The Queen of Typos

Learning to roll with the punches and enjoying the smaller things in life.

2011-09-21T14:37:00.000-05:00

Oh the things that happen when you least expect them! I have a shiney new heating and air conditioning system! Completely new from the outside unit to the inside unit...and shiney, too. During the first week in August (of course AFTER paying all the monthly bills) I noticed that although the AC was blowing, the air was not very cold and it got warmer as the day went on. The tech took one look inside and said, "oh my, it's frozen all the way to the inside unit." He then said that although we had already gone 24 hours with out air conditioning, they wouldn't be able to do an install until the next day. We knew we'd made it one night, what's one more? Weeellllll, when the blower is turned off, one more night can be the very definition of hell on earth. The inside of the house was 99 degrees with the windows open and all the fans running. I was able to sleep fitfully, only by sleeping on top of the bed linens and covering my body with wet washcloths and allowing the fan to blow across the wet fabric. Yes, it was a long night.

But the next day? The installation crew was amazing! They were kind, friendly, had an understanding of how very frayed my nerves were with no sleep and they worked to get that sucker installed in one day. And the difference has been wonderful! Do you know the fan unit will actually turn off when the interior reaches the preset temperature? I don't think the poor fan on the old unit had cut off since I moved in.

The down side is that I had to pay a lot of money when I least expected it. The up side is that now the most expensive single item in the house has gone bad, I know it won't happen again for about 20 years. The new unit, being much more energy efficient, should pay for itself each month with the reduction in electricity bill.

Last night I was raking the yard and I realized the a/c fan was off and it was really quiet in the neighborhood. I heard the funniest little pitty-pat and took a few minutes to realize that I could actually HEAR the squirrels running down the telephone lines behind the house. This is a stunning realization for someone who has spent the better part of the last 10-15 years living on either a highway or an extremely busy 6-lane street. I stood there a minute, with one hand on my hip and the other holding the rake, until the realization of little pink feet crossed my mind when I started laughing loudly. No worries, the neighbors are pretty sure I'm already crazy, this was just verification for them.

Ch ch ch ch changes!

2011-08-30T15:40:00.000-05:00

Aha! It's only been about two months, so I guess I'm doing better on the blogging thing. There have been a lot of changes since I wrote last. I no longer live in an apartment, and the house I now own is no longer a "grandma house" with nicotine-stained walls.

I have cleaned and evicted the crowds of spiders, squirrels, rodents, and ants that had taken up residence in the house since there were no people to drive them away. Everything smells fresh and clean and waddya know? It IS clean!

The move has been completed and the furniture is (mostly) arranged in proper rooms. The cats have claimed their respective places and the dog would like to stay in the backyard forEVER. My mom finished her move about the time I got my stuff put away and she sent a garage-load of new stuff to me, so now I'm redecorating and rearranging furniture again. I know the house is a project that will never be completed, but I kind of hoped I'd get a small break after moving in. Mr. Man and I busted our you-know-whats over the 4th of July weekend to paint the kitchen and master bedroom.

Then we started on the yard. The back yard was covered in leaf litter and lawnmower mulch and required a lot of raking to clean it up. Since we've had this huge heat wave and drought, I'm not watering the grass/weeds. I've already staked out a location for the raised-bed vegetable garden for next spring. Wouldn't you know that the only place with enough sunshine to grow veggies would also be the only place I have really pretty grass? Since the grass costs water and doesn't produce anything of value, other than oxygen, it will be replaced with veggies and good nutrition!

There are too many shrubs in the front yard, so as soon as the outside temps go lower than Hades-level, I will begin landscaping out front. I know many will be disappointed, but the wishing well fell apart when we moved it and it's now gone to meet its maker. I'm going to yank out the 20 chinaberry bush palisade that lines the driveway and front walk. It's all too linear and closed off and not welcoming. I want to add color and flowers and a little more native landscaping that it a little more drought-resistant.

So, you all can see that my work is cut out for me. Wanna help? Pictures coming soon.

It's MINE...IT REALLY IS MINE!!

2011-05-30T22:36:00.000-05:00

It's mine, mine, mine!! I closed on the house "contingent upon funding of closing costs," which means I have to take the title company a certified check for a lot of money tomorrow and then I will have the keys.

I come from a long, honored, proud line of women-worriers. Yes, that is WOrriers and not warriors. We are known for waiting for the other shoe to drop, the sky to fall, the storm that comes with a silver lining. This line of women can be seen from far away by the deep worry line between their eyebrows. I am still worried, 20 years after graduating from college, that someone made a mistake and credits were awarded incorrectly and they will yank my diploma from me.

What this all means is that I have not been able to celebrate making one of the biggest steps that any adult can make because I'm worried that it will the financing will fall through, that the house will burn down (quick! Knock on wood!!) or 20 years from now I will have termites. Seriously? The writing down of it all makes it seem so much sillier than it is in my head and is allowing me to process this enough that I will be able to celebrate tomorrow after dropping off that cashier's check and picking up the paint on the way to the bottle of champagne in my new house!!

....maybe I need to write more often?

Happenings in the Land of Typos

2011-04-26T10:24:00.001-05:00

Busy couple of weeks for the Typo household. Starting after the Epic Houseviewing Weekend, the social life ramped up again. The next week I was going to make a pass through my top two choices, the one with the Chambers stove and the first house I looked at. Friday morning, the day we were going to do the walk-through, I found out the one with the cool stove was already in contract, which narrowed the field considerably. I took Mr. Man to view the single choice in the morning and the Queen Mother in the afternoon. At the afternoon viewing, I signed an offer contract and made an initial offer on the house.

That night I realized that Mother and I were leaving on a cruise the next morning and I had been so wrapped up in house stuff that I hadn't packed. Friday evening was dinner with Mr. Man and Mom (they liked each other) and then the mad, marathon suitcase-packing night. Mom and I got up Saturday morning, left the keys with the dog sitter and headed south to meet the ship. We were about an hour from the house when I got a text message from my real estate agent that the owner's had made a counter offer, which I immediately accepted.

The Queen Mother and I continued toward our cruise with the Queen's childhood best friend and her family. The real estate deal required some stops to sign and fax documents and then we hit the ship....ahhhh, umbrella drinks and attractive men to serve them, sun, ocean, great food...vacation!!!

We went to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Jamaica. Shopping, food, beverages (lots and lots of them) were wonderful. The ocean was beautiful and calm and the sun caressed our skin. Nope! I did not get sunburned, but I did get to lay out quite a bit. Thanks to technology for SPF 50, my red hair and fair skin did not get crispy. The spa on the ship was relaxing, the wait staff was attentive and we had fun all the way around! During the cruise I was still signing and transmitting documents for the real estate deal, but by Thursday it was all official and my earnest money check was deposited by the title company.

Yesterday Mr. Man and I spent the afternoon with the home inspector. I know it's been a long, long time since I bought a house, but I really don't remember the inspection taking 3 hours. I'm not complaining, mind you, just very conscious and grateful for the thoroughness and professionalism of this inspection. The inspector told us the house was in the best shape he'd seen for one it's age. While he worked, I walked the floors, visualizing colors and furniture placement. I also got a better idea of the work that would need to go into the house before I could fully move in. I've planned the closing and moving dates so that I will have a month in both places at the same time for cleaning and painting.

Anyone bored and looking for something to do around May 30 feel free to give me a call! I promise there will be pictures with the next post!!

Househunting

2011-04-03T13:51:00.000-05:00

Sunday I looked at 9, count them, nine houses in person. You really don't think that walking through empty houses can be exhausting, but I'm here to tell you I was worn out by the end of the three hour session. I got verification of some amenities that I now consider essential (garage, three bedrooms, two baths) and got a better feel for the houses and neighborhoods right here in River City. I narrowed the list down to two houses, plus one I've had my eye on for a couple of months. They are all houses from the late 50's-early 60's and all will require some cosmetic work and painting, but I'm up for that. I just love the established neighborhoods with great big trees.

1950 era Chambers Range

I've heard of Chambers ranges, but one of the houses actually has one and I am now stupid in love with them! They are the coolest looking vintage stoves I've ever seen. They were advertised as the stove that cooked with the gas off, meaning you would preheat the oven and it would hold the heat so well for so long that you could turn the gas off a portion of the way through the cooking cycle. There is a grill/broiler on the stove top and the back right burner is actually a cooking well, for slow cooking.

The house that currently sits atop my favorites list has a Chambers range, a fully landscaped back yard with Japanese maples and assorted blooming flowers. It also still has room in the flower beds for an herb garden. It's less than 15 minutes from work!

I have looked at enough houses that my brain is full and I need to process everything I've seen.The original house I fell for will be back on the market by then and hopefully I can make a comparison. I'm going to take the next couple of weeks to process and make a decision.

Moving forward!!

2011-03-24T20:46:00.000-05:00

Wow, this month has gone really quickly! And it's been a month of good things happening,

This morning I got notice from my apartments that my lease ends 30 days sooner than I thought. This means I have to step up the house search and make a decision by the end of April. So, I've started the loan prequalification process and I have also been looking at houses online. I hope to update you all soon with an invitation to my housewarming!

