The dogs are happy

For several years, James and Aidan have given me a gift certificate for a pedicure as one of my birthday presents, and it is a gift that is always desired and appreciated.

Yesterday morning I had my birthday pedicure and it was divine. I went to the salon where I am now getting my hair cut, and while it is not the best pedicure I have ever had, it is the best I have had since moving to Georgia.

The nail tech was thrilled that I chose one of the unusual colors:


If I could, I would get pedicures every month!

The "b" word

At my eye exam two weeks ago, I finally heard the word that I have been expecting to hear for several years: bifocals. No surprise at all; I have been finding it more and more difficult to read, and hold items four inches from my face and look over my glasses in order to see. Not good.

The eye tech was funny. She has obviously had some adverse reactions from people when she mentions the "b" word, so she was very cautious in her approach. She even said she would write the prescription both ways, single and bi, in case I did not want to get the bifocals. Oh, for goodness' sake - if I need them to read or knit, what is the big deal? I have worn Coke bottles for years, what's the big deal adding the bifocals? The ophthalmologist also gently suggested bifocals and I told him not to worry, I was on board.

I was warned by several people that adjusting to the bifocals might be difficult, especially when navigating stairs. Most of you know that grace is not one of my strong points, so navigating stairs, doorways and walls is always a bit of a challenge for me. When I left the optical shop this morning, I went down a flight of stairs before it occurred to me that I might need to be careful...and then I realized that there was no problem at all.

Other than the fact that I can see clearly now (cue the music), reading or not, I am not noticing much difference at all. Reading is comfortable, as in knitting, and although I catch myself reverting to old habits and peering over my glasses, I am quickly learning that I don't have to do that anymore.

Bifocals, schmifocals - at least I can see.

A deep sense of relief

The last seven days have been physically, mentally and emotionally tiring. As I mentioned before, I was seated on a medical malpractice case last Monday. I don't want to ever do anything like that again. We heard opening statements on Monday afternoon, followed by three full days of testimony. I won't go into details but I now know far more about bowel injuries than I ever wanted to know.

The defense rested late on Thursday afternoon. We heard closing statements on Friday morning, then formally received the case for deliberation just after lunch. We found for the defendant - the doctor - on the Informed Consent violation, but found for the plaintiff on the Standard of Care violation...awarded limited damages, however. It was a good group of people on the jury and even when we disagreed, it was respectful and thoughtful.

We were determined to work things out on Friday; the plaintiffs and defendant both deserved an answer and we didn't want to come back this morning, so we stayed a little late. I left the courthouse at 6:30 pm, drove home and changed clothes, and we were in the car headed to the Cub Scout campout before 7 pm.

Camping was, well, camping: buggy, muggy and dirty. See my account of last fall's campout if you want to know what it was like, only this time it did not rain.

I can't tell you how lovely it was to wake up this morning not in a tent, and to not go into courthouse to hear testimony. It will take me several days to catch up on housework, paperwork and errands, and to get my psyche back into alignment.

It's hummer time

James put up our hummingbird feeder on Sunday, thinking that it might be time for those feisty little birds to return. When I got home from jewelry duty today, I glanced out the kitchen window and saw a little female hummingbird having a little sip. Yay! They are back!

Of course, I am having to remember to bring in the feeder every night, so the raccoons don't knock it down and damage it more than it already is. Besides, I don't want some poor raccoon to take a dive off our second story deck trying to get at the feeder!

Jewelry duty

When I saw the envelope from the Hooter County Sheriff's Department, I knew immediately what it was...and, I had been expecting it. It was a summons for jury duty the week of 20 April and since I have been called for jury duty in every place I have ever lived, it was no surprise. Yes, you read that correctly: I have been called for jury duty in every place I ever lived - twice in North Carolina.

Having an elementary age child is no excuse, so James and I worked out that if he did not hear from me by 2 pm yesterday, he would come home, meet Aidan at the bus and return to work with him. Our hope was that it would be a one day inconvenience, at most.

WRONG! I didn't even have time to start knitting in the jury pool waiting room when I was called in the very first group of potential jurors. I was #19 out of about 48 called in the group, so I knew my chances were good. And, since we were told that there was only one case being heard this week, I knew that those left behind (another 50 or so) in the waiting room would likely be sent home midday.

Once in the courtroom, we learned that it was a civil case, medical malpractice. The judge gave a brief overview of the case, introduced the two sides and let the attorneys get to the business of asking us all manner of questions. And there were a lot of questions, to which we responded by holding up our numbered paddles. After the questions were asked, then each juror was asked follow-up questions. As I heard more and more answers from the train wrecks ahead of me, I knew...I just knew that I was going to be picked.

