Kingfisher Cove

My Boy has met a Girl

He just came to me a couple of weeks ago, lamenting that he's never had a girlfriend.  And it's true -- he'll be 19 years old this coming Sunday and he's hardly even dated, let alone had a relationship with a young lady.  As a mom, I've never had to deal with the ups and downs of all that.  I've worried about how it would feel to not be able to kiss his knee to make the pain go away, once the angst of young love became reality.  Because I do remember how painful it can be.  And the downs could be more painful as he matures, without the experience of dealing with it being young.  That's basically what happened to me, too.  I never dated in high school. And my first love lasted for 2 years (a lifetime when you're 18 - 20), and being dumped was beyond devestating.  I didn't know how to cope, how to get over hating myself because I was apparently "not worthy" of his love.  It was awful.  And I experienced that two more times in my life, and I would not say it ever got easier.  Yes, I grew from the experiences, but boy!  I was sure tired of "growing" by the time the last dumping occurred.  (Which was Nate's dad...)

Anyway, I got off the subject here.  I'm actually quite excited because Nate is quite excited.  There's a "new girl" at work, who is graduating this year (she's a year younger than Nate), and she actually came over to the house last night!  She wanted to know all about Ebay, so she asked Nate to be her "tutor."  (Ha!  Like he knows much about Ebay!)  He'd mentioned her several times prior to this, and then I actually got to meet her!  (I never even met his senior prom date, if you'll recall...). I was impressed.  She seems to be bright and inquisitive and confident (came right up to me and shook my hand).  And, she is also very pretty, in an earthy, natural, non-high-maintenance kind of way.  He's quite smitten.  And she was the one who suggested coming over to learn about Ebay, so maybe she's smitten, too.  (Or else... she thinks of Nate as a "bud".  That could be, you know).  Nate has done a good amount of growing up this past year, but he also has a fair amount more to grow.  I sense that he comes across somewhat as a "know-it-all", even though he truly doesn't "know it all", and I've tried to gently let him know that that is a turn-off to ladies (people). That teasing and joking around is fine, but temper it with kindness and honesty.  Be real, don't worry about impressing.  I see him with his guy-friends, and it's all about being cool.  The way he talks, the way he struts, it kind of makes me shudder.  And yet, away from his friends, he's himself.  He's sweet, he's funny, he's vulnerable, and he hugs his mom a lot.

It's time for him to have a loving relationship. And if it doesn't work out, I do know he'll grow in leaps and bounds from it.  And I'll be there to kiss his knee, even though it won't do a bit of good. 

Memorial Day Weekend Doings and Observations

Friday Night May 27th

Well, I’d have to say it’s quite a different scenario arriving at Harstine Island this Friday night compared to last Friday night. When JDub opened the trailer door, he was just about knocked flat backwards on his butt from the heat trapped inside. It was like opening a blast oven. Man! The last two days have been extremely, unseasonably HOT (not just warm – we’re pushing 90 deg. which we rarely see the likes of in a given summer, let alone the end of May), and it’s been a shock to our systems. No chance to acclimate to heat whatsoever. However, now that it’s the holiday weekend, I’m done complaining about it because, after all, this is what I was hoping for. AND – the trailer has A/C and it works great. What a difference it made in here after just a few minutes. Plus, we have the water/beach and boat rides and kayaking and even swimming if we so desire to cool us off. I do think it’s supposed to start cooling down a bit, but tomorrow at least is due to be toasty.  (JDub found this agate.  Ain't it a doozie?)

Bailey, our long-haired dachshund, is “hounding” me to toss her stuffed hedgehog, which I’ve now done, oh, 40,000 times, and she trit-trots back to me (shaking the trailer) and smacks it up against my bare shin, and since it’s been chewed on and mouthed, it’s wet and slimy and cold. But she will not be denied. A good part of it is that she’s so damned cute. After smacking me in the bare shin with the slimy, wet thing, she peers up at me with soulful brown eyes and sort of puffs out her snout so she has a puzzled/expectant expression. And she WHINES in a sort of “talky” voice. And she does the prairie-dog stance. So I give in, over & over again, and toss her hedgehog. She has me totally wrapped around her, uhm, snout.

Did I mention how glad I am that it’s Friday night? And that it’s a long weekend? Man, these last couple of weeks have just about done me in. It’s easy to be here – with tunes on the stereo, JDub working on ANOTHER puzzle, the dogs finally settled down (may hide the hedgehog…) – and forget all about the work-week angst.

