31 May 2009

wedding twins

jert's not been feeling too good since yesterday's showing of "star trek". i hate that he is feeling so bad. he's got a sore throat, clogged nose, aches and pains, and headaches. not nauseous. but diarrhea has made its presence known {and how!}. poor guy.

{oh, and he just stuck his head in the door to tell me that i oughta tell ya about me kicking him in the head...then he snickered: oh sure, he can laugh about it now! ok, here's what happened: friday night, at the outdoor showing of "cars", jert was sitting on his daughter's comfortor, cradling her three year old in his lap. i was sitting just behind him, with one leg on either side of jert. i needed to move, cuz propping myself up was killing my hands and arms. so i slid over and kicked my left leg over his head to sit to his right. and it woulda worked too, 'cept it didn't. my left heel connected quite solidly with his head, with a good deal of force, i'm sure. it's a wonder i didn't knock him out. his youngest daughter caught the two of us snickering and me apologizing and him holding the side of his head. and i hadda tell her, "oh yeah, i just kicked yerdad in the head. good thing i love him so much, eh?" sorry, jert, sorry. thanks for not dumping me off the bike, ya know, pay back's a bitch}

so, uhm yeah, jert's not feeling too good now. which suspiciously sounds strongly correlated to getting kicked in the head. date night friday night, kicked in head + movie saturday night, getting sick=po'baby alllllllllllllllllllllll weekend long.

in totally unrelated notes: last weekend's camping trip yielded an interesting mix of folks, including a couple who will be celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary as jert and i are exchanging vows. how cool is that, right? wouldn't it be neat if they came over to celebrate their anniversary at our party? awesome!

*hope you're feeling lots better, just like {SNAP} that, my jert.

29 May 2009

date night with the (grand) kiddies

our local community hosts a movie nite, using the outdoor grassy niche and the brick wall of the elementary school as a backdrop for a large canvas screen. people take blankets and chairs and coolers and treats and settle in for a few hours with the family, kids have a nice area to run about prior to the movie starting and once it is dark enough, the movie begins. tonight, the movie was 'cars', the animated star-studded voiced-over feature from a few years back.

when jert had asked me earlier in the week about going, i was all like, 'oh yeah, that'd be cool'. so tonight, when he got home, we did a few things and got ready. while i was with shaddow outside, jert's youngest pulled into the drive with her two lil ones. we had a nice visit and she decided to come on down for the movie nite too.

we stopped at a local snoBiz for snow cones, shakes, and ice cream and then cruised on up to join his oldest daughter and her family to catch the show. while we were sitting there, waiting for it to get dark enough to see the movie screen, jert remarked that four of his seven grandkids were there with us. his grandson who will be three this coming week, settled in pop-paw's lap and watched 'cars' (one of his favorite movies). the lil guy, who's eight months old and getting the whole walking thing down pat, was skooching around pretty good and cracked me up when i realized that his pacifier had the 'bubba teeth' like 'mater. the lil girl grandchild had a light up tinkerbell on her shirt and that was really cool as it started to get darker. the oldest grandchild wrapped up like a burrito and enjoyed the show too. i enjoyed watching all the kids scattered over the lawn, sitting on their 'lightning mcqueen' bedspreads, all kicked back on their car shaped pillows. all in all, movie nite was cool.

after the showing, jert and i thought we'd stop for a bite to eat at 'sheharizad's', a small middle-eastern place close to campus. oohps, they were closed. so we headed back downtown for a burger at 'mugshots', a bar which happens to close at 10p (oohps~who knew?). so we decided to give chili's a shot. we pretty much had the place to ourselves, as the summer semester has not started yet so most students are not in town. it was peaceful, and great service, and we ate ourselves silly and enjoyed being with each other in general.

the ride home on the bike was a tad chilly, but even that was a nice way to bring the evening to a close. next movie nite, i plan to wear jeans, as the dew lays heavy when the sun goes down and my legs got nippy in my shorts. good thing i had jert's nice thick hoodie!

a great date night! hope your weekend is off to just as great a start as ours is! grins, debra

