Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Continuing on and so forth...

...You know, I won't have to do a good deed for like a week now! Or maybe even a month...because I saved a baby bird from drowning! "Oh my goodness!" you say, "What in heaven's name could have brought that about?" Well, I'll tell ya. Yesterday I took the two lil bro's down to Fourteen Mile Creek to do a bit of swimming and fishing and stuff. (Me and Shiloh found a real cool water gun down there...don't know if it works though cause right now it's full of sand.) And we caught a couple little frogs and stuff (I love frogs, they're so dang cute) and as we were leaving Shiloh calls to my attention the fact that a small bird has fallen from it's nest underneath the girders of the bridge. Naturally I dived right back in to save the poor, small, struggling creature. It was a Titmouse, fairly mature, but all it's feathers weren't fully formed yet. We ended up putting it in the tall weeds by a sapling and wishing it the best of luck. I think I heard it's parent(s) hollering just as we left so it most likely called back and they'll keep feeding it until it can fly. It actually might have been old enough to get food for itself...if something doesn't get it for food before it has the chance.
In other news, I am now the proud owner of two small crabs. A male and a female. Guess I'll be accepting suggestions for names because I'm drawing a huge blank. Kinda weird to name tiny crabs anyway! Maybe...Borris and Brunheida...It has a nice ring to it.

Until next time sweet children:
~ Of course I'm out of my mind! It's dark and scary in there! ~

Thursday, May 25, 2006

In limbo again...

First a bit of history:
About 4 years ago my mom divorced my dad. A good decision all around. As people go, my dad is pretty much a jerk. About 3 years ago my mom started dating a feller named Gary. Some of you reading this may have actually met him. He came with my mom when she visited me at Purdue on Easter weekend. He was at the Fools weekly practice. Anyway, the other day when I was down at the river with Stephen he mentioned to me that mom had asked him what he thought about he, Shiloh (other lil bro), and herself moving in with Gary for a while. We discussed that for a little bit, mainly just covering how he felt about it. Tonight mom called a Mass Meeting, you know one of those Family Discussions. Apparently she and Gary have been seriously considering taking the plunge. You know, pulling out all the stops, letting the cat out of the bag, taking a short walk in front of an ordained member of the clergy. Seeing as how mom has a family they thought it would be good to give living together a bit of a trial, so it seems as if mom and the boys are going to be moving in with Gary for at least a month this summer. “How do you feel about that Renee?” you ask, sensitively. “I don’t know.” I answer, honestly. How do I feel about Gary? Well I’ll tell ya, I’m not his biggest fan, but that’s nothing new. I really doubt that most people just adore the people their parents hook up with. At least not for a while.
I have, according to mom, been given an invitation (standing I presume) to also come and reside at the Joint Family Manor.
I suppose that if this had come up say…oh…a couple months ago, I would be much more upset about it. After all, this is my home…But now, it’s different. Obviously I like being back to see my family and old friends again, but now that Gary (different Gary) and April have Tiger (my horse, they’re keeping him for me until I get out of school)…I don’t know, as I’ve said before, I miss Purdue…I think I feel more at home there now. And quite frankly I do wish mom could get out of this house. Whether that means buying a new one or moving in with Gary. She just hates this house (lot of un-pleasant things happened here) and it’s old and in bad enough condition that it honestly wouldn’t be worth the cost of making all the repairs that it needs. Obviously one feels strange about their childhood home being sold, but it would be best for all concerned. The other thing is that when I am home on holidays I could always stay at Kim and Drake’s (former neighbors/adopted family/my sister lives with them)…as long as Gary and mom can understand that I’m not trying to hurt anybodies feelings!
Heck! Ya know what? I have never met anybody that is better at unintentionally hurting folks feelings then me. For some reason I just have a knack! It seems to be more the things I don’t do then anything I say. People just don’t understand (even though I tell them a lot!) that I am just bone lazy! I don’t call people because that takes time and energy that I could be spending on…something else. It’s not that I don’t value them…it’s just…Well it’s just me that’s all! And people wonder about my cynical attitude towards relationships!

And that brings us to the moral children. Life is much simpler when you're not involved with anybody! Granted, you can argue that love makes it all worth while, but I'm so jaded that I probably won't believe you anyway. :D

~ Some people are like Slinkies: not really good for anything...but you can't help laughing when you push them down the stairs. ~

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Life in the swamp...

