Ohhhh, looky, a springy MMP!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Here in the northwest 'burbs of Chicago, my crocus and Sweet William are blooming. I have a flower box full of tulips that are a good 4 inches out of the dirt. I’m hoping I’ll get blooms before the Driveway Dudes come in mid-April and tear them out permanently. They will be replaced with varied and beautiful pots along the entire length of the house. I have a picture in my mind of how it will look (and also how much it will cost :frowning: ).

Instead of working for a living, I should be out there picking up all the branches that fell during the winter. The lawn looks like a war zone!

We’re expecting a high of 78 degrees today! Sure, it’s a teaser, but a welcomed one after a long, snowy winter. Hail spring!

22

Morning all, nice graphic GT.

Spring sprang this weekend - it was a beeeeeoooootiful weekend.

I even went for a walk.

23

I woke up FAR too early today. This must be a symptom of aging. It always freaked me out when I was a little girl and I’d spend the night at my grandparents’ house and I’d get up at 7-ish and discover that Grandpa had already been to the bakery and picked up the newspaper and Grandma had started making dinner. :eek:

Gonna open all the windows here (after I put the screens back in the dining room windows) and let some warm spring air in, then try to get stuff made for upcoming shows.

Nava - sympathetic hugs coming your way now!

24

there’s is nothing happy about Mondays, but have a good day everyone - I’ll be back this evening after I read this (and Nava’s :)) thoroughly.

25

Afternoon, all! Great OP, gt, and it’s a lovely springy-sprung day over here too. I was walking across campus looking at cherry blossom, daffodils and crocuses as well as lots of other bits of budding greenery.

Went back to the doctor’s this morning, she said my ear infection’s nearly cleared up but I need some more medication to finally kick it out. So I’ll be going back to the pharmacy later to pick up something new and exciting.

Sorry to hear about your health troubles, Nava, looks like a pile of things that a new job might just put right. Certainly no amount of Euros is worth that kind of health bother.

26

We’ve been having a beautiful spring here in South Florida, although it has been rather breezy lately so it’s hard to keep our containerized plants moist. The miniature rose bush down by where our Princess is buried is in full bloom, but there’s no sign of the bulbs we planted – freesia, iris and crocus. That’s what we get for buying cheap bulbs, I presume.
Every Sunday is spring cleaning day for me – with three active cats if I don’t stay on top of the shed fur, it’ll stay on top of me! Still, to celebrate spring, Lady Lacha has called someone in to clean the sofa and loveseat. That’ll be nice. :slight_smile:

27

Wow lots of new folks showin’ up. Good job gt! Spring sprung here before the calendar said it’s supposed to. Then again, that’s the way of south Jawja. Anywho, yesterday the high was 88 Amurrkin and we’ll have 90 before this week is out. Then it’ll cool back down to low to mid 80s with maybe a high seventies thrown in for fun. What we need here is rain. Rain to wash all the dang pine pollen away. I want to open windows but the pine trees would attempt to pollinate my furniture if I did. :dubious:

Nava hope all your ails are better soon. Same for everybody else’s.

Happy Monday Y’all!

ETA: Hee! I saw the pics Nava! I expect a royalty check any day now. Oh and kai I’ve eaten lots of bear and it’s good. :wink:

28

Spring has been lurking around here since the middle of Feburary. The crocus peaked out back then.
Now, the flowering plum trees are huge pink Q-tips all over town. The Japanese ornamental cherry trees have come and gone already. I noticed Rhoadies peaking their sunny heads up yeasterday. The daffodils are at their height. My lilacs are starting to bud.
The weather isn’t quite sure of itself yet. It’s still in the 30’s at night most nights. Lots of rain, but yesterday was lovely.

I’m watching the local news right now. Someone burned up 10 city vehicles last night. One blew up. (it was a natural gas hybrid) What’s wrong with people!?

29

Mornin’, all! Great OP, gt. It’s very springy here, too! Hubby mowed the grass. I love that smell! I didn’t clean much, but I did vacuum the living room and office. I need to clean out both junk drawers and clean off the dumping site on top of the counter.

I made “Parmesan Crusted Tilapia” for din-din last night, and actually impressed myself! It was faaabuuulousss. With foil packets of **N.O.T.**s and onions, and steamed broccoli. Tonight I’m grilling some chicken legs and sausage, with cole slaw and baked beans. Yum!

Sorry for your medical woes, Nava. I hope the move will get you straightened out.

Kai, I thought of you and Skiffman while watching “The Deadliest Catch” on Discovery Channel this weekend. That kind of fishing is very tough. Let us know how the bear tastes! It sounds so exotic, as does your life. I love hearing stories of the Alaskan wilds! :slight_smile:

Well, better get to work. Have a great day!

