We've been in the midst of wind storms for the past several days, and even though we live on the prairies (where strong winds and extreme temperatures are kind of our thing), we're all sick of it now. Yesterday wasn't even our worst day, but we came home from church to find that a large section of our fence had blown down. And then I had to secure patio furniture, because it was blowing around! I'm sick of it. I want to be outside in my garden. I want to stand outdoors without bracing myself against the blast.
But, the forecast says it's supposed to die down over the next day, and warm weather is in the forecast. And so, even though today I will spend one more day making soup and wrapping myself in a cozy blanket, and staying indoors, I'm filling my calendar with plans for sunshine and barbecuing.
(I just realised that I'll probably be holding down the fort by myself today, as it's Memorial Day for the American pixies. I'll see the rest of you tomorrow.)
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Wednesday Whining is a weekly blog with rotating hosts. Whines and Anti-Whines, both big and small, are welcome! Our purposes are mutual support and sharing a few laughs along the way.
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The Wednesday Whining Community is diverse, and strives to be safe, welcoming, and supportive. To this end, comments that are personally abusive or otherwise disparaging [regarding race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation] will be deleted by moderators, along with spam and self-promotion.
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A: The Whiner's Ball commences no later than Tuesday, and ends when Awards are given (usually Thursday in theory, but definitely before Monday).
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A: Yes, really. Traditional awards include Style [music, poetry, etc.], Old Skool [piddly little whines], and Elevated Risk of Mullet [funniest line in a whine], but other hand-crafted awards may be granted at the host's discretion, and nominations from commenters are encouraged.
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A: The Playdough Violin
A: The Whiner's Ball commences no later than Tuesday, and ends when Awards are given (usually Thursday in theory, but definitely before Monday).
Q: Awards? Really?
A: Yes, really. Traditional awards include Style [music, poetry, etc.], Old Skool [piddly little whines], and Elevated Risk of Mullet [funniest line in a whine], but other hand-crafted awards may be granted at the host's discretion, and nominations from commenters are encouraged.
Q: Can I whine about someone who just does not "get it"?
A: The Cluestick Posse is on hand for persons in need.
Q: Is there a mascot?
A: Ralph is the mascot.
Q: Are there other traditions I should know about?
A: The passing of virtual refreshments is appreciated.
Q: How did this all get started anyhow?
A: Phantom Scribbler was our muse and host for two years.
Q: What was the first prize ever awarded?
A: The Playdough Violin
71 comments:
I'm here! I'm here!
We may bbq tonight. The rest of the week is calling for afternoon thunderstorms.
Yikes, weather!
Son is arriving soon to build stuff with his dad. I am (boringly and predictably) going to lay in some more picnic supplies...
My son's using the power saw to build tall speaker stands, and I'm a mom. So OF COURSE I said "be careful!" And he said he uses enormous machines every single day at work, which is true. But a mom's gotta do the mom thing, I guess. How embarrassing... In a small piece of redemption, dad also got in trouble for saying that tall speaker stands would be unstable, and of course the design is pretty good on providing stability.
Exciting picnic and wedding progress, Kathy!
We bought a HUGE ham this weekend, and now I'm trying out using the ham bone (with some bits left on) in baked beans with maple syrup. I suspect this will give over well with the kid, especially since Mr. Q is making cornbread muffins.
W: hayfever struck while I was in the garden today. I'm now drugged up, but I still have dizziness (from the sinuses and ears) and a low-grade fever. The dizziness is bad enough to make me a touch nauseated. As I said, I'm DONE with this wind.
Boo on hayfever, wind, and wooziness. Yay for ham bones!
The closer we get, the more stuff I gather, the more I think about practical logistics -- the more I think we need either a convoy or a semi to haul it all up to the picnic site. So, trying to work out the convoy. A long time ago, I used to arrange cookouts and what-have-you for large groups; but not quite on this scale, and not where we are self-catering instead of more of a group effort or potluck kind of situation. It's a learning opportunity! ;)
U-haul truck rental is pretty inexpensive, and you could get one for the whole weekend, to bring stuff to the picnic, but also bring stuff to the wedding venue.
My cousin is taking the day off to help! Think we're covered now.
YAY!
AW: mowed and weedeated the yard this morning. Sprayed the poison ivy. Poisoned the fireplacing fire ants. Feeling accomplished
W: but that's all I've gotten done. And my muscles are all sore. And PMS. And the house is still overwhelmingly in need of cleaning. And there's only 2 days of school left.
W: also, remember about 6 weeks ago, that I was enjoying a visit from a friend whose spouse was interviewing for a job near me? Spouse didn't get the job :(
Oh no, esperanza! I'm sorry that your friend's spouse didn't get the job. (Still a whole month left of school here! Summer vacation here is July + August.)
