Sneaky Actors

Perhaps it is a sign that I watch too much Star Trek, but something that really drives me crazy is when they try to sneak actors from one show onto another. Do they think we won't notice? I wouldn't mind if they just wrote it into the story line, but no! They change their species and make them play totally different characters! Throughout the whole episode I am distracted by their presence and, quite frankly, insulted that they thought I wouldn't notice. One actor in particular, Tim Russ, has played a human mercenary on TNG, a klingon on DS9, a human on Enterprise (the movie), and, as a vulcan, is a main character on Voyager. And they just act like it is business as usual! Aron Eisenburg is the same. His voice is so recognizable that it is really disturbing to hear someone I am familiar with as a recurring Ferengi character on DS9 playing a Kazon warrior on Voyager! It's sneaky, distracting, and quite inappropriate! I may just write someone and give them a peice of my mind!

Yardwork and Jicama, Round Three

Today I undertook another new task: yardwork. I have never enjoyed working in the yard. I hate bugs and, as the dirt, flowers, grass, and trees seem to be their realm, I usually make a concerted effort to give them their space and keep to mine. Well, I refuse to let Michele return to a mess of a house or yard, so I endeavored to do some spring clean up of the backyard today. I knew, once I started, that my neighbor, Rita, wouldn't be able to resist coming out and assisting and advising me. Once we got past my initial fear that I may have touched a worm, we actually had a really good time. I hadn't realized how hard raking is, though, and am really sore! Rita and I, hopefully with my stepmother, Gloria's help, have many plans for the yard. I'm actually pretty excited about getting out there again!

On a completely unrelated note, my first two tries of jicama were incredibly distasteful. I, however, was set on giving it at least three tries before writing it off. Wonder of wonders, but in the mail this week I received the latest issue of Clean Eating and there was an article about the health benefits of jicama and two yummy-sounding recipes. I felt that it must be fate, so I tried one of the recipes. I don't know what was wrong with the jicama that I used in my first two attempts, but the one I bought today was delicious! The Spicy Jicama Salad recipe I tried was absolutely divine!! Jicama, through trial and tribulation, has become one of my favorite veggies.

Anniversary

Today marks Michele and my eleventh year together and our sixth wedding anniversary. It's our first time spending this day apart, but we are both in good spirits. To make me smile and to commemorate the day, I wore the shoes and socks I wore on this day six years ago. At least I think it's the same pair of socks. When my mom and I were out buying the accessories to go with the wedding suit we'd made, we had a really hard time finding the perfect socks. We finally found them at JC Penney's and they were on sale for $0.70 a pair!! I couldn't believe it, so I bought every pair they had - eleven pairs!! So, I may be wearing the same pair I wore on our wedding day, or I may be wearing one of her ten sister pairs, but the sentiment is the same.

Update on the Oven Door

I did end up getting the door back on. Unfortunately, everything was very loose at that point, except, of course, the door handle! So, off it came again, I put it back together - the right way, this time - and got it back on the oven. By the way, oven doors are not light! That thing must weigh at least 40 pounds!! I'm going to count that as my exercise for the day with I talk to my health coach!

The Oven

I was cleaning the kitchen tonight and noticed that the oven door handle was loose. It's probably been loose for years, but I got it in my head to tighten it tonight. I figured "How hard could it be, right?"

This picture is of my oven. Those things leaning against and in front of the cabinets to the right are the pieces of my oven door that just happened to come off and apart when I tried to tighten the handle. I did end up getting the handle tightened, but I can't quite figure out how to get the door back together and back on the oven. I know I should keep working on it, but it's almost 11 and I'm tired. I can't just leave it off, though for two reasons: 1. The oven light is on and that would be a big waste of electricity. 2. Even though I am sure I can rig the light to go off, the cats will imagine this is a new space for their use and likely drag one of Michele's new cushions into the oven to make a new napping spot. The part that is the most frustrating is that I didn't even need to take the door off to get to the screws to tighten the handle. The top part of the door lifts off - easy access to the screws!! I just hate it when things that I think will be easy end up being hard and then turn out really easy!!

