Apples!

This coming weekend my parents are going to be here to do some baking and canning with us, since the berries over the summer were such a big hit. I am responsible for the apples and was getting a little worried because the store selections are so slim and prices so high. On a trip home from HomeDepot on Sunday I spotted a sign for a U-pick orchard! So I called to find out how it all worked, hours, varieties, etc. This morning I got up early and headed out to pick. What an amazing place! They have 83 varieties of apples!! Of course not all 83 were still in season...I only had 72 to choose from! They are an heirloom orchard so they have tons of older, harder to find varieties as well as some of the old standards. After talking with the owner and getting advice on the best baking and canning apples to choose, I headed off with my cart and buckets. I ended up getting quite a bit more that I expected to, but the apples are DELICIOUS and I am sure we can handle any leftovers! I chose Northern Spy (my dads favorite), Spitzenberg, Winesap and Arkansas Black. All are very crisp and tart, but each one has a different flavor that makes it unique. They have so many apples like Red and Golden Delicious and Galas, even types I had never heard of, like Winter Banana!! They also grow cherries and peaches in the summer! I will be going back again for sure. As it turns out, they are almost closed for the season. They hire out a company to "top" all the trees and this will be their last weekend open! So after I talked with Mom earlier in the week, we decided we needed about 25 pounds or so....well....it is really hard to tell how much you are picking....and with all four types....I got about double that! But you can't beat the price, 80 cents per pound!!!!!!! You can check them out at sherwoodorchard.com.

Underrated

So, its been a sort of bummy time for me lately. Nothing I can really put my finger on, just a general feeling of things being off. Work so far this week has been kooky. Super busy on Mon and dead yester- and today. This past Sunday I had a lazy day, which tends to set my partner off. He is a do-er. It is hard (or rather impossible) for him to understand why a person might just want to hang out and read, watch football, or take a nap rather than clean the garage or do yard work. Granted those sort of tasks must be done, even though they are not fun. If there is something do to, he will find it. So at the end of the day we were laying together on the bed watching PBR (Pro. bull riding) and saw an ad for a contest where one of the prizes is to be part owner of one of the bulls. I commented that, that would be cool, but only if you could pick the name for the bull ( in the contest the bulls name is SuperDuty...dumb). Then I opined that if Don was the owner of a bull, it would have to be solid black, really short smooth hair, and very clean....and it would be named "Jet Black". I then asked what he thought the name for my bull would be. "Book." he said. "Bookworm." "Yeah." I said "and everyone would discount him as an easy bull (because of his name) and he would buck off all the cowboys!" -So there!-

Warm-up to cool down, and Print

What a weekend so far. I worked this am and came home to news that our new fridge was in. Don had purchased one on super clearance and Lowes earlier in the week, and in stead of waiting around for it to be delivered (since we live maybe 1 mile away from the store) we opted to pick it up. So off to the store we go to load it up, no big deal there. Lots of help to get it in and it fit in the back of the pick-up. Then we got home and the adventure began. We got it out of the truck ok with the help of our neighbors, superdave and Juan. Then we got it to the garage to get the box off of it. First issue, no wire cutters. I couldn't find my pair and there was wire around the top to hold the box top on. Eventually I got smart and just used a pair of pliers to unwrap it. Then all the utility knives were MIA. Great. So I used a scissor for a while before Don freaked out that I was going to scratch the fridge...(which I did...on the side....way up high and very small...still...) so we all just ripped the box off. The we had to figure out how to get it out of the base of the box. I was starting to think we should have just gotten it delivered at this point. Eventually we discovered that the wood supports on the bottom were actually bolted on, and once I got those off we could get it out of the rest of the box. The we tried to move it in the house. Lo-and-behold...It was too wide to fit through the door. So off came the doors, and after a while of trying to figure it out, off came the drawer front. Finally we were able to get it in and thank our neighbors for their help. Only then to realize we were missing the water hose to hook up the ice maker. Super. Don was pissed since he thought that would be coming with the fridge, at least it was cheap. So now it is all set up and happy now. Good thing too, I was about ready to send the stupid thing back. Also today a new printer. Finally. Don got it yesterday at Costco for $40. With black and color ink cartridges. It can also scan and copy and fax if we want. A great deal. It is an HP too. I was not planning on hooking it up tonight, but got roped into it since Don needs to print out some paperwork. Anyway, it did go pretty smoothly, which is good as my reserves are low tonight.
In other news, the hunt for wedding dress fabric is on and it would be much easier if I was not so picky I am sure! I know I have time, but it sure seems like not a lot of time. The cake is pretty well set and the photographer and DJ too, so we really are doing well. Still to be decided, menu, invites, fabric and flowers. As well as times and exact ceremony content. *deep breath* I knew there was a reason we gave ourselves so much time to plan!

