Wonderful weekend

All has been well for two or three days. Now if I can just stop looking over my shoulder, I'll be well too.

But tonight, the itchy skin demon is driving me crazy. Was it the bath I took with the previously unused bath foam? Was it the change of weather? Something I ate?

.. and why can't I find my damned antihistamines?

Mwaaah

Saturdays are wonderful.





Especially Saturdays where the two of you have stayed up all night, shall we say, catching up on your love vibes. After all, it IS our one-year anniversary this coming Wednesday~!

And then we realize that yes, it IS 7 am, and yes, my favorite cafe does open at 7:30 and is serving salmon with eggs today. A little nip o' Jamesons in the morning tea, a lil bit o' wakee-up and off we go to eat brekkies in the window downtown. We stop by the old Student Union, see some old friend/coworkers and high-tail it off to the high tailgate. It was unfortunately bloody damn cold, so after a taste of someone's "omg is that really moonshine?" we tromp back to the Union parking and buzz back home. I got a new lil KU T, very nicely reduced by 30% due to my old coworker love, and once back home we proceeded to plan our T-day getaway, get happily socially-acceptably tiddly, fall back into bed and doze through the rest of the morning.

Yes, indeed, Saturdays without plans are WONDERFUL.

ohmigawd

so, here I am at work.

If I haven't ever mentioned it, let's just say I deal with some interesting people all over the country on the phone each day. Today was very very interesting.

My boss brought in some lovely pastries to celebrate a win we had at the Court of Appeals. One of our clients is a lovely New Yorker. I had an interesting convo with her. that's all I can say right now.

But hey, I still have these lovely flowers from the beautiful Gypsee for my birthday a few days ago. They are magnificent. starfire lilies, I really think these are my favorite flowers this month. Gypsee, i love you!

Catch up!

It's time for catch up!







Since you have heard from me last, I have had a wonderful weekend, a road trip straight out of the Twilight Zone, a delightful reunion with my sweetie, who, despite his doubt, survived without me, a general lolling around, and a super birthday dinner with a dozen of some of my dearest friends!

You know you want to know more, don't you? I want to tell you more, and I will, as soon as I get my work, bills and reading caught up. stay tuned!

So much to say, so little time

Geez, I'm 7 today (in bitch years, that is).

I had a super weekend, a busy catch-up w/ my honey two evenings, and haven't blogged as promised. so.. spank me.
No, really, don't actually do that. It kinda creeps me out unless it's done for me on my terms, but regardless...

Any of my pals who care to drop by this evening around 6'ish to the Global Cafe downtown and have a sammich or dinner w/ me and some of ma crew, lemme know.
I hope that it's ok to bring a bottle or two of vino, but I did ask the owner to stock up on Boulevard Beers for tonight :)

Delays in blogging

Well, my best intentions went astray, but my excuse is stellar!~

I was on a road trip to Carbondale this weekend for a fabulous dance workshop.
There will be more to be said once I have time to fashion a real posting.

Kitteh

And while I have joined NaBloPoMo, Maybe-Baby has decided to opt for NaRoDayMo, which means "Bring the thumb-holders a new Rodent each day this month". So far she's done it.

Ooh forgot the photos!

The flickr set has a couple of our watch party pix!

Yes, he did still means that there's more to Yes We Can to come.

It wuz a lovely fuzzy feeling night for sure.

As I said to a few folks last night, I'm sure that no matter who won, it really won't affect my day2day life all that much. I'm not poor nor even in that magical middle class and whatever tax changes come down the pike won't make that much of a difference in my pitiful income bracket. But what did change is the sense of hope that a lot of people will have overall.

As my neighbor, who worked her ass off for Obama in the Kansas primaries said to me this morning, "I'm sure that hell has frozen over today for some people".

*snicker*

I like her attitude.

Waiting

:tap, tap, tap:

Countdown until we know who our next Prez will be?

I hope it's His Royal Hawtness:

An autumn thing of beauty

Okay this is so much better/more beautiful/natural than the previous blog entry, unless you are me and my sweetie. In our case, the open space in the garage is truly, truly a thing of glory.


But this morning, as I headed into work, I saw the sun bouncing off the trees and I had to stop to record them. So that later this fall, when I'm grateful for the lack of need to scrape the windows, I can remember that it really is beautiful around here.



I give you trees, red and sunny trees, just before they go to sleep for the winter.

a good clearing out

This picture doesn't say a thousand words. But what it does say is that I worked my ass off today. Half of the space has been cleared and moved to the downstairs, to be further sorted through the next few weeks.

With a bit more clearing, including a half metric ton of stuff to be removed further, I may even have a place to park my car!

Now *that's* real suburbia.

NaBloPoMo

Hello lovies!

Now, that heading does NOT mean the naughty things that are going through YOUR minds. It's the National Blog Posting Month, meaning "post something Every Day for a month".
I'd also join the NaNoWriMo, but I'm horrible at it. Maybe I'll do it anyway, just to make me accomplish something during my birthday month.

Join Me? I thought you'd never ask.
Right here.

C'mon, lets try it together... let me know and I'll add you to my reader list. I know, I'm already behind one day, but wtf, anyway. It'll still get us all connecting.

