The End of The End (A New Beginning)

All right. Is two years a long enough mourning period? Is one year the typical amount? Then I doubled it to accommodate two parental losses within four months, and since Mother went last and today marks two years since her demise, I'm done, right?

As of 11:42 AM, I'm officially done. Out of mourning. Finished with the Black Period. Through with being in a lifeless limbo.

My life must go on now. I love my parents, I miss them every day, but I cannot continue playing the role of "that poor girl who lost both of her parents four months apart, so sad". I cannot continue living in the limbo of inheritances that have yet to materialize, of estates that languish and lollygag around, of waiting for things to fall into place before making crucial life decisions, of time standing immortally frozen in a house that still resembles a storage unit/memorial.

My role is being redefined.

Who am I now?

I'll let you know as I figure it out.

Mother, please rest in peace now, along with Dad, knowing that I am safe, learning to be happy, and will eternally hold you both in my heart. Until we meet on the other side...

---

Labels: estate nonsense, family time, musings

posted by Jeanne @ 8:51 PM 4 comments

DARKNESS!

Oh, My, GOD, it is not even 8:00 PM yet and it is already effin' dark outside!!!!

NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Where has my lovely summer gone? Where are the long, lingering evenings in which I could ride and ride and ride?

Alas... Autumn has arrived.

Tomorrow, there will be even less daylight in which to ride.

I suppose I'll have to start getting to the barn earlier and earlier. Pretty soon I'll have to forego looking for a job because a day job will seriously interfere with my ability to be able to see my horse. I mean SEE him. As in have him be visible. Because it's dark? Can't see the horse in the dark?

Not much fun to ride when you have no idea what's in front of you.

Siiiiiigggghhhhhh.

OK, on the upside, the bugs are gone. Almost. Um, it's less sweaty. Uh, crisp fall air, pretty leaves... hey, I'm TRYING.

When I win the lottery, I'm building an indoor arena with really good lighting so I can ride 24/7. Whether my horse likes it or not.

So long, Summer. See you next year.

Welcome, Fall.

Labels: breaking news

posted by Jeanne @ 7:53 PM 1 comments

The MASH Game

OK. I saw this on Mrs. Quimby's blog and decided it would be fun to play.

Oh, what havoc have I wrought? Please note, I was hoping to marry Keith Urban... but because I felt wacky, I tossed in a couple of my girlcrushes. See what good it did me? LOL! (Kate plays Shane on the L Word). It looks like we'll be foster parents of Aborigines.

As long as there are horses... it still looks like fun! (And I don't know why you have to scroll down, Mrs. Q had the same issue and I can't figure out the HTML code making it do that. Sorry.)

		I will marry Kate Moennig.
		After a wild honeymoon, We will settle down in Australia in our fabulous House.
		We will have 69 kid(s) together.
		Our family will zoom around in a cherry red Hybrid.
		I will spend my days as a spiritual guru, and live happily ever after.

Labels: quiz time

posted by Jeanne @ 2:02 PM 0 comments

More Quizzes! I'm Feeling Testy Today

Me, I am beside my selves... ;-) We're getting grammatical again.

Your result for The Commonly Confused Words Test...

English Genius

You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 93% Expert!

******************

Your result for The Absolute Language Test...

The Rain In Spain Stays Mainly In The Plane

60% Eloquent, 54% Well-Versed, 21% So-So, 19% Amateur and 23% Ignoramus!

Take The Absolute Language Test at HelloQuizzy

Labels: quiz time

posted by Jeanne @ 5:42 PM 1 comments

ReinCarnation Instant Drink Mix

The truth hurts sometimes... apparently I basically just want to coast through life. How depressing to think that. *sigh* At least I'm not a LOLcat like some folks. Ironically, I am also fluent in chatspeak, which is odd since I rarely, if ever, chat or text. Hmm. As for the last quiz, considering that this was MY genre, I would expect no less.

Your result for Reincarnation Placement Exam...

Garden of Eden

41% Intrigue, 39% Civilization, 46% Humanity, 19% Urbanization.

