flowers make it better

I was in charge of purchasing and arranging flowers for a work-related event on Wednesday. So pretty. I think I need to go back to the flower market and get armfuls of lilacs for next week's vacation.

good things

A few happy things:

* I have recently become (slightly) obsessed with Amanda Palmer and her various endeavors. I saw that her new project, Evelyn Evelyn, is coming to San Francisco in May, and I thought to myself, "Boy, I would love to go see that." And then I thought, "Well, why the hell not?" So today I bought tickets! My friend Shea is going to go with me. I can't wait.

* I finished a painting! I'm sitting with it for a few days to see if it's really done or if it needs a little more tweaking. When it's really done, I'll post pictures. I tried abstract. I like it. I'm, as usual, terrified that it's crap. But really, who cares if it's crap? I mean really. Does it matter? Not at all. Who's to say if it's crap or not? Hello, earth to Daphne, you are not Picasso.

* Am currently reading Auntie Mame and enjoying every sentence. We all need an Auntie Mame. Or maybe we need to be Auntie Mame.

* Terri has talked things out with her doctor and feels MUCH better about things. There were some major problems with the office staff and he also admitted his own responsibility in the lack of response that had been happening. After apologizing sincerely multiple times, we forgave him and she feels good about him again. It's so frustrating when there aren't any answers... you never know what to think. Anyway... there is an exciting new treatment that she's going to try in May (or maybe June/July). It could be a big deal. Crossing fingers. In the meantime, it's enough to have faith in her doctor again. It was also a good lesson for us (for me, at least) in having faith and withholding judgment.

* We watched the Ram Dass documentary Fierce Grace. Wow, that was powerful. We both cried and cried through it, both tears of sadness and empathy, and the sort of tears which come when you are deeply moved by something. Anyway, we loved it. I knew nothing about Ram Dass before this, but now we feel like that spiritual door has been pushed open a wee bit more. So that's sort of exciting too.

* We just got a Netflix player (actually, it's a Blu-Ray DVD player, with NetFlix streaming capability). Woo! It's pretty fun. Our old DVD player broke, and we decided to splurge a little and get the fancy-pants gadget. Terri's home all day long and I keep thinking, if I were home all day long, I would want to be able to watch whatever the heck I wanted, and it would be awfully nice if it looked good and didn't skip or crap out on you. Yippee for new toys! This NetFlix streaming thing is pretty cool.

That's about it. On a little upswing. The hearing is in a week and we are filled with good, hopeful thoughts. Please keep us in your good thoughts this week, through to next Tuesday.

restoring my faith in humanity

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Conservative Libertarian
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

(if it doesn't play and you haven't seen it yet and want to, click here)

Also, I had written a, um, well, rather emotional response to that post on Facebook. I try to keep my mouth shut, but I have to say, when I read these upsetting, inflammatory conservative opinions (there are some rational ones, of course, but mostly the people speaking up are interested drawing direct lines from Obama to Hitler. People. COME. ON. That is so not okay.) -- that poem keeps running through my mind:

"THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

THEN THEY CAME for the Jews,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

THEN THEY CAME for the Catholics,

and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.

THEN THEY CAME for me

and by that time no one was left to speak up."

I strongly believe that I have to speak up when things are being said or done that I don't feel is right. I know that's what the extremist conservatives are doing, and that's totally fine. We have freedom of speech, even and especially when I don't agree with what's being said. However, I don't want them to be the only voice speaking.

Enter Jon Stewart. Thank you!!!

Holidays 2009: Got It Right This Time

I have some photos, but I'm too lazy to upload them. Maybe later.

I have to say, this was the nicest holiday season I can remember since moving here to California. Possibly in my adult life -- is that crazy to say? Here's why:

Last year's holiday season was so awful. Just dreadful. From just before Thanksgiving all the way through New Year's, it sucked. I was determined to make this holiday season a nice one -- not overstuffed and stressful and trying-too-hard, but really nice and enjoyable. That's been my motto all year -- just trying to enjoy things rather than trying too hard.

So what did I do to make it so great?

1. I handmade almost all my gifts. One would think that this might make it more stressful, but it made it less stressful. I chose things that I thought everyone would actually enjoy (and wouldn't just be more stuff), and they were all easy and fun to make, and I gave myself all month to do it. I found this to be much more enjoyable than shopping. Also, much less expensive (and therefore, less stressful). And hopefully, more meaningful to the recipients.