Mr. Man and I have been perking along and getting to know each other better. Just last night I met his youngest child and we all went to the bookstore and then to eat. He is the most open, verbally precocious, classically beautiful child I've ever met. Now, it might have a little something to do with him looking like Mr. Man, but I'm not admitting to that. Little Guy has dubbed his father as "Super Daddy Underpants;" yes, he is 6. But he's inspired me to try to find a Super Daddy Underpants costume or to create a t-shirt dedicated to this superhero.

Trinity Hall

My friend Cameron came in from Albuquerque for St. Paddy's Day weekend. Cam brought "Tiki Girl" who we treated like Flat Stanley. On Thursday Tiki Girl went everywhere we went and we all had a blast! We picked Cam up a the airport and then had lunch at Trinity Hall Pub, corned beef and cabbage for the girls and shepherd's pie for Mr. Man, and listened to some great Irish music. From there we went shopping for a while then back to Willhoite's so Mr. Man could take care of some personal business. Cam, Tiki Girl and I played pool and got to know some of the locals. We went home, changed clothes and went out to Sue Ellen's and JR's a pair of bars in Dallas. Had a good night, Mr. Man and I agreed that we were falling for each other and made devoted vows of love for what we have right now. I think gin might have been involved on my part, hence the memory is not so clear.

Willhoite's

On Friday poor Cam woke up to an ear infection. We spent the morning trying to determine if she would have insurance coverage here and if she did, where could she go for treatment. Then we spent the afternoon at the urgent care center. I am so very grateful for urgent care centers, they move so much faster than the emergency room. She got prescriptions and we grabbed dinner while we waited on the pharmacy, then grabbed a couple of movies on the way home for the evening.

Dallas Farmer's Market

Saturday, after sleeping in, we took in the Dallas Farmer's Market and its associated yumminess. Mangoes, tomatoes, and pineapples that were so very perfectly ripe and sweet. We stopped at Kurry King spice market and stocked up on Indian spices. On our way home we took Tiki girl to visit at "Ripley's Believe It or Not!"

Ripley's Believe It or Not!

Once we got home, Cam made homemade chicken curry, jasmine rice, fruit salad with real whipped cream and we watched "The Fighter." I think Christian Bale deserved the Oscar. He became Dickie and that included all Dickie's faults and twitches...good movie.

OK, I'm off to look at more houses online. Anyone got any favorite tips for hunting?

Annual roll call for the Queen's Doctors

2011-03-08T11:36:00.000-06:00

This is the time of year when I have to make all the annual doctor visits. There's a doctor most all parts of my body and I've seen the doctor that governs the lady-bits. He referred me for a mammogram, which was done yesterday. I survived the annual boob-squish, but saw some white stuff on the films, which means that although I've had these cyst-y things for years, I will probably be called back in for confirmation mammograms and sonograms. As Mom said, "no one died from a mammogram, but quite a few have died from NOT having one," so I will continue to offer myself to the Radiology gods for squishing and probing.

Next step is the annual sonogram of the thyroid to make sure it's not growing any larger. Although if a larger thyroid means that I now have an excuse for my current weight, I'm all for larger thyroids. Usually that means bigger, worse problems and I don't know anyone who's looking for more problems. After the thyroid, then I will have to take care of the teeth and the eyes. I have the Isbell teeth and have NEVER had a cavity, so I'm not worried on the dental front. I feel like I front-loaded the dental solutions by having to have so much orthodontic work and teeth pulled when I was a kid. Eyes are going to be a problem, I've noticed that my arms are much too short and I'm having problems reading street signs. That's STREET SIGNS, not highway signs, so you shouldn't have to evacuate the streets in my honor.

Here's hoping your health in in good order and mine stays that way!!

So, this is what it's like to really LIVE???

2011-02-25T09:50:00.001-06:00

Yup, I'm tired, but I'm still smiling! I was gritching to myself on the way in to work this morning and realized that I don't have ANYTHING to gritch about! I have a social life that makes me tired, I have an amazing man-friend (boyfriend just doesn't sound right at our age) who keeps me hopping, I have an outstanding job that I love, and the most wonderful circle of friends who care for me as I care for them, and just yesterday the doctor confirmed that I'm in good health.

The doctor visit was the annual girly visit and it went very well. I'm the picture of feminine health, I've lost 25 pounds since this time last year, my blood pressure is back to normal (one less pill to take!), all my bloodwork looks good and he couldn't tell I'd ever been a smoker. He didn't yell at me, in fact congratulated me on my progress and I left his office with orders for a mammogram (ok, that part doesn't make me happy) and feeling pretty proud of myself.

Gratuitous picture of Mr. Man

This is Engineer's Week at work. I'm the staff wrangler for most of the events during this week and that's been fun, but tiring. Each year we hold a charity student voting contest to determine which of the engineering professors will get hit in the face with a cream pie at week's end. This year the charity chosen is Engineers Without Borders, an excellent organization that gives back locally and worldwide. I run that contest, I also run the Mr. and Ms. Engineer contests and wrangle the officers to do their jobs during the week.

Tonight Mr. Man and I are going to see Greater Tuna. I love that play, it is so true to life in a small town. Tomorrow we have the Engineering Awards Banquet (rubber chicken and bad speeches) and then Sunday we relax and go to church.

Nope, I don't have a thing to complain about. I can always go back to that safe life, the one where I didn't do anything, I didn't go anywhere and I watched a whole lot of tv....but I like it here, just fine! Enjoy your busy life!!

Thank goodness!

2011-02-19T11:29:00.000-06:00

We got to see Cal Ripken, no one fainted and no one performed acts deemed inappropriate. We got there terribly early, but we got front row seats! If so inclined, I could've looked right up Cal's pants leg. Good thing his pants were the proper length and I couldn't see up them.

His talk on the keys to persistence was good. He has really good timing and a funny sense of humor that made the talk seem much shorter than it was. Mr. Ripken has beautiful eyes and I lost my focus on what he was saying a couple of times.Mr. Man was so excited about seeing him, but had some back pain and took a muscle relaxer before the talk. I looked over at him after Cal started talking and Mr. Man was sound asleep. He did wake up in time for the QandA session at the end. Friend Lori was able to attend the reception and had a picture taken with Cal. I'm glad she didn't confess to him that his picture is in her closet so he can "see her dress." I enjoyed watching everyone else until the end of the night when the front row was mobbed by autograph seekers who brought so many different things for Mr. Ripken to sign. I saw jerseys, hot wheels cars, baseball cards, newspapers, ticket stubs, just about everything you can imagine signing. Took us about 30 minutes to work our way out of the crowd to leave.

It was a good night and I had a blast watching the faces of my friends as they were so happy to get to see their idol.

Man Crush Night

2011-02-17T13:45:00.001-06:00

Cal Ripken, ManCrush

Tonight I get to sit and watch two of my favorite people get all goofy over the guy in this photo. I understand Cal is considered a GOD by those who follow the Baltimore Orioles and those who understand his impact on baseball's recovery from the player's strike held in the early 80's. But, the biggest impact he's had is on these two friends of mine.

I am afraid Mr. Man will jump up on stage and performs inappropriate acts to Mr. Ripken and I'm just afraid my friend Lori will faint dead away upon meeting him. Watch the news tonight for stories regarding this appearance. If anyone is arrested or taken to the hospital, it will be one of the two people I will be with tonight.

Watch and wait!!!

Valentine's Day!

2011-02-16T11:11:00.000-06:00

This Valentine's Day was the most.awesome.evah! Although we discussed going out for a fancy dinner, we ended up deciding to stay at my place and Mr. Man would bring romantic dinner to me. And he did and it was good!

The first thing I saw upon opening the door was a HUGE arrangement of roses and stargazer lilies. I counted and there were a dozen of each....beautiful! Then he returned to the car and came back with his gift and dinner. The gift was a wonderful painting that reflects both my decorating style and his appreciation of me!

Mr. Man's roomie is a chef and they conspired to make a wonderful, romantic dinner. There was green salad, NY strip steaks, swordfish steaks, asparagus, glazed carrots, salad, garlic potato pancakes and garlic toast. We had an amazing cabernet sauvignon....I think this is turning me into a wine snob! For dessert, he picked up an assortment of chocolate pastries from Le Madelaine Bakery.

I made him a sterling silver fob for his keychain. The fob has an engraved heart on it and 2011 and it's to remind him that he has my heart with him always.

I can now state, that this Valentine's Day was the.best.evar!!! Hope yours was the same.

Phew! Made it!!

2011-02-13T12:54:00.000-06:00

We have survived the triple-whammy of Snowpocalypse, the Super Bowl and Snowmageddon part deux. Today the sun is shining, it's warm and beautiful and looks like spring is here. I know it's not official yet and we will probably have another bout of cold weather (yuk!), but I'm relishing the warmth and sunshine while it's here.

Been spending time in the studio and very excited about that. I haven't felt like doing anything in there for months and couldn't understand why. Well, it appears the mental block against that room is gone and now I want to spend lots and lots of time in there. I've been creating a gift or two for Valentine's Day and that seemed to start the creative juices flowing again.

