Picture of the Day – Vas and the scarf
Vas' Northwoods look
In January 2007, I crocheted a blanket for my former father-in-law for his birthday. It was a lovely camouflage green. Fast forward to this past winter. I was spending most of my off-time in my room in the basement of a house, freezing, so I crocheted a lot to keep my fingers moving. I had found a pattern for a curlique scarf, and I thought ‘what a great way to use up the camouflage yarn I had left over.’
Leave it up to Murphy’s Law to dictate that I would run out of yarn when I was on the last row. So I bought more (I knitted the inevitable new leftover yarn into a pillowcase). When my best friend Vas stopped over, I gave it to her. As is my way, I suppose, I forgot to take a photo of the finished product, and Vas sent me the photo shown here. Vas is originally from Puerto Rico, yet she pulls off the Minnesota look so well.
Coming soon: Origami Projects
Ever since I watched Blade Runner, I’ve wanted to be able to make sheets of paper into silver unicorns. Since then, I’ve fiddled with folding paper into shapes, but haven’t made a serious study of what I can really do with the technique over the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned to see how this all turns out and see some of the other work out there.
Picture of the Day – Sam playing his guitar
Sam playing his guitar
I’m slowly processing photos and finding some I want to feature here. Today’s photo was a ’surprise’, so to speak. I knew Sam was practicing while I was in the office/studio, so I snuck around the corner and snapped a picture. He looked up right after, and made a face at me.
Sadly, the guitar has sat on its stand for at least a month and a half, but I’m secretly hoping he’ll get the itch to play it again soon. Maybe he can hum at the same time, and it’ll be like singing to me? [He hums a lot while cooking.]
Quick recap of Sunday
Lest it appear we’re neglecting this place again as we get into some kind of groove with posting and whatnot, I wanted to take a short break from detangling my hair [seriously...long hair + convertible + driving 65 mph = tangled messy hair...AND I have tangles all over my head even though I had most of it pulled back] to mention the breathtaking view of Tampa Bay over the Sunshine Skyway bridge [along with the fishing piers], and the opportunity to see The Wizard of Oz on a movie screen at the Tampa Theatre Sunday afternoon. Pictures were taken with the phones, and I shall post some soon.
I also want to point out that we’re adding links to webpages/blogs we enjoy, and I encourage you to click on one once in a while and discover some of the fabulous places on the web.
My head needs a planner
For the most part, I can remember a lot of stuff. A lot of that stuff is unimportant, mind you, but I remember nonetheless.
My phone number from my childhood? Check.
The name of the first boy I kissed? Check. [Well....I remember both names, but not which one. They are twins, and when I asked them about it a few years later, they didn't remember either. What can I say? We were all five years old when it happened.]
But do you think I can remember all of the login/password combos I have across the probably hundreds of sites I’ve ever registered an account? Not really.
I confess I break one of the big rules of the internet and I frequently use the same handful of passwords for a lot of places. For the most part, I do okay and remember which login name and which password works for most sites. UNLESS the usual usernames are taken, in which case, I’m SOL. I have to then either save the welcome email, or write the combination down, or when I return to the site, I have to make use of the handy “forgot your password?” link.
What’s frustrating about this is when I remember at the last minute that I need to login. Take my prescription, for example. When I moved from Minnesota, I transferred the prescription from the doctor’s office to Walgreen’s, because Walgreen’s is in Tampa and my doctor’s office is not. And I knew from past experience that the retail price wasn’t too steep, so I wasn’t worried about not having insurance (which I currently don’t. And I have diabetes, PCOS, and 3 personality disorders. Such is life, I think). Anyway, after my initial visit to Walgreen’s to get a refill after I moved, I registered at the dot com to avoid having to wait 30 minutes every month when we stop in to pick up said refill.
And every month, I remember I need said refill about five minutes before we leave for groceries. And it’s usually the same day I need to start taking the refill, meaning I’m completely out. So I spend an extra five or more minutes trying to remember my login, BEFORE I can even put in the request for the refill. [Walgreen's did their part in helping with this by talking Sam into getting a discount card, which not only makes the prescription cheaper, it lets us get three months at a time. We're enjoying that bit right now, as the refill is needed in two days, and hey--I already have it.]
My point is that I’ve prided myself, kinda, on remembering all kinds of things, and it bugs me that I forget stuff that is recommended to be kept secret. Like, you know, passwords.
For that matter, with all the information I’m intaking daily, I often forget a lot of other things, too. Like writing in this blog.
