JOY!

So you've heard about the Supreme Court decision.  If you're not overjoyed, go read someone else's blog.  :P  I've always said that Probate Court does two happy things, adoptions and marriage licenses.  Friday afternoon, the happiness doubled.

From the first couple willing to have their pictures taken to the dudes who looked like extras from Duck Dynasty to the little girl with rainbow-striped bows in her hair whose mommies were getting married, the whole court fizzed with excitement.

My department is at the other end of the clerk's offices from the records room, but I did legit need to be over there a time or two, and it was just wonderful to see all those people using our newly remodeled room as it was intended.  The renovation was completed on Wednesday and the marriage license counter was moved from the main counter into the records room where you can get copies of any non-confidential license we have.  The help desk is now there instead of outside the magistrates' offices, and it's been repainted, has sound baffles on the ceiling and an open floor plan.

So congratulations to the U.S. for freaking finally joining the 21st century, and let's keep going.

Free day!

My phone buzzed as I pulled into the parking garage yesterday morning.  The power was out at work and I should go home and wait for instructions.  So I went home, and at noon got a text message that the probate court would be closed all day.  I said a quick hurrah and went to the craft store for photo frames and then came home and changed clothes.  I baked a lemon pound cake to take to work today, got caught up on some chores and took a nap.

The frames are for my great-grandparents' teaching certificates and their wedding picture:

If the former looks familiar, it's because it looks exactly like the one Laura Ingalls gets at the end of Little Town on the Prairie.  I figured it would go nicely with the map.  Now I just need to drag Dad over here to hang the map!

Three mayors in two weeks, seven candidates and other stuff

This post is a little bit link-heavy (four is a lot for me) but they all go to the website of the Akron Beacon Journal, and I've never had problems with their site.

First up, after our 27-year mayor resigned, so did our 7-day mayor.  The latter's time in office was 10 days.  Then when another City Council president stepped up to be mayor, there was a "discussion" in council (involving him) that led to the cops being called.

We now have seven candidates for mayor, and one of them I know to chat with and one I know of as the boss of my smoke break buddies from the Clerk's Office.  Mr. Horrigan has my vote, at lease at the moment.

In non-political Akron stuff, we're getting some new public artwork featuring Devo.

And for all that the courthouse was packed with reporters on Friday afternoon, I guess Judge's Croce's announcement that she wants to learn everything she can before deciding if a man convicted of murder 20 years ago should get a new trial just wasn't exciting enough.  I had to search to find the story rather than seeing it on the front page of any websites.

In the last week, I've seen two vanity plates that stuck with me.  HAMSTAR is intriguing, because it could refer to shortwave radio, pigs or something else.  HMMRH3, especially on a Hummer, just reeks of insecurity.  Yes, dude, we know your penis substitute is expensive.  ::yawn::

And finally, Akron had thunderstorms hit at exactly four o'clock two days in a row, and both of them were fierce!  I got so soaked on Thursday that I stopped at Payless on the way home to get a pair of sandals I needed anyway and put my tennies and socks in the bag and wore the sandals home.  Friday had the same ferocity but a little less volume, so I could jump my way across the street without getting my feet drenched.  Both days, by the time I hit Cuyahoga Falls, the rain had stopped.  Global weirding, ladies and gentlemen!

Well, it's getting even weirder over here...

My last entry was partially about the fact that Akron's former mayor, who served for 27 years, took his toys and went home suddenly.  

The new mayor was sworn in by my boss, and on Monday, we had arguments in City Council that resulted in the cops being called.

Now, the interim mayor announces that he had "inappropriate contact" with a co-worker on his last day at City Council.

Meanwhile, the city in which I live has had some upscale development and a new mayor.  I'm wondering if there's only so much civilization to go around, and if it's all migrating to Cuyahoga Falls from Akron...

Hey, that's my boss! and other courthouse news

So you can click here to see my boss administering the oath to Akron's new mayor.

And why does Akron have a new mayor, you ask?  Because the previous mayor, a veteran of 27 years, flounced quite abruptly.

This morning was approval hearings on accounts and inventories, and we had one objection each on an estate account, a guardian's account and an estate inventory.  The magistrate hearing objections today did a great job (they all do) and maintained her even keel although I'd have wanted to smack everyone who thought they should fight with other family members over money.

Even more disgusting, though, were the people watching the single-car accident that happened outside the courthouse around 3:30.  From a man and woman with a small child (the woman taking pics on her cell phone) to the two idiots on top of the parking garage with their Polar Pops to the people lined up to exit the parking garage next to the accident, I was appalled at all their assholery.  Nothing like ending your Monday knowing that people are the worst.

