“Maple syrup is supposed to be on the table before the pancakes.
Of course when they bring the maple syrup after the pancakes, it'll definitely be too late.”
-Rain Man
My friend Robin recently pointed me towards a blog – “Confessions of a Pioneer Woman” that has gotten me thinking recently. The Pioneer Woman writes (a lot), she takes pictures (gorgeous ones) and she cooks. One topic of interest to me? Her brother, Mike. Her first entry about Mike starts like this:
“I Have a Retarded Brother. His Name is Mike.
I love not having to whip out annoying euphemisms like "Developmentally Disabled" or "Mentally Challenged" or "Intellectually Delayed." As a blood relative of a retarded person, I’m automatically exempt. I get to say retarded. Retarded.
I love Mike. He’s my big brother. Well, he’s my older brother. I’m bigger. Taller. About 8 inches taller. Overall, having Mike as a brother has been a good thing.”
Most anyone reading this probably already knows why it struck a chord with me. I, too, have a retarded brother. His name is Jon. I nodded knowingly when I read her comments about euphemisms and the rights afforded a blood relative. Because Jon is retarded. He’s not developmentally delayed or challenged. He’s retarded. I realize that’s not the PC way to say it anymore and I absolutely hate how that word has morphed into the common vernacular. I cringe every time I hear someone say “You’re retarded…That show was retarded…This game is retarded.” When I say something “un-PC” about Jon or the people that surround him, I usually preface it with, “he’s my brother, I can say that.” I had no idea that other siblings of retarded people also said that.
I too, catch myself having to explain that he’s my older brother but more like a younger brother. I admit sometimes I dread when someone making small talk asks if I have any siblings. Because you can never leave it at just “Yes.” It’s always followed up with “older or younger?” No one ever expects that there isn’t a short way to answer that.
“Well, he’s older, but he’s mentally retarded, so he’s sort of like a younger brother.” That usually gets a tilted head and an “Aww, I’m sorry to hear that. That must have been hard on you.” I never really know how to answer that. Would life have been easier on all involved if he had been “normal?” Who knows. Would he have been an angelic, straight A student with an equal aptitude for athletics and the arts? Probably not. He probably would have had his own “normal” issues that we, as a family would have to deal with. I was “normal.” And by “normal,” I mean a moody, bratty teenager. I got good grades, but I argued and back-talked daily. Jon is what he is and, not knowing anything different, I’ve gotten used to that.
It’s funny. I don’t think of myself as different because of Jon. It’s just not something I think about all that often. Over the years, people have said that I’m probably a more compassionate person, more patient, more understanding of people who are different. Obviously everyone is a product of their surroundings – I sometimes wonder what I would have been like if Jon had been a normal big brother.
As I read through some of the reader comments attached to Pioneer Woman’s blog, they’re all positive. They all commend her for her funny, heartwarming stories. Because that’s all they are to them. Sweet stories. I read her entries about Mike with tears in my eyes, understanding every word, feeling like I’d just met a kind of kindred spirit. Even tho it seems her experience with her brother is worlds different from mine, everything she said rang true to me.
It’s funny. I read things all the time that I agree with or that “speak to me,” I don’t know why these particular blogs have gotten me thinking about Jon. One comment Robin made was that if PW’s blog did anything to open the eyes of her zillions of readers, that she’s doing a really good thing by talking about her brother.
And maybe in my own rambling way, I can do the same thing.
1.31.2008
1.03.2008
Happy New Year
"Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels thru the town
And they tell him,
Take your time, it wont be long now
Till you drag your feet to slow the circles down"
-Joni Mitchell
I know it’s cliché to say that I cant believe it’s already 2008…that I cant believe it’s already January…that I cant believe I’ll be HOW OLD? in another month. But just the same, I really cant.
One nice perk in my office is that we shut down between Christmas and New Years, so we all have a nice long break without having to use vacation days. I spent several days up in Dayton with my parents and my grandparents, which was nice.