Kathy, I'm so glad that you have help covered!
AW: after a solid year of being locked out of my Fl1ckr pr0 account because of a tech glitch (and they didn't have actual customer service/tech support people as y@h00 prepared to be sold), there's finally progress! I guess now that the sale to V3r1z0n is going through, they have to start acting like a functional company again. I'm emailing back and forth with a tech support person, who is verifying that this is actually my account.
W: I'm still not in (apparently, it takes 24 hours), and I'm nervous because it's been so long that I couldn't remember exact details about things in my account that I haven't seen in over a year. Hopefully I remembered enough.
W: is it an adulthood milestone, where you suddenly realise that some of the perfectly reasonanble guys that you grew up with have suddenly become blowhards or conspiracy theorists (or sometimes both)? Book of Faces has been pretty frustrating today.
Ouch, Esperanza! And, sorry about your friend's spouse not getting the job.
QWP -- it is pretty startling when someone you thought you knew starts saying bizarre things...
QWP, that's why fb invented "hide"
What Esperanza said about the fabulous "hide" feature.
W: My mailman left one package on my porch, and the other at the end of my driveway, partway in the street and the top partly ripped open. This time, the contents were intact. There was no actual mail in my box, so probably one of the neighbors got that. Wish my dog was still here to bark at him.
AW: Dinner with the parental units of the bride tonight. :)
GAL said she hoped to have her initial report finished by the end of May, schedule permitting. Still waiting.
Thinking of you, PK, and sending hugs.
I feel very grown-up. Wrote an adult letter to a medical biller (different one from last time I whined about medical billing), and sent it with a copy of my insurance claim recap, and a check for what insurance says I owe, all within two business days of receipt of the bill.
Now I need chocolate.
((( PK ))) Fingers crossed. xoxox
Go, Liz! I'll throw in a few cluesticks for the fireplacers responsible for these billing errors.
We had a lovely dinner with the soon-to-be-in-laws! MotB has gone nuts with wedding decor, and it's great! They knew not of the speaker stands / photo booth stuff my son built last weekend. The picnic has grown to 60, apparently. There is a mutual aid agreement, should anything arise with family members; because, they have family, too. ;)
Yay for mutual aid and for getting along well with the in-laws. Weddings are the times that test these new bonds, and it looks like you're all weathering it very well.
Well done on taking care of grown-up stuff quickly, Liz! And Kathy, it sounds like you're all handling the wedding details well.
So many hugs for PK. I hope the GAL report comes quickly, and is helpful.
AW: I have access to my Fl1ckr account again, at last! And have updated all of my settings, to prevent this from happening again. I'm thankful that they have humans working for them again. Automated help is useless when there's a tech glitch that needs to be fixed.
Yay for good in-law relationships and restored Twitter account.
Still waiting here. It's after 1pm on the last day of May. I am beginning to be afraid the GAL won't meet her tentative deadline. School is almost out, and we don't have a summer schedule/parenting plan yet. It will likely hinge heavily on the GAL's report.
((( PK ))) Can you ask your lawyer to ask the GAL when the report will be done?
Normally, when something is in flux like this, the current parenting plan just carries over. But the kids won't be in school! Is there some understanding about summer activities? xoxo
W: Baboos bringing home so much crap from school: half-used spiral notebooks, unused consumable textbooks (gee, thanks for the wise use of my tax dollars), worn down crayons. I want to throw it all away/recycle it all. But every tidbit is precious.
AW: I"ll just smuggle it out, bit by bit, over the course of the summer.
Esperanza, is there some kind of textbook donate / re-use option?
Good idea to diminish the stash quietly.
Well, the business day is over and we didn't hear from the GAL. My lawyer sent her an email to check in and ask about the status of things
I think we might be able to agree on something loosely based on the court-ordered parenting plan from last summer, for the interim. It's the same number of overnights as the school year schedule, but 2 one week and 3 the next instead of 1 one week and 4 the next. At least STBX said he'd consider something if I make a proposal. :-/
I'm so sorry you're still in limbo
Propose something two days less generous than you think would be optimal and fair ;)
Liz on iPhone
sending hugs, PK. And rolling my eyes that STBX wants you to do the work of making a proposal so he can (presumably) criticize it.
W: Both Baboos are so tired. End of school for Sweet is so stressful--lack of routine, too much "fun" at school, fretting about next year already. Mini is too wound up to sleep.
W: oh, yeah. I'm tired too.
Liz, that is a wise suggestion, knowing STBX. PK, I hope that the GAL gets back to you tomorrow.
Esperanza, smuggling things out gradually is also my strategy. I hope you guys can get into a good summer routine soon.
