another busy day

We have been busy with laundry again all day. A bunch of loads down, easily twice as much still dirty. I hope I am never without a washing machine for so long ever again. I am certain that there will still be a ton of washing to do, even after I get back from Indiana next weekend.

Talked to Bill to plan out the end of the week. He has finals on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We will be driving down there on Wednesday night - Dan does not want to take the day off from work. We will probably spend most of Thursday doing something fun in Indy, as Bill will be having finals all day. On Thursday evening we will take him out to dinner and start packing up his stuff. On Friday his final is in the afternoon.  So we will probably pack the bigger items (bike, book case, etc.) in his little truck and Dan will come back home on Friday morning (as he does not want to take Saturday off from work). Steven and Bill and I will come back in the Jeep (with little stuff like clothing and bedding and textbooks) on Saturday, after packing up the last few things and cleaning the room. That way we can get the last stuff ready to go on Friday evening and Saturday morning.

We will also have to keep an eye on the weather, as the little truck does not have a cover for the truck bed. If the weather is going to suck, we might have to get a tiny rental trailer to pull behind the Jeep for the big items.

In the meantime, I did not get much rest on my two days off, and am pretty tired. I am sure I will not get much rest this coming week, either. At least there will be only three days to work - tonight, Monday, and Tuesday. The rest of my time will be taken up with laundry and house work.  YUCK!!

busy but productive day

I do not know how much laundry got done, but it was several loads. And there is still so much that needs to be done that I could almost cry. I am very happy with the new washer, though - it is so quiet that I have to keep checking it to make sure that it is really running!

Filled up the bird feeders and repaired a couple of them. Did a load of dishes (though another load remains to be done). Watered all of the house plants. Kept running things to Steven that he wanted at his friend's house and had forgotten at home. Did tons of laundry. Did a bit of yard work. Even managed to find a couple of hours to take a nap before the rain came.

Dan and I went to a good Vietnamese restaurant called Dalat in Ypsilanti for dinner. http://www.dalatco.com/  They have the greatest egg rolls there you could ever hope to find.

And then we came home and I baked more chocolate chip cookies, and we did a bunch more laundry.  Yes - we are old farts!

Tags: Dalat restaurant, Ypsilanti

busy couple of days

We are having a busy couple of days!

The new washing machine was delivered, and I am using it now. I will be using it all day! Three weeks plus of dirty laundry for three people is a lot of loads of washing!  I am sure I will be using it several times a day for the next few days, trying to get caught up!

Yesterday Dan and Steven and I all went to the dentist. It has been a long time, since we did not have dental insurance for years, until my employer just started offering it this year.

My teeth were - rather amazingly - fine, other than needing a good cleaning. So were Dan's. Steven had a couple of cavities, which will be taken care of next month. He has one wisdom tooth starting to come in, but it does not need to be removed yet. They said we could think about getting him braces on his lower teeth only. They also said there is no medical reason for them - it would be strictly cosmetic. So we will think about it, and find out how much the insurance would cover of the expense. I have always heard that braces cost as much as a low end new car, so if the insurance does not cover much of the cost, and it is not medically needed - screw it. We have too many other expenses in out lives right now. Also - the kids are on the insurance until they turn 22. So we need to take care of any of Bill's dental needs first as he is 18 and Steven only 14. So we need to find out if Bill needs braces or wisdom teeth removal and take care of him first, as we have fewer years to do that with help from the insurance.

Bill will go for his dental visit in early May, after he comes home for the summer. Hopefully that will go well!

So we are doing well - last week we used the new vision insurance and this week we use the new dental insurance.

Bill's classes are over for his freshman year - he will have his finals next week, and then he will be home for the summer.

Last night Steven had a soccer game. It was cold and breezy and drizzling rain. I was glad to come home and cook up a hot dinner for everyone! I even baked chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

This morning Steven woke me up early so I could drive him to a friend's house for a visit. He woke me up with breakfast in bed - a large glass of milk and a plate of some of those chocolate chip cookies!

