What a weekend. Dog tired on Saturday, felt human yesterday, debate on Saturday, Super Bowl on Sunday, what a weekend that was.
Out of the debate, New Hampshire is mixed.
Out of the Super Bowl, the better - not the best, but the better team won and it was a good game.
Cam Newton and the Panthers played well, they fought hard, but Peyton Manning and the Broncos were just that much better. The difference between experience and first-time appearance. Also, it looked like Cam's non-throwing shoulder was hurting him. He grabbed it a couple of times, with a grimace, his passes weren't as accurate as usual.
Nonetheless, it was a good game all the way around, not a blow-out.
The ads, I'm sorry to say, stank. There wasn't one that made me sit up and watch then look forward to seeing again.
The Doritos ad with the baby was both tasteless and disgusting at the end. It started well, amusing, but the end when mom throws the Doritos chip across the room... tasteless.
The singing sheep was amusing. I did stop and watch that. But then I like sheep. I think they're funny, silly creatures, so I watched. It wasn't memorable and the idea of a speaker system in a truck bed - for what? So Junior on Testosterone can be a jerk as he drives through the neighborhood blaring Coldplay or Bruno Mars or Lady Gaga from the speakers? A silly, over-the-top concept and a waste of money. Sell the truck, okay?
Anyway.
Tomorrow is the New Hampshire primary and, according to the brainiacs, it's up to Donald and Berns to lose it. We'll see. They predicted Donald would win Iowa. He came in second. They predicted Hilliary would win Iowa. She did by the questionable method of six coin tosses - and won all six. Hmm. Now that couldn't be rigged could it? And is that how the DNC is going to choose their candidate if Berns and Hilliary get to the end of the race and it's still close?
Whatever.
My coffee is ready and so am I. I have my game plan ready for the week, lots going on again, but with a plan I don't think this week is going to be as devastating as last.
I'll spend this morning printing and matching chargeback approvals with the goal of clearing the majority that I have out of my inbox. Then, this afternoon or tomorrow morning, I can start entering them. Once they're all entered, I'll run the report and see how we're doing. Hopefully, the big number will be much smaller than it's been, despite the addition of new chargebacks that came in last week, and we'll be heading in the right direction.
We'll see.
Maybe the end of March deadline I've imposed for myself, to have this process running smoothly, is beatable. Maybe it's beatable by a lot. Can you tell I'm feeling good about this, optimistic and rarin' to go? And I haven't even had my coffee yet.
Better and bestest of all is that I spent part of yesterday writing!!! Editing, actually, but it's an exercise in writing that I haven't been capable of doing since October! It has been a long drought, but I feel like the rains have come again and I can get this going. For the first time in more than four months I woke up thinking, 'I could lose that. It's a darling and if I move it out I have my loop - background and tie-in.'
So now I'm going to wrap this up, get my coffee and write!
Have a lovely, hopeful, cheerful day!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Showing posts with label Plans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Plans. Show all posts
Monday, February 8, 2016
Friday, November 20, 2015
Life & Living & Marching On
I'm pissed off and depressed and anxious and all sorts of other messy things. So much so that I have taken a couple of days away from writing. As in I have done NO writing in the past few days - and for me that's a lot like holding my breath until I turn purple.
There were the vermin in Paris last week, and the babbling cacophony that's followed ever since.
There have been declarations that I am "ignorant" because I do not take a moderate view toward vermin like those who promulgate and perpetrate such acts. Well, I've got news for those who say that: I have never declared myself to be a scholar on the subject. But I read and I assimilate the information I read and I form opinions and attitudes. And I have just as much right to express my view and opinion as anyone else. But there are some who disagree that I have that right. It appears, based on what was written and exchanged between me and the two in particular, unless I am in precise lockstep with their view of the world, I and others like me should just STFU.
Farther out on the tree limb are the people like the man in Virginia who's all over the news yesterday and today. A public hearing regarding construction of a new mosque and he's standing there accusing everyone who's a Muslim of being in league with the vermin of ISIS. Now there is ignorance. It is as stupid and blind and nasty as saying that all white people are card carrying KKK members, or all blacks are members of the Black Panthers or that all Asians run dry cleaning establishments or restaurants. It's ignorant, insulting and, as I said above, downright stupid.
However, it is based on fear so while it is decidedly wrong, there is at least a handle to grasp for understanding. It's a tiny little thing, a barely there protrusion of a handle, and once the heat of this moment passes I sincerely hope the individual who said such hateful things will see the error of his ways and recant. I also hope that the people to whom this idiot directed his remarks will take the high road, that they see his fear and lack of understanding for what it is: ignorance. As unpleasant as it is, at least ignorance of something can be overcome by education.
