We're supposed to get more rain! Apparently, the mandatory news spin on rain is, "oh, this won't even put a dent in the drought."
AW: Very nice party at my cousin's house this weekend.
What's up with you?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ETA: Now, this is the kind of sandwich/cake that we need in the Whining Zone. (h/t this wonderful blog.)
85 comments:
AW: this has really nothing to do with me, I just feel proud by association. A big, important, "tall steeple" church in Chicago just called a woman as senior pastor. And, I went to college with her. (not that she would know me from Adam--she was a couple years ahead of me). A woman at a tall steeple church is, sadly, still very unusual. So, double proud.
W: winter: Adios. Really. It's time.
AW: chunky meeting was so uncontroversial as to be dull. W: extremely poor time management by the moderator led to AW: lots of time catching up with friends, a great supper out in a fun city, and lunch with a friend too.
AW: also amazing, at said chunky meeting. We approved an openly lesbian candidate for ministry with absolutely no questions or fanfare. Times have changed considerably around here, just in the last ten years.
Esperanza, woooot!
W: school district has already decided to have a two hour delay tomorrow. Current weather: 45, no rain. Forecast is iffy regarding freezing temps and whether or not we'll get significant precip. Ground is warm. Sigh. We don't do winter well.
AW: I just gave the Canadian pixies giant guffaw. You're welcome.
Big W with cosmic bad memories: We gave our adult son a used car yesterday, hoping this would mean no more mechanic sessions in our garage with a car that was older than him. He crashed the new/used car last night. This happened before, when he was much younger and stupid. AARRGH.
Also, there's already an insurance fight, with our own ins. co. Gah.
aw: Son says he is not hurt.
AW: fortunately there is leftover mac & cheese around. Maybe I can find some emergency GS cookies.
didn't mean to kill the thread... some things, you just need to decide it is unfixable and breathe and mainline reruns until everybody calms the heck down.
aw: had a calm and productive talk with son, who is going to go get the car fixed by a professional, and figure out how to pay for that. and find ways to get where he needs to go by bus and whathaveyou.
I love the cake/sandwich !
Yay esperanza! Lots of great news on the women in ministry front and even a good chunky meeting. No weather guffaws, but I confess to a head tilt and a smile. :)
kathy a - you didn't kill the thread, we're hear for the whines. Sorry about the car accident . How awful! I'm glad you had a good talk with your son though.
Aw: hubby had a good doc appt today! Happy happy!
W: The. Fireplacing. Cold. Seriously, make it stop. -45 yesterday morning. Warmed up to -35 today. I am done with this winter. At least I share this sentiment with, well, everyone.
So sorry about the car accident, and the bad flashbacks, kathy a.
You may see this on Teh Book of Faces, but I will brag here on Sweet, too. She is "student of the week" at one of her preschools this week, so we had to fill out a poster about her. (Aside: some mommies tend to go a bit overboard with this. I am not some mommies). Anyway: she stuck with the project until it was done, she cooperated readily with me, she wrote first and last names completely independently and somewhat legibly, she wrote "red" as I spelled it, she drew a taco, she answered all of the questions, and she chose pictures to put on it. Wow. So glad we waited for kindergarten--she will be ready.
Yay for good doctor appointment for hubby, Sue! (Is the end in sight for the yucky procedures?)
My kindle won't work and the loaner iPad is not quite what I want. Plus I'm on super extended annoying hold with @m@z0n.
And I'm in Mordor with a meeting about the one true ring tomorrow. With bonus conversations with people who need hand holding and help pulling their weight.
AW: I am remarkably unagitated about everything this week.
Miranda: there is nothing worse than extended hold. Do they offer a callback, or are you currently listening to a soprano saxophone play smooth jazz, with the occasional robotic voice, telling you that your call us very important to them?
(I'm glad that you're remarkably unagitated, Morton, one true ring, and broken kindle notwithstanding.)
Esperanza: Go go go Sweet! She sounds very ready for kindergarten! (I saw her picture with her project on Book of Faces, and she's living up to her nickname.)
Sue: good appointment for Hubby! I'm so glad. And take heart: it's warming up here, and I think we're pushing it your way. We're supposed to have above-freezing temperatures on Sunday. (Otherwise known as "Temperatures cold enough that esperanza's area would considering cancelling school") (I may have gotten a kick out of that.)
