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We all managed to get some sleep last night. Sometimes it helps to be exhausted. Who knew?

Today was the day for phone calls. Folks rang us, and after one attempt to call for some information, my Mother in Law turned the phone over to me. We now have it set up to go deal with the paperwork over at the funeral home tomorrow.

Later in the afternoon, one of Mom’s friends came over to stay with her so KoshVader and I could run some errands in town. It turns out that the Post Office parking lot over in Big Oak Flat has just enough cell phone reception to make some phone calls and check your voicemail. When we got back to the house, we got to play with a cute little Terrier dog. I’ve forgotten her name. It’s something like Twinkle or Twitter. Either way, she’s the cutest little thing. Quite the licky pup. She certainly lightened the mood around here.

Once they left, the rest of us decided that we couldn’t deal with being in the house any longer, so we went out for dinner. We drove out to Sonora, but we ended up going back to Jamestown and eating at The Willow steakhouse. On the way to the steakhouse, we actually passed the Funeral Home that we have to go to tomorrow. Good thing, as we had been trying to picture where it was. Now we don’t have to stress about that part. The food was really good and the atmosphere fabulous at the restaurant. The building was from 1862, as I recall. Anyway, just down the street was a house that had gone all out for Halloween.

Don’t worry, Linds. We got pics for you. KoshVader took them, so they are much less likely to be blurry.

At this point, we’re home again. The television has gone back to its sports-programs-as-background-noise job. I’ve hijacked the phone line to try and catch up on a few things. It’s hard to wait until the night to go online, but we need the phone line free during the day.

Tomorrow, we go back to Sonora to finalize the cremation plans and fill out paperwork. At some point we need to start working our way through the other paperwork after we get the death certificate. For one thing, my Mother in Law needs to write a will (as does my husband. I already have one. Come to think of it, I need to get my fella Life Insurance, too. His father didn’t have any.) We all need to sit down and make notes on what we want in the way of final plans. This whole situation has reminded us that death can be sudden and unexpected. It’s just better to be prepared. The Boy Scouts have that part right.

Thank you to all of you who have commented and e-mailed. I’ll try to keep you updated as connectivity permits.

I wrote this up a bit earlier, but I finally have a chance to post from the flaky dial up connection.

I am sitting in my Husband’s childhood home listening to a thunderstorm rage outside. I’m twenty miles from Yosemite National Park. There is no cell phone connectivity where I am, and the only Internet connection is very slow dial-up (that drops out a lot) or an old WebTV. So, I’m knitting while I sit with my Husband and Mother-in-Law as we sort of watch the Packers/Broncos game and count the seconds between the lightning and the thunderclaps.

We’re all a bit numb. The thing that really strikes me is the silence here. My Father-in-Law was hard of hearing, you see, and he always had the TV on. The house is small and the only way to escape the noise was to go outside. And now there is no loud conversation, no random old movie on the television. Just the occasional quiet comment, the game at a normal level, and the weather outside.

I’ve finished the longest pink scarf in the west, and started another. KoshVader has fixed his Mum’s laptop and a did a little work outside. Oh, and we’ve been to the grocery store in the nearest town. The Sheriff’s Deputy left a really handy pamphlet here when he left at 7 this morning. (We arrived at 9. It takes three hours to get up here.) We will have to review the pamphlet in the morning. (I already read it…and found a typo. Apparently, The Editor does not sleep.)

At this point I’m not sure how long we’ll be here, or quite what will happen. Hopefully we can all get some sleep tonight and be more functional tomorrow. Either way, It’s a good thing that I brought my bag and that extra skein of yarn.

Oh my God. My Father-in-Law just died. It’s 4:48am and I need to drive my husband up the mountain. I’ll be away for a couple of days.

I’ve gotta go.

My sinus pressure is back. In despair (and…silliness, really) I tried one last thing. It would seem that eating really high end fondue helps…but only while you’re there eating.

Mind you…it could have been the wine, coffee, and/or the garlic.

Results inconclusive. Obviously we must run the test again.

(Lets hope that the Nyquil Sinus has more long reaching effects for all that it lacks atmosphere and garlic.)

Are you participating in National Blog Posting Month (aka [tag]NaBloPoMo[/tag])? Well, I am. I’m way too busy to do NaNoWriMo this year, and really…I need to work on the stories I’ve already started. So, instead I will be posting at least once a day for the entire month of November…which starts on Thursday. To help me achieve this goal I have chosen a theme. I will be keeping track of which pair of silly socks that I am wearing each day. I have more than enough socks to do this with. I won’t even be duplicating.

At this point I’ll bet you’re wondering how a contest fits into all of this silliness. Well, as I wear my silly socks each day, I challenge you to send me pics of your favorite pairs of silly socks. I define silly socks as: socks that are not white or just one color. I’d like to avoid the boring tube socks that are all one color and have a couple of stripes on top as well, if you please. I’m talking about socks with cartoon characters, Daleks, stars, skulls, multicolored stripes, frolicking cats, and anything that is fun.