Take Reincarnation Placement Exam at HelloQuizzy

********************

Your result for The GR8 txtspeak Test :-)...

Txtspk GNS!

You are 70% fluent in chatspeak!

Take The GR8 txtspeak Test :-) at HelloQuizzy

********************

Your result for Name The Heavy Metal/Hair Band Who Hit The Charts With This Monster Ballad Quiz...

100% Teased!

Take Name The Heavy Metal/Hair Band Who Hit The Charts With This Monster Ballad Quiz at HelloQuizzy

Labels: quiz time

posted by Jeanne @ 4:04 PM 1 comments

My Blog is Mad at Me

That's right. My blog is mad at me because yesterday was our second Blogiversary, and I completely forgot about it and went off riding my horse instead of paying attention to it.

I'm terribly sorry, Dear Blog, and I hope you will forgive my oversight. My humblest apologies. *kiss kiss*

I suppose if it lets me post this entry, all is forgiven.

It's really not a surprise that it slipped my mind, though. This isn't my first blog. It's my second. The first one was started six years ago and it's dedicated to my PNH adventures. But it was abandoned for a long time due to loss of horse, loss of interest, then the parental stuff. In fact, if any blog should be mad at me, THAT one should, because I neglected it for so long. Oddly enough, it was as forgiving as a horse and just let me hop back on and ride without so much as a sniffle.

Anyway, that's all for now. Happy Second Blogiversary to me. I'd give away yarn or something, but... that would entail organizing it first to see what I have to offer. And we all know how I am about THAT (organizing). *snort*

Labels: breaking news

posted by Jeanne @ 12:07 PM 3 comments

Song Title Meme and Blather

I know, I'm meme-happy lately. All I've been doing is riding my horse and playing with him, and trying to convince my mare that I'm really still her friend (she's decided to be elusive again). Unless you are as horse-crazy as I am, my escapades aren't all that interesting. And they aren't related to knitting.

But it's going well. Now that we've broken the cantering fear issue, we're cantering all over the place, and yesterday, I found I can break into a canter from a dead stop, rather than work up to it from the trot. Working up to it is actually harder than I thought! I had it in my mind that it was like changing gears—walk is first gear, trot is second, canter third, gallop fourth. Nope! It's like going from smooth four-beat walk to bouncy two-beat trot to smooth three-beat rocking horse. MUCH easier to just smooch and canter off into the sunset.

In other news, Jupiter finally went direct after several months of retrograde, which is GREAT news for anything that has been stalled out because Jupiter is the planet of expansion and growth, so the stagnation should lift now. I fully expect to be hearing from my realtors this week about house sales. I checked back, and the timing of the slow-downs and fall-throughs coincided with Jupiter going retrograde. HMMMmmmmm. There is another planet that was off-kilter for two years and just changed direction, too.

I'm tellin' ya, this is the week. On to the memes. Do it if you wanna, consider yourself tagged.

• Choose a singer/band/group
• Answer using ONLY titles of songs by that singer/band/group
• Tag 7 more people. Or not.

I choose: Journey

1. Are you male or female? Walks Like A Lady
2. Describe yourself. Happy To Give
3. What do people feel when they’re around you? Don't Stop Believin'
4. How would you describe your previous relationship? Separate Ways
5. Describe your current relationship. When You're Alone (It Ain't Easy)
6. Where would you want to be now? Still They Ride*
7. How do you feel about love? Faithfully
8. What’s your life like? Sweet & Simple
9. What would you ask for if you had only one wish? Change for the Better
10. Say something wise. Be Good To Yourself

*Well, I had to work in some sort of horse reference and this was the closest thing.

Labels: memes, nothing important

posted by Jeanne @ 7:57 PM 1 comments

Falling

I'll have you know, today is the first day I'm wearing sweatpants rather than shorts around the house. Legs is cold, peeps! But the thermometer says 73—WTF? Cloudy, grey, a little rainy at times—

Oh, that explains it. Black Swamp Arts Festival is this weekend. (Swamp. I do live in one.)