2. I did only the things I wanted to do, and made sure to include the things I really wanted to do. I made a few batches of cookies, but when tempted to make one more batch (which I wasn't in the mood to make), I decided not to. I didn't spend very much time shopping (which, I think, was key for the enjoyment factor of the past month). We got a tree, which we really love. We did a little bit of decorating, but not too much. Just enough. I went to a holiday concert with a friend. I watched a couple silly holiday movies. I didn't over-plan for Christmas dinner. When it became obvious that Terri wasn't up for the big family party, we scaled it waaaay back. It worked out very well.

3. Sounds cheesy, but I really focused on all the good things we have to celebrate this year rather than all the negative/scary/frustrating stuff I could focus on. There's plenty of that stuff to worry about. But I really wanted to enjoy myself this holiday season, so I just decided to focus on enjoying things and being thankful. It really worked. I feel like we are so rich and lucky. I had only two days where I felt that icky holiday stress. One was the day I had to buy a new sewing machine, and the other was at the grocery store when everyone was pissed and stressed out and I almost got sucked into the bad energy. Other than that -- it was pretty dang nice.

It all culminated with a very nice Christmas Eve spent running a few errands and shopping for groceries (the stressful trip - seriously, Berkeley Bowl people, take it easy!), and doing a tiny bit of last-minute shopping with Terri, which was fun.

Christmas Day was perfect. I slept in, and then went and did the few petsitting jobs I had to do. Came back and got back into bed to read while Terri slept in with the kitties. Once she woke up, we had our stockings. Santa decided to keep the stockings strictly practical and/or delicious, so I got a magazine and some special imported candies which I really like but never have, and Terri got some favorite treats and a brain teaser book. We both got new toothbrushes. :)

After we both woke up a little, we warmed up the living room and went out to open gifts. We had wonderful presents from everyone, including each other. Mostly practical and much-needed/appreciated, plus a few fun items such as a beautiful snowy owl necklace from Terri (photo from the artist's Etsy page) and a Wii from my fabulous brother!! The rest of the afternoon was spent playing with the Wii, completely wearing ourselves out. We're both actually sore today!

Our lovely and low-key friends Vanessa and Steve came over for Christmas dinner. The menu was really great: spinach dip, salad, butternut squash gratin, pesto pasta, mashed potatoes, roasted beets, and fresh homemade caramel corn for dessert. Then we snuggled in to the living room to watch Elf, and then they went home and we went to bed to watch a Buffy episode and ended the night watching National Lampoon's Christmas and talking about what a nice Christmas we had.

I have to say, on this day after Christmas, I am extremely happy, grateful, thankful, content and peaceful. Which is a pretty dang nice way to end the year, and the perfect antidote to last year's badness. It was a rough year in many respects, and we missed our Tiger Little very much, but I worked really hard to make last year a good one and in spite of the rough patches, I think I succeeded. I'm actually looking forward to next year! Now that's an accomplishment.

Coming up next: the Year In Books review, and plotting out the upcoming year. Hope you all had nice holidays, no matter what you celebrate, and although I'm feeling a bit computered-out, I'm going to try to catch up with blogs in the next day or two. I'm a bit out of the loop. But happy!

Day 2 of Thanksgiving

Almost missed my next-to-last day!

I'm feeling very thankful tonight. Here are 10 things which I can honestly say I am very thankful for tonight:

1. That we successfully returned all the electronic bits and pieces which didn't work out, with no hassle. And that we solved the TV problem!

2. That my kitties are here with us and all furry and adorable. They make every single day better. I seriously adore these girls.

3. That I have the next 5 days off.

4. That I actually feel enthusiastic about Thanksgiving and making some yummy things tomorrow. It seems like a fun day, rather than a chore. Also, the fact that there will be two pies is making me very happy.

5. That I am wearing flannel pajamas.

6. That I have super-fun crafty-bakey-movie plans for Sunday with my friend Lara.

7. That I found the Best Sweatshirt Ever on super-duper-cheap sale tonight. Score!

8. That I can afford said sweatshirt. Seriously, I am so grateful that I have a job and we have been so good with money this year. Money stuff has been so low-stress this year because we have really worked hard at it -- what a freaking relief! On that note, I have enough -- but not too much -- petsitting this weekend. Just enough for cuteness, not enough for frustration and tiredness. I love those critters I check in on.

9. That my current book, Fingersmith, does not suck. In fact, it is the polar opposite of sucking. It totally rocks and I cant' wait to read it this weekend. Also, I have three magazines and a new London Review of Books. I can't wait for this whole weekend.

