Kingfisher Cove

On The Way

I've taken things in hand, and I'm back on the ol' Prozac.  It'll be a couple of weeks or more before I see a change, but I'm looking forward to it.  In the meantime, I'm just dealing.

My kid has been a sore spot lately, and we've had a couple of pretty decent chats the last couple of evenings.  Yes, I lit into him about Mother's Day.  (No, it's not about any kind of gift, it's about the fact he didn't even utter a single word to me that entire day!  It was out of guilt on his part, but I put the kibosh on that excuse.  Everyone knows 365 days in advance that Mother's Day is coming).   He is struggling with trying to figure out what to do when he grows up.  It's just not clear to him.  He will have his associate's degree in a couple of weeks (finally — it's taken forever), but he's burned out on school, which disturbs me because these days you've just GOTTA have at least a bachelor's.  He's talking about joining the Navy.  Truth be known?  It might be good for him.  It's not the Army and it's not the Marines, and for that I'm "calmer" about the discussion.  The Navy or Air Force just might be what he needs.  He's mulling it all over — who knows, he might try an Alaskan fishing gig and see what that's all about.  I think he needs to get away, figure out who he is, and do some growing up.  Easy for me to say.  When/if the time comes, I'll be a puddle.

It's almost bed time, but I'm Very Much into a book on my Kindle (soon to be followed by Dean Koontz' newest), so I'm going to grab some before it's time to face Day Jail tomorrow.  (At least it'll be Friday.  Four-day work-weeks take forever!)

In Which I Try to Refrain from Punching Something

Overall, I have to say that our entire long weekend (with the exception of last Wednesday afternoon and evening after we arrived) was quite pleasant.  Some days (like Saturday!) were better than others, but even today ended up being quite nice once the morning cloud cover burned off.  We had a lot of deck fires and watched a lot of birds and enjoyed the relative peace and quiet.  The noise we did experience was mostly festive—boats and screaming wake-boarders.  There is also a house under construction a couple of lots down from us, so we did hear some pounding and excavating.  And then somebody somewhere apparently thought this weekend was the 4th of July instead of Memorial Day!  Not pretty fireworks, but firecrackers.  Eh.  But that aside, we relished not hearing car traffic, airline traffic, or sirens—a constant here at home. 

It was wonderful to have 5-1/2 days to not even think of work!  (After Wednesday night, it never once entered my mind...until today, because tomorrow I have to face it).  In spite of it all, I found myself feeling "down" a lot of the time.  Or if not exactly "down", then highly irritable.  Everything little thing would set me off, from my angst with my internet connection and the posting issues, to Bailey having a barking frenzy, to an albino spider crawling across my keyboard.   I mean, those things pretty much warrant some irritability, but I felt almost uncontrollable rage.  Almost, because I actually didn't put my foot through the computer monitor (or kick the dog).   But slamming some choice cupboard doors or spewing a succession of cuss words felt oddly satisfying. Or, when JDub and I were having lunch in Poulsbo, there was a guy next to us with a droning voice who talked on and on and on and on and on to his lunch mate, not hardly taking a breath between phrases and I wanted to slug him!  (Or scream, "Shut the fuck up!")  It took every ounce of control I could muster to not do one of those things!

So what's up with that?  I have my suspicion.  When my mom was just 37 years old, she had a hysterectomy, and shortly afterward was when I left home and moved nearly 4,000 miles away—so I never experienced witnessing anybody go through menopause.  I've heard stories from some friends who endured their mothers' menopausal wraths (rather hair-raising stories, too), but that was long ago and I'd sort of put it out of my mind, I guess.  And here I am soon to be 52.  Hmmmmm.... Get the picture?

I remember my doctor telling me years ago when I was going through a rough time and he'd prescribed Prozac, that I may well need to take it through menopause.  I stopped taking it a few years ago, as I didn't see the need for it anymore, but I'm beginning to think it might be wise to consider taking it again.  It certainly helped with irritability, and being booked on assault or battery charges is not something I ever want to deal with!

Monday Musings (mostly about how great Saturday was...)

I figured out a work-around with my Typepad/Live Writer posting issues that I sure hope is just temporary.  It's all pretty convoluted, but the result is that I eventually get my post title and the comments seem to work OK.  But Typepad and Live Writer need to talk to each other to get this problem remedied!  The work-around is time-consuming.

