Changes In The Neighborhood

There is a house, two doors to the north of us, that has been empty since we moved in here.

The word in the neighborhood is that the house has actually been empty for 15 years or so. A lady owns it, doesn't live there, but for some reason, refuses to sell it or fix it up and rent it. The neglect that this house has gone through shows.

There are broken windows, missing screen doors, a roof caving in, the grass doesn't get mowed more than two or three times a year. And that's only after enough complaints to the city from the neighbors when the grass gets knee high.

The house was posted about a year ago as "uninhabitable". No kidding. So, this is the eyesore of our neighborhood.

Well, finally, there is good news! The weekend before Thanksgiving, Ron told me he saw about four or five different people going into the house. Hmm, what could this be? Is this the city finally inspecting the house prior to demolition? No, it was even better.

Soon came the BFI dumpster! Oh YES! That can only mean good things! It was a huge dumpster, like the size of a semi truck. I came home from work and I could see the dumpster in place. I believe I even did a happy dance in my driveway!

We found out that somehow the house was indeed finally sold. I don't know what happened to facilitate this decision, but I'm not complaining. I believe the new owners just plan on owning it long enough to fix it up and then plan on reselling it.

I don't remember the exact day, but shortly after Thanksgiving a crew showed up. They started filling up that dumpster. I never realized that the house was still full of furniture. We saw couches and chairs sticking up out of the dumpster. They seemed to have spent a few days just on the emptying process.

It is just so exciting to see such a wonderful change in the neighborhood. The house now has new windows and a fresh dumpster to fill up. Makes me wanna get my cup of coffee, sit on the front porch, and become a real neighborhood busybody watching all the cool stuff happening in our world. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Christmas Past

Tonight I was telling Ron what Christmas was like in our house when I was growing up.

Christmas Eve was THE night. Everyone would be over on Christmas Eve. Mom would go nuts making sure all the food would be ready and that the house would be clean. It was a frantic day for sure. But oh so worth it.

I told him stories of how the house would be full of people, and the table would be full of the good Slovak food. The fried perch, sweet rice, bubulki (both sauerkraut and poppy seed) and of course the lentil soup. Try explaining bubulki to someone who's never had it.

After dinner, time for dishes. As soon as the dishes were done, it was time to open presents! I swear I was never so happy to do dishes as I was on Christmas Eve! After presents, it seemed like it was time for Midnight Mass.

Tonight we were eating our Christmas Eve dinner, leftover Chinese food and leftover barbecue. Weird combination, but extremely tasty! Anyway, we're just finishing dinner when Ron kept asking me if the dishes were done yet. Why is he obsessing about the dang dishes? It's no one's "job" to do the dishes. I think we pretty much share in the dish doing responsibilities. So why does he keep asking me that?

Finally feeling like I've heard that enough, I finally ask him "why do you keep asking me that? If it bugs you, do the dishes!"

Of course, the joke was on me. Since telling him the story of my Christmas Past, he figured as soon as dishes were done we could open OUR presents! You never saw me move so fast, and Ron was right at my heels. The dishes were packed into the dishwasher, and the dishwasher was set to wash. Then we got to business.

Let me tell you, I musta been a very, very good girl! Santa treated me right!

May we all have a very Merry Christmas!

Decking Our Halls

I didn't want anyone thinking we were a couple of scrooges. So, here is a picture of how we decked our halls.

And, I took Santa's advise to heart, and I've really tried to clean up my act this week. I tried to be the best me I can be.

C'mon Christmas! I think we're ready!

The Good Got Better

Someone once told me that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything. So, I've been quiet over here. It's not an easy time for a lot of people, me included. 'Nuff said.

On to a brighter note - Ron took me out to dinner tonight. It is Friday after all! You can almost bet that on Friday at least we go out to dinner. I like that - nice way to finish off the work week.

Tonight's first choice, Taqueria Mexico, was closed already for the Holiday. They don't reopen now until Tuesday. Go figure! Our second choice was a Chinese Restaurant that we really like. It's a sit down restaurant instead of a buffet and one of the things we like the most about it is that you can always get a seat. It's not that they are not busy, I just think over half of their business is take out for some reason.

They have a soup on the appetizer list that has been highly recommended to us, so tonight we thought we'd try it. It was something like shredded chicken and corn soup and it was soup for two. That's all the description there was for the soup. We got a nice little tureen and two bowls. As soon as Ron looked at it, he said it looks like there is egg drop in there. As most of you know, eating eggs makes me extremely ill. We called the waitress back over to verify. She checked with the cook and unfortunately, the answer was not what I wanted to hear. It did indeed have some egg in it. Ron told her I was allergic to eggs and how sick they made me. That was good for Ron though, because he said the soup was excellent and he ended up polishing off almost the whole thing!

For dinner I had ordered Pork Fried Rice. I know that has egg in it, but it's usually not a lot, and I sit and pick it out. I love fried rice, but I don't order it often because it is a pain in the butt to keep picking out pieces. But once in awhile, I'm willing to do just that. When the waitress heard I was allergic to egg, she went back and told the cook about it. Come to find out, my rice was almost done by now, and the cook started it all over again, this time without eggs!

Ok, call me silly, but in all my years, I never thought to ask for it without eggs. Duh! Our waitress thought I'd appreciate not having to pick all that out and boy was she right! My dinner was awesome!

And of course, Ron left a very nice tip. The service we received tonight absolutely made a good meal great.

A View From the Top

Taa Daa! I finally remembered to take my camera to work!

Yes, folks, this is the view from my office at the moment. Unfortunately, I didn't get the greatest picture, but it's should at least give you a feel. I am facing east and on the left you can even see the lake. Directly in front of the lake is a small airport. That isn't quite distinguishable in the pictures unfortunately. I tried to get one picture of a helicopter taking off this morning and it just didn't come out. Too bad.

The hard thing about a view like this is concentrating! Too much to look at. Especially on a clear day when you can even see the waves crashing. Yep, I could get used to this.

I tried to be brave and take a picture looking as straight down as I could. Unfortunately, the window glare played a big part in this picture. At least you can see the courtyard across the street I mentioned in yesterday's post. Too bad I didn't get a picture of that building. You can see part of the atrium in the picture, but this doesn't do it justice. Oh well, I'm still learning.

So, welcome to my world. Beats the heck out of the dirty, dusty, windowless basements I've been in or the unheated portable storage facilities. And they even pay me to be there!

One Of Them Days

Yesterday, I had one of them days.

It wasn't a really bad day. I mean, it could have been much worse. But, there were a whole lotta little things that were just bad enough to be really irritating.

It started just after 6:00 a.m. as I headed out to work. I need to make sure I'm more awake before getting behind the wheel of my car. Right now, I am working right in the midst of downtown. That means I take the freeway straight from here to there. I started out on the right freeway. Suddenly, I guess my car had a mind of its own and before I knew what happened, I was fixin' to get on the turnpike. Bad, very bad.

Luckily, before I went through the booth to grab my ticket, I was able to do a U-turn and head back north to the freeway. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Ok, little brain fart, I can overcome.

A few minutes later, I am back on the freeway and headed for downtown. Next on the list comes the parking garage.

I find me a good parking spot in the parking garage. Now work with me here. I walk to the elevator, take elevator downstairs, exit garage, through building, outside into the cold, walk through the courtyard, passed a panhandler, across the street, into another panhandler, into my building . . . only to discover . . . I left my badge to get into the building in my car. Grrr. Again, nothing really bad, just really inconvenient.

So, past the panhandler, across the street, another panhandler, through the courtyard, into and through the building, into the parking garage, up the elevator, to my car. Got my badge. All was good with my world.

Let's skip ahead to lunchtime. This was one of the few days I didn't pack my lunch. That shouldn't have been a big deal. Eating downtown can be a little pricey, but there are a lot of places to eat within walking distance.

My boss and I usually have lunch together. He chose to forego the sandwich he brought for lunch opting for lunch out as well. We decided to head to the Galleria. The Galleria does have a couple of restaurants, but more importantly, it has a food court. Gotta love a food court! Something for everyone.

We bundled up against the cold and headed out. Once we walked into the Galleria, what do I see between me and the food court? Dogs. Lots and lots of dogs. Some were sort of penned inside of portable two-foot high fences. Some were on leashes, and I'm not all that sure that some weren't just running loose. Those of you that know me, know that dogs terrify me probably more than spiders do. To say that I wanted to cry and bolt out of there is an understatement. I started to shake and seriously my life past before my eyes. Here, they were having some sort of pet adoption thing happening at the Galleria. Had I known, I'd have skipped lunch.

So as to show as little weakness as possible to the boss so as not to give him ammunition to use against me at a later time, I took the long way around and got past the dogs. I still just wanted to hide and cry, but I made it by them. I grabbed a sandwich, and made sure I sat with my back to the pooches. I figured what I couldn't see couldn't kill me! It was all good until it was time to go. Again, some fancy footwork kept as much space and as many people between me and the dogs. I lived through the experience.

Now we move to my drive home. I got on the right freeway and headed home! Closer to home, the freeway goes from three lanes down to two lanes. It was in the two lane part, at the exit just before my exit. This is a very busy exit and entrance. There always seems to be a steady stream of cars entering the freeway here, so I like to try to get in the left lane to give traffic room to merge onto the freeway. Again, it's only two lanes here. Well, there seemed to be more cars than usual getting on here. I kept looking for a hole to move back into the right lane. I foolishly passed a couple of holes I could have made, looking at a big one up ahead. Just as I was reaching this hole, the car in front of me stepped on the brakes and slowed waaaay down. He chose to move over into my hole! The way he slowed down and the time he took moving over, the hole closed. No room for me and my Honda. Dang it! I get so angry when someone cuts me off, I can't do it knowingly to other people. So, since I waited too long, now I missed my exit.

I blurted out a few expletives at myself and kept going to the next exit and doubled back to the house.

Now, it's been kinda a bad day. Nothing terrible, but just really, really irritating. Ron, being the great guy he is, said he'd take me out to dinner since I had such a poopy day. WOO HOO! Things are looking up!

