Smoking Fences

The other morning, while strolling through the house towards the fridge, as it was breakfast time, I decided to open the blinds. It was going to be a sunshiny day and since I was going to work from home it was also going to be outside time for the meows. I looked out the sliding glass door to see smoke rising from my fence. Subconsciously I knew not to be alarmed. I took a closer look to confirm that there was no fire and then proceeded to get my camera. I think I didn't freak out because at some point I had seen it before. It looked pretty cool. It had rained the night before and it was a very hard rain. My fence rails were soaked and the hot sun was was essentially cooking the water out of them. Hence the smoke.

A battle of wills is currently happening in the Funk house, particularly the kitchen area. Maevis has a UTI and the only way I seem to get her medicated is by putting the meds in tuna. Well, if the ratio isn't right she can smell/taste the meds and won't eat the tuna. I have been taking the same plate of medicated tuna in and out of the fridge all evening and her other food has been removed from reach. She will eat a little and then complain but she is gonna eat that before I put out her food. Poor meow, I know she is miserable.

I have been very restless today. I have fought the urge to go to the movies. There is nothing wrong with wanting to go but I have to rentals at home that I haven't watched yet. I think it has to do with the a few things. The first being my house is in disarray. I am in the process of installing a new kitchen faucet and of course, this will involve multiple trips to a hardware store. I am in the middle of the installation and need to go back to Home Depot. I hope I can finish this project on my own.

Another contributor to my state is the cranky cat that is annoying me and the pee that goes with her problem. I spent last night trying to collect enough of her pee to give the Vet a sample, which I delivered today. Let's just say that when she did use the box with the special litter she eventually ended up flipping it, which sent the black plastic pellets everywhere.

I am also in a bit of a funk - no pun intended - and down time allows for thinking, although that is what I need it isn't always something easy to do. As of late, by the time I have down time I am fried and not up for introspection. Well, I am trying to reduce my running around as I know I need that time and it is important not to ignore self maintenance. So, I forced myself to stay home and I did some work on the sink. In regards to self maintenance I have a book to read.

Earlier in the week I had the chance to see Ravi and Anoushka Shankar at the Paramount Theatre. (The picture to the left is from her website). It was an awesome experience. Anoushka played first and she had four musicians accompanying her. There were two drones, one flute and a tabla player. It sounded great. The flute has a haunting sound to it and the tabla is actually my favorite instrument. They played a set and then Ravi played, with everyone except the flute player. When Ravi came out he explained why he had a bench to sit on. He has been very sick with double pneumonia. Also, he had injured his shoulder. So they had him sit on a bench and he used a Sitar that he had especially made so he can still play. At first he seemed a bit weak and timid and then he must have warmed up or found comfort because soon his eyes were shut and I was privileged to watch the Master of the Sitar's (87 years old) fingers fly up and down the sitar and it was amazing.

Admittedly, I enjoyed Anoushka's set more but I knew that I was very lucky to see her father perform and both sets were great. Part of it had to do with her set including the flute and tabla. I found myself smiling the whole time. If you have a chance, visit their sites so you can hear some of their music. http://www.anoushkashankar.com/ http://www.ravishankar.org/index.html. A side note, Ravi is also the father of Nora Jones, another talented artist.

Here is a photo I recently took when crossing over I35, headed West on 620.

~E

Asthmatic Squirrels

I have slacked a bit in the posting area but this entry should make up for it. Let's begin with a story...

Once upon a time there was a little house in the borderline ghetto, and it was infiltrated by evil beings. They were milky and almost translucent, squirmy and had no likable qualities. Said beings of evil started to eat the poor little house's innards. Luckily, the little house was able to show signs of the invaders' presence and action was taken. Thus beings our story of the asthmatic squirrel...

Part of the treatment for termites should include your bath tub. I learned this from numerous sources so when I was in the process of getting bids on a termite treatment I brought up the tub. Of the two companies, only one mentioned how the tub area should be treated and the method in which he would do so. I went with his company, Longhorn Pest Control.

He sawed out a rectangle of the drywall in my bedroom closet and low and behold, there was my tub. The importance of the tub area is that there is open space there and that the termites can some how find the water so they can come up through that space. Upon opening the hole to treat the area, the termite specialist noticed an excess amount of dirt and some feces...not of termite creation. He was kind enough to dig it out into a bag and dispose of it. He couldn't' think off the top of his head what it was but he had seen it before. We discussed what may have happened and that maybe something fell down there at some point. It didn't look like it happened recently so I found some comfort in that knowledge. I told TS (termite specialist) that if he found a Hobbit carcass to please not tell me as it would make me sad.

