heavysyrup’s Neighborhood

What are you hoping to find under the tree this year?

Oh I don't know......do you think we could stick a german under there??? LOL ;)

So, last week (or so) my toilet broke.

Not such a big deal, the wire that controled the flapper (The rubber thingie that plugs the hole and lets the tank fill) broke. Rusted through.

It's an old toilet, probably close to original to my 1952 home. It's titty pink too.

Anyway, we are on a tight budget this month and had to use a bucket to flush for a couple days before I could hit WM for a flapper. I got a nice bright yellow one, (Vinyl, you know so I can handle it safely, lol)

The day I bought it my girlfriends were coming over for "Game Night" (I'd say we all just need to learn to play poker, but I'd hate to play poker against T! She'd win! Girls got poker face like a clean, blank piece of paper).

I'd better explain here that since I had worked the night before I had to run and get the thing between waking up and fetching my husband from his new part time, temp holiday job at FYE. After I fetched him we had to go back to WM and pick up a few things for dinner, so we got home around 9ish and the Game Night was planned for 11pm. Ish. (Nights again. D works nights and T evenings so she stays up all night, lol)

So, once home, well fed and with Jay out of the way walking the dog and expecting his buddy, G to come over and play Magic: the Gathering, I set to work. I mean, come one, it's a flapper, you just put it in and whoosh! Flushable toilet.

Perphaps the green pipe should have been a clue.

Let me state here, because I'm sure that people with fixing toilet experience are thinking it: No, I did NOT break the porcaline. There are no unnatural holes in my toilet, although it turns out the hamer was a bad idea anyway.

See, what happened was this: Toilets have this nice pipe in them that the flapper attaches too, right and my toilet is so ancient that the flapper was older than dirt and had this metal clasp thing secured around the pipe. With a screw. So I got out my screw driver, discovered that a screw that has been subjected to 50 years of corosion under water is REALLY hard to unscrew (It was moving! It really was!) and that sort of bracing the screw driver against the side of the tank just destroys the screw. This is where the hammer comes in. I took a hammer and , I must empasize this part,  gently TAPPED the screw in an attempt to get the whole rigg to rotate just s smidge so I had better leverage with the screw driver and well, the whole pipe went sideways just enought to be noticible. So, with my bare hand (keep in mind, I do have weak hands) and no, wasn't really thinking clearly at this point) I went to straighten it out and the whole thing came off in my hand.

See, copper pipe isn't supposed to be green nearly all the way through.

Long story short, we need a new toilet.

I can't afford one until January.

At least my ladies turned flushig with the bucket into a big a joke. They are sweet and good natured and after seeing the pipe didn't make fun of me TOO much.

But I suspect that this week, Game Night will be at D's house.

What's your favorite thing about the holidays? Least favorite?

I love the lights and sounds.  I hate that the marketing starts before Halloween (and sometimes before July 4th)!

Jay and I put our tree up last night.
It was fun. We waited so long because I really, REALLY, REALLY wanted a live tree.
Didn't happen.
Finaces.
Oh well, we have  a perfectly good atrificial tree. We got rid of the huge wrap around couch so now I have my favorite place right in the front windows to put the tree up. You can see the lights from the street.

I did secure the top  to the plant hook above it with some twine, though. We live with four cats and a dog and one of the cats is huge and another of the cats is cunning and yet another is vindictive and the third is very small but clearly the brains of the operation. I have no doubt they have plans.
Oh the dog? She is supposed to take the blame, but we know better. She has no interest in the Christmas tree.

What's your favorite thing about the holidays? Least favorite?

I like the lights. And Christmas trees.

My least favorite thing?: Being unable to say: "Merry Christmas"  OR "Happy Holidays" without starting a debat and/or riot.

Grow some tolerance people.

All of you.

It's suposed to be a time of peace.

 

 

 

A lot of people start decorating for the holidays before the Thanksgiving leftovers have been eaten... What about you? When are you going to start putting up your holiday decorations this year?

I put my lights up yesterday. The tree probably won't go up until about the second week of December, but I couldn't wait to but my lights out.

Winter is so dreadfully dull  though, that it satisfys something in me to defy the blandness with  those colored lights.

.. the wings flap.

