I am heading out the door shortly to attempt to surprise a friend on her 50th birthday! If I'm successful, she will wake up and find a balloon bouquet surrounded by 50 potted flowers on her front lawn. Oh! and a yard sign announcing it's her 50th. Then, I'm going to return around 6:45ish to pick her up and take her to breakfast before we both go to work. Hope I can pull it off. I wouldn't have stood a chance if my wonderful hubby hadn't run errands for me last night. After arriving at work at 6:30AM, I worked until 4:30ish, the headed home for a very quick stop here before heading out to a work-related meeting that lasted until 7:30ish. I ate dinner at 8! And had heartburn all night as a bonus. I need to get home and eat at a reasonable hour when I have those late evening meetings. Thanks, J., for running all those errands for me last night - and for supervising the repair/construction projects done yesterday - we finally fixed the dry wall in the garage from the leaking pipe - and fixed a shower leak and the hole in the dining room ceiling that they opened up to see where the leak was coming from. Hopefully, we are drip-free for a little bit.
Though there's water coming out of one of the A/C registers in the laundry room - another thing that we need to have checked that will probably cost us a small fortune. It's a 10 year old house, now....it's showing it's wear a bit these days.
I have hardly seen the kids - and when I have seen them, they are making me crazy. Crazier. After the meeting last night, I walked in and found two full-shoe muddy footprints on the carpet. I'm not just talking tiny spots on the carpet - I'm talking big-foot-esque full shoe muddy prints, complete with dirt stuck to the carpet. Yes, the same carpet we've paid a fortune to have cleaned repeatedly lately. They are oblivious - and of course, the culprit blamed his brother until we proved it was not his brother. Then he says 'well, I never walk through the muddy spot on the front lawn so I don't know where it came from'. All evidence to the contrary.....I gave the same 'order' I give all the time: take off your shoes in the entry way. You are oblivious to what you are tracking in so simply do not wear shoes on the carpet! Period.
I'd better go.....wish me luck. I could end up soaking wet from her lawn sprinklers. Or she could send the dog out after the 'intruder' on her front lawn. Luckily, her dog (Mia) is older and as slow moving as a dog can be. I can out run her. I hope.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Sunday Dinner
About a month ago, we started a family dinner night. We have a sit-down dinner every Sunday - and H. helps me cook. J. helps, too.... I try a new recipe every week and see how everyone reacts. Tonight was Chicken Scallopini - sauteed chicken in a mushroom-y cream sauce on fettuccine.
The weeklyordeal tradition is fun. I plan the meal carefully and usually pick up any missing 'supplies' that day. It's supposed to be a time for H. and I to spend time together - and this whole ordeal idea was H.'s - a way to have dedicated family time where we all sit down together and talk about our week - either the week we just finished or the week we are about to start. Our dining room gets used every week, which is great 'cuz it's the least used room in the house. We don't do the 'fancy china' every week -
It's fun - though it has it's ups and downs. The boys sometimes argue over the stupidest things - and once an argument starts, it's silence all around.....which is OK 'cuz at least if there's silence, they're not going at each other for some ridiculous slight - real or perceived.
The first few weeks, I made fancy desserts. Tonight, I offered fresh pineapple - which they were not interested in. If I hadn't worked all day, I would have made brownies. Maybe next week....
My only complaint is that by the time I finish cooking the meal, I'm no longer hungry. It's not 'cuz I'm 'tasting' as I go - I don't. I just have very little appetite for what I have just created for some reason. Oh well - maybe cooking for my family is a new dieting method? I have actually lost a couple pounds since we started our weekly gatherings.
OK - here's a bunch of miscellaneous stuff I've been meaning to mention:
1) Is there some policy or an unwritten rule that requires that all Trader Joe's parking lots are a freaking nightmare? We've been going to the store in Berkeley on occasion (since we're in that neighborhood a couple nights a week) and the parking lot there is as scary as every other TJ's parking lot I've ever been in. It sort of makes me want to avoid going there - but I love TJ's. Who doesn't? There's even a Facebook group trying to get one in Tracy - which would be lovely. In fact, across the street from our neighborhood, is a for sale sign offering the vacant land for a 'shopping center' - and TJ's would be perfect there!! I could walk - and avoid the parking nightmare!
