Thursday was our monthly potluck and as previously mentioned, I was on 'main dish' this month.
I dread main dish. Dread it like a hang nail. The main dish 'sets the tone' for the potluck - see, we call it a potluck (which implies that people bring whatever they want to bring) but we don't do potluck that way. No, we PLAN a potluck. So the main dish people (usually two) decide what they are making (together or separately, same thing or different within a type of food) and then all the 'side dish' and 'fruit/salad' and 'desert' people coordinate their dishes with the main dish.
I've been participating in the monthly potlucks for 2 1/2 years now and I think this was my third time on main dish. The first time, we did 'Mexican' and bought meat and beans and rice from a Mexican deli down the street from our office. Delicious and easy - and while not inexpensive, I didn't care. I didn't want to cook for work. The other main dish person gave me $15 and I was fine with that. We were 'done' and 'home-free' for another 6 months.
The 2nd time, I bought a bunch of orange chicken from China Panda - and we did Chinese. Someone made homemade won tons, and we had Oriental Chicken Salad and of course, fortune cookies and ice cream ('cuz we'll have ice cream every month if possible) for desert.
So here it is, a year later - and I'm up AGAIN. And I'm feeling a bit more confident - in all things. In the job, in the relationships. And in my cooking. I've been 'practicing' a bit - making dishes from recipes and 'experimenting' a bit. So far, all is well. The boys love most everything I make and I know I'm a decent cook. I'm just not a confident cook....but I'm getting there.
So I decide this is the month I WILL COOK. Really cook. And I decide to make Pasta Carbonara - the same meal I made for the co-worker that we took a meal to. The same meal I make when I'm craving good pasta. The kids and J. enjoy it and we're getting pretty good at it - J. always helps me because it's a lot to 'put together' at the end and timing is everything in this dish.
I buy really good bacon - pay a fortune for it. But it's worth it. It's thicker and cuts so much easier. The night before, I'd planned to cook the bacon and the onions and garlic - those would be 'done' and ready to combine with the white wine (used to de-glaze the pan they were cooked in and then simmered with the bacon and onions until it reduces).
I was exhausted that night and J., bless his heart, offered to cook for me. And he did - 4 pounds of bacon (serving 15 people) cut and cooked until crispy. Lots of chopped onions cooked in the bacon grease and drained. Garlic, too. The pan was drained of the bacon grease and carefully wrapped with foil and left out - we would de-glaze it the next day. Thankfully, J. was able to work at home that day - worked out perfectly.
I head to the county office of ed early the next morning for my monthly CBO meeting. Usually an hour or an hour and a half. But the 2.5 hour mark rolled around and I called work to let them know that we needed to bump the potluck back 1/2 hour (from noon to 12:30) 'cuz I was still at the county. I finally head home (a THREE HOUR MEETING - a record for us) - and approaching noon, I call J. to check in again. Now, he has phoned me no fewer than FOUR TIMES during my meeting - embarrassing and I couldn't get my phone to STOP RINGING, causing me to exit quickly, apologizing profusely the entire way - and I phone again to let him know I am on my way and will be there shortly. And he says 'I'm chopping the garlic now'.....and that's when I knew we had a huge problem. I said 'J., the garlic was supposed to be cooked last night - but that's OK...just go ahead and add it into the bacon/onion/wine mixture that you've got simmering and I'll be there as fast as I can get there'. Long pause. He says 'what is supposed to be simmering? It is now around 11:45 - and I say 'you were supposed to de-glaze the bacon pan with white wine and then put the onions and bacon (and garlic) back into the pan to simmer while the wine reduces'. Long pause. He says 'I haven't started that yet'.
Holy Crap! We are to serve this dish to 15 people in less than 45 minutes and he hasn't started to de-glaze the pan yet. The sauce takes a LONG TIME to simmer down enough to avoid making pouring it over the pasta like pouring water....and I realize at that point we are screwed. So screwed.
I pull into our driveway and just sit there for a minute. Freaking out. Try to call a co-worker - who thankfully doesn't answer because if she had answered I would have said 'please go to Gerard's (a great deli downtown with hot and cold food) and buy any pasta dish you can get your hands on and I'll pay you back'.....I am teary eyed and frustrated.....
I enter the house and tell J. 'I never cook for these people, you know - because these people - these friends make EVERYTHING from scratch. When they make spaghetti sauce, they simmer it FOR DAYS. When they want pasta THEY MAKE THEIR OWN. This is the first time I've been brave enough to try to actually cook for them and it's a f-ing disaster'. I was crying a little at this point - though I realized 'what's the point'?
I get J. to get the pasta out of the pots - it was 'done' awhile ago, he said but he left it in the hot water - and we know what happens to pasta left in hot water, don't we? IT KEEPS COOKING....so we drain the pasta, toss the pasta with the eggs, parsley and cheese - add the bacon. Totally forgot about the onions. Gave up on the garlic. Added more cheese. And that's what we took for lunch. And everyone loved it - though even J. (who stayed and ate with us because when someone said 'is J. going to stay for lunch?' I replied 'well, he cooked it all so it would be really nice for him to get to eat it')....even he said 'it really wasn't as good as it should have been'. It was edible. And I doubt most people knew any different.
I am grateful for his help - because had he not cooked, we would have had NOTHING for lunch. I couldn't leave my meeting - it was hugely important information and it was well worth the time. So had J. not rearranged his schedule to cook that morning, we would have had NO main dish. Instead, we had a 'modified' main dish that was edible. Not fantastic but edible. And people were fine.
This morning, my assistant K. said 'Good news, Majah! I just finished next year's potluck rotation and it's your year to only be on main dish ONCE!!'. I yelled 'YEAH' and then said 'start collecting take-out menus 'cuz I'm going back to buying'. She laughed and said 'it was fine - we all thought it was good'. And I said 'thanks, but I'm not going through that again....no way. MAYBE I'll roast a chicken or two?' Thankfully, my month is January and I can make some soup. We love a soup potluck during the cold winter months. And it's impossible to mess up soup, right?
(Thanks, J. You did a great job......all things considered. And I truly do appreciate your help!)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Snails
So the funny story is this:
I came home at lunch last Tuesday - Board meeting day so I actually made it home for a slightly extended mid-day break. J. was home and assured me 'oh, no, no snails out there. Not a one'. So I meander out to my garden - double check the pots on the patio. All is well. Plants looking healthy and growing already. Leaves unfurling. One teeny tomato already visible (sorry Mr. Organized Crime - I have no tips to offer. The tomato was apparently well in the works BEFORE I ever planted the plant - but I'll take full credit. Though it may well be the only tomato I ever get off the plant - stay tuned!). Things were good. I went across the grass to the squash plants - currently the only plants in the ground - we are debating raised beds or not and that will be largely determined by the snail issue.
And 'lo and behold - there's a LEAF missing...and slime all over the other leaves. Those sneaky snails....and my husband who apparently thought the leaf with HOLES IN IT and SLIME ALL OVER IT was the 'normal' way squash looks?? (Yet another example of the male gender suffering from a serious inability to notice ANY DETAILS WHATSOEVER....no offense to non-family males). He said 'well it must have just happened' and I resisted the urge to yell 'there is no snail anywhere near those plants at the moment AND THEY ARE SNAILS, J. . THEY DON'T MOVE AT LIGHTENING SPEED. THEY WERE EATING THE PLANTS THIS MORNING WHEN YOU ASSURED ME THERE WERE NO SNAILS ON OR NEAR THE PLANTS'. I didn't say it - but I sure thought it!!
So I take action. Head into the house to get a beer and pour it in a pie tin - I've heard the beer attracts the snails and then they die. Presumably 'happy' from a once-in-a-lifetime beer buzz - but they die.
I'm in the garage looking everywhere for the case of Corona we've had FOREVER. Or at least we did have it forever before we apparently took it to a party - New Years, probably. After many minutes of torturing myself trying to figure out where the beer in the garage WAS, I motion to J. and he 'hand signals' (he is on a conference call by this time) that we took it to a party. Don't ask me how he 'signed' that to me - but he was able to confirm via nods, etc. that there was no beer in the garage anymore and tells me to check the fridge. I find one lone cold Corona in the fridge....and not a single aluminum pie plate in sight. At least not where I could see - the cupboard where the baking things are stored is underneath the ovens - and it's so 'full' of stuff, the only way to really see into the cupboard is to sit - and I can't do that or I'll never be able to get up. So I find a clear class Pyrex pie 'tin' near the front of the cupboard and use that.