So today I have the house to myself, and am getting all sorts of work done. Lots of laundry, of course. I have filled up all of the bird feeders and am about to water all of the plants. Then I have a sinkfull of dirty dishes to wash. More laundry as all of this is being done. Since the sun is out, perhaps some yardwork. Hopefully then will come a nice nap sometime this afternoon!

to find British books...

Want a book from Britain that has not yet been published in your country (such as the latest books from Steven Erikson or Joe Abercrombie or David Zindell - which might not be available in the US for years)?

A lot of people at the Martin discussion board swear by this internet book store, which currently offers free world wide shipping:
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/WEBSITE/WWW/WEBPAGES/homepage.php

I have not used this store yet, so cannot personally vouch for it...

Though with the new Erikson and Zindell books coming out  in Britian in May, I might be giving it a try!

Tags: British books, Steven Erikson, Joe Abercrombie, David Zindell, free international shipping, Book Depository

new washing machine

Dan and I met one of the big box home improvement stores yesterday before I went into work, and we bought a new washing machine. It would have cost about 2/3 the price of a new one to get the old one repaired, so we bit the bullet and got a new one.

We wanted to get one of those front loader machines, because they are so green friendly - using 60% less water than a top loader. But we ended up getting a top loader because the front loaders all cost hundreds of dollars more.

It was delivered this morning, but the drain hose was not with it, so the men have to come back tomorrow to hook it up.

Thankfully, they took away the old one, so we do not have to haul it to the dump.

I just hope the thing tomorrow will work out, as all three of us have dentist appointments in the morning!

Yep - used my new vision insurance last week; will use the new dental insurance this week! Bill will get to go to the dentist when he gets home from school.

wiiiiiiiiind

The roaring of a high wind woke me up this morning. I am hoping that no more large trees will come down in our yard. The one that came down and blocked the road was more than enough.

Somehow I did make it through work last night, despite the aching knee. Four more nights to go this week!

The Tigers finally managed to beat the White Sox yesterday, and the Wings won their playoff series against the Flames early this morning in the second overtime of game six. I was really glad they won - game five on Saturday had devolved into one of the uglier hockey games I have seen in a long time, and mostly due to Calgary.

I was up way too late last night trying to get some emoticons up on my friend Danlo's internet discussion board. I never could get anything to work right, and got woken up far too early by the roaring wind.

Tonight I think I will just come home and relax rather than working anymore on those emoticons!

We are now something like 3 weeks without a washing machine. I had to go buy new socks and underwear for everyone. And Dan keeps telling me he does not want me going to a laundromat, as they are creepy. I am getting very frustrated with life.

So, here are some of the unexpected expenses we have run into lately:

water heater needs repair (only two years old)

washing machine needs repair or replacement (only five years old)

need to rent a log splitter to cut apart the tree

several repairs on Dan's truck

chain saw needs repair

dish washer needs repair

Throw those on top of buying a new rider lawn mower for Dan (the old one had become unusable) last fall and getting Bill his laptop (and yes - being the good and responsible kid he is, he did pay for part of it) last winter and all of a sudden money is getting pretty tight. Also throw in the fact that the desktop computer needs to be replaced, as it is several years old and running very poorly. We also need to have the septic tank pumped out and the chimney cleaned. Throw in the really bad economy (the local newspapers have recently started calling what is going on in the is area a depression as it has been so bad for so long around here and so many more jobs are getting lost all the time) and we are starting to get pretty nervous.

nice spring weather is FINALLY here!

The good spring weather has finally arrived. At last it is sunny and beautiful!

Of course, this came just in time for our eye doctor appointments yesterday. So they only dilated my eyes (Dan will have to go back and get his eyes dilated in May). That way one of us could see to drive.

Anyway, it was so bright outside, and my eyes were so very dilated, I felt sort of funny. We had planned on going to a charity pig roast last night, but I asked to be dropped off at home instead. So Dan dropped me off on his way from Saline (where the eye doctor is) to Milan (where the pig roast was). He and Steven (who was already in Milan helping to set up a wrestling tournament) went to the pig roast, and I rested at home. Steven laughed when he got home and saw how big my eyes were!

