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Sunday, September 25, 2011

Fall is upon us....

We never actually got a lot of summer weather out here, and the early fall glory days have not shown up, either. Heat would have been a good excuse for not getting enough done, no? I may have to sentence myself to a library carrel to get some writing done this week.

Is there such thing as post-vacation letdown?

Well, the pets are glad I'm home; I'm given to understand that the concierge service was not up to snuff during my absence. In fact, my return is so darned exciting that one or more have celebrated with a few barks.

Bring the small and large ones, the whines and anti-whines! Extra credit for Style this week!

36 comments:

esperanza said...

W: Worked hard organizing stuff and participated in consignment sale this weekend. Three round trips to Middle Size City @ 120 miles each. My take? $35. What I spent at said sale? $35. Hmph. Thinking I lost money on that deal.

AW: But I would have spent the $35 anyway, just not with two extra trips.

AW: Also, I think I made a new friend (!) Friday night. A colleague that I had been internet friends with lives in Middle Size City, and we had supper together. It was fun! I was not a wallflower!

Separate weather rant: We got all your summer, kathy. 101 here yesterday (consignment sale was UN air-conditioned!). Mini and I just went swimming. Baby snake in the pool. EEEEK. I killed it. Don't know what kind it was, and I don't care. Baby snake in the pool next to my baby? You're a goner.

kathy a. said...

yay, sales! boo, driving! yay, new in-person friend!!

there is definitely something award-worthy about snakes in the pool. suggestions for the exact award are welcome.

kathy a. said...

oh, facebook. why did
you go nuts, make everything
weird? don't do change well.

Sarah at ratatat said...

Snakes in the pool? Glad you were there to kill is Esperanza, I'd still be crying.

And KathyA - yes - FB seems broken. Can't tell if I am missing news and stuff.

When we last tuned in to the drama of Sarah's belly - cue flashback music - loss of appetite, weight loss, gallbladder, CT scan, ulcer, endoscopy, biopsy. The results are in and it seems to be celiac. So a 3 months gluten free trial is in my future. HE did a blood test - if positive, I definitely have it, if negative, I probably have it. Got results by email and it has numbers and no interpretation. I'd like to cluestick the doctor.

In other news...missed you all.

Liz Miller said...

Kathy for style!

kathy a. said...

cluesticks at the ready, sarah!

i think someone here mentioned a gluten-free diet before; maybe the pixies have tips. i've noticed that the natural grocery and trader joe's have a number of gluten-free products. and here's a website with an array of products.

no awards to the host! the haiku is meant to encourage creative efforts. :)

Elizabeth said...

((Sarah))

And huzzah to Esperanza, the mighty slayer of snakes.

Liz Miller said...

W: I am phobic about bugs. And by bugs I mean things that are large and that scuttle: earwigs, cockroaches, cicadas when they're around, and spiders.

W: In the last 7 days, there have been at least 10 largish spiders in my house. In. My. House.

AW: I've been able to smash them without screaming, shaking, or otherwise having a phobic meltdown.

W: But I feel creepy-crawly for the rest of the day afterwards.

Hate spiders. Hate.

Liz Miller said...

I forgot to mention that one was in the shower. And I didn't see it until I was in the shower, too.

IN. THE. SHOWER. with a very large spider.

I am still shuddering.

Sue said...

Style for Kathy.

Fearless Warriors of Spiders and Snakes to Liz and Esperanza. Seriously, you two are amazing. I would be huddled in the corner pointing at the pool waiting for Esperanza to rescue me. Srsly.

FB - I don't like. anti-like. If you mess up enough, I may have to lose this precious time-suck and actually relate to real people. What's up with that?????

Speaking of real people. Weekend conference of church people was fairly typical and exhausting. When the best part is the closing worship, you know you've been at a Presbytery weekend.

AW: The fall colours were astounding.

AW: Headaches behaving.

W: September has made me so tired I can't quite decide if I'm Living But Sleepy or Real Living Dead Zombie.

Either way, I'm Sleepy, Grumpy, and Dopey. A Three-Dward day. Not so good.

kathy a. said...

Sleepy, Grumpy, and Dopey. You think you're special or something, Sue? ;) Hope things improve swiftly. Yay for getting the headache monster to behave!

Liz -- I still recommend the vacuum for creepy-crawlies who are of a size to be sucked to doom. Much less trauma than the squash and flush method. For me, anyway.