28 May 2009

and then my mind went, 'wheee, whee, wheeee' all the way home

sometimes, dealing with service-oriented (snarky alert) folks tests my mad social skillz; cuz i'm proud of my ability to quash that urge to scream, "pull your head out and listen to me" while simultaneously restraining my desire to lunge forward, grabbing their ears and stretching them toward me. yeah, i'm that much fun. i could cite many examples, but one of two recent conversations with doctors' offices fit the bill, as does an extremely trying live-chat with my ISP representative {hazel, lying is never a good idea...particularly to a client who could go elsewhere, taking others with them; something ya might wanna keep in mind, esp since the chat was transcribed and sent to my eMail. i'm just saying.}

several years ago when i chose my gp {yep, i interviewed her for the position of being my doc. i figure, she's providing me with a service, working for and with me; i get to ask her a few questions prior to making the switch and filling out all that paperwork that no one looks at anyway}, i had to have blood drawn every four to six weeks so that we could regulate one of the meds i was taking and also so we could check to make sure my liver &/or kidneys weren't failing {no one likes to fail, no one}. this meant that the staff and i got quite chummy. it was to the point that i'd call, they'd recognize my voice at "hello". it also meant that i'd walk in the office, and the staff would have me processed before the door even shut {of course, those hydraulic hinges sllllllllllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooow things down lots; but still}. even the pharmacist in-house would greet me by name (and i didn't even get my drugs there).

all that was quite handy when i would not be making much sense, due to medication interactions; or cuz i was in the throes of a panic attack {my gp and my therapist are on close terms now, yea me}. i also try to make sure that i don't take undue advantage of any of this, and do not expect preferential treatment. most of the time, that is. there was that once about two months ago when i received jury-summons, again. but i think i told that story then.

and everyone calls jaynie ____, "jaynie"; that's the way she likes it. she doesn't really get all hung up on titles like, "doctor" or "md" or the like. it's one of the many reasons i like her, she isn't self-important.

i digress.

since my prescriptions only have one refill left, i figured it was time for me to make an appt to get blood drawn (i only have to do that about twice per year now, meds changed and so i'm good; my blown veins thanked the docs very much) and another round of meds w/refills good to go for another few months. so i called the doc's office.

receptionist: {mumble.mumble.mumble} ken ah hep ya?
me: yes, i'd like to make an appt for june, with jaynie.

rec: there's no june here.
me: i'd like to make an appt for sometime within the month of june. with jaynie.

rec: oh, juuuuuuune. ok. i have an appt tomorrow available.
me: yes. i'd like to have the appt sometime in the month of june.

rec: ooooooooooookay. with which doctor?
me: with jaynie please.

rec: there is no doctor jaynie here.
me: k, is this the ___ family clinic?

rec: yes.
me: k, does jaynie ___ still practice with this clinic?

rec: ooooooooooooooooooooh, jaynie...yes.
me: k, i'd like to schedule an appt with her.

rec: have you been seen here before?
me: yes, i'm jaynie's patient and my name is debra ____; that's spelled ______.

rec: are you sure you've been seen here before? i can't find you in the computer.
me: yes. i'm in there. for several years now, i'm in there. perhaps you might want to try again, my last name is spelled _ _ _ _ _ _.

rec: uhm yes, no. i'm not seeing you.
me: hm. k. in this area, the common spelling of my last name is with "a g and an h". my last name is not spelled with a 'g h'; it's spelled _ _ _ _ _ _.

rec: {pause} uhm {longer pause} aha! k, that's spelled ______.
me: yes.

rec: ok. and your first name?
me: debra d.e.b.r.a {knowing i'm the only one with that last name for counties and counties around, but hey, routine is routine, don't rock the boat}

rec: ok. so tomorrow at...
me: no. i need it for june. like next week or later.

rec: oh! why didn't you say so? {mumble mumble mumble}
me: { }

rec: k, so that will be june blah blah blah blah blah...wait! what's the problem?
me: excuse me?

rec: sigh. what is the problem?
me: check up and med refill, probably a blood draw and some lab work.

rec: i'm not sure i can make that appt.
me: { }

rec: wait, no, i can. i can do this. yes, so then that'd be june blah blah blah. with doctor xyz.
me: no. i am jaynie's patient. i don't see doctor xyz.

rec: oh. hang on. mumble mumble mumble. k, then. we'll see ya then.
me: on june blah blah blah? at blah blah? with jaynie?

rec: yes.
me: k, thanks.

rec: sure, no problem. glad i could help.

dude, i shoulda just showed up, waited til i one of the more familiar peeps was free, and made the appt with her. i'd've actually saved time even with the driving to the office than i'd spent on the phone with this person. and saved a few neurons too. that's me. alllllllllllllllllll about the neurons.

mow, mow, mow yer moat

lightly lest you stick...