W: I just got the June calendar for preschool, and E only has four days of school left! (She only goes twice a week.) Preschool ends two weeks before elementary and high school do. Also, next week is the last swimming lesson. I have two full weeks of no usual routine for E, and Mr. Q not on summer holidays yet. I'm going to need to plan SOMETHING, or we're going to drive each other up the wall.
Joining Liz in the adulting category this week. I made myself go to the dermatologist to see about this annoying spot on my nose (right where my glasses rest, on the side). Pathology report says yes, basal cell carcinoma (which is the no-need-to-freak-out kind, unless you're Mr. E, in which case you stop listening and freak out anyway). So I have to have it taken off/out. It's just a local anesthetic and probably a stitch or two.
So we're heading to the beach on Monday, for some quality time in the sun. With a hat. And sunscreen. And some more sunscreen.
Basal cell carcinoma?! I understand that it's the "no need to freak out" variety, but still: yikes!
((( Esperanza ))) Yes, go get the darned thing taken out. And that should be it. You will be extra-vigilant going forward, probably see more of the dermo than you'd like; but that's do-able. xoxo
GAL sent a note to the lawyers today saying that she's still reviewing records and hopes to get the report written "in the next week or so." Argh.
Esperanza, I hope the procedure goes as smoothly and painlessly as possible.
I'm at least glad that you got some word from the GAL, PK, but sorry for the additional delay. Let's hope this means she's being thorough.
Procedure is in August. Super slow-growing, non-alarming "unless you ignore it for 40 years," says the dermo. I snorted. She said, "you'd be surprised what people ignore for 40 years."
PK, glad there is something of a timeline, at least. She is paying close attention to records, which I hope is a good sign!
esperanza--
I just recently had one of those removed from my scalp, right on my part. Was an easy procedure, and yes, means more dermo appts. Come to think of it, not sure I have one scheduled....
Thanks for the reminder, and hope yours goes nice and smoothly, and is stress free.
-Neighbor Lady
Old Skool: spending my Friday afternoon listening to hold music. I swear this company has one person answering phones; I've never not had an "unusually long wait time."
Dear goodness, they keep playing this same triumphant trumpet music over and over. It's basically the music that they play during Olympics featurettes. The same song, over and over.
Oh, how fabulous, QWP. They really like you -- and hope you'll hang up before someone gets around to answering, or else cutting you off "by accident."
AW: We have more equipment and supplies! I can't count how many stashes we have now! (But it's better than the news...)
Thanks, NL. My scalp is the only place I've ever had a blistering sunburn, so the dr is watching it too.
W: overheard at school today: "I have a spreadsheet with each day of the summer and the times from morning till night. I have mapped out what we are going to do each day. Like tomorrow, we are doing a craft project for 2 hours in the morning". I....am not that mom. I do not want to be that mom. The Baboos and I have zero plans for tomorrow.
That was me, esperanza, finally figuring out how to comment on my phone.
Wait, both anony-mice are Esperanza?
I would ask how to do comments on my phone, but I can't make my phone go to web pages presently, and also there is the wedding brain.
Yes, they were both me. Not the one that Neighbor Lady signed, obviously.
QWP, during the great car debacle of a few weeks ago, I g00gled "how do I get rid of my junk car?" and found the number of a nearby place. I called them, and their hold music began with Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again," at which point I cracked up. They played about a 10 minute loop of car-related songs. They got points for that, even when they kept me on hold for longer than I wanted.
esperanza,
In our area, our local NPR station takes old cars as donations, don't know if you've got that near you....
:) Neighbor Lady
Yes, we considered that. The tax writeoff situation is not as straightforward as you might think. And the junk car people with a sense of humor were faster, which was a plus.
We couldn't get any of the car donation places to take my old car, so it was kind of a blessing when this extremely odd thing happened and someone stole my car, then crashed it. The rookie officer thought we'd be heartbroken.
Well, another exciting night on my (I swear this is true) normally placid block. There was an explosion, loud and shook everybody's houses. Nobody knew what was going on. The police showed up. Someone -- not making this up -- exploded a watermelon in the street, a couple doors down. Sheesh.
((((PK))))
Kathy, your block seems to be getting a few decades worth of yayas out in just a few months.
No kidding! This almost has to be a teen prank, but curiously, no teens were around after the event. It's a mystery!
Scene: Mini has requested an ear of corn on the cob for lunch. Fine. I throw the whole deal in the microwave for 5 minutes. It is then cooling off before I shuck it.
Mini: Please peel my corn.
Me: When it's corn, you say "shucking corn."
Mini: (sigh). OK. Please peel my shucking corn.
Could. Not. Stop. Laughing.
