That Hobbit Lady

Almost every day at work, when I come back from lunch, I find that my computer is taking a sort of “siesta,” slowing down to about the speed of those turtles on the Comcast commercials. The other day, I decided I had three things to do on-line. So I hit the big blue E…and waited…and waited…and waited. And by the time internet service kicked in, I had completely forgotten one of the three things I needed to do!

Now what does that say about the speed of my internet service at work? Or maybe, more importantly, what does it say about my BRAIN? All in all, it was a disturbing experience.

I know it’s been a really long time since I’ve written here. As I explained in my last entry, Russ and I have been rather pre-occupied with the search for a new home. That’s really no excuse, though. Life needs to go on. But writing anything at all has just been on the back burner for some time now. But starting right now, I’d like to change that, I’d like life to feel a little more….shall we say….balanced? And one of the things I’d like to do is to get back to my LJ. So here I am, ready to say….”Hmmm…what’s on my mind?”

Besides my new house, I mean!!! I could go on and on about my new house, but I don’t want to be a bore. It struck me the other day that Russ and I may be in danger of exhibiting the “New Parent Syndrome” — not because we have a new baby, but because of the new house! In many ways, a new house is somewhat like a new baby. There’s this kind of obsessiveness that overtakes when something this big comes into your life, especially after you’ve been waiting for it for so long. But I will try not to be too boring, and move on to some other things that are going on in my life.

Well, what else is going on? Besides the new house, not too much. But I can say this: I have been reading some pretty good books lately. And I’ve been enjoying that sense of escape and relaxation that you get from reading a good book. It’s one of life’s chief joys, I think. Television and movies are good too, but they’re not the same as books. I love that books are so portable, and so “low-tech.” You can take a book with you anywhere. You can read as much or as little as you want (or have time for!) during a single session. Books are at YOUR command. They are always there, always waiting, always the same. Dependable. And they also usually smell really good.

Right now I am reading two books. One is The Cat Who Went Underground, which is several books into the series of “Cat Who” books by Lillian Jackson Braun. It was my Mom who got me started with the Cat Who series. The main character is Jim Qwilleran, a fiftyish newspaper reporter who has a “luxuriant” moustache, and so of course he looks like Tom Selleck (in my mind, anyway.) Anytime I can have Tom Selleck on my mind is an okay time as far as I’m concerned.

The stories are not really that intense or involved. Basically you follow Qwilleran around his little town, meet the people he knows, enjoy the antics of his two Siamese cats, and somewhere along the way, there will be a murder (or two or three), which Qwilleran will eventually solve. The murders are pretty much besides the point, though. The whole point in reading these books is simply to enjoy spending some time in this very specific world, and being amused by the cats, Koko and Yum Yum. I think if you are a “cat person,” like I am, you get a little extra warm fuzzy feeling from these books.

Oh yes! There is another reason for reading these books. To see what Qwill eats. Food always plays a major role in every story. Since he’s a bachelor, and at this point quite wealthy, he’s always going out to eat, so you’re always getting good descriptions of food and restaurants. There are also several women characters who are excellent cooks, and they all always seem to delight in serving him dinner. In fact, someone has put together a Cat Who Cookbook in which they have tried to re-create many of the meals and specialties mentioned in the book. If I was more interested in cooking, I might like to give a few of these recipes a try. Hey! Maybe once I have my new kitchen… 🙂

Now, I do have one complaint about these books. I mentioned that you “meet the people” that Qwill knows. And believe me, there are a LOT of people! A lot of characters! Some of them remain from book to book, but some of them come and go. Sometimes it feels like a cast of thousands! Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of who’s who. But like I said, it’s not really about these extra characters, or the murders, it’s about Qwill and the cats. As long as you’re not expecting great literature, and all you want is to visit a cozy, comfortable place, these Cat Who books serve quite well.

Now, I am also reading another book. This one was recommended by Mary. No, let me rephrase that, and give the background. Last year, at some point, for some occasion which I don’t remember, though it may have been my birthday, I told Mary that for a gift I would like her to choose some of her favorite books, go to half.com and buy and send me a couple of those books. So that’s what she did.

