Loving a Pirate Husband....or Just Westley

“I love you,' Buttercup said. 'I know this must come as something of a surprise to you, since all I've ever done is scorn you and degrade you and taunt you, but I have loved you for several hours now, and every second, more. I thought an hour ago that I loved you more than any woman has ever loved a man, but a half hour after that I knew that what I felt before was nothing compared to what I felt then. But ten minutes after that, I understood that my previous love was a puddle compared to the high seas before a storm. Your eyes are like that, did you know? Well they are. How many minutes ago was I? Twenty? Had I brought my feelings up to then? It doesn't matter.' Buttercup still could not look at him. The sun was rising behind her now; she could feel the heat on her back, and it gave her courage. 'I love you so much more now than twenty minutes ago that there cannot be comparison. I love you so much more now then when you opened your hovel door, there cannot be comparison. There is no room in my body for anything but you. My arms love you, my ears adore you, my knees shake with blind affection. My mind begs you to ask it something so it can obey. Do you want me to follow you for the rest of your days? I will do that. Do you want me to crawl? I will crawl. I will be quiet for you or sing for you, or if you are hungry, let me bring you food, or if you have thirst and nothing will quench it but Arabian wine, I will go to Araby, even though it is across the world, and bring a bottle back for your lunch. Anything there is that I can do for you, I will do for you; anything there is that I cannot do, I will learn to do. I know I cannot compete with the Countess in skills or wisdom or appeal, and I saw the way she looked at you. And I saw the way you looked at her. But remember, please, that she is old and has other interests, while I am seventeen and for me there is only you. Dearest Westley--I've never called you that before, have I?--Westley, Westley, Westley, Westley, Westley,--darling Westley, adored Westley, sweet perfect Westley, whisper that I have a chance to win your love.' And with that, she dared the bravest thing she'd ever done; she looked right into his eyes.” 

Pack Animals

From the Encyclopedia Britanica:  

animal social behaviour

• TITLE: social behaviour, animal
  SECTION: Social interactions involving the use of space
  ...school (fish), and tribe (humans) and more generalized terms such as colony, den, family, group, or pack. ..such as mating, nesting, feeding, sleeping, huddling, hibernating, and migrating. The plains of sub-Saharan Africa provide many examples, including lions sleeping in groups under thorn acacia trees, packs of hyenas (family Hyaenidae) cooperating to bring down a zebra (Equus quagga, E. grevyi, or E. zebra), migrating herds of wildebeest (Connochaetes), and lekking male*...
  
  
  
  cooperative foraging (biology)
  
  
  in biology, the process by which individuals in groups benefit by working together to gain access to food and other resources. Such cooperation ranges from the use of “ pack tactics” that involve elaborate signals to corral individual animals from large herds of prey to activities designed to overwhelm with large numbers the physical and chemical defenses of plants.
  
  
  

  I just think I'm a pack animal.  I'm not really that fond of living alone, nesting, feeding, sleeping, hibernating, and foraging all by myself.  Looking at the stars at night is just not the same as when discussing with another human being. It just isn't in my personality to walk through each day and night alone.

  
  

  I have a mate; I'm the other half of someone else.  

  
  
  
  Harry:  "I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night." 
  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  “He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” ― Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

  
  
  *A lekking species is defined by the following characteristics: male displays, strong female mate choice, and the conferring of male indirect benefits...

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

Just Say "NO!" to Chocolate

She took solace in chocolate while waiting for her Pirate Husband to come home.

We live in a culture that still has illusions that every woman is willowy, yet strong.  But this illusion must be dissolved with a good look in the mirror of reality.  Ouch.

It is time to get back in the ring and begin fighting the encroachment of adipose tissue upon my derrière.

For the last week I have been back on the treadmill and limiting myself to sensible meal portions.  No more eating out or taking solace in the best coffee cake ever (3 sticks of real butter…my motto has always been, “if you’re gonna have it, then have it, just don’t have all of it” – have real, don’t have fake or reduced calorie). 

 

Back on the treadmill!

Losing weight is not rocket science, it’s basic math.  A pound is 3,500 calories.  To lose a pound a week I’m going to have to walk off 3,500 calories on the treadmill. 

The best part is that this is entirely under my control.  I don’t have to have permission from anyone.  I don’t have to pay anyone.  It’s no one else’s fault or problem.  I can fix this.

When I do have the opportunity to be with my Pirate Husband, I want to look my best.  Over the last six months there’s been so much planning and preparation – to the point of exhausted evenings – which always leads to exhausted mornings – that I haven’t exercised.  At my age, and that is something I don’t just divulge to the world, six months of letting myself go …is not like 25 years ago when I took six months off and let myself go.  Things GO!  Muscle is gone…and when the skin is no longer as firm, oh, things hang.  They sway.  They swing.  Heaven help me!  

It can be done.