With the warmth, I'm a little less likely to be knitting, but I've almost finished a pair of socks I've been working on for a month or so. They are strawberry pink with small stripes of chocolate brown and vanilla...just like neopolitan ice cream! Makes me want an ice cream sundae every time I look at them. They will be a gift for someone in the family.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day...dum da dum! For those of you who are celebrating alone, enjoy the time alone for introspection. Think about the failed relationships and be grateful you are no longer in them, consider your "deal-breakers" for future relationships and DON'T SETTLE for LESS than what you truly DESERVE. Too many times I've settled into a relationship just because it was comfortable and I didn't have to think. Although my partner may not have had some of the characteristics that I considered deal-breakers, I allowed the relationship to continue anyway. I must say this is a very bad thing....I ceased to grow as a person during those relationships and I was not the best I could possibly be.

For those of you in a relationship, remember to tell that person every day how special they are. Do those little romantic things like leaving notes for each other, the little kiss when you think they're still asleep, making sure there's enough coffee left in the morning for his/her last cup, tell them how much you truly appreciate their love in your life.

I have a few special gifts set aside for Mr. Man, none of them terribly expensive, but all little reminders of how much he means to me. I hope they mean as much to him over time as he is beginning to mean to me.

This week Mr. Man and I have VIP tickets to see Cal Ripken. Mr. Man has a huge man-crush on Cal and Cal played as part of Mr. Man's absolute favorite baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles. I'm quite happy that I was able to surprise him for this and that we will get to go together. We will also be spending time with Lori, one of my favorite baseball people. She's as goofy over Cal as Mr. Man. It will be fun to sit and observe the both of them completely dork out.

Have a good day, enjoy the sunshine, dance every chance you get!

Bass-akwards Snowmageddon!!!!

2011-02-07T19:02:00.000-06:00

I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures lately. Can't seem to get camera in hand when something fun happens. I'm working on being better about being in the moment and I don't do so well at that when I'm worried about taking pictures of what is happening rather than participating. We all know that writing is my forte' anyway, huh?

Last week was crazy, crazy, crazy with the Snowpocalypse, Snowmageddon, ice and snowstorm of doom, what ever you choose to call it. In addition to the Super Bowl being held where I live, the arctic weather decided that it wanted to travel down south. Tuesday morning we woke up to frozen wonderland. Ok, not really a wonderland, more like a frozen pain in the butt that snarled my to-do list at home and work. Of course Tuesday was payday, which meant I had no choice about going to the store first thing in the morning. I did have my priorities straight and settled on getting only the most important items....toilet paper and hair dye. Yup, I got my life in order.

By Tuesday evening I could look out across the highway and see that travel really wasn't going to be deadly (at least here in Arling-fun anyway) and Mr. Man invited me to his abode for the evening, so I decided to risk it. Once again, got those priorities in order, huh? That night it got COLD, I mean cold in a way that is almost impossible to describe. I've only seen single digits on the thermometer a couple of times in my life and last week we had a couple of nights of single digits. Just so happened that the power company decided that single-digit nights require rolling blackouts in order to support the extra drain on the grid. Can we just say that the Queen woke up at the point in the night when the temp is the lowest to find that the power was off and there was no heat? The Queen suffered discomfort, mightily, but did survive thanks to the kind Mr. Man and his warm heart.

The cold, ice, slush, ugly gray icy stuff stayed around till Saturday. I didn't have many problems driving back and forth to Grapevine, but I understand that both east and west of me had it really bad. I count myself extremely lucky for being able to get out of the house. By Saturday, the ice was melted and the sun was out. I loved meeting people because we were all so excited to see other people, real people, that everyone was really nice to each other.

I know I always do everything bass-akwards, but I finally made it to the courthouse and filed for divorce today. Even though the former King and I decided to divorce over a year ago, I've just now gathered the money and strength to finish this. I wanted to allow the former King a chance to try to win me back....I didn't want to divorce a second time, I didn't want to admit a second failure. A few months ago I realized that I didn't want to get back together even if he was able to win me back. I had invested as much as I could in that relationship and it was time to close that door. In 61 days it will be officially over and the Queen will reign alone.

Going to start hunting for a house once everything is finalized; I'm going to work on making my own dreams come true. I'm no longer willing to wait on a man/partner to decide they are ready for my dreams, I'm going to do this and if there comes a man who wants to join me on that journey, then great! But I'm just not going to sit and wait for it to happen. I wish I'd learned this earlier, at least a few heartaches ago, but I'm still glad to have learned this lesson.

Mr. Man, the one who is teaching me to open my heart, and I had a great week spending more time getting to know each other and enjoying what we learned. We talked and talked (who me, talk?) and laughed and laughed and held each other and just spent time learning from and about each other. Let's just say that we decided that we want to continue to see each other. I also realize that I will never be able to juggle dating/relationships with more than one person, so I've stopped dating other men for now.

Another snowmageddon is supposed to be headed this way tomorrow evening. Hope those of you who read this are continuing to stay warm and know that you are loved!

Promises

2011-02-02T15:28:00.000-06:00

As I sit here in the frozen cold that is currently gripping north Texas I'm thinking of the promises on the horizon, the promise of the sweet Valentine's holiday on the cusp of the next week or so, the promise of the green shoots that should begin to appear in the next month or so, the promise of the summer quickly on spring's heels,the promise of the Easter holiday and my preparation in response to each of those promises.

Valentine's Day is looking promising this year! Mr. Sweetness mentioned restaurants this morning and I suddenly went all squishy over the promise of a real date on Valentine's and realized that I just "didn't have a thing to wear." Yes, this is a HUGE change in my life. Valentine's didn't seem to mean much to the men in my past life, it was like once they got me, they didn't have to do anything to keep me. Well, let me tell you what...my promise to myself is that any man who will be in my life from this moment on will want to work to keep me around. I realize my own value and will not allow myself to be cheapened, cheated, lied to, or forgotten. In order to do this I also have to treat myself with love, grace and forgiveness. Part of that is treating myself like I should be treated by others....so, yup, I bought that really pretty outfit and all the girly things that go with it, down to the pretty underthings. Wow! The promise of a possible future love is a powerful thing!

Spring! I am so excited and ready to see spring after this weird winter. Last week it was in the high 70's and this week we are currently under a sheet of ice, with incredibly cold temperatures. All I can think about is the green that should soon be showing in the trees, the grass and the early blooms of spring. I just want to see some renewal after the cold, dark, end of the year, I'm ready to see the world bloom in all kinds of ways! May have to buy some fresh flowers to keep the promise of spring fresh in my mind. Then comes the rich, fullness of summer and the fresh fruits and vegetables, summer trips to the lake, swimming, sun, being so tired from having so much fun in the sun. Bring on the green!!!

I have returned to the life of the church. I know in my heart that I need to praise the Lord who has given me so many blessings, even the blessings that I wasn't sure were positive have turned out to be so in the fullness of time and God's Love. A real human man was born into this world in the darkness of winter and 33 years later gave his life that we may understand God's Love and Grace and hope for us, His children. I only hope for you my friends and acquaintances that you will also know the warmth and love that has been given to us.

New Favorites

2011-01-31T23:35:00.000-06:00

Thought I'd do a quickie post on my latest favorites and things that make me happy.

MUSIC
Michael Franti and Spearhead
Katy Perry
Gregg Allman Low Country Blues
New exposure to Jimmy Buffett and Grateful Dead, thanks to new people in my life
Adele - 21
Michael Buble' - Hollywood
Texas music - Gary P Nunn, Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett (recently saw Lyle in concert!)

TV - some old favorites never come off the list
Chuck
Doctor Who (I don't think that will EVER change)
American Experience
Nova

READING/BOOKS
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, by Stieg Larson
Horns, by Joe Hill
Empire of the Summer Moon, by S.C. Gwynne

What are you reading/ listening to/watching lately?

Wow, this new world is an amazing place!

2011-01-31T00:18:00.002-06:00

It's been another six months...I have to get back into this blogging thingy!

I've now been single for just about a year and started dating again in November. I've met some wonderful men, I've met some crazy men, I've met some men who think middle-aged women are sex-crazed freaks. I dated one gentlemen for several weeks and our work schedules just didn't allow us to develop a real relationship. I've learned about myself and I've been through enough relationships to know what I don't want in a relationship and I'm finally old enough and wise enough to start recognizing what I DO want in a relationship.

I'm learning what I like in life, without basing that on someone else's opinion or building my life around their likes and dislikes. I fully believe in supporting a partner in whatever they want to do, but I shouldn't have to drastically change my own belief structure to fit in their life or for them to fit in mine. Yeah, I know, I'm a slow learner, but at least I'm learning and enjoying the lessons. The man who is currently becoming involved in my life is funny, good looking (always a plus), smart, witty, intelligent, can hold his own in a room of people, and is really teaching me to open my heart again.

The side effect of having a social life is that there is little time to knit, create, stamp, whatever. So I'm just going to use this more as a journal to keep everyone informed of all that life is currently offering me. I am learning to love life again and opening my heart is resulting in some good times with lots of laughter. Hope y'all can say the same about your lives this week.

Hello Sunshine!

2010-07-16T15:28:00.004-05:00

Last time I posted I said there were some personal changes going on and now I can tell you that the King and the Queen are divorcing. We had not one year, but two years of absolute personal hell and our relationship just didn't survive it. We are both ok with the decision and are able to communicate civilly, for which I am very grateful. We realized that some things had happened on both sides of the story that ruined the chance that we could trust each other again. We are both moving forward in our own ways.

