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Gotta correct myself up there; I was thinking of Ed Wood because that's the title of the movie, but of course Martin Landau won an Oscar for playing Bela Lugosi (Ed Wood was played in that movie by Johnny Depp, duh, me).

Which still does not help, because Bela Lugosi? Also not an Oscar winner. Hmm.

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I think that Halle Berry was the first female African American Oscar winner.

First to win in the main category, but Hattie McDaniel won the supporting actress Oscar for Gone with the Wind. And then it only took several decades for the next African American woman to win (Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost). There are so few black Oscar winners, I don't think the answer to this trivia comes from that category. My first thought was "could it be Martin Landau?" but that would mean that Ed Wood was an Oscar winner, so...no. Heh.

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I have real internetz now, yay!

Poison ivy sounds horrible. Feel better soon, buffyjunkie.

I miss the creative part of making mixtapes. Finding the right mix of tunes was very important. And the skill of taping off the radio, heh. Oh man, that seems like a really long time ago.

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My favorite car story is about the 1984 Honda Accord that first belonged to my mom, then me, then my BIL. That car lasted 100K miles when driven in NV and CA. After it turned over 100K, I gave the car to my BIL, he took it to MI where he was in grad school, and within 50K miles the bottom was all rusted out. Might've lasted 200K, that car, if it had stayed in a drier climate. The midwest just destroyed it. The climate there is evil, y'all. ;)

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Earl, could a yellowjacket trap work? Safer maybe than you up a ladder with some Raid (the ugly ways that could go bad make me very nervous on your behalf. Angry yellowjackets! Noooo!)

Did the kitty misbehave in the old house

Oh yeah, she's an idiot. Most of our furniture has tape all over it, in a usually futile attempt to keep her claws out of it. Since this is the first new furniture we've bought in a really long time, we'd like to keep it looking decent. Even if it was on clearance, it's the nicest new stuff we've had since before we had kids (so, 15 years, give or take). The cat is adjusting, anyway; it may sink in for her that in some ways she has much greater freedom, because her access to the outside is better.

I don't know anyone who doesn't remember their first car with fondness, even those of us for whom it was a beat up old clunker. ('88 Oldsmobile with 85,000 miles on it at purchase!)

Mr F's first car was a mid-80s Oldsmobile Land Yacht (pretty sure that's the model name :P). His fondest memory of that car was that the back seat was big enough to fully stretch out on. Pretty sweet when the car is the only place you can get laid. ;)

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We have a cute little red car, a Nissan Leaf (electric, best thing ever). And I drive a reddish-orange Saturn Vue, which is our last vestige of "we need a car we can put a car seat in." It's a 2003 model, hee hee.

We are working on the unpacking. It's going okay, although it'd go faster if Mr F didn't have to go to work. Really inconvenient, that is. Hmph. ;) Mainly I want my dang phone/internet/cable; I am still using a personal hotspot on my phone, which is not the world's easiest way to internet. The trench that needed to be dug out is all ready to go, has been since last Thurs. But the installer won't be here until Weds. Oh cable companies, why do you make it harder for us to give you money?

But the little things that you don't figure out until you actually live in a place, those we're getting figured. The cat now lives only in the master bedroom, since she showed an implacable desire to scratch the everloving shit out of the new sofa. Sorry, kitty, you get to enjoy this new, somewhat constrained existence. I'd feel bad for her, except that she still has access to the back yard, and she was mainly living in the bedroom anyway. The only reason she wants access to the rest of the house is for The Destruction of Furniture. Ain't gonna happen.

That's what I've got going on. I hope everyone is good. :) KPC, your 1930s wardrobe was awesome.

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It is never selfish to ask for vibes. Big honkin' vibes of awesome coming atcha, Endeavour. :)

What is the proper gift for 24? 25 is gold, right?

