Yes I did subcumb

I had to.  It wasn't like I had a choice.  There was the right sized pumpkin and the weather had turned coolish.  I carved him from the bottom up as suggested and stuck a candle inside (not like they suggest but somehow safety lights don't give the same wet scent of baked pumpkin).  Now if the rain and winds hold off my neighbors may actually see the damn thing!

Went to a hilariously fun Halloween party at my friends home on Saturday.  The rain foiled my attempts to make massive waves of curly hair.  I did my best for over an hour and then sprayed the hell out of my head with 'humidity resistant' hairspray (sort of like old Aquanet in the days when our moms were busy burning holes in the ozone layer) and ended up piling my hair on top of my head and clipping it.  *shrugs* took two shampoos to get the 'crunchy' feeling out of my hair.  One of my friend's came dressed as the "Tooth Fairy" complete with tutu and star wand.  He is quite the large man and his belly hung low in the costume giving us all a rather unwelcome view of his belly button but he was so funny!  "Just call me Tooth"  as others kept saying, "Hey Fairy? Want to show us your wand?"  He even had 'fairy dust' glitter on.  It was priceless.  We all needed the laugh.  This year a few of us have buried friends and parents so cutting loose was fun.  The couple who hosted the party set up each room 'scary'.  Way fun. 

Tomorrow NaNoWriMo!

Still slogging away at work

Yes, I live.  I breathe and even get a bit of sleep between storms.  And there are some storms heading on shore this weekend it appears.  Not that weathermen/women know  -  they even admitted in the paper this week they were just guessing.  Shocker huh?  Okay, some of my friends who read my darkly told tales probably already knew that was how I felt about weather 'casters'  *spits* I mean how hard is it to look out a frackin window before spouting off on how it's sunny and clear (naturally it is then pouring buckets of rain down on the rest of us mere mortals).  Heading to a Halloween party tomorrow night.  We are all supposed to dress up.  I think I may go as a vampire....shocking huh?  Zombies are popular from what I hear. 

Tired but nearly recovered from my vacation.  Hope all are doing well.

Still catching up

270 emails at work and 11 missed calls.  Urgh.  It will take me a while to dig my way free.  Tons of pictures but nothing here I can pop into the piece yet.  NaNo is right around the corner.   Do I dare?

*sigh*

So I was writing a blog and the silly thing went butter side down.  Basically it was self indulgent whine but hey...it was something. 

Maybe I'll try to recreate later....

Naturally

Best laid plans....

No, I still am going on vacation just hit a curve.  Suzanne was supposed to take me to airport Friday.  I text messaged her yesterday since I hadn't heard from her in a week.  I knew she was helping her mom move on the other side of the state.  Sure enough I get this long voicemail telling me she isn't going to make it back in time to drive me Friday.  But she called Nick (my friend whose son is slowly dying at home by the canal) and asked him to take me.  I called Nick and he thanked me because now Suzanne owes him.  Or as he put it, "She'll take me out for a drink and I'll pay for it." 

Nick's a retired cop from NYC and he told me not to worry about getting there on time because between his badge, HEMI in his souped up car and his radar detector its a sure thing.  I laughed.  He's also on tap to pick me up if Cathy can't.  There was no way I was going to leave my car at the airport for $15 a day.  Cha-ching $120 minimum!

Haven't packed a darn thing.  Its been a busy week. 

Little by little

I am filling lists of things to remember to take with me and then looking at TSA list to see if my list is even legal.  Meh.  I used to love flying.  I eagerly plotted where I'd go and who I'd see or what I'd do.  The plane trip was part of the fun.  I tended to make a light snack for my journey since I am not a fan of fast food.  I would carefully cut up my carrot and celery sticks.  Hard boil an egg, slice up an apple or two. Pick out some good cheese and crackers and put inside Ziploc bags or Tupperware depending on the journey.  If it was a vacation trip with someone picking me up on the other end (versus car rental) I may slip in a few small bottles of adult beverages (yes, I have always been cheap - plus I love those little bottles!) to mix with my water or soda on the plane (yes, kids back in the day we actually got free drinks on a plane along with food for free).

Now I am busy downloading the latest rules and regulations and sighing.  I shipped my box of books to the folks so they can start scarfing through them for their upcoming 3 week cruise.  I found out SWA only allows 50 pound bags for check-in or they charge $50!!! That definitely makes it a pain since my check-in bags usually average about 50 pounds.  They do allow two check-in bags so I am thinking of half ass filling two bags and filling them up when heading back.  *argh*  I did find out it is supposed to be 60s to 70s when I land.  For me that will be cold.  I have one jacket here.  Truly - just one.  Naturally I have 5 or 6 in storage.  I am thinking of donating clothes from storage before coming home just because I haven't needed the winter wear in 2 years and doubt I will be any time soon. 

