It's been way too long since I posted anything...this Craigslist ad I wrote is the most I've done in months.  Enjoy!


About a month ago my husband told me he was planning on going to an auction with a few of his buddies. I figure that's a pretty safe place for him to hang out for a Saturday, I mean how much money could he actually waste there, right? The day arrives, his friends show up and they all pile into his pickup truck and head out to the auction. Woo-hoo! A few hours to catch up on some housework (lol!) or read a book, whichever.

Several hours later finds me out in the yard watering my trees when the hubby pops out the back door and lures me in with his excited "Come see what I bought for you!" What could it be? Did he find me a beautiful, 1940s waterfall bedroom set for some amazingly low price? Maybe he bought me some cool fish tank stand so I can expand my aquatic hobby. The excitement is simply overwhelming, so I rush inside to see what he found.

Well, my hopes were dashed upon entering my kitchen to find my beaming husband standing behind a vacuum cleaner. An old, used and very chrome-y looking vacuum cleaner. Um, thanks? But I'm not a complete meany so I say "Oh, it's a vacuum cleaner. Okay, is it better than the one I already own?" And my overly proud of his purchase husband begins to extol me on the virtues of this amazing machine.

This, he informs me, is a KIRBY!!! vacuum cleaner. The very best of the best of vacuum cleaners. Why, all the women whose homes he has admired for many years use KIRBY!!! vacuum cleaners. Nothing less will do. And look at all the attachments, he says. There are some that we'll probably never even figure out what they're for, but certainly they are very important to have. AND, it has extra bags! So we don't even have to worry about buying new bags for a long time ("longer still because my wife rarely vacuums" was thankfully left out). He briefly mentions the shampoo attachment (for when the idiot cats throw-up, again!) and then, he pulls out an attachment and with a reverence usually reserved for vintage whiskey or especially beautiful revolvers, he intones "And this brush...this brush is so you can clean the blinds!"

I'm duly impressed with his sales spiel, but he's not done yet. Because, like any good vacuum cleaner salesman would do, he insists on showing me how it works. As an aside, I've been around vacuums for a very long time and am fairly well versed in how they work. Evidently hubby has forgotten this and I hate to ruin his moment in the sun so I go along with him. It should be noted that by this time, our twelve year old son has joined us to watch this new wonder do it's magic.

My husband carefully adds the attachment to the long hose and plugs the machine in. He wheels the whole thing over to the blinds on the back door, looks at me with a smile and says "Watch this!" Hitting the "on" switch, the KIRBY!!! comes to life with a "RAWR!" of power. You can feel the surge of adrenaline pulsing through it's chrome-y parts. The cats scatter to the far corners of the house and the dogs look on it with horror. It is an animal. It is power, and virility and beauty all wrapped up into one amazing machine. And then...our son says "what's that smell?"

Hubby continues to run the brush over the blinds only looking over his shoulder long enough to say "That's raw power son" before going back to obliterating the dust from the slats. I have to say that the speed with which that dust was sucked into the KIRBY!!! was a sight to behold. It never stood a chance. About four slats in, our son again says "what's that smell?" and I realize that I am starting to smell something as well. Something...burny...electrically...electrically burny...and then Hubby smells it too. He turns around and looks down at his amazing machine and says "OMG! It's on fire!" And I dumbly reply "What is?" My husband's eyes get huge and he shouts "The vacuum cleaner is on fire! OMG! It's on fire! Holy sh!!!t! Unplug it!"

I dutifully unplug the raging monster and my heroic husband picks the flaming beast up in one massive fist and carries it outside. Upon being released from the source of fuel, this cousin of the Kraken (land version) loses steam and puts itself out. The stench of it's fury permeates my house and now, my back patio as well. The neighbors may or may not now believe they live next door to a long time sailor. Our son stands transfixed on the patio, staring at his father in what I can only assume is awe at his heroic acts.