I want to say that 25 is silver, and 50 is gold? I'm looking it up on my extraordinarily slow internet-through-hotspot -- okay, Hallmark says I'm right. Also looks like anniversaries have a traditional gift associated with every year up until 15, then it's every five years. So I'd like to create a new tradition and say that the 24th anniversary gift is: internet/cable/telephone. Please?

Thanks for the anniversary wishes, everyone. Mr F and I have already celebrated in our traditional way; we say "happy anniversary" to each other, I sing a little Tony! Toni! Toné! (if you are not familiar with this bit of awesomeness, I suggest looking for the vid of them singing "Anniversary." It is the early 90s encapsulated), he groans, and voilà, another year of marriage has been acknowledged.

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The hardest thing to adjust to in married life has been the loss of solitude and quiet. I feel guilty that I feel that way, but I just miss being alone sometimes.

Mr F and I have been married for a while (24 years today, in fact) and we both are introverts who need a lot of alone time. We spend a lot of time retreated to our own corners of the house. I think it's fine as long as you and your husband are both on the same page. Does Mr Earl mind if you take some alone time, or is he like "great! I'm going to go be alone over here." I hope it's the second one. :)

I think bats and spiders are cool. Of course, I'm that lady, the one who lets bugs crawl on her hands to show them to kids and reacts to the tarantula exhibit at the science museum with "Yes! I totally volunteer to let the big hairy spider crawl on me!" I'm not terrible ticklish and more importantly, I have very little squeamishness about...anything, really. I know that's lucky. Or maybe it's just gross. ;)

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More importantly, is there a Trader Joe's anywhere around?!

The same one I always go to, since this house is only a six minute drive from my old house. It's zoned for the same middle and high school that we were zoned for before. It is the closest move I've ever...ha, as I was typing that I realized that no, in fact when Mr F and I moved from our first apartment in San Jose to our second, that was literally across the street. So this is the second closest move we've ever done. The rest of our moves were from one end of CA to the other, and then finally CA back to NV. I've only lived in two states.

The A /C is working -- the repair guy took the pleated paper filter out of the return air duct, and the air coming out of the registers was almost instantly cooler. "I hate those things," he said about the paper filter, and advised us to use the cheap fiberglass kind. That repair guy did, however, find another problem. The ABS flue? Yeah I have no idea, but apparently it's supposed to be metal, ours is plastic, that's bad because it can split and then leak carbon monoxide. Why didn't the home inspector see this? YEAH I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW. I don't suspect the AC repair guy of trying to sell me on repairs, either; he actually asked us if we had a home warranty (yes) and said, "well, here's a thing you're gonna wanna call them about." Yeah, and my realtor, too, 'cause she needs to know that her recommended home inspector missed a major problem (not major as in expensive to fix, but major as in potentially deadly. S I G H.

But in happier news, all the new bits and pieces of furniture that we need to fit into the new house, which we thought was going to be pricey just because furniture? We found everything that we wanted on clearance at Dania (mostly WA-based Danish furniture store) and saved a LOT of money. I love it so much when that happens.

Mr F's grandma has moved into assisted living and is much improved. We were all worried that she'd just give up and die (especially because the home-care nurses told us that she'd told them that her family was moving her into a home and it made her so sad :(, like great, Nana, twist that knife). Turns out that this always-used-to-be-lively-and-social woman perked right up once she was surrounded by her peers and could spend mealtimes and other times doing social activities. So hallelujah for that. I know it's not analogous to your situation, L&b, but I was relieved to hear that it was a good thing for her and that she is doing really well. I hope it can work that way for your Mom. :).

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I really wish the nearest Ikea was not 250 miles away. /furniture is expensive

Big vibes coming atcha, Erratic.

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Asian worm invasion broke the thread.

We are getting settled into the new house, but there is still a lot to be done. Today, however, I am doing nothing. The cat has trapped me, I think because she's still unsure of wtf is going on, heh. So she's sleeping on my lap.