I decided I had a hankering for Ponderosa. And, being difficult, I wanted the Ponderosa in the next town. That one seems to be to be much nicer, cleaner, food is better and the service is tops! It's worth the extra 10 minutes to get there.

We pulled into Ponderosa and saw the sign. Santa Claus was at Ponderosa last night, and kids got a free picture with Santa! Hey, I may not technically be a kid, but I had enough kid in me. I didn't want to hurt the guy by sitting on his lap, but I did want to go over and say howdy!

Santa shook my hand and I said "hey Santa! I've been a very good girl this year, so I'm expecting good things from you!"

With the signature twinkle in his eye, he replied "Who are you kidding? Remember, I have a list and I've checked it twice. You have a week to clean up your act or nothing from Santa!"

HELLO???? Dissed by Santa??? Oh the horror!

The guy had me laughing, but c'mon. What a way to end my day. Dissed by Santa. And only a week to clean up my act? I better not even think of leaving the house and I may have a chance. Wish me luck!

I Heart Shopping

Last night, Ron and I hit the roads to do some shopping.

First, you have to know, I hate shopping. I really do. In spite of the title of this post. Especially at Christmas time. You'd think some sort of Christian spirit would be with people. Isn't that what this whole time of year is supposed to be about?

Unfortunately, the only spirit filling people is the spirit of "Me First" and I think a little of "Kill or Be Killed". Since when did K-mart shopping become a kamikaze mission?

Our purpose for being out in the battle zone wasn't even really any Christmas shopping. We needed survival stuff. We were in serious need of some Ice Melt for the ice in the driveway, and vacuum bags. My vacuum bag was so full, it wouldn't accept one more spec of dust! Knowing me, y'all can probably pretty much guess where this story is going.

We came home with almost everything . . . except . . . the Ice Melt and the vacuum bags.

In our defense, we looked more than one place and could not find a vacuum bag size J for an upright Eureka vacuum. We could find a size J belt and a size J hepa filter but no dang bags. The Ice Melt however, was totally overlooked until we got home and we slipped in the driveway unloading the van. Go figure.

The only good that came out of last night was we just about completed our Christmas shopping. I did need to stop today for a few last items, but the bulk of it was done last night.

As a side note to the Christmas shopping, I did have one moment of desperation at K-Mart. I actually stopped a young Hispanic couple with a cart full of toys to ask them if they knew any four year old girls. Just before they screamed for security, I added the fact that we had to buy for a four year old girl and we knew pretty much nothing about what a four year old girl would want! With their fears calmed, they gave us some good ideas of things that would work. So as not to tempt anyone into telling Ron's great-niece what we ended up getting her, I'm not telling here what it was!

I have one more gift to get, something for Dad. I know what I'm getting, I just haven't gone to the Dad's Gift Store yet to pick it up. And, before you ask, I'm not telling what this is either! I don't want anyone telling him before hand! It's gonna be a surprise. I will tell you, I know he'll love it!

Women Are From Venus, Men Are From The Hardware Store

We had one heck of an exciting day at our house. Well, actually it started last night.

Ron and I after dinner headed to one of the chain hardware type stores. Our big plan for this weekend was to get some insulation blown into the attic floor. We are all about trying to save some cash this year with the heating bills. This is something we've talked about doing since we moved in. This project really moved up on our priority list!

Ron figured out how much insulation he thought we'd need, and we grabbed a few more bags, just in case. As long as you bought ten bags of insulation, the rental of the blower was free. We had 30 bags. Free rental right here!

One bag of insulation is about one foot square by two feet long. We filled up two flat bed carts with our 30 bags. On top of that is the blower, and add to that two huge garbage cans that held the 100' of hose. At this hardware store we have me, my car, Ron and his van. There was no way in heck we were fitting in all I just mentioned even into both of our vehicles. What do we do? We called our friend Larry! It's great to know someone with a truck!

Even though it was after 8:00 p.m., Larry said he'd come help us. He met us right away. We loaded up his truck, the guys tied it all down, and we had a convoy over to our house. After loading up two flat bed carts, then unloading them into the truck, I didn't relish the thought of unloading them again that night into the garage. We had Larry back up his truck right into the garage. Since he had the plow on front of the truck, we couldn't close the garage door. We had to cross our fingers and hope like heck no one was going to steal anything. I think we got lucky on that end!

Larry went home with my car and promised to be back at 8:00 a.m. to help Ron with this project. In return, he asked for breakfast. That worked for me! I had Mom's waffles and sausage links ready around 8:00 a.m. We all had breakfast and then the guys got to work.

The most amazing thing to me is what is in a guy's DNA that is not in most women. They just "know" stuff. They may not know why the sky is blue or why water is wet, but the important stuff, they just KNOW. The blower machine came with no instruction booklet. But yet the guys KNEW how to work it. Neither one of them had ever blown insulation before, but somehow they just KNEW what to do. That amazes me. I wouldn't have figured this out had my life depended on it.

Luckily my job was just to run tools up and down and to fix meals. There were serious meetings up in the attic then down in the driveway, but eventually the guys got their system down. A few hours later, it was DONE! I can't believe it!!!

Ron and Larry ran the blower back, took back seven extra bags of insulation, Ron put the attic windows back in (we had the hose coming in the attic window) and we were done.

Now, it may be my imagination, but I swear it is so much warmer up here. The first floor of the house was good about holding the heat or the air conditioning. This second floor was another story. For example, right here where I sit at my computer, I have a blanket on the back of the chair and a heating pad on my desk. On the really cold nights, I have the blanket around me and the heating pad on me somewhere. Socks aren't enough on my feet, some nights I have to put my shoes back on.

Tonight though...I took a long hot bath, and came to my chair. That was a couple of hours ago. I am still barefoot! The floor feels warmer, heck the entire room is warmer! And the temp outside is only 27 degrees.

I know I'm rambling, but I am just so excited! These guys worked really really hard today. They made a slight mess out of the house, but by golly, it's warm in here! This is the first winter night in the two years we've been here that I can say that! Is it just my imagination? Can it be true?? I am warm!!

Thanks to both Ron and Larry for the hard work today. I am truly grateful. You guys are awesome!

Stuff

Ugh, I'm still sick.

My nose has stopped running like a faucet, now I'm just contending with a cough. But what a cough. I think I've even coughed up part of a lung. And, I think I might have a brain aneurysm. Yeah, that's it. I'm coughing that hard.

For the record, Rite Aid's Tussin CF is the bomb! $5.99 of liquid gold. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it gives me a little buzz, so it's no good for day time use. However, since starting on my CF, I've had very restful nights with no coughs. Amen.

I think Ron is finally on the mend as well. We're still a couple of hacking wheezing coughing fools, but less so every day! Can y'all get a visual yet?

Let's see what's happening since I last wrote:

I had to get a new driver's license! Unlike Texas who just slaps your old picture on a new piece of paper, Ohio makes you take your picture again. It was very wrong of me to go to the license bureau the day before my hair cut! In Texas, I'd never age. Here I look like poop! Stuffy nose, puffy eyes, she at least took the picture in between coughing fits. That's talent! The good thing is that I had my good coat on! So, if you don't look at my face it's all good!

Speaking of my good coat, Ron and I did a little early Christmas shopping. I wanted some nice black dress gloves to go with my good coat. Which, is black. I realized all of my gloves are blue. Go figure. You'd think it was my favorite color or something! Anyway, I wanted to be more color coordinated. We had a night of all about me.

It started at A.J. Wright. I saw nothing there that tickled my fancy. Down the plaza to PayLess Shoes! Hey, how can you NOT find something in there to tickle ya! Ok, I picked up two new pairs of shoes. C'mon...cut a girl some slack. It's been at least a year since I've bought a new shoe! So, now I have some new black dress shoes and a nice pair of brown loafers. A good shoe day, I must say. From PayLess to K-mart, the glove store. Yep, a good shopping night for me!

See why I haven't written lately? Here's the highlight of my life right now. PayLess Shoes and black gloves.

Ok, that's it for now. I need a dose of my CF.

It's Been A Long Road

Anyone know what today is?

Four years ago today, I stepped foot into Ohio as a new resident. Four years ago, brother Michael brought me bag and baggage back to the north. We had to cross the Mississippi River three times to get here from Texas, but by golly, we got here. (Hey, I was navigating. I keep telling you I'm directionally challenged.

I thought I'd take this opportunity to take stock of myself and see what has happened to me in the last four years. Here's the good, the bad and the ugly, in no particular order.

In four years, I have:

• Moved three times
• Bought my first house
• Had two surgeries
• Got lost numerous times
• Got found numerous times
• Learned I'm stronger than I give myself credit for
• Found a job, lost a job, found another job
• Traveled for work, something I swore I'd never do. I've been to Atlanta, Topeka, Chicago, Harrisburg, Columbus to name a few
• Found Ron (Dang lucky find, I might add!)
• Got to be here for the new additions to our family, my two great-nephews, plus here to hear that two more are on the way! (However, I still say that one of them is having a girl this time!)
• Bought a new car
• Heard and dealt with things that go bump in my night
• Got a new bad habit called Club Pogo
• Got another new bad habit called my DVR
• Learned how to mow the grass and how to plow the driveway
• Searched for inner peace
• Searched for my faith
• Found great new friends
• Held on to old and dear friends

Four years. So much has changed in four years. I really don't think I am the same person I was four years ago. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I know I've grown. I think I've matured. I am definitely wiser about a lot of things than I was when I got here.

So, my friends, what now. Who knows? Will there be another house? Another move? Another car? Another job? I guess we'll have to go through it one day at a time. Keep checking back here for updates. I have a feeling that the next four years will be exciting!

I Wasn't Fast Enough

Yep, I couldn't run fast enough. A dirty rotten cold caught up with me.

I was feeling a little punk yesterday. I thought it was the day, or the end of a long weekend or just feeling a little blue with the holiday. Ha. I was up half the night with a sore throat. Today, my dirty rotten cold hit me right in the face.

