Well, to quote Detective Monk ...Here's what happened...
Before my surgery a year ago, my friend Jim brought me some salmon that he had caught on a fishing trip to Wisconsin. He said it was in a white grocery bag in the break room freezer. I grabbed the bag, took it home, looked inside, two packages wrapped in foil, I put it in my deep freeze.
I forgot about it pretty much. It would cross my mind but then I'd forget again. Vicki's cheesecakes would ebb and flow in there as would various bags of frozen veggies and meat. But the white bag stayed in the same spot.
Until last night. I decided I wanted salmon and remembered that there was salmon in the freezer. I took it out and untied the grocery bag. I opened the foil wrapper and saw.....
tamales. 2 dozen tamales, obviously hand made in the corn husks.
Where is my salmon? It's still here in the freezer in a white grocery bag.
Sent an email but so far nobody has claimed the tamales. So I'm looking for a recipe for sauce.
The last one I found said this :
9. Next, you now start unwrapping your tamale, this is usually a corn husk or a banana leaf. Unwrap it gently using a pair of thongs.
I think maybe I'll look for a different one...
Friday, June 8, 2018
Sunday, September 6, 2015
OMG! I'm 60!!!!
SIXTY!! I never dreamed I would be sixty years old. In all honesty, I'm almost 61 now, having sped through 2015 like a bat out of hell looking for a cactus flower. And what have I done?
I'm happy to report that I'm in fairly good health. I didn't get skinny, I didn't quit smoking, but on the other hand I didn't get arrested for throat-punching anyone, so I have that going for me.
I'm seriously thinking about starting to write my blog for "fun and profit" as they used to say. Usually, people will say they have no idea what to write about. I am just the opposite. I have tons of things that I would like to write about. The problem is...I don't know what people want to read about!
I don't do politics, so that is out of the question. Dieting is something with which I am very familiar, but I'm certainly no good at it, so that should be a no-no as well. Money? Ain't got none! Don't have a green thumb, except for my beloved orchids. But I only have 6 of those, so telling you how I water them once a week and ignore them the rest of the time would probably be PRET-ty boring. So...here I am.. trying to decide what to say to make someone tell a friend, "hey did you read Karen's blog today?"
I have talents I can write about. Painting and journaling and things like that. Would you want to read about those things every week? Would you like to see pictures of my journals and the things I have thrown in there just for fun?
I tell ya what...I'm going to post this today, and I am inviting you to please go to my blog and read it from the beginning. A lot of the stuff is old...from 6 years ago when I first started. But I am asking that you read, and make comments on what I have written and just let me know if you think this is something that you would look forward to reading every week. Not just you, but maybe you would repost on Facebook or tell a friend.
Can you do that for me? Thanks a whole bunch!!!!
I'll be waiting to hear from you. Don't wait too long, though. I AM 60, after all. *wink-wink*
Sunday, February 9, 2014
One happy moment at a time
Greetings from frozen Indiana. Can't believe it's February already. Time for my very least favorite holiday...Valentine's Day. Never has worked out great for me, so I usually choose to ignore it. Everything but the chocolate, of course, once it goes on sale at Kroger!
Woke up at 4:30 this morning for some reason. Made coffee, drank a couple of cups, then laid down on the couch and went back to sleep.
I dreamed that I was at work (although it wasn't really my work..you know how dreams are!) and my grandmother, Mema, who has been dead since 1995, came to me and told me that I was going to die tomorrow. (Not tomorrow, tomorrow, but tomorrow in the dream...at least I hope so!) She said I would die in the bathroom down the hall from my office. I won't bore you with too many details but let's just say I spent a lot of time in the dream looking for a bathroom without electricity! Eventually, an earthquake did me in, and I realized I had, indeed, passed on, as only she and my boss could see me. Just goes to show you can't escape your boss no matter what you do! Finally, thank God, I woke up.
But I am troubled. I have been seriously thinking about this dream, and have been wondering...what would I do if I really did know it was my last day on earth? I know that any day could be for any of us, but if we had warning. What would we do? What would I do? Go spend the money I put aside for bills? Probably. Go to the Golden Corral and eat everything in sight..definitely. Spend time with my daughter, absolutely!
In my dream, though, after the initial denial and running away from electrical things, and the bargaining, there came a point where I accepted what was happening, and turned to the "future" with hope and peace, and almost a sense of excitement. Seeing Mema again, well, that was a good sign, because I'm sure my Mema went to Heaven. I don't think she would have it in her to come collect me from my life only to deposit my soul at the gates of Hell! It really made me think about the afterlife..believing in God. I know a lot of the time I don't act like I should..and probably if you looked at my life you would laugh if someone told you I am a Christian. I am, but this isn't about that...
What would you do if you KNEW it was your last day to live? Nickelback did a song that has always made me think about it..
If today was your last day
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are
So do whatever it takes
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life
Let nothin' stand in your way
Cause the hands of time are never on your side
Complete song and lyrics here.
But you know..I go through so much of my life thinking..oh, tomorrow I'll do the art I have always wanted to do. I'll paint that picture, I'll do that craft, I'll tell someone I love them, I'll tell someone I DON'T love them, I'll be happy...tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow.
This dream has made me realize...today is what counts. I am going to do something that makes me happy TODAY! Even if it's just cleaning off my art table to get it ready to paint something. That's what I'm going to do. Too much time is used working and being unhappy, and today could be the last day. I'm not saying sell everything and move up to the mountains to wait on the end of the world. But do something that makes you happy every single day! Maybe we could make the world a better place, one happy moment at a time!
What would YOU do?
Woke up at 4:30 this morning for some reason. Made coffee, drank a couple of cups, then laid down on the couch and went back to sleep.
I dreamed that I was at work (although it wasn't really my work..you know how dreams are!) and my grandmother, Mema, who has been dead since 1995, came to me and told me that I was going to die tomorrow. (Not tomorrow, tomorrow, but tomorrow in the dream...at least I hope so!) She said I would die in the bathroom down the hall from my office. I won't bore you with too many details but let's just say I spent a lot of time in the dream looking for a bathroom without electricity! Eventually, an earthquake did me in, and I realized I had, indeed, passed on, as only she and my boss could see me. Just goes to show you can't escape your boss no matter what you do! Finally, thank God, I woke up.
But I am troubled. I have been seriously thinking about this dream, and have been wondering...what would I do if I really did know it was my last day on earth? I know that any day could be for any of us, but if we had warning. What would we do? What would I do? Go spend the money I put aside for bills? Probably. Go to the Golden Corral and eat everything in sight..definitely. Spend time with my daughter, absolutely!
In my dream, though, after the initial denial and running away from electrical things, and the bargaining, there came a point where I accepted what was happening, and turned to the "future" with hope and peace, and almost a sense of excitement. Seeing Mema again, well, that was a good sign, because I'm sure my Mema went to Heaven. I don't think she would have it in her to come collect me from my life only to deposit my soul at the gates of Hell! It really made me think about the afterlife..believing in God. I know a lot of the time I don't act like I should..and probably if you looked at my life you would laugh if someone told you I am a Christian. I am, but this isn't about that...
What would you do if you KNEW it was your last day to live? Nickelback did a song that has always made me think about it..
If today was your last day
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are
So do whatever it takes
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life
Let nothin' stand in your way
Cause the hands of time are never on your side
Complete song and lyrics here.
But you know..I go through so much of my life thinking..oh, tomorrow I'll do the art I have always wanted to do. I'll paint that picture, I'll do that craft, I'll tell someone I love them, I'll tell someone I DON'T love them, I'll be happy...tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow.
This dream has made me realize...today is what counts. I am going to do something that makes me happy TODAY! Even if it's just cleaning off my art table to get it ready to paint something. That's what I'm going to do. Too much time is used working and being unhappy, and today could be the last day. I'm not saying sell everything and move up to the mountains to wait on the end of the world. But do something that makes you happy every single day! Maybe we could make the world a better place, one happy moment at a time!
