Wow. I looked up today and realized that the year is already half over with. Where did it go?

So many things have been happening. Lemme 'splain. No, lemme sumup . . .

I am now the proud owner of a "short bus". BBB and I have been looking for a vehicle with a wheelchair lift so that we can do things with his quadriplegic brother outside of the nursing care facility where he is currently living.

What we ended up getting is a 1993 Ford "MetroTrans". This is a '93 Ford van, E-350 diesel engine and chassis, the lift is by Braun Corporation, and the body modification (the *bus* part) is "Classic" by MetroTrans. It is 10 feet 6 inches tall, and about 26 feet long. It's a rather large rig.

My problem is that the MetroTrans Corporation declared bankruptcy and then went out of business in 2000. We have been trying to find some sort of manual or wiring diagrams or *something* that gives information (specifications) about how the body of this thing was set up so that we can make repairs or modifications if necessary.

I am sending out a plea to the 'dotters that are in the Georgia area, specifically Atlanta, where MetroTrans was based. Are there any used bookstores or parts places that might by some slim chance have anything from MetroTrans? I have searched the internet for any information and have come up blank. The only thing that I have not done yet is to give this little search problem to Talinom. (if you want *anything* found on the internet, he is the master of the search) Please, please any help is appreciated.

We have a new snake. Her name is Ssebrina. She will eventually be a mate for Slytherin, but he is around 18 months old, and she is only 11 weeks old and a whole lot smaller than he is. We have to wait until they are approximately the same size to mate them. That will be about a year down the road. Oh boy! Baby snakes. (wait, wasn't there a Frank Zappa song by that name?)

We are looking for acreage to move the manufactured home onto. The real estate market is really strong here, and usually by the time something comes on the market, there are offers the next day. I don't want to move too far out in the boonies. With all the wetlands issues and all the other guidelines and regulations that go along with acreage make this is quite a challenge.

The other problem is that the bank says make an offer "contingent on financing" and the real estate agent is telling me to get a pre-approval for financing.

Does anyone out there have $50k - $75k that they are willing to make a short term loan on?

Trust me, once we get the thing moved and permanently attached to the land, financing will be easy to get. The difficult part is finding someone to finance the land, the costs to move and set up the home, payoff my existing loan and then roll the whole thing into a permanent loan once the home is all set and done.

--Summary--

All of this is intermixed with the usual social activities that come with the summertime, (not to mention Talinom's birthday on Sunday) along with vacations and fishing trips.

*Whew* Makes me tired just listing everything off!

Hope everything is going well for y'all, where ever you may be.

^_^

I've been thinking a lot lately about the changes that we go through in life. There are some distinct stages, and for some of us, stages that are skipped.

Several things have gotten me thinking about this. My birthday on May 23, on June 5 I had been divorced for 11 years and today, June 7 would have been my 25th wedding anniversary.

If things had not gone sour, my plan was that by this age I would have a 10 yo, and an 8 yo. I had just decided that I was no longer so selfish, and was willing to give up my time and energy to raise children when he said "buh-bye".

I knew that it was possible for me to have children, husband or no, but I wanted a nuclear family to raise my children in. However, I wasn't willing to marry the first bloke that came along just so that I could have children.

This makes me wonder whether or not my decision to try and start a family played into his decision to end the relationship.

Here I am, childless, and sometimes sad about it. There he is, childless, and most likely happy to be that way. He had a difficult time taking responsibility for anything, and the huge responsibility of raising children is daunting indeed.

The hardest thing about the divorce was the shattering of my dream of a marriage like the one my parents had. They were married just short of 52 years when my Dad died, and raised 4 relatively responsible children. It was not always "happy", but they were happy with their lives in general. That was the kind of "happily ever after" that I wanted for myself. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

You see, I have this horrible tendancy to pick men that are relatively easy to dominate, and then I'm not really happy. It is only by a quirk of fate that I am with a man that I am not able to dominate and I am the most content that I have been in *years*. Funny how I didn't end up picking him myself, (thank you, Talinom) and he's the best thing that has ever happened to me.

