The pool is open!

We don't have a finished room in the house, but man, we've got ourselves one hell of a nice pool.

Did I show you what it looked like last summer? Probably. Here's one from last week:



Mosquito Control actually put fish (gambusia) in there a couple of years ago. So as bad as it looked, mosquitoes didn't do much breeding there.

We found this guy in there the day before the renewal started:



By the time the pool was drained, there was a second one in there too. They finally had to be lifted out of there, because they weren't going on their own. Actually, they tried but they couldn't make it up the sides of the pool on their own.

This guy was far braver (or more stupid) than anyone I've met.



I asked him if he'd had his shots; he just looked at me funny.



It took most of the day to pump all of that nasty water and sludge out; he ended up shoveling I don't know how many buckets of really smelly stuff and hauling it out.





One guy stuck his hand down the *urk* drain to try to dislodge the 3 years' (at least) worth of crap while the smarter guy owner of the pool company power washed the rest of the pool.



By that evening, the pool was clean and dry.



And this guy decided to come back to see if it was safe to sun himself on the ledge again.



He isn't the brightest bulb. He repeatedly ran head-first into the fence attempting to leave the yard. He finally realized that *climbing* the fence was his best option.







I'm glad he didn't challenge me; he is one strong booger.



The next morning another crew came and did some stuff. I can't remember exactly what went on. The mosquitoes were so bad that I wasn't going to hang around taking photos, so I mostly took them out the upstairs window, which some idiot badly covered with tinted vinyl to reduce heat from the sun, a pretty much ill-fated attempt.

They spread this thick icky brown muck on the surfaces of the pool and left it to dry overnight.



The next day was Aggregate Day, but it rained all the night before (too bad we weren't filling the pool then, as there were about 6" of water in the pool the next morning) and until 2 p.m. As soon as the sun came out, the crew was back mixing and spreading and sculpting aggregate. They were professionals; they could have decorated a wedding cake, they are so good.




That guy, and the next one, spent the entire time on the steps. Two other guys did the rest of the pool.



They spent hours just smoothing the aggregate. I'm very impressed by the job they did. And it was 94 degrees that day, and the mosquitoes were biting. They finished after dark and returned Thursday morning to acid wash the pool and start filling it.

And by Thursday afternoon, my birthday, there was enough water that we could test our pool.

It's seven feet deep at the deep end; I don't swim and I don't put my head under water, so I use a float when I head in that direction.

The water straight from the hose is about 85 degrees, so it was very comfortable right away. When we take showers, we barely use any hot water at all.

Then *dum dum dum dummmm* the salt marsh mosquitoes descended the next day as we got into the pool. Within 5 minutes they'd driven us out. That happened again the next two days. Today we were able to stay in for about half an hour before they got too bad. Those are the little f^ckers that carry dengue fever, which is making itself known in the Keys and Miami. Lucky us. Regular mosquitoes aren't enough for us.

Mosquito Control said that they're working their way up the Keys and would try to hit us over the weekend, but it doesn't appear that has happened yet. We'll keep calling, because dammit, we have a POOL and we want to use it!

I just hope the crabs and the iguana don't jump in while I'm in there.

Is this working now?

What am I doing wrong?!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

HA--it worked!!!

Is this thing on?

*tap tap tap*

Finally!

Finally at home. Well, I've been here for three weeks, but I didn't have internet access until this afternoon. Which is pretty cool, because today's my birthday and today the pool was finished and we're filling it and we got to play in it this afternoon.

I'd say a pretty good day!

But ------------> What's that? I have to wait 490 days for the first Breaking Dawn movie? How will I manage?

I saw Eclipse the day it opened, by myself, in Key West, in a theater with poor air conditioning. It was packed. But there was good ol' Robward up on the big screen.

Anyway, just wanted to update, in case there's anyone out there still checking.

Crackless in Ormond Beach

I didn't even know what Crack was until a year ago, and now I can't live without it. Okay, that's a lie, I lived without it for almost two whole days after mine died Sunday afternoon while trying to facebook photos from the beach.

The screen turned a luminous pearly gray, which doesn't sound too bad until I realized that it's the Crack equivalent of Microsoft's Blue Screen of Death. Then I panicked.

Here I am, halfway between former and new homes, with no internet access and no phone. I panicked. I've become accustomed to having the ability to email and facebook and blog the moment I think of something to say.

After a while I realized that the damned thing still operated as a phone just fine, but of what use is a phone to me? I hate to talk on the phone. I have panic attacks just thinking about calling someone. Without the use of the screen, I didn't have caller id, I couldn't tell what numbers I was dialing, the email light kept blinking even though I couldn't check my email, and all of my phone numbers were hidden.

I don't remember numbers, and phone numbers fall into that category. I just pull up the name I want and hit dial. I don't know Tom's number by heart, or Jennifer's, so unless they called me, I had no way to contact them.

Oh, the camera worked. I could push the buttons and take photos, but I couldn't see what I photo'd. I'm sure I could have gotten to facebook or my email, but there was no way to see it.

I called AT&T, who told me to call my insurance company. Thank GOD I had the foresight to pay the $4.95 a month handset insurance when I bought the Crack. I'd never had it before, but then I'd never had a $500 phone before, either.

For $125, I now have a brand-new Crack (as opposed to the free refurbished one I got last year). It arrived this morning at 11. I switched the SIMM and Smart cards and turned it on, and once again I have the world at my fingertips.

I have no phone numbers, but those can be added as I go. If only I'd read the directions before I switched the SIMM card; I could have hooked it up to the laptop and downloaded everything to the new one.

Now I know.

Life is sweet.

No more West Virginia

It's done!!! The Big Migration South is in progress.

The house in WbyGod closes tomorrow. The big truck is at The Cat House with all of our earthly belongings. I am at Ormond Beach with Betty and Joan for a few days of sun'n'fun before heading to Orlando to see Jennifer and the kids and then on to my new home.

I'm a resident of Florida now.

I still don't believe it.

Contract

We have a contract on the house! The Idiot finally made an offer that we'd accept and signed the contract a week ago. Earnest money was deposited. He has to close by the 26th but is aiming for the 14th.

And.......I have a cyber-stalker. If I ever get the energy I'll write about her. It's truly a bizarre story.

UPDATE: 11-11-10--Tom just asked me who my cyber-stalker was. I cannot remember!!! It's driving me crazy!

*snork*worthy

This is from Inappropriate Twilight Obsession which is a very appropriately-named blog. They have lots of amusing photos.

If you want to see what's on the inside of these.....

You'll have to go to the website to see it for yourself. My blog is rated PG-13.

Another reason why I love my job

Free food.

The junior class somehow won a steak/chicken dinner and a movie. An email went out to staff, and those of us who could get there fast got free steak.

The Infernal Revenue Antiservice

I've debated about this post; do I want to risk bringing the IRAS' wrath upon my head? Audits? Fees? Lies?

We bought a house last year. My name is on it. I haven't owned a house in over 10 years. We qualify for the homeowners' rebate that the IRAS trumpeted about so much in the last year.

I'm convinced that the IRAS has done everything possible to make it almost impossible to get this rebate. In spite of urging everyone to file electronically for everything else, to apply for this rebate one had to send in reams of paperwork. While other people were getting their normal refunds within days, this one takes weeks.

No, wait, it's been over two months since we sent it all in.

And it gets better.