Once the emergency is over, our hero stands in defeat, looking at his beloved KIRBY!!!, still slightly smoking at his feet. Lifting his eyes to mine, he says sadly "I guess I'll have to throw it away...I'm sorry your gift sucked." It breaks my heart to see him so destroyed. He wanted to badly to bring me this wonderful machine that he knew would make me the happiest woman in the world. So I tell him that he shouldn't throw it away. It's too GOOD to throw away. I mean, it's a KIRBY!!! for goodness sakes! They don't get thrown away! I promise him I will salvage the parts and sell them to the good people of Craigslist. People who appreciate what a wonder a KIRBY!!! is, people who will want it's parts to replace the ones on their own KIRBYs!!! Not because they broke obviously (because KIRBYs!!! don't break), but because sometimes the parts on their own KIRBYs!!! can just no longer stand up to the raw power of the machine.

So, with all of that in mind, I'm offering the remains, no, the strongest parts, of my husband's loving gift to me. I'm asking $30 (obo) for everything you see in the foreground of the first picture. For you highly technical folks, that doesn't include the background items, desk, empty box, carpeting or any animals that may have slipped into the shot (well, the cats might be negotiable) Cash only and you must pick up.

Don't Tread On Me

This is a guest post, written by my husband...


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                                                                                                            17 December 2012

Family, friends, and fellow Americans, there is no doubt the shootings of the last week in Oregon and Connecticut are horrific and evil.  They are a national tragedy and a wound to our nation that will be slow to heal.  For some, no healing will ever be possible.  I have the most profound sympathy for these who have suffered the greatest loss of all, their husbands, wives, children, and parents.  I pray for them and their families.  Certainly we all would do something to bring them back if we could!

Some of you will not like what I write here.  I mean no disrespect nor do I wish to minimize the events that have occurred for any of the victims involved but we must be thoughtful and deliberate when we start talking about taking rights from all current and future generations of Americans.  Over the last 250 years, many patriots and veterans paid the ultimate price for us, the average citizens, who have done little or nothing to earn our precious freedom.  We must honor those who won those freedoms for us by not just giving them away in an emotional moment.

There is much talk in the media and among the politicians about the weapons involved and the relevance of the 2^nd Amendment to the Constitution.  For those who have not recently read their personal copy of the Constitution, the 2^nd Amendment states:

 “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”. 

Those commas are in odd places but that is how the amendment was written. 

If you do not have your own copy of the Constitution, please let me know and I will make sure you get one as quickly as I can get it for you.  I am not kidding about this.  All Americans should have their own copy and know what it says.

With all the news hype and political rhetoric going on, it is easy for normally rational people to become emotional.  We feel anger, sorrow, and grief.  We feel that something must be done to right this terrible wrong.  If only it were that easy?

First of all, let’s get one thing out in the open right away.  AUTOMATIC WEAPONS ARE CURRENTLY ILLEGAL and have been since the 1934 National Firearms Act.  No one used an “automatic” weapon in any attack anyone is talking about on TV right now.

We must be aware that we are not getting the whole story on these matters.  There is a longstanding position of the “left” to desire the removal of many if not all firearms from the possession of the people who legally have them.  Today, these tragedies are being used as tools to manipulate us into making that irrational decision.  What! How could I level such an accusation?  Well, simply put, there are two facts that seem to be ignored when all the dramatic reporting is going on about these events.  First, with respect to the mall shooting in Oregon, here is a little reported fact, quoted from: http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/13946-china-school-knife-massacre-why-no-media-coverage  (I strongly suggest you read the whole article)

Also largely unreported by the national press was a would-be massacre stopped in a Portland-area mall by an armed citizen with a concealed-carry permit. 22-year-old Nick Meli was carrying his Glock 22 at the Clackamas Town Center, a mall in a town outside of Portland, Oregon, on the same day as the Newtown massacre. The contrast between the unarmed victims in Newtown and the Clackamas shooting was stark. Meli, seeing suspect 22-year-old Jacob Tyler Roberts shooting random shoppers with his AR-15, pulled his gun as Roberts' gun jammed. Meli never even had to fire his gun to stop the shooting spree, which ended in the death of two innocents and the shooter himself. Meli held his fire because of the risk of shooting an innocent person. "As I was going down to pull, I saw someone in the back of the Charlotte move, and I knew if I fired and missed, I could hit them," Meli told the local television station. “I know that after he saw me,  I think that the last shot he fired was the one he used on himself.” (Thanks Bill for showing me this)

Do you hear NBC or the President talking about this?  Hell no!  We are being manipulated people…wake up!

