Lambtown without lambs?

I had seen some info on Lambtown U.S.A. somewhere, thought it would be fun, and made plans to go there. First asked my mom, spinner, dyer, and weaver; but she had a hot date with an old family friend somewhere boiling hot. Then I mentioned it to Dharma, and she was very interested.

We got closer to July 28, and then I had a date scheduled for the night before. Dharma said she'd love to spend the day with just the two of us, so I scrounged around for solutions. Asked my uncle if he could take G from Friday night till Saturday afternoon, late. Sure! -and then, Oops, no, he had early-morning plans. Next, emailed a friend whose stepson is only here for summers and Christmas: nope, they were going on a trip on Saturday. So I called Parents Night Out for Friday, and Dharma's TGF watched G for Saturday.

Friday night was... great. Had a good meal at a local pub, and after, when he said, "What would you like to do next?", I invited him home. It's been like 20 years since I've had sex with a man, a figure that still has me checking my figures. Yep, 1987, my college bf. I seemed to remember what to do and I thought it went swimmingly. The boy's depression seems to have kicked up since then, so I don't know if we'll get together again (we're clear it's just casual, anyway), but I do feel like my eyes are opened. Sex = good. Awesome.

Saturday, the boy and I slept in a bit, so we arrived at Dharma & TGF's about an hour later than we had planned. Dropped him off and we headed out to Dixon. There were some adult sheep, a few happy to be rid of their big fleeces, others darned ready to be sheared. Many natural-colored fleeces to be drooled over (oh, man! Some of those rich browns!) and alpaca yarns and fleeces, too. I made Dharma sit down and spin at a spinning wheel for a bit, but unfortunately, I had spun first, and my crap yarn kept breaking and we kept having to retrieve the end and rethread it.

We both bought some yarn, I bought a couple bags of spinnable fiber, and Dharma bought some cute Coke bottle-cap magnets for TGF. I couldn't resist some magnetic necklaces that were 3 for $10 (I'm wearing one today!).

It wasn't too hot when we got there, just a little bit, but whoah it got seriously hot by the time we left (records say 95 degrees). We loaded up on lemon sorbet and walked back to the car, which I'd parked at the first marked parking lot, rather than drive all the way in, because I'd thought it would be so crowded. Hmph! The thing was less than half the size I'd expected, and no baby sheep to be seen.

Sunday, the boy and I got up too late for church (wait, maybe Harry Potter really is the tool of the devil!), so just lazed around. Late afternoon, I got all packed up for hockey, and we still ended up leaving late. Managed to get dressed in time to warm up a bit (which always makes a difference), but failed to warm up my brain: our coach basically explained how to play hockey after my first shift. Whoops. It seems I've forgotten some. Had a good game, though, winning 4-2. I do loves me some wins.

Afterward, someone said "International House of Cod," and of course we had to go. Paulus lit up when he saw us (he is so sweet!) and we sat down to some tasty food. (I highly recommend the Chicken Florentine Crepes.) Val was on a tear, amusing the rest of us while driving Andrea batty. Now that G can be trusted around her, he wanted nothing to do with her, unfortunately. We headed home and still went to bed late. Oh, well, good weekend overall.

And I have a cute Scottish accent, as well

You scored as Oliver Wood, You are Oliver Wood. Relentless, unyielding, hard-working, proud, passionate, and competitive. You're very active and probably prefer to constantly be in motion. Lying around may be very boring to you. You have a lot of energy in you and need to use all of it up. Oliver Wood 81% Albus Dumbledore 75% Sirius Black 72% Harry Potter 72% Hermione Granger 72% Luna Lovegood 56% Bellatrix Lestrange 53% Lord Voldemort 50% Percy Weasley 50% Draco Malfoy 44% Ron Weasley 44% Neville Longbottom 44% Remus Lupin 41% Severus Snape 25% Harry Potter Character Combatibility Test created with QuizFarm.com

Your Score: Lion Warning Cat

65% Affectionate, 57% Excitable, 48% Hungry

You are the good Samaritan of the lolcat world. Protecting others from danger by shouting observations and guidance in cases of imminent threat, you believe in the well-being of everyone.