One books she sent me was So You Want to Be a Wizard. I tried. I honestly tried to read this book, but I just found it a bit juvenile. Mostly, I objected to the fact that since the theme of the book is, in fact, wizardry, the author seemed to think that she could just make stuff up as she went along. All kinds of crazy stupid stuff was happening, and the only explanation was “wizardry.” I didn’t know if I was coming or going. I almost felt like the author was making fun of me, for not thinking this stuff up first. I just didn’t go for that.

So I put down that book and picked up the other book Mary had sent me, Bloody Jack, by L.A. Meyer. And I was entranced from the first sentence. Bloody Jack, (Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy)is a first person account of a London “guttersnipe” who poses as a boy in order to get onto a Royal Navy ship in the 1800’s, simply so she’ll know where her next meal is coming from. She’s a pip, that’s for sure, a very interesting and likeable character. She makes her own trouble, then laments and cries, “Oh why can’t I be good? Why can’t I be good?” She’s high spirited, and a lot of fun, as you watch her growing up in her unusual circumstances, always using her wits and her talents to better her situation. She claims she’s not brave, and yet she does a lot of brave things.

I’ve finished that first book, and am now working on the second installment in the series, The Curse of the Blue Tattoo. A rolling good time! I highly recommend.

It’s such a joy to find that the books I’m reading and enjoying are part of a SERIES, that there are in fact “lots more where that came from.” Nothing worse than coming to the end of a good book. And nothing better than picking up the next book in the series, and once again settling down in that familiar world, with those same familiar characters.

Well, I could go on and on, if I started to talk about P.G. Wodehouse, and I could even mention the Twilight series which I recently finished. But that’s enough for now. It feels good to be writing again, even if it’s only to write about what other people are writing.

Well, we finally did it, we found our dream home!

About ten months ago, on the very first day we started going to Open Houses, we saw a house with a particular floorplan that we really liked. In all the time since, we have seen many many other floorplans, but never one that trumped this first one. We also liked the neighborhood, and in all the time since, we have only seen one other neighborhood we would have preferred. Unfortunately though, the #1 neighborhood did not offer this particular floorplan. It also would have meant changing our cable TV/internet service to another complany that is not as good as what we have now (and will continue to have in the new house). So when push came to shove, it was a no-brainer. We chose our #1 floorplan in our #2 neighborhood, and got just about everything we were looking for.

Ironically, the house we are buying is right down the block, nine houses away, from the house we saw on that first day. Basically, we have looked all over town, and come full circle right back to where we started. One thing for sure: after all our looking, all our comparing and contemplating, our decision has been nothing if not EDUCATED!! We feel quite comfortable that we have made the best possible choice.

And so, without any further ado, here are a few pictures of our new home which we will be moving into on February 27. And no, it does not “come furnished.” We will be bringing in our own stuff shortly, and that’s the next big adventure: Moving!!!

So, it’s one thing after another. It’s been quite an adventure so far, as I’m sure this whole new experience of being new homeowners will continue to be.

It was the proverbial “nail-biter” but well worth it in the end. The Alabama Crimson Tide is now 10-0 and headed for the SEC Championship. Woo hoo!!!!!

If it’s against the University of Florida, who am I going to root for????

I work with a woman who is always moaning about how she doesn’t have enough money. After knowing her for a year and a half, I’m convinced that this is not so much about her not making enough money as it is about her not knowing how to HANDLE the money she does have.

Case in point: at the job, we put on seminars, and when we have seminars, free food is provided for the attendees. Office staff may also partake of the free food. Today we had a seminar, and down the hall a table was spread with pastries, fruit, coffee, soda, juice, etc. So when I get in this morning, this particular co-worker hands me some money and asks if I would run down to the cafeteria on the other side of the building and pick her up a bagel and cream cheese.

I say, “Why are you spending money on food when today there is free food?” She says she just “feels like” having a bagel.

This is what I mean about not handling money well. As far as I’m concerned, the wise person will get themselves in the mood for the pastries and fruit that are free at the moment, and save the bagel for a day when free food is not available. Why in the world would you PAY for something, when a perfectly good FREE alternative is available?

