For my mom, not me.
My mom, B, and two friends are thinking of heading south for part of the winter (three weeks maximum for the friends, possibly longer for my folks). Arizona appears to be in their radar, although they're open to other suggestions. (I think.) When mom went to look for places online, a dozen or more cities and towns popped up. Mom asked if I knew anyone in Arizona, and if I could ask their advice.
So, here I am. Anyone have any recommendations on an inexpensive place to defrost? They'll have a car, so somewhere with interesting stuff within driving distance would be nice. Thanks!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Class & Dream
I think class went well. If it didn't go well, it was at least not horrible. I kind of blathered on a bit too much at the beginning, and so had to rush through some slides at the end. I said "um" a bunch too, and got my tongue twisted a few times. However, I think I looked relatively comfortable and in-charge, and I think (I hope!) I connected with the students.
To overcome my bad-dream vibes, I started the morning off with a handful of chocolate chips (before my shower, even), then I wore my cute, delicate, gold elephant bracelet for luck, and the silver froggy necklace my mom and B brought back from Mexico to have them with me (in a way) too. Then, when I got to school, I had one of those fancy-expensive Starbucks hot chocolates. Today's Savage Chickens cartoon seemed appropriate, so I put that on the screen while I was waiting for the clock to tick over.
So, my dream. My dream is about my family's cabin in northern Manitoba. I spent my summers there growing up. There are other cabins on the lake, but none near ours, and you have to get to ours by boat. If you take the batteries out of the clocks (which I do as much as others will let me), all you can hear is nature. It's wonderful. It is a place of solace and refuge for me. That the cabin exists, and is available for me to visit, is very important to me, and is comforting, even when I'm not there.
In my dream, we had been approached about a possible development near our cabin. It would just be a few cabins, and not too close. Since the request seemed reasonable, and we didn't want to prevent others from experiencing the same thing we did, we agreed to allow the development. However, the development was *very* close... it was all around us, and really tore up the forest. There was a busy construction road placed about ten feet from the cabin's back door! (The geography was a bit different than in real life.) The cabins were within easy sight of ours, and packed together like sardines. In addition, there was a resort a bit to the west, and several wide paths with lots of foot traffic were cut between the new cabins and the resort. In addition to all of the trees removed for the cabins and paths, I could tell that the soil was going to get trampled away very quickly (there's only a few inches of topsoil over sand up there), leaving nothing but barren sand... and that this was going to cause massive erosion, and soon the whole area would be sterile. Plus (it just kept piling on!) there was this... mall type thing... it's one of those weird dream-contradictions where you're both inside a mall, and outside in the forest. We were all horrified at the destruction of the natural environment, the noise, and all the people, but we were powerless to do anything, because we had signed permission. I was in a panic and desperate, and so was running around, destroying store displays, in the hopes that they would give up and leave. I was being chased (sort of). I felt *horrible*!
Note to self: get rid of the stress *before* trying to sleep!
To overcome my bad-dream vibes, I started the morning off with a handful of chocolate chips (before my shower, even), then I wore my cute, delicate, gold elephant bracelet for luck, and the silver froggy necklace my mom and B brought back from Mexico to have them with me (in a way) too. Then, when I got to school, I had one of those fancy-expensive Starbucks hot chocolates. Today's Savage Chickens cartoon seemed appropriate, so I put that on the screen while I was waiting for the clock to tick over.
So, my dream. My dream is about my family's cabin in northern Manitoba. I spent my summers there growing up. There are other cabins on the lake, but none near ours, and you have to get to ours by boat. If you take the batteries out of the clocks (which I do as much as others will let me), all you can hear is nature. It's wonderful. It is a place of solace and refuge for me. That the cabin exists, and is available for me to visit, is very important to me, and is comforting, even when I'm not there.
In my dream, we had been approached about a possible development near our cabin. It would just be a few cabins, and not too close. Since the request seemed reasonable, and we didn't want to prevent others from experiencing the same thing we did, we agreed to allow the development. However, the development was *very* close... it was all around us, and really tore up the forest. There was a busy construction road placed about ten feet from the cabin's back door! (The geography was a bit different than in real life.) The cabins were within easy sight of ours, and packed together like sardines. In addition, there was a resort a bit to the west, and several wide paths with lots of foot traffic were cut between the new cabins and the resort. In addition to all of the trees removed for the cabins and paths, I could tell that the soil was going to get trampled away very quickly (there's only a few inches of topsoil over sand up there), leaving nothing but barren sand... and that this was going to cause massive erosion, and soon the whole area would be sterile. Plus (it just kept piling on!) there was this... mall type thing... it's one of those weird dream-contradictions where you're both inside a mall, and outside in the forest. We were all horrified at the destruction of the natural environment, the noise, and all the people, but we were powerless to do anything, because we had signed permission. I was in a panic and desperate, and so was running around, destroying store displays, in the hopes that they would give up and leave. I was being chased (sort of). I felt *horrible*!