Oh, My, GOD. My local paper finally got with the program and went online. Bully for them.

Do I have any non-Meme news? Oh, nothing substantial just yet. Just waiting expecting and dealing with occasional uncertainty. But that could be a good thing. Deepak Chopra says that if you're experiencing the uncertainty, it is a sure sign you are getting closer to its manifestation.

Good.

The majority of my activities of late have been horse-related. OKAY. FINE. I ADMIT IT.

I'm wishy-washy. Please don't ask me what I want to be when I grow up because chances are it will vacillate between Rock Star, Professor and Horse Trainer. I committed to Horse Trainer in April. Then I changed gears this summer. Then I entered a 45-day challenge online, chose my music career to focus on, and lasted about 7 days before I lost interest. Now I'm back to the horses. (Professor finally went away when I realized I was just trying to live my parents' lives for them and that it would take 6 years to get a PhD in Philosophy and then get a job and, well, bleagh.)

Truthfully, all I wanna be is a multimillionaire lottery jackpot winner.

You think I'm kidding.

I'm not.

I believe the Ohio Lottery debuted the year I turned 10. Around age 6, I'd declared my wish to be a horse trainer. My Mom snorted in disbelief and said "well, you'd better have a really good job then, because horses take a lot of money!" I put 2+2 together and realized if we couldn't afford one on Dad's very good salary (as I was often told was the reason rather than the complex adult fact that Mom's worst allergen was horse hair, she had terrible asthma, and since Dad worked full time she'd be the one taking me to the stable...), I'd better figure out how to be a millionaire.

Somewhere between 6 and 10, I noticed that the people who sang on TV variety shows were rich, and I could sing, so I determined I should exploit my musical talent and I'd be a shoe-in for fame and fortune.

Then I heard about the Lottery. I distinctly remember hearing about it—TV, radio, newspaper—forget which. But when I realized it took 50 cents to buy a ticket and you could win $10 million dollars, that was IT. I KNEW. Without a single doubt, I KNEW that THIS was the way I'd become rich one day. When I was old enough to legally buy the ticket, that is.

Wide-eyed, I turned to my Mom and Dad and said with absolute conviction, "THAT is how I'm going to get rich. I'm going to win the lottery."

Guffaws.

OK. Be skeptical. But, it does happen. Someone just won $133 million last week (not me, yet), and on average, five people win the $250,000 5-of-5 every drawing. That's twice a week. So, why not?

What if I did win?

Even the current cash option of $9.8 million would buy a lot of horses and hay. I think I'll go dream about it for awhile.

Labels: nothing important

posted by Jeanne @ 6:15 PM 2 comments

Music Meme

From Erin's blog :

Interesting. I wasn't really genre-specific, was I? I just liked the songs I liked, regardless. But Journey was MY ABSOLUTE FAVE, and AOR was my preference. (Where are Iron Maiden and Judas Priest? Where? Or Kansas and Boston?) Surprised at how much Top 40/R&B I liked.

"It has a beat and I can drink to it. I give it a 10!"

The rules:

• Go to musicoutfitters.com
• Enter the year you graduated from high school in the search function and get the list of 100 most popular songs of that year
• Bold the songs you like, strike through the ones you hate and italicize your favorites. Do nothing to the ones you don’t remember (or don’t care about)

