{Not} Living Vicariously

Good food, Good friends

I had a lot of food fun over the last few days. Sunday night I went to a potluck at church which will always be a favorite thing to do. Monday night I coerced a friend over for veggie pizza as I was having a craving. Tonight another friend came over for an exciting meal of C.O.R.N. which stands for Clean Out Refrigerator Night in my family. Nothing was overly exciting or extraordinary, yet it all reminded me of something yet another friend once said - that our motto/slogan should be "Food, Fellowship, and Fun". I could live with that . . . I think I have a lot of foodie type friends. Aren't I a lucky girl!

Okay, this might qualify as a most boring post ever. I had writer's block and had to write something though. Maybe the next one will be better, or at least more thought provoking?

Reason #37

I can tell my dog pays attention to the details. I came home tonight in the rental car, which I rapidly nicknamed the Tank. As I pulled in to the driveway and turned off the engine I heard the sound of barking from my house. Lindy does not bark a lot, and definitely not when I come home. Apparently she could tell it was not my car pulling in the driveway and decided to defend her territory. I don't know that I can tell much difference in the sound of engines. However I never claimed to have good hearing, and definitely not as good as dogs . . .

and just what are your intentions?

So the Columbian gentleman called and left me a message but no phone number. I told my friend that I wasn't trying to be rude and ignore him . . . just couldn't return a call with no number. Turns out he has a wife and kids back home. Definitely NOT my type of guy.

However, a book recently came across my desk and I read through it. It was a relationship book and it made some very good points. One of which revolves around making intentions clear. I really liked what was said there. Too often in today's world, I see people get hurt because of mistaken intentions and I also see people shut down and refuse to get into relationships because they are just too much trouble. I'll admit it, I'm a traditionalist in many ways. (There was a girl in high school who told me that I was betraying my gender by letting a boy walk me to class. Wonder if she is happy in that high-powered career she had planned with the big briefcase? Or if she fell in love and is a stay at home mom now?) I believe that some of society's traditions, while not necessary now, are not unnecessary either. Why can't chivalry exist without people getting all bent out of shape? Why do some women insist that they can do it all by themselves? I believe they can, if they want to, but if someone wants to be nice and help you, why not let them?

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. I'm just tired of seeing friends have bad times because expectations are not met by one or both parties. If we could just stop playing games and develop some honesty, we might just be happier. And that goes for all types of relationships -- work and play, family and friends.

Spring Cleaning in the Fall

I decided to have a mostly quiet weekend after the excitement of dealing with multiple car issues last week. I'm so glad I did so as I was able to get lots of boring stuff accomplished. And I do mean boring as cleaning is one of my least favorite things to do. However, I love having the clean house (and when you have allergies it is also an important thing to do).

Yesterday I focused on the upstairs. I rotated the mattress, orange oiled all my good wood furniture, swept down the baseboards, cleaned the dog nose prints off the window, cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed the floor, etc. I also washed all my linens with a lavender softener and it smelt fabulous in there last night. Today I've worked quite a bit on the downstairs. The other bathroom is clean, the floors are swept and vacuumed, the kitchen has been cleaned, 3 loads of laundry and a load of dishes have been accomplished. I'm feeling good about the clean house. It could still use some straightening and some cleaning out, but that I'll take a bit more slowly.

Cumpleanos feliz (imagine the tilde)

I went to a friend's birthday celebration last night. She is engaged to a man from El Salvador so for several people there English is a second language to them. Luckily for Cesar, he didn't write anything too personal in his birthday card to Shannan as two of the English speaking guests used it to practice and practice and practice. They read it once stumbling, then they tried to translate it into English, and last they read it "with feeling" having help from others at the party.

It was lots of fun for me, since at first they didn't realize I knew any Spanish. One Columbian decided to flirt "at me" and I was enjoying trying to comprehend him as he did not realize I understood most of what he said, until he told the woman across the table that I was the future mother of his sons. I choked at that and they looked at me startled, then asked if I understood them. I had to admit I did and from then on they insisted I speak in Spanish and they would speak in English. We had lots of fun practicing on each other. At one point, I tried to tell Fernando that he was stubborn, but couldn't figure it out, so told him he acted like a burro. That gave everyone at the table a good laugh. I'm still not quite sure what I should have said as they enjoyed my phrase too much to tell me.

I really enjoy the language and should use it more so that I don't forget the little I have left. Especially since I do hope to go to Spain in 2008.

Poor Lindy Lu Lu Lu

I can tell I've been out quite a bit lately, not walking the dog. Lindy has excess energy to burn and being a bit of a night owl, likes to get going as I'm heading to bed. Take last night for example.  She has new toys from Dog Days of Nashville, in particular a couple of tennis balls and a squeaky stuffed bone. Tennis balls never last long in this house as she has very strong jaws. (The best ball we have is an old hand or racquet ball. She has not been able to destroy that no matter how hard she tries.) However we did receive 2 new ones and they started out the night in decent shape.

I was upstairs and had just gone to bed. She decided she wasn't tired yet and went downstairs to choose a toy. She comes racing upstairs with a tennis ball in her mouth, gets to the top of the stairs, chews on it for a moment, drops it, bats it down the stairs, then runs after it, grabs it, then races back to the top. This goes on for 20 or 30 minutes before that loses its charm. Then, on to the squeaky bone. As you know, her job is to kill the squeaker and unstuff the toy. She succeded in doing a good job last night. I finally got to go to sleep after the squeaker was dead.

