Updates

I followed Genevieve's advice and bought the good house blend from Echo Coffee. Aces introduced me to this place a few months back and its my new favorite--much better than Royal Coffee, and only a 10 minute bus ride. It makes some good iced coffee, but I still have to work on proportions.

And Old Navy! I wore a skirt I purchased from them on Friday, one that I haven't even washed and as I was smoothing my skirt after visiting the ladies', it tore. Not along a seam, but the actual cotton jersey fabric just let go. I had to staple the edges together to be decent enough to walk home and change and not show my hiney to all and sundry. I have contacted them to give it back and get a refund; this is just ridiculous and I want my $30 back. So be wary of Old Navy!

Oh, and you heard about what's been going on here in Phoenix, land of 118 degree days and gigantic haboobs. I missed the dust storm entirely, but Genevieve sent me pictures. Well, my apartment complex has slid a few more degrees into decrepitude. One of the olive trees split in half last night and could have killed someone. They started to clean it up before I could take a picture, but as it was one of the larger trees round here it made me sad. Our pool is now padlocked due to a warning from the Maricopa Environmental Quality Division because the water quality was so bad, and the Fire Department also have issues with the flimsy construction of the gate. Way to go! I might move. I don't use the pool, but this place is getting me down.

Update

Okay, friends: I realize I have let all this lapse a bit. Part of it is I don't know what to write about as I used to use it as a place for telling my adventures and letting Aunt Mary Jane know what's up. Since her death there's been little reason to do that. Links? That's only good if you can either get a good head of steam or discuss them in context of other things, and sometimes that content seems stale when I get around to it. So here's what's going on instead of me sitting down and writing.


1) Work: My job and I are not good friends these days for various reasons. I worked until 7:30pm on Friday; I went in for a bit on Saturday; I stayed until 8pm tonight and that pattern will continue. It's stealing my mental and emotional energy. I am tired, burnt out, and apathetic.

Oh, and you know it's bad when the LDS coworker mimes shooting himself in the head when asked how he's doing. I can't hold it against him; I feel the same way. We either need to finish FAST or call in a medium for Henry V to give us the St. Crispin's Day speech.

And I have other projects that I'd like to get started on, but lack energy and time. So, things are sucky. I am fantasizing about becoming a cabbie. Or a maid at La Quinta down the street.

2) The home place: I still haven't started selling my vintage. I scavenged a futon frame from a coworker but I need to purchase the mattress and a cover. I am going to try to post some pictures and ask for advice. Dusie brought the baby over to meet kitties (only Cain came out) and as she was leaving she told Peaches, "Aunt Kerry has lived here almost 2 years--really, it's time to settle in!" Which I agree with, especially since I'll be in this complex at least another year, but it's just time and money.

Oh and the neighbors' cats are making me sad. Spazz has shitty owners who leave him out a lot. He's becoming more fearful of people, including me. He seemed to be joined lately by a little kitten who is a throwaway--seriously, he can't be more than 4 months and so tiny--who you can't get closer to than 5 feet even when he's hungry and you've dished out wet food.

Willa and Cain are well--Cain's put on 3 pounds with his insulin and new food and seems happier and more affectionate. Willa is crazy. More on that later.

3) Therapy/My mental health: I am I still depressed? Yes, but manageably. We've started unpacking and trying to figure out some of the bigger damage issues--my lack of passion, ambition, ongoing, ingrained fear of people and myself, lack of confidence. FUN THINGS.

Which brings up something from a conversation I had with Dusie this weekend--those of you who know me in person, have you ever thought I had Asperger's or autism-like behaviors? I'm curious--I mean, I think most of my oddness can be traced to the familial mood disorders and bullying and the cult-like family, but you know, my sisters are fine. Or, fine-ish, at least.

Walkable Neighborhoods And Housing Decisions

NPR's Marketplace Money (a show that we now have on KJZZ! Yea!) featured two stories on housing, commuting costs and walkable neighborhoods this week that are worth a look.

I have the opposite problem of what these stories depict: I live in an apartment that isn't very nice, but it is cheap and incredible conveniently located to work and shopping (although the transit cuts Valley Metro is imposing on the light rail will sting). It is so convenient, that I would not like to move to the nicer apartments in my neighborhood because I'd have to walk farther with my cat litter and groceries. So even if my neighbor hocks a loogie off his balcony and narrowly misses hitting me* with his spit, and even if my roach problem recurs this summer, it's going to be hard to leave.

*It wasn't on purpose, and he did apologize. But still!

Idiot Neighbors

Dear neighbors,

You are so lucky that when I was awakened at 3am by the sounds of a shoot 'em up video game, I was not wearing pants. Had I been wearing pants, my first action would have been to hunt you down and shriek. Instead, I just lay there in the half-acre of endurance between sleep and wake until you stopped, growing steadily irritated but just a little too coldl to actually find and put on pants.

