Monday, March 31, 2008

Not such good news

My dad has taught me a lot of stuff over all these years. But the one thing he could never get me to learn was how NOT to whine about stuff. He never grumbles, whines, sighs heavily or even mentions things that are bugging him or are wrong or anything. I don't know how he ever keeps it all in. This is a rather cool trait, I admire it, cause I thrive on whining. (or could you tell?) It is also something I must whine about. Ya see? Part of his not mentioning anything that is going on that is bad, or slightly irritating, keeps us from knowing what is really going on with him.
The last time I saw him at the hardware store, I saw him coming up the main aisle towards the service counter. My heart jumped a little...hell, a lot, because he looked OLD! Yes, he is 86, but he has never looked old. But in my way, I brushed it off, and ran over to him and gave him a kiss and a hug, like I always do. Then started up a conversation. He said, they (he and his girlfriend) had been to a doctors appointment. I never gave that a second thought, because, well, he is 86 and there are things that need to be checked on. We talked about the lake, and the cars, and what he has growing in his garden at the moment, and then they left. I gave it no further thought.
Last night, I was on the computer for about an hour before bed, and at the last minute decided to look at my email. I kind of quit checking it, because it is always the usual forwards and I am not in the mood for all the jokes my removed from California friends send and political triades that my dad's friend Bill sends. But last night there were two emails from my oldest sister. She does send occasional pictures of her grandson and those are always a welcome sight, cause he is the cutest baby I know (well, him and Hallie's neice) and I love hearing about how my neice is doing, cause she is the best mom I know. But one email was titled Dad, the other was titled Heads up. Of course I opened the Dad one first.
In it my sister told me that Dad had asked her for a ride to the hospital where his doctor worked, because he needs a pace maker put in! He would have never told us! He would have never said a thing! Except that his girlfriend can't drive any great distances and he needed a ride!!!!!
Then, since it was 9:45, I didn't want to call my sister, but I wanted and needed to talk to her. I sent an email, but that didn't satisfy me and I knew she wouldn't get it til tonight. So I talked to my daughter (who is studying to be a nurse) and she kind of made me feel a little better about the whole thing, but then didn't on the other hand. She just finished studying about pace makers, so they are fresh in her mind. and what she told me was great, but not as it applies to my dad. Cause it means that he needs to slow down and that is not an easy feat. I guess ropes and duck tape may be in order.
I did call my sister, but she knows nothing more than Dad needs a ride to the hospital on Thursday. 10 AM is the scheduled time for placement. He says it is only a 45 minute procedure, which in my Dad's head is a slot much the same as a dentist would take, so he is thinking, no biggy, I'll go home, have lunch and finish up replacing that axle on the truck, right after I till the back half of the yard where I will be planting my bean crop this year! Maybe I can redo the roof while I'm at it. GEEZ! I'm not kidding, this Dad is a never sit still kind of guy and we will probably have to pester the crap out of him to STOP for a moment or two.
So planning on the fact that this crud will be completely gone by Thursday, I will be taking the day, or most of it off and sitting my butt down there at the hospital, with a notepad and pen in hand to write down what the doctor says Dad can and cannot do, what he can and cannot eat and what he is allowed to watch on television. (I remember my teen years, dad and payback is a bitch!) He kept me safe from my silliness all those years, I can damn well repay the favor.
Please keep a prayer in your hearts for my Dad on Thursday.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

I Apologize...

I sounded like such a bitch in that last post! I am so sorry!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

The One about the Crud

I want to thank all you out there on the east side of our fine nation for sharing your crud with us on the west side. Actually, I was wondering just how long it would take to get here. I thought all this stuff went from west to east, but now I believe I was wrong. Yes, I think I have now got the "Crud", hopefully I am wrong again there. I was grumpy yesterday which is a sure sign that something's up. I am usually not like that...okay, well, not if you ask my kids, but I feel like I was grumpier than usual. (How's that?) I did sleep all day Sunday, which I usually don't let myself have the luxury of doing, I could not help myself. So, hint number two there. Today I went to work with all intentions of staying the course. I stopped being able to breath properly and then my energy level dropped considerably. (Probably due to the lack of oxygen getting to my brain). I just said to hell with it and clocked out. It really makes me mad, because we have the grandma's 95th b'day coming up on Saturday. I had taken the day off, but I refuse to go and give this to her for her birthday, or any other day for all that matters.
There is nothing I can take for it due to my blood pressure issues. I am drinking gallons of tea and now that I am home, I will put the couch to good use. I just hope that this will not last as long as the east coast crud did. I don't what makes me think I am so special that I don't get the same length of illness you all had to suffer through. But please, wish me luck. I can't afford this, otherwise, I would just say hey! Days off.....

