4/17/12

Posted on April 17, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

Today was another day with no results. 😦 Newell stayed home sick today, and I never get much done if he is at home. On the other hand, I have help coming on Thursday to re-motivate me.

My cousin Eve was also a theater teacher and set designer for many years, and she is going to drop by and give me an outsider’s perspective on what to do next. I foresee this as being very helpful.

Tomorrow is another out-of-the-house for doctor’s appointments day…but I’ll still find something to share.

Here is today’s share:

I don’t know who his little buddies are there, but I think this caterpillar is getting ready for a long nap. And when he wakes up…he won’t even recognize himself!

Kathleen called me to come take his picture. We are going to keep an eye on him and see if we can document the entire process from caterpillar to butterfly. It’s been a long time since I watched over a chrysalis from beginning to end, but this is what I am expecting him to turn into: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Monarch_Butterfly_Chrysalis.JPG

I’ll keep you posted!

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4/16/12

Posted on April 16, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

Happy Tax Day! But seriously…I am so glad we got ours done early this year. It was great to have it out of the way and not have to worry. Hope it went smoothly for everyone else.

Determined to get back to it this week. Planning on not going in with Newell any day this week except the day of the doctor’s appointment. There must be cleaning done!

I’ve already washed a machine full of dishes. Still have a few soaking, but will get back to them.

Let’s go back to the dice for a change.

1 – Upstairs…in the bloody Office. Oh well. At least I can listen to American Pickers. Sentenced to an hour. 😉 Need to MOVE stuff in there. There’s a neighborhood Garage Sale coming up…so maybe I can clear out some space.

UPDATE ONE: Well, I did get some filing done and a box of stuff sorted out for the Garage Sale. I don’t think it was quite an hour being honest. But at least I got something done, and that is a step forward…

I think I am going to go back down to the kitchen and finish straightening up down there.

But first, this is very cool, so I thought I would share. Nothing to do with cleaning, exactly, but a great example of simplicity in form and function.

Newell sends me links all the time, and this one I found extremely interesting and beautiful. The poetic heritage of the Javanese Alphabet. I’ll bet that makes it easier to remember!

 

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And it’s surprising, how time slips away…

Posted on April 15, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

I promised yesterday to share last night’s writers get-together. It was a lovely evening, which I enjoyed thoroughly. Several weeks ago, my cousin Eve asked if I would participate in a meeting of writers that she was putting together at the request of a friend. He had a nephew coming to town who was a writer travelling the country with his family. This nephew, Shawn Smucker, was interested in meeting local writers and networking.

It sounded like fun, so I said sure. We gathered at the Texas Roadhouse, because the Smuckers were big fans of Willie Nelson, and — since Eve didn’t know him to invite — she booked his restaurant instead. 🙂

With Shawn and his uncle Sam, there were seven of us, but the layout of the table made it difficult for me to hear the writer part of the conversation after the initial introductions. I did get a chance to give Shawn a copy of Miles To Go, and Sam had brought copies of Twist of Faith for everyone signed by Anne. Shawn was happy to sign them for us as well.

I did get to talk to Eve a great deal about family things. We haven’t had a lot of interaction in the past, and it was interesting to hear stories about her branch of the family — and about my own that I had never heard before. One of the things we discussed was The Mighty Mites project — two of my great-uncles and a great-aunt were among the children at the Masonic Home at the time this is set.

I didn’t really get to speak to the other ladies present (Deann, Cathey, and her daughter Charity) very much…between my shyness and the difficulty hearing around the table…but it was a fascinating group all round, and quite a pleasant dinner. I hope to see them again sometime.

     

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4/14/12

Posted on April 14, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

Had a very long, very full day…so I think I will break it into two parts and tell about the lovely writers’ dinner I went to tonight tomorrow.