To see all possible results, checka dis.

Link: The Which Lolcat Are You? Test written by GumOtaku on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Derby n String made me gigglesnort at work, so I had to do this.

Doesn't take much

Lapyap.com still amuses me. Note that they even typed in the title backwards.

The state of the Internet

After a lovely evening with a guy I met on OKcupid.com, I mused, If this guy and I don't happen to get together again (for whatever reason), what if I could have another evening like that, maybe even with someone right here in Alameda? (He drives up all the way from Campbell.)

So, on a whim, on Craig's List "Casual Encounters," I describe the evening, emphasizing the parts I liked, and asked, Do you fit into this scene?

I go and take a shower... and return to no fewer than THIRTY emails from guys, all promising they could fit into that scene. All complied with my insistence that they not email photos of their schlongs (eew), but a few pushed the limit, with towels or pants tugged down a little. Oy!

I am laughing. (And yes, I totally pulled the ad.)

On the other side of the coin, I answered an ad in Arts & Crafts, selling some nice quality Rowan yarn and two Rowan knitting pattern books, all for $50, whereas the Rowan books normally go for around $25 each. Turns out someone else was ahead of me in line and bought up what she had, and the other yarn she had, while high quality, wouldn't work for me. The senior lady on the phone was really very sincere and clear on what she was offering and that she wanted to be fair--and when she called back to tell me the original things had been bought, was very apologetic. Very, very sweet.

I just love the dichotomy.

Oh. My. God!

Just came across this site today: http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/ It allows you to search for a book at a library close to you.

I think my panties are a bit damp.

Sticking to my guns

G is so slow at getting out of the car when we get home. It drives me nuts. Also, I am getting tired of nudging/nagging him when he needs to get moving and get things done.

So last Saturday, we had plans to go to see Ratatouille, the 5:05 show. I did stamping that afternoon with my stamping group, then we headed home to get ready to go to the show. I explained to him that I was tired of nagging him and that I'm sure he didn't like it, so he was responsible for getting ready for the movie himself. We arrived home. I got out of the car and he just sat there. I put my things down, peered down into the car; he just sat there. I would normally have called to him, but didn't. I did something in the house, came back out, looked down, still there. I think I knit for a while. Finally, I went down to the car and knocked on the hood. He looked up, but didn't get out. After more than five minutes, he got out, wandered into the house, and finally asked me when we were leaving for the movie. "We're not," I said. I explained about the responsibility thing and matter-of-factly pointed out that he'd failed on that count. It was too late and we weren't going.

Predictably, he was crushed. Yelled, tried to hit me (I think he did once), got put in his room several times, lost his favorite stuffed elephant... and we talked. I pointed out that his voice was getting to the point when he tries to hit, so I was putting him in his room to calm down. Pointed out that he hadn't tried to get ready, so we weren't going to make it--that it hadn't been my decision, but rather, his. And after freaking out for a bit, he seemed to really get it. He was sad but not violent. Even implied that yes, he would like me to nag him instead of being responsible (but backpedaled on that one pretty soon after).

I'll tell ya, I very nearly caved. There was a 7PM showing, and we could have gone, but his bedtime is 8:30 and being on time to bed is a Good Thing. So I told him that if things went well the next day, we could go after the baby shower.

He went to bed early, learned that I mean it, and got to see the movie the next day. All good.

(Ironically, we were late the next day and missed about the first 7 minutes. A kind usher even looked up on her schedule which theater to move to to see the first 7 minutes, as the movie after us was something completely different. Great movie!)

He's right; it doesn't do its job

G started having ear pain last Friday. It was worse on Saturday, so I gave him liquid children's Motrin. On Sunday, after having seen Ratatouille (anyone else craving the stew after seeing this?), he burst into tears as we walked to our car. "It hurts so much, Mom!" He begged me to take him to the doctor. I canceled hockey and my sitter, and called Kaiser. No more urgent appointments that day (and I wasn't going to pay $100 for an E.R. visit for an earache), so I made an appointment the next day, close to noon.

