And So It Goes

It's been 20 years since my dad died. That was July 5th, 1988. Still remember it like it was yesterday, but then again I have a good memory and there's a lot of distant things that are still fresh in my mind. Just ask any of my ex husbands. (hee hee!!)

This week has been a lot of work around the house, since it's been too hot to do anything outdoors. I try to get my running around done before noon, but it usually doesn't work out that way. I've got my office nearly organized, there's only a little filing left to do and that's a cause for celebration for me!! I hate a messy office. I took a car load of stuff to the thrift store, and I've been finding even more stuff that I could definitely part with.
The insurance guy came over a few days ago, and determined that the recent hot water heater leak made $5,000 worth of damage to the wall between the garage and kitchen. AND...it's a wall were there's kitchen cabinets. It all has to be torn out, countertops and everything, to be replaced. We're particularly excited about that because we don't like the current countertops. They're white tile with grey grout. UGGGGLY. So now I'm watching all the home-remodeling shows to see what type of countertops we might look to. Steve wants something different, like metal. I taped a show today where this architect guy had aluminum countertops made. Hmmm...interesting.
Here's my new eyebrows. They're healed now, and much more photo-friendly....


I feel like such a hipster, because last night I got together with two friends at a local Vietnamese coffee house to hang out. Shay wasn't home, Steve was working late, and I didn't want to sit in front of the t.v. So we met at Orseeni House and had tons of wonderful food, like Vietnamese style soup, spring rolls, crepes, tea, and we just about exploded from all the volume. The owner is a nice guy, very funny too. He was showing us some pictures of his wedding on his laptop computer, and asked his cousin for help, because, "I only watch porn and stuff on this thing, I don't know how to use it otherwise." Swear to GAWD he said that, in his Vietnamese accent!! Too funny!!!

How Old Are You?

Apparently, I'm so old I have had to have facial features tattooed on my face because they've disappeared!!
You've probably heard the term "permanent makeup" because the beauty schools are churning out these new professionals who offer these services. I've heard the term, I've even got some friends who have permanent eye liner, but I honestly didn't think about what was involved. So, I finally got fed up with penciling in my eyebrows every morning. They've vanished over the past five years and I've become quite self conscious about it. That's funny, since my eyebrows used to be a huge source of self-consciousness in my younger years because they were so unnaturally full!
I remember being told by an older coworker once that she never had to trim her eyebrows because they just kind of thinned out over the years.
I thought to myself, "Sheesh, if ONLY I had that problem."
Well, then I got that problem. I started to look like I was purposefully shaving my brows off or something.

So I made the appointment, went in, showed the girl how I wanted my brows, and she got to work. About an hour later she was done. She'd first trimmed them and waxed them, to get the right shape. Then she showed me some colors and I picked the one least likely to look fake. That's a first....Ha...
Then she supposedly numbed my brow with some stuff but once that tattoo gun got going I swear there was not one little bit of numbing going on. It HURT!!!!!!
Like a sonofabitch!!!! It stung!!!!!

The end result I was actually quite pleased with. They have a nice shape, with a little arch so I don't look like a Geico caveman. They're scabbed over right now, and the scab is a bit darker than what the pigment of the tattoo is. So I look like an evil villain with the dark eyebrows. By the end of the week they should be healed and the true color will be visible. My eyebrows will grow over this tattoo, of course, and the pigment on the skin underneath will make them look nice and lovely. Cool!

I'll be sure to post pictures once the camera batteries are charged.

My Little Genius

Shay had a friend over to swim for the afternoon (which turns out to be about 2 hours because they were sun-burning...) and he figured out how to get "maximum floatation."

We've had a busy week so far, with house keeping, paperwork, work, and the usual stuff. Steve drove to Tucson which is 5 1/2 hours away, to pick up the Cobra helicopter's engine and deliver it to the helicopter shop for re-installation.
I've been rearranging things in the house, to make room for the furnishings we've been storing in the garage. Basically, we're doing whatever it takes to stay indoors away from the heat!!

My new scooter arrived today, and it's assembled and waiting for me on the front porch. Steve laughed because I did't run right out to ride it,,,, but, DUH, it's a little hot at 5pm to be riding! 5pm is the hottest part of the day in these parts. Maybe I'll give it a shot at 8pm or so, when it's only 105 degrees. Depressing. I know.

When It Rains

It thunderstorms.

