Remodeling is fun! And VERY hard!

So I have spent the past four days with my mom remodeling my kitchen...well taking off the multiple layers of wallpaper and painting. Sounds simple, right? Well you would be wrong...what we thought would be a simple 2 day job turned into a four day expedition, or a 4-trip to Home Depot job. Whichever you choose to call it.

We started off thinking we would just take down the wallpaper (that we thought was only two layers thick) and then paint and be through...nope. There were six layers of wallpaper and some of them were painted (which proved harder to remove in some places). Then there was a hideous mirror, a la 1970's trailer style, that had to come down, but it managed to pull the sheetrock's paper almost completely off, leaving nice bubble spots that had to be spackled. And I am not saying a typical spackle spot...I mean an entire 4x8 foot area of the wall! But it is all finally done and I spent today cleaning and reorganizing the kitchen and it finally looks like MY kitchen! We have lived here for 6 years and finally the kitchen (were I spend most of my time) looks like me!

It now has yellow walls (and I mean yellow, like a lemon) and this really cool back splash. It looks like the old time-y pressed tin panels but it is plastic, so very easy to clean! Mom spotted it on one of the many trips to Home Depot and it is PERFECT! I love it. I am very lucky Mom came along to help with all of this because I would have never gotten it done...and we would be living on take out forever! :)

Summer Cleaning

Well I have gotten the cleaning bug. It all started when our neighbor offered us his piano (he is moving and can't take it with him). So that meant I had to find a place to put it, which meant shifting everything around...and since I was doing that might as well clean the floors and floorboards while the space is empty. SO for the entire week I have been moving, shifting, rearranging and cleaning.

Luckily I am even in the mood to clean the rest of the house where things are not getting shifted around. I guess having two rooms sparkling makes me want it all to sparkle. I have also managed to get the lingering scent of Chloe (my Satan cat that I finally had to give away...she didn't do well with other animals) out of the house. Unfortunately that meant throwing away a really nice rug...but it could not be cleaned anymore. The cleaning guy told me that if he cleaned it again it would literally fall apart. OH well...I got a Wally World special to replace it...that way if one of the current kitties gets mad, I don't have to throw away $500 worth of rug again.

My room is now officially my office. I have moved my clutter catcher (my desk) from the front to where I will use it. The front is where the piano will soon be sitting. :) I did put away my altar stuff, and the altar is now just a coffee table in the corner of the room sporting my stereo and scrap booking stuff. My altar items are in storage boxes underneath it and can be easily accessed. It was quite funny talking to my mom about moving everything around. You could hear the hope in her voice that I may have moved out of a "phase." Of course I am just letting her be hopeful, I figure we didn't really talk about it before so why now.

Speaking of Mom, she has offered to come visit and help me un-wallpaper the kitchen! YAY!!!! I am very excited. We have lived in this house for six years and the wallpaper has bugged me everyday of it. But it is too big of a project for just me. I have painted every other room in the house, except for the kitchen and the two bathrooms (they are wallpapered too). So once I get the kitchen done,I am two small rooms away from this being MY house completely. Meaning my decorations, style, and personality. Not just make do until I get time to do it.

Well that is all the time I have for now. I have to go pick up the furniture dollies to move the piano. And get some more cleaning supplies...it is amazing how many dust cloths and mop heads, and how much cleaning solution one can go through when cleaning a 1400 square foot house! Well I guess the fur may complicate my house a little! :)

Later,
Em

Getting used to alone

So it is the Fourth of July...at 8:55pm and I am at home with the babies...alone. Thats right, no bbq, no fireworks, no nothing. DH is out doing a fire watch for a fireworks show with his radio guys (oh he has a new hobby of HAM radio). So you ask why the hell aren't you there with him? Well that is just it, I could be there but not with him...you have to be in the group to go and stand that close to where things might fall on your head. So I could have gone and fought the crowds ALONE...and that makes you feel that much more alone. So here I sit. I am planning a nice little spa night with a brand new Joss Stone cd. (BTW, she ROCKS!)