Only I don't think to open the beer and carry the open beer bottle and the pie plate outside and THEN pour the beer. NO, I pour the beer FIRST into the pie pan...and then walk, oh-so-carefully through the kitchen, down two steps into the family room, across the family room, open the sliding door and take the pie plate full of beer outside - in work clothes. PRAYING the entire way (well, praying and saying to myself 'you are such a twit, Majah....') that I don't end up spilling the beer all over myself. 'Cuz I can't go back to work, back to my office and to a Board meeting smelling like beer!
Thankfully, I managed - didn't spill a drop. And resisted the urge to take a wee sip from the bottle as I poured the last of it into the pie tin. Oh, how I wanted to....but working in education and drinking at lunch do not 'mix'. That is a 'no'.
The beer hasn't done a damn thing. Not a single slug/snail has gone anywhere near it. So I'll be returning the pie plate sans beer (and thoroughly washed and sterilized in the dishwasher) back to the cupboard shortly.
Next up - the potluck story. Or 'the third time in 5 days I was ready to kill my husband'. Told this story at my Lions meeting and people were laughing so hard, they were crying. It is funny now.....
I came home at lunch last Tuesday - Board meeting day so I actually made it home for a slightly extended mid-day break. J. was home and assured me 'oh, no, no snails out there. Not a one'. So I meander out to my garden - double check the pots on the patio. All is well. Plants looking healthy and growing already. Leaves unfurling. One teeny tomato already visible (sorry Mr. Organized Crime - I have no tips to offer. The tomato was apparently well in the works BEFORE I ever planted the plant - but I'll take full credit. Though it may well be the only tomato I ever get off the plant - stay tuned!). Things were good. I went across the grass to the squash plants - currently the only plants in the ground - we are debating raised beds or not and that will be largely determined by the snail issue.
And 'lo and behold - there's a LEAF missing...and slime all over the other leaves. Those sneaky snails....and my husband who apparently thought the leaf with HOLES IN IT and SLIME ALL OVER IT was the 'normal' way squash looks?? (Yet another example of the male gender suffering from a serious inability to notice ANY DETAILS WHATSOEVER....no offense to non-family males). He said 'well it must have just happened' and I resisted the urge to yell 'there is no snail anywhere near those plants at the moment AND THEY ARE SNAILS, J. . THEY DON'T MOVE AT LIGHTENING SPEED. THEY WERE EATING THE PLANTS THIS MORNING WHEN YOU ASSURED ME THERE WERE NO SNAILS ON OR NEAR THE PLANTS'. I didn't say it - but I sure thought it!!
So I take action. Head into the house to get a beer and pour it in a pie tin - I've heard the beer attracts the snails and then they die. Presumably 'happy' from a once-in-a-lifetime beer buzz - but they die.
I'm in the garage looking everywhere for the case of Corona we've had FOREVER. Or at least we did have it forever before we apparently took it to a party - New Years, probably. After many minutes of torturing myself trying to figure out where the beer in the garage WAS, I motion to J. and he 'hand signals' (he is on a conference call by this time) that we took it to a party. Don't ask me how he 'signed' that to me - but he was able to confirm via nods, etc. that there was no beer in the garage anymore and tells me to check the fridge. I find one lone cold Corona in the fridge....and not a single aluminum pie plate in sight. At least not where I could see - the cupboard where the baking things are stored is underneath the ovens - and it's so 'full' of stuff, the only way to really see into the cupboard is to sit - and I can't do that or I'll never be able to get up. So I find a clear class Pyrex pie 'tin' near the front of the cupboard and use that.
Only I don't think to open the beer and carry the open beer bottle and the pie plate outside and THEN pour the beer. NO, I pour the beer FIRST into the pie pan...and then walk, oh-so-carefully through the kitchen, down two steps into the family room, across the family room, open the sliding door and take the pie plate full of beer outside - in work clothes. PRAYING the entire way (well, praying and saying to myself 'you are such a twit, Majah....') that I don't end up spilling the beer all over myself. 'Cuz I can't go back to work, back to my office and to a Board meeting smelling like beer!
Thankfully, I managed - didn't spill a drop. And resisted the urge to take a wee sip from the bottle as I poured the last of it into the pie tin. Oh, how I wanted to....but working in education and drinking at lunch do not 'mix'. That is a 'no'.
The beer hasn't done a damn thing. Not a single slug/snail has gone anywhere near it. So I'll be returning the pie plate sans beer (and thoroughly washed and sterilized in the dishwasher) back to the cupboard shortly.
Next up - the potluck story. Or 'the third time in 5 days I was ready to kill my husband'. Told this story at my Lions meeting and people were laughing so hard, they were crying. It is funny now.....
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Twittered
If I Twittered....
Dog is driving me crazy......constantly.
Stopped attack of slugs on squash plants with Sluggo and a pan of beer....funny story which I'll post eventually. Came home at lunch and......30 hours ago
....found plants covered in slime with 'chewed up leaves' after J. had just assured me 'no, there's no sign of snails/slugs out there'.....30 hours ago
....full story soon.....told people at work and they were cracking up.....30 hours ago.
Squash plants had SIX slugs on them this morning - nowhere near the beer. And they had completely ignored the Sluggo and moved over it to the plants.....13 hours ago.
Cat just tried to chew through plastic bag to get to sandwich rolls I just brought home from the grocery.....2 hours ago.
No slugs on squash plants. ALREADY have one teeny tomato! Peppers OK but looking a bit 'off' this evening. ......80 minutes ago.
Must bake cookies because need the bowl of cookie dough (chocolate crinkles - YUM) out of the fridge.....making room for pot luck main dish stuff for tomorrow....in 10 minutes.
Taking one Tylenol PM and heading up to bed...after I bake cookies and let them cool long enough to eat one (or two) .....in about an hour.
If I Twittered, that's what you'd see. But I don't. And I won't. I can't keep up with my own life much less subject everyone else to 'follow' me while I live it. I love the concept but just can't do it. But I think all day long in little 'Twitter-bites'. Weird.
I need sleep.
Dog is driving me crazy......constantly.
Stopped attack of slugs on squash plants with Sluggo and a pan of beer....funny story which I'll post eventually. Came home at lunch and......30 hours ago
....found plants covered in slime with 'chewed up leaves' after J. had just assured me 'no, there's no sign of snails/slugs out there'.....30 hours ago
....full story soon.....told people at work and they were cracking up.....30 hours ago.
Squash plants had SIX slugs on them this morning - nowhere near the beer. And they had completely ignored the Sluggo and moved over it to the plants.....13 hours ago.
Cat just tried to chew through plastic bag to get to sandwich rolls I just brought home from the grocery.....2 hours ago.
No slugs on squash plants. ALREADY have one teeny tomato! Peppers OK but looking a bit 'off' this evening. ......80 minutes ago.
Must bake cookies because need the bowl of cookie dough (chocolate crinkles - YUM) out of the fridge.....making room for pot luck main dish stuff for tomorrow....in 10 minutes.
Taking one Tylenol PM and heading up to bed...after I bake cookies and let them cool long enough to eat one (or two) .....in about an hour.
If I Twittered, that's what you'd see. But I don't. And I won't. I can't keep up with my own life much less subject everyone else to 'follow' me while I live it. I love the concept but just can't do it. But I think all day long in little 'Twitter-bites'. Weird.
I need sleep.
Awake
Awake since 2AM. At 4AM, I gave up and got up.
Sadly, having just confirmed that we did not win the Mega Millions jackpot last night, I must get upstairs soon (it's 6AM now) to get ready for work.
Thankfully, no one else won the jackpot either, so there is always Friday's drawing.
Tonight will be busy making Pasta Carbonara for everyone at work for the monthly potluck! I'm going to cook as much as I can of the ingredients tonight and J. (who is thankfully working at home tomorrow) is going to help me put it all together in the morning in time for the noon potluck. I'm actually cooking - try not to be too shocked.....).
LOL...I'm making my grocery list and just wrote 'white whine'. OMG....I am sleepy.
Later....Have a great day. I will be barely awake by noon and wishing I had been able to get back to sleep!
Sadly, having just confirmed that we did not win the Mega Millions jackpot last night, I must get upstairs soon (it's 6AM now) to get ready for work.
Thankfully, no one else won the jackpot either, so there is always Friday's drawing.
