First Day on New Job - Not so Bad

Today I was to complete the transcription and synchronization of the first five minutes of my first assigned tape. That took only a few hours. I had to learn how to work the text portion and then the sync portion. I think I've got it figured out now, and if I did it all correctly, it should all go smoother and quicker from now on.

When I did transcription in the law firm, I listened to a very concise, well-paced attorney's voice, and was able to backtrack with a pedal (much like a sewing machine pedal) when I needed to. What I am doing now is listening to very fast-paced speaking, joke-telling, distractions caused by the audience, while learning to use "HOT" keys to move the video backward, forward, pause, restart, etc. Very different, but will be fine when I get it in my muscular memory (the same term I use for piano students!).

I cannot watch the video while I transcribe . . . that would be too distracting and would slow me down. I just listen and type. If I want to watch some particular ones, I could probably rewind and watch whatever parts I want to when I've completed the task. But, I doubt I'll have much time for that. I'm a very busy girl!

MK didn't feel very well today. She wasn't really ill, just felt as if she is coming down with something. So, she stayed in her pajamas all day, did homework in bed and she did practice the piano. She is allowed to listen to classical music/piano music while doing homework. She uses earphones, so I often catch her listening to pop music on the radio! I don't think she can focus and learn when listening to vocals. So, if I catch her one more time, radio is off limits during homework.

I think I am going to enjoy this new job. What scares me is the old saying, "It's too good to be true!" Let's hope this doesn't apply in this case.

New Flippin' Cool Job

Today, I signed a new freelance contract for a flippin' cool job where I will be part of a transcribing team for work in the entertainment media. This appears to be a long-term position.

We create online transcription and sync to video software. The current project our team is to work on is 3300 old (very famous talk show host) Shows.

Future projects may include transcription for the Department of Justice (my legal secretary transcribing experience helped me get this job), and other TV shows that I know about, but I don't think I can list the titles since we have a confidentiality agreement. Believe me, though, it is exciting!

The only bad part, at this point, is that pay is always a month delayed. So, for instance, the end of this pay period will be the 15th, and I won't have much on it yet, AND I won't get paid for it until December 15. But, I'll manage somehow until then. There are two pay periods each month. Pay varies with the projects, but should pay okay.

MK and I have been doing a rather unusual job this week. On Monday we painted three street sign posts and the backs of stop signs and other signs, and today five more. We are painting these black, like Duke Energy did on the big street light poles. We are doing this for money to fill in the gap since I lost that last copywriting contract. I sure don't enjoy it. I don't like being that high on a ladder next to busy traffic in the dang wind. Money is money. The things we do to keep the utilities on or a roof over our heads.

No Time for Pouting

I took one day for my own little pity party and to start looking for possibilities. I have no idea in what direction my life will go, but then I've never known that. I've sent two resume's to school systems, one in Terre Haute, one in Shiloh, Illinois. I might have to go back to working as a teacher's aid in the school system -- you know, those government-run institutions that have one-size-fits-all educational systems . . but, only if I don't land a new contract for freelance copywriting.

I have applied to two companies so far, one just a few minutes ago. The type of writing I would do for them would be for various interesting topics. Far less cut-and-dried I think.

I am also working on a book proposal that I've kept on the back burner for quite a while (excuse:too busy). Now seems the time to do that. I found a publisher through another writer. Prayers and a lot of finger-crossing would be helpful here!!

In the meantime, I will go back to the writing site that has what is called "Marketplace" and will try to sell another magazine article. Those usually pay enough to buy some groceries now and then.

I'm also trying to take advantage of the opportunity to get some school work of my own done.

MK has finished reading the entire Harry Potter series. She has rough-drafted a letter to J.K. Rowlings asking for more! Even though Rowlings included a chapter on what has happened to the characters 19 years later, MK wants to know what happens to the characters' children and other new students at Hogwarts School. We will need to work on a final draft of the letter and get it mailed.

I am thankful that today my niece, Cindi, is going home for her long recovery after weeks in the hospital following her car accident. She's home with her children and that's the best medicine of all.

Fired!

Ok, so yesterday I lost my freelance copywriting job . . . it happens. Moving forward. I will try my hand at doing some various freelance articles here and there while I look for another well-paying one that pays by the hour. It took me a year of serious hunting before I found that last one. . . It won't take long before the threat of being homeless will be looming over my head, so onward and upward!