Kathy a: I'm so sorry about Son's accident, and the bad flashbacks. I'm glad that he's figuring it how to take care of it, and that he reports that he isn't hurt. Reruns and mac and cheese sound like a good idea right now.
AW: Mr. Q took a sick day, and now we're all improving. A couple of days of prioritizing rest was what we've needed to start beating this bad cold we all caught.
W: E seemed a lot better today, but I'm still monitoring her closely. When she does cough, it sounds really rough, and a few times today she had awful coughing spells. I could also tell that her ears were giving her trouble for a couple of days, and I get really worried with anything involving earaches.
W: hard to work with the distraction of news out of Ukraine. My Uncle could leave at any time, but his wife and her family are Ukrainian citizens, and a few of them are waiting to get international passports. And they will only go as a whole family. They live in a rural area, and so they're not in any immediate danger, but they also live in a Russian-speaking, Eastern province, roughly between Kiev and Crimea. So: not great, if things heat up.
Document I'm working on is missing information. Like halves of sentences. Important sentences. That I do not know how to finish.
And no one is responding to my emails.
AW: Working from home due to snow and ice.
(((Kathy)))
Yay Esperanza!
Oh, QWP. She was being Sweet in that picture. Right before supper, not so much. Not at all. She didn't get to watch tv before bed as a result, which was "not fair." Too bad.
Lil E's cough doesn't sound fun.
Liz, your document sounds even less fun. Is the supply of poorly written and edited documents unlimited around there or what?
Miranda, sorry about people "who need help pulling their own weight." That is the nicest I've ever heard that malady phrased. Slackers.
Oh, and they are predicting freezing rain, which is particularly nasty and even Canadians couldn't drive on it. It is wet as it falls and then freezes on contact, which makes it almost impossible to see. So when it just freezes on bridges (because they cool faster than surface streets), and people are tooling along the roadway just fine and then BAM hit a patch of invisible ice, well....you see why you wouldn't want to put your kid on a bus first thing in the morning. Still. The rain chances are almost always overestimated around here.
Half sentences! (Maybe that's the secret to my writing problems! Half sentences and let others figure out what I meant.)
I try to be an open-minded, progressive guy, really I do, but some days I can't help but be who I am: a heterosexual white male in his thirties with a Bachelor's degree working as a middle manager in a job that puts him in the lower middle class in Middle of Nowhere, Indiana who goes to church (and a Baptist church, at that).
Which is to say, today I am pretty much a ranting, angry reactionary, because the Village Pantry three blocks from my house that had the BEST FOUNTAIN DRINK MACHINE IN THE WORLD decided to 'upgrade' their machine to some newfangled contraption. I'm trying to sell myself on the upside (they have Coke products now! And Flavor Shots! Plus some generic energy drink concoction!) but all I am really thinking is "THEY ALREADY HAD THE BEST FOUNTAIN DRINK IN THE WORLD AND THE MACHINE WORKED PERFECTLY AND THERE WAS NO REASON TO CHANGE ANYTHING AND THESE SO-CALLED 'FLAVOR SHOTS' ARE PROBABLY GROSS AND SHOULD JUST GET OFF MY LAWN ALREADY AND THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE ICE CUBES ANYMORE SO I HAVE TO HAVE THIS 'NUGGET ICE' ABOMINATION YARGLE BARGLE!"
Thanks. Needed to get that off my chest.
Andy for Old Skool, as if you needed me to tell you that.
I'm pretty particular about my fountain drink machines, too, though I'm not sure it has ever led me to the use of CAPS LOCK. :)
Seriously, there are days when I need a turbo caps lock.
--Neighbor Lady
NL, do tell. xoxo
I only break out the caps lock for the truly important things. Collapsing marriage? Wife acting like a child? Soul-crushing amounts of debt? Eh, whatcha gonna do amirite? Cut off my fountain drink supply? Somebody think of the children already.
Kathy A: So, so sorry about your son and the car. Glad he is ok.
QWP: Half sentences, obviously. You'll write twice as fast. Then send it to Liz and have her fill in the gaps. I'd volunteer, but I am not to be trusted with the caps lock this week.
Our winter is finally giving up here. We were supposed to get 6-10 inches of snow, and it barely dropped 2 on us. Give up, winter, we have you beat.
