Sunday Snippets

Today found me “darning” a hole in one of our bed sheets. We’ve had these sheets for probably 10 – 12 years now. It’s our only set & they have been worn to a lovely soft finish from repeated washings. I say “darning” because, you know those fine stitches that people use to sew up holes in things? Yeah, not so much in my house. That I would try to “sew” instead of going shopping for new sheets is yet another sign that I’m not much of a shopper. I don’t suppose someone could just drop off a set at our house could they? It’s a queen size, pillow top mattress. Thanks!

Our natural gas supplier came out to check our meter because they figured out that it wasn’t working. Apparently for a year because we got a bill with an estimate of what we owe for the last 12 months. Our monthly payment during that period of time wasn’t any lower than usual. Um, why is your equipment failure, which you didn’t notice for at least a year, a reason that I now have to pay you a big chunk of change? Don’t you know that I have a new set of sheets to buy & can’t afford this at the moment? Sheesh!

If this sounds pitiful (which upon re-reading it, yes, it does sound pitiful) I take heart in the fact that I’m not really loving the Nutella like I was afraid I would. I know! I’ve checked & I don’t have a fever. It just isn’t all that special to me. Now, if we were to add some marshmallow fluff then perhaps I would rethink my position. [Note: we won’t be adding any marshmallow fluff.]

Our Charlie Brown Christmas tree is still sitting in its corner. I’ve been contemplating ways to make it a Valentine’s Tree. What do you think? Would this work?

2012 Project 365 – Week Four

Man what a dreary bluh week – I really wanted to spend the whole week wrapped up in soft blankets reading a book. But of course I didn’t - & neither did Dr. M, so we do have a few pictures for you.

Sunday, January 22^nd    

Dr. M took bunches of pictures of squirrels this week. I’m just sharing this one today – you have to go to his blog to see the rest. Go! Now! Then you can come back to see the rest of our week.

Monday, January 23^rd

This is what our sky looked like most of the week.

My first unsuccessful attempt to show you my new hair. I’m still trying to get the hang of the new camera.

Tuesday, January 24^th

Ah, here we go – this is a little better. The State of the Bug – back to her original hair color (as she recalls).

Wednesday, January 25^th

Even the Tax Time Pig had a devil of a week! (Groan…)

Thursday, January 26^th

Although the skies have been gray & rainy, it’s been a lot warmer than usual. Here’s some confused parsley.

Dr. M’s lunch – very appropriate for the weather!

Friday, January 27^th  

Dr. M took a lot of pictures on his way home from school. Here is my favorite flock of geese. I love how motley they are.

This is not actually a wetland – it’s just a field overcome by wet.

Up periscope!

I stopped & took a picture of my favorite tree on my way home from work. I like the view from the other side of the tree better, but I didn’t feel like walking up the road (I had to park beyond it to stop the car).

This was waiting on my desk when I got home – thanks sweetie!

Saturday, January 28^th  

Although it was cool & windy, today was just too pretty to stay inside – finally! See?

The water is still pretty high.

This Great Pyrenees was giving us the eye – wanted to make sure we didn’t bother his sheep.

These aren’t his sheep, but we didn’t bother them anyway. I love how they get hay all over themselves – very funny.

Go to Sara’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants. Have a great week!

Most of our photos are taken with a 12 megapixel Nikon D5000 DSLR, using a 55-200mm zoom lens. This is the camera that Dr. M takes with him most days. We also take pictures with our old reliable 7 megapixel Canon Powershot A710. This is the camera that the Bug uses most of the time. If you’re interested in which camera was used for a particular shot, just ask!

Flailing at the Fog...

Oh man I am just so uninspired! I started trying to work on this project, but after my eyes crossed for the 7th time I decided to put it on hold for a bit. But because my last post was three days ago and I don't want to keep looking at my sad thoughts about my mother, I give you this (the first three "fun facts" from the aforementioned project):

1. I’ve been singing The Star Spangled Banner in the car in the mornings in my ongoing effort to sing more often. Don’t worry about me hitting the high note – I’m singing it down in the Phyllis Diller range so there is no high note. 
2. I always sing the last line: “…and the home of the Bravesss!”
3. Pitchers & catchers report February 20th!

You Can't Come Home Again

I had the dream again.
My great joy.
Your infinite sadness.
It was Joyce Summers
come home to Altamont:
Not really you.
Not really here.

I always wish for the moon
when I meet you in dreams
and you always hand it to me
craters and all.

Monday Miscellany

Last night I stayed up later than I meant to reading The Beekeepers’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King. So I dreamed about Sherlock Holmes ALL NIGHT LONG. Sheesh that was exhausting!

