It's All About...The Moon

I am photographing the process of the Total Eclipse of the Moon this evening. Already, just 40 minutes into it or so, I have come to the conclusion that by December of 2010, when the next one occurs, I will need a better camera. Already this one is better than the one from this summer, but I really would love to be able to zoom so much closer. Ah well. Progress has been made, and I hope to have some cool shots. Of course, I'm an idjit and left my card reader at work, so the photos won't be uploaded to Flickr until tomorrow. But Rick should be happy to know that the tripod he gave me for Christmas is doing a bang-up job.

Other than that? I got my picture taken with the Rotary club handing me a big check for the theater. That should hit the local paper soon. Can't post that tonight either.

***********************

Tonight, I heard the oddest thing when we were out to dinner:

We were sitting in the new sports bar/restaurant, and a kid that worked at my plant last year, "M", had come in and sat with us, as did another of our current employees, and we were all talking and eating and having a good time. "M" seems to know everyone, and apparently being recognized is very common for him and he told several anecdotes about running into people he knows in bizarre places.

A young couple wandered in and took the table next to ours. I noticed that the guy kept looking at us. Finally, after about 20 minutes, the guy turned around and said to "M", "Aren't you from [a local town]?"

"M" said he was. We all laughed and shook our heads about how everyone knows "M".

The guy then said, "Aren't you "M"?"

"M" agreed that he was. Again, we were cracking up about him being Mr. Popularity.

Then the guy nodded slowly. "So YOU'RE the guy who handcuffed my cousin to the headboard."

"M" turned 12 shades of red, as he nodded and slowly turned back to face us. Then we all died laughing. I am just hoping, in retrospect, that the guy who asked was laughing too. I was to embarrassed to even look at him again.

*******************

With that, I must get back out to shoot the moon.

So much for the Flu Shot...

snowdayz
Originally uploaded by klutz67

Well, I spent from late Wednesday night through about mid-day on Friday feeling like my insides were staging a coup. Ugh. Luckily, I was able to sleep a lot. K&K came home Thursday to find I pretty much hadn't moved since they'd left in the morning -- meaning I had forsaken the computer and the television. These are damn good indications that I am not in good shape. By noon on Friday, I was at least semi-functional (though a little bedgraggled, admittedly) and by about 10PM, I was feeling almost normal. Sheesh. My stomach still feels like I've been doing crunches for hours on end, but at least I can complete an entire task without being interrupted by thoughts of curling up on the nearest horizontal suface in the fetal position, and the thought of food doesn't make my stomach lurch like I'm looking down from the top of the Sears Tower.Yesterday, K&K and I went to pick up a side of beef that I'd bought from a friend. We split it in thirds with Shug, and loaded up our respective freezers. After that, I commenced with having a day chock full of near-complete laziness and sloth. (Like the previous two days of flu didn't fill my quota of that. Oy.) I took a nap, played computer games, answered e-mail, thought about theater stuff for the upcoming week (though I did nothing about it), and watched about 4 hours of home improvement shows on TV. *sigh* If only I could do that kind of thing for a week in a row without the sickness part interfering. It was bliss.

The home improvement thing? Completely addicting. I have never lived anywhere that I thought I could make any sort of a dent in "improving" my home. Before living at the farm, I always lived in apartments that wouldn't even allow me to paint. At the farm, Shug wanted things to stay pretty much status quo as far as decor, and I never felt like the house was mine (which ended up being true, funnily), so I never felt enough ownership to offer to improve anything. Now, it's all up to me and it's sort of the only place in my life where I am feeling in control. So I broke out the spackle and sandpaper and fixed several holes, bought towel hooks and other accessories for the "guest" bathroom, and I've started making paint color plans. Several wall seams have cracks, and my plan is to get someone to check for structural problems and, barring anything unexpected, I plan to lay in supplies to repair and repaint most of the house once K&K move out. The busier I am at home, the less money I spend, and since the budget is going to be WAY tight, I plan to have enough supplies on hand to keep me very, very busy.