All of this is to say that I am getting used to being alone. It gives you time to think. And in my case, study and HOPE for a nice middle school teaching position. The thing that is mildly disturbing is the fact that I am alone in a house with a DH right there. How the hell are you alone when there is another human right there? Almost all the time. That is very disturbing, how the hell did we get here...in the same house yet alone. It is sad.

To add to this, I have lost myself...at least my religion. I am actually considering putting away my altar. Not getting rid of it, just putting away the stuff for a while. I am still pagan, but I just don't want the stuff right now. I guess I need to be alone.

Back to two hands

Well I have had a week of rest on the wrist and shoulder and they are doing much better. I am still not using my arm for picking up heavy items...but I should be able to next week. My chiropractor said that I overstretched the nerve in my shoulder and then managed to re-injure it a couple of times and that is why the pain moved down to my wrist. Oh well. At least it seems to be better now.

As to everything else, I have started a small library that will go into my classroom once I am hired and given one. :) I am not sure I have mentioned this...I am applying to be a middle school teacher. I have started an online alternative certification program and I am hoping to have a teaching position this coming school year. So yes I have come full circle and I now fully embrace my teaching side. Like I have said before it easier to embrace it rather than it continually kicking me in the @ss.

So off I go into the unseen future....
Later,
Em

Typing with one hand...almost

So I have managed to do something to my wrist...my right wrist! :( So I am trying my best to keep my hand immobilized to let it get better, it is basically doing the shift key for caps and question marks. The thing that sucks is I have no idea what I did to the thing...I didn't do anything remarkable or memorable. <> Oh well...hopefully a couple days in a wrist wrap will fix it. Well that and a visit to my chiropractor! :)

Gardening and the other past stuff that got left out

In my philosophical ick of last post, I didn't get to update all the other stuff that has happened over this period of silence.

First, gardening. The peaches seem to have bitten the dust. And the garden boxes aren't finished yet. These are both due to the same thing...a weeks worth of very heavy, very total and complete thunderstorms. Not spring showers, spring dumps! The rain, while badly needed, really didn't have to come all at once. Within two days, all the local lakes, ponds and rivers were full and near flood point. Unfortunately my backyard is sometimes classified as a pond. For some reason it holds water. Effectively drowning my peach tree! :( My other plants did well enough, since most are in pots and I could just take them out of the bases to drain through. The garden boxes aren't built because the use of power tools in a pond is not suggested. :) SO hopefully they will get built this week.

DH has to finish the chicken coop so I should be able to get the boxes done at the same time. The girls are getting VERY big, they are almost full grown and are fully feathered now (which they may not be very happy about in this heat). We have discovered they have a love for lettuce, apples, celery and watermelon! Watermelon is by far their favorite, they eat it right down to the skin (they eat the white pith too!). Currently, they are scavenging in the backyard. I just mowed and they like getting all the good bugs I turn up. Worms, YUMMY! :)

In the music world, my friend Serenity Springs listed a new singer on her site AND WOW!!!! I love her for turning me onto Amy Winehouse. This girl is amazing. Especially if you like soul, blues-y, big band stuff. Amy Winehouse has serious vocal power! WOW.

Another discovery another friend put me onto is www.pandora.com. It is this amazing free radio site. You can put in the name of a group or song you like and then it plays music that matches what you put in. It is great for those days you just want to listen to something but not the stuff you have...or if you just want some randomness in your music. Plus it is a great way to discover new music that matches the stuff you really love.

I think my group is pretty much done for...partly because of scheduling. But mostly because of the stuff I talked about last post. A crisis in your beliefs is not conducive to guiding others. I have to find my way again before I can get a group going again.

Well I guess that is about it for now. I am off to the shower...just got done in the yard and I am ICKY!

Later,
Em

Well...

I am soooo sorry that I have gone into complete hiding as of late. After graduation, I have been lost in what to do, and have ended up not doing much at all. I have succeeded in getting accepted into a alternative teaching certification program and I have decided to teach 6-8 grade, reading/English, history or social studies (depending on what I get hired to do). And that is pretty much it.

