We Miss You, Kathryn

Does it seem that time passes far too quickly these days? There's never enough time.

M's grandmother died last week, and her memorial was on Monday. We will all miss her straight-forward, no-holds barred, outlook on life. Her honesty was something that is often missing in the cautious, PC world of today. I hope wherever she is, she has a good book to read, and company that isn't annoying the shit out of her.

Connecticut is no longer an option. M was notified the same day his grandmother died. Timing is everything.

Upstairs Girl was out in the back driveway entertaining us the other night. She had on a lovely black formal dress and brought her cd player with her. The music was a lovely screeching, moaning atrocity. She danced around in the driveway with two things similar to fans. They weren't completely fans, they were more like wings, with webbing between the slats. I can't even begin to do justice to the spectacle.

Flood Watch

I've been trying to learn to crochet for the past few days. Having been a knitter for years, I'm finding it really difficult to get the right hand positions with the hook and yarn. It feels backwards and awkward. I finally bought Debbie Stollers book The Happy Hooker, since I use her Stitch n' Bitch all the time, but other than picking up a few tips that I couldn't get anywhere else, I'm just not getting it. I wanted to learn so I can expand into some free-form knitting and crochet techniques, but it's really been a struggle. I think I've finally accepted the fact that I will be holding that hook wrong. If it comes out looking right, why should I worry? I just won't ever crochet in front of someone who knows what they're doing. Wouldn't want the crochet police to find out!

It's raining AGAIN here. Yet another flood watch. Our favorite drunken dive is still smelly from the last flood. Well, it was pretty smelly before, but it's different now.

Gourmet note for today - I have a nice pork loin waiting in the fridge when I get home. What a yummy dinner that will make on a crappy, cold, rainy night. I'm going to make that mustard sauce again I think...

Heating and Cooling Hell

So, what started out as a fairly normal day has rapidly descended in to Hell. The HVAC guy came out to my place of employment to "change our filters." He decided to clean something with a particularly noxious solvent, so people were fleeing the building to get away from it. We were told it was fine, it would go away, open a couple of windows and quit bothering them. (Point of interest - this building has floor to ceiling windows, but not a single one opens. The front door is the best we can do.) About half an hour later, there is a burning smell coming from the vents. After calling the HVAC people, we were told it was fine, it would go away, open a couple of windows and quit bothering them. Once the smells were finally gone, we closed the front door and quickly noticed that it was 87 degrees in here. There is no air conditioning. We call the HVAC bag of hammers again, and I guess he meant it when he wanted us to leave him alone, because it's been FIVE HOURS with no sign of him. Does this sound like someone trying to create job security for himself? Everything was fine before he came out. We didn't call him. He just showed up! Did he maybe break it to make more money from us? Is it a conspiracy? This happens with our copier repair guy all the time. Well, after he shows up this time (if he shows up), we'll be choosing a different HVAC idiot randomly from the phone book for NEXT time. In the meantime, my normally sweet and sunny disposition has been replaced by a sweaty, snarling, frizzy haired monster. K has been trying to enlighten me with some realization techniques, so here goes - "I am the possibility of freaking out at any provocation."

Pet Burial?

Another Memorial day weekend has gone by. Here it is, June 1st. We had a fairly uneventful weekend, visiting with each set of parents for a bit. The only excitement was provided by our charming neighbors upstairs. There was some strangeness going on in the backyard, which I'm far too nosy to have ignored. They had scraped back the mulch and were digging a hole about three feet deep. There was a suspicious black plastic garbage bag next to the hole. After the hole was filled in, and the extra dirt taken out was tossed over the fence, a lovely "rock garden" was displayed over the top, and a poem was read while everyone held hands in a circle. My first thought was a pet burial of some sort. When I asked our landlord about it, they had no idea what I was talking about, but they were pretty sure no one asked them if they could dig up the yard. Anyway, Upstairs Girl told them that it was just a rock garden, that they had dug a hole and filled it with rocks to "support" their creation, and that the whole reading in a circle thing had been them "blessing" the rocks. Apparently the landlord believes this crap. So, what was in the garbage bag? And did I mention the black cat with them on a leash?

Hopefully we will get some info on the possible job for M soon. Sure would like to move out of here...