busy busy busy
Lots of highs and lows.
I seem to be over my latest cold though I'm still congested and coughing--I think that's due to allergies, though, since I haven't taken Sudafed in over a week. Right now I have a clog in my throat which makes me want to cough and/or barf.
So, over the weekend I went to a regional church conference in Topeka. Our Fellowship was co-sponsoring it and since the choir was singing and dad paid my registration fee, I figured I should go though conferences aren't my "thing". I didn't go to the Friday night stuff, but joined my parents on Saturday. Mom and I attended a couple music workshops, choir practice, and a sing along with the woman (folk singer) who wrote the conference theme song (annzimmerman.com check her out; she also led one of the workshops on song writing at which I had a lot of fun but also wrote a very bad verse to "Froggie Went A Courting" because I suck at song/poem writing). I bought some books. Dad left that night so I stayed in mom's hotel room. Sunday morning we had more choir practice and the worship service during which the choir sang three numbers. Going from a 12-15 person choir to over 45 is amazing. I sang next to a woman who picked up the music two days before and I was so jealous how fast she caught on--months after starting to work on one piece I still struggled.
The whole conference was on social justice issues--there were visits to the Brown v. Board of Ed. site, march on the capital etc.--so the worship service dealt with John Brown and slavery, the Brown v. Board issue, and gay marriage issue. The Manhattan minister spoke on the latter. He's gay and married in California but in a lawsuit here in Kansas because our stupid governor signed an Order that forces gay married couples to file single State tax returns. The other parties in the suit, a lesbian couple from here, made a video in which they pointed out that if they could file a married return, they'd end up paying more state taxes! Stupid governor. Anyway, his reflection, very personal, nearly had me in tears, so naturally we had to sing right after that.
Afterwards, I drove mom home and then headed to my own house for lunch and dozing until Capt. America.
Car handled the highway really well even in the high winds on Sunday, though mostly it was two lane Highway 40. Driving to Topeka, especially downtown on a weekend, is like driving to a ghost town. You're in the middle of nowhere and then go around a curve and, boom, downtown. Hardly any cars on the road--it's I-70 for God's sake, where are the cars??? *snort*
Anyway, we got some rain on Sunday but after I got back into Lawrence, which was good because my car got horribly dusty in the parking lot at the Ramada Inn and just enough sprinkles on it on Saturday night to cake it on in spots.
Quite enjoyed Capt. America even though they didn't touch on Natasha's true history and age and relationship with the Winter Soldier, though there might have been a hint (easter egg?) when she mentioned working for the KGB. If she was born in 1984, she would have been five when the KGB went bye bye, and while she may have been young, that seems a bit much. There were some nice surprises I managed not to be spoiled for.
With the rain came bitter cold and snow. Yes, snow. I woke up Monday to about a 1/2 inch of snow on the deck. :P
Busy at work on Monday and then manicure (pearly blue polish) and then grocery shopping before going home to open the door from the garage to the laundry room to find it raining inside.
The upstairs front bathroom toilet tank cracked and flooded down into the utility room directly below it. There was about 1/2 inch of water on the floor and it was raining down through the light fixtures. I managed to get the groceries to the main level, peeled off my coat and turned off the toilet, then ran back downstairs to grab a plastic bowl to catch the water, some towels to mop it up, before grabbing buckets for the downstairs. The litter box was full of water, the extra litter bag was soaked, the fronts of the washer and dryer were wet etc. The clothes on top of the dryer were amazingly dry though the fluorescent light fixture that was dripping is partially over the dryer. The water had run about two feet into my old bedroom and bathroom; luckily that floor is all stone tile.
I dragged the shop vac from the basement and soaked up what I could. The bathroom upstairs has porcelain tile floor and it seemed okay. It didn't flood out onto the wood floor thankfully.
At some point I fed the cats and put away my groceries. Didn't eat until nearly 8:00. Such fun. The dripping stopped around 9:00 and the floor downstairs was dry by the next morning. I'm afraid to turn on the lights down there, though, since the water came out around the fixtures and along the upper sill of the door into the garage. At the end of the fluorescent light is a large plaster bubble but otherwise the ceiling doesn't look damaged. No plaster bits on the floor, no discoloration.
Thank God it didn't happen while I was gone on the weekend! I figure it was only going for a couple hours at the most.
I'll call a plumber next week to replace the toilet and assess any damage. It's a toilet only guests use and I never have guests so I'm not too fussed as long as the floor doesn't sink or the ceiling cave in. Sadly it's a 44 year old toilet, all porcelain with metal fixtures. Toilets these days come with plastic fixtures that break every five years. Those were original!
Home ownership, yeah.
Luckily I only got one tiny chip in my nail polish during the whole ordeal.
Let's see...Tuesday I watched both last week's SHIELD ep again and this week's. It's getting really good, though I've enjoyed it all along. Also, after a disastrous road trip to Minnesota, the Royals won their first game in Houston. And it's slowly warming up outside into the 60s today.
