Saturday, July 28, 2007

It Started Innocently Enough

I was going on a knitting blog. Mason-Dixon Knitting to be exact. That post led me to YouTube, where I watched a clip of The Monkees on the Glen Campbell show. Which led me to a clip of the Monkees on Laugh-In. I LOVED Laugh-In as a kid. LOVED IT. I had a Sock It To Me tee shirt and a Here Comes The Judge tee shirt which, along with my Batman tee shirt, were my favorite clothes as a kid, also my white go-go boots were the best. Oh crap, I'm off track again. We used to get off track a lot at bible study, and then I would say Where would we be if we weren't off track and everyone would say ON TRACK! So I will get back on track. Laugh-In on YouTube. So I watched a bunch of Laugh-In clips and you know how one thing leads to another on YouTube so here is where I ended up. Watch the whole thing. I couldn't take my eyes off of it, sort of like watching a car wreck.
Happy Saturday.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Fires and Rainbows and Sushi, Oh My!

Last night coming home I saw a HUGE plume of black smoke coming from the north so I put the local news station on my radio and heard that an oil tanker had blown up! So I got home as quick as I could, grabbed the kids and went up to Cliff Drive, which has a panoramic view of Spokane. There were lots of people that had the same idea. And they were taking pictures. I was bummed for a second, then I realized that my camera was in the car, so I got to take some pictures too.





You can see flames and the plumes of water that the firefighters were aiming at the fire, seemingly in vain. Here is the news website. Go to it soon because it will change as more news happens. Anyway, last night we went to sushi.com, which is not a website but a sushi restaurant. It is very good if you like sushi and even if you don't they have a lot of good stuff. We also went to CompUSA because we heard they were going out of business. Which they are not. It was starting to rain a bit as we were going in, and by the time we came out the sky had turned this weird color that I had never seen and there was a huge full rainbow so I took some more pictures.




And may I just say that it was almost 90 degrees outside at 8:15 when this picture was taken.

This place is great!

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Explosive News--Meaning News About Explosives

OK, here goes. Night before last my niece calls me and says guess what we found in dad's yard today? A 45 LB MORTAR. Buried 5 feet down in the backyard. They found it with a backhoe. The bomb squad was called in, the street was roped off, neighbors were warned to stay inside, a sandbag wall was built around it, and many hours later it was carted off to parts unknown by the military. I'm positive that if my brother could know what went on in his yard, he would be laughing and telling a great story about it. We do not know how a bomb came to be buried in my brother's backyard, but here is my theory.
My brother Rick, for pretty much his whole adult life, never had a "regular" job. He would do hauling, tree trimming, and he would supplement his income selling recreational substances that were, lets just say less than legal. So however he came across this bomb, whether he found it or it was given to him, he did not want anyone in a uniform of any kind coming down his driveway to dispose of it and ask him a bunch of questions. So he did what any safety-minded biker hippie would do--he buried it, deep enough so that if it went off it wouldn't do too much damage. I think my theory is dead-on.
Here is what we all should learn from this. If you bury a bomb in your backyard, you should write a letter to be opened after you die to let someone know where it is. That's all.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

They're Home!




LET THE CLEANING BEGIN!!

Monday, July 16, 2007

Mere Hours

The boys will be home in about 4 hours. May I just say that while I have missed them and that four weeks was a little long, I really enjoyed having an identity of my own and not just being somebody's mom. I would like to keep my own identity going but I know it will be just a matter of time before I am sucked back into their universe again. Probably like a day. Oh well, it was nice knowing you all. Thank you for letting me play in your world for awhile. See you again one day.
Love, Karla the person not the mom.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

A Mystery

Well, it's 2:30 pm now and my alcohol induced headache is finally going away. Note to self: Even if you don't mean to get drunk, drinking a lot will get you drunk. Try to remember that when someone is having a scotch tasting.
Anyway, that's not what this post is about. A little while ago I went out to get my newspaper and found this on my porch:



Flowers! No card attached or any other indicator of who the flower giver might be. All I know is that they were not there yesterday afternoon when I went out to water the plants. So I have no idea where or who they came from. And I will probably never find out, since whoever did this wanted to be anonymous. But if by any chance they happen to read this blog, I would just like to say Thank You for the flowers. They are lovely, and make a beautiful addition to my porch. I will take good care of them.