2) The new "This Week" with Christiane Amanpour is just not my cup of tea. I miss George. I am glad she still has the 'Roundtable' segment - but everything else feels like it's her own private 60 Minutes or Dateline - and it just isn't providing the same level of 'caring' as when George was at the helm. I love her - have always loved her - but in this format, she's falling flat - at least for me. We still watch it religiously - but so far, I'm not enjoying it much.
3) We've been attempting to watch Pillars of the Earth - had seen the previews for this mini-series at the movies awhile back - and we stumbled across it one evening as we were channel surfing. J. was hugely excited because it turns out it's one of his all time favorite books. In fact, the book was sitting on the shelf next to his desk - so he pulled it off the shelf and I used it as reference.
Here's the thing: I don't really enjoy movies if I don't know how it turns out. I most especially don't enjoy movies full of a lot of violence, death and mayhem - and while I am absolutely enthralled and loving the movie, the violence is hard on me.
So I try to read ahead - and can tell you that the movie does not follow the book very well. I'd never picked up the book ever in my life - but within 8 minutes, I knew that they made (significant) changes to the sequencing of some of the events. So that makes me reading ahead to figure out what comes next a bit challenging. It has compelling characters and a good story - and I'm sticking with it. But I've got J. watching ahead now - so he can mute the TV when someone is about to be be-headed. Which happens a lot. Wow, those were rough times....
4) I had a physical this week. I'm sure my doctor will be charging my insurance company a fortune for this physical - but he literally spent about 15 minutes with me. All of my 'complaints' were answered with 'so let's get some blood work done and we'll see what it looks like and then we'll come up with a plan'. So 6 tubes of blood later, I was done - after waiting over an hour to see him (and I was his very first appointment).....crazy.
I do seem to be relatively healthy, considering my age and my 'out of shape/overweight' status. So I'm hoping the blood work comes back normal....still waiting for the results.
I also had a TB test (required for work) and went to get it checked on Friday. Had to be the doctor that read the test - and they were so packed (I have NEVER seen the office and parking lot so full), they stuck me in a store-room like room, with a piece of paper clipped to the door stating 'read PPD'. I don't think the doctor would have even remember to go to that room - except I was standing in the doorway when he cruised by - so he stopped and took care of reading my non-positive test.
I love my doctor - love him to pieces. But wow - this week's 'service' leaves a lot to be desired. On a good note, though - it's a reminder that even when you're pretty sure you are not healthy; even when you feel unhealthy; even when your symptoms are somewhat scary (at times) and a problem (sometimes) - it's all about what your blood work shows. If something is wrong, your blood will show it - so if my blood work is good, then I'm good! Simple! Yes, room for improvement - but at least I know if my blood is OK, I'm 'good'. Relatively speaking.
5) I've been working a lot of weekends again - it's year-end. My job never ends. Oh well. Good job security. I am finding it easier to get up on weekend mornings and head to work (at a leisurely late 10AM-ish, depending on how many cups of coffee I need/want and/or who's available to chat on Facebook) knowing that I can swing by our brand new McDonald's and get a hot cakes and sausage breakfast with a huge iced tea! Reminds me of when the kids were little and that was a special treat - to go to McD's for breakfast was a family tradition back then. Mainly 'cuz I couldn't stand to be in our condo - and therefore found any excuse to leave it as often as possible. I love pancakes!!
H. started his new school last week - he finished one class in a day (it was the 'learning online' class which is required). He was so excited. He's now working on English 4A (senior English) and is a bit disgruntled to see/realize that it won't go quite as quickly....reading a book, taking notes, quizzes, etc. is a lot more work than the 'online learning' class was. Still, he's doing well and is focused and sticking with the schedule. The first day, he took Chloe for a long walk as his hour of PE - and when they got home, she was so hot and exhausted, I was actually kind of scared that she was having a heat stroke. I have never seen her tongue sooooo long before - it was hanging all the way out of her mouth and when she keeled over on her side on the tile floor, she left her tongue hanging out about 3 inches - laying there on the tile while she panted like crazy. She was one pooped dog....and she stayed quiet and resting most of the remainder of the day. Hopefully, she'll get more used to walking - and it won't be quite as warm. H. took really good care of her - gave her water while they were out and kept an eye on her when they got home. She cooled off pretty quickly - she needs a haircut! She's a furry beast which doesn't help.
