the ick factor x two . . .

1.) I have this thing about speedos. I think they should be worn by swim team members only . . . ages 12 to 19. Not, I repeat, NOT by 45+ year old, pudgy men while sunning in the front yard. It is such a major ick factor, on so many levels, I can't even begin . . .

Yet there he is, ranting at top volume . . . another exorcism . . . into the phone, at some poor beleaguered soul, ousting Luther . . . er . . . Lucifer and talking in tongues. Well, most probably some derivative of English, Spanish, and Pig Latin, who really knows . . . but you get the drift. Taco vs. the Devil . . take 312.

2.) My bathroom sink drain has been sluggish. To the point that while trying to hand wash my unmentionables, the water forgot to go down the drain. Sigh. The 9TS to the rescue. With him under the sink unhooking the stopper, a sudden collection of sludge popped into view. Taking one look at it . . . and another look at me, I knew removing said gunk fell distinctly in my jurisdiction. Suffice it to say, it was off the ick factor scale and my sink is now running smoothly.

I'm just saying . . .

fly me to the moon . . .

We picked an absolutely gorgeous day to run away. Low humidity . . . clear skies . . . warm temperatures . . . ah . . . it does a body good. This guy was having fun too, just riding the air currents.



But we blasted right past him in our ship:



And set down on a moon.



that was inhabited by Dr. Seuss like creatures:



with green and white hair:



and wondrous tidal pools:



a lunar landing:


a fabulous day . . .

thank you . . .

Sue and Karenika!!

Sue for suggesting the 9TS and I head for Washington Oaks State Park and Karenika for her gently nudge to use my 50mm lens. Thank you both because I am so amazingly excited.

We headed up to the park after lunch. I had not been there since . . . maybe 1973 or 74 and the 9TS had never been. I had literally forgotten about it. But the 'rocks' were phenomenal. A treat for the soul. The 9TS and I played mountain goat on them. So much fun. But as exciting as that was, I'm going to skip over them for the moment and fast forward to the state gardens.

I really wanted to try my 50mm lens since Karenika has such lovely shots on her blog and shared that tidbit with me. We were a little early in the season to really see many blooms but we did see a group of people staring up into a tree. People with cameras. Cameras with big lenses. The ones so big you carry your camera by the handle on its lens. BIG.



You know we had to stop and look. Finally, after one sweet, sweet lady let me look through her tripoded lens, I could see what the flurry was all about.

This guy was hanging out with his kidlet.



Obviously, my shots are not the equivalent of hers and the rest of her camera club but I needed to try.

And so I got this:



and this:



and this:



Don't ask why there is a cactus up in the branches. I have no idea.

Finally, we pulled ourselves from the tree and went in search of flowers. I found this:



which became this:



and this:



and now this:



and finally this little critter:



and was a very happy camper.

So once more, thank you Sue and Karenika for a very nice afternoon!

my bear . . .

Credits: Paper: Julia Makontinsky, Grunge: Vinnie Pearce,
Font: FFF Tusj, Everything else: Dawn Inskip.

friendship . . .

You know that quote that has been passing through cyber space for years now? The one that goes like this: A good friend will come bail you out of jail, but a true friend will be sitting next to you saying . . . 'Damn, that was fun!'

I have that friend. Really. Most mornings we chatter uninhibitedly about life in general . . . nothing is off limits. And occasionally we are unkind. . . neither of us born to suffer fools well. This morning we were on a tear. Giggling, whooping, fingers flying over our keyboards. And then she types:

"can you imagine if we were neighbors. Oh the fun we would have sitting on our front porches, drinking wine, gossiping about people and screaming at the kids to get off our lawns...complaining about everything under the sun...haha Like Weezer in Steel Magnolias! ;o)"

and I knew instantly why I adore her. She is so me. I would love to grow old next to her. Oh the fun we would have, unfortunately, she is some twenty years younger and would eventually be left on the porch by herself looking over her delicious flower bed at that singular patch of crab grass marking my bottled up remains with a quiet smirk plastered on her face.

Nothing in this world beats a good friend.

oh lucky me . . .

I am not a happy camper. Spending two plus hours in the dentist's chair will do that to me. My jaw is sore and I am C R A N K Y. So there.

I am now sporting two additional crowns. Brand spanking new temporary crowns. Pretty little pearls in my otherwise crooked crocodile set of chompers. I should be used to this by now. I have racked my total up to thirteen. I must be queen of something with all these crowns. Don't answer that. Don't even go there.

It might have been fun to brush with this little guy, I, being from the era of non-fluorated water, but the cavity germ visited more often than the tooth fairy evidently. GAW!!!

