Invasion Of The Guitar Snatchers

So this happened:

The other morning--at 7:30 in the morning, mind you (i.e. it's light out, people are up and about), my in-laws were lying abed sleeping. They live in a fairly small town in a cozy respectable safe neighborhood. So they're sleeping in bed but for some reason my mother-in-law opens her eyes. Doesn't stretch real big, roll over, yawn loudly....but just opens her eyes. And there in the doorway of her bedroom she sees a big shadow of a person. Just then the shadow takes the really nice guitar belonging to my father-in-law which is propped in the corner and then takes off out of the room. She ponders why her husband would be taking his guitar somewhere right at that moment when she realizes that he's actually sleeping next to her. Hmmm. This doesn't bode well.

Anyway, she tells Pops, he pops out of bed and decides he should trail the guy. (The consensus has been that this was a really dumb idea. Sorry, Pops.) He discovers that the guy broke their back gate. Their house is backed up to a lovely creek which has a trail beside it. People regularly walk, run, ride their bikes along this trail. Well, guitar-snatcher clearly came this route, broke the lock on their gate and then invited himself inside their house. Because it's a small town and oh-so-safe, they don't always lock their doors---at least not the back slider, etc. It's been so hot and seemed reasonable to leave the slider open.

So Pops hops on his bike and takes off down the trail. His aim is just to catch a glimpse of the guy, see where he is, where he's going, call the cops while he has him in view. While he's taking off on his quest, he passes a lady walking who claims that yes, she did just see someone running down the path lugging a guitar. (Hello? Steal a guitar? It's so easy to stuff in your pocket. It's so inconspicuous. NOBODY will notice.)

He never sees the guy, he comes back home after a bit, the lady who saw the guy is gone as well. THEN he calls the cops. Now it seems to me that maybe they shoulda called the cops immediately and then there might've been a better chance of catching said guitar snatcher. Who knows. At any rate, this kind of thing makes a person feel vulnerable. It makes you mad! How dare you come in MY home and take MY stuff. (This happened to us once when I was a kid, though we weren't home at the time, but that's another post). Pops then went out for reinforcement---new locks, some lights in the back, etc.

It was a strange event and they were very lucky. They could've been shot in their beds---it happens, even in a small safe town. I figure the guy came in because there was easy access, maybe assumed no one was home because it was so quiet, looked around quickly for something valuable he could grab, got as far as their bedroom and saw that the house wasn't vacant after all and grabbed the nearest thing. That's my theory.

I hope the guitar gets recovered, though that seems a bit unlikely. More than that, I hope they stay safe and the boogie men stay AWAY.

Another Year Bites The Dust

Another year passes me by and I can't say I have a whole lot to show for it! Except for an extra 20 pounds and a few less brain cells. Next year is the big 4-0 and so I've got to get my buns in gear this year. I don't want to wake up one year from now, be 40 and be wondering how come I haven't accomplished any of the things I thought I would have by then and be hating the body I'm lugging around. So I better get crackin'. Wish me luck!

Also This:

I'm a bit tired of my blog template, and I want to change it. But am I the only weird person who has a hard time adjusting my visual feelings about someone's blog when he or she changes the template? It's like I have to completely re-adjust all manner of mental and visual buttons. It's akin to a person suddenly changing hair-styles or suddenly wearing glasses all the time when they never did before (and I know "they" isn't technically correct in this sentence, which is just fodder for THIS POST and its particular rant*).

So, I want to change it but I'm not sure if I should. And oh---I don't even know how (but I'm sure I can figure it out or find someone who can tell me how to do it. Where's my 8-yr-old?)



*I'm not meaning "rant" in a negative way. Just seemed the proper word; that's all.

Drip Drip Drip

Did I mention that it's hot?

That it's unbelievably hot?

I can't believe how hot it's been lately. This beautiful area where I live isn't supposed to get this hot. I think it's like a rule or a law or something. The weather is usually mild and pleasant, and so we're woefully unprepared for this bloomin' blasted heat.

PLUS!! our air-conditioner isn't working. Today it was 91 degrees INSIDE OUR HOUSE!

So that dripping sound you hear? It's the lot of us, sweating our entire bodies into little puddles (or maybe bigger-than-little puddles. If you know what I mean).

Forecast: Grey

You know how sometimes you feel like a blanket is kind of covering you and weighing you down and making it hard for you to stand up tall and walk with a spring in your step? Do you ever feel that way? Maybe you never do. But I do, and I am these days. Mostly it's an annoyance and a bother. There doesn't seem to be any one particular reason; rather, a handful of small ones. I suspect it could be chemical in nature. Who knows. But it's a bother and it's boring. And thus I am rendered such as well.

(I hold said wet blanket responsible for my lack of posts.)

Here's hoping it passes soon, that it dries up, that I'm able to fold it and put it away. Besides, it's WAY too hot for a blanket right now.

Catching Up

It's been brought to my attention by several that I haven't posted in awhile. And there's a VERY good reason for that: I have nothing interesting to say.

There have been no more "episodes" with my son; no more seizures or whatever they were. We're hoping that the slight adjustment made to his processor fixed the problem. There are a few who think we should still get EEG's and so on, but we haven't moved in that direction. Seems like things are fine, and I'm not sure if I want to go through or have him go through a bunch of tests if they're not necessary. Of course, I understand that we might not know if they're necessary until we've actually done them and confirmed that one way or the other, but for now we're coasting with the status quo.

My oldest and my husband made it back safe and sound from Ecuador. They had a memorable trip and it's been fun to hear some of their stories and see pictures. In many ways, Ecuador is a beautiful country but it's amazing to see how far behind they are from our standard of living. There but for the randomness of birth go I. If that makes sense.

My husband managed to catch some sort of mysterious digestive something, however. He's only now recovering and feeling up-to-speed. I don't know if it was a parasite or some other bacterial monstrosity, but I know he suffered like he hasn't before! I think it may be taken care of now. He managed, of course, to lose about fifteen pounds during the whole experience. Maybe I could have that for a day or two.......nah. Maybe not.

The rest of summer seems to be full of various visitors, so that'll be fun. My ability to remain relatively unstressed will be tested somewhat, I have a feeling. I so wish I was one of those people who LOVED to entertain, who never cared what condition the house was in or what the kids were doing to it. I have all those abilities/characteristics to a point. I just wish the point was further out. But anyway, I'm looking forward to some good times, and then school will be here before we even know it. Maybe THEN I'll get back to my workout routine. I know that as of now it's seriously in the toilet.

Well, like I said at the beginning, I don't have anything interesting to share. I hope you didn't fall asleep at your computer.