The next morning, he was miserable again, so I called and they were able to find an earlier appointment. I offered him more Motrin to hold him until our 10AM appointment.

"No!"
"Honey, why not?"
"You keep giving it to me, and it doesn't work! My ear still hurts today!"

I had, apparently, failed to mention that it only works for a number of hours, and then stops.

Thankfully, the antibiotic seems to have finally kicked in, and his ear is much better and the fever has stopped spiking. Curse you, aqua-borne otitis externa and media!

New sport for the fall

I had told G only one sport at a time. Seemed like a good limit, so I'm not driving him all over town all week long.

So he says, last spring, "Don't sign me up for soccer this fall, mom. I don't want to do soccer.

"I want to do golf."

So, after the thinking-checkers-is-called-chess snafu we recently went through, I asked him, "What is golf?"

"Oh, it's the one where you have colored balls and have to hit the ball through animals and windmills and stuff."

moan...

I am? Merci!

You are Brigitte Bardot

Naurally sensual and beautiful You're an exotic beauty who turns heads everywhere You've got a look that's one of a kind

What Famous Pinup Are You?

Because I do everything that Rabbitch does...

And yet more vacation

My uncle and his wife (I know, she's my aunt and she is sweetie, but I'm still getting used to her being my aunt) set up a celebration of my mother's birthday this year, like we did last year. But Mom declined. So there were these two weekends at the cabin, all set aside, and my sister and I talked and thought, Hell, let's go anyway!

Then it turned out that the first weekend was the weekend we'd be back from the Lair, and the second was, well, last weekend. Another weekend of being away on Saturday. But... a cabin. In the woods. With my sister and a selection of her kids.

So I made plans to go. Got to work early on Friday, got some stuff packed Thursday night and had a list (oh, aren't you surprised) and got some stuff out, found a friend who would take the dog, took a super-short lunch, and picked G up early. And he was so full of attitude that I called my sister to cancel. His eyes got big and stayed that way for a long time.

Luckily for him, my sister had caught a stomach bug and had left early, but left a series of things for me to have/eat etc. out at the cabin. So she was a little panic-stricken at the idea of us not going and finishing those items (e.g., sheets in the dryer that needed to be folded, dishes in the dishwasher that needed to be put away, perishable food that needed to be eaten)... and, I say again, a cabin. In the trees. 1/4 mile from a lake. Restful, beautiful, near a charming little town. So we went. Hit some traffic on the way out of town, but fairly smooth sailing the rest of the way.

Turned out to be mostly a stay-at-home-and-relax weekend. Which is fine with me. G wanted to go to the lake, but futzed around and watched (cable!) TV and, as I told him, made his choice with his actions. So we only went to the lake for a bit Saturday late morning, I had a little shoping time in town, and I got to relax and knit and watch some movies (why didn't someone tell me I'd already seen the sequel to Ice Age?). The lack of internet at the cabin was only a small annoyance--after the lake time, we went to the library, which (having been scoped out by my sister) is the only local place with free wireless. So G got to read books (one of which I looked up and reserved at our library), and I got to check on my email and surf the web a bit, in lovely air-conditioned coolness. As we left, G asked, "Why do you choose to go to hot places?", confused about why anyone would leave a lovely air-conditioned library before it closed. (Even with the lure of ice cream? His resolve weakened quickly.)

We found the ice-cream store after only 4 sets of misdirections, then I asked where one would find a bead shop. Right up the street it was--and the lovely woman there, who talked a bit about "our home" and then finally said "my partner--she" after a bit. I thought that was my gaydar going off! I explained my need for stitch markers, and she kindly took my selection of beads and made me some lovely stitch markers right then and there, for a grand total of $3.02 (when I've spent $6 on 1/3 as many).

