Long Weekend...Sort Of...

Jeff's minor surgery is tomorrow, and I still have to get things ready for that, but I wanted to post about this past weekend.

What wouldn't be all that special to most people, I found exciting. I haven't been to very many farmer's markets, so I had a great time going to the one in Fort Smith. There weren't very many vendors out. I learned that some had gone home because the high winds kept blowing their canopies over. But I got to talk to a woman from one of the farms I discovered on Facebook, and she told me a bit about home grown eggs, which was pretty cool. We also talked about green tomatoes, and she told me who to talk to (another vendor) about them. We bought some home made doggy treats and some chocolate chip cookies from her. They were yummy, and Nikita loves the treats. :)

We also stopped at the table of another vendor I wanted to check out, where I bought two different kinds of lotion. One is a combination of lilac and lavender, and the other is made with citronella, catnip, black pepper, etc. It sounds weird, but it smells great! It's called Bug Be Gone, and I plan to get more soon.

We also got Eric a couple of gifts for his birthday: a jack for their car, and a gift card to the hair salon inside Walmart. He loved both gifts, so we're happy. :)

And we went into town to check out the closing sale at a candle shop I love but rarely bought from (because of their high prices). I bought two lilac jar candles and a six-pack of little tarts in a scent called Romance.

And today, I've spent a lot of time treating the house for fleas, doing laundry, and catching up online. We bought some flea spray for carpets and upholstery, and I started with our room and my studio. I got everything up off the floor that I could, then I sprayed the carpet real good. I closed off the rooms and took Nikita out to the dining room (actually, she was already there--when she saw me start spraying, she made a beeline for the front of the house). I fixed breakfast, did dishes, and got dinner started in the slow cooker.

After I was done, I opened windows in the bedroom and studio, then vacuumed them. I did the same for the hallway, living room, dining room, and kitchen, being careful to cover things up. While the floors were drying, I brought Nikita back to the studio.

Then after I vacuumed those rooms, I took Chloe out of "her" room, moved her food and water and all out to the kitchen, then treated that room and the guest room. I vacuumed again after a while, opening several windows to air everything out.

And I'm still doing laundry...

It's been a long day, but I'm glad I got so much accomplished! :)

Oh, and Jeff instructed me on how to wash Nikita, as he's been the one doing it. We have a special attachment in our shower, and he showed me how to use it. He was amazed at how well she did for me. No scratching or trying to get away from me or anything like that. She did great! :D And she got to have three of her new treats for being such a good girl all day. :) After her fur dried, I put some generic Frontline on her. I treated Chloe earlier, so they're both up to date on that.

I just hope we can knock these things down. They're driving me crazy! O_O

I think I hear Jeff in the shower, so I'd better get off here so we can relax for a little bit before bedtime.

Lois

Days 10 & 11 of Script Frenzy 2011:

I took Friday and Saturday off from writing. Friday ended up being mostly a reading day. Saturday was Jeff's only day off, and we spent part of it together, and part of it getting caught up on stuff (for me, it was Internet stuff, and for him, it was outdoor stuff).

Yesterday, it was a bit hard for me to get back into the swing of things. It was really cloudy, and I just didn't feel much like writing. However, once I sat down and started writing, the words began to flow, and I added 5 new pages to my screenplay! :D

This morning got off to a rocky start when I took Nikita for a walk. We got down pretty close to the goat yard, which is at the end of the road. We've gone by there many, many times, and it's never been a problem. This morning, though, was odd. We didn't even make it that far and she began making little raspy, growly barks. Then she slipped out of her collar and ran home. Now, if this had happened several months ago, I would have had no idea where she'd gone, and I was kind of concerned with the way she hightailed it back the way we came. But when I reached the house, she was waiting for me at the door. That in itself is a miracle! But what freaked her out? I can only begin to guess at what might have sent her running away like that. A snake? Coyotes? Foxes? I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I heard a bunch of dogs, but that's normal, as neighbors back behind us have several. Come to think of it, they were louder than usual. Maybe they got loose and were headed up our way, but if they did, I never saw them. I'm just glad she went straight to our door and waited!

So, once things settled down a little, and I readjusted her collar, we went back outside. We just stayed close to the house, and I still didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Go figure!