I'm adding an URL to one article that published today. It isn't the greatest, but I took it from one of my assignments, and will do a few more to get me off to a running, but not great, start. I can take time for improvements soon.

MK and I have both been hit with a cold/flu-type of bug that lasted about a week, but we are both left with a pesky congested cough that just won't go away. (The week in bed is the final thing that clenched it for the copywriting layoff -- I got in only less than half of the required hours, therefore I did not fulfill the contract requirements.)

We pulled up all the rest of the carrots and got only a few that still had not grown much over two inches long. We put them in our homemade chicken soup and enjoyed them. So, no carrots put away for the winter. We picked the rest of the green tomatoes from the back yard today.

Financial Aid has been cut back so drastically for college, and they raised the fees again this year. It is so expensive per credit hour now that it is ridiculous. I've wanted to stick to my guns and graduate from SMWC in about a year, but if they keep raising fees and financial aid keeps getting lower, I may have to consider graduating elsewhere, or quitting. But, I'm pretty stubborn . . . we'll see.

I need a plan.

Assessment of Recession Garden

An assessment of our recession gardening attempt would be to say it was so-so. It was fun for MK. She didn't so much like the work it took to plant the vegetables, but she so loved going out to check on their progress each day.

The potatoes are long gone. We didn't have many because I didn't have extra soil or anything to pile and make them grow in layers. But, that was fine because we enjoyed the beautiful potato plants -- we had never seen any before. We enjoyed eating the potatoes we had. It was a new experience for us.

We had very few squash. We fought some kind of mold on the leaves . . . big, beautiful leaves they had been! We had two zuchinni squash, the third rotted before it got to six inches long. We had maybe six yellow squash. We made some zuchinni bread, ate some, froze some . . . and froze slices of zuchinni and yellow squash, and cooked yellow squash. So, we enjoyed what we had and will still enjoy some this fall or winter from the freezer.

We have not had an overabundance of tomatoes. We would get two or three every few days from the plants out front. Right now we are getting black leaves, so I'm wondering if we've gotten the tomato blight that I've heard other people have had. The tomatoes in the back have given us a couple of larger tomatoes just recently. There are some more on the vines and they are still very green.

We finally picked some "baby" carrots. They are about three inches long . . . most are shaped rather fat and weird. They don't look like those perfect ones in the store. But, I think we didn't have them far enough apart. We had such a tiny spot for them, they were a bit crowded.

Lettuce was good in the spring, bitter in summer.

We never had broccoli, we couldn't keep ahead of the worms on them . . . even treating them twice a day.

We had two watermelons that were only about 1 1/2 inches long. I looked today and one is black now, the other one will be because the vine leading to it is dead.

We had only a few peppers. There are a few more trying to grow. We have enjoyed them when we get them. They taste so good when they are fresh. We love eating them or cooking with them.

The green onions were delicious, but again, not plentiful and didn't last any time at all.

What did we learn? We learned that what I had guessed was exactly right. Our yard just does not have any really good gardening potential. It is shaded by too many trees and the houses. I think our unusually cool and wet spring and summer may have caused the mold on the squash. The squash also was between the brick wall and our house, so it didn't have possibly the sun and breezes it needed to get rid of some of the moisture.

Financially, this year, gardening cost me more than buying the vegetables would have. The fun we had, the learning MK had (maybe a little science and botany besides gardening, harvesting and cooking/eating?), and the enjoyment from eating was priceless. I had hoped to do quite a bit of freezing and hopefully some canning, and much more baking of bread. I had hoped that we would have our freezer full.

Next year, if we try again, I think we will do more tomatoes. Maybe not much else.

I'm behind on school work, like always. I'm also behind on my required hours for the pay period. I don't know how I manage to get behind like that. I just have no motivation, no energy. Every day I wake up with intentions of accomplishing a lot, and I feel at the end of the day I have accomplished so little, even though I am always very busy. I guess what I do accomplish just isn't what I hope to do. I guess we all feel that way.

MK and I were planning to camp out tomorrow night with C on her mini-vacation, but it has been wet for several days and it is working up a nice little bit of rain storm or shower right now. We have decided not to sleep on the cold wet ground and will just do a day thing instead. MK is mad at me == as if I have control over the weather.

MK is still escaping into her Harry Potter books. I think she has one more to go in the series. She dearly loves reading those books. She said she loves reading them and feeling as if she is "in" the book with them; in fact, she can't stand not to be reading them. We have had some fun with it. She writes little notes to Harry Potter and leaves them around the house. Harry (me) finds them and writes her little notes back.

