Ladybug Studio

Gesundheit!

My little sore throat has gone away and I feel much better. Tom, however, has far exceeded me in the sick department. He always has to one-up me, I swear. Yesterday morning as soon as Tom got out of bed he started sneezing. He sneezed all morning. Totally out of control. He was able to see his allergist and she told him he was either having an allergy attack or was getting a cold. She gave him nasal spray, eye drops and some pills. He was still sneezing last night, but not nearly as often. He looks like hell though. The bags under his eyes have side pockets. Truly pitiful. He's home again today. As I've mentioned before, he's the most unhealthy fit person I've ever known.

So, while I was feeling much better yesterday, I wasn't quite up to running around on the tennis court. I skipped the lesson and the whole way home I was feeling guilty about it. Then I would turn my head and it would hurt, as a reminder of just why I wasn't attending tennis class. I watched the latest episode of Brothers & Sisters while nibbling Xtra Cheddar Goldfish, then did some freelance work. My typical evening.

Rock On

We've finally accomplished something! The rock has been installed in the back yard and it looks really nice. I think going to get the rock was much worse than actually shoveling and placing it. Traffic was such a pain in the butt late on Saturday morning. Tom drove the Mazda pulling our little trailer and I drove Tom's Dad's truck. Now, recently I filled out an email questionnaire in which there was the question: Do you drive stick? My answer was yes, and that I miss it. Apparently I lied. I do not miss driving stick. At all.

Dad's truck is stick and I had forgotten how much work it is, shifting and clutching and stuff. Put the drink down, shift, put the phone down, shift. Don't get me wrong, I'm not generally that distracted while I'm driving, but I just hadn't experienced that in over 15 months and it was really irritating. In addition to the whole stick thing, the little truck is rather slow to get moving and it seemed that I was constantly ending up behind someone who didn't quite want to drive the speed limit. Tom was following me and while he pretty much knew where we were going, I still didn't want to lose him at a light or something. So I was nearly out of my mind by the time we got to Landscape Depot.

And then! The sales guys had repeatedly warned about not overloading the truck and had me really worried about the weight of the rock and how to get it home. Well, the guy loading the rock (with a front-end loader) insisted that it would all fit in the trailer, wouldn't be too heavy, etc. And he was right. Didn't even press down on the trailer tongue. The Mazda pulled the load like it was nothing and I drove that miserable truck all the way to Rockledge and back for no reason whatsoever.

Shoveling the rock though, wasn't exactly fun and my back is still a little sore from the experience. Tom dug out for some stepping stones leading to the hose and I placed a square stone for the yard trash container to sit on. Ta da!

We still plan on digging out the old white rock on the west side of the house around the AC unit and the pump. But we can wait until after our biking trip for that. And now we know that we can get a bucketful of rock in the trailer and I won't ever have to drive that truck again.

 

Here's the little green dump cart we bought since our wheelbarrow rusted out. Cute, isn't it? It will be handy for carting my various yard tools and stuff around when I'm doing yard work.

 

And this is Tom's bicycle workshop. That's my mountain bike, the white one on the bottom. And check out the beautiful palms on the left. They used to be in the front yard, on either side of the entryway, until they started getting too big. Tom dug a hole and threw them in, not even caring if they made it, but they have certainly thrived! Check out how the curbing is beginning to discolor already. That's the next project. Also, does anyone know how to get those shingles clean? Tom sprayed the workshop roof with a mixture of bleach and water, but it didn't really work.

Sadly, that was the weekend highlight. Saturday afternoon we were both too exhausted to do anything much. Plus, I started getting a sore throat in the evening that I still have today. I felt miserable most of Sunday and didn't get to ride my bicycle or play tennis or do anything fun.

And Jenn? This is not Netflix… Don't bother watching your mailbox for that DVD.

La Pomme est Rouge

As a result of the new contract starting next week, I have a new computer and a new monitor. The computer is a Mac Pro, probably the same configuration as I have at home. The monitor is a Dell though. It's actually an inch larger (24 instead of 23) and as far as I can tell, has a display as good as the Mac display. But style-wise it's not as cool looking and has ugly black cords snaking out the back. :: shudder ::

I had my hair trimmed and colored yesterday. The highlights were looking really drab and washed out. Lori had originally planned to do something with foils, but when I mentioned the color red, she got very excited and said she had just the thing. She ended up doing an all over semi-permanent, which reddened the highlights and darkened the rest. I was pretty pleased with it when I left her studio, but I'm thinking she has a trick mirror in there. At home, looking in the bathroom mirror, I was a little bit shocked. The red is okay, maybe, but it seems quite dark. I don't know, maybe I'm being too fussy. I didn't like it this morning because it seemed to bring out the yellow in my face. (Hello, Big Bird!) But the ladies in my office assured me that it's nice and that I have the coloring to pull it off. At any rate, I have plenty of time to get used to it.