I have completed the move I talked about last time, I not only survived it, but it went very successfully. I have now unpacked all the boxes, put things away, begun decorating and loving my new personal space. I feel like I just graduated from college and I'm starting fresh. New dishes, pots and pans, etc. Yup, just like starting over

Princess Trina of Typos has discovered a whole new world in this new part of town. June bugs that hang out under the lights fascinate her and seem pretty tasty; she hates the fat frogs that steal bugs from her. We have a raccoon who lives near our trash dumpster and manages to greet us at least one morning a week as he leaves off of his snacking to crawl out of the dumpster and back into the woods. There's a little pond that is just chock-full of singing tree frogs who manage to take care of not only the june bugs, but the mosquitoes too. There are squirrels who live right outside our window and Trina is convinced they are there just for her amusement!

I don't have much furniture yet, but there is enough to host friends...please give me a holler if you're going to be in the metroplex anytime soon. I can promise the friendliest of Texas hospitality, the firmest of aerobeds and the best conversation you've had in months!

Holy cow!

2010-04-19T14:30:00.003-05:00

It's been so long since I've blogged that I'm ALMOST ashamed! This has been a busy, busy year!

I've settled into my new job that is not-so-new any more and things are running smoothly. We are facing some major budget cuts this year, but I don't think my office will suffer badly since we're already running so lean. I've changed the name of our center to more accurately reflect what we do, I'm working on offering more student support activities and I'm also working with the student council to offer at least two student-run week-long activities each year.

The home front is a moving target. There have been some major life changes that I'm not quite ready to announce publicly yet, because they haven't really completely sorted themselves out yet. One change I can discuss is that I'm moving to a new apartment in less than two weeks. I've been living in the extreme southern portion of the metroplex and that's gotten old. My life-long friends live north, my sister lives north, my mom is moving north as soon as she sells her house. And now that I've been here a year (can you believe it?) I've scoped out the good and bad parts of town and it appears that I've been living in the bad part of town. So, now I'm moving to the "other side of the tracks."

The apartment is packed...mostly. I still have to tackle the kitchen and bathroom, but all else is in a box, taped and labeled neatly and anxiously awaiting the movers. Yes, you read that right, I'm using movers this time. I'm too dang old and out of shape not to!

Well, that's the news that's fit to print. I will not wait nearly a year to post again...I promise!

Crafting ADD?

2009-07-08T14:16:00.002-05:00

Well, it's hit again and for good reason. I am bored with knitting, more specifically bored with knitting wool socks in the heat and humidity that is summer in Texas. I've ordered some patterns for cotton, hemp, and/0r linen to get me through.

In the meantime (which should be the title of my life story) I've started beading and creating jewelry. I reasoned that ordering a monthly beading kit might just be the kick in the butt I needed to get back to creating and I was right. Of course, the kits had to sit around and accumulate for several months, but once I started, there is no stopping! Granted, stringing beads is not that complicated, but it's the act of deciding which beads convey the message, how many strands of wire to use and what colors are best for the person that is the creative part. OK, I actually think it's the picking up and fondling of the many different kinds of beads that makes me feel better, but whatever it is, it's working!

I will post some pictures of the latest creations soon.

Where in the World are the King and Queen of Typos?

2009-06-24T13:43:00.002-05:00

It has been a quick and a long six months since my last post. The reality of death made it so apparent that we needed to be closer to family and spend what time we have remaining with our parents. The final shocking straw was that when we returned to NM, no one had sent flowers or a card, no one called with condolences, no one brought food or stopped by the house. We realized that we had spent a huge number of years in a state (10 for me, 20 for the King) where we hadn't developed any in-depth friendships.

So, we made a couple of seemingly scarey decisions. We were going to pack up and move back to the land of our birth and we took the King's pension money and paid off all credit card debt. I applied for a flurry of jobs, but one was specifically written for me. It was the Director of the Counseling and Advising Center for a College of Engineering at a major Texas college. I applied and promptly forgot with the other activities that were going on. The dean for this position called and conducted a phone interview in the middle of February that went very well. I felt good about the job, my potential boss and the scope of the job. The dean asked me to "drop by" during Spring Break when I was planning on being in Texas anyway. It all sounded very promising.

So promising that I made a leap of faith (or stupidity depending on your viewpoint). I wrote a letter of resignation for my current job, sealed it in an envelope and explained the situation to my current boss. He was quite understanding and agreed to open the letter only in the event that I called him and told him I had an offer.

I spent most of Spring Break with Mom, cleaning out closets and helping move furniture. The last weekend I spent in DFW and decided to apartment hunt. Found a wonderful townhome the first day. I explained our situation and told the manager that I would call her when I heard a formal job offer. She agreed to work with us and our special circumstances, so I signed the lease and wrote a check. I interviewed the following Monday. When the dean said "drop by for a visit," I didn't know it meant a 9 hour interview. Everything went really well and I felt good about it.

I got my first, yes, first speeding ticket in the panhandle of Texas. Can I just say that troopers out there apparently do not have enough to do. The trooper asked me where I was going so fast and I responded, "it appears I had a meeting scheduled with you." I was trying to find the humor in the situation, he thought I was being snarky. My foot has since become much lighter on the gas pedal.

Two days after I returned to Albuquerque, I got the job offer. And what an offer it was with a substantial raise and a move to exempt status. The next day they called to offer $2,000 more since I wouldn't be eligible for an annual raise in July due to my start date. I told them I could start on April 6, which was in less than two weeks!

The King packed my car shoulder high from front to back. There was only enough room for me and the Princess Trina of Typo. I moved to Texas with a blow-up bed, two lawn chairs, the X-box 360 and the barest minimum of household goods. The King would stay in NM, pack the house and drive to Texas at the end of April. He was able to move up his deadline and arrived in three weeks instead of four.

It is now the end of June and I think we finally are beginning to come out from under the shock and awe that is life. We're getting a new routine, we think we may be able to survive with only one paycheck and we are out of debt for the first time in our adult lives and we found out who our true friends are. This will be our annus horribilis, to borrow a phrase from Queen Elizabeth of England, and it can only improve from here.

When it rains, it pours...Or, The Family Royal Does NOT resemble Morton's Salt

2009-01-31T12:13:00.004-06:00

The King of Typos was headed back home after the memorial service for my father. He had the royal princesses (OK, really just the dogs) and much furniture given to us by my mom. A little black ice and a big boom later, this is his pickup. Thankfully he was 10 minutes from my sister's house. The police officer was nice enough to take the King to Sara's house. The next day he visited a hospital about his bruises and contusions, got a rental truck and headed for home. A day later we all met up a day later in Amarillo and caravanned the rest of the way.

Right now home doesn't feel like home. We are broken and tired and stressed and freaked out and sad and anxious and whatever other unsettling feelings are appropriate. I can't seem to get off the sofa because a clean house and food don't really matter, do they? Folks, we are never here long enough to do or say all the things we need to do or say...spend the time to do AND say what you should while you can.

We were in Texas long enough to realize that we missed the sound of "thank yeeeew" when we left a shop and the big hugs and wide smiles of family we haven't seen in a while. Job seeking now involves Texas and whichever one of us can get a job first will get us back to our homeland. ;-) Keep your fingers crossed and address whatever deities you deem appropriate!

I still cry at least once, and often more, per day. I can't even begin to imagine the heartbreaking grief that my mother must bear. I pray for her constantly. The King of Typos has begun an agressive campaign to find a job, he's dealing with the creditors, arranging the payments, dealing with insurance and I try to go to work every day. I make it most days.

I took one of those "stress tests" online. You know the one that asks "how many of the following events have occured in your life in the last 6 (or 12) months?" Well, I scared myself when I saw how many of those life-changing events had happened to me in the last 4 months, but most within the last two weeks. Needless to say, I am to watch for serious stress-related illness. Bwahahahahahaha, um, 'scuse me while I recover and take the pill for depression, the pill for anxiety and the pills for high blood pressure and cholesterol. I think I've seen the enemy and he is me.

About the pickup: according to one adjustor, it's a total loss, however, we haven't received the official "offer" from either insurance company. We have received notification from both insurance companies saying they are only paying for their own policyholder's damages. Have no idea what this does for/against us, nothing else is in writing yet. The King is pursuing getting a copy of the police report since this will give us more info for better decisions.

That's the news from the Typo household. Hope you and yours are safe, warm, and loved.

New Firsts

2009-01-23T20:25:00.003-06:00

In the midst of all this grief, we are struck again. The King of Typos was laid off last Friday. I have been unable to deal much with this since I'm so overwhelmed with Dad's death. He is looking for a job in Texas (or within a few hours of our parents). If you know of any mechanical design or graphic arts jobs....please let us know.

I also feel like we're all beginning with new firsts. This will be the first Sunday without dad, etc. Today was also my parents' 51st anniversary.

Thank you so much for the emails, the comments, the text messages and the hugs that have been sent my direction. I am awash in grace each time I read one of your messages or receive an email. Thank you again.

And yes, those are the first of many thank-you's that we owe.

My Father's Father

2009-01-23T11:18:00.003-06:00

My father slipped from this life Tuesday morning at around 5:15 am. He breathed his last as my mom, my sister and I held him and told him good bye and kissed him. There is the emptiest, blackest, achiest place in my heart right now and I'm afraid the pain will never leave.

However, I know that Daddy's gone home to be with his parents from this life, the grandparents he never met and his heavenly Father. He will get to argue the finest points of theology with the best of those who have gone before him. And he will sing with the heavenly chorus.

