Casa de Jammies Garden Tour

The gladiolus that is the Color of Imp:



The bed along the street:



The iron hook & hanging basket at the corner of the street & driveway:



The bed along the driveway:



One of the butterfly bushes along the driveway:



One of the lavender along the driveway:



My Annabel hydrangea:



The heuchera next to the Annabel:



The round bed in the front yard:



The balloon flower in that bed:




The front of the house:





The breezeway:




Volunteer roses in my front bed--eight of them!





The front walk:









My newest hanging basket, helichrysum & black sweet potato vine:



The herb bed with dill, a volunteer tomato, sweet woodruff, chives, lamium and garlic chives:





One of the huge hostas along the garage:



The back yard:





The Blue Light clematis in the back yard bed:



Purple gladiolus in the back yard bed:




Pussy willow in the back bed:



The seating area in the way back:




Wild grapes in the side yard:

Which LOLcat are you?

Your Score: Lion Warning Cat

62 % Affection, 70 % Excitability , 48 % Hunger

You are the good Samaritan of the lolcat world. Protecting others from danger by shouting observations and guidance in cases of imminent threat, you believe in the well-being of everyone.

Link: The Which Lolcat Are You? Test written by GumOtaku on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Empty Casa de Jammies Syndrome

*sigh*

Everybody's gone now, and the house is still and quiet and empty.

*crash*

*growl*

*wrestle*

*snarl*

*woof*

Okay, it's as empty as a house with two large male dogs in it can be. That's still pretty empty when you consider that thirty hours ago there were six people here, all folks I adore for various reasons (even, sometimes, myself).

Mallie and Jay arrived safely just before one a.m. Thursday. There was hugging and squeeing and much standing on their parts, for they drove sixteen hours to get to JammiesFest! After the meeting of the hounds and some stretching, they gave me my very extravagant birthday pressies, unpacked, set up their bed and we all went to sleep. Thursday morning, I dropped Bigfoot off for his second tail surgery, and then returned to the house. After a lazy morning, we went to the West Point Market for lunch and shopping for goodies, then home. We also hit a local Target so Jay could purchase a wireless router for my house. Not only did I feel very spoiled, I was heartened by this clear evidence of their intention to return to Casa de Jammies. When we returned from shopping, there was a box for me from my secret swapper, Flip, from the Lush message board. She had sent three tubes of Yuk and a cervical collar to keep rotten boy from further self-mutilation. I just this second realized that I have an Emo dog. *grin*

At the appointed time, I went and retrieved my horrible hound, then dropped him off at the house. Jay and Mallie kindly dog-sat while I went to the bus station to get Rob. Dinner was fabulous cheeses & nibbles from WPM, tomato and green bean salad, and steakburgers Jay and Mallie bought and which he cooked on a hibachi grill also purchased for me as an extra birthday present by Mallie and Jay. The conversation afterwards was fun and far-ranging. We all went to bed on the early side, tired from travel, late nights, etc.

Friday morning was another slow and easy morning. Jay is the best bacon-cooker I know, and I am very glad that I had stocked up on thick-cut peppered bacon from Giant Eagle! My mother's banana bread and my lemon pound cake birthday cake also went over well. Jay discovered that the peppered bacon on pepper cream cheese spread on a black pepper and olive oil Triscuit is an amazing nibble. I was rude and took a nap, Rob discovered the seating area in the back yard was the perfect place for a pipe, some reading, and some critter-watching, and Jay & Mallie went back to the WPM. That evening, Imp arrived in her adorable little white Pri(ap)us. We plied her with alcohol and again talked and talked and talked. I don't remember whether it was Friday night or Saturday morning that I shrieked at Littlefoot and startled Imp. Whenever it was, she jumped and asked if I were mad at her. I said, "Not if you're not the one licking something you shouldn't be," which led to a discussion of what is and is not on the approved lick list.

Saturday was more bacon, lots of coffee, and an afternoon shopping. We went to the Buckeye Bookshop in Akron First and Main and The Learned Owl in Hudson. After the shopping, we headed home and changed for dinner at Mariachi Loco. I didn't need to change, but I wanted to put on my pretty turquoise dress, so I did. Mariachi Loco does a kick-ass chile con queso with white Mexican cheese, and we had that with chips, salsa and guacamole for appetizers. If we hadn't all wanted meat, we could have had just the appetizers, they were so good.

KellyGirl from the Lush message board joined us, along with her sweetie. Kelly and Rob made the same mistake, that of ordering "large" drinks. Kelly's margarita came in a stemmed fishbowl, and Rob's draft beer came in something which strongly resembled a glass gallon jug. Imp, doll that she is, treated everyone to dinner. The conversation was as wonderful as the food, and continued when we returned to Casa de Jammies. Kelly, who is a California girl, got her first look at oodles of fireflies in the back yard. She and her SO are going to have to come back when they can tour the library and visit a bit longer.

Sunday morning, I had a message from Dran to call him early and make sure he was awake. I left a message at 9:30, and he arrived about 10:30. He must have been travelling through a dead spot on I-71 when I called (not knowing my message would be ineffectual and that he was already on the road). We had another quiet day of good food and talk, and squooshed the heck out of Imp when it was time for her to leave.

I planted some gladiolus bulbs in the bed along the street this spring. They are white with maroon throats, most of them. One bulb, however, must have been sorted into the wrong bag, as it opened a rich deep burgundy red. When I saw it, I knew that it was Imp in flower form, and I cut it for her to take home. That red is the color of warmth and beauty and passion and joy, and that is Imp. The bloom was a lovely surprise gift, and that is also Imp. I was thinking that Mallie was the pink and white marbled glads, but after my watering tour this evening, I have decided that she is the beautiful flowing helichrysum, which falls from the planter in the same graceful waves as her hair and is the silvery color of her infectious giggle. Jay is the butterfly bush, strong and tall but gentle with the lovely creatures drawn to his beauty, while Rob is the ajuga, slightly dark and preferring some shadows mixed in with his sunshine, but with some small shy flowers peeking around the dark leaves. Dran could be nothing but a bright redhot poker, standing alone and distinctive.

