Zebra

Zealous, with razor,
Hazard the zing, zero in,
Amaze and zip in.

Yearning

Yikes, yawning, yearning,
A year yoyoing, yapping.
Yet- yes. Always yes.


Two full days, busy and tiring. Taking Monday off, since the one thing I always want for my birthday is the day off work. Did use it to coerce friends into visiting tomorrow. Honestly, it didn't take much persuasion. Just the offer of Red Iguana's menu. Getting with D's parents and BIL&SIL, since BIL's birthday is this week as well, earlier in the day. Well, that's all fine.

Moby racing around this evening, to the point that I wonder if we actually have a pet horse. He thumps so on the wood. Still, wonderful to see him so active. He really seems delighted to just run and run and run.

Xerox

Excess exhaustion,
Examining, exactly.
Express to the X.

So tired today. Another tomorrow. Down to X, although long moved in. Everything wrong footed, but precisely right. Strange movements around. X mostly with an E in front, otherwise it gets altogether too silly even for me.

Warmth

Whenever we wear,
Whistling with winter winds,
Warm woolen wishes.


Icy winds this morning, all the day. Another problem attempted, failed, a walk through the cold, fixed. Women from work stopped by as we all finished at the same time. Moby, as usual, unexpectedly social, came out to greet, even headflopped to be stroked. Followed us from room to room, showing them his house. Good to have people here, room to have them in our home. Our stories out in our things. Tomorrow, our little open house, with cake.

D wants posters up in the Music Room, we discussed - as we do. He thought about Kirby art, I suggested Usagi Yojimbo, we talked about movie posters - but which movie? Then art, something we genuinely like, avoiding pretension. He though about John Singer Sargent, a feature of our sojourn in Boston - the Gardener Museum in particular, when I was inspired by El Jaleo - one of his favorites there. Finding it in poster/print form is not as easy as hoped, but we have a few leads.

Next week, very slow at work. Time to clean and sort, fix and, oh I so hope, to write. To write about more than repairs and projects.

Voices

Vanishing virgins,
Violet in vanilla,
Veiled, verdant Venus.





Chiseled out wood of the lower part of the jamb, that kept the lower/freezer drawer from opening, or closing properly. Fridge is too big for the space. Nice fridge, not it's fault they bought the wrong size. I apologized to House the Home as I chopped away. The raw wood smells of oak. But the freezer opens well, now. I'll put a seal on the bare wood soon. Cleaned the plumber's rubble in the basement, kicked up a cloud of dust, for which my sinuses and lungs are not appreciative. D instrumental in putting up the curtain rod in the dining room, a few of my scarves are up there now. General odds and ends day, with the usual necessary cleaning and cooking. D dealing with phone, voip has issues here. Much frustration - and the joys of a local ISP, they just replaced the unit, and we just went and picked it up, no waiting for the U.S. Postal Service.

I'm really enjoying all the challenges, a sort of huge puzzle to be solved bit by bit. No slacking off. Something to DO every day. And figuring out how to do it.

Moby a velcro cat this morning. If I went into a room, there he was, exploring every closet I opened, purring and curious. Didn't want to do the basement, because he'd have been right at my heels. Waited until D was home, and Moby's settled in for a long nap.

Unction

Useful ushering,
Utterly untamable,
Umber is unboxed.

Twelves

Too tired, taut, trebled.
Thoroughly thrashed, triumphant.
Thoughtfully threaded.



At 13 hours from starting, we are well and truly done in, although not entirely done. But close enough for the time available. Very much close enough. Feels like how I feel after a hard twelve hour shift.

The two guys from work, scrub techs, each with amazing lives and skills. Both young and strong and uninjured, unlike D and I. But we are persistent. I knew they were going to be a blessing. Insisted on paying them as we finished the furniture, both refused, claimed I offered too much. Dave* nearly recoiled. "I won't force it but hear me out. This is what I'm paid per hour. It's fair. More than fair." Managed to have both see that their work meant so much to us, they deserved it, and I wouldn't have asked them if I'd not been able to compensate them for their time and effort on Saturday morning.