Chuck

Michele has gotten me addicted to a new TV show. While she was on her first trainer's truck, Chuck, her trainer, ot her hooked on Chuck, the show. So, Michele called me and told me all about it and advised me to order the first season on Netflix. I resisted, of course! How could I dilute the time I spend on my Star Trek family with this no-account upstart? But, she insisted, and, to make her happy, I gave in. Big mistake!! I love the show!! So, from now on, I am juggling my time and my Netflix orders between Star Trek DS9, Voyager, and Chuck. I think it helps me to be a more well-rounded individual to have such diverse interests: a motley crew of military officers and "terrorists" 70,000 light years from home (Voyager), a stalwart group of officers and civilians on a space station caught between a Cardassian rock and a Dominion hard place (DS9), and finally a human computer CIA/NSA asset who works at the TV equivalent of BestBuy. It's good to be well-rounded and firmly grounded in reality, right?

Thesis and Other UFOs

Okay, (Daddy, sit down and brace yourself) I have actually started working on my thesis again. I plan to have it complete by the end of May. I chunked it up into small bits and have been working on one bit a day and I will continue that until it's done! I decided that while Michele was away I would try to break my habit of not finishing things. So, I made a list of UnFinished Objects (UFOs):

1. Thesis
2. Friend's birthday quilt - birthday was in October
3. Michele's Christmas gift from three years ago
4. Our winter quilt - just in time for summer!
5. The bathroom floor - still only 1/2 ripped up and totally unfinished

So I plan to work on these things over the next two months. I should probably move number 5 up to number 2 because my mom will be visiting and there are a lot of nails sticking up from the bathroom floor. I can't even imagine the kind of karma damage that would occur if my mom was injured by my UFO!!

Musical Magic

Jeremy, our church's pianist and choir director, is a student at Eastman School of Music. I took him home after choir practice yesterday and he invited me to his recital tonight. After he invited me, I asked him if the recital was a class or school requirement. He said "No, it's not a requirement. A friend and I just thought it would be fun to put something together." So, I went to Jeremy's recital expecting a few kids playing around, making great music, of course - this is Eastman after all - but nothing organized or fancy. What I found when I got there was a 30-person orchestra, programs, the cutest conductor in a tux, and Jeremy playing the most fabulous music I have heard in a long time. It was amazing. Just goes to show what can happen when two friends decide to have a little fun!

A Trying Day

Today I tried to donate blood. I haven't donated in several years due to low iron, but I decided to try today. Well, there are new rules and because I lived in Germany in the 80's and 90's I can no longer donate due to Mad Cow disease. I was so disappointed - even though I hate giving blood.

I also tried to attend a class on getting organized to create more time in the day, but work was so crazy that I didn't get to leave until after 7, so I missed my class. I thought it was rather ironic that I couldn't make the time to attend a class on making time for myself! Ha ha!!

Additionally, I tried to eat more jicama, but just couldn't convince myself to do it. Ick!!

All in all, it was a rather trying day - I "tried" to do a lot of things and ended up not doing much at all.

Jicama and Adventuring

As I've mentioned, I am working with a health coach. As part of the nutrition segment of my program, I am trying to increase the variety of fruits and vegetables that I eat. My coach suggested that I try jicama this week. So, I bought the strange looking vegetable and decided to try it today. My coach says she eats it raw, like carrot sticks, or in salads. I decided to try it in sticks and was quite astonished by its taste. Very juicy and crisp and not at all appealing! But I am made of stern stuff and have decided that tomorrow I will thinly slice a few of the sticks I cut and have it in a salad. I also read that it can be cooked like a potato, so, if I don't like it in a salad, I will bake a few pieces and try it that way. If I still don't like it, well that will be that! I'm not one to beat myself over the head with a funny tasting vegetable!