[side note] This refers back to btlzu2's JE, where the smartest thing I have ever done was not to fight Talinom "giving me away", but that's a whole different story. [/side note]

A part of me is sad because I never got the opportunity to have children, because I would have been a wonderful mother. Now I am content to be a great aunt (as well as a Great Aunt for you capitalists) The other part of me, the one that I live with 99% of the time, is relatively happy with the way things turned out. BBB and I can have all the sex we want without the scheduling difficulties that having children around can create.

Ok, enough with the reflections. Time to start looking forward again and not behind.

^_^

Yesterday was my birthday.

For the past 12 or 13 years, I have made a big deal about my own birthday by wearing a tiara. It was a cheezy silver sequin job up until a couple of years ago when BBB replaced it with a very nice crystal one.

Last year my birthday was on a weekend, so I don't remember very much about what happened. I know I wore it and went out shopping for a bit, but mostly stayed in.

This year, of course, my birthday was on Monday. I wore it to work. My cow-erkers are used to this by now, so no-one looked at me twice. However, my desk is by the window so people that walked by would glance in, see me and smile. (my desk was also decorated)

After work, BBB and I had to run a couple of errands, visit his brother and then go to the Mariners store and buy tickets, then on to *birthday dinner*. This is where the curious observation comes in.

No-one said anything to me about my wearing the tiara. I got several sideways looks, but not one single person opened their mouths and said anything.

We were wanting to go to one restaurant for dinner, but the parking lot was packed and people were parking in a neighboring lot and walking over. I was not in the mood to fight with crowds, so I suggested that we go over to Red Robin instead.

Red Robin makes a *wonderful* mushroom burger, and I wanted one, but they sing a stupid birthday song that makes me grind my teeth. I wasn't sure about eating there, but thought if we asked *nicely* they wouldn't do the singing thing.

Guess what?

Nobody opened their mouths and asked why I was wearing the tiara. I didn't offer the fact that it was my birthday, and they didn't ask. (apparently they have lots of women coming in there wearing tiaras, so it was no big deal) We had a nice, relatively quiet dinner. (they sang to 3 other people nearby)

It totally blew me away that not one person asked me about the tiara. Did it look that natural for me to be wearing it? Were they so scared by BBB that they didn't open their mouths? (he was a rather imposing figure dressed all in black)

In years past I would get some short quip by people asking about whether I was a princess for a day, or sometimes queen for a day. I would grin and reply that I was either the birthday princess or birthday queen. This year all I got was sideways looks, where people seemed to be wondering what was going on and whether I should be committed.

Ah well, another birthday gone, another question gone unanswered.

^_^

Wah-hoo! It's *MY* day today!

^_^

So, we are on the way into work this morning, and I look over at a car we are passing. The driver is leaning way over toward the passenger seat. He's not looking for something on the floor, he's just driving down the road like that.

Now, I've seen this phenomenon before, but usually the driver is alone or has a girl in the passenger seat. This morning it was a *dude*!

I can't imagine that it would be comfortable to sit in bucket seats and lean way over to center your face in the middle of the windshield. What reason is there to drive like that?

Do any of you 'dotters drive like that? Do you know anyone who does? Any suggestions on why?

In other news, I'm flying to Phoenix today for a baby shower. (Happy Friday the 13th) My nephew's wife is preggers and we are gathering to celebrate another new life into the family. (she's due the first part of Sept, and I can't imagine being pregnant in Phoenix over the summer!)

Enjoy your weekend all!

^_^

After spending the weekend at BBB's place, we (BBB, the snake and I) were on the way back to my place and we stopped to buy dinner for the snake. We were carrying Slytherin in a bucket that had a bath towel in it, but no lid. When we went into the pet store to pick up a mouse we carried him in with us. I didn't want the possibility of him crawling out while we were in the store and most pet stores allow you to bring your pet inside.

We knew he was hungry, because he has a way of rubbing his jowls against BBB's hand when he wants food. We thought it would be nice to let him know that food was on the way, so we put him up to the glass where he could smell the mice.

I flagged down a clerk and we let her know that we wanted a mouse for his dinner. She was very sweet and complied, oohing and aaahing over Slytherin.

After she had snagged a mouse by the tail and dropped it in the small cardboard box, she thought she'd be funny and show the mouse to him, and asked him, "is this one ok?"

Before she could get the full sentence out, Slytherin struck, grabbing the mouse in his mouth and spinning, pinning the body of the mouse to squeeze the life out of him.

