The wheel's turning but the hamster's dead.

Read their blog. Maybe you, or someone you know, can help:

http://cubespacepdx.com/node/2012

So R decided after a long straight stetch of highway on I84 near Yakima that he wld see if he cld get the car up to 90 (without discussing w me first). As soon as he starts to inform me he also sees a sherriff patrol car...you know where this is going.

@$!!!

$240 base fine for doing 81 in a 65 mph zone. He has been apologizing non-stop and told the sheriff he was sorry and stupid too but argh I can't believe he did that. It's very windy, which the cop noted on the ticket and let us have until June 1 to pay or appear in court to contest it which was nice of him.

Man. Our first ticket in 10 yrs.

Actually we're on our way as I type this (on hubby's Blackberry) to Fairfield, a little town just outside of Spokane, Washington for Robert's family reunion tomorrow where descendents from several states converge once a year.

Apparently his family were one of the main founders of Fairfield. It's pretty cool looking at all the photos from the 1800s and 1900s and the accompanying stories.

Also, the Fairfield Museum are being very kind and opening their doors to us all on Sunday afternoon so we can walk over from the big old church where the reunion is held and browse thru their old records and pics and other memorabillia which we're quite excited about actually.

Of course right now we still have another five or so driving hrs ahead of us first. Urgh

Xxxoooxxx

The person I've become since I've been with Robert.

I was very sad to hear about Natasha Richardson's accident. Natasha Richardson is the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave, wife of Liam Neeson.

From what TMZ are reporting, it does sound like she is in fact, brain dead. I feel so awful for her poor family too.

http://www.tmz.com/2009/03/18/richardsons-ambulance-ride-confirms-condition

Gumby, the later years.

Happy birthday to my beautiful boy - my hubby Robert (aka Klingonporn) who turned 38 today. :o)

Love you matey.

One day late but...

Bon Voyage starfish82 !!!!!!!!

Have a wonderful time in NZ and can't wait to hear about your travels when you return. :o)

We'll look after Bridget Jones until your safe return.

xxxoooxxx

What a weird Sunday. Didn't do really anything but oddly enough, the hours managed to pass quite quickly.  Laundry, surfed the net, snoozed on the chaise, had random disturbing dream about being the actress playing Jan Brady who wanted to freak out the actor playing Mr. Brady by telling him I'd decided to lose my virginity ??? (I mean wtf??) but thankfully the phone rang RIGHT as I was opening my mouth to tell him, having pulled him aside.  Believe you me, Robert's been enjoying giving me crap about that. Ugh. *shiver*

Um, what else...just some straightening up of the house. Did some research for my new script, caught up on a few emails, etc. Did some (online) reading (ok, surfing) and pretty much did F. all today. lol

In other news...

Tax return - our goal is to try and do at least one "house thing" each tax return; an improvement on the house that will add not only the aesthetic improvement but also add  value and curb appeal.

The fencing contractor popped by today to look at the yard and I have to now email him with a few pics of the arbor gate that I want to give him an idea (they will custom make it to measure) and I'll get a quote in a few days from there.  I'm thinking, price wise, this won't be the house thing we're going to do out of this year's tax return but I guess we'll see how pricey it is.

I've also got an email into a local painting contractor and we're going to get a quote for retouching up downstairs and the stairway as well as hopefully the upstairs hall and Robert's entertainment room.  Between my physical probs (which made painting incredibly difficult for me) and Robert's lack of interest at doing it on his own (it's a big job so I really don't blame him), we mutually agreed to look at hiring someone else to do it if we can make it work, budget wise.

Lastly, we're getting in Seven Dees to give us a quote on landscaping the backyard.  This I see last on our list of ideas of what we want to do this tax return.  But you never know, plus we might get some ideas on what we can do ourselves that we hadn't thought of. Naughty, I know.  But seriously, just want to look at different options.  We want the back yard to be very peaceful and Zen (yay, got to use Zen in a sentence finally) - tranquility and fragrance a must.  Plus we want to attract the hummingbirds we so love and we also want our back yard to be a great place to relax in spring and summer evenings with friends.

