Spring break for the kids

We took a staycation to big ol' Seattle and acted like tourists for a couple days. Wilder brought a friend along and poor teenage Rose just had me. Funny thing... they had more fun at the small neighborhood park playing lavamonster and getting unseasonably wet in the international fountain at Seattle Center (I don't even know if it is still called that! My 70's roots are showing). We all had fun, I got enormously exhausted. Stayed in a perfect Seattle funky (historic!) hotel next to Seattle Center that was as quiet as my Poulsbo home. Actually quieter during frog season at my house. The Marqueen. If you are looking for cheap and funky... we had a kitchen, reading nook, and four people fit in our room great. We ate well, drove (fast) down the hills of Seattle (poor suspension!), talked to homeless people, went to uberexpensive EMP, took the monorail from Seattle Center to downtown.... some standard tourist stuff, some maybe not so much.

That is my son with the umbrella... prepared to enter the water spray. I can tell them "Don't get wet" but those words just disappear in the wind when they get near the challenge of a fountain.

Wall of Death. Have one in your city? One of the hidden gems under a bridge in Seattle. We also tracked down a troll squeezing a VW bug under a different bridge.
Kerry Park on Queen Anne hill is always a great place for a photo. Hopefully yours will not be a kinda dark, missing a flash photo.
Wow. Seattle traffic. It was insane. I freaked the kids out and said I was going to roll down my window and start asking people where they were from since there was so many more cars. (I didn't.)

Garage doors

Pics: This is the post in the best condition with the foam dug out. I have three garage doors, two which don't open. I got bids to replace them and one bidder noted "it doesn't appear anything is holding this whole wall up." Upon looking closer it appears someone had patched WITH FOAM major structural pieces and then painted it to match. Only when you poked it was it apparent there was nothing of substance, the paint was the toughest thing there.
So yesterday new handyman Erik came over and fixed them. He is a local, and me trying to find another local person for repairs since Javier is all the way in Seattle and always booked solid.
All the support posts holding the three garage doors were rotten and missing except one. I did not take a pic of the most dramatic because my camera went dead, but take this image times three and you get the picture. Erik said my building was being held up by the 70's steel rails from the garage doors. At least they were still making solid stuff in the 70's otherwise my garage would be slumping. I talked to him about converting the third garage into a studio but it not looking like a "former garage door closed off to make a room." To do that would not be a quick job and take some more concrete and structural work so I put that off. I still have a bathroom to fix.
More garage images here...

Change of focus - Mom's House

My mother bought a house 11 years ago so she would have someplace to call her own when she visited her grandkids. I know she would add "and her daughter" but I am a realist, and when her grandkids came on the scene they were quite the attention hogs. As it should be.
She is here about 3 months out of the year so liked having her little house. At about 900 square feet and built like a tank it is a solid, if petite, place. She is gearing up to sell it this spring and I recommended Javier to do painting before she got here from Michigan so she was not asphyxiated by fumes. I told him what she told me - which was the ceilings need painting. I unlocked the door, gave him some paint, and drove to Lowe's for more paint. When I returned he had me follow him around. "It looks like a little hole for a mouse back here... (behind her fridge) want me to patch that?" "I pulled off some of this where the hole was and there was a whole 18" paper hornet nest (in her shower)." Do you want me to paint over the green paint around the doors (incomplete paint job)" " Do you want me to attach her baseboards and sink the nailheads and paint?"
So a ceiling paint job turned into a Javier fixit couple of days. God bless that man. Did I tell you he charges me $150 a day? If he brings his cousin I pay $300. And a day is as long as it takes the job to be done?
Did I tell you I pay my plumber $150 an hour?

Plan of Attack - farmhouse

So say I had $10,000. And with it I could do any house project I wanted. (Which I guess is not that much considering what I am working on --it could disappear fast.)
Some options are to:
1. Paint the whole house and replace some siding (who is burrowing in my siding? Do I really want to know?)
2. Replace my three garage doors (two of which are broken) and the painted FOAM filled support beams-- part of the previous owners Walmart crafty repairs. God I love them for the humor aspect when I am not cranky about their workmanship. Foil. Foam. Empty paper towel rolls. Why buy it when you have perfectly good repair materials laying about the house, preferably from the garbage or burn pile?
3. Foundation work. Add support to the basement and stabilize the south wall which has a bit of a tilt. Should my house move like I live on the train tracks when youth are running rampant on the main floor? Granted they are boys, but still.
4. Move my fridge to the kitchen. Yeah, a novel concept... it is currently in the mud room. This job involves electricians, and they never come cheap.
5. Build out a two level studio/guest house into the loft and main floor of the garage. This might be a weeeee bit more than $10K. BUT it could be an income generator down the road.
6. Build a porch. I have always wanted a porch to sit on and narrate the neighborhood goings on. My house would be cuter with one, too.
7. Something else that I can't remember now.