A good bit of my time was spent in the kitchen… Last Thanksgiving I attempted a new apple pie crust recipe… I thought I had blogged about it then, but I think I just commented on Robin’s site when her husband tried it. Anyway, I was impressed with it at Thanksgiving, but apparently I really got the hang of it this time, because, if I do say so myself, the Christmas apple pie put all my other attempts to shame… I think I’ve finally mastered the unwritten stuffing recipe (tho I’m still a bit squeamish about actually stuffing the bird…) and mom taught me how to make gravy. Not sure I could fly solo on it just yet. Mom and I have a running joke at Christmas about whether or not we’ll make “Grandma’s Butter Cookies.” We always intend to, and always run out of time. I made them (covering the kitchen, myself and even the dog at my feet with flour), but we never did get around to decorating them. Maybe next year…
It was nice to have some time to relax -- I confess, I did have to bring some work home with me…but if the company is giving me more than a week off, I’ll live with having to work for a few hours (from my couch in my PJ’s with my feet up, of course).
The big news from our family is that my mom’s parents have finally decided to move up to Dayton – a difficult decision, but one that I think everyone feels good about. They will be moving to the Lincoln Park retirement community in Kettering – about 20 minutes south of my parents’ house. Hard as it will be to leave their home of 25+ years, they feel it’s important to be closer to family and want to make the move while they can do it together. Fingers are crossed all around that their house sells without too much hassle and they’ll be in their new apartment early this spring.
I swore I’d take a much-needed theater break after Dearly Beloved wrapped up in the fall, but I was asked to take on stage management duties for Mariemont’s January show, Give ‘Em Hell Harry, and I just couldn’t say no. It’s a one-man show -- performed by Bill Hartnett and directed by his wife Ellie Shepherd (both of whom have more talent in their little fingers than most of us have altogether!). The bonus for me is that I didn’t have to attend rehearsals until tech week, so it hasn’t been a huge commitment yet, time wise. I’ve worked with Bill and Ellie several times now and it’s always a pleasure. They’re both so professional and there’s never any drama or ego…I cant say enough about them. They cast me in my very first Cincinnati production back in 1998-ish and again in 2001-ish and both shows rank pretty highly as my favorite theater experiences to date. But I digress. The show opens this Friday and if there are any locals reading this, I urge you to check it out: Give 'Em Hell Harry
And because no post is complete without mention of the never-ending (or constantly-procrastinated, depending on how you want to look at it) kitchen project is that I FINALLY picked a color (burgundy wine -- was finally talked out of brown) and primed the walls and painted the ceiling a few days ago. Probably wont get around to the actual painting (anyone want to take bets on how many coats it will take? I don’t want to think about it…) until after the show closes, but I feel like it’s still an accomplishment.
Guess that’s all for now. Hope everyone out there had a lovely holiday and a Happy New Year.
Cartwheels turn to car wheels thru the town
And they tell him,
Take your time, it wont be long now
Till you drag your feet to slow the circles down"
-Joni Mitchell
I know it’s cliché to say that I cant believe it’s already 2008…that I cant believe it’s already January…that I cant believe I’ll be HOW OLD? in another month. But just the same, I really cant.
One nice perk in my office is that we shut down between Christmas and New Years, so we all have a nice long break without having to use vacation days. I spent several days up in Dayton with my parents and my grandparents, which was nice.
A good bit of my time was spent in the kitchen… Last Thanksgiving I attempted a new apple pie crust recipe… I thought I had blogged about it then, but I think I just commented on Robin’s site when her husband tried it. Anyway, I was impressed with it at Thanksgiving, but apparently I really got the hang of it this time, because, if I do say so myself, the Christmas apple pie put all my other attempts to shame… I think I’ve finally mastered the unwritten stuffing recipe (tho I’m still a bit squeamish about actually stuffing the bird…) and mom taught me how to make gravy. Not sure I could fly solo on it just yet. Mom and I have a running joke at Christmas about whether or not we’ll make “Grandma’s Butter Cookies.” We always intend to, and always run out of time. I made them (covering the kitchen, myself and even the dog at my feet with flour), but we never did get around to decorating them. Maybe next year…
It was nice to have some time to relax -- I confess, I did have to bring some work home with me…but if the company is giving me more than a week off, I’ll live with having to work for a few hours (from my couch in my PJ’s with my feet up, of course).
The big news from our family is that my mom’s parents have finally decided to move up to Dayton – a difficult decision, but one that I think everyone feels good about. They will be moving to the Lincoln Park retirement community in Kettering – about 20 minutes south of my parents’ house. Hard as it will be to leave their home of 25+ years, they feel it’s important to be closer to family and want to make the move while they can do it together. Fingers are crossed all around that their house sells without too much hassle and they’ll be in their new apartment early this spring.
