News & Notes

It's cold here.  Newsflash: it's also winter.  But it's been in the high twenties here for awhile.  We are nearing perma-frost in the yard.

We had the strangest thing happen last weekend.  Massive bird death.  The little chickadee (we think they were) birds were landing on the road then only about half of them would fly back up.  All said and done, within about a two mile length of road, we guess about a hundred birds died.  It was hitchcockian, really.

Our guess is that they must have gotten into something: bad water, old berries, or something man-made.  We don't think it was the cold but it is also further down the list.

So that was horrifying.

Guess what!  The truck is broken again. Let's take a tally: head gasket, clutch, and now something else.  A person could get pissy about this right up until I say that there is nearly 400,000 miles on it.  Then I just shut up about it.

I spent yesterday watching GLEE all day and into the night.  I really wish that show existed when I was in high school, I really do.  I imagine it might have been a game-changer for me.  If you watch it, you probably know what I'm talking about.  If you don't, please watch it.

I had to take an online course about septic systems.  I KNOW, so Glamorous!
But it gets better, I also have to go take another two hour hands-on course as well.
The county that I live in requires this for home-owners with septic systems.  If I want to skip the second course, I can just pay about $250 for someone to come inspect it every three years.  Instead, I can do it myself.

I am still learning how to use my nook tablet.  It has a few glitches that can be frustrating but then I just have to remind myself that it is not a laptop.  Overall, I really enjoy it.

Kevin's mom is still figuring stuff out with hers.  The biggest problem is that she forgets and/or is impatient.  We've been over there twice at 8:00 in the evening to help work out an issue.  We've added amazon and two tabloid sites for her to browse as well.  All-in-all, she's seventy-five years old and using the interwebs so well done her.

I was worried that with Christmas and a limited ability to move that I would gain some weight but to my utter surprise, not so much.  Here's hoping that the rest of this year continues that trend.

Missy doesn't like the sound of gunshots or fireworks.  As she has gotten older, it has given her more anxiety than ever before.  That being said, if we know that there is a chance of loud noises we take precautions with the exception of drugs.

New Year's Eve we spend next door playing games and eating.  We left Missy inside and turned on all the radios in the house, closet all the blinds & curtains and left the lights on.  To no avail.  Some toolbag set off fireworks louder than most of what we used when we did it for a living.  After a few episodes, Kevin decided to go check on Missy.

Yeah, she lost her shit.  Well, not literally.  She tore down the blinds in her room and trashed a few things that were on the window sill.  Kevin said she was pacing the hallway and hyperventilating.  He had to hold onto her when he opened the door or surely she would have been in Texas by daybreak.  This is a first for her so that's not fun for anyone involved.

One of our favorite baristas is developing quite the little drinking problem.  She's college-age so it's a little to be expected that she parties but it's clearly turning into a problem.   Without intention, I mentioned that I don't drink.  She very bluntly said that she gets drunk about two or three times a week.  "But it's a lifestyle, not a problem."   I just let her statement hang in silence.  Partially because I was taken aback and partially because I wanted that pause to maybe make an impact.

As I was driving away, I thought "I could have said something like My dad only got drunk two to three times a week and there's not a moment of my childhood that was wasn't affected.  Or, I've had drinking attempt to destroy my life twice and neither person would ever admit it was a problem."  But truly, she wouldn't have heard me.  It's going to take something truly awful for her to have an opportunity to stop herself.  Hopefully it's not too awful that it just encourages it.

If I ever need something explained to me, I am just going to rely on the internet.  Rachel Maddow, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Cory Booker.  They each have a way to explain complicated things so that a normal human can understand.

Kevin's brother figured out how to cook Benihana style.  Oh.My.Gah.  SO GOOD. Guess what we're having for dinner tonight!