I only have five minutes

to write this and hit post.

It really is frustrating to be away from internet access. I mean, I can facebook to a certain extent and email, but I can't do much with this blog. There's so much to tell you. It takes forever to type anything in an SMS and text it here, and I can't add photos. I don't think I can add any now because I don't have time.

We've seen dozens of properties and have narrowed our search to two. Of course, they're the two that'll need the most work. The Cat House has a pool (including algae), is owned by the bank, and appears to have been deserted for years, although in this climate, it might just be a few months. Great yard, fenced, house is big enough and we could do so much with it. Unfortunately, it has to be gutted and redone; outside, the deck has to be demolished and remade. Plus whatever is wrong with the pool.

The other one we didn't see till yesterday. I'd been watching it online for months. It appears to be tiny, but it has over 1400 sq feet, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and even has a shower out on the deck. It has lots of cool touches the current owner has added. We could move right in and make any changes as we wanted to and had the money to do. It's also the least-expensive of all of the houses we've seen.

It has a smaller yard, but it's all fenced with coral, which really makes it look like Florida. We could do a lot with the yard. And to seal the deal, a Key deer buck wandered up the driveway while we were in the back yard. One of the owner's dogs, a small Pookie-like male, went to greet him. The deer shook his antlers at the dog, who then casually turned and came back toward us. The deer didn't bolt, and the dog didn't bark.

J and her family are coming in tonight and will stay through Sunday. I'm looking forward to it. Then, unfortunately, we have to leave Tuesday morning so the family who owns the condo can use it. There was a death in the family so they'll all be in the area. We plan to take it slow going home.

Later! Hope you're all well.

Tonia (Knitted to a T) had her second child this afternoon, a beautiful BIG boy! Mother, father, big brother, and baby are doing great. Congratulations, Tonia!

Testing 1-2-3 Is this thing on?

Let's see if this works!

Looks like it might. But I sent a test photo that hasn't shown up yet. I wonder where that is?

Well, crap. I tried sending it twice. Maybe I'll eventually get it.

Maybe.

Slow down!

Good grief. The summer is going by far too quickly.

I don't seem to be able to post with the Crack. I've totally forgotten how to type on an actual keyboard. Today is the first time I've driven in a month.

Let me tell you, living in the Keys is tough, dude.

We're looking at houses and have actually seen a few that we could move right in to. Many are disgusting dumps. Not a whole lot of choice in our price range, but more open every day. We saw a brand new townhouse in Key West, but it's really small and we have a lot of stuff.

I'm going through emails from realtors, looking at the properties they've emailed me. It takes forever, and we only have internet access at the library. The Crack is useless for something like that, but I'm having a blast keeping up on email and Facebook (Rita Knits is my name--join me!) and I'll miss that when we go back to the mountains and don't have cell phone coverage. It works well here for that.

Gotta run. We love it here. We can see ourselves living here. When I have time/opportunity, I'll post some photos. The Key deer are very friendly, very cute, and I've gotten to rub the velvety antlers of several males. Males are friendlier than females. We've seen tiny fawns, about Zippy's size.

Zippy is happy being a Key dog. He knows he has to go to the elevator to go O-U-T. There are huge iguanas all over the place, some as big as he is. He doesn't chase them. I think they could take him in an instant.

Later! I hope you're enjoying the summer. I really miss reading all of your blogs and hearing from you. I'll catch up when I can.

OH--Eric Brace has a new song and video, "Tranquility Base", an homage to the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing. Beautiful song, available on iTunes, and the video is on YouTube.

On the beach

My sisters arrived last night. Finally, after dreaming about it for years, we're having a Sisters' Week in Florida.

After a stop at a store for sand chairs, we headed to Sombrero Beach on Marathon. It's just a few miles away; it's a nice little beach with well
l-maintained park facilities. We enjoyed watching dogs happily paddling in the surf. Any park that allows dogs is okay with me, and it doesn't cost anything to park there and use the beach.

