Lady By The Water

Sunday afternoon has arrived so quickly and I have one more night of work. We had to move to the back of the building last night as there is some construction going on in our area. Certainly it was not happening during the night and the area affected is very small, however, I understand their concern and if they don't make the rule for everyone, there will always be those who don't follow them. Personally I felt if three of us couldn't see not to walk through a small strip of concrete a foot wide, perhaps we were candidates for natural selection.

The back area is very open but is where all the duct work and pipes are uncovered so there is a constant hum, something we are not used to. Even though there were only the three of us I felt like we had to shout to communicate. It will be our home tonight as well. Minor matter, we will certainly survive and it is for a good cause.

I am working on adding more stories to the "Things that go Bump" blog and so is my co author. I hope people like it. The dream blog is crawling as I am in a slump and waffling about where to go next with it.

The weather is going to be warm and sunny most of the week and I hope to get the fishing gear for Peter so we can hang out at the lake. It's also a holiday week coming up over here and though the 4th is the only real day many folks are off ahead of time to go to their cabins and such. I'm not sure what we will do for the 4th as last year we had such an interesting outing in the old neighborhood. They have a wonderful celebration but I am not keen on getting in the thick of gangs and such.

Hope you are all having a nice day.

It's been a busy Saturday at least hectic in some ways. I was awakened by the dog puking on the rug. This continued throughout the day about 5 times and though she seems fine now she will have nothing further to eat today. She at one point couldn't beg for my food so I know she felt pretty bad. She is playful to a point but she's much like the person with stomach flu who feels fine for the moment and then overdoes and is sick once more.

We have a separate mailbox for big packages and when we found the key in our small mailbox we were excited. We knew the Xbox 360 must have arrived. The key for the big mailbox is warped or something and after a long struggle during which I had to run inside and be sick,(more than you needed to know)we finally succeeded in opening it and retrieving our package. Unfortunately after all was said and done, the dimwit forgot to send the power cord. I've emailed him and bought a spare on ebay. The system looks good but is of course a bit hard to play without power. Once we can plug it in we will be able to do a full assessment. ::

It's almost time to go to work, another night of three of us. It will no doubt be busy but it makes the time go by quickly. I need to go pack a book as the computers usually do some updating on Saturday night.

How I wish I was off tonight as it's beautiful. I would love to sit outside under the stars and sip a nice glass of wine. Ah well. Monday will be here before we know it. Sorry to remind you.

Have a good night all.

Good morning to you all. It's a lovely cool morning for a switch. I can't stay long as the dog is whimpering and has disappeared upstairs. It was a good night at work once I got settled though pretty busy. I'm off after the dog and then to bed, but I'll be back later.

I received a letter from the IRS today for my father requesting that he file his tax return for 2006. My father passed away in March of 2004.
I will be contacting them on Monday to inform them and be sure no one is using my fathers SS# on the sly.

If you come to this blog to debate with people because of what they believe make sure you pick those who are up for this. Not everyone can take this sort of thing and they are not the lesser person for it.

I have encountered people who like to troll blogs on every format I have been to. Some just do it to be hurtful, some out of genuine interest in starting a rousing debate. Really, I don't understand why someone goes to a blog when they don't believe the things that are posted there. It will only serve to irritate them and their comments will often upset the poster, if they are tenderhearted. I personally could care less but that's me. Each to their own I say.

We just lost a blogger today. She was trying to get the courage up to keep her sensitive and beautiful blog going. We may not always agree with each other in every way, but remember to check out the person before you come on too strong. I realize blogging is a format that leaves you wide open for whatever may come your way, but also remember this. You have the right to comment and they also have the right to restrict those comments.

I could have closed this post to my friends list but it would have served no purpose. I can't comment to what went on in the private mailing as I was no part of that. Perhaps the message was not meant to be taken so to heart. I don't think the comment left on the post was either. It was just an expression of how the person commenting sees things. However, I am not the person who was offended and again they had every right to ban the comment.

Lets all behave out there in blog land shall we?