Saturday Morning May 28th

It’s a gorgeous morning! In a few moments, I’m going to trek down to the tent site and pull out the lounge chairs from under the tent deck and haul them back up here. Mornings like this, we need to be sitting outside and drinking our coffee! (If I can pull JDub away from his jig saw puzzle…) (Well, and me from the laptop. Are we bad or what?)

I fell asleep on the couch last night – the week had caught up with me and I was zonked by 10:30 or so. When JDub woke me up (to go to bed), he had already made up the bed, which is really no small task for one person. And oh, it was so inviting! Slept OK – I sure wish these weenie dogs would chill at night like they do at home. Today we need to run their butts up and down the hill and wear them out.

A little later – The lounge chairs have been retrieved and somewhat scrubbed. What they really need is power-washing, but that’ll have to wait. It’s amazing how hard the great outdoors is on stuff, even stuff that was pretty well protected. It’s just after 10:00 a.m. and it is already very warm outside, especially in the sun. And JDub is out there digging a trench (in the sun). Doesn’t that sound like fun? Well, and it’s to lay sewer pipe to the septic tank. Double-size that fun. (Heh).

His fix on the gas heater apparently did not work (not that I was in any hurry to test it, what with the “natural” heat of the day), but last night while I was snoozing on the couch, JDub tested it. And it didn’t light. Instead of an electronic card that he replaced, he’s figuring it’s probably the igniter or something mechanical. Not that it matters THIS weekend. On to other priorities for the time being.

Oh, the bird song! And chipmunk song! (Then, there are the crows, which rudely detract from the otherwise idyllic morning beach sounds…). Boats humming on the water. Children’s voices down the way (making the dogs woof…). The sound of shovel-digging. Ah.

When I trekked down to retrieve the lounge chairs, I made a brief detour to the beach. The tide was up pretty far so there wasn’t much beach to explore, but it sure did feel good down there! The water is so calm. There were a whole lot of beached jelly fish, though. That happens now and then, and it’s sort of eerie.

Lakes are nice. We had dinner at the hoppin’ bar & grill on Spencer Lake last night (just on the mainland side of the Harstine Bridge), and it was very soothing to peer out over the lake, watch the speed boats (and jet skis….), and also watch people swimming off their docks and stuff. I’ve always liked the looks of a tidy green lawn that gently slopes all the way down to the lake. But my choice (and JDub’s, which is why we’re soul mates) is saltwater. The ever-changing tides, the beaches that reveal surprises every time the tide changes, the sea life, including those odd jelly fish, but also including the head of a seal popping up out of the water and blinking his eyes at you. The beach! Lakes don’t have beaches! The agates and the shells and the sea glass. Being on Puget Sound! You can get to the ocean from anywhere, if you wanted to. And then there’s the fresh fragrance of saltwater. I’ve mentioned before: It smells like summer. The dogs are funny on the drive here, because their snouts point up in the air when we approach the saltwater. They know. “Oh boy! Da beach!”

I still have to pinch myself about 1) having this property, and how fortunate we are to have found an affordable and beautiful acre of waterfront (albeit a challenging building site), and 2) have this trailer because it will definitely be a while before we can afford to build here. It’s so very cool to have this place to come to. It’s a dream come true!

We just got back from town (JDub had some more sewer pipe to get, plus some other things), and on the way back we stopped and got a milkshake! Yum! I’m heading down to get the Roundup out of the storage shed/chest and go to work on the damned baby scotch broom that is attempting to take over the world once again.

EEEEEEEEE! Mice in the storage chest! And I knew this from last weekend! JDub reminded me, so we went down together and I kept my distance while he unlocked it. Sho’nuf, two of the critters were nested in a garbage can in there, and had made themselves quite a nice little nest out of batting from the wiener dog bed stored inside. (The bad thing is that their transport to their nest was by means of going through our life vests, which are now currently covered in mouse poop and will need to be washed Big Time). JDub tipped over the garbage can and Bailey was right there right now and one of the mice was dead just like that. Totally hard-wired, she pounced like lightening and broke its neck. I do feel kinda bad about it (I think of Pixie and Dixie…), but it really didn’t know what hit it. I suppose the other mouse that got away is grieving, if they are capable of such a thing. They were probably mates. And it’s not like mice look like slugs or snakes – I mean they are kind of cute in a way – but they still give me the creeps! There are places that they just don’t belong, and they tend to try to ingratiate themselves in those places. And they are poop factories to the max.

