aeljn

aeljn @ 2008-04-02T20:24:00

2008-04-03T03:16:45Z

Didn't get to attend the interview today -- rescheduled for 11:30 tomorrow. This morning I accidentally sliced my right middle finger open at the top joint. I have 3 stitches in it. I was in the hospital from 10:15 am to 06:50pm. Thank God I'd snatched up a 373-page library book because I didn't finish it until a little after 6pm. At least I was given some cranberry juice, fruit cup, 3 graham crackers, and a sandwich around 11 or so because I hadn't eaten breakfast before the accident.

AAFES

2008-02-14T04:44:23Z

My mother still gets the weekly ads for sales at the PX [post exchange] although she's been dead since 1999. I thought it was high time someone took care of that, so I called the 1-800 # on this week's ad. Got tired of listening to the choices on their voice mail, so I tried the AAFES website. If I hadn't experienced this sort of thing with government websites when Mom died, I would have been shocked that they'd made no provision for relatives who are not entitled to use a PX or BX [base exchange] to have the dead relative who did have that right removed from the AAFES mailing list. How the heck would I know what her password was??? (I did finally find an place where I didn't have to give them loads o' info, such as my Social Security Number, in order to type in what was on Mom's mailing label and asked to have her removed from their list.)

Honestly, do the persons who set up these sites even think?

What was my county thinking???

2008-02-06T05:32:11Z

It took over an hour to vote in the Presidential Primary tonight because, for some reason yet unknown, some of the polling places were closed and their voters directed to our place. People were double lined waiting to vote inside the fire station and we had a line all the way to the end of the back parking lot. It was coooold. Heck, it was over 15 minutes before I was next to a truck that proved some kind of shelter. Thank God it wasn't snowing and raining as it was yesterday!

aeljn @ 2008-01-29T22:32:00

2008-01-30T05:19:57Z

A brief bedtime story for kitties:

Once upon a time there was a plump and tender mouse.
It was pounced upon and eaten by the kitten of the house.
The end. Go to bed. Stop trying to eat my toes.

Lector

2008-01-13T16:08:55Z

I was very nervous, but apparently I didn't show it, or so I was told. The text I read was Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7. After Mass, an old woman who hadn't worn her hearing aids told me she could hear me and I should read more often.
Hallelujah! (Of the four crosses in the box, I wore the one with the turquoises set in it.)

Mom's 1999 Christmas present to me

2008-01-13T01:02:41Z

My mother and I attended a local gem and mineral show in October of 1999. I took a fancy to a blue carving of an Asian girl with a book and asked Mom if she'd get it for me for Christmas. She did, but she died that November 30th and we never found where she hid it.

Tomorrow will be my first time as one of the lectors at Our Lady of the Mountains and I thought it would be nice to wear one of the crosses my mother used to wear when she lectored. Yes, my 1999 Christmas present was hidden in the same drawer where I found her box of cross pendants. I've got tears in my eyes. Thank you, Mom! (Thank you, God!)

Golden Compass daemons

2008-01-03T04:06:22Z

http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/

Haven't seen the film, but decided to find out what kind of daemon I'd get. My daemon is a fox named Calanon.
(I thought I'd get a cat...)

Midwestern Ice Storm

2007-12-12T09:14:48Z

I read about the big ice storm in the midwest and decided to check the map at Weather.com because my older sister and nephew live in Kansas. After I determined that, yes, their little bit of Kansas was affected, I called (daytime rates, too!). They're safe at home with the cats and dogs. Yay!

aeljn @ 2007-12-06T08:53:00

2007-12-06T15:46:34Z

Mary, my younger sister, and I use what used to be Mom's bathroom. It has a sliding glass door to the backyard. Petey, the bichon frise, was in the backyard and saw me through that door as I peeped through the curtain. I thought about what Mary once told me about Petey hating to be shut out of Mom's room (which Mary has). It was Mom who adopted Petey from the shelter -- her last dog. Petey's still here but she's gone. I felt such a wave of grief and it wasn't long before I was crying. 8 years! 8 years since she died on November 30th and we buried her in Dad's grave on what was her & Dad's wedding anniversary, December 3rd. It can still hurt so much!

aeljn @ 2007-10-31T00:49:00

2007-10-31T07:49:36Z

Before I forget, Sunday I saw an orange butterfly apparently feeding from the humingbird feeder (which is still serving up sugar water to its intended diners).

Used some birthday money to buy a little iron accent lamp to replace the lamp the cat killed. I'm hoping she'll find it too heavy to pull over.

I've already brought my Halloween lights out of the hall closet. I'm looking forward to putting them up along the rose garden wall. I bought only one small bag of Halloween candy -- the kids on our street have pretty much grown up already. They're "fun-size"* bars, too, so as long as I stick to only one candy bar per day of the leftovers, it won't be that bad.

*What a euphemistic name to call 1/3rd-the-size-of-our-regular bars (now THOSE are fun size, but so fattening!)

