Celticangel.org

You know, at work I often say that I want to change the name of the “Information desk” to the “Too Much Information desk.” This is due to our habit of giving people much more information than they came for. It’s a librarian thing, apparently.

Knowing this I will try to keep my results report from the HSG short.

Everything is fine. Rather a lot of fuss to discover this really, and I am so glad I took the day off as there is no way I could have worked today. No blockages and everything looks fine. I know this, ’cause I could see the monitor. It’s weird to see one’s innards like that, but also kind of interesting. As I expected I did not like the process at all. It was very uncomfortable, and I was moving very slowly once it was all done.

Well, now that much is checked off of my list. Not sure what the next step will be at this point, but…there you are.

Friday.

The test that I’ve been trying to get done for months now? Friday.

On the one hand I’m thinking. “Finally!”

On the other hand…I’m terrified. Not only do I have to deal with this test, but then the news that follows. I’ve taken Friday off of work. Like I’d be of any use there on Friday. Can you say Stress Monkey?

And Koshvader’s new job begins on Thursday.

Please pray/keep your fingers crossed for me.

Planetary Nebula NGC 2371

I need a Rubber Chicken, and they are out of stock at Archie McPhee. Why do I need a Rubber Chicken? Well, I’m going to be making some changes over at Silliness.org, and one of those is changing the theme to Misty Look. Misty Look will allow me to change the picture in the header, so I’m going to get a Rubber Chicken (which I’ve been meaning to get for a couple of years now) and take some random pics of it. That way I can change the header periodically. You see? With the change of theme will also come another change. I’m going to start using ads. Hey, I need to make up that rent increase somehow. And I can’t say anything about the addition of ads over there, as that is against the usage policy. I’m hoping that the change of theme will give the blog a slightly sillier appearance. It’s kind of boring now. Hey, I could even have some new tag lines like: Silliness.org - Obey the chicken. Anyway, that’s what’s going on over there.

I’m still alive. In case the fact that I’m posting this hadn’t tipped you off. I will never again sneer at Influenza. I’m not sure that I ever have before, but there you are. Bleh. I’m still coughing, but I’m otherwise okay if a bit on the tired side. My brain is back to its usual thousand miles an hour thing. So, thank you for your well wishes.

I’ve been working on my list today. So far:

I’ve made an appointment with my OB/GYN who is back from her maternity leave. (28. Call OB/GYN’s office.) I need to catch up and talk to her about that test I need to do.
I’ve changed doctors. (30. Change doctors)

And I’ve been working on some other things like the old version of Silliness.org and my filing system. I even got my old renter’s insurance policy (the people that re-upped without asking) canceled officially. The new policy proof is being faxed to the complex as I type.

Now, some bad news. The pet rent was not included in the original estimate of the new rent price starting in June. So, our rent is going up a grand total of $233/month. Good Gad! Yes, I just got off of the phone. Now I really wish that I’d get that Tea Blogger job I applied for.

Hey, Dad! This is the song that was stuck in my head the other day. (Mind you, this live version is a bit faster than I’m used to.)

Oh, and finally, Doctor Who series 4 starts tomorrow in the UK. Just so you know.

Vast Antarctic Ice Shelf on Verge of Collapse

Government benefit programs in trouble

…And I will persist in using a toaster oven that is a bit too high up to easily reach, and taking out items that I’ve toasted with my bare hands. Today, I even manged to brush against the heating element while reaching for the last of my fries. One tiny flash of smoke later, I have a wee burn on my hand that doesn’t even hurt. Good thing my hands aren’t hairy.

My new hard drive arrived!

Um…I just broke two nails at the same time…when I fell on the stairs. Again.

I’m thinking that they have it in for me. Well, at least I didn’t cry this time. Mostly, I was laughing (once I could breathe again) from my position on the floor of the entryway. KoshVader was busy freaking out somewhere behind me. But I couldn’t see it as my back was to him.

At this point I’ve cut my fingernails, had some nice hot and sweet tea, I’m sitting on the couch with my feet up, and I’m trying to order some more sports for my sweetie. We don’t have enough sports at the moment, apparently.

Before I even begin, I want to warn you all that this post will be excessively depressing. Run away while you can.

No, really.

I took my Spock to the vet this morning at 8:30am. I carried her down the stairs and out to the car in her comfy donut thingy. She sat quietly during the trip across town, just watching through the windshield and occasionally glancing at me. At the Vet’s I filled out the paperwork with one hand while holding her with the other arm. When we went in to the room, the doctor very gently checked her out and confirmed my fears. Kidney failure. I wasn’t really surprised. She’d been drinking so much water and she had a very distinctive smell. I had just hoped that I was wrong somehow. The vet said that even if I had come in a month ago, the results would have been the same. He offered to run tests if I wanted, or give her fluids as she was dehydrated in spite of all the water. But there was no point. I could let her linger in pain for another week or so, or do the humane thing and let my baby go. That’s not really a choice. So I stayed with her until she was gone…and then I had to go to work.

I’m having her cremated and then returned to me, so that I can scatter her in a couple of weeks in the same area as we are going to scatter the ashes of my Father-in-law this weekend. I figure she’d like to have someone to annoy, and that way they won’t be lonely.

I hate these last two weeks. Everything from the terrible, unexpected phone call at 4:20am on Monday October 29, to sleeping on the floor up at the house in the mountains while we made all of the arrangements (okay…I got some knitting done, but still), to this, my laptop monitor dying, and the meeting I have tomorrow that I have to be non-specific about right now. Don’t worry, you’ll be hearing about the meeting as soon as I am allowed to say. And we have to go back up the mountain this weekend, picking up my father-in-law’s ashes on the way.