Oh, it’s warm. We just came up from the beach, and even though there is a nice breeze (THANK GOD), it’s mighty toasty out there. JDub is beat – he’s dug the trench and laid the sewer pipe all the way down to the septic tank. Our neighbor just gave us some steamer clams (woohoo!!) and poor JDub had to take the bucket all the way down to the water and get some saltwater so they can continue to purge. The tide is now way the hell out there, so it’s a major hike. In the heat. And then back up the hill. He’s due for a nap, which means I need to move me and my laptop somewhere else, since I’m sitting on his nap spot. (He tends to take over, what with his designated nap spot and his jig saw puzzle…) :o)

While we were down on the beach, we ran across a couple with a wiener dog! Her name was Lucy (the wiener dog – have no idea what the peoples’ names were), and she was a little red dog just like ours (short hair, like Peanut). She was small! Makes me realize that our dogs have been porking out a bit lately. Lucy wasn’t a puppy, either – about the same age as Bailey. Nice dog, too. And I swear that wiener dogs have an affinity toward each other. It was like they all knew each other. Lots of sniffing and tentative tail-wagging going on. Other dogs came down the beach while we were there, and the weenies all behaved totally differently toward them. Rather defensive/aggressive. Aggressive to show “who’s boss”, but then defensive once a bigger dog looked to take in after them. And by defensive I mean running the opposite direction as quickly as possible.

Sunday Morning May 29th

Wow. What a difference a day makes. The wind really kicked up yesterday afternoon and I wondered what might be blowing in. By the time it was dark, the wind was howling and we heard several nasty claps of thunder. And I hoped to hell the power wouldn’t go out, because that would have been a wee bit scary here in the trailer in the woods – with no candles. (Maybe a flashlight…somewhere). So we ignored it as much as we could and watched a DVD on my laptop! It worked great! The laptop has a good-sized screen so it was just perfect! We watched “National Treasure” and it was pretty good. (Not a great movie, really, but it was enjoyable to watch). We also have “The Incredibles” to watch tonight.

Oh, and last night we had shrimp on the barbie! Mmm. What a nummy dinner. Mmm.

OK, so this morning there is no wind (it had died down by the time we went to bed), but it’s gray out there. I’m hoping it may be one of those “marine layers” that will eventually burn off.

I’m going to try out the shower!!

Later – The shower worked great! I wouldn’t want to be any wider than I am, nor would I want to be any taller. JDub with his height would have to do a fair amount of stooping (I did a little). But ultimately it was very satisfying and it feels so nice to be clean. I remember last summer heating a pot of water on the camp stove and washing my hair outside. It was an ordeal (and my hair would have to dry naturally which meant frizzy curls), but I remember it still felt awfully good afterwards. But we’ve come a long way, baby! Woohoo! Even a resident hair dryer and curling iron!

I am now doubtful (instead of hopeful) that this marine layer will burn off. It’s now afternoon and there’s no sign that’s gonna happen. Bummer. It’s only 59 deg. out there, too – compare to 89 deg. these last three days! However, that’s a good temperature for JDub to build some temporary steps into the trailer (since it’ll take some time before the deck is built). RV steps typically suck, and these are no exception. The wiener dogs hate them, so JDub had put a board up half way across them to act as a weenie ramp. That helps (them) but makes it more treacherous for us humans on the narrow half of the (crappy) steps. So we just came back from town (we go there rather frequently) with lumber atop the Durango, and JDub is out measuring and strategizing decent, broad, and sturdy steps! (With a bit of frustration, I’ve noticed, as he doesn’t have the right saw here with him…) Did I mention he finished his 1,000-piece puzzle last night? There were times that he was so engrossed in that puzzle that the trailer could have tipped over from the wind and he probably wouldn’t have noticed. And then on top of that, he got the sewer line all installed and hooked up. Like power & water, it’s greatly appreciated (once you know the likes of not having them).

Wow, Washington’s natural air conditioning is sure in full effect today. What a bummer. That’s what we all get for complaining about the heat this past week. Sigh.

