Reviews, Recipes, and Random Slices of Life

Less than two weeks now until the end of school and the onslaught of summer vacation. Phil says I always act like it's this big scary thing to have the kids home and like I won't be able to do anything else for the whole time--and he's right. I do act that way. BECAUSE IT'S TRUE!

Kidding. A little. But I am trying really hard to finish writing the rough draft of Desolation Station before summer hits, and I don't expect to get a whole lot done after that.

Yesterday was my birthday. I didn't go collecting birthday freebies or do much this year, mostly because I was still recovering from Saturday's 5K. It's not as much fun going places when you're using a cane and prone to unpredictable spikes of pain in your knees. But Phil got a fancy "tuxedo" cake, and steaks, and corn on the cob. We had a very tasty dinner--the steaks were *so good*. Grilled perfectly, just short of well-done but still juicy. Penzey's Chicago Steak Seasoning is delicious. The kids got me a candle (Theia) and an "Ignore the Mess" mug (Cassius--very funny, kiddo!). Phil plans on taking me to a home store to buy a new lamp for the bedroom. And then after the kids were theoretically in bed, we watched Inside Man.

The 5K was on Saturday! Theia's been doing Girls on the Run this year, an afterschool program that culminates in running a 5K at the State Fair Grounds with approximately 3,000 other Girls on the Run, their running buddies, and their coaches. Theia needed a running buddy, and it was very unclear if I would be physically capable of this. Phil tried running. Once. And immediately got shin splints that ruled this out. Because of his recent work trip to China and how busy he's been at work with other projects, he didn't have the time to try and scale up training. I've been doing a Couch-to-5K program this spring. I tried this program last year, too, and it went really badly. I was basically always crippled after trying it. This year I was smarter and did a lot of physical therapy work before beginning running. I have really bad knees thanks to post-traumatic osteoarthritis caused by blowing out my ACLs and the surgery that replaced them.

And now I need to rest a bit and do more of my physical therapy exercises to recover.

(time passes)

So now it's one week until the end of school. ::runs around screaming with panic--except I can't run right now:: I am still getting lots of gnomes randomly stabbing my knees with daggers. This is what happens when my knee inflammation flares up and I get meniscus involvement and some other bullshit. I can kinda walk down stairs semi-normally today, though, which is better than the rest of the week. (Edit: nope. Thought I could, and then a gnome stabbed me in the knee while I was going downstairs and I nearly fell down the damn steps.) So that's severely inhibited my ability to do things around the house, plus I need to take time to ice my knees, do physical therapy exercises etc. I am not good at taking that time.

And then our dishwasher flooded all over the floor on Friday. We were able to get an appointment to have the repair guy come out on Sunday and take a look at it. He did, he has ordered new replacement parts for the filter and pump, and when they arrive we will need to make another appointment. In the meantime, we maybe cleaned out the filter enough that it kinda works? With close supervision? (Edit: also nope. It flooded all over the place. Again.) And there have been a lot of handwash dishes, which is a problem for me since standing for long Angers The Knees. But Phil's been great, and I made the kids wash some dishes too.

We had been thinking of maybe traveling to Wisconsin for cousin graduation parties, but appliance repair plans and long car rides being bad for knees nixed that. Instead, on Saturday Theia had a birthday party to attend at Johanna Beach, which is a nice little beach in Arden Hills that I'd never visited before but it was the perfect weather for it. And Phil and I looked around Home Depot and Target and surveyed lamp options for my "new bedroom floor lamp" birthday present. Eventually I concluded that modern lamps all suck (and are too short! what's up with so many modern floor lamps being under 5' tall???) and I'll be buying a Tiffany knock-off from the internet.

The rest of today is basically going to be struggling to get the kids to do their homework. (Edit: That went really badly. 5 hours of being screamed at.) Next week is field trips and special events and school wrap-up events. And then next weekend is 4th Street Fantasy convention for me, a writers' convention that I look forward to every year! As well as Father's Day, so I need to help the kids do something for that.

Hey, I finished a journal entry!

• 16:36 ++ Lounging in hammock in backyard, using wireless internet, watching Phil assemble new patio furniture. Life is good.

• 09:15 Dear body, When I say, "Sleep in," I mean until later than 9 AM.
• 11:00 *I* am off to the State Fair. => Phil will be alone at Cahoots. All alone.
• 12:07 "It's like a Saturday Night Live, but about Spam, and it's stupid." Overheard in the baking goods section at the State Fair. tinyurl.com/57jrqa
• 19:01 Overheard at State Fair - Cop, patiently, to inebriated fair-goer: "Actually, I'm more of a bagel man."
• 19:27 I have washed away the film of State Fair grease from my skin. Hooray!

• 08:13 Filling in for co-worker at on-site = no coworkers, no work, and much internet time to catch up. I hope the trend continues!
• 09:10 Train graffiti is messages of art and rebellion and The Outside rolling through dustbowl towns with desperate kids.
• 09:47 Spam subject of the week: "Pimp your one eyed snake."
• 09:58 Drat, co-worker arrived. On the plus side, still no work!
• 13:32 Shorts and a tank top, hair in a bun, gum on my shoe sole. It's summer.
• 22:13 The next chapter of Vicesteed is up on Critters for critiques. ::drums fingers, refreshes email, drums fingers some more.::

Dog Days of Summer, originally uploaded by aswiebe.

I took this photograph on a photo safari around the neighborhood, and there's a reason for this title. Look closely.

Summer Snow, originally uploaded by aswiebe.

Summer snow shed by the cottonwood trees, the mere sight of which affects those unfortunates afflicted by allergies.