Dragon Mood? -- nervous ... and this Dragon doesn't do well feeling nervous!
Over the past several postings, I used the adjective "funky" numerous times to describe an environment I thought was fun and quaint/retro/dated and really quite charming.
Well ... there's funky and then there's FUNK ... as in, how I'm feeling this morning.
While I should be working, I feel the need to jump "over" to this little computer and take a few minutes to write about my feelings. I'm feeling anxious about getting a job and the long-term prospects.
I made the mistake (thinking I was being proactive) of logging onto monster.com and perusing the current listings. Pretty slim pickin's, if you know what I mean. Arrgh! Scary.
S and I had a pretty frank, straight-talking conversation (as straight as two lesbians can have, ha-ha) about our near-term prospects. S is anticipating (as only a far-sighted Aquarian can) that she will be asked (or mandated) to take a paycut in the very near future -- like the end of April and in the neighborhood of a 5 to 6% cut. If that happens (and I still don't have a secure job), we will definitely have to take some actions. Like selling a house. Yeah ... scary stuff.
At the same time, to her credit, S is encouraging me to get a job that I like, not just a get-by job. Which, given that my work for the last 16 years(!) has been to "get by" is a tremendously appealing prospect. And, need I mention, frightening at the same time?
Oh, I was feeling so calm and at peace yesterday. How could that have evaporated so quickly in so brief a time? ArrghhH!
Monday, February 27, 2006
Sunday, February 26, 2006
A lovely quiet Sunday
Dragon Mood? -- relaxed and pensive
S and I are winding down on a lovely quiet Sunday. No trees falling, no working on Sunday, no snowstorm, no locusts and plagues. Just a quiet Sunday. Lovely.
We watched, rather I watched the Spartans lose another game. S couldn't bear to watch. I don't know exactly what's going on with the men's team, but they seem to have lost their heart, their fire for the game and for the win. Especially Paul Davis. He had several lightning passes come his way, through his hands and continue on, out of bounds. What's with that? He did end up fouling out with 3:30 to go in the second half. This is his last season as a Spartan. What's going on with him?
After the game, S and I mosied over to J & J's for a quick introduction to their newly-rescued Spanish water dog, named Allie or (C)allie, depending on if it's Joanne who's naming her. Joanne is in a permanent love affair with any and all things remotely related to California, hence the name, Callie.
Allie/Callie is a sweet, mellow four-year old Spanish water dog with a beautiful hypoallergenic, apricot & white coat. I sat on the floor to get acquainted with her. After a couple of minutes, she came over and literally flopped in my lap. "Hello, are you my mom?" What a sweetie-pie! While Jeanne and Joanne brought her back to Michigan, possibly for Jeanne's sister, Mary, methinks Allie/Callie is going nowhere but has captured both of their hearts (mine too!).
Meanwhile, our dog, lovely snarly yellow-dog Cisco was waiting patiently in the back of my hatchback. Little did she know that we had been unloyally fraternizing with a dog she would happily have eaten for a Sunday happy hour appetizer(!)
When we got home, I put on David and Steven Gordon's Drum Medicine CD, snuggled up on the couch and promptly fell asleep. Have I said anything recently about how much I love afternoon naps??? I DO! I love them.
Upon slo-o-owly waking up, I got up, warmed a cup of coffee au lait, took a hot, hot, long hot shower, washed my hair, shaved my legs and enjoyed the heat on some pesky tense back muscles. It felt wonderful.
S and I remade our bed with freshly laundered sheets (compliments of moi) and now I'm sitting here, at the computer, posting my life to the internet and for millions to see.
Oh yes ... and I'm drinking some, what I would call, Kool-aid wine, brought over by an elderly neighbor some months back. It's Blackberry Merlot (pronounced mer-LOT) like all good Warda Texans do.
Cheers!
S and I are winding down on a lovely quiet Sunday. No trees falling, no working on Sunday, no snowstorm, no locusts and plagues. Just a quiet Sunday. Lovely.
We watched, rather I watched the Spartans lose another game. S couldn't bear to watch. I don't know exactly what's going on with the men's team, but they seem to have lost their heart, their fire for the game and for the win. Especially Paul Davis. He had several lightning passes come his way, through his hands and continue on, out of bounds. What's with that? He did end up fouling out with 3:30 to go in the second half. This is his last season as a Spartan. What's going on with him?