Sunday night was the first and only time I cooked for my guests. We had Jammies' chicken chili and tomato/mozzarella/fresh basil salad. Dessert was the last of Mom's lemon pound cake, and the hotties in The Mummy. We also saw Blazing Saddles and The Incredibles. Dran left around 9:30 because he had to work today. Bummer. While we were watching movies, I had a glass of a wonderful concoction Jay made from Riesling, strawberries and fresh sweet woodruff, and would have had three or four more had I not been ready for bed. I slept soundly, as I had all weekend. In fact, for someone with more houseguests than she's ever had at one time, I was as relaxed and boneless as a spoiled cat all weekend long.

This morning, Mallie and I toured the yard for the second time. She took pictures of the things that would remind her most of me, and I took garden pictures for the sheer joy of it. There was a moment which reminded me both of my first visit to Snicker and of my essential clumsiness. Mallie had sat down by the front flower bed, and I joined her. When the time came to get up, she asked if I needed a hand, and I said, "No, if you'll hold my camera, I'll be fine." I managed to stand up okay, but when I went to take my camera back, I threw it right on her toe. So our last official moments of togetherness were of giggling and flowers (okay, okay, and quite a bit of pouting on my part--I wanted to keep her).

After Jay and Mallie had left for Clemson, I took my car in for the E-check and then over to the BMV for license plate renewal. Rob was gracious enough to forgive me a nap after lunch, and when I woke up, I packed a survival kit of cheese, chips, crackers and water, and then took him to the bus station.

As I sit here in my quiet house, I am a bit sad because everyone has left, but mostly I am grateful for the blessing of having friends willing to make the epic journey to NE Ohio and fill my house with love and laughter.

Thank you all.

They are here!

Jay, Mallie and Rob have all arrived safely. Alessia's ETA is 8 p.m. tonight, and the status of The Heather, RunsWithBeer and Dranoel remains uncertain. Despite the non-fun obligations of Stoopid Tail Chewer and other things, we have managed to have fun. The house is still a mess, but Mallie is making friends with the dustbunnies, and I have borrowed Zayrina's excuse about the ax murderer decorator, and have made sure to use an awful accent and the phrase "Velcome to de House of Bloooood" to all of my guests.

JammiesFest '07

began last night with the safe arrival of Jay & Mallie. They got in late, so I am trying not to wake them as I get ready to run Bigfoot back to the vet for an assessment of the damage he did to himself on Sunday. Bigfoot thinks it is Jay & Mallie's job to entertain him, and he is a bit peeved that they are sleeping on the job. He keeps trying to whack the guest room door open with the Collar of Shame.

Terribly embarrassing. *blush*

But they're heeee-eere! *happy Snoopy dance*

Attack of the Zombie If Bunny

Yes, just when I thought the If Bunny of the job at WestLaw was dead, it rose from the grave. Yesterday afternoon at work, I got a phone call from the recruiter at ThompsonWest, who told me that they'd been authorized to hire a second publishing assistant and the interviewers had specifically requested me.

After a long talk with Mom, an exchange of PMs with Maresche (the one who told me about the job) and a night of sleep, I called this morning and accepted the job. I need to fill out some forms and take a drug test, and they will run a background check, but since I don't have any kind of criminal history and I plan on refraining from poppyseed bagels this weekend, I should start on July 30th. Mom is pleased for me but worried for the office, which I understand. I am very pleased that it's looking as if she & Vegan Lawyer will be able to stay in the office--apparently, the university has no immediate plans for the space.

VL was nice enough to say that the office won't be the same without me, and Goldilocks threatened to bring ropes, nails and glue to work on Tuesday, so she can make it impossible for me to leave. :-) Snoopy had left for the day by the time I found out, so I don't know if anyone will tell him before I come back. Neither of my brothers answered their cells, so if they don't call me back before I hit the Submit Post button, they risk finding out here. *grin*

I'm scared and excited both, and awfully glad I have five days of relaxation before I go back into the office and run around like a headless chicken cleaning up my desk and getting everything shipshape for after I'm gone.

Cleaning tomorrow seems like a simple and quiet thing to do right now, lol.

ETA: Mom surprised me this morning by bringing me a lemon pound cake as my birthday cake and a loaf of her wonderful banana nut bread because I'm having company. I can't wait to cover the cake with sliced fresh strawberries!

A letter from Littlefoot

Dear Auntie MaryMargrt,

Thank you so much for the neato toys that you send to Bigfoot and me. I like the red one best, which is good, 'cos Bigfoot has his nose stuck in the middle of the yellow one and he says he's not sharing.

Bigfoot has been really rotten lately, and PL is very exasperated with him. I am being very very good and sweet and cute and she only pays attention to me when I shove my nose in her hand really hard. It's so unfair--she treats me like a redheaded stepdog!

Oh, thank you for the cryptic pencils, whatever those are. I guess they are a people thing, because they don't smell very yummy and PL put them up in a cupboard even Bigfoot can't reach. Did you know he knows how to open the refrigerator? He's a very smart big brother, even if he is a pain.

PL says it is rude to ask for special favors when someone gives you a present, but I don't care. If you send us any more presents, could you please mail them from your house so they get to smell like all those interesting kitties you have? I didn't get nearly enough snuffle time to enjoy all of the different kitty scents on your shoes when you were here.

Thank you again for the presents, and please consider yourself slurped.

Love,

Littlefoot

Can't even think of a title

So at three o'clock, I had more done than I thought and got my second wind, so I took a shower. I sat down in the recliner post-shower and fell asleep for 2 hours. When I woke up, and Stormy had chewed his tail to the point where he was all over blood and he hit a vein and it was spurting.

Blood everywhere--all over the house, the dog, the carpet, so the first thing I did was put the dog in the tub for a rinse. I got a new dressing on him and most of the blood out of his fur, and he jumped out of the tub, KNOCKED ME BACKWARDS into the vanity and ran around the house. He got the new dressing off with his tail still spurting, and got blood everywhere he hadn't gotten it the first time.

Since six o'clock, I have been scrubbing blood out of the sofas, carpet, off walls, chairs, kitchen table, lamps. I thought I was on the home stretch, and that all I had to do was put some stuff away, dust some stuff, and vacuum. Now it's looking as if the kitchen won't even be marginally neat, let alone clean, when everyone arrives.

