Reality is merely an illusion,

~*~

Another weird conversation with that manchild I raised (I swear he’s 21, going on 12). His hair has grown in length on top, now maybe 3 or 4 inches, and he’s sporting sideburns and a scruffy face right now.

Son: “Hey, Mom! Guess who all the girls say I look like when I wear my hair like this?” *combs it straight back*

Me: “Cedward!”

Son: *grins* “I didn’t know my hair had gotten this long.”

Me: *thinking: it’s on your head, how could you not notice* “I’ll be talking to Misti this week. Do you want me to make you an appointment for a haircut?”

Son: *looking in the mirror* “Not until after November 21st, I think I can work this to my advantage.”

Me: *rolls eyes* My dear, you are not that dazzling.”

*sigh* My apologies to womankind, I don’t know where I went wrong with that one.

Anyone want the Twilight soundtrack?

( Cut, since it's a political rant but not the one you would expect. )

There is but one unconditional commandment, which is that we should seek incessantly, with fear and trembling, so to vote and to act as to bring about the very largest total universe of good which we can see.

Vote well, America.

~*~
My small burg made the NY Times:
Pine Mountain Trail, Whitesburg, KY.

I realize I’ve been quite apathetic about photography lately but here are some links to past photos I’ve taken in autumn of Pine Mountain and Little Shepherd Trail. Also, some fog shots taken from Pine Mountain.

Going back to past posts made me realize my Shakespeare quotes mood theme was problematic. The pics are still uploaded at Photobucket so I don’t know what the deal is. *feels sort of apathetic about it at the present time* I’m so lazy, I can’t believe I haven't discovered the languid joys of apathy before now.

Also, found the pics I had posted of my boobs in the Muggle T-shirt. Ever look back, and wonder what were you were thinking?

You know I love my job, right? Example: Today my boss has emailed me, called me, and came in my office about a very important matter. He found some ebay auctions on things he thought I might like and keeps prompting me to check them out as in ‘Get on ebay now, some of the auctions are ending today.’ I’m like, ‘Boss, Dude! I have to get my work done.’ Weird.

I had my arse X-rayed yesterday. Haven't heard back so no news is good news, me thinks. I'm still using ibuprofen and ice packs. My son won't use anything in the freezer now without first asking, "Mom, has this been on your ass?" My standard answer is no. *smirks*

4 days to the Equus trip! :D

~*~
A friend just dropped by my office ... and brought me a caramel ice cream sundae! :)

~*~
We’ve had a scary couple days with my niece. She’s seen several doctors including an infectious disease doctor. She has a rash that looks like welts but isn’t raised, just hot to the touch. Her symptoms included fever, nausea, vomiting, and stomach pain. She does have a urinary tract infection and a high white blood cell count which is just starting coming down this morning. Many tests have been run but the doctors can’t quite figure out what’s happening with her. They’ve ruled out a list of things like insect bite, strep, mono, and scarletina. It could just be an allergic reaction but it’s confounded the doctors. Then my sister got sick so I was in and out at her house trying to help take care of them both. My sister’s symptoms were very much like her gall bladder attacks she had last year. Of course, she had it removed last year, so we don’t know what’s going on with her. She has a colonoscopy scheduled soon.

Last weekend: Had a fun and busy time including Canal Days Festival in Metamora, Indiana, spending time at a restored farm house from the 1860’s and its three storied barn which is being renovated with kitchen and deck for parties, horse back riding, and sitting around a campfire roasting hot dogs and marshmallows for s’mores. Guess where I attended church Sunday? The Pub! Anyone ever heard of a pub church? It was the one in Fishers, Indiana mentioned in that wikipedia article. I enjoyed the service. After church, we had lunch at Bravo’s. I had a salad of field greens with walnuts, gorgonzola cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette dressing and flatbread pizza with chicken, spinach, and bacon. Nom! We had a great afternoon at the Renaissance Faire. Then, that evening there was a chili supper at the house of a friend of my friends. Did a little clothes shopping Monday and lunch at Chinese restaurant before making the drive home. Gasoline prices in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky ranged from 3.28 to 3.69, being cheaper the higher north I went. My car is getting 32 mpg, so the 700 mile round trip cost $75 in gas and the cost of one meal, plus a carved dragon from the faire to add to my collection. Good times.