Tonight will be busy making Pasta Carbonara for everyone at work for the monthly potluck! I'm going to cook as much as I can of the ingredients tonight and J. (who is thankfully working at home tomorrow) is going to help me put it all together in the morning in time for the noon potluck. I'm actually cooking - try not to be too shocked.....).
LOL...I'm making my grocery list and just wrote 'white whine'. OMG....I am sleepy.
Later....Have a great day. I will be barely awake by noon and wishing I had been able to get back to sleep!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Resistance
is futile. That's the great thing about love. After resisting the urge to express my angst by going through every laundry hamper in the house and turning every piece of laundry wrong-side-out [bwaa haa haa] (after having been judiciously conscious of turning everything in my hamper right-side-out and encouraging [and often just doing it myself] the kids to do the same to lessen J.'s load, the storm has passed. Peace is returning. I even kissed J. 'hello' as I came through the door just now for a quick mid-day break before a long afternoon (Board meeting tonight).
I know the laundry thing would have been kind of 'mean' and certainly punitive...but it seemed like the right response to the situation - at least it did for a couple days.
Now, I'm mellowing. And love always wins. I love this man. I love everything about him - and trying to pretend that I don't - trying to let totally screeching pissed-off anger 'win' - is not in my nature.
We are just looking forward EVEN MORE to a day in the not-too-distant future when we will NOT have teenagers in this house!
LOVE WINS! Love always wins.
(and I'm adding this just so we're all clear: do not ever do that again, J. Seriously. I don't like being THAT pissed off at ANYONE - and especially not you. So just don't go there again....I know it wasn't intentional - but keeping me out of the loop around here is not a viable solution to 'raising teenagers'. Just so we're clear).
[and thanks to my cousin D. who reassured me via email this morning that the things we are experiencing with B. do, in fact, appear to be 'normal' teenage things. Irritating, frustrating, mind-numbing things......but all normal. Good to know....and reassuring to hear from someone who's survived it].
I know the laundry thing would have been kind of 'mean' and certainly punitive...but it seemed like the right response to the situation - at least it did for a couple days.
Now, I'm mellowing. And love always wins. I love this man. I love everything about him - and trying to pretend that I don't - trying to let totally screeching pissed-off anger 'win' - is not in my nature.
We are just looking forward EVEN MORE to a day in the not-too-distant future when we will NOT have teenagers in this house!
LOVE WINS! Love always wins.
(and I'm adding this just so we're all clear: do not ever do that again, J. Seriously. I don't like being THAT pissed off at ANYONE - and especially not you. So just don't go there again....I know it wasn't intentional - but keeping me out of the loop around here is not a viable solution to 'raising teenagers'. Just so we're clear).
[and thanks to my cousin D. who reassured me via email this morning that the things we are experiencing with B. do, in fact, appear to be 'normal' teenage things. Irritating, frustrating, mind-numbing things......but all normal. Good to know....and reassuring to hear from someone who's survived it].
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Over
Vacation is officially over. Ended the week off with an evening of gardening - planted cucumbers, squash, peppers and one flowering plant (to fill in an existing planter). Still have a basil and a parsley plant to put into planters but we ran out of soil - another trip to Home Depot next weekend, I guess. I bought really brightly colored, light-weight movable planters that I just LOVE. They are so pretty - and cheerful. J. doesn't really like them - he of muted 'earth-tones' as a preference (which is comical if you've ever seen our home - there's not a muted earth tone in sight. Seriously. Not a single one)....
It was a nice week off in many ways....and not so much in others.
Things are tense in Casa Majah and that is not likely to change anytime soon. I won't go into details...no, really. So don't ask. But I will tell you that my frustration with the men in my life is increasing on a daily basis. There have been very few times in my marriage when I was flipping out mad - but that happened yesterday. Still feel incredibly angry. And realize it will do no good - I mean really, what can I do about it? Leave? Yep...and I've seriously considered it. Still am considering it, actually. I don't think I'll ever act on that feeling - but I might. I am not happy here....at least not at the moment. All parties are sorry - sorrier than sorry. But the issues still exist - and they will not change anytime soon. (and I will tell you it's nothing horrifically bad - no infidelity, nothing seriously marriage-crushing. And yet...I feel crushed. Dead in the water crushed about so many things. We aren't seeing eye to eye on some critical points these days and being ignored is not acceptable to me....and that's exactly what happened. We don't see eye to eye on how to handle things with B. and it's really making me hugely pissed off. At J. and at B. Hugely pissed off....).
Sounds like getting back to work will be a welcome diversion from my life at home....yet, I'm dreading returning as much as you can imagine. Went in briefly yesterday (because I did seriously have to get the hell out of the house) and took care of emails, incoming mail, voice mails and planning my week....so that should help. But all it really did is make me think 'Holy Crap - I should so NOT have taken this week off'. And yet, I did....and I needed it. And I know I will do whatever I need to do...and it will all get done. It will.
The weather turned very warm suddenly - great for getting outside and working in the yard. Wish we'd had the pool cover on 'cuz it probably would have warmed up considerably - it reached 90 here today - I think that's a record breaking temp.
I might be silent for awhile....I don't have much to say these days that doesn't revolve around the issues surrounding B. . Maybe a break from blogging is in order while we attempt to sort things out. So I might be quiet this week.
It was a nice week off in many ways....and not so much in others.
Things are tense in Casa Majah and that is not likely to change anytime soon. I won't go into details...no, really. So don't ask. But I will tell you that my frustration with the men in my life is increasing on a daily basis. There have been very few times in my marriage when I was flipping out mad - but that happened yesterday. Still feel incredibly angry. And realize it will do no good - I mean really, what can I do about it? Leave? Yep...and I've seriously considered it. Still am considering it, actually. I don't think I'll ever act on that feeling - but I might. I am not happy here....at least not at the moment. All parties are sorry - sorrier than sorry. But the issues still exist - and they will not change anytime soon. (and I will tell you it's nothing horrifically bad - no infidelity, nothing seriously marriage-crushing. And yet...I feel crushed. Dead in the water crushed about so many things. We aren't seeing eye to eye on some critical points these days and being ignored is not acceptable to me....and that's exactly what happened. We don't see eye to eye on how to handle things with B. and it's really making me hugely pissed off. At J. and at B. Hugely pissed off....).
Sounds like getting back to work will be a welcome diversion from my life at home....yet, I'm dreading returning as much as you can imagine. Went in briefly yesterday (because I did seriously have to get the hell out of the house) and took care of emails, incoming mail, voice mails and planning my week....so that should help. But all it really did is make me think 'Holy Crap - I should so NOT have taken this week off'. And yet, I did....and I needed it. And I know I will do whatever I need to do...and it will all get done. It will.
The weather turned very warm suddenly - great for getting outside and working in the yard. Wish we'd had the pool cover on 'cuz it probably would have warmed up considerably - it reached 90 here today - I think that's a record breaking temp.
I might be silent for awhile....I don't have much to say these days that doesn't revolve around the issues surrounding B. . Maybe a break from blogging is in order while we attempt to sort things out. So I might be quiet this week.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Off My List
Done so far:
Taxes. Ready to e-File. We are mailing B.'s in because the fee to e-File is 10% of what he's getting back and I'm too thrifty to pay that much. We will e-File ours though because it's easy. J. will make a trip to the post office in the morning to get them all taken care of. We owe so we have to mail a check to both the Feds and the State. Thankfully, we don't owe a lot....should have made more charitable donations last year but I was trying to be more 'selective'. It's manageable and didn't cause me too much anxiety, all things considered.
Closets/dresser in 'my' room (where all my clothes are) looking a lot better. Three big bags for Goodwill. 2 plastic bins with a size that I know I will get into again someday - figured if I moved them out, I'd know what I have and therefore will be more inclined to work harder and getting into them again. And getting them off shelves, out of drawers and out of my closet will help ensure there's plenty of room for other stuff thus alleviating the 'stack' method of putting away my clothes. Still working in there and grateful I have 5 days left of Spring Break.
Preparing for Spring clean up - the semi-annual 'put anything and everything on the curb and the city trash department will pick it up for free' event. We don't have much but we have some so J. is out there now putting stuff outside. The weather took a freakish turn for the worse - hugely hard winds and then a huge patch of BLACK clouds that unloaded some huge 'sprinkles' for about a half hour. The storm appears to have passed and the winds have died down, which is a really good thing considering there's a bunch of trash sitting in front of virtually every house on the block. The wind scattering THAT would be a problem.
