Notes and observations on living in Kansas
We are now entering our fourth year in Kansas
and I think we've settled into a routine.
You can click the Ancient History link on the left if you
need to catch up with the journal I kept until May of 2004. Most of
the summer was documented on the cowboyjunkies fotopage so I probably won't
do a lot of rehashing. There are also links to prior month's entries so that
this page does not get so out of control and take forever to load.
March 31, 2005 10:20 am CST
My last entry for the month. It's sort of gloomy here in
Kansas. The clouds have never really cleared completely. It's cool today and
from what I can see on the morning news, there is snow to the west! It's
supposed to stay south of us as the system moves east and I sure hope that's
true as all the pretty flowers would not do well if they had a blanket of
snow dropped on them today!
I did finally get a nice day with minimal winds so I could at
least burn the brush piles I created when I went hog wild with the pruning
shears. I'm thinking if I get out by the pond with the weed eater and at
least cut down the dead stalks of grass, they can be raked into a pile for
burning and then I won't have to worry about burning the green stuff that's
coming up.
I'm enjoying my new music toy. I've already figured out how
to get music from the computer to it and programmed in all the available FM
stations. All that's left is to test the voice recording feature.
My favorite tennis shoes are outrageously priced so I've been surfing the
'net trying to find them cheaper and not only did I find them cheaper, I
found them in black! I still love Keds. Simple lines, comfortable. No tread
to gather mud and then deposit it all over your house. They wipe clean with
a damp rag. I think the tennis shoes on the market today are just about the
ugliest things I've ever seen. I know the manufacturers will say it's all
designed to comfort and cushion the foot but really people. Humans have been
walking upright for quite some time without these abominations.
My Jimmy has been a royal pain in the butt the past two days.
Apparently the positive battery connection got quite a nice build up of
corrosion leading to a vehicle that would not start. Not even that funny
little clickety click noise you get when you have a dead battery. I had it
towed to Walmart since the battery was still under warranty and they cleaned
it up and put it back together. Unfortunately they didn't put it all back
together all that tightly so last night when I went to leave it wouldn't
start. Thank heaven for my wonderful mechanic Jess. He told me they probably
didn't do all that good a job of cleaning it and tightening it. He talked me
through taking it apart, cleaning it with a wire brush and putting it back
together again. Now I just have to reprogram all my radio stations and the
clock.
March 24, 2005 11:45 pm CST
I got flowers today.
I just love getting flowers. They make me smile and give me the warm fuzzies
all over. I especially like 'just because' flowers and that's what these
are. No special event to mark, they're just because.
Poor DJ has had rain for every single day of his Spring
Break. Of course with video games and the computer, he's not sitting around
whining that there's nothing to do like we used to do when we were
kids, but I know he'd rather be fishing or riding or playing basketball.
And since it's raining, I still have not been able to burn
the stuff I want to burn and if we don't get a dry day soon, everything is
going to start growing again and then it won't burn because it's green and
I'll have to rent the stupid brush hog again. The last time I did that I
scared myself good. I was backing it away from a ditch drop off and ended up
getting myself pinned between the handles and the trunk of a big tree by not
being aware of what I was walking backwards into. That would have been such
an incredibly stupid way to die. You know, if that happens in California,
there will be a lawsuit and the next thing you know all brush hogs will come
equipped with rear view mirrors.
Judi is off in Oakland so DJ has a friend spending the night
and I had my friend Bonnie over for dinner and then we chatted and watch the
new episode of ER. We had boneless pork chops ala Juli, authentic wild rice
from Minnesota, big fat peas and cake for desert. I've baked cakes before,
but I've never baked a bundt cake. We had some of that new microwave and
pour frosting and to me it seems best suited to a bundt cake so that is what
I made. It came out really good. The boys even had seconds. In fact, there
isn't much left. It was much easier to make than the layer cakes I've made
in the past, perhaps that's why they were invented and why perhaps I will
make them more often. It's all about convenience, isn't it?
I have a new toy that should be arriving tomorrow. It's like
an ipod, but better. Not only will it hold hours of your favorite music
files, but it also has an FM receiver and a microphone that allows you to
record memos, lectures, whatever audio you want. I think it will really help
when I do my major photo shoots. There were a decent number of animals that
I took pictures of at the zoo that I cannot recall the names of. If I'd had
this, I'd have been able to record a little voice note to myself for later.
It will also help with this journal in that I hope to find I'm forgetting to
write about things I should be writing about here. I also found out that my
favorite keds come in black! You just can't find any stores that carry them.
So I ordered them online. They should be here next week. Can you believe
that the shoes that I wore as a small child are still my all time favorite
shoes? Ok, can you believe they are outrageously priced now? Ok, I shopped
around and found them for $5 off list and no sales tax or shipping fees. I
am the shopping queen.
