Myrtle Beach

Jason and I went to the beach this weekend. It was a wonderful time, and we had a lot of fun, even though there was some .. unexpected "excitement" in the form of a fire two floors up from the condo we were staying in, and a shark about five feet from my feet.

We stayed at Louise's condo at Sand Dunes Resort on 74th ave in Myrtle Beach. Louise works with him at Tindol; she and her husband went to Florida for a week, so she let us use their condo for the weekend, free of charge.

We left early Saturday - early for us anyway - and drove the whole way to the beach. We got there about 1 in the afternoon and got all our stuff up to the condo, got settled, then headed out to Barefoot Landing. Our first destination was a winery we'd heard about that makes fruit wines, like blackberry and strawberry. We tasted a bunch, bought a few bottles for gifts and for ourselves, bought a blackberry wine slushy, and headed out to check out the shops. We found a few more gifts and me some pretty shell earrings, then picked up our wine and moved to the other side of the landing.

New Computer!

Both of my computers have arrived. Finally. Despite annoyances in shipping with both DHL and FedEx, I have my new computers. I've been spending the last week setting them up. And i still have to copy all my pictures from my old PC to the new one. But I finally have my email and music and everything fixed. I probably should spend some time copying my music now from my laptop to my PC, but it's all at least on my laptop, which is what's important anyway.

The annoyances right now are that I have lost -all- my favorites in my web browser, and lost a bunch of macros and stuff in WoW. But I can get acces to them if I really want to work at it. It's just .. time consuming. And I have to switch my monitor back to the old PC so I can set the whole computer shared. And I'm just being lazy about that.

*grumblerawr*

Well. I waited patiently. I did. Well, anxiously, but I finished cleaning, and did laundry, had lunch, sat down and knitted and was good. Until 5pm.

Then I got growly. Which, by the way, I can in part blame on Mercury being Retrograde. I texted Jason, and he said to use DHL's Live Chat feature again. Sure, why not.

Heh.

The pain in the ass I got the second time was less than helpful. Informed me that they were 'too busy' and I shouldn't have waited. Well, that's nice but why did the first guy tell me I should expect it? *grumbles* So. I can go pick the package up in Charlotte if I want and should they hold it for customer pickup? By now, I'm pissy. I realize after closing the chat I didn't confirm that I was going to go pick it up. *sigh* But wait .. I can't find a direct number for the DHL location? WTF? *deeper sigh*

So I get -back on- the Live Chat .. and get someone -even less- helpful. Who informs me that I have to wait -an hour- .. it's almost 6pm now, they close at 8pm .. for them to call me to confirm the package is waiting there. So that'd give me barely an hour to drive into Charlotte, in an anrea I don't know, that's right under the freaking airport.

Have I mentioned my completely irrational fear of planes?

While I'm dealing with completely unhelpful jerk, I call customer service. I go through the whole story after warning the girl that I'm -not- happy, almost break down into tears I'm -so- frustrated because I had a ton of things to get done today but put them all off waiting for this delivery that was never gonna happen in the first place. She tells me she can connect me to the local distribution center. Well why the hell could the guy in Live Chat not tell me that? *annoyed sigh-growl*

Why yes, miss, I'd love to talk to them. I hold. They connect me. Two minutes later I'm in the car on my way to Charlotte with hand-written directions because I don't have a printer any more - the old one won't work with Vista, so I'm gonna sell it in the Big Yard Sale. I made it safe and sound .. well, safe. Sound I can't claim, cos I was still growly, and had like 7 planes fly right over my head, and dog does that freak me out. But I got my precious package, and headed home. On the way I talked to honey, and decided we'd get McDonald's fries and chicken wraps for dinner, cos he was feeling sick and salty usually helps.

Did I mention Mercury was Retrograde? I think I did.

So I get to McDonalds. I order. 1 bbq grilled wrap, 1 honey mustard grilled wrap, two orders of fries. I get my receipt: 1 ranch wrap, 1 honey mustard wrap, 2 fries. I get to the second window, and ask the girl if the wraps are correct, they should be bbq and honey mustard. She has to ask someone. They assure me it's a bbq and a honey mustard.

