the pattyo

***Tax Time

AARGH! This is not my favorite time of year. I need to get the taxes done quickly, since I should have already filled out the FAFSA form. It’s not easy to do our taxes … imagine having 10 W2s, along with my two Schedule Cs. It’s simply not fun at all! Then I have to figure out all my mileage … some is deductable and you can bet I’ll take every mile I can get.

Being a musician … having so many jobs … all the craziness … you’d think they’d just say “Oh what the heck, you make music! Why don’t you just take your money and have a good time.”

But they don’t.

Sigh.
—–

***The Planet Has Landed
back at our house! Yippee! Speakeasy finally fixed whatever was wrong and we now have our connection back up and running here at home. This means no more busy phone lines (for sometimes over an hour … I had no idea how much time it took to update my sites!). This means I can easily converse with no guilt. (Except when I look around the messy house or see our pathetic backyard … but isn’t that why I keep the curtains closed?!) This means we are getting our money’s worth. Finally.

***Another Friend Gone

I was sad to hear that Captain Kangaroo had died. I grew up with that man. Along with Mr. Green Jeans and Mr. Moose, Bunny Rabbit and Tom Terrific. And lots of ping pong balls. The Captain was calm. He was fun. He was kind. He read books. The one I remember the best was about a city getting ready for a very important visitor and a red carpet on the loose. Now I can’t even remember the title (someone care to fill me in?) but I loved it when he read that story!

And I loved this song even more:

My name is Crabby Appleton,
I’m rotten to the core
I do a bad deed every day,
and sometimes three or four

I can’t stand fun for anyone,
I think good deeds are sappy,
I laugh with glee, it pleases me,

when everyone’s unhappy!

I can’t find the lyrics to Tom Terrific, and I wish I had the old 45 we had with that, Crabby Appleton’s song, and Mighty Manfred’s on it. Oh well. Lost somewhere, I’m sure. Great stuff, though.

Thank you, Bob Keeshan. You and Fred Rogers were the best!
—–

***Right

I just received some SPAM for “hangover pills” … hmmmm.

Now I would think they might offer me some anti-hangover pills, you know? I’m not looking for a hangover. And I don’t drink enough to get one either, so even anti-hangover pills won’t be necessary, thank you very much.

I know, I know, they also have “cold tablets” out there, so I suppose I shouldn’t be so up in arms about the hangover pills.

And I’m not, really; I mostly was thinking I should update this page because it’s been far too long since I’ve posted.

***And it’s one, two, three, who am I posting for?

… beats me! (And if you don’t understand the line above you either are 1) too young or 2) too old. (Sorry!)

I don’t get an overabundance of readers here. I don’t even get an abundance. Okay, to be honest I rarely see anyone here at all.

So, as always, I’m talking to myself! But that’s cool … I sometimes listen. I sometimes even talk back. And I often agree with myself, although not always.

Yes … I’m in a very silly mood.

***Speakeasy

… not! We haven’t spoken easily for a full week now. They still haven’t figured out the problem. They are stumped. It sounds as if they are blaming someone else, and the someone else is blaming them.

They sound like children.

Or politicians.
—–

***My Turn to Share

The other day, at his site, Dan “shared” some SPAM he received. So today it’s my turn:

The subject? Re: Cancelled Card Oboe zakdlic
The sender? My good friend Lavern Butcher (yeah … rigggghhhht)

The message?:

Now and then, defined by avowal. When you see near flowchart, it means that toward everybody takes a anomie break. Indeed, living with flue make a truce with watkins near. Most people believe that inside ready negotiate a blast with from, but they need to remember how complete about collocation.Now and then, from cook cheese falsify over. When for niece dies, around sweeps the floor. Most people believe that inside reach an understanding with beyond, but they need to remember how tanaka.

Furthermore, about feels remorse, and inside agenda to related to. When over is knowingly, living with difficult compete with inside.

Now wasn’t that a fun read!

***And NO …

Still no speakeasy connection. They said to try in four hours.

Another … yeah … rigggghhhht.

—–

***Oh Well!

And suddenly there was more time for TV.

And reading.

And yard work, even.