I'm having a devil of a time trying to post on Crack, so I'm going to quit before I get really pissed and throw it into the bay after smashing it on the rocks while driving over it. Suffice to say that we're having a wonderful time in the sun.

Now where did I put that aloe?

Hello from Big Pine Key!

As everyone but me already knew, I couldn't connect the stupid phone to the laptop. After another couple of hours on the phone with AT&T tech support, I said the hell with it and had the tethering removed. $30 less that way. I'm using the Crack to email and post on Facebook, but I can't blog from it. We're sitting in a Winn Dixie parking lot which is flooded; we just had a downpour, and it's already wet here. There must be at least 6-8" of water on the lot.

We're having a wonderful time here in the Keys. The condo is very nice; after paying only $136 to a plumber, both toilets are now working properly. Zippy is a very good little boy; he's not this well-behaved at home. If we can't take him with us, he stays in the condo in his crate. He's been very quiet, except when the plumber came in.

We've talked to a real estate agent on Big Pine Key and have been riding around looking at places for sale. There are a good number in our price range. In a few days or so we'll contact the agent and set up appointments to tour some houses.

Key deer, oddly enough, are everywhere on Big Pine Key. Yesterday we saw a tiny (adult) male with an impressive set of antlers. I got out of the car to photograph him, and he ran (or rather, quickly limped; he was hit by a car and one back leg doesn't work; they call him Tripod.) to me and licked my fingers. I think he might have gotten in the car, if I'd invited him in.

We've seen a couple of this season's fawns. They're about Zippy's size! The adults are smaller than our yearling deer at home. They all seem to be pretty tame; the Key is a sanctuary for them. They are an endangered species. I tell you, it feels like home!

I'll post some photos later. Just wanted to say hi for now. I'm reading a lot (we got a library card at the Marathon library) and knitting very little. Maybe later.

And my sisters will be here in just two more days for our Sisters' Week in Paradise!

Fun at work

Since school ended, my job has been a piece of cake. So to speak. We have actually had cake for the retirees.

Until today, for the last week I've had very little to do. I just ran copies of our algebra and geometry packets all day long. After 4 days, there are enough to take care of summer school and start into next year.

Until today.

But I'm leaving now (one machine broke down, so some copies not needed until August didn't get finished. Say it with me: "Awwwwwwwww."

Summer is finally here!

Easy? Never.

I'm always the optimist. Glass half-full kind of thing. Even when past experience has told me that, no matter what the instruction booklet says, getting a computer to cooperate with a new modem will take hours instead of steps 1-4, I still hold out and hope--no, believe--that this time, it'll be just that easy.



I'm always wrong.



I've had the Crack for four weeks now. Last night I learned how to check my voice mail (Hi, Liz! You did call me to tell me that you're engaged, just like you said you did. I'm sorry I doubted you.). Since we're leaving for Florida in a couple of hours, yesterday was the deadline to make sure the stupid thing would actually "tether" to my laptop so we can get online while we're in Florida. As usual, I'd tried a few times and when it didn't work, I just put it off.



After work yesterday, I spent over 3 hours at the AT&T store. I am loving AT&T. Every time I walk in, someone immediately asks if they can help. Ntelos evidentally didn't believe in customer service; if you remember, I would wait up to 90 minutes without being spoken to or asked to wait a bit. Not at AT&T.

I foolishly procastinated trying to tether the laptop and phone until the day before we leave for Florida (1 hour and 25 minutes now!), because the booklet shows four very simple steps (the fourth being "click on the CONNECT button") and I was so sure it would be that simple. I know better. I never believe that little voice that says, "you idiot, you know it'll take three hours to get it to work, and only then after you have the help of two phone techs and an hour of on-the-phone-with-customer-service (the tech guy, not me) to discover that my phone would not connect. Would. Not. Yeah, it's a refurb, that's the only way I could afford one. For some reason, they frequently won't cooperate with tethering. So he reset the phone. That didn't work.