March 20, 2005 11:45 pm CST
Back breaking work today. Sapling elimination time. I worked
the bank of the pond today. I figure that soon I will have that nice
wind-free day and that's the first place I want to burn. There are no trees
and it's close enough to the house that I can get the hose to reach where I
want to burn. If the burn behaves the way I expect it to, then I will feel
more comfortable doing other areas where the hose won't reach.
We went to the zoo yesterday. Judi & DJ have been several
times, but it was my first trip.
Sunset
Zoo is nice. It's not huge so you can really spend time at each display
without feeling like you are going to run out of time. I was captivated by
the flamingos. They are so pretty. Nothing like those ridiculous plastic
things people put in their front yards. I have a friend that works there,
she's a keeper. I tracked her down right about the time they were feeding
the tigers, but the tigers didn't seem like they were too interested in the
meat pińata that they put together for them. The
highlight was seeing the animal we've 'adopted' for the past two years, the
Crested Screamer. I put together a photo gallery of the day. You can find it
here.
Everyone is back home now so I am down to just my own
animals. The cats next door, with the exception of one, are quite loveable.
This was my first time sitting for the neighbors across the pond. They have
one scaredy-cat that I just checked under the bed to make sure he was alive.
The other three upstairs cats like attention. The big orange tabby even let
me cut a knot out of his fur and they have the coolest one-eyed cat. As soon
as I'd sit down on the couch next to big orange, she'd jump up in my lap for
cuddles and purrs. The other friendly would jump on the back of the couch
and sniff my hair. I gave them all lots of love and then did the feeding and
little box duties. Then they have a feline HIV cat that has a big room in
the basement all to himself. He's very vocal and you can tell he wants to be
loved and petted, but I am a new face so I had to worship him from afar.
Maybe next time he will get closer to me.
It looks like it's going to storm pretty good tonight and
into tomorrow. Thunder, lightning and a possible two inches of rain are
predicted. Hope it starts soon, I love going to sleep hearing rain on the
roof.
March 17, 2005 10:00 pm CST
The yard is humming! It's clean up time. The trees that were
chopped down last year to make way for the new lateral field are nice and
dry and ready to burn. Now all I need is a day with no wind. I'd also like
to burn some of the leaves this year as they don't burn hot enough to send
everything else up in flames. It is that burning time of year. About a mile
away they were burning the other day and it got away from them. Our friend
Kacey got called and asked to leave his regular job to come and fight the
fire. They got it under control, but it didn't look very in control to me.
Not too far from the burn is an abandoned farm house. It's surrounded by
quite a few collapsed outbuildings and a lot of large trees. Trees full of
squirrels nests. And I could see that some lucky embers had found a home in
those bastions of dead leaves and twigs. Several of them were on fire but I
guess they don't burn hot enough and long enough to catch the tree they are
in on fire. When I passed by the next day, the farmhouse and all the
surrounding trees were still intact, but all the pasture around them had
been burned. Nice and clean. And that's what I want to do with my little
corner of Kansas. Fire is our friend.
I am doing a dose of double cat sitting. Our neighbors have
run off to Idaho for a short trip. They took their dog, but they have five
cats so I'm taking care of them and Bonnie is away this week also so I've
got her four to look in on. Maybe I should start a pet sitting business...
I went to a storm spotter training class sometime in the past
two weeks. It was very educational. Now I know what to worry about and what
not to worry about when I look up at the gathering storm. Funny, the clouds
that I always thought were rather ominous looking are the harmless ones and
the ones that don't look like they amount to much are the dangerous ones.
You can see what I learned
here. They threw out a lot of statistics. There was a tornado in Udall,
Kansas in 1955 that killed 80 people. At the time, there was no Storm
Spotter Program and NOAA Weather Radios were unheard of. Last year Kansas
had it's most active tornado season in history. There was not a single death
and they attribute this to the Storm Spotter Program and the fact that more
people now have Weather Radios in their homes. Buying a weather radio was
the first thing I did when we moved here. In the house, you can't hear the
tornado sirens and if it's the middle of the night, chances are we would not
see an alert broadcast on the TV. Judi makes fun of the weather radio. Yeah,
wait until it saves her life...
I did not take any pictures at the auction last weekend. It
just wasn't that kind of auction. Besides, I was having too much fun
watching Judi and Connie bid. They are pretty competitive. I'd hate to see
what would happen if they both decided they wanted the same item...
Well, well, well. Good news from California. Scott Peterson
is going to die. After what, twenty years of appeals? Maybe that's not so
bad. You know that every single day of those 'appeal years' will be spent
wondering if this is the day the guards look the other way while some fellow inmate
serves up a little early justice.
