violetismycolor

a lot of nothing...

Nothing exciting in my day but housecleaning...ah, the joy of a clean bathroom.  At least I have a bathroom.  Watching the horror that is unfolding on the Gulf Coast, I felt so grateful that I have my wonderful home that is safe, warm, and dry...AND that has working bathrooms! 

I watch the total devastation of a city like New Orleans, and I wonder...how will they get the place back together?  How will they get people's jobs back, their houses, their roads, their lives?  I look at my beautiful city, and I wonder how I would feel to find it utterly descimated.  I cannot imagine!

victory over thievery...

Don't know if you remember when my laptop died a few weeks ago, but:

I took it to CompUSA to have it repaired.  They charge $140 to diagnose and do all the repair labor, parts are extra.  Well, seems my video board went out and they quoted me $690 for the part!  I was sure that that was the end of my beloved laptop, and it was destined for the landfill.  I found out, though, that I could buy the part on the Internet for $175!  Did so and had my computer guy (who doesn't usually work on laptops) fix it.  Works like a charm.

I called CompUSA to tell them that they had ripped me off...and they are actually going to give me half my diagnostic fee back!  Seems that they have one supplier nationwide and their supplier is ripping THEM off!  Yeah for being assertive and insisting on being treated fairly!

Dogs and Gods...

Today was the 'Blessing of the Animals' service at our church.  Last year, we took Barley but now he's gone and that was very sad.  But there were tons of dogs there...probably 30 or more of them...as well as at least one cat, ferret, fish, bunny.  It was awesome.  All the animals were so well-behaved.  They sat there calmly and didn't fuss.  Everyone was out meeting and greeting in the courtyard after the service and that was fun, too.  People came from all around, too, not just the neighborhood. 

We saw The Brothers Grimm last night.  Very odd movie.  Very violent...don't take young kids.  We had a family with young kids sitting beside us who left about 20 minutes into the film.  Those kids will probably suffer with nightmares for weeks!  The movie left me  hot and cold.  Some of it I really liked but it was oddly disjointed and the acting was weak.  Save it for video, folks.

Bonnie is starting classes tomorrow and seems sorry that here idyllic summer has ended.  Though she is happy to see all her friends again, she is going to miss the quiet of Hamilton in the summer.  She said that she got so overwhelmed greeting everyone coming in yesterday, that she had to go and have a lie-down later.  Funny girl! 

The big blowout bash...

The big blowout bash for my coffee buddy, Irene, was last night.  Everything was excellent...all the way from the margaritas/lemondrops/sangria to the fabulous food to the wonderful company of good friends.  We had Adam drive us and then he was on-call to pick us up at the end of the party.  What a way to celebrate turning 50!

Illustration Friday...reflection...

*look closer by clicking on the image*

A quick and dirty stab at this week's prompt, 'reflection'...  I am in the middle of a heavy redesign project and so didn't have more than half an hour to work on this.  But I didn't want to miss another week.

In other news, Ross went successfully through registration for school...thank goodness that there were no schedule surprises.  He brought in the FOUR textbooks he 'forgot' to turn in at the end of the last school year, and got 3 new books.  All immensely heavy.  All certain to break his back all year long...

bbq...

We had a bbq here at the house last night for all the Neighborhood House board members.  All I had to do was clean up the house and yard and everything else was done by the NH folks.  The food was fabulous, we had tables and chairs on the deck and lawn and it was warm enough, and the company was fabulous.  I especially loved the devilled eggs and the key lime pie.  And even the clean up was done for me.  Now THAT'S a party!

Many of the folks ooh'd and aah'd about the garden and asked how long I had been working on it...20 years was my answer...it should look fairly good.  Some of the plants near the house had been damaged by the roofing and painting crews, but you can't expect to have nothing disturbed when the heavy work is going on right in the flower beds, can you?

tagged...