I get home. Two wraps. 1 honey mustard ..... 1 ranch. *siiiiigh* Jason eats the honey mustard, because he just can't stomach the ranch. Which is why I got him the bbq.

Anyway, I have my laptop. It's gonna take me the better part of this week just to get used to it. Lastnight I sat in the living room trying to get the basics set up .. the nifty gadgets, the desktop cleaned up, enabled my LoJack for the laptop, that kinda stuff. I've just found I can copy files through the network, so that's how I'm gonna transfer all my music and pictures I think. I also managed to figure out the Bluetooth mouse Jason got me, which is nifty-keen. I don't enjoy the touchpad usually, though this one is better than his old one.

Now the concern is FedEx. My PC arrived in Charlotte last night. So it could be out for delivery now. I've never had issues with FedEx delivering things a day earlier than they say they're gonna .. but I don't want to miss it, too.

Waiting

I am sitting here, -waiting- .. patiently anxiously for DHL to return with my laptop. Apparently they attempted delivery at freaking 9:30 this morning. I wasn't even out of bed .. because honestly, I wasn't expecting delivery until tomorrow. So I contacted them, and they are having the driver re-deliver this afternoon. I was told I should have my pretty Blossom laptop in my eager little hands by 5PM. It's 1:30PM now. So. I have 3.5 hours to wait. Patiently. Anxiously.

In other news, my gardens are looking beautiful. And if I do say so myself, I have discovered a bit of a green thumb. The only plant I'm worried about is the hibiscus. The leaves are yellowing and dropping off, and the blooms aren't fully opening. Jason suspects it's getting too much water, so I've been trying to water that part of the garden only every two days and seeing if that helps.

Side note: Every time I try to remember that plant name, I have to remember hydrangea and hyacinth before I get the right name. Both of those I also have in my gardens. What's with the h's?

We did a huge house clean yesterday. We got rid of my old desk, and brought in a small drafting table for me to use in the meantime until the one I picked out can be ordered and delievered from Jason's mom's work. It's -so- nice. We got rid of a truck full of junk, and another truck full of stuff we're going to attempt to sell at a yard sale. I can actually use my closet! We also moved the furniture in the living room. Again. I'm proud of us. We got a lot done yesterday.

I still have a lot to get done today though. And I'm anxious, because I don't want to leave, and have the DHL guy just leave the package here. A package on my doorstep, or even my back patio, that says Dell all over it is just asking to be stolen. So I'm hoping he gets here soon, because I need to go shopping, and take Jason's car to the dealership for an oil change, and I have a conference call at 3:30, and have to get to the bank hopefully before they close. And the dealershiop closes at 6. As soon as DHL gets here I'm gonna go out, even though it kills me to not be able to play with my pretty new laptop. But since James has to go with him mom to rescue his uncle from an abusive wife who thinks it's okay to beat him up because he can't work after having surgery, I won't have a lot to do tonight.

*very high pitched squeal the likes of which only dogs can hear*

Inspiron 1525, Intel Core 2 Duo T5550, 1.83GHz, 667Mhz, 2ML2 Cache
Custom High-Gloss Blossom Shell
4GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
15.4 inch Wide Screen WXGA+ LCD TrueLife
250G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition
8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
LoJack Theft Recovery - 4 Year DHS
Warranty Support,3 Year Extended
Insp Datasafe 3GB,1YR

Shipping Method: 3-5 Business Days
Shipped Date: 5/30/2008
Est. Delivery Date: 6/3/2008
Carrier: DHL EXPRESS


XPS 630, Intel Core2 processorE8500 (3.16 GHz,1333FSB) w/Dual Core Technology and 6MB cache
Red Bezel Chassis
4GB DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz
512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
750GB SATA 2 Hard Drive 7200RPM
Dell 19 in 1 Media Reader withBluetooth 2.0
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
48X Combo and 16X DVD+/-RW
Warranty Support,3 Year Extended
Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Extended Year(s)
CompleteCare Accidental DamageProtection, Dimension, 4 Year
DataSafe Online 20GB for Dim/Ins/XPS
Dell A525 30 Watt 2.1 stereo speakers w/subwoofer 45Hz-20Khz

Shipping Method: 3-5 Business Days
Shipped Date: 5/30/2008
Est. Delivery Date: 6/4/2008
Carrier: FEDEX GROUND

Huge Flowerbed Photo Shoot

These pictures were taken without the UV filter on my camera, because I dropped the thing a couple days ago, and managed to get the lens cap wedged into the filter. I've since gotten them apart again, but I was eager to get my pictures taken before the light went away.