This same woman will complain she doesn’t have money to buy groceries, yet she eats lunch at a restaurant several times a week. Baffling. But then I guess this is why the poor get poorer.

Last Sunday we saw another house in the neighborhood we most like. It recently occurred to me that since we are only four to six months away from our plans to buy a house, the house we actually end up buying could very well be on the market RIGHT NOW. In fact, we might end up buying the house we saw this past Sunday. If so, when you come to visit us, here is your guest room:

WE’RE….DEBT-FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

🙂

Autumn has always been my favorite season, but even moreso since I’ve moved to Alabama. For one thing, the weather cools off faster and more dramatically than it does in South Florida, and soon enough we’ll have colored leaves. Just like when I was a kid in New York.

But even more importantly, Russ has gotten me interested in football.

It’s a very strange thing that I was married for 16 years to a man who was interested in football, yet I never could see the sense in it. But my first Autumn here with Russ, I got hooked. I think it’s partially due to the fact that every day on my way to work, I pass the stadium. I work for the University of Alabama, where football is steeped in over 100 years of Tradition, and the street I work on is named after a man who is widely regarded and revered as the greatest college football coach who ever lived. But most of all, perhaps, every evening when I get out of work (at least in the glorious Autumn, like today) while I wait for Russ to pick me up, I get to listen to the Million Dollar Band, which is the college marching band for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide.

The band practices in the field right across the street, and I’ve got the best seat in the house. I’m listening to them now, as I write upon my Alfie. I just heard the National Anthem, followed 32 beats later by “Yea, Alabama!” And in a few moments, no doubt, they will break into their soul-stirring rendition of We Will Rock You.

…wait…

Yep. They just started. I wish you could hear this.

But getting back to why I like football now, when I never did before, I have to give a lot of the credit to Russ. He knows Alabama football inside and out. He can tell you anything about any coach, and almost anything about any player, from Joe Namath right down to whoever the current running back might be. (I don’t know, but I’m sure Russ does.)

There is this great moment in my personal history when Mary and I were sitting in the movie theater watching the latest Lord of the Rings, and Legolas did something I didn’t understand. I leaned over to her and whispered “Why did Legolas do that?” and she whispered back, “Well, yadda yadda yadda and zippitty do dah and so on and so forth.” I said “Oh.” And not 60 seconds later, up on the screen, Legolas was explaining himself to his companions by saying, “Yadda yadda yadda and zippity do dah and so on and so forth.” Word for word. It was an uncanny testament to how thoroughly Mary knew her LOTR.

I mention this story now because I very often get the same sensation when watching football with Russ. There will be a penalty, I’ll have no idea what’s going on, but he’ll say, “Offsides, on the Defense, number 93. But they’re going to refuse it. It will be a First Down.” A moment later the man in the striped shirt comes center field to announce “Offsides, on the Defense, number 93, the penalty is refused. First Down.” Russ knows football the way Mary knows Lord of the Rings.

I would have never guessed it before, but the world of college football is a kind of ongoing soap opera, complete with eccentric characters, bad boys and bitter rivalries. And another thing that has surprised me about football is how much of a thinking game it is. It’s not just all about brute strength and knocking the other guy down. There’s a fair bit of psychology and even trickery involved. It’s not always the strongest team that wins, but often the smartest, or at the very least, the one with the highest level of confidence. Suffice it to say I now know a lot more about college football than I EVER thought I would know.

Hey! I just saw four charter buses following each other down Paul Bryant Drive. Good chance they’re bringing in the rival team for tomorrow’s game.

But I was speaking of Fall. The weather is beginning to cool. At this moment, the sky is nearly crystal, and a breeze is blowing. Today is Mary’s birthday, and soon it will be my birthday. After that is Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas. Soon there will be Bowl Games, and bowls of noodle stuffing. Autumn leaves and pumpkin pie.

As far as I’m concerned, Autumn begins when you see your first pumpkin. This morning, on the drive into work, I saw pumpkins, patiently waiting to be bought at the corner market.

The glorious time is upon us now.