We awakened to high winds and pouring rain, which put me right back to sleep. One of the problems that I have is that I listen to myself in my drowsy morning state. “Oh you don’t need to get up – you won’t be late for work & it’s ok if you are late.” I can’t be trusted that time of day. Thank goodness for my alarm clock which shocks some sense into me. I wonder what it’s like to just wake up wanting to get out of bed?

The rain had stopped by the time I left for work, so my commute was issue free. And frankly there’s a portion of my drive that I don’t remember at all. I was listening to my Mr. Pettigrew’s Last Stand & apparently I was quite caught up in it.

Right now I’m watching the clouds fly by my window & remembering the scene from the second Mummy movie. If I see a face in those clouds I’m going to hide in the bathroom!

2012 Project 365 – Week Three

This week had a number of squirrels – which is fitting because today is Squirrel Appreciation Day. Ha! Nevertheless, Dr. M took some great cardinal pictures today - go here to check out his blog post.

Sunday, January 15^th    

I set my alarm, but forgot to turn it on and slept until 10:30 – oops to getting to church! We spent the day just hanging out. Dr. M took a picture of a squirrel – I know! He never takes pictures of squirrels…

I finally unpacked a box of books sent to me by The Cyber Hermit – woot! It’s her collection of Laurie R. King books about Sherlock Holmes & his wife Mary Russell. I’m VERY excited to get started on this series.

Monday, January 16^th – Martin Luther King Jr. Day

I didn’t do a special post on this day, but I’ll just repost what I said last year:

…[we] celebrated the life of a man who was a force for change in the world. A complicated man, and a dynamic one. He could have used that charisma for other pursuits, ones that would most likely have not gotten him killed. But instead he took that burden and raised it over his head & flung it out into the world to shatter at the feet of complacent America. 

…when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" Martin Luther King, Jr.

We decided to take a ramble today. Is this a pony & a ram, or a pony & a footstool?

A swan at a park in Springfield, looking at us kind of sideways.

The secret purpose to our outing was to use a gift card that Dr. M got for Christmas to get me a new point & shoot camera! As you can see, my old one (which I had had for quite some time) was having some issues. Although I think the purple rubber band adds something to its “look.”

Here’s my new baby – it weighs about 4 ounces less than the old one & will be living in my purse for all those random State of the Bug pictures I like to take.

Dr. M snuck Nutella into our shopping cart on Saturday, so today I decided to try it for the first time ever. Well! Where have you been all my life?

 Tuesday, January 17^th

I was playing with my new camera at work (since it was already in my purse & all). It’s the State of the Bug – sheepish!

Not content to annoy my own self with my camera, I took it to my coworker’s office & bothered her. She was a pretty good sport about it though. Heh.

While I was playing around at work Dr. M took a picture of a swollen Mad River – we’ve had lots of rain lately.

Wednesday, January 18^th

Donkeys! They’re so cute & little.

Yes, sheep on a hay roll.

Thursday, January 19^th

We do our part to make sure that the squirrels in our neighborhood are fat & sassy.

Who’s that slipping over the fence?

Friday, January 20^th  

Dr. M took this picture of deer crossing the railroad tracks – they love this area.

The bird diner was in full swing today – all the tables were full & some patrons had to hover for a bit to find a seat.

Mr. Cardinal looking haughty, as usual.

Dr. M made a fabulous soup for dinner. Yes, that’s okra in there, as well as corn, peppers, onions, tomatoes, chicken sausage, and leftover green beans that also had some pecans in them. If you look closely you can see a pecan floating on top! It made for an “interesting” contrast. Actually, I liked it a lot, but I’m nutty that way.

Dr. M was fooling around with the new camera. Isn’t he the cutest thing?

Saturday, January 21^st   

Dr. M took this early morning picture of a squirrel. Is it Frankensquirrel? Squarewolf? Vampel? Oh wow, those are so very very bad…

The ground crew.

Listen sir, I think you’ve had enough. Really, we’re cutting you off now.

“Hey! This is MY feeder – get off there you goon!”

I’m leaving you with something that made me laugh out loud. Dr. M stopped to get a few essentials on his way home from school. He apparently wanted to make sure that we never run out of toilet paper again – ha!

Go to Sara’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants. Have a great week!

Most of our photos are taken with a 12 megapixel Nikon D5000 DSLR, using a 55-200mm zoom lens. This is the camera that Dr. M takes with him most days. We also take pictures with our old reliable 7 megapixel Canon Powershot A710. This is the camera that the Bug uses most of the time. If you’re interested in which camera was used for a particular shot, just ask!

Rooked

I wrote this for the poetry jam, where the prompt this week is "you can go home again." I had so many memories to choose from, but for some reason this particular one bubbled to the surface. As soon as I thought of it I was right back there in the kitchen of the home where I grew up. It makes me laugh now, but I have to tell you that I spent the entire summer being indignant. Of course, I was a teenager, so indignant was my natural state.