That's it for now - time for bed! Hoping for a great week - there's been a fair amount of drama at work these days and I dread drama. I just lie low and work, work, work....which makes having mountains to do a good thing!
The weekly
It's fun - though it has it's ups and downs. The boys sometimes argue over the stupidest things - and once an argument starts, it's silence all around.....which is OK 'cuz at least if there's silence, they're not going at each other for some ridiculous slight - real or perceived.
The first few weeks, I made fancy desserts. Tonight, I offered fresh pineapple - which they were not interested in. If I hadn't worked all day, I would have made brownies. Maybe next week....
My only complaint is that by the time I finish cooking the meal, I'm no longer hungry. It's not 'cuz I'm 'tasting' as I go - I don't. I just have very little appetite for what I have just created for some reason. Oh well - maybe cooking for my family is a new dieting method? I have actually lost a couple pounds since we started our weekly gatherings.
OK - here's a bunch of miscellaneous stuff I've been meaning to mention:
1) Is there some policy or an unwritten rule that requires that all Trader Joe's parking lots are a freaking nightmare? We've been going to the store in Berkeley on occasion (since we're in that neighborhood a couple nights a week) and the parking lot there is as scary as every other TJ's parking lot I've ever been in. It sort of makes me want to avoid going there - but I love TJ's. Who doesn't? There's even a Facebook group trying to get one in Tracy - which would be lovely. In fact, across the street from our neighborhood, is a for sale sign offering the vacant land for a 'shopping center' - and TJ's would be perfect there!! I could walk - and avoid the parking nightmare!
2) The new "This Week" with Christiane Amanpour is just not my cup of tea. I miss George. I am glad she still has the 'Roundtable' segment - but everything else feels like it's her own private 60 Minutes or Dateline - and it just isn't providing the same level of 'caring' as when George was at the helm. I love her - have always loved her - but in this format, she's falling flat - at least for me. We still watch it religiously - but so far, I'm not enjoying it much.
3) We've been attempting to watch Pillars of the Earth - had seen the previews for this mini-series at the movies awhile back - and we stumbled across it one evening as we were channel surfing. J. was hugely excited because it turns out it's one of his all time favorite books. In fact, the book was sitting on the shelf next to his desk - so he pulled it off the shelf and I used it as reference.
Here's the thing: I don't really enjoy movies if I don't know how it turns out. I most especially don't enjoy movies full of a lot of violence, death and mayhem - and while I am absolutely enthralled and loving the movie, the violence is hard on me.
So I try to read ahead - and can tell you that the movie does not follow the book very well. I'd never picked up the book ever in my life - but within 8 minutes, I knew that they made (significant) changes to the sequencing of some of the events. So that makes me reading ahead to figure out what comes next a bit challenging. It has compelling characters and a good story - and I'm sticking with it. But I've got J. watching ahead now - so he can mute the TV when someone is about to be be-headed. Which happens a lot. Wow, those were rough times....
4) I had a physical this week. I'm sure my doctor will be charging my insurance company a fortune for this physical - but he literally spent about 15 minutes with me. All of my 'complaints' were answered with 'so let's get some blood work done and we'll see what it looks like and then we'll come up with a plan'. So 6 tubes of blood later, I was done - after waiting over an hour to see him (and I was his very first appointment).....crazy.
I do seem to be relatively healthy, considering my age and my 'out of shape/overweight' status. So I'm hoping the blood work comes back normal....still waiting for the results.
I also had a TB test (required for work) and went to get it checked on Friday. Had to be the doctor that read the test - and they were so packed (I have NEVER seen the office and parking lot so full), they stuck me in a store-room like room, with a piece of paper clipped to the door stating 'read PPD'. I don't think the doctor would have even remember to go to that room - except I was standing in the doorway when he cruised by - so he stopped and took care of reading my non-positive test.