I was tired, but I couldn't get upset at all the time it was taking because these guys were trying everything they knew to make it work. Finally, after the store closed, they said that the phone is defective, and they'll send a new (refurb) one to me. Since we'll be in Florida, and it was too late to get it to me today, they're sending it to my daughter's house. It should be there tomorrow. All I have to do is pack up the old phone, slap on the postage return sticker that they emailed me, and drop it in a mail box after I get the new (refurb) one.

I was floored. I've never had service like that with Ntelos. I had to argue with them for months to get my name changed on my bill after I remarried. It took three billing cycles--and three trips into the non-service store--to get my niece's phone line separated from mine, and they still didn't want to do it. Fortunately I saved every freaking contact that I had with them about these issues and finally they fixed things.

So. Once the new (refurb) one is here, all I have to do is link it to the laptop, open the communications manager, and click "connect". It will work.

I know it will.

Packed and ready to go

Yesterday I went through my yarn and chose the sock yarn I'll take to Florida, along with the necessary patterns and the box o' needles. I am ready for any eventuality.

I pretty much know what books I'm taking (I think I'll just sneak 'em into the car after Tom packs it, because he thinks I'm taking too many); I've gotten a bunch that look good at book swaps lately.

I might not be quite as prepared for leaving the condo, though, as I don't have any clue as to what clothes I'll take.

Over the weekend, I read I Am Legend, which was written in 1954, I think, which can be sort of aggravating with the details of life at that time (as in, no microwave, records instead of cds, cars with chokes, etc.), but it really is a timeless story. Only the car with a choke, and a record player seemed odd in this day and age. I imagine that the movie with Will Smith will address those issues; now I have to see it. Very good book.

And I read the 5th book in the House of Night series. I can't remember what its title is, although I think it's Hunted. Those are fun, easy books and I enjoy them.

As for knitting, I did finally finish the second sock of the pair that I started two years ago. They fit and feel good. I knit them with fingering yarn and size 2 needles, which is what put me off them so long ago. They make a very thin fabric, but I like the way they feel. Very lightweight, soft. I started a pair with some of Claudia's sport discards, pink and yellow, but I don't know the colorway. I'm making them for a coworker whose only luck is bad luck, really really bad luck. As in she used to be an English teacher (in a piss-poor backwoods county, if that tells you anything) but had a nervous breakdown or something because she's now working as a teacher assistant for maybe $12,000 a year, and she's always deathly ill with this or that, or having foot surgery that laid her up for three months and she couldn't work, and her kids won't help her (although it's possible they have a reason for that), her furnace broke down in the dead of winter and she couldn't afford to fix it, so people here at school chipped in to take her through those months, including paying her health insurance when she couldn't work. Well, last week the poor woman had a mini-stroke while working and had to be rushed to the hospital. She was hospitalized for two days. Anyway, a few weeks ago I asked her if she'd like some handknit socks (she's always admiring mine) and told her to measure her ankle and the length of her foot. She wears a child's size 3 or 4 shoe! She never did get the measurements to me, but I'm guessing that her foot is about the same size as 9-year-old A's foot, well, except for the poor woman's bunions.

On top of it all, the woman was running back and forth 5 hours to the bottom of the state to take care of her ailing father, then he died and left her some run-down, no good rental properties waayyy down there, and she's sunk way too much into fixing them up, and the people who are renting aren't paying their rent........... She's just a magnet for bad luck, poor thing.

I tell you, we are so blessed. During the winter when the scary financial things were going on with us, I had no doubt that we'd come out of it okay. We came out really well. And here we are, with plans to spend my entire 6 weeks off work in the Keys, while we look for a house to buy, just seven months after the financial boogey man attacked us.

We truly are blessed.

The moment

Finally, it's here. The moment we've been waiting for since Aug. 18 of last year.

The bell just rang. The kids are leaving school for the summer. They're not the only ones who're jumping up and down.

Today I was given a copy of my *oh crap, what's it called* oh yeah, evaluation. I received the highest marks for everything, the best evaluation I've ever had. I've never had a bad one, but this one is really complimentary.

I love my job (especially now that vacation is in sight) and hope to keep on copying for two or three years. It's nice to know that I am appreciated.