My father had an amazing life, a 50 year ministry, and a wealth of friends and family who will miss him terribly. But we are all comforted knowing that he is at peace and where he should be.

The Family Royal

2009-01-17T23:41:00.003-06:00

Currently, I'm in Texas at my parents' home.

The Father of the Queen has been released from the local hospital into hospice care. I will be here as long as Mom and Dad need me. Dad has fibrosis of the lungs, for which there is no cure and no treatment, except to comfort the patient. The hospice has been wonderful so far and it's nice to see their friendly, caring, comforting faces each and every day. Dad is taking two breathing treatments each day in addition to the meds that allow him to produce and get rid of the phlegm in his lungs. Apparently not being able to breathe is quite frightening (no, really) and it induces panic attacks and general freak-out mode several times per day. We have a list of things to try to help and so far, they all work.

My sister is here with us and we are gathering the powers of Good, but folks, the outlook is not positive. The doctors told Dad when he left the hospital that he has 2 weeks to three months. I don't think he's accepted this news and he is continues to plan for the future. We let him talk about these plans in the hope that the doctors are wrong. wWe will have longer than the doctors predict, but at this stage it's so sad seeing how hard it is for him to breathe that I don't want it to progress too much further.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Stress and the Queen

2009-01-11T19:15:00.004-06:00

The three pictures in today’s post will help catch you up with where I’ve been since before the big holiday. There’s been some brutal reality and some brutal self-analysis during this holiday and New Year season.

Last time I wrote, we were quite excited about both sets of parental units being at Castle Typo. My parents arrived late afternoon on the 23rd and the King’s parents arrived late that evening. I had meals planned, the schedule for food preparation was in my head, I had identified the remaining last-minute errands and made the final shopping lists. On Christmas Eve we all sat down to Rustic Tomato soup (homemade and a gem dandy if I do say so myself) for lunch.

My dad hadn’t been feeling well and after we gave thanks for the food/blessings/etc, but before anyone got to take a bite he asked my mom to take his pulse. She couldn’t find it so I tried; his pulse rate was about 158 and we then took his blood pressure, which was scary-high also. I told Dad to get his coat; we were headed for the ER.

Of course, I am the Queen of Typos, but I’m also the Queen of Falling Down, so those of you who know me know what’s coming next. I ran for Mom’s SUV and on my way out of the garage, I tripped on air and went down hard on my knee. Then I heard Dad ask, “Where’d she go” and all I could do was laugh through the pain. I only banged myself up, but Mom had to back the SUV/Beast/GMC Yukon out of the driveway and then I could drive.

At the local university hospital Mom and Dad went into the ER; I parked two counties away and met Mom later in the waiting room. They worked to ensure that Mom and I knew what was going on most of the time, there was a crazy hour or two in the waiting room, but compared to other hospitals, this wasn’t bad at all. Anyone who’s ever waiting in the Parkland ER (or any other large city/county hospital) waiting room knows what I’m talking about. However, they took Dad straight back and began work on him immediately. His blood/oxygen saturation level was under 60% and his blood pressure was still about stroke level.

The first picture is taken of Mom while we were in the waiting room of the emergency room. I had just called my sister and “the kids” (my niece & nephew, two dogs) to let them know that the holiday had what we hoped was a little burp and that hopefully we’d all go home shortly. I remember thinking that I had to document it if it was going to be a funny story later for the scrapbooks. So I took a picture of Mom checking her messages. Dad was later admitted to CCU, or Seven South, with what was initially diagnosed as congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, the beginning of emphysema, and type-II diabetes.

Dad smoked all of my life and I don’t know how long before that. He split it about 50% -50% between cigarettes and a pipe and then when he quit smoking, he began dipping snuff almost 20 year ago. He also pretty much ate what he wanted and drank what he wanted. I know that a lot of my life habits are based on the same mentality and that only I can change that. I am just so grateful I was able to walk away from smoking 13 months (and yes, I’m still counting) ago.

As an aside, I have to say I’m impressed with the hospital every step of the way. The nursing teams, housekeeping teams and everyone were respectful, caring and genuinely kind. It’s a shame the housekeeping staff had been trimmed so much for cost-cutting measures. I never got to meet the doctors, but their credentials look good.

On Christmas morning, Mom was at the hospital and I didn’t remember to take pictures of anything or anyone. The King and I went to the hospital later in the morning when we took this picture of Dad and returned to fix dinner to serve around 3 pm. I’m learning more about the Queen and how she handles (or doesn’t handle) stress. I couldn’t remember how to make gravy, I forgot to take the rolls out of the freezer and allow them to rise, I forgot to put raw eggs in the dressing, and I left the neck in the turkey. I took the second picture of Dad on Christmas morning.

Dad spent a week in the hospital, coming home on the 30th. He lost a tremendous amount of fluid weight during that time and was still on diuretics upon release. Mom and I were scared to let Dad do any driving, so I did the driving back to Texas. We took two days to make that trip, making frequent stops to pick up oxygen cylinders, potty stops and once to spend the night. We drove to my uncle’s house where we met with my sister and “the kids”. We all had lunch together and took the third photograph. My sister (the Princess of Typos?) drove me back to the airport and I flew back to the desert to kiss my husband at midnight on New Year’s Eve.

Since then, Dad spent a week at home, learning more about a new diet and lifestyle and adjusting to life without tobacco. This past Thursday, he had an appointment with a cardiologist in his hometown but Mom had to cancel it and take Dad straight to the emergency room. This time, the local doctor first said pneumonia and then lung fibrosis. Either way his lungs are failing, his kidneys are failing and he is anemic and dehydrated. When the doctors try to adjust one thing, then his blood sugar goes out of whack. Doctors are unable to run a dye contrast CT on his lungs because his kidneys are too weak and the dye would cause his kidneys to completely shut down.

Today we got good news and his kidneys are doing much better. Hopefully that’s one system that will stabilize and then doctors can move to the others. Please send prayers, good wishes, blessings, spells, whatever your little heart desires to the continued improvement and return to good health for my father.

Here’s a not-so-funny story that is beginning to be funny but really wasn’t on Friday when it happened. Friday afternoon when I got ready to leave the office I couldn’t find my car keys. I keep two rings and separate them at work, leaving the car keys in my purse. Well, two people helped me look. We dumped my purse and went through it and my lunch bag item by item. We went through my jacket, including pockets AND lining. No keys. I finally conceded that maybe I had left them in the car and loaded myself up to go downstairs and check. As I stepped away from the curb in front of my building and looked at my car, I realized the headlights were still on. Hmmm…that meant that….hmm, how could that happen…unless…oh shit! I had not only left the keys in the car, I had left them in the ignition, which meant the door had not locked and the car running available for who ever wanted to take it (at that point I wouldn’t even call it stealing, I had essentially given the car away) for eight hours. Only about 20 miles later did it really begin to sink in. Yes, the Queen of Typos is learning about stress and that she really must deal with it, it won’t go away.

New theme

2008-12-16T23:02:00.002-06:00

Sorry about the shocking green for the last day or two...I didn't realize how, um, bright it was.

Not ready for December

2008-12-15T20:14:00.006-06:00

OK, y'all, I totally am not ready for December to be here and its already half over. I don't have my tree up yet, although I have wrapped the gifts. I haven't sent the Christmas cards, but I have made them. I haven't even begun the grocery shopping!

However, something happened today that put me in the mood for the holidays..
...no, not the cruddy traffic, but the snow. On the way home I realized that it just hadn't gotten cold yet this winter; it was in the 50's last week. This is predicted to be around for a day or two.

Hope y'all are prepared for whatever may be coming your direction this December and holiday season.

Stolen from Nicole

2008-12-05T20:01:00.000-06:00

Stolen from Nicole
One word: peace
Where is your cell phone? in my lap
Where is your significant other? to my left
Your hair color? Brown with blonde streaks.
Your mother? is in Texas.
Your father? Better be with my mom.
Your favorite thing? The smell of my dog's tummy
Your dream last night? I don't EVER remember my dreams. Don't know if that means I don't dream or I just don't pay attention to them, but I also don't have nightmares.
Your goal? To be and do more.
The room you're in? My beautiful living room
Your hobby? Knitting, scrapbooking, cardmaking
Your fear? that I won't be enough.
Where do you want to be in six years?
Where were you last night? At home working on Christmas presents
What you're not? thin, rich, blonde
One of your wish list items? paint for my house
Where you grew up? Texas
The last thing you did? Swept and mopped the kitchen floor.
What are you wearing? t shirt and shorts
Your tv? on
Your pet? two dogs and a East Texas yard lizard
Your computer? pink dell laptop
Your mood? relaxed
Missing someone? My sister
Your car? Inexpensive Kia POS
Something you're not wearing? A bra
Favorite store? Target (I'm so embarassed)
Your summer? When I work my ass off.
Love someone? Lots of someones
Your favorite color? Green
Last time you laughed? Today at work.
Last time you cried? On the way home from work last Friday. I was so angry!
Tagged: The universe, I expect to see links!

It's a meme, oh my!

2008-11-24T20:41:00.001-06:00

Hit forward and place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not, and send It to your friends (including me). This is for your entire Life!