I swore I’d take a much-needed theater break after Dearly Beloved wrapped up in the fall, but I was asked to take on stage management duties for Mariemont’s January show, Give ‘Em Hell Harry, and I just couldn’t say no. It’s a one-man show -- performed by Bill Hartnett and directed by his wife Ellie Shepherd (both of whom have more talent in their little fingers than most of us have altogether!). The bonus for me is that I didn’t have to attend rehearsals until tech week, so it hasn’t been a huge commitment yet, time wise. I’ve worked with Bill and Ellie several times now and it’s always a pleasure. They’re both so professional and there’s never any drama or ego…I cant say enough about them. They cast me in my very first Cincinnati production back in 1998-ish and again in 2001-ish and both shows rank pretty highly as my favorite theater experiences to date. But I digress. The show opens this Friday and if there are any locals reading this, I urge you to check it out: Give 'Em Hell Harry
And because no post is complete without mention of the never-ending (or constantly-procrastinated, depending on how you want to look at it) kitchen project is that I FINALLY picked a color (burgundy wine -- was finally talked out of brown) and primed the walls and painted the ceiling a few days ago. Probably wont get around to the actual painting (anyone want to take bets on how many coats it will take? I don’t want to think about it…) until after the show closes, but I feel like it’s still an accomplishment.
Guess that’s all for now. Hope everyone out there had a lovely holiday and a Happy New Year.
12.19.2007
Already December....How did that happen?
“If you wrote me off, I’d understand it
Cause I’ve been on some other planet.
So come pick me up…I’ve landed.”
-Ben Folds
Yeah, I know it’s been a while. A long while. Sadly, there isn’t much new since the last post. Work has been absolute madness and I still haven’t painted my kitchen. (I am closer to taking before/after pictures, tho…which I still promise I’ll post…)
Let’s see…Work. Back in October, we were pulled into a new project for a “Major Camera Manufacturer” promoting their digital SLR camera. We’ll call them MCM for short. Essentially, they had a bunch of money to spend before the end of the year, and needed help spending it. Enter LMC. Unfortunately the turnaround time on this project was insane. And every time MCM gave us feedback on anything, it was filed under the category “Things that would have been helpful to know a week ago. Or even yesterday.” Fortunately the program is up and running, seems to be going really well and the client is happy about it. As an amateur photography enthusiast, I admit it’s been fun to work on a product that interests me and I have learned a lot about photography (digital in particular)…I guess the silver lining makes the headaches worth it…
What else. Theater… I spent the fall working at Mariemont Players on their production of Dearly Beloved. I stage managed a wonderful production of Murder of Crows there last fall, and when the director of that show asked me to stage manage this one, I jumped at the chance to work with him again. The only drawback was work – the fall is busy anyway and after the MCM was added into the mix...let’s just say I took a really long nap when the show closed. Anyway, the production was a lot of fun, audiences loved it -- and when MCM required a trip to NYC for training in the middle of the show's run, Delta got me home in plenty of time for the performance that night!
What’s left… The house. It’s coming along. All the boxes are unpacked (or hidden in the basement, but we don’t need to talk about that…), curtains are up in the guest room and my bedroom (I made tie-up shades for the guest room and roman shades for my room)… I bought a new ceiling fan to replace the tacky monstrosity currently hanging in the dining room and I have zeroed in on a paint color for the kitchen….but haven’t had the guts to go get it. It’s called “warm brownie” – sort of a yummy reddish brown. It’s really dark. I love it and I’ve been aching to paint something brown – a few of my friends are all for it and a few have hinted that I might be crazy to paint a small kitchen dark brown. Yes, it’s only paint… But cutting around all the appliances and cabinets is going to be enough of a pain that I know I wont want to redo it if I hate it. (Yes. Painting before cabinets/countertops/appliances were installed WOULD have been smart. But if I’m having trouble picking a color now that the whole kitchen is in front of me, imagine how I would have done it with a 1-inch square of countertop material, a brochure indicating the cabinet color and the faint memory of the appliances I ordered.)
I think that’s about it. See? It’s been months, but nothing has really changed… I promise not to stay away so long next time…
Cause I’ve been on some other planet.