Ketchup

I've really been neglecting this blog. My excuse, for last week, anyway, is that I've been busy. I spent one day working in the attendance office (those ladies are not paid enough for all they have to do!), one day giving math placement tests, and one day on an art field trip to the National Gallery of Art and the Hirschorn Museum of Modern Art. I gave the SAT Saturday morning, then we drove to Mom and Dad's house to visit overnight. While there, we went to see/hear Todd Snider at Ashland Coffee and Tea. We left Mom and Dad's around 3:30 yesterday and drove the three hours to my son's house to attend my youngest granddaughter's 6th birthday party. We left home at 6:30 on Saturday morning and got back at 10:00 last night. It was a very busy weekend, but it was great to visit with family. And earn $98 for giving the SAT.

Here's a photo of my Bloodlust (from All That Glitters) custom-dyed for me by Yarn Lust (etsy.com). I love it. It's 2% silver so it's sparkly; I'll use it to knit Shipwreck (knitty.com). She sent a stitch marker with each hank of yarn: one red heart, one black heart, and one clear heart. I have a feeling I'll need them for this. You can also see the beads I bought at Beads of Distinction in Key West; I think I'll need more of them, but I have to figure out how many and which ones go where. That's going to be a pain; I want the inside rows to have clear beads, the center red ones, and black on the outside rows. Thank God they're not needed until the entire center is knit; they go on the edging. But how am I going to figure out just how many I'll need and in what numbers? I can always break the yarn and add more beads when needed, but I really really hate having those ends to weave in. I may try a Russian join, which basically, I think, is spitting on the loose ends of yarn and then mooshing them together. If it'll work, I'm all for it. I hate to weave in ends on anything.

This photo doesn't show the sparkle factor, but it's there all the same. I plan to haul this to Florida and work on it this summer, but I'm not sure how well I'll be able to concentrate when a) I'm sitting on the porch in 90 degree weather while gazing at the Gulf waters a few hundred feet away with wool on my lap, and b) I can't concentrate when I'm in a room by myself anyway and this one is going to take some concentration.

Slacker radio works pretty well when we're in flat country with a really strong AT&T signal, which means it doesn't work well in this area but did closer to Richmond. We're interested to see if it's any better in Florida where there are a lot fewer hills and no mountains. I like that I can fine-tune custom channels to play songs by people that we like, but I do not like the cutting in and out when we're in less-than-flat land.

I'm not a very good traveling companion since I got the Crackberry. I mean, I can check my email in the freaking car! And Facebook. I hate Facebook, but it's interesting once in a while to log in and see what (mostly) boring things others are doing. I haven't had any luck sending photos to cell phones or others' email; something else I need to check on. And, like I said earlier, I can read blogs and their comments but cannot post my own comments. I still haven't attempted to tether it to my laptop, which I should do very soon because we're paying for it and I want to see if make sure it works before we leave for the summer.

I loaned Twilight the movie to a friend a couple of weeks ago (I know! I let it out of my possession for a good 10 days, but I did keep the codes for the iTunes downloads, just in case I needed to watch it). My friend and I usually don't like the same movies or books, and she's not obsessed sucked into the phenomenon as I am, so I didn't expect her to enjoy the movie. To my surprise, she thought it was well-cast and well-made, although she did say that she was a little disappointed that Edward didn't dress more elegantly, as described in the book, but overall, she really enjoyed it. Wow, and she's 61.

I'm almost to the toe of the boring socks I'm knitting now; I got a lot done on the bus on Friday and in the car this weekend when I wasn't fiddling with the Crackberry checking my email.

School's almost done with for the year; the kids are here till Thursday, and I have to work until June 18. That afternoon we're leaving for Florida as soon as 3:30 rolls around. We'll drive straight through to Orlando (with a dog and a cat) and spend a few days with my daughter and her family. Then--the Keys. For six glorious weeks. We plan to shop for a house while we're there.