Monday, March 24, 2008

Yesterday? What Yesterday?

So, I didn't do what I said I wanted to do. I had to call my dad and give him my reasons. They were many and came in the form of ZZZZZZZZZ's. He was fine with it. Turns out he started off his day tinkering with his old '32 Ford Roadster. Which wouldn't start. Then my brother in law went over there on his way to somewhere else and pushed their project truck into the driveway so "they" could work on it easier. The starter won't work on that thing..it has one of those old push in the thingy on the floor starters, and it is not connecting too well. My dad is supposed to climb up under the truck and figure out why it isn't touching where it is supposed to be touching. I have no clue if they got either car running. I got up at 5AM yesterday, lasted until about 8AM and laid down on the couch. I fell asleep until 2:30 yesterday afternoon! From there on out it was snoozing on and off until 10PM, when I gave up and went to bed. Believe it or not I slept clean through the night. I couldn't believe it! I musta needed it.
My oldest daughter and I went on a short shopping trip. I wanted to get some groceries and she was looking for a bowl that is the shape of a clam shell. That is for our project #4 at ceramics. We didn't find that. She looked online when we came home and found several, one of which is the perfect size, but they want $11 for it and shipping is $7.49. I think that's a little steep for a school project mold! We are going to keep looking.
Yesterday what I saw of the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Today it was sunny, then foggy, but now the sun has come out again. It is still a little nippy today though. Yesterday was beach weather. (Or couch potato weather)
I have another day off! It seems weird to have three days off in a row where I am feeling good. The last time I had any substantial time off was on the doctor's orders and it killed me. I am still trying to make up for the bills that were not paid from that pay check!
I'm going to eBay to see if I can find that shell bowl for my daughter at less than what she found it for. She had to go to work and I have time. Besides what is more fun than shopping from the comfort of your living room?

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Easter's here! Easter's here!

Okay, so what now? I have an extra day off. I am spending part of that at my dad's, because his washing machine blew a belt and I have repaired mine before and know what steps to take. It's like teaching your teacher something new. I love it! He had called the store at 5 PM and asked when we close. Someone told him 6PM. He knew he had to get there before that so he could fix the washer. While he was getting the belt, he came around to find me and told me what was going on, so I told him I would stop by to see what the damage was. I need to go over tomorrow to lend a hand and some tools. Can you believe it?!? I have tools that my dad needs and I have. We're switching roles here! He said he didn't want to take my time off. Well, hell, I can remember when my dad had weekend projects going on when somewhere out of the blue someone came up with these new fangled things called skateboards. He went and found some old shoes skates (remember those anyone?) of mine, and turned one into a skateboard. Well, when all my friends from around the hood got word that I had the first skateboard in Montara made specially for me by my dad...he had a dozen or more kids in the garage with shoe skates to be turned into the newest craze in town. Soon we were all sporting neat new skateboards all custom made. He even put some of that cool reflecting tape on them in different ways so we had our own designs. Now, if he can take time out of his busy tinkering weekend projects to make a dozen or more skateboards for a bunch of freckley faced kids, then by golly I can take the time to help him fix his washer. Besides it'll be like the good old days when he was raising me in his garage.
I am assigning Easter Egg hunting grounds for everyone before I leave, so part of it is done when I get back. I'm not trying to get out of any of the work. Part of this is diplomatic stuff. Ya know? You need to go to other countries and keep the peace flowing. My dad owns this house and I am here at his bidding. Without that I would not be making it, so I need to help him as much as I can, I will never be able to repay entirely him for the roof over my head, but I can damn well try.
Well, the kids have all left for a party over the hill. The hosts requested that everyone wear a white shirt or blouse. Um...I guess it is honor of Easter. If you knew these kids like I know these kids, you'd be wondering why. These are some heavy partiers and white just doesn't seem to go. I guess I may get so see pictures later, if my daughter allows me. Go figure.
So, I think I will "treat" myself to dinner out....at Mickey D's, not because I like it, but because I am hungry and it is really convenient.
So to all a Happy Easter!