1. Bette Davis Eyes, Kim Carnes


2. Endless Love, Diana Ross and Lionel Richie


3. Lady, Kenny Rogers


4. (Just Like) Starting Over, John Lennon


5. Jessie's Girl, Rick Springfield


6. Celebration, Kool and The Gang


7. Kiss On My List, Daryl Hall and John Oates


8. I Love A Rainy Night, Eddie Rabbitt


9. 9 To 5, Dolly Parton


10. Keep On Loving You, REO Speedwagon


11. Theme From "Greatest American Hero", Joey Scarbury


12. Morning Train (Nine To Five), Sheena Easton


13. Being With You, Smokey Robinson


14. Queen Of Hearts, Juice Newton


15. Rapture, Blondie


16. A Woman Needs Love, Ray Parker Jr. and Raydio


17. The Tide Is High, Blondie


18. Just The Two Of Us, Grover Washington Jr.


19. Slow Hand, Pointer Sisters


20. I Love You, Climax Blues Band


21. Woman, John Lennon


22. Sukiyaki, A Taste Of Honey


23. The Winner Takes It All, Abba


24. Medley, Stars On 45


25. Angel Of The Morning, Juice Newton


26. Love On The Rocks, Neil Diamond


27. Every Woman In The World, Air Supply


28. The One That You Love, Air Supply


29. Guilty, Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb


30. The Best Of Times, Styx


31. Elvira, Oak Ridge Boys


32. Take It On The Run, REO Speedwagon


33. No Gettin' Over Me, Ronnie Milsap


34. Living Outside Myself, Gino Vannelli


35. Woman In Love, Barbra Streisand


36. Boy From New York City, Manhattan Transfer


37. Urgent, Foreigner


38. Passion, Rod Stewart


39. Lady (You Bring Me Up), Commodores


40. Crying, Don Mclean


41. Hearts, Marty Balin


42. It's My Turn, Diana Ross


43. You Make My Dreams, Daryl Hall and John Oates


44. I Don't Need You, Kenny Rogers


45. How 'Bout Us, Champaign


46. Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Pat Benatar


47. The Breakup Song, Greg Kihn Band


48. Time, Alan Parsons Project (this was our class' theme song)
    


49. Hungry Heart, Bruce Springsteen


50. Sweetheart, Franke and The Knockouts


51. Someone's Knockin', Terri Gibbs


52. More Than I Can Say, Leo Sayer


53. Together, Tierra


54. Too Much Time On My Hands, Styx


55. What Are We Doin' In Love, Dottie West


56. Who's Crying Now, Journey


57. De Do Do Do, De Da Da, Police


58. This Little Girl, Gary U.S. Bonds


59. Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, Stevie Nicks With Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers


60. Giving It Up For Your Love, Delbert McClinton


61. A Little In Love, Cliff Richard


62. America, Neil Diamond


63. Ain't Even Done With The Night, John Cougar


64. Arthur's Theme, Christopher Cross


65. Another One Bites The Dust, Queen


66. Games People Play, Alan Parsons Project


67. I Can't Stand It, Eric Clapton


68. While You See A Chance, Steve Winwood


69. Master Blaster, Stevie Wonder


70. Hello Again, Neil Diamond


71. Don't Stand So Close To Me, Police


72. Hey Nineteen, Steely Dan


73. I Ain't Gonna Stand For It, Stevie Wonder


74. All Those Years Ago, George Harrison


75. Step By Step, Eddie Rabbitt


76. The Stroke, Billy Squier


77. Feels So Right, Alabama


78. Sweet Baby, Stanley Clarke and George Duke


79. Same Old Lang Syne, Dan Fogelberg


80. Cool Love, Pablo Cruise


81. Hold On Tight, ELO


82. It's Now Or Never, John Schneider


83. Treat Me Right, Pat Benatar


84. Winning, Santana


85. What Kind Of Fool, Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb


86. Watching The Wheels, John Lennon


87. Tell It Like It Is, Heart


88. Smoky Mountain Rain, Ronnie Milsap


89. I Made It Through The Rain, Barry Manilow


90. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin', Daryl Hall and John Oates


91. Suddenly, Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard


92. For Your Eyes Only, Sheena Easton


93. The Beach Boys Medley, Beach Boys


94. Whip It, Devo


95. Modern Girl, Sheena Easton


96. Really Wanna Know You, Gary Wright


97. Seven Year Ache, Rosanne Cash


98. I'm Coming Out, Diana Ross


99. Miss Sun, Boz Scaggs


100. Time Is Time, Andy Gibb

Labels: memes

posted by Jeanne @ 5:19 PM 1 comments