I spent some time last night organizing a package of work to send to the new freelancer helper. I've spoken with him and he seems quite knowledgeable, so hopefully everything will go well. It's not rocket science, I know. But there are lots of tiny details. Now I just hope he works quickly.

Note to Jenn:
Sorry, but it's just not going to happen. The tennis video is gone, I tell you! Gone! Besides, it was over 40 minutes long, more than 700MB and I don't know squat about video editing.

So Not A Tennis Star

Yesterday I took my little Flip Video recorder to my tennis lesson. I thought it might be helpful to see myself in action, look for areas of improvement, etc. OMG, where do I start? I look like such a goober on the tennis court! I had no idea. Why didn't someone tell me? Gah! Trust me, this is one video that will definitely not be showing up on YouTube. The only saving grace was that the camera didn't pick up much sound so at least I didn't have to listen to my goofy voice. Oh the shame…

* * * * *

On Sunday I bought a mini portable hard drive from Circuit City. I have a handful of thumb drives, but I can never remember what's on which one. Plus, the largest one is only 8GB. Isn't it crazy to say "only" 8GB? Anyway, the new drive, which is only a bit bigger than my iPhone, has a 320GB capacity. Nice! So I can keep all of my personal stuff on it and just plug it into my computer at work and at home. For fun, I named the drive Tigger. (my backup drive at home is named Scooby-Doo)

Good news on the Freelance front! My boss finally contacted another artist, who then contacted me. Help will be coming soon! I just might survive the fall!

Better

This weekend was much better than last weekend. The fact that I didn't spend the entire time pulling weeds probably had a lot to do with it. Also, I didn't spend hours fighting with a rogue computer program. It wasn't all fun and games, but I did manage to have some fun and get some stuff accomplished.

Saturday morning I managed 2.5 hours of tennis before getting rained out. It was an odd morning for sure. There was misting rain off and on that actually felt very refreshing. Of course, each time the rain stopped it got extra humid. But eventually the moisture starting coming a little harder until it could actually be called rain. Once the courts were wet and slick, we had to give it up for the day.

Tom and I had planned on purchasing our rock on Saturday after tennis. But his stomach had been really giving him trouble all week and he simply wasn't up to the trip and the ensuing shoveling and carting of rock. Since we weren't locked into anything, hadn't rented a truck for instance, I told him we could plan to do it this coming weekend. I know it sounds like we're starting to procrastinate, but I promise to stay on top of this project and get it done.

On Sunday, Tom was feeling much better and we were able to go bicycling with the gang (minus Dallas because he's out of town). We did both sides of River Road and I even did one loop of Highpoint. That's a neighborhood right off of River Road in Cocoa. It's a fairly steep hill and I don't usually ride it. Since the guys had taken off ahead and I was riding with Vicky, she suggested it and I didn't want to be a wimp. I can't say it was fun, but I'm glad I did it and plan to make it a part of the ride from now on.

My legs are getting stronger and I feel much better about my performance. I still feel pain and fatigue, but it's more manageable now. Isn't bicycling fun?

Loser

Second week of doubles league yesterday. And for the second week in a row, I tied for highest points, but loss the coin toss to go up a court. Yes! I don't want to move up to court 6. It's a major jump in skill level, plus, they just aren't as much fun at the upper courts. I know I have mentioned that I feel completely in the way and how even the warm up is out of my class. So losing the toss was really a good thing.

It's funny, but it seems that whichever court I'm playing on, we're always the last group finished. I swear I don't slow down the game! Lots of tight matches, close scores and plenty of deuces, I guess. As a result, I never count on getting anything accomplished on a Tuesday night. Last night was no exception. But I did manage to curl up on the sofa in the spare bedroom and watch the pilot episode of Fringe. (it was replayed on Sunday night) I rather liked it. Definitely similar to X-Files in that you would not want to be eating dinner while watching the show if you have a timid stomach.

My Line is Drawn

Yesterday's tennis lesson was brutal. It has been crazy hot around here lately. Most people seem to think of August as being the hottest month, but I disagree. It's definitely September. The worst part is that September is associated with fall. With going back to school, football games, rust colored leaves, sweaters and pumpkins and upcoming holidays. And of course, cooler weather. But not in Florida. We probably won't get any sort of noticeable change until near the end of October. I really wish I lived in a place where there are seasons. I'm sure there's a downside to that scenario, but having lived in Florida my entire life, I am willing to give it a try.

So, back to tennis. The bright hot sun was positively baking the five of us. I was literally slinging sweat as I swung my racquet and I was completely soaked by the time we were done. Oh! Our crazy instructor actually had us run at the end of class! I've seen him make the teenagers do that, but I never thought he would have us run. Seriously. I am paying the man to teach me to play tennis. I am not paying him to make me run a relay in 93 degree heat. I don't even know why I ran yesterday. Probably because I was so surprised, he caught me off guard. But not next time, no way. I don't mind running on the court in the course of play. In fact, I rather like it. But that's where I'm drawing the line.