Robert wants a corner water feature (it doesn't have to be large) and we also realize that sadly, our magnolia tree needs to be cut back a bit as it's really out of control, plus it's also taking up half of our (very small) yard.  I'd like to see a way to incorporate a paved area and a firepit with seats around it. Not sure how to accomplish this to be frank, without losing the yard.  We'd also probably have to lose the veggie patch to do it. But I guess we could still grow a few tomatoes and strawberries from planters if need be.

I love, love the Shakespeare Garden at the Rose Garden in Portland and would love to somehow incorporate that into our garden design but not really sure it's feasible. We'll see I guess.

Thus the need for a landscape designer to come out and discuss with us. Also give us an idea of how expensive it would be.

I am mostly torn, however - between my picket fence and the painting. Waaah. I want both. lol

Of course tax return is not even here yet so I won't be doing any darn thing for at least another week.

Any thoughts....which arbor gate do you think is nicest?  (I'll be doing the climbing roses, jasmine and all that with it down the line of course).  I realize a few of them appear almost identical but they are different, promise!



A. Arched Arbor



B. New England Arbor Gate

C. Spindle topped arbor with lattice sides to the ground

D. Moongate arbor 

E. Moongate with Trellis (mine would have to be narrower than this/with only one gate)

So I woke up this morning with, of all the bizarre things to be in my head, was an AMF jingle/slogan from back home. Literally, I woke up and it was on repeat in my head.

"For six dollars fifty, you get...two games, shoe hire, hot dog, fries and a coke."

WTF?

Oh but it gets better.

Now that I've showered and changed (I went to bed about 4 am and was up around 8am) to get ready for our morning get-together coffee/catch-up with a dear fellow screenwriter friend of ours, it turns out I screwed up.  We don't meet until tomorrow afternoon. *facepalm*  And the AMF bowling jingle was suddenly pushed out of my head by "The girl from Ipanema".

Seriously, WTF x 10?

And it wouldn't be so bad if I knew all the lyrics but I don't so the tune is repeating with muffled lyrics in my head to compensate for the afore-mentioned problem.

...So how is YOUR morning, sunshines? LOLOL



......Just to annoy everyone else and drag you down with me....courtesy of Google-Fu:


Tall and tan and young and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, each one she passes goes - ah

When she walks, shes like a samba
That swings so cool and sways so gentle
That when she passes, each one she passes goes - ooh

(ooh) but I watch her so sadly
How can I tell her I love her
Yes I would give my heart gladly
But each day, when she walks to the sea
She looks straight ahead, not at me

Tall, (and) tan, (and) young, (and) lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, I smile - but she doesn't see (doesn't see)
(she just doesn't see, she never sees me,...)


Suck that, you bastards. lolol

Kinglake, the place i lived with my family for about 12 years is burning as we speak.  Many other towns (including near my dad's farm, near my uncle's home, even the place my parents honeymooned in years ago) are burning.

Lives have been lost. So far the death toll is 25 but it could climb to 40.  And that's just the human lives lost.  I don't want to even begin to think about the wallabies, the kangaroos, the echidnae, the wombats, the possums, the various marsupials we have that I haven't mentioned here, the birds...the huge wildlife that inhabit Kinglake and the other towns affected...the devasation is beyong comprehension.

Please say a prayer.

http://www.news.com.au/


Edited to add - death toll is 84 and rising.  18 confirmed dead in Kinglake alone.  Marysville, where my parents honeymooned and has a special place in the heart of my family, is pretty much all but gone. I think last they counted, one building remianed in the town. It's pretty much entirely gone.

Fed to Great White sharks so I can get over my fear (granted, post-humously) of being eaten by sharks. Plus, it provides them with a snack.  Giving back to the ocean and all o' that....

Well this weekend has been good, and long (we were home sick Thursday from work).

I haven't been able to really walk on my right foot for the past few days, with it getting exceptionally bad last evening to the point that I have to keep icing it and taking iburofen for it until I get to the pharmacy and fill my prescription pain meds my specialist prescribed.  I'm getting put in one of those special "boots" with an inflatable bladder, a "walking cast" is another term for it, that my doctor wants me to wear for the next 3 weeks to see if giving the foot some rest will make a difference.  He thinks I'm overcompensating with it for the pain in my other (left) foot bc I have arthritis in the big toe which has flared up. Yeah, fun (not).