Wow, it's quiet around here for Memorial Day.  All the campers from the park down the way must've packed up and headed home early.  It's not a stellar day (cloudy and cool), but at least it's dry...for now.   Makes it hard to remember just how great Saturday was.  We went for a beach walk on that gorgeous day and me and my dorky water shoes actually waded in that cold clear saltwater:

Mojo wasn't interested in wading, but he sure did quickly plop down on my cold wet water shoe to cool off!

Between the two of us, JDub and I found a nice handful of agates:

 

This cat might be a heckuva critter-killer, but he is ultimately divine:

A Day Trip and a Mars Landing

After a nummy meal of grilled "colossal" shrimp on the barbie (next step up must be prawns?) JDub and I wrapped up our wonderful and beautiful 75+ deg. Saturday with a deck fire and then retired—only to be awaken in the middle of the wee morning hours by torrential rain! Figures.

It was cloudy and cool when we got up, with rain threatening, so we decided to venture up the road about 30 miles or so to Poulsbo, a quaint little Norwegian town on the water with quaint little shops.  JDub and I spent our honeymoon there (nearly nine years ago) and we have fond memories of the place.  The weather vastly improved along our drive, and it made for a pleasant day!  (Finding a shady parking spot for the wiener dogs proved to be a challenge, though, especially since everybody and their wiener dog decided to do the same thing!  We saw at least five different dachshunds on leashes!  That's four more than JDub's parents saw during their two-week visit to Germany!)  Frankly, (heh, frankly, get it?) the shops were pretty disappointing.  Lots of antiques and frou-frou stuff (not our cups o'tea), and while I did see some very beautiful jewelry, I wasn't in the mood for that.  We're still keeping an eye out for something artsy and unique to hang on the tiled kitchen wall behind the stove, but just haven't found it yet.  But it was nice to get out and about, and we had lunch at a nifty place in town:

A couple of scenes from our day:

And then, on the drive back to Harstine, a bare minimum fraction of a sample of the bane of my existence (scotch broom every-damned-where):

We arrived back in the nick of time for me to follow the progress of the Mars Phoenix landing as reported by the lander "itself" on Twitter.  It was nail-biting, with so many sequences of complex maneuvers and activities that had to occur at the exact right time, absolutely perfectly.  Success!  I was caught off-guard at how emotional it made me!  But then, I've always been that way about space exploration.  It fascinates me.  (And doesn't it blow your mind that it was nearly 40 years ago (OK, 39) that we landed on the moon for the first time?  I think about the incredible lack of technology we had then, and what they were able to do!  Part of this is about the good side of humans, because we read and hear so much about the bad side.  And with most humans being of C+ average intelligence, it does my heart good to see the abilities and results of those stellar rocket-scientists.

Chores Done, Time to Relax!

A couple of weeks ago when we were here, I sprayed a bunch of weeds and small scotch broom with Roundup and it did a pretty good job, but this weekend I noticed what all I'd missed.  I also picked up the "heavy-duty brush killer" version of Roundup at Wal-Mart yesterday, knowing that it really works well on the nasty scotch broom.  (It's so prevalent right now because it's in full squashed-baby-chick-yellow bloom).  So I sprayed today, and also shampooed the carpet inside the camping trailer (as Tod would say, "Yukarama!")  If a beloved weenie dog pisses on it again, her ass will be grass!

It's so utterly gorgeous out here!  As the afternoon wanes, boaters have taken to the water, including much screaming from kids being towed on inner tubes.  I thought that JDub would work at getting our boat ready for the water—the motor needs some tweaking and he has a new propeller to install on it, plus it needs to be cleaned since it's been sitting for nearly two years without use.  But he did a bunch of land surveying to accurately establish where we'll eventually be able to build.  While I appreciate the foresight, that didn't seem particularly interesting to me today....I'm really hankering for a boat ride!  (Building the house is years away!) 

I also marinated the "colossal" shrimp for BBQing tonight, and made my famous garlic dip.  Both of us got pretty hot & sweaty from our activities, so sitting under the shade umbrella here on the deck is heavenly.

Pretty Day!

Now this is more like it!

Woke up to this, after a great night's sleep with that memory foam mattress thingy.  Boy, what a difference!  (In both the weather and the night's sleep!)  No pain!  I guess the sun will only stick around for today and we're back to clouds and showers, though.  I plan to make the most of it!  Spray some scotch broom, take a walk on the beach, and shampoo the carpet inside the camping trailer, and maybe take another walk on the beach.  Woot!

Last night we had kabobs:

Yum!  Tonight?  Skewered jumbo shrimp on the barbie!