Once we were in for good, I came back to my studio and caught up online. Then I set to work on my screenplay. I read over the next section of my outline and went to work on the script. I added ten new pages today! :D

Wow! I am so on a roll! :) I made some simple adjustments to the outline, then closed it out. I uploaded my script into the ScriptFrenzy validator, and it shows that I've written 69 pages (although one of those is the cover page, so really, I'm at 68 pages).

I'll work on it more tomorrow, but now I'm about to grab some leftovers from last night's dinner, then I'll straighten up / organize my studio. After that, I need a shower, then I want to finish my knit sock. I'm so close to the end, and it's calling out for me to finish it! :P

Have a good one,

Lois

There's A Big Storm A'Comin'...

Actually, it's here...and I've started the day in rare form. I took Nikita out for her morning walk, and because of all the rain that's fallen on our clay soil, I slipped and fell in the mud! Surprisingly, I only had mud on my knees and a small splatter here and there on my jacket. I was on the grass, and I think that's what saved me from becoming a total mess! :P

Anyway, I cut our walk short because of that. She hasn't pooped yet today, so I'll have to take her out again soon. :-/

After that, I'm going to make today a 10K Day (or get as near to 10K as I can by three o'clock). I want to write. I need to write--even if it's only character journal entries (which I actually love writing). I'll likely turn off the Internet, the Weather Channel, my music--everything--until I'm done. I'm not going to open Tweet Deck, either, even though I've been trying (with extremely limited success) to get back to that. I'll check in later this evening if I'm able.

Depending on how the roads are tomorrow, I might have to babysit. On the other hand, if the roads are too bad, I'll have another writing day.

We shall see...

Lois

Road Trip!

Okay, the road trip is over, and has been for about two-and-a-half hours. ;) The drive to the airport was good...and dark for the first hour and a half to two hours. Once the sun came up, I began to feel a little more awake. Or maybe it was the McDonald's coffee that did the trick.

Anyway, I waited with my mom for about an hour and ten minutes, until someone came to help her board the plane.

I met up with Jeff downstairs, and we stopped off at the Starbuck's kiosk so I could get another coffee. I've had my fill of caffeine today, that's for sure! Now I'm drinking decaf. :)

On the way home, we stopped for lunch at Bonanza Steakhouse. I think we used to eat at this chain when my sister and I were little. Or maybe it was Ponderosa Steakhouse or some other steakhouse. I'm not exactly sure, but I think I should ask my dad when I talk to him again. Anyway, Jeff and I both got a combo with a steak and grilled shrimp, plus the food bar. I was good. I fixed myself a nice big salad and had only a little bit of potatoes. I ate half of my steak, ate three of the shrimps, then had dessert (and even that was limited). The salad filled me up! I didn't have room for much else. I have to say, though, that the food and the service were very good. I'm hoping to go back sometime.

But first, I want to try the Carrabbas in Rogers. On one of our first dates, Jeff and I went to the one in Baltimore, and the food and service were excellent! :D

Our very first date was Friendly's, but the closest ones are in...gasp!...Ohio!?!?

Anyway, our trip to the airport and back were good. As we got close to home, we were stopped on a nearby road and asked to detour, as there was a trailer being moved, and it was blocking the street just over the hill. No problem. We just went the back way.

When we got home, Jeff let Puppis (Nikita, Nikki, Nixie) out of the kennel, and she made like a mad dog and ran all around the house like the hyper pup she is! :P

And now we're just enjoying some nice quiet time at home...with some windows opened, believe it or not! It's 75° here right now!!!  *happy dance*  I'm not quite ready for warmer weather, but for today, it's nice. I'll take it! :)

Have a good one!

Lois

Happy January 5th!

Happy 11th Day of Christmas!!! :D (The 12 Days of Christmas go from Christmas until January 6.)

It's been a long time since I've posted a "real" post, I know. I just haven't been up to much that's noteworthy. But here's the lowdown, anyway:

1. I've been practicing my knitting. I've learned how to cable, but it doesn't always come out as it should. I need to get a lot more practice in before I'll be "experienced," but I can do a simple cable without too much trouble. I'm currently working on a scarf that will have a little bit of (simple) cabling in it. It looks great, so far. :)

Knit Sample - Click to view larger

2. I've begun the first (quick) edit of my screenplay. I got rid of a scene, and I'm thinking of changing most of the flashbacks to just mentions. My hero's background and connection to the antagonist will be revealed, but only in a few short sentences. I need to scale back this screenplay by at least 30 pages, so there are things that will definitely have to go.