Later – We had company! JDub’s folks and their good friends came by. What’s kind of cool is that these friends were the original owners of this camping trailer. It was fun to see them! Company out here is a nice thing. JDub was in the midst of building the steps when they arrived, and so they couldn’t get inside right away (nor could I get out!), so they walked down to the beach for a bit, while JDub’s dad sat in a lounge chair outside with JDub as he sawed and stuff. Finally they were able to come in, and I’m thankful it wasn’t raining while they had to be out there. Jeeze, what a gray and blah (and cool) day. The water is gun-metal gray. At least it’s not kicking up white caps like it was yesterday afternoon/evening.

And the steps are done and the weenies actually have a small porch to happily perch on out there! AND, we just completed probably The.Most.Important.Thing. Dug a small hole and circled it with rocks – for a camp fire! That was our biggest joy last summer with the tent, was the camp fire. Now that we aren’t roughing it so much, some of these outside activities have sort of gone by the wayside, and we love our camp fire. Gotta have that! Heh. Jiffy-Pop anyone?

Monday Morning May 30th

Ach! Why does this always happen? The 3rd day of a 3-day weekend always comes way too fast.

We sure did have an enjoyable evening/night, though. The clouds actually cleared off somewhat so it was briefly quite pretty out (until it got dark). But we had another nummy dinner (tenderloin steaks!), and spent some time around the camp fire, drinking coffee. It was so nice! It brought back memories from last summer, both pleasant and not-so-pleasant. (Smoke in the eyes….) Then we came in and watched “The Incredibles” on my laptop and what a cute movie!! We really enjoyed it. We also watched “The Making of…” afterwards and it’s mind-boggling to glimpse what all goes into making such a movie. (And I do mean “making” – every single detail from the ground up, with a gazillion of those details). Many people involved over at Pixar, all exceptionally talented artists, and I have to wonder just how well all those extreme personalities get along together throughout a huge project like that. There have to be constant blow-ups, I would think. And pressure to reach certain milestones with the quality artists expect of themselves, but within the budget that the money-people constantly harangue them with. Being a movie animator would probably be a dream-job if you were artistic, but it would definitely be a job.

So last night’s clearer skies didn’t stick around. It’s another gray day. It hasn’t rained, though, and for that I’m grateful. And it’s so great just being here. I don’t wanna go home! I don’t wanna go back to work tomorrow. I’ll shut up now, and enjoy the time we do have.

And Monday Night...

...always comes.  Sigh.  Well, it wasn't a rip-roaring holiday weekend, that's for sure.  No kayaking (mouse turds in the life jackets prevented that), no boating (too cold after Saturday).  But it was relaxing and pleasant and so nice to be away.

Our own (King-sized) bed will feel wonderful.

So Relieved!!!

Oh, woohoo!  Can you hear me roar? (Or at least hoot?)  Big Time Presentation is in the hands of the presenters (tomorrow a.m.) and my part is el dunno.  Me thinks it's good, will go well, and then it's up to the powers-that-be to decide if what I think is true (and we get the job).  (A presentation we did last week that allowed us ONE DAY to prepare -- it was so incredibly uber-stressful -- was a success, so I'm sure hoping this one will be, too).  Jeeze Louise, do I ever need a 3-day weekend!

Big time Big-Wig changes officially occuring at work, as well.  Remember the newsletter article I referred to about our new CEO (as of June 1)?  It was all formally handled today with the Board of Directors, and after I'd put in nearly an hour's worth of overtime on finalizing this presentation, I was able to join in the festivities of celebrating that fact.  (Wine, beer, snackies, etc.)  It was pretty cool.  Had a chance to schmooze with said new CEO.  I think he likes me, because he mentioned once again that he really liked the article I wrote about him.  (Good!)  Also had a chance to "get to know" some of the other bigger wigs that I haven't worked with in the two years I've been there.  And discovered that they are definitely human.  It's nice to see a sense of humor alive and well within some of these geeks people.  You just don't often see that during the course of a work-day.  Even if that sense of humor is pretty geeky.

Oh!  It's HOT today!  And without any kind of leading-up-to-this.  One day it's like 60, and today it's pushing 90!  Lordy!  I feel terrible complaining about it.  We are all so ready for summer around here, although it would be NICE if it were to occur over the WEEKEND.  It's a drag to be working your ass off at work and not be able to even enjoy it.  I wasn't even able to leave the office today and have lunch and read my book!  (3rd time this week!)  My house is hot.