This week, I have a lot on my plate. Tomorrow (and, to be fair, part of today), I have to catch up on being gone from work for 2 days. Tomorrow night, I need to come up with some sort of handout to give to a service club that's given the theater a bunch of money to upgrade our sound system -- I know it's all been upgraded, but I have to put the details together for them. Tuesday night, I have the service club dinner, where I hope to distribute the handout and get away without having to speak much, because I kind of suck at it. Wednesday, I hope to finish up a template for a friend's website and get her a copy. Thursday and Friday I have to finish up plans for our theater board "retreat." Saturday is the retreat. And a week from today I will begin packing to leave for my scrapbook weekend on the ocean the following weekend.

Never a dull moment...though I plan on working a few more of those into my life, thanks. So what's going on this week with YOU?

I am still kickin'

December hits, insanity ensues, and pretty soon you wake up and it's February. Crazy, Man. I haven't had the time or energy to blog too much, and I haven't even taken all that many pictures, which is SO not like me.

What's been happening? Um....

• In early December, my mother-in-law got sick. After a couple of weeks in the hospital, she passed away. She'd been in horrible pain, and had several strokes and a heart attack, so that made it much easier to say good bye. The funeral (which was not exactly a funeral and, even then, not in strict accordance with her no-funeral-wishes) was the Saturday before Christmas.


• I got her dog, Jessie, and he has spent the last 2 months leaning to cohabit with a 5-year-old and 4 cats. Luckily, he loves to play in the cat litter. *UGH* Other than that disgusting habit, and a chronic case of the smelliest flatulence you could ever imagine, he is a really great dog. He sleeps nearly as much as the cats do, always makes it known that he needs to go outside, doesn't beg at the table, and loves to sleep on my feet in bed. And he is SO excited when I come in the door. I enjoy that, after 20 years with cats who could give a crap whether or not I'm home most of the time.


• I received a promotion at work, meaning I went up a pay grade but have pretty much the same job I had before. Sweet.


• Christmas was really lovely, despite all the stress we'd had. I celebrated with some friends, then at my Mom's with a chunk of the fam, then at Scott's with the kids, then at home with K & K. My favorite pic from that week was at my mom's:
  

  
  

  

• My Murder Mystery crew was all prepared for our "performance" at the work Holiday Party, but we got snowed out in December. The party was postponed, and we continued rehearsing. The thing finally came together it at the end of January. Some highlights:
  

  
  

  

  
  

  The entire crew. I'm playing the bar wench at the far left...it wasn't too much of a stretch.

  
  

  

• Last month, I became the offical (non-interim) president of the Hillsdale Community Theater Board of Directors, which as I said on my Facebook page, is just another title for "Glutton for Punishment." Maybe "Sucker" would also work. I'm directing at least one show this season, and am even thinking about trying out for another. (Not, mind you, that I am much of an actor -- I just think it would be really fun to be in a show I don't have to manage.) The board has had a rocky time of things lately, and we're just trying to get things back on track. We have about 10 building improvement projects started, and it's going to be an interesting couple of months trying to get those done.


• Got divorced. Sad. Relieved. Sad. Moving forward.


• Did another murder mystery the same weekend as the work one -- this one was a fundraiser for the Hudson Community Library. I have a friend who I'd long ago roped into acting in two of my shows, and he requested a return of the favor last year, and again this year. This one was a 1920's Flapper/Speakeasy theme and, unfortunately, I got the most boring costume of the bunch because I was a "plain" waitress. Ah well. I got lots of nice comments as the audience left, so I guess it turned out okay. Picture won't work on the blog for some reason, but you can see it if you click HERE and view it at the website of the Hudson Post-Gazette (Scott was in this one too and is pictured at far left, I am at far right).


• I went to IKEA for the first time and am completely enthralled. K & K are planning on moving out sometime in the next few months, and I'm trying to plan for my first completely MJ-decorated house. My guess is it isn't going to make any sort of interior decorating magazine, because the loveseat I want for my "library" area is going to be this one that I found at IKEA:

  
  

  



• Still working toward that elusive 5K run. I have a co-worker who gave me the greatest list of Michigan races for the next year, and I'm thinking about trying to do one when I get back from Miami in early April. It's amazing how many of them there are!!! I totally slacked on the running for most of December and January, but am getting back on track and I think I can still meet my goal of the end of May.

I guess that pretty much makes us current with the goings-on here at the homestead. The weather's been wonky, with lots of snow, followed by warm temperatures and thunderstorms and tornado watches. Drop me a line if you get a chance, folks. My e-mail box gets kind of lonely. Well, if you don't count viagra ads and fake watch scams...