Kids

Our smoke detector, at about 20 ft off from the floor, has had a low battery and been "tweeting" since last Thursday. It's been... intense. Our landlord was over tonight with his 4 yr old daughter. The tweeting has stopped. And I miss interacting with kids.

Landlord: How old is the dog?
Me: He's seven and a half.
Girl: That's the same age as my brother!
Me: Maybe they are long-lost twins.
Girl: ... I don't think so.

The nerve . . .

This is my mom's story from yesterday, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did:

In early Spring, I put some old wooden window boxes out by the alley with a "FREE" sign. A woman came along while I was in the yard and took them, with my blessing. TONIGHT, at least five months later, she comes to the back door and explains that they didn't fit exactly right—a bit too wide, etc. I listen to her complaint about the fit. Put them out with the garbage, said I; I sure don't want them back.

Oh, she says, they're too big and the city garbage men won't take them, so I have them in my trunk, gesturing toward the alley – and she looks at me.

I am having a surreal moment. What would I do with them then?—I don't want them, I say. Oh, says batty lady, you could pay a private hauler I suppose.

No, said I – this is sort of like "tag, you're it." They became YOUR window boxes a long time ago.

So, I have to get rid of them," asks the woman who took them for free and now acts like I sold her a Lexus with a warranty …. I think so, said the nice lady in the yellow house.

**Other parts of the live-telling of the story include the woman looking at my mom as if to say, "I am never shopping here again!"

Bzzz Bzzzz Bzzzz

I need a dream dictionary or something. I know other peoples' dreams are super-boring, but last night I had an incredibly realistic one- that I was stung by a bee and had an allergic reaction. My throat was swelling shut and in the dream, I got an epinephrine shot and everything went back to normal. Now the notable thing is that I felt the pain of the bee sting, the sensation of my throat closing, the prick of the epi pen and the release of constriction in my throat and chest. AND the weirdest thing is that I woke up in an adrenaline rush, right after dreaming I'd been given the epi shot. I am not sure that I've ever had such a thorough and realistic dream, replete with all of these weird bodily reactions.  Unless Charlie was poking me with needles during the night and sitting on my chest, my subconscious was doing like one of those simulator rides—to the center of the earth! Or something. Anyway, thought I'd share.

Forecast for Today

Wake up. Approx. 40 degrees. Potatoes, Onions, Kale hash (from CSA) and eggs. NPR. Haircut for Chuckles, drop dog off at kennel. High of 75. Drive to Phoenix. High of 102. Check in to Radisson. Go to Diamondbacks game. Drink beers. Have fake-cheese nachos. Drinks with friends after. Low of 90.

Today

Today I was accused of calling a defense lawyer's office and trying to "order them around."   I was also corrected for doing three different things wrong by three different people in the span of about 10 minutes. These are only two reasons it's 4:25 and draggggging.

Via Chicago

I fly to Chicago in eight hours, traveling from O'Hare to Lakeside. Like I did last winter when I was the last flight to land at O'Hare before Christmas. Or when I went back for my grandpa's funeral. Or when I flew back from study abroad in South America. Or countless times since my first visit, at a week old, the story goes.
I don't like living in a third-tier airport market. I don't like time zones and distance making it so hard to get back to where I need to be when I need to be there. I'm leaving at 6am and will roll in to Lakeside around dinner time. Unacceptable. Anyway, I delayed lots of feelings all week and have been having them a lot today. And feeling some of the costs of adventure.

Grandma Jane

Jane L. Biehl, Jane L. Erlinder, Jane L. Nesius
1915-2009

My grandma died this morning. She lived enough life for two people. She spoke Swedish, although she wouldn't admit it. She was a career woman before that was what women did. She loved to travel and sewed her grandchildren halloween costumes, I've been looking for the picture of me as Rainbow Brite at 4 to show you how awesome it was. She went from southside Chicago to Lakeside, Michigan, one of the most special places on earth. She could cut a mean rug, polka or otherwise, and loved to dance. She loved me so much, and those I loved. Even if towards the end she would ask, "whose dog is that?" But then would follow it up with, "he's such a nice dog." For the past few years, she inquired regularly about my "friend" Charlie. She made the best swedish meatballs. She was a lady in the purest sense, my mom tells how in all their painting of the Lakeside house when it was still a fixer-upper summer house, Grandma Jane could paint an entire room without getting a speck of paint on her. She had an undeniable sense of humor.

Surprise 90th birthday.

She's the one on the left, with friends from work in her Montgomery Ward accounting days.

Thankfully, the past 3 years in Madison meant I got to see her pretty often. And her death was relatively pain-free. But darn it, I already miss this woman a whole lot.

Question

What the hell is this?

Let's Play

Let's play a game I am going to call "find the flaw." Since moving to Arizona, we've been going to Sonic... a lot. I've only eaten there once, though- these trips have all been for drinks. Every day from 2-4 pm is "happy hour," therefore half-priced, and I so get a Route 44 size diet cherry limeade for $1.32. I enjoy it very much. So naturally I have been trying to figure out how it's bad for me and why I should stop. Now, at 26 calories for the whole she-bang, it can't be that. And at half-price, it's not a habit that will break the bank. It's not carbonated... so there goes bone-loss. I guess artificial sweeteners aren't good... but, really, can someone please tell me why I should stop? Have I found the last safe vice, might I float away, brain curdled by maraschino cherries?

