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Post by E on Aug 14, 2009 22:41:56 GMT -5
Clocks and Mosquitoes. I loathe mosquito bites. The itchy, yet worse when scratched, swelling of the skin.
Well today Shawn finished the cabinet hardware. Yesterday he hung the shelving in the vanity stool area so I can store our bath towels. It looks quite nice since we have one of those odd half vanities.
Bear, Someday you are going to leave for work and find me in a tent in your yard with a picket sign demanding a beer tasting festival. Haha
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Post by Shannon on Aug 23, 2009 22:51:13 GMT -5
Hey All, Its been a crazy, bad year. But that's true for a lot ppl I know. I think it's just been a draining time for the majority economically, politically... Here's looking forward to 2010. Hoping that I can purchase a new comp/replace my hard drive before the end of the year and spend my down time getting back into this place. I don't know... I've learned a lot about myself these last several months and honestly, I'm a bit relunctant to add on distractions. Who woulda ever thunk that I'd come to enjoy my own company. The three boys are in school now so its just me and Jilly Bean. I've read three books already. Crazy. I haven't had the time for that in forever.also getting everything organized and back into control. There's a lot peace going on... Could be the continous exposure to Bob Marley. Nothing else to add. Much love. (and dismal rainclouds for those of you that enjoy such things. ;x)
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Post by blackrose on Sept 1, 2009 8:25:05 GMT -5
A bit late - but a slightly belated Lughnasadh from the Philly region, as the first inclinations of Autumn finally showed their faces.
Last Saturday me and Darkk went berry picking at Solebury farms - got a nice crop of blueberries and blackberries, but a kind of sad showing of raspberries, since it's the end of their season. Also got some awesome apple cider donuts, and some proper apple juice which is very yummy, and excellent with rum.
Sunday was mostly lazy, though we started on the dreaded molding cutting project...
Our bathroom fixing plans are on hold 'cause our AC died, so we're putting the money towards a new AC unit, energy efficient heater, A-coil, etc... so I'm trying to pay for that, as well as put some extra money aside for next year's trip the Harry Potter world, and also get some savings towards the eventual bathroom remodeling. We did get a new skylight in the bathroom, though, and a new, larger drain pipe, which completes the roof related stuff... so, little by little, we're replacing the entire damn house. Fun stuff. *grins*
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bear
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Posts: 104
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Post by bear on Sept 14, 2009 2:31:42 GMT -5
Sorry I haven't been around for a while. In order: busy, vacation, busy, sick, recovered.
I've got a quick update on my mom's health: her doctor started up a genetic study on patients with lung ailments. Docs love doing genetic studies on Utah pioneer families: geograpically isolated + polygamists = reduced genetic diversity.
Anyway, they found about a dozen patients with the exact same gene as my mom that have the same lung disease. On top of that, when they compared their DNA, they found a common ancestor about 8 to 10 generations back. So the genetic researchers are going ape-shit wanting DNA samples from all of their blood relatives. I'm expecting my phone call Monday to schedule an appointment.
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Post by Denethor on Sept 14, 2009 17:46:58 GMT -5
Hm I was all worried that I was offending, being gone so long, and had an apology all ready but then I get here and see that I will just have to add mine to the pile of similar apologies. Consider that done. Been working very hard, our current contract got extended to the end of this calendar year, I don't blame them at the Agency for exercising due diligence in the proposal process especially when you consider it's a five year contract. But apparently we're still the front runner (15 years of incumbency count for something), and boy howdy has there ever been a lot of work! I suppose it's a good sign for the economy in general, that chemical companies are applying to get new products approved, which they probably wouldn't if we were totally dead in the water. Not sure how often I'll get to swing by here in the next few weeks, but I'll make an effort to at least look once in a while and make sure everything seems to be functioning. Hope everyone had a good summer.
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Post by MsAriel on Sept 22, 2009 12:06:04 GMT -5
Morning/afternoon!! Well, as of about 2.5 hours ago, my kitchen cabinets were almost all out and scattered around my house... My kitchen remodel project is in progress!!!! I'll posts pictures of before tonight, and then as I can I'll stick up in progress pictures! Hope all is well with everyone!
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Post by blackrose on Sept 24, 2009 8:01:52 GMT -5
This back to school traffic is killing me... I keep meaning to leave a few minutes earlier in the morning so I'm not so hassled by buses and whatnot, but I haven't been able to manage it most days yet. It's harder and harder to wake up in the mornings. I think I need one of those light clocks which gets brighter when the alarm goes off, or something...
We're "teenager-sitting" this weekend. My niece, who turned 14 yesterday, and her friend. There's lots of things... 4 soccer games, some volunteer thing, a party... We were over my parents last night to give her her gift, and her friend was there, and the noise, oh my gods, the noise... Please just shoot me now...
I just hafta keep telling myself - it's just one weekend... it's just one weekend...
You parental types. You're all insane...
Just saying...
