Saturday, October 29, 2011

Rerun

Today marks the 7 year anniversary of this blog, and in honor (well, sorta) of the occasion, I will re-post that first blog entry below, just in case you are really desperate to read yet another Random Micro bit of prose.


Oct 29, 2004


Having gotten this far in creating a blog, you'd think I'd have SOME idea about what I was going to use for content, but no, not me, just leap into things and look later (ah, I'm falling......). You might even assume (erroneously) that I had perhaps READ a few blogs to gain some insight into the how of things, but no, too logical. I could waste your valuable time meandering on and on (Do you know what you call a caveman who can't find his cave? A Meanderthal) talking about my family, my job, pets, my experiences as a suicide survivor, my thoughts about Life and the Meaning therof, I could even post reams of genealogical data on the family, proven to drive grown men to cry and gnash their teeth. I could talk about therapy (what do you think about that? Why? Is there something you're not saying?) or I could regale you with my treasure trove of blonde jokes (I feel particulary superior since I used to be blonde but am now redheaded). I could post recipes, guaranteed to be un-original, since every combination of ingredients in every possible permutation has already had a recipe published (I could show you the math)--not good recipes, of course, but still pretty much OK if you're hungry . I could write about the latest book I've read, or my favorite musicians or albums (oops, should call them CDs now). I could talk about the pros and cons of driving a really small car, like finding good parking places but getting blindsided on the freeway. I could wax eloquent (well, sort of) about my friends, and the Meaning of Friendship, and why friends come and why they go, while your enemies stay steadfast forever. I could do any of these things, but would anyone read it? Why? Have you already read this far? Surely you have better things to do, like call your mother? Think about this....later.

And that was my first post, and I've come pretty far. I don't post as often as I could, and my topics ARE pretty random. I still don't know how to do strikeouts, and my template, tho not the original one, is still pretty vanilla, but still, 7 years! The only thing longer that I've done is be married (41 years and counting).



Hope all of you are ready for Halloween, with plenty of candy so there will be leftovers for you...

Bumper sticker of the day: "When you're finally holding all the cards, why does everyone else decide to play chess?"

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Friday, October 21, 2011

Hawaii bound

I booked our cruise round trip San Diego to Hawaii for March of next year! It's not that far in the future when I look at all there is to do. The kids will take care of the animals, which would otherwise be a huge stumbling block. It's hard to get a house or pet sitter that does dogs, fish, horses and cats! Now my only worry is that I will be having a mammogram in Feb,. and if it shows anything I will need a biopsy, and who knows what might follow? I tell myself I shouldn't borrow trouble, but myself doesn't listen very well. I did opt to include insurance on the trip and the flight to SD, at least we would get our $ back. And could re-book.

I recently took a photo course online, the purpose was to get an understanding of the features of the Nikon D40. Once the class was done, I pretty much forgot all that I learned, so I reprinted the class syllabus today and have been slowly going over it. It sticks better the second time around, I think. In addition I am working thru a training book for Photoshop, and I am quite happy to know all the ins and outs of PS. Like a lot of photographers, I have fooled around with Photoshop, but I am surprised at how easy it is to do pretty complex manipulations of photos. Once I work my way through it I'll post some before-and-after things here. I want to take lots of photos in Hawaii and on the ship (Holland America) since I'm real sure we won't be back there again.

Here's a little blog question that I have seen on other sites: What is a true thing that could be said about you?
Answer: It is true that I am a very fast learner. I can pick up "how to" without someone showing me how, and I even amaze myself; sometimes I make things up as I go along, and at the end find I was 100% correct. Now if only the things I am fast at would prove to be financially rewarding! Ah well.

Thought for the day: "If all else fails... more duct tape!"

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Ides of October

Raven, the black Newfoundland, came through her surgery on Monday just fine, after Wednesday's false start. (She had a bad reaction to the anesthetic.) The main difficulty, as I said before, is getting her into and out of the truck. Anyway, she is walking on her bum leg, limping, but walking on it. She and Magpie will have to get used to seeing each other through the fence, as Maggie is far too rough in her playing, and we CANNOT pay for hip replacement or shoulder surgery or elbow surgery when the most direct way is to separate them, not just now while Raven is mending, but all the time. Forever. Sad, but there it is.





The fall colors are taking a beating now, what with the 20 mile-an-hour wind on Saturday and the torrential rain storms. Sunday is expected to be nice, before starting the week with showers every day. If so, I'll post some photos here. These were taken in the front yard. Fall is my favorite time of the year, but it seems to go by so fast, and then we are in the dreary rainy days of winter. Not to mention those days of s**w that make for lousy driving conditions, and let's not think of them.





I think I will take a page from Lucky Lady and begin a Wordless Wednesday. It will be fun to see what I can come up with. I promise it won't ALL be pics of the cats.

Bumper sticker for the day: "Why is abbreviation such a long word?"

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

I must flea!


We are waging all-out war against those little buggers, fleas. Everyone says this is a bad year for them, because we had a mild winter, but whatever the reason they are a plague here. We treated the inside cats once last year and they were fine (as far as we could tell.) But this summer!! Gross...

