Doctor, Dial M, and Many Males

This week one of my most favorite activities occurred - my doctor's appointment!  Even had to get three vials of blood drawn Monday to prepare for the occasion. Oh it's so much fun being weighed, poked, and prodded!

Actually it wasn't as bad as I thought. Blood work was great, lungs clear, and lost a little weight. The highpoint was when the doctor said it was time for my regular colonoscopy. Huh?! I told her no...I had just had it. Well, it was actually over five years since my last one. Drat!  Oh the joy of looking forward to drinking that gut wrenching liquid and having the probe investigate my colonic inards!!!

Received a surprise in the mail today - my 2021 HaikuFest Judge's Favorite certificate! 

I shared my Hitchcock rocks on a couple of painted rock groups to which I belong.  One person called them Alfred Hitchrocks, which I thought was perfect!  I ended up painting a Dial M for Murder rock which turned out okay. Not horrid but not the greatest. Also finished my An American in Paris rock.

Another Facebook group to which I belong is focused on movies from the '30's and '40's.  Someone asked everyone to post a movie which included all men and no women. Oh there were answers upon answers with people listing a ton of films.

To take a different turn, I rephrased the question requesting people to list movies which starred only women. Alas, this was a task for which the struggle was significant. After four days, only two movies have been listed - The Women and a German movie which I've never seen. And all movies were allowed to be listed, not just those( from the early days. Such a sad yet insightful look into the patriarchal bias of Hollywood.

And tomorrow is Friday, which has been a long time coming. This week has been super busy but slower than a frog swimming in a tar pit!

Hello Hollywood!

Been continuing to exploit the Hollywood angle when painting rocks. Working my way through Hitchcock along with a few other classics. Sometimes they are a hit and sometimes they need some serious TLC.

Here are the Hitchcock rocks so far....

Work in progress of An American in Paris. 

And here's the Gigi rock which appears to be a cross between Marge Simpson and a drag queen! Definitely needs a once over!

Knucklehead and Rocks

The whole Viking saga has taken on a life of its own.  Received messages from two more women who are currently or perhaps recently experiencing the same situation as I with Toxic Boy.  He really plowed his way threw a swarth of women using his finely tuned modus operandi.  But this topic for me is now fini and deserves no more of my time. 

Turned to my creative outlet painting this weekend to relax. Here's the result:

And here it is Monday once again.  Gotta get a blood draw this morning with regular doctor appointment on Wednesday. March 5-7 it's beach vacay with the gals from work then March 8th it's sleep study time to address my snoring. My calendar is filling up quickly!

Toxic Masculinity No Match for Diva & Friends

Let's just say today was memorable, informative, and empowering!

Took today off so I could spend the day in Portland hitting a bunch of Goodwills with Viking. First stop was the GW Boutique in Lake Oswego. They offer higher end, name brand items at expensive prices.  The boutiques just don't do it for me.  I'd rather search for a bargain treasure than pay full price for used clothing that I could buy on sale or clearance brand new at a lower price!  Pass!

This is a Google photo and not me FYI

Think we were at our second or third GW when I received a message from someone I had never met.  She asked if she could speak to me about a mutual friend and, although she was nervous about having a conversation, she felt it was in our best interests to do so.  She stated that we women need to stick together.  

Putting two and two together I let her know I would call her later in the evening as I was tied up all day. But something i.e., my inner voice, told me the conversation was going to be about Viking and I was not going to like it one bit.  

I kept playing it cool, not letting on that trouble was floating on wind. We had a nice lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory then continued on to Goodwill in Newberg and King City. I found a perfect tee shirt for myself as shown below.  Is this not me or what?

It was a long day and I was ready to drive home.  Bid adieu to Viking, hit the road, and called my new FB friend Smart Cookie.  Yep, just as I suspected...Viking, of whom we shall now refer to as Toxic Boy, had recently met up through FB dating with this gal, exchanging text and FaceTime, all the while stating we were no longer seeing each other. Thankfully, Smart Cookie put two and two together, gathered her courage and messaged me because she was so disgusted with TB's behavior.