So hours later, around 1 am, I am on the edge of sleep. It had been a long work day and I had to cut a check for toxins which were sprayed into the new trench around my house, which would be filled in the next morning and then treated again. Important note...My bed is up against the side wall of my house, which is exposed to my neighbors yard. So as I am about to fall asleep, my mind finally slowing down, I hear a noise that sounds like scurrying. Once in each direction. Please note that the scurrying I heard was not above, no, not a rooftop scurry but more of the holy crap I think something is in the wall kind of scurry. Not only in the wall but behind where my head rests upon my pillow. Needless to say, this woke me up. okay, not a big deal as even in that moment I questioned the validity of what I was experiencing.

So there is no more scurrying and all is quite and I have calmed and am ready to go to sleep when in the quietness I hear what in my fertile imagination sounds like wheezing. The logical thing to do, well when you are half awake and it is creeping towards 2am, is what I did next. I put my ear to the wall.

What ran through my head, "I have something dying in my wall, by my head." It was a surreal moment and it was both sad and funny at the same time. I thought perhaps it is an asthmatic squirrel. Regardless, ear to the wall, I listened all the while thinking I have to be wrong but the way things have been going lately that I am gonna have to have a hole cut in my wall to extricate a squirrel who had a reaction to the termite treatment. Then, with my ear to the wall, listening hoping it would suddenly sound like a tree or some other explanation that doesn't involve death, a thought came to me. Ear still planted on the wall, laying sideways on the bed, this is when I thought that if this were a horror movie, this is when the mutated squirrel would reach through the wall and attack. Mind you it would be a very bad b movie, but there ya go. I finally went to sleep knowing there was nothing I could do and with hope that my asthmatic squirrel theory was wrong.

So far there is no stench and yesterday after work I peeked in the neighbors' yard and there is some sort of plant on the side of the house where my bedroom is. So I am hoping that there was in fact never a squirrel. I still have the image of a squirrel taking a hit of its inhaler.

More entries to come very soon! I have to share about the smoking fence and an awesome concert I recently went to - Ravi and Anoushka Shankar.

~Elaine

To Robin, from Simon...

Ehem. If you ever want to see your hair thingies again you can just visit this blog. However, if you ever want to use them again you must pay a ransom. A can of tuna, and not the cheap stuff. Frankly, I don't like how the oil effects my insides so please make sure the tuna is in water. Then there is the Maevis tax which means I will have to share so make it two cans of tuna.

Otherwise, I will have to send my cute picture to all your friends and tell them how you have wronged me and that I am tuna-less. Seriously, I'll do it. Don't test me. I may look sweet and meow like a little girl but I can throw down!

Sincerely,

Simon "will wear hair thingies for tuna" Funk

Disclaimer - delivery of your items my or maynot be immediate upon my receipt of said ransom as I am at the mercy of a human, who may or may not remember to deliver said thingies for ones hair.

Walking and such...

Elizabeth is doing very well and is at home. I will have to ask Amy, but I would like to post a picture of her so you can see what a cutie she is. Thank you to everyone for your kind words and prayers.

So. I hit up a lot of you for a donation and thanks so much to those of you who could help out. I did the SafePlace walk yesterday morning and with help from my friends, Team Funk collected $300. Team Funk consisted of me and I almost went to the team photo booth so that I could have my picture taken with the sign but I was running out of time and so I improvised my self portrait.

When doing walks you must remember to do your stretches. Now the fine folks at the walk usually have some group affiliated with exercise lead the walkers in stretches before the walk. What I found to be a much more intensive warm up is trying to use the port-a-potty without touching anything. Just the thought of touching anything makes the impossible, well, possible. You contort your body in ways that God didn't really intend. So, that's how I warmed up. On a side note, I kid you not, while in there trying not to laugh, or fall, I kept hearing "Hi, how are you." I couldn't tell if it was a recording to freak people out in the port-a or if there was a crazy person out side chanting their hellos. Upon exiting the porta de potty I looked around and then decided to ignore the whole experience.

So, one thing I really enjoy about the walk, besides how efficiently it is run, is that there are all kinds of dogs!! I cannot wait to take some of my younger friends on this walk as they will be in heaven. Lots and lots of friendly dogs of all sizes.

The weather was the nicest it has been for the SafePlace walk that I can remember. I believe it was in the low sixties which walk wise, was perfect. All in all, it was a great time and I have some pictures I took that I promised to email. The kids, I just thought they were cute and I lucked out because when I went to snap another photo, they were no longer holding hands.

