lunch with lurkers

hahahaha. i had a great time with 2 of my girlfriends yesterday; we get together every couple of months to catch up on our lives and solve all the world's problems in an hour or so over good local food.

i know at least one of them checks my blog consistently but never comments, hence the title of my post. well, unnamed-one, hope you are having a great day! :)

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it's been a mellow week so far. feeling very happy about an upcoming trip to minnesota! chris & i also signed up for a family phone plan so our minutes to each other are "free," which has been wonderful fun.

no more text messaging while driving! the world is safer for us all....

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i held an Intender's Circle at my home the other day. five people sat in a circle in my living room and spoke their gratitudes and intents. i have never had that many people in my house!

i know i've mentioned the size of my house before, but let me state once again that it is a 2-bedroom house spread out over less than 500 sf....the kitchen is the only room large enough to do massage in, which is one more reason why i do outcall treatments. (i could conceivably fit a table in the living room, but wouldn't have a lot of space around it to work, given that i have furniture and stuff in there as well.) anyway, it was a wonderful experience to open my home up to such a group. more information here if you are so inclined.

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my darling, handsome, and brilliant son called up out of the blue and took me to dinner tuesday night. he is off to nebraska to spend the 4th with his gf's family. i was ridiculously pleased that he called. we had a good meal and a good talk and a good time in general.

it's such a joy to see him mature, and to be able to participate in his life with more objectivity. i mean, he's gonna do what he's gonna do, and i am not responsible for his choices any more. i am so pleased to see that many of his choices are based both on sound judgment and compassion. of course, not all of them, he's 22! but you know what i mean--he's doing all right--certainly much more "together" than i was at the same age.

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meanwhile, it's still hot, but it's almost july. the chubasco is building and that's a good thing. rain, c'mon down!

cost of war

check out this link to see how much the war in iraq is costing us on a second-by-second basis. i tried to post a counter in my blog template but failed 3 times and quit trying.

you can see the cost of the war itself, the cost for your community, your state, and then also compare it to, say, the cost of feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, or educating our children.

makes you think, doesn't it?

recipe sunday

watermelon

ingredients:

1 hot day
1 chilled watermelon
1 sharp knife
spoon or fork (optional)

cut chilled watermelon with sharp knife on hot day. use spoon or fork to eat slurpingly. rinse and repeat!

i'm having a watermelon thing lately, did you notice?

:)

blueberries, strawberries....

....wa-ter-mel-on....

summer's here and the time is right for eating fruit, fruit, fruit!

happy soulstice, y'all....

:)

no computer for a week!

gosh, time flies whether you're having fun or not....

2 days before chris left, my computer began acting very oddly and finally gave me many repeated "blue screens of death," after which it wouldn't boot up. since i had the use of chris' laptop it wasn't a big issue, but (oh hindsight) i wish now that i'd taken it to my computer m.d. right away instead of waiting.

i finally took it to paul the evening of chris' departure and he said he'd try to have it ready for me sunday, as i host the sweat on sunday mornings and he lives adjacent to the sweat property.

i saw him sunday morning--having been computerless for 5 days--and said, "so paul, how's my computer?" and received a one-word answer: "BAD."

never the best word to hear when your computer or your car or your health is concerned!

long story short, he still has the thing, is hoping to be able to recover the info on both discs, but as of now it's all gone, or at least unreachable. fingers crossed out there!

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yesterday after taking the dogs to the river and coming back home again, i was getting ready to go to paul's to pick up this loaner computer he had for me, and the car was d-e-d DEAD, no turning over, no clicks, NOTHING. i called my neighbor for a jump, but her cables weren't long enough, so i called my mechanic (i was already very fond of my shop, but now i LOVE them), who was kind enough to send a tow truck and not charge me for it.

the guy i talked to told me he couldn't really diagnose it over the phone, and they were pretty busy for the week with some big jobs, so he'd try to work it in over the next day or two.

several hours later he called and it turns out it was just a very old, very dead battery, and even though they were swamped, they found the time to test the alternator and starter as well. so, even though it was an unscheduled day off, i had a lot to be thankful for--most especially that it broke down after i got home instead of half an hour earlier, miles from home, and with 2 dogs along!

chris is back in st. paul and i am missing him so much. it was a great visit albeit too short. and, the stock tank was too hot to get into last night! it felt like bath water! so no dipping for the time being. staying inside is the clue to survival. i feel for the street people at this time of year....

my guyz

hehehehehe

Your Seduction Style: The Charmer

You're a master at intimate conversation and verbal enticement. You seduce with words, by getting people to open up to you. By establishing this deep connection quickly, people feel under your power. And then you've got them exactly where you want them!

