Delusions of... Everything

This and That Thursday

Stream of consciousness blogging this morning...

• This day was saved for the Sea World post... Yeah, I haven't edited those pictures yet.
• The sun has been shining in Seattle, hence the reason the photos are not edited.
• Thanks to the sun garlic, radishes, spinach, lettuce and beets are breaking through the soil of my garden!
• We've installed a water feature in the front yard, it looks amazing and I will be blogging about it soon.
• Looks like Star Wars Sun got a job at the Pike Place Market.  Hopefully he will still be working there this summer during Blog Fest West.  We can go harass say "Hi" to him.  Are you planning to attend Blog Fest West?!  You really should consider it!
• Dancing Daughter had a piece of her artwork selected to be put on a banner that will be displayed in our little town.  Here's the article on the B-Town Blog.  Yes, I will be taking pictures!
• Opening night of "Little Shop of Horrors" is tonight.  Dancing Daughter plays a Ronette in her school's Drama Club production.  I'm super excited, she's super stressed.
• I got out of bed at 10:00 last night when I heard DD crying in her room above ours.  I spent 30 minutes calming her down.  She is very stressed about the play, her math class that she fears she is failing, drill tryouts, the upcoming dance show...  I'm sure the list goes on to include stress over friends and boys but we didn't get that far, I was trying to calm her down.

Why is it not Friday?

Surgery and Rehab?

Wow!  I had to brush away the cobwebs in here before I could write my first post in weeks!

We spent Saturday on the beach at Anderson Island celebrating Bastille Day, because, well, that's how my friends roll.

This is an annual celebration that we have been attending for years.  Every year we pack up the kids and their friends and the dog for a day of sun, water, friends, laughing, playing, eating, drinking and all around celebrating of life.

Saturday started out like every other year we go to celebrate Bastille day, with ferry anxiety.  By nature I'm not a stresser outer... Except when it comes to catching the ferry.  I just know we are going to be late and miss it, yet we NEVER have.  We started out 10 minutes later than I wanted to and Handy Man drove at a leisurely pace all contributing to my stress.

While driving on the freeway we heard a very loud crack on top of the Suburban... Handy Man open the cover of the sunroof and we saw that it had been shattered.  We didn't see the rock coming, but it definitely did some damage.

We got to the ferry in plenty of time (we always do) see friends in line and wait to board for the ride over.  Once we arrive the dog jumps out of the car, excitedly greets the other dogs and promptly comes up lame.  He's limping and gimpy, but still makes a beeline for the beach and limps all the way into the water where he frolics for a few seconds then comes back to the yard.

I promptly grab a beer and start talking for the next few hours.  I see that Scout is not putting weight on his back leg at all, but I keep drinking and talking... What am I going to do on a Saturday on a very small island?!  Besides, he didn't appear to be in pain, he just couldn't walk properly.

Today, after a trip to the vet, we found out Scout blew out his ACL which requires a specialist, surgery and weeks of rehab.  The good news is that it's not painful for him, just awkward.  There is always the chance he could injure one of his good legs by overworking them so we have been instructed to somehow keep this very active 9 year old lab calm and off his feet.  Hahahahahaha!  We might have to set the crate up again.  :/  We have a long haul in front of us!

On a super positive and uplifting note.  Star Wars Son and the three friends who came along befriended a 9 year old boy who hung out with them the whole day.  They were really sweet with him, listening to him and laughing with him and teaching him how to be straight-edge.  When asked the 9 year old said that meant no drugs or murder.  The next day that 9 year old was heard saying that Saturday was the best day of his life.  Awwwww!

Fess Up Friday

I'm a nervous wreck this morning!  I hardly slept a wink last night.

I have not one, but two interviews today!  I applied for a job on Wednesday afternoon, Thursday morning they called me for an interview at 8 am today!!!  That's what I call fast.

Without going into to much detail yet, this job I'm interviewing for this morning would be in my dream job category.

Please send good thoughts my way at 8 am and 2 pm today... I'm going to need calming ones especially!

More details later!

Optimist/Pessimist

Generally I'm an optimistic person.  I see the glass as half full.  I tend to have faith that everything will work out.  I see problems as challenges.  Handy Man on the other hand is totally the opposite.  He worries that things will not work out.  A problem comes up and he thinks of the worse case scenario. 

The other day the computer went cattywompus (yes it's a real word, here is the urban dictionary definition - topsy-turvy; weird; To be all helter skelter and askew. Not functioning on all cylinders, or just plain strange.)  That exactly describes what the desk top looked like.  It was all big and jumped around every time the mouse was moved.  It was dizzying to look at.  Handy Man's first reaction was it needed to be taken into the shop.  My first reaction was, Star Wars Son can fix it when he gets home from school.

It turned out the mouse scroll knob got pushed while the apple button was pushed, or something like that... which magnified the screen.  You know who figured it out after some brainstorming with both the kids?  Handy Man... the chronic pessimist who initially said it needed to go into the shop ended up fixing it.

It's been very difficult for me to stay optimistic in my job search when I know Handy Man is in the wings thinking we are doomed to a life of poverty.  The interesting thing is that I can totally understand his fears.  It's possible we will have to pay the mortgage on two houses for a few months before our rental house sells.  That is very scary.  Super scary.

