We’re Off To See The Lizard

(No, not you, UNMLiz. Nice intact ego you’ve got, though;)
Howdy, Y’all! I stole this postings title from Jimmy Buffet. It’s the least I could do since I’ve thieved most of all the other titles from someone profounder than me.

Yes! Things are looking up here at T2tW ranchita. (If it weren’t for the small handful of my students reading my blog I’d explain what T2tW means. Let’s just wait for the kids to finish their freshman year and then I’ll expose the meaning, ‘k, ‘cause they’ll be more ‘mature’ after finals.)

So, C ‘n N (Carolyn ‘n Norbert) and Stephanie and Steve have been humping buckets of pumice slurry up ladders and scaffolds and nearly every single wall, interior and exterior, have been backfilled! They’ve been flying through this tedious and demanding stage and I’m back to lovin’ this project again. It’s a great state of mind to re-realize, and be in. I’m sure y’all would rather hear me gush on in a cheerful manner than deluging you with all the nasty impediments that have been a plague upon my house. (Gads! This English teacher gig o’mine is getting super-scary if I can pull THAT quotation outta nowhere and make it fit so…fittingly. School’s out in a week. That should free up my brain cells for more off-beat Murphisms.)

The difference in the work that Crew #1 (I’m distancing myself from them any way I can that doesn’t involve a lawyer yet) and Crew #4 is vivid. The rough edges, unleveled sections, and just plain UGLY work has all been given a good German going over and has been made to conform to our collective vision and expectation. Instead of my gut clenching up as I drive the last mile up the road to the abode like it has for the last 9 months, I’m actually bustin’ out in a smile, knowing that the house will look even better each and every day. And it is. And does. What a relief! What joy!

The place still looks like a post-war European cathedral, but the bombed out feel to it is gone. Somehow. Maybe it’s just me and my reduced stress from finally being able to release my hatred for being screwed over so badly in so many ways and so many times. Just a thought. JUST REALITY!

I’ve already warned C ‘n N (& S)—[Which would make them, soon, with me included: MSSNBC {Me, Stephanie, Steve, Norbert, Brett—joining us next week—Carolyn}. I scare me with thinkings like this. No, collectively, none of you are not alone in your fear.]--not to think I’ve loosened any screws in my head if any of ‘em see me standing around quietly crying in the next week or so. Just imagining that the walls and bond beam will be completed and the vigas, posts and beams and (ceiling) decking going up makes me misty-eyed. And ya know what? I’m going to indulge myself in a damn good cry ‘cause I frikkin’ deserve it! So there…Ppppppplllllllbbbbbbbb!

There will be NO CAMERAS allowed for that particular event.

So, The Banker Man Who Will Never Take Off His Underoos is about to see what being given a “Murphy” is all about. This guy is…(literally 433 NASTY descriptors flood my brain, but I must contain them all as there are spies about) a gol’ dang (children, cover your eyes, please) muthafuckinmalegenitalsuckinsonovabitch! My wrath is soon to be unrestrained where he’s involved. I nearly let loose with both barrels on him today, but I only had one shell in the gun. Lucky…hick (rhymes with hick, anyway. Starts with a PR….) If Leslie wasn’t running interference I’d be up for…some…crime. Yes, Leslie is still my Broker Angel. What a demanding job, and my plentiful Thank Yous are a lame currency after all this time, sincere though they may be.


The Tin Can is rocking on a tempest tossed sea once again. For three days now. Which is one day less than the point in time that I took down the plastic window insulation ‘cause it was roasting in here. What’s the name of that Law that says that is exactly what will happen, at the worst possible time, with the worst possible results? Mulroney’s Law? No…ummm McElroy’s? Nope… McConahgy’s Law, maybe? Ah hell, I’ll think of it.


It’s been raining for two days now. The winds have been stiff, brutal tonight, the temps down, and I’m back to wearing my insulated chore coat, my Jeep fleece, my Anne Bonney hoody and a fleece watchcap. The serape is back up over the door of TTC. I’m kinda enjoying hearing three parts of MSSNBC complain about the high (dry) seas adventures of late. I merely keep welcoming them to my world. Heh heh heh. And so many of you think I embellish. I have witnesses now! I’m thinking I should rename this spot on the globe the Sargasso Seabed. It’s pretty damn close to being what the Sargasso Sea is to the Atlantic. (Google it.)
OK. I’m done. I’m switching the iPhone’s iPod from shuffle to Soundtracks and nodding off to The Wizard of Oz, just like in the days of yore. I’m off to see the lizard, y’all!
Good night and good luck!
Manana, mes amis!