Thunderstorm!

Brenda left just a little while ago and I fed the dogs, let them out, and then let them back in within a much smaller timeframe than usual as it was very dark and gloomy, much different from the mild, sunshine-full day we'd had so far.  Now the thunder, lightning, and rain have really started, so I'm glad they've come inside.

We didn't wind up playing the game.  We did go to the Indian restaurant Masala, over in Beaumont, to celebrate a belated birthday for me and something else that is a bit private, but let's say was a long time coming (really, and that's why the celebration was belated) but represents a very, very good turning point in one of our lives.

We stopped by our friend's house to say hello (Brenda had not seen him in quite a while), and then came back to play the game, but we wound up watching Batman: Gotham by Gaslight instead, which we have out from Netflix.  It was fun.

I'm working on laundry.  I've almost finished YKWIA's, and I have started on mine.  I don't think I'll get to the bedclothes today after all.  But I did the cat boxes, took out all the trash and recyclables, and cleaned the bathroom.  We knew it was going to rain later, so I didn't touch the tile, as it was just going to get muddy tonight.

It is so humid! YKWIA opened a couple of windows in the living room/study, but while there's a breeze it's not really making it in here, although the cat, satiated from his meal, is happily watching out the window.  I'm sweating and considering going into my room/the library to put the ceiling fans on. I've had quite a bit of caffeine today, so I'm not really sleepy or anything, just hot.

Okay, I should go check the dryer.  Have a good night.  I may write more, but for now I'm signing off.

I have been pretty busy lately

as I'm sure you can tell from my lack of posting. I've been staying up later but my evenings and the weekend have been pretty full of various errands, being with friends, or just trying to get some things accomplished, but I never got around to actually talking about them, I'm afraid. I actually missed a deadline for a job application with the Lexington Public Library the other day for a children's librarian at Northside yesterday because I was really tired late Sunday night when I got home, and I couldn't get myself out of bed early enough to work on it before work. So tonight, I got off work a little early (well, the original time I was supposed to work till, 4:30 pm), went to an appointment, and got out pretty quickly, by 5:35 (it was a 5:15 appointment, and I barely got to the car and there with just about three minutes to spare, so it worked out well). I was over in Beaumont for the appointment, and I needed to go to the credit union, and then I realised there is one in the area, so I didn't have to drive over to the university. Instead, I deposited a pay cheque at the credit union and then headed over to the Beaumont Branch of the Lexington Public Library to see what they may have. But I am a bit confused, as I see no new books at all, and I'm not sure where they keep them. I've found the regular books, the CDs, the 'Top Shelf' books, and the Holds, but no new books. I'll have to ask before I go. I'm sure it's glaringly obvious and I'm just not seeing it.

I am resisting the urge to go to another place down the street--Masala, the Indian restaurant I like very much. It's evening so I could order Peshwari naan (my favourite) and vegetable korma, which goes very well with it. But I have to admit, I do need to eat soon, and I am in the neighbourhood...perhaps I will at least check their dinner hours.

I think I'll download the recording from the game and maybe start on the notes--there was a lot of investigation this time, as we started a new adventure, this time a series of murders in Glasgow, Scotland. So I thought I should get an early start on the game notes.

Okay, I'll try to write later, but just in case, have a great evening.

A nice birthday

I went to bed for an hour's nap three hours ago. I was so comfortable I had a hard time getting back out, and I suppose I probably should just have stayed in, but I wanted to blog and maybe do a little classwork.

Today I:

• Read some more of Club Dead. I'm enjoying re-reading them. I'm at the main cliffhanger right now. (There's apparently an upcoming television series based on the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries called 'True Blood', but it's on HBO and so I wouldn't get to see it. It's being done by the creator of 'Six Feet Under'. It stars Anna Paquin (Rogue from the X-Men movies), which I can't quite picture as Sookie, but then, you never know, it's Hollywood. I wasn't aware she was a Canadian-born actress who was raised in New Zealand before coming to Los Angeles as a teenager. She is the second-youngest Oscar winner, having won Best Supporting Actress at age 11 for The Piano, and the first Canadian actress to win in that category). Don't you love trivia?
  
• Ate at India Garden. It was a wonderful buffet. The naan was very fresh and buttery. As always, I really enjoyed what I think is korma (potatoes in a curried sauce). The only glitch in the day was that some of that curry wound up on a white sweater, and I may or may not have ruined it, but that's what I get for wearing white to an Indian restaurant. I stopped by the house and changed.
  
• Did some errands with friends and helped them dose their animals with flea and heartworm medicine.
  
