Saturday Wordzzle Challenge: Week 88

This is week 88 of the Saturday Wordzzle Challenge. Anyone new to the process can refer back here to find out how it works. I had meant to cancel this week's challenge since my niece will be visiting, but I forgot so I'm preparing it early and setting it to post at the usual time but I probably won't be around to visit until Sunday or Monday. Diana's here! (well she will be when you read this.)



The words for this week's challenge were: Cute, come with me to the Casba, bloodhound, respiration, Facebook, Canada Geese, modern, gravity, spider webs, sea shells And for the mini: curiosity killed the cat, charming Victorian, railroad tracks, tower, salt and pepper



The maxi:


Although Lucinda lived right near the railroad tracks and the most interesting part of her view was a water tower, she still loved her home. The house itself was a charming Victorian and she had decorated it with knick knacks and furniture from that period so that entering it was like stepping back in time. Her most favorite treasures were a framed embroidery that said "curiosity killed the cat" that had supposedly been made by her great great grandmother and her collection of salt and pepper shakers. She had almost lost it all to a cute (he had more charm than good looks, really) guy she had met on that modern wonder, Facebook. He had pursued her on line for months, like a bloodhound on the scent. Sometimes his words were so poetic that gravity seemed to lift and her respiration became erratic. "Come with me to the Casba," he had written, "We'll walk on the beach and collect sea shells. We'll explore the world and follow the Canada Geese on their journey." It had all seemed so romantic. Lucky for her, her cousin Charlie had caught wind of it and had checked the guy out. Turned out he was a grifter know as Arachnid because he lured lonely women into virtual spider webs spun of promises and lies and then stole not only their hearts but all of their earthly possessions as well. It all had a really happy ending too, because Charlie talked her into going to the police and the officer who helped her set up the sting turned out to be the love of her life. He was kind, gentle, truly handsome ... and best of all, he loved antiques and had his own collection of salt and pepper shakers. Arachnid went to jail and Lucinda got married and lived happily ever after.



The mini:


You would do well to remember that Curiosity killed the cat, Amanda Tower whispered to the small salt and pepper colored ball of fur curled up next to her on the once charming Victorian sofa which the aforementioned ball of fur had put significant effort into redecorating, leaving veritable railroad tracks of scratches across almost every inch of it. One of these days you will not come away from your escapades with just a few scratches and bruises and a $200 vet bill for me. Honestly, I don't always know why I love you. Just a soft heart, I guess, she said as the ball of fur - looking for all the world like the most innocent of beings - crawled into her lap and started purring loudly. And you do give good hugs, you little monkey.




The 10-word:


Grace Gravity loved life and tried to live it to the fullest. Her best friend - of the furry kind, at least - was a bloodhound whom she named Facebook, ("his face may not be cute but it has so much expression it reads like a book," she would laugh when people commented on the name). As bloodhounds go, Facebook wasn't much of a detective, though he had a peculiar gift for sniffing out spiders and spider webs and sea shells. His favorite sports were beach combing, swimming and chasing cats and Canada Geese. But Facebook was more than a pet, a very special modern dog because his true and most profound gift was an instinct for even the most subtle changes in Grace's respiration and other signs that portended the onset of an epileptic seizure. Last year at the Humane Society's Come with Me to the Casba Ball and Fund Raiser he had not only saved her from the humiliation of a full blown public seizure, he had introduced her to the handsome Dr. Daniel Drake. They liked to tell people that they had met her fiance through Facebook. It was was a great conversation starter and a way of honoring the dog they both loved so very much.




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Words for next week's 10-word challenge are: officer, candid, drowning, turtles, sugar-coated, prospecting, shame on you, reclinder, luggage, brains


And for the mini: paragon of virtue, cats-in-the-cradle, swamp, sprinkles, garbage

Thanks for playing. For those who are new, here are some guidelines to make the process more fun.

Enjoy! See you next week.

DON'T FORGET TO ADD YOUR NAME TO MR. LINKY!!!!!