Today, I would like to share my thoughts on something I’ve touched on before, but think should be mentioned today. This afternoon, knowing that I needed to be in the north end of town for dinner, I left the house early enough to go to the 1 pm showing of Titanic. It was very important to me personally to see it today…on the big screen…and remember. I caught it in 3D, which was really unnecessary, but interesting. But, as I sit here at my computer, I can’t help but think that 100 years ago this very night the passengers and crew of that mighty ship were enjoying what would be the last night on earth for more than half of them.

At this very moment, the first class passengers were probably enjoying dinner, or chatting in the salon. Perhaps some had turned in early to read in their staterooms. The men were talking politics or finance, the women discussing fashion or gossiping about society.

Down in the steerage, things were probably more boisterous. Perhaps there was a dance like Cameron shows in the movie. Probably, the late sitting was at dinner. It was crowded, and noisy, and full of hope. Many of these passengers were seeking their fortunes in a new land, having scraped together the funds for their tickets. Most of them would not see the light of day.

No, there was no Rose. There was no Jack. But there was a Thomas Andrews, and a Bruce Ismay. Molly Brown was on the boat, and so was John Jacob Astor. It is the glimpses we get of the REAL people on the Titanic that move me most when I watch Cameron’s epic.

I cannot make it through that film without crying at least once or twice. The first time I saw it, back in the initial release, I was in tears before the opening sequence was over — because I had researched it enough to know the pathos of that lonely hulk decaying on the sea bed. To realize that no matter what happened in this film, there would be no happy ending. Not really.

The Titanic has lurked in my dreams since I was a tiny girl. It humbles me to think that this is the weekend of the 100th Anniversary of the disaster. That if I started watching the film at midnight tonight…the striking of the iceberg would be eerily close to the moment of the original 100 years ago.

[EDIT: My literalist husband has pointed out to me that since I am not in the same time zone that the ship went down in, I would have had to have started the film an hour ago (as of this writing) to match the correct time…I still maintain that it would FEEL like it was the precise moment to me…]

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4/13/12

Posted on April 13, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

Super huge Friday the 13th scare today. I thought I had lost my camera. My “real” camera, as opposed to the one in the phone which is good for a phone, but still not as good as my beloved Canon.

When I went to get it to take a shot of the sunset, I couldn’t find it. The last place I was sure I remembered seeing it was the pocket of the car door, but it wasn’t there. I looked. Twice.

Finally took everything out of my new messenger bag — which I had checked twice… — and it had gone into a pocket it was not intended to visit. What a relief!

On the other hand, we went in early for the blood work we needed this morning, so I was starving by breakfast and overshot my calorie allotment for that meal. But then Newell surprised me with an offer of The Oasis for lunch, and I NEVER turn down The Oasis…so I wound up terribly over my goal for today. Still, it had been a pretty good week, so I may be okay.

Since I thought I had left my camera at home today, I took a couple of shots of statues I had missed with my phone. What do you think?

      

Indian Dancers                              Swingers                                     April Rain — see the drips?

It isn’t bad for a camera phone — that’s for sure.

Aside from a doctor’s appointment next Wednesday, I think I can stay home next week. Sure gonna try. I have a lot to do still before I can have a Fourth of July party!

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4/12/12

Posted on April 12, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

Couldn’t find some medical paperwork today, so had to go in to town to get new copies. BUT I have laundry going now that I am home.

Don’t you hate bidding for something on eBay, watching it like a hawk, being the highest bidder till the last possible minute, and then someone else wins? Drat!

Ah, well…probably for the best. 🙂

Need to go check the washer. Till later.

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4/11/12

Posted on April 11, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

Today was mostly about electronic cleaning. Sorted through my Yahoo account and deleted over 700 spam messages. Need to do that more often…

Found a few non-spam hiding in that folder, and a few spam hiding in the inbox. Still a lot to go through, but it was something.

