I’ve been getting an awful lot of hits lately pertaining to Papas Opera Creme (or Cream, depending on how you see it spelled) Candy.

For anyone who wants to know, they are located in Covington, KY, and are in the phone book. Very nice people and wonderful candy. I believe you can request order forms (I did once) and that the opera creme eggs are available until May. I think it’s the Chris A. Papas (and maybe son/s) candy company.

I don’t know this, but if they have tours, I’d love to go one day.

So, just so you know.

If I hear one more rendition of “It’s going to take a lot of work”, I think I will scream.

Old houses are a lot of work. If you don’t know that going in, then you shouldn’t be looking at an old house. It can be frustrating at times, and messy and scream-inducing (I haven’t quite gotten that far yet) but they take a lot of work.

Unless, of course, you buy an already-restored old house that needs nothing done to it. But what are those odds and why would you want to do something like that?

Old houses have character. Character means outdated wiring sometimes, or doors that don’t shut properly. Old houses settle over time, and nothing is square or level. You learn to live with idiosyncrasies like that if you are an ‘old house’ person.

Character also means old-growth wood, and oak floors that are hard to scratch. Stains from a hundred years ago, and six layers of wallpaper in one room.

Tall ceilings and windows big enough to be doors. Non-central heating. Window air conditioners or no air conditioners at all. Previous owners’ likes and dislikes, remodeling attempts and mistakes.

If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the fire. And for those of you—none of whom read this blog—who aren’t old house people, well, get over it. It’s my house. I knew what I was getting into when I bought it. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Since I bought my house, two of the stone houses in Bethel have gone up for sale. Both are quite small, maybe 3 bedrooms if you stretch. I realize now that I wouldn’t have been happy in either of these houses, even if they were stone. I still prefer stone or brick over frame, but we really do have plenty of space for everything here, and my house now feels like home. It’s nice to be able to come home and see something that belongs to me instead of something that belongs to someone else.

There is an added perk to the bushes around my neighbors’ house. The birds flock to them, and they’ve started their chorus at 2:30 in the morning these past few days. I can’t complain that I’m being awakened by birdcalls in the middle of the ‘city’, can I?

I bought some spinach and lettuce seed last night. I am planning to use the little bed next to my side porch for a cold frame, and planting the lettuce and spinach hopefully this weekend. I have to check and make sure the plants that are sprouting in the bed aren’t anything I want to keep first, however. I think they are something, but I’m just not sure what they are.

I have flowers sprouting all over. I’m going to have to move some of them, so after they bloom I will mark where they are and move them when it’s time. I would like to have a border of spring flowers all the way up the sidewalk to my side porch. I think that would look nice.

If it were up to me, I would make the front yard into a wonderful garden, and keep the backyard pretty much as it is, except on the hillside where I am planning to plant ferns and shade-loving plants. I might sow a wildflower garden there as well. I haven’t decided yet. And it’s not like all of this has to be done the first spring/summer, after all. I do have time on my side.

The idea is not to have much grass to mow, of course. I’d rather not have any grass at all, in all honesty. However, Ethan has to have a place to play, and Mabel has to have a place to go poo, so I guess I’ll have to compensate somewhere.

Yesterday, I tried to clean my room, but I’m not quite done yet. It took a bit more to do than I first expected, because I added some bookshelves behind my door (stacked, and with my favorite authors on them—the rest of the fiction books are outside in my hallway) as well as my rocking chair with the mohair throw I picked up at a thrift shop for cheap last week. I also cleaned up tracked litter, leaves, and removed one litterbox since Chloe isn’t partial. It will probably become a permanent litterbox, which is fine for me. It’s not like it smells.

I have summer clothes to fit somewhere, and some more costume-y dresses and such to put up top with the others (in bags for their protection, of course.) And I have to wash my wool quilt, because the cat hair it adheres is becoming quite a problem and it’s still cool enough at night to use it.

Tonight, however, I have to clear off the freezer so Mom can start removing their food and taking it back to Bethel to be put in the brand spanking new freezer they got for free from Sears. I think they got the better end of the deal, since Sears sent them a commercial-grade freezer and a larger one at that. Yay!