Today Dan and Steven left early to the wrestling tournament in Milan. I went later in the morning. I must be a curse to my child - whenever I am not there to watch him, he does great, and whenever I am there he does not do very well. Today he did not do so well. He was clearly tired and lethargic.

So when his matches were over, I brought him home. He had helped set things up, so did not need to stay after to help clean up and roll up the mats.

We spent a quiet afternoon watching our Tigers lose to the darned White Sox, and then watching our Wings win their playoff game against Calgary on television.

When Dan came home, we all ate a quiet dinner together.

Then Steven went to his best friend's house to spend the night.

Tomorrow I will be back to work, though my knee is still very sore and I do not know how I will be able to make it through eight hours of standing and walking. Dan will take Steven to a travel soccer game in Tecumseh.

Bill has only one week left of classes!

He will be home for the summer in two weeks!

recent reads

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya is a novel of magic realism, set in New Mexico in the 1940's. It combines a wonderful story and beautiful prose in a coming of age story of a six year old boy named Antonio. Pulled in two different directions by the expectations of his parents, Antonio finds the guidance to become himself when an elderly traditional healer named Ultima comes to live with his family and becomes his teacher and mentor.

Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer is a Regency romance set in the city of Bath, England. A beautiful and very wealthy single woman named Annis Wychwood only wants to be as independent as restrictive Regency society will allow her to be. When she becomes entangled in the life of a young run away heiress, she finds Lucilla's guardian to be the most dangerous of men - someone who does not bore her to tears.  Another charmer from Heyer!

Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer is a regency romance novel set in the English countryside. Sir Gareth Ludlow finds a dashing young girl who has run away from home, while he is on his way to propose marriage to a well born woman who has been his friend for many years. He feels that he must take the girl under his wing in order to keep her safe from the many dangers a young girl would face out on her own, but huge complications set in when he must bring her along to the house of his intended and her family. This book was very witty and a lot of fun.

The Geographer's Library by Jon Fasman is a novel of intrigue and suspense. A young reporter for a weekly paper in a small Connecticut town is assigned to write the obituary of a local professor who has mysteriously died. The more Paul digs, the more oddness he finds - and the more connections to eastern Europe, Russia, international conspiracies, and ancient treasures. A little low on action for a novel of its sort, and i could never really suspend my disbelief.

Bitsy's Bait and Barbecue by Pamela Morsi was a charming novel set in the Ozarks of Missouri. Katy Dodson uses the divorce settlement she receives from her spoiled and immature wealthy ex-husband to buy a B&B on eBay, thinking that the rural atmosphere and small town will be a wholesome place to raise her little son. Her sister Emma comes along to get Katy and little Josh settled in. The sisters are shocked when they learn that, in this case, B&B stands for Bait & BBQ rather than Bed & Breakfast. Katy decides to make a go of it, and an interesting summer with all sorts of additional surprises awaits the sisters.

For A Few Demons More by Kim Harrison is the fifth novel in her Rachel Morgan supernatural fantasy/horror series. Rachel Morgan is a witch who lives in the Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati in a post-apolcalyptic world. In this novel, Rachel tries to find a serial killer, tries to prevent a war between werewolves and vampires, and tries to stay a few steps ahead of drug dealing elves and very dangerous demons.

A Charmed Death by Madelyn Alt is the second book in her Bewitching Mystery series. Maggie O'Neill works in a gift shop in a charming small town in Indiana. She is one of the last people to see a customer before the teen aged girl is found dead. Maggie feels that the girl was murdered and is determined to find out who killed her and why.

The Lion of Macedon by David Gemmell is a first rate historical fantasy set in ancient Greece in the decades leading up to the birth of Alexander the Great. A seeress sees that the future of Greece depends on the future of one little boy - a half-Spartan &  half-Macedonian warrior-to-be named Parmenion. She does everything in her power to shape the boy for his future role - no matter how much pain she causes him. His suffering will make him strong - but will his strength serve good or evil?