Oh, and I took my emergency pack of cigarettes out of the freezer and smoked a whole bunch, so I can really feel awful about myself.

Run, Jammies, Run!

See Jammies.

Jammies has a house.

See the house.

Jammies has two dogs.

See the dogs. Their names are Bigfoot and Littlefoot.

My, those are some furry dogs, aren't they?

Jammies has some friends.

See her friends. Their names are Mallie, Jay, Imp, Dran, Rob, Amy, Josh and KellyGirl.

Jammies' friend Scott is now thinking something about "I don't have friends."

Bad Scott!

Jammies is now thinking something very rude at Scott! :o

Bad Jammies!

Jammies is proud of her house and her dogs and her friends.

Jammies invites all of her friends to come stay with her for a weekend.

What is this called?

This is called a house party.

A house party is a good thing.

Before the house party, Jammies must get ready. She must clean the house.

Did Jammies start cleaning two weeks before the party?

No, she did not.

Jammies started cleaning one week before the house party.

Is this a good thing?

No, it is not.

What is this called?

This is called procrastination.

Procrastination is a bad thing.

Now it is eleven forty-seven a.m.

See the clock?

It will be noon very soon.

Jammies didn't start cleaning early.

What did she do?

She spray painted her wicker chairs.

Did she buy enough paint for all three chairs?

She did not.

This is a bad thing.

Jammies' hands are trembling because of the spray-painting.

Jammies is also very tired.

Jammies cannot stop cleaning yet.

She still has lots of work to do!

See the dirty house.

See Jammies looking sad.

Did Jammies learn not to procrastinate?











































Probably not.

Panic attack

Not the short of breath anxiety kind, but an attack of panic cleaning. So far, both my room and the guest bedroom are immaculate, but I still have a huge to-do list before I have a houseful of people.

Breezeway: Remove chairs, wash and re-paint
Wash walls
Wash windows
Wash tables
Vacuum
Put everything back!

Kitchen: Clean off counters
Clean off kitchen table
Fix curtain rod
Hang curtains
Wash floors

Living room: Dust & vacuum

Bathroom: Clean tub, sink & toilet
Clean mirrors
Clean floors

Also do approx. 8 loads laundry

Outside: Weed (again!)
Trim dead stuff off hanging basket
Find place to hang oxalis
Fill planter with sand to serve as outdoor ashtray

Even though the list is rather daunting, I'm quite proud of everything I accomplished today. Not only did I get two rooms clean, I filled six boxes with fat clothes, linens and miscellaneous household goods and loaded them into my car for a trip to Goodwill tomorrow.

Stormdog continues to be intransigent about damaging his tail. I don't know what will happen, but I keep swooping down on him and replacing the bandage when I catch him at it. The drawback is that I have to sleep, and he seems to adore going after it at night. *sigh* I'm doing the best I can, but I'm afraid it's not enough.

Calm or Numb? Who knows?

Bigfoot is still going after his tail. At this point, it has become a contest of wills. I have four rolls of tape, two boxes and one roll of gauze, a tube of antibiotic ointment and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. He has teeth and attitude. Every time he gets a bandage off, I put it back on.

I'm sticking the recipe Lady FineCat Poodley-Dane gave me for a special dog supplement here so I don't lose it on the Lush message board again. Bigfoot ate his first portion in record time and asked for more, so I'm taking that as a good sign.

Satin Balls Half Recipe -- recommended amount to mix up

5 lbs cheap hamburger (for high fat %)
1/2 large box Total cereal (about 6 cups cereal)
1/2 large box uncooked oatmeal (about 7.5 cups oats)
5 raw eggs
1/2 of 15oz jar wheat germ (about 2 cups)
5 packages Knox unflavored gelatin
5/8 cup vegetable oil (this is pretty close to 2/3 cup)
5/8 cup unsulphered molasses
pinch of salt

Satin balls, Scott, not Satan balls. *giggle*

Oh, and I have to add that greater love hath no friend than he who will, when called on the phone on the Fourth of July, put the words "Satin Balls" into a search engine and tell a friend which ingredients she needs at the grocery store.

I adore you, you cranky camelid. *throat-scritchies and a smooch*

Pupdate

I got a call on Friday that I didn't get the job with WestLaw. 'Sokay, I had made up my mind that this wasn't the right time for me to take the job (but yes, I wanted to be the one turning it down--such is vanity).

Bigfoot's tail has been rebandaged, and will stay that way until it either heals or needs to be removed. Dr. Bob was pleasantly surprised to see that the bone wasn't exposed even though Bigfoot had removed two of the sutures. I think Bob could tell I was on a thin edge, because he made a point of reassuring me that it wasn't my fault. Until the tail heals, I need to change the dressing every other day, adding a splorp of antibiotic ointment with each dressing change. In addition, Bigfoot is now wearing a size 30 Elizabethan collar, the size they use for Danes and Mastiffs.

The huge collar presents a challenge for dinnertime, but I swear my puppymonster is strutting as if he'd suddenly been promoted to Really Big Dog.

Unabashed gloating

The hard labor in the garden is done for the year, and now is the time when I get to gloat. There are six gladiolus plants with buds, the butterfly bushes are blooming like mad, and I have eight volunteer mini-roses in the bed against the house which I shall transplant in the fall. The plastic outdoor furniture is scrubbed and set out, and the gravelled area below the apple trees is complete, both awaiting only guests.

*happy sigh*

All of this is why I neglect my house and work my fingers raw in the spring.

Lakeside

Some disjointed thoughts and stories:

I drove up Saturday and arrived about 1 p.m. My middle brother and his family were there, and I got to give George his belated birthday present, a Spiderman swim mask and flippers. He promptly wore them around the house and declared the flippers difficult to walk in. Youngest brother and his family were picked up from the airport and delivered to the house in time for dinner. After dinner, we went for a long golf cart ride and visited the big park. On the way from where we parked the cart to the park, I was pleased and flattered when a little hand slipped into mine and I discovered Princess Mathgeek wanted her Aunt Jammies to keep her safe.