After the game, S and I mosied over to J & J's for a quick introduction to their newly-rescued Spanish water dog, named Allie or (C)allie, depending on if it's Joanne who's naming her. Joanne is in a permanent love affair with any and all things remotely related to California, hence the name, Callie.
Allie/Callie is a sweet, mellow four-year old Spanish water dog with a beautiful hypoallergenic, apricot & white coat. I sat on the floor to get acquainted with her. After a couple of minutes, she came over and literally flopped in my lap. "Hello, are you my mom?" What a sweetie-pie! While Jeanne and Joanne brought her back to Michigan, possibly for Jeanne's sister, Mary, methinks Allie/Callie is going nowhere but has captured both of their hearts (mine too!).
Meanwhile, our dog, lovely snarly yellow-dog Cisco was waiting patiently in the back of my hatchback. Little did she know that we had been unloyally fraternizing with a dog she would happily have eaten for a Sunday happy hour appetizer(!)
When we got home, I put on David and Steven Gordon's Drum Medicine CD, snuggled up on the couch and promptly fell asleep. Have I said anything recently about how much I love afternoon naps??? I DO! I love them.
Upon slo-o-owly waking up, I got up, warmed a cup of coffee au lait, took a hot, hot, long hot shower, washed my hair, shaved my legs and enjoyed the heat on some pesky tense back muscles. It felt wonderful.
S and I remade our bed with freshly laundered sheets (compliments of moi) and now I'm sitting here, at the computer, posting my life to the internet and for millions to see.
Oh yes ... and I'm drinking some, what I would call, Kool-aid wine, brought over by an elderly neighbor some months back. It's Blackberry Merlot (pronounced mer-LOT) like all good Warda Texans do.
Cheers!
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Our funky Florida hideaway
Dragon Mood? -- let's see; we'll put yellow in the main area; shall we hang some beaded macrame curtains in the loggia???
We stayed in unit #10. It used to be a beach motel. Now it's a co-op of owner-occupied and rental condos. It's totally 1950's, funky and completely charming. I loved it from the moment I stepped in.
But, being a rental, it was a mite too bland for my dragonish tastes. So, Wednesday I went to the local dollar store, bought bright yellow crepe paper, a paper pinata that said "Happy Birthday!" and went to town decorating.
Did I mention the open-air inner atrium? Did I mention that it's two stories high? I love the columns that surround the atrium, their clean lines, their "orderliness" and predictability. If I could design a space for myself, it would have the feel of our funky Florida hideaway.
It was perfect for my tastes. I loved it!
We stayed in unit #10. It used to be a beach motel. Now it's a co-op of owner-occupied and rental condos. It's totally 1950's, funky and completely charming. I loved it from the moment I stepped in.
But, being a rental, it was a mite too bland for my dragonish tastes. So, Wednesday I went to the local dollar store, bought bright yellow crepe paper, a paper pinata that said "Happy Birthday!" and went to town decorating.
Did I mention the open-air inner atrium? Did I mention that it's two stories high? I love the columns that surround the atrium, their clean lines, their "orderliness" and predictability. If I could design a space for myself, it would have the feel of our funky Florida hideaway.
It was perfect for my tastes. I loved it!
So many posts, so little time
Dragon Mood? -- excited and romantic?
Where to start, where to start??
Let's start at 35,000 feet. That was our cruising altitude, wending our way to Florida -- at night. It was Valentine's Day night and I had the window seat on the left (and east) side of the plane. We had left the twinkling megalopolis that is Chicago behind with another one quickly approaching (Indianapolis). I looked to the east and saw this golden elliptical bulb low in the sky -- what is that? It's the moon. The moon rising, actually. S and I were exclaiming over it when the pilot announced the dramatic moon sighting over the PA. There were sharp "Ohs!" and exclamations all around us.
Now ... to that elliptical shape. S and I had quite the logical-cum-scientific conversation about it. I was discombobulated over its elliptical shape. S announced fairly quickly on that it was due to distortion from the Earth's atmosphere. I wondered, could it be our angle of view? Now, think about holding a ball in your outstretched hand; is there any way that you can twist your hand or your arm that will make that sphere *look* like an ellipse. Is there? No ... no, of course not. So, I answered my own question that it certainly couldn't be our angle of view.
