Delusions of... Everything

News Blurps

It's Spring Break in my neck of the woods, so I don't know how much I will be around the next few days.  I'm off work today and might take tomorrow off too.  Today we are going out looking for a mirror for the bathroom we've Handy Man's been updating.  I'm so far behind in my blog reading, but hope to catch up today and tomorrow.

I got a new herbal supplement for menopause.  I've taken it for two days and I'm not sure if I like it or not.  One good thing is that it's given me two amazing nights of sleep.  Twice I woke up at 4:00 am, got up to pee, went back to bed wondering how long I would lay there before I'd just give up on sleep and get up.  The next thing I know, my alarm is going off.   This is the main reason I'm behind in blogging.  I use those early morning hours to write and read.  I really like the sleep though, I feel like this will help my brain function better, or I might just be kidding myself.  I'm going to keep taking it and see if it helps any of the other symptoms.

My boss gave me the name of a couple really good women doctors and they are both located in my neighborhood.  Now I just need to shave my legs and make an appointment.

Star Wars Son went on a date Saturday.  I wish I could recover that quickly.  The Bri-brute roller coaster has been continuing, but it's so icky I don't really want to talk about it.  Let's just say she has realized the huge mistake she made and has been begging SWS to take her back.  Unfortunately for her she lied and betrayed him and he's having none of that.  We are meeting the new girl today.  Do you think I've learned my lesson and will not let myself get attached?  Me either.

My drawing continues.  I'm really enjoying it.  I'll be ready to share what I've been working on soon, I think!  I only do abstract, easy stuff, so don't expect much!

We celebrated Earth Hour on Saturday night by turning off all the lights and playing Uno and Guess Who.  It was a blast.  We looked around the neighborhood and noticed two other houses that shut off their lights.  What did you do for Earth Hour?!

Here is a preview of my next Change of Scenery post...

Change of Scenery Part 2

Today it's 39 and rainy.  I took a couple "artsy" pictures of the rain.

While I enjoyed taking the pictures this is not exactly the scenery I'm craving.  I'd like to be looking at something else...

Some place, like, oh I don't know... Boston in the summer?!

In 2002 I met Chrissy in a Pearl Jam chat room.  It was quickly apparent we were two peas in a pod.  Same lust love of Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam, same extremely sick dry sense of humor, same dirty sharp mind.  I've been to visit her in Massachusetts three times.  She's been to Seattle twice (and is hopefully coming to Seattle this summer).  Our families vacationed in New York together in 2007.  We adore each others company.

This is what my last trip looked like!

How could I not miss that face?!

Chrissy's husband BBQ in their yard!  Remember BBQing?  In short sleeves?  And sitting outside to eat?!  Man, those were the days!

Tailgating at the Pearl Jam show in Mansfield.  (Chrissy is the blond on the left.  She's such an oddball!)

Making new Pearl Jam friends is always welcome!

I want to be there doing all that fun stuff again!   That's a change of scenery that would lift my mood!

Earth Hour

On March 28, 2009 at 8:30 pm, tens of millions of people around the world will
turn out their lights for one hour — Earth Hour — to demonstrate concern for our
living planet and send a loud message to our leaders that they support action on
climate change. Here are a few ideas for things to do in the dark…by yourself or
with others: 

 

1. Enjoy a romantic candlelit dinner with someone special using organic or
sustainably grown food items. 

2. Invite friends and family over for a “lights-out” party and serve green-themed
snacks and drinks—green tea or apple martinis anyone? 

3. Turn off the lights and power down the computer and cell phone. Use the
quiet time to take a break from a “plugged-in” world by meditating or resting.

4. Take a bubble bath by candlelight. 

5. Use the hour for practical tasks that you never seem to have time for. Test
essential items in your emergency preparedness kit like flashlights, radios,
and cell phones. Change out all your light bulbs to energy-efficient CFLs.
Change the batteries in your smoke detectors. Think about how you would
evacuate your house in an emergency in the dark.  