D's brother arrived with his FIL's truck, and pitched in with energy. Gave him gas money. D's parents guarded Stuff in the lobby, took what they could manage. Once we hit our wall, we called it quits, ordered Chinese for lunch, and sat with D's brother and parents, at the table. In our Dining Room. We are both pleased and daunted by our responsibility.

Both of us pushed to our limits, mostly by ourselves.



*Different Dave. Daves don't get initials or pseudonyms, because, well, why bother?

Sorting

Silly sandwiches,
Supportive semolina,
Salami and swiss.

Quick

Queen of questions, Why.
Quietly a quarrelsome.
Quorum of quizzes.


Better. Crashed at 730 last night. Woke, thinking, It'll be 0300. It was 11 PM. Sighed, laid back. Again, woke, thought, Oh, please, it's got to be about 0300.... 1245. Poop. Resolved to stay down, woke again and thought, Nope, not playing that game again, it's rigged. 0230. Bugger. Next time, didn't even look at the clock, but staggered to the bathroom, back, tucked in. Cat walked on my abdomen, good thing bladder was empty. D sat up a time later, cat in front of him, purring madly. Finally, 0450 or so, we got up in exasperation. Figure I did get sufficient, if not constant, sleep.

Doing the whirlwind today, every damn thing tidied away in a box or bag, fold up the dhurri rug, start cleaning what I can reach. Hadn't planned on this day off, but immensely glad of it. Every plan has a fall back position if the first one fails. Have a dolly available, and at least one handtruck, and borrowed furniture moving straps.

Time to turn on music, and start the dance.

Pickled

Peculiar pickle,
Precise, purposeful patience,
Panic in purple.



If I grow ginger, sunflowers, chili peppers - cayenne and jalepenos, rhubarb, roma tomatoes, kale and parsley, what else would grow well in high altitude desert? Suggestions? Ideas?

Ostentation

Old orange ochre
Ordinary opulence,
Ok, obvious.





Best news of the week, the giant Galapagos Tortoises are still alive. This cheers me more than I can say. A bright ray of goodness.


Oh, and I don't get into Boing Boing much, just scan their front page every few days, in case. To occasional good effect, as this week they are doing a series on Robert Anton Wilson, fnord. It's a common interest for D and I since jump street, and I love that he likes to rattle everyone's cages without distinction.




Can you see the fnords?

Nevermore

Nary a noodle,
To enervate a noggin.
Need normality.



You must watch some of Joseph Hersher's Rube Goldberg contraptions. Page Turner is just a marvel.

The day turned out pretty much as expected. Must go rub D's poor feet.

Mess

Meandering mope.
Mousy, mouthy, muddled mind.
My manners mingle.


Finding that writing is a great comfort to me, as I get to various stopping points, where I can pack little else, or must rest awhile. For a very long time, I have wanted a household altar, a retablo, folk art display of our journey, expression of gratitude. A corner set aside for the sacred. There will be space for that soon. I have no idea what form it will take, but it feels important, not just a vague idea, eventually. Soon, this time.

Got out the tarot cards. No, I don't believe they have any future cognition, bits of paper. But they are human events, archetypes, that come up randomly, to ask one's own mind to look at one's thoughts differently - like art, or a good book at the right moment. And I'm not entirely convinced that synchronicity is entirely happenstance. As is often the case, I found it useful.

Much more packing today, corners cleared. There is always more. Rolled up the one rug, packed away clothes we won't need for this week, folded up some shelves. D looking at a very difficult day, and nothing I can do to help.

Oh, and Happy Static Electricity Day!

January 9th: National Static Electricity Day
Grab your balloons and sweaters! It’s time to uild up your static charge and conduct some electrons. This is the perfect holiday to occur in the dead of winter, when the air is extra dry – the optimal conditions for storing up those negative charges that shock you at the most unexpected times. (As suggested by Mental Floss.)