Written in Red by Anne Bishop

When I bought this book in the closeout section of my grocery store for 50 cents, I wasn't expecting much more than a quick read of some brain candy.  Written in Red sat on my to read pile for a couple of weeks until I was between library books and decided to read it.  

Between Charles deLint, Jim Butcher and Seanan Maguire, I have a high bar set for new urban fantasy series.  I read lots of them and enjoy most of them, but I haven't fallen for a book like this in a while.  I devoured Written in Red in under 24 hours and made a point to stop at the library on the way to an oil change this morning to get the next book in the series.

The world-building is excellent, the characters are three-dimensional, the action is gripping and I'm halfway through Murder of Crows and annoyed that I'm going to have to wait for Vision in Silver.

Basically, if you're looking for an impressive urban fantasy series with characters that are real people and is a reminder that vampires and werewolves are not respectively cuddly and sparkly would-be lovers of humans, this is the series to try.

An early and wonderful Mother's Day

Mom was going to be at the lake this weekend with her sister, but my aunt didn't feel well, so Mom went up for the day on Thursday.  That meant she was free today, so we spent most of the morning working on law office stuff, and then headed out around 11.

First we went to the bank, then we went to pick up the map.  I have to give a huge hand to the framing shop at the Hudson Joann Fabrics.  Keri did an amazing job of helping me pick out the frame and then getting the map framed and ready to go, and it looks even better than I thought it would.  While Mom was pulling the car around, I grabbed a fake lavender arrangement she wanted but put back and bought it as a spur-of-the-moment Mother's Day gift.

After the map, we grabbed some lunch at a local Thai place (yum!).  Dad has been working diligently all week to get electronic bits and bobs that he'll never use out of the basement, and he filled six banker's boxes.  I took those and a stray remote and a non-working laptop to the city electronics recycling today, and then Mom and I went plant shopping.

To my dismay, Cochran's was completely sold out of basil, and man, I suck at growing it from seed.  I may have to see if Marc's has a couple plants tomorrow when I do my grocery shopping.  I ordinarily don't do that because I've learned that the chain stores, even local chains, don't treat their suppliers very well and do not stand behind the products at all.  However, for basil and homemade pesto, I will set aside my scruples.

After Mom had picked out two verbena, a sweet potato vine and two Roma tomato seedlings and I had picked out lamium, verbena, petunias, licorice plant, heliotrope and two cherry tomato seedlings, we had our annual argument over who was buying Mom's plants.  This year, she won, because she said the fake plant counted.  No problem, I'll win next year. :-)

Then we headed over to Casa de Jammies and unloaded the map from Mom's car and put it in the living room.  No pictures yet, as it's going to stay wrapped up until Dad comes over to hang it.  Then Little Miss Piggie Pie and I had a nap, and then dinner, and then I watched RuPaul's Drag Race while emptying four boxes of books.

I hugged Mom today, twice, and I will think of that every time I help someone handle their mom's estate.  I am lucky as hell to have such a lovely mother and to still have her here with me.

Thoughts whilst driving home from work

Buick, I don't care how many mini shark fins you put on your cars, they'll still be staid and stodgy.

Wow, I hate the Akron Art Museum's building.

Okay, when did I become such a priss about driving through puddles and getting my car dirty?

Why do traffic people talk about surface streets?  All streets are on a surface.  Are traffic people too stupid to say secondary roads or are they pandering to a stupid audience?

Gah, why did I agree to bifocals progressive lenses?  Am I going to be able to use them?  Why did the eye doctor make such a big deal about how hard it's going to be?

Ooooh, very dramatic stand of forsythia there.  Hey, why did the city have to take out all those pear trees?  The side of the road is horrible, all weedy and junky where it used to be pretty.

Ten plus years of working in Akron and it still pisses me off that they take 2.25% in income tax for me and only give the city where I actually live 2%.  Dog knows the extra money isn't paying for road repairs.

Pretty cherry tree!  Oh, hey, that's mine and I'm home.  Long week.

Minimum comments

Finished kitchen floor pictures:

Two more days

(hopefully) until the kitchen floor is finished.  One more day (hopefully) until the appliances are back in place and I don't have to have yet another bowl of granola for dinner.  I like granola, I'm just tired after a week of it for dinner.

After my trip to Cleveland last week, I missed two more days of work thanks to a nasty case of bronchitis, something I haven't had for a decade.  I haven't missed it at all!  Then, just to put the grey icing on the cupcake of doom that was last week, in addition to the floor being sanded, I developed a sinus infection.  I am now recovering from both illnesses, but it's been a week I don't want to live through again any time soon.

Also, I decided that I am going to bring the map home from Cleveland and just plain have it framed at Joann or Michael's or Pat Catan's.  I don't need to spend $2,000 for museum-quality framing for something I just want to hang in my living room and enjoy.