My face feels like it's swollen, my sinuses are so full. And, it's already backing up into my ears. Everything sounds like I'm underwater. I hate that.

But, I went to work anyway. Before I left, I grabbed a huge handful of tissues from the box, since my nose is running faster than most faucets. By 10:30 a.m., I was out of tissues. Lucky for me, there is a pharmacy right next door to where I'm working. So, I took a break, and headed downstairs and next door. Relief was just a few steps away.

Unfortunately, I had to run the gauntlet first. As in any downtown area in a larger city, I had to run the gauntlet of panhandlers. And trust me, they are everywhere. I get accosted every morning leaving the parking garage, crossing the street, trying to get into the door of my building. Keep in mind, I'm there before 7:00 a.m. It's still dark outside. One day I'm going to get mugged and probably shot because I'll try rebuffing him thinking he's a panhandler. Grr, I hate downtown.

Anyway, today at least I had a courteous panhandler. As I stated, I went next door to get some tissues and throat lozenges. My local panhandler opened the door for me going into the pharmacy, and he was waiting there to open the door for me to leave. Hey, with that service, how could I say not give up some cash?

Sharing the love as I like to say. And, I'm hearing Ron start to sneeze and snortle and cough behind me. I guess I shared some love with him too. Sorry, honey. A word for the wise out there....avoid our house for the next few days! If you choose to ignore this warning though....bring tissues. The ones with lotion, please!

I Am Moving Up

We started a new audit this past Monday. I am now working right smack in the middle of downtown.

Since I am directionally challenged, Ron took a ride with me last Sunday so that I could make sure I could find my way to the new audit on Monday. Well, I kinda knew where the right building was, but I wanted to make sure I knew where the closest parking ramp was and how to get to the building from there.

This sounds like it should have been an easy Monday morning. I did a test run, so I knew where the parking ramp was, I knew which way to walk from the ramp to the audit, and I knew my contact's name. What could possibly have gone wrong?

Let's start with my parking ramp of choice. This ramp happens to be a designated ramp for one of the major hotels downtown. This ramp also accepts public parking. There are two entrance and two exit lanes at this ramp. I saw one entrance and exit ramp for card holders only. I went past that ramp to the next one which was marked for public access. How could I get into trouble here?

I did what most people would do. I pulled up to the gate and looked to the box on my left, assuming it would be where I get my ticket. But no. It was a machine for people with access cards. You insert your access card into this machine and the gate will open. Hello? If this is the public access lane, where the heck is that box? Now there is a freakin' line of cars behind me and I'm stuck between an SUV and a closed gate. This sucks. As I was starting to panic, I looked around. Here, the machine with the button that says "push here for card" is about five feet behind me. The SUV's bumper is a lot closer to me than that. With the card holder's access machine right next to me, there is no way I can open my door, get out of the car and walk the five feet back. We all need to back up. Finally, the idiot behind me realized he was behind a bigger idiot and backed up enough so that I could stretch farther than I ever thought I could and get my dang ticket. Finally, the offending gate opened.

I headed up the ramp, and up the ramp, and up the ramp. As long as I don't end up on the roof, I consider it a good parking spot. I found a good parking spot. I thought I would be a good girl and take the steps down, but the stairwell was really a frightening place. More lights not working than were working. I opted for safety, shut the door and headed for the elevator.

When the elevator gets to the ground floor, you walk out into a little foyer. The only place to go from there is out one of the double doors that goes to the street. I push on one door. Nothing. I push on the other, still nothing. I again look around. On the left is a sign that states I needed to push this button to open the door. Ok, I can do that. Button was pushed repeatedly but still, neither door would open. So now what am I supposed to do? I can see life passing me by on the street, and I'm stuck in a foyer. I see on the outside a sign that says you have to have a card to get back in this door. The only people with this card are people from the hotel that are allowed to park there or people that pay by the month. So, now I start thinking that if I ever get out of this foyer, how in the heck am I going to get back in? But, I digress.

Finally, some guy comes down the elevator, realizes I'm an idiot, and tells me the secret of getting out of the foyer. He told me to hold the button IN and then the door will open. Duh. Sure. Once you knew the secret, the door worked. Before I could ask him now how do I get back in after work, poof! He was gone. Oh well.

So, across the street and down the block and there I am. I had a few problems finding the correct door, but I finally made it. And believe it or not, right on time.

The day was pretty uneventful. The best part is that our office is on the 14th floor, where one wall is a window that looks out over the lake! Man, this must be how the other half lives. This sure makes up for the other audits where I'm stuck in a basement, or an outhouse. The only bad part about this is how hard it is to concentrate when I have this kind of view!

For the curious, I couldn't get into the same door of the parking ramp that I left from. I had to walk down the side street a bit to where I pulled in that morning. I asked the attendant at the exit booth how do I get back to the elevator. I had to walk down the ramp to the basement floor and get the elevator there. What a nightmare. Luckily, the next day I chose the ramp across the street from the first ramp. For $1.00 more a day, there were more lights, no confusing signs or boxes or gates, and many, many, many more lights that worked.

For now I'll have to fight the traffic in and out of downtown every day. At least I found a better parking ramp to park in. Life is good.

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

It's been a quiet day in our household. We watched the snow, we watched the wind blowing. I don't think I've been warm all day since I came out from under the electric blanket!

We have family plans the rest of the weekend. Since we'll get our fair share of the most scrumptious poultry dish there is, we decided to make one of our other favorite meals for dinner today.

Meatloaf! Scoff if you will, this is one meal that just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. It's comfort food for my soul. We had an awesome meatloaf, some mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and even garlic bread. Believe it or not, even without the triptophan from the turkey, we are both exhausted. And stuffed!

For now I'm going to go downstairs and do some time on the treadmill. I need to make sure I can handle the turkey dinners to come!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. May we all have a safe and happy holiday season!

Remember Me?

Remember me? I'm the person that used to blog! I can't believe I've slacked off so much. No excuse, just haven't made the time to sit and write.

I have a bunch of half thoughts running in my head, ideas and even some pictures to blog about. So, now I'll just pick one and get started.

As a last minute substitution idea, this blog is going to be a complaint. I should have written this one last week when I first started to get peeved about it.

Has anyone else noticed how early people are putting up Christmas lights this year? Granted, the stores have been decked out in holly for weeks now, but I can't believe how many people jumped on this bandwagon.

Since when did it become ok to take down the Halloween lights and put up Christmas lights? Are we to just forget about Thanksgiving? What's next? Take the Christmas lights down, put up the St. Patrick's Day Green and then right back to Christmas decorations?

My vote is to go back the way it was...the way it should be. The Christmas season is not allowed to start until you see Santa Claus at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

What's In A Dream?

Wow.

Aside from being restless at night, my nights have also been filled with wacko dreams. I won't even get into the one where my boss and I are stuck on the 92nd floor of a skyscraper. Yes, that's Ninety Second Floor. Who would even believe that I of all people would go that high in any building let alone with my boss? But, I digress.

So, let me tell you about my latest dream.

This takes place at Aunt Mary's/Mom and Dad's. It doesn't look like it does now, but like it did then. Now that you have that picture, here we go.

Mom and Aunt Mary bought a dog. It was a good sized dark brownish, blackish dog. Mom was getting a water dish ready for the dog (no idea what his name was!) and wanted me to go downstairs to Aunt Mary's to get the dog.

I'm watching Mom get the dog's water dish ready. She is using one of Dad's insulin needles to suck up some Jose Cuervo tequila and squirting into the dog's water dish along with the water. I tried to reason with Mom, mentioning that the dog has already had a decongestant and a pain pill. He doesn't NEED any tequila! Mom assured me that the dog did indeed need the shot of tequila because she wanted to make sure the dog slept the night.

Wait! It gets worse.

I go downstairs to get the dog to bring him upstairs for his water. Billy is walking from the kitchen to the livingroom, pulling his pants down over his right butt cheek to show his new American Flag tattoo.

To recap:

Mom is still alive and she and Aunt Mary bought a dog that Mom wants to feed tequila. Not just any tequila, but Jose Cuervo tequila. That and Billy showing me half of his butt so I can see his new tattoo.

I may need therapy after this dream!

I Still Hear Her Saying "I Told You So"!

Years ago, while I was living in Texas, I was on the phone with my sister Barb. I was probably calling her for directions to make something! She was always good for that. She knew almost everything I needed to know.

I remember this one day in particular. Whatever it was she was trying to teach me, she said something like "just use your rolling pin". To which I replied "I don't own a rolling pin".

Believe it or not, we actually got in an argument over the rolling pin! She couldn't believe that a woman in her 30s wouldn't own a rolling pin and I countered with I'm not a baker, so why would I need it? We went round and round and finally, I relented. My next shopping trip found me in the kitchenware aisle buying a dang rolling pin!

I can count on one hand how many times I've used this rolling pin. It sat in my cupboard for years untouched. I think the first time I used it I was already in Ohio! Even now, when I do use the rolling pin, I generally use it for other purposes. For example, it's great for pounding raw chicken! A couple of pieces of plastic wrap around the chicken, a nice wooden cutting board and my rolling pin! Works great every time.

Friday night I was making chicken breasts. The recipe I was using required the chicken be pounded to 1/4" thick. So, I got out the wooden cutting board, the plastic wrap, and went to town with my rolling pin pounding the heck out of the chicken.

Even now, years later, whenever I pull out that rolling pin, no matter what I'm going to use it for, I hear Barb in my ear telling me "I TOLD you you needed a rolling pin!" How right she was!

I Can't Believe I Missed It!

I have not been sleeping well the last few nights.

I can't really pin it on anything in particular; I don't think I'm overly anxious about anything new, no new problems, no new issues. I'm pooped before bedtime, fall asleep more or less ok but I just don't stay that way.

Then I can't get comfy. I really don't like our bed, but that's really a whole other story. Regardless, I don't think I can blame my recent restlessness totally on the bed. So, I lay there only so long and then work my way downstairs to the livingroom.