To be more specific:

During the month of November (and not before) send me pictures of your silly socks.
These socks may be on your feet (or…hands?) or laid out neatly so that I can see their true silliness.
Send the pics to: thesillysocks@gmail.com
You may enter as many times as you like during the month of November.
Please include your name and e-mail address in the e-mail. You never know what Cyberspace might do to your header.
At the end of the month I will choose a picture that shows the socks that I like the best. This winner will receive…a pair of [tag]silly socks[/tag] of my choice, shiny and new from the store.

That clear enough? Good. Please join me each day for my sock choices, and my attempts to keep writing in this darn blog.
If you have any questions, please feel free to comment.

My parents and my brother are visiting me this weekend. Yes, this means that I gotten most of my birthday presents. *grin* I’ll be doing a post about those at some point later.

Anyway, one of the events we’d planned for the weekend was to go see a field hockey game at one of the local Major Universities. Why? Well, to go and support a family member who is on the team. Have I mentioned that I have a very large family? (Especially on my Mother’s side.) We went to the game to cheer for my Mother’s Cousin’s Granddaughter. I’m not quite sure what level of cousin that makes me to the mighty Field Hockey Player, but I don’t suppose that it matters too much. My Mum, Dad, Brother, and I had fun cheering from the sidelines along with my Nth Degree Cousin’s parents.

Oh. Did I mention that I drove? I figured that my lovely little green Subaru would probably do a better job with the hills and parking (and my Fastrak receiver would do better on toll bridges) than my Parents’ white minivan. So, I ignored my usual aversion to driving in that particular town and we actually arrived just fine. The only problem was the parking lots. They were all reserved for some big media event or other that was not a Football game. Luckily, we found a spot up the hill from the field. Yes, my little car came in very handy. Even with the time spent circling and looking for a spot we still arrived just in time. And the best part? We Won!! Woohoo!

After the game we took part in the potluck for the players and families (we brought brownies and bread and cheese) and had a chance to catch up with my relations. It turns out that the Cheering Parents, who live in San Diego, were only evacuated for one day so far during these fires. The local blaze got close enough to scorch a neighbor’s yard, so they were only up for the game. There are other fires in the area, apparently. Eeek. We also discovered that the cool building across the street was a Boys’ Dorm. It is reputed to be pretty to look at and darn uncomfortable to live in.

Of course it’s uncomfortable. It looks like a castle, so it’s bound to be drafty.

After some prolonged goodbyes, we trudged back up the hill and made it back to the car eight minutes before our time was up. The parking guy was there writing tickets for folks, too. We made a few wrong turns in our bid to get back to the freeway, but I happen to know the freeways in the area pretty well. I used to work in a nearby town, you see. Back before the Dot Bomb. On the way home I shared one of my [tag]Royal Society Jazz Orchestra[/tag] CDs with my family, and they really enjoyed it. Yay! More converts.

The rest of the day was a lot less adventurous. I dropped the boys back at my place, and took my Mom to Joann’s Fabrics. She’s taking a quilting class and needed some more fabric. My Mum now says that I could find fabric with Roses on it while blindfolded. I would like to point out that I also found her some nice fabrics with just leaves on them. Luckily, the shopping trip didn’t take too long, as I was getting really worn out. How worn out? I didn’t buy anything. You read that right. I left Joann’s Fabrics without even one new skein of yarn. Obviously I needed a nap. When we got back I managed about 15 minutes of blessed slumber with my Kitty-Girl all curled up on my belly…to keep me from floating off of the bed? It’s a hypothesis.

And then…I cooked. Me. She who does not cook. It was only pasta, but still. It was enough pasta to feed five. Have I mentioned that I don’t actually own five chairs? Well, I don’t. But I sat in the rocking chair. It worked. My folks are back at their hotel now, and we plan to go for a drive tomorrow. Wish me luck. I’m tired.

I have this thing about Numeric Progressions. I adore them. When I’m playing poker with my husband at a restaurant while waiting for our food to arrive I love watching for interesting number combinations in my hand. We even have a special house rule hand we call the Fibonacci (A,A,2,3,5). We haven’t gotten it yet, but we keep trying. It trumps everything.

Hey, I’ve never claimed to be normal.

When I was on my way home the other night I saw the numeric progression in the picture above at the gas station down the street from my place. I enjoyed it so much I tried to call KoshVader to tell him about it (he didn’t answer.) Obviously, I had to take a picture of it on the way to work the following day.

I’m not even the one with the Math degree or anything. I just like numeric progressions. (And yes, that is the cheap gas in the neighborhood.)

My parents are visiting this weekend. I need to clean my place!

Maybe I can distract them with my garden….

Thursday 13 #6

Hello again. I took a week off from T13, but now I’m back with a list about some local points of interest I’d like to visit. Some of these places have been taunting me for a while now…and I don’t think it’s very polite of them. If I don’t manage to visit some of these by the end of the year, I may need to make it a New Year’s Resolution.

