Seven deadly sins....I think there should be eight. The eighth one would be Teasing. In other words Spring would be committing a deadly sin by giving us 70 degree weather one day and 40 degree weather the next.
If flowers were prone to shivering, our daffodils would be aquiver.
The furnace, which had begun to slow down dreaming of warmer temperatures, has now regularly warmed the house once again. The air conditioner, lying dormant since October, has a few additional days, hopefully not weeks, of vacation.
Spring Break has truly been an escape from the chill to the sun for students.
Robins seem to be gathering in caucuses around the yard, trying to figure out if they have flown north too early in the season and pointing beaks at the ones who were supposed to have read the Farmers' Almanac for travel advice.
Today the rain has started to turn to ice.
On a brighter note, the little shoots of onions, tomatoes and various wildflowers have begun to sprout on top of my husband's computer desk where he put them to keep them out of the reach of Kat Karson.
Today, that is the only brighter note. And that's what I think about it.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
TV shows are designed to make us feel envious or inadequate. Surely this is the case with me and HGTV, the cable network that showcases, well, homes and gardens.
Today I have watched Get It Sold, Curb Appeal, International House Hunters and Designed to Sell.
I have seen homeowners in tears because a 'stager' dared make disparaging remarks about their choices of color and furniture. One was appalled that the Realtor wanted them to remove all dog beds and toys.
Couples from Spain want to move to Uruguay. Condo owners in San Francisco are moving to Aruba. All of them seem to have quite a bit of money to put into a new home. One couple was buying a vacation home with six bedrooms and baths...a second home. These folks do not seem to be feeling the pinch of the present economic situation.
There is a show titled Clean House where some of the messiest folks who have amassed stacks of both useless and useful (who would know which) stuff all over their homes, get help to organize and downsize. I have never watched this show because the premise disturbs me. People who have two of these and four of these, when people in need have none of either, irritate me. Of course, hoarding can also be a serious mental disturbance. In these cases, when the TV hosts return a few months later, more stuff has been found and hoarded, or if the homeowners know the TV folks are returning, they might rent a storage space for use during that visit.
One show makes over a home for sale within a two thousand dollar budget...and a lot of sweat equity. I have no desire to put any sweat into this kind of effort. I have no interest in learning how to rewire a light switch or build a pergola or lay a patio. When I see couples completing these projects it doesn't seem too difficult and of course can be completed in no longer than an hour but I am smart enough to know that what I am seeing on TV is not the whole story.
A few years ago I watched This Old House and was convinced that if given the proper tools I would be able to get water from a well into the house by digging and laying pipes and installing pumps and what-nots. I never have had the opportunity to put all that knowledge to use...yet.
But today I changed a light bulb. And I helped put together an 'upside down garden' (I'm sure you'll hear more about that as the growing season progresses). I straightened two rugs that the cat had wrinkled. I also made the bed. These are all small but visible home improvement events that make me grateful to have one house, and one cat, and no mortgage.
And that's what I think about it.
Today I have watched Get It Sold, Curb Appeal, International House Hunters and Designed to Sell.
I have seen homeowners in tears because a 'stager' dared make disparaging remarks about their choices of color and furniture. One was appalled that the Realtor wanted them to remove all dog beds and toys.
Couples from Spain want to move to Uruguay. Condo owners in San Francisco are moving to Aruba. All of them seem to have quite a bit of money to put into a new home. One couple was buying a vacation home with six bedrooms and baths...a second home. These folks do not seem to be feeling the pinch of the present economic situation.
There is a show titled Clean House where some of the messiest folks who have amassed stacks of both useless and useful (who would know which) stuff all over their homes, get help to organize and downsize. I have never watched this show because the premise disturbs me. People who have two of these and four of these, when people in need have none of either, irritate me. Of course, hoarding can also be a serious mental disturbance. In these cases, when the TV hosts return a few months later, more stuff has been found and hoarded, or if the homeowners know the TV folks are returning, they might rent a storage space for use during that visit.
