Thursday, April 30

Purple, prickly flowers.



It almost seems wrong to call these things flowers, but flowers of some sort they are. Will picked them out. I told him that they aren't exactly the bright and cheerful look, but they are definitely interesting. And they poke! They didn't fit in our basket so I had to carry them around the store while we did our shopping and they kept poking me with their prickly prickles.

I'll have to remember to look for them again so I can write down the name.

Also, I can't believe that May begins tomorrow!!

Note: I just saw a photo of something similar on Flickr and they are a type of thistle! I don't know why I couldn't remember that word. And I might add, at the same moment that I made this discovery, Kristin left me a comment about thistles. So there you go.

Wednesday, April 29

Does the internet

ever hurt your feelings?

It hurts mine sometimes.

I think it's pretty silly that I let such minor things get to me. But I've always worried about the small stuff. It drives me nuts.

And it frustrates me that no matter what I do, I seem unable to connect with some of the folks that have similar interests. I don't know if I am that uninteresting or if I approach things in the wrong way or what. I wish I could figure it out and stop being sad about it.

It's kind of like in 5th grade when all of my friends made the cheerleader squad and I didn't. Like being invisible.

Maybe I just stink. But the internet can't smell, can it?

I am sure this sounds a wee bit pathetic, but it's been bothering me so much, I thought maybe if I put it out there, it would help me let go and move on.

Thursday, April 23

This is awesome too.

The video for Zero from the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album. (It won't let me embed it.)

Karen O. rocks.

As does tempranillo.

PJ Harvey is still my hero.

Wrestling at the Catholic high school.

Go figure. Wrestling matches on Toga Day at my niece's Catholic high school. It's Caroline, the graduating senior. She's the one in the blue shorty shorts.

Wednesday, April 22

Why hello there.

How's it going out there? Over here, things are moving along slowly. Will is finally recovered from his illness and back troubles. (He threw his back out coughing!) And my hand finally seems to be on the mend. I sprained it or strained it or something last Monday while I was doing yard work. I didn't really take heed of the swelling and pain and kept on knitting and doing things. I mean, it's kind of hard not to use my right hand for anything. Then on Friday, while knitting, the pain got so severe, I realized I had to try to take it easy. So I haven't knit in four days and it is making me batty because I have so much to get done. It's been very frustrating, this hand thing. But it feels better today so I am going to try to get back to the knitting.

On the not so bright side, I am totally exhausted today. I slept maybe three hours last night. Damn cats. The second the weather warms up, they decide they need to prowl around all night. I am about ready to wring both of their necks. They are napping right now, natch.

Also on the agenda for the day, another trip to the paint store. I am going to paint my office and I am having trouble deciding on the shade of aqua that I want. Yesterday I tried out the Tinted Mint and it's nice but maybe too light. So today I am going to try Spearmint which is a bit darker and see how that looks. I am terrible at this painting stuff. Yesterday I stuck my hand right on the freshly painted wall and then I stepped on the paint can lid. Nice.

I think I am going to buy some pansies today too. I'm itching to plant flowers and pansies will survive even if we have one more freeze. And geraniums. I always have a pot of geraniums on the front porch. Of course, me walking into the garden section is not a great idea because I am likely to walk out with a whole cart of flowers.

Hope you all are enjoying some warmer weather. Happy Earth Day!

Wednesday, April 15

The "I Can't Wait Until Summer" List.

Hiking. Lots and lots of hiking.
Going on our first backpacking adventure.
Flip flops everyday. (I always write flip flips and then have to fix it.)
Wearing my shorty short shorts. (Hope they still fit!)
Friends coming to visit in July!!!!! Wooohooo!!
Grilling out almost every night.
Fresh, locally grown vegetables from the Farmers Market.
Fresh vegetables from our garden.
Blooming flowers.
Lots of bike rides.
Day trips to places we haven't been in New Mexico.
Sitting in the sun on our patio.
A picnic at my favorite meadow.
Zinnias. Lots and lots of zinnias.
Having margaritas on the patio.
Football season.
The end of the summer beach trip.

And unexpected fun and adventures!

Tuesday, April 14

Simon's Toy Basket.



Simon has a big basket of cat toys. Well, they are Rocky's toys too, but Simon is usually more interested in them. He used to love picking through the basket and pulling out his favorite toys. Every morning I'd get up to find various toys strewn all over the living room. So cute.

But then Duchess stayed with us. And discovered the cat toy basket. She rooted around in it and managed to find all of Simon's favorite toys. She carried around the cheeseburger, the chirping birdy and the two "presents" that came in the stocking our friend Julie gave to him. After she left, I stuck them all in the bottom of the basket, hoping they would get their cat scent back.

