Angela Law

animal lover, gardener, knitter, and gourmet cook
 
friends, music, pets

miscellany

You can add this to my list of things not to buy in the future: German dogs. Today, Ripley made her fourth trip to the vets for the year. She has some sort of infection in her leg and was put on antibiotics. For that and some other reasons, the doctor also recommended a thyroid test. ka-ching! If she keeps this pace up, they’ll be able to add the “Ripley Law Memorial Wing” onto Richland Veterinary Hospital next year. All kidding aside, Ripley is a wonderful dog and I will definitely get another doberman in the future. Just not a doberman puppy. I can’t afford to buy all new furniture again.

Today, we’re having our last hurrah of the summer season. Looks like it’s going to be a nice day for it, too. Lish & Brent, and possibly his son are coming for a cookout later today. Should be fun.

I don’t know what’s gotten into Brian today. He’s washing the car and the truck. I’ve never known him to wash a vehicle voluntarily before. The only thing I can figure is that he’s perfecting his washing technique before he gets his motorcycle! motorcycle! motorcycle! next year. He’s even been reading how to wash a motorcycle on the Harley Davidson site, for goodness sake!

And speaking of Brian…Is it just me or is he in way too many bands? Here’s the complete list:
1. Rottenstone: Brian & me
2. Garden of Ashes: Brian & Shawn
3. East of Eve: Brian, Shawn, John & me
4. Temple of something or another (see, he’s in so many bands that he doesn’t even know the names of all of them): Brian, Slim, Shawn, & Rob

And, if you were really stretching, you could add Stone Rotten to that list. That’s an acoustic cover “band” consisting of Brian and me. I guess you could say that I’m in three bands, but it’s not like I ever go to practice, so I’m really more of a session player. Or maybe just a lazy musician. It’s too early to tell.

food & drink, jake

holy ham, batman!

I picked up my ham at Froehlich’s yesterday. It weighed in at a whopping 26 pounds! I planned on cooking it last night, but didn’t account for the size. So, I was up till after midnight carving (and eating–yum!) ham. Needless to say, I’m tired today. At least it’s Friday and I can sleep in tomorrow. I’m dropping off my parent’s half after work, but I have a feeling we’ll be freezing a good portion of our ham.

The bacon wasn’t ready, though. 🙁 They had a problem with their smokehouse so they won’t be able to do it until next week. So much for a bacon brunch on Sunday. I guess we’ll have ham instead. It’s not like we’re going to run out by then.

Jacob was absolutely fascinated with the picture of the fat guy that I posted the other day. On his way to daycare the next day he told me, “Tommy* eats a lot of candy, but he’s just a little fat–he can still walk.” [* the names have been changed to protect the overweight] When I picked him up from daycare that same day, he proceeded to tell me that he told all of his little friends about the picture of the fat guy that his mom showed him on the computer. I’m sure that went over well with the teachers.

And speaking of fattening items, the damned vending machine at work is out of cookies again (cookies are my breakfast staple), so now I’m forced to eat a Twix bar for breakfast. At least they have a cookie in them.

auto, jake

I’m a highway star

Got my car back today. Paying the bill was a little painful, but at least I have wheels again–just in time to take Jake to daycare and go into the office tomorrow.

We did an experiment today and Jake stayed at home while I worked. It didn’t go too badly. It would be nice if he could stay at home every day starting next summer, but I don’t know if he’ll be up for it by then. The key is to keep him busy with things that don’t involve me. And give him food every few hours. Boy, does that kid like to eat. But not as much as this guy.

me

new “hobby”

Yeah, another one.

I thought it would be a good idea to read up on upholstery so that I can upholster the furniture Brian makes for our house. Brian’s dad saw my upholstery book so he thought it would be a good idea for me to reupholster one of his family heirlooms. I said “what the heck”. Might as well practice on someone else’s stuff. The piece was a rocker and had a Naugahyde vinyl seat. The finish was in dire need of major touch-ups. It took me quite a bit of time to get it looking good. Next came the seat. Following all of the steps in my book, I had the seat done in a weekend. Not too shabby, eh? It was actually more work to do the finishing (and I sort of know what I’m doing when it comes to that). It looks pretty good if I do say so myself. Hopefully, it won’t fall apart the first time it’s used.

Tonight, I caught the reupholstery bug again. The chair for the desk in my bedroom was rather worn. I’ve been using it a lot lately due to my new card-making (i.e. stamping) hobby. Every time I sit in it, I think “boy, I should really redo this seat.” I had some material left from the rocker, so I decided to reupholster the chair. This one was a lot easier to do because of the style. It probably took 90 minutes or so to complete. And, it looks darned good, too.

Anyway, the point of this is, I apparently have a new hobby. I actually enjoy upholstering furniture. Luckily, it’s not something that I’ll have to do all of the time. I mean, I have all of these other hobbies–card-making, cooking, gardening, finishing wood projects, playing music, reading, wine-making–to contend with. There’s only so much time in a day.

“Idle hands are the Devil’s playground” or “No rest for the wicked”? You be the judge.

auto

modes of transportation

I can’t believe I forgot to mention this in my previous posts this weekend…My car (Toyota RAV4) was due for a new timing belt. It was to be installed on Friday. While they were working on my car, it was determined that it needed a new serpentine belt as well. But, they didn’t have one in stock so my car is out of commission till they are able to get one (Monday or Tuesday). I think Brian planned it this way so that I couldn’t go to Michael’s while he was gone yesterday and buy another $100-worth of stamping supplies. I got even with him, though. I placed an order for stamping supplies on the internet instead. 🙂 http://www.impressrubberstamps.com/

I’m not complaining about my car, though. It is seven years old and has nearly 100,000 miles on it and this is only the second thing that has been wrong with it ever. The first thing occurred earlier this summer and it turned out to be minor (something in the engine needed cleaned). Don’t ask me what. Do I look like a mechanic?

In contrast, Brian had to take his two year old Dodge to the garage the other week. It needed a new distributor cap, spark plugs, spark plug wires, and maybe some other stuff. (Like I said before, do I look like a mechanic?) It was kind of expensive. And, this isn’t even the first thing that was wrong with it. The other thing was at least covered under warranty, though. I was thinking about buying a Ford or Dodge for my next vehicle, but I think I’ll stick with Toyota, thanks. I like having a car that actually runs.

The only real issue coming out of this is that I had to ask various grandparents to take Jacob to daycare and possibly pick him up tomorrow. Lucky for me:
1. Jacob has grandparents that can help out.
2. I work at home on Mondays.
3. The garage (Deyarmin’s) is only two blocks from my house so I’ll actually be able to go get my car when it’s ready.
4. I drive a Toyota, so I haven’t been having car problems for the past five years.