Summer Solstice

Did you frolic naked in the dew of the Summer Solstice?   (If your lawn still has some morning dew - go get out there!)

I only kicked off my slippers and wandered around my front yard this morning as the Hub hooked up the boat and got ready to go chase a few largemouth bass.    So my feet should be soft and lovely.   (I have a pedicure scheduled anyway.)

(Read Author’s awesome post about Summer Solstice here.)

♦

On other notes…   I have over 350 posts to read in my Google Reader Feed.   ugh.   I’ll try to get through them today!   Most are book reviews so they go quite fast - read the post title, don’t care, click off, next!  

♦

I so love weekends with ZERO plans!    Of course, I still have laundry, grocery-shopping, dog food prep (I package my pup’s meals into individual containers - a story for some-day-not-today.)   

Hopefully some movies will get watched (my Netflix in-house movies are Stardust, The Kingdom and Elizabeth II) and I’m sure I’ll be able to read some of my book.    So nice…

Have a great day!   Blog at ya later, C 

Photo Friday: Midsummer Night’s… Dreams?

 

Follow this link to see more and read all about how you can, too, participate in this fun activity.

It’s FRIDAY!  So, I give you a PHOTO.   The theme is Midsummer Night’s Dream.

  This is my attempt from the other night to take a shot of the Strawberry Moon.   I am almost embarrassed to display it.

Let me, instead, present this next one.   I was standing on my front stoop and thought the light from my lamp at the end of the driveway cast an eery glow to the circle surrounding.    The resulting image was very dark, but I cropped it down, changed the brightness and the contrast using Microsoft’s Office Picture Manager, and compressed it for webpage display.   You’ll just have to imagine any faeries dancing, I don’t have Photoshop.     The photo that follows is the original. 

 

 

Have a fabulous Friday everyone! 

 

Oh, and apparently, today is Take Your Dog To Work Day.    Be sure to play the song!   But since, I don’t have a job (not TODAY), I took the dog to his Day Care so he could play with his friends.   He has a very good life.  

Strawberry Moon

What a fun week I’m having!     (I didn’t take these photos…)  Last night, the full moon glowed so pretty!   The nice TV weathercasters say that the full moon in June is called a Strawberry Moon.   It’s lovely - did you see it?   Look tonight!      

I attempted photos since tomorrow’s Photo Friday theme is A Midsummer’s Night - and I haven’t a clue what to do for it.    I have yet to load these attempts to the computer but I don’t think I did as well as these folks.        

After a long day at the office yesterday (um, 9 am to 3 pm…   When I was driving away, my car clock showed 3:01 - maybe I was in a hurry to skedaddle, huh?)   and then taking a few bottles back to the packie (liquor store) to reclaim the $1.80 that my Dunkin Donuts cinnamon coffee with cream cost me.   Oh not really!  I put that $1.80 towards a box of red wine…

I had another tutoring session with my new Brazilian Portuguese speaking friend and we are having a lot of fun.   I hope she is.   I made up a tonque twister for her to practice her ‘th’ sounds:

The tenth and thirtieth thirsty thinkers think many thoughts.     

And I’ve told her she’s not allowed to say the word ‘make‘.    She overuses it and incorrectly, at that.   She was a bit apprehensive at this request.      We are breaking a few double negative habits, too. 

 ♦

Now TODAY!    I have 3 sessions of computer training at the nursing home.   Half the residents are quite independent and I offered to teach anyone who is interested to “DO EMAIL”.   I have seven ladies and one gentleman signed up.   

I gave them instructions to WRITE DOWN their kids/grandkids email addresses on paper.   I hope I can get everyone set up!     Mouse skills come second after a quick overview of the simplest terms I can think of.    Please wish me luck!   I really do think this will be fun.    How rewarding if I can actually get some grandparents in communication with the g-kids!     

One question I’ve already had:    “But what if they aren’t sitting at their computer when we send the letter?”  

Goodness, what have I gotten myself into!?

OH - and next week, I’m helping a guy start a WordPress Blog!   Thru our library program.    I’ve only emailed him, requesting what time to meet, what’s his blog name, etc.     and he has yet to sign up with WP.   Apparently he wants to KNOW EVERYTHING first.   At least he’s got email.   Another fun adventure to occupy my liveliness…

 

Lastly, who loves Alan Rickman?   I rented the film Snow Cake - loved it.    Extremely interesting movie…  quirky in a good way.   