What would YOU do?
Thursday, January 23, 2014
I Care!!!
You know…Day after day things happen in our lives. Good,
bad..boring..indifferent…SSDD…one day after another the time goes by. All of a
sudden a year is gone. But if you look at my blog..apparently nothing has
happened to me since July of 2013!
This has made me wonder why I started writing a blog in the
first place. I used to fancy myself some kind of writer. Maybe I would
eventually write a book. Maybe I would write something that people would
re-post on Facebook. Maybe someone would
find me interesting. Lots of maybes…but
still I don’t write much. Why is this?
Some things, I suppose, are too personal to put out there
for all to see. There are things that are deliberately kept secret, and they
sure don’t need to be broadcast on the internet. I don’t know if this is just my issue or not,
but I read other people’s blogs and it’s obvious they write just for the joy of
writing. Some write very well, others…not
so well, but still entertaining. But I compare my writings to theirs and I seem
to be so boring!! And I ask myself…who cares about my cats and my decorations
and my car and all the other things that make up my mundane existence?
The answer is: I do! I care! And therein lies the problem with me
and my blog. I have been writing because I think people might want to read it.
What I should be doing is writing because I want to write.
I keep a little journal. It’s a 10 year journal and I have
pretty much faithfully written in it at least once a week since I got it in
January 2012. Not too bad considering. But it’s mostly just a record of daily “stuff”
with a few extra things thrown in. It’s a really nice journal. If you’re interested,
you can get it here: http://www.journal10.com/ My
daily entries mostly consist of: I
worked. I’m tired. I’m still not smoking. I still am not on my diet. I gained
weight. I lost weight. I smoked. Cold today. Hot today. Gas $3.50. Gas $3.99.
Gas $3.20. Rain, snow, sleet, hail, tornado, blizzard,etc. It’s like the old
Chinese restaurant menu. Choose one from Column A and one from Column B. This
is my day.
But what is IN that day? THAT’S the interesting stuff. The
things my mind comes up with on a daily basis. These are the roadmaps for
following my dreams. Being creative. Doing the things that I love doing.
Getting out from in front of the TV or computer long enough to actually DO
something creative. That’s the rub. Because I hadn’t realized that I shouldn’t
do creative stuff for others. I need to do it for myself. It makes me happy to
create and yet I get bogged down in the daily crap and only do it in small
bursts. People who create for a living do it because they love doing it..not to
make the money..but because they CAN!
Another thing I just realized is that people who are successful bloggers just assume that there are people who want to read what they have to say! **LIGHTBULB MOMENT!!**
Another thing I just realized is that people who are successful bloggers just assume that there are people who want to read what they have to say! **LIGHTBULB MOMENT!!**
This is the lesson of the day. I’m not trying to please my
mother, my boss, that future Mr Right, my art teacher, or any of my 271 friends
on Facebook and Pinterest. I am going to create to please myself, because I am
good at it, and it makes me happy. And I want to be happy!!
So hopefully there will be more blogs with my creations
pictured. No, not hopefully, there WILL be more blogs with my creations pictured. And if you like, please let me
know.
It will also make me happy to know you enjoy my blog.
Just sayin’!
Baby, it's colllllld outside!!!
Across the frozen tundra she went...wind whipping snow around sometimes making it hard to see...very little fuel..no coffee..not even water..scary creatures creeping up on either side and flying past..yet on she went...
A story of a great explorer of the Antarctic? nah...Karen B driving to work!! Be safe everyone!
A story of a great explorer of the Antarctic? nah...Karen B driving to work!! Be safe everyone!
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
7 months later
Sounds like a horror movie...where at the end and all the demons have been banished back to Hell and the house is all quiet..then...."7 MONTHS LATER..." the mom is doing laundry and the kids are playing Scrabble in the living room, and the floor opens up and sucks them all into another dimension just in time for dad to come home from work. "THE END"
Ok, don't know where that came from! I do know that in the past 7 months I haven't done much of anything to meet any of my goals I talked about before. I did drink enough wine to fill the chandelier. Here is proof of that..I DID have help, though..
So I guess at least I got that accomplished.
Maybe I should start blogging about crafts or recipes or something interesting, rather than blathering on about drinking habits and working. I can tell you that I gained back most of the weight that I lost, but I'm still 25 pounds ahead of the game so I'm starting over. I can tell you that I changed my hours at the grocery store so I have 2 weekend days now to waste instead of just one. I can tell you that I made mint juleps from real mint Friday night and I think I could become a whisky drinker with practice. But are those things you want to read about? hmmm...maybe.. I suppose there have been more mundane things blogged about over the years, so I really shouldn't worry but, despite outward appearances, I am a perfectionist. That's why I never get anything done!
Anyway, if anyone has any comments or if there's something you want me to write about, by all means, let me know. I'll do my best!
Is that a hole in the floor??????
Ok, don't know where that came from! I do know that in the past 7 months I haven't done much of anything to meet any of my goals I talked about before. I did drink enough wine to fill the chandelier. Here is proof of that..I DID have help, though..
So I guess at least I got that accomplished.
Maybe I should start blogging about crafts or recipes or something interesting, rather than blathering on about drinking habits and working. I can tell you that I gained back most of the weight that I lost, but I'm still 25 pounds ahead of the game so I'm starting over. I can tell you that I changed my hours at the grocery store so I have 2 weekend days now to waste instead of just one. I can tell you that I made mint juleps from real mint Friday night and I think I could become a whisky drinker with practice. But are those things you want to read about? hmmm...maybe.. I suppose there have been more mundane things blogged about over the years, so I really shouldn't worry but, despite outward appearances, I am a perfectionist. That's why I never get anything done!
Anyway, if anyone has any comments or if there's something you want me to write about, by all means, let me know. I'll do my best!
Is that a hole in the floor??????
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Indiana Weather
Crazy melancholy day today. Overcast, and in the 60's! I remember back in the olden days where every year on my birthday we'd have an ice storm or snow or something. But it's supposed to thunderstorm tonight, with possibility of 3 inches of rain. If that was snow it would be ...lets's see...3 inches rain multiplied by um...32 degrees divided by...never mind...it'd be a LOT of snow!
I love storms as long as no trees fall on my car or my house or anything, and the power stays on. I'm always afraid the power will go off and I won't have my backup alarm set and I'll be late for work. Need to go set my alarm right now...be right back..
Ok, that's better! :)
Can't think of much else to talk about except the weather right now, so I'll just post this picture that pretty much says it all and bid you a good night.
I love storms as long as no trees fall on my car or my house or anything, and the power stays on. I'm always afraid the power will go off and I won't have my backup alarm set and I'll be late for work. Need to go set my alarm right now...be right back..
Ok, that's better! :)
Can't think of much else to talk about except the weather right now, so I'll just post this picture that pretty much says it all and bid you a good night.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Happy Birthday to Meeeee!
Once again, my birthday has rolled around on the calendar...well, not quite...3 more days, but the party is tomorrow night. I'm totally psyched about it because I have a Christmas present to use! My daughter and her boyfriend bought me this awesome wine bottle chandelier. It holds 16 empty wine bottles. So everyone who comes is supposed to bring a bottle to contribute to the decor. I even got a silver sharpie so they can sign the bottom of the bottle they bring. Will post a picture when it's filled. Right now it's hanging cockeyed because it has 3 bottles in it. Need to level that sucker out!!
All day today I have been cleaning and putting things away. I should really have a party every month cause that way my house would be clean all the time! I even pulled down the cobwebs tonight. I usually forget that part of it.