Lime

Lingering lightening,
Liminal lavender lines
Lashing languidly.





Entering into all the legalities is daunting, to both of us. We keep reminding each other we are just renting a house from the bank.

We've never been all that impressed with titles, rejected rigid roles. Called my mother the other day, mentioned that D and I have been together over 20 years. "Oh, you've been married that long!" Not what I said, but I didn't correct her. The legal marriage has been useful, no regrets, but it's not like we ever call each other "husband" nor "wife," I only use husband when referring to D, speaking to someone else who doesn't know him. If my mother's head wouldn't explode, I'd be fine calling her Mary, not mom.

Which is part of why I objected to my long estranged brother insisting on calling me sister, and himself brother, instead of just using our names. Not interested in playing a role, like me for who I am, or not at all. I'll get to know you, without the labels and boxes. Lots of little red flags kept popping up, that was one. Since the last email, when he informed me that our father was not stupid nor ignorant, and I replied with my view, citing proof, there has been silence. I'm just surprized it didn't happen earlier. Ah, well, I'll take a hard truth over a soft lie anytime.

"Faith is an island in the setting sun, but proof is the bottom line for everyone."

Went to dinner last night with two of D's brothers with spouses, and parents. Actually a very nice evening. D was leaning toward just staying home, but since one brother & wife were in from out of town, I nudged us to go. Neither of us really in the mood, but were glad we did. Took a moment to remind D that talk of sports, football in this case, beat religion and politics hands down, and no one expected us to contribute, so this is Good.

Just wish I could sleep past 5AM.

Knap

Kissing our knuckles,
Kneeling on knives, keenly knit.
Kicking out the kings.



So, everything is speeding up. We did want to move during the holiday weekend, especially since I have Friday the 13th off as well as the Monday. Thought it might happen, when the seller wanted us to close on an earlier date, but were told no. As of yesterday, that changed to a "Well, fine then." We'd accepted it, stopped asking, planned for the next week. Instead, D had to have all the utilities switched over earlier. We are glad of the time. But this has completely thrown my schedule into disarray. Oh, I can do it, no problem, but I've been working to this plan in my head, and now it all has to be readjusted. Or we just wing it.

When moving, I really like having a clear plan, however full of "ifs." I'd given up the idea of this IF because it was the easy option, unavailable.

I'm trying not to notice that the home mortgage rates are down from when we locked in, and still dropping. We had to take the boat at the dock when we were there, can't worry that the next one along was cheaper. Our boat is still as good as it was, and the fare is still fair.

Joshing

Jasper, jumbled jade.
Jumping Jalepeño jam,
Joined with a jingle.

Illustrious

Independent ink,
Important indications,
In illustrations.





The move in date is probably moved back up. Feel like a yoyo. Still, having a long weekend to move was always going to be useful.

Hanky-panky

Honey, hit the harp,
Hula honest hopefulness,
Humorously hum.






It's not a good photo, must've been Granny, she always did have more sky and ceilings than people. (This is the cropped version.) Mum had a real eye, her Brownies of us as kids were always rather beautiful, well framed and composed.

Gnats

Gorging, gruesome gods.
Gangrenous, grasping gargoyles.
Gnashing, gnawing. Gone.


Feeling steep, thick, deep, knowing it will get worse yet. But over the top, well.

Foregone

Fickle, figgy fog,
Frankensense and fir,
Forgone festiveness.





Next year, in House. A Yule promised, deferred until next year. Patience tested, and found able, if strained. The waiting is wearing, more than anything. D dealing with frustration, me with thin patience with his frustration. We keep readjusting our good will, knowing our limitations. I pack, he deals with utilities, internet, gas, water, electric - water we've never had to do before as renters. Two weeks,less, a walk-through, and we will Measure All The Things! For the basement stairwell cover, curtain for the garage (no door present) where the sofa will go, etc. etc. etc. We have the tape measure. We have shears for the removal of the mortar eating ivy.