10. Last but never least, I am so thankful for my sweetie Terri, who was able to go out and return stuff with me tonight and have some fun. She is the best, best, best girl ever.

I'll report in about food tomorrow!

Day 3 of Thanksgiving

Prewriting today's thanks-giving and completely out of time and inspiration, but I will tell you what I am NOT thankful for (and maybe that's why it's giving us such trouble): consumer electronics. I have had it up to here with the damn pieces of crap.

We have been trying for days to figure out some way to set up headphones to our new TV (which is a total indulgence and which we are SO thankful for! we had some help buying it and it was the best present for Terri EVER since she is stuck in the bedroom so often).

People: if you have to buy a new TV, and you like to use headphones, BE SURE IT HAS A HEADPHONE JACK. Because otherwise you will be doomed to trying every conceivable way to hook headphones, or small external speakers, or some combination thereof, and FAILING MISERABLY BECAUSE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE. It is not possible. It's so impossible that we are considering returning this TV and getting a different one with a headphone jack, because there is no converter currently made to solve this problem, and I am seriously out of patience with this issue. Packing up and returning a TV is such a hassle that that alone tells you how frustrated we are, that we are even considering taking such extreme measures.

We need headphones because our house has no insulation. It's freezing, and sound carries. So we'd like to be considerate neighbors when we're cuddled in bed against the freezing, trying to watch Buffy slay some vamps, and not wanting to blast our neighbors out of bed.

Again, this is a problem of abundance and not of lack, but in this case, "lack" is sounding better and better.

Currently we have to return items to Sears, RadioShack and BestBuy, all of which were promised to work and none of which did.

So I'm not very thankful for modern consumer electronics, but I AM thankful for liberal return policies. Is that good enough for a thankfulness post?

Day 4 of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for days of relaxation.

The weekend has been relaxing but busy. We've been trying to set up the TV in the bedroom so that we can both have headphones on so as not to disturb the downstairs neighbors. Very considerate of us, don't you think? Anyway, the makers of electronics do not want you to be quiet and considerate. They make it very, very difficult to do any of this sort of "how to make my TV unobtrusive" stuff. So I am out of patience with it and am taking the day off from puzzling over it. Terri has taken over management of most of it but it's still a puzzle. It should not be this hard. Geez.

So instead, today I am relaxing. And grocery shopping (but I will do it in a relaxed way, before the lunchtime rush). I am not doing any of the projects on my list (unless something sounds fun). I *might* go to the hardware store, but that's actually sort of a fun, laid-back errand, so that doesn't count.

I will read my book (Fingersmith, which is excellent thank goodness) and eat a few cookies and enjoy the fact that all my weather-proofing efforts seem to have made a difference after all. I figured out that if I turn on the heat full blast for about 20-30 minutes, I can then turn it down to low and the room, newly insulated with that plastic window sheeting, will retain the heat reasonably well. This makes me happy. No scarves or hats yesterday. I got a taste of what Terri goes through every day and I did not enjoy it, so hopefully this will fix things a little bit. Chilly and thick socks and sweaters is okay. Cold, as in camping-in-winter-cold, fingers-freezing cold, is not okay.

I'm tired and I'm looking forward to a few days off this week. I haven't gotten sick this year yet (thank God!!!) but I'm a little run-down and PMS so I think having some time to rest will be good. I'll be doing quite a bit of petsitting but not crazy-busy, so that's good.

So that's my thankfulness for today. Time to rest and regroup and recoup and enjoy the fruits of labor (or ignore the labor waiting for me, whichever the case may be...)

Day 5 of Thanksgiving

Made garlic rolls and cinnamon bread, both from the Amish White Bread recipe suggested by Barefoot Mommy. Sure was grateful for the abundance of time, money, and know-how needed to create such yummy things. (no, they didn't take much time nor money nor know-how, but I've been thinking lately just how lucky I really am)

Today I am grateful for the good things in my life I might take for granted:

* free books from the library

* enough money to feed ourselves

* a nice apartment (even though it's freezing)

* a car that works well (and one that is limping along)

* two adorable senior kitties

* my adorable and wonderful partner

* a great job and a great boss (and friend)

And so much else.

Yesterday was a good day, but it seems I'm moving into PMS-land and so it ended on a grumpy note. I got overwhelmed by technical details while trying to hook up wireless headphones so we can watch TV in the bedroom without disturbing our neighbors. I also managed to lift too many heavy things yesterday, and so I was tired. We lost the movie we were going to watch (after setting up the headphones)... and so on. And then, to top it all off, my book was stupid.