Note to self: get rid of the stress *before* trying to sleep!
:(
Woke up this morning during a soul-wrenching dream. It had gone on for over an hour, because I woke up from it an hour earlier too. I want to curl in a little ball, cry, and hide from the world... but missing the first day of class wouldn't look too good.
I don't have time now... perhaps I'll tell you about the dream after class. It's something that would probably sound weird to you: developing of the land around my family's cabin. (What's even more silly is that that won't happen unless the current laws change, and so it's something I shouldn't be worried about!)
I suspect the dream is a result of going to bed stressed.
Well, off to catch the bus.
I don't have time now... perhaps I'll tell you about the dream after class. It's something that would probably sound weird to you: developing of the land around my family's cabin. (What's even more silly is that that won't happen unless the current laws change, and so it's something I shouldn't be worried about!)
I suspect the dream is a result of going to bed stressed.
Well, off to catch the bus.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Gack!
My first class is tomorrow! I want more time!!!!!
As a brief distraction, before I get back to work (and then early sleep!), here's a great thrift store score from last week:
Four plates (two china dinner plates with 22K gold trim, a fun lunch plate, and a china dessert plate that matches my free mug), a cute Wade rabbit with a chipped ear, and a curling broom (suitable for my once a year curling game), all for $3. Total. Score!
*sigh*... now back to preparing. My stomach is in knots!!!
As a brief distraction, before I get back to work (and then early sleep!), here's a great thrift store score from last week:
Four plates (two china dinner plates with 22K gold trim, a fun lunch plate, and a china dessert plate that matches my free mug), a cute Wade rabbit with a chipped ear, and a curling broom (suitable for my once a year curling game), all for $3. Total. Score!
*sigh*... now back to preparing. My stomach is in knots!!!
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Ew, Awkward
Definition of awkward: Knocking on a neighbour's door, and then, while waiting to see if someone is home, hearing something you'd really rather not hear.
Ugh
It's the birthday of one of the boys across the hall. So what happens? Sperm Donor calls, wanting to talk to the mom. *sigh* I suppose I should have expected it, and not answered a number I didn't recognize. Thankfully they weren't home... but then he tries to get information out of me.
Towel Toppers
I cranked out the second towel topper recently:
The one on the left was the first, and has been washed several times. The one on the right is the second, and has yet to be washed. (Amazing to see the difference!) I managed to get both out of one ball of yarn (and one hand towel), with just a bit to spare. I *love* these!
The one on the left was the first, and has been washed several times. The one on the right is the second, and has yet to be washed. (Amazing to see the difference!) I managed to get both out of one ball of yarn (and one hand towel), with just a bit to spare. I *love* these!
Crazy-Busy Life
Yesterday: Gardening, babysitting, then finally showering and collapsing in front of the TV. (I meant to accomplish more yesterday, but found myself... unable? Unwilling?)
Last night: Slept poorly due to gardening aches.
Today: Dishes (yes, they once again reached mountainous proportions... but I dealt with at least half), library run, pottery, then art club. (By art club time, I was desperately in need of a nap. Why am I still up? Too much to do!!! I have been somewhat productive while posting, though... I got the evil Microsoft Office installed. Yay for enough RAM to do multiple things at once!!!)
Guess what?!? My first glazed piece of pottery was out of the kiln!!! Here it is, in all it's awesomeness:
...and here it is with the cool mushroom pincushion I bought on Etsy:
This dish will sit beside my sewing machine to collect the threads and bits that I trim off things I'm sewing. The green was supposed to be much darker... but it turns out with transparent glazes, you need to put two thick coats on... and I only put one thin coat on, worrying that it would run. Whoops. I now know better for the next pieces. Of which there are many.
Although I had a bunch of stuff to apply glaze to, I only managed a single colour on one bookend and one set of buttons... so neither are ready for their second firing. (It was the same colour on both.) However, I did get two coats of the colour. :)
I also trimmed my thrown pot, which was at the leather-hard stage this week. It's now ready for it's first firing. I don't think I knew about trimming of leather-hard stage thrown pots before, so that's two new things I learned today. After accidentally wrecking my first thrown pot last week, I threw the second one extra thick... so I could trim to my heart's content. :) (What a happy coincidence!)
The hook part broke off the stocking holder I made last week. :( It hasn't had it's first firing yet. The instructor said it's probably easier to fix after it's first firing. I'm thinking that perhaps maybe I should just clean up the broken edge, and not call it a stocking holder. I suppose what happens will depend on whether I make it to pottery again before it gets fired for the first time...
