Fri Feb 01 2002 19:22: I am in San Francisco for Leonard's wisdom teeth removal. The oral surgeon allowed me to stay for the whole procedure... nice of him. Susie's kicked me out after anesthesia. It was "interesting." He's doing great, and I need to grade papers. What an evening of excitement!

Fri Feb 08 2002 20:08: Today I accomplished a couple of things: bought two fruit trees and a Dicentra, got Rachel's car out of hock (to the tune of $1014.08), and visited the doctor to find that my viral load is way down. That's good news, except the t-cells are also way down. Hmmmm. which number do we go by? I also made friends with a neighbor and a batch of cat food.

At work we were trying to figure out how to remove icons from the desktop but leave them on the upper toolbar on some hand-me-down Windows 95 computers. There appears to be some diabolical linkage. I told the lab assistant that I own a book called "Windows Annoyances", but she didn't believe me.

This statement may be true only in the mythological sense. I haven't seen the book in years. On the other hand, how many books do I have that it could be hiding among?

Sat Feb 09 2002 20:41: Today I spent all day out in the yard, working. I'm so sore I can hardly move. It was a beautiful day. I pulled weeds, but not so you'd notice, and planted trees and filled in some trenches (not evenly.)

The neighbor across the street is going to have a baby girl at the end of May.

The other neighbor across the street (Judy) complimented me on all my hard work. Also, a fellow came by to look at the patio cover because his wife had noticed how beautiful it is while she was out running. Go me!

When I went to Home Depot (to buy a pair of channel lock pliers so I could open the can of PVC cement so I could mend the crack in the pipe so I could fill in the ditch so I could install the outdoor chessboard so I could hose off the driveway and the littleparnertheroosterlyingflatonhisbackbythestreamchokingandchokingandchokingunderthehousethatjackbuilt), I bought an interesting clivia-looking bulb in a pot called a Sun Star. The label had no Latin name. It also had no price, but the sign on the shelf said "Deco Floral $4.97." The cashier didn't believe me, and she called the garden people on the phone, and they couldn't find them (even though I told her they were exactly next to the orchids)so they gave it to me for $.97. I am now about to do a web search for Sun Star, and I bet the only thing I'll come up with is They Might Be Giants.

Sat Feb 09 2002 21:16: My little Quasser came out from where ever he was hiding and was swimming around the fishpond today. (It was a beautiful day.) He's not such a little guy anymore-- fat and sassy. I sure was glad to see him. I hadn't seen him in so long that I was afraid the bobocat had eaten him all gone.

Sun Feb 10 2002 19:19: This is the weekend for breaking things. Last night I broke a Mason jar, and then this morning my amaryllis bulb sprouting vase. Yaaah. Then we've had a windstorm. Casualties: The patio umbrella (turned clear inside out and splintered!) and the top vase from the front porch fountain. (Just when I got it operational.)

What's next, the heart of a trueblue love?

Mon Feb 11 2002 18:52: I finally found the chitalpa tree I've been looking everwhere for. At Coopers, the arm-and-a-leg nursery. They had ONE count 'em one tree in stock, and it is a 15 gallon size, but they will deliver it for free. Whew. Since they were having a spring sale I got (on sale) a pair of Golden Showers roses to climb over the back gate, several red and white roses (including Mr. Lincoln, my favorite) to go near my chessboard in my Wonderland backyard, a white rosa banksae to join the yellow one that climbs the back patio overhead, and a magnolia souliangiana for the front. Susie's car is full of dirt and sawdust.

I also received a reply back from the company that produced the Sun Star, which I emailed and complained that they gave their plant a dippy name and not its horticultural one. It's an Ornithogalum. The fellow who wrote me said "good luck." I hope I don't need it with this little flower, but whoa, the botanical name is so close to the former name for compsognathus, which species turned out to be so dangerous at the end of Jurassic Park.

I am sore sore sore sore sore sore. Need to take a hot shower and go to bed.