There's a web page where one can check his refund status. I check that page daily. At first it told us that we'd have our refund April 27. Then May 15. Then it said that we needed to call them. So Tom called. They didn't have any of our paperwork. We had to send it all in again. However, somehow they knew that we'd sent it in, but they couldn't find it. Doesn't make sense to me, but then the IRAS makes anything but sense.

So Tom faxed all of the papers again. Soon the web page said that we'd been approved for the rebate and we'd get it around June 1.

Then June 15.

Then the page again said to call them.

They've decided that we don't qualify. We can reapply, but we have to wait until they send us a letter about it. Around June 7.

As each stalling technique appeared, I became more and more convinced that this program is all a big lie. Now the news is so excited that homebuying was UP because of the rebate program. I'm betting that many of those excited homeowners are also finding out that they don't qualify. However, with the possibility of an $8000 check being waved around our noses, we'll all jump in and keep trying.

Lemmings. We're all lemmings.



P.S. Our accountant says that 80% of the rebate requests are currently being refused. Why am I not surprised?

Cysterhood

Betty and I have lots of things in common, being sisters who were born only 15 months apart. Besides the good stuff, we both went on a really low-fat diet in our middle thirties and lost our gallbladders as a result. We both have chronic coughs. This past week we've shared a respiratory virus. And we both have cysts on our heads.

They start out really small, but eventually they grow and become annoying, as well as really unpleasant to look at. Betty's had two removed and one that will soon need to be removed. I had one that grew recently right on one of my cowlicks on top of my head. I decided to have it removed before heading to life in South Florida.

The doctor injected lidocaine and epinephrine (to constrict the blood vessels) and went to work. It took less than half an hour from start to finish, didn't hurt a bit (and a xanax beforehand helped me to relax), and I ended up with an incision that is pretty much invisible. The stitches are the same color as my hair, and it hasn't bled. And it has a bit of an unexpected bonus----

My face feels a bit tighter, especially around the eyes.

I guess mine was in just the right place.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

On the Idjit front, he called again last evening and offered $6000 less than he knows we'll accept. Stoopid.

Still crossed and getting crosser

It's been a long few days here in Idiot Wants to Buy a House for Far Less Than Owner Is Willing to Take land.

The guy has to be out of his house by June 14, so he wants to start moving things into our house. By the 12th. Without even signing a contract or closing or anything.

Every time that Tom talks to him, he changes the price he's willing to pay. Up, down, up down updown. He knows what we'll take. Tom is tired of dealing with him, so it's back to the real estate agent who doesn't know what she's doing. He's complained to her boss; we'll see how that plays out. That woman does not deserve $50 for selling that house.

We figure that it costs about $14,000 a year to just let the house sit: mortgage, insurance, taxes, electricity, gas for heating. We're willing to take much less than we originally priced the house 9 months ago, but we're not willing to lose money on the deal.

That's where that stands.



In other news, I finished my Petrie on Saturday. No photos yet; the creeping crud I caught a week ago has turned into bronchitis and I wasn't exactly a ball of fire this weekend. Petrie ended up being a little snug, which I kind of expected, because I wasn't sure how the measurements worked; measured under the bust or over? That makes a big difference. I went with under, didn't work. IF I lose those 25 pounds, it might work out. Anyway, the yarn knit up wonky again, it twists the entire thing at an angle, even before it was sewn together. I had that problem when I used the yarn for the Tropical Tee. Blocking doesn't help.

So I started another one, this time using Feza Cayenne, I think. I bought 19 balls in assorted colors back in the winter at $1 a ball, and it should take about 4.5 balls.

I love the way Petrie knit up. It's easy and quick in spite of having to sew the side seams. The first one is a little too big in the armholes, so I'm taking them down an inch. I'd added 1" to the length, so now I'll add 2" to make up for that loss in the arms. This yarn is worsted weight instead of DK, so I'm using a slightly larger needle but knitting the same size as before, hoping it'll end up a little bigger. We'll see.

Nothing going on in the job-hunt front. If the house sells it won't be quite as crucial to have a job waiting for me, but I'll still need one.

It's wait and see, all around.



*UPDATE* The Idiot called twice this morning, first to make an offer of the amount we'll actually take, then almost immediately after to retract that offer. Huh.

My rounds

Friday started The Week of Doctor Visits for me. I put off making doctor appointments as long as I possible can, because I hate making phone calls. The appointments themselves don't bother me that much. But the phone calls.....

So a couple of weeks ago I made a bunch of calls one right after another and set up a mammogram (I swear I had one a few years ago, but their records go back 10 years....), a physical (so I can get my drugs), an appointment with my retinologist, and one with a head surgeon to remove a cyst on my head. Right on the very top of my head. I bet it'll leave a bald spot.

The new digital mammogram is so much more comfortable than the old film one, even though it squeezes every bit as hard. So that's one down.

Tuesday I saw the head doctor about the cyst. Seems they run in families, and we're one of the lucky ones. That'll be removed on Tuesday morning. Yesterday was Retinologist Day, and, as it turned out, Long Needle Stuck in My Eye Day. That pesky ol' Wet Macular Degeneration is acting up again so I got another Lucentis injection. See, the good thing about that blind spot in the center of my left eye is that I can't see the needle coming at it.....

Joan met me at the office and drove us to lunch at Olive Garden afterward. We had a nice, leisurely lunch, until I could see again, then we went our separate ways home. How about that; a needle in the eye at 1:45, drive home at 4:45. Without an accident, at that.

Already my vision is better than it was yesterday. When I made the appointment my vision felt the same as it has since the last checkup 15 months ago (because I'm so bad at making appointments after I cancel one), but Friday I felt like something wasn't quite right, and it's a good thing the appointment was so soon afterward. I'll have another injection on June 17, then on the 18th Betty, Joan, and I will leave for Florida, where we'll spend a few days at the beach before Betty and Joan fly home and I spend a few days with Jennifer and kids in Orlando, then on to my new life in the Keys.

This afternoon my eye is achy, but the scratchiness that is usually pretty painful after an injection just lasted a couple of hours, not until I went to sleep last night, as it usually does. Maybe my eyeball is getting tougher. I didn't take as much percocet as I usually do, either, and no xanax before the procedure. Most of the time I spend the night with Mom and Dad after the injection so I don't have to drive home that evening, or Tom drives me, but they're all in Florida now so Joan and I just hung around for a while. And it was nice.

In an hour I have to be at the doctor's office to wait for my physical. There must be 50 doctors in that practice and they're all running late all the time. The waiting room is always filled with sick people spewing germs all over everyone else. I've had to wait as long as 3 hours for my doctor (ONLY because I was out of cough syrup and I have to appear in person to beg for another month's supply); the shortest time was maybe half an hour. Once. I hate that place. I'm hoping that this will be my last visit there ever. Maybe this time I can share my allergies/cold/bronchitis/whatever the hell I've had this week with my peers in that waiting room.

I think that's my first illness this year. I had some bug a while back, but since Christmas I've avoided colds. I hate colds. I get very angry when I have one. I don't know why. The flu doesn't make me angry, maybe because it's acceptable to stay home when you have it. But a damn cold can hang on forever and I just don't have that much sick leave.

Because I'm saving it to take off early for the beach. And my new life. In the Keys.



P.S. Cross your fingers, legs, and eyes; we're negotiating with a man who really, really wants to buy our WV property; he just doesn't want to pay enough for it. We might just persuade him to see things our way, then we'll be FREEEEEEEE! of a mortgage. Not much left over to work on our place in the Keys, but enough to save each month to get things done.