I recline on the recliner, cover with my favorite blanket, take remote control in hand and confirm that there is nothing worth watching on TV after 3:30 in the morning. In case anyone cares, there are really no entertaining infomercials quite like the ones from Ronco. But, I digress.

At 5:00 this morning, I came across a show on one of the ESPN channels. It was a fishing show. YES, I like to watch fishing shows! Anyway, there were two guys on the back of a sports fishing boat. I didn't catch where they were, but the water was blue and absolutely gorgeous.

The announcer for the show sounded very ominous. When I first came across it while channel surfing, I almost thought it was a movie. The announcer kept making comments like "if only they knew the monster they were dealing with" or "too bad they didn't realize the kind of beast they were about to meet". That sure piqued my interest.

Two guys, back of a sports fishing boat, one pole bending into the water with the owner of the pole shouting "I think it's a marlin! I think it's a marlin! It HAS to be a marlin!!!" Sure enough, this beast broke out of the water! What a magnificent creature! I thought I was mesmerized with the show.

One guy fighting the marlin for all he was worth. The other guy offering tips on how to win this fight along with an estimation that this fish weighed close to 300 pounds! Still, that dang announcer spouting crap with words like "monster", "beast", "caution" and all that.

We go to commercial at 5:20 a.m. What do I do? Fall ASLEEP! The worst part is I woke up right about 5:30 a.m.! Hello?? The only thing I missed was the end of the dang show! So....was anyone else up this morning watching ESPN? What the heck happened? Did the guy win the fight and bag his prize marlin? Did the marlin win and skewer the guy on the boat? What happened????

Public Service Announcement

Attention! Attention! May I have your attention please!

Just 936 more wake ups until Mr. Phil retires!

Now back to your regularly scheduled evening.

End of the Season

Well, here we are. The end of another long, tedious season.

No, I'm not talking baseball. Or football or basketball or any of those other things. Unfortunately I'm not even talking about the winter season. I'm talking about the always dreaded election season.

I complain about my elected officials. Well, some of them. But, I'm out there reading up on the issues and out there voting every election day. Since I'm out there voting, I have every right to voice my opinion about how my officials are doing.

That aside, I am so tired of all of the signs in yards, political backstabbing and pimping via television ads. Monday night was about the worst! Made me long for the days of Budweiser and Vonage commercials.

Welcome to the day after the election. Ok, the commercials have stopped. Let's get the front yards picked up now and send the signs out with the trash. And for heaven's sake, quit the jabbering how you knew all along that you'd be elected and get to work!

Ree's Bed and Breakfast

Well, ok, we're not great at breakfasts, but Jim was willing to spend the weekend with us anyway! Speaking for myself, I think we had a great time.

Jim joined us on Friday. Ron and I had a few technical difficulties getting home that night, but that's another story. Poor Jim ended up sitting in our driveway awhile waiting for one of us to get here. I'm telling you, I need to hand out more keys to the house!

But, the wait was worth it. We whipped up one heck of a batch of lasagna from a recipe that is older than dirt. My lasagna recipe is the recipe Cathie got in home ec class in highschool! It is an old recipe, yes, but it's also very easy to follow, and judging by the "mmm mmm" noises around the table at dinner, I would say it was mighty tasty!

Saturday Jim, Ron and I went on a picnic. That's the picture at the top of this post. We went to one of our favorite parks that is right on the lake. As you can see, it was an overcast day, but still very beautiful. Especially considering that this was on November 5th, and none of us needed coats or even jackets. That's my kind of November day. We grabbed a picnic table and had some sandwiches and enjoyed the lake and the two views below.





Hopefully y'all can see why this is one of our favorite parks. It's just so beautiful there, even without the fountain being on. The fountain can be seen in the middle picture. (And that's my lonely car in the parking lot in the bottom picture!)

Saturday evening, we partied hearty at Mike and Mary Jane's. They put on a FEAST! One dish was better than the next. Seriously, kudos to both cooks. Once again, meal time was filled with "mmm mmm" sounds and not much talking. After dinner, I think all pants were unbuttoned! No, not in getting ready to audition for the Jerry Springer show, just trying to making room for dessert. It didn't work, but that's ok. The cake we found out on Sunday, pretty much sucked!

Anyway, before Jim headed back home, we made a stop at Dave & Busters. Everyone should try out the place at least once. There really is something for everyone. One note to self here. No more car racing games for me! The three of us competed against each other. This is one of those games that there is a big screen in front of us, and the car "seats" that we sit in for this game actually move! You hit the virtual wall with your race car, it almost feels like you hit a real wall! Same thing with hitting another race car!

I know I'm competitive, especially with Ron. And, I'm pigheaded. I was trailing Ron most of the race. Finally, I came up on the inside and took over the lead! I thought it would be smooth sailing to the end of the race! If only I could keep it on the track and off of the wall, I thought I could do it! All of a sudden....who is that coming up on my left?? Oh NO! Car # 8! None other than Ron! That's not fair! I don't know how, but I know he's cheating!! I would have none of it. I gave it my all and got really ugly. I knocked him spinning into the wall while I took the win for myself! Go me!

The price for me cheating? I was car sick like you wouldn't believe. Ugh. I guess I deserved that!

Nausea aside, I had a great weekend. Huge hugs to Jim for giving up a free weekend and spending it with us. I'm already starting on plans for what we're doing on his next Ohio vacation! Love you, brother!

Nothing But The Best

Yes, that's right. Nothing but the best for me and mine.

Tonight was a shopping night. We are having company this weekend (that's you, Jim!) and I wanted to make sure my cupboards were supplied with just the right foods and sodas and perhaps even a margarita or two. So, after work, Ron and I were on a mission.

I needed to hit Sam's Club followed by a quick trip to Giant Eagle. Some time in there, I figured we'd decide on somewhere to go for dinner. By the time I walked through Sam's Club and paid for our booty, I was hungry but too tired to think about supper. That's when Ron got the great idea of eating at Sam's Club!!

For those of you that don't know, Sam's Club has a little cafe if you will, by the checkouts. Ron said hey! Let's just eat there! It worked for me.

Our order included one polish sausage sandwich, one italian sausage sandwich with peppers and onions, one soft pretzel, two sodas and one four berry sundae. All together, our bill came to $7.30! How the heck can you beat that? The sandwiches were awesome. The four berry sundae alone is worth the trip to Sam's Club. Just how good is this sundae? Ask Ron. Even though it gave him brain freeze, he finished every last drop!

I Am Turning Into My Dad

I know, it's Halloween. I should be writing about something Halloweeny. Unfortunately, I have other things on my mind right now. Mainly....I am turning into my Dad!

Oh the horrors. It's bad enough I have his ugly toes. I also have his nose and of course, I am getting proficient in his greatest trait, procrastination. Now I have reached the point of no return. I have gone across the line and I don't know if I can ever come back.

Brace yourselves, people. What I am about to confess should frighten all within the sound of my typing! Don't blame me if you have nightmares! Ok, here it is: I have started to put ketchup in my soup! There! It's now out in the open! Is there a 12-step program for this?

It started with the leftover lentil soup I blogged about recently. The leftovers just needed some zing. It was missing something. It wasn't salt, or pepper, or even more veggies. Finally, I reached for it. The big red bottle of Heintz Ketchup. After a liberal dousing, I found Nirvana. I kept this a dirty secret. I wasn't going to tell anyone. Maybe it was just a fluke. I could stop any time I wanted. I didn't have a problem.

Then, temptation was again brought before me. I thought I could be strong. I failed. Ron made chicken soup recently. Yes, every bowl I had included some of the delectable condiment. It was good! I liked it! I made Ron try it!

Now, I have turned him over to the dark side. Ron had some chicken soup tonight for supper. With ketchup! My Dad will be so proud!

Bad Me!

I can't believe it's been a week since I've posted! Talk about writer's block. Well, part writer's block, part moody. Just had a busy week along with a week of a serious case of "I don't wanna's".

So, I'll sit here and write down a few miscellaneous thoughts that are running around in my head.

We had a "fright night" last Sunday night. We watched one scary show after another. I did good Sunday night, no nightmares for me. Although showing up at my office at 7:00 a.m. on Monday was another story. I sat in my car awhile to work up the nerve to walk into a very dark, very empty building. I'll be glad when Halloween is over and I can go back to avoiding scary movies and books. Something about this time of year, I can't resist them.

I have roses on my dining room table. Some are the last blooms from our own rose bushes! Some are store bought. Either way, a gal can get used to having roses on her table!

Tuesday I had a date with brother Mike. Chinese take out and a selection from Blockbuster! We used to do that pretty often, although it's been awhile. I've missed them nights! Next time I'll call for the Chinese, you stop at Blockbuster!

Wednesday, my contact from my last audit came all the way up here for dinner. Ron made dinner and I made margaritas. This worked out much better! Mainly because Ron is a great cook. Other than that, all I had to do was worry about stumbling up the stairs to bed. She had to make that long drive home. Although, it seems like there was a lot less drinking this time!

Finally put the electric blanket on the bed. Still futzing with finding my right number. I like a four to get the bed warm before I crawl in, but once I'm in, a four will become too hot for me and I throw off the covers. Then Ron steals them all and eventually I get cold again and by then I'm all outta luck. Vicious cycle, I know.

I cooked tonight. Chicken - good. Carrots - good. Mashed potatoes - thrown out. Don't ask. How can anyone screw up mashed potatoes? Only me.

Can you see why I haven't blogged for a week? Not much exciting

One thing happened this week I seem to be blocking out. It's the time of the year to change insurance plans with my company. Our new plans go into effect on Tuesday, so the drop dead date that I have to have my paperwork in with my choice of coverage is Monday. One new plan that they came out with is the new HSA plan. (Health Savings Account) The only problem with this is, they don't have many answers as to how this plan works! I have tried to do my research on this on my own, only to be thwarted at every turn. grr I am so frustrated. They give us one day to make a decision, and they don't give us all of the facts so that we can make an informed decision.