I have been hanging out, getting a butt load of reading done. I have found The Teaching Company and its extensive array of DVD lectures that have provided learning and entertainment. And YES I did say learning...I miss school. A LOT. More than I thought was possible. The books I have been reading have been philosophy stuff (as well as some "fun" stuff too). But I think the philosophy is fun and interesting. And it has given me a lot of reflecting to do, and a lot of questioning too. And that is probably why I haven't been here much.

It is hard to think this stuff out, much less write it out. I have tried talking it out, thinking it out, dreaming it out, and writing it out...and none has made anything any clearer. But I think that is the way it is supposed to go. Read something, think about it, see where it fits within your beliefs or if it even does fit, and if it doesn't is it something you want to add to your beliefs. Will this change your beliefs? Will your beliefs hold up to what you add? If they don't are they really worth it?

So there you go. That is a peak into what is going on in my brain, and it is just a peak...a full view would lead even the sane-ist of people to the way of madness. And I don't want to be held responsible to adding to the crazies of the world.

I promise to try and be better about keeping you filled in.

Later days,
E

Almost there...

Well guys, I know I have been terribly quiet lately. But I swear it is for a good cause! And I am ALMOST DONE!!! One more paper (which is 2/3's done) and then I am finished! YAY!!!!

I just thought I would stop in and give a bit of an update and some random stuff that has piled up while I have been kicking @ss.

First the family has grown...by three. Three chicks...literally chicks as in baby chickens. In our attempt to be more organic and my attempt at being a gardener, we have decided that chickens would be a great benefit. They (all are female) will lay eggs for us, eat the pesties that my organic attempts at pesticide don't get and they will provide ample fodder for my compost pile. And they up the cute factor in the family too. (If someone could tell me how to post a damn picture on here I would share the cuteness.) They are all little Southern ladies, with the names to match. There is an Orphington Buff named Henrietta (couldn't pass that up!), a Production Red named Scarlett (get it? she is red) and a Barred Rock named Georgette (that means "earth worker" fits for a chicken that is responsible for taring up the yard!). It will be about 6 months before we get our first eggs, but after they start laying we should get about a dozen and a half a week. Any one got any good egg recipes? :)

Okay lets see, what else? Oh I have found a great singer!!! Regina Spektor. She rocks and she has a cool history too. Her music is very funky alternative, with great lyrics and piano, and cool vocals. And she happens to be perfect to study too! LOL Of course now I figure that out.

On to gardening, my bumper crops are still bumping. My sweet basil has managed to recover from whatever it was that was ailing it (I think it was the cold snap...remember when it SNOWED on Easter) and my nasturtiums have started to bloom. Peaches are big enough that I can see them on the tree from across the yard...I can't wait to taste them! YUMMY! I have planted my first two garden boxes, with blackberries and purple potatoes (for those of you that are rolling your eyes right now, yes I have to have everything in purple...and they were the best looking of the seed potatoes available). I am planning on a total of 8 boxes but I have to finish building them...that will be for next week...actually starting Monday at noon!

As far as my group is...well it hasn't been much lately. We have all been involved in life (I am assuming that for the ones I haven't heard from, hope all is well) and obviously I have put most, scratch that, all of my stuff on the back burner until I am done with school. So we haven't gotten together of late.

Well that is all my hands can handle for the typing...gotta save some for later too! :)

Later days!
Em

Quiet=Graduate

I have been so busy! I am trying to graduate...may have mentioned that once or twice before. :) But that requires writing a 30 to 40 page paper that is due (in first draft form) on Friday...yes the one that is currently barrelling towards us at a very disturbing pace. Also in the mean time I have found a love for gardening and yard work, and unfortunately it is MUCH more alluring than old dusty books about the democratization of Eastern Europe.

So far, I have managed a thriving (never thought I would be able to use that word in relation to me and gardening) bed of impatiens, an ever growing bed of culinary and tea herbs, four pots of different types of mint, a pot of tomatoes that have started to bud, a pot of jalapenos, three indoor potted plants and a brand new peach tree! More is on the way! Heck I might even figure out how to post pics on here and let you see what I have done. DH has helped a lot too...in fact he was the main force behind getting and digging the huge hole required for planting the peach tree. And more is on the way...I am planning a garden in the backyard.