Yard sale weekends are not this weekend, but next weekend. We are setting up on Saturday with a bunch of books and clothing, along with whatever else I want to get rid of. (Anyone want some 30-year old carpet that has been sitting on my front porch all winter?)

Which reminds me… what with all the rage about 50s-70s style furniture, etc., you’d think vintage carpet would have a market. Hmm. I guess those collectors who like vintage things aren’t willing to go that extra mile? (Can you imagine? Yuck!)

Not every convalescing kitty gets to lounge around in a nest of cashmere and mohair. I just went to check on Chloe, and she’d carved a nest out for herself amid a couple of sweaters I decided not to wear today. She had one arm of my mohair sweater (the one I did end up wearing) draped across her body, and looked quite comfortable.

I think she’s getting bored, though. She kept attacking my feet throughout the night last night.

I wrote yesterday. Haven’t written yet today, but I will say this: What other job can you have that going back to bed to think about what happens next counts as being ‘on the clock’?

I love my job. At least this one.

Whew.

I’m glad it’s Friday and the weekend, because I feel like I’ve been running around all week. (Which I have been, I guess, with another trip to Columbus yesterday and Chloe’s vet visit, etc.) It just seems like this week flew by.

I did manage somewhere in there to remember to pay my car insurance, so I’m good for another six months. I also remembered to mail the other bills that were due, which is a good thing since sometimes I forget until right before they are due. (It’s the mailing that gets me. If I could have everything automatic I would, believe me.)

I’m looking forward to sleeping in a bit tomorrow morning. And writing this weekend, because I keep getting flashes of things and I haven’t really had a chance to sit down and work for a block of time. I’m planning to carve out some writing time this weekend amid raindrops.

Yes, it’s going to rain again. *sigh* A week or two without rain at this point would be heaven.

I mentioned at the conference that someone needed to enable the ability to read books via cellphone. Well, guess what? Someone has.

My point was that YAs would be more likely to read ebooks, especially if they were as available as instant messaging, IPODs, etc. This is cool, though, that the technology does exist, and I wasn’t just speculating.

Chloe is back, and for the next 10-14 days, sequestered in my room. We’ll see how that goes, because she’s not one to be confined without protest. I really missed her yesterday and we all missed her last night. (If I didn’t mention it before, she was at the vet’s getting spayed.) She has an appointment on April 4th to get her stitches out.

Mischa and Pooh aren’t going to be very happy to discover they can’t sleep with me for the duration. Mischa especially, since he’s gotten used to my room being his ’safe’ room. Although he was sleeping on my bed with Pooh yesterday just fine. Hopefully he won’t start peeing on the floor again (no pee since I let him out Sunday! *crossing fingers*)

Bekah mentioned this evening that she’s noticed quite a nice change in Mabel lately. And I noticed it too. She’s not being bad as much–or, rather, she knows the rules–and she’s becoming quite a nice house dog. The last time she had an accident in the house was my fault–I didn’t tell Bekah she hadn’t pooped for me that morning.

I am *this* close to getting the downstairs computer set up so Ethan can play his games on it instead of this one. I needed a Windows 98 disk, and of course ours is lost somewhere, so Dad had to find another one. Yay for Dad. I’ll pick it up tomorrow, and hopefully everything will work out. (And not be too slow, considering both the modem and the computer are Quite Elderly.)

Um. Anything else? Not at the moment, as far as I can remember. Everyone else is just fine.

Maumee Valley Writers Conference Mar. 19, 2005

(I’m actually writing this Saturday night around 10pm on my Dana. I just got home about 20 minutes ago. This is incentive for me to hotsync tomorrow so I can post this on my blog.)