I enjoy so much the getting ready for the party! I have shopped and chopped and stirred all evening. The pork roast is in the crock pot for pulled pork sandwiches, and I have chips and dip and cheese and crackers and yum and yum and yum! So much for my diet this weekend!
The main thing I enjoy of course is having my family and friends here. Most of my friends are like family so it's like one huge reunion. I always stress out over it before it starts. Will it be fun? Will someone get too drunk and get dramatic? Will that someone be ME???
But most of the time, it's just a gathering of people who care about each other to eat, drink, and be merry, and enjoy each other's company. And play kings...always kings!
I'll be 58 years old on Monday. I hope I'll be having a party when I'm 78 ...88... 108?? wow...well, I can dream, huh? Sure don't feel that old..
I just want to encourage you to have a gathering. Doesn't have to be drinking, or lots of food, or a big deal. Just get some friends together and have a good time. These days there are so many things to worry about. While it does no good to worry, it still happens. Having a get-together is a way to keep the wolf out the door for a while and just LIVE.
Do it! I think you'll be glad you did!!
All day today I have been cleaning and putting things away. I should really have a party every month cause that way my house would be clean all the time! I even pulled down the cobwebs tonight. I usually forget that part of it.
I enjoy so much the getting ready for the party! I have shopped and chopped and stirred all evening. The pork roast is in the crock pot for pulled pork sandwiches, and I have chips and dip and cheese and crackers and yum and yum and yum! So much for my diet this weekend!
The main thing I enjoy of course is having my family and friends here. Most of my friends are like family so it's like one huge reunion. I always stress out over it before it starts. Will it be fun? Will someone get too drunk and get dramatic? Will that someone be ME???
But most of the time, it's just a gathering of people who care about each other to eat, drink, and be merry, and enjoy each other's company. And play kings...always kings!
I'll be 58 years old on Monday. I hope I'll be having a party when I'm 78 ...88... 108?? wow...well, I can dream, huh? Sure don't feel that old..
I just want to encourage you to have a gathering. Doesn't have to be drinking, or lots of food, or a big deal. Just get some friends together and have a good time. These days there are so many things to worry about. While it does no good to worry, it still happens. Having a get-together is a way to keep the wolf out the door for a while and just LIVE.
Do it! I think you'll be glad you did!!
Monday, January 21, 2013
BRRRRRRR!
It's freezing here in Indiana today..supposed to get even colder. A good time for curling up on the couch with a hot toddy (or a hot TOMMY har har) and just watching the world go by.
Unfortunately, it's also a Monday, which meant going to work and freezing with only coffee to keep me warm. (Tommy is non-existent, in my life anyway. So that's a moot point.)
But the SKY! It was beautiful today on my way home. Once the sun finally got out of my eyes, there was blue sky with little white and gray puffy clouds, some which were sporting rainbow colors we always called "sun-dogs". As always when I see skies like that I think...I need to paint!!!
I would've taken a picture but I only had my cell phone with me and I'm notorious for taking very shaky and pretty much horrible pictures with that! But it is in my head, and will hopefully find its way into one of my paintings one of these days.
So instead of watching TV all night, I believe I will get out my paints and start re-learning the art. Never too late, right? 2013 is the year for following dreams.
Tommy will have to wait.
Unfortunately, it's also a Monday, which meant going to work and freezing with only coffee to keep me warm. (Tommy is non-existent, in my life anyway. So that's a moot point.)
But the SKY! It was beautiful today on my way home. Once the sun finally got out of my eyes, there was blue sky with little white and gray puffy clouds, some which were sporting rainbow colors we always called "sun-dogs". As always when I see skies like that I think...I need to paint!!!
I would've taken a picture but I only had my cell phone with me and I'm notorious for taking very shaky and pretty much horrible pictures with that! But it is in my head, and will hopefully find its way into one of my paintings one of these days.
So instead of watching TV all night, I believe I will get out my paints and start re-learning the art. Never too late, right? 2013 is the year for following dreams.
Tommy will have to wait.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
A year in the life....
Opening this blog tonight gave me a total and complete surprise. It has been a year and several days since I wrote anything. I know I've had stories to tell, but it seems that I felt maybe my life was not so interesting after all.
It wasn't really a new year's resolution (I didn't make any this year..waste of time..) but I think I have decided tonight that my life MIGHT be interesting to someone out there...so..I will try to do better!
2012...I don't think it was a good year for anyone. It seemed like it flew by with day after day of working my long time boring job, and working my other job 2 nights a week and Sundays. One day weekends suck, that's for sure. But I love my car and my house and having food to eat, so I do what I can to survive it without being bitter.
I think what I have learned most in the past year is to try to be positive about things. Since it does no good to be negative and worry I pretty much started walking away from the bad stuff. You know we all talk about doing that, and share things that are meant to make us keep positive, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty of life, it's really hard to do.
My brother told me about a book called "The Four Agreements". I read it several years ago, but I believe it has done a great deal to change my outlook on life. I won't go into detail, because it's something that you would need to read yourself. But I will list them here:
1. Be impeccable with your word
2. Don't take anything personally
3. Don't make assumptions
4. Always do your best
Some of the agreements seem very simplistic in the list, but there is more to them when you dig down. Just a suggestion... Not to say I'm perfect by any means...I'm just trying to do my best!
I went through a bit of an empty nest thing for a while. Lost 64 pounds, gained back 20, lost 5 more and am going down again. Quit smoking several times. Bit my fingernails down to nothing and watched hour upon hour of Monk reruns. This has been my life. I have set up a craft room that I have yet to craft in, still cannot get my bed feng shui'ed correctly, and don't sit on my front porch like I should.
I am happy to say that my daughter is happy with her man, and that makes me almost ecstatic. I am so thankful that he was brought into her life and they are making a life together. And no, I haven't met anyone special....yet!
So I'm happy living in my little house in the big hood, with my 3 cats who allow me to stay with them. I look to the future with what I call a "Scarlett O'Hara" attitude. I do what I can to make my life good today. And if I mess up or if it just turns out to be a shitty day, well...I use the words of Miss Scarlett...."after all, tomorrow IS another day!"
Make it a good one!
It wasn't really a new year's resolution (I didn't make any this year..waste of time..) but I think I have decided tonight that my life MIGHT be interesting to someone out there...so..I will try to do better!
2012...I don't think it was a good year for anyone. It seemed like it flew by with day after day of working my long time boring job, and working my other job 2 nights a week and Sundays. One day weekends suck, that's for sure. But I love my car and my house and having food to eat, so I do what I can to survive it without being bitter.
I think what I have learned most in the past year is to try to be positive about things. Since it does no good to be negative and worry I pretty much started walking away from the bad stuff. You know we all talk about doing that, and share things that are meant to make us keep positive, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty of life, it's really hard to do.
My brother told me about a book called "The Four Agreements". I read it several years ago, but I believe it has done a great deal to change my outlook on life. I won't go into detail, because it's something that you would need to read yourself. But I will list them here:
1. Be impeccable with your word
2. Don't take anything personally
3. Don't make assumptions
4. Always do your best
Some of the agreements seem very simplistic in the list, but there is more to them when you dig down. Just a suggestion... Not to say I'm perfect by any means...I'm just trying to do my best!
I went through a bit of an empty nest thing for a while. Lost 64 pounds, gained back 20, lost 5 more and am going down again. Quit smoking several times. Bit my fingernails down to nothing and watched hour upon hour of Monk reruns. This has been my life. I have set up a craft room that I have yet to craft in, still cannot get my bed feng shui'ed correctly, and don't sit on my front porch like I should.
I am happy to say that my daughter is happy with her man, and that makes me almost ecstatic. I am so thankful that he was brought into her life and they are making a life together. And no, I haven't met anyone special....yet!