Huh?

Guess I’m not feeling too clever in the post-titling competition if there is even such a thing.   Huh? 

Annie, that writer chick with the new ‘big girl’ blog, has a post called Small It Down.     Go ahead, click on that link, and then come back here.  or not.  whatever.

My Hub is out of town and so I’m sitting here blogging into the evening.      I told him I had a hard long day. and then started to giggle. What I want is something else but has a similar description; I miss him.  

and here I go again, sitting down to write ONE thing and getting WAAAAYYYY off topic! again.

Did you go read Annie’s post and then come back or did you skip it and are still reading here?   Be honest. Hell, I probably lost ya.   You sauntered off over there, made a comment cuz the post is so good and then forgot all about coming back here, didn’t ya.   OK.   don’t blame ya.

I almost commented to Annie that I was feeling just the opposite of what she was conveying in her post. NOT that her post wasn’t AWESOME - which it is.      But that my issues are the opposite.  I small it down too much and then like a pond of mosquito hatching scum, I’ve become pooled, trapped even, into some nasty hatching bad thoughts of smallness.

My salvation is the outward approach and inspiration of the largeness of the world.   That my silly stupid miniscule problems that eat my brain are so…   NOTHING on the grand scale of life that I feel better realizing that I am a small cog of cheer or CAN be a cog of cheerfulness and sunshine that can add to the world’s well-being.   By that I mean, that I cannot  think small.   My worth increases as I consider my snowflake as part of the whole big iceberg.

I suppose we could be saying the same thing, it’s just a perception shift.   A different perspective of where you put the good in which way you look.

Be grateful LOUDLY and shout your joys out and up and beyond and experience it full, not small and tiny or puny. I don’t want to whisper to myself small and quiet and alone, I want to jump and cheer and clap and be glad and dance and live large; that’s what I want. I want to be a singing daffodil among thousands, all yellow happy and abundant.   I want the big bright sunshine, the tall pines swaying their approval, the clouds doing the bunny hop and the chicken dance. I want to feel like I can run up those mountains and enjoy the rapids that swiftly move thru any valleys to crash happily over the waterfalls.   I want to be a part of the big.

- Marianne Williamson  Return To Love 

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

- Marianne Williamson Return to Love 

I can still remember how I felt the first time I read this quote (often mis-attibuted to Nelson Mandela, he was quoting MW)    I was shocked, jolted.    Yea, “C” - who the hell are you to be thinking so little  of yourself?!    Truly, still, one of my greatest fears is that I’m not doing what I’m supposed to be doing. 

Have some sweet sugar-coated dreams now, ya hear.

I Got A Job

Guess what I’m doing today!   I’m WORKING!   at a job!! 

Actually, that is only about a fourth of the true story since tomorrow, I WON’T be working anymore.   I’m covering the real estate office - for just today - that I used to work with.    The receptionist/office manager/great-all-around-awesome-friend is out on a field trip with one of the kidlets and needed some one to fill in for her.  (Cuz of course NONE of the agents can afford to demean themselves to - gasp! - answer any phonecalls not directly FOR them.   geez.  Even when they happen to be in the office.  It’s most astounding how UNTEAM PLAYERs real estate agents can be…)

So.  Here I am!   Hoping the phone doesn’t ring and I can play on the computer and make a few copies and generally just have a day away from home.   I brought a ton of stuff to do:  write letters, read magazines, blog (of course), etc.

However, bummer of bummers, the ‘boss’ just came in and tells me that the office is having a meeting today.   that BLOWs.  oh well.

That’s the scoop on my Wednesday.    What’s exciting, new and different or not with YOU?    Wait, nevermind, I’ll just go read YOUR blogs and find out.   Such fun…

You Think You’re Loving But…

I’m Leaving YOU for the last time Baby,

You Think You’re Loving,   But

You Don’t Love Me, 

Babe, I’ve got to be free….

 

SO, I bought the Duffy CD.   I am really enjoying all of it all, all the songs, singing along, etc.    Guess when I do find favorite music, I immerse myself in it.     I can’t stop singing this Warwick Avenue song (which is a WHOLE lot better than the little clip that took residence in my head the other day:   Fergie’s “She can’t help it, the girl can’t help it, OH NO!”   repeat…)

Not much of a post today.   So I’ll ask a question:   What is the FIRST album, CD, song, you ever purchased?    I know that I bought singles - would have been the 70s and I really do recall suffering over the decisions, trying to decide which ONE?!   which one to buy?!?!?!  but I can’t not think of the song that was my very first.   I thought maybe it was the Byrds Turn, Turn, Turn  but that is too early.   I’m thinking something from 1973 or 1974, something sorrowful, slow and deep with meaning, I’m sure.    I have sketchy memories of singing Doobie Brothers songs on the playground.   So what happened between that and this:  my admission that my first album was Barry Manilow Live?   1977.    I know every word to every song on that damn thing, too.   