Conversation from today's chair:

Dentist: Don't bite me.

Jeanne: I won't.

Dentist: Your teeth are in my fingers.

Jeanne: Oops!

It must have been the Lorazepam. That's right! I swear I didn't know I was munching on him. Not that I would not have, had he not loaded me up with mega does of pain meds, because among other things, I am a first class dental chicken. Bawk!!! Bawk!!! Bawk!!!!

I have a two week reprieve until my permanent crowns come in. Oh Lucky me!!!

Happy Birthday . . .

TINKA!!!!

on finding old friends . . .

I resisted Facebook for so long. Not that I object to new technology . . . it just baffles me until I figure it out. My kidlet is still doing the maintenance on my account but slowly I am catching on. It's fun to search for people. . . frustrating though, looking for female friends due to name changes, but I am, if nothing else, persistent.

First I accidentally found a listing for Kristen through Google which gave me her last name. YAY! But that was years ago. It took me nowhere solid other than giving a clue. Lolly I could not find at all. Who are these folks you ask? They are my childhood friends. I grew up with the two of them and lost contact after college. Gone with the wind. Poof!

But lo and behold, Kris turned up on Facebook and after two false starts, we connected and have been chatting for a few weeks now. But I wasn't happy having one without the other. We were the three musketeers. Nowhere to go on Facebook for Lolly. Stymied. So I headed in another direction. The white pages found me a man living in the same small town, whose first name matched her older brother's. Although he was not on Facebook, a younger version, same name, same general area, was. I sent him a message. Nothing. But through his "friends" I found a woman who might possibly be Lolly's brother's wife, Ruth! AND IT WAS!!! AND SHE SENT ME LOLLY'S email address, which means I immediately shot off a missive . . . and am waiting on pins and needles to hear from her.

So the moral of this story is. 1) I am a stubborn old coot. 2) You can't hide in this newfangled electronic world and 3) simple things, such as finding dear old friends, makes me very happy indeed.

It's a lazy day . . .

in the Cave. Yesterday my kidlet and I were warming our bones on the pool deck and this afternoon, we are shivering in the rain. I think it is retribution for having turned on the sprinkler system for the year.

But we are not the only lounge lizards to be found. There is this one.



Who nodded off with his head hanging down off the side of the bed.

This one who sleeps in his own bed, thank you very much.



And this one who does not seem to be able to fall asleep at all.



She is also the one who watched me put tonight's stew in the pot and was vocally complaining until the 9TS picked her up so she could see what was going on. There is always one dissident . . .

what happens . . .

when you throw together one 14 year old, one 21 year old, one 61 year old, one 3 year old girl cat and a bottle of pink polish? Come on, you know the answer.

I separated the toes.

Kaitlyn painted them.

Katie blew them dry.



the 9TS was not amused. But we were. And just so you understand, his kitten is THE most placid little beastie on the face of the earth. She will let you do anything to her.

It was a slow afternoon . . .

odd doings . . .

Friday was an interesting day . . . if you like that kind of thing. We met with the thoracic oncologist and to keep things short and sweet, they are going to remove that curious nodule from 9TS's right lung on April first. Will that make him the 9T-1LS? He told me he thought they were removing parts bit by bit and recreating a new sloth in a lab somewhere. And you thought I was the one with the odd thought patterns. Ha!

This morning boredom struck once again. I've been needing a somethin' somethin' to hold notes, appointment cards etc. Yes, I know my pc is the most logical place but . . . BORING! So a couple of squares of cork and some frou-frou later . . . ta da! A bulletin board.

running with scissors . . .

Gawd, I hope not. I have enough trouble with a simple sewing needle and thread. Throw scissors into the mess and I'm in real trouble.

A couple of months ago, prior to February 14th, I found this blog post and ran out and bought some felt and embroidery thread. All in good faith. Unfortunately, Valentine's Day came and went, the felt did not.

Today, I hauled it out and decided to try my hand. That's when I learned my pinking shears were so dull, they couldn't cut paper let alone fabric. Sigh. No raggedy edges for me. Instead this is what I got:



There was an additional green one but somehow it disappeared. I glared suspiciously at Ninja and company, but no one would fess up. They are accustomed to things of that nature being stuffed with psychedelic herbs. Sorry boys and girls, nothing mind altering this time.

