WNBP: I Blame The Rain Because I Lack Perspective

Well, it's been a week since last I posted and what a week it's been!

OK.  That is something of an exaggeration.  Perhaps not even really "something of."  It's more like an outright exaggeration, but I live a pretty simple life over here. My standards for excitement are probably not like everyone else's.

That said, let's take a look at how things went via the Wednesday Night Bullet Post.  If it's not as exciting as your own life, so be it.  You can at least marvel at my ability to make something out of nothing...


*When last I checked in, it was the first week of my summer vacation.

*I marked the occasion by becoming deathly ill within two hours of arriving home from school.

*"Deathly ill" being my descriptor for a summer cold.

*Like I said...I lack accurate emotional and experiential measuring tools.

*I remained sick for over a week.  Hacking.  Coughing.  Snuffling.  You get the idea.

*The cough lasted long after my actual recovery and, at first, I blamed the pollen.

*The pollen has been very bad this year.  Very, very bad.

*I have to shovel through piles of the stuff just to get to my keyboard.

*So I blamed the pollen for my woes.

*But then it started raining.  And it didn't stop.  At least not for amounts of time that might make it noticeable.

*So I decided to blame the rain for all my sinus-related difficulties.

*Low pressure systems have not been my friend for years now.

*I couldn't lay down for many a night, lest the wet, soupy hacking begin.

*Which, as you can imagine, did not make for a well-rested Sheepie.

*It's only the past two nights that I've been able to manage actual "sleep."

*Wanna know the secret?

*Sure you do.  It's all about honey.  And peppermint.  And fresh ginger.

*Those are all wonderful old-timey cures for what ails ya!

*Especially when the whole mess is liberally mixed with cheap whiskey...

*The internets are really all you have when it's 3:00 in the morning and you can't lie down for fear of waking everyone in a ten mile radius.

*And you can learn a lot when you put "it's 3:00 in the morning and I'm coughing so much I'm afraid of waking everyone in a ten mile radius" into the old search engine.

*Last week, I braved the rain and the coughing to go to the Farmer's Market.

*Yes, the Weekly Visits With The Vegetables are upon me!

*I decided to buy a little basil plant so I could have fresh basil of my very own this summer.

*I also bought some mint.  And some cute pots.

*Which I carefully placed where they wouldn't be harmed when Overly Enthusiastic Mowing Guy came to do his thing.

*Bonus:  It has been raining.  One does not need to water one's little herb garden when it rains almost every day for a week.

*One should, however, check to see if one's cute pots have drainage holes, though.

*My basil was swimming when I checked on it today.

*Basil soup...

*Holes were poked.  Drainage has commenced.

*Oddly enough, the basil didn't seem all that bothered by the two inches of water over the soil line.

*In fact, the whole thing had grown about five inches.  I had fresh basil on my little luncheon pizza.

*I wonder if the lavender plant I bought today would prefer the swamp life?

*Probably best not to test that theory.

*Hey!  Good news!  Here's something the rain didn't wash away!

*The new garlic is in!!!!

*I get very excited about the new garlic.

*Again, my perspective is probably limited.

*But I do loves me some new garlic.

*I forgot to put that on my luncheon pizza.

*If I ever get around do making my dinner pizza, perhaps I'll have some then.

*It is almost 8:00.  I am a little behind schedule today.

*It didn't rain.  I was waiting for the rain to start.  It rains every afternoon and today it didn't rain.

*Hence, I think it is still 10:00 in the morning.

*Last Friday, I took SIL Sheep in for elbow surgery.

*Everyone at the surgical center was very, very nice. We had a lovely time.  Our spirits were quite high.

*We were the life of the party at the surgical center.

*For the first hour.

*Then they ran behind because someone else's elbow wasn't cooperating.

*Our sparkling conversation kind of ran out and we were left with SIL repeatedly asking if she could have a cheeseburger and me running Zombie Apocalypse Scenarios past whomever cared to listen.

*After surgery was done, the first thing the nurse in Recovery asked my SIL was, "How you feeling about that cheeseburger now?"

*Since the pain medication-induced nausea was in full swing by then, the cheeseburger was declined.

*The question was rhetorical, I suppose.  I doubt they actually have cheeseburgers there .

*Nobody asked me how I was feeling about a Zombie Apocalypse.

*But that isn't all that unusual in a hospital recovery room, I find.

*I got SIL home without incident, got her medications without being questioned too closely and left her tucked in for Baby Brother Sheep to manage from there.

*When I checked back on Saturday, things were improving although the pain medication was still making cheeseburgers something of a bad idea.

*I'm assuming that an Apocalypse of any kind would also be ill advised at this juncture.

*I did, however, bring her chocolate chip muffins because you only have to be told fifty times between admission, recovery, transport and final tuck-in before you realize that the patient is serious about this.

*I wasn't sure the first thirty six times she said it because it was raining so hard last Friday that it was discernible even in those interior hospital rooms with no windows and extra sound proofing so you can't hear the patients begging for beef-based treats.

*I cleaned out my wallet last week.  I was stuck inside with nothing else to do, after all.

*So that is why, while my SIL was having her elbow put back together, I was at Town Hall replacing my vehicle registration form.

*I also had to replace my insurance cards because I am so totally NOT getting caught up in that kind of mess again.

*Note:  The state of Maine takes proof of insurance very seriously.  Very, very seriously.

*As in "a middle aged school teacher with a spotless driving record suddenly became the victim of a paperwork error that ultimately led to hundreds of dollars in legal fees after being charged with a class E felony" kind of serious.

*I bought a new wireless printer to ensure that acceptable proof of insurance was in hand.

*And still ordered new cards be sent to me even though I was assured that what I printed from the website was just fine.

*And put a picture of the insurance card on my phone.

*Just in case.

*The local constabulary are probably also a little put out by all the rain.  Not going to test their limits.

*And the moral of that story is this:  It never pays to tidy up.  Just leave your wallet in whatever state you find it.

*It could also be: Pay attention to what you are tossing in the trash."

*But I like the first one better.

*Now that I'm feeling better and can't really go anywhere without drowning, I've been catching up with some reading.

*First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, Book 1) was on sale.  I'd been eyeing that series for a while and figured, "what the heck?"

*Also picked up the next one since it was on sale as well.

*Interesting premise.  Really snappy dialogue.  And a very likable main character.

*Perhaps not my favorite all-time read, but everything can't be.  I like it.  That's good enough for me.

*Although I'm not commuting these days, I still can't get past the need to have someone telling me a story while I'm in the car.

*So I picked up The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel.

*What can I say?  It's Neil Gaimon.  Of course it's brilliant.  It hasn't even gotten to The Good Part yet.

*And it's still brilliant.

*Do yourself a favor and get the audio version if you can.  It's read by Neil himself, as most of his books seem to be.

*You won't be sorry.  But you can also read it if you want.  

*Who am I to tell you what to do?

*I'm just a gal sitting here thinking I've had Quite The Week and blaming the rain for that which may have gone awry.

*I'm probably not the best judge of your reading experiences...


Well, it is now after 8:00 and it still hasn't rained.  So I haven't done any of the things I said I was going to do back when it was really 10:00 in the morning and I told myself, "Oh, you have plenty of time.  Besides, it's going to rain this afternoon and you'll be dying for something with which to occupy yourself!"

Stupid rain.  Even when it's not here, it is messing with my life!

SA