A side note: I was doing house research this weekend and found the obit for a 92 year old woman who was born in my house. Makes me sad I found out about her from a news article about her passing. I would have liked to invite her over and visited.

Wacky weather - snow

It has been snowing since last evening. Granted it is very wet, but we do have a one inch blanket making everything white. Strange weather. The frogs went silent about 36 hours before the snow started. Its pretty! Of course, I got the spring garden fever a little early and cleaned out a major flower bed a week ago. Probably all those perennial and bulb starts I uncovered are frozen lumps of green mush now.

Bees

Skep plaque outside the Portland Museum of Art.   Bees/skeps images on architecture and in design were used to show industry/cooperation/teamwork.




 Found this while wandering last weekend. There was no identifying signage visible, but this was from a series of architectural plaques that looked like they came off a masonic hall - probably one that was torn down to make way for a new structure.  They were rough edged, sitting above the grass by a few inches, some it was clear what they were of... (bees, sun and moon) while others were more abstract (lodge emblem). They were alongside the sidewalk in a narrow elevated garden about four feet off the ground.  Context, people, context.  What does this have to do with Portland? With the art museum? What do these images mean? More crucial to the passerby... why are they here?  Sometimes I cannot turnoff my museum public education and outreach training, since I have seen the spark people get from having that knowledge, enthusiasm, sharing.  (Maybe not this skep info per se, I may be the only one that loves such stuff) 
   I did have a point to choosing this picture to post. I took it because I am going to bee training class for 5 months so I can get bees down the road at B.S. Farm.   Maybe then I will have to change the name from Blue Shoe to Bee Sting Farm. 

Getting geared up for college visits

My daughter is a bit of a ham. A smart ham, but a ham nonetheless. Univ. of Portland.

 Cricket at Oregon State. 

 Communing with the coyote sculpture at the Portland Art Museum.

 Our only officially led tour - Portland State University.  Rose was getting sick by this time so we cut out early. This was before she fell out of the chair when we were waiting for the chemistry dept. talk. She was fine, no one was there yet, but we both got the giggles.

Reed College.  Rose's favorite campus on this tour.

We spent the weekend touring Oregon's colleges.  Or more specifically, six on the west side of the state.  I didn't have much more stamina than that... having woke up Saturday morn with one whoppin' cold.  A friend asked :why drive down when you can do all the research online nowadays?  I explained... online will give you the physical details, attendance, location, price, student demographics, main focus and grant monies received.  Visiting will a) a very small, almost too quiet campus in a suburb of Portland (Lewis and Clark) b) everyone walking by you either swearing their heads off (Willamette) or smiling and saying "hi" (University of Portland) c) whether there are impromptu cricket games in the main square or informal study groups in the library on weekends (OSU), and what their libraries are like.   Rose and I were particularly drawn to these buildings... frequently the largest on campus, and a visible sign of what was/could be important to the school.  Rose would wander and check out the chemistry section and I would sit in the cushy chairs and try to breathe normally through my plugged nose.  Oh, and always grab the student produced newspapers.  These quick views we took were not an exhaustive viewing of any one college, but just to get the college hunt juices flowing.  Her cousins went to MIT and Stanford so she maybe is thinking a wee bit out of our price range.  We have a couple other states to visit, and at least a dozen schools.    

Escher inspired knitting

I have always been surrounded by friends who have multiple creative skills.  One is a master knitter and the other a prolific knitter so I have been the recipient of some stellar pieces that you can find on my feet, around my neck and on my hands.   My first meeting with the neurologist he asked if I knitted. Nope. Or played the piano. Nope. Anything that my two hands would have to do together so my left hand use would come back, that my brain would have to work to link the sides together.
After a couple months, I called up my knitter friends.  "I need to start knitting."
Them: "OK."  So we meet up once a week at a coffee shop to knit.
 My daughter Rose joined us since she was knitting in gradeschool with Geri (the master). Rose had a few requirements, being the cool teenager in the bunch.  We were not a club, but a gang. We are the K-Gang with a symbol of two crossed knitting needles as our "gang" sign.  Us adults get an enormous amount of mirth out of being corrected every time we say knitting club.  Rose said it definitely was not cool she was knitting on Sundays with a bunch of women. But secretly, I know she loves it.  These women are all her aunties... not related by blood, but I just about have a blood oath that if something happens to me they need to step in.
 Anyway, after my required scarf as a first project, Geri sent me on to do a hat.  Everyone told me DO NOT TWIST when doing to circle for the hat. Yeah, yeah, so I was careful.  See the above? It took me a while to figure out there is no magic I can do do untwist that.  The sad thing is that it took me 5 rip outs to get that far.  I would like you to take note of the lovely knitting.  I think the other club gang members were shaking their heads everytime they would find out I ripped it out yet again.  But I want to wear it, and I won't if it is a big lumpy mess with missing stitches.  Can we say p-e-r-f-e-c-t-i-o-n-i-s-m.  It does help with the retaining the brain.  Geez, in the beginning it was like reinventing the wheel, I could almost feel the sputtering and grinding in my head as I tried to get my fingers to make incremental moves between needle and yarn.  But it gets easier. I should have that hat done at the height of summer heat at this rate.

