I know it's Saturday cos Blogger says so...

...this week I have absolutely no concept of time or what day it is...

Oh well. Right now, I know it's Saturday. I'm sure I'll wake up tomorrow thinking it's Wednesday or even Saturday again. A friend commented at dinner "isn't every day a Saturday when you're out of work?" Pretty much as the days start melting into one, but I really do like to keep track of things...sigh. I think my brain is going on vacation. Really need to get going on some crafting - I need to keep it a little bit more stimulated than I have been. I've been reading a lot, but it needs some diverse activities.

Right now, I just wanna go to bed and get a decent night's sleep. I haven't had one in over a week and it's showing. I get easily confused, disoriented, and am prone to zoning out. Getting a bit more regular with the bike riding will help, but the weather is just too hot to do that. Sigh.

Anyways, I've had a nice cup of English Tea, cuddled with the Kitty and now it's time to pry the kid off the xbox. My bargain shopping partner in crime is back in town and we're heading out tomorrow for a day of hunting down some good deals. We need our rest.

Good night from the Chaos - where things are getting less and less chaotic (organizing-wise) daily.

You'd think I'd post more...

....being that I am unemployed and supposedly have nothing better to do...

Today I went into San Francisco to DSW warehouse and then on to Chinatown. A good walk about the City wandering in and out of various bathrooms and shops does one good.

Yes, I did buy shoes* and yes, I bought myself a small silk zipper pouch and a wee bit larger messenger bag at my fav shop in Chinatown, said hi to the giant wooden willie and then made my way home.

And now I'm sitting here in my new shoes ** (oooh they sure are comfy!) typing up a blog post. Cos I've got nothing better to do.

*No way in hell did I pay that much. I paid less than $40. What I REALLY want now are these. Can't wait til they hit the discount shops....

** I have a thing for born and boc shoes...

I'm obsessed (as Spencer always tells me)

Not only do I belong to the Book Swap Club, but I also joined its 2 sister sites....DVD Swap and CD swap.

With all this sorting and purging, I've come across a few DVDs and CDs that I just don't watch or listen to any more (some I didn't even remember I had!!). Up on their respective sites they went. I've sent out 7 of the 12 DVDs I listed and 1 of the 16 CDs I listed. Not bad. The best part of signing up for all 3? I can transfer credits between all 3 sites and use them for all books, all DVDs, or all CDs, or anything I want! Wahoo!

I'm finally getting some books sent to me off my wish list, so I'm very happy with the whole situation. I've also ordered a few CDs and am on waiting lists for several DVDs.

Spencer says our house is like a post office cos I'm always packing things up and sending them out and he's always ordering bike parts and I'm finally getting stuff in from my swap clubs.

Maybe I should get out my old uniform and do it up right!!! (I used to work for the Postal Service when I lived in Texas.)

These past few days I've been in a mood, which is hard to believe since I had such a good weekend and a great Monday! Lunch with AmpuT! We had a lovely lunch together chatting and catching up. She gifted me with some very funny toilet themed stitch markers and some gorgeous fiber - she's so sweet! Sorry, but I'm too lazy to take pictures, let alone post them. There are four markers tho: plunger, roll of toilet paper, toilet and pile of poo. Once I start using them, you will see them. Or maybe I'll take photos and post. Whichever comes first...don't hold your breath for either.

I haven't done ANYTHING fiber related all summer - and I haven't done anything jewelry or drawing related since those classes ended! Gah. I feel a creativity crisis looming - if I don't make something soon, I think I will explode! If the weather would just freakin' cool down, I'm sure I would get going doing something. Maybe that's why I can't sleep...it's all building up in my brain. I did however, dig out my turkish spindle and get going on some practice last night. I've got a few pretty batts now that I'd love to make into some usable yarn so I need to get going. I still suck, but with time, I KNOW I'll get better cos I just LOVE it and I won't have it any other way. :)

At least I've been keeping up with the sorting/purging bit. I've been managing to do at least 15-20 min worth every night since this weekend when I went all purge crazy on Saturday morning.

