Three Good Things Thursday

It's Thursday already! Which is excellent, because of course that means tomorrow is Friday, Freakin' Fabulous Friday. (I smell another posting theme......)

But, I digress. It remains Thursday for the time being, so three good things I must hereby proclaim.

ONE
I'm getting a new computer at work - it's shiny laptop time!
My current machine is a desktop tower, and I've had it for almost seven years now. It's been a good computer - very few issues - but I am probably one of three people left on this entire campus who still has a desktop and not a laptop. A laptop means I will be able to work at home once in a while - I mean, I love my office with the window and all, but being able to work on course schedules and other Very Important Things while lying in bed in my jammies and eating handfuls of Captain Crunch straight from the box is just too appealing to pass up.

Disclaimer: Captain Crunch is a delicious party in your mouth but also monumentally bad for your blood sugar levels, and also you in general. But it's a hell of a lot more fun than handfuls of carrots, at least until your pancreas goes berserk and you drown in your own insulin. Just sayin'.

TWO 
I am actually upright and mostly functioning today.
And why is this on the list, you might ask....?  Well, I went to bed around 9:45 last night and got to sleep fairly quickly, and then my eyes practically flew open at about 12:30 and my brain decided it was time to get busy. I truly wish there was some sort of switch, just a teeny little button even, at the base of my skull with which I could just shut the whole thing right down (except for the autonomous functions, duh!!)  The last time I remember looking at the clock (and why I even do that, I just can't figure out, because it really does not help to actually know how much sleep is not going to happen.....) - it was around 3:45. So yeah, being horizontal and not vertical today is a good thing. Or perhaps more of a display of stubborn fortitude rather than a good thing per se, since in all honesty, I'd much rather be snuggling with my pillow right about now.

THREE
Nicholas.
He is 11 and a half and headed to middle school in about 5 days. He's on the brink of puberty, I'm pretty sure, even though it seems a tad early, and tends to be somewhat of a hot mess on occasion due to authority issues and bids for independence and to be truthful, quite mule-headed when he wants his way. In other words, he's a perfectly normal middle-school boy.

But, by golly, this child still cheerfully dispenses hugs and kisses and will cuddle with me on the couch while plowing through a big bowl of popcorn and an episode of American Ninja Warrior. And he is finally learning to be a good sport when playing board games. And he's smart and funny and has a playful splash of freckles over his nose and cheeks, although he says he hates them. Well, I don't. And he has the most amazing blue eyes. I love this kid so much it hurts. For the record, as if I really need to say it, I love my other two sons just as much, but Nicholas was the one to make the list today.

Did I mention he's good and ready for the zombie apocalypse as well....?

Happy Thursday, peeps!  And Friday's a-comin'!

Three Good Things Thursday

It almost escaped me this week, but not quite....

Today I shall run with a music theme. Since my love of music spans far and wide - I've been listening to music for as long as I can remember, pretty much on a daily basis - I can come up with WAY more than "three essentials" in terms of albums...so perhaps I will make this an occasional series.

These aren't listed in any particular order. I'll write 'em down as I think of them.


ONE
Morning Dance by Spyro Gyra
This is quite possibly the most awesome jazz album ever released. According to the Wiki god, it was bestowed upon the world in the summer of 1979. My dad bought it when it first came out, and I was immediately hooked. None of SG's later stuff compares. This is one of those albums that makes me happy when I listen to it, regardless of the mood I am in at the time. I tend to play it when I need a serious pick-me-up, or when my day is going particularly well and I just want to give it an appropriate soundtrack. Jay Beckenstein is a superb sax player, and the drumming on the last song on the second side - "End of Romanticism" - just gives me chills.