Spring frogs

Last night I called the kids outside in the dark.  My son does not like the dark, my daughter was in her pj's.  We stood there together listening to one lone frog call coming from the wetlands.  I don't know how they work that singing thing... are all the other ones just sitting in silence until all thousand start singing at the same time?  What is their signal? Because it really is "all at once".  So Feb. 13th is frog day for 2012.

Unrelated picture since I am lousy at frog hunting: This is little Chuck, who passed away this winter and was buried in the animal graveyard we acquired with the farmhouse.  I know he just looks like a rodent that my cat brings me when she thinks I am a failure as a hunter but he had a big personality, with an addiction to cheese.

Dining room paint job

Finished room color. SO exotic. SO unusual. Called cottage white. I am a color wimp.

My bay window in the dining room is showing signs of 'tilt'... they windows don't quite seal anymore. Sigh. Note my old emergency princess phone?  Supposedly us earthquake prone landlubbers need one because cell phones will not work when the big one hits -- they will be overwhelmed and calls won't go through. 

Amanda waiting for me to finish painting. I am somewhat messy about it.

I used to like painting but my teeny dining room cured that. With five doorways what seemed a two day job has taken ten. I did strip all the door hardware and refinish them... taking off YEARS of overpaint. And I did get to see one of the early paint colors - rather a blue green with the consistency of a milk paint... and I did get to curse 100 years of painting the trim without sanding which makes a big rumply paint mess ... gee, am I complaining?

Quiet on the homefront

It is not really quiet here but I have been laptop-less. I decided it had a bug so took it to a friend who does that for a living (computers). I am not on the computer near as much but thought I could do an update --since it is not still snowing here -- that is but a faraway dream.
I have been busy tracking down hay for the picky horses, "organizing", painting, cleaning, parenting, and washing my bird-bombed cars repeatedly.  I don't know what it is about the birds this year but somedays I feel I am living in the tropics from the cacophany above.  And they certainly make my cars look -- spotty. I am also waiting for my annual spring frogs to start up their singing. The first year I noticed it started exactly on Valentines Day (which I thought appropriate since they are singin' frog lovesongs) the next it was about a month later.  It goes on for months, which I don't mind, even though it is REALLY LOUD.
I have a Sequim story.  Sequim is a sleepy, former farm community(now retirement leaning) supposedly sunnier than the rest of the NW town on the water in Washington.  It is also known for its lavender fields... and I go there for berries every year.  When you google Sequim one thing they don't show is the haphazard development of this town, they choose the lovely farm fields and seashore, which is not what you experience when you first take the Sequim exit.  Anyway.... 
My friend and I went up there on Friday - me to find hay, she to visit since she used to live there.  There was also an estate sale I wanted to go to.  We hauled up there - about an hour away - and I bought a craftman tool storage unit (organizing!) and a giant antique marble table top (I don't know what for! Probably art...)  found hay and a great breakfast place.  I had the Buick which would not fit the tool storage, so drove up the next day with the minivan to pick it up.  They were having adopt-a-dog day at the local coop where I am a member and I met a teeny 8 lb canine (not as dumb as I thought ) and a huge 200lb. St. Bernard (I can't believe how big it was) and miraculously did not come home with a dog.  It is good there are people willing to foster all these pups and pay their medical bills.  End result : found hay and more projects to accomplish.

Courtesy Livia Comandini http://www.trekearth.com/members/lestans/

Snow is finally here!

We have been told every day we would get pummeled with tons of snow... but until this morning we had nothing.  It has been snowing since the wee hours and is lovely!  I will post pics as soon as I bundle up to go out and take some, however I got a kick out of this video (sans the Tijuana brass band soundtrack).  Here in the NW we kinda have a reputation of sucky snow driving.  (For full disclosure, this is on a hill).   Where most drivers fail is they drive the same in snow, as they do in rain or sun.  That means quick starts, quick stops, and if something worries them (snow on hill!) they go a slow and uneven speed, or sometimes stop. On a hill. With ice. With traffic, In the lane of traffic.  Which basically means they can't get up a hill.  It is all unimportant however... because we are going sledding!!!!!!

I wish a Javier for all of you...

Pic: My chicken coop- before it got the face and foundation lift--and before it got a new fence. 

My coop. My sad lovely little chicken coop.  Made from milled on-site lumber... a 2x4 is really 2" by 4".  Javier said it would be cheaper to fix this one than build anew.  And now, looking at what he has done... I agree.  If Javier ever retires, I am going to sell my house, since I will not be able to do all the funky maintenance that it seems to require!  I am just kidding, but truthfully, to find an honest, reliable, no BS, tells you when he doesn't know something, inexpensive handyman is a dream.  Can you believe someone used to live it this little house?  It's foundation is a thin rim of bricks that are shattered and broken, the wood floor (still solid) now resting on dirt. The windows are haphazardly cut through rotten siding, and three of the four corner posts are not touching the ground because they are rotten.  Fun, huh? 