Secondly, there has been much talk about the assault weapons in the school shooting.  What could have been done?  Well in fact, in 2011/2012, the Obama administration purposefully cut about $1 Billion (with a B) dollars from the federal budget that was targeted toward school safety.

Government officials told the Washington Guardian on Friday night that two Justice Department programs that had provided more than $200 million to schools for training, security equipment and police resources over the last decade weren't renewed in 2011 and 2012, and that a separate program that provided $800 million to put police officers inside the schools was ended a few years earlier. http://www.washingtonguardian.com/washingtons-school-security-failure (thanks Matt for pointing this out!)

Uh oh, I bet that little tidbit plays poorly if the mainstream gets ahold of it!

What would Jefferson say about these gun free school zones?  Good news, he actually made a relevant statement:  "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes...Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."-Thomas Jefferson, quoting Cesare Beccaria.  In other words, by declaring gun free zones, we have simply told the criminals where they will find the easiest targets.

If only there was a law that would prevent the shooter from obtaining the weapons to commit such a crime?  Utopia right?

Well guess what, the young man who did this shooting in Connecticut was in violation of numerous laws.  Let’s review a few of them:

·      He was under 21 and thus not a lawful possessor of a handgun

·      He murdered his own mother in cold blood

·      He took these weapons to a “gun free school zone” in violation of EXISTING federal law

·      He murdered 27 innocent men, women, and children.

I ask you, what additional law would have prevented this massacre?  How about a gun ban you say?  Ok maybe, but then my memories revert to the April 1995 and the Federal Building in Oklahoma City where Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh used a rented moving truck and a bunch of fertilizer to blow up the Federal building killing 168 including 19 children.  Was there any action taken outlawing moving trucks or fertilizer?  Would such action have been prudent?

For those of you who know me, I am a data driven person.  I like to look at facts and figures to help me make decisions with some sense of certainty and wisdom.  Lets look at some data.  Starting with the Columbine High School tragedy of April 20, 1999, there have been 31 “mass shootings”.  Certainly 1 is too many but we must look at them to understand what we are talking about here.