I haven't checked any blogs since Wednesday, unless you count the drive-bys while on Crack(berry), and those don't count because the type is so tiny that I can't read it anyway. I'll try to do better. Oooh--I need to run over to June Cleaver's place and check out the Monday Swoon. This selfless woman spends hours each week ogling checking out finding photos of Swoon-worthy men and posts them on Mondays for those of us who can't get through the work filters are too busy to search for them ourselves. The lady is a saint.

Why

is it that I can post a comment on here using my Crackberry but cannot post to other blogs? You can see how busy I am, since that's what I'm sitting here thinking.

I know I should check out the help section of Blogger, but, I'm lazy. Any ideas before I wade into the World of Help?

Slacker

No, I'm not accusing you. It's an internet radio thingy where you can chose the genre you like, or you can make up your own station of music that you like.

I tried to download it onto my Blackberry last week, and every time it failed. I don't know about you, but when something that costs me an additional $30 a month isn't working properly, I get a bit excited (read: really pissed off).

So, just to aggravate myself some more today, I tried again to download Slacker, and on the second try, Slacker for Crackberry succeeded. I now have my own (free) internet radio station that we can listen to wherever we go (that a cell phone signal can reach).

I am happy.

Amended to add: Yeah. Lots of buffering, lots of empty silence while buffering. An interesting concept, but I'm not sure that I'm equipped for it yet. Mentally, or maybe emotionally. I need to go online at home and check Slacker help (it's, of course, blocked here at work) to see if I'm doing something wrong or these pauses are the nature of the beast. Whatever. When it worked, it was great; maybe we'll actually be exposed to some new music again after losing our favorite XM station.

P.S. Todd Snider (I am too freaking headachy to try to link) is playing at Ashland Coffee and Tea this weekend, so we're heading down that way on Saturday. He's a big name in the alt-country/Americana genre. I hope my headache is gone by then. Loud music + headache = misery.

What is the use

of having a Blackberry with which I can read blogs, read the comments, eventually see the photos (oh, and you have to go to June's blog and see those photos from New Moon, the movie) (you'll thank me), can type in comments, but cannot freaking post the comments? I mean, what's a Blackberry good for if I cannot communicate with blogs? Crap. I find that highly irritating.

It took me half an hour to type a well-worded, carefully-thought-out reply to June's Monday Swoon (which basically said, and I quote, *drool*), typing with my fingernails because those damned keys are too small to actually use, and then it would not send. Or, it said it was, but it lied.

What is the use?

Inactive

So.

I'm so uninspired. As you can tell, I haven't written much lately. I'm feeling extremely lazy. Maybe it's spring fever; it's finally warm here. I'm sure we'll have more cool weather; it's rarely reliably warm before the first week of June.

I finished my lovely Buckeyes/Eclipse socks--and they're too damn small. I cannot believe this. I obsessively check the fit as I knit, and they. are. too. short. and. too. tight. I can rip them out totally and reknit, but as I mentioned, I'm lazy. I can give them away. I hate to go either route. I love them. And I'm lazy.

I couldn't decide what to knit next (see above excuse) so I picked up a pair of socks in Trekking XXL or whatever it's called (lazy) that I started knitting a couple or three years ago. I made the mistake of using size 2 US needles, which really isn't suitable for such thin yarn. I have no idea what I was thinking at the time. They're lightweight, which I guess could be good, but, again, I was too uninspired to rip out the one leg I'd already knit. Now I'm on the foot. Thin, but wool, so all is well.

I finished reading the Barbara Bretton book (I can't remember the title, and, remember.....) and I loved it. It's fun, it's amusing, I like the characters, and I want to read more of her books. I forget what I'm reading now. Honestly. Oh, Firefly Lane. I think. It's good. Last week our school library hosted a book swap and I got that one along with about 10 others, including the first four books in the House of Night series. I cannot imagine that someone would read an entire series once then give it away. That notion is totally foreign to me. My friend took in 75 books to give away. Can you believe that? There was such a good selection at the swap.