Sue said...

LOL kathy! Nah, not so much in the special department for the Three dwarf day. I suppose that's why we're all here, right?

Because there's no Whiny Dwarf.

Tragic. Indeed. *pounds fist on desk* Oh the humanity!!!!

(shameless attempt at Drama award - sheesh, I need a life)

btw - I note that I spelled Dwarf incorrectly. I do not believe there is such a thing as a dward.

Until today.

Sue said...

Liz - I agree. The best thing to do about spiders is to get Kathy to come and get it with the vacuum.

Liz Miller said...

By the time I haul out the vacuum, the spider may have gone into hiding again. Better the dead spider you can see than the living spider you know is there somewhere hiding waiting to jump out and scare you.

kathy a. said...

I started looking for small bug vacuums, and this one will just not do, since the premise is "capture and release." Ha. This one is more like it, with its lethal power grid inside.

esperanza said...

kathy, you are indeed a mistress of procrastination. In case you're wondering, the proper method of pool baby snake (seriously, it wasn't that big--about 8 inches long) removal is this: see the hoe sitting there next to the fence (this tells me that perhaps someone else has had to dispatch a snake recently...borrowed pool). Remove Mini from pool. Get hoe and scoop out baby snake from pool. Chop into pieces with hoe. (if you had better aim than I, you could just chop in half. Poor snake). Throw snake over yard fence. Attempt to answer Mini's repeated question: "where snake go?" This is not the first snake I've killed with a hoe, and I can attest that, though a bit violent, it is effective.

Sue said...

Just realized this morning while trying to apply mascara that the doc in Toronto put significantly more Botox above my right eye this time around.

Plenty above the right temple and lots in the occipital nerves, but more than last time above my right eye.

I lifted up forehead (as you would if surprised - just to open my eyes wide enough for the mascara) and saw John Belushi staring back at me. The left side lifts up quite nicely, the right side - eh, not so much.

huh. Samurai minister.

Elizabeth said...

Whine: too much work. Not enough time.

Anti-whine: My dad's coming to visit for Rosh Hashonah. And bringing NYC pastrami!

Whine: may have to hole up and do some work while he's here because I don't see any way short of a time machine to get it all done by 4pm today.

Sue said...

Yay for NYC pastrami!!!!!

A blessed Rosh Hashonah for all of our Jewish pixies!!!

kathy a. said...

good luck, with the work, elizabeth! hope you have a wonderful time with dad and family.

esperanza, you are so brave.

sue, somehow i doubt you will be mistaken for belushi. :)

anyone need a kitten fix ?

JenR said...

oh sarah... that would stink. There's a gluten-free bakery in Pewaukee though. A little far, but not terrible. I can ask my neighbor lady to make a list of places to go to get food around here. I used to know - but things have changed (for the easier) since I did my own GF trail a few years ago. Also - eat the glutino pretzels. Hide them from your family though, because they are pricey and very very yummy.

Genevieve said...

I nominate Esperanza for the "I'm Tired of These Fireplacing Snakes in This Fireplacing Pool!" award.

Also, yay for making a friend!

Sarah, I'm sorry. I know there are lots of gluten-free resources online (and on Facebook), and I've noticed a lot of restaurants are offering gluten-free menu options (marked as such). But boo! I'm sorry for the hassle of figuring all that out.

Liz, I shudder like that for certain rodents when seen in movies/TV - would never want to deal with them in real life - you are brave to control your reaction!

This seems to be the Week of Dealing With Vermin.

And the Samurai Minister comment is very stylish, Sue. Hope the eye improves.

Kathy, there is definitely post-vacation letdown.

AW: I am feeling distinctly better emotionally this week. Only cried a little (with cause, I think) and not feeling so melancholy. The meds are kicking in, and being able to get out and do something this past weekend (movie w/the kiddo and play w/beloved-family-leaving-the-country-soon) was very good for morale. Though two things in a weekend was hard on my foot.

W: I fricking fell in the shower yesterday and aggravated the foot injury moderately badly. It was superslippery for some reason (son fell in the evening, husband examined and found the porcelain "greasy like butter" and scrubbed it) -- had been cleaned the day before, so either it hadn't been rinsed or my Epsom salts when dissolved made it slippery.

