amanda_land_v2

My first poem in a veeeeery long time. Please be kind. I do know that my poems are not to everyone's taste.

Spacemen

Tethered to the mothership
With separate umbilicals,
We tumble through
An absence so black it darkens our souls.

The impossible blue earth,
Slowly unwinds
Beneath the moon’s all-seeing eye.

Swimming gracelessly,
Intent fills the vacuum between us.
Our radios crackle with static
And we have to trust.
Despite the bulky suits and smoky visors,
Despite the protective armor,
We have to trust,
Taking each other at our bald,
Dispassionate, naked words.

I picked up my computer on Friday, but it has to go back to the doctor. They were supposed to fix the power jack, but if it is jostled at all, it loses the connection. It's so frustrating. Lee has been a darling about letting me use his computer, but there are several drawbacks to that.

One, I can't put the chair back/recline like on the couch and I can't sit up straight very long without pain so it makes it difficult.

Two: Lee doesn't have Word on his computer and many of my crochet, knitting, and jewelry patterns are in word so they don't open on his comp.

Also, Lee and I are both ... territorial about our computers, how they look and how they run. Heaven forbid something happens to his computer while I'm on it. There will be a stern look and long talking to. God help me.

My laptop is in the computer hospital. The power jack needed to be replaced and it had trouble recognizing the cd/dvd input. Turns out Windows Vista was corrupted. Of course, Vista was corrupted from the planning stage. It never really worked properly. They will have to wipe it clean and reinstall everything. Now my computer will come back home and not recognize me. All its memories will be wiped. *sob* It will wake up and say, "Are you my mommy?"

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Sunday, Lee and I went to the grocery store, and as we opened the trunk of the car to put away the groceries, I noticed that exposed wires ran across the entire rear of the trunk.  And the panels over the wheel wells were missing.  And the back panel was missing.  For a full minute, I stared in astonishment before realizing what had happened.

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I recently watched a couple of episodes of the reality series about kids in a prep school.  It doesn't actually show them in school, just gadding about, shopping and whatnot.  It made me realize that prep school kids are just like any other kids, except maybe much snobbier. 

From reading too many books (and watching various movies) about prep schools, I had an image of them as nefarious places filled with unspoken treachery.  Places of intense hazing, betrayal, murder, rape, and incest.  (You can thank the book "My Secret Friend" for that last one.)  But just like anywhere else, they are trying with all their might to play grown-up, putting on the clothes and airs they think are "adult" and racing toward a future that will flit by with an unforeseen speed.  

I won the Outworlders Spring Picnic Iron Chef Contest!  For the third time! (I've entered three and won three.)  Alan said I'm the "winningest" chef so far.  The secret ingredient was peanut butter and I made a peanut butter drink.  I found a recipe for something called Peanut Butter Punch and thought I would start with that as a base.  It was made with equal parts evaporated milk and water, vanilla, 3 tbsp. of peanut butter, and a dash of nutmeg.  And it sucked.  So I added some hershey's chocolate caramels into it and more peanut butter.  It started to taste better, but still wasn't right.  So I tried the original recipe with sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated milk and it was ridiculously sweet.  Finally, I poured the two together, and voila!  A tasty peanut butter caramel chocolate drink. 

The winner picks the next "secret" ingredient so I chose zucchini.  It will be fun trying to make a tasty desert with it!

I am a mediocre cook.  It either tastes awesome or awful with little in between.  But I love creative challenges.  Maybe that's why I win.

Here's how the contest works:  Outworlders has a spring and a fall picnic and for each one, we have an Iron Chef contest.  Due to limitations, an ingredient is chosen ahead of time, and we make dishes to bring to the picnic.  At the designated hour, there is judging and

Besides winning, I was happy to catch up with people I haven't seen for a while.  It was a lovely June day with a slight breeze.  The neighborhood children were scarce, but the shriek of the metal chains on the swings echoed in the warm air. 