I have been waylaid by an ear infection, of all things. I feel like I'm 4 years old! I've had 'ringing in my ear' (actually a high-pitched kind of sound that doesn't really 'ring' as much as it just 'hums' incessantly) for a week or so now. Just when I had decided that perhaps this isn't just another thing my Dr. will say is caused by 'you're getting older', I was awake most of the night with PAIN in my left ear. A trip to the doctor confirmed my suspicions - which was a relief 'cuz I was starting to feel like I'd been flattened by a pavement squisher. I just took my first dose of antibiotics so I will hopefully be feeling a lot better tomorrow.
I've also been to the bank, made our monthly Target and Petsmart runs, filled up my car, done various other things around the house and napped 4 days in a row - the only day I haven't napped has been today and I'm ready for sleep. Yesterday, after 4 days of naps in a row combined with getting up and going to bed when my body told me it was tired and/or ready to wake up had made a huge difference and I felt absolutely rejuvenated down to my toes! The ear thing has sort of put a damper on that today but I'm confident I'll be feeling far better tomorrow. A good night's sleep will do the trick!
Taxes. Ready to e-File. We are mailing B.'s in because the fee to e-File is 10% of what he's getting back and I'm too thrifty to pay that much. We will e-File ours though because it's easy. J. will make a trip to the post office in the morning to get them all taken care of. We owe so we have to mail a check to both the Feds and the State. Thankfully, we don't owe a lot....should have made more charitable donations last year but I was trying to be more 'selective'. It's manageable and didn't cause me too much anxiety, all things considered.
Closets/dresser in 'my' room (where all my clothes are) looking a lot better. Three big bags for Goodwill. 2 plastic bins with a size that I know I will get into again someday - figured if I moved them out, I'd know what I have and therefore will be more inclined to work harder and getting into them again. And getting them off shelves, out of drawers and out of my closet will help ensure there's plenty of room for other stuff thus alleviating the 'stack' method of putting away my clothes. Still working in there and grateful I have 5 days left of Spring Break.
Preparing for Spring clean up - the semi-annual 'put anything and everything on the curb and the city trash department will pick it up for free' event. We don't have much but we have some so J. is out there now putting stuff outside. The weather took a freakish turn for the worse - hugely hard winds and then a huge patch of BLACK clouds that unloaded some huge 'sprinkles' for about a half hour. The storm appears to have passed and the winds have died down, which is a really good thing considering there's a bunch of trash sitting in front of virtually every house on the block. The wind scattering THAT would be a problem.
I have been waylaid by an ear infection, of all things. I feel like I'm 4 years old! I've had 'ringing in my ear' (actually a high-pitched kind of sound that doesn't really 'ring' as much as it just 'hums' incessantly) for a week or so now. Just when I had decided that perhaps this isn't just another thing my Dr. will say is caused by 'you're getting older', I was awake most of the night with PAIN in my left ear. A trip to the doctor confirmed my suspicions - which was a relief 'cuz I was starting to feel like I'd been flattened by a pavement squisher. I just took my first dose of antibiotics so I will hopefully be feeling a lot better tomorrow.
I've also been to the bank, made our monthly Target and Petsmart runs, filled up my car, done various other things around the house and napped 4 days in a row - the only day I haven't napped has been today and I'm ready for sleep. Yesterday, after 4 days of naps in a row combined with getting up and going to bed when my body told me it was tired and/or ready to wake up had made a huge difference and I felt absolutely rejuvenated down to my toes! The ear thing has sort of put a damper on that today but I'm confident I'll be feeling far better tomorrow. A good night's sleep will do the trick!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Easter
I've started to write a million times....of nothing in particular....just the day to day stuff. And then I think 'why would anyone want to read this drivel of no importance'...so I stop writing. I probably have 2-3 drafts saved - and who knows if any will ever get actually on the blog? Nothing in particular. Not much to say these days.
We are officially on Spring Break - through a week from tonight. I love this Sunday - the Sunday before a week off! It's the best feeling to have seven days of time off stretching in front of you.
And perhaps my mood is somewhat due to realizing that I really don't have seven days in front of me because for some strange reason, I feel compelled to work. I didn't plan to...didn't really think I needed to. But the truth is, I ALWAYS need to. And that feeling - that never-ending, constantly behind with a zillion things to do - completely bums me out. It pisses me off. Yet I know it is what it is. It's what I'm paid (well) for. And so I will probably go in for a bit - a couple 1/2 days possibly.
Which is perfectly fine because B. is working most days this week...so it's not like we're going anywhere anyway.
We had a lovely Easter dinner of prime rib, green bean casserole, au gratin potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding. Cherry cheesecake for dessert shortly. Prime rib is becoming my 'go-to' holiday meal and this one was particularly fantastic. It was perfectly cooked - not too done, not too rare. It was fantastic!
Sadly, I was not able to make it to the long-awaited Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman concert. Our Board of Trustees held a special meeting to announce our new Superintendent - and I felt being there was more important than going to the concert. My friend J. tried to find someone to go with her, but she couldn't. I tried to give the tickets away to people from church - but no one was able to take them since it was on Maundy Thursday and most were involved with performances at the church. So they went unused. I was disappointed - mainly for my friend J. who also ended up missing the show - but I was very glad I went to the meeting. Our new Superintendent is really great and I was glad to be there since not all administrators showed up. It was an 'extra' meeting and many already had plans. It was a great meeting and I felt I'd made the right decision. Thanks to my friend J. for being so understanding about my schedule conflict. I was sorry to miss the show but I know it was the right thing to do. This new Sup will (hopefully) be with our district for a very long time and it was an important day in our district's history. He will probably be the Sup through my retirement....and I'll know I was there the night he was officially confirmed as the new Sup.
There will be a lot of changes in the next year or so...and change is always hard. I think I'm bracing myself for that - we are implementing a new finance system and the amount of work involved in that over the next year is a bit overwhelming. That's probably where the feeling of 'needing to work' all the time comes from. There are always so many things to do...and most of the time, I handle that really well...but sometimes, I don't. Sometimes, I just want a JOB - just a job. Not an all-consuming, non-stop, 50+ hours per week job - just a regular job. I'm starting to think that perhaps I will retire 'early', take my state pension and then supplement my income with something less stressful. We'll see.
I did commit to making this next week as productive as I possibly can - still time for down-time but trying to accomplish some stuff that's been on the to-do list for a long time. Today, I tackled cleaning up 'my' room - the room where all my clothes are. I'm culling out clothes - admitting to myself that some of the sizes I've been keeping for 'when I get down to size --' aren't going to be sizes I will ever wear again. Time to just get rid of it. I've made a dent and will continue to work on it throughout the week, a little each day.
Oh, and of course, there's taxes due. I'm close to being 'done'....and we owe. No surprise there. We always owe. If we didn't have an amount due, I'd be pretty sure I'd done something wrong.
Also on the list is planting some vegetables in the back yard, working on yard work front and back and culling out the garage.
OH, and we made an offer on a car for H. and 'lo and behold, the guy selling it doesn't seem to 'anxious' to close the deal. We made an offer - a fair offer but not the guy's asking price - and instead of countering, he said 'I'll think about it and call you back'. It's sort of made me think the guys a jerk - and now I'm not inclined to buy the car from him, though it's a great price and H. likes it. So it's hard to understand how you can have a car for sale, get an offer on the car (after the prospective owners have spent their own money to have it checked out by a mechanic) and then not be ready to close the deal?? I don't get that. When we sold the van and had a serious offer, we dropped everything to make it happen. This car has been parked in my work parking lot with 'For Sale' signs on it for over two months - you'd think he'd be ready to get it sold? And the difference between what he's hoping to get and we're willing to offer is a few hundred bucks...not thousands. I can't figure it out.
I'm ready to tell J. (in fact, J., consider this a conversation, sweets) that I think we'd better chalk up the expense to 'lesson learned' and start looking for something else. I'm not sure what's up with the guy but I can't imagine keeping someone waiting days for a response to an offer on a used car. It doesn't make sense to me...and something's not right about it.
Happy Easter - celebrate the fact of Jesus giving his life so we would have eternal life. Celebrate his all-encompassing love for us. Celebrate him rising from the tomb. I love Christmas and have all my life - but I'm starting to really enjoy Easter more. It's such a meaningful, faith-filled holiday and isn't quite as 'commercial' as Christmas. I love that about it - it's simpler. More reflective. Less busy.