I see that Turner Classic Movies is finally showing horror movies (besides the usual Friday night shock-and-schlock fest). I've also seen a commercial (I forget the product) for Christmas stuff. Sheesh! Let Halloween be over with first, okay?

Deer mouse

2007-10-25T09:05:31Z

The brown mouse I've seen three times has been caught. My sister, who got rid of the body, looked it up and said it was a deer mouse. Great -- I do the house-cleaning because I work the fewest hours, and I've been the one vacuuming up the mouse turds. It just better not have been infected with the Hanta Virus! (I checked the CDC website and I didn't find any mention of any cases in my corner of Arizona, so here's hoping!

Hummingbirds

2007-10-16T02:19:23Z

I hadn't filled the hummingbird feeder Friday and Saturday because I assumed that the birds had left at the same time as the bats. Sunday I looked through the dining room window and saw a disappointed hummingbird, so I brought in the feeder, washed it, and refilled it. I heard a very loud buzzing behind me as I carried the feeder to its holder. A hummingbird was drinking before I'd gotten more than 2-3 feet away. I'd always thought that our hummingbirds were a boring tan or grey, but this time I saw one in bright sunlight and it was an iridescent green -- very pretty.

Today I saw a hummingbird with with a rose-colored throat as well as a green back. It flew up to the feeder and dipped in a couple of times. I guess it liked the taste, because it settled on the perch and drank deeply. It fills me with joy to watch them drinking.

We still have some late wild morining-glories, although it's chilly enough at night that they're more blue-violet than blue (I've noticed that the blossoms are violet if the nights are too cold).

Today I am 53. Thanks to gift certificates from a couple of friends who know who they are (bless them!), I've ordered two Pratchett books and the upcoming Sue Grafton mystery. If I could dance around in glee, I would. I'll have to dance in my imagination. As for the younger sibs, a book from sister (I did what Mom used to have us do and gave her a list to choose from), and money from brother (one size fits all!)

My brother couldn't join us at my free-for-me-&-my-family meal at the McDonald's where I work, but my sister and I enjoyed ourselves. I had a medium light lemonade and a grilled chicken sandwich without the mayo, but I indulged and had medium French fries instead of a side salad.

aeljn @ 2007-10-04T01:09:00

2007-10-04T08:00:58Z

The food pantry was stinking again and for the same reason it was last year: mouse turds. No, I did NOT have fun taking everything off the floor and cleaning/disinfecting it. I did remember to wear a little dust mask, though.

aeljn @ 2007-09-02T22:19:00

2007-09-03T05:12:50Z

We have double - paned windows in our house and that spider that's taken up residence in the non-moving section is a Black Widow! I thought that the gnats who were coming in through the little bent part of the screen frame were bad enough! (Yes, both the inner and outer window panes are closed. My cat is unhappy because she likes to sit on the window sill, but she wouldn't enjoy a spider bite. I wish the heavy furniture under the window didn't make it so awkward to try to kill the spider.)

aeljn @ 2007-09-02T14:21:00

2007-09-02T21:11:20Z

Today I finished reading my Bible from cover to cover (at the rate of 4 pages per day), for the 33rd time.

The Woman in the Farmhouse

2007-07-05T04:59:01Z

The Sci-Fi Channel's "Twilight Zone" marathon has just shown one of my favorite episodes -- Agnes Moorehead as the old woman in the farmhouse who is attacked by tiny spacemen. Even though I know the twist now, my sympathy is still with the poor woman.

Mind game

2007-06-20T20:08:55Z

One of my friends sent me an internet mind game. Supposedly 98% of the people who take it wind up with a kangaroo eating an orange in Denmark. He did. I wound up with an aardvark eating a kumquat in Ethiopia.

Yay! Permission granted!

2007-05-31T16:04:16Z

If you saw my "New Excalibur" #20 recap here yesterday and wonder why it's gone, it's because I received Mr. Claremont's permission to keep my recaps as detailed as they are, so I posted it at Comixfan, as usual. That's four writers heard back from and only one prefers shorter recaps. Thank you, gentlemen!!!

Colds

2007-05-28T05:23:50Z

My voice is finally returning after catching my brother's cold around Palm Sunday. I can pretty well last through all of the singing at Mass again and now my sister has caught a cold and I think she's already passed it on to me. I hope not. Whine. Snivel.

aeljn @ 2007-05-22T02:28:00

2007-05-22T09:26:35Z

Sigh -- overdid last week and my left foot is swelling too much again, limiting the amount of time I can sit up again. I spent much of Thursday in bed so I was able to go into town to run errands on Friday, but I still have to be careful.

I'm going to have to move the dry cat food dish to high ground when the dogs are in my room. I didn't mind when Petey just ate the bits that had fallen to the rug because my cat won't, but Sunday he had the gall to eat from the dish itself.