There is the wider worry of who is coming across our borders. Eight Syrian men were caught in Texas the other day. Five were caught in Honduras with stolen Greek passports on their way into the US. How many have been missed and why are they here? Are they simply seeking asylum or are they here to do harm? I don't know and neither does anyone else, except for the individuals themselves.
On top of all of this is the news that ISIS is actively, aggressively seeking chemical weapons technology. They've already used sarin against their "enemies" in Syria so it is not beyond the realm of imagination that they'll cheerfully use anything they can lay hands on to spread their terror. What if they do something using chemical agents in the Paris metro or in a place like Stade de France or some other place where many people congregate? It's a horrible thought because some of the things I've read about are seriously scary shit. Like agents that are so deadly that if you touch them with bare skin you die. Agents that cling to surfaces for hours or days or weeks and are just as effective weeks after "application" as they are in the first moments.
With all of this, is it any wonder that I'm depressed and anxious?
I don't want to live in an ugly world where going to a public place means I'm packing worry or fear in my bag along with whatever else I'm taking. I don't want to live in a world where I have to strip down and submit to being x-rayed in order to get onto an airplane. I don't want to live in a world where there are a few vermin negating the rest of civilization - and yet that is precisely where we are.
I don't fear that anything is going to happen to me or my family. We don't go to public places very often. We stay close to home and go about our normal lives. We don't travel. We don't do much of anything, really. So we're safe. Reasonably so, anyway.
Beyond that, when I drill down to the bottom line of my life and living, I'm a pragmatist. I know that no one survives life. At some point I will die. It is just a question of when and how. Truth is, I'm not ready yet, so I hope it doesn't happen anytime soon. I have too many plans, too many things to which I'm looking forward to doing to want it end anytime soon.
I have my bucket trip several years from now. Providing, of course, the vermin are controlled. Wiped out would be better, but that's too much to hope for so I'll settle for controlled.
Sooner, in the not too distant future (based on observation and assumption), I have other changes that will take place. My MIL will pass and I'll enter a new stage of life. I will become the "oldest generation" for our family and I have things in the works that are going to make that first a scary and then a hopeful and hopefully wonderful time. It is scary, though, looking to the future I've mapped out. Once I get there and get my sleeves rolled up, it'll be fine. It's just this preliminary time in which it looms overwhelmingly large. It'll shrink as I get closer. At least I hope so.
In the meantime, I'm going about my business and not losing sleep over that which I can't control, anyway. I hope you do, too.
Have a lovely day!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
There were the vermin in Paris last week, and the babbling cacophony that's followed ever since.
There have been declarations that I am "ignorant" because I do not take a moderate view toward vermin like those who promulgate and perpetrate such acts. Well, I've got news for those who say that: I have never declared myself to be a scholar on the subject. But I read and I assimilate the information I read and I form opinions and attitudes. And I have just as much right to express my view and opinion as anyone else. But there are some who disagree that I have that right. It appears, based on what was written and exchanged between me and the two in particular, unless I am in precise lockstep with their view of the world, I and others like me should just STFU.
Farther out on the tree limb are the people like the man in Virginia who's all over the news yesterday and today. A public hearing regarding construction of a new mosque and he's standing there accusing everyone who's a Muslim of being in league with the vermin of ISIS. Now there is ignorance. It is as stupid and blind and nasty as saying that all white people are card carrying KKK members, or all blacks are members of the Black Panthers or that all Asians run dry cleaning establishments or restaurants. It's ignorant, insulting and, as I said above, downright stupid.
However, it is based on fear so while it is decidedly wrong, there is at least a handle to grasp for understanding. It's a tiny little thing, a barely there protrusion of a handle, and once the heat of this moment passes I sincerely hope the individual who said such hateful things will see the error of his ways and recant. I also hope that the people to whom this idiot directed his remarks will take the high road, that they see his fear and lack of understanding for what it is: ignorance. As unpleasant as it is, at least ignorance of something can be overcome by education.
There is the wider worry of who is coming across our borders. Eight Syrian men were caught in Texas the other day. Five were caught in Honduras with stolen Greek passports on their way into the US. How many have been missed and why are they here? Are they simply seeking asylum or are they here to do harm? I don't know and neither does anyone else, except for the individuals themselves.
On top of all of this is the news that ISIS is actively, aggressively seeking chemical weapons technology. They've already used sarin against their "enemies" in Syria so it is not beyond the realm of imagination that they'll cheerfully use anything they can lay hands on to spread their terror. What if they do something using chemical agents in the Paris metro or in a place like Stade de France or some other place where many people congregate? It's a horrible thought because some of the things I've read about are seriously scary shit. Like agents that are so deadly that if you touch them with bare skin you die. Agents that cling to surfaces for hours or days or weeks and are just as effective weeks after "application" as they are in the first moments.