I sneak a peak into the books ahead of where she is and find something that I can use and mention it in "Harry's" notes to MK. She is puzzled by them, but when she gets to that in her book, she is amazed. She hasn't figured out my secret on that yet. But, it is fun for us both and I like helping to keep her engaged in her reading, and sharing it with her. (I do get a bit bored when she goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on . . . . about the stories. Ha, ha!)

MK has finished another level in her Singapore Math and just did the placement test and passed with an 80% (needs 70% to pass), so she gets to move up to the next level. She knows HOW to do the work, and does very well at word problems . . . she makes silly errors and still does not have all her addition and multiplication facts memorized, though she is getting better. When she has them all down, she will likely do better on the silly error thing.

Well, I must get supper over with so that I can get back to work and try to squeeze in as many hours as possible. No tomatoes for supper tonight, though.

Cabbage Worms in the Broccoli and all that Jazz

I gave up on the broccoli. I have been putting a mixture of water, dish soap and vinegar on them once or twice each day and the cabbage worms still ate the leaves to skeletons. So, I pulled them all up and put them in the garbage bag and sent them off with the garbage man. The worms should be happy in all the food at the dump.

The white mold is still on the squash leaves. I keep spraying them with the soap, water, and vinegar mixture. They are still producing a few squash.

We have about three or so watermelons that are about 1/2 inch long! It is funny to see them so tiny when they start out.

We have been enjoying some fresh tomatoes, but there is not an overabundance of them yet, so we are just eating them as they ripen.

Our carnival peppers are finally starting to grow. We've got a couple of purple ones growing so far. Mary-Katherine thought there was something wrong with them and was squeezing and poking at them and said, "I think they're dying!" Well, they might now, ha, ha.

I go to Saint Mary's tomorrow for my fall semester return. That month went by awfully quickly. As usual, I did not accomplish anywhere near what I hoped to during that break. Work continues, break or no break, and that still leaves little time for anything else. Work just gets in the way!

MK has discovered jazz and the sounds of the 40's. She plays "Satin Doll" almost constantly. If she's not playing that, she is doing an improvisation version of "Happy Birthday" over, and over, and over, and over, and . . . . She is hoping to play with the LTC Jazz Band as DG suggested that she could . . . only about an hour's drive every Tues. night. No biggie. Right. We'll see.

I am working on an application for a $10,000 music scholarship contest for her. Age 8 is the earliest. I didn't apply last year but we are this year. There are 25 winners, piano, violin, etc. Winners are flown to New York. They appear on radio and on TV on "From the Top." That would be fun and scary . . . well, scary for me. Not her, I'm sure!

She will have to stick to her classical work for the scholarship contest. No Jazz allowed, I think. I'll re-read the requirements. She has to send in a recording of herself.

Looked at a house in Paris. The rent was too high. The basement is extremely musty and the landlord said it tends to get water up to 8 inches. No thanks. No pets allowed either. Otherwise, a pretty nice house. It just isn't the right house, I guess.

MK Weather Girl

Weather Girl, Mary-Katherine. Go to: http://mywabashvalley.com/content/weather then click on Weather Summary, then click on 7/29/09 Valley Showcase Weather. Listen for the pitter-patter of her little feet as she runs to hug me when she's done. She was sooooooo happy.

Produce Market Rhubarb and our Home Garden Pickings

We will have a yellow squash to add to our dinner tonight! We picked our first one today. There is another one growing and should be ready before long.

We've been enjoying potatoes. MK doesn't want to let them grow to be very big -- she wants to eat them now! At least she is enjoying them.

The tomatoes are getting bigger but are still green. More of them are showing up, too.

We've been enjoying the leaf lettuce. They look so pretty when they haven't been beaten down by the rain. Washing each leaf sure does become tedious at times, but we enjoy eating them. I'm thinking about head lettuce next year.

The carrots are about an inch long now, so we are still waiting on them to grow. We are hoping for watermelon some time, but don't see any signs of them yet.

We went to the downtown farmer's market Saturday. I was a bit disappointed. There didn't seem to be much produce to choose from . . . and it seemed expensive. $1.00 for a small tomatoe seemed like a lot to me . . . and it wasn't even a pretty tomato.

I bought a pound of rhubarb. That's 3 stalks. $2.75. I couldn't resist. I haven't had any for years. I once had rhubarb growing behind my garage in Robinson and loved picking it whenever I wanted and making miniature rhubarb cobblers.

