Did anyone catch episode 5 of "Project Runway" on the internet? Because:
Gretchen should have been sent home. Seriously. She has proven so annoying and overbearing that everyone on that team just cowtowed to her without a struggle. How could she not see the way others would keep their head down or turned away from her? She couldn't, because she made it all about her with her constant remarks of how well they were all working together.
That team threw itself under the bus. Poor Michael C! The designers were still annoyed that he was able to pull a design out his ass and win last week's challenge. Even Michael didn't even realize how well his dress looked and was just as surprised as everyone else when he won! But to not even allow his input to a team he put together?!?
AJ's designs were a bit too kooky for me (although episode 4's was a stunner despite the hat) but I know plenty who would wear them with pride. I did think his shirt dress was crap, but so was the rest of the "Luxe" collection. The whole Luxe look was just so Virginia Slims 1980.
And none of this really even matters because the Minikins received some new toys!
I haven't been feeling so well since a week ago today. I think it may be just getting used to a new med. One can hope. I'm also hoping the new med is the reason behind my eye sight sucking so badly this week, too.
*Sigh.*
Today I'm pushing myself to get some stuff done no matter how I feel. I want to avoid taking a nap, too. I need to get back to my "early to bed – early to rise" schedule again. I find I'm more productive when I get up at the crack of dawn (5-6 am) like I did today. Eight or nine am just isn't cutting the mustard.
Here is a picture of the baby cat sleeping next to my laptop:
On Monday the Darling Husband took a vacation day to drive me to a few places. I've not felt like going out on my own lately. Groceries were needed from Sav-a-lot and Krogers, toiletries from Target, and I needed to drop by the unemployment office.
When I was separated from employment for a second time last June there was no more money for my unemployment claim (OMG! WHUT ARE WE GONNA DO?!?) so they told me to keep looking for work (duh); watch the new for information about money becoming available; and come back in when there was money.
I will get the back pay because I did look earnestly for work. I hope those checks come soon or it really will be OMG! WHUT ARE WE GONNA DO?!?
I loaded up on canned fruit (juice packed) from Sav-a-lot, fresh stuff, meat, and other stuff from Krogers, and besides those toiletries, paper goods, and laundry supplies I also got these cheap little squeakits from Target:
Look whut purty colors! Aren't they cute? Don't 'cha just wanna tickle all those bellies?
They are all for the Minikins.
I could give one to Grace and Lily, but they wouldn't really play with them except to keep them from Mini (which is very entertaining, but kinda of mean to let it go on very long).
I can only give one to Mini at a time every few days and she will carry it around for a bit and then tear it to shreds of bright colored plastic bits all over the house.
Plastic bits everywhere. A rainbow of plastic bits all over my house.
Because Mini must stop the little bears from squeaking and then slaughter them to little more than nothing.
She would totally do them all in at once, which is why I have to pace her.
The little bears were cheap, but they weren't free.
Still I had to get something for her. Every time we come home from errands with bags of stuff to put away Mini is right in those sacks looking to see what we brought her in the way of new toys (Grace and Lily look for snacks). It's really pitiful to see her walk away from those bags with no treasure to carry away.
We've all got to find a bit of cheer where ever we can. I choose to see it in the dogs for now — because they are the easiest to please!
So the upgrade is still not right, but it is more tolerable.
I've still not found another job. Wonder if it's gonna take me six months from the last job before I find another one? Mmmm…
The baby cat (TJ) is growing and growing. He's a very busy and verbal cat. And by verbal I mean he meows even more the Sophie does!
We've not had a kitten in the house in twenty years and I'd forgotten how busy they can be checking everything out, climbing and tunneling into places you don't expect.
The most surprising thing about this cat? His demands to share your people food. We've had plenty of kittens and cats before and I can tell you that none of them were ever as interested in everything we are eating like TJ is. Sophie (and Daisy in her time) will show some interest if we're eating any kind of poultry, but that is it. No other cat we've had could have cared any less about what the people in the house might be eating.
They all had an interest in what the dogs of the house were chowing down.
So we have to put TJ in Darling Son's room while we're eating — or any other time we need some space from TJ. And TJ can whine and howl so. OMG! You'd think he was dying behind that door!
TJ is very big on being in your arms when he wants to relax or sleep. He's wants to cuddle and pet your face as he drifts off to sleep.
Every animal is different, pholks. I know. I've had enough to testify such.
When I'm taking photos or videos with my cell phone I don't have any sort of movie idea in my head. It's just when I get enough to look over and pick from I come up with something to tie it all together.
…but the fruit of the tree. Presenting — our first plum:
It was not completely ripe, but it did fall from the tree on its own, so Darling Hubby cut it in half and we ate it! Parts of it were completely delicious and a bit of it was quite tart, but it was all yummy. Really.
We were surprised to see tiny green plums on the tree a few weeks ago. When we got the tree and put it in the ground we were told it would be at least three years before we saw any plums.
This morning Lily discovered another plum on the ground, but she didn't eat it.
Oh, no, she didn't!
She carried it around the yard, pitching it up in the air and catching it with her mouth, or grabbing it off the ground before Gracie could get the juicy little ball from her.
I've posted it with this nickel for size (and on my screen the plum and nickel are actual size, too).