jert mows a huge amount of yardage, several acres. and since all the land he lives on usta be a working farm, grazing land, farming fields, and such; well, the grass is not so much as grass as it is weeds and hay. so he has a riding mower that tackles most of the area; tho there is a bit of landscaping to mow around and weed-eat. any way, the job takes most of a day, hours and hours and more hours galore. and the grass grows fast. thick and fast.

there's another element that makes it even more challenging. the land here doesn't drain properly. so there is lots of standing water, vast swampy marshy areas and lawnmowers don't mix. so not only do we need to watch for no rain, but we also need to have plenty of dry days prior to even thinking about mowing, let alone doing it. but jert doesn't want to wait tooooo long between mowings, cuz the grass grows fast and cuz it is so dense, it means that the dew never really burns off.

his front yard not only doesn't drain well, it seems to not drain at all. there are crawdad mounds throughout the property (i'd never seen them just dotting people's yards before) and a fast majority seems to be right in the front area. so there looks like a partial moat just in front of the huge front porch.

there used to be some children's toys out front, in that moated area. one was a thick plastic slide that sat only two and a half feet or so off the ground (for lil kids, mind). so when it would rain, no matter how lightly or how little, the front yard would look like a water park for toddlers. complete with a water slide for tykes.

thing is, the mud never has a chance to completely dry and so there is all manner of fecund growth out there. ooooooooooOOOooooo can'tcha smell that smell...? we've got the funk. again, the damn head-track plays apropos choruses repeatedly. ackAckACK!!!

27 May 2009

the whirlwinds

how the hell did it get to be this late in the year already?!?! dudes, it's soon to be june. that means almost half the year is {POOF!} gone. my mental soundtrack is stuck on 'floyd's "...and you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking..." as i scurry about like a frenzied rodent, wringing my hands and muttering, "things to do, people to see, places to go"~~well, ok, sometimes i do get that all jumbled too and it ends up being "things to see, people to do, places {clap.clap} PLACES! every one!!"

another semester is done. another school year for the kids is finished. soon there will be vacation bible schools popping up everywhere and parents will be looking for some relief from their young'uns.

we put the last of the camping gear up, dried out and waterproofed the tent and tarps, refolded the air mattress and the sleeping bags, and repacked the poles and such. that was a huge step that i'm glad we are thru with for the time being. i really need to focus on some other things, stuff that i've been letting slip for months now. uhm, like wedding invitations, cringe, i know, i know. sigh. i thought i'd've had them sent out months ago, but nope. 's-ok tho, most folks know all the details anyway!

i've begun crocheting yet another blanket tonight. it'll be one big ole granny square done in rounds of five. the center is a variegated pastels~~pink/blue/green/yellow/white shot thru with silverish threads. i'm also using a lemon custard, an iced mint, and a soft bumply pink. it'll be big enough to get all snuggly and cozy in, ya know, in those cooler climes. so i do have some time to do it, and don't have to devote every single waking moment to it.

thankfully.

26 May 2009

oh.wow.{sigh}aaaahmmmmmmmmnnnnniiiice

this past weekend was just amazing. we'd been planning and preparing for this moondance camping trip for about four or five months, with monday being the mid-point between my first writing to jerry and our upcoming wedding. so we were very psych'ed!

also, we needed this weekend. love my mom, and so very glad she was able to stay for as long as she did, and are looking forward to her return visit; love the fact that we've gotten as much done as we have~~however, we really needed to be able to focus on just us as a couple and each of us as individuals. this weekend was the perfect way to do that.

yes, we did deal with some other outside issues. life continues and we are not automatons with toggle switches that allow us to flip between ON & Off. actually, being away allowed us to focus on some difficult areas with a certain amount of objectivity and dispatch that was sorely needed. so yea, for us!!

there were a few downers, namely dairy queen deserves to die...we ate there just prior to setting up camp and both of us got sicker than damn dogs gorging grass. thankfully, that episode was short-lived. and it rained for the majority of our trip.

since we were tent-camping, and employing LNT/MOOP {leave no trace/matter out of place} ethics, we had loaded and taken the truck rather than riding the bike. we pitched the tent and canopy in light mist and were able to ride out the worst of the downpours in either the tent, or under cover {the barn, or kitchen, or vendors' tents}. however, i adjusted my attitude toward the rain...no point in letting the weather rain on my parade!

the great thing about the rain was that the temperatures did not bake us. things stayed cooler for the most part. also, since we were honoring the elements of life, there really was a certain cleansing aspect that appealed to all involved.

without going into specific details, i'd like to give a huge shout out to the many wonderful people we'd had the honor of meeting and being with. also, i'd like to give mad props to jert; he really made this possible and was very receptive to a whole slew of new experiences and ideas. i feel calmer than i have in awhile and much more peaceful and happy.

we still have a ton of things to do in the next few months, yes. so this was extra rejuvenating and just what the doctor ordered! big huge grins and spins!