What Is Your Seduction Style?

sun day

we baked at the sweat today. very strange to think of going into a steam bath when the outside temp is around 100 degrees, but then there's the pool afterwards for relief. and everyone was happy to see chris again!

it's been a wonderful visit--i splurged and bought a metal oval stock tank for the back yard, 6 x 2 x 2. the man at the feed store asked us what it was for and i said, 'it's going to be for dipping,' and he said, 'oh, it's for plants then?' and i said, 'no, US!' which made him smile. he thought that was all right. we asked him to get one down to see if we could fit in it and he obliged; we hopped in and it was just fine so all that remained was getting it home in my mini-SUV (honda CRV).

we had to tie the back door shut but it is a short drive to my house and minutes later we were filling it with the garden hose. another quick trip to buy granular chlorine and a scoop net and we are happy dippers. we put a tiny amount of chlorine in at night and by the morning it is fine.

my yard is fenced, and the neighbors who could possibly have seen in just moved, so that house is empty.

please join me in intending that wonderful, new neighbors who are comfortable with occasional discreet nudity move in!

and also join me in my intention that chris and i are able to visit more often!

i have some excellent angus & chris shots but will need to wait to post them until chris gets them off his camera.

happy anniversary!

one year ago today i read the following post on my first visit to a certain someone's blog:

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Friday, June 10, 2005
Bringing home a wish
After the sun had disappeared and the cool night air had settled on the water I found myself alone and at peace. I kicked off my sandals and put my shirt over them. Tonight I needed more than connection, I wanted to be touched. I wanted to hear the water roll over my shoulders. I needed to be floating where the dark sky and the water meets. Swimming on my back and looking up at the sky while feeling the water flow over me I am comforted by not having anything in particular to do but breath, float and listen.

I picked some water Iris blooms as I was getting out of the water and onto the path through the woods. Arriving at my car I turned one last time to take it all in, the trees reflecting in the water, the crickets trying to outdo the frogs in their chorus, the sky dark but comforting. If only I could just take a deep breath and take it all inside of me and take it home.

I wrote this post to the glow of one candle in my quiet apartment. The water Iris are beautifully soft-focused in the flicker of the candle light. Perhaps, I smile, my wish has come true because tonight I feel peace even here in the darkness of my apartment.
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one year later, i have a vase of wild irises on my bedside table, picked from the same plant mentioned above and brought to this dusty hot desert (in a ziploc bag lined with wet paper towels) by the sweetest man to share my life. i am incredibly blessed to have been introduced to him through the miracle of technology and the serendipity of friendship.

my friend magz from maggiezfarm got me blogging, and i first clicked on farmerinthcity at justitia's blog. the rest, as they say, is history!

of course it took a little longer for us to realize we were going to have a romance, but this day was the first connection. so, please, tell someone you love them today, in honor of that first point of contact!

smiling big, chris is here, i am happy.

thanks & a tip of the hatlo hat to bad patty

see his blog in my links to the right: "elvis, captain howdy and the trials of job"

The Movie Of Your Life Is A Cult Classic

Quirky, offbeat, and even a little campy - your life appeals to a select few. But if someone's obsessed with you, look out! Your fans are downright freaky. Your best movie matches: Office Space, Showgirls, The Big Lebowski

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?

and ain't it the truth, the big lewbowski is one of my faves--along with one they missed, the rocky horror picture show!

hot.hot.hot.hot.hot.

it's hovering around 100 degrees here at 15 past the noon hour. streaky cloud cover means at least we are free of the relentless glare of the desert sun. not much wind to speak of, but even when it's here, it blows dry and hot and gritty.

i'm reduced to running the cooler all day and staying indoors an awful lot. the dogs are confused, but since angus' toe has finally healed, we manage to get out walking at 6:30 or so most mornings.

summer has officially begun; i heard the first cicada about 3 days ago. the fierce intense sound of them signals the arrival of serious heat. to me they are the quinessential summer harbinger, even more so than crickets which i have yet to hear during the night.

last night i don't think it got below 80.



my sweetheart will be here in less than a week. i'm so excited! and teary-eyed too, just thinking about it.

my missing him is something i simply put away in a box somewhere and close the lid. it is pointless to feel it as i am powerless to change it, is my rationale. yet as he draws closer i take the lid off an inch or so, to see if my missing him is still in there. it is, powerfully so.

sweet reunion, coming up!