And I didn't even know what today is

Holding my breath--again

(Aside--Hey, I hit 700 posts with that last one! On May 7 even. Seven is my favorite number.)

(I remember when I wore a size 7.)

(That was a longass time ago.)

*ahem*

A new charter elementary school is opening in Key West this summer. The first year it will have about 250 students, K-5, adding a grade each year till it's K-8. It's on 11 acres on the Navy base and will focus on marine and environmental studies including field trips and lots of time spent on the grounds learning things. Sounds just about perfect to me.

It's associated with the Monroe County school system, but it has its own pay scale and board of directors. The pay for assistants is about $6000 a year more than the starting salary for assistants in my present school system, plus health benefits and a 401k.

I wanna be an assistant at Sigsbee Charter School.

The application process included applying the usual way, which to my delight is totally online, but it also required that interested applicants email a SCS application with a cover letter and resume. I hate writing those things. Fortunately Word has a template for easy resumes, and fortunately Betty is a wiz at writing cover letters. Together we (well, mostly she) wrote the letter, I submitted everything last night, and I just received an email that said they'd received it and it has been given to the principal.

Would you mind saying a prayer or two and/or keeping your fingers crossed, whichever you prefer? They hope to have all the positions filled by June 1, and golly gee, if I'm asked to interview, I'd have to go to the hardship of flying to Key West and spending a couple of days in paradise.

I promise that I won't blow this interview. If I get it. And I really want to get it. Summers off, you see, plus decent pay and benefits, Christmas break, spring break, all the good stuff that goes along with working in a school. It wouldn't be nearly as easy as the job I have now, but it would be close. And it would be in Key freakin' West. If I have to work, this is as close as I'm going to get to the perfect job in the Keys.

I'm going to live in the Keys! Now let's see if I can work in the Keys.

My mom and dad are at *my place in the Keys* and I'm not

Sucks to be me right now, huh?

Mom and Dad are spending a week at The Cat House with Tom. Dad's a Renaissance Man and can do anything. At 80 he's more active and productive than I am. And he looks younger than I do.

Dad and Tom are building walls, from what I gather from the daily (sometimes hourly) phone calls. They're building a wall between (I think) the master bedroom and its closet. It already had a wall, but I want a pocket door in it to save space, so they've worked on that. They've made soffits for the air conditioning ductwork. They're going to make a closet in the upstairs bedroom. There are no closets upstairs; lots of space under the eaves of the house, but the ceiling is so low in those that only "short" things can be hung. Where did the people who used to live there put all their stuff?

(Actually, Tom found a big stack of shirts left in one of them. And a lot of junk was just tossed into the backyard and under the house.)

Mom has been cleaning windows and sweeping. Those floors catch and hold onto dirt and dust; they're down to the subflooring and it's not in good shape. The cats shed enough to create entire new cats.

On Monday they'll head up to their favorite vacation spot near Daytona and spend two weeks there with some of their friends. It used to be a little 40s or 50s Mom and Pop-style motel right between A1A and the ocean. Maybe 10 rooms. It's been sold several times in the last few years for increasingly insane amounts of money and will eventually be razed and turned into luxury condos. I hate to see the remaining pieces of Old Florida sold off and gone forever.

We first went to Florida in 1955 or '56, after Dad's parents, sister, and brother-in-law moved to Miami. I vaguely remember that first trip. I was convinced that the ocean was in Muck and Poppa's back yard and I was terribly disappointed when it wasn't. That trip is when my life-long love affair with Florida started.

We visited them every summer for two weeks. At that time we didn't have any friends whose families took vacations anywhere, much less 1000 miles south. We spent most of the time inside--they had air conditioning. We'd play in the yard, go to the beach a couple of times (Dad absolutley hates getting sand in the car), go shopping some (I mean, wow, they had a K-Mart back when there were none up here!), eat at the very old McDonald's nearby, take walks in the evening, play with the colorful snails that crawled up the shady side of the house.

At least once each trip, we'd all pile into the car and take a ride through the Everglades (mosquitos are BAD in the summer; I can't wait to go in the winter) or out to the (then) new Miami airport, or, once, to Key West. I was five that year, I think. I was not at all interested in the gorgeous water, palm trees, and other sights; all I remember is that I was really really thirsty, and I remember bumping across countless bridges. When we got to Key West, it stunk of fish. There'd been a recent fish-kill; we didn't want to stay long. I remember nothing else of the island.

And now I'm going to live 30 miles from it. I still don't quite believe it.

Ketchup

Wow, I've been amiss in my blogging nonefforts lately. There's always so much to write about and so little motivation.

I start knitting projects then abandon them for others. I've actually finished three of kpixie’s Valentine Sequin Scarves, one in Tilli Thomas' Rock Star yarn in pinks and purples (silk and beads), one in her American Beauty colorway (a gorgeous deep red), and one in red Berroco cotton twist. I love this scarf. I've made it different widths and lengths; the cables on alternating sides cause the scarf to curl under and looks nicer than the plain scarves I usually knit. No photos for some reason. I take thousands of photos of other stuff; why not my knitting? (Answer: Because it has to be photographed in the right light at the right time of day in order to show the colors and stitches properly, and I rarely take the time to bother with it.)

A friend of mine is going to be a grandmother for the first time this summer. I wanted to knit something special for the baby, a girl, so after researching patterns and yarns, I bought some undyed bamboo yarn from lotusblossom on ebay. Eight ounces, 420 yards, in each hank of worsted weight yarn, a gorgeous creamy color, for $8. I bought four of them. Similar yarn that I bought several years ago in a slightly lighter weight cost $14.50 for only four ounces and about 242 yards. Of course that was Southwest yarn and I bought it at a yarn shop, but still.... The very first nice yarn that I bought when I started knitting came from lotusblossom; she has some gorgeous colorways. I paid for it on Friday and it arrived yesterday at noon.

I'm really ready to knit something that I'll actually finish, so last night I cast on for Blossom. (I hope the link works; it won't load for some reason.) So far so good. It's a silky yarn and a really cute little wrap dress. I plan to add a pair of booties and a hat to finish the ensemble.


I may even try my hand at dyeing some of the yarn. I have a kit I bought years ago (from lotusblossom, coincidentally enough) and if I get energetic, I may try that. I'd do it outside on the gas grill, though, so the house wouldn't get hot, steamy, and stinky. I bought the dye kit when Avery was very little with the idea that we could dye yarn together, but these dyes are poisonous and hard on tender skin, so I gave up on that. I could try dyeing with Wilton food color paste; I used to have lots of their little pots of coloring 30 years ago when I sold decorated cakes.

Yesterday I received a letter from the Virginia Retirement Service stating that my retirement request has been processed and I should receive my first check at the end of July. I'll still get my current pay until the end of August, so for two months I'll get two paychecks. Now I just need to find a job in the lower Keys.

Thirty-nine days and counting.........

Only in the Keys

So I'm browsing one of the Keys online newspapers and I see some stupid stuff. For your reading enjoyment, I give you:


This man was intoxicated. Ya think?

For some reason, this headline amuses me.

Since this is the only road into the Keys, I tend to worry a little when these things happen. Luckily it occured at a point where traffic could be diverted the long way into Key Largo.

At first I didn't understand the anxiety over a pretty little tropical fish, but then I read farther.

WTF?

Nowhere else would rats be deliberately set loose.

Can someone please explain to me just why I want to move here?

And in related news....

What on earth???

Knitty is one of my favorite knitting websites. They only publish four times a year, and they have some amazing patterns. I have to share one with you.