1. The [tag]Pez Museum[/tag]/[tag]Classic Toy Museum[/tag] (It’s only one town over and you can’t beat the admission price of a whole $3 for two museums. Even when I’m nearly broke I could still afford admission…and some Pez.)
2. [tag]Ardenwood Historic Farm[/tag] (I want to go the the next Scottish festival, and drag my Husband to the Blacksmith shop. Not necessarily at the same time. That reminds me. I need to get him a forge at some point.)
3. [tag]Filoli[/tag] (I expect that I will need to visit Filoli a couple of times to achieve all of my goals. I want to have tea here, spend time in their shop, explore, buy plants, and enjoy their cafe. I once lived right down the street from Great America for a year and a half and I eventually visited it only because I wanted to go to a Weird Al concert. I’ve lived near Filoli for at least that long. It’s about time I got my act together…since I don’t foresee a concert coming through to give me an excuse.)
4. [tag]Niles Canyon Railway[/tag] (I’ve already missed the last train of the year. *sniffle* I guess this one will have to wait until next year. Yes. I like trains, and I prefer the old ones.)
5. [tag]Niles Essanay[/tag] Silent Film Museum (I case you didn’t know, Charlie Chaplin started out at this studio, or so I’m told. Now that the studio is gone, the Museum lives on to tell folks about its illustrious history and show films with live accompaniment. I swear that I will make it to this darn theater if it kills me. Furthermore, I will go on a night that [tag]Frederick Hodges[/tag] from the [tag]Royal Society Jazz Orchestra[/tag] is playing. I hope that I don’t have to go alone, though. It’s not as much fun alone.)
6. [tag]Alice’s Restaurant[/tag] (Is it asking too much to go for a little drive and have a nice lunch here? I don’t think so. The roads are very pleasant in that area. I hope that KoshVader is reading this…)
7. [tag]Lawrence Hall of Science[/tag] (A science museum that I haven’t been to yet? Can it be possible? This must be rectified quickly. I wonder if their Astronomy exhibit is back yet.)
8. [tag]Coyote Point Museum[/tag] (I don’t actually know too much about this one, but it looks interesting…and I adore museums. As long as they have decently done exhibits I’m happy.)
9. [tag]SF MOMA[/tag] (As this one is in the city, it might be a whole before I manage to get to this one. I really don’t like driving in the city. It’s just that I miss art museums. I’m forever going to the science museums, which I adore, but I’d like a little variety. I think it’s been 8 years since I was at an art museum, and that one was in London. It’s time.)
10. [tag]Pacific Film Archive[/tag] (They keep showing films I want to see here. And yes, I love film.)
11. [tag]Computer History Museum[/tag] (I admit that I’m mostly interested in taking my husband to this one, as he currently works in the industry. But it looks like fun in general.)
12. [tag]Monterey Bay Aquarium[/tag] (I admit it. I have actually been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium before, but It was years ago, and my parents took me. I want to watch the Otters with my sweetie this time. Of course we’d have to stay overnight in a Bed and Breakfast, and wander around town. You know how it is. I’m prepared to make the sacrifice. )
13. The [tag]French Laundry[/tag] (Okay, I know that this one is largely a pipe dream. The prix fixe menu is a wee bit out of my usual price range, but…you never know. Stranger things have happened. I just need to make my Hubby buy a suit first…)

Over the past few days I have discovered some entertaining things about the ways that my body interacts with certain substances. I knew that my family has some entertaining reactions to things, but seriously….

If I take Benadryl in the evening, I am a bit of a [tag]Zombie[/tag] in the morning (without the craving for brains). Not as bad as the infamous NyQuil Sinus incident, but still quite noticeable.

If I don’t take [tag]Benadryl[/tag] in the evening, I wake up with really unhappy sinuses and dry eyes. Eyes so dry that I have trouble seeing for a couple of hours. Bleh. And here I thought that I needed to go buy eye drops. Hello interesting new allergy symptom! What happened to the watery eye thing? I wish I knew what I’m allergic to. Le Sigh. (Mind you, the Benadryl in the evenings doesn’t preclude [tag]sinus[/tag] problems/the constant popping of the ears thing in the afternoon. Anyone have a magic bullet? Or…maybe some local honey?)

If I am in a particularly Zombified state in the morning, and decide that the only thing that will snap me out if it is some caffeine…a Soy [tag]Pumpkin[/tag] Spice Latte will only help a little, before turning me into a jittery mess. I was vibrating like a plucked harp string in a high wind at work today. Boy howdy. At about 3pm I had to go for a walk, because I simply couldn’t sit still any more. I hope that I remember this next time, and stick with a cup of tea. (Note to self: The [tag]Tea[/tag] is Free.)

So, if y’all happen to encounter Zombie-Me in the morning, you might just hand me a cup of tea and back away slowly. If you do, I promise that I will eat the gummy brains I have in the cupboard instead of trying yours. Especially since I’ll bet your brains aren’t watermelon flavored.