Still having technical problems; don't think you can leave a comment. Pout.

Chillin' (literally) On The Deck

At least it's dry and so I can bring my laptop out to the little café table where the internet connection cell signal strength is (marginally) better than inside the camping trailer where my frustration level has been dangerously bordering on kicking a foot through my monitor.  And, wrapped up in layers of outerwear, being outside is do-able.

Twitter is down (again), and the little status-checker website called "IsTwitterDown.com" that generally gives you a big single word: Yes or No — today says Of Course.  I cracked up so hard that it didn't even annoy me that Twitter is down (again).

We just returned from Wally World and took a break with some retail therapy.  Some of it was for necessities, but I also picked up a few fun items, such as a new aqua sweatshirt/jacket and some summerish tops, that maybe I'll have an opportunity to wear one of these days.  (Ya think?)  We also got one of those memory foam mattress covers that I'm sure hoping prevents me from feeling like somebody has shredded my internal organs every morning.  They're pricey, but not as pricey as a new mattress.  And I've heard really good things about them.  Give it a whirl, and if it does the trick we'll spring for a King-sized one for our bed at home.  If not, it's time to spring for Big Bucks for new mattresses.  (Can you say "stimulus check?")

Last night we had such a nummy dinner!  We splurged on fresh Copper River salmon, something I've never had before because it's so very expensive ($16/lb. — although I've seen it for $21/lb.!)  But since we're on vacation, baby, and since it's just the two of us, we decided to give it a try and see if it's worth all the hoopla of it's two-week-long season.  Uhm, hell yes, it's worth it!  My God, it was wonderful!  Deep coral color, wonderful buttery texture, and flavor that is mild and totally absent of that acrid/bitterness that is sometimes prevalent in salmon.  Awesome.  We like salmon prepared this way:

• Spread a thin coat of mayonnaise over the salmon (I use reduced fat, just 'cuz).
• Sprinkle with onion powder/or dried minced onion; garlic powder; Johnny's Seafood/Steak seasoning;  and dill (I'm especially generous with the dill).
• Grill on foil built up on the sides and sprayed with Pam or olive oil.
• (It's always hard to know exactly how long to cook it, but the one-pound fillet took about 15 minutes and it was perfect).

Here it is before JDub placed it on the grill:

I neglected to take a picture afterward because we were hungry!

Whoa! Just heard a seal bark out on the water again! He keeps hiding behind the trees so I haven't seen him.

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I'm still having problems with Live Writer vs. Typepad (Typepad has acknowledge "issues").  If this post is hosed, or if you can't comment, that's why.  They assure me they are trying to fix these issues.

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It won't upload the effing photo.  I'm about to put my foot through my monitor.

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Update:  I'm trying this again from Live Writer.  It won't upload the post titles.  ARGH!

Enjoying! (but shivering...)

A cool day on the deck is better than ANY day at work!  It's actually been quite entertaining because the finches are plentiful at the feeders!  I suspect the main culprits of emptying out those feeders these past few days were the banded pigeons (pigs) and crows, but I'm also convinced that the vast volume of finches had a lot to do with it, too. 

Man!  Nature is a cruel thing! (Duh). Chipper the squirrel just tangled with Alvin the chipmunk inside the squirrel/chipmunk feeder!  Wow!  Feed-spillage galore!  And then we spent hours this morning watching Mojo ruthlessly play with a live shrew.  He'd carry it around  in his mouth by the tail, then let it go and pounce.  Over and over and over again.  It was rather like watching those nature films of killer whales playing with seals before they eat them.  (As I remember, cats aren't into eating shrews, though).  I suspect that the poor (disgusting) thing finally expired from exhaustion.  Last night, within no more than ten minutes apart, Mojo came through the camping trailer window with a mouse in his mouth!  JDub "disposed" of the first (dead) one, and Mojo immediately flew back out the window and came back with a live one!  (Needless to say, JDub is pretty weary of disposing of mice!)

JDub woke up this morning feeling sick (and my back was killing me from our godawful mattress), but we seem to both be doing better now.  That's all we need — to look so forward to vacation and work so hard to get there, and then be down and out! 

Killer whale cat:

On Vacation; Feeling Mildly Bitchy

In regard to the title of this post, I cannot tell you exactly why that is.  Menopausal whacked-out hormones maybe? If I think about it, there are a number of possible contributing factors, one being the weather. It sucks!  I can only hope this is a passing monsoon and the hedgy optimism of the forecasters for the upcoming days can be believed.  It is so cold and so windy that you would swear it was November out there (here at Harstine Island).  Yes, good reason to feel bitchy in May.