The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton is a YA classic I had never read until now. A little boy leaves the racially segregated back hills of North Carolina with his family for a new life in Ohio, where his father will be a history professor at the local racially integrated college. The family will live in a house belonging to a famous abolitionist - and the house is said to be haunted. The little book shows how far we have some in scenes such as the amazement Thomas feels when he sees both black and white people sitting down to eat together in the same room.

The Lightstone: The Ninth Kingdom

The Lightstone: The Silver Sword

The Lord of Lies

The Black Jade

are the first three books of The Ea Cycle, an epic fantasy in its truest sense by David Zindell. I decided on a reread of the first three books (the first one was so long it was split into two volumes in mass market paperback) with the fourth and last book due to be released next month. What sets this series apart is the beauty and high quality of Zindell's writing - it is often more like reading poetry than prose, with its beauty and evocative descriptions.

The Mountain's Call by Caitlin Brennan (pen name for Judith Tarr) is the first book in the White Magic Trilogy. In the Empire there is a Mountain where gods of patterns and time live in the form of white stallions. Every year they send out a Call for youngsters to come to the school to try to become Riders. This year, for the first time in a thousand years, they have called a girl...but what the Gods have Called might not be accepted by their servants!

Tags: Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me Ultima, Georgette Heyer, Lady of Quality, Sprig Muslin, Jon Fasman, The Geographer's Library, Pamela Morsi, Bitsy's Bait & BBQ, Kim Harrison, For a Few Demons More, Madelyn Alt, A Charmed Death, David Gemmell, Lion of Macedon, Virginia Hamilton, The House of Dies Drear, David Zindell, The Lightstone: The Ninth Kingdom, The Lightstone: The Silver Sword, The Lord of Lies, The Black Jade, Caitlin Brennan, Judith Tarr, The Mountain's Call

new glasses! YAY!!

I am so happy and excited today. They gave us vision and dental insurance for the first time ever this year at work. Today I got to go to the eye doctor for an exam and to order new glasses. It only cost me $10 out of pocket, for what would have been a $95 eye exam and $790 pair of glasses. The insurance has already paid for itself for a year.

My old glasses are something like 14 or 15 years old. I am so very geeked up about getting new ones that are not held together with tape and all scratched and scuffed up!

The new glasses will be in in about a week and a half, and I cannot wait!

Tags: new glasses

Netherlands Bach Society

Last night I had a vacation day from work, and Dan and I went out to a concert by the Netherlands Bach Society, who played (and sang) the Great Mass, ie. the Mass in B Minor, BWV 232.

The concert was, appropriately enough, in a great big church in Ann Arbor rather than in a concert hall.

They were fantastic. They were awesome. The Great Mass is this long and glorious piece of music, and they were fully up to performing it with the greatest of skill. The singing was just angelic.

And walking out at the end, the night sky was perfectly clear, and you could see a crescent moon, with Venus shining so beautifully right by it. It was as if God approved of the performance, and shone his beauty down on the world.

Tags: Netherlands Bach Society, Mass in B Minor

a bit down

I have been a bit down the last couple of days. In part because my knee hurts and I do not deal well with pain.

But, as the mother of a college freshman living out of state, the horrible mass killing down at Virginia Tech earlier this week really bothered me.

I called Bill on the day it happened just to hear his voice.

My mind and heart cannot comprehend the sudden and horrific loss of so many young lives.

My heart breaks when I think of the families and friends of the lost.

I cry whenever I think of the professor who had survived the Holocaust only to die in such a way. He blocked the class room door with his own elderly body so that his students could escape through the windows. To survive the Nazis, only to be butchered by a madman on a spring day on what should have been a peaceful college campus.  He was a true hero and his death is a loss to all of humanity.

And all of those young, bright lives lost. I cannot comprehend it, either mentally or emotionally.

and now on a work day it is gorgeous

And of course, now that it is a work day, it is gorgeous and sunny outside (even though it is chilly and windy).   

another cold and icky day

Yesterday might have been Friday the Thirteenth, but it was the first warm and sunny day we had had since the Tigers home opener! It was a glorious spring day!