In other boring ass healt news, I'm at the final stage of appeal for my lapband surgery.  I guess the City has 60 days in which to respond an we did request and in person meeting (so they have a face to the name etc and can see how bad it is) so hopefully that will happen and we won't just get a "no" which would be awful.  If I get denied at this level all I can do then is go to court and while I would have a good chance at winnin it would be costly and the advocacy group handling my case recommend putting the money to the surgery, rather than paying a legal team, which makes sense.  So if it gets denied, I will look at having the surgery around Feb or March next year and pay for it with my tax return.

It will mean going to the surgery center in Coos Bay (who are also a Center of Excellence, just like the Bariatric Dept. at Ohsu) and it cost around $10K last time I looked, whereas OHSU is running around $22-$25K which I cannot afford to pay out of pocket. Obviously, OHSU would be my first preference, first and foremost because of the excellent doctors and care I've ALWAYS received there and secondly because they are in Portland.  I really hope I can get the City to pay for this surgery however, as if there are (heaven forbid) any complications (i.e. band slippage) then I would be financially responsible for any other corrective procedures and it could prove to be a financial nightmare.  Plus, when I need to get fills I would have to pay for them out of pocket as well.

However, I look at my sister. She had the surgery done in Australia in December and she's lost about 80 pounds thus far (slow in comparison to others who have had this surgery).  Her feet and other health problems have slowly receded and she's in clothes she can't believe she's fitting in and she proudly told me last week about the fact she bought a few pair of heels!  HEELS!! I can't even remember the last time I wore heels. Heck right now I'd be so happy if I could wear normal FLATS instead of the hideous runners with the orthotics and the rigid carbon insert (for the arthritis) that i have to wear with everything or my feet swell and enormous pain ensues for days.

Not a pity party, just facts.

All that aside, we have some friends coming over tonight for dinner and board games which will be fun. :o)  We're having Bruschetta Caprese as an appetizer and then Garlic Chicken Alfredo with Broccoli and some garlic bread and salad followed by home made Creme Caramel (Flan) for dessert. :o) Nomnomnomnom

I may have to entertain from my seat on the chaise by the fire but that's ok, they'll understand. :o)  They're good friends and a lot of fun to be around so I'm looking forward to seeing them. :o)

Unfortunately, because USCIS (fka INS) are dragging their feet processing my citizenship application it appears I won't be a citizen in time for this election.  I am not happy at all.  Damn it.  It may be just one vote but it was one vote in the right direction (Obama) imho. And each vote darn well counts.

I'm sooooo very frustrated and disappointed about this.  It makes me doubly annoyed when you hear of other people with votiing privlege who don't bother to vote or say they will but only pretend to vote (as some early twenty-somethings told Robert the other day).

Waaah, I want to vote, darn it.  But if I did without being a citizen I believe I could be deported.  So that's not going to happen anytime soon. *lesigh*

So I just will have to try and find one Republican and "convert" them so they vote dem instead, right? *G*

More paid vacation time.

Because I'm slightly bored....

What's your favorite jello (or jelly for the Aussies/UK folk)?

Mine's probably Lemon or Raspberry Aeroplane Jelly. :o)

So the doctor thinks I either have a stress fracture or gout in my left foot, around the big toe. I should find out today.

Joy (not). Hurts like a you know what-ucker.

On a good note, the boy and I went and had our heads whacked so we aren't quite as hairy now. His cut looks good. I lub mine. Totally crushing on my hairdresser atm - she did such a great job...again!

Going to have some friends over for dinner and games this weekend. Very exciting for that. Hopefully we'll drag out baulderdash and yahtzee again. I'm sure Robert's going to be making red hots (shots) again too. Probably be the last bbq of the year with friends before the season really changes. Also visiting his folks.  Busy.

I want to tidy up the front yard, mow the lawn, put some bark down over my side flower garden to stop whoever it is from using it as their personal litterbox  and pertify it a little too.  Need to hang a cedar trellis above the flourishing jasmine with some wire and string so we can train it up the house front.  It's about to bloom - you can smell the unopened buds which are threatening to explode any day now. Can't wait. Also want to pick up a cheap planter box for my lovely colorful flower blossoms that I can't recall the name of that are sitting on my shabby chic iron table on the porch. They look awesome as is but I want to put them in something prettier and also without huge holes in the bottom so the water doesn't just run through.