Bathroom challenges

Bathtub replacement.. in thinking stage. As in, we need to figure out how to do it right.

A tight fit.

Crawl space work. Looks fun, no? This is an incomplete shot of the "as is" plumbing in the side attic.  Steve the plumber questioned whether the knob and tube wiring he found running next to and on this mess was live. Good lord I hope not. That is not on my to-do list! 

Plumbing detail we have to move.  Steve is going to move the whole works and make it accessible to the crawl space, so if there is a problem, we don't have to tear out our bathtub surround.  

Our new tub is exactly replacing our old one, albeit with the faucet on the other side.  See that wood lip on the left side...part of the tub frame ?  I did not want the drop in tub look with the marble or tile rim, I wanted a smooth non-fussy look on the side.  But I have to have a little lip, so need to find some sort of tile that will cover that, and look good on the exterior edge. There are lots of thin tiles, but they are usually not finished on the side.  In the back of my mind I am also concerned about weight on a non-reinforced floor. But hey, they put in a tub for 20 years that didn't go through the ceiling, why would mine? 

Back in the home repair saddle - upstairs bathroom

Picture: A very undone bathroom.  I have not figured out the configuration of the upstairs in its early days...this bathroom was added in the 80's, somewhat haphazardly. The venting is 'creative' and the plumbing serpentine and octopus-like. The tub goes in the unpainted floor area.  We added the wall to hold the tile. 

Should probably be getting into the real horse saddle because the horses are turning to jello... but all in good time. 
Javier, my reliable home repair fellow, just sent a text that he has time to work on my house.  He takes the ferry from Seattle, because I have yet found a truly trustworthy guy in Kitsap to do my dirty  handy work around the place so import my ol' reliable person.  He fits me in his schedule, since I always have things for him to do, and it seems he has time this week.   I am very sure there are competent people over here, I just have not found that "can do anything" fellow like Javier.
That means today I was running around changing my mind about tile for the bathroom, and how exactly to set the tub upstairs.  I need to focus and finish for good grief sake.
 I also have a well house with a failing roof, a chicken coop that is leaning, a garage that needs some lovin' (I just noticed the whole thing is tilting... the neighbor says we could straighten it out "in two weekends"), siding replacement/repair and the usual stupid house baseboards that need attaching.  There also seem to be random holes in places.  Oh, and painting.  Lots of painting.
But first... the bathroom.

Books and Authors

I have been to a bunch of book readings over the years.  I would get all excited when it was someone I would really like... but one thing I noticed is that frequently they were NOTHING LIKE their book personality.  Based on how they write I would assume they would be a certain way --since I enjoyed the tone of their books.  Ha.  Nope. I actually stopped going to readings because it would ruin the books for me.  Remember Robert Fulghum?  Everything I Needed to Know I Learned In Kindergarten?  It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It?  There was one story of his that had me snorting coffee out of my nose, so inspired by his humor I went to a reading. You know what he did?  He looked up from his book signing and had a conversation with my chest.  Eyes on the front of my shirt. (It should be noted I don't particularly wear tight or low clothing, and there was nothing written on my chest.) You know this man was a church leader of some sort?  That simple gesture on his part ruined his stories for me, which is so stupid, because he is the same person who wrote the stories.  I guess I just didn't think a 60+ man who writes funny stories would be such a dog.  That is my unrealistic expectations coming up against reality.  And I am sure he is a very nice grandfather... just with a bit of traditional sexism thrown in. 

Or when I went to a lecture by author Sue Hubbell.  A Country Year: this was my favorite book for many years.  Turns out she was a bit of a pretentious look-down-your- nose academic. The stories I thought were charming, were actually her barely tolerating the characters in her community, usually the ones with less, either money or education.  I described her as 'east coast", but I mean no offense to my east coast readers, it is just that she had an internalized class system which she talked as if she was above most other community members by sheer virtue of education.  This was when I was younger, and I thought the whole U.S. was like the Pacific NW... egalitarian, fiercely independent, book lovin' (that could have something to do with my mom being a librarian, I think I got a bit skewed in my perception.)   Excruciatingly naive on my part, I know. 
I have always been susceptible to moral judgements on people.  Good, bad, right, wrong. Major character flaw on my part.   There is music I won't listen to because a band member was accused of rape, or walked out on a wife and kids.
For the record, there has also been authors that impressed me way beyond their books.  Ursula K. LeGuin  filled a giant music hall with people, and she was worth it. Sherman Alexie is astounding. Quick witted, hilarious, bluntly direct.
This whole rant is leading somewhere.
1.  I have been cleaning out my books and clothes.  My aunt just sent me Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich.  It is a quick read, light entertainment, and ready for a new home.  Send me an email  that you want it and it is yours.  This is not a contest, basically the first person I hear from gets it. Even though I just ranted my head off about him, I also have two Robert Fulghum's.  He is gently funny... they are books representing a time. Send an email, I will drop one in the mail to you.
2. I always remember the above lessons about authors when reading blogs.  We blog writers may be totally different in person than represented by the written word.  My naval-gazing, every-little-thing, little view of the world is not something I talk about when you meet me. I have met a local blogger that is pretty widely read and she is nothing like her perky effervescent blog.  Blogs for some are marketing devices to make money, and they are marketing themselves.  For the record, I am so obviously not in it for the money.  You have to have non-offensive, non-opinionated, perky postings for that.  Some days I am just too damn cranky.