Still, it was a grumpiness brought on by abundance and not lack, and that is something to be thankful for.

Today I'm going to go for a walk with my new neighborhood walking buddy, and then possibly go to church. And then I'm going to fix the technical problems and return library books and start Fingersmith. I'm having trouble with books lately. I have started and stopped Howard's End, Moonlight and Vines (short stories by de Lint) and Dinner with Anna Karenina (the book that turned out to be stupid). After Fingersmith I'm going to read (and finish) Anna K. These two I know are pretty much guaranteed to be good, so maybe that will pull me out of my reading slump.

Anyway. Today, I am thankful for all the abundance in my life, for all the little things which help make things go well, for the fact that (Terri's health excepted) we have all the basics covered, plus some nice extras.

And now it's time to suit up and go for a walk and try to shake this grumpy mood.

Day 6 of Thanksgiving

Call me silly, but today I am grateful for hot water bottles.

(isn't it cute? Looks like it's tucked into a sleeping bag)

Our apartment is in one of those delightful old-fashioned Bay Area 4-plexs, full of charm and grace and absolutely no insulation whatsoever. It might be 60 outside but it feels like 50 inside. a

Actually, I just checked: it's 54 degrees in here right now. During the day, we can go outside to warm up. So even though it may be frustratingly balmy outside, inside we are freezing. The heat is incredibly inefficient (and uneffective) so basically it's just freezing all the time.

I came home yesterday and found Terri like this: hat, scarf, fleece-lined flannel shirt, sweats, two pairs of wool socks. My little bundled-up babushka, poor thing. She has terrible circulation because of the CFS, plus she is stuck at home all day, so she really suffers.

So, in order to combat the chill, I've been busy preparing for winter, which is silly since we live here and my disdain for our barely-winter is well-documented. Still, it's dang cold inside our house and Terri needs to be warm, so I keep trying.

I spent last weekend sewing: I made some birdseed-filled microwavable neck warmers, and I also made cozies for the hot water bottles. There is nothing like getting into a freshly-made bed which has been warmed by very hot water bottles. Except for the part where they are so hot that they burn you. Hence, the thick fleece cozies. These are amazing. I am completely, head-over-heels in love with these now.

We have those microfleece sheets on the bed, plus warm jammies, plus fleece-wrapped hot water bottles. It's heaven, absolute heaven. They stay warm all night, too. If you have a cold bed, I recommend, without reservation, a hot water bottle (preferably wrapped in jaunty holiday plaid fleece). I only wish I'd had one of these when I was a kid, growing up in another delightful old house with no insulation, only in Oregon where it really WAS cold!

Day 7 of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for tea. I drink tea nearly every day. Now, don't get your feathers in a fluff, coffee-lovers, I love coffee too (very much!) but my tummy can't handle it every day so I save it for weekends (my favorite coffee is the New Orleans style chicory coffee. I also like fancy-pants local coffeehouse coffee, but I don't do that very often.)

But tea I can handle every day, and can usually handle a cup in the afternoon too. I like all kinds: black, green, red, herbal, oolong, bagged, loose, Chinese, Japanese, Lipton... I'll drink any of it.

Currently at home we have the following:

1 box Celestial Seasonings Mint Magic (bagged)

1 box Celestial Seasonings Madagascar Vanilla Red (bagged)

1 box Celestial Seasonings Vanilla Strawberry Rose (bagged)

1 box Celestial Seasonings Almond Sunset (bagged)

1 box Celestial Seasonings Vanilla Hazelnut (bagged)

1 tin Peet's (decaf) English Breakfast (loose)

1 tin Peet's Irish Breakfast (loose)

1 tin Peet's Holiday Blend (loose)

2 tins Republic of Tea Queen of Hearts Rose (loose)

1 tin Republic of Tea Cardamom Cinnamon (loose)

3 tins Peet's Jasmine Green Tea (loose)

I think that's it. I probably missed one. Oh wait, I did. Also:

1 box PG Tips (bagged)

This does not include the tea I have at work, which includes:

1 box Twinings Four Red Fruits

1 box Tazo Awake

(and a few boxes of Almond Sunset and Four Red Fruits, since I ordered from Amazon so you get six at once)

Terri is even more of a tea-drinker than I am, but she drinks Peet's Jasmine Green Tea almost exclusively. I like a variety (um, clearly).