Speaking of which.  It's a major issue.  JDub installed A/C a couple of summers ago, and it ain't working (right).  JDub knows what the issue is -- but it just hasn't been addressed yet.  Better happen soon, because I may go on strike about COOKING IN THE HEAT, EVEN THOUGH WE SUPPOSEDLY HAVE AIR CONDITIONING.

(He reads my blog pretty regularly, so I'm figuring he'll probably get the message).

I sure do wish I didn't have to go to work tomorrow.  I feel like I've put in a full week already.  And I'm ready to PLAY.  Don't wanna go to work!  I'd much rather do laundry (which is actually happening now as we speak), and pack up and plan meals for the weekend than have to go to work tomorrow.  Ya know?  And get 'r all done and head on down early.  Crap. I know a lot of people are doing just that.  Sigh.

OK, better get the spaghetti going. (!)   

Guilt? NOT!

So why is it when I'm cooking dinner, which is at least 3 nights a week now and usually more often than that when you consider weekends at Harstine, JDub surfs to his heart's content (or sometimes watches the ballgame on TV) without any compunction, until I call him for dinner?  But when HE cooks dinner (once a week, generally), I feel GUILTY surfing or reading my book?  Why do I feel the urge to hop up and "help"?  Even though I certainly don't want to!  I take no joy in cooking, nor do I take any pleasure in "control" about cooking.  So why do I feel this way? 

I even asked him.  "You don't feel guilty when I'm cooking, do you?"  He looked at me like I was a space alien or something.  "Uh....no." 

I said, "Well, why do I feel guilty when you're cooking?"  He looked at me like I was a space alien's egg hatching.  "Uh....I dunno..." 

And so I'm currently blogging while there are all kinds of noises happening behind me in the kitchen.  I'm trying my best to tune it out. 

Eeeeeeeeeee.

Later

Dinner is over (it was good -- food always is when I didn't cook it), and the kitchen is tidied.  And so now I need to think about what we want to eat this weekend at Harstine.  Hmmm.  I remember last year we did shrimp kabobs on the BBQ.  I'd even marinated them ahead of time.  That sure does sound good...

Annoying People

Do you ever get the feeling that you would not like MOST of the people you encounter, such as on the road in their cars, in the grocery store, at Curves?  Do you get the feeling that the friendships and the loves in your life are pretty darned unique because of the fact that the vast majority of people just don’t come close to their specialness?  (And that you were damned lucky to even meet them?)  How many people do you work with that you honestly, truly LIKE?  I’ll bet not a whole heckuva lot.  And even if you like them OK, or tolerate the fact that they seem to be decent people, when you have to work closely with them, their annoying-ness comes to the surface and you realize:  “I could never be friends/lovers with this person.”  I’ll bet that is the case way more often than not.

I don’t know, maybe I’m just in one of those negative moods or something.  But it seems that lately I’m just inundated with annoying people.

The dippy drivers.  Why are there so damned many of them?  And I’ll just bet that their personalities are indicative of their dippy driving ability.  The guy in front of you who stops two car lengths behind the car in front of him, at the traffic light.  Why?  And then!  He c-r-a-w-l-s forward, slowly inching up to the car in front of him.  For what purpose?  To simply annoy me?

There are two women I encounter frequently at Curves who annoy me to death.  (No, Lisa, they aren’t “chatty”, although that gets to me, too, especially when it drowns out “CHANGE STATIONS NOW.”).  But these two women are polar opposites of each other, except that they are similar in mousy-appearance.  That alone is certainly no reason to be annoyed (unless I was a total bitch, which I’m really not, plus I’m sure others look at me and think “Look at that chubby blonde who is most definitely close to entering her 50^th year.”). 

OK, one of these women is tall and lanky (and mousy) and strange, and in-between the machines on the running-in-place pads, she pounds those pads and stomps on them like she was making wine from grapes.  (And no, not charmingly like Lucille Ball).  At the same time, she has a wad of gum in her cheek the size of a golf ball.  When she CHANGES STATIONS, she chomps Big Time on that wad of gum, then parks it in her cheek to do a machine or stomp more grapes. When it comes time to check heart rate?  Instead of just standing there like most folks, with finger on jugular, counting to 10, she raises a long, lanky arm in the air and strides purposely around the center of the circuit and I keep expecting her to blow a whistle or something.  What is up with that? Then!  She has the audacity to skip machines, and move to any ol’ STATION in the circuit, instead of following the circuit like the rest of us.  Sometimes she only does half the circuit, and then spends a good 20 minutes doing the after-stretches (in an odd, bizarre way, and chomping her gum Big Time).  Other times she leaves the circuit mid-stream and walks out the door without doing the after-stretches at all.  Once, while she was stretching, I finished the circuit and started stretching myself, followed by another gal who came off soon after me, and this weird woman glares at us and mutters “Sheep” under her breath.  I almost decked her.