Luv you's!
R.

Bike Gals Gathering

So we pulled and pooled our two-wheeled muscles together and made our first All-Gal Bike Ride.

The grrls were mean, the bikes were lean,



It was the best lil gathering that you evah seen!



We made a run for the Border... La Tropicana, I mean. We drank outrageously priced pitchers of margaritas, ate food that was not as expected, and decided to do it again when it doesn't get so dark so quick, ie.. start sooner!

rough draft of musing from a day of reading journals

From reading several friends lately, I've tried to figure out just what still makes me angry about injustice and inequality. I started to write about Feminism and ended up going down a longer, wider highway of thought.
We spoke of recent history, of changes, and of trying to Make Things Equal without seeing it as a loss of power. How easily I could then see the connection between Domestic Power to Political Power.
Those Summer of Love sitcom 60s, hippies, and the gentle ways of domesticity? What a freakin' one-sided view. It was also raw, violent, a time of such upheaval that nothing would ever be the same again, and dammit it needed to change. An entire nation had to see change in a violent way to realize that not only women could no longer be held back, but it could no longer hold race as a reason to enslave by exclusion either.
I am old enough to remember bra-burnings, marches, the DC riots, the draft, Roe v. Wade when it happened, even if I was too young to realize the impact and history behind it.
"May you live in interesting times" certainly applied here, and I don't see it as the curse it is meant to be in its originating culture. I see it as breath-taking and powerful in its frightening violence. We may have to once again take our nation by violent outrage in order to make changes that will empower all of us in equality. The big picture of what happened played itself out within our family during those times.

All I knew was that my mum always worked both outside and inside the home, did all the housework while dad mowed the lawn, fixed the car and the appliances and took care of the money. That ALL changed when he was sent to Vietnam twice in three years and she had to take care of herself AND a young daughter, moving across an ocean to arrange living accommodations, pay rent and purchase a car herself. The impact of her independence made for some major difficulties when dad came home from war and tried to take back his power in our small family. The big showdown came when she "went on strike" and refused to do ANY housework until dad and I learned to do for ourselves all the things she had done their entire marriage. No more sitcom dad and kid, if we ever really did resemble that sort of family. No, we didn't much, but such is life when it doesn't measure up to the social fantasy. I was a LatchKey Kid, and proud of having a key to the house, time to be alone, and freedom from my parents. (What did I do with my free time? I did my (very few) chores, homework and then read everything I could find on mum's bookshelves. Nothing I could pick up to read was censored in our house.) I also watched my parents' marriage run aground on the rocky shore of independence/equality, as they played out the adjustments they had to face. I did my young best to not take sides, but despite wanting to live with my dad, that was just unheard of, and so I became a child of a partial divorce, a marriage torn and bleeding, raw and aching, but patched with a band-aid and aspirin.
My parents did their best to share me, but that too, was an exercise in an equality that didn't exist. I hated the power I saw my mum wield over home, my dad and their marriage. I vowed to never become like her. But I missed the part where she had no power to make choices that may have been healthier for all of us.
Later in their marriage, after the three year separation and near-divorce, she told my dad "I cooked for the first 20 years, now it's YOUR turn". Amazingly, dad found out that he enjoyed cooking, grocery shopping, and getting praise for presenting food. But old habits run deep and re-insert themselves, and guess who still does the vacuum, dusting, cleaning, dishes, all the while complaining about it? Uh-huh.

And where are we in the Big Picture, out there in America? Still practicing an oppression of those who are different, the insidious habits of old have comfortably reestablished themselves in our nation. America has again gotten blood on its hands that won't wash away easily. Another generation of disenfranchised, bewildered and damaged veterans who can't depend on the same system that told them "go do this and we'll take care of you", another way of seeing the differences in people and treating them badly for their difference, another skewed perspective of The Good Old Days, only this time it's the 80s instead of the 50s. And again, popular culture seems to forget that those times bred the problems of today, that homelessness started when people who were different were no longer given the care they needed, when problems were ignored in our society until they surfaced in Middle Class America such as children killing each other and families no longer being able to afford basic housing.

Wake up, America, please wake up from your sleep and realize that the battle for equality is far from over and that we're sliding into separatism far more than we're practicing Liberty and Justice for ALL.

How my life has changed...or OMG THOSE JAYHAWKS!

Fourteen years ago.. I move to Lawrence KS with my bf.. we settle in and become part of the East Siders. I enjoy several jobs in several years and continue the bellydance biz I took over from my mum in JC, KS.
Four years ago... single and living on my own, I've met and befriended my next door neighbor from the past couple of years, started hanging out at the Red Lyon, and been introduced to the phenom that is Jawhawk basketball. Yes, my ex and I were trolls, we didn't keep up with the local sports, the University nor the experience that is Kansas Jayhawks. The only exceptions were in our jobs, or when I'd temp for the Commencement. I still do not own a single item with a Jayhawk, KU, or Kansas on it.
Last night? I chose the one of two blue Jayhawk sweatshirts that I'd worn for the Final Four, still not washed and wore it to a game Watch Party with my group of wonderful Red Lyon friends. I held my breath, I screamed, I swore, I enjoyed every minute of the Championship. I then trouped downtown, with the other 40,000 crazed fans and yelled some more, high-fived at least a 5 thousand other crazed fans (where *did* you have those hands earlier? Clenched around a plastic cup of beer like me? Oh, no worries, mate.) I joined a crush of people outside the Red Lyon and held my spot for 20 min just to snag a spot inside for more celebratory boozing. At current count, I do own at least four KU/Jayhawk shirts. AND.. I attend football tailgates. Yah, me.