20 May 2009

whatta wonderful night for a moondance

wahoo! tomorrow, well, in just a few hours really; jert and i are leaving for the moondance fest, held in dragonhills, over in georgia. it'll be about a six hour drive for us, and we'll pick a site, probably up in the quiet area. that way, we have the option of joining other folks for a bit of rowdiness, but then can spend some quiet time away from others and enjoy some time for ourselves. we're really Really REALLY looking forward to that. sigh. rillee.

we're stocked on books, my cotton yarns to crochet potholders, casserole pads, and such. since we're taking the truck, we've got plenty of wood and our mexican fireplace, lots of water, lots of food, plenty of snacks, plenty of clothes, towels, my swim suitees and his too, and all sorta other things that ought to make it fun, Fun, FUN!! and relaxing and all too.

there are some seminars, workshops, and classes that we want to go to. a huge feast saturday night, and lots of downtime too so that we can be lazy and lax out and nap and read and all that other good stuff. wink.

and! our doggies will be receiving primo care and company whilst we are away for five whole days. yea!!! and! when we come home, it'll be to a nice neat place {albeit there'll be doggie furrballs to greet us}. so everyone have a great weekend, enjoy your cookouts, picnics, and other get-togethers. toodles! grins, me

15 May 2009

gooood morning, missAHsippEE

ya know how ya get something stuck in your head and then you start humming or even singing it without realizing it? and then, when you do notice, it's like you're powerless to stop the insane looping of one or two lines of song, or maybe even the entire chorus, or the first two lines but you can't remember the rest so you just keep singing the snippet over and over again, ad nauseum. the folks around you start grinding their teeth and throwing daggers at your stupid lil head.

for days now, i've had American Dad's opening sequence stuck in my head. particularly, 'oh boy it's swell to saaaaaaaaaaay, goodmorning usaaaaaaaaaaa'; ya know, the part where stan is driving with his palms up, and roger joins in from the passenger's seat and stan ends up shoving him down outta sight. ugh.

sigh.

well, that leads to me singing 'it'sa beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beauTIFul day in the naaaaaaaaaaayborhood...' and because i cannot remember the end of that, i finish with a gusto, "...that nobody can deny" {i'm thinking that the mr. rodger's greeting is sung to the tune of 'for he's a jolly good fellow', whacha think?}. that's quickly followed with "on the gahOOOod SHIP lolleePOP!". by now, i'm actually moving in shirleytemplesque palms out swinging arms, and foolishly wide grins.

it's like a part of me is absolutely horrified and egad'ing all over the place, as my feet begin to step high and fast in the jitterbug shuffle. does hugh laurie make house calls? he isn't a doctor, but he does play one on tv. well, crap, sigh. i did it again.

14 May 2009

bizzzzzzzzzzeee beeeee bizzzzzzzzzee

whew!

well, after almost four weeks of scrubbing/painting/waxing, mom had to return home. so we got most of the living area completed. well, mostly complete. we left the ceilings for another time. there's only so much you can do at any one time.

jert and i still have a few things we'd like to do, but not right this minute. yesterday, i set up my larger dining room table, cleaned it, waxed it and then covered it with a freshly laundered cotton green/white checked tablecloth. i set the chairs around it and hung all the window blinds and replaced all the switch plates and outlet covers.

there is a large corner cabinet that is simply huge, bulky, and needs to be taken apart in order to remove it from the house. it's that large. we've been working on it in stages, cuz most of the screws are two or three inches long and it's a fairly solid piece. so today, i removed the doors and most of the plates on it. there is one that is actually not accessable cuz there is another verticle board covering most of one side of it. that's sitting in front of the way from the breakfast nook into the living area which means that we need to remove that in order to move the large entertainment unit from our bedroom into the living room.

for the time being, tho, things are cozy, clean, and soothing. there is time enough to do some of the other things another time. tonight is an evening of minimal movement.

my mother had given me some black cherry wine just before we went our separate ways at the ark/miss border yesterday. so i've uncorked it to let it breathe and jert just got home from work (he's checking the mail), and we are gonna sit, relax, watch some season finales, crochet, read, drink wine, and be merry!

toodles, 'taterz!