One show makes over a home for sale within a two thousand dollar budget...and a lot of sweat equity. I have no desire to put any sweat into this kind of effort. I have no interest in learning how to rewire a light switch or build a pergola or lay a patio. When I see couples completing these projects it doesn't seem too difficult and of course can be completed in no longer than an hour but I am smart enough to know that what I am seeing on TV is not the whole story.
A few years ago I watched This Old House and was convinced that if given the proper tools I would be able to get water from a well into the house by digging and laying pipes and installing pumps and what-nots. I never have had the opportunity to put all that knowledge to use...yet.
But today I changed a light bulb. And I helped put together an 'upside down garden' (I'm sure you'll hear more about that as the growing season progresses). I straightened two rugs that the cat had wrinkled. I also made the bed. These are all small but visible home improvement events that make me grateful to have one house, and one cat, and no mortgage.
And that's what I think about it.
Friday, March 19, 2010
In the past two weeks two friends have had to have their dogs euthanized. One was a boxer/lab mix and had been with the couple all their married life of eleven years and with the wife before the marriage. The other was a newer member of a family of a couple years, dearly loved by three daughters and promised to the oldest when she married this summer. Moe was a Sits Zhou with a fluffy little face.
Tiffany, the boxer/lab just simply got old and feeble. In her prime she would show off the colorful neck scarves I would buy her for holidays, like July 4th and Halloween. A stuffed Nemo, the animated Disney fish, was her favorite toy. She was allergic to most things dogs love to eat and had she been a human she would have had suspicious thoughts when her owners drove through the drive-through Wendy's window on that last day. Allergic to wheat and beef, she was treated to three Wendy's hamburgers. A happy last meal.
Moe's primary owner was finishing up school in Chicago, set to return to the area for her wedding in August. Moe was diagnosed with cancer, incurable, with the treatments to prolong life worse than the disease. There was no alternative.
There is an empty place in the home and heart when a pet dies. Until then you never really realize how big a part of your life they have become. You miss the cold noses, the unconditional trust, the way they just don't have negative emotions, even when you have a rotten day at work, fight with a friend, get fired or a flat tire. Dogs are just always happy to see you and let you know that you truly are the most important person in the world to them. These two furry friends will be missed.
But so as not to leave my readers on a sad note, here are some reasons why men have dogs instead of wives:
1. Dogs are happy to see them, regardless of how long they've been away or how late they come home.
2. Dogs don't care if you call them by another dog's name.
3. Dogs are happy that you leave lots of stuff all over the floor.
4. A dog's parents never visit.
5. Dogs agree that you should raise your voice to get your point across.
6. Dogs like to go hunting and fishing.
7. Dogs never wake you up at night and ask, "If I died, would you get another dog?"
8. If a dog has babies, you can put an ad in the paper and sell them.
9. If a dog leaves, he won't take half your stuff.
10. If a dog smells another dog on your clothes, he is more interested than angry.
And that's what I think about it.
Tiffany, the boxer/lab just simply got old and feeble. In her prime she would show off the colorful neck scarves I would buy her for holidays, like July 4th and Halloween. A stuffed Nemo, the animated Disney fish, was her favorite toy. She was allergic to most things dogs love to eat and had she been a human she would have had suspicious thoughts when her owners drove through the drive-through Wendy's window on that last day. Allergic to wheat and beef, she was treated to three Wendy's hamburgers. A happy last meal.
Moe's primary owner was finishing up school in Chicago, set to return to the area for her wedding in August. Moe was diagnosed with cancer, incurable, with the treatments to prolong life worse than the disease. There was no alternative.
There is an empty place in the home and heart when a pet dies. Until then you never really realize how big a part of your life they have become. You miss the cold noses, the unconditional trust, the way they just don't have negative emotions, even when you have a rotten day at work, fight with a friend, get fired or a flat tire. Dogs are just always happy to see you and let you know that you truly are the most important person in the world to them. These two furry friends will be missed.