Yet, still I am looking forward to the journey.  Journeys are always eye opening in some manner.  Only time will tell what this one holds for me.

Falling Palm fronds

My walks this weekend were windy, palm frond strewn paths.  There was some rain but most of it seemed to fall between Saturday and Sunday.  The winds were ten to twenty miles per hour and really caused some noise while I tried to sleep.  The house I live in was built in the 40-50's and heavy thick walls which are wonderful unfortunately are slightly undermined by the old fashioned crank-shaft vertical windows.  The panes rattle and buckle with the gust of wind thwacking the frame of the windows all night long.  Makes for some sleepless nights. 

With all the rains not many folks popped in.  Not to say nobody just not too many.  My neighbor had a bad day Saturday so I talked her through it and made some chocolate chip cookies yesterday.  She laughed.  Because we all know a chocolate chip cookie can make the day all better!

Not having access to the internet at home meant I actually got some things done for my trip.  Dumb things like getting the suitcases out of the basement and using the space storage bags stored inside the luggage to store my linens I have been meaning to store.  I have started my lists.  My mother taught me to make lists from my head down to me toes what I want to pack then toss the stuff at the luggage during the week.  The idea is you stay organized.  It sounds good but doesn't always work that way.  It's not like I can't buy anything when I hit my 'destination spot'. 

sigh

Without access to Facebook and Flickr I am going to post some pictures here!  I cleared out my camera for next week's trip so I figured I need to actually use them somewhere!  Enjoy and anti spider people...dont scroll all the way down!

Weird

News story on drive into work.  The average household spends $280 on Halloween decorations.  Excuse me???  I mean like Wow.  A pumpkin $4.00 maybe $5.00.  I already have carving kit if not there are plenty of knives and kitchen skewers to use at my place.  Okay, bag of candy or two $5.00.  Candles - tons of those no need to fork out cash for any.  So I am spending maybe $15.00 tops.  That means someone else is spending my other $265.00 along with their $280 - over $500!!

Confess which of my five readers is spending that kind of money???

Double vision shot during huge storm.

Learning to let things go

I think as I get older I come to grips with that more and more.  Death was something that shadowed me from a very early age.  I knew I'd get to see my cousins and aunts and uncles while hearing stories.  I loved the stories.  I would sit in the corner of a couch and just absorb the nuances and the weaving of words in the softening night as the family would sit around and talk about the dead.  Soon the storytellers were dead and the cousins and remaining aunts and uncles would talk about the tale spinner.  So death doesn't haunt me as I get older. 

But learning to keep calm when stuff goes butter side down is not so easy for me.  This past few years has been learning to adjust to the constantly changing road my life has taken.  Fleeing from SoCal was a necessary choice.  I had to leave a good job, a wonderful group of friends, a ton of my stuff and my family.  This past weekend that came crashing in with thankfully not a death.  After 11pm on Friday night for some reason I woke from a sound sleep and checked my cell phone.  I had 3 missed calls from Tracy, my parents next door neighbor, and 3 voice mails.  Heart in my throat I listened to the messages fearing the worse. 

"Hi, it's Tracy.  Call me its important"

"Hey, why don't you answer your phone?  It's Tracy you need to call me."

"Call me immediately, its Tracy.  You really need to call me."

I figured it had to do with my Dad since he retires next week. 

I was wrong.  Tracy told me the amublance took my mom unconcious to the hospital.  I thanked her and she added that my mom had just had the flu shot the day before.  I said I'd call her back when I had more information.  I immediately got a hold of my older brother and got him involved. 

To cut to the chase this was a harsh wake up call for my brothers.  Had something been worse - like both of my parents involved in a car wreck or the like - my neighbor only had MY phone number.  Not like I live around the corner.  So she now has my brother's phone numbers and my brothers both know they need to check in with the folks more.  Mom was told there's something in her salivia gland that needs to be checked out.  No idea if it's cancer or a benign tumor.  I guess she should have more information by next week. 

Then to cap out the weekend the local internet service is offline while they 'upgrade' or 'screw up' the Comcast BS some more.  To Infinity ....and hell?  Stupid upgrades. 

Tough way to end September.  I am hoping October isn't as 'special'.  Saying that the air conditioner just shut off in the building....it's a 'mild' 80 degrees outside.  Sigh. 

October has begun

First weekend of October and the weather was beach worthy.  Suzanne and I headed down for an hour or so before we headed back to my place with the pool.  Gorgeous weekend even picked up a bit of color. 

So there's a new October challenge.  Blog every day.  That so is not going to work for me.  I don't know how much time I'll have once I get home and if I'll be near wifi constantly.  SIL (sister-in-law) already is planning some fun day trips for me.  Little Italy and Laguna both were talked about so far.  Disney looks like a no-go because of $$$.  It has become ridiculously pricey but then what in life hasn't?  Oh wait, the beach!