If You Can't Stand The Heat.........

......you can get out of the kitchen of course. But if you're me you'll whine endlessly and announce the temperature every chance you get. You'd think moving into a two story cement block house it would cooler, wouldn't you? I mean, it's almost like a cave sort of thing or one of those subterranean houses they used to build in the70's that were supposed to be super energy efficient (they were not by the way, they were very dampish and dim, perfect if you were mutated from mushrooms). But it is not - it's like living in a kiln, the sun hits it and it just starts warming up. And up. And up. By 7am it was about 76 in here and that was before the sun was fully up.

Molly did NOT appreciate it at all. 

Fans will only take you so far and then they just start blowing the hot air around. The idea of cooking or doing anything that will add more heat just is a big no.You do NOT get used to it. But we have an air conditioning unit and a new furnace downstairs which will be hooked up when the flip house is done. Which isn't done. Not done = no airconditioning. And we were going to hang in there which we did until the real heat hit. Yuck.

So David broke down and I came home to him unboxing a window unit, seriously - have you heard the phrase "Jesus wept"? That was me. Of course it didn't go in the window easily, the opening was about 1/100th of an inch too small but David figured it and got it in. It was like watching a miracle. For about half an hour we all sat in front of it like a flying saucer had just landed in the front yard, it works great between the small unit in the bedroom and we've shut off the sun rooms for now. Upstairs is VERY special, if you ever need a confession let me know - you can borrow the bedroom upstairs and whoever it is will be singing like a canary in no time. Since this is a temporary situation I've hung a blanket at the bottom of the stairs and it works well. When I worked in WV a lot of families do this during the winter and summer - it's a cheap way to block off the part of the house you're not using and conserve energy. Not too pretty but very effective. And since it's a temporary situation - I don't care one bit how backwoods it looks. The flip house is taking longer than expected but David figures the second week in July it will  be ready to roll. After that he will go back to working on this house - and then it's decision time!

Shania Twain,Brittney Spears - and Trump.

When I work out in the morning I put exercise videos on one tablet and music video play lists on the other - I LOVE YouTube! This morning Shania Twain's " I feel like a woman" came on followed by Britney Spears "Stronger" - both were in tight,black,low cut outfits, lots of dancing, etc... they were made about the same time. But while Shania's was objectifying(men staring and I swear one licked his lips like a dog), Brittney's..was inspiring. She made it clear you could be a woman and still succeed - or as one transgender parent observed on a Ted Talks - "when you take away feminine you're left with masculine, is that the message I want for my daughter? That there's something wrong with being a girl?". Are you wondering where Trump works into this? Because my train of thought wandered while I was planking.... and I thought about how had we, in a country full of smart strong women allowed this misogynistic mess stay in office? But you know what - every cloud has a silver lining - even Trump

The best way to unite a country, a people, a front is to have a common enemy. When Gandhi stood against the British in peaceful protest, they left. The story of Hanukkah, history is full of examples of people pulling together and overcoming. He's such an awful person, isn't he? At his inauguration he was far more concerned with trying to convince people that thousands, not hundreds had attended while ignoring the millions that showed up to let him know he needed to leave. His attacks on Planned Parenthood were wildly unsuccessful, they're still open and we are still fighting to keep our rights to abortion and birth control. His latest outrageous attempt to control our border infuriated - but.......

For the first time in a long time I think a lot of us are really considering what is important to us. None of us want families separated but on the other hand we are more aware of the need to control immigration. Our crops are rotting because we cannot continue to allow illegal aliens but is there an alternative? I think we're already finding it because we have to. We are fighting the good fight every day whether it's donating to Planned Parenthood, signing petitions or marching - we are counting. And we continue because the best way to get people to fight for their rights is to take them away. Had we gotten too complacent, turning the other way? All of these things have been going on all along but until Trump  pushed our faces into it, that he wants all these bad things - we have been forced to look at it and find we can no longer accept all of these injustices. Do I want him to have a second term? Absolutely not - one was more than enough thank you and in the grander scheme of things we would have been much better off not having to endure his antics whether it's his open admiration of a despot or his collusion with the russians. But in the end he has made us a better people as we come together to fight our common enemy. But who would have ever thought in a million years the Enemy would be our own president??

I'm Dye-ing!

Ha! So many ways to go with that title, isn't there? Anyhoo, anyone who knits usually knows you can buy undyed yarn to be custom dyed for a project -  my next project I've been unable to find a color in lace weight that worked and I've wanted to try this for awhile so perfect! On the downside this venture might have been better done in October since it involved hot yarn, boiling water and I still have no central air so it was I imagine pretty similar to how they dye wool yarn in the Congo. So I sent my my request to the Gods Of Amazon plus $7.31 and I got my dye. I read the directions online fairly carefully and only ignored half of them, good on me!