...There's yet another title for my autobiography! Anyway. Speaking of the swamp (aka Home), I've been doing a bit of general maintenance. Got the lil' bro's help to get the WeedEater in working order (this is Stephen we're talking about for those of you keeping score at home)(the bro, not the WeedEater)(furthermore that's the bro that's 3 years younger then me, not the bro that's 11 years younger then me). Cleared out the front ditch and did some edging in the front yard yesterday and today I did the back pen, my little coral and trimmed a couple saplings that are growing out of the patio. What I need to do is re-anchor the mailbox (it's sitting rather precariously) and fix the front gate. Also put a rail on the front porch. I think there might be a leak under the house too...I hope not, I'm no plumber! And there's no way I'm crawling under the house. Don't see myself as much of a girly-girl, but even I have to draw the line somewhere.
In other news, I kidney punched a guy today (settle down, I did it relatively softly, more of a token punch then anything, just a threat really). There was a good reason! I went out to the freezer at work and he waved to me from the back door then let it shut. (It locks automatically) When it comes right down to it, it would be a simple matter to walk around to the front door, but I waited there, not giving him the satisfaction of knocking on the door or hollering. ;) In a minute he opened the door a crack (quite tentatively) and when he felt me jerk it open he went running to the front of the store. After delivering the box of cake making supplies to where it was supposed to go I cornered him in the drive-thru where he tried to ward me off with a plastic ice-scoop. Needless to say, that didn't do a lot of good, and I hit him...I don't think he expected that too much, cause he sure jumped, but claimed later that it didn't really hurt. I said he was stupid for having opened the door for me, but he begged to differ, citing the argument that I would have been really ticked if he'd made me walk all the way around the store. At that argument I had to digress. He was indeed very smart to let me back in when he did.
So anyway, enough of that. The other day me and the lil bro (Stephen again) drove up to the little convenience store that's near our house and decided on the way back just to take a spontaneous little trip down to the bank of the Ohio, just because it sounded like fun (you can get to the Ohio River in about 10-15 minutes from where we live). We explored a stretch of the bank and threw rocks (and for, I think, the first time in my life I made rocks skip! Yeah!) and messed with bits of drift wood and went out on a little dock and played "60 Second Alphabet". Tell ya what, Stephen isn't that big into improv, but the kid got in some really good lines! He made me laugh out loud quite few times.

And that wraps up our amazingly exciting update segment for today! Until next time children, let your minds dwell on this adage:
~ If someone asks you how you feel don't answer, they're just trying to get you to reveal your weaknesses! ~

Monday, May 22, 2006

Blue skies ahead...

And indeed, it hasn't rained for three whole days!!!
To dive immediately into the interesting tangents of my life, a couple days ago my farrier (blacksmith/horse shoer/vet for a horse's feet for you non-horse people out there) happened by and invited me to accompany him up to Austin to trim a couple horses. Of course I jumped at the chance, horses were involved. And my farrier. He's a great guy (his name is Scott for those of you playing along at home), ya just gotta love him. The farm we went to had a black, off-the-track Thoroughbred named Decker and a little palomino Appaloosa yearling named Glacier. Cute little feller. Decker was pretty sweet with me, although Scott divulged that he isn't always an angel to trim.
We stopped and looked at a house that some feller just finished building. It was on a two acre plot. He was selling it for 450 grand. A bit out of my price range. But to be perfectly honest, if I did have that much money I would not buy that house. I mean, the construction was good, and the location was decent, but in my opinion it wasn't worth that much...at least not to me at any rate. Now the garage was another story. It was 24' x 38' if I remember correctly, and had a loft that was at least half that size. To make a long story short, and Scott agreed with me here, if it was mine, I'd leave out the concrete floor downstairs and toss in a kitchenette upstairs. There was plenty of room in the bottom for at least three or four stalls and a nice sized tack room and the loft was plenty big enough for me to live in happily.
Oh and check out what I've asked for for Christmas! Fantastic isn't it? I thought you'd think so! Be sure and click on the little inset pic to get the full effect.
I got my sister and one of my younger bothers onto the "Two Person Story" bandwagon. I also practiced a couple rounds of "60 Second Alphabet" with Christine. I think I did surprisingly well considering how bad I am at the English alphabet. ;) I had to take relatively few pauses to sing it in my head, but did juxtapose a few letters a few times. Maybe I should have paused more!

And now, dear children, for the moral! Oh wait, I don't have a moral, so in it's place please enjoy this bit of fiction written by yours truly some time ago:
~ As he entered the empty elevator car he heard a shout and looked up to see a disheveled man sprinting towards it. "Wait! Hold the elevator!"
With a malicious glint in his eye he punched the "close doors" button and held it down. An ugly, but obviously happy smirk formed on his lips as he stared down the running man, enjoying the look of frantic desperation on his victim's face. He gave the poor fellow a little, three-fingered good-bye wave just as the doors, shutting with a satisfying click of finality, ended the drama. He leaned back against the wall as the car began to move upwards and chuckled to himself. It is good to be bad. ~
PS I have no idea who either of the men in this micro-scene are, so any resemblance they bare to either yourself or anyone that you know is purely coincidence. ;) They're none of my characters, that's for sure!

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Will it ever...