Last weekend was warm, partly rainy, partly sunny, and I got to spend some more quality time worshipping the sun. I guess that rules out the chances of me ever being a vampire. I love the sun.

I'm not getting very far in learning what the Blackberry can do. (Lazy.) When all else fails, wait a while longer before you read the instructions, is my motto. I've tried to download Slacker radio; I've created a station that plays only songs that we like, but it's failed to download several times this afternoon and I'm too irritated to try again. I wouldn't want to fling the thing out into the parking lot and break it before I've learned to use it. I downloaded tons of songs onto it the other night, and yesterday we bought the cable that allows us to use it through the car stereo. For the first time in four+ months, we were able to listen to music that we actually like. If only XM hadn't merged with Sirius and seriously f^cked things up. Ah well, I probably wouldn't have been able to talk my way into a Blackberry if that had happened.

It is cool to be able to email and stuff while we're going down the road. I don't like to text, and those keys are no larger if I'm trying to email, but I'm forcing myself to email. I only check my gmail account once a week or so since school has blocked access to it, so this is a nice option.

AND--we got our very first dvr this week! Yes, we've officially joined the 21st century in all ways but HDtv, and that will have to wait. Too late to catch this season's 24, but we'll use it a lot anyway. (Season 7 of 24 was released the day after the season's finale, and I want it. Along with season's 1-6. Yes, there's Hulu, but there's something to be said for watching tv on a larger screen than this one.)

Kitten Marie has recovered from her surgery and is driving Chester nuts. She's very active. She goes home in a month. When we go to "our" condo in the Keys.

Kitty Lily, at only 10 years, died last week. She spent her final hours sitting on our laps (at times draped across us both). It would take her several tries to walk across the room; she'd have to stop and rest. Bless her sweet little heart, she continued to try to use the litter box after she lost the strength to climb into it; she'd pee on the (vinyl, thank God) floor next to it. She wouldn't eat, but she'd still ask to go outside for a little while each day. She was a very sweet kitty. Tom buried her in the lilies in the front yard, one of the few flowers that the deer don't eat. She was named Lily because she was born on Easter Sunday.

That damned message light on the Blackberry is blinking intermittently. I have no idea what it means or how to stop it. We took it to the AT&T store (take THAT, Ntelos) yesterday and it took the staff a while to figure out how to turn it off. I don't know what they did.

By the way, the sound on the little thing is very good, and much better than the sound on this laptop.

So. That's the news as of right now, except for the stuff I've forgotten.

P.S. Have you seen those photos from New Moon the movie?

So, yeah.

Last night I tried to post on here using my new Blackberry, but I couldn't sign in. Actually, it did let me sign in on the comments page, where it posted my "test" twice, but I couldn't find a link to "new post". Since I'm going to be relying on that this summer, I am a bit pissed.

I know nothing about this thing. Read the directions? Pfffft. I asked a kid why there was a red light blinking constantly; I'd spent a couple of hours trying to find what that stupid light meant and couldn't find a thing. Ask a kid, within seconds she said it was an indication that I had text messages and showed me how to find them and get that damned light off.

I've learned that it's kind of painful to use the thing for internet (I haven't tried it tethered to the laptop yet; I am afraid), since my fingers are bigger than the damned keyboard and I can't type easily, plus is seems that the blazing fast 3G network is slower than dialup. Okay, maybe not that bad, but I expected more.

I still haven't gotten a data card for it, but I think we will after school today. Then I can download music (I'm sure it's reaaaaallllly easy and fast) and take photos and videos and spend hours trying to figure out how to email and blog them.

Last night we went to Roanoke (a two hour drive on a good day, but it was the Thursday before Memorial Day at rush hour) to see/hear Last Train Home featuring Peter Cooper at a tiny place; it holds maybe 60 people. Yesterday was Peter's 39th birthday. It was a "weird hybrid" (Eric's term) of Last Train Home and Peter's band, and I really like it. They sing so well together and both are songwriters, different styles that are merging very well. We thoroughly enjoyed the show; notsomuch the getting home at 1 a.m., but it was worth it.


