You are wonderful

I have the best blog friends in the world.  I asked for your help and you rushed to my aid, and I can’t tell you how much it meant to see your wonderful words.

Thanks for all your support; your comments brought tears to my eyes and made me smile all at the same time.  And, special thanks to Speccy, Queen of the motivational slogans.  I am going to bookmark this page and read it whenever I’m feeling down.

I do have a lot of wonderful people pulling for me, and I appreciate each and every one of you.  Thank you.

May you all have a wonderful weekend.

Well, that’s some good news at least

I just got word I was awarded a scholarship for Stickittoyou University.  It’s not a lot, but it will cover about a quarter to a third of my tuition.

Now if only I could win a scholarship or award that would pay for my housing….

Still one must be grateful for the little things, especially when they are all you’ve got.

Endings and Beginnings

Today is the last official day of class at Local College.  I have a few more days of work for O Chem and some final examinations, but after today I can’t pretend anymore that life isn’t going to change absolutely completely in every conceivable way.

I’m looking forward to some of these upcoming changes, and dreading others.  Somethings I am so totally relieved to leave behind, and others I will miss.  But, the things I will miss I will miss with a pain so deep and so profound it’s overwhelming.

I hadn’t really thought much about it as of yet, being focused on finishing my coursework, but this morning it hit me like a ton of bricks.  I have to say goodbye today to a very dear and wonderful person who has been my counselor at Local College.  She is a treasure and has been there for me in so many ways, sharing my triumphs, my frustration, my anger and the depths of my depression.  She has been exactly what I needed, when I needed it.  People like this come into your life so rarely that when your paths diverge their absence is felt very keenly.  How do you thank these people enough, how to you show them just how much their support has meant?

 

 

 

 

Well, that was somewhat anticlimatic

So at some point during the night my 10, 000 visitor came and went unreported.  It was probably a spambot.  Bummer.  I was thinking of making it a real celebration with confetti, fan fare and prizes.  Oh well, probably a large number of “visits” are from spammers.

Still, it’s fun crossing over into 5 digits worth of visits.  And, though there’s no confetti, fanfare or prizes, a hearty thanks go out to all my regular readers.

Thank you very much indeed.

Totally the best $30 I ever spent

I decided that I needed a haircut.

My usual mode of hair cutting is to hack away until it looks reasonably decent, then once or twice a year when I’ve mucked it up totally and can’t get any decent results I break down and go to a “fast-food” hair salon where you never know who or what you’re going to get.  This usually results in a barely better than what I can manage on my own kind of haircut.  Or on the rare occasions I find someone who “gets” what kind of ‘do I want and does a good job, by the time I go back they’re gone.

So today I decided to do something different.  Ever since I’ve lived up here, there has been a salon in the joke that passes for a shopping mall next to our only real grocery store.  The last time I wandered by, meaning last year, it looked nice and it looked busy.  So I thought, “Someday I should go see what kind of job I can get done on my hair there.”  Finally I went in and interviewed three hair dressers.  Each hair dresser is “in business” for themselves, and they share the rent of the salon.  Apparently many of them have been there a while, and they all looked like ladies of my age or older and of my “social” class, meaning they dressed like business women who own a salon and not like hookers masquerading as hairdressers.

And, after an hour and a half I walked out with a gallon of product on my hair.  After a vigorous scrub, rinse and restyling with minimal application of my preferred hair products and blow-drying technique I have to say that is by far the best haircut I think I’ve ever had.  It was so good I called and thanked the hairstylist again; totally worth washing out a gallon of sticky hair paste.  And, I’m going back in so she can see exactly how I style my hair and next time, provided she doesn’t close up shop, I should be able to get a consistent cut.

Oh!  Happy day!!

I definitely think I will start putting back 10 bucks a paycheck so I can afford to go every two months.  It’s totally worth it.

Hippo Birdie two Ewe!

Today is Leif’s birthday.

There will be a party today in his honor.

There will be some friends joining us in celebrating.

There will be T-bone steaks on the grill, provided it stops raining long enough, accompanied by corn on the cob, creamy parslied new potatoes, our own garden grown green beans, fresh Bing cherries, chips and mango-peach salsa, and home-made Two Layered Key Lime Cheesecake.

There will be beer and Mojitos.

There will be a horrible rendition of the birthday song, only in part because it follows the consumption of beer and Mojitos.

There will be a modest showering of presents.

And tomorrow will be the traditional trip to the swap meet to spend the anticipated birthday money.

Happy Birthday Leif.  It’s been a tough year, but at least I can give you one happy weekend.

XO,

Janie

I don’t really mean to rub it in, but I’m afraid that’s how this will sound

This morning I woke up shivering in a soft ray of yellow sunshine.

Perhaps you might find this crazy, but it felt glorious.  It reminds me of crisp, lovely fall mornings.  I love the weather best when it is sunny and between 40 and 60 degrees, which is what we normally get in the fall.  Naturally, it makes me want to get out and enjoy the perfect weather.

So, naturally, I mowed the lawn.  You know, I really don’t mind the chore when it’s early in the morning and the weather is mild and the sun doesn’t feel like it’s frying your skin to pork rind consistency.  I have a motor-less mower, powered by human oomph.  Sometimes it makes mowing the lawn feel like running an obstacle course, but, the upside is, it’s very quiet.  One can mow and hear the sounds of the breeze in the trees, the birds chirping and the sound of one’s own thoughts.  Yeah, scary right?  And, you can stop and smell the flowers, literally, without having the stink of the motor to throw you off or to yank on that damn cord until you’re dizzy to restart your mower when you are ready to resume your chore.

All in all, mowing the lawn this morning was pretty pleasant.

I hope this weather lasts.  It’s probably too much to ask, but this weekend is the county fair, the swap meet and Leif’s birthday.  It would be lovely to have this beautiful weather to add to our celebrations.