(x) Gone on a blind date
(x) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die.
( X) Been to Canada
( x ) Been to Mexico
(x) Been to Florida
(x) Been on a plane
(x ) Been lost
( x) Been on the opposite side of the country
( x) Gone to Washington , DC
(x ) Swam in the ocean
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robber.
( ) Recently colored with crayons
() Sang Karaoke
(x) Paid for a meal with coins only?
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?
(x) Made prank phone calls
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(x ) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( X) Danced in the rain,
( ) Written a letter to Santa Claus.
(x) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(x) Watched the sunrise with someone
(X) Blown bubbles
( x) Gone ice-skating
() Been skinny dipping outdoors

1. Any nickname? Princess, Booger,
2. Mothers name? Mom (duh)
3 Favorite drink? Chai
4. Body Piercing? Ears
5. Tattoos? Yup, three
6. How much do you love your job? THIIIIIIIS much
7. Birthplace? Texas
8. Favorite vacation spot? Anywhere but home
9. Ever been to Africa? Nope
10. Ever eaten just cookies for dinner? Yes, with frosting that was in the freezer. It was a PMS night.
11. Ever been on TV? Yes, but I don't remember anything about it
12. Ever steal any traffic signs? Nope
13. Ever been in a car accident? Yes
14. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4 door
15. Favorite number? Don't have one, sure don't.
16. Favorite movie? Princess Bride
17. Favorite holiday? Christmas
18. Favorite dessert? something sweet and creamy
19. Favorite food? Hmmmm, whatever I just ate.
20. Favorite day of the week? Saturday; it's totally mine. I don't have to worry about what to wear, where to go, what to do...it's my day.
21. Favorite brand of body wash? Lush Sonic Death Monkey
22. Favorite toothpaste? Sensodyne, what can I say?
23. Favorite smell? My husband's neck.
24. How do you relax? With two pointy sticks and some wool
25. How do you see yourself in 10 years? With some bitchin' sweaters
26. Furthest place you will send this message? To infinity and beyond...it's the internet!
27. Who will respond to this the fastest? It's a race....let's see!

Time, space and another dimension

2008-11-20T14:16:00.000-06:00

Wow! Has it been so long since I posted? It's been busy at work (again) and I've been coming home and diving into knitting to think and veg in front of the tv set. I am a child of the 60's and the tv is my babysitter.

The subject of time also brings up that oh-so-special holiday that is on the horizon, Christmas. I've been working really hard to finish up the knitting bits in time to relax and enjoy the holidays; I'm so glad I was totally disciplined about getting this stuff done. I only have two more small gifts to make and plenty of time (knock on wood).

We've also been preparing for the visit of the parental units during the Christmas holidays. Both sets of royal parents will be spending the holidays with us. I've ordered beds and they and their linens have arrived. Now it's down to groceries, entertainment, and meal planning; not in that order. In New Mexico you can't have entertainment without food. I'm hoping there is a community posada in which we can participate. I'm also on the search for tamales and I'm going to make posole or green chile stew for Christmas eve.

Time and space work together in considering how far we are from each other.

814 miles from my door to my parents
633 miles from my door to my BFF's
656 to my sister's house
702 miles to the King's parents

My BFF is my waystation. She is the place I can stop on the way to or from just about anywhere family-related, we talk, giggle and consume a fair amount of vodka while playing with our crafts. This is a little shout-out for some good wishes to go her way. She is currently (this very moment) interviewing for a new job and needs all the karma, good wishes, prayers, spells, etc that you can send her way. Although I would miss the waystation benefits, ti would be so good for her to get the hell outta the place where she is so that she can heal and grow. Please send her your good thoughts.

The other dimension thing was just thrown in for good measure in case I totally left this one during my little writing exercise. It's also a line from a The Crystal Method song. Hope everyone is safe and happy in their own dimensions!

Yes We CAN!!!

2008-11-04T23:13:00.000-06:00

I feel like I have "unyielding hope" again. I hate to admit it but the last eight years had totally eroded my hope in American politics, justice and American intelligence. Today, I feel vindicated and hopeful.

I started elementary school in 1968, the year that Beaumont, Texas integrated it's school system. I can remember first grade being tense, but I didn't understand why. I still don't understand how intelligent people can think there are differences among us based solely on the color of our skin. And I grew up with the best of integration's intentions, I did not know a day when certain people could not go to the best schools.

Today, I see the end of integration, the end of that nasty, ignorant time in history and I see the beginning of a new world, hope and solidarity in the United States for the first time in a long time. May President Obama lead us with honesty, integrity, and wisdom.

Hey! We're in it for the long haul

2008-11-03T22:49:00.000-06:00

I keep having these moments where I realize that I'm really in my own house again. I can remember having moments like this in my 20's and 30's where I would have little epiphanal moments about growing up. It's so fun to look at a problem or flaw around the house and realize that I don't have to wait on someone else to fix it, paint it, wd-40 it, or file a work order on it. I can fix it, I can paint it any color I want to, I am able to take care of what ever the problem or idea might be.

The first time I had this realization was after setting up my studio. We spent the day spreading the canvas carpet cover, setting up the furniture and putting everything exactly where it should be. I had stuff mounted on the walls in a permanent fashion, decorations were up and the green wall had begun to tone down a little. As I sat downstairs resting and thinking about what I wanted to do for the window treatment and a chair, it hit me that I detested the tarp on the floor, but I had that follow-up thought that I HAD to protect the carpet, yada, yada, yada. Literally I saw the light and another thought roared into my head: It's MY carpet and I can rip it out if I don't like it. Whoa! That was a wonderfully freeing moment and I'm still getting little frissons of joy from it.

Halloween was a ball! The King decorated the house and set up surprises for the trick-or-treaters. We put a halloween scarey noises cd on the stereo and set it up on a motion detector. We had to go get three extra bags of candy. We thought the next-door neighbor was joking when she said she had 500 kids last year. Well, I now think she was being conservative. It seems we now live in the neighborhood for trick-or-treating.

Our housewarming party was Friday night and it was wonderful! We had a houseful of guests with about 18 people. I didn't remember to take pictures until late and of course I have no pictures of the King or the Queen of Typos in costume. We did put the beer in the washing machine and it stayed iced down quite well. I think everyone had a good time and it naturally seemed to wrap up about the time we realized we were exhausted. We didn't have to fight anyone for their keys and we didn't have anyone spend the night. All in all a good party.

Pictures of the final push to move in

2008-10-22T20:33:00.000-05:00

Are we there yet?

2008-10-13T11:21:00.000-05:00

And the answer is emphatically "YES!"

The last week has been a madhouse with our belongings spread between two dwellings, the dogs freaking out over disappearing items, and our exhaustion with the moving process. But there is a happy ending and we're there! Friday, we moved the kitchen stuff over in boxes and unpacked. James has done a phenomenal job of bringing a truckload over every day and not only unloading, but unpacking everything and hanging all the artwork. So, it's felt like home for a week or so, but we kept having to go back to the old place to sleep.

Saturday morning, bright and early, the guys we hired to help with the furniture showed up. Four strapping lads who loaded, moved and unloaded the furniture (all that was left) in two and one half hours. By Saturday night we were completely unpacked and most everything is in it's place. I cooked a meal here and we have eaten at the table in the dining nook.

Tomorrow, I begin a new process of commuting. Yes, I've commuted before, but never on the light rail. Today, I buy my monthly train ticket for $50 and tomorrow I must find the train station and be there in time to ride to work. This will be a change in who does my driving, but it will also be a change in time. I will have to get up early to meet the train at 7:15. X-) Yup, me and early mornings have never done well, so this is a trial run. I can always take the later train and keep my current work hours if I don't like the early business.

The King of Typos and the "girls" (dogs) are as happy as pigs in mud. The girls are fascinated with going outside without their lovely neckwear (ie, leashes) and sniffing every inch of the yard. Trina has discovered that she can hunt and eat as many bugs as she wants and we won't fuss at her. Annie's decided that daily basking in the sun is a new requirement for her advanced age.

The King's enjoyed using power tools, hanging art, playing in the yard with the girls and going crazy with decorating his studio. He's done all the decorating, but I get to work on the window treatments and the wall palettes. We're both anticipating spending a lot of time getting the colors right (OMG, we will have COLOR on the walls AND the floor).

I'm thrilled with not worrying about our activity level disturbing the neighbors. I dropped something on the floor last night about 11:30 and thought, "uh-oh, oh wait, I don't have to worry about that anymore!" It was a freeing moment. I didn't realize how much of my normal activities I was curtailing because I wanted to clean house at night or run the vacuum first thing in the morning and I might disturb someone downstairs.

My studio's just about set. I think I've toned down the green wall by covering it with art, tools, shelves and a light fixture. The lace curtains are GONE in the clerestory windows and I took down the white cafe curtains in the kitchen. Currently I've got some sage green tabtop panels in there. I want to shorten them and use the leftovers to make a curtain for the window over the sink.

Will post a Flickr album this afternoon, but right now I must take a nap break with the girls. I'm finding that now "The Move" is over, I am verrrry sleepy and can relax!

The Big Day!!

2008-10-10T22:45:00.000-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

House

2008-09-28T11:09:00.000-05:00

We've begun to take loads to the new house. I got to take pictures yesterday before I started cleaning baseboards and putting down shelf paper. Leave a comment and I'll forward you a link to the Flickr album. I'm sorry, but I just don't want to put out the layout of my house to just anyone! LOL

Yikes, has it been almost a month???