Tue Feb 12 2002 19:14: Because I went to bed early last night, I got up feeling purty good and had a good day, but worked extra hours and now I'm tired and sore. Whiplash is no fun, for the record. I wish I didn't have to do any work tonight. I'm going to input my grades, make some worksheets, and turn in as soon as I can. Oh, but I have to remember to put the trash out. That's one disadvantage of not living on an alley-- you have to be cognizant of when it is trash day because it doesn't happen automatically.

Wed Feb 13 2002 15:29: I woke up in the night dreaming I had gone back to work at East. I was panicky because I haven't been since last March, and in my dream the substitute had left all the papers for me to grade. My worksheet folders were all empty too. I was in a cold sweat.

Not that I minded the job, but my goodness, how stressful.

Wed Feb 13 2002 19:24: I came home from work and planted the rest of my roses in the dark. Tired and sore, but determined to keep going no matter what. Boy, I wish I were in bed right now though. Still papers to grade.

Sat Feb 16 2002 18:45: Rachel and I spent two solid days of very hard work and made about $200 at a garage sale. We also got rid of a lot of junk, and one can drive into the garage if one wishes. I can't say the rest of the house or yard is organized though.

I put everyone's suitcases, except for mine, which is still full of books from the San Francisco trip, in the garden shed storage room with the camping gear and Christmas stuff.

We went and ordered a hot tub, which (of course!) cost about twice what I thought it would, but when it comes sometime around the end of March I think it will really help my neuropathy and soreness. A high note is we didn't have to get a redwood covered one; it's going to be stained gray and match the house better.

Mon Feb 18 2002 17:43: Today I worked very hard in the yard, plucking about a hundred pounds of weeds from a fourth of one half of the front. I went to White Forest Nursery and got flats of creeping thyme to plunk into the voids left by weed roots. The theory is that the thyme will creep and choke out potential weeds while allowing daffodils, tulips, iris, and various other bulby stuff to sprout each spring. We shall see.

Luke and Cami Peet came over and Luke planted my chitalpa tree and I fed them lunch. Little Lukey ate tons of spaghetti but not a whole lot of slime slurbet. I let him blow on my saxophone.

The Japanese iris are up and blooming, as are the crocus. (As are the dandelions!) I also leveled out a lot of the side yard and placed the rest of the stepping stones. I'm about a dozen stones short, so someday I'll have to go get more.

I got the back yard ready for Gretel's return home tomorrow, including the chore of putting a chicken wire fence all around the strawberry bed. The place still looks dismal, but oh well, I keep plugging away. Now I'm very, very tired and wish I could go to bed early, but I have to do some stuff for work.

Thu Feb 21 2002 13:05: Leonard quotes a news article:

"In order to see signs of planets in the dust, the alien astronomers would need to tune their instruments to spot the smallest dust. Landgraf studies this, too, bits that are just one-hundredth of a millimeter, or dozens of times tinier than a typical grain of sand. It is everywhere in our solar system, zipping around ten times faster than a rifle bullet."

They don't need an alien astronomer. My mother could find it just fine herself without any aid from the Swiss opticians. Now I know why the carpet was never vacuumed enough to suit her.

Thu Feb 21 2002 19:39: I never ever in a thousand years thought I would do a Power Point presentation, but here I am putting one together.

Tue Feb 26 2002 21:00: I had the missionaries to dinner tonight. Elder Fairchild, the new one, is from Texas, so I showed him my Texas-shaped cheese (he said "Sweet!") and the picture of the Texas cake with the dead armadillo atop it from Alyson's wedding. I could see the gears turning in his head, and I'm sure that he's already got his heart set on having the same thing at his own wedding.

What IS it with these Texans?

Denise Byington (also in attendance at this meal) and I were wondering, in the kitchen afterwards, if the Texas-shaped cheddar is Real California Cheese. (TM)

Wed Feb 27 2002 09:46: Cheesy!

Thu Feb 28 2002 14:10: Today, while cleaning out the bag I carried last time I messed with Texas, I encountered a little mini-pack of lifesavers dressed like the ubiquitous trashcans to be found at interstate rest areas throughout the Lone Star State. This is now installed in its intended place on the kitchen curio shelf.

Thu Feb 28 2002 21:14: I spent a couple of hours pulling weeds and finished the west front garden. Around on the other side of the trees, where I started, new ones are poking their heads up.