So I'm happy living in my little house in the big hood, with my 3 cats who allow me to stay with them. I look to the future with what I call a "Scarlett O'Hara" attitude. I do what I can to make my life good today. And if I mess up or if it just turns out to be a shitty day, well...I use the words of Miss Scarlett...."after all, tomorrow IS another day!"
Make it a good one!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Time flies when you're having...work!
Well, once again, it's been a long time. Guess nobody missed me much since I didn't get any cosmic vibes, but that's ok.
Been working, did get a new car, which is good. Had a good holiday season and ready for the next chapter.
Working on organizing, rearranging, getting my shit together. Maybe after I do all that, I can start thinking about maybe finding a man..lol..
Anyway..I can't think of anything to write about, except maybe kitchen grease, and that doesn't sound very interesting, so I will just say goodbye for now!!
Been working, did get a new car, which is good. Had a good holiday season and ready for the next chapter.
Working on organizing, rearranging, getting my shit together. Maybe after I do all that, I can start thinking about maybe finding a man..lol..
Anyway..I can't think of anything to write about, except maybe kitchen grease, and that doesn't sound very interesting, so I will just say goodbye for now!!
Friday, November 4, 2011
And I call myself a blogger....
Boy I tell ya...6 months between entries is not a very good track record, is it?? So much has happened since June I don't even know where to begin. Oh wait! Yes I do...My new car? It's a piece of crap! I have had nothing but trouble with it since I got it and I'm about ready to trade it in for a different one. I can't believe I let myself get ripped off like that. Just goes to show, sometimes you just can't trust people you think you know. *sigh*
So, aside from that, life has been a blur pretty much the whole time. My daughter, her friend, and I took another historic trip to GA to visit family. We had to rent a car, of course, because mine wouldn't freaking make it...cuss, cuss...*deep breath*....We had a great time and the beer flowed freely as usual. It was good to see everyone again. Good to see my mother, since she is getting so old I never know when will be the last time. She continues to surprise us, however, by hanging in there.
When we came home, I started a part time job at the grocery store. The first week, I thought I was going to die, I was so tired. But when the extra money started coming in every week, I was happy to be exhausted with pain over my entire body. Speaking of my entire body, however, by this time it was about 30 pounds smaller than what it had been. I began Dr Atkins new diet on April 18 or thereabouts and by July I had lost 30 pounds. At this writing, I have lost 52. I am 1/3 of the way to where I want to be, but my next goal is to lose 10 more pounds to weigh less than I have had on my driver's license for roughly the last 20 years. Actually I weigh less now than I have for those past 20 years, cuz it probably wasn't correct then either. It's very exciting to be losing weight, but some days it's really hard. But I know it will be worth it. Holidays are coming up again too, so I need to really get my game face on!
Going through the empty nest again too. Well, 99% of the time anyway. My girl has moved out again, with the love of her life. She is happy and I'm so glad! It makes it a lot easier to be without her, although I still miss her intensely sometimes.
Ok, that's all the "news that's fit to print" at this time. Nothing funny, I guess. I'll try to write more often.
In between work and work and making Christmas presents...well, you know! If it gets to be more than a couple weeks, send cosmic vibes and I will write.
This is me after losing 50 pounds. My friends at work gave me roses to commemorate.
So, aside from that, life has been a blur pretty much the whole time. My daughter, her friend, and I took another historic trip to GA to visit family. We had to rent a car, of course, because mine wouldn't freaking make it...cuss, cuss...*deep breath*....We had a great time and the beer flowed freely as usual. It was good to see everyone again. Good to see my mother, since she is getting so old I never know when will be the last time. She continues to surprise us, however, by hanging in there.
When we came home, I started a part time job at the grocery store. The first week, I thought I was going to die, I was so tired. But when the extra money started coming in every week, I was happy to be exhausted with pain over my entire body. Speaking of my entire body, however, by this time it was about 30 pounds smaller than what it had been. I began Dr Atkins new diet on April 18 or thereabouts and by July I had lost 30 pounds. At this writing, I have lost 52. I am 1/3 of the way to where I want to be, but my next goal is to lose 10 more pounds to weigh less than I have had on my driver's license for roughly the last 20 years. Actually I weigh less now than I have for those past 20 years, cuz it probably wasn't correct then either. It's very exciting to be losing weight, but some days it's really hard. But I know it will be worth it. Holidays are coming up again too, so I need to really get my game face on!
Going through the empty nest again too. Well, 99% of the time anyway. My girl has moved out again, with the love of her life. She is happy and I'm so glad! It makes it a lot easier to be without her, although I still miss her intensely sometimes.
Ok, that's all the "news that's fit to print" at this time. Nothing funny, I guess. I'll try to write more often.
In between work and work and making Christmas presents...well, you know! If it gets to be more than a couple weeks, send cosmic vibes and I will write.
This is me after losing 50 pounds. My friends at work gave me roses to commemorate.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
New Wheels=New Outlook?
I would like to add to this that the Kia didn't last more than 6 months. In fact, I barely drove it during that time. It was always breaking down. I am now the proud partial owner of a Toyota Corolla, and a car payment. I do love my car though. Had it for over a year now, and it's doing great! (1/25/2013)
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Spoiled Rotten....and Loving It!
When I was a girl growing up in GA, we never had air conditioning. We kept our windows open about 3 or 4 inches, and had a big ol' attic fan that sucked the hot summer air through those little spaces. Made lots of noise too. It was right by my bedroom, so I guess that's why I love to have a fan on when I go to sleep. We didn't know that we were missing. We didn't have air in the car, in school, pretty much anywhere we went. As time went on, signs on stores used to shout, "COME IN! IT'S COOOOL INSIDE!". And they were cool, and it felt so good to walk in there on a hot day. I remember going to Sears and it would be so nice in there, and that little "bong bong" would be going off all the time on the overhead speakers. I guess it was some kind of paging system. (Gallagher, the comedian, said it was some kind of signal to women to shop. "Bong Bong, I'm shopping!" hilarious he is!) But the store I remember the most was McClellans. I would walk in and the fans overhead would stir the hot air around. My shoes would clip-clop on the unvarnished hardwood floors. Everywhere there were bins filled with things not needed but so beautiful to a child. Five and ten cents. And you could smell the lunch at the counter. It was a wonderful place! I'm surprised I don't love to shop. But maybe that's why I like Dollar General so much. It's kind of the same thing..only cooler!
Anyway, to get to the point, my air conditioner went out one week ago tomorrow. It took 5 days for it to be fixed and during that time, I kept wondering how in the hell we ever survived in the GA heat without it. Of course, when I moved to Indiana and got married, we lived in a trailer with no air conditioning, but I don't remember it being so bad there either. Maybe it's because I'm older? Now when I get hot, I turn into a sweat-dripping, red-faced grouch who looks like a stroke waiting to happen. I have to admit, I didn't do diddly-squat during those five days except what I absolutely HAD to do. I looked forward to going to work because it was cooler there. I didn't sleep much. Getting old sucks! But now the AC is fixed, and I am happy to sit here and listen to it wind my electric meter up to oblivion! I will never take it for granted again!
But sometimes, it would be nice to go back to the days where walking into McClellan's hot store on Marietta's square made me happy. And sometimes, you could just go in where it's cool.
Anyway, to get to the point, my air conditioner went out one week ago tomorrow. It took 5 days for it to be fixed and during that time, I kept wondering how in the hell we ever survived in the GA heat without it. Of course, when I moved to Indiana and got married, we lived in a trailer with no air conditioning, but I don't remember it being so bad there either. Maybe it's because I'm older? Now when I get hot, I turn into a sweat-dripping, red-faced grouch who looks like a stroke waiting to happen. I have to admit, I didn't do diddly-squat during those five days except what I absolutely HAD to do. I looked forward to going to work because it was cooler there. I didn't sleep much. Getting old sucks! But now the AC is fixed, and I am happy to sit here and listen to it wind my electric meter up to oblivion! I will never take it for granted again!