( Horseplay )

I’m really going to try not to schedule any more elective surgeries or do anything else risky this close to leaving on the Equus trip. If I inadvertently do myself in before then, I bequeath all my Equus tickets to my flisters. I know a few live in NYC.

I have a 100 other things going on I’d like to talk about, but spreadsheets are beckoning. I’ve got much to do before my week away from work.

~*~
I'm leaving town right now for a long weekend in Indiana. There are festivals and faires to be done. *g* I'll be back Tuesday.

Out-patient surgery on Thursday went well. It was scheduled for 7:30 am and I was finished and being rolled out of the OR at 8:30 am. Since it was local anesthetic, there was no need for time in the recovery room. I left the hospital at 8:45 am and wasn’t even late for work. She took the day off work just to drive me, although I told her I could drive myself. So, I worked Thursday while she had the day off. *g*

I also bought a laptop on Thursday. Of course, immediately after I hit the Submit Order button, my mechanic called to tell me I needed new brakes. All that money, after I incurred a 20% bill at the hospital made Thursday a pricey day. Although, I do save and budget so the laptop fund was enough and the rest came out of the budgeted auto and medical expenses. I'm such a grown-up some days. Other days, not so much.

Equus trip in fifteen days! :D

I'm hitting the road now. Have a great weekend, flist!

~*~

( I played around with some pics today. )

~*~

Happy Birthday, halliemarie. I hope you have a wonderful day and celebration.

~*~
Today I scheduled minor out-patient surgery for this Thursday. Just removing a few cysts on my scalp. No worries. See icon. :D

*sighs* This is my atonement post. I realize I’ve missed quite a few of my flist’s birthdays this year. To those friends, my apologies and many belated wishes for all things wonderful. You know, given I don’t have a huge flist, this is inexcusable of me. Anyone new to this journal, I promise this is not my typical behavior. Hopefully, the ones who have been around a while will concur I usually exhibit some degree of thoughtfulness. I’ve also been forgetting birthdays of family and RL friends too, so I don’t know what I’m thinking. Evidently, I’m not. Now, after 4-1/2 years on LJ, I just fortuitously discovered there’s a birthday reminder alert. Let’s see if that gets my head back on straight.

( But wait, there’s more )

Have a great weekend, flist!

~*~
Today is World Suicide Prevention Day.

My family’s still dealing with the aftermath of my cousin’s death in June. She was laid to rest exactly 14 weeks after my Uncle Clayton’s funeral. At least, I hope she’s finally at rest. I can’t imagine the level of anguish that would drive someone to suicide.

( Cut for length, and sensitive subject matter. NOTE: I just read what I've written below the cut, and have to warn readers it all sounds quite depressing. It's probably too much information and more of my family history than anyone wants to know. I debated whether to post it but given the day, thought I would. I wrote it more for myself than anything else. Also, no worries that I'm feeling down. I'm not, which is remarkable considering everything I just wrote. )

~*~

The internets have been good to me today. *bounces*

After this weekend’s family reunion, I was inspired to work a little more on the genealogy for the family tree and hit a mother lode of info. The great-great granddaughter of my great-great-great grandmother’s sister had already traced some of the lineage I needed going back as far as 1361.

I now have the following information:

+ More ancestry records from England, Ireland, France, and Germany.

+ It was eight generations ago, in 1760, when a British soldier married a Cherokee maiden. That’s more Cherokee heritage to add to the family tree.

+ Titles a plenty, including Sir, Earl, Knight, Lord, Duke, Duchess, Baron, Baronet, Baroness, Countess, and even a Prince.

+ Some posh addys including castles and chateaus.

+ Being an Anglophile, I was fascinated with the entries of ancestors from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Durham, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hereford, Kent, Middlesex, Norfolk, North Hampton, Northumberland, Salisbury, Suffolk, Wales, Yorkshire, etc.

+ The names most commonly passed down in our family through the generations include John, Elizabeth, William, Jane, Henry, Mary, Edward, Sarah, and Thomas.

+ My Uncle Clayton who passed away in March detested his middle name, Herbert. I wish he was here so I tell him his name had been descended down from William Herbert II, Earl of Pembroke. He would have gotten a kick out of that.

+ The surname, Back, was originally ‘Bach’ before immigration from Germany to Kentucky in the 1700’s. Yeah, I traced the lineage back to some Bach family with a Johann dude. Dude?!

