A gift

Because you were all so patient and kind during our snowpocalypse of the last week, reading my whining, on here, and on FB about how badly it sucked to be without power for five days,

and because most of you didn't laugh when one of the first things I was happy about was a handful of non dead fish....

I found you all a reward.

I've blogged a few times about how I was Marie Osmand for Halloween once when I was a kid. Plastic mask and all.

I spent some time this Thanksgiving looking through my Mom's pictures, and found you the photographic evidence of this monumental event. Because I love you all, Here it is, in all its ugh, Toothy Glory.....

Be kind. I was only seven years old, and knew NOT what I was choosing. Or that I would willingly share this with the interwebs all these years, later....

And now, for the rest of the story....

So I left off, despondant in a hotel room, not knowing what Thanksgiving would bring.

MM and awoke Turkey Day morning with a message on his cell from PGE, stating that they would have another "update" for us at 4pm that day. Meaning. No power.

MG was at her friends house, still, but we wanted to go get her, so at least we could spend the holiday together. We reviewed our options, and, both of us wanting some semblance of Turkey and Family, we opted to go grab MG and head for my parents house. I ran to our frozen home on the tundra and grabbed a few items from the ice chest buried in snow, a few clothing items, and WINE, and MM fetched the girl. Problem #1. I looked in a fish tank and depressed myself beyond belief. Problem #2. MM was in a little Toyota. Our driveway was icy as hell. Fast forward squealing tires, cursing, sand and salt, and the little Toyota that could finally made it up the driveway. Off we went. None of us had eaten yet, and it being Thanksgiving, nothing was really open. We stumbled across a Marie Callendars, and in we went. They were ONLY serving Turkey Dinners, or Ham dinners. So, at roughly 1 pm, we ate our first turkey dinner of the day. Why not, right? In the middle of the first round of Turkey, PGE called, and said we had power.

Well Hell. We were almost to Moms. And it was too late to turn around, and, we didn't want to, so on we went.

After that interlude, we got to my Moms house, where it was warm and smelled like Turkey. We made some cauliflower and cheese casserole, showed Mom "Words With Friends" (and now she is kicking my arse regularly on it) visited with Grandma and posted lots of pictures of my Uncle on Facebook while he napped before dinner, after dinner, and before dessert. A fine Turkey dinner was had, wine was consumed and all was good.

Or was it?

My parents live in the middle of essentially nowhere, in a small town. People are comfortable relaxing there. MM and I were relaxed enough to leave my Jeep unlocked.

Someone else was 'relaxed' enough to enter said Jeep, and take everything from my glove box, (including my registration, insurance, maintenance record, and Jeep manual), a jacket, a new, expensive sink faucet a friend had just given us, and, of ALL things, My book of the Kalevala, the epic Finnish poem that my name, Mielikki comes from.

Yes. They TOOK my KALEVALA!

Bastards!

I reported all this to the local Barney Fife's. They are generating the report. Nothing taken had my SSN on it, and the paperwork had 2 different addresses, because we'd moved since I got the Jeep. In my heart, I think it was probably some annoying kids who were out to make trouble for other people on Thanksgiving. None the less, I am exploring steps to try and protect myself from Identity Theft. If any of you have any advice about this, lets hear it...

SO

We finally procrastinate long enough, then came home. To the grim business of the stinky fridge, and sad fish tanks. MM (my hero) did the tanks. To our shock, we actually have a few survivors. Sadly, just one thing in the SW tank, a peppermint shrimp. It was hit hard. The corals even seem to be gone.

The FW tank did a bit better. I have a minnow, the frogs, some cories (bottom feeders), and my 2 weather loaches. Its better than no fish at all. And Ram Loach (the bigger weather loach) is a family favorite fish. I am pretty sure I told his story. Let me go look. Oh. I didn't.

I will have to tell his story on a post that isn't so long. Suffice it to say, RamLoach is a Bad Ass.

His name is officially Rambo Loach. And I wouldn't mess with him. ESPECIALLY after this week...

So, five days of no power didn't kill us. We got a Thanksgiving dinner, and, believe it or not, as I type this, we have our Turkey that we could not bake in the oven. The smelly fridge has been dealt with, and life will return to normal ish.

And Mom is still kicking my arse at Words With Friends.

Bah!~

The Best Laid Plans

Ugh. is all I have to say about this particular week

We knew snow was coming

what we didn't know is that we'd get 2.5 feet of it

and that multiple trees would fall down

on the power lines

and that we would be without power for going on, um, four days now?

I am in a hotel typing this, because I needed to be warm. I needed a shower. I needed lights and even the background noise of a television.

None of which I can get at home, yet.

So, my fish are dying, because I can't save them. I've done what I could for them, but four days, with probably another day at least without heat or added oxygen to the tanks is too much.