So come pick me up…I’ve landed.”
-Ben Folds
Yeah, I know it’s been a while. A long while. Sadly, there isn’t much new since the last post. Work has been absolute madness and I still haven’t painted my kitchen. (I am closer to taking before/after pictures, tho…which I still promise I’ll post…)
Let’s see…Work. Back in October, we were pulled into a new project for a “Major Camera Manufacturer” promoting their digital SLR camera. We’ll call them MCM for short. Essentially, they had a bunch of money to spend before the end of the year, and needed help spending it. Enter LMC. Unfortunately the turnaround time on this project was insane. And every time MCM gave us feedback on anything, it was filed under the category “Things that would have been helpful to know a week ago. Or even yesterday.” Fortunately the program is up and running, seems to be going really well and the client is happy about it. As an amateur photography enthusiast, I admit it’s been fun to work on a product that interests me and I have learned a lot about photography (digital in particular)…I guess the silver lining makes the headaches worth it…
What else. Theater… I spent the fall working at Mariemont Players on their production of Dearly Beloved. I stage managed a wonderful production of Murder of Crows there last fall, and when the director of that show asked me to stage manage this one, I jumped at the chance to work with him again. The only drawback was work – the fall is busy anyway and after the MCM was added into the mix...let’s just say I took a really long nap when the show closed. Anyway, the production was a lot of fun, audiences loved it -- and when MCM required a trip to NYC for training in the middle of the show's run, Delta got me home in plenty of time for the performance that night!
What’s left… The house. It’s coming along. All the boxes are unpacked (or hidden in the basement, but we don’t need to talk about that…), curtains are up in the guest room and my bedroom (I made tie-up shades for the guest room and roman shades for my room)… I bought a new ceiling fan to replace the tacky monstrosity currently hanging in the dining room and I have zeroed in on a paint color for the kitchen….but haven’t had the guts to go get it. It’s called “warm brownie” – sort of a yummy reddish brown. It’s really dark. I love it and I’ve been aching to paint something brown – a few of my friends are all for it and a few have hinted that I might be crazy to paint a small kitchen dark brown. Yes, it’s only paint… But cutting around all the appliances and cabinets is going to be enough of a pain that I know I wont want to redo it if I hate it. (Yes. Painting before cabinets/countertops/appliances were installed WOULD have been smart. But if I’m having trouble picking a color now that the whole kitchen is in front of me, imagine how I would have done it with a 1-inch square of countertop material, a brochure indicating the cabinet color and the faint memory of the appliances I ordered.)
I think that’s about it. See? It’s been months, but nothing has really changed… I promise not to stay away so long next time…
9.18.2007
Weekend in Cinci
And it's just another story
caught up in another photograph I found.
- Jamie Cullum
Had a great weekend with my oldest and dearest friend Robin. She lives in Florida with her husband and three kids (who I have to thank for letting me have her all weekend!), but hitched a ride back up to Ohio with her dad on Thursday to spend the weekend with me. They arrived in time for dinner and she flew home Sunday.
Oddly enough, we’ve both developed an interest in photography since we’ve lived apart. In fact, Robin has started up a photo biz in Ft Myers, specializing in shooting kids. She does nice work, which you can see here (www.robincornett.com). We spent a good bit of Friday hanging out behind our camera lenses – until my camera decided to conk out on me. Eventually we worked our way over to a camera shop where we determined it was just the battery. Usually when I have a dead battery, it simply wont take a picture. But this time, just to be weird, it died mid picture with the shutter wide open and blinked error messages at me – even when I turned it off altogether. But it did give me the chance to play with Robin’s digital, which (the film snob in me has to admit) pretty much rocks. I am not a fan of butterflies (anything with wings, for that matter), but when you’re not worried about wasting film, trying to get a good shot of one is a fun challenge. I got a few and threw away about a million. Robin posted our whole day (and labeled who did what) on flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/littler_chicken/
We had dinner Friday at the Dilly Deli and then headed to the movie theater in Mariemont Square to see The Bourne Ultimatum. Unfortunately, Paul Greengrass thought it would be cool to shoot with a handheld camera while chasing Matt Damon all over Europe…Robin thinks that’s enough to make a person sick, so we bailed mid movie. I’m guessing it had a mostly happy ending, but I’ll wait until it comes out on DVD to find out. We ended up sitting outside of Starbucks for a while, enjoying the music of one of Dilly Deli’s musicians. The weather was perfect – cool with a nice breeze. (of course it’s supposed to hit 90 again by the end of the week….so fall’s not here yet)
Saturday we had a pretty lazy start to the day, which was nice. We had a leisurely breakfast at First Watch and ended up at a fabric store… How do I make this a short story? She has (and I ordered) a really nice camera bag that has an interchangeable cover. You can order a bunch of covers online for $40-$70. Or you can make your own. For much less. Which we did. And I confess…I sort of want to make one for every day of the week.