Easy Surgery

Friday I went in and out of the hospital for my tumor killin' event.  I was giddy before the procedure and giddy after, although the after was probably affected by all the drugs they were shooting in my IV.
The doctors said the after effects of my gamma ray treatment would be exhaustion, and my experience with exhaustion after a brain trauma is of course, the way I felt after the stroke.  Dang tired. Bone numbing exhaustion.  So I thought this would be like that without the body idiosyncracies, balance issues, and weakness. This is nothing like that-- I feel pretty normal with no exhaustion.  The only residual effect is a botox looking forhead from the local anaesthesia they used to attached the pins in my cranium.  The grossest part according to my friend who took me and actually watched.
I am now in a suite hotel with three tv's and a kitchen, king size bed, watching cable tv (a big deal since we don't have tv at my house, we watch everything on hulu) getting spoiled by friends.

In a year with a stroke and tumor, I feel very, very lucky.  That I seem to be coming out of these physical traumas relatively unscathed.  Sometimes you look for a explanations, reasons, a cause,  to understand.  But I am realizing sometimes there are none, this is just the way our lives can roll.  You can reach toward faith, family, religion to try to make you feel in control, like there is a reason or a master plan why funky stuff happens.  Whatever works for a person and makes them able to handle their fears and anxiety is a wonderful road to head down.  I headed down many avenues to find answers and I can't say there was any one solution for me.  But I learned a lot.

Funny during the season of family and friends I am bluntly reminded about what is important. I know this will make me a better friend, since I am seeing the best side of my loved ones.  I hope I never have to reciprocate what they have done, but at least now I know how to do it with grace and selflessness.  Maybe my blog is aptly named.

Buick - The new non-white car in our yard

Picture: Nighttime shot of the new old car.  Technically a pretty crappy shot, but you get the idea.

So after weeks of sporadic searching, I found my car.  Let's revisit my car goals.  I wanted a car as good as my minivan, with less than it's 150K. The parameters were pretty open for a variety of cars to fit.  Oh, and cheap.  I was looking at Mercedes (didn't like the repair costs and that it is recommended to take it to a german oriented repair shop which was an hour away from my house), Lexus, Honda and Toyota (in the NW, I don't know about where you live, but people love these cars and still charge alot for a car with 100K) and lastly, Buicks.  I ended up with a decked out Buick with 44K for $7500. I have bells and whistles on this car that seem a little over the top for a mid-level car (heated seats, seat memory, two tone leather, on and on).  My intent was to get a good transportation car with better gas mileage than the minivan, with money left over for a big trip with the kids.  It does not blend with the white truck, minivan, and horse trailer, but I can deal.
I got it!

Wilder's room - before and after

  OK so technically I am not totally done in this room as is evidenced by the tools still laying about... and the holes in the floor on the right (not by me, courtesy of the previous owners thorough need to drill holes through the walls and floor preferably in the middle of the room).  I am including before and after shots-- these simple things are richly satisfying to complete.  I have been working on the bathroom at the same time with help from the my amazing handyman Javier.  Photos to come... 

Before - You can see the vibrant green around the edges that used to be. There is a mystery cut-out to the left, and crawl  space access to the right.  The floor in this room was the original unfinished fir, which had always been covered.  I ended up painting it due to the condition and that it is my only layer of flooring for the upstairs.  I didn't want to sand and diminish it anymore than it already was.

Before - No base molding, unfinished wood.  This is when I was trying to figure out what color to paint... I am not such a decisive colorist!  I probably had seven colors on this wall to confuse me. 

Wilder's favorite color is green, and yes, it is a small room.  The desk on the left is to come out, I just need serious muscle to do it, so am waiting for all my friends menfolk to be around at the same time!