UPDATE!! When I actually went outside and took a good look at these flowers I discovered they are artificial! They are very real looking from a distance. Still much appreciated, even more so because now I can't accidently kill them.

Last Gasp Gulp of Freedom

So yesterday there was a BBQ at Faythe's which quickly became a party with the addition of large amounts of alcohol. Before I go on, I must tell you that I am really not much of a drinker. A run-in with a bottle of M-D 20/20 when I was 14 pretty much put me off of drinking forever.
Well, until yesterday anyway.
First I was drinking fruity drinks that were apparently loaded with rum but they just tasted fruity and good so I had THREE. Oh yeah I should mention that it was 3:30 in the afternoon when I started. Then Faythe's boyfriend Ryan pulled out about 6 or so bottles of assorted scotches, cognacs and something named Cardinal Mendoza which was really good. I know because I tried them ALL, and the Cardinal TWICE. Then the subject turned to beer and Ryan broke out the last bottle of beer he had from his last homebrew session, and we all tried that. Evidently homebrewed beer has a higher alcohol content than store bought beer. It was the beer that put me over. It was 6 pm and I was shitfaced. It has been many many years since I drank that much. (I believe that last time was a Halloween party at Dick and Cesca's in the late 80's) Needless to say I stopped(mostly)after the beer and didn't get into my car until after midnight, but at about 10pm, my sober friend Jennifer drove us to a seedy karaoke bar over in Felony Flats where songs were sung (or yelled) and one more shot of Patron tequilla was consumed. Lets do the math.

RUM + SCOTCH + BRANDY + BEER + TEQUILLA = A GIANT HEADACHE.

My kids are coming home tomorrow after 4 weeks away and all I can say is Thank God, because I need supervision!

Friday, July 13, 2007

Happy Friday the 13th

I have never believed in all the negative hype surrounding this day, in fact I have always spun it to be lucky instead. And except for the time I wrecked the car on a Friday the 13th, they have been mostly ordinary days, neither lucky or unlucky. Today I am by myself at work, we are down from 3 people to just me. This could be interpreted as unlucky but I am an optimist! It just means that the day will go by fast because I won't have a minute to look up from my desk. And it's going to be 103 outside today. But I'm lucky! We have great air conditioning at work. And tonight I get to make potato salad! That has to be lucky somehow, maybe because it means I am going to a BBQ on Saturday, that's lucky.
It's easy to spin a bad luck day into a good luck day. So have a lucky Friday the 13th, I will!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

A Happy Rut

Let me start at the beginning, wherever that is. I have a lot of CD's. When I lived in CA they used to be in a 200 disc changer that was hooked up to my home theater, which was awesome! Then I moved and I realized that all my stereo stuff doesn't fit upstairs where I live, so now it's all downstairs in Max's domain. Now if I want to listen to a CD I have to play it on my DVD player through my TV speakers. (there were a lot of initials in that last sentence, I sound so technical!) But I'm afraid of cranking it and blowing out my TV speakers so I don't usually do that. And I have been missing my CD's for a year now. I have been on crutchfield.com trying to figure out a way I can get music upstairs without breaking the bank. Because I would like to get XM in the house as well. It's already in my car and I cannot imagine life without it at this point. But things are not looking good, meaning I am having a hard time justifying a purchase right now. So I did what any desperate person missing their CD's would do. I got out my boombox! So for the last few days I have been sitting on the deck in the evenings knitting and revisiting my music collection. So far I have listened to Computer World by Kraftwerk, Days of Future Passed by the Moody Blues, and tonight's selection was Apocalyptica Plays Metallica by Four Cellos. Which is exactly what it is. Metallica played by Four Cellos. One of the best CD's around, go buy it, you will like it even if you don't like Metallica, trust me!
So anyway, I have been in a happy rut with the music and the knitting. 6 more days till the boys come home! Again, not that I'm counting (I am).

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Slug Day

Everybody needs a day once in a while where they can do nothing. Today was my day. Let's see, I watched Bring It On, only the best cheerleading movie ever. Also I pulled Empire Records off the shelf and watched that again. I caught the tail end of Revenge of the Nerds, did you know that none of us will truly be free until nerd persecution ends? I have played a lot of the big 3 card games on my computer, Solitaire, Spider Solitaire and Freecell. I currently am listening to Little Queen by Heart. I love Heart. Also today I ate some food and talked to my kids. That's about it. I think I'm trying to fight off a cold because I have been tired today, also I am hoarse, but that may be from trying to sing like Ann Wilson.

