Dressing

We rarely eat salad, yet we have all of these salad dressing bottles in the refrigerator. Oh wait, that one second from the end on the right is a hot barbecue sauce. There are three more barbecue sauces in the refrigerator, plus over half a dozen hot sauces, but that's Superman for ya'. You might notice there is no honey mustard dressing in the lineup. That, of course, is what I wanted on my eggs this morning.

I have been sick for over a week now. Yesterday brought a new experience to the week + of bronchitis. Some sort of intestinal monster attacked me. You may know how this goes. In the morning my stomach felt unsettled, which I took to mean I needed to eat a little something mild. Nope, that's not what it meant. Reverse peristalsis ensued. I'm glad I only ate a little bit. Plus of course diarrhea. (I've been practicing spelling diarrhea. So far, so good.) Then I took my sorry self to bed and was most grateful that gut cramps abated to let me sleep. All day.

Feeling much better this morning, and hungry to boot, I fixed myself some fried egg. Dry fried, mind you. Oh please, no extra grease! I made egg-in-a-nest*, which I most enjoy with a touch of honey mustard dressing atop.  Eh, had to settle for a light spread of mustard, to which I added a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese ("shaking cheese" we called it when the kids were little). 'Twas good, and so far my stomach seems satisfied. I'd be in pain by now if it was going to complain.

And I haven't been dressed in two days. My scalp tells me we need a shower and shampoo. A good idea, indeed, but I'm procrastinating. Or, perhaps, waiting for the washing machine to finish so I get good water pressure for my shower. Yeah, let's go with that one. Sounds better than "I'm too lazy to even get off my arse to shower."

The dress!! As I mentioned in my last post, I made the second sample dress for Light's wedding, took it to her, discovered what was wrong with it, came home all ready to make sample dress #3. That tightness in the lungs I mentioned previously turned into a frustrating bout of bronchitis. Feeling much better, but I'm still wheezing. And my inhaler (albuterol) doesn't seem to help much. No bueno. My goal for last week was to get a good start on the next dress. I get sick-stupid if I'm sick enough, and I was sick enough to not trust myself to properly cut out the material. Over last weekend I managed to cut out the adjusted pattern pieces.

There's this great stuff from Pellon called Tru-grid.
  My Mama took a sewing class last year and was taught to copy the sewing pattern pieces onto this tru-grid, which is gridded (duh) interfacing material. It's much more sturdy than the tissue paper that patterns are printed on. I've already used the tissue pieces a few times in making the samples and the paper is getting damaged. I need to make size changes and adjustments to the pattern, so voila! I (finally!) got that done over the weekend.

There were appointments and errands to run on Monday, and then something else happened (I have no idea what) to prevent me from sewing then. Yesterday was a sick (OMG) day, so perhaps today I can actually get to the fabric part of this project. After a shower, because eww. I should add pictures. I have the second sample dress here I could photograph. Perhaps I'll update this post with pictures, or maybe write a whole new post. Who knows? It's a wild and crazy life here.

*I've also heard it called egg-in-a-hole or egg-in-a-basket.

It's been quite a weekend

and I don't want to talk about it. Suffice to say that the police were involved. Here. At 1:30 this morning. Sproing this time.

Superman found the conestoga frame for my truck. I'm a goin' on the road again in a couple of weeks. Less than two weeks now, actually. I'm preparing stuff, beginning to figure out the route. I'm going to upstate New York anyway, and possibly on into New England. Right now I'm all hep to go lots of places and see lots of people. Once I've been on the road for a while I'll be less eager to go other places and more eager to come home to Superman. Though not so eager to come home to the miscreants.

I'll have to explain the conestoga frame. It's a wooden framework with PVC pole ribs to support a tarp, making the bed of the truck into a tent of sorts. (I would promise pictures, but you know how I am about picture promises. I still owe you pics of the puppy and my last road trip.) The idea is for me to do some camping while I'm on the road, or at least have that as an option.

Diva insists that we grill burgers today, it being Memorial Day. So we've got hamburger meat for those who want it, some veggie burgers for me and whomever else may want some, a few chicken boobies, some beer brats, and some turkey hot dogs. Diva just put an apple pie in the oven. She made it herself from scratch, including the crust. I'm impressed, actually. Took her a couple of hours to do it, but that's OK.

The right rear tire on my truck is flat. Sproing noticed it flat yesterday afternoon. Don't know what happened, exactly. Superman suspects I have a nail or screw stuck in it. We (he) will take it to our favorite tire place tomorrow to get it repaired (if it can be repaired).

