A Present For My CRV

Over a year ago I noticed that the cover for the spare tire that hangs off the back of my CRV was starting to come apart.  I really couldn’t complain.  For 10 years it had been protecting the round hunk of rubber underneath it from everything that Mother Nature pulled out of her bag of tricks – scorching heat, relentless rain, below zero temperatures and piles of ice and snow.

Though I couldn’t complain, I could, and did, procrastinate about sprucing up the CRV’s back side.  A phone call to a Honda dealership nearly rendered me speechless – the cover could be replaced, no problem.  The cost?  $200+!!!

I decided that since I rarely saw the cover, I’d ignore it until it really fell apart, or until it miraculously healed itself.  One can hope, right?

Two weeks ago when I was getting ready to back out of a parking space at Target, I noticed a couple of people look right at the tire cover.  After pulling into my garage I reluctantly strolled to check it out for myself.

I sighed and felt immensely sorry for Putt-Putt, for the increasing embarrassment that I had forced upon her for nearly a year.  Though her situation didn’t look too bad when looking straight at the tire…

…oh the horrors when the view was from the side!!!

The time for procrastination was over!  I needed to act swiftly and decisively on Putt-Putt’s behalf.  She was looking like she came from the wrong side of the tracks, like her owner didn’t love and respect her.  A back-side overhaul absolutely needed to occur, cost no longer mattered.

Sort of…

It took a week before I acted, but when I did it was because of one word…AMAZON!

Out of the blue that word flashed in my head so my fingers surfed to the site.  Lo and behold…there were covers…for $24!!!  The description gave the model years and tire size info – both of which worked for Putt-Putt!  I was so excited for her that I even selected 2nd day shipping.  The entire cost was just $36.31, a far cry from the $200+ dealership cost.

As soon as I got home from work today I checked my front stoop for the box and sure enough, it was waiting for me.  I was so anxious to do right by Putt-Putt that I opened the box and took the new cover out to her before I even fed the kitties!

Guess what?

IT FIT PERFECTLY!!!!!

Brand spanking new awesome cover on!!

Old worn-out cover on the garage floor!!!

Putt-Putt so happy I swear she purred!! 

The Longest Day

Before I regale you with my Longest Day tale of woe, a quick note about Monday.  I spent an hour puttering in my absolutely favorite Barnes & Noble then met my friend Lois at the mall next door.  We spent a couple of hours shopping before enjoying a yummy lunch at Pizzeria Uno.

Once back at Dad’s house I tackled a few more chores on my list, one of which was securing some of the insulation in the garage ceiling that had sagged.

Since Dad doesn’t do his own lawn care anymore, I decided I’d put some of the large roll of weed whacker cord to good use.  The cord plus a few strategically placed nails and problem solved! 

Dad and I hung out all afternoon and evening, but it was early to bed for me in preparation for my journey back to CA.  It was going to be a long day, and the only way I could mentally get through it was to divide it into 6 steps:

1.  Morning at Dad’s house before heading to the airport
2. Waiting at the airport for flight to Newark
3. Flying to Newark
4. Waiting at Newark for flight to San Diego
5. Flying to San Diego
6. Driving home from San Diego

Well, Step 1 was hard – as much as I wanted to get home I really didn’t want to leave my Dad.  And he definitely did not want me to leave.  He was so choked up when he said good-bye, and watching him standing and waving in the doorway as my friend Tracy’s car pulled away was horrible.  It always is.

Step 2 was fine and dandy.  I spent a peaceful wait time at the airport and enjoyed a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and bagel.

Step 3 was, ummm, interesting.  The flight attendant greeted me with a “Welcome aboard, ma’am”.  The first thought that crossed my mind was that she was either retired military or from a military family.  After we all boarded the prop commuter flight and the pre-flight instructions were given, our trusty flight attendant sat in her jumpseat and proceeded to munch on her fingernails.  While taxiing she appeared to be saying a prayer, or two, or talking with an imaginary friend.  Once airborne it didn’t take me long to figure out why she appeared stressed before take-off.  I also had an instant flash as to why I hate flying the east coast in the spring.  Can you say bumpy?  OY – talk about turbulence!!

Step 4 was a bit long but not unbearable.  I spent a solid hour working on my YA (young adult) story while charging both the Netbook and my cell phone.  I stretched my legs and wandered through the airport to a diner where I enjoyed a Reuben.  For “dessert” I bought another coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts before heading to my gate and boarding the plane.

