the cause?

I've been thinking lately about just what causes the feeling of happiness for me.  It's simple things usually.  Singing along with a favorite song.  Time with my favorite people.  Cool mornings and warm afternoons.  A wagging tail.  Clumps of blossoms.  Leaves changing.

Tonight we had the first fire in the fireplace for this season.  I'd forgotten how much I like that feeling of warmth blowing on my chilled skin.  Yet another moment of happiness.

ever?

Have you ever found yourself feeling good, happy, for no apparent reason?

Yeah, well that's how I've been feeling of late.  Can't really explain it.  But really glad for it.

random stuff from cali

Let's see.  I tried to lock myself out of the rental car this morning at Starbucks.  It's one of those fancy Nissans that doesn't need a key to start, as long as the fob is in the car someplace.  So I parked this morning, left the fob in the car (doh!) pushed the lock on the door, got out and shut it.  As I walked away, I heard an unfamiliar binging sound coming from somewhere near the car, but the car and I are not all that familiar with each other so I kept walking towards the Starbucks.  The line was nearly out the door and I just didn't want to wait that long so I turned back towards the car, reaching into the pocket in my purse where I keep car keys.  And that is when I realized I'd locked the key fob in the car.  Gah.  I pulled out my cell phone, trying to remember if I had a phone number for Enterprise Car Rental so I could call them to maybe start the car remotely since it has no keys but only remotes and hadn't I seen a commercial about Onstar being able to do that?  And that is when I realized what that binging noise was--the fancy Nissan was trying to tell me to please not lock the fob inside, please come back and rethink this, please understand when it didn't actually lock the door. 

Sweet car.

We headed to the beach today.  This is how going to the beach looks on me:



I spotted these two dead crabs next to this cigarette butt, which looked to me like a 'smoking kills' commercial.



Thirty years ago tonight, I went to bed late and woke up early realizing it was time to go give birth to someone who has turned out to be the best daughter ever.  She's the best.

california days

dancing girls

lots of carseat time

already learned to pose

guess where we are?

the best laid plans

I had such a plan yesterday.  Some of the day went exactly according to the plan. 

Sugar and I sailed, and I found treasure.  Once again the cosmos listened and complied:

This dog is so happy.  Maybe you can see her joy?  A couple dozen tennis balls for $2.  I gave her one and gave one to Gus, but she kept staring at the bag full of balls on the table, so I gave in and dumped the whole bag on the floor for her.  You can't see her tail, but it didn't stop wagging for hours.

Then I headed to the Provo house.  I cleaned the kitchen, the bathroom, the floors, the crunchy as well as still alive spiders.  I washed and dried the curtains and realized that for some reason the tenants took the bedroom curtains with them.  Jessie will need to make me some new ones.  It will probably take her about 20 seconds.  I painted the baseboards and spackled the nail holes, at least the ones I could.  Some of the nails didn't want to be pulled out, and who knows, they may be in the perfect place for any tenant to hang up pictures.  So they are staying.

I stopped to chat with the duck tenant on my way out.  She was telling me she had seen the rain gutters over the basement bedroom windows overflowing and she was concerned they might be causing flooding in the basement, when suddenly the wind picked up and before we realized what was happening, it was swirling around us in circles, whipping up bits of dirt and plants and who knows what else.  She spotted the damper from the top of the fireplace laying in her garden where the wind dropped it. 

I haven't been able to confirm it, but I think we were in a tiny little tornado right there in the front yard of the Provo house.  And then it started to rain.  Great big splatting drops that quickly soaked us both.  I told her I'd be back today and we could chat more then and ran to my car to leave. 

During those few moments of starting the car and fastening my seat belt, the rain filled the gutters in the street and it just kept on raining.  Hard.  As I pulled away, I thought about the basement getting flooded and knew I needed to go back and find something to divert the rain away from the basement bedroom windows, so I circled the block and parked back in front of the house.  Before I made it across the tiny lawn, I was soaked through, my hair dripping wet and plastered to my head, and still no sign of it easing up.  I tried to move a large board from the 'dry' side of the house around to the flooding side, but gave up when a brick from the chimney flew past my head and slammed into the ground.  The tenants offered to drag the board around the house to shield the window, which would also help divert the water into their garden.  I was grateful again for good, environmentally conscious tenants and hurried back to my car. 