Today we were back to being chilly and cloudy and having snow showers and winter mix. It feels like spring will never truly get here, though the yard is covered with blooming naturalized Siberian squill, striped squill, and grape hyacinths.

Dan and Steven went to a wrestling tournament in Ida, and I stayed home. I got a good sleep, and took the dog out for a very long walk despite the cold.

When the guys got home, we put in a few hours of yard work, until the snow showers started and pushed us back inside. We trimmed back our raspberry and blackberry bushes to knee height- something you are supposed to do the first week of April, but the weather has been hardly conducive. We also gathered downed twigs and branches and broke them down to lengths short enough to fit inside the fireplace. We brought in two wheel barrows full to burn. We are burning some right now, in fact!

We have spent the evening watching nature documentaries and eating pizza. Thankfully, Steven's soccer game tonight was cancelled - given the weather I am so happy about that!

The Who's Tommy on stage

Dan and Steven and I went to see The Who's Tommy on stage last night at the Power Center in Ann Arbor. It was put on by UM department of theater and drama, and they did a great job with it. There was a bit of a microphone problem at one point with the actor who played the adult Tommy, but other than that, the production was first rate.

Lord, the music was well done, and it just rocked!

The plot is unusual, about a little boy who becomes completely withdrawn from the world following seeing something terrible when he is four, followed by being molested by an uncle when he is ten ~ but the music is just wonderful.

The entire cast, including the two little kids who played young Tommy, were all very good. The staging and dancing and backdrops wre also all first rate.

Bravo!

Tags: The Who's Tommy, University of Michigan Department of Musical Theater

it's the weekend! And it's Friday the Thirteenth!

It was a snowy week. None is on the ground - it has all melted, but it snowed, rained, winter mixed, or hailed every day this week!

Yesterday (Wednesday) Dan had to have a bit of work done on his truck. I met him at the place the work was being done, then we went out to lunch while we were waiting for the work to be done. It was snowing and hailing really hard (if it had been cold enough for the snow to stick we would have gotten some inches out of it!!) and we went out to lunch.

We went to a little Hong Kong style Chinese seafood restaurant called Great Lake. http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2987829-great_lakes_chinese_seafood_restaurant_ann_arbor-i

We had dim sum, which neither of us had ever had before. The hot things (deep fried), like the vegetarian egg rolls and the shrimp cakes really hit the spot on such a raw afternoon. The sweet things were not as good. They were actually too sweet - to the point where they made your mouth curdle. I would be very willing to go back and try more of the hot stuff, though.

Dim sum is an interesting way to eat a meal. I enjoyed it.

Tomorrow (actually that would be today since it is after midnight) Dan and I and Steven will go see a stage version of The Who's Tommy. We are really looking forward to that.

On Saturday Steven has a wrestling tournament during the day and a soccer game at night under the lights at the park. I am praying that it will not be cold and snowing for the soccer game!

Tags: Great Lake Chinese Seafood restaurant, dim sum

Rudolfo Anaya ~ Bless Me Ultima

I enjoyed this little book so much I decided to post some quotes.

The book tells of a six year old boy named Antonio living in New Mexico in the World War II years, and how a curandera, a traditional healer and wise woman named Ultima comes to live with him and his family.

Antonio's father comes from a family of hispanic cowboys who traditionally lived on the llano (plains) - his mother comes from a family of farmers, who traditionally live in a river valley. His father's family is named for and is symbolized by the sea (restless wanderers from an ocean of grass) and his mother's are named for and symbolized by the moon (which guides their lives and farming activities). Antonio must decide on who he is.

Quote:

Ultima came to stay with us the summer I was almost seven. When she came the beauty of the llano unfolded before my eyes, and the gurgling waters of the river sang to the hum of the turning earth. The magical time of childhood stood still, and the pulse of the living earth pressed its mystery into my living blood. She took my hand, and the silent, magic powers she possessed made beauty from the raw, sun-baked llano, the green river valley, and the blue bowl which was the white sun's home. My bare feet felt the throbbing earth and my body trembled with excitement. Time stood still, and it shared with me all that had been, and all that was to come...