Random Meme from Hallie

I was tagged by the Brilliant Hallie for this meme.    

1. What were you doing five years ago?

Five years ago would have been June of 2003.  I was living in Kansas City and my husband would be doing well but not great at his remodeling business.    The only reason I say ‘not great’ is that in order to consider himself doing ‘great’, he would be needing to put more away into the 401k –> ie, the(my?!) retirement fund, etc. and we were just ‘making it’.    This makes me laugh now because I’m not sure where the money was going since our mortgage was a LOT less there than here in Mass and we had a bigger house.   So strange, isn’t it?   What you believe CAN influence your reality.   Just reading that sentence makes me laugh a little in one of those ‘I shouldn’t be laughing’ kind of ways.  I do that a lot.   Laugh inappropriately…   Anyway, where was I?    Five years ago.  I was managing data streams for a restaurant company and my boss was someone I respected a lot but also thought was really missing out on one part of life (having ANY fun.)    A great example of unbalance and/or you can never really know about some people.   Then again, judging is bad.   This concludes the lesson.

2. What are five things on your to-do list today?

1. Do something with the hamburger that has been in the freezer awhile.*
2. Balance the chemicals in the hot tub.
3. Read; finish one book and continue in another.
4. Blog some.
5. Grocery shopping & laundry.

3. What snacks do you enjoy?

Hub is actually attempting the weightloss goal by spending a ton of cash on Nutrisystem.   I LOVE their chocolate peanut butter bars and the white cheddar chip things.   But I also love onion rings, chips and guacamole, spinach/artichoke dip, ice cream;  most anything called ’snack’, really.   I love food.    Stacy’s Pita chips are the very best of that category.   My favorite candy bar is the $100,000 bar and I love DOVE dark chocolate.    When I go to the movies, I must have buttered popcorn - it’s just a part of my movie-going experience.

4. Things you would do if you were a billionaire.   

Invest a third for me, invest a third in others, spend a third on a big boat, build a front porch onto my Colonial house - oh crap, forget that! - I would sell this and buy a lake home, learn to fly my own plane and buy a pair of dark purple cowboy boots in some exotic leather.

5. Three of your bad habits.

1. Self doubt and self-pity (can that be one or should it be two?) 
2. Drinking a bit too much alcohol a little too often. 
3. I bum cigarettes cuz so many of my friends smoke but I don’t often think about smoking when I’m by myself so I rarely buy or have cigs of my own.  Yes, I know it’s a bad habit.   It’s a social thing.

6. Five places you have lived.

I have lived in many towns in Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, two in Nebraska, a summer in Washington DC and short stint near DC close to Dulles Airport, besides where I live now:

1. Massachusetts
2. Virginia
3. Missouri
4. Nebraska
5. Illinois

7. Five jobs that you’ve had?

No particular order:

1. Hostess at Red Lobster
2. Learning Skills Instructor
3. Computer Programmer
4. Vocational Education Program Coordinator
5. Realtor

8. How did you name your blog?

A long time ago when I purchased a website address of my name - I thought it would be cool to learn web design and have my own personal website, (I never really got around to learning much more than the very basics) and I also bought ideajump.com  because I liked the vague-ness yet positiveness of how these two words sounded together.   And it was available, it was short, most people know how to spell idea and jump, and so I put down the $6…   I was toying with the idea of being a lifecoach at that point in my life, too, and thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a place to park such a business if it took off.    Once I discovered this blogging thing, I decided to jump into it and thought Idea Jump would be a good title.   I don’t know why I didn’t call my id ‘ideajump’ to keep it seamless; somehow I ended up with ‘curiousC’.    I don’t think much thought went into that at all.

 

I am simmering some Hamburger Stew right now:   1# hamburger, potatoes, carrots, green beans, 2 cans tomato sauce…    Will serve with Cuban Bread - a good thick hearty white bread.

Photo Friday the 13th: Unlucky?