Oh, and Little Miss Piggie Pie continues to have the staff at Valley Animal Hospital snowed--they tell me every day how sweet she is.  However, in her favor, she was a snuggly little girl last weekend when I needed a nap partner, and she didn't even huff much when my coughing shook her off the bed.

Nice day for a drive to Cleveland

It was warm and sunny this morning, so Mimi's map and I took a confusing drive to ICA Art Conservation on Detroit Ave.  Between heavy traffic even though it was technically after rush hour, it's a good thing I left 25 minutes early.  I arrived with time to spare, and a (or possibly the) paper restorer spread the map on the table and was kind enough to say it was in really amazing shape.  Apparently a missing bottom dowel and some small tears are minimal damaged--the restorer said that most maps they see are absolutely trashed and that my grandmother must have taken good care of her things.  The copyright date on the map is 1895, and Dad was right, it was made by Rand-McNally.

Although I had joked about paying anything under 5 figures, it turns out that to have the map cleaned, restored and custom-framed would in fact cost about $10,000.00.  When I said that was not in my budget, they said for about $2,000 they can repair the small tears and encase it in Mylar, which can then be attached to the old case.  So I left the map with them for a full exam and quote, and got to drive along the Shoreway on a sunny day, looking a blue skies and a lake still almost completely iced up.

Then I took Mucinex for the chest cold which is trying to develop and took a nap.

Oh, and of course I now have a picture of the map:

It takes more than blue skies

...to make a happy Jammies.  I hate DST.  Just when I was getting used to it being light when I got up, now it's back to pitch black and the alarm clock.

The weather's been warm and springlike all week, with two days of blue skies mid-week.  Unfortunately, this week was also Call Day, and it was a big one this month.  I hadn't gotten my Lexapro refilled, so I missed one dose on that day, which didn't help.  Granted, it didn't hurt all that much since it's a cumulative medication, I just felt a little dizzy and foggy-headed.

The good news is that I'm getting the mechanics of Call Day to a point where they're pretty smooth, and the judge really likes being able to send folks straight to the help desk.  That will be even smoother when the renovations are finished and the help desk is directly across the hall from the courtroom.  I did say one stupid thing in court, which led to a resolution to keep my mouth shut (hard for me to do, as those who know me well would say).  The judge was nice about it, and didn't say anything when we were on the record, but she did discuss it with me the next day.

AT&T is providing miserable customer service, including offering a "payment arrangement" that is actually a demand, then cutting off my phone four days before the agreed-upon date, then saying I'll have to pay $30 to have my service re-connected.  The flooring people I agreed to allow to start my floor with less than a day's notice so their workers would have something to do have left me for a week with an unsanded, unstained floor and no word on when it will be finished.

So the blue skies are nice, but I'd like more, please.

Squeeeeeeeee! DAD SAID YES!

With some trepidation, tonight I asked my dad if I could have his grandmother's map of Ohio.  It's the map she used when she taught in a one-room schoolhouse and had a teaching certificate just like Laura Ingalls Wilder's!  Dad reminded me that what look like roads on the map are in fact inter-urban railways, I said that was one of the reasons I wanted it.

The map needs a bit of repair, as the handle had almost come off the bottom when Mom and Dad put it up, and it might need some restoration, but since I started work at the courthouse, I know people who know people.

I am going to hang that gorgeous 1897 map of Ohio with all its counties, cities and railways in my beautifully re-painted living room where I can see it every single day.

...and a day without Mom

Today is Mom's birthday, and I would not ask her to spend it moving stuff and cleaning with me.  So I have done my best to stay motivated without her.

So far, I have:

Changed the sheets and made the bed.

Watered the houseplants.

Done half the laundry.

Finished emptying the bookshelves in the living room.

Filled a box for Goodwill.

Shoveled and salted the walk from the driveway to the breezeway.

Refilled both birdfeeders.

Dusted the mantel, the two built in bookshelves and two of the standalone bookshelves.

Washed much of the glassware and divvied it up between what I am keeping and what is going to Goodwill.

What I still have to do:

Finish the laundry.

Move the television and DVD player to the car.

Clean out the back seat so I can take Lil Miss Piggie Pie to day boarding tomorrow.

Dust the last two standalone bookshelves.

Vacuum the living room.

Shove the furniture I can move into the center of the living room.

Paint my nails.

What will probably not get done tonight:

Clean the bathroom.

Hey, I am less discouraged when I look at my list! :-)

A day with Mom

This morning, I hunched over a computer and ran back and forth to Mom's office so we could balance a final guardian's account.  Then I came home, ate a quick lunch and took a quick nap, and then Mom came over and we started packing up the living room.