Oh, but W: Winter has left massive potholes on basically every road in town. Deep, unavoidable potholes. Potholes big enough that Baby Jessica could conceivably fall down one and get stuck, prompting a national emergency.
Related W: The wonderful Indiana State Police chose this past weekend to pull out "Operation Unwarranted Harassment" better known as "Operation Pull Over" in which they pull over pretty much everybody on the road on the basis that they might be drunk even though they were most likely just trying to dodge the Potholes to China that are everywhere. Also, should it go without saying that my much-blacker-than-the-rest-of-town neighborhood had a whole lot more suspected drunk drivers (also: many more treacherous potholes) pulled over than anywhere else? It should right?
W: My inherent suspicion of police overreach combined with my recently discovered reactionary streak, if taken to its logical conclusion, might end with me joining an anti-government militia somewhere. Please remember me for who I tried to be rather than who I became once I started down this grisly path.
(Note to the NSA: I'm not really joining an anti-government militia. It's a joke. For serious. Go back to playing World of WarCraft.)
W: Also, I feel like I'm not hip to the lingo here sometimes, or that my frame of reference is all wrong. So could somebody catch me up on what Mordor is? I've always assumed "New Zealand" since that's where LOTR was filmed, but I'm not sure. Also, Chunky Meetings. I'm assuming it is church-related and less soup-related than the name would imply.
AW: Book of Faces and @m@z0n I figured out on my own. Can't get anything by me.
I'll let Miranda explain Mordor, though I'm fairly certain it's not New Zealand
"Chunky" meetings are a result of a mis-read of "churchy" meetings. Very little soup. Likely to have small sandwiches, vegetable trays, and stale cookies.
Oh! That definition of "chunky" makes sense. If come up with my own definition as "difficult to get through."
The bad documents are plentiful, which is why I'm still employed.
Andy, I hate it when folks mess with my beverages.
Hugs to everybody.
esperanza - yes. Freezing rain is treacherous no matter where you are in the world. Be careful!
QWP - oh, the sick again!! I'm glad Mr. Q could take a sick day to start everyone on the road back to No Cough land. Poor E. Poor you. Bleh. And thanks for sending warm air this way.
Andy - I can't say I've ever been a fan of fountain drinks, but clearly this is important to you. Sorry. :( Definitely Old Skool worthy whine!!!
Liz, I don't even know what to say about half sentences. I was going to go for style here and write you half a sentence in response, but I would only want to come back and complete it because WHO WRITES HALF A SENTENCE?????? (Sorry about the caps, it's going around this week)
Miranda - I hope you're managing to have some fun in Mordor. Please try to send some of your unagitated state my way. I could use it.
W: You know that cheque I waited a few weeks for and finally asked the funeral home to scare up for me? It bounced. *headdesk*
I promptly dropped it back in the funeral director's lap since everyone else's cheques likely crashed and burned as well (musician, soloist etc...).
W: Last night the happy dream fairies were collectively kicked out of my subconscious mind. In their place were my old friends the Night Terrors (sounds like the name of a bad grunge band). Drat.
Gah. Hugs are being sent everywhere over the continent today. Icy roads, horrible drink machines (and family issues), teh sickness, night terrors, bounced checks, car accidents...can't we all just be cut a break for once?
Here's an example of a half-sentence for the curious:
“As part of the Humpty-Dumpty suite, Eggshell application resides on a .
Eggshell application fits into this architecture, as shown in Figure 1 1.”
Please tell me there's a Figure 1.1
How are you not running off down the street wildly throwing papers about?
Oh, there's a figure 1.1 alright. It's probably not correct, but it's there.
Weather report, to further amuse Canadian pixies: temp hovering at 32F, liquid rain falling into liquid puddles. Children restless but have just headed off for school. We are grateful for the rain, but the cold temperatures can leave already.
Ugh, I really do hate when it rains, when it's just at the freezing point. There's such a risk of dangerous ice, and the rain makes me way colder than snow does. I hope it warms up there soon, too.
Liz, is it possible for you go through and highlight all the half-sentences and send it back with a note, saying, "I'm working on editing everything else, but I need you to finish these sentences so that I can edit them."?
Sue: the funeral home is bouncing cheques now? And first didn't pay you for a few weeks? I smell trouble there.