We stayed at the park until they kicked us out because it was past nine. None of us even realized it was so late as it stays light so long these days. Princess Mathgeek was playing in the sandbox and didn't want to put her shoes back on, so I made her a deal that if she wore her shoes for the walk back to the golf cart, she could take them off for the ride home. When we got to the house, I asked if she wanted to put her shoes on and walk in, or if she wanted me to carry her. She chose the latter, and I picked her up, then turned around to talk to Mom for a minute. After a few sentences, there was a big sigh and "We're not moving" from the princess, so I took her into the house.

On Sunday, my aunt and two of my cousins came for the afternoon. The morning was spent getting a whole lot of food ready, and amusing the kidlets. As the cousins and their families arrived, Dad ferried folks down to the park in two golf cart loads, and then went back to the house to commune with his inner curmudgeon. My cousin Mel's two and a half year old is in a toe-to-hip cast as a result of a trampoline accident at day care, and she is amazingly good and patient for an immobilized kidlet of that age. We had food, fun, water balloons, squirt gun fights, bubbles, drama, biting, golf cart rides and lots of talking.

Monday was a laid-back day, at least for me. I got to spend some time with everyone, and just enjoyed the perfect weather. My only regret is that I didn't get any shopping done while I was up there. On the evening golf cart ride, four and a half year old Alabaster said, out of the blue, "Auntie Jammies, I think you are very pretty." Made my day. :) I had to leave Tuesday morning, so Mom read and signed the papers I'd brought with me for her to sign and I took them back to the office. When I got there, I discovered one lone Cheerio stuck between the hospice release and the Motion for Summary Judgment. *grin*

I was supposed to drive back this afternoon and be there for the big fancy family dinner at Mon Ami winery. Unfortunately, I had a migraine last night and got about three hours worth of sleep. I decided I didn't want to drive two hours when I wasn't sure I would stay awake the whole time, so I am staying at home with my rotten tail-chewing dog. I put Tabasco sauce on the sock that I put over his tail, and he's gotten it off twice and engaged in some mild licking, but is mostly leaving it alone except when he's really really bored.

A note to Scott--I thought of you when I realized that the Pre-Historic Forest I've seen every year for the last five years has a mystery hill. Our mystery hill is clearly better than yours because yours doesn't have dinosaurs, so there. :p

Fortunately, Captain Crossword, Bookworm Mathgeek and the girls will be back in Ohio in three weeks, and I will see them then, no matter what I have to do to fit myself into their schedule for that weekend. I do feel old realizing that my baby brother has his 20th high school reunion this year. :o

Damn dumb dog

There are many wonderful stories to tell of my long weekend at the lake, but right now, they are obscured by the fact that Stubby had his bandage removed, and promptly started chewing the stub of his tail until it bled, despite the fact that he left everything alone until just this moment.

The two things that make it worse:

A. He was in Mom's car when he did this (I think I have all the blood out of the back seat upholstery).

B. Dr. Bob talked to me exactly the way he used to when I worked for him, as if I were not quite bright enough to do things to his standards but he expected me to try.

My hands itch. :-(

Mom, me, and exploding tomato products.

The first time Mom & I had a problem was Christmas Eve, 1998. She and Dad were joining the ex and me for Christmas Eve dinner. Since I was extremely strapped for cash, Mom gave me a number of the ingredients needed for the meal, including two cans of tomato paste for the tortilla soup. I spent the whole day cleaning, then set up the card table in the media room and set it for four. I put out the butter dish with the last stick of butter and the salt and pepper, carefully closed the door and went to shower and change. While I was getting dressed, the ex was taking his shower, and apparently not listening when I told him the door had to stay shut. He went into the media room to get something, left the door open, and then was surprised when one of the dogs knocked the butter dish off the table and ate the butter.

He, of course, professed both innocence and ignorance when I came downstairs with my festive dress on and my hair and makeup done. I told him to get dressed and then go out and get more butter. Cruel witch that I am, I sent him out into an Ohio December evening with wet hair (sadly, he did not catch pneumonia and die). While he was gone, I started the preparations for dinner, and while I was occupied, the butter thief, filled with remorse, stepped silently up behind me and returned the butter, and then slunk away. I never did find out which dog it was.

After I'd cleaned up the mess on the kitchen floor, I got out the soup pot and started the tortilla soup. The chicken stock went into the pot with no problems, as did the little can of tomatoes and peppers. Unfortunately, when I put the can opener to the first can of tomato paste and pressed down, the contents exploded straight into my face. I had tomato paste in my hair, on my face, and all over the bodice of my dress. Welcome to Carrie's Christmas.

After I'd used a kitchen towel on the worst of the mess, I put the second can of tomato paste in the sink, aimed it away from me, and tried opening it. Another explosion.

I called Mom, got hysterical on the phone with her, and she calmed me down and promised to bring two more cans of tomato paste with her and make the soup herself. I washed my face, rinsed out my hair, took off my dress and rinsed the top, then put it in the dryer. When Mom and Dad arrived, I was damp but presentable, and Jim had returned with the butter. Mom made the tortilla soup, and we wound up having a very nice Christmas Eve dinner.

This past Thursday, as I was driving to work after dropping Bigfoot the Stupid Conehead off at the vet's, my car started making horrible noises. I asked Mom if I could borrow a car to get to Lakeside this weekend, and she said I could use hers. In order not to be driving back and forth unnecessarily, she asked that I do the grocery shopping on my way home, then she would take me to get the idiot fuzzy and I would drop her and the groceries at her house. On the grocery list were two cans of tomato juice and two bottles of Bloody Mary mix. I got all the groceries, let Littlefoot out and back in, fed him his dinner, and when Mom arrived, we started transferring groceries from my car to hers.

As I had my back to Mom, I heard a crash and felt droplets spatter my ankle. I turned around, and she was holding the handles of a bag, and there were two smashed bottles of Bloody Mary mix on the driveway. Apparently, the cashier hadn't bothered to double-bag the bottles, had put them in the same bag, and added a can of soup. By the time Mom and I had cleaned up the mess and gotten most of the glass out of the driveway, we were really close to not getting to the vet hospital on time. I called from my cell and had Missy put the charges on my debit card, and we just barely got Bigfoot out in time for the vet staff to close for the night.

From now on, I am going to make sure that Mom and I are never in close proximity to processed tomato products while we are together. I believe that for some reason, the universe will allow me and tomatoes, Mom and tomatoes, but never all three together without a catastrophe.