Dona Nobis Pacem

It's that time again. The annual Blog Blast for Peace when bloggers from around the globe take time to send a wave of prayers for and thoughts of and about peace out into the Universe. This event is the heart child of Mimi at Mimi Writes.

What to say about peace in a world that seems so hell-bent on its alternative... I'm find it hard to find words for the jumble of thoughts that are churning around in my head.

As anyone knows who visited my blog during the elections last year (and any time since), my otherwise mild mannered self is rabidly political. I find it hard to maintain my sense of peace and live-and-let-live in the face of people whose views seem so counter moral to me (as I'm sure my views seem to them). I don't understand levels of greed that allow people to leave others homeless so that they can have more money than any one human being needs. I don't understand people who think that if they have health insurance, that's all that matters, that the inconvenience of having to wait a day for coverage trumps waiting a life time. I don't understand people who feel that they have a right to legislate someone else's morality. I don't understand people who claim to be Christians yet ignore things like "even as ye have done it unto the least of these... and do unto others... and judge not lest ye be judged and... my list goes on and on." And I find myself becoming the thing I hate, feeling judgmental and cranky and anything but peaceful. When I listen to the Glenn Beck's and Limbaugh's, to the Ann Coulter's and Sara Palin's I have a hard time living my own ethic. I know that these are wounded souls on some level, but they speak hate and live to spread fear and discord. They prey on ignorance and the ugliest aspects of the American Spirit and thought I try to send love, I find myself often drawn into the vortex. Peace will come, I hope, when people like me don't get drawn into that vortex but rise above it, when we stop giving it power and put our energy into being for equal rights and healing rather than against petty dark souls who really aren't worthy of all the attention that they get. I still struggle with finding that capacity for peace in my own small life.

It's much the same, it seems to me on the grander international scale. I have often bemoaned the fact that the leaders of Israel and Palestine leap at any excuse to fight. One crazed lunatic blows himself up and peace treaties are thrown away for over-the-top retaliations that breed more crazy lunatics. It makes my head spin and it makes me sad. But aren't I the same here in my tiny kingdom? I let the hate mongers make me foam at the mouth.

I'm still carrying a lot of anger about what was done to my country over the past years, dragged into a war that should not have been, dragged into the moral perversity of torturing other human beings and imprisoning them without trial in conditions that are less than decent. I'm carrying a lot of anger that those who supported this horror are still fomenting fear, obstructing putting these mere mortals into American prisons (like we couldn't handle them... what are they? Sorcerers? If they were that powerful they would have escaped already...).

I don't like wars but I have less certainty than I once did about what's right and wrong. Is it peaceful to give over the people of a nation to those who kill people for disagreeing with them, who abuse women as a matter of "faith," who have perverted a peaceful religion into an instrument of mass murder and suicide? I have always believed (and still do) that violence begets violence. And yet I don't know an answer to hate as a faith. I don't know the answer to it on the world scene or on the local scene where there are those who think my friends shouldn't be able to love each other because they are both men.

I am grateful for our new president. He hasn't proven to be Superman. Hasn't leaped the Republican Party in a single bound, fixed the broken economy with a snap of his fingers, or gotten jobs for every citizen in 10 months. He has taken steps, though, at home and abroad. He has opened doors to talk with others about the issues that divide us. That alone has shifted the energy of the whole planet. Yes, I want all the guns beaten into plow shares and I want everyone to have a home of their own and a high paying job and more than enough to eat. And I want it yesterday. But change takes time. People who visit me regularly, know that I have had a major miracle in my life. A year ago in July, I wrote to an organization that helps people like me and asked if they could help me get a ramp to make my home easier and safer to get in and out of. For months I didn't hear anything and I figured that I hadn't made the cut, but then about 6 months after I applied, I got a call saying that they wanted to make a house inspection. Turned out that not only would they give me my ramp but a new bathroom with a walk-in shower and a more user friendly kitchen. I couldn't believe it. I was excited but then it seemed like nothing was happening... 5 months passed as paper work and applications and drawings were made. And then suddenly tons of things happened. For two months my home was in chaos with people hammering and pounding and painting and working... and "suddenly," my home is a new paradise of sorts with an entry I can use without panic. I can take a shower without wondering if I'm going to live through climbing in and out of the bath tub, and my kitchen... what can I say about having storage and counters and a sink I can reach? What can I say about having my washing machine where I can get to it? Thank you, for one thing. But my point (yes, I do have one) is that change and miracles don't always rise up in an instant. Like most things, they grow and evolve and then suddenly - like a flowers blossoming on a tree - they are miraculously there.