Andy: that is some classic Old Skool whining. And I hate when a good thing, like a properly done fountain drink machine, is messed with! (I have been curious about those new machines, since we don't have them here yet.)
AW: continued improvements on the head cold front. E slept through the night last night, better than she did before she was sick, and that helped the most of all.
W: so much progress lost, thanks to this fireplacing cold. I should have had this chapter done days ago, and it's still only a few pages long.
Go, Sweet Baboo!
Miranda, hope it is a good trip.
QWP -- developments in Ukraine are really troubling. Need an international posse. Fingers crossed for a peaceful resolution.
Andy, a classic soda whine!
Liz -- so, the writers of hideous half-sentences were not laid off, but you (the fixer of problems) were? Heh. Gotta just stand back and gape at business priorities like that!
Sue, yuck about the night terrors. Agree that the "forgotten" check followed by the bouncing check does not suggest the funeral home is in tip top financial condition.
Esperanza made me snort with the image of Liz running down the street strewing paper!
Hope everybody with weather, colds, work problems, family problems, and etc. gets a break!
Sorry, I should have been more clear. The cheque that I received from the funeral home was actually a cheque written by the family, made out directly to me. It's a bit off-script, but I think the funeral home was just glad to have anything from the family at all - so they passed it along to me.
Normally, my fee would be part of the total cost to the family and the funeral home would cut a cheque for me - that wasn't going to work out this time. Odd, odd family....
This funeral home is actually very good. I have a feeling maybe their payment for the service bounced as well - bigger numbers than my payment, for sure.
That's sad, Sue. I know families might be caught unawares by a death, and also that sometimes there are big financial problems (e.g., from medical bills; if nobody has legal access to money; and etc.). But it seems wrong to not bring those kinds of things up when making arrangements.
The funerals and memorials (and wedding) I've planned, we made our own arrangements for the minister, flowers, reception catering. When money was tight, we did our own flowers and food; but always cash in an envelope for the minister.
Bounced checks SUCK.
Yay for E feeling better!
Yay for liquid rain and liquid puddles! Boo for cold temps. We are hovering around 20F here today. We had temps in the sixties a week ago. Snow yesterday. Dammit weather! Make up your mind!
I did send a strongly worded email to the miscreants, got a response late this morning.
kathy, that's the most frustrating part of all this. The family is caught up in an ugly legal battle over the now-deceased parents' money (quite a substantial estate, includes a home, business etc...).
So while they're fighting over who gets all the money, I get to wait a month to be paid for what was a difficult funeral to say the least. Cash in envelope would have been nice!!!
AW: I recant my weather whine of yesterday! Today was sunny and warm enough to go for an actual walk - OUTDOORS. I walked for about 45 minutes and soaked up some much-needed Vit D. Yay!!
Hooray for warmer weather! We're up to -14C now, and it's supposed to keep getting warmer through the week.
W: it's just a bit too windy, and E is just a bit too sick still, for us to go play outside. She hasn't been outside in nearly a week, and we're both going bananas. I tried to stave off some of the cabin fever by making a big deal out of our trip down to the mailbox, but she's not so easily fooled anymore. After her nap, I'm going to have to come up with a really good activity.
Whinier: I'm tiiiiired! Fun times activities take energy that I don't have!
Ralph has strong opinions about people who spend their money to fight over an estate, and then bounce checks for the people taking care of stuff in time of need. Strong, I tell you.
QWP, toddler activities are very hands-on, no? (Especially with the curious ones...) I seem to remember a lot of pounding on things -- like, if you are willing to make the sacrifice, some tupperware and a pan or 2 and a wooden spoon is just like Dizzyland. You can also start trying out "can you help me? can you take this and put it there?" (Mom likes helpers.) Before you know it, you'll be on to building things and artwork. Cheers!
Wildest weather moment of our week was the temperature dropping 30 degrees while we were eating lunch at a restaurant with friends. 75 to 45, just like that.
QWP, I hear you on the toddler and the energy sucking properties thereof. It gets better.
Wow esperanza, that's a lot! 30 degrees!
AW: it looks like the Icky Procedure days are over at our house for hubby. He's so happy! Me too!
What? 30 degree drop?? At lunch???
Woot! End of Icky Procedures!!
