fluffy tailed friend, so it is a one sided battle. The little rodent will pilfer dog food from the bowl with cheeky abandon, knowing the large dog cannot possibly catch him in a genuine pursuit. When not pilfering kibbles and bits, our adventurous squirrel will wait until the large dog is snoozing peacefully in the shade and then creep quietly as close as possible and suddenly sit up and loudly chatter at the poor canine. The dog, so rudely awakened, jumps to his feet and looks for the culprit.
And then the chase begins.
The squirrel, to his credit, does wait until the mastiff lumbers to his feet before heading for a tree. Then it is a few circles around the tree before the squirrel starts his ascent. The squirrel ends up sitting on a branch *just* out of reach of the dog and chatters down in what I can only suppose is the squirrel equivilant of "Nyaah, nyaah, you can't catch me!"
The dog is left barking impotently at the annoying little rodent before lumbering back to his shady spot to continue his nap.

So goes the entertainment around here,,,

Just a few musings....

I am a woman "of a certain age" as they used to delicately say.
To wit; I am over 50, but not so far over that I am kicking down the door to 60...that will come soon enough.
And todays topic is that evil of evils--as some women put it--menopause.
I haven't had the hot flashes, night sweats and mood swings some of my female relatives complained of.
I have noticed my voice has changed a bit, I have sprouted a hair here and there where there were previously none and my skin seems to be more sensitive.
Basically, it's like puberty, except in reverse.
I still have a very active interest in the opposite sex. Who knows, though, I may think all males have cooties next week.
Personally, I have found the experience of this particular hormonal wrought change in my life to be fairly pleasant. I no longer have to worry about pregnancy, monthly cramps or having enough pads/tampons stashed under the bathroom sink to get me through another month.
I have seen some women become practically demonic with mood swings when they hit menopause.
Never had that happen. The same things that irritated me before irritate me now.
Which is to say...just about everything irritates me.
Tardiness being Number One on my irritant hit parade. Followed very closely by people that chew with their mouth open, public farters, people that don't clean up after their pets, and, of course, politicians.
The same things that made me happy before continue to make me happy.
New stationery supplies, mangos, new fabric to sew with, small children and, of course, my dog dancing for her daily biscuit.

I really don't know why so many people have, for such a very long time, made a huge deal out of menopause.
I think a huge part of it has to do with your attitude. I look at it as puberty in reverse.
Your voice changes, you grow hair in odd places and you view the opposite sex differently.
Well, maybe eventually I will view the opposite sex differently.
Right now, the majority look pretty good still.
Except Nick Nolte...that man went downhill SO badly!