Saturday Morning

It's Spring, a time of renewal. I am hoping that there will be renewal here in this house. I have told the girls that we are having a different kind of Easter Egg hunt here this year. The eggs will be in the form of dirt and garbage and trash. We will hunt them down and get rid of them. I want a clean house for a change. I can't do it all myself ya'know? The prize for finding the most "eggs"? Ya get to live in a clean house! I'm so generous..I know.
Off to work. Yesterday was a blast! The customers were in rare moods for a change. Everyone was laughing and goofy. It's kind of spooky coming from a bunch of contractors. Hey you won't find me complaining. I am off work tomorrow. My first holiday in a year. I usually don't work Mondays anyway, so all holidays that fall on Mondays are not extra for me, so this is nice. I have a three day weekend without the guilt of a lower paycheck.
Happy Easter everyone!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Edited version

Ummm...things aren't great. Not hugely bad, just not great. I don't know what to blog about, except to complain, and I don't want to do that. It's Spring finally and I want things to be nice on my blog, but I'm not feeling it.

I got up this morning to a full moon shining in my bedroom window. That was kind of nice. I will most likely get to see some of it on my way to work, where everyone is up in arms about something or other. I am just staying to myself there. I spent half a day at the service counter, and the other half hiding out in the offices upstairs, which made other people mad, cause they wanted to be hiding out. But I had the best excuse, I have to reset my department, to keep it up to date on counts and prices etc.

I can't wait to get home tonight, so I can take a shower and go to bed. Wow, there's something to look forward to!

I hope you are having a better first day of Spring than I am.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Girlfriends got Foobs!

My girlfriend who found out she had breast cancer sometime long ago, has just gotten her breast augmentations today! They did a double masectomy (at her request) and as she says, since she had to go through all this, she wanted to have nice ta-tas.
I called her at the hospital about three hours ago. They had just brought her into her room for the night. She was sore and a little groggy, but happy. Her trials and tribulations are done for the most part. She said she would be back at work in 8 - 12 weeks. YAY! I can't wait to have her back again.
I am so glad to have that to look forward to! I can't wait to have her by my side at the service counter so we can take up gossiping about everybody again!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

I was going to add a nice little pic for St. Patrick's Day, but it turns out that I can't figure my way out of a wet paper bag, let alone get a picture off the internet that pertains to the "holiday".
We started off our day, by watching the history channel's History of St. Patrick. We learned a lot that we didn't know, we are always buying into the myths and legends stuff. Didn't watch the whole thing or hear all of what we did watch, because the middle daughter was rather chatty this morning, and I am not one to shut my kids up because I am glued to the TV. (My dad used to reprimand me on commercials, when the commercial was over, he would go back to what he was watching and then take up again on the next commercial I hated that!) So, my girls are allowed to babble on, while I don't watch TV until they are done. Besides they are so much more important to me!
I fell asleep on my couch last night. Until about 3 AM. I got up and went to my cold, cold bed. Then couldn't fall back to sleep until around 4:30. Then slept in til 9AM. I hate when I do that, it seems I have wasted my day.
I have gotten one of my corned beefs in the crock pot, and I need to get the other in a pot of water on the stove. We love our corned beef around here. I only cook it once a year, one: because then it is special and two: cause it is so dang cheap this time of year. I have taken to making two, because, one won't last five minutes in this house between the three of us! I will stash some, also, for sammiches tomorrow. There will also be all the trimmings. Cabbage, onions, potatoes, carrots. I'm hungry now.....
My youngest is coming up tonight for a breif visit. She is having trouble getting the insurance company and her bank to get together online to get her insurance for her trucks. She is going to give me money to put in my account and hook the insurance and bank up. It's just so much easier this way. (And I will get to see her at least once a month to collect insurance money, she is really good at keeping her bills paid.)
I hope you all have a safe and sane St. Patrick's Day. Mine will be safe, but in this house nothing is sane!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Ta-Da!