BBB had a good hold on him, so there was no issue of him leaping out of his hands, but that means that when Slytherin pulled back holding the mouse, the mouse let loose of his bladder and peed on Slytherin and BBB.

While Slytherin had hold of the mouse we asked the clerk if it was possible to have the use of a box or tank, where we could let him finish his meal in peace. She led us into the back room where she put together a box and set it on the floor.

BBB gently laid the snake down into the box and we chit chatted with the clerks. They were exclaiming about how fast it happened and the fact that ball pythons are usually shy when they eat and they generally won't eat when they have an audience. I'm sure that they will have a great story to tell for the next while.

BBB noticed that he was having a bit of trouble swallowing the mouse, so he rotated him a bit and the snake started having a much easier time getting it down. While he was finishing swallowing it, I had BBB go out to the car and get the carrier so that we could put him back in it and give him a chance to digest the mouse in private.

Once the mouse had moved down past Slytherin's main organs, BBB picked him up and put him in the bucket and we went up to the counter to pay for the mouse. The clerk that offered the mouse to Slytherin was manning the cash register and she said that they had never had that happen before. We laughed about it while I paid for the mouse.

This brings a whole new meaning to "dining out"

^_^

The Mariners are playing better baseball so far this season than they did last season (though you can't tell it by their last 5 games, all losses) but this saddens me *horribly*.

Over the last several years we have lost some good players with good work ethics to retirement. (Jay Buhner and Edgar Martinez for starters) It's really a shame to have the possibility of ending his career because of an injury.

Pitching coach Bryan Price noted how rare it is to find players such as Wilson in the big leagues today, those truly committed to the "team-first philosophy."

"If you went through that clubhouse, went into the front office, went into the coaches room, and asked everybody -- 'Who's the best guy we have in this organization?' -- it's Dan Wilson. Hands down," Price said. "Nobody could question his integrity, his preparation.

"Not having that influence on the field, it'll be felt immediately. He's been the constant here."

Over the past 10 years Dan Wilson has been my favorite. He is quietly competent and is just *there*. (not to mention the fact that I have a "thing" about a guy who can squat for that length of time...)

Whatever he decides after he has surgery, I hope that he remains a Seattle resident. He and his wife have been huge supporters of the community, and maybe they can find a place for him in the Mariner's organization. That level of talent and dedication should be kept with the team.

^_^

Yes that's right folks. We have officially named the snake.

His name is "Slytherin Rattenfänger."

His first name, Slytherin, came from the Harry Potter books, of course. His last name (Thank you Ethelred!) literally means "Rat Catcher."

We thought it would be appropriate after watching him consume his second meal since we got him. (yes, we feed him *live* mice)

Thanks to all of you that helped with suggestions.

^_^

No, the help that I need is not what you expect. I do not want help with servers or programs or codes.

This is a more basic naming game.

BBB and I got a new pet, and we would like some help in giving him a name.

Our thought is to have a name, possibly in a foreign language, that means "devil snake" or something along those lines.

BBB is adamant that his name is not girly or wussy (though I do have permission to name a female snake "Pursssssssssilla" when we get one). After watching him devour a mouse tonight for dinner, I have to agree that he's not a wuss.

To give a little background, he is a 1 1/2 year old ball python and he is approx. 3 1/2 feet in length.

I'll post the name when we finally decide on one. Thanks in advance for your help.

^_^

Hi all. I have returned from the wilds of eastern Washington.

I would have posted sooner, (sorry RW) but I've had trouble catching up with the JE's of the past week. *whew* Finally got finished with that, and it's on to write about the adventure that was my week of vacation.

The trip started on Saturday at the butt crack of dawn, car loaded with all of our tools (we thought) and a day bed for BBB's Mom. We head over Snoqualmie pass, where it is dumping snow. This slowed us down a bit, but we stopped in Cle Elum for breakfast, anyway.

After breakfast, we headed across Blewitt pass, where we again encountered snow. This time it was so thick, we had to slow down to 25-30 mph, and ended up following a snowplow/sanding truck for about half of the pass. After the truck turned around to go back up over the summit, we noticed the traffic going in the opposite direction was having difficulty staying in their own lanes.