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Post by E on Sept 27, 2009 2:53:24 GMT -5
BR, You're not willing to take all of our kids on a berry picking adventure if we ever get around to a community gathering? Damn. Den, How is work? Any new complaints from squimish co workers about bugs? Bear, What exactly are these tests looking for? Common traits so that they can seek cause or cure? MsA, Muah! How is work for you? How are the kids adjusting to high school? I am officially third trimester, finally. I am pretty sure pregnancy gets harder with age. We have a due date now, December 12th. No peeking on gender again, but I feel ... Anyway. How are you guys?
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Post by Denethor on Sept 27, 2009 21:33:54 GMT -5
While we're on the insect sub-topic, these little things are everywhere: ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/brown-marmorated-stink-bugThey're an invader species. Oh, yay. (Though as an Anglo-Saxon in North America I suppose I should hardly complain. ) There's a ton of them up by my job, and my entomologist co-worker and I have been having "fun" discussing their numbers, their history, and various methods for their demise. Not a lot of luck on that last front, unfortunately. (At least those damn Realtors didn't stink...)At least they don't bite hard or carry anything dangerous. And so far so good (fingers crossed) as to keeping them out of my personal domicile, though I've thought of forwarding an information website or two to the landlord, just in case. Any luck on the computer front, Shannon? Maybe get a thightop or something? It'd be really great to see you back on again. Though by all means do as you see fit regarding your budget, time, and family needs. Hope you're having a great fall. Since I haven't seen Qira here for a bit, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess she wouldn't mind if I passed on an update, since we do chat now and again. She's crazy-busy with school and a new job, and with the local UU, which is very Pagan-friendly. Especially if you're of that "generally spiritual" Pagan variety so common on here. She's loving that, and doing well. I haven't tried that church myself though; I've spent most of my "spiritual time" at Lodge...and no, not just because one of our Realtors threatened to sign up my email on NAR's list if I didn't show up to meetings. He was joking (I hope...) but that is still where right now most of my non-work energy is going.
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Post by MsAriel on Sept 28, 2009 7:31:46 GMT -5
Hey gang.
Work is work.. meh... Kids are doing well.. grades could be better and had a looooooong talk with the senior about her grades and her future. We'll see if it does any good. The son stayed home this past weekend for a track meet.
Right now I'm exhausted.. I didn't sleep well last night and semi-stressed over some things, mainly money.. and gotten dragged into some drama in another online community I'm involved in. Frankly I'm at the point it's been going on long enough I simply don't care. Oh well....
Good to hear things are well here.. bear, I hope the kitty does well... E... I have been wondering how the pregnancy is going.. Are you going to home birth again? Please keep us up to date! BR... kids are nuts, noisy but oh so worth it for me.
well coffee time for me.. see ya'll later.
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bear
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Post by bear on Oct 1, 2009 18:18:35 GMT -5
Afternoon all, We got our first taste of winter yesterday. It snowed briefly at our place. Not hard or long enough to stick. But we don’t usually get our first light dusting until mid to late October. I’m gearing up for a presentation next week. Should be fun. I should get a free lunch out of it. At least, I hope they don’t chintz-out on me. E, I’ll be happy to send you some beer if I can ever get this one to finish fermenting. Its stuck about ½ way through. I’ve tried a couple things to get it kick started again, but I’m going to have to try something more radical. And I’m sure it won’t be ready to drink until after the baby is born. On the genetic test, I think right now they are trying to isolate genes that may make people more susceptible to the disease. I don’t know if it will turn into something they’d try gene therapy on. They still haven’t called me on it yet. I heard they are having problems with some of their equipment, so they’ve delayed taking new samples or something. D, we’ve been dealing with the boxelder bugs. www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG0998.html I have no idea what they do or eat. But every fall they hang out all over my back door because its nice and warm because of the sunshine. Then they get in the house every time I open the door. Kitty update: I caught him sneaking bites of the old high carb. cat food the other two cats are still eating. So today I brought the rest of the bag in and gave it to a coworker. Tonight I’ll be buying the lowest carb regular cat food I can find for them. Hopefully I can find Eukanuba Kitten & Rice Formula or Science Diet Nature’s Best Kitten/Fish Formula. They are almost as low in carbs as the Science Diet M/D prescription food. That way if he sneaks some, it won’t be as bad for him. I’ve got to get back to reviewing my slides. Oh, I forgot to mention: my latest scheme for writing a book… I’m working on teaching myself Xcode and Cocoa programming languages so I can write iPhone applications. Then all I have to do is the digital graphics, maybe some simple animation too, and poof – a digital children’s board book. I already have some Fortran, C++, and Visual Basic programming skills so I’m hoping these two aren’t too difficult to pick up. I’ve worked through three example programs so far and I’ve done okay. I think the plan can work. Little Bear has been playing some toddler games on my phone for a year and she hasn’t broke it yet. In fact, she’s been amazingly quick at figuring out how to may all the little games and puzzles work. And it’s great having them on the phone for her because if we are stuck somewhere and I don’t have something to entertain her, I can just pull out my phone.