It was a lovely day - with family and relaxation and good food.
We are officially on Spring Break - through a week from tonight. I love this Sunday - the Sunday before a week off! It's the best feeling to have seven days of time off stretching in front of you.
And perhaps my mood is somewhat due to realizing that I really don't have seven days in front of me because for some strange reason, I feel compelled to work. I didn't plan to...didn't really think I needed to. But the truth is, I ALWAYS need to. And that feeling - that never-ending, constantly behind with a zillion things to do - completely bums me out. It pisses me off. Yet I know it is what it is. It's what I'm paid (well) for. And so I will probably go in for a bit - a couple 1/2 days possibly.
Which is perfectly fine because B. is working most days this week...so it's not like we're going anywhere anyway.
We had a lovely Easter dinner of prime rib, green bean casserole, au gratin potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding. Cherry cheesecake for dessert shortly. Prime rib is becoming my 'go-to' holiday meal and this one was particularly fantastic. It was perfectly cooked - not too done, not too rare. It was fantastic!
Sadly, I was not able to make it to the long-awaited Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman concert. Our Board of Trustees held a special meeting to announce our new Superintendent - and I felt being there was more important than going to the concert. My friend J. tried to find someone to go with her, but she couldn't. I tried to give the tickets away to people from church - but no one was able to take them since it was on Maundy Thursday and most were involved with performances at the church. So they went unused. I was disappointed - mainly for my friend J. who also ended up missing the show - but I was very glad I went to the meeting. Our new Superintendent is really great and I was glad to be there since not all administrators showed up. It was an 'extra' meeting and many already had plans. It was a great meeting and I felt I'd made the right decision. Thanks to my friend J. for being so understanding about my schedule conflict. I was sorry to miss the show but I know it was the right thing to do. This new Sup will (hopefully) be with our district for a very long time and it was an important day in our district's history. He will probably be the Sup through my retirement....and I'll know I was there the night he was officially confirmed as the new Sup.
There will be a lot of changes in the next year or so...and change is always hard. I think I'm bracing myself for that - we are implementing a new finance system and the amount of work involved in that over the next year is a bit overwhelming. That's probably where the feeling of 'needing to work' all the time comes from. There are always so many things to do...and most of the time, I handle that really well...but sometimes, I don't. Sometimes, I just want a JOB - just a job. Not an all-consuming, non-stop, 50+ hours per week job - just a regular job. I'm starting to think that perhaps I will retire 'early', take my state pension and then supplement my income with something less stressful. We'll see.
I did commit to making this next week as productive as I possibly can - still time for down-time but trying to accomplish some stuff that's been on the to-do list for a long time. Today, I tackled cleaning up 'my' room - the room where all my clothes are. I'm culling out clothes - admitting to myself that some of the sizes I've been keeping for 'when I get down to size --' aren't going to be sizes I will ever wear again. Time to just get rid of it. I've made a dent and will continue to work on it throughout the week, a little each day.
Oh, and of course, there's taxes due. I'm close to being 'done'....and we owe. No surprise there. We always owe. If we didn't have an amount due, I'd be pretty sure I'd done something wrong.
Also on the list is planting some vegetables in the back yard, working on yard work front and back and culling out the garage.
OH, and we made an offer on a car for H. and 'lo and behold, the guy selling it doesn't seem to 'anxious' to close the deal. We made an offer - a fair offer but not the guy's asking price - and instead of countering, he said 'I'll think about it and call you back'. It's sort of made me think the guys a jerk - and now I'm not inclined to buy the car from him, though it's a great price and H. likes it. So it's hard to understand how you can have a car for sale, get an offer on the car (after the prospective owners have spent their own money to have it checked out by a mechanic) and then not be ready to close the deal?? I don't get that. When we sold the van and had a serious offer, we dropped everything to make it happen. This car has been parked in my work parking lot with 'For Sale' signs on it for over two months - you'd think he'd be ready to get it sold? And the difference between what he's hoping to get and we're willing to offer is a few hundred bucks...not thousands. I can't figure it out.
I'm ready to tell J. (in fact, J., consider this a conversation, sweets) that I think we'd better chalk up the expense to 'lesson learned' and start looking for something else. I'm not sure what's up with the guy but I can't imagine keeping someone waiting days for a response to an offer on a used car. It doesn't make sense to me...and something's not right about it.
Happy Easter - celebrate the fact of Jesus giving his life so we would have eternal life. Celebrate his all-encompassing love for us. Celebrate him rising from the tomb. I love Christmas and have all my life - but I'm starting to really enjoy Easter more. It's such a meaningful, faith-filled holiday and isn't quite as 'commercial' as Christmas. I love that about it - it's simpler. More reflective. Less busy.
It was a lovely day - with family and relaxation and good food.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
She is Found
www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyhearld/ci_12083949
Not the ending we prayed for. I am stunned this is my town...our little town.
She is found. She will never be forgotten. And now we wait until the person who did this is found and brought to justice.
Please pray for her family. And for our town. We have already been forever changed by child abuse that made national news. And now we will be forever changed by this.
I am so sad. But also so glad that she was found. As hard as it is to know, we know. And there's comfort in that....she will not be 'missing' any longer.
She is Home. And He is happy to have her - always safe. And forever eight years old.
Not the ending we prayed for. I am stunned this is my town...our little town.
She is found. She will never be forgotten. And now we wait until the person who did this is found and brought to justice.
Please pray for her family. And for our town. We have already been forever changed by child abuse that made national news. And now we will be forever changed by this.
I am so sad. But also so glad that she was found. As hard as it is to know, we know. And there's comfort in that....she will not be 'missing' any longer.
She is Home. And He is happy to have her - always safe. And forever eight years old.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Laundry Mountain II
Kudos to my cousin D. who left a comment on the previous post pointing out something J. missed: socks count 'extra' in how many times he's handled them, since socks have to be matched and other clothes don't.
She also concurs with his assessment that facing mountains of laundry - 75% of which are wrong side out - pretty much sucks. He hates it. It disgruntles him regularly that the rest of us can't do that BEFORE we put our clothes in the dirty laundry. I know...it's such a simple thing.
So, I'm going to march right upstairs (shortly), make sure all my dirty laundry is right-side out and then vow to NEVER toss things in the hamper until I've 'fixed' them. It's the least I can do.
Can't help him with the remaining 50% but I will certainly do my best. And I will also try to reform the other 'wrong-side-outers' living among us.
Thanks for commenting, D! Love hearing from you!
She also concurs with his assessment that facing mountains of laundry - 75% of which are wrong side out - pretty much sucks. He hates it. It disgruntles him regularly that the rest of us can't do that BEFORE we put our clothes in the dirty laundry. I know...it's such a simple thing.
So, I'm going to march right upstairs (shortly), make sure all my dirty laundry is right-side out and then vow to NEVER toss things in the hamper until I've 'fixed' them. It's the least I can do.
Can't help him with the remaining 50% but I will certainly do my best. And I will also try to reform the other 'wrong-side-outers' living among us.
Thanks for commenting, D! Love hearing from you!
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Laundry Mountain
My king of laundry informed me just now that it has taken him from Wednesday morning until this evening to scale laundry mountain. 13 loads, 248 items (yes, he counted. He's obsessed. Seriously. He admits he counted socks separately but says 'that seems fair considering I have to turn every single one of them right side out). Except his. 'Cuz he turns every piece of clothing he wears right side out BEFORE he puts it in the hamper. The rest of us who live here - not so much.
He figures he's handled every item 6 times - sorting, putting in washer, moving to dryer, out of dryer, folding/hanging and putting away.
There remains a small 'red load' - always the last to get done. A few red t-shirts, red or orange towels, etc. That he will get done tomorrow since he's working at home. He might even manage to wash the small rugs from the family room - and maybe even the bathroom rugs. If it's a nice, sunny day tomorrow, they can hang to dry.
I love my laundry king. He's the best. I never have to give laundry a minute's thought - unless I can't find a specific pair of pants, etc. That rarely happens. Rarely.
He says the whites are already 'building up' again. Poor guy. And no matter how much he gets done, there's always one of us swearing up and down that we can't find 'such and such'. H. will undoubtedly be down here tomorrow morning 'searching' for something.
It never ends. But he sure does a great job keeping the mountain to just hill size, usually.
Thanks, sweets!
He figures he's handled every item 6 times - sorting, putting in washer, moving to dryer, out of dryer, folding/hanging and putting away.