Ancient Twilight

The gardens retain the ancient twilight
A fading light that silhouettes the trees
The trees that have observed forgotten magic
through centuries of man.s insanities.

Nightbirds acknowledge ancient twilight.
Their instincts attuned to every sound
The stepping fox, the rabbit or the field-mouse
Anything that moves upon the ground.

The plash of running water in the twilight
The flash of firefly among the reeds
However much the human race negates it
Nature still provides for ancient needs.

For there is balm inherent in the twilight
An ancient remedy for common use
To salve the wounds that mankind have inflicted
through ignorance or greed or self-abuse.

Aromas accented by the twilight
abound there for anyone who cares
to savour once again the ancient fragrance
of Damask roses heavy on the air.

So walk among the gardens of the twilight
if you need to purify your soul
Be receptive to the ancient magic
that emanates and penetrates and makes you whole.

©Laurence Neill, 2008

Happy Birthday Firelight!

It's about 11:30pm here and still 75 degrees outside. We took the dog to the lake today and it was hot but beautiful. She actually waded around in the water. She has always been deathly afraid of water since she fell through the ice as a pup. I'm glad she is getting braver as she had a great time. Peter ran into one of his buddies and did some fishing while I tried to find a place to get out of the sun for a bit. Clearly I need to get him a fishing pole. Somehow we made it out of my fathers house with the strangest collection of things. We didn't come away with his fishing poles. He had three and while they were older I'm sure they were fine. At the time, no one was fishing so I suppose it didn't seem important.

I'm still waiting for the gaming system and I have a horrible feeling I've been scammed. The seller did contact us yesterday and promised it would be shipped this morning with a tracking# to follow. None of this has happened. This was after he stated in the ad that he would ship the day after payment was received. That would have been a week ago. I am extremely upset but glad I used a service that guarantees my money. I don't understand people who do this, I really don't. I know they have walked the earth since time began but I still don't get it. Peter is very sad as he has been so excited. I would love for this person to prove me wrong but I don't think he will. He can deal with Karma. Once I have the money back, I will have to buy again, but most likely a new one I can wrap my hands around. I've had almost no problem on ebay and have found it a great place to shop.

My head is pounding since we returned from the lake and I may just go sit out on the deck with a cup of tea and look for the moon, that is if the mosquitoes don't carry me off. Have a good night all.

Another hot summer day is here. The sun is hiding behind the clouds and it's humid again. Yesterday was a scorcher and we stayed inside a great deal of the time. The weather warnings are starting to pop up and I suspect we will have thunder tonight.

I'm working on finalizing the registration for Peter's online school for next year. He failed to come and help with electives so he will now get what I chose. I hope he likes them. It's so much paperwork I'm ready to scream but at least they are thorough. Took tonight off again as he hoped to have a friend over. I know this friend will be unavailable until the last minute and then turn him down and it just makes my blood boil. I have told him to get a yes or no from these people as the entire family seems to drift in and out of their own world. I don't think this is too much to ask. Yes I can come or No I cannot. It shouldn't take all day to form a response. Most folks would be glad to send their kids out for the night. Frankly my feelings will not be hurt either way but Peter is so bored I am about to lose my mind. I'd take him to the movies but I'm broke until payday. Things will be better when his two buddies come home from Thailand.

I will try to find something lovely to post again as I think we need it right now on this blog. We need to get this place going again.

The hot days of summer are here at last as July rapidly approaches. We attempted another walk to the lake late last night. The fireflies in the meadow had doubled since our last outing and it was breathtaking to say the least. This was the good part. The dog, who usually loves late night outings was about as fun as dragging a 100lb bag of salt. She kept stopping and sitting and by the time we reached the meadow it was clear she didn't want to go further. She turned and looked toward the hill that cuts up to our house.

At the same time I was trying to maneuver her down the street, my son was giving me a blow by blow review of the movie he had just watched. You cannot appreciate this until he has done this to you. His reviews are long and detailed and punctuated with "mom are you listening" every 30 seconds. I was listening but he has always been the type that needs you to look him in the eye. This was impossible given the darkness and the dog.