My ex-husband can attest to my minor obsession with planners a couple years ago. I gave up after we split up cause I couldn’t be bothered to try and keep anything straight for awhile. Sam and I have started using Google calendar to try and schedule our time a bit better. Not so good with the execution, but you know, as Trace Adkins says, I’m [we're] trying.
—–
How do you do with remembering? Let us know in the comments.
Reflection
In about two weeks, I’ll have been in Tampa for six months. September 4th. Also Sam’s and my one-year anniversary. Besides trying to get used to the heat (and it’s hot everywhere, so I know I’m not alone), and getting used to not driving (more on that in a second), I have to say that I’m much happier here than I was in Minnesota. I had a conversation on Facebook with my LJ friend Dar and it is her observation that I have better energy now than I did before the move. The personality disorders (I have three) show themselves still with a frequency I wish would lessen. I appreciate Sam and his inate ability to calm me when the internal storms threaten to wash over, and I enjoy the unending number of things to do in the Tampa area.
Sam owns a small sports car. This car also happens to be a stick shift. I am one of the many millions I’m sure who has never had to learn to drive a stick shift. Sam has tried to teach me, but the car is too small for me to manuever. We’re not in the position to get another car or replace the one we have, so Sam does all of the driving. In fact, the only driving I have done in the past months in Florida are during Vas’ visit in April while she attended a feature dance school. She rented an automatic, and it was much simpler for Sam or I to drive, than to direct Vas.
I’m getting to know the city as a passenger, which affords me more time to look around at my surroundings. Sam has lived in Tampa for at least three years, possibly four, and I think I can tell him things about how to get somewhere that he’s never considered. Last week, when I scored tickets to see Pericles, we had a short window of time to drive home, change, eat dinner and get back downtown before the show. (Fabulous musical, by the way.) Having had the opportunity to read signs and observe from the passenger window, I gave Sam the best directions to get back downtown from our apartment in South Tampa. That opportunity came up again when we had to get to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center to try for tickets to Wonderland (which I’m happy to say we got, for opening night).
I can’t say I’ve focused on my art more in the past nearly six months, but I do have my moments. I turned on the tv for noise, watching mostly the weather channels, and made several pieces of jewelry. I do not know if I’ll sell any, but I enjoy making things. I’ve been trying to patiently wait for my muse to show herself again, and that is frustrating. Sam and I have been making efforts to make our apartment more creative-friendly. We have this blog, which we’ve been neglecting.
There are so many things we want to do, and sometimes get overwhelmed by what to do first. Reading this post by Ali Hale started something in my brain today. Clicking through to the examples she mentioned brought me to a blog that referenced (in its own way, and probably without knowing it) the line from the Indigo Girls song Least Complicated: ‘The hardest to learn was the least complicated.’
So, it’s time to start and make the next six months better.
——
How have things been for you lately? Stop by the comments and let Sam and I know.
Exploding Melon Water
So Misty and I were in the car talking after a trip to Wal-Mart. It was a hot enough day in the parking lot outside but once we got into my car it was sweltering. I decided it would be the perfect time to take a nice cool drink from the bottle of melon infused water that I had made the day before with a nice mixture of honeydew melon and mint, when I learned the hard way that if you leave a plastic bottle in a hot place, air pressure tends to build up inside. Imagine my suprise when I opened the bottle to see a fountain of water spurting up out of the bottle and right into my lap leaving me with minty fresh pants. Of course, we opted to go home at that point rather than head to another store to pick up a couple of things we couldn’t find at Wal-Mart and the day left me a bit more knowledge about the relationship between heat and pressure but slightly sticky. Ack.
Picture of the Day – Dot under my shirt
Well, Little Cheeky Ninja Kitty (as we like to call her) does not look happy. Or it’s passive disinterest. In any event, I took this shirt out of the closet and it’s a scoopneck, so I draped it over Dot. She sat still under it for Sam to come see, and for me to go across the apartment to get the camera and take 3 pictures. She was still sitting in the same spot after I picked up the shirt and put it on.
Picture of the Day – Ducks on shore
Another shot of the ducks on the shore of the pond at our apartment complex. Click the photo to see it full size.
By the way, I took this shot from our balcony, at least 50-75 feet away.
Picture of the Day – Dot reaching
The other night I was laying on the floor, trying to take pictures of Kato (none of which turned out), and Dot came investigating. I floated a Wal-mart bag at her and she, of course, was interested. As I was about to snap a photo, she spied the strap on the camera and reached out paw to grab it. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The strap entertained her for awhile, as I took more pictures. This is my favorite of the batch.
Follow Misty on Twitter
0 Comments