I'm a firm believer in the power of positive thinking.  However, when surrounded by heavy negativity it's very difficult for me to draw a positive thought.  I'm struggling on the edge of depression.  Some days I don't even want to get out of bed let alone pick up my camera, write daily or read my book (I've been reading the same book since the first of the year).

Yet I'm powering on.  I do get up every morning.  I work out 3-4 times a week.  I'm showering.  I'm reading your blogs.  I'm applying for jobs.  I'm even cooking dinner (mostly) and doing the dishes.  Every one of those things has been a huge chore.  At the end of every day I'm congratulating myself for being productive and hoping I can get up and do it all over again the next day.  That's the best I've got at the moment.

Now I'm off to look for my optimism and apply for more jobs.

Pearl Jam Sunday

This has been a strange weekend for me.  I haven't felt very good and it really hit me how much things have changed since I lost my job.  We have to watch every penny we spend.  We are planning budget meals that will last for a couple days.  All the work we were going to do at the rental before putting it on the market in April might not get done.  Everything just feels off kilter.

Today's Pearl Jam song reflects how I feel.  It's also one of my favorites songs.  It's from the Lost Dogs CD, which is a must have for any Pearl Jam fan because it's full of buried treasure.  This song was also featured in a little, slightly bizarre movie called Chicago Cab in 1997.

The change in the song that happens at around the 2:18 mark is my favorite part of the song!  Enjoy.

Pearl Jam AOL Sessions

Hard to Imagine

"Things were different then. All is different now.
I tried to explain. I hope this works somehow.
Things were different then. All is different now.
I tried to explain. Oh, somehow."

The Green River

Once upon a time a dam was built and named for Seattle attorney and state legislator Howard A. Hanson, who heavily encouraged the dam be built.  The Green River Valley was prone to flooding every year, the dam brought relief to the farmers in the valley.  Once the valley was dry (mostly) farmlands gave way to a sea of warehouses, industrial plants, condominiums, and shopping centers.   This is where I work, right on the river.  It really is pretty.

 

Today the Howard Hanson Dam has issues.  The land on the right side of the dam is starting to give way.  This means the dam cannot hold as much water as when it's healthy.  The Army Corp of Engineers will be releasing water during heavy periods of rain to relieve pressure on the dam.  The possibility of flooding along the river is very high, in fact they are telling us to expect it.

I have spent the past two weeks preparing, as much as possible, our office for flooding.  The computers are off the floor, shelves and cupboards have been emptied up to about 20 inches, power strips are off the floor.  Today I will be typing up emergency plans to be posted in each office, so if we have warning there are a few things we can do to prepare.

The fear of the unknown has my boss and I stressed.  How much water will come in?  How often will it flood before the dam is fixed?  Should we pull the carpet up and make do with the concrete floor?  How much time will we have to be shut down?  For the first time flood insurance has been purchased.

I'm hoping for a drier than normal winter!  *crosses fingers*

Frettin' Friday and Other Stuff

I think of my grandma when I hear the word "fret" my grandpa used it when referring to her... "Oh stop your frettin' ma."  "All you do is fret Edna, sit down and relax."  "Your grandma's frettin' again."  "Someone fix Edna a drink so she'll stop her frettin'."

Here's what I'm frettin' about today. 

When I started this blog I had visions of writing a bunch of posts ahead of time (you know in all that spare time I have) and store them away to be used later.  Hahahaha, I'm so delusional funny.  Blog reality set in very quick when it was obvious that would not be my style.  I'm a wake up and see what's inspiring me today kind of blogger.    However for the upcoming series of Pearl Jam posts, I have to do some planning and writing ahead and I'm frettin about it. I'm not sure how much pre-planning I want to do.  I have a rough plan and I know what I want it to look like and how I want it to flow, but I'm not sure how to make it happen.  I'm thinking of asking my kids for advice, they are better writers than I am.  I've never been properly taught; they both had the best English/Language Arts teacher in our school district and they were lucky enough to have her for multiple years (the advantages of alternative schools!).  I know it will all work out, but that doesn't stop me from frettin' right now!  Someone fix me a drink!

Another thing I'm frettin' about is one of my good friends sent me an email yesterday saying she went to the hospital for what she thought was an appendix issue.  It turns out she has diverticulitis.  I don't know too much about it except that it's an intestinal thing and it's VERY painful.  She has to be off work for a few days and was put on medication.  I hope she feels better soon.

Here are some things I'm not frettin' about.

Yesterday the main four lane road getting to my office from the south was partially blocked (one lane open both directions) because of a landslide.  I happened to go to work from the north yesterday because I stopped at the post office first, so I missed out on that traffic.  I plan to go that way again today, just in case.  While the river I work on was high, it was still a few feet from going over the banks.

Here is a picture of the river a few weeks ago, when Dancing Daughter went to work with me on a snow day.  (I know there's no snow, just humor me.)

This was the river yesterday morning.

A few feet higher and browner but thankfully not overflowing!

Another thing I'm not frettin' about is the new blog I started.  Photos of... Everything is still under construction, but I have posted a few photos over the past couple days.  I hope you enjoy it.  Right now I'm using it as a way to post photos that I don't want, or need, to use here at Delusions.  I hope for it to evolve to something a little more technical about using the camera, composing shots, exposure, etc.  We'll see how it goes.

I'm also working on yet another blog, Scrapbooks of... Everything, but it will be a few days before it's up and running.  I'll let you know when it's ready.

I hope you're not frettin' too much today, but if you are, please feel free to share.