I've got a large shopping cart full of purses, clothes, misc crap, I mean useful items, that needs to go to the Thrift shop. Maybe I'll go tomorrow. Or Friday. Or maybe Saturday. Or all three if I purge enough the next two nights!!

More and more space is being freed up in the living area even tho there is still a row of boxes against the wall. I have vowed not to bring in any more stuff until it is all cleared out. And even then, I really don't think I'll want to bring in anything new. Honestly, I have enough stuff and really don't need more! Unless I find a job between now and then and get all that new furniture I want - but that only means the old furniture goes. One in, one out. :)

Enought chatter, it is time to watch "The Sarah Jane Chronicles". Disc 1, season 1 from Netflix. Pretty soon the last season of Dr. Who will be out and I'll be watching that!!! Maybe I'll do today's purging while I watch. Maybe not.

It's so boring round here...

I'm keeping busy, but still....snoozeville!

I've gotten in the mood lately to do lots of sorting and clearing out and etc etc etc. The Chaos is becoming less chaotic by the day. There is still quite a bit to do, but I am making lots of progress going thru boxes and getting rid of stuff.

Spencer had a friend over this weekend, so even tho I did do a bit of work, I really couldn't do much. He is Spencer's Kublacon buddy and they were working on their armies. Every year they are the only two that have unpainted pieces in their armies. I somehow convinced them that they should meet once a month or so and just paint and practice strategies and stuff like that. They got quite a bit of painting done and even put some time in at the local game shop testing out some new strategies at the gaming tables. Spencer has just put away the final remains of all his paints, brushes, glue, bits, pieces and whatnot and the place looks halfway decent. Yay!

It's going to be pretty damn hot here for the next few days (100F +) and I am still in a purging/sorting/cleaning mood, so it is perfect! I wont' be wanting to go out in the heat and what else have I got to do round here? I am determined to have this all cleared out before the Holidays hit. Fingers crossed I can keep up with it!

Now to go wrap up some books for Book Swap. Two more go out in the mail tomorrow!

Kevlar Tyres* 6 - Evil Thorns 0

....just in case anyone was wondering....

And that storm that is not supposed to roll in until 1opm? I think it's going to hit a bit sooner. I was just out on Puff the Bike when the wind got stronger and the clouds got thicker, and a few drops fell. If the wind keeps up like this, it'll be here sooner than expected.

I'm home and chillaxin' with a book on the couch. Bring it Mother Nature!

*that's for you Honey, smooch!!

I like when the Angels bowl...

Anyone who lives in the SF Bay Area knows about the lightening and thunderstorm we had early Saturday morning.

I enjoyed it! One thing I miss about living in the Midwest (Chicago, then Texas) is the thunder and lightening.

When I was younger, I was frightened of it. Who wouldn't be as a young child? It's scary!

Mom and Dad explained away the thunder and lightening as Angels bowling. Close lightening and the consequently very loud thunder meant a STRIKE! I still managed to squeeze in their bed (like a chicken my sis would say) when a particularly bad storm would hit.

Anyway, as I grew older, I came to understand what lightening and thunder really were (thanks science and meteorology classes) and came to like hearing the rolling grumbles and the occasional flashes of light.

This past early (5:50am) Saturday, I was awake when it hit - my usual woke-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-and-can't-fall-back-asleep scenario. I saw the flash first and thought a car was turning around in the parking lot outside my window. Then I heard the rumble...could it be? NO! YES! It was!!! Thunder.

Yay! I opened the living room curtains and sat on the couch for a while watching the lightening and listening to the thunder. Before long, I was feeling sleepy again...like a baby listening to a lullaby.

Off to bed I went and slept soundly for a few hours.

When I finally woke up, it was cloudy and raining. Ah sweet rain, how we need you. It probably wasn't enough to do much for the very dry conditions around here, but I'm sure it did a little bit of good.

Unfortunately, the lightening sparked a few fires out in the wilds, but according to the last news report I watched, they seem to have it under control.

