Random Sunday Update

I made cinnamon rolls last night, baked this morning. The house still smells of cinnamon mixed with a pleasant summer’s day breeze drifting through the house carrying it along. I don’t think I’m going to get around to any other bread products this weekend. My middle is probably thankful for that, though my taste buds are sad.

We walked down to the farmer’s market today again. We got eggplant, various zucchini/squashes (who knew, the little girls actually like them! Woo!), blueberries (but they’re all already et), and various and sundry other tasties. We’re having corn on the cob (grilled) & hamburgers & a Big Salad for dinner tonight. I’m totally looking forward to it.

We also started a compost bin today, house-for-sale be damned. We’re so tired of feeling like we have to wait to do things, wait to establish routines we’d like to establish, waiting, waiting, waiting…

I’m pretty completely infatuated with the idea of getting an electric bicycle to commute to work with right now. Still in the research stages, but it would fit exercise into my day, reduce some gas costs (not driving the car as much), reduce carbon mon?di?oxide, lower car insurance (assuming I do it regularly)… Infatuation, yes, and also still pleasant weather during the 1/4 of the year when it’s not steady drizzle/rain… But if I got in the habit when it’s nice, it’s easier to maintain the habit when it’s not, right? Or something?

The little girls in the neighborhood are all outside decorating the cul-de-sac with chalk. How funny — firefox spell check recommends “testicular” as a spelling correction for “culdesac”. Oh, firefox spell check!

I was sad today at the farmer’s market. The honey lady wasn’t there. I wanted to ask her some questions — like if she was also the beekeeper. And other stuff. Of course, even had she been there, whether or not I’d have actually talked with her is up for question. I feel awkward asking questions like that, never quite sure where to take the discussion. Goes back to my apprehension at hearing from a PM at work that I really like that I never come with questions, I come for verification that I’ve already got the answer. I don’t like not knowing the answer so I do my research & try to figure out the answers and then I find someone likely to be knowledgeable to verify & in doing that, I think I miss out on all kinds of things. Conversely I have so many questions (answers to verify?) that I have a huge, overwhelming list that I ask all at once. Ish. Or in rapid fire. Anyway, none of that is either here nor there for today.

Mmm. Sleepy afternoon, all of a sudden…

I done earned me a trip to the spa with the funny hats! Yay! I gave my presentation at work.

I’ve also set out an ambitious course of stuff I want to learn at work over the next year or so. Almost a terrifying amount of stuff to learn. But I think it will give me more of the kinds of work that I’m suited for rather than the hit & run projects my people seem to usually get pulled in on. It’s all there just waiting for someone as far as I can tell, so what the hell. Now if I can just convince the devs & technical architects to let me sit on their shoulders and give me scraps now & again that they would rather not do… Do my own homework & convince people to let me feed them my dogfood… And spend some serious time brushing up on XML & XSLT & some other things to help smooth the tweaky… I’m looking forward to it. No end of stuff to learn though.

It’s late! I have to get up early! And tomorrow at the end of the day at the end of the week I’m being forced to network! EEK! Am I out of my comfort zone? Oh yes, I’m out of my comfort zone. But she’s a nice smart lady and I think it will be good.

I… ah… This is somewhat awkward.

I’ve used five pounds of flour in my bread-making activities today. I have two loaves of whole wheat bread about fifteen minutes from done. I have 12 English muffins about an hour or so from grilling. And I have 12 bagels about 15 minutes from shaping. They’ll get baked tomorrow.

Sadly, I have a sore, sore temptation to start in on yet another bread, but I’m going to have to try to restrain myself. Because really. I already have quite, quite, quite a lot of bread-y type food that will be done when I’m done with these three…

As opposed to Ponderosa… So a while ago there was this three (?) random things meme & I couldn’t think of anything random at that moment so I didn’t do it, but I’m feeling kind of random tonight so figured I’d put them down.

Random thing number one… I think this would have to be the fact that I went to ask someone a question last week & she laughed at me and said I never ask questions, I come to verify that the answer I’ve found is correct. I’m validating, not asking. I’m not sure how I feel about this. She thinks I’m impossibly wonderfully smart, but I feel more S-M-R-T! So it’s not like she’s seeing this as a fault, but I wonder about the perception that I come to the table already knowing the answer (or knowing several possible answers, one of which is more likely than the others to be correct). She may not be seeing this as a fault, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s a perception that is helping me or one that ultimately is not such a good thing. To some degree, as a consultant it’s probably good to look like I have a pretty good idea of what the answers are when I come to the table, but there are other areas where I wonder more.