A few days ago, I was in the kitchen chopping bok choy while Lee was outside doing yardwork.  The sound of the electric hedge trimmers abruptly stopped.  Moments later, Lee stomped into the house declaring, "The internet will be out until I return from Home Depot!"

LOL, it took him 3 hours to fix the cable he accidentally cut!  Poor Lee!

Sadly, once we put them to use, the condoms did NOT work out.  After two test runs, it made things ... err ... burn and ... err ... go numb.  Sigh.  So it's back to the annoying polyurethane condoms. 

Sigh.  I hate my body.

Ain't that a mouthful?  It is often shortened to POTS, which cracks me up.  Whenever I say POTS, it makes me feel like a stoner.  Yo man, I got some POTS here, LOL.  Yes, I finally have a diagnosis (and there may be other things as well!  Yuck, more tests).

So, what is it?  The super simplified answer is this: Basically, my autonomic nervous system is broken.  Blood isn't going where it needs to when I stand up or move around, or sometimes, even sitting or laying down.

POTS is a disorder characterized by a pulse rate that is too fast when the patient stands. Symptoms include rapid heartbeat, fainting, tremors, lightheadedness with prolonged standing, headache, chronic fatigue, chest pain, neuropathic pain, myofacial pain, impaired concentration, brain fog, and other nonspecific complaints.

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Why does "holiday" = "WWII" on the History Channel?  I just turned the television on and up pops the History Channel.  The network bug (that is the channel identifier) on the bottom right corner of the screen said "Happy Holidays from the History Channel" and was decorated with joyful holly.  While on screen, a man in a foxhole was screaming and screaming under an attack of enemy fire. 

( Warfare )

Today,  I was outside raking the leaves that had piled up knee-deep.  ( Killed with Kindness )

I'm so glad someone finally addressed this because I've been thinking about it myself.

http://current.com/items/89317322/target_women_cleaning.htm

Since I've been ill, I've taken up crocheting to be useful.  Here are a few things I've made.

  Potato Chip or Ruffle Scarf   Candy Cane!  ( See more... )

Ugh!  I went back on antibiotics and my white blood cells are staging a Monster Truck Rally in my body.  All out war is occurring and my body feels like it's ready to shut down.

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( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

What I Have Learned Today:

No matter how much you like reading and no matter how boring you find cleaning the bathroom, you should not try to clean the toilet while reading.

I'm talking about that strip-wax stuff.  Along with the other horrors of getting older, one must face the sheer terror of unwanted facial hair (made worse by being of Italian descent!). 

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I'm writing my first Fanfictions lately. I've written short stories and poetry before, but never tried my hand at using someone else's characters. Currently working on a Viewfinder fic and decided to try an Eyeshield 21.

Last night, I invited Kay, my mother-in-law, over for dinner, along with our neighbor, Teigha (minus their hubbies, since both husbands were out of town on Business). It was completely casual. I mentioned that I wanted to have a bowl of soup with some yummy, crusty French or Italian bread for dipping and watch Project Runway.

I had made 13-Bean Soup, soaking the beans overnight and boiling them with smoked turkey legs (Lee doesn't ham or beef). Then I added tomato sauce, onions, garlic, some chili powder, salt, cracked pepper, diced potatoes, and carrots. Overall, it took about four hours to cook, but DAMN, it was GOOD! I also made a Chocolate Pecan Pie--recipe courtesy of Paula Dean from the Food Network and that was yummy too, although I added just a touch too much chocolate by accident.

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Today I was merrily brushing my teeth when I suddenly and uncontrollably sneezed. That has never happened before and the result wasn't pretty. I tried to cover my mouth, but the toothbrush was in the way and I wound up stabbing myself in the gums instead. Then I had to clean toothpaste off of the computer screen. Yes, I was reading my email while brushing my teeth. Strange combination, but I hate staring into the mirror while brushing. It makes me feel narcissistic. Plus, it's boring.