Tagged by Monicalee:

5 locations I would like to run away to:

• Lago Orta, Italian Lakes
• London
• Upstate NY (to visit my dtr.)
• Niagara-on-the-Lake
• Victoria, BC

5 bad habits I have:

• leaving things till the last minute
• getting sidetracked on the internet
• talking too loudly (family curse)
• talking politics/religion with my family when I know better
• not updating my blog often enough

5 things I like doing:

• getting sidetracked on the internet
• having coffee with my friends every morning
• updating my blog
• reading good 18th and 19th century novels
• playing with Photoshop/Illustrator/Painter

5 things I would never wear:

• Pantyhose (have given them up for life)
• short skirts (knees are not my most attractive feature)
• pants with a tucked-in shirt
• plaids and stripes mixed together
• high heels (too much trouble and too painful...man, am I old!)

5 TV shows I like:

• Joan of Arcadia (I am so upset it wasn't renewed!)
• The Closer
• The 4400
• The Dead Zone
• My Hero (British sitcom on PBS)

5 favorite toys:

• my camera
• my computer
• my scanner
• my car
• Photoshop/Illustrator/Painter

5 biggest joys of the moment:

• my coffee girls and our morning rendezvous
• my husband
• my kids
• the beauty and warmth of summer
• my garden

I am not really comfortable doing the tagging but I do enjoy what I find out about myself when asked these sorts of questions and then come up with the answers without thinking really hard about it...

neglectful...

I have been totally neglecting my blog...Sorry...but so many things seem to be grabbing my attention.

First off, Bonnie left to go back to school.  The days before she went were filled with taking her here and there so that she would be all packed up with goodies to take back with her.  What are parents for?

Secondly, my friend's mom died and I was doing stuff for her and then went to the funeral on Friday.

We are having a BBQ at our house for a local charity, and I spent Sunday in the garden, getting it all pretty.  Then spent all of today getting the house all pretty. 

I also have been brainstorming on a site redesign I have to do, and have not gotten far enough on that!

I did watch 2 old movies over the weekend.  Mrs. Miniver (made in 1942) and Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).  Mrs. Miniver was a total propaganda piece for the British in WW2, but a good one...except for the American accents on all the stars (it is supposed to be Britain, after all) and the American looks of all the houses and properties.  Distracting.  Breakfast at Tiffany's has the awesome Audrey Hepburn and was a really fun romantic comedy, though Mickey Rooney as her Japanese neighbor was an insulting caricature and would never be allowed today.

Tomorrow is the BBQ and the house and yard are all ready.  I will spend the day working on the new web page and hopefully will feel a little more productive.

tribute to Betty...

I spent the day working on this photo of my friend Irene's mom.  She needs it for the memorial service...I had to cut out her dad and make her look good on her own.  I had to copy the right ear and hair, then turn it around and shape it around the left side of her face in order to get her hair right at that point.  Had to do the same with the right side of the jacket, since she is leaning into her husband.  It was good to know that there was something I could do for my friend in this time, however minor...

more house...

Another view of the front of the house...just click on it to enlarge it.

Yesterday was just crazy, what with a client meeting, getting Bonnie to Powell's to find school books, having to pay the bills and balance the checkbook and do the medical/insurance stuff, etc. etc.  But productive, yes.  And now I have a website redo that has to be finished by Oct 25...we're basically starting from scratch, so that should be very time consuming. 

My dear friend, Irene, came into coffee yesterday morning and told me her mom had died that morning.  I am working on a photo of her mom for her memorial service now, too.  I wonder how horrible it must be to lose your mom.

Today, I may take a stab at Illustration Friday...wisdom...hmm....

new house color...

A peek at how cool the new sage green color looks on the house.  We love the color and all the neighbors seem to think it is lovely, too. 

More tomorrow...

Happy Birthday, baby...

Yay, Bonnie is home safely and today is her birthday.  We went out for sushi last night and that was a blast.  We went out to the Original Pancake House for breakfast with her aunt and uncle (visiting from Amherst, MA) and that was delicious! 