After the show started, I called Joan so she could "hear" the show. I'm sure the quality wasn't great, but it was nice to be able to share it with her.

I'm lazy

Or maybe I should be kind to myself and say I've been unmotivated to blog.

Nah. Lazy is the correct word.

Let's see what I've actually done in the last week:

1) Spent a couple of days online comparing cell phones and plans. I am done with Ntelos and their non-customer-service service. I've finally decided on a Blackberry Bold, whatever that is. It seems to have good customer reviews and it can be tethered (through AT&T) to my laptop (for an extra $60 a month) when we travel, and I don't have to keep that tethering for a two-year contract. The monthly plan includes unlimited internet access with the phone and--the big draw, besides being able to access the internet with the laptop when desired--Geez. I got interrupted and I cannot remember what the big draw is. *sigh* Oh yeah, AT&T's minutes roll over if they're not used. I rarely use even 200 minutes a month, and my current plan is for 600 minutes, and if they're not used, they're gone. Forevah. The new plan will include 450 minutes, which will be more than plenty.

2) Read a lot. I finished Stephenie Meyer's The Host. It was really really difficult to get interested in it, but after trying several times (and having nothing else within reach that I wanted to read) I finally got into it. It's an unusual story that I won't even try to explain. It's defintely not Twilight (many would say that's a good thing).

3) I won a contest! Barbara Bretton (if I were at my own desk I could link you, but I'm not so I won't; you can google her name and find her website) chose me as one of her winners and sent me two signed books. One is her last one, Casting Spells, which is about a town of--get this--vampires, werewolves, fairies, and all kinds of supernatural beings (there's even a screaming banshee) and the half-human owner of the best yarn shop in New England for two years running. What could be more appropriate for me to read after being caught in Twilight's spell? I've only read the first few chapters, but it's a light-hearted, fun book. The second in the series (this woman has written tons of books) is due out in June and is about the same town and people and knitting store. I'm looking forward to it.

The second book is Just Desserts, which sounded so familiar, because I already own it, but written by someone else. I guess there's no copyright on titles.

Barbara has several websites, one of which is this one; I think another one is here. You know my memory. I hope that you'll check her, and her books, out. Free books are one of the ways to my heart!

(Hmmmm. It looks like those links will work; if not, blame my brain.)

3) What else have I done. Oh yes, we went to my oldest grandson's first race on Saturday night. First race driving with the big boys, that is. He's 9, the youngest ever to race at that track. One man in his class is 66--how he got into that tiny car is beyond me.

B is an impressive young man. He's been driving in go-cart races since he was maybe 5, and he's quite good. He's done well practicing with the older guys. Fortunately we got there a little too late for his qualifying run; I called my son when we pulled into the parking lot to see where we were supposed to go, and B's brakeline had failed. Failed. As in no brakes. He's 9 years old. What did he do? He calmly zig-zagged around a few cars and aimed the car into the grass, where it stopped on its own.

I would have freaked (both as the driver and the grandmother watching this happen). K said it scared the piss out of him. My boy is eloquent, like him momma. But not B. He handled it well and moved on. I'd still be shaking if I'd done that.

Also, when they first got to the race track, his car wouldn't start. No problems during the practices, but on race day, they came in multiples. They got it going again, then the brakeline blew out.

So the races started (and, thank you, God) it was the first race of the evening. 25 laps, approximately 23 seconds per lap. B started out in the back of the pack since it was his first race, but by the time his clutch burned up on the second lap, he had moved up two spots.

I mean, poor kid! He very calmly aimed the car into the pit area and talked over his headset (this is like professional racing, with full burn-proof gear, the works) to his dad who told him to stay in the car until he could get over to him. B was devastated, but he didn't show it other than being very subdued.

It was just as well that he didn't finish the race; the whole thing was under the yellow flag except for a lap or two, with one car spinning into the wall and the rescue squad and wrecker heading out on the track; fortunately the guy was okay; then the race was called five laps early because it was starting to rain.

