My Lucky Day?

Yesterday I found this:

Yup. It's a four-leafed clover. My sister found one in her yard a couple of months ago as well, which amuses me to no end because our family is historically rather unlucky. I had hoped today would bring good luck, but alas... it was a day just like any other. Right now my lucky charm is being pressed, after which I will stick it in a little frame. Hopefully the color won't change! And I'll keep my eyes open for any luck coming my way... or leprechauns.

Last Thursday, my stepdaughter Cass came for a visit... her excursions out here are never long enough. I was lucky this time, in that Scott found himself unable to take off work on Friday- so I had her all to myself. We went shopping at Tyson's Corner and the outlet mall in Hagerstown, and had a pretty good time. She got a bunch of new stuff for school, and I got some new jeans.

On Saturday we ate Frederick's Best Cheeseburgers at Wags, and went on a Candlelight Ghost Tour of Frederick. The ghost tour could have used a couple more spooky locations, and bit less chatting. The tour covers 7 places during about a one mile walk, and took over an hour and a half. It was okay, but there was enough standing around while listening to stories to make my back ache towards the end.

On Sunday we drove around, mostly through West Virginia and Virginia. We ate Sonic burgers along the way, and took back roads through the mountains. I suspect scenic drives may be a lot more enjoyable for Scott and I than for Cass. We will make a note of this for her next visit... Sunday night we rented Strange Wilderness, which was very funny.

Monday we had breakfast at the Mountain View Diner- home of the best freaking french toast ever. Then we piled all my gear on Cass, and Scott took her for a ride.
Later that afternoon, Cass and I made friendship bracelets (she made the green and pink one, I made the other).
And now here we are. Cass got on a plane 6 hours ago, and we already miss her. The sting of having to go back to work tomorrow doesn't help either. I predict emotional overeating for at least two days. Maybe three.

As If I Need Another Reason...

It's really hard to understand how people don't seem to notice the direction this country has taken. It's honestly disturbing. While waiting for my smoothie last night at Panera, I caught a glimpse of this headline. I thought, "That can't possibly be right." Later at home, I read the full article, and noticed that Keith Olbermann is pissed too. We all should be.

I don't have any formal education in law or political science, but I seem to remember going over the Constitution a few times in school. And I seem to remember that there is even a specific Amendment in the Bill of Rights that protects us from this sort of thing. A quick Googling tells me that this is, in fact, the case:

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Hmm. So much for the Constitution. It's not like the Bill of Rights is some sort of list of principles on which this country was founded, right? And we definitely shouldn't send irate emails to Congress.

It's time to renovate the next bedroom! Mostly it will be a place to relax in solitude, away from the TV and each other; but it needs to house a guest or two (on rare occasions). Unfortunately, even a twin bed takes up half the room, so some creative thinking is in order. We were able to find a small futon at our local Sam's Club that should work nicely- it's something like 86" wide, as compared with the standard 93" futons we saw. Getting that sucker in the car was pretty fun... The box dented the roof of my car, so we sat in the parking lot, pulled the sucker out of the box and put the smaller pieces in the backseat, and the mattress on the roof. Right now it's sitting in pieces, waiting to be assembled.


Last weekend we painted the ceiling and trim, and this weekend we're doing the doors and walls. The room will be a dark sage, and I'm really excited to see the color go up tomorrow. So far I think we've spent about $760 on paint, the futon, wooden blinds, hinges and doorknobs. We still need a small end table, bookshelves, lighting, and some decorations. Then of course, the new floor. We plan on putting in bamboo floors ourselves sometime in September. That should run us about $300.

Of course, as we fix one thing, it's inevitable that other things go awry. First the little rack we use for the dog leash came down. We had it screwed into the drywall (nothing fancy- it's only holding a leash) behind a closet door. While two little wood screws may be plenty to hold up a little rack and leash, it's apparently not enough to keep it attached to the wall when the leash loops around the door handle and then someone tries to close said door. Oops.

Next time we'll watch out for that. Then, earlier today, Scott grabbed a hand towel off the rack and the whole thing came with it. One of the set-screws holding it on had come loose, so it's an easy fix, but there is an ugly new mark on the wall. Stupid, cheap towel bar...

We also finally replaced the missing/broken window screens. After learning how easy it was, I wish we had done it earlier. The house looks much less ghetto without ripped and missing screens.

It's actually sort of difficult to remember that all the things we're doing to the house will pay off in the end. We've been in a new apartment almost every year for six years, and it hasn't sunk in yet that this is OUR house. When we paint a room, we're fixing all the little defects that eat into the value of the house, and we don't have to ever worry about painting it white again in a year before we move out or risk losing part of a security deposit. When we finally get around to improving the kitchen and bathrooms, it will add assloads of value to the place! I'm sure it will sink in over time.

Shit! And also, I am a dork.

So there was this thread on a forum... it was basically one woman who said, "Show me your hair, I'm looking for ideas!" And I just had to read it. And I just had to see a woman with super awesomely wicked dreads. Shit. Shit! Now I really want dreadlocks again. I tried once before.

Exhibit A:

Apologies for the crappy webcam photo, we didn't have a digital camera back then. Anyways, they were super cute, but I had them all waxed and rubber-banded and they were so freakin' itchy and I got impatient... and they came out. I had them for about 3-4 weeks total. Poor Scott worked so hard to make them, and I sat for an afternoon with a bottle of conditioner and brushed those suckers out.

