Author: The Jody

I hope you made good use of the day today. The weather wasn’t as nice as yesterday, and yet it was lovely in its own way. All in all, I’m happy with what I got done this weekend. There’s still some work left to do outside that I will get to this week, and of course I’d intended to do a lot more, but thinking back, the weather wasn’t really my friend on the weekends this fall. So no, the fence isn’t cleaned and stained. I guess that’s the top of the Spring 2004 list then. I also have to get to the Odd Lots store to pick up my birdseed supply. I found the suet holder, and everything else is hanging empty on the pole. I’m going to miss my unemployed days when I could just sit in the window watching for the cardinals. But hey, having a steady income has its good points too, right?

I have my hands bound up with duct tape to prevent me from turning on the Christmas lights outside so I can enjoy my handiwork, but in this family, we try to wait until at least Thanksgiving night. So I’m behaving myself. But the duct tape is starting to chafe, and I’m having a flashback to the whole CSI: Miami thing from the other day, trying to type without the use of my hands.

Today was “decorate the house with Christmas lights day.” Was it that day for you too? I think the high temperature hit nearly 60 degrees, so you can imagine we were looking for any excuse to play outside. After swimming Junior spent some time playing with his cousins at my mom’s house before we all had lunch at Burger King. Then Junior and I went to buy this year’s lights. I know they are reusable, but before you say anything, I leave them up until spring and by then, especially after last year’s winter, all the color was worn off the bulbs. Useless to me, you see.

I let Junior pick this year’s color scheme, and God Bless his soul, he likes blue lights. I love blue lights outside…just think they look awesome. I could never get Mr. Dump to do blue lights – he actually wanted us to do white lights (which just doesn’t scream “Christmas” to me, and I want my house screaming, baby.) Over the years I settled for red outside, and eventually got my way with multi-colored. But Junior said blue so we looked for blue. Then he said he wanted red too. We have two bushes on each side of the front steps, so that works out. Well, funny thing – I’ve been in this house for nine and a half years, and this is the first year that the shrubs are so big that one string of lights wasn’t enough. So we had to go back to the store, and I decided to splurge on one of those white deer with the head that goes up and down because Mr. Dump always wanted one, and they were always too expensive. Well, Brooks had them for $18.88! I can do that!

The thing is, the way I decorated the front, it’s, well, patriotic. I didn’t mean to do it that way. Junior said he wanted the red closest to the house, and I did that, but the spot where the deer worked the best meant that it’s now red, white and blue, in that order.

Well, you know, whether or not I support what we’re doing in Iraq, I DO support the people who are over there, and I know this is the worst time of year. So let’s just say that I did my decorating that way on purpose, shall we? (Now I just have to keep myself from flipping the lights on between now and Thanksgiving, when I generally start with that stuff. I love the holidays!)

Oh, you’re probably wondering about this post title, huh? Junior came home from school about a month ago and told me he’d learned a new song, called “My Country Tis”. That’s way too cute for me to correct him. Oh, and he does a stellar job singing it, if I can brag for a moment.

I’ve gone about 7 hours now without any Michael Jackson news, and I’m really getting the DTs, man. I was starting to feel like there were bugs crawling on me, nibbling at my nose and turning my skin white!

It’s horrible, I tell you. And there’s only one cure: more, pictures of him leaving the police station, stat!

I realized you might be concerned that the “dead person on the keyboard” experiment was actually the real thing, and like Bill, be tempted to call 911. I want to tell you all to rest easy, that just because we’re in the middle of another of those magnetic solar hurricanes, all is well in the Big DumpTruck Garage.

I do plan to keep an eye out for those cool aurora borealis sunsets these things cause. I don’t have my camera with me, which is extra stinky, but what are you going to do?

I do want to give a happy hello to all the visitors coming in from thyroid.about.com today. Mary runs my Thanksgiving article every, uh, Thanksgiving, and I always meet the nicest people after it runs! My thyroid is doing well, considering it’s attached to me. It’s been, um, three or four years since I first wrote that, and I’m doing well, thank you. Still have my tired days, still live in piles of clutter and plastic storage bins, but doing well.