Washed clothes today, but I had to hang them up in three shifts, so to speak.

aeljn @ 2007-05-13T21:47:00

2007-05-14T04:44:13Z

I'm rereading THE RED LAMP by Mary Roberts Rinehart. In it is this quotation, credited to Von Humboldt: "A presumptuous skepticism which rejects facts without examining them to see if they are real, is more blameworthy than an irrational credulity."

I wonder how confirmed skeptics would take that.

new rosebushes

2007-05-13T01:19:59Z

Last Sunday my brother bought and planted two new rosebushes.

One is called "Scarlet Knight".
http://72.29.100.118/libraryroseindividualpage.asp?SKNI

The other is "Sunsprite."

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/471/index.html

Of the rosebushes Mom planted, I know the name of only one, and that because the tag with its name is metal: "Sutter's Gold". (Which, according to the "Scarlet Knight" photo link, is one of the parents of the Scarlet Knight.)

http://www.rose-roses.com/rosepages/hybridteas/SuttersGold.html

The other rose bushes are pale pink, coral pink, dark pink, and yellow.

There's also a wild rose bush that produces very dark red flowers, something like these: http://willesdenherald.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/wildrosesky1-747223.jpg

Jesus sports statues

2007-04-25T17:07:36Z

Thanks to my online friends, I've seen this site, which sells statues of Jesus Sports Statues. I find it interesting in which sports Jesus is shown actively participating and in which He's merely watching over the kids involved: http://www.catholicshopper.com/products/inspirational_sport_statues2.html

dogs and cat

2007-04-25T15:58:38Z

Last night my siblings were watching TV and the dogs were with them. I was taking down my clothes from the indoor portable clothesline. (Sure we get plenty of sunshine here, but we're between two mountain ranges and we can get pretty windy, so I don't always use the outdoor line.) I dropped clothespins into the clothespin bag, which set it swinging. The dogs had run from the bedroom as I passed, and Petey (the bichon frise) started barking like mad at the clothespin bag. Ah, the brave beastie! ;)

Later, Miss Silver (who turned 10 last month), managed to get out of my room before my sister was in bed and had closed the door. I didn't think to warn her to close her door because her nervous toy poodle, Katy, cowers if Miss Silver so much as hisses at her. (Alas, when Miss Silver ran for my bedroom after I tracked her down with the turbo squirt bottle, Katy tried to chase her and yelped when they met. My sister didn't find any wounds on Katy, but she said that it took her a half-hour to calm down. I had to keep chasing Miss Silver as quickly as I could hobble (and she got quite wet in spots), before she was willing to head down the hall to my bedroom again. I wish my sibs weren't so paranoid about the possibility of my cat scratching their dogs. Perhaps then (especially during the time of month that I clip her claws), they could sort things out amongst themselves.
Come to think of it, Katy chased Miss Silver once before, when my cat had sneaked into the family room and was trying to escape. My sister claims my evil cat attacked her dog. (rolleyes)

aeljn @ 2007-02-15T01:36:00

2007-02-15T08:43:20Z

I remembered this joke just now when some of the folks here were posting about their snowfall and here in Southern Arizona, I
shivered when I went outside to water my bulbs because it was in the 50s F and I wasn't wearing a sweater.

How cold is it outside? (From http://www.ahajokes.com/top060.html)
How Cold Is Cold?

60F/15.5555556 C Californians put on sweaters (if they can find one)

50F/10C Miami residents turn on the heat

40F/4.4444444C You can see your breath, Californians shiver uncontrollably, Minnesotans go swimming

35F/1.6666667C Italian cars don't start

32F/0C Water freezes

30F/-1.1111111C You plan your vacation to Australia

25F/-3.8888889C Boston water freezes, Californians weep pitiably, Minnesotans eat ice cream, Canadians go swimming

20F/-6.6666667C Politicians begin to talk about the homeless, New York City water freezes, Miami residents plan vacation further South

15F/-9.4444444C French cars don't start, Cat insists on sleeping in your bed with you

10F/-12.2222222C You need jumper cables to get the car going

5F/-15C American cars don't start

0F/-17.7777778C Alaskans put on T-shirts

-10F/-23.3333333C German cars don't start, Eyes freeze shut when you blink

-15F/-26.1111111C You can cut your breath and use it to build an igloo, Arkansans stick tongue on metal objects, Miami residents cease to exist

-20F/-28.8888889C Cat insists on sleeping in pajamas with you, Politicians actually do something about the homeless, Minnesotans shovel snow off roof, Japanese cars don't start

-25F/-31.6666667C Too cold to think, You need jumper cables to get the driver going

-30F/-34.4444444C You plan a two week hot bath, Swedish cars don't start

-40F/-40C Californians disappear, Minnesotans button top button, Canadians put on sweaters, Your car helps you plan your trip South

-50F/-45.5555556C Congressional hot air freezes, Alaskans close the bathroom window

-80F/-62.2222222C Hell freezes over, Polar bears move South

-90F/-67.7777778C Lawyers put their hands in their own pockets