Before breaking for lunch, the judge excused potential jurors 32-48; I suppose he realized that the pool was going to yield twelve good jurors plus two alternates. After lunch, the questioning resumed and I was certain that I would be picked when the plaintiff's lead attorney asked me only three follow-up questions (one of which was about my previous jury experience) and the lead attorney for the defense asked me none.

Sure enough, around 3:15 pm I learned that I was one of the jurors for this case. And while it throws a wrench into our lives for a week (plus a day, possibly), it is one of the privileges and responsibilities of living in a democracy. If I were involved in a court case, I would want someone like me to sit on the jury - someone who will pay attention, give careful consideration to the evidence and take the job seriously.

When I tried to explain to Aidan where I would be all week, he misunderstood what I said and exclaimed "Jewelry duty? You'll like that!" If only...

Since the county jail is attached to the courthouse and Aidan knows that, I just hope he isn't telling people at school that I'm in jail this week!

Before and after

This past weekend, James finished the remodel of our master bathroom and wow, is it beautiful!

Our house was built in 1988 by crack addicts. How else to explain some of the weird "features" and half-assed construction? The master bath, while no slouch in the size department, was poorly designed with a mile-long vanity with only one sink, a tiny shower stall and a large, leaky garden tub that blocked the only window.

This before photo was taken from the doorway into the bathroom:

The cramped shower stall was on the immediate left, the toilet around the left corner (the top of the tank is just barely visible in the mirror) and the mile-long vanity was lit by the light bars that James despises.

Just to the right of the area shown in the previous photo was the gargantuan garden tub:


It blocked access to the room's only window and the only time we ever tried to use it, we discovered that it leaked underneath. The faucet also dripped, causing water spots in the tub that were almost impossible to remove, if nothing else because I had to climb into the tub to clean it. I loathed the thing.

And did I mention that the entire bathroom was CARPETED? Ewww.

James gutted the room down to the bare floor and, in some cases, the bare wall studs. We dragged out the garden tub, the vanity, the shower stall. I decided that the whole layout of the room should be changed and once James opened up the walls, we learned that the room had originally been plumbed for the layout I suggested. WTF? So why didn't they go with that layout?

It took him well over a year to complete the project, since we waited until we saved the money to start the next phase. But the wait was definitely worth it!

Here is the new view from the doorway:


The toilet is hid behind the wall on the left, where the shower stall was previously. We have a gorgeous soaking tub, with lovely tilework done completely by James.

To the right of the room, previously the domain of the garden tub, is a vanity with two sinks:


You can see the light coming in from the window on the left. As I stand at the sink, it is so nice to turn and look out the window. And although you cannot see the floors in the photos, James put down lovely Pergo laminate tile, which we used in our kitchen and bathrooms in the Apex NC house, and hauled the remaining few boxes with us here.

The room is light, bright, feels spacious and finally has a great layout. And, no, James is not available to be hired for your bathroom remodel!

A fine line between caution and panic

In spring, it just doesn't just rain in Georgia - it storms. And I don't mean your basic garden variety of thunderstorms, either; I mean the kind that Jim Cantore of The Weather Channel cautions us about.

Note: I adore Jim Cantore. The voice, the science, the swagger - whoa, Nellie. Thank goodness that The Weather Channel (TWC) is located on the north side of the perimeter surrounding Atlanta and I am on the south side, because if I ever just casually bumped into Jim at my local Publix grocery store, I just know that I would be stupid.

Anyway, back to my story. Yesterday's forecast was for severe thunderstorms in the evening hours, so I was already on edge. With a gazillion tall pine trees surrounding our house, severe thunderstorms and the usual accompanying strong winds scare the bejeebers out of me. After dinner, I turned on TWC to see what was going on and there it was: a strong cell just across the state line in Alabama, due west of Hooter County.

Dr. Greg Forbes of TWC, for whom I have no groupie-like fondness and frankly, reminds me of some strange kind of homely insect, said it was a severe storm and would impact the south side of Atlanta in about an hour and a half. Holy moly, that is all I needed to hear.

We had Aidan get an early bath and as we were getting him out of the tub, we heard thunder. As we checked TWC for the latest info, the Emergency Broadcasting System broke in and notified us that a Tornado Warning had been issued for Hooter County. Moments later, we heard the warning sirens sound. That was all we needed; we grabbed Aidan, mobile telephones and my laptop, and headed for the basement.

Note: Spenser the Cat was nowhere to be found. At the first sound of thumder, he found a place to hide and those of you with cats know that if a cat wants to hide, there is no finding them. And there was no finding Spenser at 7:25 pm last evening.