08 May 2009

third wind {& then some}

well, after i spent a few hours doing rather light stuff {mostly wiping down some walls and removing some vent covers and cleaning them}, i didn't feel quite so spacey and woowoowoozee. i started to move some other things and clean behind them, and then, well...i pulled out the tv/dvd player/direct tv box and started to trace all the wires and hook-ups and cables and things and discovered five different cables and phone lines that went no where and were so tightly ensnarled with the other lines that it took awhile to get it all detangled. it was like i was one of those weirdass kewl dudes that you see doing very technical things. 'cepting i'm not. weirdass kewl, i mean. nor very technologically minded. nopee, don't got those there mad skilZ.

so i took my second shower of the day and got dressed in clean clothes and mom and jert and i went over to his youngest's for a great dinner. she's a really good cook, and everything was very good. she made meatloaf, mashed, rolls, peas, pasta salad, and mom's favorite dinner is meatloaf so it was extra special. and then, we found out that we were her first dinner guests and that was extra extra special. she's just finished rearranging things after having painted quite a bit of her home, and it looked really nice and i was glad to see how she has her tv and stuff set up cuz sometimes it's hard to find enough space for everything when you live in a smaller place {my place on the farm is very little, think an aisle at walmart lil} and i know how important it is to fit things just so.

after we left, and came back to jert's, my second wind continued and we cleared the porch of lots of the garage/yard sale stuff. then, we came back for another truckload of stuff that had been in the living room, cuz the porch was too cramped cuz of the rain. i was starting to wind down, but then got busy doing some other stuff and before i knew it, i was frantically tearing apart the one guest bath's dysfunctional sliding tub doors and the other guest bath's shelving units. i hate just stopping with a job half done, so after i removed the metal tracking for the glass doors (the doors are good, but the tracking was bent, pried open, torqued and twisted); i started to pry up all the old caulk and gunk that had accumulated under the tracking. ewwww.

while i was waiting for the solvent to losen up some of the caked caulk, i started in on the room the deep freeze is in. so, i actually got quite a bit done before i knocked off just before midnight. i would've kept going, but we've plans for tomorrow, so i peeled off my cruddy duds and took my third shower of the day. i feel soOOooo much better and am really looking forward to spending the day away from the house and all its projects that keep screaming, "do me! do me!" like some sorta warped porno {do me, debra, do me}. snicker.

so, tomorrow, we plan to stop to see the mom's and then to take my mom up to tupelo and go to the gumtree fest. it's really kewl and mom's never been. there are quite a few artisans and crafters on the square and altho i can't afford their stuff, it's very beautiful to see. there are some that actually do their work while you watch. one year, i watched a blacksmithy in action, which was a real treat and another year, i watched a lady glaze some of her stained glass windows.

oh! i'm off to start the new sookie stackhouse...later!

{gasp} how shocking {gasp}

several years back, i'd received the shock of a lifetime. literally. i was working at a clinic in alabama. the entire staff was the doctor, the nurse, and me. we would usually see between 60 and 70 people a day. that was if there was no flu or other infectious disease being passed around the general population of the second poorest county in alabama (which was the second poorest state~most of our patients were very, very poor and in need of medical care way before they would make it to the clinic, which meant that most of them were very sick by the time they got to us).

there was a new clinic being built just behind the old single wide trailer that was the clinic at that time. for the time being, we were using the old x-ray room as a sort of storage room, since the x-ray machine was not in use. it's important to know this to get an idea of what the circumstances were like at the time, sorta setting the scene, if ya will.

for some reason, we were closed for the day, i'm thinking it was cuz the doctor had a conference to attend. the nurse and i were sorting and packing some things that needed to be moved over to the new building, and shredding things that needed to be destroyed, or placing them into haz-mat bags if needed. loads of fun, it was.

since i'd stood in as the x-ray patient so the other folks from the county's other clinic and the doctor from our clinic learned how to take x-rays and develop them, i was explaining to our nurse (who'd not been there the day of x-ray instruction) about the charts and settings and positions and how to store the film and what to do and all that other happy crappy sorta stuff that we did with limited resources and no radiologist. since i knew where the book with all the charts/settings/positions was, and since we had actually gone to the other clinic to use their x-ray machine, and since our x-ray machine was not operational at the time...i went to get the book, which was actually sitting on the controls in the x-ray room.