  A study in contrasts, a dilemma of superstition.   Click to the end if you prefer not to read the narrative.   Consider yourself warned…

Today’s theme for Photo Friday is UNLUCKY, chosen by the originator of this very fun and creative activity, AUTHOR, over at A Curious State of Affairs.

Here is our logo   

Now… 

WHAT?!  to me is unlucky?    Do I even believe in luck?    or do I believe in serendipity?   (one of my favorite words - fun to say and it has a fun meaning.)   If you follow that link, ‘luck’ is part of the definition.   Or maybe, I just like what luck rhymes with.   Funny how lucky only really rhymes with ducky, isn’t it?   or yucky;  kooky and wookie don’t rhyme.   Oh.   sorry, got off track there a bit.

I can imagine you scratching your head.    

Um, “C”?   This is supposed to be a PHOTO POST. 

Oh yea.   I’m getting to it, really.

Here’s the setup.   I am running late for my pet therapy appointment at the Brain Injury place, right?   It’s POURING.    Raining hard.      REALLY  raining hard.   

I back out of the drive and my vehicle is FREAKING.   It’s beeping and lights are flashing and I sense, hey, my car is trying to tell my something.   

I throw it into park and study the display thingy and attempt to discern what the little lighted pictures on the dashboard mean.   

With me so far?   It’s raining.   Did I mention that?   It’s relevant.

I have a flat tire.    I have 36 psi, 36 psi, 36, psi, 11 psi.     The display thingy doesn’t say WHICH tire so I get out into the rain and walk around the car.

I can’t tell.

I can not tell which tire is flat.    I suspect it’s one of the rear tires, only because it was the last one listed on the Tire Pressure Display.

I get back in the car and dial the phone number to the Brain Injury Rehab Institute to let them know I won’t be there at my scheduled time.   (oh no, I don’t have a brain injury although you might be wondering - I take my dog to visit the very nice patients there.)

I drive back into my driveway, park and go back into the house.    I actually open ice cream and serve myself a dish and check this blog for comments.  

But then,  I start wondering.   WWKKD?     What would Kasey Kahne do?    Besides call his crew chief, I mean.   He would do a BETTER investigative job to figure out which friggin’ tire was flat!   So, I go back out into the rain but this time, I am more prepared.   I have a rain coat on and I’m utilizing that cool tool called an umbrella.   By the way, I think that song by Rhianna is stupid.   Umbrella-Umbrell, Umbrell, Um Um.   WTF!?  OR is it the other way?  Umbrella Brella Brella Luh Uh Uh.  Whatever.

It’s really raining.

I feel around the tires.   Try squishing to see if they are soft.    I get my ear close to listen for a hissing.   Nothing.

I go back in and continue to eat my ice cream.    I realize I seek food as comfort.    I hold back on calling the husband.   He isn’t going to do anything but sigh with disappointment anyway.   How is that helpful?

Then.   ALL OF A SUDDEN!    I think about the very nice place I buy gas.   Full-service.   [Remind me sometime to tell you about the first time I attempted to pump gas the day we moved to Massachusetts.   Or have I already?]

I google for my favorite gas station and call them.    Can they fix and/or find out which tire is flat if I come by?   YES!!!!    Hallelujah.

Have I lost you yet?   This is boring you, isn’t it.

Long story shorter:     Fabian finds this in my tire:    Sorry it’s blurry.    [later, I got the book out to learn more about super focus macros and attempted this shot of this wavy weird piece of metal: 

Compared to a banana? 

And it looks really old!   Like it was pounded, forged, whatever by hand!    Not machine made, anyway.

Fabian is able to patch the tire and it’s held one week now with no loss in psi.   FOR FREE!   no money!!    and yes, Fabian is kinda cute, too.

The point of all this blahblahblah is to ask:  was I UNLUCKY to have run over this crazy piece of tire puncturing annoyance and have it ruin my day, disrupt my plans, IN THE RAIN?   - or -   was I LUCKY to have been AT home when this catastrophe occurred, and close to my now favorite tire repair station where I made a new friend named Fabian?   and have a story to share, in pictures, for this week’s Photo Friday?

The vote is yours.

Now, for some “ART”  of my tire!   

 

♦ 

Follow Up and Then Some

First.    Hmmmm, I don’t know what to address first…   I want to respond to a few of the comments to a few of my latest posts.   

