Somehow, a dreary day

And I don't mean the weather.
I felt a little "off" all day.
No particular reason.
Drove to facilitate a music therapy session and didn't want to go.
Wished I had called and cancelled.
Pulled out my guitar when I got there and discovered I had forgotten to put the strap back on it after a friend borrowed it this weekend.
Do you know how IMPOSSIBLE it is to walk around while playing a guitar with no strap?
Well it is!
I managed to jimmy a strap out of some ribbon and the session was great.
Music and human interaction energized me.
By the time I got home I was tired and sad-sacking it again.
Five piano lessons wore me out.
Dinner was frozen french fries and fish sticks.
I was gloomy.

Maybe it was too much weekend.

Jeff and I went car shopping on Saturday.
We were strong and did NOT come home with a new car.
We drove some very nice Mustangs.
I liked them surprisingly well.
We found a couple of cars that seem to be good possibilities.
Not Mustangs, sorry Bethany.
Time and our mechanic (Bruce, did I mention him already?) will tell.

Saturday night we went to a church talent show of sorts.
We sang some Everly Brothers songs with our friend Ron.
Maybe I will post pictures later.

Yesterday was Jeff's birthday.
All the family came over.
Nine adults and six kids.

We ate pulled pork with homemade hoagie buns.
And a dark chocolate-cherry cake with whipped cream filling and ganache icing.
Oh my.
After which, all six kids ran back and forth through the house like screaming banshees.
This was one of the four days a years that I wish I had a bigger house.

My Mum is visiting from New Zealand for three months.
Here she is shooting Jon's paintball gun last night.


And in a quieter moment, reading to Natalie.


Day off tomorrow.

Maybe I'll take a nap.

Hi ho, hi ho, off I go....

to the Better Living Show tomorrow at the Expo Centre.
All kinds of fun stuff for GREEN living.
Last year I got my two kiwi plants.
The male died, sniff, but the nursery replaced him.
With a much more virile male, obviously, because he survived Oregon's very tough winter.
In a couple of years, I hope to have lots of these.


I also discovered Solatubes, a very nifty invention, of which we now own two.
My formerly dim living room and VERY DARK hallway thank me.
The same company also installed an attic fan, which lives inconspicuously on top of the roof and uses solar power to suck the hot air out of the attic whenever the inside temperature triggers the thermostat.

How cool is that?

A small rant

I can't figure out why people drink bottled water.

Let's look at the reasons to NOT drink it.

1. It takes lots of energy (think "terrorist oil") to produce the empty bottles and ship the full ones.
2. The discarded bottles use up lots of landfill space.
3. Messy people create litter when they don't bother to throw them away in a rubbish bin.
4. It is expensive.
5. Most of the time it doesn't even taste very good.
6. Bottled water is often plain old tap water.
7. Most bottled water is wasted. When was the last time you went to a function and DIDN'T see mostly-full bottles of water being tossed away.
8. It takes up grocery store shelf space that could be used more productively by purveyors of CHOCOLATE.
9. Sometimes, INNOCENT BYSTANDERS GET HIT IN THE HEAD BY A FULL BOTTLE OF WATER THAT IS BEING KICKED AROUND BY STUPID TEENAGERS.
10. I'll think of another one in a minute.

Now, the reasons TO drink bottled water.

Ummmmmm.

1. The REALLY EXPENSIVE ones taste good.
But so does the water from my Brita pitchers, of which I have two in my fridge.


2. Water in third world countries is not safe to drink.
But let's see....we're not in a third world country, are we?
3. If not for bottled water, we would use more paper cups.
So carry a nice eco-water bottle already.
Like this:


Here is the link to these nifty Eco bottles. They are a little spendier than plastic bottles but healthier for you and sturdier.

Now, are you convinced?

P.S. Did you notice I further refined my linking skills?

Sue's Very Horrible Friday

Here it is (although I am SO over it already).
I had a doctor's appointment at Good Sam Hospital on Friday morning.
Didn't want to go, but duty bid me do it.
Jeff came too.
Probably just to make sure that I actually went.
We were planning a nice lunch together at Quizno's.

Time spent waiting in doctor's office: ONE HOUR.

Detoured over the west hills of Portland on the way home.
It was a pleasant drive, guided by TomTom.

Left a package at a friend's apartment.
Tried to start the car.
Nothing.
Tried again.
Still nothing.
Called favourite mechanic.
His name is Bruce and you can't have him.
Unless you already do.
He said, "Sounds like the fuel pump. Hit on the gas tank and maybe it will get you home."
Jeff pounded on the gas tank with a rock.
It got us to the end of the driveway.
Called insurance company.

Time spent on phone arranging a tow: TEN MINUTES

Time spent waiting for tow truck: ONE HOUR.

Time spent waiting for driver to hoist the car onto his flatbed: HALF AN HOUR.

Drive home in a very bumpy, smelly tow truck: ONE HOUR.

Time spent shopping on the way home as planned: ZERO HOURS.

Time Jeff got home from work after all the delays: ELEVEN O'CLOCK PM.

Money paid to tow company over the covered amount: THIRTY DOLLARS.

Number of delicious Quizno's chicken carbonara sandwiches eaten by ME on Friday: ZERO


Phooey.

Good Old Reader's Digest

Here are a few things I learned from the April Reader's Digest today.
1. If you are as sick of telephone books as we are, this is a very easy way to put a stop to them.
Go to yellowpagesgoesgreen.org and sign up to stop them.
It's the easiest thing I've done all day.

2. At https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/home.action you can sign up to stop catalogues, magazines, and credit card offers.
Also quite easy, although you do have to register on the site.

3. A modern car uses up more gas in ten seconds of idling than turning it off and restarting.

4. And finally, if you go to the RD website there are all kinds of fun extras.
Like this:


Tee hee.

My ookelele

Oh, I am in the blogging big time now....I figured out how to post videos!
My latest love is the concert ukelele (pronounced "ookelele" if you are in the know) I bought last week.

Daniel got a ukelele for Christmas.
He wanted a guitar.
We persuaded him that a ukelele is just like a guitar, only "Daniel-sized."
I even made him a cool uke bag from fleece.
He has proved resistant to lessons from Nana, so I thought maybe if I had one too that it would encourage him.

I discovered this Hawaiian in a magazine at the doctor's office.
You never knew that a ukelele could sound so good.



He is apparently the God of ukeleledom.

I do love the uke.
It is just my size.
I have been busy taking uke tutorials on YouTube.
I can now play a mean "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue" and
"Tiptoe Through the Tulips."

My uke needs a cool uke bag.

Maybe tomorrow.

Stay tuned for photos and the story of Sue's Very Horrible Friday.

Little Boys

Four little boys and Natalie spent St. Patrick's Day at Nana's house.
The boys are learning the art of "hanging out" together.


It's fun to see them getting along.
It took a while for them all to jell, but it's finally happening.

Joshua spent some time engaged in the solitary pursuit of putting puzzles together.


For two-and-a-half, I think he has a mighty talent for puzzles.

Some Josh-isms of the day:

"Nana, I need pork with my 'ot dogs."
Thinks I, "They're beef, why do you need pork?"
Oh. Fork.

Me: "What's on your shirt, Josh?"
Josh: "A dolpin and a turtle."

"I want some poot snacks."

I think he's having a wee bit of trouble with his "f's"!