November 21, 2014 by kimicalreaction - 9 Comments

Thanksgiving 2014: Countdown of Odd Gratitudes

I’ve spent the last two days being grateful for unusual (read: weird) things (turkey and dressing, clothing racks) so I think I’ve stumbled into a trend that I will ride until the holiday.

Today’s oddity I’m grateful for: my alligator butler, Jeeves.

We first met Jeeves (or his prototype, who we now call Jeeves, Sr.) at a beach house we rented in Rosemary Beach, Florida two years ago. I fell immediately, head-over-heels in love with the little bronze fella and launched a relentless campaign for a Jeeves of our own. I found his maker on-line (Frontgate) and immediately began staging pictures of Jeeves “being helpful around the house” to assist in the case I was presenting my husband to justify spending hard-earned money on a prefabricated metal reptile.

Whose life wouldn’t be improved with a little assistance from a medium-sized fake lizard with a perky bow tie bearing an ever-so-helpful tray?

I was so wildly successful in my proposal (or so annoying my husband just gave in) that soon a little Jeeves came to live with us.

We have whole-heartedly incorporated him into our lives and actually dress him up for holidays.

Sure and begorrah, that’s me lucky lizard!

Burn’s Supper (Scottish Holiday on the birthday of poet Robert Burns)

Baby New Years. (except that when I posted this picture on Facebook, everyone thought David and I were announcing that we were having a child.)

He’s wildly handy for al fresco suppers.

Jeeves, Sommelier

We often have him greet party guests at the door with a selection of libations.

“Drinks, anyone?”

So today, I am grateful for my wonderful alligator butler.

And my even more awesome husband for bringing him into our lives.

(By the way, Jeeves has his own Facebook page and would like to be your friend.)

November 20, 2014 by kimicalreaction - 0 comments

Some Assembly Required

My closet is an enormous mess.

Technically, it’s a walk-in closet, but more realistically, it’s a walk-on closet.

In a desperate measure to achieve some kind of order out of the overwhelming chaos, I purchased a garment rack, to give myself a little more space to hang things.

I should have taken all the loose rattling noises from the box as a sign.

There were 5 gazillion pieces to it. Holy crap.

After a moment of panic, I sat down with ~~a large glass of wine~~ the directions and the diagram and figured out which pieces were parts. About ~~a bottle~~ two and a half Downtown Abbey episodes on Amazon later, I emerged victorious.

Voila! The finished rack! Most importantly, there were no unidentified pieces left over when I was done.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am most grateful for my successful foray into storage engineering. Now, for ~~another glass of wine~~ a little inspiration to get started organizing all this clutter!

November 19, 2014 by kimicalreaction - 4 Comments

A Prelude to Thanksgiving

Today was the day my co-worker, C and I have been waiting for all year.

We received the invitation last Friday and we’ve been planning and strategizing ever since, determined to make this one the best ever.

Today was our company’s annual Thanksgiving Luncheon.

Each year, on the Wednesday the week before Thanksgiving, they throw out an enormous spread for all 500 employees. Turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole, a selection of salads, bread and rolls. A huge dessert display with pies, cakes and cookies, coffee, tea and all kinds of beverages.

::sigh::

Of course, it’s all you can eat and Thanksgiving food (turkey, dressing and gravy) is my absolute favorite food of all, so I can put away my share.

It’s kinda shameful, but C and I train for this, eating small meals for several days in advance. We even forgo breakfast in anticipation.

And each year, we try a little of everything and each year we end up stuffed to the gills, waddling back to the office and laying our heads on the desk feeling like beached whales.

I’m full, but grateful.

Not only am I happy for such a lovely meal, but I’m happy to have a job (many don’t) and mostly, I’m happy to have such a great team to work with. C is awesome and makes my job bearable. My boss is not only fair, but funny and cool and he always has my back. The other managers in my department are supportive and help me do my job. That’s important.

It’s also important to be grateful, and I am. So an early Thanksgiving, in many ways.

November 18, 2014 by kimicalreaction - 0 comments

Lost in Translation

When I was in 9th grade, I loved nothing more than to write stories. My best friend Laura and I amused ourselves during class by making up tall tales; each of us scribbling a few sentences (or adding an illustration) and passing to the other to continue.

Daily, we composed vast oeuvres in our spiral notebooks.

From these charettes sprang notable tomes, such as the “Further Adventures of Little White Duck,” and the never-to-be-forgotten “Continuing Saga of Corky’s Junebug.” (This was an actual bug, by the way, and not a euphemism.)

Our anecdotes took on an international twist when we acquired a new friend, Ursula*, who transferred to our school mid-term from Frankfurt. She was delighted to teach us her language, and we enthusiastically began to compose our yarns in our fledgling German (along with a little help from a German-American dictionary.) We were perhaps a little more exuberant than structurally correct, but our Duck (die kleine weiße Ente) and Junebug (der Käfer von Corky) novellas flourished in their new language.

Until one fateful day in Biology class.

I should preface this by telling you that we didn’t care much for Biology. It was smelly and difficult and rumors of impending frog dissection were being spread by malicious upperclassmen.

The teacher, Mr. Green,* was terse and unsmiling. Completely unable to make a connection with him or the subject, I poured myself into expanding my body of work.

Laura’s and my latest essay, Das Hässliche Kleine Mann (the Ugly Little Man) based on our somewhat subjective evaluation of Mr. Green,* was promising to be a masterpiece.

At some point, caught up in the story, I forgot to check before I passed, and openly handed my notebook across the aisle to Laura’s desk for her to add the next lines.

A shadow fell over us.

The notebook was snatched from my hand.

“Miss Ferguson. Miss Roberts*.”