We made it to the trail, very very dark, and proceeded to the turn that leads to the main part of the lake. The fireflies again were beautiful but my son, who hates the darkness, was at this point tired and creeped out and the dog was trying to get into everything she could find. My son proceeded to have a meltdown shouting that he wanted to go home, just in time for the police who were up above scanning the area for the frequent parties of teens. They never saw us or heard us I guess and we headed home, warm, sweaty and irritable. Peter fell asleep in the chair not long afterwards and I spent a restless night once again, with vivid dreams of my childhood home.

We will be investing in a large flashlight for further walks, the small light we had with being inadequate. I suspect it was not in the cards and the dog perhaps was trying to tell us something when she did her dead weight sit down halfway there.

It was a night where the energy in the air was palpable but perhaps the magic of it was to be enjoyed from the deck. What was at the lake was to be left unseen for another adventure on another night. Tonight I'm planning on nothing more than a movie, the one he was describing to me. It will be so much easier that way.

This got removed in my deleting frenzy. Thought I'd put it back up. It's rather enjoyable.

It was an afternoon of arrivals, first the managers for inspection and then Peter. Yes he arrived home hot tired but none the worse for wear. He had heard the police cars but was, apparently way ahead of where they were.

The managers showed up at the end of the day past 4:00pm which was their end time. They said they had an "emergency" on Friday, something that certainly happens. I zipped my lip but wanted to say a telephone call would have been considerate so I didn't waste the entire day waiting. After they left I spent the rest of the evening not doing much and finally turned in early. Peter did his best to try and prolong the evening but on 1hour of sleep I was totally done in. He wound up turning in early as well.

It looks to be another glorious day. We've had quite a few of them. The heat is turning up now that we are moving toward July but that is to be expected. The poor dog needs some time today and other than her I plan to get some paperwork done. It will be a good day to take a walk to the lake.

This is one of those moments where I'm going to sit with my heart in my throat waiting. I was on the way to the post office when two police cars passed on their way to some emergency. They turned on the road I know my son was biking on and all I could think was, "he's been hit by a car." He of course didn't take his phone nor is he carrying any identification. As I stood in line at the post office, the picture that went through my head made my heart skip a few beats.

When he arrives home I will once again discuss the importance of his phone and why I purchased it for him. He will, of course, forget it all and leave it sitting on the table the next time he heads out.

Some day if he becomes a parent, he will understand why he, all on his own, kept the hair color business alive and well.

Another glorious morning has arrived. I should be off to bed but here I sit. I have much to do today and I want to get it done earlier so I can enjoy some time at the lake with Peter and Daisy. The dog is acting out and driving me nuts. I just caught her with her head in the garbage. I know she's bored and I suspect Peter went to bed early last night adding to the problem.

I'm on overload and feel like I could use about 3 of me, one to do paperwork that needs to be done, one to clean and one to walk the dog and spend time with Peter. Oh I forgot, I need that one for my time as well. I'm in travel mode for some reason. I have no spare money at the moment for any travel, who does? but I find myself checking air fares and I think I'll be reading my travel books again. I can dream after all. The wonderful fare I saw was a sham. It was not round trip nor was the fuel surcharge added on. When all was said and done it was not bad but was about par with the other airlines. I knew something had to be wrong as the increase in fuel costs didn't fit with the lower air fare. I'm one of those people who, when buying a larger item, is very direct. I don't like to be screwed with and I want everything I need and total costs straight up. False allure will only anger me and make me not want to use a service.

I have things to do today so if the the managers think they are going to just drop by for an inspection without warning me they are going to be surprised. I'm not going to sit here waiting and waste another day. My time matters as well and I deserve fair warning. Well, I'm off to kick my feet up before the milkman arrives at 9:30.

I am the moon the rises from the sea, the twilight sea.
I bring men dreams that rule their destiny,
bring the dream tides to the souls of men,
the tides that ebb and flow and ebb again.