Anyway. I am trying to recover here and I keep having setbacks!!! ARGH argh argh. I can't put enough weight on it, even in the boot, to go any distance yet, so no Rosh Hashanah services tomorrow, and quite likely no reunion this weekend. Grrrrrrr.

AW: the above did not make me completely fall apart. Only tear up some this morning.

W: I'm sick and tired of these fireplacing injuries on these fireplacing feet.

Genevieve said...

Sorry that was so long!!

Anonymous said...

((Genevieve))
((Sarah))

W: after a couple years of my own weird stomach stuff and lactose intolerant dietary changes, and unintended weight loss, I have discovered that I am unexpectedly gaining weight now. Guess the whole losing weight without trying was too good to last once I discovered it was apparently (knock wood) due to dietary changes and nothing more sinister. Now, my body seems to have gone back to its usual state of affairs, and I no longer can eat with impunity.Drat!

And, also, curse you, you irresistable dark-chocolate-covered-pretzel-balls!!!

--Neighbor Lady

Anonymous said...

Also, wishing everyone a sweet Rosh Hashanah!
--Neighbor Lady

Liz Miller said...

(((Genevieve)))

Good Rosh Hashanah!

kathy a. said...

((( genevieve ))) glad you are feeling better and getting out! sending a virtual no-slip shower mat. best for recovery of ze foot.

NL -- i think our family motto is "crumbs have no calories." we apparently have a broad definition of crumbs. ;)

KLee said...

No, Sue, I think with your "dward", you were combining "dwarf" and "award", so that can be our new category: Multiple whines happening at the same time -- the Dward. :)

esperanza said...

NL, I'm having the same issue, post-breastfeeding. Dang, but that extra 600 calories a day was nice. Unless, you know, it's that all my pants are shrinking at the same rate.

KLee, I think you're a genius!

Sue said...

(((Genevieve)))
(((Sarah)))

Sarah, I'm still struggling with the gluten-free thing, but there are lots of websites with recipes. Sure, some of them end up tasting like cardboard, but most are very good. It's tough, but hopefully some popular favourites will help a little.

Thanks KLee - yup, the Dward. I like it!

Kathy - yes, there is post-vacay let down. Felt it big time last night. I left my laptop at the office and refused to check email once I got home. It seemed everything work-related that came across my computer yesterday was either from someone being bossy or just plain miserable. Pttttthhhhh to all of them. I read my paperback novel and watched tv instead.

Of course, this morning I have to respond to all of them, but at least I had a half decent evening.

kathy a. said...

keep whining! oh, pixies, today has just been full of train-wreck prevention, check-ins, long sessions of scoping next steps, blah blah.

and my doc just called about a blood pressure check. woo. hoo.

KLee said...

I think we're all just in the doldrums. Is there anyone alive who's not feeling sort of "blah" right now? And if there is, can we cluestick them?

I'm just coming home wiped out every day. Running around after 22 four-year olds used to not be this physically draining! Plus, I had my first meeting with my new Girl Scouts today, so I worked a full day, and then was upbeat and peppy for them afterwards. That takes a lot out of you!

However, the girls are *adorable!*, and look to be really excited about Girl Scouting, so I am excited as well.

I had a very odd dream last night, which makes me question what, exactly, the hell my subconscious thinks it's doing, throwing these curve balls at me?!?!

I just wish I could cast off the "blah", and start feeling like myself again.

Plus, I'm ready for weather that does not involve so much sweating and icky-gross feeling. Hurry, winter -- I miss you so!

Sue said...

Ditto KLee. I wish I felt more energized by the whole fall season. Instead I slog through the days (prestnly in less/no pain, thankfully) - but I slog nonetheless.

Also, you are my scouting hero. The girls are so fortunate to have such a committed and wonderful leader.

esperanza said...

KLee, I am SO with you on the sweaty, icky, sticky, HOT mess. I don't really like winter, but I am done with summer. Cold front tomorrow is supposed to drop the high temp to 89. We are thrilled. That is a sad state of affairs.

JenR said...

rain rain rain rain rain... rain. And wind. Yuck. I just let my 3 year old play in a puddle until he was drenched anc cold because I simply could not stand staying in the house any longer.

Also, I know it won't happen - it's been well over a year since it has without a long car drive - but could that boy take a nap for me tomorrow? Please?

Liz Miller said...

AW: My husband and son discovered this video on YouTube.

My son was agape, he now has something to aspire to.