MK didn't want me to buy the rhubarb. She had never seen it in stalks before. When I bought it, she said she didn't want me to cook it that day . . . maybe some other day. She nearly begged me not to cook it. I ignored her (of course) and cooked it, then while it was hot, put a spoon of it and some of the juice on top of strawberry swirl ice cream. Do you know, she LOVED it and asked for it several more times. Needless to say, we ate 1/2 gallon of strawberry swirl ice cream and the 3 long stalks of rhubarb in two days.

Oh, Sweet Relief!

I finally have completed the semester. I took an extension on one class, and I just this minute, 11:46 p.m., turned in all I had on the last portion of the work. Basically, it is the beginnings of a fiction book. It is far from complete, but it would be a great project to work on, if only I weren't so busy trying to get an education so that I can write books. It is a vicious cycle.

June and July were an endless sea of camps, Bible schools, and things of that nature for MK. She had two or three things going on every day. She is done now, so time to focus on her math and some other things.

I have one month until my return at St. Mary's. I wish I could say I would be enjoying time off, but I have far too much work to do to be taking time off. (I do plan to sleep as late as I can tomorrow, and I don't plan to work at anything, except for trying again to get the mower running. I couldn't start it the other day and decided to let it go until I completed my final project for class.)

Off I go to dreamland.

Michael Jackson is Dead

Michael Jackson was an amazing artist and I mourn for the lost art.

I am sorry, I cannot mourn the person; however, whatever he did or did not do, he is either accounting for it now, or he is in glory. I wish I knew. Someday, I will.

Our First Harvest

We had our first "harvest" yesterday. Actually, it was a much-needed thinning; but, we used them for our lunch salad so that nothing was wasted. The birds snipped off our watermelon starts; there is only one or two left. As of yesterday, we had one strawberry that was getting larger than any ever have; the birds hadn't found this one.

We have what appears to be several squash growing where we planted flowers -- the seed packet said flowers. Our beans and our peppers aren't growing much, but the tomato plants and potato plants are. The leaf lettuce has been beaten into the mud several times by all the rain; but it is looking a little better and we had some yesterday.

The peonies bloomed beautifully, then were beaten down by the rain. Roses, same thing. The white roses should bloom any day now. The grass is nice and tall.

I had 4 out of 6 piano students as non-paying this past month; I also have lost one, permanently, now, as of June. I think it is time to get out of the piano teaching business and apply myself full-time to my copywriting job. With people hurting so badly with the economy, the piano teaching has been unreliable for about two years now. I nearly lost my home last year, and I have only paid half of the May payment. My parents had to come to my rescue for my car. I'm 54. I'm too old for this nonsense, and they are too old to be rescuing their adult daughter. Time to make some changes.

I am going to attempt to post some pictures of our "recession garden" and our first harvest and first salad from the harvest. It was pretty good. MK does not like eating hosta leaves or dandelion greens or heads. They are too bitter for her taste.

There Are Angels

There are Angels. Some are "living" here among us. No, not the ones with wings and halos. These come in the forms of Daddies and Moms, Daughters and Sons-in-law, and sisters. (Sons, too, but I don't have one of those!)

L's "Alleged" Murderer Set Free

After two years of being jailed, L's "alleged" murderer was released at noon today. On the news they stated that prosecutors decided it was the best way to go because if he goes to trial and is found not guilty for some reason, due to lack of proper DNA or other evidence, they would not be able to re-try him later if better evidence turns up; therefore, they set him free so that if better evidence shows up, he can be brought back to trial.

I wonder where he will be. What will he do? Will he be back in the neighborhood? Will it be unsafe to let the dog out to potty at night? Do I need to turn every light on in the house in order to feel safer, even though I'm sure lights won't make me safer.

I have no reason to feel that he is going to target me. I have no idea why he chose L. She was single, 52 at the time, red-head, quiet, minded her own business, fed the stray cats in the neighborhood, etc. Maybe she just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time. Maybe she saw something she wasn't supposed to see. Maybe we'll never know. I hope they find whatever evidence they need to bring to justice whomever it was who ended this quiet lady's life. If I could ever ask him one question, it would be, "Why?" I'm quite sure his reason would never, ever justify taking her life.

Tiny Miracles - Or Maybe Just Tiny Minds (Mine)

Sometimes it's those tiny little miracles that happen that get you through a day. I decided to check my Paypal account today to see if I had at least $20 in it (you have to take it out in increments of $20 when you use the ATM machine to withdraw) to add to MK's "fund" for her trip to St. Louis over Labor Day Weekend. I was surprised to see I had more than that.