So here is the vase so far. We had our "midterm" tonight at class and will be off from school next week, so we brought all our stuff home. I am still going to mess around with the vase while it is still a little damp. I won't be able to add much water to keep it wet, cause then there will be stress cracks all over it and that would stress me out!

I have to shave the top and the bottom to even them out with the rest ofthe vase, and I want to smooth out the sides so there's no rough places. Some of that I have to wait til it is completely dry so I can sand it. That I will do at school, so the teacher can walk me through it.

Then...I will have to figure out how I want to paint it. The teacher was saying that all the texture lends the vase to using many colors..I'm thinking kind of sunset-y colors with a darkish background.

I am going to try and make another vase this next week while we don't have school. But I know how I am so I am NOT making any promises. That's it for tonight. I gotta be at work at 7AM, it's my early day again at work. Soon, I will be having a lot more early days! YAY!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Mon/Tues off no more

I was so glad when I went into work today, that I had Monday and Tuesday off. Especially Tuesday, cause apparently the owner came in, P.O.'d to the max. He reamed almost everyone there a new you-know-what. That would have been the end of my working there, because I am just old enough and crotchity enough to tell him what I think about getting reamed. (MY arguement is that I am too grown to be talked to that way) I did that to the last boss. I do this especially if the reaming is just because the dude is in a bad mood and wants to share. This owner has a tendency to let it all out in the most inappropriate places, in front of whoever may be standing there, and says whatever he really feels like. (and can be very demeaning) I have been a manger in the past and I know how to curtail my angst with people until I can get a meeting with them and then I chose my words carefully so as not to bruise egos. (Because bruised egos know how to dial the phone and what number to dial to get to the labor board.) I don't mean be all mamby-pamby when it comes to disciplining employees, cause they will just walk all over you then, but he damned near lost his workforce yesterday...and all the good ones at that!
I would have been all stupid and challenged him to the point of his releasing me from his payroll. Well, I really don't consider it stupid, but some might.
He had the gall to give a 45 minute screeching speach to one of the managers who, not two months ago was told to step it up and start taking names of people who come in late, or are insubordinate. The manager did what he was told and not in a mean manner, but now is wrong because they are saying he lowered the morale of the employees. I would beg to differ...the owner is doing an excellent job of doing that himself. The owner is building a new store. We get yelled at and complained to by the customers because we don't have the products in the quantities we used to have because they have cut back on orders to save money to throw into the new store. He took funds that were supposed to be an incentive fund to go into the employees retirement funds. (You know the matching part of the retirement from the employer) Those funds I heard, went to his son's down payment on his new house. I didn't get yelled at by him, but I sure felt the repercussions from it today!
Then the GM came over to me this afternoon and asked if my rep was still coming in on Wednesdays. I said yes, why? Well, she is going to change my days and hours...if it was okay with me. So at some point in the near future I will be having Thurs./Fri off and working the early shift (like I asked for) Except I am still working the late Saturday. But that won't be so bad, cause it will be my new Monday and I will get that out of the way first thing in the week. She is putting me on those days, because I had asked for the early shift and the lady who usually works that shift is leaving for six months, I get her old shift!!! YAY me!!!

On the ceramics front, I totally meant to take a phone picture of my vase last night, but forgot. No, I ran out of time. I got into the vase so intently that I lost track of time and my daughter had to yell at me to get me to put my toys away. I love the role reversal. I scraped away a ton of clay to make my sun POP off the vase. I got a few compliments on it. I was so immersed in what I was doing. This is going to be my new nervana, I can tell. I just hope I don't screw it up when I glaze it, glazing is not my strong point. I promise a picture after Thursday night. That is our mid term, we are supposed to have time to continue working. And I am going to have to bring the vase home to work on it, cause there is no school for me next week. The clay won't stay wet that long.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

A Short Blurb on Politics

I decided a long time ago that I would never vote for anyone who starts throwing hash at their opponent. I guess the Democrats are out for me this year! What a couple of idiots. Just saying!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Sewing Machine Games