With a young child in the house, it is a very fine line between being cautious and prudent, and causing undue distress for the child. We usually try to downplay bad news or threats of severa weather, but last night Aidan needed to know that the danger was real and that we needed to act accordingly to stay safe.

So there we sat in the basement/garage for about 45 minutes as the storm cell passed overhead. We were not able to hear much except the rain pounding against the two windows. I was able to monitor the storm both on TWC radar and by watching 11Alive.com, which had broken into regular programming to monitor the weather situation, although 11Alive was far more concerned with the weather's impact on the Braves' home opener than it was with the tornado threat in Hooter County.

At last the cell passed and we went back upstairs. Another slightly weaker cell soon passed through and we kept Aidan awake and out of bed for that one, but we did not retreat to the basement. He finally got to bed around 9 pm, a little over an hour past his regular bedtime, and I kept an eye on the weather the rest of the evening. Another smaller storm came through just as we went to bed around 10:30, but it apparently did not bother me much since I fell asleep almost immediately.

We awoke to a clear, fresh, green morning, with no apparent damage in our neighborhood or our corner of Hooterville. I just wish that rain in Georgia was just plain ol' rain, without the fireworks and drama.

Knitting projects

Time to post photos of my latest knitting projects! I made two more dishcloths to send off to a person in the Handmade RAK group on Ravelry:






They are ready to go, I just need to take them to the post office. The colors are so fun!

I made a very quick project, a felted clutch bag. It is totally impractical to carry on a daily basis since it is so small. But what a fun pop of color for dressier occasions:



I have two projects in progress. The first is a baby hat for a much-desired baby boy who will soon be born in North Carolina:


Love love love the color but, wow, knitting tiny items can be tough on the hands.

I am also making a book bag for me, which will be felted when it is done:


It will alternate stripes of red and the red/grey mix - does the color combo remind anyone of a certain college sports team? Anyone?

The cruellest month

Branch Davidians, Waco TX - 19 April, 1993

Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, Oklahoma City OK - 19 April, 1995

Columbine High School, Colu - 20 April, 1999

Virginia Tech, Blacksburg VA - 16 April 2007

and now American Civic Association, Binghamton NY - 3 April 2009

These events, and these types of events, were not at all what T.S. Eliot had in mind when he wrote the opening words of The Waste Land, but I can't help thinking of those words each year when April rolls around.

April is the month of my birth, as well as my friends Laurel and Geri, and is a wonderful time of the year as spring makes its entrance. But since 1993, it has also been a time of sadness. Too many times in the month of April, we learn of tremendous acts of violence and we are left asking "why?"

"I will show you fear in a handful of dust."
- The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot, 1922

Bad fairies

Aidan lost yet another tooth (a baby tooth, in the usual way) at school on Monday and proudly brought it home in a tiny blue plastic treasure chest. He was so excited about the Tooth Fairy coming that night and eagerly put the plastic case under his pillow. James and I talked about remembering to put the money under his pillow that night...then immediately forgot. Neither of us thought a bit about it until the next morning when Aidan's first words upon waking were "The Tooth Fairy didn't come!"

Rats. I scrambled for some kind of excuse but quickly escaped downstairs to start the coffee. Then inspiration struck when I saw the plastic case he has used in the past for tooth-money exchanges. I opened it on the kitchen table and left a note next to it that said "Tooth?" I called Aidan downstairs and showed him the note, and came up with some silly story that the Tooth Fairy must have been confused since he/she was used to the old tooth case. Lucky for us, Aidan seemed to accept it.

You can bet that we did not forget last night! Both James and I had dollar bills at the ready, and James even wrote a note to go with the dollar that said "Sorry I missed it last night." Aidan was thrilled this morning to find the money and the note.

In addition to the Tooth Fairy's many visits, another fairy has been visiting our house way too often: the Insomnia Fairy. That lousy %$#* shows up and totally screws up my sleep. For quite some time, I have been waking up around 4 am each day, no matter what time I go to bed the night before or what time I am scheduled to get up. I look at the clock, then very lightly doze until just before the alarm goes off at 6:15. Some mornings I don't even doze, I just lie there waiting.

Now the %$#* Insomnia Fairy has started showing up even earlier, keeping me from falling asleep. One night last week I was awake until 2 am, finally went to sleep and then - you guessed it - work up at 4. Oy vey.

I don't consume caffeine after 11 am, don't snack at night, read before turning out the light, yada yada yada, but my sleep problems continue. If I ever catch that %$#* Insomnia Fairy, I am going to beat the snot out of him/her with that wand, no foolin'.