No rain here, just a whole lot of unexpected stuff. I was supposed to work a small event with my boss on Saturday--but thankfully it was REALLY small so I didn't need to be there.
First thing on Saturday I discovered that the hot water heater had puked a bunch of water all over, so we ran outside to shut off the breaker to it. Made a call to get a handyman over to help us tear out the sheet rock that had been ruined. As we were outside we heard the pool pump making a loud noise and noticed the water wasn't circulating. Oh great, the pool pump is out! Turns out, it was a bearing that was bad, and some of the valves were adjusted improperly. That only took a few hours to get figured out. The water heater was a little more of a committment, however.
While we were waiting for the old water heater to drain, I did some stuff in the back yard. I saw that a particular cactus had grown and was hanging over the walkway, so I grabbed my gloves and started trimming with the loppers. I used tongs to pick up the trimmed cactus. I was in a bikini and sandals, which didn't occur to me that it might be a problem. Just needed to be careful. Of course that meant one of the big pieces of cactus HAD to fall on my foot, sticking a bunch of 2" long needles into my toes. Steve came around the corner and saw me standing there staring at my foot. He promptly got out the camera phone and took a picture. I pulled the needles out, which took some effort because these needles have air pockets which create a vaccuum once they get in the skin. They stick in there like barbs and they don't want to come out. But, if you take too long to pull them it hurts WAAAY worse. Now I have a wrapped up foot, because cactus needles make really nice injuries, and also the toes are bruised up. Gimme a break!!

I can't believe we got everything fixed in one day. If we hadn't been home, we'd have had a HUGE disaster. Lucky, lucky, lucky.

Sunday was spent on projects that we've been saving for a spare day. I have a stack of old metal Coleman coolers and I've decided that I'm going to refinish them one at a time. So I took one apart and sanded it. I'm going to have it powder coated and get some graphics made. Steve worked on his semi truck. That's a project that will never be done!

Today I'm working around the house, and Steve is in Tucson picking up the motor for the Cobra helicopter. Yippee!!

Guess Where We Went?

Honestly, I didn't think the Welcome To Vegas sign existed anymore, but we found it as we were driving out of the city yesterday. We'd gone up there for a truck show and since we didn't feel like gambling or spending inordinant amounts of money shopping, we headed home at 2pm. So weird, being in Vegas and not driving home in the middle of the night.

As soon as we got home (2 hour drive) Steve's stomach started hurting. Eventually it hurt so bad he was yelling, so I took him to the hospital. After several tests and several hours of waiting, he still hadn't been examined by a doctor. At 10pm, he got dressed, told the nursing staff that he was feeling better, and we went home. He still hurt a bit, but not enough to justify a night in the E.R.
So, he went to make a doctor appt this morning and they of course can't get him in until Tuesday. Lovely.

This weekend we have a regatta out on the lake, so that time I need in the sun will definitely be mandatory. That's the only thing that keeps me tan.

New wheels

Steve put his motorhome on Craigslist and within a couple of hours he'd sold it. Of course he had an insanely low price on it but SHEESH!!! Two hours!!!!
So now my car is on Craigslist. It's also in the shop, because last week the alternator went out. When it broke, I was on my way to my boss's house, so I parked it at his place and rode in his vehicle. The next day I needed to pick up the car and get it to the shop. Steve was at work, which is several miles away, and I didn't want to bother anyone for a ride....
so I pretended I was one of the Goonies and I hopped on Shay's BMX bike with my backpack snugly installed on my back. It was quite an adventure, although there were no pirates or pirate ships or gold coins. I actually had fun! Thankfully it was mostly downhill because it's 100 degrees at 7am in these parts.

I've been toying with the idea of getting my own bike since then, because I know periodically I'd like to get out and have an adventure. I started looking at different classified ads and wasn't really happy with what I was finding. I have no meat on my ass, so a comfy seat was MANDATORY. I won't ride a heavy bike because that means having to lift said heavy bike into my vehicle by myself.... and that just won't happen.
This morning I saw a cute commercial for a contraption called a MOGO. So I went to the website. After about 5 hours of thinking about it, I went ahead and ordered it.
It's lightweight, doesn't have a seat so that solves the sore ass problem, and it's fast:


I had to really weigh all the options because this sucker is $249.00. That includes the shipping, so I guess I'm really paying about $200.00. That's how much I'd pay for a BMX bike, used. And I'd still have the sore ass problem with a bike. Sooo...we'll see how much this lovely new toy gets used...

Jungle Kitty No More

Kitty had his neuter done 9 days ago, and he's already settled in and acting like a normal cat. No more Jungle Kitty. No more begging him to come in the house. No more begging him to eat his cat food. No more begging him to come down off the roof in the middle of the night. No more chasing him down after seeing him as he snuck thru the back yard.
Being 120 degrees outside might have a little to do with it--but also we've noticed an immediate change in his attitude. He's suddenly affectionate, he follows us around the house like he can't stand to be without us, and he even tolerates Shay's rough handling. Pretty funny. Like he's bi-polar or something....