Mishaps and other haps

We finally bought a lawnmower last night. Apparently there is some kind of city ordinance about mowing your lawn …

I tried to take a photo when we arrived home with it, but the flash on my phone camera didn’t really do much to produce a viewable image. It’s a Honda. It’s silver. It has three speeds. You push it. Theoretically, it cuts grass. We haven’t used yet because it was too dark when we got home last night and it has been too wet today.

This morning, PhysOrg, Mlitiagrl, and I woke up early-early (for a Saturday) to go to the Farmers’ Market downtown. We picked up a crazy assortment of vegetables, some of which have made their way into a vegetable stew and chili this afternoon.

Sacredspud and his acapella group were performing on the Square, so we shopped, met up with Inle and grabbed some breakfast, and headed over to listen to a few of their songs.

Back at home before noon, we took our thirty-something alts to Scarlet Monastery, where we rediscovered how much we hate paladins. We cleared a couple of branches with three players, but need to go back with a full group to run the Cathedral. Maybe tonight or tomorrow.

Very slow weekend, but Phys and I are going to be out of town next weekend, so staying home is kind of nice. I am still a little tired from last week.

I went to the doctor today about a chronic cough I have had for a month and a half (since that cold I had way, way back at the beginning of August).

The incident that finally made me decide to go was waking up at 1 AM this morning and having a coughing fit and tightness in my chest.

Turns out I have asthma– not the kind people generally have from a young age which requires an inhaler on hand at all times. I have situational asthma- apparently it is provoked by colds/viruses, smoke, things in the air that my body doesn’t like, perhaps stress, and Pottery Barn.

So I guess it’s asthma lite.

Anyway, I will be using an inhaler for a little while, but it shouldn’t be a permanent thing.

Be still, my racing heart.

All on the DS:

Break ‘Em All (the DS version of Arkanoid, which I had on my old Apple)

Super Mario Bros. (when it’s not being used by Someone Else who has become just a little addicted in the past few days)

Brain Age (sort of– I took the Brain Age test and have done the practice math drills, but I haven’t had the patience yet for reading aloud)

I was prompted to get my pirate name for International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which is tomorrow.

I picked up the booty last week and some booty was given to me. So we should be good to go.

Gruntac, PhysOrg and I piled in the car Saturday and headed to Chippewa Falls, where we saw our friends, TheDeacon and G, get married.

I snapped a few pictures of:

The Bride:

The Groom:

A Gruntac: (he’s single, ladies)

Phys and Gruntac:

Gruntac’s sister met us after dinner at the Reception Hall to pick up Gruntac. He is going to spend a few weeks with family, finish up his dissertation, and is planning to head back to Madison to visit us again sometime after that. The past week was pretty stressful for various members of our household, but we greatly enjoyed Gruntac’s visit with us and are looking forward to having some computer/video game time with him later this month or in October.

Egads, Fitchburg is growing at an alarming rate. I was just reading about the numerous businesses that are supposed to open in town next year– some are completely new and others are moving in from Madison. Holy smokes, we might have picked the new area hot spot. Or maybe all of the “suburbs” of Madison are plumping up a bit right now?

PhysOrg noted that this could also push up the market value of our house.

That would not be horrible.

I have Cleolinda to thank for including this speech in her most recent linkspam post.

I didn’t see it on TV when it aired a few days ago, but I find the text compelling. This quote is particularly memorable:

History teaches us that nearly unanimous support of a government cannot be taken away from that government by its critics. It can only be squandered by those who use it not to heal a nation’s wounds, but to take political advantage.

Also, his reference to Lincoln’s speeches left an impression on me. Good god, I had forgotten how simple and eloquent they were.

I was thinking about that whole piece and wondering about the implications earlier. Was an individual human life valued more in an earlier era? If so, was it because it was so hard to nuture and preserve and people were painfully aware every day of how easily life is lost? Maybe it wasn’t a ubiquitous feeling, but that particular feeling that Americans had after the Civil War (or that they seem to have had, looking at the historical evidence).

Is that so different from how we feel in 2006, or is it only on occasions of great loss that, as individuals or as groups, we momentarily lift our heads from the sand to notice and mourn what we have lost and reflect on how lucky we are to have what we have?

PhysOrg sent me an exciting link this morning.

Wii, Nintendo’s new system, is going to be out SOON … in two months!

So who else hopes to get their hands on a copy of Twilight Princess before Christmas?

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were all a little exhausted last night, which goes very far in explaining why PhysOrg and Gruntac did not make it to a Bachelor’s Party.

Today was all about how to fix the hole in my tire that made its existence known as I was pulling into work this morning.

You’d think it would be easy, but every step of the process was exaggerated, interminal, and the whole feat was nearly impossible.