This Week in Relocation

All the books are packed. Except for the cookbooks. I might still cook something, you never know. A mover has been hired. Negotiating electrical updates on the new house. New water heater installed here. Deck repair is waiting til Sunday when the weather is rumored to be more pleasant than the damp, rainy stuff we have been experiencing. I stopped at three different moving places yesterday looking for boxes specifically designed for framed things you hang on the wall. Because those things are no longer hanging on the walls and need to be packed. But had no luck. So I shall improvise boxes using cardboard and tape. Probably lots of tape. In other news, it is spring cleanup time here. Which coincides nicely with me cleaning out things I do not wish to take along, that aren't good enough to sell, but may be deemed worthy by someone driving by to be saved from the landfill. The rusty metal shelves, broken chairs, and cat-peed-upon area rugs have been claimed by curbside shoppers. Someone even took the boxes of VHS and cassette tapes. Why, I can't imagine. Unless they were hoping to find home-produced porn. All I have to say about that is one emphatic eeeeewwwwwwww!

Remembering Edna

Today is not a significant day, at least not to my knowledge, as far as my mother is concerned. But she is on my mind because a friend lost her mother yesterday morning, who was also named Edna. So I was looking for a picture of her to post. And I found four! Feast your eyes upon my teenage mom, all of these were taken during the late 1940's when she was in high school.

Riding pants and boots? No particular occasion is indicated. Maybe my love for dressing up in one costume or another comes directly from her.

Edna to the left and her sister Mamie to the right. They were best friends. Seeing how close they are here, it truly breaks my heart to know that they were estranged for nearly thirty years and reconciled only when their brother, Ken, died in 2002.

Doing her best Jackie Kennedy? Queen Elizabeth? I sure as hell didn't look this beautiful and regal when I was eighteen!

This is the only one that's dated, somewhat ambiguously, though. Grandma Esther's writing on the back says Edna Ruud -- Prom -- about 1948.

Mathematical Oddities

If you show up here frequently, you are likely aware that I enjoy fun little mathematical thingys. Like pi(e) day. The powers of two. The Fibonacci sequence. Imagine my delight this morning when I discovered that today is a square root day! Month, 4, day of month, 4, year (20)16. 4 x 4 = 16! It's a square root day! Celebrate appropriately. In other words, before the alcohol imbibing begins, ascertain whether you are a designated driver or a designated drinker. Though they are both DD's, they are very, very different. Better yet, stay home and celebrate. It's not like the bars are going to have drink specials for square root day. Unless you know of a nearby nerd bar. That's what I need! A friendly neighborhood nerd bar! Get on it, will you?

Tiny Rant

This is not an enormous, earth shattering deal. It's one of those duck nibbles of life. I'm on Facebook in order to keep in contact with friends and family. Not to buy stuff. Why do you think I use Chrome's Adblock feature? It effectively blocks commercial advertisers but is completely ineffective on my friends who use social media to sell their stuff. I don't mind the occasional post of friends selling personal items or sharing info on craft fairs or other events. But I currently  have a friend who has been peddling weight loss, nutritional aid, and detox wraps in her feed as well as attempting to recruit new devotees to her magical cause.  It's clearly a pyramid selling scheme. For what I consider totally bogus products. Another friend has just begun selling a fancy line of skin care. Meh. My advice to these friends? Start a page devoted to your sales endeavors. Encourage your friends to like and follow the page. Keep your business out of my friendly news feed. Don't make me do it for you.
  

Crying. Just a Little

I've been thinking about the chemistry of teardrops. And how the chemical makeup varies depending on the reason for shedding them. Which reminds me how all over the map I am emotionally over moving. While this move has been long considered and well thought out, the fact remains that this is closing the door on the most recent phase of my life. And leaving the house I have called home for nearly thirty years. I take with me a wealth of memories. And hope to maintain connection with some dearly-loved people who remain here. The tears that catch me at the most unexpected moments must contain a most interesting, varied formula. Because all at the same time I am happy, elated, nostalgic, sad, heavy as well as light-hearted. There is still another month before I leave this house, a couple more weeks after that before I leave the area, and I won't arrive in my new home in another state until the end of May. Until then, I am certain there will be new memories made. And a whole cocktail of tears brushed away.

Silly Cats

Years ago I had the privilege of serving as staff to Cleo and Cassie, mom and daughter cats. Apropos for April Fool's Day, Cassie would seemingly forget during grooming activities what she was doing. And sit with one leg up in the air. Eventually she would realize that there was no need to hail a cab or ask where the bathroom was and lower her leg. 

Cassie to the left and Cleo atop my trunk. Did someone just shout, look! something shiny!?

Laughing til it Hurts

For this Day of Fools, I present a long-ago photo of Martine and me. Martine appears slightly deer-in-the-headlights. I look as though I'm wetting my pants. I'm guessing the person holding the camera is our brother Cullen, who was likely doing something terribly inappropriate but funny, and we are reacting. I have always been easily amused. It's part of my charm.