Then, having a very limited attention span, I decided to try something else. A bear maybe. A fuzzy brown bear? I didn't use a pattern for the hearts so why look for one for a bear. Sounds reasonable right? Out came the felt and the scissors and I started cutting and turning and clipping and matching until I had my two pieces. I carefully stuffed as I went . . . having discovered after one paw that stuffing later was a major no no. And finally, the finished product, an anorexic bear of dubious proportions . . .



Next week I think I will try an armadillo.

this weeks challenge . . .

at Jessica Sprague. Liv led this one with these simple instructions:

1. think of a symbol that can stand for a letter within a word or phrase, and at the same time sends a visual message on its own. (for instance, using a heart in place of the O in love? )

I hope this qualifies because I really was rolling my eyes at him, silly man.


Credits: Stitches: Anna Aspnes, Florals: Lynne Marie Favreau, Tag and Journal lines: Dawn Inskip, gems: Julia Makontinsky, Font: Everyday Ghost, Grunge frame and handwriting: mine.

we ran away . . .

to another Doo Wop concert last night. I had a tough time looking at all the old folks in the audience and realizing they were most probably the same vintage as the 9TS and I. Gaw!

We still had fun. Before the main event, this little kidlet did a couple of songs. She being a mere 13 years old. Wowsers. You may recognize her from the David Foster and Friends, PBS special.

But the real reason we were there was because we are old enough to remember The Lion Sleeps Tonight by the Tokens and they were the headliners. For those of you under 60, that would be this little ditty. Let me tell you, they are a lot older and grayer now too but still have their pipes!

They got a standing O from the geriatric set and the 9TS and I were happy campers. It's fun to run away.

back to Tampa . . .

Drive over - 2 hours, 30 minutes
CT Scan - 15 minutes
Drive home - 2 hours and 20 minutes.

that's slightly less than five hours of boredom in which I have to entertain myself. Up and out by:



Much better than leaving Monday at 5:15 a.m. The 9TS and I were much more awake. Dork here, discovers she has left her macro lens on her camera and didn't pack another. Tests things out on the 9TS.



He is not amused. It is too early.

Silly cyclist,



he thinks he can out pedal us. Tee hee.

And then we hit traffic.



At least we were behaving ourselves and this is not us.



We find ourselves bumper to bumper and parked next to this guy on the interstate.



I finally got bored taking pictures and moved on to a running monologue of inanities further annoying the 9TS. I can't help it, I don't do bored well.

Soon, we were in and out of the hospital and headed for breakfast for a very hungry 9TS when boredom hit yet again.

And so we got this:



and this:



some of this:



a yummy this:



That's a chicken quesadilla in case you didn't recognize it. Yummo!

and the 9TS's choice. Eggs, ham and taters smothered (gag) in ketchup:



and last but not least, words to live by:



Aren't you glad you don't have to spend 4 hours and 50 minutes in the car or eat breakfast with me ?!?!?!

putzing around . . .

credits: Paper and elements: Basic Grey, Swirls: Jessica Sprague, Fonts: Georgia, Dirty Ego

Mel and Anoma . . .

I thought from the comments made yesterday that we were home free until the phone rang this afternoon. Although the final read is still not in from the radiologist, it seems there is a lesion on the 9TS's lung. Thursday morning we are headed back over to Tampa for a lung specific CT scan. That will tell us if we are looking at some type of infection, a cold maybe or more of Mel and his little cousin, Anoma. The doctor really doesn't know. We don't like Mel and Anoma. They are from the other side of the family, on my mother's uncle's side. Nasty people. No manners. We are hoping they haven't come calling again.

the ants come marching two by two . . .

I'm antsy, sitting here waiting for the 9TS to finish his PET scan. I keep squirming in my seat, watching the minutes tick slowly by. Three hours is a long time. And he, poor man, must be miserable. HUNGRY, from fasting, exhausted by getting up at 4:15 a.m. to make it here in time, and claustrophobic in the cocoon in which they encase him. But, alas, a necessary evil.

As soon as he is done, we will grab a bite to eat. Then back to his appointment with his oncologist at 12:45. They should have the results by then. Squiggle, squirm . . . the ants are back. Finally at 3:00, we meet with his radiologist who will hopefully say, Adios 9TS, no need to return.

And then we will get back in the car and head for home and bed. Oh, bed.

EDIT: We are home, safe and somewhat sound. Dr. Z. was less than forthcoming in the info department. I think he was too busy. So I badgered Dr. R, who accommodatingly enough, brought up the 9TS's film right there in the office. After much squinting on his part and more ants in the pants on our part, he pronounced the 9TS clean. We all did a little dance and said ADIOS to Dr. R on a permanent basis. We will be back to visit Dr. Z in July.

Life is exceedingly good!!!!!