I really do like my new house. Although the AC pooped out day before yesterday, and it's been hot. So there's that. That's my day, essentially -- wait for the aircon repair person.

I hope everyone has been busy with good things, not bad. :)

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If you already have wifi, that is a major win.

I'm using a personal hotspot through my phone. We won't have internet, phone, or cable for another week (something about the access having been left open to the elements all last winter, sigh. This house had been vacant for a while before we bought it).

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Major move is complete. Movers were nice (and efficient). I'm beyond exhausted. But it's done, and everyone's bed is ready for sleepytime. Which is very, very soon in my case. Thank you all again; I really appreciated all the good wishes. :)

Niters.

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My stress level is...I don't even know. We are moving tomorrow. And we are kinda ready? Arghhhhh...

Thank you all for all the vibes and good wishes; it really helps knowing you all have my back. And I'm sure it's going to be fine. I just...I am wound so tight right now, holy crap. Gotta call the moving company to confirm in a few minutes (once it's 9) and also the garbage. In this fabulous world of the future apparently you don't involve the phone company at all; the cable company does all that (cable from Charter is our option, whee). Because the phone line is for the cable, duh, (and even that is kinda retrograde) and the fact that you can also use it for telephoning is just a bonus, because people who live in the future use cell phones, duh. I'm learning a lot about the FUTURE, heh.

Deep breaths, deeeeeep breaths...

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Did y'all know that pre-transition Sophia is played by Laverne Cox's twin brother, M. Lamar? The show wanted, daresay needed to show the character pre-transition, but didn't want to force the actress to put on male drag. So her brother did it! So cool.

Thanks for moving wishes, everyone. I am pretty much in a state of controlled panic at this point. Just keep reminding myself that it'll all be fine. Hahahahahahaha??

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Mark Oshiro has started Farscape; if anyone wants downloads*, I've got 'em (Mark watches the episode, you watch him watching. Sounds goofy, is totes entertaining). Message or email me if anyone's interested.

We are moving on Tuesday. I'm kinda frozen in anxiety. Bleh.

Vibes as needed. :)

*Mark sells the downloads (I'm the purchaser in this case) and makes them clickable ten times, as a promotional thing. Here's the link to his store. He loved Buffy, btw. :)

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Yay for your daughter, dusky, and for you. :)

Sucks about the job, Erratic. I hope another prospect opens up.

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Yay, Harvester, that is awesome! I'm so relieved for you. :)

Big big vibes to CR4.

I've had the weirdest morning, people being all grouchy and just...weird. Huh. Mercury must be in retrograde (substitute your own variety of woo as desired ;) ).

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My current boss is leaving town for the holiday, and she has not responded to emails in weeks.

I can't imagine why you're wanting her to NOT be your boss anymore. She sounds just delightful. :/ Keeping my fingers crossed for you, Harvester.

AnnieF - If you don't mind my asking, was there any illness or event that precipitated her decline?

Warning for TMI and general yuckiness...she had an anal prolapse, and that seemed to be the beginning of the end (so to speak.) (I'm so sorry. Can you tell one of my coping methods is inappropriate humor?) There was talk of doing surgery on her, which got shot down, happily (seriously, if you just want to kill the tiny, birdlike, almost-100-year-old woman, by all means let's give her general anesthesia!) but that was the end of Nana as we knew her.

Good luck with your busy busy week, Chyna. :)

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All IMO, YMMV:

My friend doesn't care, I'm not too sure that her bride does either, but the bride's sister does, and should that really be a factor?

Nope.

how much effort should be going into my damned wardrobe?

No more than this. You're good. Wear what you think you'll be most comfortable in and have a great time celebrating the important thing, which is the marriage. Unless you wear something truly wack, no one (who matters) will remember what you wore. They'll remember that you were there to stand up beside them and help them celebrate. :)

L&b , big-time vibes about your mom and her situation. The thing that really sucks about Mr F's nana is the amazing speed at which she declined; six months ago people were still guessing that she was in her 80's. To lose almost everything, so quickly, is just...not fun to watch. As I know some of you all know. This aging-forebears thing is a giant bummer, huh?