Once we got down off the pass, the weather cleared off, and traveling was nice. The rest of the drive passed mostly uneventfully, except for the last hour, which was over a smaller pass, called Wauconda. The road is curvy and is maintained by the county so it is bumpy and not in the best of shape. The friend that we took with us as a buffer between BBB and his Mom suffers from motion sickness, and that last part of the drive nearly did her in.

That first day, we didn't do much other than travelling and unloading the car. We did set up the day bed for Mom, and she was overjoyed.

You see, Mom had been living outside of town, in a trailer that was 10' x 14' at that *most*. There was no bed set up at the house in town, so she had been sleeping on a sofa that she had purchased new in 1974.

Sunday was spent driving over another pass to the big city of Colville, where we purchased some minor items for the house in town, and the paint we were going to use to brighten up the nasty blue ceiling and dark wood paneling on the walls.

Before heading back to the house, we decided to stop at the property outside of town to pick up some tools and things. The Ford Bronco we were in started acting kind of funny. Turns out the left rear tire *shredded* and we were only halfway to the property. Ok, no problem. We can fix a flat tire, there's a perfectly good spare on the back of the rig.

OOPS! There's a locking lug nut on the spare. Ok, now where would a sane person put the lug key? Somewhere inside the rig, right?

Well, Step-dad was the one that kept all the rigs in running condition. He was dead, so he couldn't very well tell us where he put it. We went through that rig several times, and couldn't come up with the key to the lug.

Since we were in such a rural area, everyone that drove by knew Mom, and fortunately the first person by was a man that has a fix-it type shop near town, and he offered to drive Mom to his shop and put a new tire on the rim that BBB had taken off.

By now you know that nothing is ever easy. Jack managed to flood his engine in the process of trying to start it. So, trying to start it he basically ran down the battery. Then he tried to compression start it, but the slope of the road where we were stopped wasn't large enough. Fortunately, another neighbor came along at that point and he got Jack's truck jump started, and they went off and brought back another tire so that we could continue the journey to the property and then back to the house in town.

After returning, BBB and I tore apart the floor in the laundry room. We also discussed the amount of lumber that would need to be purchased on Monday to do the floor of the laundry room and bathroom, and the new decking and walls for the front porch. We also started to do some of the painting, just to see how well the color would cover the dark wood and blue paint.

And there you have it. The first two days of the vacation, and already we had more adventures than anyone *should* on a vacation.

Stay tuned for PART 2

^_^

Tomorrow morning, I will be leaving with BBB and a friend to go to the hick town that his mom lives in, and spending a week replacing a portion of a floor in a trailer and a deck. I will be doing more work while on vacation than I do in my day job.

As I mentioned before, BBB's step-dad died a couple of weeks ago. Mom decided that she couldn't live in the place that she shared with him, so she moved into her quad son's (BBB's brother) trailer in town. Problem is, there was a long time leak in the bathroom and another brother stepped through the floor last fall. We were planning on going over later this spring to replace the floor, after the weather warmed up. Because of Mom moving in, we had to rearrange our schedule and head over much earlier than planned.

The biggest challenge in this is the fact that Mom and BBB have not had anything close to a relationship, much less a *good* relationship for many many years. We are bringing a friend along to keep Mom company and help her paint, so that I am free to assist BBB in the destruction and reconstruction of the floor.

I am sure that I will have some interesting stories when I get back to civilization.

In preparing for this trip we made a couple of "little" purchases. One was the roof rack for my car and the other is an HP Pavillion laptop. We won't know whether or not we'll have the ability to get on line to check e-mail and the 'dot, but at least we'll be able to play games and not go into withdrawals. :-p

^_^

Let me 'splain. . .

Due to BBB's step-dad dying and various tasks that we need to complete, I needed to find a rack for the roof of my car so that we can transport some things without the aid of a truck. Now, I thought I remembered that various auto parts stores and sports stores and other stores carried this type of merchandise. It appears that I was mistaken.

After striking out at auto parts stores ("it was a promotional item. we won't be getting any more), we went to sporting goods stores. There we found out that there are two major brands available, Thule (apparently pronounced "tool-eee") and Yakima, but the store didn't carry either one.

Off to another sports store. Yes! They have Thule, but OMG the cost! We were told the two components would cost $180. We decided to wait and give a combo sports/automotive store a try instead.