Life is good, and I'm not forgetting it.

Scary night, long night

It all started out fun enough.. a few drinks with friends, boss and co-workers at the favorite watering hole. Plans were made for some vacation time next year, all was great.

Got home and things got really strange..

We'd just gotten home and were deciding on what to eat instead of the wings we almost stopped to buy, the Jbird went downstairs for something. I started having the weirdest feeling, and having read that "womens' heart attacks are different" email, I got scared. At some point, I put my coat back on, and remember starting down the stairs to call for Jay.
Next thing I knew, there were a bunch of uniformed people around me sticking little pads on my pulse points, asking me questions, and I realized I was on the floor by the laundry room at the bottom of the stairs. They said I seemed okay by their machine, but perhaps should be transported to the hospital for more tests. I couldn't tell if I was hurt, too many numb spots that I've developed lately, so they helped me upstairs to a gurney set up in our living room. From there, to the ambulance outside.. wow! so many flashing lights. I could hear the Jbird talking to our neighbor. I was still sort of shakey and frightened, and they had a hard time getting into a vein to give me something along with a bag of fluids. That's not unusual for me, I have veins that are deep and they roll. Yah, rock and roll baby, that's me.

A four/five/six,.. how long was it anyway?.. wait and tests, wait and down the hall for a CAT scan or two, wait and EKG, etc. Did you know that they can now wheel a portable xray machine into the room for a chest xray? I didn't either, that was fascinating. Anyway, hours later, another exam and the doc releases me with head injury and hematoma after-care instructions. Tests came out normal, so worries are relieved, but I was exhausted. The Jbird called into work for me, although I had texted my HR boss while waiting for the EKG, so I know they knew about me.

I've rested most of the day, but I'm still tired and going back to bed. I should be okay for work tomorrow, and I'll go see my PCP in the next few days to get all the rest of the tests looked over.

I'm okay, heads a bit sore on one side, my vision is a bit off, and I hurt in some places, and that's all temporary but that sure was scary. I'm still a bit shaky over the whole thing since these odd occurances haven't happened before, and not with a fall down the stairs.

Anyway, I'll soon be back to my old self, hopefully in time my *pre-auto incident* self.

Hugs to y'all,

R.

Just for fun, what I'm worth in bed

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Would you believe it? I learned a new term today. "Tramp Stamp"
Huh. I didn't realize that a part of my large waist/hip tattoo is referred to that way.
And that I may be worth less if I'm over 30, or hell, maybe I'm worth more.

How about you? Clicky on the piccy and let us know what you're worth in bed.

Catty talk...

For those of you who know me, Ymir needed a trimming.



For those who don't, Ymir (we pronounce it "Meers", don't ask why) is my huge swear-he's-part-bobcat fuzzy boy kitty. His fur is composed of two cats that had no business getting that friendly, a Turkish Angora momma and an unknown poppa. We think it may have been a bobcat, he's so muscular and massive, but he's also a total sissy, so poppa was obviously not around to teach him various big, bad bobcat ways.

so.. I've been taking him out to various groomers, and much to my dismay, most of them keep him in his little carrier for hours, only to take him out right before I get there and make me wait while they hurriedly "shave" the poor little bugger. He makes terrible noises and the whole thing is an ordeal, except when all is done, and he loves his new haircut. This only takes place once he's home and safe of course. Fewer and fewer groomers are willing to do cats, and even fewer want to mess with my Big Ole Kitty.

I bought a rather pricey (for WalMart, that is) set of trimmer/clippers and have had them charged up in the kitchen for, oh about three weeks now. Ymir had finally gotten to the point where his fur was threatening to not only mat in another week, but downright turn to felt, which it has done in the past. This past Sunday, Jbird and I scooped him up onto a sheet on the kitchen counter, and with Jbird holding fast to him, I gave him a very um.. choppy buzzcut. The best part is that he only protested a couple of times and we let him go when he started getting really determined to bust free of Jbird's grip, or break a foreleg in the process. He got lots of praise, a big pile of catnip, and the funniest buzzcut ever given a poor fuzzy kitty. Don't tell him it looks awful. I'm rather proud that we managed to do it at all, and I'm pretty sure I'll get better at this the next few times around.

Ymirs got a trim, I got a fuzzy eye, and Jbird is rather grateful that his head is easier to buzz than a cat's torso.

And no, we're not posting a picture of it just yet. I have a few touch-ups to do and I want to spare the poor Ymirs the truth of his haircut.

Hello lovely ones,

I just might get back to this space, so update your linkages, help me dust off my lineages, and let's get moving!

Roya