Am I the only person who thinks that this pattern is hideous? Do you know
anyone who would feel comfortable wearing these things? They're almost obscenely ugly.

Once in a while, Knitty messes up in a big way!

One of two patterns in this issue that I'm inclined to knit is this one.

It looks cool and comfortable and not too complicated. I might try it.

The other one is this cute baby pattern.

There are so many new babies/grandbabies being born here this school year and I get tired of knitting the same old socks.

My favorite from this is issue is this shawl.


When I first saw it, I thought it was hideous. But I kept going back to it; I might make it some day. Maybe.

I haven't been knitting much lately. I didn't bother on the planes. Two of them had DirecTv, which is pretty cool in a plane. AirTran was trying out wireless internet service free for a couple of weeks, but it was so hideously slow that I quickly gave up on that. When they're offering it for $10 a day, I won't be purchasing it.

When I ordered my copy of New Moon from Target, I didn't realize that they planned to have it arrive on March 19, the day before it was released in stores. I left for Florida on the 19th, so I left a pre-stamped Priority Mail box and asked a friend to send it to me in the Keys. It didn't arrive till the 26th, yet a first-class letter that I mailed got there in two days. Go figure.

So that night I watched New Moon on my laptop. Very small screen, very low sound. I couldn't understand a thing. I was wondering why on earth I'd thought that movie was so good when I saw it at the theater. And my laptop used to be much louder. I was a bit worried that maybe my hearing is worse than I'd thought.

I bought a pair of headphones, a cheap pair, that had a set of ear buds as well. Suddenly the movie was much more interesting. I watched it again and enjoyed it. I also watched the two extra discs that came with Twilight, since I hadn't seen them before. We don't have tv yet in our place in the Keys, but we will when I move down in June. Along with internet access.

On the flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando, my very large checked bag was seached by TSA. I could tell by the sticker they put on it, along with the discovery of broken brand-new-used-twice headphones that had been carefully packed. Also, my beads, teeny tiny beads packed in a tightly-closed Tupperware bowl were all over the place, with the bowl in one of the suitcase and the lid buried in the other. I have no problem with TSA checking my bags, but please be more considerate.

We went to Key West once during my stay. It was spring break time all over the place and the island had far too many people and cars on it. I went to my favorite bead store and Knit Wits of Key West right next door and discovered, to my sadness, that the bead shop is closing this month. There's a bead shop in Islamorada, considerably farther from Big Pine Key than Key West, but I've never been in it. I haven't been able to find good quality beads here and have mail-ordered from him before. Now that I'm addicted to beads, I'm going to miss the shop.

Remember Me?

HOW could I have forgotten this???????

My niece, Kara, and Michelle Two, my nephew's girlfriend, and I went to the theater on March 12 to celebrate the opening of Remember Me. Basically, we went because Robward is in it; we knew nothing about the story. I'm so glad we didn't.

I won't spoil the ending. Up to that point, it was a good chick flick. Rob is incredibly cute in it, and he can actually act. Edward is rigid and contained; Tyler is emotional, impulsive, passionate.

But that ending. My God. It's like suddenly and unexpectedly being pounded in the chest by a 2x4. Totally stunning. Out of nowhere. There are some extremely subtle clues along the way, but since I don't notice anything subtle, I didn't see it coming.

Kara, Michelle, and I just sat there, stunned. Tears ran down our faces. As we left the theater, we were sobbing as we gasped "Oh my God I cannot believe that happened!"

Kara and I texted each other throughout the evening. We were feeling intensely sad. I cried off and on all night. I sobbed trying to tell Mom about it the next morning.

It's that good.

How the media didn't blab that ending all over the place is a total mystery to me. If I'd known how it ended I wouldn't have felt the power of it.

I want to see it again. Only partly because Rob is pretty.






Message to Rob: Do you have to smoke? Really?

STFU, spammers.

(thanks to southerngirl for the acronym)

Take heed, spammers. Your nasty little comments are not appreciated. I do not click on any nasty little links that you leave. How can I tell that you're spammers? You're "anonymous" and don't leave a name in the comment.

So just STFU and leave me alone.

hello from the warm, sunny Keys!

Hello from the sunny, warm Keys! I'm shopping for internet access, but it's expensive down here. DSL isn't available, which leaves cable, satellite, or dialup. We shall see.

I've been doing some cleanup yard work; the property looks a little less abandoned now. I can't send photos to my blog with this thing, so you'll have to take my word for it.

We're heading out to a steak dinner at the Moose in a little while. It's an interesting place. I wonder if they have internet access there? They're close to the library....

Next Wed. I fly to Orlando to spend a few days with the kids. A had her third Suppralin implant on Monday and is doing well. She's growing at a normal rate now.

Did I mention that it's sunny and warm here? *ducks and covers*

Jet set

That's me. I'm part of the jet set. Is that phrase even used anymore?

Saturday was.....interesting. It had occurred to me that maybe I shouldn't travel on the 13th, but since it wasn't Friday, I ignored the thought. I shouldn't have. Or maybe I just should have been a little more observant.

I needed a Pepsi or iced tea, so on my way out of town I swung past McDonalds, but there was a long line of cars in the takeout lane, so I went on to Kentucky Fried Chicken. I didn't want to get out of the car. That came back to haunt me (and taunt me) a few minutes later when I discovered that KFC didn't open for another 15 minutes and turned right into the parking lot of the business next door, because driving all the way through the drive-through lane and making an immediate right turn was too much trouble. So I turned. I discovered, to my horror, that there was no opening in the curb to allow me to turn, so one front wheel went over the curb and the car got hung up.

It wouldn't budge.

No one would answer my frantic knocks at KFC, so I walked--in the rain--over to the convenience store I had attempted to drive to. No men there, only two short women. I think that one of them could have single-handedly picked up the car and moved it back a few feet, but she declined. I walked--in the rain--forgetting to buy my Pepsi while I was in the store--to KFC and banged on the window, catching the manager's attention. Two women there. Betty called a tow truck, which arrived really quickly, and within a few minutes I was on my way to the bank. I hadn't planned a bank stop, but I couldn't find my AAA card and the woman on the phone couldn't find our file online because, of course, our membership is in the WestByGodVirginia division and she couldn't access that. I guess the internet doesn't cross state lines or something.

The kind tow-truck man wouldn't take a check, and I only had $20 in cash, so he followed me to the stupid convenience store to the ATM, where I once again forgot to buy a bottle of Pepsi. I forgot to ask him for a receipt. When I called Tom, he sweetly reminded me that our car insurance has tow insurance. Whoops.

So, anyway, I wrote a check from Tom's account to cover what I'd taken out of mine, dropped it at the bank, then stopped at Taco Bell for my damn Pepsi.

I got to Mom and Dad's house in plenty of time for them to get me to the airport. My suitcase was so heavy that I decided, at the last minute, to check it at the gate so I wouldn't have to injure myself trying to get it in the overhead bin. Had to change planes in Atlanta, which airport I hate with a passion, but got there in time to go to the bathroom and board the plane.

The plane got to FLL and we had to wait an hour before the baggage came off the plane. I kept waiting because mine didn't appear. Of course not. A very nice lady from AirTran, Jean, spent an hour with me trying first to find the bag then trying to figure out where it went. She was so sweet that I didn't get all bent out of shape about the fact that the clothes I would wear to the interview were in that damned bag.

We went on home, which isn't as fun a drive as it is in the daytime. At night, without the scenery, it's just a long-ass drive.