But so as not to leave my readers on a sad note, here are some reasons why men have dogs instead of wives:
1. Dogs are happy to see them, regardless of how long they've been away or how late they come home.
2. Dogs don't care if you call them by another dog's name.
3. Dogs are happy that you leave lots of stuff all over the floor.
4. A dog's parents never visit.
5. Dogs agree that you should raise your voice to get your point across.
6. Dogs like to go hunting and fishing.
7. Dogs never wake you up at night and ask, "If I died, would you get another dog?"
8. If a dog has babies, you can put an ad in the paper and sell them.
9. If a dog leaves, he won't take half your stuff.
10. If a dog smells another dog on your clothes, he is more interested than angry.
And that's what I think about it.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Last weekend the church had a book drive for three inner city schools in our area. These schools contained either all elementary or all middle school grades but for the next school year they are adding either elementary or middle school grades to each.
The dilemma, of course, is that the elementary schools have only lower grade resources in their media center and the middle schools have only upper grade resources.
A thinking person would make the assumption that tax money would be available to stock the libraries in these schools with appropriate level books. In fact, that statement makes so much sense that it boggles the mind to find out that this is not the case.
Even with our high-sounding "No Child Left Behind" policy and our value that 'reading is fundamental' we have completely abandoned the very educators that are on the front line of making this happen and tied their hands by leaving them out of the budget. I am appalled. And very disappointed. And will hasten to add that other schools within the district do have budgets for books.
Where is the hew and cry for a level playing field for our inner city kids? Where are those advocates who will stand up and shout, "Foul" to an unfair policy like this?
Okay, I'm done....
Except to say that through the efforts of my daughter, and the resource center director at the church, and the two media personnel in these inner-city schools, over the week end hundreds and hundreds of age-appropriate books were donated, new and gently used, fiction and non-fiction, to the schools.
It was delightful to watch the above mentioned four women sort through books, dividing them up between the schools, pausing often to muse over the story in one book or another. There is something very refreshingly honest about the kinds of people who love children and books. Listening to them read Shel Silverstein's poetry or exclaim over the newest series of Hardy Boys mysteries took me back to when my children were young. My favorite poem then and now is one of Shel's:
There's too many kids in this tub
There's too many elbows to scrub
I just washed a behind
that I'm sure wasn't mine
There's too many kids in this tub.
And that's what I think about it.
The dilemma, of course, is that the elementary schools have only lower grade resources in their media center and the middle schools have only upper grade resources.
A thinking person would make the assumption that tax money would be available to stock the libraries in these schools with appropriate level books. In fact, that statement makes so much sense that it boggles the mind to find out that this is not the case.
Even with our high-sounding "No Child Left Behind" policy and our value that 'reading is fundamental' we have completely abandoned the very educators that are on the front line of making this happen and tied their hands by leaving them out of the budget. I am appalled. And very disappointed. And will hasten to add that other schools within the district do have budgets for books.
Where is the hew and cry for a level playing field for our inner city kids? Where are those advocates who will stand up and shout, "Foul" to an unfair policy like this?
Okay, I'm done....
Except to say that through the efforts of my daughter, and the resource center director at the church, and the two media personnel in these inner-city schools, over the week end hundreds and hundreds of age-appropriate books were donated, new and gently used, fiction and non-fiction, to the schools.
It was delightful to watch the above mentioned four women sort through books, dividing them up between the schools, pausing often to muse over the story in one book or another. There is something very refreshingly honest about the kinds of people who love children and books. Listening to them read Shel Silverstein's poetry or exclaim over the newest series of Hardy Boys mysteries took me back to when my children were young. My favorite poem then and now is one of Shel's:
There's too many kids in this tub
There's too many elbows to scrub
I just washed a behind
that I'm sure wasn't mine
There's too many kids in this tub.
And that's what I think about it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