Enough complaining. That's it for now, I need to go make a decision on my insurance! Then again, maybe I'll go play Pogo.

5:15 a.m.

I have been up today since 5:15 a.m. HELLO??? What's up with that?

It was an emotionally draining day yesterday, complete with a couple of good cries. That's usually good for the soul now and again, but it just took it all out of me. By the time Ron and I got home, I was pretty much spent.

I got into my jammies while Ron heated up some of his home made chicken noodle soup. That's another thing that's good for the soul! We had a little soup and sat down to watch a movie. Arsenic and Old Lace with Cary Grant! It can't get much better than this! Unfortunately, I don't think I lasted an hour through the movie. My eyes started getting so heavy I was started to doze in my chair. Enough was enough. I headed to bed around 9:00. I couldn't fight it any longer.

Now it's Sunday morning. I've been up about a half hour now. I think I'm hungry. Should I wake up my weekend farina maker for some breakfast? Naw, I have a feeling if I do that I may never get farina again. I guess I'll stick to playing Pogo and watching all my taped tv shows from the week.

Good note for this early: Per MLB.com this morning, the Astros lost game 1 of the World Series! Yeah!! That news alone was almost worth starting a Sunday this early!

Rest In Peace, Stanley

Linda is our friend. Linda's Dad Stanley passed away this week, and today was the funeral.

We have met Stanley a few times. Stanley was a quiet man who enjoyed his family, enjoyed his friends, enjoyed life. I have learned more about Stanley since he passed away than I knew about him while he was alive.

Stanley went right into the U.S. Army from high school and became a decorated veteran. He was attached to the 101st Airborne Division in Normandy, the Rhineland, the Ardennes and Central Europe. He received the Purple Heart, Distinguished Unit Badge with oak leaf cluster, four Bronze Stars and Bronze Arrowhead, and the American Service, European-African-Middle Eastern Service, Good Conduct and World War II Victory medals. They don't make many men like Stanley anymore! A true American Hero. He received full military honors today at the funeral.

Rest in peace, Stanley. You sure do deserve it.

Stop, Thief!

With all that is wrong with today's world, I know I should quit my biatching and get over it, but it really peeves me.

We had a theft at the house. Someone walked onto our front porch and stole the ashtray. To add insult to injury, they dumped the contents of the ashtray on the steps on their way out.

It's a $1.00 ashtray from The Dollar Store but that's beside the point. Someone walked on to MY porch and stole something. Did they try to steal the glider before they realized it was chained to the porch? (The chain was Ron's idea. Probably the only reason the glider is still there!) Did the piece of crap thief try my front door to see if it was locked? The back door?

I know it's a small thing, but I'm peeved nonetheless.

Thanks for listening. I just needed to vent.

Can You Hear Me Now?

I am moving up in the world.

No, my boss still won't give me a promotion or a raise, but what he did give me was . . . a cell phone!

Yes, I now have a cell phone paid for by work. I have hit the big time! A few problems though with the new acquisition.

Bells. Whistles. Buttons. Aargh! Read back....I'm sure I've mentioned in a post or two that I am technically challenged. Yes, my friends, this includes cell phones.

I got the phone on Friday. I spent a good part of the weekend and this morning figuring out how to set the voicemail. And, how to dial a call. Anything else, I'll make someone else figure out or just forget it. Before anyone suggests it, no I can't just read the manual. Corporate obviously didn't think I needed one. All I got was the phone and a charger.

Let's review. New cell phone, don't know how to work it. Ok. On to my real story.

I am on the audit site today, working away like a good little worker bee. My boss decides to use my new cell phone to call me! Hey, I appreciate that. However, I heard something ringing and just looked around like everyone else was doing. No one could figure out where that ringing was coming from! My personal cell phone is always on vibrate, so I knew it wasn't my phone.

Um. Well, you probably guessed. By the time I figured out it was MY laptop bag that was ringing, I missed the call! Oh great! Now I had to figure out how to check the voicemail.

What a day. Hopefully by the end of the week, I'll recognize what my cell phone sounds like. Welcome to the big time!

What Was I Thinking?

I have a lot of ideas running around in my head.

Some are good ideas, some are bad ideas. Some are good ideas that turn into bad ideas. Case in point.

I had big ideas for our Saturday night. While watching TV on Saturday afternoon, I saw some previews of movies coming on Saturday night. Since we were having company for dinner Saturday, I figured I'd record these movies. Then, after everyone left, I wanted to turn off all the lights and watch the movies! Wanna know what I taped?

Movie # 1: Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis

Movie # 2: Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave

C'mon now! Isn't that just a great night in the making???

Well, after company left, I had second thoughts about watching any movie that starts with "Return of the Living Dead" in the title. After all, it was dark outside. In case anyone is confused, I am one big wimp who is afraid of my own shadow. I figured if I waited until the light of the day on Sunday, the movies would be more palatable. Um, again, I changed my mind. (Read "chickened out" here.)

Ron says he'll watch these with me if he HAS to, but I can tell he'd rather not. So, anyone out there up for it? I still have them taped! It's almost Halloween! Anyone out there brave...I mean want to sit next to me for a few movies? I'll even make the popcorn!

Let's Go Shopping With No Money

Last night, Ron and I made a stop at a dollar store. You know, for some things, you just can't beat a dollar store.

We just had a few items in our hands when we headed to the checkout counter. Paper plates, batteries, an ashtray (there will be a blog about that to come) and a couple of other things I can't remember right now. The line at the counter was through the store! There had to be eight to 10 people in line at one register.

The woman at the register finally said she couldn't ring anyone up until someone came back from the ATM with money! Hello?? Why couldn't she cancel that sale and ring up the rest of us in line? Because the person with no money tried to purchase 82 items and she didn't want to have to ring all that up again! When I asked her why she couldn't just open another register, she just walked away in disgust.

Heck of a way to run a business. Me, being the hard head that I am, put my items by the register, stated my opinion about the cashier hiding from the line of people and maybe a comment or two about the idiot that got over on the dollar store and walked out.

I wonder how long the dollar store employees waited for this person to come back with the money for their 82 items. I'm still willing to bet they never did.

Dean Koontz

I have been very lucky with my last few choices from the library. Well, with the story line choices anyway.

I am anal retentive in everything I do, even reading a book. When I read, I don't like to put the book down unless I am at a proper stopping point. My favorite stopping point is the end of a chapter. Some people I know, will stop reading at the end of any sentence or maybe paragraph. I can't do that. I like to read at lunch at work, so when my hour is up, I try to reach the end of a chapter. Reading before bedtime, same thing.

Well, Dean Koontz has really messed with my feng shui. As mentioned above, lunch is only an hour! Bedtime has to come sooner rather than later when your alarm clock starts blaring at 5:00 a.m. Dean Koontz has single handedly made me take a loooong lunch as well as not get enough sleep at night. Yes, I've said it. I am holding him personally responsible.

To justify my stance on his responsibility, just take a gander at how he's ended some of the paragraphs of the last book I finished, Life Expectancy.

End of Chapter 6: "He shot Lionel Davis in the head."
End of Chapter 8: "Checking his wristwatch, the maniac said, "This has taken too much time. I've got a lot of research to do before the explosions start."
End of Chapter 9: "In time, the premonition eventually proved true, and nothing I did was able to alter the trajectory of the bullet."
End of Chapter 10: "The maniac brightened at the sound. "That'll be Honker and Crinkles. "You'll like them. They have the explosives."
End of Chapter 18: Punchinello shot Honker in the chest, Crinkles in the back, then pumped two more rounds into each of them as they thrashed, screaming, on the floor."

Get the idea? The end of a chapter should close a thought or a section, put it to bed so the next chapter could start a new idea fresh. Not in this book! Cliffhangers at almost every turn! What's that about?!! Yes, I took long lunches and yes, I lost sleep. It was worth every page turning moment!

The Student Becoming the Master

Yesterday was Ron's first Microsoft certification test on his way to his MCSE (Microsoft Certified System Engineer).

You have to pass a series of seven tests to get your MCSE. He needed a score of at least 700 out of 1,000 in order to pass this test.

What was Ron's score?

968!!!

Can you believe it? Way to go honey!!

What a great start!

Washing Away the Blues . . . er . . . Grays

I was doing laundry tonight. Ron happened to go into the basement with me for a smoke while I folded and fluffed.

He has this shirt, he wears when he paints. I happened to be folding it and mentioned, "you know, no matter how much I bleach this shirt, it may never be white again."

Can you guess Ron's reply? It went something like this . . .

"That's ok because it never was white. It used to be gray."

Duh!

Call me Betty

October has definitely been a month of parties. Last night was no exception, nor was it the last party planned for this month! Suddenly we have a social life. What's up with that!

Last night was an awesome night. We had over Mike and Mary Jane as well as most of their family. Mike, Jo and Isaiah were in town, and that was sure cause enough for the festivities!

I am not Betty Crocker. Generally I don't even like to cook. However, if it's an occasion, that all changes. Ron and I scoured the internet looking for new things to make. We decided on a couple of recipes that seemed within our scope of abilities, but totally using ingredients that we were not familiar with. It was going to be an adventure in cooking!

The menu was set, with one last minute addition. Since the weather has turned cold, we decided to start with a nice, warm soup. This was the only thing I didn't have a "recipe" for. I remember a long time ago, Jo trying to teach me how to cook lentil soup. Her basic instructions were just to throw in there whatever would make you happy! So, we tried to follow that idea and I think we were pleasantly surprised with the results.

We ended up with a great pot of lentil barley soup with tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery, peas and potatoes. Holy cow! Add a little salt and viola! (The leftovers are going to be our supper tonight!)

Our main courses were wild. Keep in mind, that everything we made was from scratch. I've done things with food I've never done before. Knowing that my specialty is orange spaghetti, you should realize I am totally out of my box with this menu! I even cut fresh herbs. Does anyone out there realize what chopping fresh basil and parsley can do to a white cutting board?? Eww!