1.    April 20, 1999 – Columbine High School – 13 Killed, 21 Injured

2.    July 19, 1999 – Atlanta Day Trading Firm – 12 Killed

3.    September 15, 1999 – Wedgewood Baptist Church – 7 Killed, 7 Injured

4.    December 26, 2000 – Edgewater Technologies – 7 Killed

5.    July 8, 2003 – Lockheed Martin Plant in Meridian MS – 7 Killed, 7 Injured

6.    March 12, 2005 – Living Church of God Shooting – 9 Killed, 4 Injured

7.    March 21, 2005 – Red Lake Senior School – 11 Killed, 5 Injured

8.    March 25, 2006 – Capitol Hill – Seattle WA – 7 Killed, 2 Injured

9.    October 2, 2006 – Amish Schoolhouse – Lancaster, PA – 5 Killed, 6 Injured

10. February 12, 2007 – Salt Lake City Trolley Square Mall – 5 Killed, 4 Injured

11. April 16, 2007 – Virginia Tech Massacre – 32 Killed, 24 Injured

12. December 5, 2007 – Westroads Mall – Omaha, NE – 9 Killed, 4 Injured

13. February 7, 2008 – Kirkwood MO City Hall – 6 Killed, 2 Injured

14. February 14, 2008 – Northern Illinois University – 6 Killed, 21 Injured

15. March 29, 2009 – Pinelake Health and Rehab, Carthage, NC – 8 Killed

16. April 3, 2009 – Binghampton, NY Immigration Center – 13 Killed, 4 Injured

17. November 5, 2009 – Fort Hood Army Base Shooting – 13 Killed, 29 Injured

18. August 3, 2010 – Hartford Beer Distributor – Manchester,CT – 9 Killed, 2 Injured

19. January 8, 2011 – Gabriel Giffords Shot in Tucson, AZ – 6 Killed, 13 Injured

20. July 7, 2011 – Grand Rapids, MI – 7 Killed

21. September 6, 2011 – IHOP – Carson City, NV – 5 Killed, 7 Injured

22. October 14, 2011 – Salon Meritage - Seal Beach, CA – 8 Killed, 1 Injured

23. February 27, 2012 – Chadron High School - Chadron, OH – 3 Killed, 3 Injured

24. April 2, 2012 – Oikos University – Oakland, CA – 7 Killed

25. April 6 2012 – Tulsa Oklahoma – 5 blacks shot by 2 whites – 3 Killed, 2 Injured

26. May 29, 2012 – Café Racer Espresso – Seatle, WA – 5 Killed

27. July 20, 2012 – Aurora, CO Movie Theatre – 12 Killed, 58 Wounded

28. August 5, 2012 – Sikh Temple - Oak Creek, WI – 6 Killed, 4 Injured

29. September 27, 2012 – Signage Systems, Minneapolis, MN – 5 Killed

30. December 11, 2012 – Clackamas Town Center, Oregon – 2 Killed

31. December 14, 2012 – Sandy Hook School Shooting – 27 Killed

Each of these events is a tragedy for sure.  For the individuals involved no doubt these were final life events that will forever change the survivors and the towns they happened in.  I feel bad even saying it but I am going to have to for the greater good.  All total, if I added them correctly, these add up to 275 deaths and 249 wounded.  Again, each of these individuals is forever impacted by what has occurred and I do not mean any disrespect for their loss.  However, is the loss of 275 lives a reason to sacrifice one of our most basic freedoms?  Does the injury of another 249 and the potentially hundreds more who morn these victims?  If we estimated that each of these had a family that loved them, I would offer a total sacrifice made by about 3000 people.  Again, there were 275 deaths, each significant in their own right for sure.

However, when I contrast this to other issues in our society, I have to ask myself why we have all the “concern” about this one issue?  For example, consider the following facts:

·      As of 2001, about 550 people have died visiting the Grand Canyon

·      According to data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, 51 States reported a total of 1,537 fatalities. Based on these data, a nationally estimated 1,560 children died from abuse and neglect in 2010. (I have no idea where the 51^st state is but I assume the US territories are included in that number?)

·      In 2009, there were 33,808 total traffic fatalities in the US.  Of those, 10,591 were related to speeding

·      In 2003, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that approximately 4,700 pedestrians were killed and another 70,000 injured due to pedestrian-vehicle crashes

·      In 2008 there were still 13,846 fatal alcohol related crashes

So I ask you, Are Guns really the most serious problem we need to solve today?  Do they really represent the grave danger to society that all the Liberals were on TV talking about this past weekend?

Maybe we could be facetious here just a moment….

Based on the logic of the left with respect to banning “Assault Style Weapons” we should also be banning trips to the Grand Canyon, Poor Parenting, Driving, Crossing the Street, and Alcohol, all of which are far greater threats to the population than these “Assault Style Weapons” 

In 2011, 368 people died crossing the border illegally from Mexico into the United States.  That is more than all of the mass shootings cited above.  Furthermore, the government is legally authorized and obligated to protect that border.  Doing so would not violate anyone’s constitutional rights.  Yet the administration appears to be going soft on illegal immigration, a problem approximately 10 times more deadly than mass shootings with “Assault Style Weapons”.

Also, please note that each of my counterpoint statistics is for individual years, not a sum total of years for 1999 to present.  By contrast the shooting related numbers are totaled over a 13-year period.

So again I ask you to be rational and ask yourself the question, do these events justify removing weapons of any kind from about 88 million law-abiding citizens?

These law-abiding citizens do not pose any threat to society but rather they simply provide a counterbalance to a potential future tyrannical government.  We must not be too quick to give away our freedom. 

What did I just say?  Tyrannical Government?  Not Here!  No way! 

Why do you think that is?  Could it be that the 2^nd Amendment is the major contributing factor to us not having an overly oppressive government in this country?  I am certain our founding fathers planned it this way.

