Monthly Archives: May 2008

I have not been able to find a desk I like (for a reasonable price, anyway) since my last desk burned. Desks are so important, if they are organized well, they have everything you could possibly need at arm’s length, with the exception of maybe an icebox!

So, what is up with the Drawerless Desk? Everywhere I looked, in stores, catalogs and online, the majority of desks available today don’t have any drawers! At what point did we suddenly cease to need a place to hide pens, scissors, erasers and such? Drawers are the unparalleled masters or organization. Within a drawer, so many tiny, but very useful and important items can be discreetly kept. Yet, someone, somewhere, has seemingly declared drawers anathema!

Yes, I remember the environmental fantasy back in the 1980’s about the “Paperless Office”. Everyone was so excited about computers replacing the timeless need for pen, paper and ink. But the paperless office has not come to pass. I sometimes wonder if we don’t waste more paper now, since we need only press a few keys or make a few mouse clicks to change a document, then print it again to see if it looks any better.

But, I digress. I finally found a desk that has everything I love: drawers, cubby holes, a bulletin board, and lots of room to sprawl out on the top. It even has these neat little filing slots, where I can file all sorts of genealogy records and notes, instead of stacking them haphazardly at the edge of my desk. I don’t think I’ve been this comfy with a desk since The Fire.

I hate spiders. I can’t even begin to describe how much. When I see one, I break out in a cold sweat, and my ‘fight or flight’ reflex kicks in to high gear. Gaylon loves to tell the story about how I was driving down the highway one day, and a spider dropped down in front of me from the roof of my car. Apparently, I yelled “Grab the wheel!” and dove into the back seat. Personally, I do not remember this incident very clearly, but based on my irrational and insane fear of these creatures, I really can’t deny it. It’s probably all true.

While Kendall is not afraid of them, he does prefer them dead. Alex shares my phobia, only his reaction is far more effective than mine: he sets out to kill them, one and all. Which leads me to tonight’s story. We were out on the front porch, enjoying the warm evening, when I spotted one of the dreaded beasts at the foot of one of our stone pillars. I yelled for Kendall to kill it, since he was the only one wearing shoes. Then I jumped back to hide behind Alex. So, Kendall walked over and stomped on it. Which set off a horrifying chain of events. The giant spider just walked off, but in the process, a black cloud of thousands of tiny spiders erupted in a hideous wave, all over the porch. Alex and I nearly killed each other trying to jump into the house. I heard my mother say something that sounded very much like a cry for divine intervention. Even Kendall jumped back.

Then, Alex swung into motion. He ran to the garage, grabbed the WD40, and headed back out to the porch. I was right behind him, in search of the bug spray, which, predictably, was nowhere to be found. By the time Mom and I did find it and got back out to the porch, Kendall had taken the WD40 from Alex, combined it with a lighter, and torched the evil invaders. Sadly, I didn’t get to witness the great wall of flame that engulfed the thousands of tiny monsters. Now we have scorch marks on our porch, and hundreds of little black scorched dots. That’s okay with me.

So, I was thinking: while it is well and good to have bug spray, and regularly scheduled visits from the Terminix guy, there is nothing that can compare to the instant effectiveness and gratification of two teenage boys, an aerosol can and a Bic lighter!! (Read: instant flame-thrower!!) I am always grateful that God blessed with me boys, but I am especially grateful tonight. Alex commented later that if we have a superhero called ‘Spiderman’, then we really need ‘Raidman’, too. I couldn’t agree more! But I have to say, I think Kendall and Alex were close enough to being superheroes tonight.

Tonight is Game 7 against the New Orleans Hornets. We’re 3-3. We have not been playing our best, so I’m thinking anything could happen! Especially since we will be in New Orleans. However, my consolation prize is that if the Spurs don’t do the job tonight, the Lakers will in the next series. It would be cool to see the Lakers and the Celtics face off in the Finals. . . .

Bright-eyed Pippin
Originally uploaded by Morningtower

Well, I am finally a successful “Mama Kitty”! I have to give a lot of credit to my friend, Martha Jean, who gave me lots of support and advice along the way. Friday, I started working on switching Pippin over from the bottle to ‘real’ kitten food. At first, he didn’t want any part of this plan, and would totally turn his nose up at the food I was offering. I ended up having to smear some of it into his paws, which he then licked off. That got the taste of it to him, and from there the rest was a lot easier. I did have to hold him and the bowl for the first couple of meals, because Pippin is apparently a creature of habit and comfort, but he now has no trouble eating from his bowl on the floor. Now, he eats four full meals a day, from his little kitty bowl.

So the Olympics are going to be in China, and that sounds wonderful to me. My great aunt got to visit China once, and she loved it. We have some friends who adopted a baby girl from China earlier this year, and she is an absolute doll! I’ve always thought it sounded like a really neat place to visit. But, based on the information I received today, I’m thinking anyone who goes, might want to consider smuggling in their own sack lunch!! Click on the link below to see what I’m talking about!

“Beijing Fast Food (PDF)”

Yum. . .

Faith and I decided to treat ourselves today and go get pedicures. We always go to the same salon, which is owned and operated by some very sweet Vietnamese people. The only problem is, we can’t always understand what they are saying! So, after we had gotten our pedicures, complete with hand-painted oriental-looking flowers on our big toes, the lady asked me if I wanted a manicure, too. I told her I had a nail that was cracked, and asked if she could just fix that. Well, next thing I knew, I was getting a complete manicure! She asked me if I cooked, which I thought was an odd question, but I told her that yes, I do, I love to cook. Then she got right to work.

When it came time to apply the nail polish, she asked me if I wanted color, and I replied that I would, and I’d like the same color she’d used on my toenails. Then she told me “Oh, no. You no geh no coloh! You cook, you chip nails. You wait til you fohty. Then you geh coloh!” So I ended up with a lovely clear coat. But how could I argue with that sort of logic? Especially since I’m 41!