The other discovery I have made in gardening (other than I can actually do this) is organic gardening isn't that hard nor does it mean that you have to live with bad little pesties. Compost does ALOT, you can use a mixture of compost called compost tea and mix with things like molasses or citrus oil and get rid of a number of gross little pesties that like to munch on plants. You also get to release fun bugs like praying mantis and ladybugs that are able to feast on some of the little beasties as well.

I will try to post the link for my favorite new organic sources in case any one is interested in joining me on this lovely trip to further hippie-dom. :)

Now back to the boring, keep me inside, reading dusty old books paper...that MUST GET DONE so I can get the hell outta here!

So I know I have been quiet lately...

but WOW have I been busy! I am trying to figure out what to do with my life. What direction is best right now for what I want to do down the line, and that ain't no easy figurin'. On top of that is school (last semester), the papers that go along with that, family, the group (YES we will meet soon, even if I must drag you all kicking and screaming), pups and kitties (which I am up to 5 cats now and it will be staying that way, DH has been informed), and all other bits and pieces that can slowly drive one insane.

Now first to what direction I am heading...well the PhD is still the chosen path, however I feel it may be necessary to take a round-about method of getting there. I am afraid that the deadlines have past at the schools I would have preferred and they are all not anywhere near me and we are in no way or shape able to move right now. SOOOOO...the original plan was to go to my current campus for the PhD...but the more I think about that the worse it sounds. There is the problem of academic incest (yes that is a term used by people, and refers to getting all your letters aka degrees from the same school, I didn't know what it was either), which seems to be a bigger issue than first imagined. Then there is the issue that my school doesn't offer exactly what I want...so no sense in fighting though to get something I don't want, right?

So now for the round-about part...I am thinking of getting my teacher's cert and teaching high school...yes I am insane...and no so far no one has laughed at this idea...at least to my face. Okay so take a second to catch your breathe...

My logic is this. This gives me a way to make money, gain teaching experience, and allows for DH to be able to go back to get his masters...at which point he gets a job in the field he WANTS to be in and then I can pick my school and back for the PhD...of course this also gives us time to get to a position of being able to be mobile across the nation, which in turn gives me the school I want and program I need. It does sound like a win-win-win...right? And I did say I was going to stop running from being a teacher.

Okay, so with that out...here is some more randomness...

Yes, I now have 5 cats. Tigg and Raff, whom I have spoke of before, And the new 3. Baby, Punkin, and Candy. I believe I may have previously referenced them with a promise to fill you in so here I go.

Baby (mom of the other two) adopted me. She carefully pushed her way into my heart and brought a few litters of kittens along with her. I raised them (the litters) and then did the only thing I could do, took them to the ASPCA. Then this past Labor Day (this is ironic, you will see in a minute) Baby came to me covered in motor oil! So I took her inside and gave her 4 baths (and yes she let me) and decided that since I had her in and I had the money, I was going to take her to the vet on Tuesday (it being labor Day and all the vet wasn't in on Monday). Sooooo....I call on Tuesday morning make the appointment, go check on Baby and here is the ironic part, she was in labor! Two kittens, a cancelled appointment and a few months later...I have 5 cats, inside co-existing happily. And as I said DH has been informed that this house will remain so. :) Everyone is spayed or neutered, so no more kitties for us (thank the Goddess). But I am happy with my home now. It is perfectly full again. (And easier to take care of than the last time I had this many...cause now it is only the cats' litter boxes to clean, rather than cat, ferret and bird...that was work!)

Okay so I am thinking that I have rambled on and bored you all quite enough.

Later days-
Em

Weddings are fun...

especially when you have the most incompetent wedding coordinator in Florida.

Well I am back from my weekend jaunt to Flordia for my best friend's wedding. It was great! She and I spent the majority of our time giggling and laughing and reliving old times, which was my ploy to keep her unstressed. (Which apparently I did very well, I have never had so many people tell me what a great job I did...and I didn't even think I was working!)