To quote Thomas Jefferson: "Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms [of government] those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny." -Thomas Jefferson, Bill for the More General diffusion of Knowledge (1778). 

Benjamin Franklin rightly stated: "They that can give up liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

-Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania. 

It is my opinion that these statements reflect that the true purpose of the 2^nd amendment is allow the people to be properly armed so as to protect themselves from a future tyrannical central government.  After all, was this not what the American Revolution was all about?  When Paul Revere rode proclaiming, “The British are coming!” he was warning the colonials that the British were coming TO CONFISCATE THEIR GUNS!

I am disgusted that our President and his socialist cronies are using this terrible tragedy to advance their political purposes.  This is a tragedy and we should not use it to grossly manipulate public opinion to convince people to give up any portion of their right to bear arms based on the emotions of the moment.  What will be next?  Possibly Mayor Bloomberg’s “proactive police work”, which essentially amounts to illegal searches of “suspicious” looking African American males in New York City will catch on in all 50 states.  I can’t see how this doesn’t violate the 4^th amendment but somehow they keep doing it. 

For those of you with no constitution handy, the 4^th amendment states:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized

The second amendment is in part about self-defense but our founding fathers also wanted to be sure that citizens could protect themselves against a tyrannical government.  Should a ban be passed, all the pieces are then in place to subjugate the rights of the American Citizen and our Constitution.  Consider an assault weapons ban coupled with the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act.  (You can read about them at bordc.org).   Essentially, these laws allow the President to declare anyone a terrorist and suspend their constitutional rights.  Who knows, he may do it to me if this paper spreads far enough.  I sure hope not.  After all, there is another amendment, specifically, the 1^st Amendment, that addresses this issue.  I have the right to speak out, to dissent, and to attempt to convince others to join me!

You know I can’t resist!  For those of you who don’t have your own copy of the constitution yet, the first amendment states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

Will we become the next Weimar Republic?  Not if I can help it!

"To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them..." -Richard Henry Lee writing in Letters from the Federal Farmer to the Republic (1787-1788).

DON’T TREAD ON ME!

Chris

New year, new attempts at Greatness!

Well, here we go. So you guys know I don't generally make New Year's Resolutions. At least not normal ones that would even count for most people.

I try not to put anything on myself that makes me feel badly if I can't/won't/don't follow through with it. So you'll never hear me say "I'm going to exercise five days a week this year!" or "I'm only going to eat organic lettuce for lunch every day this year!" Cause odds are, it's not happening. I might commit to working out "at least once this year" or eating "fewer things that can survive on a shelf for two years" or some such. But mostly, I just don't make yearly resolutions. Would I like to eat better, exercise more and lose weight? Mostly, sometimes and hell yes. But I won't put it in writing.

But I do make daily or hourly decisions. So far this year one of things I've tried to do is to drink a small glass of water before having each cup of coffee. Now, for those of you that know me, I'm sure you're thinking "Lord help that girl, I hope she has Depends on!" I do like my coffee quite a lot and this has forced me to drink a LOT of water. How much? Let's just say that if I were Bear Grylls I could walk out into the desert right now and survive for several days without a water bottle. That much. I'll wait for a few of you to quickly Google Bear and his best known survival tip before we move on.

We done yet? Horrified yet? Good.

Anyway, I made the decision about the water/coffee thing prior to the first of this year and have been really good about following through every day. But it's not a resolution. It's just a decision I make every day. One cup of coffee at a time.

I also have been trying on a daily basis to keep my kitchen counters cleared off. Up until late last year I had five out of five counter surfaces full at all times in the most used room of the house. Stacks of school papers from Master J, stacks of random paperwork from my job, stacks of things I'm going to read as soon as I get to them. Toys, pencils, pads of paper, an empty fish tank and even lens covers for my camera. You know, the usual stuff that normal people have on their counters.