30

Morning, everyone! Spring has, indeed, sprung. We went to Maine for our Ostara ritual this weekend, and I actually ended up with sunburn. My face is ouchy, but my scalp is worse. :frowning: On the other hand, the dog had much outside play time and I didn’t freeze my butt off while he had it. :slight_smile:

Of course, all the outside play necessitated a bath last night. He didn’t really like that. But he stood still, let us do our work, and even let me blow-dry him a little. Today we go back to the vet for our lyme disease vaccination. Non-stop excitement around here.

gt, our daffodils aren’t in bloom yet, but I noticed vague stirrings of greenishness in the spot I know the bulbs to be buried. Did you know that spring cleaning is actually supposed to be done in February? I read that somewhere last year. Alas and alack, I did not do my spring cleaning in February. I haven’t done it in March yet, either. However, I decided that today would be the day to scrub the kitchen floor. Ever drop something on the floor, clean it up, and then discover that the spot you cleaned is way cleaner than the rest of the floor? I didn’t realize how dirty the tile was until I had to clean up a three-inch square. Le sigh. I hate cleaning.

Nava, Swiss insurance is stupid. Feel better. :frowning:

31

I know the feeling. Neatness doesn’t even want me around.

I buy them collapsible clothes-closet hang-er-up thingies and they writhe and curl up like salted caterpillars at my very touch. My idea of an efficient filing system is a stack of 1,000 pieces of random paper and 1,000 different folders to put them in. Basically, I lose things easily, so I think I want, deep down, to keep everything I own visible at all times. This does not make for an esthetically pleasing home.

Right now I’m sippin’ weak coffee (which I semi-hate - semi- because I made it myself), sittin’ on a folding stepstool in my kitchen and goin’ tap tap at the Dope on the PowerBook - my first MMP. (I saw a cartoon years ago of a guy all wrapped up like a mummy, and that’s the sound he made. MMP! MMP!)

This folding stepstool is potentially dangerous. Twice now it’s only unfolded almost all the way when I pull it towards my butt to sit, and when it does extend fully as my weight settles down, it has caught the tip of my right index finger each time. No bloodshed, but it strikes me that this may not be the ideal sitting tool for an uncaffeinated ADD-ridden individual at 8:00am.

In my perfect world, I would have a gang over to help me tidy up, with copious alcohol and BBQ and a bonfire and orgy-tastic dancing afterwards. Unfortunately, all my friends are men or married women, and there ain’t that many of either. And I live in an apt bldg, and bonfires are not allowed.

Asaburring (as Tom Lehrer calls it) is here, sorta, mid 40s and partly meh. Yesterday was nice. Met the rents for a catwalk - yes, the family cat gets walked. In a kitty stroller that looks like a big mailbox on wheels made of mesh. Along the way we met a woman with a teeny doxhund in a much more compact baby-type stroller, so now my mom wants that for the kitty.

Do I have to post a picture now that I’ve mentioned the kitty?

I’ll stop there. Happy Mummyday. MMP MMP!

32

Since you mentioned Ostara… My tradition is to do a major housecleaning for all the “major” holidays, and the major-est cleaning holiday in Chez Wry is Imbolc. However… see that bit above about having Santa figures still out? Yeah, I’m kinda behind this year. I sorta just skipped my Imbolc cleaning and decided that Spring REALLY happens on Ostara, and so I’d do it then. I didn’t. I should probably get my butt in gear, huh?

Hey, my doggie had a bath this weekend too! My brother’s dog is visiting, and she doesn’t know the walking path we take like my dog does. So when brother’s dog decided to chase mine, mine ran toward the creek, and stepped aside at the last minute. Brother’s dog made a beautifully cartoon-like attempt to stop, but, well, not so successful. She tumbled into the creek, and shook icky creek water all over my dog when she got out. So both dogs got baths.

33

Spring’s come here in a big way. It’s supposed to be in the upper 70s today! Record-breaking temperatures. And I’m certainly not complaining.

I even went rollerblading yesterday for the first time this year. My legs are a bit sore today but it was totally worth it. More blading on deck for today.

KeithT’s off on a work thing over night so I’m on my own until tomorrow night. I’m very excited. First night alone in the apt since he moved in last July. Yeah, this is long overdue.

Sage Rat, why are you jobless? Is this a voluntary change or were you laid off? What are you going to be doing now?

Good thoughts headed your way, Nava. Your health is way more important than a job. And there are lots of options beyond staying where you are or going home and dealing with Mom. Couldn’t you find a new job in another country?