I had made a little ebay sale in April and left the money in there and pretended it wasn't there so that I could use it for MK's trip to St. Louis. Instead of just pretending it wasn't there, I had forgotten it WAS there. So, for now, instead of using it for the trip to St. Louis, I'm going to use it for the license plate sticker on the car. This will prevent me getting a fine or having the car towed away.

That leaves me with about two weeks to make up the trip money somehow. It will be okay.

Sometimes it pays to have a tiny mind.

Squish, Splat, oh H-E- Double Hockey Sticks!

You know it's going to be a good day (not) when . . .

You know how it is when you get up and the first thing you need to do is go pee, but the old Schnauzer needs to go worse than you -- and he is doing his if-you-don't-take-me-out-now,-I'm going-to-pee-on-the-floor dance? Well, so, I go to the back door and I don't bother to turn on the light (it is a dark back porch, hate that); I let Mr. Happy out the door. He just stands there on the sidewalk and looks at me. Something's up. He should be flooding a spot on the ground by now.

So, I'm standing there with my legs crossed telling him to go potty and pointing in the direction of his personal space in the yard. I decide to shut the door and come back for him after I take care of my own business. I take a step back and squish! I stepped in dog poop! Happy didn't have to go at all; he was just making the great escape before I figured out what he had done!

How do I know it was him and not Sophie (Italian Greyhound), or even Baby (cat)? Well, Baby and Sophie go in their own litter boxes, or in close proximity. Besides, their poo is small. Happy's is larger and he walks all around when he poo's, so it isn't in just one spot. That's right. Poo all over my back porch! At least he went there, near the back door, and not in his favorite place on the dining room floor. Dumb dog, dumber than they come, dog!

Oh, yeah, and when I had opened the back door, it raked through the poo. Nice, real nice.

So, I hobble around on one foot and one corner of one heel, sort of crossing my legs, and I get his poo picked up in a bag and then use my Swiffer Sweeper Wet Wipe Mop Thingy and mop the floor real quick. No problem. Off to the bathroom!

Squish! What the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks is that cold and slimy . . . ohhhhhh, vomit. Yes, dog vomit. This is Sophie's. How do I know? She does this from time-to-time. She eats grass and then up it comes later. Oh, and she was doing it again moments later. Anyway, same foot, now slimed, and a new sheet of Swiffer Sweeper Wet Wipe Mop Thingy, legs still crossed, and I'm mopping again -- this time the kitchen.

I finally did make it to the bathroom, jumped in the bathtub and washed my feet, and somehow managed to get there (potty) in time not to have to clean up my own mess. While in there, I hear MK calling, "MOM! I think Sophie's throwing up!"

What's with the ants and spiders this spring? I've been fighting ants, tiny ones . . . and yesterday I killed 4 white spiders and then one more this morning. I have a ridiculous fear of spiders and they seem to want to haunt me right now.

Last night, MK and I were having fun throwing bean bag toys at each other in bed and her eyes suddenly got as big as quarters and she points to the wall above my head, "SPIDER!" I leapt out of the bed so fast you wouldn't know I can barely move in the mornings due to arthritis. Amazing what the fear of spiders can do for you!

Anyway, in the morning, MK was getting out of bed and there was another one in her bed. You know what, that little slowpoke can really move! Amazing. MK, not the spider. Well, actually, the spider moves pretty swiftly, too. Well . . . he used to.

UNCLE, already!

I cry UNCLE! Gee whiz! I give up. Someone got into my car again in the wee hours Wednesday morning. It is parked in the street now instead of the driveway. It still has the garbage bag over the missing window from the last break-in; at least they didn't need to break any windows to get in. It is still not in driving condition.

I haven't had the money to replace the window or the ignition switch. There is also some other problem with starting it besides the ignition -- thus, the unsuccessful attempt to start it by last month's car thief. This time, I'm not sure if they were trying to steal the whole car or not since the ignition is already torn up, it is hard to tell. They did ransack the glove box and the center console. There's nothing in there they want. They just throw my papers all over the inside of the car.

