BeeCharmer’s Buzz

Honey and I worked on May budget yesterday. Ack! We were $600 short with 4 days to make up the difference. It can be done, but it is sure stressful, knowing we may start the month behind the 8 ball. This month’s money has been stretched to it’s limit from the added expense of me driving to my new job, 40 miles away.

Here is where Karma kicked in.

By yesterday afternoon, Honey and I had blown through the rest of this months budget, filling the cars with gas and buying drip line accessories to finish up the yard. Honey finished hooking up all the drip line and we went inside to rest before our friend Rick was to arrive. We heard a knock at the door. It wasn’t Rick. It was our neighbor “Butch”, he had tears in his eyes and asked to speak to both of us- together.

Butch is in his mid 60’s. He is a bachelor and takes care of his very ill mother and aunt. He is a retired Marine and is a bit of a drinker. I personally love him, Honey gets annoyed that he interrupts her working in the yard but is always pleasant to him. Butch has taken on the role of protector of our mostly female home. He watches out for the kids, and reports to me if anything seems askew. I send him over dinner and homemade treats occasionally. I think of him as extended family. Anyways…..

Butch comes in and sits on the couch. We both give him our full attention. We think that something has happened with his Mother and just wants to talk. This is what happens.

Butch:  You know I am not a religious man.

Honey (in her head): Oh no- he has just realized we are lesbians!

Butch: But I do have my own beliefs in a higher power.

Honey (in her head): crap we are going to have to talk about Jesus!

Butch: And I figure that since I have had such a great year, financially, that I should do something for you two.

Honey: huh?

Butch: You two work like dogs, always trying to improve yourselves, and your home. I know things have been rough lately on you guys. You deserve some sort of break.

Me: huh?

Butch: <throws a wad of 20’s at me> It’s just my way of paying it forward. I didn’t earn that money on my own- I consider it God’s money and he wanted me to give to you.

Honey and Me: No way that is too much. You are so sweet but we can’t………

Butch: I am not taking no for an answer- it’s yours. Spend it wisely or make it grow. You can pay it forward when you have a good year.

<hugs- crying- overall joy>

<Lot’s of thank yous and disbelief>

Butch leaves. We count the money…….. exactly $600.

Honey then mentions all the money we have given away this winter to family members in trouble- guess what? $600 in total.

Like I have said before- Karma has saved our butts more than once. Yeah Karma!

Then what the hell would you call it?

 Since we moved into this house 4 years ago our utility bill has increased by more than 70% while our usage has remained the same and in some months much less. In fact some months we are able to not use the furnace or air conditioning at all, but that doesn’t seem to affect our averaged budget plan bill. It goes up every 6 months even with our attempts to save energy. We dont have a regular light bulb in the house. We have converted them all to CF’s but have seen no decrease in our electricity bill. ack- I really hate the CF’s they are so harsh and hard to read by, and my make up hasn’t looked right since I put them in.

As far as gas prices- can you believe what is going on? I drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee (yes I know, but it is paid for and I figure it is more wasteful to get rid of it while it runs than to drive it until the wheels fall off), it gets terrible gas mileage. I have cut my driving to a minimum. No more “going for a ride” or unplanned trips to the store. I have become a home body. I only go out with the Jeep when absolutely necessary, an yet our gas budget has almost doubled in the 5 years T and I have been together. Part of that is my new job 30 miles away, but that does not explain all of it. Btw I am will be taking the bus to work starting May 1.

Groceries have also gone up considerably. I suppose that starts with the farmer’s need to spread petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides on his crops and the many many miles our foods have to travel before landing on the local grocery store’s shelves.

Even TP is more expensive than ever, again probably having to do with the cost of transportation to it’s point of sale.

Wages certainly are not keeping up with the cost of living. But don’t worry people- This is NOT a recession according to GWB. Why then is that man convinced that an extra 600 bucks will jump start this economy? 600 bucks that my children will be repaying for their entire lives while GW and friends pad their wallets during his last hurrah as President. The whole thing just chaps my a$$.

What really kills me is that the income from my new job will not be “extra” it will simply keep us living the way we already do, albeit without as much stress. No toys or trips for the family, just enough to keep us in poptarts and electricity. ack!

Gawd I hope not.

I get to it eveeeentually! ~  Procrastination Man (a.k.a, my step-father)

I am suppose to finish my Honeybee paper for entomology- its so close to done- but I just hate school right now. ack! I’ll get to it in a minute.

Now for the reason for said pocrastionation. …

I Just remembered a story about my family. There is something definitely wrong with the whole lot of us.

We (my children and I) lived in Hawaii for a couple of years. It was an amazing experience, a life changing one. There is something about island living that suits me spiritually. My mind may race but it does it on island time. It’s so soothing.

Hawaii has it’s own language. To a newcomer it’s very confusing. You can try to read up on it before you visit, but you just have to experience it to really get it.

The kids went to school at a middle/middle-upper class public school, with probably 20 different ethnicity’s represented in the student body. Very, very diverse. But they all a common language, called Pidgin. It’s sometimes a lazy language where unnecessary words or letters, or those that are a “given” , are simply left out. So this is the dialog of DD meeting Malia, her Hawaiian best friend.