St?  ep 5, the longest and most dreaded part of the entire day ended up being AWESOME!!!  Why?  I had an aisle seat, a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, a flawless takeoff, a fully charged Netbook that lasted the entire flight AND I ran my cc through the TV thingy in the back of the seat in front of me and watch Law & Order SVU episodes the entire flight!!!

Yes, I spent $7.99 so I could watch whatever I wanted on DirecTV, and I wanted Law & Order, SVU!  I also wrote blog posts and played computer games, so before I knew it we were landing in San Diego.

One half-hour EARLY!

I’ve never been on an east to west coast flight that has landed more than 5 minutes early.  Needless to say I was NOT complaining since it was 11PM for my east-coast based mind and body and it would still be at least another 1-1/2 hours before I pulled into my garage!  You do remember me, right?  I’m the person who joyfully hops into bed by 8PM even in the summer when it’s still light outside. 

Fortunately for me, my luggage came out quickly, the shuttle for the parking lot arrived moments after I called and the traffic on the freeways was non-existent (by CA standards that is), so Step 6 was over before I fully realized it had begun!  Of course, I got home and was wired even though it was 10:10PM CA time, 1:10AM body time.

I fed kitties, scooped litter boxes, played with kitties, sorted through mail and e-gads, UNPACKED!  I never unpack right away…I procrastinate on that chore for days, I guess in part to still feel connected to the trip.

Wednesday was a bit of an adjustment day, but not as bad as it could have been.

My trip was awesome – filled with lots of family, friends and fun, but as always, it’s good to be home!

Vacation Posts Interrupted

Please pardon the interruption to my vacation posts…but I absolutely must jump in with a completely off-topic one.

Yesterday (the 15th) was my birthday, and it was a glorious day that far exceeded my expectations!!!!

I awoke to e-mail and Facebook wishes galore, had phone and face-to-face birthday conversations throughout the day and after dinner, I gazed across the room at my mantel decorated with cards.  You remember those right?  They’re the colorful cardstock thoughts that are hand-picked at stores, and that are sent the old-fashioned way, tucked snugly inside envelopes decorated with postage stamps and hand-written addresses.

Though all of this attention spread my smile far and wide, the best was yet to come…

Game 7 of the NHL Final was on and my home state boys, the Boston Bruins, were playing against the Vancouver Canucks.  The winner would take home the Stanley Cup.  Would it be the Bruins, a team that has not won the Cup since 1972, or the Canucks, a team that has never won?

I’m not a huge hockey fan, but I am a huge New England fan, so I joined several friends in a Boston Bruins Game 7 Virtual party on Facebook.  We had a BLAST!!!!  We were watching the game, writing updates and commenting on others.  Of course it didn’t hurt that the Bruins took the lead early in the first period and never looked back, eventually scoring 3 more goals while shutting out the Canucks.

I’d never been to a virtual party before, but let me tell you, I’ll go again…and again…and again!  It was THAT much fun!

Congrats to the Boston Red Sox for their win last night, and huge congrats to the Bruins!!!

Skipping A Beat – A Book Review

There was a lot of Twitter chatter about this book, Skipping A Beat by Sarah Pekkanen, so of course I had to order a copy for myself!

I wasn’t even 10 pages into the book when I despised the main character Julia.  This reader could clearly see that she had everything, but all Julia was able to focus on was the tangible, while the intangible, the more important, was invisible to her.  I so wanted to hit her and knock some sense into that space above her shoulders!

I continued to read the book, and as the pages passed from right to left and Julia’s story unfolded, I slowly found myself understanding her and yes, cheering for her.  There were so many layers to Julia that I was soon chiding myself for judging her based upon what I learned in the first few pages instead of holding off until I discovered all that brought her to this point in her life.

Though subtle hints had been dropped about the ending, tears were rolling down my face as the events unfolded.  I had a feeling it was coming but I was not prepared for how deeply the author’s words would affect me.  I sighed in contentment as I turned that final page, my tears replaced by a sense of peace.

I was now so in love with this book I was ready to recommend it to everyone who asked for a book to read.  And then the disappointment set in as I started reading the Epilogue.  I usually love a happy ending where all loose ends are tied up, but not this time.  For me, the Epilogue came across as a few pages of words that were totally unnecessary.  Though it tied up those loose ends in a happy little package, the Epilogue was in stark contrast to all the care the author had taken to create the tension and opposing viewpoints that existed throughout the rest of the story.  It was too neat, too happy…too fairy tale-ish.

