A pretty picture and a funny story

From Botany Photo of the Day

Lupinus pilosus, commonly known as the blue lupine, is an Old World lupine, occurring from southern Greece through western Turkey to Israel.

More information can be found at the above-linked website.

And now for something I think is hilarious. I called my Mama tonight, since I failed to call her on Thanksgiving or the weekend that followed. She spent the holiday weekend with my youngest brother and his wife and kids. She reports that a good time was had by all. Evidently it is my brother's tradition to assemble his Christmas tree during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. This is the second year in a row that Mama has been present for the process. She told me that she is their official Christmas Tree Fluffer.

I blame it on you, my dear gay blog buddies. I've been hanging with y'all enough so that my mind jumps to associations I've picked up from you. She said "fluffer" and I started to laugh. Then laugh louder. And harder. Until I could barely breathe. She didn't understand what I found so funny. It took me a minute to catch my breath so I could tell her that I know another meaning for that term. I said it was all your doing, and asked her, knowing from whence I came upon the knowledge, if she wanted me to tell her. She did, so I told her. I couldn't tell over the phone whether she was more amused or put off. I don't care. I had a jolly good laugh out of the whole thing, and I really needed a good laugh. And I have you, indirectly, to thank for it.

I love you all.

It was a good day

I wasn't looking forward to Thanksgiving. It's another big obligation, and I don't feel festive. But it played out unexpectedly well.

I got up early but not too early (7:00) and made pie crust. It's not a daily routine, and the newness of it set the pace for the day. I showered and put on my posh frock, then Superman and I drove up to see Sproing at the laughing academy. We joined him for a holiday lunch. He said it tasted better than the stuff they usually eat. There was turkey, green bean casserole, cornbread, cranberry sauce, etc. I ate a small helping of some of it. I didn't overdo! I was pleased.

The visit with Sproing was really good. We enjoyed each other's company. He was more like my boy than he's been in a few months. I miss that boy. The little snit who has been in his place is NOT my boy! But I saw a lot more of my boy today. I had a chance to explain to him why he is there, and what it takes to get out. He's been of the opinion that if he just does his time, eventually he'll get out. I was able to demonstrate, I think successfully, that the determining factor is his behavior, his willingness to meet the goals that determines when he comes home. I've been trying to get that message across to him since he first was incarcerated, but today was the first time he'd listen to me. I don't know what the next visit will be like. He might be the monster again. But I'm more hopeful than I've been in a while.

Superman and I had a wonderful time being together for the 3 hours we were traveling to and from Sproing's current residence. We talked a lot about a lot of things without being interrupted by children. It was great!

Once home, I prepared the turkey and put it in the oven to roast. While it cooked, I took a nap. Isn't that lovely? I recommend that as a method for roasting meat. Superman woke me when the turkey was done. I then made the guts of a lemon meringue pie, having baked the crust earlier this morning. Light and Superman, with some help from Twitch, cooked everything else. It's a good thing, this sharing of the kitchen. We were all conscientious about keeping the dishes washed up, so that after dinner there was very little clean-up to do. From that perspective, it's the best holiday dinner we've had in forever.

After pie (pumpkin, lemon meringue, and pecan) and coffee and the rest of the clean-up, all of us except Twitch played a game of Apples to Apples. It was fun. Superman won. I lost pathetically. Since then I've been cruising the blogs, watching silly YouTube videos, and having a generally lovely evening.

I hope your holiday has been pleasant, and the weekend ahead is just as great, if not more so.

Thanksgiving at the House of Java

My kids are home for Thanksgiving. I drove for 6+ hours yesterday evening to gather them. It's a good thing I like to drive, eh?

Here's Light. This is what she was doing when I got up this morning.

Here's Twitch. This is what he was doing when I got up this morning.

The best part is the sound effects, which you can't hear by looking at this picture. He snores. It's cute, as long as it doesn't disturb my sleep.

Diva is, of course, at home. She and Twitch have been griping at each other since they woke up. The only one missing is Sproing. I'm sad that he isn't able to be here, and by that I mean that he's not well enough to be home. I'm glad, since he is as messed up as he is, that he's not here to wreck havoc with this delicate balance of the family dynamic.

I'm glad to have them here, with a caveat. I like the still-picture of everyone together. As the day gets moving and we are interacting, I'm having trouble with my emotions. I'm tense, anxious, hypersensitive, impatient. I thought I was getting better, but evidently I can't handle the stress. I've been "better" because the stress is lessened. Or maybe I'm having a bad day and need to eat a healthy lunch to get my humours in balance. Perhaps a nap will help.

Ah, Superman is home for lunch now. He's going to fix a good-for-me sandwich, and after lunch I'll take a nap with my special nocturnal afternoon-nap kitty. (Samhain)

Thank Therapy

My dear friend Tobey over at Bald Emotions has posted a "thank therapy" list. This is a great idea for this season, but it's probably useful many other times of the year. Remind me of this next time I get into a blue funk.