I love my doctor - love him to pieces. But wow - this week's 'service' leaves a lot to be desired. On a good note, though - it's a reminder that even when you're pretty sure you are not healthy; even when you feel unhealthy; even when your symptoms are somewhat scary (at times) and a problem (sometimes) - it's all about what your blood work shows. If something is wrong, your blood will show it - so if my blood work is good, then I'm good! Simple! Yes, room for improvement - but at least I know if my blood is OK, I'm 'good'. Relatively speaking.
5) I've been working a lot of weekends again - it's year-end. My job never ends. Oh well. Good job security. I am finding it easier to get up on weekend mornings and head to work (at a leisurely late 10AM-ish, depending on how many cups of coffee I need/want and/or who's available to chat on Facebook) knowing that I can swing by our brand new McDonald's and get a hot cakes and sausage breakfast with a huge iced tea! Reminds me of when the kids were little and that was a special treat - to go to McD's for breakfast was a family tradition back then. Mainly 'cuz I couldn't stand to be in our condo - and therefore found any excuse to leave it as often as possible. I love pancakes!!
H. started his new school last week - he finished one class in a day (it was the 'learning online' class which is required). He was so excited. He's now working on English 4A (senior English) and is a bit disgruntled to see/realize that it won't go quite as quickly....reading a book, taking notes, quizzes, etc. is a lot more work than the 'online learning' class was. Still, he's doing well and is focused and sticking with the schedule. The first day, he took Chloe for a long walk as his hour of PE - and when they got home, she was so hot and exhausted, I was actually kind of scared that she was having a heat stroke. I have never seen her tongue sooooo long before - it was hanging all the way out of her mouth and when she keeled over on her side on the tile floor, she left her tongue hanging out about 3 inches - laying there on the tile while she panted like crazy. She was one pooped dog....and she stayed quiet and resting most of the remainder of the day. Hopefully, she'll get more used to walking - and it won't be quite as warm. H. took really good care of her - gave her water while they were out and kept an eye on her when they got home. She cooled off pretty quickly - she needs a haircut! She's a furry beast which doesn't help.
That's it for now - time for bed! Hoping for a great week - there's been a fair amount of drama at work these days and I dread drama. I just lie low and work, work, work....which makes having mountains to do a good thing!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Magical
Added the last of my heated milk to my coffee this morning - and this is what that pour created. This is not staged - just poured it in and there it was.....
I took it as a sign that it was going to be a great day. And it was......
Last night, I phoned my credit card company and asked for my Disney Reward to be issued. I've had the Disney co-branded card for years and use it sporadically - it's taken a LONG TIME but I now have $185 to use for Disney merchandise, or theme parks. We're planning to go to Disneyland for the parks 55th anniversary in November - at least that's where we stand so far. Should we spend the money? No, we should not. Will I pay off the trip the month we take it? No, probably not - thus breaking one of our 'house rules'. But oh well. It has been a very hard year in our home - and we could all use a little magic! So take that, darn financial house rules! I'm going into debt to keep my sanity and if J. gets laid off any time soon (which is highly unlikely but who knows these days), I'll be regretting it - but for now, I'm in the land of magic and Tinkerbell and I don't care!
The person on the phone was exceedingly helpful - very un-bank-like. As he wrapped up his call - inquiring 'is there anything else I can do to assist you this evening?' (to which I replied 'no, thank you'), he said 'there's just one more thing I need you to do to assist me in ensuring your reward dollars arrive as quickly as possible'.....and I said (hesitatingly, 'cuz I was sure this was some sales thing and I was about to be hit up or a membership of some kind), he said 'I need you to say these words: bippety, boppity, boo'.
So I did....giggling the entire time.
That's the magic of Disney - and if ever there was a sign that we should go on this trip 'cuz we truly need it (even if there are a million reasons we shouldn't be spending the money), that was it!!
I took it as a sign that it was going to be a great day. And it was......Last night, I phoned my credit card company and asked for my Disney Reward to be issued. I've had the Disney co-branded card for years and use it sporadically - it's taken a LONG TIME but I now have $185 to use for Disney merchandise, or theme parks. We're planning to go to Disneyland for the parks 55th anniversary in November - at least that's where we stand so far. Should we spend the money? No, we should not. Will I pay off the trip the month we take it? No, probably not - thus breaking one of our 'house rules'. But oh well. It has been a very hard year in our home - and we could all use a little magic! So take that, darn financial house rules! I'm going into debt to keep my sanity and if J. gets laid off any time soon (which is highly unlikely but who knows these days), I'll be regretting it - but for now, I'm in the land of magic and Tinkerbell and I don't care!
