Interesting Conversation

This show has been going on for 18 seasons? Where have I been? I don't think it airs in my area, but I just found out I can watch it online. I don't care about much of the "news" about celebrities, about their personal lives, etc. But the conversations on "Inside the Actors Studio" can be fascinating. How fascinating it is depends on who is being interviewed, I guess.

I just watched a 1995 airing with Christopher Walken. I was captivated. The interviewer asked great questions, and the interviewee was funny and engaging. I will be watching more of these. I can't believe I have missed 17 seasons already. I have a lot of catching up to do!

Six to Sixty

I was going through old papers the other day, and I found this little drawing I made when I was about six years old. Yellow chicks all in a row. I had forgotten all about it after all these years.

The little drawing reminded me of another picture I have on my wall. I was surprised by the similarity. Did I have this image in my head all these years?

Then I noticed another picture I have on the wall, this little etching, "Pecking Order" showing little chicks following the hen.

From age six to age sixty... images that appeal to me haven't changed a lot, have they?

Weekend Purging

I've been spending the weekend moving things out of the house, and rearranging other things around the house. I've always been crazy about mid-century modern furniture. I've slowly been accumulating pieces that I love. When something new comes in, something else must go out. My husband doesn't understand. He thinks one chair is as good as another. He's practical, I understand. But I love design and like to live with good design. I can't afford to do it all at once so I do it a piece at a time.

Today we took a set of four dining room chairs to the consignment store. Last week we took an oak bench. About two months ago we took in four other dining room chairs and another couple came in and bought them on sight. Why did we have so many chairs? Before we moved to our present house we lived in a much larger house and had room for more furniture. Now we have to budget our space so things don't look too cluttered.

My husband was complaining about clutter in his "man cave". He likes to hang out downstairs where the big TV is. But I also have my sewing and craft stuff down there. My sewing and craft stuff was getting on his nerves, so I had to purge it, consolidate it and get it out of sight. In most families (I hear) the wife is the neatnik and the husband is the "slob". In my house it's the opposite. I'm not really a "slob" but I am more casual. He is more of a "Felix Unger" type and sometimes it causes friction between us.

So, that's what's been going on today at our house; decluttering, rearranging and compromising.

The Best News

I got the best news today. A little background: a couple of weeks ago I had an ultrasound that showed fibroids and a thickened uterine lining. I knew I had the fibroids. However, I was puzzled by the thickened uterine lining. Apparently that can be a sign of cancer. My doctor sent me to a gynecologist to have an endometrial biopsy. I had the biopsy on Monday. It was painful but the pain didn't last long. When it was over my husband bought me two strawberry margueritas.

Today I got the results: the biopsy was negative... no abnormalities. What a relief! Today I am relieved and thankful.

Enough Already!

Hey Media! Enough. Okay? For more than week now, it's been Whitney Houston 24/7. I have had enough. I thought once the funeral and burial were over, we could move on to something else. But now it's "why did Bobby Brown leave the funeral?" and "is Bobbi Kristina now becoming addicted to drugs?". Let's leave the rest to the family, please.

On Saturday, her funeral was covered on every cable news channel. Was there nothing else newsworthy going on in the world? Apparently not. Then, after the funeral, we had everyone deconstructing the funeral and commenting on the funeral. Why do they do this? Does anyone really want to hear it all? It's really aggravating.

Painting

Our old paint color is on the left; the newer, lighter one is on the right. When we moved here six years ago, I thought the color made it too dark in the living area. We had moved from a house where we had white walls. It always looked sunny and bright to me, and I've been missing that brightness. Stylistically, I liked the darker color, but there is one large wall next to a staircase that always stared me in the face with its darkness. Any sunlight that came into the room just seemed to be absorbed by that darkness.

A few weeks ago, my husband had a slow work period and was getting bored without much work to do. So he decided to paint. We then faced the task of choosing our paint color. Thank goodness for those little pint "sampler" cans! I think we tried four of them until we found our color. The lower left was too pink; the upper left was too green (though it doesn't really show in this photo); the one on the right was too gray. The one in the middle was right, except we asked them to lighten it a bit by adding a bit of white. So far he was used three gallons, and has one more to use up.

It looks nice... a lighter, brighter look just in time for spring!

Fever

Yesterday morning I was fine. I went to a clearance sale with my sister at Fabulous Furs, which sells all faux fur items. I bought three scarves, only $5.00 each. Then I had lunch with my sister and one of my nieces, who got out of school early for an orthodontist appointment.