Quote:

"Antonio," she smiled. She took my hand, and I felt the power of a whirlwind sweep around me. Her eyes swept the surrounding hills and through them I saw for the first time the wild beauty of our hills and the magic of the green river. My nostrils quivered as I felt the song of the mockingbirds and the drone of the grasshoppers mingle with the pulse of the earth. The four corners of the llano met in me, and the white sun shone on my soul. The granules of sand at my feet and the sun and sky above me seemed to dissolve into one strange, complete being. A cry came to my throat, and I wanted to shout it and run in the beauty I had found.

Tags: Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me Ultima

Top News- Genes Show T. Rex Related to Chickens - AOL News

Top News- Genes Show T. Rex Related to Chickens - AOL News :

 

Talk about "tastes like chicken"!! LOL!!!

Tags: dinosaur and bird DNA link

Stephen Donaldson preview chapter

There is a preview chapter of Stephen R. Donaldson's upcoming novel Fatal Revenant posted at his website.

http://www.stephenrdonaldson.com/281776FatalRevenantChapter1a.pdf

The book is due to be released in October, 2007. It is the second book of The Final Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, and the preview contains spoilers for the first book, Runes of the Earth.

 

Tags: Stephen R. Donaldson, Fatal Revenant, Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

Easter evening at home after all :-)

It was so quiet at work that I got everything finished, cleaned, and stocked in half of my shift. I asked to use some vacation time and come home early, which I was able to do.

I got to cook dinner for Dan and Steven (Bill had already left to go back to school) and ate dinner with my family on Easter night for the first time in more than a decade!

It was sweet...it was very sweet!

cold Easter afternoon

Holy cats! It is still really cold today! The local paper said that the police had to shut down the local freeways for awhile last night because they got really icy and there were all sorts of roll over accidents. Makes me glad I was safe and warm at home last night, as were Dan and the kids.

This morning we have been having good family time. We had a delicious Easter breakfast of breakfast burritos, with fresh strawberries, biscuits, and grits on the side. It will probably be the one big meal of the day for all of us - we are stuffed now!

Even today people have been knocking on the door to ask if they can have that big oak tree for firewood. I think that Dan thought I had been exaggerating about the amount of interest in that. But with the economy so bad...He believes me now, though, with people pounding on the door on Easter Sunday...

My knee hurts and I really do not want to go into work this afternoon. But idiot that I am, I will be heading in in about an hour and a half.

 Happy Easter!!!!

snowy spring Saturday

Other than that one beautiful day for Tigers home opener, the weather has really stank this week. Every day since the opener it has been snowy/cold/windy. Today it snowed all day; sometimes very heavily. Most of it is melting, though, so there is very little on the ground.  Man, it has been cold!

Steven was supposed to have a scrimmage soccer game this morning, but thankfully it was cancelled. I got to sleep in for another blessed morning - and given how sore my knee is today, that was very good news.

So we all spent the afternoon at a birthday party for Dan's darling little niece at Chuck E. Cheese.  She turned five and is cute as a button!

Yesterday I go a weird email from Paypal asking me to authorize some guy I have never heard of who lives in Pennsylvania and his buying a Dell laptop computer using my account. Needless to say, I do not want to pay for some stranger's expensive computer purchase. So Dan and I spent some time at the bank this afternoon making sure that the charge will not be able to go through. On Monday I will also head into the county sheriff's office and report this as a possible crime. I would also cancel my Paypal account, but I have not been able to log in to do so. But I will keep trying to do that, too!

Two wonderful home cooked family dinners eaten as a group at the dinner table together two evenings in a row! The world is probably about to end! And breakfast morning tomorrow as well!

Happy Spring Holidays!

Whether you celebrate Passover, Easter, baseball opening day, or just like to get together with friends and family for a lovely spring afternoon's barbecue or tea party - enjoy!