The next day we set out to stop by the combo store and they had both Thule *and* Yakima. Now, which one to buy? A nice young man was there to help us out, and he researched it and said that their policy is if the product goes on sale within the next 30 days, you present your receipt and they will refund the difference. Thule would be going on sale on the 17th of April. Ok fine. We'll go with Thule. Now to pick out the pieces.

This same nice young man says "ok, for your '03 Nissan Sentra 4 door, you will need (this) and (this) and (THIS) piece. That will run you $230."

Whoa, hold on there bucko! The guy yesterday told us we only need (this) and (this) piece.

Guess what? The most important piece, the one that actually hooks the rack to the roof of the car is the one that the jerk the day before *forgot* to include. That's another $50 to the total. Ok, well we need it. Might as well go for it.

This young man searches for the product number and drops his eyes down a line and pulls the part for a '91 - '94 Nissan Sentra. Oops, that won't work. Try and find the *real* part number and gosh, that's a special order only. Apparently not many of us '03 Sentra owners want a roof rack.

*sigh* That means we have to go find another store that carries them and find out if they have the correct one in stock before we go traipsing around to pick it up. Go home and look on line. What do you know? REI carries them and after a phone call, we find out that they have my style in stock. Cool, how many you got? ONE? Ok, please hold it for (realname) and we'll be in to pick it up.

I thought that this would be the end of it. REI carries Thule and it's about the same price as the other places *and* they are having a stockholder rebate so that members get 20% off of one item, thankfully the most expensive one. As the young man helps us choose out the correct pieces to go with the one that is on hold behind the counter, he casually asks, "Would you like to purchase the locks to go with that?"

HUH? What do you mean by locks?

After an explanation about how the locks work and why they are needed, we choose out a set of 4 for an additional $41. This has now raised the total up to $271, less the 20% on the most spendy item.

We get up to the counter to pay and the man behind the counter, ringing up the sale asks me "are you *sure* you only want to buy 4 locks? Wouldn't you prefer the set of 8?" I quipped smartly, "Why? is there more than one lock per leg on this thing?" He gave me a surprised look and said "No, but if you're going to add anything else to the rack, you'll need locks for those." I laughingly told him that if we were going to buy any extra gadgets for the rack, we'd just buy more at that time.

Who knew that buying a simple car roof rack would be such an adventure? And it really makes me wonder about the two people that we first talked to. Were they ignorant, and didn't know all the information about the racks, or were they just stupid?

^_^

I repeat, the Condor has landed.

Well, actually that means that Red Warrior has officially returned home. I'm letting y'all know that he may get on the dot later, but he's spending time with his son this weekend.

Welcome home RW!

^_^

Ok, here I am at work. Two days before I am due to get the lion's share of my work. My desk is by the window and I get to gaze out at the gorgeous spring day. It is in the upper 60's, shirt sleeve weather here in the Puget Sound region. I would rather be out there playing in the sunshine, rather than sitting here in front of my computer trying to look busy. (thank goodness for posting on the dot)

Most of my cow-erkers went walking at lunch. They invited me to join them, but I don't really feel comfortable doing that. You see, out of an 8 person office, 5 are members of Curves, a women's only circuit training place (I did that a couple of years ago, and quit because of an episode of internal bleeding, not related), one has exceptionally long legs and is very difficult to keep up with and the other had a "lunch date" with her paramour. Compared to the exercisers and the one with long legs, I am woefully out of shape. Because I didn't want to spend the entire walk trying not to lag too far behind, and at the same time try not to hyperventilate from over exhertion, I declined to join them.

Personally, I've "been there, done that" with the weight loss thing. Once again, I am back up to my heaviest weight, which I am not happy about, but certainly isn't a horrible amount. My biggest problem is that each time I have embarked upon the weight loss track, I have done it for the wrong reasons. Each time it has been for someone else, not myself. So of course, each time I was doomed to failure.

Problem is, where I am at today is that I'm not ready to deal with the whole thing, and find that I am being rather childish about it because everyone around me (with the exception of one, who was diagnosed with diabetes after she got done with chemo) is young females that are doing it [insert head bobbing from side to side] "because they want to get fit and trim" [/end head bobbing]. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going out of my way to gain weight, I am just not being good about portion controls and regular exercise. I still try to eat healthy and I do get a moderate amount of exercise, so I'm maintaining my current weight rather well.