I won't have the money any time soon to fix the car. Income is just not rolling in right now. It will be fixed when I can scratch it up. The license plate renewal is due on the 14th, and I don't see that happening either. If I could get a certain someone to get his old piano and crap out of the garage, I could keep the car in there -- but, after it's been in there for 7 years or so, I don't see that happening. After the second time the car was damaged, I stood there and cried and he said, maybe I can get that piano out of the garage (which he hasn't, still) and you can keep the car in the garage. As J says, that's like closing the barn door AFTER the cow escapes!

Wed. morning I went to R and asked him if he could get that piano out of the garage and told him someone had been in the car, he basically said that won't do any good and I need to junk the car. Well, why not store it until I can scrape up enough to get it running again? Don't people fix cars anymore? I sure can't afford to buy another one.

J has offered to let me have/drive his (deceased) mom's car around town and he set a price for it and I could just work for him to work off the amount instead of coming up with the money. Well, that is very good of him to try to help me, but he says it can't be driven on the highway because the overdrive is out. R says I could still use it to take MK to Indy for contest, but I would have to take Rte. 40 (which I do anyway) and drive 45 mph. This would help me for in town purposes for a few months, but eventually, I'm going to be saddled with two gimp cars, and several hours of labor I don't really have time for.

License plate renewal is due the 14th, and I can't pay that this month, so I've got to find a way to get the car off the street so I don't get fined and the car get towed away, which I'm sure would cost me a lot, too. R said if I could get it started, we could take it over to his brother's in WTH and leave it there until his brother returns from his 3-month duty with the Nat'l Guard. When bro returns, he could maybe find out how much it will take to fix whatever it needs, and maybe I could eventually get it done.

Anyway, my whole point here is, when bad people do bad things to other people, they don't give one thought to the hardships they cause those people. One brief moment they cause harm, damage, pain, even death, and unsuspecting innocent people are left with the consequences for longer periods of time. Financial difficulties are increased when trying to deal with what has been done -- taking money or time away from other things needed in their lives or their families' lives. Of course, in the instance when they physically harm someone, or even kill them, the effects can last a lifetime.

A few years back an acquaintance was murdered. She was a single Christian woman about my age. She was a good person who took care of aging parents and minded her own business. One parent had alzheimer's, the other one was deceased at the time she was murdered. All she was doing was feeding the outside cats before she got ready to go to work. Why? Why?

She lived relatively close to me. I lived in fear for a couple of years after that. I still leave lights on inside the house all night every night. I feel like I would have some warning because I have two noisy dogs. The one accused of murdering her was already in prison for something else when they found out it was him. He may be in prison, but I still live in fear. We've had some really bad people living right next door to us over the years. Right now, so far, there seems to be ok people there.

Street fights in front of my house with 21 or so people . . . gangs of people forcing their way into the house next door when there was a baby living there . . . threats of shooting . . . shots in my porch window . . . numerous of mine and R's tires slashed here . . . graphic threats (shown by way of graffiti drawings) of what would be done to me if I remove the graffiti one more time . . . my sister's car window shot out while she was driving to work, R was "rolled" (I think that is what you call it), or knocked unconscious as he was leaving work one night and his $50 taken from his pockets . . . attempts to steal my car two or three times . . . what am I to do? Wait it out? Hope nothing physically happens to me or MK? Hope the house next door burns down like so many in this neighborhood do --( and why do they?????) That would take care of any more riff-raff moving in.

I think I am a good person. I don't bother anybody. I try to help people in whatever little ways I can. I work hard. I scrimp to get by. I do without a lot. The government and other financial advisers tell us to cut back on spending. I don't think I can cut back much further. But, those bad people out there are forcing me to find ways to spend over and over and over on fixing up what they don't care about, but what means a great deal to me and MK. Uncle! I give up!

Red Mule, Popsicle, Funk & Wagnalls & the Internet

MK and I have decided that we can now safely declare that spring is here! Red Mule and Popsicle came out of hibernation yesterday. That is a sure sign of spring. They are MK's two turtles. If I am remembering correctly, Popsicle is entering his fourth summer with us and Red Mule is entering his third. We walked all the way up to Save-A-Lot to get bananas for them because that is their favorite treat. We like them, too!

Even though it didn't rain yesterday, we did not go out and plant any more garden items. It was so muddy and still a bit chilly; besides, I had laundry to wash and hang out to dry, and doors and trim to cover with a second coat of paint. We will plant a few things today.