I wonder what mischief she will get into tonight? We did get 1 1/2 miles in, but only 1 1/2. I look forward to some nice long strolls this weekend . . . to burn energy for both of us!

Forget unlucky, I'm jinxed

So, the next in my car trials and tribulations.

Last night I was able to get the Service Engine Soon light to turn off by filling up the gas tank and tightening the gas cap 3 clicks as opposed to the 2 I normally turn. I'm all happy and impressed with myself.

Then, driving to work this morning, I come off I24 at exit 64, Waldron Road as always. I am in a yield lane, it has been raining, and there is traffic with the right of way coming down the road. I stop. Less than a minute later, my car is rear ended. By a young lady with no insurance, no license, nothing. Sigh.

I'd ask what else can go wrong, but I'm scared of what the answer might be. So instead, I'll just add to my list of things to do: Get car repaired. (The appraisal for the damages, while steep, at least didn't cause me to choke or gasp, about what I expected.)

Mitsubishi, I'm unlucky

As you know, I had to drive to Clarksville a few weeks ago as that is the closest Mitsubishi dealer to me these days. They were able to fix the recall on the spot, the check engine light had gone out, and they figured out what was wrong with my seat handle, but had to order the part.

8 days later I called to find out the part had left Los Angeles, but hadn't arrived yet. 15 days after the initial visit I called again to find out the part had come in 6 days ago and "we are so sorry we didn't call you, we don't know how that happened, please, when would you like to come in for a visit?" I scheduled it for today, last possible appointment of the day so that I could work an almost full day. I knew that would put me in Nashville rush hour on the way home, so I even was smart and scheduled play time with friends of mine who live North of Nashville and South of Clarksville. I drive up today, only having to detour around one accident. The part is in, they get it fixed, I'm out of there on time.

I travel down 24 and exit to go to my friends' house. As I come off the freeway, the car gives a funny sound. I look down and yes, the check engine light is back on. I just left the dealer. Granted, they didn't look at that . . . because it wasn't on when I drove up. I'm so frustrated. I have no desire to visit again any time soon. I'm thinking of alternatives. I just could not believe the timing though.

I did have lots of fun playing with the baby and enjoyed a very tasty dinner. I finally left around 7 pm to drive home. Apparently many people were unlucky with their cars tonight. 24 East at 40 East was partially shut down due to a disabled vehicle (I cut through downtown instead), there were at least 2 different sets of ambulances hurtling through traffic on their way places, and 24 West around Haywood Lane was at a complete stop with multiple police, fire, and ambulances on the scene (boy was I glad I was headed East at that point!)

Anyway, I'm trying to take the good attitude of at least I made it home safe and if the check engine light doesn't take care of itself within 48 hours as it did last time, I do have a local mechanic not too far. I'm sure they can hook Mitsu up to a computer to see why she thinks something is wrong when I've had the oil changed, the air filter cleaned, the tires rotated, and all the other lovely things I'm supposed to do at 72K. If all else fails, I can always sell Mitsu and buy another car to give myself grief over (hah!)

Worth the wait

I finally ate at CPK. They've only been in business here about 6 weeks. But I just couldn't bear to go at the beginning, I wanted the bugs worked out of the system first. Because life is too short to eat bad food, even food from CPK. It was so worth it. My pizza was to perfection, just the way I wanted it.

They have taken some of my favorites off of the menu. Luckily though the standard classic was still there, Tostada pizza, no chicken, extra salsa on the side please. So that would be what I had for dinner tonight. Yumm. I'm full now. How soon until I can go back? Anyone want to join me?

Watch the world go by

I have a cedar chest that doubles as a windowseat in my upstairs bedroom. The 6 inch foam cushion on it was to make it a pleasant place for me to sit and read. However, as so often happens when the dog rules the house . . . there is no room for me on the windowseat as Lindy has taken it over for her own. Often when I come home she will be waiting and watching from her perch. I think of it as "soap opera" for the dog. Not only are there people to observe, but there is good squirrel watching available. She has a particular pose I think of as her "aren't you home yet" pose. It consists of one paw gracefully draped over the edge of the pillow and her head just on the pillow, staring right at the window. I'll pull in the driveway and she'll stare out the window a bit longer, just to make sure I'm really home and really coming to the door. Then all of a sudden, she disappears from view, runs down the stairs, and is there to greet me as soon as the door opens.

Sometimes while I'm downstairs working on something and she gets bored, she'll head on up to her window and take a little snooze. Recently, she came running downstairs and very vocally let me know there was something going on outside. Being a Basenji mix she vocalizes as they do. Talking, yodeling, etc. (Although not being purebred, she barks as well.) I opened the door to see what was going on and saw nothing, but she took off running. I could tell she was headed to our friend and neighbor A.'s house and took off after her. Turns out the family was at A.'s house and she had parked in the pool parking lot as there was no room in her driveway. Lindy saw A. pass and decided she needed to go say hello. Imagine A.'s surprise when her sister opened the front door for her and said "hi Lindy". A. turned around quite shocked as she had no clue Lindy had followed her home. Of course I was right behind them both to catch my wayward dog.

Lindy thinks that everyone is here for her benefit and that her territory includes A.'s house as well. She was just going to check on things over there as she hadn't visited in a while. Good thing it was and we could head back on home. Guess where Lindy is right now? Up on her windowseat . . . watching the world pass.