There are the moon tides, these belong to me.
Hera in heaven, in Earth, Persephone
Levannah of the tides and Hecate,
Diana of the Moon, Star of the Sea.
These are my secrets, these belong to me.

Dion Fortune- The Sea Priestess

I decided I needed some of this on the blog since I have deleted so many posts.

1. What are your favourite and least favourite foods?

Love Gyros. They are not something I can just go out and pick up all the time though there are more places that serve them now. I have trouble thinking of a least favourite foodbut Macaroni and Cheese comes to mind. I'll eat it but I've never been a fan.

2. Has anyone ever sent you a Valentine's card?

Well of course, but it's been a very long time.

3. Has anyone ever forgot your birthday?

Since mom passed away most everyone except my brother, bless his heart, forgets my birthday.

4. Who did you spend your last Christmas holiday with?

My brother and two of my three kids.

5. Best holiday you've ever been on by yourself?

I don't think I've ever had a holiday by myself. I'm working on that. My gosh the air fares to UK in November on Air Canada??I almost fell out of my chair last night at work. $255 tourist round trip. I realize I probably have to ride in the luggage bay and eat nothing but hey what a price.

6. Best holiday trip with your family?

I would have to say the Black Hills with my kids. It was before Peter came along, actually right before I found out I was pregnant. It's a beautiful, fun and cheap place to go with kids.

7. What were your hobbies or interests as a young person?

I've never been a hobby person so I'm giving this some thought. I was ver y interested in dance.

8. What hobbies or interests did you develop as an adult?

Again I'm not a hobby person and I'm too tired to think of much here. I love lots of things.

9. Would you call yourself internet obsessed?

Obsessed? Well if it was down I'd be flopping around the floor crying so you be the judge.

10. Are you addicted to watching television and/or playing video games?

TV no. I can get into game yes but I can walk away from them very easily.

11. What's your sign?

I'm a Sagittarius/Dragon

12. Do you like to wear a hat?

I have trouble with hats. They never fit me well. I do wear a baseball hat when I walk to keep the sun off.

Apparently I have not been conveying my thoughts and ideas in an accurate manner. I am not having a stressful time at work. The desk move was nothing really. I was illustrating a point in that post, though it's lost on me now and apparently was lost altogether. It was something along the lines of trying to move past negative thoughts. Nevermind, I'll touch on it later.

I never did get a good Midsummer post up as I was too lost in thought. I was the mood to write during the night but I'm a bit too tired right now. The day looks to be glorious again and I need to get to sleep while Peter is gone so I can wake up and enjoy at least a bit of it.

I'm off to bed and hope you all have a nice day.

I truly wish I had the evening off tonight but I'm an hour short so it can't be done. Peter has gone to his friends house to sleep over and it would be the perfect opportunity for some much needed alone time, well, alone as one can get with a lonely dog. She and I could stroll to the lake and sit on the docks. Wait, I could sit on the dock hanging on to her lead while she tries to get away and go find abandoned food and dead fish.
Still it would be a lovely Midsummer evening as the weather is nothing short of glorious.

Such is life and my peonies wait for me at work. Now I must iron something to wear.

Today is Midsummer and as I headed home this morning I decided perhaps I should divert to the lake and sit by the water. As I sat in my usual "tree chair" watching the still water and listening to the birds sing their morning greetings, I wondered at the beauty of nature. The early morning is a great time at the lake. There are few if any others there, and the peace and serenity makes it a wonderful place.

As I sat there I started thinking about the night before. I arrived at work, only to find out I had to move to a new desk. The timing was bad as I arrived in the worst of moods. No one else in my little group had to move and I was positioned as far from everyone I enjoyed as seemed possible. Change was not something I wanted to deal with at the moment and this move, something so small, pushed me to the brink of tears.

Just as I was ready to lose it, my co-worker brought over a big vase full of peonies from her desk. The beautiful pink and white flowers graced my desk all night and as I sat relishing the wonderful scent, my mood came around and all things were brought into perspective. I am not really so far away and I am seated with others I work with.