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Post by Denethor on Oct 2, 2009 18:20:37 GMT -5
Bear, I might consider lawyering up over those genetic tests. Make sure the medical privacy of yourself, your mother and the rest of your family is protected. Just a word from your friendly neighborhood paranoid. I remember boxelder bugs from Minnesota. I don't know for sure what they eat (box elders?) but I know what they do - they fuck. A lot. That's part of the problem. My niece is nuts about phones too! My sis has warned me never to leave my phone unattended when I'm around her house, because there's nothing her kids gravitate to like an unfamiliar phone. This new generation...they are already better on the smartphones and other portable technology than we are! The next stage in human evolution, I'd wager. At least if I mess up my phone, I know who to ask to fix it. A toddler. Go figure. My nastiness of the week is dental in nature; stop reading if that squicks you! ... I have one of those nasty cold sores in my mouth, between two of my teeth, and it's made that whole side of my face swell up. That's a pretty weird place for one, and I don't think it bodes well. And it burns like no tomorrow! One time years ago I had a dental emergency that left a bare nerve hanging in my mouth. That gave me a dull ache; this just tells you what my pain threshold is like. Quite high. The good news is I have to bump my knee or stub my toe pretty hard to even notice; the bad news is, when something hurts badly it's probably pretty bad news. If it's still this bad on Monday, time to investigate that dental insurance. Arrgh.
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Post by blackrose on Oct 5, 2009 8:54:58 GMT -5
BR, You're not willing to take all of our kids on a berry picking adventure if we ever get around to a community gathering? Damn. Sure, I'll take them. I just make no guarantee for their safe return. Muwahahaha... Anyway, had off on Friday. I have off on every Friday in October and November, mostly just because I have tons of vacation to use or lose. Didn't do feck all, though. I was going to maybe do the moldings in the bathroom, but by the time I got the energy, I discovered I had a rather annoying headache that flared whenever I moved my head. Ah well... This weekend me and Darkk murdered the lawn. I'm not much of a yard work kind of person. It's fun, in a way, but it's back-breaking work. It was fun working with the pick-axe, though. We think we got all of the azaleas out (which, apparently, I'm allergic to), but I realized I missed some of the roots of the wild onions or whatever the hell those things are that were growing in the back. We ripped out as much of the rest of the weeds and everything that we could, and then soaked the ground with weed killer. We'll see how it goes, whether we'll need another coating. The plan, once everything is deadsky, is to put down stones and then get one small shrub-tree thing (specifically I'm looking at this thing here) as a center piece, instead of the wild, rampant, weed-infested overgrowth we had. I might want a small flowering thing for the back area, too - haven't decided. I'd love lavender or something, but, alas, that needs too much sun, and that's something we don't have much of. I wish I'd taken pictures of the lawn before we tore it up, though. I did find this pic from google maps, though. It's an older pic, from before we bought the house, but it shows the general idea - though not quite as wildly overgrown as it was. In other news, my cats are crazy. Especially the eldest. While we're outside, he sits at the window and mews so pathetically. I feel bad, but I'm like "Goma, we're right here - we're not going anywhere", but when we come in he wants extra pettings. Not sure why he gets so upset. I guess he wants to come out with us, though I'm not really sure about that, since he's sort of terrified of the outside. They're not allowed outside, anyway, not unless I got them on leashes or something - and I only have one of those. Ah well... I wish I could read his little kitty brain sometimes and figure out what's going on up there.
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Post by Denethor on Oct 5, 2009 16:22:28 GMT -5
Cats want to go outside whether they are terrified of it or not. "Always on the wrong side of the door." Don't let him, especially if you live in a high traffic area or near railroad tracks. Most often, they'll run out and then cower down on the walk - "Daddy, I didn't realize how big outside is!" - but you can't take the chance that they'll run out into traffic, or hide somewhere because they're scared and then take days to get hungry enough to come back. I enjoyed the weekend too, despite not having any chores that involve a pick-axe. It's finally gotten early-fall-like here, the nights are cool enough to sleep and the days are cool enough to breathe. Not everywhere is like the surface of the Sun, any more. Also, the mosquitoes are finally fewer in number, and I can stop at the mailbox or take out the trash without needing a blood transfusion. Trees are starting to turn and it is no longer usually light out when I go to bed. And there are those damn stink bugs. I see them, but I fixed up my screens and they haven't been getting in. These are the signals that it is time to find out where the family is having Thanksgiving, which is the prime time to see them. Chances are it's up in New Haven. That's where my sister is, and she'll have a 6 month old, making it (a) unlikely she'll travel, and (b) everyone will be wanting to go see the new kid. I of course am among these. I work from home tomorrow, if anyone here still chats. I might check in. Haven't been to that chat room in a while though - at last check, it looked like we'd need the pay software to upgrade that spot.
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Post by blackrose on Oct 6, 2009 7:59:07 GMT -5
Oh, believe me, I have no intention of letting any of them outside. I'm far, far too paranoid about them getting hit or something. Though the street we live on isn't very high traffic, we're not very far from a corner which is. Every once in awhile one of the twins dashes out, but they never get far before I grab them and toss them back inside. I don't think I could sleep at night if I had an outdoor cat - I'd be too worried about them all the time. No, I like them safe and sound smothering me instead.
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