Well, That's That Then

I think we've pretty much given up on the idea of having "normal Winter weather" here.  We had a cold snap in November, with snow that threw us all off and has us thinking "damn, this is going to be a nasty-ass winter!" and then?  It wasn't.

We had a couple of days of snow, including one recently, but no major major coldness (a few snaps of it) and now it's like.. oh, ok, I guess we're done.

The days are getting delightfully and deliciously longer (and I guess the time change is approaching... sigh) and now the forecasts aren't even going to hint at snow (although we sometimes do get an Easter-time sprinkling of it.. just as a bit of a joke.)

There's a bit of weirdness for me seeing Winter on its way out since I had a bit of a different one this year.  I'm not complaining about it, just making note... it was a different Winter for me this year.

The early Spring flowers are already up and about (crocuses and snowdrops) and the early cherry blossoms are out (you sillies!)  Soon the buds will pop out on the other trees (and allergy prone people will start their misery cycle) and then before you know it, it'll be more of this odd ball weather (this weekend we had snow/rain/sun/wind/rain/sun/snow it was... very... mixed!)  And we'll see how the rain goes and then, before we've even blinked, Costco will put out Halloween decorations and it'll be the run up to Winter again.... kind of.

So, yeah.  I think at least for here, we've had as much Winter as we're going to have and that's a bit of a bummer.  (Here I was hoping for snow and freezes and snow and storms and drama!)

Behave!

My chin would like you to know that although my cheeks are currently very dry and therefore might need some moisturizer, if you put any lotion anywhere near it (said chin) it will be very happy to give you some pimples.  YAY!

Probably Both

I was going to start this post with "teenagers are weird" but then I realized I have no idea anymore, so it would have been "teenagers used to be weird" but then I thought about it some more and realized it might be "teenagers and high school teachers used to be and possibly still are weird."

See... I was sitting here, and I pushed my hair back and then I noticed I had some split ends.  No big deal, especially with longer hair, but I considered going to get some scissors and cutting the split ends... to.. I dunno, stop them splitting more I guess?  Which made me think of a girl I knew in high school.

She was Japanese, so had this very long black hair.  Which she would sit in class and trim, with scissors, to get rid of her split ends.

And as far as I recall... no one said anything.

Now my memory is not a hundred percent sharp on this so maybe it's possible she only did this in homeroom or something, not.. you know, socials class or something.

But then I think about the time I remember playing solitare (the card version, we didn't have phones, pchaw!) on my desk, in the back of the class DURING math class.

Like, it must have been grade 10 or 11 Math... just... me playing solitaire.

Again, I can't remember if this was a regular thing or a one off my brain remembers, but... why?  And why did I "get away" with it?

Like I say, I have no idea if this is a now thing or maybe just a my high school thing or what.  But yeah... weird stuff, man.  You know?

Damn

Here we are at the end of the second month of this brand new year and I'm still all.... it's just early January, right?

Sigh.

I remember when I first thought about having a blog and my friend told me to write knowing that nothing is ever really anonymous.  To write as if whoever you are writing about will one day read it.  Maybe *that* very day.

Sigh.

I used to write a lot more freely.  But then I would tell someone.  And then someone else (usually someone close to me that I wanted to write about.)  And lately it's turned out that some of those people told people and just like that shampoo commercial from, what, the 80s?  70s?  90s?  (hang on, gotta google... ok, interweb says 70s/80s) and now I feel like everyone I know knows and that... to be honest, sucks.  Because I'm not doing well.  I'm frigging struggling.  And I know I've touched on that here, but I want to whine about it some days.  I want to share just how crap things feel some days, but I have the looming spectre of IMPORTANT REAL PEOPLE WHO WILL JUDGE AND DO DAMAGE TO MY LIFE hovering in my mind.

But yeah, I know I keep saying it, but I haven't really written here in a long time.  Not just because of the reduced anonymity, but also because sometimes I don't want to spread my whining/misery/upset/blah.  And because all of this combined puts a real block up and once that regular habit is challenged... well, it can be difficult to get back into the/a flow.

Someone asked the other day "when are you [not specific to me, was an open question on a social media site] going to quit Facebook?" and I thought damn... when am I going to stop writing my blog?  Or am I?  Does writing into the void mean anything anymore; because I'm back to the days of when I first started, with very few (lovely) folks reading, viewing, commenting.  I know it's not the heyday of blogging anymore, but "back in my day"... and all that jazz.