• Napped off some of lunch.
  
• Talked to my mom and grandmother over the phone. My mom's ordered a mattress (remember my Christmas present? That apparently fell through so she's getting a new one) from Sears to be delivered next Wednesday. I'll be working, but she'll meet them that day, since she has a key to my apartment. She and my grandmother are well. I asked her about the insurance card for the car (I need a new one). She'll get it to me. We're going to have to change insurance by June because of my stepbrother's DUI. He's in jail for 97 days because he didn't pay his find and as a wonder my stepfather told him he wouldn't bail him out this time. Go, John! Robert is in his 20s and needs to learn about consequences. He was almost paralysed in one accident and yet he still chose to drink and drive. He's just lucky no one was hurt.
  
• Dropped something back over at my friends' house.
  
• Stopped by the store to get my schedule. I'll be working 19 hours this coming week.
  
• Took a co-worker home.
  
• Stopped by Walgreens to get some glucose test strips, some macaroni and cheese, and deodorant.
  
• Came back home, made said macaroni and cheese, drank V-8, and blogged--lots of blogging.
  
• Went to take a small nap (when left to my own devices for a day I sometimes stay up for three or four hours at a time, nap for an hour, then start the cycle again, actually sleeping maybe four or five hours at night plus a few hours during the day). Apparently I was more tired than I thought.
  

Now I'm going to head back to bed. I had thought about going to the gym today, doing some cleaning, working on class, calling D (who's home recovering from a hysterectomy) and watching some 'Secrets of Isis' (my birthday present from last year) But there's just so much time in a day. I'll have to make time to do those things, at the beginning and end of the days coming up. Tomorrow it's back to work at both jobs. I'm working Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Wednesday at the store. Good night.

It's a beautiful day

Reading: Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

although I slept through some of it, given that that Saturday and Sunday nights I had four hours' worth of sleep each and last night I had a complete emotional purge and breakdown when some very deep psychological wounds were opened up and debrided. I think in the long run, I needed it. It let me know some of the things I have to change in my life. I was up pretty late with that, and overwrought, then came home and left my usual monthly libation to Hekate, praying I would find my way. I suppose it's good to approach a Goddess of madness when you're dealing with strong emotions, because afterwards I was calm and drained. As a result, today I overslept by over two hours and missed an appointment that unfortunately wasn't mine to miss (I was taking someone to theirs). So it wasn't a good beginning of the day.

I wound up doing my couple of hours of notes and then coming back home to rest, sleeping from 1 pm to about 5:30. It was nice to have an open window with the sun and a breeze streaming in, the forsythia outside blazing yellow. I went out to get some distilled water, quarters for laundry, and laundry detergent. As I was driving I noticed a big soap bubble drifting on the breeze, then another. Apparently someone was making bubbles, but there was no one in sight. There's no telling how far those bubbles made it. It was a cheering thought.

My clothes are drying now and then afterwards I'm going to head over to a friend's for awhile. In addition to laundry I also did a little organising. I'm trying to find two books. One is a collector's book for those state quarters, of which I have a few to put in. The other is Wizard for Hire, a compilation of the first three books of Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files series. I'd like to read that once I get through re-reading the three Sookie Stackhouse mysteries I own. But I can't find it anywhere...just its dust jacket. I have the second three now and I'd like to finish the first three, but I have to find it first. I actually ventured into my closets, which mainly contain comics and literature/general fiction/children's literature.

I'm off tomorrow (I've actually been off Monday and today, too) for my birthday and I'm thinking of going to the lunch buffet at India Garden, a new Indian restaurant near me. Afterwards maybe I'll sort through and straighten some things and see if I can find those books. I also need to get a haircut and renew my driver's licence soon.

I feel like tomorrow is a new year. I guess it is for me personally. I'll be forty-one. It's time for me to really embrace my age, to let go of the bad things about my childhood (which comprise most of it) and work on doing things I've dreamt about. I need to really get a sense of self, so that I can finally have some self-esteem and perhaps a relationship. I feel so empty sometimes. For years I was a mirror to anyone else who paid the slightest attention to me. I've worked very hard at being what they wanted me to be, to not living up to my own potential so that I would not surpass them, to turning off my brain and refusing to use my intelligence. It's left me with incredible depths of anger and resentment. I tapped into those last night, and they didn't so much scare me as sadden me. I am more than just anger. I am more than just neurons firing randomly to produce emotions. It's like inside I am a charred, twisted child afraid of the light, yet at the same time I have a luminous and good spirit. I need to heal the one and join them together. I haven't been living life very deeply, and I need to while there is still life to live.