I had bought as you remember four 2,500 yard skeins of lace weight alpaca from the alpaca ladies even after they swore they were out of the yarn business. The Power Of Being Annoying occasionally pays off, doesn't it? I tied up the skeins first, lace weight alplaca yarn is fairly delicate and very tangly without sticking in a pot of water and stirring it so I did that first. I knew I might get a little tie-dye effect but that's ok, it will look fine I hope. So I heated the water and dissolved the powdered dye, then mixed it in the pot I'd bought. I had purchased a cheapie pot from Walmart yesterday before reading the directions about it needing to be ceramic or stainless steel, not aluminum. Oops. Oh well, too late now!

So, now I'm trying very hard not get to dye all over creation because we all know how I am but so far so good. I dunked the first skein in and held it under the water like an ex-husband, then went back for the other one. The other one was still hanging on the door knob because I thought it made a more romantic sort of picture.  Note to self - when dyeing two skeins of yarn bring them BOTH over at the same time so I'm not walking around with wet, dye drippy gloves. Sigh. 

This is the part where you have to heat it slowly to about 120 degrees - I knew I had a thermometer in one of my drawers but then again I was wrong so I ended up having to eyeball and imagine what 120 degrees would look like. That is not half as easy as it sounds, that sounds like it might be boiling, doesn't it? Had to google that - it is simmering, but kind of a low simmer, staring doesn't help figure out what 120 degrees looks like at all. In case you're wondering yarn boiling in dye in the middle of June does not smell half as warm and cozy as you think it does. It smells like a sheep you left out in the sun too long. 

Then you have to add vinegar to set the color - so now it smells like a hot and tangy sheep. And you get to simmer it at your imagined 120 degrees for another half an hour. After this it gets washed with - you guessed it! - MORE hot water. Yarn that has been boiling for over an hour is not only stinky but hot hot hot! This is seriously not the Fun and Relaxing Sunday Project I had imagined last week. BUT....

I gently wrung it out and guess what - it's exactly the shade I need! Exactly! My next project is Lily of the Valley and even though this is a tad darker than the pattern it will still be perfect. 

Yay me!

Stepping Back

Sometimes one of the hardest things to do is to know when you need to throw in the towel and say I'm done. Due to recent - and sometimes overwhelming events - I spent a day last week just trying to figure out what I need to do right now. Some things are straightening themselves out, all of that nonsense with the idiot neighbors next door to the flip house that had thier utility pole and nasty old shed on our property - West Penn came and removed all the lines and shut off all the utilities, they ended up having to dig up and move the pole themselves. They sold the property to other relatives, but David said they're very nice. When he asked about the shed they told they would appreciate it if he took it down, they thought it was an eyesore, if he didn't they would eventually. One down. He did have to contain himself when the idiot neighbor was back in town having to dig up and move the wires himself since he'd promised the buyers they would have electricity. One of the things he had yelled at David during that ruckus was "You'll see what happens when you mess with me!" - David refrained from yelling that while Mr. Idiot was sweating away digging up the wires, he was tempted though!

One down.

Next was the test I'm scheduled to take in a week and a half. After talking to the person that runs the CRRN program she agreed it would be a good decision to postpone taking the test to December - that was a big decision for me. It's only given twice a year, in June and December - I've been studying but due to everything going on concentrating is impossible. If it was just a test I'd go ahead and take it, but the problem is it costs $425 every time you take it and at that price I want to walk in knowing I'm going to pass. It was hard to let that go since I've already been studying for a few months and am not looking to have to repeat that, but I just cannot concentrate like I need to right now. So, I'll have another 5 months to prepare and by then I'll rock it - knowing I don't have to take it in a week and a half has really helped relieve the stress and I've slept the whole night the past two so I no longer feel like the walking dead. We will be flying out in July to visit Jackson and Brandi, I'm still working to come to terms with thier impending divorce but that will be an ongoing process. David started with the How and Why of it all but I told him we will deal with how were going to see everyone when it happens, like everything else in life we'll figure it out

Adam is doing VERY well I'm happy to share, it was rough but he's really pulled it together, I'm so proud of him! He still loves living in NOLA and does well there. We're hoping to have the flip house on the market the first week of July which will be a relief, David ended up running into a few unexpected problems but they've all been resolved, hopefully that's in. And we're currently trying to figure out exactly WHAT we are doing too. As the summer progresses we are arriving more and more at the decision this will not be our final house - I don't know if it's because it's still half finished or what, but it just does not feel like we will be staying here and I have a feeling by next year we'll be putting up a For Sale sign. Which is fine, there's always another adventure around the corner. 