Early on, probably in the winter or fall, R had said the only place to plant in our yard is the southeast side -- front yard -- because it is the only sunny spot. Recently, he stated I should plant along the west side of the house, where the ferns grow, where the sewer system is. Well, why would I plant where the ferns grow and where it is shaded by mine and the neighbor's house? Also, twice since we have lived here, the sewer has backed up there and had to be repaired, and I don't want to chance that with my food garden. So, I started digging up the front yard. Now, of course, according to R, that is wrong. Surprise, surprise. He says he never told me to plant out front. Ever. Right . . . . . . .

I will plant my tomatoes out back along the sidewalk and fence. I will be able to tie them up to the fence. I had planned to tie them up to the fence out front, but I think they will be too easy for neighbors to grab and run. However, I may put a couple of the tomato plants out there to see what happens.

Yesterday, while I was up on a (small) ladder painting the door frame, MK was working on homework and needed to research some information on sharks. Since I was elbow deep in green paint, I wasn't in a position to deal with guiding her through a search on the internet -- the computer is in a room on the opposite end of the house. So, I suggested she go to the encyclopedia.

I thought that using the encyclopedia would help her with using "guide words" that she has been learning about in her spelling and in her comprehension. "Guide words" are those words on the spine and pages of the encyclopedia, and the pages of the dictionary that are alphabetical and guide you to what you are seeking . . . so, I thought this would be good practice as she has had problems with it in her workbooks. Putting this information that she has been learning to use should help her understand the concept.

I gave her the clue to start by finding a book with the letter S on the spine. Well, she still had trouble with it. She proceeded to pull out books 24 and 25 and read the guide words , "SKIN between SUPER, SUPER between TRANS". (She always says between like that. Ages "9 between 11") Even though she uses the word "between" she doesn't get it that there are words BETWEEN skin and super! Gee. Anyway, I told her to spell shark and think about what she was seeing. Doesn't SH come before SK? Try book #23 and see what you find. Open it and look inside . . . like a dictionary!

So, she brings back #23 and opens it and very soon she finds shark. "OHHHHHHHH!" I swear I saw that light bulb turn on above her head.

Now, she complains, "I have to read all that!" This, coming from a child whose lifeblood is reading?? Oh well, it was a whole maybe three paragraphs of small print. So, she read it and decided she didn't find the information she needed and the assignment was too hard anyway. So, guess what she will be working on today. You got it, she has to complete the assignment and I have to listen to her whine about how hard it is while guiding her; and, when she gets it done, it will have been easy. That's how it goes. She gives up easily, but when she does complete something, it wasn't so bad. This is a part of her generalized anxiety, I think. I try to get her to take things one step at a time instead of being scared away by the whole picture.

ANYWAY, what I was thinking about in regard to the encyclopedia: I remember as a child having our little Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia and all the available encyclopedia and other resource books available at the town library. I used to love going to the old library and going upstairs into the adult section of the library to research in the encyclopedia. I didn't have to do it very often, but when I did, I loved it. I loved the old book smell. I loved the big wooden tables with the smooth surface -- the big wooden chairs with the varnish so slick you could slide off if you weren't careful.

What I was pondering (MK used that word recently - impressive) while I was painting the door was whether or not an encyclopedia set is published anymore. I mean, when you think about it, when I was a child there was no internet. We used books. We went to the library. If we had to write a research paper, we looked in the encylopedia. Now, the encyclopedia seems so very limited in its usefulness when you can glean so much more information on the net.

In this age of computer-generated information and learning, we have to be careful -- our sources may not be reliable. They may not be correct. People like myself could be researching information on the internet and writing articles that are posted on the internet as "information." (That's exactly what I do on my on-line job!)

What if our information came from incorrect sources? The information gleaned could be inaccurate or out-right wrong. Well, what about the information in the encyclopedia? How did we know if they were accurate? We just trusted that they were. We were sure that the information was carefully sought out and checked. These days people trust that the information they find on the internet is carefully researched and accurate. Sadly, not all of it is.

If I was truly interested in whether or not the encyclopedia is still published, I am sure I could find out by researching on the internet.

Re-learning Gardening

Well, my state tax payment was posted yesterday and away it went. It was more than double what the estimate was by TurboTax at the time I figured federal and state taxes in January. Oh well, why not?

We have actually started to do a tiny bit of planting outside . . . right or wrong, we're doing it. We have so little space that has full sun. We will just do our best, expecting little. This year is mostly going to be an experiment for us so that we can plan better next year.

What looks like great planting areas when you are looking out the window all winter begins to have a totally different appearance when you start to consider the leaves that are going to be on the trees soon. The soil condition is not the best in this yard either, but we'll work on that as we go along, also. If I can get some yummy tomatoes, at least, I'll be happy.