Note to self: You know, awakened at 3am for any reason and having to go to work by 8am, the best order of business is just to get up and get ready for the day. Hell, go out to breakfast. Because trying to get back to sleep just leads to oversleeping.

Dear other neighbors,

Look, this is an apartment complex in a busy urban neighborhood. Letting your animals run around is insanely stupid. Yes, I get it that Jojo is a little, cute, friendly dog that you feel you can adequately supervise from the second floor balcony, but how will you pick up her poop? Hmmm? Not to mention she might appreciate a longer walk than a quick run around a 8x20 foot piece of grass.

Oh, and I get that Spazz can be annoying. Frankly having a Russian blue mix myself, I know they are noisy, obstinate, whiny creatures. However, you have a teenage cat you haven't neutered. Just wait until he starts coming home with injuries from fights. They Phoenix Animal Control people had a truck out here for a week about 6 months ago, and they were trapping loose cats. Do you want to lose him?

Besides, I once had to pull Willa off the railing as she was working out if she could jump 2 stories and land on him. Please. For the sake of us all, keep him inside and get him neutered.

10 Things I Like About My Home

Per Wende's request:

1) It's cheap. Under $700 for me and the cats, heat, a/c and water included.

2) Cats are allowed.

3) It has a balcony, which Cain enjoys (do you sense a theme here?)

4) It's within walking distance of work.

5) I don't have to use a car to get things done. I am within walking distance of the fancy cupcake place, library, lots of food options, grocery, Target, Costco and off 2 bus lines that would take me anywhere else. The Walkable score is 78, but I actually think it's much higher than where I lived in Lakewood.

6) I have a dishwasher and garbage disposal. Oh, dishwasher! What joy you have given me!

7) I have plenty of storage. In the bedroom I have a walk-in closet, and my pantry is huge and would be walk-in if I didnn't have the litter boxes there. I could totally put a year's worth of food in that pantry. I also have a closet in the hallway between the bedroom and bathroom.

8) It's bland and modern. After living in a house built in 1913, mod cons and straight walls and closets and apartment carpeting are a relief, seriously.

9) It faces east, so it gets the morning sun. Granted, in summer it's always hot here but imagine western sun in summer.

10) It's an apartment. I don't have to do any yardwork. I can ignore my neighbors without feeling guilty, and for that I'll trade off the occasional roach problem. And that's been much better recently, really.

Where I've Been: Domestic News

This is avocado, red pepper and red onion salad with red wine and balsamic vinegar. I eat this 2-3 times a week for dinner. Cain likes avocado--he licks the pit eagerly.



And here he is spying on the birds. We have a pigeon problem at the The Hitchcock Arms.* He loves the balcony--he begs to go out in the morning while I get ready for work.



My Valentine's tulips.

* I refer to my apartment complex as The Hitchcock Arms not just because there is an ongoing bird problem. You can see a little bit of the courtyard and get an idea of the view in the photo. In spring/summer, I anticipate hearing even more of everyone's business. Perhaps I shall shame the jerk who doesn't clean up the dog poop by the barbecue grills.

The bird problem is a little more complex--they recently cut down most of the trees around the complex because they were destroying the foundation. I'm lucky the ones closest to my apartment escaped that fate. We still have tons of roosts for pigeons though. I see so many of them that I started to worry about a scenario like The Birds. Then the parrot lady moved in! She wanders around with her two parrots on her shoulders. I feel the avian population will start to collude.

What else is going on in my domestic world? I am about to get a ton of lemons from a coworker--limoncello, lemon curd, Morrocan preserved lemons to come! I made oven fried chicken for Aces on Sunday and a white bean, bacon, onion and pepper concoction of my own devising that turned out quite nicely.

I still don't have heat--the pipes here needed to be replaced throughout the complex. It's Phoenix, so it's only mildly annoying. That's because it's been about 10 degrees below normal temperature. I'm more worried I'll get psittacosis when they do get it working because they left the access panel outside my door open and I think the pigeons are setting up a home base there.

The irony is that as they were doing this work last week it was "Tenant Appreciation Week." Personally, I prefer information about the lack of heat to offers for door to door garbage pickup, a party sub, and other activities during my work hours. Also ironic? A week and a half before that they sent out a begging flyer asking us to refer our friends to this complex. I think not.

I bought a wicker chair at Ikea this weekend. I sit in it; Cain scratches it. I like having firniture that fulfills multiple needs.

Oh, and I have started eating oatmeal for breakfast. Yes, my actually getting it together for breakfast is a novel domestic innovation that should be marked.