A few notes about my favorites:

Twinings Four Red Fruits: My exchange-student best friend D'Arcy and I discovered this tea in Finland, and fell in love with it. It is perfect -- light, sweet, interesting, yummy plain or with sugar and milk. It remains my comfort tea. If I am having a bad day, a nice cup of Four Red Fruits with a bit of sweetener helps me get back into a peaceful frame of mind. It's delicious. It's kind of hard to find, but worth the search.

Republic of Tea Queen of Hearts: This is a lovely loose black tea, filled with actual dried rosebuds and leaves, so it's really pretty. It's wonderfully scented with rose and makes a very amazing cup of tea, especially in a teapot. They only come out with it in February so I usually get a tin or two at that time because it's really special. Actually, Terri knows it's a favorite so she usually gets one for me. Thank you, sweetie!

Republic of Tea Cardamom and Cinnamon: There is actually a funny story with this one. Last year, on this really really bad day, I went out in a huff and ended up at this fancy-foods grocery store and bought this tea on a whim, and a loaf of fresh olive bread. The bread was amazing, but the tea has brought me much joy. It's the perfect chai, spicy and full-flavored and perfect for the holidays. As with all Republic of Teas, it's also pricey so this one tin has lasted me all year... but it's almost time to get another one!

Celestial Seasonings Mint Magic: I have a bit of a tricky tummy, and sometimes you just need a cup of mint tea to soothe everything. This is my favorite mint tea. I especially love the packaging (which is why I buy most Celestial Seasoning teas -- the packaging. I love their boxes! Can I come work for you, please?)

PG Tips: This is Mr. Workaday Black Tea. It's not terribly expensive and it makes a really nice cup of plain tea, and it has cool pyramid teabags. I also like the box for some reason. It has a nice little lid that makes me happy.

Another favorite which I don't currently have (you can only have so much tea, and I think I've reached our household limit) is Peet's Russian Caravan: Peet's is a local coffee and tea chain, and they make AMAZING coffee and tea. It's the only brand of tea Terri drinks, because it's so lovely and just a nice everyday luxury. I love this Russian Caravan -- it's dark and smoky and super-duper cozy. It's the perfect curl-up-and-read tea. I might have to use up one of my other teas and get a tin for the holiday season.

You know what's funny is that when we moved, I threw out so many boxes and bags of old tea and resolved to only have maybe two or three varieties of tea at any one time. Because how much tea do you really need, right? So... didn't do too well on that resolution, did I? Oh well. Tea is a small indulgence and has disproportionatly delightful payoff, so I feel okay about it. Although seeing the entire list is a bit sobering.

(yes, we have an entire drawer devoted to tea)

(and a little bit of shelf space too)

...

...

(um, and some countertop space, too.)

Day 8 of Thanksgiving (in which I need your help!)

Today I am thankful for literature. And, for affordable community college classes.

I'm trying to decide which class to take in January. Help me choose! Do I go for:

Early Literature, up through Milton: Chaucer, Milton, etc. Interesting, but perhaps a little too arcane to really get me excited for the first lit class I've taken in over 12 years.

Late 17th-mid 19th century: Pope, Blake, Wordsworth, Brontes, Dickens, Austen, Whitman, selected others. I'm tempted by this one because I love this era. What is not to love about this lineup? Hello?!? Dickens and Austen and the Brontes?

Mid 19th-20th Century: Wilde, Shaw, James, Woolf, Joyce, Faulkner, Eliot, Hurston, selected others. Also tempting for the strong writing, and I've always meant to read Faulkner (and I love T.S. Eliot). Fascinating authors and really engrossing books...

Thoughts? It's just an undergrad class so I'm hoping to completely enjoy myself. I'd like to do some good writing so I have something to show, should I apply for the MA in the fall. I'm thinking perhaps I should go for the Bronte-Dickens-Austen-Whitman uber-tempting lineup. That sounds like a complete indulgence: reading these books as HOMEWORK. "Sorry, can't do dishes, I HAVE TO READ WUTHERING HEIGHTS."

Bonus: will have to purchase these books for notations, right? Right. Perfect excuse to break my ban on book-buying. :)

Day 9 of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for skills. In particular, these skills which have been very handy recently:

* baking (garlic rolls, cinnamon bread)

* sewing (photos to come soon!)

* making up a (successful) recipe (mmm, soup)

* a rudimentary knowledge of tools and mechanics

* driving in the rain

* navigation when lost in unfamiliar city

These are the sorts of things that make everyday life so much easier. They make up for the fact that I am terrible at:

* balancing checkbooks (which is not to say I'm bad with money, I'm just bad at the checkbook thing)

* keeping track of paperwork

* filing

* lefts and rights (no, no, your OTHER right!)