So, yes, it was a good day for research. :)

~*~
Times, they be hectic. I have a family reunion this weekend and, although I love them all and want to see them, I just want to crawl in the bed and hide under the covers. I’m probably just tired. Our family has had two deaths in the last six months so I know this reunion will be a little more emotional than usual. :|

( A LJ-cut - the kindest cut of all )

~*~

There be vampires! ... in my mail box. Sparkly, dazzling ones! Thank you so much, adamanteve19, for sending me a copy of Breaking Dawn. I’ll be reading it soon. I already know what happens but I have to see this vamp series through. Oh, the angst!

Also, thanks again to pattinthehatt for the interesting package which the UPS guy made a point of delivering to my office rather than leaving at my house per usual, probably because he wanted to see the look on my face. I’m glad it was the UPS driver who looks like Anderson Cooper and not the close talker who in no way looks like Anderson Cooper. Your package was an excellent conversation starter and a continuing topic for discussion so double thanks to you, Patt. I mean that sincerely because did I mention he looks like Anderson Cooper? *g*

( UPS Guy: “Package for Shimmering Sherry ...” )

~*~

I’m okay with the HBP movie release being changed to next summer ... for selfish reasons. I had been wondering how Dan Radcliffe would be able to attend the premieres and travel for the press junket prior to the movie’s release in November ... when he would be on stage in Equus from September to February. I’ll be going in late October and I’m not attending the play multiple times just to see some understudy so yeah, I’m okay with no conflicting commitments for Mr. Radcliffe this fall. WB hasn’t stated this as a reason but surely that became a consideration.

You know you're old when you're just as excited about seeing Richard Griffiths and Kate Mulgrew on stage as you are Daniel Radcliffe. *g*

~*~

I’m enjoying watching the Summer Olympics. I’m impressed with all the athletes in peak physical condition. I say that enviously from my recumbent position on the couch. I’m recovering from a pulled muscle in my lower back. Today I had a Toradol injection to go along with my prescriptions of Skelaxin and Naproxen Sodium. Between the muscle relaxant and anti-inflammatory medicine, I am doing a little better. It now takes less than five minutes for me to get up from the couch although there’s still a bit of grunting, screaming and swearing. This morning it took me thirty minutes to get out of bed and get to the Motrin. The muscle spasms would shoot down my legs and the pain would just bring me to the floor. I swear it’s comparable to the labor pains I had when I had my kid. All the pain then was in my lower back and hips along with leg cramps during each contraction. This is very similar. That same kid is still a pain in the ass at times. Tonight when my son walked through the living room, he saw me wallowing half on the couch and half in the floor. He looked at me briefly and then at a swimming event on the television before saying, “Practicing your crawl stroke?” I suggested he should be practicing some sprints before I regain my mobility.

I hurt my back while trying to move everything out of the kitchen. I’m having new flooring installed in five rooms and it’s not a good time for me to be out of commission. My family and friends have jumped right in to help me though. They’ve been clearing the rooms, taking me to the doctor, bringing me meals, making trips to the pharmacy and store, etc. I think I’m on the mend now with the right combination of meds/rest/heat/ice/Lamaze breathing. I consider myself to have a high threshold for pain tolerance but this has been borderline unbearable at times. I’m exhausted from sitting up now. I guess it's back to watching the athletes do their thing - after I practice besting my current record of a 10 minute crawl to the bed. I'm moving mighty slow.

~*~

I read a forwarded email today which made me laugh.

( A typical trip to the women's restroom )

~*~

There’s a fine line between hating to love and loving to hate a book. ( That said, I guess I have to out myself as being a Twilight fan for a few years now. )

~*~

Whew! I haven't done that much screwing in a long time. I'm exhausted but I finally whipped into submission assembled my new bookcase from Target. This one is going in my bedroom and the espresso looks good with the new wall colors after the recent painting. Three walls are stone beige, which looks like mocha to me, and one wall is chocolate. I can't remember which shade of off-white I'm using for the trim and crown molding but it's very much a whipped cream to complement the chocolate/mocha colors. The new espresso bookcase also works well with the dark cherry wood of my bedroom furniture. Good thing brown is my favorite color. :)

It's says a lot about how real life is going if the only time I have to assemble a bookshelf is in the middle of the night. Ssshhh, don't tell the family. They think I sleep at night.

~*~

( A special wish for you )