The unfortunate wedding coordinator didn't even sour our moods. We managed to turn her and her incompetence into a great series of jokes that will be remembered forever. All I will say is if you ever plan to marry in Pensacola, DO NOT USE THE INCLUDED WEDDING COORDINATOR! It would be worth the money to get someone else!

Now that I am back, it is time to get on schedule. The tri I was shooting for is full so my first tri is going to be a little further into the season, but that is okay. I want a little more time to train, seeing as how I have been in the slacker category for the past couple of weeks. School really gets in the way sometimes, you know?

And it all comes together in the end...

Well I have finished the paper that is due this afternoon and have an introduction for the one for tomorrow. YAY! And I even got to sleep some! Imagine that...

Now it is time for a short break and a few updates. First, have mentioned this is my last semester...then I move into Grad School torture. If I haven't now I have. But this leads me to the first topic...Graduation. Why is it that this idea freaks me out so thoroughly. It is not like anything is going to change really, I am planning on staying at the same college, I will be living in the same place. Still be around my friends and family but somehow graduation is freaking me out! *sigh* Probably has something to do with this craziness I call my brain.

Next, my training seems to have ground to a halt. At first, I had that neck issue/injury. Then, well I just haven't gotten going again. Between the weather, school and the random freak outs (see above), I just haven't gotten moving again. I am still getting my Yoga classes and home practices in, which is good. Yoga is the one thing that actually helps the freak outs go away, something about the breathing. If you remember to breathe, you don't tend to hyperventilate as easily.

Finally, I get to go to my best-friend-from-high-school's wedding this weekend. In fact I am in it. I am very excited about being able to go see her and meet her soon-to-be-hubby. DH got my ticket (round trip) for $5! (Plus a lot of frequent flier miles, but hey it still just $5!) So I will get to see my friend for the cost of a value meal! Don't ya just love bargains!

Anyway, back to that second paper I go. Hopefully all freak outs will remain at bay until it is finished! *crossing fingers*

Again with the procrastination...

Yes I am up to it again. But this time I am trying to get my brain to get moving. I have been staring at the computer for the last 3 hours and I have the grand total of one paragraph actually saved. Although I have typed the equivalent of about 3 pages and deleted it...too soapbox-y.

Anyway, now I am trying that whole "just start writing" thing. But since I don't want to delete yet more words, I am putting them here. So if this randomly moves off to the politics of motherhood or an examination of judicial intervention in war powers you should understand. Count yourself as warned.

The thing that sucks monkey balls is that I have the answers in my head, really they are there, but they refuse to be transmitted to a medium that is acceptable to my teachers as an assignment. I think they would be slightly frightened if I turned in a small portion of my brains and said "There, it is all in there. And apparently political science DOES require brain surgery! What is my name again?"

Ah the joys of the wild and crazy thoughts that my brain harbors. Believe me it is a scary place, my brain. One second it is making perfect sense then the next it is contemplating the joys of jazzerise and if we should try it out. Or some other strange something...as Lorelai Gilmore says "monkey, monkey, underpants." Yes, my brain is a strange place indeed.

Have you ever...

had something to do, say a paper or papers for school, that you just did not want to do so you found every possible way to procrastinate?

Well I am a master at the aforementioned dilemma. In fact this is one of my ingenious ways to avoid working on aforementioned papers. I have got to work on these papers, unfortunately I find contemplating the universe and all the stupidity within it much more important.

Pain hurts

Okay I know that is...well...it is what it is. But it is true.

There is physical pain. A pain in the neck or arm or leg. I am specifically experiencing a combination of neck and shoulder pain. It is driving me batty and severely limiting my training for the upcoming triathalon. But I am dealing with it and I will get though it...before the race! But physical pain is almost easy compared to its sibling...

Emotional pain.

My great uncle recently passed away. In fact I leave tomorrow to go to his funeral. And while I truly believe he is in a better place and is no longer experiencing ANY pain, the emotional pain left behind with my great aunt is hard and heavy.