the nurse is now one of my dearly fabulous friends (hello lovely freaky ferah!!), and at the time, we'd only been known/worked together for less than a month. so she was standing in the doorway of the room, cuz the room was jammed packed with stuff and there was barely room for me, let alone another person. i was precariously balanced, leaning over a stack of stuff, and reaching for the needed book when several things happened simultaneously.

the back of my leg touched an exposed live cable {the main feed for the x-ray which had not been properly capped or wrapped when disconnected from the machine, nor was the breaker flipped off; well, until that moment}.

there was a zzzzzzzz-POP! all the lights in the building surged and then all the circuits blew and i had not only knocked the entire building off the grid, but none of our emergency lights, or phones worked cuz i short circuited those too.

a horrible smell issued forth.

my mouth flooded with the taste of bright copper and my head arched back on my neck til it seemed i was looking at an upside down ferah in the doorway from between my shoulder blades {an impossibility, but still frigging weird all the same}.

a ball of white light ran up one leg, gained in size, crossed over my back, and split into two balls, one running down my other leg, and one running down my arm.

the top of ferah's head hit the door-jamb as she screamed from the sight of me contorting, the deep darkness, and the hellish white balls flying on my body.

when sound finally turned up the volume enough to reach my ears and brain, ferah was in the midst of chanting my name as one big long horrible repitition, "...anciancianciancianci..." {anci had been my name for about six years at that time} with some "omigawd"s thrown in for good effect. she was severely rattled, so much so that her nurse's training was not kicking in and i had to do some quick thinking under limited circumstances.

i didn't just sustain a shock, but it was the cable for the main portion of the x-ray machine, which in part must be able to use a surge of power in order to perform properly and capture images. my leg, the back of my head, my brain, my heart, and other internal systems such as most of my nerves and my brain's ability to process those nerve-sensations became overloaded in a very brief amount of time, and i was aware that i hadn't much time. as i walked toward ferah, she backed away, cuz the glow surrounding me was throbbing some and it scared the crap outta her. however, we both got outta the building and i got her to use her cell phone to call the ER directly; they told her to drive me down, as it would take them too long to get an emergency crew to me. fortunately our clinic was right next to the police station and they gave us an escort to the ER, some twenty miles away. i'm not sure why the police just didn't take me, but at the time, it seemed i was the only person thinking clearly and i was quickly losing my ability to do so.

by the time we got to the ER, i was not only having chest pains, with shallow faint breathing; but my legs and arms weren't cooperating with me, and were in constant state of seizure like activity. my brain was feeling like it was being bathed in a charged saline solution with eels swimming around in endless loops of infinity. and most thought was no longer an option.

i don't remember much after that, for the most part. i do remember that the hospital's staff were talking among themselves and the general consensus was bewilderment as to how i was still alive and not more severely injured. there was a nice neat tidy hole burnt thru my jeans, as clean as you please, and there was some general discussion about how the electrical impulses may affect my heart and other systems in the future.

not much is understood about electricity's effects on the body/brain in more detail than generalities. i was told that what i'd experienced was like several sets of jumper-paddles being used on me simultaneously. the long-term consequences were unknown and i was cautioned to be extremely careful not to sustain any shocks, no matter how minor in the future as the tissue of my heart might not be able to continue to function properly.

so imagine whatta total idiot i was earlier today, and how very lucky i feel; when i'd been moving an aluminum step-ladder, which overturned a bucket of grimy water, which sloshed across the floor, perhaps connecting with a slight tear in the fan's cord, or splashing up the wall and into the exposed 110 outlet...at any rate, i did experience a slight shock. i think i completed the circuitry by having both hands on the ladder. i also think that the rubber in my shoes saved my ass from a worse electrical surge.

my mother cleaned up the horrible mess, and i sat down for awhile, breathing and sweating and trying to determine the difference between a galloping pulse due to surprise of shock and whether the shock was having a more serious impact on me and my heart. i think i'm alright. i'm pretty sure that going to the ER is not neccessary at this point. and i've been monitoring myself while writing this to make sure my mental accuity is not lapsing. i've had to retype some words, as i accessed the wrong words from time to time {they were close, but not exactly what i was thinking and meant to type}. my mom keeps checking in with me, to make sure i don't fade away or seize {esp as seizing would be particularly bad for me due to some of the medications i take and paramedics administering treatment to me need to know exactly what i take and when i take it so that they don't do the wrong thing and cause me to worsen}.

whew. i'm alright, dudes. i think.