 

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

My friends, my family, Max and all the love I feel ;)

 

Oh, of course - also I have a job!  (and I even like it ;)

Fri 11/27 off

Sat 11/28 off

Sun 11/29 off

Mon 11/30 off

Tues 12/1 7p-7a

Wed 12/2 11p-7a

Thurs 12/3 7p-7a

Fri 12/4 11p-7a

Sat 12/5 off

Sun 12/6 off

Mon 12/7 off

Tues 12/8 7p-7a

Wed 12/9 7p-7a

Thurs 12/10 7p-7a

Fri 12/11 off

Sat 12/12 off

Sun 12/13 off

Mon 12/14 7p-7a

Tues 12/15 7p-7a

Wed 12/16 7p-7a

Thurs 12/17 7p-7a

Fri 12/18 off

Sat 12/19 off

Sun 12/20 off

Mon 12/21 7p-7a

Tues 12/22 7p-7a

Wed 12/23 off

Thurs 12/24 off

Fri 12/25 off

Sat 12/26 7p-7a

Sun 12/27 7p-7a

Mon 12/28 off

Tues 12/29 off

Wed 12/30 7p-7a

Thurs 12/31 7p-7a

Fri 1/1 7p-7a

Sat 1/2 off

 I write posts in my head, talking about all the things that have gone on in my life. Then I get home and they sort of evaperate.

And now all I can think of is that the Mummy from ceremics made for a hella niffty insense burner...lol

I'm quite proud of the mummy. My ceremics instructer has asked me to put him the student art show this spring. I feel all twittery when I think about that. It's not competative, just an chance for people to show their stuff off. Still...twittery.

Lets see,  two weekends  ago saw the opening of Jay's show. He directed "A Talent for Murder" for CLTP. It was enjoyable. I missed out on most of this theatrical adventure though, because while he was busy casting, blocking, set building and arranging for show shirts I was locked in my little art room painting the billboards for The Haunted Atlas. (Has it really been 16 days since Halloween already?!) Being distracted like that was a good thing. Usualy by the time it's opning night I am feeling completly abandoned and resentful and  I want nothing to do with the show. But this time I was so distracted that I came out of a sort of artisit fog and went "Oh! The Show is almost up! Oh, carp, I have another painting to do." Which I did. Opening night it fell three times. I felt sort of both bad and good about that....

I am quite fond this painting's bizzare horribleness. It was supposed to have been painted by an adult woman with a brain injury resulting in the metality of a 15 year old.When I was fifteen I liked horses and bright colors. And skulls. Actually Jay asked me to put that in there. He thought it would be fun to make it "subtle" so that only the cast knew it was there. It's not subtle. That's alright though, people were trying to find meaning in the skull and it seemed to add to the whole experience. lol!

I'm pleased with the eye. It's human-ness adds just a bit more creepy-weirdness to the whole thing.

So this weekend the show ended and we have all our stuff back. (We have wonderful junk aorund the house that always ends up as set dressing, something I'm irrationaly smug about.)

Lets see, on the 12th, Jay, Dawn and I went to Denver to see Wicked. It was really wonderfuly wonderful and I loved it. I have read the book it's based on and, frankly, I like the show a hell of a lot better than the book. (To be fair, the show and the book have very little in common and the book is GOOD, it's just terribly drepresssing.) After we got back to town, Dawn and I hooked up with T and went to Sharis'. We've been doing "Game Night" a lot lately. We play hours and hours of Phase Ten and Uno and eat food that is bad for us but tastes wonderful. I think by skipping the whole child rearing thing I've gone straight to Bingo and Bloody Mary night with my girl friends. :)

I never did make it to the Cemetery to take picutres. But I did finish the book. Everyone I know should read it. I keep promising myself I'll go take cemetery pictures in the snow but I haven't quite brought myself to do it yet. That and the snow keeps melting off....
Well, it's supposed to.
Speaking of snow we got about 6 inches. It started snowing the day after we went to Denver. How is that for timing?

This weekend Cyn and I both had time off. (GASP!!) Since we work the same job and she works my opposit nights we never see each other. Well, we had diner and went to see Jay's show and I had a good time! I miss her. She is someone I can be myself around with out worry that she will think I am too weird. She just tries to out-weird me. :)
Come to think of it all my close friends are like that.

The other day the Dog got into the 'fridge and ate about half a chicken worth of fried chicken. This is the third time she's gotten into the 'fridge. we suspect she's got a thumb hidden some where....Her new nick name is Houdini Hound.

That's about all. Work is work and I am negelcting my house work for art. Oh, yeah the art! I was mutilating barbie dolls yesterday. This is the result.

It is in no way an orginial idea, and to  be honset I sort of get tired of the whole goth/tortured angel thing. But I just had this doll laying around, was feeling creative and , well here she is.

 Maybe someone will find deep significance in it and buy it off me. I have been wanting to try this sort of thing, adding found obejects to flat, painted surfaces. And while this result is....well it is what it is, I AM inspired to do more.