Content rating

Sherri hooked me up with the blog rater.

Mingle² - Online Dating

Sex (2) Suicide (1)

Apparently dog gross stuff is acceptable.

The Adventures of Stubby

Yup, Dr. Bob took two inches off my heart dog's tail, and he's home safe, sound and sulking. The white-wrapped stub looks pathetic, sticking out of the end of Bigfoot's plumy tail, and he's doing his very best impression of a miserable dog rug, flat on the floor. Because of the slightly elevated liver values, he's got antioxidants to take in addition to the antibiotics & pain meds. Tomorrow he will day-board at the vet's, then Amy will be here Friday to stay with him and I will be here Friday night. Starting Saturday morning, Amy will be with him 24/7 and she'll take him in on Monday for a bandage change.

I'm not sure how the interview went--it lasted for 40 minutes, which I hope is good, and they said I'll know in ten days to two weeks. The If Bunny hasn't left quite yet.

I woke up at 4 a.m. with hives and a migraine, probably from stress, so getting up at 5:40 tomorrow will probably seem like sleeping in.

Jammies the Depressing

Ack. Sincere apologies to all of the beloved friends who have listened to me whining tonight. In the spirit of I Can Has Cheezburger?, I made a loldog:



Yes, Bigfoot still hates my guts. No, he hasn't left his stoopid tail alone for a single minute. Yes, his surgery is going to be expensive.

My mom said she'd loan me the money against my state tax refund, though, and my darling Amy is going to be with the brat 24/7 over the weekend while I go to the lake. I had a long hot shower and got all squeaky-clean, and the only thing really wrong in my little world is my heart dog hating me. *sigh* Maybe he'll be over it by next Tuesday when I come home.

Thanks to everyone for listening.

Oh, and my job interview is at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow--wish me luck!

My poor old man

Despite everything I have tried in the last ten days, he has not quit chewing on his tail. He'll probably have to have at least part of it amputated this week. :-(

Edited to add:

The ruin of the tail is horrible-looking, the E-collar hasn't kept him from chewing, and the surgery is scheduled for Wednesday.

Real Girl Power

In the last six months, I've heard a lot of debate about whether the PussyCat Dolls and the Suicide Girls are empowering, and I still haven't made up my mind. I do know that Saving Jane has some of the best lyrics out there, along with some damn fine music.

My idea of real "Girl Power" :

"One Girl Revolution"

Raise your hand if you don’t care
What those platinum girls wear
Raise your hand if you’re just here
To have a good time

Raise your hand if your lipstick
Doesn’t make you a dumb chick
Raise your hand if the shape of your hips don’t compare
To the shape of your mind

You don’t even stand a chance
I’m not taking off my pants

I’m here to start a one girl revolution
I’m not a barbie doll, shopping mall, silicone substitution
I thought I told ya, I’m a soldier
And I ain’t leavin’ til the battle’s over
One girl revolution.

Raise your hand if you’re smart, girls
More than pushups and pearls
Let em stare at our pictures, baby
While we take over the world

Raise your hand if you’re not another carbon copy
Wannabe like everybody else
Raise up your hand if you got something more to say

I’m here to start a one girl revolution
I’m not a perfect ten, paper thin, Hollywood illusion
I thought I told ya, I’m a soldier
And I ain’t leavin’ til the party’s over
One girl revolution.

What are we sellin?
Our brains or our belly buttons?
What are you buyin?
Don’t you know that they’re lying?
What are you cryin about, don’t just sit there and wait
While they’re selling us out!

You don’t even stand a chance
I’m not taking off my pants

I’m here to start a one girl revolution
I’m not the Girl Next Door anymore, baby I’m an institution
I thought I told ya, don’t wanna know ya
Pack your bags baby cause this army’s takin’ over
I’m here to start a one girl revolution

I’m the kinda chick that leaves you cryin’ for your mother
Keep on lookin if your lookin for a cookie cutter
I’m here to start a revolution

Spoken: No thanks, I can loosen up my own buttons.

©2007 Tosha Music

"Imperfection"

My hair's a wreck
Mascara runs
My feet get dirty and my skin burns in the sun

My lips, they bleed
But I still sing my songs
Takes me a minute to admit it when I'm wrong

Pretty is as pretty does, but pretty's not my thing...

This is what you get
This is who I am
Take me now or leave me
Any way you can
Sometimes I trip and fall
But I know where I stand
And if you're thinking about changing my direction...
Don't mess with Imperfection.

My back is weak
But my will is true
Got good intentions but I never follow through
I say too much
Don't know when to leave
In case you're looking that's my heart there on my sleeve

Ego trips and stupid slipups, I'm a mess but..

Chorus

Scratched and bruised, a little used,
But baby, I work fine.
You might call me damaged goods,
But I'm one of a kind.

My hair's a wreck
Mascara runs
No, I'm not perfect, but I'm not the only one...

Chorus

The If Bunny Grows

For an admirable explanation of what an If Bunny is, see Sherri's comment.

My own particular If Bunny is the possibility of a job as a publishing assistant. Back when I went to the Lushie meet-up, Maresche said that she works for a firm which does law books, and I half-jokingly asked her to let me know if there were any openings. Less than a week later, she e-mailed me and told me they were hiring. I put in an application on June 8th, and yesterday I went to their Cleveland office for a number of tests. I must have passed, because when I got home tonight, there was a message on my answering machine to call them Monday to set up an interview.

I'm excited but very nervous.

It's not cardio, but it still counts...

Making 208 copies is not a big deal. Making 208 copies in small batches and then not losing track of which exhibits you've copied and then re-arranging them in the four stacks needed for a hearing while you're running back and forth from the copier to the conference room to the telephone to the boss' desk is good exercise, even if it doesn't get your heart rate up. I swear I can feel it in my calves.

And of course, the point is not to give the administrative assistant her exercise, but for Bosstopus to be able to say whatever the legalese equivalent of "Oh yeah? See here! And so's yer mama!" when opposing counsel comes in with all guns blazing over the things his client has alleged about our client. HA!

Whoa

A big IfBunny just landed on me. I'll probably be running around chasing my tail for a few weeks...