We lost most of our ornamental trees. The plum tree. The cherry. The dogwood. And some pine trees

Our yard

is a freaking mess.

I may, or may not get to cook our Thanksgiving dinner...

But we have a home. We have each other. We can get new fish. We can get new trees. We can learn from this

(the lesson? We will be purchasing a generator, so that this doesn't happen again...)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

In my head.....

I stole this from Sybil, but it took me a few days of contemplation to discover, who, exactly, lives in my head...

I've got some fairly interesting people settled in there...

including a teenaged Vampire Slayer......

Matt Molloy, who plays for the Chieftains, and is, always has been, one of my idols

a lil' dash of crazy, Vivienne Leigh

I am always cold! This guy HAS to be in there, somewhere

Florence Nightengale, for obvious reasons

And Susie. From Calvin and Hobbes. The cute, yet annoying neighbor who always wants to come and play....

brrr!

And so it begins...

they are saying that this weekend, we will have Snow.

I could have a 'White Thanksgiving'....

we have firewood, food, each other...

that could be fun!

Wordless Wednesday

Look closely.....

Its probably the last time you'll see the elusive Roomba....

He's (she's?) a flounder. The newest edition to our saltwater tank.

And so good at camoflauge that we haven't seen it since the first day we put it in there.

Seriously.

I wish I could hide as well as this fish can....

the other cool thing?

The eyes operate independently of each other. The fish can look forwards and backwards. At the same time.

I might want to be reincarnated as this fish.

Except for that whole eating, or living in an aquarium thing...

and the brain the size of nothing....

Wishing

I live in a very cool area.

2 small towns, that are about 2.5 miles apart, that offer a myriad of delightful things.

We eat very well when we go out, because we are able to find authentic mexican food, or, high quality sushi. We have a few fantastic Italian food choices, a pub that makes the BEST burger I've ever eaten, and also, some "typical" American food places. Oh, and don't even get me started on my favorite Pizza place. And I can't forget the Chilean Restaurant, OR, the Cajun food. The choices for Chinese are multiple... And, most of these places use "humane" and local items, if thats your thing. We also have a few really excellent Vegan places to eat at.

Shopping? You wanna shop?

Both towns boast a downtown area that looks like a throwback from way back when. Shoe stores, kitchen stores, jewelry, antiques as far as the eyes can see. Clothes, of course. A decadent yarn store that makes me want to knit forever. Stores that carry strange things like NunZilla, and other bizarre items. Music stores. Not CD stores, MUSIC stores. That sell instruments, guitars, harmonicas, maracas, sheet music, and more. Book stores. Stationary stores. We have 2 high falutin' specialty Cheese shops. And a Tea shop. (I think it's still open).

We've got the basics, too. Groceries, Hardware and Lumber, Beauty Salons, and Barbers. Hell. We even have a K(ame) Mart (apart)

I can find, essentially, anything I want. If something escapes me, well, I have the internet, right?

WRONG

what I am missing, what this area needs, is a BAKERY.

Now, we have "bakeries". Places that have the typical bakery things. But none of them have breads.

I am talking good breads. REAL sourdough. Rye. Pumpernickel. Wheat so thick you could knock someone out with it.

I'd probably be their best customer. I'd also probably weigh 500 pounds because of them.

Maybe I better be careful what I wish for...

but I'd give my right arm for a good loaf of Rye bread right about now...

Wordless Wednesday

I'm like a week or so late with this but I just saw it and couldn't resist

prop 19 was the Medical Marijuana legalization one... it didn't pass, perhaps more of the Taco Hell's should have advertised for it?

National Dunce Day

Is today.

I am so not kidding.

If I would have known, I would have celebrated it appropriately. Maybe.

I don't really enjoy stupidity much, or pointed hats for that matter. Maybe enjoying national Dunce Day could include me going out and running a few over?

Nah. Because then MM would have to come bail me out of jail, and I don't think that would be fun for anyone. Besides. Say I didn't get caught doing that. I'd end up taking care of them at work, and truthfully? I am already idiot challenged in the work place. There are a few particular nurses I work with that aren't known for being the sharpest tools. That sounds bad. No one really wants to be taken care of by a stupid nurse. All I can really say is that while nursing school is, indeed, difficult, time consuming, labor intensive, and LONG, I've seen some book smart people graduate through it, then exhibit none of the real life smarts they need to survive it.

Anyhow. Today is National Dunce Day. Did anyone find a way to celebrate it?

Wait, what time is it??

Happy Daylight Savings Time...

Now go fix all your clocks :)

The song stuck in my head right now

Lump sat alone in a boggy marsh,
totally emotionless except for her heart
Mud flowed up into lump's pajamas
she totally confused all the passing pihranas

She's lump, she's lump
She's in my head
She's lump, she's lump, she's lump
She might be dead

Lump lingered last in line for brains
and the one she got was sorta rotten and insane
Small things so sad that birds could land
Is lump fast asleep or rockin' out with the band?

