thorvalson.net : babble ether

This happens once every two weeks or so (apparently, judging by the dates on my posts), where I wake up one morning and take a peek at Tracey's blog and think, "I should post... it's been a while...", and then take a little stroll over to my own blog, open up the publishing page, and NOTHING. Nothing comes out. For an example of this nothingness of which I speak, please re-read the preceding paragraph. Or, by all means, continue.

Greg and I seem to be going through some kind of growing pains with the new house. I think this is the first-time buyer blues of which I have heard in the past, but now I'm getting a glimpse of true understanding. It is so incredibly frustrating sometimes to have x amount of projects you so desperately want to complete, and neither the time nor the finances to do them, especially the way Greg and I like to do projects, which consists of ALL and NOW. I've managed to bury myself in what we are now calling "porn" for the last week (gardening magazines and catalogs), and now I've got my little wish list all in order. So I sat down last night to write up all my bills in order to determine how much I have leftover to spend on the garden, and... drumroll, please.... ZERO! Well, that's not entirely true. I do have a couple of bucks, but then I remembered that I also have to renew my now expired driver's license (damn birthdays) as well as get an oil change on the car we just spent I won't even TELL you how much to replace the back brake pads and discs and the front passenger side pads, discs, rotors, and calipers. I'd only heard of calipers in passing before (from Dad, as in, "Better replace those pads before you rust out the goddamn calipers"), and let this be Instance Number Two of this post in which Stephanie gains a lesson in True Understanding. Whatever they are, they were rusted shut, and they are EXPENSIVE. I spent for this repair alone somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of what I paid for the ENTIRE CAR. But yes, all is worth it, because getting a loan for a new(er) car is out of the question (bankruptcy), and really, Volvos last a long time. If I pay $1000+ (and I did) in repairs and it lasts me another year, then it's worth it. I've heard of models like mine running up to 300,000 miles, so I'm getting that oil change and counting my blessings. The cost of the repair is much less than I would pay in installments, so ... you get the point. I'm babbling.

This is the problem with me not writing so much these days. Babble. Babble ether.

The good news is, my car is back, and it stops when I need it to. Always a plus.

Our friend Paul is coming home from Poland soon.
Everyone's getting married, including my mother.
Maddie found a portrait I'd dug up of my sister and I from 1997, when I was bald. She stole it and took it to school with her this morning. And she's walked from the car into school by herself the last two days.
Found some summer-blooming daffodils I can plant in the spring (in a week or two).
Greg bought a fire bowl for the backyard and we sat around it Sunday night for three hours. Best one hundred bucks we've spent so far. Love this man and his company.
I miss Tracey. Haven't gone out in a month. Wednesday.
Found some poems I'm actually proud of. Considering finally going through stuff to compile book, now that we're settled in.

Getting older. The sleeves are a little tight sometimes, but wriggling seems to do the trick.
And I've got a really kick ass person to share the wriggling with.

* New furniture for the porch! Sat outside in the thunderstorm last night (shielded by a porch roof, yes) drinking Gran Marnier and smoking cigarettes, all the while justifying it with, "No, really! It dries up all the snot in my head! I feel better!" Pictures will come when Greg picks up the rest of the set today.

* Babysat Juli and Ava Saturday night in lieu of work. Two things: 1) Ava is rapidly climbing the ladder on my scale of most awesomest kids ever. Mostly because she likes me so damn much, but also because of her inherent cuteness. Plus, she calls me "Stuffy". Which, right now, I am, and which subsequently makes her both cute AND smart, always a promising combo. Not to mention, she looks just like my best friend, that is to say, beautiful.
2) Tracey just had to leave her newest novel lying around on the coffee table for me to glimpse after the girls' bedtime, and now I am in fits of withdrawal after getting to read one chapter - and one chapter only - of this book. Must. Buy. Today.

Okay.

Time to paint.

"I can fly! And KILL!" - from "Blueprints for the Destruction of the Earth", Sweatbox album, Henry Rollins, circa mid-90s

I simply cannot pass up the opportunity to post this, for three reasons:

1. It's about Henry.
2. It involves both politics and a book, one Greg happens to be reading currently.
3. It includes a Greg-ism (an -ism I associate with him, anyway), spoken by Henry, evidence of a psychic link between Greg and Henry, which can no doubt be seen as a sign of the Apocalypse.

Moving right along...

Yeah, so remember how I said I was having a hard time staying out of Greg's newest creative project because I lacked one of my own?

I'm over it.

Just when decorator blues were getting me down, a piano hath solved the problem of empty wall space in our dining room. Ta da!

And because I haven't posted a picture of her in a while... the star of the show... ladies and gentlemen... etc. etc.... Maddie's first outdoor adventure in our backyard (note the lone adoring audience member in the window):