Darling hubby and I culled through our closet and dresser drawers. We finished with 8 bags of clothing to donate and a few that just had to be trashed. Apparently one can have too many polo shirts!
Now we have room in the closet to move things back and forth and our dresser drawers open properly again.
~ … ~
I have been flying for decades. I think I may have been eight or nine years old when I first began. It was so difficult at first. Learning the right amount of running time and just how small a rise would give me any lift.
At first the length of time I was airborne was so short, I thought I'd just imagined any time past the second or two of a normal hop, skip, and jump. As each year would pass my time aloft would become more and more prolonged. By age eleven I was surely aerial a good and equal eleven minutes.
It was not my imagination.
I was flying.
I could fly.
All by myself. Up in the air. Maybe a good forty feet above land.
I did well at keeping my secret. I would say to my pholks that I was going to ride my bike. And I would ride my bike. I'd ride my bike to the most private places I could find.
Flying about in circles lost its interest quickly and so I was constantly searching for bigger spaces to hone my skill.
By age seventeen I could stay elevated for nearly an hour. Landings were smooth and soft. Height was no longer limiting — I could go as high as I chose, but not as high as I wanted. Too much height could lead to discovery and I had an innate awareness to keep this gift from notice without the understanding of that wisdom.
At thirty I no longer needed to run a few a few paces up even the smallest bump in a field before I could take off. Just a casual few steps and I was airborne. I'd have to force the approach to altitude to keep aloft.
Around my fortieth birthday I'd conquered the ability to ascend and descent with the calmness of an ebb tide.
Finding the time and place to take to the air was becoming a rarity. Family, home, and life made it difficult for me to break away. Our choice to live in a densely populated area also meant less alternatives for privacy.
I became unexpectedly aware that I was not noticeable. Not me. I had not become invisible, too.
My action was not detectable.
It was the animals. My dog no longer chased and barked from the ground below. Instead she would just follow under me as if we were walking together. Birds in flight were no longer startled to find me beside them.
I could fly where ever I chose! People might see me above them, but there was no panic. It wasn't that they were accepting of my status in the air — they just couldn't see that I was flying. Their minds were only conscious of my appearance. Their memory was of seeing me at the grocery or across the street. It was an oddly wonderful and sensational realization.
And this summer? On this warm morning in the middle of my forty-ninth year?
I no longer needed any pre-steps to flight.
You were walking beside me, holding my hand, and I was hovering in that grasp.
Tomorrow I'm going to share this wonderful secret with you.
Tomorrow you will ride with me…
~ … ~
Monday (being yesterday) is also the day I prefer to change our bed linens.
I was blessed with intelligence, but unfortunately I’m only intelligent enough to wish I were more intelligent. I have unlimited interests, but I’m not sure I have any real passion for anything. I have many talents, but I’m not truly gifted in anything.
Should I be working in formal employment? Should I be working on my children’s books and novels? Should I be embracing my media business? Should I be the little housewife?
The other day I went over to "E‘s" to see what she’s been doing to the inside of her house since I was last there. She has been real productive. Her attic is now serving as her bedroom while she works on the second floor master bath, bedroom, second bath, and two other bedrooms.
And her attic has become a showcase of her skills and talent. Hardwood flooring is down, walls and lights are in and finished, trim work is mostly done. It’s an awesome space that will become her studio once she moves down to her real bedroom.
And this?
E didn’t buy that — she made it. It’s her dining room ceiling light. She has a gift for elegant design with a bit of whimsy here and there. I don’t think this would work with my eclectic style (i.e. hodgepodge of stuff I’ve put in my house) but I love coming across things like this in E’s house.
This is a photograph I took a few years back that I want to make into a line drawing or water color:
I only took the picture to remember the sweetness of the little vase and roses (from Miss B) but it came out so nicely that I thought it would make a nice little piece of art for me to make on my own. This is one of the many projects I want to complete…
I’m even hodgepodge when it comes to things I photograph:
This is the view outside of my doctor’s office. I took the picture because I thought the area looked relaxing and I would have rather been out there instead in the waiting room.
TJ is doing well and like any feline he always wants to be in the last place you need him to be:
He’s still very small and adorable so we put up with him until he gets annoying — then we put him back in the big giant kid’s room so he can sleep all snuggly with him.
My husband is on vacation until the 6th of July beginning today. He’s taken off to be my un-complaining laborer and to sort through his stuff for keepers, donations, or trash.
Today we’ve not done a damn thing and I’m already thinking of a nap.
Tokenbloggeris a middle aged fat lady who lives in a small Victorian cottage (in historic Lexington, Kentucky USA) with her husband of 28 years, 2 dogs, a cat, and a tortoise. She is the mother to one adult child who recently returned home (with his dog) to "attend" college --- and now he has a new kitten, too!
Tokenblogger is recently unemployed. While looking for a new position Tokenblogger also does stuff like:
write
keep house
hang out with the pets
walk the neighborhood
blog (write)
draw
read (books!)
cruise the internet
some website design
write
nap
visit friends and family
listen to the radio
and her iTunes collection
watch television
write
work on her wellness
in mind & body
get through each day
write
and some other … stuff.
Tokenblogger has a favorite color, too. Take a wild guess, will ya!