I practice gratitude religiously. Years ago I learned a Hawaiian adage: energy flows where attention goes. What we pay attention to, we bring to ourselves. I start and end my day giving thanks for all my blessings, by name. I give thanks for water when I drink or when I shower. I give thanks for the life force of the food I eat. I give thanks for my friends and my cats and for money to pay my bills (even when I don't quite have it). I think I want to remember to give thanks for world peace in the days to come (even though we don't quite have it yet).

This is long and rambly and I'm not sure where I'm going, having dragged anyone patient enough to read through all these words. I guess where I'm winding up is the belief that peace starts within. I don't think we can sit around hoping it will come to us. I think we need to generate it. I think we need to radiate it from our hearts and make the effort to generate love even to those we find despicable. (Limbaugh? Bin Lauden? Ugh.... I didn't say it was easy, but...)

And maybe first and foremost we need to generate it towards ourselves. I know I'm not going to always succeed. It's too much fun being pissed off sometimes and enjoying the wit of people like Jon Stewart to give up on crankiness completely. But still, I commit myself here and now with this post, to add my thanks for societal and world peace, to be grateful for every word spoken in peace, every step taken to stem violence and rape and murder, to give thanks for the Mimi's of this world and all of us who have participated in this blast for peace.

Peace be with you. Peace be with us all.

Blog Blast Reminder

I have been so self-absorbed and so just disconnected and I still am a bit. Hopefully after the royal visit from my niece on Thursday I can get myself regrounded and blog with more purpose again. Nate and Dan and Mary have been wonderful and helped me do a great clean-up so that the house is looking wonderful. Yesterday Dan set up the back bedroom so my guests will feel welcome and hopefully reasonably comfortable. I want to go to the kitchen and take some final photos as it is now almost ready to be declared my own. It's so beautiful and so much easier to manage than what I had before. I'm still in a daze of disbelief and joy mixed.

BUT my main purpose this morning is to remind myself and anyone else who might pop by that Thursday is the annual Blog Blast for Peace hosted by Mimi at Mimi Writes. The Blog Blast is an international mass prayer for peace. If you want to join in, go to Mimi's and pick up a "globe" thingy, make it your own and then on Thursday sign in and explore all the peace prayers from around the world. I finally made my globe this morning. If you click on it, it will take you to Globe Central where you can pick up your own and register to join the circle of peace.

Daily Show on Fox News

Very funny... and sadly true.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
For Fox Sake!
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Saturday Wordzzle Challenge: Week 87

This is week 87 of the Saturday Wordzzle challenge. Anyone new to the process can refer back here to find out how it works. My friends have been here much of the day helping me to get organized for my niece's visit next week, so these have been done very hastily. I hope they make sense. I'm not happy with any of them, to tell the truth, but I'm too tired to fix them and my friends will be back shortly with dinner supplies, so.... what I've writ is what I'm posting. Sigh. My apologies to Florence Nightingale. I spelled her name wrong last week. I've corrected it here.



The words for this week's ten word challenge were: plumber, autograph, Florence Nightingale, a chill wind’s a blowing, watering hole, sleek, triplets, backwards, surface tension, parrot And for the mini: Free estimates,French fries, carpet, Braille, silver-tongued bandit



This week's mega challenge:

"A chill wind's a blowin'" thought Florence Nightingale glancing anxiously backwards over her right shoulder as she entered her favorite watering hole in hopes of escaping her sense of loneliness and impending doom. But the fates were apparently not in a mood to be kind. The triplets were there - Harry, George and Martin - parroting their usual inane pick-up lines and asking for her autograph as though they thought she as the real Florence Nightingale. Harry, who fancied himself to be a charmer(a silver-tongued bandit he would say), sleeked back his hair and sauntered over to her. "Hey, babe, ya miss me?" "Not at all," she replied, trying to hold the surface tension of her emotions firm so that her anger and sorrow didn't bubble over and fly out to wound him. He was a jerk, but he meant no harm. Next came George, a plumber by trade. He was always offering to give her free estimates on his services, half serious, half double entendre. He was her least favorite. Then there was sweet Martin. If only he hadn't come with replicas, she might have been able to enjoy him. She smiled in spite of herself as he shyly offered her some of his French fries and a mug of her favorite beer. His shaggy mop of hair always made her think of a woolly carpet for some reason and there was something sweet in the way he anxiously fingered the table top as though he was trying to read some hidden message in Braille. She didn't feel there could be much of a future with him, though. He came with the other two and that would never change.



Mini Challenge:

Free estimates, Free estimates the sign shouted. Alas, for many potential customers, it shouted these words in Braille. Greg, the blind carpet salesman, couldn't understand why business was so slow these days. Alas, he had fallen prey to the slick sales pitch of the infamous silver-tongued bandit "French Fries" Freddie, who had never met anyone he couldn't find a way to swindle. That Greg was blind, bothered Freddie's conscience not a whit. Years later, Freddie got his come-uppance when Greg's nephew was able to set him up with the help of a half dozen of his former victims and finally get him thrown into the jail cell where he had long belonged.



10-word Challenge:

Nurse Francine McTavish had been such a great admirer of Florence Nightengale that she had seached high and low for all kinds of memorabilia about that great woman's life. Her most prized possession had been a vintage copy of Notes on Nursing purportedly autographed by her heroine. She had named her triplets - two girls and a boy - Florence, Gale and Night after her heroine, something they had never quite forgiven her for, especially poor Night who took much unmerciful teasing from school mates and friends throughout his whole life. Her parrot was also named Nightengale. It had previously belonged to a plumber and had a rather odd vocabulary which included such phrases as "a chill wind's a blowing," "I'm concerned about the surface tension," "The Sleek Geek is my favorite watering hole," and "Is this thing on backwards?" Hard as Francine tried to teach the stubborn bird nursing terms or phrases like the Lady of the Lamp, it refused to budge from its original vocabulary... with one exception. Night had taught it with bribes and determination to sing - not say - a little ditty which he called "I hate Florence Nightengale." He inherited the bird after his mother's death and continued to take delight every time it sang that little song. His sisters - neither of whom would have anything to do with nursing - got the book - which they promptly sold at auction. They had loved their mother and mourned her passing, but they considered the lady of the lamp to have been a life long rival for her affections and were glad to see the last of her in their lives. Although they were now in their 40s they had briefly considered legally changing their names but decided they would stay as they were since the damage had been done long ago and learning new identities would just be more effort than it was worth. To their own children they gave very traditional names and told them early on that they could change them if they didn't like them.



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Next Week's Ten Word Challenge will be:  Cute,
come with me to the Casba, bloodhound, respiration,
Facebook, Canada Geese, modern, gravity,
spider webs, sea shells

And for the mini: curiosity killed the cat, charming Victorian,
railroad tracks, tower, salt and pepper

Thanks for playing. For those who are new, here are some guidelines to make the process more fun.

Enjoy! See you next week.

DON'T FORGET TO ADD YOUR NAME TO MR. LINKY!!!!!

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

My niece Diana told me about this. Dr. Horrible runs for 42 minutes but he is WONDERFUL. I hope you enjoy it. If you can't watch it here, you can check it out here at HULU and it's also available through Netflix with a very interesting (according to Diana - I haven't seen it) information thingy which is (I think she said) all in song.

Ruby Tuesday

Feels like a million years since I've done Ruby Tuesday (graciously and creatively sponsored by Mary the Teach at Work of the Poet). I've missed it.

My kitchen is done by and large - still settling in and making it mine - and hopefully life will start to feel as normal as an abnormal life can feel. As you can see below, Nate and Dan moved the refrigerator back into the kitchen on Sunday. They had to take the doors off and put them back on in order to do it.