Aside from that, not too good a day. My phone battery went to 0% before the charger actually kicked in and started working. Guess it is true what they say about charging and using it at the same time…

On the good side, Pogo now has a mobile app with a handful of the best games on it. You can carry Poppit, Word Whomp, Sweet Tooth 2, World Class Solitaire, and Turbo 21 with you wherever you go. I was HOPING they would get around to Android soon, as they already had an iPhone app.

Still on track with my calorie counting, but that is HARD! I feel a little hungry all the time…but then, I think of Katniss Everdeen and don’t feel so bad. I can stand to eat a bit less. 😉

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4/10/12

Posted on April 10, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

Broke my resolution today…for one thing, Newell thought he was going to be late for a meeting, and I thought I might have to go and grab him something to eat. If I don’t go with him, he usually gets something for breakfast along the way and skips lunch altogether, but stopping wasn’t an option today.

Of course, when we got to his office building, it turned out they had rescheduled the meeting for tomorrow afternoon…but it was too late then. On the bright side, that meant we got to go to lunch together, and I discovered a lovely cilantro lime vinaigrette for my salad, as I am TRYING to avoid Ranch completely these days. Between that and the garlic sesame I discovered the other day, I may never go back to Ranch again…which is too bad since I have large bottles in my fridge and pantry…

Still managing to stay under on my calorie count — though yesterday, I think it was by 1…lol. I’ll lose this weight yet! (After all, that’s part of getting my house in order too, isn’t it?)

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4/9/12

Posted on April 9, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

So, I managed to leap the biggest hurdle of the day — I stayed home to work. 😉

Back to salad for lunch today. Yummy with a slice of ham diced up on it — and only one deviled egg on the side.

Now it is time to go tackle all those nasty dishes stacked up. Let’s get to it!

 

UPDATE ONE:  Success! Took a LONG time since I let it go so long, but here’s the difference!

     

Dishes needing washing…                                    Dishes all washed!

I feel like I should get some of the filing done. At least squared away…

          

A mess of folders…                                  All sorted away.

Better than nothing!

 

Between the dishes and the filing, that was at least two hours today. I may do more later, but I feel better than I have in weeks about what I DID get done. 🙂

 

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Here Comes Peter Cottontail…

Posted on April 8, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

Today was Easter Sunday. As expected my careful calorie counting which I had been doing so well at since Thursday when I started went COMPLETELY out the window when my sister Julie arrived with her Deviled Eggs to Die For. I think I ate a dozen…only stopped because I felt a bit self-conscious about hogging them all…and brought four home for tomorrow!

My Fitness Pal for Android has set me a daily goal of 1250 calories to meet my goal, and today, guessing as close as possible to specific foods, I went over by almost 1000 calories! But I was under by 400 so far for the week, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. And it was a holiday. Still — back to salad for lunch tomorrow. I WILL reach my weight goal.

It was a lovely Easter. All the sisters and their spouses, my parents, their next-door neighbors, and the kids were there. Julie organized some fun with eggs, and everyone had a blast. I even got to hunt eggs, though they were limited on their hiding places, so I didn’t go as all out as I would usually 😉 (I wait all year to hunt eggs…simply ADORE it!)

Here are some pictures of the festivities:

    

Keith and Little Bit playing with her Easter Bunnies from the basket Mom brought her.

   

I think Christa felt a bit old for this — all the kids but Little Bit are growing out of it — but they were troopers and hunted for Julie anyway. She loves hiding them as much as I love hunting!

     

Gathering for the raw egg toss…Keith was my partner — determined by the eggs the kids decorated.

     

Unfortunately, the egg bounced off my shoulder and we were out early. Some of the others did much better.

      

Finally, we had a cascarone war — boys against girls. I think the boys won…especially since Paul was holding out on ammo!

Newell got to chat with his dad by phone, and the Holmans’ clan got to sing “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” accompanied by kazoo and various other instruments (not that we knew all the words…) and seguing into “Kill the Wabbit“…yeah, that’s how we roll. 🙂

Hope everyone else had the Easter you were looking to enjoy.

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