Christmas happenings

So it has been a whirlwind of activity around here. I am having gamma knife surgery to "kill" the tumor on the 16th of December, consequently feel the need to get everything done for Christmas before then. Plus, possibly buy that new (used) car I am looking for, and have Javier finish the upstairs bathroom, and take just about my whole closet of clothes to consignment or give away to friends, and finish Wilder's new room (so close!) and... remain calm.
Things I have learned and general updates:
1. How to knit. Technically, I knew this when I was a kid from my mom but Geri and I thought it would help my dexterity to do it again. She does amazing socks, that is my goal.
2. That my Ace hardware rocks. I was looking at tarps to cover my ever expanding manure piles (horses are full of poop) at Ace. They were $40 each. Yipes. One of the regulars stopped and ask what project I was working on (they all know my endless parade of house to-dos) and I told him I needed to cover my manure. He told me about his lumber tarps for FREE in the back and I was welcome to them. Deal of the century.
3. Did I tell you all three of my garage doors quit at the same time? Broken. One was gone when I bought the place, but really all three gone? Add to the to-do!
3. I moved all my stroke/tumor life over to a new blog http://mymorbidhead.blogspot.com/.. A Year of Living in my Head.

Fall on the farm

And to think I was going to chop this glowing red tree down... it gets a reprieve due to its brilliant fall color. When it gets to size, it is going to be similar to the monster looming over my house on the opposite side.
Do you love fall, too? The light gets that long angle that filters things differently... sometimes I just have to stop somewhere and look at the loveliness - it is only here for a short time before cold descends.

Meet only person who has ever hollered YAY about a head tumor

A week ago Rose had her first debate competition. I was a judge. It was crammed full of high schoolers from Washington, noisy, action-packed. I was there 12 hours and after two hours could not be in the building without sunglasses. It is as if my brain was screaming, and when I put sunglasses on it quieted down. Other judges non-stop conversations put me on edge also.
I went out to the car, and silence, a couple times to maintain. Sunday, I got bouts of vertigo. That was one of the symptoms of my pre-stroke so I was concerned. My usual behavior (pre-stroke) was to push onward, but on Sunday night I knew to take symptoms seriously and go to the hospital. I waited until I dropped off the kids at school on Monday and hopped on a ferry to my neurologists hospital. (Sidebar: If there was a true emergency, I would call 911. But not without alot of reservations. Last time I called was for a different stroke symptom (my low low bloodpressure skyrocketed to 200/120), they did an EKG in my driveway, the first thing they said to me was "Have I been drinking" and the fellow ACTUALLY BLUSHED when he had to put on the sticky heart things when I lifted my shirt. I think your medical professionals should have enough experience to know they are there to do a job, not get a date. They also said that the hospital would not do anything... I've been there, and agree.) Back to my Seattle hospital...
At my docs hospital I was whizzed through blood tests, x-rays and MRI in less than an hour. My neurologist was immediately contacted.
After a while, the emergency room doctor came in and said "I think we know why you are dizzy, you have a brain tumor." I kid you not, I yelled YAY! Because a tumor I (think) I can deal with. It is finite, there is a beginning and an end to it, and protocol of how to handle it. The stroke already has me dealing with updating my will and the unpredictability of life. I have no fear left for the tumor... I think it's been all used up on the stroke.
The tumor gives a valid reason I am having these stroke-like symptoms. It also shows the doctors I am not making this shit up. I don't know how patients can deal... with PT's, doctors, that hear symptom after symptom which is repetitive for them and normal... but first timer patients are traumatized . I have been on tenterhooks since having a stroke in July. Since this is the first time in my life my bevy of doctors did not look me in the eye and say "You will be fine," I take that to mean (note my usual exaggeration) "You are one step away from the grave." At no time in my zero to age 46 medical visits has a doctor not said I will be fine, now they cannot, because they don't know. The stroke has put a wrinkle in my long term lifespan, my projected end date has just moved closer according to insurance statistics. I don't like that, but as every single solitary person on this planet will face the same thing at some point, it is not something I can argue with. I am learning to look at things differently... a paradigm shift of sorts.
For the record, it is not in my brain, but in my head.... a common tumor, slow growing, usually benign, not the type to move into the lymphatic system. I will have to do something, either take it out or gamma knife it. I was somewhat overwhelmed with stroke knowledge... since I know nothing about them, now I am in a whole new territory. Ah well, at least I like learning new things.

Picture sharing...