I tried to feed the girls in there this morning. Tara Grace is afraid of it. I couldn't even lure her in there with crunchies. In Tara Grace world, crunchies beat pretty much everything. Hopefully she'll work her way past her fears.... and as I typed those words... she went in and is eating. Whew. I'm relieved.

Not many pictures this week. Need to ease my way back into the swing of things.

McDonald's provides some red - and if you look hard
you can see some red in the veg bin too.

Starting to make the kitchen my own. My niece,
Cindy, made this for me some years back.
I think it takes some of the ugly off this lamp.

Coffee pot sits right near the sink. No more hobbling
across the room carrying pots of water.

It's nice to have access to the back door again.
While I was away, my flowering quince bore fruit.
I don't know if those spots are red or brown,
but for Ruby Tuesday, they are officially red.

Autumn has pretty much come and gone already.
But there are still some bursts of color here and there.

Renovations are Essentially Finished

(Please scroll down for the Saturday Wordzzle Challenge.)

Well, as most of you know, what began as request for help putting in a ramp for my front entrance turned into a multiple miracle - new entrance with ramp, new bathroom with walk-in shower and new floor and fixtures and a glorious new kitchen. Side miracles along the way included a newer and larger refrigerator courtesy of my friends. All that's left to do is move the washing machine into the kitchen and maybe a thingy to add a small lip to the shower. The hook-ups are all ready for the washing machine and I guess it just has to be moved and hooked in. I'm not too thrilled with the back steps but they are apparently cemented in, so I guess I'll live with them as they are. All in all, this is a pretty huge and glorious gift and a miracle of grand proportions. I've posted some views of the kitchen. It's SOOO wonderful to have so much storage space. As you can see it's already looking messy, but I've put a fair amount of stuff away. New sink is all shiny and pretty and easier to reach. It's so magical to be able to reach my upper cabinets and put dishes and things in them. How cool is that? Anyway, here are a bunch of photos and at the end, I made a bunch of before and after photos of the various phases. Couldn't get a good photo of the back steps - which were relocated to the side with a hand rail - and lost enthusiasm for looking for a before photo.

Anyway, here are a bunch of pictures.

The cabinets are beautiful and the drawers slide like silk

where the washing machine and imaginary dryer will go

This is across from the sink and refrig and will hold my
microwave. The shelves underneath pull out. I LOVE
them! And the counter tops are exquisite too....
you'd never know they're laminate.

It's just so beautiful!
And I'm so happy with my linoleum both
here and in the bathroom. Makes me
smile every time I look at it.