* making scrambled eggs (it's true!)

* making small talk (I totally suck at this)

* putting away my shoes

I have about four pairs of shoes all over the house. My shoes are also in a jumble at the bottom of my closet (to be fair, they are also neatly placed in a shoe rack on my closet door, but I don't have any room for shoe racks on the floor... so, jumble of overflow shoes).

However, I can step over those shoes and make a mean loaf of cinnamon bread, and that is something to be thankful for indeed.

This. Is. So. Awesome. (Day 10 of Thankfulness)

I am thankful for the awesomeness that is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We've been rewatching the entire series and I love it even more the second time around. What an amazing show. Campy, funny, intelligent, sensitive, and with a pretty bad-ass heroine (who can rock the leather pants and not mess up her lip gloss, to boot). I heart Buffy.

I'm also thankful for the polar opposite: the Twilight series (books and movies). Arguably even more campy, retro, and an over-the-top silly romance, it's anti-feminist and eye-rollingly teen-y, and yet I love it so much. Oh Edward, you make being a self-empowered feminist who can be trusted with a kitchen knife seem SO last century.

However, I LOVED this even more. So. Freaking. Awesome. Do you see why Buffy is the best? Sorry, Edward. You gotta admit, the girl has a point.

The 12 (er, 11) Days of Thanksgiving

I wish I'd thought of this yesterday when there were 12 days to go until Thanksgiving, but I didn't, so let's just pretend I did, okay?

I was thinking this morning about how glad I was that it's this year, and not last year. Exactly one year ago today, we were stressing out over whether or not we'd gotten this apartment. We were faced with the task of getting rid of half our belongings, scrubbing down every inch of everything that was left, and moving it all, in the midst of the holidays, over to Oakland. It was not a very fun time. It took me a good two months to recover any sort of good mood after that whole debacle. It was horrible.

So this morning, I'm sitting on the sunny porch, drinking coffee, lazily looking through a magazine, enjoying the sun (yes, although I wish it were actually winter here, it is nice to have warm sun in the mornings), and feeling profoundly grateful that it's this year and not last year. So I think in honor of our good fortune, I will present the 12 (11) Days of Thanksgiving.

Starting with today: I am thankful for our back porch. This photo was taken about 20 minutes ago. It's absolutely gorgeous out there this morning. The birds were chirping, the church bells were ringing... lovely.

One of the cool things about living in the Bay Area is that you can have flowers all year 'round. My mom and I planted these pansies in my hanging flower pots when she was here last week. They are so cheerful; I love pansies and haven't ever lived anywhere that had a sunny place for them. So I love coming out and seeing these guys on a nice morning.

And Cleo The Cat loves the porch too. She likes to take a nice bath in the sun, and eat the various leaves of things growing in pots (she has kitty grass too), and watch alertly for birds, spiders and any little bugs that might venture onto the porch.

I haven't had a porch the entire time I've lived in the Bay Area (over 11 years now) -- just a tiny patch of yard for about six months when I had my mouse house, which wasn't private and was kind of shady and cold -- so I really enjoy having a little bit of outdoor space, especially this one with such a pretty view of the city and treetops, and so sunny and cheerful and cat-friendly.

It beats a moldy, falling-down apartment any day, I can tell you that for sure.

Tagalong Blessings

We might not have a house and/or yard, but we do have this beautiful view of downtown Oakland, the church, and the moon.

Terri had to have semi-emergency toe surgery today, but she has a great doctor who was able to see her right away and he did a great job. Also that I was home and able to take her.

Cleo the cat has early kidney disease, but she is taking her sub-q fluids like a champ and likes the kidney-formula dry food. Wet food is still a question mark but we have four or five brands to try.

The car still needs to be smogged and needs various things fixed, but I was able to change the battery myself yesterday (saving money and time) and it still worked this morning! Woohoo!

We still do not have a bathroom sink, cable in the bedroom, nor virus-free laptops. However hopefully all of these things will be fixed tomorrow. Or nearly fixed. And we're not paying for the bathroom sink (landlord's responsibility) nor the cable installation (since this is the fourth time they will be out here attempting this), and we're able to be paying a friend to fix the computers (yay for putting our money to a good use!).

We were not able to go to church yesterday, but we sorely missed it, indicating that it struck a chord with us and maybe we've found a good community.

***

Things don't always go right. Seems like lately, however, things are trying to get to an equilibrium of bummer and blessing. I can live with that.