Sunday, June 27, 2010

Fun walk, despite bickering...

hey, sisters fight, or so I've discovered!

Here are the twins, on the start of our walk:

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And here are the three graces:

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A delightful steam-punky mailbox at the end of the road, which I've been meaning to photograph for weeks

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And a beautiful tractor which appears to be mostly decorative:

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At the end of our walk, kitties waited to be cuddled:

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A fun time was had by all...mostly. ;)




I've been trying to get used to the sheer VOLUME and PERSISTENCE of talk-talk-talk-talk-talk...I'll get there. But I've declared a moratorium on bickering and sniping...wonder how long it'll last. Any guesses?

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Never Blame the Victim

We always say never to blame the victim of a crime, especially a sexual assault or rape.

Al Gore allegedly assaulted a massage therapist in 2006, and I have to say I have mixed feelings about all of this.

As a professional massage therapist, there's a line you draw.

Personally, if a client touched me or even attempted to touch me, the massage would be over. The situation gets murky when it's verbal. I give the client one warning, if he persists, then he's out. (Notice I said "he"; that's deliberate. I've never had a female client do or say anything inappropriate. Only the men.)

I'll go out on a limb here and guess that the therapist in question felt intimidated by the identity of her client. Regardless, if the allegations are true, then the situation escalated and she did nothing. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't find it difficult to simply leave a room while my client is naked on the massage table. I'd be out the door before he disentangled himself from the sheet and got off the table. But maybe that's just me...

Discuss, please. Am I being too harsh?




Tip o' the hat to reader/commenter SCI-FI, who kindly sent me a link to the article.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Squeeeeeee!

My Twinkies are here!!!!

First came the drive to the airport, right into a cloudburst. POURING rain, lots of lightning and thunder...which led to lots of waiting, because the planes couldn't land in that sort of weather, apparently.

Here's Silver, waiting relatively patiently:

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Then, finally...they appeared! My babies, now almost as tall as I, and definitely taller than their big sister (which causes me to laugh heartily, since she always pushed them around when they were little...)

Here's a group photo of the three of them, we were all rather silly and giddy by that time, and were probably driving all the other folks in the airport batty with our excited and loud chatter:

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From left to right: Chaos, Silver, and Tally!

The twins told a funny story about their seatmate on the flight, a middle-aged man in a business suit, who was actually reading TWILIGHT. And enjoying it. He told them it was "good". Poor, deluded sap.

Now I'm blogging (obviously), after having had dinner (DaddyBear, the potroast was DELICIOUS, even though I used a Fat Tire instead of Smithwick's), while the girls are in the next room playing Super Smash Bros. before we all hit the sack. I'm beat, but elated and overjoyed to have all my girls together again. This summer is going to be EPIC. :D

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Surreal...

...yet FUN!

Walking down a country lane, belting out "Bohemian Rhapsody" with my daughter (including all the guitar parts and the headbanging), hitting the super-high note and causing all the neighborhood dogs to start barking, and mine to run away.

Oh, and the cicadas around here are the size of turkeys.

Monday, June 21, 2010

And then there was...

...the slightly odd couple who kept their pants on during their couple's massage. And I'm not just talking underpants here, I'm talking full-length TROUSERS.

WTF is wrong with people?

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Texas=Critters

I've posted before about all the critters here in rural Texas. Most of 'em I like, some of them (for example spiders, beetles, mosquitoes, and fleas!) I could gladly do without. But the ones I absolutely LOATHE with every fiber of my being are the critters that lurk unseen by the side of the road, waiting to dart out and be transformed into roadkill by innocent, unsuspecting travelers.

After spending a lovely evening in Elsewhere, Texas at the inestimable Phlegm Fatale's and LawDog's abode, in the company of Holly and JPG, during which visit much delicious food and beverage were consumed (ask Phlegmmy about the whipped cream...;) ), Silver and I were tooling along the highway, heading for my work. I had taken a half-day off, seeing as it's quite the drive from Elsewhere, and I neither wanted to rush this morning, nor force our hosts out of bed too early on their day off. Oh, and let me just say that Phlegmmy's couch is extremely comfortable, I slept like a baby!