This is the front corner bed. This has the most plants in it right now, but only because all the hyacinths are long gone, and the stuff in the other bed hasn't spread out yet, like it eventually will. I have several volunteered pansies that just came up on their own this spring, which I'm not at all complaining about, plus the two huge mums on the side of the brick post, and the clematis .. part of which is dying out for some reason and I've yet to really get in there to find out why. Oh, and irises, and somewhere back tehre are a few remaining gladiolis, but they're not blooming yet. I didn't bother taking pictures of them because they're not as interesting right now.

My hanging pot with pretty purple petunias in it. Eventually, these will just drape over the edge, and be a wash of color until the summer heat kills them .. but I'm going to try to put that off as long as possible, because aren't they just gorgeous!? I love the dark purple throats contrasted with the paler outsides.

More petunias .. I just got two plants of these Lemon Zest petunias, because they will spread everywhere if I let them. I really love this sunny yellow, and for some reason was on a huge yellow and purple kick this season.

One of my 4 Gerbera daisy plants, this one has spiky flowers, not the usual smooth ones. I had forgotten what color it was, because it had all but died when I had to wait so long to get the plants in the ground. Jason's momma convinced me I should try planting them anyway, and this little bugger's healthy as can be!

This is Blue False Indigo. I have a picture of what it -will- look like in a little while, because I found the same plant at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens. This was blooming when I got it, but like the others that had to wait, it got a bit shocked. It's coming back nicely though.

I have the hardest time remembering what this is, for some reason. Probably because I have had hyacinths for two years, and have a hydrangea in the back. But it's a hibiscus. And I'm hoping it's going to do better. It still has a lot of buds on it, and I'm trying to keep it, but I'm afraid the poor thing is struggling. It's got beautiful yellow blooms though .. I told you, yellow and purple kick.

What's left of the plants from my Aerogarden I put in this little planter I've had forever .. but I'm unsure how they're handling the transition from water only to actual dirt. If they don't live, that's fine. but I figured I'd try to keep them if I could. If they don't make it I might get a couple plants from the garden center to replace them in this planter, because I really like it.

This is another plant I saw at Daniel Stowe. This one's called an iceflower, and it gets all drapey and mound-y. I figured it'd probably do alright planted in the small iron cauldron I have .. so that's where we put it. So far so good. We'll see how it does as it gets bigger.

I have a couple impatiens plants in the front of the corner garden, a bright white that's oh so pretty with the purple and yellow everywhere else. Their leaves browned a little .. I think I watered them with sun on them once, but they're still doing fine. I like them better than vinca, which is why they got planted this year.

My little garden gnome sits between a pretty purple Angelina (I think that's what it's called) and some other daisies I had in the original batch of plants. I have a white Angelina too, in the front bed. This one's much smaller, but seems to like where it's living. And of course, it has the gnome to keep it company.

This is the daisy on the other side of the gnome. It's flowering again, so I think I managed to rescue this one. I have another in a smallish planter that I don't think is doing as well and may need to be replanted. You can also see the cauldron beyond the daisy, in which the iceflower is living.

These pictures are of what I've heard called moss rose and portulaca. I love this plant, and I'm really hoping these little guys grow up. I got plants that seemed to have multiple colors of blooms, rathing than sticking with just one color. I have more of these in pots in the other bed, too.

Two different colors of cock's comb live in this planter which Jason bought for me a couple years ago which I usually can't find anything to put in, along with the other daisy like the one that sits near my gnome. The daisy isn't doing as well as I'd like, but I haven't given up hope.