We actually had a funny, enlightening conversation.  I was then in a new situation where I needed to blow the horn on TB's scheme but do it in the best way possible, savoring each bit of fencing maneuver as Toxic Boy's scheme was laid bare.  I marinated various scenarios in my head during my drive home.

Please note that I was reviewing the situation with a clear head. Despite his urgent pleas and repeated words of love and destiny, I didn't and don't love Viking.  In fact, it is almost a sense of relief that this outcome occurred.  No crying, no gnashing of teeth, and I'm in excellent spirits.  It's not about me - it's about a damaged man who does not understand the importance of trust and respect in order for a relationship to be successful.  It's a sad case of a little boy with low self-esteem who is obsessed with being continually validated within his deluded fixation on romance and love. This has nothing to do with me.

Back to the fruition of my plan. I texted TB and let him know I had arrived home. I then let him know I would be texting him some pictures.  He responded with "sexy pictures?" and I replied "Definitely."

I then texted him a couple of incriminating screenshots from the conversation and Face Time my new friend had sent me. Once sent, I said "Sexy enough?"  Oh, I was dying over this exchange!

He sent a text then called and we held a very short conversation which ended with my instruction to never contact me again. To ensure my directive would be followed, I blocked him on everything. And if he tries to reach out to Smart Cookie he will find she has blocked him too. Nothing better than two women putting a toxic boy in his place!

Whew that was a long story!! Here's to good riddance to bad rubbish with an unexpected blessing of gaining a new friend!

Study, Spelling and Sam

Spent all day Monday studying for my last CRM test.  Took the 2.5 hour test and just do not feel confident about the results.  There was a ton of statistics, calculations, and analytical terminology to memorize. Only hope is the bulk of the grade will be attributed to the first part of the test of which I think I did well. The last part was brutal. I always finish well before the end of the timeline; unfortunately, I was still plugging along when the 15 minute warning popped up.  Arrgghh!  Panic set in. As they say, it is what it is and what will be will be.  Crossing my fingers until I hear the results in 4-6 weeks that my score is 70% or higher!

Just a small sample
of data to memorize 😳

On a more joyful note, found out yesterday the results of the annual Haiku Fest, which is held every year by the local Columbia River Reader publication.  The theme of this year's contest was Covid.  One of my poems was published last year and once again this year they selected another!  Unfortunately, they spelled a word incorrectly, substituting "Makes" for "Masks!"  Errgg!  Sent them a request to publish a corrected version.  

Missed out on our Goodwill adventure last Friday so Viking and I have rescheduled it for this Friday!  

For today's biggest news, Happy 26th Birthday to son Sam!!!  

Happy Snowy Valentine's Day

Unfortunately, the Portland Goodwill trip last Friday was canceled due to snow and freezing rain!  Such a bummer.  Ended up working part of the day then riding with Stan and Susan to pick up their grandson in Spanaway.  Lots of semi-truck wrecks on the road but we made it there and back safely.  We stopped at Ramblin Jack's Rib Eye in Chehalis for dinner on our way home.  They actually had indoor seating!!  How sad we live in times like these that being able to sit inside is a plus not a given!!

The snow continued through Saturday so I stayed inside, watched movies, and painted a couple rocks. Viking called to see if I had received a box. Checked outside, through the snow, by the mailbox, and no box!  Let him know and he said check my email. A gift certificate for Valentine flowers was sent to me from him which was a sweet surprise.  

Today got up early, showered, make-up, and put on jeans, sweater and even my bra (!) rather than hanging out in leggings and tee. Worked for a couple of hours then hitched a ride to Dollar Tree and Target with S&S.  Returned home, worked some more, then joined everyone for a prime rib dinner.  Yum!  Even received a pink rose from Susan's daughter Amanda. 

President's Day holiday tomorrow will be devoted to studying for my final CRM test.  Will be positively glorious to be done with the course and hopefully pass my final test. 

Paul Rudd No Match for Kirk

Went outside my comfort zone today.  Instead of a tried and true black and white or Hitchcock classicsok, decided to go for a modern movie from 2018 called The Catcher Was A Spy.

It starred Paul Rudd, who usually does comedy or rom-com, as Moe Berg, a baseball player who became a U.S. spy during WWII.  Based on a true story, it also starred Sienna Miller, Paul Giamatti, Guy Pearce, and Jeff Daniels.  I had great expectations for this movie.