ANYWAY...we were about fifty miles or so into our journey, when *BANG*!!! Some unknown critter decided to commit suicide by throwing itself underneath the wheel of my car. The front driver's side wheel, to be exact. It couldn't have been a big one, since I didn't even catch a glimpse of an animal and I didn't feel the car drive over anything, either.

I carefully steered the rattling car to the shoulder and stopped, put my warning lights on, and got out to peruse the damage. Hmmmmmm. Small but rather deep dent in the underside of the bumper, right in front of the driver's side wheel, smeared with a little blood. Scrapes underneath said bumper. Matching dent in the metal frame of the car to the rear of the wheel, behind where the fender SHOULD be. Plastic fenders inside the wheel well cracked and tattered, hanging in pieces, with several pieces missing and presumed lost on the highway during the rumpus. Side light/reflector hanging outside the chassis by its wire, easily enough snapped into place. Front side panel a little warped/bent. Wheel/tire in perfect shape. Apparently.

We carefully rejoined the highway traffic, going at a sensible 50 mph, with warning lights continuing to flash. The car was still shaking and rattling, but relatively easy enough to handle, nonetheless.

Silver got on the phone with my boss and explained the situation, and I was prudently given the rest of the day off. I hated missing the appointments I already had scheduled, but needs must and all that, right? An hour later, we hit SmallTown and swung by Marvin's place (Marvin is my Most Excellent Mechanic), but he was closed already. We then threw ourselves on my friend Mulligan's mercy, since he's one of those handy fellows. He agreed to meet us at our place in about ten minutes.

About two miles from our house, on a (luckily) quiet country road...*PFFFFFFFFFFT*!!! The car started pulling sharply to the left. *sigh*

She'd done good, but didn't quite get us home: the tire had come apart!

Luckily, Mulligan had to travel the same route, so he gallantly stepped in to assist in the whole swap-the-tire-for-the-spare thing, and a few minutes later, we finally ended our odyssey. HOME!

After we removed the wheel, this is what it looked like...YIKES! I'm amazed we made it as far as we did, considering the damage the tire was sustaining. I don't know WHAT was rubbing on it or contributing to its damage, but it must have been bad.

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We transferred the wheel from my trunk to Mulligan's truck and headed to Nearby Largish Town, which had a Discount Tire place that was still open. One new tire later, we headed back home. Then the fun REALLY started!

Jack up the car, remove the spare. Remove all pieces of plastic fender still remaining. Use electrical tape to tape up the three wires whose insulation had been rubbed/scraped away in spots. (Silver and I had checked all lights after the original EVENT, everything still worked fine.) Zip-tie said wires tightly to make absolutely sure they are completely out of the way. Bend back the dented frame at the rear of the wheel well. Attach the wheel with the new tire in place, lower the car back to the ground.

TEST DRIVE! W00t...she was running SMOOOOOOOTHLY. Awesome. I quickly called work and told 'em I'd be able to come in on Sunday after all. I had cringed at the thought of missing another day, my bank account surely couldn't afford it, especially with the advent of my babies! Teenagers eat a LOT.

Quick clean up of the work area, everything put back neatly in its respective place.

DONE.

I have to say, fixing my car ourselves was very rewarding and strangely satisfying. Up til now, I've been content to throw money at the professionals to handle things. Mulligan is an excellent instructor, btw. Very patient with an occasionally fumble-fingered apprentice.

After we had retired to our respective homes for SERIOUSLY needed showers, Mulligan, Silver, and I reconvened at our local Chinese buffet for dinner. My treat. And Mulligan, you have a massage coming your way, my friend!

Oh, lest y'all think I'm leaving things as they are, take heart: I plan on getting the necessary fender parts at O'Reilly's and putting the wheel well back together again. Hey, should be fun!