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custom made halter style top with boning in it, that cost me $350 to have made.

Good grief. Was it a Ren Faire wedding? (Halter top makes me think no, but "custom-made w/boning" sent my brain straight to Corsetville.)

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Do you know if the new place is a squirrel heavy zone?

I'm gonna say yes...when we were there day before yesterday, I was in the driveway and I saw a woman taking pictures of something in the neighbor-across-the-street's backyard. "There are two 4-point bucks right there," she said. And holy shit, yes indeed, there were two bucks, their antlers all in velvet, eating crabapples off the neighbor's tree. They just stared at us (obvs they're used to people) but when the automatic sprinklers came on, they took off. That woman also said that she saw a black bear cross the road in front of her the other morning, so there's defs some wildlife action going on. It makes sense; the house backs onto a protected ditch trail system. Lots of safe room for critters.

We had our yard sale on Saturday - man am I glad that's over with. It was exhausting

I'm glad it went well, Earl. I'm not looking forward to that, knowing that i've got that in my future. Although I am certainly collecting enough crap to sell. :)

We visited with Mr F's 97-year-old grandma yesterday. She told us the same story about 15 times. She gets moved into assisted living this weekend. It sucks.

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Cheese and fireworks, sure, but chocolate is a new one on me. When I think of noted chocolate-producing regions, I have never included Wisconsin. ;)

We have started schlepping stuff over to the new house. Between here and there is a six-minute drive that I already feel waaaaaaay too familiar with, heh. In the intervening decades since I used to drive through my new neighborhood (when I had high-school friends who lived in that neighborhood), the city has installed a whole bunch of traffic calming, hallelujah. Did we used to speed recklessly along those winding streets? Yeppers. Adolescent brains do stupid shit, man.

Thinking super-strong vibes for you, Harvester. That does not sound fun.

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Congratulations on your now official new house, Annie. Can't you sell the old one at a lower price and let the new owners deal with the renovations?

We could, but usually you don't make as much money that way -- people tend to expect a really steep discount if you're selling the house as-is. Whereas if you do some mostly cosmetic stuff like carpet and paint, you can ask for full market price.

We did the final walk-through, and we should close today and get keys. Now I really have to book a moving company, heh.

My sympathies to you and your family, LittleVoice.

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Good luck with the closing AnnieF - I hope it all goes as planned. Do you still have to sell your current house?

Thanks, Earl. We do have to sell the old house, after it gets some renovations (it needs new carpet, new paint, and a new kitchen). I'm in the very lucky position of having my dad help us financially -- we couldn't do any of this without him. I'm super lucky; I don't ever forget that.

We sign documents at the title company today, then have the final walk-through, at which will be present my husband and two kids, my mother, and my brother-in-law, his wife, and their 2 1/2-year-old daughter, who drove from Santa Fe to visit this week and are staying with us.* Lots of people! As soon as documents are signed, I'll find a moving company and get started on that fun process.

*MM folks might remember from Xmas I was talking about how my SIL had exploded all the bullshit and lies in my inlaws' family, and how I was rooting her on because she was finally shining sunlight on all the ugliness that I decided decades ago was too much effort to even attempt to deal with. She said at Xmas that they wouldn't stay at the inlaws' anymore, and they're sticking to that; they're at lunch right now with my FIL and his horrible wife, but they're staying here at my house. A toddler is frelling exhausting, man. But my niece is delightful, and I can carry on a conversation with her in French, because "two-year-old language skills" is right about the level of my French. ;) (My SIL is from France, and they are raising their daughter to be bilingual, which is cool.)

Vibes all around. :) I'll be glad when this real estate stuff is done; it's taking up all my brainspace. :/