So much storage! And reachable! I need an extension
chord to plug the coffee pot and blender in, but that's ok.
Angel is not happy that she can't get onto the counter
tops and that she was not allowed to assist with the work.

~~~~~~~BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTOS~~~~~~~


This was taken before the bench was built in.
The bench is a wonderful gift too and the UPS and
garbage guy are both grateful for the little gate.
The constructioncrews were pretty happy too.

I think this is my favorite change. The old sink was so high and
so ugly and the counter tops were too high for me to reach.
And it was really ugly and the drawers were rusted so it was
an ordeal to open them. Now it's beautiful, reachable
and.... well, just awesomely fine.

I am so grateful for all of this. Grateful to Delaware Opportunities - especially Jeff Powell and Wayne Jones for responding to a relatively small request (which I felt hesitant to make) and providing me with these life-changing wonders.

I'm grateful to the people at the Powell Company, who were kind and worked hard and did a beautiful job. I'm grateful for Sean at VEP Kitchens (I wish he had a website) who designed the kitchen and helped me pick out the knobs and the wood and the counter tops and paint, for Tom who did the plumbing and electric work. The guys from the Powell Company were kind enough to do a couple of little thing like fix the front light that weren't really in their job description. That was very kind of them... I can't say enough good things about that company and highly recommend them to anyone in this area who is looking for someone to do home improvements for them.

I'm grateful to my friends and my therapist who gave me moral support and assured me that it was ok for me to be this lucky.... and I'm grateful to all of you blog friends who have also supported me and have taken as much joy in this journey as I have.

I'm grateful to Dennis Puffett, who gave me the gift of a blessing/healing on my house, not long before all of this manifested for me. I can't help but think he helped my little house draw all this goodness to herself. Anyone looking for healing, check out Dennis' website. He is kind, incredibly gifted and he works for the love of doing it.

I'm grateful that my niece Diana, who helped me get my house and who will inherit it when I kick the bucket, slip off this mortal coil, ascend to the realms... whatever... is going to get to see her in a few weeks in all her new glory. Most especially I'm grateful that I'm going to see her, but I'm really glad she gets to see the new improved house as well as the old, not-so-improved aunt.

And of course I'm grateful to All that Is/God/The Universe for life and for the gift of making this life easier.... and for giving my sweet, sturdy little house all these lovely improvements.

In sum, I'm exhausted, happy, grateful and all I have left to say is...

YIPPEEEEE!!!!!

Saturday Wordzzle Challenge: Week 86

  
 
  
This is week 86 of the  Saturday Wordzzle challenge.
Anyone new to the process can refer back here to
find out how it works. Thank you to South Lakes Mom
for this week's words. Whew. They are challenging!
Glad I'm not to blame for them. Not sure what's going
on with blogger running words off the page.
Trying to fix it.   Blogger is just being mean to me. Sorry.
I did my best but it's all coming out weird and looking one
way in preview and another when posted. I did try.
 Too tired to fight it any more. 


  
The words for this week's ten word challenge were: 
Incensed, sidewinder, bogus, conniption, Haz-mat,
conniving, customize, perforated, zeal,
rolling off a log  And for the mini:  abstemious,
chlorophyll, origami, cheerleader, dung beetle


My maxi:


Either I'm very tired or this is the worst group of words ever. 
Haz-mat?  Sidewinder? If I weren't so tired I'd have a 
conniption fit just trying to work them all into a paragraph.
If this wasn't a cyber wordzzle, I'd fold them up origami-like
into the shape of a dung beetle and stomp them out as they
deserve to be stomped out.  Thank God at least I'm not
responsible for the words this time. You won't find me as some 
cheerleader here. I wish it was chloroform in stead of chlorophyll.
I could knock myself unconscious. I'd be incensed if these
words weren't exactly what the challenge demands and if
I weren't so renovated out, I'd probably go at them with
great zeal. Sometimes the stories come to me easy as 
rolling off a log, but not today.  I know this is a bogus effort,
a conniving cheat. A more abstemious person would wait
for inspiration to germinate but my imagination has been
perforated (figuratively) by hammers, nails and caulking
glue and the installation of customized cabinets.  I am beat.


A 10-word:


Chuck "Sidewinder" Bogus had a name that suited him.
Seldom had a more conniving human being drawn breath.
Running scams for Chuck was as easy as rolling off a log.
He customized his scams - his favorite was selling fake
Haz-mat suits to the gullible - with an easy, free-flowing 
zeal that left his incensed victims' egos so perforated
that it sometimes took months for the shock to be worked
off and their feelings of outrage to rise from the ashes of
their broken dreams. Unfortunately, by the time their 
conniption fits kicked in, of course, Chuck was long gone.


A mini:


Maggie Susan Randall was not your average cheerleader.
She was rather  abstemious by nature and despite her