Our DSL service went awry. They still haven’t figured out what is wrong, but speakeasy is supposed to be working on it. We lost our connection sometime Thursday morning (8:30-ish) and Dan called them. They said “24 hours” … but, alas, no such “luck”. Then they said “24 hours” again. Nope. Now it’s been … well, you can do the math! We are frustrated, needless to say. Meanwhile we are having to use modem speed (and no phone usage when we are online). Boo hiss.

I’m thankful, though, that I have a husband who can deal with all this stuff!

***The Curtain

Yep. We have a new curtain. The family room is still the family room, but a friend gave me her drapery that she no longer needed. No more torn curtain in the family room. Yay!
—–

***Duh … who has time for TV?

From this article we learn that we internet junkies aren’t quite as nerdy (they use the word “geek” … no big diff!) as some think. (Sorry Kelsey!)

Of course they neglected to mention that internet users are smarter, prettier, and more fun than the rest of the world.

Go figure.
—–

***Update

Um … it’s “elvish” not “elven” as my not-nerdy-at-all-oh-no-siree daughter told me!

***What to Do?

So … if you visit Kelsey’s site she writes (today) that she isn’t “nerdy enough”. Hmmm.

I mean, what’s a mother to do? The girl wants to learn the Klingon alphabet now that she seems to have mastered several others (including one of her own creation). See this if you don’t believe me! If I recall correctly she was talking about learning Elven too. (Am I getting that right, Kelsey? Now I can’t find anything at your site to verify that. Did I make that up? I wonder.)

But here’s the thing: If I say, “Oh sure, Kelsey, you’re already nerdy enough!” I’m gonna sound like a mean mama, implying that she is nerdy. But what if I say, “Yep. Learn that alphabet girl. You aren’t nerdy enough yet!” Does that not only imply she is already nerdy, but that I want her more nerdy? Yes, indeedy, it does.

So again, I ask you … what’s a mother to do?! (Or say?)

***News

Some news is good. Some not so good. So I’ll start with the not-so-good:

I just heard that the newly formed symphony had to cancel all the run-out concerts scheduled (none of the San Jose concerts have been cancelled, by the way!), because they simply weren’t selling. Rumor (some comments I’ve read online and in magazines) suggests that the symphony, as we know it now, is a dying thing. Could it be?

But good news is so much more fun to read, don’t you think? Yep. I knew you did.

A colleague in the aforementioned symphony was in a car accident today. A bad car accident. Someone ran a stop sign and rammed into her. Her car was pushed into a ditch. She was wearing a seatbelt. Her airbag did just what it was supposed to do. They had to use the jaws of life to get her out. But she is alive and already home from the hospital! That is good news. (She wasn’t sure about the woman who hit her … that didn’t appear to look good.)

Suddenly a few canceled concerts seems like no big deal. You know?

AND …

Another friend of mine has reconciled with his wife! This, to me, is the best news of all and I’m thrilled to think about it and I’m thankful to God who can heal all sorts of hurts. What a wonderful bit of news that was, and when I got the email I wanted to shout out loud and maybe do a happy dance.

I did neither, though. I’m reserved that way.

Or maybe I’m just not nerdy enough …?
—–

***King of the Hill

I know some folks hate that show, but I think it’s pretty darn good. Today was a repeat of an episode I love, where Bobby gets involved with a pastor who is young, tattoed, and plays rock and roll. It’s pretty funny. Here is a quote from Hank, when he’s talking to the pastor about what he’s doing:

“You aren’t making Christianity better, you’re making rock and roll worse.”

and then there’s this:

Bobby: “Even Jesus had long hair!”
Hank: “Only because I wasn’t his dad!”

Yeah. I like that show!

***Why Football Doesn’t Matter

… heh … do you really not know? I mean … c’mon … the Panthers, Eagles, Colts, and the Patriots? For Pete’s sake … who cares?

Guess I have to wait for baseball season and my favorite team!

—–

***QOTD

A little quote for you:

Wine is proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy.

-Benjamin Franklin

Ah, yes indeed. (All in moderation, of course!)
—–

***Home again, home again …

jiggity jig.

At least I think that’s how that poem goes! (But I bought no fat pig.)

Anyway, here I am, at home once more, and ready for some rest! It was great to drive Brandon and Kelsey back to their schools, and we enjoyed some meals and lots of conversation. The drive to and from the LA area really wasn’t bad … on the way down I got the wonderful time with my wonderful children, and on the way back up I had hours and hours of alone time.

I like alone time.

—–