In addition to the jicama, I had another adventure today. My friend, Bridget, and I decided to take a little walk after our regular after-church lunch. We tried following a nature trail beside the restaurant and got a little turned around. We decided to leave the woods and walk back to our cars along a residential street. Two and a half hours later we finally made it back to our cars! I must say that at no time were we lost. We were always aware of where we were, we just didn't seem to turn the right directions to get to where we wanted to be. Regardless, we had a wonderful walk and got some very good exercise. Since one of my other goals for the week is to exercise 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, I think I will be able to honestly tell my coach that I have exceeded my goals - I just did it all in one day!

Postcards, Among Other Things

I received eleven postcards from my beloved today, and am told that was just the start. What a treat! My mother collected spoons from my father's, brother's, sister's, and my travel. My postcards are my style of spoons - paper, which I love, colorful, and space enough to send her love. It was the best surprise.

On an unrelated note, I signed up to "meet" weekly with a health coach. She calls every Friday evening and we work on eating right, exercising, and managing my stress. And every Friday she asks if I met my goals for the week and of course I tell her "Yes! In fact I exceeded my set goals!" And she says "Oh my, I am so impressed with how well you are doing. You are so passionate about improving your life." Goodness me! It's not that I am lying. I'm just exaggerating slightly to impress her. It's hard when it's over the phone - she can't see me eating chocolates and chips when I'm supposed to be drinking water and eating an apple! I promise to do better next week and to be more honest.

On a slightly related note, my father, and now Michele, are nagging me to finish my Master's thesis. They may not believe me, but I am really thinking about getting ready to start making a plan to get things organized to make the arrangements necessary to get everything together to get started on that again. That's my goal for this week. And when you ask me if I met my goal, of course I will tell you . . .

The Hang of It

I have finally got the hang of this chore thing. I came home from work today and took care of the trash, recycling, and litter boxes in ten minutes flat! AND I find that I only need to do it every other week - I am just not creating enough trash or recycling to do it every week. On non-trash weeks I often forget to do the litter boxes, but the cats lovingly remind me. I have finally mastered the chores!! YIPPEE!!

Of course, I have to admit that the only chores I do regularly are the trash, recycling, and litter boxes. I do take care of the dishes when they need it - same with the laundry. And I clean my craft room after every project. I need to work on the rest of the house. I try not to use any rooms that I may potentially then have to clean. That doesn't really work though. I can't keep running to our neighbors to use the bathroom, just so that I don't dirty ours!

Sleeping for Two

I thought that with Michele gone I would have a hard time sleeping. Instead, I am sleeping way too much. Michele and I keep joking that I am sleeping for two - I'm sleeping extra to make up for the hours she doesn't get to sleep. Daylight Saving Time has not helped. Now I stay up even later and try to sleep in even later. I am not saving daylight - I'm wasting it by sleeping through it! I don't think I sleep as much when I have a project. Now that I am done with Michele's room, I need to get started on something else so that I can save myself from a sleep overdose. I believe I will work on the bathroom floor. It's always fun to learn how to do something new on one's own house. I mean, what's the worse that can happen, right?

A Little Color

I have completed Michele's room redo. It's so cute that every time I look in I smile. I'll walk you through the whole project start to finish.

Michele's room began pretty much a blank slate. Pretty bright blue color on the walls, pretty orange curtains made out of basketball jersey fabric, and a beautiful, and large, poster of an orange flower in an orange frame. Other than that, very dull and colorless.

As you know, I started with a seating area. The cats were ever so helpful to me as I made the cushions that made up Michele's Tween Couch.

I swear, the heights they go to be "helpful" is mind-boggling! That's thirty-two inches of cushion. I couldn't believe it when I found her there this morning.

So, as soon as the cats and I were done with the cushions, I turned my attention to the floor. Michele's room has the same hardwood floor as the rest of the house. It is lovely, but oh, so hard on the knees when we do yoga. So, I sought a softening solution and found it in high density foam floor tiles. They also gave me the opportunity to add a little more color to the room.

All that was left was to add her little seating area.