With all of this, is it any wonder that I'm depressed and anxious?
I don't want to live in an ugly world where going to a public place means I'm packing worry or fear in my bag along with whatever else I'm taking. I don't want to live in a world where I have to strip down and submit to being x-rayed in order to get onto an airplane. I don't want to live in a world where there are a few vermin negating the rest of civilization - and yet that is precisely where we are.
I don't fear that anything is going to happen to me or my family. We don't go to public places very often. We stay close to home and go about our normal lives. We don't travel. We don't do much of anything, really. So we're safe. Reasonably so, anyway.
Beyond that, when I drill down to the bottom line of my life and living, I'm a pragmatist. I know that no one survives life. At some point I will die. It is just a question of when and how. Truth is, I'm not ready yet, so I hope it doesn't happen anytime soon. I have too many plans, too many things to which I'm looking forward to doing to want it end anytime soon.
I have my bucket trip several years from now. Providing, of course, the vermin are controlled. Wiped out would be better, but that's too much to hope for so I'll settle for controlled.
Sooner, in the not too distant future (based on observation and assumption), I have other changes that will take place. My MIL will pass and I'll enter a new stage of life. I will become the "oldest generation" for our family and I have things in the works that are going to make that first a scary and then a hopeful and hopefully wonderful time. It is scary, though, looking to the future I've mapped out. Once I get there and get my sleeves rolled up, it'll be fine. It's just this preliminary time in which it looms overwhelmingly large. It'll shrink as I get closer. At least I hope so.
In the meantime, I'm going about my business and not losing sleep over that which I can't control, anyway. I hope you do, too.
Have a lovely day!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Sunday, October 4, 2015
The Best Part of Sunday Morning
I don't know what's different about Sundays, but they are different. Is it because I'm more relaxed after Saturday? Or is it that I know that the errands are done and I have all morning ahead of me? I don't know, for sure, but they are and they are wonderful.
My favorite part is getting up around six-thirty or seven o'clock and going downstairs. Hubby and MIL are still asleep, Sam is still bedded down. It feels as if I have the entire house to myself. The only sounds are the quiet ones of the refrigerator humming and the little noises I make as I go about setting up the coffee and getting MIL's pills done for the week.
If I choose, I can turn on KDFC and play it quietly in the background. They have two wonderful programs on Sunday mornings. The first is baroque and romantic period church music that runs from seven o'clock to nine. It's a mix of hymns and lyric pieces that set the mood for a Sunday morning. The second, starting at nine o'clock is Baroque By The Bay - two hours of baroque period music (15th to late 18th century music). Turn it low and have it strictly in the background. Or not.
This morning I listened to the quiet symphony of the house, and it was almost perfect. I had the whole day ahead of me, a few tasks to complete, which were done by eight-thirty, and then... nothing I didn't want to do.
Until hubby came upstairs and said, 'we need to get the sap off the deck.'
Rats.
We had the cypress trees taken out. The backyard looks wide open and bare now, actually better than before, but the trees left behind a lot of sap. Guess it's what they do when they get sick because there are blotches and splotches all over the deck. Not my idea of fun, but it had to happen because otherwise we couldn't walk across the deck without getting sticky stuff all over the bottom of our shoes.
Two hours and it's pretty well done. Not perfect because the day began to warm and the sap began to melt, but pretty good. Good enough to leave.
Next week, hubby will power wash the deck to get the mold and algae that grew in the shade of the trees, then we'll start looking at removing whatever else is left. It shouldn't be much.
What's more exciting is that he seems to have gotten kick-started into Getting Things Done.
Preparatory to the tree guys coming we cleared the backyard of everything - and it looks sooo much better than before! Almost as if the Beverly Hillbillies have left.
I still have my re-purposed deck swing. The one from which we cut away the rotted seat, leaving a sturdy frame which we then strung with clothesline. It's my solar powered clothes dryer during the warm days - and it's packed full as I write this. Everything else, though, is still stacked on the side deck and hubby is still talking about getting a bin.
Next weekend he's promised to start going through the house so we can clear stuff out - which will be wonderful! It'll still look like a hellacious dump because of stains on the carpet and desperate need of paint, but it will be better than it is.
I suspect most of it will end up in a debris bin, but a lot of it will be given away. No matter. The house will feel lighter, less cluttered and heavy around my shoulders when I walk through it. Maybe I'll even feel like giving it a good cleaning since I won't have to move and replace half the contents just to dust it.
Even if we only get rid of half the stuff, I'll be thrilled. Then I'll start holding my breath for the next stage - new paint, new window coverings (no more God Damned Plantation Blinds! - GOD I hate those things for being a pain in the ass to clean properly), and new carpet.