6. Read a book set in an era without electricity. Marvel that the Romans
conquered much of the world without a single cell phone and that
Shakespeare wrote masterpieces without a laptop or the Internet.   

7. Turn off the computer and write a letter by candlelight the old-fashioned way
using pen and paper. 

8. Invite friends over to play charades or Scrabble by candlelight.  

9. View the night sky via telescope--the reduced “light pollution” may make
some stars more visible.

10. Take photos of how you spent Earth Hour and upload them to the Earth Hour
pages on Facebook, Myspace and YouTube. Keep it clean please!

Ten Things to Know About Earth Hour 2009

1. Earth Hour 2009 takes place on March 28, 2009 at 8:30 pm—local time. 

2. The date was set in March because it is close to the Spring Equinox, a period when
the most number of countries around the world will experience darkness in the 8
o’clock hour.  

3. Earth Hour isn’t about how much energy is saved during one hour. The idea behind
Earth Hour is that by working together, each one of us can make a difference on the
issue of climate change. By doing something as simple as turning off the lights, we
send a visual symbol to the world’s leaders that we are counting on them to work
together to find solutions to climate change. 

4. Earth Hour is a non-partisan event. When it comes to caring about the future of our
planet, we all have a stake as citizens of the world regardless of other political
beliefs and affiliations.   

5. Earth Hour turns off non-essential lighting only. Lights necessary for public safety
will not go out. Earth Hour has been conducted safely and without incident in more
than 100 cities around the world.  

6. Earth Hour is an inclusive event and everyone is invited to participate. WWF will
provide tools online to enable any town, community, school, individual or
organization to be part of the event.  

7. WWF has designated a limited number of “flagship cities” in the US where it will
devote resources to make sure the lights actually do go out. In 2009 those cities
include: Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Dallas, New
York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. In addition, WWF will be seeking the
support of Washington DC and the federal government. 

8. Many US cities will also participate as “supporting cities.”  To become an official
supporting city, a proclamation or some type of official confirmation that the event is
supported by the local governing body of that community must be sent to WWF.

9. More than 750 cities throughout the world have already agreed to participate in
Earth Hour 2009.

10. World Wildlife Fund is the organization behind Earth Hour, but many other groups
and NGOs are supporting Earth Hour in 2009. 

Change of Scenery

In September of 2007 we moved into a fabulous house that I'm very in love with.  We've done a few changes (inside and out) to make it more ours.

One of things I really loved about it when we first saw it was the courtyard type back yard it has, but it was definitely lacking something.

We made a few changes.  First we Handy Man decided to take out the birch tree and make that a raised planting bed.  While I liked the idea, I'm opposed to cutting down good trees.  Handy Man begged, pleaded, stated his case, explaining that the tree would be very messy, clogging the gutters (which he hates to clean, I mean who wouldn't) and he said the tree was having some health issues.  I admitted that the tree was looking tired, but it was September, don't most trees look tired in September.  Handy Man was always going to win this battle, but I had to put up a little fight.  So out the tree went and in came the dirt.

The front yard has a rockery and there were extra rocks scattered all over the place.  So we Handy Man, brought them around back and we started building a matching rockery.  Handy Man wanted to go 3 rocks high, but I kept insisting on two and keeping it low.  We ended up doing one large rock layer and filled in with the smaller rock.  It was great, we didn't have to purchase any rock, except the slate we used later.

Sometime in the middle of construction I got the idea of putting a pond in.  We talked about it, we read up on it and decided to do it.

Notice how sunny it is?!  *Sigh*

Notice how small the pond looks there?  Handy Man decided to dig it bigger.

I'm pretty sure my Jasmine (on the right side of the photo) did not survive the winter.  We've had it for 5 years and it's survived all of our mild winters, but the winter this year was relentless.

Handy Man had to use the Sawz-all to cut roots left by the birch tree.  See the big pile on the left in the picture below?

When everything was just right Handy Man added the liner.

Then we added water!!

The the slate, so we could sit on the front edge.  This was Handy Man's idea and I love it!

So we went from the courtyard looking like this in August 2007....

To it looking like this in August 2008...

