my [new] blast from the past

I love finding treasures...and I found a great one at a garage sale a few weeks ago.

Isn't it neat? It's quite comfortable too. All for the bargain price of five dollars!

I adore its retro style. I do not, however, adore the vinyl covering, which has a small tear.

I haven't decided what to do about it yet, so for now it sits. Ha, no pun intended.

  

Father Time is stingy

I got rushed off the phone by a 15 year old girl today on her birthday. I didn't take it too personally, since I did mention that I remembered her birth...teens don't like that...and it makes me feel old.  "Where does the time go" is a stupid thing to say, or ask, so I won't.  But I will note that it is pretty amazing how quickly time flies by. I mean by looking at her, she is a completely grown up woman. And I remember bathing her and her sisters and holding them and loving them like they were my own babies. Living in different cities from all the kids in one's family puts an intense time stamp on children, and seeing them so much bigger than you last remember is unsettling! I just wish I had more time to spend with them when they were all still little. There's never enough time.

I wish I had met my husband sooner for so many reasons, but none more simple than just wanting more time with him.  Neither of us would change the years we had before we met, it's just nice to think about having always been together instead of trying to play catch up. We have been married nearly two years, and I want about a thousand. It could even be split up: One complete lifetime to talk and soak up each other's brain in entirety.  And one lifetime to have a huge family.  Alas, we simply cannot have both in these mere mortal forms.

I used to wish I could live forever, but I know now there are far too many dimwits out there...and I think Devo is right: we're devolving. So the odds of it all just getting better and better as I age not so gracefully into my 100s are, well, about as good as me living  into my 100s (gracefully or not).  Whatever does happen, I'm doing my best to embrace the now and appreciate it because it won't be here long.

Neighborhood warmth

Saturday night one of our neighbors had a party just for the occupants of our street.  A meet and greet, if you will.  Much to everyone's surprise, we decided to go and be sociable. we don't really know anyone on our street since we live on the end, and we are pretty much the newest arrivals.
We left our house and arrived at the party about 30 seconds later. We are ushered to the back where we grab a plate of food and sit down amongst total strangers to eat. One older gentlemen I had met before, as most people stop and talk to me if I am doing yard work in the front.  But for all the others, this was a first meeting. Thank goodness we all had name tags!
Everyone loves talking to my hubby, so I was pretty quiet during dinner. Old men compete for his attention to tell of their past work, travels, etc. I'm sure he's not enthused, but he puts on a sweet smile that makes me proud. We were told what a nice couple we are :)

Then we got a tour of the house.  It has been remodeled inside and out, and was absolutely beautiful.  I was surprised that house was in my neighborhood!  As you might have guessed, the owner of the house is, gasp, a contractor! Every wall of that house has been modified somehow, but it was awesome. So many ingenious ideas...it really gave me hope and inspiration for my own fledgling domicile. For instance, turning 4 base cabinets back to back and making it an island with a nice piece of granite. Viola! Instant luxury.  They also built onto the house, in two additions.  One is a master suite addition that is to die for. It has a fireplace, French doors to outside, skylights, room for workout equipment...you get the idea. Their original floor plan was very similar to ours, so visions a master suite have been swimming in my head for days.

Obviously I was more interested in the house than meeting all the people, but everyone we talked to was very nice.  In fact, we are invited over to more than one neighbor's house to see their remodeling any time we want. Which is cool for me, being nosy and all.

While there, I also found out that one of our neighbors died a few weeks ago. He was 48, married with a daughter. Apparently he had brain cancer and it took him pretty quickly. His wife and daughter were at the party and I couldn't bring myself to meet her. I was amazed by her presence...I wasn't sure if I could do the same. I thought a whole lot about my life after hearing her story. I know there is nothing you can do to make sure no one you love dies, but if hope helps, then my mate will live forever! Many of the neighbors went to that man's funeral I hear. I love that. The idea of neighbors actually being good neighbors. I didn't grow up in a neighborhood, so such things are foreign to me. I remember feeling so alone when my Dad was sick...a neighborhood would've been nice then. I have always thought of this house as a starter home, one that we would grow out of.  But more and more I find myself wanting to stay. And if we do, that master suite will be mine!

Ghetto Texting

Like sex addiction, I don't know if ghetto texting is actually real or not.  I haven't heard of anyone seeking help for such an affliction. Nor have I been accused of it...yet...But...I...must say...

Hello, they call me 'Lil T, and I believe I am a ghetto texter.

For you squares out there, let me explain:
Ghetto texting is when a completely normal speaking person (such as myself) all the sudden turns into a gangsta in response to any and all received text messages.

I apologize if my actions have affected you, random friend, for I am sure if we have texted in the last year, you have surely thought my phone was stolen by an uneducated black woman. I gots two words fur ya: My Bad.


And pardon my giant run-on. It's late in the dirty south.

I shouldn't have been there

'cuz a ferret got into my purse

 

oh, and also, this happened:

I have two new blog followers, which DOUBLES the number I previously had...which had been my personal record for blog followers. I know.

Mo' funny

(AS ALWAYS, CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE)
Back of drink ticket on my most recent flight. One of many reasons to not hate Southwest along with all the others. And good advice, too!

Poor Mac. No joke even needed.