But the cats have been amazingly cooperative as we ply them with pills, collars, and the stuff you dab on their necks. All but one cat, who earned the coveted Vet Visit for flea treatment and two vaccination jabs. Isn't it amazing how cats struggle when they must go in the carrier, then at the vets place they don't want to get out of it? And how they howl on the way there, but never make a peep on the way home? They are looking a little hunted, and won't come to the lap for a snuggle. Which is OK by me, right now.

And in case I haven't said it, I love the internet. I was having a fit with HP Image Zone crashing ever time I started it, and that is the program I use all the time to tweak my photos, leaving Photoshop for the complex editing. It all had to do with a new printer (one that we gave R at Christmas several years ago, and she never even opened the box.) Somehow I messed up the photo editing program with the scanning of an image, and the fix was not intuitive. But what I did was type the whole error message into Google ("An outgoing call cannot be made since the application is dispatching an input-synchronous call." What the hell does THAT mean??) And the first or second hit was the simple answer, through Task Manager. All this was after 3 hours of re-installing printers, restarting the computer numerous times, and looking on the internet under the name of the program. Live and learn.

I have another herceptin infusion on Wednesday. I asked the oncologist about taking that Hawaiian cruise in March, even though the treatments won't quite be finished, and he said, Go for it. So I will call the travel agent this week and start the ball rolling. I will add more in the next post or two. Planning travel out of Morgantown is always a challenge, our airport only flies to Dulles, and only twice a day. Small town, eh?

Bumper sticker of the day: "Double your drive space! Delete Windows!"

Monday, October 03, 2011

Meme for today

This is the “Where I’m From” writing template that I found on I Wasn't Blogged Yesterday. This is my result:

The WHERE I’M FROM :

I am from fountain pens, from the Parker Pen Co. and the smell of blue ink.

I am from the ice cream house, older but just right and filled with the smell of candles and the feel of tall grass.

I am from the marigold flower, the only kind I can get to grow outside.

I am from a family tradition of big meals and big eaters, from Grandma Knight and Mom and Aunt Nina who swapped out Christmas and Thanksgiving at their homes every year.

I am from a family that tells tall tales and laughs loudly.

From being told as a child "your face will freeze that way" and "stand up straight".

I am from a Baptist church that broke up in strife and took my spiritual life with it.

I’m from West Virginia farmers from before the Revolutionary War, from raising horses and growing bumper vegetable gardens (which I also can't seem to grow).

From the family story of a certain speeding ticket in Claxton Co., GA and why Dad would never eat fruitcake; and the story of how daughter R ended up being born in San Francisco instead of WV. (N accepted a job here in WV and we sold our California house, and then I went into labor 10 weeks early; R stayed in the Intensive Care Nursery in California for 2 months while I lived in a friend's home and N, the horse, the cats, the dog, and all our belongings went to WV.) Beach Boys "California Girl" in my head now...

I am from a genealogy index of more than 2500 family members, and I can relate family lore of soldiers and scoundrels, show photos dignified and hilarious and I know the difference between second cousin and first cousin once removed (which no one really cares about). I will probably never finish the family of Knights, but I get a great kick out of looking for all the Peter Knights in WV.

Whew! That all took some heavy thinking...

Bumper Sticker for the day: "If you can read this I've lost my trailer!"

Saturday, October 01, 2011

Shopping

I feel like I deserve a blue ribbon for today. My daughter and I went shopping together for 2 small rugs for her bedroom. On Thursday new laminate flooring will be put down, and she needs a rug where her computer chair wheels will be, to avoid scoring it over and over, and another one at the side of her bed. You would think this was a fairly easy task, wouldn't you? AH HA but you haven't been shopping with R. No decision is ever easy, and after two stores, one of which was holding a rug and home decor sale, she still couldn't settle on anything. Finally in desperation I picked up two striped throw rugs around the right size, and told her she could see better how they would look at home, and return them if not satisfactory. She hesitantly agreed and we made our way home (in the pouring rain, I might add). The rugs look great, and she LIKED WHAT I PICKED OUT! Be still my heart.

She doesn't read this, by the way.

So right now the dining room is once again serving as a holding room, this time for two bedrooms full of stuff and the furniture from them. The dining table is completely covered, which doesn't matter since there isn't room to pull out a chair anyway. The last time it was full of stuff like this, was the time the sewer line had to be re-dug and the storage shed had to be moved, the one with all the junk in it that I couldn't fit in the house to start with. Here is the link, if you are interested Moving along

Anyway, this at least will result in a positive improvement in the house, and not just a big muddy filled-in hole. In a few more weeks, the all-wood doors will be installed on all the hall doors, replacing those horrible hollow dark plain doors. I'll try to remember to take some before-and-after photos. The next project will be the kids' bathroom, and I am not looking forward to the turmoil that will result when it is torn out.

I finally got a copy of my PET/CT scan results, which I requested about 4 weeks ago. All 3 pages. They don't say anything the oncologist didn't tell me (his exact words were, "It all looks good"), but I like to read reports like this myself. And keep them in my files with the other breast cancer stuff. My version of compulsive, you could say.

Bumper sticker for the day: "I just let my mind wander and it didn't come back."