One week to the picnic! In an effort to buy local, I just ordered a bunch of fresh veggies, fruits, and herbs from the family owned produce market, to pick up next Thursday. The guy even thinks he can get watermelon radishes!
The watermelons will not be the exploding variety.
There will be shucking corn, and lots of it.
LOL!!!!!!!!
--NL
Actual, out-loud laughter about "shucking corn."
AW: a young woman from church came over today, and we made fun cupcakes for this weekend's church picnic, and then my sister joined us for supper, and we had a girls' night, watching W0nder W0m@n. I haven't seen any of the other movies from that universe (nor do I have any desire to), but I LOVED it.
Girl time! That sounds fun, QWP.
My son is off on his bachelor party camping trip. His dad is painting the stands they built last weekend (for speakers and a photo booth), and planning to hunt the exact right meat for picnic shish kebabs. I'm preparing my expedition list for today, and thinking about cleaning to do and to delegate. I may also start on the baking. MotB continues to work on decorations for the wedding, which make her very cheerful (and they are lovely).
W/AW? the friend that visited because spouse was interviewing, and then spouse wasn't going to get the job...well, it isn't such a done deal. They're trying to make a big decision. I'm trying not to influence them, because how cool would it be for them to live near me--real life computer friends! But it's their decision.
Fingers crossed, Esperanza. Not your decision, but it would be very cool if they moved nearby.
My emergency kit for the picnic includes: a generous assortment of bandaids and a couple of large pads; hand sanitizer; bactine (antibacterial + anti-itch); a large tube of sunscreen; lots of 2-packs of advil. And also safety pins, for the kind of emergency involving clothing failure. Am I missing something?
bug spray? Not sure about your location, but mosquitoes are thick here right now.
We don't have a lot in the way of skeeters here, but I might find some for in case.
Okay, let us review my symptoms:
* chronic cough - mostly better, still unresolved. Medications added and removed, added again. More on this later.
* Perimenopause - time alone can solve issues arising from this.
* High cholesterol & triglycerides - medication has this under control. Since age 16, 96 lbs. No change off meds no matter what diet or exercise regimen I'm on, through all weights and through pregnancy.
* Pre-diabetic numbers - this is new(ish). Removing some carbs improved it somewhat. Have removed more, we'll see what happens at my next appointment in July.
* Itchy rash. Meds, new soap, new lotion. Somewhat better.
* Frequent foot cramps (see cough medication above). This is a known side-effect of the asthma medications I'm taking, which seem to be working, but FOOT CRAMPS. Doctor prescribed Magnesium Gluconate, which seems to help. Foot cramps are not disabling. I can walk and drive when they happen, but if they were one smidge worse, I wouldn't be able to walk or drive or work.
* Memory issues. Probably perimenopause related, but is also a known side-effect of some of the meds I'm taking.
Middle age, folks. It's a joy.
Liz sorry you are feeling so joyful :) Has anyone investigated acid reflux as a cause for the constant cough? That is how in manifested in both Sweet and Mini as babies, and I've seen it in older folks in my churches.
I'm adding squash plants to my list of contact allergens. The church's chief gardener invited me over for a tour, and told me to pick some squash. My whole arm was red and itchy for about an hour but seems ok now. I can eat squash, just can't pick it.
((( Liz ))) Ouchy on the cramps. Bleah on other stuff. Still, as my dad used to say, "it beats the alternative..." ;)
Q: How big a problem is it that I accidentally got "light" sour cream for the dip, instead of regular?
Score! I like to put small pieces of fresh mozzarella in my pasta salad. Found "pearl" sized pieces! So cute; no cutting required.
Re: sour cream: for dip, I don't think it's a big deal at all. It might not work the same if you were cooking it.
Esperanza, apparently a lot of gardeners get that kind of rash. Gloves and sleeves help. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1465591/anyone-else-get-bad-skin-rash-from-zukes-or-squash-plants
We have an orchid that has been lookin' good since Easter, I do not lie. Every day I feed it an ice cube, which melts slowly and is just enough water. My junior cat discovered the ice cube today and decided it was a toy!
I wasn't exactly prepared to go gardening (church dress and sandals), or I would have had gloves and long sleeves. I think my gardener wanted to have a pastoral conversation, and the garden tour was his pretext, which is fine. I may keep a long sleeve shirt and some appropriate footwear in the office now. I went barefoot, which kind of scandalized him.
GI ruled out reflux in July. Sorry about the squash rash!
-Liz on iPhone
I am obviously already insane, and that will last for the next week or so. So I can't host this coming week. xoxoxo
Anyone else able to host next week? If not, we could keep this thread open for another week.
I've been having trouble logging in to be host. So I can't.
Liz on IPhone
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