There remains a small 'red load' - always the last to get done. A few red t-shirts, red or orange towels, etc. That he will get done tomorrow since he's working at home. He might even manage to wash the small rugs from the family room - and maybe even the bathroom rugs. If it's a nice, sunny day tomorrow, they can hang to dry.
I love my laundry king. He's the best. I never have to give laundry a minute's thought - unless I can't find a specific pair of pants, etc. That rarely happens. Rarely.
He says the whites are already 'building up' again. Poor guy. And no matter how much he gets done, there's always one of us swearing up and down that we can't find 'such and such'. H. will undoubtedly be down here tomorrow morning 'searching' for something.
It never ends. But he sure does a great job keeping the mountain to just hill size, usually.
Thanks, sweets!
B.'s Senior Prom
Here's a pic of B. in his tux:
It's black with grey pinstripe. Red tie. His date's dress was red, to the floor. They looked smashing together. J. took dozens of pics of the 18 couples that rode on the party bus together. It was an exciting night - one of the boys (the lead singer in B.'s band, coincidentally), was doing pull ups or something from the 'moon roof' of the van and cut his hands pretty severely. Apparently an ambulance was called to transport him to the hospital. Upon being stitched up (both hands from what we've heard), the bus picked him up again on the way back from dinner and he and his date made it to the actual dance and the 'after-dance party'. B. arrived home this morning around 10ish. Glad the kid is alright though I imagine there's more to the story then we are hearing...but perhaps it's better I not know.
B. also told J. that he visited a Marine Corp recruiter at the college fair at school this week. He also stopped by a Las Positas College statement and said the 'recruiter' from LPC remembered me. I asked J. 'is he enlisting?' He said 'probably not but he is still considering it'. And for the first time ever, I thought to myself 'that really would be a good idea'.
He wants to get away from home. I'd welcome him getting away from home. I am sort of seriously dreading two more years of him being home - and I know I shouldn't say that, but that's how I feel. This is not something I am 'thrilled about' - this having him home two more years. And I'm starting to think that time in the military - where he will learn that the 'Land of B.' exists only in his imagination - where he will learn that doing what is expected and what you are told to do when you're told to do it is mandatory - would be a good thing. A little discipline that isn't being handed out by his parents might be a good thing.
I would be fine with him enlisting. I never imagined in a million years that I'd say that. But I also never imagined that my son who graduated 3rd in his elementary school class would now be managing D's and F's as a regular part of his school work. I don't know why this change happened - but it has happened. And perhaps him taking a break from school and being a soldier for a few years wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Ditto for his brother.
Wow. I can't believe I'm thinking this.......but I am.
It's black with grey pinstripe. Red tie. His date's dress was red, to the floor. They looked smashing together. J. took dozens of pics of the 18 couples that rode on the party bus together. It was an exciting night - one of the boys (the lead singer in B.'s band, coincidentally), was doing pull ups or something from the 'moon roof' of the van and cut his hands pretty severely. Apparently an ambulance was called to transport him to the hospital. Upon being stitched up (both hands from what we've heard), the bus picked him up again on the way back from dinner and he and his date made it to the actual dance and the 'after-dance party'. B. arrived home this morning around 10ish. Glad the kid is alright though I imagine there's more to the story then we are hearing...but perhaps it's better I not know.B. also told J. that he visited a Marine Corp recruiter at the college fair at school this week. He also stopped by a Las Positas College statement and said the 'recruiter' from LPC remembered me. I asked J. 'is he enlisting?' He said 'probably not but he is still considering it'. And for the first time ever, I thought to myself 'that really would be a good idea'.
He wants to get away from home. I'd welcome him getting away from home. I am sort of seriously dreading two more years of him being home - and I know I shouldn't say that, but that's how I feel. This is not something I am 'thrilled about' - this having him home two more years. And I'm starting to think that time in the military - where he will learn that the 'Land of B.' exists only in his imagination - where he will learn that doing what is expected and what you are told to do when you're told to do it is mandatory - would be a good thing. A little discipline that isn't being handed out by his parents might be a good thing.
I would be fine with him enlisting. I never imagined in a million years that I'd say that. But I also never imagined that my son who graduated 3rd in his elementary school class would now be managing D's and F's as a regular part of his school work. I don't know why this change happened - but it has happened. And perhaps him taking a break from school and being a soldier for a few years wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Ditto for his brother.
Wow. I can't believe I'm thinking this.......but I am.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Dicotomy
Our town is crawling with TV news crews and party buses.
News crews because Sandra Cantu remains missing. As each day goes by, our town grows more and more sad. Flyers are everywhere....taped to cars, plastering the windows of every gas station, grocery store, fast food place, etc. I exited my car at Starbucks and a guy getting out of his car saw two policemen in their cruiser and said 'have you found Sandra yet?'. 'No' was the answer but with a quick 'but the entire law enforcement team throughout the area is looking for her'. Sheriff's departments, police departments, etc. are on alert. It is sad. There is no reason to think she ran away. She just vanished. Missing. Just like that.
And party buses because it's Prom night - B.'s senior prom is almost here. I'm feeling a little melancholy about this last 'right of passage'. Though I should be cheering that his high school days are almost over. He will remember these last four years fondly - his dad and I, not so much. And that's as it should be - parents survive them and the kid's relish them. It has been this way through the ages - same for me. Same for my mom. Teens are hard. No way around it. I'll be glad for the 'fresh start' that college will bring, even if that fresh start still has him living at home. Oh well. More challenges ahead (undoubtedly) but we'll be officially past high school. One down, one to go.
J. and H. are out looking at a car for H. I think we've sold him on a car that has been in my work parking lot for sale for a month or more - it's a 2002 Dodge Neon. Nothing fancy but it's an OK car and it's priced well and if he likes it and it checks out mechanically and we buy it, we'll have enough 'extra' money to also get him a good stereo. Sort of an incentive for getting a car that is priced well under our 'low' price ideal. They took it for a test drive and liked it (they're home now) and the next step is to take it to our local Dodge dealer for a 'visual inspection'. To give us an idea of what kind of shape it's in mechanically. H. won't officially get his license until sometime in late summer - but possibly the 'torture' known as 'H. looking for a car' will be past us. He can move on to saving up for fancy headlights, souped up speakers, a fancy paint job, etc. More good times to look forward to. And for me, the challenge of paying for insurance for FOUR cars and TWO teen drivers. OMG! Wow. That's going to be a major chunk of change.
I retired for the evening last night at just after 7. Tired. Fell asleep around 9ish with all my clothes on. Awoke at 1:30 and finally disrobed. Slept until 7:00 this morning. Awoke with an 'official' (meaning I don't think it's allergies) sore throat and a raging headache. Piddle! Plans for the day shot to hell 'cuz I don't feel that great today. Excuses, excuses....thankfully, J. worked on the taxes a bit so we're getting pretty close to done. Just need to verify the charitable deductions and we should be ready to 'check' and then submit. And I need to file for B. so he can get his $$ back.
It's a beautiful Spring day today - 70 degrees, clear skies and NO WIND!! Hoping it's nice where you are, too.
News crews because Sandra Cantu remains missing. As each day goes by, our town grows more and more sad. Flyers are everywhere....taped to cars, plastering the windows of every gas station, grocery store, fast food place, etc. I exited my car at Starbucks and a guy getting out of his car saw two policemen in their cruiser and said 'have you found Sandra yet?'. 'No' was the answer but with a quick 'but the entire law enforcement team throughout the area is looking for her'. Sheriff's departments, police departments, etc. are on alert. It is sad. There is no reason to think she ran away. She just vanished. Missing. Just like that.
And party buses because it's Prom night - B.'s senior prom is almost here. I'm feeling a little melancholy about this last 'right of passage'. Though I should be cheering that his high school days are almost over. He will remember these last four years fondly - his dad and I, not so much. And that's as it should be - parents survive them and the kid's relish them. It has been this way through the ages - same for me. Same for my mom. Teens are hard. No way around it. I'll be glad for the 'fresh start' that college will bring, even if that fresh start still has him living at home. Oh well. More challenges ahead (undoubtedly) but we'll be officially past high school. One down, one to go.