 No, I’m fighting the good fight on this one.  Aging cannot be stopped but, brothers and sisters, I’m not going down without a fight.  I will not take solace in chocolate!  I will not be defeated!  I will prevail…at least, if I cannot prevail, I will do my very best to staunch up the landslide…and there’s always spanx to keep it from turning completely loose and wild.

Of course, the words of advice from my favorite girlfriends, "If you can't tone it, tan it."

SixteenTons: Taman blogin yllapito nailla nettiyhteyksilla tunt...

SixteenTons: Taman blogin yllapito nailla nettiyhteyksilla tunt...: Taman blogin yllapito nailla nettiyhteyksilla tuntuu tuskallisen turhauttavalta. Olen nyt toista paivaa Franfort MI 'ssa. Pohjoistuule...

DIY - Drain Cleaning Update

Okay, so I didn't really grab my drill purse; I don't even have a drill purse - yet.  But I did gather a bucket, paper towels, a large plastic bag, rubber gloves, and something that looked like a small, flat screwdriver but turned out to be some kind of file.

It wasn't so hard after all, although it was kind of nasty. I began by just unscrewing those white things around the pipes. (I do apologize for my lack of technical plumbing terms!) They were not so tight that I couldn't use a little muscle and remove them by hand.  Note:  "righty-tighty & lefty Lucy".  

A small amount of water came out when the pipes were pulled away and that was the purpose of having the bucket underneath.  

Ewww!  This is the gross "stuff" that has been clogging my drain and causing trouble.  But that isn't all that has been causing trouble.  This was a good place to begin the cleaning, though.

 I took the bits of pipe to the laundry room sink and began scrubbing the inside with a toothbrush and some powdered cleanser...with bleach.  

Again, none of this was difficult, just not pleasant. I also took the file tool and shoved some paper towel pieces down the drain to clean from the top to the uppermost pipe. Unfortunately, the paper towel pieces became lodged into the pipe - the copper part that I didn't have any access to except from the top or from the bottom.  Here's where it got difficult and I thought I was going to have to call a plumber.

But I just didn't want these guys to show up!

So, I began in earnest to jam and dig down the drain with that file tool.  Then I came up from the copper pipe end and just kept poking at it.  Out came one piece of paper towel covered in nastiness but one more piece was not letting loose.  I made sure my trusty bucket was in place and turned on the hot water, all the while jamming with the file tool and an old toothbrush.  That did the trick!

 I am so proud of myself!  I have an unclogged drain in my bathroom and now it is running freely.  It's not my favorite chore but it I can handle it.  

 All that work in the bathroom has not created any desire to go to plumbers school; neither did it inspire me to start on the garbage disposal in the kitchen.  But look how well this vase works to catch the drips!  That will work for awhile...until inspiration motivates me to dig in and get this job done, too!

Garbage Disposal Leak in the Kitchen

                       

DIY Plumbing

Do-It Yourself

Do It Yourself…plumbing.  Okay….as soon as I returned home from the lonely seashore, waving goodbye one last time to my Pirate Husband, what awaited me at home but a leaky garbage disposal pipe and a clogged bathroom sink.  Great.  

I've never been one of those bossy types leaving “honey-do” lists, neither have I been one of those helpless damsels in distress.  So, I Googled it...apparently, these things can be fixed by most anyone.  So, let me gather some tools….now where’d I put my drill purse?!

It’s not that I believe a woman can do everything a man can do; it’s just that sometimes life calls on a woman to rely upon herself.  

Let's see what happens....

"I Courted a Sailor"

"A man's got to do what a man's got to do," he said. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMYlg7_iFlA

I courted a sailor for six months and many,
I courted a sailor, now he's far from me.
I courted a sailor for six months and many,
I courted a sailor, now he's far from me.
On a fine summer's evening he said his heart was grieving
On a fine summer's evening these words he said to me

CHORUS
Oh I'm bound for the waves, the waves dearest Annie,
I'm bound for the waves, the waves upon the sea.
Oh I'm bound for the waves, the waves dearest Annie,
I'm bound for the waves, the captain calleth me.

CHORUS

Me heart has been yours now for six months and many,
Me heart has been yours now and will always remain.
Me heart has been yours now for six months and many,
Me heart has been yours now and will always remain.
Take with you me ring and me heart you'll always bring,
Take with you me ring when you sail away to sea.

CHORUS

I'll wait for me sailor for six months and many,
I'll wait for me sailor till he comes home from sea.
I'll wait for me sailor for six months and many,
I'll wait for me sailor till he comes home from sea.
I'll wait for you me dear, for time we'll know no fear.
I'll wait for you me dear till you come home from the sea.

CHORUS

I've married me sailor for six months and many,
I've married me sailor now he's safe with me.
I've married me sailor for six months and many,
I've married me sailor no more he'll say to me