The front garden doesn't look as impressive right now, but I'm hoping it'll improve as everything gets bigger. The bushes .. which look a little sad and scraggly I know, were about twice the size they are now. We gave them a severe haircut because they were over the bottoms of our windows, and just way bigger than I liked. Of course .. just today the lansdscaping crew is going around doing everyone else's bushes. But since I have the flowers planted, I'm glad we did ours already. They might trample my beauties!

I love verbena. I would have liked some other colors, but when we got this at Lowes, this was the only color they had. It fits with my purple and yellow theme though, and with three plants of it, it's going to be a lovely addition.

I got this little thing simply because of how utterly adorable it was. Jason called it a balloon flower, and it's the most precious thing I've seen. I had to have one. And since it likes full sun, I figured why not. And .. why yes. It -is- purple!

One of the few things that isn't purple, white or yellow in the garden, but I just loved the look of these. I forget what they are, but they look a little like petunias, only smaller. They do have yellow throats though .. so does that count for my theme?

A larger version of the purple Angelina in the corner garden, this one's white, and about three times the size of the purple. I just love the dainty-looking flowers though .. and they're a lot less dainty than they look! Watering this beauty doesn't knock the blooms off like it does off my poor hibiscus.

My two pots of portulaca/moss rose. These are looking stronger than the ones planted directly in the corner bed, but that coupld just be because the mulch covered some of those. I love the pink and brown pots though. I set them on some bricks to keep them from sitting -in- the mulch, and the bricks give me a place to step to reach the water spigot. Bonus!

One of my other Gerbera daisies. I have a total of 4, but only two are blooming right now. This one has the normal type of flower .. and look. It's white! I have another like this in the corner bed that isn't blooming again yet, and another in this bed that's a vibrant fuschia. Hopefully that one will start blooming again soon. It took the longest to recover from the near-death of having to wait to be planted.

Two years ago, I planted calla lillies. Actually, I planted a bunch of lilies, but only the callas ever came up. Last year though, nary a bloom. And I was just praying I would get a bloom this year.

Look! What's that! IS that a bloom? Why .. yes! Yes, it is. I looked out my window just yesterday and realized that what I thought was a leaf had some red on it. Red? Huh. So I wandered outside to take a look, and discovered .. that's not a leaf...

.. it's a bloom! I didn't even remember what color my callas were, and it appears they are a summery, almost tropical sort of yellow/orange with a lovely red edge. Hooray!

Last, but certainly not least is my wind-chimes and birdfeeder. This birdfeeder is a replacement for an el-cheapo plastic one that I broke trying to clean it out. The feeder doesn't like the seed blend I have, though, so I have to kinda futz with it. I might get some thistle or something a little smaller for the top part - it's a double feeder! - and just keep an eye on the bottom. I tell you one thing, the birda are definitely happier with this one than the old one.

So, that's my flowerbeds.

I also have an amazingly beautiful hydrangea in the back 'yard' .. and I say yard lightly because it's barely 8'x12' .. and a ton of day lilies that spread over to my garden from my neighbor's, which I don't mind at all.

The flowers start off beautifully pale cream, and slowly as they mature become a lovely blue. I love this thing. Last year it didn't do well at all. We had that hard freeze that killed it back something awful. But this year we're doing beautiful, and I couldn't be happlier. I'm gonna cut some of the blooms to take inside I think.

There's the lilies. They aren't all putting up flowers yet, though a few are. Ashley's are already starting to bloom. I might dig them up to separate some next year, and I may plant them on the other side of my privacy fence .. maybe. I dunno.

Busy Busy Busy!

Well, about a week and a half ago we -finally- got the approval to do the landscaping work outside our house - I told Jason I was gonna frame it. So the last two weekends have been busy busy working on planting and installing border stones and spreading mulch and running to Home Depot and Lowes to pick up plants and mulch and potting soil.