ravishing beauty and physical agility, when she wasn't out
rooting for the school team, she was usually involved in one
serious pursuit or another. She had great artistic talent and
besides an eye for painting, she had pretty much mastered
the art of origami paper folding by the age of 11. Her
scholarly interests were in biology and entomology with
particular interest in researching the impact of dung beetles
on the production of chlorophyll in certain plants. Although
her mother worried that her daughter was too serious, she
need not have been concerned since Maggie Sue blended
her quiet, egg-headed tendency with an unusually sweet and
generous nature, so that despite being gifted on so many
fronts, she remained popular with just about everyone. She
was a happy girl and was destined (the Fates knew) to live
an interesting, productive and joyful life. 



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 



Next Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: plumber, autograph,
Florence Nightengale, a chill wind’s a blowing,
watering hole, sleek, triplets, backwards, surface
tension, parrot

And for the mini: Free estimates,French fries, carpet,
Braille, silver-tongued bandit

Thanks for playing. For those who are new, here are some guidelines to make the process more fun.

Enjoy! See you next week.

DON'T FORGET TO ADD YOUR NAME TO MR. LINKY!!!!!

Ellie Sarty: Constant as the Sun

I'm sitting here listening to my friend Ellie's music while nice people thump around in my kitchen - they will finish today! - and wishing that everyone could hear her wonderful music. She has two albums now.

Her first CD, the one I'm listening to now, is called Top of the Food Chain. I found place where you can listen to clips: something called MOG. I don't know if Top of the Food Chain is still available. It's a tragedy if it isn't. The words, music, arrangements are all her own. Her new CD is called Constant as the Sun and can be purchased here if anyone is interested. My friend Rosalie did the artwork on the album and I took the photo on the back.

Ellie is one of the kindest, gentlest, smartest people I've ever known. She's family in my heart and was the person who brought both Angel and Tara Grace into my life. I'd love to share her story some time but I would need her permission to do that. I'll just say that given what life has dished out to her, her humor and big heart are a miracle.

I hope you get to hear her music.

------

Kitchen news: They are working now. Should finish up today. Yippeee! Pictures will be posted tonight or tomorrow. Here are some scenes from... including a really cool reflection in the truck which is parked right outside my window. Alas, my windows are so incredibly dirty that it was almost impossible to get a good shot of anything. That's not fog or rain, it's dirt. Sigh.




5:39 update:

ALMOST finished. Plumber/electrician comes back tomorrow to put switches on and do the washing machine and dishwasher hook-ups, I think. He said he'd be here tomorrow in the afternoon unless he doesn't come. My poor old stove got a crack in it - probably when they did the counter tops (which are really awesome up close as is the new sink). They left at about 3:30 so Margaret (aid who comes every other week to help me clean) helped me move some stuff in and start putting things away. Dan was supposed to have the day off but got called into work so they are coming at around midnight to move the refrigerator in. How's that for friendship.

I have been weepy all day and still am for some reason. Probably tension releasing. Here's a bad picture of the sink. It's really, really, really nice to have a sink again. I think I'll wait to do the final post until it's really and truly done.

Worry, Worry, Worry & Some Kitchen News

My niece Diana, gave me that plaque, told me that the minute she saw it she knew I had to have it. It hangs next to my desk and I worry about whether that was the best place to hang it (just kidding on that one, but not entirely). I was raised worrying. I call it The Basic Worry System. I give my worries random numbers.

Yesterday, Dr. Jim offered to let me give him my worries so that he could hold onto them for me. This of course led me to a new worry, that if I did that, he would be burdened by them... I'm a highly gifted worrier and can find something to worry about in even the most glorious scenario.

Things I've been worrying about lately.

Basic Worry # 887: The construction people will be mad at me because I asked them to do their job and because I'm me.

Basic Worry #920: My niece and nephew-in-law-ish will have a bad shower experience when they visit. (The new shower takes some getting used to.)

Basic Worry #472: My niece and nephew will not be comfortable with the sleeping arrangements.

Basic Worries # 312-316: My niece will be humiliated by my hideousness and my disability. She and John will be bored. He will hate me. I will not be able to feed them properly. (They are vegans.)

Basic Worry # 785: My neighbors resent all the construction.

Basic Worry #3: Money. Lots of worry about money.

Basic Worry # 562: I'm putting my niece's name into the title of the house so that if I die, she just owns it, no muss no fuss. I worry that somehow this will turn into a bad thing.

Basic Worry # 250: I worry that I'm ungrateful because I'm having difficulty adapting to the new shower.