Thatched!

Oh, the joys of home-ownership! Over this summer our yard developed several small, strange, dry patches. These quickly turned to large brown dry patches and then to flat out bald patches. This past saturday it was decided by my partner that is was yard work time. Wheeee. So while he got a load of bark mulch, I started tearing out some grass to plant bulbs there instead ( I had just gotten home from an hour long walk). I got the grass up ok, and then started planting. Or rather, tried to start planting. The dirt was hard. I don't mean like difficult hard, like concrete hard. I was already having a bit of a meltdown day, and after hacking at the dirt for a while with a hand trowel, I called Da for some advice (also talking to him has the magical effect of helping me to calm down, something about his calm voice and spock-like logical thinking...). Clearly this was a time for "the right tool for the job", which happened to be a pickax. Yep. In the mean time, Don had returned with the bark, unloaded it, and left again to rent a thatcher. So, pickax in hand, I quickly made short work of my frustration and the dirt and started planting bulbs. Part way through the 47 bulbs, Don starts with the thatcher. Oh-my-goodness. We had no idea what it was going to do. Heaps and heaps of grass start billowing out from behind it as he walks it over the yard. I start raking, and raking, and raking. He goes over it again, by this time there are huge patches with no grass all-over-the-yard! Auuugh. Apparently that is really what it is supposed to do. So finally he is finished running it, and we get to work picking up the grass, or rather I do while he returns it, gets grass seed and bug killer. The trouble was, I couldn't hold the garbage bag open and put grass in it, so clever me...I put the bad in a garbage can and put in the grass. Only then the stupid bag is too heavy and suctioned in and I can barely get it out. Nice, so much for all that pickax work, I am getting meltdown-y again. Finally I get it all picked up and finish the bulbs. By then I am getting done. It is hot, I stink, and I am getting sore. I smooth out the dirt, spread mulch over that area, sweep up the remaining grass and dirt and generally try to make it cleanish. Thinking that when Don gets back he will see what I have accomplished and be pleased that I got so much done before packing it in. Anyway, he gets home just after I step into the shower and spends about two more hours moving the rest of the mulch, seeding, bug killing and re-raking. Finally he comes in and the day is done. What a day. Now we wait and see if the grass will come back. As near as we can tell it was all caused by crane-fly larvae. I hope our TLC works, because I have no desire to rip out the whole yard and re-sod the damn thing. None at all.