What do I want instead of blinds? How about either vinyl shutters that I can take down, take outside, spray with Windex or an ammonia solution and hose off, leaving them to dry, or drapes and sheers that I can take down and throw in the washer. Either one and I'll be happy. I just do not like having dust-catching blinds at my windows that require a lot of muscle to clean - one louver at a time across a three or four-foot width and four foot height. Sixteen square feet of blinds is sixteen square feet too many, as I'm sure you'd agree if you have ever cleaned one of those bloody things, yourself.
So, that's in the future, and will be an matter of "discussion" no doubt. Since hubby has never cleaned a louvered blind in his life, he has no idea what a pain it is, so I'm sure he'll want to replace like with like - which I will not have unless I get a document, signed in blood, that either he will do it or he will willingly pay a service to do it.
Can you tell I have strong feelings on the subject?
But that's a battle for another day. Right now, I'm just thrilled to have gotten the chores done and am able to take time for this.
Now - I'm going to put my feet up and I may even take a nap.
I hope your Sunday is lovely, too!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
My favorite part is getting up around six-thirty or seven o'clock and going downstairs. Hubby and MIL are still asleep, Sam is still bedded down. It feels as if I have the entire house to myself. The only sounds are the quiet ones of the refrigerator humming and the little noises I make as I go about setting up the coffee and getting MIL's pills done for the week.
If I choose, I can turn on KDFC and play it quietly in the background. They have two wonderful programs on Sunday mornings. The first is baroque and romantic period church music that runs from seven o'clock to nine. It's a mix of hymns and lyric pieces that set the mood for a Sunday morning. The second, starting at nine o'clock is Baroque By The Bay - two hours of baroque period music (15th to late 18th century music). Turn it low and have it strictly in the background. Or not.
This morning I listened to the quiet symphony of the house, and it was almost perfect. I had the whole day ahead of me, a few tasks to complete, which were done by eight-thirty, and then... nothing I didn't want to do.
Until hubby came upstairs and said, 'we need to get the sap off the deck.'
Rats.
We had the cypress trees taken out. The backyard looks wide open and bare now, actually better than before, but the trees left behind a lot of sap. Guess it's what they do when they get sick because there are blotches and splotches all over the deck. Not my idea of fun, but it had to happen because otherwise we couldn't walk across the deck without getting sticky stuff all over the bottom of our shoes.
Two hours and it's pretty well done. Not perfect because the day began to warm and the sap began to melt, but pretty good. Good enough to leave.
Next week, hubby will power wash the deck to get the mold and algae that grew in the shade of the trees, then we'll start looking at removing whatever else is left. It shouldn't be much.
What's more exciting is that he seems to have gotten kick-started into Getting Things Done.
Preparatory to the tree guys coming we cleared the backyard of everything - and it looks sooo much better than before! Almost as if the Beverly Hillbillies have left.
I still have my re-purposed deck swing. The one from which we cut away the rotted seat, leaving a sturdy frame which we then strung with clothesline. It's my solar powered clothes dryer during the warm days - and it's packed full as I write this. Everything else, though, is still stacked on the side deck and hubby is still talking about getting a bin.
Next weekend he's promised to start going through the house so we can clear stuff out - which will be wonderful! It'll still look like a hellacious dump because of stains on the carpet and desperate need of paint, but it will be better than it is.
I suspect most of it will end up in a debris bin, but a lot of it will be given away. No matter. The house will feel lighter, less cluttered and heavy around my shoulders when I walk through it. Maybe I'll even feel like giving it a good cleaning since I won't have to move and replace half the contents just to dust it.
Even if we only get rid of half the stuff, I'll be thrilled. Then I'll start holding my breath for the next stage - new paint, new window coverings (no more God Damned Plantation Blinds! - GOD I hate those things for being a pain in the ass to clean properly), and new carpet.
What do I want instead of blinds? How about either vinyl shutters that I can take down, take outside, spray with Windex or an ammonia solution and hose off, leaving them to dry, or drapes and sheers that I can take down and throw in the washer. Either one and I'll be happy. I just do not like having dust-catching blinds at my windows that require a lot of muscle to clean - one louver at a time across a three or four-foot width and four foot height. Sixteen square feet of blinds is sixteen square feet too many, as I'm sure you'd agree if you have ever cleaned one of those bloody things, yourself.
So, that's in the future, and will be an matter of "discussion" no doubt. Since hubby has never cleaned a louvered blind in his life, he has no idea what a pain it is, so I'm sure he'll want to replace like with like - which I will not have unless I get a document, signed in blood, that either he will do it or he will willingly pay a service to do it.
Can you tell I have strong feelings on the subject?
But that's a battle for another day. Right now, I'm just thrilled to have gotten the chores done and am able to take time for this.
Now - I'm going to put my feet up and I may even take a nap.
I hope your Sunday is lovely, too!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
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