After we got back from spending Christmas at my in-laws, I got on a roll one day and just started digging in. And I was brutal. At the end of several intense days, I had shredded enough to fill the shredder full and recycled enough to fill the small recycling bin several times over. I had sent any and all toys with Master J to his personal hoard of a room (which, side note, he totally cleaned up last week!) The few things that I kept I put in their proper places. Overall, I completely cleared off four of the five surfaces and got most of the fifth one done. Now on the counters surrounding my stove and sink are: a spice rack, the toaster and the coffee pot (in the traditional place of honor next to the sink so it's never far to refill it.) I have graciously allowed the rotating bunch of bananas and cherry tomatoes to sit here as well since neither of them can go in the fridge. Otherwise, completely empty. It's awesome. I love it.

But there's a problem with this. Now that my counters are cleared, they seem to be beacons for Mister C and Master J to set stuff. Apparently, large flat surface equals "I could put this newsletter here, just for a minute" and "my art project could sit here while I work on it" and "what a great place to lay out all my legos." So now, instead of enjoying my clear counters, I fret about them. And I'm constantly picking things up that my menfolk have set down and following them around asking where they would like it. Because it's so not staying where they put it.

Between the water drinking, counter clearing and Ta-Da list, my first week of the new year has been pretty productive (no pun intended there.) I'm feeling pretty good about where I'm at in life and I think that's what's important. Not making big plans to fail, but instead making small changes today. Yeah, I can do that.

And here are a few random pictures that have nothing whatsoever to do with this post because everyone loves photos.

The Antagonizer and her sidekick the Hooligan trying to get a look at the hummingbird that was buzzing around my fountain.



The hummingbird in question. Taken with the 300mm lens because I'm too lazy to get up off the patio furniture to get closer. (f5.6, 1/250)

Finishing up the Backyard

So if you remember back a few posts you'll remember that I promised to take pictures of the big pile of dirt on my patio. Well, I've waited long enough that now I can just do the update for the (almost) grand finale of the backyard project. That "almost" is there strictly because we haven't actually put all of the plants in. We're still missing our vegetables. But anyway, pictures!

Here's the pile of garden soil on my patio. It's not as full as it was because the day I planted the berry bushes I took about seven wheelbarrows out of it for the berry gardens. Also, the smaller pile in the background is the stuff Mister C pulled out of the berry garden so he could redo the irrigation. Which is somewhat messed up due to over abundance of sprinkler heads. But that's a story for another day. But anyway, look, dirt.



Here are the raised garden beds that Mister C and I built with our own two hands. Ignore that they are not lined up correctly and look lopsided. We hadn't lined them up and leveled them at this point in the process. I was just taking pictures as we went along. As you can see we built three beds, each one is eight foot by four foot for a total of...I'm not doing math so assume a lot of room to plant.



And here's Mister C admiring his newly filled in raised garden beds with their (over abundant) sprinkler system. What a beautiful sight, a freshly filled garden bed, ready for planting. But hang on, it looks like something IS already in the garden...



Ah hell, guess who found the nice soft dirt in the raised garden?



Mister C was not impressed with the girls antics. The dirt was flying for a few minutes while they all dug down little holes in which to bath themselves and then settled in for a nap. Like we spent building the beds, putting together the sprinkler and hauling three yards of dirt over just so they could have a place to hang out in style.

Wait, we didn't build this for the girls enjoyment? I'm shocked!



More pictures eventually, as soon as I move the strawberries from my kitchen window out to the garden and put some actual vegetables out there. Currently? Still a chicken playground.

Tonsil Removal in Adulthood

Apparently it sucks big time.

Mister C suffers from sleep apnea and has since at least his early twenties. He was told way back then that he could have his tonsils and adenoids removed and it would very likely solve his problem. He did not have the surgery done then. No, he suffered with the apnea for two full decades before finally deciding to go ahead and get his tonsils and adenoids removed. Along with some minor nasal surgery via laser just for good measure. This was last Thursday morning.

As of tonight, a full three and a half days later, he is still miserable. His pain medication, while strong, wears off about two hours before he can take it again. And eating and drinking have become a painful chore that he has to endure in order to not become dehydrated. There's about a two to three hour period, starting about a half hour after he takes the medicine, where he's actually somewhat feeling pretty good. Otherwise, not so much.