For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People

On Thursday we went to a sneak preview of the new Ken Burns' documentary about the National Parks. There's an article about it in today's NYTimes. It was really wonderful. Not, like, accompanied by a performance by Allison Krauss and Counting Crows, but still really nice. The theater had good microbrews and popcorn. We were perhaps 15 years younger than most anyone else there (except the kids who got dragged along with their parents.) I am excited for the series because of I think what Burns says in his interview, the "who are we?" of the Parks is pretty compelling. There's a lot of emphasis on democracy and equality in the Parks, which I am not sure is completely true, but obviously I like the idea of quite a bit. (A side note in the ny times story is that I used to work with Burns' daughter, when she was in the mentioned "internship" where she/they got interested in the Central Park jogger case.) In the parts we saw there is also the story of the evolution of the parks, showing that the first struggle is to get everyone on the same page that we want these at all... but it doesn't end there, there is an evolution of people thinking about how we want to run them. Parks existed completely for peoples' amusement for a long time and it took another kind of revolution in thought that not only do we want parks, but we want them to be faithful to the needs of the environment. There are some natural parallels, I think, to some of other hot debates of democracy today. I am also saddened to see the NYTimes predict the public option is dead today, as well. I'm not sure, but am thinking along the lines of the story of the parks, that perhaps doing it at all is the first step and then we can work towards doing it right.

CONSUMPTION IS LIFE

Hi friends, you know how much I enjoy consumerism, and I missed it so being funemployed and poor. So I thought I'd share some of the products that have greatly improved our lives in, like, the past week.

I came home from work on Friday and Charlie had purchased and set up: A Wii. Rockband. Wii Fit. Mario Kart. I was delighted. Charlie was amused when I emphasized that this is the first video game system I have ever had... as an only girl-child... makes sense, but still. At 28 I've arrived!

Surprisingly, we still tore ourselves away from video game to go up to Colorado and spend a night at Mesa Verde. Uncharacteristically, we chose to stay in the lodge in the park instead of camping (partly to do with dog restrictions, truthfully.) I'm so glad we did, though. Not only because that night there were lightning storms that started 5 forest fires in the park and then put them out with the rain (reason enough to be glad we weren't camping) but- the hotel was so cool. Not deluxe at all, very basic, really, but it was this complex of sets of maybe 6 or so rooms that were free-standing and all had decks with different cool views of the mesa.

On our return to Flagstaff, we were converted by this article about coffee and bent on changing our coffee-making situation. We so far resisted a $130 burr grinder, but did spring $28 for the Aero Press. And decided to buy coffee from a local awesome coffee place to make at home. So far, so great! The Aero Press takes some adjustment, but the coffee it makes is really good.

Basically, being a two-income household (in theory, I still haven't gotten paid yet...) is great. It's interesting because living in the boonies and in a place where you don't know anyone is a great way to save money. There's no reason not to bring my lunch and so far we have only been eating out on Thursday nights ("date night") after Charlie gets back from the reservation. On the flip side, I am enjoying spending money thoughtfully on things that improve our lives-- video games only kind of count, I know. I love picking up our CSA share every week and brainstorming meals based around the fresh and local fruits and veggies we get. I like spending a little more to get really good, local coffee. And, because I'm not eating out or buying coffee daily, I think we still come out ahead.

Obviously when you don't have money, there aren't many choices to make. But I am enjoying having the latitude to make some choices of better ways to shop and live and still being fiscally responsible. I can't speak for Charlie, though, word is Beatles Rockband will be arriving at our house tomorrow....

Unlucky #5?

Arizona is the fifth state I've lived in. Well, I guess really the 6th, but the 5th since I got my driver's license. I can't explain what AZ holds that Connecticut, New York and Wisconsin didn't, but I guess a search for permanence (and that it's technically required by my job) caused me to get an Arizona Driver's License yesterday. Obviously the DMV took forever, thats a lame and boring story. But I got the license. One thing you may not know about Arizona drivers licenses is that they are good forever. Well, almost forever. This is terrifying based on the number of old people here. But I digress. The license I got yesterday expires on May 28th, 2046.

I am not kidding. The strange thing is that that is 5 days AFTER my 65th birthday. Hmmm... weird... Wait a minute.... they have my birthday wrong. I have an incorrect license that is good for another 37 years. DAMN IT! I was supposed to never have to go to the DMV again. Instead I guess I'll go next week...

Unrelated

To my last point, Ferris Bueller just started on AMC. Although we own two copies on DVD, I feel compelled to watch. At least glad they recognize it is an American Movie Classic.

Related to two posts ago, the homemade yogurt on its own is a little intense (I used whole milk as the website suggests for starting out) but then I let some sit in a colander with cheese cloth in the fridge for 24 hours. I added some salt and garlic powder-- and it's a delicious tangy and savory sour cream/cream cheese type topping something like crackers. THAT I cannot recommend highly enough. My next attempt will be with skim or 1% in an attempt to make such a delicious thing with some kind of health benefit over the original.

Life Moves Pretty Fast...

I just checked and the first deadline for taking the February Arizona bar exam is tomorrow. Soooo... I am not getting my application and fingerprints and all in by then. Meaning I can pay an extra $100 if I decide by the end of Sept. Or up to an extra $300 (gulp... $675 total... plus Bar/Bri, plus plus plus). So I need to decide ASAP if I'm going to do this. Kind of a rude long-term awakening while basking in my first-day accomplishment. What's that? Oh, just being employed to be a lawyer's secretary.

Ok. I need to take it, I will take. Yes! My fun money seems to be slipping away...