Would I recommend this book?  ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, without a doubt!!!!  For an author to weave a tale that completely changes this reader’s view of a main character speaks volumes about the story and the writing.  But I will also recommend that the reader stop on page 318 and skip the Epilogue.

Just a Few Hours Left

…before the weekend starts.  I think I can make it, I think I can make it…I KNOW I can make it (I think)!

To say this past week has been stressful on the work-front is an understatement so large it defies words.

Seriously.  That.  Bad.

I made the decision Wednesday night that this coming weekend was going to be one without work or any other responsibilities, so after writing this post I’m off to take a shower and get my food shopping out-of-the-way.  After work tonight I’m going to do the laundry, dusting and vacuuming.

This weekend?  Gardening, writing, reading, cooking, playing with felines, walking, biking, napping, watching TV, knitting, working on a jigsaw puzzle…whatever.  The only requirement is none of the activities are on my “have to do” list but are all from my “want to do” list.

I have this positive feeling that my plans will work out perfectly.

Why?

When I popped over to Twitter this morning there were three tweets that made me smile…giggle even!

1.  From editor Brenda Copeland — sunny with a chance of weekend

2.  From Neil Diamond — Koala kisses (complete with a picture of Neil and a koala smooching)

3.  From Neil Diamond — Kangaroo dreams (complete with a picture of Neil laying in a field with roos right next to him)

Yep…I predict my plans WILL work out perfectly – I’ll make it through the day and the weekend will be awesome!

As for Monday? 

I’m Giving Up…

Electronics!

Sort of…

It’s that time of year, that Lenten time of year, where all good Catholics “give up” something for 40 days.  Considering this is just day 2, everyone is still all abuzz about their sacrifices…and their successes.

Though I was baptized Catholic I’m not a practicing Catholic in the truest sense, but I am using this 40-day period to re-evaluate my use of electronics, mainly the computer and the television.

I somehow fell into a nasty habit of turning the television on to watch the news then leaving it on while only half paying attention to what was airing.  The other half, or more, of  my attention was focused on doing other things, sometimes not even in the same room!  It’s one thing to be “watching” TV while knitting or cross-stitching, it’s a totally different thing to be “watching” while cleaning the bathrooms, talking on the phone or reading blogs.  Even worse is falling asleep with the television on and sometimes not waking up until it’s time to start the next day!

And the computer?  It’s awesome for reading blogs, writing my novella, doing on-line research, e-mailing and catching up with FB and Twitter friends, but to be mindlessly surfing the net or playing games for hours on end?  Not so awesome.

Here’s my plan…

It’s totally fine to have the television on, but when it IS on, my butt needs to be in a chair and I need to be focused on the program I’ve selected.  Crafting while watching TV is okay because my fingers just cannot be idle, but if I’m more focused on another activity than the TV program, the TV must be shut off.

Ditto for the computer…if I’m using it for a productive purpose then it can be on and I can sit in front of it.  If I’m just hanging out with it, time to turn it off.

In other words, it’s time to use these two devices as they were originally intended, not as electronic babysitters for me!

I Cried

Yesterday started out incredibly – and ended just the same.

Shortly after getting out of bed I booted up the laptop and began following the plight of the Chilean miners.  While I watched miners 8 & 9 emerge from their subterranean caves, tears filled my eyes and a couple rolled down my cheeks.  How could they not after those long tense moments while families waited for the Phoenix 2 to poke out of that tiny hole, and then the sheer joy, relief and tears when it did?  I was able to catch bits and pieces of the next 3 miners triumphant rescue before leaving for work.

I backed out of the driveway and made a stop at my mailbox to pick up my mail.  I looked inside the box and caught my breath.  I knew instantly what was in that fat white envelope – I just didn’t know what it said.  I had wondered how I would react when I saw it – would I tear the envelope open right there or wait until I could read the information in the privacy of my home?

Now that the envelope was in my hand there was no hesitation or thought other than to see what was inside.  I tossed all the other mail on my backseat then tore into that fat white envelope, scrambled through the pages of paper until I found the answer to the question that has been hanging over my head since early August.

Yes folks, my plans to convert my front yard to drought tolerant landscaping were approved!!!!  While I was thrilled with this information, a part of me was a bit sad because  the neighbor on one side of me is not going to be happy – they objected to my plans.  I was 90% sure that I had followed all the guidelines for my neighborhood, and given that I live in a near-desert climate any water conservation efforts should be encouraged and applauded, but since I’m the first to do this and there was an objection being raised, I wasn’t 100% confident.