Choir practice tonight after which I'll have to drive my mom home since she had another vertigo treatment this morning and shouldn't drive for a day. Dad'll take her for the dinner beforehand, but has no reason to stay. So far the treatments aren't working, though today's was easier than last week's. She has one next Thursday and if it doesn't work, she's calling the doctor because obviously there's more wrong than just vertigo. She's got to get this fixed before we go to England or the trip could be a horror.
In happier news, it's apparently secretary's day (or whatever they call it now; I have no problem being called a secretary) and while boss hasn't remembered in like fifteen years (which is fine since I always forget boss day), new guy got me a yellow tulip plant. :) I also spent a good half hour trying and finally succeeding in getting his horrible Win Vista computer hooked up to the internet through our wifi and also keeping his phone on because at one point, only one of the two worked. *snort*
It's really sad when people rely on ME for tech help. Last night dad had me help him scan and attach a document to an email because, while he could scan, he would just save it wherever it would default to and then couldn't find it. I showed him how to change the save location. He also didn't know that when the browse box opened you could change the way you viewed it to show "details" and therefore get the date so he could confirm it was the right document.
He's been using a computer since 1983.
*head desk*
He also just ordered a Win 7 laptop due to the security issues with WinXP. I just know I'm going to have to set the whole thing up for him.
Well, I've been typing this sporadically for like three hours now. Need to get to court and file stuff. Need to write fic that's due Friday. Very busy weekend ahead with church auction (and baking cookies and bread for same) and Easter. I don't think the J2SPN big bang is gonna happen. 20000 words by May 1? Pretty sure that's a big no. Also I kind of stupidly signed up for Mating Games which runs for six weeks, two and a half of them during which I'll be in another country. *face palm* Let's hope I do have internet on the important days to post ficlets and vote.
Signups are open for the Derek/Stiles BB and I'm tempted to sign up as I have 2000 words of a forced mating fic already started that doesn't fit any prompts I have. It won't post until next December or January so plenty of time (hah!). I also have a pre-season 3B Peter/Stiles fic started that would fit for the TW BB if they run that again (as that's what it was for last year and didn't happen). I also hope to participate in Poly BB if they run that again this summer/fall. And I have two bingo cards to get finished before I go on vacay. Oh and there's some kind of rare slash pairing exchange starting over on DW.
Sheesh, overcommit yourself, stupid, and yet fail at the SPN BB. I'm just way more into TW.
Okay, I really, really have to stop typing this...
I seem to be over my latest cold though I'm still congested and coughing--I think that's due to allergies, though, since I haven't taken Sudafed in over a week. Right now I have a clog in my throat which makes me want to cough and/or barf.
So, over the weekend I went to a regional church conference in Topeka. Our Fellowship was co-sponsoring it and since the choir was singing and dad paid my registration fee, I figured I should go though conferences aren't my "thing". I didn't go to the Friday night stuff, but joined my parents on Saturday. Mom and I attended a couple music workshops, choir practice, and a sing along with the woman (folk singer) who wrote the conference theme song (annzimmerman.com check her out; she also led one of the workshops on song writing at which I had a lot of fun but also wrote a very bad verse to "Froggie Went A Courting" because I suck at song/poem writing). I bought some books. Dad left that night so I stayed in mom's hotel room. Sunday morning we had more choir practice and the worship service during which the choir sang three numbers. Going from a 12-15 person choir to over 45 is amazing. I sang next to a woman who picked up the music two days before and I was so jealous how fast she caught on--months after starting to work on one piece I still struggled.
The whole conference was on social justice issues--there were visits to the Brown v. Board of Ed. site, march on the capital etc.--so the worship service dealt with John Brown and slavery, the Brown v. Board issue, and gay marriage issue. The Manhattan minister spoke on the latter. He's gay and married in California but in a lawsuit here in Kansas because our stupid governor signed an Order that forces gay married couples to file single State tax returns. The other parties in the suit, a lesbian couple from here, made a video in which they pointed out that if they could file a married return, they'd end up paying more state taxes! Stupid governor. Anyway, his reflection, very personal, nearly had me in tears, so naturally we had to sing right after that.
Afterwards, I drove mom home and then headed to my own house for lunch and dozing until Capt. America.
Car handled the highway really well even in the high winds on Sunday, though mostly it was two lane Highway 40. Driving to Topeka, especially downtown on a weekend, is like driving to a ghost town. You're in the middle of nowhere and then go around a curve and, boom, downtown. Hardly any cars on the road--it's I-70 for God's sake, where are the cars??? *snort*
Anyway, we got some rain on Sunday but after I got back into Lawrence, which was good because my car got horribly dusty in the parking lot at the Ramada Inn and just enough sprinkles on it on Saturday night to cake it on in spots.