The Heat Goes On

It has been so awful weather wise lately - I hate when people say "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" - it IS the heat. Since we still don't have central air it's a bit like living in the Congo without the exciting bits like gorillas or anacondas. David is hoping to have the flip done by the first week in July so we're hanging in there for now until he gets to our house. My leaving for work 45 minutes later in the morning is helping, David can get out of here early and be done before the afternoon heatwave hits. I sent him over with an old floor fan that but will only get you so far. We continue to be busy busy! We're visiting Jackson, Brandi and the girls in July, I have my CRRN test coming up at the end of June, we're trying to stay on top of the housework, the shopping and the bill paying.....and work. I have to work.

Work has been a bit weird - due to a paperwork glitch they opened the new office (hooray!) and then shut it two days later (boo)after we had moved everything and settled in. We can still work out of the office, we just can't have the charts there or do any patient related work(calls, faxing, etc...) from that office. So, we are nomads, I am there, I'm at the other  office and back again. It's very difficult but I can least work from the closer office most of the week and like I said, time wise - and gas wise! - it does really help. But I just feel discombobulated all the time with all this back and forth!

The killing spree has (forgive the pun!!) died down for now, Bob the cat was not feeling too well and David suggested she might need to be wormed due to all the citizens she ingested over the past 2 weeks.. She is a horror show to give ANYTHING so I thought this time I would speak in a soft, charming voice while wrapping her in a large and thick towel and then pumping 8cc of stuff she doesn't like down her gullet. I got as far as wrapping her in a large towel multiple times - I have to tell you it's pretty near impossible to speak in a soft charming voice while wrestling a squirming wildly suspicious cat - the whole thing was a cluster.....well, you know what kind of a cluster it was. I did manage to get a good 3 drops down her before she did one of those wild cat shrieks, dropped and rolled and left me holding 7.98 ccs and a bunch of shattered dreams. So, I threw out her food, gave her tuna fish with 7.98ccs mixed in and Bob, being a cat ate half. Bastard. I declared us mortal enemies until she ate the rest of it and told David  that Bob and I were no longer friends. Around 7 she started looking for treats and I pointed at her bowl - she sat, narrowed her eyes and meowed a lot. I tossed some treats in the bowl and mixed them in ,declared us enemies again and left the room. Yes, she did  eventually eat it after David announced he was planning on killing everyone involved in debacle. Bastards!

Killing Time And Other Things

So, I blame this all on David. Last week he was making fun of Bob the cat, saying she was a terrible mouse hunter and could not catch a cold. However, to be fair, there WAS a mouse in the kitchen that Bob was thoughtfully looking at as she munched her Friskies. But Bob took Great Offense at this statement and has been on a killing spree ever since. David was presented the next day with not one, but two dead mouses - well,  one and a half dead mice, but assuming the second one had a front half when she started we can count it as two. She dropped the second one outside the bathroom door while he was taking a shower and just howled it out. The next day she brought IN a live and somewhat confused mouse who had no idea what we were doing. Bob started to show it What We Are Doing which the mouse did not like at all, no siree Bob so I caught it with a container and put it back outside where it promptly disappeared. The next morning David almost stepped into a wee little gut pile in front of the kitchen sink. Ew Bob, ew.

Next were the birds. I was on my way to work yesterday and as I was driving along a bird flew into my grill and bounced off, instantly dead. I hate when that happens. I went a few more miles and as I drove by a crew of birds burst into the air and one bounced off my windshield - I said some very bad words. You have the whole FUCKING UNIVERSE TO FLY AROUND IN BIRDS WHY ARE YOU ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD? Yes - I AM blaming the victim. I narrowly missed a couple suicidal chipmunks, seriously dudes! The ride back was thankfully less eventful and I had the rest of the day to look forward to . When I got home I took the dogs out and we were playing in the old horse pasture of course. I'm studying for that test so they whuffle about while I try to remember all the cranial nerves. There was a bird they were pointing sitting in the vines about waist height, Reuben getting that gleam in his eye. Just as I started to walk to him the bird took off flying low and Reuben - I kid you not - snatched it mid-air, broke it's neck and then pranced around. I was horrified and wildly impressed. The bird not so much.

Did we forget about Molly? Nope, of course not. Last week we were out in the old horse pasture (we are ALWAYS out in the old horse pasture) where Molly found and killed not quickly enough a half grown rabbit. I was a bit surprised because by this time of year all the stupid ones tend to be gone, leaving only the smart and cunning survivors. I told her to stop and she paused, then continued since she was obviously not done yet. And yes, I do let them finish it off - it's quicker and more merciful. I thought that was that but yesterday Bob AGAIN laid waste to the environment - bringing in a live rabbit which was about a third of her size. It was freaking, the dogs were excited - ARRGH. It then disappeared in the space between the dishwasher and cabinet - and died. Yup. David managed to fish it out, he thought it probably simple expired from fright as it did not appear to be too injured. He threw it in the bushes so so something could eat it - and that was that. The whole sorry tail of a family of killers. Including me. Yikes.