So, back to S's hypothesis about the atmosphere. I questioned her about it. She said that due to our position in the plane and the moon rising up over the Earth's horizon, we were actually viewing the moon through the atmosphere and the atmosphere was distorting its spherical shape to look elliptical. Something like that, anyway. Sure enough, as we flew further south, the moon rose higher in the sky relative to our vantage point; the higher it rose, the more spherical it became. Brighter, less golden, too.
But don't let my pseudo-scientific ramblings distort the fact that it was a stunning sight, wondrous in its beauty and most personally, an especially romantic accompaniment to our Valentine's night flight to tropical Florida.
Where to start, where to start??
Let's start at 35,000 feet. That was our cruising altitude, wending our way to Florida -- at night. It was Valentine's Day night and I had the window seat on the left (and east) side of the plane. We had left the twinkling megalopolis that is Chicago behind with another one quickly approaching (Indianapolis). I looked to the east and saw this golden elliptical bulb low in the sky -- what is that? It's the moon. The moon rising, actually. S and I were exclaiming over it when the pilot announced the dramatic moon sighting over the PA. There were sharp "Ohs!" and exclamations all around us.
Now ... to that elliptical shape. S and I had quite the logical-cum-scientific conversation about it. I was discombobulated over its elliptical shape. S announced fairly quickly on that it was due to distortion from the Earth's atmosphere. I wondered, could it be our angle of view? Now, think about holding a ball in your outstretched hand; is there any way that you can twist your hand or your arm that will make that sphere *look* like an ellipse. Is there? No ... no, of course not. So, I answered my own question that it certainly couldn't be our angle of view.
So, back to S's hypothesis about the atmosphere. I questioned her about it. She said that due to our position in the plane and the moon rising up over the Earth's horizon, we were actually viewing the moon through the atmosphere and the atmosphere was distorting its spherical shape to look elliptical. Something like that, anyway. Sure enough, as we flew further south, the moon rose higher in the sky relative to our vantage point; the higher it rose, the more spherical it became. Brighter, less golden, too.
But don't let my pseudo-scientific ramblings distort the fact that it was a stunning sight, wondrous in its beauty and most personally, an especially romantic accompaniment to our Valentine's night flight to tropical Florida.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
... to my hundreds of readers ...
... I want to wish you a very Happy Valentine's Day.
My Valentine and I are getting ready to jump on a plane and leave for Florida ... imminently! I am EXCITED!
What a treat for an unemployed, fifty-something person who, to mention it, has been under a bit of stress!
I think S and I are going to enjoy lazy days of sunning, reading, lazing around, drinking, sunning, wiggling our toes in the sand, drinking, walking on the beach, lazing around, drinking, well ... you get the picture, yes?
So ... Happy Valentine's Day everybody ... I'll remember you on the beach! Margaritas, everybody!
My Valentine and I are getting ready to jump on a plane and leave for Florida ... imminently! I am EXCITED!
What a treat for an unemployed, fifty-something person who, to mention it, has been under a bit of stress!
I think S and I are going to enjoy lazy days of sunning, reading, lazing around, drinking, sunning, wiggling our toes in the sand, drinking, walking on the beach, lazing around, drinking, well ... you get the picture, yes?
So ... Happy Valentine's Day everybody ... I'll remember you on the beach! Margaritas, everybody!
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Workin' with smooth jazz in the background ...
It's Sunday, a sunny but cold February afternoon. I'm at the pied-a-terre, working today, trying to get some work done before I leave for our week in Florida.
I'm struggling to stay focused ... (can you tell?).
One of the side benefits of this working-at-home thing is listening to streaming audio from Yahoo's LaunchCast radio. What a treat, especially for someone who likes lots of music and also dislikes lots of music. LaunchCast gives you the ability to select a station with a specific type of music --OR-- create your own radio station, rating the songs you like highly and dissing the songs you don't. I'm getting to hear lots of music that I otherwise wouldn't hear. And I'm finding that I do enjoying listening to smooth jazz when I'm working. It's "easy on the ears." My biggest apologies to my son, Yosh ... who, as far as I can tell ... CAN'T STAND smooth jazz. I think all it conjures for him is Kenny G and his wailing sax.
But I like this. I plan on rating more smooth jazz with two, three, maybe even four stars! Sorry, Yosh!
Now ... back to work!