Spelling quandary: repair and prepare. Why aren't they both spelled with either an "are" or an "air"? Those two words trip me up regularly.

That's all I got for now, folks.

Road Trip Log: Day 3 (with mileage update)

Total miles so far: 1171 miles

Yesterday was day 3. You know, it doesn't take many days on the road to make me forget how many days we've been on the road.

But let me tell you about the evening of day 2. We stayed in Halfway, MD though the address technically was Hagerstown. My beloved Indigo lives in Baltimore, so he and his partner Doug drove inland, and we drove toward the coast until we met at Fredrick, MD. It's a lovely, quaint old town, but the roads are seriously messed up. I got quite befuddled. C accused me of being lost, and it took about 15 minutes to find our way to where Indigo had parked. I refuse to admit that I was lost. C may have been, but I wasn't. I just wasn't sure how to get from where I was to where I wanted to be. Mildly confused, but not lost.

We ate at a charming place, a micro brewery and restaurant that Doug found. I have pictures, but don't have time to load them now. I promise a picture-ful post in the near future.

Yesterday we had many more adventures in which I was befuddled and C was lost. He's about sick of my adventures, so today we plan to follow the detailed directions that Google gave me. And let me tell you something else about choosing one's navigator. In addition to informing said navigator of his duties, one should choose a person whose eyesight is adequate for the task. C has a congenital eye condition involving his retina that limits his effectiveness as a detail-oriented inspector of maps. He mentioned that reading glasses might help. HELLO! Tell me these things, darling! After breakfast yesterday morning we found a Wal-Mart and bought some maps (also a good thing for a navigator to have) and some reading glasses for the dear man.

We got through Pennsylvania quite handily, having found a good Pennsylvania map in southern Pennsylvania. However, there wasn't a New York map at the southern Pennsylvania W-M. Once we crossed the border things got a bit befuddling. I also bought a road atlas, though, which has maps of all the states. It does not, however, give much detail about Schenectady, so we had some challenges once we neared this city. We finally found the hotel, unfortunately.

The hotel. O.M.G. I have pictures which don't show the worst of it. When we got back from dinner last night we discovered which unit is selling the drugs. Thankfully it is on the ground level, and we're upstairs. We locked out door to the best of our ability (photographic evidence forthcoming) and stayed inside. Smoking is allowed in this room, so C didn't have to go outside for smokes. However, there is art on the walls, so it could be worse. (Again, photographic evidence to follow.)

There is more I could say, but it's after 10:00 already and we have some driving to do today. We also have maps and detailed directions! Navigation promises to be easier today. So after coffee and donuts (and maybe a touch of something healthier) we're off to Massachusetts.

:: Extra Bonus Experience :: I'm learning how to spell all sorts of long words, like Schenectady, Massachusetts, and gustatory.

Day of meh

It's been a while. I'm going to ramble on for a while about stuff. (get out now, while you still can!!)

I took an exam in my Death and Dying class. I studied. I knew the information, but didn't know it "cold" as Superman says. I blanked on one of the essay questions, and missed a few others here and there. 78. I hate it. My own damned fault. I don't wanna talk about it anymore.

Diva. It's been 12 days since she went into the hospital. She's still there, though she should have been moved by now. There aren't any beds open in any of the long-term care facilities, at least none that accept our insurance. (insert rant about insurance and the general state of health care, specifically mental health care, here) There is nothing available within 60 miles of home, though if we extend the service area 200 miles, there are a few places that qualify. We could go to Macon, GA (we lived there for a few years, back in the day). Chattanooga, TN has, I think, two facilities. That's the area where my in-laws live. That could be interesting. There's a facility down on the south coast of South Carolina, iirc. There may be something in North Carolina, though I don't remember Superman saying so specifically. He's the one who has been making the calls about all this. He really is a super man.

As of now, the tentative plan is to move her on Monday to the facility right down the road from where she is now, there in Columbia, for a temporary placement. This is the place that doesn't accept our insurance, but there's some kind of override they can do, since there isn't anything else available. If a bed opens up soon, she can go to the place where Sproing spent the last five months. I know they're good. Not perfect, I have a couple of issues with the place, but overall they're quite good. Her condition is very different from his. Whatever is wrong with that child is no small thing, and cannot (in my estimation, and it's an educated hypothesis) be "fixed." Treated, improved, possibly. But not repaired.