We made Raw Vegetable Lasagne Extravaganza! This was marinated (home made garlic and herb marinade) sliced zucchini (I'm such an idiot, I had to call Jo and ask her if I was supposed to peel the zucchini first!) layered with Artichoke Pate, Tomato and Herb Paste, marinated chopped peppers, carrots, onions, topped with another slice of zucchini. This was a big hit! Very tasty.

Our other main dish was in my opinion, the big winner - Spicy Fried Tofu with Peppers. WOW! It wasn't so spicy that I wouldn't eat it, just spicy enough to make it so tasty. Here is a picture of both of the Spicy Fried Tofu with Peppers and the Raw Vegetable Lasange Extravaganza:



Trust me, the picture doesn't do it justice. I thought it was quite a feast.

Ron and I had so much fun getting ready for this. We would each grab a recipe, a piece of counter and we went to town. We made one heck of a mess! But, you wanna know what? Mike and Jo even volunteered for K.P. Hello?? Does life get any better than this??

One thing I definitely did realize last night. I am glad to be home. Sometimes I contemplate my decision of leaving Texas. I was making a lot more money there, the job market was booming. On down days, I ask myself if I did the right thing. Then last night happened. Our house was filled with family, filled with laughter, filled with baby giggles, filled with toys all over the floor. Trust me, it does NOT get any better than that!

If anyone is interested, the recipes were taken from http://www.veganchef.com

All I Want for Christmas is my GPS

What a day.

I finished the audit at the hospital yesterday and today I was on to a new audit. This client is a client we audit every year. This is my third year working with them. The first two years however, they were located downtown. This year, they moved to a relatively new building that is much easier for me to get to! That part I like a lot.

The building is huge, bright, colorful, and I was foolish enough to have the opinion that it would be cool working there. After my first day there, I'm rethinking my opinion. Y'all know I get lost turning around, I have absolutely no sense of direction.

The entire place is full of cubicles. Ok, that's not unusual in this day and age. However, these cubicles are the short cubicles; the walls are only about waist high. That means there are no real "walls". Everything looks the same. You see from one end of the building to the other. I was so confused!

Today, I'm sitting there working and what am I hearing? Country music. Loud country music. Now, it is not my intent to offend any country music fans. I just don't happen to be one of them. At first I thought someone's radio was turned way up. Until I made a trek to the ladies room. Then I realized that the music could be heard everywhere. It was coming from speakers in the ceiling. It was EVERYwhere! What the heck is that about? Finally, I asked someone who is the country music fan. I was told that the music changes every week. Sometimes classical, sometimes oldies, sometimes country. How innovative! Muzak at work. And, cycling the music every week, everyone gets to hear their favorite station at some point.

One more story about my day. Like I mentioned already, this place is truly a sea of cubicles. I made the mistake of going to the ladies room which seems to be in the next county. While walking back, I realized I was lost. Can you believe it? I couldn't find my cubicle! I searched and searched and searched! I finally saw someone I knew and had to ask directions! How embarrassing is that!

Luckily, it was pointed out that all of the cubicles are numbered. Just like leaving downtown, the numbers get bigger the farther away from the bathroom you get. Duh. That did make it a little easier. I swear, things like On*Star were made for people like me! Either that, or I'm sticking a big white flag up where my cubicle is so I can find my way.

It's Another Party!

Unlike the last party we attended (thrown by our friends, Larry and Linda! That's for you, Phil!) tonight's party was thrown by us! We were celebrating Mike's birthday a few days late!

In attendance were Mike and Mary Jane, and Jim and Dad made the trip in. We had a great time! At least I think we had a great time.

Ron and I slaved all day over a hot stove. Um, sort of. Ok, I picked up the phone and called for pizza and ribs from Pizza Pan. Hey, that counts! The store was really warm inside and I had to wait about five minutes for my order to be ready!

We all ate our fill. Dad had barbecue sauce from head to toe. You know it's good food when you're a mess after dinner. So, it was good food, good conversation. A great evening that filled me with that nice, warm fuzzie family feeling. You know, the kind you get when there is no blood shed, no shootings, no body parts missing! Ok, you know I'm kidding. I think the older we all get, the more we seem to cherish each other. Maybe I'm just speaking for myself, but I know that's how I feel.

So, from the bottom of my heart, thanks everyone for coming over tonight and spending the evening with us. Y'all did my heart good.

Happy birthday, Mike!

What a Party

We went to a party last night. And what a party!

Any party that goes through 80 lbs of ribs and 40 lbs of chicken is my kind of party!

This was an outdoor party, they have it every year about this time. We couldn't have had a better night for it either. It did start getting a little chillier after the sun went down, but there were two big fire pits that were going strong. If you got too cold, you just moved a little closer to one of the fires. Or, you could have hit the dance "floor" and danced to what the DJ was playing.

You know, I've been to parties before. I have even thrown a few sorry excuses for a party myself. This party though, was a party that was so text book right. The party was kinda in an alley. That's not exactly right, but I don't know how to explain it any better than that. Sort of a parking area between some apartments and a house. One 2-car garage was designated refreshments. A full bar, a lot of beer, and soda as far as the eye could see. The other 2-car garage had the food. Holy cow, what food. Aside from the ribs and chicken, were tables of steamers with side dishes. There was a noodles and cabbage one even! However, this noodles and cabbage dish also had ham in it. In theory that sounded good, but my taste buds really haven't decided yet if I liked it or not. There were so many different kinds of salads, pastas, veggies, chips and dip, cookies, candies, cakes, pies and yes....even brownies.

We ate all we could eat and then went back for seconds. We really had such a good time last night! We started the night only knowing a handful of people at this party. We left knowing quite a few more. One guy we found out is even our neighbor! Small world, huh? Anyway, it was a great way to end the summer season.

Don't Cry For Me, Bermuda

Onions.

I love onions. I can cut up an onion and put it in just about anything I make. I buy them by the 10 pound bags. I like the large ones, so I don't have to cut up as many.

The onions I currently have in the pantry are just large yellow cooking onions. Nothing fancy.

I've heard all the stories about onions making people cry. To be honest, I thought that was a bunch of hooey. I've cut up a gazillion onions in my day, and never once have I cried over it. The other day though, I finally found out what they have all been talking about!

It started when I was just peeling the skin back. Holy cow! Immediately, my eyes started to water. It wasn't like crying, my eyes burned so bad, I could hardly stand it. I really wanted three onions in the dish I was making, but I couldn't stand it! I had to stop after two. By that time, my eyes were almost swollen shut! I have never experienced anything like it in my life.

It won't stop me from cutting up the rest of the onions in that 10 pound bag, but you can be sure that when I cut onions, I'll have my glasses on and not my contacts!

# 52!

Happy Birthday, brother!

Noisy

Have you ever stopped to listen to the noise all around you? It's never really quiet. They say that absolute silence is deafening. I'd like to try that sometime.

While at work today, I realized just how many sounds are around me. I hear the air conditioning whirring. There is a maintenance room right next to me and something in there is humming. The noise of the traffic outside of my window. My laptop makes a noise when it's working hard. You can actually hear people walking up and down the hallways, even on carpet. The tap tap tapping of fingers on keyboards. Phones ringing. Bits of conversations. Noise everywhere.

The only reason I am so aware of all the noise today is that I woke up with a headache. I've had it all day. It's still there. Maybe if I go to bed early, today will end faster thus getting rid of my headache.

I'm turning out the lights...will y'all hold the noise level down please?

BANG!

The office I'm currently working in is on the second floor. We are on the side of the building and we have a window that looks out onto a street that shows traffic driving towards us.

The ventilation in this building isn't the best, so we generally have the window open for a little fresh air. That makes for an interesting day some times, with the sounds from the street.

As I've mentioned before, I am working at a hospital. So, sirens and helicopters are heard all day long. The aforementioned street that we see is one way, and according to the receptionist that looks at the street all day long, people are always going the wrong way on this one way street. That's always good for a few good horn blows and sometimes if we're lucky, a good expletive or two!

Today however was a treat. There was a short burst of squealing tires followed by a BANG! Of course, being the ghouls that we are, we ran to the window to have a look. Believe it or not, a car rear ended a UPS truck! Can you imagine? What? You didn't see that big ugly brown thing in front of you? Well, the UPS guy looked at his truck and realized that little car couldn't do anything to it, so he got back in his ugly truck and left. The poor guy in the car however is another story.

You see, his front bumper fell off in the middle of the street. Now, if that's not bad enough, this guy thinks that something that fits around the front of his car is somehow magically going to fit in his trunk! So, he sticks around for awhile tying up traffic while he tries to bend this bumper into his trunk. He finally grasped the idea that it wasn't going to work his way. He stuck one end of the front bumper in his trunk and let the other end stick out.

Man, I hope he made it home ok.

Blast From the Past

The Palace Theater, downtown Lorain. The place is really beautiful! The Palace Theater has been a place of entertainment in Lorain for 77 years. This has been renovated in the last 10 years and it is really quite a sight. The crystal chandelier is beyond description, you must really see it to appreciate it. Walking into this theater was like walking into my past.

In the days of old, Maura and I spent a lot of our youth in the various theaters of Erie. Mainly the Warner or the Strand theater. Remember those old, luxurious theaters downtown? So many adventures started walking in the doors of those theaters. I remember so well we would sit in the front row of the theater to watch a movie, then we'd hunker down in our seats and sneak a cigarette. Picture that. We're down hill from everyone, in front of everyone, smoking. You know smoke rises. We thought we were so smart though, and we thought we were fooling everyone! This is so funny now to me! We thought we knew it all.

Anyway, The Palace Theater is a venue for many things here in Lorain. Most weekends they also show second run movies, for $3.00 admission. When I was downtown this week, I saw on the marquee that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was playing and I was anxious to see it. I was transported back into time walking into that theater. Remember the old box offices where you'd get your ticket? The small concession stand? The fancy lobby? The huge screen, the long aisles and hundreds of seats? No dancing popcorn boxes on the screen reminding us to throw our trash in the proper receptacles. No previews of coming attractions, just the main event. We even had a film break!