Jason thinks I should write.  Jason keeps asking if he can share this blog with people who want to see my writing.  Um, no?  Anonymous, remember?  Which leaves me with... uh... yeah I write.. you.. uh.. just can't see it.  (Cool story bro)

Sigh.

Jason, in a (possibly drunken) moment of inspiration the other night called me excitedly, "You should write your Life According To Garp!"

Me.... where?  Where should I write this?  "Everyone" knows me... or at least a handful of people I can name know this blog and so if I'm to write a story based off of my life and what I'm going through.... where do you want me to write it?

Sure, I understand, most writers just write.  Pen to paper (or digital equivalent) and no one reads it until it's done.  Or done-ish.  I get that.  But for me there's always been something about it bouncing off another human that helps my writing flow.

It's been more than a decade of this, after all... this "talking" to you. 

But I digress.  It's the end of February.  This is odd but true.  I'm trying.  In so many ways, with so many things.  And some times I'm more tired than others.

Hmm...

So I just chatted with a plant person.  She had me send photos of my (EVEN MORE!) dying plants, and I explained some of what I think has been going on.

She said they looked cold, over watered and not getting enough light.

Which... makes sense.

I've been spending a lot of time at Jason's the last few months (he's going through some stuff and I've been supporting him and he's been feeding me so... yeah... some post for some other time I'm sure) and so I've not been home all that much.

She said that me not being there will be reducing the moisture in the air (cuz I'm not breathing I suppose?  Or cooking/showering too maybe?) and the air flow.  And that if I've been keeping my blinds closed to keep heat in (which I have) that will be reducing the light... which duh... why did I not think of that! 

I'm also pretty sure that when I do hang at home long enough to look over my plants, I've been seeing that they're dry so I HUGE water them and I think this is the main problem with them rotting and dropping leaves.

So... I'm working on some solutions (including being home more and/or at least paying more attention).  Jason has suggested I put a pot of water out on my stove (not turned on, just... out) to put some moisture into the air... I'm going to keep my blinds up, or at least half opened, and I'm going to try to lightly water more often.

I'm halfway through losing another plant almost certainly but I think/hope (?) I've saved a couple.

My spider plants haven't noticed a thing so... yay for that.

But yeah, I'm having a hard time with it and then I feel silly that I'm this upset over losing my plants.

But I know it's my fault and my negligence and I'm not allowed pets where I live so these are my only living things in my place and I'm sad.

I've even, over the years, learned which ones I'm better with and which I'm not, so to lose these ones feels like an even bigger "failure".

My friend did point out that these plants are all (except for my babies that I grew myself!) grown in greenhouses and not really expected to live all that long but I'm not going to accept that!  I just have to be aware that even if I'm just out of my place for a while longer than I'm used to, it may be a much larger change for my sweet little plants.... especially in winter.

Yep!

So, snow it did!

And while my new, winter tires served me well, others did not do so well...

This was the kind of snowfall that once it starts to accumulate, the roads are not easy.  (And remember, we don't have proper snow abatement or clearing stuff here)  I actually had two situations in a small amount of time where people were actually stuck and unable to go up hills.  And by hills, I don't mean terribly steep hills!

I was happy to get safely home.  Nothing better than being safe and warm and watching the snow fall knowing you don't have to head anywhere!

It was pretty good packing snow, so I did make a mini snowman too.  It'll likely not last terribly long this week, but it's now one of those gorgeous sunny post-snow days where Winter reminds us just how pretty a snow day can be.

False Alarm

Well I had expected to be all owie and sore today as I had the dental followup to put on my permanent crown.  But... turns out yesterday was just a trial for fit and colour so no owies at all yay!

So, yeah, false alarm, no tooth owies, but that's coming soon enough.

Also?  Brrrr.  Cold these last few days, and a small chance of snow today!  Squee!

You What?

So I've noticed that my brain seems to like to take whatever media I was consuming the night before and turn it into a sort of half waking dream sort of thing.  Which, I suppose, is fairly normal.

Right now, I'm reading the Lestat vampire novel.  I've not read the series before, and so Jason loaned me this book and I'm making my way through it.

Which didn't help me this morning when my waking up self thought "hmm... it's sunny outside... and I don't know how to deal with sunshine."

Because I then had to remind myself that *I'm* not actually a vampire.

So there's that.

Rawr?

My Bad

When you live alone and run out of milk, there's no one else to blame.

So... hope that the cereal last night was good, Me.  Cuz now there's no milk for tea.

