take that you basti! [originally posted tuesday, 22 february 2011 at 20:03]

Worked my butt off today...doing the usual breaks and thinking about a cobalt blue bottle of wine...left from David and Amy's holiday visit...a bottle of Amy's favorite...a Riesling. Christie had called earlier in the day and said her and David and the girls were heading downtown after work. I arranged a ride with my buddy Jeb, and while finished up my work for the day I thought about the empty house...and the cobalt blue bottle of Riesling...that were waiting for me.

Jeb and I got stuck staying over 15 or 20 minutes...and we both were ready to get out of our scrubs...into our street clothes...and get the hell home. A pleasant jaunt home for me...admiring Jeb's Suburban...that seats 7 and all your crap in the back...hmm maybe this instead of the nameless minivan we are preparing to purchase?

The keys were in the Barbie pool as promised and I laid some ice melt down before going in to the warm house...and the cobalt blue bottle of Riesling. The first thing I did was go to the kitchen sink to wash my salty hands...when I noticed a snake like stream on the kitchen window over the sink. I reached out and touched it and realized it was cold water...looking up I saw where it was entering at the top of the window. What the heck??? I moved the tray with the African violets...the toothpick holder and the angel from the sill and found it wet as well...really really wet. I removed the curtains overhead to take a better look...then I grabbed a towel...put it on the sill.

Deciding to investigate outside the window...I retrieved my jacket from my room...put my boots back on and got a ladder. It appears that the little wooden awning that Daddy built had finally worn out. Apparently me and David banging on it over the past few weeks to keep ice dams from forming had loosened 'something' and now I had a water problem.

I first called my handyman's wife...who said he couldn't come right away...maybe not until tomorrow. Ok...I can handle this. Going back inside to the window after the call I discovered the hand towel I had placed 20 minutes prior was already saturated...the water had made another stream...this one from the towel to the countertop behind the sink. This was getting really ugly...and I had completely forgotten about the empty house and the cobalt blue bottle of Riesling.

I mopped up the mess and started over with a new towel. I tried sticking the towel into the crack at the top of the window where the fountain head was located. The water just ran down the towel and onto the sill as before. This sucks...this really really sucks...I said to myself.

Then I remembered that I may be 57...but I am still pretty good looking...and I'm really fucking smart!

I went on a search of the drawers and cabinets...for the bag we take in the car to the beach and on trips. That bag that you keep band aids and ace wraps...and even some ice packs for emergencies...the ones that don't require stitches. I found the bag...behind the toilet paper and old curtains in the bottom of the 'hall closet' as Mommy always called it. In the bag was a bandage...kerlix...fluffy if you want or thin when it gets wet..on a roll about 6 feet long.

 The end of the kerlix fit very nicely in the crack with a little coaxing from a butter knife. I unrolled it and held it away from the window as it wicked the water down the length of it. I then draped it over the handle of the hand soap dispenser on the back of the sink. I trimmed it to length and it remains...carrying the drip...the basti drip...that threatened my window and countertop...safely and neatly into the sink!

I know that to fix this drip permanently we must wait for a dry day...who knows when that will be. In the meantime I am enjoying the empty house...and the cobalt blue bottle of Riesling.

Ironic it’s name is Relax?

day off [originally posted thursday, 07 october 2010 at 16:52]

i may not use capitals i refuse to use punctuation why you ask it is my day off my day to do what i want to do


took bekah to school cut off school bus at light and got honked at dropped bekah off at upper el

took maddie to school almost late had to use front door dropped maddie off at lower el

came home in time to take charge of louie

asked louie if he had to potty

mommy left for work

checked on louie

began cleaning out fridge

louie came in and said he was hungry

louie settled for a cheese stick i found at the back of the fridge yes i checked the expiry date

resumed cleaning fridge

decide to clean self cleaning oven

figured out how to make self cleaning oven clean itself

checked on louie

finished cleaning fridge and started freezer

louie returned to say he was still hungry, was bologna available

gave louie bologna

checked on louie who was playing mario party now

finished cleaning freezer

louie returned to ask for chocolate milk

fixed louie's chocolate milk

asked louie if he had to potty

moved out fridge to clean underneath

checked on louie and reminded him to go potty

swept and mopped the floor under fridge

moved fridge back to it's spot

checked on louie/potty reminder

finished mopping kitchen

decided to vacuum floors

spread carpet fresh throughout house

checked on louie/potty reminder

began vacuuming

moved all dining chairs to vacuum dining room

moved all dining chairs back to dining room

finished vacuuming living room and put vacuum away

christie home shanae ours rejoiced over guardianship wiped naes tears of joy

checked on louie found him in middle of his mothers bed peed and farted

stripped louie put him in bath

assigned christie to watch louie in tub while i put all the peed/farted on linens in the washer

took charge of louie while christie went for BK for lunch

found louie involved in moving halloween static clings on front door

approach louie to ask about potty time and am told whoa whoa stay away from me

realize that louie has once again farted in his pants

clean louie up in time for arriving BK

eat lunch

attempt to connect cable for louie to watch sponge bob and hopefully lay down for his nap

dash about house looking for a cable splitter

find louie asleep on the fam room sofa without sponge bob playing

went to front yard to begin fall cleanup and make space for the 70 tulip bulbs i bought in Holland this spring

come in and get beer

went out and find yard tools

come in to check on louie and pee

carol here

talk to carol while she eats lunch

send carol off to sleep for awhile

return to yard to start clean up

come in to pee

obtain second beer from fridge

cut, toss, rake, plant come in to pee

sit for 15 minutes talking with christie and david

time to return to the yard to clean up what i messed up trying to clean up for fall shit

didnt really get to do what I wanted to do and that my friends is why I may not use capitals and i refuse to punctuate



hhheeellllllooo? is anybody out there? [originally posted thursday 19 august 2010]

I packed up my laptop this morning planning to show a few friends some photos and how to maneuver around fb while at work; if only we could find 15 minutes here and there today. I love being able to teach this stuff, though I certainly don't pretend to know it all being self taught. Virgilicous is a long time friend and coworker who recently discovered fb. This is a woman who was given an iPod A LONG time ago and never programmed it. We often talked about it, but never did do anything with it, and I think she took it with her to the Philippines on her last trip to give as a gift. She has been asking me how she can upload photos on to the computer to use on fb and how you get them from your computer to fb. After a mildly busy morning we found the 15 minutes we needed. I hauled the laptop from my hidey hole in the break room and fired it up, and Virg and Jude pulled their chairs up close and made adjustments to both the chair and my laptop monitor before settling in. We looked at my Brookie and her friends doing the awesome journey called the 3-Day. We looked at my beautiful grands and then we got to work. I put in my sd card to show how to get the photos from camera to computer. I then tackled getting them to fb. Virg and Jude watched with avid interest, leaning forward from their chairs to see how this all worked. I ran through it quick and then carefully took them through it one more time, with me actually using a photo from the card, moving it to the computer and then uploading it to fb. Then they inquired how you made the photo, moved from the card to the computer to fb as your profile photo. I took the random photo, pulled it from my 'tester' album and choose it as my profile photo. I showed them to crop and save and viola! You now have a beautiful photo as your own profile photo. The intercom announcement disrupted our teaching/learning session as our surgeon had arrived and we had a case to do. I shut down the computer, packed it away in my bag and restashed it in my hidey hole in the break room. Only when I arrived home this evening, did I realize that the random photo I cropped quickly to give example was still my profile photo! Thanks for noticing and TELLING ME! I wonder...would you tell me if I had a booger? Broccoli in my teeth? Something on my pants in the cooter region??? Thanks friends...I know your agenda now!