The other mouse is short and tiny and has the ugliest straggly, greasy hair in the world (no, I’m really not a judgmental bitch, this is just a “description”, K?).  She wears ballet slippers instead of tennis shoes (sneakers) like everybody else.  And unlike the grape stomper, this gal SHUFFLES on the running-in-place pads.  I mean, she does not Lift. A. Toe.  There is no effort exerted What.So.Ever.  She has this dour, almost pissed-off scowl on her face the entire time that does not alter one bit, and you get the impression she absolutely HATES BEING THERE.  And each running-in-place pad I just marvel that neither knee bends, neither foot hardly moves, and that dour look remains solidly, locked in place.  Why bother?

But see? Why are there so many strange and unfriendly and well, STRANGE people everywhere you look?

One of the geeks at work, that I have dealt with frequently on various proposals lately, I recognize is a truly nice geek guy, very family-oriented, etc.  He works under a project manager who is a relative Big Wig I’ll call Greg. Here is a typical conversation with said geek guy in the course of preparing a proposal or interview presentation:  “I’m wondering if, you know, if we take this tact, do you think that, well, I guess I should check with Greg, but I’m thinking that if we, well, you know, what I’d really like to see is, I’ll check with Greg first, but what I’d like to see, after I’ve checked with Greg, but I’m really busy and I know he is, too, but what do you think? Maybe if we went this direction, do you have samples of this project – well, maybe Greg wouldn’t want to use that, I’ll have to check with him, but….”  Get the picture?  I don’t care if he’s a truly nice family-oriented guy.  HE’S ANNOYING.

With the exception of my flakey, narcissistic, from-another-planet boss, I work with a group of people who are astoundingly bright, fun, interesting, and NORMAL.  (And, we all share the same perception of our boss, which is good to know that WE are all on the same planet). I love being with people that I connect with.  It’s such a rarity!  I have to wonder sometimes, what parents have done so basically WRONG, to raise such ANNOYING children into ANNOYING adults.  Then I realize that parents really don’t hold all the cards to the outcome of their kids.  Genetics and many other environmental factors come into play.  I’m sure Hitler’s mother had no aspirations of what he was to become.

Please, Nate, don’t be annoying.

 

I'm WHO????

You scored as Anakin Skywalker. Anakin Skywalker 75% Padme Amidala 67% Yoda 58% Obi Wan Kenobi 56% Mace Windu 53% Darth Vader 53% C-3PO 50% General Grievous 39% Clone Trooper 33% R2-D2 31% Chewbacca 25% Emperor Palpatine 8% Which Revenge of the Sith Character are you? created with QuizFarm.com

I'm pretty blown away with this -- I answered the questions pretty passively, I thought. Hmm. Maybe I have some hidden anger/angst/evil? Or maybe it's just because I've had a bad day.  (Well, Darth Vader was pretty far down the list, so I guess it's "pre-bad").

...purloined from Spanglemonkey

A Wee Bit Grumpy

OK, first of all, I'm sitting here Monday evening and I'm peering outside into the SUNSHINE.  And that same SUNSHINE has been out and about all day long, while I sat for hours in a conference room dealing with the boring details of a developing Powerpoint presentation.  Couldn't manage to hang around over the WEEKEND, however.  Oh, and it's supposed to get to around 80 deg. by the END of the week.  By this coming three-day holiday weekend that we haven't seen the likes of since New Year's?  That we've all been looking forward to in a desperate sort of way for five long months?  They're hedging their bets.  Much cooler (mid 60s), and "maybe dry".  Too early to tell. 

I'm not going to get my panties in a wad over it quite yet.

Other reasons why I'm grumpy?  An almost-19-year-old son who is one lazy ass.  Mow the grass?  It would never occur to him on his own.  Eat JDub's lunch the night before JDub plans to take it to work?  Ooops.  Empty the dishwasher?  Don't think so.  Time for a "talk" with said 19-year-old lazy ass?  A'yuh.  (Sigh).  Mama ain't a happy camper.