At midnight, Jean called to tell me that my bag had come in and she would send it to me right away. At 7:30 the phone rang again and my bag was on our front porch.

All's well that ends well.

We went to the Marathon Seafood Festival on Sunday afternoon. Beautiful day, 73 degrees, light breeze. Sunny. That night we went out to eat with Donna and James and spent the night at the condo. Which, I might add, has a wonderful high-end mattress in the master suite.

Monday morning we went back home and spent some time in the yard. Later I took a shower and we headed back to Marathon for my interview. Which I totally blew.

How many times have I worked with kids on those stupid interview questions? You know, the standard "what is your best quality" kind. I'd even come up with answers for them. I should have written them on my arm. I could not remember one thing and wasn't even able to come up with something that sounded semi-intelligent.

I suspect that I won't get that job.

But no big deal. It was experience, I'll know better next time, and I had three lovely days in the Keys.

PocketEdward™ had some adventures around the yard. Tom wasn't thrilled to see him. I just don't understand why not.

First he checked out the demolition Tom's done in the kitchen. The subfloor is in terrible shape.

He looked at the pool and wished he could swim well enough to catch the frog living in there.




He turned up his nose at some of our leftovers.




He enjoyed some sparkle time




And explored the jungle.

Okay, he can't explore the damn jungle. I can't get that damn photo to upload.

He snacked on a black panther in the jungle.




He didn't have good luck with the tiger, though.



Ahhhhh.

Here he runs through the jungle.

He took time to smell the bouganville. Evidentally thorns don't bother vampires.




He indulged in a quick snack, then



PocketEdward™ finally found his nuts.





With that, I leave you for now. 'Cause I'm heading back to Richmond tonight so I can catch my nonstop flight to FLL tomorrow morning. Back home to the Keys. For 16 days.

Life is good.

Guess who's going to Florida twice in one week?

That's right. I am.

Friday afternoon I found a voice message (gee, was that hard to do?) from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. I'd applied for an administrative assistant job there at the end of January. I called and was asked to come to an interview on Monday, March 15. Shoot, I'm going to be there March 19-April 4. We talked for 10 or 15 minutes, laughing; I really enjoyed myself. They'd chosen 7 applicants to interview, and all have to be interviewed by the same people (who are from offices elsewhere in the state).

I called Tom and explored the possibility for flying down for a few days so I could go to the interview. We decided that I'd check into airfare. I found some that wasn't as horrible as others, so I called the office and left a message that I will be there for the interview. I'll fly down Saturday evening and back home Tuesday night. Then, and this is the fun part, I'll work for two days and fly back to Florida on Friday the 19th. For two weeks.

I've been trying to find out more about the Florida F&WCC but haven't succeeded. I mean, I know that they deal with endangered animals, fishing and hunting licenses, etc., but this is a research facility. I should try to know a little more before I actually interview there.

Wish me luck!

Let's ALL sign up!

Aunt Becky needs our help.

She's the driving force behind Mommy Wants Vodka, one of my favorite blogs. This woman can write. She makes me laugh and cry and snork Pepsi through my nose, all at the same time. And she has written some stuff that she really wants to get published, but she needs all of us to help her.

Click on the title and check out her website. She explains what's going on and what she wants us to do. I've already emailed her potential publisher/agent/whoever the hell it is twice, with real email addresses. I think I'll go back and add a few made-up ones, just to help her get her numbers up higher.

If you leave a real email address, she'll send you a copy of one chapter. Free.

I'd say it's worth it!

sNOOOOOOOOw!!!!!!

It's snowing. Again. I hope that this is the very last time that I see snow falling.

Floridays

I've done it. I've decided to retire and move to Florida. Sooner, rather than later.

End of the school year in June.

I could stay here for another 3 years to get full retirement. I could also be laid off since Virginia's budget is in such horrendous shape and cuts are coming in the next couple of months. It's not going to get any better for at least two years. No step or cost of living increases were given to us this year, and we sure won't get them for the next two years, at least.

I think it's time to cut and run.

I'll still have to work. My retirement check is much less than half of what I make now (which isn't all THAT much to start with). I'll lose about $230 a month by leaving three years early, but some of that may be made up by an early retirement option with a lump-sum payment in June, if it's passed. Funny, I decided last week that I need to get to Florida with Tom, and today it was announced, just after I'd emailed the HR guy about retiring, that they were considering an early retirement incentive.

Sort of seems meant to be.

Sisters' Weekend

I don't want Pocket Edward to see the blasphemous things written about him on FaceBook.

Socks that I've knit for Joan, me, and Betty.

So this is what we get when we finally buy a brand new car

(Click on title)

Even with all the snow we've had, I haven't noticed any problems with the anti-lock break system. Especially since this is where it's been most of the last three weeks:

Has all of Toyota's negative publicity caused me to shun them? No. Dad bought his first new Toyota in 1971 and put well over 200,000 miles on it then sold it for almost what he paid for it. I've had Toyotas since 1988 and wouldn't think of buying anything else. They've all been good cars that went for 225,000 miles or more with little major work. I fully expect this Prius to do as well.

But don't say that out loud. Every time I say something good about my car, something goes wrong, so I'm not going to risk it!

I'll be mourning Zippy for a long time. He was the perfect little companion.

This is the last photo I took of him, Saturday, February 6. I went outside to take photos of the snow, and he perked up when he saw me go to the door with my coat on. He was a terribly sick little boy, but he was still interested in going outside. Late that night, when we took him to the emergency vet, he could barely stand up, but when we said "go bye-bye in the car?" he did one last, slow zip (he'd prance in circles when he was excited) and trotted out the door and around the car, all by himself. Zippy The Wonder Dog.

I haven't mentioned knitting in a long time. I did very little after the middle of December; I drove to Florida by myself (with Zip in the passenger seat) so I didn't have that time to knit. I've been pretty scattered; I keep starting projects, getting bored, and going on to something else. I've gotten about half of Upstairs Shawl (ravelry link) done, but not in a lace yarn. I found some cool cotton/synthetic yarn, worsted weight, on sale at the fabric shop in town; had been about $7 a ball, reduced to $1 each. It called to me. I don't know it I'll keep it for myself or give it away. I just needed to knit it. The lady who owns the Key West knit shop, Knit Wits of Key West, was wearing it the day I went in before Christmas to buy a last-minute hank of yarn, and I was smitten. Some day I might photograph it.

Then I had to start a pair of socks for Betty. We're kinda particular about our socks. For years Betty gave each of us several pairs of Birkenstock socks for Christmas; they wear forever. They're making fewer these days. Betty couldn't find any that she liked, and it was COLD, so I cast on a pair for her. The yarn is superwash wool that I bought at the local yarn sh0p, from a local dyer, Dyepot. The colors didn't photograph true to the yarn, but you can get an idea. The yarn is almost luminous, a deeper red than what shows in the photo.



I also knit a beautiful skinny scarf from Tilli Thomas' Rock Star American Beauty. This yarn is incredible; it's pure silk with a thread of tiny beads added. One hank is $40; Joan gave it to me for my birthday. Bought in Key West, too, which makes it even better. I used the kpixie Valentine Sequin Scarf pattern and love it. It's a nice long skinny scarf, and the yarn is just so luscious.

I might add more later; right now, homemade soup is calling my name.

Sparkly

With a little (okay, a lot of) help from bare minerals makeup, Pocket Edward™ now sparkles in the sun. Isn't he impressive?

Snow, rinse, repeat

*sigh*

I should have known that, by planning to move to the Keys for good this summer (if all works out), I'd be dooming this area to The Winter from Hell.

