The happenings between my incessant activity (if that can be said to be logical)

O hai ther!

Yes, I'm still blogging, despite the fact that I've been SO DARN BUSY! And I mean, REALLY BUSY, catching up on all the stuff I haven't had time for because of school.
` During the time of this post, I accomplished so much in way of my collecting, categorizing and compiling the notes I've been taking for my writing/website projects, and then also doing masses of new research and actually working on said projects!
` Yet, how could I make my hyperactive self sit still for so long? My regular exercise at the gym and karate class isn't even enough, so I've also taken to working on keeping the house looking cleaner than it has in a very long time. Naturally, cleaning up after yourself is nothing, but when you live with four people, it's so much more work!
` (At least, that's the way it's been going before I got a full-time job and had to marginalize all this again, but that will be covered in my next post.)


April 23, 2011:

Today, I got so many pictures of Lucas draining the carport roof -- many bathtubs worth! -- by putting a hole in the gutter!

This was for the purpose of putting buckets up there, with tomato plants and cages covered by red plastic. What this plastic is supposed to do, I don't know, since I can't seem to find any information about it on the internet. Seems like a scam to me! It's kinda cool-looking, though.

I also took some pictures of Rusty -- this is him not wanting to be in my picture!

I also took a pic of my first habernero, ripening on the deck, which is considerably more boring than Rusty. Yet, later on I was on the phone with my mom's boyfriend (my mom was asleep on the other end of their boat) and was so into my conversation that I didn't take pictures of Lucas crafting flames in the sunset, which looks kinda cool.
` He was using the flames to... cook food for me, Jen (aka Miss Know-It-All) and Andrew, using both our food and the meat MKIA's brothers were meant to eat but didn't. Those were the biggest hamburgers ever!


April 24, 2011:

I got a picture of Rusty sheltered from the evening sun (W00t! Non-dark evenings!) wondering why I'm taking a picture of him while he's eating his foods. Will I ever stop following him around with my damn camera?
` (Since this photo of Rusty is cooler than that one, I'll show this one instead:)

I keep thinking I haven't done much today, but actually I called people because it's Easter. I called my mom and got my brother James' number. I called him and told him about how life is going and how Lucas' business is booming, and he told me about his band in Ohio and how they're faring (their new lead singer, an old blues singer, singing KISS songs?).
` However, being my brother, he spent most of the conversation somewhat comedically ranting about how our grandma is even crazier than ever and being such a control freak, which pisses him off because he just turned forty and she's still telling him what to do!
` Let's just say, Lucas was somewhat amused that most of the words he could hear emanating from the phone were swear words.
` James also said that she asks him, "I wonder when Sarah will come back home?" Let me try to answer that; I used to live with my mom in Ohio, but now that I'm a grown-up, I consider the Pacific Northwest Coast my home, so I am home! Also, now that my mom's retired, she considers the Gulf Coast her home, so same thing there!
` She also asks if James has heard from my dad, who is at least as crazy and abusive as James' dad. Why does she ask that? Of course he hasn't heard from that psycho! She's just weird, apparently, and bitter that her family is either living far away or doesn't want to see her anyway. It's sad, but you can't really blame us!

Anyway, James was making mashed redskin potatoes, going to pick up Aunt Linda's mom, Esther, who's cool, and take her over to Grandma's for Easter. Later on, I called my grandma and told her that James was bringing the mashed potatoes!
` She was about to feed her husband, that is, through the feeding tube. No, sadly he does not get any mashed potatoes because he can't swallow properly. James had remarked that, with his dependence on tubes for eating and breathing, the guy looks like he should be dead, but it's a frickin' miracle that he's not! LOL!
` James also ranted somewhat about how crazy my aunt Linda is. Apparently, they arrived at the adobe hut airport for cousin Danny's wedding earlier than they thought they would, and Linda said she couldn't pick them up because it wasn't the original time they were supposed to arrive, so they would just have to wait.
` James asked her son, also named James, what was so important that she couldn't pick them up, and cousin James was like, "That's just Mom...." LOL! This is why I try to stay away from crazy family members!
` Then, of course, Linda told my brother James not to worry about wearing a suit because not many people would be, and he didn't bring one... and then he was the only one not wearing a suit! And then, when they had to get up at 3:30 in the morning (Him: "When?" Me: "Three-thirty in the morning!") to get to the airport, she wasn't packed yet! LOL!
` And then they couldn't see where they were going because it was when? Three-thirty in the morning! Then, the GPS broke and they went in circles and got there JUST in time. Otherwise, it would have been another week, apparently, before the next flight left from the adobe hut airport!