And, voila! Her room is transformed. I even made a little table to fit the couch.

So, as you can see, I am a firm believer that a little color goes a long way. . . and A LOT of color goes even farther!! I love her room so much it quickly became my favorite on in the house!

I am so very pleased with how it turned out and I know Michele will love it, too. Though, when I first met Michele, she was a lover of bare white walls and dull brown furniture. She quickly became a lover of color (ok, not quickly she quickly became a tolerator of color as a defense mechanism to my decorating. Her love of color happened gradually over time, but happen, it did!)

I think I am done with my projects for her room. Though I may paint her some pictures to bring a little more color to her walls. Maybe a quilted wall hanging, too. Ooo, and a couple of lap quilts for chilly nights. Ha ha ha!!

From Far and Wide

I came home tonight and as I was pulling into my driveway I saw something strange on my front porch. I backed the car up again to shine the headlights on it. There were two cats sitting as cute as you please on my front porch. They looked like they were just waiting there patiently for me to answer the door. I guess kitties are coming from far and wide to sit on Michele's new cushions!

Sneaky Cats

As I recently said, I am redecorating Michele's room while she is away. One new additon is a 'tween couch. This consists of several 8" thick floor cushions and 4" thick back cushions. So, Monday I was in the middle of a cushion and I decided to stop for the night. I went downstairs to get a snack and when I went back to my craftroom to shut off the lights, I found Myah had claimed one of the cushions as her own.

Tonight, I decided to get back to the cushions. After a few minutes, I realized that I forgot my water downstairs. When I returned, I found that Pollux thought Myah had looked awfully comfortable on Monday, so she decided to try the cushion out.

Myah, not wanting to be outdone, decided to scale the highest heights and rest upon Mount Cushion. That's nearly 2 feet of cushions there!! I guess our cats are just as crazy as I am! Well, I don't know when I will get these finished, but, rest assured, they will be well-used by the time Michele gets home!!

Star Trekkers Anonymous

Me, at a Star Trekkers Anonymous Meeting:
Hello my name is Michelle and it has been four days since my last episode. I'm feeling a little shaky and am afraid I might hurt someone.

Seriously, though, Netflix messed up and sent me Enterprise, which I will not be ready for for quite some time. I'm really jonesing for a fix. I may have to hit up my friend Tina to borrow a couple of her DS9 DVDs. I don't think I will last the time that it will take for the DVDs to get back to Netflix and for them to send me the right ones. I really do not understand how this happened. Enterprise was WAY at the bottom of my queue. I'm glad I don't know where Netflix is located. I cannot be responsible for my actions, but I can't believe a jury in this land would convict me once they understood the circumstances. I mean really, Enterprise? Come on!

Floor Woes

I still do not know what I am going to do about the upstairs bathroom floor. I haven't actually worked on it since the last time I mentioned it. Surprisingly, nothing has changed - where are the shoemaker's little helpers when you need them? Somehow Michele found out - go figure, she actually reads my blog - and said that I am not allowed to just through a rug over it, so that's out. I need to figure out the price, time requirements, and pros/cons of all my options. Why is it that no matter how easy I think it will be, everything I do in this house is 10 times harder? And I am fooled every time. You would think I would eventually learn: old house = 10x more time than you are thinking! Oh well, at least I am having fun and keeping out of trouble - well, at least I am keeping out of what I consider trouble. Some might consider having ripped up half my bathroom floor with no plan getting into trouble, but I think that's rather short-sighted.

Showers

Almost every time we talk, Michele tells me it's been days since their last shower stop. Today, she said they haven't showered in six days!! Now, I'm not one who will die without a daily shower, but SIX DAYS! Wow! It's amazing how little I think of the convenience that Michele and her truckmates are craving. When she comes home I will never be able to get her out of the shower. I'll serve her meals in there, read to her, just sit on the toilet and chat. Maybe I'll get her one of those shower chairs so that she can lounge. The shower will fast become her favorite place in the house.