March 12, 2005 4:30 pm CST
I've spent half my time this week puttering in the garden and
half my time in front of the computer. I've been pulling up all the dead
stuff off the day lilies and all the other flower beds. I still haven't
gotten to feeding the roses, but I'm watering them right now to soften up
the earth so I can do that early this week. The tulips are really poking up
as you can see from the daily photo (3-9-05). I think that when I go to get
my mulch this year I am going to buy some tomato supports for the peonies.
The buds were so heavy last year that they just fell over and I think tomato
supports are just the ticket. I've added a photo gallery,
Spring 2005, where I will post pictures
of the yard as things come back to life. So far we have crocus, daffodil,
tulips, bleeding hearts and iris. I cut back last year's growth from the
Autumn Joy Sedum, the one that I got the great butterfly shot on last year,
so the sun can get it up and running. I found two golf balls in it as I was
cutting out the old growth. One of the hazards of living with a couple of
duffers. Oh, and I caught another Mole.
It's been very windy here this week as the jet stream is
unable to decided where exactly it belongs. So windy that, for the first
time ever, my swing blew over. I think the cover gave it some extra lift so
I took that off today since we probably will not receive any more snow this
year. It was funny to see the leaves in the wind. The red oaks are finally
starting to let go of the last of their leaves so there was a pretty even
layer on the ground. Then the wind blew them all south into the woods. Later
in the day, the wind swung around from the south and put all those leaves
right back where they started! I was hoping to see them left in the woods...
The time spent in front of the computer was polishing and
practicing my story for AA. I was the speaker again on Friday night. I was
prepared this time and I think it went really well. I felt good when it was
done and hope that something I had to say meant something to one of the
listeners. I get so nervous talking in front of people. I know you wouldn't
know that by reading this, but sitting here typing out my thoughts for you
all to read is much different than standing at a podium and speaking the
same words. I basically have the whole thing written out and I know some
sponsors would say, "No notes!", but if I didn't have the notes, I would not
be able to do it without sounding like a complete idiot. I would just be all
over the place, going off on tangents and losing sight of whatever point it
was that I was trying to make. I've done this three times in the past six
months and I think that's enough for a while so if I am asked to do this
again soon, I will break another rule and say no. I think I've been of
enough service for a while. Besides, I think they've all heard my story at
this point. We need some new alcoholics so we can hear some new stories!
Tomorrow is auction day! We are into auction season again and
this one looks to be a nice one. We've got lots of new friends coming with
us, and Bonnie may even stop by on her way out of town. Yes, I'll be
watching her cats again next week. I guess I'll have to take my camera and
do an auction page for the photo gallery.
March 3, 2005 3:30 pm CST
Busy, busy, busy. Do I start with the social butterfly stuff?
The flu? The food poisoning? Let me see where I left off...
Ok, you know Judi had the flu. She was sick for a week. I did
everything I could to keep from getting it myself. I washed my hands until
they were chapped and raw. I followed her with disinfectant wipes cleaning
everything she touched. Including the remote control for the TV. As a
smoker, I have that coating of tar on my lungs that nothing, not even oxygen
can get past. I was sure I was in the clear...Until Friday morning dawned.
Well, actually I awakened before the dawn, at 4:23. But I'm getting ahead of
myself...
Thursday night Bonnie had a Mary Kay facial party. Small
group in attendance. Bonnie brought food from the deli department at
Dillon's. Chicken, veggies, some deviled eggs. I'd had curried chicken
earlier so I wasn't real hungry. I ate two of the eggs and some of the
chicken. We had a great time pampering our hands and our faces and I
discovered that their lip mask is a wonderful thing for our dry, cold Kansas
winters. I also discovered they've discontinued my favorite lotion, the one
that smells like Kisses by Candlelight. Bummer. Still a good time was had by
all. Which brings me to 4:23 am, CST...
I woke feeling like the contents of my stomach were riding a
little high. I just figured that maybe I ate too much the night before.
After about ten minutes I got to feeling that I would probably feel much
better if I just went and threw up. Now I hate to throw up. I can remember
the last time I threw up, it was March of 1997 when I got the flu from
someone at Dinah Shore weekend. I will do anything in the world to avoid
having to puke. I wandered into the bathroom, but I still wasn't really
ready to toss my cookies. In preparation for that minute when I might cross
the threshold, I cleaned the toilet, made sure there was plenty of tissue
and re-arranged the rugs into a more comfortable configuration. Then I went
back to bed. I lasted until 5:32 am, CST. When I was finally ready to vomit,
it was a violent affair. I am not a quiet puker. I was practically screaming
as each incredibly painful muscle contraction gripped me. DJ thought I was
yelling at Judi. It was one of the longest ten minutes of my life. Spent, I
again returned to my nice warm bed where I was able to remain for about
another fifty minutes. Then I resumed worshiping at the porcelain altar for
another 10 minutes, again wracked with spasms that tore me in half.