The problem with me not finding my camera for a while is that then I share a mish-mash of unrelated photos with you. But then again, I am not sure I always relate the photos to what I am jabbering about.
It was Halloween, remember? The first Halloween I have not carved a pumpkin. I still have next year. We went to a corn maze in Snohomish... acres and acres in the shape of Washington (our state) with the walkways being all the highways and byways. Here is a aerial pic of it. I did not do it this year, but sat and people watched while the kids blazed through it. This pic shows the NW corner of our "state" that funny white thing in the background is the Peace Arch connecting us to Canada. The real one is more substantial, but not necessary bigger. I have a tale from this maze here. BTW,I don't know any of these people hanging around with the scarecrow, even if they kinda look like they are posing.
Below are not my cats. But they could be....
Every year at this maze they have a petting farm. Which includes the most popular farm creature, kittens. You can sign up to adopt them at the end of their 'season of loving'. I bet they are great cats because they are soooo socialized.
Lastly, here is the reason I want to learn to knit. This is a scarf a friend gave me inspired by a book. She got a how-to book that has you knit creations that are each based on a work of fiction. A genius idea. I can't remember why it is related to the book something about there are 29 steps in the book and on the scarf -- it is amazing due to her incredibly even knitting and its gently curling shape when you wear it. I love knowing knitters, because they are always knitting and giving away their results. Socks, scarves, gloves, bags, a sweater. Love it.
I have been quiet on the stroke-front. I have had some changes and some news, but honestly want to ignore I had a stroke (HA) and just be my normal awkward responsible quirky tall kind judgemental perfectionistic cranky laid-back open-minded self. I am tired of such a heightened awareness of the possibility of loss. And the fact that part of my brain is dead and liquifying as this blog is typed. (Sorry, I get macabre)
On the bright side, (there always is one, always, always) I think my blog is even more aptly named. Because as my doctors tell me in very serious voices, I am lucky. It is a lucky day. Or at least it was on July 27th. Technically, not having a stroke on July 27th would have been luckier, but we can't pick and choose our graces. Blessed Be and God Bless.

Painting project - Wilder's room

Our house has three rooms and a forced bathroom upstairs. I say forced because it was definitely added late... like in the 90's late.... and a creative mess of plumbed octopus arms supply water and drainage. Next to the bathroom at the very top of the stairs is a room that we have never used. The night I took possession of the house we yanked all the carpets and threw them out the window. There was so much wicked stuff in those carpets it sent my daughter into one whopping asthma attack and was our first foray into Kitsap emergency services and their strengths, or more apparent, weaknesses. But, as usual, I digress.
So this room. It had the carpet pulled, and then it sat. For three years. It became a dumping zone for all things extra. Or, if I had clutter about the house and people coming over I just put it in a bag, opened the room door, set the bag down and closed the door. (Should I be telling this story showcasing my ineptness at project completion or clutter control?) Wilder's current room is next to Rose's, but you have to walk through his to get to hers. I figured he needed his own privacy, so began to tackle the nightmare I made in the room at the top of the stairs.
How To Finish A Room:
1. Luckily, I have friends with mad organization skills and first we cleaned it out.
2. The floor was the original unfinished wood, which I am painting. (After much soul searching about refinishing vs. painting. The rest of the rooms upstairs are painted wood flooring so I might as well be consistent.)
3. As usual, the previously done finish work is uneven and haphazard... like there is base molding ON THE CEILING but none on the floor. I am going to put molding where it normally goes. Radical, I know.
4. My other friend Tina told me I needed to paint it. I argued, which is my way, it was a somewhat retroish teal green- very sixties farmhouse. She worked me hard, and I ended up repainting it. I am so glad she argued back. It took a week to pick the color, a radical manly yellowish green... which once it was on the wall immediately turned a bland neutral "off-white." I have mini (really really mini) photos on a blog page I will link to. To see the vibrant green the room used to be click here...
5. To do the finish molding.. I bought a new toy, which somewhat terrifies me. And got a 30 minute tutorial from Dan at Lowe's. It has been so long since I haven't been helped by a kid 25 years my junior at those stores that I really appreciated his words of "how not to lose a finger." I don't even know what it is called, but it will cut things quickly at an angle. I included a photo. I am a tool chicken. (But not afraid to learn! Ok, technically I am scared, but not enough to stop me from cranking that big puppy on and slicing me some base moulding...)

Some eating projects...

Rat cookies, calamari and one delectable strawberry thingie, these are some of the goodies my kids have been eating. Okay, the calamari freaked them out a bit. The last pic is me and Rose... me with my new haircut that chopped between 6-12"" off my hair. Tomorrow: some updates on home projects. (I finally found my camera again!)

The crazy thing I have been doing

I drive a minivan. A white, bland, reliable workhorse of a car that can carry bales of hay, bathroom vanities, saddles, kids, dogs and one day a cat that sneaked in. I bought it with 13k miles on it and was hoping to see it through to 200,000. I am at 147K and it is making a funny noises, which I already paid $1400 to the repair shop to fix. And it's going through oil a bit faster than it should.
So somehow I got to looking at used cars for sale online. I don't want to spend alot of money on this so am looking at older vehicles. Us Northwesterns have a penchant for the Subaru/Honda/Toyotas... so consequently they are hard to find a good deal on. Here is where you come in. I need your help. These cars are all the same price(or I can get them down to the same price)... which would you get?


2005 Honda Accord, 100K miles, one owner all the maintenance records.


1999 Mercedes, 40K miles, one owner. Literally owned by a little old lady, she and her sister drove around with me. Lila can't drive it anymore, she has the beginning of dementia. Super sweet ladies, the cleanest car ever, but Mercedes are $$$ to repair if things go wrong.