06 May 2009

the lil man who came to dinner and the fools we became

my mom was never the sort of woman who despaired of ever having grandkids, she never nagged me by saying things like, "when are ya gonna get married, and give me some grandbabies?" while tapping her toe impatiently. still, it's super sweet to see her with babies. especially since i don't plan to have my own.

this evening, jert's eldest son and his wife came for supper and had a good visit. their lil boy is only four months old and provides a fair share of the entertainment. after we'd eaten, but were still sitting around the table and all, mom asked to hold the lil guy before he gave up the ghost and went to sleep. i always get a real big kick outta watching her interact with babies and small children, cuz she doesn't force herself on them and encourages their curiosity and creativity.

i'm gonna miss my mom when she leaves to return home. for all sorts of reasons, chief among them is that a lengthy visit like this allows me to observe her in situations that i don't normally get to see her in. like holding a lil guy who was intent on cramming all eight fingers into his mouth while staring at her's. you could almost see him thinking, "wow, wonder if she can squeeze all eight of her fingers in there?'

we're all starting to lose our momentum a bit. we know we want to get more and more done, but we also know we don't have a lot of time left and so we are trying to prioritize some. but it'd be unrealistic to think we are gonna get it all done this visit. we got a lot more done than any of us had expected tho!

wake up, sleepee mee {oh what can it mean...}

somehow the entire day passed without me once thinking, "oh, hey, it's cinco de mayo". today, mom finished up the paint job on the breakfast nook, and we began to sort and wash dishes and place them into their new homes. the rest of the pots/pans, flatware, and other utensils will be washed and put away tomorrow.

there is a nice china cabinet that i think had been in the family for some time that is sorta darker so after we lined the shelves, i propped up jert's grandparents' china, with roses and gold trim. also in that cabinet are two lil bowls that jert had used as a child, one is a clear golden brown mother goose bowl with all sorts of lines from the characters' rhymes. the other is my favorite, a china pattern with acorns and fall oak leaves of green, darker brown, a lighter yellowish brown~ya know, autumn colors. it makes me smile to think of lil jert spooning his grits out of one of these bowls while visiting his grandmother.

another larger cabinet includes some cut glass bowls in a variety of colors, from a vibrant green, to a smoky gray, a lovely violet, some beautiful rose pink platters, and a large fruit bowl that has a bluish tinge. both those cabinets are in the breakfast nook, along with a few other pieces of furniture, like my small round oak table~just the size for a couple couples for a cozy supper, or a leisurely breakfast. tomorrow morning, we'll scrub and wax the floor in there, cuz i'd forgotten to do the final scrubbing before i set up the table and a few other things. oohps. sigh.

in the kitchen, we've a fair number of sets of glasses and dishes that are nicely displayed as well as all sorts of bowls, bakeware, and the like. i like things to be practical and yet appreciate beautiful things as well, so it took a bit of pondering before i put the first set away and then the rest fell into place. i love the pint jars with handles as everyday drinking glasses and the coca~cola pebbly glass pitchers. but my absolute favorites have to be the heavy china featuring a woodbine pattern that jert's parents used from the early 60s. to me, they're simple and lovely. they're a basic soft white with bluish green and tan leaves intertwined with vines of lil white and yellow flowers.

i'm really excited cuz this stage is almost done, soon the kitchen things will be taken care of and it will be time to move on to the next project. mom is leaving next week, and i'm not sure when she'll be able to return. we've got so much done, more than i'd thought we'd be able to do; but then again, she was able to stay longer than originally thought. however, there will be lots to do, after she goes. and some stuff will just have to wait til she comes back to help us do more.

yesterday evening, my mom and jert's mom met and spent some time chatting. we hope that one day before mom leaves, jert's mom can come over for a few hours and see the place and what's been done and also visit some more. jert's mom is looking forward to spending a few hours here and i hope she'll feel comfortable.

tomorrow night, jert's oldest son and his wife and their young baby will come for dinner. both of them are thru with the spring semester of school and have some time that is not quite as hectic with projects, assignments, assessments, papers, and the like. i think both are planning to take courses this summer, so now is a great time to come out! they've not yet met mom, and this will be a good time to do so.

friday night, jert's youngest is having us for dinner at her place. she's recently painted the place and has mentioned a few times that she'd like for us to come see. so, that'd be way cool!

saturday, we'll all ride up to tupelo's gumtree fest. there are all sorts of artisans and i love walking thru the square. i've wanted to take mom for a few years now, but since she lives eight hours away, i don't usually get to see her often. this entire cleaning/painting is part of her wedding present to jert and me. it's so very much appreciated too!

well, i'm about to fall asleep on my keyboard. n'nite!