We planted some potatoes and MK's little flower starts today. We planned to plant onions but a neighbor lady from down the street stopped and the little ol' gal is obviously very lonely. She talked my arm off for over an hour. I tried to do a little work while she talked, but that made me have my back to her and I didn't want to be rude. She finally went on her way and I took a quick bathroom break, put all my tools away, cleaned up enough to teach piano, and then we went back out this evening.

A word of caution: stay a good distance away from MK when she is armed with a hoe. OMG! She couldn't hit a . . . a . . . a . . . well, anything! She was supposed to chop at some roots and she missed them by about 5 miles! Well, we know why she isn't playing softball or tennis or golf or anything that would require aiming and swinging. Whoo boy!

It looks like the only space that has full sun is the east little part of my front yard. It is also the spot with the thickest grass. ugh. I'll probably dig it up with a shovel. That should be absolutely difficult. I thought about renting a tiller, but it would be too costly for such a small area. So, I plan to do it by shovel and foot, and a little at a time if I have to. I should have started digging earlier, but it has been cold, rainy and nasty more than it has been nice. The nice days never fell on days I had available for yard work. I also need to mow, but the ground was still a bit muddy today. Maybe tomorrow it will be dry enough to give it a quick round with the mower/beast.

I saw an interesting article on Helium.com about lasagna gardening. Maybe that would be the way to go with so little gardening space available. I'll have to read more on that during next winter as I re-think my garden, based on results of this years' experimenting.

I still have another door to paint in my room, and then have to go back over it all for a second coat -- the entire closet still needs to be done, but I am still waiting on R to come work on the closet ceiling. I could paint before he comes, but he is never careful and I can guarantee that when he is through, he would have my new paint badly scuffed. We haven't started MK's ceiling or room yet. Waiting on ceiling work there also, and my office ceiling needs repaired. J is planning to do those for us, but I don't know when. I'm not in too big of a hurry to get to MK's room because I plan to do it when my closet is repaired and I can move back in my room, have it organized. Next, I'll get her room done and she will finally have her own room back after about a year. Maybe our house can get back to normal?? What is normal? I've forgotten. Little steps. Little steps. We'll get there.

Boss moved away two days ago. He moved back to Kokomo, IN. (he is the Great Dane) They were not there long. That family did not cause any trouble in the neighborhood, so I was hoping they would stay -- that is, if things didn't get wild over there when the weather stays warm. It always seems that the neighbors around here party and fight when they are able to be outside more and later at night, as it is light until 10:00 p.m. part of the summer now.

Look Ma, No Training Wheels!

MK bought herself a bike at the auction at the old Poff's building behind us. She bought it for $5. It has a bent front wheel and needs paint on the handlebars . . . but she is very proud of it. I took her to Collett Park to ride in the grass and for the first time she rode without training wheels. Her bike she rode up to last year had training wheels and she just was not ready to let go of them. But, when she bought her own bike today, she was determined.

I could not believe how small her bike of the last two summers is in comparison! She has grown a lot this winter and she has outgrown every last stitch of clothing and her bike.

I was pretty excited that I bought a piece of carpet (at the auction) for my room for $4.00! It was a remnant and it is only a little too big. I dumped everything out of my room this evening (all over the living room) and laid it out. I'll probably cut it tomorrow. Then I have to move everything back in. It sure is a good way to make you do a deep (much needed) cleaning. I'll keep watching for a remnant large enough for the living room. So far, they just haven't had any that big.

They didn't have any pieces big enough for MK's room, but I haven't even started on the repairs in there yet. I have to wait for Rich and Jay to come bolster up the ceiling and put tiles up. I had bought tiles at the auction last fall for $3. I've been saving them for after getting the leak fixed.

MK has piano contest next Saturday. Hoosier auditions. This is the one that if she wins she goes on to Indianapolis in May. She is playing three pieces.

Who Doesn't Appreciate Fresh, Crisp Sheets and Blankets off the Clothesline?

MK, that's who! I washed all of MK's blankets and sheets and hung them out to dry today. They were getting pretty raunchy -- kind of smelled like her stinky feet. So, I made up her bed. At first she said they were fresh and crispy. Then I asked her if they smelled good. "No, actually, I really kind of don't like that fresh air smell." Well, the "fresh air" market of dryer sheets, room fresheners, etc. will be lost on her!