One thing I don't remember is a behaved audience when the film broke. Maybe because it was mostly kids, but when the film broke, it really was pretty quiet for a good couple of minutes. We all just kind of sat there in the dark patiently. After two or three minutes, they did turn the lights back on while they finished repairs. All in all, it might have taken 10 minutes, then it was back to the movie.

I thought I was going to write my review of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but I don't quite know how I feel about the movie. Parts of it I liked, parts I didn't care for. I love Tim Burton movies, but I just don't feel this one had the usual "twist" that his movies have. Johnny Depp I thought did a very good job, but he was no Gene Wilder. The movie held pretty true to the original. What I did like better was the Oompa Loompas! The effects of the Oompa Loompas were much better than the original in my opinion. Plus, the Oompa music was a lot better than the original Oompa Loompa song. Yeah, I liked that part. All in all, I guess I'm glad we only spent $3.00 a ticket. If this is something you'd want to see, I'd say hit Blockbuster and get the original.

Just one more side story here. There were quite a few people at the movie. I would easily say 300 people were there. In the row directly behind us was a family of Mom, Dad, three kids, and an Uncle. The adults of this group I want to say were in their 20s. When the lights came on during the film break, Uncle asked Dad if he could borrow his cell phone. He said something like as long as there was a break, he should check in with one of his girlfriends. He couldn't decide though if he should check in on Suzie, Sally, Jane, Amy or June. HA! This guy was as dumb as we were smoking in the theater! If he had so many girlfriends, what the heck was he doing on a Saturday night at a kids' movie with his brother and his family? It made me laugh.

Anyway, it was a good night that brought back a lot of warm fuzzy memories. I can still smell the popcorn.

The Host With the Most

I gotta give my guy some props.

We had planned to have a friend of mine from work over for dinner on Friday night. She was going to follow me home from work Friday for a quiet home cooked dinner and a nice evening of conversation.

We didn't leave work as early as we'd hoped, because before we knew it, it was almost six o'clock! Who the heck works until six on a Friday? As soon as we left work, I called Ron to let him know we were running late and would be home shortly to start dinner. Ron said he got home a little early from work on Friday, so he'd be happy to start dinner for us! Hello?? Is that awesome or what!!

It's about a forty minute drive from my office to the house. By the time we got here, Ron had it ALL under control. The table was set beautifully. The salad was made, the dressings were on the table. The pasta was ready and the veal just had to go into the oven long enough to melt the cheese. We had an awesome dinner of veal parmigiana. When I tell you he's a great cook, I'm not kidding! We all ate way too much, but we weren't complaining.

I didn't mean to put all that work on you honey, so thank you so much for taking the ball and running with it. What a fantastic job you did from beginning to end. I just want you to know how much I appreciated all you did. Thank you, honey!

Reality Update

Last night was the bomb of reality tv watching! Two finales of my favorite shows.

First up was Big Brother 6. The final two that were left were from the "nerd herd" as my buddy Howie (one of the houseguests) called them. If that's what I had to choose from why watch the show. But, a finale is a finale and I love all the pomp, circumstance and hoopla that brings. So I watched. There was some final back biting and dirty looks so all was good in my world! In case anyone cares, Maggie won. I guess she was the lesser of two evils. I swear, I was going to scream if I had to hear Ivette cry one more time. Now it's only nine more months or so until Big Brother 7!

Following on the heels of BB6 was my new favorite, Rock Star: INXS. WOW! Ok, I know it's cheesy, but the music was great and the House Band absolutely was awesome. I enjoyed every minute of what I saw and heard. Ron downloaded songs for me from the show and I listen to them a lot. There wasn't anything I didn't like about this show. The big winner was J.D. Fortune. He might not have been my personal favorite, but he was definitely the right choice for the band. Look and listen for J.D.'s original song, Pretty Vegas, hopefully coming soon. I'm not critic but I loved that song. I will definitely buy it if it's ever released by INXS.

Ok, now what? Last night, I started withdrawals. What am I to watch? What am I to hash over the water cooler? What will keep my mind busy now? Oh my gosh, who is my favorite and who do I want voted out?!? AARGH!

Luckily, I came to my senses. I realized that the new Survivor just started last week. This one might actually be the most difficult season of Survivor. The first week had the survivors starting their stay with an 11-1/2 mile hike through the jungles of Guatemala. The one team almost lost half their team to dehydration from the hike! It was not cool watching Bobby Jon's eyes roll back into his head. Ew. Heaven knows I'm all about reality tv but c'mon. I don't wanna watch anyone dying on me!

And tonight....Martha Stewart's Apprentice! Oh baby! Ok, everyone can quit rolling their eyes right now. I am a reality junkie. I love this crap! Yes, it follows The Donald's format. That's ok though, because that format works. And, the camera likes Martha. She seems to come across very well. She didn't end the show with The Donald's signature "you're fired" but rather "you don't fit in, good bye." Very nice. Martha's signature to the show was as soon as the fired candidate was out of the conference room (please note, no board room this time) she took out a piece of stationary and started a letter to the fired candidate wishing them well and telling them it was nice to meet them. I guess that's the ladylike thing to do. Always send a personal letter!

The best part about Martha's show was the previews for next week! We hear Martha, in her sominex voice telling someone "There is no crying in business, my dear". Can it get any better than that?!!

In Memoriam

Barbara
12/31/47 - 09/19/01

Barbara was my sister.

Her passing has definitely been a defining moment in my life. Her passing is the reason I quit my job, packed up my life, and moved back north. Unfortunately, it was too little too late.

She's gone. I still haven't come to terms with that fact. I have a hard time talking about Barb, I have a hard time even thinking about her. There is so much left unsaid.

So much of what I know, came from Barb. So much of who I am, came from her. I don't think I ever thanked her for that either. I do what I do for a living, and I do it well, because of her. My business background, my work ethic, learned from her. I never thanked her for that.

Since I can't pick up the phone to tell her what I really want to tell her, I will write it here.

Barb,

Thank you for making sure I didn't make the same mistakes you did.
Thank you for teaching me all I know.
Thank you for always listening to me when I needed to talk.
Thank you for believing in me when I felt no one else did.
Thank you for spending time with me.
Thank you for having my back.
Thank you for supporting me in all my dumb ideas.
Thank you for never judging me.
Thank you for loving me.
I'm sorry for not being there when you needed me to be.

I am so angry with you for dying when you did. It wasn't your time. In spite of my anger, I miss you so much.

I love you.

One of my Favorite Things

Saturdays!

Yes, I love Saturdays. A Saturday is a gift for getting through Monday through Friday. Saturday!

I like to get up early on Saturdays. I want to enjoy every single minute of a Saturday that I can. The possibilities are endless! I never know where a Saturday is going to take me. The best part is you can do anything you want to with no worries. From watching my taped TV shows, to family visits, to shopping, to just about anywhere. No worries about laundry, or dinner, or having to get to bed early to make it to work on Monday. Endless possibilities.

Unfortunately, now it's Sunday. It's been a day of laundry and of planning for the week. Tonight is early to bed for tomorrow we start it all again.

Only six more days to next Saturday.

Scraaape

It's hard to see on the picture, so we even tried to have the blue of my atlas highlight the owie on my car. Someone scraped the corner of my bumper in the parking lot of the hospital I'm working at.

No real damage. There is white paint scrapes all the way down where the blue is reflected on my car. I think they will rub out though. Ron is going to try tomorrow. It was just enough though to really p*ss me off!

The good news is that it's an employee parking lot. So, on Monday I plan on checking out the parking lot for the white SUV that I was parked next to when I got there Friday. I know when I left the white vehicle wasn't next to me any longer. I just hope they have more damage on their car!

** Update: Ron was able to rub out the white paint off of my car! Thanks, honey!

Threshold

HOLY CRAP!

Did anyone catch that new show called Threshold that just started tonight? It's on CBS. Against my better judgment, we watched the series opener tonight. It was a two hour premier.

This show scared the living crap out of me! I screamed three different times watching this show. I think it was really good in between the scary parts. I'll have to watch it again to make sure of that part.

In case anyone drives by my house tonight and notices all the lights on, don't be surprised. I have no plans on shutting off ANY lights tonight!

And I Paid the Price

Boy, did I pay the price.

From my last entry, we all know I drank a little too much. Perhaps even a lot too much. Had a great time though!

I think I went to bed by 10:30 p.m. When my alarm went off this morning at 5:00 a.m. I don't think my body had enough time to process some of that alcohol. I woke up feeling like crap. And I don't mean maybe. I felt like I still had a buzz too which wasn't helping my cause. My first thought was that I needed to get some food into my system to soak up some of that alcohol. So, I made myself a big bowl of cereal. Rice Krispies, for anyone that really cared to know. I got that down and headed back upstairs to get ready for work. I was running a couple of minutes behind since I stopped for breakfast, but not too bad. I was out the door about 6:05 a.m.

I went to walk out the door and was surprised to see just how hard it was raining. This is the proverbial cats and dogs rain storm. As much as I really wanted to say the heck with it and crawl back into bed and try again tomorrow, I knew I couldn't let my client think I couldn't take it. So, I threw a jacket over my head and made a run for the garage. (All of the umbrellas I own for some reason are in my car. I need to remedy that problem.)

The drive was absolutely horrendous. I could barely see. We were all going slower than normal, but it was still hard to see the car in front of you or beside you. I got lucky and hooked on to a big semi that had a ton of lights around the back. With the lights, he really stood out in the rain. I figured if I stayed far enough back, I could just follow him and stay on the road but if he hit anything or ran off the road, I had room to stop. If you've ever stared long enough at the back of a vehicle, you get mesmerized by it. Between staring at the truck and the pouring rain, I knew I was in big trouble. Luckily I was on the turnpike and I saw the sign for the service plaza coming up. I thought it might be a good idea for me to pull off and take a break.