I was wondering what wonderful, adventurous, exciting thing I was going to write about today on my blog. I figured I would amble through my day and something would jump out and surprize me. I didn't get too far.
I decided that since this quilt of the century was looming over my head for a early June finish, (Hopefully even earlier) I should get cracking on my broken sewing machine. I went in and sat down at my "desk" turned sewing machine table and stared at the machine. Hoping beyond hope that it would just tell me what was wrong as opposed to me digging in and further screwing things up. My grandmother came to mind. Maybe she was just speaking to me the way spirits speak. Ya see? My grandma was the best seamstress in town. She made everything, I mean EVERYTHING my mother wore. (Except for those silly tee shirts my parents would pick up on trips to Mexico.) I would watch in awe when she was in sewing mode. If we needed a dress for a special occasion, we would describe what we wanted and colors and wa-la...It would be done all except for the hemming by the evening we asked for it. Of course, at times it was agonizing because everything had to be just so, and more often than not, we were over there trying on the dress, time after time so she could adjust seams and trims. She never used a pattern. If the dress was more complicated she would grab up the Sunday paper and make a pattern to follow, but it still all came from her mind.
For the longest time she had this old Singer sewing machine. I mean OLD! It would, from time to time, of course break down. She'd put an old sheet across the kitchen table and tear that machine apart, right down to the last screw and lay it out on the table like a metal banquet. Then she would pick up parts, clean them, oil them if necessary and eventually put it all back together, better than new. She would then grab old material and sew lines up and down on it for about ten minutes until all the excess oil could work it's way out, wipe the machine down and continue sewing whatever project she had going on when the machine stopped working. She eventually got this "New-fangled" machine and it took her a time to figure it out, but soon she was making even fanier stitches on all of our clothes that she made. (I think it may have taken her all of a half hour to figure it all out)
I pulled my machine apart and started cleaning. Mind you, I did not throw an old sheet over the kitchen table, cause for one, I don't have a kitchen table and two, the old sheet is covering and protecting my couch. And I didn't tear into the machine piece by piece, I just took a few things off of it and cleaned them. I put it all back together (the four pieces I took off) and it still didn't work. So I says to myself, "Self. What would grandma do?" Grandma came back loud and clear and said, "Hmmm, silly girl, try changing the needle, see what that does". I'm thinking..it couldn't be that simple. But it was. I feel stupid. But I can get on with my quilt now.
I'm off to sewing heaven, maybe make some headway on that quilt! YAY!!!
Oh by the way, Thank you Grandma!

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Not Much Going On

I had my early day at work yesterday, and figured I'd come home and do something with my extra daylight hours for a change. I am such a creature of habit. I did nothing. The last hour of the day at work was really boring, so I got tired from doing much of nothing. I did have computer work, so I was on that thing for hours and that always wears me out. So, I came home and practiced watching movies in the prone position on my new couch. It was nice, didn't see much of the movie, cause my eyes were closed! I woke up disoriented, and groggy. I hate that feeling.
They did hire my friend from another job. She came in yesterday for her orientation. The GM is so excited to have a new hire who has experience. I was happy when she told me that. Makes me feel good that I have contributed a good thing. (person) I think my friend will fit in with our craziness at work just perfectly. She knows a lot about the system, being the same corporation is fueling this store as the last hardware store we both worked at. They even threw caution to the wind in hiring her. Our store owners have just purchased and are renovating a new site and have put us all on a tight budget. There were going to be NO NEW HIRES! But...since she has the hardware experience under her belt she got in. YAY!
I don't know when I will be working with her again, I know she is coming in Monday, but I am off Monday and Tuesday, so it may not be until Wednesday. They are still working out her schedule.
I am not having much luck with the dog training. My couches are covered in blankets and sheets so they won't get dirty from the dogs. I will work on them while I am home this weekend.
I have to work on my sewing machine too. Something went wrong with it while I was working on the quilt. I have done everything I can think of to fix it. It was just plain weird. I sewed some seams and went to iron those. Then pinned another layer on, when I went to sew it the machine wouldn't work properly. So what happened while I was ironing??? It may be as simple as a thread got caught in the race, my eyesight isn't so good so I couldn't see anything off hand and it doesn't help that I am using black thread. I will have to dig into it on Monday. I have to get that fixed! The quilt needs to be done by June! Looks like a few other projects are going to go by the wayside when I get the machine fixed, cause I am going to have to go gang-busters to finish it in time.
I am off to work...wish me fun!

