Painting trees and driving stickshift...
I think my mood may finally be lifting, all a result of a Paint Nite, good friendship, and driving a stick shift.
We've been slowly recovering from the washing machine debacle, there have been a few hiccups. My uncle never called today, so we were in this state of do-we-go, no-don't-go when waiting for him to come pick up the dilapidated washer and dryer out of our back yard. Finally, we gallivanted to Lowe's for a new drip pan, plus some film to make the upstairs bathroom window into a privacy window. When we came home, the washer and dryer were gone, there was a box of grout on our stairs, and my uncle had never called. However, he came and got it, and now we have grout. I hadn't heard back about if I needed to grout tonight, but I was feeling antsy. After cleaning the tile again with water, and then making baking soda and water into a paste to remove the rust, I had had ENOUGH and needed to just get out of my house.
For MFNJ's birthday this year, I had bought us Paint Nite tickets, and it was for tonight. I headed over to her area of town, which is very close (and heartbreaking familiar) to the Starship and all those years I spent on the east side of Baltimore City. I parked, I complained a bit, then we loaded into her vehicle to head a bit south and ironically, around the corner from where I would catch the bus when coming from school.
We ate pizza and fabulous mac and cheese. She bought me several glasses of wine then drank too many drinks herself. She showed off her artistic training by making a bangin' tree, while my moon is excellent even if my tree needs a bit of a diet. I felt accomplished, but more happy that she was enjoying herself so much.
Then we had to drive home.
She drives a stick shift, and since it's considerably smaller than Onyx, we had already planned for me to drive home. I haven't driven stick shift since I let Kermit go five years ago. However, once you learn stick, it's really hard to ever unlearn it. So I jumped into her car after putting the seat ALL the way back, she told me where REVERSE was (she called it a "French reverse," which I have never encountered in all my years. Basically, you have to pull up on the gear knob, and then R is in the top left of the gearbox. I'm also used to it being down and to the right), I started the engine and off we went.
Couple of things:
1. I did not stall! YAY!
2. I think I had more fun driving stick than I did the actual painting.
It honestly all comes back to you. I drove back to Catonsville with a huge smile on my face and remembering all the times with Kermit. I have said multiple times that my next car will be a stick; I miss driving it so badly at times.
Fidget brought in my too-fat tree painting and even said he liked it enough that we could hang it! And I got to drive stick! And his brother-in-law got back to me and said that they could move the new washer and dryer on New Year's Day, which means I don't have to grout tonight. Now I can post this, hang out with Fidget on the couch while he plays some Batman whatever, and Sadiecat can sit on my lap and watch...
... indeed today has ended into an excellent day.
RIP Kermit. Never forget.
We've been slowly recovering from the washing machine debacle, there have been a few hiccups. My uncle never called today, so we were in this state of do-we-go, no-don't-go when waiting for him to come pick up the dilapidated washer and dryer out of our back yard. Finally, we gallivanted to Lowe's for a new drip pan, plus some film to make the upstairs bathroom window into a privacy window. When we came home, the washer and dryer were gone, there was a box of grout on our stairs, and my uncle had never called. However, he came and got it, and now we have grout. I hadn't heard back about if I needed to grout tonight, but I was feeling antsy. After cleaning the tile again with water, and then making baking soda and water into a paste to remove the rust, I had had ENOUGH and needed to just get out of my house.
For MFNJ's birthday this year, I had bought us Paint Nite tickets, and it was for tonight. I headed over to her area of town, which is very close (and heartbreaking familiar) to the Starship and all those years I spent on the east side of Baltimore City. I parked, I complained a bit, then we loaded into her vehicle to head a bit south and ironically, around the corner from where I would catch the bus when coming from school.
We ate pizza and fabulous mac and cheese. She bought me several glasses of wine then drank too many drinks herself. She showed off her artistic training by making a bangin' tree, while my moon is excellent even if my tree needs a bit of a diet. I felt accomplished, but more happy that she was enjoying herself so much.
Then we had to drive home.
She drives a stick shift, and since it's considerably smaller than Onyx, we had already planned for me to drive home. I haven't driven stick shift since I let Kermit go five years ago. However, once you learn stick, it's really hard to ever unlearn it. So I jumped into her car after putting the seat ALL the way back, she told me where REVERSE was (she called it a "French reverse," which I have never encountered in all my years. Basically, you have to pull up on the gear knob, and then R is in the top left of the gearbox. I'm also used to it being down and to the right), I started the engine and off we went.
Couple of things:
1. I did not stall! YAY!
2. I think I had more fun driving stick than I did the actual painting.
It honestly all comes back to you. I drove back to Catonsville with a huge smile on my face and remembering all the times with Kermit. I have said multiple times that my next car will be a stick; I miss driving it so badly at times.
Fidget brought in my too-fat tree painting and even said he liked it enough that we could hang it! And I got to drive stick! And his brother-in-law got back to me and said that they could move the new washer and dryer on New Year's Day, which means I don't have to grout tonight. Now I can post this, hang out with Fidget on the couch while he plays some Batman whatever, and Sadiecat can sit on my lap and watch...
... indeed today has ended into an excellent day.
RIP Kermit. Never forget.