Alas, my hopes were dashed as sarcastic, whimsical, and comical Rudd did not make me believe for one minute he was a baseball player or a spy.  I kept expecting him to utter a wisecrack or goofy comment. In one scene, he was beating up some tall, muscular dude and all I could think was "Paul Rudd would never win that fight."  Couldn't even finish the film and switched to Kirk Douglas in The Detective.

Took Friday off as Viking and I are scheduled to explore several Goodwills in Portland, Wilsonville, and Lake Oswego. And then boom!  Winter snow storm is looming and could be up to 7 inches. Viking wasn't willing to throw in the towel so if the flakes hit, he'll be picking me up in his truck and we'll return to Portland for our browsing.  Kind of him and works for me!!! 

Treasures and Toilet

Yesterday met up with Viking in Hazel Dell to first try out Killer Burger.  He's been many times but me never.  They said they had "seating" so we figured why not.

Lots of burger selections and each one contained bacon. I went with the classic cheeseburger with an egg for good measure. Viking got a burger with mushrooms, onions, and Swiss fondue.

We found the "seating."  It was in the outside porch seating area. Only two picnic tables were covered: thankfully, the rain had taken a short vacation so it was a perfect spot in the sun.

Burgers were, in a word, killer. Big, loaded, and messy. At one point had to remove the bun because it became too darn soggy. Viking even added the Killer peanut butter sauce to his burger 🤢.  Fries were also tasty although I discovered one downside - no tartar sauce!  Fries without tartar is like the beach with no ocean or jelly with no peanut butter.  Downright sacrilegious!  Had to suffer through with ranch as a sad substitute.

After lunch stopped off at 78th St. Goodwill to hunt for treasures.  The longer we were in there shopping, the sweatier we became.....it was a sauna inside or we are just too hot blooded. Had to strip off my jacket to continue the search. 

Once done at 78th we made our way to the Salmon Creek Goodwill. Again, it was sweat city but we still thoroughly enjoyed our scavenger hunt for bargains. We are now planning our next trip to scour Goodwill in the Portland area.

Perfect picture Goodwill find!

Today was designated The Day of Cleaning (this should be read loudly with echos for full effect.)  I was not looking forward to it but it had to be done. Spent 8 hours cleaning, sorting, and organizing my closet, including my shoes which were in utter disarray! Had scads of clean clothes to be hung which meant moving two items to one due to a slight shortage of hangers.  Discovered I have developed a fondness for corduroy jackets, all of which were thrift store bargains.

Closet done, moved on to changing the bedding, dusting, Windexing mirrors, and vacuuming.  Saved the bathroom for last as it's my favorite! Yes, I'm sure you registered the sarcasm in that line.  May have a bundle of skills and abilities, but timely cleaning of personal facilities is not one of them!

To begin, threw the immense amount of cosmetics and hair products into a basket to clear the counter. Attacked the counters, sinks, toilet, and shower.  Used Susan's Shark mop on the floor. You add a little water and cleaner to the container, plug it in and it heat steams the floor as you mop. Going to add that gadget to my list of necessities for my next home.  Finished casa commode by organizing beauty and hair products. Even lit a candle to celebrate the end to The Day of Cleaning (don't forget the echos!)

It also turned into Audrey Hepburn day.  Had Funny Face, Charade, and Roman Holiday on during my sanitation soiree.  Classic!!

Relaxing with Roman Holiday

And now here it is 5:40 pm and methinks a shower is in order due to the layers of caked-on sweat built up from Goodwill and today. May even reach to the bowels of my energy to paint my nails. Miracles have happened!

Farewell Icons

January and February have been rough for our icons. The following legends have passed; while they were in their eighties and nineties and to be expected, it's still a tremendous loss.

May you all rest in peace and thank you for the memories!!!  

Christopher Plummer aka Captain in The Sound of Music died at 91;

Hal Holbrook, 95

Cicely Tyson, 96

 Cloris Leachman, 94

Larry King, 87

Hank Aaron, 86

Singing in the Rain and Star Trek

Between working, classes, and tests I was still able to churn out a couple of rocks.