I was able to sleep pretty much undisturbed for the next 24
hours. And then I was fine. It obviously was not the flu as we know
personally that it lasts a week. No one else at the party got sick. My guess
is that Dillon's probably does deviled eggs in batches of 60 or so and then
wraps them in packages of six, twelve and twenty-four. There may well have
been other bad eggs in the larger batch they made, but only one of them made
it into the package of six that Bonnie served. I thought the egg tasted
funny, but I didn't know if it was funny as in that's not how I make my
deviled eggs or funny as in I think there's something wrong with this egg.
My aunt and uncle from California were due on Saturday for a
day of antiquing and auctions. She called at about 9 pm on Friday night when
I was still feeling pretty awful. I didn't know if I was going to make the
play we had tickets for Saturday night, much less run around during the day
with them so she said they'd be by later in the day. Well Saturday morning I
felt pretty damn good. My sides ached, but I had a bit of an appetite and no
urge to puke. Unfortunately I also had no way to get a hold of my relatives
to let them know I was feeling better. I didn't know what their schedule
was, but kept thinking they'd be there late morning or early afternoon. Most
of the day goes by until they call at 4:30. Keep in mind that since I'm
feeling better, we are going ahead with our plans for dinner and the play.
Plus we are meeting another couple for the dinner and play. We'd already had
to reschedule the play once because Judi had the flu and thank heavens for a
small town as I was able to trade the tickets for the next week. But this is
the last weekend for the play, there will be no trading of tickets again.
So Mike and Sandy showed up about five wanting to not spend
much time with the sickie, but wanting to take Judi and DJ to dinner at
Puffy's. Well I apologize and explain and apologize again that we have other
obligations. We have a rushed visit before they go back to their hotel in
Topeka, but we make arrangements to meet them in Topeka for breakfast and
visit some more. We did meet up with them the next day at the Hanover
Pancake House in beautiful downtown Topeka. It was nice to see them and I
feel bad that we didn't get to spend as much time with them as we had
planned, but I'm not sure there's anything I could have done to change the
situation. I do have her cell phone number now so that in the future I can
reach her.
The play was wonderful. I didn't think it was going to be
something I would enjoy, but Camping with Henry and Tom was a very funny
show. It held my interest the whole way through and the acting was pretty
darn good. It was at
The Columbian Theater which is a small room
so there's no such thing as a bad seat. We were third row center. We really
enjoyed the other couple that attended with us. It was the first time we'd
socialized and they were a hoot. After the play ended they came back to the
house and we talked for probably two more hours.
Sunday DJ and Judi golfed as the weather is turning nicer. I
played catch up on the email and stuff I missed being sick and out
socializing. We accepted an invitation to dinner from our neighbors across
the pond. We went to a new pizza place in town and there was much laughter
and good food.
Monday there was a death in the family. Now before you send
sympathies, know that it wasn't a person or animal that died. It was the TV.
My ProScan. My
"I'm-single-with-no-kids-so-yes-I-can-spend-twelve-hundred-dollars-on-a-TV"
TV. Boo hoo. Well, it was twelve years old and it's a high end TV so it's
worth fixing, but I talked to the tech at Wizards and he said the problem is
getting parts for a TV that old, especially a high end one. So I measured
the entertainment center to see how much room I had to work with. See, I
bought this entertainment center from my old hairdresser in CA who sold it
to me because her TV was too big for it. I find myself living in a
town so small, there are only two places to buy a TV at! At least it
saved on the running around. And only one of them had a TV that was the same
size screen as the ProScan and would fit in the e-center without me having
to settle for a smaller screen size. Everyone is putting the speakers on the
side of the screen now, which makes the TV's wider than they used to be. So
we had to do without a TV for a day, but we're back on track now.
I mentioned that the weather is warming. I've seen buds and sprouts so I got
my butt out there and pruned the plum tree. Last year it got so out of
control with plums that two big branches broke. I really hacked it back this
year and that may mean little or no crop this year, but it really needed to
be done. The daffodils are poking up and so are the tulips. I got out today
and did crab grass preventer on the front lawn. I want to mow grass this
year, not weeds, but that isn't going to happen if I don't make some
preparations. I also did some work with the hedge trimmers on our two
prickly bushes by the front walk. One of them hangs halfway over the
sidewalk and with the nasty thorns it has, it needed to move back. I saw new
shoots on the rose bushes so I will have to get out and feed them. Oh, and
I've killed the first mole of the 2005 hunting season so if you are one of
my sicko readers (and I say that most affectionately) be sure to check out
the Moles page. Yes, the green is starting to appear
in Kansas and if you click on the picture at the beginning of this
paragraph, you'll see the first place it appeared is on the pond. Big
surprise...