Simon has not touched the toy basket since she was here. I feel so bad about it.

I finally threw out the chirping birdy which Duchess managed to soak while chewing on it. I aired out all the other toys. I left the basket outside all day. But he's still not interested in it.

We bought him some new toys the other day and he has been playing with those. I have not put them in his basket and I guess I won't. Do I have to throw out the whole toy basket? Or all the toys? I'd rather not as there are tons of them in there.

I told Will that maybe it wasn't so much the dog scent, but the fact that he saw the dog playing with toys and realized he did not want to be on the same level as the dog. I don't know. I just hope his toy days are over.

Monday, April 13

It's hard to believe that

yesterday it was snowing and today it is sunny and near 60 degrees. I spent most of the day outside working in the side yard. Right now I have on flip flops! Flip flops! A dream come true.

My shoulders and lower back ache from pulling weeds. I can only imagine how my body is going to feel tomorrow. This getting old business really sucks sometimes. Squatting on the ground for hours at a time just doesn't work so well anymore once you are pushing 40. It hurts. But I got a lot done. Sadly I did not get it all done. The weeds do not stop coming and by weeds I guess I really mean the chives. Yes, chives. I realize chives are nice to eat, but trust me, you do not want hundreds of them growing in the garden. They take over everything. I'd like to strangle the tenant that planted them all in the first place. Every year I dig them out and every year they come back. It's sheer torture.

I'll admit that it was nice to be outside in the sun after so many gloomy days. Fingers crossed that the nice weather sticks around for awhile.

I'm so tired right now, I can't remember what else I want to tell you about.

MaƱana.

*

Sunday, April 12

I swear, if I have to wear a turtleneck one more time...

I may lose my mind!

Also, I smell like flank steak right now.

I'm sorry, I know it is Easter Sunday and all, and I wish you the happiest of Sundays no matter if you celebrate Easter or not. But. For me, a crappy day. Beginning with the not sleeping at all last night and waking up to the monster grumpies. Or blue meanies. Or something like that.

And new old bike with brakes that no longer work. And knitting that had to be ripped out. And no run this morning. And so on and so forth.

Ended up with a lovely dinner with my parents though and riveting conversation about the movie Milk and flank steak.

And sweet cherry pie.

Making no sense? Perhaps I've been Confunded.

Saturday, April 11

The sleep thing.



I think I mentioned that my sleep problem has sort of returned full force again. Last week I was super down in the dumps, partially from getting inadequate sleep. This week my mood totally turned around and I've been feeling cheery and optimistic about things to come. But I still haven't been sleeping well. I didn't bottom out like I usually do, I pushed through the exhaustion for a couple of days because I had so much to do. But yesterday it hit me hard. I didn't fall into depression or turn into a grouch monster, but I was so tired, I could hardly think straight. It's just not fun feeling that way.

So I decided that I would finally try taking a sleeping pill. I don't know why I have had such a mental block about sleeping pills. I guess taking pills just doesn't appeal to me all that much. Plus I know that sleeping pills are not a long-term solution and could even cause me to sleep even more poorly. And I had this somewhat irrational fear that I would be one of those people who experiences the side effect of doing things in the middle of night and not remembering. But I was finally tired enough of being so damn tired, I decided that if a little pill would let me sleep through the night, it might be a good thing. I envisioned taking the pill and waking up at 6:00 AM feeling totally refreshed.

That's not quite what happened. Naturally. I mean, why would I ever get to sleep through an entire night? I took half a pill at 10:15 and went to bed. Sleep. And aoake in the middle of the night with no clue about the actual time. I woke up and thought, "f**k, it's probably midnight and even taking a damn sleeping pill isn't going to help me, and in fact, maybe it's making it worse." I got up to go to the bathroom and was totally relieved to see that it was actually 4:00 AM. Not the hoped for 8 hours of sleep, but a definite improvement. My body felt heavy and weird as I walked. I was still really tired too so I went back to bed. Dozed off here and there but didn't get anymore solid sleep. Felt incredibly groggy this morning, like I was going to fall over. (That's worn off now.) And since I got 6 hours of sleep without interruption, I do feel better today.

So what does this mean? I don't know. That I'm not terrified of the sleeping pills anymore. That maybe when I've had 3 or 4 bad nights in a row, I'll take one. Maybe I'll even try taking a whole one. But again, not a long-term solution. The pills aren't really supposed to be taken every single night as that can cause your body to forget how to sleep naturally. Maybe I'll get lucky and taking a pill every once in awhile will remind my body how to sleep.

Thursday, April 9

I took some new bags over to the shop yesterday.