I'm waiting ever so not so patiently at all to see this scene out my kitchen window again...

I can't wait for this change of scenery!

Sky Watch

This was the sky outside my Pacific Northwest window just a few days ago.  I just love the cloud formations and the storminess of it!  I could watch my sky for hours at a time, it is ever changing.

P.S... Darn, darn, darn!  I forgot to post the link to go view other great Sky Watch photos.  Think about posting one of your own!!

Not the Post I Was Planning...

I need a change of scenery.  I'll be going on a weekend away with the girls in a few weeks, which will help, but it's a few weeks away!

It's no secret that I'm seriously fighting a case of the blehs.  I've had the blehs for a week, which is manageable, usually.  I get the blehs now and again, we all do.  Normally after a week I would feel things turning around, but it's not happening yet.  If I'm still feeling this way after my weekend away with the girls I plan to make an appointment to see a doctor.

For the Star Wars fans out there I'm feeling like Lando in Return of the Jedi.  Remember the scene where Luke, Han and Chewbacca are about to be thrown in the Carkoon pit where the creature called the Sarlacc will spend the next 1000 or so years digesting them?  Lando accidentally falls into the pit and one of the Sarlacc's tentacles grabs on to his leg and tries pulling him down.  Meanwhile Han, who can barely see because he's just come out of carbon freezing, is trying to pull Lando up out of the pit.  It all ends happily with Han shooting the sarlacc's tentacle with his blaster, this releases Lando leg and Han pulls him out of the pit, but it was touch and go for a while.  (I hope I don't lose readers with my unnatural Star Wars knowledge.  The only fact I had to look up was the name of the pit where the sarlacc lived.  Yes, I really am a woman!  Yes, I really am a geek.)

Anyway I feel like I'm being pulled into a pit, while also being pulled away from the pit.  Right now it feels like both sides are losing, this is both good and bad news.   I'm doing my best to move away from the pit.  The one thing that has worked for me in the past is creating.  Not just any creating, but putting my hand to paper.  It could be poem writing, painting or drawing.  I haven't had an urge to paint or write poetry, but I have been drawing, in the abstract.  This means I haven't been reading, books or blogs.  I've been trying to catch up on my blog reading and commenting today, but I'm still way behind.  This also means the people (and by people, I mean Daryl) who signed up for this activity I'm doing will get something recently drawn... Notice I didn't say anything about nice, pretty, pleasing to the eye, just recently drawn! 

This wasn't the post I had planned when I started typing.  I had plans to post of bunch of pictures of a scene I can't wait to see again, but my brain took my typing fingers somewhere else.  I'll save the change of scenery post for next time.

What do all of you do to pull yourselves out the the pit?!

Positive Lane

I'm taking a stroll down Positive Lane, because I must. 

I have great friends, both in cyber and real life.

We have our house to ourselves for the first time since we moved a year and a half ago.

The upstairs bathroom renovation has begun.  We bought and installed (by we I mean Handy Man) a new industrial toilet.  I don't know if I've ever mentioned the size of Star Wars Son's waste, if I haven't I'm not mentioning it today either.  I'm strolling down Positive Lane.

I started drawing (by drawing I mean doodling).

I got out of bed today.

My 16 year old son is foot loose and fancy free, just the way it should be.  (Is that the expression?  Foot loose and fancy free?  I get the foot loose part, but what does fancy free mean?)

I flipped someone off while I was driving yesterday... (Oh wait, I'm supposed to be positive.)  It felt really good. (There!)

I walked for 20 minutes yesterday.  It's better than nothing.

It's raining again... This will help the spring flowers grow?!?

I've been playing with my camera and i-photo so much that I haven't prepare a Wheat Free Wednesday post.

How can this face not make me feel a little better?