Another storm is due in late tonight and is set to stay into the morning. I hope some thunder comes along with it. We rarely get lightening and thunder in the area here. I for one, welcome nature's noises.

Drive-by posting...

Still gettin' things done over here in the Chaos.

OMG...so who else is going to run off and make some of these?!?!?! I'm stopping on the way home to find something to put in them...either chocolate chips or blueberries or something otherwise yummy! Must. Make. Some...

Mom's recovery is coming along. Not only is she back to her normal self (as evidenced by some annoying parental habits), but the doctor even says she's healing well. :)

I finally remembered to ask Mom if she still had some old beads laying around the house. Sure enough, the old candy tin housing my Grandmothers glass seed beads is alive and well and soon to be on it's way to the Chaos. I used to "play" with those beads when I was little, pouring them out of their vials, putting them back in, arranging the little glass vials "just so" in the tin. Counting the strands on the tassels - that's how seed beads used to be sold, strung on cheap string and made into cute little bunches, or tassels as I called them. Well, the strings have long since deteriorated, it's a good thing I put the tassels into old film canisters. :)

Now that I sort of know what I'm doing, I'm going to try and make some jewelry out of these family antiques. I can't wait to see them again (the memories!). There will be photos as soon as my Mom and Sis find a good way to pack it all up and ship it safely.

I'm back in the saddle - have been bike riding Friday, Sunday and Monday! Today I rested as I've managed to get out of riding shape and am quite sore from the waist down. Tomorrow I go for a ride again. Yay!

My poor little kitty (my 16yr old fluffy white baby) was sick this morning...sure hope she's feeling better. Can't quite tell as she's been sleeping all day. Guess that's a good thing - since that is normally what she does anyway.

Hello...are you still there?

Just a quick Mom update. She's recovering nicely. My sister says that she is bossing her around, so she's definitely feeling much better than procedure day. hee hee. That's it for Mom updates as they are quite boring and there's not really much I can say. Thanks to everyone for all their thoughts and well wishes!

I've been keeping busy. Yes Virginia, you can be unemployed and still be busy.

I miss my jewelry class. Sign-ups are on now for the Fall class, but I'm not going to do it. It's an extended version of the one I just took and it's during the day again. I'm being optimistic and saying I'll be busy working soon, so can't be playing at jewelry class on Friday afternoons. :)

No knitting lately. I've tried, but I just can't do it. Not only am I lacking in knitting mojo, but my wrist has decided to bother again (a cyst from the past has returned with a vengeance), and so I've replaced knitting and crocheting with reading and jewelry making. Now that Mom's on the mend, I just might drag myself into the doc's and see what they can do for my wrist.

I've also joined Paperbackswap.com...damn...it's like having a job! It's really cool tho, you join, post books you'd like to trade and then, well, start trading. For every book you mail off to another member, you get a credit. The credits can then be used to "order" books from other members. It's all quite addicting. I just joined up this past Thursday and have already sent off 12 books...with 8 more waiting for the appropriate approvals. Go check it out. If you decide to join, please put me in as a referral my swap id is ladilynn. The site also has two sister sites, one for CDs and one for DVDs.

After all the mailing I've done, I'm finally getting a book sent to me. WooHoo!!!! Unfortunately, most of the books I REALLY want have waiting lists. Oh well...

Another Mom Update

The drugs have worn off and she's had her post-op exam. She doing much better than they thought she would be and she's pretty much back to her old self.

Thanks for thinking of her and please continue to do so - every bit helps. :)

Mom Update...

Hello everyone,
Please keep my Mom in your thoughts, prayers and good vibes still.

It's all done and she's home (day surgery sort of thing), but things got a bit difficult and her recovery is going to be longer (and most likely more painful) than was originally thought.

She's not really down with that concept right now, but hopefully she'll get back her "I can do this" attitude once all the drugs wear off. The woman has survived Colon Cancer and has dealt with so much more - she can handle this one too.

I'll keep you guys posted as time goes by.

Thanks!

Another Request...and an Update

Hi everyone!
My Mom is having a procedure tomorrow. I won't go into details (she's a very private person), but if you could, please say prayers, light candles, send out good vibes or whatever it is you do to help her get thru it.