Crap, I had a couple other really good random things I’ve been pondering & I can’t remember what they are now. Huh. Well, here’s another random thing. We saw a very nice man about money stuff today. He told us, and me in particular, that we need to take a *real* vacation. For reals. I’m not sure I’ve really had more than two or three real vacations in my adult life. I suppose he might be right.

I made P laugh this weekend by playing a Metallica song on the ukulele. (No, don’t ask).

I think bees are really cool.

Dang, I still can’t remember what the other two random things I actually wanted to write about were. I guess they were just that random.

Edit #1: Ok, another totally random thought that wasn’t one of the original two that I can’t remember. Someone *totally* needs to hack the amazon kindle into a recipe database. SRSLY.

And today I made: two loaves of sammich bread, one loaf of some seriously fancy garlic bread (dip the raw bread slices in melted butter, chopped garlic, & fresh parsley then smoosh all the slices into the bread pan), and a dozen bagels. Seriously — why I get inspired to make bread on hot days is beyond me. But daaaamn, I make some tasty bread. Oh yes I do! I’m also excited. I bought my brother for his birthday The Breadmaker’s Apprentice & just ordered it online. Oh, maybe that was the inspiration — it’s a gorgeous book. I can’t wait to have my own copy, the recipes with which to tweak in my own particular way.

We went geocaching today — it was a microcache & we weren’t quite sure what we were looking for. I think I have a better idea now, it’s only as long as about three quarters & about that wide. We’ll go back & try that one again in the future. It’s the perfect excuse to go do that then get ice cream since it’s right across the street (kind of) from Baskin-Robbins. As it was, it was a nice excuse to get out & walk about a mile to a very pretty little preserve stashed away. I was surprised by how many people actually were there, but then *everyone* seemed to be out today. Next time we won’t park quite so far away!

Time to go check on the bagels!

I made bread sticks for my brother’s birthday. Tomorrow I will make sammich bread for the week & entirely possibly bagels as well. NOM. Bread.

Today, with the help of google maps, M1, M2, my Dad & I went geocaching & found our first geocache at a long-time favorite park. It was most excellent. We left a santa eraser & got a magic card (I really tried to convince M1 to take the studded leather bracelet, but she insisted on the creepiest magic card possible. Heh). M1 nearly alerted the entire park (fortunately empty because everyone was at the beach) when she made her discovery, shrieking, I FOUUUUND IT! Pretty dang adorable. Then we logged everything, took victory pix, restashed & were on our way. I also discovered the concept of letterboxing. Who knew all these funny little stashed things are hiding out there? Well, I guess I did, since I know geeklibrarian has been doing it for ages & my sis-in-law & her family have been doing it for at least two years, but still. Until you start looking, you don’t realize how many of them are stashed away out there! So that was extraordinarily entertaining.

Then we went swimming in the lake. Oof. Holy cow, I am out of shape for lake swimming. There were lots of waves today, big waves which added to the difficulty level of swimming out there too, no doubt. Lots of milfoil. The alarming milfoil. It wasn’t so bad out where I was swimming (except I worked my way out from the beach instead of hitting it from the dock, since until my parents came over to watch The Ms, I had to watch them), but the amount of gnarly slimy green strands & clumps I picked off my chilluns was pretty… gnarly. But they had a ridiculously good time. We got home well after their bedtime & now they’re Fast, Fast, Fast, Fast asleep & should sleep well. Yay for well sleeping children! And me, I think it’s now bath time. When I get around to bed, I think after the swimming today, I’ll sleep well too. And no doubt feel it tomorrow. Oh, bath… and sleeeep…

The thunder & lightening storm was actually, aside from that one terrifying moment, pretty cool. Our tent held & we stayed dry.

I think this is my favorite picture from the trip.

The Executive Summary because I’m too tired to write it all out.

Work continues to go to hell in a handbasket. I’m not looking forward to going back tomorrow. Dread doesn’t even begin to sum things up.

Both my parents sick diagonally as far across the country as one can get. Mommy in hospital, finally released… Saturday? Doing much better.