All you readers get to take this front yard overhaul journey right along with me — but you don’t have to do the work!  Watch for update posts every Monday beginning next week on the 18th!  They’ll all be filed in the “Front Yard Conversion” heading on the right hand side of my blog so you can easily scroll through the weeks of progress any time you want.

As an aside, who was the first person I told about the approval?  I called my Daddy 

Throughout the day I checked back on the miner progress at MSNBC.com and to see that not only were the miners continuing to come out safely, but they were coming out faster than originally expected.  I didn’t shed any tears at the office but their successful rescue kept that “OMG can this day get any better?” feeling going full force!!!

I was thrilled to get home in time to watch the rescue of miners 31 and 32 on my computer.  When the siren sounded for miner 33 indicating the capsule was quickly closing in on the surface, I turned on the TV and was ecstatic to see that NBC4 was airing his emergence!!!  The tears were streaming down my face while everyone was singing the Chilean national anthem…and huge kudos to the local TV station for airing the entire song without interruption.  So moving…

With how awesome the day was can you believe there was still one more bit of awesomeness?

There was!

A couple of weeks ago our work computer guy was coming to the office so I brought my desktop computer to work and sent it home with him so he could do a complete overhaul on it.  The thing was so slow I could almost any task faster by hand then the computer could do it.  Well, said computer came back on Tuesday but I didn’t hook it up and reload all the programs until last night.

It is so incredibly fast now that it makes my laptop seem like the dinosaur!

The best news?

The 16-page quarterly family newsletter that my cousin and I created 18 months ago is once again back in business!!!  I was no longer able to do the newsletter on my laptop as it had been upgraded to Windows 7 and I couldn’t afford the upgrade for the desktop publishing program, so instead I had the old computer serviced as it runs on Windows XP.

As you might expect, I enjoyed a couple of glasses of chardonnay before going to bed so that I would be able to calm down enough to fall asleep.  It was tough but eventually I did journey to ZZZzzz land.

This morning started very rudely as the alarm had to wake me up for the first time in months, but now that I’m awake, some of yesterday’s excitement is still in me so I think it will be another good day.

The J’s Have It!

This week at work I’m working on instructional layouts for 5 new cross stitch kits.  Though each takes quite awhile to do, they’re not overly complicated therefore my mind has a tendency to wander.  To help me stay focused on the task at hand I rely on my iPod as heard through just the left ear bud.

More specifically, I turn to the three J’s…

…Jeff, John and Josh (sorry Jo Dee).

Jeff Thatcher is the husband of a friend of mine, and his music is all his original piano compositions played phenomenally by himself.  Trust me, Jeff tickles the ivories like nobody’s business.   No matter whether the music is coming from my CD player, my iPod or the next room (when I’m visiting), it always unleashes the creative part of me.  If you clicked on the link, it’s not a mistake – he is a doctor, a very well-respected one.

John Tesh may be familiar to many of you as he was a co-host of Entertainment Tonight for years.  Like Jeff, he composes his music, but unlike Jeff, John’s music is not just piano, there’s orchestration and occasional vocals as well.  Even with the “extras”, the music is great to have playing in my ear while working.

Josh Groban…well, I’m pretty sure most everyone knows him, but in case you don’t, here’s my description.  He’s a cutie-patootie with a voice that will envelope you in a blanket of happiness and comfort.  Most of his songs are sung in English, but Josh also exercises his vocal chords in Italian, Spanish and French.  Though I listen to his music at work, I often end up singing or humming along (as quietly as possible so I don’t offend Assistant) – I just can’t help it.  And when this highlighted song starts?

The right ear bud gets inserted, the volume gets cranked and I become oblivious to everything around me.  Not necessarily a good thing to do at work, but fortunately, in the couple dozen or so times I’ve become oblivious I’ve only missed a phone call and office page once.  It was the Boss looking for me and I was only “found” when Assistant stood in front of my desk to get my attention.

Oops… 

Though I have nearly 1,000 songs on my iPod, the work me relies on the J’s, a short 73 song playlist.  But don’t worry that the other 900+ songs feel left out, they get played during my non-work hours.  And trust me, that credit-card size red bundle of music is used a lot…

I Couldn’t Help But Giggle

A simple phrase from a Facebook friend, a mere nine words in length, had me giggling all afternoon Tuesday and had my creative brain in overdrive.