TWO
Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
Ok, so....seriously. Not much even needs to be said about this one. This...is likely the best album ever released by any band, ever. It was one of the very first "adult" music albums I ever owned - it, along with Jethro Tull's Aqualung - was given to me for my 7th birthday. Not a whole lot of 7-year-olds can make that kind of claim. Not a whole lot of 7-year-olds would have enjoyed such a gift, but to me, it was amazing. And my parents were happy, because then it meant that I wouldn't be asking them to play their particular copy 10 times a day, as I was in the habit of doing. Along with those two incredible rock albums, I also received my very first real turntable, receiver and speakers. Oh yeah, I was set up right proper....right there in my 7-year-old bedroom with my Mickey Mouse bedsheets, Barbie dolls and piles of stuffed animals. Truly, I was waaayyyy ahead of the game in terms of good, quality music before I was even 10 years old. As a result, I know the lyrics to every single track on DSOTM, and I never, ever get tired of it. Ever.

THREE
Tea for the Tillerman by Cat Stevens
A hippie music icon. These days Cat goes by the name Yusuf Islam, and subscribes to the same religion as indicated by his last name. One doesn't hear much about him any more, and from what I understand he's always been somewhat reclusive anyway. But as CS, he released a couple albums in the early 70's that were quite popular amongst the pot-smoking, peace-loving hippie freaks similar to those my parents hung out with quite a bit when I was very young (and indeed, were flaming hippies themselves. I wore a lot of paisley when I was a kid.) Anyway, I love this album. I probably wouldn't like it at all if I heard it for the first time now, at my age, but I listened to this stuff so much when I was a kid it was imbedded in my mind, in the fondest way, forever. A lot of music from this era is part of me in the same fashion.

I do tend to have the most awesome earworms at any given time.......

Sunday Evening Edition

Quite the lazy day around Casa del Verde.

Not that there was a lack of things to do, but the motivation meter was hovering near zero for the most part and it was what it was. This absence of inertia would surely earn me a sound scolding from my dad, who is pretty much the kind of person who needs to have some sort of activity scheduled - preferably ones that never involve sitting of any kind - for nearly every waking hour of the day. Every day. He's like the Energizer Bunny, my pops. Which is likely why he'll live to be about 150. Which is more than fine with me.

My pops. Looks pretty darned good for the Energizer Bunny, I think. Dad's got smaller ears, though.

In other news, my little brother turned 40 today. Holeeeee........wow. In remembering how kind and thoughtful he was to me when I turned 40, let's just say I've been waiting a loooooooooooong time for this day. I wish I'd been there to express to him my most sincerest birthday wishes in person, but he's three hours away. So I left him a nice message on his voice mail and on his FB wall. With just a little tiny bit of ribbing. Just a little.

The Energizer Bunny's son (and my newly-minted "over the hill" sibling.) This picture is a few years old, but it captures him pretty well. Yeah, well at least I know where he gets his vim and vigor.

 
So, that's about the size of it this everning. And oh - just so that ya'll aren't disappointed, here's my weather report: it will still be in the 80's (yuck) for the first few days of this coming week, and then hover in the high to mid-70's for the next few days after that. An improvement, I suppose.

Meh.

Three Good Things Thursday

Lessee......what can I come up with on this fine example of a Thursday....?

ONE
Pumpkin Spice Coffee.
I still have a few K-Cups of this stuff left from the last holiday season. Not only is it incredible as a regular cup o' joe, but it makes a killer iced latte with coconut milk and a splash of heavy whipping cream. I discovered this particularly delightful combination this morning, and just now sipped the last of it. Sad face (until tomorrow morning, if I don't just help myself to another one this afternoon.)

TWO
Freshly laundered mattress covers.
Clean sheets are amazing in and of themselves, but when the mattress cover is also right out of the washer/dryer, both together are beyond heavenly. If I had the time, I would probably wash it and also change the sheets every single day. There are probably some eccentric souls out there somewhere who actually do this (OCD, anyone?) but who has the time....? Except for someone with OCD, that is.

THREE
Rain after a long dry spell.
It's been unseasonably dry here this summer, which is a bummer. But the smell (and feel) of rain when it first starts, after the weather's been bone-parched for weeks and weeks? Oh yeah. And for my friends in Southern Oregon, who have been dealing with extremely severe smoke issues from all the wildfires there lately, it has certainly been a true Godsend. Except when it came with additional lightning strikes, which unfortunately, was the case several times. Well, I guess you can't win 'em all, right?