J. and H. are out looking at a car for H. I think we've sold him on a car that has been in my work parking lot for sale for a month or more - it's a 2002 Dodge Neon. Nothing fancy but it's an OK car and it's priced well and if he likes it and it checks out mechanically and we buy it, we'll have enough 'extra' money to also get him a good stereo. Sort of an incentive for getting a car that is priced well under our 'low' price ideal. They took it for a test drive and liked it (they're home now) and the next step is to take it to our local Dodge dealer for a 'visual inspection'. To give us an idea of what kind of shape it's in mechanically. H. won't officially get his license until sometime in late summer - but possibly the 'torture' known as 'H. looking for a car' will be past us. He can move on to saving up for fancy headlights, souped up speakers, a fancy paint job, etc. More good times to look forward to. And for me, the challenge of paying for insurance for FOUR cars and TWO teen drivers. OMG! Wow. That's going to be a major chunk of change.
I retired for the evening last night at just after 7. Tired. Fell asleep around 9ish with all my clothes on. Awoke at 1:30 and finally disrobed. Slept until 7:00 this morning. Awoke with an 'official' (meaning I don't think it's allergies) sore throat and a raging headache. Piddle! Plans for the day shot to hell 'cuz I don't feel that great today. Excuses, excuses....thankfully, J. worked on the taxes a bit so we're getting pretty close to done. Just need to verify the charitable deductions and we should be ready to 'check' and then submit. And I need to file for B. so he can get his $$ back.
It's a beautiful Spring day today - 70 degrees, clear skies and NO WIND!! Hoping it's nice where you are, too.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Things On My Mind
These are things I have on my mind, not in any particular order...and not that anyone but me will care one iota about any of it...but I write because I want to remember...
Jon and Sherry Rivers are no longer the morning show on KLOVE and my mind is reeling about that. They are no longer on the show due to 'family issues'. Now, this was somewhat abrupt - one day, the sub DJ was saying 'I'm in for Jon and Sherry for a few days' and then this past weekend, there was an announcement (which I totally missed) stating they would no longer be on the morning show, dealing with 'family issues' and to respect their privacy, that's all that's going to be shared. I didn't really 'get' that they were no longer on the show until this morning - and even then, it wasn't because of anything said by the station - but a caller phoned to say she was enjoying the 'new' morning show. And I sort of paused in the middle of pulling on my socks and thought 'hmmm, I'd better check'. A Google search confirmed it - KLOVE's website has pulled all reference to their show and I saw the Saturday announcement that I missed. Wow. I am shocked. Obviously, something happened. I don't know if it really, truly is a 'family' thing..or if they were dumped because KLOVE can no longer afford them? Or was it some kind of scandal or something. I can't imagine why they're not on the air anymore. And I miss them. I will really miss them. And I'm shocked and hurt and kind of angry at them and their station for not being up front about what in the heck happened? It's a listener supported radio station, for Pete's sake...and I feel like I'm 'owed' some kind of explanation.
I got my teeth cleaned today - something I dread just because I don't want to spare the time for sitting in a chair with my mouth open. But I love my dental hygienist Karen and she's been on maternity leave for awhile so I was so glad she was back. AND in conversation, she said 'we bought a house on Glenbriar Circle - only it's not in the Glenbriar development. It's in the other one'. I said 'it's in Pebblebrook - MY development'. And she said 'oh, it's the first house on the right just past [insert street name here]. I said 'I LIVE ON THAT CORNER OF [insert street name here]. So now we're neighbors. She disclosed that they purchased the house from the bank - it was listed for $342K and they offered $315K and the bank accepted the offer! Good for her. Bad for us. To say we owe FAR MORE than that on our home is an understatement. Kind of like the condo debacle all over again, only at least this time, we LOVE our home, wouldn't trade it for anything and are able to comfortably afford our payment - which is far more than hers.
And I just paid our property taxes on a significantly higher value than she just paid for MY EXACT HOUSE. Damn! I told J. 'well, we'll hopefully get a revalued tax statement in December and then we'll have saved a lot of 'extra money' that we won't need for taxes so we can hopefully take a nice trip somewhere for our 20th anniversary a year from now'. Trying to look on the bright side. While feeling nauseous.
While I was off for a few days last week, my assistant cleaned my entire office from stem to stern. Every drawer, every file drawer, every book case is organized, labeled, neat and tidy. It's WONDERFUL! She surprised me with the desk drawer part (I had asked her to try to tidy up and set up some new file drawers for me - the 'brackets' that hold the files were never installed correctly and we've never gotten around to fixing it so I had mentioned that as something she could work on in my absence). But she decided to 'go for it' and cleaned EVERY drawer out! They are like a work of art. I took pictures with my cell phone so I will have a reference of how they look in case I mess them up again. It was really great of her to do that - a true testament to how far we've come.
We tried the newest 'fast food' place in town tonight - The Wing Stop. Unbreaded chicken wings fried and then 'tossed' in a variety of sauces. The wings were good (but not great). And the 'sides' portions were really small. A 'family order' included only one large side, one large order of fries and some celery and carrot sticks. And it wasn't 'inexpensive' fast food. But I did enjoy the wings. Only they were like eating Chinese food: I ate a lot but I'm not full and I'm not satisfied. So I will have to work hard to not 'nibble' too much this evening on crap I shouldn't eat.
I am 2/3 of the way through New Moon, the 2nd book in the twilight series and it is GREAT! I am loving it as much as the first one. Can't wait to head upstairs shortly, get on my jammies and curl up with a great book. And head to dreamland and doze off with pleasant thoughts of tomorrow being FRIDAY!
Snarky comment coming: I read a fair amount of 'mom blogs'. Many are fairly well known and I've 'known' these women for some time. Feel like they are 'family' in many ways. There's a 'new' thing called 'Momversation' - where a bunch of women rotate being filmed and talking on a variety of subjects. Interesting concept. And they are ok - entertaining sometimes. But I have a beef about the 'Momversations'. First, these women all have blogs - they are WRITERS. They are not actors. Or recording artists. Or orators. They are writers. They should write. There's another medium out there for those who feel compelled to be on the 'little' screen - it's called You Tube. Check it out. AND if for whatever reason you are a part of Momversation, please do those of us who check your blog regularly to see what you've WRITTEN the favor of NOT using a Momversation video as your blog post(s). It's really starting to piss me off how many of these women bloggers now post their Momversation episodes....whether they're in them or not! Day after day, the 'new' posts are Momversations! Enough already! That's NOT writing a blog, people. That's posting videos. That's not what people who like to READ are looking for. Seriously. I'm getting ready to delete some long-time bookmarked sites because they now are more just 'videos' of women speaking vs. the blogger who's site I am checking out actually writing anything. I'm sick of it. WRITE for crying out loud! Why did you start blogging? WRITE!!!!!!!
Oh, and I just realized I've 'lost' a follower...and I can tell who they are by 'mousing' over the link [hello to my cousin D., my friend in Alabama S., Mr. Organized Crime, and...me. The 4th follower is me. I don't know how that happened] and and 'lo and behold, the person no longer following my blog (or at least no longer admitting it) is my HUSBAND. He said 'I had to, honey, because it had my name on it, which means it essentially had YOUR name on it'...or something like that. Sure, right, yeah, uh-huh, etc. So I'm down one. That's 20% of my peeps. Thanks to the other 80% (all four of you) for hanging in there with me!! Or rather thanks to the other 60% of you since I really shouldn't count myself as a follower, right? Math....I'm good at math.....
I'm taking my bruised ego upstairs now. Dumped by your own husband is a bit hard to take.
(Just kidding, my sweet. Thank you for protecting my anonymity. I'm not ready to come out of hiding just yet).
Jon and Sherry Rivers are no longer the morning show on KLOVE and my mind is reeling about that. They are no longer on the show due to 'family issues'. Now, this was somewhat abrupt - one day, the sub DJ was saying 'I'm in for Jon and Sherry for a few days' and then this past weekend, there was an announcement (which I totally missed) stating they would no longer be on the morning show, dealing with 'family issues' and to respect their privacy, that's all that's going to be shared. I didn't really 'get' that they were no longer on the show until this morning - and even then, it wasn't because of anything said by the station - but a caller phoned to say she was enjoying the 'new' morning show. And I sort of paused in the middle of pulling on my socks and thought 'hmmm, I'd better check'. A Google search confirmed it - KLOVE's website has pulled all reference to their show and I saw the Saturday announcement that I missed. Wow. I am shocked. Obviously, something happened. I don't know if it really, truly is a 'family' thing..or if they were dumped because KLOVE can no longer afford them? Or was it some kind of scandal or something. I can't imagine why they're not on the air anymore. And I miss them. I will really miss them. And I'm shocked and hurt and kind of angry at them and their station for not being up front about what in the heck happened? It's a listener supported radio station, for Pete's sake...and I feel like I'm 'owed' some kind of explanation.