Thursday, March 06, 2008

I am so excited!

I finished up all my projects for the ceramics class on Tuesday. Everything I have made there was ready for one kiln or another. Saturday they are doing a Raku firing. It's a special technique that the Japanese people use a lot in their pottery. I have one piece going into that, just to try it out. We had to do at least one of each type of building technique, and one type of glazing technique. Since I am done with all that, and I am not ready to start the special end of semester project, I decided to do a soft slab vase that I have been thinking about since the beginning of this class. It's a straight shaft vase about 12 - 13 inches tall. Maybe 4" across. Just a round cylinder. The part I am most excited about on this vase is a design I found in an old clip art program I got a century and a half ago. It's a sunburst. I traced the sunburst onto the vase and I am going to carve out anything that is not sun or rays. Then I will very carefully glaze it. I'm not sure of the colors yet, But I am aiming for spectacular. I will take a picture and show you.
My first stuff turned out just okay. I don't know the glazes too well yet, so all the pieces are a little funky. Now that I have learned what those glazes will do, I expect some better peices out of myself for the second half of the semester.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Tagged, I'm it!

I was tagged by a wonderful blogging friend Kim-D. Who I would walk across the states to help, she is that sweet and kind. A funnier woman you will never find.


Okay, so here are the rules for this meme: 1) You must post the rules on your post before you answer the questions.2) You need to list one fact about yourself using each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name use your maiden name instead.3) When you are finished with your answers, you tag one person for each letter of your name.


My middle name is short like Kim's, so maybe if I can think of enough things I will use my last name as well. I would say I'd use my maiden name, but that is the name I go by. Hopefully, this won't be TOO boring. But again like Kim, I am only tagging the amount of people required by the middle name. I am such a copy cat!


L - Love, love, love my dogs. I know I can always count on them to be my fans, no matter how dorky I get, or upset I am. They are always there, with kisses and wagging tails.


E - Eating could be one of my favorite pastimes. And I show it. I think I would like to learn to eat better, but I am lazy when it comes to preparing food. Ah well, someday...


E - Every day, I wake at the crack of dawn. (Or somewhere around 5 - 5:15AM) Whether or not I have to, and usually without the alarm clock. I want to sleep in, but the rare times I have I feel like I have wasted a half a day.


W - Warning, warning! I have a fast temper. It usually takes a lot to get me to that point, but when I am at that point...look out! (aren't you glad you know that now?!?)


A - Artsy. I love to dabble in anything art. I will attempt anything. I encourage people to let out their inner artist, because I believe if you think it's art, it's art!


R - Rose colored glasses. I tend to look at life through rose colored glasses. Everything is just fine, well, at least until the s**t hits the fan! Then I just get out the lysol and clean it up.


R - Reader. I am an avid reader. I am surrounded by books. People give them to me and I keep them until I need something to read, then try to pass them on to my girls and encourage them to read. Which doesn't usually work out, because they are of the "gotta go generation". Always off to do something or other.


E - Entomologist. Not! I hate bugs. Especially spiders. Beetles are kind of cool though. (Okay, let me see you come up with three E things about yourself!)


N - Nowledgable. Okay, I know it is spelled with a K. But it sounds like it starts with an N. And I am knowledgable. About a lot of things. I know how to fix cars, I know how to build tables, I know how to make people laugh, I'm not a genius, and there are people who know a lot more things than I do, but hey, I can keep up with the best of them!


Okay, now for the fun part: I am tagging Cathy, over at It will Be Funny Tomorrow. Hallie, at Wonderful World of Weiners who keeps me in stitches and Megan, at Undomestic Diva, who will be taken totally unaware by my tagging her. But you have to go see what she has to say. I love her prospective on life. She really entertains me!