Compulsions

Usually I write about the goings-on of my life. The recent past goes something like this: work,a close friend had surgery, work, some idiot stole from my parents (on my mom's birthday!), work. I just have had this on my mind for a while and decided to put it out there.
Sometimes, usually when I am on or just prior to my period, at night I have trouble falling asleep. I will lay awake and my brain goes off on these tangents of "what-ifs". Crazy scenarios at work and in life, tragedies and terrible things. I generally put on my i-pod to get my mind stopped and it works well. Sometimes however after a little bit, after I am sort of settled and getting ready to sleep, I get a strong compulsion to do something. I don't mean, just get up and do something, a specific something. Sometimes to see where my phone is, or to make sure the cats are not closed in, or general things like that. Sometimes it is strange, like to find the fine tip sharpie marker set, or find my writing portfolio from college. And in that case it was not good enough to know where it was, to go and get it, to have it next to the bed to see in the morning. I needed to read through and find a particular poem. Right then. I tried to go to sleep, to just turn off and go to sleep. Finally I gave in and went out to the other room and read it all. Then I came back to bed and went right to sleep.*head shake* I don't know. The other thing is that all that stuff I wrote in college, it's really good. Not perfect, but really good. Now when I think about writing I just feel like I have no ideas, no creative spur anymore. I think, I would like to write again, maybe get published someday. And my mind is like a blank screen, nothing there. I wonder sometimes if the structure of a class and the..."looseness" of my mind back then is what made that good writing. I wonder sometimes if it was really "me" at all. So, I don't know. I know that I am in control and I am the chooser. I also know that this doesn't happen all the time, in the day time or every night. I just wonder about it and the things I sometimes find. I do believe that our minds can steer us, without us really knowing, to what we need to do or where we need to be. The subconcious mind is very powerful. I guess maybe I just am still working on getting the message straight, or maybe overthinking.

Week in Review

A lot has gone on this past week...no time to "esplane" so let me sum-up. Last week was bluesy and culminated in what we call at work a "death-day". It is exactly what it sounds like. Needless to say not the best for getting one out of a funk. The weekend was much better, Don and I spent Saturday playing tourists in our own town and walked around the historic downtown and generally had a relaxed day. We also found a great new product called the SlimCat, henceforth to be referred to as the kibbleball, for Rye. Basically it is a ball with adjustable holes in it so the cat has to work for the food. The idea being that the cat will expend calories getting them and thus not have as much weight gain....sort of like a real wild cat would do....hunt to eat. Anyway, Rye loves it and I think it will be great for him. Then Sunday we did errands and house stuff and then it was Monday and back to work. This week has been somewhat better, less blue, which is good. I did take the kitties in for annual exams and vaccines this week and they did well. Today was just weird, with every appointment showing up late (to varying degrees)...but ended with me showing my skills. A sick kitty came in last appointment of the day and as I was rooming them, the kitty peed in it's crate. I assured the owner we would get everything cleaned up, got the kitty out and said "I'm going to take a sample of this urine, just in case the Dr needs to look at it." Because it was ORANGE. I didn't want to freak the owner out so I just was very cool. Then I told the Dr...."I think this cat has liver issues." Sure enough, once I did the urine dip stick and looked at the sediment....crazy bilirubin and bilirubin crystals(they look like little bundles of red threads)!!...not only that but high glucose and protein too. Most likely it has some liver disease and possibly diabetes too. Not so good for the kitty, but I felt good about my ability to asses and think diagnostically. After work tonight we headed over to a friends new office to have a surprise dinner with him. It was cool. Now we are home, Don is gearing up for the Pilots game on TV, and I am thinking about bed. I have work tomorrow. Poo.

Midweek Blues

It's midweek and I am in a slump. I just feel like I can't get going at work and then when I come home sorting out what to do for supper makes me feel like crying. *head shake* What a mess. We had a great holiday weekend, visited with old friends, watched some great soccer, went bargain hunting, and ate at laughing planet. So all in all a good time. By monday night I was in a funk. I've had a bit of a sore throat and think that might be part of the issue, all that work to fight some bug or another off can really wear one down. On the good side, save the date cards went out and were just perfect! I love them and am getting excited (and overwhelmed at times) by the up coming date. Work continues to go wellish, so I just don't quite know what the funk is about...Pause...sorry, I had to go be "the mean lady" in the neighborhood again. Some little kid was riding his bike in our side yard "looking for his friends, who were hiding from him." Aaarggh. It is not that I don't like kids....I do. I just don't like it when children are just turned loose on the world with few guidelines and no adult supervision. Anyway, Don is off visiting a friend who just opened his own buisness and I should really figure out something for supper. Things can only get better.