Boss is back from vacation so I guess I can’t slack off on the MMP all day. Oh well.

34

Terrif OP GT! Spring is wonderfully here, too. The daffodils/jonquils/paperwhite type things have been up a couple weeks, but now all the ornamental pears and cherries have started blooming and it’s GORGEOUS! Forcythias look amazing, and I’ve got two tulips blooming.

My mom and I took little Cherry Baby out to the playground, where he zoomed around for about two hours. Up, down, slide, up, climb, tunnel, bounce. Over and over and over again. I also had a funny LIGHT BULB moment watching Monsters Inc. for about the zillionth time – kids = energy … kids, energy … using kids for energy to power a city… BING-BING give that girl a gold star! :smack:

In addition to making luscious pork roast, chili and toasted-oatmeal for the week, I also vaccuumed the entire house, mopped and cleaned all the bathrooms AND …

… wrote a long email to a long-lost friend! It was very exciting. Prompted by the mere existence of our own ScareyFaerie, I googled the name of an English friend I went to college with. We stayed in touch for about 10 years, but I haven’t heard from her since the mid-90s, I guess. So – I found her! And emailed her, and she wrote back, saying, “Is this THE Ellen I knew in Kentucky all those years ago??” Yes ma’am, it is, I wrote back, and proceeded to catch her up on the 12 trillion new things that have happened in my life.

I can’t wait to hear what’s up with her! :slight_smile:

Happy spring everyone!

35

We spring-cleaned a couple of weeks ago. I don’t like cleaning, but I have to have a certain level of clean to function properly. That’s partly why I’m not doing so well here in the accounting office from fresh filthy hell. It’s a pit. It is nice, though, that the boss man doesn’t come in till after noon most days. I can get work done and then fool around for a while. However, the fact that as soon as tax season is over, my hours will be cut by more than half, is keeping me looking elsewhere for employment. I can’t decide, though, whether it’s better to work a part-time job and get accounting experience, or work full-time at something unrelated so I can pay bills and save a bit. I was going to go back to VA anyway and lately I have another reason. Kind of. Though I would never move for that reason alone.

It’s been quite warm here for a while. I am wearing capris today. I wonder if the boss would let me wear shorts, or if that would be the one thing he deemed too unprofessional.

36

GT – from last week’s MMP … the marinade for my pork roast was Kroger’s Hawaiian marinade, the Lawry’s knockoff which is just as good if not better. They have more flavors than Lawry’s anyway. Don’t forget to pack in some garlic, too.

37

Something about that idea–perhaps the natural extrapolation into the image of all of the MMPers (or at least, my imaginary approximations of the MMPers) wrapped up like mummies–has had me giggling for several minutes now.

I can’t bring myself to clean for Imbolc. Mostly because I can’t bring myself to carry all the trash down to the dumpster when it’s that cold out. Oh, and I’m lazy. I always think about cleaning before Ostara, and then that whole lazy thing comes back to bite me in the ass. I try to prioritize and get the most important things done as soon as Ostara is over, so that by the time I run out of steam, at least the kitchen floor has been scrubbed. :slight_smile:

The visit to the vet was fun. We met a schnauzer with social anxiety disorder. She and Winchester kept trying to submit to each other. My dog is such a coward. But a damn cute one.

38

Nava, I hope things get better soon. :: big hug ::

Aaaaaaaaaaaand it’s the beginning of a new quarter. I am slightly pissed because one of the courses I wanted to take has been cancelled, so I need to find something else. Only all the classes this quarter suck. Well, there are some PhD level courses that look interesting, but since we have a thesis to write this quarter, I’d rather take it easy with the classes. I’ll probably end up taking something generic, like Victorian literature or something.

Happy Monday everyone!

39

Last week, I got to play with a cervical collar, putting it on a pretend trauma patient. If you did it right, just about the only thing they could say when you were done was “MMP! MMP!”

40

About the only spring cleaning I did over the weekend was accidental. Had to empty out the old fridge and repack the new fridge. Much stuff got circular filed. Then I had to clean the old fridge for Lil Lestat[sup]TM[/sup] who will be taking it as soon as he can find transport.

Outside has been loverly and sprongy as well. Not happy with all those sprongs from the oak tree that are piling up in the yard and sneaking in with the dogs…What? Isn’t that what they’re called?

nava, take care of your health. It’s the most important thing you own and you will be glad you did when you are older than dirt like me.

Speaking of old, next Saturday Mr. Anachi will be eligible for AARP. I’ll have to remind him about all the discounts. (And if you are counting, yes, he’s lots younger than me.)

Great OP, gt!!