Also, another tire will be purchased in the next week. I had already bought two a couple weeks ago, so now I have three new tires and one worn one...that doesn't make sense, nor is it particularly good for the vehicle.

All in all, this has been quite the adventure. It could have been much, much worse, of course. Nobody was hurt except for an evil critter, my car works fine again, and I only missed one day of work.

We really enjoyed our visit to Elsewhere to see Phlegmmy and LawDog; thanks, Y'all...next time, though, I'll try to keep a better eye out for kamikaze critters! ;)

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Und der Countdown laeuft...

One week until my wonderful daughters arrive from Jolly Olde England! I can't wait to see Chaos and Tally!!!

We're going to have fun, and hopefully few fights, though I won't hold my breath on that one...;)

So I'm counting down the days...

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

For all you Non-Facebookers out there...

BLOGGER POTLUCK/SHINDIG!!!!!

Friday, July 30. Starts at 7 PM, ends whenever.

Bring your family, bring a dish/some kind of food item, and any booze if you plan on partaking thereof.

Non-bloggers will also be present. Just fyi. :)

Please email me at lucrativepain@yahoo.com to RSVP and to let me know how many will be attending and what you plan on bringing (just to help me plan, dontchaknow...)

I can't WAIT!

:D

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Massage Protip

This one's for the therapists out there:

It's never a good idea to greet your next client with: "Yeah, I'll be doing you."

Trust me.

Happy Birthday, Silver!

My oldest daughter turns 19 today! Hope you have a good one, Silver!

I'll try to squeeze in a massage for you. :)

Saturday, June 12, 2010

I love massage!

Here's a quick rundown of why:

-two clients today telling me (and my boss!) that I gave them the best massage they'd ever had. And that's including one client who's an esthetician and who receives massages from her colleagues frequently.

-a newbie client telling me that she now understands why people consider massage addictive.

-getting excellent tips

-having a young, attractive client look me straight in the eye and announce: "I'm not wearing any underwear." And being able to reply: "Perfect!" And not be mistaken for a perv.

-receiving an intriguing offer to join a new counseling practice. A retired pharmacist-turned-counselor wants to open a holistic practice combining traditional counseling with massage. AWESOME. He asked for my card, which I gladly gave him. :)

-FINALLY getting a call from Ivy at the nail salon in town, informing me that she's booked me two massages on Monday.

Looks like I might not have to apply for a job at the local adult video store after all. ;)


in other news, I got a 100% on my first writing assignment and a 94% on my first exam in my online Developmental Psychology class. Go, me!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Ewww...

I saw what was obviously a Twimom at WalMart today. She was wearing a tanktop that read: VAMPIRES LOVE YOU FOREVER.

The only good thing about it was its color...a lovely, rich purple.

Obviously...

...a sign of the coming apocalypse: KETCHUP-FLAVORED POTATO CHIPS

blargh.

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Gentlemen, really...

Shaving your forearms? Why?!

Polka-dot boxer shorts receive my nod of approval, however. Just don't wear 'em when I'm massaging you. Kthnx.

Friday, June 04, 2010

Beautiful...

...sunset this evening.

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Thursday, June 03, 2010

Not quite, Harley!

My pup Harley LOVES kittens. He loves our newest kittens so much, he eagerly enters their new home (an old dog crate I fixed up for them) frequently to sniff and lick the babies. Momma Cat is very laid back, this doesn't appear to bother her at all.

Yesterday, however, I was holding one of the kittens who objected loudly to this indignity. He wanted his mommy and he wanted her NOW. His squeaking immediately drew Harley's attention, and Harley started nudging and nipping at the kit.

Every nudge and nip was accompanied by the kitten squeaking even more loudly, and I could see the situation escalating rapidly...Harley thought the kitten was one of his Very Favorite Things: a squeaky toy!

Not exactly, my pup.

Harley distracted, kitten rescued, disaster averted.