The last few winters have had really cold spells but very little snow. Tom and I have been married for over four years; not once during that time have I not been able to get in and out of the driveway at the old homestead. It helped that Tom's truck is four-wheel drive. But now the truck is with Tom at our place in the Keys and it seems that a Prius (whose brakes seem to be working very well, thank you, although I've driven it very little this year) just isn't up to the task of plowing through more than an inch or two of snow.

In 1995-96 we had a blizzard that closed city schools for over a week and county schools for two weeks. That's when I made the transition from the county school system to the city's; I gave my two-weeks' notice and didn't work again until the city schools opened more than two weeks later.

I think that we had something like 53" of snow that winter. We've already passed that and it's only Feb. 10. I last worked on the 4th, and school has been closed since then. It's still up in the air if we'll go tomorrow. Watch out, Spring Break, we may lose you.

So, yeah. The Winter from Hell. Weeks of single-digit temperatures. Snow after snow after snow. Today we have a high-wind advisory. Does it get any better than this.



ETA: No school tomorrow. Five days in a row, seven since the end of January. *sigh*

Pocket Edward is on the job

Pocket Edward™ debates using the doggy door to scope out the back yard.



He tries to scale the Matterhorn.



Icicles! The perfect weapon.



Must. Reach. Bella.




Baby the Quaker Parrot says, "Vegetarian vampire my ass."

R.I.P., Zip

Poor little Zippy. Thursday morning he was lethargic and vomiting, so I took him to our vet. Bob gave him subcutaneous fluids, shots for nausea and an anti-inflammatory, and liquid amoxicillin. Zip had a moderately high fever.

Thursday evening, Zip was almost himself, begging for food, perky, happy. He ate a little chicken and rice. Friday he was lethargic again, just drinking water. Of course, it had snowed all day and no local vets were open, much less Bob, whose office is 40 miles away over a mountain. The emergency vet's office didn't open till 6 p.m., and the snow was too bad to attempt the drive (20 miles away).

It snowed all day Saturday. Zip vomited in the afternoon, bringing up food that he'd eaten on Wednesday. Totally undigested. We started giving him a few tablespoons of water every half hour; he kept it down for a couple of hours, but started vomiting again.

We decided he needed to see the vet that night, so after digging Betty's car out of the driveway we took Zippy outside. He was so happy; he even performed one last zip on the way out. He loved to ride in the car.

We managed to get out of the driveway but got stuck in the road right in front of the house. Greg dug us out, and after a little pushing, we were on our way.

It was such a surreal trip. We stayed off the interstate; there have been some nasty accidents on there during snow. The main road was covered with snow, but it had been plowed and we were able to drive along at 30 mph. Fortunately there was very little other traffic; we drove down the center of the four-lane road without any trouble.

We got to the vet's office after 11 p.m. We were taken into the examining room right away and Zippy was examined. His temperature was normal but he was still vomiting.

After blood work, the verdict was in; Zippy was a seriously sick little boy. He was severely diabetic; the highest the machine would register was >700, and that's where his blood sugar was. He also had kidney disease and pancreatitis. He would have never been able to have any table food or treats ever again. Zippy loved his treats. The very last thing that he ate and kept down was two tiny bites of a muffin.

After debating the options, and a lot of crying, I decided it was better to let Zippy go peacefully rather than hospitalize him for up to a week to stabilize his diabetes and treat the pancreatitis. He would have had to have shots twice daily.

He died very quickly and peacefully after Betty and I took turns holding him and telling him how much we love him.

We miss him terribly.

Now what?

I've almost finished reading Eclipse for the third time. I won't go home again till Tom comes up in about 10 days, and Breaking Dawn is at home. I may have to go to the library.

.

.

.

.

Pocket Edward ™ ETA: Wednesday.

And I cancelled the New Moon movie order with Amazon because I found out that, for only $5 more, one can buy it from Target with a 3rd disk of special features and a cell from the movie.

I've never watched the 3rd disk of Twilight, but if one is available, then one must have it.

Shut up. I'm not as bad off as the people who buy one, then see it offered with a little something more at another site, and buy that one, then the next time they see something different, get that too.

Welcome to the Dark Side, Granddaughter

Last night, during a marathon call, my oldest granddaughter brought up Twilight. (She knows me so well.) She's never exhibited any curiosity about the book or movie; on the contrary, she couldn't be less interested. Last year she was irritated because her teacher was in love with the series and talked about it a lot in class. This time, though, she had some questions.

"Lots" of girls in her class are reading the series. She could even name three of the four books. She doesn't have a clue what Twilight Girl's name actually is, but she wanted to know if TG ever gets bit and turned into a vampire. I said, "Do you really want to know?" "Yes!" "But if you ever decide to read the books, it's spoiled for you." "I'm not going to read them. Does she turn into a vampire?" So I told her yes, she does.

"Which book?" "Breaking Dawn, the fourth and last book." "So why are all these books named night names? What do they have to do with anything?" I told her that I'd read about them but didn't remember what I'd read (note to self: research this), but I thought that they all have to do with the fact that, in other vampire stories, vampires couldn't go outside during the day because they'd burn to ashes if the sun touched them. In the Twilight series, that's not the case, because they can go outside any time they want to, but their skin sparkles in the sun, so people would know something weird was going on. And no one could know that there are real vampires.

Also, I told her, the names of the books seem to represent the story's progression, with Twilight being the one where Bella (or Twilight Girl) meets Twilight Boy and they fall in love. In New Moon, they're separated by Edward's misguided but heartfelt belief that Bella is better off, and safer, without him, and she goes into a deep depression, represented by the darkness of night during a new moon.

"What about Eclipse? Isn't that about the sun?" Well, it can be, but here it's the bright shining ring of moon around the dark shadow the sun throws onto it, representing the reunion of Bella and Edward and their happiness. And Breaking Dawn is the book that ends the story, with everything coming together and the dark of night giving way to the bright sunrise.

Damn. If I do say so myself, I'm impressed. I just pulled all of that out of my ass without any thought. It may be totally off-course, but it really does sound good.

I told A that I'll send her Twilight if she ever wants to read it; I have no problem with a 10-year-old reading the first three books in the series. (I told her she can't read Breaking Dawn until she's 16, which may have been the wrong thing to say.) She said she doesn't want to read it since I can tell her all about it.

But today I ordered Twilight from Amazon to be delivered to her house with the note: "A, you don't have to read this book now, or ever, if you don't want to. I've had so much fun talking to you about it that I want you to have a copy of one of my favorite books." Maybe eventually she'll read it, maybe not. It doesn't matter.





I may or may not have also ordered New Moon the Movie and a Pocket Edward™. We won't discuss that.

Burning a theme with ponzy-like structure

"Hi there!I would like to burn a theme at here. There is such a thing, called HYIP, or High Yield Investment Program. It reminds of ponzy-like structure, but in rare cases one may happen to meet a company that really pays up to 2% daily not on invested money, but from real profits.For quite a long time, I make money with the help of these programs. I'm with no money problems now, but there are heights that must be conquered . I get now up to 2G a day , and I started with funny 500 bucks. Right now, I'm very close at catching at last a guaranteed variant to make a sharp rise . Visit my blog to get additional info."

Just what I've always wanted to do!!! How did this person know?

