Out of Sync

Possibly your bedroom is like mine, not all that dark at night. I have led lights from 2 computers, in fact, the desk top lights are so bright that I have to cover them when I go to bed. I also have a clock with led numbers that are also projected on the ceiling. Usually when the nieghbor leaves for work around 5 am, he leaves his back porch light on as well.

This morning, somewhere after 3 am, I awoke to almost complete darkness. Something was missing! Besides being almost pitch dark, it was really quiet too. My foggy brain finally concluded that there was no electric power. I got up to visit the bathroom, and I remember thinking how grateful I was that toilets don't need electricity to flush. Since March had decided to both arrive and leave like a lion, it was cold as well. I went back to bed, thinking that the power would be back on by the time I would need to arise.

My expectations were dashed, however, when by somewhere around 6:30 am, It was still dark and cold. Notice how imprecise my idea of the time was. I had only my past bladder habits to go on. It finally started growing lighter, so we could see to get up and dressed, the dog out, then fed. It was really quite cold. There was a new layer of snow on the ground, but at least, it seemed to be finished. My Aunt called the power company, and recieved a recording with an estimate for the time the power would be back on----2:30 pm!

Now reality was beginning to set in. How would I get my caffiene fix? I couldn't heat water! How could I toast my bagel? I could at least read the paper, as there was ample light from the window. I settled for a coke for my fix and settled down with the daily Tribune. Soon, I put on a sweater, then got a blanket. I even put on gloves, as my hands were so cold to be painful, at least the one with arthritis. About 9am, we could hear the sound of furnace fans, and other machines coming back to life. Oh Joy! Now I could get back to my routine, but mainly, I could get warm and have my coffee.

After Easter Notes

Not much to post today, just letting you know I'm still alive. I've been reading my Grandson's fantasy novel as he posts it. It's getting very interesting and shows great promise. It's interesting to note how his own belief's are revealed here and there. Of course, that is usually the case for an author. It's hard to be consistent if you are writing against your own beliefs, I would think.

We're trying to have Spring here, but March is always a little undecided about whether to fully embrace Spring, or to keep giving Winter a chance to hang in a little longer. I do notice that Spring has managed to produce some pollen though, or else snow mold. What ever it is, it's making me sneeze and giving me a headache, when I really should be outside doing some spring clean up.

We had a nice Easter. I picked up my daughter, and cooked a ham and fixings for dinner for her and my two Aunts. I had to give Michele an extra carry bag to take her Easter goodies home in. The problem was that each of us had gone to the store to buy her candy, etc. but only MaryLou showed me what she'd bought. Anyway, Michele will have enough chocolate to last until Fall, plus a basket and another container to put things. That's okay, I guess, but we'll need to coordinate on other holidays.

Complications

I'm a confirmed computer user, and I'd never want to be completely without one. Sometimes though. they can be a pain. My Aunt has been frustrated for days over an editing assignment for an organisation she belongs to. First, the attachment which was supposed to be in her email, didn't come through. After she had it resent, she got the attachment into her files, but couldn't open them. It seems that, when she got her new computer a bit over a year ago, she didn't get around to activating the Microsoft Word , so the computer wouldn't open the files or print them without her activating the program. Shouldn't be a problem, right? In order to activate, she needed a long registration number which niether of us could find. The file was done in Word Perfect, so we thought maybe it would let me open it on my laptop, as I have Word Perfect.
She had burned the files to a CD, so I put it in my laptop. Lo and behold, there it was, but since my printer was in a box in the basement, I had to go down and get it, set it up, and print out the file. It was nice to have my printer running again. Unfortunately, there's no room for it, so it's back in it's box in the basement. Oh well, such is life I guess.

I am so enjoying reading my Grandson's fantasy novel on his blog. Has it given me the nudge to get my own writing going? Not yet, but there's always hope in nearly impossible dreams.

New Projects

I bought a quilt for my twin-sized bed and was quite disappointed in the size. It seems most bedding for twin beds are too long and not wide enough. Since I wanted a quilt that would act like a bedspread, I decided to make my own. I found some "fat quarters" in colors that I liked and bought them. I decided to keep it simple, so I'm using 4 inch squares, no complicated pattern. After I measured the bed and decided what size I really wanted, I figured out how many squares I would need. I'll need 675 squares and I have enough fabric to cut 240 squares. Opps! It seems that I have a slight problem. That's okay, I'm going through all the fabric I have on hand and there are some in the right colors. I'll have fun finding other fabric to buy to fill-in the rest of the quilt. I expect this to be a fairly long term project, as I'm not real experienced with quilting, and I'm taking it slowly.