I admire the work that rdewald and blinder and several others are doing to get down to a healthy weight, but I'm not at that place for *me* quite yet.

(Kitten stomps foot and lashes tail) I won't do it! You can't make me!

Now, there have been other things in my life that I have quit doing. Some were easy, like drinking. I hit that "space" where it was no longer an option, and I haven't had any since.

I quit chewing my fingernails when I was 16. I showed my budding new fingernails to my sister and she declared, "That's nice, but you'll never quit. You'll always go back to it." That direct challenge made me stop cold, and 28 years later I have a nice set of claws that I am rather proud of.

Smoking took me a couple three or four tries, but I haven't had a cigarette in almost 20 years.

The biggest problem with losing weight is the fact that you can't just stop cold turkey, like smoking or drinking alcohol. In order to live, you have to eat. And with the way that our society is going, everything is already prepared and full of chemicals that we have no clue what they are or really what they do.

It's easy if you have lots of money and can hire a cook and a trainer to keep you on the straight and narrow. Or even pay to go through a program where you buy their food and *poof* you magically lose the weight. (NOT!)

I'm not sure exactly where this JE is going, but it is taking up time and helping me to look busy. Maybe it's a way of approaching that magical spot where the light bulb turns on and I say, "Hey! It's time!" but I think I'll throw a question out to y'all.

Is there anything that you have had to quit doing or modify your behavior? Was it easy or hard? How did you do it?

^_^

I have figured out that it truly is love between BBB and I.

I was looking forward to a relatively low key weekend. I work for a bank, and Monday was a holiday so I got a 3 day weekend. On Monday I had plans to meet up with BestFriend (who also works for a bank) to share a meal and shopping, a sort of "girls day out".

Talinom got some sort of creeping crud and was moping around sick the whole weekend, bored to tears at one point. *sigh* It is not my job to amuse him anymore, and there were other things that I needed to do.

Monday, I get home from shopping, and am greeted by Talinom saying, "it's not my fault, but BBB says you can kill me now." Apparently Talinom had shared his crud. I sweetly declined, promising to wait until he was fully healthy so he could appreciate it so much more.

Now, BBB rarely gets sick, so when he does it's pretty bad. He also suffers from migraines, so that makes being sick even worse, because most sicknesses for him are accompanied by a migraine. Personally, I don't suffer from migraines so I'm not familiar with their workings, but apparently puking helps to ease off the pain.

I tend to be a sympathetic puker, which is to say that if someone is puking their toenails up, my stomach starts to roll and burble in an attempt to join in their "fun". (This is one of the reasons that I never went into the medical field.)

Now this is where the "it must be love" comes in. BBB got up in the middle of the night, puking, with nothing on his stomach, so it was a lot of effort and nothing to show for it. Instead of pulling the pillow over my head so that I didn't hear it, or getting up and shutting the bathroom door, I got up and got him a hand towel, and a cool damp washcloth to put on the back of his neck to ease the nausea.

All of my other relationships, including my marriage, I would either try and ignore the puking, or would make sympathetic noises, and quickly get as far away from the noise as possible. This was totally out of character for me, so it must be love.

In other news, BBB's brother is back in the hospital. One of his skin graft sites apparently had an air pocket that festered and worked its way out to the surface. He's already had one surgery, and is looking at a couple more. He will be in the hospital for 45-90 days. Meanwhile, it costs $210 per day for the nursing home to reserve a room for him. Needless to say, we informed them that we want him to return there when he is released from the hospital, if they have a bed available, but we would not place a hold on his room.

The 2006 choir tour is officially planned to go to Scotland, Ireland and Wales. I still need to get my passport updated, since it expires this year, but I'm planning on going.

Looking forward to RW's return from Iraq. I haven't heard all of the details from him yet, but I may have to beat him soundly about the head and shoulders for the way that he dealt with the property management company that was renting out his house. (RW - you don't hint that the property needs to be vacated. You *hired* them to take care of renting the property for you, you need to TELL them what to do!)

And finally, even with carpooling with two people who have been sick for the past month, and having Talinom and BBB sick, I have remained relatively unscathed. (thank the vitamin supplements there!)

^_^