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Fleeting Saturday morning
Dragon Mood? -- feeling good
Since my job lay-off, I have had intermittent bouts of insomnia. I think it goes with the territory. Last night was another one. I went to bed around 11:30 or midnight; by 4:30, I was awake. I laid in bed until 5:30, gave up on falling asleep again and got up. I made myself some hot tea, played the piano in the early morning darkness (something which I love) and simply 'existed' in the moment. I didn't think about tomorrow or yesterday or money. No mean feat when you're out of a job.
Around 7, I got online and began doing my taxes with Turbo Tax Online. This is probably the fourth, fifth, maybe even sixth year (?) I've used their software. I have no complaints with it, and it's certainly cheaper and easier than seeing a person to do my taxes. I really like the fact that it "remembers" data from the previous year and references it as I work my way through the process. For some reason, the software "remembering" is oddly comforting.
After a couple of hours (and a couple of wrong paths -- duh!) I've completed an initial pass through the software. I forgot one document at the pied-a-terre that I really need -- so I'll complete my taxes two weeks from now, after we get back from Florida.
Which brings me to the enjoyable part of this post; we leave for St. Pete's Beach on Valentine's Day and we'll be there for a whole, lovely, entire WEEK! That's something we have talked about for a number of years, but never made the commitment before to really do it. This year, thanks to Joann's great internet condo-rental sleuthing, we can afford to stay for seven days and seven nights. I say "afford" with tongue in cheek. As I'm unemployed, we can't really afford to do anything like this, but, what the hell, we're doing it!
An additional incentive for taking the week-in-Florida plunge is that S turns 50 this week, an event any 49-year-old-plus woman will agree deserves lots of hooplah. Jeanne and Joanne will be joining us for four of our seven days there. We plan to go out on S's birthday for a big grouper dinner and many drinks! I think it will be great!
Today, now that I've leaped over the taxes hurdle, only two things remain to do: watch the Michigan State vs. Minnesota basketball game (men's) at 2:30 p.m. and ... pack my suitcase. I've already pulled it out and piled a bunch of brightly colored, short-sleeved tops in there. Now I need to get serious and really figure out what I'm taking and not taking.
Oh, I can imagine the sun's warmth and the ocean breezes already! Mmmm!
Since my job lay-off, I have had intermittent bouts of insomnia. I think it goes with the territory. Last night was another one. I went to bed around 11:30 or midnight; by 4:30, I was awake. I laid in bed until 5:30, gave up on falling asleep again and got up. I made myself some hot tea, played the piano in the early morning darkness (something which I love) and simply 'existed' in the moment. I didn't think about tomorrow or yesterday or money. No mean feat when you're out of a job.
Around 7, I got online and began doing my taxes with Turbo Tax Online. This is probably the fourth, fifth, maybe even sixth year (?) I've used their software. I have no complaints with it, and it's certainly cheaper and easier than seeing a person to do my taxes. I really like the fact that it "remembers" data from the previous year and references it as I work my way through the process. For some reason, the software "remembering" is oddly comforting.
After a couple of hours (and a couple of wrong paths -- duh!) I've completed an initial pass through the software. I forgot one document at the pied-a-terre that I really need -- so I'll complete my taxes two weeks from now, after we get back from Florida.
Which brings me to the enjoyable part of this post; we leave for St. Pete's Beach on Valentine's Day and we'll be there for a whole, lovely, entire WEEK! That's something we have talked about for a number of years, but never made the commitment before to really do it. This year, thanks to Joann's great internet condo-rental sleuthing, we can afford to stay for seven days and seven nights. I say "afford" with tongue in cheek. As I'm unemployed, we can't really afford to do anything like this, but, what the hell, we're doing it!
An additional incentive for taking the week-in-Florida plunge is that S turns 50 this week, an event any 49-year-old-plus woman will agree deserves lots of hooplah. Jeanne and Joanne will be joining us for four of our seven days there. We plan to go out on S's birthday for a big grouper dinner and many drinks! I think it will be great!
Today, now that I've leaped over the taxes hurdle, only two things remain to do: watch the Michigan State vs. Minnesota basketball game (men's) at 2:30 p.m. and ... pack my suitcase. I've already pulled it out and piled a bunch of brightly colored, short-sleeved tops in there. Now I need to get serious and really figure out what I'm taking and not taking.
Oh, I can imagine the sun's warmth and the ocean breezes already! Mmmm!
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