Last night: Slept poorly due to gardening aches.
Today: Dishes (yes, they once again reached mountainous proportions... but I dealt with at least half), library run, pottery, then art club. (By art club time, I was desperately in need of a nap. Why am I still up? Too much to do!!! I have been somewhat productive while posting, though... I got the evil Microsoft Office installed. Yay for enough RAM to do multiple things at once!!!)
Guess what?!? My first glazed piece of pottery was out of the kiln!!! Here it is, in all it's awesomeness:
...and here it is with the cool mushroom pincushion I bought on Etsy:
This dish will sit beside my sewing machine to collect the threads and bits that I trim off things I'm sewing. The green was supposed to be much darker... but it turns out with transparent glazes, you need to put two thick coats on... and I only put one thin coat on, worrying that it would run. Whoops. I now know better for the next pieces. Of which there are many.
Although I had a bunch of stuff to apply glaze to, I only managed a single colour on one bookend and one set of buttons... so neither are ready for their second firing. (It was the same colour on both.) However, I did get two coats of the colour. :)
I also trimmed my thrown pot, which was at the leather-hard stage this week. It's now ready for it's first firing. I don't think I knew about trimming of leather-hard stage thrown pots before, so that's two new things I learned today. After accidentally wrecking my first thrown pot last week, I threw the second one extra thick... so I could trim to my heart's content. :) (What a happy coincidence!)
The hook part broke off the stocking holder I made last week. :( It hasn't had it's first firing yet. The instructor said it's probably easier to fix after it's first firing. I'm thinking that perhaps maybe I should just clean up the broken edge, and not call it a stocking holder. I suppose what happens will depend on whether I make it to pottery again before it gets fired for the first time...
How My Garden Grows
Before I started digging yesterday:
"After" photo taken today, because I forgot yesterday:
It did indeed rain today, so it's good that I got a bunch of digging done yesterday. The area under my air conditioner was still really soggy right by the wall, but the rest was okay. (It's been hot this week, so the AC has been going non-stop.) I placed the soggy bits of turf upside-down in the sun to dry for a bit before trying to knock the dirt off the grass.
I didn't finish all of the sod removal on this side, but I did make progress... just a bit left on this side. I stopped after three hours for three reasons:
1. I was tired.
2. I had filled the six big buckets my dad loaned me... he's using the weedy sod as fill out at his shack.
3. It was 3:00, which was the time that dad had said he wanted to leave to go to his shack.
While I'm showing photos of the garden, here's some more strange gardening done by other people:
That stump is the stump of the weed tree I mostly removed the last time I was out gardening. *Behind* the stump (which itself is behind a fringe of bushes) someone else planted... half dead things. The deadest patch is bachelor buttons (the small kind), and I think one of the other plants might be sedum... but I haven't really tried to identify them yet.
At first I thought that the sometimes drunk lady in the building had planted them (she's been at the booze again, and pestering other tenants for money and/or beer... but thankfully not me), but it turns out it was the caretaker. The drunk lady had... "acquired"... them somewhere, and placed them in ice cream pails beside the stairs on the lowest level. The drunk lady told the lady across the hall that I could plant them if I wanted to (but she didn't speak to me, and the lady across the hall didn't pass this info along until after they had been planted), and I think she told the caretaker that she'd help him plant them... and then never did. Finally the caretaker plopped them in the ground because he got tired of the bugs coming out of them into the apartment building.
The caretaker asked me to remove the stump and the scraggly bushes in front of it... so the placement of the flowers makes a bit more sense now. (He figured they were tall flowers, and wants tall flowers in front of his bathroom window.)
The lady across the hall came out, and her kids "helped" me garden... mostly they dug in the soil I had already dug. (I knew they wouldn't be much help, but I invited them anyway, because I figured they'd enjoy it.) The lady pulled some weeds from the lawn, and made sure her kids didn't cut off any fingers. ;)
Near the end of the time I planned for gardening, she asked me if I'd mind watching the kids while she went across the bridge and got some money from a friend. Thinking she wouldn't be long, I said it wasn't a problem. (I don't think she thought she'd be long either.) I ended up babysitting for another 2.5 hours!!! Ack! All I wanted to do was have a shower and take a break after all that digging in clay! *sigh* I sure have been doing a bunch of babysitting lately. I think this makes four sessions that she owes me for now... she says she's planning on paying me $100 once she gets money again. (She's having problems getting her cheques right now, because her ex hasn't filed his taxes, and the last time he filed he used her address (even though he was in jail at the time)... so they're saying they need his taxes in order to compute how much she should get on her child tax benefit. So that's $500/month that she's not getting right now, until she can get things sorted out. Whee. I know that I may or may not get paid, and understand that I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart. I have told her that I can't do any more right now, though, so that I can get ready for teaching on Friday. Eeeeek!)