We did have to brave some nasty coming-back-from-Tahoe traffic on the way back, but it was worth it for a mightily sweaty hockey practice, the best kind.

How to do a vacation

I just remarked to a friend on IM that I spent every day of our vacation starting off with a written-out schedule. I thought this was massively bizarre at first--who spends vacation even busier than an average work/school week? Then I realized: although I could have chosen to spend any or all of the days just sitting and reading, I am not like that.

On vacations, I like to do things. If I hadn't written out a schedule (and circled things I'd wanted to do, and posted these things all over our tent-cabin), I might have missed out on something I really enjoyed doing--like ceramics. You see, because of the firing and cool-down time, the first two full days at the Lair of the Bear are the only days you can throw a pot that will be fired that week. So by Monday at 4:30, sorry, you're out of luck if you want to bring home a mug that you, yourself made from, basically, wet dirt. Miss out on that? No way, Josefa!

And Thursdays are the only day that you can do tie-dye. Not have a lovely rainbow shirt with a heart shape in front? Unthinkable!

I even sat and knat very little. I did a fair bit of knitting on the go--it is a short trek to the Dining Hall, where all meals are held (or, if you are my friend's kids, breakfast can take place in one's tent cabin if a kind Mom brings you cereal, milk, and fruit up from the DH). So I knit on the way to that, on the way to picking G up from his Little Oskies activity in the morning or evening, knit while waiting for him to be done playing in the stream (much longer than you would even imagine)... and we both had just a terrific time. Can't wait to go back.

Wrote on the feedback form: "Would like the option to stay all summer." The week went by so fast, in a blur of smeared sunscreen mixed with Lair dirt!

Packing list for the Lair of the Bear

I wrote out a packing list on one of our last days at the Lair, so we'd have it for next year.

Clothing
Rain gear - Jackets
2 pr shorts, not light colored, ones I like to wear
1 nice outfit, like black jeans, batik shirt & black camisole, for cocktail parties and/or meet & greet @ Vista Lodge
1 pr jeans
1 pr wh socks
1 pr wool socks
crocs
sandals
keen tennis shoes
2-3 t-shirts (no more)
underpants for a week
1 warm jacket (fleece)
bandanna
dirty clothes bag

Sun
sun hat
sunglasses
2 sunscreens
lip stuff with sun screen
swimsuits
beach towel for each
sun umbrella for lake

Food
Food box with twist-ties for the squirrels
yogurts*, cheese sticks*, sm waters for G*, water*, beer*
*in ice chest (M or S)
1 btl wine
granola bars
crackers
cheese*
1 or 2 btls wine
spreaders, bowls, plates (last 4 are for cocktail party)

Sleeping
2 extra blankets
both sleeping bags
egg-crate pad
queen sheet for over egg-crate & under bags

Tent cabin
1-2 extension cords
Xmas lights to go around cabin
book light, with batteries & extension cord
clothesline, clothespins
inside clothesline (elastic)
hammer, nails
tatami mat (nice to shake out when dirty)
chairs
sm table
paper towels or small thin towel
Lots of bags for carrying/storing things

Toiletries
No perfume (attracts bugs)
Plastic glass for toothbrushing
Towels (2), wash cloths (2), hand towel (opt)
lotion
kleenex
mirror
bug spray
creamy vaseline for dry skin
band-aids
triple antibiotic
asthma meds, reflux meds
Advil
Antihistimine (for each)
No mascara--get lashes dyed

Crafts
Ideas for lanyards, pottery, other crafts
2-5 knitting projects, including one plain/knit lites one
4-5 shirts EACH for tie-dye or fabric markers

Other
Backpack if hiking to gold with laptop (charger cord, DVD of a show, headphones)
Wine glass
cards
book for me
3 books for G, including at least one with several stories
2 ziplock bags with a scoop of Tide (Med load) in them, 75 cents in quarters x 2
Swiss army knife
Flashlight for each (test batteries; bring extra)
Phone card
Cash (swim lessons)

For car
iPod (charger) with books on CD
Transmitter (extra batts)