As of right now, Mister C has put himself back to bed for the night. I'm staying up for as long as possible because I don't want to miss giving him his medicine at midnight. I'm hopeful that he will start on the upswing tomorrow. And until he gets fully healed I guess I'll be doing my best nurse impersonation. Having said that, if he continues getting cranky when the meds wear off I might start wearing a name tag that says "Nurse Ratched" to remind him who's in charge. Get better babe, or else.

Another Update Post

I can't believe I haven't posted anything in a week. What on earth have I been doing with my time? Well, we won't count today where I spent a good portion of my day looking up and watching Tim Hawkins videos and laughing my backside off. But mostly, I've been playing catch-up with life.

For instance, I finally got around to moving some plants into new pots this week. The pots we had all of our plants in had been falling apart for some time. They were those clay pots that apparently get weakened every time you water your plants. This starts by just leaving a little rust colored ring under the pot. It escalates to where little pieces are flaking off the pot. And it eventually ends up where large chunks are breaking off. So several weeks ago Mister C and I hit the home repair store and picked up some nice, environmentally unsound, fiberglass pots in colors not found in nature. We also bought some new soil in large bags that would tear open if I so much as looked at them. That weakness lasted right up to when I wanted to actually open them and get at the dirt, then the plastic would rebind itself and be nearly impossible to tear open. Anyway, two days of work later and I had moved all my previously potted plants to their new homes as well as moving the gladiolas and remaining calla lilies out of the garden that will soon be used for vegetables.

Mister C and I also finally got around to attending class to get our CCW license. This past Saturday we had Mamoo watch Master J while we spent five hours learning the rules and laws and practicing on the range. Which, by the way, was quite interesting. Because a few of the guys were pretty cocky when they got out there, until our instructor singled them out for their transgressions. Not to worry, he got after me as well, but at least I admit I'm no professional. But, there was a gal out there that was not in our class but was on the range with us that made me smile widely. We went up to shoot in groups of five and since there were eighteen of us in the class, there were four different relays. This lady was number six in each relay.

When we first got to the range I noticed this older gal up speaking with the instructor. She looked to be in her late sixties, maybe early seventies and probably eighty pounds soaking wet. Her dyed blond hair was piled on top of her head in a loose bun. She had red lacquered fingernails, full makeup and cat's eye sunglasses on. She was carrying a large, straw bag with her wallet, bottled water and whatever else it was she needed. Which in this case was her not so dainty weapon. Now, I don't know enough about guns to be able to identify what kind it was, I just know it was comparable in size and look to the one Mister C was using, which if I recall correctly is a 9mm glock. And man could this gal shoot. Since she was a part of each relay, she ended up firing sixty rounds. And I'm not joking when I tell you that not one of those rounds went anywhere except within one of the three target areas. Not one. Maybe she's a natural, although I'm sure she practices regularly to get that good. But however she does it, she was awesome to watch. She would be in a perfect stance, snapping her gum, he would blow the whistle, she would aim and fire. And it would be perfect. Man I love old ladies like this one!

The flockers are doing well. They're growing daily and feathering out nicely. They also have learned that when I greet them with "Hi girls, you want a snack?" there will be good stuff involved and so they come right over. While I don't think they'll ever be "pets", I do think good planning on my part will make removing their eggs a lot easier later I have no desire to have to fight my girls so I'd rather socialize them now while they're still babies.

Here's four of them in the snack bowl this morning.



My photography class has been really cool. I love the actual creation of pictures, it is amazing. I forgot my negatives at home the other night so I didn't get the chance to print out any pictures but hopefully I'll be able to do something tonight that I can post next time.

Finally, Mister C and I are taking an organic gardening class, which will be followed by a container gardening class. There's a ton of information to learn for us, and it's being presented pretty fast and furious. Hopefully between the two of us we'll get everything we need to get moving on our gardens.

I think that about wraps it up. Lots of stuff going on as well as lots of learning. So, it's all good.

Fourteen Years

This is the only picture I could find of the two of us from around the time we got married, probably about six months in.



Note the bluish eye shadow on just one eye, evidently this was taken at the end of a long day.

Happy Anniversary Mister C!

What happens when IT guys do landscaping

Gotta love the effort.