I swear I was searching for yard equipment! I just happen to live in TX.

Spell check doesn't catch it all...

Wow, this must be one giant baby.

Last, but certainly not least:

There is no other pronunciation!

Are you there brain? It's me, lack of oxygen

Sometimes I feel like my brain is just trying to make me look dumb by mixing up my words. And making me forget something I JUST FREAKING WATCHED. My dad used to say he got his "merds wixed up" (i.e. mell of a hess) when he was being silly. But I kid you not, this is a regular occurrence for me. I get things backwards, forget what I just learned, and I swear sometimes I even read numbers in reverse. I'm not dyslexic. Maybe just weird? Tired? Lazy, possibly. Who knows.
 The Mr. is one smart cookie, so that keeps me on my toes. Sometimes we have deep discussions about interesting topics. Sometimes. But then there are those times of complete and utter failure with my attempts to communicate. Are you tired, brain, or just vengeful? Are you marring me for every time I "accidentally" killed off some of your precious cells? Or did I cram you so full of info that every time I learn something new, something old falls out? Am I gonna forget my 9s? Yes, that's right, a brain reference all they way back to Steve Martin's The Man with Two Brains. (and here I am, struggling with my 1! lol, that was lame. see what I mean?? Brain, you should do better than that!!) I just hope if my brain decides to jump ship and find a new host, I've already become too dumb to realize it.

Inside my television

As mentioned in an earlier blog entitled "Woe is me and my TV", I wrote about the woes of my electronic soul mate, i.e., my TV.  Seems the ol' boy is fading out...annoyingly slowly...and we rightfully assumed a new light bulb would fix it.  No dice.

So now it's clear: the TV must be taken apart. Better than buying a new one still. After quite a while of research and problem solving, E spins the TV around and starts working at disassembling our dear old friend. Maybe I should nickname him Dusty :)

Not too long later the main guts of the telly were out and moved into the kitchen for better lighting. He had a pretty good idea of what needed to be done, it was just a matter of getting to it

The color wheel had to be removed carefully so no dust or anything got on or in it. It was iridescent-ish and was pretty neat. I can't imagine when I will ever see one again, given the age of my TV.

I don't have a photo of what actually fixed the TV. As it turns out, we had a collapsed light tunnel. The light tunnel is square with small mirror strips each side. And one of our mirrors collapsed (age + heat = failing glue), causing a shadow effect across the whole picture. With a quick insert of a toothpick to re-affix the fallen mirror, our TV looks brand new. I mean crazy new, like I've never seen before!  I feel like a dope, but I really think that mirror fell when we moved two years ago...and we have been watching dark TV ever since.  Had we not replaced the light bulb in the first place, who knows if we would've discovered this relatively easy (not to mention FREE) fix.  

My poor Tivo is about to get a workout....look out! Momma's gotta see her shows in brand new color!!

.

Spring Cleaning, of sorts

Thanks, Mom!

Woe is me and my TV

I have always watched a lot of TV. Even growing up when we only had 5 channels; I watched a lot of TV. And currently I am at what I like to call my zenith of television watching...that includes having a large HDTV with Tivo, streaming Netflix, and blu-ray player. For someone like me, this is a heaven of sorts. I hate commercials and I loathe that after a commercial they replay the last five minutes from before the commercial! I am definitely using my TV and its accessories to its fullest extent and maximizing my watching pleasure.

Or so I thought.  Just a few weeks ago our Series 3 HD Tivo bit the dust. I mean totally. I went into a slight panic and instantly wanted it fixed. I mean, what am I gonna do?? Blank screen. Tivo rebooting. Repeat. Oh My! Long story short, we had to buy a new one. Ok, fine...it'll be worth it. They just came out with new Tivo Premiere, so we'll get the cheaper version of that. Done. The features on the Tivo Premiere are, in my opinion, kinda lame. Nothing worth really getting excited about. In fact, they took away a few things from the old one I liked! But that's for another time...The one thing that doesn't work now, is that it says my TV isn't 1080p, which THE FRONT OF THE TV SAYS 1080p so whatever. 1080i is fine. (At least that's what the Mr. says!)

But Time Warner still can't get their box to be totally combatible with mine, so now I only get about 1/4 of my HD channels. I never realized I was an HD snob until now. I resorted to recording an old episode of CSI (the real one, in Vegas) off a regular digital channel and pouted throughout the replay.  It's not the same. Nothing is really. I hope to have a new switch box (or whatever that thing is that's effing everything up) soon...but in the mean time...

The light on our TV is going out!! It's hard to see if it's night on TV, and it's only getting worse. Certain shows, like CSI, are shot in only dimly lit areas for the entire show. Come on! It's getting harder and harder to see...and painful to watch! Now, I realize these days few people have a light bulb like this in their TVs. So what? Our TV is old. But it's still awesome! Well, it was. Now it's a dark hole with more darkness and fewer channels by the day.

Luckily the bulb can be replaced, and getting a new TV will be a worry for another day. Don't get me wrong: I would l-o-v-e a new flat LCD thin panel TV to hang over the fireplace...but I'll stick with my old monstrosity for a few more years. Besides, after it gets fixed, it should be good as new! As for you, Time Warner, all your efforts to make you suck less have already fallen off. Thanks. Oh Comcast, where art thou?