3. I've got a folder full of photos I need to edit. I hope to have them all edited by this weekend so I can post them.

4. Our Christmas and New Year's celebrations were good. We went to the kids' apartment both times and had fun, then had quiet evenings at home afterward. (And I have to say that Eric makes a mean mocha. It was so good I couldn't stop at a small cup. I had to have two-and-a-half mugs full. As a result, I couldn't get to sleep until after midnight on New Year's! :P)

5. I finally undecorated the Christmas tree yesterday. Jeff took it down last night and cleaned up the pine needles. Now I can babysit Josiah in there where it's more child proofed. :)

6. Jeff ordered a new washing machine...the Samsung I've been wanting! :D It's supposed to be delivered tomorrow, but the store hasn't called us about it. Jeff may end up calling them after work if they don't call me by then. We did some laundry on Monday night with the hope that it would be our last night at the laundromat.

7. We bought several new fish and frogs from PetCo. We bought a neon tetra, a black neon tetra, a Chinese algae eater, two fancy guppies (both with blue on them) and two dwarf African frogs. So far, the neon and the guppies have died. :( The rest seem to be doing well, but we've frozen the three that died and we'll return them within thirty days. We're just waiting to see how the rest will do. I'm sure the frogs will survive. They seem really hardy. I'm more concerned with the black neon and the Chinese algae eater. The nice thing about having the algae eater is that he's really making headway on the algae in the aquarium. We had a ton, and he's cleaning it up nicely. :) I sure hope he survives!

8. I've ordered a subscription to Script Magazine and am eagerly awaiting my first issue. I also ordered a single issue of Knit Scene. I can't wait for that one, either. It looks like it has some great patterns in it. The one that caught my eye was a cardigan...a really nice green cardigan with deep pockets! :)

9. My mom's still here and doing well. She's heading back at the end of January. I don't think she's looking forward to going back to the land of snow (we don't have any here, but there's a bit of it back east), but I'm sure she'll be happy to be home. :)

10. I gave my desktop PC to Eric and Chelsey. They can do whatever they want with it. I don't want desktop PCs anymore. I'd rather stick with laptops. I'm hoping we'll get another laptop at some point. We'll see. I saw that Virgin Mobile has unlimited wireless, and it is unlimited--unless you watch lots of movies and TV online, which I don't--and I'm hoping we'll get that soon. We shall see...

11. The kids gave us a ham that Eric got as a bonus from work. They don't like ham. Well, I fixed it last night, and we gave the bone to Nikita. We left some meat on it, and she loved it! She hasn't actually finished it, but when she has it, she won't let anyone near it! :P She has a beef knuckle bone that we bought at Walmart, but she likes the ham bone much better.

12. We're going shopping tonight. We've got to pick up my mom's meds, plus a few other things. It's a very small list, thankfully, so we won't be going overboard. Good thing, too, since our bank account balance is lower than it's ever been! :/

13. I've got three or four seedlings I need to plant, too. One is a Wandering Jew. I'm not sure what the others are. I guess we'll find out! :P I "mowed" my grass yesterday, too--my grass in a planter. It was getting tall, so I had to trim it down. :)

And that's pretty much everything that's going on here. I haven't been posting because I haven't really had much to say, but hopefully, this weekend I'll post those pictures I mentioned.

I hope 2011 is kind to you all and that it's your best year ever!

Lois

Back to Work!

I haven't been on here in a long time, but I'm ready to try again. I've cut my work load back, so it should be much easier for me now.

 

Today, both Jeff and I are starting back to work. He is starting at the greenhouse (he was laid off for two months or so), and I'm resuming work on my writing (I took a longish break). 

 

I have ideas for a screenplay rewrite, and I've got to get them all down. My old idea, while I loved it, it just didn't seem like movie material. It seemed more like a novel in screenplay format. I'm going to change it, make it better...make it bigger. I can't really explain it better than that. I just need to get to work on it as soon as possible (as soon as I finish up online).