After 4+ hours of labor, the books are packed and the boxes stacked in the kitchen; the curtains are down and headed home with Mom for washing; one recliner, two boxes and one bag are on their way to Goodwill; one-fourth of the glassware is washed and boxed; and tomorrow I need to finish washing and boxing the glass and vacuuming.  Mom's energy levels continue to both amaze and depress me, but mostly I'm just grateful to have her.

It is a very good thing that I bought some Epsom salts this morning, because I needed them in the bath I just took.  Now for some ibuprofen and an early bedtime!

My new couch is here!

And my new kitchen clock is here too, but I have to figure out where to put it, so it's resting on the sofa at the moment.  Input from folks who have been here is welcome. 

Tall folk will always be welcome at Casa de Jammies,

but they will need to be careful, too.  The new kitchen light is so low that I can just walk underneath it.

It's huge and too expensive and I love it. :-)

The power of words

I overheard a discussion this morning which made me so angry I could have screamed.  Two guys were talking and one of them was explaining to the other that his "woman" was ugly, fat and "old" but she had money and she was so grateful to have him that she paid for everything.

At that point, my day was already a Monday--we got a lot of snow last night and the roads were only semi-cleared, I had a headache ibuprofen wasn't helping, a co-worker putting on her martyr suit and close to 300 approvals and publications to do plus my usual work.  I really really wanted to take a minute to tell this jerk he was no prize himself and if he was lucky, the woman in question would kick him to the curb while he was still young enough to change, but I refrained.

The rest of my day was similar, but it was saved in the last ten minutes.  An attorney I like and admire came in, and while we were talking, he asked if I parked at Morley Health Center.  When I said yes, he said "Then you know it's such a mess that someone posted a sign saying Welcome to Lake Morley."  I said, "Oh my gosh, that was ME!" and the attorney laughed his big, infectious laugh and we talked about it for a bit.  I was excited at the time when other people contributed to the sign, but to find out that someone remembered it nine months later was such a rush that my day really ended on a high note.

I love making people laugh, and I love being appreciated. :-)

It's all about the details

I don't have the budget or the spoons to do a whole steampunk room, but I've decided I want my kitchen to have some copper touches that could lend themselves to steampunkery if I ever have the funds.  I ordered light oak outlet covers for the lower outlets which are located in the wainscoting and copper switch plates and outlet covers for the higher outlets and switches.  I think they look lovely against the green walls!

And Sherri probably doesn't recognize the microwave cart any more, it was such a mess when she was here!

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K Casa de Jammies

Monday through Thursday of last week, painters came to Casa de Jammies, and Little Miss Piggie Pie day boarded at a local vet hospital/kennel.  The staff there said "She's really a sweet girl" and I didn't get a bill because she ate someone's Bichon, so she must have behaved.

The kitchen and back hallway have had the 1970s wallpaper removed (hears distant cheers from South Carolina) and painted, the kitchen in what was supposed to be sage green but is in fact more mint green and the back hallway in a barely-tinted cream.

The painters were good painters, but lousy guests.  One of them kept leaving the toilet seat up, they used up all of my good hand soap, half a roll of paper towels and two rolls of toilet paper and left me with a nearly full gallon bucket of mint-not-sage paint.

This past Thursday night, Mom and Dad came over and helped me pull up the carpet in the eating area, revealing some awful linoleum.  It looks like raw meat.

When I brought out the shop vac to clean up the dust left behind, Dad said, "Oh, that's where it is.  I needed it last week."  I didn't remind him he had left it unused in his garage so long a mouse built a nest in it, just told him that if he wanted, I'd bring it back, but I'd cry real tears.

For the first time ever, I had professional cleaners come to the house.  A team of sisters Mom knows from her law practice worked from ten until two cleaning the kitchen and bathroom while I removed the staples and the tack strips from the NY strip floor.  Both women were friendly as well as being very good at cleaning, and I enjoyed having them here as much as I enjoyed the clean house they left behind.

While I was pulling up staples and tack strips, I came to the very sad conclusion that the hardwood floor in the eating area was pulled up to make room for the Porterhouse lino.  I've already picked a pretty brown carpet for the living room and now I need to consult with the guy at the carpet store about what kind of floor is best for homes with dogs.

Speaking of dogs, LMPP was excitable but not bite-y with Mom and Dad, but growly and snarly with the cleaning team, so she spent five hours outside, allowed in to warm up whenever I took a smoke break.

Today I get to rest from yesterday.

The schedule for the coming week is Sunday, grocery shopping and laundry, Monday work with Mom, lunch with Mom, shopping with Mom, and Tuesday through Friday, bring one piece of kitchen furniture out of the living room, clean it and put it back.