Averygoodun's Personal File

The sparrows in our wall/roof are breeding again. It's loud in the morning. Early in the morning. And loud enough that the a/c unit does not cover it.

I came downstairs to sleep, but found Page had beat me to it. Also, the other birds are just as loud down here as the sparrows in the wall.

I am tired. And achy. But now my brain won't shut up, so there won't be sleep for me.

And I haven't gone to the store that has the tea yet, so no caffeine for me, either.

*sigh*


On the plus side, Geoff got Page out for a half-hour speed walk before he left for work, and one of the neighbor boys came over to invite Page to go to the park with him and his nephew. So I have a bit of unexpected alone time. Yay!


If I did the zombiepocolypse meme thing that's going around, my survival would depend on the definition of what "last" post means. I suppose I would have to go with the last one I posted, not the one at the top of my journal, eh? If it were the top one, then I'd be so set, the zombies wouldn't have a chance, as that's my back-up copy of chapter 23 of Shelter and features the big battle.

If it were my most recent fannish post, then I'd be screwed. Sure Voldemort and Nagini would be able to handle the zombies no problem, but I wouldn't survive them. Ach well.

Babe came in from his hours-long bicycle ride (with me for the first half-hour, his dad for the remainder...) drank a bit, ate a bit and promptly curled up on the edge of the couch and fell asleep. So far he's fallen off once (we put pillows down so it would be a soft landing), but it's looking like he's a twitch away from another fall. Funny thing is that when he did fall off, he didn't cry or anything. Just got right back up on the couch and was asleep a literal second later.

It's times like this that I enjoy being a mom.

( Read more... )

Heh. If I'd just waited a day to do that alphabet meme, I would have been able to respond to the letter X: Have you been x-rayed? By answering, "Why yes, I just had one today, in fact. They go so well with tea and cookies."

( Just the medical stuff. )

But, otherwise, I think I had a rather accomplished day. I got the bread going before 10 (if I'd waited till I called the doctor for an appointment, I could have got that over with earlier, but...), and managed to get one loaf and a batch of really, really good cinnamon rolls out of it, despite being out for most of the day due to my chiro and doctor appointments. AND, I managed to get home before dark, which actually meant something today with icy conditions.

Oh, it's beautiful out! There have been brown-outs all day thanks to the ice, but it almost looks like spring with all the ice covering the red barked trees, making them look like they're covered in pink flowers. I had hoped the sun would come out at some point so that I could see the fairy lights again... but alas, it was gray all day.

The fairy lights, btw, is a reference to our first winter here. It was cold, miserable, snowy and just bad. It was the worst winter in 20 years, which, in New England, is saying that it was pretty miserable. The snowdrifts from the plows were becoming traffic hazards, as suddenly line of sights were being obscured, or, during one rain storm, clogging the drains so the streets flooded. Fun stuff.

The river froze over that winter. Walking over the main street bridge, it looked like Europa with ice plate upon ice plate melding into one another and slowly, ever so slowly drifting by. That was one of the highlights of the winter. The other was the fairy lights.

Our apartment was in this dingy little brick building with thin aluminum windows and an air-conditioner stuck in the wall. It was heated with electrical vents along the outer walls. Very effective, especially the one situated right under the a/c and the gaping holes around it. (Gaping being relative, you know.)

Our view consisted of the back parking lot and fences to other yards in a pretty urban area. In the summer it probably would have been nice thanks to all the trees there to block out the neighbors, but in the winter it was just drab.

However, one morning I woke up and saw there might be a hint of sunlight, so I opened the blinds.

Everything was sparkling. It was so much better than christmas lights, as all the trees were covered in perfect drops of ice that were refracting and bending that dim sunlight around to transform the scene to a magical fairy world. Yellows, reds, blues and greens flitted about with every movement of my head, all with bright white centers that glowed with cheer.

The branches were no longer naked limbs waiting for their summer clothes; they were literally dripping with jewels, like a ballroom of princesses showing to their very best.

It was beyond beautiful, and, if the sun had shown itself today, the whole world would have been transformed into that magical land once more, sparkling and dazzling us with the Glory of Beauty. But, instead, Nature decided to be more subdued. She decided that she would show off how red the bark of the maples is, even if it looks gray most days, by dressing up the trees in transparent white, bringing out their rosy hue. She touched the pines and firs softly, accentuating how fluffy they are, disregarding their barbs completely. She softened the skies and smoothed out the rivers, making sure that there were no hard glares.

It was beautiful, but I didn't want to be on the roads after dark. I just hope the roads are horrible tomorrow morning, as DH is leaving for San Diego in the morning. I'm not looking forward to the drive to the airport. Nope.

Anyway, that's life here.

Oh, and I also managed to get another section of that story written, after deciding, with dragging feet, that I really should stay stylistically consistent, even if it does mean extending the length quite a bit. Not going to be a one-shot now. Sigh. But, I get to show more of how mean Snape is, so that's okay, right?