I've been working on a baby afghan. Here are three pictures:







I also knitted some hand warmers. I've tried knitting with double pointed needles before, but always got frustrated and quit. This time, it was fairly easy, for some reason. Here's a picture of one of the hand warmers:



Jeff and I went shopping for new shoes this week, too. He found some shoes for work, and I found some to replace the ones I've been wearing. Here's a photo:



I've finally taken a photo of the other Fittonia bowl terrarium I planted. Here's a picture of that:



And the last picture of the day is a funny one I took of Jeff and Niki:



So, this past week, I've done a lot of crocheting, a little reading (I've resumed The Faery Reel), and a bit of shopping. For the most part, it's been a pretty good week.

Oh! But our Mollies died. :( We're going to give it another week or two before we get anymore. One of the plants doesn't look too hot, either. Jeff thinks it has something to do with the nitrites. He keeps testing the water quality every few days. Yesterday, he added some kind of stuff to help regulate the nitrites, and hopefully it will work. Two of the Molly fry died, and he put the last one in the aquarium, but the Betta found it and ate it. At least she's doing well! :P So, all we have left are the frogs and the Betta, and they all seem fine. The Ghost Shrimp mostly disappeared, but we saw one dead on the bottom (Jeff removed it immediately), and we saw the tail of one up against the filter's intake. I think it's safe to say that they all died, as well. Maybe they'll do better next time...

Lois

Busy Day, So Far

I'm very late today because Jeff and I were going through stuff. I've gotten rid of a bunch of videos and DVDs, books, and CDs. I've gone through my art stuff and gotten rid of stuff I'll never use. I've been busy, but not ruthless enough. I need to go through the stuff again...probably Monday, Jeff's next day off. We're slowly accumulating a ton of stuff for a yard sale. What doesn't sell, we'll donate to the Salvation Army. The books, though, I'll be taking to Coffee & A Good Book to trade them in for credit.

Niki had a rough night last night. She got sick around 2:00. Eric cleaned and disinfected the kennel, and he came and told Jeff what happened. Jeff took her and put her out on the chain, in case she needed to do more. Today, she'll be getting the last dosage of de-worming medicine. I hope she can handle it better.

Our shopping trip went well, for the most part. It looks like we'll be back to eating the way we used to...before I started trying to eat healthy (although we did get some salmon, veggies and dry beans). I can't wait until Jeff gets another job...or at least until we hear something about the possible job in Michigan! He's planning on working on his resume later (right now, he's mowing the lawn).

Anyway, I think now I'm going to try to organize all the stuff in our room. It's really cluttered right now.

Have a great weekend!

Lois

 

Today, I Write!

I feel like writing today. I feel like writing a lot! I haven't worked on my stories in two or three days, and I've got ideas for my new character, Harshad, so I want to get on it and write them down. I also want to work on my Immortal Watchdogs: Kalaghata outline, my screenplay, and anything else that inspires me today (may only be Harshad who inspires me at the moment, but you never know). I still need to brainstorm the rest of the storm story, too.

I also want to draw, but probably won't get to it today. I'll likely wait until tomorrow for that.

The party went well, for the most part. There was a little drama, but I didn't experience it first hand, so don't know exactly what was said or done. I have piccies from the party, though! :D I just need to get them off the camera, edit, then upload them. I'll do that some time this week.

We have our aquarium now! :D The aquariums would be more accurate. It's a stand that has two 55-gallon aquariums, but we're only filling one with water and fish. I'm not sure what, if anything, we'll do with the bottom one. I'd like to have frogs, but we'll see. We still need to set up the filters and everything before we can get any fish or other animals.

Also, Cliff helped me get some Genealogy software onto my computer so I can see just about everything he has in the Eighmy family tree. It's very comprehensive and very cool! :) I need to get some pictures to send him that can go into some of the files.

Jeff and I need to do our grocery shopping tonight. I have to make a list.

It's been very hot and humid here. I'm not sure how hot it was yesterday, but the air conditioner couldn't keep up. Today, it's supposed to get up around 91°. It's already 85° and feels like 93°. The humidity and dew point are very high. I'm glad I'm back in the bedroom today. It seems to be the coolest room in the house.