I need a gorram vacation. Oh. I have next week off. That’s good timing. I wish I had the money to go somewhere. Grr. I’m thinking of going anyway. So there.

Now, I need either a lot of chocolate or a lot of alcohol…or both. Too bad I don’t have time. *sigh* Oh, and the title of the post comes from last night’s shopping trip. That’s what we went to the store for. It was such a weird combination of things that I had to use it.

Spock 1991-2007

Okay. I’m going to make this update quick, as I have to get up for work in 6 hours. Hopefully, I will have time for more when I get home.

Some things I would like to say:

* I’m finally home.
* I’m going back up the Mountain on Friday for the very private ceremony
* Those of you that are interested (and actually know my last name) can find the Obit for my Father-in-Law here.
* Heaven is a nice hot shower.
* I am getting too old to sleep on the floor. The jury is still out on sleeping on dirt. (Dirt tends to be softer.)
* TGI Friday’s new Mini Desserts are a stroke of genius. A shot glass full of Chocolate Mousse is just the right amount.
* I am wearing the flying pig socks tomorrow (or later today depending upon how you look at it.) I have no idea about the rest of the outfit, as I’m not sure what is clean.
* Don’t forget that I am holding a silly sock contest this month. Send me those pictures!
* I go thud now (in my own bed. Bliss! Modified rapture!)

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.

Oops.
Sorry that I haven’t posted in a couple of days. Between my birthday (which deserves its own long rambling post) and a few things I’ve been working on, I’ve been quite busy. Don’t worry, though. I’ve got some nice before and after pictures to show you. Yep. I may have a tendency to ramble, but at least my rambles are illustrated.

I’ve spend the last couple of days working in my back garden with some friends (one of which was my little sister, Dani.) It was sort of like Ground Force, actually. Except for the fact that I was there and participating. I’ve been living in the same place for about a year and half, now. In all of that time, I have pruned the roses and weeded the back dirt a couple of times. And that’s about it.

In my defense, I was barely here for the first seven months that my stuff and KoshVader lived here. I worked really far away, and I spent a lot of time at my parents’ place. Since the end of February…I have had no good excuse. Excuses, yes. Good excuses, no. So, my back garden looked like this on Friday:

Before (the dirt):

And if you stood in the dirt and looked the other way you would see…

Before (the patio):

No. My back garden is not large, but it is larger than most of the others in the huge apartment complex in which I dwell. It’s about 30 feet long and varies between 10 feet to 13 feet across. That includes the patio, by the way.

Saturday dawned nice and clear (unlike the very rainy Friday.) And then, the crew arrived.

We weeded and tried to even out the dirt area. My sister had brought with her some wood that her Husband had pre-cut and drilled to make some raised beds. My dirt is right next to the stump of a very large tree…which, instead of removing, the builders…built on it. Yes. At some point it will rot through, and my parking overhang will fall down. That and the fence. So, I have all of these huge roots going through the dirt. As you might imagine, this makes it very entertaining to dig any sort of hole in the garden. All hail my Brother-in-law for all of the work he did to get the logs ready! We surveyed the area, decided what we wanted to do, and headed off for the Home Depot. We returned very laden down with stuff.

We managed to get the raised beds set up and lined, and we made a French Drain before it was time to leave for my Birthday dinner. (We’d discovered that there is a drain pipe that runs down next to the neighbor’s chimney. To keep the water from flooding the area during some future rainstorm, we dug a trench, lined it with special cloth, filled it with rocks, covered most of the rocks with more fabric, and covered that with dirt. Now, the water should drain out into the other side of the fence. And I’ve learned a new thing. Cool!)

On Saturday, Dani and I arose early and went to OSH (there is a Starbucks and a Noah’s Bagels next door. Guess what we had for breakfast.) At OSH, we purchased three bricks to finish the French Drain and a few pavers for pots (and a theoretical future chair) to sit on. We stopped by home to drop these off, and ran off again. After a trip to Lowe’s and a lovely Nursery, we returned to my place and got to work. (After a little lunch.)

We filled the raised beds. We laid down the pavers and my cool stepping stones. We planted. We tidied. And now, my back garden looks much nicer. (Even though there are a few more things that I have planned for some point when I have a bit of money. Like a fountain and a trellis.) Like my blue pots? They were on sale!

After (the garden):

And looking the other way…

After (the patio):

That’s my sister there is the second pic. She’s following the family tool cleaning protocol. You must clean all tools before putting them away. Or, our Grandpa Leon will haunt you or something. Seriously.

What do you think of the garden now? The white wall will eventually have a trellis to break it up. It just happens that the ones I like are all a wee bit on the expensive side. I’ve got herbs in the raise bed on the left, and Snapdragons and Pansies(?) in the bed on the right. Oh, and mint in the big terracotta pot in front of the bricks.

Luckily, Dani took all of the recycling with her when she left. My apartment doesn’t have recycling, but I can’t bring myself to just throw all of the recyclables away. (My sister is an Environmental Scientist. I blame her.) So, I took the opportunity to re-organize my tool closet (behind the ugly brown door on the patio) which was where most of the bottles and paper had been located.

I’m exhausted. …But at least my garden looks and smells nice. (Yes, I bought four Basil plants, Rosemary, and Catnip.)

This was quite the Birthday present. Thanks, Dani and Co.!

OSH, Starbucks, Noah’s Bagels, Lowe’s, garden