After I got home I was chilled. I couldn't get my hands warm. I lit the fire and sat by the fireplace. Then I started shaking. I was so cold that I got into bed with all my clothes on and pulled two quilts over me. After I warmed up I started sweating. My face was red and hot. I took my temperature and found out I had a fever of 102. I took ibuprofen and went to bed early. When I woke up this morning my fever was down to 100.3. But a few hours later it was back up, to 103. I had a sore throat and all my joints hurt.

I have had this happen before. I went to the doctor then, and they gave me a massive dose of antibiotics by injection in my hip. I am going to the doctor this afternoon, and they will probably do the same thing again.

What is causing me to spike these fevers? I suspect it might have something to do with Sjogren's Syndrome. It always begins with being chilled. One more reason, I think, to move to Hawaii!

Yesterday

Boy, was I in a bad mood yesterday! What happened? It started with cat poop on the carpet. We have one long-haired cat, a Maine Coon. If the fur on her behind isn't trimmed, it sometimes gets poop caught in it. Apparently this has happened again. We got up yesterday to find she had been scooting along the carpet to wipe it off... there was a trail of brown marks across the living room.

I got out the spot remover out to clean it, and it wouldn't spray. The bottle that wouldn't spray was almost empty, so I got the new bottle out. It wouldn't spray either. I tried turning the nozzle every which way.. no spray. I finally got so frustrated that I was banging the bottle against the kitchen counter. My husband, hearing the racket, came out to see what was going on. Of course it sprayed right away for him. Ha!

Then I opened a can of soup for lunch. Another cat thought it was a can of tuna and came running. Apparently my husband thought it was a can of tuna too, and he called to me, "hey, could you make me a tuna sandwich?". So I got out a can of tuna. It has this weird little pull-tab on top that I hate. I can't get it open! It states on top, in case you can't use the pull-tab feel free to use a can opener. Well, the can opener won't work on it either. I finally had to call my husband to open the tuna.

I was feeling frustrated and helpless that nothing was working for me. Then I started having a hot flash. The TV in the background wasn't helping. I had just heard Whitney Houston singing that song from "The Bodyguard" for about the 100th time that morning, and I couldn't take it any more (I don't know why, but I've never liked that song). I switched the channel and there were politicians arguing, one saying more ridiculous things than the next. I just flipped!

I felt like crying and yelling and stomping around. I felt like a child ready to throw a tantrum. I wanted to go outside for some fresh air and sunshine but it was freezing outside. I started telling my husband how much I miss the beach. I was feeling actual hunger pains for the beach. I was feeling very sorry for myself, I am ashamed to say now.

Today I'm calm. I lit a fire in the fireplace and made pumpkin pancakes. I didn't try to open any cans or spray anything. There was no cat poop on the floor. A better day. The sun is even shining.

Angry

I love this face. It expresses exactly how I feel today. I'm angry because I hear stupid politicians spouting nonsense. I'm angry because spray bottles don't spray. I'm angry because I can't open the pull-top tuna can. I'm angry because it's freezing outside and I want to be walking on a beach. I'm angry because I have to have an endometrial biopsy and I know it hurts like hell (I had one four years ago). I'm angry because everyone else seems to be having fun and I'm not.

Don't worry, I'll feel better tomorrow!

Writing Letters

My three nieces all attend a Montessori school. One of their homework assignments has been to choose a person with whom to exchange letters. Each month they are given a topic around which to base a letter. Topics like: what city would you most like to visit; who would you most like to invite to dinner; what person who is no longer living would you most like to meet?

Last year I corresponded with Aubrey, who is now twelve. This year I am corresponding with Molly who is ten. Their letters have been touching, honest and funny. They both have a way of writing as if they were speaking to me. The personality of each one comes through loud and clear in their letters. They are learning to express themselves quite well.

I think that writing letters is a great skill for them to learn and practice. In this age of facebook and twitter, it's in danger of becoming a lost art. Also, they are learning to write in cursive, which makes me happy. I have heard that some schools have given up teaching cursive. That strikes me as very odd, and also shortsighted. In my family we have diaries written by ancestors and passed down through the family. They are written in cursive. What would happen if the next generation could not read them? What about historical research? What about reading the Declaration of Independence? What about writing thank you notes? Am I that hopelessly old fashioned? I guess I am not ready for an entirely digital world.

The Week at My House

We have kitties on the inside looking out...

and kitties on the outside looking in.

What are we doing inside?

Trying to choose a paint color. Which isn't as easy as it looks. One is too light; another is too dark. One is too green; another is too yellow; a third is too pink. Nothing is quite right. Maybe we should just use all the colors and create camouflage walls.