Eight days till the boys come home, not that I'm counting or anything!

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Music Loves Me Back

I hope you are watching the Live Earth concerts. They have been great so far. I DVR'd it so I am watching about 2 hours behind. Foo Fighters are playing right now. Metallica was awesome, and I don't even like them that much! And Spinal Tap played--they went to eleven! And they had the little druids dancing around Stonehenge, it was the best. Snoop Dogg was good, or as my sister calls him, Snoopy DogDog. But my favorites so far have been the Beastie Boys, they rapped a few songs, then got behind their instruments and played "Sabotage", they were great! OK, going back to the TV now, it is going to eleven. I am working on my hearing loss today. Happy 7/7/7.

Friday, July 06, 2007

So...

The Fourth turned out to be really fun. I went to Faythe's, her boyfriend Ryan BBQed some awesome beef and pork, and along with Ryan's friend Doug, and fun and interesting conversation late into the evening. Most of the talk centered around music. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed talking with like-minded people about something that is such a part of my life. I don't really blog about music too much, but I love it. All of it. (Country music, not so much.) The last time I called my friend Elizabeth it was because Seasons In The Sun was on the radio. Such is the way music, even a crappy Terry Jacks song, affects me. And the other night we didn't even get to my love of funk, soul and disco! Well, that's a conversation for another day. So now I am going to my Netflix and seeing if they have the old PBS nine-part-documentary called Rock and Roll. I have the whole thing on VHS and nothing to play it on anymore. My favorite part was the one that started with James Brown and went through the soul and funk all the way to disco. If you never saw this series and you like music, it is a must. Ok gotta go so I can do this before work, happy Friday from a music lover, and remember:
"We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun,
But the stars we could reach, were just starfish on the beach."
That's so deep!

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Happy 4th

So it is Wednesday and I am off work, which is really weird to have one day off in the middle of the week. The thing about holidays is that they don't feel like regular days. It doesn't really feel like Wednesday, it feels like the Fourth of July! I am still kidless, and was all ready to have a solo pity party BBQ extravaganza by myself tonight, but I got a last minute invite to a BBQ that will be much better than mine. My kids are going to where we used to always go when we lived in CA, to BBQ with my niece Nichole and her family. The trick to going to one of their parties is to time it so you can leave right before the cops come. They are fun parties! Fourth of July is particularly fun because there are lots of illegal explosives involved. Nichole's husband Eduardo spares no expense and it is quite the show. Previous displays have involved the accidental blowing over of the back fence, and smoke so thick you can't see. I told my kids to be safe this year, but what a young person considers safe is vastly different from what I think is safe. Plus, they don't have the sense to leave before the cops come. So I am a little (very) concerned that people who left Washington with 10 fingers might come back with less. I think they need another safety lecture from their mom right now. Happy 4th Everyone and Be Safe!

Sunday, July 01, 2007

My Deck

My porch is usually the place that gets all the pictures and lovely comments, but did you know that I have a deck too? It's not sheltered like the porch so it doesn't see as much action, of the human variety anyway. Recently I bought a plastic Adirondack-style chair for my deck so I have been sitting out there once in a while. There are no plants on my deck because of this:



This giant tree casts too much shade on my deck to grow things like tomatoes. Plus there is no water faucet out there, which is also not good if you want to water your plants. But even for the lack of plants, there is still a lot going for my deck. Here is what I discovered yesterday. It's like Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom out there!



The bird in the center of the picture is the mama. She is bringing food to her babies, which are here:



Yes, there is a nest in the eaves of my house. I don't know what kind of birds they are, but they do not sing sweetly, they sound like they are playing kazoos. So the mom bird perches on the tree and starts kazooing to her babies, which kazoo back like crazy. After much positioning in the tree, the mom finally flies across to the nest. About 10 feet over my head. Once the mom is in the nest you can hear the bird pandemonium! Then mom flies out to get more grub and starts all over again. While I was sitting out there it happened about 10 times. It was very cool and I felt just like Marlon Perkins (old people will know who he is, everyone else just google him). Now I know why the cats are always bugging me to go onto the deck. It's shaded AND has nature! I think I will be dividing my outside time more evenly from now on.