But I finally have flowerbeds! I have a ton of stuff planted in them too. Iceflower is planted in my little cauldron, and I have a blue false indigo, and a hibiscus, and petunias in a beautiful yellow hue, and impatiens (that I think I burned watering them too early) and some volunteered pansies .. the last time I planted pansies was like 8 months ago .. and several plants of gerbera daisies, and another kind of daisy, and verbena, and a balloon flower, and something called Angelina in white and purple, and something that looks like a miniature petunia in a vibrant red. I also have my clematis, and the mums I planted two halloweens ago, and a calla lily that didn't bloom last year but I'm hopeful, and a purple petunia in a hanging basket. It's an explosion of color in my front yard now!!

Well, it will be soon as everything starts to bloom. It's getting there.

In other exciting news, I'm getting a new computer -and- a laptop! I'm sooo excited! I've wanted to get myself a laptop for .. well, years now. And in part because I want to be able to talk to James but be social with my husband and watch tv in there with him, and with a laptop I can sit in the livingroom, and still have access to the internet. Wheee! *flailing kermit arms* And the desktop is much needed. Mine is dying, slowly. I will likely be spending next weekend transferring everything from the old computer to the new one .. which will be a trick, since my CD burner doesn't seem to work. I think maybe I should at least make all my music MP3's, to facilitate that endeavor. I can also use Brandon's computer since I have that flash drive with 2GB space on it. That's just .. time consuming.

It's exciting, getting a new computer. It means I get to start fresh. Sure, I'm going to have to spend some time cleaning off the garbage that gets put on systems nowadays, and I'm going to have to get used to Windows Vista. Oh, and installing WoW on a new machine, that'll be exciting. Gotta make sure I knew where everything is.

Woo! The excitement! I have to spend the next week or so cleaning, so I can get ready for my new computer!

Wicked

Yes, it has been several weeks since that glorious day when we finally got to fulfill a dream, that being seeing Wicked: The Musical on stage. There is a story that goes along with my rabid desire to see this show, and it begins over a year ago.

(Note to self: Make certain husband purchases season passes for Blumenthal's 2008-2009 season. This is imperative.)

So, something over a year ago, we learned that Wicked: The Musical, as well as several other shows we would like to have seen, was coming to Charlotte. I said, on many occasions, "We need to make sure we get season's passes, so we can make sure we have seats." My darling husband, whom I love with all my heart, assured me that things -never- sell out in Charlotte, and that since we were going to Spain that summer, we really could use the money for something else. And so I relented. Even when the lady from the Blumenthal called trying to sell season's passes, I declined, because of the trip.

Big. Mistake.

Tickets went on sale .. a few months ago. I don't remember exactly when. I have tried to block that awful awful day out of my memory. Tickets went on sale at like .. 9am. At the box office. They didn't even release tickets to online sales. Because they sold out in six hours.

I was furious. I couldn't reach them by phone. I had to go to work, and didn't have time to keep trying. I called my husband. And was about in tears of frustration because I couldn't get the tickets and I desperately wanted to see the show. Darling husband was frustrated too, because he couldn't get tickets either, and he and I had a bit of a tiff over it. After all, I had said we needed to get the passes, and it was his idea not to. I got over it, because he promised me he would do everything he could to find tickets. And I know that he doesn't break his promises. But I was still notably upset.

Time passed, and I began to get a little uneasy. He had many people looking for tickets for us, including a business friend who was friends with Mayor McCrory. There was simply no way to get tickets. It was looking bleak, and my darling promised me that he would take me up to Chigago, where Wicked plays permanently.

But then one afternoon, I overheard Brandon on the phone with someone, and got suspicious. I didn't get my hopes up, because I didn't want to be disappointed. But Jason had managed to find three tickets for that Friday's performance. I was squeeeing so much all week, especially once the tickets arrived. Friday could not have come fast enough.

But eventually, it came. We got to the theater just before they started letting people in, and all the way there I was knitting on a discloth inspired by the characters: pink (Galinda) and green (Elphaba). Of course, I only knitted up until the show started, because goodness knows I could never have knit through it. Not even if I were knitting straight stockinette in the round. There's just no way.

The show was .. amazing. I had listened to the soundtrack endlessly, so I thought I knew the story of the musical, but I was wrong. There was so much I missed by not knowing the play itself. I am however glad I never read the Grimmerie that Jason got me a couple years ago .. I think for Christmas, but it might have been birthday .. because it had the entire script in it, and so many details that would have made the experience less .. well, an experience.

