WNBP: Postcards From The Manse

When last we left our intrepid Sheepie, she had managed to muddle through the last two days of poor student behavior, the emotional departure of the Cheerful Teaching Assistant and the packing up of her classroom for yet another summer break.  All that was left to her at that point was two days of teacher workshops, a Saturday dinner to celebrate Father's Day with various family members and the knowledge that she could stay up an extra hour on Sunday night if she could somehow keep her eyes open during the day.

I feel like I let people down with my summer vacation plans.  I'm often asked what I'm going to do during my months of downtime and I rarely have a good answer.  I'm a putterer.  I'm not a world traveler.  I hang around the manse and periodically do stuff that may or may not make my habitation here more tolerable.  That's about it, except for the rampant appointments I seem to schedule during my vacation.  But those are unavoidable if I wish to remain healthy and able to drive my car without warning lights flashing at me in an alarming fashion.

As boring as it may be, it is what I have to offer in this week's Wednesday Night Bullet Post.  Let's see if I can make it all sound a bit more glamorous...

*It has been a very mild spring here.  Even chilly enough for the electric blanket on several nights.


*That is over.  The weather has taken a turn for the Triple H.


*Hazy.


*Hot.


*Humid.


*It all just came crashing down on us today.  I, however, keep remembering the searing temperatures of last year and keep it all in perspective.


*Tomorrow promises to bring more of the same, although I hear tell a sea breeze might make things more bearable.


*I am using much of my newly acquired vacation time to catch up with Coronation Street episodes.


*I was running about six months behind, but recently decided to skip ahead a bit.


*It's not like I haven't been cheating and reading story lines on the website anyway...


*I was not, however, going to take the trip forward in time before seeing Becky bring down that horrible, no-good Tracy at her sham of a wedding to good-hearted, but seemingly stupid Steve!!!


*It seems that the good people at ITV were not particularly open to my viewing this.  Apparently they suddenly got all picky about copyrights and whatnot.


*Which is so totally unfair because it is not my fault that my ancestors decided to wander over to this continent all those years ago, thus rendering me incapable of watching certain programming without the help of YouTube.


*Thankfully, there are kindly people across the pond who don't hold my citizenship against me and found a way to post that episode.  It took some searching, but it was WORTH IT!!!!!


*Now I can fast forward without regret or the feeling that I'm missing something wicked awesome.


*I hate to violate copyrights.  But it isn't my fault.  Plus I've linked to them.  I'm sharing. This should ease my pangs of guilt...


*I sat through two very long days of teacher workshops last week.  Very long.


*I knit a hat.  A very tiny pinkish hat that I cannot photograph at the moment.


*It is cute.  Trust me.  There is fuzziness and something that isn't quite a bow involved.


*One of the "getting to know you" activities at the workshop was that game where you tell two truths and a lie.  Then you see if people can guess the lie.


*My lie was that I am getting married next month.


*You'd be surprised how many people believed that.


*Wee, little hat might have confused matters...


*I wonder if they will throw me a shower of some sort once school reopens.


*If so, I hope it is a wedding shower and not the other kind.  I could use a new toaster and some napkin rings.


*Diaper Genie...not so much.


*I gave myself two days off before starting in with all the appointments I try to get out of the way during summer vacation.


*I napped a lot and canned some chicken.


*I'd show you a picture of the chicken, but there is nothing more disgusting that looking at a jar of chicken.


*It tastes really good.  Very tender.  And it keeps for a long time.


*Which is great when the weather is nasty and you can't go shopping.


*Or the zombie apocalypse finally happens like I've been saying it will for years now.


*No one will be laughing at my home canned chicken during the apocalypse.


*They might gag a bit, but they won't laugh.


*Today I went to see Doctor Judy for a med review.


*Meds need changing.  Sheepie has developed a tolerance for her current prescription.


*Now instead of my nice time release pill, I have to take two.


*Probably better to adjust to that schedule during the summer instead of trying to remember to take a pill at school.


*I can be like the kids and go see the nurse at lunchtime for meds.  That would be fun.


*Standing in line then having her check to make sure I took it...


*It's not really like that.  There aren't that many kids on medications, contrary to popular media myths.


*It's just the image of it that makes me think I need to practice taking a pill two times per day.


*Today was my first trip to The Farmer's Market and the Weekly Visit With The Vegetables.


*There weren't many vegetables.  I found some strawberries since those came into season early this year due to all the rain.


*Then I bought a basil plant.  Then I bought a rosemary plant.


*Need something to entertain my new grow light.


*By the time I got to the guy who actually had a few veggies, I was out of cash and too hot to keep standing in the sun anyway.


*July is the better month for most veggies here.


*Also better to go before it is almost closing time at the market.


*Next week I will be more organized and won't' have a doctor's appointment in the middle of it all.


*The strawberries are delightful and I will probably eat them all before I get around to making something with them.


*I'm OK with that.


*I happen to have some caramel sauce.  It all worked out.


*More time to read these days.  I decided to go back and visit with my friends over at the Twenty Palaces Society. (Child of Fire: A Twenty Palaces Novel)


*You kind of have to be in the mood for these books.  A few of the characters are a little off-putting.


*And my heart bleeds for the narrator, at least in the first book.  He is just so...put upon!


*Take heart.  Things get better for him!


*Then I discovered that The Janus Affair: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel was out and, while Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel wasn't my absolute favorite book in the whole wide world, I didn't hate it.


*Of course, I'd forgotten more about the first book that I realized and was confusing it mightily with at least two other series, but I eventually got the hang of it all.


*Worth the download and certainly good for summer reading!


*I wouldn't say that reading steam punk on such a steamy day is wise, but it only gets bad if you start thinking about it too much...



It is really just too hot to type anymore so I'm stopping there.  I think I've managed to prove my point regarding my vacation aspirations.  What can I say? There is a marked lack of conga lines in my version of summer break.  It is the best I can do.  I'd like to tell you that things will get better, but they probably won't.

Tomorrow I'm going in for an oil change.  Maybe next week I'll get that giant crack in my windshield fixed.  Then there is the summer bone density testing to look forward to...

SA