Other than that, just enjoying the weekend. Yay.

Stop going to Starbux!

So I purchased Sims2 a few days ago. My friends are playing it and it sounded awesome.  And it was.  Other than the fact I need a supported video card which would curb my lag time but other than that it was good fun.

My sim, Monet Funkybums was doing just fine. She had a lesbian fling at one point but her love interest was a little bi-polar and more than once when Monet called her , she would bitch at Monet that she was "at work - remember what work is" kind of sarcastic barb.  Monet wasn't really looking for a man and despite her satisfication with her life and having many friends, the Mohawked slacker Nervous Guy swept her off her feet the minute they met. 

They dated, although their big night downtown at a posh restaurant sucked through no fault of either Sim (rather my laptop lagging too much) but dates at home, whether listening to Nervous Guy (badly) tickling the ivories on Monet's piano or Monet cooking some fantastic pork chops or grilling on the barbeque, were always great. And even once, Nervous Guy left a card with roses on Monet's doorstep. Awww. Although she could never figure out how to throw the damn things out after that.

Time went by so quickly it seemed. And Monet, being the horny houndog that she is, installed a fancy hot tub in her back yard  to lure her friends for fun, fun, FUN and the first time she went in it jumped Nervous Guy's bones. He was so shocked, he was just relaxing and WHAM!  Of course, she didn't even want just meaningless sex.  Oh no. She had her eyes on the prize - she wanted a baby.

Before she realized it was just a whim, Monet was pregnant from that one night of passion (and refused to have sex again after that) and dealt with morning sickness and cleaning issues.  Her work sensibly put her on maternity leave and determined to not have the child born out of wedlock she married her slacker just before the baby was due. Despite only bringing a measely $247 to the household when he moved in after the wedding, Nervous Guy tried his best. He had no skills and his personality was devoid except for being very active but he went and got hired as a security guard to prove to Monet that he could help support his new family. He was a doting expectant father and would listen to Monet's belly and rub her tubby as the baby grew.

Finally the big event occured and Sorbet Funkbums was born. She threw the household into turmoil immediately and things were crazy.  Fortunately Monet *ahem* hit the "Motherlode" miraculously found herself $50,000 Simeleons richer which enabled her to hire a nanny, a gardener and most importantly a maid.

Monet's work only let her have 3 days off after the baby was born, hardly enough time for this young family to get into a routine but with the help now performing some of the more tiring and menial tasts, and knowing Sorbet was taken care of by the nanny when Monet was at work, they quickly adapted to the baby and things settled down.

It was a sweet night when the nanny had the night off, the baby was sleeping and Monet had just stepped out of the shower when Nervous Guy came home from his night job as Security Guard. Monet cooked a scrumptious meal of salmon and they ate outside on their deck and chatted about the baby and life in general.

SOOOOOOOOOOO tell me I have a life again?

At this point I finally went to bed and realized I hadn't moved. Like all day! Not good for the best person but particularly not good for someone who is heavy, needs to move and not only that, has other things she could be doing.

I realized that as I controlled these characters and had them perform all these tasks that I was essentially watching other people (granted characters lol) have a life.  They went to work, came home, cleaned, showered, ate, bought groceries, studied, relaxed.... all the things I do anyway and how depressing to do this in my spare time via a GAME.

This morning I REMOVED and deleted all associated files of SIMS2 from my computer and I felt an odd sense of relief. Sure I could have kept playing it but I'd rather live outside in the world than continue doing that.

I'm NOT in ANY WAY knocking others who enjoy it (now I have hubby hooked) but for me, I want to do things and I find i get obsessive when playing games - I think many of us do - and I need to enjoy life here and now before it passes me by.

So instead of staring at a screen all day (I do enough of that at work all week)  I cleaned the bathroom, will put on some laundry then I'm going to help prepare a late lunch then potter in my garden, maybe go to a bbq at a friend's place and also read and polish a script I've neglected. I might even read in the garden later too if I get the chance.

It's not majorly exciting stuff but at least it's MY life, and not a character's. :o)

 

At an old-aged home laughing my ass off at the residents.