My great uncle was a very strong, caring, loving man. He was like a second grandfather to me (well I guess third if you are counting both sides of the family, either way he was special). My great aunt, I am afraid, is carrying the worst of the emotional pain. Because she was the one with him all the time, she was the one who had to watch daily as this great big loving man slowly lost his mind and then his body. In his death, I see release for him, peace and a place where he is whole again. But in his death, I also see the pain in my great aunt's eyes from losing the one and only love of her life. That is why it is the emotional pain that is the worst.

My shoulder will heal and fairly soon as long as I don't do anything stupid. But my aunt's pain is not so easy a wound to fix. She can't just put a salve on the cut, or take an aspirin for the ache. She has her son, her family, her friends. But we cannot expect to take the place of a big strong and sometimes grumpy old man who would sit in his chair and threaten to "throw us in the pond," and laugh like that was the best joke in the world.

We love you, Daddy R! And will miss you. I am glad you are in a better place. And you better be good or I am sure someone there will throw you in the pond!

Tigg, the snaggle-toothed cat

Well that is that. Tigg lost the tooth. Rather it was cut out by the vet. It was so infected the vet had to fill it with antibiotics and stitch it up. He is resting now and enjoying all the soft food he can stuff himself with, so all is well. I feel slightly better now that Tigg is doing better.

Note to self: Check all my babies' mouths REGULARLY!

Update

My advisor still sucks...still screwed up...but at least did try to fix it. But no go...I am not going to get my minor. Oh well. This means I get to drop one of my classes now and have more time for my research.

Which I must get back to now! :)

Later days!

Sometimes I feel like a horrible mommy

*sigh* My poor old boy, Tigg, has a very badly infected tooth...like to the point that the gums are moving down the tooth and the tooth itself is very soft. And I only found it today! And of course the vet wasn't going to be there this afternoon. SO my poor baby has to wait until Monday. Poor guy! I feel so bad for him, I know it hurts. Thank the Goddess that I have been feeding everybody soft food lately...or he would not have been able to eat at all! :(

Ahh the joys of life

The crack sound my back makes at the chiropractor's office.

A voice mail from my DH wondering if I am okay, because I was running late after a workout.

A new pair of running shoes, all shiny, white and begging to be dirty!

B's reaction when I return home...no matter how long I have been gone, to her it has been FOREVER!

A new gadget that will hold my iPod as I drive...that DH got for a steal on eBay after I mentioned I wanted one.

Will's reaction after I get home...much like B's but a little more dignified.

A perfect cup of tea...any flavor will do but cinnamon is my current favorite.

The sound of kittens playing (yes I have added to the clan or rather it grew, remind me and I will fill you in later!)

A hot shower.

Chocolate scented soap and lotion (for in and after that hot shower)

A warm cozy blanket in front of a fire...it helps if the blanket is feather stuffed and purple (my favorite color).

The feeling you get from running 3 miles on a really cold day...the reactions from others are pretty cool too! :)

Okay now don't get used to this...

Wow I have really been updating a fair amount lately, BUT I am not promising it will continue. I will try though.

Well, DH and I had a wonderful dinner for my birthday. I had grilled lamb chops and he had sole with a lobster sauce. YUM!

Anyway now I am on full tri training. Wanna know how you know if you are on true full tri training? You go for a 3 mile run in the FREEZING cold and have to avoid icy patches on the road so you don't fall and blow the season before it even starts!

Tomorrow I am getting up to swim (yes, swim but in an indoor pool) at 5:30 am...then go to class then go to yoga for an hour tomorrow night. Yoga is actually the "easy" workout.

I am back to eating all the time. But all the right stuff, you have to fuel those workouts. They each burn about 600 calories, now you see why I eat all the time.

I am not sure if I ever posted where I started. The highest I ever weighed on the scale was 255 BUT I was bigger than that, I just didn't want to see where I really was so I started losing then weighed a few weeks into it. And I am currently down to 215 and down 4 pants sizes. I am pretty proud of me. I didn't even feel guilty about eating my b-day cake...I knew I would burn it off quickly. :)

Well I best hit the sack, so I will be able to stand/swim in the morning.

Later days
Emerald