Ah, let’s address the question of Wilhelmina.    A few of you will remember Wilhelmina, yes?    I had posted about her, oh back in February?   And then zipped off to Costa Rica, got obsessed with my tan, flew to AZ, Palm Springs, involved with a wedding, and of course, my favorite time filler:  blogging, and.   well…   Wilhelmina has ended up like this:

 

So, sndra of no link, I can’t show you ‘how it turned out’.   I have only the heart I glued on and maybe, not sure the pencil marks will show up in the photo, but I drew on her to get an idea of how to map out my idea.    I have collected a few more items that are concave and convex to attempt a ‘fit’ with her curves, and that’s about it.   Guess this calls me a procrastinator.   Have I ever told you about the Christmas stockings I was cross-stitching for me and Hub?   I got one done a couple of years ago.   The other is still only a half way stitched design and I started these is 1990.     I have dresses cut with their patterns still pinned waiting for me to just sew up that were begun in 1993.    Which means that the cross-stitched stuff has been stored in SEVEN houses, and the sewing project has been following through my last FOUR houses.   Did you all know that I move a lot?    Yep, I am living in my 7th house.   in under 20 years.    It was a much worse average before the last 3 houses but the 6th house was lived in only 4 months so maybe not?   whatever.

My messy craft room, Wilhie up close:

      I glued the ♥ a little too high…

Second, on my artichoke post, JavaQueen mentions that she saw artichokes in the store and wondered how to cook.    Honestly, my first thought is RUN TO GOOGLE and look it up?!     What I really did was actually open up the WordPress search and entered How to Cook Artichoke and found some good resources.    Whenever anyone asks me “How Did you Know…”, I can usually always answer, “I GOOGLED IT!”    Ok, somebody tell me what you call a word that has been watered down to mean the universal non-specific noun/verb and not the brand?  ie, Xerox, kleenex, etc?   ’Google’ is becoming such a word, don’t ya agree?   (crap, they are going to come look for me now and demand a nickel.)

and Lastly and or Thirdly, my rant about commenting in the first half of the artichoke Wednesday post, was in no way to admonish any of YOU to leave me a comment (or I won’t visit you.?!  ha)   That is SO not the case!    I was only expressing a slight dissatisfaction with a particular activity on my other blog that is supposed to inspire community (duh, comment-leaving) where I felt I did MY  duty to the others and got no love in return.   It would be similar to my Photo Fridays if I always posted, commented on the other participants’ photos and NONE - ie, NO ONE, in the 6-7 weeks of ’sharing’ - EVER came by to say hi.     And I can only assume it’s due to the variety and thus ‘chore’ of commenting on so many types of blog platforms.     (oh, PFers!  I love our sense of community but I know it’s not always possible to visit everyone each and every week, especially when we start getting hundreds involved, right?   good.   AND, btw, the theme tomorrow, FRIDAY the 13th, is UNLUCKY.)

Please, comment when you want to, don’t when you don’t.   Really, it’s OK.   I’m a big girl and I will get over it, and move on.    LOVE YA!    

OH, you didn’t think I was done, did you?!    I just HAVE TO SHARE THIS!   I planted zucchini!    Last FRIDAY!  and now yesterday they are not just babies, they are toddlers!!

 

  Yes, I know, I KNOW I planted too many.  I’ll thin the grouping down to one eventually, which is sad, maybe I’ll transport some instead.

 

New Tutee

I have a new TUTEE.  I’m quite excited which you would usually be more aware of but I’m trying to refrain from over-exclamation-pointing.

My first tutor-EE (which to me sounds better than tutee), failed to show up to our sessions.   (I’m not sure what has happened to her.)   I was helping her with the math portion of the GED.   I was also to help my second tutor-EE with math, but her doctor put her on bedrest.   She’s expecting her first child in August.   

So, I have a NEW gal to help and she doesn’t need any assistance with mathematics.  No, this wonderful lady wants to improve her English.   She’s from Brazil.

I am having a tough time pronouncing Portuguese words so we are having lots of fun teaching each other how to say things properly.     When she told me she now works at Wendys, it took me a loooong time to figure out she was saying ‘Wendy’s.’  

I first met her on Monday and I’m meeting her again this afternoon.     She wants to get together at least twice a week.     

THIS IS A WHOLE LOT MORE INTIMIDATING for me than the math help.     Which is exactly why it is more FUN!!    (diversao?   I’m going on memory.   I only know I really couldn’t get my mouth around this word at all.)

Just thought I’d share.    Back to your regular programming.