Niki did well yesterday. I moved the kennel into our room (surprisingly, I was able to make room for it and have a small fan aimed at her) and she stayed in it for most of the afternoon. We took her out a few times throughout the day so she could go potty, and we made sure that only people she knew would use our bathroom to minimize her watchdogging, so the day went fairly smoothly in that regard. :) She also spent the night in our room (in the kennel). Today, she's loose in the bedroom. The kennel is folded up and leaning against our dresser because three of Eric's friends spent the night in our living room and I don't want to disturb them.

Anyway, I've got a lot I want to accomplish today, so I'd better hurry up so I can get to it!

Have a great Sunday!

Lois

Getting Ready for Tomorrow's Party...Sort Of

Chelsey and I hung the decorations yesterday afternoon, with a little help from Jeff and the peanut gallery Eric. I'll try to get some pictures in a little while. Don't know when I'll get around to posting them, though...likely sometime after the actual party.

Please pray that the potential drama will be nonexistent. We want everyone who comes to remember it's Josiah's birthday party, not a time to bicker and fight or put each other down!

I've washed a load of laundry. It's the curtains to our bedroom, plus our sheets and a few other things. I'll need to fluff dry them. They've been sitting for a while.

Chelsey and I moved the bookcases into the guest room, then moved the books and everything on them. I rearranged them and brought my decorating books into the bedroom. It still looks a bit cluttered in here, but not quite claustrophobic. I still like my space, even though it's a small space.

I made a half gallon of Boston Iced Tea. It's really yummy! :P

Niki's lying at my feet, napping. She can be really cute and well-behaved sometimes.

Jeff's been under the house, working. His days off aren't really days off. *sigh* Well, tomorrow will have to be a day off for him. It's Josiah's first birthday party. ;) It's 95° right now...and feels like 104°! The bedroom is nice and cool, though. :D I hope Jeff can get out from under the house and come in to take a shower soon!

I don't think I'll get to do any writing today, but if I can make the time, I will. First, I have to finish catching up online and get the laundry out of the dryer.

Have a great afternoon and evening...and weekend!

Lois

More Photos!

We've been having storms here, but the sun came out briefly. Needless to say, I snatched up my camera and snapped these:

I rarely get good rainbow pics. I think the last time I got any was when we still lived up in Joplin, Missouri, so I'm really happy Icaught this one. :)

I let Niki out without her leash or collar this morning, per Jeff's suggestion. He swore she wouldn't want to stay out in the rain for very long, but I think she was out there for a good 45 minutes. She was mostly dry by the time I took this photo:




I took some more photos of the Jacqueline Du Pre roses yesterday. They're a lot like the ones from the day before, except there was more sunlight.








Jeff's working seven days a week now, and this will continue into June. *blah* He doesn't mind, for some reason, but I have the sneaking suspicion that it's illegal...that they're exploiting loopholes. I don't want to cause a raucous, though, since he doesn't mind...and it could mean his job...although, now that I think of it, that could be an interesting way of getting us moved back to the Northeast! :P

I've moved a bunch of my office stuff into the living room, since I've been spending a lot of time in here. I think my mom will appreciate it, too, since I'll be out here while she's visiting, instead of being cooped up in the back for most of the day. ;)



This was the first one I took. You can see part of a chair to the extreme left of the photo. That's sitting at the card table,where my mom will do her puzzles while she's here. :)


Those garbage bags under the table are full of clothing for the Salvation Army. I'm really hoping we'll take them beforemy mom comes.

Since today is Saturday, we're planning on doing our grocery shopping tonight. Jeff will call around noon to see if the kids are feeling well enough to take me to the store earlier in the day, but I doubt they will feel up to it. They're still in bed, so I can't really ask. Hopefully, they'll feel well enough, but we'll see.

For those of you who are wondering (which is probably all of you), they had their wisdom teeth pulled on Monday, and they're still feeling as lousy as they did the first day. :(

Edit: Jeff just called and he thinks he'll get out of work fairly early, so he said to plan on shopping tonight, instead. If he can live with that, so can I. :)

Hope you have a great day!

Lois

Photos!

I went out to walk Niki this morning, and on the way back, I noticed that it had several new blooms on it, so I went back out and removed the spent ones, then snipped off a couple of the newer ones to bring in. I put them in my little bud vase and set it in the living room window.

Oh, I also had to slip in a couple photos of Niki. ;)

All photos copyright © by Lois Eighmy

That last one isn't very good, but it's the best one I could get. Niki was moving around a lot and didn't seem to want to stop. ;)