But sometimes, it would be nice to go back to the days where walking into McClellan's hot store on Marietta's square made me happy. And sometimes, you could just go in where it's cool.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Confession of a Lazy Blogger
Bless me, Readers, for I have sinned. It has been 8 months since my last blog entry. In that time I have been on the computer every day and have ignored my blog as if it didn’t exist. I have no explanation for that. Is it because nothing has happened in my life that is blog-worthy? No…I’m sure plenty has happened, so that can’t be it…
Is it because some of the things are just too personal to write about in a blog? Well, maybe..some of them, but definitely not all!
I guess I will just have to confess that I am lazy, lazy, lazy when it comes to my blog. Please forgive me and I will try to do better!
So, what HAS happened since my last blog? Well, first, my house has been mostly clean..that’s a start! (see previous blog entry.) We’ve had Thanksgiving, Christmas, 2011, my 56th birthday, and several other birthdays and holidays. I guess considering the way the country is right now, I’m thankful to have a job and a house to live in. Maybe it’s just been a boring 8 months?
But as I’ve heard said many times, any day above ground is a good day, and it’s never too late to have a happy ending…All clichés, but definitely good thoughts.
Sending out only good thoughts to you, til next time!
Is it because some of the things are just too personal to write about in a blog? Well, maybe..some of them, but definitely not all!
I guess I will just have to confess that I am lazy, lazy, lazy when it comes to my blog. Please forgive me and I will try to do better!
So, what HAS happened since my last blog? Well, first, my house has been mostly clean..that’s a start! (see previous blog entry.) We’ve had Thanksgiving, Christmas, 2011, my 56th birthday, and several other birthdays and holidays. I guess considering the way the country is right now, I’m thankful to have a job and a house to live in. Maybe it’s just been a boring 8 months?
But as I’ve heard said many times, any day above ground is a good day, and it’s never too late to have a happy ending…All clichés, but definitely good thoughts.
Sending out only good thoughts to you, til next time!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
I hate housework!
Almost every day of my life you will hear the words come out of my mouth, “I need to clean my house!" You would think that since I talk about it all the time that my house would be clean as a whistle and neat as a pin, right? Wrong! I HATE housework! Wash the dishes in the morning, and by supper time they are piled high in the sink. Clean the litter box, and the next day it’s full again. Wash clothes, and two days later you’ve nothing to wear. Sweep the floor and two minutes later step on a piece of something that didn’t get picked up. It’s horrible! It’s an exercise in futility exceeded only by the notion of resisting the Borg!
I am a procrastinator anyway. I think you should never put off till tomorrow what you can put off tilll next week, or forever for that matter. Now, you would think that since I know I don’t like to clean things that I would live a spartan existence, just a bed, one chair, one plate, etc. This is not the case. On the contrary, I am a packrat, a collector. I have collections of collections! I come by it naturally, of course. For example, when my mother moved in with my sister and sold the family home, the attic had to be emptied. We all knew the attic was full of stuff, but the sheer volume of “things” in that attic boggled the mind! To a neat freak, it would have been an opportunity to throw some junk away. To me, it’s an opportunity to bring more “collectables” into my home. Never mind the fact that most anything up there was bound to have mold, mildew, Black Widow and/or Brown Recluse spiders, and the possible stray alien egg on it. Never mind that lurking in the fiberglass between the rafters there may have been a heretofore unknown species breeding. Nevertheless, when I visited recently, I came home with my old dollhouse, (which still had all the pieces), tables, lamps I’ll never use, pictures of relatives I never knew, and a collection of fashion dolls all naked and headless. One of the people who was helping move things asked me if I had ever dealt with the problem of ripping off doll heads. I just smiled and walked away. He's lucky he still has HIS!
But now I’m home again and in the past 2 months I have bought 3 or 4 books on organizing. I don’t understand why organizing always costs money. I am thinking about writing a book called "Organizing the Stuff You Have with the Stuff You Have". Who has $300 to go out and buy a new closet organizer system? I sure as hell don’t! Even a plastic tote is $5. Multiply that by the number of them I would need to buy, and I could have enough cash back on my credit card to get me to Hawaii. Some day maybe I will buy some of those clear plastic boxes to put all my stuff in so at least I will KNOW what is in my closet that I will never use!
So for now, I do my own thing... cardboard boxes, boxes, and more boxes. I have boxes everywhere. On most of them is written what is in there, what was in there recently, and what was in there 5 years ago. I am even a packrat with boxes! Unless it’s falling apart I don’t throw it away. I just mark out the label, write something new, and put it back on the shelf. Then there is that old bane of existence, MAIL. Junk mail, bills, catalogs, whatever it is, always ends up in a pile. Before I know it, I have quite a collection of papers that need to be eliminated. So I make an “eliminate” pile, and it sits there till I get around to it, which is usually three to four months after they arrive. Sometimes, I find disconnect notices in that pile. In a panic, I'll go looking for a newer bill that will show that the disconnect is no longer a threat. Usually I can either find one showing that I've paid, or I'll frantically call the company and beg for an extension. I always wonder how I managed to only have my utilities disconnected a few times. Maybe the company has my name in one of their piles and hasn't found me yet. Or, maybe the person who schedules the disconnects is a packrat, too, and he/she understands.
I have tried before to ask people who have nice clean homes how to clean. I have inevitably received the same answer....hysterical laughter. People think I’m joking when I ask that. I don’t understand why I don’t know how to keep my house clean. So, when I ask, it's because I really want to know. I figure that out there is someone who did not have assigned chores when they were young, or who didn’t learn to clean from their mother or their grandmother or their nice neighbor. They had to learn it on their own. Somehow they were able to cut through the banality of cleaning to find the "true light of cleanliness", or something like that. This person would be able to pass their "light" on to me. My daughter learned to clean from one of her friends. She has tried to pass her "light" on to me, but I'm a slow learner in this case. She loves me, so she just shakes her head and smiles.
Here's the thing...Housework is repetitive. I don’t like to do the same thing over and over every day. Maybe I'm messy because I am truly adventurous. The everyday stuff pales in comparison to the new horizons I am seeking. Whatever! The truth is, I'm not disciplined enough to take care of messes while they are small. Plus, I am used to the mess, even though it's not as bad as it used to be. All I know is that if my house is too clean, I’m not comfortable. I start missing the pair of scissors that have been laying on the bookshelf for the past month. Where on earth did I put them? I am trying to fix something and need a hammer. Where is it? I can't find the cat toy that I always trip over. Now the cats are bored and are starting to eat the houseplants, which I just found behind the newspapers and other miscellaneous junk piled on the table. Judging from the looks of the plants, the cats knew where they were all along.
Once in a while, though, my daughter and I will have this huge burst of energy and will clean the entire house. The living room, kitchen and dining room will look so good that we want it to always look that way. We thought about taking pictures of the rooms, gluing them into sunglasses and making everyone who visits wear them. That way, we could actually keep the place messy but no one would be the wiser. It would be kind of like looking through rose-colored glasses, only they wouldn’t be able to see a damn thing. They would think our house was straight out of Better Homes and Gardens. Just the way I like it!
I said that we get into moods and clean the entire house. That is true with one exception–my bedroom. It is the repository for every reject thing from every other room in the house. I have things in there that I still don’t know where to put them. There could be a million dollars in unmarked bills in there, and I wouldn't know it. Usually stuff ends up in a box marked “Stuff” which is put on a shelf in my packed-to-the-gills closet. About a week later, we will need something, I’ll remember it’s in my room, drag "Stuff" out of my closet, and the mess starts up again because I: a)really want to go through it and sort things out, b)thought I saw an unmarked bill in there, or c) am too lazy to put it all back, because when I moved the box from the shelf, all the other boxes fell down to take it's place.
