Weather and Withering

What a fabulous day! Temperatures in the mid to high 60's, good friends to visit, accident report FINALLY done, and some sock knitting by me and the Clogger all made for a wonderful Wednesday experience at our house.

I have been trying to stay on top of the housework around here a little better. The kitchen and living room are definitely in better shape and are both receiving regular attention. However, the dining room is a huge sucking hole of crap stacked on crap. I'm not sure what my issue is, other than I need more storage space. Sure, lots of it does not belong there. In fact, most of it does not belong there. But as long as dining room houses the sewing machine(s), all of the "current sewing projects" have to stay in there, too... right? And some extra yarn currently resides on the table, along with a couple of abandoned projects, but really, no room in this house is immune to yarn/knitting. The extra homeschool books/projects/papers just don't fit on the shelf I designated for them. Partly because that shelf also works quite well for the music/church items, and is now overloaded. And I have a hard time going through and putting things away when there's no space to put them away TO.

It's clear, I have issues.

The Taxman, The Clerk, and The Clogger

Without a police report my insurance company cannot process the claim for my accident and we are responsible for the $500 deductible necessary to pick up our fixed car. The best I can hope for at this point is that the shop takes much longer than they anticipated with the repairs.
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And in other news, the Clogger did her 4-H presentation last night. Oh, sure, she was nervous, but like I told her afterward, being brave doesn't mean you're not scared or nervous. Being brave means you do the thing in spite of being scared.
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I slipped on the ice in our driveway last night, pulling a sweet Charlie Brown-kicking-the-missing-football move, feet flying up in front of me, and landing smack on my rear. You would think that all the padding I'm carrying back there would have protected me a bit more.
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The pressure is on to get the taxes done. I loathe the paperwork and number crunching necessary, but feel such relief when it gets done... I hate myself for procrastinating, but can't seem to get going on it. Every year is like this. You'd think I'd learn.

They Don't Call It HOT For Nothing

My Grandmother can sew a quilt, make a pound of ground meat feed 9 people and still have leftovers, crochet a bed doll, manage a tax system for any company, completely reupholster an RV, and run a county extension office. She is fairly accomplished at running her computer and loves to communicate electronically with everyone she knows. She can't, however, figure out how to run hotmail.

She's also got a wicked sense of humor. We had this conversation today when she called me for the third time, trying to open her email.

G: So I want to click on what?

Me: Inbox

G: Wait a minute, I've got a window that won't give me my finger.

Me: ???

G: There's some commercial popping up and it won't let me use my clicker.

Me: Close that in the bottom tray, and go back to the Inbox.

G: Hold on, I'm still waiting for it to give me the finger.

Me: Gram, I'm trying to be good here. Help a girl out, would you?


I sure do love that woman!

Confusion Trumps

So it turns out it takes up to 5 days (or more) to have an accident report available to be picked up. Gee, who knew?

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I'm reading And She Was for my own personal enjoyment and Island of the Blue Dolphins as a read-aloud for The Clogger and find myself daydreaming about the characters of one book engaging in the activities of the other book. It's odd.

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I'm no Alton Brown, but I do know my way around a kitchen. Why does my spouse insist that Shake N Bake chicken is a fabulous meal, and request it with alarming frequency and fervor? And in a related note, why is my family shocked that I have a home made version that is AWESOME? Barefoot Contessa's got nothing on me. Well, maybe those great custom made shirts. I'd like some of those to drape gracefully over my curvy self.

Upspeak

So far the service has been lovely from our insurance company, the rental car place, and the body shop. It's been super easy, dropping the car off, picking up the rental, and simply signing here, initialing here, and here are your keys, thanks!

Tomorrow I pick up the police report and fax it to my insurance agent. Then the race is on to see what finishes first: the car repairs or the claim. I really don't want to pay the deductible AT ALL, even if it will be reimbursed.




The latest phrase around here is "What does that mean?", usually used in response to some attempt at a double entendre or innuendo. For example, watching Ice Princess today the character who is in love with the lead drives out to her pond in his Zamboni, and I said "oh, he's going to Zamboni her ice!" and The Earner just looked at me (the phrase was implied). And then Teddy asks her, "Medium smooth, or Glassy?" and we lost it. What does that mean, indeed!

Because that's the kind of couple we are.

Wave of Death

Progressive cautioned me to not talk about it with anyone other than my claim agent so of course I'm posting about the spectacular crash!

Yesterday on the way to clogging I T-boned some poor kid who made the unfortunate decision to make a left hand turn without looking into oncoming traffic.

Please note this drawing, which is not to scale:


The good news is it was totally NOT MY FAULT. The bad news is both our cars are damaged. Tomorrow morning I drop off our poor Grand Prix and pick up a rental. Stayed tuned for the next installment of "Will the Claim Go Through Before We Have to Pay Out the $500 Deductible?", but in the mean time, feel free to enjoy "How Much Do I Need Drink Before I Don't See the Crash In My Head?"

I can't imagine the damage if I had been going faster than 35, or if he had a passenger. Gah!

The claim agent was funny, she asked "So he just turned in front of you? what did he say?" and I said "He said someone in the left turn lane stopped for him, and he didn't think to look into the OTHER oncoming lane" and she said "That's why they call it the Wave of Death."

No kidding.