Pakora + Vegetable Korma + Peshwari Naan = Great Culinary Goodness

We went to Masala tonight, the first time since August. They're my favourite Indian restaurant (and we have several good ones), I think because of the Peshwari Naan, which is sweet with ground up nuts like cashews. It's a good match to the Vegetable Korma, which has veggies in a cream sauce and nuts as well. Of course, Vegetable Pakora as appetizers are always wonderful. I didn't have room for Gulab Jamun for dessert. When I was there one time for my birthday they brought a Gulab Jamun ball out with a lit candle sticking out of it.

At some point I should check out the Fish Tikka, which has salmon in a sauce. Ah, Indian food is wonderful.

It was a good birthday

The weather was gorgeous, sunny and in the 70s. Tomorrow a line of storms is supposed to come in bringing a cold front that will probably mean some of those spring flowers, especially tulip trees, will be hit. But today was glorious, and I'm glad it was like that on my birthday.

I slept until 1:30 in the afternoon. I meant to get up two hours earlier, but slept through my alarm and phone calls on both phones. I think I really needed it. I normally don't get enough sleep, and I had worked a pretty long stretch last week. With our new borrowed assistant manager, it looks like I'll be working at the store just on Thursdays and Saturdays for awhile, which will hopefully give me a break. Last week I was just off on Sunday and Friday, for example. Sunday's the game of course, which is actually an all-day affair for me that mixes relaxation and work, and that left one day to do errands, etc. This week will be much better. I'm thinking of getting my hair cut tomorrow, for instance. I also need to get an oil change soon--I'm just now hitting 3,000 miles since the last one.

Then I went and picked up a friend and we did a few small errands and then went to Masala in Beaumont Centre (I'd planned on Tandoor, but it was clear across town from where we were, and they're owned by the same people). We each had enough food to feed a small army, with plenty to take home for tomorrow. I even managed to save peshwari nan for lunch tomorrow, and a samosa, too. I had appetizers that included pakora and samosas, aloo ghabi and we split one of my favourite dishes, vegetable korma,--it's vegetables in a sweet cream sauce with peanuts. I really wanted to get some gulab jamun, and when he found out it was my birthday, the waiter said he would bring me something, that turned out to be a gulab jamun ball with a birthday candle in it, sitting in kheer (Indian rice pudding). Here's their menu, which is great, since I can never remember the korma's name. It was all wonderful, and the servers were very attentive. I had planned to pick up the tab, but my friend did instead, insisting on treating me for my birthday. That was very sweet.

Afraid that I would go to sleep after such a large meal, instead of going home I went to Meijer and treated myself to a new pair of jeans and a blouse (both very reasonably priced). I also found a new facial scrub (mine is on its last dregs). It's a pineapple enzyme scrub from Alba (I've had good luck with their lotions). I tried it just now and it cleans without drying my face like my Neutrogena Rapid Clear did. It feels very soft, actually. Now we'll just have to see how it does with oil control. I'm definitely one of those combination skin girls.

Since then I've been relaxing to Loreena McKennit music, inhaling an orchid scented oil candle, and spending some time with Cerys, my dog. I did get sleepy and napped for awhile. Then I got up and went to get a friend from work, and now I'm blogging, although I'm going to go back to bed shortly. I also got a price slashed orchid while shopping for dog food that I'm going to try to coax back to bloom. I can never justify the expense for one in full bloom, but this was very cheap. I think it will have yellow/green and purple blooms--I compared it to others in the store. I know someone who grows orchids and is a member one of the local orchid societies (there are two, the Bluegrass Orchid Society and the Central Kentucky one. I'm not sure which he belongs to, or both). Anyway, I'm hoping he can give me tips on fertilizer, etc. I saw one at Meijer tonight that was so dark purple it was almost black. I love these flowers. I'd like to collect them. But I'm definitely going to see how I do with this Dendrobium first.

It's been a wonderful day, and it's made me feel very good about turning forty, after all. I mean, I have several friends and acquaintances who enrich my life every day. I have a wonderful albeit geriatric dog. I have reasonably good health and a steady if part-time job with full benefits. For once I'm actually running a little ahead financially (although that may go away come tax time). I'm very lucky, really, and I don't usually take the time to appreciate all the good things in my life. For those of you who do make it special, thank you. I know sometimes I'm insufferable, sometimes I'm way out there, and sometimes I'm just bordering on psycho, but you stick by me all the way. I appreciate that so much.