We left after B and his mom and dad came back over to the grandstand (and after paying $30 to spend an hour or two there, but some things you do because it's your grandkid even though it scares the crap out of you). Let's just say that I'm not a racing fan. My ex, the bastard, loved racing, and the last one he took me to (over 20 years ago) he told me how "disappointed" he was that he'd gone to the trouble of taking me out and all I did was sit there and read. Instead of being grateful that I'd agreed to go to something that bores me to tears, he was "disappointed". Well, guess who took a book and read this time? Tom, that's who, while I knitted. So HA!

(Yes, I'm childish and vindictive and still hold quite a grudge, thankyouverymuch.)

4) Then Sunday it was pretty and sunny and I spent some quality time in the sun. Ahhh, the warmth of the sun. I know it's not good for the ol' skin and I'm looking like my grandmother much sooner than I think I should, but it's something that I crave.

5) I'm turning the heel of my second Buckeyes/Eclipse sock. I'm loving the yarn.

6) One of my prescriptions finally showed up today. One. There are two or three more that haven't arrived.

As you can see, I've been terribly productive lately. And interesting.

I need to get a life.

If it's this bad now, what's gonna happen when the government takes over health care?

Grrrrrrrrr.

I am so irritated/angry/pissed off at my mail-in prescription service. If I didn't save money by sending them our 90-day prescriptions, I'd never use them again.

Back in March, before we went to Florida, I mailed in a page of refills with six or seven new prescriptions stapled to it. The week after we got home, the refills arrived. Not one of the new prescriptions had been filled. I called the service and was told they hadn't received the new prescriptions. I told them that if they got the refill authorization, then they had to have received the new ones. They were all stapled to that one stinking page. No, they didn't have them. And we were out of a couple of meds.

Ron, or Rod, whoever he was, offered to call the doctor and ask her to fax the prescriptions to him. I thought that was the end of that.

A few days later, two of the new prescriptions arrived. Two. 2. Dos. I called the service again. They'd not received the others. Called my doctor. Yes, they'd faxed all of them. Once again, my prescription service screwed up.

I had a doctor's appointment last Wednesday. She told me she'd faxed the prescriptions the week before, but she'd do them again.

A few minutes ago, I called the stupid prescription service again. Only one prescription had been received, they'd filled it, and I have to allow 7 or fewer (I love that distinction) days to get them. Ooookay. I called my doctor's office yet again. They'd faxed in three prescriptions for me at the same time they'd faxed that one for Tom. But the damn service had not received my prescriptions.

My doctor's office is once again faxing the prescriptions. I am almost out of two of them.

If things are this damn f^cked up when insurance is run by private companies, what the hell is going to happen when the government takes over our health care? Will we end up like Canada and not be able to get surgery that we need because they're too busy? Like Great Britain where women with breast cancer are left to die because the drugs to fight it are too expensive?

I do not have a good feeling about this.


P.S. I am feeling a little better each day. Just a tiny bit better, but at least it's moving in the right direction.

Still feeling icky

I'm so tired of this!

I don't feel sick. I don't feel particularly tired, but I've been sleeping soundly (till 2 yesterday). I just feel weak, like I'm about to pass out.

On the knitting front, I finished one of my sport-weight socks that I started last Sunday. They're some of the freebie Claudia yarn; I think it's Buckeyes, but since it's dark gray and deep red, I'm going with Eclipse (as if you don't know the reference there). I did the heel from some deep red yarn; I think it's Rubies Dancing. They're just plain socks, but since they're sport instead of fingering, and still knit on #1 dpns, they're really cushy. I love this colorway. I still have two hanks of fingering in Buckeyes. Not quite enough for a pair of socks (Claudia's fingering is only 165-175 yards; since I like my socks longer, I always have to use a third hank.)

I finished reading the four books (so far) in The House of Night series; I enjoyed them. Now I'm reading Stephenie Meyer's (do not tell me you don't know what she wrote) The Host, which is a truly odd book. It took me several tries to get far enough into it that I got interested, but now I'm enjoying it.

Star Wars Day

May the fourth be with you.