And then?  ANTS.  Tiny little black ants, every-goddamned-where!  Up the walls, on the counters, EVEN IN THE CAMPING TRAILER.  When I saw them there, I thought, "Oh shit, did we bring them with us?"  What is up with itty tiny black ants?  Every-goddamned-where?  (And, we were just at the store and didn't think to buy bug spray.  Are we idiots or what?)

And then....a birthday next week.  Which will begin my 50th year.  I've always really liked my birthday.  Suddenly, not so much.  (This, too, shall pass...)   

Drip.

Friday night – May 20, 2005.  We headed down to Harstine tonight after work. Took about forever. Jeeze. For most of the way, we were in the midst of the continuation of the weather from hell, for the third day in a row! Thunder, lightening, hail, rain bouncing higher than the cars, and fast-speed windshield wipers totally unable to keep up. Even the dogs were wide-eyed about it all. (Especially the thunder, of course). At times, it was utterly amazing. I kept expecting to see a funnel cloud spawn from the chaos. It wouldn’t have surprised me in the least.

So, as a result of the weather from hell, we were also in the midst of the traffic from hell. It was probably a good thing it was crawling, because the alternative would have been to drown in the wake of hydroplaning SEMI TRUCKS (I hate semi trucks). (Yes, I know they’re necessary, but I still hate ‘em). We also stopped at a grocery store and stocked up on food for the weekend, and then we stopped at a restaurant just on the mainland side of the bridge. It’s a hoppin’ bar & grill place. JDub had Spencer steak (fitting, since the place is located on Spencer Lake), and I had steamer clams! Yum! They were really good. (Harstine steamers, too!) But we were a little nervous because the dogs were in the Durango with bags of groceries, including two T-bone steaks. (And bacon). JDub had bound the bags down with a blanket, but I know how determined wiener dogs can be. (They have really good noses, too, which can and will drive that determination). Well, when we got back to the Durango, we immediately discovered that they had, indeed, gotten into a bag that had a frozen mini-pizza, and they’d eaten it! But they never got to the steak or the bacon! We had to laugh. A frozen mini-pizza? I guess we lucked out. From now on, we’ll need to bring along a cooler. Probably pad-lockable. With a combination lock.

JDub’s doing another jig saw puzzle – this one is a 1,000 piecer, which means it will entirely take up the dining table. I’m used to that, though. We just eat on top of his puzzles-in-progress. (They make a nice trivet for hot stuff). We have a temporary solution to our bed problem for tonight, although it does mean crawling over the bed to get to the bathroom. The bathroom is now stocked with toiletries. The fridge is now stocked with food. And Anna Nalick is playing on the nifty stereo. Life’s pretty darned good.

Just hope the weatherman is right and the skies perk up tomorrow.

Saturday Morning

Breakfast is cooking! Bacon is sizzling on the stove. Mmmm. I did actually sleep last night, and it would have been a pretty good solid sleep except the weenies were restless and about drove me nuts. Grrrr! (They are just not “at home” in this trailer quite yet. They were more “at home” in the tent last year!) And then I woke up with my back all seized up on me, I have to assume from the bed, but I’m not sure why. I’ve since limbered up a bit now and I may live. There for a while, I wondered.

JDub has a lot on his plate (not quite breakfast yet, though) for the day. Exchange propane bottles for the “new and improved” type, and fill them up. Get some plywood from the lumber store and work on the permanent bed solution. Once I have dogs and man out of the trailer at some point today, I’m going to wet swiffer the floors in the trailer. Big time.

And hopefully the sun comes out. It’s very gray and blah out right now, but at least it’s not raining! A walk on the beach will be forthcoming!

Saturday Night

OK, Saturday was a bust. Shortly after I said “…at least it’s not raining!” it started to rain. And it hasn’t let up. Sigh.

JDub was finally able to find one propane bottle that’s the correct size for the trailer (we’ll need another), after a whole lot of running around. Lots of places exchange the smaller sized bottles, but not the RV size. But at least he was able to find one and get it filled. Should last for a while. The bed thing? That was sort of a bust, also. His hinged platform is just too heavy and cumbersome to fold the mattresses up and out of the way. I guess we’ll just have to make it up every night and remove the sheets every morning to rearrange things so there’s a path to the bathroom. Kind of a bummer, but it’s really the only option we have. We could also use the sleeping bag instead, but the sheets are so much more comfy! (Plus they hold the two twin mattresses together).