PS: My landlord said he's bought me two big bags of peat moss. Yay!!! (I'm going to dig in a bunch of peat moss and some compost from my mom's composter to amend the soil before I plant the perennials.)
PPS: Does anyone know how to get more hours in the day?
"After" photo taken today, because I forgot yesterday:
It did indeed rain today, so it's good that I got a bunch of digging done yesterday. The area under my air conditioner was still really soggy right by the wall, but the rest was okay. (It's been hot this week, so the AC has been going non-stop.) I placed the soggy bits of turf upside-down in the sun to dry for a bit before trying to knock the dirt off the grass.
I didn't finish all of the sod removal on this side, but I did make progress... just a bit left on this side. I stopped after three hours for three reasons:
1. I was tired.
2. I had filled the six big buckets my dad loaned me... he's using the weedy sod as fill out at his shack.
3. It was 3:00, which was the time that dad had said he wanted to leave to go to his shack.
While I'm showing photos of the garden, here's some more strange gardening done by other people:
That stump is the stump of the weed tree I mostly removed the last time I was out gardening. *Behind* the stump (which itself is behind a fringe of bushes) someone else planted... half dead things. The deadest patch is bachelor buttons (the small kind), and I think one of the other plants might be sedum... but I haven't really tried to identify them yet.
At first I thought that the sometimes drunk lady in the building had planted them (she's been at the booze again, and pestering other tenants for money and/or beer... but thankfully not me), but it turns out it was the caretaker. The drunk lady had... "acquired"... them somewhere, and placed them in ice cream pails beside the stairs on the lowest level. The drunk lady told the lady across the hall that I could plant them if I wanted to (but she didn't speak to me, and the lady across the hall didn't pass this info along until after they had been planted), and I think she told the caretaker that she'd help him plant them... and then never did. Finally the caretaker plopped them in the ground because he got tired of the bugs coming out of them into the apartment building.
The caretaker asked me to remove the stump and the scraggly bushes in front of it... so the placement of the flowers makes a bit more sense now. (He figured they were tall flowers, and wants tall flowers in front of his bathroom window.)
The lady across the hall came out, and her kids "helped" me garden... mostly they dug in the soil I had already dug. (I knew they wouldn't be much help, but I invited them anyway, because I figured they'd enjoy it.) The lady pulled some weeds from the lawn, and made sure her kids didn't cut off any fingers. ;)
Near the end of the time I planned for gardening, she asked me if I'd mind watching the kids while she went across the bridge and got some money from a friend. Thinking she wouldn't be long, I said it wasn't a problem. (I don't think she thought she'd be long either.) I ended up babysitting for another 2.5 hours!!! Ack! All I wanted to do was have a shower and take a break after all that digging in clay! *sigh* I sure have been doing a bunch of babysitting lately. I think this makes four sessions that she owes me for now... she says she's planning on paying me $100 once she gets money again. (She's having problems getting her cheques right now, because her ex hasn't filed his taxes, and the last time he filed he used her address (even though he was in jail at the time)... so they're saying they need his taxes in order to compute how much she should get on her child tax benefit. So that's $500/month that she's not getting right now, until she can get things sorted out. Whee. I know that I may or may not get paid, and understand that I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart. I have told her that I can't do any more right now, though, so that I can get ready for teaching on Friday. Eeeeek!)
PS: My landlord said he's bought me two big bags of peat moss. Yay!!! (I'm going to dig in a bunch of peat moss and some compost from my mom's composter to amend the soil before I plant the perennials.)
PPS: Does anyone know how to get more hours in the day?
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Oy.
I babysat the two rugrats from next door for *six* hours today, starting at 8 am. (I was *not* expecting it to be six hours.) Then I had a three hour nap. (I did *not* sleep well last night... I kept tossing and turning, and I dreamed that my doorbell rang twice. At least I think I dreamed it... when I went to my door, no one was there.) Now I feel like a zombie. Plus I have a killer headache.
I have a ton of reading to do before tomorrow. *sigh* I've done some, but I didn't expect to have nearly as much of today eaten up by babysitting (and nap) as I did.
My, that was a loud *screech* just now... I think an accident was just narrowly avoided outside! (The screech was not followed by a pop.)
PS: The rugrats also ate all my pickles.
I have a ton of reading to do before tomorrow. *sigh* I've done some, but I didn't expect to have nearly as much of today eaten up by babysitting (and nap) as I did.
My, that was a loud *screech* just now... I think an accident was just narrowly avoided outside! (The screech was not followed by a pop.)
PS: The rugrats also ate all my pickles.
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