Laundry is horrible too. I try to wear my clothes more than once before I wash them, but I have this “shelf” on my upper body which catches everything from cracker crumbs to barbeque sauce. I wear something once, and if I don’t eat in it, I may be ok. However, if I have a meal of any sort, I’m bound to be washing it the next day. I do try to keep the pile of dirty clothes smaller these days, though. Once we had such a big pile of clothes on the floor, a friend of ours came over, walked down the hall, and vanished! The pile of clothes actually turned into a monster and ate him! Well, maybe not. He never did come back, though.
Like I said, I do a little better with cleaning, so it's not as bad as it used to be. I at least try to keep the dishes done up and I attempt to keep my little space in the living room clean. I do a lot of crafts, so there are always little pieces of fabric, thread, and the occasional needle all over the floor around where I sit. I call them my "droppings". I'm sort of like Pigpen in Charlie Brown comics. I have this cloud of stuff around me all the time. It’s part of who I am. Being a little messy is part of my charm. I'm too creative to care about having a super clean house. I have a magnet that says "Boring women have immaculate houses". I agree with that. However, I think from now on, my motto will be "Love me, love my droppings".
Mouse click in 3....2.....1....
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| Oh Maxine! What a good idea! |
I am a procrastinator anyway. I think you should never put off till tomorrow what you can put off tilll next week, or forever for that matter. Now, you would think that since I know I don’t like to clean things that I would live a spartan existence, just a bed, one chair, one plate, etc. This is not the case. On the contrary, I am a packrat, a collector. I have collections of collections! I come by it naturally, of course. For example, when my mother moved in with my sister and sold the family home, the attic had to be emptied. We all knew the attic was full of stuff, but the sheer volume of “things” in that attic boggled the mind! To a neat freak, it would have been an opportunity to throw some junk away. To me, it’s an opportunity to bring more “collectables” into my home. Never mind the fact that most anything up there was bound to have mold, mildew, Black Widow and/or Brown Recluse spiders, and the possible stray alien egg on it. Never mind that lurking in the fiberglass between the rafters there may have been a heretofore unknown species breeding. Nevertheless, when I visited recently, I came home with my old dollhouse, (which still had all the pieces), tables, lamps I’ll never use, pictures of relatives I never knew, and a collection of fashion dolls all naked and headless. One of the people who was helping move things asked me if I had ever dealt with the problem of ripping off doll heads. I just smiled and walked away. He's lucky he still has HIS!
But now I’m home again and in the past 2 months I have bought 3 or 4 books on organizing. I don’t understand why organizing always costs money. I am thinking about writing a book called "Organizing the Stuff You Have with the Stuff You Have". Who has $300 to go out and buy a new closet organizer system? I sure as hell don’t! Even a plastic tote is $5. Multiply that by the number of them I would need to buy, and I could have enough cash back on my credit card to get me to Hawaii. Some day maybe I will buy some of those clear plastic boxes to put all my stuff in so at least I will KNOW what is in my closet that I will never use!
So for now, I do my own thing... cardboard boxes, boxes, and more boxes. I have boxes everywhere. On most of them is written what is in there, what was in there recently, and what was in there 5 years ago. I am even a packrat with boxes! Unless it’s falling apart I don’t throw it away. I just mark out the label, write something new, and put it back on the shelf. Then there is that old bane of existence, MAIL. Junk mail, bills, catalogs, whatever it is, always ends up in a pile. Before I know it, I have quite a collection of papers that need to be eliminated. So I make an “eliminate” pile, and it sits there till I get around to it, which is usually three to four months after they arrive. Sometimes, I find disconnect notices in that pile. In a panic, I'll go looking for a newer bill that will show that the disconnect is no longer a threat. Usually I can either find one showing that I've paid, or I'll frantically call the company and beg for an extension. I always wonder how I managed to only have my utilities disconnected a few times. Maybe the company has my name in one of their piles and hasn't found me yet. Or, maybe the person who schedules the disconnects is a packrat, too, and he/she understands.
I have tried before to ask people who have nice clean homes how to clean. I have inevitably received the same answer....hysterical laughter. People think I’m joking when I ask that. I don’t understand why I don’t know how to keep my house clean. So, when I ask, it's because I really want to know. I figure that out there is someone who did not have assigned chores when they were young, or who didn’t learn to clean from their mother or their grandmother or their nice neighbor. They had to learn it on their own. Somehow they were able to cut through the banality of cleaning to find the "true light of cleanliness", or something like that. This person would be able to pass their "light" on to me. My daughter learned to clean from one of her friends. She has tried to pass her "light" on to me, but I'm a slow learner in this case. She loves me, so she just shakes her head and smiles.
Here's the thing...Housework is repetitive. I don’t like to do the same thing over and over every day. Maybe I'm messy because I am truly adventurous. The everyday stuff pales in comparison to the new horizons I am seeking. Whatever! The truth is, I'm not disciplined enough to take care of messes while they are small. Plus, I am used to the mess, even though it's not as bad as it used to be. All I know is that if my house is too clean, I’m not comfortable. I start missing the pair of scissors that have been laying on the bookshelf for the past month. Where on earth did I put them? I am trying to fix something and need a hammer. Where is it? I can't find the cat toy that I always trip over. Now the cats are bored and are starting to eat the houseplants, which I just found behind the newspapers and other miscellaneous junk piled on the table. Judging from the looks of the plants, the cats knew where they were all along.
Once in a while, though, my daughter and I will have this huge burst of energy and will clean the entire house. The living room, kitchen and dining room will look so good that we want it to always look that way. We thought about taking pictures of the rooms, gluing them into sunglasses and making everyone who visits wear them. That way, we could actually keep the place messy but no one would be the wiser. It would be kind of like looking through rose-colored glasses, only they wouldn’t be able to see a damn thing. They would think our house was straight out of Better Homes and Gardens. Just the way I like it!
I said that we get into moods and clean the entire house. That is true with one exception–my bedroom. It is the repository for every reject thing from every other room in the house. I have things in there that I still don’t know where to put them. There could be a million dollars in unmarked bills in there, and I wouldn't know it. Usually stuff ends up in a box marked “Stuff” which is put on a shelf in my packed-to-the-gills closet. About a week later, we will need something, I’ll remember it’s in my room, drag "Stuff" out of my closet, and the mess starts up again because I: a)really want to go through it and sort things out, b)thought I saw an unmarked bill in there, or c) am too lazy to put it all back, because when I moved the box from the shelf, all the other boxes fell down to take it's place.
Laundry is horrible too. I try to wear my clothes more than once before I wash them, but I have this “shelf” on my upper body which catches everything from cracker crumbs to barbeque sauce. I wear something once, and if I don’t eat in it, I may be ok. However, if I have a meal of any sort, I’m bound to be washing it the next day. I do try to keep the pile of dirty clothes smaller these days, though. Once we had such a big pile of clothes on the floor, a friend of ours came over, walked down the hall, and vanished! The pile of clothes actually turned into a monster and ate him! Well, maybe not. He never did come back, though.
Like I said, I do a little better with cleaning, so it's not as bad as it used to be. I at least try to keep the dishes done up and I attempt to keep my little space in the living room clean. I do a lot of crafts, so there are always little pieces of fabric, thread, and the occasional needle all over the floor around where I sit. I call them my "droppings". I'm sort of like Pigpen in Charlie Brown comics. I have this cloud of stuff around me all the time. It’s part of who I am. Being a little messy is part of my charm. I'm too creative to care about having a super clean house. I have a magnet that says "Boring women have immaculate houses". I agree with that. However, I think from now on, my motto will be "Love me, love my droppings".
Mouse click in 3....2.....1....
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Recovering from Vacation
Ahhhhh....Vacation! What a wonderful word! The very thought of it brings images of beaches, mountains, slot machines (for some). An awesome thing. But the most awesome image the word brings up is TIME OFF WORK!!