I got my teeth cleaned today - something I dread just because I don't want to spare the time for sitting in a chair with my mouth open. But I love my dental hygienist Karen and she's been on maternity leave for awhile so I was so glad she was back. AND in conversation, she said 'we bought a house on Glenbriar Circle - only it's not in the Glenbriar development. It's in the other one'. I said 'it's in Pebblebrook - MY development'. And she said 'oh, it's the first house on the right just past [insert street name here]. I said 'I LIVE ON THAT CORNER OF [insert street name here]. So now we're neighbors. She disclosed that they purchased the house from the bank - it was listed for $342K and they offered $315K and the bank accepted the offer! Good for her. Bad for us. To say we owe FAR MORE than that on our home is an understatement. Kind of like the condo debacle all over again, only at least this time, we LOVE our home, wouldn't trade it for anything and are able to comfortably afford our payment - which is far more than hers.
And I just paid our property taxes on a significantly higher value than she just paid for MY EXACT HOUSE. Damn! I told J. 'well, we'll hopefully get a revalued tax statement in December and then we'll have saved a lot of 'extra money' that we won't need for taxes so we can hopefully take a nice trip somewhere for our 20th anniversary a year from now'. Trying to look on the bright side. While feeling nauseous.
While I was off for a few days last week, my assistant cleaned my entire office from stem to stern. Every drawer, every file drawer, every book case is organized, labeled, neat and tidy. It's WONDERFUL! She surprised me with the desk drawer part (I had asked her to try to tidy up and set up some new file drawers for me - the 'brackets' that hold the files were never installed correctly and we've never gotten around to fixing it so I had mentioned that as something she could work on in my absence). But she decided to 'go for it' and cleaned EVERY drawer out! They are like a work of art. I took pictures with my cell phone so I will have a reference of how they look in case I mess them up again. It was really great of her to do that - a true testament to how far we've come.
We tried the newest 'fast food' place in town tonight - The Wing Stop. Unbreaded chicken wings fried and then 'tossed' in a variety of sauces. The wings were good (but not great). And the 'sides' portions were really small. A 'family order' included only one large side, one large order of fries and some celery and carrot sticks. And it wasn't 'inexpensive' fast food. But I did enjoy the wings. Only they were like eating Chinese food: I ate a lot but I'm not full and I'm not satisfied. So I will have to work hard to not 'nibble' too much this evening on crap I shouldn't eat.
I am 2/3 of the way through New Moon, the 2nd book in the twilight series and it is GREAT! I am loving it as much as the first one. Can't wait to head upstairs shortly, get on my jammies and curl up with a great book. And head to dreamland and doze off with pleasant thoughts of tomorrow being FRIDAY!
Snarky comment coming: I read a fair amount of 'mom blogs'. Many are fairly well known and I've 'known' these women for some time. Feel like they are 'family' in many ways. There's a 'new' thing called 'Momversation' - where a bunch of women rotate being filmed and talking on a variety of subjects. Interesting concept. And they are ok - entertaining sometimes. But I have a beef about the 'Momversations'. First, these women all have blogs - they are WRITERS. They are not actors. Or recording artists. Or orators. They are writers. They should write. There's another medium out there for those who feel compelled to be on the 'little' screen - it's called You Tube. Check it out. AND if for whatever reason you are a part of Momversation, please do those of us who check your blog regularly to see what you've WRITTEN the favor of NOT using a Momversation video as your blog post(s). It's really starting to piss me off how many of these women bloggers now post their Momversation episodes....whether they're in them or not! Day after day, the 'new' posts are Momversations! Enough already! That's NOT writing a blog, people. That's posting videos. That's not what people who like to READ are looking for. Seriously. I'm getting ready to delete some long-time bookmarked sites because they now are more just 'videos' of women speaking vs. the blogger who's site I am checking out actually writing anything. I'm sick of it. WRITE for crying out loud! Why did you start blogging? WRITE!!!!!!!
Oh, and I just realized I've 'lost' a follower...and I can tell who they are by 'mousing' over the link [hello to my cousin D., my friend in Alabama S., Mr. Organized Crime, and...me. The 4th follower is me. I don't know how that happened] and and 'lo and behold, the person no longer following my blog (or at least no longer admitting it) is my HUSBAND. He said 'I had to, honey, because it had my name on it, which means it essentially had YOUR name on it'...or something like that. Sure, right, yeah, uh-huh, etc. So I'm down one. That's 20% of my peeps. Thanks to the other 80% (all four of you) for hanging in there with me!! Or rather thanks to the other 60% of you since I really shouldn't count myself as a follower, right? Math....I'm good at math.....
I'm taking my bruised ego upstairs now. Dumped by your own husband is a bit hard to take.
(Just kidding, my sweet. Thank you for protecting my anonymity. I'm not ready to come out of hiding just yet).
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
WTF?
B., who is attending his senior prom this weekend....who has been planning the attendance of the senior prom for MONTHS...who has shelled out money (his) for tux rental, flowers, prom bid (a fancy way to say tickets), etc.....who has watched us shell out our money for the party bus....who has been talking about this and planning it with his very best friends and looking forward to this 'final' right of passage as a high school senior.....
The same B. who did all those things DID NOT ask for the day off work. What a num-nut. I can't get over it. I probably would have never known except I'm really good at math - and when he said he was off yesterday, today and tomorrow, and he also didn't work Sunday, I 'did the math' and realized 'how is he working 16 hours (his minimum # of hours that they guarantee) if he's only got one more work day remaining - a four hour shift on Friday? That's when he informed me that in fact, he got someone to cover his Saturday hours because 'I forgot to ask for it off, Mom. It's no big deal'.
I said/mumbled 'it is a big deal B., to everyone but you'. And then told J. who tried to convince me it was no big deal as well....and I replied 'it is completely and totally a BIG DEAL that he never asked for the day off. Where is his head? Oh, no, wait a minute...I know EXACTLY where his head's been.....NOT on school, NOT on work, NOT on doing what needs to be done around here as a member of this household. NO, his head is everywhere BUT any of those places.
His head is/was basically up his ass. And yes, I know that's harsh for a mom to say. But it's from a mom who is completely and totally fed up with her son's lack of responsibility, lack of follow-through, lack of planning, etc. That's from the mom who had to drop everything today to rush to school with money for B. to pay for the prom bid because he 'forgot' to take his checkbook. And from the same mom who not only reminded him repeatedly to take his checkbook but also transferred money into the account the checks are charged against because....why....? Because B. has yet to deposit last week's paycheck and he's close to overdrawing his account.
So forgive me for being a bit pissy about his complete and utter lack of anything even remotely resembling being responsible.
And no, this is not a joke - no April Fool's joke. This is my life these days.....over and over and over.
The same B. who did all those things DID NOT ask for the day off work. What a num-nut. I can't get over it. I probably would have never known except I'm really good at math - and when he said he was off yesterday, today and tomorrow, and he also didn't work Sunday, I 'did the math' and realized 'how is he working 16 hours (his minimum # of hours that they guarantee) if he's only got one more work day remaining - a four hour shift on Friday? That's when he informed me that in fact, he got someone to cover his Saturday hours because 'I forgot to ask for it off, Mom. It's no big deal'.
I said/mumbled 'it is a big deal B., to everyone but you'. And then told J. who tried to convince me it was no big deal as well....and I replied 'it is completely and totally a BIG DEAL that he never asked for the day off. Where is his head? Oh, no, wait a minute...I know EXACTLY where his head's been.....NOT on school, NOT on work, NOT on doing what needs to be done around here as a member of this household. NO, his head is everywhere BUT any of those places.
His head is/was basically up his ass. And yes, I know that's harsh for a mom to say. But it's from a mom who is completely and totally fed up with her son's lack of responsibility, lack of follow-through, lack of planning, etc. That's from the mom who had to drop everything today to rush to school with money for B. to pay for the prom bid because he 'forgot' to take his checkbook. And from the same mom who not only reminded him repeatedly to take his checkbook but also transferred money into the account the checks are charged against because....why....? Because B. has yet to deposit last week's paycheck and he's close to overdrawing his account.
So forgive me for being a bit pissy about his complete and utter lack of anything even remotely resembling being responsible.
And no, this is not a joke - no April Fool's joke. This is my life these days.....over and over and over.
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