We part ways tonight with John and I and the in-laws going out to the Pink Martini concert at the Zoo, while Adam and Bonnie and friends go out to The Bite of Portland and go to a concert by The Decembrists.  All are looking forward to it...

Bonnie is enjoying her new iPod Mini, picking songs to put on and putting together playlists. I am listening to Jane Eyre (on CD) and doing Photoshop stuff.  I am really having a wonderful time with Jane Eyre; it is so different to hear it aloud versus reading it.  Way back in the 1840's, it must have rocked those women out of their boredom and given them a romantic thrill.

illustration friday...empty...

*bigger?  just click on the image*

I was trying to think of something, anything, that was interesting and maybe just a little fresh for the prompt 'empty'...

My attempt, here...

photo friday...complexity...

*click it for a better look*

What lovely complexity in this brickwork at Lewis and Clark College, here in beautiful Portland, Oregon.  I just love that campus and last year, I spent an afternoon just wandering around, taking photos. 

ex-neighbors...

We had the coolest thing happen last night.  A few of us in the neighborhood were standing in the street, talking, when this car drove up with a teenager inside.  He seemed to know us but we didn't recognize him.  Seems it was an ex-neighbor boy who moved out when he was 6.  He is my Bonnie's age and had hung out with Adam. 

After talking for a bit, he asked if we still had our playstructure up in the backyard.  I said no and he asked if he could go see the backyard.  Sure...

He came in later and had lemonade and talked to Adam and Ross, reminiscing.  He looked at pictures of Bonnie and said, "Boy, has she changed!" 

"Yes,"  I said, "she's not 6 anymore."

What a lot of fun it was...we looked through old photo albums and traded stories.  He seems a delightful young man.

Illustration Friday...aging...

When I heard the prompt, 'aging', I was stumped. I really had to think, but then I was reminded of the Red Hat Society ladies.  You know the ones:  they wear red hats and purple outfits because they're old and they CAN.  "Where there is fun over fifty"...I shouldn't be smug since I will be fifty in a couple of years. Yikes!  (note to self:  stop thinking about it...)

Anyway, here is my version of a Red Hat Society lady...aging but having fun with it...

real weirdness...

Guardian angels are awesome things...

On Saturday,I was at a stopped at a red light near my home, when I got the most distinct feeling that someone was going to run the light when it changed (meaning:  run into me if I pulled out).  I was stopped there for a couple of minutes and the sureness just stayed with me.  So, when the light changed, I hung back and, sure enough, someone blew the light.  I started to slowly pull forward and somebody else ran the light right behind the first guy.  Luckily, I was being extremely cautious.  If I hadn't been, the first guy would have hit me and the second guy would have hit us both!  I thanked my guardian angel for being so insistent, and went on my way, slightly shaken up!

I then called my sis, Joan, to wish her happy birthday.  Her adult dtr answered (Joan was out) and we started chatting.  Now, my sister lost her son, Vic, in a car accident about 2 years ago.  But my niece says to me, "Yeah, we're hearing alot from Vic these days." 

"Like what?" I ask.

Apparently, he calls.  Seems occasionally the phone will ring and his name and cell phone number come up on the caller ID.  "And where is his cell phone?"  I ask.

"On his dresser, in his bedroom.  Its battery hasn't been recharged since he died."

Wow.

Also, they had an exchange student living there and one morning he goes into the kitchen to have breakfast and he sees Vic sitting at the table, as clearly as can be.

He comes to them in dreams, too.  His grandma had been saying that he must have gone to hell cuz he wasn't a Baptist, like her.  Well, he came to her in a dream and said, "Ha, ha, Grandma.  I beat you to heaven.  I got here first!"  Apparently, it was so real to his grandma that she is rethinking her position on her religion.

I just love stories like those.  I do believe that we are still out there after we die, just  are not accessible to the 'real world' most of the time.