I made my way to the service plaza and found a parking spot. I thought there is no point sitting with the car running so I shut it off. It's raining so hard, I don't plan on going into the service plaza, I'm just planning on staying in my car. It's only about 6:45 a.m. so there are not a ton of people out and about. I'm in my car, windows up, and it's raining like heck. The sound on the roof of the car is awesome! My body hurts, my head hurts, for crying out loud, my hair hurts. I decided to shut my eyes for just a few minutes. Just to wait out the storm! Yeah! That's it!

Somehow, my seat laid back, and the sound of the rain put me right to sleep. I woke up about 7:30 and the rain had turned into just a little drizzle. I had a 45 minute nap and was feeling a little better. My hair still hurt and my stomach was not happy with me, but I felt like I was going to live.

And live I did. It was questionable for awhile this morning, but I made it.

What should have been a bad day, turned out to have a bright spot. After all, how many of you people got to take a nap on the way to work?

Expense Account

Yep, I have one. Tonight, I used it.

On the audit I am working on right now, I am pretty much in the dungeon. Ok, it's really a basement, but it's dark and kinda dungeony. Especially the room with the files. It's too dark and too cramped in the file room, so to look through the paperwork, I take a dolly, grab a couple of boxes and wheel them out to either the lunch room or the conference room.

That said, I get engrossed in my work. I start my day in the basement, I finish my day in the basement. It is my personal belief that I need to make my presence known to my contact at the audit as well as some of the staff. I don't want to attend a claim meeting on Monday and have a group of people wonder where the heck I came up with all these claims and where have I been all week! So, if not every day, then every other day, I make it a point to go upstairs and make myself seen. I will stop in to people's offices or cubicles, just say a howdy, how you doing, etc. Some times I might take in bagels or donuts or something like that.

Yesterday, I took a walk upstairs and was making my rounds. I was in the supervisor's office and she and I started to just chat a bit. Somehow, we got onto the subject of Margaritas. In case you can't tell from the name of this blog, I happen to love Margaritas. A lot. When I mentioned that to the supervisor, she said "Hey! Let's go have a few margaritas tomorrow after work!" Who am I to say no.

Tonight, we headed to a Mexican place she recommended and put down a pitcher of Gold Margaritas. To make it look better, we even ordered some food! Can life get any better than this? To make it a legitimate business expense, we did talk a little business, and with the information gained from this meeting I have a feeling tomorrow could be a prosperous day for me. I'll have to let you know.

The best part of this Margarita party tonight is that for a few hours, I could forget. I could forget that I was told I was once again passed over for a promotion. I could forget that I was passed over for a raise. I could forget that the other auditor has quit and tomorrow is his last day. I could forget that even HE could find another job, even though no one seems to want my services. I could forget all that.

And, my boss has to pay for my forgetfulness. I guess every gray cloud has to have some silver lining.

Speaking of Books

Let's talk about the Reader's Digest.

A happy memory from childhood is the Reader's Digest. Fighting with everyone to get in the pecking order of who reads the Digest first. Then, the correct way of reading the Digest once it was finally my turn.

It used to be that I flipped through the book looking for the little quips that fill up the pages at the end of stories. From there I'd go to the recurring sections such as the Humor in Uniform, Laughter the Best Medicine, Life in These United States, etc. The actual articles were almost an after thought. Things you read while you waited for the next Digest to show up.

Now, I'm older and wiser. Yes, we still get the Digest and it is a happy day the day the mailman brings the new edition. Only now, no more pecking order. The Digest is immediately placed in its proper place, the bathroom. That way everyone has equal time to read it in the proper place. I've also grown in my appreciation for the Digest. No more do I cheat and read all the jokes first. Now, I'm a cover to cover kind of gal. I start in the beginning and just work my way right through.

Now a bad segue to a joke found in the Digest. This is what we affectionately call a "Jim Joke". You know I love you brother, but c'mon! Some of them jokes! To explain a "Jim Joke" more clearly, here is the one from the September 2005 issue. Tell me that you can't hear Jim telling this joke!

A panda walks into a bar, sits down and orders a sandwich. He eats, pulls out a gun and shoots the waiter dead. As the panda stands up to go, the bartender shouts, "Hey! Where are you going? You just shot my waiter and you didn't pay for the food."

The panda yells back, "Hey, man. I'm a panda. Look it up!"

The bartender opens his dictionary to Panda: "A tree-climbing mammal of Asian origin, characterized by distinct black and white coloring. Eats shoots and leaves."

I'm killing me here!

Read a Book

One thing about my family, we all love to read.

Personally, I go for the fiction section, usually some kind of mystery or who-done-it detective kind of story. I never guess the bad guy, but I love the search for him. I do stray from my formula of picking out books occasionally, but this is most of what I read.

You're heard of "writer's block"? I think I am in the midst of "reader's block". The last book I read was the newest Harry Potter. Keep in mind, this book was delivered to my house on the day it was released and I started it that day. I was one of the first to know who the Half Blood Prince was! But, now I am in a quandary.

I don't know if it's because the newest Harry Potter book was so awaited, or so thoroughly enjoyed, but now I am having trouble picking up the next book. There is so much hype about The Lord of the Rings, that I decided I wanted to read that one as well. I borrowed the book from brother Mike and had that in the ready for when I finished HP. I haven't read one page yet. I can't tell you how many times I've picked up the book, contemplated the book, even once went so far as to open the cover of the book. That's as far as I've gotten. I can't bring myself to read one word of it. What the heck is up with that?

So, yesterday, I tried my old friend. The local public library. I went right to the mystery section. There, I slowly strolled the aisles, lovingly stroking the spines of all the stories to be told. But which one would would open this reader's block of mine? I whispered "where are you?" as I felt my way through, finally settling on my choice. The Body of Evidence by Patricia Cornwell.

And, quit laughing at me! You may pick our your books your way, but this works for me. I'll let you know how it comes out!

A Visitor

I came home last night to a visitor!

This window is over my sink in the kitchen, and looks out onto my driveway. I had to walk right next to this little lady to get to my door, which is under the awning there on the right. I came into the house and walked right to the sink to put my coffee mug down. HELLO! See what is looking at me at my sink?

I did the best I could at taking a picture of our visitor. She is a good four inches long for crying out loud! I really don't know if I've ever seen one of these in person before. We spent quite a bit of time yesterday, just looking at each other. She didn't seem fazed by me in the least. As a matter of fact, she kept her hands nice and folded. I'm just hoping she was saying her prayers for me.

Ron came home and he knew about the praying mantis, as he had seen her around since the night before. He wanted to know if he needed to take lethal measures towards our visitor. But, once again, I took the high road. I say as long as she was willing to stay on the outside of my screen, I was good with her staying there. Heaven help her if she ever tries to get in though!

She must have gotten a better offer though. I haven't seen hide nor hair nor wing nor leg of her all day today.

It's Not Enough

I've been trying to keep this light. It's not working tonight.

I have something on my mind. I think it's on most of our minds - Hurricane Katrina. We can't look at a paper, listen to the radio or watch the news without hearing about it. Everywhere we turn, people are asking for donations to the hurricane victims.

I have to back up a bit. Call me Cleopatra. I am the Queen of De-Nile. Ok, actually the queen of denial. I have developed a system a long time ago to keep reality at bay and out of my mind. I can go to a safer place in my mind, sort of to my own land of make believe. I'm always safe there, and nothing bad can happen to me. Reality TV is ok, because it's not MY reality.

Then just over nine days ago, Hurricane Katrina hit. Part of my mind has wrapped around the fact that it was absolutely devastating. Well, I know what the word devastating means, but I still couldn't realize just how devastated the people of New Orleans really are. I understand that New Orleans is gone. Period. It's gone. There are thousands of people dead. Thousands more left without homes or any belongings. There has been chaos and mayhem in what is left of New Orleans.

Yesterday, that reality finally hit me.

I was listening to the radio on my drive to work. The radio talked about displaced pets after the hurricane. I thought that was harmless enough to listen to. Then they explained that people were rescued, but the rescue boats would not take their pets. The pets were left to swim. And swim. And swim. The radio show went on to add that now the water is toxic. The water is toxic and the pets are dying from drinking the water of all things. Ok, again, I know what the word toxic means, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the water would now be getting toxic. Once again, I was in the safe place in my mind where all is well with the world.

Last night, I found out why the water is getting toxic. A news show was on last night called 48 Hours. I caught part of it. What I saw is now forever etched in my brain. New Orleans is still under a lot of water. Dead bodies are floating in the water. Read that again. Dead bodies are floating in the water. Damn the news cameras. I couldn't look away fast enough. Like I said, etched now in my brain. They are so busy trying to rescue the LIVE people that no one has been able to care for the thousands of dead in New Orleans. Can we even imagine what that city is truly like? The horrors these people are going through? The people still unaccounted for is staggering.

Another news story from yesterday, out of the rubble came a six year old boy holding a five month old child. Following this six year old leader, hand in hand, were five more toddlers. This SIX year old was taking care of six other children and leading them to safety! Once they were in the capable hands of the Red Cross and fed and cleaned and clothed, the Red Cross went about trying to find their families. Somewhere in a shelter were parents looking for their lost seven children! What are the chances that this had a happy ending! Very little. They found out it wasn't the same seven children they were looking for. Can you believe it? Another group of seven children are missing...and this group has parents that are either dead or perhaps have just abandoned them. I know, this is only one of thousands of stories.

My point is, I feel so helpless. While the door to my safe place was open a little bit, I did what most people are doing. I wrote a check, sent it to the Red Cross. Whoopie. My good deed was done. After learning just how devastating this disaster really is to our fellow man, I feel the need to do more. But what? Send more money? Buy a boat and go down there? Open my house to the homeless hordes? What is the right thing to do? And will it be enough?

I know y'all have heard it from every single media out there. I need to reiterate. Give. Then give again. It won't be enough. http://www.redcross.org/

*Author's note: Here is a link to the news story about the six year old mentioned above. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9230423/