Here's my list of 25 things for which I am thankful:

1. Indoor plumbing, a perennial favorite

2. Sex

3. Validation that Sproing really is psychologically disturbed

4. Sproing being in a residential treatment facility where he is getting help

5. ...and by extension, Sproing not being here to wreck daily havoc on my life

6. My precious kitty cats, who bring so much comfort and fun to my days

7. Central air conditioning

8. Autumn

9. Twitch doing so well in college

10. Light, ditto

11. The interwebs, specifically blogs and those who write them

12. My computer, through which I access this interwebby thing

13. The dear friends I have made through blogging

14. My wonderful husband Superman, our marriage, and the joy we share with each other

15. Being in college again -- it makes me feel alive!

16. Psychotropic medication, which makes this list possible

17. Cool weather

18. Diva, and being able to spend time with her alone, getting to know her outside of the Sproing dynamic

19. Indigo, my beloved friend who has changed my life is so many good ways

20. Therapy, and specifically my therapist

21. My health, such as it is, and would that I take better care of it

22. Music that soothes the savage beast (that would be me)

23. Having my own room, my office, which is mine, dammit

24. My intellect and insight, when it works

25. Modern kitchen appliances: beware the trap of taking them for granted

Celebrations

It's that time of year. But really, we build celebrations into the fabric of our culture to break up the monotony of the mundane at regular intervals throughout the year. That is, I believe, the underlying purpose of celebrations. You've got your birthdays, anniversaries, community festivals, various national days of remembrance for one thing or another, and the always popular religious holidays. Then there are the parties, which I suppose fit into this category as well.

Is it important to take part in celebrations? What celebrations are most important to you? Why? Why do you celebrate the things that you do?

This is open-thread, folks. I am genuinely curious about why people do these things. I have a few poorly-formed thoughts on this subject myself, and may share them in a later post if I can get them to coalesce well enough to stay put. Perhaps your answers may help.

Quote of the day

"The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: be satisfied with your
opinions and content with your knowledge."

-- Elbert Hubbard

There ya' go, that's more like it

Big exam in Research Methods yesterday. Score - 97

Goin' back to college to kick some butt, baby.

Existential Angst

I over-think these things.

I'm currently studying for a test in Psychotherapies, specifically Gestalt therapy. Here's what my notes say:

-True growth starts with awareness of how one is affected and how one affects others.

-We need to clarify, be in contact with reality.

-We need to identify and trust what we genuinely feel and want, being honest with ourselves and others.

-Be Fully Present: problems: living in the past, worrying about the future, clinging to illusions of shoulda' coulda' woulda'

-Contact: be in touch with what's emerging here and now, moment to moment.

I'll pass the test, I don't worry about that. The point, though, is that I'm failing at life in these areas. I'm an existential mess, without a firm grasp of reality. I blame the internet. And blogging. I type these messages and send them into an ethereal plane, where you, who are of questionable reality, read and perhaps respond in the same frame of nothingness.

Yeah, I'm definitely over-thinking this.

Some days are like that

Thankfully, today isn't one of them. But I couldn't resist posting this picture.

I found this here.

Sunday Snippets - With Updates!!

~Last night I watched a lot of Dan Savage's YouTube videos. I like that guy. He makes a lot of sense about a lot of things. I don't always agree with him, but I have a huge hunk of respect for him. That he's cute doesn't hurt anything, either.

~Superman appears to be coming down with the ick. He's very achy, his chest feels tight, and the glimmer in his eye is dampened. My Mama worries that he gets sick so often. I take it one day at a time and try not to think worrying thoughts.

~Still having trouble motivating myself to study. I have a mondo important test in Research Methods on Tuesday. I should be studying now. I should have studied last night instead of listening to Dan Savage talk about sex. I also need to write a review of a play I saw last week. Went to see it twice, just to get a better feel for it. I'm glad I did, too, since the second time I had a better seat and picked up on a few subtleties I missed the first time. Did I tell you about the play? I mentioned it somewhere. It was the play "Picnic" written by William Inge. 'Twas good.

~Since Superman is sick today, it looks like I'll be going to visit Sproing alone. I haven't seen him in almost two weeks. I was planning to go for today's visiting hour anyway, but I'm not so sure about going by myself. I'll be fine; I'll be strong for him. Who knows what kind of mess I'll be once I leave the visiting area.

~Twitch has gotten himself in financial trouble again. He's not very wise. Smart, yes; wise, no. He overdrew his bank account by $12 and hasn't had any money to take care of that. He currently owes $152.51 in penalties, fees, etc. I was planning to give him a little bit of money this week, and when I mentioned it, he asked that I send a check, rather than deposit the money directly into his account the way I usually do. I suspected trouble, and was once again correct. I'm not sending him a check. If I give him anything, I'll deposit some money into the account to decrease his financial obligation. His dad had a firm discussion with him last night, "suggesting" that he go talk to someone at the bank about this. Teenagers give me a rash.

~I have enjoyed visiting blogs this morning. I like to check up on all my peeps. Everyone seems to be doing fairly well, all things considered. Tigeryogiji is back! I'm glad to see new posts from him. Seriously, y'all, I need to reconstruct my blogroll on this here blog thingie. It's something I keep meaning to do, but am too busy reading all my favorite blogs to mess with my blog layout.

~Time to get ready for the afternoon. I'll try to get back here this evening to report on my visit with The Boy.

I'm back from visiting The Boy Sproing. It was a good visit! We sat and talked for over an hour, played a slow game of Othello, ate sour cream and onion flavored fake potato chips from a tall can, drank some apple juice, and generally pleasant time. He copied some recipes out of magazines to give to me, and some of them look pretty good. One is chipotle meatballs, and there's one for Samosa meat pies. We both said that we didn't like that last visit he and I had. This one was much better. I'm glad I went alone, somehow that made it seem better. No competition or something.