2008-09-26T12:04:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a busy month. The King and Queen of Typos became new homeowners in the last month and we're moving in two weeks.

It's funny that my last post covered moving the office. I guess that was practice for this move and I was able to snag really good moving boxes as we emptied them in the office. We are moving over the next two weekends and will be out of the apartment by October 15.

The house is a corner lot, 3 bedroom, 2.75 bath and a two-car extended garage. We are moving to a smaller town about 20 miles south of where we currently live. I will continue to work at the university and will commute on the new commuter rail train that has been implemented recently. The cost of the train for one month is less than the cost of a tank of gas! Plus the university has managed a cooperative deal with the city transportation service so that university employees now get free bus rides from the train station to the university.

We are going tomorrow to meet the cable installer and I hope to take pictures then. I'm so excited about moving in to a HOUSE but more excited that for the first time in 10 years, this will be OUR HOUSE. I can't wait to add color to our lives; living in the solid beige world of the apartment complex has kept us pretty bored for the past 5 years.

How are you all? Family: Can't wait to see you all in a couple of months. Bring your own aerobed and sleeping bags since we now have space but don't have beds yet. It's going to be fun to have everyone in one place again. We hope to have 7 other people staying with us during the holiday...it will be one huge house party!

I hope to have the housewarming on Halloween, for anyone who wants to come out, dress up in costume and just have a silly time. It's going to be a potluck, bring what you want and I'll provide ice, cups and plates.

Okey-dokey, then

2008-08-29T18:27:00.000-05:00

Life has gone crazy AND calmed down a lot over the last two weeks.

Let me explain how the office works (or doesn't) for three weeks in August. What is normally a three-person office becomes a one-person office, registration and the first week of class combine to kick my ass. I have to answer the phones and see the students. This year, consider the cherry on top of that fun sundae: I have to pack said three-person office and the 20-person computer lab and move it to a brand-new building where we combine it with the other 15 people in my department. Originally our department was spread across three buildings while we waited for the new building to be built.

So, all this happened since the last time I really wrote anything. I always forget that the UNpacking is so much worse than the packing and I was sore for four days!

The world is finally right-side up again and it's beautiful to just see the sky. I saw the mountains this morning and realized that I hadn't seen them for a month or so. Gotta raise that head every now and then. Although my office is smaller and has no window, I'm really ok with that since it's so pretty and everything matches and is clean. I now am able to hire an admin assistant now that everyone realizes how busy it really is. What that really means is that they are tired of answering the phone and trying to sign in visitors. The paperwork is now in HR...so I'm just waiting for the applications to pour in.

Our building is BEEEEEEoootiful! You can view more info on it here.

I think I've finished some knitting projects since last time, but I've also spent a whole lot of time just surfing the web like a zombie. Ripping knitting back is called "frogging" since the sound the frog makes (rip-it) is what you are doing and when a project is frogged back to the beginning it's sent to the "frog pond." I sent three projects to the frog pond twice on each one. Apparently when you zombie-knit it creates a very unattractive item.

Today I got some custom-dyed yarn, time for more guessing! This is from Scout's Swag and it's scrumptiously soft and squooshy and yep, these are all for gifts. It's so hard not to begin a new project with this, but Must.Finish.Current.Projects. I'm so glad I bought this last month, it was a nice surprise in the mailbox! Will edit and add pictures when the battery on the camera is charged.

King Typo has been to California working on a bid for one of the national labs. The dogs completely don't know what to do with themselves when he's not here. I almost have to beg them to step away from the door and eat. Then when he returns, they glue themselves to him and I cease to exist.

We are loving the organic CSA; I signed up for another four weeks and hope to do a quarterly membership next time. This week we got Pluots which were yummy, juicy yet firm. Found the BEST recipe for chard; carmelize onions and then wilt the chard on top. The sweet, sweet onions seem to balance the strong flavor of the greens. The King declared it good and he hates cooked greens because they're too bitter. Learned how to make Sambar from the Tamil Nadu region of India. It's been great for using up the summer squash, eggplant, green onions and tomatoes. We manage to have a big pot of it every couple of weeks and the King has declared it good.

I have also indulged my perfume oil addiction. And, of course, I had to have the "perfect" place to store it so I got busy on that cigar box that I got in Honduras. I'm also awaiting delivery of orders from Possets and Happy Housewife Soaps Sundries. I love that I can order the sample size bottles for a little $$ and get a sniff. Then later order the bigger bottle and at $10 I don't feel guilty about smelling good.

The only thing that really sucks right now is that one of the little clips under the spacebar on my laptop is broken. So, please ignore the words that might be stuck together, I've got to call Dell and see what to do to get it serviced under the warranty.

OK, I'm leaving the spacebar AND the laptop and going to knit now that I actually have a brain and I'm wide awake again. BTW, if you call me, my cellphone is not ringing for some reason. Just leave a message and I'll call you back. Waiting on new phone again.

Tired to the bone

2008-08-20T20:19:00.001-05:00

I'm still here, I'm still alive and I'm still functioning. However, I am so tired my skin hurts. I promise I will blog more this weekend. My office move is complete and I think that most of the unpacking is done also. Stumble through door at home, collapse till I have to go back to work.

Beginnings all over the place

2008-08-02T13:06:00.001-05:00

What's up at the Typo household? A bunch of new beginnings.

Due to the inspiration of several blogs, I got involved in my local CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture. Our local organic co-op is Los Poblanos Organics and Tuesday we will pick up our first box and I will take and post pictures. You can check out the farm at their website, it's a historic Spanish land grant farm that also operates an Inn.

I got my first indie perfume, or sniffy, order this week. It was from Possets and there are some scents that I LOVES and I'm not sure I can wait for them to age! Possets Flossing is the most romantic, quiet, comfortable and comforting scent ever! The ginger and pepper warm up the wood and vanilla till I just want to snuggle with my own wrist. I'm also awaiting the first order from Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs (BPAL for short), will post as soon as I get a chance to sniff them.

We got everything moved into the garage and there's still room for the car! I'm so impressed and happy to have a cover over my car. The sunshine out here is nice, but it's wicked bad to car finishes, upholstery and dashboards. Now, if I just had a personal assistant to take the car and have it detailed....oh well!

On my brand new interchangeable Denise needles (another beginning): just completed another pair of socks, a fair-isle patterned hat, a Clapotis wrap, a one-row scarf based on Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's pattern (I'm afraid this one is going to the frog pond). I'm just not happy with the interaction between the pattern and the yarn, rather it's the lack of interaction that bugs me. I love the yarn, a yummy blend of the colors of the french flag and the gold of the aristocracy during the French Revolution and the yarn is named after Madame DeFarge from Tale of Two Cities. It's been difficult to find a pattern that shows off this yummy yarn.

This picture is of an item (ha! Guess what it is and who it's for!) made from yarn dyed by the Yarn Nerd. Adam is a graduate student in engineering at the University of New Mexico and he makes some loverly yarns! I placed a maj-ah yarn order with Scout's Swag this week, it will finish out the remainder of the Christmas gift knitting. I have two more shrugs, four pairs of socks and two scarves sitting in the queue right now. Patterns have NOT been picked out for socks yet, but I'm working on that. Then I can start on my own sweaters! I need to finish the Printed Silk Cardigan by Connie Chang Chinchio; I don't know why I have a block against the sleeves on this thing, but I just haven't been able to pick them back up in a couple of months.

I've been lusting after a couple of sweaters on Twist Collective, a new online pattern magazine, had it's introductory issue come out yesterday. I am already lusting after several of those patterns. This magazine was begun by pattern designers; the magazine is free, you only pay for the patterns you wish to purchase. I love this concept since it means I'm not paying for trees to be felled, patterns I will NEVER. NEVER. EVAR knit, little plastic wrappers to protect (not) the magazine and silly blown-in subscription cards that annoy the shit outta me.

Hope y'all are enjoying your own beginnings. I'm off to sniff my arm, rub some yummy yarn all over me, and enjoy a Saturday with nothing pressing to do!

2008-07-21T15:33:00.001-05:00

I have only gotten more so since I quit smoking. I can smell EVERYTHING now. A couple of years ago when I made the initial discovery of a person who made custom scented lotions and oils and I bought something for everyone on my Christmas list, including myself. That was just the beginning of a sad and terrible slide into addiction. I am now totally addicted to niche perfume oils and new scents, there are other people like me and we're not at all interested in a twelve-step plan, thank you.

No, in fact our 12 step plan involves introducing other people to the lovely world of scent. There are those who just scent themselves. There are those who scent themselves from various scents from several different perfumers. And there are the pushers, those who feel a compelling need to introduce others to the memories and moods that can be created with scents. I've reached a level of use that requires special boxes to store the perfumes, special ways to make scent offerings, including special baths and candles, and using specific scents for specific times. Yikes, I've developed scent rituals!

I now feel the need to reach out and climb the pusher ladder. In order for me to take the next step, I have to introduce at least one new person to the habit and get them addicted.