(Just to break up the text, I thought I'd add a picture of Vada drinking out of what's left of the carport roof puddle in the red shadow of the tomato greenhouse.)

Also, James said he has had a laptop for a whole year, despite being techno-illiterate. I vaguely remember my mom telling me he was going to get a laptop or something... well, it's a good thing he reminded me, because now I can send him links to videos and stuff!
` Of course, he was all crabbing about how he doesn't know how to sign into his email address, so I suggested that when his computer-savvy friend comes over to install some anti-virus software, he should help him set up another email address so I can send him links to videos and pictures and stuff more easily than over the phone!
` After battling through much ranting, he's agreed to do that, so I hope he doesn't change his mind!

Also, Random (of Random Originals) is coming over -- or maybe he just has? -- to install video-editing software on Lucas' movie-making computer. W00T! Speaking of which, after such ranting from my brother, I must relate to you this anecdote about Miss Know-It-All:
` Lucas has a MacPro with the instantaneous HD movie-rendering speed of 4 gigahertz, and 2 terabytes of hard drive space, which is enough to store a whole lot of feature-length HD movies. Well, MKIA said that in 1996 she had a computer with 2 gigahertz of processing speed and a 64 megabyte hard drive, which is so tiny that there's no way you can fit a program on there that requires 2 gigahertz to run it!
` Now, it is realistic to say that she had a computer with 2 gigabytes of hard drive space and 64 megabytes of processing speed -- which was typical of nice computers in 1996 and similar to my first computer -- but, when Lucas suggested this, she insisted she knew better. Miss Know-It-All, everybody! Displays her ignorance for all to see! Yes, she knows everything, especially when her mentally challenged brothers come over!
` In fact, just recently her skinny little brother, Aaron, saw Lucas and our neighbor talking near the neighbor's driveway, in which is his work vehicle, whose side reads "The A-Team". Aaron said, "Hey, you know, the A-Team? That car says The A-Team on it! Ha ha ha!" Lucas was like, "Uh yeah, we know, that's his car!" LOLOL!
` Is it retarded that I use abbreviations like LOL? Well, I'm using 'em, dammit, because that was both retarded and LOL-funny! (I won't say that Aaron is retarded, because that's not considered to be very nice.)
` Anyway, his obvious and banal observations, as well as his laugh, which somehow reminds me of the Disney character Goofy, has convinced me that he is actually more retarded than MKIA. I wonder if she thinks she's a genius because of this? Well, she's not fooling me! A-hyuck! I mean, LOL!


April 26, 2011:

Lucas' yard is coming together, a new ferry has been circling in the waters, we totally made bank at the wood dumpster, and also, I saw my first Dreamliner take to the air! Got a picture, too!

May 2, 2011:

Finishing up my cleaning like crazy, which has involved scrubbing everything from windows to walls. I even scrubbed the bathroom light switch cover to reveal that it has a pattern on it, and I obliterated the dark streaks on the handrails! Behold the before/after photo!

Also, there's a lovely dead mole on the porch. Thank you, Vada, for this Insectivore offering!

May 4, 2011:

I don't remember when the last time someone cleaned the main bathroom, but I know it's been months! (Doesn't make me feel so bad about cleaning mine only every two or three weeks!)
` It was so much work, cleaning from floor to ceiling (literally) and I since the tub has feet, I had to get on my back and peel the toilet paper tubes off the floor as best I could and then scrub the immense filth off.
` Since that is such an unpleasant thought, here's a lovely picture of Rusty chewing on a kiwi twig:

Also, another cute image comes from when I was on the elliptical machine at the gym -- during a time when the traffic was stopped, I saw a mother duck and her cute fuzzy babies all trying to cross the road from the median barrier.
` A man got out of his vehicle -- I think it was a truck driver -- and helped them across the street, in front of the gym, where they stayed for a while before heading off down the sidewalk all in a row like children on a school field trip.
` Mother ducky: "On your right is the four lanes of traffic we just crossed, and on your left, children, is a construction site, so please don't stray!"