P. S. I'll never understand "ponzy scheme". And I don't care to.

Spam

This is one of the more....creative spam comments that I've gotten:

"Good day, sun shines!There have were times of hardship when I didn't know about opportunities of getting high yields on investments. I was a dump and downright stupid person. I have never thought that there weren't any need in big starting capital.Now, I feel good, I begin to get real money. It gets down to select a correct partner who uses your money in a right way - that is incorporate it in real business, parts and divides the profit with me.You may ask, if there are such firms? I have to tell the truth, YES, there are. Please be informed of one of them:"

One would think that Rule No. 1 for Good Spamming would be using correct grammer and subject/verb agreement, at least.

Hello to Germany

*waves*

Hi, person from Germany who's googling Edward Cullen and ended up here!

Helloooooooo???

*tap tap tap*

Is anyone out there?

*shields eyes with hand*

I can see you, really, I can, but I can't hear you.

I know that someone(s) from Europe and the U.S. and the U.K. and Panama and even someone from Slovakia have googled "italy-shirtless-edward-new moon" and "robert-pattison-new-moon-shirtless" and "edward-cullen" and "vanity-fair-italy-edward-and-bella".

And I thought I had it bad.

Come on, please leave a comment if you land here from any search. Even though there are some google searches I'd rather not be associated with, I'd sure like to know who's out there.

*crickets chirping*

Thank God for Mike!

Mike, my son-in-law, is an electrician. He'd volunteered last summer to come to our place in the Keys and check out the electrical system at The Cat House once we bought it, which is very nice of him since we're not paying him anything to do it. He happened to score two days off this week after working 8 days straight, so yesterday Tom picked him up just south of Orlando and they headed back to the Keys. Mike has spent the entire day working on getting the electrical system hooked up correctly.

It's a good thing that the expert was there. Turns out that the (improperly installed) box (whatever that thingy with the breakers in it is called) has been sparking for some time and the whole house could have gone up in flames at just about any time. The box was in the old master closet which backed up to the laundry nook, and the dryer had been vented into the wall between the two. Thank God Tom had taken out that wall weeks ago and gotten years' worth of dryer lint ripped out, because it probably would have caught fire when the electricity was turned on.

Just another example of the quality work put into that house by its previous owners.

*snork*

So. If you like to laugh until you cry and make the very kind people you work with think that you just got bad news because you're quietly shaking and tears are running down your face and you have to blow your nose before you can say anything,



then you have to read this.

Do yourself a favor and wear Depends, okay?

It'stoodamncold

There you have it. One word. My reason for not doing a thing.

It'stoodamncold.

It was 8 degrees this morning. Eight. Eight. Unfrickingbelievable.

Yeah, yeah, I know that it was 31 in Miami this morning. It's been in the low 40s at night in the Keys. 31 is almost four times warmer than it is here, and 40 is five times.

I'm considering retiring and moving to the Keys without a job. It's five times warmer there at night. So we won't be able to pay the mortgage. The house in WV is locked in ice anyway. No one, including its owner, can get to it anyway.






I wish I could just leave. I won't because I'm too responsible to bail. But I'll think about it a whole lot.

Side note

This guy’s father, a Cuban fisherman, built The Cat House 30 years ago.

The Cat House

*note: I tried to download photos onto the computer at work, but because of my sore neck, I can't wiggle around on the floor trying to find the usb ports. Later.*

With the forecast for heavy snow on December 18, I was able to take the day off and leave for Florida that morning. I'd planned to drive to Mom and Dad's house that evening and leave the next morning, but fate dictated otherwise.

I stopped at Mom and Dad's, then started the first leg of the journey. It's a total of about 21 hours from their house to The Cat House, and the longest I've ever driven in one day (when I'm driving, not just riding) is 12 hours. That was 16 years ago. I just can't do that anymore.

I stopped in NC for some good ol's Smithfield Barbeque. While I was there it started snowing; it had been overcast all day. When I got back on the road (with Zippy finishing some of my hush puppies) I was out of the snow within 10 minutes and into rain. It rained the rest of the day, but it's better than ice any day.

After driving for 7 hours, I stopped for the night at a pet-friendly hotel about 40 miles north of Savannah. I took Zippy in with me to register, and since I hadn't tried to hide him, they didn't charge the $10 pet fee. The $70 bill included breakfast (Denny's Grand Slam), so it was a pretty good deal. Zip had slept the entire day in the car; at times I have to poke him to make sure he's still alive, he sleeps so soundly. By bedtime he was wound up tight, and he barked every time he heard a noise. Motels are noisy.

Next day, we drove to Orlando, a seven-hour drive. Spent that night and Sunday with Jennifer and the kids, then Monday left for the Keys, a seven-hour drive. Three days. If I could leave early in the morning, I could drive farther each day, but I get sleepy in the mornings. I'm okay in the afternoon and early night.

As we drove over the bridge that officially marked the start of the Keys, I kept telling Zippy (who just wanted to sleep) that we were coming home for the first time. We're Keys homeowners now. He wasn't impressed, but I was very excited.

Driving slowly through the Keys doesn't bother me. I like to take my time and drink in the views of the water and islands. I love to see mangroves growing at the side of the road. There are lots of birds to observe, although quickly. It's okay if I have to go slow.

It was dusk as we drove over the Seven Mile Bridge onto Bahia Honda (which has been rated the best beach in the country in the past) and dark as we reached Big Pine Key. Tom told me where to turn off Key Deer Boulevard to reach our little subdivision (read: fishing village), but I'd forgotten by the time I got there, and I ended up driving to the end of the island anyway. That was okay since I got to see several Key deer along the way. Finally, after backtracking, I reached our place in the Keys, the first time as a homeowner.

The amount of work that needs to be done on that place is overwhelming. Everything has to be updated. Whoever did the last (attempted but not finished) remodel did a piss-poor job, and it's possible that previous renos were just as poorly done. The plumbing has to be replaced. The a/c was done improperly, so all of the vents have to be pulled out and replaced, along with the a/c units themselves. That alone will cost about $9,000; to do it really well and have an energy-efficient system was $7,ooo-$10,000 more, and we just can't afford to do that and attempt to do anything else to the house now. The floors are sagging; the windows all need to be replaced (the current windows must have been the absolute cheapest ones available) and hurricane shutters added; much of the wiring has to be pulled out and replaced.

We decided to make three rooms liveable for now, the kitchen, one bedroom and one bathroom. Since we're totally remodeling the master bed/bath/closet, we're using one of the upstairs bedrooms for now; it's huge--12' wide by 20.5' long, the depth of the second story. That room could be used as an apartment; it's plenty big for a couple of beds and a sitting area. It's going to make a great guest room. Eventually. For now, it's our bedroom. My old queen-size bed and one end table are in there now, along with the cat tower.

The upstairs bathroom is usable. It has a harvest gold tub/shower and sink with a fairly new white toilet; all are in working order. That will be the last room to be remodeled. After massive cleaning, the kitchen can be used. We have an old stove and fridge that we took down, and we bought a microwave oven.

The entire house has popcorn ceilings. U G L Y. They catch every bit of dust, and, in the kitchen, grease. Grease and dust. Not a good combination. We don't want popcorn ceilings, so Tom scraped every bit off the kitchen ceiling. Ugh, more dust, but repeated mopping of the ceiling, walls, and floor will eventually get rid of that problem. Unfortunately, there are those stupid ceilings in every room, and the ones upstairs all have cathedral ceilings. Fun fun fun.

