I know I'm Bats but--REALLY!?!

Friends!

So, I'm at work this morning, out and about, getting samples for some lab work.  I opened the door to one of the pumping plants and almost stained my shorts when this tiny object fluttered out!  It was a Little Brown Bat.

I bet he passed a little guano, too.

He flittered down to the ground and of course my first thought was: PICTURES!

He was SO tiny and light, and his fur was silky soft.

He had translucent fuzzy wings.

Check out those tiny toes!  They were surprisingly strong.

I didn't get a photo, but when he opened his mouth I saw his teeny-weeny fangs!  Don't worry, he didn't want to drink my blood, Little Brown Bats eat insects.  In fact, there are several bat houses on the property.

He flew off after a few minutes, no doubt cussing me out for disturbing his nap.

xx

trish

Back to Work.

Friends!

You all made me weep.  Shame on you!

Thank you for you encouraging words, love and experiences. I am honored.

 I had three days off from work and indulged in an orgy of cleaning and organization, something I find very Zen and in-the-moment to do.  If I can't have ordered inner space at least my outer space is going to be spic-n-span, dammit.

I don't feel any better, but I'm not any worse.  Holding is good.

And I have some most excellent medicine to ingest later...Scott came home with a chocolate fudge cake today!  Just THINK of how many endorphins I'll get from that.

Better living through chemistry!

xx

trish

The Black Dog

Friends!

I haven't written in a while, and there is a reason for that.

Winston Churchill called his depression "The Black Dog".  It's been such a long time since I've seen my particular canine that I didn't realize it was here.  But it is.  I am depressed.

What this means for me is that life has no joy, no savor, no creativity.

I feel bleak.

Living is an effort and takes all my attention and effort.

I'm incredibly tired, yet I can't sleep, or my sleep is haunted by incredibly vivid and horrifying nightmares.

I'm confused and I can't find words, nouns, names.  It's frustrating trying to express myself.  I can't even compose a decent compound sentence, for cripe's sake.

At least I know what this is and what I need to do, and I'm doing it.  I've done it before.  But it takes time to get better, and I'm an impatient perfectionist.  I hate waiting, yet I must.

Winston Churchill said "If you are going through Hell, keep going."

I intend to keep moving.

Thanks for listening.

xx

trish

I'm Versatile!

Friends!

My fun young friend Maya, author of Butterflies Surround Me, tagged The Katnip Lounge for the Versatile Blogger award.  Thanks, Maya!  I enjoy reading your blog, and your photographs are wonderful, as well.

I decided that The Horde gets entirely too much publicity so I hijacked the award and ran on over here to tattle on myself.

Seven Facts About Me:

1.  I am clinically depressed.  

This has shaped who I am, in a good way.  

2.  Hubby is diagnosed Bi-polar II, and he tends toward the manic side of the spectrum.

Things are never dull at our house.

3.  I don't consider myself beautiful, or even pretty, but I'm OK with that.

  I like who I am.

4.  I'm handy.  I can fix stuff and build things.  

Hubby calls me "A Chick with a dick".

 And he says it with pride!

5.  I also can bake and sew and crochet and do needlework.

Versatile!

6.  I detest cooking, although I can put together a tasty meal.

Killer Italian pot roast, for example.

7.  Choosing between a great book and sex?
I'll never tell...

Tell me something fun about yourselves...

xx

trish

Holy Crap!

Friends!

I got the Explanation of Benefits in the mail for my hysterectomy.

Hang on to your shorts:

SIXTY-SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!

I am so happy I have good health insurance; my total out of pocket expenses were under $300.  

I'm in shock, I really don't know how or what I feel about such a huge sum for removing some worn out female parts...I wonder what I could get for a kidney in good shape?

Hubby has two!

xx

trish

Why I Love My Car

Friends!

Last September Hubby decided I needed a new car.  We had planned to wait another year, but sometimes you have to go with the flow and DO stuff.  I got a 2010 Ford Escape, and it came loaded with everything except the heated leather seats.  It gets great milage, is fun to drive, and has nice get-up-n-go when I need it.  It has a decent sound system...

...and it came with a six month trial subscription to Sirius Radio.

OMG.

My morning commute isn't long, only fifteen minutes, so I don't have much time to get in a couple of good tunes to start my day.  I NEED my morning music as much as coffee.  Maybe even more.  Coming home, I want something instrumental to unwind to, a nice long jam band is perfect.

Allow me to digress.  I grew up in the Chicago area, with a vibrant music scene.  Chi-town blues & jazz clubs, the Opera House,and 492 different ethnic neighborhoods meant lots of good listening on the radio.  Free radio.  Radio stations that specialized in nothing BUT arcane one-hit wonders.  Stations devoted solely to soul.  And never less than four major stations playing current rock and alternative music.  Chicago shaped me into a picky listener, and I thought the whole world was like this, full of wonderful stimulating tunes.  

Then I moved to the cultural wasteland otherwise known as Las Vegas.  

Don't get me started on the lack of decent coffee shops, museums, and crappy overpriced restaurants.  Let's talk about the pathetic selection of free radio stations.  They suck, big time.  Nothing but angst-filled teenagers, i.e. Justin Bieber and his ilk, angry rap, and ho-ridden hip hop.  Oh, and country, which is a dirty word where I come from. (sorry!) There's one "oldies" station, featuring the top 40 from the past 50 years. Like Ive never heard "Hey Jude" before, or even worse, EVERY song ever sung by Journey.  I started listening to National Public Radio to save my sanity.  Which, by the way, is pretty interesting, but definitely not melodious.

Then along comes my new Ford, with satellite radio.

OMG.

It's Nevada living with Chicago choice!  There's stations playing stuff by bands I've never heard of--and I know my bands; Hubby has a music-related business, and we listen to everything we find that's new to us.  There's opera, alternative, blues, rock (new and classic), disco, & soul.  There's CELTIC music for crying out loud!  And three NPR stations, heh heh.

My commutes are complete.

You might ask why I don't just pop in a CD or plug in my MP3 player, and the short answer is that I want something NEW.  Like Reggae played on a pipe organ accompanied by pygmies playing oboes in 5/4 time.  You know, something interesting.

My six months are up on my free Sirius subscription, and you'de be correct if you guessed I subscribed. 

 Twelve bucks a month.

One Satisfied Listener.

Priceless.

And that's what I like best about my new car.

xx

trish

EnRaptured

No words needed.

xx

trish