DD: Hi, I am DD.

Malia:  What? Hey you like beef sistah?            (loosely translated- “Hey girl do you want to fight?”)

DD:  Huh?

Malia:  You like beef?

DD:  Eh, I prefer chicken.

Malia: <busts out laughing> Haole! ( Loosely translated ” You are SO white, you’re blinding me!)

That is how DD made her first friend in Hawaii.

This week I finally met Honey’s dear friend Rick.

Honey met Rick at work in her early 20’s and he introduced her to all things “gay”.  They fell out of touch soon after she and I met. Too many moves between them and a major computer crash are to blame.

Rick was in town this week, visiting his sister and spent 2 days tracking Honey down. He finally found her at her current workplace. We had him over for dinner with the family and had an absolute blast. What a wonderful man.

It turns out that Rick is from Hawaii, originally. The kids were sooo taken with him, as was I. It’s an Ohana thing. Ohana means “family”, maybe you remember that from Lilo and Stitch? Unless you have lived in Hawaii or around Hawaiians it’s hard to understand the connection we felt to him. Ohana is a feeling of connectedness to others, like a thread that runs between you and everyone you meet. It makes your heart full in a crowd of strangers, who feel it too. It makes you feel safe, allows you to be open and to forgive yours and others shortcomings.

Ohana is something I rarely experience on the Mainland or with non-Islanders, but is just part of an islander’s make up (native or introduced). It’s something I miss terribly about Hawaii.

Rick brought back all those feelings of Ohana to our family. We love him. Although the kids and I barely know him, we know he is part of us and we are part of him. What a wonderful gift Honey has shared with us.

Family is not determined by blood, family is determined by what’s in ones heart. Here’s to a world filled with the spirit of Ohana.

Aloha.

I told you when I found one I would post it. It’s not great, but it is definitely her. This was taken by me on December 31, 1999, when her and her old band played for our New Year’s party. Also that is 80’s and I on the same evening. We partied like it was 1999.

That’s BC second from the right, with super short hair.

How come all the pictures I have of 80’s and I are from drunken stupors? Oooh I have a BC story- eh nevermind- might get me in trouble.

I was just over at Lelo’s blog and saw this picture of a mural at The Edgefield in Troutdale, OR. I totally recognized it. The Edgefield is where Honey and I stay every chance we get to the Portland area. Over the years we have had so much fun there.

We took the kiddos with us once. That was our family vacation that year. We stayed a couple of days at The Edgefield, attended a Melissa Etheridge concert (which was fantastic), stayed at the downtown Hilton in the most fantastic room (which I got for an absolute steal), stayed the night with J and D in their darling new home and ate Morracan at Marakesh for the first time. BB was the apple of the belly dancer’s eye.

I have so many stories about our trips to The Edgefield. I’ll share some with you at a later date. For now I thought I would leave you with some pictures from our past trips. I had to restrain from using the really good pictures because I am the only one willing to show my face on my blog. I am not looking my personal best in any of them. Keep in mind that Honey and I hit every winery from EWa to Portland on the way. I am usually pretty snookered during our traveling adventures.

On our way to Portland. Maryhill Winery, one of several we stopped at on our leisurely trip. Look at that view. The wine was great too.

We finally arrived at The Edgefield. I was a little tipsy and decided I loved the old women in this painting. The art at The Edgefield is very interesting.

I’m not sure you can see this clearly, but it is a tree stump carved in the image of Jerry Garcia complete with guitar. Very cool!

It’s been so long since I last posted that WordPress has completely changed it’s format.  Everything looks different on this end. It’s unnerving. Kind of like driving a new car. I don’t know what all the new buttons do and am not sure it will perfrom like I am use to. I guess it’s not like I am going to go over a cliff or something so here goes nothing.

Things I have done while I was away.

* I wrote half of a term paper on the Honey Bee. Apis mellifera to be exact.

* I started my new job. (cool work, decent pay, nice, nice people to work with.)

* I Met our new neighbors. ( and they are Family-  EWa is becoming a meca.)

* Had a work party; got the yard weeded and the fence finished.

* Saw my very conservative Step-Father sing The Rolling Stones and The Who on RockBand.

* Had a tiny meltdown.

* Started smoking again. (Don’t bother comenting on this- I know! I’m going to quit again soon.)

* Celebrated BB’s 13th Birthday with BBQ Ribs, potato salad, corn on the cob and baked beans. The cake was Red Velvet with cherry filling, white frosting and toasted slivered almonds. Yums!

* Discovered Starbucks Honey Latte and tiny vanilla bean scones

* Broke a tooth, grinding my teeth.

* Watched Honey build, place and fill the new raised beds. I love them.

* planted lettuce, spinach and peas.

Wow that seems like a lot. It’s been a busy couple of weeks. I am happy to report that we all lived through Winter with only minimal psychosis. I am happy, happy, happy that it is finally Spring.

OK thats it! Spellcheck has been removed from my writing page. What will I do? Now you all will be able to see just how bad at this I really am. ack! Where is RSG when I need her?