Even people who love their jobs love time off work. It's freedom. Freedom to do whatever they want without having to punch a time clock. Time without worrying about that deadline or schedules, or even having to get dressed! Ahhhhh.....Vacation!
Even people who love their jobs love time off work. It's freedom. Freedom to do whatever they want without having to punch a time clock. Time without worrying about that deadline or schedules, or even having to get dressed! Ahhhhh.....Vacation!
It's the time to drink all the beer you can possibly get your hands on. The time to introduce the family to Monster Shots (a moment of silence, please........................)
It's the time to go swimming, get bruised in all sorts of places, in other words, have a FREAKIN BALL!!!
Ok, so my vacation was obviously the latter one. My daughter and I were going to go to the beach, but we just didn't have time. We did drive up one side and down the other of a mountain, so maybe that does count. Not sure...No slot machines...that's my best friend's obsession. I'm a Blackjack girl, myself. But I'm getting off track.
Remember what I said about not worrying about schedules? Well, that wasn't entirely true. We did have a schedule. It looked something like this: arrive at sister's house Thursday night, go to bed. Get up Friday go to nephew's house, spend two nights, come back to house, spend time with Mom, visit with High School friends, go see the new Twilight movie (oh Edward!), leave for home on Tuesday. That was the schedule. Sounds a little boring, huh?
Oh nooooo! Boring was not a word I would use to describe this schedule! It was a blowout! An all out beer-drinking, shot-taking, guitar-playing, bruise-making blowout!
My daughter turned out to be a very good driver. She does think that the speed limit in every state is 85 mph, but she does really good at that speed. We sang and talked and laughed all the way to Georgia. Good times.
We arrived at my sister Vicki's house at about 8 PM on Thursday night. We were sitting out on the porch smoking, having long since been banned from smoking inside by the great Cynthia takeover..but that's another blog... and my nephew Chad and his wife Shannon showed up unexpectedly, announcing themselves as Jehovah's Witnesses. One interesting thing...these JW's had BEER! So we began our vacation by getting completely plastered on Vicki's front porch. A portent of things to come!
On Friday, when we finally got up, we headed off to Chris and Pam's house (my other nephew and his wife) armed with no less than 120 beers. That's 40 beers each if anyone is counting. We also had Monster Energy Drinks@ and a fifth of Bacardi@, and shot glasses. We were ready to parrrrtaaaaay!!!
And so, we did...For 2 solid days and nights! I will let the picture above do the talking for the most part. It does get boring talking about who got drunk and what they did or said that might not be funny to anyone but us. You would have to have been there, you know? I mean, I wonder how many times Mike asked if he had a booger? It was hilarious. I fell in the garage. Slipped on the concrete floor. Slammed my cheek into the work bench and landed on my expensive knees. Had to call for help. Pam came to the rescue, and when Eric came out to see what was wrong, he fell. (the floor was VERY slick) Pam and I helped him up, we couldn't stop laughing. Pam reached over to ask Eric if he was ok, Eric took another step, fell again, pulled Pam down on top of him. We were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe. I looked like someone had punched me in the face. Eric had a huge bruise on his butt. It was freaking awesome!
I played the guitar for the first time in 5 years. Sang with my family, felt...happy...contented.. realizing what I have missed for the past few years. Wish my brother had been there. Talk about playing guitar!!!! wow.. Maybe next time, Elwood? =)
It was good to see my mom. Old and frail, but still has a tongue that'll knock the crap out of your self-esteem at a moment's notice. I had prepared for it. I came home with my self-esteem intact for the first time ever. That in itself was quite an accomplishment, and well worth the time. Edward (Twilight Eclipse..Team Edward!) was awesome, of course, and no, Vicki, he did NOT have a booger!
It was good to see my mom. Old and frail, but still has a tongue that'll knock the crap out of your self-esteem at a moment's notice. I had prepared for it. I came home with my self-esteem intact for the first time ever. That in itself was quite an accomplishment, and well worth the time. Edward (Twilight Eclipse..Team Edward!) was awesome, of course, and no, Vicki, he did NOT have a booger!
Of course the time came, as it always does, when we had to come home. The trip home was great too. We sang and laughed and talked and had a great time. It took me a week to recover. I think I killed a few billion brain cells, but wow...what a blast!
All in all...it was a great vacation! I plan on doing it again a lot sooner, because I realized that I really miss my family. Allison had a blast with them, and it was good for her. I will not regret the time missed previously, though. Maybe things had to happen inside me before I could face my mom with confidence. Maybe I had to just be ready to accept everyone as they are. I don't know.. whatever it was, the time was definitely right, and I am changed. I belong now. I'm not the outsider, and it's really a great feeling. So I say, thank you Vicki, Chris, Pam, Chad, Shannon, Eric, Mike, and all the other random drunken people who floated through that Lost Weekend, thank you for the best time I've had in years!
So, pop a beer, drink a Monster Bomb (a moment of silence, please............), grab a guitar or turn on some music, and enjoy the company of those around you. If you don't have family, make one. If you do, well....try to "put the FUN in dysFUNctional". Enjoy the life you have, make memories with friends, and if you are lucky, with a great bunch of family who likes the same things you do.
Ahhhh....Vacation! Wish I could be there now..wait...do I have a booger???
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Why I hate Internet Dating Sites!
Ok, first of all, if you want to get more than just someone you can meet on the street or in a bar, you gotta pay to be on a website. Sure, you can flirt, send little messages, but if anyone sends one back to you, you can't read it, or even see a picture, unless you pay. And you pay BIG! So I went on the one you see on TV all the time. Oh everybody is soooo happy, and so in love, yada yada yada... It's $59.95 a month! You can do a year for a lot less, but they charge ya $200 + at one time, so you are out the money and still don't know if they will be able to match you on the deepest level. I highly doubt if there are refunds. It's a crap shoot. As I've said before (possibly in this blog...sorry) I can get rejected for free.
But, my daughter encouraged me to try again, so I did. There is a free weekend coming up (how better to celebrate Independence Day than by getting hooked up with Mr Maybe Not Quite Right?) so I went ahead and took an hour and a half and answered all the questions, trying to be as honest and straightforward as possible. I thought I did fairly well. We shall see. Do I care? I'm not so sure about that....
The following are some of the answers that my "perfect matches" gave (and my comments on each.) You be the judge...is it worth $59.95 a month to be matched on these "deepest levels"???
When asked what books he has recently read: At this time, I read what is required for collage classes (maybe they'll teach him how to spell college while he's there...or maybe he's learning how to cut pictures out and paste them to a piece of cardboard for a nice dekorashun?)
When asked what the first thing people notice about him is: Im quit type.
Additional information: High risks reaps high reward; I do spend time up north in MI my home town. (It's risky up there in MI, huh??)
Occupation: i am gone alot (and how's that workin' out for ya?)
Three things he's thankful for: 1.that god being to me 2 that i all way being to take of my loveone. 3 that my health is still good thankful that other feeling come befor my onw i love alot like to laugh alot (wtf?)
Additional information: I don't have great table manners, but I will make you laugh. (Animal House anyone?? FOOD FIGHT!!!!!)
The first thing people notice about him: That I look mean but i am not (ha! says you!)
Which led naturally into the next question:
Additional information: Don't judge the book by the cover. No Photo no contact (isn't that kind of a contradiction?)
Things he wishes more people would notice about him: There is more to me than looks (if this is true, why don't people notice?)
The first thing people notice about Henry is : I go by Steve, not Henry (so....why did you put Henry on your profile? It's not like a legal document or anything...)
He likes to spend his leisure time: watch racing, building things, camping, having fun of any sort, shooting sports, fishing, hunting, 420 (In other words, gettin' stoned and shootin' guns an' animals an' shit!)