I'll bet ya'll just can't wait until I stop babbling about the weather, huh....?

Way Behind Wednesday.....

......because apparently I needed another catchy title based on the day of the week, combined with my pointed lack of discipline in maintaining an actual posting (writing) schedule.

Actually, there's not a lot to catch up on simply because I don't have a whole lot to say this afternoon. Or perhaps more accurately, I don't have the energy or desire to write about any of the potential topics that are swirling around my brain.

Suffice to say, I'm in a bit of a weird space right now on a personal level and I could write about that, but I'm not going to, not right now. Not everything is up for public consumption, especially when it's in a chaotic, raw state.

But I have been thinking a lot lately about feminism, "finding oneself", Paleo diets and about how frustrating it is not being back into the running circuit yet due to my ongoing knee saga. Oh yeah, I suppose I've not mentioned the torn ACL in my right knee, but I'm pretty sure that the three or five very nice people who might or might not comprise my "readership" already knows about that. Not much to mention except that I still can't completely lock the knee out  (hyperextend) and generally speaking, it feels like it's encapsulated in cement most of the time.

Summer drags on and I really cannot wait until it starts falling back into the fifties (and lower!) temperature wise. I absolutely love cool, crisp air - especially when the leaves start drifting. Something about autumn triggers a lot of very good, warm memories and just a general sense of contentment for me. So, if you don't mind, October, please do hurry up. And I truly do hope we have a nice snowy winter for once.

Meanwhile, I flit sweatily amidst the mid-80's, and I am going to be quite annoyed if we end up having another obnoxious 90's heat wave before we can resume the business of getting nice and cool (and damp.) It is Oregon, after all.

And......I'm looking forward to some awesome Duck football to start up again. Just sayin'.

Three Good Things Thursday

This afternoon I’ve been a bit grumpy and belly-achy and my good friend Lecia, when we went out on our afternoon walking break (in the currently one million degree heat), even admonished me to stop whining, although she was very nice about it.

So, I thought, what better time to get cracking on my Three Good Things Thursday post?

Woof.

ONE

I have gorgeous hydrangeas on my desk. A colleague of mine has a yard full of ‘em, dinner-plate-sized bundles of blooms that are just amazing and she has been bringing them to me.

TWO

July is almost over. Which means August is just around the corner, which means I only need to wait a little over a month until September. I love September, because that means cooler weather and autumn, which is my favorite season for ever and ever.

THREE

Cold, cold water on a stupid hot day. Not much more I need to say about that.

Hope your Thursday has been at least as stunning as mine!

Three Good Things Thursday

I am taking a cue from one of my longtime online friends Dave Graham and am going to try to post three good things every Thursday.

While I don't think I've ever been downright and wholeheartedly ungrateful about the general condition of my life, I know that I certainly don't pause nearly often enough to be intentionally grateful. I really do believe that this whirlwind existence could always be worse, some way, somehow...so any day that I am not passed out in a gutter somewhere with tire tracks on my legs and needle tracks on my arms, I guess I'm doing pretty darned ok. (Not that I have ever, EVER been anywhere near such a state, but hey, sometimes the falls in life can be pretty spectacular in scope.)

So without further ado, here are my Three Good Things for today, Thursday, July the 18th, two-oh-one-three:

ONE
I have a fan in my office. It's been stupid hot (by my sterling standards) around here lately, and the fan has probably saved my life. (I could go on a tear right now about how much I hate it when it gets above 70 degrees outside, but this is Three GOOD Things, not One Good Thing and a Huge Rant.)

TWO
I am not lactose intolerant. Seriously, what would I do without cheese? And greek yogurt? And creeeeeam!! Whipped and/or heavy, on my pie or in my coffee. I would be miserable, that's what I would be.

THREE
I finally have an office with a window again. From about this time in July of 2007 up until about two months ago, I had been holed up in an interior office in my building, sharing the smallish space with six giant filing cabinets my desk and some shelves and my aforementioned fan. Ask me how dark it gets in there when the power goes out - I dare you!

So, there you go.

Happy Thursday, all!