I really enjoyed doing some yard work. There are a lot of nuisance trees/plants in the yard, along with plants that I just don't like (pampas grass, anyone? It takes up so much space and provides a hiding place for any kind of nasty insect or reptile, so out it goes.), so much has to be done. Brazilian Pepper trees are considered nuisances; they take over wherever they take root, and they can grow 1' a week. They have clusters of beautiful tiny red berries, so I hate to see them go, but Monroe County has deemed them nuisances and to be eradicated. Since there are so many other things we want to grow, I can live with that.

We have a silver buttonwood hedge outside the two streetside fenced sides of the yard. They're terribly overgrown but will be beautiful when they're trimmed. Deer like to rest under the hedges and they provide privacy screening. There are many cabbage palms in the yard; most will be pruned so they don't take up so much space and some will be removed to make room for other palms. There are two coconut palms in the back yard, one large and bearing fruit, that'll need to be trimmed but not moved.

Three HUGE hibiscus are in front of the bedroom windows; they're almost to the second story, so they need to be drastically pruned. Bouganville covers the left front corner of the yard. Many more assorted palms in various sizes will have to be removed or moved.

The deck has been demolished, and Tom has torn out the walls and insulation in the master bath and closet. The fixtures have been removed. He discovered Dade Pine siding on the house; it's absolutely beautiful, washed a pale bluish-gray, but he says the upkeep is too great to consider removing the vinyl siding.

I'm worn out just thinking about it.

My neck is hurting, so I'm going to take a break. Whatever I've left out I'll try to catch up with later.

On the knitting front, I did very little, just some sock knitting to Ft. Lauderdale and back. I'm starting to feel the creative bug again, but who knows when it'll actually bite.

Quick update

Two weeks in Florida, lovely (if somewhat cooler than usual) weather, work around The Cat House, lots of FaceBook time on the Crack (and utter irritation for several days when the Crackberry network was down and no one had told me about it) (by no one I mean RIM, of course, the people who own the company), walks around our new neighborhood, observing the wildlife, playing with grandkids, floating in a warm pool on Christmas night, three days of driving seven hours a day each way (my butt cheek gets numb, okay?), living in our place in the Keys, having to leave and come home, then the little surprise of finding 6" of ice and snow on our driveway in WV, two weeks after it snowed and over a week since a minor ice storm, not being able to drive up the driveway, cracking the front bumper of our less than 2-months-old Prius, getting stuck and having to walk uphill to the house in the dark in the snow and ice and 10 degree temperature with 40 mph winds while wearing clogs because one doesn't need real shoes in Florida even in the winter with no depth perception in the dark and faulty balance on a smooth surface on a sunny day while trying to balance several large tote bags on my shoulders and falling down and losing a clog while screaming "WHY ME?" (or something like that only a lot more profane) at the cold stars as I sat on the ice without one shoe not being able to balance enough to stand up to look for the damn shoe and Zippy had run ahead up to the house and was patiently barking at the front door for someone to let him into the nice warm house while I was crying and snotting without any tissues halfway up the driveway thinking that I was going to die within sight of my own house and no one would ever find me and a bear might eat my barely-frozen carcass and it's all because I can't move to Florida until we sell our house in WV or I get a good-paying job in Florida which isn't likely this time of year (either one) then the next morning I called the guy with the tow truck who came after daylight to pull the car out of the ditch (where I almost took out the side of the new car by getting this---------->close to a huge bolt on a fence post) then dragged my crap back down to the car after deciding that I was not going back to that house until the spring thaw or June, whichever comes first then still being stuck in the damn driveway about 6' from the actual road and spending half an hour trying to get the car that six feet while getting this------->close to the For Sale sign in the ditch by the road until a nice man took pity on me and pulled me out of the driveway and I will not go back to WV until I'm sure that I can make it up that damned driveway and last night my shoulder muscle spasmed and Betty had to help me to bed because it was agonizing to move and it hurt so bad I didn't sleep well even after taking some percocet or something like that so today I went to the doctor who prescribed a muscle relaxant that shouldn't make me dopey but sort of has so I'm going to go to Betty's house and take another one and see if I can sleep.

*deep breath*

Zippy and I are living with Betty for a while.

Attention spammers:

Really, I'm not going to invest in your scams. Go away.

Please

If you pray, please send good thoughts to an old Dave Barry blog buddy of mine who is now also friends of my sisters. He just found out that he has prostate cancer and has to wait over a week for the appointment with his surgeon.

The Twilight saga revisited

Yes, I have a stack of books--good ones, from the blurbs on the covers, or the pictures on the cover, which is usually what attracts me to a book (yes, I'm shallow.)--on my bed to read. There are hundreds in the bookcases. So in the last couple of weeks, I've reread Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. And I liked them.

Are they fine literature? Depends on what you call literature. After rereading the series, I don't see the reasons that many detractors say that they're so poorly written. Evidentally there's something universally loved in them, by tweens and moms and grandmoms alike. The Washington Post article that I linked to a couple of weeks ago said it well. I'm paraphrasing here because I'm just too lazy to look back and click on the link, but the gist of the thing is that it takes us (women) (okay, some women) back to a time of first love, innocence, not to mention that teen angst, depression, insecurity, etc. But the books really are innocent; kisses, hugs, snuggling, and it very strongly encourages abstinence. (For a few minutes I couldn't think of that word; all I could come up with was incontinence. That comes much later than the series ever goes.) I don't think that sex is even mentioned, much less implied, until Breaking Dawn, which is the only book in the series I wouldn't want my granddaughter to read until she's, oh, 30, but the first three are innocent fun.

For some reason it surprised me to discover that Stephenie Meyer is Mormon. A Mormon mom writes a series of vampire/shapeshifter love stories? Tom is Mormon, so I mentioned it to him. He said, why wouldn't a Mormon write it? She's human, she has a degree in English, so why not? Anyway, I think that maybe that's where the insistence on abstinence comes from. I'm really happy to see that someone with so much influence in the lives of teenage girls (and old{er} women) doesn't have her characters falling into bed, or the backseat of Edward's Volvo (although really, that car is much too small; maybe Bella's old truck?) or anywhere until they're married. Edward was very definite on that subject, although I think that Bella would have been okay with it.

So. The point is, who cares if it's good literature? In my opinion, it's good if it's something that I enjoy, that I want to reread, that takes root in my brain and rots it entertains me for months on end. I'll read the entire series again. I've started reading Midnight Sun, which is available as only a PDF file which cannot be printed and I hate trying to read stuff on a computer screen but the story (Twilight from Edward's point of view) is so damn fascinating that I'll have to read it anyway.

Once again I cried at the end of Breaking Dawn. It ends so perfectly. I was so sure, the first time I read it, that

***SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT*** (even though there probably aren't too many people around who want to read the series and haven't) (if you are one, then stop now, because I'm going to talk about the ending of the saga)


Bella was going to die. I simply could not accept that, and I seriously considered putting the book down before the last battle. Fortunately someone (Urban Mom, thank you so much!) persuaded me to keep reading, and I love it.

So what will I read now? I don't know. Maybe I'll start over. The whole Twilight thing has taken root and I can't get rid of it. I don't want to. I like the innocence of the characters (right, vampires and werewolves innocent? In this series, yes.), the whole story. The fantasy. No, not the fantasy inspired by visions of naked teenage abs, although that one is all right, too. It's the whole fairy tale that ends like a Disney cartoon.

And I love it.

More attention than I need

I guess I've hit the big time. I'm now attracting spammers. So far it's not a royal pain, but if it continues, I'll have to go to word verification to prevent them.

I have to check to see just what it is that they're googling; I'm kind of afraid to see!