Speaking Through My Blog

What can one say in a blog? Sometimes I wonder about that. I have an active life inside my own head. My head is always full of thoughts and opinions, but I have to decide which ones to express here. They say to be careful when speaking about religion or politics, so I rarely mention those things on my blog. I have family and friends whose views are different from mine, and I see no need to disagree with them publicly.

I grew up in a family where religion and politics were discussed frequently, usually at the dinner table. I remember my grandfathers arguing with each other. One was what we today would call a right-wing Republican; the other was a liberal Democrat. Also, my parents went to different churches, my mom Methodist and my dad Catholic. I went to church with both of them, and was sent to Catholic catechism classes on Saturday.

My own beliefs evolved over time. Strangely, I wasn't influenced much by Mom, Dad, or either grandfather, at least not consciously. I guess I learned to think for myself. But I also learned to keep my opinions to myself because it seems one can never change the mind of another. I think that is clear in the political climate we live in today. Who ever listens to one with whom one doesn't agree?

Anyway, there are opinions I don't express here. There are people I miss, but I can't send personal messages here. There are people I would like to give a piece of my mind, but I can't do that here, either. I find plenty that I can say here, photos I like to share, little glimpses of my life that I like to share. It's nice to read comments of those who visit, and its nice to visit their blogs too. It's a pleasant place but it's only a part of me. I think most bloggers probably understand.

Movie Madness

Yesterday my husband and I went to the movies. He is the one who always suggests going and I am the one who usually hesitates. I love good movies, but there are few that are good enough that I want to see them. Also, I dread having to deal with other people in the theater. Inevitably, I get someone behind me who keeps kicking the back of my seat. Or, someone who wants to talk to their companion. I hate that! I think if people want to talk, they should stay home.

Yesterday was one of those days. There was a couple behind us. The man kept talking to the woman beside him. I don't mean a quick word or two, he was having a whole conversation back there. Plus he kept kicking the back of my husband's seat, so hard that even I could feel it. I started to turn around to ask him to be quiet. My husband, who hates me making a scene, said "never mind". But I did mind. I had to turn around three times to ask him to be quiet, but he kept right on talking. They both stared at me like I was out of my mind, like "what's her problem?". Apparently, they had no clue that they were disturbing other people. Even the woman two seats away from me looked at me in sympathy and shook her head.

Finally, I got up and left, intending to find someone to come in and throw them out. There was no one there and I didn't want to miss the movie so I came back in. Of course the talking continued. I asked one last time, louder than before. My husband told me to "relax and watch the movie". He wasn't going to get involved. So I moved down to another seat and watched the rest of the movie in peace and quiet. When the movie was over and people were leaving, I went back to my original seat to get my coat and meet my husband. I wanted to say something to the man, like "why do you come to the movie if you just want to talk?" but my husband hurried me out of there. I couldn't understand why I shouldn't confront these people. I don't think I am in the wrong here; I think they should know how rude their behavior is. But my husband said I would just be making a scene.

I am not a person who likes to make scenes. I am usually pretty meek and mild. But this is one of my pet peeves. I don't see why people should get away with it. Next time I'm sitting in the back row!

Sensitivity

I've always been a "sensitive soul" but my sensitivity seems to be increasing. Could it be be a side effect of aging? Or menopause?

I seem to be overly sensitive to sensory stimuli these days, especially noise. I remember when I was a teenager and my dad always told me to turn the music down. Now I am the one asking for the music to be turned down. But probably the worst is television commercials. They just make me cringe. Especially the ones with a female voice trying to be very jolly, or the ones with loud music. I just feel like my head is going to explode, I can't think straight and I have to get away. If I couldn't get away I feel like I might just throw something at the T.V. to make it stop. Is that normal?

Oh, and it also irritates me when there is a song on the radio, and all they do is repeat the same lyrics over and over and over again. Oh, and ESPN! I leave the room when my husband is watching ESPN. When they show recaps of football games, there is this very energetic music in the background and the commentators have to talk over it. Listening to the combination jangles my nerves. That's what I call "double noise", when there are two competing sounds going at once... like when there is a TV in one room showing one program and a TV or radio in another room running a different program. OY!

Also, televised football games... the commentators talking over the constant buzzing of the crowd in the background. I can't stand that either. And don't get me started about political discussions on TV, when each one is trying to talk over the other! Even in restaurants, I am annoyed when someone across the room is speaking really loudly. (Oddly enough, babies crying don't bother me, because I know they can't help it.) I don't remember these things bothering me so much in the past. These days, it seems like I need silence; peace and quiet make me sigh with pleasure. Am I turning into an old curmudgeon?