Caught.

“Ah, an essay in German!” Mr. Green* sounded almost jubilant. “How wonderful! Did you know I minored in German in college?”

Scheiße.

We were dead.

Mr. Green* continued that he’d be quite happy to grade our little essay for grammar and vocabulary, right then and there, in lieu of a Biology quiz.

By paying attention in class and actually doing the assignments, I eventually recovered from the debilitating grade.

It put quite a damper, however, on my burgeoning career as a novelist.

(*All names have been changed to protect me from retaliation.)

November 17, 2014 by kimicalreaction - 8 Comments

Change in the Weather

I work on the top floors of a highrise in downtown Atlanta. From my bird’s eye view, I see the most amazing weather unfolding around me.

From blue skies…

to blanketing fog…

a storm rolling in…

and lightning’s strike…

a rare Atlanta snow storm…

to the dazzling Fall nights and bright city lights…

and brilliant sunsets drenching the sky in color.

It’s been such an incredible opportunity to see light and wind and water change the world around me.

November 16, 2014 by kimicalreaction - 0 comments

Caught in a Nap

I noticed yesterday that my cats were sleeping on the sofa. No giant surprise about the sleep. They went pro several years ago.

The notable part is that they were sleeping next to each other.

As a rule, they don’t get a long so well. They tolerate each other but there’s no love lost and a paw smack here and there tends to escalate into a rolling cat fight around 3 a.m. They are incredibly jealous and take it personally if I pet or play with the other.

Once I ceased reeling from the unexpected détente, it occurred to me how lovely they looked, striped in shadow from afternoon sun streaming through the blinds.

I recalled the assignment from Photography 101 involved “Playing with Light.” I like to think the defined darkness amid the brilliant sunlight illuminates their characters; juxtaposed sweetness and affection against the shadow of a sometimes fierce and feral nature.

The moment, as most beauty, was fleeting. Waking at the sound of my camera, Brodie posed briefly for the second shot, then reached out, popped Keegan on the nose and took off running – the fragile peace destroyed.

I should have known to let sleeping cats lie.

November 14, 2014 by kimicalreaction - 3 Comments

A complete mystery

When I was a little kid, I was captivated by children’s mystery/adventure books. I inhaled every single Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift and Hardy Boys book in existence. I flew through the slightly more obscure Trixie Beldon series and even dabbled with the Happy Hollisters. Oh, the capers I captured and the crimes I circumvented – if only vicariously in my wee girl brain. If you were an preteen detective (or family of detectives, or just got into mischief a lot) and could find it, fix it, uncover it or discover it, I was your avaricious and devoted fan.

(And can I begin to tell you how much I was in love with Jonny Quest?!)

Therefore I draw upon my vast and intensive training as an adolescent gumshoe to completely justify my obsession with Googleing the answer to every single question that crosses my mind.

I am simply sleuthing. ~~Old~~ New school.

November 12, 2014 by kimicalreaction - 9 Comments

An Early Frost

Way back in 4th grade, we were asked to memorize a poem from our English book and recite it in front of the class. Being nine-years old and horse-mad, I chose Robert Frost’s “Stopping through the Woods on a Snowy Evening,” chiefly because he acknowledged his “little horse” and its thoughts about the change in journey.

Yeah, I know. Prepubescent girl-child logic.

The picture in my English book next to the poem looked a lot like this, which I thought was really cool and eerie and bewitching and added to my fascination.

In high school, a slightly older and wiser me stumbled upon Robert Frost’s poetry again and once more fell in love; this time not for visuals of patient ponies but for the lean and lovely lyricism of his words.

During one of those long, wonderfully ramble-y conversations I had with my husband when we first met, we talked about poetry and I remember rather shyly quoting my favorite of all Frost’s poems, “Fire and Ice.”

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

A few months later, on my birthday, he surprised me with an original copy of the 1920 Christmas Edition Harper’s Magazine in which “Fire and Ice” was first published, in a shadow box frame he made himself.

I remember being so blown away by the sweetness and thoughtfulness of the gesture. It brought to my mind the last lines of another of my favorite poems by Frost, “The Rose Family.”

The dear only knows
what will next prove a rose.
You, of course, are a rose –
But were always a rose.

November 11, 2014 by kimicalreaction - 2 Comments

Connection

One of this week’s photo challenges is to show a photo that represents what “connection” means to you.

We took this in Rosemary beach last May, on one of our nightly sunset walks. To me, it shows the connection between sky, land and water, the connection between light and dark and of course, the connection between me and my husband.

November 10, 2014 by kimicalreaction - 3 Comments

Interesting things I’ve recently heard.

We visited my parents this weekend, and I was fortunate to get a chance to see my sister and her daughter as well.

I was showing my little niece Olivia some pictures from my phone: a hodgepodge of work events, odd things that catch my eye and of course, random sunset shots whenever I can get them. She pointed to a photo taken from the place I work, which is a 3-story glass-walled dining complex on the 71st floor of an Atlanta highrise.

“That’s the Jedi Academy.” she proudly announced.

I choked up, suddenly so stricken with sadness that my place of employment wasn’t in fact, the Jedi Academy.

“No, honey. It’s not the academy, it’s just a restaurant.” I told her, but I’m not sure that she believed me.

Later, I shared this with my Dad, who said to me, “The only answer when someone asks if you work at the Jedi Academy, is ‘Yes, you are correct. And may the force be with you.'”

Back home in Atlanta that night, we walked over to the neighborhood Sunday Food Truck party, held in the large park several streets over from our house. We brought a bottle of wine and a blanket with us and enjoyed some very delicious pizza from Dominic’s on the nearby lawn.