Quite enjoyed Capt. America even though they didn't touch on Natasha's true history and age and relationship with the Winter Soldier, though there might have been a hint (easter egg?) when she mentioned working for the KGB. If she was born in 1984, she would have been five when the KGB went bye bye, and while she may have been young, that seems a bit much. There were some nice surprises I managed not to be spoiled for.
With the rain came bitter cold and snow. Yes, snow. I woke up Monday to about a 1/2 inch of snow on the deck. :P
Busy at work on Monday and then manicure (pearly blue polish) and then grocery shopping before going home to open the door from the garage to the laundry room to find it raining inside.
The upstairs front bathroom toilet tank cracked and flooded down into the utility room directly below it. There was about 1/2 inch of water on the floor and it was raining down through the light fixtures. I managed to get the groceries to the main level, peeled off my coat and turned off the toilet, then ran back downstairs to grab a plastic bowl to catch the water, some towels to mop it up, before grabbing buckets for the downstairs. The litter box was full of water, the extra litter bag was soaked, the fronts of the washer and dryer were wet etc. The clothes on top of the dryer were amazingly dry though the fluorescent light fixture that was dripping is partially over the dryer. The water had run about two feet into my old bedroom and bathroom; luckily that floor is all stone tile.
I dragged the shop vac from the basement and soaked up what I could. The bathroom upstairs has porcelain tile floor and it seemed okay. It didn't flood out onto the wood floor thankfully.
At some point I fed the cats and put away my groceries. Didn't eat until nearly 8:00. Such fun. The dripping stopped around 9:00 and the floor downstairs was dry by the next morning. I'm afraid to turn on the lights down there, though, since the water came out around the fixtures and along the upper sill of the door into the garage. At the end of the fluorescent light is a large plaster bubble but otherwise the ceiling doesn't look damaged. No plaster bits on the floor, no discoloration.
Thank God it didn't happen while I was gone on the weekend! I figure it was only going for a couple hours at the most.
I'll call a plumber next week to replace the toilet and assess any damage. It's a toilet only guests use and I never have guests so I'm not too fussed as long as the floor doesn't sink or the ceiling cave in. Sadly it's a 44 year old toilet, all porcelain with metal fixtures. Toilets these days come with plastic fixtures that break every five years. Those were original!
Home ownership, yeah.
Luckily I only got one tiny chip in my nail polish during the whole ordeal.
Let's see...Tuesday I watched both last week's SHIELD ep again and this week's. It's getting really good, though I've enjoyed it all along. Also, after a disastrous road trip to Minnesota, the Royals won their first game in Houston. And it's slowly warming up outside into the 60s today.
Choir practice tonight after which I'll have to drive my mom home since she had another vertigo treatment this morning and shouldn't drive for a day. Dad'll take her for the dinner beforehand, but has no reason to stay. So far the treatments aren't working, though today's was easier than last week's. She has one next Thursday and if it doesn't work, she's calling the doctor because obviously there's more wrong than just vertigo. She's got to get this fixed before we go to England or the trip could be a horror.
In happier news, it's apparently secretary's day (or whatever they call it now; I have no problem being called a secretary) and while boss hasn't remembered in like fifteen years (which is fine since I always forget boss day), new guy got me a yellow tulip plant. :) I also spent a good half hour trying and finally succeeding in getting his horrible Win Vista computer hooked up to the internet through our wifi and also keeping his phone on because at one point, only one of the two worked. *snort*
It's really sad when people rely on ME for tech help. Last night dad had me help him scan and attach a document to an email because, while he could scan, he would just save it wherever it would default to and then couldn't find it. I showed him how to change the save location. He also didn't know that when the browse box opened you could change the way you viewed it to show "details" and therefore get the date so he could confirm it was the right document.
He's been using a computer since 1983.
*head desk*
He also just ordered a Win 7 laptop due to the security issues with WinXP. I just know I'm going to have to set the whole thing up for him.
Well, I've been typing this sporadically for like three hours now. Need to get to court and file stuff. Need to write fic that's due Friday. Very busy weekend ahead with church auction (and baking cookies and bread for same) and Easter. I don't think the J2SPN big bang is gonna happen. 20000 words by May 1? Pretty sure that's a big no. Also I kind of stupidly signed up for Mating Games which runs for six weeks, two and a half of them during which I'll be in another country. *face palm* Let's hope I do have internet on the important days to post ficlets and vote.
Signups are open for the Derek/Stiles BB and I'm tempted to sign up as I have 2000 words of a forced mating fic already started that doesn't fit any prompts I have. It won't post until next December or January so plenty of time (hah!). I also have a pre-season 3B Peter/Stiles fic started that would fit for the TW BB if they run that again (as that's what it was for last year and didn't happen). I also hope to participate in Poly BB if they run that again this summer/fall. And I have two bingo cards to get finished before I go on vacay. Oh and there's some kind of rare slash pairing exchange starting over on DW.
Sheesh, overcommit yourself, stupid, and yet fail at the SPN BB. I'm just way more into TW.
Okay, I really, really have to stop typing this...