It's impossible to describe it all. The acresses in the lead roles were amazing. Both of them really embodies the characters, and their voices were delightful. I am incredibly happy we were able to get tickets for this show. It was the chance of a lifetime for me, because I'd been anticipating it for so very long.

Updatage

Okay. Pardon me while I have a bit of a berzerk, crazy, ecstatic moment ...

.. because ..



WE'RE GOING TO SEE WICKED IN CHARLOTTE!!!


Okay. Done squeeing now. For the moment.

In other news, I've finally had enough of the idiodicy that was the guild I was in on World of Warcraft, and switched to a guild that should have less drama, since they're not a roleplay-based guild. James came with me, and I really think, in the long run, we're going to be much happier this way. It turned out that certain individuals, who are obvious to me but won't come forward themselves lest they appear to be the assholes and bitches they truly are, accused me of stealing from the guild bank. Which is frankly rediculous, since I'd say I put a good 50% of the items in the bank, not to mention paid for two of the tabs they currently have, and half of three people's Epic flight mounts. So .. no, I don't deserve to take anything.

Dumbasses.

Anyway, with that annoyance out of my life, perhaps game stuff will get better. In other news, we're actually getting a refund this year, apparently. Jason did out taxes on Monday and found out that for the first time since the first year we got married, we're getting money back. Thank the Gods. That, coupled with him already getting a small raise and me getting most of my lost hours back makes for a very happy Tania.

Well .. that and the fact that this Friday evening I'm going to see Wicked!!

Baseboards? I have baseboards?

I've not really seen much of my baseboards in months. We have so much clutter in this house .. usually because we have 3 people living in one-thousand square feet .. that we don't really see much of the baseboards. There's usually boxes and bags hiding them. Not permanently, but .. when one batch is tossed or moved to a proper place .. a new batch takes its place.

Jason and I spent today .. or at least the biggest part of it .. working more on cleaning. The gods awful pile of 'stuff' that had accumulated in front of the bookcase is now completely gone. A box is waiting to be donated to goodwill or somewhere, and another to be brought with him to work. We have two bags of knitting and weaving and spinning stuff - fiber, tools, etc - and a small pile of pictures in frames that came off the mantle that I need to find homes for.

The biggest visible improvements are the refigerator, which is cleaned out completely save for what should be in there, and the kitchen. I can't take the credit for that though. jason's parents came by to bring me what was left of the Thanksgiving ham, and his mom started working in the kitchen. And didn't leave until I actually had counter space again. I didn't ask her to do it. Didn't even expect it. but it's done, and I'm really thankful for it. I have an easier time -keeping- the kitchen clean .. the whole house clean in fact .. when it's been cleaned thoroughly.

Went in to Books-a-Million for one magazine ... came out with four. Always seems to work that way. but jason said it was silly to not buy them when one pattern can cost as much as a whole issue. So .. out I cam with Knit 'N Style, Interweave, Vogue and knit Simple for the holidays.

It's nice to know that starting now, I don't have to worry about ironing Jason's shirts every night. We finally took a bag of them to the cleaners, and from now on that's what we're gonna do. No more ironing every night, especially since I'm not good at it.

Chicken soup for dinner tonight. Jason and I are both getting colds I think .. which considering the crazy weather lately isn't very surprising. I probably should change the filters too. I've suddenly noticed they're both rather covered in a thick layer of dust. has it been that long already?

Work Today

I got to give the GM of my store a laugh. I told him that the woman on my team that he - back when he was PPM ( I totally know you don't know what that means - it's Product Process Manager, kinda like an assistant manager. ) - had to throw out of the store has applied for my old DM's job. It makes me feel good though that he talks to me and realizes I'm not like her.

I also got to watch them catch a slicer - a shoplifter that comes in and slices open cases to take the product out. Like - I saw the cop come up, talk to the guy, and slap the cuffs on him. Exciting! Especially since he got like 20 cds the other day, and had 6 games on him when they caught him.