I'm not sure where exactly I'm going with this but sometimes we can take things personally when in fact they are not meant that way at all. Perhaps we are tired, perhaps ill. Perhaps we have been fighting with someone at home or maybe there are just other things going on. Take a breath, a lovely one if you can, and just let things settle. This may help break a negative cycle that may otherwise consume you and everyone around you.

I apologize for any confusion I caused by deleting the post I wrote last night. I decided it was pointless and just let it go. I am working on some good things and hope to get more posted soon. I know I've been a bit strange lately, deleting posts here but I came very close to dumping the blog all together. I hope to add some nice things and try to make this a haven of sorts for all who visit here.

I'm up early as the inspectors are set to come between 9 and 4pm. I hope it's 9 so I can go back to bed. I work tonight and have not had much sleep. Of course this morning ebay had a 10% coupon for my next purchase of $100 or more.Rather bad timing I'd say. I picked up the kitchen a bit more and when I wake up I have to go over my bank account. It seems the times I've taken a cab have generated some questionable charges. I will never use my card with them again. One fellow decided to make $30 extra and changed a $17 charge to 47.

It looks like another beautiful day and I really wish I had tonight off as well. I'd see about it but I know we have training scheduled for a new system so I suppose I'd better go in. Weekends are going to be impossible to get off once this weekend is over as one goes out on maternity leave. Until they bring the new folks on board we will be too short. I could use a day just to have fun but so it goes. Last night I sat out under the moon before I went to bed and it was absolutely glorious.

On that note it's time for more coffee and some blog reads.

Between bidding, house cleaning and a bored dog, I about went out of my mind today. Bidding for an item that is wanted by all the gaming geeks as well as the stores that refurbish and sell again is a daunting task. By late afternoon I lost it and turned into a screaming shrew. My poor son caught the brunt of it but won his system none the less. He is happily sleeping away, no doubt dreaming of gaming days to come. The dog is munching watermelon with me and I need to take her for a walk. It's late now and still 80 degrees and humid outside. The moon should be beautiful by the time I make it upstairs. I had hoped to go back to the lake tonight and grab some pics but I'm not walking the trail by myself.

The living room, entry way and bath, and the downstairs are all clean. The rest of it, well they will have to use their imaginations. I am too tired to care at this point. I'll get it done but not tonight. I need some time with the moon and with myself. I don't think I'm going to want to go on ebay any time soon.

Now I think I'll go have a nice bath and relax. Wish I'd bought some wine today. Darn.

Again I find myself bidding on an xbox 360 between my cleaning tasks. I am without doubt now that certain bidders are placed there on the gaming sites to drive up the bids. They bid only on gaming and electronics and have multiple bids on everything in site. They are now in a "bidding war" over the one I was watching. Very stupid as it has 4 hours to go and if they are genuinely interested in the purchase they are shooting themselves in the foot. I will continue to watch this one and if no more bids make their way in, I will wait until the last 30 seconds and enter a much higher bid making it impossible for them to outbid me. One upside to all of this is they have failed to watch one that has 1 hour left and is also a very good deal. I may try to get that one first. It oddly only has one bidder. There is nothing at all wrong with it and in fact it comes with everything. Must be an oversight. Trust me I am a very very careful bidder.
I suspect sites such as Gamestop have buyers on ebay purchasing all the used electronics they can get their hands on. They recondition and sell. I got the Gamecube there and it's great. Why though, would they have bidding wars? How stupid.
Well it's off to see if the drawer front I reattached is still in place. They failed to adequately fix it when I moved in and one day it fell off with a thud while I was on the other side of the kitchen. Clearly someone stood on it causing the original injury. The previous folks glued it, I think, to avoid it being seen. I mentioned it last year and as you can tell, they rushed right around to fix it. If this doesn't work, I will drill it in with teeny nails.
Off I go.