We took a nap this afternoon – a long one. The rain was like a lullaby. After we got up, we headed into town and picked up a few things, then came back and had a very late dinner. It’s going on 11:00 p.m. and I just got the kitchen all cleaned up. (T-bones! Yum!) Haven’t given the dogs their bones yet, though, because it’s just too wet outside and there’s no way they’re chewing them inside!

Sunday Morning

Oooh, slept good last night. Best night so far. Then I washed my hair over the tub this morning, and the result of that feels wonderful. Hints of sunshine outside, but it’s quite windy and threatening clouds keep blowing over, too. What an unstable bunch of crap we’ve had lately!

JDub finished his 1,000 piece jig saw puzzle! (Pretty much goes to show what all this weekend consisted of). We’ve also listened to a good portion of all the CDs in my carry case. Time to change some out for ones we haven’t listened to for a while. (And/or get some new ones!)

Poor JDub is currently taking a look at the gas furnace, seeing if it’s fixable. It probably is, knowing him, but I’ve heard his “those bastards” muttered under his breath, so it doesn’t sound like it’ll be a piece of cake. His gripe is that the folks who design shit, never have to repair shit. I remember my mom complaining about a similar thing years ago, before they had their house built on Camano Island and they dealt with a camping trailer for many years (pretty much how it always was there as I was growing up), and she’d say, “The men who design these camping trailers obviously never have to clean them!” Tiny tight places, knobs and burners that don’t remove, cracks & crevices hard to get to with a vacuum or mop, corduroy-type ridges in faucet knobs that collect grime and make it impossible to clean. I’d say things have improved somewhat – probably as a result of women having to nag. (Behind every nagging woman is a man who doesn’t do anything).

The doggies are chewing on their T-bones – outside. Figured I’d better give them to ‘em before the rain starts in again. Which is looking like it might be sooner rather than later.

Oooh, listening to “Simply Red’s Greatest Hits”, and what a great album that is. Every single tune is familiar and good. I didn’t realize how many “hits” they had!

Home

We came home pretty early – the weather continued to be shitty and we'd had enough.  Plus, we were out of food.  So a nap later, I'm feeling a little disoriented!  I suppose it's time to cook something.  Eh.

Pretty Close

Your Political Profile

Overall: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Social Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

How Liberal / Conservative Are You?

I took this test very honestly.  I guess you'd best not call me a "screaming liberal", huh?  In fact, there are some areas that are pretty gray for me, but I think that means that I'm balanced.  (But not wishy-washy).  Heh heh.

Man, the weather has been bi-polar these last couple of days.  Thunder and lightening and hail and sideways rain is not the norm in this neck of the woods.  And then, 5 minutes after all this violence the sun's out and the sky's blue.  And it's warm.  (And steamy).  Then, ten minutes later, back to violent again -- and I do mean violent!  My drive home from work on I-5 was dicey with semis drowning me on top of the rain deluge, my windshield wipers going at top speed, and suddenly I'd be blinded by the sun reflecting off the drenched pavement.  Totally wacko, and kind of exciting because the power went out at work today.  Well, for about 15 seconds.  And for those 15 seconds, it was pitch black.  Then the building backup kicked in.  (Bummer).  However, my computer died, whereas nobody else's directly around me did (due to individual backup power).  Hmm.  Sure glad I wasn't working on something vital that hadn't been saved.  Guess I need to ask about that.  Us ladies in the "communications" department tend to have the slowest computers in the company, likely because we're "overhead".  No respect!

I'm busy at work.  Eh.  Huge presentation coming up, and my role of "coaching/coordinating" just isn't my cup of tea.  I am totally, 200% out of my comfort zone, and I feel totally, 200% inadequate.  Just hate this part of my job.  And within 2 weeks, I'll have worked on two of these damned things.  I need a vacation!!

Reason Why I Didn’t Blog Last Night

JDub and TDub huddle together at the laptop, surfing bathroom décor sites. Getting the giggles at how butt-ugly most of the toothbrush holders are. Run across a pottery set with a subtle seashell motif they both kind of like for the camping trailer.

“How about Pottery Barn?” asks JDub.

TDub navigates to the Pottery Barn site, and in unison they both lean forward and peer at the screen.

JDub says, “So, if I’m looking at the Pottery Barn site, does that mean I’m gay?”

TDub says, “Nope, just a metro-sexual guy.”

JDub says, “Oh, Ok.”