Basic Worry # 991: I worry that Angel will tear down the kitchen wall and hurt herself and that the contractors will be --- you guessed it --- mad at me.

Basic Worry # 400 & 401: I worry that I won't have enough money to cover the cost of heat, even though I get HEAP. I worry that I seem to be having trouble standing staying at 60 degrees this year and am creeping up to 62 which will (in my mind) drastically increase my heating bills.

Basic Worry #: 336: I worry that my failure to be a good blogger has offended everyone.

Basic Worry #: 414: I worry that I will not get my act together in time for the Blog Blast for Peace.

Basic Worry #1: I worry that I'm a bad person.

Basic Worry # 222: I worry that I'm greedy.

Basic Worry #1005 & 1006: This spring and summer, I worried about the bees. They seem to have gone missing by and large. I worry that the ones that did show up (carpenter bees) are eating my house.

Basic Worry # 815: I worry that by the time I die my little house will be all worn out and badly cared for and won't be worth inheriting.

Basic Worry #5: I worry that Angel will get past me when I open the door and that she'll run away and get killed or get hurt.

Basic Worry #773: I worry that - this one made my therapist (me too) laugh out loud - that the new ramp will be a danger to the mail persons this winter... that it will be dangerously slippery and someone will die.

Basic Worry #401: I worry that if I have a gathering here while Diana visits, that nobody will have fun.

Basic Worry #144: I worry that people will get tired of my neediness.

Basic Worry # 707: I worry that the crazy people will take over the country again and that the "good guys" (from my perspective) will let them defeat health care reform and other efforts to rescue the poor and middle class from the reign of greed and self-interest which has put the country into its current hole.

Basic Worry #7: I worry that my disability will be taken away from me.

I worry that I may need a walker.

Basic Worry# 95: I worry that I'm a bad example for my sister's children. I worry that I'm a downer. I worry that I might some day be a burden to them. I worry that I might not.

In short (well this wasn't really short, was it?), I worry. I worry about everything. I worry about worrying... and if I'm not worrying, I worry about that. (What am I forgetting?)

So, anyway... Dr. Jim asked me to give them to him and he'd put them in a box somewhere. I told him that I was concerned that they'd be a burden for him even if he didn't think they would. He said, no, that they're my worries and the only concern he had would be that he might forget where he put them. (I love his sense of humor.)

So, I'm thinking about giving him my worries. Thing is, I worry - yep, worry - that I'm not capable of doing that with any real sense of integrity. I promised to think about it, though. I think worry is an addiction - for me, at least. It's a way of staying stuck, a way of distracting myself, maybe even entertaining myself.

The reason I'm reporting all this worry is that maybe it's a first step to giving some of it away.

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On a happier topic (though not worry free), there is progress happening as I type this. The counter tops are being installed. Angel is hiding under the desk. Tara Grace is sitting here next to me wailing from time to time. It's very loud putting cabinets in. Maybe the loudest part of the whole process yet. The plumber and the others aren't coming today so I don't know when it will all be over. Since I still have to keep Angel locked out, I don't know if I'll be able to get pictures up today. I'll try. From what I've been able to see, it's going to be gorgeous. They're having some kind of problem. I guess when the linoleoum went in the cabinets stopped being level... something like that. I know the guy who installed them worked very hard to make them level.

Anyway, next time they come they will install the sink and the dishwasher, lower the shower seat yet again and move the back steps that they did because they are just hanging on the edge of the porch and look really hideous to me. I was all worried about complaining about that - lack of gratitude, inattentiveness on my part to stop them before they did it wrong - but my friends reminded me that the contractors aren't working for free just because I'm not paying the bill. They're getting paid. That helped some, though, I'm still kind of anxious about asking for modifications. You have to know that the back steps are horrendously awful for me to ask for them to be moved. They did have logic to why they did it that way - so they wouldn't be under the eaves and have roof-fall and ice. BUT... they look hideous... and there's only a rail on one side so they aren't that practical either.

So that's my news.

That and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful niece Cynthia! This is her and her beautiful family!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CINDY!

HAPPY DAY, EVERYONE!
MAY YOU HAVE NO WORRIES!

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LATE BREAKING NEWS!!!

A couple of quickly snapped pictures of the counter tops. I didn't have a chair and they were eager to be on their way, so these were done very quickly and aren't very good, but the counter tops are exquisite!

Something is Wrong in America

I stole this from Mr. Richard's Bloggerhood. As Richard said... "what he said!"