Monday, September 10, 2007

The Only Good Thing About September.....

is that it's cooler at night and in the morning. But the days are just an extension of August, and we all know how much I absolutely hate hot weather. Why does it have to be 95? 60 degrees is fine.

At least school is off and running. No glitches, just smooth sailing. Pimpernelle is back to being The Girl again. Middle school is no problem fo her. I remember it all too well when I was there and it damn near did me in. She's in the same school I attended and in the same hallway, too. It was the first time I'd ever had painful deja vu when I went to open house. Hey, I haven't set foot there in thirty years and it was the same. Weird.

Now I have unbroken hours to knit. No fights to break up, no cartoons to tune out, no dump runs for punishment. I have a whole bunch of ideas lined up and I expect to complete them all by Christmas. So put your order in now for spring.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Dog Days.....Cat Nights.....

Why does summer have to be so hot? Why 90 degrees? 75 is good enough for short sleeves. If this heat doesn't break soon, I think my brain will burn out. This headache won't go away. It's not a pretty thing to gobble Motrin like M&M's.

The Girl has a new name - Pimplenelle Carbuncle. Nothing holds her interest; nothing catches her fancy. Not even her Nintendo. No, she wants new games. Not her iPod. Quelle horreur! Hers doesn't have a screen like mine. How would she know what's playing? Two weeks to school and I'm counting the minutes.

H started a new job at an old place. Fits in just like before. Hope the $$ is as the union states; it'll make the long hours worthwhile.

Now off to languish in the humidity that is summer.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

It's My Birthday and I'll iPod if I Want To

Oh, Frabjous Day!! I got an iPod!! Not a little Shuffle, or the Nano. No, I got the 5th Generation - 30 gb! Enough to hold years of CD's!

And in the blink of an eye, my life was magically transformed by the technology. Literally within a minute, I was listening a Quebequois folk song (sorry, my world music coming out again), checking out their website, when I found the lyrics to my beloved song. And then I was reading the words in my ears. Not that this in itself is extraordinary but it was the gob-smacking realization that this is how my kids are going to college. Why sit in a lecture when you can do everything from home? Or wherever you feel like it? I know, this is going on right now, but it's just the sign of things to come.

So now excuse me. The day is sparkling, my pile of discs to transfer is diminishing and I have a joyride to take.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Read The Book

In less than 12 hours. All the time I was reading, I kept seeing it in my mind as if it were the movie (how could I not, as I saw the movie last week and it's so easy to translate the books to the big screen...). There's nothing worse than collateral damage in any war and a wizarding war is no exception. Yeah, all my questions were answered, well, kind of - who was that battered child with Harry and Dumbledore at the end? During my anticipation, I was torn between a happy ending with everyone surviving and an unhappy ending. JKR doesn't keep to the usual "and they lived happily ever after". But you know, sometimes there is a happily every after in real life. I wonder what JKR is going to write now.........

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Saw The Movie

Of course I did. With July always the hoopla month for Harry, how could I not?

Order of the Phoenix was much better than the last, must be the new director. Love the cast, especially Evanna Lynch as Luna. Just the right touch touch of unhingedness. I did want to see more of the Fred & George's tricks, namely the pond in the corridor. And that Helena Bonham Carter - what a brilliant cameo!

Got the car back, in one piece no less. After fighting with the garage over their misunderstanding (why would I ever say front wheel bearing when that one was just fine? It was the front brakes, right rear wheel bearing. Try saying that three times fast.) . Once the repairs were done - no charge for the front bearing - and the bill agreed upon, they called back and (after the banks were closed for the day) stated no personal checks, only a cashier's check. Guess where I'm never going to go again and who will be maligned whenever I'm asked to recommend a garage?! At least the car stops now, holds its gear and I'm not afraid of the wheel falling off.

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Thursday was The Girl's 11th birthday. She'd been on tenderhooks for the previous week with anticipation. The wish list was made, complete with illustrations. The comment "I just can't wait until Thursday" was her mantra. And then, Thursday came. And was quite boring. A lot of errands (can't help the usual goings-on). Then the presents trickled in. Two Avatar discs from Costco. A trip to Ben & Jerry's for the cake. A queezy stomach at dinner. The grandparents arrived, the candles lit, two little boxes appeared. Lo and behold - an iPod! The scream heard 'round the world! She never dared to hope she'd get one. Cost-wise, it was a lot cheaper than last year's Nintendo DS. There's nothing better than giving someone something they didn't even know they wanted.

Monday, July 2, 2007

It's Been A While

Yeah, it sure has. I don't quite know why I don't post on my own blog but I have time to check out others.
I did finally get compensation for my car. I wasn't surprised that it took eight phone calls to get it. The most ironic call was to the previous lienholder on the car. I neglected to have them removed from my policy, the claim rep refused to wait until I could do so and so the first check was issued to the bank and me. The lienholder couldn't find me, my car or my loan in their system. Not a surprise since I've had nothing but trouble every single time I'm forced to deal with them. (The husband has all his accounts with them, but they won't deal with me since I'm not on any account.) I hate them. I really do.
And then there's the kids. Seems like every visit brings an additional seriously depressing diagnosis. The boy's now been diagnosed with: ADHD, ODD, CD, depression, Tourette's Syndrome, and now Non-Verbal Learning Disorder. That's the kicker for me. The more I read the info from the doc, the more heart-broken I become. All the others will disappear or become less severe (the Tourette's is a side-effect from the ADHD), but the NVLD is organic and will never go away. It's kind of like autism. His brain just doesn't have the white matter it should have to connect both hemispheres so it's like he's firing on four cylinders instead of eight. It explains a lot of what goes on but it doesn't make it easier to deal with.
I haven't had a lot of knitting time; by Create-Along has gathered dust. I got bored with mitering. I will finish it. I really will. Then I'll have it for next spring. In the meantime, I've banged out a summer bag I absolutely love. I found the rope for the strap at Home Depot and while I was there, I picked up a few packages of household twine for a new seat for my camp chair. It's a lot stronger than leftover Reynolds Saucy and at $2 for for 400', the price is right. I'm working that in my favorite seed stitch so it'll look the same front and back. It'll be like a hammock in summer concerts. I'll post pics when I'm done.