Spring Snobservations

While standing in line at the Grand Opening of Lush Beachwood and eavesdropping:

Thought 1 about the lady in front of me:

Beeyotch, you can't pass yourself off as an expert Lushie if you keep saying things like "The Olive Vine" and "Witchy Muscles."

Thought 2 about the lady in front of me:

Oh, good gods, you're SORRY they disconned Red Rooster? You need to be forced to wear a muzzle lest you share your views any further. And you should probably be sterilized immediately for the good of humanity.

Thought about the SA helping me:

Oh dear. She's so sweet and helpful, and they're all working flat-out as hard as they can but eeeeeek she needs a Tic-Tac, stat.

Thought about the young woman stomping out of the mall:

Yes, there's a line. It's a small store and they advertised the Grand Opening. They also said it was going to start at 5 p.m. and there was a line at 5:15 when I got here. If you stay in line, you get a Lush cookie and a limited edition Grand Opening ballistic, just for waiting in line. If you spend $45, you get a goodie bag.

However, if you stand in line for a few minutes, find that the line isn't moving fast enough for you and storm out like a dinosaur on steroids exclaiming at the top of your lungs about how ridiculous it is to wait in line and how you're only ordering online and how you're never setting foot in the store blah blah blah, not only do you not get any of the freebies, nor do you get to snuggle your Lush from the minute you get it, but you also set yourself up to pay shipping fees and you made people watching you sad, because nobody would take a line that personally and make that big a fuss if there weren't something else terribly wrong in their life. I almost followed you and gave you my goodie bag, I felt so awful for you.

Thoughts while driving:

To the dude on the motorcycle:

Tuck your damn t-shirt in when you're going to be doing 60 mph. It's orange, it's flapping like a flag in a hurricane, and nobody wants to see that much flabby white flesh.

To the cute blonde chick in the cute little Toyota:

That really is a cute little car--why did you have to put the decal on the back window that is supposed to make us think someone threw a soccer ball at your car and it broke the window and got stuck halfway through? It's dumb and it ruins the car.

Final thought:

Do I hoard my LE ballistic like the treasure that it is? Perhaps sleep on it the way a dragon does gold? Or do I use it and see if it has the magical $100 gift card inside? Or do I start a poll on the Lush forum to see what I should do with it?

Sulky puppy

There's some semi-gross dog information contained in this post, so two of my five readers may wish to simply look at the pretty garden pictures and then exit without reading the text.













Bigfoot is having his annual springtime allergy attack (not to be confused with his annual autumn allergy attack, which is identical but occurs at a different time of year). He's very itchy, and last night, he managed to chew his tail until the tip was positively flowing with blood. I scrubbed the bald raw spot down with Nolvasan, spritzed on a bit of Cortaid, called the vet for an appointment for a steroid shot, and stuck an ankle sock on Bigfoot's tail and put a ponytail holder over that to hold the sock in place.

His temporary new hobby is taking the sock off, then coming to lean on me to see if I still love him despite the fact that I am mistreating him. Once I find the sock and put it back on, he pads off to lie down and sigh heavily to indicate how miserable, humiliated and unloved he is.

Just wait until I clean out his ears later.

Auntie Social

This has been an unusually social weekend for me, and I'm actually glad it rained enough to prevent Josh & Amy from coming over to do the lawn.

Saturday morning started with some last-minute cleaning and then a shower before MaryMargrt from the Lush message board got here. We talked and traded sniffables for a while (she brought me the sweetest basket full of discontinued Lush, new Lush not available here yet and stuff from other etailers) then headed over to her parents' house, where there was some more talking, and a lot of petting of the two German Shepards (who are utterly adorable). After that, we went up to Beachwood to the brand-new Cleveland Lush store, YAAAAAY!

I managed to stay pretty close to my budget. It helped that I won a bubble bar and a bath bomb for answering two trivia questions correctly, and that there were goodie bags and free ballistics for those who spent over $40. I got a Fresh-Faced starter kit for combination skin, three French Kisses, a Golden Slumbers and a free Sugar Rush ballistic. The store had samples of the discontinued items to sniff, but I'm going to have to sniff some of the stuff over again when I go to the Grand Opening on Thursday night, as my nose burned out halfway through and I couldn't smell anything from any of the shower gels. I am definitely going to order lots of Ice Hotel and Flowertub bubble bars, if nothing else.

While we were there, we met KellyGirl, Carla, Maresche, Meabh and HeyLookAMidget from the board, and when everyone had done their shopping, everyone except Carla headed over to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Everybody is exactly like their forum personalities, only moreso, which is a very good thing. MaryMargret is thoughtful, sweet and open; Midgie looks exactly like her avatar, and is a sweet and funny girl with a secret addiction to carnival food; KellyGirl is a smart & sassy blonde with an engaging smile and an infectious laugh, Maresche is the perfect advertisement for Lush henna and a charming lunch companion and Meabh started out shy but warmed up and started getting silly with us pretty quickly. Midgie brought out a giant enabler's bag and passed it around twice, saying she didn't want to take anything home, and we talked and joked and it was as if we were meeting for the zillionth time rather than the first. MaryMargrt has to go back to NJ, but I think the rest of us will be there for the Grand Opening.

This morning, MaryMargrt came over for a bit and we made her custom strawberry Wet Willy and yakked about everything under the sun while it hardened. Sunday morning is usually my cleaning time, so it was a real treat to have the cleaning already done and just be able to sit around and chat. However, I have to admit that this weekend was a lot more in-person contact than I usually have, and so I was rather glad to be alone when she left at noon. So if I owe you a phone call or a Yahoo chat, please forgive me for hiding a little bit longer to recharge my sociability batteries.