(The flowers are pins so can be removed or moved around.)

I'm really excited about the two new styles below. Slightly bigger than the "envelope" clutch style. I absolutely love making cables so I am glad it worked out on the green bag. I had no idea if the cable would actually show after felting, but it does. Subtle, but a nice touch. More of these styles to come.





All of these handbags are available at Leslie Flynt. If you are interested in one, let me know. I'm also happy to do special orders.

Wednesday, April 8

I love my new bicycle!

New ride.

Lest you think that I have added yet another bicycle to my collection, I actually traded in my old Schwinn that hasn't been in working condition in about a decade. Yes, I actually lugged a broken bicycle around for that long. It just about broke my heart to say good-bye yesterday, but it was time. God knows why I am so sentimental about such things. The blue Schwinn Racer is a sweet old bike and once it is fixed up, I am sure it will find a good home.

And the new old Raleigh? Almost too sweet for words. I mean, come on, it's sparkling brown!

Love.

A couple of weeks ago.

I twittered briefly about this incident and since then, I have meant to give a fuller report here. I haven't been doing so well with updates lately. Perhaps I used up all my words when writing about the Milwaukee trip.

Two Wednesday mornings ago, I got up at around 7:00 and was in the kitchen making my tea. I kept hearing this annoying beeping sound, the sort of sound that a commercial vehicle sometimes makes when backing up. But it seemed louder than normal and went on and on forever. Very annoying. Finally I went to the front window and opened the blinds to see what I could see. And what I saw was a sand colored armored humvee parked at the end of our driveway. It looked something like this. And it completely freaked me out.

An armored humvee? At the bottom of our driveway? The hell? So I just stood there, watching. A few minutes later I see about 5 or 6 men come from down the street. They are wearing fatigues and flak jackets. I could hardly believe my eyes. In fact, I was so utterly shocked at what I was seeing, I went and got Will out of bed. I thought maybe I was seeing things. But no, they were out there. We both stood at the window, trying to figure out what was happening. The men were just sort of milling around and then four of them got into the back of the humvee, two in front. The driver was wearing a shirt that said FBI across the front. This was some serious business.

After a few more minutes, they pulled away. It was all so mysterious. I walked down to the end of the driveway, but the street was empty. Humvee was gone. I did notice a suspicious looking SUV parked down the street and wondered if it was more FBI folks, but I didn't see anyone. The whole thing was so bizarre.

A few days later, or maybe even the following week, we ran into our neighbor who asked us if we had heard the commotion that morning. She reported that there was two armored humvees in the neighborhood and another vehicle with FBI in it. And they were investigating the house on the side street a block over that is always bringing out the police. A woman used to live there who was always calling the cops on her boyfriend. Apparently she's in jail now, not sure what happened to the boyfriend, but the grandkids of the elderly owner are staying there now. Our neighbor talked to another neighbor who told her that two of the kids had been taken away.

This house has always been bad news according to our neighbor. The elderly woman who owns it passed it on to her kids who passed it on to their kids and so on. One of men who used to live there was a big time gang leader here in Santa Fe. He got shot and killed years ago. But I guess there have always been gang connections in the family. Other than the occasional cop showing up, we never hear anything from over there though.

But to have FBI and armored humvees and guys in fatigues and flak jackets over here. That's some serious stuff. Something big time must be going on over there. A meth lab? Our best speculation is that it has something to do with smuggling guns or someting of that sort. That would be cause to bring in the FBI. Our neighborhood does not feel unsafe to me. It's fairly quiet and I don't know, I guess we have a lot of homeless people wandering around because there is a shelter a few blocks away, but still, I never feel threatened. So it's really weird that there is potentially something really bad happening right near us.

And you know, it was until we were talking to my neighbor that I realized that it never even crossed my mind to get out my camera and take a photo of the armored humvee. I was so shocked by it being out there, that for once my brain didn't automatically think, "get your camera." Oh well.

Thursday, April 2

I really need an outlet for my football obsession.

I haven't been talking football much here because I think most people who stop by don't care about football.

But holy shit! Jay Cutler went to the Bears! I didn't even think a trade would happen that quickly and I definitely wasn't expecting the Bears.

But the Bears it is.

I think the Broncos are going to end up seriously regretting this whole fiasco with Jay Cutler. Josh McDaniels is going to catch a lot of shit from Broncos fans if they have a terrible season. That said, I also think Jay Cutler should have cut the Broncos some slack in the end and tried to work things out.

This could mean a lot for the Bears though. Their weakest link for the past couple of season has been the quarterback. Maybe Jay can pull it together for them.

This week feels like crap.

But I like this photo of my husband.

On the bed.