Saturday, April 14, 2007

Odds and Ends

This is a "round-up" post. Yesterday was a really blissful day - I had my teeth cleaned (I am one of probably 3 people in the world who LIKES going to get my teeth cleaned - if you are one too, please let me know!) and then I went to REHAB (no, it's nothing so trendy as where Brittney Spears went - just a bunch of old farts who have had heart "episodes" and their spouses who come three times a week to walk on the treadmill, etc, and lift dumbbells), and THEN I went with my dear friend to A Stitch in Time (if you want to buy a great needlework store, it's for sale). (What a long and confusing run on sentence!)

After a long period of frugality, I had decided to pick up the new Mindy canvas I had on layaway and also the 3rd of the three Twelve Days of Christmas squares I've been working on. I also needed thread for the Mindy iris canvas. Here are pictures of the new canvases.
Image hosted by Webshots.com by captluci

I came home from the store feeling really fine and happy and fell asleep for 2 hours! Woke up feeling great, and stitched as I watched old Oprahs and Dr. Phil's that I had recorded and not had time to watch.

The lovely and highly unusual nap meant I could not fall asleep last night! I was awake till two. The cats came to find me, to see if they could get me to go to bed, all 23 pounds of lynxpoint Siamese Roxy lying in front of the computer monitor in a mound. After awhile, even they gave up and sacked out near me in the computer room, where I was surfing away on sites for furnishings for NC.

Finally, and most uncharacteristically, Chino left me a little present on the bathroom rug (whew, did it stink!) - and that made me uneasy, because he has always been good about his bathroom habits.

Today, when finally crawled out of bed, still glowing from my wonderful day off, I realized I needed to put together the program for our upcoming production - Cabaret - Italian Style! I have been creating the programs for as long as First Coast Opera has existed, but it was supposed to have been done by someone else this time. I know I am my own worst enemy in this regard; my standards are so high that I don't really, truly trust other people to tackle it. Who knows, a word might be misspelled, or something equally intolerable!!!

So, of course, by default, I am making the program again. There were a few glitches, such as, not knowing who is singing the Abbondanza Trio, and not being sure which composer wrote the Core Ingrato that Roger is singing, but otherwise, it was not terribly painful OR time-consuming. The real problem wsa that, CHAMPION PROCRASTINATOR that I am, I had planned to use today to really learn all my music. 'Course, I could be doing it now, too. It will be rough during rehearsal tomorrow. But I will get it done by Saturday's performance.

I did find time to look out the French doors in the living room that over look the garden and the pond. A gorgeous all PURPLE IRIS was unfurled. I grabbed the digital camera - what could be more photogenic than a purple iris on a sunny day. Upon stepping out the door I found another surprise. There are good things about Florida!

Friday, April 13, 2007

Check out my Slide Show!


What I was doing at midnight at the end of Friday the Thirteenth!

Thursday, April 12, 2007

WOW!

We are getting the largest tax refund ever this year, mostly because of the Prius, our

sweet little hybrid car, that came with a $3100 tax CREDIT, and incidentally, gets 50 mpg! We are excited to be able to settle more comfortably into the role of homeowners of TWO homes, i.e., payers of TWO mortgages, TWO homeowners insurance premiums, TWO utility bills, etc. You get the picture.

I'm still on cloud NINE thinking that I can escape the Florida summer heat, which gave us a slight preview with a temperature of 88 yesterday.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

The Negotiations

The caller ID showed an Asheville area code, so I eagerly answered the phone. Karen said hello and then reported that they had 2 inches of snow, "The day before Easter!" All I could think was what must the view be like when it snowed on Jacob Lane.

"So, is there news?" I queried.

"They accepted your offer," Karen replied.

The joy I felt at her words was indescribable; it was followed immediately by the conviction that I would work hard to keep this in my life. Then came the gratitude - to the sellers, to Karen, to Anthony, and to our ANGEL who is making this possible.

three on the futon

three on the futon

5th Anniversary of the Stroke

Nearly 5 years ago, I suffered a stroke that left me with numbness and lack of coordination of my right hand and arm. For awhile, I could not speak normally, and I couldn't say my husband's name. With time and occupational and massage therapy, sensation began to return. My speech cleared up within the month. I relearned how to brush my teeth and hair, how to butter toast, how to handle a fork. I used a speech program on the computer for several months, because my right hand could not type. I am very grateful for the lessons I learned from this experience. After 5 years, a person is considered to be at no increased risk of having another CVA (cerebrovascular accident). That's my upcoming milestone!
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