On the My News front: My work day was normal...boring. Yes, boring. Be careful what you wish for...see a previous post of mine. I put my order in. Didn't spend a lot of time on it, because I get a lot of business from school projects happening, and they have run their course. (sorry about that pun, not!) Now I will be gearing up to merchandise stuff for the boredom chasers of summer. Business has been slow. We have our contractors coming in, but for the most part, all the storm damages have been repaired and people are getting ready for fun stuff like beach going and trips to Disneyland. Summer is just around the corner. Sorry all you moms out there!

I came home and have been sitting here on the computer for a while. My oldest daughter just called to get a phone number she had written on a pad of paper here on the desk. She asked me if I found my flowers. I said that no I hadn't found flowers, she told me where they were. Of course my mind starts wondering immediately who would send ME flowers. Well, I had run into an old friend and co-worker from the hardware store close to us. She told me she was thinking about looking for another job. I told her to put in an application where I work, because she has the experience and she is a great worker and a happy person. I like surrounding myself with happy people. So she came down, I introduced her to my boss, they set up an appointment and he hired her, after I told him all about her work ethics and all. She sent me the flowers. Now isn't that the sweetest thing? And all I was up to is to have more people to work with that I know I can work with! This just made my day.

Well, now I am off to tell my people that I tagged them. I hope they don't hate me now!




Nothing new has happened

I can go back to work and claim that for the most part, my weekend was boring! I did not sleep on my new couches much yesterday like I wanted, but I did get a cat nap in for about an hour in the afternoon. It was nice. But the thing is that my wish came true and I was bored! YEAH! I wished for that, I did!
Now, if I could just keep the dogs off the couches, that is my next wish. Anybody have any suggestions? When I am not home, I know where they will be. I did buy them their own beds, So far, my little dog is using that, but I had to put it on the loveseat, so she would understand. I also took in it my room last night and put it on my bed so she would get that it was where she is supposed to sleep. The big dog got a rug to sleep on, but I'll be damned if I am going to haul that thing all over the house!
Please, if you have any training ideas, let me have 'em!

Monday, March 03, 2008

Guess what I got.....




I mentioned it in my earlier post. I was gonna check out a couch, we were looking on Craig's list and found some possibilities. I'm very impatient when it comes to purchasing stuff. If I decide I want something I don't want to go days and days looking at all the possibilities. I know about what I want and when I see something that comes close enough I get it. I have never been really sorry about any of my decisions, unless it came to some men. Usually what I buy is good enough. I don't go for fancy schmancy stuff either. I just want what works and looks relatively okay in my house. My daughter called a couple of numbers but had to leave messages. I sent out a couple of e-mails and got responses almost immediately. I made one phone call and the lady told me I could come after 4 to see the couch AND loveseat she had for sale. Someone else was going to look at it tomorrow. By then my daughter had taken her friend to work, so I called her to find out how available she was going to be for the rest of the afternoon. Which, since she is not working at the moment, her availability to me is open. (It had better be) So I called the woman back and we set up a time and I got to moving. We got there at around 6:30 I looked, I liked, I sat, I liked, I gave her the money and we made two trips home and back to pick it all up. We brought the couch home first with most of the cushions then went back and picked up the loveseat. Eighty dollars!!!!!!! And it is a really nice set. It's black and beigey stripes, with three cushions for the back on the loveseat and five cushions for the back of the couch. Or whichever way I want to put them. The cushions all have the same color scheme, but three of them are black with beige ovally looking things all over and the other cushions are black background with beige pasley print. Totally me. I am so excited, I may sit around on them all day tomorrow! (Or sleep on them) Now, we just have to train the dogs to stay off. These are nice enough that the dogs don't get free rein with them.
Now my frontroom looks so small. I always have felt I had a fairly big frontroom. Now, not so much. At one point while we have lived here, we had furniture to fill the room, but I got tired of it, or it broke or what ever, and I would just get rid of it and never replaced it til now.
If you notice in the second picture, the training is going well with the little dog. Um...she runs me, I don't run her.
OH! and behind the loveseat, you can see my new "window" it's all ready to have the tropical beach painted on it. Don't mind the mess, in the back ground either...I have still not put away my toys...I mean tools yet!


