after i wrote that question on the subject line, i exhaled as if its
daunting to answer.  3 months of absence,  though i popped in here briefly a
couple of times; one time with more of a 'tude than i prefer.

start from the beginning, i guess.  the gimpfest was awesome.  i sooooo
loved finally meeting some of my most favorite people in the world.  we
gotta do NW gimpfests more often!  i think i mentioned i had company for two
weeks when i returned from portland and then, had my grandson for the entire
month of july (including during the overlap of company for the first two
weeks).  it takes me awhile to recover from having so much fun.  i know how
funny that sounds.LOL  but i did and it was.

just to give you an idea of what i mean about recovery, my neice's wedding
and reception was on the 3rd of this month.  i stayed for 3 1/2 hours and
recovered for three days, cancelled out my wednesday ortho-surgeon appmt.,
because i knew i had another wedding to attend on the 10th--adding a
doctor's appmt. in the middle seemed like more than i could handle for that
week.  (sigh . . . and i saw a photo of my doctor on the web too.  what a
hubba hunk!  of course, i rescheduled!--you don't think that part of me is
dead, do you?!)  and hey, weddings are once in a lifetime things; i know my
spine is going to be forever.  truth is i've been pooped and pooped makes me
have a 'tude (even i don't like) and start thinking weird thoughts and weird
rationalizations about why i'm not doing things.  low energy levels can be
the pitts.

even my trip home from the portland gimpfest was, er, interesting---i had to
pull off i-5 every 15 minutes to shut my eyes, cuz pain was making me
inattentive (i get sleepy-ish, for want of a better word, when i can't
focus), despite having my air conditioner on its cryogenic setting and the
volume of my sound system on its "for skydivers in flight" setting.   and i
don't do drugs and drive.  one major carwreck in a lifetime was enough for
this kid (even though drugs had nothing to do with that one), thank you.

speaking of car wrecks, but more like wrecked cars---last month, i backed
out of my carport, while i was sorta "in" my rav4, with the door open
(sortal "out" too, while in motion of tossing a leftover smoothie cup in the
trash.  good thing my foot hadn't quite left the car when it started to
roll.)   yep.  you guessed it.  rav4 got a $4,000 boo-boo (but i didn't,
thank goodness.)---car doors are kinda like elbows, they only like bending
one way, for some reason.  but that was the best test possible, to determine
the structural integrity of the carport!  solid as a rock, that is.  nice to
know.  the rav left only one little mark on the lazy carport post that
wouldn't get out of the way.  with only 2200 miles on the rav's odometer, my
insurance company didn't want any bondo (neither did i, actually), so it
took two weeks for everything to be replaced (and have the cardoor post
straightened), from the front fender to the back door on the driver's side.
what i think is amusing is that, now, that side of the car (and all of its
electrical stuff) is warranteed for as long as i own it.   the rest of the
car is only warranteed for 7 years or 75,000 miles.  blessings abound.LOL
that is the very last time i will ever concern myself with tidying the
inside of my car, after i've turned on the ignition and put it into gear.

my lawn tractor kinda blew a tire.  still working on figuring out why a 5
pound piece of firewood irritated my tractor's sensibilities so much.  that
tractor, with its tire and axle, grabbed onto that chunk of wood like it was
going to strangle the life out of it.  must not have known the wood was
already dead.  but i really think the tractor just didn't want to deal with
the huge job ahead of it.  so, it transferred its aggression to the wood,
instead of strangling the weeds (which we all know are living things.
taboo--musn't strangle living things.).  soooo, since i was at a loss to
repair it for a couple of weeks, and since the alternative was posting signs
that read, "weed cultivation area for weed irradication testing--no, i am
not unconscious", i hired somebody to mow my 3 front yards.  egads!  $120
later and i was thinking---i wonder just how much do chest high weeds
reeeeally bother my neighbors?  they've never mentioned it, though their
yards are well-groomed.  so, i guess guilt by association (comparing my yard
to theirs) can be somewhat motivational, sometimes.

geesh, i just realized i'm writing a book here.  too long for a post.  will
fill in more details in later posts, (for other things, like  the garbage
disposal dying; my son replacing it and how flooding ensued), so you guys
don't have to take more painpills, because of eye-strain.  see how
considerate i am?<smile>

kate