And then, I really ought to be feeling tremendous relief that my proposal is completed and outa here (and that I was even able to leave work early), but I think I haven't spiraled down out of that stress quite yet.  Sometimes it takes a while to get over all the angst of uncooperative technical staff.  It really "takes a village" to complete one of these, and all too often certain village members get sticks up their butts as if they are "too important" to contribute their part. I get so very weary of having to play hide-and-seek (where I'm the seeker), take pulse beats, cajole, demand, walk on eggshells, be firm, but ultimately "bend over."  It exhausts me.  (I've always hated "working in groups", since school and beyond, because there are always lame group members that I can't depend on).  Grrrrr!

I'm thinking I have Windows Live Writer back, but no thanks to their help desk, which I believe is out of India. ("Hi! I'm Shandia and I'm here to help you!")   Of course before I submitted a help ticket I tried all of the suggestions in the Help Menu, i.e., ensure that the configuration is correct, that the username/password was entered correctly (duh, it had been working perfectly for nearly a year's worth of blog posts!), etc.  So when I heard from Live Writer, they'd  just simply copied and pasted the exact suggestions from the help menu!  (Are there that many idiots out there?)  No help from Typepad, either — I still haven't heard a response from them.  But all of a sudden my username and password were accepted and here I am.  The true test will be when I publish.  (If that's even possible with this extremely unstable internet connection...) 

The wind is howling outside!  Even Mojo has no desire to be out there.

OK, I'll stop being bitchy now.

(Mouse) Shit!

I have had to work extra hard this week (starting with 3 hours Sunday night) in order to meet my deadline so that I can take Thursday and Friday off for my pre-arranged vacation.  Then there's laundry to get on top of, some food preparation (although I'll save most of that for the long weekend), and then tonight I came home to a mouse shit problem.  Apparently Mojo let one (or more?) get away (shock!) and it's been hiding out in the kitchen drawers and cupboards.  Needless to say there are mouse turds everywhere.  Which means emptying out said drawers and cupboards and washing everything on the sanitize cycle in the dishwasher — load after load after load after load....and then scrubbing out those drawers with steaming water and Lysol.  I'm so frustrated!  I'm sure hoping that the stupid mouse will emerge (we have all those drawers removed and the cupboard doors open) so that Mojo can do some brutal thumping and end the madness.  I refuse to put anything away until I know for certain that the mouse is NO MORE.  God.

So yesterday my (annoying) coworker and I participated in the interview for the lead marketing coordinator position (of which I have held the interim position since January).  Thanks to frequent Kingfisher Cove commenter, Babs, who sent me a super list of excellent interview questions, my coworker and I sat down beforehand and pulled a bunch that were perfectly relevant and pointed.  I think we actually shocked the HR lady somewhat (like, maybe she felt a leetle bit of job insecurity?)  I believe we were able to get a pretty good idea of what this lady is all about, which is a corporate climber.  She's not accustomed to doing proposals from cradle-to-grave like we do, and which we desperately need another warm body to help do.  She's more into that "Quality is my global added value" shit.  She was nice; she was down-to-earth; she wasn't a "babe" like Ms. Tongue Stud was that made all the male engineers google-eyed and stupid; she is knowledgeable in our field, but like I said, not especially hands-on (doesn't know InDesign, which is SO not good).  And get this:  The major concern our principal has had about ME taking on this position is that I don't have any supervisory experience.  Guess what?  Neither does this lady!  (And they flew her up here from Arizona for the interview, knowing that!)  I guess what they are really looking for is additional weight in the already top-heavy corporate structure.  Lot of good that'll do. 

Whatever.  (will be, will be...)

The good news is that my deadline is on track and there is a pretty good possibility that I'll be able to slip out early tomorrow.  Ahhhh, vacation!  I can hardly wait!

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For this first time in ages, I've had to use Typepad's compose screen, because I've been using Windows Live Writer for a long time now (which I LOVE).  I notice that Typead just launched their new compose feature (seems better than it used to be, but still not as wonderful as Live Writer) and I wonder if it's a cooincidence that Live Writer won't work for me now?  This could be a Big Problem when I'm at Harstine, because the beauty of Live Writer is that I compose off-line — a necessity since my internet connection there sucks. Plus it's highly WYSIWYG, also a necessity for me!  I hope this issue gets resolved soon; I have help tickets into both Typepad and Live Writer.