Both of my college kids have been on spring break this week. Twitch has been here since last... Friday? Thursday? Light got home Friday, but on Wednesday went to Charleston to spend a few days with an old friend. Classes resume for both of them on Monday. Superman will take Twitch back this afternoon, zip down to Columbia in time for visiting hours @ Diva's current residence, then rendezvous with Light afterwards. That saves Light's friend from having to drive all the way to Greenwood. I like efficiency. Then tomorrow sometime Superman will take Light back to school. We're putting a bunch of miles on that little car. I'm so glad we don't have to drive the old van anymore!

The official count day for the census was Thursday, April 1st. (Which, coincidentally, is Superman's birthday. He turned 50 this year!) With all the upheaval in our life, family, and home recently, we waited until April 1st to fill it out. When it came in the mail a few weeks ago, Diva was home and Sproing was still away, though his return was imminent. The best-laid schemes o' mice an men gang aft agley, as sad experience attests, so I didn't assume anything before the fact. 'Tis filled out now, and went out in Friday's post.

The weather has warmed; spring is full and truly here. I forget, from year to year, how much I dislike spring. I remember the pretty, and there is lots of that. I forget the pollen, and there is a LOT of that. My allergies are in full bloom, along with everything else. The sunshine, though nice, is getting intense. It hurts me to be out in the sun for very long. The closer we are to the summer solstice, the quicker the sun pains me. Anyone who has read this blog for more than six months knows that I don't suffer the heat well. (OK, to be honest, I don't suffer anything well.) I do appreciate the sunlight as it shines through my windows and into my comfortably filtered, air conditioned home.

I've done something to my right hand. My baby finger hurts where it joins the hand. It feels like a muscle/ligament inflammation. I have buddy taped the finger to its adjacent ring finger. Typing is tricky. I'm having trouble specifically with the "p" and the apostrophe, quotes, and question mark. The damned thing has been hurting since Thursday and doesn't seem to be improving much. We are not amused.

I watched the movie Philadelphia yesterday. It's a classic, one of those movies every gay man must see, and I hadn't seen it yet. It finally came around on the Netflix queue. It is a very good movie. I knew it would be difficult to watch, but it wasn't as hard as I expected. I also received one of the gay movies on my list, though I can't now recall the title. I hope to watch it today. It has the potential to be good, but so many of those indy gay flicks are terrible. Even the bad ones can be fun to watch, though, if only for the tragicomedy of the train wreck.

Spelling:

• Accommodate has more letters than I expect it to have.
• Repair or repare? I can never remember.
• Derogation is a new one I learned this week. It was one of the answers I did remember on my Death and Dying exam. I've known "derogatory" but hadn't used, to my knowledge, the noun form. Had a time trying to figure out how to spell it.

And that's all I can remember in spelling-related news this week.

That's all I'm going to say for now. Anything else would go even deeper into the whiny depressive morass (another spelling challenge) of my consciousness. It ain't pretty.

Ramblings

I have a cold or something like it. My lungs are tight, I'm coughing, but only a little bit. I'm afraid to cough too much. I can tell that my glands are swollen, and my ears are pretending to be stopped up. The headache, it hurts.

This is the first time I've been sick in over a year. I missed class today, and I haven't missed a class because of illness since I started back to school last January.

"Nite time multi-symptom cold and flu relief" is full of teh dizzy. I'm not sure if it makes me feel any better, but it makes me feel different in a very dizzy sense.

Watched another bad gay movie today. There was really no acting in it at all. I looked. Handsome guys, though. All of the actors, all three of them, had very nice teeth. That's the take-home message I got from this movie.

A note about my seatbelt use: I almost always wear my seatbelt. Occasionally, on some of the less traveled roads in town, I won't. The trip from home to school is short and every so often I won't wear the seatbelt on that trip. I always wear my seatbelt when I drive on the major thoroughfares in town (because this town is full of crazy drivers) and whenever I drive out of town or on a long trip.

"Thoroughfare" as a word is entirely too long. "Occasionally" does not like to be correctly spelled. I like typing with an application that incorporates spell-check features. When I'm writing by hand, my fingers do not do that.

Today is my baby brother's birthday. I'm impressed that I remembered. For some reason I can remember our other brother's birthday, but the youngest brother's birthday doesn't stick as well in my brain. At any rate, I called him today. We talked for maybe 10 minutes. This is how I know we're getting old: we talked about colonoscopy prep. This is how I know we will be forever young: we laughed about funny pooping noises.

If there was anything else I meant to say, it will have to wait until next time. I'm finished for now.