Oh, and the one that REALLY got me... When asked "Who was the most influential person in your life?" this guy answered: my wife. (now...is this ex-wife, late wife, CURRENT wife???)
There were more, some made me laugh out loud. Some were kind of sad. It took me about 5 minutes to figure out WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get.) I'm pretty sure that was Henry/Steve.
Anyway, I just wanted to share these little tidbits with you. Glimpses of the Caucasian, not Hispanic, 45-62 year old male population who go online hoping to meet the girl of their dreams. Hey, maybe they are blogging about the fact that I like Twilight, and cats, and movies, and that I admit to being a couch potato. Who knows? At least I spelled potato correctly!
But, my daughter encouraged me to try again, so I did. There is a free weekend coming up (how better to celebrate Independence Day than by getting hooked up with Mr Maybe Not Quite Right?) so I went ahead and took an hour and a half and answered all the questions, trying to be as honest and straightforward as possible. I thought I did fairly well. We shall see. Do I care? I'm not so sure about that....
The following are some of the answers that my "perfect matches" gave (and my comments on each.) You be the judge...is it worth $59.95 a month to be matched on these "deepest levels"???
When asked what books he has recently read: At this time, I read what is required for collage classes (maybe they'll teach him how to spell college while he's there...or maybe he's learning how to cut pictures out and paste them to a piece of cardboard for a nice dekorashun?)
When asked what the first thing people notice about him is: Im quit type.
Additional information: High risks reaps high reward; I do spend time up north in MI my home town. (It's risky up there in MI, huh??)
Occupation: i am gone alot (and how's that workin' out for ya?)
Three things he's thankful for: 1.that god being to me 2 that i all way being to take of my loveone. 3 that my health is still good thankful that other feeling come befor my onw i love alot like to laugh alot (wtf?)
Additional information: I don't have great table manners, but I will make you laugh. (Animal House anyone?? FOOD FIGHT!!!!!)
The first thing people notice about him: That I look mean but i am not (ha! says you!)
Which led naturally into the next question:
Additional information: Don't judge the book by the cover. No Photo no contact (isn't that kind of a contradiction?)
Things he wishes more people would notice about him: There is more to me than looks (if this is true, why don't people notice?)
The first thing people notice about Henry is : I go by Steve, not Henry (so....why did you put Henry on your profile? It's not like a legal document or anything...)
He likes to spend his leisure time: watch racing, building things, camping, having fun of any sort, shooting sports, fishing, hunting, 420 (In other words, gettin' stoned and shootin' guns an' animals an' shit!)
Oh, and the one that REALLY got me... When asked "Who was the most influential person in your life?" this guy answered: my wife. (now...is this ex-wife, late wife, CURRENT wife???)
There were more, some made me laugh out loud. Some were kind of sad. It took me about 5 minutes to figure out WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get.) I'm pretty sure that was Henry/Steve.
Anyway, I just wanted to share these little tidbits with you. Glimpses of the Caucasian, not Hispanic, 45-62 year old male population who go online hoping to meet the girl of their dreams. Hey, maybe they are blogging about the fact that I like Twilight, and cats, and movies, and that I admit to being a couch potato. Who knows? At least I spelled potato correctly!
Monday, May 17, 2010
The New Jerusalem
Today, May 17, 2010, was my first day alone in my new job. What a ride this last month has been! I lost my job, of course, and thought I was going to be one of the unemployed millions for a while. I was almost looking forward to it, when fate...ah fate!...stepped in.
There was a lady at my office who had worked closely with me on some situations, so I was somewhat familiar with her job. It just so happened that I saw the job posting after she announced her imminent retirement, and applied for the job. I went to the interview and was pretty sure that I had the job. I was right. They offered it to me, and I accepted. Meanwhile, I was offered an interview at another location. I started my new job on Monday, and interviewed for the other job on Tuesday. I just KNEW I had that job! Turns out, though, I'm not "fast-paced" enough for them, so they turned me down. Just as well, I think. Later on, they might decide I'm too something else for the job, or not enough of another thing for the job. So, I threw myself into learning the new one that I already had. After all, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, isn't that what they say? Let me tell you...it's true! Two jobs hanging out there was not good for anyone involved, and I was glad when it was all over.
So, I learned what I could, got lots of phone numbers to call in case I run into anything crazy, and started my new position this morning. I spent most of the day arranging things in the office. My friend pranked me this morning by calling and pretending to be a client who was very upset with me. I hung up on her. It was hilarious when I found out it was her. Good to have friends. She WILL be watching her back from now own. =)
Thing is, I now have a nice big office, with a big window through which I watched the rain pour down all day. I didn't have to leave my friends. I know the job, and I know I can do it.
The whole day, I kept looking around almost in disbelief. Over and over in my head, the theme song to "Working Girl" kept playing. The movie that, many years ago, made me want to get back out into the working world. The movie where when you have the guts to keep trying for something, and fail, and try again, finally it all comes out good in the end. I am a working girl, and I finally made it to that office!
"Let the river run, let all the dreamers wake the nation, Come, the New Jerusalem" -Carly Simon
There was a lady at my office who had worked closely with me on some situations, so I was somewhat familiar with her job. It just so happened that I saw the job posting after she announced her imminent retirement, and applied for the job. I went to the interview and was pretty sure that I had the job. I was right. They offered it to me, and I accepted. Meanwhile, I was offered an interview at another location. I started my new job on Monday, and interviewed for the other job on Tuesday. I just KNEW I had that job! Turns out, though, I'm not "fast-paced" enough for them, so they turned me down. Just as well, I think. Later on, they might decide I'm too something else for the job, or not enough of another thing for the job. So, I threw myself into learning the new one that I already had. After all, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, isn't that what they say? Let me tell you...it's true! Two jobs hanging out there was not good for anyone involved, and I was glad when it was all over.
So, I learned what I could, got lots of phone numbers to call in case I run into anything crazy, and started my new position this morning. I spent most of the day arranging things in the office. My friend pranked me this morning by calling and pretending to be a client who was very upset with me. I hung up on her. It was hilarious when I found out it was her. Good to have friends. She WILL be watching her back from now own. =)
Thing is, I now have a nice big office, with a big window through which I watched the rain pour down all day. I didn't have to leave my friends. I know the job, and I know I can do it.
The whole day, I kept looking around almost in disbelief. Over and over in my head, the theme song to "Working Girl" kept playing. The movie that, many years ago, made me want to get back out into the working world. The movie where when you have the guts to keep trying for something, and fail, and try again, finally it all comes out good in the end. I am a working girl, and I finally made it to that office!
"Let the river run, let all the dreamers wake the nation, Come, the New Jerusalem" -Carly Simon
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Wake Up!
I do not like to go to bed
Because I know it means
A struggle for this sleepyhead
To awaken from my dreams.
So now I've made a system
For waking up. You see,
Each night before I go to bed
I set my clock for three.
At three o'clock the buzzer sounds
I stumble 'cross the floor.
Yawning, cussing, with a frown
I set the clock for four.
Four o'clock comes all too soon.
I barely am alive.
I look outside and see the moon!
And set the clock for five.
At five o'clock I realize
That I'm in quite a fix.
I lie in bed and dream sweet dreams.
I've set the clock for six.
At six o'clock another system
Starts to come to light.
A snooze bar placed atop my clock
Helps extend my night.
So every ten minutes for an hour or so
I slap my clock around.
I'm sure the neighbors are awake
From all that buzzing sound!
I finally wake at seven fifteen
Not ready to face the day
But I am up and out the door.
I'm actually on my way!
So, if you hate mornings, like I do,
You might give this a try.
What works for me might work for you.
But wait -- I cannot lie!
I must admit, reluctantly,
A secret I have kept.
Every day I'm late for work
Because I overslept.
kbozell 5/19/04
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