Some pics from yesterday's meetup:












Back row, left to right: Me, MaryMargrt, KellyGirl, Maresche
Front row, left to right: Meabh, HeyLookAMidget

Progress has been made

I feel a little better, now that I've compiled a list of all of my plants

I've got:

In the large circular bed in the front yard:

Pink allium
Pink & white daffodils
White grape hyacinths
Pink & white striped creeping phlox
White foxglove
Pink bellflowers
A shepherd's hook with two baskets of pink flowered ivy geraniums

In the bed along the front walk:
White lamium
Pink, purple and white gladiolus
1 Josephine clematis
2 Black Knight butterfly bushes

In the bed against the front of the house:
4 pink azaleas
5 white lamium
3 lamb's ears
1 Crystal Fountain clematis
10 Dusty Miller

In the bed along the driveway:
Hidcote, Munstead & Lavender Lady lavender
5 baby lilac trees
Grape hyacinths
1 Black Knight butterfly bush

In the bed next to the street:
White gladiolus
1 baby Buckeye tree
3 baby Witch Hazel trees
1 Pam's Choice foxglove
Hanging planter with geranium, purple & pink petunias and silvery helichrysum

In pots:

1 Early Girl tomato
2 Big Beef tomato
1 huge spider plant
5 or 6 mock orange plants
4 sweet basil
1 English Ivy
1 burgundy Oxalis
2 green Oxalis
2 cyclamen
Lots of geraniums
2 jade plants
1 aloe plant

In the bed next to the turnaround and leading to the garage:

2 dill
1 Sweet Woodruff
2 Ajuga
1 white creeping phlox
8 Casablanca lilies
1 Josephine clematis
3 pink lamium

Along the back wall of the house:
Purple gladiolus
Bluebells
Morning glories
1 mock orange vine

In the bed in the middle of the back yard:
80 white gladiolus
18 blue & purple gladiolus
1 lavender tall phlox
1 Blue Light clematis
Daffodils
9 blue creeping phlox
1 iris
3 white butterfly bushes
1 Blue Muffin viburnum
1 Blue Billow hydrangea
1 pussywillow, standard
1 pussywillow with pink catkins
28 Dusty Miller
Daffodils
2 PeeGee hydrangea
2 dinner plate hibiscus in pink & white

In the bed in the way back:
Daffodils
7 lilies-of-the-valley
8 astilbe
English Ivy

In the bed on the side of the garage:
2 giant hostas
1 heuchera
1 japonica
1 Annabelle hydrangea

*whew*

I think I got everything listed! Bolded items are new this year. Dinner is going to be fresh mozzarella & grape tomatoes, wrapped up in giant basil leaves just picked from my plants.

I'm also feeling good because tonight I had a close look at a newly-fledged baby robin, trying to hide from me because he can't quite fly yet. Pictures soon.

*sigh*

Even though I used up fifty-four bags of mulch this month, I didn't get everything done that I wanted to. I didn't buy enough pea gravel, for one thing. Twenty-five fourteen pound bags sounds like a great deal, but it only covered one small area--I didn't get any of the pathways I wanted to create done. Three of my new lavender plants either didn't like my soil or just didn't like me and they've died. Stormy keeps piddling on one of the new lamium in the back, and it's not going to live much longer with that kind of treatment. The house is disgusting because I've spent all of my free time outside, and I'm roasting right now because I have a pact with myself not to turn the air-conditioning on until June.

Perhaps on a better day I will feel as if I accomplished a lot this weekend. Right now, I am just tired and sad about all that I didn't get done.

Bird brain

Robins have nested in the weeping cherry tree at the front of my house. It's a perfect nesting spot, as I've not trimmed the tree and you can't see inside it at all.

However, the male keeps seeing his reflection in the living room picture window and throwing himself at the glass to attack "the other robin." I spend my mornings listening to bonking noises as he hits the glass, falls to the ground and launches himself up to do it again.

You can see why "bird brain" isn't a compliment.

Moar mulch plz

I don't often speak in KSL, particularly not here, but that was the sentence that came to mind as I worked this morning. Of the forty bags of mulch I bought two weeks ago, I have used twenty-three, and have plans for another forty-two.

It's nice to look at the back yard and have a plan for what I want to do, and it's equally nice to be sure I am going to live long enough to do it. Some of it I should even have done this year, hopefully in time for JammiesFest. If I don't have all the plants I want, I will at least have the beds laid out for them.

Josh is going to kill me for making it impossible for him to do the back yard in straight lines, though. *impish grin*

Josh and the groundhog

The Queen's most recent blog entry reminded me of my friend Amy's husband Josh, he who cuts my grass. The first time I told Josh & Amy I had a resident groundhog, Josh told a story about one that was doing immense amounts of damage to his grandfather's plantings & plumbing. Josh apparently shot & killed the groundhog for his grandfather (NOT a course of action I will ever take, and Rooter is just fine).

The first time Josh told the story, the groundhog was twenty-five pounds, which is on the hefty side, but not totally unbelievable. Through successive re-tellings of the story, the groundhog grew to 40 pounds, then sixty, and two weeks ago, the groundhog was EIGHTY-FIVE pounds. Bigfoot, a malamute/German shepherd mix, is eighty-two pounds.

So yeah, I don't believe Josh's estimates much anymore. *grin*

Happy Saturday

My neighbors got the fallen tree chopped up & removed, I cleaned out the birdbath, planted two lamium, eight lavender, ten Dusty Miller, two dill, four sweet basil and one sweet woodruff and got the old wood off the Annabel hydrangea. Josh came over and did the lawn, and now it is raining softly, which all of my new plants needed.

Now that the tree is gone, I've no excuse to avoid getting mulch back into the farthest corner of the yard and creating the bed I've planned for back there. Most of the lilies-of-the-valley have come up, and I need to clean out all the weeds and get the mulch down. I keep telling myself that if I could use up fourteen bags of mulch and still make it to Mom's for lunch last Sunday, six bags of mulch and making it out there for dinner should be easy-peasy.

Dad's cousin and his wife are in town, and I love getting the chance to talk to them. Larry works for Associated Press and Ann for the Committee to Protect Journalists, and conversations with them range all over the place. They're both extremely bright, up on current events, and funny as all get out. Unfortunately, I don't get to see them more than once a year. I'm going to make sure everything I need to do here is done so that I can stay as late as possible.

Lucky me!

On Wednesday, I went out to take some pics of my lamium, just to make The Queen jealous. What I got was instant karma for being smug about my plants. One of my neighbor's trees had come crashing down into my yard and was resting on the corner of the garage.













I'm lucky because the tree didn't do any damage to the garage and because my neighbor is being very nice about the whole thing. He's coming over tomorrow morning with a friend and a chainsaw and they're going to get the tree out of my way. I might have lost a japonica bush, but I won't know until the tree is gone. It could have been much worse.