My Aunt got a ladies clothing catalogue from a company called Saginaw. They have some of the cutest purses, mostly made of fabric. Looking at them though, I bet I could make some myself. There goes another future project. Not that I need more really. Soon, it will be warm enough to start working in the yard. We have some old twin tubs that were used with an old wringer type washer. We plan on having the old washer toted off, but I got this idea to bring the tubs up from the basement and use them to grow tomatoes and kitchen herbs. Unfortunately, sometimes I have more ideas than energy. I think I just need to prioritize my time, right?

This and That

It's a typical March day, meaning that it can't make up it's mind what kind of a day to be. First it's cloudy and a little gloomy, now it's sunny, though still with high, light clouds. I guess we're going to get some stormy weather from the northwest this weekend. That seems to be the pattern for the last several months, storms on the weekend. Of course that's when I have to make the long trek to work, so I'm not too appreciative.

Yesterday was my Daughter, Michele's bi-weekly visit. She seems to have another cold. She had a pretty bad one over Christmas, I'd hoped she wouldn't get sick again.

I mentioned before that my Grandson is writing a fantasy novel on his blog. I just read chapter three. He's doing very well. He seems influenced by Tolkien, but most fantasy writer's are, and who better to be infuenced by. Sam's plot is starting to get interesting and I'm really looking forward to seeing what he does with it. He's certainly at least 3 chapters ahead of me in writing!

The cost of gasoline is going up again. It's averaging around $3.13 per gal. of regular, with the higher grades being higher, of course. If this keeps up, I may have to make some "life style" changes, whether I want to or not. This weekend,I saw quite a few more motorcycles on the road around Tooele. I guess they are cheaper on gas, but saying I'm not comfortable on one is a massive understatement. Maybe I'll have to get a job locally.

News

I'm happy to report that my Son, Daughter in Law and Children have formed thier own family blog, right here on Blogger. Since they live in Washington state and I live in Utah, with oil selling at $108 per barrel and gas prices soaring, it will help us to keep in tough a little better I hope. My oldest Grandson, Samuel, also has his own blog and he is writing a fantasy novel! I have such creative Grandchildren. Sam also plays guitar, piano, and viola. Caitlin sings, has tried her hand in dance and film making. Ethan is playing trumpet and doing very well.

That leads me to an interesting article that I just read on scientists studying the brain while doing something creative. They had a keyboard made of plastic so that it can be used inside of an MRI chamber. Next they had jazz pianists play inside. They played music they memorised, then they played improvisation, where they make it up as they on along. One of the things they found is that the area of the brain responsible for inhibition switches off when improvisation starts. That makes sense to me. Also, some of the same areas lit up that are used in dreaming. I know my dreams certainly seem creative, sometimes really bizarre actually. Too bad I don't put them on paper, but then again, there's that bizarre thing. The article is at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23562208/

The Seasons

Isn't it strange how we want to rush the changing of the seasons,at least I tend to, but then once the season is here, we get tired of it soon. I suspect that happens in areas that have well defined seasons, like Utah. We pretty much have 4 distinct seasons, though transitional months like March can really be very unpredictable. I guess I find March the hardest month to deal with, especially after a snowy,cold winter like this last one. We actually had a couple of nice days the end of February, then March came in like a lion with storms. There were a day or two that were nice last week, but it is cloudy and a little gloomy today. At least the predicted storm yesterday didn't amount to much,mostly a cold west wind, but lots of sun. I'm finding that sunshine most of the day can make me pretty forgiving of cold temperatures. Later in the month that probably won't be so true. By mid-March,I'll be expecting some warmer days. I do,however,remember some truly big snow storms in past Marches. Their saving grace is that they melt faster.

Last summer was the hottest summer on record,so by mid-September, I was getting anxious for cooler temperatures. I've noticed that my weather anxiety is more prominent at the beginning of Spring and the ending of Summer. I guess I'm more likely to get tired of the more extreme seasons of Winter and Summer. I'm pretty tolerant of Fall, in fact it's my favorite season.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that some of us are heavily influenced by our surroundings, especially the weather.