Wall Hitting

I took a couple of months off from workout/training (on purpose and then by accident) and am just now starting up with a new/old trainer/physio person.

And damn if I'm not exhausted.

I think I may actually ask him next time if his workouts are heavier (that makes sense in my head) than what I might have been doing previously or what, cuz maybe I'm just run down?

But yeah, I do the workout/physio/whatever and then the rest of the day I'm exhausted and grumpy and just want to yell at people and go to sleep.  Which.. you know, not awesome?

So yeah... a couple of weeks in to hitting this grump/tired/blah wall and wondering if it's the new thing. 

Today's Non Problem

Not having sniffed the (new to me) shampoo before I bought it and then getting it home, using it, and expecting mint (CUZ THAT WAS IN THE NAME!) and getting like... what can only be described as a man's aftershave smell so strong I had to use another shampoo to get out the first shampoo's smell.

You what now?

Yeah, no.  Note to self, sniff the stuff next time, don't assume.  ("With mint" may not actually smell minty... at all!)

Hearts N Stuff

Happy BallyTimes Day y'all.

Or, you know, Wednesday, if that's more your speed!

I'm considering buying myself an ice cream cake or something just... silly good (yes, I know they have gluten, I can eat around if need be!) and yes, I've already discovered some stores have Cadbury Creme Eggs so... you know, may be one of those in my near future too!

Hope you all have a lovely day and consider yourselves all my valentine.  I promise to eat something sweet for you.  Happy day!

EEEEEE!!!!

THERE WAS STILL LIGHT IN THE SKY AT SIX P.M. LAST NIGHT AND I CAN NOT GET OVER HOW AWESOME THIS IS!!!!

We did it y'all!!!  The light's coming baaaaaack!

(Plus, it was like a beautiful pastel rainbow sunset so that was like a double bonus!  LIGHT AT SIX P.M.!)

*happy sigh*

Ahhhhhhhh

Still not used to this new to us February Stat holiday but damn do I love it.

Sounds like next year, BC's will be lined up with the rest of the provinces so, see the rest of you next year I guess?

Happy Family Day my BC friends.

Awkward!

I was (internally) rolling my eyes at folks last week who said how Spring-like this weather was and how lovely it was that Spring was here!  Because, y'all, it's February. 

Me.. the last few days here... Welp, I guess it's Spring now!  Hi Sunshine!  Hi warmth!  Hi beach weather!  (What?)

Wait A Second!

As I continue to be amazed at the buildup of long hair(s) that gets caught by my sink... uh... drain, catch thing? (Oh man, especially when I use conditioner.  Like... conditioner plus a single hair equals a massive goop pile, it's... crazy!) I was struck by the thought yesterday of... what happens at hair salons?

As in... do their sinks have special... catch thingies?  Or bends?  Or do they get cleaned daily or something?  Because there's no way those sinks can just be used for washing hair and shampoo and conditioner and not get the same kind of buildup I am, right?

So... how do hair salons deal with not having to constantly get their sinks snaked?

Or do they?

Rumble In The (Not) Jungle

Victoria is vaguely close-ish to a US airforce... uh... base?  (I don't really know) on Whidbey (I never think I spell that right) Island.  Because of this, we occasionally get rumbling sounds through the day and depending on how long they go on, one learns to go "that's the jets" and think nothing more about it.

A few months ago, there was a rumbling fairly late in the evening.  If I remember (somewhat?) correctly, it turned out some of the Whidbey pilots went on a late night runaround (that they maybe weren't supposed to?) and so it was a small kerfuffle as people talked about hearing them and how it was so late.

So this weekend, Jason and I were watching Wonder Woman (which I liked, and did cry at a couple of points, shush!) and there was a rumbling.  We both paused... looked at each other... out towards the window and the look on my face was certainly "what was that?"  It wasn't the right kind of noise for a truck, and it was pretty late at night for that anyway, so we figured it was probably the jets again.  Go figure.

It wasn't until we'd finished the movie that we found out it was actually a small earthquake. Which, to be honest, kind of freaked me out.  I usually feel them, but hearing it and not feeling it was an uncomfortable feeling for me.  I suppose had it been a large one, we would have felt it as well, and many folk did (and I probably would have in my place?) but yeah.... No likey the sound of an earthquake, nope. 

Oh My

I know not everyone eats meat, but I'm going to tell you about this magic bacon Jason made last week.