I did take some pictures of the lamium and some other garden pics:

I'm Carrot.

You scored as Carrot Ironfounderson.

You are Captain Carrot Ironfounderson of the City Watch in the greatest city on the Disc, Ankh-Morpork! A truly good natured, honest guy, who knows everyone, and is liked by all. Technically a dwarf, but only by adoption. You'd rather not be reminded that you are the true heir to the throne, but that does explain why people naturally follow your orders¦

Gytha (Nanny) Ogg 75%
Carrot Ironfounderson 75%
Esmerelda (Granny) Weatherwax 63%
Lord Havelock Vetinari 56%
Cohen The Barbarian 50%
Commander Samuel Vimes 50%
The Librarian 31%
Greebo 31%
Death 31%
Rincewind 19%


Which Discworld Character Are You?

Happy Mother's Day!

After two hours in the garden this morning, I got cleaned up and went out to my parents' house. For Mother's Day, my mom cooked me lunch and gave me flowers.

Of course, I also took her a present--a pretty little metal flowerpot painted white and filled with Skindecent Blackberry Freesia goodies. I also took her a little hot pink azalea I'd rescued from the bargain basket at Marc's for twenty-five cents. She lost several plants to last winter's big storm, so I knew she was looking for azaleas, and I felt terrible for this little one where it had been left with no water at Eastertime. I got it on the road to recovery, and told it that it was going to azalea heaven, where Mom will take really good care of it. Hopefully, it will get all big and strong and survive next winter.

As I mentioned, Mom made lunch, and while we were all eating our quiche, I told Dad the story of last week's epic buying spree. Being my father, he had to make a comment about how putting the mulch (in bags, mind you) in the garage wasn't a good idea because it can attract rats. Eep. Hopefully, I'll use it up much too quickly for that to happen. I used four bags yesterday refreshing two of the beds in the front and fourteen in the middle back today. Yesterday, I planted three spotted lamium with pale pink flowers and two bugleweeds, then trucked all of the mulch for this morning out to the back. I believe I can use the rest up next weekend, before any rats find their way into the garage.

After lunch, Mom & I went out to her back yard and planted the azalea and dug up some lamium. I have lamium with purple flowers (Beacon Silver) in one spot in my yard, the new stuff with pink flowers (Pink Pewter) in another, but I have not been able to find the white-flowered plants anywhere. Fortunately, Mom's cranesbill hasn't quite forced out the lamium, so she dug up a bunch of healthy plants and I put them in the very front flowerbed as soon as I got home. After Mom had opened her present, we'd had lunch and dug up flowers, I admired everything in her garden and we actually sat down for ten minutes, as Mom said, "pretending we are ladies of leisure." The weather cooperated perfectly today, and it wound up being a wonderful Mother's Day.

If you listen...

you can hear the dainty hoofbeats as the Drama Llama makes his way around the internet.

It's not a full moon, so I'm a loss to explain The Drama that has arisen on not one but three message boards I frequent. One forum even has two separate dramas. People calling each other names, some apologizing, some not, people complaining about moderators doing or not doing their "jobs." Ack. Thank goodness I have my silly threads and my gardening and that I'm not floundering in drama llama poo.

Oof!

Today was a high-octane day. I had a 10% off coupon for Home Depot, so I made a list of everything I need for the summer season and headed off to the car with $300 and the coupon in my pocket. I bought 30 retaining wall stones, 5 bags of drainage rocks for the wet spots in the back yard, 25 bags of pea gravel for walkways, 2 ginormous bags of potting soil, mosquito dunkers, a white creeping phlox, 4 tomatoes, a concrete birdbath & pedestal, a light fixture for the kitchen and one for the hallway.

I had to make two trips in the car because the birdbath and the retaining wall stones were so heavy. I just pitched the stones into the front yard, unloaded the birdbath, light fixtures, plants and potting soil and went back for the pea gravel & drainage stones. After lunch, when I set the retaining stones around the bed in the front yard, I discovered I needed forty instead of thirty. The bed will look nice, but right now it looks unfinished.

Tonight, I was going to go out and use the little mower to get a couple of spots Josh keeps missing with the tractor, but I couldn't get the thing started. I don't know if it was all the work today or the fact that I haven't really exercised my upper arms since last summer, but I was pretty ticked at myself for not being able to start the thing.

Just as I had given up and retreated to the breezeway, Josh & Amy showed up. Apparently, it's supposed to rain tomorrow, so Josh wanted to do the lawn tonight. While he cut the grass, Amy & I went to Marc's and I bought forty bags of mulch. We had to make two trips, and the guy who helped us load the car said I won the prize for the most mulch purchased in one trip. The cashier's eyes about bugged out when I said I wanted forty bags. *grin*

So Amy and I got the mulch in the garage, which will motivate me to use it up so I can park my car in there again. We talked a bit, I paid Josh for the lawn and Amy for the help with the mulch, gave Amy some bath stuff from Skindecent, and they left.

Tomorrow, I've got to hit the ground running to get the cleaning done before I have lunch with my dragon buddy, Dranoel. I'm also organizing a surprise box for someone on the Lush forum who was the victim of a hate crime, and I haven't checked my personal messages there in a while.

I'm not doing that tonight, though. I just had a marvelous strawberry lemonade bath, and while I've got lots of new bruises and I'm sure I will creak in the morning, today was absolutely worth all the bother.

Happy moment

The incomparable Marliss at Skindecent has not only added my scent combo to the list of available scents, she has named it after me!

BOTANICAL

Treefrog Jammies (NEW)

(Medium Intensity) A special blend of fresh green notes balanced by relaxing lavender

Six degrees

This morning, I realized I'd forgotten the Wikipedia link for Edwards AFB in my earlier post. Since Bosstopus is at a meeting, I get to spend my lunchtime playing on the interwebbinet, and I figured I'd just edit the entry and add the link.

Howevah, when I read the whole Wiki entry, I realized there's something in there that links me to Sherri (and to Scott and Severina, but they're probably less willing than Sherri to admit it).

To make a long story short, my birthplace is also the birthplace of "Murphy's Law."