I'll let you know how it went later tomorrow.

Thanks!


Good vibes update!

My friend finally got the inspection he was hoping for on Monday ( I was there helping) and his new company passed the site visit. We've got some follow-up things to take care of (only 9 action items from a possible gazillion or so), but it's all good. He's very excited and wanted me to pass on his THANKS!!!!!! for thinking of him.

Busy doing nothing and something...

I've been doing stuff. When I'm not busy doing something, I'm busy doing nothing. hee hee

Every so often this summer, I've been helping out a friend who is starting up his own business. He's been at it since early this year and is still mired deep in red tape and gov't paperwork. It's been very frustrating for him since he can't really run his business without various and sundry certifications and licenses.

I've been helping him a lot this week as he prepares for an imminent inspection. Please send out happy thoughts, say prayers, light candles, put out good vibes to the universe, or whatever you feel comfortable doing to help him along.

This week is my last week of classes. I'm not so sad ending Drawing class as it was mainly Senior Social Hour every Tuesday morning. I did learn quite a lot, and will continue to draw and learn new things on my own.

I am very sad that this Friday is my last Jewelry Class and I am sad. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this class! I've learned SOOOOOOO much from this class. Now that I won't be going to class anymore, I'll have to start doing some fierce designing and construction and get some of this awesome cool stuff I've been doing up in my shop.

Promise to do more posting, I've just not been into any of it this month.

Just another lazy Sunday

Well, today didn't quite turn out as it was supposed to...pretty much the whole weekend went like that.

It's all been good, but I miss my friend who was supposed to ride her shiny new bike over to have turkey burgers with us. That's the only thing that was a downer. She's not feeling well and shouldn't be out riding, so we'll have to do it another day.

Spencer had a friend over for the entire weekend, so none of the food I bought will go to waste. As a matter of fact, they've just finished it all off and he's off to the bus stop and headed home.

I'm tired. I've been either shopping for food or cooking it. Don't know how you folks handle more than one kid, especially a teen. They are non-stop eating machines! Thank God for my dishwasher, it's run twice already.

I haven't done anything drawing-wise or jewelry-wise. I've been trying to get myself to work on my Stitches on the Bridge project that needs to be in Scotland soon. As some of you may recall, I made a grid of the Golden Gate Bridge and originally planned to do that in double-knitting. Well, that changed last night.

My left wrist is giving me some grief lately - actually a LOT of grief, so double-knitting isn't exactly the technique I should be doing right now. So I took apart what little I had done (trust me, it wasn't much...only about 6 inches of about 76 inches needed), and started over.

It's still a double-knitted pattern, but a much simpler one - a graphic - and it's going rather quickly and it doesn't aggravate the wrist.

Now, if I could only keep working on it. I seem to have a case of the snoozles...I'm so tired this past week, I've taken naps almost every day and not surprisingly, I've had troubles sleeping at night. It's a vicious cycle. I'm trying very hard to stay out of bed during the day today, so hopefully, I'll be able to sleep tonight.

Off to work on the scarf now...

Black and White and hope you read it all over...

Hello everyone. Today I'm turning over the blog to some guest bloggers who will be making appearances every so often. All that excitement over bikes and tires and evil poking thorns has just worn me out. I need a rest.

And now, take it away guest bloggers!!!

Hello evriwone! My name is Ms Cow. My bestest frend Cow and I will be stepping in whenevr Donna gets too bizzy or lazy to blog. Today we are just going to tell a bit abowt ourselfes. I'll go ferst.



I live with Donna and Spensr in there howse in Kalifornia. My best frend Cow lives in Eenglind with her Honey. My othr frends are Kitty, Sock Munky, Marven the Dalek for skale and Sidney the knitted Dalek (he also livs with Honey and Cow very far aways). Cow and I haf desided that we haf a solushun for this far away stuffs. I am lerning how to drive and will drive across the U.S. to meet him when he sales over in his bote.

Here I am bukled in safe.



