Two Thousand Six – August

08/01 A little bit of thunder, lightening and rain in the wee hours of this morning.  Piano lesson this afternoon and for the first time in ages I’ve actually practiced!  I met Steve for coffee and had him over for dinner.  Hanna was all over him, but weirdly enough, Coco didn’t feel the need to bother with him at all.  That’s not like her.

08/02 I got my anchor chain bracelet back!  I drove the Wagon to town to get my hair cut and it’s running just fine now.  Last time she cut my hair I had to keep telling her; “shorter!  shorter!”.  Today, I think it’s a tad too short.  But, it’ll grow.

08/03 Happy Birthday, Tim!!  Today I relieved myself of lawn mowing duty for the rest of the summer.  Spiders, a Bee and Poetry.  There is eucalyptus growing at Noerenberg Park, which means there could be eucalyptus growing in my yard.  I must research!  For reasons obvious to those of you who know me well, I won’t go to the most convenient place, so I will have to put forth a bit more effort in traveling to Dundee on Hwy.55. 

08/04 To whom it may concern:  Avery’s website is alive and well, though not updated recently, her picture above is a link.  I hate it when Coco steals my breakfast.  The delight of a two hour afternoon nap!  Thai food, more spiders, guitar, cigar and a poem just for me.

08/05 Hanna was the breakfast thief this morning.  My iTunes were messed up again today, but I think I’ve got it figured out; for some reason I keep having to copy the “iTunes” folder from the external drive.  No big deal, just time consuming, especially since I lose the play lists every time.  Hanna:  88 minutes, 5.84 miles, 4.0 mph, HR=146.

08/06 Coco:  86 minutes, 5.81 miles, 4.1 mph, HR=127.  Humid, ugh.  The Wagon died again today, but started right back up. 

08/07 An afternoon for household chores; light bulbs, laundry, mail, etc.

08/08 I’m going to pick up Blondie’s ashes today.  Someone will be with me this evening.  I’ll be OK, really, I will.  Or not.

08/09 My iTunes have survived a trip to the office and a sync with the network.  Today I saved the offline files instead of the network version.  Which makes perfect sense, I don’t know what I was thinking before.  It’s still too early to be sure, but I’m optimistic.  I don’t understand why the picture of Blondie on the kitchen bulletin board will make me cry, yet the one in the Dogs’ room doesn’t.

08/10 It was all I could do to stay awake during my manicure/pedicure.  I’m going to do my chores and go to bed early. 

08/11 Amy and Avery have gone to Wisconsin.  I’ll take this opportunity to get some things done around the house.  I already got sidetracked by the camera, I had put the macro lense on one night we were watching spiders and never did get around to using it.  See the PhotoJournal.  I’m pondering putting a different lense on the camera every day and making a point to play with whatever I’ve got that day.  Great in theory, difficult in the execution.  Shouldn’t be.  The big leather chair from the downstairs family room has now been moved to it’s new home in the north sun room.  Thank you, Steve and Joel!

08/12 Coco and Hanna:  95 minutes, 5.93 miles, 3.7 mph, (not my) HR=98.  Both Coco’s back feet were bleeding when we got home, I’ve put salve and booties on her.  Last night’s leftover blueberry/peach crisp mixed with oatmeal made for a delightful breakfast.  I’ve now got screens installed on my windows!  I have blueberries and yesterday’s email brought me a blueberry pie recipe from Dr. Weil.  Funny how life works out sometimes.

08/13 Thunderstorms make for delightfully lazy mornings!  I feed him dinner, he cleans my garage.  Sweet!!!

08/14 1:00 this morning found me laying on my back on my picnic table watching The Perseid meteor shower.  It was cold!  There was hot cocoa.  I don’t want to know what time I finally went to bed.  We went to Body Worlds at the Science Museum.  Enjoyed the river bank.  The stairs!

08/15 Another week I’ve hardly touched the piano.  I’m going to have to get out the timer and instigate the old “no ifs, ands or buts about it 15 minutes per day” rule.  A short visit at Caribou – how many Tuesdays in a row can we do this?  A wonderful evening walk and me with no camera.  Blueberry pie for dinner!

08/16 Blueberry pie in oatmeal for breakfast.  Kids’ birthday party at Mom and Dad’s.  What seemed like a good idea yesterday, wasn’t tonight.

08/17 He cooks!  East on the Luce Line.  Rock “tower”.

08/18 My piano is tuned.  Two naps!  Beach play.  Left over chicken stir fry and the last of the blueberry pie.  It doesn’t get any better than this.  Or does it?

08/19 Coco and Hanna: 97 minutes, 6.11 miles, 3.8 mph, HR=110.  An awkward moment out of the blue.  A surprise Visitor, worried about me.  Funny:  There are people who read this journal and I wish they didn’t, then there are others who obviously don’t and I wish they did.  There’s just no pleasing this Girl.

08/20 A restful morning spent laying on the dock, reading my book, listening to the ducks.  Kayaking.  Sunburn.  Motorcycle.  Caribou.  Sunset.  To bed at a civilized hour. 

08/21 Breakfast on the porch beats breakfast in the car!  Couldn’t resist the urge to stop for a photo of the Pink Monster.  A short walk.  A beautiful place, so close to home yet not previously explored.  An unlocked door.

08/22 The disc space errors are starting to annoy me, I must put more effort into clearing stuff out.  Note to self:  Never, ever open iTunes while attached to the server.  A game of chess at Caribou, I lost.  Short walk, another trail. 

08/23 Thunder!  Lightening!  Me, with no time to lay in bed and enjoy.  A short walk, a heavy talk.

08/24 The Accountant now has my life sorted out.  At least as it relates to the Federal and State taxing authorities.  OUCH!!  This name change business is a struggle for me.  Damn!  Hail.  My poor little car.

08/25 I was thinking the weather would foul any plans for playing on the beach, but we were pleasantly surprised.  I can’t believe how much sand was clinging to Avery, and how it’s all over the house!  Proof of a good time!  The wagon wasn’t running right.  Again.  Still.  It died twice trying to get out of Tim’s driveway this evening.  My knight in shining white van met me at Sears, where I’ve left the blasted thing.

08/26 A very lazy morning.  Stubbs/Maxwell Loop plus exploring the woods around Noerenberg Park.  Picked up the wagon.  It was an oxygen sensor, no big deal, just an inconvenience.  Checked on my Geocache in Minnetonka. 

08/27 Took the little car to the car wash.  Enjoyed my second-to-the-last Sunday laying on my dock with my book.  Light bulbs were replaced – no ladder or stool required!  The white chair is on it’s way to pink.  Avery’s deck chair is assembled and clear coated.  Laundry has been done.  A walk has been had.  A productive day!  Where, oh where, is my Garbage Man?

08/28 Rent-A-Geek day at the office.

08/29 Tony had an appendectomy this morning.  When someone tells me; “Yeah, I heard the whole story”, I can’t help but wonder, yet resisted the urge to ask, exactly what story was it they heard.  Caribou Coffee #5!  East on the Luce Line:  134 minutes, 6.?? miles, 3.3 mph.  Now we know who made the rock tower.  I got the barrel back!!

08/30 Yesterday at the hospital I tied a blue rubber glove to the handle of my purse to remind me of two things.  Both of which escape me still.  East on the Luce Line with Coco:  63 minutes, 4.75 miles, 4.5 mph, HR=149.

08/31 I must have some weird strength spurt going on.  This morning my Trainer was sneaking in a little extra weight and most of the times he didn’t I was heard to comment; “could be heavier”.  As much as it pains me, I’ve admitted defeat and removed the rubber glove from the handle of my purse.