03 May 2009

yippittee skippittee

i'm getting all excited cuz the kitchen, breakfast nook, and dining room are all coming together and will soon be finished so that we can move on to the rest of the guest rooms. the largest job at this point is putting the kitchen and related areas to rights. most shelves and drawers have been scrubbed and is ready for the shelf paper to line the flat surfaces. finishing the kitchen area also includes sorting and washing all the dishes, pots/pans, glasses, utensils, etc and arranging them. also we need to find homes for all the food items and such. once that is done, we can focus on the other rooms.

one of the larger room's ceiling and walls are ready for paint, then we can rip up the carpet and paint that floor too. lots of stuff that we have stacked other places can be set up in there, including three shelving units and cabinets that are currently in the living room. we intend that future room to be jert's and my office/study, with my tv/vcr and his vhs tapes, the sewing machines, yarns, his sports card collections, and the like. when that space where the three units currently are in the living room is cleared, we can move the h.u.g.e multipurpose/entertainment unit that is currently sitting empty in the master bedroom to the living room.

getting the study arranged and finished will then free up another guest room and the toy room. they can then be painted and arranged. there is a third guest bedroom that is ready for paint as well. that leaves the fourth guest room, the laundry room, and the room just off the kitchen where the deep freeze is. i think that the laundry room will actually only need to be cleaned and not painted. the room the deep freeze is in now holds stacks of pots and pans but after the kitchen is arranged, that room will be relatively easy to do, as i'm not thinking it will need paint either.

the fourth guest room actually is currently filled with items that will be placed in other rooms as they are finished so that that room will be easier to clean and paint when it is time to do so. at the moment, it is the only room that has not been decluttered cuz there is no where to go with most of the items we plan to keep, as they are waiting for us to finish other rooms so we've somewhere to go with them.

the front porch is looking sorta cramped at the moment, as it's been raining and things that we would have put elsewhere are piled there til the ground is dry enough for us to move some stuff to the outbuildings or til we can load the yardsale stuff into the truck and move it up to the garage. what's really cool is that we can see things coming together and everything is falling into place. i'm not sure how much we can finish before my mom leaves, but we've already done lots and know what we've to do yet.

this evening, we were sitting on the front porch eating supper and talking about how this is all coming along. it's just amazing, and i think everyone is pretty excited about it; i know jert is happy with all the changes and that makes me even happier.

one big ole happy fest going on over here! grins, squeals, giddy delight!

02 May 2009

changes, turn and face the strange

as bowie said; how apropos.

i know at times, my writing tends to focus intently on one aspect of my life, current events, and the like; to the exclusion of other topics and other sorts of writing. i miss my witty lil stories and such, in part cuz so much of my day to day existence right now is more of the same {sorting, scrubbing, prepping, painting, etc} while there are huge differences in the actual environment. i've been enjoying my mother's presence as much as i can, and trying to eek out every single minute of every day cuz i don't know when i'll be seeing her again and also, when she goes, the momentum we've established for these last few weeks and which will continue for the next couple...well that momentum will evaporate the minute she is gone. in part cuz we'll be so damn exhausted and in part cuz she's the master painter and i will do everything but. i'm well aware that i am so not a passable painter let alone a good one, so i know enough not to even try cuz i'll end up getting frustrated and the job will be ugly and the paint will be wasted.

so tomorrow, we place the china cabinet and the other shelving unit into place and we can begin the task of washing and sorting and placing all the dishes, glasses, pots/pans, and other kitchen utensils into drawers, on shelves, etc. that will free up some other areas that i can then begin to clean in preparation for mom's wild-ass mad painting skilZ {cuz she gots them}. we all feel that there are some vast changes occuring and we all have different reactions, most extremely positive, and too we are all aware of just how much this is signifying major changes for jert and me both. i'm glad mom is here to help me transition and i'm also finding this visit with her to be liberating for me in major ways cuz i feel like i'm really coming into my own.

part of the whole individuation process is having your own feelings, thoughts, reactions, preferences, opinions, and the like. it's knowing that you are able to love that person, and be loyal and respectful; and still know that you can dislike certain aspects of them. i'm secure in the knowledge that my mother respects me, loves me, and is proud of me; enough so that even when we have vast differences, it's quite alright, cuz we are still able to be quite loving, while being our own persons.

thanks so very much, mom; you let me be me, encourage me to be my own person, and embrace me even when i choose paths wildly divergent from your own.

happy mother's day, a bit early.