...stop raining already!?! Now don't get me wrong, I like rain as much as the next guy, but these last couple of weeks I feel like I live in the tropics! Except without the nice sun, warm weather, beaches, cool flora and fauna....Well you get the idea. It's nothing like the tropics except for the rain everyday! On the bright side (no pun intended) the yard is green and with a warm summer the farmers ought to get a good crop.
So here's the deal, I miss Purdue. It's nice to be home for a bit, but I really do miss it. When not in class I feel somewhat aimless. I miss improv too, I miss my friends. Been watching some of the Fools Footage to try and make up the deficit, but it's not that wonderful of a substitution. I have managed to get the guys at work and some of my friends to take up the game "If You Know What I Mean". And I still plan to teach my sister "60 Second Alphabet" and "Two Person Story". Also, if you're a denizen of Facebook.com Charlie from "Here Comes Charlie" now has his own personal profile. That Charlie is quite a guy! Everybody loves him.
In other news I am now listening to a book on tape by Ian Rankin. Quite interesting. It's a crime novel. I think it's called "Set in Darkness". Worth checking out if you like crime novels.
Well children, the moral of this story is that when it's raining and you see that it's also a bit sunny, keep your eye out for a rainbow! Now is that deep or what?

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Let's hear it for...

...mothers. Of course! Those of you who have glanced at a calendar recently will no doubt realize that tomorrow is indeed the second Sunday in May, and therefore Mother's Day. It's a time to celebrate not only your own mother but also the maternal instinct in all of us! "Yeah right!" you say, and I'd tend to agree with you. I don't really see myself as overflowing with the blessed maternal instinct myself, but I certainly am grateful for those around me who are. Mother's Day tends to be rather more on the expensive side for me. Not because of the quality of gifts I purchase, goodness no, but quantity! I of course have a mother, and then there's two grandmothers, and a surrogate/adopted mother. I'm sure it's only a matter of time until my sister decides to get hitched and have kids (and more power to her, she's great with kids), and then I'll get something for her. I may have to revert to getting only cards one of these days. So anyway, onto the delightful M.D. plans. Tomorrow I will rise bright and early and fix a delightful breakfast for my own mom. Hopefully my younger brothers will see fit to lend a hand. Later in the day we'll do the little gift thing and I got stuff to make a desert. At some point in the day I'll go see the surrogate/adopted mother, Kim, and enjoy a delightful visit/celebration with her. Sometime this week the whole clan will wind up visiting my grandmother (mother's mom) and that visit will be coupled with the belated giving of gifts to my grandfather for his birthday which I missed what with being in West Lafayette and all (Yes, I did call him, even offered to sing to him, which he wisely turned down.) So now you know people!
The moral of the story children, (just like Valentines Day in my opinion) is that you shouldn't wait for a holiday to let the people you love, be it family, friends, or otherwise, know that you do, in fact, love them. If you mean it, saying it on a daily basis will in no way cheapen the sentiment. And now I'm going to go and try to take a nap. Happy Mother's Day!

Thursday, May 04, 2006

I just finished...

...a flower arrangement for my best friend who is graduating from nursing school. Turned out great...I'm so dang amazingly multi-talented I even scare myself! But seriously, it did come out pretty good, despite my best efforts. I think she'll like it, and until tomorrow, I'm enjoying it. I certainly am proud of her! I knew she could do it.
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Ok, I started this post at a decent hour in the evening and then saved it to draft because I couldn't think of anything else to say. Well I have something to say now! It's 4:31 in the morning and I can't go to sleep! I'm tired, just can't sleep. So I'll tell you about the last dance social of the semester that happened Wed night. I got there round abouts 9:30 or so, and learned marengae or however the heck you spell it from the VP of the dance club, that was a lot of fun! Easy too, basically I just had to keep a count of 8 and follow him. How lovely is that? And then Kaushik showed up and we did some cha cha, swing of course, bit of tango and waltz. I think we even dabbled with rhumba a bit. But that's the fun thing about those socials, you get to do a bunch of different stuff.
Here's something that's kinda cool. Those of you who know me will probably know that I am something of a novice author, or put differently (and I think more accurately) I make up stories (and people and lives) and occasionally write some of it down. The interesting thing about it is that I've noticed that during the semester I basically write next to nothing, because in general I have nothing to write down (maybe the occasional flash of inspiration or very brief scene but not much else). As soon as I go on break however, I come up with a bunch of stuff (whether it's actually good stuff is entirely up to the poor fool who gets ahold of it and tries to read it.). My theory is that while on break my mind is freed up to actually think about my characters, whereas when I'm in school, even during leisure time I have some aspect of school consuming my mental faculties (scarce as they may be). This hypothesis seems to hold up to experimentation. When overly caught up in other things I don't write either. But anyway, back to the kinda cool thing I was going to say. Even though my semester was not technically over until after my last final (Tues) I had already begun to slip into the "break" mode and started writing a couple things late last week, and I've been digging the trench deeper ever since. It's a lovely feeling to write something that I think might really be good again, and kinda funny to. For me going back to my stories is like visiting old friends that you haven't seen for quite some time. But then that's natural, I suppose I know my characters a heck of a lot better then I know most of my friends...After all, I made them up.
But, dear friends, family, compatriots, and total strangers that might happen to read this, it is now 4:58 and I have to get some sleep!
Until next time!
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"Oh come on! You’ve proven people wrong before. Heck, you live for proving people wrong! Just look at the joy it gives you!" ~Sam Evens (lovingly and abidingly created by Renee)