Overwhelmed

I've had a very interesting week.  My son and his girlfriend broke up.  The wolf moved out.  I started my period 9 days late and barely noticed I was having it.  I watched a movie called P.S. I Love You and thought there couldn't possibly be a sadder movie ever made.  I read this post by Stacie and completely lost it.  I'm an emotional wreck because of all the above things.  Stacie's post was the straw that broke the camel's back.  I feel like I'll be crying for the next week.  Do you think they will notice at work if I'm a blubbering idiot?  Do you think when I answer the phone all dripping with snot and tears the person on the other end will hang up because they think they have the wrong number, causing us to lose business?

Stacie did something amazing.  Something that most people would never have the desire to do.  I don't want to run a marathon.  But I would like to set a goal, train or work toward that goal and achieve it.  I don't know Stacie except through her blog.  I don't know why this accomplishment of hers has moved me so much.  I'm so proud of her hard work and determination.  If you haven't clicked on that link and read her account of running a marathon go do it now.  I'll wait! I know it's long, but it's so worth the read!

I'm overwhelmed by all the changes going on around me this week (I wish one of those changes was spring, but that's not happening yet).  I'm sure most of my strong emotions are a result of this pain in the ass menopause I seem to be knee deep in.  The biggest change of all is going on in my own body.  I'm thinking I might as well add one more change to it.  As much as I hate to say this, as much as I hate to do this, I'm going to commit to exercising.  GAH!  Did I just write that out loud?  I know that exercise will help with all kinds of things that are currently ailing me.  It will help with this funk I'm in.  It will help with this stupid shitty menopause that I have to go through.  It will help with the weight loss that needs to happen before my whole body shuts down.

I'm a very healthy overweight person.  Good cholesterol, no diabetes, no high blood pressure, no medications, I rarely get sick.  I know this can't last.  For some time now a voice in the back of by head has been saying, "Get off your ass and move!"  I've been very successfully ignoring that voice.

Stacie has motivated me to listen to that voice.

I'll keep you posted.

Sad

This will be short and bittersweet. 

My son's girlfriend of one and a half years broke up with him last week.

She was like one of the family.

I'm probably taking this way harder than I should, but I can't seem to cheer up.  Even though she's not being very nice about the whole thing I still care about her a lot and will miss her more than she knows.

Sing-A-Long Saturday and Other Stuff

This is what it sounds like when Dancing Daughter has control of my i-pod:

Piano Man - Billy Joel
Tiny Dancer - Elton John
Bennie and the Jets - Elton John
Livin' On a Prayer- Bon Jovi
All American Girl - Carrie Underwood
Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood
Breakdown - Jack Johnson
So She Dances - Josh Groban
Tattoo - Jordan Sparks
Light On - David Cook

**********************************************************

My blogging friend Deb at Drivin' 55 is celebrating her 1 year blog anniversary and is having a extra special surprise give-a-way!!  Go wish her happy anniversary and be entered to win!

**********************************************************

My other blogging friend Meg at Becoming a Non-Smoker is doing something to cultivate her creative side and I thought I'd follow along!

Rules as follows:

Here's how it works: the first FIVE people to respond to this post will get something made by me personally.

What I make is my choice, but it will be made JUST FOR YOU!

My choice. For you.

However, like all things that sound too good to be true, this offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- There is no guarantee that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you personally.
3- It will be completed sometime this year.
4- You will receive no clues as to what it's going to be.
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange if I so desire... it may blow your mind! Or it may not. It may be very simple and predictable... but hopefully you will benefit from it!
6- You must re-post this on your blog and offer the same deal to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog.

Not too bad, huh? In fact, I think it'll be a lot of fun!!

One note, you don't have to re-post this on your blog for me to do this. I'm excited to send random people some happy mail thing...I'm not very crafty but I'll come up with something. So, if you want to join in, just comment that you want to and away we'll go. If not, no worries. I don't know that I'd want to receive a homemade item from me either. (Meg wrote this last part and I feel the same way, so I'm leaving it in!!!)

************************************************************

I'm participating in an online book club, Virtually Well Read, hosted by Well Read Hostess and would like to invite you to join.  We are reading Maile Meloy's Liars and Saints in preparation for our discussion on April 13th.  I just finished reading the book and I loved it.  It's a short easy read, but has some substance.  Go check it out.