The person on the phone was exceedingly helpful - very un-bank-like. As he wrapped up his call - inquiring 'is there anything else I can do to assist you this evening?' (to which I replied 'no, thank you'), he said 'there's just one more thing I need you to do to assist me in ensuring your reward dollars arrive as quickly as possible'.....and I said (hesitatingly, 'cuz I was sure this was some sales thing and I was about to be hit up or a membership of some kind), he said 'I need you to say these words: bippety, boppity, boo'.
So I did....giggling the entire time.
That's the magic of Disney - and if ever there was a sign that we should go on this trip 'cuz we truly need it (even if there are a million reasons we shouldn't be spending the money), that was it!!
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Week?
Has it really been a week? Really? Wow......went quickly. And yet painfully slowly, too.....
I got a haircut today - have needed one for weeks but can never wedge it in. My hair lady (who I waited for - it's Great Clips so if you want a particular person, you have to wait for them to be done. It was my turn when this guy [who had been waiting for a specific person for some time] gave up and asked my person to cut his hair - he didn't want to wait anymore for 'his' lady to be available. So that was an 'extra' 20 minute wait. Oh well.) told me it had been 17 weeks since I was last there - so I had to confess that it's been about 8 week since my last haircut 'cuz I tried the new Super Cuts by our house. Didn't like it one bit and promised to never do that again. She gave me a great, cute haircut for the bargain price of $13. I tipped her well - $5. Still a bargain compared to the $55 haircuts of 'before the worst economic crisis since The Great Depression. I think our kids will be calling it The Great Recession. We've lived through it!
And while we're on the subject of generous tipping. On Friday, I went out for dinner with some friends of mine - people in the same position as me at different districts throughout our county. We have been fast friends for a long time - and we periodically get together for dinner and beverages. We had a great, fun time - so much so that 2 of the 3 of us needed ride homes from our husbands. I was one of them - it worked out great 'cuz he was returning home and driving right by where we were and had B. with him - so B. drove my car home and J. drove me home.
We had already settled our dinner bill - and were chatting and laughing so hard, we were all crying - and we decided to order another round of drinks. I picked up the tab for this round - it wasn't my turn to pick up the dinner bill and offering to buy drinks seemed reasonable. I pulled out all the cash I had - around $38 - and put it on the table....not really sure how much our additional 'bar' tab would be. After a lot more laughter and finishing our cocktails, our waiter returned - and I handed him ALL the money on the table. At the time, I sort of 'forgot' that I had taken everything in cash I had in preparation to pay the bill - and he picked it up and he seemed really excited about it - I said 'is it enough'? (again, I had no recollection of just how much it was) and he replied 'oh, yes, definitely!' It wasn't until the next morning, when I went to my wallet looking for a $20 bill I thought I still had that I realized I gave him $38 for a $18 (INCLUDING TIP) bill. Oh well. It's only money and he was very happy with that 'tip'. As well he should have been. Can't wait to go out with my friends again - sometimes, you just need to let your hair down! We sure had a great time -
My sweet sister sent me an e-card on Tuesday. It was a great 'support' card - just letting me know she was thinking of us/me. I remember thinking 'that's so sweet of her - and even better 'cuz things are going really well....so it's like a bonus card 'cuz I don't even NEED it'. (Not that I didn't love it - 'cuz I did - thanks, K.!). So, you know what had to happen.....
(to be continued).......
I got a haircut today - have needed one for weeks but can never wedge it in. My hair lady (who I waited for - it's Great Clips so if you want a particular person, you have to wait for them to be done. It was my turn when this guy [who had been waiting for a specific person for some time] gave up and asked my person to cut his hair - he didn't want to wait anymore for 'his' lady to be available. So that was an 'extra' 20 minute wait. Oh well.) told me it had been 17 weeks since I was last there - so I had to confess that it's been about 8 week since my last haircut 'cuz I tried the new Super Cuts by our house. Didn't like it one bit and promised to never do that again. She gave me a great, cute haircut for the bargain price of $13. I tipped her well - $5. Still a bargain compared to the $55 haircuts of 'before the worst economic crisis since The Great Depression. I think our kids will be calling it The Great Recession. We've lived through it!