We hosted my parents and her dad for dinner Saturday night – made (what Robin called scrumptious) pork with apples and roasted red potatoes with fresh lavender and rosemary from my cousin Kelly’s garden in Seattle. Robin and I cant get together without making chocolate chip cookies, so that was dessert.
Then I took her to the airport Sunday morning so USA 3000 could deliver her back to her husband and kids. It was wonderful to have her here.
caught up in another photograph I found.
- Jamie Cullum
Had a great weekend with my oldest and dearest friend Robin. She lives in Florida with her husband and three kids (who I have to thank for letting me have her all weekend!), but hitched a ride back up to Ohio with her dad on Thursday to spend the weekend with me. They arrived in time for dinner and she flew home Sunday.
Oddly enough, we’ve both developed an interest in photography since we’ve lived apart. In fact, Robin has started up a photo biz in Ft Myers, specializing in shooting kids. She does nice work, which you can see here (www.robincornett.com). We spent a good bit of Friday hanging out behind our camera lenses – until my camera decided to conk out on me. Eventually we worked our way over to a camera shop where we determined it was just the battery. Usually when I have a dead battery, it simply wont take a picture. But this time, just to be weird, it died mid picture with the shutter wide open and blinked error messages at me – even when I turned it off altogether. But it did give me the chance to play with Robin’s digital, which (the film snob in me has to admit) pretty much rocks. I am not a fan of butterflies (anything with wings, for that matter), but when you’re not worried about wasting film, trying to get a good shot of one is a fun challenge. I got a few and threw away about a million. Robin posted our whole day (and labeled who did what) on flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/littler_chicken/
We had dinner Friday at the Dilly Deli and then headed to the movie theater in Mariemont Square to see The Bourne Ultimatum. Unfortunately, Paul Greengrass thought it would be cool to shoot with a handheld camera while chasing Matt Damon all over Europe…Robin thinks that’s enough to make a person sick, so we bailed mid movie. I’m guessing it had a mostly happy ending, but I’ll wait until it comes out on DVD to find out. We ended up sitting outside of Starbucks for a while, enjoying the music of one of Dilly Deli’s musicians. The weather was perfect – cool with a nice breeze. (of course it’s supposed to hit 90 again by the end of the week….so fall’s not here yet)
Saturday we had a pretty lazy start to the day, which was nice. We had a leisurely breakfast at First Watch and ended up at a fabric store… How do I make this a short story? She has (and I ordered) a really nice camera bag that has an interchangeable cover. You can order a bunch of covers online for $40-$70. Or you can make your own. For much less. Which we did. And I confess…I sort of want to make one for every day of the week.
We hosted my parents and her dad for dinner Saturday night – made (what Robin called scrumptious) pork with apples and roasted red potatoes with fresh lavender and rosemary from my cousin Kelly’s garden in Seattle. Robin and I cant get together without making chocolate chip cookies, so that was dessert.
Then I took her to the airport Sunday morning so USA 3000 could deliver her back to her husband and kids. It was wonderful to have her here.
9.12.2007
All About Two
Celebrate we will
Because life is short but sweet for certain
We're climbing two by two
To be sure these days continue
-Dave Matthews Band
After my last post, I heard from my mother that she was disappointed that I didn’t start off with a movie line/song lyric. Apparently I sent a precedent, so I promise I wont disappoint again. Maybe I don’t promise, but I’ll certainly try…
I know I haven’t posted much of anything lately… Life has been busy, I’ve been out of town (was in Vegas…that’s another post for another day…), work has been busy, etc. All the typical excuses… Anyway, someone emailed this to me and I thought it was kind of fun.