Oh, Pixies. I think it is time for our grand old Diva Cat. Still purring betwixt naps, but not eating; and I've been giving her meds in [smaller and smaller] bits of gourmet diva food because She Will Not Put Up with stuffing a syringe in her mouth. There are 2 things that will kill her in short order, and I'm not willing to let my girl suffer through that process. Many thanks for all the love. xoxo
yay for no icky procedures! Yippee!
oh, hugs, kathy a. Losing a pet is so hard.
AW: I stopped to get a fountain drink to fuel my afternoon activities with energy-sucking preschoolers. I stood at the fountain snorting and giggling to myself (hopefully not too audibly), hearing Andy's epic whine in my head, in all caps, of course. So, Andy, thanks for the giggle.
((((((kathy a.))))))))
-Neighbor Lady
Mordor is the city where the Home Office is based. Andy, you might know it better as the big city on the lake with wind to the NW of you.
Last night was too fun.
I was all but told that my role will likely be shifting again. That's a good thing for the most part because I am underutilized currently but it would also be nice to stay with a position for at least a year. Or if I knew what they had in mind. I should know more soon enough. Shrug. My pay and benefits are unaffected.
((((Kathy)))).Sending hugs and love.
((Miranda)). I hope it ends up to the good.
(((kathy))) Thinking of you today.
Our sweet girl is gone.
Oh Kathy. I'm so sorry. Sending hugs and love.
We were so lucky to have this wonderful cat. And she had a good, long, full life. (But this will be another non-productive day, seeing how I keep having spontaneous leaks on my face.)
Persephone was a very stong-willed cat. I've taken down the makeshift fort meant to keep her from standing in front of the computer screen -- office supplies, strategically located cardboard. Just noticed that I don't need bookends to keep her from flopping on my keyboard. Don't need the stapler atop my CPU, to keep her from turning the machine off while perching. And now I will take the "princess" dish and food mat off the end of my desk -- have been feeding her there, so the other cats wouldn't eat her meds by accident. She was a pretty funny cat. ;)
(((kathy a))))
It seems those spontaneous leaks are going around. Sending hugs.
I'm sorry, kathy a. A million reminders a day.
W: dirty shower. So dirty I think it will be a multi-day process to get it clean. (Partially because I'm using elbow grease rather than something that makes me wheeze). Seriously, disgusting.
Dirty shower is always a win with me.
Comfort rations: popcorn, york mints, pb cups, spinach/artichoke pizza, fresh sourdough bread, 2 kinds of soft cheese [goat and brie], snap-pea crisps, popcorn shrimp, adult beverages, salad, pie. Think that should hold us, but surely I'm forgetting something?
Some people have better ways of mourning, but my people go to the supermarket.
((((Kathy)))) Oh, I'm so sorry. The leaks seem to be spreading to others.
Those sound like excellent comfort rations. I mourn in the same way. (I would subtract the shrimp, due to allergy, and add some nature of cheese puffs, but YMMV.)
White cheddar popcorn. When my mom died, my sibs and I cracked ourselves up by buying lots of orange food for the hotel room -- cheet0s, orange juice, cheddar cheese, little pepperoni pizza things, nacho cheese d0rit0s, etc.
(((((kathy a.)))))
spontaneous leaks here too. so sorry.
--Neighbor Lady
Great comfort food choices kathy a!!
esperanza, do you have a fibreglass tub surround? A few years ago someone suggested cleaning it with good old-fashioned B@rax and water. It works really well and has no harsh odor. It takes a bit of elbow grease, but not too much.
I agree - dirty shower is award-worthy.
How are you doing Andy??? I mean, aside from the obvious horror of the fountain drink matter. I don't know where you are geographically located, but really, it's been a long grey winter all around. Doesn't help with mood much. I hope your world is looking brighter.
The one I'm working on is tile. A lovely combination of hard water mineral deposits and soap scum. Beyond the scope of vinegar. I'm using a pumice stone, which gets it off, it's just a bit labor intensive.
We do have a fiberglass shower in another bathroom. It's rarely used, so it's in pretty good shape. (It's what I call a country bathroom, immediately inside the back door, right next to the laundry room...intended for you to come in with cow pook on you, strip off your clothes, put them in the washer, hop in the shower, and not mess up the whole house with your outdoor-laboring self. What cracks me up is that it's in the preacher's house. Guy who was preacher when they built the house did indeed also work outside with cows. Mr E, not so much.)