Driving home in the downpour was intense.  And a little chilly in my wet clothes and hair.  Getting soaked, finding flooding in the basement, nearly getting clocked by a brick--not one of these were in my plan.


Jr and I went back today.  We trimmed the neighbor's overgrown trees that had knocked bricks off the chimney during the storm.  He cleared out the rain gutters that were full of dirt and debris.  We agreed to wait to clean carpets and finish tidying up in a few days.  And I need to find a chimney repair guy.

In a sorry turn of events, I realized that at some time in the past week, the former tenants had returned and claimed their Bowflex.  Damn.  Another snag in my plan.  I was so ready to be sleek and gracious.

oh the things i'll do

I've been laying around a bit of late.  Perhaps not really just of late.  And not for any particular reason other than I think I've gotten a bit soft and perhaps a bit lazy.

But today.  Today I have plans.

In just a few hours I'll pick up Sugar and we will sail.  Yard sail.  We will put out into the cosmos the things we most need that we don't want to pay a lot for.  We will talk and laugh and find things we didn't even know existed and certainly didn't know we must have.  We will buy homemade treats from little kids.  We will stop somewhere when our money is nearly all spent and our energy levels are sagging and we will refresh ourselves with food and drink.  And then I will return her to her home with her new treasures and I will stop to drop off mine at my house.

Then I will fill my little car with cleaning supplies and spackle and paint and painting supplies and I will head to the Provo house where I will set out my radio and crank up the music.  I will pull out all of the picture-hanging nails and I will spackle and fill all of the holes in the walls.  I will dust and wipe and vacuum and scour away the dead spiders and dust and gunk.  I will clean the living room, the kitchen, the bedrooms, and the bathroom.  I will put on a fresh coat of paint wherever it is needed.  I will take down the dusty curtains, wash and dry them, and put them back up.  I will sweep and mop the tile floors and I will vacuum and clean carpets.  And when I am done, that little basement apartment will sparkle, and hopeful new tenants will come begging me to let them, please allow them to pay me for the honor of living in that adorable, cozy space.  And sometime in the next few days, after much consideration, I will chose one lucky tenant to live in and care for that space for a while.

And I will greet the four ducks who live out back and I will visit with the upstairs tenant for a few minutes or perhaps longer because she is really quite a delight and the ducks can be very entertaining.  And if the recently-departed downstairs tenants haven't come back for their Bowflex yet, I will move it from the side yard into my little car and it will become my latest treasure, one that will build up my muscles and strengthen and lean out my body, so that soon I will be sleek and gracious.

And then, I will gather my supplies and return home for an evening watching racing on the tellie.  And somehow, a good meal will appear, our bellies will be full, and I will smile at Jack and Jr and I will delight in my new treasures and I will be satisfied with my day's effort.

~~okay, wait, the Bowflex is probably gone by now.  And probably, even if it's still there, I won't be able to lift it or maybe even fit it into my little car.  And if I get it home, I'll have a hard time convincing Jack we need to set it up next to the treadmill and cardioglide that we currently use to hang clothes on in our bedroom.  And if we're being honest, this is probably too much to expect to accomplish in one day.  But it is a small apartment and I stopped there a couple of weeks ago so I have a pretty good idea about what needs to be done and I can be all kinds of efficient and speedy when called upon to do so.  And I could go back tomorrow if necessary.  But mostly, this is my blog and my dream for how this day will go perfectly and smoothly and how I will accomplish all that I am setting out to do, so just go with me on this, okay?~~

this girl

Overheard at my house this weekend:

Audrey (whispered to herself as she draws on the whiteboard):  It's so cool that I can draw fish that look scary and some of the boys in my class even are afraid of them.