1. Two Names You Go By: Hmmm..the obvious ones, Jen and Jenny. Tho Stacey at work calls me Jennerator and my best friend Robin sometimes calls me Jofer.
2. Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now: Khakis and a black shirt. Pretty much the usual.
3. Two Things You Want In A Relationship: Honesty and Friendship
4. Two of Your Favorite Things to Do: Enjoying long dinners with good company and good wine, Sightseeing with a million rolls of film in my backpack
5. Two Things You Want Very Badly At the Moment: for my house to be completely unpacked and clean and a new camera bag
6. Two Pets You Had/Have: Maverick and Fred
7. Two Things You Did Last Night: Finished unpacking and did laundry. I’m fun, aren’t I?
8. Two People You Talked to Last: Molly and Robin
9. Two Things You're Doing Tomorrow: Robin is coming to visit tomorrow! So I will be making homemade pizza and enjoying it with Robin and her dad (who is dropping her off en route to Dayton). But I have to go to work first.
10. Two Longest Car Rides: Denver, Colorado, and Orlando, Florida
11. Name Two of Your Favorite Holidays: Christmas (because everyone gets together) and my birthday (because there’s cake)
12. Name Two Favorite Beverages: Diet Coke and really cold orange juice with no pulp
Because life is short but sweet for certain
We're climbing two by two
To be sure these days continue
-Dave Matthews Band
After my last post, I heard from my mother that she was disappointed that I didn’t start off with a movie line/song lyric. Apparently I sent a precedent, so I promise I wont disappoint again. Maybe I don’t promise, but I’ll certainly try…
I know I haven’t posted much of anything lately… Life has been busy, I’ve been out of town (was in Vegas…that’s another post for another day…), work has been busy, etc. All the typical excuses… Anyway, someone emailed this to me and I thought it was kind of fun.
1. Two Names You Go By: Hmmm..the obvious ones, Jen and Jenny. Tho Stacey at work calls me Jennerator and my best friend Robin sometimes calls me Jofer.
2. Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now: Khakis and a black shirt. Pretty much the usual.
3. Two Things You Want In A Relationship: Honesty and Friendship
4. Two of Your Favorite Things to Do: Enjoying long dinners with good company and good wine, Sightseeing with a million rolls of film in my backpack
5. Two Things You Want Very Badly At the Moment: for my house to be completely unpacked and clean and a new camera bag
6. Two Pets You Had/Have: Maverick and Fred
7. Two Things You Did Last Night: Finished unpacking and did laundry. I’m fun, aren’t I?
8. Two People You Talked to Last: Molly and Robin
9. Two Things You're Doing Tomorrow: Robin is coming to visit tomorrow! So I will be making homemade pizza and enjoying it with Robin and her dad (who is dropping her off en route to Dayton). But I have to go to work first.
10. Two Longest Car Rides: Denver, Colorado, and Orlando, Florida
11. Name Two of Your Favorite Holidays: Christmas (because everyone gets together) and my birthday (because there’s cake)
12. Name Two Favorite Beverages: Diet Coke and really cold orange juice with no pulp
8.08.2007
Not much, but...
Slowly but surely, I’m making progress on the house. I spent most of last we
ek trying to clear out some of the chaos (check out the pic from the day I moved in…ugh) so I could have my family down for lunch. My mom and dad hosted most of my mom’s family for the weekend (which was so much fun and so good to see everyone). Everyone who had made it to Dayton by Friday morning headed down to Cinci for lunch and to see the house. I did manage to get the place presentable – I wont mention how many boxes were stuffed in the closets…
The biggest news on the house is that the kitchen is mostly finished and mostly functioning. The appliances and countertops arrived last week and the rest of the electrical work was done this weekend. I’m still waiting on a small cabinet to arrive – it had to be special ordered to fit in next to the dishwasher. Also need to make up my mind on the light fixtures and paint, but I’ll get there…
I’m noticing a trend as I go through my pictures of the house progress… In the middle of a roll of film,
I head outside to get some shots of the flowers that are coming up. Perhaps it’s my way of making sure there’s something pretty in the roll of film – amongst all the pictures of holes in the walls and torn up floors! Anyway, there’s a planter next to my driveway that has been blooming all summer – there were poppies before I moved in, pretty white daisies a few weeks ago and now these black-eyed susans. There are plenty of weeds too, but I confess I don’t quite know what’s what, so I hesitate to pull anything just yet.
