All I Want Is A Normal Life

Our yard is a mess. It’s really a total disaster. There’s a bunch of stuff around (mine and Hutch’s, so blame is evenly distributed), and there’s about 4 cars worth of real estate given up to a pile of wood that someone dumped in our yard and will probably be there forever (or until I chop it up, whichever comes first). But I’m done having it be a wilderness out there. I want to add more wilderness in the form of native plants like blueberries and, um, whatever else is native (there’s a native nursery a few blocks away, so I’m just going to go with their recommendations). I’m looking to create a bit of a sanctuary in our yard… we’ve got this gigantic yard that is often used by wildlife, but I know they feel anxious about it a lot of the time. I want to give them some bushes to hide around. Right now, we’ve just got a lot of out-of-control ground cover… in fact, I found a perfectly preserved squirrel that had burrowed into some of the ground cover after it had been apparently hit by a car. It didn’t smell at all. Lord only knows when it met its end, but it seems like it must have been quite some time ago, considering that it didn’t smell. And we’ve got some really tall trees that drop a billion needles all over the place. And I don’t mind the needles and leaves, but they’re just a solid blanket over everything, and the only things that can survive are ivy and this insane parasitic vine that I spent most of the day grappling with.

Anyways, I hope that I continue with this yard work stuff. I filled both of the yard waste bins, so I had to call it a day until the bins are picked up tomorrow.

For my notes, here are some shrubs that I might consider:
Arctostaphylos “Lester Rowntree”
Arctostaphylos densiflora x hybrid ‘Austin Griffiths’
Arctostaphylos patula
Berberis nevinii
Brickhellia californica
Ceanothus “Blue Window”

Well, I gotta get off my couch and head back in to work today. I was working from home yesterday (actually, it was handy — I got to test the media player from home, which was throwing all sorts of errors. It gives different results behind our firewall, so testing from home is the only way to see what errors it comes up with), but today, I’ve got to go in and finish up some stuff before the holiday.

Things are strangely quiet around work, since all the leads are out on vacation and all us followers are just hovering closely over the grindstone, getting shit done. It seems amazing that I started at my job just over a year ago. I feel so at home there with my family of co-workers and my proven expertise in my responsibilities. Even with its stresses, this is the first job I don’t want to leave (actually, the second job I don’t want to leave — the first being The Disney Store back when I was 20). I feel a fierce loyalty to the company and to my group. I feel proud of the work we do (even if I sometimes don’t feel proud of the shows we produce — I’m not naming names). I feel like my group really appreciates me for who I am: a super-productive Pollyanna in black. The fact that I have this weird life outside of work (thanks to Facebook for revealing that) doesn’t phase most of them (notably, one of my co-workers thinks I’m a little scary, but in a kind of a “whoa, you do thing I can’t even begin to comprehend” way).

Anyways, Diva is whining like mad and I haven’t taken her for a walk in days. It’s time to get back into the old patterns.

Oh, and Nick, you’ll be happy to know that I slept 10 hours last night.

Brief: we didn’t go to Santacon after all. We couldn’t find a fricken’ suit, so we decided to get some egg nog (ok, I got Silk’s new Pumpkin Spice flavored soy milk — deeeeelicious!) and brandy and watch Christmas movies. Today, we got a tree and strung popcorn. Tomorrow, I string cranberries. Christmas BOOSH!

Every season comes with a marked change, and I look forward to that day of change so much. This morning, when I did my daily walk-out-on-my-deck-with-Diva, I noticed that the sun was just cresting the hill in that certain change-of-season way and there was a new bite in the air… it’s finally Fall.

I should have seen it coming because I started getting nostalgia for Massachusetts and Washington’s apple seasons. I bought a whole bag of apples and thought back to the rows of orchards and that crisp air — the same air I felt this morning — and how Fall meant sweaters and dark tights and Halloween.

It’s going to be a beautiful Fall.

Good Morning, Danielle

Originally uploaded by Monstrously Normal

Plaid stayed over last night and we talked about her moving to this neighborhood. She’s, as she says, “ready to move off the Esplanade.” I can understand how Brewery life would get taxing, always having people around, always being around concrete, always having to manage and address others… It would have worked great for me at times, but moving out to Lake Hughes had a profound and permanent impact on me: I realized that I was built for a life apart. I’d always been nervous about moving out to the fringes for fear that I’d be lonely. And I was. But with David, I’m not lonely because I have a partner, and I’m always free to go see friends when I want to.

Plaid is one of the only friends of mine who is willing to leave her home and come the 20 minutes to visit me (it’s 17 miles, but a world apart). She’s thinking about moving to a place down the street, and I think that’s a great idea. It’s so slow and quiet here. You can build your own life, not have a life built around you… a fine but important distinction.

This morning we went for a hike up the hill and down the trail loop. It’s amazing to have that in my back yard.

Today is the first day I’m starting my new gym regimen. I’ve got to shower and get the heck out of dodge and get to Curves to do my circuit training. Yipe.