I likes to du many things but will safe that for othur posts.

And now it's Cow's tern:



Helo evribody. My nam is Cow and I liv in Inglund with Martin. My bestest frend is Ms Cow but she lives a long long way away with Donna so I hav maid a cuning plan. I hav desined a bote so I can sale acros the see. Martin has tort me som notts and I hav red a buk abowt saling and I hav bean lerning navygaiting with his gps. It is very esy cos you pres a buton to tell it were your going and it tells you were to turn left or rite and even wich rode your on. Heer is a pikchure of the bote



Martin ses we hav to maik a complykated pikchure cald a lines plan befor we maik the bote so I hav bean helping him do that. Wen he isn’t luking I maik it a bit bigger so ther is mor rum for Ms Cow to hav cow partys! But don’t tel him that or hell be cros.

My other frends are Soc Monkey, and Sidney and Marvin the daleks. Next time I will tell you mor abowt them, and abowt wen Martin and Donna took us on a ship, and we sat in the captens char.

Mooooooooooooo


Heer we ar togethr on a visit




(Editor's Note: The Cows didn't want me messing with their spelling this time out. I told them they really need to take advantage of the spell check function as I'm not going to spend all day correcting their spelling - I'm supposed to be on a break!!! We'll see how that works as they are both very stubborn.)

Kevlar Tires 1 Puncture Vine 0

So...Spence and I head out for our test drive. We rode about 6 minutes down the trail to a business park where Spence did some tricks and I just hung out while he did his thing.



Isn't she gorgeous?!?

Why, yes, she is...


On the way home, I picked up this in my front tire...



Son-of-a-bitch...I'm an evil thorn thingy magnet.

Tire held up tho! I'm so very happy. I panicked when I saw it, but I pulled it out, and new tire didn't even notice it. BOOYAH!

This one episode alone is worth the $80 I just spent today getting all this...3 months left of thorn season.... GO KEVLAR TIRES!!!!

Prepare for Battle! *

*Gandalf to the Gondorian Soldiers in LOTR Return of the King...

It begins... Spence and I take a trip to the bike shop.



Let's see what she bought....

Feelin' lucky punk? (from Dirty Harry)



Why, yes...with you on my bike, I do feel a bit luckier than before. Kevlar. Lined. Tires.

What's next...oooh...you need tubes to go in those tires girlfriend...will these do?



Read the box carefully...Thorn Resistant. Why yes, those will do nicely.

Here's what the thorn resistant tubes (left) look like compared to the regular tubes (right).



They are pretty much like a water hose. Why yes, those will be just fine. Thank you very muchly.

They are a bit bigger than my regular tires and Spence had to adjust my fenders. I'm sure glad I waited for his help.

They were also hard to get on and his muscles came in very handy. Here's Sgt Puff all kitted out and ready for battle.



No more wobbly tires - the original tires were very inexpensive tires that totally went wonky after all the on and off of these recent flat tire changing episodes. They did last a good 10 months tho, which is pretty good for the low end of the tire range. Stupid cheap showroom tires. No wonder I couldn't get them to sit right on the rims anymore - which is why they were wobbly and which is also why I haven't been riding my bike. Didn't want to take the chance of doing damage to the rims (expensive and time consuming to fix!) or any other part of my beautiful Bike.

Anyway, I've SOOOO missed riding my pretty blue bike. And I've been paranoid riding Honey's bike. Not only is it too big, but I was so afraid of getting flat tires! But ride it I did, and it was very awesome that we have it for an extra. I love his bike!

Spencer is changing the tire on his - he does a lot of skidding and so on with his fixed gear bike, so his tire issues are about running down the tread, not getting flat tires. BUT...I have convinced him that he needs to keep an extra tube, patch kit, and pump on him...just in case. Soon, we'll be ready for a test ride.

We'll be going off to the bike shop again after our test ride to get him an extra tube and a pump he can strap to his frame.

Punture Vine (tribulus terrestris)? I'm ready.

Just click on the link to read a bit about this non-native weed and to see photos of its thorny bits. Evil looking, aren't they?