Unfortunately, now the longest bits of my hair are approximately three inches long. It looks like I won't be getting those dreads for quite a while. So for the next year or so, I'm going to NEVER get a haircut (not even a trim), and try to stay nice and healthy for maximum hair-growth speed. There's nothing that will make your hair grow faster, but it can sure as hell grow slower if you don't take care of yourself. I've put a piece of paper, a ruler and a pen in my bathroom so I can keep a log of how long my hair is getting. Technically, hair only needs to be about 4 inches in order to dread it, but I'm not really keen on the spiky look it gives you. I'm going to aim for 8-10 inches, or about a year. Also, I'm implementing a ponytail rule: they are to be worn sparingly, and never slept in. I had a TON of breakage from ponytail abuse before I chopped off all my hair, and I don't want that to happen again.

As for what will change when Dread Time comes: I'm going to get them done by a pro. The woman on the forum said it's a good idea, and she's probably right. Also, I will be aware this time of the itchiness and work involved. Plus I've got a couple new tools in my belt: first is a felting needle, and second is a crochet hook. The innerwebs tell me these are pretty effective at maintaining nice, tight, dreadlocks.

My sudden desire to be knotty-headed leads me to my next topic: in which I am a total hippie and a nerd. I don't know what it is lately... It started when I was sick last week, and I made an off-hand remark to Scott about how I was going to look for a cure in one of my witchcraft books. I have several occult books, given to me by my brother back when I was in junior high. I can't let them go. Anyhoo, that led me to go look at them again. I have an almost perverse attraction to all things religious and spiritual. I don't want to practice or follow any of it, I just want to know about it. All of it. So anyways, I'm looking though these books, and reading about crystals, and I'm reminded that my birth month has two birthstones: aquamarine and bloodstone. I've never been fond of aquamarine; it's barely got any color, and it's girly. But bloodstone is something I could get behind! Frederick has a rock shop, Earthly Elements, so I went in a bought a bloodstone. I was even able to find one with a decent splotch of "blood." While I was there, I also got a pendant: it's supposed to help me communicate better. Here they are, my magic hippie crystals:

Ironically, the "communication" crystal is mostly aquamarine. There are two other smaller stones on top of it, but I forgot what they are.

Then, while I was looking at those occult books again, I came across my Tarot instruction book. I dug out my Tarot cards, and looked at the book... I bought them together in 2001 in a crappy little magic shop. Six years later, and I finally crack the book open and learn that it's for a different deck than the one I have (the Rider-Waite deck). Super. So I went to the bookstore and got a new book. So far I've done readings for myself and the dog, using the book the whole time. One day I'll memorize the whole 78 card deck, but it will take a while.

But you see that bag the deck is on? I made that! I decided that my deck needed better clothes than the box they came in, so I went to Joann Fabrics and got a couple fabric remnants (cheap!). I got a red satiny fabric and a black sheer fabric. I also got some cord for a drawstring, and sewed the little sucker up that night!

Not too shabby! Now I just have to learn to cope with being a fortune-telling-hippie-nerd for the rest of my life.

Das FURminator ist gut!

If you've never heard of it, the FURminator is a deshedding tool, which claims to reduce shedding up to 90%. I picked one up at Petsmart a couple months ago, after hearing a lot of praise on the innerwebs. Little Spencer has a fondness for napping on the couch, which leaves a nice sprinkling of black fur all over it, and they say it will totally reduce the amount of fur on the couch (or carpet, tile, whatever). I nearly choked when I saw the price ($30!), but it comes with a guarantee, so what the hell, right?

Spencer was a little confused at first, because his last brush was this one, which didn't really require, um, delicacy. But the FURminator is sort of sharp and pointy... I didn't want to injure my little man, so it became imperitive that he sat still. I can't imagine raking through his fur as roughly as the video on the FURminator website- I tend to be really ginger as to not mess up his skin. But holy crap does that little brush do a great job! Look at what I pulled out of my little piglet:

For reference, the brush is 6 inches long. I should have taken a shot from the side too, because the pile is probably two inches high. And Spencer is a twenty pound pug. That's a lot of fur. The little sucker works pretty well! I really notice a difference in the week following a brushing. There's definately less fur scattered around the kitchen (where it shows the most), and less on the couch too. Best $30 I ever spent! So if you own something that sheds, don't hesitate to get one.

Sick

On Thursday the office closed early, so I decided to make a nice dinner with the extra time. I went to the store, came home and made pulled pork sandwiches with cornbread and corn on the cob. It all came out well, but while I was cooking, I noticed my throat growing a little sore. I hoped that maybe it was an effect of the air conditioner being on so much. That night I ran back to the store and got a tub of ice cream. The ice cream made my throat feel a little better, and I went to bed.

Friday morning I woke up and was pretty sure that I was dying. I had a fever, the chills, I was achy all over, and my sore throat was much worse. I glanced at my throat in the mirror, and noticed my uvula was perhaps three times it's normal size. Ugh. What a great way to spend the Fourth of July. Throughout the day, it got worse and worse. Mid-afternoon I took my temperature and it was a whopping 103.1- and that's about a half an hour after I took two Tylenol. I probably should have gone to a doctor, but the idea of waiting in an ER for 20+ hours while all the idiots with blown-off fingers go ahead of me (fireworks accidents + triage) was not appealing. I decided to take my chances. Eventually my fever started going down, and I ate a little then went to bed. This morning I woke up, and surprisingly felt much better. My sore throat is gone, as is the fever... but I still feel sort of achy and sick.

I remember growing up with the mentality that if you have a fever, then you have an infection and you need antibiotics. Since moving to Maryland, I've gotten three fevers, and haven't gone to the doctor for any of them. Miraculously, I've survived! It took me a while before I realized that I have a functioning immune system, and maybe I don't always need drugs to make me better. Take a little something to keep the fever from cooking your brain, drink a lot of water, and let your immune system do it's thing.