Fireworks — well, we all still have all our fingers, toes, eyes…

Bear in the woods. I think the (brown) bear was also having a crappy time of it. We all three stood there, way up & out in the woods & looked at each other with the same “Aw, shit” expression. P turned his back & started back the way he came, the bear turned tail & heffalumped off, and I turned and followed suit. No fear, just, aw, shit. I looked up when P stopped & thought, ‘oh, cow.’ We’d heard some 15-20 minutes earlier & we were in the grazing part of the national forest. It was about the right size, shape for a cow. Until the shaggy fur & pointy nose started registering in my brain as ‘not cow!’ Later I told P it must not have been interested in our pickanick basket. Usually they see/hear you long before you see/hear them & keep out of the way. That one, not so much.

On the way home we took a new route as the one we’ve taken the prior 15 years is under construction. Took us a half hour less time & for the first hour & 20 minutes or so there was one car that passed us in the opposite direction. We followed a car for about ten minutes, but largely we were out there alone. I think that may be our new way back.

Tried to convince P that we should retire *now* & become beekeepers. I think he still thinks I’m kidding.

That’s good enough for the nutshell. I’ll post some pix of the more fun stuff later, when they’re uploaded from the camera.

Manhattans are really tasty. We knew this, this is just a pleasant reminder. I’ve wanted one of these since Friday morning. Badly.

Pitas require a 500F oven to cook. Consider this next time you decide that pitas are required on a hot day. It’s 88F still in the main room of the house at nearly 10:30pm & now you’re committed to cooking 16 pitas. Standing in front of the oven for approximately the next half hour. At least my Manhattan is cold.

The new Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell is like sex on… on… whatever it is that music is recorded to these days. Much like their first. ZOMG. There’s at least one couplet that makes me blush, quite literally, & I gasped the first time I actually caught what he said. And then blushed. Damn. Just hawt. And this is not just the whiskey talking.

Time to go take care of these pitas… And then to see what the whiskey actually has to say… hmmm.

Started off Thursday with a 2.5 hour trip to Yakima for my grandfather’s memorial service. I managed to get sunscreen on my face, but neglected the rest of me. Apparently that wasn’t an issue except for one arm — I thought I’d found shade, but I guess I thought wrong. Oops. It was 90. Too hot for me. I dangled my feet for a bit into my aunt’s pool & that really helped with the hot. The pool not being in the shade, that’s when I started thinking about the fact that I’d only sun screened my face, but oddly, it was the arm that was shaded by my position while I was sitting at the edge of the pool that got burned, so… huh.

The service itself was nice. My parents’ longtime friend & former pastor did the service, the same fellow who married us, so of course it was nice. The veteran’s part of the service, gun salute/Taps & presenting of the flag to the family was oddly touching for such a highly ritualized ceremony. And Amazing Grace is increasingly a song that I really love. I don’t know why.

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Yesterday I got a rise & shine with, “ZOMG! WE HAVE A SHOWING IN 45 MINUTES!” That was 8:45. They showed up at 9:10 which is a short 45 minutes, if you ask me. They circled the culdesac like vultures, paused in front of the house & peered in as I yelled, ‘They’re here! WTFOMGBBQ!’ Then they drove off. We left on time & they were kind enough to leave a card unlike the other two realtors who wanted to show the house this weekend. We worked in the yard a good chunk of the day, then I went and found birthday presents for my dad.

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This morning there was supposed to be a showing between 10 & 11. They didn’t leave a card, so I don’t know if they bothered to come by even though we scrambled this morning to make sure everything was suitable for showing and managed to get everyone out of the house before 10. And in doing so, we spend a ridiculous amount of money at the local bookstore. Alarming almost, except for the 40% off all used books. Perhaps alarming anyway as we walked away with a shopping bag full of books and… our shelves are in storage. Then someone was supposed to come by with their clients during our open house. Of course, just as I was getting out of the shower around noon they called and said they were five minutes away & could they stop by NOW? Um. How about no? Come on, people! I know my house is for sale, but you’re still freaking guests. If they dropped by when they said they would, they didn’t leave their card either.

This whole house thing is incredibly, stupifyingly, exhaustingly depressing. All the feedback we get is, “oh gosh, that cute little house hasn’t sold yet? < expressions of amazement >” Frustrating. I don’t think I’ve mentioned that one yet. It’s probably obvious though. It’s really sapping my energy. Meh. Stupid house.