If you walk, run, or ride on the trails around here, please be careful of these things, they are very sharp and I'm sure could hurt if they got in your shoes or on the paws of your puppy pals. We all know what they do to tires...sigh.

Rites of Passage...

Today has been a good day.

Spencer and I have entered into new phases of our lives.

He is with his Father in Texas visiting family. I got a mysterious text from Dad this morning to "Check your email. :)"

I open his email and what do I find? A photo of my son shaving. I won't post it here, even tho it is the most adorable photo of him I've seen in a long time. Although that statement alone is probably embarrassing enough. (My work is done.)

I cried when I saw it. And I've got a bit of welling up going on now as I type this too. Can't help it. The "growing up train" is charging full steam ahead. I can either jump on and enjoy the ride or stand by on the platform and watch it pass.

Wow, that was deep.

My friend Antonella was over today. Yes, I had a visitor in the Chaos. I haven't had anyone over to visit since Honey came over the winter Holidays. Spencer has had friends over and stuff, but I haven't had any visitors.

This is a big step for me. The place is still a wreck, but it was clean. As is the usual. I wish I had a magic storage closet. A closet where I could put all this stuff that came out of my old storage unit and the closet itself would just be a small space. Sigh. A Tardis of a closet if you will - "Bigger on the inside."

Anyway, I've accepted my Chaos. Not to say I won't still keep working on it, but I've accepted that I like company, and I really do like having friends over to visit. And that if I ever want friends over to visit before I'm too old to care, I need to accept that the Chaos is there and have friends over 'around' it, so to speak, until it is gone.

So, early this morning, I rode out to Antonella's place, where she was waiting with her shiny new bike, and we pedaled over to my place. I showed her how to navigate the trails, how to bypass the hills (that's important for a rider who needs to get used to her bike) and where to turn off for shops restaurants and what nots.

It was a wonderful ride and when we got to my place, I had my daily chat with Honey, we headed across the road for some groceries and I cooked up some home made turkey burgers.

It was a wonderful ride, visit and meal with my first visitor in too long.

I miss my Honey...

'nuf said.

And again, nothing gets done...

I seem to be in a bit of a funk this week.

Don't feel like doing anything...and I haven't. It's a wonder I manage to feed the cat and myself these past few days.

I miss my son and his doses of happiness. This whole unemployed thing is very depressing, and Spencer coming here on my scheduled custody days always brings me back up and into reality and gives me something to look forward to. With him gone in Texas all week, its all moping, all the time, ever since he left. sigh.

I've fixed the back tire on my bike, but it still seems a bit off. Whatever, maybe I'll get around to working on it again to try and find/fix the problem, maybe I won't. I most likely won't.

I've decided to re-read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince since I couldn't for the life of me remember what the hell happened in the damn book. At least I'm doing something.

I really should go outside and sit and draw and get some fresh air. Maybe even take out my jewelry supplies and work on re-doing those pieces that need fixing. I probably won't.

I'm going to go back to reading. In my quiet apartment, with the drapes all closed and the only company, the cat, who just doesn't give a flip what the hell I do as long as she gets fresh food and water every morning.

yeah, whut-e-vah...

Yep, the bike is still in the hallway with a flat.

The jewelry still needs to be re-done.

There has been no drawing.

There has been no organizing.

There has been no cleaning.

I have yet to color my hair - and the grey roots are getting bad. I'm wearing hats to cover it - I NEVER wear hats.

It is now 10:30pm and I've just realized I didn't eat dinner. And it's not cos I was busy.

I did manage some laundry the other day, but only cos Spencer needed some clothes washed so he could pack them and I ran out of clean socks and undies. The whole "no more clean undies" is a great laundry motivator, isn't it?

I am a slug.

If only my brain could do physical labor, I wouldn't be one.

In my brain, I'm one very busy woman, getting all sorts of things done...a little crafting, cooking, cleaning, organizing tornado. Whirrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

Oh, and those gift cards? Gone.

Good to know I still have an imagination and despite my slugnicity, I can still shop.