Rooked

I stand at the kitchen island
case knife in one hand,
Duke’s mayo jar in the other.
Muttering under my breath
I fling the ham and the cheese
then start on the banana sandwich,
schmear saltines with peanut butter.
Aggrieved sighing accompanies
the scooping of cottage cheese
and canned pear halves.
This was the summer
I packed my dad’s lunch
every single day
because my mom
cheated at cards.

To read more homegoing tales, go here.

It's too bad I don't like wine...

You may have noticed that January & I have a tenuous relationship. I hunker down and plow through. Nothing to see here folks, nothing to see!

I’m fine at work. In fact this week I’ve been extra productive (very odd – really), but once I walk through the door at home I just wilt. I spend hours playing Words with Friends and working my other online puzzles. I pack my lunch with a grudging heart. I lay out my clothes for the next day and sigh. I wash the dinner dishes every other day.

I wonder, though, if it’s really January that’s the problem. Perhaps I have some internal changes going on that are affecting my energy level (ok ok I know I’ve never been all that high energy, but come on!). Hmm – can I blame my inherent sloth on peri-menopause? I think I can!

Regardless of all that, I did vacuum & mop tonight, so perhaps things are looking up in the Bug household. Tomorrow, I dust!

These sheep are beginning to wonder if it snowed in the living room!

Dear Rainy Day

Dear Rainy Day,

I can’t help but wish
The deluge had waited
Until I was safely inside the building
My umbrella wasn’t
Quite up to the task
And now my right pants leg is soaking

It was raining just a bit when I got to work so I decided to be a girly girl and use my umbrella. About halfway from my car to the building the heavens opened up and it started POURING. So glad I was feeling a little vain about my hair today! I do believe I’ll be eating my lunch at my desk. Ha!

Swimming that Dark Sea

sculpture: Jason deCaires Taylor

I'm recycling an old poem today. I wrote it for Magpie #17 in June 2010, so I'm sure that everyone remembers it - right? Ha! The poem is about the gulf oil spill. Seems a long time ago, doesn't it?

Swimming that Dark Sea

My life goes on in endless song

Above earth's lamentations…

Above would be nice.

I thrust a hand upward

through the murk,

the tips of my fingers

free,

the knuckles of that hand

straining toward a fresh hope

I can’t quite reach.

Not quite.

And earth’s lamentations

cover me like

a familiar quilt

stitched together

by ancient creation

weeping, as it sews.

Weeping.

To read other watery Magpies, go here.

2012 Project 365 – Week Two

It’s been really nice to be HOME for a change this week – I think we’re just about settled into our spring semester schedule.

Sunday, January 8^th    

Today we drove home from Chicago. We meandered through Indiana (coming very close to Rita, but I didn’t realize it at the time). I was so excited to see Cadbury eggs. I had thought maybe they were left over from last Easter, but actually one of the ones I ate was really fresh, so I guess they’re early. Heaven help me!

I liked how the sky looked.

Monday, January 9^th

Dr. M ordered the Thin Man movies – we’ve watched two of them – only five more to go!

He took a picture of the glorious moon that evening.

Tuesday, January 10^th

Dr. M took these really cool shadow pics in the back yard.

This is what greeted me when I got home that evening. He had taken down the outside Christmas decorations, but this is as far as they got. I think that Ill Penguin doesn’t look as grouchy as usual!

Wednesday, January 11^th

I took this picture on the way home from work. I love a moody sky.

Thursday, January 12^th

The Tax Time Pig is apparently ready to go to Disney World.

It started snowing in the afternoon – Dr. M took these pictures.

Friday, January 13^th  

Yep, our mild weather is definitely gone for now – brr!

Dr. M took this on his way home from school.

Junco!

Saturday, January 14^th   

We got more snow overnight. The swimming pool is closed for the season.

Fortunately the dining room remains open.

The Mr. is making sure that the Mrs. isn’t flirting with the other birds.

This is the State of the Bug – excited that we’re getting ready to eat Sonic, while also thinking that maybe we’re crazy to eat in our car in 30 degree weather.

I got some new gloves! They look like mittens.

But look! I’ve been wanting something like this because I’m always taking my gloves off in the car (to turn on my audio book, eat my breakfast, etc.). When I saw Betsy’s post about her new ones I decided I would go ahead & get some for myself. (On clearance at Target for those who are interested).

Go to Sara’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants. Have a great week!

Most of our photos are taken with a 12 megapixel Nikon D5000 DSLR, using a 55-200mm zoom lens. This is the camera that Dr. M takes with him most days. We also take pictures with our old reliable 7 megapixel Canon Powershot A710. This is the camera that the Bug uses most of the time. If you’re interested in which camera was used for a particular shot, just ask!