She's lump, she's lump
She's in my head
She's lump, she's lump, she's lump
She might be dead

Lump was limp and lonely and needed a shove
Lump slipped on a kiss and tumbled into love
She spent her twenties between the sheets
Life limped along at sub-sonic speeds

She's lump, she's lump
She's in my head
She's lump, she's lump, she's lump
She might be dead

Is this lump outta my head?
I think so
Is this lump outta my head?
I think so
Is this lump outta my head?
I think so
Is this lump outta my head?

The one where I blog about Halloween weekend

Where to start... where to start.....

ok here.

After working Friday night, I came home Saturday morning, napped, and then we were off like turd of Hurkeys. We made good time to the Bay Area, where we met up with MM's older sister, (I am going to simplify things and refer to her as Lucy. It will make it much easier, trust me). Along with Lucy, was her oldest daughter, Betty (it's a compliment, people. She loves to bake, is good at it). I had not met Betty, yet. And we haven't seen Lucy and her family for a few years (3 ish?) so it was good to catch up with them. Betty's husband is in the Navy (go Navy!), and Lucy and Betty were driving to the next duty station, able to meet us on the way. We checked into our hotel, met Betty's sweet dogs, and then took off to go have Mexican food. The dinner company was outstanding, but let me just tell you, all Carne Asada's are NOT created equal. After a nice evening, we went back to our respective rooms, to sleep, and gear up for Sunday, Halloween....

0545 rolls around Halloween morning, and my stupid brain turns on, and it won't turn off. This is something that plagues many people who work nights. I lay in (not my) bed, faced with a conundrum. Get up? and possibly disturb both MM and MG? Lay there, tossing and turning, waking up MM for sure? I got up, went to a comfortable chair, and played with my phone, and drank some hot tea. Eventually, everyone got up, we got ourselvestogether, and ventured out into Halloween.

Our first stop was this place called "Psycho Donuts". I'm not a huge donut fan, but this place wasfun, and the donuts were good. I got a Key Lime one, and MM got one made with Nutella, which he shared with me. YUM! After Psycho donuts, we made our way over to the coast, to enjoy nearby Santa Cruz. We did nothave to be at The Winchester House until 9:30 pm. We spent a nice afternoon wandering the boardwalk, playing in the arcade, looking around at the strange and not so strange. As you can see it was a beautiful day.

After going back to the hotel for a rest, then out for dinner, it was finally time to make our way to the Winchester house. The highlight of Halloween...

We get there, and like any place that is a tourist attraction, you find yourself pretty much immediately in a gift shop. We looked around a bit, thenwandered outside to the gardens. Say anything you want about Sarah Winchester, but she has beautiful gardens and grounds surrounding her house. It being Halloween, there were quite a few others roaming around with the same purpose we had, the flash light tour of the house. There were also staff wandering around giving us candy, and trick or treat bags. Bonus! We wandered hither and yon, looking into some outbuildings, at some late blooming flowers, at our surroundings. I took a great picture of an outside sign in the night, with my flash on, so it should have shown the colors (yellow sign, reddish lettering). It came out in black and white. AND, when I downloaded my pictures into the c

amera, THAT picture? Was gone. Or I'd show you.So instead I will show you a flower...

It was finally our turn to go into the house, and on our tour. Given our flashlights, and the typical tour guide who ends every sentence with an upward inflection, away we went. I will tell you, I've come to the conclusion that any spirit that might have been wandering around was probably turned off by many of the idiots walking the house with flash lights. There were a few places we went where I felt like there was something going on, (one of the kitchens, and the Daisy bedroom), but, nothing really overtly happened. Despite that, the house is amazing! Sarah Winchester had impeccable taste in how she wanted these rooms to look. Or rather, the spirits telling her how to build the house did. The wood work, cabinetry, and tiling were beautiful. Lots of craftmanship went into this place. The floors were gorgeous. And don't even get me started on the myriad of leaded windows she had. Many of them Tiffany designed.

The house was odd, too. The staircase that goes into the ceiling, the doors leading to nowhere, windows in the floor, the tiny, narrow staircases. Those had purpose, though. Sarah Winchester was only 4'10, and she had arthritis. So the tiny steps were much easier for her to climb. Makes sense. I would really like to go tour the house during the day, to see its beauty in the light. All told, according to our tour guide, we walked a mile around the house, and saw some 110 rooms. We didn't STOP in 110 rooms, but that was ok. Many of them were unfinished, or for storage.

So, after an hour of touring the house with the idiots in our group, we were done. We purchased our few items in the gift shop, and it was time for us to take our leave of Lucy and Betty. (they were staying one more night in the area).

We made it back home at 0230 in the morning, and were very glad to find our own beds...

It was a fantastic weekend.