Dad and I left around noon on Friday, and between stopping at almost every antique shop and mall between Bethel and Toledo, we managed to stretch a four hour drive into seven hours.
The haul:

From Anna, Ohio:

A copper ‘utensils’ canister that matches my copper canister set forr $4
A handmade stoneware casserole with handles $3 (I passed up the rest of the set and picked the most unique piece)

From Wapakoneta, Ohio:
Two books, one a seed book and one a cookbook $3.50/each
An old knobby walkingstick $5

From FIndlay, Ohio:
Two old lodge robes, $9/each (A long time ago, I came across a bunch of these someone was selling at Burlington for $5/each. I bought three or four of the better ones, including a gorgeous silver silk satin robe with black embroidery. The silk had begun to shatter in places, and it needed a lot of work, but it was a really wonderful find. Very Lady of Shallot, if you get my reference. Unfortunately, the silver robe was one of the irreplacable things lost when the basement in Columbus flooded. By the time I realized the bag it (and a couple of other nice vintage clothing items) had gotten wet, it was too late and the entire bag was full of mold and mildew. I had to throw it away without even a scrap to remember it by.) I picked up a black velvet robe with silver embroidery (iirc, they are still in the car) and a black one with blue and purple embroidery. I passed up a wine colored velvet robe for $36 that I couldn’t bring myself to spend so much money on.

Dad also picked up a couple of things, so the journey was fruitful.

We reached the hotel, checked in, and then went to find somewhere to eat. Friday meant fish or no meat, so we went looking for a Red Lobster or something that would have meatless items on the menu. After driving around for almost an hour and not finding much of anything at all, we ended up at Ciao! an authentic Italian restaurant.

It was divine. I had salmon over cheese-filled ravioli with mushrooms and tomatoes and Dad had the special, which was whitefish with a blueberry sauce and asparagus and potatoes. It was the best salmon I’ve ever eaten in my life. Every bite was to be savored. I’m sure dessert would have been equally delicious, but it wasn’t a cheap restaurant and Dad was paying (and I was full, for that matter) and it was getting late, so we opted to go back to the hotel.

I neglected to realize that Red Roof Inns don’t provide shampoo and conditioner like every other hotel I’ve ever been in, so I had to stop at Walgreens and get some. No big deal. I was pleased to discover, however, that Red Roof Inns allow pets! (Well-behaved, but still.) This is cool, and I will remember that if I’m ever traveling with Mabel or any of the cats.

Dad informed me that he always checks under the mattresses when he’s in a hotel room. He checked under his mattress and found an empty Bacardi bottle. That and the fact that the TV was set to the Adult Viewing station gave me the creeps! Thankfully there was nothing under my mattress.

I didn’t sleep much at all Friday night for some reason. Perhaps it was the lack of clocks ticking in the background that kept me up. But I didn’t feel tired Saturday morning, and after Dad dropped me off, I tried to remember not to be nervous. I failed.

Standing up in front of crowds (Okay, 18 people in the first session) has always been my downfall. However, since I knew my subject and liked it, I realized about halfway through that I wasn’t nervous anymore. I think my first session went well, although I had one person come up afterwards and tell me she thought it was too basic. I told her that since the beginners outnumbered the more advanced writers, I kind of had to go with the majority.

But that was the only shadow in a very lovely day. Even though the weather left much to be desired, I had a wonderful time at the conference. My second session went off quite well, with 6 people in attendance. I really enjoyed myself, and I’d do it again next year if they ask me back. And I got to meet Bob Nailor, who is a member of the Fantasywriter list I’m on, along with his wife (both wonderful people!)

We got home Saturday night, and everyone was really happy to see me, especially Mischa and Mabel.

Yesterday, Dad and I went to Sam’s, where I picked up a couple of things I needed, and I started to clean the kitchen. (I know that’s not on my list, but I’m working my way around.) I’m planning to finish the kitchen today, I hope.

This morning, I took Chloe in to the vet’s to be spayed. They didn’t tell me she would be kept overnight; I expected I could pick her up this evening! Poor Chloe. This means, of course, I will be leaving work for a bit to pick her up in the morning, take her home, make sure she’s comfortable, and then I’ll go back to work. I don’t want her to have to stay there for too long. (She wasn’t very happy to leave me, either.)

So anyway, that’s the weekend. I’ve got to go take a shower and get to work.

Quick update before I get ready to leave for the conference (my list is still half full so I got up early so I wouldn’t be rushing around):

If anyone was wondering, Mischa pooped, so I didn’t end up giving him pumpkin after all. This is good. So no worries about him at the moment. He’s hitting the litterbox every time.

