May 26, 2003

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  Today, in the USA, was Memorial Day.

  
  

  

  
  

  Time to remember those brave military men and women who gave their lives in the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

  
  

  Time to pause a moment and contemplate the principles this great country was built upon. Principles of equality and opportunity, the freedom of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

  
  

  And time to take a moment to think about the part we can play in making those ideals a reality. To strive to live the sort of life that was worth the sacrifices so many have made to preserve our freedoms.

  
  

  

  
  

  Memorial Day, as part of the first long holiday weekend of the warm months, is also the unofficial beginning of the summer season. A time for barbecues and picnics, camping and trips to the shore. A time for firing up the old grill and gathering your friends and family in the backyard. The time when community pools all over the temperate regions open for the season, as do the seasonal businesses on boardwalks, amusement parks, campgrounds and countless other vacation destinations.

  
  

  Well, to put it bluntly, for many of us, this weekend was just plain crap as far as the outdoor recreation goes. Quite a bit of the country has been swamped with rain and/or shivering from damp, clammy, unseasonably cold and cloudy weather. Today was even worse than the last three. I sat in the living room watching out the picture window as the water overflowing our (desperately in need of being cleaned out) gutter was doing its best to look like Niagara Falls. I don’t know what the official total was, but my garden rain gauge overflowed at 2 inches…

  
  

  As for my household, all I can say is thank goodness for a full pantry and digital cable TV.

  
  

  

  
  

  I didn’t get much done all weekend. Despite my fears that the medication I am on would put me in high gear, I suppose all it did was counteract the urge to hibernate this weather would normally bring on. Anyway, I just have 2 days (3 more pills) to go. And it was well worth the couple of extra pounds I am sure I gained from all the eating I have been doing. No sinus headache. And my sense of smell is back in full force.

  
  

  I can smell even subtle aromas now, not just the strong ones. I have been running around sticking my nose into everything savoring all the fragrances I have missed. I am even relishing the ability to smell the nasty ones, like the kitty litter and doggie doo. Tonight when we were at Home Depot, I went to the garden department just so I could have a sniff of all the familiar chemicals stocking the aisles! And food tastes so much better, too. What a joy! I actually put too much spicy mustard on a ham sandwich yesterday. Well, it was my usual amount, but with my restored senses it was just too strong!

  
  

  I was concerned that the constant infections and the two surgeries I have had may have permanently affected nerves or tissues that were necessary for my olfactory sense, but this proves to me that the equipment is still there and it must just be the inflammation and constant congestion that is blocking my sense of smell. That is a huge relief to me. I just hope the doctor finds a solution to keep it from going away for months (even years) at a time like it has been.

  
  

  So now I look forward to clearing skies and getting back to work on household projects. We went to Home Depot to get paint for my bedroom, since it was on sale. It was my dad’s bedroom and hasn’t been painted in about 30 years. The plaster on the walls and the ceiling has a few serious cracks I have to fix, and since the ceiling is already textured, merely spackling won’t work. So I am going to try a popcorn texture paint. My first attempt at that. Should be fun. I am also faux finishing the walls with several different shades of blue paint for a richer effect.

  
  

  

  
  

  This is what I have to work with to create my dream bedroom. I am standing with the door at my back to take this shot, and there is another window on the wall to my right. That corner straight ahead is due east, so you can imagine how nice and sunny this room is in the morning. This photo was taken a couple of months ago, quite a bit of that stuff has been removed from the room, but it still isn’t quite empty. Still a couple of pieces of furniture and a lot of boxes and stuff to move out. I was storing a lot of the stuff I plan on selling on eBay in this room, I guess that will be filling my living room for a while now.

  
  

  I have been very utilitarian in my painting of the rest of the house, but I really want to transform my bedroom into a special place, and make it look as different as possible from what it was, so I don’t just feel like I am still sleeping in my parents’ room. So I am pushing the opulent, luxurious look right over the top with my bedroom, and hopefully creating the space of my dreams (which will be perfect for dreaming in)

  
  

  I think that is a very important factor when living in the house you grew up in, to make enough changes to truly make it feel like your own, rather than getting that “stuck in time” feeling. And since so much of this house is still stuck in the 1970′s (like the horrendous harvest gold kitchen appliances) this is going to be a real design challenge for me, to do enough with my budget to make it look fresh and more suitable to our lifestyle, yet still strike a balance with some of the elements that make it feel like home. I have been giving a lot of thought to how to work with what is already here, and blend the old with the new, keeping only the parts that we really like, and getting rid of, or changing, the rest.

  
  

  Well, I have some auctions ending and some new ones to start, so I have to get going. I will leave a link to a movie I watched last night on cable. It was pretty good, even though it wasn’t the sort of film I usually watch. Drew Barrymore really put a lot of ambiguity into her portrayal of a teenaged Lolita-type who turns a wealthy and dysfunctional family inside out. It is hard to decide if her character is a purely evil and self serving manipulator or a tragically lonely, forgotten, damaged soul seeking comfort in the only way her twisted psyche can work out. Sara Gilbert is a perfect contrast to Barrymore as the somewhat freaky, lonely rich girl just trying to make sense of everything that is going on around her.

  • 10:08 pm
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