So far, so good, maybe

I am on the first day of my weekend. There's so much I want to do, that I cannot decide which to do first. That's bad, cause when I feel this way, nothing, but NOTHING gets done.
I did work on the floor of the "room" a little today. I did get my laundry closer to the garage. I did look at the dirty dishes. I called Comcast to straighten out a glitch, but to fix it for good, I will have to go to their office and I don't feel like going anywhere. But then again I might. If I go out, that means I have to list a bunch of stuff to do while I am out and that means I could go to the Salvation Army store and look to see if they have any couches. I don't own one of those, and have been wanting to get one. So I may go out and see what I can find, then swing by the Comcast office and fix the glitch.
So sorry to say this to those in the east of the US. But I have to say it. There is sunshine in my town today. It is warm, how warm I do not know, but warmer than it has been. The only time I have been outside today was earlier in the day when it was still too cold to be out there in my jammies. That still didn't stop me.
I went out to find out why my big dog looked like he wanted to attack something or someone. And...the reason he looked that way is because that is exactly what he wanted to do! Ya see, my middle daughter is not that smart. She had some friends over last night and as her story goes they were watching TV. They all fell asleep. This morning when the BOYS left, somehow they knew not to come through the house and snuck around the back to the gate. (Which in these parts is a really, really stupid move. They have to make noise to use the gate, and it is not a very much used way to escape this property. The dog knows that. I had the back door open and when they went out, the dog did too. So I went out to investigate and found that they had gone through the gate and were trying to get over bushes I have growing on that side of the house (for a REASON) I met them in the front yard and told them exactly how stupid they were and what they had just missed, thanks to me! I said to them..."don't EVER do this again...you will be missing body parts the next time, cause I will not call the dog off." They said to me..."Yes ma'am." Then I reamed my daughter out for being stupid AGAIN.
This is supposed to be my bored to tears weekend. Not getting off to a great start are we? But then this is nothing compared to the past.
I need to go and see if I can get some laundry done. That will motivate me to clean my bedroom somewhat, cause I have to move around in there in order to put my laundry away. Then who knows what will happen next.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Phone Calls

So a few months back, I started getting these phone calls asking for my dad. That is not unusual, because the phone here is in his name. I always just say he isn't in right now, can I give him a message. They give me the information and I pass it along to my dad. This one company kept calling after I had given my dad the message several times. I know my dad would take the appropriate measures to answer whatever questions the caller had and that should be it. No, not in this case.
I finally got tired of taking the same message over and over, so pretended to be my dad. I just lowered my voice a little and they went for it. Turns out that this company had some insurance claim for some guy with the same name as my dad. They asked for an address to verify that I was indeed the person they were looking for. When I gave them as address they didn't have in their records the questions started. Did you ever reside at this address in Texas? Nooo. How about this address in San Francisco? Nooo again.
Then I started asking questions. Like what the hell do you think you are doing here? I want to know what you are looking for and why, I want to know exactly which person by my dad's name you want. What is going on? Is my dad a victim of identity theft?
What this company does, is if they can't find the exact person they want, they generate ALL the people with the same name or even close to it and start calling! And they don't stop calling until they get whatever it is they think they are going to get from you. Or until you threaten them with your attorney. (You know, the attorney who lives in your back pocket at all times for such occasions) They so backed off suddenly. I told them if they called me one more time I would have their license and there would be a law suit bigger than the national debt. (I know that wouldn't happen, but these people who call and harrass you are only getting minimum wage and don't know that)
The phone has been silenced, at least from them.
I got so much rest the last couple of days. It feels good. When I played hooky from school Thursday night I didn't do anything. I had delusions of grandeur. I was going to work on a project for school, but didn't. Instead I went to the shopping center and picked up my favorite treat for dinner. Hawiian BBQ. Came home, ate it, and went to bed. AT 8:30PM!!! Got up early yesterday for my early shift at work and came home to completely vege out. I even slept in a little this morning. I didn't get up until 7AM. So, now I am showered and dressed and ready to do my late shift at work. I get off at 6 tonight. Tomorrow is my "Friday". Hopefully, I will get some things done over my weekend. We are supposed to be getting some pretty weather for my days off. That always energizes me.
I hope you all have a great day.