May 5, 2011:

On my way out of school counselor appointment, I walked through Cinco De Mayo celebration in the new giant cafeteria. Then, I saw the English teacher whose fall class I'm about to sign up for, told her about my writing style and struggles in life, and she gave me the book A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, a mostly-factual autobiographical work in a style similar to my own.
` How encouraging that anyone could publish a book like this! She also gave me some titles of other books, which I'll have to get my paws on -- must get Sno-Isle library card so I can just go to the library down the street. Why, that's staggeringly genius!


May 6, 2011:

Good news all around! Lucas got a job at a window company that pays $15/hour, and it's with Anthony Soto, which we've both worked with at Penguin Windows, and who has 56 Employee of the Month plaques from Penguin before they were forced to shut down.
` He is just that amazing of a canvasser, and canvassing is also the department that Lucas is managing. Soon, I'll get a job there, but for now, I'm furiously getting my projects done!
` Also, the grafted tomato plants have arrived, so now we'll have special tomatoes which are two different types in one!
` Also, Alex and I passed our orange belt tests, although since we can't afford actual orange belts, Lucas scribbled on them with an orange highlighter as an indication that we're real orange belts.
` MKIA, by the way, has stopped with karate for lack of money, but this is okay because she really can't take direction. I mean, you pay someone to teach you, and then argue with them -- I thought I was crabby!
` Lucky for her, she's just gotten a job, although she's working for tips and not a real wage, so I hope she makes enough to pay rent!

Also, I should mention that Lucas and I went down to the liquor store and Rusty started after us!

He kept following until he became too frightened by the street and dogs, then he started wailing because he was also too afraid to go back! I went on and Lucas stayed. A couple passed me, and I mentioned to them my cute kitten's predicament, and they continued up to Lucas, who explained what was going on, and believe it or not, but Rusty followed them!
` I arrived at the liquor store just as the clerk was putting up the 'Closed' sign, however -- ten minutes before seven -- and so I decided I would at least take advantage of the scenery, as well as the visibility of the antique fire truck, although that wasn't as cool as this:

When we got back, Vada was on the deck railing hissing at Rusty, who was on the fence with Mr. Yoboshi, just as she had detested Violet for associating with Yoboshi! Poor cats! All they want to do is make friends!


May 7, 2011:

I'm sssmmmokinnn'! (But not literally.)

Sorry, I'm not sure what this entry refers to, so I'll include some cool pictures from around that time. Like these magnolias:

Here's me spinning Rusty around in a circle with a piece of bark from the chopping block:

A little while later, here's Rusty spinning Vada around by playing with her!

Just then, they moved their play activities over to the wheelbarrow of raspberry plants that Ray Sundal had just brought over. (He's the neighbor that those Norwegians had asked us if we knew, ironically just hours before we met him!) They spent a while both playing and sniffing around it.

Also, here's Rusty and the magnolia blossoms:

Here's our new raspberry patch with plants from Ray and then more plants from Roberta (and I helped!):

Just when Rusty was wondering where Vada was....

"Vada, I duvs you!" Awwwwww!

Another shrub is blooming, one near what used to be Violet's favorite spot:

"Aw Mom! We'll make the bed later!"

Come to think of it, washing the sheets and ALL the pillowcases is apparently part of the reason why I'm so sssmmmokinnn'! Also, drrrinkinnn'!

Another cool sunset, brought to you by The Earth Turning!

May 9, 2011:

While Troy was baking cookies, I rescued Jen from this terrifying spider by gathering it onto a cloth, and it actually tried rappelling down with its silk by jumping! I've never seen a web-weaving spider jump before!
` After this, Jen says that I'm more of a man than Troy! LOL!

A couple days later, I think it was, the day that Jen, Troy and one of Troy's friends, were having some Nerf Fun on the lawn...

And then, not long after, IT HAPPENED! Lucas forgot to water his expensive grafted tomato plants one day and they UTTERLY WILTED! So he moved them into the living room....

AND THEN, THE OTHER THING HAPPENED... I GOT A JOB! There will be no more fun and games! But that's all coming in my next post, which I'll try to get done on my next Sunday off!
` For the rest of my pictures -- as I dare not stuff any more into this post -- check out my Flickr albums for April and May.