Start out with Possets. It's nice, fairly small scent catalog and the scents ARE yummy. I love the fact they have sample packs; you can get the tall sample vials in a pack of six and try them out before buying a bottle. I just ordered a six-pack of samples and a small bottle of perfume. Cobalt Blends is another good one; their scent menu is not overwhelming. Love Potion has pheromone blends (remember those from the 80's) in addition to some pretty nice scents. When you are ready (and I mean really, really ready) go to Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. Yup, it's intimidating as hell at first, that's why they have Imps, or sample sized bottles.

I'm suggesting that you join me in aroma nirvana. I promise, you can do this in public and you will even get compliments! Only slightly less addictive then methamphetamines; it's better, cheaper, and more useful than cocaine and it doesn't leave those unsightly boogers in your nose or scars on your veins.

Don't like it? Just wipe it off with a little alcohol. Not strong enough? You can LAYER with more fragrance and thus make your own special blends, scents and memories. If you get the foody scents, it's like food without all those nasty eating issues. No weight gain, no face breakouts, no cellulite. Who cares if people don't understand why you keep sniffing your own wrist (guilty as charged)? Just sniff and don't lick.

Movement

2008-07-13T14:58:00.000-05:00

It's been a week of movement. Movement from one lifestyle to another; movement of furniture, pictures, art, little pieces of our hearts. This is the weekend that we moved things to the garage, recreated a joint studio and took back the dining room.

In five years we've accumulated enough junk that it's time to clean the closets, wash the walls and shampoo the carpets, fill boxes and bags for charity, trash, moving to the garage. As I've said before, my crafting ADD has kicked in and I needed to clean out some of the rubber stamping stuff. I hope to gather and list the stuff I have for trade, freecycle or sale soon.

It's hard to believe we've been here almost five years, but we continue to downsize and discover what we truly do not need. We are working on reaching a smaller household footprint on the planet. Not only because the price of gas (hence groceries, heating/cooling, etc) continues to rise, but because it' s the right thing to do. Where I work we are working toward a more sustainable environment as an institution. For the first time in a long time thermostats are being monitored, utility usage reductions are being considered, employees are being taught to reduce their own carbon footprints.

I can't help but think about it at home also. So, the King of Typos and I have raised the thermostat, we've changed every single lightbulb to the new flourescents and we're looking at alternative transportation methods for getting to work. We're both moving toward a more ecologically responsible and sustainable lifestyle.

And sometimes we watch little pieces of our hearts move on. On Thursday evening James came in from work to find our "Little Wonder", Jade, had fallen from her cage and died. The dogs were involved in licking her for sometime but we know they had a healthy respect of her beak, so I don't think they hurt her. There was no blood or breaks to the skin and since we do not have another bird to worry about disease, we are not doing a necropsy to find out why she died. It would be a rather large expense and it's not really important to us to know why. We will miss her little purrs of delight when she got her favorite foods, her little shriek of delight when we laughed, the "stranger danger" response to all cell phones and cameras and that's what's important. And so, we are also re-entering the lifestyle of the non-bird-household.

What is it?

2008-07-08T20:37:00.000-05:00

Home Front

We got a garage and we've been moving things into it, slowly. We hope to move my studio to the second bedroom with James' studio and turn my soon-to-be-former-studio back into a dining room. I know, I know, it's a scarey concept that we would sit at a dining table and eat like all other kinds of decent people, but I think we're ready. I already have an oak table, but we're shopping for some chairs. I'm thinking about getting some Salvation Army chairs and making art of them. Right now, we've got enough to do moving boxes and stuff downstairs.

Knitting

Ooooo, this is where it gets pretty! Been working on several things, including gifts and a test-knitter project for a pattern designer. So, the pictures will be only tiny bits and a little out of focus. It's your job, my dear readers, to determine the what, who and when.

Here are some pictures of yarn to tempt you to speculate.

Television

Yep, I'm a self-confessed sci-fi television addict. At least I always thought it was just sci-fi, but it turns out that others like me (yes, there are a few) call it "cult television." Any surprise that I'm involved in something called cult tv? Hello, do you remember another cult experience called Rocky Horror Picture Show and my custom-painted shirt?

While I was working on the test knitting project, I used my handy-dandy Netflix membership to edumacate myself on the older versions of Dr. Who. I watched every episode that was available instantly. Thoughts: I actually love Tom Baker's characterization, I liked Jon Pertwee's version, I liked even better Christopher Eccleston's rendition, I really, really, truly love David Tennant's choice of quirks. Even though the special effects now seem really poor and unimaginative, it didn't bother me when viewing episodes. OK, the creature made out of painted bubble wrap was pretty funny.

I've also become addicted (see a pattern here?) to podcasts. I've linked to some of my favorites below:

Cast On - Brenda Dayne could read me her grocery list and I would listen. Good thing she talks about knitting and has some wonderful personal growth stories.

Craftlit -This is as much fun as taking another literature class without the tests. Heather talks about knitting, literature and life. I'm currently listening to past episodes on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Lots of fun info and discussion about the day's chapter and then a reading of the chapter from the Librivox.org catalog.

Escape Pod - Scifi short stories and flash fiction

LimeNViolet - LMAO knitting podcast "show"

Podcastle - Fantasy short stories

Pseudopod - horror short stories

Television Zombies - cult television discussion, laughter, thoughtful and thought-provoking discussion of the tv shows. Think Battlestar Galactica, Dr. Who, Lost, Pushing Daisies, and others.

I guess this is my version of talk radio, which seems to be overwhelmed with right-wing screamers who have their heads up their backsides. These direct-to-my-head radio shows educate me, inspire me, comfort me and make me laugh, a.lot. I am able to listen to a good book, a short story, or hear other cult tv freaks discuss our common shows.

It's a new hybrid version of community, but it's a community nonetheless. We are still reaching out to and communicating with each other, connecting with others who share our interests.

Let's get this thing going!

2008-07-03T11:00:00.000-05:00

OK, I am actually going to make the entry to the blog-world. This.time.for.real.

Recent pictures and travels

Last week I went to the hottest, dryest place on earth. OK, really I just went to Palm Springs, two deserts west of where I live. However, not all deserts are created equal; this one was especially hot at 118 degrees.

This was a conference for the Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies curriculum conference. For those of you interested the curriculum is an awesome thing for teaching problem solving, critical thinking and introducing students to technology, science, math and engineering problems. The 13 module course is developed for K-12 students, but we've adapted it and added to it for college freshmen and at-risk freshmen in engineering. The curriculum utilizes teams to for project-based learning. Modules allow students to tackle engineering, manufacturing, business and science problems.

It appears that if you are from Detroit, MI (as the Ford people are) you are given the desire to spend your summer time in really hot places. Conference has been held in San Antonio, TX, Louisville, KY and Phoenix, AZ in the recent past. All places known for heat or heat AND humidity. Now, I grew up in the land of air that requires gills for the humidity, but I've learned that my body needs NO humidity to remain happy during summer. However I have managed to have fun at every one of these conferences.

Palm Springs is a funny place, there are more country clubs per square mile than I've ever seen in my life. I'm pretty sure there were two country clubs for each adult in town. And of course, the country clubs and gated communities all boasted their own golf course. It cracked me up to see a gated mobile home country club community with palm trees for shade and golf carts for transportation.

The Rancho Las Palmas resort was nice. I had a hair appointment and Rog did a great job with the color. I'm now a brunette for the first time in my life and there are the cutest platinum highlights!

I took a half-day side trip on my own and visited Joshua Tree National Park. Not only was I impressed with the views, the strange vegatation and the preservation of such a tiny corner of the desert and how truly fragile it is, but I was a little self-impressed. OK, I know that sounds really snooty, but I don't mean it that way. I've not been known for taking personal risk as an adult, but I went into the real, scarey, people-die-here-desert by my self!

OK, not so scarey details: air-conditioned rental car, cell phone in hand, map on passenger seat and I did NOT leave the road or immediate shoulder area. Scarey details: I had NO water, a 1/2 tank of gas and no cell phone service. As I drove out of Twenty-nine Palms, it struck me that I had not thought about my trip before embarking. Oh well, thanks be that I came out ok, well-hydrated, and comfortably cool.

On the craft and knitting front

I haven't been in the "mood" for scrapbooking. I'm afraid it's because I just haven't been taking pictures lately. There's only so many pictures I can take of the dogs or the bird and I've scrapped just about every daily activity possible, including making my Mimi's pecan pie recipe.

It seems that I must accept the fact that I have craft ADD.

In the last two years I've fallen completely and totally in love with fiber crafts. I've always had an affinity for fiber. Does everyone still have cross-stitch pieces I've done? By the way, if you are tired of them, I will not be offended at all. I just like spreading the crafty love around while I'm obsessing on a particular craft.

I have played with knitting and crochet in the past, but I'd never been able to afford good yarn. When you can buy the nice stuff....oh.my.goodness it totally changes how you feel about the craft. Knitting is so cool because you are actually creating fabric and said fabric flows forth from your needles....how cool is that? I'm also fascinated with socks and have begun a mission to sock everyone in my family in yummy, sproingy socks.

I will add pictures of knitted items as I work on them. I will keep some of them as small detail photos so someone-who-shall-remain-nameless, oh heck, it's easier to just name her....Sara... will not be able to figure out everyone's Christmas presents.

First Entry!

2007-04-30T12:55:00.000-05:00

Ok, this is the first entry in my new blog! I do have a purpose in mind for this...it will be a good place to catalog and explain my art projects. It will also allow those of you at a distance to see what I'm doing.

Welcome!