And while we're on the subject of generous tipping. On Friday, I went out for dinner with some friends of mine - people in the same position as me at different districts throughout our county. We have been fast friends for a long time - and we periodically get together for dinner and beverages. We had a great, fun time - so much so that 2 of the 3 of us needed ride homes from our husbands. I was one of them - it worked out great 'cuz he was returning home and driving right by where we were and had B. with him - so B. drove my car home and J. drove me home.
We had already settled our dinner bill - and were chatting and laughing so hard, we were all crying - and we decided to order another round of drinks. I picked up the tab for this round - it wasn't my turn to pick up the dinner bill and offering to buy drinks seemed reasonable. I pulled out all the cash I had - around $38 - and put it on the table....not really sure how much our additional 'bar' tab would be. After a lot more laughter and finishing our cocktails, our waiter returned - and I handed him ALL the money on the table. At the time, I sort of 'forgot' that I had taken everything in cash I had in preparation to pay the bill - and he picked it up and he seemed really excited about it - I said 'is it enough'? (again, I had no recollection of just how much it was) and he replied 'oh, yes, definitely!' It wasn't until the next morning, when I went to my wallet looking for a $20 bill I thought I still had that I realized I gave him $38 for a $18 (INCLUDING TIP) bill. Oh well. It's only money and he was very happy with that 'tip'. As well he should have been. Can't wait to go out with my friends again - sometimes, you just need to let your hair down! We sure had a great time -
My sweet sister sent me an e-card on Tuesday. It was a great 'support' card - just letting me know she was thinking of us/me. I remember thinking 'that's so sweet of her - and even better 'cuz things are going really well....so it's like a bonus card 'cuz I don't even NEED it'. (Not that I didn't love it - 'cuz I did - thanks, K.!). So, you know what had to happen.....
(to be continued).......
Sunday, August 01, 2010
Things We Did Today
It was a wonderful Sunday.....a busy, full day. Here's what we did:
- Pruned trees in the backyard. Our 10 year old trees are full and lush - and we had them trimmed last year. This year, we did it ourselves - got out the pruning tools and had at it. I started on one last night and J. helped me finish this morning. He found the pruning saw attachment so that helped.....we still have a bit to work on but the yard waste bin is jammed full so we'll have to do some more next weekend.
- We also pruned our beautiful Japanese maple which is currently struggling with some kind of spider infestation. I've been regularly hosing (power washing) it off - and within a day, the spider webs are back in full force. Today, I topped off the gangly upper branches and pruned back the lower branches. It's needed that pruning for a long time - but it's so hard to cut branches off. I always look and think 'oh no, it's ruined' - it looks so sparse. But it will fill back in pretty quickly and hopefully, the spiders will vacate since I've cut back so many branches.
- Gas tank's full. Traveling to Oakland three nights a week means I'm back to filling up twice a week (at least).
- Grocery shopped and WalMart shopped - the school sites are back this week and we have our first Cabinet meeting of the year. I had to pick up snacks for the meeting - plus food, toiletries, etc. for us. I have to admit I'm liking WalMart these days - and the prices are great. Can't wait until WinCo opens - this fall, I think.
- I took a nap today - a rare thing. I seldom nap these days - too busy and/or don't want to risk having trouble sleeping. But I felt tired so I slept a little over an hour.
- We initiated what we hope will be a weekly event - Family Dinner. Sunday nights at 6:30. H. helped with the cooking. B. was available since he doesn't work until 8PM tonight. So we've set this one night a week aside to sit at the dining table and eat together. I know that seems odd - that we have to 'set time aside' - but we do. We are rarely in the same place at the same time - but we're committing to working hard at being home for dinner on Sundays. The menu tonight was grilled rib eye steaks, smashed restaurant style potatoes and chocolate molten lava cake. All delicious. It was a pleasant evening - already looking forward to next week.
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Tales of Helpers
Our cleaning lady D. is here today - she wears earbuds and chats on the phone while she works. She is the third cleaning 'person(s)'...