ek trying to clear out some of the chaos (check out the pic from the day I moved in…ugh) so I could have my family down for lunch. My mom and dad hosted most of my mom’s family for the weekend (which was so much fun and so good to see everyone). Everyone who had made it to Dayton by Friday morning headed down to Cinci for lunch and to see the house. I did manage to get the place presentable – I wont mention how many boxes were stuffed in the closets…
The biggest news on the house is that the kitchen is mostly finished and mostly functioning. The appliances and countertops arrived last week and the rest of the electrical work was done this weekend. I’m still waiting on a small cabinet to arrive – it had to be special ordered to fit in next to the dishwasher. Also need to make up my mind on the light fixtures and paint, but I’ll get there…
I’m noticing a trend as I go through my pictures of the house progress… In the middle of a roll of film,
I head outside to get some shots of the flowers that are coming up. Perhaps it’s my way of making sure there’s something pretty in the roll of film – amongst all the pictures of holes in the walls and torn up floors! Anyway, there’s a planter next to my driveway that has been blooming all summer – there were poppies before I moved in, pretty white daisies a few weeks ago and now these black-eyed susans. There are plenty of weeds too, but I confess I don’t quite know what’s what, so I hesitate to pull anything just yet.
7.30.2007
Fly Count
Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything.
-The Karate Kid
Bugs are not my friends. I don’t want them in my house. When I was a kid, I’d wake my dad up in the middle of the night to kill a spider in my room. I wouldn’t go near them. Irrational, yes. They have more legs than I do. Maybe that’s the problem.
Tho I still don’t love bugs, I really think I’ve grown when it comes to bug-killing. I’ve become quite a master, if I do say so myself… I usually have multiple cans of Raid accessible from any corner of my residence so I don’t have to take my eye off a bug before drowning it in poison.
However on Friday night, I realized that my can of Raid was still at the apartment. And I needed it. The guys had been working in the kitchen all day and I’m guessing they’d left the door to the garage open because I was inundated with flies. No, they wont hurt anything, but they’re annoying -- and without a fly swatter, they’re hard to kill.
As a public service to my fellow bug haters… Should you find yourself in a situation where you need to kill flies and you have no bug spray at your disposal… Use hair spray. I found that if I sprayed a fly with hair spray (I was unpacking the bathroom when the Fly Battle started) it disoriented it enough that when it landed, I could smack it with a shoe. (I know, this probably falls under some form of animal cruelty…)
By the end of the night, the Fly Count was up to 13. Seriously. The next day I let two more in while I was bringing in a couple boxes. So that’s 15. And there were three more swirling around the garage door, just waiting for me to let them in the house… So we’re up to 18.
I think word has gotten out to the Fly Community not to mess with my house, cause I haven’t seen one since Saturday.
-The Karate Kid
Bugs are not my friends. I don’t want them in my house. When I was a kid, I’d wake my dad up in the middle of the night to kill a spider in my room. I wouldn’t go near them. Irrational, yes. They have more legs than I do. Maybe that’s the problem.
Tho I still don’t love bugs, I really think I’ve grown when it comes to bug-killing. I’ve become quite a master, if I do say so myself… I usually have multiple cans of Raid accessible from any corner of my residence so I don’t have to take my eye off a bug before drowning it in poison.
However on Friday night, I realized that my can of Raid was still at the apartment. And I needed it. The guys had been working in the kitchen all day and I’m guessing they’d left the door to the garage open because I was inundated with flies. No, they wont hurt anything, but they’re annoying -- and without a fly swatter, they’re hard to kill.
As a public service to my fellow bug haters… Should you find yourself in a situation where you need to kill flies and you have no bug spray at your disposal… Use hair spray. I found that if I sprayed a fly with hair spray (I was unpacking the bathroom when the Fly Battle started) it disoriented it enough that when it landed, I could smack it with a shoe. (I know, this probably falls under some form of animal cruelty…)
By the end of the night, the Fly Count was up to 13. Seriously. The next day I let two more in while I was bringing in a couple boxes. So that’s 15. And there were three more swirling around the garage door, just waiting for me to let them in the house… So we’re up to 18.
I think word has gotten out to the Fly Community not to mess with my house, cause I haven’t seen one since Saturday.
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