In other news, I think I have Freehand up and working again. I posted my issue on a forum and it was suggested that I throw out the preferences. Fortunately I was shown the path, because things are different in OSX and I never would have found them on my own. Anyway, that seems to have done the trick. (fingers crossed)

Do-Over

I'm calling for a do-over. The weekend wasn't all that great and I want a chance to try it again. Maybe have some fun this time around.

I worked on the computer Friday afternoon. But I wasn't really into it and spent more time watching TV than getting anything done. Finally admitting defeat, I went to Publix for some odds and ends and then to Valentino's to pick up a pizza. I had planned on going to bed early as I was tired and had to get up early on Saturday, but ended up staying up until 12:00 after getting involved in a movie. Nothing in Common is an older Tom Hanks movie and it was quite entertaining. I really hadn't planned on getting sucked into it, but I couldn't seem to get myself off of the couch.

Saturday morning I got up early. Not to play tennis, as usual, but to attend a union meeting. At least it was a somewhat productive meeting. The new contract starts in just a few weeks and we all needed to turn in a bunch of paperwork, insurance forms, etc.

After the meeting I went to Landscape Depot and talked with the men there about rock, weed barrier fabric and all sorts of fun stuff. I found out how much rock we will need, but there is still the issue of getting it to our house. It may be too heavy for Dad's truck. A bucket weighs 1000 lbs. and we need close to two buckets. We might have to make two trips or possibly rent a trailer, in addition to the truck. I don't know yet. Tom and I are still working out the logistics. Delivery is an option we are avoiding as that would cost $125. I did purchase fabric and stakes, more than I need I think. Better to have too much than not enough, right?

I didn't end up getting everything completely ready for the rock though. On Saturday afternoon I finished preparing the area and removed some old rock we had attempted to fill the area with. I ran out of daylight and figured on laying the fabric on Sunday. But I spent Sunday on the computer and avoided the blazing hot outdoors. See, this is how my projects end up getting pushed aside and forgotten. By not finishing the work and being ready for the rock, I am now pushing the project forward another week. In order to avoid this passive procrastination, I am considering taking a vacation day Friday. And if I do that, then I promise I will get the work done.

I spent most of Sunday doing freelance. Until trouble struck. Out of nowhere, Freehand, the graphics program I use for the calendar work, started crashing on me. Every time I tried to type anything - crash. Over and over. I restarted, I turned off the computer altogether. Nothing doing. Still crashing. My next step, I suppose, is to reload the software. I really hope that fixes the problem (fingers crossed).

So, about that do-over… Overall, I just felt unsettled all weekend. I didn't want to do anything, really. I didn't want to ride my bike, watch my recorded shows, do anything around the house, tackle any organizing chores or any of the hundreds of things on my Never Have Enough Time To Do list. I don't know what was wrong with me, but I'm over it now! I want to go home and do all of those things I didn't do this weekend.

Creatures

I'm not sure why, but our front walkway is a haven for tiny creatures. For months now we have had snails all over the place. Small snails, tiny snails, practically microscopic snails. I have no idea what they're doing out there and why they find our walkway so fascinating. Naturally I adore them. I even bought them a snail lawn ornament to show my delight at their presence. When guests come to our house, I greet them in the driveway and escort them into the house through the garage so they don't unknowingly crunch some of the little guys.

Yesterday morning we had new tiny creatures show up. Frogs. Dozens of wee bitty frogs. They're dark colored and I just know they will grow up to be hideous toads. But right now they are tiny and absolutely adorable. They're a problem though. As soon as the garage door goes up they want to come into the garage. My concern isn't so much having them in there, but how will they get out? Yesterday I scooted around in a skirt, shooing them into the yard. But this morning I wasn't as successful and several managed to hop underneath the cars. I try to be helpful and humane, but I do have my limits.

So the snails, the frogs and the baby mockingbirds, all very cute. The snake, the spider and the slug, not so much.

Doubles Again

What a moron I am. I completely forgot about watching Fringe last night. Well, not completely exactly. I remembered after it had been on for 30 minutes. Nice way to start watching a new show, by missing the pilot episode. Later I'll see if it's online somewhere or perhaps I can purchase it at the iTunes Store.

Yesterday started the new season of the KSC Doubles Tennis League. It was great fun, too. I played well, which had a lot to do with how much I enjoyed it. The weather was perfect - overcast and slightly breezy, thanks to Hurricane Ike out in the Gulf. All the courts were full and everyone appeared to be having a good time. Our group was the last one to finish, naturally. We're all fairly close in skill so we had a lot of close points and long games.

And that's why I missed out on the beginning of Fringe. We didn't leave the courts until 7:30, so by the time I got home, unloaded my day's worth of stuff, checked through the mail and had a shower, it was 8:30. That's the downside of doubles league.