I took this on the way home from the walk. It really was a gorgeous day.
I went to my friend Mary's again and I had a great time. I love her house, a lot. I also really love going to her gatherings because there is such an eclectic group in attendance. Everyone is very interesting and kind. Although, two of the gentlemen like to verbally joust each other but you can tell it is in fun. There was a lot of poetry quoted, by both the sober and the loose of tongue. :) While there, Mary's neighbors invited me over to their place and I got to meet their new dog, who they recently adopted. He is very cute and very loved. Anyway, they also have a neat place. It amazes me when people tell me how they installed a tub and did the piping etc..
Mary is a great person and I am thankful for her friendship!

Today I did some work from home and tried to rest as my allergy issues are kicking my bum. I feel drained. I am consistently taking medication and that seems to be helping.

~Elaine

Ode to Termites

So the last week has been an odd one. It would have been much more stressful if things didn't turn out as they have so far.

While doing some work around the house I came upon evil, evil termites. The good news being that it isn't a major infestation. The not so great news it that termite treatment isn't remotely free. It is funny how you just mention termites to someone and they cringe. Stinky termites!!!

Then I took my car in for an oil change before going to my parents for Easter, where I learned that I need new tires. I had my dad confirm the prognosis and he said yes, I need new tires. I am thankful that I saved my tax return as it has relieved me of some potentially serious stress. Plus the Easter Bunny made a donation towards some new tires, which is awesome!

So all of that seems to be working it self out, which I am very thankful for.

I sent out an email earlier about my niece and my family appreciates all of the prayers and positive thoughts. If you didn't get an email my 16 month old niece had surgery yesterday and there have been complications. She is now in the ICU as she is still having breathing issues. Anyway, prayers are and have been appreciated.

There are a lot of positive things going on too. I have some volunteer things coming up, flockings, walkings, and um, maybe a movie-ing. I have recently joined an indoor soccer team and I am looking into taking a class at ACC. I wanted to take a specific photography course but it wont be at the ACC location by my work until Fall. I am looking into a PhotoShop class so that I don't have to wait until Fall to get enrolled etc. So life is moving forward and that is pretty neat.

Other than that, allergies are kicking my ass. I need to be on allergy meds and I need to not only accept it but actual get a perscription. I have a very scary voice going on right now. People like to mock me about it. :) Thanks. Even with everything going on, the only thing stressful is Elizabeth.

Do you need a new journal? I read about this site a few years in a magazine. The journals make cool gifts and you would be supporting a very small company - a husband and wife. Check out http://www.bookjournals.com. Also, you can visit my SafePlace site at http://www.austin-safeplace.org/goto/elaine.funk, which is the walking I mentioned earlier. You are very welcome to join me!

I hope to post good news about lil bit Cate soon!

~Elaine

Emotional B-day Overload

I forgot to post this great picture my sister took of Luke last Saturday, which was his birthday party. Amy said that for the first 45 minutes or so Luke wasn't himself but fortunately he shook off his blues and had fun. These are the photos that the older he gets the sweeter the memories/photos will be.

My Soccer Buddy

This is my new buddy Toby. He is about 3 months old and is a Corgi. He is very sweet and likes to hang out at soccer fields and steal other dogs' biscuits and cold melon slices from unsuspecting soccer players. That's just how he rolls. Don't hate him cause he's cute.

I spent last weekend at the fields watching friends playing in the State Cup tournament. How cool is it to watch people you know win the semis in overtime and then go on to the final and win?! Very cool!

So I took a boat load of photos, some with my camera and some with Philip's SLR. Which I reluctantly gave back. (Toby belongs to Philip and Robin, although he wants to live with me.) I had a blast. The only downside was my failure to wear enough sunscreen, let alone a hat. One of my favorite photos from the tournament is the moment right after my friend Robin made the tie breaking goal. You can just see faces of jubilation. It is rare to see pure joy, let alone catch it via your camera. Once you look past the celebration you can see the other team sitting on the field in disappointment. It was a hard fought game. The game was 80 minutes of regular play, then two fifteen minute overtime halves. They then went to kicks on goal. So there was a lot of effort put forth by both sides. Click on the picture to get a better look at the expressions.

Tonight I had the pleasure of dining with my friend Mary and that was really nice. It helps to be able to talk about things with someone and really be able to relate. Plus she shares her wisdom and that is always welcome!

Here is a picture of Jackson's daddy. His dad is sporting an instructional t-shirt regarding the alphabet. The alligator has some aggression issues and is eating the letter A. This picture is really for David so that he can submit it to Threadless, so his will get a discount towards his next purchase. I think it is a fun photo. No shame is his cheesy game! There is a link to Threadless at the bottom of my blog, I believe it is titled cool shirts, visit the site and buy lots of stuff using my link so I can fund my t-shirt expenditures. Plus you will be stylin'.

I am tired and need to head to bed. I will post more in the next day or so.