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During the open house today P and The Girls went with my parents & aunt & uncle & my cousin’s daughter to the Museum of Flight. M2 was transfixed & fascinated. She even went in the flight simulator & thought that was pretty much The Best Thing Ever. P stayed out with M1 who has occasional bouts of motion sickness. Apparently my mom said something to the effect that M2 has no fear. I frequently think that might be true, except that as mommy, I’m privy to such conversations as her deep & abiding fear of smoker’s lung, dying, and the occasional statement when I say we should go bike riding that ‘what if I fall?’ Like that’s ever stopped her from doing anything else. Anyway — they all had a grand time.

*I* went and did my ladies’ thing. We sat around and ate cookies and strawberries and strawberries mostly. It was a very laid back, low key thing today. It was lovely to get away from the house & listen to people talk about things that were mostly not work & mostly not home. Very, very lovely. There was some talk about kids & birth as there was a pregnant lady there, but I’m finally well enough socialized to know that I should just not talk about my experience of having two very non-eventive (except for the length of the first) home births. It just gets everyone’s judgmental panties in a twist and I’m too tired right now to feel like explaining & it’s just so easy to say nothing at all. So I didn’t say anything at all. And it made me kind of sad because diversity of experience is what makes us all interesting, but… apparently I wasn’t interested in being interesting in that way today. I was having a lovely afternoon & I just didn’t want to go there. The very nice pregnant lady’s first pregnancy was, as I understand it, supposed to be a home birth, but she ended up transported, rightly, to the hospital. I tend to think the midwifery model worked as perfectly in her situation as it did in mine — the midwife recognized a situation that required transporting & did so, everyone came out alive & stuff. Ok. Good. It all worked out — right? Right! And anymore than that & I have to start qualifying & justifying & explaining & beating back strawmen & meh.

There seems to be no tack I can take that doesn’t make me come off like some kind of defensive wacko unless the people I’m talking with are already predisposed to accept home birth as within the norm of acceptable birthing situations. So, slowly, I’m learning to hold what’s precious to me a little closer to my heart (shush that part about wearing my heart not on my sleeve as a parent, but two unshielded bundles of girl running about frequently outside of my protection). I had my births, they were what they were & they were lovely & I wouldn’t trade them in for the world. I can’t condense the discussion into a nice tidy sound bite that comes across nicely in a casual social situation. Not yet anyway.

I think that might be a personality defect on my part. I spend so much time so very deep in the gory details of things, making very fine distinctions, and when I miss a fine distinction here or a qualification there, sometimes it doesn’t matter, but sometimes it does, very much so, so I’m sensitive to making sure I cover all those qualifications, and the fine distinctions and it makes it very hard to speak from a… overview point of view? Um… what is it when people pull back and look at the forest? Whatever it is, I don’t do it very well & it’s not that I can’t see the forest for the trees, but that I note that not only is there this forest, but there are also these trees, and these plants, and these animals, which break out into mammals, birds, and insects, and insects aren’t really part of the animal kingdom but part of the insect kingdom and that’s different from the animal kingdom in these ways, and then the interaction between these plants & animals & stuff & the local weather & geographical topology… uh. Yeah. So… It’s a huge asset for what I actually do, not so much in the explaining it all to people…

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I have to give a presentation at work about what it is I do. I hope to have it ready by this Thursday, but… see, there’s this forest? And it has these trees? And some plants? And these animals, and… I know the people I’m presenting to are only really interested in the mammals (user experience) and not so much the birds (standards-based controlled vocab/authority lists), but the birds are really a very, very important part of what I do in conjunction with all these other things & I have to figure out how to make this all relevant to them, help them understand when it would be advantageous to use the corporate taxonomy for this particular company (and sometimes it isn’t). Urgh. My dream next week would involve me, a long list of terms to research, rationalize, a big huge complex import spreadsheet to create, & an unlimited budget.

There. Multiple plates of beans: terribly, terribly over-thought. I go from not saying anything at all about what’s going on in my life to the forest, trees, plants, animals, stuff, local weather, geographical topology, and in general probably TMI. And not even the *interesting* TMI! Yeh, no, there isn’t really any interesting TMI to speak of, no sin of omission.

Yes. I think I’m done now. I mean, I’m not, but enough has probably been said for now. It was a surprisingly pleasant long weekend, only the last few hours have been so angst-y. I’m blaming ALL of it on the fact that I’m tired of having the house for sale & I’m fretting about my work presentation. I will now resist the urge to play tetris & sudoku until I fall asleep on the couch in an effort to escape my own brain. Wheeeeee!