2002 Buick LeSabre, 50K, one owner. Cushy. Reliable.
Something I notice a bit hinky is all the cars are silver. Hmmmm. One thing I should add is a friend said I would have to dye my hair blond and get a bob cut if I bought the mercedes... she thinks I would be snobby. I told her... HAVE YOU SEEN MY CARS? I think to live with me the mercedes would be "well-loved" and have the fresh scent of dirt and dog. Just driving on my property puts mud in the car, so we can't put on too many airs. Hey just because it is a mercedes, doesn't mean it won't be hauling hay! I like the Buick because it is nondescript and reliable.
And yes, I am still working on Wilder's room and the upstairs bathroom....

An Unorganized Mind

This may be one of those things I try to blame on the stroke, but truly, I have always been this way. I have things to do. They swirl around in my mind in no particular order of importance... picking up storage shelving and toilet paper is right next to come up with a study plan for Wilder for French and visit colleges with Rose and replace my leaking house window and trimming my fingernails. When I was younger I think I loaded up with coffee and rapidly spooled through the list and got things done. I cannot operate like that anymore. Is it a blessing or a curse that all my friends have a organization gene I am missing? I have started making some beautiful lists. It is the only way I can operate. I think my house is a great assistance to healing. As in, "I can't keel over dead from a stroke, I still haven't attached the front door spring and no one knows where it is" or "the locks for the horse trailer stalls are downstairs in the paint bucket, no one would find that". Ah yes, the little details that keep me going. I am queuing up finishing the upstairs bathroom and Wilder's room... that is definitely keeping me lively. I still negotiate daily with fear (an uncommon feeling for me) anxiety (the uncontrollable consequence of facing mortality) and resigning myself to a life with drugs (statins, blood pressure, aspirin) I am not a person that is fond of pharmaceutical solutions. But I guess if it helps keep me clot-free, I will resign myself and participate.
OH, and if any of you need a soaking tub, I am giving it away for free on Craigslist!

Updating the to-do list 2011

I dug out my old to-do list, which "dug out" is relative considering it is located on my computer in Microsoft One-note. Looking it over I am always surprised about what I get done. See, I think us old house owners don't remember all the stuff we DO do, since there are always new projects in front of us clamoring for attention. Like my house siding is all of a sudden looking very sad. Like literally it is popping and cracking where just three months ago it was fine.
So on the 2012 to-do list it goes.
This is a moment to recognize that which has been accomplished.
1. Rebuilt complete horse fencing. Hired labor for post digging and fence pulling.
2. Finished downstairs bathroom. Hired, fired, hired labor for plumbing and electrical. (I really need to put pics up of the bathroom, it took me two years)
3. Built raised garden beds. My regular garden is too far away (the end of my property) so I built beds from composite wood next to my kitchen.
4. Painted one side of the barn. I paint one side a year, don't ask.
5 Demossed roof. Hired men who dressed in mountain climbing apparatus and scaled my steep roof to get the goo off.
6. Completed a major trim of wayward bushes. Laurel, snowball bush, quince, apple trees, they were all getting crazy and out of control. Hired someone to trim the 100 year old trees, I did the bushes standing in the bed of my truck (for height) with electric trimmers.
7. Planted several gardens - flower, vegetable and bee.
8. Dreamed about building a porch.
9. Dreamed about finishing the loft and one car area of my three car garage.
10. Bought the kids dad a car, his money my skills. (I love negotiating for cars , so friends and family have me buy their cars.)
11. Cleaned horse trailer. Alot harder than it sounds.
12. Bought pressure cooker. Canned jam. Processed 20 pounds of tomatoes.
13. Pulled carpet out of Wilder's soon to be room and painted floor.
14. Painted various rooms.
15. Repaired barn from bully horses and laid yards and yards of gravel on my road and in outside the horse barn to hinder the mud.
16. Since moving in three years ago I have replaced the stove, furnace, kitchen sink, one bathroom and in process on the second, fencing, some windows, and tore out all the wall to wall carpeting.

The Wonders of Craigslist - House History Found

Pictures: Top, the Blue Shoe Farm's property at the turn of the 20th century. Mid: Bernice thought this was my home... I am not so sure. Bottom: Property today. The drippy tree is an old old birch.

The last couple weeks I have been craigslisting my extra apples. Hundreds of apples from two hundred year old trees. I had Guy and his 80+ mom Bernice come over for some apples, told me what kind they were (Kings and Transparents) and Bernice asked if I lived in the Paulson house. I affirmed I did, and she said she has lived in the brothers 1903 house since 1930 and that our two properties were (originally) next to each other. Now there is a gravel pit, highway, housing development and industrial area between us. My property stayed fairly intact due to another family buying it and running a dairy, until large scale farming left our county in the 1980's. The dairy had a hard time when zoning changes came in, and when they sold a developer bought it and chopped up the land. I love these random unexpected stories about my house! Another craigslist genius moment.