the pattyo

August 31, 2004
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August 31, 2004
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August 31, 2004
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August 31, 2004
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August 31, 2004
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***Timothy, Margaret, Henry and Sara are here, along with the kids’ nanny, Annie!

… and I promised Timothy that his picture would be here ASAP so here it is! :-)

Oh my! And there’s just never enough Timothy, don’t you think?

Tee hee.

… but we DO have Margaret, as well as Kelsey, here too!

Unfortunately the majority of my other photos simply didn’t turn out well. Maybe next time …? (I’ll have to ask Dan to take some pictures; he’s better at getting presentable pictures.)
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***Barry Good!!

Just saw Barry hit a WHOPPING home run. Wow!

And maybe … just maybe … the Giants will win the game tonight?

I can hang on to that hope … right??

***The Eyes Have Had it

So … as Kelsey sat here crocheting I thought, “I sure miss doing something like that”, so I pulled out my old counted cross stitch projects; I have several that I began and never finished. One is incredibly complicated and only needs the backstitching done. So I tried.

Nope. It ain’t gonna happen.

First of all, I can’t figure out where the cover picture has gone, and while I should be able to work simply from the pattern a picture helps me figure out what I’m doing.

Also, my eyes won’t allow me to do this. They just hurt too much after only about 10 minutes of work.

Ah well. I think I’ll find someone who still does this sort of work and hand over all my stuff. It’s not like I was going to put these pictures up anyway, because most people I live with don’t really like the stuff. (I have a number of finished pictures that never went up and need to be given away, too.) I was just doing it out of what I hoped would be peaceful enjoyment. It used to be therapeutic.

And it’s not just the eyes …

Funny how I love something for a while but then can’t get into it later. I was hoping that after all this time “off” I’d find that cross stitch was fun again. Even if my eyes didn’t hurt I could tell I wasn’t enjoying doing the work. Hobby hopping … .that’s me!

I think that as soon as I start making some money again (and Opera does begin in a week and a half!) I’ll attempt to crochet; our family room afghans are shot and it would be great to have some new ones (with new colors even!) in there.

***Feeling Crummy

I don’t know if I ate something bad, or if I just have a little bug, but I don’t feel all that great. Eating only makes it worse. Weird.

***Good Sermon
today … one that I think I needed. So that was good!
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***A Poem for Today

Mixed Senses

To view the air instead of merely hear
it. See it wrap its arms around my waist
and brush its slender fingers on my face
and hair. If I could hear the colors, how
would red or blue appear? Would one be round,
the other having sharpened edges? (I
think blue would be the less abrasive.) Just
to taste the sound of trumpet, strong and with
a little tang of vinegar. To feel
the smell of mud, that musky memory
producing scent! And fragrances of thought;
would hatred smell as ugly as it feels,
and love as clear and crystal clean as I
suppose? What could I write with thoughts like those?

PEM 2003

***Why I Shouldn’t Post Pictures Here

… as you can see, someone else is much more talented than I.

(But I’m pretty good with a vacuum, dustcloth and broom. I DO know my place!)

NOTE: Dan just said this didn’t sound very happy. Don’t mind me! It’s just my somewhat weak wit above. That’s all.

But, seriously, Dan is a fabulous photographer. I am not. That’s cool. We all have our talents, yes?

***My Forgetful Brain

Kelsey decided she wanted to learn how to crochet so we bought some yarn and some crochet hooks and I attempted to teach her. I can’t believe how quickly I forgot how to crochet since I made SO many blankets in the past. Sigh.

The more frustrating thing, though, is that my hands ached horribly from the very little bit of work I did. And my EYES! Yikes! I couldn’t see where to insert the hook. How very frustrating. I didn’t know my eyes and hands were in such bad shape.

***Brandon
is in San Francisco right now, and he and his friend Matt looked at what sounded like a perfect apartment for the four guys who want to share a place. Four bedrooms, large kitchen, living room, hardwood floors … it all sounded mighty fine. Trouble is, the guys didn’t want to move until October 1 (because one of them has a lease on another place right now). This apartment is ready now.

I’d say TAKE THE DARN THING, but, alas, I can’t be in charge here.

At least they’ve seen possibilities now. That’s a good thing!
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***Rise & Shine!

So … I actually managed to wake up and be ready for exercise in time to take Jameson to school and head on over to AVAC. I wasn’t sure what to expect; I thought that it might be rather busy with the 9 to 5 folks. But it wasn’t, and I was pleased! As I was finishing up with weights more people began arriving, so I think a 7:30-ish start is a good idea.

And it leaves me with quite a day to … lots of time to spend … um … doing yard work.

Heh. Yeah. I was joking. You can continue to laugh.

***Losing a Gig

I got the strangest phone call yesterday. A contractor who has always hired me for “straight books” (music that includes only oboe and English horn rather than a doubling book which calls for flute, clarinet and sax as well) called to tell me I wouldn’t be playing the one show here in San Jose that I had expected to play. He didn’t really give me a clear and/or understandable reason. It was very odd and depressing and, honestly, shocking. I was so counting on that income! (Finances here are so crummy.) He didn’t have any complaints about my playing, and he said he felt really bad now, because one of the guys bagged the gig and now my friend, Mary, is playing. But what I can’t figure out is why he didn’t hire Mary and me and in the first place! It’s so bizarre.

It took me a bit of time to recover. Now I’m sort of ticked but resigned to the fact. I just hope he felt bad enough to remember to hire me the next time (If there is a next time, that is.) but we’ll see. Meanwhile, I’m out some expected income and that just stinks.

Besides, rejection hurts.
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***BUBBLE WRAP!

Really. Enjoy. :-)

***Yesterday
I found a great deal at Target. A boxed set of dishes (plates, salad plates, cups, bowls, silverware and glasses) for four … only $9.99 for the whole box! So Brandon and Kelsey are now set with dishes. It was just too good a deal to pass up, and both kids can use them.

Maybe they’ll invite us over to dinner sometime …? ;-)

Kelsey still has no pots & pans, and neither have serving utensils. But at least they have something now!

***Today
Jameson is off to school. He had to wake up awfully early, and that means Dan’s alarm went off at 5:30 because he always gets up even earlier. I was up at 6:20. Amazing. FAR earlier than I’ve been up for months now.

But here I am (still in PJs) ready to go. I teach at 9:30 this morning — guess the other two kids are going to be serenaded as they sleep.
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