What words were shared?

“the small-time rodeo at my house this morning”

Why were these words uttered?

A visit to the vet…for shots!

To be perfectly clear, I’ve never met my FB friend in person, therefore I don’t have any first-hand experience with her canine Tommy (as in Tom Brady) or her black feline Skidd (as in skid mark?), but their antics are well documented in videos and pictures on her FB page.  If you promise not to tell I’ll let you know that on work days when I need some stress relief there are certain videos that I watch…’nuff said. 

Now that you know the words you are cordially invited to enjoy my creative interpretation…if you dare…

Picture a brunette woman, a mere 5 years younger than me, telling her four-legged kids that they’re going to the vet…for shots.  Tommy cocks his head, perks up his ears and stares at the woman in confusion…he’s positive he heard “car ride” and “icky vet” in the same sentence so he’s not quite sure what’s going on.  Skidd hears “blah, blah, blah” but feels Tommy’s confusion so he spends a few minutes sharing in the confusion.

The minute the cat carrier appears Skidd takes off for destinations unknown while Tommy enters sniff heaven.  Aforementioned Brunette sets out on a Skidd hunt checking all the favored hiding places to no avail.

Unbeknownst to Brunette, Skidd spends his time moving from hiding place to hiding place while turning a deaf ear to Brunette’s pleading calls.  Tommy might be dumb enough to fall for the whole car ride idea, but this feline?  No way!

Brunette finally captures Skidd (exactly how escapes my interpretive skills) and secures him in the cat carrier.  This victory sends Tommy into panic mode as experience has taught him that anytime Skidd is in the carrier it always leads to bad news for him too.

For the next eternity (10 minutes or so), Tommy runs wildly through the house, taking full advantage of his four gas and brake pedals while Brunette slips and slides around corners and relies on furniture to keep her from hitting walls.  Every time Brunette pauses and blows stray hair out of her face, Tommy crouches on his front paws, wags his tail at warp speed and woofs his pleasure at their game.

Brunette finally reigns supreme (she cheats and uses dog biscuits as a lure), harnesses Tommy, attaches his leash then holds him securely in place while catching her breath, drinking some water and anticipating the four-legged vehicle loading adventure about to occur.

Back to reality…

Brunette’s message to me ended with  “All is well tho … and everyone’s up to date!”

Yay for her but boo-hoo for me.  Never have 9 words more effectively shut off my creativity… 

But the interpretive part was fun wasn’t it?

Memory Card Clean-Off

This morning I cleaned off this guy who records that which captures my eye while little digital camera and I are out and about.

Each picture is saved in this “blog” folder on my 320GB Western Digital Passport (which still has 284GB available)…

…and then inside this “blog pix” folder…

From there the pictures usually go into a dated folder, such as “Random pix 6-13 thru 6-19-10″.  The words are the same the dates just change weekly.

BUT…this morning the pictures all wound up in this folder…

Yep, they are all sitting in the folder “waiting for blog home” patiently counting the days until they can journey into the cyber-world.

You may be curious as to why I opted to put them in there instead of use them. My problem is that I often find way too many things interesting and blog-worthy, and if I actually wrote about them as they happened then I’d be posting more than once a day!  When my “waiting” folder gets too full I do a “Little Bits” post to thin it out.

Hey, that explanation was a bonus – now you know how the “Little Bits” posts came about! 

Now, here’s a testimony as to how hyper-organized I am.

Remember all those blog folders?  I have an identical set but they are in another folder called “Pictures”!!!  All the images in that series of folders are the original unedited pictures just in case I ever need them for anything.  All of the ones in the sub-folders in the “Blog” folder have been cropped, brightened, reduced or otherwise edited for use here in my blog.

There are dozens of other folders for the blog-size pictures that are organized by category, project or other description.  In these folders the picture name also includes the date of the folder where the original image is located just in case I need to use the original image for any reason.

I know this system means there are lots of duplicate pictures, but the Passport has oodles of space so I really don’t care.  It’s so awesome to be able to rifle through various sunset photos I’ve taken by opening one folder instead of surfing through endless folders trying to find them all.

This system also explains why I empty the memory card every few days.  If I don’t the process will take waaaay too long to accomplish!  It only took a couple of 2-hour clean-off sessions for me to learn that lesson!