Esperanza: have you tried baking soda with your vinegar when scrubbing the shower? The volcano action is super helpful for cleaning, and the baking soda adds some more abrasion for your scrubbing purposes.
W: E is a little worse again today, and was beside herself at naptime. I'm glad that we have a doctor's appointment (her regular checkup) booked for tomorrow, since I'd like some reassurance that she isn't getting a sinus infection or something.
Pumice is hard-core, Esperanza -- just like the industrial grade shower buildup you describe. The "country bathroom" built for your average preacher/cowboy makes me giggle!
QWP -- hope your sweetie is better. I'd think ear infection (or teething) before sinus infection, though. Ear infections are super common at E's age, tend to follow colds, and are painful.
Andy, what Sue said. xoxo
Well, dagnabit. I booked this doctor's appointment a really long time ago (back when E used to take three naps a day!), and I booked it for 10:30am, right in the middle of her normal morning nap. And it's too late to change the time (unless I moved the day of the appointment, which I don't want to do). I guess I'll be trying to trick her into napping earlier than usual, and then waking her up! Tomorrow is not going to be fun.
Now, here is a classy public cluesticking.
Shower is way past vinegar and baking soda. I tried a vinegar and blue Dawn soap concoction. The shower snickered at me. Embarrassing, I tell you.
Hope the doc can help Lil E feel better soon.
Yes, Andy, what Sue said.
Ha! Kathy, that's a great video!
I go home tonight! It's been a wildly productive trip but I'm ready for retreat.
Yay for going home!!
Working on another stinky putrid document, but this one is for nice people, so I feel good about it.
Yay for home Miranda - and for retreats! Have fun!
I hope Stinky Putrid Document #2 has complete sentences Liz. That would be nice. I'm glad this one is for nice people.
W: It's March Break here this week. If I hear ONE MORE person tell me how great it's going to be when they get to the beach, I will punch them. No I won't. Except in my mind.
Wah.
I wouldn't even need the beach. I would be happy with a few extra days off. I'm so fireplacing exhausted. My next Sunday off is May 11. My last one was early January.
Don't mind me pixies - grumble, grumble, grumble.... just having a grumpy day.
Oh, this isn't Stinky Putrid Document #2. This is Stinky Putrid Document #10. And it's only barely less Stinky and Putrid than three of the last nine.
Yay for the productive trip, Miranda -- and going home!
My, Liz -- they do seem to have an unlimited supply of the stinky and putrid. But, always better to help nice people.
Sue, that bragging is just uncalled for!
Misplaced my sense of self-discipline. Anyone seen it around? It's small, so it could be hiding anywhere.
Kathy a, if you find yours, can you see if mine is hiding with it?
Sue, I think the people going to the beach might need a gentle cluestick. I hope your next few days are restful.
Liz: well, at least they're nice people, even if they produce stinky and putrid documents?
AW: E is a lot better today, and the doctor said she's doing well. Her ears are completely clear.
W: she's lost a bit of weight, probably because she's been sick. It's in the normal range and is nothing to worry about, but after she was so growth restricted when she was born, and after her weight gain was always a measure of how well she was doing, it's hard for me not to have little worries.
Yay for clear ears and an OK checkup! We don't stop worrying about things that were worries before, but the doc's right, that a small change is not a big deal. (For her next trick, E will probably do a growth spurt, and you will suddenly be serving twice the food. They mess with you like that!)
W: Week from the place with the double hockeysticks.
worried about so many things
--NL
((NL))
((( NL )))
(((NL)))
Probably everyone needs to see a snail sweater. Awards tomorrow.
I was unaware a snail could be cute. I stand corrected. It's only naked snails that give me the creeps. Clothed ones are fine.
Liz, that is far too much stinky and putrid.
QWP - what kathy said - they mess with you these little ones! Glad the check up was good.
(((((NL))))))
Nice sweater on the snail. Seriously, who thinks up this stuff?
AW: my day ended up being okay. Only one pastoral call and I got some actual work done. I am slightly less grumpy tonight.
Thank you for all the hugs!!! And, that snail sweater was really cute!
:) NeighborLady
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