The morning is beautiful and while I have much to do today, ok ok I didn't clean much yesterday, I hope to enjoy the day as well. I want to get out again tonight to see if I can capture a picture of the moon on the water. The forecast for rain has been changed so things look hopeful. I'm thinking I'm wasting my time working so hard on things as this inspection is only 5-10 minutes to see what might need repairing. They are actually coming in, I'm sure, to see that we haven't trashed the place.

I'm noticing my dog and my persian have become friends after four years. It has been a sort of friendship but never progressed. The dog would always step in the middle if Poppy was picking on Laddie and he likes to pick on Laddie. The dog is wary of the other cats and though Laddie has tried to warm up to her, it never got anywhere. Last night they snuggled together and now they are out on the deck together. I'm glad as the dog needs a buddy too.

Peter is asleep in the chair having stayed up too late. His buddy is planning to go fishing again so he will no doubt spend the afternoon over at the lake. He had a great time yesterday though they caught nothing. He asked me if I would cook a big one if he caught it. I said I would as long as Kevin will knock it over the head for me. I don't think I could kill a living thing, unless I HAD to do it for food. Apparently some of the folks who go to the lake to fish do not put the fish back and abandon the large ones in the bushes. Not only is this wrong to do in my eyes, but the dog has a keen nose and I have to keep a watchful eye on her now when we go to the lake.

Well, now that I've jumped from topic to topic, it's time to get something done around here. I have the night off, just confirmed that with work so I will be back.

Tonight I ventured out under the moon, something I have been thinking of doing for as long as the moon has whispered to me. I walked to the lake with my son and the dog, the moon nowhere to be found. My disappointment was real but the beauty of the night made me continue on.

As we approached the meadow, the place I call my fairy land, the fireflies twinkled in the darkness like miniature holiday lights. Even my son said it looked as if the meadow was filled with fairies. We walked on, the sweet scent of flowers filling the night, and the scent of all those that live in the meadow filling the air with mystery for the dog. As we reached the trail, it was quite dark, the moon still not visible and we hesitated for a moment wondering if we should journey further. There was a peaceful feel, the songs of the frogs and crickets filling the air and so we continued on. Not long after, we reached the first turn to the lake and the fireflies filled the bushes and path making the walk magical beyond words. We were, I am certain, the only ones there, the stillness broken only by the sound of an occasional fish jumping in the water or the beaver swimming by to his home.

We rounded the turn to the main dock and to my delight the moon was there, huge and golden, her reflection shining from the water. Where she came from, I do not know but she seemed to know I was there. I stood on that dock for as long as I could feeling the energy and trying to speak, It was not nearly long enough as the dog, of course, had other plans and the intrigue of the night was just too much fun. We proceeded a bit further to my favorite tree, one with a chair made of roots. I have been there many times, enfolded by that tree. It is there I speak my peace and ask the water to carry words to the one who has wrapped my heart in the softest of threads. I sat there with my son and the moon illuminated our little place by the lake. The reflections of the trees and the bridge in the water gave the feeling of two worlds looking at one another. Sadly it was late and as we knew the park had closed before we arrived, we started back to the house. As we left the dock, the moon disappeared, and try as we might we could not find her. We looked at one another, both puzzled, and then walked on.

Now the moon shines down outside my window a golden orb in the night sky. Her magic filled my evening, something I think she knew I needed badly. When I look closely at her now, I can almost see her smile. I think she waits for me to journey with her in dreams.

When I mentioned how Direct Tv service was going "down the shitter"(pardon me) I had no idea how far it had gone. Apparently I am not alone in my disgust with their dwindling customer service.

**************
ia Consumerist by Chris Walters on 6/18/08

It's hard to fit everything you need to do into an average day, but this ingenious DirecTV installer found a way to show up late to his appointments, take a break for lunch, and drop the kids off at the pool—all before 5pm! Now if only he'll remember to bring a ladder with him the next time so he can actually complete the installation.

Elizabeth writes:

After having a horrible experience with Comcast when I moved to my new home, I decided that I would go