Mabel is silly, but you already knew that. And Chloe is a brat.

And I like writing in Kyren’s POV. In fact, I kind of like Kyren as a character now; he’s trying his best to do the right thing, but after a couple of lifetimes not doing the right thing, sometimes he isn’t sure if what he is doing is the right thing or not. If that makes sense.

Here was yesterday’s post, which never got posted:

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

It’s almost spring. The dawn chorus was out with a vengeance this morning, and Mabel and I paused for a bit to listen while we were out at dawn. I like the fact that I still have a dawn chorus in my backyard even though I technically live in the middle of town.

Eventually, of course, I will have that cabin (or stone cottage) in the woods. And perhaps we will be visited by other dawn choristers.

I even heard frogs two nights ago. Spring peepers! Already! Ah, nature. And I have three colors of crocuses blooming—yellow, dark purple, and purple/white. There are more, still without blooms. Obviously the PO liked spring flowers, as do I.

I poked around this morning and didn’t rush. Fed the cats and Mabel, petted everyone, and decided to take that hour in the morning and the 15 minutes in the afternoon. Had a nice unhurried drive to work. And now I’m sitting here getting stuff done so I can take the next four days off. Bliss.

Well, bliss would be a week off, but that’s coming. Not this summer, I think, because I have to build up my vacation time, but definitely by fall. Probably the week of my birthday, I’m thinking. A whole week to myself. Perhaps Mabel and I will go somewhere. Hmm. (I’d take one of the cats, probably Chloe, but I don’t know how she would travel.)

Tomorrow I don’t have much planned except for watering my plants. Dad and I are supposed to be leaving around noon to drive to Sylvania. And then the conference, which I’m actually looking forward to without any stage fright at all (so far, and that’s a good thing.) My only goal is to make the participants feel like they get their money’s worth out of my topics, and that the people running the conference feel like they get their money’s worth out of me. Oh, and to have fun. That’s an important goal.

I almost feel guilty about getting paid for this. I mean, I’m getting lodging and everything! Scary.

I will be working on my monthly list on Sunday and Monday, I think. Hopefully I will be able to get something crossed off, since nothing has been crossed off yet and April 11 is not all that far away. Whee!

We’re going to have to start thinking about painting soon. Inside, of course. I’m aiming to have the kitchen and the two front bedrooms (Bekah’s and Ethan’s) done this year. Also on my list is a fence and re-graveling the driveway (and expanding it a bit.)

I am going to have a blue kitchen. Bekah and Ethan can paint their rooms however they wish. We might end up getting the living room painted as well, but we’ll see.

There’s going to have to be some demolition sometime in the future, since I want to remove the dropped ceilings and see what’s underneath. I have some plaster repair work to do as well, which I can do myself, I think, and then we have to work on the outside too. So I’ll keep myself busy without a doubt.

Goodbye, Andre Norton.

I am really missing Charlotte MacLeod this week, too. (I’m rereading the Sarah Kelling & Max Bitterson series.)

I called the vet and they told me to feed Mischa 1 T. canned pumpkin mixed with canned cat food and if he hasn’t pooped by Friday to call them. Since I didn’t have any canned pumpkin in the house, I fed him canned cat food, which I hadn’t been feeding him since he had diarrhea. I will probably pick up canned pumpkin tomorrow.

The awards banquet thingy was supposed to be done by 2pm. It was over at 3pm. I didn’t get home until 5:45, so work owes me an hour and fifteen minutes. That means I get to go home earlier tomorrow. Yay!

And Friday I’m off for the conference. Dad is planning to go to three antique shops on Saturday while I’m there. Lucky him. I hope he doesn’t find anything I would buy. (Or maybe if he does, he will buy it for me.) Perhaps we’ll come across a Goodwill while we’re up there. Hmm…

Anyway. I’m going to go to bed early tonight, I think. Since Chloe’s in heat, I’m going to need all the sleep I can get. (One good thing, though, the vet said they just don’t do spays if the cats are pregnant. And unless she somehow manages to get out and get pregnant, we’re okay if she’s in heat! Yay!)