When Jason made us dinner last week (post initial dental stuff) he made steak.  And then the next day, he asked if I wanted bacon and I said something along the lines of "almost always, but I had the best bacon ever in Seattle so..."

Well, apparently Jason took this as a challenge and then he made bacon magic.

I guess if you cook the bacon in the cast iron frying pan that you cooked steak in (pre-cleaning) it makes... just... yeah.  Really good.  As in, I've told him if we ever have steak again, there will be bacon bought and made.

And then I told him it was as good as the bacon I'd had in Seattle. 

And a whole lot cheaper than a flight down there, yay!

Four Hours, Y'all

When I was coming back from Seattle last week(end), I got dropped off at the airport waaaaay early.  I had a fairly late flight but thought maybe there'd be an earlier flight, or if not, I'd at least have my book to keep me busy.

Well, it turns out you can't even check in (at least with this airline) until four hours before your flight.

Which...I've learned, means if you have luggage (ie not just carry on) you can't even get through security until then.

Ugh.

So yeah, it turns out the late flight I had was literally the only flight of the day.  (Which makes sense as to why I booked it I guess) And it also turns out that it's a whole heck of a lot harder to enjoyably pass several/many hours in the non-security area.  Lesson learned.

In other news, once you're through security, at least in Seattle, it's like this frigging mall.  Like, WHAT?  Need a coach bag before you fly?  Some MAC makeup?  How about a diamond or three? 

And, expensive.  Which, yeah, that makes sense but yeah.

They did, to my surprise, have a water bottle fill up station, so I guess you might be able to take an empty water bottle through security and fill it up in there, but I didn't have one so I just bought a bottle, drank it and filled it up a few times, so yay for that!

Travelling is tiring yo, so don't make it any longer than it needs to be k?  K!

You Guys?

My plants.  Are not doing well.

No longer limited to just the one.  Ack!

The one that went the other month was a sort of rot situation.  The issue now is multi-faceted with the others!

I have some (that didn't do well in the cold cold spell mid... what was it, November?) that have dropped almost all their leaves.  And one in particular that has been dropping leaves for years, so now is down to two at the top of a long stalk.  Sigh.

I have some others that dropped a lot of leaves (Uh, I'm realizing right now that "leaves" are totally not the right word but I'm sticking to it!) or at least they went brown/dead and I pulled them.  Sigh.

My spider plants are doing the best, but they tend to survive anyway.

I suppose it's in part the season (maybe?) but I know it's also me and being less ... regular?  consistent? with my watering.  It doesn't help that I'm picky and don't like standing water in the little base container thingies, so I don't like to water them and walk away...  so watering can end up being a bit of a time consuming thing.  When I notice they're WAY over dry or wilting, I'll often carry them to the kitchen sink for a good soak.  But maybe I should get back to a more regular, smaller watering and a big soak once a season... I don't know!  I just know the last few months have not been kind to my plants and I'm feeling like a bad plant mom.

Le sigh.

 

So....

What do you all do about falling asleep cuddling?

Like, I super like cuddling, but once it's sleepy sleep time? I need me my space.  And I can't tell if that's a common thing or not.

Weirdly, I can nap cuddled, but for the long haul overnight sleep?  Nope. 

Bionic Woman

Seattle was a great trip, including some of the best bacon (and best cosmo!) I've ever had.  Oh, and a terrifically cute puppy, and wonderful people.  Had a super long day coming home, but that was my own fault, really so no harm, no foul.

I came back to a dental appointment the next day.  Sigh.  My front, yes FRONT! tooth had developed a crack and he (my dentist) wanted to put a crown on it rather than wait to see if it was going to break (badly) at some future point.  It was sort of the best choice in a no-great-choice situation so I went for it.  But man oh man, I wasn't looking forward to it.

I've never had more than a filling before, so I talked to a few people about crowns and my brother said it wasn't actually all that bad.  Which, it totally wasn't.  Phew!  So right now I have a temporary crown while they make (?) my new one and I'm honestly pretty bummed I no longer have all my own teeth.  Is that a weird thing to be sad about?  I dunno, I just am.  I miss you my real tooth.

Jason offered to cook me dinner after, and I'm really glad I accepted.  (I'm not always good at asking for or accepting help, especially when I'm not feeling my best.)  It was great to get good food into me without having to make it.

So yeah, I am bionic now... with fake parts or whatever, you know?  And my mouth/tooth area is feeling not too bad so I'm as happy as I can be all things considered.  (Just don't ask me to smile too big right now)

P.S.  Happy Februray.  Wha?